I Am Number Four

Henri, or as he is known on Lorien, Brandon, is also an alien from the planet of Lorien. He is Four’s Cêpan. He was assigned to protect Four when Four was only five years old, just before the Mogadorian invasion of Lorien. Henri is 50 years old at the start of the novel, so he left Lorien with Four when he was 40 years old. He still has a strong Loric accent, which many people often mistake for a French accent. It is for this reason that he gave himself the name “Henri” on Earth.

Even though Henri is not Four’s birth father, he and Four pose as father and son on Earth to maintain their cover story. However, Henri is both a mentor and a father figure to Four, especially since Four was too little to remember much of his birth father, who died at the final battle between the Lorics and the Mogadorians. Throughout the novel, Henri shows that he is deeply dedicated to his role as a Cêpan and will do whatever it takes to protect Four and preserve the Lorien race.

Henri’s dedication to his duties as Four’s keeper creates friction between him and Four throughout the novel. Four, who remembers little of Lorien, is desperate to finally build a life for himself in Paradise. He is tired of running, and he has finally made a true friend in Sam and has fallen in love with Sarah. Henri, however, is dedicated to his home planet and to keeping Four, whom he views as a son, safe. This tension culminates in Four going against Henri’s demand that they leave Paradise as quickly as possible once it is clear that the Mogadorians have discovered Four’s location. Henri dies in the battle, doing what he set out to do: protect Four.

Sarah Hart is Four’s love interest. She is a student who immediately catches Four’s eye on his first day at Paradise High School. Four describes Sarah as “shockingly beautiful with straight blonde hair past her shoulders, ivory skin, high cheekbones, and soft blue eyes” (25). When he sees her, she is taking pictures of the students hanging out outside before class. Four notices that everyone seems to know her because everyone is smiling and saying hi to her, letting her take their picture. It is clear from her first appearance that Sarah is well liked among her peers.

Throughout the novel, Sarah shows that she is a kind and caring person to everyone she meets, especially to those who are important to her. She immediately approaches Four on the first day of school because she knows that he is new, and unlike some of the other students, she does not make fun of Four for his severe “asthma attack”—really the onset of his first Legacy—on the first day of school. She and Four soon begin to date.

As Four and Sarah’s relationship grows more serious over the course of the novel, Sarah’s warm, caring personality becomes even more apparent, especially when she easily accepts Four’s true identity as an alien without judgment. She also proves during the battle at the school that her selflessness and love for those she cares about knows no bounds as she bravely saves a grieving Four by stabbing and killing a scout. She holds him as he holds Henri’s lifeless body, proving that she has enough strength for the both of them. 

When Four first notices Sam on the first day of school, he describes him as a “gangly” kid with “thick glasses […] wearing a black NASA T-shirt and jeans, and can’t weigh more than a hundred pounds” (25). He later says that Sam “has disheveled, sandy blond hair, and his hazel eyes are magnified by his glasses” (61). Based on his NASA T-shirt and the fact that he is looking at the sky with a telescope in his first appearance, it is clear right away that one of Sam’s defining characteristics is his love of science and space. As the novel progresses, Four learns that Sam is obsessed with conspiracy theories about aliens and even believes that his dad’s disappearance was due to an alien abduction.

Sam grows over the course of the novel from a quiet, intelligent loner to a brave sidekick. He proves on multiple occasions that in a fight or flight situation, he will fight, even though he is terrified. He immediately comes to Four’s aid and illegally drives him two hours to Athens, Ohio, in his dad’s old truck so they can save Henri. At the battle at the high school, he saves Four from a Mogadorian soldier by shooting it in the head. Then, at the end of the novel, he chooses to follow Four and Six on their journey to find the other Garde members and hopefully to find out what happened to his father. Sam is the best friend that Four never thought he would have and proves repeatedly throughout the novel that he is a loyal, trustworthy friend who will keep Four and Henri’s secrets and fight alongside them. 

Bernie Kosar most frequently appears in the novel in the form of a Beagle “with tan floppy ears, white legs and chest, a slender black body” (27). It is not revealed until the end of the novel, however, that Bernie Kosar is not an ordinary dog, but an animal species native to Lorien called a Chimæra, or an animal with the ability to shapeshift. Bernie Kosar’s real name is Hadley, and even though Four doesn’t remember it, Hadley followed Four to Earth after the fall of Lorien.

Bernie Kosar is a highly intuitive and loyal pet throughout the novel. Four is often amazed at how much Bernie Kosar can understand. He always seems to sense when Four is in trouble and always seems to know how to find him. There are hints throughout the novel that Bernie Kosar is far from an ordinary pet, such as when he trains with Four. In Chapter 17, Four sprints as fast as he can to see if Bernie Kosar will try to keep up. Bernie dashes into the woods and disappears, only to appear 10 feet in front of Four. After Bernie’s true nature is revealed at the end of the novel, Four realizes that he was able to do that because he likely shifted into the shape of a bird when he disappeared into the woods.

Bernie Kosar’s true nature is actually foreshadowed in Chapter 15 when Four playfully asks him if he has superpowers. Little does Four know, not only does Bernie Kosar have powers, but he also is a native Loric, just like Four. Throughout the novel, Four feels little connection to his home planet since he left Lorien, but what he doesn’t realize is that he has formed a close personal bond with a native Loric other than Henri, and with someone who knows and understands him just as intimately, his loyal pet Hadley.

Aside from the Mogadorians, Mark James is as Four’s main antagonist throughout most of the novel. Mark James is a senior at Paradise High School who used to date Sarah before she quit cheerleading and took up photography. Four describes Mark as having “bushy eyebrows over a set of dark eyes” and “meticulously trimmed sideburns, stubble on his face” (33). He has black hair that is “full of hair gel, carefully styled so it goes in all directions” (33). As the star of the high school football team and son of the town sheriff, Mark is one of the most popular and influential kids in the small town of Paradise.

Mark undergoes one of the most drastic transformations in the novel. In the beginning of the book, Mark’s cruel actions toward Four emphasize his jealousy and possessiveness over Sarah, even though they are no longer together. Over the course of the novel, Mark bullies Four, and in turn Sam, from stuffing manure in their lockers to planning a cruel attack on them at the haunted hayride. He backs off of Four after the events of the hayride, but it isn’t until the climax of the novel that Mark shows he may be more than just a school bully. He stands alongside Four and Henri at the battle at the high school against the Mogadorians, showing not only bravery, but also selflessness. Throughout most of the novel, Mark’s actions suggest he is a character who only cares about himself, but his actions at the climax of the novel suggest otherwise. He puts his life on the line to ensure the safety of others, a significant step toward redemption for the way he treated Four, Sam, and Sarah earlier in the novel.