Editing Jack Skellington

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{{about|the Pumpkin King||Jack (disambiguation)}}

|game2=Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories

|journalKH2='''First Entry'''<br>The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)<br><br>The Pumpkin King<ref>Incorrectly called the "Skeleton King" in the original version of ''Kingdom Hearts II''</ref>. He loves scaring folks more than just about anything. When Sora and his friends first met Jack, he wanted to use the Heartless to spice up his frightening Halloween celebration. But things didn't work out quite like Jack planned.<br><br>Now Jack's enchanted by Christmas. He's determined to give Santa a rest and show he can do a top-notch job running the big day.<br><br>'''Second Entry'''<br>The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)<br><br>He loves to scare people silly — but when Jack discovered Christmas, he was captivated. He even thought he could improve it by adding his own special brand of fright.<br><br>Jack wanted to deliver presents to the children of the world for Santa. Santa helped him realize that his talents were really meant for Halloween. But Jack still has the Santa suit Sally made for him!

'''Jack Skellington''' is the "Pumpkin King" introduced in ''{{c|Kingdom Hearts|game}}'', and originally taken from the Touchstone/Disney film ''{{w|The Nightmare Before Christmas}}''. He leads [[Halloween Town]]'s yearly festivities, and is constantly searching for new ideas to make the holiday exciting. Unfortunately, his eagerness sometimes results in fiasco.

When [[Sora]], [[Donald Duck|Donald]], and [[Goofy]] arrive in Halloween Town, they discover that Jack has decided to use the town's newest arrivals, the [[Heartless]], to take terror to a new level for the year's festival. In an attempt to make the Heartless dance with him, Jack enlists the services of [[Dr. Finkelstein]] to create a guidance system to coordinate their movements. Unsatisfied with the results, Jack decides they need a "[[heart]]".

Sora, Jack, and the others obtain the remaining ingredients for the heart, including "memory" from [[Sally]], who asks Jack in vain to reconsider using the Heartless. They return to the doctor's lab with the ingredients, but the finished heart is stolen by [[Lock, Shock, and Barrel]], and Sora, Jack, and company give chase. They follow them to [[Oogie's Manor]], and although they fail to recover the heart before the pranksters send it to [[Oogie Boogie]], they give the three of them a sound beating.

Upon confronting Oogie in his torture chamber, Jack demands the heart back, but Oogie swallows it and attempts to use its power to control the Heartless. The group defeat Oogie, but as they are heading back to town, Oogie fuses together with his manor, forcing them into battle again. After Oogie is defeated once more, Jack watches Sora lock the [[Keyhole]] of Halloween Town.

Back in town, Jack laments not listening to Sally, who tells him that they'll come up with a new plan for Halloween together. Jack gives Sora the [[Pumpkinhead]] [[keychain]] and invites him to visit anytime.

===''Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories''===

When they find Sally, she expresses concern of what would happen if someone drank the potion, while Jack is excited. When Oogie Boogie steals the potion and takes off, the group goes after him. They catch up, but Oogie drinks the potion, and they fight and defeat him. Back at the lab, after Sora turns down the chance to drink the leftover drops of potion, Jack tells him that fear and doubt are the signs of a strong heart, and he sends them on their way.

While [[Roxas]] is engaged in a [[Mission 42: Collect hearts|mission]] in Halloween Town on Day 149, Jack is planning the next Halloween festivities. He is at a loss for new ideas, but he gets some inspiration when he catches a glimpse of Roxas leaving the world through a [[Corridor of Darkness]].

Jack witnesses from a distance the battle between Roxas and the [[Leechgrave]] during [[Mission 66: Restore the town's Heartless|Mission 66]], and seeing Roxas's [[black coat]] and the [[Tentaclaw]]s give him an idea. By the time Roxas returns to the town square, Jack has erected a [[scarecrow]] combining the two images, with plans to make more. Although Dr. Finkelstein is impressed, Roxas is less so.

When Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive in the Town Square, which is decorated with Christmas lights, Jack arrives in a makeshift sleigh pulled by skeletal [[reindeer]]. He wishes them a Merry Christmas and tells them that he is running Christmas "again". They visit Sally in Dr. Finkelstein's lab before Jack heads off to bring [[Santa Claus]], but he comes back to tell Sora that Heartless have appeared in town. Jack helps the group defeat the Heartless and asks them to be Santa's bodyguards. They all travel to Santa's House in Christmas Town, but Santa is less than pleased to see Jack after the last time he tried to run Christmas.

==Design==

Jack is an extremely thin and equally tall being, his legs being over twice as long as his torso. He is a skeleton, and so his head lacks hair and sports empty eye sockets and nostrils. Strangely, his neck is solid, not showing vertebrae segmentation. His skull is similar, showing no distinction between his upper and lower jaws. His mouth is thin and wide, marked by a number of small "seams", similar to a Glasgow smile. Jack is missing several teeth in a number of different places. Unlike his head and neck, Jack's hands do show joints.

When masquerading as Santa Claus, Jack dons an obviously fake white beard (the part of the beard that should attach to his chin dangles a few inches from it) that reaches to the top of his thighs. His faded red pants have a vertical seam on the front, and his black, knee-high boots have fur lining at the top. Jack's tails in this outfit are about the same length as his normal ones, and he wears a maroon belt around his waist. His long sleeves are also fur lined at the cuffs. Finally, his faded red Santa hat also has white fur lining around the rim and a white fur ball at the tip.

Jack [[No Weapon|does not equip a weapon]], but his attack power and [[MP]] are still relatively high. Jack has two equipment slots and three [[item]] slots. He specializes in casting [[magic]] similar to Sora and Donald's, but with a Halloween theme.

Jack's combat [[abilities]] consist entirely of offensive special attacks. Most of his abilities are Halloween-themed magic: [[Blazing Fury]] launches a fireball, [[Icy Terror]] fires ice crystals, [[Bolts of Sorrow]] summons thunderbolts, and [[Ghostly Scream]] conjures dark energy. His only physical attack, [[Applause!]], has him dramatically slide into enemies. Jack's Support abilities include [[Treasure Magnet]], [[Jackpot]], [[Cheer]], and [[MP Rage]].

===''Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories''===

[[File:Jack (card).png|right]]

Jack appears as a [[friend card]] in Halloween Town.

When a Jack card is used, Jack appears on the field and casts magic spells, which can be either [[Fire]], [[Blizzard]], [[Thunder]], or [[Gravity]]. Stocking two or three Jack cards creates [[Surprise! Lv2]] or [[Surprise! Lv3]] respectively, increasing the amount of spells Jack casts and the tier of magic he uses.

 

Aside from his friend sleights, the Jack card can also be used in two magic sleights. Firstly, combining a Jack card with summon cards creates [[Terror]], a sleight that scares away enemies. Secondly, stocking Jack with magic and summon cards creates the [[Gifted Miracle]] sleight, which reloads cards and restores HP to both Sora and his enemies.

Jack is a magic character with spells similar to Donald and Sora's, but with a decisively Halloween theme. As such, his ability list is very similar to Donald's and he tends to burn through his MP quickly. His "weapons" are his own [[Bone Fist|fists]].

Jack's action abilities are [[Blazing Fury]], [[Icy Terror]], and [[Bolts of Sorrow]], which correspond to the elemental magic spells, [[Fire]], [[Blizzard]], and [[Thunder]] respectively. His limit, [[Applause, Applause]], involves Jack and Sora dancing as impulses of spooky magic are released.

He has a number of support abilities, including [[Lucky Lucky]], [[Fire Boost]], [[Blizzard Boost]], [[Thunder Boost]], [[MP Hastera]], {{c|Auto Limit|support ability}} and [[Auto Healing]].

{{frm-atk-o|o=*|kh2=*|aa=*}}

{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''Two-Handed Punch'''|両手パンチ|<br>Ryōte Panchi}}|att|Physical|x0.65|—|O|X|11=Takes a small step forward and swings both hands downward.}}

{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''Side-Kick'''|横回転攻撃|<br>Yoko Kaiten Kōgeki|lit. "Horizontal Spin Attack"}}|att|Physical|x0.65|—|O|X|11=Strikes with right hand while stooping low, then spins sideways and kicks with left and right feet.}}

{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''Air Revolving Kick'''|空中回転キック|<br>Kūchū Kaiten Kikku}}|att|Physical|x0.65|—|O|X|11=Jumps and repeatedly rotates sideways while kicking with the legs.}}

{{frm-atk|{{nihongo|'''Drop-Strike'''|空中カカト落とし|<br>Kūchū Kakato Otoshi|lit. "Aerial Heel Drop"}}|att|Physical|x0.65|—|O|X|11=Jumps, then somersaults forward and attacks with heel.}}

{{frm-atk|'''[[Blazing Fury]]'''|mag|Fire|x0.75|—|X|X|11=Becomes engulfed in flames and chases the enemy. MP Cost: 10}}

{{frm-atk|'''[[Icy Terror]]'''|mag|Blizzard|x0.5|—|X|X|11=Ice crystals form around and attack the target. MP Cost: 10 }}

{{frm-atk|'''[[Bolts of Sorrow]]'''|mag|Thunder|x0.5|—|X|X|11=Lightning bolts rain down upon the target. MP Cost: 10}}

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|Will bring luck by increasing the drop rate of items. Equip the whole Party to further increase the drop rate.

|'''[[Fire Boost]]'''

|Increases damage done with fire-based attacks by 20%. Equip more to increase the effect.

|'''[[Blizzard Boost]]'''

|'''[[Thunder Boost]]'''

|Increases damage done with thunder-based attacks by 20%. Equip more to increase the effect.

|'''[[MP Hastera]]'''

|Increases MP restoration speed by 50% after MP is fully consumed. Equip more to increase the effect.

|'''{{c|Auto Limit|support ability}}'''

|Automatically sets the Reaction Command to Limit, if Limit is usable.

|'''[[Auto Healing]]'''

|Restores HP while replaced by another Party Member with Change.

==Origin==

Jack originates from Tim Burton's 1993 stop-motion Disney film, ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'', voiced by Chris Sarandon with composer {{w|Danny Elfman}} as his singing voice. Wanting something new to keep Halloween from being so tiring year after year, Jack goes for a walk in the woods and uncovers Christmas Town. Amazed by its magic, he decides to take over Christmas with disastrous results, but he eventually saves the day.

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