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NewJake SD974
Jake Thorndyke
Alias

"J" (nickname)

Jenna (old name)

Characteristics
Race

Human

Gender

Nonbinary

Pronouns

They/Them

Age

20 (First appearance: 19)

Magic Affinity

Fire

Personal Status
Relative(s)

Unnamed Mother

Home

Farun

Professional Status
Affiliation

Team Rhea Team Rhea

Previous Affiliation

Retail Sales

Occupation

Goods Transport

Retail Clerk (formerly)

First Appearance
Slightly Damned #153 [HQTS]
Image Gallery



Jake Thorndyke is Rhea’s childhood Human friend from the mountain village of Farun. Rhea calls them by their nickname “J” due to changing their name a bunch. They have a pet reindeer named Fritz and a pet donkey named Sugar who can be used to pull a wagon. They're currently accompanying Rhea and her friends in their travels.

Appearance[]

Jake Thorndyke SD401 HQ

Jake's first outfit.

Jake appears to be roughly the same height as the average human teenager, as they're about half a head taller than Buwaro. They have long blonde hair that they often have styled in a pony-tail wrapped with red cloth, and brown eyes. They wear a red t-shirt with a long orange shirt underneath, and tan-colored pants. They sometimes wears a black top-hat with the top being partially ripped and sticking upward and a purple patch that's stitched on the side.

After arriving in St. Curtis, they developed a mustache and goatee, likely because they haven't been able to shave since they had no accommodation.

Jake has also been seen wearing one of Miranda's old dresses, which is mainly purple with intricate patterns on the torso. They can be seen as very feminine looking when their hair is down, as even Kieri thought they were a pretty stranger.

After the events of St. Curtis, Jake started to wear new travel attire to go with everyone else's updated appearance. They now wear a red vest with black-baggy pants, an orange scarf whose two ends trail behind them, a red and black headpiece, dark-red finger-less gloves, red armbands above their wrists, black arm stockings, red and black boots, and a brown belt with a pouch with a paw-print pattern on it.

Personality[]

Jake is a bit clumsy and has a mischievous streak, often slipping in negative remarks about the store he worked in prior to being fired. They get along very well with Rhea as they have been friends since childhood, although Rhea does occasionally manipulate then through threatening to reveal their past misdeeds involving explosives.

Rhea states they are always kind to animals, even those who resemble them like Buwaro.[1] When entering St. Curtis, they spend all their money on getting accommodations for Fritz and Sugar, even if it means they then have to sleep outside. They despise animal cruelty, as seen when they rescued a Mortori Bird from being harassed by kids.[2]

Jake appears very open to the idea of different relationships as they were more than okay with Buwaro being paired with Kieri at first meeting, so much so that they find natural discrimination or other-worldly affairs to be nonsense. They were easily fawned over by the romance between Sahne, Lakritz and Kinako just as how Buwaro would when people fall in love. Rhea notes that they tend to be a romantic in that regard, especially when they flirt with random strangers. It's also implied that Jake had a crush on both Rhea and Ramirez, though they were slightly disappointed to learn that Rhea wasn't available (or would ever be).

Jake may have mild pyromania, as it was hinted that they once caused an explosion in Farun, burned some novelty pirate beards and caused arson while they and Rhea were drunk in St. Curtis. They however claim it is a medical condition that causes "premature immolation".

Jake is shown to like dresses, such as when they picked out one of Miranda's leftover outfits and said she had good taste. They stated that they like to change up their appearance as a change of pace, including their name and pronouns.

History[]

YoungRheaJakeandRamirez SD543

Jake (middle), Rhea (left) and Ramirez (right) as kids.

Past[]

Jake was known to have trouble controlling their Fire magic from an early age, accidentally setting fire to their belongings. They claimed they hated their magic, and wished they were born different. They were also known to "flip-flop" between names, leading to their friends simply calling them "J" as it was simpler.

Jake befriended Rhea and Ramirez while they were quite young. They apparently met during a Winter Solstice Festival, where the Jakkai from Rhea's village in Fuzen'ro Forest travel to Farun to take part in the human celebrations. Humans are not permitted in the Jakkai village itself by tradition, which was one of the many flashpoints for arguments between Rhea and village elder Stonepaw.[3] Despite this, the three friends made a promise that some day, they would leave the village and travel the world together.

At some point between when Rhea last saw them and when she escaped from the Ring of the Slightly Damned, they were hired at the "Sleazy Bum Emporium".[4]

Snow Angels[]

Meeting Kieri[]

JakeAndRhea SD153

Rhea putting things her way.

Rhea arrived in his store after making it to Farun with Kieri and Buwaro, asking to acquire some clothes for Buwaro to wear while he was around Humans; she didn't take much interest, asking for anything "big".[5] Jake was suspicious about why Rhea didn't have her winter fur coat, as well as her absence during the Winter Solstice festival, or the whole year for that matter. She dodged the question by claiming to have been ill and that anything Jake had heard about her was a lie. Jake was unconvinced but Rhea forced him to drop the subject by threatening to reveal the truth to the whole town about him causing an explosion at his former job.[4] Jake took the opportunity to play a prank on Rhea by giving her a box containing the clothes she "wanted" but didn't check; it turned out to contain a pimp suit which she was not happy about.[6]

JakeRheaHug SD185

Jake and Rhea giving each other good-bye hugs.

The following day, Rhea visited Jake again, this time bringing Buwaro and Kieri with her. Jake had expected her to return sooner to yell at him about the clothes, but Rhea was over it at that point. Jake attempted to flirt with Kieri using the clichéd "did it hurt when you fell from Heaven?" pick-up line, not realising that she was an actual Angel; this prompted Kieri to respond with a simple, truthful "no". Rhea was disgusted with Jake's lame attempt and interrupted them before things could become more awkward, declaring that she was leaving with them to travel around Fragaria. Jake was disappointed that she was leaving so soon, but agreed to give her a few favors. He sold them a sheath for Kieri's Sword, although it turned out that the one he had was Kieri's original sheath. The second favor was to give Rhea his mailing address so that they could stay in touch while she was traveling.[7][8] After doing so, she gave him a good-bye hug which was an unusually warm display of emotion for her, commenting that Buwaro's mannerisms must be rubbing off on her.[9]

River-Side Stories[]

Just as Rhea and her friends were about to leave Riverside City along with the Sinclair family, Rhea stopped at the Post Office to check for letters from Jake. He had responded to a previous letter she had sent; in it he mentioned how Mr. Elliot, the town butcher, was murdered. He notes that there were "rumors" that a strange creature was responsible, though he personally doubted it was anything other than a bear. Although Jake didn't know it, this was important news for Rhea.[10]

Forgive Me[]

Journey to St. Curtis[]

Jake Fritz Weyville SD457 HQ

"I hope nobody blames me for this..."

Jake was fired from the "Sleazy Bum Emporium" due to an incident involving flammable novelty pirate beards, and was moping about it when his mother gave him some letters addressed to him: one from Rhea that she sent from Weyville and one from Ramirez Bloodeyes. In Rhea's letter, she mentioned how she and her companions would be leaving for St. Curtis, while Ramirez's mentioned how he was studying to become a doctor in Ghardin City, and revealed that Rhea had been murdered and dead for a year. It isn't known whether he replied to Ramirez, as he likely would be surprised to learn that Rhea was "still" alive.[11] He decided to take a job shipping goods to St. Curtis and headed there to meet with her.[12]

In a cut-away, Jake was seen arriving at the ruins of Weyville with his reindeer, Fritz, not long after it had been destroyed. He humorously hoped that he wouldn't be blamed for the destruction.[13]

The Flower Festival[]

RheaZombie SD541

Would that make Rhea a zombie now?

Day 2[]

In the morning, Rhea was idly sniffing the air to see if Kieri's brother might have been coincidentally nearby, and instead noticed a surprising familiar scent. She located the source as being under the Sinclair wagon and dragged Jake out from under it with her tail. Rhea was initially surprised to see him there, while Jake greeted her casually; he then explained how he got her letter and decided to follow her.[12] He's used all of his money to put Fritz and Sugar (a donkey he had recently acquired) into a stable, and as he was now broke and all inns were full, he located Rhea by asking for Mr. Sinclair's wagon.

He then started to question about her murder, as it was mentioned in Ramirez's letter.[14] Rhea attempted to deny it again at first, but Jake was able to trick her into admitting it through the fact that Buwaro and Kieri were really a Demon and Angel. After she showed him the scar she received from being stabbed, Jake initially tried to be sympathetic but got sidetracked by the idea that Rhea could qualify as a zombie now, and made a joke about asking her if she "eats brains" instead.[15] Rhea noted that Jake was being quite accepting of everything she said, which he dismissed as it being simply easier to believe her since there's a lot of "rumors going 'round" anyway.[16]

Jake briefly manages the rare feat of entering into a confrontation with Buwaro by trying to flirt with Kieri again. Jake quickly surmised that Buwaro and Kieri were together, apologised and pet him on the head, asking to be friends; which Buwaro quickly accepted. He then left to check on Fritz and Sugar, telling Rhea that he'd be back, and it was time to fulfill the promise he, Rhea and Ramirez made about leaving Fuzen'ro Forest and traveling the world together.[1]

Jake encountered Cliff in the Southeast St. Curtis Public Stables where Fritz and Sugar were being kept, alongside Pepper and Chestnut. Cliff was affectionately petting Pepper goodbye and left without a word to Jake. Jake simply thought to himself about how he must be "a nice guy".[17]

He later returned in time to watch the fight caused by the male Earth Angel who was threatening Buwaro. Afterwards, Rhea told him the specifics about what went down. They then talked a bit about how Angels looked alike, how all the Demons seem so different looking and about Rhea's experiences with them since dying. They both then see Sammy, along with Toby, riding on a baby Earth Dragon with several other animals that she supposedly freed. Jake remarked that things wouldn't be boring now.

Raising Hell[]

Day 2 - Night[]

Later that afternoon, Jake and the others went inside the wagon to eat cookies with Meeros as well as talk about whether he could help with removing Kieri's curse. Shortly after Cliff returned, Meeros started talking about how Angels and Demons had higher magic resistance than the average mundane Median; which naturally caused him and Rhea to feel insulted. Cliff then told them all about his new baby daughter Florina, which everyone was happy about.

RheaJakeParty SD580

Be doing this Farun-style!

After Cliff and Meeros left to enjoy the night life, Jake and Rhea decided they should go out too. They invited Buwaro to come but he decided to stay with Kieri. As the two went out into the streets, they were amazed by how lively it was compared to the festivals back home. Jake wondered what they should do first. Rhea suggested they either play games, eat or buy souvenirs; but then they both settled to party "Farun-style" by drinking booze.

What may have been hours later, Jake and Rhea sat on a bench; feeling very drunk from all the booze they had. Rhea, though disappointed she couldn't get Buwaro drunk since he's a Fire Demon, wondered what Angels drinking would be like. Jake then asked why she hung out with them, while Rhea reminds him that she kept a promise that she intends to keep. After talking about how nonsensical the Gods were for how Angels and Demons were to them, Jake mentioned that Ramirez wrote to him about how he went to Ghardin City to become a doctor, but also because his village might have thought he killed Rhea. Rhea objected, though while Jake believed her, he recommended that she go to Ghardin City to see him. She said she would think about it; and after Jake said he'd go anywhere with her, she was shocked to hear that he'd been transporting fireworks; which given his reputation was a wonder how he lived this long. She then picked up a familiar scent, though dismissed it.

Hangover SD587

Crash and burn.

Rhea and Jake later returned to the wagon and were in a severe hangover. Rhea tried her best to remember what had happened that resulted in the tip of her tail being burnt. She remembers there being a fire, screaming and very upset guards; which she concluded was normal when going out drinking with Jake.

Day 3[]

Rhea and Jake would later catch up with Buwaro in the alleyway he was hiding in; revealing that Miranda gave them a potion that cured them of their hangover. As Rhea told Buwaro they'd meet up with Kieri later, the city guards spotted them as the two arsonists from last night and yelled to catch them, thinking they were attacking Buwaro; though before they could go too far, the three were greatly shocked by the sight of Melli the Fire Bee crashing into the ground nearby and killing several civilians.

Demon Invasion - The Gathering[]

Jake, Rhea and Buwaro witnessed the eventual death of Melli to the giant snake that appeared to everyone to be Moku the Snake, setting off a massive ball of fire that caught onto various parts of the city. Shortly after a storm kicked in, Jake ran off to check on Fritz and Sugar, and Rhea told him to meet back up at the wagon later.

Much later on, he returned to the wagon safely with not only his animals, but also the Sinclairs' horses. He would then witness the current affair going on between Rhea, Buwaro and Kieri. Afterwards he subtly showed his willingness to help by asking Rhea if there were any shiny badges for him to wear, like the one Buwaro had. The three would then pay farewell to the Sinclairs as they set off back into the city.

While searching for information on Kieri, Jake and the others started helping people; in his case he and his animals assisted in putting out a fire by passing buckets, much to the oddity that his animals were helping. Eventually they were called on by Rhea to discuss what they found and all he could report was an offer for horseshoes, despite his animals not being horses. They then heard a cry for help from Demons as they rushed to the site, thinking Angels would be there, only to find Tirol with an injured Sahne and a gravely injured Lakritz.

After clearing up a misconception between the two groups, Rhea offered to heal Lakritz with their only vial of green potion. Jake was unsure as they might need it later but Rhea insisted they help them. Both he and Buwaro happily watched as Lakritz nuzzled a very relieved Sahne. She then explained about how the Ascension worked and the reason the Demons are capturing Angels alive, which is so they can abandon Hell and take over Medius, leaving Jake agape on what was going to happen. They then told the group where the "Gathering" was taking place.

As the three made their way to their next destination, Jake started to question about everything that was happening, and was amazed that Rhea could still be full of energy. She mentioned that it might have been due to Kieri's healing, but she then noticed Buwaro lagging behind. They then found the Earth Angel that nearly attacked Buwaro before. After Buwaro told him he was here to help, the Angel begged him to save his friend. Rhea decided to take Buwaro to go find him while Jake was left to take care of the Angel.

Through Fang and Flame[]

Demon Invasion - The Gathering: Part 2[]

Later on, Jake regrouped with Sahne and the others while taking the Earth Angel with him. The Angel's friend arrived sometime after being rescued and Jake happily watched as the two embraced. As Sahne wondered if she should go help Rhea and Buwaro, Jake and the Angels offered to keep an eye on Lakritz and Tirol for her, claiming they would do all they could.

Atop the Tree of Peace[]

Post-Invasion[]

After several days, the fire burning St. Curtis would dissipate, and at some point Jake and many other survivors took refuge inside the Tree of Peace. Eventually, he and Rhea went down into the remains of the city to locate the Sinclair's wagon while commentating on what came from all of this. Rhea had gone inside the wagon to locate the mysterious egg she heard about, only to find it gone. She was able to retrieve her group's belongings while Jake suggested taking what was left of the Sinclair's possessions, including one of Miranda's dresses. They soon get spotted by the town guards, who recognized them as the arsonists from the festival now caught looting, and the two escaped by hiding in pots.

Once they were out of danger, Jake complimented Rhea for her quick thinking, but Rhea started feeling bad that she kept causing trouble instead of trying to improve, citing that her past trouble-making was what landed her in Hell to begin with; not helped by her getting her friends nearly killed due to her decisions. She started to get unsure of what to do and frustrated that Jake didn't understand because of his carefree nature. Shortly after, Jake felt they should go back to the temple so the guards don't find them.

As they walked back, Rhea thanked him for being her friend, willing to stick by her a lot; though she was interrupted when she spotted something that shocked her. However, he was left confused by her seemingly shouting at nothing in front of them, except for the dead body that was nearby. Rhea kept claiming that "Death" was here, despite Jake saying otherwise. Though his claim was soon refuted by Rhea's body seemingly floating in the air, he would remain nearby and listen to as much as her "conversation" as possible. He'd later ask her to tell him what Death said, claiming that it was quicker to accept things at face value than to doubt her, even if she was crazy.

During the night, Jake greeted Kieri as Buwaro brought her to a large clearing in the old Jakkai village. Kieri thought they was a pretty stranger before Buwaro told her who they were. Though feeling complimented, Jake asked if things were different in Heaven than they were on Medius, and when Kieri admitted so, they felt sad for her. Later, the Tamis Family joined in and they all partied together, with Jake making fun of Rhea while being complimented by Lakritz. Soon, as Rhea was about to talk about Hell's Army, Jake decided to go to bed.

Current Arc[]

Journey to Port Dorade[]

A few days later, now with new clothes and presentation, Jake was seen with Rhea, looking at a billboard that had their Wanted posters on them. Jake noted how theirs was crudely drawn while saying that Rhea's was accurate. Afterwards, they asked if it was alright for her to be wearing a cloak with Moku's image on it. She explained that she always had an affinity to snakes and she felt some sort of connection to Moku recently.

Buwaro and Kieri then arrived and Jake helped load his things onto Sugar. As they walked, Jake told Buwaro that they might be changing their name soon, hence why Rhea always called them "J". Outside the city, they witnessed the confrontation between Kieri and Kazai from start to finish.

After leaving the city, they spent the next few days traveling together. One night, they asked Rhea if being related to Moku meant it was her fate to become the new cobra Guardian, to which Rhea replied that it was due to her choices and dumb luck. They even teased each other over how her new powers might make her better or worse, given Rhea's answer. When J brought up how Rhea might prefer to be with her new friends for romantic reasons, she explained that she wasn't into that and just liked helping them with their relationship. While J was disappointed, she teased that they still had a crush on Ramirez, which they inadvertently revealed as true; causing them jokingly pray to Mother Gaia to smite the mischievous guardian. Jake then had a dream about having tea with Ramirez before noticing Rhea in snake form inside their cup, which left them quite unsettled.

Later on, Rhea gathered Buwaro and J for a private meeting, revealing they were being followed by Kazai; J admitted to hearing a "clumsy" animal bumping into trees. Buwaro wanted to tell Kieri right away, but Rhea suggested waiting until she was feeling better since she hasn't spoken aloud or smiled in over a week; not knowing that she only opens up to Buwaro when they're alone. As Buwaro sulked about being bad with fire magic, J told him of the different ways fire can help besides fighting and even mentioned how they struggled with using it growing up. They reassured Buwaro that what he was doing was plenty for Kieri and suggested they could help him learn magic; the first lesson being that before he could control the mightiest blazes, he would first need to understand the smallest sparks.

That night, J asked about using one of the Rainbow Reverie potions to try unlocking Rhea's Guardian powers. While Rhea is interested in becoming taller with these powers, she reminds them that they don't have any more potions anyway. As J suggests asking Kieri for advice, since their transformation abilities are similar, they hear Fritz and Sugar reacting to Kazai sneaking around. Despite J suggesting to let him in, as he was just a teen, Rhea refused because of everything he did to Kieri. But the guilt causes her to cave and they let Kazai inside, J bringing out a blanket to help dry him up.

The following morning, as Rhea and Kazai stare at each other, J greeted Kieri as she emerged from her tent. After the twins talked and Kazai was reluctantly accepted into the group, J offered him some porridge as a gesture of goodwill, only for him to drop it. They'd later express concern as to how Kazai's fainting spells were caused by not eating well enough.

One evening, as everyone was eating soup, J noticed it tasted strange and saw that it had been poisoned with Heartbreak Fruit, which caused everyone to act strange and enamored. When Rhea recalled something about "love potions" that happened in the past, J teased in return that "this time" she'd join them on the trip. They then started acting oddly flirtatious with Kieri while asking her to watch out for everyone's safety, before getting into a fight with Rhea and Kazai. The next morning, when Rhea woke up with a changed tail, they prompted her to tell the truth about why it happened.

When Kazai disappeared one morning, J stayed behind as Kieri and Rhea went looking for him. While Kieri later recovered from her sickness, they'd teach the others how to play Fields of Plenty, and then argued with Rhea as to what exactly made people sick, to no help. A few days later, they'd be teaching Buwaro to flip flapjacks, which made for a messy spectacle.

Powers and Abilities[]

Fire Magic: Jake's primary form of magic, they have displayed some use of it but not for combat as of yet. They tend to have trouble controlling it, as more than one of their previous jobs went up in flames: though when in control, they're capable of producing a small flame in their hand. As a kid, their lack of control was considerably worse to the point of being frustrated with how they were born; but as an adult, they have a better understanding of it.

  • Sparks: Jake is capable of producing tiny sparks of flame with just one finger. These sparks appear to be harmless, as when they booped Buwaro's nose and dazzled him with a little light display.

Overall Abilities: Jake has stated that they were no fighter, and given their clumsy nature and potential pyromania, they appear to have moments where they let their magic run wild, especially when drunk.

Animal Handling: Jake is shown to be very skilled with animals, be it his own mounts or other people's pets, as most of their work implies transporting goods across Fragaria. During the St. Curtis invasion, they were able to calmly retrieve the Sinclairs' horses as well as their own pets. They were also quick to befriend Crunky and Buwaro, despite him being a Demon.

Relationships[]

Rhea Snaketail[]

Jake and Rhea are childhood friends, and share a lot of complicity. They made a promise in their youth to go explore the world outside of Farun and Fuzen'ro Forest. They're prone to mischief and have a history of partying wildly together, as well as getting in trouble with local authority, to which they have numerous escape plans ready. Jake isn't immune to Rhea's teasing, as she frequently blackmails them with knowledge of them setting fire to their previous job place. Yet they're known to sometimes open up and talk of deeper subjects, especially after reuniting in St. Curtis and learning about the Gods, Guardians and Death not being what they're made up to be.

A running gag of the St. Curtis arc involves Rhea and Jake being chased by city guards and escaping in unlikely manners.

Ramirez Bloodeyes[]

Jake and Ramirez are childhood friends as well, and made the same promise as with Rhea. Ramirez is known to keep in touch with Jake through writing; however, when Ramirez stayed in Farun after leaving the village, he seemingly didn't come see Jake.

Jake admitted to having a crush on Ramirez, to the point they'd dream of him having tea while being mysteriously shirtless.

Kieri Suizahn[]

Jake initially attempted to flirt with Kieri, unaware that she was an Angel, to her great confusion. They dropped it when learning that she was "taken" by Buwaro, but remained sympathetic to her, especially when she started revealing the strict and sad circumstances of her life. During the poisoned soup incident, they asked her to take care of them all, in a more flirtatious manner than they might have intended.

Buwaro Elexion[]

Jake befriended Buwaro just like they would any other animal. They appear supportive of his endeavors to help and protect Kieri, and bond with him over the fact they're both Fire magic users, giving him a couple tips about it. They're also teaching him to cook.

Fritz and Sugar[]

Jake owned Fritz back in Farun, and acquired Sugar at some point between their arrival into Weyville and St. Curtis. They're shown to be very caring and loving to both of them, putting their comfort and safety over their own, coming to visit them at the stables and even getting them to help combat the St. Curtis fires.

Sinclair Family[]

They think of Cliff as a "nice guy" from the affection he shows his horses; Miranda gave them a cure for their party-night hangover. Jake would later help them out by fetching Chestnut and Pepper from the stables for them.

Tamis Family[]

Coming across Sahne, Tirol and an injured Lakritz, Jake would offer to help protect them while Sahne went after Kinako. They'd later hang out together in the Tree of Peace. Jake refers to them as the "pig, lizard and lady".

Kazai Suizahn[]

Jake is the first to show concern about Kazai when he turns out to be following their travel party, and persuade Rhea to let him in their tent. They show good will by offering him food, despite the difficulties of his new condition.

Other Appearances[]

The Legend of Buwaro: Soprano of Time[]

PrinceJake SoT37

He's...not a Wyvern isn't he?

Jake appears as the Prince of the Wyverns, taking the role of Ruto from the game. As a nod to Ruto's questionable appearance, Jake appears half-naked by having noticeably fake-cardboard wings on his back, held by two blue straps while wearing a speedo.

After the time-skip he resembles a bit more like his current main-comic self, though he now wears a speedo that doubles as a Blue Tunic. As with the first time he got stuck with Rhea he ended up with her again while Kieri went through the Water Temple. He ended up losing to her in a video game and gave her the Water Cookie, followed up with a surprise kiss for Rhea.

Trivia[]

  • Originally Jake wasn't going to be an important character. As Chu worked on the main story, the backstory between them, Rhea and Ramirez slowly developed and eventually she found a way to work them into the main story; though Chu has not commented on what it is they'll do in case she changes her mind. [18]
  • During their stay in St. Curtis, Jake received a Wanted poster for committing arson. The crude picture it had was in reference to Lloyd Irving's poster in Tales of Symphonia.

Quotes[]

  • (To Rhea Snaketail about the Gods) "Snake... Don't worry none! Clearly this world and the next are full of s***." [19]

References[]

Navigation[]

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