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Jazz (Transformers)
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | English: Jazz Japanese: マイスター (Meister) (G1 Cartoon-only) Japanese: ジャズ (Jazz) (other continuities) (more on TFWiki.net) |
| Occupation: | Autobot |
| Relationships: | |
| Fandom: | Transformers |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
Jazz is a popular and recurring character in the Transformers franchise.
Canon Background
[characterization, story role, further important appearances]
Major Appearances
See Jazz (disambiguation) on TFWiki.net for more of his appearances.
Popular Tropes & Fanon
- Mecha Pilot Jazz: a popular Jazz/Prowl shared universe created by Keferon where Jazz is secretly a human mecha pilot living on Cybertron. Masterpost here, Archived version
- Jazz Lives: where Jazz doesn't die in the first Michael Bay Transformers film. Fix-it.
- Decepticon Jazz: where Jazz is a Decepticon, typically a Decepticon spy. Mostly seen as a Jazz/Prowl sub-trope, though sometimes is used for Jazz/Soundwave AUs.
- BAMF Jazz: he's known to kick ass in more ways than just by sheer force. His skills as Autobot second/third command are showcased in many fanworks.
- Jazz is a Little Shit: largely influenced by common fanon characterization as well as his canon occupation of SpecOps specialist (aka spy.) Usually said in a positive sense.
Subjects of Fannish Interest & Meta
Jazz/Prowl and Fanon Jazz
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This article or section needs expansion. |
Jazz/Prowl, Jazz's most popular ship, originated in early 90s as a crack ship in the G1 canon, later becoming one of the most popular pairings in the fandom overall. It predated following continuities, so when they released, many shippers adapted their new personalities to fix the ship rather than the other way around. Prowl in particular was heavily influenced by this fanon in fanworks, as he was originally the least developed personality-wise between him and Jazz. He can be considered one of the first fandom ghosts.[Notes 1]
The ship's appeal largely comes from the opposites attract angle. Jazz is seen as laid back, fun-loving, sociable and adaptive while Prowl is stricter, more uptight, as seen as someone who takes everything literally. The black/white angle plays into this, with Jazz representing black and Prowl representing white -- coming from Jazz being black-coded, (Scatman Crothers as his VA in the G1 cartoon, his love of a black-made music genre, his way of talking, etc, has made him be consistently black-coded since the 80s,) and to a lesser extent Prowl being colored white and having a white VA in the G1 cartoon.
Meta about Jazz often talks about how fanon Jazz is often far removed from his canon characterization and encompasses negative racial stereotypes.
These stereotypes include him being very sexually promiscuous, a Decepticon spy or otherwise untrustworthy, from a dangerous neighborhood, and in need of being taught by the white-coded characters how to be a good person. Other common racist tropes are him "always running hot." Fanwriters also may get his AAVE incorrect instead of basing it largely on Swing/Bebop-era/Southern US AAVE, which is where most of his canon vocabulary comes from.[1][2]
Relationships
This is purposefully an incomplete list, as Jazz is shipped with many of the other Transformers. He's also popular for self-insert shipping.
Please add any notable relationships in fanworks if they are missing.
| Primary Canon | With... | Who is a(n)... | Full Label | Type | Ship Name(s) | Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| various | Prowl | Autobot | Jazz/Prowl | M/M | Jazzprowl | マイプロ | プロマイ | Juggernaut ship for both Jazz and Prowl; crack-ish w/ little canon backing |
| various | Prowl | Autobot | Jazz & Prowl | Gen | (n/a) | Both high-ranking Autobots |
| G1 Cartoon | Soundwave | Decepticon | Jazz/Soundwave | M/M | Jazzwave | 音マイ | マイ音 | Rivals; Soundwave is Jazz's Decepticon counterpart |
| G1 Cartoon | Optimus Prime | Autobot | Jazz/Optimus Prime | M/M | Jazzop | マイコン | コンマイ | Close allies |
| G1 Cartoon | Optimus Prime | Autobot | Jazz & Optimus Prime | Gen | (n/a) | Close allies |
| various | Optimus Prime, Prowl | Autobot x2 | Jazz/Optimus Prime/Prowl | Poly | Jazzprowlop | All three non-poly versions of this ship are popular |
| various | Bumblebee | Autobot | Bumblebee & Jazz | Gen | (n/a) | Rarepair; but possible in multiple continuities |
| Bayverse | Mikaela Banes | Autobot ally | Mikaela Banes/Jazz | F/M | (n/a) | (n/a) |
| G1 Cartoon | Blaster | Autobot | Blaster/Jazz | M/M | Jazzblaster | ブロマイ | マイブロ | Both love music, w/ Jazz liking jazz and Blaster liking hip-hop |
| Animated | Blitzwing | Decepticon | Blitzwing/Jazz | M/M | (n/a) | Rarepair; semi-common early in Animated fandom |
| Animated | Blurr | Autobot | Blurr/Jazz | M/M | Jazzblurr | Rarepair; semi-common early in Animated fandom |
| various | Bumblebee | Autobot | Bumblebee/Jazz | M/M | Jazzbee | Rarepair; but possible in multiple continuities |
| G1 Cartoon | Starscream | Decepticon | Jazz/Starscream | M/M | Jazzscream | マイスタ | スタマイ | Often enemies to lovers |
See List of Transformers Relationship Names for more.
Example/Notable Fanac
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fan Communities/Fan Events
- Autobot Jazz Week, a fanweek held in 2024.
- Jazzwave Week, a fanweek held in 2022.
- Jazz-Saboteur, Archived version, a club on Deviantart.
- wealllovejazz, Archived version, a club on Deviantart.
- BlitzwingXJazz, Archived version, a club on Deviantart for Blitzwing/Jazz.
- jazzxblurr, Archived version, a club on Deviantart for Blurr/Jazz.
- jazz-bumblebee, Archived version, a club on Deviantart for Bumblebee/Jazz.
- optimusxjazz, Archived version, a club on Deviantart for Jazz/Optimus Prime.
- ProwlxJazz, Archived version, a club on Deviantart for Jazz/Prowl.
- prowlxjazz, Archived version, a community on LiveJournal for Jazz/Prowl.
- prowlxjazz, Archived version, a community on Dreamwidth for Jazz/Prowl.
Wikis
- マイスター副官 on PixivEncyclopedia
- ジャズ on PixivEncyclopedia
- Jazz on the TFWiki
- JazzProwl on the Shipping Wiki for Jazz/Prowl.
- Jazz (Transformers) on Wikipedia
Fan Fic
Fan Art
General Fanworks
Collections
- A Love in Black and White, Archived version, a fic collection on FanFiction.Net.
- Jazz Mecha Pilot AU by keferon, a Jazz/Prowl AU where Jazz is secretly a human mecha pilot on Cybertron. Masterpost here, Archived version
Fan Mixes
Meta
- I feel like TFA Jazz can be seen as a lot more complex than people give him credit for by arceespinkgun, Archived version (2022)
- (...)am I the only Jazz fan I see that complains about how this fandom treats him? by fanficmaniatic and arceespinkgun, Archived version (2023)
- meta by arceespinkgun, Archived version (2023), comparing fanon Jazz with canon Blaster, another black-coded character.
- Thoughts About Jazz by arceespinkgun, Archived version (2023-2024), long meta about his canon characterization.
Notes
- ^ As said in Prowl, Original Fandom Ghost by multiple fans