Jockington

Life is a big, ballgame,
And when the man is on the field.
He does a big dunk.
Try, to be that dunk.

Jockington to Kris, Chapter 2

Jockington (JP: ジョッキントン) is a Hometown resident in Deltarune. He is one of Kris's classmates in the local school, and is close friends with Catti.

Profile

Appearance

Jockington is a green snake-like monster. He wears a blue cap backwards, usually has a pair of black sunglasses, and often sports a wide grin. Over his body, Jockington wears a sleeveless blue shirt.

Personality

Jockington has a "cool" personality, and moves erratically when he speaks. Catti describes him as a curious individual with a heart of gold, but low intelligence. He appears to enjoy sports, specifically soccer, as shown by his group project contribution. Along with Noelle, he is a member of the school's Cross Country Team.

He appears to be very popular around Hometown. One of the lockers outside Alphys's classroom is "covered in Jockington memorabilia", and Sans's shop contains a "magazine for Jockington fans".

Speech pattern

Jockington's sentences are short, erratic, have randomly capitalized words and improper use of commas. He makes frequent references to sports, often involving strange or nonsensical metaphors. In Chapter 4, his manner of speech noticeably deteriorates compared to earlier Chapters.

Etymology

"Jockington" is derived from the word "jock", which signifies an athlete or a fan of sports. This correlates with his enjoyment of sports.

Main story

Chapter 1

Jockington first appears in Alphys's classroom, where he sits at the bottom-left desk, with Catti in front of him, and Susie's desk to his right. If Kris asks him to partner for the group project, he explains that he already has Catti as a partner, and reminisces that they have been partners ever since their first gym class, Hula Hoop Day, when the school ran out of hoops and Catti used him instead. Upon seeing Kris get paired with Susie Jockington expresses sympathy to Kris, and claims that if he had arms, he would take off his hat in their rememberance.

After Kris returns from Card Kingdom, Jockington can be found in the library. He explains he is copying pictures for the school project while Catti is working QC's Diner. The pictures turn out to be the same image of a soccer ball repeated 73 times. When asked about this, he quips that he is "having a ball".

Interacting with Monster Kid reveals that Jockington once played handball with Monster Kid and Snowy. However, Monster Kid explains that once the ball rolled towards Susie, she kicked the ball at Undyne's police car, causing Undyne to trounce the three of them at handball.

Chapter 2

Jockington has a room in Queen's Mansion. When Kris checks the room, the narration states that "... it's beautiful." In the Chapter's epilogue, he supports Catti at QC's Diner alongside her family.

Chapter 4

Jockington can be found attending service in the front row of the church pews. When asked about the shelter codes, he reveals he is standing in for Catti. When interacted with a second time, he continues speaking of his relationship to Catti.

After church, he is seen alongside Catti next to the library, presumably assisting her in getting her family down from a tree. Unlike Catti, he is supportive of Susie accompanying Kris, even suggesting that Susie is to Kris what Catti is to him. If Catti is angered by revealing to her that Noelle has invited Susie and Kris to her home, Jockington says that Kris has become "the World's Enemy" and that he respects their "Game", but if they hurt Catti's feelings, they will be "up a Ball without a court" (an amalgamation of the idioms "up a creek without a paddle" and "the ball is in your court"). He then offers to neutralize Catti's hex.

The "JOCKINGTON GROWS THE BEARD." prophecy tapestry

Early in the Dark Sanctuary, a glass tapestry of the prophecy can be found that states "JOCKINGTON GROWS THE BEARD." A Wafer standing beside the tapestry quotes their ancestors as saying "Come five o'clock, the shadow will grow." Although this is played off as a comedic gag, another, more secretive area in the 3rd Sanctuary reached by falling down the middle tile of the third section of the PrincessRBN climbing wall similarly contains this piece of the prophecy. The nearby Organikk philosopher recites:

Before the clock strikes midnight, the shadow will grow!
O, the shadow will grow, serpentine!
Even when the clock ran back, the shadow was growing!
A patch of shadow, slithering on, slithering on, serpentine!

This is likely a reference to five-o'clock shadow, a specific type of beard growth.

Chapter 5

In Chapter 5, Jockington grows facial hair after an interaction during the Festival, as first teased by the prophecy in the prior Chapter.

Relationships

Catti

For Catti's perspective, see Catti § Jockington.

Jockington has been Catti's academic partner since their first gym class, when Catti used Jockington as a hoop for the hula hoop day. Jockington also appears to support Catti during her work shift at QC's Diner in Chapter 2.

Susie states how Catti is one of Jockington's fans, and how she started hating Susie after she took Jockington's hat once, refusing to enter QC's Diner for that reason. When the "Jockington" option is selected when talking to Catti at QC's, she describes him as a "precious boy" with high curiosity and low intelligence. According to Jockington, the two are inseparable. Jockington is protective of Catti and vaguely threatens Kris if they were to hurt Catti or her feelings.

Noelle

For Noelle's perspective, see Noelle § Jockington.

Jockington and Noelle are good friends, having worked together as members of Hometown's Cross Country Team.

Susie

Similar to other students in Hometown, Jockington is wary of Susie, although he respects Kris for hanging out with her despite her infamy.

Creation and development

During the Undertale 6th anniversary stream in 2021, Toby Fox teased "No spoilers. Jockington grows a beard. Spoiler, sorry." He also states that Jockington is the most popular character in Deltarune's world.

Outside of Deltarune

Spamton Sweepstakes

During the Spamton Sweepstakes 2022 charity event, Jockington appears as a user named "sports" under comments on Noelle's blog. He appears to be an admin of the blog, and has an avatar of a soccer ball. After realizing there cannot be a soccer ball in Dragon Blazers, he proclaims he will not be using the site anymore.

Newsletter

In ISSUE 5 - Winter 2024 of the newsletter, three random Valentine's Day cards were included in the email version of the Newsletter. Jockington only has a single rare Valentines card. He only writes "Tennis Ball" to the recipient.

Official social media

Jockington is occasionally featured in some official social media posts. A black and white version of his sprite was included with a speech bubble revealing Chapter 3 and 4's bug testing phase in January 2025. Jockington also appears in a Chapter 5 teaser alongside a Floradinn, an Addison, and Nubert, where he is depicted with a brown beard.

Undertale

An object explicitly described as a "definitely backwards baseball cap" appears in the Xbox version of Undertale's Dog Shrine. It is also referred to as "SerpentHelm", and appears to be a reference to Jockington's cap.

Gallery

• 
  Jockington with a beard
• 
  Jockington LINE sticker

Trivia

• Jockington's name is one of the names that prompts a unique response from the voice in the introduction during Chapter 1.
• Jockington "growing the beard" may be a reference to "growing the beard", a term generally used to describe the specific point a work finds its footing or otherwise improves in quality. The term originates from Star Trek: The Next Generation, where a noticeable improvement in the quality of the show's storytelling coincided with Lieutenant William Riker's actor, Jonathan Frakes, growing a beard.