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| “ |
Hmmm, no way, buddy! Questioning the company? You just finally gave me the excuse I needed... |
” | —J sinisterly taunting N before infecting him with a virus as punishment for his rebellion, MURDER DRONES (PILOT) | ||
| “ |
...Equity partnersh— |
” | —J's last words before Uzi disintegrates her with her railgun, MURDER DRONES (PILOT) | ||
Serial Designation J (referred to as J) is a Murder Drone and one of secondary antagonists (alongside Doll) of the Glitch Productions web series Murder Drones, appearing as the main antagonist of MURDER DRONES (PILOT) and an overarching antagonist in MURDER DRONES - Episode 2: Heartbeat. She was the leader of the local Disassembly Drone squad that also consisted of N and V, described as a "lethal workaholic" until her supposed death by Uzi's railgun.
However, J's supposed "death" wouldn't last long due to the presence of an even greater threat, the mysterious program known as the AbsoluteSolver, which hijacked what was left of J's shell and began to reconstruct her using the material of several Worker Drones it consumed; despite the attempts of Uzi and N to stop the program, J was successfully reconstructed and returned to the exo-planet in The Promening, with the assistance and supervision of her superior, Tessa.
She is voiced by Shara Kirby.
Quick Answers
What role does Serial Designation J play in the Glitch Productions web series Murder Drones?
What was J's position in the local Disassembly Drone squad?
How did J supposedly die in the Murder Drones series?
What is the significance of Uzi's railgun in relation to J's character arc?
Appearance[]
J has features similar to that of typical female Disassembly Drones with yellow neon eyes and silverish hair in twin-tails tied with black ribbons. Like other Murder Drones, she has a black headband with five sections of lights and a long, thin black tail ending in a large syringe, both with a neon yellow liquid inside.
She has more of an "anime schoolgirl" approach to her appearance and wears a typical businesswoman-style suit. Her legs are black to the knee, giving the appearance of knee-high stockings.
When she hunted, her mouth grew several jagged teeth and her eyes became an "><" shape. She also deployed giant, dangerous bladed wings and claws that allowed her to easily tear through any Worker Drone that stood before her.
Following her death, her biomechanical core infused with nanites known as the AbsoluteSolver (implyed to be within all Disassembly Drones) activated and began attacking and killing other Worker Drones, presumably assimilating their parts to begin rebuilding J, albeit a separate AI operating it. J's “upgraded form” through the AbsoluteSolver is nothing short of abominable and monstrous, now being a centipede/snake-like spiny mechanical beast with several spindly bladed appendages and blades up it's back. It also has two camera-esque eyes on two other appendages, with fangs surrounding the rims of the lenses. Her syringe tipped tail is now more armored and adorned with spines as well, while the underbelly of the body still had construction stripes along it, albeit appearing sloppily spraypainted on. J's head is retained as the creature's, albeit it's implied she herself doesn't control the beast. Albeit her hair and headband optics are intact, her lower jaw is missing while the top half is fanged and her visor is nothing but a series of black splotches to illustrate her bestial state. While this form is intended to be a upgraded form, the AbsoluteSolver has an independent AI as it's implied J's own personality is currently dormant. Whether the creature is actually created with J’s remains or is an entirely separate entity is also unclear.
Personality[]
J is best described as a "lethal workaholic," as she is incredibly dedicated to her job - even using corporate jargon like "synergistic liability" and "fourth-quarter profits" in place of insults or vulgarism. J has had a penchant for obeying authority and following orders as far back as her days as a Worker Drone, where she refused to help Tessa free herself from her chains as "corporate had spoken."
Although J is not as sadistic and insane as V is, she does look down on others who are not as good as her. This is best shown in J's relationship with N, as she despises him and tells him that she would personally kill him if their company allowed it. J's dislike of N goes as far as to infect him with a virus as soon as he starts to question the company (even though there was a valid reason for doing so) while also taking glee in doing such an act. This is made even worse upon the reveal J knew they were helping Cyn and not JCJenson, showing she really did just want an excuse to kill N. Even in flashbacks to the Elliot Manor, J was already shown as abusive to N, kicking him for no reason, and telling him to kill himself.
J is also arrogant, domineering and prideful, as she enjoys insulting others. This proved to be her downfall, as after she incapacitated Uzi, she took her time with a monologue instead of finishing her off immediately which gave Uzi the chance to stab J with her Nanite tail. Despite this, J praises her comrades if they are worthy. This is shown when N supposedly gets past the Worker Drones' doors and, despite her low opinion of him, J genuinely congratulates his efforts and rewards him with the thought of having a JCJenson-branded pen, an item they both consider an accomplishment.
Despite her arrogance, J is not incapable of showing emotion. This is demonstrated in N's memories of when they used to be Worker Drones working at the Elliott Manor, where being in the presence of Louisa is enough to terrify her, as well as when Lizzy, Thad, and Khan appear to attack her with a railgun, making her systems warn her of a "Prior Hazard" as her face bears an unnerved expression. J also felt guilty in "Home" when Tessa was chained up, not wanting to disobey, as "corporate's spoken." However, she has a positive relationship with Tessa, whom J is genuinely kind and respectful towards.
However, J's true motivations are revealed in the finale, where it's shown she's aware Cyn murdered Tessa and, in spite of this, is assisting her in the attempted destruction of Copper 9, focusing on being on the "winning team" in hopes that Cyn wouldn't kill her if she aids her. Despite briefly offering V a chance to join her and Cyn, she later distances herself from her former allies, coldly stating she never needed V or N.
J shows extreme loyalty to JCJenson, the company that created her and other Disassembly Drones, showing great dedication to her work. She views the mediocre reward of branded pens that are meant only for top-performing Disassembly Drones as quite celebratory. She is described by Liam Vicker as a "try hard" on his twitter.
It's also noted that she hates those who she deems useless, as seen with her constant insults and complaining about how useless N was in their mission due to his naivety, uselessness, worthlessness, and benevolent nature unfitting of a Disassembly Drone, going so far as to claim that if the company allowed her to kill useless drones, she wouldn't hesitate to do so. This was shown to be true when she infected N with a virus after he started questioning the true motives of their mission and the parent company that made them.
History[]
Before Murder Drones[]
Years prior to the events of the Murder Drones pilot episode, J was one of the Worker Drones who had been decommissioned and discarded at the landfill, but were later found by Tessa and given a role as servants of Elliot Manor. J grew very close to Tessa and was loyal to her. Even then, she was still abusive towards her co-worker N, as she kicks him in a flashback in "Heartbeat", and got annoyed when Tessa brought another Drone into the manor, if her reaction to seeing Cyn for the first time is anything to go by.
Later on, as the Gala was being set up, Tessa tells J to act like the woman in the invitation, to which she does. Following Tessa and her mother's confrontation, J was seen in Tessa's bedroom with her ankled chained, alongside Tessa and Cyn.
As a Disassembly Drone, J was responsible for leading Serial Designation N and Serial Designation V in the mission of exterminating all Worker Drones on Copper 9. She despised N for being useless in their mission and always wanted to kill him for his amicable nature.
Pilot[]
J is first seen in a flashback by N, where J has N pinned on the ground with her foot, telling him if she was allowed to, she would personally kill N herself. J is fully introduced at the corpse spire where she notices how N has gone offline; she assumes he tripped and knocked himself offline. J reboots N's systems by scolding and smacking his face, which turns N's systems back online. As N runs away to chase Uzi and retrieve her railgun, N's sudden escape makes J and V suspicious and so they follow him.
J and V catch up to N to find out he managed to get through the first two doors of the Worker Drone Bunker. J seems genuinely surprised by how N was "not useless for once". She rewards him with the thought of having a JCJenson-branded pen. After V leaves to find an entrance to the outpost's last door, N questions the company's motives and the Disassembly Drones' fate when all the Workers are eventually killed.
N's questioning gives J a reason to kill N, and so she plants a virus on him and leaves him for dead as she flies into the vents to wipe out the rest of the colony of Worker Drones. J and V had Thad, Khan, and many other Workers cornered when suddenly N and Uzi arrive.
N finally tells J that he doesn't like the way she's been treating him; to which J calls him a traitor. Afterwards, Uzi fights J. While N defeats V, J is on the brink of victory as she has Uzi on the ground and is about to finish her off. However, during J's monologue, Uzi manages to stab her with her Nanite tail. The stab causes J to back up in pain and fall, which allows Uzi to grab her railgun and shoot J with it. The blast obliterates the upper half of J's body, killing her.
Heartbeat[]
In a dream of N's (actually a flashback), J is a Worker Drone maid in a mansion where she is still abusive to N. This is shown by her kicking N to the ground and asking him to move. J then looks over and anxiously greets Tessa, but she quickly gets annoyed after seeing Tessa has another Worker Drone behind her.
Later, when Frank is attempting to fix the hole in the ceiling left by N, J's corpse slowly creeps away as if being dragged. Frank investigates the situation and sees J's chest pried open, revealing her organic insides and core. Her corpse suddenly transforms into a biomechanical abomination, which later kills Frank. It would then kill more Worker Drones to assimilate parts for J's reconstruction.
The Promening[]
A clone of J was re-deployed to Copper 9, accompanied by her boss Tessa, now grown up and working for JCJenson. Tessa coldly states the two of them have "maintenance work" to do, most likely a euphemism for killing more Worker Drones
Home[]
During the events of Home, J appears in N's memories. She is first seen standing near Tessa while the latter nervously paces around the table. Tessa asks if J could pretend to be a "ripping royal stud," to which J complies and quickly poses like the person shown on the cover of the Gala invitation. Tessa congratulates J but starts to rub her wrist in pain. In response, J looks up at her in sadness.
Tessa then assures J that she's fine but quickly gets distracted after noticing N. Cyn later tells Tessa that J had forgotten to let her out of the basement again. J annoyingly replies that despite that, Cyn still escaped and then keeps the basement key in her hair. Tessa's mother walks up and begins scolding her daughter for bringing the Drones out again, and declares that she is going to throw them out.
Tessa quickly apologizes. Cyn suddenly retorts, telling Louisa that they "aren't broken" and "can no longer be thrown out." Before Louisa could say anything, N quickly jumped to Cyn's defense and took the blame for her behavior.
Later, Tessa is seen in her bedroom attempting to free herself from the chains while Cyn plays with a doll house, and J sits on a rocking horse. Cyn and J are both chained by the ankle like Tessa. Tessa asks J to help her get freed, but J apologizes and refuses because "corporate" (Tessa's parents) had already ordered her not to do so. Tessa looks down at the chain and sees Cyn (now in her Eldritch form) right in front of her.
Cyn then assures Tessa that she "won't have to discard her (Tessa's) pets" and Cyn "won't discard of her (Tessa)." She also states that Tessa "seems squeamish" and warns her not to go to the gala. Cyn leaves through the opened window, and after a couple of seconds, Tessa and J look at each other in fear and silence.
Afterward, J attempts to bite off Tessa's shackle and free her while Tessa goads at J for motivation; telling her that Cyn wants "paid time off" to "attend union negotiations" (a workplace taboo). Infuriated, J finally bites through the chain in her rage and begins punching it while she screams that it is an "unrelated layoff" before spitting onto the ground, exhausted.
J stands up and shakes off her tiredness as she looks towards Tessa, and the two quickly leave the room. They quietly tip-toed across the hallway to stop Cyn. Tessa bumps into a suit of armor and nearly knocks it over but she notices a sword. J makes her way over to a gun case containing a revolver. They show their weapons to each other and they immediately trade.
N and Uzi (in the form of a crow) then appear, and N motions for them to lay low. J and Tessa look at each other in confusion until a pair of cracked glasses fall from the ceiling. They slowly look up and see V crawling on the ceiling. The four quickly group together back-to-back, and N tells Tessa they need the key from J to get into the basement. Uzi then flies over and grabs the key from J's hair, saying that she (Uzi) would kill her.
Tessa tells the group that Cyn will massacre the gala, and N questions if it is their Cyn, saying that the actual Cyn is cool; Tessa and J seem suspicious of this. V suddenly swoops down and attempts to attack Tessa. Before V can harm Tessa, J quickly gets in the way and uses the sword against V's claw. J then instructs N and Uzi to go to the basement while she and Tessa stall "the coma patient." V attempts to grab the key from N but is quickly stopped by J, pushing him through the doorway.
The gala is about to begin with James commencing it. However, Cyn, puppeteered by the Absolute Solver, appears in front of the guests, ready to attack. But J and Tessa arrive to put an end to the yet-to-be massacre. James and Louisa scold their daughter for her tomfoolery but are immediately pushed aside by the Solver. Tessa tries to stop it from carrying out its plan by throwing several objects at it but to no avail.
The Solver tells Tessa that "[she] didn't have to see this." It then takes control of all of the drones in the building, including J, who now has an 'X' displayed on her visor. J slams the door shut behind Tessa, and the Solver begins to massacre everyone in the dining room.
In the present day, J appears next to Tessa as the two meet up with Doll outside of a building. Doll tosses the key to Tessa and reminds her that they must take her with them since they "had a deal"; Tessa replies by firing a warning shot at Doll (presumably to confirm that she is not infected with the Absolute Solver). Turning around, J and Tessa see Uzi, V, and N standing far away. They stare at each other, and the credits roll.
Dead End[]
After Tessa reunites with N and V, Uzi points out that she is tired of killing J, to which she replies that effective Disassembly Drones were cloned more. When Doll betrays the group and steals the Keybug, they chase after her, which brings them to Cabin Fever Labs. J reveals Cyn's plan to infiltrate the Labs and then their plans to stop her. Tessa hands her the key to her ship and instructs her to guard outside. J flies off afterward.
Mass Destruction[]
On the surface, Lizzy takes Thad outside the colony towards the corpse spire to introduce him to her "secret friend." The environment suddenly loses gravity before returning to normal, with Thad and Lizzy faceplanting onto the snow. Abruptly, a landing pod arrives and touches down on the spire, from which J emerges and swiftly enters the structure. Lizzy claims that this was the reason she brought Thad out.
Later, Thad and Lizzy plan on attacking J, but an explosion suddenly erupts from within the spire. J swiftly enters her pod and leaves. When Thad and Lizzy enter the spire to investigate, they see that J has destroyed N and V's landing pod to prevent it from being used as an escape vehicle.
Later, J lands her ship at the entrance of the labs and tries to contact Tessa (who at this time, has revealed herself to actually be Cyn wearing Tessa's corpse), but she gets hit by a school bus, causing her to lose the keys to the ship and making her tail become slightly disfigured in the process. Angered, she draws her gun at the bus, demanding to know the identities of the drivers.
She sees Lizzy and Thad posing ominously in the fog, holding a railgun (rebuilt by Khan earlier) and metal pipe respectively, while Khan is smugly lying on the bus roof. Upon noticing the railgun light up, a warning sign with the words 'PRIOR HAZARD' lights up on her visor, a callback to her death by Uzi's railgun during the first episode.
Absolute End[]
J first is seen sitting on a remnant of Copper 9, holding an apology note from N for taking her ship, with a drawing saying he "owed her a ship." One of Cyn's tentacles brings back the destroyed and burning remains of their Landing Pod, and J begrudgingly thanks her "boss" for the placement of the ship and the destruction - revealing that she's known Cyn was Tessa the entire time and is cooperating with her.
Thad, Lizzy, Khan, and the bus that hit her in the previous episode are shown to be within the same fragment. J exclaims it's time for them to go into the "scary planet hole thing." Jumping down from the tower, J's peg feet get stuck in the ice thanks to the gravitational pull, and she tells herself that she's calm before screaming at Thad, Lizzy, and Khan to "Go away" and firing a missile at them. V and a red-eyed sentinel then appear and deflect the missile.
V and J then start to fight, as V questions J on her betrayal and her working with Cyn. V exclaims that J told her that the Absolute Solver would leave them alone as long as she and N did their jobs correctly. J then states that the Solver tricked V, and if J promised her anything, then it tricked her as well, revealing that she was aware of Tessa's fate.
J fires a missile at V, saying that "there's no escape, even in death", showing that she really doesn't see a way to escape Cyn, hence why she's helping her. After cutting V's lower leg off, J asks her to join her and Cyn on the "winning team". V refuses the offer and they continue to fight, as N and Uzi fire a composed black hole at Cyn.
Later, while Cyn goes after Uzi, J rescinds her offer, and kicks V down, coldly telling her that she never truly needed her or N before shooting at her. Time passes and after Cyn starts chasing V, with V narrowly escaping her, J ambushes V, kicking her and sending V flying down. Cyn throws N's corpse next to V and J then watches as Cyn is about to kill her former friends.
Uzi blocks Cyn's attack, cutting one of Cyn's limbs off in the process. Uzi then points the railgun at both J and Cyn. J's visor shows the words "PRIOR HAZARD," remembering the railgun from her previous death. Cyn then approaches Uzi for the final fight.
J stands with Cyn as the fight starts, until Uzi fires the railgun at her, the laser cutting her left pigtail short before tossing it at her. The railgun hits J in the head, knocking her down to the ground. Cyn launches "Tessa's" sword at Uzi, her tail grabbing J and using her as a shield to take the impact from the sword. J is decapitated and Uzi launches J's head back at Cyn.
Moments later, a regenerated J appears again when Cyn tries to trick Uzi into thinking she stabbed N, ready to attack Uzi from behind. V then covers for Uzi, exclaiming that J was on the wrong team as she shoots her, and N telling Cyn that there will be no more tricks. Her visor displaying the Disassembly Drone "X" J is sent falling down into the labs and doesn't appear again until the credits.
During the end credits, J can be seen fixing the landing pod inside the spire that she previously destroyed — presumably to leave Copper 9
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- J is the first known Disassembly Drone to be killed.
- J is currently the only Disassembly Drone shown to use their EMP Cannon.
- J is the only major GLITCH character to be killed on-screen in a series' pilot episode.
- Cube simps her.
- In the Season 1 Teaser, when asked the question “Is J actually died?”, Liam Vickers responded with nervous stuttering and an “Uh-oh!”, implying her return in future episodes. This is further evidenced in the second episode when Uzi and N confront the mechanical monster that holds J's remains with the intention of rebuilding her, further implying that she will return soon. This was later confirmed from her return in The Promening.
See also[]
- J on the Murder Drones Wiki.
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