James Strummer       XII. The Hanged Man

Full Name James Thomas Strummer
Actor James Franco
Player Michael
Birthdate 1 April 1986
Birthplace Arkham, MA
Parents Frank Edward Strummer (b. 1959)
Catherine Elizabeth Cavanaugh Strummer (b. 1960)
Siblings Ashley Elizabeth Strummer (b. 1983)
Kayleigh Eleanor Strummer (b. 1988)
Occupation Student, Greyson University, Shadowgard, MA
Residence 723 West Kroft Hall, 1925 Greyson Road, Shadowgard, MA
127 Woodlawn Place, Arkham, MA

The only son of billionaire Frank Strummer, founder and chairman of Strummer Security Solutions, James has chafed against his father's controlling nature for nearly his whole life. Fortunately, despite Frank, the young man was blessed with a pleasant enough childhood, with a kind and sympathetic mother, a fairly cheerful and amiable younger sister, and his big sister, Ashley, who looked out for him all through school and helped him when no one else would.

Unfortunately, things only got worse for James when Ashley disappeared after winter break in her freshman year at Princeton -- not only was he especially devastated by the event, but his father's inscrutable reaction (ordering the staff to stay out of the room, half-heartedly hiring a private investigator and then seemingly forgetting all about it) confused and enraged him. To make matters worse, Frank grew even more controlling afterward, particularly with regard to his son, who he now expected to prepare to take over the company one day. James wanted none of it. Frank wanted James to go to Harvard Business School; James chose Greyson. He insisted on an economics major, and James refused to declare a major at all. Finally, in a fit of pique, Frank cut off James' access to his trust fund, paying only for tuition and forcing James to take on work-study and heavy financial aid to pay for the rest. Fortunately, he's scraping by for the moment, but his father continues to threaten to cut off his tuition as well.

James is definitely in the full throes of rebellion at this point, stubbornly refusing to follow his father's commands, which he views as intensely hypocritical -- he's trying to improve himself, unlike most rich kids, and struggling to make his own way just like his father did; he doesn't understand why Frank expects him to follow the narrow path that's been laid out for him. It's really only his father who draws his ire, however -- to his mother, his younger sister Kayleigh, and his new friends at Greyson, he's a fairly affable, perhaps slightly straightforward young man with a wry sense of humor and a taste for loud music. He comes off as rather down-to-earth and a reasonably average guy for someone who comes from such wealth, so it's perhaps all the more surprising that he has accepted the existence of the supernatural with the same generally unflappable calm he brings to everything else. He has not yet manifested any supernatural powers, he has no prior experience with the occult, but he's perfectly happy to bring his fighting skills to bear on the forces of evil nonetheless, showing extraordinary courage in the effort.