Jack Ryan, Jack Bauer, Captain Jack Harkness, Captain Jack Sparrow, Colonel/General Jack O'Neill – there seems to be something about the name that inspires us.
Jack tales! Jack tales! I got a hair up my ass about this a few years back and went wandering around looking at the history of 'Jack' in stories and it's got this massively long history in folklore, deep enough to have wound it's way into the fabric of storytelling. I doubt most authors even realize they are doing it at this point, but check this out. The Jack of the 'Jack Tales' is often a trickster and an unlikely hero, and nearly all of the modern tv, movie, and book characters that carry his name share common traits with each other and the Jack that winds his way through both early English and American folklore. It's shorthand for an archetype we all recognize, and I've no doubt that often when a creator reaches for a name when they've created one they jump to 'Jack' without realizing it. Just as we hear it and go "Oh, right..it's a Jack" subconsciously, and start slotting them into that role before they open their mouths when we meet them.
It is a super cool thing :) Yes, I'm kind of a geek.
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Date: 2008-01-29 03:57 pm (UTC)Jack tales! Jack tales! I got a hair up my ass about this a few years back and went wandering around looking at the history of 'Jack' in stories and it's got this massively long history in folklore, deep enough to have wound it's way into the fabric of storytelling. I doubt most authors even realize they are doing it at this point, but check this out. The Jack of the 'Jack Tales' is often a trickster and an unlikely hero, and nearly all of the modern tv, movie, and book characters that carry his name share common traits with each other and the Jack that winds his way through both early English and American folklore. It's shorthand for an archetype we all recognize, and I've no doubt that often when a creator reaches for a name when they've created one they jump to 'Jack' without realizing it. Just as we hear it and go "Oh, right..it's a Jack" subconsciously, and start slotting them into that role before they open their mouths when we meet them.
It is a super cool thing :) Yes, I'm kind of a geek.