Jake Epping is a high school English teacher with no real connections. He is divorced and has no girlfriend, children, or relatives in the area. He is a man with nothing to lose. It is for this reason that Al Templeton tells him about the rabbit-hole and his plan to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Al’s plan is full of hope and good intentions, and Jake falls quickly in line, finding the idea of making such a huge impact on the world irresistible. Jake is a kind, gentle man with a big heart despite his wife Christy’s insistence that he is unemotional. Jake wants to do what he can to improve the world.

The first indication of Jake’s kindness is his reaction to the story of Harry Dunning’s family massacre. Jake cries when he reads of the massacre, and two years later he thinks of Harry Dunning when he is presented with the opportunity to go back in time and change something. The idea of changing Harry’s life becomes Jake’s focus when he first learns the meager details Al has to share with him about time travel. Jake simply wants to make Harry’s life easier after witnessing his struggles as a lonely, uneducated man.