Kojiro, known as James in localizations, serves as a core member of the Team Rocket trio alongside Musashi and Nyarth. His affluent upbringing involved emotional neglect and control, culminating when his parents destroyed his treasured bottle cap collection and forced an arranged engagement to Jessiebelle. She subjected him to physical and psychological abuse, including whippings in a dedicated torture room, driving him to despise upper-class society and flee to Team Rocket as an escape. Throughout the Diamond & Pearl series, his moral complexity emerges through frequent temporary truces with Satoshi’s group to confront greater threats or conceal secrets, such as hiding his criminal identity from visiting grandparents. He displays deep compassion for his Pokémon, showing profound distress when leaving Chimecho for medical treatment and forming strong bonds with subsequent partners like Manene and Carnivine. Kojiro possesses specialized skills beyond standard Team Rocket operations. Childhood training under a former master enables his proficiency in Pokéringer competitions, where he reaches finals. His engineering aptitude allows construction of sophisticated mission gadgets and robots, though emotional immaturity often undermines these efforts. He maintains childhood hobbies like collecting rare bottle caps, reflecting a persistent childlike facet of his personality. A recurring storyline revolves around his traumatic engagement to Jessiebelle. During Sinnoh’s arc, a buried treasure chest containing his marriage proposal resurfaces, triggering extreme anxiety. When Jessiebelle arrives to enforce the marriage, Kojiro initially resigns to fate before secretly orchestrating an escape: requesting Satoshi’s Pikachu to blast Team Rocket away with Thunderbolt, accidentally swapping Jessiebelle with Musashi and forcing his flight alongside Nyarth. His appearance includes lavender hair and the standard Team Rocket uniform—a white shirt with red "R," black undershirt, white pants, purple belt, and black boots and gloves. He consistently employs disguises across regions, including Sinnoh, utilizing cross-dressing to infiltrate locations or enter contests.