KING, Jacob Aaron

[Jacob King]

Character & infos © Kieran
Play-by: Henry Ian Cusick

CHARACTER'S NAME
Jacob Aaron King

AGE / BIRTH DATE
33-41 years old (30.7.1951)

OCCUPATION
Police officer in the Metropolitan Police Service, London.

HOGWARTS HOUSE
Hufflepuff - (1962-1963.)

BLOOD STATUS
Half-blood

WAND
Rowan, dragon's heartstring, 25 cm, flexible.

CURRENT RESIDENCE
~ Kingsley Avenue, Sutton, Surrey/London, England (June 1985 onwards.)
--> Nearly photo-realistic 720° Virtual Tour

FAMILY

Father: Aaron King - * 1911 - † 1959
Mother: Josephine King - * 1911 - † 1959
Brother: Benjamin King - * 2.3.1954
Grandfather: Stephen King - * 1864 - † 1969

Partner: Carrie Isabelle Cooper - * 1.10.1951
(Together 6/1978-12/1987 and again from 12/1990 onward.)
Son: Stephen Hunter King - * 20.2.1980 - 0-12 years old
Daughter: Freya Emilia King - * 17.7.1982 - 0-10 years old
Kids' godfather: Daniel Jonah Potter (née. Giles) - * 1951
Kids' godmother: Julie Michelle Potter - * 1951, muggle

APPEARANCE

Eyes: Brown.
Hair: Dark/brown and straight, usually reaching his chin at the most but most often is shorter. Casual but neat haircuts.
Height & Weight: 183 cm / 83 kg

He looks pretty much his age, a few years older at the most but even then it's not particularly eye-catching. In addition to being tall, he looks (and is) strong as he keeps himself fit by regular visits to a gym but he could never be called a body-builder. His main goal is to stay fit enough for health in general and for his job.

Even at his younger years you might get the feeling that he's seen a lot of life's darker side and gained more life experience than the average person of his age. Yet also that he hasn't lost enjoyment of life or some playfulness.

Usually his being is friendly, strong and self-confident - generally that which would stir feelings of security and trust. It can also stir respect yet he is easy to approach, as he appears stern and determined but also extrovert and gentle.

When angry, his being is intense but usually not frightening but that of a fiery determination, that he is willing and able to do anything it takes to solve the problem.

Beard and moustache in larger amount are quite rare sight on him, it's usually when he's going through especially stressful time. Most of the time he doesn't have them at all, or has a stubble.

VOICE

The texture of his voice is warm and quite pleasant, he speaks softly but not too quietly. He is capable of filling/using his voice with unwavering and strong authority and command, both with and without raising his voice, as taught in the police training.

* his speaking voice generally

 

PERSONALITY

He's a hard-working man and making the world a better place is close to his heart, but he puts his children's benefit and well-being ahead of everything else. Sometimes too much at which point his friends have to half force him to be selfish. Like a true Leo, he is kind and big-hearted, energetic, optimistic, loyal, and straightforward/forthright which the latest mentioned can sometimes be a problem. Although he tries to phrase his words as politely as he can. He is also headstrong, and possessive though makes real efforts to share more easily than he did before he got kids to be an example to. The sharing difficulties however apply to bigger, more financially or emotionally valuable things, not to mundane things like drink, food, tv remote control or anything like that. He prefers to be in control in situations - but doesn't have too big of a problem to be the one who follows if a situation requires it, and has no problem taking and following orders from superiors at work.

He may at times be somewhat over-protective towards his loved ones, especially his children. And in potentially dangerous situations he attempts to do extremely thorough research and organising before he gets peace of mind, if even then. This springs from the losses during his younger years, and from the brutal truth about this sorry world that his job has forced him to view while fighting it in the front lines of the law enforcement.

It's also turned him into a hopeless realist. He does enjoy fantasy genre books and movies and all that and does let other people believe in peace on Earth and good will to all men, but he himself doesn't believe in miracles. But he was raised to try and see the best in people.

Hard life has made him believe in a higher power and guardian angels, but he doesn't necessarily view it as the christian God or any other specific god. As far as he's concerned, others –- including his own children - are free to believe whatever they want or not believe at all, as long as it stays within reason, law and safety.

He is gentle, compassionate, tolerant and broad-minded. He has an appropriate idea and attitude about right and wrong as well as maintenance of law and order is in his heart, and he doesn't hesitate to enforce it in one way or another. He's been blessed with high intelligence, lots of self-confidence and determination, so he enjoys challenges and usually doesn't give up until there is no other sensible option. He was born to be a police/detective which was also his calling because of his desire to make the world a little bit safer and better, and because of his enjoyment of action and adventure. Although, an essential nudge to the occupation choice was his long-lost little brother's abduction which he wanted to one day investigate from the best possible position. His thrill-seeking nature has lessened since he became a father, but he's still always looking for new experiences.

He is very proficient officer and gained some honour especially as a detective. That is, he's a remarkably good judge of human nature; reading behaviours and gestures and in stepping into the mind-set/thought-process of a person. And able to gather/handle information well, even in a tired or stressed state of mind. By no means flawlessly, but very, very good. He's not easily manipulated, on the contrary he himself has that skill...although he hasn't practised it after he left CID a few months after his son was born thus later in life it might not be on the level it used to be.

He is almost extremely responsible, which is his strength and weakness in many ways. He's not a workaholic, but can't really concentrate well on his spare time activities if anything important work-related is much unfinished.

His patience has grown to remarkable amounts after his first child was born, with exceptions of very tired or stressed state of minds. But he is very capable of controlling his mind and emotions even in terrible situations, as he is a well-trained police officer. On a normal day he is stable and friendly as his stress tolerance has also become strong by fatherhood and police work. He does not yell easily if it isn't necessary, especially not at children, as he doesn't believe it to deliver messages very effectively.

Jacob has always been a child loving person and thus gained experience of those little persons ever since his teenage years. If you met his own children when they were young, you might not believe they were raised by the same parent if you don't get to know them in daily life where both of their best characteristics come to show. He draws a lot of strength from watching his children grow and develop and enjoy their lives and from his son's ever-lasting optimism. On the other hand, although he'd never say it out loud, he thinks of Hunter's longer lasting visits to a friend's house and such and being only with his super easy-going daughter, as mini-vacations. And yet, already in a few days he finds himself missing his boy.

Although he's very family-centred and loves his children more than anything else in the world, he has many hobbies outside the family. Including camping, bowling, gym-visits and other healthy and social outings, often with a friend or a group of friends. Of course, sometimes he's happy to take his kids along. Healthy lifestyle includes also near absolutism when it comes to dangerous substances. He doesn't condemn people who use them reasonably, but he doesn't smoke or drink at all and would not allow his children to, either. He could down some alcohol in bakery goods or candy, but as for drinking, never. Not even wine. His best relaxation methods are withdrawing to as much privacy as possible to read Sherlock Holmes and to listen classical-type of music, or going to movies, fishing, or camping.

To him magic, in which he is powerful, has always been a spice in life - one that he greatly appreciates. In everyday life he uses it only if truly needed or in occasional fun and otherwise prefers muggle life style. In raising children and household chores he uses magic only if necessary. However, he likes spending time in the wizarding society and actively keeps himself up to date on its events and news. He dislikes magical transportation (except apparating which he uses because it's convenient, though he prefers not to apparate in muggle areas too often.)

Some of his most notable weaknesses are that he's prone to worry about his family even with little to no need, sometimes resulting in loss of sleep. And his pain tolerance level is so high that he might get seriously crippled if the injury wasn't fixable by magic or someone there to make him take it easy. And, he suffers from automatonophobia - fear of anything that falsely represents a sentient being (such as ventriloquist's dummies, animatronic creatures, or wax statues. This is not stirred by normal statues or mannequins or such as they don't have the same feel.)

HISTORY

Jacob was born in South London, in Sutton, to a half-blood witch and wizard couple. When he was 8-years old his parents were killed in an incident involving muggles and illegal fire-arms, the couple was looking for their youngest son who'd been abducted a few weeks earlier and the trace had ended in a bad part of London. They both died immediately, on the street. His brother's case was classified as an abduction because of the situation where he went missing and how the owl post could not reach him, which confirmed that the kidnapper was or at least knew someone with magical powers who apparently had cast a spell on the child preventing any magical form of tracking known at the time. The muggle police and the aurors - including Jacob's grandfather, carried on searching but within a year or two the case turned cold and after seven years of not seeing or hearing anything that would turn out to be true, Benjamin King was declared legally dead by the muggle police. Throughout the years and even after searchers included family and friends, the magical law enforcement and Cold case detectives from muggle law enforcement.

After his parents' death, Jacob and his lost brother's custody was granted to the only close family member they had alive - their father's father. Grandpa retired from the auror work soon after this. They lived in Sutton for the first year, but then his grandfather came to decision that time away from the family house might help the boy to survive better and they moved into his house in Wandsworth, near central London. Though there were lots of memories of his parents and brother there as well, still much less than in their own town and house and the boy had friends in Wandsworth too.

Jacob lost part of his childhood when spiritually he spent the next few years in a dark place making bad choices, as at such a young age he did not have the ability to cope with such traumas and pain properly but wanted a quick solution. For one, he messed with alcohol whenever he could somehow get his hands on some. But he didn't sink too deep or ruin his life or health, because he was looked after by a loving, devoted grandfather as well as his best friend Daniel with whom he was and still remains as close as brothers. Later in life, Daniel and his wife became the godparents of Jacob's children. Jacob chose to attend Hogwarts partially out of genuine interest, but also because his grandfather convinced him that a total change of scenery and lifestyle for a while might do him good. And it did, during his Hogwarts year he returned more to his old self and had a better grip on life in general, had strong ambitions and goals again.

He was academically gifted enough to skip a couple of grades already in primary school, but he wished to remain on the same grade as his peers. He dropped out of Hogwarts after the first year, because he now knew what he wants to be when he grows up. He transferred into muggles' secondary school, and eventually entered a University at age 17, one year earlier than is usual. He majored in Criminal Justice and achieved a Bachelor's Degree in the typical four years, graduating in Spring 1972.

Alongside his studies, since he left Hogwarts, he studied magic at home with the help of his retired grandpa and his friend Daniel who continued at Hogwarts. This self-education in magic was of course most active during school breaks and excluded most only-theoretical subjects. As a young adult, during annual leaves form work he sometimes took courses to gain at least some official papers on his skills, in case he'd like to have a magical occupation after retirement age from the muggle work life.

In 1969, the 18-years old Jacob lost his grandfather, too when the man battled a Dark wizard. Even though he'd retired after getting custody of Jacob, sometimes old enemies return to cause problems.

This time he didn't get lost in the grieving process, as now he and his friends were much older, Daniel's parents were there for him, and he had set goals and dreams. He had also long ago decided to try and live so that he'd make his loved ones proud, because even though they were gone they were still a part of him and he considered that as them being with him as he goes on.

Although he had now lost his entire family, they had seen to that the children they leave behind would not face financial hardships. His grandfather's house was highly valuable, his own and fully paid, and Jacob inherited it along with the other property. The same situation with his parents' house, the first childhood home. As his brother had been declared legally dead, Ben's half of everything legally belongs to Jacob but he doesn't want to use them as he believes he'll one day find his brother alive. His grandfather had only rented the Sutton house during the years, thinking Jacob might some day wish to move back in. Or Ben, if he ever came home. Jacob continued renting the Sutton house, for he didn't feel like living in the middle of all those childhood memories would be a good idea at that time.

In July 1973 Jacob graduated from the police academy and was trained also in fire-arms, becoming one of the few Metropolitan Police officers to carry a gun on occasions. He got a job at Charing Cross Police Station. By August 1976 he was a Detective Constable. He got a job at the same station, being a very competent new detective. He joined a team dedicated to investigating abductions.

He could not directly investigate his brother's case as it was a Cold case which type require highly experienced detectives. As a family member and even the only one alive, he however is contacted and asked for private help if anything significant comes up possibly relating to Ben's case.

During the '70s as Voldemort gained power in Britain and the wizarding war got worse and worse, Jacob focused on solving crimes in the muggle society and did not participate in the magical fighting. Although he did always carry his wand and was extra cautious. But, because of his brother's disappearance evidently relating to the wizarding society's crimes and generally him being one of the few magical people inside the muggles' law enforcement system and thus able to strengthen the secrecy status of magic, he does have an official link to the Ministry of Magic's law enforcement division and a supervised access to the Werewolf Registry. This link just isn't constantly used, but only when a situation demands and he personally can help, as in his work focuses and revolves around just muggles and muggle crimes.

In May 1975, on a full moon night just before midnight, the 23-years old Jacob on his way home from work happened to spot a disturbing scene, and saved a young woman, Carrie, from a deranged werewolf. (The man had partially transformed and tried to rape Carrie in order to see if a werewolf and human female could reproduce. He did not get far but his intent was obvious.)

Jacob and Carrie formed a friendship, became very close and later began to feel even more deeply, until three years later they became a couple. About a year later they found out Carrie was expecting a child - it had not been planned but on the other hand raising a family together did not feel like an impossible idea at all, to either of them. It just wasn't wished for this particular time in their life. But abortion was out of the question in their moral views, so they decided to keep the child and Carrie moved in with Jacob, into his house.

At this point Jacob sold his childhood home, unaware that the new owner was its old resident –- his brother. Otherwise he of course would've just given the house to him. Ben either did not know, the town and house had just drawn him as they are, though the neighbourhood had stirred some long-forgotten memories he could not explain or be sure of if they were even real.

Stephen Hunter King was born in February 1980 and was his happy parents' little prince. Originally he was called by his first name Stephen. During his first year, Jacob left detective work behind, considering them too high risk for a family man. He'd been transferred to covering just the duties of a regular constable and he also resigned from the use of a fire-arm. Of course the job was still  as dangerous as ever but less so than it was when downright chasing high profile criminals all over the country, especially when his focus was on abduction cases. Around the birth of his son the wizarding war was at its worst but as Voldemort did not manage to take over the Ministry of Magic, his family was relatively safe even with Carrie being a muggle-born. Still, risks existed so they were seriously considering to leave the country for a while. Before they could make a decision, little Harry Potter was said to have defeated Voldemort and the war was over.

Their relationship was strong and natural, but the stress and emotional roller coaster from taking care of a baby in itself and especially in the middle of a war taxed it enough for them to take a break a little bit after the war ended. They were not sure anymore about the state of the emotional aspect of their relationship. They continued living together and to raise the boy together, but remained just close friends without sex, while they were thinking things over and seeing other people and planned to move apart if it seemed like the right choice. Their first and most important goal was to keep their son's life as unchanged and secure as possible, thus they didn't even bring their dates home.

Only a couple of months from the start of the break it turned out Carrie was pregnant again and the child was Jacob's. In the following months they ended up back together.

In July 1982 they welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world, and Carrie named her Freya Emilia.

Up until this point Carrie had been a stay-at-home mum, trying to grow into the role. She loved her son but motherhood just didn't seem to come easy for her. She never managed to form a true mother-son bond with him. Carrie did not have enough authority in her and among other things her experience with the werewolf had affected her emotions about motherhood. As she was expecting Freya, they decided to switch places with Jacob; a couple of months after the girl was born Jacob took a career break becoming a stay-at-home dad and Carrie returned to work life. Jacob's career break was the maximum possible –- five years - for whatever the situation then, the kids would be school-age and it would make both parents working a bit easier to pull off.

When the kids were five and three years old, the family moved to Sutton, into a better place for children to grow up; they wanted further away from the central London, larger yards, a garage and a house on a quiet suburban street.

Around that time they noticed their son to have an exceptionally good singing voice, as it had developed stronger by age. The boy loved performing, but Jacob and Carrie did not even consider the possibility of pushing their child into the entertainment world, especially at such a young age. The gift of singing was mainly kept for the joy of the family and friends.

In 1987 on a holiday in Scotland, their life was turned upside down. The 7-years old Stephen was getting more into the horror genre as a fan, and had heard about werewolves being real. He sneaked out on a full moon night and took his then 4-year old sister with him  About the latter mentioned Jacob and Carrie did not know until many years later. The wolf inside the boy naturally was revealed within a few weeks. Having known of Fenrir Greyback and his reputation for a long time by then, Jacob was naturally terrified and paranoid, kept extremely close eye on his son for a while, but eventually Carrie and the kids' godparents managed to convince him that if it had been that man the boy would've been gone already within the weeks before the first full moon when they weren't yet aware of the infection. As the months went by Jacob let himself believe that Greyback had nothing to do with his son's condition.

In December of that year,after Jacob had his physical tests as well as courses relating to the changes in police work, and had returned to work and arranged babysitter matters, Carrie moved away. The plan was to stay in contact, especially with the children. It just didn't go very well - in the following months the contact lessened more and more because she wasn't mum material but largely also because she needed time to really work on the trauma and some ghosts from her past. They had again put their relationship on a break when she moved away. It had been considered before, but breaking up the family had been too unpleasant even as a thought.

Jacob got a job at the police station of his home town for his boss liked him and understood that a single-father could not work too far from home. For the same reason he was given a lot of day shifts. He had nine years of service behind him and had managed to learn and practice well the many changes that had happened in the police work during the early and mid-'80s, so after a year, in late 1988 he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.

On a dark and cold February full moon night, his 9-years old son - by then called by his middle name, Hunter - let his love for werewolves win and let the wolf be free. Literally, he secretly skipped one Wolfsbane potion that week and fought his way out of the house after the transformation. Fortunately, the skipping of a potion was revealed before that point and Jacob was relatively on top of the situation. The child was only almost killed, and the wolf ended up hurting only one living creature; it tore apart a dog. Shortly afterwards Carrie returned to her family's life, although did not move back into the same  house.

During the '90s Jacob's life took a completely unexpected turn to better. The relationship with Carrie started to warm up again and just before Christmas 1990 they got back together, and in the summer of 1991 Carrie moved back in. And in the spring of 1993 his son got completely cured from the werewolf infection as in never transformed again or anything. More about that in his own character profile.

In the summer of 1996 when Voldemort's return was confirmed with the public declaration of war, Jacob planned moving to United States. He did not want to try and survive through another, possibly even worse war and risk losing more family members. Especially now that many hardships in his life had finally passed. But in the end he and Carrie decided to not panic right away, that it would be better for the children not to be torn away from familiar surroundings and old friends unless absolutely necessary. So only Carrie left the country some time before the fall of the Ministry, revealing her whereabouts only to Jacob and intending to return home after the war. She reckoned that in her muggle-born status she'd be the biggest security threat to her family if the Ministry should fall, and that if she lived abroad and Jacob alone had the custody of the children, maybe the Death Eaters wouldn't target them so much if at all. Jacob and his kids lived in London through the second wizarding war, occasionally in contact with Carrie via phone.

MISC

PATRONUS:

- a lion

SPECIAL TALENT:

- Trained in two Japanese martial arts, and is competent in them.

They interested him as a little boy even as it is, but an additional motive was knowing what he wanted to be when he'd grow up and knowing that in police academy the training for weaponless self-defence would be in the minimum. So, he has practised martial arts since he was 13-years old. But after his new family in the '80s he hasn't practised much on his free time, just enough to not lose the skills or grow too rusty.

~ Art / level of skill and knowledge:

* Judo / 3rd degree black belt.
* Danzan Ryu Ju Jitsu / 2nd degree black belt.
(That is, in both he has mastered and perfected the basic skills and knowledge. He has no intentions to go for the coloured belts or any further at all, these lower ranks being enough for his needs.)

WEALTH STATUS:

- Upper class.

The police pay in the 1970's was outrageously low, and thus even the 45% raise given to them in the turn of the decade did not make it very high. But Jacob and his family has always enjoyed financial stability and upper class standard of living, because of his inheritance from his parents and grandfather who held high paying jobs for most of their lives. Technically he and Carrie wouldn't have to work for many years but they want to, for several reasons.

For one they'd feel like bums if they only lived on money that was handed down to them by people who worked hard for it, they want to set a good example for their kids, and there is of course always the satisfaction of receiving a pay check for something you earned on your own, and finally the security of eventual pension. And for Jacob, police work indeed is also a calling.

POWERFUL IN MAGIC:

* Skilled in Legilimency, on the level that normally he can dig into a person's thoughts, feelings and memories and correctly interpret them. But he cannot manipulate them in any way, and he doesn't use this skill unless he feels it absolutely necessary as he considers it a serious violation of privacy. And, if practisable/safe, he asks permission first. He does not need a wand for this but must say the indication out loud. He does not use this skill in police work.

* Skilled in Occlumency, on the advanced level where he can just hide specific memories and emotions. Practiced this well because it is an extremely useful skill to master. Both this and Legilimency were initially taught to him by his ex-auror grandfather and he carried on the study with his best friend Daniel.

* Skilled in potion brewing, including the challenging types such as the Wolfsbane Potion. His mother was a professional potioner. He inherited this potential and interest in the matter.

* Skilled in Charms, particularly in defensive and protective types and DADA and non-verbal casting. His grandfather was an auror for numerous decades. So he has both genetic and unofficial education ground for this.