| “ | Gradius is completely restored. | „ |
| ~ Lars 18th |
James Burton (ジエイムス=バートン) is the lead character in the MSX Nemesis series, and original pilot of the Vic Viper and Metalion fighter crafts.
Background
James was born in 6641 in Gradius, being one of the few Wreek survivors from the Northern Cross War, where he lost his parents while still 3 years old. In 6645, he and the other Wreeks are housed by the Imperial Government and enlisted in the Space Agency, but in 6653, at the age of 12, he leaves the agency and enlists into the Department of Defense, seeking to join the Imperial Space Air Force to exact revenge on the Bacterian (disambiguation)s who killed his parents.
He was enlisted in the wars against Bacterion in 6658 and promoted to Major at the age of 17, and later joins the Battle for Antichthon in 6664, allied with Dr. Venom, Director General of the Space Agency and developer of the Vic Viper super spatiotemporal fighter. He is promoted to Captain of the Imperial Space Air Force in 6663 and, when Venom eventually began his attack on Gradius in 6666 with Bacterian (disambiguation)'s combined forces, James was sent on one final mission to stop him, now piloting the state-of-the-art super spatiotemporal fighter Metalion.
Due to his efforts in fighting Bacterian (disambiguation) and Venom, James is crowned Emperor Lars 18th. As Emperor, one of his most recognized actions was to reconstruct the 7 planets affected by the War with Venom. James eventually dies in 6718 at the age of 77, so in the next year the Imperial government builds the James Hill in his honor. In 6809, Venom attempts to extract his final revenge against James, seeking to erase him from History by traveling back to 6644 and kidnapping him at a young age. His descendant, David Burton, saved history thanks to the help of 3 Color Encoded Maps, and recovered the capsule James was kept prisoner in.
Gallery
Name origin
- James Burton's name is likely a combination of James Hetfield's first name with Cliff Burton's last name, who were both members of Metallica. Coincidentally, there's also a real-life guitarist (unrelated to Metallica) also named James Burton.
| Nemesis | ||
| Characters | James Burton (Metalion) • David Burton (Vixen) • Gaudie • Venom • Venom's Aides • Lars 17th • Wreek | |
| Nemesis 2 stages | Colossus Planet • Plant Planet • Ancient Planet • Floating Continents • Planet of Fire • Living Planet • Sin • Asteroid Belt • Water Planet • Venom Mothership | |
| Nemesis 3 stages | Sun • Plant • Gravity • Past-Boss • Moai • Hell • Sand • Cell • Factory • Gofer Ship | |
| Nemesis 2 bosses | Sodd • Riot Warship • Misfit Warship • Big Core X10 • Mayhem Warship • Doom • Sinar • Abaddon Warship • Venom | |
| Nemesis '90 Kai exclusive bosses | Lizard Core • Laser Core • Big Core MK II Kai • Beta Core | |
| Nemesis 3 bosses | Geezer Butler • Hans Naughty • Tetran • Abaddon Warship • Misfit Warship • Big Core • Armored Saint • Lynyrd Skynyrd • Triumph Kicks • Killer Dwarf • Crab Warlock • Queensrÿche • Gofer | |
| Gradius ReBirth | ||
| Characters | James Burton (Vic Viper) • Gaudie • Venom | |
| Stages | Volcano • Cell • Moai • Wasteland • Antichthon | |
| Bosses | Volcano • Iron Maiden • Big Core Duo • Zub Rush • Crawler X • Moai Orb • Re-Bone • Enigma • Electronic Cage MK2 • Xaerous Brain | |