In The Dead Zone, the man who awakens from a coma with psychic abilities is Johnny Smith.
Stephen King’s 1979 science-fiction thriller follows Johnny after a car accident leaves him in a coma for nearly five years. When he wakes, he has suffered permanent brain damage, but other parts of his mind appear to compensate by producing clairvoyant and precognitive visions.
Johnny’s abilities are often triggered by touching a person or object. He may see hidden details from the past, possible events in the future, or information connected to the person or thing he touches. The novel’s title refers to a damaged part of his brain where some information remains inaccessible.
Johnny Smith is sometimes confused with his television counterpart because the 2002 series changes details of his biography and coma. Christopher Walken played him in the 1983 film, while Anthony Michael Hall portrayed him on television. In every major version, however, Johnny is the central character who develops the psychic gift.