doubledead | Personality Section

Jack is a lot of things. He's curious, mysterious, friendly, and creepy. He screams like a banshee and sings like the night wind through the trees. He is both old as Halloween itself and young as the youngest trick-or-treater at heart. But the best place to start is at the beginning and at Jack's core, his game is FEAR.

He holds within him all the old fears man had when he crept through the woods with nothing but a torch to protect him. He knows how to make unsettling noises, how to cast creeping shadows, and when exactly to howl and pop out of nowhere. After countless years of practice, he is the best. It's effortless muscle memory on his part. However, Jack does not scare to be cruel. It's just what he does. It's all he's ever known. He spreads fear the way Santa spreads joy. Even other spooks are afraid of Jack and that is why he is the Pumpkin King of Halloween. It's his job to make sure Halloween goes as it should even if it is growing old by the time we meet him. He's tired of it. He's done. He wants to do something else. Please stop the ride, he would like to get off now.

Jack is a gentleman first and foremost, always saying his pleases and thank-yous and speaking to everyone as his equal. Under all the long words and elegant gestures, however, Jack is a fun-loving, excitable, dramatic, and friendly creature. When not pressed to his knees by the gloominess that fell over him for the film's plot, it's hard to find Jack without a smiling face, as is suggested by finally feeling like his 'old bony self again' by the end of the film. He is social and easily slides himself into conversations and activities, swaying the crowd one way or the other and hyping them up. They might not always get what he's going for but he doesn't fault them for that. He's also very hands-on, joining in on the creation of his Christmas pipe dream rather than sitting back and having everyone do it for him. Jack does his best to try and suit everyone to a task that will make their talents shine. What he wants the most is for the people of Halloween Town to be happy. He thinks what makes HIM happy will make THEM happy and this is why he tries to spread his new found obsession with Christmas like a plague.

Jack is incredibly compassionate and cares deeply for everyone in Halloween Town and even those he's just met. Even after kidnapping Sandy Claws, he still considers him a friend. Jack is not fantastic at personal space, often patting shoulders, shaking hands, tugging sleeves, pointing, and then dashing off as suddenly as he arrives. He might not always listen to his friends, but he always has the best of intentions. Honestly, most of them quickly resign themselves to Jack getting an idea in his head and running with it until it runs into the ground or falls apart. The Mayor spends the whole movie in a constant state of "But Jack!!!"

And God help you should you be caught treating a friend of Jack's badly. He tries to reason with folks, using his position of power before resorting to violence, but when pushed, he doesn't hold back. He is wild and quick and you might find yourself being unwound at the seams and dropped into a vat of lava like Oogie Boogie. He watched his fellow spook crumble and fall to his buggy death without blinking. Jack is a stone cold skeleton when he has to be.

Thanks to being king for years on end, Jack is spoiled. People listen to him and he loves to sing, speak publicly, and hear himself talk. If you let him, Jack will start telling one of those grandpa stories that take forever don't end up going anywhere because by the time he gets to the end he's already thinking about something else. He doesn't do it to be rude, he's just been conditioned to think every other monster is interested in what he has to say. His passion is faltering by the time of his pull point. He's BORED with Halloween and when praised by his people, he replies with a humble 'Thank you!' and at his gloomiest, he offers up nothing more than a 'Yeah, I guess so."

Jack is lonely, even though he's constantly surrounded by other people. What would they think if they knew he wanted to quit? There would be chaos! He can't let that happen. As much as he loves the citizens of Halloween Town, they seem to know very little about him as a person beyond his accomplishments. He is a celebrity. Nobody but Sally notices when Jack's spark starts to go out.

We get to see the skeleton's personality really shine once he skulks away into the night and awakens in a mysterious part of the woods. When presented with the alien snowscape of Christmas Town after ages of spooky monotony, the first thing he does is take a bite out of it and then climb on everything. He loses himself to childlike wonder and for the first time in ages, he is happy. He has no fear of the unknown and embraces it in long, bony arms. It's new! It's beautiful! Until then, he hadn't thought to describe anything as beautiful. This was the 'new thing' that he was aching for. Jack is very very good at doing one thing at a time. Once he's decided that this 'Christmas' is his new thing, it's all he thinks about. After piling up all the Christmas books he can get his bony fingers on, Jack throws himself into research 110%. He only has the capacity to understand things in Spook Terms though and comes away with a skewed idea of Christmas. Santa Clause became Sandy Claws in his mind. This is what happens when you try to figure out a holiday using algebra and chemistry.

He builds his Christmas to the best of his ability and though his friends don't exactly understand his new obsession, they love him and help him make his dream a reality. He knows they don't understand, but he feels supported and sadly this makes things worse. The biggest mistake he makes is kidnapping Santa--excuse me. 'Giving Santa a vacation." This goes back to Jack only being able to really think on his own terms. Surely Mr. Claws is as tired of snow and presents as Jack is tired of bats and pumpkins right? Right? Too excited by his own ideas, he ignores Santa's CLEAR DISCOMFORT and please and leaves him in the hands of some less-than-loyal hoolagins who have already proven themselves to be not so great at listening to orders.

Good job, Jack, A+. You ruined Christmas.

For Monad, Jack does not get his very valuable lesson or his sense of closure. I am taking him from his sleigh ride.