#fucking hydra man...

I spoke briefly about Jaws' life under HYDRA in the very first part of the JAWS AU, but let's see here...

Jaws' life under HYDRA was a lonely one to say the least. They were basically alone and in pain for the first half a year post-first procedure while they got used to the adamantium coating their skull. We're talking consistent headaches and migraines. Like the pulsing in your face and teeth when you have a sinus infection but dialed up to eleven.

That being said, Jaws' life as a subject of HYDRA was still a lot better than a lot of others we know and are familiar with. They were fed regularly, had decent clothes, got a small semblance of an education (granted it was highly biased in favor of what HYDRA wanted Jaws to know and learn)... essentially the bare minimum. This is in part due to two factors: how young Jaws was when they were captured and brought into the facility, and also who was in charge of them. That being Doctor Faustus.

Johann Fennhoff didn't need to use torture or physical abuse to get Jaws under his thumb, even with their explosive temper. He was better versed in psychological warfare, and simply used methods of mental manipulation to condition Jaws to be complacent in following his instruction... with mixed results.

It was easier to control Jaws when they were younger and more impressionable. They were always a bit hardheaded, but they listened better. much like Bucky when he was under HYDRA, Faustus used activation words and repeated phrases to cooperate. As Jaws got older and eventually became an adult, simple hypnosis wasn't effective anymore and Faustus had to progress to using hallucinogens that were more and more potent. This worked better, but they made Jaws more irritable on the come down.

The final form of Faustus' hallucinogenic gas was one that left Jaws vulnerable to hypnotic suggestion. Same methodology as the old stuff, but stronger and more refined than the new stuff. Jaws wasn't fully aware of what was happening around them when the chemical invaded their system, but the rage fueled by the fear that gripped them when the foreign substance started to flush out of their system was not a pleasant experience.

Whether Jaws realized it or not, the longer they were exposed to the hallucinogen, the more they were growing immune to it's effects, which led to the break in control at the beginning of the JAWS AU when the Avengers encountered the tiger shark mutant.

Faustus kept Jaws in isolation the majority of the time while they were in the HYDRA facility. The most they got to see of the other agents and experiments was during missions, since even Jaws' trainings were privatized. In a lot of ways, Jaws was Faustus' cash cow; they got the job done efficiently, and at that moment in time, Jaws was satisfied with having their bloodlust satiated being their reward for a successful mission.

It was also Doctor Faustus that pushed Jaws to commit cannibalism while they were still young. Jaws was well fed compared to other subjects under the Asphalt facility because unfortunately disposable people are in no short supply among HYDRA. Be they failed subjects or experiments or hostages that had outlived their usefulness. For better or worse, Jaws didn't have any real moral hang ups about that until they left HYDRA.

It's fair to say that Jaws became a bit of a glutton during their time under HYDRA. The promise that they could inflict pain was their main motivating factor (their general distaste toward human beings was cultivated more into hatred as the years went by). Getting their lunch on top of it was just a bonus, really.

Jaws has always been averse to being around people for extended periods of time and was easily provoked, so they preferred to be alone to float in their saltwater tank most of the time.

Just alone with their thoughts. The water sloshing around them... in their soundproofed tank... with their eyes closed.

The few people that Jaws interacted with consistently were the scientists responsible for surveilling the mutant and reporting behaviors back to Doctor Faustus.

They were around a lot more when Jaws was just a kid and they were basically glorified babysitters, but as Jaws got older, they were stand-ins for guards/therapists/parental figures/friends/ whatever Faustus needed them to be for his haifisch to progress as he wanted.

Jaws didn't have many personal belongings and had virtually no sense of self when they were fully sentient. They functioned solely off of the pursuit of survival, and because Jaws wasn't around people long enough to care about them, they were a million times more apathetic than we're more familiar with them being in current days. It was less from a place of "I don't care what you have to say, I'm gonna do what I want" and more so "Meat sacks shouldn't talk so much."

I can't say that Jaws forged any meaningful connections while under the New York Asphalt facility, and they weren't fully aware of what was going on around them half of the time. It was a blurred cycle of sleeping, killing, testing and improvements over and over again.

I think the culture shock Jaws had after leaving HYDRA should be studied actually. Jaws didn't have too much of a clue what was out there in the world (having only faint memories of their life back on Enoka as an infant at this point), but there had to be a latent yearning for more than what their life was for them to actually try and adjust to "normal" society after being freed.