| “ | I wasn't hurt that badly. The doctor said all my bleeding was internal. That's where the blood's supposed to be. | ” |
―Jake Peralta in AC/DC | ||
Jacob Jeffrey "Jake" Peralta (portrayed by Andy Samberg) is the main protagonist of the show, and the only character besides Raymond Holt to appear in every episode. At the start of the series, he was a cocky and immature, but very talented and dedicated NYPD detective stationed in Brooklyn's 99th Precinct. He was often the one coming up with precinct competitions and shenanigans and not taking anything except his cases seriously. He has, however, always cared deeply about his friends and is extremely loyal. Throughout the series, due to his father-son relationship with Holt, and his partnership-turned-relationship with his now wife, Amy, Jake matured and turned into a very respectful and respectable person. In the series finale, he decides to retire from the NYPD and become a stay-at-home dad to his son Mac (born in the season 7 finale, "Lights Out") so that Amy can focus on her career.
Description
| “ | Jacob Peralta is my best detective. He likes putting away bad guys and he loves solving puzzles. The only puzzle he hasn't solved is how to grow up. | ” |
―Terry Jeffords to Raymond Holt in the Pilot | ||
Peralta is a detective that has never been one to follow the rules too closely, frequently ignoring departmental guidelines and ignoring instructions from superior officers. Perhaps because he has the best arrest record among his colleagues, he's been enabled - if not indulged - throughout his entire career. That is, until the precinct gets a new commanding officer, Captain Raymond Holt, who reminds this hotshot cop to respect the badge. Jake is/was the most talented detective from the 99th and NYPD, since because of the level of his arrests/cases solved, he was on the 2% of the best detectives from the city.
Personality
When first introduced, Jake is a very competent detective with an incredibly immature, yet charming, personality. He often butts heads with authority and teases his partner, and later wife, Amy Santiago. He has trouble expressing his emotions, preferring to crack jokes and deflect with humor, but he usually comes around to talking about how he's feeling. He is extremely intelligent and calculating, yet his wits are most often channeled into coming up with clever wordplay instead of more detail-oriented work. He is also shown as somewhat unorganized and irresponsible, being in severe debt due to poor financial choices. As the show progresses, however, he is shown to be much more responsible.
He is a very laid-back individual, but he takes his job seriously and likes the arresting-bad-guys part the most. Jake clashes with Captain Holt at first because of the latter's practical, down-to-earth methods against Jake's wisecracking nature.
Jake is a devout fan of the movie franchise Die Hard, citing it as the reason he became a cop. He is always looking for any opportunity to act out a Die Hard scene during police work.
Jake is also very loyal with those he cares about. . He is also kind with his friends often helping them in anything they need, like when he help Charles to negotiate with Eleanor to make her give him his sperm so he could have a child, or when he helps Terry's wife when she is about to go into labor making sure she feels comfortable respecting her decision of not going to the hospital - although when he realizes that the best thing for her is to be seen by an obstetrician, Jake finds a way for Captain Holt to make amends with his ex-boyfriend, an OB, since they didn't end the relationship on the best terms, so that he can see Sharon when she is going into labor, which later Terry and Sharon thank Jake for.
At the beginning of the show he made it quite clear he hated reading, having read only 15 books he later became got interested on the fantasy books genre. He has read at least 35 books: 15 books at first, 7 books in Harry Potter, and 13 books in Skyfire Cycle.
Biography
Jake is an Ashkenazi Jewish American New Yorker, raised by his mother after his dad walked out on them when Jake was only seven years old. Due to this, he has chronic untreated abandonment and Daddy issues. This has resulted in him viewing every male authority figure as a father figure, such as him sometimes calling Holt "Dad". He once revealed that he hates psychiatrics because when he was a kid he attended one and his parents got an argument about who had the blame and shortly after his father abandoned them, so he feels very guilty believing he's responsible for his parent's separation.
He is half-Jewish on his mom's side and also half Italian.[2]
Jake has three half-sisters from three of the major airport hubs in the United States of America. One lives in Atlanta, Georgia, another in Newark, New Jersey, and the last one, Kate Peralta, from Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. Their father is a pilot who slept with many women. Since the age of seven, Jake had caught his father cheating with other women more than 20 times.
Jake attended the same elementary and high school as Gina Linetti. As children, the two would hang out at Jake's Nana's apartment after school.
Young Jake "playing chess."
In Halloween, it is revealed that Jake has an Uncle Bob who taught him to shoot chess and backgammon pieces with a BB gun.
When he was 13, Jake had a crush on Jenny Gildenhorn. They attended his Bar Mitzvah together, where she broke up with him in favour of Eddie Fung. Since then, Jake has continued to hold onto hope that he and Jenny would reunite. He claims that Jenny dumping him is his worst breakup of all time. He lost his virginity to the daughter of one of his teachers, Mrs Stratton.
Rosa Diaz and Jake were classmates in the police academy. They bonded over their hatred of the training drills. Later, as detectives, they made a pact to trust each other fully when one offered to do 1,000 push-ups if proven wrong.
Jake 8 years before Unsolvable.
Jake has been working at the 99th Precinct for at least 8 years prior to the first season of the show. Before Raymond Holt took over as captain at the Nine-Nine, Jake enjoyed that Captain McGintley would allow him to get away with anything while on the job. He took advantage of McGintley's lax attitude and would participate in games with his coworkers, including The Jimmy Jab Games.
Jake fell in love with, dated and married fellow 99th Precinct detective, Amy Santiago. After struggling with fertility the two had a son who they named Mac. There is a "Peralta Curse" between fathers and their sons going back multiple generations. Jake's positive relationship with Mac is the first one to break the cycle.
Physical Appearance
Jake is a thin man of average height. He has curly dark brown hair that varies in length and curls throughout the seasons. He has brown eyes. He is often seen wearing a button-down plaid shirt, a blue or red unzipped hoodie, jeans and at times, a stylish, black leather jacket. At Captain Holt's request, Jake has taken to sometimes wearing a tie. He used to wear a watch on his left wrist in the earlier episodes, his police badge on a chain around his neck and starting from the Season 5 Finale, a wedding ring on his left finger. He claimed he was physically incapable of growing a mustache but later discovered, while in jail, that he was able to grow a patchy beard with a small mustache.
Relationships
Amy Santiago
| “ | I know that when things are hard, I talk them through with Amy. And just being with her, looking into her eyes, everything that seemed so complicated becomes simple. And then... I just know. | ” |
―Jake to Holt in Renewal | ||
Jake and Amy start the series as partners with adjacent desks in the bullpen at the 99th precinct. Although they behaved as rivals, always trying to one-up each other with bets, competitions, and teasing, they clearly shared mutual respect and a friendship. They were known for having one of the best partnerships in the precinct. After two seasons of slow-burn, with multiple confessions of romantic feelings, they finally kiss in the Season 2 finale, "Johnny and Dora."
In the first episode of Season 3, titled "New Captain," they go on their first real date and by the end of the episode they decide to start a relationship. In the winter finale of Season 4, Jake agrees to move into Amy's apartment. In the Season 5 episode "HalloVeen," Jake proposes to Amy in the evidence locker room (where they shared their first real kiss) and she accepts. They finally get married outside the precinct in the season finale, titled "Jake & Amy." In the Season 6 premiere they go on their Honeymoon, and later in the season, in the episode "Casecation," they celebrate their first wedding anniversary.
In the premiere of Season 7, Amy has a pregnancy scare, and at the end of the episode, Jake and Amy decide to start trying for a baby. They find out Amy is pregnant in the seventh episode "Ding Dong" and that they are expecting a boy in the episode "Admiral Peralta." Their son Mac (short for [John] McClane from Die Hard) is born in the precinct in the season finale, "Lights Out." Throughout Season 8, Jake and Amy are adapting to parenthood and attempting to both be working parents. In the series finale, Jake decides to retire from the NYPD and become a stay-at-home dad, so Amy can focus on her career without guilt or regret.
Captain Holt
Captain Holt and Jake have a very complex relationship. Upon the Captain's arrival, Jake did not make a good impression on him, but the two are shown to warm up to each other throughout the season. It becomes apparent over time that Jake begins to view Holt as a father figure. When Madeline Wuntch puts Holt in an uncomfortable situation where she threatens to send the 99th detectives to different, low-key and low standards precincts, she mentions that the Captain sees Jake as a son. Jake stays true to his personality and doesn't try to impress the Captain, it's clear that they end up having the closest relationship.
Jake and Captain Holt live next to each other as Greg and Larry in the Witness Protection Program in Florida, after being threatened by Jimmy Figgis, who'd they been investigating on behalf of Adrian Pimento.
In the episode "Jake & Amy", Holt officiates Jake and Amy's wedding. During the ceremony, Holt says he loves them, and they in turn say they love him back.
On Jake's final day, Holt says that Terry told him on his first day that the only thing Jake hadn't learned yet was how to grow up, but he thinks that Jake finally learned that lesson. He also confesses that if he had had a son that turned out like Jake, Holt would be very proud of him.
Charles Boyle
Charles is one of Jake's best friends. Though at times Charles can be ridiculous, the two look out for each other. Charles is Jake's biggest and often sole cheerleader, rooting for Jake on almost everything, including his relationship with Amy. (In "The Bet", Charles starts to tease Jake that he may have a crush on Amy. He does the same in "Tactical Village" and encourages Jake to ask out Amy.)
Jake is also there to help Charles when he goes "Full Boyle". Later, when Charles gets engaged, he asks Jake to be his best man. Jake is also the one to convince Charles to stand up for himself and tell Vivian that he doesn't want to move to Canada.
Later, while Charles is still depressed by the end of his relationship with Vivian, he meets Genevieve in court and falls in love with her. Genevieve is falsely accused of a crime, Charles tells Jake that something isn't right with the case. Jake trusts his friend's gut but is forced to take over the investigation as Charles is unable to concentrate due to his crush on Genevieve. Jake manages to solve the case and says he couldn't have done it if he hadn't trusted his friend. Later, Charles and Genevieve establish a relationship, move in together and adopt a boy, Nikolaj Boyle, and Jake is the godfather.
When it's Jake's turn to get married, he returns the favor and asks Charles to be his best man. In typical Jake fashion, he pranks Charles, inviting him into the briefing room to ask him a work question, only to have the rest of the squad surprise him as he walks out of the room.
Terry Jeffords
Terry Jeffords, was Jake's Sergeant and later Lieutenant at The 99th Precinct. Jeffords sees how talent Jake and describes him as the best detective at the Nine-Nine. Before Captain Holt arrives, Terry is seen as the adult from the precinct and even after Holt's arrival, he always tries to give advice to Jake so he can act more as an adult and in a responsible way.
Jake has a close relationship with Terry's family. His children refer to him "Uncle Jake" and he is the godfather of one of Terry's daughters. When Jake finds out that his friend was planning to do a vasectomy he also understands that Terry doesn't actually wants it and advises and convinces him to talk to his wife about his feeling about the procedure, which leads to the procedure not being performed. Later, Jake finds out that Terry is going to be a father again because he asks Jake to pay him back the money he lent him, which Jake does even though he has to sell his car. Peralta ended up to be Ava's godfather and on the day she is born, Terry is not present when his wife goes into labor, so Jake does everything he can to make sure that she feels comfortable and despite first respecting the fact that Sharon and Terry do not want to have their daughter in the hospital after their experience with the birth of the twins, Jake realizes that Sharon is in distress and manages to get an obstetrician who advises her to go to the hospital, where Terry manages to arrive in time to witness the birth of his daughter, thanking Jake for making the decision he did.
Terry's lectures help Jake to grow up and become more responsible even so that when he leaves Peralta in charge of the precinct because he and Amy want to go to a workshop for the day and Holt got briefly demoted, Jake was expecting a lecture, so much that he says "Oh, boy. Here comes the lecture. 'Be responsible, Jake. Don't do anything crazy or fun'." but for Jake's surprise Terry tells him that there is no lecture because he trusts him and adds that Peralta is not the same "irresponsible, immature kid".
Gina Linetti
In "The Apartment" it is revealed that Jake and Gina have been friends since childhood. As children, the two would hang out at Jake's nana's house after school. Jake helped Gina get her job as administrative assistant at the precinct. When Jake has trouble raising money to keep his apartment, Gina offers to help him out and the two eventually switch living quarters.
Jake and Gina also went to high school together. In "The Tattler," they are headed to the 20th anniversary of their high school graduation, where Jake ends up searching for a way to disprove his old high school nickname. It is revealed that Gina was the one that actually tattled, putting a damper on Jake's high school car-stealing dreams, but setting him on the path, or so Gina claims, to become a cop.
Rosa Diaz
Rosa and Jake met and became friends when they were classmates at the police academy. As detectives, they made a pact called "1,000 Push Ups," as seen in "Pontiac Bandit", where they promised to trust each other's instincts. Since Rosa is a very private person, Jake claims to only know three facts about her personal life.
When working together, Jake and Rosa have certain rituals as: "Jake and Rosa's first impressions" and "Jake and Rosa's final impressions". They work well together and when they both had a what they though it was a legit opportunity to work for Melanie Hawkins, Jake passed it on to Rosa even though he had won a bet they made up to settle who would get the job because she always wanted to work for a strong powerful woman. They both end up getting the job because she sees them as partners who don't turn their backs on each other but they found out that the lieutenant is corrupt and the two of them fall on her plan and go to jail.
After coming out to the squad as Bi, Rosa asks Jake to be with her when she decides to tell her parents. After seeing a picture of Amy and Jake together on Jake's phone when he gets a call from Santiago, her father comments that he was worried about the dinner Rosa had invited them because she sounded nervous. During dinner Rosa get's nervous and tells them that she's on a relationship with Jake, even though he's engaged with Amy. For Rosa's surprise, her parents approve it because they were worried that she was going to tell them that she was gay. Rosa gets offend by the fact that they would prefer to see her as someone's mistress then in a relationship with a woman and tells them that their biggest fear is true. All this happened after Jake and Rosa got out of jail and she is getting closer to her parents and they're having game-nights. On the next day, Rosa apologizes to Jake for putting him on the middle of her family drama but he lets her know that he's there for her. Minutes later, her father shows up and tells her that they were taken by surprise and it will take some time for them to "get use" to the fact that Rosa is bisexual and that is better that their game-nights get "suspended". At the end of the day, Jake get to Rosa's apartment with all the squad for game-night, saying that they will be there every week.
When Jake prepares his "perfect goodbye" from the Nine-Nine and the NYPD, his gift for Rosa is a board game so she can know that even though they are all going in different ways, they will always have "game-night", no matter what.
Doug Judy
The first time Jake and Judy met was when Judy asked to have a talk with Peralta. Since Judy claimed that he had a lead to Jake's arch-nemesis, the Pontiac Bandit, Jake jumped into the opportunity and trusted Judy. However, it was soon revealed that Doug Judy is the real Pontiac Bandit, and managed to escape from Jake. Since then, the two of them have encountered each other many times, mostly for Jake to help Judy when he has a problem. In one of the times they crossed paths, Doug asked Jake to be his best-man.
Their final interaction led to Peralta leave a pen on Judy's pocket which led Doug to use it to escape prison and start a new life in Amsterdam.
Nicknames and Aliases
Jake is known to frequently roleplay, during or outside of cases. He comes up with unique names for his characters, and had at least 40 nicknames, aliases and alter-egos over the course of the show.
Season One
- JP (by Terry) *this is the only time this nickname is used in the show
- Meep Morp (by Holt)
- Detective Right-All-The-Time
Harvey Norgenbloom
- Harvey Norgenbloom: CPA, recently divorced father of two with a dark sexual secret
- Amy Santiago: to the deputy commissioners.
- Jake Hammer (by Charles)
- Jake Rabbit (by Charles)
- Jake-in-the-Box (by Charles)
Herman the Janitor
- Herman the Janitor
- Joke Peralta (by Dustin Whitman)
- Death Wish: because he's always first through the door
- Pineapples (by his grandmother and Amy)
- Detective Bart Barley: tightly wound, hates violence against animals
Carl Mangerman
- Carl "Mangy Carl" Mangerman: homeless gentleman, personal assistant to Doug Judy
- Roger Strikewell: won a radio contest to be a guest auctioneer
- Jakey (by Charles)
- Jack-tractive: His parents were hippies. Jake gets distracted by Bernice on his double date with Charles and Vivian
- Rex Buckingham: British secret agent, ballistics expert, and ladies' man
- Vic Kovac: Ex-Navy SEAL who is double-crossed and left for dead
- Amy Santiago: to a florist as to not be in charge of the payment
Dave Blathis
- Dave Blathis: nationally-recognized Fox-Trotter
- Duncan Buck: raised on an oil rig by 90 men and 1 prostitute
Season Two
- Vaughn Tom Tucker: A gruff, spitting, punch-you-in-the-gut sailor man who's taking a little break on dry land, but just until his girlfriend, Cangela, gets out of lady jail.
- Dante Thunderstone: Stole his first car at the tender age of nine. Has had to fend for himself since his mother was struck by lightning while she was pregnant with him. She passed, he lived. Some say that makes Zeus his dad.
- Captain Spike Masters
- Grandma Peralta
- El babosa. Rosa told him meant The Dagger, but it means the Slug.
- Johnny: Undercover to follow an identity thief. Wears a coat "Don Johnson" style. (by Amy as "Dora")
Season Three
- Sherwin Lamonde: sculptor, painter, full-time barista. But once he sells his first piece, part-time barista.
- Brent Kennedy: OB-GYN
- Larry Sherbet: After being placed in the witness protection program and relocated to Coral Palms, Florida.
Season Four
- Henri Renault: Cat burglar on vacation from France who went to an elite international school so he doesn't speak with an accent, although, his French accent does come out when he gets excited.
- The Barracuda: Jake says to Victor Santiago that he calls himself that and that he hopes it catches on.
- Egg Peralta (by Holt)
- Carl Mangerson: Lawyer of Maxime Dubois
- Tyler Omaha, a BMX rider
- Tank Hendricks, beloved by mothers.
Season Five
- Bitch Boy, Beef Baby (by Romero)
- Billy "Big Time" Jankowski: An online gambler who lives at his mother basement.
- Det. Jacob Sherlock Peralta: Jake claims to have changed his name legally.
- Dr. Albrin Einstibe
- Barry St. Barry, a NutriCruit.
- El Ganador: a nickname he says he shares with Sergeant Boomer Maxwell, when it is revealed when Jake was never called by this name, he states that people will start calling him by that soon
Season Six
- The Tattler: Back in the high school, Jake was accused of "tattling" his friend, Brandon Bliss. Soon, all of his friends started calling him "The Tattler". Jake spent the rest of his high school as The Tattler. However, it is later revealed that Gina was the real "Tattler".
- Jackson Fox: NBA player, is best friends with LeBron James.
- Garrett: has multiple personality disorder, including Tatiana, a British mischievous seven-year-old girl, Brian, a bookkeeper in Central London, Geoffrey, an Australian man and Satchel, a gentle African-American man born in 1908.
Season Seven
- Mr. Springtime: because of how fast he makes the snow (cocaine) disappear.
- Sean: Jake's criminal alias to hang out with Doug Judy's friends. Sent to prison for 5 years for elder abuse.
- Prank Master General
- Kevin Cozner: When Cheddar was kidnapped, the kidnapper demanded Kevin bring a specific file to get the dog back. Not wanting his husband in danger, Captain Holt had Jake and Kevin switch personas, and Jake went to the tradeoff disguised as Kevin.
Season Eight
- Mitchell Keith Erikkson from Toms River, New Jersey who named himself. Fan of Billy Joel. Jake's cover persona to distract Frank O'Sullivan.
- Jake "Zach" Peralta: Jake's claimed middle name even though his real middle name is Jeffrey, which he finds quite embarrassing. He still claims this after Doug Judy exposes his actual name.
- Mitch: gas company employee
Trivia
- Jake is right-handed.
- He loves nachos and "orange drank"
- Jake wears contacts.[3]
- He can do the worm.
- He knows the names of all the Transformers.
- Is mortally allergic to bees and wasps.[4]
- In Season 8 he only gets a scratchy throat if he gets stung.[5]
- It's implied by Charles in "The Wednesday Incident" that his "type" is Latina women, referencing Sophia Perez and Amy Santiago.
- He is a basketball fan. New York Knicks, Steph Curry, LeBron James. His favorite memory is when they fired coach Phil Jackson.
- His favorite musician is Taylor Swift.[6]
- Jake always chooses "paper" when doing "rock, paper, scissors"[7]
- His least favorite word is "buttress."[8]
- He is afraid of heights[9]
- Hearing the words "I am proud of you" is his tear trigger.
- Jake's blood type is B+. [10]
- Jake says he has never used a napkin until his marriage to Amy.
- Jake never drank water before Amy, so when she forced him to start, he was peeing an excessive amount as seen in "The Slaughterhouse". After Rosa continuously drugs it with caffeine he decides he's never drinking water again. In "HalloVeen", Amy says that he now only pees every two days.
- Jake joking claimed to have legally changed his middle name to Sherlock; however, in "PB & J", it is said that his middle name is Jeffrey. This confirms that he was kidding when talked about changing his name.
- According to Doug Judy, Jake lies to people and tells people it's "Zach"
- When Holt arrived at the precinct, Terry said to him that the only case Jake couldn't solve was how to grow up. At the end of the series, Holt tells Jake that he was finally able to figure it out.
- Jake has been separated from the detective squad at the end of half of the season finales; going undercover at the end of season 1, going into witness protection at the end of season 3, going to prison at the end of season 4, and retiring from the force at the end of season 8.
- He is similar to Richard Castle from Castle and Shawn Spencer from Psych.
Quotes
- Witness: I think it was that song... I want it that way?
- Peralta: Backstreet Boys, I'm familiar.
- Peralta: Ask him about his bank... (screen breaks) account. You should ask him about his bank account. Captain, Santiago broke the glass!
- Peralta: Anyways, I'm gonna go cry in the bathroom. Peace out, homies!
- Peralta: Oh! Thank god! My wife and my dad are here. I mean, Captain Dad. I mean, I know who my dad is. It's you! Hi, Amy![4]
Costumes
References
- ↑ As referenced in Pimemento
- ↑ as mentioned in The Crime Scene
- ↑ Revealed in the episode, Casecation
- ↑ Captain Peralta & The Swedes
- ↑ The Lake House
- ↑ Unsolvable, Terry Kitties, Coral Palms Pt. 2, Mr. Santiago, PB & J
- ↑ The Crime Scene
- ↑ PB & J
- ↑ He said that it was "super scary" to look down from the building in The Bet. Jake and Terry stood on a ledge in "Terry Kitties", Jake constantly screamed "We're gonna die, we're gonna die!" and was crying. Went out onto a ledge in the episode "Pimemento", to save Adrian Pimento from falling, he admitted he's afraid of heights.
- ↑ Coral Palms Pt. 3