Name: Jareth Tark
Age: 58
Occupation: King of Karth, Ancestor-God
Relationships (if any): Orieth Tark (deceased brother), Felysha Tark (deceased wife), Ulek Tark (son), Kahrin Tark (daughter), Adriaenne Tark, Sera Tark (nieces), Orion Tark (nephew), Savina Senn (previous intended fiancée/irritant), Corran Serrano (captain of kingsguard), Aram Quasar, Leck Quasar (rulers/intended future family members/gods amongst men), Arantha Harand, Torul Molec, Xia Tomak, Kassius Tomak (irritants), Caressa Harand (the whore of harand/irritant), Mira Harand (intended future daughter-in-law/pawn)
Portrayal: Michael Shannon
honestly say what you will about jareth but he’s got damn big dreams????
like most ppl might be all alexander-the-great-i’ll-conquer-the-whole-known-world is a big ambition but jareth’s ambition trumps that bc he wants to be god??????????
why settle for power when you could have ULTIMATE POWER amirite
in honesty, jareth has always wanted to be daddy’s favorite, but he never has been
he grew up a younger son, always struggling to keep up with his father and brother
spoiled by his grandmother, disappointing to his father
he always felt caught in between and in some ways he was: one moment pushed, the next petted
he learned quickly how to play his parental figures off each other to get what he wanted
the problem always lay in the comparison to his “upright” (jareth prefers the term “uptight”) older brother who always did exactly what their father wanted
it was galling to again and again and again have that much thrown in his face
the two boys had little in common and, as time passed and both reacted to one another, they eventually had nothing but their common ancestors to link them
his grandmother was always there to remind him he’d done his best, but jareth’s best was somehow never enough for his father
when his grandmother passed away, jareth had no support
his father would ride him about being soft and his brother was constantly disappointed in his perceived failures
jareth longed to show them both what he was truly made of
jareth felt cut off and disenfranchised
he was a prince, as well, and deserved all the respect his brother got
he longed all his life long for his father’s acceptance but somehow it never proved forthcoming
his father died, and still jareth had not proved himself
ever since that time - and really before it - jareth has been dissociated from other humanity and believes the universe revolves entirely around him
was raised almost entirely by his mother’s mother who spoiled him relentlessly
jareth tark was never meant to rule karth and it shows
the second son of his generation born to house tark, it was assumed he’d never have the chance to rule and no precautions were were taken to instruct him
privately, jareth held out the hope that his parents were wrong and his brother would either have no children or have all daughters or else simply die and, accordingly, leave everything to jareth
in all honestly, jareth learned to despise his brother early on
the two were quite close in age and, rather than breeding fraternity between them, it made only for rivalry
orieth was only a few years older than jareth and, in jareth’s eyes, had everything handed to him
jareth always craved his father’s favor and attention
ulion was a good man but not an especially patient one when it came to senselessness and it was that above all which jareth displayed
at first, his father was simply absorbed in other matters and din’t have time, but as jareth got older and his true colors started to show, ulion became more and more digusted
rather than looking to himself or his father, whom jareth idolized, jareth blamed his brother for the discord
he felt that orieth was poisoning ulion against jareth and that, whenever he failed, orieth was sabotaging him somehow
even their brides proved unequal
orieth wed a valerian, while felysha - the daughter of a karthine: beneath him; no emperor, no offworlder - was pushed off on jareth
jareth was unspeakably disappointed when his wife produced a female child
fortunately, orieth also had a girl, though he somehow seemed to take joy in his failure
two years later, orieth had another child and jareth found himself furious that felysha was not also pregnant
to his relief, orieth’s second child was also a girl and, when felysha next fell pregnant (by no accident soon afterwards), jareth welcomed a son
though felysha had always been a disappointment, she had finally made herself worth the investment and jareth felt relieved to know he no longer had any need of her
soon after, felysha suffered an accident which resulted in her premature death
there was no autopsy, as jareth tearfully begged his brother to let felysha rest in peace and not tear open her body, and orieth relented in pity
still, felysha has had her revenge: their children have proven to be almost as disappointing to jareth as was their mother
it wasn’t always that way
once, jareth was proud to have such a beautiful, desirable daughter and such a dutiful son
he didn’t realize they were failures until it was too late
feeling cast out from his own family, jareth spent a great deal of time bemoaning his state with other malcontents such as the quasars
at the time, jareth believed himself the greatest of their number and believed that the quasars were flocking around him, rather than realizing that he was in fact attaching himself to them
he took pride in believing that such a rich house was taking the time to curry favor with him
(in fact, jaren and his sons were more irritated that their private discourse was being interrupted by jareth again)
jareth has conveniently forgotten these thoughts, now
now he recalls it differently: he remembers being the quasars’ most trusted servant, he remembers believing fervently in their holy mission (about which he hadn’t at the time known)
in any case, the quasars had more gumption than had jareth and an actual plan and they soon took what they felt to be theirs (with fire and blood) and toppled an empire to place themselves on a throne
having been such a faithful friend, jareth assumed that he would be receiving of their favor and they would soon divest orieth of his crown to put it upon jareth’s brow
orieth, afterall, had fought against them
yet, when orieth surrendered, he was permitted to keep not only his head but also the crown upon it
knowing his brother’s tendencies, jareth made it his mission to keep tabs on him
it was plain to jareth that orieth’s loyalties did not lie with the quasars
jareth’s spies were busy bees, but even so were thwarted at almost every turn
still, jareth knew orieth was up to something - he simply didn’t know what
that didn’t matter so much, however, as amassing the proof
just as jareth finally got something on his brother, however, adria swooped in to steal his thunder
she turned her father in for treason, plotting to overthrow house quasar
orieth was executed and orion was disinherited (along with his sisters) and cast into the fighting pits, making jareth king of karth at last
since then, jareth has supported the quasars, attaching himself most ardently to them and worshipping at their altar in the hopes of someday becoming a quasar ancestor, himself, and therefore becoming a god
to this end, he has unsuccessfully tried to link kahrin first to aram and later to leck
knowing their disinterest to be a defficiency in neither them nor himself, he chooses to blame her and ‘that harand slut’ rather than political circumstance
