James Michael Cooper

James Michael Cooper is the protagonist and main character of the English cult film Quadrophenia. He is played by renowned actor Phil Daniels.

Biography
James (better known as Jimmy) is working in a London post office and lives in the same part of London as much of his fellow Mods, and he often hangs out with them at weekends in pubs and stuff. Most of the time he likes harassing Rockers, rival youths who drive expensive motorbikes and dress all in leather. Jimmy has a crush on Steph, one of the only female Mods. However she is cold and doesn't return his advances.

One day Jimmy discovers a man singing Rocker songs in the cubicle beside him in the public baths and he begins competing with him with Mod songs. Soon he discovers the man is actually his best friend Kevin, to his shock. He is further shocked when he sees Kevin has become a Rocker. Kevin went to join the Army, hoping to get away "from all this" (the boredom of mundane life) but found it followed him even in the Army so he quit. Kevin has only just found out about the rivalry between Mods and Rockers and he is unimpressed.

Jimmy has a mixed relationship with his boss (played by Timothy Spall. To start with, Jimmy feels he needs the job and takes pride in it. However, as the constant theft of drugs and fallouts with the Rockers take effect, Jimmy soon thinks what's the point of life. One Mod, Chalky, is beaten up by some Rockers, accompanied by Kevin, who beats up Chalky. However, Jimmy sees the Mods attacking the Rockers - including Kevin - but Jimmy doesn't stop to help, he flees.

At the weekend, Jimmy and the Mods take a trip down to Brighton where they start a peaceful march shouting the infamous "WE ARE THE MODS!" however, a Mod named Spider was chucked off his bike by an aggressive Rocker earlier, Spider sees the same Rocker and his gang in the march and decides to beat him up. Spider starts a massive seafront battle, and soon they cause much damage to Brighton, smashing shop windows and other vandalism. The police are inevitably summoned and arrest nearly everyone involved. Halfway through the chaos, Steph and Jimmy run into an alley, and they make out. However, upon leaving the alley, Jimmy is immediately detained by two cops, despite protesting his innocence. Steph cowardly leaves, accompanied by Chalky.

At court, the rioters are called to pay for their property damage. A charismatic Mod named Ace Face - played by Sting - cheekily says he'll pay on the spot, given his job as a bell boy. Jimmy is summoned next, and he is publicly humiliated in front of the court.

Upon returning home to London, Jimmy's mentally unstable mother has a furious breakdown at him for being a "savage" and kicks him out of the house. When Jimmy tries returning, his equally unstable, aggressive father races downstairs in an attempt to beat up Jimmy, but he flees on his scooter. Jimmy is viewed by his parents as equal to a murderer even though all he did was smash a window and punch some Rockers. Anyway, Jimmy is thrown out and he hides in an underpass, then in his shed, waiting for his aggressive father to leave for work. He goes into his bedroom and tears down all his "filthy pictures" - (porn, but his mother's implied to be a ritualistic Puritan).

During work that day, in a hilarious scene, Jimmy is so embittered about his arrest he tells the boss to go shove his job right up his ass. After being re-admitted back into a bar in which he caused a disturbance previously, Jimmy is disgusted to find Chalky is now dating Steph, taking pleasure from Jimmy's discomfort and anger. Finally, Jimmy has enough and punches Chalky in front of Steph, angering his friends, who also drive him off. Jimmy tries apologizing to Steph the next day but she calls him a freak and storms off. Finally over the edge, Jimmy takes his anger out on his prized motorbike, smashing it.

Jimmy later retreats to Brighton, reliving his sex with Steph, but finds out he can't take anything any more and becomes a homeless recluse. He constantly takes drugs, and then he meets "Ace Face" in the hotel he works at as a bell boy. Angry, (at feeling "betrayed" by the Ace because Jimmy envisioned the Ace as being like an office executive or some high-ranking job) Jimmy yells "BELL BOY!" and then steals Ace Face's expensive scooter, storming off to the Beachy Head cliffs. He throws the Ace Face's bike off the cliffs, smashing it to bits, then he walks moodily away from the cliffs in the sunset after deciding he won't be a Mod any more.

Personality
Jimmy was an embittered man. He started off as love sick, but then when he found Steph he was no longer. However after she betrayed him he was so heartbroken he gave up on women altogether. Jimmy was also abused by his parents, at least mentally, although his father was implied to whack him sometimes. Instability seemed to run in his family - although Jimmy was not as unstable as his parents. This is seen in the film's opening track ("I went back to my mother, I said I'm crazy, Ma, help me - she said "I know how it feels son, because it runs in the family."")