Jerry Jepley

Class: Golden Guardian
Weapon: Pulse Rifle Z (Jepley's favorite automatic blaster of 99 ammo), Pulse Rifle GX (The infinity automatic blaster but overheat and then cool down in "Spoko 3: The Gun"), Spiral Pistol (His favorite new basic blaster) and various weapons.
Accessories: Red Cape (Removed in Spoko 3), Red Scarf (Equipped in Spoko Resurrection)

Jerry Jepley's personality:
Given the horrifying events Jerry Jepley was exposed to during the latter part of his life, his personality understandably changed over time, but he nonetheless remained a strong-willed, level-headed, honorable and determined individual. Early in his life he had a strict sense of duty and professionalism, and operated very much by-the-book and in accordance with the rules, a trait that sometimes brought him into conflict with the more laid-back Shiny and Sharpy aboard the Nocturbo. When command of the Nocturbo survivors fell to Jepley, he maintained his calm despite the terror they faced, although the revelation of Tex's betrayal somewhat dented this collected exterior and revealed a more impulsive, frantic person underneath. Tex's actions would also leave him with a deep-seated hatred and mistrust of synthetics.

The events on board the Nocturbo significantly traumatized Jepley and, coupled with the rejection of his story upon his eventual return to Skylark, affected him greatly, in many respects permanently altering his personality. He became far colder and more apathetic towards his life, resigned to the fact he had been ruined both professionally and personally by what had happened. At the same time, he was plagued by vivid nightmares involving the Xenozom, nightmares that ultimately spurred his decision to return to Azeron and confront the creatures again. When the mission went disastrously wrong, Jepley's prior experience with the Spoko helped him to maintain a level of cool that even some of the hardened Skylark Galacton fighting for survival alongside him could not match, most notably the panicky Private Hardy. His level of calm and ability to make competent decisions, even under such extreme stress, endeared his greatly to the Marines around him, particularly Corporal Drac, who openly included Jepley in tactical discussions, trusting his judgment despite the fact he was only a civilian.

Jepley was also capable of extreme bravery, perhaps never more apparent than when he entered the Hive on Azeron, alone, to rescue the captured Cutie. Jepley's relationship with Cutie was significant, in that it represented a reawakening of the maternal role that Jepley lost when he was informed that Cathy had died in the time he had spent drifting in space following the Nocturbo's destruction. Jepley and Cutie formed a close parent-child bond that not only encouraged Jepley to fight on, but also devastated him when Cutie was killed on Grimmon 161. Events on Azeron also helped Jepley to overcome his prejudice towards synthetics, even coming to view Lordon as something approaching a friend.

After crashing on Grimmon 161, Jepley was emotionally damaged yet again by the sudden death of Cutie and Drac's apparent demise. The anguish this brought on was later compounded by the death of (mere hours after the two had slept together) and the subsequent revelation that he himself had been impregnated with a Stombuster, a Queen no less, and that his death was imminent. Jepley became suicidal, but his core inner strength meant he was unable to kill himself — to this end, he sought to have first the Dragon and then Defo end his life, but without success. Despite his depression, Jepley remained staunch in his determination to defeat the Xenozom. In a final cruel twist, he was approached on Grimmon 161 by Pirac Lordon and offered a chance at a continued existence, but at the cost of Weyland-Pirate potentially unleashing the Xenozom upon humanity through their own short-sightedness. Jepley came perilously close to accepting the company's terms, but ultimately overcame his fear of death and honorably chose to end his own life, simultaneously denying Lordon the specimen and destroying the Xenozom menace, saving the Gremlins.

Jepley 8's personality:
While Jepley 8 was a clone of Jerry Jepley, his personality was markedly different. Unlike the original Jepley, he was sarcastic, dry, and rarely fazed by the situations that he found himself in. Whether he be in UGM captivity, subjected to scientific tests or faced with the horrors of a Xenozom outbreak, he showed little emotional concern or interest and maintained an emotionless, apathetic exterior, such as when he informed Lumon that he was infected with a Stombuster and calmly described the horrific, fatal birthing process to him. Only the revelation of the previous failed clones and the emergence of the Newbot seemed to elicit any real response from him — he was horrified and distressed by the former, while he showed genuine fear in the face of the latter. Jepley 8 also seemed to possess a far greater capacity for irony than the original Jepley, finding black humor in the often terrible events that surrounded him — the devastation wrought by the Cloned Xenozoms in particular, devastation he had explicitly forewarned, seemed to amuse him greatly. It is unknown if this is a result of the clone's upbringing inside the ship or his Xenozom DNA.

Notably, Jepley 8's personality was split between the two species that contributed to his DNA, and he shared both knights and Xenozom sympathies. He often found himself to be in dissent regarding the two species' conflicting goals and aims, and at times even considered siding with the Xenozoms aboard the Aurono (a desire the creatures apparently shared, they seem to revere him), although ultimately he chose to ally himself with the knights he encountered. Despite his fractured persona, elements of Jerry Jepley's character still shone through in Jepley 8. Mostly notably, he was plagued by vague memories from his previous life, particularly Jepley's prior relationship with Cutie; while Jepley 8 could not remember the young girl's name or anything more than superficial details regarding their time together, the deep-seated memories of Cutie and her fate clearly distressed him. Furthermore, Jepley 8 also possessed some of the sympathy that was prevalent in Jerry Jepley, perhaps never more obviously than when he chose not to kill Vaston for his part in the events aboard the Aurono and the creation of the failed clones that had preceded him.

Credits:

• Jerry Jepley/Jepley 8 (C): Spoko, Spokos, Spoko 3 and Spoko Resurrection.

• Spiral Knights (C): Sega