LaGuruPixieFeather

Oh man I LOVE talking about Jet. Here’s a lil breakdown of some of my favorite talking points on him.

- I believe it’s heavily insinuated Jet is descended from Babylonian royalty. His father’s legacy, his assumption of leadership despite being considerably younger than Wave and Storm and how they automatically respect and listen to him, his determination to return to Babylon not exclusively for treasure but because it’s “theirs,” all points to hints of a royal heritage to me.

- Jet is Sonic’s purest rival, in the sense that their rivalry is based on an untouchable desire to compete against each other at their best. And regardless if they hate or love each other, that dynamic will never change. They don’t ever stop becoming rivals by becoming friendlier.

- Jet respects Sonic more than the fandom will admit, and Sonic respects him. After the first game concludes, there is no reason to think they dislike one another anymore. When Jet conceded his loss fairly to Sonic in the end and tried to hand over the key to Babylon garden, the ONE THING Jet wanted more than anything, Sonic recognized that he didn’t need or want this treasure, it didn’t belong to him whether he won in fairly in a race or not. So he gave it back, and Jet couldn’t understand why Sonic would do that. Simply put, a relationship of respect had been built between them, cemented in that moment. You especially see how this changed their dynamic in the following game Zero Gravity—their rivalry is still relevant, but is much more based around racing for a common goal rather than trying to tear the other down.

- Once AGAIN when Sonic wins the Arks of the Cosmos, he’s happy to return all of them to Jet. This annoys Jet at first thinking Sonic is running away from their rivalry by giving up his prize, something Sonic once again recognizes that Jet cares much more about than he does, but Sonic simply grins at him and tells him “Who do you think I am? I’ll see you at the Grand Prix.” Once more solidifying that he isn’t in this to take anything away from Jet, but for the love of racing him, and that it won’t stop just because they don’t have a “need” for it anymore. This is why I say they have the purest rivalry in the series, in my opinion.

- There is a funny parallel between Jet and Amy in the games. I don’t know if this was intentional, but it’s definitely there! Jet and Amy are juxtaposed in a few shots where it’s implied Sonic’s attentions are split. Jet also dislikes that Amy in any way distracts Sonic from him, and holds some hostility toward her for it. In zero gravity, the scene where Amy clings onto him and says “I finally found you” the shot is cut to Jet in hiding just overhead, who has also been chasing after Sonic. He and Sonic are looking for the same thing, but Jet also becomes pretty distracted even from his own goals when Sonic is in the picture. I just thought this was funny.

- Jet is canonically superstitious and believes in shooting star wishes. He also has canonically never seen Super Sonic. Pair that with the fact that Super Sonic can be mistaken for a shooting star in the distance (Sonic X), and I think there’s a really delicious opportunity there. Jet wishing on a shooting star to see Babylon again, and his wish inexplicably comes true; not because he wished on a star, but because Sonic is a dream maker. Also, Sonic’s hero story in Zero Gravity is literally called “Shooting Star Mission.” Much to think about.

- Jet abandoned his own dream of returning to Babylon Garden because of Sonic. At the end of Zero Gravity, Babylon is left hanging in orbit around the earth, risen from the depths of the sand. Wave asks Jet if he’s really okay with that, with never going back again after he’d made it his very purpose for years. Jet is okay with this, stating that as much as he’d miss the vastness of space, “this world still had its charm.” When he smiles, the very next scene is cut to Sonic. What did Jet do after saying that? He hopped on his board and went searching for Sonic once again, the new more interesting thing tying him to the earth, his new purpose—pursuing his only fulfilling rivalry that gives him reason to continue what he loves most, which is riding extreme gear. Hunting for treasure is how he survives, but it’s not a reason to push himself to his limits, that’s what Sonic provides.