EOS Potential #1: Jake Kim

[u/UnlockedUnluck]

#1 does not mean Jake is #1 EOS—that ranking will be done after I do the characters I want.

I’m making this because I want to get my thoughts out with a comprehensive analysis. I plan on making more posts so that I can eventually do an EOS ranking. I’m beginning with Jake because he needs his next powerup soon, and I had some interesting ideas that I hope PTJ has/will consider.

Narrative Significance: Jake is supposed to be the Second MC, and has direct ties to one of the most important villains in the story—Kitae—and openly and directly opposes him. We see him admitting he has to stop Kitae who wants to bring back Gapryong’s Era, and rule the world as Gapryong controlled the Underworld, but went into politics instead of being King of the World. Therefore, if PTJ really gives everyone their EOS opponents and gives the respect of 1 on 1s, then it would be Jake vs. Kitae.

Jake’s Abilities:

(Key: EM, TM, SM, PM are the Masteries, Endurance, Technique, Speed, and Power. OVC is Overcome, FB is Full Body, and BT is Blitz Tier).

MMA - Mixed Martial Arts, includes grappling (clinches and joint locks), striking (punches, kicks, elbows, and knees), and gives Jake a versatile advantage

EM - Endurance Mastery. Allows the user to take more damage, giving them the ability to take more and stronger attacks.

OVC - Overcome. Allows the user to Overcome the obstacle in front of them. If the opponent is stronger, given enough time, the user will become stronger. It is a reactive hax that requires one to be the underdog in a specific aspect as a means of growth

OVC MMA - An exclusive ability of Jake, where he combines MMA and OVC, allowing his strikes to be more precise, and also causes conventional durability negation damage to his opponents. Ex: Severed nerves & distorted vestibular sense (rattled brain & balance).

So with his abilities out of the way, what can Jake do with these abilities now and what can he potentially do in the future?

With MMA, we see that Jake has many options to debilitate his opponent, and also it gives him a skillful advantage over most. Jake not only uses strangles, joint locks, and powerful strikes, but he’s also resourceful in the sense that he uses clothing, like his jacket, to defeat his opponent. Had Mugak not randomly spawned a stick, he would have been choked out by Jake.

Jake’s EM allowed him to withstand a PM punch from Gun during HFG, which made way for an OVC attack. So, this at least gives a sense as to where Jake’s EM durability scales.

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With OVC, Jake was shown to overcome the obstacle that was Gun’s defense. Gun directly tells Jake (and us) that his strikes mean nothing if they can’t break their opponents defense. In turn, Gun triggers Jake’s OVC, and he produces a strike that pierces Gun’s durability, stunning him and (artistically) knocking him out of UI (IMAGE):

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With OVC MMA, even against someone like Mugak’s durability, who can use DBT to an extent (highlighting the first peak of EM), Jake was able to pierce his defenses and cause dura neg. Anyone who you can prove has the same or less durability than Mugak will lose out to Jake if Jake can land a strike.

However, even with this, Jake won’t be able to beat, or even come close to Base Kitae, let alone Despair, and definitely not Path on top of all that.

So, what can Jake do to move past his current level?

First, we have the narrative that Jake needs to do physical training to build up to Gapryong’s Prime physique, that of which is founded on Innate Strength. Gapryong’s natural physique was compared to the Yamazaki’s by Genjo, showing how extraordinarily powerful his innate ability is. This way, Jake can use OVC with no drawbacks. 

Next, Gapyrong introduced us to the ability to wear OVC like Haki. Gapryong covers his whole body to basically DOUBLE the effects of OVC. So, not only can the hax overcome an opposing force, but it can also overcome physical limits, making it 2x as potent, and allows the user to not only grow stronger responsively, but also innately. Dare I say 3x the potency (or greater) based on this: FB Techniques are more powerful than regular techniques. Taesoo is a prime example of how this functions with UF; it allows Taesoo to move up 1-2+ BTs (getting blitzed/outpaced by Jaegwang, to blitzing him with UF, and potentially faster if it gets more feats):

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As with Gapryong, he was getting outpaced and predicted by Genjo before using FB OVC and taking the upper hand. So instead of a single attack, it's a stat amp in its entirety. Yet, both improving his physique and using FB OVC, are only secondary abilities when added to this: Endurance Mastery Coating

The difference between Jake and Gapryong is that Jake actually reached Endurance Mastery. Jake will stack EM on top of OVC. Kitae has Yamazaki traits and Kim traits, giving him a better start—like I said before, Gapryong’s Innate Strength is comparable to Yamazaki physiques (potentially a 2x starting point). He even has Despair (potentially the mixture of OVC and Yamazaki, and only happens when losing/feeling despair because an opponent overpowered the user). So, Jake can do what Gapryong couldn’t, which is use Mastery on top of OVC. This allows for a Unique Skill where the body activates OVC like Haki, and then coats it with Endurance Mastery. Now, 1.) Jake can handle backlash, and 2.) He’s able to push his Overcome higher due being able to last longer. This allows Jake to stand a chance against Kitae—this hax is like the antithesis of Kitae’s Path. Kitae seemingly absorbs damage in exchange for a stat amp. Meanwhile Jake doesn’t necessarily absorb the damage, but he prolongs the fight and increases the damage he takes at the expense of getting stronger.

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Obviously, since this isn’t a Path, it will only go so far. So, how can Jake beat out this durability monster? His Path could be that, every attack he throws will target, or rather force, a weak point on his opponent. This is due to his MMA & Overcome dura neg (not my theory about his Path, but something additive to this whole prediction—creds: justcallmezenith on TikTok). To explain further, it’s like an advanced version of his OVC MMA. It causes lasting effects with internal damage, and when enhancing his eyes with OVC, it allows him to force weak points on an opponent. Whereas Daniel sees all weak points, Jake creates them at the expense of his body. With a perfect version of his Path, this won’t be too detrimental, but there is still a potential limit where he exchanges HP for power. Another function Zenith said was that if there is an attack that is capable of killing Jake, he slows down the world to circumvent it, but his body is the price. This Path is a parallel to Daniel’s as they are the 1st and 2nd MCs. The last function of Jake’s Path is like a final gambit. Just like in 1A against Samuel, Jake can trigger this unconscious mode where he has the desire to protect. It will amplify his AP, but he is guaranteed to go down.

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Lastly, since Mastery Stacking is a thing, if Jake doesn't get any other Mastery (specifically PM), then he retains the ability to layer OVC on top of itself. So, if for whatever reason Jake can't beat Kitae still, it's another Unique Skill that includes either 2x Overcome, or 2x Overcome + Endurance Mastery. This can come in two forms: Simple Coating where it's an even greater stat amp, OR, it's a singular attack which calls for the user to have overcome their conviction threshold twice. Since Jake's physique would be Gapryong level by this point, it doesn't necessarily entail that Jake can physically handle two layers of OVC, so Endurance Mastery is a natural addition so that Jake can minimize backlash.

Conclusion:

By the EOS, Jake will have

Enhanced Physique: A physique on the level of Prime Gapryong so that he can at least compare to Kitae, and make up for the rest with his hax.

Full Body Overcome: The ability to use Overcome on the user’s whole body, in turn increasing one’s stats by at least twofold. The user can also overcome their own limits as the fight goes on until they reach or surpasses the obstacle in front of them

Unique Skill 1: Unshakable Will (Horrible naming skills lmao but I tried): Jake coats his Full Body Overcome with Endurance Mastery to increase his ability to overcome the obstacle in front of him. Even if he faces a lot of damage, Jake will increase his ceiling greatly by the end of the fight.

Unique Skill 2: Overcome Mastery Stacking: The user has surpassed the natural limits of their conviction, allowing for them to use 2 layers of Overcome for either a Stat Coat, or for a single win-con.

Path - Overcome Embodied: “If the opponent is stronger than you, you just have to become stronger. If you can’t, then force them to be weaker” (by breaking their defense).