They thought they were so clever. Turns out, mess with someone’s head enough and you can turn a scared kid into an all-powerful bitch.
One of the squadmates required to progress the main questline of Mass Effect 2, Jack is rumored to be the most powerful human biotic and has a history of numerous crimes, ranging from murder and kidnapping to vandalism. A lot of things about here are on the surface but more are under various psychological barriers she erected over the years. Time on Shepard's team gives her a chance to reassess her priorities and grow as a person which you can be a witness of in Mass Effect 3. Here are some fun facts that you may or may not know about the "psychotic biotic"...
You can meet Jack on Grissom Academy: Emergency Evacuation mission, which disappears after Priority: Citadel II. If you don't do the mission, the academy is captured by Cerberus and students are kidnapped for horrific experiments. Jack faces the same fate, which is especially sad given her backstory...
It is possible to complete the Priority: Tuchanka mission prior to going to Grissom Academy and witness Mordin's heroic sacrifice. When meeting Jack on the station, Shepard can tell her that Mordin is dead. If Jack's romanced, she'll tell that she misses Mordin as "he had some wicked sex advice" (Referencing this dialogue: Link). Her response will also vary depending on whether she was picked to hold the biotic bubble during the assault on the Collector Base or not.
Jack is voiced by Courtenay Taylor, the voice of the female protagonist in Fallout 4 and voice of several characters in New Vegas, notably Gloria Van Graff, Jas Wilkins and Janet. There have been several interviews with her about Jack. You can find one here (Link) and another one here (Link). Jack's face is based on that of an American fashion model Candice Neil. In the image below, from left to right - Courtenay Taylor, Jack, Candice Neil
According to the Art Book from the Collectors' Edition of Mass Effect 2 "Jack's extensive tattoos suited her personality better than clothing and armor. The final designs were intricately crafted as a visual history of her past". Here you can see the descriptions of several tattoos:
There are multiple indications of Jack being planned as a squadmate in Mass Effect 3. First, the Art of Mass Effect 3 lists her under Allies, between Liara and EDI. Then there are unused dialogue lines for Ashley found in the game files: Link. There is also unused dialogue for Jack acknowledging the Renegade sex option in Mass Effect 2: Link. Also, like other squadmates, she has missing dialogue for Priority: Earth (see attached).
ME2 Jack was written by Brian Kindregan. Written so well that she ended up being one of Casey Hudson's (Video) and Mac Walters's (Link) favorite characters and, according to Patrick Weekes (the person who written her in Mass Effect 3), "... she comes off like a real-life person -- a real-life person I detest. Other people respond to her extremely favorably." (Source). Combined with Ms. Taylor's exceptional voice acting this resulted in reactions like this through the course of development:
Still thinking about Courtenay Taylor's tough, but heartfelt session today - our #toughasnails Jack from #ME3 made me cry!
In Subject Zero Power Boost upgrade description it is stated that "Jack's vital signs show progressive neural degeneration, which would normally decrease her potential ability to generate mass effect fields. Instead, her ability appears to be increasing. Replacing the power module in her bio-amp with a higher-capacity prototype module would dramatically increase the strength of Jack's biotics". This indicates that Jack is not just a very powerful human biotic, there is something unique about her. It can be natural mutation or a result of numerous surgical operations Cerberus scientists conducted on her.
If taken to Grissom Academy, Liara can reveal Jack's real name - Jennifer. Also, according to the Shadow Broker dossier on Jack, she was born on Eden Prime in 2165 - she is 9 years younger than Shepard.
In Mass Effect 3 opening, if you look to the streets you can see civilians escaping. They are actually miniature 2D Jacks.
Like other romance interests, Jack has her place in The Book - fan initiative, aimed to influence developers to create more content for love interests back in the days. She also has her place in The LI Tribute - a similar project, created in the aftermath of The Book's success.
Closing Notes
Thanks to Bryn/Three Dog for inspiring this article with his Fallout New Vegas Companion tips and tricks: Rose of Sharon Cassidy post.
Thanks to all the Jackolytes out there on BSN and beyond - you are awesome!
They thought they were so clever. Turns out, mess with someone’s head enough and you can turn a scared kid into an all-powerful bitch.
One of the squadmates required to progress the main questline of Mass Effect 2, Jack is rumored to be the most powerful human biotic and has a history of numerous crimes, ranging from murder and kidnapping to vandalism. A lot of things about here are on the surface but more are under various psychological barriers she erected over the years. Time on Shepard's team gives her a chance to reassess her priorities and grow as a person which you can be a witness of in Mass Effect 3. Here are some fun facts that you may or may not know about the "psychotic biotic"...
You can meet Jack on Grissom Academy: Emergency Evacuation mission, which disappears after Priority: Citadel II. If you don't do the mission, the academy is captured by Cerberus and students are kidnapped for horrific experiments. Jack faces the same fate, which is especially sad given her backstory...
It is possible to complete the Priority: Tuchanka mission prior to going to Grissom Academy and witness Mordin's heroic sacrifice. When meeting Jack on the station, Shepard can tell her that Mordin is dead. If Jack's romanced, she'll tell that she misses Mordin as "he had some wicked sex advice" (Referencing this dialogue: Link). Her response will also vary depending on whether she was picked to hold the biotic bubble during the assault on the Collector Base or not.
Jack is voiced by Courtenay Taylor, the voice of the female protagonist in Fallout 4 and voice of several characters in New Vegas, notably Gloria Van Graff, Jas Wilkins and Janet. There have been several interviews with her about Jack. You can find one here (Link) and another one here (Link). Jack's face is based on that of an American fashion model Candice Neil. In the image below, from left to right - Courtenay Taylor, Jack, Candice Neil
According to the Art Book from the Collectors' Edition of Mass Effect 2 "Jack's extensive tattoos suited her personality better than clothing and armor. The final designs were intricately crafted as a visual history of her past". Here you can see the descriptions of several tattoos:
There are multiple indications of Jack being planned as a squadmate in Mass Effect 3. First, the Art of Mass Effect 3 lists her under Allies, between Liara and EDI. Then there are unused dialogue lines for Ashley found in the game files: Link. There is also unused dialogue for Jack acknowledging the Renegade sex option in Mass Effect 2: Link. Also, like other squadmates, she has missing dialogue for Priority: Earth (see attached).
ME2 Jack was written by Brian Kindregan. Written so well that she ended up being one of Casey Hudson's (Video) and Mac Walters's (Link) favorite characters and, according to Patrick Weekes (the person who written her in Mass Effect 3), "... she comes off like a real-life person -- a real-life person I detest. Other people respond to her extremely favorably." (Source). Combined with Ms. Taylor's exceptional voice acting this resulted in reactions like this through the course of development:
Still thinking about Courtenay Taylor's tough, but heartfelt session today - our #toughasnails Jack from #ME3 made me cry!
In Subject Zero Power Boost upgrade description it is stated that "Jack's vital signs show progressive neural degeneration, which would normally decrease her potential ability to generate mass effect fields. Instead, her ability appears to be increasing. Replacing the power module in her bio-amp with a higher-capacity prototype module would dramatically increase the strength of Jack's biotics". This indicates that Jack is not just a very powerful human biotic, there is something unique about her. It can be natural mutation or a result of numerous surgical operations Cerberus scientists conducted on her.
If taken to Grissom Academy, Liara can reveal Jack's real name - Jennifer. Also, according to the Shadow Broker dossier on Jack, she was born on Eden Prime in 2165 - she is 9 years younger than Shepard.
In Mass Effect 3 opening, if you look to the streets you can see civilians escaping. They are actually miniature 2D Jacks.
Like other romance interests, Jack has her place in The Book - fan initiative, aimed to influence developers to create more content for love interests back in the days. She also has her place in The LI Tribute - a similar project, created in the aftermath of The Book's success.
Closing Notes
Thanks to Bryn/Three Dog for inspiring this article with his Fallout New Vegas Companion tips and tricks: Rose of Sharon Cassidy post.
Thanks to all the Jackolytes out there on BSN and beyond - you are awesome!
