Jason LaHote/Tropes

BTropes pertaining to Jason.

A-G

Ascended Extra: Ironically, Jason is probably this trope personified. When Darkrai made him originally, he did it simply out of boredom, he was never made with Fairy Tail: Dawn in mind at first; the same applies to Wendy. Even Jason's début chapter where he rescued Wendy was just meant to be a one-shot until it was tied into Fairy Tail: Dawn as its first chapter.

Always Save The Girl: If Jason has any notable character trait besides valuing friendship and comraderie above all else, it would have to be this. And it always comes back to bite him, with Wendy being probably the only real exception. Most of Akatsuki's troubles can be traced back to Jason finding some girl on the side of the road, stopping to help, and it being a really bad idea in hindsight.

Animal Motifs: The Lion. Jason fits this well, proud, strong, and protective of his pack. It even works well in tandem with Crux's animal motif, the Dragon, not becxause of any real meaning, more due to Crux's status as Jason's Rival, and therefore, Jason has always been below him, trodding along the land, while Crux soars high.

• Jason's motif can also be considered the Snake, due to his association with Gehaburn, a creature based highly on the Yamato no Orochi in appearance, and it extends a bit to his personality as well, by the logic of the Chinese Zodiac. Snakes are said to dislike bring interrupted, being challenged by opposition, or even mislead. They are also very compassionate, and one of Jason's most redeeming traits is loyalty to family and comrades. It also contrasts, once again, with Tsuruko's motif, the Swan, which is yet another flying animal to contrast with Jason being that of a land creature.

Affection Nickname/In-series Nickname: Jason has two, actually (Master doesn't count as that's merely a title). Tsuruko calls him "Jason NoHoot" due to the fact that he rarely expresses in emotion, especially something resembling happiness. She fills the affectionate side as from Tsuruko, it's more than likely all in good fun. Giselle calls Jason "Orange Range", due to his hair colour and...she can't help but be a bitch?

Arch-Enemy: Knightwalker fits this to a T. While Faust was the man behind most of Jason's childhood misery, Knightwalker was the one who carried it out, starting with her capturing of Solele and general interfering with Jason's actions. She was also the enemy he encountered most during his flashback arc, and it pretty much became apparent that Jason;s dislike of Knightwalker was a mutual feeling; she despises him as well. In fact, the final battle in Jason's flashback arc is the final battle between Jason and Knightwalker; the former seeing the latter as the last remaining symbol of what he's trying to destroy, the latter seeing the former as simply a nuisance and enemy she must erase.

• Crux himself plays up this role, but to a lesser degree than Knightwalker, due to lacking what appears to be the personal factor. While Crus has definitely appeared as an obstacle to Jason; trying to take Vivian, battling him constantly and even delivering Jason's first real defeat of the series, Crux is arguably more The Rival to Jason than anything else.

Badass: Takes out Rune Knights with ease.

• Badass Normal: Most of Jason's physical abilities are more of a result of training than magic. He is also this on a meta-level, being Ahatake's only main charcter who wasn't born with supernatural abilities and yet manages to be more badass than most of them. Where Jason really shows off his status as a Badass Normal, however, is when he was a boy of just 14, living in Edolas, with absolutely no magical abilities of his own, he managed to fight Erza Knightwalker to what appeared to be a draw. Granted, she was younger than her later appearances in canon and also lacked full control over her signature abilities, but it's still remarkable.
• Badass Abnormal: Since he's from Edolas, he would normally possess no internal magic...but due to the lacrima implanted in him, he has magic...and powerful ones, too.
• Badass Boast: Some good ones.

'"Our name is not simply for show. We will be the dawn of a new world."

• Badass and Child Duo: The Badass to Wendy's Child. Post-timeskip, he becomes the Badass to Scylla and Hikari's Child, though neither are really Child and all three are also Badass.
• Brought Down to Badass: Yes, really. Before the series, Jason lost half of his magical power, and is still recovering it- despite this, he's still incredibly powerful. Heaven help us all when he recovers it all.

Balanced Harem: While they may not be balanced in terms of story focus, as far as Jason's affections go, no haremette is technically favoured over the others — not even Wendy, Iris, and Vivian, the original three, can be considered above the rest. Now if only their focus in the story went by the same principle.

Berserk Button: Shown multiple times; Jason's Berserk Button is mistreating anyone, particularly comrades, like garbage. Dosaman and Ito learned this the hard way; mistreat someone particularly bad, either through violence or some other means, and Jason will not hesitate to kill you.

BFS: Gehaburn.

Bi the Way: Confirmed by Word of God, Jason is indeed bisexual; and it doesn't simply apply to traps. The only reason this never comes up in story is due to a lack of any situations that would make it a necessary mention. In short: No one ever asks.

Big Brother Instinct/Papa Wolf: Harm Wendy? Get the hell out of there.

• Beyond The Impossible: Wendy being in danger somehow allows Jason to do this, like he gets magic adrenaline or something, going as far as to tell the laws of physics to fuck off to keep her safe. This is always coupled with
• Unstoppable Rage: Once again, if you harm even a cell on Wendy's body, Jason will enter this mode, break the laws of the universe, and utterly destroy you. He showed a similar protective streak to Iris, and the results for the opposing side were far from pretty. This applies on a lesser scale to Vivian, the other guildmate Jason is the most attached to.

Catch And Return: Jason does this to the killer in The Rebel Sleuths, with thrown knives no less. What's even more amazing is that they're exploding knives.

The Comically Serious / Deadpan Snarker: Jason fits this to a neat T.

Crazy Awesome: Anything Jason does while trying to defend Wendy usually lapses into this. Defying physics, running through boulders, catch exploding knives and throwing them back.

Declaration of Protection/Always Save The Girl: Jason's outright made an entire power based on this mentality.

Daddy Had A Good Reason For Abandoning You: In the Bad Future, Hephaestus (a.k.a Jason) is implied to have been a very absent father; it's unknown how well he really knew his own children, given that he was working to fight against Gehaburn in the bad future he caused. He at least tried to become a better great-great-great-great grandfather.

Defeat Means Friendship: In his small speech at Gaikou's funeral, Jason says that he believes enemies can eventually become loyal allies, showing he is a believer of this trope. Tsuruko is still the top example of this though.

Defrosting Ice King: A very quick example. Cold, callous, and quick to kill in the first few stories, Jason thaws out easily. While still stoic and frosty, he's nowhere near the block of ice he used to be at the beginning of the story.

• Character Development: The more people join the Harem and expose Jason to friendship and love, the quicker he thaws. Later, in Part II, seven years away from society seemed to have mellowed Jason considerably, he is no longer as cold and cruel as he used to be, and is more like an average person. However, his former personality can return, especially in the midst of battle.
  • Part II is where this trope really does come into play, Even though Jason has mellowed out in the timeskip, he's still cold, he's still quiet, and he still has many flaws that keep him from being decent as a character. How do the writer's deal with this? Confront Jason with misery, both in the past, and in the present, and literally present him with his flaws to face head on. 

Determinator: Jason seems to have this as a secondary trait, and it overlaps with his "Beyond The Impossible" above. His sheer determination allows him to do stuff he really shouldn't be able to do, even minor things such as keeping up with people who have magic-enhanced speed. 

Disappeared Dad: According to a flashback in Part II, Jason's father either died or was killed. And at an age where Jason was young enough that he still didn't exactly know what death was.

• It's revealed Jason's father is Delst LaHote, otherwise known as the Haven Mage. The man fought E, was killed, and sent back in time and transported to Edolas by the Source of Magic. A very roundabout disappearing act.
• It is hinted Jason may have become this in the Bad Future most of the story is indirectly leading to and trying to prevent. At any rate, he certainly becomes a case of Disappeared Grandfather.

Expy: Jason was, by Word of God, confirmed to be based to a small extent on Sesshōmaru, at least in his relationship with Wendy, which mirrors Sesshōmaru's relationship with Rin, albeit more open. However, since Characterization Marches On, this Expy status is downplayed significantly.

Darkrai has also called Jason "Male Erza", and this is accurate to some extent. He is a obscenely powerful mage who uses Sword Magic and various forms of enhancements as his sole method of doing battle. He's even undefeated. However, unlike Erza, he's starting to get a taste of what it's like to lose.

Fan Dumb: People complain about Jason's power...they forget, he's a goddamn Guild Master, at least as powerful as Makarov.

• And then later, it's revealed that, when he first came to Earth Land, for quite awhile, Mr. E of all people taught him to use magic. It's a bit ridiculous to expect Jason to be wielding basic magic by that point.

Field of Blades: It's called "Hundred One-Sword Style" for a reason.

• Simultaneous Blade Spam: Jason can do this with his Hundred One-Sword Style moves. Not only can he trap his opponent by pinning them down with some of his many swords but he can make each sword strike multiple times by making them vibrate.

Gratuitous Latin: His spells are named in Latin.

H-P

Harem Seeker: Though Jason is an example closer to Shidō Itsuka from Date-A-Live, not so much that Jason doesn't want his harem (he enjoys them, not that he'd outright admit it), but he doesn't actively seek them out, either the girl becomes attached to him or she doesn't. The only reason he even has a harem is because Iris suggested the idea early on.

Heroic Self-Deprecation: Never shown in series, this is actually a meta-example by Darkrai himself. Due to Jason's rather poor reception (especially compared to Tsuruko or Iris, in fact, Darkrai is more than likely the only person who actually likes Jason), he's resolved to see Jason as less of a character and more of a "force-of-nature". His power always seems to be Jason's defining trait; even when he was first introduced, he seemed to get more done through power than talk, outright destroying a Magic Council outpost with just sheer power. And after looking over Jason's past, and his interactions with E, Darkrai came to the realization that Jason isn't a person; he's just a tool. His conception was devised by E to serve a certain purpose, and he'd been groomed from the age of 14 by the man himself, taught all of his necessary skills and whatnot for the goal of overthrowing the Magic Council. He wasn't created to live his own life, Jason was created as something to be used and then disposed of.

Hidden Depths: Well, he can use Mask of Truth...

I Am Not Left-Handed: Jason is made of this. Justified Trope, since Jason is a protagonist who was introduced strong. Every new ability he shows off when he needs to he already had in reserve, and merely saved it for the right moment. The only time this trope came into effect and failed to save anyone's asses was in the first against Crux Kouga (and the final battle of Part I of Fairy Tail: Dawn), where even his full power wasn't enough to defeat the leader of the Dark Guild.

In Love With Your Carnage: Platonic version, when Jason realizes the blood offering on the barrier to Nethran Forest is meant to have the would-be-guest/intruder physically weaker before they arrive, he notes he has a feeling he is going to like his grandmother, who designed the barrier in the first place.

Irony / Not So Different: Despite Darkirai openly states that he despises Natsu's fanatic care for his nakama, Jason also cares deeply for comrades. He just doesn't go spouting lectures about it.

Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Played with. Jason is usually a loner, but he definitely looks out for those he cares about. This was shown in his Pet The Dog moment to Auffle, offering the man a place in Akatsuki. Please note this was before Jason actually began to thaw.

Limit Break: ...Limit Break, duh.

• Super Mode

Likes Older Women: Barring Scylla, who is impossibly older than Jason, Clone!Tsuruko is about...31 years old, chronologically. Jason is 25.

Mask Power: Mask of Truth.

My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Jason can sense Lacrima, due to the Lacrima inside him that resonates with others. This comes in handy when he found Wendy, and he could tell that the train Driver had a Communications Lacrima. It's also helpful for detecting oncoming clones of God Slayers.

Meaningful Name: The name 'Jason' is of Greek origin, stemming from the word Iason, meaning 'healer'. Jason is working to heal the pain of his guildmates as well as heal the world from it's corruption. And never does this name become more meaningful than his last encounter with 'Crux'. Additionally, Gideon is a hero in the Old Testament, who led the Israelites against the Midianites; this fits well with Jason's desire to change the world by leading Akatsuki against the Council, despite considering not himself a hero in any sense of the word.

Murder Is The Best Solution: While he isn't exactly like "let's negotiate with our enemy" even now, as a child, Jason was even more kill-happy. In fact, one of the first things Solele took notice of was that Jason always struck to kill, and when Solele was kidnapped, he didn't waste any time in trying to decapitate Knightwalker with garrote wire.

Odd Couple: Bonus points for being one of the few main females on the good side Jason isn't shagging, Jason and Giselle qualify as this. While it's not usually her thing, she willingly takes him to Edolas so he can drop in on his mother, and during their time as a travelling duo, neither really seems to hate the other, they just...exist. It's a weird kind of relationship, Giselle, while still rude, doesn't seem to outright hate him, tolerating him at least, and Jason is polite enough and actually spills his backstory to her.

Older Than They Look: Post-timeskip, Jason is 25 years old, but he looks 19. Really, aside from a bit of increase in height and hair length. He may as well be Will Smith's white cousin.

Out Of Focus: Subverted. It seems that Jason actually doesn't appear that often in the Uprising of Hell Arc....but Hephaestus is there throughout nearly the entire arc, and he is Jason. Thus, Jason is present just as often as ever.

Personality Powers: Both subverted and played straight. The Mask of Truth would be a subversion; a mask that brings out repressed emotions, used by a man who makes a career out of hiding out he feels? Not exactly the most fitting power.

Jason's barrier ability, however, is where this is played deliciously straight. Jason's defining characteristic, shown from day one through Wendy, and then eventually through Iris and the rest of his ever-increasing harem, is the zealous desire to protect people close to them. Having grown up without any friends, with the exception of a giant beast of burden, Jason is desperate to keep the bonds he's formed with people safe, in addition to the people themselves. The Edolas Royal Family found this out the hard way. Jason's barriers manifest this feeling quite literally, giving him a powerful defensive ability to keep his comrades safe. It's worth nothing this is also his only ability that was originally defensive and not meant to be used in any offensive manner — not that it stopped Jason from tweaking it.

The Power of Hate: Jason's mask is this personified, and the more he gives into his hatred, the stronger he becomes. Naturally this isn't a very healthy way to power up.

The Scrappy: Jason, to a large percentage of the readers. It's not that his personality is bad..it's just that he's a Boring Invincible Hero. The author doesn't care.

Power Limiter / Willfully Weak: The red bands on his outfit effectively serve as such.

Purposefully Overpowered: He's a Guild Master. See Fan Dumb above.

Q-V

Rescue Romance: Jason's haremettes seem to come from these, actually. Wendy, Vivian, Mary, Ichigo and Ringo, Momoko, Hikari, Solele, and the list probably goes on.

Scars Are Forever: Seven years after his rematch with Crux, Jason has multiple scars on his arms, shoulders, legs, and torso; the places Crux pierces his body with his sword.

Shout-Out / In-Joke: Jason told the train driver to just "call him Alice". While it seems confusing to the reader, it's a Shout-Out to Twilight, specifically Alice Cullen, the author's favorite character who could see the future.

Showy Invincible Hero: Jason is this trope a T. He's invincible so far, never having lost a battle, but unlike Natsu he does it right, already having immense power from the start, and he still manages to make the fights interesting to the reader by holding back until just the right time to unleash his power. While the reader knows Jason most likely won't lose, they never know what he'll bring out to prevent it.

• This is finally broken when Crux comes into the story and utterly demolishes Jason. In fact, that moment can't even be considered a fight, Jason was beaten so thouroughly the first time he was left in a coma. And, unlike many heroes, in his rematch with Crux, Jason, despite utilising his full power at the time, was still defeated. In fact, Jason has actually never formally defeated Crux.

The Scrappy: Jason, despite being the main character of Dawn, is probably one of the most disliked characters in the series, and for various reasons. Some find him boring, some find him too powerful, some hate the harem aspect, and for others, it's a combination of all three. If Darkrai had to guess, people like some of the villains better than they like Jason. The fact that he looks like Ichigo probably isn't helping.

• Rescued From The Scrappy Heap: Not entirely, but some people  do seem to like the dynamic Jason and Wendy have, and while it's not his saving grace, it's at least the one thing some people can say they don't hate about him.

The Stoic: Well...he doesn't talk much.

• Not So Stoic: As Laurent can attest. Not that it compares to when the Fountain of Truth begins to mentally torment Iris in a manner similar to rape. Jason completely loses his shit and attacks the fountain in a rage.

Status Quo is God: Just as it is certain Ash will always lose the Pokemon League, every encounter Jason and Crux have in battle will almost certainly end with Jason's face in the pavement.

Storm of Blades: Pluvia Laminis and Tactus Pluvia.

Talking to the Dead: During his eulogy at Gaikou's funeral, at one point, he addressed her directly, despite the fact that, in the state her soul is in, she cannot directly respond to him. Of course, he knew this, and simply wanted his thoughts to get to her.

Trademark Favorite Food: Post-timeskip, Jason is frequently seen drinking Earl Grey Tea. ....This explains alot of things.

W-Z

Warrior Prince: In a manner of speaking; Jason's grandmother, Miu Gatack, leads the Espers, and is more or less their Chief or Shaman. As such, Jason is about as close as you can come to being this without being actual royalty.

Wave Motion Gun: And the technique isn't even named, it's just pure, unrestrained magical force.

Weapon of Mass Destruction: If one follows the belief that Jason is only a tool and not his own person, then he staunchly qualifies, as he is one of the strongest characters in the series, and what's remarkable is he does everything without either a Soul Armor or some form of artificial creation; Jason is literally one of the only few characters in Dawn or Daybreak that can compete without either a Soul Armor or being something constructed by someone else. Perhaps the only other person with this claim to fame is Delst, Jason's father. If one doesn't follow the belief that Jason is a tool...well, his swords certainly count.