History Characters / HiddenTalents

* PeekaBangs: He has "kind of long" hair that partially obscures his face.

%% * FiveManBand: The main characters [[PlayedWith Zigzag this]], so there are no exact matches:

* ElementalHair: He has red hair and fire powers.

* GenderBlenderName: Flinch's real name, Willis, is a gender neutral name.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: While Flinch’s race is never specified, he’s described in the book as having “dozens of tiny braids,” and his real name, Willis, is a common African American name, hinting that he is.

%% ** Torchie primarily serves as TheHeart for the group, being the emotional center, but his contrast to Martin as his first friend makes him TheLancer to an extent.

%% ** Flinch: Flinch acts as TheSmartGuy, being the first willing to hear Martin out about [[spoiler: their psychic powers, as well as being the one to find the most creative uses for his.]] As the first person to deny their powers, he takes the role of TheLancer when Torchie and Cheater are not present.
%% ** Lucky: Despite being in the group before Martin, Lucky demonstrates stereotypical traits of a SixthRanger; he’s notably aloof, distances himself from the others, and is the odd one out [[spoiler: in regards to how his powers work.]] On the other hand, he’s physically imposing and the most prone to physically acting out, making him TheBigGuy.

* TheSocialExpert: Oddly enough for someone so abrasive, he displays a lot of empathy and an almost uncanny ability to read other people. [[spoiler:These are both aspects of his power to sense people's emotional weaknesses. He can see where people are emotionally vulnerable, but he can also use that information to attack their biggest insecurities.]]

* MeaningfulName: Torchie is notorious for lighting fires. He’s also able to [[PlayingWithFire light fires with his mind.

* PlayingWithFire: Torchie has pyrokinesis, and is capable of starting fires by complete accident, seemingly unprovoked by any outside factors. He’s also shown the ability to shut off fires.

* PowerIncontinence: [[spoiler:Martin is unaware of his power throughout the first book, accidentally looking into other people’s souls and [[NiceJobFixingItHero picking out their worst insecurities.]] Interestingly, his sarcastic and nastier words seem mildly involuntary, which Martin seems to chalk up to slips of the tongue.]]

* MeaningfulName: All of the boys sans Martin have Nicknames that relate to what they were sent there for and [[spoiler: incidentally, their powers.]] See below for specific examples.

* {{Foil}}: To Trash. Martin is a extroverted DeadpanSnarker who makes friends very easily, while Trash is a loner who has no friends and sits alone at lunch, only making friends when Martin reaches out to him.Even their powers are contrasts: [[spoiler: Martin has the ability to cause emotional damage with his empathy powers, while Trash can cause physical damage with his.]]

* HiddenDepths: Martin has shown an unexpected sense of perceptiveness, being able to recognize that the other boys [[spoiler: have psychic powers.]] He has also shown to be incredibly smart, studying different psychic abilities and being able to [[spoiler:[[AwesomenessByAnalysis pinpoint that Cheater was actively trying to manipulate the mind reading test in their science class.]]]]

* TheLeader: He’s the “coach” to his friends to help with their [[spoiler: PsychicPowers.]]

* [[spoiler:PowerIncontinence: Martin is unaware of his power throughout the first book, accidentally looking into other people’s souls and [[NiceJobFixingItHero picking out their worst insecurities.]] Interestingly, his sarcastic and nastier words seem mildly involuntary, which Martin seems to chalk up to slips of the tongue.]]

* TheUnfavorite: Martin’s parents favor his sister more, though Martin loves her as well, since she treats him the best out of everyone.
* TeamMom: takes on this role when he helps the others to [[spoiler:discover and hone their psychic powers]].

* CatchPhrase: "I didn't do nothing!"

* MeaningfulName: Torchie is notorious for lighting fires. [[spoiler: He’s also able to [[PlayingWithFire light fires with his mind]].

A friend of Torchie and Martin. A small boy whose at Edgeville for cheating off of other students.

* AsianAndNerdy: He’s Chinese, and knows a variety of trivia facts. [[spoiler: It’s uncertain, however, how much of this is from accidental mind reading and how much he learned on his own.]]

* CripplingOverspecialization: Cheater is very book smart, but misunderstands sarcastic comments, says things that are inappropriate, and [[spoiler:despite being able to mind read, is incredibly bad at cheating when he actively tries to do it.]]

* GeekPhysique: He’s a nerdy boy whose incredibly short.

* IJustWantToBeNormal: Out of all the boys, Cheater [[spoiler:seems to dislike his powers the most initially, and starts crying because he wants to be normal.]] He eventually grows out of this with the reassurance of his friends.
* MeaningfulName: Cheater is at Edgeview for getting in trouble for cheating on tests. [[spoiler: the name is a bit more fitting when it’s discovered he can read minds, meaning he has an ability that he can use to give himself an edge.]]
** [[spoiler: This also sort of becomes somewhat of an IronicNickname, since Cheater later demonstrates that he is abysmal at cheating when he actually tries to do it on purpose.]]

* DramaticIrony: [[spoiler:Cheater never cheated on tests purposely, and only did it because he couldn’t control his powers. Cheater, for the first time, attempts to cheat the mind reading test that Mr. Briggs sets up, and ends up doing nothing but proving Martin right.]]
** [[spoiler:Funnily enough, even in the second book, ALL of Cheater’s rare purposeful attempts to cheat always end in failure. This is lampshaded by Flinch.]]
* PowerIncontinence: Cheater can [[spoiler:read minds]], but is unable to [[spoiler:distinguish the thoughts of others from his own, which results in him perfectly copying someone else’s essay or test answers.]]
* PurelyAestheticGlasses: Cheater wears these to make himself look smarter.

* MeaningfulName: Flinch is brought to Edgeview because he’s jumpy, disruptive, and interrupts teachers. [[spoiler:He’s also precognitive, so he prematurely “flinches” at things before they happen.]]

* IronicName: Lucky is called by his nickname ironically, since people don’t believe him when he happens to “find” things people had recently lost. [[spoiler: The name is really ironic since he has the most useless, least fun, and most troublesome power out of all of his friends.]]

* BewareTheQuietOnes: Trash is a quiet, artistic kid who's a known vandal. [[spoiler: that last part may not be FULLY true, but he’s got some PsychicPowers that are very deadly. Thurston learned this the hard way.]]

* TheNotLoveInterest: in a way, to Martin. He kickstarts Martin’s discovery of his [[spoiler:friends abilities]] and acts partly as motivation for uncovering the truth. He’s also given a lot of attention from the story in comparison of Martin’s other friends, even being the protagonist in the sequel.
* NominalImportance: He’s the last person at the school Martin befriended, and is treated as [[spoiler:having more impressive feats than the rest of the cast.]]

* MysteriousPast: Martin has no clue what turned Bloobath into the person he is, but whatever it was, it caused him to hate being the target of ridicule.

%% * SideKick: Lip, to Bloodbath.