The Flock - Max

Maximum "Max" Ride

Maximum "Max" Ride is a title character and the main protagonist of the series. She is a 14-year-old (15 in Fang) avian-human hybrid and the leader of the Flock. Max is described as a tomboy, with a witty and sarcastic attitude but with a soft side. She has brown hair with blond streaks and brown eyes. Some fans think it might be because Angel and Gazzy already have blonde hair yet only Nudge has brown hair. On Fang's blog, it described her hair as darker than blonde but lighter than brunette. Max has an ability to fly "faster than the speed of light". Max is five feet and eight inches tall and weighs 98 pounds as described in The Final Warning, Max has a 14 foot wingspan. In MAX Max has an affair with Fang in the desert after talking to him about Nudge wanting to cut her wings off, she holds her fear and stays. Later the Flock meets Dylan who, according to Dr. Gunther-Hagen, is Max's "perfect other half". Max begins to feel an attraction for Dylan. In Angel she and Dylan grow closer, confusing her feelings about Fang who begins to grow closer with Maya, who is essentially Max's clone.

Max is one of the two members of the Flock who found her parents; Iggy is the other. Yet she is the only one to love her parents, Iggy leaving his after only a week or so. She was stunned when she learned that Jeb Batchelder (a "white coat" who helped them escape from the school and then raised them) is her father. Dr. Valencia Martinez is her biological mother. Max trusts Dr. Martinez completely, but remains wary of Jeb. She is also close to her half-sister, Dr. Martinez' daughter Ella. Max first meets Ella while trying to save her from some bullies. Max dislikes and somewhat likes Ari (Jeb's son), with whom she is constantly fighting until he joins her "mini-flock" that was created in Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports for a short time after rescuing them from the School. A short while after Ari is rescued from the School, he expires ("white coat" word for died). After Ari's "death" the two mini-flocks created by Max and Fang come back together. Max has a Voice in her head, which gives her cryptic messages that she sometimes disregards. She initially feared that it was an enemy inside her, or someone from the School tracking the Flock. At one point Max believes the Voice to be Jeb Batchelder's; she is later disappointed when he assures her he is not the voice, but he can be. In Nevermore, it is revealed that Angel is Max's voice.

In Angel, Max lets Dylan replace Fang. She was angry that Fang replaced her with her clone, and she figured out the clone's name was Maya. Also Fang created a new "flock" with all kinds of new talents. This deeply pains Max. There is also the doomsday group. They put a strange spell-like hypnosis on people so they act like zombies and believe in nothing but the "One Light". So, Max's flock and Fang's flock are forced to work together. Max and Fang fight almost nonstop, so this plan was not a success. In the end, Angel goes missing after a huge explosion. Max can fly incredibly fast, hitting speeds over 300 miles per hour, unlike any other member of the Flock. And in MAX, it turns out she has gills like Angel. Her bird DNA is from a hawk, as confirmed in the excerpt from Nevermore, found in the Deluxe paperback of ANGEL

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