[Dare Da] Jason

Introduction:
Anyone with a passing familiarity of Battle of the Planets knows what he is, the second-in-command of G-Force. Anyone with a passing familiarity of any version of Gatchaman knows what he represents: G-2, the Condor. Condor is a bit of a misnomer in BotP, birdstyles are never explicitly named).
Getting a sense of who Jason is isn't always the easiest task in the world, however.

A. Who's a Bad Boy?

A lot of nonsense is said about Jason, and that's just within the show. He's a loner, a reprobate, a power-lusting, irresponsible, impulse-driven gadabout who must be watched carefully lest he get into something.

Of course, this being an essay that'll look at him in an admittedly favorable light, one would expect to hear about his angelic qualities. The truth lies somewhere in between.

Independence:

If there's anything that has probably done more to earn Jason the flak he gets, his independence would have to be it. It is the truth: Jason *will* do his own thinking, do it wrong even, rather than have it done for him and he will let his objections be known. As far as obedience goes, it's probably more accurate to say that he listens to authority, but only to legitimate authority, not that merely conferred by position. Which can easily be misinterpreted as insubordination by those less than secure of their own authority or unsure of what they're doing. When legitimate authority is giving reasonable orders, it's remarkable to note the alacrity with which he carries them out.

Jason demands accountability from those he works with.

Leadership:

This is perceived as a red-hot topic. However, the records do show that Jason did make a bid to take over the team exactly once, when Mark refused point blank to let anyone try anything to save the lives of a boatload of civilians without giving a good reason (Magnetic Attraction).

So where does this claim of power-hungry come from? Apart from his independence and willingness to push for answers if the orders don't make sense, this much is true about Jason: if you can't take the heat, he's willing to throw you out of the kitchen.

And that attitude applies to everyone, not just Mark. As a very competent person, he can do the work of just about any team member in a pinch and when the situation demands it, he's willing to do whatever it takes to get through it, the if the 'proper' person isn't able/willing to do so. A pretty good example comes in "Raid on a Nearby Planet" where he takes the controls away from Tiny when the rays from the mecha-de-jour blind the latter. Mark had been sitting right next to Tiny and hadn't raised a finger to give Tiny a hand or thought of having Tiny replaced.

The third part of it comes from Mark, who often reminds Jason of just who the leader is whenever he himself is unsure of what to do next (worst case: Silent City). There is a grain of truth here. Since in Jason's mind the word lead is a verb rather than a noun, he has no problems with listening to whosoever has the best insight into a official leader.

And the last of it is that Zark often insists to viewers that Jason is indeed looking to take over the team. The credibility of the last, however, is suspect...

Work Ethic:

For a person whose very posture, whose very manner of speech screams 'informality,' it is a bit of a surprise to find out just how serious a person Jason can be. Indeed, if there is a fault to him with regards to work, it is that to some extent, he loves G-Force more than he loves G-Force, in that he tends to put the reason that the team is there above what others (or himself) for that matter may be feeling or [grumble, lost word]. Indeed, he is not prepared to not do his best at anything regarding the work of G-Force and just as he's willing to push aside anyone pulling less than their weight, he's equally willing to step aside if he can't do what needs doing (G-Force Defector).

And he does set very high standards for himself.

One other thing about him is the manner in which he is always acquiring skill and knowledge. With the possible exception of Princess, no other team member actually sets out to learn about the background of the places they visit (Thing with 1000 Eyes), the security and penal systems in place (Ghost Ships of Planet Mir, Prisoners in Space), technology (to the extent of taking courses) and by the latter part of the series (see eps 86, 99 and 101), he's gone from a mediocre pilot (The Bat Ray Bombers) to being quite competent with the Phoenix.

It's often claimed that he's impetuous, but a more accurate statement would be that Jason does understand and respect strategy, it's just that to his mind, nine-tenths of the time, a hard, fast decisive strike is all the strategy you need. And the other one tenth of the time, you can figure it out as you go along and he can be firm on that. That said, he thinks very well on the fly and he can strategize. He doesn't confuse expediency with the best course of action and once he's convinced of the necessity of an action then he's perfectly willing to carry it out, no matter how hard or gut-wrenching it is. It's an interesting characteristic of him that he will not devote time to hand-wringing or hesitation, in even the hardest decisions if the necessity is clear (Rockets out of Control).

It's a pity that we get to see him working rather seldom but where we do see him in action, it's a sight to watch the speed, efficiency and skill with which he handles any situation. And one may surmise that he's still working when the camera pans away -- dead goons have a most peculiar habit of multiplying in his vicinity.

As far as belligerence goes, Jason does not start fights, usually, but he does believe in finishing them. He doesnt fold when the going gets tougher than he thought it'd be -- he just kicks into another gear. One particularly nice scene comes in Rage of the Robotoids when he rounds a corner to find himself surrounded by mannequins and faced with a woman captain quipping to the effect that he's about to meet his end. Utterly unfazed, he smiles, returns the converse of the quip and goes for her.

There *is* one thing that does scare Jason -- himself, or rather the prospect of him failing. It's a good characteristic of his in that he makes no excuses neither to others nor to himself; it's a bad characteristic in that he's very unwilling to consider the mitigating circumstances, especially when he had to face the fact of his less-than-stellar health and had trouble thinking of it in terms other than the very blackest.

Love:

Mini-quiz: how many doomed loves has Jason had? Three? Four? You lost count? One, if you could call it that; Lucy. Jason is not oblivious to the pretty face, but he prizes his emotional distance and believes in keeping it (Attack of the Alien Wasp).

Friendship wise, it'd be nice to say that Jason is also an easy person to get along with, but that would be dishonest. He isn't. He's not antisocial or lacking in social graces or above playing games, but he does like his own company and many of the things that he loves doing, like racing or hang-gliding require interaction with only a small number of people, if that.

B. But what makes him tick? A rather personal take on Jason.

Jason is a break with the anime tradition that states that the best character motivations there are are necessarily the most selfish ones: ones like revenge or greed. Nowhere in the series will you find him make any reference to his parents having been killed by Spectra, although he is an orphan. He does believe in the principle of retribution, as when he supports Mark when the latter is after Ghartz; he is neither coward, saint nor fool: if he felt that he had cause, he *would* exact vengeance.

At the same time, Jason is no one's idea of a Knight in Shining Armor; he repudiates any high and mighty principles. But he is nevertheless an idealist. His is a hard-eyed idealism that sees the very fact of Spectran attacks as obscene. He is the only character to never buy into the notion that because the existence of bomb shelters and the like reduce civilian casualties then things must be okay. By insisting that a boatload of people had to be saved, with nothing other than the fact that they were people to recommend them, he became the only G-Force member to have stood up for the ordinary person (Magnetic Attraction). There is nothing abstract about the threat that Spectra poses nor of the consequences of failing to act when you're in a position to and hes a person who is very aware of that.

In his particular way, he is an extremely human character and he does make his mistakes, he does show his age (or lack thereof) but does overcome his faults and failings in a manner that is surprisingly realistic.

C. A very personal aside: "It's not what you say, it's how you say it."

You can pick Jason out in a crowded room. His voice is that distinctive. With a light (you could also add penetrating -- he doesn't need to shout to make himself heard) tenor that inflects extremely well, Jason does sometimes get perceived as being, quote, "whiny."

The trouble with the term 'whiny' is that it does imply very strongly a weak, complaining character.

Jason is anything but a weak character. How much does he actually complain? Amazingly little, all things considered, though he isn't above a grumble or two. Jason does sometimes crack jokes (of the wincing variety), but again, not that often. As far as sarcasm goes, objectively, he's not that bad -- he'd have made a good New Yorker. :-) And while he does have a higher voice than some would initially expect, I am yet to see how that can be construed to be a crime. At worst, he can be accused of being shrill.

It's an interesting thing to see too, that the overall pitch of his voice does go down by nearly an octave* between the earlier episodes and the later ones, most noticeably in "Rockets out of Control" and "G-Force Defector." Granted, I am referring to a couple of episodes featuring rather serious situations but it's not exclusive to those eps and who knows? maybe if he doesn't get himself killed, he'll settle to a pretty nice (though not deep) baritone.

* Have I been listening too long? I think so:-)

D. The Fanfic Writers Perspective:

Since one of the reasons we started this write up idea was for fanfic reference, I think that it's only fair to note that writing Jason as he is portrayed in canon is not the easiest proposition: you do not have the usual convenient behavioral hooks to hang your work on. It is a worthwhile challenge in many ways, not least of might it not be a Bad Thing for aliens to be dropping out of the sky to kill everyone you know without also needing to be in it for what you personally might get out of it?