James Black

James Black is a main character in Mako Champions. He was born on August 15th in an outer province of Zarconia, an ever-growing empire researching a new technology for military and commercial uses called the Primus. He first met the Champions in the Pride Rock Wasteland.

Physical description


James is tall, thin and has a black, short hair; almost always he wears a black or brown leather jacket from his biker gang days, along with dark blue or black jeans. Once in a while he likes wearing a denim jacket. He also has a curious tattoo right wrist he doesn't remember getting. Ocasionally it shines softly, but James doesn't know why either.

Personality and traits
The first impression someone would have of James is a serious, desproccupied and somewhat reserved person, although once he gets to meet someone he can be very talkative and friendly. He's a smoker and a frequent drinker.

Zarconia (early life)
James' parents were farmers who had to put him in adoption in an early age because they couldn’t raise a child and pay the taxes at the same time. Reluctantly, they came to the agreement of giving him to a close friend to put him into adoption in the capital city of Zarconia, Moglet. Little they knew of their son’s fate after he left to Moglet. His adoptive parents were a couple of merchants who traveled frequently. They raised him like his own kin, but they couldn’t spend too much time with him because of their jobs, and being the only child of the new family James grew up as a lonely person. This also allowed him to develop a great imagination and to be entertained with almost anything. He was very curious, and he discovered his love for creating after building sandcastles in a beach vacation.

His father died when James was six years old during a trade mission when his caravan was attacked by Mamluk brigands. James wasn’t very affected by his death since he didn’t spend much time with him, although he would miss the souvenirs and the anecdotes that his father brought with him from every travel. He started to get easily bored in school and developed the habit of chewing gum. Luckily he met a Nosuo, a race very similar to the humans except for the wolf ears and tails, Brita Halt, and his father, Locke Halt, who was a recognized scientist involved in the research project of the Primus.

James got increasingly interested in civil engineering and the use of science for the benefit of civilians and the daily life, unlike Brita and Karken, Brita’s friend, whose fascination was directed towards war machineries and weapons. During his adolescence, James started to despise Karken, who frequently expressed interest in joining the militia, and his father, Norius Fullbring, who was the commander of one of the district’s garrisons. James believed that Norius could use his intellect for the well being of the people, just like Locke, and that the militia was a corrupt organization whose high ranking officers could be easily bribed.

Years later James started having a crush on a girl, and some months after they began dating. James did his best to become a scientist like Locke, but when he started university he failed most of his exams, while only standing out at architecture. His girlfriend also distanced from him someday and it didn’t last long until James found out that he was being cheated. Frustrated and discouraged, he focused in building construction models as a hobby to ignore his hardships.

When he was 17 years old his mother died of blue fever. Unlike his father, his mother’s death was a big blow to James because she was very supportive both in high school and the university, even when she was busy working and he was failing in his classes. These events were too much for him to bear and he started smoking to deal with the stress, to the point of impulsively looking for the box of cigarettes in his pocket. Facing all these problems, James joins a motorcycle gang with ideals he feels identified with, seeing them as a liberal group that rebelled against the militia and city corruption. He retired from the gang after the group planned to rob Norius along with other thieves. James told the members that attacking an important person like a militia captain would only bring troubles to the gang, and he also opposed the idea because he was Karken’s father, even when he despised him for being a soldier. He tried to convince the gang’s leader, but he only got a broken nose and the threat of a cut throat. The bikers ignored his opinion and proceeded with the plan regardless.

The next morning James read in the newspapers that Norius died during the robbery and that his son killed all the responsible persons, enraged. Karken was taken to a hospital by the militia, arrested and sentenced to a year in prison by a military court. James receives his father’s inheritance weeks later, who stated in his last testament that he wanted his belongings to be giving to his son only when he was 18 years old. It was a big part of the fortune he got as a merchant, an S&W .44 Magnum revolver and a curve Bedouin dagger. Having a chance to start over, James looked forward a quieter lifestyle and helping Brita to pay his mortgage.

Zarconia (alternative history)
James is featured in an alternative version of Zarconia where several things are different. In this universe James has a biological younger brother, Leon, and a more destructive and wrongdoing behavior, while Leon has the interest in creating that James has in the original universe; Leon also gets interested in reading and in adventure and pirate stories. Both brothers develop a natural rivalry and James started to bully Leon often: he enjoyed destroying Leon’s sandcastles and sometimes ripped off pages from Leon’s books to burn them.

James liked spending his time playing in the backyard, climbing in trees, having stick fights with imaginary enemies and shooting stones at birds with a slingshot. On the other hand, Leon preferred to stay inside his parents’ library and to work as a delivery boy of the "Veritas" newspaper on a bicycle. In this timeline the father’s death is very hard for James and ultimately shaped his bully but also charismatic personality. In school he gained the reputation of being able to picking on and prank outcasts easily, besides having fun with other people’s problems. During this time he met Brita, whose gender changed in this timeline, and became best friends quickly.

James wasn’t interested and college and was convinced that he could become an entrepreneur without studying; Leon began studying naval engineering. Shortly after, James joins the motorcycle gang, but unlike the first timeline, who agrees with the plan of robbing Norius and ends up involved in his murder. After finding out, Leon refuses to talk with his brother ever again. A year later, when both of their parents were dead, he received four flintlocks of a famous corsair as inheritance.

Leon hears again from his brother a couple of years later. James was eating a burger in his car in front of Pinkman’s Burgers while listening to music. Two guys wearing balaclavas catch his attention after shooting the restaurant’s windows with 9mms. For some reason he decides to intervene and pulls out his revolver from the glove box. He approaches the restaurant calmly, shoots the robber that was watching over the hostages in the head and injures another during the gunfight. After making sure of having killed the second robber, James is shot in the back. He manages to shoot the third accomplice, but the gunshot is fatal and dies seconds afterwards.

Joining the Champions
James was found wandering in the DC wasteland without any protection equipment. He was quickly picked up by Lyons' Pride and taken to their headquarters, where he met the Champions and received anti radiation treatment. He said he was looking for his brother, Leon, and that long ago they departed different ways. He formerly joined Lyons' Pride after being treated. The Pryde then arrived at the White House and were met with a massive amount of rebels. James assisted Avineesh in defeating enemies guarding the entrance. The two proceeded to enter the ancient building, found three rooms and decided to split up. While James found a group of rebels preparing to suit up, Avi found a weapons room with enough power to destroy the entire building. After ordering James to take the remaining rebels outside, Avi flew backwards out of the White House while charging a Mako Blast in his palm. Once he reached a safe enough distance, Avi fired the Mako Blast all the way back into the weapons room, triggering a massive explosion that annihilated the former occupied zone of the rebels, thus ending the battle.

Fighting style


Even though James isn't near as strong as Isaac or hasn't learned how to use magic like Melody, he can be very agile and keep moving for quite some time before even getting winded. Ever since he got the revolver from his dad, he's been constantly training and has improved his accuracy a lot, dreaming to be as good as Robin Hood or David Crockett. He's proficient in the use of almost every type of firearm and has gained some skill using his dagger for close combat, but he prefers to fight with handguns or short-ranged weapons, like pump action shotguns or submachine guns. Due to the caliber and the powerful damage that the revolver can deal, the Smith & Wesson guns are still his weapons of choice.

Quotes
"I wonder if the militia admission exam includes an IQ evaluation...if it does, I'm surprised that Karken was admitted."

''"Who the fuck robs in a fast food restaurant these days? These guys must be amateurs." ''- Last words, before getting in a gunfight and being shot in the back.

Trivia

 * After a bunch of shenanigans, Brita was stabbed in the stomach with a sword and taken to a hospital. When he was finally stable, he showed an anciente Nousuo necklace. At the moment neither of them knew where it came from or what did the inscriptions it had meant, so since that day James carries the medallion with him, hoping to discover its meaning.
 * James' favorite beverage is red wine, although he also enjoys almost any other kind of wine, champagne and cuba libres. He dislikes vodka and rum unless they're accompanied with something else.
 * James was listening to Octopus's Garden, by the Beatles, before dying in the alternative arc.
 * Avocado hates James and is glad that he got killed in the alternative arc.