Stephen Bartowski

Stephen Joseph Bartowski is a recurring character on the television series ''Chuck'' portrayed by actor Scott Bakula. Stephen is the estranged father of Chuck and Ellie Bartowski, and under the government codename "Orion" was the chief designer of the Intersect.

Biography

Few details about Stephen Bartowski's life have been revealed on the show. His wife, Mary Elizabeth Bartowski, left him under unknown circumstances when Chuck was in the fifth grade" Chuck Versus the Best Friend" and although he loved his children, Chuck describes him in " Chuck Versus the Sizzling Shrimp" as "never really there." Stephen is a computer and software genius who attended graduate school with Ted Roark, whom Bartowski would later allege stole all of his best ideas. Sometime after the end of his association with Roark, he went to work for the government. He worked with Dr. Jonas Zarnow" Chuck Versus the Helicopter" and Howard Busgang" Chuck Versus the Lethal Weapon" on the Intersect computer database, where he was the head of the project under the codename "Orion." Stephen would tell Chuck in " Chuck Versus the Dream Job," regarding the Intersect, he designed "just the really cool parts." He would later reveal to Chuck that he tested the Intersect on himself, and thus possesses an older version of it himself." Chuck Versus the Ring"

Stephen left his children eighteen years before the events of " Chuck Versus the Dream Job" after promising to make his children pancakes for dinner. This number seems to vary: in the second season, Chuck says that their father abandoned them ten years ago, but at the end of the third season, Chuck indicates that father was distant for much longer, as Ellie had to raise Chuck and manage the family finances when she was twelve due to the fact that their father was too busy with his work after their mother left; their mother supposedly left within days of Chuck breaking Mary's necklace.

At some point, Stephen learned what the government intended to do with the Intersect and knew that others would want it too, whereas he wanted to use it to help people as a learning device. Stephen decided then that he had to go on the run, and stay away from his children in order to protect them. It was also mentioned by Stephen and Bryce, that he requested Bryce keep an eye out for Chuck while at Stanford and was a key reason Bryce had Chuck expelled, so the CIA wouldn't 'ruin' him.

After completing the original Cipher, Stephen purged his personal records and disappeared. Ever since, he has been the target of a major global manhunt by the NSA. According to the "Spy Dossiers" at NBC.com, the manhunt has continued for "over five years,"''NBC.com''
''Spy Dossiers''
and General Beckman claims to have "had an army of analysts and spies hunting for Orion since before Sarah Walker was">Sarah_Walker_(Chuck).html" ;"title="/nowiki>Sarah Walker (Chuck)">Sarah Walker wasin a training bra,"" Chuck Versus the Dream Job" which if taken at all literally would indicate a much longer manhunt given that Walker is roughly 26 when Beckman makes the claim.

With only his codename to go on, Stephen was targeted by both the government and Fulcrum. Fulcrum assigned Fulcrum (Chuck)#Vincent">Vincent