Mushroom Girl

I feel like when some fans see a character who's obviously insane, they immediately start looking for the tragic flashback/backstory that "explains" them. But with a character like Jabber, it's a different case. At first I REFUSED to believe that this man didn't have at least some sort of trauma that made him the way he was, but after watching the show and reading the manga, it kind of changed my perspective.

During a creator livestream, Author Kei Urana confirmed that Jabber did indeed have a relatively normal upbringing. That information changed my perspective completely on how I read him.

For me, the question stopped being "What happened to Jabber?" and became "What is Jabber?" Which, is when the idea gets kind of fun to toy with.

First, I'd say he isn't motivated by cruelty. This sounds ridiculous considering he poisons people, laughs while fighting, and generally behaves like a rabid hyena. But Jabber doesn't seem driven by hatred. He doesn't seem to hold grudges, doesn't preach some ideology, doesn't want power, and doesn't even seem particularly interested in revenge. He seems to want intensity. Pain. Conflict. Danger. The feeling of being pushed to his limits. Violence is just the fastest route to those feelings.

Jabber is basically an adrenaline addict. If we think about his behavior, he constantly seeks stronger opponents.

He gets bored when he's winning. He intentionally handicaps himself because being too strong ruins the fun. He literally enjoys getting hurt. The uncertainty, pain, and excitement is what he lives for. To him, a peaceful life would probably feel the same way solitary confinement feels to most people. Imagine if your brain only felt truly alive during moments of extreme stimulation. That would explain almost everything.

It's pretty clear that he doesn't like weakness. However, I don't think His hatred of weakness is moral. I feel like this is something some people misunderstand about Jabber. When Jabber calls someone weak, I don't think he's saying "Weak people are bad." I think he's saying "Weak people are boring." Which is a huge difference.

Notice how he immediately becomes fascinated with people who can challenge him. He respects strength almost automatically. Why is that? Because strong people can give him what he craves. Intensity. Weak people can't. To Jabber, weakness isn't evil. It's uninteresting. That's why Gris disgusts him while Rudo and Zanka fascinate him.

I FULLY believe that Jabber might actually be one of the most honest characters in the series. Most villains lie to themselves.

They say things like "I'm saving the world."

"I'm doing what's necessary."

"This is justice."

But Jabber doesn't really do that. His motivation is almost embarrassingly transparent.

"I like fighting."

"I like pain."

"This is exciting."

That's it. No grand speech. No self-justification. No moral framework. Just pure instinct. And this is one of the many reasons this man fascinates me.

Also, I wanna throw in that I think the reason he is almost always wearing that creepy ass smile is because he's actually engaging. For instance, look at him in battle. He's practically euphoric during those fights, even if he isn't winning. Because he's feeling, and the fight itself is the reward.

His masochistic tendencies is important to his character. His love for pain is psychologically deeper. Pain is one of the most intense sensations humans can experience, and for Jabber, pain seems to function almost like proof that he's alive. It's an a good experience for him if we look at how he enjoys being beaten by strong opponents.

Despite the author stating he didn't have a sad backstory, it is fun to toy with tragic lore possibilities. With the sad backstory, it could be easily put into "This happened, therefore he became this."

However, removing that, it removes the easy answer. A normal childhood suggests that Jabber wasn't broken.

He was simply born with a temperament radically different from most people.

Some people are naturally more sensation-seeking, impulsive, fearless, and/or aggressive. Take that to a fictional extreme and you get Jabber. Not a victim or a monster created by abuse.

Just someone whose brain is pointed in a completely different direction than everyone else's. Which, I personally kind of like about his character.

I think my favorite interpretation of him is that I don't think Jabber's core trait is madness. I think it's hunger. Not like a physical hunger, but more experiential. He is constantly starving for stronger emotions, stronger fights, pain, experiences, etc. That's why nothing satisfies him for long. The moment something becomes familiar, he loses interest and starts searching for the next thing. Basically, he's less like a wounded person and more like a natural disaster with a shit eating grin.

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