After returning from boarding school in 1991, brothers Jason and A.J. Quartermaine had become polar opposites. While Jason was athletic and popular, A.J. was deeply troubled and had developed a severe drinking problem, even as a teenager (via Soap Central). By 1995, A.J. (Sean Kanan) had been arrested for drunk driving four different times. Once, his father Alan Quartermaine (Stuart Damon) had left him in jail overnight hoping that would teach him a lesson, another time his girlfriend Nikki Langton (Camille Cooper) took the fall for him, and his grandmother Lila Quartermaine (Anna Lee) even offered to give him his substantial inheritance if he could stay out of trouble, but nothing seemed to work.

In December 1995, Jason found an intoxicated A.J. preparing to drive his car once again and tried to stop him. Unable to keep his brother from getting behind the wheel, Jason jumped into the passenger seat. Unfortunately, an impaired A.J. crashed the car into a tree and Jason suffered a severe head injury.

When Jason woke up in the hospital after a brief coma, everyone was shocked to find that he was suffering from amnesia and had no recollection of his life or his loved ones (via Soap Opera Spy). Jason felt resentful of his family who wanted so desperately for him to remember them he pushed everyone away except for his sister Emily Quartermaine (then Amber Tamblyn) and his grandmother Lila. Jason ultimately decided to drop his Quartermaine name and instead adopted Lila's maiden name — thus, Jason Morgan was born.