It’s been years since General Hospitalfans have seen Ethan Lovett (Nathan Dean) on screen. However, all of that has changed now that Ethan has emerged in Port Charles.
The character, played by Dean, appeared on the canvas in 2009. Ethan was a troublemaker from the second he came to town, as he tried to break into the Haunted Star bar owned by Luke (Anthony Geary).
General Hospital: A Brief Refresher on Ethan
When Luke caught Ethan, the two bonded, leading to the revelation that Ethan had met Holly (Emma Samms) while working on a con. Holly suggested Ethan head to Port Charles to meet the master of all cons, Luke, to pick up some more skills.
After Helena (Constance Towers) suggested that Ethan and Luke may be related, Tracy (Jane Elliot) began to suspect Holly might be Ethan’s biological mom. Tracy was right, but feared Luke was the dad, so she changed the test results to reveal Robert (Tristan Rogers) as Ethan’s biological father.
Eventually, as sparks flew between Ethan and Lulu (then Julie Marie Berman), Tracy came clean, admitting that Luke was Ethan’s father, not Robert.
Along with the paternity storyline, Ethan’s other big storyline involved Kristina (then Lexi Answorth) crushing on him. Teen Kristina was not only too young for Ethan but also had an abusive boyfriend, Kiefer (Christian Alexander).
The more Kristina fantasized about Ethan, the more abusive Kiefer became, nearly killing her on one occasion, as Ethan found her just in time to get her to the hospital.
However, a scared Kristina didn’t want her mob boss father, Sonny (Maurice Benard), to get revenge on Kiefer, so she named Ethan as her abuser. Since Luke and Sonny were best friends, she figured her dad wouldn’t kill Ethan, which wasn’t the case, and Ethan was saved by his father, Luke.
Months later, Lucky (Jonathan Jackson) and Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) figured out the truth, as did Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn). It took time, but Ethan and Kristina eventually made peace.
For the most part, Ethan was heavily involved in storylines that focused on his family and cons. The character made several return visits to the ABC soap after Dean officially exited the series in 2013.
The last time General Hospital fans saw Ethan was when he was being held captive and played by a different actor. James Ryan took over the role from Dean for the couple of episodes that saw Holly and Felicia (Kristina Wagner) save Ethan from Victor Cassadine (Charles Shaughnessy).
Ethan has missed a lot in his time away from Port Charles, including the death of his father, Luke. It remains unclear what brings Ethan back to reunite with his sister Lulu (now Alexa Havins).