- “In the valley of the Mystics, there lives a Gelfling, Jen. The Skeksis killed his family, destroyed his clan. Only Jen survived, to be raised by the wisest of the Mystics. But there is a prophecy. A thousand years have passed, and now, once more, the world must undergo a time of testing. Now it must he healed, or pass forever into the rule of evil. At this time, Jen is the chosen one.”
- ―Narration about Jen
Jen is the main protagonist of Jim Henson's 1982 dark fantasy adventure film The Dark Crystal. He is one of the two Gelfling survivors of the Garthim Wars and journeys to heal the Dark Crystal and end the reign of the Skeksis once and for all.
Jen was joined by Kira, one of the last remaining Gelflings not attacked by the Garthim.
Background
As a child, Jen's parents were killed by the Garthim, a group of crab-like creatures who were created by the Garthim to exterminate the remaining Gelflings. No more Gelflings left, Jen was found by the wisest and oldest of the Mystics and raised in the Mystic valley, where he received an education by urSu.
Jen also began to translate runes and was taught about sciences and mathematics. From his point of view, he did not like any of the foods that the cook of the Mystics had He learned how to make music from UrSol the Chanter.
Personality
Jen is a kind, caring and selfless Gelfling boy, due to his young age and upbringing by the Mystics. However, he was proned to be impatient. He was very well educated due to his addition into Mystics' culture, having been able to translate old Gelfling ruins and studying the stars and learning music. Quite intelligent, Jen was able to find out which shard in Aughra's possessions by eliminating it to three with ease and finally finds it when he plays the chant of the Mystics on his firca (two way flute). Jen got along well with Kira's adoptive family, as well as playing the Firca to the Podlings' song.
Jen also has a sense of remorse and guilt, especially reflected when he blamed himself for the Garthim attacks on Aughra's observatory and Kira's village. However, Kira assured him that neither of the attacks are Jen's fault, as the Garthim and the Skeksis always attacked everything. This is essentially true, as Jen had no idea any of this would ever happen. He is also determined to heal the Dark Crystal, as it must be so as Thra is dying itself. He knows that the Skeksis are evil because they had tarnished his once green homeworld.
He is also very caring to his friends. At first afraid of Aughra, Jen grew slightly more comfortable around her. When the Garthim attacked and Jen escaped he looked back and worried that Aughra parished in the Garthim attack in her observatory. He is especially friendly towards Kira, they became incredibly close to her and they developed a friendship which turned into something deeper. Jen even tried to save her from skekSil as he dragged her to the Castle of the Crystal. He was very stricken by her death that in a fit of grief, Jen had healed the Dark Crystal. Rather than care that he fixed the Dark Crystal, he immediately went to Kira and craddled her while crying over her body. Jen attempted to befriend Fizzgig but was instead frightened of him due to his aggressive nature. However, at the end of the film, Fizzgig lets go of his hostility towards Jen and they work together to get into the castle and find Kira.
Jen also hates the color black because it reminded him of the Garthim and was somewhat frightened of Fizzgig when he first met him.
Physical appearance
Jen is a three feet tall Gelfling [1] with light brown skin, brown eyes and brown hair with grey and platinum blond streaks. He also wears a white coat that has several of the Mystic swirls on it and appears to have a Stonewood symbol sown on the front of his tunic. Jen also wears light gray trousers and has brown boots that show his toes and covers most of his feet.
In 'The Power of the Dark Crystal, h his hair went from brown to white.
Powers and Abilities
- Gelfling Magic: Gelflings possessed little to no magic. However, they have limited powers.
- Dreamfasting: Jen can share his memories with another Gelfling and vice versa. Jen and Kira had dreamfasted when they touched each other for the first time. They learned about each other by sharing their visions and thoughts.
- Multilingual: Jen was shown to translate the Prophecy on the ancient Gelfling ruins and can speak at least "Thank you" in the Podlings' language.
- Connection to Thra: Similar to other Gelfling, Jen is part of the race that is closest to Thra.
Possessions
Jen also carries with him a small double-pronged flute called a Firca which he plays beautifully. In the film, Kira is a gifted singer and sings to Fizzgig while Jen plays his flute.
Appearances
The Dark Crystal
As the emperor of the Skeksis is dying, so is Jen's master, urSu, who is the Emperor's counterpart. He is not comforted by the sound of his flute, as Jen is fairly close with his master, who raised him from infancy. Just a couple of days before the three suns join together, he was summoned by the Mystics' chanting. Jen learns from urSu that he must travel to the Skeksis palace and heal the Dark Crystal with the shard that was cracked off and informs Jen that the shard is with Aughra. To find her, Jen is told to follow the greater of their three Suns for a day until reaching her laboratory. UrSu tells Jen that he has until the Great Conjunction to get the Crystal healed or else, the Skeksis will be made immortal and their rule eternal. As soon as urSu speaks this to Jen, he fades from existence, leaving Jen with more questions.
Despite his master's death, Jen does as urSu told him, where he met Aughra. Seeing him as a Gelfling, Jen tells her that he is there for a crystal shard that was said to be with her. Aughra explains the Great Conjunction to Jen and gives him her collection of crystal shards. Jen asks which one is it, but she refuses to reveal which one it is because she cannot remember which one it is. A matter of hours later, Jen is able to eliminate the shards to three. However, he remains stuck until he remembers the Mystics' chant that can be used to identify which shard it is. Jen uses his firca (two-way flute) and plays the tune, and watches as one of the Shards glows purple. Aughra sees this and begins to explain what the Shard is for when the Garthim attack her home. Though Jen is able to escape, he cannot help but look back at her home and see it set on fire and he remains unsure if she was able to escape or not.
In his escape to the forest, Jen begins wondering what the shard is meant for, he is suddenly scared by Fizzgig and falls into a mud puddle. At that moment, Jen meets another Gelfling, this time a girl Gelfling. Both are surprised to see each other, as both of them thought they were the last of their kind. As she moves to help him, Jen suddenly begins seeing the Gelfling girl's memory and learns that her name is Kira and about her past, and she in turn, learns Jen's. He is eventually freed when Kira converses with the Nebrie that lives in the swamp. Jen is at first terrified of her, but Kira assures her new friend that the Nabrie is actually quite friendly. Kira, along with Fizzgig, join Jen on his quest to heal the Dark Crystal. However, neither of them are aware of what they must do with the shard.
Kira sees that she and Jen are being spied on via a crystal bat flying in the sky and she explains that the Skeksis can see what the crystal bats see. They enter Kira's village, the one Jen remembers from Kira's memories. He meets Kira's foster mother and all her friends. However, they are suddenly attacked by the Garthim and only Jen and Kira are able to escape. Angered and blaming himself for the attack on Kira's village, he discards the shard. However, Kira assures Jen it is not his fault, as the Skeksis have always destroyed everything. The next morning, Kira and Jen discover the runes of the ancient homes that their ancestors came from and learn through the runes that the shard they have is a piece broken off from the dark crystal and that Jen has to use the shard to heal it. The duo are interrupted by an exiled Skeksis, who attempts to manipulate Jen and Kira. However, they are quick to escape and use walkers to get to the Crystal Palace. They narrowly escape the Garthim after their transportation is killed when Kira saw her entire village being taken captive. The duo sneak into the Dark Crystal palace, where they confront Skeksil again. As he grabs both Jen and Kira, Jen uses the Crystal shard to cut Skeksil's hand in an attempt to free Kira. Despite wounding him, SkekSil throws Jen across the room and he is suddenly crushed by a pile of rocks. Fizzgig attempts to follow Kira, but she orders him to stay with Jen. Luckily, the impact did not kill the young Gelfling.
He makes it to the Crystal chamber through the Garthim's cave, and sees Kira across the hallway. However, they are discovered when Fizzgig excitedly approaches Kira as the Skeksis enter the room. They see there are two gelflings and a fight breaks out between the Skeksis and Kira, who has the shard with her. The Skeksis swear to let her go if they give her the shard, as Jen begs them not to hurt her if she does so. However, Kira refuses and tells Jen to heal the crystal as she throws the shard to Jen. After seeing Kira get mortally wounded by one of the Skeksis by a dagger and watching her die, Jen in a fit of grief takes the crystal shard and plunges it into its missing place, healing the Dark Crystal. With the urSkeks finally whole again, they revive Kira and leave Jen and her as crystal's keepers and rulers of Thra.
The Power of the Dark Crystal
Jen returns in The Power of the Dark Crystal, where he and Kira have been ruling Thra for centuries and have repopulated the Gelfling population. However, the girl from the sun, Thurma wishes to use the shard of the Crystal of Truth to save her dying home. Jen and Kira refuse her demand as doing so would re-create the Skeksis and the Mystics
Gallery
Trivia
- Jen's feature film is the first film to have no humans involved as characters.
- He is briefly seen in Deet's vision when the Sanctuary Tree gives her his powers.
- Jen may be from the Stonewood clan due to wearing the Stonewood symbol on his tunic and having a strong resemblance to the Gelflings of Stonewood.
