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This article is about the Fear character. For other pages with the same name, see: Jacob

Don't be sorry, and, uh, it's not a light. It's Ner tamid. Ow. The flame of truth, the uh, presence of God. She led you here. I like to think of God as, uh... Well, seems God needs new batteries. So, uh, why don't we get you something to eat and maybe a towel?
―Jacob to Charlie.[src]

Jacob Kessner is a survivor of the outbreak in AMC's Fear the Walking Dead. He was a member of Morgan's group until the caravan was forcibly split up and resettled into Virginia's various settlements with him living in the town of Lawton. Following Virginia's downfall, Jacob relocates to the newly established settlement and became a resident.

Overview[]

Jacob is a kind, caring, optimistic, and easy-going man. When Charlie first meets him, he is very friendly with her. As a rabbi, he is seemingly very religious as he is first seen preparing for a solo service in his synagogue. However, he reveals that he doesn't believe in God anymore. Due to abandoning his people and coming back to find them all dead, he lost his faith and only kept up tradition since it was all he had left.

Pre-Apocalypse[]

Texas[]

Little is known about Jacob's life prior to or as the outbreak began, except that he was a rabbi at Temple B'nai Israel and lived in Texas. He also enjoyed gardening.

Post-Apocalypse[]

During the initial days of the outbreak, Jacob took refuge in the synagogue along with his congregation. As time passed by, he lost faith in God and the world so he chose to leave under the guise of getting supplies. Sometime later, Jacob decided to return only to find all of his congregants dead and turned. Unable to put them down, he sealed them inside a building, where he also would attend every day to pray.

Season 5[]

"Ner Tamid"[]

Jacob prepares for a solo service in his synagogue when a walker starts banging on the door outside. He talks to it sarcastically and uses the knife on his rifle to kill it. He then closes a fence with a chain and kills more walkers before one gets on top of him. Suddenly, Charlie opens the car door and knocks it to the ground, allowing him to kill it. He introduces himself and welcomes her to his temple, saying God must have led her here.

The next day, Charlie reveals to Jacob she got separated from her group and he vows to help her reunite with them. Jacob then notices the bulb in his chandelier dimming and begins to panic, telling Charlie he has to leave to find batteries. Charlie says she knows where he can find some and radios her group. While they wait, Jacob attends to the building full of his reanimated congregants and says a prayer.

A while later, John and June arrive with the battery and Jacob thanks them for keeping the eternal flame lit. Charlie asks them to help Jacob repair his fence and they agree. John offers Jacob a caramel candy and Jacob gifts him a yarmulke.

Charlie then suggests to Jacob her group could live there with him, but he politely turns her down as June and John tell her it's time to go. Suddenly, Sarah radios them about Logan's crew and June says they're on their way. They head outside to find all the walkers from the locked-up building surrounding them. Jacob takes them to the roof and explains he and his congregants were holed up in the temple at the onset of the apocalypse. He explains that he left to gather supplies and when he came back, everyone was dead.

John and June climb down and use a ladder to create a bridge in between cars to avoid the walkers. As they make their final ladder bridge the gate gives way and they get trapped on top of a car. June tells Charlie there's only one way out of this but Charlie refuses to give the place up. She reminds Jacob that he told her God led her there but he reveals he doesn't believe in God anymore and he began losing faith when the world turned, but had to pretend to keep his people alive. "I'm alive because I didn't believe in God," Jacob says, claiming he kept tradition because it's all he had left. Charlie finally relents and Jacob uses a horn to lure the walkers into the temple, where they extinguish the light, as they escape out the back.

Jacob then accompanies the group reunites with Dwight and Sarah. Later, Charlie apologizes for running away but June says the perfect place is still out there. Jacob says that's called faith and that he'll start looking around for what he wants. He then introduces himself to Dwight and Sarah, who reveals she's also Jewish and is excited to hear he makes wine.

"Leave What You Don't"[]

Jacob arrives, along with Tess and Annie, to help John and June kill the walkers at Tank Town and control the fire. The next morning, Jacob and the rest of the group reunite with Logan until Doris and the others hold them up at gunpoint. He tells everyone to put their guns down and explains how he wants to continue Clayton's message after all. Suddenly, Logan and his crew are viciously shot and killed from afar by Virginia and her group.

Jacob then listens as Virginia reveals she's been watching them and suggests they could all help each other. She can offer them things they want in exchange for keeping the oil fields running. They refuse so she orders her people to prepare to kill them. Luciana offers to stay to help them make gas if she lets the rest go and Virginia agrees. Jacob and the group are then forced to abandon the place.

"Channel 5"[]

Jacob and the rest of the caravan keep traveling in search of a permanent home. At night, a walker from a Humbug's Gulch theme park 15 miles away wanders into camp. Dwight kills it and John suggests to head to Humbug's Gulch in search of a home. The next day, the caravan come across a bridge in danger of collapsing.

After several tense moments with Virginia and an oncoming herd, Jacob and the others are forced to abandon the rest of their vehicles and flee across the bridge. He and the others watch in horror as Tom is killed when the bridge finally does collapse. Sometime later, the group arrives at the gulch but see that it is completely overrun with walkers. The group debates their next move. Jacob and the others then hear as Morgan radios Virginia for help.

"End of the Line"[]

Jacob and the rest of the caravan survivors rest along the outskirts of Humbug's Gulch as Morgan contacts with Virginia for help. After the theme park is cleared of walkers, Jacob and Charlie discover a church in the town. He then officiates John and June's wedding in the chapel.

That night, Jacob and the caravan survivors are split up by Virginia into different groups as they are taken for re-settlement among her communities.

Season 6[]

"The Key"[]

Jacob holds a funeral for Cameron. Jacob comes to visit John, believing John to be in need of company. He informs John that Janis is set to be executed at dawn. John laments how he has always followed the rules, since they made sense to him. Jacob notices the gas cans and asks if John is planning to run away. John confirms Janis wants him to do this, but he has instead decided to help her escape. He recounts how, when he was younger, his dad had a case involving a serial killer that targeted women around the Houston area. While the police successfully tracked the killer down, they didn't have enough evidence to arrest him. To put the man behind bars, John's father planted a purse belonging to one of the victims on the killer. While this resulted in a conviction, John's father's colleagues never looked at him the same way again. Eventually, John's father divorced his wife, moved away, and started drinking heavily. John laments how his father did the right thing, but it cost him heavily. Likening this to his situation, John says he isn't scared for himself, and knows Ginny won't hurt June, but is also aware of the fact that if he goes through with his plan, he will never see her again. He believes how his father had to do the right thing, because that's who he was. Jacob summarizes this as John's father choosing life, even if it cost him his own. John agrees, and says that this is the choice he is making now. Jacob thinks they can find another way, but John doesn't think so. He hands Jacob a letter meant for June, before hugging him goodbye. To console him, Jacob says that he might yet see June again.

After Janis' execution, John marches down the street with a pistol in his hand, but is intercepted by Strand and Jacob. When he realizes Strand was the one who pushed the execution ahead of schedule, John pistol whips him. A fight ensues between the two men. When John gets the upper hand, he accuses Strand of killing Janis. Strand defends his actions by pointing out Janis was dead anyway, but John didn't have to die with her. John asserts that he could have gotten Janis out, but Strand is certain Ginny would have hunted them both down. John backs off, but furiously proclaims how Janis was right about Lawton, as it does destroy everything.

"Things Left to Do"[]

Jacob arrives at Valley Town with Sarah and Grace and waves at Morgan as he walks towards the entrance into the settlement. Later, he stops by the dam wall to speak with June Dorie and give her John's last note.

"Handle With Care"[]

Jacob and Rachel enjoy homemade tomato sauce made by Daniel in Valley Town. They express excitement as they wait in line with the other townspeople to receive a bowl of tomato before proceeding to sit on a bench to enjoy their meal. Later that day, Jacob joins Morgan on a run to retrieve a fetal monitor to prepare Grace for the birth of her baby. Jacob and Morgan return to Valley Town to find the dam wall breached and use the guns in the SWAT van to clear out the threat. Once it is revealed Grace and Charlie were sent away to a safe house, Jacob accompanies Morgan, Daniel, and Sarah as they look for Grace in the woods, until they finally locate her in a completely different place than Daniel said.

"USS Pennsylvania"[]

Jacob is among the residents to evacuate Valley Town and drive down to Galveston, Texas in an attempt to stop the impending missile launch. He is among the group of survivors to arrive on a hillside overseeing the beached submarine. While a smaller group heads down to the submarine to stop Teddy and the cult, Jacob stays behind with the others and helps search for a nearby naval base that has the potential to serve as an emergency shelter for their group.

"The Beginning"[]

Jacob is among a few other members of the group that are attempting to find shelter from the missile. Rollie arrives with Riley captive, stating that he had given up the location of a bomb shelter where Alicia is being kept. When Daniel states that he heard a voice on the radio read out a set of coordinates, he is questioned by Jacob as to who it was, to which Daniel states he does not know, yet he does know the voice, though it is dismissed by Rollie. Jacob and the rest of the group follow Rollie's directions, carrying on down the road. When the group is forced to stop after damage is done to the van, Jacob and the rest of the group fight off walkers while Sarah works on fixing the air brakes. In the midst of the repairs, Jacob acknowledges Sarah's worry for her brother's whereabouts, and assures her that they will find each other.

When Rollie makes a comment on a 'phoenix', similar to one Riley made moments before, Daniel realizes that Rollie is a spy for the cult and shoots him in the head with Luciana's gun, shocking Jacob and the rest of the group. Daniel explains his reasons for shooting Rollie and the group carries on to the set of coordinates Daniel insisted he heard. When the group arrives to the location, it being an empty field by the road, a helicopter arrives to their aid, and the group rushes to it. The pilot holds a radio with Al speaking over it, telling them she is here to help. As the helicopter takes off, Jacob briefly removes and kisses his kippah.

Season 7[]

"Breathe With Me"[]

As Althea explains to Sarah where the Civic Republic Military evacuated them to, she mentions that Jacob is outside securing the perimeter of their safe zone.

"Divine Providence"[]

In the Tower, Strand shaves his beard off as music plays in the background. The Lead Ranger brings the news that Alicia is here for him, which a pleased Strand calls divine providence. On the roof, an excited Strand tells Wes that today is one of those days where one must wipe the slate clean, and Wes warns him that Alicia didn't come alone. Through binoculars, Strand sees Morgan's Group - now including both Alicia's Group and the former Stalkers - surrounding the platform with Alicia, Daniel, Luciana, Sarah, Jacob Kessner, Dwight, Sherry and several others gathered on the platform itself.

Strand contacts Alicia, noting that although she brought company, Morgan isn't amongst them. Alicia reveals that Morgan is somewhere safe where Strand won't find him with Mo and Strand accuses Morgan of being a coward who ran for the hills. Strand tells Alicia that it's auspicious of her to show up like this as Strand was already going to call Alicia to talk. Strand invites Alicia in to have a drink with him and she asks if this is him waving the white flag. Strand simply states that they'll talk about that on the inside and he again invites Alicia in for a drink, just the two of them. With a look at her friends, Alicia accepts Strand's offer, and they hang up. Wes questions what Strand is doing, but Strand simply claims that he has it covered. Wes looks doubtful, and reminds Strand that he drove Alicia away for a reason and Strand could lose everything that he built by letting her inside of the Tower. Strand promises Wes that he won't, and he orders Wes to retrieve a bottle of wine for them from cold storage. As Wes leaves, Strand orders one of his guards to be ready when the sun goes down.

Once Alicia is inside, Strand has the Tower's beacon turned on in order to lure the radioactive walkers from the crater in to kill everyone outside. After making a deal with Alicia, Strand agrees to relent and let everyone in, but Wes betrays them, forcing Strand, Alicia and Daniel to fight through Wes' forces to shut down the beacon, ultimately killing Wes himself.

Outside, Dwight puts down a walker that is drawn to the Tower by the beacon. Dwight is worried since Alicia should've been out by now and Luciana points out that they can't wait much longer with Sarah agreeing that as long as the beacon is on, walkers will be on them. Sherry notices that someone is coming as Daniel arrives with June, Grace and Wendell. An emotional Sarah reunites with her brother for the first time in months and Dwight and Jacob question what's going on inside of the Tower and how the four got past the Rangers. Daniel tells everyone that while he doesn't have time to explain, they all need to get back inside of the Tower immediately. Grace asks about Morgan, but Sherry reassures her that Morgan had followed Grace's request and took Mo somewhere safe, but they don't know where.

Daniel warns everyone that they need to hurry as the beacon light is drawing the dead from the crater to the Tower. In Spanish, Luciana asks if he's sure and Daniel confirms it, telling Luciana rather pointedly that he's not a liar. Dwight asks how far they are, but Daniel isn't sure, revealing that Alicia and Strand are turning the light off as they speak. "Vic and AC are on the same team? What the hell did we miss?" quips Sarah. Daniel begins leading everyone inside of the Tower and brushes off June's attempts to patch him up, wanting her to tend to Charlie first. Daniel explains to a confused Luciana in Spanish that Strand had tried to convince him that Charlie is Ofelia, continuing what Luciana had started. Luciana apologizes for her actions, and a confused Daniel asks why she did it. Luciana admits that she thought that it was the only way before three Rangers open fire from the roof, killing two members of the group and sending the rest ducking for cover behind the platform. The group desperately returns fire as Wendell notices the herd approaching and he realizes that the Rangers are trying to box them out, forcing them to move out of cover.

On the roof, Strand kills two of the Rangers from behind while Alicia kills the third, ending the gunfire from the roof. Strand and Alicia notice five Rangers below charging at their friends and Strand guesses that the Rangers guarding the tunnel must've circled around. Knowing that the others are sitting ducks and seeing that the walkers are almost here, Alicia orders Strand to turn off the light while she gives the others as much cover as she can. Alicia shoots the five Rangers, but Strand hesitates to turn off the light. Strand realizes that Alicia is never going to forgive him, that even if Strand turns it off and helps Alicia to save everyone, the damage has already been done.

Stating that they don't have time for this, Alicia charges Strand, but he throws her into a cable, severing it and damaging the light. Strand angrily states that it was never going to be enough to make Alicia love him, but Alicia tells him that it could've been, but Strand ruined it by killing Wes. An emotional Strand insists that he didn't have a choice, but Alicia angrily accuses him of always having a choice and making the wrong ones. Although Strand tells her that he had killed Wes to save her life, Alicia believes that Strand was only trying to save himself and he didn't care who he had to kill to do it. Alicia kicks Strand backwards and struggles with him, telling Strand that "the person you used to be -- the person you said you wanted to forget -- that was never you!" In the struggle, Alicia punctures a gas can with the blades on her prosthetic arm and breaks another cable in the process, sending the antenna falling and shattering the light. The herd arrives, devouring a few members of Morgan's group as the rest rush inside of the Tower and barricade the doors against the radioactive walkers, watching them through the glass in horror.

Alicia climbs the platform holding the light with her transmitter and she hooks it up to the antenna. A despondent Strand tells Alicia that it's too late and there's no way out of here, but she ignores him. Stating that there's one, Alicia begins her broadcast. "This is Alicia Clark. If you're listening to this, you're not alone. The place you've been looking for, the place you've heard about, PADRE, it's here -- the Tower. Coordinates 29 degrees, 20 minutes, 14.1 seconds north, 94 degrees, 59 minutes, 25.7 seconds west. We're gonna build the new home you've been looking for. We can help you. But first... we're gonna need a little help from you." Sparks from the broken light suddenly set the spilled fuel on fire and it quickly spreads. Strand warns Alicia that the fire is going to spread through the whole building, but Alicia passes out as the fire spreads across the roof and Strand calls out for her.

"Amina"[]

Jacob is among the dozens survivors, including members of Morgan's group and residents of the Tower, gathered on the beach loading up rafts with supplies. On the beach, Alicia notices a bird landing next to her stretcher and Jacob alerts everyone else that she's waking up. June warns Alicia not to stand up as she's low on fluids and febrile, but Alicia ignores her orders, so June sends Jacob to get saline and the epinephrine. Alicia speaks with June about the situation and the impending threat of radioactive walkers as a result of the fire at the Tower. As Alicia looks around, Jacob brings over the packed med kit in which he has included adrenaline in case Alicia needs it. He and the other evacuees on the beach soon board the rafts and join the caravan to find safety beyond Texas.

Season 8[]

While Jacob was not taken into PADRE, he washed ashore in Georgia with the other raft survivors. He, along with Sarah and Wendell, left the group and eventually found Luciana and the Gearheads, joining them and helping establish outposts and keeping the roads clear between Texas and the East Coast.[1]

Killed Victims[]

This list shows the victims Jacob has killed:

Relationships[]

For a more in-depth look at Jacob's relationships, read here; Jacob Kessner (Fear)/Relationships

Allies[]

Enemies[]

Appearances[]

Episodes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
Season 7
Season 8
Appears Voice is heard
👁 Appears with no lines Appears in a flashback
Appears as a walker 🖼 Appears in a photograph/video
Appears as a corpse Appears in a hallucination/dream

Gallery[]

For more images of Jacob, please visit Jacob Kessner (Fear)/Gallery.

Trivia[]

  • Jacob is one of five known Jewish characters in The Walking Dead franchise.
  • Jacob's character is an inversion of Gabriel from the main show. While the deaths of Gabriel's congregation were caused by his refusal to let them enter his church, Jacob's congregation died as a result of him abandoning them.

International Dubbers[]

Language Dubber Other Characters Voiced
Czech Ladislav Županič N/A
French Roland Timsit N/A
German Michael Pan N/A
Hungarian N/A N/A
Italian Massimo De Ambrosis Beta
Japanese N/A N/A
Portuguese Luiz Laffey Shane Walsh (1)
Tyreese Williams
Spanish (Latin America) Gustavo Carrillo N/A
Spanish (Spain) José Javier Serrano N/A

References[]

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