Jack Spicer

PLAYER INFO.
✖ Handle: Dandy
✖ Contact: dandywonderous or a PM to this account.
✖ Are You Over 16: Y
✖ Other Characters Played in Consignment: n/a

CHARACTER INFO.
✖ Character Name: Spicer, Jack
✖ Canon: Xiaolin Showdown, post-series finale (NO Xiaolin Chronicles canon)
✖ Character Appearance: What a stud
✖ Character Age: 15 (headcanoned, no official age beyond "teenager")
✖ Pick A Number: 425, 543

✖ Canon Setting: The setting of Xiaolin Showdown is Earth, circa 2004, but with some changes. First of all, magic is alive in this world, and while not everyone knows about it, no one seems confused, surprised, or disturbed when they see it performed. Witches exist, mermaids exist, giant world destroying spiders exist, and that's only the beginning. There's a whole world of magic and mysticism that not much of the world pays attention to, but that Jack and his foes are very familiar with.

The most important thing to know about is the Xiaolin/Heylin war. Put simply, the Xiaolin are the heroes: the force of good that strives to keep evil from overtaking the world and plunging it into One Thousand Years of Darkness (the most common threat). The Heylin, on the other hand, are the villains who want to bring about those thousand years. The Xiaolin are a small but unified force, the Heylin are many but rarely work together, and often fight against each other. The Xiaolin value truth, justice, and teamwork, while the Heylin value power and earthly gain.

The characters primarily fight over a collection of magical items known as the Shen Gong Wu, which each have their own unique effects. Some Wu, for short, shrink the user, some grant the the ability to read minds, and some are downright bizarre like the one that turns into a giant baby and attacks opponents with its tantrums. These were created by Grand Master Dashi, the first Xiaolin Warrior, 1500 years ago to defeat the Heylin witch Wuya, and then hidden all over the world until such time as they would be needed again. When that time came, in Jack's era, they began to activate one by one.

Collecting Wu is mostly a finders, keepers process: the first person to find an activated Wu gets to keep it until such time as it is stolen or given away. However, if two people touch a Wu at the same time, they initiate a Xiaolin Showdown, which is a contest decided by one of the combatants. Each player wagers one Wu, in addition to the fought over Wu, so whoever wins gets three Wu: the one they wagered, the one their opponent wagered, and the one that started the fight in the first place. There are additional rules, but they're not important for our purposes here. The Showdown can be literally anything - in the course of the show there have been contests like being the first to catch a bird, finding a needle in a haystack, snowboard races, and even leapfrog, among other things.

This is the war Jack is a part of, on the Heylin side. I call it a "war," but while the fate of humanity is at stake, no one ever dies. He's never been part of a real war, and is unused to death.

While they go all over the world hunting Wu, the main characters live in China. Jack himself is American, but it's heavily implied he lives in China (Asian style house, father works in Hong Kong, he walks on foot from his house to the Xiaolin temple which is in China, etc). This is why I headcanon that he knows both English and Mandarin Chinese. His accent is terrible, though.

✖ Character History: Here's this, but it's not great so I'll write my own.

Jack's parents are rich, and he's their only child. It's implied that he's a huge mama's boy but doesn't get along that well with his father, and it's also implied that his parents don't like him too much, openly referring to him as "weird" at a party. That said, we only ever see his mom's legs in two shots, so a lot of what we have to go on about his childhood is conjecture. I headcanon that he had a stereotypically sad and lonely rich kid life.

We do know that he decided to become evil in second grade, and on that day his grandmother gifted him his helipack, which he wears all the time. Sometime after that, he moved to China and started to convert his parents' basement into his secret evil lab.

One day Jack, plotting world domination, received a present from his father, an antique Chinese puzzle box, which he solved in seconds. It just so happened that an ancient Heylin witch, Wuya, was trapped inside in spirit form. With no physical form to collect Shen Gong Wu with, she recruited Jack as her helper in her new quest to take over the world. At that point, Jack officially became part of the Xiaolin/Heylin war, on the Heylin side.

A quick and dirty rundown of major events after that:

1) Jack continues his sometimes rocky relationship with Wuya for awhile, winning some showdowns and losing others.
2) Upon finally collecting the Wu Wuya needs to regain her human form, she becomes a powerful witch again. She dumps Jack immediately for the more powerful Raimundo.
3) Jack, using the reasoning that if Wuya is ruling the world he can't, joins up with the Xiaolin Dragons temporarily. He lets them use his time machine to go back in time and get a new puzzle box to capture Wuya with. Once Wuya is defeated, he goes back to being evil, but promises to get ice cream sometime with the Xiaolin.
4) Jack becomes a solo villain for awhile and finds Wu without Wuya's assistance.
5) Chase Young, his villain idol, enters the scene. Jack spends a lot of time trying to impress him enough to be his apprentice, but fails to do so.
6) Jack joins the Xiaolin of his own will this time, but eventually betrays them because he's afraid of failing at good just like he fails at being evil.
7) Jack turns good due to various circumstances and helps the Xiaolin again. He eventually sacrifices his good side to become purely evil (for awhile) to save them.
8) Jack eventually gets his good side back, though his personality seems unchanged. He also finds another villain, Hannibal Roy Bean. At first Jack wants to release Bean, but eventually decides not to. Bean impersonates Jack to escape anyway.
9) In the final sequence of the series, Jack rallies together all the other villains to launch a unified attack on the Xiaolin. The outcome of the fight is left undetermined.

✖ Character Personality: Jack could easily be described as a villain wannabe. He introduces himself as "Evil Boy Genius," idolizes famous and destructive villains (his "villain heroes"), and his ultimate goal is to rule the world. And he makes no secret of it.

His personality is shaped by this desire. He's a megalomaniac who constantly praises his own abilities. He makes grandiose gestures and elaborate plans. He spends time practicing his evil laugh. He's devoted his whole life to becoming the best villain to ever exist.

That said, he's terrible at it. Sure, he has the occasional victory (including a pretty impressive bait and switch), but usually he fails, and fails hard. So hard that "to Jack" is an internet synonym for failure in his world. This is because Jack is a little dumb. Sure, he has technological smarts - he can build fully functioning robots with ease - but he has very little common sense. He adheres to old school, cartoon-ish ideals of good and evil (which don't really apply in his world), so if another villain or a hero does something that goes against the formula, he doesn't expect it.

That said, besides robotics, he is very good at rallying others to a cause, frequently getting villains to work with him, and even with each other. As mentioned in the timeline, at the end of the series he successfully rallies all the other villains into a coordinated attack on the Xiaolin, his archenemies.

He's also very persistent. Despite dozens of failures, Jack keeps coming back and trying again, refusing to give up even when everyone he knows is telling him to. Villainy is all Jack has; he's not close to his family and doesn't have any friends. Giving it up would be the end of everything to him, so he keeps trying, savoring the victories and getting back on the horse after his defeats.

Jack is very self-serving. He will betray and backstab his allies if it will help further his goal or keep him out of danger. At the end of the day, Jack looks out for Numero Uno above everyone else. No one is safe from his betrayals, including Chase Young, his "evil idol."

He's a coward. This leads to him ducking behind things, trembling in fear, or even screaming and pissing his pants. That said, he keeps throwing himself into situations that could be dangerous, due to his persistence. If he feels like it's something he has to face to further his goals, he will, even if it frightens him.

Jack wears his emotions on his sleeve. When he's sad, he cries. When he's happy, he laughs. When he's mad, he throws a screaming tantrum fit. It's usually pretty easy to see what kind of mood Jack is in just by looking at his expression. Because of this, along with his cowardice and ego, he comes off as obnoxious to almost everyone. No one really likes Jack, even when being persuaded by his arguments or buying into one of his plans. He can be a huge whiner, which grates on everyone's nerves. And despite his own insistence that he doesn't like to be touched by anyone, he has very little regard for others' personal space, cringing behind people, grabbing onto them, and sneaking in for a hug in certain cases (Chase). He's very touchy-feely, he just doesn't like it being reciprocated.

Jack is, at heart, a kid. He gets scared when things are out of his control because he's young, and he doesn't always think about consequences. He is naive and trusts others to play by the rules of good and evil he himself adheres to. He gets excited when he thinks someone wants to play with him. He loves his mom. He wants to believe that he's more mature than he really is, however.

Jack really does want friends, but he's convinced he can't have them, so in a self-fulfilling prophecy he destroys friendships before they start. In one episode (The Apprentice), he joined the Xiaolin, but then betrayed them. He insisted that it was always his plan to betray them, but after getting in a showdown where he was forced to tell the truth, it came out that he did try to be one of the good guys. However, he got so scared that he would fail that he betrayed them and went back to being evil. It was easier, in the end, to stick with the status quo.

That episode had one other very enlightening fact: the reason why Jack is evil. It's simple, really: he feels "small and worthless." He craves power because he thinks it will make him big, and give him worth. This is the driving force behind his "evil boy genius" persona. Under that megalomanic exterior is a kid who just wants to be recognized for what he can do. He also has abandonment issues because of this, getting visibly upset when someone leaves him of their own choice and often fighting to get them to come back.

With that in mind, if you catch him in the right moment and give him the right incentive, he can be cheery and pleasant. He enjoys certain activities, like basketball and snowboarding, and bringing those up catches his attention and makes the kid come out more.

And he does have some shred of conscience. He's never killed anyone (despite threatening it often), and when given the chance to unleash the Ultimate Evil on the world he chose not to.

To sum up, Jack is a villain wannabe who uses a cocky attitude and big ego to cover up the fact that he's a kid who's just trying to find his place in the world.

✖ Character Powers & Skills: Jack is a normal human with no powers. However, if it is allowed, the Monkey Staff he will be bringing in as his personal item transforms his body into that of a large monkey. In that form he is faster and stronger than normal (not by a lot, but he can actually throw a decent punch, and can climb up trees and swing through them really quickly). He also has big teeth and jaws in this form, as well as a usable tail. Strangely enough, he cannot talk to monkeys in this form (that's a different Wu).

Jack is an accomplished mechanic and has built many different machines, including different forms of robots and vehicles, and even a time machine (but the amount of power it required to work means it could never be replicated in-game). He can learn to work on new types of machinery very quickly, and is also good at engineering his own creations.

He's not a fighter by any means, but he's in shape. He can run pretty fast, climb trees and pillars with few footholds, skid under or swing around obstacles in his path, and he's a good ice skater. So while he's not trained to fight, he has the skills to get away from danger.

CHARACTER SAMPLES.
✖ First Person POV: Test drive!

✖ Third Person POV:

Jack had been sitting outside one of his favorite cafes, a little French-themed bistro that had great tea and cookies. He knew it wasn't exactly the kind of menacing hangout that evildoers of his calibre should be seen at, but he liked it enough not to care.

He was poring over his latest plot to take over the world, the details of which were scrawled in a notebook. He'd lost the last few showdowns and things were looking bleak for Spicer Evil Incorporated, so he really had to make the next plan something big, something that would set him apart and put the Xiaolin losers in their place.

He was so absorbed in his work that he didn't notice the man who sat down across from him until he spoke.

"You're Jack Spicer, right?"

"Wha-" Jack jerked up, leaving a pencil mark skidded across his paper. His heart hammered in his chest for a moment. The man didn't look like a threat, though. Remembering himself, he pulled his expression back together, looking annoyed at the sudden intrusion. "Who's asking?"

"A party interested in your unique talents. I've heard impressive things about your talents, Jack, particularly your way with robots."

Someone who'd heard of his work? Suddenly intrigued, Jack sat up much straighter and grinned. He knew this day would come; someone had to notice his evil potential eventually. "You'll have to be more specific. I get offers like that all the time."

"Of course." The man nodded obligingly. He was buying it, Jack thought. He really was impressed with his work. "I represent the Cosmic Demolition Crew, and I'm here to offer you a position."

The words "cosmic" and "demolition" piqued his interest even further. He certainly did love a little destruction, but...

"What's that?"

"To put it simply, we're a corporation that is tasked with destroying planets. We'd like you to join our team, Jack."

"Destroying planets!?" Jack repeated, stunned. He was skeptical, because he didn't know if even Chase Young could destroy the whole world, but he couldn't hide how much the idea interested him. "How?"

"Efficiently." The man's answer was curt. "You'll pick up the ins and outs soon enough if you join."

Those words had Jack almost salivating with excitement. If he could learn how to do that, he would be the most powerful villain on Earth. Everyone would know and fear his name. This was it, his big break. It was finally happening!

It all seemed like too good to be true. Trying not to let his excitement show, he folded his arms shrewdly, and took a drink from his teacup. Pretending to think it over.

"What do I get paid for this?" he finally asked.

"Your world won't be destroyed."

For the first time, Jack felt a twinge of unease. "My planet's up for demolition?"

"It would seem so," said the man with an air of disinterest. Jack's unease grew.

"Then why me? You said you knew me, so you know I'm not really the "save the world" type."

"That's true, but heroes don't often approve of our work." He leaned forward. "Come on, now, Jack. Do you really want to see this world destroyed?"

Jack chewed at his lip. Of course he didn't. If this world was gone, what would he take over? What would happen to all his stuff? His mom?

He didn't want to lose any of it, it was true. But he couldn't just admit that. This man saw him as the villain he was, so he couldn't be caught doing anything even vaguely heroic.

So what would a villain do in this situation? It was obvious. Pretend he didn't care, and make use of the opportunity.

His expression snapped from nervous to grinning. He gave an easy shrug.

"If this planet goes, it's true I won't have anything to conquer anymore. And all my stuff is here. But that's not good enough. You want Jack Spicer, you have to do better than that."

"Of course."

Jack's expression shifted to surprised again. Really? It worked? Just like that?

The man smiled. "We let employees choose their own compensation. You can have weapons, money... but no, a man like you has loftier ambitions, right?"

Jack had to physically stop himself from nodding eagerly. Instead, he took another sip of tea to get a hold of himself, and then looked over the rim at the man in what he imagined was an intimidating manner. "Go on."

"How does your own planet sound?"

Jack dropped the cup. This had to be a joke. It'd been a joke all along. "You're pulling my leg."

"I'm not. We're perfectly willing to give you your very own planet. It will take some extended service, of course, but you'll get it."

Jack was still skeptical. This was an amazing, very appealing offer, but it didn't sound like it could possibly be real.

But what if it was real? Jack could see it now, in his mind's eye. Emperor Spicer, Prince of Darkness, feared throughout the world, no, the cosmos. A whole planet full of slaves at his command. The powers to destroy worlds at a whim, all his.

"Isn't it everything you ever wanted?" asked the man, as though he could see it, too. "All you have to say is yes, Jack, and it will all be yours."

Jack's earlier unease forgotten in the promise of a world all his own, he took one last sip of his tea and gave one last menacing look, before his face split into a grin.

"Yes. Sign me up. I'm ready for the reign of Jack Spicer, World Destroyer, to get started!"

The man smiled right back. "Excellent."

CHARACTER ITEMS.
✖ Pick a Team: What team will your character be on? I would really like him to be on Blue, partly because he's no good in a direct fight but also because of his tendency to try to rally people together and command from the back. He's not exactly a leader in the sense of some characters, but he can come up with plans, pick people to execute them, and sometimes even convince them to do it.

If, however, he doesn't seem right for Blue, I'd be happy with him in Orange as well, due to his robotics expertise and being able to turn into a monkey might help with surveying in some areas.
✖ Reason for Joining the CDC: He's joining voluntarily, partly because he thinks that learning about planet destroying techniques will help with his world domination endeavors, partly because it sounded like an interesting thing to be a part of, mostly because he was offered his own planet for signing on.
✖ Mission Freebie: His own planet (I'm sorry).
✖ Personal Item or Weapon: The Monkey Staff, described above in Powers.

✖ Character Inventory:

- The clothes he's wearing (coat, shirt, boxers, pants, socks, boots, welding goggles)
- His helipack (allows him to fly, confiscated)
- Wu tracker (confiscated)
- Cellphone (confiscated)