Jamil has multiple voice lines related to his fear of bugs, even saying that he hesitates to touch the silver-insect decorations on the boots of his Fairy Gala outfit, despite knowing they’re not real.
In a Chat a bug seems to appear in a classroom where Jamil cautions Kalim against provoking it, as it might start to fly, saying, “You KNOW bugs freak me out!”
Kalim explains, “His favorite food is dates, and one time he found a bug in one when we were kids.
He’s been this way ever since,” and we hear the story in detail from Jamil himself later on: “I used to love dates when I was younger. But one day, we got a little surprise with our purchase…A BUG. It freaked me out so badly, my first reaction was to use magic…fire magic.” The vendor whose dates he had bought follows with, “I know he was trying to get the bug, but he ended up burning the whole awning for my store. My awning was scorched black! And you wouldn’t believe how hard it was to calm down Jamil. He was bawling up a storm!” (Jamil: “AGAIN, I WAS A LITERAL CHILD.”)
Jamil says he has never been able to eat dates again and “even the sight and smell are too much for (him),” as they remind him of what happened.
When asked about being trapped on a deserted island Jamil says that he would try to escape on his own rather than wait for rescue, as, “A deserted island is bound to be crawling with bugs. An extended stay would be ABSOLUTELY out of the question.”
During the Little-Big Adventure event Jamil closes his eyes as Grim describes being swarmed by ants that are now 22 times as large as usual in relation to themselves, saying, “I don’t want to hear anything that will put images into my head! I refuse to look that way. Grim, you’re on your own for this one,” and telling Silver, “No descriptors!,” later volunteering to climb a tree in order to not have to remain in “bug-infested grass.”
After the group separates, Silver and Trey’s team happen upon grasshoppers. Silver observes, “Jamil was unusually attentive toward the grasshoppers earlier. He must be interested in them. I should tell him about this later…”
Vil has a Playfulland voice line of, “They have a ride where you fly around in cars made to look like bugs? Jamil would screech in terror if he were here,” while Trey says, “Jamil’s tsum-alike made a U-turn the moment it spotted ants crossing the path in front of it. I’m amazed at how nimble it was.”
During Halloween Trein is not concerned about how the Magicam Monsters might be affecting the Scarabia display, saying, “Vice Housewarden Viper runs a tight ship…It’s not like we’re going to walk in and find everything on fire,” only for the scene to cut to Jamil saying, “I WILL BURN IT ALL TO THE GROUND.”
Kalim cautions him with, “If you use fire magic with all this cloth around, everything’s going to go up in flames!,” to which Jamil responds, “THAT’S THE IDEA, KALIM.”
When Trein and Sam arrive Jamil explains that campus visitors have been purchasing waffles for photos and then immediately throwing them away, which has been attracting bugs to Scarabia’s display. Jamil declares, “I look away for a moment, and they’re back again, swarming in full force. The Magicam Monsters and bugs both. They need to be eradicated!”
During the NBC event Jamil is surprised by what he assumes is a giant spider next to Jack Skellington’s front door, but it is revealed to be fake, unlike the one that the mayor wears as a tie (Jamil: !The spider you’ve been wearing… isn’t fake? It’s real?!”)
When Jack suggests using Malleus’ magic to “send down a swarm of insects from the sky” during Halloween both Jamil and Vil respond, “ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!,” with Jamil encouraging Jack to scare people on his own merits rather than relying on insects, and plan out Halloween events that they will be able to recreate later on without Malleus. Jack agrees, “All right, no relying on bugs or magic.”
A rat in Halloweentown surprises Jamil when he mistakes it for a bug (Jade: “You’ve gone rigid, and you’re standing on the tips of your toes”), and Jamil declares, “Look, what do you expect?! Halloween Town’s crawling with the things! Where do they even come from?! You can’t look anywhere without seeing a line of them creeping and crawling, RIGHT IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, TOO! Do they style themselves as full-fledged Halloween Town residents?! I can’t STAND that brazen attitude of theirs..!”
Azul observes, “He must’ve been holding this in ever since we came to Halloween Town.”
Jamil continues with, “My heart skips a beat every time I hear a noise. There’s no telling when they might come skittering out of the woodwork,” and soon after Lock throws a caterpillar onto his forehead. (Jade: “He’s not even trying to bat it away. He’s just frozen stiff. The poor soul…”)
Riddle removes the bug but seems to believe that Jamil’s fear is a matter of poor discipline, and immediately shows it to him again upon noticing its size (Jamil: “WHOA! Stop! Get away from me with that thing!”)
Later on Lock refers to Jamil as “the caterpillar guy,” to which Jamil responds, “Cut it out, just hearing that word gives me goosebumps!”
