The Tomorrow Series/Characters
Ellie Linton
Ellie is the viewpoint character of the series, having been charged with the duty of writing down what the group has down (as a record of their story). She also gradually becomes the leader of the group. Before the invasion, she lived on a sheep and cattle property. While her height, weight and build are never specified, she is described as being the shortest of the group and sturdily built in comparison to the other main female characters. Although she starts the series relatively optimistic, she becomes harder and less forgiving as the war goes on, particularly after she is taken to her best friend's grave and discovers that her partner is cheating on her with a woman from the invading country.
She rediscovers her ability to care and connect with others when she takes on the care of a group of children the group discovered hiding in a city street. After the war, one of these children moves in with her family, and she acts as a big sister and, later, guardian to him.
- Action Survivor
- Action Girl
- Drives Like Crazy
- Good Is Not Nice - Ellie can be a real bitch sometimes, and is quite aware of it.
- The Hero
- Heterosexual Life Partners - pre-war, with Corrie. She intends to do 'everything' with Corrie after graduation.
- Tomboy
- Tomboy and Girly Girl - Ellie with Corrie and, later, Ellie with Fi.
Homer Yannos
Homer is described as being of Greek heritage, and being big and strong, as well as sexy. Ellie entertains thoughts of a relationship with him, but determines that he's more like a big brother and any attraction is 'very physical'. Prior to the war, he was infamous as a prankster, but steps into a leadership position when it's determined that things have gone very, very wrong. While he makes his share of mistakes, and the stress of the war causes him to lash out in anger with increasing frequency, he is often shown to have surprising intelligence and is an integral part of the group.
He falls for Fi and has an on again-off again relationship with her, despite them coming from rather different families and having very different personalities, that lasts until the end of The Ellie Chronicles.
- Book Dumb
- Dumbass Has a Point - particularly in the first book, however Ellie frequently reflects on this through the series.
- Hidden Depths
- The Lancer - to Ellie's Hero.
- Licensed Sexist - Ellie calls him on it, but no one else does.
- Opposites Attract - with Fi.
- Team Dad
Corrie Mackenzie
Corrie was Ellie's best friend ever since they were very young. Although allegedly previously very shy, her relationship with Kevin made her much more confident. She is described as being redheaded, plump and surprisingly determined and good at manipulating people.
At the end of Tomorrow, When The War Began, she is shot in the back and has to be rushed to hospital, even though the hospital is in enemy hands. She is in a comatose state in Dead Of The Night, but dies sometime between then and Burning For Revenge, when Ellie and Lee find her gravestone.
- Heterosexual Life Partners - with Ellie.
- Informed Flaw - we're told that Corrie was a Shrinking Violet, but we get no real sign of this in the books.
Robyn Mathers
Robyn is courageous, strong, confident and loves to win. She is described as being the most aggressive athlete on the school teams, and the one most likely to sustain injuries in play. While she is devoutly Christian, and this is one of her most defining features, she is described as "not preachy" and she has a sense of humour about sex. However, possibly as a result of her faith, she finds it hardest to determine what is the "right" thing to do in their situation. Initially described as 'dauntless' by Ellie, Robyn feels the weight of the war as much as anyone else in the group, eventually finding it impossible to eat or sleep by the beginning of The Third Day, The Frost.
- Afraid of Needles: Prior to the war, she apparently had a fairly weak constitution and tended to faint at the sight of a needle.
- Canon Sue: Some sources point to the fact that she's the most explicitly based on a real person and has a touch of being "too nice".
- The Conscience: Ellie describes her as the group's moral compass in this way.
- Does Not Like Guns
- Informed Flaw: We are told that she can be 'angry and depressed' and has anxiety attacks, but her flaws are described in the abstract and not shown.
- Taking You with Me: The climax of The Third Day, The Frost.
- Also a Heroic Sacrifice and, arguably, also a Stupid Sacrifice.
- Technical Pacifist: While for the most part, she refuses to directly cause harm to anyone, she volunteers for such duties as engineering a breakdown in a convoy truck knowing it will lead to many soldiers dying; Ellie, at one point, observes that Robyn "always seemed keen to volunteer for things that didn't involve directly killing anyone".
- There Are No Coincidences: She believes that a coincidence is "God's way of telling you to wake up".
Lee Takkam
At the beginning of the series, Lee is thoughtful, introverted and extremely intense. When we meet him, we learn he is passionate about two things: music, and war/horror movies. Whenever he finds himself interested in something - be that music, Ellie, or the war - he devotes himself to it utterly and intensely. As the war goes on, it becomes increasingly obvious that he is dominated by two character traits: pride and shame. As the war progresses, he becomes increasingly aggressive, even suicidally so.
- Death Seeker: After he finds out that his parents have been killed.
- Dogged Nice Guy: Shades of this in his pursuing Ellie, in some books.
- Fatal Attraction: In Burning For Revenge.
- No Name Given: In the books, he's the only main character who doesn't get a surname. In the upcoming movie, he is credited as 'Lee Takkam'.
- Pastimes Prove Personality: As befits a violin virtuoso, he is very introverted and serious when we first meet him.
Fiona "Fi" Maxwell
Fi is, at the beginning of the series, the character least equipped to deal with the situation in which they have found themselves. She is the one with the least camping experience, and has grown up in a rather sheltered home environment, fully aware that she is probably the only one who has never done a real "hard day's work". Though she is set up in the first book as a stereotype, it becomes plain very quickly that the truth is that Ellie has underestimated her and, while emotional, feminine and inexperienced, she is just as strong and courageous as any of the others.
She has an on again-off again relationship with Homer that lasts through to the end of The Ellie Chronicles.
Chris Lang
At school, Chris was regarded as a freak by half the school, a legend by the other half, and a genius by virtually everyone. When the invasion comes, he isn't in the bush camping with the others, but hiding out in his own house while most of population was at the showground, and joins up with them quickly when he realises what has happened. Though he lacks the drive to fight the enemy that the others do, as his family are holidaying overseas at the time of the invasion, his loneliness, depression and drug and alcohol abuse spiral out of control. Eventually, the others lose patience with his substance abuse and the extent to which he has withdrawn from them, and they leave him in Hell alone while they search for other survivors and fighters. He ends up dying in their absence: on a trip into the city for more alcohol, he overturns the car and dies slowly. His body isn't found for at least a month. His death being the most futile and pointless, it affects Robyn the most.
- The Alcoholic
- Dying Alone
- Intelligence Equals Isolation
- Loners Are Freaks
- Pastimes Prove Personality - he is a poet and a drug user, meaning he is sensitive, withdrawn and, ultimately, lonely and depressed.
- The Stoner
Kevin Holmes
Kevin is Corrie's boyfriend at the beginning of the series, and while Ellie doesn't know him or get along with him that well, and although he's a bit older than the others, they invite him on their camping trip to be polite. He has a very rough and rugged exterior, but shows early on that he is much less "macho" than he pretends to be: he is horribly scared of bugs and snakes, and is very sensitive. At the end of the first book, he demonstrates that he has real courage by driving a critically injured Corrie to the hospital, even knowing it is in enemy hands and he will get captured. Between this and escaping from enemy hands in The Dead of the Night, the others begin to develop more respect for him, despite the fact that his aggressive personality still grates on them. After he has a nervous breakdown in Burning For Revenge, Ellie realises he cannot be trusted to be courageous and cannot be relied on in a high-stress situation. This drives an even greater wedge between them, especially as the group feels the need to treat Kevin with "kid gloves" afterwards.
- Heroic BSOD
- Hidden Depths: Quite apart from his sensitive side, he's also fairly knowledgeable about chemistry and explosives, and makes the best teacher of the group.
- Jerk Jock: Or so he strikes Ellie to begin with.