Jak (Jak and Daxter)
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Jak is the main character from the Jak and Daxter video game series. He and his buddy Daxter have starred in four games together while Daxter has his own game for the PSP.
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[edit] Character History
As a young boy living in Sandover Village, Jak could often be found hanging out with his best friend Daxter. Usually they would be caught doing dangerous things that their guardian, Samos The (Green) Sage, forbid them from doing.
In the beginning of Jak and Daxter, Jak and Daxter were in a boat sailing to Misty Island, a place Samos told them to stay away from. Once they arrived, they discovered an army of Lurkers taking orders from a mysterious man and a woman. One of the Lurkers noticed Jak and Daxter's presence as they moved on. They continued walking around until they stopped at a pool of Dark Eco, where they located a small Red Eco container. The Lurker from before comes up, picking a fight with them. Jak threw the Eco container at the Lurker, but the explosion threw him backwards, causing him to hit Daxter,and knocking him into the Dark Eco where he was turned into an Ottsel.
Upon arriving to Samos' hut, he told them to look for a sage named Gol Acheron in order to change Daxter back to normal. Samos would teleport them to his site, but the other sages had their teleporters deactivated, strangely. With the aid of Samos and his daughter Keira, Jak and Daxter set on a journey across the entire land in search of Gol.
In their progress, they found out that the Blue and Red Sages have gone missing (which led them to reactivate the teleporters themselves, so that Samos and Keira could join them). Upon arriving to the Red Sage's lab, Gol Acheron presented himself, along with his sister Maia and their twisted plans of reshaping the World with Dark Eco. As it turned out, Gol and Maia were the very same people who was commanding the Lurkers in Misty Island.
After Gol and Maia kidnap Samos (the remaining Green sage), Jak and Daxter set out to their citadel, to free the four Sages that had been kidnapped (Blue, Red, Yellow and Green). After they succeed, the Sages use their power to deactivate the force field surrounding an ancient Precursor robot, which Gol and Maia intended to use in order to open a Dark Eco silo. Jak managed to destroy the robot with the aid of Light Eco, and Gol and Maia were imprisoned inside the silo, and presumably destroyed.
An important, running joke later in the series, is that Jak is never actually seen kissing anyone; at the end of the game, he and Keira attempt to kiss, but are interrupted by Daxter. It was then that Jak opened an ancient Precursor door with the aid of a hundred Power Cells that would reveal a Rift Rider, which they took to Samos' lab to investigate.
[edit] Jak II
Some time later, Jak, Daxter, Keira, and her father Samos Hagai found out that the Rift Rider interacted with a Precursor Ring. When they open it, the Rift Rider and the crew are transported into the distant future into a dangerous dystopia called Haven City.
Jak was arrested and experimented on with Dark Eco for two years by Baron Praxis, Haven's leader. This gave him special abilities to morph into a dark and powerful version of himself, called Dark Jak. The Dark Eco in him, also gave him the assertivness he needed to speak, something he hadn't done at all in the first game. Jak also seemed to have gained a thirst for vengeance, and he had a much more serious personality, when compared to his younger self from the first game. As a result, he was quick to join the Underground force led by former Krimzon Guard Torn in order to get revenge on Praxis for what he has done to him.
Jak however would be caught in a massive struggle to once again save the world from the Metal Heads in his race for the Precursor Stone (said to contain the last Precursor of that time), as well as get himself involved with the ever important "Kid", a young boy constantly under the watch of the Underground, particulary the old Kor, due to the rumors that he may be the lost heir to the Haven's throne (as evidenced by the amulet he wore around his neck).
Jak later learned that he himself was the future version of the child, having been sent back in time as a child to grow up safe from the Metal Head Leader so he could eventually defeat him. Therefore, he actually belonged in the time of Haven. Jak then killed the leader, scattered the Metal Heads, and met the Precursor inside the Precursor Egg. He sent his child self, as well as the Young Samos back into the past in an effort to keep the timeline intact.
As the heroes celebrate after defeating the Metal Head leader, Jak and Keira once again try to kiss only for Daxter to interrupt them even though it was directed towards a very drunk Onin.
[edit] Jak 3
One year after saving Haven City, it once again became embroiled in chaos as three different groups (the KG Death Bots, surviving Metal Heads, and the Freedom League Guard) fight for control of the streets. The people of Haven City had grown distrustful of Jak and his mysterious dark powers and as rumors spread of Jak's affiliation with Krew and Kor, the populace targets him as the cause of unrest.
Jak is banished to the Wasteland where he meets Damas, who used to reign over Haven City but was betrayed by Baron Praxis while Jak was just a young child and banished to the Wasteland where he founded Spargus City. He wakes up lookin g better groomed and his hair seems to be a lot shorter. During Dark Jak mode, his hair is gray instead of white like in Jak II. During this time, Jak was given a mission to save their world from the Day Star, even though he resented the idea of being a hero once more, upset over the people abandoning him. It was due to his heavy involvement, the return of Erol, and others that forced him to be the savior of the world once more.
Along the way, he was given light powers, or Light Jak, to help him defeat the creatures spawning from it and he bonded closely with Damas. Sadly, Jak did not learn that the great king was his father until he was killed in a massive crash. Before Damas died, however, Jak learned that his birth name was Mar. Further evidence suggests that he might be THE Mar who built Haven City. Jak then left to defeat Erol and the Dark Makers once and for all, heading deep inside the planet where he discovered the true nation of the Precursors, that being Ottsels themselves. Despite that, with their highly divine powers, they managed to help Jak defeat the Day Star, and eventually, he destroyed Erol and once again saved the world.
A celebration is held later at the stadium in Spargus where Jak is offered to travel with the Precursors to explore the vast universe, but declined. After the Precursors leave at the end of Jak 3, Daxter and Tess (now an ottsel) begins to kiss, only for them to be interrupted in the same manner Daxter did in previous games.
Oddly enough, in Jak 3, Keira is replaced by Ashelin as Jak's love interest, a change that caused much controversy among fans. In Jak X: Combat Racing, however, this is remedied by Jak X where Keira portrayed the primary love interest again.
[edit] Jak X: Combat Racing
One year after his previous adventure, Jak and friends (Daxter, Keira, Torn and Ashlin) are invited to the reading of Krew's will, of whom was blown up in previous years. Amazingly enough, Krew, has had a daughter, Rayn who also arrives with her father's will. The team listens, or rather watches, Krew's hologram will and then take a toast in his honour. Unfortunately, Krew has had the last laugh. The wine was poisoned and now Jak and his gang have to race in the all new Kras city in the deadliest racing competition in the world, even more extreme than the air races in Haven, and if they win, they receive the antidote. It was always Krew's dream to make the ultimate racing team and win the Kras City Racing Championship. With much relcuntance, the heroes accept.
After entering their first race they meet the arrogant, obnoxious and self-centered G.T. Blitz. Pulled into the world of this racing life, Jak and his friends learn of a dangerous racing team named the Mizo dream team. As they get better, Mizo, a crime gang lord, losses more and more money to bets. Mercernary drivers pile up, as does Mizo's hate for Jak and his team. On the way meet an infamous racer named Razor, who comes out of retirement just to race Jak. Also appearing is Sig, Kleiver, Samos and Pecker (of whom becomes a host on GT Blitz's show a little way through the game)and UR-86, a Krimson Death-Bot with a deadly reputation on the racetracks.
At the end of the game it is revealed that G.T. Blitz is actually Mizo in disguise as he steals the antidote to the poison and races Jak in one last race in which he is presumeably killed in an explosion. Back in Haven City more of Krew's Will is heard and it reveals that not only was Rayn not poisoned, everything was merely an elaborate plot to overtake Mizo and take over Kras City for Krew's Crime Family (of which Rayn is the current leader). As Rayn drives away, she states over the phone to (Presumably) her criminal underlings to leave Jak and his friends be. The game ends with Jak and Keira finally kissing in what Daxter calls "A Photo Finish".
[edit] Voices
Jak's trademark in the first game is that he doesn't speak. In a controversal move by Naughty Dog, he does so from Jak II onwards.
- In the original English version, he is voiced by Michael Erwin.
- In the French dub, he is voiced by Damien Boisseau.
- In the Japanese dub, he is voiced by Shotaro Morikubo (森久保 祥太郎).
