James Bradley

"Sometimes, I don't know why I got into this business in the first place."

- James, thinking about his career

James Richard Bradley ( born December 3rd, 1978 ) is an American attorney and the main character of Mirrordeath's fic ''A Most Sensational Trial. ''

History
James Bradley was born in Old Forge, New York in 1978 as the second of three children. His mother was a teacher, and his father was a farmer.

James attended Old Forge High School and then New York University, where he graduated in 2001. He received his legal education at Brooklyn Law School, graduating with a Juris Doctor in 2004, which is the most basic of the law degrees. With his wealthy friend Willis Japhon, he founded his own law firm, Bradley & Japhon, which soon became the primary source of James' income.

He met his future wife Claire Markovic in the summer of 2006. The two were forbidden to cohabitate by Claire's strict parents. Nevertheless, the two were able to have a fruitful relationship, and were married in 2009. As of this writing, they don't have any children, but that might change.

When he was sixteen, he personally purchased a 1992 Buick Roadmaster, which he has lovingly restored and kept rather pristine.

Appearance
James is a somewhat muscular man in his thirties, with green eyes, long black hair several inches past his nape, and moderately tan skin. His height is 5'9, as stated by his wife, Claire.

He usually wears a blue suit and black tie, along with black loafers ( James calls them dress shoes ). James always wears this, whether at court or at Rias Gremory's mansion. He wears white pajamas with blue stripes when sleeping.

Personality
"Do you know the enemy?"

- James to Rias, Chapter 14

James Bradley possesses traits common to the "average American"- open to conversation, and willing to engage in friendly talk with complete strangers. However, this is but a veneer for his true face, which lies within.

In truth, James is a very hateful man. He despises Japanese people and their country, often labeling Japanese people as 'weeaboos' and the country of Japan as a 'stinking weeaboo land' in his thoughts. He also takes extreme nationalist pride in his own country, calling the United States of America the 'greatest country on Earth' and at one point declaring the U.S. to be the equal of any of the Three Factions. However, ironically, he despises the current administration, which is run by his brother Jeffrey Bradley. He is also prone to ranting and sarcastically insulting practically everyone that crosses him, which partially stems from a need to squash his childhood neglect and need. But mostly, he's a jerk, due to his philosophy of a "dog-eat-dog" world.

This doesn't mean that James is without his good sides, however. For one thing, he plays the guitar rather well. He can also be compassionate and understanding ( when it suits him, of course, or when the matter involves his wife Claire ). James also takes the Attorney's Oath very seriously, and references it all the time when either asked or contemplating why he is defending the Occult Research Club. He is also very protective of his wife, Claire, and the fact that he failed to protect her when she is assaulted by anti-supernatural racists casts a dark cloud over him on an otherwise-enjoyable vacation in the Underworld.

Perhaps his most defining trait is his stubborn will to defend Rias Gremory at all costs, despite the fact that the Japanese government conspires against him and the supernatural world's moderate distrust of a human interfering in their affairs. Despite the revelation of the supernatural, the mythologies and the Three Factions would prefer to keep their internal affairs separate from the human world, as do the humans. James, however, has taken it upon himself to blend the two, mixing politics with his own twisted sense of personal righteousness.

He is also very coarse and prone to using foul language when distressed, angered, or simply perturbed, no matter who is there, even his wife Claire.

Powers and Abilities
While James is nothing but a normal human, he is not an average human. His upbringing in a rough neighborhood imparted onto him the skills of "street combat", and also the ancient Chinese scripture of "When all other options have been exhausted, retreat.
 * Skiled Hand-to-Hand Combatant: While James is not a master of hand-to-hand combat-far from it, really- he possesses above average skills in that field ( at least for a normal, untrained human ). He was able to use these abilities to rngage several fallen angels and three of Diodora Astaroth's Pawns successfully.
 * Swordsmanship: While he is not a good swordsman, he makes up for that in using his saber as a baseball bat- something which he has more than a decade's experience of using.

Trivia

 * His appearance is based on Keigo Kurusu from Mirai Nikki ( Future Diary ).
 * He used to use immense quantities of drugs and alcohol in college. In his thirties, it has mellowed out to occasional enjoyment of the aforementioned substances.
 * As mentioned in the personality section, he plays guitar really well, and enjoys '80s bands like AC/DC, Guns and Roses, and Queen, as well as newer bands formed from the grunge and post-grunge era, like Green Day, Nickelback, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and also, oddly, the rock genre-fluid band Imagine Dragons.
 * He has many themes, but probably the two best for him would be Green Day's Jesus of Suburbia, and Imagine Dragon's Demons.