Ryan Chappelle

Ryan Chappelle was the Regional Division Director of CTU. At various points in Days 1, 2, and 3, he assumed control and often bogged down operations with a heavily bureaucratic and inflexible style of management. He was shot and killed by Jack Bauer during the events of Day 3, under the request of Stephen Saunders and order of President David Palmer. His high-ranking position was eventually filled by Bill Buchanan.

Day 1


During the events of Day 1, there was an assassination plot against Senator David Palmer, the first African-American with a decent shot at the US presidency. CTU Los Angeles was put in charge of the investigation. Over the course of the day, Ira Gaines kidnapped Teri and Kim Bauer. He used this as leverage against Jack Bauer, the Special Agent in Charge of CTU, in order to have Jack be implicated in the assassination plot. After Jack escaped from the Secret Service's custody, Alberta Green took over command of CTU. Eventually Alberta was informed about the situation and Jack and his family were successfully rescued.

Approximately at 1:18pm, Chappelle arrived at CTU, from District Command. Chappelle greeted Tony Almeida and quickly progressed over to Jack's holding cell. Chappelle and Jack greet each other through a handshake, but Chappelle quickly has them sit down. Jack wanted to speak with Chappelle over everything that happened over the course of the day, but Chappelle immediately stopped him. He then turned on a recording device and asked for Jack to continue. As Chappelle continues with the debrief, he asks Jack why he didn't inform Division about the situation with his family. Jack told him that it was because his family was in danger and the fact that Jamey Farrell was revealed to be a mole, with a possibility of their being more dirty agents. Though Chappelle was sympathetic towards Jack, Bauer had broken several protocols and Chappelle could not reinstate him. Jack pleaded to be reinstated, as there was a second hit and Palmer's life was in danger. Chappelle told Jack that he would reinstate him if Alberta needed his help.

Chappelle's cell phone rang and Nina Myers was on the line. She requested to speak with Jack and Chappelle handed over his phone to him. He then left the room and had one of the security guards keep on eye on Jack. Around 20 minutes later, Chappelle asked to speak with Tony. Chappelle asked for Tony's opinion and assessment on the actions that Jack made over the past several hours. Tony admitted that he wasn't the biggest fan of Jack and he didn't like the way Jack operates and breaks protocol. However, Tony admitted he agreed with every move Jack had made since midnight. Chappelle thought Tony would side against Jack, as he called George Mason into CTU earlier in the morning, in order to initiate a lockdown. Tony told Chappelle that he didn't have all of the details at that time.



When Senator Palmer arrived at CTU to speak with Jack, Chappelle refused to grant him access. Palmer called in a friend from Washington, who called up Chappelle. Chappelle was given a direct order to give Palmer everything he needed. When Mike Novick called, Palmer had to leave CTU and he asked Chappelle to reinstate Jack on a provisional basis. Though Chappelle was hesitant, he reluctantly agreed and made a few calls. He then left CTU for Division, where Alberta Green was transferred to.

At around 8pm, Victor and Andre Drazen took Jack hostage and offered to give him up in exchange for Alexis Drazen. George tried to get a hold of Chappelle, in order to get permission for the exchange. At approximately 8:43pm, Chappelle called Mason and told him that he should have kept Jack on a tighter leash. Mason reminded Chappelle that Victor Drazen wouldn't have escaped if it wasn't for Jack, but Chappelle wasn't ecstatic, as Victor wasn't an official DOD prisoner. Chappelle didn't authorize the exchange, but Mason went forward with it when Palmer convinced him.

Day 2
President David Palmer arrived at District Headquarters after the detonation of a nuclear weapon in the Mojave Desert, where he was briefed by Chappelle.

Chappelle later came into CTU Los Angeles and officially named Tony Almeida the new Acting Special Agent in Charge of CTU. Chappelle's orders were to direct CTU's resources to plan a military assault on three nations who were believed to have funded a nuclear weapon to explode in Los Angeles. Jack believed that the evidence which supported this was fake and went rogue to try and prove it. Chappelle, believing the evidence to be genuine, ignored Jack's investigation and ordered all CTU personnel to focus on the impending war between the United States and the nations that had allegedly funded the nuclear bomb's dispersal.

Tony decided that Jack may be right and decided to help him. To do this, however, he had to get Michelle Dessler to drug Chappelle and hide him. When the Deputy Director, Brad Hammond, could not contact Chappelle, he and his officers came to CTU looking for him.

Tony and Michelle were arrested and held for questioning. Chappelle received orders to help Jack because it was believed his lead was for real. Chappelle had to trust Tony and Michelle, and was forced to release them in return for information on Jack's location.

At the end of the day, Chappelle decided to give Tony permanent command of CTU Los Angeles.

Day 3


After Tony Almeida was shot in the neck during Day 3, Chappelle was called in to take command of CTU. Chappelle decided to try and capture Jack Bauer before he could deliver Ramon Salazar to terrorists in Las Nieves, a town in Northern Mexico. He planned to shoot down Jack and Ramon's chopper, but Chase told him that he should get permission from David Palmer first, a close personal friend of Jack. Chappelle did this, but by the time Palmer made his choice it was too late; Jack had flown over downtown LA and he could not be shot down as it would cause massive collateral damage. After Michelle discovered Tony was out of surgery and would be alright, Chappelle gave her an awkward hug, suggesting a friendship between the two. She toyed with the idea of asking him to go and see Tony at the hospital, but he sent her some busywork and she initially missed her opportunity.

Later in Day 3, Chappelle decided to relieve Chloe O'Brian of duty because she broke procedure by bringing a baby into CTU. He was forced to reinstate her temporarily though, when a computer virus activated by Nina Myers threatened to shut down CTU's firewalls. When Chloe revealed that Chase was the father of the baby, he allowed her to stay on. When Michelle requested suicide capsules for the people at the Chandler Plaza Hotel to stop their suffering, Tony began to ready them. Chappelle caught him, but allowed him to continue.

After that, Chappelle followed the lead of a bank transaction in hopes of locating Stephen Saunders, the mastermind behind the bio-terrorist attack. Saunders was holding the US government hostage with the threat of releasing vials of the deadly Cordilla virus into the general population. Saunders discovered Chappelle's investigation and ordered President Palmer to have Chappelle executed.

When a plan to capture Saunders failed, the President was forced to order Jack Bauer to kill Chappelle. At the trainyard, Chappelle asked Jack if he would allow him the dignity of letting him shoot himself, but when Jack handed over the gun Chappelle was unable to go through with it. He handed the gun back to Jack, who apologized for letting him down. Chappelle shook his head, but did not say a thing. Jack paused for a moment, seeming unable to do it himself, but eventually shot him once through the back of the head. Chappelle's dead body fell to the floor as the sound of a train passing echoed around the yard.

Findings at CTU
Marc Cerasini's investigation of the House Special Subcommittee's report on CTU provided the following background information on Chappelle's life prior to Day 1:

Personal

 * Wife: Victoria "Vicky" Chappelle
 * Son: Ryan Victor Chappelle, Jr.
 * Daughter: Caitlin Keller Chappelle
 * Daughter: Christine Temple Chappelle

Education

 * Master of Business Administration, Wharton
 * Bachelor of Science, Government, New York University

Work experience

 * CTU - Regional District Director, Los Angeles Office
 * Regional Administrator, Hotel Los Angeles attack, 1998
 * Assistant Regional Administrator, Operation Farmhouse, 1997
 * Deputy Director of Administration, Central Intelligence Agency
 * Assistant to the Deputy Director of Administration, Central Intelligence Agency

Stories
Chappelle was largely responsible for coordinating the response to the hostage crisis at the Hotel Long Beach, although it is unclear why he was at CTU Los Angeles or what position he held.

Operation Hell Gate
Ryan Chappelle was the Administrative Director at CTU Los Angeles during the Hell Gate mission. He coordinated operations between Los Angeles and New York with plenty of help from Nina Myers.

Veto Power
Chappelle arrived to ask what Jack Bauer was doing after he raided the Greater Nation compound. Kelly Sharpton, the then Special Agent in Charge was unsure, but Jack informed them that he had discovered a lead to a terrorist base. Chappelle grudgingly went along with the plan. Jessi Bandison approached him and told him that Sharpton had asked to hack into the Department of Justice's files, specifically that of James Quincy, the Attorney General. Chappelle arrested Sharpton for this. He interrogated Sharpton, and just before he was about to be taken away by the FBI, Chappelle received a call from the Attorney General telling him that Sharpton should be released (as he was being coerced by Sharpton's friend Senator Debrah Drexler).

Chappelle also sat in on the briefing with all the department heads when Jack learned about the upcoming assassination attempt on President Barnes. However, Chappelle rebuked Jack when one member realized that the threat, supposedly taking place in Los Angeles, was incorrect, as the President would not be in Los Angeles on the supposed day of the assassination attempt.

Trojan Horse
Chappelle was present during the events of Trojan Horse.

The Game
Chappelle showed up during 24: The Game in order to help CTU with the terrorist threat. He inadvertently triggered an EMP while he was interrogating Joseph Sin-Chung, which allowed Peter Madsen and Sid Wilson to attack CTU. Later, he wanted to reprimand Jack Bauer, but Jack talked him out of it. He also attempted to send Chase Edmunds back to CTU Washington but Jack convinced him to let him help with the pursuit of the terrorists.

Cat's Claw
During the Cat's Claw mission, Chappelle made his way to the conference hall where President Harry Barnes and Chinese premier Xu Boxiong were having a private, unscheduled meeting after the G8 talks of the day which caused much uproar amongst the public. He informed the President that an antivirus had been found once Jack Bauer retrieved the vial, and helped the President to get the antidote.

Vanishing Point
Chappelle was present during the events of Vanishing Point.

Chaos Theory
Chappelle was present during the events of Chaos Theory.

Trinity
Chappelle was the Division director of CTU Los Angeles during Trinity. He greeted Jack Bauer, but not until he had seen Jack's identification. He then proceeded to tell off some relaxing workers at CTU, and insisted that if Jack did not join CTU, he would not be able to follow up on the mission as he desired.

He later berated Jack for interrogation of some suspects, and second-guessed the CIA operatives actions all day. He was later involved with a conference call with Langley to determine whether it was worth keeping the newly established CTU open, which he eventually convinced them it was thanks to Jack.

Head Shot
Chappelle told Jack to go to Colorado to investigate a threat to the Sky Mount Round Table conference, as well as the disappearance of two dozen members of a cult operating nearby and to see if they were connected. Chappelle thought it was necessary that Jack went rather than just giving the case to CTU Denver as he wanted to extend the reach of his influence, as well as having a long-standing rivalry with the head of CTU Denver, Orlando Garcia.

Background information and notes

 * Although he did not appear until "Day 1: 1:00pm-2:00pm," Chappelle was first mentioned in the pilot episode.
 * Chappelle's e-mail address was seen on screen as chappelle@hq.cal.gov.
 * Chappelle's voice was heard over the phone in "Day 2: 12:00pm-1:00pm," but it was not Paul Schulze who spoke those lines.
 * Paul Schulze appeared as a corpse in "Day 3: 7:00am-8:00am" and was credited for the appearance. This brings his episode count to 24 episodes.
 * Chappelle's death was marked by the use of a silent clock at the end of the episode. This was the fourth appearance of the silent clock. Additionally, there was no split screen preceding the end of the episode, and Chappelle is the only character not in the main cast to be so honored.
 * Chappelle had a wife and children. Just before his death when Jack asked him if there was anyone he wished to say goodbye to, Ryan mentioned his brother but not his family.
 * In Season 7, Larry Moss lists Chappelle, along with Curtis Manning and Teri Bauer as people who didn't survive being around Jack.