Jake, portrayed by Logan Allen,[2] is a recurring antagonist in the fourth season of Stranger Things. He is the boyfriend of Angela, and together they often bully Eleven.
History[]
Jake was born in approximately 1971. By 1986, he became a freshman at Lenora Hills High School, gaining popularity, a friend group, and his girlfriend, Angela. In the fall of that year, two new students from Hawkins, Indiana, arrived at Lenora Hills, Eleven (who is using the name "Jane Hopper" in public) and her stepbrother, Will Byers. Jake, Angela, and their posse quickly took it upon themselves to make Eleven miserable due to her timid and awkward nature.[3]
1986[]
On March 21, 1986, the last day of school before Spring Break, each student in Jake's history class had to make an oral presentation about an historical hero, using a visual aid. When Eleven arrived and sat down, Jake blew a spitball at her through a straw, causing him and Angela to laugh at her. Eleven merely wiped it off and looked down. Later on, Angela presented Helen Keller as her hero using a slideshow, and got applause from the class and the teacher, Mrs. Gracey. Eleven made the next presentation. Eleven had made a diorama about her father, Jim Hopper, and the cabin that they both lived in together. As Eleven struggled to say the word "diorama", Jake took advantage of this by calling it "diarrhea", causing the class (including a naive Eleven) to laugh until Ms. Gracey tells them to quiet down. Eleven continues and talked about the traps her father made and a pet squirrel she named "Mr. Fibley", causing the class to snicker even more. Eleven began to stutter out of embarrassment when Angela purposefully raised her hand. Ms. Gracey asks if she could wait until Eleven's presentation was over to ask questions. Angela says she was confused since the guidelines for the project stated that it had to be about a famous historical figure. Eleven says that her father is famous since he was in a paper, but Angela smugly asks if she means her local town paper. Eleven, fighting back tears, said her father is a hero because he died saving lives in a mall fire. Angela, realizing how bad she looks, saves face by saying that's not what she had meant and wanted to have clarity on the assignment. Ms. Gracey says that while Angela is technically correct, she'll allow Eleven to do her project on her father, but Angela's words had already hurt Eleven's feelings.
Later that day, Eleven walked across the campus when Angela tripped her and causes her to drop her project. Jake, Angela, and their friends laughed as Angela sarcastically asked if "Mr. Fibley was okay". As they walked off, Jake and his friend purposely jumped on Eleven's diorama, destroying the cabin and her figurine of Hopper. Eleven, enraged, called out to Angela and attempted to use her powers. She screamed as she pointed her hand at Angela, but nothing happened. Angela asked what that was supposed to be, causing the crowd that gathered around her to laugh uncontrollably, further embarrassing Eleven. Ms. Gracey made her way through the crowd and asked if Eleven was okay, then asked if someone purposely destroyed her project. Eleven lied, saying she accidentally tripped and stared down at the ground, but Ms. Gracey realized the truth when she saw Angela and her friends avoiding eye contact. Ms. Gracey, angered, took Angela by the arm and took her to the principal's office. Angela says she didn't do anything and called out to Eleven, asking her to tell Ms. Gracey that she was innocent, but Eleven was too upset to say anything.[3]
On March 22, Jake, Angela, and their friends arrived at Rink-O-Mania and saw Eleven skating with a boy they did not recognize. Jake asked who the "twig" was. Angela said while she did not know, but she concluded that "the snitch" had a boyfriend and began hatching a plan. Later on, when Eleven was sitting with her boyfriend, Mike, and Will drinking milkshakes, Angela and her friends walked up to their table. Angela asked Eleven why she's been hiding her boyfriend, and El nervously introduced her to Mike. Mike, having been told by Eleven that Angela is her friend, said that it was nice to meet Eleven's new friends. Angela, taking advantage of this, told Eleven she wanted her to skate with them. Eleven said she wanted to finish her food, but Jake forcefully snatched her milkshake and said he will hold onto it for her. Angela then grabbed Eleven by the arm and led her to the roller rink. Will noticed one of Angela's friends holding a video camera. Eleven looked apprehensive, but Angela mockingly said that they're just having fun as she led her to the center of the rink. She told Eleven to stay put as she skated off while snickering. The music playing cut off and the D.J. dedicated the next song to Eleven, "the local snitch". As the song, Wipe Out, played, Angela's friends began circling and skating around Eleven as they called her a "freak", "loser", and "crybaby". As Eleven began to tear up and cry, Angela's friend recorded the humiliation as Angela and her posse continue to circle around her. After Mike tells the D.J. to turn the music off, the circle around Eleven disbanded as the D.J. yelled, "Wipeout!" and Jake threw the milkshake on Eleven's dress, causing her to fall onto her back. The crowd began to laugh and Angela smugly skated up to her and said, "Didn't you read the sign, dummy? No food or drinks on the rink!" Eleven was left to pick herself and skated away in tears as the crowd and Angela taunted her.
Eleven sat in the storage closet in tears, wiping the milkshake off of her face when she heard Jake, Angela, and their friends laughing over the video they recorded. Eleven angrily stormed out and confronted Angela and told her she ruined her day. Angela mockingly asked if she embarrassed her in front of her boyfriend. Eleven tearfully asked her to apologize and tell Mike it was a joke and that they're really friends. Angela then teasingly asked if Eleven will do her "mean stare" again if she doesn't comply, which caused Jake and the rest of her crew to snicker. Angela said she's sorry that Eleven cannot cry to a teacher so she should cry to her father instead. But Angela added, with a smirk on her face, that Eleven cannot cry to her father, either as Jake, Angela and their friends walked away laughing. Eleven became enraged and she followed them while she grabbed a skate from a customer and Eleven called out to Angela. When Jake, Angela, and their friends turned around, Eleven struck Angela in the face with the wheels of the skate in a fit of rage, causing Angela to scream and fall to the floor.
Taken completely by surprise, Jake and her friends asked if she's alright and sat her up, only to be horrified when they found that Angela's nose had a gash and was gushing blood. Eleven, snapping back to reality, realized what she had done as a crowd - including Mike and Will - gather in shock. Angela began to wail and cry in pain and distress as Jake, Stacy, and Chad began to comfort her.[4] Soon, after an ambulance arrived, a paramedic asked Angela questions about her memories and what parts of her face hurt while Jake and his friends watched. Mike, Eleven and Will were picked up by Eleven and Will's brother Jonathan and his friend Argyle with Eleven feeling incredibly guilty for her actions while Angela was presumably taken to a hospital, leaving Jake and his friends to head back to their own homes.[5]
Personality[]
Much like his girlfriend Angela, Jake took pleasure in bullying, especially on those who were not popular, such as Eleven. Jake was very loyal to Angela as he took part with her in tormenting Eleven "El" in any way. Jake was very childish where he smiled and laughed tauntingly at those he bullied while holding no remorse for his cruel actions. However, Jake does care about Angela as he was horrified when El struck his girlfriend in the face with a roller skate in a fit of rage after their cruelty towards El caused her to reach her breaking point.
Relationships[]
Non-Familial[]
Angela was Jake's girlfriend[1] where the two often bullied Eleven together. While they did not show a lot of affection towards each other, Jake cared about Angela and was horrified when Eleven struck his girlfriend in the face with a roller skate in a fit of rage. And as Angela cried in distress and pain from her cracked head, Jake attempted to comfort her and watched as she was tended by a paramedic.
Eleven and Jake are enemies as he took every opportunity that he got to bully Eleven. When Eleven struck Angela in the face with a roller skate in a fit of rage, after having enough of his and her bullying, Jake was horrified and shocked by what Eleven did, especially when he saw that Angela's head had been split open from the impact of the skate.
Quotes[]
- "Holy shit! Angela, you okay? Angela hey, come on. You ok?" - Jake panicking upon witnessing Angela fall to the ground after Eleven brutally strikes her in the face with a rollar skate.
- "Oh my god!... You're ok." - Jake becoming horrified upon seeing blood running down Angela's face before comforting her.
Appearances[]
| Season Four appearances | |||
| The Hellfire Club | Vecna's Curse | The Monster and the Superhero | |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Jake might have been inspired by Stephen King's Carrie character Billy Nolan, being the boyfriend of a popular female student.
- Jake is described as someone who is certainly not going to stand on equal intellectual ground with too many people but isn't afraid to show those same people just how tough he is.[1]
- Jake is always seen wearing sunglasses on top of his head.
- Jake and Angela are the second couple on the show to be bullies; the first being Tommy H and Carol Perkins.