Raglan James is the second villain Lestat must confront in the twentieth century, after aiding in the defeat of Akasha, the Queen of the Damned. A kleptomaniac by nature, Raglan has the psychic ability to telekinetically move astral bodies out of their physical bodies so that he can move his own astral body inside and steal the physical body. Raglan James appears only in The Tale of the Body Thief (1992).
Demonstrating exceptional telepathic abilities from an early age, Raglan James becomes a prominent member of the Talamasca Order. Because of his incessant kleptomania, the Order quickly dispatches him to the secular world, where he employs his telepathic abilities to acquire dishonest wealth. Through his work in the Talamasca, he learns a procedure for astral projecting his etheric form, for detaching the silver cord from his corporeal body, for reattaching it to a new corporeal body, and then for settling his etheric form inside this new body—in other words, he learns how to be a body thief.
James coerces many people to switch bodies with him. Occasionally this process helps him prosper financially, yet his compulsiveness often leads to his capture and imprisonment by the authorities. And when his newest body is dying or in jeopardy, he switches bodies again.
Shortly before meeting Lestat, Raglan switches bodies with a mechanic, who is a drug dealer and who also recently became so intoxicated by his own narcotics that he murdered his entire family. Once Raglan switches bodies with the mechanic, Raglan kills him.
When Raglan finally encounters the vampire Lestat, he attempts to force out Lestat’s etheric body so that he can live in a body that will never get sick and never die, but he quickly learns that he does not have the psychic strength to steal a vampire’s body. So he begins to woo Lestat, first sending him movies with the theme of body switching and finally contacting him, offering him the chance to experience mortality once again for the fee of ten million dollars. After considering this, and taking precautions, Lestat agrees to pay him twenty million dollars, although Raglan cannot have access to it until after they switch back to their usual bodies. Despite all of Lestat’s precautions, Raglan plans to never surrender the vampire body.
Stealing all of Lestat’s finances, leaving him penniless and dying, Raglan eludes Lestat, the Talamasca, and other vampires, until he books passage on the Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship. Lestat’s mortal friend, David Talbot, Superior General of the Talamasca, uses his influence to gain passage on that same ship. When they find Raglan, David forces Raglan out of Lestat’s body and helps Lestat back. But it is dawn, and Lestat must flee. Raglan and David contend throughout that day, but Raglan is much younger and stronger and forces David out of his body so that he can take possession of it. Raglan then evades David in his former body and meets Lestat later that evening after the vampire awakes from his daytime slumber. In David’s body, Raglan tricks Lestat not only into believing that he is David but also into turning him into an immortal. Having longed to turn David into a vampiric companion, Lestat willingly agrees, but when Lestat bites into his neck and drinks his blood, the blood reveals to him that this is not David, but actually Raglan. Full of fury, Lestat grips Raglan’s head and crushes it, thus ending the life of crime of the Body Thief.
For more perspectives on Raglan James’s character, read the Alphabettery entries David Talbot, Lestat de Lioncourt, and Talamasca Order.