Awesome / Divergent

As a Moment of Awesome page, all spoilers are left unmarked.

The Books:

Divergent

• Tris beating the tar out of Molly.

Insurgent

• Let's let this moment say it:
  "Just to clarify," says Niles. "Are you telling me that you were almost murdered by the Erudite... and then fought your way into the Dauntless compound... and destroyed the simulation?"
  "Yes," I say.
  "I think I speak for everyone," he says, "when I say that you have earned the title of Dauntless."
• Tobias beating his father, like he used to beat him. Even though it showcases how disturbed and angry Tobias is, you can't help but feel a little happy about Marcus getting what he deserves.
• Eric bites more than he could chew when he taunts Tobias into becoming his executor, thinking that the latter can't bring himself to. Nope, Tobias does the job in calm.
• Thanks to betraying Dauntless, assisting Jeanine, and wanting to execute all Divergents, Max is shot and immediately killed by Lynn, with no warning or fighting at all. Max is a senior member of Dauntless with over 20 years of training, while Lynn has been officially on Dauntless for a few months or so, although she was born in the faction.
• Tris walking to her execution and being honored by the opposing Dauntless soldiers.
• Peter faking the death serum used for Tris' execution, so he can deliver her to Tobias where they can escape safely. He knows very well that he can be captured and executed on the spot, and yet he does that like it's nobody's business.
• Johanna delivering a (polite) "The Reason You Suck" Speech on her fellow Amity members, before quitting the faction so she can assist those still at war in the city. She's abandoning her home in a dignified way, and no one complains; in fact, some of them actually joins up with her.
  Tris: That's not something I expected at all.
• Marcus bringing down Caleb by a single thrust so he can't block him, Tris, and Christina from searching for the information hidden by Jeanine. Say what you will about him, but doing that while being in a faction known for their submissiveness and no training of self-defense, on top of being old enough to be a grandfather, is quite a feat.
• Tris has to fight her way through the simulations induced by the gaseous serum before she is able to access Jeanine's laboratory, and she expects that there will be more challenges there. Yet she arrives there to find Tori cornering Jeanine with no effort at all. Since then, Tris has yet to figure out how the hell Tori managed to bypass the security system and reach the Big Bad, when everyone else is struggling, and the series never reveals how^note  Don't think too hard. Tori was sent there as a spy and she specifically targeted Jeanine's laboratory all the time. Plus, she's also a former Erudite, giving her a high start.
• Evelyn's coup. So simple, so quiet, so perfectly executed. After the battle is over, make sure you have all the guns and outnumber the real warriors.

Allegiant

• Johanna taking up arms and leading the Allegiant, composed of all former faction members including Erudite, Dauntless, Abnegation, Amity, and Candor all in one, against the factionless. Freaking Johanna Reyes. No wonder everyone is surprised.
• It's revealed that Natalie singlehandedly spearheaded the bailing out of the Divergents hunted by Erudite, including George and Amar, so they can seek refuge in the Bureau. Truly an Offscreen Moment of Awesome. Making Tris even more proud of her mother is only describing her reaction mildly.
  • Before that, Natalie's achievements pre-rescue by the Bureau also deserve a mention. She had to survive in the harsh life of the fringes as a helpless 16-years-old without anyone for company, which means that her risk of being attacked with no warning by others are high. Then when she saw a boy being bullied by an older man, she picked a beam and attacked the man with it. He dropped dead immediately, making him her first kill.
• As implied in this book and outright confirmed in The Transfer, Tobias never actually qualifies for Dauntless, and his Aptitude Test showed that he is an Abnegation through-and-through. Yet he consciously transferred to Dauntless, just so he could escape his abusive father as well as getting the freedom that Abnegation never offered, and had to train vigorously to such an extent that little to no trace of his Abnegation exists anymore. Ironically, said abusive father, Marcus, who was raised and chose to be in Abnegation (so he can control the city, y'see), is a Divergent, meaning that he can choose any of the five factions however he want and adapt easily.
• Tris is the Goddess of resisting serums and successfully resists the Death Serum, something that David doesn't believe possible. She then follows it up with an equally awesome "The Reason You Suck" Speech on sacrifice before demonstrating exactly what sacrifice really means.

The Movie

Divergent

• Tris' mom stopping her daughter's execution by quickly taking out the Mooks who were about to do it, proving that she was a Dauntless-born.
• Doubles as a funny moment, but Peter saying Tris won't shoot. Her response? "Why does everyone keep saying that?" Cue shot to the leg.
• The Heroic Sacrifice of Tris' dad, coupled with Tear Jerker.
• Tris showing off her knife throwing skills by nailing her dagger straight into Jeanine's hand from a few feet away.
• Tris' somewhat cheesy but still effective one-liner against Jeanine in the climax of the first film. And this came at a moment where several mind-controlled Dauntless members were about to execute Abnegation civilians, and Jeanine refused to shut down the mind control, opting to die instead.
  Jeanine: I guess you're not so Dauntless after all.
  Tris: You're right. (Four throws her a fallen syringe containing the mind-control serum) I'm Divergent. (Stabs Jeanine with the syringe)
• The film opening with $54 Million at the box office. It more than tripled the box office numbers of Muppets Most Wanted despite the latter film having gotten much better reception. In fact Muppets made less money in its entire theatrical run than Divergent did just that weekend.

The Divergent Series: Insurgent

The Divergent Series: Allegiant

• Tris gets several in the first action scene, where she abseils down the wall to plant a bomb on the electrified fence's generator. She runs back over to Four and triggers the bomb as he powers back up the wall. Cue one of Evelyn's mooks' trucks being hit by the shockwave, sending it tumbling over.
• Caleb infiltrating Chicago with David's vehicle and pulling off a Big Damn Heroes moment on Tris and Christina. Especially his Meaningful Echo with Tris.
  "That's what you do for family."
• Tris's message, which reveals the existence of the Bureau's experiment of Chicago to Chicago's citizens. And Caleb reprograms David's now explosive-laced vehicle to fly towards the Bureau's camouflage wall, exposing the place.
  Tris (message): My name is Tris Prior. And I'm here to reveal the truth. There are others who exist on this planet and they do not view us as equals. They called themselves the "pure", and they called us the "damaged". They created a wall to divide us from their world. And factions to divide us from each other. We're their experiment, and it almost destroyed us. They tried to make us forget who we are and where we're from, but they did not succeed. So, here we stand together, not as 5 factions, but as one city. We're gonna tear down their wall. You've seen us, and now, we see you. To those of you beyond the wall, hear me loud and clear, because I know you are listening. Chicago is not your experiment. It is our home.
  Tris: And it always will be.