History Literature / HiddenTalents

** Phillip Grieg is called Torchie. He starts fires [[spoiler:[[PlayingWithFire with his mind]].]]

* AbusiveParents: Martin's dad, although he tends to lean toward verbal abuse and not physical. Martin’s mother seems to mean well, but seems cowed by her husband. In Literature/TrueTalents, this comes to a head, with Martin [[spoiler: running away from home.]]

* {{Fartillery}}: A kid called "Hindenburg" blew open a closet door. Let it be known that said kid has no special abilities as far as we know and did this with sheer...well, there's no other way to put it, is there...fart power.
** Well, he was trapped in there with ''Torchie'', so there very well could be a reason for that explosion... but still, it takes a lot of, uh, "natural gas" to ignite like that.

* ImplausibleDeniability: Torchie's "I didn't do nothing" doesn’t fool anyone. [[spoiler: He turns out to be right.]]

* [[spoiler: TheEmpath: Martin, of sorts; he can instantly detect the {{Berserk Button}}s of any person he meets...as well as the best way to stroke their egos]]

* [[spoiler:PsychicPowers: All the boys except Martin have these. [[Martin turns out to have this in some form as well...]]
* PurelyAestheticGlasses: Cheater.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Martin, much?

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Torchie describes how his uncle might have had psychic powers, since he would often pat Torchie on parts of his body that were recently injured (ex. If Torchie got a sunburn on his back, his uncle would par him on the back.) The book never makes certain whether it’s coincidence or his uncle is actually psychic.

** Martin acts as TheLeader taking charge of the group and acting as their coach in [[spoiler: honing their powers.]] He also can be considered a SixthRanger considering that he arrived at the school and joined later than everyone else.

** Cheater, despite being AsianAndNerdy, is decidedly not consistently TheSmartGuy, with most of the groups smarter decisions being relegated to someone else. Instead, he acts as TheLancer to Martin in the first half of the book, opposing Martin[[spoiler: when he claims they have PsychicPowers.]] He does have some moments as TheSmartGuy, though most of his insight is accidental.
** Flinch: Flinch acts as TheSmartGuy, being willing to hear Martin out about [[spoiler: their psychic powers.]] As the first person to deny their powers, he does somewhat act as TheLancer when Torchie and Cheater are not present.
** Lucky: Despite being in the group before Martin, Lucky demonstrates stereotypical traits of a SixthRanger; he’s notably aloof, distances himself from the others, and is the odd one out [[spoiler: in regards to how his powers work.]] On the other hand, he’s physically imposing and the most prone to physical violence, making him TheBigGuy.

* FiveManBand: The main characters [[PlayedWith play with this]] though there are a few exact matches:
** Martin acts as TheLeader taking charge of the group and acting as their coach in [[spoiler: honing their powers.]]
** Torchie primarily serves as TheHeart for the group.
** Cheater, despite being AsianAndNerdy, is decidedly not TheSmartGuy, with most of the groups smart decisions being relegated to someone else. Instead, he acts as TheLancer to Martin in the first half of the book, opposing Martin[[spoiler: when he claims they have PsychicPowers.]]
** Flinch: Flinch acts as TheSmartGuy, being willing to hear Martin out about [[spoiler: their psychic powers.]]
** Lucky: Despite being in the group before Martin, Lucky demonstrates stereotypical traits of a SixthRanger; he’s notably aloof, distances himself from the others, and is the odd one out [[spoiler: in regards to how his powers work.]]
** Trash: Trash is the actual SixthRanger in regards to his role in the story, but also acts as TheLancer in being directly contrasted to Martin in the story in terms of importance.

The first book follows the adventures of Martin, a smart-aleck sent to Edgeville Alternative School, a correctional facility. Here he meets the aptly nicknamed Torchie, a supposed pyromaniac; Cheater, an AsianAndNerdy boy sent to the school on accounts of cheating on tests; Flinch, a future comedian with hair-trigger reflexes that make him a disruptive influence in school; the introverted Lucky who was sent to Edgeview for kleptomania; and Trash, a loner artist and past vandal. They become close friends as they evade ruthless bully Bloodbath and attempt to stay out of trouble, with varying results on both fronts.

* DustbinSchool: Edgeville Alternative is widely known to be the last stop for students that no other school will take. It's also the last stop for a lot of lackluster teachers. [[spoiler:Martin {{reconstruct|ion}}s the trope, saving the school from closure by talking about how it has some serious disciplinary and staff issues, but also has the potential to do a lot of good for students who are out of options.]]

* [[MeaningfulName]]: Everybody except Martin. See CodeNames above.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The second book. A lot of the humor in the first book is gone, and rather than dealing with a school bully, these teenagers are up against people who want to kidnap and experiment on them. Thinking about Trash's or Lucky's experiences in detail will lead to Nightmare Fuel.

* ExpelledFromEveryOtherSchool: Edgeville Alternative is the DustbinSchool for students ([[spoiler:and teachers]]) that no other school will take. The protagonist Martin is transferred there at the beginning of the book after one too many verbal altercations with teachers, but comes to bond with other students who [[spoiler:got booted out of the conventional school system due to their [[PowerIncontinence unrealized]] PsychicPowers]].

* [[Meaningful Nickname]]: Everybody except Martin. See CodeNames above.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The school bully, Lester Bloodbath.

* AbusiveParents: Martin's dad, although he tends to lean toward verbal abuse and not physical. Martin’s mother seems to mean well, but seems cowed by her husband. In TrueTalents, this comes to a head, with Martin [[spoiler: running away from home.]]

** Eddie Thalmeyer is called Trash because he trashes things [[spoiler:with his[[MindOverMatter telekinesis]].]]

** Dennis Woo is called Cheater because he's [[spoiler:accidentally, with his mind reading]] copying other kids' answers.

** Eddie Thalmeyer is called Trash because he trashes things [[spoiler: with his [[MindOverMatter telekinesis.]]
** Willis Dobbs is called Flinch because he's constantly jumpy [[spoiler: due to his [[SpiderSense precognition.]]

** Phillip Grieg is called Torchie. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin He starts fires.]] [[spoiler: [[PlayingWithFire With his mind]].

* FiveManBand: The main characters make up one, though there are only a few exact matches:

** Trash: Trash is the actual SixthRanger in regards to his role in the story, but also acts as TheLancer in

* LonersAreFreaks: Trash, at the beginning of the novel, was ostracized by everyone.
* [[MeaningfulName Meaningful Nickname]]: Everybody except Martin.
* MindOverMatter: [[spoiler: Trash, and it's awesome]]
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The school bully, Lester Bloodbath

* PlayingWithFire:[[spoiler: Torchie]]

* AbusiveParents: Martin's dad, although he tends to lean toward verbal abuse and not physical.

* BlessedWithSuck: [[spoiler: Lucky, because of how his powers work. He hears voices from lost items, and the longer he leaves them, the louder they call out to him.]]

** Eddie Thalmeyer is called Trash because he's telekinetic and accidentally "trashes" any room he's in.
** Willis Dobbs is called Flinch because he's precognitive and therefore constantly jumpy.
** Dennis Woo is called Cheater because he's telepathic and is accidentally copying other kids' answers.
** Phillip Grieg is called Torchie. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin He starts fires]] [[PlayingWithFire with his mind]].

* DeadpanSnarker: Martin.

** Martin acts as TheLeader taking charge of the group and acting as their coach in honing their powers.

* ImplausibleDeniability: Torchie's "I didn't do nothing"

* PowerIncontinence: [[spoiler: All the main characters. Everyone except [[BlessedWithSuck Lucky]] develops better control by the end of Book 1.]]
* PsychicPowers

* SpiderSense: [[spoiler: Flinch, he uses it for dodgeball and, in True Talents, for (surprisingly enough) a job as a comedian.]]

** Cheater, despite being AsianAndNerdy, is decidedly not TheSmartGuy, with most of the groups smart decisions being relegated to someone else. Instead, he acts as TheLancer to Martin in the first half of the book, opposing [[Spoiler: Martin when he claims they have PsychicPowers.]]

* AsianAndNerdy: Cheater. Lampshaded repeatedly in the second book.

* FieryRedhead: Inverted with Torchie. He’s a redhead, but is also *TheHeart for his group of friends.
* GiftedlyBad: Torchie's love for music.

* BerserkButton: Please don't laugh at Bloodbath, and don't call him by his first name, [[spoiler: Lester]].

* ElementalHair: [[spoiler:Torchie.]]