Jake, the brother of Rango

In the last post I mentioned how Rango and Jake are both archetypes.

There are some further details that prove they are in a way connected.

Firstly in the saloon scene Rango mentions he is from the west,  a mythical place ,far beyond the sunset.

Rango: You might say I’m what hell has already raised up.

 

So both Jake and Rango mentioned they came from hell. True, Rango was just acting for the saloon audience, but still it is a thematic link between them.

Next we have Jake calling Rango his brother a few times during the lynch mob scenes. Jake was sarcastic, but in the end of the movie he admitted a link between them.

Jake: I tip my hat to you, one legend from another.

Not quite brotherly love, but this is as much as one can expect from a murdering snake.

And last but not least Wikipedia mentions this about Jake:

In one of the more negative reviews, Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune acknowledged its “considerable care and craft” but called it “completely soulless” and that watching it “with a big suburban preview audience was instructive. Not much laughter. Moans and sobs of pre-teen fright whenever Rattlesnake Jake slithered into view, threatening murder.

So Jake really does cause a strong reaction in kids who are consciously or subconsciously afraid of his demonic archetypal nature. Some of the details and their symbolic significance children might miss but the emotional response is there.

I think this proves that Jake is more than a mere gunslinger but has a much deeper thematic role in the movie.

 

Jake the gunslinger

Jake is apparently based on character of Angel eyes played by Lee van Cleef or maybe even the actor himself.

Notice the eye slant and mustache.

Jake has a bandolier of bullets for his Gatling gun but considering he has no arms how does he fill his gun? The bullets are most likely just for thematic detail.

His tail is a gun that rattles replacing his rattle tail. In this he shares a parallel with the mayor as he also uses mechanical aides( his wheelchair with golf clubs).

Jake’s mythical gunslinger theme was mentioned by the Mayor.

Mayor:….there is no room for gunslingers any more

… you are nothing but legends( referring to Jake and Rango)

….pretty soon no one will even believe you existed

…one last bullet to kill one last outlaw

Just like Rango represents the archetypal hero-sheriff Jake represents the archetypal gunman, a stuff of myths and dreams.