We all know and love the police detective sitcom, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but what we may even love more is Andy Samberg as Jake Peralta. Though the entire cast is made up of some of the best actors and characters on modern television, there is just something about Jake Peralta that makes him the shining star of the resurrected series. Jake's charisma, brilliance, and total dedication to his job makes for some pretty good comedy, and he's always bound to make us laugh with his wild antics.
Jake is famous for diving deep into undercover characters, and he definitely isn't shy when it comes to picking names and backstories. We know you love all of them, so here's a list of Jake's 10 best undercover names, ranked by order of appearance.
Detective Bart Barley ("Thanksgiving", Season 1)
When Jake is trying desperately to avoid celebrating Thanksgiving at Amy's house, he jumps on the chance to help Captain Holt with a theft at the precinct. While going to possible suspect's houses, Jake, of course, cannot possibly just be himself.
He decides to be Detective Bart Barley, who is "tightly wound and hates violence against animals". Yeah, you guessed it, he starts yelling at a dude for carving turkey, cause that's murder.
Carl "Mangy Carl" Mangerman ("Pontiac Bandit", Season 1)
Although the infamous Pontiac Bandit actually gives Jake this super hilarious undercover persona, it's still one of our favorites and definitely had to make this list. You may remember Carl as Doug Judy's personal assistant, who also happens to be a homeless man that Doug saved and helped.
What's even better is this name appears again in Season 4, when Jake and Doug are actually working together on a case. This time, Carl Mangerson is a successful lawyer. Who knew such a name would come full circle, hey?
Roger Strikewell ("Operation: Broken Feather", Season 1)
When Amy and Jake are investigating hotel robberies, they go undercover at an auction while searching for sellers and buyers of missing items. In realizing they don't exactly blend in, Jake convinces the auctioneer to let him take the stage to get a better view of the audience.
Of course, he's Roger Strikewell, who won a radio contest to become a guest auctioneer. How does he even come up with this stuff?
Rex Buckingham ("Tactical Village", Season 1)
When the squad is sent to "Tactical Village" to test out new equipment, this quirky team has more than enough fun with it. Jake works hard to figure out his annual persona for the tactical villa, and he settles on Rex Buckingham. Rex is a British secret agent, ballistics expert, and ladies' man.
"Cause what woman doesn't love a guy who's super into make-believe?" We're not sure, Jake, but apparently, it's good enough for Amy.
Duncan Buck ("Charges and Specs", Season 1)
When a huge case falls into the lap of the 99th Precinct, the FBI asks Jake to get "fired" from the NYPD and go undercover with a giant crime family. Jake accepts, obviously, but he has conditions. His name will be Duncan Buck, who is a man raised on an oil rig by 90 men and 1 prostitute.
Again, who exactly writes what goes on inside of Jake Peralta's mind? We'd like to have a good chat with them. Also, the FBI definitely declined this idea.
Vaughn Tom Tucker ("The Road Trip", Season 2)
At the beginning of this episode, Jake is discussing cargo ships and smugglers. He decides that they will go undercover as a longshoreman, 'cause that's the only thing that makes sense, right?
He claims himself as Vaughn Tom Tucker: a gruff, spitting, punch-you-in-the-gut sailor man who's taking a little break on dry land, but just until his girlfriend, Cangela, gets out of lady jail. Also, Vaughn chews tobacco, but it makes Jake super dizzy. Duh.
Dante Thunderstone ("The Pontiac Bandit Returns", Season 2)
Doug Judy strikes again in this episode, and Jake and Rosa are tasked to go undercover once again. Jake takes on the persona of a car thief to fool a suspect. He chooses the identity of Dante Thunderstone (which, is pretty badass), who stole his first car at the age of nine.
Doug adds that his mother was struck by lightning, to which Jake adds that this happened while she was pregnant with him. And somehow, this makes Zeus his dad? We're not sure, but this is honestly one of our favorite undercover personas. Also, definitely our favorite outfit for sure.
Sherwin Lemonde ("Boyle's Hunch", Season 3)
When Jake thinks that Boyle has met his soul-mate, an art gallery owner, he tries to help set them up (because of course, he must do something). He becomes Sherwin Lemonde, a sculptor, painter, and full-time barista. Cliche, much? Oh right, once he sells his first piece, he'll be a part-time barista, obviously.
The perfect wing-man ever, and you'll never change our minds.
Tyler Omaha ("The Last Ride", Season 4)
When Jake and Charles go on what might be their last case together, it explodes into a big drug bust. Jake goes undercover as a BMX-er, claiming that biking is only 99% attitude. He names himself Tyler Omaha, who was born and raised in So-Cal.
If you show him a quarter pipe, he'll tail-whip for days. Don't forget, his sidekick is Chip Rockets, a roller-skater (good choice, Charles).
Billy "Big Time" Jankowski ("Bad Beat", Season 5)
When Jake, Terry, and Captain Holt work on a case involving an underground gambling ring, they send Jake in undercover as a gambler. They create the persona Billy "Big Time" Jankowski, who wears sunglasses, headphones, and an unwashed hoodie. He usually gambles online in his mother's basement, where he lives, and, of course, he is probably a virgin. The little details always matter, even if they'll literally never, ever come up.
You never disappoint us with your quirky creativity, Jake, and we can't wait to see more.