Jack Darby
- Jack is a human from the Prime portion of the Aligned continuity family.
Jackson "Jack" Darby is a smart, responsible sixteen-year old dude. Before he met the Autobots, he was hard at work flipping burgers so he could save up for his first motorbike; now, he helps fight the monstrous Decepticons alongside his friends Miko Nakadai and Raf Esquivel. Only two things get past his responsibility and intelligence: badass bikes and the need to impress girls. Since his guardian Autobot is Arcee, he gets both at once! While she's not thrilled to guard him, his heroic qualities are winning her over.
Fiction
Prime cartoon
- Voice actor: Josh Keaton (English)
Jack's menial after-school job at the drive-thru at KO Burger was getting him down, with rude customers who took food without paying. As he knocked off and reported in to his mom by phone, he spotted a sweet motorcycle in the parking lot. While he was admiring it and promising one day he'd have enough money to buy a motorcycle just like it, he was caught talking to it by Sierra and her friend, causing him to trip over his words somewhat. He was saved from further embarrassment when the motorcycle — in reality Arcee — took off with him still on board as she was being chased by two Decepticon cars. After a short chase, she warned him not to tell anyone and let him go, only for one of the Decepticons to start following him, forcing her to pick him up again. The chase ended up in a drainage canal, where Jack encountered Raf for the first time, and the pair watched Arcee and Bumblebee duke it out, before hastily making an escape when one of the Decepticons started chasing them.
Jack later met Raf outside the high school and suggested to the boy that they keep the adventure to themselves, but Bumblebee and Arcee turned up to take the pair back to the Autobot base. Jack wasn't keen, but the pair were spotted arguing by Miko, who loudly encouraged him to go, and as a result accompanied Jack on Arcee back to base. The three kids were awestruck by the Autobots and their headquarters, and Optimus Prime explained to them the whole Cybertronian war. Darkness Rising, Part 1 Jack was keen to get home, much to Miko's disgust, however they were interrupted by a visit by Agent Fowler, forcing the three kids to hide. The kids we left at base with Ratchet when the rest of the Autobots left on a mission, and tried not to get under Ratchet's feet.
When the Autobots returned empty-handed, Jack whisked Miko away before her exuberance could become too tactless. He pointed out to Optimus that he really needed to get home as it was almost 10 and he had a curfew. Prime assigned Arcee to watch over him. Of couse, when Jack got home, he had a job explaining when he'd gotten the motorcycle to his mother. The next morning, Arcee woke him early, though it was a Saturday, as they had to get to the Autobot base promptly. Darkness Rising, Part 2
On the way back, Arcee showed off some fancy riding skills. They reached the base at the same time as Bulkhead and Bumblebee, however Optimus immediately left on a mission with Ratchet. Arcee, left in charge, opted to go out on patrol with Bumblebee, leaving the kids with Bulkhead as a carer. When Miko suggested they get a band going, Jack offered the use of his harmonica skills, which Miko didn't seem particularly keen on. After having his ears punished by Miko's electric guitar solo, Jack and the others had to hide behind Bulkhead to avoid being seen by Agent Fowler, but Miko's guitar gave them away. Bulkhead managed to prevent Fowler from taking the three kids into custody, but a short time later they detected a distress call from Fowler's helicopter, suggesting the agent had been captured by the Decepticons. After Bulkhead bridged out to try for a rescue, Jack and Raf realized that Miko had surreptitiously followed the Autobot. Figuring that Bulkhead might not have noticed her, the pair reactivated the ground bridge and followed Bulkhead, only to arrive near the Decepticon ship and accidentally alert the sentries stationed on it. Darkness Rising, Part 3
Bulkhead rescued the pair while they were under fire and dropped them off behind some cover before heading into the ship. Unfortunately the pair were spotted by the Decepticons a short time later, and found themselves being carried to the brig. Arcee and Bumblebee rescued them both, and they all found Bulkhead and Miko, but the kids soon discovered that the middle of a battle is not the healthiest place to be. The Autobots cleared out a room for them to hide in, and Jack immediately told Miko off for getting them involved. Their arguing upset Raf, and the pair tried to console him, before Jack noticed a computer display appeared to be showing important data. They were interrupted by a Decepticon, which led Jack to have to make a daring save to prevent Raf from being shot. Jack got Miko to take a cameraphone picture of the display before they hastily left the room. Luckily the Autobots were returning from having rescued Fowler, and Bulkhead was able to destroy the Decepticon.
Once they were back at base, Jack expressed his discontent about the hazards of hanging around the Autobots, and decided to return to his old boring life. They sent him home by ground bridge. Miko dropped by later, and attempted to talk him into returning to the excitement of helping the Autobots, but Jack preferred a more normal existence. Darkness Rising, Part 4
Arcee paid him a visit as he arrived at his KO Burger job, and managed to persuade him to return with her to the Autobot base. No sooner had they arrived than the Autobots left on a mission into space to stop the Decepticons from using their space bridge. It became apparent that the Decepticons were targeting the bridge using a radio telescope array in Texas, and Jack suggested the three kids bridge there so Raf could override the system onsite. They did so, but it turned out that Soundwave was also onsite, and the Decepticon dispatched a tentacle to interfere with their attempts to stop him. Jack and Miko were knocked aside by the tentacle, however Jack was not impressed by Miko's attempts to fight back when the tentacle took the axe she was holding. They followed it to the next room to find Soundwave had locked the dishes on Cybertron. The kids returned to base where they kept track of the other Autobots' work in blowing up the space bridge, however they returned with Arcee in a bad way. After she and Jack shared a moment, she seemed much better. Darkness Rising, Part 5
Assigned to do a science project for school, Jack opted to get a motorcycle engine working, but was surprised when Arcee turned out to be clueless in the area of automotive engineering. The project was eventually taken over by Ratchet who built something which could be said to resemble an engine. When Jack switched it on at school, it promptly ran riot and it can be assumed he did not achieve a favorable grade. Masters & Students
The kids arrived at base on a Saturday just as Optimus and Arcee were preparing to go on a mission. Jack was initially keen to come along, until he found out they were headed for the Arctic. Instead, he stayed at base and played computer games with Miko. Of course, just as he was winning, the power went out momentarily and stopped the game. The cause of the malfunctions became clear when Raf returned to the control room with a small metal critter the Autobots called a Scraplet. Jack attempted to protect Ratchet as the Autobot worked on the broken ground bridge, and used a fire extinguisher to freeze the Scraplets that attacked them. Once he and the other kids had help the Autobots, a plan was formulated to get rid of the Scraplets, and the three kids repaired an energon fuel line, enabling the Autobots to send the Scraplets to the Arctic. Later, the kids helped with repairs on Bulkhead and Bumblebee. Scrapheap
Jack was surprised to learn there were more Autobots out in space when Wheeljack arrived on the planet. The Autobots celebrated his arrival, though Jack mostly hung out on the sidelines with Arcee. When Wheeljack turned out to be a Decepticon imposter, Jack wondered if there was a real Wheeljack, and was alarmed when the phony took Miko hostage. Following the Imposters ejection from the base and the arrival of the real Wheeljack, the Autobots had another party and Jack, Raf and Bumblebee busted out some dance moves. The three kids turned out to see Wheeljack off when he returned to space. Con Job
When the Autobots helped Fowler move a hi-tech device, the kids observed their progress from base with Ratchet. The Dynamic Nuclear Generation System was in danger of being captured by MECH, so Jack and Miko ground bridged to the speeding train it was on in a last-ditch attempt to defend it. Jack grabbed a fire extinguisher to wave at the incoming MECH goons, but in the end they retreated after seeing Optimus. Silas blew up the track ahead of the train, and for a few moments Jack and Miko thought they were doomed, but Optimus managed to stop the train in time. Convoy
When Miko and Bulkhead arrived at base following Miko's detention, Jack loudly asked what she had done this time. When the Autobots later discovered that an Energon Harvester was in an Earth museum, Jack and Raf found themselves volunteered by Miko to go in and retrieve it, despite Jack's protest that what they were doing was theft. They were sent in on a scissor lift via GroundBridge and successfully pinched the device from the statue holding it. During their escape, Miko was caught by a security guard, and Jack and Raf ran into Soundwave, who swiped the Harvester off them. Back at base, Jack wondered how they were going to free Miko, and Ratchet revealed the replica Harvester he was working on to replace the stolen one. Jack resigned himself to the idea of adding forgery to his list of crimes, which now already included theft. Deus ex Machina
While talking to Sierra one day after school, Jack was challenged to a race by school bully Vince. Though Arcee reminded Jack of the rules, Vince's disparaging of her vehicle mode caused her to reconsider, and Jack took up Vince's challenge. They trounced Vince in the race, though Arcee still wouldn't let Jack offer Sierra a ride and told him to keep the whole thing a secret from the other Autobots. When it turned out that Miko and Raf had already found out, Jack swore them to secrecy too. The next day, Vince challenged Jack to another street race, and with Sierra watching, Jack was compelled to agree. Arcee refused to take part, however Jack instead managed to get Bumblebee to help him. He and Bumblebee joined the street race, but so did Knock Out, and they quickly found themselves under attack by the Decepticon. Jack struggled to understand Bumblebee's beeping. They lost the 'Con, but Vince confronted them, drawing Knock Out's attention, and the bully was captured. When Arcee and Bulkhead arrived, Jack told them what had happened, and accompanied Arcee to the storage lockup where the Decepticon was hiding. He later spun a story to Vince, covering up the whole affair. The following day, Arcee allowed Jack to take Sierra for a ride. Speed Metal
Further information in this article is coming soon as it pertains to information that may not yet have been officially released. |
Toys
Prime
- "Entertainment Pack" (5 figure gift set, 2011)
- A PVC figurine of Jack comes with figurines of Miko Nakadai and Raf Esquivel, plus small scale transformable toys of Optimus Prime and Megatron.
