im number four

video of im number four

pictures of im number four

Plot summary

I Am Number Four follows the story of John Smith, a 15-year old alien from the planet Lorien, and his guardian, Henri, as they run from the Mogadorians, another race of aliens that are hunting down John and the eight other teenage Loriens, who all make up the Garde, living on Earth. The Garde consists of all Loriens who have special Legacies and powers. The teenagers are protected by a charm, which only allows them to be killed in a set order. John is Number Four. Both the Loriens and Mogadorians have a human appearance.

The book opens with the death of Number Three. Number Four is introduced, going by the name of Daniel Jones, as he leaves Florida. Four has three circular scars wrapped around his right ankle, signifying the deaths of Numbers One, Two and Three. These scars are present on all the Lorien teenagers, and with each death, another scar appears. Henri, Four’s Cêpan (guardian), tells him they are going to Paradise, Ohio. Four chooses the name John Smith as his new alias.

Tired of running, John says that he wants to begin to make a life for himself. Henri reminds him why they run, and the conversation ends. John begins to attend the local high school, where he meets Sarah Hart, a blonde junior. He also meets her ex-boyfriend Mark James, who immediately begins to pick on John. John stands up to him, the first time he has ever stood up to anybody.

In his astronomy class, John’s hands begin to hurt and glow. When John is back at his house, he realizes that his first Legacy has arrived. A Legacy is a power that only certain Loriens possess, and each differs from one Lorien to the other, except for telekinesis, which all members of the Garde are capable of performing. Henri tells John that his first Legacy is Lumen, the ability to produce light from his hands and a resistance to heat and fire. When Henri begins to help, the resistance of fire and heat spread throughout John’s body, John has a vision of his last moments on Lorien when the Mogadorians attacked, while Henri narrates.

Henri and John have a special Lorien chest that can only be opened by John and Henri together. The only way that John can open the chest without Henri is if he dies. Henri shows John a model of the galaxies, where he can see how Lorien looked before the Morgadorians destroyed it and how it looks now, desolate and barren. The chest also has a healing stone that heals all wounds inflicted on the body, but in order to heal the wound, the injured person must endure pain twice as intense as the first time and the wound must have come from the intent to hurt or kill a Lorien. The healing stone must also be used soon after the wound is inflicted. A third item in the chest is small pebble-like rocks that John and Henri put under their tongue to reduce pain. But that immediately diminishes if a Lorien uses one of their legacies.

After his first Legacy arrives, John begins to train in combat. John can eventually turn his lights on and off by will. John also makes his first real friend, Sam Goode, who believes in aliens. He also grows closer to Sarah. At a town Halloween party, John, Sarah, Sam, and Sarah’s friend, Emily, are ambushed by Mark and his football teammates. John, who is enraged by Mark’s constant bullying and the fact that he has kidnapped Sarah, finds, confronts, and defeats him. Sam sees John’s lights and begins to avoid him. Sarah and John kiss.

John confronts Sam, and Sam turns a gun on him, asking who he really is, but John convinces him that he isn’t an alien. At a Thanksgiving dinner, John is worried when Henri doesn’t turn up at the Hart's place after going in search of the publishers of Sam’s alien conspiracy magazine. John calls Sam for help, and the two go to Athens, Ohio, where they find Henri. John’s telekinesis Legacy appears, and he uses it to save both Henri and Sam. Sam is told the truth about both John and Henri after seeing John use his telekinesis, and accepts them for who they are. John’s training begins to intensify, by being set on fire and using his telekinesis.

John and Sarah continue to grow even closer. John asks Henri is it possible for humans to love Loriens. Henri says that Loriens and humans have interbred before, creating exceptionally talented children, some of which included the Greek gods. Henri warns John not to get too attached to Sarah, as Lorien love is different from human love.

At a party at Mark’s house, a fire starts, trapping Sarah on the second floor. John rushes in and saves her, revealing who and what he really is to her in the process. She confesses her love for him however, and John says he loves her, too. He tells her everything about himself. At school the next day, John fears that he will have to leave, as people had seen him jump out of the window and reported it. However, the paper has no reference to John, but a fax sent to the school saying “Are you Number Four?” causes John to flee the school in panic through a window. When he arrives home, he sees Mark, who has realized what John is. He also has an argument with Henri about why he did what he did, saying he wanted a normal life. He returns to the school to find Sarah after realizing the Mogadorians are on their way to kill him.

John finds her, but is found by a Mogadorian scout, one of several who have closed in on the school. John kills it, and while trying to flee the school is found by Henri and Mark. The four are found by a girl around John’s age, and John’s dog, Bernie Kosar. The girl says that she is Number Six. John realizes that with Six with him, the charm protecting them from being killed out of order has now broken. Six replies that the war has begun, with Henri agreeing. As the five companions find a way out of the school, John tells Mark and Sarah to go back and hide, as it isn’t their fight. They leave, and John confronts his first soldier, whom he kills.

John is wounded severely and is rescued by Henri and Sam, who realized what was happening and came to help. John discovers his third Legacy, the ability to communicate with animals, and convinces one of the Mogadorians' beasts to turn on its masters. Henri is hit by an energy blast from a soldier and dies in John’s arms. Before he passes away, he says, "Coming here, to Paradise, it wasn't by chance."

After waking up in a hotel room, John tells Sarah he has to leave. Sarah accepts this and tells him she will wait for him. John replies in a similar fashion, saying his heart will always belong to her. Afterward, Henri’s body is cremated. Sam agrees to go with John and Six as they prepare to leave in search of the other four Loriens. The novel ends with John telling Sarah he will come back to her as he leaves.

Characters

John Smith/Number Four

John Smith is the main protagonist of the novel, and Number Four in the sequence protecting the Nine Lorien children living and hiding on Earth. He is 15 years old, and is described as being a fit, young man with blond hair. He has three circular scars on his right ankle, signifying the three dead Lorien children, and a scar similar to the pendent all the Lorien children wear, signifying the charm that protects them. He is in love with Sarah Hart.

John is a Garde, a Lorien who possesses certain gifts and abilities that help him protect others and himself. These gifts, or Legacies, begin to appear throughout the novel. At the end of the novel, his Legacies are:

• Telekinesis — All Lorien Garde have this power, developing it when they get their first Legacy, or soon after.
• Lumen — The ability to produce heat and light from his hands and a resistance to heat and fire which is spread over the exterior of his body (Meaning that he can stand being burned but could still die from smoke inhalation).
• Animal Telepathy — The ability to communicate with animals. He discovered this legacy last, near the end of the book.

Hadley/Bernie Kosar

Bernie Kosar is a Chimǣra from Lorien. He has been following and protecting John and Henri ever since they came to Earth. John remembers that in Florida, there was always a gecko staring at him while he ate breakfast. While they are in Paradise, Bernie takes the form of a beagle. Bernie's name on Lorien was Hadley. John has a few visions of Hadley back when they were on Lorien. At the end of the book, John realizes that Bernie Kosar is Hadley.

Sarah Hart

John's girlfriend. Sarah is portrayed as an intelligent and beautiful teenage girl with blond hair. Originally a cheerleader, she dated Mark, John's rival at school. After her parents realizing what a bad influence Mark was, they sent her away for the summer. Upon her return, inspired by the sights she had seen during her time away, she quit the cheerleading squad and broke up with Mark. She is passionate about photography and animals. After John walks through Mark's burning house and jumps out with her and the two dogs, saving their lives, she realizes he is not human. He feels compelled to admit the truth about himself to her, and she accepts his explanation.

Sam Goode

John's best friend. Sam is a devoted believer in aliens and alien conspiracies, believing that aliens abducted his father. He first suspects what John is after they are attacked on the Haunted Hayride by Mark and his friends, but isn't told what John is until after he sees John fight the three men in Athens who write the alien conspiracy magazine, They Walk Among Us. He is seen as a gangly kid with glasses, though they are not his—he explains to John that they belonged to his father, and he is trying to see through his father's eyes. During the battle against the Morgadorians, Sam saves John's life by killing one of the soldiers, and he also saves Six by carrying her back to his truck after she was injured. He decides to accompany John and Number Six away from Paradise.

Mark James

Mark is the quarterback for the school football team and a bully. He is famous in Paradise, Ohio. He is at first bitter at John when he sees how much Sarah likes him. After trying to hurt John and Sarah whilst John is on a Halloween ride, John uses his super strength to warn Mark to stop messing around with him and Sarah. By pushing him in the creek, Mark is sufficiently intimidated, and a truce is made. John helps Mark when his house burns down after a party by saving his dogs. Mark finds out what John is after seeing a video of John jumping out of the burning house with Sarah and Mark's two dogs in his arms. He fights along side John at the end, putting all past grievances aside, and John leaves promising to pay Mark back for saving his life. Mark's father is the sheriff of Paradise.

Number Six

The only other Lorien child in the novel apart from the one in the first chapter, who is Number Three. She tells Sam that her name is Jane Doe, but John calls her Six. Six is described as having long dark hair, olive-toned skin, hazel eyes, high cheekbones, a wide mouth, and two inches shorter than Four/John. Her Cêpan Katarina died three years before the novel begins. She is a Garde, as are all the other Lorien children. Six's Legacies are:

• Telekinesis — Like John, she can move objects with her mind. It is not told how developed her strength is.

• Invisibility — Six can make herself invisible. She manages to sneak around outside the school despite the numerous Mogadorians outside. Six can turn people invisible just by touching them; however, this is limited to only a couple of people. John's Grandfather had this power.

• Elemental Manipulation — Six can control the four basic elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. She can apparently mix these powers together, shown when she makes a storm appear in the final fight.

Number Three

The 13 year old third and last Lorien child in the book, who appears at the start of the book being chased by the Mogadorians in Congo and is soon killed while running from the Mogadorians after they killed his guardian.

Henri

The Cêpan of John, or Number Four. He had a wife and child on his home planet of Lorien, but he left her to protect and train John when Lorien was destroyed. He is John's caretaker and also trains and teaches John as John's legacies form. He is like a father to John since he was forced to leave his grandparents behind on Lorien. He dies at the very end of their fight against the Mogadorians at the high school. He tells John that he is proud of him, and that he would not have missed out on anything that they did for the world. Once John, Sarah, Sam, Mark, and Number Six escape to a nearby hotel, they cremate Henri, and John takes his ashes with him in a coffee can, swearing to return them to Lorien someday.