Chupacabra

El Chupacabra
Demon	Chupacabra
First appearance	Season 02, The Curse of El Chupacabra
Last appearance	Season 02, The Curse of El Chupacabra
Color	Brown
Eye color	Red

El Chupacabra (refered as 'the Goateater') refered to a malevolent Mayan beast that inhabited Mexico (and presumably other locations within the Americas, particularly Hispanic areas).

Description

The beast was several feet tall and very large with brown fur, pairs of crimson claws on each of its feet, jagged spikes protruding from its back, twin fangs and glowing red eyes which were reminiscent of those of the Demon Sorcerers. It hunted by night and killed and fed on livestock - particularly goats. The monster possessed great speed and strength which helped it outmatch El Toro Fuerte and Jackie Chan in the early stages of their fight in 'The Curse of El Chupacabra'. The Chupacabra would be destroyed if exposed to sunlight. It appeared that the beast could also fly or glide as the goats looked up into the sky at the beginning of the episode.

Curse

If a human came in contact with its claws (and possibly its fangs as well), the victim would also be transformed into a Chupacabra. El Toro Fuerte fell victim to this curse as a result of a scratch during his brawl with the beast. Whether multiple Chupacabras could exist at a time or the transformation would require the elimination of the incumbent Chupacabra is unclear, as the Chupacabra featured at the beginning of the episode 'The Curse of El Chupacabra' had perished by the time El Toro had undergone transformation.

Early symptoms of the curse prior to initial transformation included frightening livestock by being merely present as well as well as fluorescent green in the wound on the victim. After the initial transformation, the victim would temporarily revert to being human during the day although the victim remained vulnerable to sunlight.

It is interesting to note that El Toro retained the capacity to stand on two legs while transformed as well as some of his human features such as his goatee. The curse also seemed to intensify his possessive behaviour over his mask, as it seemed instead of attacking livestock on the first night of transformation he pursued and attacked Jackie - chasing Paco as the latter displayed the mask. What he intended to do with the mask is unclear - it is likely either he wanted to resume it or that the essence of the previous Chupacabra lurked in El Toro and was persistent enough to destroy it in order to tarnish the latter's legacy as revenge for the outcome of the battle the previous night.

The potion - devised by Uncle - used to cure El Toro was unspecified, as were all its ingredient with the exception of capsecum, which they sought on La Montana del Diablo (The Mountain of the Devil). Once he was cured, El Toro was instructed by Uncle to 'not go swimming for half an hour', implying that contact with water within this time period could possibly negate the cure.

History

The Chupacabra came to the attention of El Toro and Jackie after it attacked the farm home of a young girl called Roberta and her mother one night - who were ostensibly alone with a young kid goat kept in the house. Due to the presence of the kid, the Chupacabra chose to attack the house first, almost successfully penetrating the front door despite attempted resistance by Roberta and her mother until the sun rose (it is unclear at which point the Chupacabra ceased and escaped and where exactly it resided until the following night). El Toro initially asked Jackie - who with Jade was trying to escape a black puma they accidentally uncovered in a Mayan Temple - to translate translate a set of ancient tablets concerning the Chupacabra in hopes of using the information to defeat the beast, but by the time Jackie arrived he was urged by El Toro to help him fight the beast due to the oncoming sunset.

Jackie continued to remain sceptical about the authenticity of the beast (coming to conclude that it was a kyote) until the Chupacabra appeared in the midst of the fleeing herd at Roberta's farm. As El Toro tried to attack he was forced off the beast who continued to chase the herd until it was prevented to by Jackie (attempting to negotiate with the beast while holding a large wooden block). The Chupacabra spun Jackie round on the block until it released him and decided to attack the house again - with Paco and Jade as well as Roberta, her mother and the kid goat. Jackie and El Toro caught up with the beast but were again repelled by the beast after a brawl (not shown graphically) in the house resulting in much destruction to the house as the beast prepared to finish off its foes.

After having declared that the beast was 'no match for "El Toro the Bull" nor "El Jackie the Chan"', the two successfully knocked the beast back with a flying kick. From there on the beast decided to concentrate on fighting El Toro during which he inflicted a scratch wound. This fight worked to the detriment of the beast as he was pinned down by El Toro upon sunrise - spelling the end of this particular Chupacabra.

El Torocabra

But the shadow and malice of the beast would persist. Unfortunately, El Toro fell victim to the Curse of the Chupacabra, and and transformed into a Chupacabra himself once Jackie finished translating the tablets (which Jackie proposed after symptoms were seen during the celebration festival of the destruction of the previous Chupacabra) - having discovered the result of El Toro's wounds much to his horror and too late, as the new Chupacabra destroyed the tablets and chased Jackie while terrorising the festival celebrants (who initially mistook the Chupacabra for a costume wearer). The outcome of this battle resulted in Jackie's defeat and the escape of El Toro, although the latter lost his mask to Jackie. To Paco's grief, Jackie declared El Toro to be 'El Torocabra'.

Jackie sought help from Uncle - disgruntled with an apparently inconvenient flight from San Francisco (which had been delayed, and provided terrible food and a plotless movie while experiencing turbulence). They then sought the capsecum from the Mountain of the Devil, and they were ambushed by El Torocabra during their trek. Paco frequently intervened during the battle with the Mask of El Toro Fuerte, which was apparently what El Torocabra sought. This was used to lure him in a cave as the sun began to rise. There he temporarily reverted back to human form under the mistaken belief that the curse had been alleviated, which was disproven as he attempted to step out into the sunlight. In order to ensure that El Toro remained in the cave until Jackie returned with a compete potion, he was chained to the pillar within the cave.

After being permitted capsecum by the local tender after Jackie told him that a friend of his had been turned into a Chupacabra, he and his companions returned down the mountain, only to find that El Torocabra had escaped and pursued a goatherd (after attempted resistance by El Toro upon transformation). After a failed attempt by Paco to deliver the cure to El Toro, Jackie was supplied with an extra potion by Uncle which he poured in El Torocabra's mouth. As the sun rose El Torocabra reverted back to El Toro Fuerte once and for all, with him, Jackie, Jade and Paco walking off down the mountain after Uncle demanded to 'go home'.

Concept

The Chupacabra featured in the show was based off the urban myth of the Chupacabra. The name properly translates as 'Goatsucker' in Spanish ('chupar - to suck' and 'cabra - goat'). It is possible that in Jackie Chan Adventures it was portrayed as the 'goateater' as the 'goatsucker' would be too gruesome for a show intended for children. Instead of eating its prey, the Chupacabra is typically described as puncturing holes in the prey while draining it of all bodily fluids and leaving the corpse. Descriptions of the Chupacabra have varied, but for Jackie Chan Adventures it was portrayed as a powerful and large, malovolent demon. Bold text