Jughead Jones
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Forsythe Pendleton "Jughead" Jones III is a fictional character in Archie Comics, first appearing in December 1941. He is the son of Forsythe II. He has a white sheepdog named Hot Dog, and has a younger sister, Forsythia "Jellybean" Jones.
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[edit] History and character
Jughead very rarely uses his full name, and is better known by his nickname, Jughead Jones, or simply as Jughead or Juggie to his friends. He is also called Needle Nose, courtesy of his friend Reggie Mantle, because of his long nose.
Archie Andrews radio series began on the NBC Blue Network on May 31, 1943, switched to Mutual in 1944, and then continued on NBC from 1945 until September 05, 1953. Archie was first played by Charles Mullen, Jack Grimes and Burt Boyar, with Bob Hastings as the title character during the NBC years. Hal Stone, then known as Harlan Stone, portrayed Archie's pal, Jughead, known for the catchphrase, "Aw... relax, Archie, re-laxxx!" Jughead was also played by Cameron Andrews. Alice Yourman and Arthur Kohl, among others, played Fred and Mary Andrews.
In live-action Archies television program, Archie and Reggie attempt to find out Jughead's real first name. They go to the school office, and a woman there tells them that Jughead's real first name is Steve. After Archie and Reggie leave the office, the audience learns that the woman is actually Jughead's aunt and that she has just lied to Archie and Reggie as a favor to Jughead to help him cover up the fact that his first name is Forsythe.
Jughead, who is almost always seen wearing his trademark crown-shaped gray felt beanie, is Archie's best friend and the "weird one" of Archie's social circle. Though he's rarely pursued by any girls other than Big Ethel, Jughead usually does his best to avoid girls — unless a free meal is involved. Because of this he is often called a "woman hater" but he doesn't seem to mind.
[edit] Appetite
Other than sleeping, eating is Jughead's number one hobby. Though he sports a pot belly after particularly large meals, Jughead remains as skinny as a twig. As a consequence of his eating habits, Jughead is also a preferred customer of most of Riverdale's food establishments, especially Pop Tate's Chocklit Shoppe, except when he is unable to pay his very large tabs. In one story, he is given a "Restaurant Club Card," and eats only fine foods. However, when he finds out how much interest the card charges, Pop Tate pays him the money on the condition that he eats only at the Chocklit Shop. He is a respected food critic who is said to have perfect taste, in that he can taste a dish and tell you exactly what's wrong with it. In one issue, in which a gym hired him to show people how to stay as fit as he was, it was revealed that Jughead has a very rare and amazing metabolism, which accounts for his ability to eat so much and not gain weight (similar to Peter Fox in FoxTrot). He once claimed that he weighed 300 pounds after a meal.
In one story, students from an adjacent town's high school challenge the students of Riverdale to an eating contest, pitting their chubby undefeated champion against Jughead. Jughead handily beats the other guy, but won't stick around to celebrate: he wants to stock up on munchies for watching TV that evening. In another, he is part of a citywide eating contest, having to eat a "Colossal Burger" made up of 16 different burgers.
In another story, Jughead set two world records for eating pizza; one for speed-eating a pizza, and one for eating the most pizzas in one sitting - 12. He tied the second record, set by himself earlier that day at another restaurant, where he ate 12 pizzas just to be sure that he could do it.
[edit] Love interests and relationships
Jughead usually avoids girls, largely due to the observation (gleaned from watching Archie's romantic entanglements) that dating complicates a guy's life and deprives him of cash that could be used to buy burgers.
Although Jughead usually has no interest in girls, there have been several strips where he semi-enjoys himself with Ethel, and one strip where he professes an interest in Betty.
One of the common misconceptions about Jughead is that he is a misogynist. This has been disproved many times; throughout most of his history, Jughead has been depicted as disliking romance and the ways it leads young men to make fools of themselves, but not women per se.
In several stories in some of the Jughead digest magazines, several girls are after Jughead (not just Big Ethel), probably attracted by his uninterested attitude toward them. Big Ethel has been chasing Jughead for decades in the comic; but recent storylines have shown a decrease in her obsession with him, and even show her dating other guys. This makes Jughead surprisingly jealous. In current issues of the comics, a brown-haired girl named Trula Twyst appears to drive Jughead crazy with her ability to predict his next moves. In the early 1990s, Jughead had three girlfriends: Debbie, Joani, and January McAndrews (The latter is Archie's descendant in the future, who starred with Jughead in Jughead's Time Police, a short-lived spinoff comic about their adventures travelling through time).
In another story, he describes that the reason why he does not chase after girls is because of a childhood heartbreak, sustained before he moved to Riverdale. Before he moved to Riverdale, little Jughead befriended a girl named Joani Jumpp. Both of them had a puppy love. Jughead's family moved to Riverdale, and he had to leave Joani behind. Determined not to go through any heartbreak again, he swore off girls. He keeps little Joani's picture in his wallet to reminds him about his heartbreak, and vows never to fall in love. That changes when Joani suddenly appears on his door step. Joani is a young woman now, and she tells Jughead that she never forgot him and still has a crush on him. The two shared their first kiss together. Before Jughead decides whether he wants to pursue a relationship with Joani, she leaves him -- but with a promise that they will be together again.
Fan reactions are divided with this storyline (Jughead Jones Digest Magazine #81). It was a fresh look for the Jughead character, showing that he is a "normal" boy who has crushes and love stories too. Others think that making Jughead having crushes on girls makes him no different with Archie and the rest of the characters. One thing that makes Jughead unique is his reluctance to get involved in a relationship. The comic strip even had Jughead say, "After all, there are so many things more interesting than food and music."
Besides being best friends with Archie, Jughead also has a soft spot for Betty Cooper. Betty is a great cook, which is one of the reasons that he loves to hang out with her. There are many fan-fictions written about Betty and Jughead, because fans see that Jughead seems more comfortable around Betty, and always confides in her. Jughead also provides a shoulder to cry on whenever Betty has trouble with Archie or Veronica. Even writers of Archie comics sometimes make comments on how they want Jughead to hook up with Betty, but that would ruin the formula of the love triangle between Archie, Betty, and Veronica that has been going on for decades.
Jughead seems to have constant arguments or banter with Veronica Lodge. Veronica cannot stand his laidback attitude and witticisms, and Jughead seems to enjoy teasing Veronica with pranks and clever comebacks. These two were cast in a school play, in which Veronica had to kiss Jughead. The two shared a kiss, and Jughead is depicted as a "good kisser." Veronica was caught in the moment and fell in love with Jughead for a while. But she managed to get over her crush. After the initial storyline, there have been many fanfics written about a relationship between these two characters.
[edit] Musical interests
Jughead is the drummer for The Archies. He has also professed a love for jazz music, once detailed in an issue of Jughead Magazine where he develops an obsession with an obscure jazz drummer named "Crazy" Willie Jim. After collecting all his records, Jughead finally meets Jim (who is at least 80 years old), playing on a street corner with a jazz trio. Jughead convinces Jim that he is trustworthy and they become fast friends. Jughead convinces Jim to play with The Archies at one of their gigs, and he is a hit. Later, Jughead discovers that Jim has died. Jughead takes his place at Jim's drum kit on the corner to play one last, mournful version of "St. James Infirmary Blues".
[edit] Special abilities
Jughead possesses a better sense of smell than most normal humans, and can run faster than anyone else when necessary to get food or avoid girls. He also enjoys skateboarding. He is an excellent cook, basketball player, martial artist, swimmer, dancer, thinker, and gymnast.
Most of the time he is depicted as lazy. In one issue, Mr. Weatherbee tries to cut down on Jughead's food consumption, only to realize that Jughead's brain stops functioning without massive amounts of food. Professor Flutesnoot implies that although Jughead eats an enormous amount, the calories are all burned by his brain activity and that's how he remains thin.
In several issues, Jughead has demonstrated that his IQ is well above average. In one particular Little Archie story, it was revealed that Jughead was the second-best student in the school, Dilton Doiley being the first. His intelligence is displayed by his sharp wit, the occasional deep insight, and the odd chance he gets to upstage or outsmart Reggie Mantle. He also appears to be possessed with unparalleled good luck.
In the "Super Teens" stories (where several of the main Archie characters are secretly superheroes), Jughead can become Captain Hero by reciting a magic incantation, gaining a caped costume and more muscular physique (varying from story to story; in some depictions, Captain Hero has a stereotypically "buff" superhero build, while in others, he appears to be little more than Jughead with more muscle tone). Captain Hero was arguably the most powerful of the Super Teens, if only because he always seems to possess just the right powers for the problem at hand. Captain Hero's overall powers were never completely defined, but he maintained certain "stock" superhuman powers, such as enhanced strength and resistance to conventional injury. In the earliest Captain Hero stories, Jughead's alter ego was often presented as the most serious and competent of the Super Teens, and the others would defer to Captain Hero's leadership when he was present, in contrast to Jughead's perceived status as Archie's sidekick and a generally lazy individual.
[edit] Career
In the TV movie and subsequent comic book To Riverdale and Back Again, which portrayed all the characters 15 years after their graduation from high school, Jughead has become a psychiatrist. He has a successful private practice outside of Riverdale, but is divorced and is raising his young son Jordan, who Archie jokingly refers to as Jughead Junior.
[edit] Trivia
- In an interview with original Archie artist and creator Bob Montana, he said the S on Jughead's shirt stood for his old school, Squirrel Hill Institute of Technology and he could only use the first letter.[citation needed]
- Jughead's crownlike beanie is made from a man's felt hat with the brim trimmed in a zig-zag and turned up. In the 1920s and 1930s, such caps traditionally indicated the wearer was a mechanic.[citation needed]
- Jughead is the star of a popular Archie magazine spin-off, Jughead Magazine, and another spin-off, Jughead's Diner, where he runs a diner with an eclectic cast of patrons.
- In the Spanish versions of the comic book, Jughead's name is Torombolo.
- Jughead is known in French as Doudingue although "Jughead" is used in the comics.
- Jughead rarely opens his eyes fully and is often drawn with his eyes shut or lowered. It was revealed that his eyes are blue. Once Sabrina, the Teenage Witch cast a love spell on Jughead, and then realized it had failed because he'd never actually opened his eyes to see the girl. When she caused him to open his eyes, he was struck blind by the sight of daylight. Also, in one story, convinced by one of his friends to walk with his eyes open, Jughead finds that he cannot avoid obstacles (manholes, poles, etc.) that give him no trouble when his eyes are closed.
- In early comics, Jughead is mostly seen wearing a blue turtleneck with a large white "S" on the front. But it has never been explained what, if anything, the "S" stands for. However, historians of January McAndrews' time (see above) have found out Jughead's secret and, she said, "...they were very shocked when they found out", to which Jughead replied, "...but that's my biggest secret." In one story, finally questioned on the issue by Archie and Betty (after complaining that moths have damaged his shirt and eaten through the letter), Jughead reveals that there he simply likes the letter "S" and is "compatible" with it because, in keeping with his obsession with food, "S" stands for soup, sandwich, steak, all kinds of goodies!" A bemused Archie chimes it that it "Also [stands for] silly, simple..." Betty concludes the conversation with "S" stands for "Sorry I asked"!"
- In 2005, it was revealed that Jughead's mother, Gladys, and Bingo Wilkin's mother, Wilma, are sisters, thus making Jughead and Bingo first cousins. Bingo, however, acts more like Jughead's best friend Archie, by virtue of his being girl-crazy and somewhat clumsy. However, unlike Archie, Bingo has eyes for only one girl, his next-door neighbor Samantha Smythe. This doesn't sit well with Samantha's muscle-bound father, Samson, but her more understanding mother, Sheila, is delighted since she is best friends with Bingo's mother.
- Jughead is supposedly Merlin's great great grandson.
- Jughead's baby sister's given name is "Forsythia." Both Jughead and Jellybean are named after their father.
- Since October 1966, Jughead has had a heroic alter ego, Captain Hero.
- The now-defunct American punk rock band Jughead's Revenge named themselves after Jughead. Their 1990 independent release Unstuck in Time features a cover of him stuck in an hourglass. [1]
- In the Tom Clancy novel Without Remorse, John Kelly assigns the names "Archie" and "Jughead" to two drug pushers he kidnaps at gunpoint off the street. Kelly assassinates "Jughead" while interrogating the two pushers because "Jughead wasn't much of a conversationalist, anyway."
- On the radio program Bubba the Love Sponge, the show's videographer is named Jughead
