James Pierce

James Pierce is a member of Adam Malkovich's 07th platoon. He is the communications expert of the unit.

Background
James is first seen along with the other members of the platoon, including Adam Malkovich (his boss), Anthony Higgs, Maurice Favreau, Lyle Smithsonian, and KG Misawa, in the BOTTLE SHIP. After the battle with the Brug Mass, Adam instructs him to investigate the Control Bridge.

Later on, though, James takes on a darker role as an unknown traitor, called "The Deleter" by Samus until she identifies him, with orders to assassinate anyone who knows or learns about the Galactic Federation's bio-weapons scheme, including the other members of his team, and destroy any evidence. There are various pieces of evidence that point to James being The Deleter.

Physical Appearance
James is a white male with a scar on his left eye (similar to Scar from Disney's The Lion King), and has a faded 07 on his helmet (which the Deleter also has), as well as dark brown hair, and brown eyes.

Role as The Deleter
Lyle Smithsonian, who should have been the first to arrive at the Exam Center, isn't there. Instead, James is there already, having pried open the door to the control room, and is seen working at the computer. When Anthony, KG, and Maurice arrive, Maurice examines the computer, and points out that the CPU apparently self-destructed and that the central system has been fragmented. It is presumed that James was responsible for it. After being attacked by the Mystery Creature (actually an adolescent Ridley), Samus and the others find Lyle's body in the bushes, reduced to rags. It is most likely that James killed Lyle, hid his body in the bushes and took his explosives, and Little Birdie (really an infant Ridley) covered up James's work by feasting on the corpse, as the Exam Center is blown up shortly after Samus goes to Sector 3.

While Samus is searching Sector 2 for survivors, she discovers Maurice, frozen, before finding a young woman watching her. Samus pursues the woman into a warehouse; the woman doesn't believe Samus is there to protect her, and mentions her troops willing to kill each other; she has a flashback showing another Galactic Federation soldier (actually James) shooting Maurice with a freeze gun at close range. Suddenly, Samus and the woman are attacked by a massive industrial machine, known as the RB176 Ferrocrusher, controlled by someone wearing a Galactic Federation uniform.

When Samus defeats the machine, the person piloting it disappears. The Deleter is next seen shooting another Federation soldier (KG) with a freeze gun, and pushing his frozen body into the lava, and then walking away. During this scene, the Deleter is shown to have a faded 07 on his helmet, which James also has, and a small device on his left forearm.

When Samus and Anthony are attacked by Ridley in the Geothermal Power Plant, James disables communications between Samus and Adam; prior to the start of the mission, it is presumed that James disabled communications between his teammates to prevent them from warning one another, but didn't expect Samus to arrive. Upon returning to the Main Sector, Samus spots the Deleter heading for Sector 1 and tails him. After meeting with the same young woman she encountered earlier, who poses as Madeline Bergman, in the Bioweapon Research Center, Samus heads for Sector Zero. The Deleter then approaches "Madeline" and attempts to shoot her.

Upon returning to the Bioweapon Research Center, Samus discovers a dead Galactic Federation soldier; she hurries over and discovers that he is James.

Trivia

 * It is presumed that Melissa Bergman killed James, as she is wielding a freeze gun, which she most likely took from him, when she confronts Samus and Madeline. Although, she could've also used a Desbrachian to kill him, as in the room where his body is found, there was previously a Desbrachian pod there, but when Samus returns and finds his body, she notices the Desbrachian pod is missing.
 * When Samus enters the Geothermal Power Plant, she assumes that Anthony is the Deleter, because he aims his Plasma Gun at her when he was really aiming for Ridley. After fighting Ridley off, Samus regrets suspecting Anthony of being a traitor.
 * Even though KG Misawa was frozen and incinerated by James, some people assume that he is the Deleter, due to his status of "Missing" on Samus's "Characters" screen in the post-credits sequence.
 * When Samus returns to the Bioweapons Research Center in the epilogue, James's body is no longer there. The Galactic Federation most likely took it, as well as the bodies of Lyle and Maurice, for proper burial.