The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera. It
was first broadcast on March 26, 1973, and airs on CBS. The following
is a list of characters that first appeared on the soap opera in 2014,
by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by
executive producer Jill Farren Phelps and head writers Shelly Altman
and Jean Passanante.Ian Ward, portrayed by Ray Wise, made his first
appearance on January 23, 2014, as a former cult leader, believed to
be the biological father of Dylan McAvoy (Steve Burton) and former
lover of Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott). Wise's casting in the
recurring role was announced in December 2013. The character was
slated to "play an integral role in the lives of several Genoa City
residents". Michael Fairman of On-Air Soaps wrote that, "Now this is
actually good casting if you look at the eyes of Ray Wise and Steve
Burton "I think he's like everybody else; there's good and bad in all
of us. Ian certainly has that. In the past, he's been the leader of a
group of people. [Now] he has a philosophy and a kind of religion that
he follows called The Path. He's in town to find out about a certain
individual, but he's probably there to stir it up a little bit and I
think he will." After a nearly year long absence, Wise returned on
September 4, 2015.Ian Ward, portrayed by Ray Wise, made his first
appearance on January 23, 2014, as a former cult leader, believed to
be the biological father of Dylan McAvoy (Steve Burton) and former
lover of Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott). Wise's casting in the
recurring role was announced in December 2013. The character was
slated to "play an integral role in the lives of several Genoa City
residents". Michael Fairman of On-Air Soaps wrote that, "Now this is
actually good casting if you look at the eyes of Ray Wise and Steve
Burton "I think he's like everybody else; there's good and bad in all
of us. Ian certainly has that. In the past, he's been the leader of a
group of people. [Now] he has a philosophy and a kind of religion that
he follows called The Path. He's in town to find out about a certain
individual, but he's probably there to stir it up a little bit and I
think he will." After a nearly year long absence, Wise returned on
September 4, 2015.Ian arrives in Genoa City suddenly after being
informed by a co-worker that two people were looking for him in
Indiana. He surprises Nikki by appearing in her home and she
immediately tells him to leave before slapping him twice; he is
surprised that Nikki never told him he fathered a child with her. He
then introduces himself to Dylan, who is not pleased that he is in
town. Ian later overhears Summer Newman (Hunter King) talking about
being confused about her future, and he gives her a business card for
The Path, the present-day version of his cult. He later convinces her
to begin counseling with him, but Nikki and Summer's father Nicholas
Newman (Joshua Morrow) are able to stop him from scamming Summer.
Dylan later confronts Ian and asks why he should not kill him, where
he claims to have a secret. Ian is arrested and his case is taken by
Leslie Michaelson (Angell Conwell), generating controversy. Later,
Dylan and Nikki's husband Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) work to get Ian
out of town, contacting his ex-wife Willah, who later reveals that Ian
is unable to father children. Leslie also breaks the client/attorney
confidentiality clause by revealing his secret. This leads Nikki to
realize that Ian was never Dylan's father and that her lover at the
time, Paul Williams (Doug Davidson), is. Ian defends himself by saying
that when Nikki said that he was Dylan's father, he decided to come to
town and go along with her assumptions. He also threatens to report
Leslie for revealing his secret if she does not file a lawsuit against
Nikki. The lawsuit ends up happening and goes to court, where Nikki is
forced to read a diary she kept while in Ian's cult.Mariah Copeland
(Camryn Grimes), who had been shown to have been linked with Ian
somehow, was later revealed to be Sharon Newman's (Sharon Case)
daughter, Cassie Newman's twin sister who was stolen at birth by Ian.
After Mariah had revealed that he had been a father figure to her all
her life, Ian later kidnaps her, drugs her and marries her while she
is under the influence of the drugs. Ian escapes from being arrested,
and Dylan is left looking suspicious in what happened to him. He is
later arrested for Ian's murder, but Paul reveals that he knows Dylan
is innocent and Ian is alive. He enlists the help of he and Nikki to
lure Ian back to Genoa City. Nikki successfully gets Ian to a hotel
room, where he is finally arrested, and Dylan is cleared of all
charges. List of The Young and the Restless characters (1970s) Top Movies & Young Movies