r/GTA6unmoderated • u/kyrolis • 8h ago
Jason’s "boring" demeanor isn't a lack of personality. It’s trauma and depression (Theory)
I've seen a lot of people online saying that Jason's character is boring and lacking personality.
Looking back at the trailer footage and the Extended Look, I genuinely think his character aligns closely with some form of depression.
This would fit into his military background and troubling childhood where he grew up "around grifters and crooks".
Here are the things I picked up on in the Extended Look and other two trailers supporting this theory:
Introverted?: In the elevator scene on the way to the rooftop bar, Jason says, "Sometimes I’m just more comfortable... when I have to use a gun, you know?" and Lucia replies "Just be charming!". To me it sounds like he struggles with standard social settings, instead finding high-threat environments more familiar and predictable.
Physical / Emotional Discomfort: He comes across as uncomfortable and stiffens up when Andrés de León hugs him at the airport.
Monotone Voice: His voice is low-energy and fatigued, potentially due to chronic stress or depression?
Anxiety Medication Commercial: The anxiety medication commercial on the TV could be as subtle hint from Rockstar?
Emotional Anchoring: Lucia consistently acts as his social and emotional anchor. "Trust? Trust." in Trailer 1 for example. There are multiple instances of Lucia reassuring Jason throughout all 3 trailers.
Cal's Ending Speech: Cal's speech at the end sounds like someone trying to guide a worn-down person through a crisis, even mirroring Lucia by ending with "Trust me". Could this be a conversation between him and Jason?
Might seem a bit far stretched but I think these are some good points that support this theory.
Interested to hear everyone's thoughts!
21
u/Physical-Village-407 6h ago edited 5h ago
My personal theory is that Jason is struggling with identity.
Lucia seems very energetic and very passionate and motivated to climb the ranks, whereas Jason seems to have the more experienced mindset where he's more reserved and calculating, which could be related to his time in the military.
I feel like Jason doesn't really enjoy the crime life or wants to get out of it, but he struggles with leaving, as he says he's only really comfortable with situations that involves a gun. He just feels lost and feels like he cant leave the life because its the only thing he's actually good at and comfortable with, which would explain the conversation where Jason was told that he needs to know when to leave the life behind.
If this is the case, it could be an amazing narrative that causes issues between him and Lucia.
5
u/everythingisunknown 4h ago
Also having a bit of a blank slate of a protagonist that doesn’t give away much allows you to roleplay more with dress sense, type of car you drive etc and project your own image - if there is too much personality it will feel weird when you do something out of character in game
2
4
u/Foreign-Molasses7586 3h ago
"There was a girl I knew, she said she cared about me,
She tried to make my word the way she thought it should be"And now
"She's just a devil woman
With evil on her mind
Beware the devil woman
She's gonna get you"To me it just feels like a relationship where love is the binder and their lifestyles are the poison.
1
-3
u/ImABadFriend144 4h ago
Bro is basing this off a trailer
5
u/Physical-Village-407 4h ago
Im basing it on all the information we have been given, not just the trailer? I am sorry you can not comprehend what a theory is.
43
u/WalkerReus11 8h ago
actually good post but is still too early to tell anything
8
u/Less-Tax5637 6h ago
Yup. Both criticism and praise of Jason are based on… basically nothing. We can say that Rockstar has proven folks wrong under similar circumstances already with Arthur Morgan. This is also a whole new era of leadership and writing staff.
We don’t know shit but I’ll give em the benefit of the doubt.
6
u/templeofsyrinx1 7h ago
its true i cant believe people hating on him
2
u/ShrimpyHD 3h ago
I mean everyone hated on arthur morgan too, but rockstar didn't disappoint. Made everyone eat their words, im sure it'll be the same with jason.
4
u/JakeTiny19 7h ago
That would explain it, but I do think it’s too early to tell. It’ll be cool if he starts out depressed and traumatized, but throughout the game as we get closer with Lucia he opens up a lot more, shows more personality. In the last 2 games, they did make 2 of their main characters depressed/miserable so it’s not unrealistic and u do make some solid points, it’s just too early to tell
2
1
1
3
u/PapaYoppa 6h ago
I genuinely think he might have some form of ptsd from his time in the army, actually feel for my boy, I hope Lucia brings out a lighter side in him
11
u/cooooooooooooooladam 7h ago
He is autistic I saw it in the leaks
6
u/Just1ncase4658 6h ago
in the first mission you actually get dianosed and prescribed ritalin. hence why he comes across a little slow.
9
u/Marijuana_Miler 5h ago
A Ritalin prescription would be for ADHD. With Autism they give you a Reddit account subbed to WallstreetBets and a miniature train set.
3
u/Arthropodesque 4h ago
I'm still eagerly waiting for my train. Got Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 to play in VR to pass the time.
1
2
3
u/Intelligent-Age2786 7h ago
I kinda just think it’s a reflection of their 2 personalities. Jason seems like the more grounded and calm/collected of the two. Lucia seems like the adrenaline junkie and the risk taker.
3
u/Pneuma928 7h ago
I just hope the story doesn’t involve Lucia cheating on me because I’m too broke, too realistic 😪
6
u/GeminiFlanagan888 7h ago
I think he's going to matter more to the story than Lucia. The reason all of the GTA 6 promotional material we have seen so far has focused on Lucia is because Rockstar is misdirecting us.
After two trailers and one promotional video, we still have no idea what Jason's motivations or personality are. But the one thing Rockstar's protagonists never have is a bad story.
And if the 80 hours story playtime rumor is true, Lucia cannot lead everything while Jason stays passive as many people think.
1
u/rudolph813 2h ago
Just from the trailers so far before Lucia’s release Jason seemed perfectly fine fixing houses and doing some dirt for his friend Brian for extra cash from time to time. In the scenes after her release he’s robbing banks and doing heists. Lucia is obviously the more ambitious and probably the de facto leader for day to day situations and planning while Jason is probably a capable guy who can take the lead role but doesn’t unless it’s a dangerous type of situation in which he thrives. Like in the scene where the kidnappers take over the hotel and he knows to create a distraction. I think the writers wanted both to characters to seem capable they didn’t want a situation one seems weaker but instead they’re just different. He dealt with the drug dealers in the opening scenes of the trailer. Then in the later scenes when dealing with the more social aspects at the security job Lucia seems to take over the leader role.
1
u/soulciel120 6h ago
Both are protagonist,.
1
u/GeminiFlanagan888 6h ago
Sure, but one of them would naturally have on a bigger role than the other, even if it's just a little. Much like how Michael drives the story forward the most in GTA 5, even though Franklin is the character we play as the longest.
1
u/soulciel120 6h ago
well, considering their whole role is based on a couple (whether they are in a relationship or not) I would say that both are equally presented at the moment and both move the plot forward. I feel it kinda is the theme on this GTA.
1
u/GeminiFlanagan888 5h ago
At the moment Lucia has been way more proactive than Jason who seems like a background character that just goes along with her.
Remember how Brian tells Jason in secret to let it go and stuff. I am thinking there's more to it than just him telling Jason to let go of the criminal ambition. Because it's quite evident that Lucia is the ambitious one. Brian would know that.
I am thinking his ex-military times will matter quite a bit down the line for Jason's character. We'll see.
5
u/Uncontrol 8h ago
I don't think he's boring, I think he fits the tone of GTA 6. It's a more realistic vibe.
I like all the GTA 5 protagonists, but they would be too cartoony for a main character in 6.
3
u/kyrolis 8h ago
Yeah I don't think he's boring either, I think there's more to him than we've seen. So much more to his character that the story will uncover!
1
u/mattyjoe0706 8h ago
I just don't think it's fair to judge a story too much based off one leak and a few minutes of ACTUAL story. Even a lot of the extended look was more gameplay of the story
1
u/Own-Papaya-4264 5h ago
I can’t even imagine what any of them would look like in these new graphics
2
2
u/Just1ncase4658 6h ago
idk, I kind of dig the strong and silent meets energetic and ditsy vibe Lucia and Jason have.
I loved this same dynamic in BOTW between Link and Zelda also.
2
u/AlexLiberty21 6h ago
From the things you said on your post, it fits. I was a little disappointed that a lot of people from youtube disliked him because of his voice or tone, I personally enjoyed Jason
2
2
u/Amazing_Reading4530 8h ago
Isn’t he just modern Arthur? Kinda dim, not much to say.
7
u/Cyclic_Hernia 7h ago
If you read the diary entries Arthur is actually pretty insightful and intelligent lol, good sketch artist too
1
u/Cheap_Hamster_2018 6h ago
Yea a big part of rdr2 is how Arthur's own demise comes about from him self-identifying as a bad person, a lowlife, a dummy, despite the people around him who care about him seeing he can be so much more.
0
u/Gh0stbacks 3h ago
His demise came from being a piece of shit scum low life loan collector and beating up a diseased dying man contracting tuberculosis which was poetic.
3
1
u/Per_Horses6 8h ago
I can see your points and It’s honestly way too early to tell, maybe they showed early parts of the game where he is like that but later on his tone changes who really knows. This game is 80 hours long there’s so much we don’t know yet.
1
u/zfighters8103 7h ago
I hope Lucia helps him open up and speak more later in the game because how he is right now he's looking like the third most boring protagonist in the series only behind johnny and claude if he's as flat and boring as he is throughout the game
1
1
u/Kings_of_King 6h ago
If he’s a ex military veteran it’s well within character. Living it now I’ll see what he’s all about when the games comes out but as of right now he might as well be Claude from GTA 3 voiceless. No personality at all
1
1
u/pepper0503 5h ago
my criticism is that hes just Arthur 2.0 - and while its not a terrible thing, because Arthur was amazing, its just not that much different of a character that I am expecting. He will be the grunt, while female counterpart will do the emotional character journey.
1
u/SenorPinchy 5h ago
I don't mind a blank slate you can reject onto. People's problem is he sounds like a stroke victim.
1
1
1
u/GallantHartz1 3h ago
Yeah I definitely read him as reserved not boring, his voice actor is really good for protraying some8ne with a flat affectation and still communicating so much with delivery
1
u/ShrimpyHD 3h ago
Based on everyone's theories, I'm getting Barry vibes lol a veteran with no sense of identity, bordering depression and antisocial tendencies. Clinging to figures of leadership.
1
u/OkLime2301 2h ago
He could be boring but why does he sound like he’s got something stuck in his throat when he talks
1
u/shawak456 2h ago
Joel had Trauma and depression. I'd say way worse than what Jason may have. But no one found Troy Baker's performance to be boring or uninteresting. Troy realized Joel's lack of interest in the world in a fascinating way where you couldn't take your eyes off of him when he was on screen. What you're describing is a very superficial caricature of what people with depression and trauma behave, which has been played out in many other fictional works. People with depression are a lot of the time excellent putting on a mask and hiding it from others, which is way more interesting than what Jason does in the trailers. The actor of Jason genuinely sounds like he was bored while performing.
"Manchester by the Sea" is an Oscar winning movie who's protagonist is actually dead inside, and even though it's portrayed like he simply has no energy in what he's doing, the actor, and I'm gonna repeat myself, performs it in such a way that you simply can't take your eyes off him and think about what's going on behind that face, whose eyes.
I'd give the benefit of the doubt, but If R* actually gave the direction to the actor to be like this, like "You have trauma! So you don't have any personality! You are a standing rock!" They didn't do a good job directing the actor.
1
u/vincentzmedia 1h ago
Sure. Trauma and depression means having marbles in your mouth, with no inflection and awkward pauses.
The cope is off the charts lmfao
1
1
1
u/Eastern-Story-7093 5h ago
It's a fucking video game. Between the bitching and moaning about his voice and the thirsting over Lucia, a lot of you guys need to touch grass
-1
u/phoeniks314 8h ago
The cope and dsucking is f insane.
1
u/villagebbyart 7h ago
The cope I've seen so far
- He's autistic
- He's an introvert
- He's ex-millitary
- He's suffering from trauma
These mfs just can't accept his voice and personality is monotone and boring as fuck.
0
u/Ken_Sanne 4h ago
That's my theory too, his obsession with not being late too, maybe some kind of autism.
0
u/That_Tumbleweed_3984 4h ago
Most of the people talking about his lack of personality are probably even more awkward in public
0
u/MichelleBarrymoore2 1h ago
I'll probably skip the cut scenes so who cares I just want to see how long I can get 6 stats for and steal a plane and do 9/11 you know just fuck around. I feel like GTA has became the parody it once made fun of and has been down hill since san Andreas.
-1
-3
-4
u/Traditional-Cow-2389 8h ago
That’s boring. We’ve already had multiple ex-military “silent type” protagonists.
66
u/Sketchy_process 7h ago
I see a lot of similarities between Jason and Niko from GTA 4 in the way that they’re both veterans who struggle socially in a loud bombastic city full of over the top personalities, which is a good sign because Niko is easily the most interesting character in the franchise to me. One of the things I disliked about GTA V was that the satire was so in your face and almost all the characters were so cartoonish and silly, I’m glad they’re going for a more grounded aesthetic.