Henry Wu

"Henry Wu was an only child from Ohio. A prodigy, he gained early attention from his undergraduate thesis at MIT."-John Hammond

Biography
Dr. Henry Wu was the chief geneticist for Jurassic Park and was responsible for creating the dinosaurs. He was a slender man in his thirties.

Halfway through the original novel, John Hammond and Henry Wu have a discussion. Wu says that they could and should make better, tamer dinosaurs. Hammond scoffs at the idea, saying that they have real dinosaurs; who would want more? Wu's reply is that they should not bother with reality because the people coming to see Jurassic Park do not want reality, they want their expectations. With Hammond's dismissal, Wu is forced to realize that Hammond cares far less for his opinion than he did when Wu was first hired. Around the time of this conversation, it is hinted that Wu may have had some romantic interest in Marìa, a silent serving girl who he could not take his eyes off of.

Prompted by Alan Grant later in the novel, Wu checked the dinosaurs' DNA to find which species had amphibian DNA. He discovered that the species that were breeding all contained amphibian DNA. Wu did not understand the connection between amphibian DNA and the dinosaurs being able to breed, as Grant never had a chance to explain it to him, but nevertheless, Wu was then convinced that they could breed. Although he would never admit it, Wu was strangely proud that he had recreated animals so lifelike that they could reproduce themselves.

When Wu and the rest of those in the control room realized that the park had been running on backup power, Wu's job was to stay in the control room until Arnold could reboot the system. Then, Wu was supposed to start up the computer and restore power to the fences. Unfortunately, he was forced to rejoin the others in the Safari Lodge after two failed attempts to reboot the system from the maintenance shed. On his way to the lodge, Wu picked up an injured Robert Muldoon and brought him back with him in the gas Jeep. Later on, over the radio, Wu talked Grant through rebooting the park's systems. Soon afterwards, Wu, while telling Ellie Sattler to come back to the lodge, is ambushed from above by velociraptors and devoured alive after being sliced down the back.

Hammond blamed Wu as the reason for the downfall of the park towards the end of the novel, concluding that Wu had been too preoccupied with the idea of making improvements instead of making dinosaurs. Hammond found faults with many of his employees, telling himself that next time he created a park, he would do better.

Trespasser
According to Trespasser, Wu grew up as an only child in Ohio and was a prodigy. He went to MIT and gained attention for his undergraduate thesis.

Novel
Two weeks after the funeral of scientist Norman Atherton, John Hammond came to see Wu. When Henry Wu was first recruited by John Hammond, he was a twenty-eight-year-old graduate student getting his doctorate at Stanford under the chief lab scientist Norman Atherton. Everyone in the lab knew that Atherton had had some association with Hammond, although the details were never clear. Norman always said Henry was the best geneticist in his lab, and it was this recommendation that caught Hammond's attention making Wu the clear candidate to help Hammond with his secret project.

Roles
He played a much larger role in the book than in the film. He was killed in the novel during the Isla Nublar Incident by a velociraptor when it striked him in the back with its claw whilst he was trying to warn Ellie Sattler that the raptors were coming down off the Safari Lodge roof. He survived in the film by escaping on the last boat to the East Dock before the storm hits. His character portrayal in the novel is somewhat replaced by the film's portrayal of Robert Muldoon.

Jurassic Park The Game
Dr.Sokin mentions him in Chapter 2. And is again mentioned by Dr.Sokin somewhere in Chapter 3.

Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis
In the game Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, Henry Wu is a primary character in the game. He is credited as the Creator of Jurassic Park's cloning technology. He aids the player that objects in the park must be researched, but studying cost some revenue from your invest. You must obey his researching topics to add new items to the game. However, Henry Wu will also be obeying you if you would like to extract, sell, or purchase an item: (a dinosaur fossil, amber, or rich substance). He is the Head of the Genetic Lab. In the game, he is renamed Harry Wu for some reason (This is likely just an informal version of his name). He will send you mail several times, and Alan Grant will send the purchased items to his Genetic Lab. In the game, it requires 50% of Dinosaur DNA to create a dinosaur and finally open it into a cage. He does not have to create all of your park's dinosaurs if your hatcheries you open in a game already have enough DNA.

In The Comics
In the comics Wu survives the incident and gets off the island on a boat. 13 years after the incident at Isla Nublar, Wu is hired by Tim Murphy as a caretaker and bioengineer for a new Jurassic Park on the mainland. However, he is killed by a pack of Gracilisuchus that escape from their pen which Lewis Dodgson did not close properly.

Links

 * Wu Central