Jughead generally has a characteristic wry and
sarcastic sense of humor. He is considered a bit of an oddity, but prefers his
nonconformism as opposed to going along with others' styles. His many quirks make him the butt of teasing and abuse from Reggie, Veronica, and even other classmates and teachers. Many episodes involve Reggie and Jughead trying to outdo one another with pranks and bets, and Jughead almost always comes out the victor. He is revealed to be extremely clever and creative when necessary and he often takes advantage of Reggie's and his other tormentors' weaknesses (and has fun all the while). In the earlier comics, a running gag involved various characters trying to discover Jughead's real name, while Jughead thwarted their efforts. In one story,
Archie Andrews and
Reggie Mantle go to the school office, where a woman tells them that Jughead's real first name is Steve. After Archie and Reggie leave the office, the audience learns that the woman is actually Jughead's aunt who has just lied as a favor to Jughead to help keep his real first name (Forsythe) hidden. The earliest stories indicated that the mention of his name drove girls wild for him. The first of these appeared in "Jughead" #159 (August 1968). In Little Archie #49 (September 1968),
Miss Grundy revealed his real name at the start of class, and it drove girls wild. In a later story (issue #1 of "The Jughead Jones Comics Digest", June 1977) we find out he is named after his ancestor, Forsythe P. Jones, who is an American hero. For a brief time, Jughead started to use his given name in honor of his ancestor. After learning that this ancestor was married nine times, Jughead reverted to his nickname. Another mystery that follows Jughead's character is the meaning of the "S" on his sweatshirt. This remains a mystery to this day, although many stories have hinted at a meaning. In Jughead #30 (1992), when his psychiatrist, Sara, asked him "why an 'S'?" he replied "I dunno! My third cousin was called skinny..." The triangular banner on the cover of issue 140 of
Archie & Friends shows that the "S" stands for
Silby, as in Silby High School, which he attended for a few months as a freshman. At one time after his sweater was filled with holes due to what he thought was a moth when it was actually a chemical accident caused in lab class, he reveals that he simply likes the letter S and finds it "compatible", because the letter can stand for "soup, sandwich, steak and all kinds of goodies!" after his friends ask him. Betty rolls her eyes at the explanation and adds, "S stands for "sorry I asked"!" Another theory is that, as he is a non-conformist, he wears an "S" as opposed to his classmates who wear sweaters adorned with an "R" which stands for Riverdale.
Appetite and love for food ) Jughead is known for his love of food, especially
hamburgers, and his ability to consume absurdly large quantities in a single sitting without getting sick or gaining weight, although he often sports a pot-belly immediately after a particularly large meal. Jughead is a preferred customer of most of
Riverdale's food establishments, especially
Pop Tate's Chock'lit Shoppe, except when he is behind on paying his usually lengthy tab. In one story, he was given a "Restaurant Club Card" and ate out at high-class restaurants until he found out how much interest the card charged, and Pop Tate loaned him the money on the condition that he eat exclusively at the Chock'lit Shoppe. His ability to eat so much food without gaining weight is attributed to a very rare and implausibly high
metabolism. He once claimed that he weighed 300 pounds after a meal, although he is usually portrayed as slim and healthy. Jughead's special abilities concerning food extend to being able to identify food in a sealed can by smell, and being able to detect the slightest flaws in food preparation by taste. As such, he is a respected food critic, as well as a gourmet chef himself. One time, when he sought out
Miss Grundy's help with his creative writing, she suggested that he write about a subject he knew, leading to the "Forsythe P. Jones Cookbook". Jughead often participates in eating contests, usually winning outright, or else easily coming from behind after comic distractions, and often with room to spare while the competitor retires unwell. In a citywide eating contest, he ate a colossal burger made up of sixteen different burgers. Jughead also set two world records for eating pizza; one for speed-eating a pizza, and another for eating the most pizzas in one sitting: twelve. Jughead's appetite is so large that even if he eats shortly before such contests, it does not affect his performance. For example, a rival high school once sent a girl, Jane Dough, to take Jughead to various restaurants and feed him as much as possible. Amazingly, Jughead still managed to win the contest. He explained to Jane that top athletes need to train constantly in order to stay in shape, and she actually helped him "train" for the contest. One running gag depicts Jughead visiting restaurants that promise "all you can eat" special deals, with the devastated restaurateur closing down as Jughead leaves. Despite his appetite, Jughead is not known to be stingy with food, or to let others go hungry. When a store selling
penny candy opened in Riverdale, he spent his whole allowance on a huge bag of candy, only to meet a penniless young boy outside the shop. Jughead wrestled with his desire, but he chose to give the candy to the boy. In a similar story, Jughead met a homeless person who liked the same kind of pizza as he did, and decided to give him the pizza he had just purchased. In another story, after winning three pizzas a week for six months for being a pizzeria's one-millionth customer, he donated them all to a soup kitchen where he volunteered. Because of his well-known food obsession, Jughead was shown eating a hamburger on the facades of the short-lived
Archie's Family Restaurants.
Jughead's hat Jughead is almost always seen wearing his trademark beanie with both a round and square pin. This type of crown-shaped cap, called a
whoopee cap, sometimes a "Jughead cap" or "crown", was popular among boys in the 1930s and 1940s. It was made from a man's felt
fedora hat with the brim trimmed in a zig-zag and turned up. Similar caps have appeared on other comic book/strip, cartoon, and children's book characters such as
Eddie Stimson in
Little Lulu,
Melvin Wisenheimer in
Little Audrey,
Skuzz in The Berenstain Bears, and
Bugs Meany in
Encyclopedia Brown as well as on
Goober Pyle on
The Andy Griffith Show and
Jeff Goldblum's character "Freak #1" in
Death Wish. Jughead's hat was recolored in black in the
Filmation cartoons and pink in
The New Archies. Over the course of the character's publication, Jughead's hat has evolved from a modified fedora to its more recognisable "crown" appearance. Though some view the hat as strange and immature, Jughead considers it a good luck charm and when it is taken from him, misfortune comes his way. While on the school baseball team, Jughead was pulled aside and reprimanded by school principal Mr. Weatherbee for wearing the hat instead of a proper baseball uniform cap. Jughead complied, but then started performing so badly that Weatherbee was forced to relent. In the "Time Police" comic, there is a double of his beanie given to him by an unknown benefactor (later revealed to be himself) that allows him to travel in time. Some stories showed him wear a unique pin on his hat which attracts many girls to him, so he hid it to avoid the crowd of girls rushing him. The hat also seems to define part of Jughead's personality. One story has the gang try to convince him to try a different hat, but it is revealed that whatever hat he tried on changed his personality to suit the hat. When they had him try on a detective hat, he focused on clues that would have gotten Archie in trouble with Betty and Veronica, and took a hair from Reggie's sweater that implied that he sneaked a date with Midge behind Moose's back (the look on both of their faces imply he was on to something). Jughead also stated that he felt naked without a hat. Finally, Veronica gave him a special hat to try on. When he did, everyone said it suited him (it was an ugly thing but looked comical. She said she was saving it for a Mad Hatter party). Jughead tried wearing it for a day at school, but scared several students, teachers, and even Miss Beazly the cafeteria lady) they begged him to go back to his trademark hat. When he asked what they'd do if he did, they offered him a platter of hamburgers and he happily agreed. In Jughead and Friends Digest #25 story "The Secret of Jughead's Hat" his cap is destroyed in a laundry accident. Wendy Weatherbee (Principal Weatherbee's niece) replaces the lost hat by doing exactly as explained above when she takes an old fedora and cuts it and shapes it to remake the whoopee cap or crown.
Family and friends Jughead's best friend is
Archie Andrews, despite their personality difference. Archie was the first person that Jughead met upon moving to Riverdale, and he is often dragged into Archie's schemes and antics. Jughead is usually the first one to bail Archie out of trouble (though some times he only makes things worse). Jughead, extremely loyal, is willing to do almost anything to help his friend, something that Archie occasionally takes for granted. Reggie Mantle is another one of Jughead's close friends, though his and Jughead's relationship is defined by their constant competition. Reggie never loses an opportunity to insult Jughead ("needle-nose" being his favorite nickname) and Jughead often responds with tricks to aggravate Reggie. Though it often appears they hate each other, and neither will admit otherwise, they really do care for one another. Jughead will even help Reggie escape being injured when
Moose Mason is angry with him. Alongside Archie,
Betty Cooper frequently slips into the best friend role for Jughead in the comics. Their mutual love and appreciation for food (she cooks, he eats), and continuously going to bat for each other have made their friendship a stronghold in the comics. While generally disinterested in matters of the heart, Jughead frequently stands up for Betty when Archie breaks her heart. In one comic, Jughead tells Betty that if he were to ever kiss a girl willingly, it would be her. Jughead and
Veronica Lodge are constantly arguing. Veronica cannot stand his laid-back attitude witticisms, and Jughead enjoys teasing her and making her lose her temper with clever insults. Their relationship would be considered that of "frenemies". Although at times, he relishes causing her to get angry because sometimes he sees her as an uncaring selfish snob. He once told Veronica he was "mad with passion" for her, and began popping up wherever she went, to get her off his back after she criticized him publicly. They were once cast together in a school play, which required them to kiss. Due to the way Jughead kissed her, she was caught up in the moment and fell in love with him for a while. However, Jughead managed to get her over her crush, with the help of a garlic and onion sandwich. Jughead's other friends include
Dilton Doiley and
Moose Mason. Other than Dilton, Jughead probably gets along with Moose better than the other boys because of his non-confrontational attitude (and his lack of interest in Moose's girlfriend
Midge). Jughead's nerdy ways and lack of interest in sports and girls probably account for how well he gets along with Dilton. Jughead's family includes his father, also named Forsythe, his mother Gladys, and in later comics, his younger sister Jellybean. He also has many eccentric relatives including slightly-addled Uncle Herman, or "Doc Jones", a daffy and slightly pompous
inventor whose creations usually wreak havoc on Jughead and/or his friends and his lookalike younger cousin, Souphead. Other one-time relatives appear frequently. Jughead also tells many stories of his ancestors, who prove to be quite as interesting as himself. A 1970s "Archie" cartoon episode featured Jughead's paternal grandparents—
both of whom resemble Jughead. Another acquaintance of Jughead's is Trula Twyst, Riverdale High's budding pop psychologist, who is constantly trying to analyze Jughead to determine what makes him so odd. The two share a strange love/hate relationship that would have gone much smoother had they not met the way they did- Trula tricked Jughead into dating her in order to become more popular. In one story, Jughead claimed his great-grandmother was a
Native American "from the Pawtuxet tribe", despite the fact that the
Patuxet were killed off by 1622. In another story from the same era, he claimed his great-great-grandfather was "an
eskimo", who was "the only cop north of Nome...'Ol' Bluenose Jones' they called him!" It is likely that neither of these claims are meant to be taken seriously. In both stories he also used his claims to make fun of Veronica, which suggests more that his comments were meant as jokes, since Jughead has a history of making up fibs to tease Veronica and other opponents. In the "Mad Magazine" universe, Jughead's doppelgänger is nicknamed Bottleneck. Bottleneck wears a beanie that resembles a broken bottleneck. His best friend (and fellow juvenile delinquent) is Starchie.
Miniseries ''Jughead's Time Police'' was a series that began in 1990 featuring Jughead as a hero of the 29th century and a member of the Time Police, an organization that ensures history to remain the same for the future's sake. In this series, the beanie gives Jughead the ability to time travel by thinking. With his supervisor,
Marshal January McAndrews, Jughead repairs disturbances in the past. The series was rebooted in 2019, with Jughead building a time machine to undo the mistakes he has made, forcing January McAndrews to intervene. Other spin-offs include
''Jughead's Diner in 1990, where he ran a
diner with an eclectic cast of patrons; and Jughead's Fantasy
, resulting from Jughead's Folly'', lasted for three issues and featured Jughead's dreams of various
alter-egos, including "Sir Jugalot", "Peter Goon--Private Eye", and "Son of Hercules". Jughead also featured in
Explorers of the Unknown, playing Squint, a daredevil escape artist. ==Sexuality==