James (Original)

"*Oh, you little blue **idiot**!! You think you're so clever, don't you? Everyone always listens to you! "Thomas The Number One Engine!" If I tell them their **precious** number one was killed by Diesel, they'll as listen to **ME** after that!! You'll be out of the picture, **once and for all**.*"
—James to Thomas.[src]

**James** is one of the original engines to work on The North Western Railway, and is a minor antagonist of *The Events of Sudrian History.* He is a mixed traffic engine, like Edward and Henry. When he first came to the island, he had wooden brake blocks, which caused them to set on fire due to trucks pushing him faster down the line. He ended up crashing, and Thomas came to help him. The two then became good friends. However, as shown in the pilot episode of the series, Thomas and his' friendship has become strained due to his attitude towards diesels.

## Personality

James is very proud of his splendid red paintwork. He dislikes pulling trucks and believes that he should only pull coaches. He thinks himself superior to the others and can be shallow, boastful, overconfident, naughty, and vain, particularly to those who appear old-fashioned, weak, slow, or dirty. This has caused him to have somewhat of a rivalry with Edward, Percy, Toby and Duck. However, on a number of occasions, he has found himself in need of help from those whom he has insulted and is, in the end, apologetic. Even before he was repainted red he was rather boastful.

James was the last of the steam engines to retain a prejudice against diesels. However, after stalling on a cold day, he was rescued by the Works Diesel and James had to admit that nothing was wrong with diesels. However, due to his clear dislike for Diesel and the other diesels of Sodor, this experience didn't seem to stick with him too well.

Despite everything else, James has shown a caring side, is normally hard-working and like every other engine, wants to be responsible, reliable and really useful on Sir Topham Hatt's railway.

## Appearances

### Season 1

#### "New Conflicts"

James is first seen in Knapford Station, sitting in Platform 2, being watched by Thomas and Diesel from afar. Later on, he watches Diesel crash off the rails due to some trucks in his way. He scoffs, going on about how he's caused several accidents. Thomas then shows up and harshly scolds James for insulting him. Thomas then tells him that he should've been scrapped, leaving him speechless. After Thomas leaves, Edward arrives, and helps Diesel back onto the track. James then tells Edward he shouldn't trust diesels, because they'll scrap them all. Finally, James leaves the station with his coach.

#### "Keep On Keeping On"

James arrives at the quarry to collect a train of stone, coal, and other goods. Mavis reverses to introduce himself, but it quickly shot down by his insults. BoCo then pulls up next to him, angrily telling James to leave, which he does.

Later that night, he complains to the other engines once again about Mavis' arrival. Everybody openly disagrees with him, except Percy. James then proceeds to keep talking, until he scares Percy too much, causing Edward to become angry at him. James then gives up and backs into his shed to sleep.

#### "Strange Places, Friendly Faces"

James pulls into Knapford Yards and tells Thomas to fetch his coaches, as tender engines don't shunt. Thomas says that that attitude brought Percy to the railway, and could bring one or even two tank engines to the railway. James then leaves for the station. A few minutes later, James is leaving the yard with his coaches that Thomas was trying to bring to the station ahead for him.

#### "Hostility"

James wakes up at Tidmouth Sheds, and isn't too surprised about Henry not being there. He makes a comment to Emily about how Henry is loud when backing into the sheds. When Diesel passes by, he shows visible disgust. Even after Diesel saved Percy in an act of heroism, he still dislikes him. Gordon leaves the sheds to avoid his rant, and Edward tries to get him to be nice, but James just scoffs and ignores him.

Later, he passes through Knapford as the scottish twins leave to go searching for Henry.

That evening, he stops at Knapford Yards to give Diesel a piece of his "mind". He accuses Diesel of being responsible for Henry's disappearance. Even after he shows verbal and visual confusion, James just says he's playing dumb. Then, he threatens Diesel unless he "tells the truth" that he'll disappear, too. He leaves the yard without another word.

#### "Dishonor"

That evening, James arrives back at Tidmouth Sheds to find trucks derailed everywhere. Once the sun goes down, he and the other engines break into a full scale argument. James becomes suspicious when Percy begins to defend Diesel, and then even accuses him of being a spy working for the diesels. When everyone shouts at him to be quiet and lay off, he gets so mad, he bashes Percy right off the tracks. When the others get angry, he claims that they couldn't trust him. The explanation does nothing to help, as the engines all ban James from the sheds. Gordon calls him a "dishonor" as he puffs away in disgrace.

#### "Mysteries Begin"

As the engines discuss what to do about Diesel, James interrupts, arriving at the Docks. He notices Henry has returned and is rightfully shocked. The others inform him of the situation, and he quiets down suspiciously, then gets an idea. Him, Thomas, Henry, and Gordon head off in search of Diesel.

As evening sets in, James becomes more shady in his actions. He and Thomas split off down an old abandoned branch line. Thomas questions James, but the red engines deflects them and presses Thomas to follow him. Eventually, they arrive at a dockside, night having fully arrived. James grows enraged when he realizes Thomas knows what he had been planning. James goes on a rant about how he's always pushed aside and unheard, in favor of Thomas. Then, he makes a sudden lunge for the tank engine. The two struggle, until Thomas is able to force James away. The red engine is instantly shunned from the island. Without another word, James backs away into the night.

Since James has not been seen since he allegedly left Sodor, his status is unknown.

## List Of Appearances

### Season 1

* "New Conflicts"
* "Keep On Keeping On"
* "Strange Places, Friendly Faces"
* "Hostility"
* "Dishonor"
* "Mysteries Begin"

## Trivia

* James is the only member of the Steam Team to be voiced by Donald 9 and Douglas 10.
	+ Thomas is now also voiced by Donald 9 and Douglas 10, due to Avonside Studios 0-4 being gone.
* James is also the only member of the Steam Team to have no cameo appearances so far.