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jammin-animal · 1 year ago

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A Long Study of Greely's Character

(This Post contains HEAVY Spoilers for Animal Jam Classic's Adventures, and spoilers for current AJPW events. Read at your own risk.

For those of you who don't know, in Animal Jam - Play Wild (AJPW), Greely done something drastic after the Lines of Power Event. The action he's taken has led to people assuming that he's gone evil.

In this post, I attempt to debunk and defend the often mischaracterized Greely, using a lengthy review of his appearances in-lore to help you, the reader, understand his character, and why he would do something like this.

This may not be the only time I analyze him, but it will certainly be the longest!

Before I get into it, I need to clarify what the LoP event is.

Part 1: The Lines of Power Event

In Jamaa, a duality based leyline of magic appeared, with lines running underground, with one under the Alpha Headquarters. These lines had two distinct types of energy; Darkside, and Lightside, both of which are derived from certain traits.

Lightside is derived from Peace, Imagination, and Clarity.

Darkside is derived from Power, Emotion, and Initiative.

Notice that these are Amoral traits (except Peace, which is undoubtedly Good), as one can use Clarity and Imagination to devise an evil scheme, and use Power and Initiative to defend someone.

Despite neither Lightside or Darkside having any inherently "evil" traits, many Jammers took the usual approach, and assumed that Light = Good and Dark = Bad. Heck, even the Alphas (save for Greely and Liza) took this view.

Due to the discovery of the lines, in order to seperate and potentially prevent the Phantoms from harnessing these powers, Graham built a machine that could channel either energy, but only use one.

In the LoP event, Jammers could use the machine to channel either Lightside or Darkside energy. Darkside energy, could be used to discover the intentions of the Phantoms, but was more unstable, and would risk destroying the Alpha HQ building. Lightside was more stable, as it was frequently used in attempts to keep Phantoms at bay, but would only do that, keep them at bay temporarily.

Alphas Peck, Cosmo, and Sir Gilbert, all advocated for the exclusive use of Lightside Energy, with only Greely advocating for Darkside, as it was not a tactic utilized at that time. Graham and Liza's viewpoints are largely unknown, but Graham says he was already planning out a new HQ during the event, implying that he didn't really care which side won. ("It's silly, but I'd been drafting scematics for a new Headquarters. No need for them now!" -Graham, Post-LoP)

Speaking of Post-Lines of Power, Lightside Won. Prior to this, the Alpha HQ was visibly under threat of sinking into the leylines. This was attributed to be caused by the utilization of Darkside Energy; this visual of the HQ sinking led to Jammers switching and using Lightside, under the assumption that Darkside really was bad.

So, Lightside won. Directly after this? Greely, the longtime Representative of Wolves, the stoic Alpha of Jamaa, resigned.

((WARNING! BELOW THIS CUT IS AN ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE WALL OF TEXT))

Part 2: Greely's Reputation

Due to Greely's Resignation, many Jammers developed a theory that Greely had betrayed Jamaa and the other Alphas, as a result of his advocation for Darkside energy. They considered his resignation an "admission of guilt", a sign that he really did become traitorous in favor of joining the Phantoms.

That said, I don't fault anyone for believing him to be secretly evil, considering his personality.

Greely is incredibly secretive, he's stoic, quiet, and often behaves rudely to others, commanding instead of asking. He has a deep fascination with Phantoms, coming off as questionable. It's no wonder he's considered to be both super cool, but also super sketchy.

However, if you consider the chronological order of the following events, you'll notice that the timing of his resignation debunks this "He joined the Phantoms" theory entirely.

The timeline is as follows:

Night of Phantoms Event begins, Lines of Power Event Begins

Phantoms become Playable

Lightside Wins

Greely Resigns and disappears

Phantoms were already able to become Jamaaian Citizens by the time Greely Resigned. If he wanted to study or be near Phantoms, he wouldn't have had to leave, only communicate with the Phantoms that moved to Jamaa.

That, however, doesn't explain why he left, why he took his belongings from the HQ, or why he resigned.

I cannot explain exactly why he left, or what he's doing.

But I KNOW that whatever the reason is, it is not to betray or hurt Jamaa in any way.

Part 3: Greely in Adventures

(SPOILERS FOR LEGACY ADVENTURES)

To better understand Greely, we need to take a look at his appearances in the Mainline Legacy Adventures.

The Hive: His first appearance. Greely tells the Player to stay out of the conflict between Jamaa and the Phantoms.

The Great Escape: Greely is at the top of the Phantom Prisons, and he berates the player for even being there, and sends you on your way out of there. Note: The Alpha that sends you, some rando, in to be captured on purpose, is COSMO.

Greely's Inferno: Cosmo sends the Player up the volcano, Graham sends you IN the Volcano to get his stuff back for him. Inside, there's a secret entrance to Greely's little hideout, full of Phantom related items and his research. The player encounters Greely at the heart of the volcano, where he, as usual, berates the player for being there. It's also revealed that the Phantoms were going to use the volcano to destroy Jamaa, a plot that Greely stops with his magic, even though doing so would A) Make him unable to leave an active volcano while it erupts, and B) go against the Phantom's perfect little plot, which would mean he's absolutely not in the kahoots with them. Greely asks the player to please evacuate the volcano, and he is then able to halt the eruption of the volcano while it's mid-eruption, where it is presumed that he's died. The first request Greely asks of the player is to get themselves to safety.

The Search for Greely: Despite Greely sacrificing himself to save Jamaa, his innocence proven by his actions, Graham still considers Greely suspicious due to his personal notes saying things like "The other Alphas don't suspect a thing" and for having a fixation on Phantoms. In this adventure, the Player finds a machine Greely uses to temporarily become a Phantom as a means to use a portal into their dimension, which is considered extremely sketchy of him. When you find him though, he's been caged by the Phantoms, further proving his innocence, as the Phantoms wouldn't be so keen to lock up Greely if he were working with them, after all, Greely proves himself to be really intelligent. When he's freed, he breaks from pattern, and compliments you for your skills, remarking how the player is full of surprises. For a brief moment, he worries that you're both trapped since you need to be a phantom to use the portal. Plot says Cosmo overrides the portal and Alphas Liza, Graham, and Cosmo appear, with Graham questioning Greely's intent, with Cosmo DEMANDING Greely explains himself. Greely states that he infiltrated the Phantom Dimension as a means to obtain the Phantom Beacon, which would lead them to the Phantom's fortress, said to be where Phantoms replicate and make more Phantoms. Note that none of the Alphas present believe him until he shows proof, showing the Phantom Beacon. Greely thanks you for the help, but still dislikes your presence, since it means you put yourself in danger.

The Phantom Fortress: Greely is shown to be disguised as a sheep to get himself captured as a means to set other captured sheep free. Apparently he's been doing this for months, disguising himself as different animals to set them free. He states that he's been planning this for months, and, as usual, scolds the player for so nonchalantly ruining his careful planning, though not as harshly as before.

Storming the Fortress: Sir Gilbert calls you ordinary, then takes it back, and then sends you into the Phantom Fortress, by yourself. Granted, he does so because he can't be in two places at once, and needs to defend Jamaa from an ongoing attack, but still, consider that he's the head of Jamaa's Military forces, and has a tiger army. Also that there's more than one Alpha. By the way, Peck is missing. When the player encounters Greely in the heart of the Fortress, he just sighs in defeat, asking himself why he bothers planning at all anymore. He then, for the first time, asks the Player for help. Greely assigns himself to keep the Phantoms at bay, while the Player destroys the engine responsible for powering the Phantom Fortress. After this task is completed, Peck shows up, and Greely says that moment she disappeared, he went looking for her (yet when Greely disappears, it's assumed he's up to no good). Greely knew for certain where Peck would be, he knows that she's the brave, rambunctious type to go off and storm the fortress. This proves that he does know about the other Alphas well enough to guess what they'll do. He's ready to put himself in danger, but not willing to let the other's sacrifice themselves, not when he could do so in their stead. Peck caused enough damage to the Fortress by herself that it begins to break down, leading to an (offscreen) escape. Afterward? Peck is the one to get the credit, with Graham stating that it was all thanks to her. Peck denies it, and says it was thanks to all of their hard work, saying that she believes that the other Alphas would have done the same if they were present. She especially thanks Greely, saying he deserves credit and a giant hug. Greely seems a little surprised and even uncomfortable about being praised, and it seems he isn't used to being appreciated. He then deflects and gives credit to the player, leading Peck to chime in and tell the player that they saved Jamaa.

The River's Heart: Greely is trying to return a magic stone to where it belongs. He also, for the second time, asks for the Player to help, however, the task at hand is far, far less dangerous. He only asks that you accompany the Stone as it floats on a boat down a river, to where it belongs. Here, he says that the Player has proven themselves to be trustworthy. Greely has begun trusting the Player enough to handle themselves, and only after having proved themself to be capable, does he feel comfortable giving them tasks, and even then, the tasks are extremely simple in comparison to what the other Alphas ask of you. Peck appears, and expresses worry that the Phantoms are going to ambush Greely and the Stone. ("I'll bet you anything the Phantoms are on their way to ambush us, now that Greely isn't with us. He tried to stop me from following him, but I just knew something like this would happen!" -Peck) She's right, there's an ambush. After they're stopped, Greely appears, remarking that he was attacked by FOUR PHANTOM KINGS. He is then surprised that Peck is here, and assumes she's here because the other Alphas sent her here to stop him from returning the Stone to it's rightful place. Greely doesn't trust the other Alphas to allow him to give the Stone back to nature. Peck instantly denies this, saying she agrees with him, leading him to question why she sounds so upset. Peck reveals that she's upset with Greely for always trying to handle things by himself, and berates him for never asking her or the others for help. He then apologizes for his, admitting one of his biggest faults, and promising to be less secretive, and to be more open about his plans. Peck is happy and in turn, promises to hold him responsible to this promise. The two return the Stone to it's place in nature, and head on back, where they're greeted with,,, hostility by the other Alphas. Sir Gilbert, right away, berates Greely for taking the Stone, Liza scolds Greely for not being a team player and says "Don't you trust anyone?", Graham doesn't say anything of substance. Greely then scolds the other Alphas for not realizing that the Stone doesn't belong to them, it belongs to nature. Sir Gilbert says, "Why would we [realize that], there's nothing here but rocks!", he then yells at Peck for going along with Greely's "nonsense". Her reply is to defend Greely, but still reprimand him for not being clear about his intent, reprimanding for stealing the Stone, which, now in it's place, activates, revealing it to be a Heartstone, one of the biggest, most ancient they've seen. Greely says that it can only activate when it's in its proper place. AGAIN, Greely has to prove his innocence with an outside force, and only then is he forgiven and treated with respect.

Part 4: Greely's Character

So now let's unpack All That!

Do you notice the patterns?

The game, in the beginning, continually points at Greely and tries to convince the player he's evil, yet in the face of danger, Greely, time and time again, proves that he isn't.

Greely is the only Alpha to consistently scold the player for following the Alphas into danger. Heck, he dislikes when the other Alphas follow him into the literal inferno that is the volcano. Greely is the only one to express remorse for putting the player into a position of action, and only begins to trust you after you continually prove yourself to be able to handle fighting Phantoms.

Greely keeps his most dangerous missions to himself, even away from the other Alphas. He even gets a little upset at them for trying to help.

The other Alphas, excluding Peck, are constantly mistrusting him, even after he continually proves himself to be on the side of good. They only listen to him AFTER he displays physical evidence of his innocence. He's surprised when Peck compliments him, displaying that he is rarely appreciated by his colleagues, let alone trusted by them.

Greely has a tendency to isolate from the Alphas, as he doesn't fully believe in their capacity to understand him, which is completely justified due to their treatment of him. He doesn't trust them to handle situations with the appropriate level of caution, so whenever he goes on a particularly important mission, he keeps it from them.

Greely's secrecy is a means to ensure the safety of Jamaa, to ensure that the other Alphas don't get caught up in danger. Greely continually goes off on easily the most dangerous missions to protect Jamaa. Yet even his own colleagues distrust him, unaware that he hides his work to keep them from doing anything rash, and potentially dangerous. He doesn't want anyone doing something reckless and accidentally harming Jamaa.

This is why I find it utterly impossible for his resignation in the Play Wild edition to be a sign of villainy. Every appearance he makes, every action he does, all of it points to him being the most caring of the Alphas.

Bringing the conversation back to Play Wild's Lines of Power Event.

Greely advocates for the utilization of Darkside energy. which, by all means, encapsulates Greely perfectly!

Emotion, Greely cares deeply for Jamaa and all it's creatures, his actions display this emotion clearly.

Power, the magic he uses to defend Jamaa, even stopping a volcano, nearly dying in the process.

Initiative, Greely does the jobs nobody else even considers, he carefully plans, then walks directly into the heart of danger, which even Sir Gilbert doesn't do, as he primarily tends to borders and takes the defensive. Greely takes the offensive, delving into the inferno of the Phantom's lands.

His resignation in Play Wild is not a sign of villainy, it's a sign that Jamaa is in danger, and he is going to try and fix it the way he usually does. By himself. Alone.

This is not the first time he's gone on his own to try and solve a problem, to try and delve into danger all alone for the sake of Jamaa, but it's certainly the first time he's done something so drastic as resign from his position. He didn't even tell Peck, who he made a promise to, meaning he cannot risk anyone, not even her, who he trusts, following him.

Now remember points 3 and 5?

Greely isolates himself from the Alphas whenever he begins a dangerous task.

Yet again, Greely is going to try and sacrifice himself for the sake of all Jamaa, for the sake of the colleagues who do not trust him, for the sake of his friend, Peck...

I wholeheartedly believe that Greely's resignation is a push to the Alphas to appoint a new Alpha in his stead, as he considers his latest mission so dangerous, that he thinks that he will either never be able to return to Jamaa, or that he will die.

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