List of Maximum Ride characters

This is a list of characters in the Maximum Ride children's book series by James Patterson.

The Flock

Fang

Fang is a 14-year-old avian-human hybrid (turns 15 in Fang), and second-in-command of the Flock. He is tall, with olive skin, dark eyes and black hair. Fang has black feathers, and a wingspan of 14 feet (4.3 m). He is generally quiet, rarely showing his emotions ( the "strong and silent type"). Fang has the ability to seemingly "disappear", the ability to blend in with dark backgrounds making him "invisible"; as long as he stays quiet and makes no sudden movements. He also has the ability to breathe underwater.

Fang has romantic feelings for Max and they kiss a couple of times which makes max confused. Max keeps pushing Fang away but he never gives up on her. Finally in MAX: A Maximum Ride Novel, Max kisses Fang before she goes under water to save Dr. Martinez and love blooms. Fang's mother was a teenager, who was told he had died when he was taken by the School. In Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, Fang was furious when Max rescued Ari from the School and invited him to join them. As a result the Flock split, with Fang, Iggy and Gazzy traveling to the West Coast of the United States and Max, Nudge, Angel, Total, and Ari going to Europe. Later, at the end of the book, the Flock regrouped.

Angel correctly predicts that Fang will be the first to die in Fang, but Max revives him by injecting his heart with adrenaline. He leaves in the second epilogue of Fang, because he thinks he is endangering the Flock by distracting Max from her role as leader. He lets her know numerous times in the letter that he wrote to her at the end of Fang that he loves her more than anything, and he says to her that if they are both still alive in 20 years, he will meet her at the top of the cliff where they met the hawks in The Angel Experiment.

In Angel Fang tries to defeat the Doomsday Group with the help of some Gen 77 kids and a clone of Max named Maya (or Max II). when Maya first arrives, he thinks this is a bad idea, making it even harder to be apart from Max, but he soon starts to notice differences and recognized Maya as a unique individual. He also mentions several times that he has felt attracted to her, saying that when she was standing close to him. "He had to force himself to keep his breathing regular" and "had to force himself not to kiss her", though it's never clear that he has these thoughts because he truly likes Maya, or she just reminds him of Max. Meanwhile, he is jealous of Dylan, who loves Max. He almost accepts him toward the end, saying that "he is trying to be a team player." Also, when Max was upset about Angel's "death", Fang was there for her because he knew family was her first priority, but leaves with his new "flock" after they search for Angel.

Iggy

Iggy is a 14-year-old avian-human hybrid ( turns 15 in Fang ). He is blind, but has adjusted well. In Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel, Iggy is described as six feet tall and skinny. He has really pale skin, reddish-blonde hair, and light blue eyes. He is sarcastic by nature.

Iggy is blind because the School tried unsuccessfully to enhance his night vision. As a result, his other senses are enhanced; he develops the ability to feel color, and "sees" contours when snow-blind. He can distinguish the Flock members by their footsteps, fingerprints and feathers; they tap his hand to communicate silently. In Fang, he can make out shapes and identify cars from pictures in magazines. He is also described as being a good cook. He loves explosives and is a skilled bomb-maker, usually working with the Gasman to destroy a target. In The Angel Experiment, he and Gazzy build a bomb they call "Big Boy" to protect their home and get rid of the Erasers. He is described as being very smart. In School's Out Forever Iggy meets his parents, but leaves them when they want to capitalize on his story. His real name is James Griffith. He was kidnapped by the School when he was four months old for experimentation, and confirms his identity with a birthmark. In Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, he leaves the Flock and joins Fang and Gazzy's "mini flock". When the Flock members reunite, they go to Dr. Martinez, where he falls in love with Max's half-sister, Ella. In Angel, Iggy is brainwashed by the Doomsday Group. Max, Dylan, and Angel snap him out of it by forcing him under cold water.

Nudge

Nudge is an 11-year-old avian-human hybrid ( turns 12 in Fang ). She is fairly tall with curly brown hair, mocha colored skin, and dark-brown eyes. she is African American. Nudge's wings are a tawny russet, similar to those of a hawk. She doesn't like rats. Her real name is Monique; her name at the School was Tiffany-Krystal, and her code was N88034gnh.

Nudge can sense old emotions, attract metal to her hand and hack into almost any computer system. Sensing old emotions has its disadvantages; she feels great distress when touching something which has seen great sadness, as she did at the Vietnam Memorial. Of all the Flock, Nudge is the one most determined to find her biological parents and exhibits a strong desire to be normal. She is feminine, loves fashion, and is concerned with her appearance. Nudge is the most agreeable character, usually allied with Max. She uncharacteristically leaves the Flock in Max, but soon returns.

The Gasman (Gazzy)

Gazzy is an eight-year-old avian-human hybrid ( turns nine in barn owl's in color, and his wingspan is 10 feet (3.0 m). He earned his name because he frequently passes gas. Gazzy is Angel's older brother; they are the only members of the Flock who are blood relatives. When Angel told him that their parents had sold them to the School for $10,000 each he was horrified, complaining for hours that they were "sick jerks". Gazzy has a fear of spiders. His code at the School was F28246eff and while the Flock attends school in Virginia, he is known as Zephyr. Gazzy is skilled in mimicry and ventriloquism. He can pass gas at will, giving off a mushroom cloud of green gas.

He, along with Iggy, is skilled at making bombs and has a lot of knowledge about them. For example, when he and Iggy had to escape from their original house in The Angel Experiment they created a bomb to distract and, hopefully, rid themselves of the Erasers for the time being. In Max he and Iggy turned the "dumb-bots" into "popcorn" at the Flock's safe house by shooting a lightning rod at a crowd of them. They dub this the "Gaz-Ig-Nart" technique, using it once more against a nuclear submarine when Dumb-bots attacked it. Gazzy also knows a lot of information about guns, which is briefly shown in Max when he and the rest of the flock are training at the Navy Base in Hawaii. In Angel, Gazzy is traumatized after nearly allowing Jeb to die after a plane crash. Afterwards, he and Angel join the Doomsday Group as spies for the Flock. At the end of the book, Gazzy has seven minutes to disarm an arsenal of bombs and poison gas under Paris and is mostly successful.

Angel

Angel is a six-year-old avian-human hybrid ( has a birthday, her seventh, with the rest of the Flock in Fang, but said that she turned seven in Max ). She has curly blond hair, blue eyes, and white wings that make her look angelic. Despite this, she frustrates the rest of the Flock. Angel "hit the genetic jackpot", developing a variety of powers throughout the series. She is a telepath, and can influence most people to do her will. Angel can breathe underwater, talk to fish, send animals mental messages, and change her appearance at will.

Some characters have been able to block Angel's mind control; in The Angel Experiment, she notices that Jeb is able to block her mind-reading abilities. In Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, she tries to play mind games with Ter Borcht and some Chinese scientists, but tells Max that she can't get into their heads.

Angel owns a small black Scottish Terrier named Total, whom she stole from the Institute for Higher Living, and a small stuffed bear dressed as an angel named Celeste. Although she is somewhat claustrophobic like the rest of the Flock, she also likes small cozy spaces. Max describes Angel's bed in their original house as "like a nest—full of stuffed animals, books, most of her clothes". She wants to replace Max, and is more likely to disobey her than the others. Angel disappeared after the explosion in Angel; Max and the others mistakenly assume she is dead.

Total

Total is a black Scottie, who joined the Flock after their visit to the Institute of Higher Living. Total seems to know more about recent history than the Flock does; he can identify Brad Pitt in Madame Tussauds, and opines that there were two shooters in the JFK assassination. He is refined, expressing disgust when Max refuses to stop and enjoy the sights of Paris. Total is devoted to Angel at first, gravitating towards Max as the series progresses. Angel never leaves Total behind; in the second book the Flock returned to Anne's house for Total, although it was swarming with Erasers.

In the fourth book Total falls in love with a white Malamute named Akila, who nearly dies in a hurricane. When he discovers she survived he licks her face, which she enjoys. However, Akila is a normal dog; she cannot understand Total when he speaks to her in English or French. Max talks to Total about this; Total says he can talk to Akila in his "native language" (dog language). Total and Akila marry at the end of Fang. He reappears as a minor character in Angel, staying with Mrs. Martinez and Ella while Akila visits her family after their honeymoon. His wings have grown to their full size, and he can fly without difficulty.

School characters

Jeb Batchelder

Jeb is Ari's father, although this did not stop the School from transforming Ari into an Eraser. In Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, Max learns that Jeb is her father. Throughout the series, he insists he is a friend of the Flock and wants to help them. Whenever he and the Flock meet, he reminds Max that everything is a test. Max begins to regain her trust in Jeb after learning the identities of her parents, since Dr. Martinez trusts him and Max trusts her mother.

Jeb first informed Max that it was her destiny to save the world. In Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports Max thought that Jeb was her Voice, but in The Final Warning Jeb explains that although he "can do the Voice" he is not the Voice. Jeb is last seen in "Angel" by Total leaving the house with Dr. Martinez and disappearing without a trace.

Ari Batchelder

School to hunt the Flock. He is the most wolflike of the Erasers—always in a partially-morphed state, he was once mistaken for Wolverine by a young boy at Disney World. Ari is illiterate; he, likes Max,and hears a Voice in his head too. As the son of Jeb Batchelder, he is Max's half-brother. When he was three years old his father disappeared with the Flock, leaving Ari in the care of the School's genetic scientists. They experimented with Ari, incorporating his original DNA with wolf DNA and transforming him into an Eraser; the change causes him burning pain.

Despite his desire for Max's death, Ari admires her. He is willing to do anything to kill the entire group, especially Fang. During the fight in The Angel Experiment, Max kills Ari by breaking his neck. The School saves him by realigning his spine, and grafts a pair of wings onto his back. Ari also appears in "Schools Out Forever" when he plans to kidnap Max in order to win her approval and attention. Ari's greatest desire is to have Jeb be proud of him; he is jealous of how his father dotes on Max. He expresses a desire to choke his father, and Jeb realizes he ought to pay more attention to him. He does not talk much, "as if he didn't think he had a right to an opinion."

Ari tries to support Max during her tests against Omega and later, when a mutant riot breaks out, uses his strength to "toss smaller mutants into the mosh pit of death". In the middle of the fight, he suddenly dies. Jeb and the Flock attend Ari's makeshift funeral, each tossing dirt onto the casket; most say a few words. Max, Nudge, Total and Angel break down and cry. In the fifth book the Flock's new enemy, Mr. Chu, creates an Ari lookalike robot in an attempt to frighten Max; it is destroyed in Iggy and Gazzy's explosion.

Max II (Maya)

At the beginning of the series, Max II is an evil clone of the original Max who attempts to destroy the Flock by killing her predecessor. In School's Out Forever, Max is kidnapped and replaced by Max II; however, she is exposed by announcing she was going to cook breakfast, by her ignorance of the Flock and by Angel's mind-reading. She had been spying on the Flock (aided by Ari) because they annoyed her. At the end of School's Out Forever, Max II fights what is supposed to be a death match with the original Max, who spares her because she regards her clone as another person. Max II seems convinced that the original Max is self-confident, but speaks with empathy when observing her.

In Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, the Flock finds her at the headquarters of Itex in Germany with other mutants preparing for termination. She warns the original Max about how fast Itex is killing the mutants, and says that they have about a day before they too are terminated. There are also clones of Nudge and Angel, but they are never mentioned again. She returns in Angel where she has changed her name to Maya, added a magenta streak to her hair, and joined Fang's new group. Fang, at first, has some problems with Maya due to her resemblance to Max; he has to force himself not to kiss her. Throughout the book she tries to establish that despite being Max's clone, she has her own personality and feelings. Fang eventually appreciates this.

Anne Walker

Anne is an FBI agent, whom the Flock meets shortly after an accident which forces Fang to be taken to a hospital for treatment. She offers the Flock (who are disguised as children of missionaries) protection in exchange for a chance to study them in "non-painful, noninvasive" ways. Anne brings them to her country château, and treats them with parental kindness and generosity.

Anne also enrolls the Flock in a school without their knowledge. When Iggy and Gazzy set off bombs in their new home she gives them hot chocolate and cookies, annoying Max. Living alone, she is unaccustomed to domesticity and struggles to cook and make her new guests comfortable. Her greatest success was the Flock's first Thanksgiving meal and she offers to adopt them—unsettling Max, who is jealous of Anne's position with the Flock. Soon after Thanksgiving Max is cornered by the school's headmaster and several whitecoats, which convinces her it is time to leave. The Flock escapes from the school, returning to the house to get Total. Erasers arrive at Anne's house; she does not resist their search. After retrieving Total Max flies down to talk to Jeb, Ari and Anne; Jeb reveals that Anne is his boss. Heartbroken, the Flock leaves quickly.

In Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, the Flock is captured and taken back to the School. According to Max, Anne acts "in an un-adoptive Mom way" and tries to convince the Flock that they had dreamed their adventure away from the School. When the Flock is caged in preparation for termination, she tells them "You know what's really sad? ... We gave you every chance"; this leads Max to angrily point out that they only gave them some chances—giving them every chance would include letting them out of the cage.

Roland ter Borcht

Roland ter Borcht is a brilliant, controversial German geneticist who was notorious for sinister experiments he performed on humans. He is one of the leading scientists at Itex, although he appears to also play an important role at the School. Ter Borcht is first mentioned in School's Out Forever, when Max finds his name in some documents she stole from Itex and then finds out more about him through an online search engine. Later when the Flock breaks into an Itex plant for information, they see that Nudge's parents supposedly signed a document allowing ter Borcht to "treat" their baby. However, the signature on the document is in Jeb Batchelder's handwriting.

Ter Borcht meets the Flock in person in Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports. He tries to examine the Flock when they are recaptured and brought back to the School in an attempt to see if they are worth sparing. Instead, the Flock becomes angry at the way he treats them; they are rude, and refuse to cooperate. Later ter Borcht gasses them and moves them into a cage to be executed, since he said that they gave no reason why they should be spared. Angel (spying for the Flock) knocks him unconscious. Max, Nudge, Angel, Ari and Total encounter him again in Europe, when he tries to force them to answer questions posed by Chinese scientists interested in buying the Flock as weapons. Ter Borcht is firmly against allowing the Flock to live. He is described as having an Arnold Schwarzeneggeresque accent and is fat, in stark contrast with the Flock (who are skeletal avian-human recombinants).

Marian Janssen (the Director)

The Director pulls the strings for the School and Itex, and claims to be one of the few successful Itex species combinations. She plans the Re-Evolution and By-Half Plans. The Director claims to be a hybrid human—Galápagos tortoise, 107 years old. She is the reason Max had a chip implanted in her arm. The chip recorded Max's flight speed and height, giving the Director information to relay to the Chinese scientists.

Max, Nudge, Angel, Total and Ari meet the Director in the Itex headquarters in Europe, when they are caught by the Flyboys and brought to her. When she first appears, Max is surprised that she is a female. The Director further shocks the mini-Flock by announcing that she is Max's mother. Because they look and act similarly this is assumed to be true, to Max's horror. However, the Director has no problem with submitting Max to horrible "tests". She also urges Max to work for the Chinese as a weapon, saying it is her only chance to survive. Jeb wonders why Max hates the Director, since she can give Max power. He tells Max that she passed the test of being uncorrupted by power, and that the Director is not really her mother; she only supervised Max's development as an embryo.

Shortly after learning this, Max is summoned to a gathering by the Director; she is instructed to submit to three tests and a battle to the death against Itex's best creation, a boy named Omega. Although Max wins the first test (a race), the Director disqualifies her because Max flew; it was "a race on the ground". She fails the other test, and the Director ignores her protests that the tests are a waste of time and have nothing to do with being able to survive. Shortly before the fight Angel causes a mutant riot with her mind, and the Director orders the Flyboys to break up the fighting. After the riot is over and the Flyboys destroyed, Max and Nudge capture the Director and fly away; they demand to know who Max's real mother is. After the Director answers their questions Max drops her, intending to let her die in the fall. Jeb (as the Voice) convinces them to catch her instead.

Omega

The Director considers Omega Itex's most-successful experiment. He looks human, but is superhuman in his speed, strength, sight, intelligence, obedience and flawless immune system. His only known weakness is slow sight reactions and tracking (despite the Director's claim that he is perfect). Omega's only appearance is in Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports. He is introduced by the Director (at the story's end) to a group of scientists as the new "perfect human", who could survive if they blew up the world. She forces Max to compete with Omega in several challenges to demonstrate Omega's superior skills. Max wins the first challenge (a race), but he is declared the winner (the Director insists that Max cheated by flying). He defeats Max in contests of strength and intelligence. The Director instructs them to fight to the death; Angel incites a riot, which the Flyboys attempt to quell. During the riot, Omega finds Max and insists that they must still fight. Max points out that he can choose to not fight; he looks confused, saying "I don't know how to...not." He nearly defeats her, but she uses her knowledge of his inferior sight tracking to overcome him. Max refuses to kill him, although she knows that Omega would kill her if he could.

Erasers

Erasers are human-lupine mutants, trained to return the Flock to Itex. Designed as guards and killers, they are trained to be ruthless in addition to their bloodthirsty nature. The Erasers appear as supermodel-like humans, but they assume a wolf-like appearance for killing. They are considered useful, but generally unsuccessful. Erasers have a short lifespan, usually living for only a few years, so the scientists designed them to reach maturity in about four years. Erasers have increased muscle density in both human and lupine form; they usually weigh over 200 pounds (91 kg). The Eraser version 6.5 has wings. The graft does not work as well as the Flock's, so their flying is awkward and painful.

Ari is changed into an Eraser in the first book, so the whitecoats could see what would happen if lupine DNA was not grafted in infancy. In the second book Ari receives wings, which makes him envy the Flock; his wings are clumsier, and do not fold as neatly as theirs do. The Erasers were killed by the whitecoats at the beginning of the third book because they were unsuccessful; although replaced by the Flyboys, they reappear in Fang.

Gozen

Gozen is a malevolent cyborg who serves the Uber-Director by leading the Director's personal army. He has great strength, but is clumsy and stupid. Gozen appears in The Final Warning to capture the Flock and bring them to the Director. He is not cruel, like the Erasers; he was merely programmed as an unsympathetic military commander who would execute orders without question and remain absolutely loyal to the Uber-Director. Gozen captures the Flock; during their transport, he breaks Angel's arm to frighten them. After he brings the Flock to the Director he watches the auction, during which a hurricane tears through the building. Gozen and the Uber-Director escape; when he begs Max for help she kicks his arm, forcing him to release his grip on the Uber-Director.

The Uber-Director

The Uber-Director heads an unnamed company, possibly Itexicon (as his name implies he is the replacement for the Director.) He is composed of organs in glass cases connected by metal limbs (making him half-machine and half-human), and uses a wheelchair. It is implied that the Uber-Director is one of the experiments Max saw when Ari gave her a tour of the school's experiments. Max calls him "the UD" to annoy him. In The Final Warning, he captures the Flock and auctions them. During the auction a hurricane tears through the building, and the Uber-Director is killed. He is the only person Max has ever killed; she justifies it with the claim that "(Uber-Director) was a machine, someone's consciousness hooked up to a bio-mechanical body", and rarely dwells on it.

Dumb-bots

The "Dumb-bots," as the Flock refers to them, are humanoid robots (serving the Uber-Director) who became flawed during their development. They shoot laser beams from their eyes, and are addicted to reward shocks from the Uber-Director.

Flyboys

Flyboys are the Erasers' robotic replacements; some have guns attached to their hands. Flyboys are strong, fast and nimble both in the air and on the ground. They do not adapt well to change, and are slow-witted. Fang, Iggy and Gazzy fight off the Flyboys in the third book at an abandoned airplane hangar after the Flock splits up. They are nearly shot, but Fang returns fire with a gun stolen from a Flyboy. They cause the Flyboys to fly into the Hollywood Sign; later they lure them into the water, shorting them out.

Allies

Ella Martinez

Ella is the 12-1/2-year-old daughter of Dr. Martinez, and Max's half-sister. Ella has a crush on Iggy, which makes Max uncomfortable because she "feels like a mom". Max first meets Ella in The Angel Experiment, when she stopped bullies from beating Ella up. While defending her, Max is shot by one of the bullies. She asks Ella for help, and spends two days recuperating at Ella's house. Ella appears twice in Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports: once when Max asks to see Dr. Martinez (Ella comes with her) and again at the end of the story. She appears once in The Final Warning, when she attends a ribbon-cutting at the new school intended for the Flock.

In MAX, Ella is hysterical when her mother is kidnapped; they are both in tears when they are reunited. In Angel, Ella is brainwashed by the Doomsday Group and programmed to "save the planet, kill the humans". Max and the Flock free her by soaking her in a desert hot spring, while Angel repairs her memory. When she discovers her mother and Jeb are missing, she wants to go with the Flock to find them; she expresses a wish to stay with them and Max sadly tells her she cannot, because they will be flying. Ella leaves, writing in the sand "I was meant to have wings." Max is horrified at the thought of whitecoats grafting wings onto Ella. It is implied that she may return in the final book with wings.

Dr. Valencia Martinez

Dr. Martinez is a veterinarian, the mother of Max and Ella. In The Angel Experiment she meets Max, treating her bullet wound. Dr. Martinez bakes cookies and cares for her; she also reveals Max's chip. She removes Max's chip in Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports and is horrified when she learns Max has temporarily lost the use of her hand; however, she regains its use after her kidnapping by the whitecoats. Max's mother is at the first meeting with the Flock and the government, and she introduces the Flock to Dr. Brigid Dwyer in The Final Warning. The last time she is seen is at the ribbon-cutting for the new school intended for the Flock.^[1]

In MAX, Dr. Martinez is kidnapped by Mr. Chu and his M-Geeks. They torture her, trying to force her to denounce her environmentalism and fearing that their illegal dumping of radioactive material will be uncovered. Dr. Martinez refuses to denounce the CSM; she is starved, electrocuted, and nearly killed by Mr. Chu's second-in-command when she is rescued by Max and Angel. She is last seen convalescing in a United States Navy infirmary. Nudge asks Dr. Martinez to care for Max in Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel. She allows Jeb and Dr. Hans into her home and agrees with most of their ideas, except for "breeding" Max. Dr. Martinez agrees to visit Gen-77, and is in the plane which explodes. Max catches her, and she treats the Flock's injuries; Total sees her leaving the house with Jeb.

Akila

Akila is a malamute with whom Total falls in love in The Final Warning. She is with the Flock when they are taken by Gozen to the Uber-Director's auction, when the hurricane kills the Uber-Director. In MAX, Total muses about leaving the Flock to marry Akila. In the first epilogue of Fang she and Total are married, with the Flock in attendance.

Celeste

Celeste is Angel's teddy bear, an angel bear with a halo. Angel uses post-hypnotic suggestion to encourage a woman to buy it for her in The Angel Experiment. She nearly loses it in New York when they are surrounded by scientists disguised as police officers. Ari took Celeste, using it to lure Angel into a trap, but she uses her mind power to make him choke himself and gets her bear back. She carries Celeste tucked either under her shirt or in the waistband of her pants. Angel does her best to take good care of Celeste but, due to the nature of their missions, she usually ends up looking like a mess. By Fang, Angel no longer carries Celeste.

The Krelp

The Krelp are underwater creatures. How they were created is unknown, but they are angry with Mr. Chu for dumping radioactive waste in the ocean. The radiation hurts them, causing terrible mutations and wounds. In MAX they attack the Flock (thinking they work for Mr. Chu); after Angel communicates telepathically with one of them, however, they help Max and Angel save Dr. Martinez from Mr. Chu's underwater base with "industrial strength snot".

Other characters

Dylan

Dylan is an avian-human hybrid who is introduced to the Flock in Fang. He claims to have been raised in a lab in Canada, and to be eight months old. Dylan is tall and bulkier than Fang (which makes Max think he has regular access to food); he is tan, with longish dark-blond sun-streaked hair, turquoise eyes and dark-brown wings. Dylan was cloned from another Dylan, who "died in a car wreck" eight months before the present Dylan's introduction to the Flock. He has keen sight, and hints that he can "see things happening far away, can see people across oceans – maybe even across time". Dylan can also heal minor wounds with his saliva. Max's Voice told her that Dylan was "designed for her", describing him as her "perfect other half"; for his part, he acts as if this were true. Dylan's wings resemble Max's, but she notes that while her wings have been designed for speed, his are designed for strength.

Dylan claims that while he has only been alive for eight months, he is a "fighting machine". He tries to convince Fang that he is endangering Max and the others, since Dylan was obviously designed to protect and love Max. After many failures to gain Max's attention, he attempts suicide at the end of Fang but fails. In Angel, Max and Dylan's relationship begins to warm. At first Max feels uncomfortable, but as more affection is shared she feels as though it is "right" and "beautiful". When Fang's group and Max's Flock unite against the Doomsday Group, Fang begins to be jealous of Dylan. His jealousy pleases Dylan, and when Gazzy mentions to Fang that Gunther Looney wants Max and Dylan to breed, Dylan does not object and Fang is pissed.

Dr. Hans Gunther-Hagen

An wealthy German philanthropist, Gunther-Hagen is introduced to Max in Fang during the Flock's visit to Africa; he later introduces Max to Dylan. He has written a book advocating genetic engineering for humans, and wants Max to join him in his genetic studies. He hopes Max will agree willingly (accepting Max's initial demand of $1 million), but seems willing to use force if necessary. Gunther-Hagen accidentally causes Fang's "death" near the end of Fang; claiming he did not expect his genetic accelerator to kill Fang, he is the first to try to revive him. Mr. Chu works for Gunther-Hagen.

He returns in Angel, offering to take Max and Dylan to Germany where they could have children and establish a post-apocalyptic dynasty. Later, he is presumed dead when the Flock cannot find him after a plane crash. Max considers Gunther-Hagen an enemy, despite the ambiguity of his actions. He is apparently in communication with Jeb Batchelder, and they try to convince Max to go with Dylan to Germany. She ridicules Gunther-Hagen's last name, but calls him "Dr. Hans" by Angel.

Mark

Mark is a member of the Doomsday Group, which attempts to blow up Paris. He is greedy, with a lust for power; in battle he is strong. Mark is defeated when Max and Maya unite to overcome him down Holden charged him, making him look like "Swiss cheese" and depleting Mark's ammunition. He is presumed dead at the end of Angel, when Max sees his body on the ground with wires protruding from it.

Normal School characters

William Pruitt

Pruitt is the principal of the school Max and the Flock attend. He is hateful, and loathes children; this causes Max to question his career choice. He has a bald head, profuse nose hair and wet, plump dark-pink lips. He has a British accent and is not a whitecoat, but is associated with the School.

While spying at recess, Iggy and Gazzy find files indicating that the school was an insane asylum for the incurably ill; they also discover a tunnel in the school basement. Based on this information, they theorize that Pruitt was a patient who killed everyone else in the asylum and founded the school. When they escape from the school and the Flock realizes his connection to the School, Pruitt threatens Max with a taser and tries to catch them with scientists posing as teachers. As they escape, he shouts that they are "accidents, stains, mistakes".

Lissa, Tess and Sam

Lissa is a 14-year-old student at the school temporarily attended by the Flock, and a minor love interest for Fang. Max calls her the "Red-Haired Wonder", and is slightly jealous of her. Tess is a tall girl, also 14, who appears in School's Out Forever. She is an unexplored love interest for Iggy. Sam is a 14-year-old boy, also a student at the school, who is a minor love interest for Max. She finds him attractive, describing his tortoiseshell eyes and his chestnut hair that "kind of fell across his forehead" as pleasant. Fang is jealous, and mocks the budding relationship.

Dr. Brigid Dwyer

Dr. Dwyer is quite young (21 years old); she works in Antarctica, and escorts the Flock there in a small research boat. She is petite, "pretty and blonde" (however, she has red hair in the fifth book). Max is jealous of her friendship with Fang, despite their seven-year age difference. Fang seems to ignore Max when he is around Brigid, who is unaware of this tension (and of Max's feelings for Fang). Max also resents the fact that Fang writes about Brigid in his blog, but not about her. Max compares her with Lissa, since she thinks that Fang has a "thing for red hair". She calls Brigid sarcastic mental names, such as "Dr. Amazing". At the end of MAX Brigid interacts with Mr. Chu, which Max and her Voice find suspicious. In reality, though, Brigid wants to expose Mr. Chu to the media.

The Voice

The Voice is in Max's head, and appeared halfway through the first book. It gives her advice and directs her in a cryptic way. Max once said that the Voice "has been watching too much Oprah again," due to its riddles and clues. Max originally thought the Voice originated in her arm chip, but it remained after Dr. Martinez removed the chip. There have been long periods without the Voice. It insists that Max can save the world by whatever means necessary; she says she cannot tell if the Voice is "male or female. Friend or foe. Human or not". The Voice was once thought to be Jeb, but he explained to Max that while he "can do the Voice", he is not the Voice. Similarly, in the first book Max can "see" the Institute for Higher Living.

In School's Out Forever, it is revealed that Ari has a Voice. Angel also has a Voice in Fang; Max thinks Angel's voice is imaginary, because she wants to emulate Max and take over the Flock. When Dylan joins the Flock Angel finally takes it over, later returning it to Max.

Mr. Chu

Mr. Chu is an Asian man who tries to force the Flock to "sever all ties with the CSM or be killed". When his mask of false skin is removed at the end of Fang, he is lizard-like in appearance; his real name is Robert. He is also seen in the beginning of "Fang", when found to be experimenting on refugees in Chad, Africa. He kidnaps Dr. Valencia Martinez, in an attempt to stop the CSM permanently. Max brings down Mr. Chu's underwater base with Angel and the Krelp, and rescues her mother.

M-Geeks

M-Geeks are humanoid robots who serve Mr. Chu in MAX. They are stronger and faster than humans, but have several weakness (their ankles, the tops of their heads—which split like an orange—and their spines). The first version have no weapons, but later versions have Uzi machine guns attached to their arms. The M-Geeks have little difficulty operating in difficult environments, such as 1 km below sea level. Some display emotions, like pride in their abilities. The M-Geeks appear originally human, but with cyborg bodies inside their flesh. Although they are mechanical Angel could order them away during an attack, indicating that some organic components remain in their bodies.

Generation-77

Mentioned by Fang in the epilogue of Fang and later clarified by Jeb and Dr. Hans in Angel, Gen-77 have powers either given to them by laboratories or developed naturally. They can read people's minds

Star

Fang's second recruit in Angel, Star is also part of Generation-77 (along with the rest of Fang's group). Star is from an upper-class family; she is often depicted in her school uniform, and her ability is super-speed (she can run extremely fast). However as a result, her body burns energy quickly and she must eat a lot to compensate. She and Ratchet often quarrel, with Kate (Star's friend when they both attended Catholic school) mediating. Star received her powers when she was abducted from a school field trip and subjected to experiments. Another of her abilities is emitting a high-pitched sound, similar to a hummingbird's (demonstrated when she spun around in a circle), which un-hypnotizes members of the Doomsday group in seconds—which takes Angel hours with water. She also becomes useful when the gang needed Doomsday group information and is "transporting from one place to another."

Kate

Kate Tan Wei Ying is the third member of Fang's flock, who appears at a hotel where the rest of the gang is waiting. She has hair that Max would "kill for" and a nice figure; her powers include strength and quick reflexes. A pacifist and vegan, Kate breaks up a fight between Ratchet and Star. She is an old friend of Star's; Ratchet flirts with her. Kate also becomes useful when the gang needed Doomsday group information and is juggling heavy things to show off.

Holden

The final recruit for Fang's Flock, Holden was experimented on and has scars on his arms as a legacy. He can regrow limbs, heal quickly and breathe underwater. The other members (and Holden himself) call him "Starfish". He is 15, but looks more like a 10-year-old.

Beth

Organizer of a Doomsday Group rally in Paris during Angel, Beth attempts to exert mind control on Fang and others through a television news channel but the attempt fails when Star changes the channel. Beth is described as "the queen of the Doomsday Group" when she asserts herself against Mark, ordering him not to kill Max.

References

1. ^ Patterson, James. Maximum Ride: The Final Warning, p. 272

External links

• Official Maximum Ride website