I Am Number Four/Headscratchers

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • What's with the numbering? Does it have to do with the ages of the nine children? Or is it just another case of You Are Number Six?
    • Not sure if this is a spoiler really, but its because back on their home world, their elder placed a charm on the 9 of them that protects them from any danger ( Try to shoot them? Guess whose missing a spleen i.e you). But the charm only works so much. If their killed in order, the next one ups protection breaks, and that means their fair game. ( That's why he says I am Number Four so melancholy)Also, I haven't seen the movie yet.
      • But, but, that just raises further questions! If that's the case Four should have spent the final battle shoved down into a hole somewhere while Six just threw herself at the Mogadorians. In fact, if that's the case then they shouldn't have been hiding separately to begin with, they should have all been together so if surviving Mogadorians ever showed up numbers Two through Nine could form a Lorienite shield around One and let them blast themselves to pieces while the bodyguards snuck around behind and picked off anyone smart enough to hold fire.
      • If they get too close, the protection breaks and they're fair game (at least in the book).
  • Why exactly didn't Number Five show up anywhere? We get to see Number Six, and Number Four's the main character.
    • In the book, Six had been searching for Four ever since Three's death. I guess Five was just trying to stay hidden.
    • In the book, there's a girl from Argentina who had super strength, but she disappeared after an incident. She could have been Number 5.
  • Whenever an alien dies, Mogadorian or Lorienite, it dissolves into dust. How does anything from those planets get a bite to eat?
    • Well we never saw any aliens die on their home world. Maybe something about earth's air burns them up?
    • In the book, Lorienites don't dissolve into dust and Mogedorians collapse into a pile of ashes. The movie probably wanted cool special effects.
  • How did Henri know so much about Sam's dad?
    • If this Troper remembers correctly, didn't Henri say Sam's Dad was working with (for) them?
    • The movie, at least, showed that Henri had been doing research on Sam's dad.
  • In the movie, I would have rather not been bludgeoned over the head with five solid minutes of exposition.
    • It was like that in the book, too. I completely agree.
  • If the Mogadorians are killing the survivors by order, why did they kill Number Six's protector?
    • Could be any reason. We know they're actively hunting all Nine of them, and it's mentioned the Mogadorians know where Seven is. The most likely explanation seems to be that they found Six, and her Cepan died so she could escape, or went to investigate a lead, like Henri did, and walked into a trap.
    • If I happened across Six as a Mogadorien, I would try to incapacitate her so that we wouldn't need to hunt her down later and she wouldn't have the chance of getting the advantage if she tracked us down before we we killed 4 and 5 and tracked her down again. She did seem to be a hunter rather than a runner (like 4) or a hider (like 3).
    • The Cêpan of Number Six died without any hindrance. Number Six can only be injured or wounded to unconsciousness because the Elder placed a charm on the nine children which allowed them to survive unless the preceding child is killed. Cêpans don't have this luxury.
  • Am I the only one who thinks Sarah is a total Mary Sue? I mean, she's pretty, everyone likes her and when Johm reveals to her that he's an alien she accepts this instantly!. As well as this, I don't get why her former boyfriend, a total Jerk Jock ends up reconciling with the protagonist near the end. I hate it when this happens.
    • What, jerkasses can't change and become better people? That seems very harsh.
    • I never thought she was a Mary Sue, just an incredibly Shallow Love Interest.
    • Well, I wouldn't mind it if he did change and become a better person. I just felt it was very random and came out of nowhere. I suppose if more time had been devoted to it, and it happened more gradually, I wouldn't have minded. Wow, I was actually kind of angry when I asked that question. I should cool down a bit.
  • Why is that there's one "good" planet and one "bad" planet? Sci-fi writers a lot of the time seem to treat planets as though they were countries or continents rather than whole planets. Wouldn't it make more sense for there to be just one planet, with a war going on between the different countries on it? And instead of a Black and White Morality, what about a more realistic, Black and Grey Morality?
    • Three planets, plus everything else the Mogadorians "decimated": One with an Exclusively Evil (primary) species that can communicate and travel, one where only about eighteen people escaped their genocide who were all part of the same "good" organization, and one which is neutral but xenophobic. If there was another, less warlike species on the Mogadorians' planet, they likely killed off any weaker and/or less-warlike species and/or members of their own species before flying off to destroy everyone else. As for the Lorienites, they probably Never Speak Ill of the Dead, and seem to have been the sort of place where non-violence is strictly enforced (but that may just be me). As for another perspective, and my first instinct at seeing headscratchers of this sort, how do you know that they're a good planet and a bad planet, rather than just the homeworld of the protagonists and the homeworld of a few (or many) powerful psychos?
    • To be clearer, Mogador isn't a "bad" planet, it's a "desperate" planet. Mogador was basically destroyed by wastes and other problems that we have here on Earth. They decided they couldn't live there anymore, so they had to move away. They chose Lorien first, but Gardes fought back, so they completely destroyed it, which is why children 1-9 are forced to move to Earth. As their next stop, Mogadorians chose Earth but they found out that Gardes inhabit the Earth, which is why they kill them. Without Gardes, Earth is vulnerable enough for the Mogs to kill all inhabitants so they can take Earth as theirs.
    • Ah, I see. Those are some good points I should have considered. I apologise for that Headscratcher, it's just I've never understood that sort of thing.
  • Why doesn't John just flick on the light switch when he enters the "They Walk Among Us" house? In part of the scene, you seem them in the background while he's using his hands as flashlights.
    • He is trying to keep a low profile.
  • So do the Lorienites have magic or something?
    • Nah, just sufficiently advanced technology.
  • I don't know if it's like this in the books (I hear he later gets the power to talk to animals) but in the movie I've noticed that Four has the same powers as Cole MacGrath, he has a the long beam attack, has light on his hands, he can heal people with said light, turn vehicles back on and push things with some sort of wave.
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