FP Jones

"Here's the thing about snakes— you don't step on'em, they got no reason to bite."

- FP to Hermione Lodge

Forsythe Pendleton "FP" Jones II is a recurring character on Riverdale. He is portrayed by Skeet Ulrich.

FP is the Leader of the Southside Serpents and the father of Jughead and Jellybean Jones.

Character description
While his character will have a history with all of Riverdale's main residents, he holds a grudge against Fred Andrews and has a special, mysterious connection to Jughead Jones.

Early life
FP grew up in Riverdale, attending Riverdale High School along side Hermione Lodge, and presumably others, such as Fred Andrews, Penelope Blossom and Alice Cooper. FP was also best friends with Fred Andrews. Later in life, they founded a construction company together, but barely made enough to stay in business. By that time FP had two kids, Jughead and Jellybean. When the kids were younger, the family use to make frequent trips to the Twilight Drive-In, however they often couldn't afford tickets for everyone, so the kids would hide in the trunk until they parked. While Fred had his wife and Archie to provide for, FP had his two kids, his wife and many hospital bills. Due to this, FP also participated in a string of criminal activities which would often get him arrested and have Fred bail him out all the time.

Eventually, due to his string of criminal activities, he became a liability for the company and was forced to resign. After losing his job, his family seems to have fallen apart. Jughead started living in the projection booth of the drive-in, and his daughter, Jellybean, and her mother went to live with her grandparents. At an unknown point he became the leader of the Southside Serpents, a dangerous biker gang of thugs and criminal mercenaries.

Season 1
FP and Hermione Lodge had a heated exchange of words behind a dumpster at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe. Unbeknownst to either of them, their interaction was captured by Cheryl Blossom on her phone. It wasn't long before the two arranged another meeting, this time behind the Twilight Drive-In, on the south side of town. Hermione handed him a brown paper bag, inside were several stacks of cash, however, FP wasn't satisfied with the amount, yet with Hiram Lodge in prison, he was left with no choice but to deal through Hermione. The next morning, he approached Jughead as he tagged his name and his signature crown on the projection booth with spray paint, he told his son that the booth would be torn down too, and taken to the junkyard, and them with it. He asked where Jughead would now be staying as the booth is no longer an option, to which Jughead replied, he'd figure it out, he always did.

Archie learns, after bumping into him in the boys' locker room early that morning that ever since the drive-in closed down, Jughead had been living out of a forgotten closet under a staircase at the High School. Jughead explained that things weren't good at home. His dad had fallen off the wagon after Fred Andrews fired him, and his mother had left with Jellybean to live with their grandparents a while back. Archie invited him to stay at his place, but he declined, saying that his situation was only temporary. Archie then spoke with his father about the situation and Fred offered to call FP about getting his job back.

Jughead visited his father at his trailer, which was littered with empty liquor bottles, to talk about the job, and FP was happy at his return. Jughead insisted on FP getting rehired at Andrews Construction and start rebuilding their family, to which FP seemingly agreed and goes to see Fred. After being rehired, FP encounters Hermione in the office and warns her not to reveal that he was a member of the Southside Serpents to Fred. To celebrate FP returning to work at the Andrews Construction, Jughead, Archie, Fred and FP go to Pop's for dinner where the two fathers told stories about their younger years. When it came time to pay, Fred and FP got into a dispute over the check.

Later that night, FP and Jughead practiced music with Archie, where FP complimented him on being better than his father. He then revealed the truth about why he was forced to resign from Andrews Construction to Jughead and Archie, much to their horror. This left FP very upset and he began drinking. Jughead took his father home and put him to sleep on couch where he mentioned to his father that he spoke with Jellybean over the phone. She wanted to be addressed as 'JB', instead of Jellybean because she thought it sounded cooler. He remarked that she's a "ten-year-old who listens to Pink Floyd on vinyl, how much cooler could she get?" Jughead also mentioned that his mother now worked at a call center and is taking online classes in the hopes of finally getting her GED, which Jellybean helps her study for. However, Jughead then noticed that his father had passed out while Jughead was helping take off FP's boots and hadn't heard a word he'd said.

The next morning Jughead was brought to the Sheriff Station by Sheriff Keller as a suspect for Jason Blossom's murder. FP showed up to the station just as Jughead was and caused a scene in front of Fred, Archie and Betty. FP was furious and angrily demanded to see Sheriff Keller for making accusations against his son and even lashed out at Fred, who tried in vain to calm him down. FP angrily pushed Fred and stated that Jughead was his son and Fred would do the same for Archie. Jughead convinced him to let it go and before he left, FP tearfully promised he would get his act together and that they would have their family back, it would just take some time. Jughead looked angry and resigned as he told his father he believed him. In the end, Jughead went to live at the Andrews house.

Physical appearance
FP would best be described as a tall man, around 6'0" in height, with a muscular build. He's a very handsome, older man with short, black hair, and light brown eyes. Being the leader of the Southside Serpents, he often wears a black leather jacket, with the gang's double-headed serpent symbol printed on the back.

Personality
While he is admittedly an alcoholic, dead beat dad, FP deeply cares for his family, but the stress of losing his job at Andrews Construction weighed heavily on him, so he relied heavily on alcohol to cope, which subsequently led to the separation of his family. This isn't to say that he doesn't care for them, it's quite the opposite actually, in order to provide for them, FP became involved in criminal activities.

His son, Jughead, is all he has left at the moment, he'd do almost anything for him, even if it meant jail time for himself, such as threatening or even attacking the local Sheriff. He has also shown a violent side, as when he heard Jughead was being interrogated by the Sheriff, he got furious and wanted to go and lash out at Sheriff Keller, only for his son to ask him to stop and not to make things worse.

Relationships

 * FP and Jughead
 * FP and Fred