Jacob "Jake" Luke Long
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Jacob "Jake" Luke Long is the protagonist and titular character from Disney's animated television series American Dragon: Jake Long. He is voiced by Dante Basco.
Contents |
[edit] About Jake
[edit] Background Info/History
Jake Long is a thirteen-year-old Chinese American boy who lives in New York City with his parents (Johnathan and Susan) and his eight-year-old sister, Haley. His two best friends are Trixie Carter and Arthur "Spud" Spudinski. He is a descendant of a family of dragons. On his thirteenth birthday, his magical abilities emerged fully and he was set to protect an underground magical community existing within his city and throughout the world.
The emergence of his dragon powers also made him first official magical guardian of the United States, dubbed as "The American Dragon". Under the training of his grandfather, Lao Shi, and his animal guardian, Fu Dog, Jake would be taught in the methods of his dragon abilities, and his duties as a magical guardian. His "territory" would be restricted to the area of New York (though would extend to other places if he happened to be there, such as the forests of New Jersey in "The Long Weekend"), and he is destined to become the representative dragon of the whole country.
[edit] Personality
Jake is generally a laid-back character, though usually is naive and stubborn under varying situations. In the presence of others, he generally acts very flashy in an attempt to look cool (resorting to use of "hip-hop slang"), but usually ends up failing or making himself look less cool in the process. This aspect of himself was reduced in Season 2 (possibly due to the increasing conflicts in his life, such as dragon work and his relationship with Rose), though he still suffers from moments of rather large embarrassment from foolish acts, such as having a candid picture of himself in boxer shorts printed in a popular magical magazine ("Family Business").
He generally exhibits careless or irresponsible behavior in many different aspects of his life. Many events throughout the series show his mistakes in his duties as a dragon, such as abandoning his regular training routine ("Old School Training"), misusing dragon powers ("Shapeshifter", "The Doppelgänger Gang"), or generally just screwing up his assignments ("Act 4, Scene 15", "Jake Takes the Cake"). In his school life, he exhibits careless behavior in assignments, leading to poor grades and bad relationships with teachers (primarily Professor Rotwood); admittedly, it could also be said that this is also caused by secretive duties as a dragon, rather than simple carelessness. He's also generally shown to take advantage of possible short-cuts to help ease the hectic load of his life at home, school, and the magical community ("Body Guard Duty", "The Doppelgänger Gang"). For many of his mistakes that result from this type of behavior, he is usually quick in trying to rectify the resulting situations.
Jake's also been shown to be naive in his overall decision-making skills, unaware or uncaring of what consequences might result from his actions. In his many fights as a dragon, he's also been shown to be very cocky or underestimating of his opponents, which usually results to him being put at a disadvantage in battle.
The events that occur in the series generally are built around to have Jake learn his lessons after the consequences of unfortunate actions are resolved. In the transition to Season 2, Jake generally does exhibit some more responsible or diligent behavior as a dragon, though still tends to make (or even repeat) mistakes.
[edit] Talents and Interests
Jake is an avid skateboarder, often taking frequent stops at his local skate-park and using his skateboard as his primary transportation in the local area. It's implied that he actually has a somewhat professional skill in the sport (by trying to attend a contest in the Lilo & Stitch: The Series crossover episode, "Morpholomew"), but it's never actually been proven. It's also been shown that he has great snowboarding skills as well ("The Ski Trip"), which most likely is transferred over from his skateboarding experience.
By no surprise (in accordance with his personality), Jake is a big fan of hip-hop and rap music. He's noted that his favorite artist is the (fictional) female pop singer, Shaniqua Chulavista, with her hit single, "Baby, Don't Be Frontin'" (see "The Legend of Dragon Tooth"). It's also been occasionally shown that, along with his preference of that music, he has some skills as a breakdancer.
Rounding out his "typical teenage interests" are a love of video games (as he's shown playing many video games with friends, and even attending an annual "VidGame Con" in "Haley Gone Wild") and the questionable art of "goofing off".
[edit] Personal Conflicts
Throughout the series, Jake has been confronted with different sets of conflicts that revolve around his identity and duties as the American Dragon, as well as his friends and family.
[edit] Secret Identity
At the beginning of the series, it was revealed that Jake's dragon powers were a secret to the general public (including his friends), as well as his father, Johnathan.
Jake's secret identity caused many conflicts with Trixie and Spud, forcing him to abandon social plans with them, simply mentioning that he had to "work at his grandpa's shop". It was also a source of spurring questionable decisions in their view, which would often lead to the suspicion that Jake was becoming less of a friend to them (such as his abandoning of Spud's talent act in "The Talented Mr. Long" in order to retrieve a magic chalice). Some time into the series, Jake's dragon identity was revealed to Trixie and Spud, after they nearly (and unsuspectingly) caused Jake's secret to be revealed to the world (see "Professor Rotwood's Thesis"). Their knowledge of the magical world was revealed to be prohibited by the Dragon Council, but Jake refused the proposed action of erasing their memories of his identity, and has since allowed Trixie and Spud to accompany and help him on future missions.
Johnathan Long was completely unknowing of the existence of magical creatures, and of the fact that his wife and two children were dragons. John's ignorance of this fact caused him to be completely unknowing of Jake's "troublesome" behavior — usually resulting from his duties as a dragon — which caused him to unfairly punish his son on several occasions. It has also shown him becoming rather over-protective of his son due to his perception of his behavior, going as far as to set up a high-tech security system around the perimeter of his room (see "Haley Gone Wild"). Unknowing of why his mother was so afraid to admit the secret to his father, Jake tried to do this himself in "Hero of the Hourglass" by time-traveling back to when his father was a teenager and telling him the truth then, theoretically undoing all of his unfair punishments or other events resulting from him not knowing about magical creatures. Johnathan's horrified reaction, and the resulting events that occurred afterward (Johnathan breaking up with Susan, threatening Jake's existence; being captured by the Huntsclan and having his life threatened) ultimately caused Jake to realize that he is simply safer and better off not knowing of the secret (as Johnathan remarks to his son at the end of the mentioned episode: "I just can't bear the thought of seeing you hurt.").
[edit] The Dark Dragon
In "Dragon Summit", the Magical World's #1 threat is revealed to be the Dark Dragon: a dragon consumed by powerful dark magic. Jake finds out that the only dragon to ever fight him and survive was his grandfather. This also revealed why Lao Shi insisted on training his grandson, as he feared he might have to face the Dark Dragon someday. Sure enough, Jake was confronted by the villainous dragon--fueled by revenge of the defeat by his grandfather--during his "Courage in Flight" Dragon Test, and was able to survive the fight with him (with some assistance from Fred Nerk).
In "Hong Kong Nights", the Dark Dragon confronts Jake once again, after kidnapping Lao Shi, offering Jake a partnership in helping in his plan of overthrowing the human dominance of the world to restore the former rule of magical creatures. Jake refuses, and, with the help of his various magical and non-magical friends, defeats the Dark Dragon once again in another battle, though it was unbeknownst to him if he was truly defeated.
It's been revealed that the Dark Dragon will once again appear to fight Jake in the concluding episode(s) of Season 2.
[edit] Rose/Huntsgirl & The Huntsman's Plot
Meeting her as "the new girl" at his school, Jake instantly fell in love with Rose. Around the same time, he encountered the young, female apprentice of the Huntsman: the Huntsgirl. Throughout the first season, Jake went through romantic developments with Rose, and through many battling bouts with Huntsgirl, never realizing that they were the very same person. (The conflict mimicked the "tragic irony" of many influential love stories--Shakespeare being no exception--and is especially noted initially in "Act 4, Scene 15".) Any vague evidence connecting the two personalities he interacted with frequently was quickly dismissed by Jake.
In "The Ski Trip", Jake finally discovered the hard-hitting evidence (the elaborate birthmark on Huntsgirl's hand; the exact same one that Rose revealed to him earlier) that proves to himself that his obsessive love-interest was, in fact, a major archenemy. The revelation causes him to be very wary and cautious of Rose (a feeling also majorly exhibited by Trixie), and led to him avoiding her at school. However, in "The Hunted", as Huntsgirl is about to slay the American Dragon that she's been hunting for so long, Jake reveals his human identity to her. Rose then spares Jake's life and immediately runs off. Jake soon finds out that Rose has transferred out of his school (with no known forwarding address), and Season 1 concludes with Jake depressed at her sudden disappearance.
Season 2 picks up with Jake's emotional state damaged in "Half Baked", as he suffers from depression and distraction from his work due to the disappearance of Rose. After a portal spell that went awry at a school carnival, Jake witnesses Rose alive and (supposedly) well. Later, in "The Academy", Jake and Spud--undercover in a Huntsclan Academy, trying to access info on a predicted doomsday plot to be executed by the Huntsman--discover Rose's location: inside the very same Huntsclan Academy, sent back for "messing up in the field". Rose also soon discovers Jake and Spud in their undercover disguises in the academy, and agrees to help them in their information-gathering. Unfortunately, Jake blows his cover, and is imprisoned by the Huntsclan, so that he may be slain by Rose (as it will be the only way she may graduate from the academy). Jake and Rose set up a stunt to fake Jake's death, allowing Rose to be released from the Huntsclan Academy, and allowing Jake and Spud to travel back to New York (though, without the details of the Huntsman's plot). It's soon revealed that Rose was allowed to rejoin the Huntsman back in New York (under his close watch) and attend Jake's school again, where she promised to help with Jake's efforts in thwarting his plans.
The details and structure of the Huntsman's plan (which was mentioned as far back as "Half Baked", where Rose tries to warn Jake of his "big plans") are soon revealed in "Breakout". His plan involves the collection of thirteen Aztec skull artifacts, that, when brought together, would spell the ultimate doom for all magical creatures. The skulls are guarded by various different magical creatures (the Guardian Serpent being the only one seen so far), and have been hunted diligently by the Huntsman. Jake managed to retrieve one skull (at the end of "Breakout"), while the Huntsman still has the majority of the collection in his possession. Jake also obtained another skull in "Fool's Gold" after he unsuspectingly delivered it to the Huntsman while working for a leprechaun clan.
[edit] Dragon Powers
As a dragon, Jake possess many different superhuman powers and abilities. Some episodes of the series revolve around Jake gaining new powers or developing current ones. Here is a list of his currently known Dragon Powers:
1. Shapeshifting/Transformation: Jake has the ability to transform between his normal human body, and his unique dragon form. The nature of the transformation shifted between Seasons 1 and 2. In Season 1, Jake's transformation was accompanied by flames that quickly ran across parts of his body (this was also usually accompanied by a small "transformation scene"). In Season 2, his dragon transformation is accompanied by an engulfing, thick, blue aura that usually would stem from his hands and cover his body as he transformed. Jake also is able to independently transform an individual part of his body (arms, legs, ears, eyes, etc) into its dragon counterpart. It's revealed in "Shapeshifter" that he (as well as all dragons) possessed latent "all-purpose" transformation powers, which allow him to transform into any person he chooses. That ability, however, can only be accessed through use of a special potion, which also robs him of the use of his other dragon powers.
2. Flight: Jake's possession of wings as a dragon allows him to be able to take flight in an often fast and highly-maneuverable fasion. It's an ability used frequently in combat--for dodging and attacking, alike--and also allows him to travel across the city in a quicker fashion. In "Body Guard Duty", Jake's highest (and only recorded) flight speed is clocked at 179 mph.
3. Super-strength/Dragon Claws: As a dragon, Jake possesses superhuman strength. This ability is complemented by his dragon claws, which have been shown to be able to rip through solid concrete and other durable forms of matter. His feats of strength have been exhibited numerous times throughout the series, such as being able to hold or overpower large magical creatures ("Family Business", "Breakout"), or be able to uphold large inanimate objects ("The Legend of Dragon Tooth", "Hero of the Hourglass").
4. "Eye/Ear of the Dragon": As a dragon (and when he individually transforms his eyes or ears when in human form), Jake's vision and hearing are increased exponentially. He's able to utilize a natural form of infared vision, allowing him to see through the darkness, and see at longer distances than normal. His hearing is able to pick out individual sources of sound, that may be either far away from him, or obscured by noise-blocking obstacles.
5. Fire-Breathing: A staple associated with any dragon mythology, Jake possesses the ability to breath fire at will. He's able to either produce a steady stream of flame, or concentrated balls of fire. Relating to this, there's also instances shown where Jake has the ability to somewhat manipulate the fire that he produces ("Old School Training", "The Hunted"), where he's able to handle a fireball he produces without any harm to his hand.
6. "The Doppelgänger Technique": A dragon power revealed and used in "The Doppelgänger Gang". This power is revealed as an inherent skill all dragons possess: the ability to project one's personal chi into a temporary copy of one self--a doppelgänger. It's claimed as a helpful defensive technique, used to distract or fool enemies during battles. The ability to create multiple doppelgängers is possible, but at the cost of losing one's own life energy and causing themselves to become weaker overall. The turnout of a created doppelgänger depends on what kind of chi it is formed from; a doppelgänger formed from positive chi will be good and obedient, while one formed from negative chi will be evil and disobedient to its creator (as evidenced by Jake's creation of "Yang Jake", an evil version of himself).
Categories: American Dragon: Jake Long characters | Fictional dragons | Fictional heroes | Fictional characters with the power to manipulate fire | Fictional messiahs | Child superheroes | Fictional Eurasians | Disney protagonists | Fictional New Yorkers | Fictional skateboarders | Fictional rappers | Fictional characters with alter-egos | Fictional Asian Americans
