History Characters / BrooklynNineNineJakePeralta

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: The Performer to Santiago's Technician.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: A mild example; he has some very strange ideas about how the world works.

* BreakingTheCycleOfBadParenting: [[spoiler:Jake's dad walked out on his family when Jake was just a child (and has at least four illegitimate children who's lives he is also generally absent from), his grandfather was emotionally abusive to Jake's father, his great-grandfather abandoned his grandfather at a fair, and his great-great-great-grandfather was apparently bad enough that his great-great-grandfather murdered him then fled to America. Season 8 has Jake trying his damnedest to be a present and attentive father to his newborn son, Mac. By the series finale, he decides to retire altogether to be a househusband so that he can focus on raising Mac.]]

* BreakingTheCycleOfBadParenting: [[spoiler:Jake's dad walked out on his family when Jake was just a child (and has at least three illegitimate children who's lives he is also generally absent from), his grandfather was emotionally abusive to Jake's father, his great-grandfather abandoned his grandfather at a fair, and his great-great-great-grandfather was apparently bad enough that his great-great-grandfather murdered him then fled to America. Season 8 has Jake trying his damnedest to be a present and attentive father to his newborn son, Mac. By the series finale, he decides to retire altogether to be a househusband so that he can focus on raising Mac.]]

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: His immaturity, arrogance, disdain for certain police protocols, and slightly out-there personality aside, Peralta is very good at his job. Best shown in the first episode [[EstablishingCharacterMoment where he is introduced playing around for several minutes at the sight of a crime scene, only to then reveal he'd already solved the case before his partner even got to the scene]]. Likewise, despite his youthful appearance and average build, he has no problems holding his own and coming out on top in fights.

* BreakingTheCycleOfBadParenting: [[spoiler:Jake's dad walked out on his family when Jake was just a child. Season 8 has Jake trying his damnedest to be a present and attentive father to his newborn son, Mac. By the series finale, he decides to retire altogether to be a househusband so that he can focus on raising Mac.]]

->'''Played by:''' Creator/AndySamberg, Miles Platt (child), Benjamin Steinberg (teenager)

* CatchPhrase:
** He tends to refer to things he finds brilliantly practical as "smort." (Not "smart", "smort.")

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Despite being an overall good person, Jake turns out to be this when it comes to motivation to be a cop. His mother theorizes because he is very protective and wants to help people, only for Jake to make it clear that it was because he watched ''Film/DieHard''

-->'''Jake:''' ''(runs in)'' I'm here! I'm here, I'm here. You can start the meeting now.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: He retires in the end of the series to be an attentive father to Mac so that the boy doesn't feel neglected missing his father as Jake himself did, with Amy being able to bring much needed police reform to the city.]]

->'''Played by:''' Creator/AndySamberg

* CoolLoser: More noticeably between Seasons 1 and 2, before he and Amy got together. He is a talented detective, but he has no personal life and is deep in debt.

* WrongGenreSavvy: Many times Jake has to be reminded that real life police protocol is not the same as how it's depicted in movies, like when Captain Holt explains to him that [[TurnInYourBadge slamming his gun and badge on the captain's desk]] is not what an officer is supposed to do when they are suspended.

'''Jake:''' ... Devastatingly handsome?

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Surprisingly, considering his [[ManChild general]] [[CloudCuckooLander personality]], he is the responsible sibling to his half-sister Kate's foolish sibling.

* FreudianExcuse: It's implied a lot of his issues with authority and his ManChild tendencies stem from his DisappearedDad and the fact that his mother had to work long hours to support them, often leaving him alone for long stretches of time. His mom believes that Jake spent so much of his childhood trying to protect her that he wanted to do the same for the world, though Jake insists it's because of ''Die Hard''.

** While trying to ask Amy out in Season 2 and becoming increasingly frustrated by her inattention, he tries to riff on the RunningGag where he takes a mildly suggestive comment of hers out of context and adds "... the name of your sex tape!" Only on this occasion, it comes out as "... the name of our sex tape! ''[{{Beat}}]'' What?! No!"

** It's also been indicated at times that his ManChild behavior is a defense mechanism stemming from a rather sad childhood and lonely adulthood. And for all his goofing off, he's genuinely devoted to being a good cop to the point of almost being ThePerfectionist -- in "Undercover", he considers his undercover operation a complete failure and is driven to misery because one of the targets got away. To put this in context, there were sixteen targets, and as Boyle, Holt and the FBI point out, Peralta's work directly led to the other ''fifteen'' being arrested and convicted.
** He named a mouse that lived in his desk drawer [[FlowersForAlgernon Algernon.]]

'''Peralta:''' ... That one's the dump?\\

* MoneyDumb: One of Jake's ([[ManChild many, many]]) problems with living as an adult is that he loves to spend money on all kinds of unnecessary things such as multiple massage chairs, a DJ table, etc. He also has no idea of how in debt he is because he throws away letters containing that information.

* NoSocialSkills: Peralta is on the "lesser" side of the scale; he can be very charming when he wants to be, but his immaturity and CloudCuckoolander tendencies frequently get in the way.

** ... On the other hand, he also lampshades when the others, especially [[{{UST}} Amy]], make an InnocentInnuendo with: [[RunningGag "[X], title of your sex tape"]].

* BirdsOfAFeather: He and Amy, for all that they appear to be an OddCouple, are actually more alike than they are different. They're both highly intelligent, competent, and driven detectives with a serious competitive streak, who enjoy stroking their own egos, who are nonetheless still both strongly compassionate. They're both {{Pop-Cultured Badass}}es, with Jake favoring movies and TV with Amy favoring books. And they're also both surprisingly immature: While Amy is more organized, she still has a childish need for constant approval from her superiors and has difficulty standing up for herself, while Jake tends to hide his need for approval while [[ParentalSubstitute still quietly basking in and benefiting from it.]]

* BirdsOfAFeather: He and Amy, for all that they appear to be an OddCouple, are actually more alike than they are different. They're both highly intelligent, competent, and driven detectives with a serious competitive streak, who enjoy stroking their own egos, who are nonetheless still both strongly compassionate. They're also both surprisingly immature: While Amy is more organized, she still has a childish need for constant approval from her superiors and who has difficulty standing up for herself, while Jake tends to hide his need for approval while [[ParentalSubstitute still quietly basking in and benefiting from it.]]

* AmbiguousDisorder:
** His HyperAwareness, distracted nature and general habits cause speculation that he may have ADHD.
** Also, Jake frequently displays a rather unhealthy Work/Life Balance, frequently getting obsessive-compulsive when it comes to solving cases. This often comes to the detriment of his personal life, such as his poor track record with keeping up with doctor and dentist appointments and even trying to continue to work through severe injuries.

* BerserkButton:
** When Dustin Whitman calls him "Joke Peralta", it's enough to fling Peralta into arresting him with zero evidence.
** Don't insult Captain Holt or his sexuality whenever Jake's around.