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Main Characters
Thomas
"Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I gotta find out for sure."
Portrayed by: Dylan O'Brien
Voiced by: Alan Bravo (Latin-American Spanish dub), Tasuku Hatanaka (Japanese dub)
"You're already scared. All right? I'm scared. But I'd rather risk my life out there than spending the rest of it in here. We don't belong here. This place isn't our home. We were put here. We were trapped here. At least out there, we have a choice. We can make it out of here. I know that. "
A young man who wakes in an elevator that brings him to "The Glade". In his quest to find a way out of the maze he is enclosed in, he finds that he may have a connection to this place.
- Amnesiacs are Innocent: While his friends assure him otherwise, he doesn't think so due to having worked with WICKED before the Swipe.
- Amnesiac Dissonance: He is so afraid of having to deal with this that he constantly refuses even the possibility of having his memories restored. He gets his way and he never actually learns what kind of person he was.
- Animal Nemesis: He serves as a nemesis to the Grievers thanks to the boys' numerous escape attempts/ventures outside the glade.
- The Atoner: Though his memories have been erased, he feels an immense amount of guilt for having previously worked with WICKED.
- Badass in Distress: When he and Brenda are captured by Cranks in the Scorch.
- Bash Brothers: With Minho. As the two really work well with each other during fights.
- To a lesser extent, Thomas and Newt as well.
- Character Development: Thomas started out as an afraid and helpless glader till he gained more confidence and became an effective leader willing to do anything for his friends, as his leadership helped take down WICKED and reach the safe haven.
- Childhood Friends: This is what he, Teresa and Aris are revealed to be, having grown up together under WICKED's care.
- Deadpan Snarker: Likes to engage in this from time to time. If only to keep himself sane from all of the craziness going around his life.
- Determinator: Determined to save his fellow Gladers from the Grievers.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Played as straight as possible. After three books of heartache and bizarre craziness, he finally leads the other boys to safety, gets the freedom he's always wanted and starts a new life.
- Genius Bruiser: He was a child prodigy leading WICKED after the Purge of the first batch of Creators, as well as extraordinarily fit and a decent fighter, as proven throughout the series.
- Guilt Complex: His greatest flaw. Everything that happens to his friends, even when he couldn't do anything about it, is his fault as far as he's concerned.
- Heartbroken Badass: After Teresa betrays him in The Scorch. Even more so after she, along with so many others, dies, saving him so he can cure those infected with the Flare.
- The Hero: The main protagonist of the books.
- Heroic Resolve: When freaked out and frantic, Thomas tends to will himself to overpower enemies or break out of holds.
- I Am Who?: He and Teresa actually helped design the Maze that they're trapped in.
- I Just Want to Be Free: Thomas’ personal reason for escaping, as well as curiosity. The same applies to the other Gladers.
- The Immune: In The Death Cure, he turns out to be immune to the Flare. In fact, being this is why he was picked by WICKED in the first place, because they wanted to research his brain to find a cure.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Slowly grows into this over the course of the series, most notably in "The Death Cure". With all of the crap that's happened to him and his friends, it's perfectly understandable why he becomes this. Over the course of said book, he struggles to find hope in his situation amidst the despair around him.
- The Leader: Never actively pursues this role but gradually grows into this over the course of the series.
- Line-of-Sight Name: He received his name because a WICKED member who took him from his mother saw a light bulb in his house, and Thomas Edison immediately crossed his mind.
- Named After Someone Famous: After Thomas Edison. It’s not his real names, but a name that was planted in his memory.
- Psychic Link: He and Teresa can communicate with each other in their heads, even when Teresa is in a coma or unconscious. It's revealed in The Death Cure that this is the effect of technology implanted within their heads that can also be hacked into, cut off, or removed entirely.
- Spanner in the Works: Does everything in his power to undermine and oppose WICKED, even when he has the short hand.
- Trauma Conga Line: This could almost be the subtitle for each of the books.
- Undying Loyalty: His best trait as he is willing to do anything to protect or save his friends even if it means sacrificing his own life to do so, which makes the other gladers, especially Newt and Minho follow him till the end.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: Teresa DIES in front of him.
Teresa Agnes
"What if we were sent here for a reason?"
Portrayed by: Kaya Scodelario
Voiced by: Carla Castañeda (Latin-American Spanish dub), Mamiko Noto (Japanese dub)
"There are millions of people suffering out there. Millions of stories, just like mine. We can't turn our backs on them. I won't."
The first ever girl to appear in The Glade and carry a dark message for the group. Though first coming into the story in an unconscious state, she grows to be one of the most crucial characters in the story, if only for her connection to Thomas.
- Action Girl: Never shies away from any action, despite being surrounded by strong boys.
- Apocalypse Maiden: Her coming to the Glade signals the oncoming threat to the rest of the boys.
- Childhood Friends: This is what she, Thomas, and Aris are revealed to be, having grown up together under WICKED's care.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Acts this way when Brenda is around Thomas.
- Deadpan Snarker: Can snark even in the darkest of times.
- Double Standard: In-Universe. Her manner makes it obvious that she considers herself smarter than most of the men around her, by default. Although in her case, that's very much in-character.
- Dropped a Bridge on Her: She's abruptly killed saving Thomas from falling rubble at the end of The Death Cure and is mentioned very little afterwards due to it coming at the end of the book.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Subverted and later played straight, she tries to sacrifice herself to save the immunes from a Griever, but Thomas saves her. Later, she pushes Thomas out of the way of some rubble and is crushed instead. In Maze Runner: The Death Cure, She falls to her death when the WCKD headquarters collapses.
- Horrible Judge of Character: She honestly believed that WICKED was going to spare Thomas if she did what they said, NO, and this judgement is worsened in the movies as even after she sees Janson and the rest of Wicked slaughtering the Right Arm, she still thinks that WICKED is good, really.
- Hypocrite: At least in The Death Cure movie as she states that she can protect Thomas and Newt from the cruel treatment of WICKED is they come with her, but Thomas immediately calls her out on how she "protected Minho", betraying him and having many people kidnapped, tortured, and killed.
- I Am Who?: She and Thomas actually helped design the Maze that they're trapped in.
- The Immune: In The Death Cure, she turns out to be immune to the Flare. In fact, being this is why she was picked by WICKED in the first place, because they wanted to research her brain to find a cure.
- Killed Off for Real: In Maze Runner: The Death Cure, she falls to her death when the WCKD headquarters collapses.
- The Leader: Of the group of girls in the Scorch.
- Manipulative Bitch: Considering the revelation in The Fever Code that she kept her memories the whole time, she definitely falls into this in the main trilogy.
- Named After Someone Famous: After Mother Teresa. It’s not her real name, but a name that was planted in her memory.
- Nerves of Steel: Even with danger ready to leap out at any corner, she can sleep like a baby.
- Psychic Link: She and Thomas and can communicate with each other in their heads, even when Teresa is in a coma or unconscious. It's revealed in The Death Cure that this is the effect of technology implanted within their heads that can also be hacked into, cut off, or removed entirely.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: How Thomas describes her in the book.
- Remember That You Trust Me: Invokes this on Thomas multiple times.
- Sixth Ranger: Joins the group last but proves to be very helpful.
- Sixth Ranger Traitor: In The Scorch Trials, she teams up with a group of girls and kidnap Thomas. She then proceeds to beat, berate, and emotionally torment him maliciously. Subverted in that she was forced to do this by WICKED, but it hits Thomas too hard to ever truly forgive her. As of the Fever Code it's double subverted as she had kept her memories fhe whole time. In The Scorch Trials movie it's played straight when she revealed the location of Thomas's group to WICKED willingly.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: Does not end up with Thomas.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Her goal is to help find a cure for the Flare virus, but her willingness to help WICKED experiment on the other Immune, albeit in exchange for protection for those she's close to in the films in particular, makes it hard to properly sympathise with her.
Newt
"We're all bloody inspired."
Portrayed by: Thomas Brodie-Sangster
Voiced by: Arturo Castañeda (Latin-American Spanish dub), Daiki Yamashita (Japanese dub)
"But we started this together, we may as well end it together too."
Second in command of the Glade and one of Thomas' best friends.
- Bungled Suicide: It’s revealed in The Death Cure that he tried to kill himself by jumping off one of the Walls some time before Thomas’s arrival. He survived, but broke his leg, hence his permanent limp.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: As revealed in The Fever Code prologue, he had nice parents ready to give their lives for their child.
- Deadpan Snarker: Has some good ones too.
- Death Seeker: After contracting the Flare he wishes for Thomas to kill him.
- Despair Event Horizon: Two significant ones. First, when he tried to commit suicide when he first entered the Glade. Second when he finds out he has contracted the Flare and isn't immune. Unlike the first time, he doesn't recover.
- The Heart: While not all about the hugs and kisses, it's clear that he's the glue that keeps the Gladers together in the worst of times. Lampshaded in "The Scorch Trials", when his tattoo designation is "The Glue".
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: He has blond hair, and he's loyal, selfless, and for the most part, a good-natured guy.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: He's this with Thomas, and to lesser extent, Minho. He and Alby also have shades of this until the latter dies.
- Killed Off for Real: In Maze Runner: The Death Cure, He stabs himself in the chest with a knife.
- The Lancer: He is this to Thomas alongside Minho, being his best friend.
- The McCoy: Tends to be the most rational of the group while also letting a good amount of emotion affect his judgement.
- Mercy Kill: He wants Thomas to do this to him after contracting the Flare, eventually he does get his wish.
- Named After Someone Famous: After Sir Isaac Newton. It’s not his real name, but a name that was planted in his memory.
- Number Two: In the Glade, he answered only to the leader, Alby. He was generally the second-in-command within the main group of characters too.
- Pretty Boy: As portrayed in the films by Thomas Brodie-Sangster, with his soft, almost androgynous facial features and blond hair.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Within the Glade he's the most level-headed of all the guys. He recognizes the rules Thomas breaks and punishes him, but doesn't go overboard as he realizes Thomas is useful.
- Sacrificial Lion: Dies in the Death Cure, mercy-killed by Thomas when suffering from the Flare.
- Stepford Smiler: Hates every minute of being in the Maze, but tries to keep moral up as best he can.
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: He's about twice as popular as Thomas, and pretty much any other character for that matter.
- Stock British Phrases: Likes to use the word "bloody" a whole lot.
- Undying Loyalty: To all of his friends, he even risks his own life at the end of The Death Cure just so everyone else can get to the safe haven even if it means that he won't survive.
Minho
"Be careful, don't die."
Portrayed by: Ki Hong Lee
Voiced by: Luis Leonardo Suárez (Latin-American Spanish dub), Go Inoue (Japanese dub)
"All those kids that we left behind back there. I don't want to end up like that."
Keeper of the Runners of the Glade and Thomas' right hand man.
- Bash Brothers:
- With Thomas. As the two really work well with each other during fights.
- To a lesser extent, Thomas and Newt as well.
- The Big Guy: The one of the most eager to fight and definitely really good at it.
- Charles Atlas Super Power: Necessary for running the Maze, and as the Keeper, he'd have to be the best.
- A Day in the Limelight / Hero of Another Story: The DVD for the movie comes with a 24 page comic told from Minho's perspective set before Thomas is sent to the maze.
- Deadpan Snarker: You could count the time he doesn't snark on one hand.
- Determinator: Save for his first night in the Maze, Minho is dedicated to seeing that he and his friends find a happy ending.
- Heroic BSoD: Has one during his first night in the Maze. He does snap out of it though.
- The Immune: In The Death Cure, he turns out to be immune to the Flare. In fact, being this is why he was picked by WICKED in the first place, because they wanted to research his brain to find a cure.
- The Lancer: He's Thomas' best friend who he trusts and respects.
- The Leader: Sort of pushed into leading the Gladers by Thomas (and WICKED) in "The Scorch Trials". For all it's worth, he wasn't doing particularly bad job at it, he just isn't really suited for it.
- Lightning Bruiser: Very strong, agile, and speedy. A necessity when running through the maze.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Likes to throw around all of the made up slang from the Glade at every opportunity.
- Undying Loyalty: To all of his friends, like Newt he is especially loyal to Thomas but will still look out for the rest of his friends even if it means getting into worse situations for himself.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With just about everyone, but Thomas in particular.
Other Gladers
Gally
"Day one, Greenie. Rise and shine."
Portrayed by: Will Poulter
Voiced by: Alejandro Orozco (Latin-American Spanish dub), Daisuke Namikawa (Japanese dub)
Appearances: The Maze Runner | Maze Runner: The Death Cure
"Everything started going wrong the minute you showed up. First Ben, then Alby, and now the girl. Everybody saw she recognized you. And I'm betting you know who she is."
Keeper of the Builders, as well as one of the senior members of the Glade, Gally is in direct opposition to Thomas.
- Adaptational Heroism: While still antagonistic towards Thomas, the movie's Gally is significantly less psychotic than his book counterpart. He brings up logical and reasonable accusations towards Thomas and is much more sympathetic. Until the whole "let's leave Thomas and Teresa to die in a failing attempt to save ourselves" thing.
- And I Must Scream: The third book reveals that he was being controlled by WICKED when he stabbed Chuck, forced to watch as he stabbed one of his best friends to death while being unable to stop it.
- The Atoner: After Thomas is shot in the stomach, Gally is the one who tries to save him and stop his wound from getting worse, making it clear that he wasn't going to let Thomas die on him when he failed to do the same with Chuck.
- Ax-Crazy: One wonders how he survived in the Glade being quite so fight-happy and disruptive he is. He's ready to try and kill Thomas over just some jumbled memories.
- Back for the Finale: Reappears in The Death Cure, the final book of the trilogy, as part of the Right Arm. and in Maze Runner: The Death Cure, the final installment of the film series, he is part of a rebellion group led by Lawrence.
- Big Bad: Gally more or less serves as the main antagonist in the first book, where WICKED is monitoring things off-screen for the majority of the book. It's more explicit in the movie.
- The Bully: Acts as one to Thomas and pretty much everyone in the end.
- Character Development: Spent the first installment trying to kill Thomas, until after accidently killing Chuck, he felt immense guilt and did everything he can to make things right as he rescued Thomas and the rest of the Gladers and helped them defeat WICKED and redeeming himself while also losing many of his bad traits of his original personality.
- The Cynic: Doubts Thomas’ plans and the idea of escaping their predicament. He eventually grows out of it by the final book.
- Dirty Coward: Would rather stay in the Glade forever then face whatever is in the Maze and beyond. He later gets over it.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: By Maze Runner: The Death Cure, Gally now sports a buzz cut, representing how he has joined the war against WCKD.
- Hypocrite: Minho points out that despite everything he accuses Thomas of, he was guilty of himself at one point.
- Heel–Face Turn: In the The Death Cure, he goes from being Thomas' adversary to steadfast helper after he escapes from WICKED's custody and joins the Right Arm. In Maze Runner: The Death Cure, he goes from being Thomas' enemy and rival to friend and ally after he joins a rebellion group led by Lawrence, who patched him up.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: In the movie, he is impaled in the chest with a spear by Minho, but in Maze Runner: The Death Cure, he is patched up by Lawrence, the leader of a rebellion group.
- Madness Mantra: "I belong to the Maze."
- Named After Someone Famous: After Galileo Galilei. It's not his real name, but a name that was planted in his memory.
- Not Quite Dead: In Maze Runner: The Death Cure, he is patched up by Lawrence, the leader of a rebellion group.
- Number Two: Seems to be this to Vince in the Right Arm.
- Took a Level in Kindness: When Thomas and the others reunite with him, he acts much nicer than his previous appearance.
- Would Kill a Child: Chuck is not immune to his aggressive side, and suffers a very painful death after he throws a knife at the younger kid.
Chuck
"You're already doing better than I did. I clunked my pants three times before they got me out of the Pit."
Portrayed by: Blake Cooper
Voiced by: Iván Bastidas (Latin-American Spanish dub), Ayumu Murase (Japanese dub)
Appearances: The Maze Runner
"All I know is I don't want to be here. I want to go back to my family. Whatever's there, whatever I was taken from. I wanna remember."
Thomas's first friend within the Glade and the former newbie till Thomas showed up.
- Beware the Nice Ones: As gentle as he is, Chuck’s not averse to engage in a fight, as well as playing pranks on a few of the older boys and even joins in with the others when attacking the Grievers in the final act of the first book.
- Big Fun: Chuck’s the widest of all the Gladers, and is also the most jovial and optimistic, though a little bit of a prankster.
- Break the Cutie: Chuck is hit with this hard. First, he is thrown into the realism that he and the others may never escape. Then, he gets killed by Gally. Which is after he finds out what WICKED had been doing with him and his pals.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the book, he dies from a knife in the chest. Yet in the movie, it is a bullet instead. Both hit him in the same place: his chest.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In the movie, he jumps in front of the bullet going at Thomas.
- Named After Someone Famous: After Charles Darwin. It's not his real name, but a name that was planted in his memory.
- Nice Guy: Despite his prankster ways, Chuck is a kind, friendly boy.
- Plucky Comic Relief: With a huge dash of The Prankster. He loves to pull pranks on the other Gladers at any opportunity.
- Sacrificial Lamb: He makes it only to the end of the first book, having become True Companions with Thomas and being treated like everyone's annoying kid brother. He also figures out the final part of shutting down the Maze.
- Tagalong Kid: He’s the youngest of the Gladers.
Alby
"Welcome to the Glade."
Portrayed by: Aml Ameen
Voiced by: Carlo Vázquez (Latin-American Spanish dub), Kenichiro Matsuda (Japanese dub)
Appearances: The Maze Runner
"Every month, the Box sends up a new arrival. But someone had to be first, right? Someone had to have spent a whole month in the Glade, alone. That was Alby. I mean, it can't have been easy. But when those other boys started coming up, one after the other, he saw the truth. And he learned that the most important thing is that we all have each other. Because we're all in this together."
—Newt
Leader of the Glade and one of, if not, the first people to come to the Glade and thus had to establish order.
- Big Brother Mentor: To the other Gladers, more so in the movie.
- The Chains of Commanding: He's the lead authority of The Glade, for all the good and bad that entails. Probably the worst moment he had to go through is having to banish Ben, who has become a danger to the group after getting stung by a Griever. You can read/see that he takes no pleasure in his actions.
- Good Is Not Nice: In the book, he's pretty rough with just about everyone save for Newt and Minho.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Tries to buy the group enough time to get out of the Maze.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the book, he sacrificed himself to let the Gladers leave the Maze. But in the movie, he sacrificed himself to stop a Griever from grabbing Chuck.
- The Leader: Of the Glade. Without him, there would be no order and chaos would rule.
- The Load: When stung in the Maze, first Minho and then Thomas had to lug him around.
- Named After Someone Famous: After Albert Einstein. It's not his real name, but a name that was planted in his memory.
- Off Screen Moment Of Awesome: In the novels, he was said to be one of the first Gladers to arrive, but the film outright says he was the first one. This means that he, with no memory other than his name, was dropped in a field with supplies to last for a month on his own, with no knowledge of what is in the maze or the fact it's even a maze in the first place.
Frypan
Portrayed by: Dexter Darden
Keeper of the Cooks.- Big Fun: While not fat, Frypan’s a bit on the chubby side and an overall friendly person.
- The Big Guy: He's the largest Glader and not extremely fast.
- Black Dude Dies First: Averted since he's actually one of the few survivors of the series.
- Chef of Iron: He's a capable fighter and the group's cook.
- Chubby Chef: He's a bit bigger then the other boys.
- Fun Personified: He’s always cheerful and delivers a good deal of comedy in the dark series.
- Lethal Chef: Winston thinks he's a horrible cook.
- Mauve Shirt: He gets enough characterisation to survive each movie.
- Nice Guy: He's one of the few Gladers who's friendly to Thomas since the beginning.
- Older Than They Look: He’s described as having a full-grown beard in the books. In the movies, he’s clean shaven.
- Plucky Comic Relief: He often provides more light hearted moments then the other characters, getting some funny one-liners and being oblivious as to what's going on most of the time.
- Real Men Cook: Loves cooking food for the Gladers.
- Team Chef: He’s the cook in the Glade and continues to be this in the Scorch and Safe Haven.
- Those Two Guys: Always seen with Winston.
- Token Minority: Averted since the group features many minorities.
Winston
Portrayed by: Alexander Flores
Appearances: The Maze Runner | Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
Keeper of the Slicers.- Adaptational Attractiveness: In the books, Winston is described as having horrible acne, he doesn’t have acne in the movies.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: The books said he was a Jerk with a Heart of Gold towards other Gladers and a Jerkass to Thomas. Here he's much friendlier to Thomas and not the Ax-Crazy Blood Knight he was in the books.
- Attempted Suicide: He tries to shoot himself when his infection gets worse.
- Body Horror: His infection grows… inside of him…
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: He's always seen wearing a red shirt.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: He disappears during the lightning storm in the books, having presumably died. In the movies he shoots himself to avoid becoming a crank.
- Doomed Hurt Guy: He's injured early on in the second movie, he doesn't make it very far before the group realises he's not going to make it.
- Killed Off for Real: In Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, he kills himself with a gun given to him by Newt.
- The Load: After getting injured, he becomes this.
- Sacrificial Lamb: He gets a few lines and scenes before he's scratched by a crank, ceiling his fate.
- Those Two Guys: Always seen with Frypan.
- Zombie Infectee: He gets scratched by a crank early on in the second movie.
Zart
Portrayed by: Joe Adler
Appearances: The Maze Runner
Keeper of the Track-hoes.- The Bore: Described as one in the books.
- The Ditz: Compared to the other Gladers.
- Dumb Blonde: He's not an idiot, but he's not very bright either.
- Dumb Muscle: Comes off as this.
- Killed Off for Real: In the movie, he is killed by a Griever.
- Mauve Shirt: The most notable Glader in the first movie and the first to be killed when the Grievers attack.
Ben
Portrayed by Chris Sheffield
Appearances: The Maze Runner
A Runner.- Adaptational Badass: In the books, he was a builder and friend of Gally, in the movies, he was Minho's running partner.
- Killed Offscreen: In the movie, he is killed offscreen by the Grievers after being forced into the Maze by the Gladers.
- Red Shirt: Gets name dropped once and gets one line before he attacks Thomas.
- Sacrificial Lamb: Banished by the Gladers due to his infection. It's supposed to showcase the kind of hell the boys live in and their motivation to escape it.
- Tainted Veins: To show that he’s been stung by a Griever.
Jeff
Portrayed by Jacob Latimore
Appearances: The Maze Runner
A Med-jack.- Ascended Extra: Jeff is barely a character in the books, he only appears in a handful of scenes and we never find out what happened to him and if he survived. The movies give him more lines, scenes, and a heroic death.
- Dying Moment of Awesome: Fights off two grievers to free Minho, knowing he wouldn't make it out alive.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Saves Minho from a Griever, but then gets killed by said Griever instead.
- Killed Off for Real: In the movie, he is killed by a Griever.
- The Medic: His role.
- Those Two Guys: First with Clint, then with Winston.
Clint
Portrayed by Randall D. Cunningham
Appearances: The Maze Runner
Keeper of the Med-jacks.- Death by Adaptation: He is seen getting killed by grievers during the massacre. In the books, he's mentioned among the few Gladers still alive during the 3rd book's climax. Whether he survived the final battle is not mentioned.
- Demoted to Extra: One of the few named Gladers with dialogue in book 1, he’s only mentions once after the first book.
- Killed Off for Real: In the movie, he is killed by a Griever.
- Killed Offscreen: Zigzagged, we do see him get dragged away, we just never see him die.
- The Medic: He's this, along with Jeff.
- Nightmare Fetishist: In a deleted scene, Newt mentions how Clint always wants to amputate the arms or legs of Gladers, even when all they have is a simple scratch.
- The Quiet One: In the movies where he has a total of four lines, two of which are in the deleted scenes.
- Those Two Guys: Always seen with Jeff.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He’s mentioned by Thomas just before the climax of the final book starts. During the climax, a lot of people are killed and Clint is never mentioned again.
Other Gladers
appearances: The Maze Runner (2014) The Maze Runner
Other Gladers who make minor appearances in the series.- Amnesiac Hero: They, like every other Glader have no memory of their past.
- And I Must Scream: After Jack gets hit by lightning, Thomas presumes he’s dead. Then he sees Jack is moving and screaming in pain.
- Butt-Monkey: The Sloppers and Greenies are this to the Gladers.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Billy and Jackson, they’re mentioned in the first book, they both survive and escape the maze, but aside from a throwaway line in Death Cure which says that Jackson is not immune we never hear or see anything about them again.
- In the movies, three extras are shown to have escaped from the maze, two of them mysteriously disappear with no explanation given whatsoever.
- Composite Character: Jack, the only Glader with a small role other then the named characters. In the movies, he gets Frankie’s death and role as a Living Prop.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Let’s see, stung by Grievers, thrown off cliffs, decapitated by metal balls, blown to pieces by lightning, killed by cranks or bulb monsters or simply crushed by falling debris.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: The attack on the Glade and the big escape seem to have been switched around. In the books, a handful of Gladers die in the Glade, and half of them are slaughtered off-screen during the escape. In the movies, half of the Gladers are killed by Grievers in the Glade. This leaves only a handful of them to die during the escape.
- Jack dies by lightning in the books, the movies have him killed by cranks.
- The Dragon: A tall Glader with long blonde hair serves as this to Gally in the movies.
- Dumb Muscle: Newt describes the Builders as such.
- Dwindling Party: A large group of about 30/40 Gladers existed at the start of the series, by the end, all of them are dead.
- Face–Heel Turn: A few Gladers who join Gally in banishing Thomas and Teresa. They later refuse to leave the Glade and are left behind by the others.
- Living Prop: They rarely do anything significant beyond dying.
- Mauve Shirt: The named Gladers like Clint, Jack, Jeff, Winston, Zart and arguably Frypan are given bits of dialogue and characterisation here and there, but don’t play a big part in the overall story and usually end up dying over the course of the series.
- Men Are the Expendable Gender: Played completely straight. Group A, which is composed of almost only boys, suffer much more casualties then the girls in Group B. But once the girls are introduced, it’s fair game.
- Men of Sherwood: In action sequences, the ones that don’t die do pretty well fending off Grievers. Three of the Gladers end up escaping the maze with the main cast.
- No Name Given: Averted, their names can be spotted on the walls of the Glade, but good luck trying to find out who’s who.
- Off with His Head!: Poor Frankie is horrifically decapitated by a metal object in the second book.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Jack is the shortest Glader, next to Chuck, and one of only a handful to escape the maze.
- Red Shirt Army: They only exist to get killed off by obstacles that our protagonists must face.
- Sacrificial Lamb: Jack, he’s introduced early on in the Scorch Trials and gets more lines and mentions then most Gladers. Only for him to be the first Glader to die in the Scorch when lightning hits him.
- Sole Survivor: In the movies, Jack is the only extra to escape the maze with the main cast. He then dies early on in the Scorch Trials.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Pretty much.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Jackson is mentioned as being unimmune, but we never find out if he’s been bitten by a crank or not. He disappears from the story after this one mention.
- The gladers who refused to leave the glade are never shown again. Newt even lampshades this by asking what happened to them, but the person he asked has no clue and guesses that WCKD still has them.
Other Characters
Brenda
"Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope has killed more of my friends than the Flare and Scorch combined."
Portrayed by: Rosa Salazar
Voiced by: Valentina Souza (Latin-American Spanish dub), Megumi Han (Japanese dub)
Appearances: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials | Maze Runner: The Death Cure
A young teen girl who meets up with the Gladers in the Scorch. She proves to be very useful in helping them navigate their way in exchange for the cure to the Flare.
- Bad Ass In Distress: Together with Thomas, she's held up by the Cranks.
- Broken Bird: Parents dead, living in a city filled with degenerating cannibals, and has a disease that will turn herself into one. The possibility of a cure from the Gladers is what gets her going.
- Deadpan Snarker: Has a slightly morbid sense of humor in The Scorch.
- Idiot Ball: Grabs it firmly when she falls on a thin, fracturing glass pane above a Bottomless Pit in The Scorch Trials and, instead of distributing her weight evenly by staying put, stands up in the center of the large pane, which of course accelerates its disintegration exponentially.
- Mr. Exposition: Fills in Thomas greatly about the outside world.
- No Sense of Personal Space: She just can't keep her hands off Thomas from the moment they meet, and claims that this kind of behavior is normal where she comes from when he calls her out on it.
- Number Two: In Jorge's gang.
- Second Love: To Thomas after Teresa's death, she's the one who Thomas ends up with.
- Undying Loyalty: Towards Thomas, whom she genuinely wants to see happy, she's also the one who Thomas is with in the end. Also to Chancellor Paige, whose wishes she's following all throughout the book.
Aris Jones
"Can you hear me?"
Portrayed by: Jacob Lofland
Voiced by: Bruno Coronel (Latin-American Spanish dub), Yuto Uemura (Japanese dub)
Appearances: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials | Maze Runner: The Death Cure
Another teenage boy that meets up with the Gladers at the start of "The Scorch Trials". He claims to be from another WICKED test group and can communicate with Thomas inside his mind.
- Childhood Friends: This is what he, Thomas, and Teresa are revealed to be, having grown up together under WICKED's care.
- Named After Someone Famous: He's presumably named after the Greek philosopher Aristotle.
- Psychic Link: He and a girl called Rachel could communicate with each other in their heads, and could do the same with Thomas, which makes the latter feel uncomfortable. It's revealed in The Death Cure that this is the effect of technology implanted within their heads that can also be hacked into, cut off, or removed entirely.
- Sixth Ranger: He is placed with the Gladers in "The Scorch Trials" when Teresa is separated from the main group.
- Sixth Ranger Traitor: With Teresa he tortures Thomas and seems like he's going to kill him. Somewhat subverted as they were forced to do that by WICKED.
Jorge Gallaparga
"You ever get the feeling the whole world is against you?"
Portrayed by: Giancarlo Esposito
Voiced by: Carlos Segundo (Latin-American Spanish dub), Kenyuu Horiuchi (Japanese dub)
Appearances: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials | Maze Runner: The Death Cure
"Three questions. Where did you come from? Where are you going? How can I profit?"
The leader of a band of cranks within the Scorch. He joins up with the Gladers in search of a cure.
- Ace Pilot: Surprisingly enough.
- Age Lift: Appears to be in his fifties rather than twenties or thirties in the book.
- Characterization Marches On: In The Scorch Trials, he was introduced as a brute willing to commit murder for minor insults, savagely beating one of the protagonists over a slight. In The Death Cure, this turns out to almost totally be an act and he's later a generally inoffensive pilot and a sort of doting uncle to Brenda.
- Consummate Liar: He's an excellent liar, Lampshaded by Brenda.
- Gratuitous Spanish: Peppers his speech with Spanish phrases. Justified as its reasoned The Scorch is in lower Mexico or Central America.
- The Smart Guy: Serves this role in Thomas' group in The Death Cure, being older and more experienced than the others and having the ability to get the group in and out of Denver using fake identities.
- Token Adult: He's the oldest member in Thomas' group by far.
Sonya
Portrayed by: Katherine McNamara
Appearances: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials | Maze Runner: The Death Cure
Newt's younger sister and the second-in-command of Group B.
- Damsel in Distress: She's captured by WCKD forces at the end of Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.
- Number Two: She is this to Harriet in Group B.
Harriet
Portrayed by: Nathalie Emmanuel
Appearances: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials | Maze Runner: The Death Cure
The leader of Group B.- The Leader: Of Group B.
Vince
Portrayed by: Barry Pepper
Voiced by: Ricardo Tejedo (Latin-American Spanish dub), Atsushi Miyauchi (Japanese dub)
Appearances: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials | Maze Runner: The Death Cure
The leader of the Right Arm.- Adaptational Early Appearance: He wasn't supposed to appear until Maze Runner: The Death Cure.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: He's a lot friendlier to Thomas and seems to care about the kids he's saving. In the books, he treats Thomas as a pawn in his own game of chess.
- Composite Character: He keeps his role as the Right Arm's leader but his role in the third book is given to Lawrence.
- The Leader: Of the Right Arm.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Some of his actions indicate this.
Lawrence
Portrayed by: Walton Goggins
Appearances: Maze Runner: The Death Cure
The leader of a rebellion group.- Adaptational Nice Guy: A lot friendlier than book Vince.
- Body Horror: He looks like a crank but still has a functioning brain.
- Composite Character: He takes Vince's role from the books, his own role as Vince's Number Two is given to a character called Jasper. His look is based a crank seen at the beginning of the second book.
- Continuity Nod: In his introduction, he tries to smell a rose and says 'rose took my nose, I suppose.'. This is said by a crank encountered by the Gladers in the Scorch.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He allows everyone to get into the final city by blowing himself up in front of the gate.
- Killed Off for Real: In Maze Runner: The Death Cure, he sacrificed himself to destroy the wall leading the Last City.
WICKED
In general
The World In Catastrophe Kill-zone Experiment Department, they are the main antagonists of the series. Seeking to find a way to cure The Flare, a disease devastating humanity, they are willing to cross any line in the name of a higher cause.
- Adaptational Name Change: WICKED became WCKD in the films, although the pronunciation remained the same.
- The Chessmaster: Manipulates everything in the children's lives all for the sake of find a cure to the Flare.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: They deployed the Flare Virus in order to reduce the population growth after the solar flare. Saying it had Gone Horribly Right is an understatement.
- Light Is Not Good: Employees wear all white and have a plethora of all white rooms and buildings.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: W. I. C. K. E. D. It doesn't stand for anything good, either: "World In Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department".
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: They honestly want to find a cure to the Flare and save humanity, too bad they have very bad methods of acquiring it.
Ava Paige
Portrayed by Patricia Clarkson
- 0% Approval Rating: WICKED posters bearing her face are all over Denver, but it's rare to see one that hasn't been vandalized with devil horns or something similar.
- Big Good: In the final half of The Death Cure, where she decides to preserve humanity instead of saving it, since what WICKED was doing was just resulting in tortured and killed children.
- The Ghost: She's never seen or interacts with anyone, only having her memoirs at the end of each book. This is averted in the movie.
- Killed Off for Real: In Maze Runner: The Death Cure, she dies from being shot in the back by Janson.
Janson
Appearances: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials | Maze Runner: The Death Cure
Portrayed by Aidan Gillen
- 0% Approval Rating: Nobody likes him, not even the people at WICKED as no one was mourning for him when he was killed.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Assistant Director Janson in the books is nicknamed the "Rat Man" because of his ugly rat-like appearance. In the films, he's played by Silver Fox Aidan Gillen.
- Ascended Extra: Assistant Director Janson a.k.a. "The Rat Man" only appeared in one chapter near the start of The Scorch Trials and didn't appear again until the next book – The Death Cure, where he became the Big Bad. But in the film adaptation – Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials he’s promoted to main antagonist status and spends most of the film pursuing the protagonists.
- Asshole Victim: No one felt sorry for him when he died.
- Big Bad: Assistant Director Janson, better known as "the Rat-Man", is the primary antagonist of the series.
- The Determinator: Janson will stop at nothing to find the cure.
- Dirty Coward: Kills people without remorse or mercy and to advance his agenda but when his time comes, he begs someone to save him.
- Faux Affably Evil: He's all smooth and friendly until something doesn't go as planned.
- In-Series Nickname: All the Gladers call Janson "Rat-Man" because of his rat-like facial features.
- Killed Off for Real: In Maze Runner: The Death Cure, he dies from being killed by two Cranks.
- Narcissist: Janson is only trying to find the cure for himself and whoever he thinks should have it, which shows off his narcissistic personality to a high degree.
- Smug Snake: He has an extremely punchable expression on his face.
- Villainous Breakdown: Janson becomes more and more desperate to find the cure at the end of The Death Cure even as the building is collapsing around him, justified as he's infected with the Flare.
