James Blackridge
 James "Jimmy" Blackridge | |
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| Gender | Male |
| Race | Human |
| Class | Warrior |
| Affiliation(s) | Kingdom of Stormwind |
| Former affiliation(s) | Bloodsail Buccaneers |
| Occupation | Farmer, Pirate (formerly) |
| Location | Outside Goldshire, Elwynn Forest |
| Status | Alive |
| Relative(s) | Mr. and Mrs. Blackridge (parents) |
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James Blackridge, called Jimmy in his youth, is the son of a farming family, who live and work a farm outside Goldshire. Jimmy had a problem with responsibility as he was not able to do his chores. On his day off the farm, Jimmy went for his friends, Liam and Bram Woodring. Heading to Stormwind they decided to go fishing in Westfall instead of visiting Stormwind. Trying to find a better fishing spot, they went to Westfall Lighthouse, where he and his friends were abducted and found themselves unwilling crew members for the Bloodsail Buccaneers. The Bloodsail Buccaneers taught the three boys how to fight. Being the biggest of the three, Jimmy was trained in the use of a two-handed axe and became a good warrior. Under the command of Captain Jerias Bloodvein, the captain of the Garrote, Jimmy and his friends were forced to help plunder merchant ships, though the three managed to avoid killing people. Later they were taken to the Plunder Isle where the captain told them that he and Edwin VanCleef are enemies and now is the time to have revenge on him and the Defias Brotherhood. Jimmy urged his two friends to help find a way to leave the pirates but Liam and Bram wanted to stay with them. Before the crew were going to invade the Deadmines to hunt down VanCleef, Jimmy was informed by Bloodvein that the Defias had kidnapped his family after getting word that a survivor from a raided night elf ship had recognized Jimmy, and were being held hostage on the Defias juggernaught. Bloodvein believed the Defias had done so to find out how Jimmy ended up on the Garrote, and that the information would motivate Jimmy to fight harder.
Wanting to finally escape his forced life of piracy, when the crew's assault reached Ironclad Cove Jimmy slipped away and rescued his parents, but they were caught. Captain Bloodvein was not willing to let anyone leave his crew and offered to allow Jimmy to fall back in line or be executed for mutiny. Jimmy challenged him to a duel for his freedom, and dodging the surprise bullet from Bloodvein's pistol that he'd been expecting, killed the undead captain after a brutal melee. Enraged by their captain’s death, the crew of the Garrote were about to kill Blackridge and his parents but his friends used their magic and techniques to help them all to escape from the Bloodsails and reach the safety of Sentinel Hill. James is last seen telling his tale of piracy to Kira Songshine, whom he has had a crush on since the beginning of the story, in Lion's Pride Inn. James returned to being a farmer in Elwynn Forest, discovering to his surprise that when he actually applies himself he rather likes running a farm, and considers writing a book on his adventures as a Bloodsail Buccaneer.[1]