James
| James コジロウ Kojirō | |
[[File: |{{{size}}}]]Art from the TCG | |
| Age | 25 (est. by Pokeani) |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Eye color | Green |
| Hair color | Blue |
| Hometown | Unknown |
| Region | Kanto |
| Relatives | His parents |
| Trainer class | Agent |
| Generation | I |
| Games | Yellow |
| Member of | Team Rocket |
| Rank | Agent |
| Partner | Jessie |
| Anime debut | Pokémon Emergency! |
| English voice actor | Ted Lewis (EP002-EP009) Eric Stuart (Template:4Kids) Billy Beach (TPCi) |
| Japanese voice actor | Shin'ichirō Miki |
James (Japanese: コジロウ Kojirō) is one part of of the Team Rocket trio that follows around Ash Ketchum and friends in the Pokémon anime, usually trying to steal Ash's Pikachu, but always failing. His voice actors are 三木眞一郎 Shin'ichirō Miki in Japanese and Ted Lewis (Template:4Kids dub, EP002-EP009), Eric Stuart (Template:4Kids dub, EP010-AG145) and Billy Beach (TPCi dub, AG146-present) in English. Internationally, he is played by Márcio Araújo in Brazilian Portuguese, Peter Michael (Kanto and Orange Islands, Movies 1, 2, 3 and 4) and Rui Quintas(EP117-present) in European Portuguese, and José Antionio Macías in Latin-American Spanish.
James is mostly a comedic parody of bishounen characters; the English dub in particular tends to give him a melodramatic and even campy tone. He is somewhat famous for carrying a rose, though in more recent episodes he does not display it often. Mostly, his rose is displayed in the Team Rocket motto.
In the anime
Character
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 Salesman, who has on many occasions tricked him into buying a Magikarp or other useless Pokémon and items for large sums of money.
James also has a tendency to cross-dress, but has not done it since Pros and Con Artists. He does, however, dress up like famous celebrities as well, such as Professor Oak, Juan, and Norman.
James loves rare bottle caps and has an impressive collection of them. In the episode All That Glitters! it is revealed that he has "drunk enough soda pop to float an aircraft carrier".
For unknown reasons, he, Jessie and Meowth mostly use hot air balloons instead of faster ways of transportation. However in newer episodes the balloon is shown with 'jets' attached to explain how they get from one place to another faster than walking
Pokémon
As the standards of the Team Rocket organization dictated, James was first shown with a poison type. However, James seems to have a fondness for carnivorous Template:Type2 Pokémon, owning both a Weepinbell and a Carnivine. It is not shown how he captures either of these Pokémon, since he has owned them for a long period of time before their first appearances. He did, however, capture a Cacnea early in Hoenn, furthering his seeming preference for Grass-types. In addition to grass types he also develops a strong bond with his other Pokémon as well, almost treating them as his own children. This could stem from childhood memories he occasionally brings up. There also comes a time when he needs to leave a Pokémon behind for one reason or another, he often has great difficulty in letting go of his beloved friends.
Travels with
 Meowth |
On hand
 Mime Jr. |
 Carnivine |
In training
 Cacnea |
At home
 Growlie |
With relatives
 Chimecho |
 Numel (multiple) |
- In Game Winning Assist, James mentions that his grandfather brought him some Numel to warm him in the winter.
Traded away
 →  Weepinbell → Victreebel |
Released
 →  Koffing → Weezing | |
| → Weepinbell → Victreebel | |
 →  Magikarp → Gyarados |
Borrowed
| File:Jessie's Dustox sprite.png Dustox |
In That's Just Swellow, James borrowed Dustox from Jessie to use in a PokéRinger competition.
Not properly caught
 Hoppip |
- Bought from the Magikarp Salesman while disguised as a Chimecho. Flew off after its true identity was revealed.
Temporary
 Template:P2 |
 Template:P2 |
 Template:P2 |
 Venusaur |
Pikachu |
 Aggron |
- Pikachu, Ivysaur, and Charizard: James was given them to use in The Ultimate Test. He was disqualified for battling with both Ivysaur and Charizard at the same time, and attempted to steal all three, but failed.
- Venusaur: James used it in One Trick Phony!. It belonged to the Battle Park and the team had it taken away shortly before being blasted off.
- Pikachu James temporarily commanded Ash's Pikachu in A Scare to Remember! when it lost its memory and believed it was a member of Team Rocket.
- Aggron: TRDelibird ([[{{{2}}} (move)|{{{2}}}]]) delivered it to James by mistake in Grating Spaces. It was taken back at the end of the episode, as it was intended for Butch.
Achievements
As a member of Team Rocket, he hasn't accomplished too much. However, he is very good at some activities and has even won some contests.
- PokéRinger (2nd place)
- Pokémon Orienteering (Winner)
In the manga
James was a character in Toshihiro Ono's manga, The Electric Tale of Pikachu, which was based loosely on the anime.
While James' role in the Pokémon anime has not yet ended, in the manga, he ended up Template:S, about to start a family.
In the games
Pokémon Yellow
Both Jessie and James appear in Pokémon Yellow as in-game bosses. 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. During that time, as the player runs into them, they are eager for revenge after the main character busted up their plans at Mt. Moon.
They hold Mr. Fuji hostage at Pokémon Tower. They attack the main character on the seventh floor.
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.
Unlike in the anime, Jessie and James do not follow the main character around and come up with their usual evil plans to capture Pikachu.
First battle
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Second battle
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Third battle
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Fourth battle
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Pokémon Puzzle League
Along with many other anime characters, both Jessie and James appeared in Pokémon Puzzle League.
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.
Trivia
- Both Jessie and James have used a Charizard at separate times (Jessie having used two). None of the three remained in their care, however.
- James at times uses the name Jameson.
- James hasn't evolved any of his Pokémon since Here's Lookin' at You, Elekid!.
- He is the only main character to, after being given his first Pokémon, at one point not have any Pokémon on hand. This was in A Poached Ego! during the brief moment after he released Weezing and before he caught Cacnea.
- James is the only main character to have one Pokémon and release/give it away, then get another Pokémon of the same species.
- James and Meowth are the only main characters to have their voice actors replaced during the Template:4Kids run of the show, then again when Pokémon USA took over.
- James is, as of the most recent Japanese episode, the only Trainer on the main cast who has not yet owned a Generation II Pokémon during the Diamond & Pearl series.
- In fact, the only Generation II Pokémon James ever had was a Hoppip, though it flew away before he could put it in a Poké Ball.
- In the dub, both of James's Generation III Pokémon were given away in the second episode of a season which was recorded at a new studio from the prior. Chimecho was left in the care of Nanny and Pop-Pop in the second episode of Battle Frontier (Dubbed at TAJ), while Cacnea was given to Gardenia in the the second episode of Battle Dimension (Dubbed at DuArt).
- It is interesting to note that James is the only main character who never battled any of his Pokémon before capturing them.
- James was the first main character to release a Pokémon.
- James was the first main character to be shown with both sets of parents (although this would be equaled by Brock, May and Max as the series went on).
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.
Related articles
External links
- Roketto, the fanlisting for James
- Kojirō's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)
- Kojirō's Pokémon on Pokeani (Japanese)
| Team Rocket's Pokémon | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travel with: | |||||||
| Jessie | James | ||||||
| On hand: | |||||||
| In training: | |||||||
| At home: | |||||||
| Released: | |||||||
| Traded away: | |||||||
| Lived with (all three): |
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| Worked with (all three): |
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| Temporarily owned: | |||||||
| Befriended: | |||||||
| Status unknown: | |||||||
| For a list of other Pokémon Team Rocket has commanded, see here and here | |||||||
 Team Rocket
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocket Game Corner • Team Rocket Hideout • Viridian Gym • Team Rocket HQ • Rocket Warehouse | |||||
| Boss | Admins | ||||
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| Giovanni (Masters • Pocket Monsters) |
Archer (Masters) |
Ariana (Masters) |
Petrel (Masters) |
Proton (Masters) | |
| Other members | |||||
| Jessie (Masters) • James (Masters) • Meowth • Team Rocket Grunts (Rocket Siblings) • Scientists (Gideon) Grey (Golden Boys) • Kaede (How I Became a Pokémon Card) | |||||
See also: Pokémon the Series • Adventures • Team GO Rocket • Team Rainbow Rocket
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