James Pierce

James Pierce (ジェイムス・ピアース) was one of Adam Malkovich's 07th Platoon Marines in Metroid: Other M.

Description
James is the team's Communications Expert and has a scar above his left eye. Adam orders him to investigate the Control Bridge.

When the group reaches the Bottle Ship Control Room and encounters a Brug underneath a deceased Lab Worker, Lyle Smithsonian kicks it and shoots it until James instructs him to stop.

As Adam orders everyone to regroup at the Exam Center of the Biosphere, James is the first one to arrive, even though Lyle was first sent to the area. When discovered by Samus, he is seen working underneath a computer. As Maurice Favreau repairs the damaged files on a computer, he asks James to hack it if he cannot bypass the security protocols, although James reassures Maurice that it will "take some time."

Afterwards, James' official status is clouded while he takes on a much more sinister role as a two-faced traitor, known as "The Deleter", stationed within Adam's platoon to undergo a series of plans and operations handed down to him by massive conspirators within the Galactic Federation. (see below).

James is found dead in the Bioweapon Research Center, with his visor broken. Though the exact nature of his demise is not revealed, the amount of damage taken to his armor and body, as well as the expression on his face, hints that his death was much more violent and vicious than any of the other members of the platoon.

The Deleter


As Other M progresses, it is revealed that the 07th Platoon came with an assassin to kill all witnesses, and destroy all evidence linking the Bottle Ship to the Galactic Federation, including his own team. Samus refers to this assassin as the Deleter.

While the game drops the subplot of the Deleter before it's solved, there is evidence that point to James being the most likely culprit, leaving the player to figure it out on their own.

Evidence
Evidence supporting James' secret role as the Deleter is as follows:
 * He is the first to arrive at the Exam Center overlooking the virtual training grounds of the Biosphere, although Lyle had been sent there first, and is seen doing something underneath the computer. When Maurice analyzes it, it is discovered the CPU "self-destructed" and that they will need to reconstruct it. Later, Lyle's body is found and the building explodes.
 * James and the Deleter both have a faded "07" on their helmet.
 * The Deleter is seen moving towards the Bioweapon Research Center, making effort to keep Samus from following him.
 * James' body is discovered in the same area in which the Deleter had confronted MB.
 * He is the last member of the 07th Platoon to die (not including Anthony or Adam).

Known acts
The following is a list of known actions that James Pierce took as the Deleter, supported by cutscenes, processes of elimination, and plain evidence:


 * Arrived first in the research building, possibly causing the computer to self-destruct.
 * Destroyed the Exam Center to eliminate evidence linking the Bottle Ship and the Galactic Federation.
 * Killed Maurice with his Freeze Gun at point blank.
 * Attacked MB and Samus with the RB176 Ferrocrusher.
 * Killed K.G. with his Freeze Gun, and followed up by incinerating his body in a pool of lava.
 * Disabled communications between Adam Malkovich and Samus by shooting off Adam's comm earphone.
 * Led Samus from the Main Elevator to the Bioweapons Research Center.
 * Confronted MB in the Bioweapons Research Center once Samus left, thinking she was helpless, but ultimately underestimated her, which caused his death.

Speculation
Even though most of his actions are definite and seen on-screen, there are many things hinted at, and only hinted at to happening off-screen.


 * Because of his role as Communications Expert, the all-pervasive electronic interference may have been his own doing in order to keep his teammates from contacting others in times of need or informing others about who the assassin is. Also, because he never expected Samus Aran to join the team, it probably explains why her comm system still works.
 * It's known that the Deleter was sent to eliminate all evidence, including witnesses, of the Bottle Ship's connection to the Galactic Federation. When James is first found in the Exam Center, he is seen working underneath a large mainframe by Samus. When accessed by Maurice, the memory had been fragmented. While this could have been James, it may have also been an automatic function in case of emergency. Instead, James may have been planting explosives from the start in order to wipe out his team in one fell swoop. Unfortunately for him, Samus had arrived early. Also, Samus mentions in her monologues that Madeline Bergman must have been the one who set the facility's system to self-destruct. This implies that James was not responsible for that; he was probably planting explosives when Samus first saw him under the system.
 * How did James get enough explosives to destroy the Exam Center as the Communications Expert? As Samus and the 07th Platoon were rushing to the site, they may have completely overlooked Lyle's body, the Demolitions Expert of the team. It would explain why Lyle, the first person sent to Sector 1, wasn't the first to arrive. James may have killed Lyle for his explosives, and tossed his body into the shrubbery so no one would immediately notice it. By coincidence, Little birdie would find a snack and cover up James' work by turning Lyle's body into rags.
 * Interestingly enough, when the rest of the 07th Platoon arrive in the Exam Center after Samus, James asks "Where's Lyle?" yet none of the members revealed who they were.
 * One of the Desbrachian cocoons in the room where his corpse is found is missing. However, MB is also known to have immense physical strength as an android. Either one could have easily killed him by surprise, but the former creature is the more likely, given the clawed gouges in his armour.
 * Before the battle with MB, she is seen holding a Freeze Gun; most likely received after killing James.

Credentials
"James Pierce [Communications]

''  104''



Galactic Federation Acedemy,

Training Base #6

Federation Central Information Agency,

Intelligence Group 2

Galactic Federation, 07th Platoon

ID: 3721-07:74425"

Characters

 * Beginning
 * "Investigating the BOTTLE SHIP under Adam's command after receiving the distress signal."


 * After Brug Mass
 * "Currently investigating the Control Bridge under Adam's command."


 * After King Kihunter
 * "Currently heading toward the Exam Center in Sector 1 under Adam's command."


 * After first Exam Center cutscene
 * "Currently investigating the Exam Center under Adam's command."


 * After Mystery Creature
 * "Currently investigating the BOTTLE SHIP interior under Adam's command."


 * After Rhedogian battle #2
 * "Currently heading toward the Geothermal Power Plant in Sector 3 under Adam's command."


 * After Main Elevator cutscene
 * "No information available. Details unknown."


 * After return to Bioweapon Research Center
 * "Discovered killed by something in the Bioweapon Research Center."

Trivia

 * James has a scar on his left brow. This is more apparent in his concept art than in-game.
 * When disabling the communication link between Adam and Samus, a shell weapon is fired, although none of the 07th Platoon's handguns are ever unholstered on-screen. His handgun is fired again, off-screen, when the screen goes dark after confronting MB.
 * Samus once assumed that Anthony Higgs was the Deleter as he aimed his Plasma Gun at her in the Geothermal Power Plant, but Anthony yells at her to get out of the way, as he was actually aiming for Ridley. After the battle with Ridley, Samus was regretful for accusing Anthony of betraying her.
 * Even though K.G. Misawa was clearly incinerated (because of the other deceased soldiers' corpses being accounted for), many people are led to believe that he was instead the Deleter based on his MIA status on Samus' personnel screen.
 * In the post-credits sequence, James's corpse is not present. It is possible that the Galactic Federation took his body, along with Maurice Favreau's and Lyle Smithsonian's bodies, to be given a proper burial.
 * James bears a strong similarity to Carter J. Burke from Aliens.
 * The implied, great violence directed at James prior to his vicious demise at the hands of MB can be seen as a very fitting end for the traitor and his status as "The Deleter" may have been the motive for the developers to implicate that his death was so much more horrifying and brutal than any of James' victims.