James Potter

James Potter, as one might guess, is Harry Potter's father. James was born on 27 March, 1960. Like Harry, he had perpetually messy dark hair and was roughly the same height by both of their fifth years, though it is never specified if James had been wearing glasses for as long as Harry.

He was in Gryffindor House at Hogwarts. With friends Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, he is responsible for the creation of the Marauder's Map. James, Sirius, and Peter also became unregistered Animagi to keep Remus company during his monthly transformations into a werewolf. James' Animagus form was a stag, leading to his nickname 'Prongs'.

He and his wife Lily died on October 31, 1981, a year and three months after Harry's birth, when their hiding place was betrayed to Lord Voldemort, who killed them with the Avada Kedavra curse.

In Canon[]

Character[]

In the books, he is described by a heavy contrast of several different characteristics. During his Hogwarts years, he is at once revered as the best friend a boy could have (Sirius Black and Remus Lupin) as well as an arrogant, cocksure toerag (Severus Snape and Lily Evans.) Following Hogwarts, he apparently matured, and according to several characters became a kind man, though never did have anything nice to say about Snape. His ability as a master prankster was evident, as several teachers remember James with more than a little chagrin.

Relationships[]

In regard to any Gryffindor in general, James was seen as simply amicable. His relationship with Lily Evans was apparently rather cute, especially to those who were watching it.

His relationship with Severus Snape was poor from day one. The reasons he took an immediate disliking to Snape are never made quite clear, inspiring several stories that view their mutual antagonism as sexual tension rather than dislike and even outright hatred.

In Badfic[]

In regards to much of fanfiction, James is rarely if ever seen, and is only hinted at, much the same as J.K. Rowling did in the original septology. In badfic, James can take any terrible role the story gives to him. In many instances, he can even be seen as either a rapist (such as in the Legendary badfic "Subjugation") or seen in highly sexual relationships with just about every male character in the Potterverse, including his own son.

Because the reader learns so little about his actual personality (all accounts of him are secondhand), it may be especially difficult to distinguish an off-color James from a canonically accurate James. Like all characters with ambiguous characterization, it is difficult to tell what is OOC for him and what is not. Therefore, it is recommended to treat any fanfic appearance of James in a speaking or focal role with care and caution, as canon never fully featured him as anything but posthumous.

When put near Severus Snape, James Potter in a badfic will almost always try to have... relations of a particular nature. Given that it is indicated rather heavily how Snape and James absolutely despised each other in their Hogwarts years, it is fitting that many stories that invoke this pairing end up being badfic.