Wizards of Waverly Place/Analysis

Incest Subtext

"Jalex"

Although it's not canon, Jalex (Justin and Alex) is the most popular ship for Wizards of Waverly Place. It may also be a case of Getting Crap Past the Radar.

• Heavily Lampshaded in the episode "Family Game Night", where Alex and Harper (who has a serious crush on Justin) switch bodies and "Alex" spends the episode being blatantly jealous of Justin's girlfriend and making remarks about how dreamy his eyes are.
  • Don't forget Justin, who attempts to get rid of his clingy girlfriend by flirting with Harper's brain, that is in Alex's body, resulting in Justin grabbing Alex's hip and wiggling his eyebrows at her, muttering "Hey, Harper. Come on in".
  • Or that Harper!Alex constantly smiles at him, fluttering her eyes, looks enthusiastically at his hand when he touches her and excessively compliments him, making lovey-dovey faces.
  • This could also be a serious case of UST between the actors that play the characters (which wouldn't be unprecedented).
  • The actors have a really close friendship, so this might have affected their characters' relationship as well.
  • Selena Gomez has admitted in a recent^[when?] interview that she has in fact had a crush on David Henrie. Looks like we aren't just seeing things after all.
• Or in another episode where Harper and Justin become friends and Alex spends the episode trying to break them up. Apparently she's jealous of Justin spending time with her best friend but it really comes off as Alex being jealous of Harper spending time with him (and the fact that Alex is fully aware of the crush does not help matters).
• What takes the cake is the "Justin's little sister" episode, where Alex accidentally wishes that everyone forgot who Justin was, so everyone thinks of him as a complete stranger. Cue Alex and Justin's own mother saying that they would make a cute couple. That is definitely Getting Crap Past the Radar.
  • Or Harper (who has a crush on Justin) getting mad at Alex because Justin has already moved to Alex's house, thinking that Alex has convinced him to do that because she tries to become Justin's girlfriend.
  • In the same episode, Justin becomes invisible and he takes off his pajamas, so that he could become completely invisible. While he's in the room with Alex. And despite of the fact that he tells her not to look, she still peeks over her shoulder, before guiltily looking away.
    • Not to mention the fact that the reason Justin told her not to look in the first place is because he noticed Alex's eyes were clearly going south as soon as he took off his pants. She definitely seemed curious...
• Another line:

Justin (pulling Alex to the side to talk in private): Oh so that's been your plan all along huh? Play with my fragile heart and then crush it?

• In "Fashion Week", Alex, in a mini dress, parades in front of her mirror and Justin walks in, looking as if he checks her out. They argue (as usual), she pushes a tray of food on him and he gets revenge by hugging her messing up her dress. Because that's how a brother would get revenge on his little, hot sister, who is dressed in a mini, if you know what I mean. Although mileages varied, the scene has been pure No Yay for many fans.
• What The Buck hilariously points out the subtext in his review of The Movie.
  • This line breaks the record:

Alex: What are you sorry for?
Justin: You're my little sister. I shouldn't be on you as much.

• • You got that right, Justin.
• In the recent^[when?] movie the producers seem to constantly insert incestuous Double Entendres in otherwise heartwarming brotherly scenes. Or perhaps, they have actually forgotten that Justin and Alex are supposed to be brother and sister... Or they returned to their first idea. (Justin and Alex were originally supposed to be best friends, not brother and sister. The script was changed later).
  • This troper watched the movie, and even though she knew they were brother and sister, she still thought they might kiss.
  • Some moments from The Movie left many people baffled and created several controversies and debates within the fandom. The most ambiguous one is the campfire scene between Alex and Justin, which left many fans wondering about the nature of their relationship. The second one is the scene where Justin loses his memory and Alex becomes desperate and begs him not to leave her, to which he replies that he will never do that, even though he doesn't know her, implying that their love is so strong, that even the memory loss can't stand in its way.
• "Quinceanera". Never mind the fact that Justin switched his body with a thirty year old dance instructor, or that Alex switched bodies with her mother, Justin's lines couldn't get any weirder, when he started dancing with his younger sister:

Justin: If you were 15 years older, I would ask you to dinner, Mi amor.
Alex: Okay, that's really weird.

• • Or:

Justin: It's time for the big finale. Leap into my arms. (he gets on his knees and spreads his arms)
Alex (smiling): Really?
Justin: I've got you, baby.

• • This troper has noticed that, whenever characters switch bodies, Justin's and Alex's bodies always end up flirting.
• In the episode "Franken Girl", Justin is really eager to make Alex a cheerleader (as revenge) and he is extremely, quite suspiciously happy when she appears dressed as one (*cough* in a very short skirt *cough*) and starts dancing. He even video tapes her and yells enthusiastically: "Yeah, that's my sister!"
  • The camera (his, not the show's) follows her when the titular Frankengirl throws her up in the air and she gets stuck in the ceiling. Um, yeah...
• In one episode, instead of throwing snarky comments, they growl at each other. Seriously.
  • And no, it's not just a simple one-shot growl, it's an increasingly violent growl-a-thon until Alex is so angry she can't stand to be in the same room as him.
• In general have you noticed that any time one of them gets a boyfriend/girlfriend, the other starts acting really jealous?
  • Yeah, especially that time when Alex asks Justin and Max what they found out from her journal and Justin answers hotly and fiercely that he knows she has a crush on Dean. And later, he even yells at her to get over him. Well, that's because Dean doesn't have a library card, but it's still suspicious...
  • Or when Alex tries to warn Justin that his girlfriend is a dog and he replies, smug and satisfied, that she doesn't like the fact that he is falling in love.
  • In "Max's Secret Girlfriend", Alex snarkily tells Justin that all his girlfriends have been so embarrassing, that they surpassed even their own parents.
• There's another funny exchange of lines:

Justin: You don't have a retainer.
Alex: You don't know what goes in my mouth.

• In a live chat, the creator answers some fan questions and he finds one that doesn't surprise him at all:

Todd J. Greenwald: Oh my gosh, we got a Jalex question. (Reading) "Are Justin and Alex going to end up together?" (Laugh) They are brother and sister, PEOPLE.

• • Thus he answered with non-denial denial.
• Season 3, episode "Dollhouse". Alex is wearing a cute, fifties-style doll dress. She eagerly jumps into Justin's arms. He hugs her so tightly that she cries "Ooh, Justin, you're hurting me!". He makes a 'mmm' sound, sounding really satisfied. In the end, Justin releases her and tells her, "Yeah, I do feel better now, thank you." She smiles. Whoah, innuendo much?
  • Not to mention it happens after she deliberately and explicitly provokes him into a fight, including the line "There's the fight I was looking for!", said happily which leads to the above scene. Because make up...hugging is so much better.
  • That's what Disney calls safe sex, through the radar. Found here, at about 7:40, for those of you who are curious. Try watching with your eyes closed for added effect.
  • What makes it even worse better is that you can clearly see through the dress that Alex is not, in fact, wearing a bra.
• In the episode "Wizard Vs. Werewolves", both the main love interests for each are pretty much Put on a Bus to Hell, and the episode ends with a suggestive exchange between the two.

Justin: Are you alright?
Alex: No. He loved me.
Justin: And I found her...only to lose her again.
Alex: Promise me we'll find normal people.
Justin: We're not normal people...
(Cue adorable headleaning)

• The promos both Disney and Family Channel (in Canada) put out are all very centered on Justin/Alex. One of the promos for the aforementioned episode, "Wizards Vs Werewolves", featured Alex leaning on his shoulders (to a voice over that said "relationships will be tested," no less), Justin fighting her boyfriend to protect her, and Ship Sinking all their canon relationships, including one whom Peter Murrieta said was the love of Justin's life.
• One episode has Alex and Justin transported into a horror movie. Their parents get at the cinema and hear two guys mention that Alex and Justin in the movie have such chemistry. Their parents' eyes widen in terror when they hear it, supposedly because Justin and Alex have gotten in trouble, but the scenario makes the viewer believe something else for a moment, due to the fact that only after they play the laughs, the guys go on to say "it's like they grew up together".
• In the episode "Eat To The Beat", Justin tells Alex "dance with me" and grabs her when a jazz band is playing. This is Played for Laughs, naturally, and Alex rejects him because she was mad, also Played for Laughs.
• In "Third Wheel", Justin uses magic to transform himself into Alex. This results in Alex!Justin wearing Justin's clothing.
  • And the Unfortunate Implications visit the show again.

Harper: Why are you wearing Justin's clothes?
Justin in Alex's body: Because...I'm a dirty little thief.

• In "Western Show", Justin innocently names his horse Scout. What does Alex decide to name her horse (as she's riding it)? Justin.
  • Cue "Alex is riding Justin" jokes.
• And, on top of all this, Justin and Alex proved in "Max's Secret Girlfriend" that they have no problem in pretending to be husband and wife and have three kids.
  • To elaborate further, Alex comes up with the plan, asking Justin to pretend to be Max's father and her husband. Justin replies with "Why should I?" Alex pretty much responds by saying "Because all your other girlfriends were embarrassing." To which Justin agrees and goes along with her plan.
    • Also of note, there were no suggestions of anyone else potentially pretending to be Max's parents. Harper was there, she could have happily pretended to be married to Justin; heck, they could have gotten two random people off the street and put spells on them. It's hard to not think the writers do these things just for the Justin/Alex shippers.
• In "Delinquent Justin", Alex announces that she got Justin a present, at which point their parents flee the room in fear, accusing her of doing something destructive. After defending herself, Alex slowly walks up to Justin, muttering the following words in a quiet, seductive tone:

"My gift is not something that technically can be wrapped..."

• • Cue everyone's minds going straight to the gutter. This Troper feared they were finally crossing that line, and was scared to see what happened next.
    • So what did happen next?
    • Alex made a copy of her brother four years ago and sent it to college so Justin wouldn't have to leave her.
    • Only this show could make a CMoH that also qualifies as a Crowning Moment of Incest Yay.

Alex: I guess I was just scared that I really wouldn't have anyone to fight with when you went off to college...

• • • It's actually pushed Up to Eleven when you consider the following moment at the end of the episode:

Justin: "We've had a lot of pretty good fights, huh?" (pause) "I think we got a few good ones left in us, whatdaya think?"
Alex: "I hope so."
Theresa: (from where she and Jerry have been watching) "You guys are hilarious. Just say you love each other!"
Alex and Justin (in unison): "NO, WE DON'T!" (both leap quickly away from one another to opposite sides of the couch)

• • • Interestingly enough, Jerry's warm smile is the same as when he saw Alex and Mason get together.
• Seen in "Alex Russo, Matchmaker?": Alex apparently sometimes uses magic to read Justin's thoughts. Can't you just hear the sound of a thousand Fanfics being born?

Justin: I hate it when you use magic to listen to my thoughts!
-cue Alex's devilish (and satisfied) smile, that she always tends to put on whenever she's riled Justin up-