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James was one of those kids who grew up on his father's tales of adventures and mysteries, of the most exciting sort. At night, when he was a boy, his father would always spin the most spectacular tales for him. He would terrify him with great, writhing basilisks and grisly, monstrous spiders, and dazzle him with flying phoenixes and fiery dragon battles. Tales of daring and bravery, sword fighting and danger. There was never a dull night, and never a story he grew tired of, no matter how many times he heard it. He spent his boyhood in his family's backyard, carrying on epic fights with the oak tree, scaling castle walls and rescuing damsels in distress (he was never sure why it was always the girls who got into trouble, but it wasn't something he questioned). Reality was never enough to sustain the young boy. Unfortunately, that held true even as he got older. Life, in general, was simply far too dull for young James. How he wished his life could have been a grand adventure, like it had been for his father. But there was no dark lord to vanquish, no crime or mystery to be solved. And so, James had to make his own adventures, which often resulted rather unfortunately for innocent bystanders. All of this, of course, happening before the lad even got a hold of a wand. James simply couldn't get enough adventure in him. 'Danger' was never a word properly registered into his vocabulary, despite his parent's best attempts. More often than not, he would pull his younger brother, Sirius, into his mischievous games as well (getting the both of them into trouble on more than a few occasions). In his school days, James would pay a little too much attention to getting a thrill, and not quite enough attention to his grades. He threw himself into quidditch (a dangerous enough sport on its own, without the tricks and spins James saw fit to throw in) and any other club or sport that offered him the sort of adventure he sought. He quickly discovered that, come next tri-wizard tournament, he would be just old enough to enter. This, of course, became James Potter's first and foremost goal. His teachers, of course, urged him to remember that without proper grades, he would never be allowed to compete (a fact which might have been exaggerated). But, it motivated the young Potter to put more effort into his studies. More, at least, than he had been before. A boy of passion and vigor, James turned out to be a lad of extremes, either pouring his soul into something he cared for, or completely ignoring whatever failed to catch his interest. A quick remedy to this being, of course, his love for a good challenge. The manner of the challenge didn't matter in the slightest. Be it physical, mental, magical, James would tackle it. Defeat? Inevitable. Did it matter? Not at all. It was the principle of the thing that invigorated him and, typically, inspired him to do better.

James very seldom frowned. When he did, he was either bored, or his pride was being put upon. James was, unfortunately (and like most of those who had adventure on their hearts) quite prideful. It didn't usually interfere with his going-ons. He was a good sport, noble in defeat, and generally well-liked. However he did not take well to being mocked. Direct assaults were rare, for James, and as such difficult to find a proper response to. He would very often leap into situations without thinking (but that was typical no matter what was going on) and just as frequently get himself into more trouble than he was in to begin with. James was what many people would call just plain stubborn. He preferred 'determined.' This applied to any endeavor he would pursue. Much as with the challenges, he never accepted 'giving up' as an option in any circumstance. A bit of an optimist, James sees the best in people before anything else. Of course, he can be extremely protective and loyal to his friends, prone to instantly dislike anyone who lays too much offense on one of his comrades. It can make him extremely biased, and almost a bully in some situations. More often than not, James is callous without realizing it. His manner of blunt speech and forthright dislike of those who have truly offended him make a sour combination for any unfortunate who simply didn't get along with him. Mischievous thing he is, he can be a cruel prankster when need be. But he very rarely realizes that there is such a thing as 'too far' until it is too late. Of course, James can be woefully empathetic once he's realized that he's truly wounded someone. Much like the ancient hero Hercules, he tends to mess up personal relationships a lot and scramble to fix it when he realizes that he's made a mistake.