Jay and Silent Bob are fictional characters portrayed by American actors Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, respectively. They appear in the View Askewniverse, a fictional universe used in most of the films, comics, and television programs written and produced by Smith.
Jay and Silent Bob are the only characters that have appeared in every Askewniverse film. This excludes Smith's other projects: Jersey Girl, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Cop Out, Red State, Tusk, and Yoga Hosers. The characters are shown spending most of their time selling marijuana in front of the convenience store in the Clerks films. In Clerks: The Animated Series, they were also shown selling illegal fireworks.
Character profiles
Jay and Silent Bob are fictional characters created by Kevin Smith, prominently featured in his View Askewniverse films. They first appeared in Clerks.
Silent Bob, portrayed by Kevin Smith, has a reticent nature, communicating mostly through gestures and facial expressions rather than speech. When he does speak, his comments are often poignant and insightful, providing critical reflections that influence the course of the narratives. Silent Bob is characterized by his long dark hair, beard, and a backwards baseball cap, and typically wears a long coat resembling a Jedi robe. Originally a smoker, the character has been shown to have quit in later films. His background includes being raised Catholic and possessing a talent for gadgetry.
Jay, played by Jason Mewes, contrasts sharply with Silent Bob. He is verbose, frequently using crude and offensive language. Jay's demeanor is outgoing and sometimes aggressive. He is slim, with long blonde hair, and typically wears a black knit cap in the later films. Jay's overt sexual behavior and ambiguous sexuality are a recurring theme in his character development across the series.
Fictional biography Both characters are said to have been born in Leonardo, New Jersey, meeting during their infancy. Throughout the series, they are often seen loitering outside the Quick Stop Groceries and engaging in various misadventures. Jay and Silent Bob's roles often serve as comic relief, but also include moments where they drive the plot or deliver key thematic messages.
Filmography Clerks (1994)
Clerks, released in 1994, is the first film to feature Jay and Silent Bob. In the View Askewniverse timeline, it takes place the day after Mallrats. Jay and Silent Bob return to their primary business location in front of Quick Stop. Throughout the day, they are seen dancing, loitering, and harassing pedestrians. Silent Bob enters the store to buy powdered sugar while Jay goes inside to steal food. They deal marijuana to various people (including Willam Black), much to the chagrin of Quick Stop clerk Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran). In addition, the duo hangs out with Silent Bob's Russian cousin Olaf, who runs a heavy metal band and is looking to do a gig in New York City.
Aware of Dante's love triangle with Caitlin Bree and Veronica, Silent Bob says to him, "You know, there's a million fine-looking women in the world, dude. But they don't all bring you lasagna at work. Most of 'em just cheat on you."
The end credits of Clerks contain a reference to the return of Jay and Silent Bob in Dogma.
Mallrats (1995)
Although it was filmed one year later, the events in Mallrats occur one day before the events in Clerks. In the film, Jay and Silent Bob are loitering at a local New Jersey mall (filmed in Minnesota at the Eden Prairie Center Mall). There they are met by Brodie Bruce (Jason Lee) and T.S. Quint (Jeremy London), who have broken up with their girlfriends—Rene (Shannen Doherty) and Brandi (Claire Forlani), respectively. A local game show called Truth or Date is set to be filmed at the mall that day, which is to feature Brandi. Brodie asks Jay and Silent Bob to make sure the show does not happen, and Jay says they were going to destroy the stage anyway, for lack of anything better to do.
They make several attempts to destroy the stage but fail. Later, they help Brodie and T.S. win back their girlfriends. Jay incapacitates the male contestants on Truth or Date by getting them stoned, which allows Brodie and T.S. to take their places. Silent Bob overrides the production's video input, allowing him to play a videotape of Rene's new boyfriend, Shannon Hamilton (Ben Affleck), having sex with a minor. The film concludes with Brodie and T.S. reconciling with their girlfriends. Jay and Silent Bob walk off into the distance with an orangutan named Susanne.
In this film, Silent Bob is revealed to be an electronics expert and won a science fair in eighth grade by turning his mother's vibrator into a CD player using "chicken wire and shit".
After the credits roll, Jay and Silent Bob are announced to return in Chasing Amy.
Chasing Amy (1997)
Chasing Amy reveals that in the years since the events of Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob have found out that comic book writers/artists Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and Banky Edwards (Jason Lee) created a popular independent comic book series entitled Bluntman and Chronic starring the duo.
This film centers on Holden's romantic relationship with Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), a self-identified lesbian. Though their love is initially passionate, the relationship begins to deteriorate when Holden discovers Alyssa's past. Toward the end of the film, Jay and Silent Bob meet Holden to accept their likeness rights payment, and during this meeting, Silent Bob tells Holden the story of his former girlfriend Amy.
In his longest speech to date, Silent Bob explains that, much like in Holden's relationship with Alyssa, he became distressed at the revelation of Amy's sexual past, specifically that she had engaged in threesomes. Upon discovering this, he broke up with her. Bob later realized he was not annoyed at her; rather, he felt inadequate given his lack of experience. By the time he realized this, it was too late, and she had moved on. He has since spent his life "chasing Amy, so to speak".
Moved by Silent Bob's story, Holden devises a plan to fix his relationship with Alyssa, but as in Silent Bob's past relationship, it is too late. Holden passes the reins of power over the Bluntman and Chronic comic and creates a new comic named Chasing Amy, based on the relationship.
The scene in which Jay and Silent Bob meet Holden at the cafe to accept payment is their only appearance in Chasing Amy. However, their voices were heard again during the end credits of the movie, which contained a reference to the return of Jay and Silent Bob in Dogma, released two years after the events of Chasing Amy.
Dogma (1999)
The events in Dogma take place after their disappointing adventure in the fictional Shermer, Illinois. These events are chronicled in the comic book story "Chasing Dogma". Jay and Silent Bob decide to go back home to New Jersey. Before they leave, they meet Bethany Sloane (Linda Fiorentino), a Roman Catholic abortion clinic worker who has lost her faith in God.
Though she is unaware of it, Bethany is the last living relative of Jesus. She has been charged with the holy quest of stopping two fallen angels, Bartleby (Ben Affleck) and Loki (Matt Damon), from entering a church in New Jersey. The angels were expelled from Heaven after Loki got drunk, quit his position as the Angel of Death, and gave the finger to God. They realize that they can exploit a doctrinal loophole and get back into heaven if they lose their wings, are absolved of their sins, and then die by some means other than suicide. Bartleby reasons that entering the church in New Jersey will automatically forgive all of their sins, as total remission of sins had been granted to whoever visited that specific church on a specific date, thus allowing them to return to Heaven. Though they do not know it, if the two were to return to heaven this way, they would overturn God's decision, thus "proving God wrong" and unmaking all of existence. The Metatron (Alan Rickman) tells Bethany that she is to follow two people who refer to themselves as "prophets". This is revealed to be Jay and Silent Bob, who rescue Bethany from some thugs. She believes they are the prophets due to mis-hearing Jay's statement that he "could have stayed in Jersey and at least made himself a 'profit'". Though initially only interested in sex, Jay and Silent Bob agree to let her come with them.
Jay and Silent Bob fulfill their roles as prophets. They predict the arrival of Rufus (Chris Rock), the 13th apostle, who was left out of the Bible because he was black, and they lead the others to former Muse Serendipity (Salma Hayek). They procure the divine instrument that will stop Azrael, and Jay reveals the location of God ("John Doe Jersey"). Ultimately, though inadvertently, they provide Bethany with the solution to preventing Armageddon. The Apostle Rufus also reveals that Jay entertains homosexual fantasies when masturbating. Jay reassures an uncomfortable Silent Bob, by explaining that he does not 'always' think about men. During the journey, they also encounter Bartleby and Loki, and a host of demons who (in rebellion against Hell) are trying to help the angels cause the end of the world. Silent Bob also speaks, saying "no ticket" (a reference to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) after throwing the rebel angels off a moving train, then being stared at by a speechless and concerned passenger.
Once at the church, Jay and Silent Bob, along with the others, try to stop the angels from entering. Loki has a change of heart and tries to help them out, but is killed by Bartleby. Though their efforts to fight Bartleby are unsuccessful (in fact, Jay accidentally helps Bartleby out by shooting his wings off with a MAC-10, turning him to a mortal), God (Alanis Morissette) arrives, and proceeds to set things in order. After Jay spouts an obscenity-filled tirade on Serendipity and Rufus, the movie ends with Jay suggesting that Silent Bob and he take Bethany to the Quick Stop.
The ending credits claim that Jay and Silent Bob would return in Clerks II.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back takes place eight years after the events of Clerks. Due to their excessive disturbances, drug dealing and starting rumors about Dante and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) being a gay couple, Dante and Randal file a restraining order against Jay and Silent Bob. It prohibits them from coming within of the Quick Stop or RST Video for at least a year. Having no place to loiter, they decide to pay a visit to Brodie (Jason Lee), where they learn that Miramax Films is making a Bluntman and Chronic film.
They visit Holden and ask for the money that belongs to them for using their likenesses in the film, only to find out that he sold his half of the rights to Bluntman and Chronic to the other co-creator Banky Edwards (also Jason Lee); after Holden introduces them to the internet, they also discover that a number of people have bashed the upcoming film and insulted the comic Jay and Silent Bob numerous times for being stupid characters, unaware that the comic characters are based on real people. Jay and Silent Bob decide that they must defend their honor, and embark on a road trip to Hollywood to stop the movie from being made and to protect their reputations, or at least get their money.
After being refused passage on a bus for not having tickets, they decide to hitch-hike there and stop at a local Mooby's restaurant, whereupon Jay falls victim to love at first sight with Justice (Shannon Elizabeth), an international jewel thief posing as an animal rights activist. Justice offers them a ride under the pretense that they are traveling cross country to release animals from an animal-testing facility, much to the unhappiness of her partners Chrissy (Ali Larter), Missy (Jennifer Schwalbach Smith), and Sissy (Eliza Dushku).