Jade West (Victorious, season 1; Sam & Cat)

Jade West (Victorious, season 1; Sam & Cat) "Here, I'll playfully punch your arm as if we were friends." - Jade being decent to Tori Gender: Female Type: The mean girl with a heart of gold Age: 16 Species: Human Portrayed by: Elizabeth Gillies Status: Alive Media of origin: Victorious Sam & Cat

"I'd rather slam my tongue in a car door."." -Jade's line in "Sleepover at Sikowitz's".

Jade West is one of the eight main characters on Victorious. She was often used to serve as an antagonist to Tori Vega on the show, but they are still members of the same friend group. She is one of Cat's best friends, Tori's friend and former frenemy, and Beck's girlfriend.

She is portrayed by Elizabeth Gillies.

Why She Rocked

1. When the show started during the first season, she was tolerable, as she was more of a mean friend with a heart of gold to Tori and the others.
2. During season 1, she isn't as obsessed with Beck, and their relationship wasn't as toxic as it was during seasons 2-4. She even cries in "Jade Dumps Beck", during their brief break up, cause she misses him, showing that she does genuinely love him. She even him a dog as a good gift, which was very sweet of her (even if it backfired with the dog attacking his dad, which Jade actually didn't want to happen).
3. She is talented. In "Freak the Freak Out", she and Cat gave an outstanding duo performance for Give It Up. Even better, it's one of the few times Tori isn't in the spotlight.
4. Even when there are times she treats Tori badly, there are several times in season 1 where she's actually decent to Tori. For example, in "Stage Fighting", when Tori chose to take the punishment for "hitting" Jade even knowing she faked it, Jade felt guilty about what she had done and decided to pay her back by helping her scrape food off the wall for a food fight scene, so Tori didn't have to suffer detention for too long. Also, in "Jade Dumps Beck", she asks Tori for her help, showing that she actually puts some trust in Tori.
5. She's not completely heartless and shows signs of kindness during most of season 1, like the moments of being nice to Tori mentioned above. Another example of her softer side is in "Jade Dumps Beck", where she comes to Tori's house, and cries cause she misses Beck, and she also asks Tori for help.
6. She does have a lot of funny moments in season 1, coming from her moments of being immature and stupid, being just as charming as Cat's air-headed nature.
7. She occasionally gets her comeuppance more in season 1, like in "Pilot", where Tori gets Jade eliminated in Alphabet Improv during class, and does a stage play kiss on Beck during the game (which is acceptable, since it’s pretend), showing Tori fully getting revenge on her after being humiliated, in "The Bird Scene", when Tori stands up for herself against Jade by showing her redecorated locker, getting rid of Jade's written insult, and showing that it can light up, and in "The Wood", when she and Tori had to walk Festus home after destroying his car for The Wood tv show.
8. In "Wok Star", it's revealed that she had a bad childhood and a strained relationship with her father, and since this was season 1 Jade, this gives her some sympathy and is probably the reason why she became a bully.
9. Elizabeth Gillies does a good job playing her.
10. Victorious wouldn't be the same without her.
11. Even though she was made to be intentionally unlikable, she was actually decent for the most part in season 1, which is funny when you think about it.
12. She returned in the Sam & Cat episode, The Killer Tuna Jump along with Robbie and Freddie. She actually reverts back to her tolerable self from season 1 of Victorious in this episode, where she has a nice chemistry with Sam, is happy that Cat is living in a better place with food, comfort and care, and is actually not that mean unlike seasons 2-4 of Victorious, which is nice.

Intentional Bad Qualities

1. She can be an unlikable bully sometimes in season 1, like when she can be really rude towards Tori. This was likely intentional, since she’s supposed to be hated:
   • In "Pilot", she humiliated her and made her act like a dog in front of the whole class just because she cleaned up a coffee spill on Beck. Luckily, she does get her comeuppance later in the episode.
   • In "The Bird Scene", she simply grabs a marker and writes "stupid" on Tori's new locker. Luckily, Jade gets her just desserts when Tori decorates her locker. Tori even stands up for herself against Jade, and shows that her locker can light up.
   • In "Stage Fighting", during their fake fight scene, she pretended that Tori hit her and gave her a black eye, landing Tori in detention. Luckily, she is exposed, and when she found out Tori didn't tell the truth, she felt guilty and decided to pay Tori back by helping her clean the wall and shorten Tori's detention.
   • In "The Great Ping-Pong Scam", she apparently thinks it's a good idea to steal money from the school. What's worse, is in that episode, she, along with everyone else who was also doing the crime, didn't get punished for it, so this was her most unlikable episode in season 1.
2. She was flanderized in seasons 2-4, where she became meaner than she already was, though it’s likely this was intentional since she’s supposed to be hated.

Trivia

• Liz Gillies is best friends with Ariana Grande.
• She returns for a spinoff episode in Sam & Cat and is less rude & acts more like she did in season 1 of Victorious.
• The short film for "A Film by Dale Squires", from the episode of the same name, implies Tori and Jade are lesbians.

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