Name: Jack Burnett
Nickname: Jack, 'J', 'JB', 'Burn it', Jack the Joker, Joker
Age: 15
Birthday: April 8th
Sign: Aries
Gemstone: Diamond
Blood Type: O
Fav. Food: Curry with rice
Hated Food: Apples
School: Meadowview High School (Co-Ed)
Hobbies:Riddles - Whether writing or solving them, Jack loves riddles and jokes. He prefers the former more than the latter because he believes they require more wit to solve and understand. He enjoys stupefying his classmates and other friends by asking them riddles he's heard and is particularly fond of or that he made up recently. This, unfortunately, feeds his ego and makes him feel more superior to everyone else if they can't solve a riddle that he made or one that he already solved. However, he respects people who can solve his riddles or who can solve ones that he hasn't yet. (He'll never say he 'can't, because that would imply he's given up on it and he doesn't believe in ever throwing in the towel.)
People - High school, in Jack's opinion, is the best place to watch people to learn how they think. If people are insecure, it shows. If people are confident, it shows. At this stage in people's lives, they're so impressionable, malleable, and easily-influenced that Jack finds it absolutely astounding how easy it is to guess what might have been the cause for a person's action. He makes a game of it with himself. Why did that person get a new iphone? Because their friend has one and they want to fit in. By contrast, friend probably got a new iphone because said friend is into the latest technology regardless of if anyone else has it or not. Why does that girl pick on her classmate everyday? Probably because said classmate reminds her of how weak she herself was only the year before as a freshmen. In this way, as long as there are people around, Jack is never bored. Oh, and he's certainly not content with simply observing; every now and then, he enjoys seeing if he can do some influencing of his own with what he knows of other people.
History - Though he may not seem like the sort to sit still and take something like history seriously, this would be where Jack deviates from the stereotype of the class clown. There's almost always some sort of history book in his backpack and his room is full of them. He finds history very fascinating and truly believes that if we do not understand our past, we are doomed to repeat it. He makes a hobby out of researching patterns and trends in things that have happened and the signs leading up to it so that he can predict things that may happen in the future such as an economy going into recession or a politician's actions losing or gaining them votes. He likes to be in-tune with the world around him and aware of what's going on, so he does try to keep up with the news, but his true passion is comparing it with history and making predictions. He believes this better allows him to map out his own future (and perhaps others) to help determine decisions to make in life.
Virtues: Humorous - Jack definitely has a sense of humor and loves to make people laugh. He's something of a class clown in that he seems more concerned with having a good time than learning anything in school. He'll often play tricks and pranks on people to the point that if they hear him laughing behind them, they'll immediately stop and check to make sure that he didn't do something (like take something from their backpack or put something in it) whether or not he actually did anything at all. He relishes in this reputation he has and does whatever he can to sustain it. However, he's just as likely to pull a prank
on someone as
with someone and if someone manages to pull something on
him, he's willing to laugh it off and appreciate it as a trick well-played. People often like to hang out with him despite his prank-playing reputation because he's fun to be around and usually keeps everything light-hearted. He may seem carefree, but Jack, like everyone else, has his own worries. He just works very hard to maintain his happy-go-lucky-seeming attitude even when his worries aren't far from his mind.
Tenacious - When Jack wants something, he will do whatever he needs to do to get it. He can be very determined and annoyingly persistent when it comes to bothering people for what he wants. He hates giving up (like on his riddles) and refuses to ever throw in the towel because Jack believes that giving up shows a weakness of will and thinks that if someone isn't confident they can see something through to the end, they shouldn't have started it in the first place. He's also not afraid of hard work, despite what he might have others believe. Though he may not seem to take anything seriously, this is merely an act he makes a huge effort to keep up for the sake of how he wants to appear to others. Those who pay attention to him, however, may notice that he snoozes in class not because he doesn't care about the subject being taught, but because he spent all night self-teaching it to get ahead. He doesn't make a big deal about or even like showing his grades to others, but they're actually very good. He just doesn't want to fall into the stereotype he knows his peers are all too prone to think about when they imagine straight-A students. He wants to become independent as soon as possible and possibly get a job in psychology or as a historian of some sort, so he is determined to do whatever it takes to fulfill those goals of his.
Observant - As one who enjoys people-watching and is very careful about his reputation and how others perceive him, Jack tries to remain as keenly aware of his surroundings at all times. With his pranking tendencies, he earns a lot of animosity from certain students, especially bullies he attempts to thwart, and they end up coming after him. Sometimes they even tell their prior victims that they'll stop picking on them if the victims help the bullies go after Jack, becoming bullies themselves. Jack finds this invitation to be psychologically intriguing, but he's also not one to enjoy being ganged-up on, so he does his best to get one step ahead of said bullies and offer the victims (once he saves them from the bullies) an alliance. Jack can pick up on people's smallest gestures and changes of tone (especially because he knows 7% of communication is verbal, 38% is tone of voice, and 55% is body language) to determine whether or not people will turn on him or are angry enough to go after him. Because his strength lies in his wits and not physical brawn, he has to be quick on his feet and know when to get going.
Clever - There is nothing more that this boy loves than to out-wit others and to revel in his intelligence. He doesn't believe in lies or lying, but only because he's sure he can always get around things in other ways such as through the use of loopholes, subterfuge, or omittance, so he never feels too tightly bound by words. In fact, words are his toys. Jack makes a game out of rule-bending as opposed to rule-breaking because, according to him, 'bending the rules is more fun than following them and less risky than breaking them'. He finds fun in the challenge of doing so and believes there is admiration to be found in the skill it takes to know how. If the devil's in the detail, he uses that detail to his utmost advantage. Twisting people's words and trapping them in said twisted words is one of his favorite ways to show others that his intelligence surpasses theirs. This is why riddles amuse him so much; they themselves are a twisting of words and it takes the ability to see things from another perspective in order to understand them. Jack believes himself to be able to see anything from
any perspective and, thus, believes he can turn any situation in his favor.
Flaws: Foolish - For all his cleverness, Jack is simultaneously foolish. His intelligence tends to make him more and more arrogant with each new triumph and that arrogance causes him to become complacent from time to time. His over-confidence frequently makes him blind to the most simple of things, and for someone who is considered an annoyance for often bending rules, crossing boundaries, and not seeming to know when to quit or shut up, this is especially dangerous. Though usually open-minded to possibilities, observant, and aware of others' skills, sometimes he will get so over-confident that he will forget that others are not to be underestimated. Every now and then, he might end up going too far in playing a trick on someone who's more dangerous than he can handle or taunting someone a little too much without realizing that they are faster than him or know the school's layout better than he does so they can catch or cut him off in a chase. People grow, change, and learn, so he has to constantly be on his toes to access the levels of his opponents so he can one-up them. When he gets complacent, he forgets this and can sometimes be gotten the better of. Those occurrences serve as reminders to him to stay alert and keep humble so as not to let pride be his ultimate downfall.
Selfish - Jack may have a lot of acquaintance pals to hang out with, but since entering his new school, he's had practically no one to call a real friend. This may be at least partially because of his naturally selfish nature. People may like being around him when it's all in good fun, but when it comes time to take the fall for something, no one wants to hang around. This isn't unwarranted, either, since Jack wouldn't hang around for them in the reverse situation because he strongly believes in self-conservation (his perception of what others might call 'cowardice') and thinks that bravery is synonymous with stupidity. For this reason, no one sticks up for him and he doesn't stick up for anyone else. However, he wouldn't have it any other way. Keeping his distance from people and keeping his guard up is what he believes allows him to keep sane. He is of the philosophy that if you don't look out for yourself, no one else will, and thus looks down on those who are selfless or otherwise too kind. His scorn for them is probably to keep himself from pitying them too much because he thinks the innate, selfish human nature of others will only end up destroying selfless people and bringing them to ruin. He holds them in contempt because he believes they're stupid in that by being kind to others, they're leaving themselves wide open to be taken advantage of; practically asking for it. Jack doesn't tell anyone about his hardships or grievances because he wants to keep up his reputation of being a happy-go-lucky, pleasant, fun guy. Due to this, though, others can sense he has more to him that he hides and often get a sense that he's not a genuine or trust-worthy person. As a result, there's a limit to how strong a bond they will attempt to maintain with him and an unspoken mutual agreement to keep one's unhappy secrets to themselves. Jack keeps his relationships shallow on purpose because he never knows when he'll have to cut ties with people when something he does might make them turn on him or in favor of saving his own hide.
Unpredictable - Without any true friends, Jack has no reason to be loyal to anyone but himself. He is notorious for playing the devil's advocate during arguments between students and seems to take pleasure in switching sides on a whim. His fondness of being able to see things from multiple perspectives allows him to easily lay out why either side could be both right or wrong and their advantages as well as disadvantages against each other. This thoroughly confuses everyone else as to which side Jack is ultimately on, but of course that confusion is what entertains him most because he doesn't take sides. The only thing he's really after is their admiration of his wits, so in doing this, he can gain the acknowledgement of all those involved, sides or no. Even if those seeking his aid offer to make an agreement with him, he will only be on their side as long as the offer holds his favor or interest. Once something no longer has any merit or holds any benefit for him, he's out. In this way, he is considered morally ambiguous, beholden to no one but himself with no clear stance on what he considers right or wrong (or, even if he has one, whether or not he's willing to do anything about it). Even in his positive lighting as the class clown, it's common knowledge (or at least the common belief) that Jack is unreliable and irresponsible with no commitments to anything or anyone. Some might even go so far as to say he has commitment issues or that he could be called a deceitful person by nature with as much as he seems to want to hide.
Spiteful - Though he despises being made a fool of - who doesn't? - this teen can admire a trick well-played, even one played on himself. However, he doesn't tolerate cheating or any sort of trick that allows for short-cuts because to him, that shows a lack of wit. He believes that admirable, proper tricks and pranks should be played using one's own wits rather than with help. Ganging up on a single person using an ambush is, for example, a trick he believes is played in poor taste, and he will not stand for such things. Stupidity is not something he will permit without teaching a 'lesson' in return. Breaking rules rather than bending them is a great offense to him because Jack is of the opinion that it takes intelligence to open a locked door, but any idiot with a hard-enough head can simply smash through. This is why, to him, using brawn over brains is a major short-cut and is considered 'cheating' in his eyes, earning his contempt. He will not hold people in contempt for abandoning him when he's in trouble because he's not loyal to anyone and thus expects no loyalty in return. However, if people go out of their way to cause him trouble, he
will make every effort to get back at them while playing it off and still maintaining the carefree attitude he normally has. If they don't show him respect, he doesn't see any reason to show them respect, which means no warnings or restraint in his plans to get back at them, often times several fold. Jack can be very vindictive when he feels he's been badly wronged or, sometimes, if he feels someone
else has. He may just seek revenge for said someone else - not out of a sense of justice, of course, but because it would be an opportunity to show the wanna-be fake pranksters just who has the superior intellect. As much as he keeps his anger and annoyances to himself, it's difficult for others to realize just how spiteful and callous Jack can be. Many don't even realize how long he bears grudges until, when he gets them back for something that happened in the past, he makes certain they know why - and he
does make certain they know why. Jack is the sort that will bide his time, planning out every little detail and aspect of a vengeance scheme, until the moment it takes to carry it out. The worse the grudge he has, the longer he's willing to wait and the more effort he's willing to put into his sweet revenge. When getting back at someone, Jack believes that the bigger the revenge, the greater the lesson, and the greater the lesson, the better. Why? Because the 'lesson' he plans to drill into their brains is simply this: to remind them who's the smartest, that the smartest is the boss because knowledge is power, and to discourage them from ever again even
contemplating the notion that they might ever be able to outwit him.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Eyes: Large for a boy's, slanted and mischevious; hazel in color (blue-green-brown like
this or
this)
Hair: This messy bedhead style; scarlet/red in color with platinum blonde and brown highlights
Face: He has a mischievous face with high, angled cheekbones. Complexion is pale peach on the porcelain side of things; his skin color makes scars and scrapes on his hands arms and legs stand out more because he runs a lot (indoors), falls, and does other dumb stuff that causes careless accidents (like piling up books too high around him to make book forts when he reads in the library). Jack claims that his scars are badges of courage from what he's survived when, in actuality, he could have prevented most of them them if he'd been less careless in the first place.
Clothes: An outfit of his. He likes shirts with witty sayings.
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