Born in the Abnegation faction to Andrew and Natalie Prior, she describes herself as having pale blonde hair, wide gray-blue eyes, a long, thin nose and a short and skinny stature.
In the first initiation period, her performance in physical matches against top-ranked candidates such as Peter places her on the brink of being cut from the faction, but she then participates in a capture the flag event where she plays a major part in her team's victory.
On visiting day,[a] her mother Natalie tells her to ask her brother to research the Erudite's simulation serum and warns her about how she is being watched, revealing she was originally a Dauntless.
The two alongside Tobias, Christina, Peter, Tori, Uriah, and Cara, begin an expedition to the outskirts of Chicago and arrive at the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, a US government-sponsored agency that is behind the faction system.
Caleb volunteers to undergo the suicidal mission to expose the memory serum on the Bureau, but Tris replaces him because he only does so out of regret, and asks him to tell Tobias her final message: that she does not want to leave him.
The two slowly develop a relationship and Tobias helps Tris go through her initiation tests, advising her on how to pass the simulation serum through legitimate means, and protecting her from Eric's taunts and saving her when Al, Peter, and Drew try to kill her.
Later, when the group attempt to expose the memory serum on the Bureau members, Caleb volunteers himself on the suicide mission, tearfully asking his sister if it will make her forgive him for his actions.
Two and a half years later, Caleb has become one of the scientists working on the agricultural division of Chicago, along with Cara, and is also successful in mending his relationship with Four, although the latter purposefully stays away from him due to his reminding him of Tris.
After Tris and Four manage to stop the simulation serum on Dauntless, Marcus alongside them, Caleb, and Peter board the train towards Amity, surviving the Abnegation's massacre that claim the lives of his fellow council members, including Andrew and Mr. Black.
The two stage terror attacks at some of the factionless' weapon barracks, but heed Evelyn's offer of a ceasefire, which requires Marcus to never attempt on leading Chicago's people again.
She creates many articles about Abnegation based on lies and published in newspapers run by Erudite, to make people believe that they are not a selfless faction but rather greedy and selfish.
She also received the simulation serums for the Dauntless members from the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, although she herself resisted from expending their influence on the Chicago society whom she wanted to never discover the truth about the experiment.
When they find out that one of Erudite's peace conditions for Candor is to hand over Eric safely, the newly elected Dauntless leaders sentence him to death.
Beneath his kind and innocent appearance however, he was violent, aggressive, ill-tempered, and cruel, which made him one of the key villainous characters of the Divergent series, and a mortal enemy of Tris Prior.
On the last day of their initiation's stage one, he along with Molly, Drew, and some others make fun of Tris's physique, when she heads back to the dorm to fetch her dress as her pants do not fit her anymore because of her new muscles.
As revealed in Allegiant, David is a descendant of the brother of Edith Prior, one of the first settlers of the Chicago experiment, and his family was originally Abnegation, but as Andrew was born in Erudite it is apparent that they switched factions through generations.
In the epilogue, Cara is working as part of the agricultural sector of Chicago, which develops new methods of farming for the increased number of residents in the city.
The Bureau originally want to turn off his life support straight away but Christina pleads with them to extend it for four days, so Uriah's family can be informed.
She talks to Tris on the train back to Dauntless and compliments her on successful plan and her decision to climb Ferris wheel to find the other team's flag by calling it "Erudite-smart".
[31] In the film, Marlene's role as one of Tris' fellow initiates and love triangle with Uriah and Lynn are not mentioned, and she appears mainly during her suicide scene.
Zeke is totally oblivious to Shauna's crush on him and continues with his playboy attitude until she states her feelings sometime in the two-year-interim between "The Son" and "The Traitor", after which Four notes that the two are growing closer.
In the epilogue, Zeke is working as a police officer and, alongside Four, Christina, Caleb, Cara, and Matthew celebrate Choosing Day by riding a zipline.
The serum was developed by Erudite and allows them to control whoever is injected with it; they plan to make Dauntless members kill themselves every two days unless a Divergent is handed over.
In Insurgent, she is injected with the new serum developed by Erudite during the Dauntless meeting in Candor and under its influence attempts to commit suicide by jumping off a building.
In Allegiant, Four, Christina, Peter, and Amar personally visit her residence to inquire about Uriah's brain damage, to which Hana requests for her and Zeke be allowed to see him one last time before his life support is plugged off.
Her role in the group necessitates her to hold a gun at all times, which becomes one of the book's running gags, as others, even Evelyn, express their amazement that even an Amity would easily take up arms if necessary.
It is his goal to cure the United States from genetic damage caused during the Purity War, a series of battles after an attempt to rid society of its main issues.
His apparent death was officially ruled as suicide but his sister Tori does not believe that, knowing her brother was happy and also dating a fellow initiate.
In Allegiant, it is revealed that along with George Wu and fellow former instructor Zoe, Amar is still alive, having been rescued by the Bureau of Genetic Welfare outside of Chicago.
Edith Prior, born Amanda Marie Ritter, was a researcher and volunteer for the faction system who appears at the end of Insurgent in the video retrieved by Four and Caleb.