Sweet Pea

"No Serpent stands alone."

- Sweet Pea reciting the first Serpent law

Sweet Pea is a recurring character in the second season of Riverdale. He is portrayed by Jordan Connor.

He was a student at Southside High until it was shut down by Mayor McCoy, who deemed it as as a public health hazard, claiming toxic fumes were coming from the "methamphetamine lab" in the basement. Not long after the school was shut down, he transferred to Riverdale High along with Toni Topaz, Jughead Jones and Fangs Fogarty. He is also a member of the Southside Serpents.

Early Life
Not much is known about Sweet Pea's early life. It is presumed that at some point in his young life, he completed the Serpents Initiation and became a Southside Serpent. However, it's currently unclear if he met Toni Topaz, who is also a Serpent, before or after joining the gang.

Dealing with a New Serpent Member
After storming out of Mr. Phillips' class in a fit of rage the previous day, Sweet Pea and two other Serpents entered the the Red and Black offices in search of Toni and Jughead, wondering if the two of them wanted to join him at the quarry. While Toni agreed to come, Jughead denied the offer, sarcastically remarking that he didn't have his "beach body" yet. Sweet Pea took great offense to Jughead's refusal to join them, concluding that they were good enough for Jughead to ask for help from, but not good enough to hang out with. He instructed Jughead not to come crawling to them when some random Ghoulie decided to earn his stripes by taking out FP Jones' kid. While Jughead appreciated what the Serpents had done for him and his father, he had no desires in joining them, which angered Sweet Pea, enough to make him attack, though Toni was there to keep the two separate and prevent the situation from escalating. She then told Sweet Pea to take the hint as Jughead just wasn't that into him.

A couple days later in the cafeteria, he and Toni were joined at the table by Jughead, who had supposedly been attacked by the Ghoulies. They exchanged looks, nodding to one another having come to an understanding.

Southsiders vs Northsiders
Sweet Pea, Toni, Fangs Fogarty and several other members of the Southside Serpents watched Archie Andrews's recorded message to the Black Hood. He described Archie as being sick in the head after watching the recording. With Fogarty's urge to earn his Serpent stripes growing, Sweet Pea thought of no better task for him to earn those stripes than for him to return with Archie's head. Jughead on the other hand wasn't convinced that this was the best way to deal with the dilemma, referring to Archie as a lame target. If they sought to prove something, Jughead suggested that they go after the Black Hood, which would be counter productive from Sweet Pea's perspective. The Black Hood was solely going after north siders, who do nothing but blame the south side for everything that's wrong with Riverdale. The Black Hood was doing their work for them, essentially making him a hero.

The following night, Sweet Pea, Fogarty, and another Serpent caught Archie tagging their territory with the Red Circle's logo. He quickly realized that it was a message for the Black Hood. Even though Archie had no intentions on antagonizing the Serpents, he achieved just that by tagging their turf. Sweet Pea insisted that Archie return to the north side before the altercation turned violent, though Archie failed to heed his warning. On that note, Sweet Pea pulled out a pocket knife. However, that would do him little good against the gun that Archie then pulled from his bag, which sent the Serpents running in the opposite direction.

Despite the fact that he retreated the last time they met face-to-face, Sweet Pea was far from done with Archie. He and his fellow Serpents unexpectedly showed up on Archie's door step the night after their previous dispute, wondering how stupid could the northsiders be to not expect retribution after Archie came into his territory and put a gun in his face. Sweet Pea would come to learn that Archie was not alone. With him was his fellow Red Circle members/team members of the Riverdale Bulldogs. The more the merrier, Sweet Pea countered.

The Southside Serpents met up with the Red Circle in a vacant lot, where a brief standoff took place between the rivals, as a storm came in. Both Sweet Pea and Archie stepped towards the middle of the lot, with Archie throwing the first punch, knocking Sweet Pea to the ground. From there, chaos ensued as the respective groups began attacking one another. More concerned with his fellow Circle members than he is the fight itself, Archie became distracted, providing Sweet Pea with the opportunity to deliver a heavy hit, leveling Archie to the ground. Although, the beating did not stop there as Sweet Pea closed in on Archie to deliver a powerful kick to his abdomen, injuring him greatly. Fortunately for Archie, before Sweet Pea could follow through on one last blow, the sound of a gun shot rang throughout the lot. The fighting ceased as they each looked to Veronica, who had fired the gun in an attempt to bring an end to the rumble, which resulted in injuries on both sides.

Sweet Pea, Fogarty, Toni and several other Serpents gathered in the courtyard outside Southside High, where they were confronted by Jughead after he had learned of the rumble that took place in the vacant lot. Sporting a black eye, Sweet Pea explained to Jughead that they didn't jump Dilton Doiley, rather a large brawl broke out, during which time he was punched by Andrews, and sustained the aforementioned black eye, just before Veronica shot a gun into the air. And to no surprise, they where hauled in by the police while the northsiders escaped unpunished. Tired of being looked at as second-class citizens in their own town, Sweet Pea and Fogarty devised a plan to blow up the Register with a pipe bomb. Jughead objected to such action. Doing so would only worsen the divide between sides, though Sweet Pea was convinced that things couldn't get any worse than they already were. Jughead wanted them to hold off on any destructive behavior, at least until he could talk with Archie. Unfortunately, Sweet Pea was sick of Jughead always wanting to talk things out. Furthermore, he didn't even know which side Jughead was on. You can't be half a Serpent, he said.

Later that evening, Jughead entered the Whyte Wyrm, wearing the Serpents jacket given to him by Tall Boy. Sweet Pea took a break from playing pool to comment that Jughead, who he referred to as a northsider, was lost. Jughead claimed that he was right where he was suppose to be, as he was done being half a Serpent. Sweet Pea took this as a desperate play on Jughead's behalf in order to protect his friends from the north side. However, Jughead insisted that he was willing to stand with them. Although, for this to happen, he would first have to survive the initiation.

First thing the next morning, before the sun had even risen, Sweet Pea, along with multiple other Serpents, entered FP's trailer, wearing green snake masks as part of the initiation process. He stood over Jughead's bed as he woke from his sleep. Sweet Pea told him that his initiation began with assuming guardianship of the Beast, otherwise know as Hot Dog, the Serpents' personal dog.

Back at the Whyte Wyrm, Sweet Pea watched as Jughead sited all six laws of being a Serpent to Tall Boy and retrieved a knife from a rattlesnake's cage. Unbeknownst to Jughead, the snake's venom glands had previously been removed.

A couple days later, Sweet Pea, Fogarty, and the Serpents stopped by FP's trailer to proceed with Jughead's initiation when they ran into Archie, who informed Jughead of their prior altercations. Are you joining the Serpents, Archie asked Jughead. Sweet Pea replied that he'd only be one of them if he survived the initiation, which wasn't guaranteed. Archie told them that he came to deliver a message; that message being that Jughead's girlfriend, Betty, was breaking up with him. Archie claimed that just like everyone else, Betty knew that Jughead couldn't be a northsider and a southsider.

That night, the Serpents formed a path around Jughead as part of his final trial, which they referred to as the gauntlet. Jughead would have to be jumped into the gang through enduring physical punishment, though he was prohibited from fight back, as this was likely a testament to his strength and resilience. Jughead walked down the Serpent formed path, they delivered blow after blow, though Jughead continued until reaching Sweet Pea, who while wearing brass knuckles, delivered a massive punch, knocking Jughead to the ground, instantly. After regaining consciousness, Jughead returned to his feet, and shook Sweet Pea's hand, finally gaining membership to the Southside Serpents.

Sweet Pea, Toni, and many other members of the Serpents are taken into police custody after Mayor McCoy and Sheriff Keller raided Southside High in search of Jingle Jangle dealers. Of the Serpents, Jughead was the only known member to have escaped.

A couple days later, after being released from custody, Sweet Pea and Toni attended the drag race over Dead Man's curve, between Jughead and a Ghoulie named Malachi. Should Jughead win, the Serpents remain autonomous and the Ghoulies refrain from selling Jingle Jangle. However, should Jughead lose, the Ghoulies gain control over Sunnyside Trailer Park and the Whyte Wyrm. Unfortunately, the race didn't go as planned, as Sheriff Keller and local law enforcement intercepted the race at Herk Harvey bridge.

While at the Whyte Wyrm, Sweet Pea learned from Jughead that FP's release from prison was near. The bar erupted with applause from all those in attendance for the announcement. Jughead planned to bring his father up to speed on their plans with Mayor McCoy, which would "bring the Southside back", so to speak. Unfortunately, Tall Boy wasn't pleased with Jughead's decision to sit down with the Mayor. Hoping to resolve the conflict, Jughead suggested putting the decision to a vote. If the Serpents disagreed with Jughead's decision to negotiate and compromise with the Mayor, then he would step aside, however, if they agreed, he would follow through with the plan as scheduled. Many of the Serpents within the bar raised their hands in agreement with Jughead's peaceful resolution with the Mayor, Sweet Pea and Toni included.

A couple nights later, Sweet Pea attended FP's retirement party at the Wyrm. It was at the party that Andrews and his girlfriend performed Michael Andrews' and Gary Jules' Mad World. However, after they abruptly exited the stage, the crowd began to "boo", which Sweet Pea had a hand in. He then joyfully watched as Jughead's girlfriend, Betty, performed the "Serpent dance" in front of the entire bar. Afterward, he and his fellow Serpents celebrated as FP took the stage to announce that he was no longer retiring, and that he would continue to reign as king over the Serpents.

Taking out the Snake Charmer
Every year, the Serpents gave back to the Southside of Riverdale through Toys for Tots and Meals on Wheels. It had become a Serpent tradition to look after the young and the elderly of the Southside during the holiday season. Sweet Pea took a break from wrapping gifts at the Whyte Wyrm to assist FP and Tall Boy in making a drug-run for the Snake Charmer.

The next day, Sweet Pea, Jughead, Toni, Fogarty, and many of the other younger Serpents gathered to discuss Penny Peabody, who had forced FP into dealing drugs. Jughead revealed that before his father was released, he was responsible for making the runs. Since then, she had roped Sweet Pea and Tall Boy into trafficking her drugs. Sweet Pea wondered if Jughead's anger truly lied with the fact that he was chosen over Jughead to assist with the deliveries. However, Jughead explained that he was upset because he didn't wish for the Serpents to end up like the Ghoulies. Furthermore, Jughead doubted that any of them became Serpents merely to be at the beck and call of a drug Queenpin like Penny. The path in which the Serpents were currently headed only ended in two ways, jail or death. Which is why in the interest of self preservation, Jughead wanted to take out Penny. However, Sweet was hesitant in joining Jughead's cause given that the Snake Charmer had helped some of them in the past. Though this admittedly came at a price. If they didn't stop Penny while they had the chance, she was going to trap every single one of them into the business of drug trafficking. The only remaining question was whether or not they were willing to risk their lives in order to save FP's. "What is the first law", Toni asked. "No Serpent stands alone", Sweet Pea replied. Acknowledging this, he stood to his feet as he and the other Serpents agreed to join Jughead in stopping the Snake Charmer.

That night, led by Jughead, the young Serpents, hidden behind snake masks, entered Penny's warehouse, placed a black hood over her head, and carried her away. They drove her out to Greendale, her new place of residence, as she had been banned from returning to Riverdale. While they didn't care where she set up shop, it wasn't going to be on the Southside or with the Serpents. If she sought to deal drugs and extort people, that would be done elsewhere. Penny laughed at them, then pulling up the sleeve of her leather jacket to reveal her Serpents tattoo, stating that Serpent law prohibited them from hurting one of their own. With that being said, it was time that she learn that her tattoo didn't make her a Serpent considering that she hadn't been honoring their ways. Sweet Pea and Toni held Penny down as Jughead pulled out a knife, and removed Penny's tattoo, which was an excruciatingly painful process.

Transferring to Riverdale High
Upon learning that Southside High was being closed down due to quarantine, Sweet Pea and Fogarty kicked open the back doors of the school to inform Jughead and Toni off the terrific news. Sweet Pea was pleased to announce, that he, Fogarty, Toni and the Serpents would be transferring to Jughead's old stomping grounds, Riverdale High.

The following day, Sweet Pea, Jughead, Toni and Fangs arrived at Riverdale High, where they were welcomed by Veronica. In an effort to ease their transition to the Northside, she had set up a registration desk in the hallway for locker assignments, class schedules, and a list of sports and extracurriculars. As she encouraged each of them to drink from the cup that is "fair Riverdale, Cheryl and Reggie interrupted. With the River Vixens and Riverdale Bulldogs in tow, Cheryl approached the registration desk to hurl insults at the Serpents, referring to them as "Southside scum" and "raggamuffins". Cheryl announced that she would not standby and allow Riverdale High's above average GPA to drop because of overcrowded classrooms with underachievers such as themselves. Cheryl instructed them to find another school to deface. In doing so, she upset Toni. Just as the two were about to face off, Archie stepped in the middle, hoping to put their differences aside so that they could start over. Unfortunately, when Reggie declined Archie's offer, Sweet Pea stepped forward to finish what they had started during the rumble, though Jughead and Fangs would not allow an altercation to ensue, holding Sweet Pea back until Mr. Weatherbee arrived to send them off to class.

In the student lounge, Sweet Pea, Toni and Fangs became acquainted with Veronica, of the Park Avenue Lodges, Josie, formerly of Josie and the Pussycats, and Kevin, the Sheriff's son and ex-boyfriend of Joaquin DeSantos, a fellow Serpent. They were then called out into the hallway by Weatherbee, who had discovered that a Serpent had been spray painted onto the school's seal. The Serpents pleaded their innocence as they were certain that Reggie was responsible for the vandalizing act despite the fact that he claimed that the defacement of the seal was a prime example of what Serpent do best, tag their turf. Having fallen victim to Reggie's lies, Weatherbee outlawed gang behavior of any kind, including Serpent tattoos, which were to be hidden, and jackets, effective immediately. Possession of any gang paraphernalia would lead to immediate suspension.

At the Whyte Wyrm after school, Sweet Pea played arcade games and Toni had a drink as Jughead expressed his frustration with Weatherbee, claiming that they were being profiled. He was already telling them what to wear. Jughead began to worry what might follow, possibly brain implants that can control what they think. Toni told him to calm down as he sounded like a conspiracy nut. Sweet Pea and Toni went on to explain that with the closing of Southside High, they were now attending a better school with a computer lab, text books, and fully functioning toilets. As far as Sweet Pea and Toni were concerned, getting transferred to Riverdale High was the best thing that could've happened to them. If it meant that they had to take off their Serpent jackets from 8:30 am - 3:00 pm, Monday - Friday, then so be it.

While in the student lounge, the following day, Sweet Pea, Toni and Fangs were shocked to discover that Jughead had returned to school while wearing his Serpent jacket even though such attire had been banned. In the lounge, along with them, was Reggie and the Bulldogs, who weren't too pleased to see that Jughead was still wearing his jacket. When Reggie demanded that Jughead remove it, he declined, telling Reggie that he couldn't comply and that Reggie wouldn't understand why he couldn't because he had no sense of honor, history, or loyalty. This angered Reggie to the point where he became physical, forcefully trying to tear Jughead's jacket from his body. Without hesitation, Sweet Pea and Fogarty came to Jughead's aid, resulting in a rumble in the center of the lounge between the Serpents and Bulldogs. As a result, they were each given a week's worth of detention by Weatherbee, who then looked to Jughead, who still wore his jacket proudly. Weatherbee demanded that Jughead take it off. Should he refuse, he would be suspended. With that being the case, Jughead decided that he would rather miss school than to conform to Weatherbee's rules.

The next day, Sweet Pea and Toni were issued standard uniform (navy blue collar shirts and khaki pants) by Weatherbee, who claimed to understand that not every Southside student had the means to purchase Riverdale High acceptable clothing. The uniform would supposedly help them fit in. As for Fogarty, he was suspended after refusing to wear the uniform. Essentially, their choices were conform or be cast out.

Sweet Pea, Toni, Fogarty and the other Southsiders were welcomed to the inaugural meeting of the "Swords and Serpents" club by Jughead. Officially, they are a gaming group sanctioned by Mr. Weatherbee, where like minded students can meet to concoct world building, role playing scenarios, inhabiting fantastical heroes, and dispatching mythological creatures. Unofficially, it's a safe haven-like club for them to be Serpents during school hours. Jughead refused to allow them to shed their skin, rather they would simply lying low in the tall grass.

Physical Appearance
Sweet Pea appears to be slim, but also very tall. He has long jet black hair brushed to the side and dark brown eyes, with the gang's symbol of a double-headed serpent tattooed on the left side of his neck. He is usually seen wearing his Southside Serpent jacket.

Personality
Not much is known about Sweet Pea as of yet, though he appears to be protective of his own and has a firm stance on loyalty. Due to Jughead's biological relation to Southside Serpents leader, FP Jones, Sweet Pea was fast to accept Jughead as one of their own. However, Jughead did not accept his hand in friendship initially, which Sweet Pea took as a sign of disrespect, thus triggering his already short temper.

After Jughead went through the Serpents Initiation, Sweet Pea has looked at Jughead now with a sign of respect for him, as Jughead was more than willing to take a beating that was bestowed upon him, and passing all of the tests that were given to him in the process in order to become one of them. Even though Sweet Pea and Jughead had their differences in the beginning, they've since put it aside of them, and moved passed it, showing that Sweet Pea is more than capable of forgiveness.

Archie Andrews
Sweet Pea has a very negative and hostile relationship with Archie. When Archie spread his symbol to draw out the Black Hood by paining his symbol around the Southside, Sweat Pea pulled a knife on him and Archie later drew a gun on him. This then lead to the Riverdale Rumble. Since then, they've become enemies, and due to Sweet Pea's hate towards the Northsiders, for looking down upon Southsiders and treating them like trash, he despises Archie.

Toni Topaz
Sweet Pea and Toni are good friends, who are often seen together, both in and out of school, though it remains to unclear how they met or how long the two have known each other since meeting. Due to their mutual ties to the Southside Serpents, Sweet Pea and Toni are expected to be willing to die for one another, as the gang present a fairly strong bond of loyalty and family bond. Of the two, Sweet Pea is without a doubt more reckless and impulsive, often acting off of anger, unlike Toni, who on the other hand is more composed and relaxed. On occasion, Toni has been known to calm Sweet Pea, proven when she defused the altercation that nearly unfolded between him and Jughead in the Red and Black offices after the latter refused to join them. This ended with Toni escorting Sweet Pea.

Jughead Jones
The relationship between Sweet Pea and Jughead didn't get off to a great start, mostly due to Jughead's hesitance in joining the Southside Serpents. With Jughead being the son of the Serpent leader, FP Jones, Sweet Pea was quick on accepting Jughead into his crowd, as one of there own, since the Serpents considered Jughead a Serpent by blood. They viewed him as family and even treated him as such by extending a hand in friendship and helping out when they were asked. However, Jughead didn't share this sentiment of a family bond between himself and the gang. He more so saw himself as a conscientious objector, who would step in when required. It was this attitude towards the Serpents that angered Sweet Pea. He took this as a sign of disrespect. However, Sweet Pea made a point to warn Jughead that as son of the Serpent leader, he had a target on his back, and denying the Serpents hand in friendship would only increase his chances of being attacked. Just as Sweet Pea predicted, Jughead finally decided to join them after an attack on him from the Ghoulies. Jughead has since under gone the initiation into becoming a full fledged member of the Serpents, resulting in new found respect between the two.

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