James Holden

Holden is the Canterbury's executive officer when the ship answers a distress call and is destroyed by an invisible ship. He blames Mars in an open broadcast and sets off riots on Ceres. After escaping the Donnager's destruction with Naomi, Amos and Alex, he renames the Martian corvette the Rocinante. On Eros he meets Detective Miller, takes a lethal dose of radiation in the shelters and gets off the station at the last second.

Back on his feet, Holden helps raid Thoth Station and is furious when Miller kills the scientist Dresden. Later he watches Miller stay on Eros to steer the station into Venus. On Ganymede he helps botanist Prax search for his daughter and learns the monsters are children infected on purpose. When one of them gets aboard the Rocinante, Holden nearly dies in the cargo bay before the creature is burned up by the drive.

On Io, Holden captures Jules-Pierre Mao. Soon after, Miller's ghost starts appearing to him, calling himself an Investigator. Holden enters the Ring, touches the alien station and has visions of the end of everything. Nobody believes him, but he figures out the station responds to threats and convinces the ships to power down their reactors. The station calms down and opens the gates.

Avasarala sends Holden to Ilus as her envoy to referee the fight between the settlers and Royal Charter Energy. He accidentally wakes the alien structures and the planet strikes back. Miller leads him to an artifact that shuts down Ilus's technology. Holden disarms Murtry instead of killing him and destroys the last protomolecule sample on the Rocinante.

Naomi leaves to find her son, and Holden stays on Tycho with journalist Monica Stuart. Thanks to Naomi's warning, he doesn't launch the sabotaged Rocinante. When the asteroids hit Earth, he goes after her and picks up the fake distress call she distorted to warn of the trap.

Holden captures the Azure Dragon and learns Marco's next targets. In a fight with the Pella, he holds fire after seeing Filip on screen. After the battle at the Ring, Earth, Mars and the Belt choose Holden to lead the new Transport Union. He accepts and resigns on the spot, saying the Belt needs real power, and leaves Drummer in charge. The Rocinante flies on.

In James S. A. Corey's books, Holden debuts in Leviathan Wakes (2011) and narrates much of the series. On the show he's played by Steven Strait.