Jack Skellington, also known as the Pumpkin King, is a revenant Holiday King.
Description[]
The youthful skeleton king of Halloween Town, Jack Skellington (happily married to Sally since 1993) is a self-described "master of fright" and "demon of light" who delights in scaring mortals but refuses to do any real harm, thereby personifying the spirit of Halloween. He is good friends with the Ghost Host, and generally a prominent figure in the undead community; he is very curious and outgoing.
Mortal Life[]
Legend has it that in life, "Stingy Jack" was a mean but clever blacksmith who outwitted the Devil himself; but, in truth, Jack himself has forgotten, and it may very well be that Jack is not undead at all, but some kind of demon who simply happens
Pumpkin King[]
At some point (if not from the very start), Jack Skellington became the Holiday King of Halloween and ruler of Halloween Town, although, being a fair-minded individual, he managed to convince the monsters to elect a mayor to handle their day-to-day affairs, with Jack's royalty only serving for matters pertaining to the celebration of Halloween itself. Indeed, Jack loved his duty as spirit of Halloween and never ran out of ideas for new scaring techniques.
Oogie Boogie[]
Soon after his arrival in Halloween Town, Jack developped an antagonistic relationship with the Bogeyman, Oogie Boogie, who barely disguised his intent to replace Jack as Holiday King. Boogie's destructive antics eventually led to Jack banishing him from the town and restricting his travels to the real world, and the Bogeyman's resistance forced Jack to demonstrate his magical strength to him, giving him a beating that convinced him not to try again. Or at least, so Jack thought.
Christmas Caper[]
In the mid-20th century, Jack Skellington had become utterly bored with scaring, a feeling that the rather simple-minded Halloween Town residents could not understand (except for Sally, Doctor Finkelstein's latest creation, who had become a close friend). When he accidentally discovered a portal to Christmas Town (when he didn't even known Christmas existed), he decided to kidnap Santa Claus and organize Christmas himself to ease his boredom. Now known as Sandy Claws, Jack set out to spread joy and fear alike onto the real world.
Rescuing Santa[]
However, Sandy Claws' Christmas was a failure, as none of the Halloween monsters had realized that Christmas was not, in fact, supposed to be scary; the only ones who liked the "Scary Christmas" were the ghosts of Gracey Manor, to whom Jack paid a visit on the way. The aggressive toys they gave out caused such a trauma that the American army itself got on board and shot down Jack's flying sleigh with canons. Realizing his mistake, Jack came back to Halloween Town to find the real Santa Claus in the clutches of Oogie Boogie, about to be dipped in magma by the power-hungry bogeyman. Jack defeated Oogie once and for all, thereby redeeming himself in Santa's eye, with the help of Sally.
Marriage[]
After the whole mess had been sorted out, Jack Skellington and Sally realized their true feelings for each other and bound themselves to each other through marriage; it seems that they had (or adopted) a few children ("three or four", according to Santa Claus's account).
Haunted Mansion Holidays[]
While Jack had learnt to be content with Halloween and found new joy in his old tricks, he was contacted years later by the Ghost Host, who explained that the ghosts had loved his impromptu Christmas and would be glad to welcome him once again in their Mansion (though it had now been moved to Disneyland Park). Jack gladly accepted to reprise his role as Sandy Claws, and, since then, the mortal guests can enjoy his "scary Christmas" as part of their tours of the Haunted Mansion in winter.
Index[]
Canonicity[]
Jack Skellington is a First-Level Canon Character, as he appears as the main protagonist of The Nightmare Before Christmas and of the ride's overlay known as Haunted Mansion Holidays.