MJ Baines

**MJ Baines** • History • Quotes • Gallery

## Michael-James "MJ" Baines

* 1990
* New 1989
* 2012
* 1989
* 1988
* 1987

San Francisco, California *(formerly)*

Catherine Baines - sister

Brian Tomlinson - brother-in-law *(in erased timeline)*

Two unnamed nieces or nephews *(in erased timeline)*

Unborn niece or nephew *(in erased timeline)*

Arthur MacNamera - boyfriend

Brooklyn Yates - best friend

Michael Tomlinson - best friend

Ellie - best friend

Rose McCarthy - best friend/sister figure

Future MJ - alternate-self

Soldier *(formerly)*

College student

### Appears In

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 50, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60

> *"I've spent my whole life trying to find out who I am. In some ways, I'm still figuring it out. [...] I'm tired. I'm so goddamn **tired** of thinking. No more. **Time to act**,"*
>
>

> -- MJ's last words to his friends before sacrificing himself, 2012
>
>

**Michael-James "MJ" Baines** is a main protagonist of *The 48th Street Fellowship*. He is the younger brother of Catherine and the son of Karen and Ben Baines. Born and initially raised in San Francisco, MJ's family moved to Dewberry when he was a child. Friendless, he befriended two boys that also lived on 48th Street - Max Hamilton and James DeLare - that shared his for comic books and pop culture, making him a founding member of the 48th Street Fellowship.

While investigating a strange signal with his friends late at night, MJ and his friends were caught in a massive explosion of energy from another dimension. When his body was restored from dust, he discovered all his senses were heightened to superhuman levels, from his sight to his balance to his magnetoception. When his friend Michael became attached to an inter-dimensional threat, MJ joined the rest of the Fellowship as **Lookout** and proved instrumental in the battle with the Shadow Goblin.

In 1988, MJ adopted a more outgoing and outspoken personality to match the modifications to his appearance that he had to make, including wearing his iconic red sunglasses. His new outspoken personality led to him playing a more prominent role in the group's assault on the Breach, the successful closing of which caused him to lose his powers. He regained them a year later, in 1989. After the Fellowship defeated the Air-Walker, they realized the war was not over. MJ subsequently exchanged blood with the rest of the Fellowship, promising to one day return to Dewberry and help kill the Dark Lord once and for all.

After he left Dewberry, MJ worked several meaningless jobs for more than ten years until 9/11, at which point he joined the army and became one of their best and most famous scouts and snipers. Returning home from three tours in the Middle-East, he suffered severely from PTSD and attended group therapy for military veterans. At some point, he developed a bitter hatred of Max following a confrontation between them in the mid-2000s. He resided in Seattle, Washington, until 2012.

In 2012, he was called back to Dewberry by his old friend, James DeLare. He put his scouting skills to good use and discovered the vast goblin nest deep beneath Dewberry High School. Deciding he had the least to lose, MJ sacrificed himself to destroy the nest, saving Dewberry once more. In the process, his supposed death caused his friends enough emotional pain to allow them to face the Dark Lord directly and close the Crack of Doom, ending the threat of the Dark Lord forever. In reality, MJ had been saved by Artemis, learning about time travel in the process. This MJ would become known as Future MJ.

Back in late 1989, MJ had returned to Dewberry during the Thanksgiving holiday for the Fellowship's reunion. In this new timeline, MJ decided he no longer wanted to be involved with the "hero act" the Fellowship had adopted for the last few years and left the group. He subsequently met and bonded with Arthur MacNamera, only to use his powers to discover the hidden lab beneath MacNamera Power Station. When his friend James was kidnapped, MJ reunited with his friends for the battle to close the new portal beneath the power station. Like his friends, MJ was taken captive by mysterious armed soldiers following Nick's sacrifice to close the portal.

In 1990, MJ encountered the original timeline version of himself and learned about time travel, also unlocking his powers over magnetism. Following his alternate self's sacrifice, MJ became a part of the New Era, watching over the version of himself from this new timeline and making a new life with Arthur.

## Overview

### Physical Appearance

From *Season 2*onwards, MJ grows his hair out; he briefly put blonde highlights in his hair in *Season 3*, before bringing back his natural colour in *Season 5*.

After he gains his powers, he adopts a pair of red filtered sunglasses to block his super-vision and only see in visible light. These sunglasses are the most iconic part of his appearance.

### Personality

MJ is highly logical, grounded in the plausible, and pragmatic. Out of all the original members of the Fellowship, he was the last and the most reluctant to accept Ellie, initially viewing her as a threat and the cause of all their problems. However, once his trust is earned he proves to have a fierce and unwavering loyalty. He adopted a more outgoing personality to match his new appearance.

MJ is perhaps the most reluctant to accept his role as a fighter in the war against the Dark Dimension and considers abandoning the mission several times, most notably in *Season 5* when he leaves the Fellowship altogether. However, MJ always realizes the true gravity of the threat his home faces and always bounces back to fight at side-by-side with his friends.

MJ has often struggled with his own identity, especially when it came to him coming to terms with his sexuality, struggling to come out even to his closest friends. This inner conflict has often caused him to alienate himself from his friends. In the original timeline, this inner conflict, combined with his PTSD from both his youth and the wars he fought in, led to him becoming an alcoholic. In the New 1989 timeline, MJ finds love in Arthur.

## Powers, Equipment and Abilities

After the explosion at the St. James Institute, MJ senses were heightened to superhuman levels. He is the only member of the Fellowship who is unable to project his abilities, instead relying on his homemade arrows, agility and heightened senses. He is described by The Speaker as "The Perfect Soldier". After making direct contact with another MJ from an alternate timeline, MJ begins to develop magnetic powers.

### Superpowers

* **Heightened Senses:** All of MJ's senses are heightened to superhuman levels.
	+ **Pain Amplification:** Like all members of the Fellowship, MJ's powers are amplified depending on the level of pain he is experiencing.
	+ **Super hearing:** MJ is able to hear from miles around and is even able to hear ultrasound and infrasound. This is his most recurrent power, alongside his enhanced sight.
	+ **Super sight:** MJ is able to magnify his vision, allowing him to see for miles or down to atomic levels. This is his most recurrent power, alongside his enhanced hearing. When he regains his powers, he discovers he can see light from other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. However, straining his vision can cause his eyes to bleed, leading to temporary blindness.
	+ **Balance:** MJ has a superior sense of balance, giving him superb agility.
	+ **Super smell:** MJ's sense of smell is on par with a bloodhound.
	+ **Enhanced reaction speeds:** MJ has greatly reduced reaction time, giving him near-instant reflexes.
	+ **Magnetoreception:** MJhas sensitive magnetoreception, effectively making him a human compass. It is hinted this also extends to a sensitivity to magnetism, which may be linked to his levitation power.
* **Trauma Sense:** In the twenty-three years between *Season 3* and *Season 4*, MJ developed the ability to see the trauma of others through extrasensory perception simply by touching them; he calls this his "trauma sense". Through this, MJ is able to enter the Palace and track those who inflicted the trauma he detects, the only person without typical psychokinetic powers known to be able to do so. The New 1989 version of MJ also gains this ability after crashing his car in "*The Boy*", using it to locate the lab beneath MacNamera Power Station and deepen his bond with Arthur.
	+ *See Also: The Palace*
* **Levitation:** In the teaser for *Season 6*, MJ is shown levitating; the title of the episode - "*Magnetism*" - implies that MJ has developed a power centred around magnetic forces.
* **Magnetism:** After encountering a version of himself from another timeline, MJ gained the power to control metal, an extreme form of his magnetoreception. This allows him to catch bullets in thin air.
* **Durability:**Upon gaining his powers and like the rest of the superpowered members of the Fellowship, MJ demonstrates increased durability, able to withstand blows a normal human could not stand.

### Abilities

* **Marksmanship:** Thanks to his enhanced senses, MJ is an expert marksman with a variety of weapons.
	+ **Archery:** MJ's most practical skill is his extraordinary skill at archery. He fashions many of his own arrows, including stun arrows, poison arrows and explosive arrows, which come in handy when battling the creatures of the Dark Dimension. He made his own bow in *Season 1*, but was given a compound bow by Cooper, which he uses from *Season 2*onwards. He carried a bow during his time in the army.

## Relationships

### Catherine Baines

MJ is close to his sister, Catherine, but is not seen with her much during the course of the series.

### Max Hamilton

An unknown event that took place during the 23 years before 2012 ruined their friendship.

Their broken friendship was carried over to the New 1989 timeline, when the two of them fight over Jacob, their blood oath and MJ's reluctance to continue with their mission against the forces of the Dark Dimension. They make up when MJ returns to help them after discovering the threat of the Were-Goblin and the possessed Jacob for himself.

### Brooklyn Yates

MJ and Brooklyn are good friends who started out very close, but they slightly drift apart as the series progresses. Nonetheless, they are still close. MJ and Brooklyn are the only members of the Fellowship who have not had a story arc together.

### Michael Tomlinson

MJ and Michael are very close, with MJ being responsible for bringing Michael into the Fellowship.

### Ellie

> *"I'm so sorry. For everything,"*
>
>

Initially, MJ held great distrust and dislike towards Ellie, believing she was dangerous and she was the cause of everything they were up against. Upon learning of her tragic origins, however, MJ learns to accept her and welcomes her with open arms. Although the two never grow especially close, they still become good friends.

Ellie was the last person that MJ talked to face to face before deciding to sacrifice himself.

### Rose McCarthy

MJ and Rose are close friends; their relationship starts out rocky and distrustful but becomes more sibling-like after Reginald's death.

In '*King of the Goblins*', MJ comes out to Rose, with her accepting him for who he is and solidifying their friendship. They become good and close friends after this, and remained in contact in the following 23 years.

Rose was the last person to talk to MJ before his sacrifice, with the two singing a duet of "Baba O'Riley".

## Trivia

* MJ had a prominent lisp at the start of the series that becomes less obvious as the series progresses.
* MJ rarely uses his full name "Michael-James"; it has been only mentioned twice so far in the series.
* He is one of only two known male LGBTQ+ characters, the other being his boyfriend Arthur MacNamera. Although this was only confirmed in the second half of *Season 3*, it was consistently hinted across the series and forms an essential part of his arc.
* MJ wears sunglasses to block the other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum from his vision.
* For most of the series, MJ wears a prominent pair of red sunglasses, but in *Season 4* he has switched to a black pair. His younger New 1989 self is seen wearing these black sunglasses in a teaser for *Season 6*.
* He is the first protagonist of the series to die.
	+ His death was reversed due to Jacob Hamilton changing the timeline.
* In *Season 5*, MJ is the only superpowered member of the Fellowship whose powers were not enhanced, as he was already dead by the end of the original timeline. Nonetheless, he still developed new powers, most notably his trauma sense.
* MJ and Max's outfits are near identical in *Season 5*, consisting of black trousers, boots and leather jackets. This is in contrast to their very different attitudes and personalities, especially in this season.
* MJ was given more focus in *Season 5* as an "apology" for his death in *Season 4*.