Doug Knowles

Douglas "Doug" Knowles was the chairman of the board of directors for Starkwood during Day 7.

Before Day 7

Knowles profile

Doug Knowles was born in Boston on December 15, 1957. After graduating from Yale University with a Masters degree, he began a long history of employment with the CIA, and eventually became director of operations there. Eventually, Jonas Hodges met Doug and treated him like a son. Twenty years before Day 7, they started Starkwood from the ground up.

Doug was responsible for securing overseas contracts with the United States government, under former President Noah Daniels, permitting Starkwood mercenaries to participate in military conflicts. This was later canceled following the inauguration of President Allison Taylor and her administration. He agreed to open the company's books to the governmental investigation, and Knowles cooperated fully with Senator Blaine Mayer. As of Day 7, Doug had a wife, Margaret.

Day 7

At about 10:00pm, Doug and other Starkwood executives were assembled at the group's headquarters by Jonas Hodges. There, he listened to Hodges' rant about how their soldiers could have protected America if their contracts weren't canceled. But Doug differed with Hodges' more ambitious and immoral plans. Outside the offices, he confronted him about the death of Senator Blaine Mayer, but was dismissed by Hodges, who was disappointed they couldn't see things the same way. Doug wanted reassurance from Jonas that he was not involved in the murder of Blaine Mayer, but Hodges only replied that Starkwood wasn't in the business of political assassination. Hodges then suggested that it might be more profitable, which visibly unnerved Doug, as he walked away.

Doug's body.

Shortly after midnight, Doug was watching the FBI raid on Starkwood from a tower of the complex. He was called by Jack Bauer who plead for him to give some assistance, since Hodges was obviously going to jail for his crimes. He agreed and snuck around the outside of tower, where he met Tony Almeida, who had slipped away from the commandos. At the entrance of a secure warehouse, they were forced to break a code on the door as a patrol came through. Doug slipped away from Tony and approached the patrol in order to divert their attention away from the building, and Tony's break-in.

At the command of Hodges, he was returned to his office by force and detained. When Hodges finally arrived, Doug confronted Hodges about the bioweapons the FBI claimed were on site. Hodges voiced his suspicions of Doug, which both knew were true. Doug continued with his concerns and the repercussions of a potential war against their own country. But Hodges berated him for his lack of loyalty.

Hodges repeatedly bashed him over the head with a heavy whiskey decanter and flipped him over the railing to the floor below. Doug plunged to his death onto an empty fountain, which had a large map of the world etched into it. Hodges tried to clean his bloodied shirt as he took a call from Greg Seaton. When Seaton later noticed the blood on his shirt, Hodges sarcastically joked, "Too bad Mr. Knowles can't be joining us."