Peter Michael Elison, known as Little Pete, is the overarching protagonist of the Gone series, a collection of young adult novels by Michael Grant. They follow the story of an event known as the FAYZ, where, in Perdido Beach, anyone over 15 suddenly vanished, a barrier surrounded the town, and its inhabitants began to mutate, receiving powers.
Little Pete is the autistic four-year-old brother of Astrid Elison and is the most powerful character in the FAYZ. Aside from the Gaiaphage, he is also directly or indirectly responsible for most of the events occurring inside.
His Good Ranking[]
What Makes Him Admirable?[]
In General[]
- While he spends most of the series as a totally amoral character who mostly only saves people when it's convenient, he proves he has a moral compass in his POV chapters in the last two books when he begins to grow distressed over the suffering in the FAYZ caused by both the Gaiaphage and himself, and actively wants to stop the Gaiaphage in the last book.
- Although he has used his powers in ways that hurt others, it's never usually intentional, and when he grows more aware of what he's doing he begins to feel remorse and tries to make things right.
Gone[]
- He saved everyone in Perdido Beach from dying in a nuclear meltdown caused by the Gaiaphage by creating the FAYZ as a means to stopping the sound of the alarm at the power plant.
- He teleported himself and Astrid away from Drake Merwin when he was torturing her.
- He removed the cement blocks encasing everyone's hands when Astrid placed hers on his Gameboy, allowing Sam to use his powers freely.
Hunger[]
- After the Gaiaphage manipulated him to learn how to create monsters by possessing his doll, he tried to fight it to stop it from going any further.
Plague[]
- He doesn't resent Astrid for trying to kill him, instead being grateful to her for reliving him of his body as it allowed him to exist freely without his biological concerns.
Fear[]
- Although he killed Jonesie and Bonnie through disfigurement, this was not his intention as he didn't understand what he was doing and regretted his actions later.
- He tried to save Taylor after he unintentionally turned her into a golden plant-like creature, being able to somewhat reconstruct her body so she could move normally again.
- He chooses not to open the barrier as a means to keeping the Gaiaphage out, instead holding out as it turns transparent due to his weakened state.
Light[]
- After the Gaiaphage hits him in his incorporeal form to open the barrier slightly, Pete expresses his disdain for those who hurt people, threatening the Gaiaphage afterwards.
- Upon being attacked by the Gaiaphage, he witnesses all the deaths it was causing, motivating him to take a stand and put an end to the Gaiaphage to save everyone. He tells the residents of Perdido Beach that if one of them is willing to give up their body, he can fight the Gaiaphage directly.
- When Caine sacrificed himself so Pete could use his body as a vessel, he comforted him with happy memories as he died.
- He eliminates the Gaiaphage, giving up his own life in the process and putting an end to the FAYZ.
What Makes Him Inconsistent[]
- As a result of his young age and severe autism, he has moral agency issues that are far too concerning for him to be Pure Good or Near Pure Good:
- Throughout books 1-4, he barely shows any awareness or regard for his surroundings. Despite having the power to end most conflicts in the FAYZ instantaneously, he mostly only chooses to act when his own comfort is affected.
- He also has an incredibly distorted grip on reality and seems to think the events of the FAYZ are all part of a big video game. This causes him to misinterpret concepts like death as the "avatars" of other players in his game disappearing.
- While it's clear he has some understanding of right and wrong and knows the Gaiaphage needs to be stopped, it is very barebones. The only reason he acts against the Gaiaphage is because it hit him and he only views its other evil actions as it "hitting" other people, which is vast understatement of the Gaiaphage's heinousness.
- He is responsible for the suffering of lots of people, both indirectly through removing the adults from Perdido Beach (and likely causing several other dangerous abnormalities in the town), and directly through actions such as almost choking Sam to death, killing Jonesie and Bonnie, and turning Taylor into a human-plant hybrid. While most of these were likely unintentional, it's still corrupting as Little Pete's naivety harmed others.
- He is quite callous towards his sister despite how much effort she went through to keep him safe, instead viewing her as just a nuisance and criticizing her to Cigar. He was even indifferent to the idea of her dying when she offered him her body to kill the Gaiaphage, instead only refusing to take it because he didn't trust her enough.
Trivia[]
- He, alongside Sam Temple, is one of the two characters from the Gone series to be Inconsistently Admirable.