Jacks (Prince of Hearts) Character Analysis – A Curse for True Love
Overview
Jacks, the Prince of Hearts, is a Fate cursed with a deadly kiss. In A Curse for True Love, his role deepens from anti-hero to desperate protector. He bargains with Time to resurrect Evangeline after she dies opening the Valory Arch, paying the price of her memories. The novel follows his struggle to keep her safe from Apollo and from his own fatal nature, culminating in his choice to reclaim his heart and face the curse head-on. Jacks evolves from a manipulative Fate who “enjoyed inflicting pain” into someone willing to sacrifice everything—even his chance at happiness—for Evangeline.
Plot Role
Jacks serves as the hidden catalyst of the story’s central conflict. After the events of The Ballad of Never After, he turns back time to save Evangeline, erasing her memory of him. This act forces him to operate in the shadows: watching her from balconies, training her under the fake name Archer, and fighting his urge to reclaim her love. His presence haunts the narrative even when he is off-page—Apollo blames him for every misfortune, and Evangeline’s fragmented heart aches for a forgotten person. In the climax, Jacks physically fights Apollo at the Tree of Souls, then abandons revenge to be with Evangeline after she proves her love survives his kiss.
Motivations and Traits Shown through Actions
Jacks’s primary motivation is protection—a counterpoint to his earlier selfishness. He tells Castor, “At least she’ll be alive to hate me,” revealing he prioritizes Evangeline’s life over any chance at a relationship. This protection is both selfless and controlling: he crashes into her room, forces her to train in self-defense, and manipulates guards to keep her isolated. His trait of sadism (noted in Chapter 11) now warps into self-loathing. He believes he is a monster who deserves no happy ending, yet cannot stop himself from hovering over her bed “just to make sure she was still alive.”
His deceptiveness remains central. He lies about his identity, pretends to be cruel to push her away, and bargains with Aurora for his heart behind Evangeline’s back. Yet these deceptions often mask a deeper truth: he is terrified of killing her. The evidence shows he remembers how “her body went lifeless in his arms” and that he would make the same choice again despite the cost.
Chronological Arc
- Pre-Novel (Backstory) : Jacks becomes the Archer, cursed to kill a fox girl he loved. He loses his heart and believes he can never love again.
- Opening : Jacks watches Evangeline in Wolf Hall, knowing she has no memory of him. He resolves to leave her with Apollo, believing she is safer.
- Middle : He teaches her as Archer, resisting the pull of her recognition. He also confronts Castor about his killings and begins a secret exchange with Aurora to reclaim his heart—offering something he values in return.
- Climax : After Evangeline regains her memories, she confronts him at the phoenix tree. Jacks admits he caused her amnesia and prepares to burn his heart. She kisses him; against odds, she survives, and the curse breaks.
- Resolution : Jacks fights Apollo, then leaves the cavern hand-in-hand with Evangeline, telling her, “We can go wherever you want.” The epilogue confirms he no longer needs apples, implying his heart is whole again.
Relationships
- Evangeline: The core of his arc. He oscillates between pushing her away (calling her “Little Fox” as a cruel reminder) and protecting her with fierce violence. She is the first person whose love can survive his kiss, proving the curse wrong. His love is “more than a feeling” to him—it is an agonizing hope he cannot fully believe in until she revives.
- Apollo: Antagonist. Jacks despises Apollo for erasing Evangeline’s memories (though Apollo blames Jacks) and for planning to sacrifice her to the Tree of Souls. In Chapter 47, Jacks punches Apollo repeatedly, nearly killing him, before being restrained by the Valor brothers.
- Castor and Aurora: Castor is his oldest friend; their bond is strained after Castor’s vampire attack on Evangeline (in the timeline Jacks reversed). Aurora is a manipulative figure who once owned Jacks’s heart and placed the Archer curse. Jacks threatens her but ultimately deals with her.
- The Valors: Wolfric respects Jacks but restrains him from saving Evangeline, claiming “the right thing” is to let Apollo proceed. Jacks feels betrayed, shouting, “Is this because I’m a fugitive?”
Key Decisions and Consequences
| Decision | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Turn back time to save Evangeline | Erases her memories; she nearly falls for Apollo again. |
| Pretend to be Archer | Trains her but delays her full recovery of the past. |
| Reclaim his heart from Aurora | Risks his life and enables the final confrontation at the phoenix tree. |
| Try to burn his heart | Evangeline intervenes, proving her love is the antidote to the curse. |
| Walk away with Evangeline | Abandons revenge and his fugitive status for a shared future. |
Theme / Symbol Connections
Jacks embodies several core themes of the book. His fatal kiss represents the curse of fate versus true love—only a girl who will never love him should survive, yet Evangeline’s love is “the ultimate form of hope” that overrides the rule. Memory and identity are central: Jacks literally steals Evangeline’s memory to keep her alive, and the story curse twists truth. His character arc also explores sacrifice and protection: he consistently chooses her safety over his happiness, a reversal of his earlier cruelty.
The phoenix tree symbolizes both his heart and the cost of immortality. Watching its leaves change from green to gold mirrors his own transformation from a broken Fate to someone capable of vulnerability. His hunger for apples, a symbol of his cursed existence, disappears by the epilogue, signaling that the story curse no longer controls him.
Questions and Answers
1. Does Jacks really love Evangeline, or is he only obsessed?
Jacks’s love is genuine, though it initially looks like obsession because he watches her sleep and invades her room. But his actions—turning back time, teaching her to fight, and choosing to burn his heart rather than let her die—prove he prioritizes her life over his own desires. Evangeline observes that “his heart was wounded like hers, but it was strong.”
2. Why does Jacks pretend to be Archer?
He uses the alias to train Evangeline while keeping his identity secret. He believes if she remembers him fully, she will try to love him, which could kill her. “If Evangeline was going to have any future, Jacks could not be a part of it.” The ruse also spares him from facing her rejection or her love.
3. How does Jacks’s kiss stop being fatal?
In Chapter 41, Evangeline kisses him and collapses, but she soon revives. The story curse requires that only a girl who will never love him can survive his kiss. Evangeline’s survival suggests her love is true and strong enough to break the curse. Jacks later reclaims his heart, which may have also altered his nature.
4. What deal does Jacks make with Aurora?
Aurora reveals (in Chapter 39) that Jacks reclaimed his heart from her and intended to destroy it. The exact terms are ambiguous, but evidence shows he agreed to something in exchange for his heart—likely the phoenix tree fire or his continued cooperation. This deal fuels the climax where he attempts to burn the heart.
5. Does Jacks get a happy ending?
Yes. The epilogue—narrated by the story curse—shows Jacks and Evangeline leaving the cavern, with Jacks saying he no longer needs apples. They lean in to kiss without consequence. The curse stops watching, “letting them have their ever after.” Jacks also tells Evangeline they can go anywhere, implying a future together free of the curse.
To dive deeper into the novel’s resolution, see the ending explained page, or explore the theme of memory and identity that defines Jacks’s struggle. For more on the rules of his heart, visit true love vs. curses.