Zeff
| Zeff | |
|---|---|
| Groups | Reckoners |
| Residence | Lux |
| Homeworld | Earth (Reckoners) |
“Zeff was more like a thorny tumbleweed than a real person. ”
Zeff is a trainer for the Reckoners. He is the chief trainer at the Coop, and personally trains Jax and Paige. He dies at the hands of Wingflare.
Zeff pushes his trainees to their limits. His favorite form of punishment is "The Post," a post outside the Coop on which trainees are forced balance for hours under the sun.[2]
Zeff has three rules at the coop. Rule 1: no excuses, ever. Rule 2: I am God. You do what I say, and no questions. Rule 3: you are weak.[2] These rules are enforced inconsistently: Jax will occasionally break these rules without receiving punishment. Zeff seems to only bring up Rule 2 when he doesn't want to answer.[1]
Despite having a sense of humor, Zeff rarely shows it, his face staying generally cold and indifferent.[3]
During an operation, Zeff and Jax are chased by Ravens and by Wingflare. Zeff gets badly wounded, and forces Jax to leave him. Wingflare pulls up a hotel and holds it over Zeff. She demands that he run, saying that if he runs fast enough, she’ll let him live. Despite his wound, Zeff stands up and defies Wingflare, refusing to play her games. Her weakness triggered, she drops the hotel on Zeff by accident, killing him.[4]
Appearance and Personality
Zeff has hard, unforgiving eyes, and has skin that looks like old stone. He has a weathered look to him, and and is likely well into his middle years. He wears a cowboy hat and drives an old once-blue pickup truck. He has a gruff Southern accent. He is harsh and unforgiving, and is a demanding task master. He is very observant, and nothing escapes his attention.[5]
History
Training Jax and Paige
Zeff was in charge of Jax’s training at the Coop. He was harsh with Jax, and made him spend hours upon hours on The Post. He took Jax’s sword away from him, and said Jax can have it back when he knew how to use it.[2] He showed Jax the motivator workshop, but said Jax can only work there once he reads all of the dozens of books on motivators and biochemistry they have.
Zeff put Jax through many “no-flinch games” where he placed Jax in tough situations and didn’t let him flinch. One such exercise included having Jax lie down on the ground and having mice crawl all over him. Zeff said that the fundamentals of being an assassin are not flashy skills like being able to shoot or use a sword, but more subtle ones, like being able to sit in a bush for days without moving. Jax wanted to learn to use his sword, but Zeff tought him martial arts instead. He also made Jax do what he called “peaches training”, in which he made Jax do regular exercises, but with a backpack full of peaches on his back.[1]
A girl named Paige arrived at the Coop after several months, and Zeff began training her along with Jax. He introduced them to each other, antagonizing them by describing to each of them how Epics murdered their families. When Zeff realized that both of them cared more about each other than themselves, he declared that when one of them messed up, the other would bear the punishment.[1]
At long last, Zeff started teaching Jax swordplay. He only taught Jax how to block strikes, and says that Jax can attack once he had blocked 100,000 sword strikes. After a long time training with practice swords, Jax lashed out at Zeff out of frustration and anger, striking Zeff hard in the ribs. Jax said that he has blocked the required 100,000 sword strikes. Zeff simply corrected Jax’s stance, and they continued training as if it hadn’t happened. That night, Zeff told Jax that he had broken Rule Three: You are weak. Zeff made Jax stand on the post, and that night, he returned Jax’s sword to him, polished and sharpened.[6]
Two years passed, and Zeff taught Jax and Paige stealth, acrobatics, observation, and firearms. Despite how he downplayed guns, Zeff was an extremely good shot. Though Jax initially struggled, he eventually got better at firearms. Paige, however continually remained the better shot. Zeff made Jax fight older kids who are five or more year older than him. In addition, Zeff made Jax fight outnumbered, sometimes facing two or more enemies. Jax and Paige started working together, fighting side by side. From then on, Zeff let them fight together but made the bouts even more unfair, making them fight up to six or seven enemies at once, or making them be otherwise impaired.[5]
Months later, Prof came to visit the Coop. Zeff locked Jax and Paige in the kitchen, saying that he was too embarrassed to present them to Prof. Zeff met with Prof, unaware that Jax and Paige were eavesdropping on his conversation. He praised Jax’s determination and great skill with the sword, and talked about how impressed he was with Jax. Upon returning to the kitchen, Zeff noticed Jax’s smirk and saw the ventilation duct in the kitchen that they’d used to escape. He discerned what had happened, but was impressed with Jax’s skill rather than angry.[5] The next day Prof asked Jax about his work with motivators, and Zeff revealed that he has known the whole time about Jax sneaking out every night to work on them in secret. Zeff also revealed that he had been finding certain objects that Jax needed and planting them for Jax to “steal.”[7]
The same day, Prof called a meeting with all the Reckoners at the Coop. Abigail, one of the Texas Reckoners, arrived at the Coop. Zeff greeted her with a smile and kissed her. Zeff introduced Jax and Abigail, though Abigail already knew a lot about Jax. At the meeting, Prof assigned almost all of the Reckoners to go to Arlington with Abigail to intercept Lux. He gave Zeff and Jax the task of going to El Paso, a former battlefield where a large group of Epics had fought against Lux and lost, and where Dean Knighthawk had set up a mobile lab.[7]
El Paso
Zeff and Jax drove eight hours to El Paso, where signs of Epic fighting were clearly visible. On the battlefield, Knighthawk had set up multiple buildings, as well as a mechanical clean-up crew. They met with Knighthawk, as well as a man who Knighthawk introduced as “The Californian”, who said he was a California Reckoner. Jax started talking with Knighthawk about motivators and Lux, inadvertently giving away valuable information. Zeff tried to get Jax to stop talking by glaring at him, but Jax didn’t get the hint. Knighthawk moved to his lab to work on a motivator, asking Zeff to come with him. Zeff stole a sample of DNA from Mitosis, and went back to retrieve Jax. He found that Jax had revealed even more valuable intel to the Californian. Saying that he needed Jax’s help unloading crates, he pulled Jax outside. He angrily berated Jax, furious about how much information he revealed. He said that he doesn’t know who the Californian is, but that he’s not a Reckoner. They left quickly, and started driving towards Arlington to join Abigail and the other Reckoners.[8]
Relationships
Abigail
Zeff is unmarried,[1] but he and Abigail are in love.[7]
Jax
Zeff trained Jax at the coop.[1] Though Jax initially hated Zeff, Jax grew to like him by the time of his death.[4]
Notes
- ↑ a b c d e f Lux chapter 7#
- ↑ a b c Lux chapter 5#
- ↑ Lux chapter 6#
- ↑ a b Lux chapter 12#
- ↑ a b c Lux chapter 9#
- ↑ Lux chapter 8#
- ↑ a b c Lux chapter 10#
- ↑ Lux chapter 11#