Miles Murphy

**Miles Murphy** is the main protagonist and a member of the Terrible Two.

## Background

Miles Murphy was once known as the top prankster at his old school and strived to get the same status when he moved to Yawnee Valley. He tried to set off a large, elaborate prank, in which he would invite people to attend "Cody Burr-Tyler's Birthday Party" and bring gifts and cake, only to announce at the end that Cody Burr-Tyler isn't real and go home with the cake and presents. However, at the end of the party, some kid he had never seen before pretending to be Cody Burr-Tyler showed up, thanked everyone for coming to "his" birthday, and left with the cake and presents instead.

As it turns out, Cody Burr-Tyler's surprise appearance was a counter-prank pulled by Niles to save Miles' already unstable reputation. Niles asked Miles to meet him by putting a rubber chicken in his locker with the message written on it. Niles asked Miles if he'd like to team up, which Miles rudely turned down and swore to get revenge.

After a string of failed pranking attempts, and being intensely counter-pranked multiple times by Niles, Miles finally agrees to team up by Niles and set their differences aside, forming the pranking duo known as the Terrible Two. The two boys grew to be best friends and pull many pranks, specifically on the Barkins.

## Personality

Miles is known for his ability to make decisions on the spot, such as creating alibis to get himself out of trouble, modifying his own prank in the middle of its execution, and adding on to Niles's pranks. This trait occasionally works against him when he is emotionally compromised, best seen when he impulsively challenges Niles to a prank war in the first book. He is creative, as alongside his obvious knack for pranking he is frequently shown drawing and even provides some illustrations for the fourth book.

At the beginning of the series, Miles is prideful about his pranking ability and is shown bragging about it many times, getting offended when Niles offers to help him and even shouting at him for saying that Miles has "potential". A lot of his identity is wrapped up in his being the best prankster, and so he remains touchy on this subject, such as in the second book when he gets frustrated with Niles for calling one of his ideas "pedestrian" and in the third book when he is so affected by one of Niles's compliments that he remembers it for the rest of his life. His sensitivity to compliments is occasionally used by Niles to cajole him into certain situations.

Though often shown to be thoughtful and reflective, often losing sleep when he's anxious or excited, Miles tends to shy away from voicing it out loud. It is directly said in the third book that when he has regrets, he acts as if he has none. This seems to stem from a desire to be cool or to appear unaffected. He is generally blunt with others and outright rude when it comes to people he doesn't like. Despite this, he is able to act very convincingly when he needs to.

## Relationships with other characters

### Niles Sparks

Miles despises Niles upon first meeting him. He takes an immediate dislike to him for being a "kiss-up": refusing to shake his hand, making sarcastic remarks about Niles's attempts to help, and glaring at him. When Niles foils his prank and apparently insinuates that he's a better prankster than Miles, Miles develops a new kind of hatred for Niles, goading him into a prank war and spending many weeks trying to prank him. After telling Niles to prank him back, Miles becomes intensely afraid of the latter, to the point of having frequent nightmares about Niles and feeling fear, anger, and nausea at the sight of Niles's smile. He believes Niles to be smart and confident, but refuses to admit it.

When Niles finally does prank Miles, getting him a year's worth of detention, Miles tries to surrender but is convinced to agree to a truce and therefore Niles's friendship. From there, the two become best friends.

Miles admires Niles a lot. He refers to Niles as a role model, wonders if he's worthy of being Niles's best friend, and makes frequent references to Niles being able to pull off "cool" things, including turtlenecks, Stetson hats, and (inexplicably) the word "hullo". The first time they meet up as pranksters, he is so thrown off by Niles's appearance that he seems to forget he's angry at Niles for "ruining his birthday party prank" and appears unsure of what to do with himself. It's also said later in the first book that Niles's ability to look cool in a turtleneck bothers Miles.

Miles is also shown rescuing Niles from situations where the latter is out of his element, such as when Papa Company kidnaps Niles to interrogate him about their flag. In milder examples, Miles also covers for Niles when he's too distracted to talk to people, takes care of physical work that Niles is incapable of doing, and once flattered him in front of Holly Rash to impress her.

### Barry Barkin

Through most of the first two books, Principal Barkin dislikes Miles, since he keeps getting in trouble and because Barkin believes Miles was the one who put his car on top of the staircase on the first day of school. In the last half of *The Terrible Two Get Worse*, The Terrible Two confess their secret pranking to Barkin, who wants to team up with them to prank Bertrand Barkin. Barry also seems to view Miles like a son, even joking about adopting him in the fourth book. Miles does not reciprocate this familial feeling.

### Judy Murphy

**SPOILERS FOR THE LAST BOOK**

Miles and his mother obviously love each other a lot. She hates the idea of him being bullied and mentions that she reads articles about parenting when not busy. She also makes an effort to talk to him and reassure him, and takes him out for ice cream whenever he does well in school and brags about it to her coworkers, which Miles knows. For his part, Miles tries to be good for his mother and is saddened when he gets before and after school detention in the first book because he is unsure of how to break it to his mother. In the fourth book, the two share a sandwich and cry over the fact that they have to move again, with Judy hugging Miles in the accompanying illustration.

## Trivia

* Throughout the series, Principal Barry Barkin still believes that Miles is the one who parked his car at the top of the staircase, despite Miles and Niles telling him repeatedly that Miles didn't do it.
* Miles’s best friends in his old town were Carl and Ben, though it is implied they had started to dislike him because they were “near-constant pranking victims”.
* Miles was once suspended for three days after pulling the fire alarm at his old school.
* Miles enjoys the song “These Boots Are Made For Walking”.
* He is rarely seen wearing anything else other than jeans and a T-shirt. The designs on these T-shirts include a can of dog food, "MAX'S MARKET" (which was torn up in the third book), a fork, and the phrase "YES YOU DID" in reference to a speech Principal Barry Barkin had given.
* Miles is a fantastic whistler and a not-so-fantastic baker.
* He loves fruit snacks.