Tally Youngblood is a very complex character throughout the trilogy. She is the main protagonist as she progresses from an ugly to a pretty and finally a special where this story takes place. Through thick and thin, I believe Tally Youngblood fits the role of a hero perfectly. Now for what exact one, that changes as she changes from book to book. I read The Specials by Scott Westerfeld and we get the most up to date version of Tally. Right now I would classify her as an anti-hero sprinkled throughout the entire book.
She now has the identity of being a special circumstance agent which she is not so thrilled about. By being a special, it helps to bring clarity in her life that she had been lacking. Dr. Cable sends them on a mission to the Smokes. As they are snooping around in the mountains, they find a lot of high tech equipment. "The six hoverboars slipped among the trees with the lighting grace of playing cards thrown flat and spinning. The riders ducked and weaved among ice-heavy branches, laughing, knees bent and arms outstretched. In their wake glowed a crystal rain, tiny icicles shaken from the pine needles to fall behind, aflame with the moonlight" (33). This is impossible for those in the Smokes to have better, more advanced equipment then the Pretties have. As the three of them are looking around, someone captures Fausto and Shay but Tally reveals her hero self and fights off the kidnapper enough to save Shay. Tally had overcome adversity by putting her friends first and fighting to get them back. Although she didn’t save both of them, her attempt did not go unnoticed. She knew she had to protect her friends so she did the only thing she knew to do.
As the story continues, Tally has a hard time keeping her friendships strong. She tends to butt heads a lot with the one who is suppose to be her best friend and the one she has saved many times, Shay. They just can’t seem to always work their differences out quickly; it takes them time to finally admit their wrongs. Tally says, "…and yet she and shay always seemed to wind up on opposite sides. Was that a coincidence? Or was there something about the two of them that always turned them from friends into enemies? Maybe they were like two different species--hawks and rabbits, say--and could never be allies" (184). We can tell that Tally really wants the friendship to work, but there is just some sort of barrier in the way. We can all easily identify with this situation. But Tally and Shay always seem to work it out in the end.
Overall, I believe Tally proves she is an anti-hero throughout this novel. Her morals in life quickly change as she is placed in a new environment with a new crowd. But through thick and thin, she always seems to keep her heart set on helping others. She has been put in a million different situations where she could just call it quits and save herself. Instead she fights for the people around her, determined to get them to safety before she saves herself. Through it all she shows some courage but she always seems to be a little confused with which morals should be in her top priority. The novel ends with Tally saying, "Be careful with the world, or the next time we meet, it might get ugly" (372). This statement right here proves Tally Youngblood is an anti-hero!
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