The Jockey

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

- Coach

Called the "Humper", "Creeper", "Back Humper", "Little Guy", "Leaper", and "Leapin'-on-your-back bitch", The Jockey 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. While human the Jockey may have had scoliosis or ankylosing spondylitis which could explain why he has a hunched back.



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.
 * If you're quick, it's a good idea to wait for the Jockey to attempt to pounce on you, shove him off, and then either melee him to death or shoot him.
 * 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.

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.
 * Try to lead a Survivor into a Witch, or Spitter goo.
 * 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.


 * NOTE: A Jockey controlled Survivor will move slower if the Survivor is in limp-range (i.e. below 40 health).
 * If you're in a series of houses or hallways, try to pull your victims into other rooms and behind walls, making it less likely to kill you, harder to reach you, and easier for you to incapacitate your victim.
 * Just like a Hunter, the Jockey can push Survivors away from the one attacked so 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 the Spitter and the Hunter. Use the Jockey to separate the Survivors, have a nearby Hunter pounce the Survivor, making the Jockey jump off (less recharge time than if you down them), and have a Spitter spit on the Hunter dealing colossal damage. Also if there is nobody else around steer a Survivor away and have a Charger charge a Survivor in an out of the way place. Chargers can do massive amounts of damage in seconds!
 * Use ledges to put Survivors in a hanging stance as this will cause a distraction for the remaining Survivors while you move in for a second victim (handily also giving you the "Back in the Saddle" achievement if you succeed).
 * 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.
 * In Hard Rain, there are a lot of witches. Pull one into the midst of the witches and let carnage ensue.
 * 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.
 * When playing against skilled opponents, wait for a moment of panic to steal a Survivor from the group (preferably from behind) and steer him far away.
 * Only pull a Survivor off a ledge if he/she is separated from his/her companions. Otherwise, the Survivor won't gain any extra damage from hanging too long and your falling off of the ledge will be in vain.

Survivors

 * This is easiest to do with a melee weapon

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 grey 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. This means he and the Smoker are the only Special Infected who cannot use their special abilities to do damage to incapacitated Survivors.
 * As seen in gameplay videos, the player can resist the Jockey by walking in the opposite direction. When resisted, the Jockey becomes slower for a few seconds, allowing fellow teammates to reach the player.
 * 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 and the Tank are the only two playable Special Infected without the suffix "-er" in their name and both do not take additional damage from headshots.
 * When being ridden by a Jockey, the Survivor is surrounded by a green outline, unlike the red outline when being pounced by a Hunter, choked by a Smoker or pummeled by a Charger.
 * 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 theory as to why the Jockey laughs is because the Infection has left his brain in a constant state of hysterical mania.
 * It is likely that the Jockey was, before or after being infected, mentally unstable.
 * 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 also appears to have some possible symptoms of mercury poisoning with the twitching, loss of skin around the mouth, loss of hair, and mental instability.