James Blackthorne

James's character portrait

**James Blackthorne** is a paranormal researcher and expert on ritual magic, and comes from the *Haunted Hotel* series of games. He is the second player character in the *Detectives United* series, although as the games continue, the player switches between him and the other two detectives as the story requires.

## Biography

### *Haunted Hotel*

James is a young man who frequently finds himself investigating haunted locations - usually hotels. Something of a natural medium, James is able to piece together tragedies from the past in order to release unhappy spirits into the afterlife. Despite his peculiar and sometimes sad field of work, James is generally friendly and eager to help others in need. He has a strong sense of right and wrong, and a powerful empathy for those who have suffered injustice.

In addition to being a paranormal expert, James is well versed in assorted magic rituals, which comes in handy often. He does a great deal of study and research on his field of expertise, and has published various articles. He is also technologically inclined; although he has not been seen or mentioned in that series, it's noted in *Detectives United* that he has worked with the Mystery Trackers to help them develop their field communications device and other technology.

Not much about James's personal life is known. He has a rather large family, as indicated by the installment *Room 18*, in which he and his brother John are anticipating a big family reunion. Most of his relatives have not been encountered in the games, however, with the player only being acquainted with John, their uncle Samuel, their cousin Rachel, and their cousin Mary. He also mentions his paternal grandfather in *Detectives United*.

James appears in Elephant's first three installments of *Haunted Hotel* as a late Victorian or Edwardian character with long hair, whose outfit is reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes. He and the player, an unidentified young woman, work together to resolve supernatural cases. In these games, James is not given a surname, although *Death Sentence* gives him a last initial of B. The partnership is very much like that of Holmes and Watson, with the friendship being a significant factor in their success.

With the transition to more modern settings, James and his partner disappear from the narrative; she never returns. He turns up in *Phoenix* to assist the new player character, a male professional detective, with his investigation of the arson at the Stone Spires Hotel. It's possible, though not stated, that James is there through his association with the Mystery Trackers, as they are seen to provide assistance to the player at the beginning of the game. James is given a new look for the more modern games, with shorter hair, and finally has his surname of Blackthorne confirmed.

In *The Axiom Butcher*, James just happens to be on hand conducting an undercover investigation (as a drunk, no less) when his detective friend comes in. Neither of them were ever intended to be victims of the game's killer, who has a personal vendetta against all the others who die; in James's case, it's simply a matter of the murderer being unwilling to leave any witnesses. He is badly injured at one point and needs to be helped by the player, but between the two of them, they're able to resolve the situation.

After being absent from the next two installments, James returns in *Personal Nightmare*. He has ventured to the Freedom Hotel to try and save his cousin Mary, who is trapped inside along with her betrothed Frank, and is surprised to encounter his friend Stephen Blake in the process. James and Stephen (the player character) work together to break everyone out of their nightmares.

James is the player character for the first time in *The Evil Inside*, trying valiantly to rescue his cousin Rachel Collins from the ghosts at the Hotel Valentine. He returns again in *Beyond the Page*, helping yet another friend investigate the strange events surrounding the disappearance of an author.

The last three games of the series all focus on James and his family. In *Room 18*, James accompanies his brother John, the player character, to what they think will be a fun family reunion. Instead they have to escape from a vengeful ghost, and in the bonus chapter, James helps their uncle Samuel put to rest some specters from his past. *Lost Time* and the series finale, *A Past Redeemed*, are both about James's romance with and marriage to his girlfriend Jessica. He concludes the series a happily married man, retired from ghost hunting.

### *Detectives United*

When Agent Brown first meets him in *Origins*, James has infiltrated the royal palace in hopes of confronting the Collector. Unlike Brown, who has been assigned to the investigation, James has had a personal treasure - the Blackthorne family signet ring, a gift from his grandfather - stolen by the Collector and he wants it back. The two investigators quickly recognize each other and agree to form a partnership, later joining forces with Anna Gray, who is in a similar situation. In the bonus chapter, James goes on his own to investigate strange events at an abandoned mansion in Louisiana, where he is taken prisoner by the malevolent ghost of an orphan child; Brown and Anna come to his rescue, prompting James to make the grateful observation that they were clearly brought into their partnership for a reason. Of the three detectives, he is the most likely to actually give voice to his fondness for the other two.

In *Darkest Shrine*, the three detectives split up to investigate S.H.R.I.N.E.'s activities in different parts of the world. James quickly finds himself in over his head at St. Mary's Orphanage and needs Anna's help. They soon discover that parallel dimensions are also being threatened, and in the bonus chapter they learn that they each have a "dark doppelganger" in one of them. James's own dark doppelganger is not a threat, as he has turned on Dark Brown and Dark Anna, and provides James and Brown with key information to help them return to their home world.

In *Timeless Voyage*, the detectives are separated yet again, this time by force; Dark Anna sends James a few centuries into the past to steal a relic from the Mystery Trackers, while Brown is thrown thirty years into the future. In the process of collecting what she needs, James inadvertently disturbs the slumber of Morpheus, the ancient enemy of the Mystery Trackers order, and in the bonus chapter is subjected to mind control by the evil madman.

In *Phantoms of the Past*, Agent Brown disappears on a secret investigation, and after two months of no contact, Agent Shade reveals his plans to James and Anna. Worried for their partner, they set off at once for the mysterious community of Restville, but James is almost immediately injured in a car accident on their arrival. During their investigation, he runs afoul of the town's sheriff, who punches him unconscious and throws him in jail; after escaping, James must spend much of the rest of the game trying to avoid being captured again. Meanwhile, he is the first to confront Mortimer Brown, Agent Brown's diabolical (and equally invisible) twin brother, but when Mortimer threatens James, Agent Brown comes to his rescue. The detectives eventually realize that James is immune to the effects of the blue roses with which Mortimer has mentally enslaved the people of Restville, so Mortimer and the sheriff are trying to keep him locked up because they can't control him.

In *Deadly Debt*, James is first seen exchanging pleasantries with both of his partners in Agent Brown's office. Later, he has a strange psychic vision which seems to warn of impending murders, and he and the others join forces to hopefully stop them from happening; when they can't, they instead work to figure out the reason behind them. When Anna is endangered during the course of her investigation of the first murder scene, she's able to send a distress call to James, who rushes to her aid and brings her back to her home. After Agent Brown figures out where the third murder will take place, he sends James to intercede with the would-be killers and explain that they can help set everything right again. Using items collected by his partners, James faces down the true villain and destroys her. In the bonus chapter, her ghost attempts to avenge herself on all of them, and promises that she will save James for last in order to force him to watch the other two die before him, but they emerge victorious once more.

## Relationships

### Dorian Brown

James is something of a kid brother figure to Agent Brown, who likes to give him a playfully hard time. They are familiar with each other's work prior to meeting in person, though James is unaware of Brown's invisibility until he reveals it during the course of *Origins*. James is somewhat resigned to Brown's ribbing and fondness for puns, but he also knows that he can count on Brown when the chips are down and is never hesitant to return the favor. When looking at a photograph of himself and his partners in *Darkest Shrine*, James makes the observation that he feels a strong kinship with them. In *Phantoms of the Past*, he's willing to drop everything to rush to Brown's aid, risking his own safety by investigating the strange goings-on in Restville, and finally addresses his longtime partner as "Dorian" instead of "Brown" when the trio is reunited. In *Deadly Debt,* their interactions are more cordial than ever, with Brown displaying very little of his usual teasing and instead treating James as more of an equal.

### Anna Gray

James seems to have a great deal of admiration for Anna, almost in a big sister fashion similar to his connection to Brown. In his inner monologue, he frequently thinks of her by her full name, suggesting respect or possibly even some awe where she is concerned. He's deeply grateful to her and Brown when they rescue him in the bonus chapter of the first game, observing that the three were clearly brought together for a reason. We also see him interact with Richard in a few instances, including saving Richard when the skull is stolen during *Darkest Shrine*, and Richard seems rather fond of the young man. In *Deadly Debt*, we see that Anna has acquired a panic button which somehow connects to his cell phone when she presses it, and when she sends the distress call, he doesn't even think twice before jumping in the car and speeding to her rescue. He also remains at her bedside while she recovers from her ordeal, until he's needed in the field again.

### Agent Shade

James was the one who, prior to the events of *Origins*, help the Mystery Trackers develop their field communications technology. Agent Shade is one of the organization's intelligence agents, and as a result the two worked together on that project. They seem to get along well; in the photographs of the group which James examines in *Darkest Shrine* and *Deadly Debt*, the two are standing together.

### Others

James has a large family and several members are encountered during the course of the *Haunted Hotel* games, including his brother John, who is the player character in *Room 18*.

In the bonus chapter of *Origins*, Brown makes a passing mention of James having a girlfriend. This girlfriend, Jessica, is finally introduced to the player in the 19th *Haunted Hotel* installment, *Lost Time*. Her surname is not given. She and James are engaged to be married by the end of the game. The 20th and final *Haunted Hotel* game, *A Past Redeemed*, centers around their wedding.

Anna's daughter, Alice Gray, has not yet been mentioned during the events of the *Detectives United* games. However, the *Grim Tales* game in which she is introduced, *Guest From The Future*, makes a reference to the Detectives United partnership and suggests that in the future, she and James share a close bond; she explicitly identifies him as "Uncle James."

## Trivia

* James is almost never the player character in the *Haunted Hotel* game series. In fact, he does not appear at all in some of the games; the series was originally made by a different developer, and James only became a character after the series was acquired by Elephant Games. Even the games from Elephant don't always include him, although as the series continued and he gained in popularity he became the recurring figure. The games which *do* include him usually have him as a side character with a personal connection to the player. However, he does appear as the player character in the 15th, 19th, and 20th installments.
* His surname, Blackthorne, is frequently spelled as Blackthorn, both in *Detectives United* and *Haunted Hotel*, as well as in the newspaper seen in *Trace in Time*. It's not completely clear which is supposed to be the correct spelling, although most people presume it to be the version with the E. There are a couple of instances where it's even misspelled as *Blackthrone*, although this is probably just a typo.
* His first three *Haunted Hotel* appearances (*Eclipse, Ancient Bane,* and *Death Sentence*) depict James as a 19th century-style detective, almost like an homage to Sherlock Holmes - complete with a Watson in the form of the player character. These games also refer to him solely by his first name; in fact, *Death Sentence* goes to great lengths to avoid revealing his surname, because it's the same as the murderer! It's not until *Phoenix* that he's given a last name and his more modern appearance.
* James drives a vintage Volkswagen Beetle. It's seen in the final two installments of *Haunted Hotel* as well as in the *Detectives United* installments *Phantoms of the Past* and *Deadly Debt.*
* According to the bonus chapter of the final *Haunted Hotel* installment, *A Past Redeemed*, James and his wife Jessica live in California.
* His personnel dossier in *Deadly Debt* states that James is 30 years old at the time of that game.
* James has become something of a breakout character for Elephant Games and frequently appears in posts on their Facebook account.
* Brad Ziffer, who voices James, also provides the voice for Dark James in *Detectives United*, as well as a few of the minor side characters in various *Haunted Hotel* games.

## Gallery

James finds this photo of himself and his friends in *Detectives United: Darkest Shrine*, and muses on how he feels a strong kinship with themJames in formalwear for dinner on the *Titan*, in *Detectives United: Timeless Voyage*James, festive and cheerful, in the New Year's greeting posted on the Elephant Games Facebook page on December 31, 2020James as an almost Victorian detective in *Haunted Hotel: Death Sentence*. His appearances after this one gave him a more modern look - but he kept the hat.