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| “ | You're so broken, you don't even trust yourself. | „ |
| ~ Nate Jacobs to Jules. |
| “ | You want my advice? You f--k her like the whore she is, you kick her ass to the curb. | „ |
| ~ Nate Jacobs to McKay. |
| “ | Here's what will definitely happen. You'd end up on the sex offenders list. It means no more college. It's gonna be very f--king difficult to find a job, and everywhere you go for the rest of your life, you'll be harassed, and spat at, and treated like a f--king animal. You deserve better than that. 'Cause I know you. You're kind. You're smart. You're generous. You got a big heart. You deserve whatever the f--k it is in this world that you want. So keep your head down. Keep your mouth shut. Don't try to ruin my life, and I won't have to ruin yours. | „ |
| ~ Nate Jacobs blackmailing Jules. |
Nathaniel "Nate" Jacobs is the main antagonist of the HBO series Euphoria.
Nate is a popular student and the star quarterback of East Highland High School. He is also the abusive and toxic ex-boyfriend of Maddy Perez and Cassie Howard, as well as the former love interest of Jules Vaughn. He is also the archenemy of Rue Bennett and Fezco. Nate is seemingly just a stereotypical high school jock until it was revealed how twisted he truly is. His manipulativeness, physical capabilities and intelligence makes him a terrifying antagonist and a threat to everybody in the show.
He was portrayed by Jacob Elordi (who will portray Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights adaptation and portrayed Frankenstein’s Monster in Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Frankenstein, based on the original novel by Mary Shelley), while Gabriel Golub portrayed him as a child.
Quick Answers
What makes Nate Jacobs the main antagonist in the HBO series Euphoria?
How does Nate Jacobs manipulate others in Euphoria?
What is the real-life inspiration behind Nate Jacobs' character?
What are some of the major events that happen to Nate Jacobs in Euphoria?
How does Nate Jacobs' character evolve throughout the series Euphoria?
Appearance[]
Nate is a tall (6’7”) European-White/American teenager and he weighs 228 lbs. He is a muscular quarterback young man with a handsome face. His eyes and hair are dark brown. He also has a large mole on the left side of his chest.
Personality[]
Initially, Nate Jacobs comes across as a classic confident, asshole "bad boy jock' archetype, but with far more aggressive and violent undertones. He portrays himself to be hyper-masculine, charming, irresistible, and domineering, and routinely dominating people both physically and sexually to maintain his image of masculinity. He prides himself in his masculine traits, and displays a very cocky attitude regarding his relationships - bragging about his ability to sexually dominate women. However, due to the expectations placed upon himself by his perception of his father's masculinity, he is also very unstable, and sometimes demonstrates a very violent and unpredictable nature. He has a deeply ingrained sense of toxic masculinity because of his upbringing, and in moments where his masculinity is threatened, he displays a deep rage, and is shown to be overly aggressive, cruel and destructive. He justifies his beliefs under his rigidly ideology that things should be straight and in-order, and is extremely dedicated to proving to others - as well as himself - that he is an ambitious, prideful, and hyper-masculine individual.
Beneath his exterior, however, Nate is a very complicated man. While at a surface level, he is extremely intelligent, controlling, and judgmental of others, he is far more insecure of himself deep down. Despite his intense and aggressive exterior, Nate Jacobs struggles with fears that he will turn out like his father, and his fears that he is unassertive and insecure - that he does not fit the heteronormative view of masculinity - which in turn drives him to maintain control for validation. Most of his actions are fueled by testosterone and shame, and this shame is rooted the fact that Nate has been aware of his father’s fetishes since he was eleven years old. Throughout the series, it is implied that on some level, he is not strictly heterosexual, and struggles deeply with that and the affairs of his father, which pressure him to maintain an image of leadership and masculine perfection.
Nate’s father’s double-life instilled in a young Nate a need for control in him, and much like how Cal Jacobs depicts a clean, admirable, and professional front to masquerade his more homosexual and erotic impulses, Nate similarly feels conflicted within himself. To others, he maintains an overconfident, arrogant, and aggressive facade, but deep down, he does require the submission of others to legitimatize his rigid beliefs of masculinity to feel a sense of purpose, which is why he is so ambitious and driven to work out, play on the football team, and why he is so aggressive to those who oppose his views. In his mind, if he is not the perfect, idealized vision of a man - physically attractive, confident, ambitious, and dominant - then he is no better than his father, who's hypocrisy and double life traumatized him into perfecting his workout regimen and further ingrained his belief of hyper-masculinity.
Nate has a very twisted and toxic view of love. Regarding the people that interest him, he always looks at girls with insecurities and personal issues who worry about their superficial image, since in this way Nate can act as their support giving them attention and security, only for them to quickly become obsessed and feel that they need him. He is very demanding with the physical characteristics and way of dressing of girls. Thus, Nate is able to feel in a position of power in which he feels that he has the right to use them and demand that they do what he wants, as if they were an object of his property. And when he thinks he's found someone who willingly obeys him and fulfills all traits he likes, Nate begins to dream of spending his whole life with that person and to imagine having a family. This is mostly due to using as an example his own family as the one who a man should have.
Overall, Nate Jacobs is a portrait of someone whose pride and ambition have not been kept in check, as he drives himself to fulfill his own ideologies of toxic masculinity, and violently lashes out against those who oppose him. He is the embodiment of white privilege - the idea that, with enough power and conformity to normative values - one can gain the influence to get away with anything and everything. This is what leads him to commit the insidious, wicked, and vile actions he does throughout the series - as all he does is an attempt to assert control and conform to his self-idealized image of what he believes masculinity to be.
Biography[]
Background[]
Nate was born to Cal Jacobs and his wife Marsha. His dad is very wealthy because he owns many apartments in East Highland. When Nate was 11, he found graphic sex videos of his father having sex with young men and transgender women. He also began a strict diet and fitness routine when he was 12 years old. As he grew older, he became to have anger issues and have distorted sex perception.
Nate later began a relationship with Maddy Perez. However, their relationship became toxic as they would always argue and would later have a habit of breaking-up and getting together again. At one point, their toxic relationship resulted in Nate choking Maddy at the carnival out of anger because Maddy insulted Nate's mother.
Season 1[]
When he found out that Jules slept with his father, he created a fake account named Tyler on Grindr and he began to chat to Jules. As Tyler, he tricked Jules into sending nude photos of her to him so that he can blackmail her. When they finally met in person, he kissed Jules but later revealed his intention of blackmailing her. He threatened to disclose her nudes to the cops if she ever admitted to sleeping with his father.
When there was an investigation regarding Nate's assault on Maddy at the carnival, Nate forced Jules to tell the police that she saw the real Tyler assaulting Maddy at the carnival. Due to his prior blackmail to Jules, she reluctantly agreed to do what he said that resulted in the real Tyler going to jail instead of Nate.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Cal Jacobs - Father
- Marsha Jacobs - Mother
- Aaron Jacobs - Brother
- Unnamed - Brother
- Bud Jacobs - Grandfather
- Unnamed grandmother
- Unnamed aunt
Allies[]
- Christopher "Chris" McKay - Best Friend
- Roy McKay - Friend
- Troy McKay - Friend
Enemies[]
- Tyler Clarkson - Abusee and Blackmailee
- Fezco - Attempted Killer; assaulted by at New Year party
- Rue Bennett - Enemy
- Jules Vaughn - Former Archenemy, blackmailee and possible love interest
- Maddy Perez - Former girlfriend, on/off enemy
- Lexi Howard - made fun of by
- Cassie Howard - Former girlfriend
- Cal Jacobs - Abuser and archenemy
Trivia[]
- Because of Nate's actions, he is one of the most dangerous and unpredictable characters in the show alongside his father and his girlfriend Cassie (after her actions in Season 2).
- Rue and Nate are enemies on the show and completely hate each other. However, their actors Zendaya and Jacob Elordi used to date in real life.