Jack Frost/Elsa

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Pairing
Pairing: Jack Frost/Elsa
Alternative name(s): Jelsa
Gender category: Het
Fandom: Rise of the Guardians/Frozen, The Big Four, The Super Six
Canonical?: Non-Canon
Prevalence: Popular
Archives:
Other:
"illustration of Elsa and Jack Frost looking at each other lovingly, Elsa has her hand on Jack's cheek and Jack has his hand on Elsa's waist. The background is a soft gray color."
Jelsa by 531154865324 (2017)
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Jack Frost/Elsa, also known as Jelsa, is the het crossover pairing between Jack Frost from the Dreamworks film Rise of the Guardians, and Queen Elsa from the Disney film franchise Frozen.

The ship became popular in late 2013 after the release of the first Frozen film, with fans of both properties noting the similarities between the two characters and often citing these parallels as factors for the ship's appeal. Because there are no canon interactions between the two characters, fans of the ship created fanworks to show them together and to establish a common baseline for fanon.

There is sometimes a rivalry or animosity between fans of many of Elsa's ships, including Jelsa, especially if said fans headcanon her as a lesbian. Though multishippers do exist, shippers tend to pick one over the others.

Canon

The characters never meet in canon materials due to being from different works made by separate companies; Jack is a DreamWorks character, while Elsa is a Disney character.

In the Frozen films, Elsa is Queen of Arendelle, and has hidden the fact that she has ice powers for most of her life to protect both her sister and those around her, believing she is a danger to others. Over the course of the films, Elsa learns to accept and embrace her powers, and rebuilds her relationship with her sister.

In Rise of the Guardians, Jack is a human teenager who drowns trying to save his sister, then loses his memories and becomes an incarnation of frost, ice and snow. Centuries after his death, the world is threatened by a nightmare and Jack is chosen to help save it. Through a series of adventures, Jack regains his memories and helps renew children’s beliefs in the Guardians of Childhood, becoming the guardian of fun and defeating the nightmare.

Ship

Fans of Jack Frost/Elsa have noted interest in the ship stemming from the pairs' contrasting personalities, as well as similar personal values and experiences that the characters have gone through. Jack is characterized as being playful and mischievous, and Elsa is characterized as being reserved and quiet. Both value their siblings and have experienced extensive isolation; Elsa isolated herself in her room to protect her sister, while Jack was alone for centuries after drowning in his rescue attempt. Fans of the ship have stated that Jack and Elsa could find comfort in one another, by having someone that has gone through similar experiences to relate.

Jelsa

Oh, but people are just putting two pretty characters with ice powers together, this is ridiculous. You see, if I were going to ship them I'd be focusing on how they've both experienced isolation, their protective older sibling behaviour, how they both put other people first, and--

Then I found some really good fic with actual conflict and good characterisation, I'm shipping it hard.[1]

The two conflicting personalities could definitely lead to some very interesting interactions and tensions. Elsa is quiet, regal, mature, and reserved as the perfect Queen, while Jack is very playful, a fun-loving, mischievous, and trouble-making spirit. However, that is not to say that Elsa isn't sassy, or Jack isn't responsible as well. They both have complex personalities that complement each other quite nicely. They balance each other out, Elsa showing him the importance of being serious, and Jack showing her the importance of having fun and "letting it go".

Others try to argue that Jack is over 300 years old, compared to Elsa who is only 21 years old (in the first Frozen movie). Although, this is a popular trope in fiction pairing an immortal with a mortal, the tragedy of their separation through the test of time a preferable tool for drama and angst. It is also worth noting that Jack possesses the ability to change his physical appearance at will. And although not officially confirmed, many fans believe that, after the happenings in Frozen 2, Elsa, as the Fifth Spirit, has also become immortal.

Another thing that shippers use to defend their pairing is that William Joyce, the creator of the book series The Guardians of Childhood that inspired the Rise of the Guardians movie, has acknowledged in multiple occasions the existence of the Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons fandom, as well as the Jelsa community, even going as far as showing support for the ship[2].

Fandom

The crossover pairing became quite popular after Frozen's release in November 2013; various forms of fanworks could be found: fanart, gifs, vids, fanfiction. Due to this, Elsa was often added to the Big Four fandom. The pairing was nicknamed "Jelsa" by fans. It's by far one of the largest pairings for Elsa and one of the top pairings for Jack Frost as well.

Every release of new Frozen media content has only helped boost the Jelsa community's enthusiasm, with the fans going as far as starting a petition to have Jack Frost appear in the (then rumored) Frozen sequel, despite him being a character from a rival company[3]. But as the years passed, the fandom cooled down considerably until its resurgence with the release of Frozen II. The ship's popularity rose once again, many fans pointing out even more parallels between Jack and Elsa after the sequel came out.

Fandom Toxicity

As loving and supporting as the fandom seems to be, it goes without saying that it had its downsides down the road as well. Some Jelsa shippers have shown rather aggressive behavior over the years, going as far as attacking other ships related to Jack or Elsa. Similarly, other Jack or Elsa shippers have gone after Jelsa shippers just as much. Stolen fanwork has been another issue in the community, be it either from other ships or even from the Jelsa community's creators. Toxicity reached such extreme levels that it discouraged a considerable amount of shippers from staying in the fandom.

One of the more influential artists for the Jelsa pairing was Kazeki [4], who had inspired a lot of people to fall in love with the pairing. However, due to many people stealing her fanart and reposting them or making merchandise out of them, she ended up leaving the internet (and fandoms in general).[5] [6]

Common Tropes & Genres

  • Canon Divergence: Many fans have tweaked the movies' timelines in their own works, playing around with their own headcanons for Jack and Elsa to meet, and for their relationship (either romantic or not) to develop. Over the years, storytellers have explored the spectrum of canon compliance vastly, constantly finding new scenarios that fit the official media. Some of the widely known fics to explore the Rise of the Guardians and Frozen timelines were Frostbitten by Arialene, and ICE ALLIANCE by NopeNotTelling.
  • Alternate Universes:
  • Hurt/Comfort: usually emotional hurt/comfort where Elsa and Jack comfort each other concerning their past trauma, although there are some fanworks where it is hurt Jack and Elsa providing the comfort
  • Crossover: crossovers where Jack and Elsa meet other Disney or Dreamworks characters is quite common. These are often related to the Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons.

Challenges

Fanworks

Fanfiction

Fanart

Video Edits

Cosplays

Recs

Example Art Gallery

Meta/Further Reading

Fannish Resources

Deviantart

References

  1. ^ Comment on fail_fandomanon, May 12, 2017
  2. ^ William Joyce Interview - Shreveport writer, artist and filmmaker William Joyce talks with 101.7 / 710 KEEL's Robert J Wright and Erin McCarty about his latest book, plans for upcoming movies and why he continues to call Shreveport home.
  3. ^ Petition: Make a movie with Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians and Elsa from Frozen. ( A Jelsa movie )
  4. ^ Instagram post, Jan 8, 2021
  5. ^ Kazeki is one of my favourite artist. Her art is my inspiration and her art gives me life.
  6. ^ Just wanted to repost the fanart that started it all (by kazeki) posted to r/Jelsa, May 16, 2014
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