James Fertitta

Project Death

The Ghost of Iroha

The Panda Trueno of the Slopes

Supercharged Superhero

### Occupation

Dependent (October 19 1978-January 14 1997)Food Shop Owner (January 14 1997-Present)

## Profile

### Vehicle

1983 Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX (AE86)

## Media

### Debut

Act 4. 「Successor」

> "Well, y'know.. never did this on my own. It was her idea, all of it... I became a legend because of her. Though then again.. it was because of myself too. Still can't forgive myself..."
>
> James Fertitta

James Fertitta (ジェームズ・ファティーター *Fertitta James*) is a legend, main protagonist of sister show PROJECT.Downfall and Katou's mentor in Paper Route.

He is a 22 year old who runs the TX Food Shop, an Irohazaka local business that sits just near the start of its downhill. He is an American-Italian immigrant who came to Japan after getting tired of being away from his sister, Lisa. On December 31st 1996 he would crash while driving in the snow on Irohazakas' downhill after slipping on a piece of black ice and running into a wall at 90 km/h, hitting the passenger side door head on. With Lisa in the car at the time, she was fatally injured and wished for James to defeat PROJECT.D as her last wish. James would then stop at nothing to do so, defeating every racer possible on Irohazaka to gain enough notoriety to race the entire team of PROJECT.D; Keisuke Takahashi, Ryosuke Takahashi and Takumi Fujiwara. He would become a legend, and to some- a god. He is known for his AE86 Trueno in particular, for the fact that the car is completely impervious to any and all damage: Earning him the nickname "The Prophet".

## Personality

James is a generally reclusive person, only enjoying the company of his sister Lisa and other personality, Yuni. He is an extremely dependent person and can't stand being alone for very long before getting depressed and angry. He has an interest in cars and racing due to his own interest and his sisters'. While very calm on the surface, when he is motivated enough, nothing can put a stop to him- He accomplishes what he sets out to do at any and all costs, especially if it regards Lisa or Yuni.

## History

### PROJECT.Downfall

#### November 18th 1996-December 31st 1996

On November 18th 1996 James would officially move to Japan, living with his sister Lisa. Lisa would occasionally take James out in her Nissan Silvia S14 HICAS and train him how to street race. On December 31st 1996, they would go to the Iroha Downhill to race. Lisa drove first, but James later asked to give it a shot. Due to a plethora of bad factors; such as snow, ice, bad line, high speed and lack of driving skill, James would run over black ice at high speed on the entry to a corner and hit a wall, passenger side head on. Lisa would be critically injured and bleed out- Before she did, she wished for James to beat PROJECT.D as she no longer could. James agreed without a thought and used her spare car, an AE86 Trueno, as his vehicle to do so. Not long after the accident, Yuni's personality would also disappear from James' mind leaving him completely alone: What he feared the most.

#### January 1st 1997-September 11th 1998

A regretful, yet vengeful James would use the life insurance money from Lisa's death to lease a property for sale on the street leading into 1st Irohazaka, which he would turn into the TX Food Shop. He would live in the shop, and use it as a base of operations for tuning the 86, aswell as planning how to beat PROJECT.D. He would earn income through selling and delivering food from the shop, where he would purchase upgrades for the 86 over time. He would race up and down Irohazaka whenever possible, working on his skills in order to stand any chance at beating PROJECT.D. While paying a fair sum in tires and fuel, the engine and body would not wear down or rust at all.

On a run down Iroha, he decides to push it even further on the final 3 bridges preceding the final sprint down the longest straightaway. However he miscalculates his speed, and understeers into a guardrail inbetween the 2nd and 3rd bridge, scraping along it before coming to a stop. Initially scared, he leaves the car to check the damage, only to find nothing. James is very confused, but goes along with it, getting back inside and finishing his lap.

He would continue to practice day in day out, as much as possible, until running into a Suzuki Cappuccino EA21R also on a downhill lap. Taking this chance to practice battling, he urges on the Cappuccino and starts a battle. He would easily win, growing his confidence.

By May 22nd 1998, his skills had grown tremendously and James was once again going downhill, where he would run into an Integra DC2. Upon racing and defeating it with remarkable skills, rumors would spread about him and the 86. He would be challenged by Moteki Yoshiki, leader of the Blue Lightning and Iroha professional. James would take him on and win once again, starting the spiral of races and victories over several months that ultimately led to the showdown with PROJECT.D, where he would defeat Keisuke, Ryosuke, and Takumi. James would rest for a short time afterward.

#### October 3rd 1998-November 13th 1998

By October 3rd James had rested for long enough and began racing again, this time out of his own personal interest. With the help of Aguni Suite, who he met during the buildup to PROJECT.D, scouted out courses before finding the one he liked most- Nagao. He would race on Nagao against opponents such as an unnamed S14, Yuni Scarlett (after she returned as a human) and Martyn Senna. He would race Suko Dai on Irohazaka, Kawata Tsuneo on Nanamagari and Konda Katsumi on Akina. He would have a short rest once more, simply enjoying Yuni's company after the battles.

#### December 1st 1998-December 31st 1998

James would once again begin racing, unsure of what to do next. He would then find out about Lisa being in the 86, and be initially confused aswell as scared. Overtime, James and Lisa would work together, taking turns controlling the 86. He would later see that Lisa is still the same as he remembered when she was alive, and grow happy.

Lisa, being inside the 86, is unable to talk in order to clearly communicate with James. To work around this, Lisa would control the 86's stereo and play songs, aswell as splice them together to form sentences out of lyrics. She would also control the 86 in various ways to try and convey an emotion or concern. Toward the end of Lisas' time inside the 86, Aguni would build James a voice synthesizer to be installed in order for Lisa to freely speak to him.

Lisa would eventually communicate to James that she was in deep pain, and was tired of being stuck inside the 86. James would finish the rest of everything he wanted to do as a racer, before taking Yuni with him down Iroha for one final drive on the same night Lisa died, setting her soul free from the 86 at the end and finally finding his peace. Still unable to forgive himself, he retires from racing and sits the 86 outside the food shop, to forever collect dust- borrowing Yunis' car to do his food deliveries in.

### Paper Route

#### January 1st 1999-September 16th 1999

In 1999 James would still maintain an interest in racing, even if he was no longer racing himself- as he could not imagine driving any other car than the 86, but it would always remind him of Lisa, which would bog him down forever. He would train Yuni various techniques aswell as refine her driving style to help her shine brighter, and had a fondness for teaching others how to drive.

#### September 17th 1999-March 18th 2000

On the night of September 17th 1999, James would be watching for drivers in the Saitama area, where he happened to stumble across Katou in her Levin on Sadamine. James would run back to the top of Sadamine and wait in the middle of the road for Katou. She would stop and leave the car, asking what he was doing there. James explained himself, showing interest in her racing and offering to mentor Katou to bring her skills higher. Katou was initially skeptical, but later agreed after seeing how genuine James really was. He would personally train her, borrowing her Levin while letting her ride with him, demonstrating some of his techniques having formerly driven an 86 himself- Katou is amazed.

#### March 19th 2000

Katou would defeat Kawata Tsueno and ask "what's left to do now?" Sugiyama would answer, telling the story of James as 12-52, or "The Prophet". Katou would show interest, and ask where to find him. Sugiyama would tell her that 12-52's not been seen for a whole year and that he's probably retired. Katou is disappointed, and ends up going home. The next day she would ask James about 12-52, where he would tell her what Sugiyama said wasn't true- 12-52 is there at Iroha every single night. Katou initially doesn't believe it, trusting Sugiyama more- but James urges her to trust him and she ultimately gives in. She would drive to Iroha the same night, parking her Levin near the 32nd corner and waiting, as James asked her to.

Katou would stand by the 32nd corner sign, and James would drive down Iroha. Just as Katou was starting to get impatient, James would drive by quickly performing a high speed inertia drift going into corner 32, blowing Katou's mind. As he cleared the corner, he would stop shortly after. Katou would run up to the 86 to look at it. Shortly after, James would step out, facing away from Katou. Katou would stare on at him, before he eventually turned around to show his face. Katou's jaw would drop, and realize now that it all made sense- "that's how you were so good. You were *him* all along."

Katou would challenge James to battle, which he would happily agree to- Stating this would be his last race. Katou takes pride in it, saying it would be her last race too. "there's no greater opponent than you." James and Katou would have an intense, off the books battle- where he would eventually win by outmaneuvering Katou in the hairpins via the Reverse lock technique.

1. ↑  Act 25.「The Prophet」