J.J. 'Jake' Gittes

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Jake Gittes is the main character from Chinatown (1974 movie).

Living… in Chinatown, Los Angeles. Things have been changing in the desert town, where the Department of Water and Power are planning to build a new reservoir. But not everybody is on board with the new project, and that’s causing a lot of tension between folks.

Profession… private detective. Hired by Evelyn Mulwray, Jake started out tailing her unfaithful husband, Hollis Mulwray. But the day after Jake catches Mulwray cheating, Mulwray goes missing and the real Evelyn Mulwray shows up at his office threatening to sue him. Now he’s looking for who killed Mulwray and who's behind this plot to shut him up. He’s good at his job but he could be better, seeming to hardly care about the case until stumbling upon leads that simply pique his curiosity.

Relationship Status… complicated. Jake’s life is officially a mess now that he’s involved with Evelyn Mulwray. The more Jake learns about her as the case goes on, the more mysterious she becomes. Jake’s never been personally involved like this, and he can't stand it. He knows this city is full of scum, before, and he was fine when it— hell, it was paying his salary. His relationship with Evelyn is throwing all kinds of wrenches into an already messy case. Heck, she might've killed Mulwray for all he knows.

Challenge… putting all the pieces together, staying alive, and getting to the bottom of the mysterious water case. There’s some shady business happening in the Department of Water and Power, and it could be connected to the murder. As Jake tells Evelyn, “Somebody's dumping tons of water out of the city reservoirs when we're supposedly in the middle of a drought, Mulwray found out, and he was killed… It looks like half the city is trying to cover it all up, which would usually be fine with me, but not this time.” Jake is getting drawn ever deeper into a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of state government.

Personality… hard-boiled and determined. As Jake tells anybody who gives him any lip, “It's not going to do any good to get tough with me.” Some may describe him as an egomaniac. But he just likes to keep score.