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    Jughead Jones

    Character » Jughead Jones appears in 6130 issues.

    Jughead is the best friend of Archie Andrews. He is best known for his insightful yet cynical wit, his unmatched appetite, and his masterful cunning at accomplishing his goals with minimal effort (often called "laziness" by other characters). Equally well known but less understood are the signature beanie and cocky half-lidded squint that have remained with him since his creation as a character over half a century ago.

    Short summary describing this character.

    Jughead Jones last edited by Darkside_of_the_Sun on 06/08/20 06:57PM View full history

    Character History

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    Jughead Jones real name is Forsythe Pendleton Jones lll, although he is often referred to as Jug, Juggy, or mainly Jughead. Back when the character was created, "Jughead" was a common playful nickname based on his having large ears that stood out; over the decades since then, this sort of nickname has fallen out of favor with the reading public and the origins of his nickname have been forgotten (although his ears continue to be drawn as slightly larger than those of Archie, Reggie, Dilton, Moose, etc.).

    Similarly, his habitual half-lidded squint and trademark beanie originally marked the character as a bit of a cocky working class kid who was more worldly wise and cynical than Archie and the rest of the gang. (Very early depictions gave him something of a Brooklyn or Bronx accent, and he often punctured Archie's naive fantasies with what used to be called a "working man's wisdom".) Though the street tough side disappeared from the character early on, the cocky wit and cynicism have remained as well as a general distrust of high society, and Jughead has continued to demonstrate a knack for pragmatic survival beyond that of any other character in the Archie universe. The character's original depiction has also continued in the "class warfare" banter between Jughead (with his original working class roots) and Veronica Lodge (bluest of the blue bloods) and between Jughead and Reggie Mantle (Riverdale's small town rich kid who enjoys smugly lording his economic advantages over everyone, even his closest friends).

    His character is known for his trademark sweatshirt with a letter S on the front and his beanie hat. Jughead's first appearance was in Pep Comics in 1941. He is often depicted lying about and relaxing or eating. He has shown little to no interest in girls, often saying “I find food to be a better companion.” Even though he demonstrates unhealthy eating habits, his athleticism has been proved. Often times he is seen running from Ethel or racing to the front of the lunch line. He has been asked to join various sports teams at the high school he attends, Riverdale High, but has not been able to stick to the sport. He lives in the fictional town of Riverdale with his family which includes his father Forsythe Pendleton Jones Jr., his mother, Gladys Jones, and his sister, Jellybean Jones.

    Forsythe Jones lll
    Forsythe Jones lll

    Jughead, despite his outward demeanor, is also very intelligent. He is second in intelligence to Dilton and is often shown outsmarting and tricking Reggie Mantle. Often during the toughest of times, he speaks out fixing the situation with a few simple words. At school he tends to stay out of trouble, but he frustrates the teachers with his nonchalant attitude. They find it odd that he does well in school without putting in any type of serious effort. For example in one story, Jughead sleeps lying against the wall five minutes against the wall while other students such as Archie, Veronica were still cramming for the test. However, after an hour, he was seen strolling out of the test room. In the end, he managed to score the highest in the entire class.

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    Also, in another issue, Jughead was shown not to have a excellent memory. Despite not studying, he was able to submit a perfect paper in Miss Grundy's Test. Jughead remains unfazed by the exasperated teachers and remains true to his nonchalant nature. For a long time the mystery in the Archie comics was what was Jughead’s real name. Jughead was trying to hide the fact that his name was Forsythe after his ancestor, a great American hero.

    Jughead, despite being shown as lazy, is proficient in sports. In one issue, he is shown to be very fast due to him training his legs in school by running to the cafeteria everyday. Also, his leg muscles were strong enough to hold Moose Mason who is very strong and a great athlete.

    Food

    Jughead Stuffing himself
    Jughead Stuffing himself

    Jughead has quite the obsession with food. In almost all of his appearances he is eating or about to eat something. Despite his eating habits, he remains the same size, only sporting a rather enlarged stomach after eating a big load. Pop Tate’s Chocklit Shoppe is a frequently visited by Jughead, where he often accumulates large tabs. He also has an amazing sense of smell that allows him to identify any type of food, even unopened food from a can. His other talents include being a revered food critic with perfect taste as well as a gourmet cook. In one story, it was said that the reason he can stay thin, despite eating so much food, is that he has an amazing metabolism, while in another story it is said that the food is used as brain food which allows his brain to have a large amount of energy to burn, using the large amount of food, causing him to be very smart and allows him to stay very thin.He has also won several foot eating competition. In one issue, he was challenged to a food eating contest by another school. Despite eating a lot and winning the countries, when asked what he wanted, he replied a dozen more hamburgers. Also in one issue, Jughead was shown to be able to identify ingredients of food that he ate while blindfolded.

    History of Jughead’s Trademark Beanie

    Jughead and his trademark beanie
    Jughead and his trademark beanie

    It is rare to see a comic issue that doesn’t have Jughead wearing his signature Beanie. Nowadays the hat is not popular, but among the 1930s -40s the hat was in style. At the time it indicated that one was an auto mechanic. The dot and dash that adorn the hat are Morse code for the letter “A”. It is revealed that he has a large collection of these hats for fear of getting one lost. In one story, the hat he wears changes his personality. In one story, Jughead was shown to think his beanie as a good luck charm. When it is lost, misfortunes start happening such as bad weather. However, once he regains his beanie, the weather instantly clears.

    History of Jughead’s Trademark Squint or Half-Closed Eyes.

    Jughead often keeps his eyes in a half-lidded squint. Back when the character was created, this squint indicated that he was looking down on the rest of the world in cocky amusement, since his working class roots and intelligence helped him see through the romantic illusions and self-delusions that complicated the lives of his friends. In the decades since then, as the character's background has moved from working class to a generic suburban middle class, this squint often appears to some people as though he is closing his eyes; in one issue, Mrs Grundy asked Jughead's mother to bring him to an eye doctor as she believed that he had squinty eyes, but in the eye test, Jughead managed to spot a sentence the doctor had never noticed before. Jughead's cocky answer was that it was too troublesome to bother to keep them fully open. In another issue, he was thought to be sleeping in class when he was actually awake and listening. Another time, he discovered that when he opened his eyes wide, people found themselves compelled to obey his requests, and he had no interest in that sort of power.

    The "S" Sweater

    Is it S for... Secret?
    Is it S for... Secret?

    To this day, no one knows what the letter "S" on his sweater stands for, as Jughead refuses to reveal it to anyone. However, on one occasion, Jughead received the painful news from his parents that they have decided to move out of Riverdale to Ohio. Thinking he would never see his best pal again, Jughead decided to reveal the secret behind the "S" to Archie but, just as he was about to, Jughead's father interrupted him to tell Jughead that they are no longer moving and they will remain in Riverdale. Jughead then tells Archie that he will reveal the secret behind the "S" if his family has to move once more. That was the closest and probably the only time Jughead ever attempted to reveal the secret behind his enigmatic sweater.

    The Archies

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    Jughead is the drummer of The Archies. He has a custom-made Bass Drum where it can store food. It is specially made so that Jughead can open the bass drum, grab his ration, closes its skin and still retain its sound without having to re-tune it again. However, in a little Archie story, Jughead was shown to be originally the guitarist and not the drummer. However, he is soon falls in love with the drum and Mr. Weatherbee switches Reggie's position in the band, from drummer to guitarist and Jughead from Guitarist to Drummer.

    Jughead's drum kit is drawn inaccurately in majority of the Archie Comics issues as the hi-hat, snare drum and small/medium toms are often out of position, the bass drum is wider than longer, the crash and ride cymbals are often missing, and Jughead's style of holding the drumsticks is awkward. Also, in some stories, his drum is shown to contain food.

    Relationships

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    Jughead’s number one friend is Archie Andrews. Upon his arrival at Riverdale, Archie was his first friend. They often bail each other out of trouble, although Jughead is the one doing the bailing most of the time.

    Jughead also really likes Betty Cooper, but in a strictly platonic way. Betty often cooks Jughead good meals and she often confides in him when she has trouble with Archie. Jughead often advises Archie to date Betty instead of Veronica.

    He also has a love-hate relationship with Veronica Lodge, often in the form of "class warfare" banter. Veronica claims to dislike him because of his laid back demeanor and smart-alecky comments, but it is revealed that after sharing an onstage kiss, Veronica fell in love with Jughead. It was short lived, but showed that the two did have a deeper bond.

    Oddly enough, despite his constant complaints about school, Jughead seems to be the student closest to Ms. Grundy. In more recent years, Ms. Grundy has told Jughead she sees his potential and intends to push him to live up to it whether he wants her to do so or not; furthermore, she treats his comments and suggestions with more respect she gives the comments of any other student.

    Love Relationships:

    In most of issues, Jughead displays his outward dislike of girls. However, he does not hate them, often calling them complicated and over-confrontational. Although he chooses to stay away from girls, they often end up being pulled towards him. Jughead has had four girls in his life:

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    Ethel Muggs: Also known as Big Ethel, falls into that category the most. She is tall and awkward often seen warding off any girls that show interest in Jughead. Most stories feature her forcing Jughead to go on dates with her often using food or force. In one issue, Ethel threatened to break Jughead's legs if he did not go on a date with her.

    Debbie: Debbie is Jughead's classmate and they become close the moment they met.

    Joanie Jumpp: Joanie was Jughead's first girlfriend. They were in the same nursery together, but when Joanie and her parents moved out of Riverdale, she was not hear from for a long time. The two have re-united many years later.

    January Andrews: January is the great descendant of Archie whom Jughead met in a time traveling incident.

    Hot Dog

    Jughead and Hot Dog
    Jughead and Hot Dog

    Hot Dog is Jughead's dog. Hot Dog often thinks that he is the master and Jughead is the pet. He is very much like his master in that he too is often seen eating or sleeping. However, unlike Jughead, Hot Dog has shown an attraction towards females.

    Jughead's Future

    Jughead takes over Pop’s restaurant and renames it Jughead’s Chocklit Shoppe. He struggled in the beginning but with the help from Midge and helpful benefactor, they made it very successful chain restaurants. The constant business practices of working chain restaurants made him miss working on the grill, which is want he truly wanted to do. The constant stress and going to the bank for a million dollar loan, took its toll on him and he worked secluded store where Pop’s lives in Florida. He gave the business to investor named Fred Mirth but Jughead still has the majority share

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