The Jockey

"It ain't right for a man to be ridden like that."

- Coach

"Is this thing humping me?!"

- Ellis

The Jockey is a Special Infected that appears in Left 4 Dead 2. Jockeys jump onto the Survivors and cling to their head and upper-back. From there, they can steer the Survivor while clawing them. Valve said that the Jockey was made to work in tandem with the Spitter by "steering" Survivors into the Spitter's goo. Valve also stated that the Jockey could steer Survivors into fire or even Witches. When playing Campaign mode, the Jockey will almost always steer Survivors towards Witches.

Extent of Mutations
The Infection has caused the Jockey to develop a large amount of muscle mass on his upper back and neck, making him hop around in a spider monkey-like motion. His fingers and toes have increased in length, adding to his baboon-like profile. His lips and the skin surrounding them have deteriorated away, giving him a more skeletal look at the mouth area. This could possibly be due to him chewing and biting away at his lips because of mania, or possibly even clawing at his mouth due to the same reason. He wears a tattered white t-shirt and blue boxers. He has a gibbering vocalization, and cackles hysterically whilst attached to a Survivor. According to Valve commentary, the mutations have put mania in the Jockey, causing the Jockey to laugh uncontrollably. When playing as the Jockey, his hands are curved downward like a praying mantis, the arms are sticking out straight, and they have a coat of what appears to be blood. The hands are always twitching and shaking (the right one twitching notably more often than the left), and he doesn't stop laughing until death. While there is a Jockey on the back of a Survivor, the Survivor can still move to resist the Jockey's influence over them, though this only has a slight resistance and will merely slow the Survivor to a walk. Also, against what is commonly believed, moving in the same direction as the Jockey will not make it steer you any faster even though, theoretically, it should.



Abilities


The Jockey is a Special Infected that has animal-like characteristics. The Jockey can use his ropey frame to jump long distances at a time, and about 15-20 feet when leaping upward. Though it can not jump as far as the Hunter can, it does not have the need to crouch to charge up the ability. When the Jockey lands on a Survivor's head, he grabs onto them (some players may have noticed that this does not always require leaping, sometimes just landing on them from a higher area). He claws at the Survivor with his free hand while leaning in a direction to cause the Survivor to stumble. Again, the clawing does not do as much damage as the Hunter does (dealing only 1 damage at Easy difficulty, 3 damage on Normal). The player can try to steer in a better direction, but can't outright resist where the Jockey drives them. When a player is incapacitated, the Jockey leaps off of the Survivor. When a Jockey successfully incapacitates someone and jumps off, it will take approximately 30 seconds before it can jump onto another Survivor. However, if the Jockey was knocked off, the recharge-rate will be considerably shorter, around 7 seconds. In Versus, the Jockey does 4 damage per claw and can claw once every second, and 4 damage per second while riding on survivors with no damage delay, meaning the survivor will start taking damage the moment a Jockey lands on him. While riding a Survivor, the Jockey will be able to steer Survivors away from a group or off a ledge.

Survivors

 * Keep an ear out for the Jockey's manic laughter. It is a signal that the Jockey is near.
 * A great tactic to make use of this is to turn on your subtitles. This way you can read the Jockey's laughter if it is close. This can be especially useful in noisy circumstances, such as the Hard Rain campaign.
 * When someone is grabbed by a Jockey, one way to help them is to melee them, then shoot, although this is contrary to the advice of shooting then shoving immediately after. When using your melee attack to free a caught Survivor, remember that you need to melee the Jockey himself, not the Survivor.
 * If attacked by the Jockey, try to steer to a table or a dumpster to delay the movement.
 * Never attempt to melee AI Jockeys or even human players, as the Jockey's leap distance far surpasses that of your melee reach. A successful shove on a jumping Jockey is also extremely difficult to time, as his small, fast jump leaves almost no time to react.
 * When a Jockey jumps off a Survivor, the Jockey requires a longer amount of time to leap again. This gives you enough time to help the Survivor up and then shoot the Jockey. Note that a human-controlled Jockey can still melee the downed Survivor to prevent you from helping them up.
 * The Jockey controls relative direction of your movement (forward, left, right, backward), but not your facing, so a tactic to prevent being ridden too far away from your team is to spin repeatedly and quickly in circles. This generally makes it easier for a teammate to run up and melee the Jockey off of you, but be aware that it can also make it more difficult for them to shoot him off, as your movement will be highly erratic.
 * Weapons with wider spreads are usually more effective against the Jockey. The shotgun is particularly effective at this. A player using the Sniper Rifle and the Hunting Rifle will have a difficult time trying to hit the small Jockey because of the tight cross-hairs and the Jockey's speed, whether he is on another Survivor or loping around on the ground.
 * A simple way to kill AI Jockeys with melee weapons is to keep backing up until the Jockey leaps at you (make sure he doesn't get you, as he is just a few steps away), then rush up and shove him, then attack.
 * In order to instantly kill a Jockey, move full speed towards the Jockey and as he jumps, crouch and shove him in his pelvic area. This is a difficult feat to master, but if properly executed, you can catch the Jockey flying over or through you and landing on the ground dead.

Infected

 * As soon as you ride a Survivor, push the attack button a second time. It will decrease your reload time significantly when shoved from the human's head.
 * When riding a Survivor, attempt to continuously change directions. This will confuse the person you are riding, and they will have a hard time trying to figure out when to start resisting.
 * Jockeys do not actually have to do their leap to grab onto a Survivor. Simply landing on their head, such as from a fall from above, will trigger him to grab on. The leap is just a way to get them without having to go to a higher place. Do not leap if you can drop right down onto a Survivor's head, as you may overshoot your target.
 * It is also possible to use the "Jump" key instead of "Attack", or in tandem. The recharge time is shortened if the Jockey uses "Attack" and then "Jump," giving him a much faster cooldown.
 * An advanced method of handling him is to use Hunter tactics, such as going to the top of building and leaping down so you can get a better chance of hitting the Survivor. The Jockey is able to leap up to two stories when aiming directly upwards.
 * Jockeys are very useful when facing a lone Survivor, as they can lead the victim further astray: simply jump on them and pull them from their team until they're down.
 * However, Jockeys can adapt to almost any situation: pulling a Survivor away from the team into any kind of danger can easily turn the tables.
 * Keep in mind that Survivors can hear a Jockey's laughter and often vocalize when they hear one. Stealth will not be on your side, so you will have to employ different tactics to get close to Survivors.
 * As always, attacking during a panic event can have dire consequences.
 * The Jockey's main job is to steer the Survivors apart. Try to pull a Survivor somewhere that will cause trouble for his/her friends; for example: towards a Hunter/Boomer/Smoker/Charger, into a Witch's personal bubble, into fire, into Spitter goo or at least towards an unaware infected to wake them up and attack your victim.
 * When a Survivor is in a Jockey's control, the same rules regarding health and terrain apply. Survivors that have less than 40 health or are in water will move slower then a regular Survivor. In addition, a Survivor that has recently used an Adrenaline Shot will move faster.
 * If you're in a series of houses or hallways, try to pull your victims into other rooms and behind walls, buying you more time for your teammates to ambush/respawn while getting some more damage on your captive.
 * Just like the Hunter, the Jockey will cause nearby Survivors to stumble once it latches on. Use it to your advantage when possible, like following a mount with a teammate's Boomer attack to stun the masses. This tactic is especially useful along edges, cliffs and docks, which can lead to the incapacitation of one or more Survivor.
 * Jockeys can work well with other Infected. If someone else grabs your victim before you incapacitate them, your recharge meter will not have to fill up the entire 30 seconds. You can also pull your Survivor into an ambush by one or more of your teammates, such as Boomers or Spitters, or other Infected lying in wait.
 * A Jockey can force its victim off a ledge or a high fall. If a Survivor isn't trying to steer in the opposite direction, it's possible to steer them off a ledge without them grabbing on . However, most of the time they will grab onto the ledge. Be careful when attempting this, as pulling a Survivor off the ledge in Dead Center might only put the Survivor in a hanging position with moderate damage and leaving your team an infected short for some time.
 * In Dark Carnival, the Screaming Oak Crescendo Event is prime Jockey territory (as well as Smoker territory). There are numerous open sections to the theme park ride, and given one or two uninterrupted seconds, a Jockey can easily send a Survivor tumbling to a leg-shattering impact below, slowing down the Survivors and possibly spelling doom for them all.
 * If Survivors are covered in bile, the same tactics can apply with all infected, with an added twist. Stealing the only clean Survivor will put his/her teammates alone fighting a Horde blindly. By the time the Survivors realize what has happened, your victim may be incapacitated, allowing your team a chance to take down the remaining or killing your original victim.
 * If you steer a Survivor enough to incapacitate them, set up an ambush. Hide in a good place away from the incapacitated Survivor and be ready to jump out. Usually, Survivors may have one revive while the others watch if they come in groups. Depending on your situation, either choice is good. But if a lone Survivor comes to revive them, latch onto them and steer away from the incapacitated Survivor to avoid pistol fire. This can buy your allies time, or perhaps allow them to join you on the ambush. Also keep in mind that the others will have to eventually come back, so you could simply leave the Survivor incapacitated or have another finish them off, depending on the situation.
 * It is possible to jump off a Survivor by clicking the MB1 one second before they are incapacitated, resulting in instantly refilled lunge (and the incapacitate of the Survivor), thus making you able to jump on another Survivor immediately. (PC only)
 * Also keep in mind that, unlike the Hunter, the Jockey cannot act as a powerful Special Infected by clawing the Survivors. It is a much better idea to try to ride the Survivors instead of hiding in a Horde and attempting to claw.
 * The exception to the tactic above is if a Survivor is close to being downed, it would be a better idea to claw them so you won't have to wait thirty seconds for your leap to recharge.
 * You can also attempt to nab the last Survivor before they all go over a barrier that they either cannot come back over or takes an extremely long time to get around. Not only does this deny them a player, but also distracts them long enough for your allies to mount an offensive. Good areas include going over the broken barricade in The Mall of Dead Center, over the half broken fence in the Screaming Oak right before they start the Crescendo Event (it is however, easy for them to shoot you and is harder to ambush here, also note that both the previous examples are not strictly one way. The Survivors can go back, with a bit of time and careful jumping. Take advantage of the pause to add extra distance.), and the large hole you must fall down into in the Tunnel of Love. You can also nab a Survivor just before they all go down the steep hill in the first part of Dark Carnival.
 * Jockeys are great distractions. If there is one Survivor pounced on by a Hunter, a Jockey can steer the other Survivors away from the Hunter.
 * In Realism Versus, the Jockey is one of the best Infected to be. By jumping on a lone Survivor, or one that isn't being looked at, you can potentially take them far from the group and incapacitate them. Doing this makes it hard for the other Survivors to get to the fallen teammate and giving time for your teammates to spawn.
 * The Jockey and Charger are a good pair, especially in The Hotel in Dead Center. A Jockey can pull a Survivor off the ledge, making them hang on, needing help. Another Survivor will rush over, attempt to bring them up, and the Charger can push them off the ledge, resulting in an instant kill. Sometimes, multiple Survivors may come over to help a teammate up. In this situation, you can get multiple kills.
 * The Jockey can be very effective in Scavenge, especially the new mutation Follow the Liter. If you spot a lone Survivor, pounce them and then try to steer them away from any gas cans, which is easier in the mutation since only 1-3 cans spawn at a time. Since the riden Survivor is not near any cans, it will force the other Survivors to decide whether to go for more cans and points but be one Survivor short and open for easy incapacitation, spilt up and save the riden Survivor and get more cans which will leave them open for easy incapacitation, or go save the riden Survivor as a group and use up precious time.
 * When approaching a Survivor, aim the reticle for their head to maximize your chances of jumping on their head the first time.
 * Remember when riding a Survivor, do not ride them further into the map (their intended path), by doing this you give the Survivors more points. If this is not possible try to steer them into a corner out of the line of fire. They will find you but it's better than getting taken out right away.

Behind the Scenes
Originally, the Jockey was said to have a very colorful shirt. This was later changed to his current look at an unknown point. Also, concept art shows the Jockey as being gray-skinned, much larger and more ape-like, as well as being completely naked. The Jockey was supposed to be the first Special Infected with the ability to dismount its targets after mounting or ensnaring them at its own will. However, this trait never appeared in the final version of the game.