Rose


 * For information on the character's villainous alter ego, see Huntsgirl

Rose is Jake Long's main love interest/girlfriend, and also the Huntsman's former minion in the Disney Channel animated series American Dragon: Jake Long.

Background Info/History
Rose was born on October 21st, 1992 is a member of the Huntsclan. There is a Chinese dragon-shaped birthmark on her right palm and wrist, otherwise known as the "Mark of the Huntsclan". Initially, very little was revealed about Rose's past or history. She simply showed up as "the new girl" at Jake's school (see "Old School Training"), and nothing was really unveiled about her early childhood until later parts in the series.

According to Huntsclan for as long as she can remember (she remarks in "Dreamscape" that her earliest memory is her "lying in her Hunts-crib, crying for her Hunts-nanny to change her Hunts-diaper"). She ascended to become an apprentice for the Huntsman while working in the field in New York, and was personally taught by him about magical creatures (namely of their disgusting and unnatural nature, as hinted in "Breakout") and in the methods of hunting.

In episode 12, "Ski Trip", Jake discovers that Rose is Huntsgirl. Then, in episode 21 "The Hunted", Jake shows her his identity as the American Dragon.

Rose was told by the Huntsman that both of her biological parents died shortly after she was born, afterwards being taken in by the Huntsclan. However, in "Dreamscape", it's revealed that her parents (as well as a twin sibling) did not die. Rather, the Huntsman, as well as Huntsclan members working undercover in the hospital, kidnapped Rose shortly after her birth, after noticing her "Mark of the Huntsclan" birthmark. The names and whereabouts of her family remained largely unknown until "Homecoming", where she and her family moved to Hong Kong, but they have not shown her twin. They did not say the names of her family, but they returned in "The Hong Kong Longs".

After Rose's wish for all of the Huntsclan to be destroyed—herself included—(in episode 41 "Homecoming") was granted, Jake immediately wished that Rose had never become a member of the Huntsclan. This ended their close and strong romantic relationship, until the series finale "Hong Kong Longs" when Rose regains her memory after seeing the picture of her and Jake at the dance, and she returns to help him fight and defeat the Dark Dragon.

Personality
Early on in the series, Rose's personality was clearly split between her two identities as Rose and the Huntsgirl.

As Rose, she was generally sweet and caring, but rather modest and somewhat shy. Not much of her personality was explored in the first season, as her appearances were frequently left to her short encounters with Jake, who would normally be left very nervous and lovestruck in her presence.

As the Huntsgirl, her good-hearted and sweet personality was almost the complete opposite: a daring, dedicated, and somewhat vicious persona filled her duties as a Huntsclan apprentice. She shared the same beliefs of the Huntsclan--of the vile and unnatural nature of magical creatures (especially dragons)--and was compelled to carry out actions in that mindset.

As her alter-ego was exposed to Jake in "Ski Trip", and they were once again reunited in Season 2, her split-personalities became somewhat distorted and intertwined. Rose's more violent nature as the Huntsgirl was often surfaced in her normal identity, as she began to try and associate with Jake and his duties (see "Breakout", "Dreamscape"). It's also caused her more "normal" personality as Rose to surface in her duties as the Huntsgirl, which has her being perceived as acting oddly in the face of her comrades and her superior (see "Breakout"). After finding out Jake's secret, her real personality is shown: she is loyal to what she thinks is right and she will willingly sacrifice her life for the magical world (see "Homecoming"). However, she did not die. She just lost all of her memory of The Huntsclan because of Jake's wish: "I wish Rose was never taken by The Huntsclan".

Talents, Interests, and Abilities
There has not been much seen of Rose's real interests or talents as her normal self (as most of her appearances and involvement in the series have focused on her conflicts in being the Huntsgirl). A few of her "normal" interests have been revealed, such as an obsession over teen sensation Jaren MacArthur ("Shapeshifter"). It's also been shown that she has somewhat of a talent in acting, as she won the lead female role in the Millard Fillmore Middle School production of Antony and Cleopatra ("Act 4, Scene 15").

More of her natural abilities can be illustrated through her acts as the Huntsgirl. Rose has amazing acrobatic skills, as she is seen making tremendous leaps and bounds while fighting with large magical creatures ("The Academy", "Breakout"). She also has skill in hand-to-hand fighting and other physical combat techniques, as well as a skilled use in almost all of the Huntsclan's frequently used weaponry (the most primary one being a staff/spear which all Huntsclan members seem to carry). She is also a good archer and has good accuracy("The Hunted"). She's also shown a somewhat deep understanding of various magical creatures and items (even discovering the various aspects of the "Dream Corridor" through her Dream Charm in "Dreamscape").

Personal Conflicts
Like Jake, Rose must deal with the personal conflicts in her life as being Rose and the Huntsgirl. That is, until the episode "Homecoming" where Jake wishes she was never part of the Huntsclan therefore erasing Huntsgirl from existence.

Secret Identity
In the beginning of the series ("Old School Training"), Rose's alter-ego of the Huntsgirl, a Huntsclan apprentice to the Huntsman, was out of the mind of anyone in Rose's normal school life (Jake included). Her situation was oddly similar to Jake's, though with her conflicting secret identity being put into the "evil side" of events in the series. A good example of this would be in "Act 4, Scene 15", where both Rose and Jake were trying to rehearse their parts for a school play, while the Huntsgirl and the American Dragon were fighting to claim possession of a Magical Scarab. Her secret identity was exposed to Jake in "Ski Trip" (though, she wouldn't know that Jake had discovered it until the conclusion of "The Hunted"). In "Homecoming" her alter-ego, Huntsgirl was destroyed when Jake used the Aztec Skulls (in order to save the real Rose's life) to wish that Rose had never been kidnapped by the Huntsman.

Jake Long
Bumping into Jake as she was starting to attend Millard Fillmore Middle School, Rose became the object of his affection. At first, she wasn't too romantically involved with Jake, and instead was more seen (or forced, depending on how one would look at it) spending time with Brad, a member of the football team. She gradually began to spend more time with Jake (spending time at the school dance in "Dragon Breath", rehearsing for a school play in "Act 4, Scene 15"), and eventually even went on their first date in "Ski Trip".

Rose's alter-ego as the Huntsgirl was something that kept interfering with her time with Jake. He eventually discovered Rose to actually be the person who he had been fighting for months, and became hesitant to even spend mere seconds around Rose. She became rather worried (or at least started showing more apparent feelings for Jake, such as in "The Hunted") for his avoidance of her. During her participation in the Huntsclan's Grand Equinox Hunt, she soon started to realize that there was a rather familiar persona from the American Dragon, despite him being a creature she had been wanting to slay ever since she first laid eyes upon him. Her suspicion turned out to be correct, as Jake revealed his identity just as Rose was about to slay him. Surprised and confused, she quickly ran off, sparing Jake's life, without leaving any trace of her destination for him to find.

It was soon revealed that Rose was transferred back to the Huntsclan Academy for her incompetent acts during the Grand Equinox Hunt (i.e. not slaying the American Dragon). After she discovers Jake and Spud in the guise of Huntsclan Trainees trying to recover the details of the Huntsman's plot in "The Academy", she decides to help them in their efforts. Rose even helps Jake in staging a fight to fake Jake being slain by Rose, so that she may be transferred out of the Huntsclan Academy and back to New York (where she once again attends Millard Fillmore Middle School with Jake).

As of now, Rose and Jake now demonstrate more clear and deep romantic feelings for each other (especially with the confusion involving their secret identities gone), such as in "Breakout", when Rose says that she would "love" to hang out with Jake, and in "Dreamscape" when she tries to tell Jake something that she apparently, "would never have the courage to say in the real world," though he wakes up before she is able to tell him.

However, their interaction with each other in public is rather risky. Rose's close and deep romantic relationship with a dragon was nearly exposed (due to the meddling of #88 and #89) in "Breakout", but was resolved as she presented proof of her slaying of the dragon back at the Academy: the hide of the slain dragon (though it was actually a skin that Jake had shed earlier in the episode during his ten-year molting cycle). In an effort to spend more time with Jake out of the diligent watch of the Huntsclan, Rose gives him a Dream Charm (a duplicate of the one she used to contact Jake within his dreams) so that they could have their own personal and literal "romantic dream dates". In "Dreamscape", their typical dates and interaction within each other's dreams (as well as accessing the dreams of other characters via the "Dream Corridor") are showcased.

In "The Love Cruise", Rose eventually learns through Lao Shi that Jake has become distracted from his duties as a dragon because of his close romantic relationship with her. Therefore, he advised them to keep their romantic relationship strictly professional. After Jake hits her with one of Cupid's love arrows, she learns that it is for the best and reluctantly ends her romantic relationship with Jake. And also in this very episode, we learn that Rose's romantic feelings for Jake has advanced to the point of true and deep romantic love.

In "Switcheroo", she is touched when Jake presented her with a painting of her at the end of episode.

In "Homecoming", the Huntsman finds out about Rose's betrayal. Instead of having her killed, he blackmails Rose into getting her to get him the remaining three Aztec Skulls. As it turns out, whoever possesses all of the skulls can make one irreversible wish. The Huntsman starts to state his wish, but he gets so far as "the destruction of--" before Rose knocks him out and wishes for the destruction of the entire Huntsclan. One by one, all of the Huntsclan members float into the air and explode into dust, soon only Rose is left and she starts to get lifted into the air. Jake was bound with chains during the battle with Rose, but she later released him who tried to prevent her from floating any higher, because he did not want to lose her. But she insisted that Jake let her go, and insisted that she would be okay. Jake did the only thing he could to save Rose's life, he made a wish that Rose was never kidnapped by the Huntsclan as an infant, thus rewiriting history. Rose disappears, and Jake destroys all the skulls in fury before flying away. The next day at school, Jake bumps into a non-Huntsclan Rose, (who has never met Jake until now but she says he looks familiar) but Rose tells him that they won't see each other anymore because she's moving to Hong Kong, China. As Rose leaves, Jake smiles, happy that Rose is with the family she had always wanted.

She returns in the second season finale "The Hong Kong Longs". When Chang and Bananas capture Gramps in an attempt to get Jake to betray the dragons of the world, Jake tracks down Rose trying to tell her of her life before she wished the Huntsclan away and he wished for her to have a normal life in order to save her. Rose is convinced Jake is completely insane and her parents call guards to take him to a mental hospital. Jake escapes and goes to the dragon council. The Dark Dragon is enraged that Jake set him up and easily defeats all the dragons. When all hope seems lost, Rose appears and fights the Dark Dragon as a portal appears. Everyone but Rose escapes the portal. Jake then realizes that Rose is still in danger of being sucked into the portal and trapped for the rest of her life. Meanwhile, Rose still fights the Dark Dragon apparently oblivious of the danger she is in. After a cave in, Rose is pinned down and helpless, Jake then comes to her rescue and despite her attempts to tell him to save himself, he frees her, but as he is about to fly her to safety, the Dark Dragon's tail wraps around Jake's ankle trying to pull him in with him. Rose cuts that part of the Dark Dragon's tail clean off with her staff and the Dark Dragon is sucked in as they escape. Now safe, Rose tells Jake he left his picture of them together in her home and it restored her memory, she then passionately kisses him. It is confirmed that the two are still in their long-term romantic relationship and are now dating as a full romantic couple.

Brad Morton
Football jock, school bully Brad Morton would never miss a chance to flirt with Rose no matter how many no's he got. Earlier in the series, it seemed he had chances with her but he ruined it all during the school dance shown in "Dragon Breath", when he ditched her for Jasmine, the girl Jake took to that dance.

Trivia

 * Though constantly referred to as "Huntsgirl", Rose's original moniker as a Huntsclan member was "Thorn". It was discovered late in the recording of first season episodes that a DC Comics character already existed with the same dual-personality label of Rose and Thorn. For legal reasons, re-recording was done to replace all mentions of "Thorn" with "Huntsgirl". However, she is called Thorn in "Shapeshifter". Though it is somewhat alluded to when Jake says: "Every thorn has got to have a Rose."
 * In an early draft of "Homecoming", Rose was going to end up slaying Sun, but the Disney Channel considered it was too dark and too Jetix. Rose was also set to lose her memory, just as she did in the actual episode, and stay in New York without remembering Jake but the Disney Channel told the writers that it would be too confusing to those who missed watching "Homecoming". Rose moving to Hong Kong was a last minute addition.
 * Jake's relationship with Rose was originally similar to Max Goof's relationship with Roxanne.
 * The boys like the girls, but are too shy to actually talk to them, only to find out that the girl already likes them
 * In Season 2 Jake and Rose started their first real kiss in "The Academy".
 * Rose's blonde hair similar to Patty Larceny from PBS' game show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego.
 * In "Dreamscape", it was revealed that Rose's last name was Killdragonosa. Her last name in this episode originally came from one of the early incarnations of American Dragon: Jake Long according to Eddie Guzelian and Matt Negrete. However, this is not her real last name. The last name she uses was given to her by the Huntsclan.
 * Rose apparently has 7 sets of Huntsclan garbs which she alternates by days in a hidden closet along with all her other Huntsclan items which is accessed by twisting the neck of a unicorn in her room (most likely being a represntation of breaking its neck).
 * It would seem that everytime Jake says, "Hey" to Rose, she would always reply by saying, "Hey yourself".
 * Rose was considerably thinner in Season Two, though her face looked more matured than in Season One
 * Rose's outfit seem to have change from season 1 to 2
 * In season 1 she wore a pink headband and wore clog-like sandals while in season 2 her headband was gone, she wears a flower necklaces and her sandals became flat.
 * Rose had a pink headband in Season One but didn't in Season two. The same can be said for the blue borders on her shirt
 * Rose's voice actress Mae Whitman, also did the voices of Katara in Avatar: the Last Airbender, Shanti in The Jungle Book 2 and even Yuffie in Kingdom Hearts II.