James

File:James.jpg

James

James (Japanese: コジロウ Kojirō) is one half of of the Team Rocket duo that follows around Ash Ketchum and friends in the Pokémon anime. His voice actors are Ted Lewis (EP002-EP012) and Eric Stuart ((EP013-Present) in English, 三木眞一郎 Shinichiro Miki in Japanese and Marcio Araujo in brazilian-portuguese. He is somewhat famous for carrying a rose, however as of more recent episodes, he does not display it often.

The only child of millionaires, James was forced to endure formal society. At a young age, he was forcefully engaged to a girl of whom he was terrified, Jessiebelle, all because his parents wanted to have a wealthy daughter-in-law. Thus, he ran away from home, leaving behind his beloved pet Growlie. He attempted to enroll in Pokémon Tech, a trainer's school, but, along with his new friend Jessie, flunked out. Then, with Jessie, he joined the Sunny Town bicycle gang, where he was popular for being the only gang member to have to use training wheels (nicknamed "Trainer Jim"). Eventually James, Jessie, and the bike gang went their separate ways.

Due to conflicts in canon between Kanto and Johto episodes and the special episode Training Daze, what happened between James and Jessie after the bike gang is unknown. What is known, as shown in the special episode, is that they joined Team Rocket separately and were on initially unfriendly terms after being grouped with Meowth. However, they quickly made up and the rest is history.

Since he is proficient in several activities, including Pokémon haiku and Pokéringer, it is possible that he developed his skills during his temporary separation from Jessie, but this is not known for sure.

In the episode Holy Matrimony!, James returned to his home as a result of a trap by his parents, who pretended to be dead. He was reunited with his old pet Growlie and managed to avoid marrying Jessiebelle. Growlie stayed behind when James returned to Jessie and Meowth.

James has a tendency to be swindled by a Magikarp seller, who has on many occasions tricked him into buying a Magikarp or other useless Pokémon for large sums of money.

James also has a tendacy to cross-dress, but has not done it in Hoenn since Pros and Con Artists. He does however dress up like famous celebrities now too, such as Professor Oak, Juan, and Norman.

While James's role in the Pokémon anime has not yet ended, in Toshihiro Ono's manga, The Electric Tale of Pikachu, he ended up married to Jessie, about to start a family. The belief, hope, or theory that Jessie and James will become a romantic couple in the Pokémon anime is RocketShipping.

Name Origin

James's English name is taken from Jesse James, an American outlaw. His Japanese name, Kojiro, is taken from 佐々木小次郎 Sasaki Kojirō, a prominent Japanese swordsman most famous for being killed by his rival, 宮本武蔵 Miyamoto Musashi, the namesake of Jessie. Also, 二郎 Jirō is a name meaning "second son," while 三郎 Saburō means "third son." Kojiro takes advantage of Jirō, while the Japanese name of Butch, Kosaburo, takes advantage of Saburō.

He is based on a combination of the character of Leonardo Medici Bundle from the anime Sengoku Majin GoShogun and 弁天小僧菊之介 Sarasvati boy Kikunosuke from the kabuki 『白波五人男』 The Five Scoundrels of White Waves.

Pokémon

On hand

• Cacnea
• Mime Jr.

At home

• Growlie (Growlithe)
• Chimecho

Released

• Aggron
• Hoppip
• Koffing → Weezing
• Weepinbell → Victreebel
• Weepinbell → Victreebel
• Magikarp → Gyarados
• Magikarp

Appearances

• Pokémon anime, EP002-Present
• Pokémon Yellow (See In the Games subsection)
• Pokémon Puzzle League
• It's a White Tomorrow, Team Rocket!
• The Electric Tale of Pikachu

Musical Appearances

• Team Rocket Forever (English)
• Team Rocket Forever (Japanese) (ロケット団よ永遠)
• Meowth's Party (English)
• Meowth's Party (Japanese) (ニャースのパーティ)
• Face Forward Team Rocket! (前向きロケット団！)
• Lucky Lucky (ラッキーラッキー)
• Double Trouble
• Pokémon Christmas Bash
• The Christmas Song

In the Games

Both Jessie and James appear in Pokémon Yellow as antagonists. They first attack the main character in Mt. Moon, while trying to take one of the rare fossils uncovered there.

Later, in Celadon City's Rocket Game Corner, Jessie and James guard Giovanni's room in the Team Rocket base.

Finally, at Silph Co. in Saffron City, Jessie and James make their final appearance, once again trying to stall the main character from reaching their Boss.

First Battle

• Level 14 Ekans
• Level 14 Meowth
• Level 14 Koffing

Second Battle

• Level 25 Koffing
• Level 25 Meowth
• Level 25 Ekans

Third Battle

• Level 31 Weezing
• Level 31 Arbok
• Level 31 Meowth

In the TCG

Jessie and James appear on both versions of the card Here Comes Team Rocket, which originally released in the Team Rocket set; it was re-released with different artwork in EX Team Rocket Returns. In that expansion, there was also a preconstructed Theme Deck based on James.

It is rumored that James may also be on the Gym Challenge set card Rocket's Secret Experiment, as there is a Rocket in the background, seen only from the back, who has his hairstyle, but what he may be doing in the lab is left to the imagination.