Fast & Furious 9: 5 Ways Jakob Toretto Is A Sympathetic Character (& 5 Ways He’s A Villain)

The Fast & Furious movies saw a big change from the original series to the current one with the release of F9. The ninth installment revealed that Dominic and Mia Toretto had a long-lost brother, Jakob,  who served as the movie’s villain and sought to use the Aries device for world dominance.

Jakob was eventually revealed to be deeper than just a villain, as his antagonism towards Dom stemmed from the death of their father. All things considered, Jakob had a tragic background himself that allows fans to see things from his point of view, going hand in hand with his acts of villainy in the movie.

10 Sympathetic: He Ultimately Only Wanted To Be Accepted

Jakob is a character worthy of a spin-off like Hobbs and Shaw got, as there’s more to him than meets the eye. In F9’s climax, he proved that he ultimately just wanted acceptance from Dom and Mia, as Jakob walked away with no ill-will toward them.

This came about after Dom had both forgiven–and asked for forgiveness from–Jakob after learning the truth about their father, leading to Jakob dropping his villainous ways. From this context, it’s clear that Jakob was swayed toward villainy because he hadn’t felt acceptance and didn’t want to continue with that path once he’d reconciled with his family.

9 Villain: He Only Became A Good Guy Due To His Team’s Betrayal

What’s interesting to note about Jakob’s turn for the better is that it was due to pure happenstance. After all, had Cipher not swayed Otto into betraying Jakob, the latter would never have been positioned to side with Dom and his team.

It was only after he was betrayed that Jakob returned to assist Dom, with most of it being out of revenge against Otto. Had Cipher not manipulated Jakob’s crew, he would have been content with going through with using Aries and never becoming a good guy.

8 Sympathetic: He Had To Fend For Himself His Whole Life

Dom had the memory of his father’s demise on his mind, but he at least had Mia with him and the addition of Letty and future comrades made his grief easier to handle. However, Jakob had no one for support during his formative years, with only Buddy taking him in during this time and denying Jakob a family like Dom had.

It’s understandable why Jakob became so cynical and near-impossible to change considering that he grew up feeling that nobody cared about him. For more than two decades, Jakob could only rely on himself.

7 Villain: His Attempts To Harm His Own Brother

To Dom’s credit, he didn’t try to directly harm Jakob, in that he wanted to avoid using lethal means against his brother. Jakob didn’t extend the same courtesy toward Dom, however, being fully willing to kill his own brother if Dom kept getting in the way.

But it was only due to Dom’s survival that he was later able to reconcile with Jakob. If Jakob had succeeded then he would have effectively denied himself the chance to be redeemed.

6 Sympathetic: He Had To Live With The Knowledge Of What Happened To His Father

Dom thought Jakob had deliberately tampered with their father’s car to in order kill him, which sparked his resentment toward his brother. The truth was that Jack Toretto had asked Jakob to tamper with the car to gain insurance money out of it and the vehicle had unexpectedly gotten out of control, resulting in Jack’s death.

It wasn’t Jakob’s fault since he was only following what his father had told him to do, meaning he had to live with the knowledge of this truth while Dom painted him as a villain. All things considered, Jakob had an even greater burden than the one Dom carried.

5 Villain: His Intentions In Using Aries

Jakob’s main motive in F9 was to use the Aries device to control weapons on a global scale, which he followed through with until the climax when Otto betrayed him. Even though he ultimately didn’t use Aries, it can’t be overlooked that he very nearly did.

Had Jakob’s plan gone the way that he initially intended, he would’ve effectively seized control of the world and become a warlord. These intentions easily make him out to be among the most dangerous villains of the Fast & Furious series.

4 Sympathetic: Dom Never Gave Him A Chance For Reconciliation

No matter what topic it might be, be it Roman’s funny one-liners or something more philosophical, Dom’s group always talks a big game about the importance of family. However, Dom himself didn’t live up to this where Jakob was concerned, having ousted his brother from his life when they were still teenagers.

When he learned about the tampering of Jack Toretto’s car, Dom instantly challenged Jakob to the race where the loser had to go into exile. Even years later, Jakob wasn’t given a chance to reconcile with his family due to this wager and he was left estranged as a result.

3 Villain: He Caused A Lot Of Collateral Damage

There are always expensive cars in the Fast & Furious franchise that end up getting destroyed due to the action involved. Jakob was responsible for the destruction of more than a few in F9, as his pursuit of Aries caused massive damage.

There were a number of people on the streets who got caught in Jakob’s crossfire with Dom, meaning Jakob was responsible for these people getting hurt. He also has the blood of the men he killed after he turned into a rogue agent on his hands, so he’ll likely remain a villain where these characters’ points of view are concerned.

2 Sympathetic: He Never Had Anyone He Could Trust

As evidenced by the betrayal committed by Otto and Jakob’s men, Jakob couldn’t even trust his own crew. Along with growing up on his own, Jakob didn’t have people he could call friends or allies, leaving him a thoroughly paranoid and angry man.

This was due to the lack of a positive environment for him, as Jakob was never in a place where he could settle down as Dom had done. This makes his mentality understandable since Jakob simply never got to develop a lifestyle where he could place his trust in people.

1 Villain: His Hand In Mr. Nobody’s Disappearance

It was left unclear in F9 as to what exactly happened to Mr. Nobody, who only appeared in flashbacks and recorded footage. What’s known is that Jakob was a rogue agent and was responsible for Mr. Nobody’s disappearance, with the implication that Jakob may have even killed Mr. Nobody.

Dominic and his crew considered Mr. Nobody to be part of their extended family and were saddened by his disappearance, making Jakob responsible for hurting the group. Even if Mr. Nobody is still alive, he hasn’t felt that it’s safe enough to return due to Jakob’s presence.

About The Author

Saim Cheeda
(1355 Articles Published)

Saim Cheeda is an entertainment writer covering all of Film, TV, Gaming and Books. He’s been a writer for Valnet since 2017, contributing 500+ articles for The Gamer, The Things, Game Rant, Comic Book Resources and Screen Rant. Apart from freelance writing, Saim is a lifestyle blogger, co-owning the blog 3 States Apart.

http://3statesapart.com

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