James Gibson was the main antagonist of the episode "Stray" in the First Season of the WB series Smallville. He stepfather of Ryan James who used the boy's telepathy for crime.
He was portrayed by Jim Shield.
Contents
History
Early life
James was married to Ryan's mother until her death and later remarried Debra Burch. Together, James and Debra were professional criminals who carried out a number of successful robberies by exploiting the abilities of their stepson Ryan.
He was horrible towards Ryan and only cared about exploiting him. Ryan possessed a form of telepathy that allowed him to read the surface thoughts of anyone around him and his so-called guardians used him to gain knowledge of their marks, such as safe combinations and passwords.
Stray
During a heist at a pawnshop, Ryan witness his abusive parents shoot and kill the broker. He then runs away blindly into the woods with his step-parents after him. Trying to cross the street Ryan was struck by Martha Kent's car and was taken to the hospital. After spending a night in hospital, Ryan was allowed to return home with the Kents until any next of kin could be contacted.
At the hospital, James Gibson poses as a private detective looking for a lost boy. He asks about Ryan and learns only that Ryan isn't there anymore. James then went to The Talon where Ryan was and became frightened when he saw his stepfather and hid in a dumpster but was rescued by Clark. James and Debra later found Clark at the Kent Farm and waited for their opportunity to strike.
James disguised himself as Lex Luthor's limo driver and took him to the Kent House to say goodbye to Clark as he was returning to Metropolis. James then met up with Debra and Ryan and planned to hack into Lex's account with a laptop. He says he already has the account number for his trust fund and asks Lex for the password.
Ryan reads Lex's mind and gets the password, saying it's "Julian." After Ryan obtained the password from Lex Luthor, they dumped Lex on the side of the road and made their way to a nearby bowling alley. Meanwhile, Chloe visited Clark and shows him James Gibson's rap sheet. Clark recognizes him as Lex's limo driver and speeds away. The Gibsons stop at a bowling alley to torch the limo and hack into Lex's account with a laptop.
James grows infuriated when the password doesn't work and threatens Ryan. James tried to make it look like Ryan's playing games, but Debra realized that Ryan has never lied before. He kills Debra, then chases Ryan into the bowling alley.
Clark arrives and uses his X-ray vision to find James and Ryan. He throws a bowling ball and hits James in the chest. The bowling ball was thrown with enough force to crash through a wall before hitting him, knocking him unconscious.
