James "Jim" Holden is the captain of the Rocinante. Born between 30 BXT and 21 BXT in Montana on Earth, Holden joined the United Nations Navy, later being dishonorably discharged after seven years of continuous service. Following the destruction of the Canterbury, Holden, along with Shed Garvey, Naomi Nagata, Amos Burton, and Alex Kamal, underwent a quest to uncover the true culprit, uncovering conspiracies and mysteries across the system. His exploits continued aboard the Rocinante, eventually raising him to system-wide recognition and his appointment as the first President of the Transport Union.
A Montana native, he is the only child born to eight parents as part of a genetic collective. At a time when Earth's population is over 30 billion, there are big incentives for people not to have children and undeveloped land is a distant memory for most of Earth's population.
Holden is an only child of 8 parents whose DNA has been artificially combined to create an heir to his parents' fight to preserve one of the last undeveloped wildernesses in Montana. When he was 18, his closest parent, Elise, in a moment of guilt, told him he had been raised to fight a losing battle and that he should run away as far as possible.
Holden joined Earth's Navy to escape. In the UN Navy he served as a First Lieutenant on board the UNN Zheng Fei until an ideological conflict turned into a physical confrontation where Holden tried to punch a superior officer. The officer dodged and Holden broke his hand on a bulkhead. Holden was then given a general court-martial, convicted and discharged from service as a result.
After being discharged from the Navy, Holden took a contract with Pur'n'Kleen (owner of the Canterbury), looking to get as far from home and Earth and the UNN as possible.
