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Name: Kim
Livejournal Username: crazyjumpinbean
E-mail: crazyjumpingbean@gmail.com
AIM/MSN: kujoismydog@AIM
Current Characters at Luceti: N/A
Character
Name: John 'Lucky Jack' Aubrey, Captain
Fandom: Master & Commander: Far Side of the World
Gender: Male
Age: 34
Time Period: 1800's
Wing Color Navy blue with gold feathering the edges
History: Link 1 & Link 2
Personality: Jack is a very large man in body and spirit and has the sizable personality to go with it. It often seems like he was born to be a captain in the Royal Navy, made to be a leader. Of which he is a very effective one. Thanks to his time spent as a regular hand, Jack knows what makes the average sailor tick and will often go the figurative extra mile to help a man out. As such, he has an unwavering loyalty from many men who follow him ship to ship, port to port. And well deserved. Jack Aubrey often goes out to make prizes of ships to, not only settle his debts, but give his men good shares as well! After many prize ships captured and turned in British harbors, Jack earned the moniker of 'Lucky' Jack Aubrey.
The man is ambitious and prideful to almost a fault, often going above and beyond the call of duty and risking the lives of his crew and the well-being of his ship to fulfill his orders to the letter. Tell him to jump and he will ask how high. His dedication to the service is thanks to his love of the Navy. It's easy to say that without the Navy or a deck under his feet, Jack will quickly grow bored and restless, which he does whenever he's ashore with family or because of technicalities.
Jack is very young at heart, and while he may be a very good captain he is not above messing about the rigging with his (equally mature) first lieutenant and playing jokes on Stephen. As an example: Jack has joked with his lieutenants in front of Stephen (their token land lubber) and talked as if the ship was doomed during a storm and that they should just jump overboard. Fortunately Jack is not that great of an actor.
He is also a pun-master. Jack loves him some puns. Any time he has the opportunity to tell one, he will take it without any lack of amusement in it himself. Though for whatever reason, Jack cannot turn a phrase correctly. He gets everything mixed up, the following is a good example of how awful he is at remembering these things correctly:
... they have chosen their cake, and must lie in it.'
'You mean, they cannot have their bed and eat it.'
'No, no, it is not quite that, neither. I mean - I wish you would not confuse my mind, Stephen.'
Needless to say, Stephen gets his fair share of trolls in as well.
Jack is a vain creature. He likes to look good and likes to be clean; as an example he will shave in the morning unlike many sailors who don't bother to take the pains, this includes his surgeon - Stephen. Jack is constantly griping at Stephen for his state of undress - even, at one point, offering to sew the missing buttons back onto his coat just so he didn't have to look at it. To add to his preoccupation with appearance, Jack is also rather sensitive about his weight (Stephen constantly poking at him for it doesn't help) and showing signs of aging (on one occasion Stephen plucked a hair from his head and commented it was gray to which Jack grumbled that it was 'a very fine buttercup yellow'). With the subject of cleanliness mentioned, it would be easy to say that the naval customs of a 'tight ship' and everything with a place stick with him in whatever he does. Jack is not a messy man and will tidy up whenever he can; a good example of this would be when visiting Stephen's castle (Oh, sorry, I mean house) he spends his days there cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. And cleaning.
He also is a big Nelson fan-boy and will gladly tell you just how much he loves Nelson in as manly a fashion as possible. Nelson is Jack Aubrey's Fonzie; forever amazing, forever the pinnacle, forever his icon. Literally nothing could change his opinion of this man. And if you make a disparaging comment about Nelson, Jack will make fun of you in front of everyone. Wouldn't you feel foolish, then?
Jack is human and therefore has weaknesses. The interesting thing about Jack though, is that he acknowledges these weaknesses and doesn't do much to change them. There are a few good examples of this: One, being his constant affairs with different women while married to his wife. He knows what he's doing isn't right by any familiar religious standard, and that it hurts Sophie to discover them and yet he continues to chase skirt as he wishes. And two being an event in the movie where he is confronted by Stephen about whether or not chasing after the French ship was a matter of pride or a matter of duty. After beating around the bush Jack admits that it is pride, and yet continues on in that vein until he has captured the enemy ship. His attitude is something of: 'Yes I know it's folly but I can't help myself so why try!'
Food falls under that label as well.
Even with his good nature and sense of humor, Jack can be a terrifying opponent. He has a deadly focus and is single-minded when it comes to victory. All of his decisions are made and all his plans developed with his goal in mind. His skills at warfare are only improved by his love of fighting. Rest assured if Jack Aubrey enjoys something he will get very, very good at it.
Strengths:
Physical
Jack is incredibly strong. There's a reason people compare him to a bear (aside from the costume but we will get to that). His strength is partly in thanks to his size, but every man at sea has to be strong to do the work and live through the battles or be killed. It's just how his world works. So, for Jack to be strong as he is - it isn't exactly an astounding feat to him, merely a necessity. It's the same opinion everyone has (or should have).
Though, reading the books and watching the movies, it becomes apparently just how strong he really is. In the books, he breaks down doors by himself and goes through enemies with ease. In the film, after boarding a ship, he cuts through what has been counted as 24 men without stopping, switching out weapons when he needed.
Jack can be pretty scary.
Along with brute force comes endurance! As previously stated, he can fight for a long time. Twenty-four armed men does not go over quickly. Another example of his ability to keep on truckin' is that he had to be smuggled over the French/Spanish border with Stephen. And what ingenious disguises did our spy concoct? A dancing bear named Flora and a one-eyed gypsy, Aubrey had to walk 200+ miles in said bear costume. It must have been pretty convincing.
Swimming is another physical feat of Jack's. While it seems like it should be common for sailors to know how to swim, many did not. Jack often enjoyed swimming off the side of his ship when she was anchored. (In the books, he does this in the nude.)
Jack is an adequate swordsman and shot with a pistol. He's much more of a brawler, relying more on his own advantage in size and strength than his skills with weapons. He can hold his own and that's enough. Jack Aubrey is a formidable sailor and captain both. He knows what he's doing, and is a fairly good strategist. As his hero says, “Never mind the maneuvers just go straight at 'em.” Jack is often times called reckless in his attacks, but always 'Lucky Jack'. He will go up against much larger vessels that out-class his own, solely on his confidence that he and his men can overtake and win the day.
Mental
You could call it stubbornness but I prefer to call it determination. When given a task to complete, Aubrey will do so to perfection or the best of his abilities. He has said before that he will do whatever it requires to do his duty, complete his orders. Whatever the cost. And it's true! (Almost) Jack will do nearly anything to see his assignment completed. Jack is fairly intelligent despite what his appearance may portray.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and has written a few papers on astronomy and geometry that have been very well-received. He also built his own telescopes and observatory to view the stars. Jack is excellent with advanced maths such as trigonometry and navigation. He does, however, fail at simple maths. It took him many years of serious effort to get an adequate hold on trig and geometry. Astronomy just happens to be a passion of his that required math.
Jack is much more capable at sea. On land, he runs into all sorts of problems and isn't exactly suited for it. He more often then not pleads for orders to escape to the sea again and let his problems sort themselves out. They never do, but he hopes they will. The sea is his home, he loves everything about her and he loves his ship even more. Storms and doldrums and battles are bonuses to him. He lives for the thrill and is crazy enough to laugh as they pass through a mast-breaking storm.
Emotional
Jack loves the Navy dearly, it's his reason for living. If he had to sing 'These are a Few of my Favorite Things', the Navy would be in the top three, no question. It nearly crushes him to be stricken from the Navy Listing. The Navy has been his whole life, without it he would have nothing. Jack has complete faith in England and her armed forces.
Jack Aubrey is intensely social, and intensely friendly. If he does make some enemies outside of warfare he will be confused and grumble about it and try to fix it with drinking and or hugging. No, seriously. He and Stephen weren't peaches and cream at first and assaulting the man with affection actually won him over. He also tries this with a sloth that Stephen brought aboard in South America. The creature didn't like Jack, so what did Jack do? Got the thing drunk.
His friendly, open attitude is what wins the hearts of his men as well as their respect. He is highly personable and after 5 months at sea, having a kind captain who will make jokes with you just as soon as he would jump onto the capstan with you is a good thing.
Music is a strength of his due to his understanding and capability with it. He often is written as playing to his musical accompaniment's level so as no to make them feel bad. Jack finds something musical in all sounds, even calling a baying pack of hound lovely. It's very easy for him to get swept up in music, and he more often than not starts tapping something; be it his fingers or heel.
Weaknesses:
Physical
Jack has a serious problem keeping it in his pants. He has a different woman to sleep with in nearly every book. The only exceptions, I think, being H.M.S Surprise, where he marries Sophie (fina-freakin-ly), and then in the film where the closest he gets to going heels to Jesus is staring at an islander girl for an extended period of time thinking to himself 'Oh if only...' and then going about his shiply business.
And even after he marries Sophie, Jack manages to continue his affair-having ways. This obviously puts a strain on his marriage with Sophie, though she forgives him any time she finds out. He's a very big believer of 'every man is a bachelor past Gibraltar' (in the word's of Nelson) and he enjoys sex an awful lot. In fact, he once contracted a venereal disease Stephen had to take care of; very embarrassing. Stephen remarked a castration might solve a lot of Jack's problems, at one point.
There's that pesky mortality: stay dead if you die, no respawn point, 'do not pass Go, do not collect 200 dollars' thing. Jack is very much fleshy and all blood filled and if you poke him with something sharp he will stain your pretty clothes and that Tide will not wash it out no matter how many times you stick it in the rinse cycle. He's just like any other human being: gets sick, can break things, can die. No superpowers of any kind.
Mental
Money is a really big problem with Jack. He is consistently bad at managing it through the books. He can go from riches to rags and the other way quicker than lightning. It just slips through his fingers. At different points, Jack is taken to jail, put in the pillory and even struck from the Navy List for his debts! (all with wide space between the events) It might be a father-son thing, as he - in the later books - inherits his father's estate and all his debts. Along with the ones he himself already had.
Anyone who Jack regards as family or a loved one is regarded as a weakness, simply because Jack will do nearly anything for them. In the film adaptation, Stephen becomes fatally injured just before the ship they are perusing appears. He can either make landfall at an island where surgery can be preformed steadily or he can continue on his mission. He has an inner conflict for a few quick scenes - trying to decide which has precedence: his very best friend in the world, or his duty to his orders. Stephen wins pretty easily. The same is with his wife and daughters, (though he doesn't see them enough to have the time to sacrifice things in their favor) or anyone he may hold dear. This includes the men that serve his ships. He promotes his first lieutenant,Thomas Pullings, to commander needlessly; not only because Pullings deserves it but because he likes nothing more than to see those he care about happy and living.
Jack, like many men who have been sailing their whole lives, has acquired odd habits, peculiar ways of speaking, strange customs and even stranger superstitions. Which is most certainly a weakness in the face of a logical world. There are many instances in canon (both book and movie), that show this. Some superstitions are rather harmless, like that of scratching the stay before battle. He makes a little game of this ritual with all the young midshipmen: 'Turn three times, scratch the stay, May the Lord and Saints preserve us!'. Another example is that of an albatross flying in a ship's wake; this is considered good luck unless you shoot it. Seabirds were thought to carry the souls of dead sailors. See 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' for the story.
A very peculiar example of how easily spooked sailors (and Jack Aubrey) are is when, during a period of doldrums, a marine shot a sea creature. The very same night, a ghastly wailng noise woke the entire ship, leaving everyone considerably shaken. When not even the ship's nature expert could identify the sound, Jack lights flares off the ship to see into the water; spotting nothing, he let the off-watch hands sleep with their lanterns on, despite a very clear rule that lights were not to shine after dark. The thought that spread through the crew was that a sea creature had become possessed by the spirit of a recently dead sailor, crying out from inside it. Logically? Possibly the shot creatures mate, calf or parent. Manatees, whales, and dolphins have been reported to make such noises.
However, with the harmless and weird come the dangerous. The superstition of the Jonah plays a heavy part in the film and eventually leads to a near-mutiny and a fulfilled suicide. The Jonah superstition is named for the story in the Bible, where a man named Jonah curses God, gets aboard a ship and causes the ship all kinds of bad luck. A huge storm arises and the sailors figure that Jonah is the one causing them their bad luck and they toss him overboard where he is subsequently swallowed by a large whale. The bad luck for the sailors end.
The meaning of the name was extended to 'a person who carries a jinx aboard a ship', instead of the prophet that was swallowed by a whale. After having a bad engagement with the French vessel they were after, a sailor killed in a storm, and the seemingly never ending doldrums - the sailors aboard the Surprise sought someone / thing to blame their bad luck on. A midshipman by the name of Jonathan Hollom was the easiest target. The young man was eventually disrespected by a lower hand and the hand was flogged for his insubordination. As intimidation and an overall hate for Hollom increased, so did the young man's paranoia and fear. He eventually needed some kind of medical attention, although there was nothing physically wrong with him. Jack quietly commented on the other side of the entrance to the sickbay where Hollom was that: 'sailors can abide a great deal, but not a Jonah.' After Hollom committed suicide by jumping overboard with a cannon ball in hand, the ship's wind returned.
In short, Jack is a highly intelligent and logical man; but he is afflicted with the everyday worries and paranoia of any sailor. Logic and superstition conflict, and make it harder for Jack to judge things fairly as an unbiased captain should. Where Jack is at home, sure of himself, and superbly competent at sea, he is clumsy, awkward and uncomfortable on land. He always has some trouble for himself on land and often takes the first set of orders he can to get the hell back onto the ocean! This provides an amusing contrast to his friend Stephen who is in his element on land but clumsy and quite at sea on a ship.
Emotional
Jack loves the service more than many things, as such he takes great pride in his duty and fulfilling it to his own standards (which are high). He will go to great lengths, often exceeding his orders to complete them. At sea, with limited resources, this is definitely a weakness. It also puts the lives of his men - those he is responsible for keeping alive - in even greater jeopardy, not to mention his own. Pride will get in the way of his promises to friends, will encourage him to push his ship to her limits and his men to their own limits. A good example of this is in the movie, is where he tells Stephen he may go onto the Galapagos Islands while they resupply their food and water. Naturally, his nerdy friend is elated beyond words. And all is well, until Aubrey rescues a group of stranded whalers with intel on his French enemy. Realizing the ship is close, Jack orders them to go after it - completely ignoring Stephen's plans and his promise to the man. When called out on it, Jack explains that: "If wind and tide were against us, I should say yes. But they're not. I'm obliged to say no."
I list music as a strength and a weakness because while his strength lies in playing, appreciating and understanding it, his weakness lies in needing it to remain happy. Jack tries to play regularly each day and always feels better for it after playing. It's a way to relieve the stress of the day, to relax. It's akin to an addiction with Aubrey. There have been instances where he breaks his violin either in the playing of it, or restringing of it. As you could imagine, he has quite the fit when this happens and is usually grumpy until he can do something he enjoys again. It's a good thing he enjoys a lot of things.
Samples
First Person:
How it comes to record a voice, Lord take me for a fool, I'll never understand... ain't going to capture a man's voice and spread it.... Damn absurd, damn absurd. Nevertheless, I've heard the merit of these books - for lack of better jargon - from too many a fellow to think it put in jest. Best to use the damn thing or simply toss it.
Captain Jack Aubrey, of His Majesty's Surprise. Er - a pleasure to get introductions out of the way. Now then...I'm curious to the whereabouts of a fellow of mine. I mean to search for him all on my own, but if this book cuts the pudding then I'll have my man no worse the wear on myself!
He is round 'bout - ah...confound it... at chest level to a man of six feet? Not heavy at all - gaunt, rather - thin as a rail. Ah...short hair, cropped....possibly stickin' out like a porcupine, ha ha! He wears glasses, if that at all helps any suspecting person.
Damn poor description but it's the best I can give without boring an ear off! I would greatly appreciate word back from those who've seen 'im. If he's been seen.
Third Person:
Jack Aubrey loved a cool, clean swim. When the water and air were still, it was often the only thing a man could do to avoid going completely mad with the heat even if the water was the same temperature as the air. It still cleared the mind better than any chart or song could.
He often did this under the guise of checking for needed repairs and upkeep on the stern and bow one could only see from the water's vantage point. But it was so obviously apparent that he did it for enjoyment's sake that no man on board could possibly begrudge him the simple pleasure. So when the Surprise lost her wind in the middle of the tropics, two days in and still no breeze at all, Jack decided to jump off the side and swim about the perimeter.
The first lieutenant traced after him on the deck of the ship with a lodger in his hand, taking down what needed to be fixed and what needed to be repainted as always. Jack dove repeatedly against the larboard side, feeling along the hull with his fingertips for a marker. When he could feel the tell-tell seam in the wood from a recent unfortunate broadside that caught them with their underbelly risen out of the wave - a bad hit, but repaired in time. Mr. Lamb was possibly the best carpenter any captain could ask for.
As his finger's felt the notable difference Jack pushed off from the ship's side and kicked a ways before resurfacing. What he met was a new world. Alternate to his own and completely alien. The sea was the same though, thankfully enough. But as he twisted about in the water, trying to get his bearings and find his ship. His lovely Surprise. But she was gone. Vanished.
Had he been under long enough for a wind to pick up? But that made no sense at all, any way it was sliced.
Did he happen to catch an undercurrent? But, again, that made no sense. He'd not seen any horizon with land mass anywhere around them.
And yet, here he was in some harbor floundering about completely out of his wits with what was happening. This made no sense, not a damn lick of it!
Once again he turned, growing dizzy and frustrated beyond reason. Finally, thinking he had nothing to lose, he cried out: “Ahoy there!” in hopes of a responding call. His voice echoed in the bay he found himself being carried into by the currents. Again and again he called out, hoping for a faint answer to reach his ears. Nothing. God damn, what had become of his ship? His crew? Stephen? How did they vanish and how did he resurface near land?
Again and again he cursed whatever twisted series of events led him to this. He needed to resolve it and fast before he grew completely exhausted. He had a good knowledge of the sea and knew that if he didn't start swimming with a goal in mind he'd be tangled up in the warring currents going in and off shore. He had no choice but to head to the sound of crashing waves.
Fortunately for Jack Aubrey, he was an excellent swimmer and it took little over an hour of constant motion to be tumbled from the frothy waves to the golden sand. Coughing, Jack stood with almost uncertain legs. He reached to his side to fetch his tie that secured a knife and a strand of rope for marking fathoms. He could use it to put his hair back out of his face and have one less thing to irritate himself. Would that he could, however, as the entire collection at his hip was gone. Missing with his beloved Surprise.
Working his jaw, Jack waded out of the surf and onto the dry sand. It was warm but not too hot to burn his feet. He looked about trying to ascertain just where he was. By logic's sense, this would be a South American shore. But the greenery and landscape was all wrong from what he knew of the coastline. Where were it's lush jungle landscapes and faraway mountains? “Sell me for a damn sheep,” he grumbled, glancing behind him in that stupid hope that he'd been a supreme idiot and missed his ship.
If he'd had Stephen by his side, the doctor would have pointed out the inaccuracy of his turn of phrase. Jack simply hoped his friend was alright, but now wasn't the time to be wondering about the state of friends. His own well-being was at stake here and he had to do something. Not stand on shore and wait for someone else to find him. Or something.
He didn't notice the slight twinge of pain in his shoulders as he walked up the sandy shore.
Name: Kim
Livejournal Username: crazyjumpinbean
E-mail: crazyjumpingbean@gmail.com
AIM/MSN: kujoismydog@AIM
Current Characters at Luceti: N/A
Character
Name: John 'Lucky Jack' Aubrey, Captain
Fandom: Master & Commander: Far Side of the World
Gender: Male
Age: 34
Time Period: 1800's
Wing Color Navy blue with gold feathering the edges
History: Link 1 & Link 2
Personality: Jack is a very large man in body and spirit and has the sizable personality to go with it. It often seems like he was born to be a captain in the Royal Navy, made to be a leader. Of which he is a very effective one. Thanks to his time spent as a regular hand, Jack knows what makes the average sailor tick and will often go the figurative extra mile to help a man out. As such, he has an unwavering loyalty from many men who follow him ship to ship, port to port. And well deserved. Jack Aubrey often goes out to make prizes of ships to, not only settle his debts, but give his men good shares as well! After many prize ships captured and turned in British harbors, Jack earned the moniker of 'Lucky' Jack Aubrey.
The man is ambitious and prideful to almost a fault, often going above and beyond the call of duty and risking the lives of his crew and the well-being of his ship to fulfill his orders to the letter. Tell him to jump and he will ask how high. His dedication to the service is thanks to his love of the Navy. It's easy to say that without the Navy or a deck under his feet, Jack will quickly grow bored and restless, which he does whenever he's ashore with family or because of technicalities.
Jack is very young at heart, and while he may be a very good captain he is not above messing about the rigging with his (equally mature) first lieutenant and playing jokes on Stephen. As an example: Jack has joked with his lieutenants in front of Stephen (their token land lubber) and talked as if the ship was doomed during a storm and that they should just jump overboard. Fortunately Jack is not that great of an actor.
He is also a pun-master. Jack loves him some puns. Any time he has the opportunity to tell one, he will take it without any lack of amusement in it himself. Though for whatever reason, Jack cannot turn a phrase correctly. He gets everything mixed up, the following is a good example of how awful he is at remembering these things correctly:
... they have chosen their cake, and must lie in it.'
'You mean, they cannot have their bed and eat it.'
'No, no, it is not quite that, neither. I mean - I wish you would not confuse my mind, Stephen.'
Needless to say, Stephen gets his fair share of trolls in as well.
Jack is a vain creature. He likes to look good and likes to be clean; as an example he will shave in the morning unlike many sailors who don't bother to take the pains, this includes his surgeon - Stephen. Jack is constantly griping at Stephen for his state of undress - even, at one point, offering to sew the missing buttons back onto his coat just so he didn't have to look at it. To add to his preoccupation with appearance, Jack is also rather sensitive about his weight (Stephen constantly poking at him for it doesn't help) and showing signs of aging (on one occasion Stephen plucked a hair from his head and commented it was gray to which Jack grumbled that it was 'a very fine buttercup yellow'). With the subject of cleanliness mentioned, it would be easy to say that the naval customs of a 'tight ship' and everything with a place stick with him in whatever he does. Jack is not a messy man and will tidy up whenever he can; a good example of this would be when visiting Stephen's castle (Oh, sorry, I mean house) he spends his days there cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. And cleaning.
He also is a big Nelson fan-boy and will gladly tell you just how much he loves Nelson in as manly a fashion as possible. Nelson is Jack Aubrey's Fonzie; forever amazing, forever the pinnacle, forever his icon. Literally nothing could change his opinion of this man. And if you make a disparaging comment about Nelson, Jack will make fun of you in front of everyone. Wouldn't you feel foolish, then?
Jack is human and therefore has weaknesses. The interesting thing about Jack though, is that he acknowledges these weaknesses and doesn't do much to change them. There are a few good examples of this: One, being his constant affairs with different women while married to his wife. He knows what he's doing isn't right by any familiar religious standard, and that it hurts Sophie to discover them and yet he continues to chase skirt as he wishes. And two being an event in the movie where he is confronted by Stephen about whether or not chasing after the French ship was a matter of pride or a matter of duty. After beating around the bush Jack admits that it is pride, and yet continues on in that vein until he has captured the enemy ship. His attitude is something of: 'Yes I know it's folly but I can't help myself so why try!'
Food falls under that label as well.
Even with his good nature and sense of humor, Jack can be a terrifying opponent. He has a deadly focus and is single-minded when it comes to victory. All of his decisions are made and all his plans developed with his goal in mind. His skills at warfare are only improved by his love of fighting. Rest assured if Jack Aubrey enjoys something he will get very, very good at it.
Strengths:
Physical
Jack is incredibly strong. There's a reason people compare him to a bear (aside from the costume but we will get to that). His strength is partly in thanks to his size, but every man at sea has to be strong to do the work and live through the battles or be killed. It's just how his world works. So, for Jack to be strong as he is - it isn't exactly an astounding feat to him, merely a necessity. It's the same opinion everyone has (or should have).
Though, reading the books and watching the movies, it becomes apparently just how strong he really is. In the books, he breaks down doors by himself and goes through enemies with ease. In the film, after boarding a ship, he cuts through what has been counted as 24 men without stopping, switching out weapons when he needed.
Jack can be pretty scary.
Along with brute force comes endurance! As previously stated, he can fight for a long time. Twenty-four armed men does not go over quickly. Another example of his ability to keep on truckin' is that he had to be smuggled over the French/Spanish border with Stephen. And what ingenious disguises did our spy concoct? A dancing bear named Flora and a one-eyed gypsy, Aubrey had to walk 200+ miles in said bear costume. It must have been pretty convincing.
Swimming is another physical feat of Jack's. While it seems like it should be common for sailors to know how to swim, many did not. Jack often enjoyed swimming off the side of his ship when she was anchored. (In the books, he does this in the nude.)
Jack is an adequate swordsman and shot with a pistol. He's much more of a brawler, relying more on his own advantage in size and strength than his skills with weapons. He can hold his own and that's enough. Jack Aubrey is a formidable sailor and captain both. He knows what he's doing, and is a fairly good strategist. As his hero says, “Never mind the maneuvers just go straight at 'em.” Jack is often times called reckless in his attacks, but always 'Lucky Jack'. He will go up against much larger vessels that out-class his own, solely on his confidence that he and his men can overtake and win the day.
Mental
You could call it stubbornness but I prefer to call it determination. When given a task to complete, Aubrey will do so to perfection or the best of his abilities. He has said before that he will do whatever it requires to do his duty, complete his orders. Whatever the cost. And it's true! (Almost) Jack will do nearly anything to see his assignment completed. Jack is fairly intelligent despite what his appearance may portray.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and has written a few papers on astronomy and geometry that have been very well-received. He also built his own telescopes and observatory to view the stars. Jack is excellent with advanced maths such as trigonometry and navigation. He does, however, fail at simple maths. It took him many years of serious effort to get an adequate hold on trig and geometry. Astronomy just happens to be a passion of his that required math.
Jack is much more capable at sea. On land, he runs into all sorts of problems and isn't exactly suited for it. He more often then not pleads for orders to escape to the sea again and let his problems sort themselves out. They never do, but he hopes they will. The sea is his home, he loves everything about her and he loves his ship even more. Storms and doldrums and battles are bonuses to him. He lives for the thrill and is crazy enough to laugh as they pass through a mast-breaking storm.
Emotional
Jack loves the Navy dearly, it's his reason for living. If he had to sing 'These are a Few of my Favorite Things', the Navy would be in the top three, no question. It nearly crushes him to be stricken from the Navy Listing. The Navy has been his whole life, without it he would have nothing. Jack has complete faith in England and her armed forces.
Jack Aubrey is intensely social, and intensely friendly. If he does make some enemies outside of warfare he will be confused and grumble about it and try to fix it with drinking and or hugging. No, seriously. He and Stephen weren't peaches and cream at first and assaulting the man with affection actually won him over. He also tries this with a sloth that Stephen brought aboard in South America. The creature didn't like Jack, so what did Jack do? Got the thing drunk.
His friendly, open attitude is what wins the hearts of his men as well as their respect. He is highly personable and after 5 months at sea, having a kind captain who will make jokes with you just as soon as he would jump onto the capstan with you is a good thing.
Music is a strength of his due to his understanding and capability with it. He often is written as playing to his musical accompaniment's level so as no to make them feel bad. Jack finds something musical in all sounds, even calling a baying pack of hound lovely. It's very easy for him to get swept up in music, and he more often than not starts tapping something; be it his fingers or heel.
Weaknesses:
Physical
Jack has a serious problem keeping it in his pants. He has a different woman to sleep with in nearly every book. The only exceptions, I think, being H.M.S Surprise, where he marries Sophie (fina-freakin-ly), and then in the film where the closest he gets to going heels to Jesus is staring at an islander girl for an extended period of time thinking to himself 'Oh if only...' and then going about his shiply business.
And even after he marries Sophie, Jack manages to continue his affair-having ways. This obviously puts a strain on his marriage with Sophie, though she forgives him any time she finds out. He's a very big believer of 'every man is a bachelor past Gibraltar' (in the word's of Nelson) and he enjoys sex an awful lot. In fact, he once contracted a venereal disease Stephen had to take care of; very embarrassing. Stephen remarked a castration might solve a lot of Jack's problems, at one point.
There's that pesky mortality: stay dead if you die, no respawn point, 'do not pass Go, do not collect 200 dollars' thing. Jack is very much fleshy and all blood filled and if you poke him with something sharp he will stain your pretty clothes and that Tide will not wash it out no matter how many times you stick it in the rinse cycle. He's just like any other human being: gets sick, can break things, can die. No superpowers of any kind.
Mental
Money is a really big problem with Jack. He is consistently bad at managing it through the books. He can go from riches to rags and the other way quicker than lightning. It just slips through his fingers. At different points, Jack is taken to jail, put in the pillory and even struck from the Navy List for his debts! (all with wide space between the events) It might be a father-son thing, as he - in the later books - inherits his father's estate and all his debts. Along with the ones he himself already had.
Anyone who Jack regards as family or a loved one is regarded as a weakness, simply because Jack will do nearly anything for them. In the film adaptation, Stephen becomes fatally injured just before the ship they are perusing appears. He can either make landfall at an island where surgery can be preformed steadily or he can continue on his mission. He has an inner conflict for a few quick scenes - trying to decide which has precedence: his very best friend in the world, or his duty to his orders. Stephen wins pretty easily. The same is with his wife and daughters, (though he doesn't see them enough to have the time to sacrifice things in their favor) or anyone he may hold dear. This includes the men that serve his ships. He promotes his first lieutenant,Thomas Pullings, to commander needlessly; not only because Pullings deserves it but because he likes nothing more than to see those he care about happy and living.
Jack, like many men who have been sailing their whole lives, has acquired odd habits, peculiar ways of speaking, strange customs and even stranger superstitions. Which is most certainly a weakness in the face of a logical world. There are many instances in canon (both book and movie), that show this. Some superstitions are rather harmless, like that of scratching the stay before battle. He makes a little game of this ritual with all the young midshipmen: 'Turn three times, scratch the stay, May the Lord and Saints preserve us!'. Another example is that of an albatross flying in a ship's wake; this is considered good luck unless you shoot it. Seabirds were thought to carry the souls of dead sailors. See 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' for the story.
A very peculiar example of how easily spooked sailors (and Jack Aubrey) are is when, during a period of doldrums, a marine shot a sea creature. The very same night, a ghastly wailng noise woke the entire ship, leaving everyone considerably shaken. When not even the ship's nature expert could identify the sound, Jack lights flares off the ship to see into the water; spotting nothing, he let the off-watch hands sleep with their lanterns on, despite a very clear rule that lights were not to shine after dark. The thought that spread through the crew was that a sea creature had become possessed by the spirit of a recently dead sailor, crying out from inside it. Logically? Possibly the shot creatures mate, calf or parent. Manatees, whales, and dolphins have been reported to make such noises.
However, with the harmless and weird come the dangerous. The superstition of the Jonah plays a heavy part in the film and eventually leads to a near-mutiny and a fulfilled suicide. The Jonah superstition is named for the story in the Bible, where a man named Jonah curses God, gets aboard a ship and causes the ship all kinds of bad luck. A huge storm arises and the sailors figure that Jonah is the one causing them their bad luck and they toss him overboard where he is subsequently swallowed by a large whale. The bad luck for the sailors end.
The meaning of the name was extended to 'a person who carries a jinx aboard a ship', instead of the prophet that was swallowed by a whale. After having a bad engagement with the French vessel they were after, a sailor killed in a storm, and the seemingly never ending doldrums - the sailors aboard the Surprise sought someone / thing to blame their bad luck on. A midshipman by the name of Jonathan Hollom was the easiest target. The young man was eventually disrespected by a lower hand and the hand was flogged for his insubordination. As intimidation and an overall hate for Hollom increased, so did the young man's paranoia and fear. He eventually needed some kind of medical attention, although there was nothing physically wrong with him. Jack quietly commented on the other side of the entrance to the sickbay where Hollom was that: 'sailors can abide a great deal, but not a Jonah.' After Hollom committed suicide by jumping overboard with a cannon ball in hand, the ship's wind returned.
In short, Jack is a highly intelligent and logical man; but he is afflicted with the everyday worries and paranoia of any sailor. Logic and superstition conflict, and make it harder for Jack to judge things fairly as an unbiased captain should. Where Jack is at home, sure of himself, and superbly competent at sea, he is clumsy, awkward and uncomfortable on land. He always has some trouble for himself on land and often takes the first set of orders he can to get the hell back onto the ocean! This provides an amusing contrast to his friend Stephen who is in his element on land but clumsy and quite at sea on a ship.
Emotional
Jack loves the service more than many things, as such he takes great pride in his duty and fulfilling it to his own standards (which are high). He will go to great lengths, often exceeding his orders to complete them. At sea, with limited resources, this is definitely a weakness. It also puts the lives of his men - those he is responsible for keeping alive - in even greater jeopardy, not to mention his own. Pride will get in the way of his promises to friends, will encourage him to push his ship to her limits and his men to their own limits. A good example of this is in the movie, is where he tells Stephen he may go onto the Galapagos Islands while they resupply their food and water. Naturally, his nerdy friend is elated beyond words. And all is well, until Aubrey rescues a group of stranded whalers with intel on his French enemy. Realizing the ship is close, Jack orders them to go after it - completely ignoring Stephen's plans and his promise to the man. When called out on it, Jack explains that: "If wind and tide were against us, I should say yes. But they're not. I'm obliged to say no."
I list music as a strength and a weakness because while his strength lies in playing, appreciating and understanding it, his weakness lies in needing it to remain happy. Jack tries to play regularly each day and always feels better for it after playing. It's a way to relieve the stress of the day, to relax. It's akin to an addiction with Aubrey. There have been instances where he breaks his violin either in the playing of it, or restringing of it. As you could imagine, he has quite the fit when this happens and is usually grumpy until he can do something he enjoys again. It's a good thing he enjoys a lot of things.
Samples
First Person:
How it comes to record a voice, Lord take me for a fool, I'll never understand... ain't going to capture a man's voice and spread it.... Damn absurd, damn absurd. Nevertheless, I've heard the merit of these books - for lack of better jargon - from too many a fellow to think it put in jest. Best to use the damn thing or simply toss it.
Captain Jack Aubrey, of His Majesty's Surprise. Er - a pleasure to get introductions out of the way. Now then...I'm curious to the whereabouts of a fellow of mine. I mean to search for him all on my own, but if this book cuts the pudding then I'll have my man no worse the wear on myself!
He is round 'bout - ah...confound it... at chest level to a man of six feet? Not heavy at all - gaunt, rather - thin as a rail. Ah...short hair, cropped....possibly stickin' out like a porcupine, ha ha! He wears glasses, if that at all helps any suspecting person.
Damn poor description but it's the best I can give without boring an ear off! I would greatly appreciate word back from those who've seen 'im. If he's been seen.
Third Person:
Jack Aubrey loved a cool, clean swim. When the water and air were still, it was often the only thing a man could do to avoid going completely mad with the heat even if the water was the same temperature as the air. It still cleared the mind better than any chart or song could.
He often did this under the guise of checking for needed repairs and upkeep on the stern and bow one could only see from the water's vantage point. But it was so obviously apparent that he did it for enjoyment's sake that no man on board could possibly begrudge him the simple pleasure. So when the Surprise lost her wind in the middle of the tropics, two days in and still no breeze at all, Jack decided to jump off the side and swim about the perimeter.
The first lieutenant traced after him on the deck of the ship with a lodger in his hand, taking down what needed to be fixed and what needed to be repainted as always. Jack dove repeatedly against the larboard side, feeling along the hull with his fingertips for a marker. When he could feel the tell-tell seam in the wood from a recent unfortunate broadside that caught them with their underbelly risen out of the wave - a bad hit, but repaired in time. Mr. Lamb was possibly the best carpenter any captain could ask for.
As his finger's felt the notable difference Jack pushed off from the ship's side and kicked a ways before resurfacing. What he met was a new world. Alternate to his own and completely alien. The sea was the same though, thankfully enough. But as he twisted about in the water, trying to get his bearings and find his ship. His lovely Surprise. But she was gone. Vanished.
Had he been under long enough for a wind to pick up? But that made no sense at all, any way it was sliced.
Did he happen to catch an undercurrent? But, again, that made no sense. He'd not seen any horizon with land mass anywhere around them.
And yet, here he was in some harbor floundering about completely out of his wits with what was happening. This made no sense, not a damn lick of it!
Once again he turned, growing dizzy and frustrated beyond reason. Finally, thinking he had nothing to lose, he cried out: “Ahoy there!” in hopes of a responding call. His voice echoed in the bay he found himself being carried into by the currents. Again and again he called out, hoping for a faint answer to reach his ears. Nothing. God damn, what had become of his ship? His crew? Stephen? How did they vanish and how did he resurface near land?
Again and again he cursed whatever twisted series of events led him to this. He needed to resolve it and fast before he grew completely exhausted. He had a good knowledge of the sea and knew that if he didn't start swimming with a goal in mind he'd be tangled up in the warring currents going in and off shore. He had no choice but to head to the sound of crashing waves.
Fortunately for Jack Aubrey, he was an excellent swimmer and it took little over an hour of constant motion to be tumbled from the frothy waves to the golden sand. Coughing, Jack stood with almost uncertain legs. He reached to his side to fetch his tie that secured a knife and a strand of rope for marking fathoms. He could use it to put his hair back out of his face and have one less thing to irritate himself. Would that he could, however, as the entire collection at his hip was gone. Missing with his beloved Surprise.
Working his jaw, Jack waded out of the surf and onto the dry sand. It was warm but not too hot to burn his feet. He looked about trying to ascertain just where he was. By logic's sense, this would be a South American shore. But the greenery and landscape was all wrong from what he knew of the coastline. Where were it's lush jungle landscapes and faraway mountains? “Sell me for a damn sheep,” he grumbled, glancing behind him in that stupid hope that he'd been a supreme idiot and missed his ship.
If he'd had Stephen by his side, the doctor would have pointed out the inaccuracy of his turn of phrase. Jack simply hoped his friend was alright, but now wasn't the time to be wondering about the state of friends. His own well-being was at stake here and he had to do something. Not stand on shore and wait for someone else to find him. Or something.
He didn't notice the slight twinge of pain in his shoulders as he walked up the sandy shore.