Character Analysis - Number Four

Number Four is the main character in this novel. He is sixteen years old and is one of the Garde children. Number Four, or John Smith, does not remember much of his home planet Lorien, but he does have occasional flash backs. John has moved twenty-one times in his life with his Cepan, Henri, as described in the beginning of the book. In this book, he has moved to Paradise, Ohio. John befriends Sam Goode and Sarah Hart. Sam quickly becomes his best friend and Sarah and John also start dating; the two soon fall in love.
Throughout the book, Number Four's Legacies, or powers, are developing. His first Legacy that develops is "lumen", or the capacity to create light from the hands. He then develops the legacy of fire resistance. Henri trains John by dousing him in fire and seeing how long John can hold his breath and fight while being engulfed in flames. After a while, John also develops telekinesis. He can control items with his mind, such as moving and suspending heavy objects, stopping daggers, and unlocking doors. At the end of the novel, he also discovers that he has the ability to communicate with animals through the mind. He has had this power for a while and figures it out only when talking to his Chimera, which is an animal from the planet of Lorien that can transform into any animal form it wants.
Number Four is a well-intentioned young man. Sometimes, attributed to the fact that he is still young, he rushes headlong into situations without regarding the consequences. For example, when a house was on fire with Sarah still inside, he rushed inside to get her out and flew out the back window without thinking about being more secretive to protect his identity. A few people saw and told the police, but John managed to use his clever mind to spin a story that made it sound like the others were hallucinating.
Number Four is always on his toes. He is aware of everything going on around him and is ready to fight or run at any moment. In one scene, he is on a haunted Halloween trail with Sam and Sarah. He hears a few noises in the forest and immediately becomes on his guard in anticipation of being attacked. It turns out everyone does get attacked, but Number Four manages to fight everyone and protect his friends with minimal effort. He is taken by surprise, but it does not affect him.
In I am Number Four, Number Four is mostly described as a good kid who wants a normal life, but is unable to due to the fact that he is a child of the Garde. He does not have many bad traits, except he is rash at times and does not consider what could go wrong. He is mostly focused on protecting his identity, the ones he loves and himself.

"List of Lorien Legacies Characters." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 09 Oct. 2013. 13 
                Sept. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lorien_Legacies_characters>.