He knew what would become of him the moment he ran away. He'd be alone, not belonging with his kin nor with the humans but he did it either way. He didn't want to part of his father's quest, not to fight, he just wanted to be happy.
Centuries later, he met her. She may have been a human woman but became a close friend and an adoptive mother, holding a special spot in his heart not even his blood family had.
This is the story of Jatar "the Coward", second son of Gunmar and future Trollhunter.
Son of the Black is a Trollhunters fanfic by Kabaneri. The story can be found on Archive of Our Own here
and Fanfiction Dot Net here.
Son of the Black provides examples of:
- Adaptational Badass: Being a Gumm-gumm in this version, Jim isn't nearly as spooked by adversity as his canon counterpart. Steve is less of a bully to him and more of an irritant he has no problems decking and reacts to being forced to become the Trollhunter less with fear and more with anger and irritation. While he struggles to wield a sword and has avoided fighting for years, he has enough experience in fighting to defend himself. Not only that, but he had learned basic rules of magic from a mage in his travels and has since learned various other tricks, including removing his natural weakness to the sun and multiple human disguises (his favorite being his canon appearance).
- Berserk Button: Do not mentions his father around Jim. Steve tried taunting him with it and wound up being carried away in an ambulance.
- Entertainingly Wrong: While Jim is a troll disguising himself as a human, Draal thinks he could be a changeling when he finds Jim's work desk covered in notes written in trollish and his various magic concoctions.
- Heel–Face Turn: Having been born and raised during wartime, Jatar was trained to be a warrior much like his brother. Before he was considered old enough to join them in their raids however, he secretly followed him and was horrified by how they butchered innocent people. This experience led to him running away, most of troll-kind not knowing about him and Bular assuming he died.
- Legend Fades to Myth: Since Jatar was still just a child when he defected, most of troll-kind don't even know that Gunmar ever had a son other than Bular. It takes Blinky hours of study and eventually asking AAARRRGGHH!!! about it for him to discover this.
- Martial Pacifist: Having lost his taste for blood after witnessing his kin's atrocities, Jatar has made it a rule to avoid conflict whenever he can. However, he is still the Warrior Prince son of Gunmar and is willing to end a fight swiftly and efficiently if he has too. When he becomes the Trollhunter, he makes it very clear to everyone that he intends to find a way out of it and will do things his own way until that happens.
- Older Than They Look: While Jatar is older than Barbara by a few centuries, he is still technically a teenager in troll-years, thus Barbara treats him like one.
- Real Men Wear Pink: After Draal learns the truth behind Jim, he alternates between trying to kill him and avoiding him, having trouble comprehending that the kid that took his father's title and became his friend was the brother of the gumm-gumm that killed him... until he sees Jatar cooking in his true form, wearing an apron covered in hearts. By then he could not take him that seriously and he mellows out.
- Token Heroic Orc: While gumm-gumms are thought of as Always Chaotic Evil, feared and reviled by the rest of troll-kind for their warmongering, Jatar turned against them and fled. He does not hold the same taste for blood as the rest of his kin and has no problem with humans or other trolls, even if he feels like he no one would accept him. While reluctant, he agrees to act as the trollhunter until he can figure out how to dismantle the enchantments on the amulet, mainly so that he can protect Barbara and Toby from being hurt.
- Unrelated in the Adaptation: Unlike in canon, Barbara and Jim are not related. Here, Jatar and Barbara become close acquaintances, being two lonely people who needed someone to be around. Since he is still a teenager in troll-years and he learns how to turn himself human, she officially adopts him.
- Wham Episode: Chapter 17 is when Jim/Jatar's secret is outed to Toby, Blinky, Draal and AAARRRGGHH!!!
