Jughead Jones

"Hope. A word so close to home, and as tricky. As much as we wanted Jason’s killer caught, and the town, our home, to feel safe again, every day that passed, our hopes dimmed more and more. There’s that old, cliched saying, “It’s darkest before the dawn.” But sometimes… There’s just darkness."

- Jughead in narration

Forsythe Pendleton "Jughead" Jones III is a main character on Riverdale. He is portrayed by Cole Sprouse.

Jughead is a student at Riverdale High School and a close friend of Archie Andrews, as well as the son of FP Jones, leader of the Southside Serpents. He is currently in a relationship with Betty Cooper.

Jughead is the narrator of the series, who started writing a novel about Jason Blossom's mysterious death.

Character description
''A heartthrob with a philosophical bent and former best friend of Archie Andrews. He is still smarting from the rift that took place between the two.''

Early life
Jughead grew up in Riverdale, alongside Archie Andrews and Betty Cooper. He is the son of FP Jones, who is the leader of the Southside Serpents, a gang located on the south side of town. FP had been fired from Andrews Construction for theft, which led him to begin drinking heavily, and Jughead's mother to take off with his ten-year-old sister, Jellybean. The two of them currently live with their grandparents, while Jughead took up residence in the projection booth at the Twilight Drive-In.

Six years prior to the series, he was playing with matches outside Riverdale Elementary School, and accidentally set the building on fire, which resulted in him spending some time at Riverdale Juvenile Delinquent Center. On top of this, Jughead was routinely bullied throughout High School by the football team and, consequently, Jason Blossom as well.

Prior to the summer of 2017, he and Archie were best friends, they had even planned a road trip, one that would later be cancelled. The two of them had a falling out, the reason for which is currently unknown. Jughead would come to find out that the reason for Archie's cancelling of the road trip was due to his liaison with Ms. Grundy. This trip was intended to take place on July 4th, the same day Jason Blossom mysteriously disappeared on a boating trip at Sweetwater River with his sister Cheryl.

Season 1
In Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe, Jughead sat in a booth as he began writing a novel about the events surrounding Jason Blossom's apparent death. In it, he described how the town of Riverdale was often presented as safe, decent and innocent, as many other small towns around the world are, but if you look close enough, you can see the shadows underneath. On the first day of school, he attended the memorial for Jason in the gymnasium. The following Saturday night, instead of going to the back-to-school Semi-formal like most of the students, Jughead spent another night at the Chock'lit Shoppe again. He was surprised when Archie came in looking for Betty, however, she was not the only topic of discussion as they briefly talked about Jason's death.

Before Archie left, Jughead gave him a piece of advice, he advised Archie to talk to Betty, because it could go a long way; it would have gone a long way with him as well. The next morning, he was present at the shore of Sweetwater River as Jason Blossom's body had discovered, surprisingly, he had a bullet hole in his head.

As usual, Jughead sat in a booth at Pop's shoppe working on his novel, he transcribed the entire town had likely been hoping against hope that Jason Blossomhadn't drowned on July 4th. They'd come to school Monday morning, and there he'd be, or that they'd see him and Cheryl sharing a smoothie at Pop's, however, this was before the undeniable discovery of his body at Sweetwater River. Now, all that remained were the terrible secrets that could only be revealed through the cold, steel blade of a coroner's autopsy scalpel. Jughead had a brief conversation with Archie in the hallway, where his sardonic humor over Jason Blossom's death fell short with Archie. Before heading off to class, Jughead recalled that he and Archie were suppose to go on a road trip during the summer, over July 4th weekend, which Archie just so happened to bail on at the last minute, which led Jughead to believe that Archie was hiding something.

Jughead was shocked to learn that Archie and Ms. Grundy were in a secret love affair; he stumbled upon them has they were in a close embrace, leading Jughead to confront Archie later that day. Archie revealed that he and Grundy had been in a relationship since the summer, and that they both were Sweetwater River on July 4th, when Jason was ostensibly killed. They heard a gun shot that day, which Jughead urged Archie to report to the police, but he resisted, having been manipulated by Ms. Grundy into keeping this information to himself for fear their relationship would be discovered. Jughead claimed that she cared more about herself than she did Archie, the fact that she's the one who told him to keep quiet only supported Jughead's claim. He was disappointed in Archie's resistance, although the Archie he knew wasn't. he at least tried to do the right thing.

In the student lounge, Reggie, being the overbearing jock that he typically is, began pointing fingers at who Jason's killer could be, to no surprise, he singled out Jughead, claiming he killed Jason. Reggie asked if he performed sexual acts with the body afterwards, in which Jughead reminded him that the technical term was, then asking if Reggie could actually spell the word. This led to a heated confrontation between Archie and Reggie as he came to Jughead's defense, which ended with Archie getting a black eye. Eventually, Archie came to his senses, he approached Jughead at the Pep Rally to inform him that he would be bringing his knowledge of the gun shot to the police, Archie then apologized for the crap he said to Jughead the previous night.That moment marked the beginning of them rebuilding their fractured friendship. To celebrate, they headed to Pop's shoppe for milkshakes, where they ran into Betty and Veronica, who welcomed the boys to join them.

His presence was requested by Betty at The Blue and Gold office. where she wanted his assistance reawakening the high school newspaper. However, Jughead wasn't sure that the Blue and Gold was the right fit for his voice, but Betty reminded her that Jason Blossom's Death changed Riverdale, nothing that bad was every suppose to happen, but it did, and she wanted to know why. Jughead agreed so long as he had complete freedom. Upon their agreement, Betty gave him his first assignment; Dilton Doiley, he was the one person at Sweetwater River on July 4th that no one seemed to be questioning. The next day, he interrupted Dilton's boy scouts meeting to ask him about the incident surrounding Jason Blossom's death, Jughead reminded him that both Archie and Cheryl said they heard a gun shot that evening, however, Dilton claimed that he didn't hear or see anything weird.

Just at that moment, Jughead noticed that he and Dilton were being watched by one of his boy scouts, the same boy scout that Jughead would later go on to confront at Pop's shoppe. As Jughead consumed the young boy scout's ice cream, he revealed that Dilton was lying about not hearing the gun shot, when in fact he was the one fired it, Jughead was in disbelief. Apparently, Dilton was a hardcore survivalist, who was teaching them how to protect themselves because if they didn't, no one would. That night, he managed to sneak his way into the Taste of Riverdale, an event that was being held by Mayor McCoy, in an effort to further question Dilton Doiley. Although, he was not the only creeper in attendance, Archie had made his way in as well in order to listen to the song that he helped Josie and the Pussycats write, a song which Jughead admitted wasn't too bad.

He found Dilton standing in the stairway, and confronted him with the knowledge that Dilton fired that gun on July 4th, which made him both a liar and a public menace. Dilton claimed that he was doing the scouts a favor, but Jughead wasn't up to hearing it, telling Dilton to save his explanation for his statement, which he could make to Sheriff Kelleror Jughead, whom suggested the latter. Dilton showed up at the Blue and Gold offices the next day, if they published the story of him firing the gun, his life would be ruined, so he offered them a better story instead. He revealed that he saw something at Sweetwater River that no one else saw, which was Ms. Grundy's car.

With the Twilight Drive-In closing, Jughead was sure that it was just another nail in the coffin that is the American dream. Furthermore, he was furious, the drive-in was very special to him, the residents should be trying to save it, which he tried to explain to Betty, Veronica, and Kevin. Jughead struggled over which film he should play for closing night, he asked the group, who he had already invited to attend, he went with Betty's suggestion "." As Archie, Fred, and Ms. Grundy entered the diner, Jughead pleaded with Betty and Veronica to not get involved, but neither listened. The next day at school, Jughead explained to Archie that not getting involved in the situation with him, Betty and Grundy was the most moral, apathetic choice he could've made, he also mentioned that Archie had nothing to worry about as Jughead assured him that Betty would never do anything that could possibly hurt him.

After school, Jughead went down to Town Hall, hoping that he could persuade Mayor McCoy to save the drive-in, a futile attempt it turned out to be, the deal was done, and Andrews Construction already had the contract for demolition. Jughead told her of the special connection he shared with the drive-in, how he practically grew up there with his family, yet there was still nothing the Mayor could do. In another attempt to save the drive-in, Jughead approached Fred Andrews, in effort to convince him to at least hold off on the demolition until he can track down the anonymous buyer, sadly, Fred could not afford to give him that time. Jughead grew increasingly angry, he reminded Fred how he already put his father out of work, so he might as well do the same to another Jones. That night, Jughead sat in the booth then entire night as Rebel Without a Cause played on the big screen, one last time.

The next morning, it was revealed that Jughead was living out of the drive-in, and with it's demolition in motion, he would soon be homeless. Before leaving the drive-in, for the final time, he spray painted his name and signature crown hat on the side off the booth, then having a brief run-in with his father, who told him that they'd tear the booth down, and them with it. Jughead hoped that maybe they'd save the booth, store it in the town hall attic, and rebuild it in a hundred years, so people could wonder who the hell they were.

At school, Jughead, Betty, and Kevin reconstructed Sheriff Keller's murder board that had been previously destroyed. Unfortunately, the police had no suspects in the break-in, there weren't any fingerprints, and the files, background checks, and video and audio tapes of police interviews were stolen. That evening, after learning from Betty, that Polly attempted suicide, and that Jason Blossom began selling drugs shortly before his murder, Jughead began to not only question why a rich kid would do such a thing, but what would make him want to run away from his parents, since they couldn't ask Jason or his parents, Jughead decided they would raid his room during Jason's memorial, which they had earlier been invited to by Cheryl. Following an emotional eulogy from Cheryl, Jughead and Betty snuck away during the commotion, and made their way to Jason's room, Jughead suggested that they check in such places as under the mattress, in the drawers, under the headboard, and in the closet, all locations where teenage boys would hide things.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Rose Blossom, Jason's grandmother is also in the room, she startled them both, however, she mistakenly took Betty for Polly, her older sister, Jughead remained quiet, and listened as the two of them conversed. Rose Blossom unknowingly revealed to them that Polly and Jason were engaged. As more secrets from Betty's family came to light, Jughead believed that her parents knew more than they're letting on, if Betty's father would be willing to do anything to protect Polly, the next logical question would be, how far would he go. Whoever broke into Sheriff Keller's house wasn't at the Twilight Drive-In, and coincidentally, Betty's father wasn't at the drive-in, with that being said, they added the Cooper family's name to the board.

In an attempt to find Polly, Jughead was invited over to the Cooper house for breakfast with Betty and her mother. He distracted Alice by asking to use the bathroom, which she then proceeded to lead him to, and while those two were off, Betty went through her mother's purse, and took several photos of her check book. Upon further investigation at The Blue and Gold, they discovered that one of the checks were made out to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, a home for troubled youths. Over lunch Betty and Jughead quietly discussed Polly and finding her, which subsequently led to the two of them catching a bus over to the group home, where Jughead was told to wait in the entrance hall while Betty would be taken to Polly, who turned out to be pregnant with Jason Blossom's child.

From Betty, Jughead learned that Polly and Jason had planned to run away together on July 4th, but the Coopers found out and sent her away. Before the days end, the duo were caught by Alice, who was then confronted by Polly over Jason's death, which caused a big scene, that led to Polly being pulled away by two orderlies as Betty told her she loves her and promises to get Polly out, Jughead stood there helpless as another orderly prevented him from interfering. Back at the Cooper house, he climbed a ladder to knocked on Betty's window, happily surprising her, Jughead commented "Hey there Juliet, nurse off duty?". After discussing her worries over her parents and Polly as well as herself, Jughead calmed Betty down and reassured her that they are not their families. Visibly nervous, Jughead kissed Betty, after which he exhaled and sighed and she smiled just before remembering that earlier Polly had mentioned a car Jason had stashed for them out by an old maple farm sign on Route 40. Jughead makes a comment about her changing the subject and 'ruining the moment' but she explains that it wasn't her intention.

They skipped the Variety Show that night and went out to find the supposed car, which was hidden under a tarp away from the road. Inside the vehicle they found a number of Jason's belongings, including his varsity jacket, as well as copious amounts of drugs. Jughead took photos for evidence while, unbeknownst to either of them someone watched from the woods. They immediately contacted Sheriff Keller and told him about what they'd found. Unfortunately, the vehicle was up in flames by the time the authorities had arrived. Jughead and Betty then raced to rescue Polly from the group home but by the time they arrived, her room was empty, the window broken and blood coated the glass.

Ever since the closing of the Twilight Drive-In, Jughead had been living out of a forgotten closet under a staircase at the High School. It wasn't long before Archie made this discovery, to which 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, then insisting that Archie not tell anyone, especially not Betty. In the student lounge, Jughead comforted Betty as she stressed over the situation with Polly and her unborn child, then telling Kevin that it wouldn't be the best idea to get his father involved because Sheriff Keller answers to the Blossoms.

After the earlier discussion with Jughead, Archie spoke with his father about the situation, who then decided to offer FP his job back. Jughead then visited his father to talk about the job offer, but he came home to a trailer riddled with trash and beer bottles. Jughead insisted on FP getting rehired at Andrews Construction, so they could then proceed to rebuild their family, which FP seemingly agreed with. Jughead and Betty led a search party throughout Eversgreen Forest, hoping to find Polly, after her escape from the Sisters of Quiet Mercy group home. Following the press conference held by Alice Cooper, where she revealed to the entire town that Polly was pregnant with Jason Blossom's child, Jughead offered to walk Betty home. During which, Jughead attempts to find the suitable name for the nature of their relationship, although nothing is clarified. Betty kisses Jughead and Jughead smiles as she runs off.

The next day, after a successful first day back for FP, Archie and Jughead wanted to celebrate with their fathers', so the four of them went to Pop's for dinner, where the two fathers told stories about their younger years. Later that night, Jughead sat back and watched as FP and Archie practiced music in the garage, which led Archie to ask FP about something he had mentioned earlier that night about Fred owing him. FP revealed the truth about why he was forced to resign from Andrews Construction, he got into trouble after working some odd jobs to support his family, Fred bailed him out, but he then wanted to part ways with FP afterwards. This left FP very upset and he began drinking, before taking his father home, Jughead hid his flask in Archie's couch. Once home, Jughead put his father on the couch, where he mentioned to that he spoke with his mom over the phone, who now worked at a call center and is taking online classes in the hopes of finally getting her GED, which Jellybean was helping her study for.

Speaking of Jellybean, Jughead also mentioned that she wanted to be addressed as 'JB' from now on 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?". However, Jughead then noticed that his father had passed out while taking off his boots and that he hadn't heard a word he'd said. The next morning, Jughead was taken into custody and brought down to the Sheriff Station by Sheriff Keller, as a suspect in Jason's murder. His and Betty’s fingerprints were found on Jason’s torched car as expected, but Jughead had a surprising juvie record from six years prior when he almost burned down Riverdale Elementary School, which, according to Jughead, was an accident; he was just playing with matches.

Sheriff Keller unfairly suspected him as the killer due to his background and being from the ‘wrong side of the tracks’. Fred unexpectedly came to his aid and told Sheriff Keller that Jughead was tearing down drywall for his construction company on July 11th, which Fred and Archie later falsified a time card to prove. Jughead’s father showed up to the station just as everyone was leaving 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. Jughead convinced him to let it go, 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 Andrew’s house, but he had yet to give up on his father.

After a late night of gaming, Fred entered Archie's room to inform the boys that it was time to call it a night, but not before he noticed the foul odor circulating within the room. Jughead felt very at-home with the Andrews, almost as if he, Archie and Fred were roommates in a college dorm. Tomorrow, Andrews Construction would be breaking ground for the SoDale project, which was a sore subject for Jughead as the land formerly housed the Twilight Drive-In. The next day, in the student lounge, Jughead, Archie, Betty, Veronica, Kevin, Cheryl, and Valerie analyzed Polly's dilemma, in which the Coopers wanted her but not the baby, and the Blossoms wanted the baby, but not her. A true, Jughead said, however, Veronica disagreed, it was a fairly solvable problem, she suggested that they throw Polly a baby shower, which would force the Coopers to finally start communicating.

Having learned that Andrews Construction was facing turmoil, Jughead, Archie, Kevin, and Moose volunteered to assist Fred Andrews in keeping the SoDale project on schedule until he could find a real crew. Jughead commented how handy Archie was with the wheel barrel, joking that Archie could fall back on manual labor if his music career were to never take off. However, he was very much aware that his dad's path was not for him. After a longs days work, the boys returned to the trailer, but Moose forgot his phone back on the project site, so as he returned to retrieve it, he was attacked by two thugs, who warned them to stop construction or else they'd return. While Fred thought that Cliff Blossom was at the center of the attack, Archie speculated that it could've been the Southside Serpents, angry due to being kicked off their territory, but Jughead reminded everyone that the Serpents never bothered him when the drive-in was still up and running.

The next day at Pop's shoppe, Jughead filled Betty and Veronica in on the attack at Andrews construction, in which he assured them Moose was fine. Just then, Archie entered the diner, seeking Jughead's help as he, Moose and Kevin planned on finding the supposed Serpents that attacked Moose. Kevin's boyfriend, Joaquin, who was also a Serpent, could get them into the Whyte Wyrm, a known hang out for the gang, where they could find Moose's attackers and notify Sheriff Keller. Betty wasn't too sure that it was the best idea since the Serpents were dangerous drug dealers; the drug dealer portion of that comment being confirmed a day earlier as Polly informed them that Jason was dealing for the Serpents. Jughead insisted that going into the bar was a terrible idea, but all Archie wanted to know is if Jughead would join him, which he didn't.

Jughead and Betty shared a kiss as the baby shower began, she thanked him for being there since that event wasn't his usual kind of scenery. Jughead sarcastically replied that "organizing a baby shower was totally on his bucket list". Archie unexpectedly showed up a the shower not much later, he confronted Jughead on his father being a Serpent, which is why he tried to prevent them from going to the bar. As the baby shower came to a close, Jughead explained that he was ashamed of his father's affiliations, which is why he hadn't told anyone, which Betty immediately forgave him for, and then suggested that they pay FP a visit. At the trailer park with his father, Jughead announced that they knew about the drug deal between the Serpents and Jason, the cops knew too, so if they hadn't been there already, they would be soon enough.

FP claimed they gave Jason some product to deliver upstate, but when it never showed, they assumed he ran off with it, that was until his body showed up at Sweetwater River. Jughead then asked his father if he had any involvement in Jason's death, despite FP being his father, it was the dark ages, he didn't know what to think. FP admitted that he was a lousy parent, but he insisted that he wasn't a killer. Outside the trailer, Jughead told Betty that he believed his father, and she believed Jughead, the two of them then shared another kiss. Jughead returned to the Andrews house, where he admitted that he should've trusted Archie, but he was afraid that his father was at the center of the attack. Archie understood where Jughead was coming from, saying that they were brothers, and that they would always be there for each other.

In Betty's room, Jughead assured Betty that she did nothing wrong upon learning that Polly had been ignoring her calls and emails. He said they'll figure it out, and then went in for a kiss, before being interrupted by her mother. Later that day in student lounge, after discovering that Archie could be attending an exclusive summer music program with the help of the Blossoms, Jughead questioned their motive for doing so. Archie explained that all he had to do was escort Cheryl to the maple tree tapping. Although Valerie was cool with it, Jughead was not, asking if Val was cool with him being a.

A couple days later, Jughead and Betty confronted Cheryl in the hall and demanded that they be allowed to talk to Polly. It was then that Cheryl revealed to the two of them that Polly was having twins, just as Rose Blossom had previously claimed. Betty began to wonder why Polly would not tell her something of such importance, to which Jughead explained that hostages weren't usually allowed to make phone calls. In the end, after calling Jughead a hobo, Cheryl agreed to pass on Betty's message to Polly. As Jughead, Archie, and Fred at dinner that night, they were momentarily joined by Cheryl, who thanked Archie for agreeing to escort her to a banquet, which Jughead referred to as Archie pimping himself out.

The following day, Betty ranted and raved about her parents' ill behavior during a time of crisis, where Polly was living with the Blossoms. She mentioned how her mother threw a brick through the window of The Register, an incident that Jughead wished he could've been present for, this statement was subsequently followed by an apology for his typical sense of sardonic humor. Betty felt like her family was falling apart, and she felt like there was nothing she could do to stop it, but Jughead persuaded Betty to keep fighting. He agreed that the Cooper family was splintering, but that it wouldn't fall apart because of her effort in holding it all together. jughead went on to tell Betty "You're so much stronger than all of the white noise. You're stronger than your mother, you're stronger than your father. You're holding this family together. So don't. Don't let go."

Later that night, Jughead and Betty informed Alice that they learned from Archie that Polly was fine, she didn't choose the Blossoms over them, she went there to spy on them as she suspecting them of being involved in Jason Blossom's Death. Polly was their woman on the inside, they were going to use this connection to finally expose the Blossom family. Jughead invited Alice to write with them at the The Blue and Gold.

Physical Appearance
Jughead is a lean young man of medium stature with pale skin. He has black hair and blueish-green eyes. He isn't very flashy, his choice in clothing tends toward darker colored layered shirts, that often have an "S" on the center of them, jeans with hanging suspenders, and a denim jacket, along with his trademark crown-shaped knit beanie.

Personality
Jughead is most accurately described as a sort of creepy, wise-cracking, sleuth. He's crafty, intelligent, and well known for his cynical wit and sardonic humor. Fairly perceptive, Jughead looks at Riverdale from a point of view that no one else has. He can surely be passionate at times, there aren't many things than catch his attention, or that he would consider as being worth his time, however, those that do manage to draw him in, he puts all effort and care into, such as the Twilight Drive-In, it was like a home for him. He also shows to have a soft spot for Betty Cooper, joining The Blue and Gold after she asked him and helping her find Jason Blossom's murderer. Besides his passionate nature, Jughead is fiercely loyal, even to those who have done him a great wrong. He was willing to help Archie in his dilemma with Ms. Grundy and the gun shot that possibly killed Jason Blossom, despite the fact that they were no longer friends, proving that even in spite of their strained friendship, he could never sit back and allow his friends to suffer.

Relationships

 * Jughead and Archie
 * Jughead and Reggie
 * Jughead and Veronica
 * Jughead and Betty
 * Jughead and FP
 * Jughead and Jellybean

Trivia

 * He is writing a novel based on Jason Blossom's disappearance.
 * Jughead was living at the Twilight Drive-In until it's closing, then in a forgotten cupboard under a staircase at Riverdale High School.
 * Six years prior to the series he lived at 3021 Norlin Cresent, Riverdale, USA 68247, as listed on his juvie records.
 * Jughead has been bullied at school because of his name.
 * In the episode "Chapter Seven: In a Lonely Place", Jughead appeared in his iconic Archie comics clothing for the first minute or so.