Jenny G. Denver (Johnsonverse)

Jennifer Gertrude "Jenny" Denver is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Detective Jenny franchise. The character was created by Tammy Jo Johnson and designed by Erin Shimuzu, and debuted in the first issue of the comic book Detective Jenny on March 1, 1992. In the Epsilon timeline, Jenny is the leader of Delta Squad (better known as Team Jenny), one of 26 such teams employed by the United Nations to track down and arrest criminals around the world. Jenny has been accompanied by various supporting characters, most notably Makayla Gómez.
Johnson created Jenny in late 1991 as one of five teenage characters she created in response to the popularity of the "magical girl" genre. Jenny is the team's stoic, intelligent, level-headed leader who also has Asperger's syndrome, and (along with Makayla) is the team's anchor to sanity.
Jenny has been listed among the greatest fictional characters ever created. Her likeness has been licensed and featured in various media and merchandise sold worldwide. Mary Kay Bergman provided the character's voice from 1993 until her suicide in 1999, and was succeeded by Tara Strong, who remains as Jenny's voice actress as of 2023.
==Publication history==
==Characterization==
Jenny is usually the most level-headed member of the team and serves as a calming influence to the others. Most of the time, she is relatively subdued, only showing emotion either when on her own, or with Makayla, who is the only person she trusts to know her true self. However, she finally started opening up to the rest of the team in the final episode of the original run. Her lack of emotion most of the time also makes her a nightmare to play against in poker, as she's become so used to not expressing herself, nobody can get any tells out of her. Even so, Jenny is not immune to flipping out, once ripping off a Libyan drug smuggler's arm and then shoving it up his anus in the seventh season episode "Yay Kaboom".
Jenny is a well-rounded agent, able to do anything while excelling at nothing, making her the most reliable agent employed by the UN. She can use any weapon with ease, but prefers to use a Walther P-38 with optional silencer, stock, and laser scope; she initially used a Beretta M1951, but switched in 1984 upon seeing a kid play with a Megatron toy in gun mode and doing research. Most of the time she also wields a brown pocket knife, which she generally uses for interrogation. However, she isn't perfect, suffering from a severe case of acrophobia that causes her to freeze up.
Jenny also has Asperger's syndrome, explaining some of her behaviors, such as her acrophobia, constantly being around Makayla, and her lack of emotion; some other autistic hallmarks, like stimming and certain interests, are also present, but others, like sensitivity to loud noises, being touched, and having strict routines, were inhibited by Project Hercules.
==Supporting characters==
=== Makayla Gómez ===
Makayla is Jenny's girlfriend and confidant. The two first met at a daycare center in 1965 (as their respective fathers, Clay Denver and Ramon "Motormouth" Gómez, frequently did business with each other) and immediately became friends. At kindergarten, both became outcasts due to their respective families' involvement in organized crime, and vowed to keep only to each other.
=== Team Jenny ===
=== Onizuka ===
Onizuka is Jenny's most common nemesis.
=== Edith Lear ===
Jenny sees Lear as her biggest arch-nemesis, as Lear is the founder of Autism Is Alive, a supposed charity that serves as a front for murdering autistic children; Jenny, herself autistic, has noted that she has more respect for Black Scorpion than for Lear.
==Abilities==
She is a well-rounded agent, able to do anything while excelling at nothing, making her the most reliable agent employed by the UN. She can use any weapon with ease, but prefers to use a Walther P-38 with optional silencer, stock, and laser scope; she initially used a Beretta M1951, but switched in 1984 upon seeing a kid play with a Megatron toy in gun mode and doing research. Most of the time she also wields a brown pocket knife, which she generally uses for interrogation. 
Jenny's area of interest is poker, and she is perhaps one of the greatest Texas Hold 'Em players of all time, to the point that she can singlehandedly provide 30% of the team's funding.
==Fictional character biography==
=== 20th century ===
Jennifer Gertrude Denver was born on June 10, 1963 at the Misericordia Community Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to Clay Denver, the leader of the Denver Crime Family, and his wife, Anna. At the age of two, Jenny was moved to El Paso after the Denvers were forced to relocate when George Dean, a very trusted member, turned out to be an informant.
Jenny was entered into a daycare center, where she met Makayla for the first time. The two immediately became friends over their fathers' association with the criminal underworld, as well as their partnership.
=== 21st century ===
==Other versions==
==Voice actors==
==Cultural impact and legacy==
=== In other media ===
=== Television ===
=== Film ===
=== Fine art ===
=== Video games ===
=== Role-playing games ===
=== Interpretations ===
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Category:Johnsonverse