James Connors

James Connors
Real Name	James Connors
Alias(es)	Agent M
Species	Human
Citizenship	American
Gender	Male
Date of Death	November 1, 2017
Title(s)	Detective (formerly)
Affiliation	New Orleans Police Department (formerly)
Status	Deceased
Appearances
TV Series	Cloak & Dagger (14 episodes)
Actors/Actresses
Portrayed by	J.D. Evermore

"Thought the NYPD only hired the best and brightest."

―James Connors to Brigid O'Reilly^[src]

James Connors was a police detective from the Vice unit of the New Orleans Police Department. He was involved with drug trafficking in New Orleans and held a secret, the guilt for the murder of Billy Johnson, for which he was never wanted for. Connors' involvement in the drug dealing activity in New Orleans was suspected by Brigid O'Reilly, which caused Connors to plot her death while dealing with several encounters with Cloak. Connors was eventually manipulated into confessing his crime by Cloak and O'Reilly, although he was quickly released and attempted to get revenge on them. Although he seemingly managed to kill O'Reilly during the Terror in New Orleans, he was absorbed by Cloak's Darkforce and trapped in the Dark Dimension.

After living in isolation for eight months, he was eventually brought back to Earth where he tried to focus on making up for his past sins, however, he was eventually murdered by Adina Johnson who couldn't deal with the damage Connors has caused to her family.

Biography

NOPD Officer

Assassination of Billy Johnson

"You shot a kid!"
"Jesus. I need to call my uncle."
"What's he gonna do?"
"He's gonna fix it."

―Bradford and James Connors^[src]

Connors ready to shoot Billy Johnson

James Connors joined the New Orleans Police Department. One night on patrol with Bradford, Connors spotted Billy Johnson and his younger brother Tyrone. Assuming they were causing trouble, he chased them to the waterfront and cornered Billy. After witnessing the destruction of the nearby Roxxon Gulf Platform, Connors panicked and fatally shot Billy twice, sending him falling into the water. Unfortunately, Tyrone had been watching the entire time and dove in after his brother. With help from his uncle, Asa Henderson, however, Connors was transferred to Vice unit and his involvement in the shooting was quickly covered up, leaving Otis and Adina Johnson to deal with the consequences of Connors' actions.

All Vice, No Virtue

"If we're gonna do this, now's the time. It's set to move from the evidence locker to the oven tomorrow. They're gonna burn twenty keys of baby powder."

―James Connors^[src]

Eight years later, Connors' corruption had only intensified. Now a prominent Vice detective, he had used and abused his position to become involved in New Orleans' drug trade, to the point of removing confiscated drugs from evidence room for re-distribution around the city. However, he was once spotted by Tyrone Johnson while loading his car with a shipment of drugs. Later, while preparing to deliver the shipment to a dealer, Connors was attacked by Johnson, who had mysteriously ended up in Connors' trunk due to his lack of control over his Darkforce powers.

Connors confronts Tyrone Johnson

Connors chased Johnson down to an abandoned warehouse, where he managed to find Johnson and pinned him against a wall with his hand around Johnson's throat. However, this enabled Johnson to access Connor's deepest fear, which was reliving the night of the Assassination of Billy Johnson. This left Connors disoriented, enabling Johnson to flee, only for Connors to follow him once again and attempt to shoot him. Connors managed to corner Johnson against a fence and attempted to shoot him once again. However, when Connors tried to find his target under a tarpaulin, he discovered that the young man had mysteriously vanished, due to having once again teleported with Darkforce.

Later, while unloading a couple of gas tanks from his car, Connors heard a strange noise coming from behind a building and went to check on it, but he found no one, unaware that Johnson had stood there seconds ago before disappearing. Connors returned to his apartment, but he was soon attacked by Johnson, who broke into the apartment and threatened Connors with a gun. Expecting to be killed, Connors closed his eyes as Johnson screamed in anger, but Johnson once again unwillingly vanished one moment before firing, thus leaving Connors alive, yet much in shock and anguish.

Meeting Brigid O'Reilly

"Wasn't sure about you, New York, but maybe I was wrong. We should ride together sometime."

―James Connors to Brigid O'Reilly^[src]

Connors later came into possession of Rick Cotton's driver license. Knowing that fellow Detective Brigid O'Reilly was investigating on a case in which Cotton was involved, Connors went to see O'Reilly in her car and gave her the driver license, claiming to have found it on the body of a drug addict, meaning that Cotton had probably been assaulted and robbed. When O'Reilly assumed that it did not fit the other evidence she had, Connors simply called the case closed and left, claiming that O'Reilly owed him a beer for having solved her case for her.

Connors then caught O'Reilly as she was snorting a line of coke in the evidence room at the New Orleans Police Department Station. Connors assured O'Reilly that he was not gonna arrest her as he understood her need to use drugs from time to time to let out some steam. He then expressed his enthusiasm regarding the quality of the drug O'Reilly had acquired and suggested that they occasionally teamed up together, which O'Reilly acquired before leaving. At that time, Connors was unaware that O'Reilly only wanted to catch Connors' attention.

Danger Coming

Connors listens to Brigid O'Reilly's explanations

"Look, you need to clean up your mess! Your little errand boys got all sloppy! This cop's only on to you because you can't run a tight ship!"

―James Connors to Duane Porter^[src]

Upon seeing Brigid O'Reilly working in the New Orleans Police Department Station, Connors went to see her and asked her about her investigations. As O'Reilly detailed what she had found out so far about the drug dealing in New Orleans, Connors understood that she was quite advanced and that she could even follow the trail up until Connors himself. In order to closely monitor O'Reilly, Connors offered to accompany her in a cruise across the city which O'Reilly accepted, leading to them leaving the police station together.

During the cruise, Connors and O'Reilly discussed the different point of views they had over their respective jobs. Connors then ordered O'Reilly to stop the car as he had spotted one of his errand boys, Kev. Connors chased him down, telling O'Reilly to find the bag Kev had let down. Once Connors followed Kev long enough, he angrily confronted him about the recent behavior of Kev and his fellow dealers, as their sloppy job had enabled O'Reilly to follow their trail. He then ordered Kev to return to his associate Duane Porter to warn him about O'Reilly. When O'Reilly finally arrived, Connors pretended to be beating up Kev and sent him away.

Back to the police station, Connors received a call from Porter and told him and that they had to meet in the evening. He then went to see O'Reilly and claimed that he had acquired intel about the man she was trying to find, offering that they went together to capture him. Once they arrived at Buildwell Wood Shop where he would meet with Porter, Connors instructed O'Reilly to wait in the car for five minutes before joining him. During these five minutes, Connors confronted Porter and gave him a gun, ordering him to kill O'Reilly once she would enter.

Connors attempts to shoot Tyrone Johnson

When O'Reilly finally came, Connors shouted her name to distract her, but she spotted Porter and his gun nonetheless and managed to shoot him before he could kill her. Connors was then surprised to hear Tyrone Johnson's screaming in horror at this sight. Connors chased Johnson down into the streets of New Orleans and attempted to shoot him, but much to Connors' astonishment, Johnson dodged the bullets by briefly disappearing and reappearing thanks to the Darkforce, thus causing Connors to lose Johnson.

Chasing Ghosts

"It was the explosion. The rig. Whole damn thing blew off, and I... I fired."
"At who? Why can't you just admit what you did to my goddamn face?"
"I shot you, okay, kid? I shot you."

―James Connors and Cloak^[src]

On the day of the anniversary of Billy Johnson's Assassination of Billy Johnson, Connors felt tenser than ever. He had his colleague Suzy draw an identikit of Tyrone Johnson and asked Brigid O'Reilly whether she considered it to resemble the real young man they had seen earlier. When O'Reilly noticed that Connors seemed to make the case of Tyrone running away a personal matter, Connors insisted that Tyrone had to be found. However, Connors was unaware that O'Reilly was actually collaborating with Tyrone in order to make Connors pay for the murder of Billy. Thus, when Connors was called by O'Reilly to be informed that Tyrone had been spotted by Kenneth Fuchs, he could not help but notice that the identikit O'Reilly showed him, which looked more like Billy than Tyrone, seemed different to the one he had made by Suzy, although he was eventually convinced that it was the same drawing.

Connors tries to shoot the "ghost" of Billy Johnson

Connors and O'Reilly then began to look for Tyrone, discussing the young man's recent escape until Connors eventually saw Tyrone. However, when he told O'Reilly, she replied that she was not seeing anyone, although Connors insisted that he was seeing him. Connors chased Tyrone down to the same docks on which Connors had killed Billy long ago, with O'Reilly still assuring that she did not see the person Connors was trying to find. Connors ultimately faced Tyrone and tried to shoot him, but Tyrone once again remained unaffected by teleporting closer and closer to Connors.

Connors is arrested by Brigid O'Reilly

Connors grew disoriented as Tyrone pretended to be the ghost of Billy, who had been killed by Connors. In his confusion, Connors began to whole-heartedly confess his crime, claiming that he only shot Billy because he had been scared by the Destruction of the Roxxon Gulf Platform occurring while he held Billy at gunpoint. However, Connors soon realized that the whole scene was a ruse orchestrated by Tyrone, O'Reilly, and Fuchs so that they would have their confession on record. Connors was subsequently arrested by O'Reilly.

Bad Cop, Mad City

"This one here, he's gonna get loose. He's gonna kill you, and then we're gonna kill him, and then we're gonna mourn you like the fallen hero that you are."
"And you think the Chief's just gonna let any of that fly?"
"It's Mardi Gras. Even if she weren't waving from a float, she's got way too many citizens out there saying farewell to the flesh. It's mayhem, O'Reilly."

―James Connors and Brigid O'Reilly^[src]

Despite being suspended and put under investigation, Connors did not remain long in custody. Using his position in both the NOPD and the criminal world of New Orleans, as well as Asa Henderson's influence, he was promptly released and allowed to work as a Detective again. Connors later got an opportunity to get his vengeance, by murdering Kenneth Fuchs and framing Tyrone Johnson. Connors then visited the same bar Brigid O'Reilly and other officers were grieving at after the death of Fuchs. He raised a toast claiming to honor Fuchs only to be attacked by O'Reilly with a baton. However, Connors swiftly countered and repeatedly slugged her, gloating that the evidence gathered by O'Reilly against him were far too insufficient to keep him locked up.

Connors witnesses the beginning of the Terror in New Orleans

Connors later got an opportunity to get his vengeance on both O'Reilly and Johnson, who had been arrested during the Mardi Gras parade and he ordered them to be locked up until he went to see them. Connors then explained that he would take them with him to murder them, intending to stage the scene to make believe that while Connors, O'Reilly, and Johnson made their way out of New Orleans Police Department Station, the place was invaded by Terrors, who began attacking everyone, forcing Connors to defend himself against these enraged opponents, thus enabling both O'Reilly and Johnson to escape.

While the Terror in New Orleans still raged, Connors managed to track down O'Reilly as she was getting ready to deal with the invasion of New Orleans. Before O'Reilly could react, he shot at her, hitting a valve nearby O'Reilly which released a powerful combination of Darkforce and Lightforce. Connors was eventually able to shoot O'Reilly twice in the shoulders to torture her before witnessing her landing in the body of water and leaving her to die, claiming that she should have stayed in New York City instead of seeking danger in New Orleans. Connors then left to chase down Johnson.

Connors is absorbed by Cloak's Darkforce

Deciding he needed heavier firepower for the empowered Johnson, who he had found along with Tandy Bowen, Connors grabbed a shotgun and aimed it at Johnson and Bowen. When Johnson stated he would not even be able to land a shot on him because of his powers, Connors agreed and mockingly stated Bowen surely did not have the same abilities. However, Connors' weapon was slashed in half by Bowen, who used her own powers to form a light dagger to destroy the shotgun. Connors was then taken away by Johnson, who teleported Connors and himself to the top of a roof. Facing a lethal fall, Connors was asked by Cloak whether he was afraid of him, and Connors admitted he was. However, instead of falling to his death, Connors was absorbed by Darkforce tentacles bursting out of Johnson's body, and was trapped in the Dark Dimension.

Redemption

Escape from the Darkforce

"I grabbed for her, Ty, I swear."
"But instead you freed the man who killed my brother."

―Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson on James Connors' escape from the Dark Dimension^[src]

Eight months later, during an altercation where Tandy and Tyrone tried to prevent Mayhem from harming others, Mayhem was also absorbed into the Dark Dimension. When Tandy followed into the dimension trying to find answers, she and Mayhem found evidence of Connors living there in isolation.

Connors had surrounded his living area with cloaked figures, using props, mannequins and spare clothing. These figures appeared to bear some resemblance to Tyrone Johnson who was evidently someone that Connors was not able to stop thinking of.

Later, when returning to Earth, Tandy accidentally brought Connors with her instead of Mayhem. Tandy and Tyrone were temporarily dazed, but Connors, in his shock and confusion at finally escaping the Dark Dimension, ran while he had a chance and kept his distance from everyone while he managed to calm himself down and get a grip on reality again.

An Uneasy Truce

"What the hell are you doing? I mean what are you really doing?"
"I'm trying to make good."

―Tyrone Johnson and James Connors^[src]

Eventually, Tyrone Johnson tracked down Connors and Connors confessed that he wanted nothing but to help and to make up for what he had done. Johnson wasted no time on this discussion as he believed Connors to be lying. Learning that Johnson had been on the run since Connors' disappearance, Connors believed he could assist to clear Johnson's name.

Johnson needed some time to process this but decided that his parents would be able to judge better than himself. Eventually, Johnson brought Connors with him to meet his father, Otis. Otis was unable to hold back his feelings of anger and disgust upon seeing Connors, but Tyrone stopped his father before anything happened, explaining that he truly believed that Connors could do some good in resolving their issues. Connors was strapped down to a chair to prevent him from escaping while Otis and Tyrone discussed what they would do with him.

After discussing matters, Connors admitted that his uncle had covered up anything that would implicate Connors and that the truth was kept hidden. He also explained that the Johnson family would be able to clear their names as well as to imprison Connors himself if they were able to retrieve the information. It was discovered later that the information in question was actually missing when Tyrone attempted to find it and immediately confronted Connors about it, however Connors insisted that he was not aware that the information would have been moved. Johnson refused to believe this however when he became violent towards Connors and made contact with him, Johnson saw that in Connors' mind there really was regret and hope for forgiveness.

Cooking with Adina

"I know you're the best way to make sure that Tyrone never has to look over his shoulder again."
"That's all I want as well. Justice."

―Adina Johnson and James Connors^[src]

After realising that Otis was only able to do so much, Tyrone Johnson took Connors to his mother, Adina, someone with a much better understanding of the law. Connors was once again strapped into a chair to prevent him from escaping. Adina expressed her honesty in her trouble controlling her urge to get rid of Connors right then and there, so she decided to calm herself down by cooking a meal. While cooking, she discussed the situation at length with Connors, finding out what could be done to resolve the issue and clear Tyrone's name. Connors said that he only wanted to resolve the situation with justice and confessed to all his misdeeds over the years.

When Adina and Otis started arguing, Connors considered cutting himself loose with a nearby knife but returned to his position before anyone had seen. Connors revealed the location of Billy Johnson's body when Adina admitted that she couldn't trust Connors and only wanted to have a proper burial for her son.

Death

"The man who murdered my son and framed my other son for murder, I held him captive. He gave me the information I needed to clear Tyrone's name. He gave me the location of my other son's body. All he wanted was forgiveness."
"Mrs. Johnson, what did you do?"

―Adina Johnson and Francis Xavier Delgado^[src]

Despite trying to help mend the Johnson family, Adina Johnson was not able to forgive the pain that Connors had brought to them. Eventually, after Connors had given all the help he could, Adina cut him loose but then surprisingly murdered him in a plastic-covered bathroom, making an effort to ensure that nobody would know what she had done.

Later, Connors' corpse was taken by Brigid O'Reilly (with Mayhem in control) and left hanging at the local police station with a sign around his neck displaying the word "guilty" in large letters. This was likely to lead the police towards closing the case and preventing them from finding out that Adina Johnson had killed him.

Personality

"His whole life is built on lies. A man like that is always looking over his shoulder."

―Tyrone Johnson^[src]

Connors was a ruthless and corrupt police officer. Taking advantage of his position within the New Orleans Police Department, he did not hesitate to breach the law for his own personal gain and was heavily involved in the drug dealing activity in New Orleans. Connors was willing to get rid of anyone who stood in his way; as such, when he sensed that Brigid O'Reilly would discover that he took part in criminal activities, he attempted to have her killed by his associate Duane Porter. Although he told Porter that his own hands were too dirty for him to carry on the crime, Connors eventually tried to murder O'Reilly himself, and succeeded as O'Reilly was only revived through a combination of Darkforce and Lightforce. He was also ready to shoot and kill Tyrone Johnson on the multiple occasions their paths crossed. Connors had little patience when things did not go as planned and did not hesitate to brutally confront his associates.

As Johnson noticed, Connors actually lived in fear of the memory of his own actions, and notably the murder of Billy Johnson. Although Connors claimed that he did not mean to kill Billy (only pulling the trigger because of the Destruction of the Roxxon Gulf Platform which surprised him), he never confessed this crime and arranged for it to be covered up, forcing Connors to be extremely cautious to make sure that no one would discover what he had done. Being afraid of his own wrongdoings caused Connors to be easily manipulated by Tyrone and O'Reilly as they made him believe that the ghost of Billy was haunting him, leading to Connors confessing his crime. Despite this, Connors knew that his position within both the law enforcement and the criminal world of New Orleans would enable him to be quickly released from imprisonment. Once it was done, Connors held a bitter grudge against both Tyrone and O'Reilly and swore to exact deadly revenge on them. After spending eight months in the Dark Dimension, however, Connors seemingly had a change of heart and decided to help Tyrone and the Johnsons bring himself and his uncle to justice.

Abilities

• Combatant: Connors has a formidable skill of fist fighting as he was able to severely beat Brigid O'Reilly in their bar fight.
• Marksman: Due to his career, he is skilled with firearms. He usually uses a pistol, but also a shotgun.

Equipment

Weapons

• Glock 17: Connors carried this handgun as his sidearm when he was a plain officer for the New Orleans Police Department. He used it on the night of the Destruction of the Roxxon Gulf Platform to follow a suspect, and he ended up shooting and killing Billy Johnson at the time of the explosion. Connors retrieved the gun and held Tyrone Johnson at gunpoint upon his return from the Dark Dimension, but then he lowered his gun when explained that he wanted to pay for his crimes, and told him that it was the gun used to murder his brother.
• Smith & Wesson Model 5906: Connors carried this handgun as his sidearm when he was a detective for the New Orleans Police Department. He used to shoot at Tyrone Johnson when he was first ambushed by him, though Johnson evaded the bullets with his newly found powers. Connors later used to chase Johnson as he had witnessed the death of Duane Porter during an ambush he had set on Brigid O'Reilly. Despite Connors shot at him, Johnson's powers were activated and he managed to evade the bullets before teleporting out of the area. Connors chased Johnson again in the anniversary of the death of Billy Johnson, shooting at him while he believed it was the ghost of his brother, but again, he evaded the bullets using his powers. Connors also used it to shoot at Brigid O'Reilly during the outbreak of the Terrors in New Orleans, hitting O'Reilly in the shoulder, and alson one of the Roxxon valves, liberating a surge of Darkforce and Lightforce that affected her. He tried to reach for his gun one last time when he was teleported by Tyrone Johnson to a rooftop, right after he had tried to kill both Johnson and Tandy Bowen, however, as he pulled the gun, Johnson's powers were activated and Connors was taken to the Dark Dimension.
• Shotgun: Connors took this shotgun in order to kill Tyrone Johnson during the outbreak of the Terrors in New Orleans, trying to kill Tandy Bowen with it. Johnson quickly teleported next to him, pulling the shotgun up, while Bowen quicky approached and cut the shotgun in half with one of her daggers.

Facilities

• New Orleans Police Department Station: As a NOPD Detective, Connors was stationed at the main law enforcement's facilities in New Orleans, where he frequently interacted with fellow officers and detectives like Brigid O'Reilly.

Relationships

Family Great-Great-Grandfather Asa Henderson - Uncle Allies New Orleans Police Department Watts - Former Superior Duchamp - Former Superior Suzy - Former Colleague Daniels - Former Colleague Lafayette - Former Colleague Bradford † - Former Colleague Rick Cotton Duane Porter † - Situational Ally Kev

Enemies Billy Johnson † - Victim Tyrone Johnson/Cloak - Attempted Victim and Attempted Killer Brigid O'Reilly - Former Colleague turned Attempted Victim Kenneth Fuchs † - Former Colleague turned Victim Tandy Bowen/Dagger - Attempted Victim Mayhem - Attempted Killer Otis Johnson Choo Choo Broussard Adina Johnson - Killer

Appearances

Appearances for James Connors
In chronological order: Cloak & Dagger Season One First Light Suicide Sprints Stained Glass Call/Response (mentioned) Princeton Offense Funhouse Mirrors Lotus Eaters (mentioned) Ghost Stories Back Breaker Colony Collapse Season Two Restless Energy (mentioned) Shadow Selves (mentioned) Rabbit Hold Alignment Chart B Sides (vision) Vikingtown Sound Two Player Blue Note (mentioned) Level Up (corpse)