James Mullin

James Mullin was a famous Fhainnin actor and film director. He is most famous career-wise for his role in the 1984 film The Bishop of Glengad, in which he plays the titular Bishop, who is intentionally forecasted as the villain in the drama film until the final scenes. Internationally, he is famous for his abduction and death at the hands of Varshan.

Early Life
James Mullin was born on July 3rd, 1955 to Elwyss and Donney Mullin in the city of Cancale, in the Rhydwellann Province of Faneria. He had an unremarkable childhood and attended Taghmon Arts College, obtaining a Bachelors' in Film Study and being picked up as an extra by the Cancale Film Studio, a minor film and tv production firm. He played several roles in live television shows, especially slice-of-life comedies, where his facial expressiveness and the ease at which he absorbed lines got him a role in the B-film Ocean's Edge.

Career in the Occident
Ocean's Edge had a lukewarm reception, and would later become a cult classic due to its themes of corruption, which were and to an extend still are received poorly by government entities in Faneria. However, Mullin did well enough in his role to be offered a job as the primary antagonist of the studio's upcoming film Six-Shooter, a foray into the western genre. Here, in an entirely serious portrayal of his persona, Mullin thrived, and the film reached 3rd in viewership nationally at the time largely in part to his performance as a ruthless bandit lord.

His fame only increased even with a few more dud films, with Mullin becoming renowned as an A-list actor specializing in playing antiheroes, sympathetic villains, and red herring villain characters. However, he never lost his love for comedy work, and instead of ignoring his strengths, played into his less developed skills at comedic acting. Instead, he planned his own comedies, particularly with low-budget, sarcastic comedy films such as One Up the Mountainside which he bankrolled himself. He also acted in and directed occasional outliers such as the outrageously provocative adult comedy Shock and Raw, which is banned in 23 countries. While not his best acting work, the deliberate hamminess of his personal films was a major draw of his personality as an actor, along with his eschewing of higher-society social clubs in favor of working.

Abduction and Career in Varshan
Mullin disappeared during a 1988 film conference in Etzil, where he was attending as part of a speakers' panel on low-budget filmography and techniques. After the panel, at approximately 10-11 PM local time, he was assaulted by an unknown number of agents when stepping outside to indulge in his occasional smoking habit, and was shipped out of the country at some point without notice. His disappearance was noted near the end of the night and a two-week search was conducted to no avail.

Mullin remained a cold case until 1991, when he starred in a Varshan 'infotainment' propaganda documentary titled [West-Capital-Corruptionism] and Occidental Life. The documentary was part incitement against, part degradation of Occidental life, massively skewing issues in Western countries out of proportion such as hunger, colonialism, religious conflict, and the perceived moral and social decay of 'ungodsly' Occidental cultures. When the film was released, it created outrage in the international film community, with many thinking Mullin had possibly defected to Varshan. Later revelations about his treatment not made public until 2005 lead to a total collapse in dialogue between Varshan and Faneria in 2003.

Mullin later appeared in numerous Varshani propaganda flicks and comedic reels, typically as a villainous Occidental, from 1991-2014. His most popular series during this time was Why we Stand, an eleven-chapter series of hour-and-a-half long documentaries decrying the history of the Deluge, the Occidental Nations, and even sectarian elements within Varshani society. Mullin only played a small role in these films as a stand-in for occasional representations of Occidental soldiers or persons, with other captive and possibly some hired westerners filling in other roles; his primary job from 1991-2004 appears to have been as a director under Varshani supervision. During this time, Mullin's films were noted as being extremely high-quality compared to previous Varshani propaganda, playing on uniquely Varshani sensibilities and bringing western scene composition and lighting techniques to the film industry in Varshan, which had previously preferred a more flowing format with as few cuts as possible.

After 2004, he took a more active role within films, often being portrayed as multiple Occidental characters through creative makeup and editing as the foreign population in Varshan dwindled due to diplomatic pressure. This also coincided with a return to shot composition with fewer cuts, and while film quality remained high with him involved, it became clear Mullin was not in ultimate control of his films and a conscious decision had been made to revert to a native scene-shooting style. This change may have been directly related to the 2003 revelation that Mullin had blinked out an SOS signal several times during his brief appearances in the Why we Stand series.

Mullin's condition deteriorated noticeably with successive films, becoming more haggard, visibly distressed, and sporting tics and cues indicative of physical injuries and possibly other forms of abuse.

Escape Attempt, Foreign Butchers at Jeb!ultepec, and Death
In 2013, Mullin attempted to escape the country with the help of an anonymous foreign diplomat. The event was covered up and Mullin 'pardoned' by his handlers, but at some point a memo from the civil government in Anzo ordered Mullin be punished. In retaliation, he was forced to take part in a specially planned scene for the military film Foreign Butchers at Jeb!ultepec. The film centered on a fictional sack of the city by ambiguously Occidental forces, who perform various common outrages and crimes specifically designed to infuriate a Varshani audience, before the Varshani Army triumphantly arrives and crushes the invaders. The last scene filmed, and the last in the film chronologically that involved Mullin, largely consisted of him being genuinely struck with a rifle butt, kicked, and battered with fists during a scene involving Varshani troops 'avenging the honor' of a temple attendant his character had been implied to be acting lewdly towards. Mullin appeared to have not been aware of the intentions of the soldiers, played by actual Varshani military personnel, prior to the attack, and repeatedly attempted to curl up or beg for the soldiers to stop in both Fhasen and lower Varshani, calling to one of the soldiers who had worked with him previously as well as several of the staff by name, including fellow captive crewmember Dana Williamson of Alstin. The beating was described as 'horrifically excessive' by analysts and went on for eight minutes and forty-six seconds of uninterrupted footage, during the last fifty seconds of which Mullin appears to have been unconscious.

Mullin's condition deteriorated rapidly and he is believed to have passed away in January 2014 at the age of 58, as a direct result of complications from the beating. The footage of his assault was used in the final film and released for the civilian population in Varshan later that year, with Mullin's role listed as 'Barbarian 1'.

Reactions in Varshani society were unusually unfavorable towards the film, as while it was not socially appropriate to disapprove of state-sanctioned actions, Mullin had become an endearing figure to many middle-caste watchers for his acting style and familiar face and the scene was not censored or forewarned in any way, greatly distressing a large number of viewers who had not expected a fan favorite to be brutalized in a film shown to general audiences of all ages.

Legacy
Mullin's role as an unwilling captive of the Varshani state from the beginning was confirmed by records in 2026 after the fall of the Varshani regime in the Final War of the Deluge. He had previously refused an offer to work for the regime on a lucrative pay scheme, citing clauses that prevented him from being out of the country for more than a few weeks at a time to visit his family, effectively monopolizing his time and career for the duration of the contract.

His remains were discovered in a mass grave allocated for government-owned slaves outside of Anzo in August of 2026, several months after the records were discovered. The search was not intentional, as it was part of an effort to match the dead to families within Varshan. His remains were noted immediately by their exceptionally healthy teeth, particularly including a filling he had received prior to abduction that would never have been bothered with on a low-caste 'disposable' slave. Dental records and later DNA matched his remains, and he was shipped back to Faneria by a military transport for a postmortem examination.

His funeral, a private closed-casket affair, took place at his hometown of Cancale on October 8. 2026. The city later held a vigil ceremony on the 23rd of November. He was survived by his wife, two children, two grandchildren, and several extended family members, most notably his son, actor Gregory Mullin.

On October 19, 2026, the native branch of government of League-occupied Varshan issued a formal apology for the treatment of James Mullin and other foreign captives, and Mullin was posthumously awarded the State Honour of Service to the Realm in the Arts, an award previously reserved for ethnic Varshani of middle and upper castes.

On October 20, 2026, records of the six soldiers who participated in the fatal beating of Mullin were released; as of the time of the collapse of Anzo, three were dead, one was WIA, and the remaining two were unaccounted for.