Mass Effect - Jack / Characters

Jack, AKA Subject Zero, (nee Jennifer)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jack_me2_charshot.png

Turns out, mess with someone's head enough and you can turn a scared little kid into an all-powerful bitch.

^{Mass Effect 3}

"I'm not saying anything about Jack. I'm not stupid."

—Joker's description

A powerful and unstable human biotic with a chequered past. Formerly a biotics test experiment of Cerberus. She is a romance option for a male Shepard in Mass Effect 2.

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A-H

Abnormal Ammo: She gains Warp Ammo after you earn her loyalty, which increases damage against armor, biotic barriers and health, and does double damage to anything under the effects of a biotic power, like Pull or Shockwave.
All Girls Want Bad Boys: Played with. She admires Renegade Shepard's bloodlust and cruelty, but the Renegade version of her romance is not treated as a serious thing by either one, but rather just a one-night stand. The Paragon romance with her is much more lasting and heartfelt.
Ambiguously Bi: She mentions that one of the first criminals she ran with was a woman and her boyfriend who "shared their bed" with her. However, if you keep talking to her as female Shepard, she says she doesn't play for that club. The dialogue for both lines is pretty ambiguous, but then, she's a pretty messed up girl who might not have her own feelings straight.
- In the Citadel DLC, she says she finds drunken Tali adorable, and says "If I were a little drunker and knew how to unzip that suit..." If the party takes a different turn, however, she gets pissed at the implication that her animosity with Miranda is just thinly-veiled sexual tension. She also tells Miranda that she has "fantastic tits".
- It was eventually confirmed by her writer that she was originally intended to be pansexual, but her romance with female Shepard got cut late in development.
And I Must Scream: If you don't rescue the students from Grissom Academy in Mass Effect 3 in time, Jack will end up being turned into a Phantom.
Anguished Declaration of Love: In the Citadel DLC, a romanced Jack explains her motivation behind the tattoo she gives Shepard. It becomes Foreshadowing in a high EMS Destroy ending.
Shepard: Good enough for an ID?
Jack: (near tears) Good enough so that if you’re ever hurt, barely breathing, lying under a pile of rubble at the ass end of this war, you’re gonna have… you’re gonna have something that tells the galaxy that you belong to me.
Anti-Hero: Strongly of the Nominal Hero kind. Shows signs of moving up the scale towards Pragmatic Hero with even a hint of a Knight in Sour Armor under the influence of Paragon Shepard. Lampshaded by her students, who lovingly call her "The Psychotic Biotic."
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Subverted. Her extensive list of crimes includes piracy, theft of a military craft, destruction of a space station, and vandalism. When asked, she clarifies that vandalism is what the hanar called it when she added a new crater to one of their moons by dropping the space station on it.
Jack: They really liked that moon.
The Atoner: With some Freudian Excuse tossed in. It's not a coincidence she's happy being the teacher of biotic children, considering what the Teltin Facility was doing with biotic research.
Ax-Crazy: Even Grunt and Zaeed are impressed with her bloodlust. She grows out of it, becoming more of a mild Blood Knight in 3. If captured by Cerberus however, she becomes this again, and this time irreversibly so.
Badass Biker: One of her alternate DLC outfits in 2. Her new look in 3 also gives off this image.
Badass Boast:
- One of her lines when a new wave of enemies come onto the field is "Hello, dead people!"
- Here's another: "If I die, I'm haunting you, Shepard."
- She also gets one from Warden Kuril, who refers to her fearfully as "The meanest handful of violence and hate I've ever encountered. Dangerous, crazy and very powerful."
- "I will destroy you!" would be this if the first game hadn't ruined this line for the players.
Badass Teacher/Cool Teacher: In Mass Effect 3.
Bald Head of Toughness: Jack is an Ax-Crazy biotic Glass Cannon Dark Action Girl, who is canonically one of the strongest biotic users in the franchise due to being experimented on from childhood by Cerberus to be so. Her biotic strength is paired with an emotional hardness and lack of care about anyone else besides herself that makes getting close to her difficult. She has her head shaved and tattooed when you recruit her on your team in this game. If you were able to break through her emotional barriers, when you meet her in Mass Effect 3 she has transitioned from a Jerkass to a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, who now oversees and trains a young group of biotics. Along with her softening emotionally, she has grown out her hair into a still edgy Tomboyish Ponytail with shaved sides look.
Bald of Evil: Shaved her head for a cult, and kept it that way. While she's still a squadmate for you, she remains violent and generally psychopathic. By the third game, she cleans up her act and lets her hair grow out.
Because You Can Cope: If you side with Miranda in the Jack/Miranda loyalty conflict, the "Intimidate" option for regaining Jack's loyalty has Shepard explain that Jack is tough when she's angry, and Shepard needs Jack's "edge." Besides, Jack would've reacted badly if Shepard had kissed her ass.
Being Tortured Makes You Evil
Jack: [Cerberus] thought they were so clever. Turns out, mess with someone's head enough, you can turn a scared little kid into an all powerful-bitch. Fuckin' idiots.
The Big Damn Kiss: If romanced, Shepard can kiss her at the end of their game together in the Arena... while an Atlas mech blows up in the background.
The Big Guy: Not necessarily in physical size, but she definitely fits in personality.
Blood Knight: She was conditioned to feel most alive while fighting, and it shows. Even after she Took a Level in Kindness in 3, she still clearly loves being in a fight.
Book Ends: You first meet her at a prison named Purgatory in Mass Effect 2. In Mass Effect 3, not counting the Citadel DLC, the last place you can interact with her is in a bar with the same name.
Boxed Crook: You were originally just going to borrow her from max security space prison/slave ship to finish a mission, but certain events have left her quite a bit less constrained.
Brainwashed and Crazy:
- She was given euphoric drugs as a kid while fighting to condition her to equate killing with pleasure.
- Will be programmed to fight for Cerberus if you don't do her ME3 quest; you fight her at the Cerberus base. Making it harsher, if you took Jack with you on Legion's personal quest: "I'd never want to be brainwashed like that. Just kill me instead, please."
Break His Heart to Save Him: If Shepard plays the Paragon route while trying to win her affection, then Jack tries to scare Shepard away to prevent them both from getting hurt. However, she grows fond of him if Shepard prevails anyway.
Broken Bird: To say she's got issues is putting it lightly.
Jack: I feel like... I'm pissed off. I'm a dangerous bitch. But then, I'm a little girl again. Shit, it's complicated.
Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Gender Inverted with a Paragon Shepard. Jack is Jack, and while a Paragon Shepard isn't gentle, they're still an All-Loving Ideal Hero who brings out the best in everyone they meet. Ultimately, a successful Paragon romance completely pulls Jack out of her rut and causes her to become a better person, ultimately making this a Reconstruction.
Bruiser with a Soft Center: Thanks to some Character Development throughout the game, Jack can display a much more vulnerable side towards others while still enjoying kicking butt.
Buffy Speak: If you bring her to the Collector ship.
Jack: I'm not gonna let [the Reapers] turn me into some fucked up... bug thing.
Card-Carrying Villain: Pre-Character Development.
Character Development: She undergoes perhaps the most extensive one in the series, especially if romanced by a male Paragon Shepard: she starts out as a barely controllable, mean-tempered, ultra-violent criminal who takes her rage and pain out on others in a futile attempt to make herself feel better; but ends up as a devoted teacher of biotic children who genuinely cares about her pupils and finds herself falling in love with the savior of the galaxy. It all starts with her loyalty mission, which forces her to acknowledge that she wasn't the only biotic kid to suffer at that facility, as well as to accept the fact that the entire facility was built around her abilities in the first place. Depending on how you treat her, she can either stay a Dark Action Girl or show a softer side. This is shown in the two possible culminating scenes for a romance with her, one of which is just about sex, the other of which is far more tender.
- It's worth noting that while assaulting the Collector base, if you choose her to man the biotic barrier through the Seeker Swarm room and she's loyal, she'll refer to you as "Commander" like she means it. For as violently psychotic and unruly a character as Jack is, that's speaking volumes about her development under Shepard's command. More than that, she phrases the word Commander around appropriate statements. That is, instead of being snarky, she uses more short and to the point phrases that you'd expect from more disciplined crew members.
- There's also the Suicide Mission: if you choose to have her lead a team during it, her final words will be "Too many... tore me up. How'd you talk me into this? Heh... I wasn't supposed to care." Apparently, being around a Messianic Archetype long enough can make even Jack give a damn about everyone else.
- If she's still alive in 3, she's become a teacher with a very strong bond with her pupils, due mostly to Shepard's influence, thus sticking it to the Illusive Man by protecting biotics from people like him.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Inverted: she believes everyone else suffers from this, which leads to her Murder Is the Best Solution philosophy. This attitude is challenged when her pirate lover chose a Heroic Sacrifice instead of betraying her, causing Survivor Guilt. She gets over it by 3, when she's a teacher.
Cluster F-Bomb:
- Constantly. In fact, she drops all but two or three of the game's F-bombs — mainly because she's the only character who uses the word in regular conversation.
- If you start to romance her and then push her away at the end (either to pursue a different partner or just For the Evulz), or if you side with Miranda in their conflict, all she will ever say to you from then on is, "Fuck off!"
- Toned down a bit in 3 when she becomes a teacher at Grissom. Gotta set a good example for the students, after all.
- Until Joker provokes her, that is. But see Curse Cut Short below.
- And in the Citadel DLC she's back in form.
Cold-Blooded Torture: Subjected to it by Cerberus during her childhood, hence why she is the way she is.
- And if you don't save Grissom Academy in the third game, Cerberus captures her and inflicts this on her again, turning her into a Phantom that you will have to kill.
Colony Drop/Deface of the Moon: She committed "vandalism" by smashing a space station into the hanar's favorite moon.
Cooldown Hug:
- Her sex scene with a romanced Shepard in 2 will just involve her hugging him fully clothed with an air of Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex.
- A romanced Shepard gives her one in Citadel when she starts breaking out in tears about how worried she is to lose him.
Covered with Scars: Played with. The tattoos mask them from a distance, but she's covered in surgical scars from Teltin. While they don't cover her entire body, and are mostly hidden by tattoos, they still show somewhat. The most prominent ones are on the back of her neck just below her head and on the top and bottom of her torso.
Jack: You see the scars, Rodriguez? Come on, take a good look. Cerberus did this to me when I was half your age.
Curse Cut Short:
Jack: (to her students) Cover your ears, kids. (to Joker) Hey, Joker, f— [loading screen]
- Immediately before that:
  Jack: (responding to Joker's jab) Screw you, f... light lieutenant...
Cuteness Proximity: In Citadel, she gets this way with her pet varren.
Cutscene Power to the Max: When she first appears, she tears through three YMIR mechs like they were made of wet cardboard. In normal gameplay, you're usually popping in and out of cover and gradually whittling them down and she's probably the weakest of any party member against them, since her two active powers, Shockwave and Pull, both have next to no effect on an YMIR.
- In Citadel she uses Shockwave to blow up an Atlas mech from across the arena. In actual gameplay, Shockwave has very short range and has very little effect on an Atlas' shields and armor.
The Cynic: Given her past, it's not surprising. Paragon Shepard helps get her out of this a little bit and into Knight in Sour Armor territory, but it's a slow process.
Dare to Be Badass: Her general tone to teaching her students in 3. Her lighthearted berating of her students does well to inspire them to succeed.
Dark and Troubled Past: Yeah. As a baby, Cerberus abducted her, and took her to an isolated training facility where they used her as a guinea pig for experiments, hated by the other children and forced to fight and occasionally kill them. Jack eventually managed to escape... and then spent several more years being mistreated and manipulated by damn near everyone she ran into for her biotic powers, in-between acts of minor and major criminality, and Cerberus chasing after her, several stints in various prisons, followed by escape attempts followed by getting reimprisoned by Cerberus having a bounty on her.
Dark Action Girl: Becomes an Action Girl in 3.
Dating Catwoman: Technically this is her romantic relationship with Paragon Shepard. She's an Ax-Crazy criminal and he's a lawful Spectre.
Death Glare: She's usually seen with an angry grimace when ready to kill.
Death Seeker: Heavily implied during conversations with her in 2. Jack admits that she has no plan for the future other than crime sprees. In her own words death to her is like an 'on/off switch'. Of course, she snaps out of this if she lives to 3.
Defrosting Ice Queen: She has a very hardened exterior and prefers to be alone. However, Shepard can reach out to her, helping her slowly regain her faith in life. Much more so if romanced.
Destroy the Abusive Home: Her loyalty mission. Being Jack, she uses a bomb planted right in her old cell - and the explosion not only takes out the facility but a good chunk of the surrounding forest.
Does Not Know How to Say "Thanks": Pre-Character Development.
Does Not Like Men: Although she hates everyone, she seems to be wary towards men since she assumes All Men Are Perverts because of her Dark and Troubled Past. Shepard can coax her out of this if romanced.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: Jack's pet from Mass Effect 3's Citadel DLC, Eezo the varren, is a short-tempered biotic animal that Jack had to rescue from an animal shelter. Initially it was extremely hostile, but Jack showed it lots of love, patience and trust, and now while it's still badass, it's become a "big softie" at heart. Shepard can see the parallels, but Jack apparently can't.
Doomed Hometown: Judging by her Shadow Broker dossier, Jack was born on Eden Prime.
Double Entendre: In the Citadel DLC, she openly says that she and a romanced male Shepard are going to have sex on the dining room table later. When an offended Cortez protests that people eat at that table, she snarks that yes, they do.
The Dreaded: Shepard and Miranda are the only people to consistently be unwary of Jack. The rest of the team (this being an entire Badass Crew mind you) will occasionally mention being uncomfortable or worried about her snapping. During her recruitment from Purgatory, an inmate will request to be bought as a slave for freedom (it being a corrupt prison ship where prisoners are beaten frequently, implied sometimes to death) only to immediately rescind the request after finding out you're leaving with Jack, stressing that being around her is the more dangerous option.
Drill Sergeant Nasty: As one of Grissom Academy's instructors in the final game. Remarkably, she gets high praise and respect from both her students and superiors for it. She's a little milder than some examples, though; she admits to Shepard that the students are like her family and they need her to believe in them, and puts up with it when they cheerfully mock her.
Embarrassing Tattoo: If romanced by Shepard, she jokes in 3 that she's gotten an N7 tattoo on her ass.
Enemy Mine: Puts her hatred towards Cerberus aside since they both have a common enemy.
Establishing Character Moment: When she's released from cryo-stasis, Shepard's team is shocked that the Jack they've been hearing so much about is a scrawny little woman covered in tattoos. Then she wakes up, destroys three YMIR mechs and goes on a rampage across Purgatory.
Everyone Has Standards: She is slightly troubled by Shepard urging Niftu Cal, the "Biotic God," to get himself killed, even though she admits it was kind of funny.
Jack: That was mean... but damn funny.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: She immediately assumes that Shepard's attempts to get to know her have an angle of some kind. She almost-immediately propositions a male Shepard, assuming he's only chatting her up to get into her pants. Accepting locks you out of her Romance, something Kelly will warn you about. Her coming to grips with the fact that Shepard's concern stems from genuine altruism, or even love, is a big part of her Character Development.
Evil Counterpart: While not pure evil, she's basically a dark reflection of Kaidan Alenko from the first game. Only replace the Alliance-run BaAT bootcamp with a rogue Cerberus facility, being surrounded by friends with solitary confinement, where the other children are afraid of you, and the grueling training with surgical experimentation and outright torture.
Evil Feels Good: At least that's what she would most likely tell you. It turns out that she doesn't exactly have a choice; Cerberus conditioned her to feel that way.
Jack: I still get warm feelings during a fight.
Evil Is Petty: Her fight with Miranda in a nutshell. Cold as Miranda acts, Jack was still looking for a fight there and was only causing trouble because she wanted to hear Miranda admit that what Cerberus did to her was wrong. And if Shepard chooses not to take her side, you lose her loyalty (though the same is also true of Miranda if you side with Jack). Granted, Jack had a more justifiable reason to be offended, as Miranda's loyalty had nothing to do with her allegiance to Cerberus anyway.
Exposed to the Elements: Jack wears stripperiffic outfits in space.
Expository Hairstyle Change: You see her again in Mass Effect 3 with her hair on top grown out long enough for a short pony tail. She still keeps her temples shaved.
Expy: Several aspects of her character mirror those of Jack B. Badd, being a bald female convict and runaway^note who developed into a Bruiser with a Soft Center as she grew older. The emphasis of her Gender Reveal upon her introduction also parallels the latter character's reveal as a girl, which was one of the major twists of Pitch Black when it first came out in theaters.
Eye Color Change: In ME3, her eyes turn blue when she uses her biotics.
Fantastic Drug: Red sand in dummied-out content.
Fetishized Abuser: If Shepard tries to romance and show he cares about her, she treats him like utter shit and snaps completely if she does drive him away, but ends up in perhaps the most touching romance scene if Shepard can persevere.
Fluffy Tamer: Shows up with a biotic varren from Thessia in the Citadel DLC.
For the Evulz: Her motivation a lot of the time. She grows out of it.
Forceful Kiss: At the start of her optional casual sex scene with Shepard, she shoves him against the wall and then rushes toward him, grabbing him and forcing a deep kiss on his lips.
Freaky Is Cool: She doesn't understand why Paragon Shepard wants to form a romantic relationship with her, but admits the idea is intriguing.
Jack: (Smiling) You're weird Shepard. That kinda gets me off.
Freudian Excuse: She's got a particularly dark and grisly one for her backstory that explains her bloodlust and extremely antisocial nature. And also her Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Cerberus.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Started out as a normal little girl. Years of being tortured and used has turned her into one of the galaxy's most notorious criminals.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: Don't try to have Jack take on YMIR Mechs by herself. It won't end pretty, since she's basically a Glass Cannon with a lot more glass than cannon, especially against mechanical enemies.
Gender-Blender Name: Lampshaded when she is first seen, and then never mentioned again. Subverted, however, by her real name, Jennifer.
Glass Cannon: She's very powerful offensively, but she's very frail in combat, second only to Kasumi.
Gone Horribly Right: Cerberus got what they wanted.
Good Feels Good: She starts to succumb to this after her Heel–Face Turn. Teaching biotic kids like her really makes her understand why good feels better than evil.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: She has significant scarring on her neck from the Teltin experiments. In the third game, if Shepard chooses the Renegade response to Rodriguez questioning whether Cerberus could be telling the truth about not harming people who surrender to them, Jack angrily shoves her scars into Rodriguez's face to prove what they do to people half her age.
Goth: Thinks very little of herself? Check. Cynical? Check. Loves deep, emotional poetry? Check. Full of emotional scars? Check. An admiration for death? Check. Wears pale makeup and black eyeliner? Check. Covered in beautiful tattoos that reflect her inner pain? Check. Hell-Bent for Leather? Check. Feared for being a loner? Check.
Goth Girls Know Magic: Jack shows shades of being a Goth with her penchant for leather clothing and her personality fitting the Lone Psycho type. She's also one of the most powerful human biotic in the The 'Verse.
Heel–Face Turn: A very gradual process that isn't fully completed until after 2.
Hell-Bent for Leather:
- Both her loyalty and alternate Badass Biker DLC outfit in 2.
- Wears a studded leather jacket in her new job as a Badass Teacher in 3. According to Kahlee Sanders, it's as far as Jack is willing to compromise on the dress-code required for Grissom Academy's faculty members.
Hidden Buxom: That strap Jack has covering her chest on her default appearance is actually used as a constrictor binding her breasts to make them appear small because she doesn't like men checking her out. Ironically, not much is covered up since she doesn't wear a shirt. But, her appearance in 3 shows Jack's full endowment.
Hidden Depths: A Paragon Shep will peel away her layers, and even her voice will reflect this, as it goes from rough and masculine to soft and feminine by the time a romance is completed. At the end of the game, if she survives, no matter what her loyalty is, she'll give Shepard a determined nod, which is tantamount to a salute — and this was a woman who had no interest in anything or anyone but herself.
- The Shadow Broker DLC also reveals that she writes poetry in her spare time under the pseudonym "Jacqueline Nought".
Hideous Hangover Cure: Averted. She reveals in the Citadel DLC thanks to her conditioning, she never feels any sort of morning-after hangover effects. She's exercising when she's first met up with after the party.

I-Y

Incompletely Trained: The Pragia facility was shut down long before they could finish. With no one to fill in the gaps in her biotic abilities, Jack trained herself to use weapons instead.
I Need a Freaking Drink: In the Citadel DLC, if Shepard suggests to Jack that she and Miranda should kiss and make up.
In Love with Your Carnage: Summed up in this line from the Citadel DLC:
Jack: [after blowing up an Atlas mech] If there's a God, that's what she sounds like. Just a big, deep "BWOOM!" to let you know everything's gonna be okay.
Institutional Apparel: Her starting outfit is the remains of her Purgatory uniform.
Intimate Marks: Everything below the neck is covered in ink, including her breasts.
In-Universe Catharsis: Pretty much the entire point of her loyalty mission. The achievement for gaining her loyalty is even called "Catharsis."
I Reject Your Reality: Despite the overwhelming evidence, she still refuses to believe that the Teltin facility's sole cause was to make her into what she is, and that she didn't survive solely because she was stronger than the rest.
It's All About Me: Not that she doesn't have a long list of reasons to feel this way, but regardless. If brought to Horizon and hearing about Husks, Jack will comment that it's almost as bad as what Cerberus did to her.
I "Uh" You, Too: Despite being in love with Shepard if romanced, she never says she is.
Jack: Don't get killed, dumbass. When this is over, I'm getting laid.
Shepard: I love you too.
Jerkass: Pre-Character Development, and she knows it.
Jerkass Has a Point: Her suspicions about Cerberus eventually betraying her and Shepard are proven correct in the end. By 3, the Illusive Man is revealed to have been manipulating Shepard to serve his own purposes the whole time.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In 3.
Karma Houdini: She's a mass murderer guilty of piracy, theft of a military craft, destruction of a space station, and vandalism but if she survives to game 3 she suffers no mentioned legal troubles and in fact has been hired to teach biotic students at Grissom Academy. May also count as Earn Your Happy Ending, seeing as she had to take part in a galaxy-saving operation to earn enough respect from Hackett to get said posting. When trying and failing to recruit Kasumi again, Shepard says they can use their Spectre status to get her a pardon, so they probably did something similar for Jack.
Kick the Dog: A favorite past-time of hers pre Character Development, including but not limited to mass murder, destroying a moon, being a Jerkass, and being such a Troll that she's been banned from the extranet (among other places) several times. And most of this behavior is done For the Evulz.
Lack of Empathy: Initially. She gets better.
The Lad-ette: Her behavior isn't even remotely feminine.
Lady Swears-a-Lot: In ME3, Joker asks if she has a swear jar, because emptying it would buy another cruiser.
Last Girl Wins: MaleShep meets her last out of the women who give the Paramour achievement.
Last-Second Word Swap: At the end of the Grissom Academy mission.
Jack: Screw you, f—flight lieutenant.
Joker: Uhh, what the hell was that?
Lean and Mean: For such a small woman, Jack is very strong and cruel to others. This changes after her Heel–Face Turn...somewhat.
Loners Are Freaks: Likes to be alone in an isolated part under the ship. Shepard has the option to visit her though and can convince her to bond with others. By 3, she does.
Lovable Sex Maniac: In the Citadel DLC if you romance her. If you dance with her, she asks you to not tire yourself out because "We're gonna be doing it on the table later".^note The morning after she says she's horny, but contemplate that other people are already awake. She also makes several comments on Miranda's figure.
Jack: You as turned on as I am right now?
Shepard: (Confused) You want to have sex in the combat simulator?
Jack: (Mischievously) No...I wanna make love.
Love Is a Weakness: Initially believes in this, but Paragon Shepard can convince her otherwise if romanced.
Love Redeems: The Paragon ending to her romance.
Male Gaze: Although not as much as Miranda, she still has it. When Shepard asks about her tattoos, the camera pans all over across her torso, with a close-up shot of her breasts. She even assumes Male Shepard is checking her out.
Mama Bear: You know that she's an ax crazy killer, right? By Mass Effect 3 she reserves that behavior for anyone who shows hostility towards her students at Grissom Academy. When the subject of her students fighting on the front lines is brought up, she'll show distress and non-verbally beg Shepard not to agree with Sanders' assessment; if Shepard says the students are best used for support (the safer option), Jack will brighten and cheerfully tell her students they go where they're assigned.
Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Her relationship with Male Paragon Shepard, especially if romanced. She's the tough-as-nails, murderous criminal while he's the All-Loving Hero.
Meaningful Name: Presumably inspired by Jack London, who's famously quoted from Call of the Wild: "Kill or be killed, eat or be eaten, was the law; and this mandate, down out of the depths of Time, he obeyed." Also like London, Jack became quite the traveler.
Megaton Punch: She's fond of using biotics to create these.
Mildly Military: From the sound of things, she has some manner of provisional officer's rank in the Alliance Navy, judging from banter with Joker, and the fact that she's administrating her students' operations once they go into the field. Although it's given her purpose, she's still Jack, as most readily evidenced by her choice of attire. Shepard will comment that military life suits her, because it gives her everything she wants: room, board, three square meals, targets to attack — and people she can count on.
Mind over Matter: Considered to be the one of the most powerful human biotic.
Mini-Boss: If you don't do the Grissom Academy mission before a set time, or not at all, she gets indoctrinated and works for Cerberus, becoming a mini-boss in the Cerberus HQ.
Missing Child: How did Cerberus get Jack as the primary test subject? It turns out that Jack's mother was approached by an agent posing as her doctor, informing her that Jack was dying of a dangerous illness and they needed to take her baby away for diagnostics. Her mother trusted the agent and handed over her child, never to see her again. With Jack's parents unaware of their child's current status, she was nonexistent to the entire world and Cerberus was free to subject her to inhumane tests.
Morality Chain: Paragon Shepard becomes this to her. Acknowledged in 3 when she notes that some of Shepard's speeches rubbed off on her. Even she seems a little surprised by this. It works both ways — even a Paragon Shepard will respond to her "You as turned on as I am right now?" at the Armax Combat Simulator with a "Hell yes!" and Big Damn Kiss.
Ms. Fanservice: Somehow to a lesser extent than Miranda, despite showing many times as much skin as her probably due to Miranda being considerably better endowed than Jack). For starters, Jack doesn't wear a shirt in her default appearance (just a harness), exposing most of her chest and upper body.
- It gets revealed in 3 that the harness was actually an attempt to avert this by compressing her bust to make it appear less impressive than it actually is. Why she didn't take the next logical step and wear an actual shirt on top of it is anyone's guess. (Answer: Show off the tattoos.)
- In 3, she's more sexualized than Miranda is. Her pants are cut so that she's constantly showing off her bare hips, her harness bears tons of cleavage and if she's romanced she will just ooze sex with almost every word. Her dancing during the Citadel DLC only adds to it.
Murder Is the Best Solution: As should be obvious by this point.
Shepard: What is it about killing that fascinates you so much?
Jack: I figure every time someone dies and it's not me, my chances of survival go up. Simple.
My Eyes Are Up Here: When Male Shepard talks with her frequently, she assumes that he's checking her out and wants to use her for sex.
My Hero, Zero: She's a hero called Subject Zero. But, don't call her that nickname.
Mythology Gag:
- She sometimes screams I WILL DESTROY YOU! in the same way the human biotic mooks did in Mass Effect.
- Mocked by Rodriguez in ME3
  Rodriguez: I will destroy you!
  Jack: Drink your juice, Rodriguez. You couldn't destroy wet tissue paper.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Inverted. Also, it would be too late for you to run anyway.
The Nicknamer: Refers to Miranda as "the Cheerleader" and Paragon Shepard as "King of the Boy Scouts" or "Queen of the Girl Scouts" depending on their gender.
Noodle Incident: While it doesn't get nearly as much attention due to being brought up in the same conversation as the "vandalism incident," all she says about stealing a military craft is, "Shouldn't have left the thing unlocked. Besides, parades are boring. I helped."
Not So Above It All: The most notorious, dangerous human criminal in the galaxy likes to write poetry and troll people on the internet.
Odd Friendship: Particularly with a Paragon Shepard, who she sarcastically refers to as "King/Queen of the Boy/Girl Scouts" in the third game. Nonetheless, it's clear that Jack owes a lot of her character development to Shepard's influence and she admits that all their speeches clearly rubbed off on her.
- Odd Couple: Her romance with Paragon Shepard is one of the oddest in the entire series.
Only Known by Their Nickname: Jack is never called by her real name, chiefly because it was kept a secret by the Teltin project. Liara reveals she knows her real name, and divulges her first name, Jennifer.
The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Judging by the confrontation between them, she seems to think this way about Miranda; she says she'll keep Miranda alive so she can tear her apart herself after the mission. Fortunately, she buries the hatchet with her later.
Oppose What You Suffered: Previous to Mass Effect 2, Jack was both a captive and a test subject of Cerberus when she was a child. If she survives the Suicide Mission Jack later becomes the Mama Bear (if Tough Love-practising) teacher of a group of young biotics in Mass Effect 3, when Cerberus comes back and attempts to abduct them in order to turn them into biotic assassins.
Person of Mass Destruction: And she revels in it.
Pet the Dog: Jack does have a few nice moments of kindness in the series.
- During her loyalty mission, Shepard can convince her to spare Aresh's life instead of killing him.
- In Grissom Academy, she saves the life of Rodriguez, the student she picks on the most, from Cerberus troops.
- In the Citadel DLC, she adopts an abandoned varren to keep as a pet.
- Her whole romance can be seen as this towards Paragon Shepard, since she was initially hostile towards him, but gave him a chance after he was so kind to her when he had every reason not to be.
Physical Scars, Psychological Scars: Jack's surgical scars from Tetlin are another reminder of her horrific time there. This also left her with some issues which she can work past, how much she progress varies depending on dialogue and story choices.
Power of Trust: Jack's inability to trust anyone has made her the Social Darwinist. She was thrown off by someone who sacrificed themselves so she could live. It isn't until she's in a situation (Grissom Academy) where she can wholeheartedly trust other people (her students, Kahlee Sanders) that she begins her true Character Development.
Power Perversion Potential: Biotic powers can be unstable during the act, but can also have "benefits." Mordin, as always, is the man to see.
Raised in a Lab: broke out one day in her teenage years and spent most of her adult life tearing around Citadel space, since the lab taught her how to control her phenomenal Biotic abilities and not much else. Including social norms. She's rude, crude, runs around topless, and once rammed a space station into a moon for giggles.
Rape as Backstory: It says something about her past when the multiple times she's been sexually assaulted count as some of her least traumatic memories.
- If the player remains romantically interested in Jack, she'll openly kiss him in front of everyone, even her students, no longer afraid to show open affection.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Miranda's blue.
Retired Monster: Though she ultimately becomes a genuinely good person, she also never regrets any of her past misdeeds, including murdering dozens of people with little justification and crashing a space station into a moon.
Reforged into a Minion: If you skip Grissom Academy, she's captured and turned into a Cerberus Phantom.
The Reveal: If you completed the "Lair of the Shadow Broker" DLC in 2, taking Liara along to Grissom Academy in 3 reveals that Jack's birth-name is actually Jennifer, though Liara hasn't been able to discover her surname yet.
Revenge Before Reason: On her loyalty mission, Shepard has the option to point out that Jack's quest for vengeance is tearing her apart, making her more unstable than before. Jack eventually realizes this, and intends to control herself more often.
Revenge by Proxy: A variation. Jack snipes at Miranda a lot, (leading to quite a bit of animosity between them) likely because Miranda (being a Cerberus agent) is the easiest and most convenient outlet for her rage, even though Miranda wasn't even with Cerberus when they tortured Jack for years. She also takes issue with Miranda's "cheerleading" and excuses for the things Cerberus has done, including Pragia.
The Rival: To Miranda, complete with an The Only One Allowed to Defeat You mentality. This reaches its peak in during a catfight that Shepard has to head off, possibly also losing the loyalty of one or the other. Fortunately, as of the Citadel DLC, they've smoothed things over a bit.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Apparently a recurring event for her. You add her to the crew right after she finishes one of these. And you get her loyalty by blowing up the facility that made her who she is.
Samus Is a Girl: Everyone you talk to on the way to Jack's cell refers to her either in the third person or gender neutral pronouns (and in utter fear). And then you see this apparently small young woman break out of metal restraints and wipe out three heavy mechs with nothing but her biotics.
Grunt: That's Jack? Jack is tiny. [Jack starts wrecking the place] Let's get down there, I wanna see!
Legion: Jack is smaller than her reputation suggests. [Jack starts wrecking the place] Situation chaotic. Decisive action required.
Satisfied Street Rat: Although she's hardly "satisfied" unless she's in a fight. Not only that, but she is extremely pissed off at Cerberus for using her as a lab rat; while Shep can say "You enjoy the power they gave you," she's damn sore that "they didn't give (her) a choice".
Sex Equals Love:
- Averted. Kelly mentions that Jack pushes people away, but approaches sex casually, and warns that having a one-night stand with her is a bad idea. Having sex with Jack is an option fairly early into the game. If the casual sex option is chosen, she's really into it, but says that she doesn't want to play if you try and talk to her again. If you refuse sex with her and show interest in her as a person, she'll eventually come out of her shell and begin to actually love Shepard.
- During the final love scene between Jack and Shepard in 2, they don't have sex. Rather, Jack snuggles with Shepard contently. Considering her Rape as Backstory, she probably needs affection more than sex.
"Shut Up" Kiss: On the receiving end if Shepard romanced her when the Grissom Academy mission finishes. Shep grabs and kisses her before she gives too many details about her "N7 Tattoo".
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She may be the Trope Codifier for this. If Paragon Shepard drops hints of romantic interest in her, then Jack will develop a serious crush on him. Although Jack does admire Renegade Shepard, she ends up falling in love with Paragon Shepard because of his kindness and real love for her. She even gets an N7 tattoo to remember him.
Slap-Slap-Kiss: If romanced in 2, the first thing she does to Shepard in 3 is deck him. ^note Then give him a passionate kiss.
Slasher Smile: She enjoys fighting a lot.
Sociopathic Hero: "Heroic" is very much a stretch for her. At first.
So Proud of You: Some cut content from 3's endgame includes her reassuring her squad.
Statuesque Stunner: According to her mugshot which can be briefly seen in Lair of the Shadow Broker, Jack is roughly six feet tall^note. She is also noted to be very attractive by multiple characters.
Stealth Pun: She once used "Jacqueline Nought" as an alias, with "nought" being the British term for the American "zero." So she is "Jack Zero". If she died in 2, this is her listed name on the Normandy cenotaph.
Stern Teacher: She's tough on her students and receives their adoration in return. A bit crazier than most examples though.
Stripperiffic: Her first costume is essentially a strap across her breasts and a pair of pants; her alternate costume is a bit more modest. In Citadel she explains that it was a deliberate attempt to make her breasts look as small as possible, since showing off her rack in a prison ship would have been a bad idea. Though it must be pointed out that compressing your breasts with a harness is a fine idea if you're trying to look less sexually appealing, wearing only the harness defeats the purpose.
- The third DLC outfit makes her a Badass Biker with a leather jacket, pants and shades, so everything is hidden, including tattoos.
- Her outfit in 3 is more conservative, but it still shows quite a lot of skin.
Super-Soldier: Cerberus wanted to make her a powerful biotic warrior... and they succeeded.
Survivor Guilt: One of the reasons she pushes everyone away is that the last person who cared about her ended up dying in order to save her instead of betraying her as she'd expected he would. This made her even more violent and reclusive.
- In 3, if you chose to send her students to the front lines and romanced her, by the end, they'll all be dead as shall Shepard (in most endings). After all her major character development, everyone closest to her still dies.
Tattoo as Character Type: They're a way to reassert control over her body and remind her of the colorful life she's led since since escaping Pragia.
Tattooed Crook: The art book shows just how much detail and thought went into them, including tally marks for people she’s killed, including a skeleton tattoo with marks over each bone she killed a person by breaking. Needless to say, she's got a lot of tally marks.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With everyone in 2, but especially Miranda.
Therapy Is for the Weak: The reason she doesn't take much exception to Renegade Shepard's lack of sympathy for her backstory, seeing herself less as someone who really needs some therapy, and more someone who just needs to be told to suck it up and stop whining. That, and she thinks Renegade Shepard's attitude is funny.
There Was a Door: Justified: After being released from cryo, she has to escape somehow, and the quickest way is to break through walls with her biotics.
This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: Quite a few of her battle cries. She's fond of the B-word in conversation as well.
Token Evil Teammate: Even after recruitment, she remains a barely contained ball of homicidal rage. She can grow out of it eventually.
Tomboyish Name Though in the third game, Liara reveals that her real birth name is Jennifer.
Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She enjoys reading and writing poetry in her spare time. Her romance shows this off more though. As her interest grows in Paragon Shepard, her voice changes from rough and masculine to a gentler, caring tone.
(First conversation)
Shepard: I should go.
Jack: Yep.
(After dropping hints of romance)
Shepard: I should go.
Jack: Take care!
Tomboyish Ponytail: Sports one in Mass Effect 3.
Took a Level in Cheerfulness: She becomes much happier in 3 after her Heel–Face Turn.
Took a Level in Kindness: A bit in 2, much more if romanced. Quite a bit in 3, where she's become a full-fledged Mama Bear and Badass Teacher who has left her Ax-Crazy nature behind. The Citadel DLC takes it even further, showing her to now have a pet biotic varren named Eezo that she got from a rescue group who she is extremely affectionate towards (and the parallels to her own life she is completely oblivious about). She also no longer wants to kill Miranda.
Trailers Always Spoil: Within the game, all you're told is that you're picking up a dangerous biotic named Jack; it's left as a surprise that she's a female until you see her the first time. The surprise is completely ruined by the fact that the character was introduced in promotional material prior to the game's release, including a personal character trailer. Although her name is only given as "Subject Zero" in this material, enough detail is given about how she's recruited that the only way her sex can come as a surprise is if the player goes into the game completely blind.
Transhuman: Possibly one of the most powerful human biotic yet. To wit, her power level is equal to an asari matriarch whose been through Training from Hell to become The Dreaded Knight Errant.
Trauma Button: Cerberus in general. But surrendering to them again is an even bigger one. Going for the Renegade response when they try to "persuade" the Grissom Academy students to give in has Jack snarl at Rodriguez to take a good, long look at her Cerberus-inflicted surgical scars.
Troll: She was banned from the Citadel News Net forums for excessive and repeated swearing, derogatory comments, inflammatory comments, and circumventing work-safe filters. She lasted 15 minutes in an online poker community before being banned for the same reasons.
Tsundere: If Shepard coaxes her out of her hostility and helps her find some personal closure, she displays a softer and more vulnerable side.
Tyke-Bomb: The Shadow Broker's dossier indicates she was actually taken by Cerberus shortly after birth. Her mother was convinced the child had died from horrible element zero-induced seizures.
The Unfettered: Gets better in 3.
Unflinching Walk: The Big Damn Kiss with a romanced Shepard as a mech explodes during the Citadel DLC.
Ungrateful Bitch: In her recruitment mission, Shepard not only frees her, but saves her by shooting a Blue Suns trooper just before he shot Jack. Her response is to loudly insult Shepard.
Shepard: This ship's going down in flames. I've got the only way out. I'm offering to take you with me. And you're arguing.
Unreliable Narrator: She wasn't in the best position to figure out just what was going on in the Teltin facility.
Unskilled, but Strong: She is skilled in throwing out various biotic techniques, but is one of the few squadmates in the series to lack formal military or paramilitary training of any kind (outside of the experimentation and abuse she endured as a child) meaning she can get quite easily taken down if outmaneuvered by enemies, both in and out of gameplay. Her very first scene showcases this quite well: she tears through three YMIR Mechs with one super-charged-up biotic blast at the beginning of the mission, but near the end drops her guard and would have been killed by a surprise attack from a single mook if not for a quick Stab the Scorpion moment on Shepard's part.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Miranda in the Citadel DLC, for given value of "best buds".
Wall Bang Her: Kasumi will advise a Renegade Shepard who had sex with Jack:
Kasumi: You might want to dial down Jack's biotic implants before you hook up with her again. I doubt Cerberus could afford to build another Normandy.
We Can Rule Together: In her first conversation with Shepard, she suggests the two of them team up to take over the Normandy and pirate other ships in order to conquer the universe as partners in crime.
What Beautiful Eyes!: Her big brown eyes with their expertly groomed lashes are gorgeous, even more so due to how wild and feral the rest of her body looks. They're easily her most striking feature during dialogue cutscenes despite of her many tattoos and her behaviour. The only other character in the whole game that can hold a candle to her in that department is Samara.
What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Downplayed, but still present. Jack doesn't understand what real love actually is, only understanding that people have sex to get what they want. She questions why a romancing Shepard doesn't just do it with her and is confused when he wants to bond with her. She eventually realizes her true feelings for him if Shepard remains faithful to pursuing a true romance with her.
What the Hell, Hero?: In the third game, she punches Shepard in the face, saying that Shepard should never have trusted Cerberus. If you romanced her, it turns into Anger Born of Worry, as she punches Shepard for turning themself in after the events of Arrival.
What Would X Do?: If she survives the second game and you make it to Grissom Academy in time in the third, you'll find her teaching a batch of young biotics and defending them from Cerberus. She even admits that some of Shepard's leadership rubbed off on her, what with "all those damn speeches."
When She Smiles: If romanced successfully by Paragon Shepard, she finally shows real happiness. Not a Slasher Smile, but a genuine smile. She also smiles when taking about her students before she scowls Mama Bear style that if anyone tries to screw with them...
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Because seriously — after a life of physical torture, emotional, and sexual abuse, Jack really deserves a little bit of happiness. And a Shepard hug.
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: How Paragon Shepard prompts her Heel–Face Turn.
You Need to Get Laid: Inverted; see Sex Equals Love above.
Your Makeup Is Running: During her romance scene.

Characters / Mass Effect - Jack

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