Spring-heeled Jack

Where are the paintings? This article is in need of more images and/or better quality pictures from official media in order to achieve a higher status. You can help the Assassin's Creed Wiki by uploading better images on this page.

"It was horrible: glowing eyes, huge claws... And his laugh! Luckily he was frightened away by some passerby. Somebody has to do something before he attacks another!"

―One of Spring-heeled Jack's victims.

Spring-heeled Jack is a folkloric being whose identity was assumed by a cult leader in Victorian era London. There was, however, at least one variant of the being who seemingly possessed supernatural abilities.

History

Spring-heeled Jack cult

To unravel the phenomena of "Spring-heeled Jack", Charles Dickens commissioned Assassins Evie and Jacob Frye to divulge the identity of the entity, as their first case as members of the Ghost Club. One night in the Lambeth district, there were a number of victims being assailed by an attacker said to have been Spring-heeled Jack. The Frye twins tracked this individual down to a warehouse safeguarded by cultists.

After infiltrating the house and entering Jack's lair, it was made clear that the Spring-heeled Jack assaults had been done by a single cult leader, with several racked costumes of Spring-heeled Jack being found in the area. The Fryes would bring an end to these assaults by eliminating the cult's leader and followers.

Supernatural occurrence

Sometime after the defeat of the cult, another Spring-heeled Jack appeared, possessing a similar modus operandi to that of the cult leader.

Dickens would once again ask for the aid of the Frye twins in defeating the demon. On another night, the twins intercepted an attack on a civilian by Jack. Having been alerted, Jack began to flee from the twins, combating them in intervals as teleported across rooftops and platforms. He eventually ended his bout with the twins and took a Leap of Faith off the building they were fighting on, proclaiming to them that he would never die.

Personality and characteristics

"I am a ghost, a fiend, a terror in the night!"

―Spring-heeled Jack

The cult leader costumed as Spring-heeled Jack had a strong disliking to the Londonders of his era. As people he thought of as scum, he treated civilians accordingly, taking joy in preying on them at night.

The more supernatural variant expressed a strong sense of self-confidence, deeming himself the "terror of London" and claiming he would never die. This Jack, like the cult leader, also revelled in frightening the London populace.

Equipment and skills

Both variants encountered by the Frye twins were exceptional in armed and unarmed combat and demonstrated a high tolerance to damage. The cult leader made use of claws to quickly scale walls while freerunning.

The more supernatural Jack demonstrated abilities more in-line with the myth of his existence. He too was proficient in combat and possessed a high pain tolerance; not even the Frye twins could defeat him in battle. This Jack was capable of teleportation and traversed London's rooftops and platforms with ease and haste; coupled with his freerunning prowess, this made him impossible to catch. He would also use his teleportation to vanish mid-combat and flee from his pursuers. Another ability he possessed was that of creating doubles of himself, which he used to further disrupt the focus of his opponents.

The supernatural Spring-heeled Jack also appeared to be immortal, as even after receiving catastrophic injuries during his battle with the Frye twins, once he teleported to a safe distance, he was completely healed. The supernatural Spring-heeled Jack was also capable of performing the Leap of Faith.

Trivia

• Unlike Jack the Ripper, another popular figure of Victorian era legend, Spring-heeled Jack, both in reality and the Assassin's Creed series, never killed anyone.
  • It is not known if Spring-heeled Jack is a real demon or is a lunatic in disguise, because the twins could not reveal their origin. Its stunner smoke could contain a kind of hallucinogenic substance, making the victim see the supernatural echos. In the game you can see how the screen blinds indicating that it is a drug.

Reference

• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate