The High Table
The ancient shadow council ruling the assassin underworld with absolute authority.
The High Table is a council of twelve high-level leaders of the underworld in the John Wick films. Every Continental manager, including Winston Scott, Sofia Al-Azwar, Julius and Shimazu Koji, swears fealty to it, and every assassin is bound by two rules: no business may be conducted on Continental grounds, and every marker must be honored; breaking them risks being made "excommunicado".
Quick Facts
- Affiliation
- Global Underworld Network
- First appears
- John Wick Chapter 2
- Currency
- Gold Coins
Lore & Background
In John Wick: Chapter 2, Santino D'Antonio forces John to kill his sister Gianna so that Santino can claim her seat at the High Table. After John kills Santino on Continental grounds he is declared excommunicado, and the bounty on him is doubled and offered globally by the High Table. Only the Elder, who sits above the High Table, can rescind the excommunicado, and in Chapter 3 – Parabellum the High Table's Adjudicator punishes those who helped John and revokes the New York Continental's neutral status.
Reader's Guide
In Chapter 4, the High Table sends the Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont with unlimited resources to kill John; he destroys the New York Continental and executes Charon. Winston suggests an old High Table tradition, a duel, which John can request only on behalf of a crime family, and after John kills the Marquis the Harbinger, a high-ranking operative of the High Table, grants John and Caine their freedom from it. In the prequel series The Continental, set in the 1970s, the High Table's Adjudicator is played by Katie McGrath.
Did You Know?
- Transactions within their network often utilize gold coins rather than traditional currency or digital transfers.
- Rules may be side-stepped only in very rare circumstances, such as when a Continental Hotel is "deconsecrated".
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is The High Table?
The High Table serves as the supreme governing council for the global network of assassins and criminal syndicates. Every Continental manager swears fealty to it.
What are The High Table's powers and role?
They possess absolute authority over the underworld, dictating how violence is conducted and managing neutral sanctuaries like the Continental Hotels. Its agents include the Adjudicator, who in Chapter 3 – Parabellum punishes Winston, the Bowery King and the Director for helping John.
More in Lore & History
Elsewhere in John Wick
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