Line #19 YMMV/TheMazeRunner


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8	!!The Books
9	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is Teresa truly in love with Thomas and [[spoiler: is sorry for what she did in The Scorch? Or is she actually a [[TheSociopath sociopath]] who manipulates Thomas' feelings for her to her advantage? She [[LackOfEmpathy doesn't seem to realize that Thomas would be upset with her actions, opting instead to declare that she's done apologizing and he should get over it.]] It doesn't help matters when she goes over to Thomas acting all cuddly when he obviously wants his space. And also, was her AnguishedDeclarationOfLove genuine, or was it a final mind screw to hurt Thomas since she's dying?]]
10	* FanPreferredCouple: You'd be hard pressed to find someone who actually ships Brenda with Thomas, as is implied to be canon. Arguably the most popular ship in the fandom is Thomas and Newt (Newtmas), and those who don't ship that usually pair Thomas with either Teresa (Thomesa) or Minho (Thominho).
11	* FauxSymbolism: We have a character go through numerous hardships in a world on the breaking point thanks to the actions of those up top having to sacrifice himself to appease the sins of said world. Sound familiar? For added bonus he and the other of the persecuted get to inherit the earth!
12	* HoYay:
13	** Throughout the series, it becomes more and more visible for Thomas and Minho.
14	--> '''Minho (to Thomas)''': If I don't see you on the other side, remember that I love you.
15	** Newt seems to get fond of Thomas incredibly quickly, shows affection in various ways and shows signs of jealousy repeatedly when Teresa or Brenda are mentioned. Could easily be interpreted as more than simple friendship. It's played up quite a bit in the films, especially when Newt aggressively accuses Thomas of still caring about Teresa. Could be interpreted as just an effect of the Flare, but it could also be jealousy.
16	** Alby and Newt lead the Glade together and can easily be seen as a couple instead of a regular duo: Newt's hurt reaction when a recovering Alby wants to talk to Thomas only, [[spoiler:the heart-breaking way he strongly reacts when Alby dies]]... James Dashner has actually teased at them in fan Q&As.
17	* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Newt is shipped with every other character in the series. The most popular is him with Thomas, but he is also often shipped with Minho, Alby, Teresa, Brenda, and Gally, along with OT3 pairings with Thomas and Minho or Thomas and Teresa. He has even been shipped with Stiles from ''Series/TeenWolf''.
18	* MagnificentBitch: Dr. Ava Paige is the intelligent and ruthless Chancellor of WICKED. As revealed in ''The Fever Code'', she rose to power by manipulating Thomas and his friends into murdering several members of WICKED's high command. When Thomas suggested inserting Teresa and himself into the Maze Trials with their memories intact, she pretended to go along with the plan, only to betray him and wipe his and Teresa's memories anyways. Throughout the first two books, her machinations begin to come into play, as the test subjects for the Maze Trials are put into various situations in order to study their neurological patterns. By the end of the series, Paige accepts that a cure to the Flare will never come, and provides Thomas and his friends with a safe haven to rebuild humanity in.
19	* OneTrueThreesome: Thomas/Newt/Minho is the most popular threesome pairing, with tons of fanfics for it. The three are the most popular characters, share lots of HoYay all around, and have great chemistry with each other. It is made up of three popular ships: Thomas/Newt, Thomas/Minho, and Newt/Minho, and helps to avoid any shipping wars. Fans have also been known to either throw Teresa in or have her replace Minho.
20	* ParanoiaFuel: The books really push the idea that everything that happens is actually one of WICKED's machinations, making one wonder how one would feel if one's life was also entirely managed by unseen {{Mad Scientist}}s. It doesn't help that, by the end, [[spoiler:everything that happened was pretty much what WICKED, or at least its leader, wanted anyway]].
21	* PortmanteauCoupleName: The series has a lot of this. There is "Newtmas" (Thomas/Newt), "Thomesa" (Thomas/Teresa), "Thominho" (Thomas/Minho), "Trenda" (Thomas/Brenda) and "Minewt" (Minho/Newt), to name a few.
22	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: In ''The Scorch Trials'', almost any character who isn't [[TheHero Thomas]], [[TheLancer Minho]], Brenda, Aris, [[BigFun Frypan]] or Newt gets no description, no significant dialogue and not even ''names''. Out of the 20 Gladers the book [[DwindlingParty starts with]], Thomas interacts with almost none of them. Non-Glader characters are only referred to by the most prominent feature on their body (Blondie, Ratman[[note]] Assistant Director Janson who actually does go on to become a major character being the exception[[/note]], etc). The author really wasn't concerned about introducing new or particularly memorable characters.
23	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
24	** In ''The Scorch Trials'', take a shot every time a chapter includes or ends with Thomas passing out and/or falling asleep. It gets to the point where the vast majority of character interactions and, frankly, plot development are all offscreen while the reader is treated to some more flashback dreams.
25	** In ''The Death Cure'', the revelation that [[spoiler: Teresa and the other escaped Gladers]] were captured immediately after getting to Denver and accomplished absolutely nothing after being off page for two-thirds of the book is a bit disappointing.
26	* TheUntwist: The "this person we thought was our ally was actually working for WICKED!" plot twist is so overused in the last two books that it's honestly more surprising when someone or something ''doesn't'' turn out to secretly be part of WICKED's machinations.
27	** For that matter, the meaning of WICKED [[note]]World In Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department[[/note]]. Especially since the first appearance of the full name comes ''directly'' after Thomas brings it up.
28	* TheWoobie:
29	** Newt: Hates every living minute inside the Maze. Has the responsibility of leadership weighing on him. Watched his oldest friends die horribly. [[spoiler:Committed suicide but failed. Is infected with the Flare {{for science}}. Has to spend several weeks slowly going crazy before being put out of his misery]].
30	** Teresa: [[spoiler:Forced to betray her best friend to save their lives. Said friend refused to forgive her for the rest of the series. Tries to save that friend and gets crushed to death just seconds away from safety. And that's not even going into what she endured in ''The Kill Order'', BEFORE joining WCKD]].
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32	!! The films:
33	* ''YMMV/{{The Maze Runner\|2014}}''
34	* ''YMMV/MazeRunnerTheScorchTrials''
35	* ''YMMV/MazeRunnerTheDeathCure''
36	* ActorShipping: A lot of fans have taken to shipping Creator/DylanOBrien and Creator/ThomasBrodieSangster, due to the two playing the fandom's most popular ship, Thomas/Newt, and their off-screen friendship. It helps that they almost kissed and fake made out in bloopers for fun. Both actors are well aware of this and love to fuel the fans by playing up their closeness or pretending to flirt.
37	* CompleteMonster: [[DragonInChief Assistant Director Janson]], debuting in ''[[Film/MazeRunnerTheScorchTrials The Scorch Trials]]'', is a cold, self-serving man who serves as the chief operative of WCKD, helping to oversee the Maze experiments with many dozens of children immune to the Flare virus exposed to the horrors of WCKD's Mazes, with countless numbers of them killed. Trying to trick the survivors into letting their organs be harvested under the false pretense of giving them refuge, and later aiding in an attack on the Right Arm while personally executing Mary, one of their leaders, Janson comes into his own in ''[[Film/MazeRunnerTheDeathCure The Death Cure]]'', where he becomes even more ruthless in trying to procure a cure to the Flare. Janson orders a crowd of protesters fired on by cannons to get at Thomas, smugly implores Thomas to shoot Teresa when he takes her at gunpoint, and having Thomas's friend Minho exposed to [[MindRape horrible, potentially lethal psychological experiments]] to lure him out. Janson ultimately [[spoiler:murders WCKD's head Dr. Paige]] himself and, with the cure revealed to be in Thomas's blood, reveals his true goal to [[AGodAmI build a future of his own design]] by selecting who gets to be cured while leaving all the rest of humanity to be driven insane and slowly die from the Flare. Even in an organization of mad scientists with little regards to [[WellIntentionedExtremist how far they have to plunge to root out a cure to the Flare]], Janson stands out as an utter sociopath with no scruples or benevolent intentions whatsoever.
38	* FountainOfMemes: Of all the characters in Maze Runner, Newt is probably spawned the most iconic quotes, i.e "Great, we're all bloody inspired" and [[spoiler: pretty much every line from his death scene.]] Then there's the Mama Newt meme, which features TMR scenes with captions about Newt acting like an overprotective mother.
39	* StoicWoobie: Newt. He's overwhelmed with guilt and depression from his friends who died in the Glade. When he [[spoiler: tries to take his own life]], it doesn't work. He buries all of his pain and any regard for his own well-being deep inside for the sake of his fellow Gladers. And when he's told he [[spoiler: has The Flare, he tries to keep a cool head about it, even though he's terrified]]. Poor guy.
40	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: In the first two films, Thomas is given the vast majority of the screen time, meaning Newt, Teresa, Minho and other characters don't get near as many memorable scenes as they deserve (and got in the books). This was a problem with fans and critics, especially those who prefer them to Thomas. Luckily, this is amended in the last movie (and in the second movie somewhat for Teresa). Newt gets an emotional and dynamic character arc with his [[spoiler: transformation into a crank]] and some of the best acting in the movie, Minho gets to do more than snark for a change in the scenes where he's being tortured by WCKD, and we get to see Teresa's caring spirit and conflicting emotions as she works to find a cure for the Flare.

Context YMMV / TheMazeRunner