A once-human dude who lives at a small safe haven called the Burrow in a post-zombie-outbreak world, who was bitten by a zombie but somehow managed to retain most of his mind and a lesser level of decay. He's nice, kind, and chill, used to be into parkour and zoning out to music on his own or with equally chilled out friends. He still has that lowkey vibe as a zombie and tends to overcompensate on the "nice" part, really hoping people can see past his scary appearance and forget that he's not human.

James is close friends and hunting partners with the shapeshifting beast just called "The Captain" by the boat crew James used to be part of. They often team up for scouting missions and have a practiced dynamic in combat. For James, the Captain represents a valued if complicated friendship, someone who knows and understands the "dark" parts of himself he can't show to his human friends without frightning them.

Physical

James is a fairly short dude who, in his hood and scarf and loose clothing, could pass for a regular human until you looked closely and saw his strange skin and pale, pale eyes, not to mention the weird metal muzzle covering his nose and mouth. James doesn't need the muzzle necessarily (at least, not any more), but wears it as a psychological restraint and comfort to himself, as well as reassurance for others who might be alarmed to see a freaking zombie standing among regular humans. Taking off the muzzle exposes his weird, long teeth.

As an undead, he is much faster and stronger than before but no longer heals, and while he's very hard to kill or stop, he has to be careful not to be injured badly. He doesn't sleep, or tire, and his flesh and bone is tougher than before but has less sensation. Hunger is James' constant companion, though he's learned to only let it out on very private zombie hunts where he sates his craving for brains with the freshest undeads he can find. James can use his teeth and nails quite effectively in a pinch but is much more deadly with a machete, club, or the long pikes the zombie exterminators use on their boats.

Like other undead in the Grey Dawn setting, James is affected by water. Being in fresh water makes him sluggish and dopey, and saltwater knocks him out cold completely until he's taken out of it. Rain just makes him a little stupid, depending how much is actually hitting his flesh.

History

Just a regular guy for his first few years at the Burrow, James' life changed completely on one fateful boat trip: Dispatching gross soggy zombies pulled up from the canal as usual, he failed to dodge a lucky shot and got bit. The bite was very shallow and nobody was sure back then if an injury like that could even turn you into a zombie, so the crew just locked him in the cabin to see what would happen. Eventually though, a queasy, unhappy James let them know through the door that he was "feeling like they were food", knowing what that meant for him and what needed to be done.

It's not certain what exactly caused James to be able to hold on to his mind and "human soul" during his transformation. Perhaps it was the oddly slow progression (a day and a half), or maybe some unique quirk of James' particular physiology. James however attributes it to the influence of the Captain: When James began having murderous zombie feelings the supernatural creature locked themself in the cabin with him and had a long, intense "talk". James is very private about what exactly went down, other than that the Captain guided him through his transformation in some way, teaching him how to control himself.

James walked out of that cabin nearly unrecognisable physically, but with (almost) the same mind and personality. Of course this was rather a hard sell for the rest of the Burrow so they made him a muzzle before he was allowed to leave. At first this muzzle was padlocked and only the Captain had the key, but after a long time polishing his self-control James graduated to him having the key, and later to it not being locked at all. Despite the urges of a zombie always buzzing at the back of his mind James never once threatened any inhabitant of the Burrow, and now he is a valued and beloved member of the team.