Todd Manning (Roger Howarth)


 * Todd redirects here. For other uses of the name, see Todd (disambiguation).

Thomas Todd Manning is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera General Hospital. The character was originated on the now-canceled ABC soap opera One Life to Live in 1992 by actor Roger Howarth. Howarth left in March of 2003, and actor Trevor St. John portrayed a character on the show by the same name from August of 2003 to August of 2011. Howarth returned in May of 2011, and it was revealed shortly before St. John left that St. John's character was not actually Todd, but his twin brother Victor Lord, Jr.; and that Howarth's character was actually Todd.

Gang rape and the scar
Todd first arrived in Llanview, Pennsylvania on One Life to Live as a fraternity brother of Kevin Buchanan. He was tutored by another student named Marty Saybrooke and they had a one night stand. Later Todd orchestrated and participated in the gang rape of Marty at a fraternity party. Todd and the other two boys involved in the rape, Kevin's cousin Powell Lord III and Zach Rosen, were tried. Marty was confused and thought that Kevin had also participated in the gang rape, and Todd let Kevin take part of the blame for it until Marty remembered the truth and cleared his name. This is one of the contributing factors of Todd and Kevin's life-long feud with each other. During the trial, Todd trapped Marty in an alley and tried to rape her again. Her friend Luna Moody came upon them and hit Todd with a lead pipe, leaving his iconic scar across his right cheek. This knocked Todd out and saved Marty from being raped by him again. The scar serves as a constant reminder to Todd and everyone else of his past and misdeeds.

When the boys' attorney Nora Gannon realized they were actually guilty, she caused a mistrial. Powell later confessed though and all three of them were sent to prison. While on a work release, Todd escaped, caused the death of Marty's friend Suede Pruitt, and kidnapped a woman named Rebecca Lewis. He was shot and presumed dead, but turned up at Kevin's family home Llanfair, hiding in the gardening shed. He told Kevin's little cousins, C.J. and Sarah Roberts, that he was the genie Ali and they brought him food. He later saved Marty, C.J., and Kevin's sister Jessica during a car wreck. He was shot by the police commissioner, Bo Buchanan, and sent back to jail, but was later pardoned and released.

Blair Cramer and Lord heir
In late 1994, Todd met Blair Cramer. They had a one night stand around Christmastime. Blair then found out that Todd was actually the long-lost son and heir of the presumed dead Victor Lord, and would inherit $27.8 million, which Todd himself didn't know. Blair lied to Todd and told him she was pregnant with his child, and they were married in February of 1995. Todd found out he was the heir, the biological son of Victor Lord and Irene Manning, who had been the childhood friend and college roommate of Victor's eldest daughter Viki. Irene had given Todd to her cousin Peter and his wife Bitsy to raise as a baby. This made him Kevin, C.J., Sarah, and Jessica's uncle; and Powell's cousin. He inherited the money, and bought the tabloid The Intruder, which he renamed The Sun. He and Blair fell in love and Blair soon became pregnant for real, but then miscarried. Todd then found out that Blair was not actually pregnant when they were married, and had their marriage annulled based on fraud in August. Blair, however, then found out she was pregnant again, and they were remarried in November. The day after their wedding, Todd went to Ireland and was shot by Irish terrorists when he was mistaken for Marty's boyfriend Patrick Thornhart and presumed dead. Todd and Blair's daughter Starr was born January 8, 1996.

When Todd returned to Llanview months later, he witnessed Blair and Patrick making love. He went to his sister Viki, who hid him in her attic and later brought his daughter Starr to meet him. He kidnapped Starr, but later returned her. He blew up Guy Armitage's yacht and tried to frame Patrick for it. Guy died, and Patrick was able to prove he didn't do it.

Téa Delgado and reveal about childhood
Later, Todd married his attorney Téa Delgado in order to get custody of Starr. He paid Téa $5 million in exchange. They actually fell in love with each other though. Later, Georgie Phillips was murdered and Todd tried to frame Bo Buchanan for the murder, it backfired though and Todd was the one who looked guilty. So, Todd kidnapped everyone involved and tried to force a confession out of someone. Nora's daughter Rachel finally confessed, and Todd ran off and took Téa with him. Later, Todd punched Téa, but then she knocked him out and had him arrested.

Todd later escaped police custody and cornered Téa in a cabana. Todd's life-long mentor and friend, Sam Rappaport, went in to talk him out, and Todd opened up to him. Sam found out that Todd had not only been physically abused as a child, but he was also raped by his adopted father on his fourteenth birthday. Sam tried to bring up the fact of Todd's abuse as a child in court, but Todd seemingly went into a catatonic state and, when he emerged from it, appeared to have Dissociative Identity Disorder (or multiple personalities) like his sister Viki. Todd was calling himself Tom and was gentle and child-like. Later, other personalities came out: Rod, a womanizing romantic; Pete, the violent side of Todd; and Miss Perkins, a mother-like personality who took care of the other personalities. Many thought he was faking to escape prosecution, but others believed him. At one point, Tom stood up on the roof of the hospital ready to jump, and Viki was able to talk him down. Todd and Téa remarried, but Starr accidentally played a tape at the reception of Todd confessing that he was faking his mental condition, and Todd left town in 1998.

Jack and deserted island
Later, Todd came back and reconnected with Blair. They were set to get married, but on the night before their wedding, Blair's ex Max Holden drugged her and made sure that Todd saw them in bed together. In revenge, Todd revealed at the altar that Blair had shot Max, which Todd had been helping to cover up, and he then turned over incriminating evidence. He then found out that Max had set up Blair, though, and he testified that Blair was crazy when she shot Max and she was sent to a mental institution instead of prison.

After Blair was released, she found out she was pregnant and figured out it was Todd's. She fled to Mexico to have her baby, but Todd followed. Todd then delivered the baby; and thinking the child was Max's, gave the baby away and told Blair he had died. When Todd found out that the baby was actually his, he brought the baby back to Blair and told her that it was a baby who needed a home. They "adopted" him and named him Jack. The truth was revealed when Jack developed aplastic anemia, which Starr also had had as a baby. He needed a bone marrow transplant, and Todd had to track down Alex Olanov, who had been the donor for Starr.

Blair was furious and left Todd, taking the kids to Hawaii. Todd, however, followed them and hired Ross Rayburn to help him kidnap Starr and Jack. While there, Todd ran into Téa, and she warned Blair. Blair took the kids back to Llanview; and Todd, Téa, and Ross became stranded on a deserted island together. On the island, both Ross and Todd fell for Téa. Todd, however, decided he needed to get back to Blair, his true love, and decided to leave on a homemade raft. Just before he left though, he and Téa made love.

Disappearance
Later, Mitch Laurence tried to kidnap Starr, but Blair convinced him to take her instead. Todd kidnapped his niece Natalie and took her to Mitch in exchange for Blair. It was revealed that Todd's father Victor Lord was not dead after all, and needed a heart transplant from a relative. Mitch took Natalie to have her heart transplanted into Victor, but the plan was foiled. Todd had a tense meeting with his father for the first time before he quickly died. Later, Mitch had Todd kidnapped and beaten and locked in Victor's crypt; but, Todd was no longer there when the crypt was searched later.

Todd was legally declared dead, and months later, Blair started dating a man who said he was Mitch's brother Walker Laurence, and even married him. Blair later found out that Walker claimed to actually be Todd, with a new face. This man believed to be Todd lived in Llanview, raised Todd's kids, married both of his ex-wives twice each, and ran his newspaper for eight years, with no one ever suspecting that he wasn't actually the man he said he was. In 2009, Téa revealed to "Todd" that they had a daughter together, Danielle, from the time they had made love on the deserted island. Téa had a DNA test done to make sure, and it came back that "Todd" was in fact Danielle's father.

The two Todd Mannings
In 2011, it was revealed that the real Todd was being held captive in an undisclosed location. He had been locked up and tortured for the last eight years. He escaped and made his way back to Llanview with the intention of getting back to his life as it was before. When he got there, however, he found this other man, who looked nothing like him, claiming he was Todd Manning and living his life. He was married to Téa, running The Sun, his kids called him "dad," and everyone, including his sister Viki and niece Jessica whom he was extremely close to, thought he was Todd. Todd couldn't figure out how this could have happened, how everyone could believe this fraud.

Todd secretly went to Blair's house and happened upon a boy named Sam Manning, who said he was Todd Manning's son. Todd couldn't figure out how this kid he's never seen could possibly be his son. He became friends with Sam, and later saved his life when a man tracking down the escaped Todd came after him and threatened to kill Sam. Todd killed the man, and Blair took Sam to be questioned by police detective John McBain when the body was discovered. Sam told John that his friend, a man with a line on his face, had killed him to save his life. He positively identified an old picture of Todd, with the scar on his face.

Todd researched the imposter's life for the past eight years, and realized that Sam was the imposter's son, not his. He then dressed up like a Spider-Man entertainer and went to Sam's birthday party, where he kidnapped the child. He called "Todd" and told him he had his son and to meet him at The Sun. The two men then finally came face to face for the first time. They both claimed to each other that they were the real Todd and that the other was an imposter.

Todd took "Todd" at gunpoint back home, but before they could go inside, more men who were looking for Todd because of his escape took him and shot him. Todd, however, was wearing a bullet proof vest and was saved by Louie, a homeless man, who told him to contact John McBain. Todd did, and John took DNA from both Todd Mannings and had it tested against DNA they had on file from the Marty Saybrooke rape case years before, which was definitely the real Todd's DNA. Shockingly, both DNA tests came back as positive matches. They couldn't understand it, and Téa recalled the DNA test she had done on "Todd" and Danielle that showed he was her father. Starr suggested that the only way they could have the same DNA is if they were identical twins, but that didn't explain why they both actually thought they were Todd, and why they both had Todd's memories.

The truth revealed
Téa's brother, Tomás, who was a former CIA agent, revealed that he had been hired eight years before to take Todd from Victor's crypt and take him to another CIA agent. He didn't know what had happened to Todd after that. John and Tomás were able to track down the agent Tomás had taken Todd to in Louisiana and they went down there to investigate. Whom they found, however, was Irene Manning, Todd's biological mother, who had long been thought dead. She was the head of this rogue CIA agency and knew the whole story of what had happened.

They brought Irene back to Llanview, and she revealed to both Todds and Todd's sister Viki that they were in fact identical twin brothers. Irene had given Todd to her cousin Peter and his wife Bitsy to raise, while she secretly kept his twin brother Victor Lord, Jr. She joined the CIA and started a rogue operation. In 2003, when Todd had been beaten, she had him brought to her and brainwashed Victor Jr. into believing he was his twin brother, giving him all of Todd's memories. She wanted the son she raised to have his father's inheritance. Realizing that Mitch Laurence was still after Todd, she gave Victor Jr. plastic surgery to look like Mitch's brother Walker, to keep him off Mitch's radar. Learning the truth, Todd rushed straight to Starr to tell her, and met his granddaughter Hope for the first time.

Victor's "murder"
Todd, however, found himself broke and living with his sister Viki. He wanted his life back, including his kids, his newspaper, and Blair. He stole a gun from Blair's house with the intention of killing Victor. The first time he went to Victor's to kill him, though, he saw Victor and Téa making love, and walked away. Later, Victor was found shot and seemingly died. Todd was then seen on the pier giving the gun to the homeless man Louie. Todd's son Jack, who couldn't accept Todd as his father and still loved Victor as his father, still calling him "dad," lied and said he saw Todd at the murder scene. Todd swore he did not kill his brother; although he wanted to, he couldn't. Todd was arrested for Victor's murder, but Starr helped him escape when Irene threatened to kill his entire family.

Todd found his family safe at Victor's house, then went to find his mother, who ended up shooting him in the shoulder. They then heard an explosion and she told him that that was his family dying. Todd then shot and killed his mother. Todd's family, however, was safe. Bo Buchanan, the police commissioner, had safely detonated the bomb, saving everyone. Todd ran off and Blair found him dying at Viki's cabin. She nursed him back to health and got her Aunt Dorian, who's a doctor, to talk her through what she needed to do over the phone and call in a prescription for him. Todd and Blair got closer during this time as they reminisced. Téa picked up Todd's prescription for him and brought it to him. They then planned to find Victor's true killer to exonerate Todd. While Todd was alone in the cabin, however, his dead mother appeared to him and helped him remember that he had indeed killed Victor. Todd was devastated at remembering this and claimed that Irene had made him do it, as they had been in adjoining jail cells while they were both locked up, and she messed with his head. Téa got Todd released on probation, and he kept the fact that he remembered killing Victor to himself.

Victor had left everything to Irene in his will; and when Irene died, she left everything to her and Victor Sr.'s daughter, Tina. Tina, however, seeing that everything was Todd's before Victor Jr. took it, generously gave everything back to him. Todd then went right back to work at his newspaper.

He decided to frame Tomás for the murder because Tomás was involved with Blair, and Todd wanted Blair to himself. He lured Tomás to a warehouse, then put his fingerprints on the gun used to kill Victor, which was then planted in Tomás' bedroom at Téa's house. He kept Tomás tied up and had him confess to Blair via video chat to the murder. Todd then moved on with Blair. As they got closer, Todd bonded with Sam, now knowing he's his nephew, even more. He also blackmailed Jack, who had tried to burn down The Sun offices, into being nicer to him and to allow him to join in family activities.

John and Téa, who had found out she was pregnant with Victor's child after he died, were working to solve Victor's murder. They suspected that Todd was actually the killer. John got a hold of Todd's cell phone and tapped it. Through this tap, they were able to find the location of where Todd was holding Tomás. John rescued Tomás, and then barged in on Todd and Blair while they were finally making love for the first time in over eight years. John arrested Todd for his brother Victor's murder. Unbeknownst to everyone, however, Victor was actually alive and being held captive by an escaped prisoner, Allison Perkins.

Arrival
Todd first arrives in Port Charles to visit his daughter Starr at General Hospital, having heard she was injured. Before he can get to Starr, he meets up with his ex-wife Blair, who forbids him from seeing their daughter. Todd is out on bail for murdering his twin brother Victor Lord, Jr., and has jumped bail by leaving Llanview to be with his daughter. Blair tells him that Starr's boyfriend Cole, and their daughter Hope, were killed in the car crash.

Todd later goes to the Metro Court Hotel to rent a room, paying in cash and refusing to give a name. He meets Carly Jacks, who has been forbidden from seeing Jason in the hospital, and they bond after realizing they have this in common. Todd and Carly come up with a plan to dress in scrubs and sneak into the hospital to see Starr and Jason, respectively. When Todd sees Starr, she at first doesn't want to see him and is angry at him for killing her Uncle Victor, the man who raised her. But then, she and Todd talk about Hope and Cole and he comforts her. During their short meeting, Starr tells him that Anthony Zacchara had told her that Sonny Corinthos was responsible for shooting out his tires and causing the wreck that killed Hope and Cole, and Todd vows to take care of the situation.

He then finds out from Carly that Sonny is at the courthouse being arraigned. Todd goes there, and pulls a gun on Sonny, threatening to kill him. John McBain comes in however, and arrests Todd to take him back to Llanview to stand trial for his brother's murder.

Return
Todd is acquitted due to post traumatic stress and returns to Port Charles on May 8, 2012 when Starr is charged with the attempted murder of Sonny. His ex-wife Téa Delgado arrives soon after to defend Starr, and she isn't happy to see Todd. Todd continues to befriend Carly Jacks, and rents a room at her hotel, The Metro Court. Todd overhears Sonny's girlfriend Kate Howard confiding in her lawyer, Alexis Davis, that her alternate personality may have caused the accident that killed Cole and Hope.

Todd goes to Sonny and tells him that if he gets Michael to recant his statement to the police about Starr trying to kill Sonny, that he won't tell the police about hearing Kate admit to shooting out Anthony's tires. When that falls on Sonny's deaf ears since Sonny is mad at Kate (who was actually her alter Connie at the time) for sleeping with Johnny Zacchara, Todd offers to use his tabloid The Sun to made Kate look good and discredit her psychiatrist Ewen Keenan, who Kate's alter Connie had knocked out and nearly killed, if Sonny gets Michael to recant his statement. Sonny ends up agreeing and getting Michael to recant his statement, and Starr is released from jail.