Johnny Anthony Zacchara is a fictional character on the ABCsoap opera, General Hospital. Within the series, he is the son of notorious NYC crime lord, Anthony Zacchara, and has become a member of the Zacchara organization. The contract role is portrayed by Brandon Barash.
Johnny is first introduced as a troubled young man, when he meets Lulu Spencer, the girlfriend of Logan Hayes. For years, Johnny has been looked after by lawyer Trevor Lansing, because Johnny witnessed his insane father, Anthony, shoot his mother, Maria. Anthony is now obsessed with keeping his son near him. Lulu continues to interact with the troubled young man, despite disapproval from her friends Jason Morgan and Damian Spinelli. Johnny sneaks into Nikolas Cassadine's Black and White Ball, as his father is intent on killing Lulu to keep his son from her. Anthony terrorizes the guests, while Diego Alcazar murders Nikolas' fiancée, Emily Quartermaine. After a confrontation with Jason Morgan, Anthony is paralyzed due to a fall, and Johnny takes over as the head of the Zacchara family. Disapproving of the relationship, Trevor tries to have Lulu killed, but Johnny is able to save her. Tensions arise between Johnny, fellow mob boss Sonny Corinthos, and the mysterious Moreau, who is revealed to be Jerry Jacks. After "Moreau" briefly kidnaps Lulu, Johnny is hurt in an explosion. Though Logan objects, Lulu insists on tending to Johnny, leading to Johnny and Lulu admitting their feelings for each other.
War with Sonny Corinthos
Meanwhile, his sister Claudia Zacchara becomes more involved with the family business. When Logan reveals that he intended to frame Johnny as Emily's killer, Logan and Lulu struggle, and she puts him into a coma by hitting him with a wrench. Johnny and Lulu finally make love on the Haunted Star, and intend to begin a relationship. Sonny kidnaps Johnny, mistakenly believing he is responsible for shooting Sonny's lover Kate Howard and kidnapping his son Michael. Sonny learns that Michael was responsible for shooting Kate and actually ran away, but refuses to release Johnny until Claudia brokers a deal to use shipping lanes controlled by the Zacchara organization. The siblings are reunited in a waterfront cannery, but are caught in an explosion caused by Diego. After helping Michael escape from the warehouse, Johnny reunites with Lulu, who ends things with Logan. Claudia and Johnny decide to present a united front to take down their father, who's release from an insane asylum was orchestrated by Sonny's half-brother and enemy Ric Lansing. The siblings also conspire to have Sonny killed, but their assassin Ian Devlin hits Michael instead, sending him into a permanent vegetative state. Believing Lulu can make his son happy, Anthony forces Johnny and Lulu to continue their relationship. Despite tension between Lulu and Claudia, Johnny decides to let his girlfriend help collect information about his father to send him away to prision for good.
The death of Logan Hayes
From Johnny's apartment, Lulu sees Logan attack Maxie Jones, and when he breaks into the apartment with an axe, she kills him in self defense. When Johnny tells Claudia he is responsible for the death, the siblings attempt to cover up the murder, but Johnny is soon arrested. Lulu begins to become unstable, and she breaks Johnny out of the police station using a gun she brought and pretending to be his hostage. They assume fake identities, but Lulu begins to hallucinate, believing that she sees Logan's ghost. When Johnny learns of the similar circumstances surrounding the mental breakdown of her mother Laura Webber, he takes her to Shadybrook Sanitarium for treatment. Johnny is found not guilty for murdering Logan, and Lulu begins to recover until she sees a note acknowledging her role in Logan's death. With the help of her mother Lulu is able to recover, and the couple reconcile, though Johnny continues to be tormented over his role in Michael's injuries.
Independence
Upon learning of his father's role in the second shooting of Kate Howard and his sister's marriage of convenience to Sonny, Johnny decides to sever all ties to his family business. He moves in with new roommates Lulu and Maxie, and begins to search for a job. With no further education since high school and his known association with the mafia, Johnny finds no one willing to hire him, and during his job search he is arrested and charged with assault, a frame by Anthony in an attempt to get him to return to the organization. He is bailed out of this trouble by Lulu's father Luke Spencer, with assistance from Sonny Corinthos.
Johnny's frustration over finances and guilt over his role in Michael's coma lead him to contemplate ending his relationship with Lulu. He also considers having sex with Maxie to make sure the split is permanent, but the two are unable to go through with it. Eventually, after accompanying Maxie to an event representing Crimson, he takes Kate's offer of $1,000 per event as Maxie's official Crimson escort.
Maxie and Johnny miss another date to a club opening for Crimson to help Claudia get Ric's stomach pumped after she drugged him. Due to this, Lulu got a call stating Maxie and Johnny never arrived, prompting Spinelli and Lulu to become suspicious. Spinelli confronts Johnny about the incident, stating he will fight for Maxie. Maxie called Johnny who told Maxie to make sure Lulu doesn't know what happened.
Johnny confessed to Lulu that he and Maxie had almost had sex during the blizard. He tells her that he wants to be free to be who he is and that he doesn't want to have to apologize for everything that he does. He and Maxie later meet at the dock where he begins his next move of self-destruction, telling her he wants to burn down his life and does not care, now that Lulu is out of it. He tells her that he wants her. Spinelli later catches Maxie and Johnny engaged in a kiss.
