[[quoteright:200:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gone.jpg]]

''One minute the teacher was talking about the Civil War. And the next minute he was gone.''

He just vanished - along with everyone else over the age of 14 in a 10-mile radius around Perdido Beach, California, which was also enclosed by an impenetrable dome. The children left behind find themselves battling hunger, fear, and one another in a novel [[TeenageWasteland strongly reminiscent of William Golding's]] ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies''. [[FromBadTOWorse Things go from bad to worse]] when some of the children begin exhibiting strange powers, animals show signs of freakish mutations, and people disappear as soon as they turn 15.

Written by MichaelGrant, co-author of the hit book series ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', ''EverWorld'', ''{{Remnants}}'', and author of ''Literature/{{BZRK}}''.

There are six books in the series:
* ''Gone'', released in 2008.
* ''Hunger'', released in 2009.
* ''Lies'', released in May 2010.
* ''Plague'', released in April 2011.
* ''Fear'', released in April 2012.
* ''Light'' released in April 2013.

Now has [[Characters/{{Gone}} a character sheet]].


No relation to the 2012 Creator/AmandaSeyfried [[Film/{{Gone}} film]] of the same name.
------
!!The series provides examples of the following tropes:

* [[AGodAmI A King Am I]]: By the end of Plague, [[spoiler: Caine expects everyone to refer to him as king, and appoints himself supreme ruler of Perdido Beach.]]
* AbdicateTheThrone: The leadership of Perdido Beach is like a game of musical chairs.
** Caine waltzed in and took over, but left after the end of ''Gone''. Sam then took over for ''Hunger'', and then got tired of the responsibility and gave the leadership to the Town Council in ''Lies'', run by Astrid. That turned out to be a disaster, so Sam returned as of ''Plague''. Sam then left again for the Lake Tramonto settlement at the end, so [[spoiler: Caine came back and became the absolute ruler of Perdido Beach.]] That works for a little while, but only until ''Light'' - Sam and Caine both leave to look for Gaia, so [[spoiler: Edilio becomes the final Mayor of Perdido Beach, and actually maintains that position until the barrier comes down.]]
* AboveTheInfluence: Inverted in Plague when [[spoiler: Taylor took advantage of Sam when he was drunk.]]
* AcidRefluxNightmare: Sam, after eating canned asparagus.
* ActionGirl: Lana, Dekka, Brianna, Taylor, Penny, Brittany..... it would be easier to list the exceptions (Astrid, Mary, and Diana), though even they have their moments. [[spoiler: As of Fear Astrid definitely counts as a full on ActionGirl]]
* AdultsAreUseless: Well, they aren't even there...
* AerithAndBob: We go all the way from Sam to Drake to Astrid to Caine to Zil to Orsay.
** Lampshaded with Nerezza:
-->'''Turk''': Weird name.
-->'''Nerezza''': Yes, it is.
* AffablyEvil: Caine
* AfterTheEnd
* AlliterativeName: '''L'''ana '''L'''azar and '''E'''dilio '''E'''scobar.
* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Brittney, Drake]] being buried alive.
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: [[spoiler: Dekka to Brianna during her "surgery". Brianna doesn't take it too well.]]
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Drake, he burns frogs, microwaves a puppy, and draws pictures of weapons
* ArcWords: "Hungry in the dark."
** For Astrid in ''Plague'': [[spoiler: A simple act of murder...]]
* AscendedFanboy: Duck Zhang.
* [[spoiler: AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Little Pete, after his body dies at the end of ''Plague'']].
* AmbiguouslyGay: Zil Sperry. Whenever he gets a CharacterFocus chapter, a lot of it is him admiring Lance and his looks. It's popular {{Fanon}} that he is gay but [[spoiler: we'll never find out as he's dead as of ''Plague''.]] Howard as well [[spoiler: but following in the footsteps of Zil we'll never know since he's dead as of ''Fear''.]]
* AmbiguousDisorder: Toto.
* AnyoneCanDie: Following in the footsteps of ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', the series has a surprisingly high body count for a YA book series.
** For the record, those who are confirmed to have made it out of the FAYZ are [[spoiler: [[TheHero Sam]], [[DramaQueen Astrid]], [[DeadpanSnarker Diana]], [[BigGood Edilio]], [[BadassGay Dekka]], [[TheLoad Quinn]], [[TheMedic Lana]], [[JerkAss Al]][[KarmaHoudini bert]], Taylor and the Artful Roger, anyone else's fates are debatable.]]
* TheApocalypseBringsOutTheBestInPeople: Sam takes the lead during the FAYZ, despite being completely average during normal circumstances.
** Taking charge when things get tough and attempting (not always succeeding) to go back to being a OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent is an established character trait for [[TheLeader Sam]].
*** Even before the FAYZ, when he saved a busload of his classmates from going over a cliff.
** Though, completely [[AvertedTrope averted]] with other characters.
* AsianAirhead: Taylor.
* AxCrazy: Drake. It gets worse after [[spoiler:Sam blows his arm off and The Darkness grants him a tentacle-like appendage to replace it]]. And even worse now that [[spoiler: He's back from the dead and SharingABody with Brittany, who Sam won't kill because she's innocent.]]
** [[spoiler: Gaia might as well be the poster child for this trope.]]
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: Drake and Brittany. [[SharingABody Together.]]]]
* BadassBookworm: Computer Jack, highly capable in computers... [[SuperStrength And kicking your ass]]. [[spoiler: As of Fear this trope applies to Astrid as well]]
* BadassGay: Dekka. [[spoiler: Edilio, too.]]
* BadassNormal: Edilio.
* BerserkButton: Little Pete is quite sensitive to loud noises, roughhousing, and threatening Astrid. His yet-to-be-clarified power makes this an extremely dangerous button to press.
** Do ''not'' threaten Brianna in Jack's presence. It makes him angry. You wouldn't like him when he's [[SuperStrength angry.]]
*** Threatening Brianna seems to be a bad idea all around. Dekka had a similar if not worse reaction.
** Drake pushes this intentionally to draw Sam, Dekka and Jack out. Thanks to [[LivingLieDetector Toto]], it doesn't work.
--> '''Drake''': I whipped her, Sam. I broke her legs so she couldn't run. [[NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization I think she liked it]]. (grins) She was screaming, but she liked it.
** Speaking of Drake, implying that he was a SonOfAWhore enraged the StrawMisogynist to the point of ''whipping Diana to the point of fainting''.
* BigBadassWolf: The mutant coyotes in the desert.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: The bugs from ''Plague''.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Only a little more than half the kids in the FAYZ actually survive, and they're highly traumatized, with 3 committing suicide, an unknown number getting addicted to drugs and alcohol and most if not all breaking down crying in shopping malls or grocery stores. Exactly as you'd expect. [[OnlyTheLeadsGetAHappyEnding The lead characters do end up in a better situation]], however: Sam's emancipated and living on his own with Astrid, who's now rich due to her movie deal; Diana, despite losing Caine is living with them, Lana and Quinn's lives return to normal quickly, Edilio is still living in the U.S., is openly gay and has Roger, and Dekka's parents don't harass her about her sexuality and she pays tribute to Brianna.]]
* BizarreBabyBoom: Some of the kids develop powers [[spoiler: due to the meteorite spreading the nuclear fallout.]]
* BlatantLies: Caine's expertise.
--> Emily: You can get the lights back on?
--> Caine: I can. It would take about a week.
** Astrid there's a REASON she's on the cover of Lies
* BodyHorror: E.Z [[spoiler: getting eating alive from the inside out by mutated killer worms in Hunger.]]
** The parasitic insects in ''Plague'' grow [[spoiler: inside their human victims, and eat their insides before [[ChestBurster bursting out of their chests.]]]]
** Also from ''Plague'', [[spoiler: Brittney/Drake being cut in three by Brianna.]]
*** [[spoiler: Brittney/Drake goes through a lot, starting right when they got to claw their way out of a grave.]]
** In ''Fear'' [[spoiler: it is revealed what happened to Francis and Mary, who "poofed" in ''Lies''. It's [[AndIMustScream not pretty]].]]
*** Also in ''Fear'', [[spoiler: Cigar is left at Penny's mercy from sunrise to sunset, and she, among other brutalities, makes him claw his own eyes out.]]
* BoisterousBruiser: Brianna
* BreakTheCutie: Most of the characters undergo this at some point, but a special note goes out to [[spoiler: Brittany]]. When introduced she is a sweet, loving, devoutly Christian girl. Then she: [[spoiler: A. Is brutally murdered; B. Finds out her power is scoring a IV on the SlidingScaleOfUndeadRegeneration; C. Suffers [[MindScrew hallucinations]] of [[EldritchAbomination what appears to be]] her dead little brother; and D. Is SharingABody with [[TheSociopath Drake Merwin]].]] It's no wonder the poor girl [[spoiler: [[FaceHeelTurn snaps]]]] when she finally meets [[BigBad the Darkness]].
** Diana. Dear god, Diana. ''Fear'' has not been kind to her.
** Also from ''Fear'': [[spoiler:Dekka is forced to believe that the bugs are inside her again by Penny, reducing her to a sobbing mess in the dirt]]:
---> [[spoiler:''Have a good laugh. See what you did to me. Make me brave and then break me. Make me strong and leave me weeping in the dirt.'']]
* BrokenAce: Lance is smart, athletic, handsome, and was popular before the poof. He's also a [[FantasticRacism Fantastic Racist]].
* BrotherSisterIncest: The romance between Jack and Brianna is absolutely hilarious if you've seen this quote from his wife, K. A. Applegate:
-->I don't usually use real people. Michael used the kids for GONE and then ended up horrified when he realized he'd hooked up our "son" and "daughter" romantically.
* BullyingADragon: Pretty much all the normal kids towards the freaks.
* [[spoiler: BuryYourGays]]: [[spoiler: Averted, all LGBT characters cross the finish line in the end.]]
* ButchLesbian: Dekka.
* BystanderSyndrome: The attitude of 90% of the Perdido Beach kids.
* 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.
* ChekhovsGunman: Duck Zhang in ''Hunger''.
** To elaborate, his power is the ability to change his mass, from able to float to sinking through the ground. The sinking through the ground part turns out to be the [[spoiler: only way to permanently destroy the gaiaphage, most likely digging it to the ''center of the earth'', assuming his skeleton retains its mass after he dies.]]
* ChildrenAreInnocent: Averted, subverted, inverted, played every way but straight.
* ChildSoldiers: Edilio trains them.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Brianna, or "Breeze". She spends most of her time rushing off to impress people with her powers and will, whenever trouble arises, blindly try to take out the threat herself - which nearly gets her killed several times. [[spoiler:This is deconstructed during her POV chapters in ''Fear''; the "stain" means she will not be able to use her powers, and she's afraid of being a disappointment to Sam if she doesn't kill Drake before that happens.]]
* CombatSadomasochist: ''Drake''. Attacking him usually results in him cheering that he's "unkillable" and then murdering you.
** To make matters creepier, he gets stabbed in the chest and finds it hilarious.
--> '''Drake:''' (grins) "This should be fun." Then [[spoiler: with his real hand,]] he drew the knife out of his chest, slowly, as if relishing every inch of steel.
** [[spoiler: GAIA full stop.]]
* ControlFreak: Astrid
* CrapsackWorld: '''''YES'''''.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Too many to count, [[spoiler: but EZ being eaten alive by mutated worms certainly comes to mind.]] And anyone who Drake kills. And the kids eaten by coyotes during the Thanksgiving Battle. And the kids who get thrown through a wall by Caine. [[spoiler: And Panda's suicide]], particularly because of [[IAmAHumanitarian what happened afterwards]]. Much of the deaths in ''Plague'' count as well.
** Two words [[spoiler: Howard. Bassem.]]
** Every single freaking death in Light. [[spoiler: Poor Brianna.]]
* [[DangerousSixteenthBirthday Dangerous Fifteenth Birthday]]: Anybody 15 and up disappears when the FAYZ is formed, and if you turn 15 while inside the FAYZ then you disappear as well. [[spoiler: Although the kids learn how to stay there by the end of the first book]].
* DarkIsEvil: [[spoiler: Seeing as how the BigBad is literally called "The Darkness", that's definitely a no-brainer]].
* DarkerAndEdgier: Each book seems to get progressively darker, except for ''Lies'', which was about on the same level as ''Hunger''. Not that it started out on a light note, though. Fear is this on a very literal level.
* DeadpanSnarker: Diana and Howard have this trope down.
* DisabilitySuperpower: Astrid's little brother, Little Pete, who is severely autistic.
* DisasterDemocracy
* DisproportionateRetribution: In ''Fear'' Cigar kills a fellow fisherman in a drunken brawl. Since he committed murder, [[spoiler: Caine sentences him to Penny for a day. 30 minutes was enough to cause a ''two-day state of shock'' in the previous victim. Even Caine is horrified at the [[EyeScream end result]].]]
* DomedHometown: After the adults disappear, there is a barrier around Perdido Beach.
* {{Doorstopper}}: While averaged sized for most adult novels, at 500 to 600 pages a piece, the books are gigantic for young adult novels. They are steadily decreasing in length as the series draws to its conclusion, however.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Mary. It doesn't take, and she reappears outside of the FAYZ, with... with... [[BodyHorror Oh God]]...]]
** [[spoiler: Panda, by the beginning of ''Lies.'']] Also, Jasmine.
** [[spoiler: Orc tries in ''Plague''.]]
** [[spoiler: And Hunter, also in ''Plague'' with the bugs.]]
* {{Duck}}: Brianna is yelling for Duck, and confuses a lot of people.
* DumbBlonde: Inverted by Astrid the Genius. Lampshaded when Lana meets the main characters and is surprised that Astrid is intelligent.
* EarnYourHappyEnding
* EasilyForgiven: Sam Temple.
** Deconstructed with Astrid, everything she has done from Lies and onward follows her.
* EldritchAbomination: The Darkness. Giant pile of living rock that represents itself in telepathic hallucinations as a giant floating mouth.
* EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Obviously.
* EnfantTerrible: [[spoiler: Gaia]], so very much. Within the ''four hours'' [[spoiler: from her birth]] to the end of ''Fear'', she manages to [[spoiler: torture Penny]] after she accidentally drops her [[spoiler: and then laugh at the scene]], [[spoiler: laugh, once more, at seeing terrified children ''walk into a fire'']] due to Penny's visions and [[spoiler: forcing her mother to relieve her horrible memories of eating Panda]]. And that's not all... She also attempts to [[spoiler: kill both her own father, Caine, by trying to crush him against the FAYZ barrier]] and [[spoiler: Sam, by trying to rip him apart via telekinesis]]. [[spoiler: Thankfully, she doesn't succeed]] in any of the two cases.
* EnsembleCast: While Sam could generally be called the protagonist (though there are always large portions of the story not focused on him), "Lies" moves all the way into this trope, with Sam getting equal or less attention than Astrid's struggle to lead the council and care for her brother, Sanjit and the island kids trying to fly to the mainland, power struggles among the Coates kids, Mary's growing mental problems, and many other subplots with the rest of the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.
* EtTuBrute Sam and Quinn in the first book.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: All the Coates kids have something or someone capable of humanizing them... Except Drake, that kid [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumped off the slippery slope]] a ''long'' time ago and is proud of it.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Caine is understandably appalled at [[spoiler: what Penny did to Cigar in the twelve hours she had him. To put it simply, she ''tortured him to insanity.'' When Lana regenerates his eyes he thinks back to some of the hallucinations she caused, and we get to see them.]]
* EvilOverlordList: Caine fails at 17, 24, 55, 61, 100, 111, 115, 131, 151, 164, 223 and possibly [[spoiler: 18 and 19]]. He actually follows 199.
** [[spoiler: 19. Only the reason for the rule is averted.]]
* [[spoiler: ExpressDelivery]]: [[spoiler: Diana's pregnancy]] develops at an accelerated pace, probably because [[spoiler: the baby in question is a mutant.]]
* EyeScream: [[spoiler: What ever is left of Cigar's eyes after Lana tries to regrow them.]]
* {{Expy}}: Several characters are reminiscent of Michael Grant's previous series with wife K.A. Applegate:
** Sam is very similar to [[Literature/{{Animorphs}} Jake]] in terms of taking charge and being looked at as a leader figure. There's also a bit of [[{{Remnants}} Jobs's]] dreamer, kind-hearted soul there too.
** Astrid is an interesting mix of [[Literature/{{Animorphs}} Ax,]] [[EverWorld Jalil,]] and [[Literature/{{Animorphs}} Cassie.]] She loves science and analyzing things like Ax, is a rational thinker much like Jalil but she's every bit of the heart and TeamMom that Cassie was.
** Dekka is basically a transplanted [[{{Remnants}} Tate]], with shades of Rachel.
** Caine has every bit of [[{{Remnants}} Yago's]] ambition and ruthlessness and Diana is as manipulative and cunning as [[{{Remnants}} 2Face]].
* FaithHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Britney in Plague. Also Astrid, after seriously questioning her faith, becomes much more of an AntiHero]].
* FantasticRacism:
** Regular kids against the Moofs (mutant freaks).
** Quinn at his lowest points resorts to ''actual'' racism, usually against Edilio. In fact, nearly every villain refers to Edilio as "the Mexican". Lampshaded in the second book by Edilio himself:
--->'''Edilio:''' I'm not just your good-looking Mexican sidekick.\\
'''Sam:''' You're not Mexican, you're Honduran.\\
'''Edilio:''' Sometimes I forget.
** In ''Plague'', Lance goes full-out racist and blames blacks, gays, Mexicans and Jews for all his problems, as well as freaks.
* FilleFatale: Diana, to some extent, although [[TeenageWasteland relative to the rest of the FAYZ]], fourteen isn't that young.
* FireForgedFriends: ''"Brittney had no romantic feelings for Edilio, but what she had went a lot deeper. She would rather burn for eternity in the hottest fires of hell than let Edilio down. "''
** Dekka and Sam:
--> '''Sam:''' I don't want to sound weird, but you know I love you, right?
--> '''Dekka:''' [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Love you too, Sam.]]
** [[spoiler: Diana has become this with Astrid and Sam at the end of Light.]]
* FiveBadBand: At the beginning:
** [[BigBad The Big Bad]]: Caine
** TheDragon: Drake, [[spoiler:Penny]]
** [[EvilGenius The Evil Genius]]: Computer Jack [[spoiler:pre-HeelFaceTurn]]
** TheBrute: Orc [[spoiler:pre-HeelFaceTurn]]
** TheDarkChick: Diana
* FiveManBand: As of ''Light'':
** BigGood: Edilio.
** TheHero: Sam.
** TheLancer: [[spoiler: Caine]].
** TheBigGuy: Dekka.
** TheSmartGuy: Astrid.
** TheChick: Brianna.
* FrickinLaserBeams: Sam's ability, when being used offensively.
* FunWithAcronyms: The '''F'''allout '''A'''lley '''Y'''outh '''Z'''one.
-->'''Howard''': "Don't worry about it. It's just a [[IncrediblyLamePun FAYZ!]]"
** The E.Z Killers (mutated worms), or "zekes".
** The SDC, "supernatural death cough."
* GallowsHumor:
-->'''Quinn''': It looks like the world's worst picnic.
-->'''Astrid''': [[LampshadeHanging I believe that's what's referred to as Gallows Humor.]]
* GenderBlenderName : Quinn is a boy.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Loads of it in ''Light''.
* GoMadFromTheRevelation: When she meets the Darkness in ''Plague'', [[spoiler: Brittany]] goes mad and comes to believe that it is God.
* GoshDangitToHeck: Diana is often referred to as witch, instead of the obvious swear word bitch.
** She actually refers to ''herself'' as a bitch in ''Plague'', subverting this trope.
* GreyAndGrayMorality: The good guys are not wholly good, and the bad guys are not wholly evil. Except for Drake, again. And Penny.
* GrievousHarmWithABody: Caine throws [[spoiler: Duck at the Darkness. It doesn't seem like much, but Duck has altered his mass to that of a ''mountain''.]]
* [[spoiler: HeroicSacrifice: Duck dies in order to defeat the Darkness]]
** [[spoiler: SenselessSacrifice: Guess who survives anyway.]]
** Later, [[spoiler: Caine gives his body to the disembodied spirit of Little Pete so he can finally kill the Gaiaphage.]]
* HarmfulToTouch: Touching the barrier feels like sticking your entire arm in an electrical outlet.
* TheHero: Mercilessly deconstructed with Sam who by the end of ''Hunger'', [[spoiler: gets so fed up with the stress and dealing with everyone else's problems that he quits.]]
* HeroicBSOD: Sam and Lana, in ''Lies''.
** Dekka, [[spoiler:after Penny's visions made her think she had the bugs in her again.]]
** Dekka ''again'' [[spoiler: after Brianna dies.]]
** Edilio too [[spoiler: after he thinks Roger dies.]]
* HeelFaceTurn: Caine does this at the end of ''Hunger'', either because Diana was bleeding out and she needed Lana to live, or because he realized how bad the [[BigBad Gaia]][[DarkIsEvil Phage]] is.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Howard and Orc. Sam and Quinn [[FaceHeelTurn originally]]. And also female example with Orsay and Nerezza in the third book.
* HighHeelFaceTurn: Zig-Zagged with Diana. Throughout the series, she's probably the least outwardly loyal Coates kid, often to the point of sabotaging their plans, but is the only one that actually cares about Caine. She stays even after half the team [[HeelFaceTurn Heel Face Turns]] but is openly critical of how things are being done. [[spoiler:Finally, in Plague, she leaves for good.]] But she remains on her own side the whole time, so there's no technical change.
* HomeschooledKids: [[spoiler: Emily and her brother, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Brother]].]] Well, before the FAYZ, anyways.
** And Orsay.
* HowDoIShotWeb: Most mutants.
* ICannotSelfTerminate: [[spoiler: Brittney begging Sam to kill her (and Drake) in Lies and Plague.]]
** In Plague [[spoiler: after Dekka gets hit by a greenie.]]
--> '''Dekka:''' Don't let it happen. Swear to me Sam. Swear it to me by God or by your own soul or whatever you believe, swear to me, Sam.
--> '''Sam:''' I won't let it happen, Dekka. I swear it.
** Also in Plague, [[spoiler: when Hunter is being [[BodyHorror eaten by greenies.]]]]
* IDontWantToRuinOurFriendship: One of Dekka's reasons for not telling Brianna she loves her.
* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: It's really hard ''not'' to interpret Drake's comments to Astrid in ''Plague'' this way. Calling her beautiful, winking at her, promising to [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar "come up and play"]] . . . those aren't usually preludes to whipping somebody's skin off. [[CombatSadoMasochist Of course, with Drake . . .]]
* ILoveNuclearPower: one of the possible sources for the kids' superpowers. Justified because the series takes place in an AlternateUniverse where the laws of science have been rewritten.
** But the laws of science are only different in the FAYZ which was made by [[spoiler: Little Pete]] who's [[LogicBomb powers may have come from the nuclear incident which means because nuclear power gives power, nuclear power gives powers.]]
* ImaginaryFriend: [[SpiderMan Spidey]] is Toto's imaginary friend.
* 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.
* IncompatibleOrientation: Dekka's crush on Brianna, who is straight.
* IncurableCoughOfDeath: The eponymous sickness in ''Plague.''
* InfantImmortality: Averted, and how. Sam and some others find a dead baby inside an abandoned house. [[spoiler: Also, the final battle scene in the end of ''Gone'' kills a lot of children.]]
** [[spoiler: Averted again near the end of ''Fear'' to a horrifying degree.]]
* [[spoiler: InstantBirthJustAddWater: Diana, at the bottom of a certain mineshaft, with hardly any assistance and not a [[ExpressDelivery lot of preparation either]].]]
* JerkAss: Caine in Plague. Drake all the time. Penny in Fear.
* JerkassDissonance: Caine and Drake seems to have this effect. Sam too, although it's most likely accidental.
** Howard to a less irritating degree
* KarmaHoudini: Albert doesn't get any retribution for abandoning Perdido Beach in ''Fear''. Thanks to a publicity stunt in ''Light'', [[spoiler: he ends up getting interviewed by CNBC, and McDonalds pays for his education.]]
** Thankfully Astrid and Quinn both call him out on this.
* LackOfEmpathy: Drake. Also, Caine is becoming more this way by ''Lies.''
** [[spoiler: Gaia]] too.
* [[spoiler: LawOfInverseFertility]]: [[spoiler: Diana becomes pregnant quite quickly once her and Caine get down to it, even though not long before that she was very badly starved, which should have had some kind of effect of her fertility/menstrual cycles (it should have stopped them.)]]
* LampshadeHanging: Astrid has a habit of pointing out the techniques people use in their speech, e.g. "Rhetorical question" or "Defensive humor."
* LittleMissBadass: Arguably, all the female cast, but especially Brianna, one of the youngest ActionGirl of the series.
* LizLemonJob: Running Perdido Beach, basically.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: At the beginning of ''Hunger'', the list of people alive in Perdido Beach is at 332, and at least sixty names come up on a regular basis.
** By the end, [[spoiler: 136 are dead.]]
* LoveMakesYouDumb: This is parodied in ''Plague''.
--> '''Virtue''': I'm going to refuse to do puberty. It makes you stupid.
* MeaningfulName: The series has a thing for Biblical names: Caine [[spoiler: trying to kill his brother]], ''Mother'' Mary and ''Brother'' John taking care of the children, etc.
** Also, Lana "Lazar"; rising from fatal injuries, like the tale of Lazarus.
** "Drake" means [[TheDragon "dragon"]].
* MinimalisticCoverArt: [[http://www.michaelgrantdownunder.com/p/gone.html The UK/Aus/NZ editions give a much more foreboding feel to the books.]] The image doesn't even do it justice: the author's name is only visible because of its gloss on an otherwise matte cover.
* [[spoiler: MonsterFromBeyondTheVeil: Drake/Brittney in Lies.]]
* MoralityPet: [[DarkChick Diana]] for [[BigBad Caine]] , although their relationship does show some abusive patterns on both sides. [[spoiler: In book four, he [[TookALevelInJerkAss takes a level in jerkass]] and drives her away.]]
* MuggleBornOfMages: Quinn resents the other powered kids out of a conflicting mix of jealousy and xenophobia.
* MrViceGuy : After the events of Hunger, Lana picks up smoking and drinking.
* MugglePower: The Human Crew is a type 2.
* {{Muggles}}: The non-powered kids.
* NameOfCain: ''Caine'' is [[spoiler: Sam's]] twin brother.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Caine Sorren, Drake Merwin [[spoiler:WHIPHAND!]], Orc, Mallet, [[spoiler:The Darkness]], Zil, [[spoiler: Nerezza]].
* NarrativeProfanityFilter
* ANaziByAnyOtherName: The Human Crew.
* [[spoiler:NiceJobBreakingItHero: Brianna, who during Fear, attempts to rescue Diana and her baby... only to have the Gaiaphage possess it, by way of Penny's visions.]]
* NoBisexuals: Sexual orientation is pretty much always discussed in terms of gay/straight, with no indication that someone could be in between [[spoiler: althought there is a lot of controversy involving a certain Zil Sperry]].
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Drake whips Sam so badly his [[FlayingAlive skin is in tatters]] and is in so much pain he is praying for death, even after being injected with morphine.
* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: Albert gets shot in the head by Lance, yet manages to survive nearly bleeding out.]]
** Played with with [[spoiler: Drake.]] He gets (presumably) killed by Caine in Hunger, but returns in Lies [[spoiler: sharing a body with Brittney.]] Who is also a case, as she gets both legs broken and shot in the chest, yet can't be killed.
* NotUsingTheZWord: Everyone to Brittney in Lies, though Howard just comes out and says it.
* OnePersonOnePower:
* OneWordTitle: Each book has one.
* OnlyFatalToAdults: The premise of the story.
* OnlySaneMan: Edilio.
* [[spoiler: {{Panspermia}}: Origin of the Darkness]].
* ParentalAbandonment: '''EVERYONE.'''
* ThePlague: There are two of them in ''Plague''.
* PlayingWithFire: The little girl at the beginning of the first book.
* PersonalityPowers: Some of kids gain powers based on their fears, such as how Sam makes light, and is afraid of the dark.
** Caine [[spoiler: and Computer Jack]] developed powers to impress Diana; Lana [[spoiler: and Orc]] gained their powers to survive the coyotes.
** Bug gained his powers in order to hide from his AbusiveParents.
* PowerIncontinence: Jack.
* PowerPalms: Most mutant's powers come from their hands.
* PregnantHostage: Poor, poor 15 year old [[DarkChick Diana Ladris]] in ''[[Literature/{{GONE}} FEAR]]''. No one bothers trying to bail her out *Or rather, they couldn't if they tried*, either. And she's left to give birth in a scorching hot, pitch black mine with two psychopaths who like to torture her. Fans of the character were reasonably miffed.
* PromotionToParent: Basically everyone, but especially Mary.
** Deconstructed with Sam, who gets so sick of playing the daddy that he quits.
** Astrid to Little Pete.
* PureEnergy: Sam can shoot energy beams from his hands.
* RaceAgainstTheClock: You disappear when you turn exactly 15 years old. Not a big deal for the little kids, but Sam turns fifteen in eleven days...[[spoiler: It is discovered by Sam and Caine that there is a way to escape disappearing at the end of ''Gone'', so by the second book, ''Hunger'', most people know how to escape it.]]
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Quinn initially blames God for the FAYZ, much to the chagrin of Astrid, who's a [[ChristianityIsCatholic practicing Catholic]].
* RandomPowerRanking: Diana, from Coates Academy, has the ability to sense the strength of people's powers. She gives people a ranking in "bars", like the strength of a cellphone signal. Normally they range from 1 to 4, [[spoiler: except for Little Pete, who seems to be about ''10''.]]
* RandomTeleportation: It's random to everyone but Little Pete.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Sam, Astrid and [[spoiler: Edilio]] as the Mayor of Perdido Beach.
* ReleasedToElsewhere: People who turn 15 [[spoiler: or die]] inside the FAYZ [[spoiler: can choose to]] disappear. Nobody knows whether they go outside the FAYZ, go to another dimension, or if they even surive.
** It's revealed what happens in ''Fear''. [[spoiler: It is [[{{Understatement}} not pretty]]]].
* [[ReluctantWarrior Reluctant Hero]]: Sam
* RealityWarper: It appears that Little Pete may be one of these, which means that the most powerful person in Perdido Beach is a severely autistic four-year-old.
* RunningGag: [[spoiler: When Caine meets Duck in ''Hunger'' he takes to calling him [[MyNameIsNotDurwood Goose.]]]]
* SeparatedAtBirth: [[spoiler: Caine and Sam, though they are fraternal twins.]]
* SharingABody: [[spoiler: Brittany and Drake.]]
* ShoutOut: Most of the place names seen on the map are references to works or TV shows related to the themes of the series, such as Stefano Rey National Park (Creator/StephenKing--''UnderTheDome''), the Santa Katrina Hills (KA Applegate--Grant's wife), Grant Street (Michael Grant--''Gone''), Golding Street (William Golding--''Literature/LordOfTheFlies''), and even the town name of Perdido Beach (''Series/{{Lost}}'').
** The illusion [[spoiler: Penny]] uses on Quinn is the monster from Film/{{Cloverfield}}.
** In the first book, Mary reads the kids ''The Buffalo Storm'', which is a book that KAApplegate, Grant's wife, wrote.
* SicklyGreenGlow: Averted AND played straight.
* SmokingIsCool: Lana in Lies. Justified because she can heal herself of any damage caused.
* SmugSnake: Zil Sperry hates [[HoYay all but one]] of his teammates, resents not being recognized as a formidable antagonist, and [[spoiler: gets himself killed in a poorly planned attempt to gain recognition.]] Very smug, very irritating, and, in the end, pretty worthless.
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: A lot of characters.
** [[spoiler: Chunk, the Coates Academy toadie gets killed (albeit unintentionally) by Caine when he gets thrown into a wall in ''Hunger.'']]
* [[spoiler: SuddenlySexuality]]: [[spoiler: Edilio is revealed to be gay in ''Fear'', along with Artful Roger and the two are together. There's a bit of lead up to this in the novel itself, but not previous installments which make sense, since Edilio does not get very many POV chapters.]]
* SpeechImpairedAnimal: Pack Leader, in a non-comedic way.
* TheStarscream: [[spoiler: Penny]] in ''Fear''. [[spoiler: She]] even pulls it off, but [[spoiler: her]] big moment is ruined by more pressing concerns.
* StarfishAliens: The gaiaphage.
* StevenUlyssesPerhero: Mary and her brother John become foster parents for pretty much all children under five. Eventually they earn the nicknames Mother Mary and Brother John.
* StockSuperpowers:
** Astrid: [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway Can tell a person's potential.]]
** Brianna: SuperSpeed
** Brittney: [[spoiler: Shared with Drake from Lies forward: {{Immortality}}, HealingFactor]]
** Bug: {{Invisibility}}
** Caine: MindOverMatter
** Darla: IntangibleMan
** Dekka: GravityMaster
** Diana: [[UselessSuperpowers Can gauge the powers of others.]]
** Drake: [[spoiler: CombatTentacles]]
** Duck: Can increase/decrease his density.
** [[spoiler: [[HumanoidAbomination Gaia]]]]: [[spoiler: MindOverMatter, MoreThanMindControl; SuperEmpowering; HealingHands, LightEmUp, MadeOfIron]]
** Hunter: [[WalkingWasteland Radiation]]
** Jack: SuperStrength
** Jill: EnthrallingSiren
** Lana: HealingHands
** Little Pete: Many undiscovered, but as of ''Plague'', {{Teleportation}}, and can make things disappear. Later becomes a full-on [[spoiler: RealityWarper after he [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence "dies"]].]]
** Orc: [[spoiler: [[TakenForGranite His run-in with the coyotes results in him mutating into a 6-foot tall rock monster.]]]]
** Orsay: [[DreamingOfThingsToCome Can see the dreams of others.]]
** Penny: MasterOfIllusion
** Sam: LightEmUp
** Taylor: {{Teleportation}}
** Toto: LivingLieDetector
* SuperPowerMeltdown: The going theory is that [[spoiler:Little Pete caused the FAYZ by having a panic attack... in the middle of the catastrophic meltdown of the Perdido Beach Nuclear Power Plant]]. Later [[spoiler: confirmed.]]
* TakeThat:
--> '''Lana''': Maybe you're attracted to dangerous unbalanced people, but listen up: [[Literature/{{Twilight}} I'm not Edward and you're not Bella.]]
--> '''Sanjit''': [[CrowningMomentOfFunny I don't understand what that means.]]
* TeenPregnancy: [[spoiler: Diana, by Caine.]] [[FetusTerrible Lord help us.]]
* TeenageWasteland
* TheBechdelTest: All four books pass the test.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In ''Light'', [[spoiler: Albert]] gives a ''brutal'', tearjerking one to the [[spoiler: filmmakers that tried to get rid of the grave in the town plaza, thinking it was fake. Also subverted, as it reads a bit like a "The Reason ''I'' Suck Speech".]]
* TheStoic: Edilio, with occasional but effective NotSoStoic moments.
* TheWallAroundTheWorld: The impenetrable FAYZ Wall which surrounds the area.
* ThirdOptionLoveInterest: Over the first three books there were hints at a possible love triange between Quinn, Lana and Edilio. In Plague [[spoiler: Sanjit and Lana become a couple.]]
** [[spoiler:And in Lies, Edilio and ''the Artful Roger'' become a couple.]]
* ThisIsReality
-->'''Diana''': This isn't the movies, Caine. [[LudicrousGibs He looked like roadkill.]]
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: The series has been described by critics as "''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'' by way of Creator/StephenKing".
* {{Tsundere}}: Diana, when she's around Caine.
* TwoferTokenMinority: Dekka is a black lesbian. And a Moof, which makes her threefer in the novel's universe. She [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it.
-->'''Dekka''': I'm black and I'm lesbian, so believe me, there are ''always'' lines.
* UnusualChapterNumbers: The chapters come with a countdown of days, hours, minutes, and seconds to the climax of the book.
* UnusualEuphemism: The kids come up with a few terms to describe what happens when [[spoiler:people turn 15 and disappear]]. Some of the more frequently-used ones are "poof", "blink", and "make the jump". Basically, they're all just euphemisms for [[spoiler:dying]].
* [[UpToEleven Up To Ten]]: Little Pete. Normal kids powers rank from 1-4, with Sam and Caine being the only two fours. Little Pete is rated at ten, considering he has the ability to [[spoiler: create monsters and levitate things out of ''nothingness'' in ''Hunger'']]
* VillainousBSOD: Caine during the period between ''Gone'' and ''Hunger.''
* WelcomeBackTraitor: To Jack in Hunger.
* [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude Who Names Their Kid Brother:]] Emily's... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin ''brother'']] Brother, from Lies.
** A lot of names come under this. Duck, Zil and for starters.
* WhamEpisode: The ending of every book after Gone.
** With Hunger [[spoiler: Drake and the BigBad are killed.]]
** Lies [[spoiler: Drake is revived and Mary has poofed.]]
** Plague [[spoiler: Diana, Albert and Quinn change sides, Little Pete is dead, Astrid leaves Sam and Caine takes over Perdido Beach.]]
** Fear [[spoiler: The Gaiaphage is now inhabiting Diana and Caine's baby and the FAYZ wall is transparent]].
* WouldHurtAChild: Drake! He kills anyone who gets in the way of what he wants [[spoiler: coyotes-in-daycare scene]]. [[LiteralMinded Or just gets in his way]]. Or just for the [[ForTheLulz fun of it.]]
** This may count for '''everyone''', because when you think about it, they're all [[JustAKid just kids]]!
* UnfazedEveryman: Quinn
* YouFailBiologyForever: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when Astrid points out that there is no gene for shooting lasers out of your hands. Justified, however, [[spoiler: when it is revealed that the meteor that carried The Darkness seems to have [[RealityWarper broken]] [[RewritingReality reality.]]]]
----