Jacob "Jake" Luke Long is a young Dragon who appears as a Chinese American human/dragon hybrid teenager who lives in New York City and serves as its Magical Protector.
Trivia[]
- It is revealed in the episode "The Rotwood Files" Jake's true form may be that of his dragon form because Professor Rotwood is in possession of chemicals which he believes can transform dragons back into their true form. True or not, Rotwood believes the true forms of dragons TO BE dragons, with their human forms merely as guises.
- Jake's original birth year was to be 1988, since originally, dragons could only be born in the Chinese year of the dragon. His official birthday in the series is unknown, though it is hinted in Adventures in Troll Sitting that Jake's birth year is 1992.[citation needed]
- Both his parents were originally of different ethnicity. His mother was going to be Jewish and his father Chinese American, making him Jewish-Chinese. However, Jonathan was later changed to simply American.[citation needed]
- His first friends were going to be a male African American named Jamal Johnson and a river nymph/sea elf disguised as a human named Brook Pesci.[citation needed]
- Brook was also meant to be his love interest, though Jake would initially have a dislike for her before developing any interests.
- Jake discovering his dragon lineage was also inspired by Harry Potter's of the Harry Potter series learning his identity as a wizard.
- According to Jeff Goode, there are other dragons in America.[citation needed] This is supported by the fact that Jake's maternal side of the family are all dragons living in Florida. However, Jake is the official American Dragon.
- Jake's voice actor, Dante Basco, also did the voice of Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
- Season Two Jake as a dragon looks similar to Mushu from Mulan, and is often confused with him.
- In fact, not only are the two similar in physical appearance but in personality as well.
- It's possible that Mushu was also the inspiration for Jake Long's appearance and personality.
- Jake's address is 182 Shorn Eagle Dr.
- Jake's appearance is a large, Western dragon in Season One, but then appeared as a slender, Asian dragon in Season Two.
- Jake's hair has green streaks in it because he uses an excessive amount of hair gel. Though at one point in his youth, the green streaks were blue.
- In Season One, Jake's skateboard was yellow with a red dragon design on it. In Season Two, it was black with the same design and flames on both ends.
- One or two viewers have noted that even though he is called the American Dragon, Jake's form is that of a European Dragon of the type made famous from medieval folklore such as The Dragon and St George in Season 1. By Season 2, his appearance tapers down to a slender, serpentine-like Asian inspired dragon. The closest thing to a dragon in North American mythology is a Piasa, Native American winged creature depicted in one of two murals painted by Native Americans on bluffs (cliffsides) above the Mississippi River, and the earth dragon from the Cahto People's creation myth of Nagaicho, said to have all the earth's vegetation and mountains created on top of it.
- Jake is a dictionary example of an "anthrozil" from the book series Dragons In Our Midst, albeit more powerful than any anthrozil in the books. An anthrozil is someone who has one dragon parent in human form, and one pure-blood human parent.
- The Chinese word for dragon is "long".
- Jake's catchphrases are "Aw, man!" and "Dragon up!", the latter of which he says almost every time he turns into a dragon.
- Although Jake says he developed his dragon powers at 13, he displayed a little bit of power at the age of 7, when he accidentally breathed fire during a race.
- Though Jake is pretty cool, he is willing to do some stupid things to set things right. Like in Season 1, he sings a ridiculous love song on national TV to put all of the Gremlin asleep.
- Jake and his crew had also appeared in a crossover episode of Lilo and Stitch: The Series.
- Through which places them in a shared universe with:
- Kim Possible
- Recess
- The Proud Family (it was mentioned by Jake Long that one of his close childhood friends is Penny Proud.)
- Ingrid the Third from Fillmore! and two Middleton Cheerleaders, specifically called cheerleaders and not just in costume, from Kim Possible appear at Jake's Halloween party.
- Through which places them in a shared universe with:
- In one episode of Season Two, his cell phone is white. However, in all the other episodes of Season Two, his phone is red.
- His ringtone on his phone is the theme song, only without the words.
- In a flash-forward, an imaginary older version of Jake is shown with his imaginary son.
- Jake's birthday is sometime in late February or early March, since he is a Pisces.
- Jake shares many similarities with Danny Fenton from the Nickelodeon series Danny Phantom:
- Both are half-human teenagers who fight for peace.
- Both can transform into supernatural creatures found in popular myth.
- A mythical dragon in the case of Jake
- A spiritual ghost in the case of Danny
- Both have at least two friends who know their secrets.
- Jake has Spud and Trixie; Rose; then later, while not a friend, Professor Rotwood
- Danny has Tucker and Sam, then later his sister, Jazz
- Both had at least one parent who was unaware of their secrets until late in their careers.
- Jake's father
- Both of Danny's parents
- Both had family members who relate to their powers.
- Jake's family on his mom's side are dragons
- Danny's parents are ghost hunters
- Both have a battle cry when triggering their transformations.
- For Jake, "Dragon Up!"
- For Danny, "(I'm) Going Ghost!"
- Both were prime victims of bullying by blonde-haired jocks.
- For Jake, Brad Morton
- For Danny, Dash Baxter
- Both of them have smarter overachieving sisters who eventually grew to understand their brother's struggles and occasionally lend a helping hand in the fight against evil.
- For Jake, Haley Long
- For Danny, Jazz Fenton
- Both of them have an obvious allusion to their supernatural personas in their real names.
- Jake's last name Long translates to Dragon in Chinese
- Danny Phantom is a play on words for Danny's real name, Danny Fenton
- Coincidentally, Jake and Danny were pitted against each other on the 128th episode of Death Battle, a web series known for taking and analyzing different characters from different franchises, and, as its name implies, having them engage in a fight to the death. Jake loses the battle due to Danny's versatile ghostly abilities and superior power and durability.
- In addition, both Jake and Danny are similar to Randy Cunningham from the Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja series, as they have many things in common like dark, spiky hair, only their best friends (Jake; Trixie and Spud, Danny; Sam and Tucker, and Randy; Howard) and some family knowing about their alter ego, fighting evil, and usually NOT being the popular kids in school.
- All of Jake's personal athletic equipment has some form of a dragon on it (mainly his skateboard and snowboard).