James Pierce

James Pierce in Metroid: Other M
James Pierce
Species	Human
Hair color	Dark Brown
Eye color	Brown
Age	20
Voiced by	Aaron Thomas
Debut	Metroid: Other M

James Pierce is a soldier for the Galactic Federation working under Adam Malkovich who was featured as a supporting character in Metroid: Other M. Within the game, he was also secretly the antagonistic Deleter who killed most of the other soldiers in the game.

Background

James Pierce's military background includes an education at the Galactic Federation Academy's sixth training base and a stint at the second Intelligence Group of the Federation Central Intelligence Authority. His specialty was Communications, and he seemed to be specifically skilled in computer hacking as well. James Pierce was part of Adam Malkovich's Seventh Battalion which was dispatched to investigate the Bottle Ship in Other M. However, unbeknownst to his colleagues, Pierce seems to have been the Deleter who was planted in the group to kill any survivors aboard the ship as well as anyone else who got close to discovering the truth about the Federation's activities. The exact details of his role of the Deleter remain unclear due to his being the Deleter never being outright mentioned within the game.

Soon after they arrived at the Bottle Ship and met Samus Aran, Adam had the group split up. Pierce was assigned to go to the Control Bridge and make an attempt at fixing their communication problems, which were problems that he as the Deleter could have actually caused. They were later all called to the Exam Center in Sector 1. Along the way, it is believed that the Deleter killed Lyle Smithsonian and left his body for Little Birdie, but this event is left unclear. Pierce then met with the remaining members at the Exam Center and brought up Lyle's absence which the others dismissed as tardiness. They then examined the center while Favreau examined the computer, and Pierce offered to help him hack it later due to his greater skill. However, they were then distracted by a Space Pirate attack which drew them outside, where Lyle's body was discovered.

The Deleter made his next move at Sector 2, the Cryosphere, where he killed Favreau as he was nearing the laboratory which housed MB, who was passing herself off as the scientist Madeline Bergman. The Deleter then entered the facility and manned a RB176 Ferrocrusher in an attempt to kill both Samus and MB. Samus managed to thwart this attempt by breaking down the Ferrocrusher in battle, but the Deleter was able to escape. The battalion was later called to meet up in Sector 3 to perform a task at the Geothermal Plant, but Pierce never showed up at the rendezvous point. Instead, the Deleter ambushed K.G. Misawa at another part of Sector 3 and killed him by freezing him with a freeze gun, then pushing his frozen body into lava which incinerated it.

He then tried to attack Adam. The ensuing scuffle is uncertain due to occurring offscreen, but both Adam and the Deleter seemed to survive, and Adam was forced to operate with radio silence. Pierce then made his way to the Bioweapons Research Center while trying to lose the pursuing Samus, where he tried to attack MB from behind. However, MB was able to strike back in some way which killed him. Pierce's body was discovered by Samus when she arrived, although she never seemed to realize that he was the Deleter.

Trivia

• The game never makes the identity (or motivations) of the Deleter clear. However, James Pierce is the only suspect left at the end of the game, as the person whom Samus follows to MB is referred to as the Deleter by the game, and Pierce's body is found in MB's lab. Pierce's body being found also disqualifies the other main candidate, KG Misawa, as his body not being found means that he was the one who was dropped into the lava.
• Pierce has the number "07" printed on his helmet. This identifier is shared by the Deleter, which also points towards Pierce being the Deleter.