Talk:Handsome Jack

Handsome Jack's face

Can we get some spoiler tags in the main section please?

This isn't really a constructive comment, but is Handsome Jack's face a mask held on by three metal clips? Person1 20:36, August 26, 2011 (UTC)

I didnt really notice it until now but I think you are right. The color of the skin of the upper forehead is a different color from his face. I bet this is going to play into the story somehow if it is true. He may even be an old foe, or one the dunces from Zombie island making a shocking return from the dead to get revenge on the Vault Hunters. I like to speculate on these things :P 21:16, August 26, 2011 (UTC)

Im deffinately going to have to say its a mask. I guess we will just have to wait and see who it really is. Im thinking its someone tied to the original story. Perhaps someone with a grudge?✿L y n n e ✿^talk✿ 01:51, August 27, 2011 (UTC)

Yep, it's a mask. It also gets creepier the more I look at it... Person1 02:22, August 27, 2011 (UTC)

Mr. Blakes shows his evil side!... Also note the 2 different iris collorings. I... I am the King! 19:38, August 27, 2011 (UTC)

Yes, it certainly looks like a mask. Although I like to believe it plays into the story, it could also be covering a deformity or prior injury (see Helena Pierce). Logisim 05:23, August 28, 2011 (UTC)

I'm new, so i dont have an account. but yes, i noticed the different iris color. the right eye is blue and the left eye is green. i dont remember any specific eye color from previous characters, but i just thought it would be funny if for the final boss fight, the title thingy would pop up like for other things, and then his mask will fall off and it will do it again, but with the new character. Know what i'm saying? I also thought it would be HILARIOUS if Handsome Jack was really Marcus on a new diet! HAHAHAHA! 173.166.138.222 04:52, February 17, 2012 (UTC)

I dont know why but I have a strange hunch that Handsome Jack Is Doctor Zed. but I'm having trouble thinking why he would take credit for opening the vault and destroying the destroyer. Either that or the name "Handsome" jack may be hiding something under the mask, maybe he's hiding scars or something.Dead water6 (talk) 11:11, September 4, 2012 (UTC)

Don't have an account yet but just wanted to add my 2 cents to the speculation. I'm thinking it's easy to exclude any previous enemy/ally that appeared in first game, since none of them fit Jack's physical description. All major enemies are dead, Zed is too bulky and it can't be a female either. Maybe Flynt would somewhat fit, since he's slim but...he's dead. Name is obviously sarcastic in a way as the face mask covers something most likely not so handsome, probably a scar. Another thing to point out is what someone mentioned here - the odd line about "babies being pink things that we devour" or something along those lines. Completely new human enemy or a cyborg with weird personality? Latter could make sense since his entire army are mechanical henchmen. I know it might all be obvious to some extent but just wanted to point this out.

Under his mask is an identical face except for a vault symbol brand/tatoo. I guess Jack was a bandit originally?

Speculation on Handsome jack

So currently, Handsome Jack is the confirmed antagonist for Borderlands 2. He's the president of hyperion corp, claims to have found the vault, and claims he destroyed the destroyer. In his honor, Jack then made a moon base in the shape of a giant H.
However, here's the scary bit.
We know that guardian angel is a hyperion satellite. Handsome jack owns hyperion. Why are we saying Jack became president? He could have been all along, actually getting real credit for the vault finding.
Why didn't he find it himself? We noticed the clips, or tape, or whatever. He most likely got scarred and decided not to risk getting killed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.6.25.27 (talk • contribs) 02:06, 19 March 2012‎

No, I disagree she said she was using the hyperion satelite not that she was one. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.11.153.48 (talk • contribs) 14:57, 4 September 2012

Ok, I don't know if you guys have played the game yet. But we now know that Angel was a siren and was told to communicate with the vault hunters through Hyperion tech. By doing this jack could say he found the vault and could take all the credit for himself because no one knows otherwise. And the vault from the first game was a prison so there was no treasure in the end. Also, jack became president by blackmailing the old leader of Hyperion. We find this out in the mission "Getting to Know Jack" located in the Arid Nexus.

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.120.202.58 (talk • contribs) 11:36, 14 November 2012

Handsome Jack is not human

I've noticed this in a video I watched here Borderlands 2 Gameplay: Commando Class Commentary, that at 6:34 into the video, Handsome Jack makes a very suspicious and interesting comment. The statue of him is holding a baby, and he proceeds to exclaim that there is nothing wrong with that, and that babies are "Those little soft pink things that your kind eat after rolling around in your own feces." Considering that it's in the actual subtitles (you can just barely make him out saying it over the commentary), I figured it's a pretty important snippet of info that shouldn't go unnoticed.

If this isn't proof that Handsome Jack isn't human, I don't know what is. Gamefreak1346 (talk) 00:20, July 11, 2012 (UTC)

i think its more of him saying the vault hunters are kinda on par with bandits aka lower then him then him making fun of humans all together.

Handsome Jack IS human to the best of my knowledge. He just condescendingly refers to bandits as "kind". Like some sort of lower life form. He sees them more as a plague not as human beings or beings whatsoever. He calls you (the player character) "bandit" all the time and keeps on talking about how "you and your kind ruined this planet" and how he will "cleanse it from your kind". So, yeah ... he is not from a different species. He is just an arrogant asshole. Cocofang (talk) 14:23, October 3, 2012 (UTC)

He's Human He states that the Angel "Siren" that you kill is his daughter

I think handsome jack is a male siren... 'cause his daughter is a siren, and in the final battle he use some kind of power that looks like phasewalk...HimeEruwen (talk) 14:36, November 2, 2012 (UTC)

During the mission "Assassinate the Assassins", he stated that only 6 sirens can exist at the same time in this universe, and that he knows 3 of them (Lilith, Maya and Angel (Steele was the fourth, but she was killed)). Of course he could be hiding the fact he is in fact one, but i doubt it. The cloaking ability he uses in the final battle is probably just Hyperion tech. 143.176.80.3 16:24, November 10, 2012 (UTC)

He's just insinuating that the bandits eat babies. --Evil4Zerggin (talk) 05:40, February 25, 2013 (UTC)

The Inspiration (Perhaps?) for Handsome Jack?

Handsome Jack's name is, or is possibly, a reference to Doctor Who Season 3 episode thirteen: The Sound of Drums. The Master (Harry Saxton) makes a comment about The Doctor and his companions refering to Capt. Jack Harkness as "Handsome Jack". Seeing as how everything in this game is a reference to something or another (Ha...), I think this might possibly be worth mentioning in the Trivia section. Any thoughts? I'd like to reach some form consensus and I thought I'd be worth mentioning. Unfortunately it can't be cited. Thanks! 69.137.181.181 10:59, September 29, 2012 (UTC)

On top of that some times when you're brought back to life the machine says "everybody dies sometimes except Handsome Jack" which could also be a refrence since Jack can't die in the series, or rather stay dead depending on how you look at it. GrimmShadows (talk) 13:02, September 29, 2012 (UTC)

Anagram

Under 'Trivia' -- "Handsome Jack's name is an anagram of "A Masked John". "

No, it isn't. Unless there's an invisible letter C somewhere in 'A Masked John'. 12 letters vs 11 letters, this isn't rocket science people. 174.61.207.134 02:44, October 5, 2012 (UTC)

Speculation - Is Handsome Jack atheistic?

So, this is a small thing, but one of the info booths inside of Opportunity contains an audiobyte containing something along the lines of "Hey kids, did you know that there are still people who believe in things like angels, demons, and ancient alien warriors? We call those people 'bandits.'"

As for angels, it could refer to possible accounts of Vault Guardians, as although those were only in the first game, resembled angels in modern-day religions. He could also be referring to surviving Vault Hunters who were contacted by his daughter, Angel. Since the leaders of the Crimson Raiders knew of her existence and how they were deceived, they may try to spread the knowledge of her existence to others in order to limit Angel's usefulness.

"Demons" could be inspired by the multiple monsters on Pandora, a definite plausible name given to the majority of monsters on Pandora by the illiterate and religious.

"Ancient alien warriors" seems to be an obvious denial of the Vault and its relevant alien lifeforms. Because of the denial of this last group, it could seem that the denial of "demons" is simply a denial of horrific beings inhabiting Pandora, the location of his new frontier city. Going back to the word "demons," Handsome Jack denying their existence could simply be him saying "no, there are no horrific monsters here" to the prospective masses of Opportunity.

However, "ancient alien warriors" aside, aliens and demons are also present in most, if not all, monotheistic and polytheistic religions including Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. This opens up a possibility that Jack is referring to the religious as illiterate "bandits." Immigrants to Opportunity from outside Pandora may not know of the monsters on the planet, however, and the average outsider is more to likely to have ever even heard of the Crimson Raiders if Hyperion's flagship should be completed.

It seems that it would be almost counter-intuitive for Handsome Jack to scoff religion, though, as it is a potential opiate for the masses he planned to have under the numerous cities he was planning to have.

And the last important idea: Perhaps Jack thought he was a deity himself and was scoffing other religions which included angels and demons?

Don't ever let me get bored again, or I might write a conspiracy theory or something. Jeezus. MyDreamName (talk) 14:04, October 5, 2012 (UTC)

He never changed his name...

More often then not if a person's name is Jack their birth name is actually John. Jack is just a very old, very common nickname that many people stick with. His boss calling him John wasn't because he had a different name back then. It was supposed to show that his boss didn't give two shits about a low level employee to even know that he doesn't go by John. Is there another way to reword the page so people understand this? M0xxy (talk) 05:33, October 11, 2012 (UTC)

Comparison to the Psycho

I've noticed the Vault symbol across Jack's real face and I'm reminded of the masks the psychos wear.

I think it's just a statement that Jack's a monster of a human being hiding behind a mask of false humanity, as compared to the iconic Psycho enemies who cover their lack of humanity with a mask.Reflected void (talk) 09:48, November 10, 2012 (UTC)

Questions

Spoilers, though the main page has spoilers everywhere.

Okay, so, I just finished BL2. I have not played BL1, and my only knowledge of it comes from watching a few lets play's and reading plot synopses.

Given that, I have a few questions, as a few aspects of the story don't make any sense to me, the biggest of which is the New-U system and its implications. Okay, I understand that Jack's plan was to trick the Vault hunters into acquiring the fake shield power cell so he could bombard the city. But after that point, Jack has no further use for the Vault hunter. Given that the New-U stations are all Hyperion tech, why wouldn't Jack block out your access to them? Furthermore, why wouldn't he put himself on the network? He clearly knows they exist, proven by the quest "Kill Yourself", so they have to be considered canon. Why then, would he allow the vault hunter to continue to use the system, particularly after the death of his daughter, his girlfriend, and the destruction of much of Opportunity?  It must be possible for him to remove people from the system, otherwise Roland would have simply respawned when Jack shoots him.

There are several points after the attack on Sanctuary that Jack orders the Vault hunter's death, in particular when the player attempts to get the fast travel beacon set up in Overlook. This is prior to Angel's death, so at this point he really doesn't have the personal vendetta against the Vault hunter that he has afterward. And then, after Angel dies, the only reason Jack might have to want the Vault hunter to survive is so that he can get revenge personally. But if that was the case, why would he constantly deploy hyperion soldiers and robots to try and kill the player, all the way up to the showdown at Hero's pass?

Second plot hole: Why doesn't Jack bombard Sanctuary again once it's relocated? Lilith even states that it no longer has a shield. Can he not hit it because it's floating in the air?

And finally... why does he go out of his way to create a new set of vault hunters? Is that the only way he could think of to get an Angel-infected power core installed? Salvador and Maya had their own reasons for seeking the Vault, but Axton and Zero were off doing their own thing and didn't become interested in the Vault until Jack invited them. -Trogdor

1. I do believe that Angel is the one controlling the New-U stations. Besides, it would just suck if we died for good the first time... Roland dies because there should be some kind of plot twist in the game. If he had just come back afterwards it wouldn't be dramatic at all. Just imagine: "NO, ROLAND! WHAT WILL WE DO WITHOUT YOh wait he respawned, nevermind."

2. Jack doesn't order a strike on Sanctuary because Lilith tells him that she could teleport the city anywhere at any time. She was bluffing though.

3. Because, the game would not be interesting if we only had 2 new charcters and not an entire new set. That and Jack is a grade A douchebag with a huge ego and probably thought he wouldn't have any trouble disposing of the Vault Hunters. Auntarie (talk) 14:09, December 7, 2012 (UTC)

New-U stations are not "canon" in the traditional sense. They exists only as an interesting respawn mechanic for the game, that is, to add flavor to the otherwise epitomes you died, restart screens. The canon ending to Kill Yourself would be to not kill yourself. 204.124.122.253 15:23, December 7, 2012 (UTC)

@Auntarie: Even if Angel is controlling the New-U stations, Jack clearly has some degree of control over Angel, otherwise she never would have lowered Sanctuary's shields. And my questions are from a logical standpoint, "to add a plot twist" isn't a logical explanation within the game's canon. If Roland was removed from the New-U network, it should be explained why and how.

As for Lilith teleporting the city anywhere at any time: Well, Jack shells the city constantly while it's shields are up, so I imagine ammo isn't a concern for him. So there's really no reason for him to not try, especially since there's a high probability he could hit it at least a few times before Lilith would supposedly move the city again.

As for the new Vault hunters, again, 'to add to the game' is not a logical explanation. He only needed one Vault hunter to get the trap shield power cell installed, and that's assuming he couldn't have tricked the people of Sanctuary into installing said device some other way. Making extra enemies seems foolish, and when a villian becomes SO arrogant that he starts making foolish decisions, he starts to feel like a cartoon character. Jack is supposed to be arrogant, but also very intelligent, smart enough to weave intricate plans and traps.

@204...: New-U stations aren't canon? They speak with Hyperion voices. They digi-struct a new body for you, a technology that is very similar to the fast travel and catch-a-ride systems, both of which are included in story missions and talked about by the characters. And in "Kill Yourself", Jack's dialogue indicates that he knows you will come back to life even before you make the decision to jump or not.

Then again, there are many instances in the story where a character breaks the fourth wall or does something illogical within the game's canon, so I guess these plot holes are just to be accepted. -Trogdor

Here is a link to a gearbox forum where they claim that Anthony Burch the head writer for Borderlands said that the New-U is not canon. I wish I could find Anthony Burch's original statement to confirm this. It doesn't really matter either way. Either they are canon and some theory can be made to make them work with the story or they are not. I tend to believe that they are not canon as Roland was able to respawn in bl1 but not in bl2 and there are other instances where characters break the fourth wall. Just.kevin (talk) 23:20, December 7, 2012 (UTC)

Jack could have had the original four Vault Hunters removed from the Hyperion New-U system. Why not remove the new Vault Hunters? Because they killed his daughter. He is going to kill them himself, and not let some punk bandit or rabid wildlife get them first. They have to suffer at Jack's hands, and if he leaves them in the New-U network, then they'll survive to confront him, which he knows they will do. It'd be silly of the head writer to pretend they don't exist when a) they're right there; b) a quest actually refers to them directly; and c) their "plot holes" are not that hard to explain. Atypicaloracle (talk) 06:48, September 24, 2013 (UTC)

This is hardly a problem unique to Borderlands; CRPGs and other games with narratives usually have game mechanics that don't entirely make sense within the setting, and "respawning" is probably the one that comes up most often. Most settings just don't make sense if it's that easy to come back from death, and so I think that's the most common example of something to just treat as "not really canon" and move on, one possibly fourth-wall breaking quest notwithstanding. FoolishOwl (talk) 13:04, December 11, 2013 (UTC)

wife?

" though it is strongly backed up by her direct quotes" as i recall she had a fling w/ him _after_ mordecai _after_ borderlands. who said married? when?   Dr. F            17:45, December 30, 2012 (UTC)

Handsome Jack and Angel

There are serious chronological problems with the story as told/implied by Jack. See Get to Know Jack for a transcript, and consider the following:

1. We need only consider Journals #1 and #3. #1 is Angel's "chairing". Without this, there is no Angel satellite. Therefore, Journal #1 must happen before #3. (There is overwhelming evidence in favor of all the journals being in chronological order, and none against, but these two will suffice.)
2. In Journal #3, Moorin says, "we've lost at least a dozen staff to the Angel's "malfunctions." We need to shut her down! Your wife suggested as much before her disappear--" For Jack's wife to suggest shutting "the Angel" down, she would have had to be around after Angel's chairing--otherwise there would be nothing to shut down. Furthermore, Moorin says Jack's wife disappeared after the suggestion. This would mean Jack's wife disappeared after the chairing, and therefore the disappearance of Jack's wife could not have caused the chairing. In particular, Jack's explanation for Angel's chairing, "what she did to her mother," could not have been severe enough to cause Jack's wife's disappearance, nor for her to agree with the chairing--if indeed any such thing happened at all.
3. One might try to argue that it is Moorin who is lying, but I submit that a) Jack is a known liar and has incentive to lie in this case, and b) Moorin has no incentive to lie in this case, since what Jack's wife suggested is likely common knowledge between Jack and Moorin.

My personal pet theories are these:

• The conventional theory. Jack saw the potential for power in exploiting Angel and did so over the wishes of his wife.
• The even more sinister theory. Jack wanted to be his wife's sole object of adoration. His wife's relationship with their daughter threatened this, so Jack decided to separate them by force.

--Evil4Zerggin (talk) 05:36, February 25, 2013 (UTC)

I completely disagree with both your theories and the current article as it stands.

I find it much more likely that Jack's wife suggested their daughter be *killed* because she is a 'monster'. Shutting her down is killing her in any context, she didn't have to be 'tied' to a chair for that to mean anything different.

1. Jack was a normal enough man to actually marry and have a daughter.
2. Jack's daughter was a Siren. His wife was scared of her, wanted her dead.
3. Angel kills her mother with her powers for reasons unstated.
4. Jack goes crazy in grief, restrains his daughter and starts investigating Pandora, the source of this horrible Siren curse.
5. By the time Jack has diverted a Hyperion satellite to Pandora, he is a seething mass of rage.
6. After he profits from the opening of the Vault, Jack takes out his rage on everything and everyone he can. He is completely insane by this point and doesn't see anyone as having any worth whatsoever.

Psicraft (talk) 00:31, August 4, 2013 (UTC)

"Nor could whatever Angel "did to her mother"--if indeed anything happened at all--have been serious enough for her mother to agree with restraining Angel." she is Jack's wife, he has at least a bit of influence to maybe make her wife imprison her

You are all assuming that the "Angel" he is referring to is his daughter. Maybe the project name for the Helios satellite was Guardian Angel or some variation. This may have been what his wife was opposed to. (I mean seriously a satellite the size of a small planet housing a superweapon? Kinda can strain the moral boundries for people).  Kgk4569 (talk) 18:23, May 29, 2015 (UTC)

Name origin

Does anyone know where I can find a transcript or video of Anthony Burch being interviewed about the origins of Jack's name? I've seen it in a few place; all either forums or TV Tropes (so no dice on using it as a source), or the panel that I attended at Nekocon back in November. I understand we need to cite any info not directly in the games, but I can't actually find any sources only. Any help would be appreciated. --King Starscream (talk) 22:07, December 11, 2013 (UTC)

Hadsome Jack a Vault Hunter?

I have been thinking that, often depicting him with a insane need to find the a Vault and the fact he was the reason of the first Vault's opening ,mostly for the Eridium as a treasue, wouldn't that classifies him as a Vault Hunter?

PortalDark (talk) 14:01, January 24, 2014 (UTC)

Vault Hunters want treasure and adventure, and therefore hunt for any and all Eridian Vaults. Jack, on the other hand, wants power and his lust for power drove him to a particular Vault because he wanted the Warrior, so no. Not really a Vault Hunter. -- WarBlade (talk) 15:42, January 24, 2014 (UTC)

True that, but he also wanted the Vault open for both power and money, seeing he became Trillionary in one night, something he need to keep his plan with Angel and Hyperion. Even if power, his intentions are also for money, which can grant him the power. In my opinion, his actions of searching for the Vault is the reason, not the intentions for opening it PortalDark (talk) 16:37, January 24, 2014 (UTC)

Jack is a Vault manipulator, not a Vault Hunter. The difference is in the approach, not the desire or the intentions. A true Vault Hunter would never manipulate someone else into opening the vault. Opening the vault is the adventure that leads to the treasure, not a means to an end. 21:21, January 24, 2014 (UTC)

Tales from the Borderlands

I still don't know why people automatically assume that Handsome Jack was talking to the "Vault Hunters". It seemed to me that he was breaking the fourth wall and talking to the Audience. Lodan SD (talk) 06:03, January 25, 2014 (UTC)

Its a play on circumstance. Talking to the character is talking to the player, if done correctly. 06:51, January 25, 2014 (UTC)

Agreed, he may even  the "narrator" of that game PortalDark (talk) 15:35, January 28, 2014 (UTC)

Jack is a male siren

Jack mentions that he knows of three living sirens (Lilith, Maya and Angel, with Steele being omitted because she died during the events of the first game), and that only six sirens can exist at once. However, Jack loves to toy with his victims by keeping secrets which he reveals only at the last minute (i.e. shield core, Wilhelm); it's likely that he omitted the fact that he's a siren until he reveals himself as such when attacking the vault hunter (which is highly plausible considering that Borderlands has a history of veiling such information about main characters until it is revealed in climactic a cutscene or during gameplay, notably in the case of Commandant Steele).

Strong evidence pointing to the fact that Jack is a male siren:

1. The vault symbol on his face is identical, in color and glow, to the sirens' "tattoos". 2. His melee attack is identical to that used by Lilith and Maya. 3. He can teleport and make use of an ability which strongly resembles Lilith's phasewalk. 4. In roman mythology, the brother of sirens is a monstrous serpent (Jack displays "monstrous" and "serpentine"/manipulative traits, and is referred to as a "monster" in-game).

Ultimatelizardman (talk) 22:26, August 7, 2014 (UTC)

While you present solid evidence, unless its strictly confirmed by GBX, we can't add it to the article. InfinitysCross (talk) 22:31, August 7, 2014 (UTC)

The Theory That Handsome Jack might surfer from BPD(borderline Personalety disorder)

The Theory is not my own but is credited to The Game Theorist on youtube. He made an exalent video with plenty of evidence to back up the statement. If you wan't to see the theory just go to youtube and search: game theory borderlands 2, it will be the first result. I do not expect this to become fact, but rather that it will

Game Theory Handsome Jack, Monster or Misunderstood? (Borderlands 2 The Pre-Sequel!)

 end up in the trivia section like: Handsome jack might surfer from BPD(Borderline Personalety Disorder) as pointed out by The Game Theorist in his youtube video on the topic.

SirpriceMadaFaqa (talk) 06:48, May 28, 2015 (UTC)SirpriceMadaFaqa

I don't know if something like that should be in the article. As well researched and reasonable as it is, it's all unofficial unless stated by Gearbox or in one of the games. - ☩Damërung ☩ 14:28, October 25, 2015 (UTC)

Butt Stallion

It seems I cannot edit the page. Is it worth mentioning Tiny Tina's interpretation of Butt Stallion in the Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep  DLC?

Epicpoke (talk) 09:00, May 28, 2015 (UTC)

Handsome Jack's family (speculation from TFTB)

So (spoilers?) in episode 5 (The Vault of the Traveler)  of Tales From the Borderlands, if Rhys chooses to ask Handsome Jack about his daughter betraying him, Jack mentions that Angel killed her mother (his first wife) and then his second wife ran off when she found out about Angel. If this is confirmed (specifically the part where he mentions having a second wife), perhaps it's something that should be added to Jack's page here. 

JandsomeHack (talk) 05:25, October 25, 2015 (UTC)JandsomeHack

I agree, but why does the title of this section say "speculation" though? Why would it be unconfirmed if Jack just said it? - ☩Damërung ☩ 14:21, October 25, 2015 (UTC)

Idk, people are always arguing about whether developments (and which ones) from Tales are canon or not. JandsomeHack (talk) 00:00, October 26, 2015 (UTC)JandsomeHack

Jack In First Borderlands

If you hop on YouTube and rewatch the opening credits cinematic for the first game, it starts with a billboard, just like Borderlands 2 does. Look at the male figure shown from the back. The build, hair color and hairstyle all match Jack. There's unlikely ever to be any confirmation on this, of course, but likewise, nothing obvious rules it out, either.

Beansbeansmagicalfruit (talk) 05:29, May 25, 2017 (UTC)

The meaning of "Jack"

According to Wikipedia, another meaning of Jack (aside from "god is gracious") is "supplanter". This is very apt, as Jack took over Hyperion and supplanted Tassiter. The Ragin Pagan (talk) 01:39, September 23, 2019 (UTC)