Something I really appreciated about getting the full context of Jax's backstory is that the circus isn't what made her/him such a jerk.
Certainly, that's the first handful of episodes leads you to believe that all the characters' extreme Personalities are coping mechanisms developed specifically to deal with the stress of the circus; Zooble's refusal to participate, Gangle's emotional extremes, Ragatha's relentless cheeriness, etc. Certainly that's how Jax justifies her own actions in 'They All Get Guns'. Jax claims (s)he tried to hold onto the idea that she was a person for a while, but eventually just came to accept that here, they were all just cartoons characters. Hence deciding just to lean in and embody the Bugs Bunny But Edgy Persona.
But the thing is, all these personalities and coping mechanisms are things the characters brought with them. Ragatha was already a people pleaser because of the verbal abuse she received from her mum. Gangle clearly already struggled with emotional regulation; that's why her internal self-image was wearing a happy mask over her true face. Certainly the stress of the Circus lead them to leaning into those aspects; being teleported out of your life as a plaything for a well-meaning but inhuman AI is a deeply situation! But there are many mundane situations that are also stressful and can induce behaviours like that.
And that's exactly what happened to Jax.
Jax's life situation when he ended up in the Circus sucked. Homeless, betrayed by her mother, repressing the guilt and her gender identity. It's notable to me that most of the memories Jax shared upon first entering the Circus was pretty positive! Not all of them, and it's likely that what we saw was selective... But Jax genuinely seemed more or less content with the change in life circumstance. And why shouldn't (s)he have been? The Circus was acting was able to act as the escapist fantasy most isekais offer.
What triggered the downward spiral that swept of Jax, Ribbit, and Kaufmo wasn't directly any of Caine's doing. It wasn't a specific mis-planned adventure or anything like that. It was something that came entirely internal from Jax. (S)he opened up to someone about being transfemme, and despite that person being nothing but kind and supportive, couldn't handle the vulnerability.
Now, if the characters hadn't been in the Circus, things likely would have played out differently; most likely Jax simply would have run away again. But instead, they were a small group of isolated people who had no choice but to see each other day after day, in stressful situations. So that wasn't an option, so instead Jax choose to lash out. Again. And again. And again. And then had to find a way to rationalise that behaviour, hence the Edgy Bunny persona.
And I do think that's a really important distinction, to me. It says: yes, sometimes we end up in awful situations. But sometimes, we choose to use that situation as an excuse to justify our actions. It's a really subtle piece of writing, in my opinion, that's explains and sympathizes with Jax's behaviour, even as it refuses to justify it.




















