Unwind/Characters
The characters of the novel Unwind:
Connor Lassiter
"Yes, it is an answer. Maybe it's the best answer of all. If more people could admit they really don't know, maybe there never would have been a Heartland War."
One of the three main characters, Connor was signed by his parents to be unwound because of his trouble-making nature. He plans to runaway with his friend and crush Ariana, but she backs out at the last second. Connor gets caught, but manages to escape and meets Risa while rescuing Lev.
- Anti-Hero -> The Hero
- The Beard / Undercover As Lovers: Connor and Risa pretend to be in a relationship during most of the story so they won't get separated.
- Berserk Button
- Boy Meets Girl: Connor meets Risa.
- Brown Eyes
- Crowning Moment of Funny: "Nice socks." Also sort of doubles as a Catch Phrase when mockingly dealing with authority.
- Deadpan Snarker
- Delinquent
- Door Step Baby: Connor and Risa take care of one for a while.
- Eye Scream: Lost his eye - and his arm - during the Clapper incident at the Chop Shop.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Connor gets worried when he notices Roland repetitively flirts with Risa and helps her out a lot (giving her his food, offering her his blanket) and even questions her about it, the first thing he says being, "You're not actually falling for him, are you?" We all know he's jealous, though.
- Hot-Blooded -> Tranquil Fury
- Ineffectual Loner: Connor doesn't get into fights if he's alone.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Impulsive and quick-tempered, but ultimately cares about his best friends.
- Love Hurts: When Ariana backs out at the last second to kick-AWOL with Connor.
- Love Triangle: A mild, implied one between Connor, Risa, and Ariana. Connor, Risa, and Roland could possibly count too.
- Meet Cute: Meet Risa.
- My Fist Forgives You: To Lev
- Morality Chain: Risa seems to be that for Connor.
- BestFriends: Risa and Lev.
- Official Couple: Connor and Risa.
- The Power of Friendship
- The Rival: Roland.
- Scars Are Forever: Lost an eye, recieved scars on his face, and lost an arm from the Clapper incident at the Chop Shop.
- And the arm he got transplanted with while he was unconscious? ... It was Roland's arm.
- Second Love: Risa.
- Shallow Love Interest: Ariana. What did he see in her?
- Slap Slap Kiss: Connor and Risa from time to time.
- Tranquil Fury: When Connor finds Roland cornering Risa in the restroom, Connor acts like nothing is wrong and says that Risa and he broke up. This deflates Roland, who leaves the scene. Connor is secretly furious at Roland for harassing Risa (and holding his temper being perhaps the hardest thing he ever had to do), but followed Risa's previous advise to him to not take any bait that Roland hands him.
- Troubled but Cute
- Two Guys and a Girl: Connor, Risa, and Lev.
Risa Megan Ward
"Don't I have a choice in this?
One of the three main characters, Risa is an orphan at Ohio State Home 23, StaHo for short. After making several mistakes during her piano recital, Risa is one of the 5% population of the teenagers there that are going to be unwound to suffice the orphanage's budgets. She escapes the bus taking her to the Harvest Camp and ends up meeting Connor and Lev.
- The Beard / Undercover As Lovers: Connor and Risa pretend to be in a relationship during most of the story so they won't get separated.
- Boy Meets Girl: Connor meets Risa.
- Brainy Brunette
- Character Focus
- Disabled Love Interest:: Risa's spine gets paralyzed when the Clappers detonate their suicide bombs at the Chop Shop. She refuses to get a spine transplant because this is her choice and she wants to be herself. Also because if she gets a transplant, she'll be immediately unwound. There are laws protecting the disabled from being unwound.
- Door Step Baby: Connor and Risa take care of one for a while.
- Green-Eyed Monster: When Risa sees Connor drawing Ariana, she gets jealous.
- I'll Pretend I Didn't Hear That: When Connor suggests Risa is falling for Roland.
- Hospital Hottie / The Medic: When Risa becomes a medic at the Graveyard.
- Love Triangle: A mild, implied one between Connor, Risa, and Ariana. Connor, Risa, and Roland could possibly count too.
- Meaningful Name: Risa's name is short for "sonrisa," which means "smile" in Spanish.
- BestFriends: Connor and Lev.
- Official Couple: Connor and Risa.
- Parental Abandonment
- The Power of Friendship
- Slap Slap Kiss: Connor and Risa from time to time.
- The Smart Guy
- Two Guys and a Girl: Connor, Risa, and Lev.
- Veronica: Arguably the Veronica to Ariana's Betty. Ariana was the closest girl to Connor until Risa came along and has known her longer (but we don't know much about her personality), while Risa is strong-willed, is a quick thinker, and is really quite capable of defending herself. It could be played both ways, but we don't really don't know much about Ariana to label her the Veronica.
Levi "Lev" Jedediah Calder
This is what I was born for. It's what I've lived my life for. I am chosen. I am blessed. And I am happy.
One of the three main characters, it was in Lev's religion to become unwound - as he is the "tithe." Along the highway, Lev is kidnapped by Connor as a hostage, but impulsively rescues Lev when he gets tranqed by a bullet meant for Connor.
- Beware the Nice Ones: When Lev becomes a Clapper.
- Blue Eyes
- Bratty Half-Pint: In the beginning.
- Character Focus
- The Chick
- Creepy Child: Even Risa admits Lev as this because of how must he has changed. See Beware the Nice Ones.
- Heel Face Revolving Door
- Hair of Gold
- The Load: At times.
- BestFriends: Grows to see Connor and Risa as this. And Cy.
- Only Sane Man: This is what Lev thinks at first about himself when he is kidnapped by Connor and Risa.
- Parental Abandonment: Lev's parents refused custody of Lev when offered it by the state following the harvest camp incident.
- It's all right though because Lev's big brother Marcus, the only person who stood up for him in the beginning of the story is petitioning for guardianship.
- The Power of Friendship
- Tagalong Kid: To Connor and Risa, and to Cy.
- Two Guys and a Girl: Connor, Risa, and Lev.
Ariana
"Sure. Sure I do. I could leave here. If you asked me."
Connor's friend and crush in the beginning of the novel. Connor and Ariana planned to kick-AWOL together, but Ariana backs out at the last second because of she is the maid of honor at her sister's wedding and because of school.
- Betty: Arguably the Betty to Risa's Veronica. Ariana was the closest girl to Connor until Risa came along and has known her longer (but we don't know much about her personality), while Risa is strong-willed, is a quick thinker, and is really quite capable of defending herself. It could be played both ways, but we don't really don't know much about Ariana to label her the Veronica.
- The Ditz: According to Connor, Ariana wasn't all that bright.
- Love Triangle: A mild, implied one between Connor, Risa, and Ariana.
- Shallow Love Interest
- Technicolor Eyes: Always gets the newest pigment injection. Ariana's current eye color the beginning of the novel is "sweet violet with streaks of gray."
- Temporary Love Interest
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: We don't know if she's Connor's childhood friend, but she's the closest girl to him until he meets Risa.
Alexis
"Hi, you must be new! I'm Alexis, and this is Chase."
A girl who Connor and Risa meet on a school bus. She has a baby son named Chase.
Hannah Steinburg
"Don't tell me your names. Don't tell me anything, so if they question me afterward, I won't be lying when I say I don't know."
A teacher who helps Connor and Risa escape the school and find shelter with Sonia, who shelters Unwinds. Hannah volunteers to take in the baby that Connor and Risa were caring for.
- Cool Teacher
- Door Step Baby: Volunteers to raise the baby Connor and Risa were caring for.
Sonia
"Maybe, maybe not. One thing you learn when you've lived as long as I have--people aren't all good, and people aren't all bad. We move in and out of darkness and light all of our lives. Right now, I'm pleased to be in the light."
An elderly woman who shelters Unwinds. She works with Hannah in protecting Unwinds. Nicknamed "Dragon Lady" by Hayden and Mai.
Roland
"Consider yourself lucky."
One of the three Unwinds that Connor and Risa meet when finding shelter with Sonia, Roland was going to be unwound because he beat up his stepfather for beating his mother; his mother took his stepfather's side instead. An intimidating adolescent who is both feared and respected, Roland sees Connor as a threat.
- Character Focus
- Delinquent
- Disappeared Dad
- Hot-Blooded
- Love Triangle: Kind of between Connor, Risa, and Roland.
- The Rival: Connor. He sees Connor as a threat and tries multiple times to provoke him.
- Two Guys and a Girl: At first, Roland, Mai, and Hayden.
Hayden
"Let's take a poll--would you rather die, or be unwound?"
One of the three Unwinds that Connor and Risa meet when finding shelter with Sonia, Hayden came from a wealthy family, but when his parents had a divorce, they fought over the custody of Hayden, leading to an alternative choice - to have Hayden unwound rather than to have one of the parents have Hayden. A bit of a jokester, Hayden befriends Connor.
Hayden briefly takes over the Graveyard after Connor and the others take the Admiral to the hospital. He continues to work at the Graveyard to help Unwinds like himself.
- The Lancer: To both Connor and Roland.
- Motor Mouth: He was very talkative during the cargo ride to the Graveyard.
- Two Guys and a Girl: At first, Roland, Mai, and Hayden.
Mai
"We get sent to the harvest camp and they cut us apart, that's what happens next."
One of the three Unwinds that Connor and Risa meet while finding shelter with Sonia, Mai was going to be unwound because her parents tried to have a boy and instead had another girl for the fourth time.
Mai becomes a Clapper after the death of her boyfriend Vincent and kills herself when she activates her detonator.
- Bookworm
- Break the Cutie / Broken Bird: After Vincent died.
- But Not Too Foreign: It is implied that Mai is Chinese.
- Character Focus
- Emo Teen
- Goth
- Hot-Blooded
- Kuudere: Arguably. She's kind of cold to pretty much everyone except her boyfriend Vincent.
- Rose-Haired Girl
- Tomboy
- Two Guys and a Girl: At first, Roland, Mai, and Hayden.
Cyrus "CyFi" Finch
"Ain't no one gonna tell you what's in your heart. You gotta find that out for yourself."
A young Umber who Lev accompanies to Joplin after Lev betrays Connor and Risa, Cy is friendly and optimistic.
It is later revealed that when he had surgery and recieved a 1/8 lobe of a brain from an Unwind, that Unwind - named Tyler - still believes he is alive and at times takes control over Cy's body to steal. Cyrus is going to Joplin for the sake of Tyler, and they both (sort of) concile with their respective parents.
- Umber Best Friend: To Lev.
- Character Focus
- Has Two Daddies
- Grand Theft Me: Tyler.
- Motor Mouth: Lev thinks Cy likes to hear himself talk.
- Token Minority
Zachary "Emby"
"Wait till you're the one who's dying and see how you feel about it!"
One of the boys in the same crate as Connor and Hayden when they're sent to the Graveyard. Nicknamed the Mouth Breather.
- Character Focus
- Nerd
- The Reveal: Emby has a transplanted piece of Harlan Dunfee (Humphrey Dunfee}.
Diego
"Unwound. I'd rather be unwound."
One of the boys in the same crate as Connor and Hayden when they're sent to the Graveyard. He is the quietest of them.
- But Not Too Foreign: Implied to be Hispanic.
- The Quiet One
The Admiral/Admiral Dunfee
"I'd like to be the first to welcome you to the graveyard."
The Admiral is in charge of the Graveyard, where he protects Unwinds until they turn eighteen. Rumors spread that he's only after parts of the Unwinds for himself, but the Admiral is genuine about helping the Unwinds.
- The Atoner
- Badass Grandpa
- Character Focus
- The Reveal: He is Humphrey Dunfee (Harlan Dunfee)'s father.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran