History YMMV / Gone

* TearJerker: Needs its own '''PAGE'''.
** [[TearJerker/{{Gone}} You rang?]]
** Most prominent in ''LIGHT'', though each book seems to be sadder than the last.
** The basic premise in itself is a bit of a downer.
* TheScrappy: Zil. It's near impossible to find anyone who likes him. Part of this most likely comes from the fact that he's based on Hitler.
** Albert and Toto are this to a lesser degree.
*** All three have been overtaken by the ultimate scrappy, '''Gaia.''' Literally everyone hates her, and the reveal that the girl on the cover of LIGHT is her rather [[spoiler: than her mother,]] Diana, like it was implied it would be, stirred a lot of feelings up with the fandom.
*** Astrid was this until Fear.

** In both the fandom and the series, one of the most controversial questions is whether [[InsufferableGenius Astrid]] is a troubled but well meaning [[AntiHero heroine]] who tried desperately hard to be the good guy or a manipulative, sanctimonious {{Icequeen}} who thinks only of herself, as Sinder put it. [[spoiler: Like when she pushed her little brother out a window]] was she trying to save 200 children and bring back 200 more, or was it a selfish act when she should of been there for her defenceless little brother? Or did she genuinely love and care about Sam or was she just using him as protection? Did she think telling the whole town about Mary's bulimia was so she could get her some support and help and keep the littles safe, or did she do it because she saw Mary as a threat and wanted to distract from her own faults? Debatable stuff. Expect things to get nasty whichever [[BaseBreaker side you come down on]] .

* BaseBreaker: Try finding someone who's indifferent either way to Astrid Ellison.

** Caine also has flashes of this in ''HUNGER'' and ''FEAR'', depending on [[BaseBreaker your stance on him...]]

* CompleteMonster: Drake Merwin is a [[TeensAreMonsters 14-year-old]], full-blown sociopath. The first book builds him up as he waxes almost poetic on the subject of guns and his love of using them on people and gleefully volunteers to hunt, torture, and kill other kids. [[spoiler: When he captures a daycare of little kids and infants, he is fully ready to feed them to coyotes if they resist.]] In the second book ''Hunger'', Drake [[spoiler: beats Sam within an inch of his life with his mutated "whip-hand" while grinning the whole time, suggests using razor wires to ''shred'' a girl with super-speed abilities to bits and comes close to killing the main villain's love interest by hurling her almost casually into a rock.]] In the fifth book, ''Fear,'' [[spoiler: Drake subsequently teams up with Penny, a girl who can cause hallucinations. They ''slavedrive the pregnant Diana across a desert'' while causing her to hallucinate things like the baby being a bug and eating its way out. When Diana finally gives birth, Drake and Penny do it again.]] It says a lot about Drake that he makes friends with the force of pure darkness and has dreams so twisted and revolting that the dream-reader, Orsay, is paralyzed with fear being in the same ''room'' with him. Creator/StephenKing himself [[http://www.ew.com/article/2009/04/04/stephen-king-top-10-villains/2 named him on a list of "Most Terrifying Book Villains".]]

* GrowingTheBeard: Plague.

* SelectiveSquick: This series has detailed descriptions of people's bodies being cut open, people being eaten alive, people killing themselves, [[spoiler: people giving birth]]... and yet there's no cursing. At all.

* BaseBreaker: Try finding someone who's indifferent either way to Astrid Ellison. '''I dare you.'''
** There are only two types of people aware of Caine Soren; People who think he's a complete {{Jerkass}} and are praying he'd just drop dead in LIGHT and those who are completely obsessed with him and want his demon-babies. [[spoiler: The people who want him to drop dead in LIGHT already got their wishes...]]
*** [[spoiler: True, but probably not how they hoped it would come true. Caine died in a complete badass way and actually saved the world. ]]
* BrokenBase: Whether you ship the [[UnholyMatrimony Caine/Diana]] romance is purely a matter of taste. It is by far the most popular ship in the fandom, with a exceptionally large, vocal and dedicated fan-base. It is also by far the most critisized and refuted. Many argue that it's a beautifully-written, moving, complex, intriguing and ultimately tragic ship which brings out the best in both components. Others argue that its romanticized abuse which undermines Diana's independence and strength, and that the two were simply manipulating each other start to finish.

* CompleteMonster: Drake Merwin is a [[TeensAreMonsters 14-year-old]], full-blown sociopath. The first book builds him up as he waxes almost poetic on the subject of guns and his love of using them on people and gleefully volunteers to hunt, torture, and kill other kids. [[spoiler: When he captures a daycare of little kids and infants, he is fully ready to feed them to coyotes if they resist.]] In the second book ''Hunger'', Drake [[spoiler: beats Sam within an inch of his life with his mutated "whip-hand" while grinning the whole time, suggests using razor wires to ''shred'' a girl with super-speed abilities to bits and comes close to killing the main villain's love interest by hurling her almost casually into a rock.]] In the fifth book, ''Fear,'' [[spoiler: Drake subsequently teams up with Penny, a girl who can cause hallucinations. They ''slavedrive the pregnant Diana across a desert'' while causing her to hallucinate things like the baby being a bug and eating its way out. When Diana finally gives birth, Drake and Penny do it again.]] It says a lot about Drake that he makes friends with the force of pure darkness and has dreams so twisted and revolting that the dream-reader, Orsay, is paralyzed with fear being in the same ''room'' with him. Creator/StephenKing himself named him on a list of "Most Terrifying Book Villains".

* UnfortunateImplications: Sam is never, ever once called out for attempting to '''force''' Astrid to have sex with him in plague, by the narrative, fandom or any other characters. In fact, we're meant to sympathise with Sam when he's screaming at Astrid at her for not having sex with him (while she was taking care of her sick, five-year old autistic brother no less). The blame is put on Astrid for being a "prude" and we're meant to despice her for having the audacity to not have sex with Sam.

* CompleteMonster: Drake Merwin, a fourteen-year-old, full-blown sociopath. The first book builds him up as he waxes almost poetic on the subject of guns and his love of using them on people and gleefully volunteers to hunt, torture and kill other kids. [[spoiler: When he captures a daycare of little kids and infants, he is fully ready to feed them to coyotes if they resist.]] In the second book ''Hunger'', Drake [[spoiler: beats Sam within an inch of his life with his mutated "whip-hand" while grinning the whole time, suggests using razor wires to ''shred'' a girl with super-speed abilities to bits and comes close to killing the main villain's love interest by hurling her almost casually into a rock.]] In the fifth book ''Fear'' [[spoiler: Drake subsequently teams up with Penny a girl who can cause hallucinations. They ''slavedrive the pregnant Diana across a desert'' while causing her to hallucinate things like the baby being a bug and eating its way out. When Diana finally gives birth, Drake and Penny do it again.]] It says a lot about Drake that he makes friends with the force of pure darkness and has dreams so twisted and revolting that the dream-reader, Orsay, is paralyzed with fear being in the same ''room'' with him. Creator/StephenKing himself named him on a list of "Most Terrifying Book Villains".

* BrokenBase: Whether you ship the [[UnholyMatrimony Caine/Diana]] romance is purely a matter of taste. It is by far the most popular ship in the fandom, with a exceptionally large, vocal and dedicated fan-base. It is also by far the most critisized and refuted. Many argue that it's a beautifully-written, moving, complex, intriguing and ultimately tragic ship which brings out the best in both components. Others argue that its romanticized abuse which undermines diana's independence and strength, and that the two were simply manipulating each other start to finish.

* TheUntwist: One of the biggest criticisms of the series is that the cause of the FAYZ ([[spoiler: Little Pete feeling like he was in danger]]) was too predictable, which is a shame that it came in the first book, given all the other, far more engaging reveals that came later.
* WorldOfWoobie: It's not hard to feel sorry for '''''EVERYONE...''''' Except maybe [[CompleteMonster Drake.]]
** Diana, Dekka, Mary, Hunter and Brittney deserve special mentions for their particularly sucky lives.

* Broken Base: Whether you ship the [[UnholyMatrimony Caine/Diana]] romance is purely a matter of taste. It is by far the most popular ship in the fandom, with a exceptionally large, vocal and dedicated fan-base. It is also by far the most critisized and refuted. Many argue that it's a beautifully-written, moving, complex, intriguing and ultimately tragic ship which brings out the best in both components. Others argue that its romanticized abuse which undermines diana's independence and strength, and that the two were simply manipulating each other start to finish.

** The trailers; are they NarmCharm or just plain Narm?

* CreatorsPet: Sam gets away with a lot. Making out with a girl 4 years younger than him? Check. Cheating? Check. Trying to blame the cheating on his girlfriend? Check. Not apologizing or even acknowledging it's wrong? Check. Trying to pressure-rape his girlfriend? Check. The plot portraying him as a perfect messiah who is simply a victim of the world not being as awesome as him? Check with a capital CHECK.
** Ironically [[WordofGod Michael Grant]] has stated that Edilio and Diana are his favorite characters.

* GaryStu: Sam Temple.

** But if you had to pick one which stands out, I'd have to go with poor, poor Diana Ladris...If ''LIES'', ''FEAR'' and ''LIGHT'' was "karma" then I'm calling some ''serious'' DisproportionateRetribution. The emotional torment on its own is enough to last a lifetime of heartbreak...But the more ahem, [[ColdBloodedTorture pyshical sides]] of her pain are even worse. Let's go through a little "run through" of [[TraumaCongaLine her "experiences"]] throughout the series, shall we? First, her backstory itself is very sad. It was implied she was sexually abused by her mothers boyfriends, and her parents were both apparently cheating on each other. Before she turns 11, her mother is paralysed after a tragic stairfall and her father lost his business and went bankrupt. Also, she was disowned and sent to [[BoardingSchoolOfHorrors Coates Academy]] when she was ten. Ouch.
*** Now lets run through her ordeals in the first two books; She is in a unstable and confusing relationship with a sociopath who has has risked her life several times in his persuit of power. Also, [[spoiler: She has her head smashed onto a boulder by Drake and nearly dies.]]
*** As sad as the aforemntioned was, her woobiedom is really cranked up a few knotches when she is starved nearly to death, drugged, plummeted off a cliff and has to face with fact that she loves [[TheSociopath Caine]] , who, to use her own words, [[ManipulativeBastard "Isn't exactly lovable".]]
*** In ''PLAGUE'' she is then [[spoiler: used for sex by Caine, who threatens to rape her, forces her off the island, brags to the whole town about having sex with her, and unwittingly impregnates her aged 15.]]
*** ''FEAR'' and ''LIGHT'' was probably the worst. [[spoiler: She is kidnapped by Drake and Penny, who torture her in various different ways while pregnant. To name the mildest examples, they force her to walk miles across a desert while being whipped and having to crawl in the dirt while her waters breaking. In more extreme examples, using Penny's powers to make her believe a bug is bursting out of her stomach and that she's giving birth to 1000 cannibalistic rats. Not to mention the birth itself, in a pitch black, scorching mine, with no medical help or assistance. Also, her baby is dropped on its head and dies (which she has to watch), its corpse being inhabited by a EldritchAbomination which enslaves her and tortures her just for entertainment. She has to watch both her daughter and the love of her life kill each other, and is left all alone in the world.]] A true woobie, indeed.
** Mary. Just full stop. The poor girl.

**** Astrid was this until Fear.

** Even the extras with no names have ridiculous ammounts of woobiedom. First being separated from their parents, then starvation, a fire, a plague and a eternal darkness. Plus the threat of them being killed, transformed, hunted or enslaved. And let's not even get into the main characters.
** Poor, poor Diana...If ''LIES'', ''FEAR'' and ''LIGHT'' was "karma" then I'm calling some ''serious'' DisproportionateRetribution. The emotional torment on its own is enough to last a lifetime of heartbreak...But the more ahem, [[ColdBloodedTorture pyshical sides]] of her pain are even worse.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: In both the fandom and the series, one of the most controversial questions is whether [[InsufferableGenius Astrid]] is a troubled but well meaning [[AntiHero heroine]] who tried desperately hard to be the good guy or a manipulative, sanctimonious {{Icequeen}} who thinks only of herself, as Sinder put it. [[spoiler: Like when she pushed her little brother out a window]] was she trying to save 200 children and bring back 200 more, or was it a selfish act when she should of been there for her defenceless little brother? Or did she genuinely love and care about Sam or was she just using him as protection? Did she think telling the whole town about Mary's bulimia was so she could get her some support and help and keep the littles safe, or did she do it because she saw Mary as a threat and wanted to distract from her own faults? Debatable stuff. Expect things to get nasty whichever [[BaseBreaker side you come down on]] .

** Is Drake Merwin a genuinely worthwhile and threatening villain, or has he become [[VillainDecay more of a joke as the books progress?]] This question became the subject of much debate in the fandom, especially after the release of ''LIGHT''.

* CompleteMonster: Drake Merwin. His psych profile states "sadist". [[DeadpanSnarker Diana drew a smiley face beside it. Because she's fucking awesome.]] Drake also microwaved a puppy.
** PENNY, full stop. [[NightmareFuel Oh god]].

* CrackPairing: Siana gained speed in the shipping world after Sam and Diana both broke up with their significant others in ''PLAGUE''. Never happened, but its popularity still prevails.

* GrowingTheBeard: PLAGUE.

** Some woobies in the series stand out more than others, with Orc, Mary, Diana, Hunter, Cigar and Dekka being of acceptionally sucky circumstances which deserve a special mention.
** Even the extras with no names have ridiculous ammounts of woobiedom. First being separated from their parents, then starvation, a fire, a plague and a eternal darkness. Plus the threat of them being killed, transformed, hunted or enslaved. And let's not even get into the main characters.

** Is Drake Merwin a genuinely worthwhile and threatening villain, or has he become [[VillainDecay more of a joke as the books progress?]] This question became the subject of much debate in the fandom, especially after the release of ''LIGHT''.

** Ironically [[WordofGod Michael Grant]] has stated that Edilio is his favorite character.

* MagnificentBastard: Caine, to fluctuating degrees. In ''Gone'', he is this full stop. In ''Hunger'', he's [[spoiler: really just a tool for the Gaiaphage.]] ''Lies'' sees him desperate, but still [[ManipulativeBastard quite]] [[{{Chessmaster}} intelligent]]. By ''Plague'', he's definitely recovered, but has a ''huge'' dose of {{Jerkass}} thrown in. By ''Fear'', though, [[spoiler: he's gotten what he's always wanted, so]] he has no reason to have any schemes in the works.

* CreatorsPet: Sam gets away with a lot. Making out with a girl 4 years younger than him? Check. Cheating? Check. Trying to blame the cheating on his girlfriend? Check. Not apologising or even adknowledging it's wrong? Check. Trying to pressure-rape his girlfriend? Check. The plot portraying him as a perfect mesiah who is simply a victim of the world not being as awesome as him? Check with a capital CHECK.

* CanonDisContinuity: Astrid's power disappeared after book one. She forgot about it, her boyfriend did, and you're supposed to, too. [[WordOfGod Michael Grant]] has said in interviews that he wishes he'd never put it in.

* IncestSubtext: [[spoiler:Gaia]] in ''LIGHT'' has shades of this towards [[spoiler:both Caine and Sam, making her interactions with them very squicky]]. Doubles as FoeYay.

* TheWoobie: '''''EVERYONE.''''' Except maybe [[CompleteMonster Drake.]]

** Is Drake Merwin a genuinely worthwhile and threatening villain, or has he become [[VillianDecay more of a joke as the books progress?]] This question became the subject of much debate in the fandom, especially after the release of ''LIGHT''.