Jax Teller

Biography

Jackson "Jax" Teller is the son of Gemma and John Teller and was born in 1978 (though in the pilot's first script it was 1976) and raised in Charming, California. He lives with a genetic heart disorder ("the family flaw" as Gemma calls it) that his brother Thomas "Tommy" Teller died from at the age of 6. His father, the founder and President of SAMCRO, died in 1993 and his mother shortly after was re-married to Clay Morrow, who then became President of the Club.

At 16, while still in school, he ends up falling in love with Tara Knowles. They loved each other deeply; deeply enough for her to at some point get the Crow Tattoo marking her as Jax's Old Lady. They were in a relationship for three years, during which they got arrested three times: for public intoxication, disorderly conduct, and possession of stolen property. Towards the end of their relationship, they fought as Tara began to realize that she wanted more out of life and wanted to leave Charming, while the only thing that Jax wanted more than Tara, was SAMCRO. They break up when she and Jax are 19, but Jax never got over her. Shortly before the Pilot, Tara comes back to Charming after 11 years. His pull between Tara and the Club is a conflict that lasts throughout their entire relationship up to Tara's murder.


Also at 16, in addition to meeting/dating Tara, Jax gets his GED and drops out of high school in order to fulfill his legacy and begins prospecting with the Club. It is unclear if his early start at being a Prospect was at the behest of Gemma in order to cement his staying, or because SAMCRO is truly the only thing he ever saw for his future even after Tara came around. He does, however, love the Club and has deep ties and loyalty to it. He prospects alongside his lifelong best-friend Opie Winston, son of Club co-founder Piney Winston. They both become fully patched members of SAMCRO in 1995. After Tara leaves he falls deeper into ♥♥♥♥♥ and the club, and at some point, Jax assumes the role of Vice President of SAMCRO. Jax also works as a mechanic at Teller-Morrow Automotive Repair, his father's and Clay's business.

Prior to the series he has been charged with smuggling, gun-running, extortion, and assault and battery. He got off on all these charges, except for the Federal Automatic Weapons charge at the end of Season 3 that sentenced him to 3 years/14 months with probation.


Living out the outlaw motorcyclist lifestyle, Jax claims to have slept with hundreds of women. But after feeling lonely for too long he married a woman named Wendy Case, to whom he was never faithful to, and per his words was "just a sad timeout." Shortly after, he filed for divorce because of her drug habit and the fact that he didn't love her. After Wendy got clean, they attempted to reconcile and conceived a son, Abel. Overwhelmed by the idea of being a father and tired of fighting with Wendy, Jax leaves his pregnant wife, allowing her to continue to live in his home in Charming while he moved into the clubhouse. Left on her own, Wendy begins using again.

In the Pilot, Wendy overdoses leading to Abel being born 10 weeks premature and addicted to crank in addition to having the genetic heart defect. Also in the Pilot, while searching for baby items in storage he discovers several of his father's old journals and an old manuscript titled "The Life and Death of Sam Crow: How the Sons of Anarchy Lost Their Way," which collectively lays out the original manifesto for SAMCRO. He finds himself doubting the Club's direction, causing friction between himself and his stepfather Clay, and spreading doubt among the other members.

Physical Appearance

Jackson Teller is young, handsome, and corded with hard lines of muscle. He has deep-set, blue eyes and unkempt dirty blonde hair that is most often cut around his shoulders. Jax has multiple tattoos on his body—one on his right arm in memory of his father, John Teller, one on his chest for his firstborn son, Abel, one on his left arm for his second-born son, Thomas, and most noticeably, the crest of the club on his back.

Personality and Traits

A born, brave and beloved leader, Jax is extremely loyal to his Club. However, in earlier seasons, he finds himself doubting SAMCRO's outlaw violence and illegal business-oriented direction, growing weary of all the problems and stress associated with the lifestyle, which causes tension between him and then Club President, Clay Morrow. However, Jax remains loyal to his comrades, always doing his best to keep his brothers out of trouble and to make the best decisions for the Club. Jax is calm and collected most of the time but is easily angered and has no remorse in killing people he thinks deserves it. However, he does usually act in a friendly and warm-hearted manner but is hard to reason with when is angry. Realizing leading SAMCRO is his destiny, something he later admits to never really wanting, Jax attempts to lead the Club away from all of the relationships and activities that cause so many problems for him, his family and his brothers. Jax leads the Club far more liberally than Clay had done, as he is very tolerant and farsighted, having no problems with people of other colors or sexual orientation. Very close with his mother, Gemma Teller, she commands a powerful influence over him.

Jax is smart, a headstrong and skilled tactician and businessman. He has extensive knowledge of the area within his Club's outreach, and as such must remain stern and smart to keep on terms with rival and ally gangs and organizations in areas surrounding Charming. A brawler, Jax is an adept street fighter, usually opting to try and resolve conflicts before they must be settled by fists, but when the need does arise, Jax is quick to the fight. He, along with the majority of SAMCRO live by a code of outlaw justice, opting for an "eye for an eye" mentality, usually resulting in using violent action. He is also a trained and skilled marksman, having been seen operating a multitude of firearms with deadly effect. His skill set, leadership abilities and loyalty command him respect from both allied and rival gangs and leaders such as the Mayans MC President Marcus Alvarez, leaders of White Supremacy groups such as the Nordics and Aryan Brotherhood, One-Niners leaders Laroy Wayne and later Tyler, kingpin gangsters Damon Pope, August Marks and Henry Lin, as well as high-ranking IRA members, Galindo Cartel members, his fellow SOA members, gangster and business partner Nero Padilla and even various current and former law enforcement officials. His brothers in SAMCRO are all completely loyal to him, trusting him without a doubt and some, specifically Chibs Telford and Bobby Munson, do their best to guide him. He was closest to childhood friend Opie before he is killed; an event that changes Jax indefinitely.

Despite this, the vision he has for his Club—one of legitimate business and an end to unnecessary violence—finds itself put to the side in lieu of a plethora of problems and violent occurrences that plague SAMCRO throughout a number of years. The anarchy, brutality and multitude of problems and hardships Jax faces begins to turn him into a cold, ruthless killer. Having been transformed away from his "Brains Before Bullets" mentality in season one, Jax soon becomes explosively violent, something ally and enemy alike take note of, as well as his childhood sweetheart and beloved wife Tara Knowles, who tells him he's become a "monster." By season seven, Jax's kill count numbers well over thirty as he displays increasing levels of mayhem and violence. In the wake of Tara's murder and his Club's conflict with powerful organized crime groups, his personality changed drastically; he now has no problems killing numerous men, torturing and killing a man in prison or torturing and then putting salt on a man's wounds before stabbing him in the head. Also, the death of Bobby contributes to this violence. At one point, Jax sadistically plucks a man's eye out with his finger and then shoots him in the head. Jax becomes extremely selfish and reckless, caring more about avenging the death of Tara than what is best for him or the club. He loses all of his honor and becomes a compulsive liar, readily betraying and murdering friends and allies. However, by the end of the series, he was able to find some semblance of peace as he completed Tara's last wishes of getting his boys out of Charming, getting SAMCRO out of gun-running completely and avenging Bobby.