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| “ | The reason I taught you how to use a gun as a child was to save people. You say that guns are just tools for killing people. But you are wrong. 'Guns' don't kill people. 'People' kill people.
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Jessie B. Black, originally known as Jesiah Blanche, is Billy Lee Black's and Primera's father. He is a gruff and rash gun-wielding ex-Element of Solaris.
In the Japanese version, his name is Jesse B. Black (ジェシー・B・ブラック, jeshī bī burakku) and his original name is Jessiah Blanche (ジェサイア・ブランシュ, jesaia buranshu).
Biography[]
Jessie during his days at Jugend.
Jessie's original name, before he changed it, is Jesiah Blanche. Born in Etrenank, Solaris, he is the only child of Abram Blanche and Mariah.[1]
In 9978, Jesiah entered Jugend Military Academy at 13 years old. Due to his performance at Jugend, rumors began to appear that he would be the next commander-in-chief of Gebler, but his rebellious spirit, as well as his increasing doubts about Solaris, slowly pivoted him towards a different path.[1]
Alongside Kahran Ramsus, Jesiah started the first iteration of the Elements, an elite group that worked towards Ramsus' ideal of a person's value not being due to their class, but by their ability. Due to Ramsus vouching for them, Sigurd Harcourt and Citan Uzuki joined, bring the group total to four.
In 9983, Jesiah married classmate Racquel Bennetnashe and had Billy Lee Black right after.
At some point, Jesiah finds out about the M Plan, as well as about a key scientist, Nikolai Balthasar, hiding information about the M Plan on a test-Gear, which escaped with his daughter, Maria Balthasar.[2]
In 9990, Jessie passed on the position of commander-in-chief and escaped with his family from Solaris, settling in on a solitary island.
In 9992, Jessie had Primera. He also met Gaspar Uzuki. He joins the guerilla fighting Corps headed by Gaspar at the 3rd invasion of Shevat. He also steals Buntline from the Gebler headquarters.
Jessie before his surgery.
In 9993, Jessie left his family to fight back against Solaris and Gebler.
Joshua Black.
In 9994, he had his face surgically altered to mimic Shevat engineer Joshua Black. He has also taken up dressing like Joshua in order to keep his friend's memory alive, and changed his surname to Black.
In 9995, Jessie suffered Stein's eventual wrath when he followed him to the surface and used Wels to brutally murder Racquel, then swooped in under the guise of the benevolent Bishop Stone of the Ethos and consoled his children and turned Billy against his father.
In 9997, Jessie returned to Billy and Primera. He is disliked by Billy, although Prim welcomed him.
Xenogears[]
Jessie makes a memorable entrance into the game's storyline by pointing his signature carbine rifle at Elly's head when he thinks she's trying to abduct Primera on the Thames. This of course is a misunderstanding and does a lot to quickly establish his "shoot first, ask questions later" characterization.
When Jessie's past and the truth about the Ethos church are explored, Billy does a lot of soul searching and comes to the realization that his father was right all along in his own way. Jessie and Billy are able to reconcile their differences after defeating the villainous Bishop Stone once and for all. Billy's new mission, stopping Karellen, Myyah Hawwa, and the Gazel Ministry's plot to reactivate Deus and kill off all humanity drew them away from one another, but Jessie was always there to help when the need arose, including accompanying the party to Solaris and helping Citan by fending off armed guards with his carbine rifle.
Jessie is conspicuously absent from disc 2 of the game, leading to the inevitable questions about his ultimate fate.
Quotes[]
- "Hmph, that's just a rumor about me. A rumor. Don't you believe that. Ever since you went into the 'Ethos' you've become such a stiff." (to Billy)
Trivia[]
- Perfect Works notes that Jessie has more than ten holsters hidden all over his body.
- The changing of his surname from Blanche to Black likely symbolizes "white to black", as "blanc" means white in French.
- His parents' names are all Biblical names. Abram is a reference to Abram. Mariah is a variant of Maria. Jessie's original name, Jesiah, is also a Biblical name.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Perfect Works, pg 191.
- ↑ JESSIE: "When I was in Solaris, I found out about the secret plan... That was the 'Malakh' (M) Plan. And it was done under the command of Krelian... In order to proceed with the plan, many Lambs were gathered by the 'Ethos', to become guinea pigs. Or, should I say, to become Reapers or -Wels-... Since I was disgusted with Solaris' methods, I decided to investigate it further. I found out that the main scientist central to the M Plan moved the true facts about it into a test-Gear. Then he let that test-Gear escape with his daughter, so that the truth would not be discovered... And that, I'm afraid, was the last information that I was able to obtain..."