Jack Noir

Jack Noir, also known as the Sovereign Slayer, was an Archagent—a high-ranking member of Derse—introduced in Act 3. He oversaw various affairs of the kingdom and did all of the important paperwork, and was the direct subordinate of the King and Queen, until he slew the Black Queen, and soon after, the King.

A "Jack" is a face card in a normal deck of cards that ranks below the king and queen, and "Noir" is a pun on the detective film genre Film noir, an allusion to Problem Sleuth. "Noir" also means "black" in french, making his full name a pun on the card game Blackjack.

His name is pronounced "Jack Nwär".

He was created from the same character template that became Spades Slick in the trolls' session of the game.





Biography
When he was introduced, Jack looked similar to other Dark Kingdom creatures, and appeared to be wearing a multi-colored jacket with a spade on the lower right. He particularly despised wearing his Jester's hat. He has a gray colored tongue and a row of sharp teeth, which are obscured by his lips, unlike those of common imps. Jack Noir was also seen without his outfit on after it appeared to be affected by Rose's Prototyping involving the Eldritch Princess, giving it a pink frilly skirt, and a hat similar to that of the princess's.

Jack finally became so fed up with the ridiculous costumes that he utilized the object in Jade's box to kill the Black Queen, taking the ring for himself and ascending to the throne.

Being created from the same character template, he looks exactly like Spades Slick of the Midnight Crew, to the point that the player tries to name him Spades Slick. Jack Noir is the only character other than the four protagonists who is named by the player. Spades Slick is Jack after he became an Exile in the Trolls' game, entirely seperate from the Jack in the Kids' game.

Personality
Jack has no tolerance for things he doesn't want to do. His dank demeanor, sarcastic nature and nasty attitude are clearly shown as Jack makes hatred filled comments and a complete disregard for the care of anything other than himself. In addition, Jack seems to have little loyalty to his duties, frequently neglecting them, and even sending the Parcel Mistress on an assassination mission. Jack sarcastically refers to the Black Queen as a wise and just ruler.

He hated the Harlequin motif in which he was forced to dress, doing so only under the direct order of the Black Queen. He tried to draw the line at his stupid hat, but she forced him to wear it. When John's Dad went out of his way to destroy it, Jack released him out of thanks. After further prototypings produced even more ridiculous costumes for him to wear, he snapped and killed the Black Queen, taking her ring and seizing power.

Dark Kingdom
Jack's role in the Dark Kingdom is to make use of several window-shaped monitors—or Fenestrated Walls. He has three such walls; the fourth wall was stolen. All four walls together would form a 'Cubicle of Vigilance.' The fourth wall happens to look like the "odd device" in Jade's bedroom; it was also seen in Andrew's study.

Jack can watch events in both the Dark Kingdom and in The Medium, namely the victories of John and his father over his minions. He seems to consider the monsters they face 'graveyard stuffers'—though, since they're the weakest known Agents, he's probably right. His other duties involve keeping prisoners of the Dark Kingdom from escaping, though in a recent event the guards were unable to stop Dad and his massive amount of Mangrit from reaching him. At that point, Jack is almost certainly unable to put up any kind of real fight against Dad, and since Dad destroyed the hat he so hates, he lets him leave in spite of the damage he's done.

He later finds the Parcel Mistress attempting to retrieve the green package. Too lazy to process the paperwork, he neglects his duties and instead offers the package in exchange for the white crowns. He gives her a Regisword to complete the task.

His subordinate Agents are the Draconian Dignitary, the Courtyard Droll and the Hegemonic Brute. As the Sovereign Slayer, they still serve him, and he has made wearing costumes for them optional.

Regicide
While Jack idled away doodling graffiti of the Queen on a parking ticket, the Black Queen appeared on one of his monitors. The Queen appeared in the room and demanded he wear his new, frilly, humiliating outfit. When Jack refused, she tried out a number of equally humiliating costumes on him, until Jack snapped and ripped off his jester garb. The Queen threatened him with the blade in her chest until Jack grabbed Jade's green package. He reached inside of it, and used the Royal Deringer it contained to deprive the Queen or her ring before killing her. He then picked up her ring and donned it himself, taking the prototyped form and becoming the terrifying Jackspers Noirlecrow, a name Andrew made up while typing the overly long recap. Several aspects of this scene throw back to the end of the Midnight Crew Intermission. He now refers to himself as the Sovereign Slayer and has made the wearing of the prototyped costumes optional for Agents. As of now, he has also succeeded in decapitating the Black King after destroying his scepter and taking his crown. According to a conversation between carcinoGeneticist and John, he has now become something more than a queen or a king—an ace, specifically the Ace of Spades, if you will.

According to Andrew Hussie in a recap, Jack has become an unexpected variable in the game, and his usurpation of power through murder will have disastrous consequences. It has also been hinted that he will be the main villain for the remainder of the story. Jack's extreme variability (and more directly, his usurpation) has been confirmed by carcinoGeneticist as what causes the Homestuck Kids' version of The Reckoning to occur earlier than expected. Soon after CG confirmed this, it began.

Rampage
After killing the Black King, Jack begins a rampage on the Battlefield, indiscriminately killing both members of the black and white army. The entire encounter lasts mere seconds.

He leaves only the Warweary Villein standing, presumably inspiring the Villein's hatred of kings. It is also possible that the Villein was exiled by Noir for unexplained reasons. Afterward, the Courtyard Droll hands him the White King's scepter. He uses it to begin the Reckoning, and meteors head to Skaia. Then, Jack heads to Prospit. Upon littering the streets with corpses, and destroying parts of the planet, he ultimately cuts the chain that holds together Prospit and its moon, which then falls out of orbit and collides with the Battlefield. He then engages in a sword fight with Bro on top of the Beat Mesa. Surprisingly, his fighting skills are matched by Bro's, perhaps hinting that guardians are much, much more powerful than previously thought. After Dream Jade is killed by the impact of the moon, and after John reads her letter, Jack appears in front of him brandishing the sword in his midriff. However, before he can kill Dream John, he is stopped by a cyborg version of the plush bunny stitched together by Rose, with metal armour wielding four weapons- the Warhammer Of Zillyhoo, Ahab's Crosshairs, the Quills of Echidna and the Royal Deringer. The nuclear symbol on Jade's T-shirt and tower is on the chest of the bunny, implying it was she who modified it.