Characters / Outlander Jamie And Claire

This is a listing for the characters of Jamie and Claire in Outlander.

For the main character index, see here.

Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser

Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser

A former World War II nurse who finds herself trapped in the year 1743 in Scotland after she accidentally walked through a standing stone in Craigh Na Dun while on a second honeymoon with her husband Frank Randall. She meets Highlander Scot Jamie Fraser, is forced to marry him and eventually falls in love with him.

• Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Played straight with Claire in regards to Frank. When Claire is trapped in the 18th century, though she initially tries to make her way back to him, she ends up falling in love with Jamie and choosing to stay with him. Averted with Claire and Jamie, however, in that although they are not celibate during the years they are separated they are never truly out of each other's minds and hearts.

• Attempted Rape: Claire is almost raped by Randall in Fort William in Outlander. It's only thanks to Jamie that she escapes unscathed.
  • In Dragonfly in Amber, she is assaulted and almost raped by a gang of masked men in an alley in Paris. Again, it's mainly because of Jamie that she escapes. The men attempting to rape her recognise her and call her 'The Dame Blanche' and run away from her in fright. Claire is bewildered at why they would do that until Jamie admits to her that he told the nobles and prostitutes he was with (who were making sexual advances on him) that she was a witch, 'La Dame Blanche', to stop them from trying to flirt and go to bed with him.
• Babies Ever After: Sort of. Her first attempts at conceiving with Frank did not work out, but when she marries Jamie and chooses to be with him, she finds herself pregnant with his child. However, she has a miscarriage in her fifth month for unknown reasons, though stress was most likely a factor in it. On the eve of the battle of Culloden, she discovers that she is pregnant again, and this becomes a major force for her return through the stones to the 20th century — Jamie begs her to go, knowing that he is a dead man walking and wanting to spare Claire and their child from what he and Claire both knew would be rampant in the Highlands in the years following Culloden. Claire doesn't want to leave Jamie but does so for their child's sake, resenting this is the cause of her separation from Jamie.
• Back-Alley Doctor: Zigzagged to the point of being a recurring joke. Claire is a fully qualified nurse and later surgeon, so she's medically qualified. But because a woman in the 18th century would never have been allowed to formally study medicine, even those that respect Claire's talents assume that she's this. People often refer to Claire using terms like healer, conjure woman, wisewoman, or cunning-woman, which are usually used to refer to women who practice in something more like magic than modern medicine. Occasionally a bystander will call for a "real doctor" even when Claire has the situation in hand. And while people like Dr. Leckie and Dr. Fentiman are fully qualified by the standards of the time, to Claire, virtually everyone in the medical establishment is a Back-Alley Doctor.
  Dr. Leckie: I, madam, am a diplomate of the Medical College of Philadelphia!
  Claire: I congratulate you. You’re still wrong.
• Bad Liar: Claire is terrible at lying — Jamie comments to her multiple times throughout the series that her face gives all her thoughts away. Though she does become marginally better at it later in the series, as she hides the truth about the stones and Brianna's biological father from Brianna and Brianna does not suspect a thing until Claire tells her.

• Been There, Shaped History: Had a role in trying to prevent the battle of Culloden from happening, though ultimately the effort failed and it's suggested that what Jamie and Claire did to stop it only made the path toward Culloden more certain.

• Big Damn Heroes: Claire, Murtagh and Dougal's men, as they bust Jamie out of Wentworth Prison. Although Claire isn't a part of the actual rescue, she is the one who comes up with the plan and afterward operates on Jamie's hand so that he can still use it.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: With Claire as the gentle girl (although she's not as gentle as the trope suggests).
• Burn the Witch!: Claire and Geillie are accused of witchcraft, with this as a punishment.

• The Cassandra: Claire is often this, thanks to her knowledge of history.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Not really to an extreme degree, but Claire is seen to be possessive of Jamie at times and jealous of other people who are in (unrequited) love with Jamie. She is very jealous of Laoghaire.
• Combat Medic: Claire, in both the 20th century and the 18th.
• Convenient Miscarriage: Though not necessarily convenient, Claire miscarries her first child, a girl, during her fifth month of pregnancy, due to a detached placenta.
• Damsel out of Distress: This is a large part of Claire's character, and justified, given that she was a nurse during World War II and used to dangerous situations and the sight of men seriously injured because of war and violence. It is also because Claire has an indomitable will, and refuses to play the part of a victim in any situation. In situations such as the Inverness witch trial and Randall's attempt at raping her, Claire openly fights back and does not let her fear overcome her.

• Fire-Forged Friends: Claire and Marsali, Laoghaire's daughter (and Jamie's step-daughter).
• Fish out of Temporal Water: Claire is this in the first book and first season of the TV series, as she is accidentally brought into the 1700s via the stones.
• Florence Nightingale Effect: Claire can't help but notice Jamie's attractiveness while treating his wounds during her first night in Castle Leoch.
• Heal It with Booze: A cornerstone of Claire's medical practice, as both an anesthesia and a disinfectant.

• Happily Married: In the very beginning of the series, to Frank. Then she goes through the stones and meets Jamie, and ends up marrying him and choosing to stay with him instead of returning to Frank. However, on the eve of the battle of Culloden, Claire is forced to return through the stones to Frank and lives the next twenty years as his wife (though it's not a happy marriage). She later returns to Jamie and, after a few mishaps, resumes her Happily Married life with him.

• Horrible Judge of Character: Is prone to this, given her personality. She considers Geillis Duncan a friend even after Geillis drugs her and tries to interrogate her, and mourns her death by fire. It takes her over twenty years to realise just how dangerous Geillis is.
• It's All My Fault: Claire is guilt-ridden over her choice to stay in the past, as it means leaving Frank behind and betraying him by choosing to love Jamie.
• Law of Inverse Fertility: After months of trying with Frank, Claire finally becomes pregnant twice by Jamie.
• Love Hurts: Boy, does it ever.
• Mama Bear: To her daughter and only surviving child, Brianna. There is nothing she wouldn't do to protect her. Her main reason for killing Geillis Duncan in Voyager, other than the immediate danger to herself, Jamie and Young Ian, is to stop Geillis from travelling back to the 20th century and ensnaring Brianna in one of her insane plans to 'free Scotland' from British rule. Despite Claire's previous friendship with Geillis, the realisation that Geillis's actions would place Brianna in harm's way make Claire adamant to protect her daughter from her in any way possible, even if it meant killing Geillis herself.
• The Medic: Claire was a combat nurse during the Second World War, and as such is used dealing with blood, horror and violent deaths. In the 18th century she acts as a physician to the people of Castle Leoch and to Jamie, who she treats multiple times for serious injuries, although she is not actually qualified as a doctor. After she returns to the 20th century she enters medical school and finally becomes a certified doctor.
• The Mentor: Is this to Malva Christie in Breath.
• Mercy Kill: In 1968, Claire helps a terminally ill Scottish old man to die, having befriended him and believing it to be the right thing to do. However, a nurse sees her with the needle in her hand following the deed, and the hospital is notified. The result of this is that Claire is bumped up to a desk job and discreetly encouraged to take leave from the hospital for a time.
• Mistaken for Cheating: Frank accuses Claire of sleeping with Joe Abernathy, who is just a friend to her. Earlier in Outlander, after Frank sees a man looking up at Claire from outside the boarding-house in Inverness, he questions whether Claire had had an affair with one of her patients. Claire vehemently denies having done so, and is furious at Frank for thinking it of her.

• Near-Death Experience: Plenty. In Outlander Claire is almost burnt to death as a witch in Inverness, almost torn apart by wolves during her flight from Wentworth Prison after being forced to leave Jamie behind there in the hands of Randall, and almost tortured and killed by Randall himself at some points during the course of the story.
  • In Breath she falls ill with a mysterious illness and almost dies. At one point she envisions herself outside of her body and sees Jamie close to her body, grieving for her, with Malva beside him. Seeing that Malva stands intimately close to him and touching him, Claire is annoyed and chooses not to die so that she can put a stop to it.
  • In MOBY she is shot while tending to soldiers wounded during a battle, and would definitely have died from it if it had been a gut-shot.
• Nice Girl: Claire doesn't seem to have a mean bone in her body.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Claire's attempt to rescue Jamie from Wentworth Prison fails dismally. She's captured, and Jamie has to agree to Black Jack's terms to get Claire released.
• Parental Abandonment: Both Claire's parents died in a car accident when she was five years old; her uncle Lamb, who had been her guardian since then, was killed during the Blitz.
• Parental Substitute: To Marsali and William, who call her 'Mother Claire'. Marsali is Jamie's step-daughter from his marriage to Laoghaire while William is Jamie's son by Geneva. Claire takes on a mothering role to both.
• Perfectly Arranged Marriage: To Jamie. She is forced to marry him in order to be safe from Black Jack Randall; though not thrilled about it (she's still in love with her husband) she goes through with it and falls in love with Jamie, deciding to stay in 1743 despite being able to leave.
• Oblivious to Love: She has no clue that Jamie is in love with her until sometime after they are married.
• Older Than They Look: Claire is frequently described as appearing younger and more attractive than many people her age.
• Plucky Girl: She just never gives up!

• Rape as Drama: She is raped and brutally beaten by a band of thugs (who have abducted her to get at Jamie) in A Breath of Snow and Ashes. She never truly gets over it.

• Second Love: After finding herself moored in the 18th century in Outlander, Claire falls in love with Jamie Fraser and chooses to stay with him. However, after Culloden Claire finds herself separated from Jamie and back in the 20th century, where she reunites with Frank and becomes a wife to him again. However, there isn't any of the love Frank and Claire once shared in their marriage after she returns. Then after Frank's death, Claire discovers with Roger Wakefield's help that Jamie is in fact still alive in the 18th century, and sets off to reunite with him.
• Self-Surgery: Claire is forced to guide Jamie and Denzell through her immediate care after she's shot in the side. She has the presence of mind to avoid drinking water until she's sure the bullet hasn't perforated her bowel and insist that they pack the wound with Roquefort cheese (which contains penicillin).
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Claire curses surprisingly a lot for a woman of her time, and it is frowned upon by Frank in the 20th century. In the 18th century, Dougal's men are shocked at the words that come out of her mouth when she is treating Jamie's shoulder wound on the side of a road. Jamie remarks that when he first met her, he thought she was a "Sassenach bitch with a tongue like an adder's." He fell in love with her anyway.
• Someone to Remember Him By: Claire returns to the 20th century pregnant with Brianna. It's stated that Brianna was so much like Jamie (even as a baby) that whenever Claire looked at her she was instantly reminded of him.
• Starting a New Life: First, in the beginning of Outlander, she and her husband Frank go on a second honeymoon to Scotland to rekindle their relationship and start a new life together. After going through the stones Claire has to acquaint herself with life in 18th century Scotland, and eventually is forced to marry Jamie Fraser to protect herself from Black Jack Randall, thus starting her life as a wife to him (Jamie). After Claire finally chooses to stay permanently with Jamie in the 18th century as his wife, they journey to Lallybroch to set Jamie's affairs in order and meet Jenny, Jamie's sister, thus signalling another new beginning. And, after Jamie's escape from Wentworth, his, Claire and Murtagh's hurried flight across the Channel, arrival in Ste Anne's monastery, and after Jamie heals from his physical and emotional wounds that BJR's torture left on him, Jamie and Claire decide to take up an offer to go to Paris and have Jamie become a companion to Prince Charles and manager of a wine business run by Jamie's cousin Jared Fraser.
  • On the eve of Culloden a pregnant Claire is forced to return to the 20th century, and reunites with Frank and becomes a wife to him again. Soon after Frank takes Claire and they settle in Boston, Massachusetts, where he takes a job as a history professor.
  • After discovering that Jamie is, in fact, alive, Claire returns to the 18th century to reunite with him. Soon after, they end up travelling to the Colonies, where they settle in Fraser's Ridge.
• Surprise Pregnancy: Claire's pregnancy with Bree is certainly this. The realization of it shocks Claire, on the eve of Culloden when she attempts to insist staying with Jamie in the 18th century (and dying with him there, as they both know Jamie will die, whether in the battle or by execution). Although Jamie had known for weeks (or months), Claire did not know she was pregnant (or was unwilling to admit it to herself) until Jamie pointed it out to her.
• Sympathy for the Devil: Is known for this. Her identity as a medic, along with her forgiving and generous heart, causes her to feel pity, and often sympathy, for her enemies when others would not.
  • In Breath, despite having been brutally beaten and raped by Lionel Brown and his men, she finds it in herself to try and treat Lionel Brown's injuries, something which Jamie is astonished at. Later in the novel, she offers to do the same for one of the men who has wrongfully arrested herself and Jamie for murder and is rejected with much disgust on the man's part. In response, a hurt and angry Claire coldly tells him that he can let himself rot if he wants to.
• Team Mom: Becomes this to extended family and friends on the Ridge.
• That Old-Time Prescription: Claire has a broad knowledge of healing herbs and remedies, since that's often her only option in the past. She frequently relies on her modern medical knowledge to identify helpful remedies - like boiling joint fir because it contains Ephedra (which is known to help with asthma) or making DIY penicillin.
• Time-Travelers Are Spies: In Outlander, Claire is accused a number of times of being a spy, because of her uncanny knowledge of events to come.
• Took a Level in Badass: Near the end of Outlander Claire boldly searches the Highlands for Jamie with just Murtagh by her side, sneaks into Wentworth to find Jamie, and is later beset upon by wolves outside the prison and manages to kill one with her bare hands (and a scarf!). She is also the one who forms the plan which gets Jamie out of Wentworth Prison and away from the death sentence hanging over his head. Not to mention she successfully and very practically sets Jamie's mangled right hand in MacRannoch's house with only 18th-century medicine to help her.
• Took a Level in Cynic: By 1968, after twenty years of separation from Jamie, unfaithfulness on Frank's part and her own trauma and grief over Jamie's death and what happened during the Rising, Claire has become a lot more cynical than she was before.

• Trust Me, I'm an X: Claire uses variations of this line fairly often, though not always effectively.
• Wild Hair: Claire often complains of her extremely curly hair, which she finds hard to brush properly.
• Write Back to the Future: After the MacKenzies return to the 20th century Claire and Jamie write letters to them, talking about their daily lives, to be read at some point when Bree and Roger get back.
• You Are Not Alone: Claire says this to Jamie in Voyager, after he admits to her that he has an illegitimate son, revealing his heartbreak over not being permitted to be part of his son's life and explains the situation. He reaffirms Claire is the only woman he ever loved.

Jamie Fraser

Jamie Fraser

A red-headed Scot whom Claire meets and is forced to marry in 18th century Scotland.

• Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Though Jamie is not celibate during the twenty years he is separated from Claire, he never stops thinking about her and praying for her safety, and that of their child.

• Afraid of Needles: Jamie does not like having a needle stuck into him.
• Anger Born of Worry: Has this frequently toward Claire, when he sees her in danger because of her actions. A notable example is in Outlander, when Jamie yells at Claire for leaving the clearing where he had left her when he had ordered her to stay put. He was terrified for her and angry that she did not listen to him as it put their entire party in danger from the redcoats. It results in a shouting match on the side of a road at night-time, when the group is travelling away from Fort William.
  • He has this also in Voyagerwhen Claire goes onto the deck of the ship during a fight between pirates and the ship's crew. Claire is bewildered by Jamie's fury until Mr Willoughby tells her that Jamie is not angry exactly, but scared pretty badly.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: With Brianna.
• Badass Bookworm: Jamie is very educated and well-read for his time, and at the same time is lethal in a fight.
• Badass in Distress: In Dragonfly in Amber he is imprisoned in the Bastille for dueling and it is only thanks to Claire that he is freed in time to go foil Charles' attempt to raise money for an invasion fleet for the '45.
• Battle Couple: With Claire. Jamie makes the plans and fights in conflicts; Claire is there later to provide healing and support to the injured.
• Big Damn Heroes: Busts into Fort William with only an empty gun to rescue Claire from Jack Randall.

• Body Horror: Has horrifying layered scars on his back from repeated floggings from when he was imprisoned in Fort William for 'obstruction'. During his torture in Wentworth Prison Jamie's back is flayed, his face and body are brutally beaten and bruised, his skin is marred by horrific burns caused by a hot poker, and his right hand is grotesquely broken. As eloquently stated by Jamie, the only part of him that isn't injured is between his legs.
  • After the battle of Culloden he gains a scar on his thigh, where his leg was nearly amputated.
• Brave Scot: He's Scottish and he's definitely brave.
• Break the Cutie: Randall certainly attempts to do this during his torture of Jamie in Wentworth Prison. It's largely due to Claire that he doesn't succeed.

• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: With Claire as the gentle girl (although she's not as gentle as the trope suggests).
• Brutal Honesty: He rarely lies to others, and is known as an honest man. However, he does lie on occasion when he deems it necessary.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Jamie has some trouble saying the words 'I love you' to Claire when they are at Lallybroch in Outlander, and also cannot clearly admit that he is in love with her.

• Childhood Friends: Jamie with Elder Ian. They were practically brothers to each other and even swore a blood oath during their childhood to always be there for one another.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Was tortured and raped by Jack Randall in Wentworth Prison, the night before he was meant to be hanged. Though he recovers physically and mentally from the trauma, he is haunted by it for the rest of his life.
  • He has no problem with pretending to threaten Claire in front of William Grey to make the latter speak, and even goes so far as breaking the boy's arm. Claire is horrified by Jamie's actions. However, Jamie brushes it aside, claiming that what he did is usually acceptable in times of war.

• *Crack!* "Oh, My Back!": Played somewhat for laughs. Jamie throws his back out while out hunting in the dead of winter. When Claire finds him laying on the ground, she assumes he's been shot until Jamie somewhat ashamedly tells her that he threw his back out and can't move. Jamie later throws out his back while visiting a poor Quaker family, and is unable to move from the cabin's only bed for several days.
• Dark and Troubled Past: From the moment Jamie is taken to Fort William on the charge of obstruction, this trope comes into effect. Jamie suffers two brutal floggings, seeing his father die during the second flogging, is hunted as a convicted escaped murderer for four years (although he did not, in fact, commit the murder he was accused of), is seriously injured twice and has to return to France to recover, is brutally tortured and raped by Randall in Wentworth Prison in exchange for Claire's freedom... the list is endless.
  • After Culloden, he is forced to live in a cave for seven years, before he chooses to give himself up to the English to keep his family from starving. He does not seem to have many good memories of his time in Ardsmuir Prison. And then after that, he is paroled and forced into indentured servitude as a groom in Helwater. After this, he finally is pardoned and allowed to return home. However, Jamie finds that he's no longer truly home and he's lost his connection to the land which he grew up in.
• Decoy Damsel: Claire plays this role several times.
  • Zigzagged in Dragonfly, when Jamie uses Claire as a Decoy Damsel to convince John to talk but has not obtained Claire's permission in advance. Claire's struggling and anger is entirely real, though she forgives Jamie that same night.
  • Later played straight when Claire pretends to be a Jacobite hostage and allows the English soldiers to "rescue" her, counting on Jamie's ability to track her and take her straight back to Scotland.

• Deadpan Snarker: Has some signs of this.
• Determinator: He is very stubborn, and when he chooses to do something he will do it, no matter what.
• Dented Iron: Jamie has survived many many injuries over the years, including bullet wounds to the leg and arm, several deadly infections, a poisonous snake bite, being beaten nearly to death, being stabbed, having most of the bones in his hand crushed, and numerous bumps to the head. However, he does have serious scarring on his back, joint pain in his right hand, and several other less obvious scars. And while his resilience to head injury is noted repeatedly, he reveals to Claire that an attack with an ax left him tone-deaf, hinting at minor brain damage.
• Deuteragonist: Of Scottish Prisoner. It's debatable whether he'd be considered the deuteragonist of the main series as well, or actually a protagonist like Claire.

• Domestic Abuse: Gives Claire a rough strapping (more like a beating) in Outlander to punish her for disobeying his orders to stay put in the glade and putting everyone at risk. To be exact, he put her onto his lap and beat her until his arm tired, so hard that Claire could still feel the marks days later. To be fair though, it was only meant to be a light strapping, but Claire struggled against him and Jamie lost his temper with her. It was something he swore he'd never do again, and he has not, as far as the main books go.

• Even the Guys Want Him: Boy, do they ever. The Duke of Sandringham makes indecent advances upon Jamie's person when Jamie is sixteen years old and staying at Castle Leoch (in fact, that is the reason why Jamie leaves the castle so abruptly during that stay), practically attempting to rape Jamie in the stables at one point. Jack Randall also makes his interest known, in a very brutal, sadistic fashion. Lord John is also madly in love with Jamie, but thankfully accepts that his love is unrequited and seems content to remain a close friend of Jamie.
• The Exile: Played straight and subverted multiple times. In Outlander, because Jamie is an outlaw he is forced to flee Scotland with Claire and Murtagh after his escape from prison to avoid being recaptured by the English. It's only after the Duke of Sandringham issues an official pardon that he is able to return to his rightful place in Lallybroch. However, after the Rising Jamie is hunted as a Jacobite traitor and eventually gives himself up to the English (or rather gets someone to turn him in) to keep Lallybroch from starving to death during the famine. He ends up imprisoned in Ardsmuir and later serves parole in England for over seven years. Once he is finally pardoned and able to return to Scotland, he finds that he's lost the connection he once had to his ancestral home, and that he is a complete stranger to his people. This is part of what sends him into his depression and Heroic BSoD which compelled Jenny to convince him to marry again.
  • After Claire's return, she and Jamie travel to America to rescue Young Ian from pirates. They end up staying there and settling in the Colony of North Carolina. Though it's by Jamie's own choice, he does admit that sometimes he misses Scotland and would like to return there one day.
• Feeling Their Age: In the later books, Jamie is clearly beginning to feel this, at one point recognizing that his much less experienced son William could have beaten him in a fight.
• Fingore: Jamie's hand after Outlander.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Jamie and Lord John, in a way. At first Jamie is hostile toward John, especially after realising that John is homosexual and in love with him, but he eventually thaws and comes to trust and like John. Although they do not have to fight on the same side in anything to get to that point.
• Florence Nightingale Effect: Jamie falls in love with Claire when she is treating his wounds during Claire's first night in Castle Leoch.
• Frame-Up: Jamie was framed for the murder of a sergeant in Fort William during an attempted prison break, and though he was not guilty of the charge he admits that he had done for a good many other red soldiers that the accusation was not completely undeserved.
  • In A Breath of Snow and Ashes he is accused of first committing adultery with Malva Christie, and then conspiring to murder her. He is thankfully acquitted of both of these charges.
• From Dress to Dressing: Claire uses this technique multiple times, in part because it's the cleanest piece of fabric in the vicinity.

• Guile Hero: Jamie is very good at using guile to trick and get past his enemies. In Voyager, when trying to get back to Fergus, Marsali and the Artemis, he manages to take command of an entire garrison by pretending to be a French captain called Alessandro.
• Final Battle-Induced Shirt Loss: In the TV show, Jamie seems to be prone to this. Not that most fans are complaining.
• Happily Married: To Claire, before and after their twenty-year separation.
• Heroic BSoD: While he is recovering from his torture at the hands of Randall. It takes Claire to bring him out of it.
• Hard Head: More than once, Jamie survives a serious bump on the head without sustaining a concussion. Claire jokes that Jamie has “the thickest skull I’ve ever seen.”

• Hot-Blooded: Jamie is known for this. On a number of occasions (including in Drums of Autumn, when he beat Roger to a pulp and sold him to the Iroquois) he has acted on impulse and rage, not thinking of the consequences of his actions until it was too late.
• I Choose to Stay: Jamie chooses to stay at Helwater to be part of his son Willie's life. He takes an active role in raising Willie and this works until Willie is six, when people begin noticing Willie's resemblance to Jamie. Jamie and Lord John realize the risk this poses to Willie if Willie's parentage were discovered and Jamie must leave Helwater to protect his son. He asks Lord John to raise Willie in his stead.
• I Didn't Mean to Turn You On: Lord John is sexually attracted to Jamie, and though he tries not to show it, it comes out sometimes. Jamie, having been tortured and raped before by a homosexual soldier, does not like it.
• I Have Many Names: In addition to his own hefty name, James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser, Jamie has been known by a number of aliases including but not limited to: Jamie MacTavish, Red Jamie, Dunbonnet, MacDubh, Alexander "Mack" MacKenzie, Alexander Malcolm, Jamie Roy
• Impaled Palm: A incredibly graphic version of this trope takes place when Jamie attempts to escape from Wentworth Prison.
• Indentured Servitude: He serves seven years as an indentured servant in Helwater as part of his parole from Ardsmuir Prison.
• Innocently Insensitive: Jamie seems to have a habit of doing this.
• I Owe You My Life: Says this to Claire after she rescues him from Wentworth and brings him out of his PTSD/ASD.
• It's All My Fault: Blames himself for his father's death, as he feels that if he had accepted Randall's offer of buggery instead of flogging then he would still be alive. He also blames himself for the death of Geneva Dunsay, as she had died giving birth to their son William who had been conceived the one night she and Jamie slept together. It's hard to say whether he is right in blaming himself so much — Geneva could have easily have died even if it had been Ellesmere's child that she had been carrying.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Has shades of this, later in the series.
• Large and in Charge: Jamie is 6'4'' and broad-shouldered, and he's most definitely in charge.
• The Lost Lenore: Claire is this for him — he never stops pining for her during all the twenty years they are separated.
• Love Hurts: Boy, does it ever.
• Major Injury Underreaction: Jamie is occasionally prone to this, in part because of his medical history and in part because he trusts Claire to fix anything to the best of her ability.
• Marry for Love: Jamie reveals to Claire that his agreeing to wed her was this.
• Mistaken for Cheating: In Outlander Claire accuses him of cheating on her with Laoghaire. He makes it clear that he did no such thing.
• Mr. Fanservice: Is definitely this.
• My God, What Have I Done??: Jamie's general reaction after realising that the man he beat up and sold to the Iroquois was none other than the man his daughter is in love with, and not the rapist he thought the man was. He immediately resolves to rescue Roger from his slavery and make it up to both Roger and Bree.
• My Greatest Failure: Jamie will likely never forgive himself for bedding Geneva Dunsay (although he was blackmailed into it by Geneva herself) and causing the pregnancy which led to her Death By Child Birth. He is seen doing penance for it by Lord John a week or two after her death, by lying on the chapel floor covered with nothing but his shirt every night until Geneva's funeral. Near the end of Written in My Own Heart's Blood, he reveals his sorrow and guilt over Geneva's death to his son William but tells William that he's not sorry William was born.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Jamie's allowing Bonnet to evade the authorities not only is repaid by Bonnet robbing him, but also results in Bree's rape.
• Not Quite Dead: Unbeknownst to Claire, Jamie survives Culloden and spends the next twenty years in complete misery without her. Quite the surprise, since Jamie meant to die that day, and everyone knows that when Jamie's made up his mind to do something, no-one and nothing can stop him from doing it.
• No One Should Survive That!: Jamie survives Culledon despite the extremely high casualty rate and the fact that Jamie planned to die and purposely put himself in range of British cannons and guns.
  • In An Echo in the Bone, Claire and Lord John receive news that the ship Jamie was meant to be sailing to America in was lost at sea during a fierce storm. Believing him to be dead, they wed so that Claire will be protected from the authorities who want to arrest her for espionage. Unknown to them, Jamie is in fact, alive, having been forced earlier to take another ship to the Colonies (since the Euterpe left before Jamie arrived to board it) and Claire and Lord John get quite a shock when he appears in Philadelphia to reclaim his wife.
• Oblivious to Love: Jamie never realises that Laoghaire is madly in love with him until they marry in 1764.
• Oh, Crap!: The look on Jamie and Ian's faces when they see Brianna's drawing of Roger Wakefield and realise that he was the man they beat up and sold to the Iroquois months before.
• Older Than They Look: Jamie is frequently described as appearing younger and more attractive than most people his age.
• Overly Long Name: James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser.
• Papa Wolf: He deeply loves and is protective of his children — daughter Brianna, son William, nephew Ian, and the children he is a Parental Substitute for: Fergus, Marsali and Joan. Jamie challenges Jonathan Randall to a duel when he catches Randall molesting Fergus; he kills Ellesmere when Ellesmere threatens to drop his newborn son William out a window; and he threatens and slams Roger 9into a wall to make his point clear that he won't accept any abuse from Roger of his daughter Bree.
  Jamie(softly): Treat her badly and I’ll rip your balls off and cram them down your throat.
  • Even earlier, he beats Roger to a pulp and sells him to the Iroquois on the mistaken assumption that Roger is the man who raped his daughter. Clearly, Jamie won't stand for any harm coming to Bree while he can help it, and will avenge any wrongs done to her if he can.
• Parental Abandonment: His mother died in childbirth; his father died of a stroke while watching Jamie's second flogging at Fort William.
• Parental Substitute: To Fergus, Marsali, and Joan.

• Past Experience Nightmare: Jamie still has nightmares about Culloden, his time in Ardsmuir, and basically most of the other horrific experiences he has been through in his life. Claire is usually there to comfort him, except when she and Jamie are separated after Culloden.
• * Perfectly Arranged Marriage: To Claire. He is already enamored with her when they first meet, and becomes close friends with her after. After their forced wedding they seem to have a great deal of chemistry, simpathy and love for each other.
• Pragmatic Hero: Jamie is very careful when he makes plans of action, accounting for possible changes. He is also good at improvising if the situation calls for it.
• Pride: Jamie can be a very proud man. This is pointed out by Claire in Drums, during her, Jamie and Ian's stay in the Indian village where Roger is being held captive. After reuniting with Roger and Jamie (who had been separated from Claire during Alexandre's burning and the chaos afterward), Jamie begs her to tend to his injured arm. Claire immediately suspects that it is a ruse on Jamie's part, since she knows that Jamie is too proud to show his weaknesses and injuries in front of others unless he has ulterior motives for doing so.
• Rape and Revenge: Jamie is raped by Jack Randall in the first book, and spends a quarter of the next book trying to get revenge on him after discovering that he survived Wentworth. He does get his vengeance, though he does not kill him as he wished to (because of his promise to Claire), and instead slices off Randall's cock with his dueling sword.
• Rape as Drama: Is raped by Randall in Wentworth.
  • During his indenture he is blackmailed into sleeping with his master's daughter, Geneva Dunsay. Although it is debatable whether it could be called rape.
• Rebellious Spirit: He doesn't care much about following the law, as long as he is doing what he thinks is right and honorable. He decides to fight in the American Revolution, on the Americans' side, at first because he knows they will win, but later realises that he actually believes in what they are fighting for and ends up truly fighting for their cause with all his heart.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: After he and Claire settle on the Ridge, he becomes this.

• Secret Test of Character: In A Breath of Snow and Ashes, Jamie reveals to Claire that he gave one to Lord John Grey before allowing him to raise his son William in his stead. He tests John's reasons by offering John his body, explaining to Claire that if John had taken him up on his offer to have sex with him in return, he would have killed John as he would not let John have Willie. Because Jamie is prevented from raising Willie himself, he needs to ensure John has Willie's best interests at heart and will raise Willie with love, rather than agreeing to raise Willie because Willie looks so much like Jamie — the man John is attracted to. However, John unknowingly passes Jamie's test by turning down his offer and becomes a wonderful Parental Substitute for Willie, for which Jamie is grateful. John and Jamie may have their differences but they both want the best for Willie.
  "Tell me..." [Claire] hesitated, and [Jamie] looked at [her], one eyebrow up. "If—if [John] had... er... taken you up on that offer—and you’d found him..." [Claire] fumbled for some reasonable wording. "Less, um, decent than you might hope—"
  "I should have broken his neck there by the lake," [Jamie] said. "It wouldna have mattered if they’d hanged me; I’d not have let him have the boy."
• Sexual Extortion: Geneva Dunsay, the daughter of Jamie's master in Helwater, blackmails Jamie into sleeping with her for one night. If he doesn't, she threatens to reveal the treasonous contents of a letter sent by Jenny to Jamie to Lord Dunsay, which could have disastrous consequences for Jamie and his family in Scotland. This is enough to make Jamie comply.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Is described by Dougal's men in Outlander as having a 'filthy mouth on him'. It seemed to be cured after a stay at Ste. Anne's in France, but as Claire later finds out, apparently not.
• The Smart Guy: Jamie is one of the smartest characters in the series, and often uses his brains to think his way out of a problem.

• The Stoic: Jamie is known to have an unreadable expression when he is feeling a strong emotion.
  • Not So Stoic: Jamie weeps with abandon when Claire shows him the photos of Brianna at different stages of her childhood shortly after Claire reunites with him in the 18th century.
• The Team Normal: Is the only one of the main cast who lacks the time-traveling "gene". This means that he can't go through the stones, doesn't hear them humming, and that anyone who wants to see him has to come to his time, instead of him going to another. This causes considerable angst for him when he's separated from Claire.
• Tranquil Fury: Like Colum, Jamie has a tendency of doing this. However, he also has the other kind of fury too, at other times.
• Undying Loyalty: To Claire, his family and his men.
• Warrior Poet: Sort of. Jamie is a warrior, but isn't a poet, though he is well-read and educated for his time.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gets this multiple times (and also gives it to others) throughout the series.
  • In Dragonfly in Amber, Claire calls him out on his behaviour when he challenges Jack Randall to a duel.
  • He gives one himself to Claire near the end of Dragonfly, for putting Frank's life and well-being ahead of his own.
• Write Back to the Future: After MacKenzie's return to the 20th century, Claire and Jamie write letters to them, talking about their daily lives, to be read at some point when Bree and Roger get back.