Jim Moralés
 |
| Jim Moralés | |
|---|---|
| Jim at Kadic. | |
| First appearance | "Teddygozilla" |
| Portrayed by | David Gasman (English) |
| In-universe information | |
| Occupation | Junior high school physical education teacher, handyman, campus/dormitory supervisor |
| Family | Chris (nephew) |
Jim "Jimbo" Moralés is a character from the French animated television series Code Lyoko. In the English version of Code Lyoko, Jim is voiced by David Gasman.
Description
Jim (he prefers that his friends call him Jimbo) is the P.E. teacher, campus supervisor and handyman of Kadic Junior High School; by his own admission in "Holiday in the Fog", he was hired at the school two decades before the show's timeline. He is also the dormitory supervisor. His distinguishing characteristics include a seemingly-perpetual five o'clock shadow and stubble, a Band-Aid on his left cheek, and tucked-in knee socks. His hair and eyebrows are brown and bushy, and his arms are muscular; however, his belly pokes out. He claims to have been much thinner in his youth, and also had blond hair.
Jim's position as a supervisor makes him a common obstacle to the group, since their activities often involve breaking the rules in some manner. Jim is also a popular target for pranks by the students, such as Nicolas placing a bar of soap by his door in "Nobody in Particular", causing him to trip.
Though he is usually an obstacle, Xana's wide-scale attacks tend to show Jim in a more redeeming light, since he often comforts the students who are scared by the unnatural occurrences. In "Cold War," for example, he carried some kids into the school when Xana attempted to freeze the entire city with a snowstorm. After leading them into the boiler room for warmth, he tells them a story to keep their minds off the cold. In "The Lake", he protects the children from an electricity-emitting sludge monster, claiming it will have to go through him to reach the kids.
Jim is also a fan of sumo wrestling, as seen in varying instances where he is reading a sumo magazine. He even got a miniature radio-thermometer as a free gift from one of his subscriptions. Aside from that, Jim shows interest in basically any topic, usually relating it to one job or another he has had over the years.
Jim's dormitory room contains several items of exercise/martial arts equipment, including but not limited to a punching bag and small weights. On a shelf nearby is a boom box/stereo that seemed to play the opening notes of the song Eye of the Tiger by American rock group Survivor (seen in Rock Bottom). Next to his bed is an alarm clock on his nightstand.
Character history
Few episodes focus on Jim directly, instead simply making him into one of the obstacles the group must overcome. Several episode also see Jim on the receiving end of Xana's attacks, either as a possessed victim or simply one of the many people in the path of the attack. The two-part finale of the first season, however, sees Jim temporarily joining the group, highlighting his more helpful side.
In the first part of the finale, his attempts to discover their secret, gets Jeremie injured, which Jim indirectly causes by chasing Jeremie down a staircase, causing him to hurt his ankle and nearly get his leg broken. Jim is subsequently fired by the principal for the infraction. Due to his injury, Jeremie is unable to assist his friends, and thus uses the secret as leverage to get Jim to help.
In the following part, Jim helps fight off Xana's materialized army of Kankrelats. To erase the events, Jeremie activates a return trip, thereby erasing Jim's memories, as well. Rather than expose their secret to him again, Jeremie instead takes steps to make Jim's paranoia seem valid, thus protecting his job.
Following this, Jim finds himself in the factory a number of times, most notably in "Opening Act". In the episode, Jim is revealed to be the uncle of Chris, a member of the Subdigitals, the tie-in band for the series. When Aelita is kidnapped by a Xana-created clone of Chris, the two insist on following Ulrich to the factory in order to find them. After the threat is over, Jeremie uses a return trip to wipe their memories without bothering to explain where they are, having become tired of doing so repeatedly.
Another sub-plot regarding Jim is his interest in Suzanne Hertz, though it is mostly limited to the second season. In "Saint Valentine's Day", he tries to discuss a matter involving Suzanne with Jeremie, who was vocally masquerading as the principal at the time. In "Final Mix", he tries to think of a way to talk to Suzanne before Xana possesses him. Beyond the second season, this infatuation seems to have died down. Aside from a few compliments ("Lyoko Minus One") and the occasional awkward sitaution ("The Lake"), Jim doesn't indicate any continued attempts to court her, while Suzanne herself is dating someone else.
Jim's many jobs
As a running gag in the series, beginning with the second season, any situation Jim is involved in will inevitably lead him to relate it to a former job of his. However, rather than proceed to explain, he will refuse to go on ("I'd rather not talk about it.") and change the subject. Failing that particular gag, something will usually interrupt him or a different excuse will prevent him from continuing.
In order, he has mentioned being:
- A sewer worker
- A soldier (comically portrayed in "A Bad Turn")
- A "Space Exploration Program Volunteer Test Subject" ("Cold War", he does talk about this one)
- A salvage diver
- A disco dancer ("Straight to Heart", Odd uses Jim's Paco, King of Disco video to blackmail him)
- A worker at a psychiatric hospital ("Contact", he was referring to Sissi's weirded-out condition)
- A forest ranger in Quebec ("Xana Awakens" part 1, and "The Lake"; Suzanne interrupts him the second time and just tells him to cut the chatter and go get the first-aid kit)
- A martial arts master, which he followed with another ridiculous story of using his skills to fight off a beaver ("Xana Awakens Part I")
- A former basketball player, playing pro-ball ("Straight to Heart")
- A former government agent ("False Lead", he claims the experience is classified)
- A professional ballroom dancer in Buenos Aires ("Nobody in Particular"; mentioned by Suzanne)
- A war photographer
- A safecracker and/or locksmith ("Double Trouble", he said the first one but corrected himself)
- A cameraman
- A skateboarder ("Final Round", he was busy and thus didn't talk about it)
- A paranormal investigator (like with the government agent job he says its classified)
- A Special Forces agent on a mission in Vegas (one of Xana's attacks leaves this one unheard)
- A champion table tennis player ("Wreck Room", Yumi convinces him not to talk about it)
- A math teacher ("Skidbladnir", he claims he taught math in the forest, but shows no understanding of it)
- A firefighter (claimed to have fought forest fires)
Since Jim has been employed at Kadic for 21 years, he either did not hold these jobs for very long or simply lied about them, the latter implied by the non-sequitor explanations he occasionally gives in regards to these jobs. Obviously, at least some are true, namely his stint as a disco dancer, but which ones are left open to interpretation.
Jim's signature line, "I'd rather not talk about it", is hinted to have originated from Ulrich in Xana Awakens, where after hearing a rather strange tale from Jim, Ulrich suggests that he would be better of "not talking about it". His nephew, Chris, also repeats the line in "Opening Act", after having auditioned a string of less than spectacular candidates for a position in the band.
