The Jockey

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

- Coach

The Jockey, called the "Humper", "Creeper", "Back Humper", "Little Guy", "Leaper", and "Leapin'-on-your-back bitch", is a new form of 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. The Infection has caused the Jockey to mutate a large amount of muscle upon his upper back and neck, causing him to hop around in a spider monkey motion. His fingers and toes have also increased in length, adding to his baboon-like profile. His lips and the skin surrounding them have also deteriorated away, giving him a more skeletal look at the mouth area. He has pupils, like the Spitter. He wears a tattered white t-shirt and blue boxers. He has a gibbering, ape-like vocalization, and cackles hysterically whilst attached to a Survivor. According to Valve commentary, the mutations have caused Mania in the Jockey, causing the Jockey to laugh uncontrollably.



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, though not as far as the Hunter can, but without the need to crouch to charge up the ability. When the Jockey lands on a Survivor's head, he grabs onto them. When on a Survivor, he claws at them with his free-hand while leaning in a direction to cause the Survivors 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.

Valve said that the Jockey was made to work in tandem with the Spitter by "steering" Survivors into the Spitter's goo. Valve also said that the Jockey could steer Survivors into fire or even Witches. When playing campaign mode, the jockey will almost always steer Survivors towards witches.

Gameplay
When playing as the Jockey, his hands are like the Hunter's, except they are curved downward, and the arms are sticking out straighter. 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.

Survivors

 * 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 surpaces that of your melee reach.
 * 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.
 * It is a common myth that shooting players being ridden as the Jockey will also damage the player. Similar to the Smoker, Hunter and Charger, so long as the player is in their control, they can't receive any friendly fire damage. However, like the Smoker, Survivors do not have a "freed" animation, and take damage as soon as the Jockey is off.

Infected

 * 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.
 * 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.
 * Jockeys are very useful when facing a lone wolf Survivor as they can lead the victim further astray: simply jump on them and pull them from their team until they're downed.
 * 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.
 * Hide behind your victim (via mouse-movement) so there's a better chance they shoot your victim and not you. Another tactic is to move backwards when influencing a survivor, You (Jockey) are closest to the screen, the captured survivor second closest and The Survivors third closest making your victim a shield.


 * 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 imply 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, or into Spitter goo.
 * Even with more health than The Hunter, your health can get shredded pretty fast before you can steer a Survivor far enough, leap when the situation is right.


 * When a Survivor is in a Jockey's control, the same rules regarding health and Terran apply. Survivors that have less then 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 a Hunter, the Jockey will cause close by 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.
 * Jockeys can work well with other Infected. If someone else grabs your victim before you incap 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 on to 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.
 * Do not try to aid a Jockey that has pounced a Survivor by using your Infected's claws. This will nearly always kill the Jockey in a single swipe.
 * 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 blind. By the time the Survivors realize what has happened, your victim may be incapped, allowing your team a chance to take down the remaining or killing your original victim.

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.

Trivia

 * The Jockey cannot ride a Survivor when he or she becomes incapacitated, and so, if the Survivor has low health, the Qualified Ride achievement, can't be obtained..
 * The Jockey's lunge does not have the range of the Hunter's pounce. You must employ even wilier tactics to get close enough to use it effectively. Take note that your constant laughter will almost always betray your stealth and give away your position too soon, unless you take extreme care.
 * The Jockey is currently the Special Infected with the smallest profile.
 * The Jockey, The Witch and the Tank are the only Special Infected without the suffix "-er" in their name and both Jockey and Tank do not take additional damage from headshots.
 * A Jockey's pounce can be stopped by a well placed melee attack, just like a Hunter's can.
 * The achievement "Rode hard, put away wet" shares its name with the Sniper's "Jarate" achievement in Team Fortress 2.
 * Oddly enough, when you look at a Jockey from a different person's perspective, he looks as if he is very close to the ground, and his head is almost touching it. But from a Jockey's view, he looks as if he is standing upright like any other Infected.
 * A Jockey in real life is a person who tends to horses or rides them in their career, hence Jockeys in Left 4 Dead 2 "riding" Survivors.
 * The Jockey's attack icon seems to more closely resemble its concept art (shown below) than its final design.
 * The Jockey's attack almost appears as if he is humping the survivor, explained through survivor commentary. It is therefore considered to be rather humiliating to be attacked by one according to what the Survivors say.
 * The Jockey is the only Infected with his hands and arms directly in front of him at all times, while the other Special Infected have their arms at their sides. He also does not have a first person walking animation.
 * The Jockey is the only Special Infected who, when latched onto a Survivor, is accompanied by a green spotlight effect. The rest of the Special Infected have a red spotlight when they grab on. This is possibly due to the fact that the Jockey allows the Survivor a degree of control when it grabs on while the other Special Infected attacks leave you completely at the mercy of the attacker.