Jake McKenzie

Jake, a character in the Endless Summer series, is a pilot. He is one of Your Character's love interests. He is first seen in Book 1, Chapter 1

Before La Huerta
Jake was born in a rural town in Shreveport, Louisiana. Back then, during his military days on the naval academy as a fighter pilot, he met his bunkmate Mike. He was his only friend and loved him like a brother, and one of the best times of his life was when they were assigned on the same deployment.

Arachnid Unit - Before La Huerta
It should've ended there, but when they were running recon missions off the coast of Kharzistan aiding a rebellion, they discovered their commander Rex Lundgren was selling military weapons illegally to tyrants they were supposed to be fighting.

Jeanine then found out and told Lundgren, meaning that from then on, they were always one step behind. Some time later, a standard recon mission turned into an ambush, Mike got shot down while Jake ejected in time. Heading back to the base, Jake was to be arrested by the military police before he punched his commander and became a fugitive resulting in a bounty of $750,000 being put over his head. Jake currently resides in Costa Rica, and he was running ever since. Jake has been extremely reckless, most likely stemming from his past career as an Air Force pilot. He has trust issues and doesn't make friends easily after the incident with Mike. Seemingly to cover for this, Jake is also extremely sarcastic and witty from time to time, in a fruitless effort to diffuse the tension.

Appearance
Jake has shaggy light brown hair, cerulean blue eyes, and fair skin with a scruffy beard. He normally wears a black T-shirt, a green jacket, blue jeans, and dog tags around his neck.

In Chapter 10 of Book 2, his hair is slicked back and he wears black trousers, and a black waistcoat with a white shirt at the New Year's Eve party.

He has a lean, muscular body, and wears blue board shorts if he's in deep water.

Jake's height is 5'9" in boots.

Personality
Jake is very sarcastic. It is the most noticeable quality about him and is show cased in almost every chapter. He is also very charming, honest, hot-headed, a little impulsive, and he gives nicknames to people.

Jake often acts or says things before thinking, and doesn't regret some things he says. In Book 2, Chapter 1, he assumes Diego, Raj and/or Grace are dead after being in the hands of The Watchers for six months, which is logical, but also depressing.

Jake is also very protective of his friends. In the first few chapters, he can save your character from venturing into the burning plane hangar. Jake also becomes more affectionate to your character if you pursue him as a love interest. Jake's jokey and cynical approach to life could be a cover for his dark past, as is hinted to in Book 2, Chapter 1.

During his time in the Military, he earned the codename "Wolf". Ironically, this fits with his Hadean Zodiac sign, Lupus. He later reveals that "Wolf" was short for "Wolf Spider", as every elite member of Arachnid has a spider themed codename.

Mike
"We already made our choice, kid. All we have is now"

- Jake's past with Mike.

Jake and Mike met in the army, and were best friends, having a brotherly relationship with each other. In an ambush set by Lundgren, Mike was apparently killed while Jake survived. Since the loss of his best friend, Jake has never opened up to people and never made friends. In Book 2, Chapter 15, Jake was shocked that Mike is actually Mouse. The Act VI bonus scene reveals Mike lost his legs, had 87% of his body covered with third degree burns, and is apparently mind-controlled by a screw-filled helmet.

In Book 3, Chapter 3, Mike and Jake get into a fight. Jake tries to bring Mike back by making him remember the good times they had. But unfortunately, it didn't work as Mike punched Jake square in the chest. In Chapter 11 he was devastated when Mike sacrificed himself to stop Lundgren.

Your Character
"I never wanted anything as badly as I want you"

- If you pursue Jake as a love interest.

Jake originally finds Your Character annoying and calls the college student "Boy Scout" or "Princess", depending on their gender. He will start to respect Your Character after he/she breaks up the fight between him and Sean. Your character has a chance to improve her/his relationship status with him after you choose him for every encounter. Jake seems to be sarcastic, satirical and acerbic at first but when Your Character chooses to get along with his banter, he'll open up more to you. Over the course of the game, he will show concern for Your Character, willing to protect you at all costs. He's an actions-over-words kind of person, he'll eventually care and be affectionate to Your Character. If you choose to start dating him, he even mentions that he's not scared when you go into the museum hole, but 'just wanted to find an excuse to hold your hand'. In Book 2 you can have romantic scenes with him once while exploring a waterfall, another time while exploring an underwater cave, again at Elysian Lodge and one more time in a tent, in which you can have sex with him on the latter two setting. He admits he loves you in Chapter 12, if you spend diamonds and choose to sleep with him. Also, his love for MC and loyalty to your group made him stay and travel through the portal to Hartfeld despite his bounty. At the end of the Book 2, he said he can't risk Your character and made the reckless choice of telling the Arachnids his location in order to ride the helicopter and flee from the MASADA. He risked himself to save Your Character from falling from the Helicopter despite the hopeless attempt.

Sean Gayle
To begin with, Jake and Sean are not very friendly with one another, which eventually boils over during the debate about whether the group should leave the resort or not, where they have a punch-up. However, their issues are eventually resolved and the tensions are greatly decreased.

Everett Rourke
Although they've never met, Jake thinks very lowly of Rourke. He is more than willing to believe the rumors that Rourke is a criminal involved in illegal experiments. He believes that the King Crab and the Sea Monster were biological weapons created by him.

Aleister
Jake calls Aleister by the nickname Malfoy. This is a reference of Draco Malfoy from the well-known novel series, Harry Potter. Jake initially thinks Aleister is a pompous nerd and disregards his remarks about the sabertooth in early chapters of Book 1. Towards the end of Book 1, when Aleister reveals he is Rourke's son, Jake believes he is a spy sent by his father to kidnap the group or gather information.

In Book 2, Chapter 14, Jake will start hating him for betraying the group, having already disliked him before.

Estela
Jake thinks Estela is weird in the beginning of the book, but if you bring him along with you to explore the La Huerta Observatory he starts respecting her after she defeats the crab (if you went with Estela to hunt down the crab). In the later chapters your character can spar with him and Estela, and he will respect her for being able to fight. They sometimes joke with each other about their sarcastic and cynical outlook on life. If you choose to enter a time portal with Yvonne, when you reemerge Jake is attempting to tell Estela a joke. She obviously doesn't find it funny.

Lundgren
He hates Lundgren and the other Arachnids. He detests him for selling weapons to the opposition forces while he was on duty, even more because Lundgren tried to kill him and successfully killed Mike (or so he thought). At the end of Book 2 he is heartbroken to see what Lundgren did to Mike (aka Mouse).

Rebecca McKenzie (Sister)
Jake left a sister behind when he joined the military. She believes that he is dead. He never contacted her due to shame for his actions in the military. In Book 2, Chapter 15, a diamond option allows Jake to call his sister and apologize for not contacting her as well as say goodbye. She is also a character in Most Wanted, Book 1.

Trivia

 * Jake is shown on the cover of Endless Summer, Book 1', Endless Summer, Book 2 and Endless Summer, Book 3'.
 * His Hadean Zodiac sign is Lupus, the Wolf.
 * He is the oldest of the group, currently in his mid-twenties.
 * Jake is the only one of the twelve Catalysts who is not a student at Hartfeld.
 * Jake grew up near in a quaint bayou of Pearl River, Louisiana before heading off to Annapolis. The former place is where most of his family from. He and his younger sister Rebecca used to prank other kids by strategically placing some crabs where other kids wouldn't notice it.
 * He may have a Cajun English accent, or cajun vernacular English, the dialect of English spoken by Cajuns living in Louisiana and, to some extent, in eastern Texas. This is backed up by his origin story and his dialogue, some of which is written in Cajun dialect.
 * He can hold his breath for 9 minutes.
 * In Book 1, Chapter 14, if you choose to bring Jake up to your room, he will be accidentally murdered by Varyyn but then brought back to life using his necklace.
 * One of Jake's personality trademarks is giving nicknames to people in the group based on their appearance or personality traits. For example, he calls Michelle "Maybelline", Grace "Brain Trust", Aleister "Malfoy", Sean "Captain America", Your Character "Boy Scout" or "Princess", IRIS "Princess Leia" and Rourke "Phony Stark".
 * His Catalyst Idol flashback shows that he constantly gives people nicknames to honor Mike. It is revealed that Mike sacrificed himself for Jake in an ambush set by Lundgren; it was originally Mike and not Jake who liked giving everyone nicknames.
 * Although he makes fun of Diego for constantly making pop culture references, most of the nicknames he comes up with are such references.
 * At the end of the first chapter of Book 2, Jake picks up an ancient hatchet, but he never uses it.
 * As of Book 2, Chapter 8, the whole group is aware of his dark past and being framed for weapons dealing.
 * In Book 2, Chapter 15, it is revealed that Rebecca McKenzie (a character from Most Wanted, Book 1) is Jake's sister.
 * Rourke considers him the 3rd most dangerous individual of your group due to his military background. He has impressive primitive survival skills and knowledge when it comes to tactical scenarios.
 * Jake appears to have his design based on actor Jared Leto.
 * In Book 3, Chapter 8, he will propose if you have at least 2 hearts with him. If you accept his proposal, you will marry him in a handfasting ceremony at the end of Act VIII.
 * His Ember of Hope (a damaged flight helmet) shows a future where he and Mike successfully testify against Rex Lundgren and get him convicted of numerous crimes.
 * If you handfast Jake, and go on a honeymoon with him, you will sail on the Dorado and he will reveal that he was taught how to sail by his Uncle Pete using a small schooner.
 * Every aircraft he has flown in the series has been destroyed.
 * The writing for Jake's character is inspired by the song, Long Way Home From Here by Mathew Perryman Jones.
 * Jake in alternate timelines:
 * Jake abandoned our group and rejoined the Arachnids.
 * He and Yvonne became lovers.
 * He is driving a taco truck to get away from, presumably the Arachnids. Mike and the Shore Guardian (Nicknamed Sebastian by Jake) are with him.