Jack (Type-0)

Jack is a playable character in Final Fantasy Type-0 who also appears in Final Fantasy Agito and Final Fantasy Awakening. He represents the number 11 of Class Zero and wields a katana. He is the "class clown" known for a lackadaisical attitude and slacking off during lectures, though there is more to him if one gets to know him better. To avoid himself and others being bogged down by despair, he tries to keep the mood light-hearted and crack jokes. He is the slowest playable character, and can't run when his weapon is drawn. However, his attacks are precise, strong and lightning-fast should his opponent be within his range. Jack is best used by studying the opponents' patterns and striking when there is a suitable opportunity.
==Profile==
===Appearance===
Jack has coiffed blond hair and blue eyes. As a member of Class Zero he wears uniform that consists of a black jacket with gold-padded shoulders, white pants, and a red cape. He wears a brown belt around his waist, allowing him to sheathe his katana. His summer uniform has a white collared shirt with a black print on the side and black cuffs, a red cape, black trousers, white shoes and black tie, gloves and belt. His dress uniform has a red jacket with black-padded shoulders, white cape and gloves, black trousers with a silver decoration at the bottom, and a black belt. If Jack ever became a l'Cie, his brand would be located on his right arm near the elbow. In the Final Fantasy Type-0 HD exclusive attire, Jack has a shiny golden mantle and black and white jacket with red fasteners.
In Final Fantasy Awakening, Jack's hair is pale tan instead of blond.
===Personality===
Rarely seen without a smile, Jack is the class clown. Whatever situation he comes across, he gets through it with a positive attitude, often using the occasional joke or words of encouragement to lighten the mood. His immaturity stems from his belief of it being up to him to cheer up everyone when they encounter the occasional slump. His swordsmanship skills reveal a more stoic nature. After telling a good joke, Seven points out Jack is "always smiling on the outside but never on the inside", leading the latter to conclude someone finally understands him. According to the Type-0 novel, Jack wishes to become a traveling comedian when he leaves Class Zero.
==Story==
===Final Fantasy Agito===
Jack is a member of Class Twelfth and dons a turquoise mantle.
He can be found in the Terrace during the morning, afternoon and night.
===Final Fantasy Type-0: Change the World -The Answer-===
After working together as a distraction so the main team of Class Zero could take down a Militesi weapons facility, Jack and Deuce are met by a Concordian who brings message from Queen Andoria on a ceasefire. In Ingram, Deuce and Jack are taken to the twelfth floor of Hotel Armada where they rejoin the rest of Class Zero. Until the next morning's conference, the cadets are free to do what they want and Jack suggests they take a break by checking out Ingram, but only Deuce wants to come along.
Jack is in awe at the high-rise buildings and Deuce explains they were built with magitek derived from the White Tiger Crystal. Unlike the Vermilion Bird that stops providing powers to those over the age of 20, Militesi citizens of all ages receive their Crystal's blessing and thus the average age in the imperial army is higher than in the Rubrumite army. Jack wonders why Milites does not use their vast powers for peace, and an imperial general called Qator Bashtar appears and explains that circumstances forced the empire into war, as the other nations will not help the snow-covered Milites that struggles for usable farmland. Jack comments that humans are savage creatures who would continue fighting even without the Crystals' memory erasure, saddening Deuce.
Deuce's parents died in a territorial dispute. When Arecia Al-Rashia took her in, all she did was cry. Jack was another child Arecia had adopted, but Deuce's first impression on him wasn't good, as he had insensitively asked if her parents were dead. Jack had explained that his parents were killed in a robbery of their family store and told her to smile, as even a fake smile will turn into a real one eventually. Since then, Jack and Deuce became friends and whenever Deuce played her flute, Jack would dance. These days Deuce thinks that Jack has changed, as though he appears cheerful on the outside, the words he speaks are callous. Deuce and Jack return to the hotel as snow begins to fall.
Queen Andoria meets with Class Zero and warns the cadets that continuing the war will bring about destruction. She is hit by a sniper, and refuses healing from Deuce, saying that death is her Focus and crystallizes. The cadets realize Milites is framing them for the regicide and fruitlessly try to contact Kurasame Susaya, their commanding officer. The cadets escape on their own to the streets of Ingram, but only Deuce, Jack, Machina Kunagiri and Rem Tokimiya have any magic left. They encounter Ines Belfarre on her scorpion-like magitek armor, the Vajra, whose attack buries everyone except for King, Trey, Nine, Sice, Machina, Rem, and Deuce into a pile of rubble. The remaining cadets fall one by one until only Deuce is left standing. Jack digs his way out of the rubble to support her, reminding her that whenever she plays the flute, he'll dance, making Deuce realize he hasn't changed. With Deuce's flute magic as support, Jack defeats Vajra before collapsing. Deuce cries over his body, but Jack tells her to smile. Deuce believes his words are true: one day even a fake smile will turn real. Content, Jack closes his eyes.
===Final Fantasy Type-0===
In the final spiral of the war, Sorcery Division again brought Jack in for training, sensing great potential. After being adopted by Archsorceress Arecia Al-Rashia, Jack studied the way of the warrior in a special center and joined Class Zero, Arecia's group of students that fights the invasion of the Dominion of Rubrum by Militesi Empire. As part of the resistance operation "Operation Apostle", Jack and his comrades seek to become the Agito, a messiah prophesied in ancient mythology to appear at the time of Tempus Finis, an apocalyptic calamity.
During Capital Liberation Jack helps Seven and Ace summon Odin to drive Qun'mi Tru'e, a White Tiger Secundus l'Cie, out of Akademeia, Rubrum's magic academy that trains Agito Cadets. The class is officially enrolled and Kurasame Susaya becomes their commanding officer, who delivers orders that the cadets are to move into the Akademeia dorms, despite Jack complaining they never needed to do that before.
Jack is the class jokester and sometimes during lectures snacks away. When Kurasame calls him out on it, Jack offers him a bite. When he hangs out with Cater at the Akademeia lounge, he marvels how much influence Arecia has there and wonders if the other cadets envy Class Zero's position.
After Class Zero helps the dominion retake Rubrum Region Jack hangs out at the back garden lamenting on his attraction to Class Seventh cadet Koharu, admiring her altruism in volunteering to march so others would be spared, saying she has a smile that "can melt you into a babbling puddle of flan". Koharu perishes in the battle to reclaim Togoreth, and Jack loses all memories of her. Togoreth was obliterated in a clash between l'Cie, Jack identifying it as work of a different l'Cie than whom they had defeated during Capital Liberation, lamenting if that was the case they would have been "vaporized on the spot". He jokes over the possibility of the empire having an army of "uber-powerful superhumans" they can summon at will.
After the liberation mission to Iscah, Jack hangs out with Cater in Akademeia's Ready Room where Carla tries to offload her energy drinks at 70,000 gil a piece to them. Jack says he would never pay that for a simple energy drink, and senses belittlement in Carla's tone when she explains she is always ready to help those who struggle. Afterward Jack comments it is terrifying how two-faced people can be. The cadets are supposed to band together to vanquish the empire, but Jack suspects not everyone is optimally resolute and would spill dominion secrets under duress.
When the cadets are sent to sabotage the imperial magitek armor program they get orders to cease fire due to a newly wrought armistice mid-mission. When they are told those who violate the treaty are executed, Jack calls out in shock. Kurasame travels to the imperial capital as Chancellor Khalia Chival VI's aide and negotiates for the cadets' safety, and afterward explains the situation to them: the empire had proposed peace before the cadets' mission was underway, but they could not contact them in time to halt it. The cadets disagree with the treaty, positing that the empire has no right to ask for peace for being the initial aggressor.
They meet Queen Andoria of the Kingdom of Concordia who explains that peace is the Will of the Crystals, and that the cadets' opposition would only lead to Tempus Finis. Yet, the cadets struggle accepting that what they have been fighting for is against the Crystal's will. Afterward Jack wanders the Militesi capital of Ingram, amazed the empire could have built such a grand city without magic. Ace explains the energy that powers the imperial teknology comes from the White Tiger Crystal, and thus is similar to the power of magic granted by the Vermilion Bird Crystal of Rubrum, impressing Jack with his knowledge. Jack deems the imperials hypocrites for how they boast about not relying on the power of the Crystal like the other nations.
Queen Andoria is assassinated and the cadets blamed for it. They are ambushed at Hotel Armada and fight their way through the city to make their escape while unable to contact Central Command, suggesting they had been abandoned on purpose. While the cadets remember meeting a queen, they remember nothing else of her, meaning the Crystals erased their memories of her, indicating she has truly died. Jack suggests they did assassinate her and that memory was erased as well, but Rem doubts it.
They face off against Celestia, Queen Andoria's aide, who, at first, holds them culpable for the regicide. She is convinced otherwise and helps the cadets escape the city to a deserted house in the Old Lorica Region. After an argument over Machina holding the rest of Class Zero culpable for his brother Izana's death, he marches off. Jack is puzzled someone would be so upset over someone they can't even remember, and speculates Machina being the last surviving member of his family after the empire razed his village could be a contributing factor. When Rem strives to work harder to keep up with the others, Jack says she doesn't need to rush things. Machina returns in the morning, and the cadets can move on as Deuce exclaims the COMM is working again and she has reached the dominion.
Kurasame organizes for the cadets to be rescued by airship and back in Akademeia explains there will likely be an investigation, and implies the cadets switched off their COMM to avoid being contacted. The cadets find the accusations ridiculous. Jack is relieved Aria, the class orderly whom they had to leave behind in Ingram, isn't dead as he still remembers her, although he cannot fathom how she survived.
After the cadets return from a mission to reclaim Eibon, they assemble in the classroom to hear their next orders from Kurasame, but Machina has gone missing. Kurasame explains to the rest the upcoming battle plan against the joint Militesi-Concordian forces, the new King of Concordia has allied with Marshal Cid Aulstyne of the empire. Class Zero is to be sent with the Vermilion Bird Primus l'Cie Lord Zhuyu to fight off the Concordian dragons with an airship fleet, while Kurasame will accompany the rest of Rubrum's legionaries, as well as Akademeia cadets and trainees, to the Militesi border for the Vermilion Bird Secundus l'Cie Lady Caetuna to summon a Verboten Eidolon. Two l'Cie taking part in Rubrum's military operations simultaneously is unheard of, and Jack is pleased Central Command is finally "taking the situation seriously". He scorns everyone being up and arms over "kids being sent off to war" now that the trainees will be deployed, seeing as that the rest of the cadets have been out in the battlefield for weeks.
The cadets help Rubrum secure victory on the eastern front by defeating Shinryu Celestia. The western front is falling back and Class Zero is recalled as reinforcements to destroy the empire's crystal jammer allowing for Lady Caetuna to summon Alexander for which Kurasame and the other cadets give their lives to complete the summoning. Alexander obliterates the Militesi forces, and Caetuna enters crystal stasis. Class Zero visits the numerous new graves in the Akademeia cemetery unable to comprehend the losses as all memories of Kurasame as well as the others perished have been removed from them. Machina has returned to their ranks and Jack jokes that Machina must be copying him by slacking off as it is not like him to flake out on missions.
Rubrum conquers Concordia, and as the final showdown against the empire and Cid Aulstyne begins, the class is sent to help take over the imperial capital. As Class Zero is to be deployed Machina disappears again. The others go without him and best the Militesi General Qator Bashtar in his new and improved MA. The empire falls and Orience is united under the Vermilion Bird banner, but as the cadets return to Akademeia they find its cadets and legionaries slain by the Rursan Reavers and the dominion commanders gone: Tempus Finis has begun.
Other cadets reveal the once Code Crimson missions, which Class Zero partook, making the remaining cadets turn against them, blaming them for the ensuing apocalypse. Rem's illness reaches its final stages and she collapses. As Queen begins panicking Jack laughs at her distress and tries to cheer everyone up, claiming that drowning in sadness is not going to help, but keeping a positive attitude gives a chance to come up with a plan. Arecia tells the cadets have lived their lives according to the Will of Crystals recorded in the Akashic Records, but now that the "souls have been released" they can write their own ending, as humans have the power to decide how they live or die, hinting at a vital decision the cadets would soon need to make.
Queen calls everyone to the Altocrystarium room where she tells them about the Judge who resides in the newly appeared sanctuary, Pandæmonium, to make the Final Decision: if there is no Agito, the Rursus will destroy Orience. The cadets plan to infiltrate the sanctuary to speak to the Judge while knowing that without Arecia they will not be revived if they fall in battle, although Jack jokes they were perhaps better off running away and hiding. Rem remains in a coma, but Jack is impressed she had used a positive attitude to cover up her illness.
Celestia takes the cadets to Pandæmonium but loses her humanity and turns into Shinryu Celestia for having defied the Focus given to her by the Azure Dragon Crystal. As the cadets head to the top of the temple they are guided by Cid who had entered Pandæmonium ahead of them. The Vermilion Bird Crystal asks them to become l'Cie, and if they accept, the Rursus kill them, Arecia deems the experiment yet another failure, and Orience and, eventually, Class Zero, are reborn in wait for a new Tempus Finis. If they choose to remain mortal, the Vermilion Bird brands Rem, still slumped in Arecia's office back in Akademeia, in their stead, and sends her to intercept a White Tiger l'Cie it had sensed in Pandæmonium, wanting one of the Vermilion Bird to become Agito. As Rem engages the l'Cie she is impaled by his rapier, and it turns out the l'Cie was Machina who had willingly inherited Qun'mi's Focus to become strong enough to protect Rem. As Rem dies, both enter crystal stasis, the cadets mourning the sight when they happen upon their crystal.
The cadets face off against Cid who has become the Rursan Arbiter, possessed by the fal'Cie Gala. He deems Class Zero unfit to be Agito, and thus sets out to destroy Orience. Machina and Rem's crystal bestows the cadets with power, allowing them to prevail, but like the rest of Class Zero, Jack meets his end after they vanquish the Judge. After despairing their impending death, the cadets cheer each other up by talking about all the things they would have done in a war-free Orience. After Cater suggests they go on a trip Queen starts making a travel plan, Jack being amused she is always micromanaging. As the cadets continue to talk about their future, Jack says they can never know what will happen and suggests they stay in the moment. Seven replies she heard him whisper that he never wants to grow up, prompting the others to laugh.
The mysterious Tiz and Joker, who had been observing the class's progress, ask Arecia to listen to the class's wishes from beyond the grave. By listening to their souls Arecia learns the class loves her, but have made their own decision on how they met their end and do not wish to be revived. Arecia releases Machina and Rem from crystal stasis and instead of restarting the spiral, departs from Orience, abandoning the experiment to find Etro's gate with the Agito. The Crystals of Orience fade and people are allowed to remember the dead, Machina and Rem cherishing the memories of Class Zero.
In the alternate ending where Arecia removes the Crystals from Orience's history, Jack lives his life at the peristylium and plays the drums in a band comprised of himself, Trey, and King. When they decide to skip practice Jack protests, but eventually goes along, saying he doesn't want to be left out.
==Gameplay==
===Final Fantasy Type-0===
Jack wields a katana in battle. He boasts the highest Strength but is the slowest-moving character, meaning using him takes precision. Jack is reliant on procedure. Players must either have Jack sheathe his weapon for him to run normally, or resort to dodge—or sidestep—with his weapon to move around the field more easily. Despite his poor mobility, Jack attacks quickly, has little lag and startup when it comes to drawing and resheathing his weapon. He is one of the few characters who can counterattack when his weapon is sheathed.
===Final Fantasy Awakening===
Jack is mostly used by the online players because of his special ability to drain his enemies. He is slow to execute when he slashes his enemy with his katana. His strongest skill is to force all of his opponents to get close to him during its damage but also drains their HP. He was later surpassed by Enkidu in terms of draining the opponents' health. He and Rem are the strongest when fought at the Arena, Battle of the Kings and Thrones of Paragon. As a boss, Jack is stronger when he teams up with both Ace and Machina as his drain abilities are increased, which causes trouble towards the player as he is the first person to be deal with than the other two.
==Other appearances==
Jack has appeared in the following games throughout the Final Fantasy series:
*Final Fantasy Type-0 HD Twitter Battle as a playable character.
*Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia as a playable character.
*Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Artniks as a series of cards.
*Final Fantasy Record Keeper as a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Brave Exvius as a summonable vision.
*Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as a series of cards.
*Triple Triad as a series of cards.
==Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances==
Jack has made key guest appearances in the following non-Final Fantasy games:
*Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Lost Zero as an outfit for the playable character.
==Behind the scenes==
According to the Final Fantasy Type-0 art book, Jack is popular among female gamers due to his tendency to "man up when needed". Along with Ace, Nine and King, Jack is among the top four in the popularity ranking.
===Voice===
Jack is voiced by Kenichi Suzumura in the Japanese version. He shares his Japanese voice actor with Zack Fair from the Final Fantasy VII series, Gippal from Final Fantasy X-2, and from the series.
In the English version of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD, Jack is voiced by Cameron Covell.
==Gallery==
;Final Fantasy Type-0
FFType0-JackRender.png|Alternate render.
Jack-type0-psp-model.png|Model of regular uniform.
Jack-type0-psp-model-summer.png|Model of summer uniform.
Jack-type0-psp-model-dress.png|Model of dress uniform.
Jack-FFType-0-HD.jpg|Jack in the HD version exclusive attire.
Type-0 Jack.PNG|Jack killing an enemy.
FFtype00 Jack.jpg|Jack in-game.
FFT-0_Jack_L'Cie.png|Jack becomes a l'Cie.
FFT-0 Jack.png|Jack during the ending.
FFT-0_Virtual_World_Jack's Katana.png|An avatar with Jack's katana from the Square Enix Members Virtual World.
Ff Type0 rem king jack.jpg|Rem, King, and Jack in battle.
;Final Fantasy Agito
FFAgito-JackRender.jpg|Render.
FFAgito Jack Close-up.png|Close-up.
FFAgito Jack2.png|In-game render.
FFAgito Jack SS.png|Screenshot of Jack.
==Etymology and symbolism==
 Within classical English storytelling, the Jack is akin to a trickster and rebel hero whose wits allow him to outdo his adversaries. Traditionally in playing card themes, the Jack is an aristocratic figure or knave knight-to-be, and though not representative of the Fool like the Joker, the Jack being the lowest value of the court represents the "trump" that can complete the higher court or bridge the numbers or suites and not be as errant as the Joker, securing a full and honest win. 
By the prophecy of the Nameless Tome, Jack represents the Power of Ignorance. Though ignorance holds negative connotations, in its more benevolent meaning it represents the capacity for potential and growth, innocence, and being unhindered by unnecessary things. In battle Jack excels at counterattacking, turning the tables on his opponents by using their ignorance on them. The Power of Ignorance is also relevant to the concept of mushin, or "no mind", within the context of martial arts, drawing upon one's instinctual senses and basis to strike without relying on estimation and second-guessing. Within history of Buddhist transmission into the world, the samurai of Japan have long valued the Zen school of Buddhism and its teachings to help them develop their fighting spirit, acuity, and sense of harmony with the world around them in their duties as a warrior caste, which was culturally adopted fully upon the Mongol Invasions by the late Kamakura Period.
Like the Powers of Fear, Suffering, and Age, Jack's Power of Ignorance might refer to the Buddhist concept of avidyā: "ignorance" or "unwisdom". It is the delusion that prevents one from seeing the true nature of things that makes life appear permanent, happy, beautiful, and without suffering. Similarly, Jack lives his life carefree and promotes positivity through ignorance. Though this form of ignorance makes it impossible to see one's true self, a struggle Jack expresses to the player in Final Fantasy Agito, in the Gautama Buddha-founded Mahayana tradition, moha is referred as the detrimental ignorance that leads to suffering, while avidyā is identified as a necessary and fundamental ignorance. 
Jack's personal accessory, Hagakure, is based on a real life collection of insights and commentary on samurai culture and practices, and practical spiritual guideline for warriors, written by Tokugawa era samurai Yamamoto Tsunetomo. How he wields the katana with light-themed magic, and how his ultimate weapon is the Genji Blade rather than other reputable ultimate katana (such as Masamune), is likely a veiled reference to the sword wielded by the famous samurai Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the Ima no Tsurugi. This is further reinforced by the weapon being kept by Gilgamesh, whose inspiration in the series is based on Benkei, the faithful bodyguard and friend of Yoshitsune.
==Citations==
de:Jack
es:Jack
fr:Jack
pt-br:Jack (Type-0)
ru:Джек (Type-0)
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy Type-0
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy Agito
Category:L'Cie
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy Awakening