Fang (character)

**Fang** is one of the "bird kids" and a member of the Flock. Although his real age and the rest of the Flock's is unknown, he, Iggy, and Max consider themselves to be fourteen or older.

## History

Fang's mother was thought to have been a teenager and a drug addict, according to Fang. At first it was thought that she was told Fang had died, but later sources indicated that she thought he was adopted and she was therefore not a target of the School. On the other hand, another set of files showed an adult man and woman who might have been Fang's parents.

### *The Angel Experiment*

After Angel is kidnapped, Fang looks through Jeb's old files and finds a map of the School. He's also the one who works out how long the trip will take. He, Nudge and Max set out to rescue Angel, camping out in an abandoned cabin for the night. When they oversleep, Max is furious at herself, but Fang reminds her that they needed the rest. She starts to take a detour to help a random girl, but before she can even speak, Fang knows what she's planning and says, "No."

While Max goes off on her own, Fang and Nudge stay at Lake Mead with the hawks. To Nudge's disappointment, Fang refuses to go back in search of Max. Fang shows some knowledge of hawks. Later the two of them dumpster-dive for food and visit Tipisco, Arizona, searching for Nudge's mother, but end up having to fight off Erasers with spray paint to escape.

Once reunited, the Flock is captured by the School and escapes with Angel, who tells them what she's learned about their parents. Fang is quietly angry.

While they're at the beach in New York, they're attacked by Erasers yet again, who knock Fang unconscious. This prompts Max to kiss him.

Near the end, he starts his blog.

### *School's Out - Forever*

Near the beginning, when attacked by Erasers, Fang is once again badly injured and begins to bleed out. Passerby call an ambulance and the Flock is taken to the hospital, where Max gives Fang a transfusion.

At the North Adams School, Fang continues to work on his blog using the school computers, drawing pictures to accompany his posts. Max catches him kissing a pushy classmate named Lissa and becomes jealous.

When Max attempts to cut the chip out of her arm, Fang stops her. He is one of the Flock members most upset about it.

At the end, Fang tells Max that he knew she had been replaced instantly because her clone had offered to cook breakfast. He has taken a laptop from Itex which he can use to update his blog.

### *Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports*

Fang goes with Max to visit Dr. Martinez, and stays with her while she has surgery. On pain medication, she confesses that she loves him, which he later teasingly tells her about. However, he finds a picture of the Gasman in Dr. Martinez's office, making him suspicious of her.

Fang is infuriated when Max rescues Ari Batchelder, the Eraser son of Jeb Batchelder and her half-brother (as later revealed) from the School after learning of Ari's expiration date, which had appeared on the back of his neck. Fang refused to get along with or even travel with Ari, so he left the Flock, along with Iggy and the Gasman, while Max, Nudge, Angel, Total, and Ari tried to stop Itex.

### *The Final Warning*

While staying at a motel, Fang wakes Max up in the middle of the night and invites her outside. They fly to Chesapeake Bay and land on an old dock. They talk about their relationship, and he surprises her by kissing her. However, Max pulls away and flies off in her confusion. Neither of them brings it up afterwards and their relationship becomes strained.

Fang is clearly interested in Dr. Brigid Dwyer, which makes Max jealous. Fang also gains a new power, like the other Flock members.

### *MAX*

When they meet the agents, the other Flock members give false names, but Fang simply leaves. The others follow his lead. He feels that the CSM air shows are too unsafe, but agrees to go to one more. Max suspects that this is so he can see Dr. Brigid Dwyer. Max is insecure about their relationship, but Angel tells her that Fang loves her.

After the next airshow is also attacked, Max agrees to stop the air shows. While Max is injured, the Flock visits the Day and Night School, and Nudge decides to stay. Fang and Max fly out into the desert that night to talk about this. He tells her that he chooses her, and they kiss, but when they return to the house, they learn that Dr. Martinez has been kidnapped.

While the Flock is staying with the Navy, Fang turns down dinner with Brigid and goes with Max to get kimchi and ice cream. However, after being attacked by M-Geeks, they have to end the date.

When Max and others are underwater, a squid attacks Max and Fang helps drive it off by punching it. Max's respirator is damaged, but Fang is the first to notice that she has developed gills. Max notices that he has also grown gills, and he takes off his breathing mask. Back in the sub, Max decides to go out to save Angel, and Fang kisses her again before she leaves and tells her to hurry back.

In the epilogue, while the Flock swims off the coast of Oahu, Fang and Max fly overhead an kiss a third time in midair. This time Angel gives them a thumbs-up, showing her approval.

### *FANG*

While working in Chad, Angel reveals that Fang will be "the first to die." He is the only one who doesn't look upset. Later that night, he tells Max not to worry about it, and that "it has to be me first. Not you."

After they begin studying, Fang and Max begin to embrace in the bathroom. Gazzy interrupts them by mimicking their voices. When Max tells the Flock to get back to work, Iggy gets angry and so do the others, tired of tedious schoolwork. Instead they throw a birthday party for themselves. Fang gives a camera to Angel, an audiobook to Iggy, fashion magazines to Nudge, and a history of explosives to Gazzy. After discarding ideas of roses and poetry, he decides to get a birthstone ring to Max. Fang is especially distrustful of Dylan.

Feeling resentful of Jeb and Dylan's presence, Max flies out and Fang goes after her. While they're away, Erasers attack the house, and the other kids are forced to fight them off on their own. Since Max and Fang's relationship prevented them from protecting their family when they needed them, Angel leads a vote to expel Max from the Flock. When Max leaves, Fang goes with her (was he voted out too?) to Las Vegas, which he refers to in his blog as Vacationland.

They return as soon as they hear that the Flock is in danger. However, Angel soon leaves to join Dr. Hans. Fang leaves a letter warning Max not to follow him, and goes after Angel; however, this is a trap and he is captured. He wakes up beaten and fastened to a bed in a laboratory, where Dr. Hans is about to use an experimental drug on him. The Flock bursts in too late to stop him from injecting Fang, and the drug causes Fang's heart to stop beating. Fortunately, when Max injects him with adrenaline, he quickly recovers.

He makes a quick recovery, but after the wedding of Total and Akila, slips away and leaves home. He leaves a letter for Max to explain things, saying that though he loves her, their relationship will prevent her from leading the Flock. He tells her that he doesn't know where he's going and not to try to find him, but promises that they can try to meet up in twenty years. She also finds numerous unpublished blog posts, lists, and a letter to Dylan on his laptop, among files he did not delete. One of these files reveals that he has begun trying to recruit mutant kids.

### *ANGEL*

Fang meets with a few mutants and forms his own flock, nicknamed Fang's Gang. One of the members is Max's clone, Maya. They begin investigating the Doomsday Group in California. As Fang gets to know Maya better, he notices her differences from Max. They nearly kiss, but the other group members then burst through the door and spray them with Cheez Whiz. He later posts a video of the Cheez Whiz fight on his blog, where Max sees it.

 File:Maxridefang.jpg
Not long after, Fang calls Max and asks her to meet him in San Diego. The groups meet at a hotel restaurant, where the members vie for dominance and brag about their powers. Fang and Max begin to argue, revealing that Fang is jealous of Dylan, while Max is jealous of Maya. The groups get into a food fight and are nearly arrested, Dylan defuses the situation by singing. Later, when both groups are on a plane, Gazzy mentions that Dylan was made to be Max's mate, which infuriates Fang. He and Max argue again, only for Angel to calm them down. Fang and Max awkwardly agree to work together to search for the Doomsday Group.

In Paris, despite being quiet and used to blending in, Fang has to put on a show and attract passerby while the members of his group perform stunts near the Louvre. This is an attempt to attract the Doomsday Group's attention. It works, and a Doomsday Group member hands them a flyer. Afterwards, the groups meet in an expensive hotel, the Georges Cinq. They eventually find out the Doomsday Group's plan and manage to save most people, but after Angel goes missing, the groups split up again.

### *Nevermore*

Early on, a teacher reveals to Dylan that the whitecoats want Fang. Meanwhile, Fang's Gang is attacked by Erasers. Star and Kate turn out to be traitors, and Maya dies in Fang's arms. Heartbroken, he tells Ratchet and Holden to go home. Fang is now on his own with an injured wing, unable to fly. However, a blog commenter alerts him to the fact that Angel may be alive. While sitting in a graveyard, he hears the Voice telling him to go to Max. He tracks the Flock down and then hitchhikes to find them. Two men ask him if he needs a ride, only to throw him off a cliff.

Much later, he ends up at the Flock's house, setting off an alarm in the process. Max says that he has grown into a man since she last saw him. He shows them the information on Angel, cuing the Flock to set off on a rescue mission. They succeed, but not long afterward Jeb shows up with an army of Erasers. He explains that whitecoats are after Fang because he has the immortality gene, and Fang must die. They defeat the Erasers, but Dylan - maddened by the fact that Fang and Max have reconciled - almost kills Fang until Max stops him.

Fang spends most of the plane ride to Paradise recuperating. Once there, he's given Dylan's treehouse, as Dr. Martinez explains to Max that he wasn't "expected." During the party, she also explains to Fang and Max about the H8E virus.

That night Fang and Max are in the treehouse, kissing, when Dylan returns. Both are angry to see him and dismiss his claims that they're in danger. However, it soon becomes clear that he was right. Max decides to go back to the mainland to try to help the humans, and Fang tells her that they'll face their fate together. However, the Apocalypse then begins, knocking them both out of the sky and breaking Max's wing. Fang tells her that he loves her and they begin to kiss before being hit with a tsunami.

Max awakens to Fang calling her name. They are among the few left on the surface of the island. Fang makes plans to assess the damage and rebuild the treehouse village.

### *Maximum Ride Forever*

Angel shows Fang her vision of his death, and after a night with Max, he leaves the flock to go to California.

Fang encounters Dylan being attacked by Erasers - actually Horsemen - and tries to help, but it turns out to be a trap. As Jeb looks on, the Erasers rip one of Fang's wings off and kill him. Dylan takes a film to prove it and shows it to Max. However, Dylan recovers the body and puts it in stasis deep within Himmel. He replaces the destroyed wing with a bionic one and prepares it to be brought back to life, but waits until after they've defeated the Remedy to ask Max's opinion. Max says she wants Fang back alive and tells Dylan that she's pregnant with Fang's child. In response, Dylan brings Fang back to life, dying in the process.

Fang has to recover from losing several months of his life. On one of their last flights before spending the four-year nuclear winter in the underground bunker, Max tells him about her pregnancy. Their daughter Phoenix is born underground and Fang is smitten with her. As the book ends, Fang and Max raise Phoenix in Peru.

## Appearance

### Novels

File:Fang in Maximum Ride The Manga 2.pngFang has olive-toned skin and is about 6"2 in height. His eyes are dark, and his shaggy hair is black, along with most of his clothing. He is implied to be stronger than the others in the Flock and also to have the DNA of a raven. (This is assumed due to his wing color—"pitch black but purple in the light"—and size—ravens have enormous wings in comparison to their bodies.)

### Manga

Fang's appearance is very similar to that described in the books. In *Maximum Ride: The Manga (2)*, when the Flock was getting makeovers at U 'Do: Tomorrow's styles today, his hair was trimmed down to his neck and he was given new clothes.

### Marvel Comics

Fang has olive-toned skin, curly hair and sideburns. His wings look more dragonfly-like and mechanical.

## Personality

Fang is usually reserved and keeps to himself. He cares deeply for the Flock and has a soft side for Angel. He is very witty and sarcastic and opens up more around Max. He is silent, mysterious and brooding. He will do anything for the Flock, especially Max. He's paranoid and always checks emergency exits. He seems to be somewhat calculating and tactical (but not the way Max is).He can be very difficult, irritating and uncooperative when talking to whitecoats or other humans as shown in Saving The World And Other Extreme Sports and most of the other books.

Fang is also great at masking his emotions. He rarely smiles, cries or shows any other emotions and is brilliant at keeping a straight face. He is once described as "a dark shadow come to life".
But after Phoenix was born in Maximum Ride Forever, Fang was more open, and showed his emotions more. Max once said that "Tiny Phoenix had changed him."

## Abilities

### Camouflage

Fang's first "self-mutation" is discovered when he fades into near-invisibility while the Flock is camped in a state park in *The Final Warning*. The rest of the Flock is unable to find him until he moves, instantly revealing himself. Fang says that he was never gone, and thus his new skill is discovered. This skill, invisibility, complements Fang and his personality perfectly; he is known among the Flock for sitting quietly for such extended periods of time, such that they sometimes forget he is there.

### Speed

In *MAX*, a spy records that he can fly to speeds of 250 mph. He believes he gained this ability from the blood transfusion Max gave him in *School's Out - Forever*.

### Breathing Underwater

Fang (like Max) also developed gills in *MAX*.

### Immortality

It is revealed in *Nevermore* that his DNA holds the key to immortality and as a result he is more likely to survive an incident as opposed to the other Flock members.

### Advanced Senses and Reflexes

Like the rest of the Flock, Fang's body is equipped with enhanced reflexes which are displayed in combat and sudden danger. In addition, his sight is greatly enhanced and is referred to as "raptor vision". Also like the Flock, he has an internal compass which can gauge distance, wind currents, and magnetic direction.

### Enhanced Physical Condition

Like the other members of the Flock, Fang's physical attributes are enhanced to the point his speed and strength are superior to normal teenagers and even most adults. He uses this to keep up with Erasers in combat. However these attributes are inferior to newer enhanced beings such as Dylan, Kate, Star, and Horsemen.

## Skills

### Hand-to-Hand Combat

Fang is skilled in unarmed combat, he has been said to been one of the Flock's best combatants.

## Relationships

### Maximum "Max" Ride

Fang and Max are flock members who later fall in love. They always went to each other before the other flock members to talk but it wasn't expected that they would be together. He always has her back and admires her for her leadership and warrior skills.

#### As Shown In *The Angel Experiment*

Max ends up kissing Fang being intensely worried about him in this book once Ari seriously injures Fang.

#### As Shown In *School's Out - Forever*

In this book, Fang understands Max and can read her like an open book. He consoles her after she sees her reflection as an Eraser, and then kisses her forehead before walking out of the room. Once Anne lays out the decision to attend an actual school Max storms out to which Fang waits outside for her to return with a glass of water. He reassures her that Anne could never replace her. Max sees Fang kissing Lissa which makes her feel jealous, much to her surprise. When Max confronts Fang about Lissa he replies with "you're girly enough, as I recall," referring to the kiss between Max and himself in *The Angel Experiment*.

When Max gets extremely upset and stressed about everything that's going on lately on the way to Florida, she flies away to the beach, waiting for the rest of the Flock to catch up. In a moment of extreme stress, she grabs a broken seashell and starts cutting at her arm in an attempt to get the chip out. Fang then stops her from cutting any deeper. Later the two share a conversation about it while the others are playing in the ocean, and Fang admits Max almost gave him a heart attack and not to every scare him like that again.

#### As Shown In *Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports*

In this book, Fang kisses Max again, but she clears her head, denies it again, and flies away. However, there is a moment when Max enjoyed kissing Fang.

#### As Shown In *The Final Warning*

Max becomes jealous when Dr. Brigid Dwyer and Fang start to spend time together in this book.

#### As Shown In *MAX*

During this book, Fang kisses Max passionately after Max flies off. He also tells Max that he "chooses her", and they end up kissing. He later turns down dinner with Brigid to have a date with Max. She decides to leave the submarine to rescue Angel despite everyone's protests. Fang stops her to tell her good luck, and that he has her back, showing her his plans in case things don't work as well...which makes Max realize how amazing Fang is and how perfect he is for her. They share a kiss in front of the Flock.

#### As Shown In *FANG*

Fang and Max have a lot of moments in this book. Throughout the book, he and Max are often flying off to share romantic moments without the rest of the Flock. However, Fang soon leaves the flock at the end of the book after Total and Akila's wedding because of Dylan , who is supposedly Max's perfect other half.  He is also afraid of putting the Flock in danger, (especially Max) after Angel predicts that Fang will be the first to die. Everyone is upset about this, especially Max. She finds a letter that he wrote for her which is very emotional. He promises that if he's still alive and the world hasn't fallen apart, they'll meet up in 20 years in the cliff where they used to learn to fly like the hawks.

#### As Shown In *ANGEL*

In this book, Max and Fang grow apart to like other people. Fang calls Max and tells her to come to where they are staying because they are both working on defeating the Doomsday Group. The two leaders get into an argument about Maya and Dylan. Max thinks Maya is her replacement, leading to an argument with Max saying that Maya is her clone and Maya telling Max that she is not like Max, that she isn't just a clone. Much to Max's dismay, Fang sides with Maya saying that she is unique. According to Angel, however, he's only really been in love with Max.

#### As Shown In *Nevermore*

In this book, Fang hears the Voice and comes back for Max after breaking one of his wings. He and Max grow back together after he abandons his Gang. Soon, they love each other again and Max realizes that she wants to be with Fang for the rest of her life. When Dr. Valencia Martinez (Max's mother) takes them and the Flock to Paradise, he and Max resume their previous relationship, where they say "I love you" to each other.

### Maya

After leaving The Flock, Fang builds his own gang of enhanced kids, one of which is Max II who chose the name of Maya to set her apart from Max. Eventually Fang begins to build a "half-way" relationship with Maya, similar to Max and Dylan. However, before the relationship can officially take shape, Maya is killed by Ari's clone in Nevermore. Fang insisted that he originally chose her for her for her amazing fighting skills (similar to Max) but he began to cave in to her personality, which was like Max in some ways but different in others.

## Trivia

* In *School's Out - Forever* it is revealed that Fang's fears are being caged and not being able to help the Flock. He also hates, and will do anything to get rid of, needles.
* Fang has also gone by the alias of "Nick," and to an extent, "Fnick". This was a nickname given to him by Iggy, mocking Max's tendency to accidentally almost give away Fang's real name during the time he was known as Nick.
* *MAX*, book 5, is where Fang and Max's relationship takes off.
	+ Early on in the book, Fang tells Max that he chooses her, and they end up making out for an extended period of time.
	+ When Max is about to rescue Angel, Fang is the only one who really understands how much she needs to do it, and then is surprised but willing when Max passionately kisses him.
	+ Fang often holds Max's hand during the book, and she almost always comments on his hands.
	+ He is constantly telling her that he has her back, and Max says that he made her feel better with 9 words.
* On his blog on March 17, he calls Max awesome, and hints that their relationship is "incredible." He devotes almost the entire entry to her and their relationship, and alludes to the fact that he has been waiting years for this.
* His star sign, according to Angel, is Scorpio (as revealed in a response to a blog poster's comment in the epilogue of *FANG*).
* Fang is said to have a thing for redheads, as shown throughout the series.
* His favorite food is beef.
* Angel said that Fang will be the first to die. In *FANG,* he almost dies and Max revives him with an adrenaline shot to the heart; in *Maximum Ride Forever,* he dies, but Dylan places him in suspended animation and revives him.
* In *Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports*, Max mentions that Fang has awesome fashion sense.
* He is featured on the second and eighth volumes of the Maximum Ride graphic novel by NaRae Lee.

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