| Beatrice was a girl I saw in stolen moments at the mirror, who kept quiet at the dinner table. This is someone whose eyes claim mine and don’t release me; this is Tris. |
| — Tris about herself in Divergent |
Beatrice "Tris" Prior is the main protagonist and narrator of the Divergent series. She is a strong-willed sixteen-year-old girl. Though Tris was born in the faction Abnegation, she eventually transferred to Dauntless and must face the fact that she is Divergent. When she arrived in her new faction, she opted for a change and decided to use Tris as a nickname for Beatrice, hoping for a fresh start. She died at the end of the last book, to save her brother.
Physical Appearance[]
Tris had a narrow face, gray-blue eyes (hazel eyes in the films) that were wide and round, and a long, thin nose. When she looked at herself, she saw someone who wasn't pretty and that looked like a little girl with eyes and a nose that is too big. She began with straight long blonde hair, that was tied in a knot (Which is how the Abnegation wear it) a long neck, and knobby-knuckled hands. She was frail and Bird-like until her Dauntless training, where her arms became muscular and strong Christina told her that she has striking features; even though they were not beautiful, they were interesting. Three flying birds were tattooed on her collarbone. She also had a tattoo on her right shoulder with the symbol of her old faction, Abnegation. There is a Dauntless symbol tattoo on her left shoulder.
She is short, only reaching Four's shoulder. Tris says that her body is like a twelve-year-old's, and if she was taller, she could be described as willowy, not childish. In Insurgent, Tris cuts her hair so that it reaches her jawline. In Allegiant, her hair grows to touch her neck.
Relationships[]
Tobias "Four" Eaton[]
From when she first meets him, Tobias (then, known as Four), Tris automatically takes a liking to him. She is unaware that the feeling is love or attraction; but gradually, throughout the course of the book, she is naturally drawn to him. However, a few chapters later, she starts to become more and more aware of her growing feelings towards her instructor. She was never afraid to stand up to him or tell him off.
When she and Tobias start a relationship, she is worried that he does not actually love her and that he just wants to use her because she is not pretty and draws no interest from anyone whatsoever. She is also aware of the two year age gap between them, which he laughs at, saying 'Yes, that whopping two-year gap really is insurmountable!' In her fear landscapes, it is revealed that Tris has a fear of intimacy, and is reluctant to tell him when he presses her. She believed as Tobias was older, he would have certain expectations of her and she was not ready for it; however, this assumption was proven untrue.
Upon their troubled conflict in the third book (Allegiant), they still cared for each other and took care of each other throughout the book. Towards the end, Tris goes into the Weapons Lab instead of Caleb, surviving the death serum, but was shot and killed by David. Before going in, she told Caleb that if she didn't survive, he had to tell Tobias that she didn't want to leave him.
Caleb Prior[]
Tris loves her brother, although she resents him for transferring to Erudite and leaving her parents alone. She thinks of him as selfless and disapproving when she does something wrong. She seems to genuinely respect him and doesn't get on bad terms with him often.
She loves Caleb but realizes that he was made for Erudite, although she hates him for this because she realized how he had been able to deceive their family quite well for a long time. Once Tris gives herself to Erudite, she finds that Caleb was helping Jeanine Matthews. He told them that she fitted three factions instead of two or one, and also aided in the simulations that she took. Tris then named herself "the Last Prior" as he had betrayed their whole family. Despite her hatred towards Caleb upon his betrayal discovery, she risked her life for him at the end of Allegiant. She went to the Weapons Lab instead of him to trigger the release of the Death Serum, which led to her death by the hands of David. She decided to sacrifice herself because she didn't see her brother as the one who betrayed her but as the older brother who took care of her when they were little, who loved her. Before going to the Weapons Lab, she told Caleb that she loved him, and Caleb told her the same.
Tori Wu[]
Tris first met Tori when taking her aptitude test. Tori warned Tris to keep her Divergence a secret and tells her about the danger she'll be facing if she fails to do so. While Tris was in Dauntless, she often came to Tori for help because of her faith and trust in Tori.
In Insurgent, however, Tris nearly kills Tori because of the information she needed from Jeanine, who Tori was about to kill. Tori, believing that Tris had betrayed her, called her a traitor and had her arrested.
The two later joined at the Allegiant, where they were assigned with the mission to see what was outside the fence. On the way, they were attacked by the factionless, which, unfortunately, resulted in Tori's death. This upset Tris, who decided that although she was angry about their fight in the Erudite headquarters, Tori was still the one who protected her.
Christina[]
Christina and Tris became best friends on the way out of the Choosing Ceremony after Tris chose Dauntless. On the day of the simulation, Christina was affected by the serum, whereas Tris wasn't. Tris shot Will, causing a short feud between the two in Insurgent. Christina stayed away from Tris until Cara, Will's sister, persuaded her to keep on being Tris's friend. They made up and went to the Bureau, where shortly after, Christina mourned Tris's and Uriah's deaths. Tris describes Christina as a true friend, who was always there for her.
Evelyn Johnson-Eaton[]
Tris has a very troubled relationship with her boyfriend's mother. Evelyn has always seemed to not like Tris, finding her unpleasant and rude. Tris finds Evelyn very selfish and dishonest, thinking that Evelyn was lying about getting kicked out of Abnegation. This leads to conflict between Tris and Tobias.
Will[]
Tris became friends with Will on the day they transferred factions. Will and Tris first interact during the first day of Dauntless initiation training, when Tris consistently keeps missing her target and Will says," Statistically speaking, you should have hit the target at least once by now, even by accident". Even though, Will comes across as a know-it-all at times due to him being in Erudite previously, Tris and Will become close friends, along with Christina and Al. When the Erudite release reports about Abnegation, he comforts her and tries to cheer her up. She shot Will in Divergent, as he was under a simulation and about to shoot her. Tris took a long time to get over her guilt of killing him.
Al[]
Al became friends with Tris the day they transferred. Tris is initially disgusted by him crying on the night after the Choosing Ceremony, because she thinks that someone who looks as strong as Al shouldn't act so weak. They eventually become close friends and Al develops a crush on Tris, who rejects him. Since Tris was 1st in the ranking, Peter and Drew found the rankings unacceptable and Al had a extremely low chance of making it to Dauntless but if they killed Tris they would all move up. Al believed there was no other option besides being factionless and attempted to kill Tris with Drew and Peter in Divergent, although they did not succeed due to Four walking by. Al tried to apologize, but Tris told him that she would kill him if he came close to her again and called him a coward. This supposedly resulted in his suicide although Will believed that being factionless contributed. Tris felt that she was the cause of Al's death.
Uriah Pedrad[]
Uriah is one of Tris' Dauntless-born friends. He was on her team in "capture the flag" in Divergent and later invited her to go zip-lining with the other Dauntless-born. Uriah was very close to Tris, maybe even the closest Dauntless-born friend Tris had. Tris was upset when he was killed in Allegiant, and his death even caused her to temporarily break up with Four.
Lynn[]
Lynn is one of Tris' Dauntless-born friends. They are often seen bickering with each other, but also care about and respect one another. Tris also saved Lynn's brother, Hector, from dying, knowing that if he did die, Lynn would be broken. Tris comforted her while she died in Insurgent, and mourned her death afterward.
Marlene[]
Marlene is one of Tris' Dauntless-born friends. When Marlene was killed under simulation in Insurgent, Tris had a chance to save her, but couldn't because she saved Lynn's brother instead. Tris regretted this and mourned her death.
Cara[]
At the start, Tris's relationship with her best friend's sister: Will wasn't very good. Cara insulted Tris the moment she saw her because she used to be Abnegation. However, Cara immediately broke away from Erudite after their attack on Abnegation and helped Tris. Her actions shocked Tris greatly, especially since she had killed Will. Tris didn't always have a stable relationship with Cara, but truly respected her.
Eric[]
Eric was one of the Dauntless leaders. Tris felt that he was evil and cruel. When she beat up Molly, Eric praised her, and she immediately felt that if Eric liked what she had done, then it must have been wrong. She shot him in the foot when he tried to kill Tobias in Insurgent. Eric was ranked second in his initiation and first was Four. He changed the rules when he became a Dauntless leader. He made the rule that there are cuts to whoever is ranked at the bottom.
Andrew[]
Andrew Prior was her father. Tris mourned his death in Divergent, along with her brother, Caleb. Andrew helped Marcus in the leadership of society. He died by protecting and helping defeat the administrators on their way to the Control Room to stop Jeanine’s programmed attack against the Abnegation. He was born into Erudite but chose Abnegation with Nathalie.
Natalie[]
Natalie was her mother. Tris and Caleb mourned her death in Divergent. Tris loved her mother a lot, it was very mutual. Tris saw her when she was dying in Allegiant. Natalie was born outside the fence and was sent to figure out what was happening to the divergent or “pure” population. She was placed there as Dauntless but chose Abnegation with her love and future husband, Andrew( Tris’ father). They used to study together when they were littler and the friendship grew into love.
Facts[]
- Even though Tris is dead in the books. She is persumed to still be alive in the movie adaptation.
- Tris is curious by nature.
- Tris is the smallest Dauntless-Transfer initiate, but is taller than Dauntless-Born initiate Lynn.
- Tris is the second Abnegation to Transfer to Dauntless after Four "Tobias" (For an unknown large amount of years).
- With her hair down and eyeliner on, she thinks that her face is "noticeable".
- Her first tattoo is a series of three ravens on her collarbone. One for each member of her family.
- Her second tattoo is the Dauntless symbol on her left shoulder.
- Tris's third tattoo is the Abnegation symbol on her right shoulder.
- In a deleted scene of Allegiant, Tris, along with every Dauntless member, gets the number of fears tattooed on them. Tris gets a "7" on her arm.
| Dauntless | ||||
| Current Leaders: Four | Tori | Harrison | ||||
| Known members: Tris Prior | Tobias Eaton | Christina | Will | Tori | Uriah | Marlene | Amar | Rita | Lauren | Lynn | Eric | Max | Zeke | Harrison | Shauna | Peter | ||||
| Known faction-borns: Uriah | Marlene | Max | Lynn | Zeke | Shauna | | ||||
| Ex-Leaders: Max | Eric | (Countless pasts leaders/members) | ||||
Film Portrayal[]
Summit Entertainment bought the rights to film an adaptation of the novel. Shailene Woodley portrays Tris in the films, and it was revealed by Veronica Roth that Woodley was immediately chosen to play Tris.
Strengths[]
Tris is very intelligent. This is probably due to most of her family being Erudite. She uses this skill to get herself put off trouble. She is also a very skilled fighter. She learns several forms of martial arts and kickboxing while living in Dauntless. Tris uses these skills to fight Peter,Molly, Four, and several Factionless people. She is also proficient with a handgun. Because she is Divergent, she is also not able to be influenced by serums.
Personality[]
Being Divergent, Tris is not limited to exhibit only one of the five traits. Since an early age, Tris was shown to have acted with a blend of curiosity and selfishness, traits that do not make an Abnegation. Her Divergence allows her brain to act with traits from three of the five factions, authentically proven through her Aptitude Tests when it showed her being equally apt for Abnegation, Dauntless and Erudite.
Her most distinguished trait is bravery. Tris is extremely brave, from being the first jumper to ranking first in the initiation. Tris' bravery outranks even some of the Dauntless members as observed through her actions. She courageously climbed the Ferris wheel during the first stage of initiation when even Four, the man having the least of fears reconsidered joining her. She waded through crowds of Dauntless-controlled soldiers and initiated an attempt to try to stop the simulations. Her extreme bravery often leads people to think of her as someone who recklessly throws herself into danger. Four noted that Tris was becoming a reckless Dauntless, risking her life for situations that she cannot control when her bravery is at its height. More than once, she had also told herself that she would rather be dead than Factionless.
Tris has been shown to be selfless and quite intelligent at times that solidifies her status as Divergent. She is often scolded in Dauntless for being too selfless and is teased mercilessly for being a Stiff, which is being from Abnegation. She is capable of risking her life to save the people she loves and to willingly allow herself to make sacrifices no matter the costs. She is as well able to exhibit Erudite traits such as her unusual curiosity and above-average intelligence. Tris is able to pick the most logical response from a particular situation, something an Erudite clearly exhibits. She is told by Four that she is a bad liar, but that she is "deadly smart, brave and selfless". She is also shown to have a temper, and although she seems unbreakable, she is also sensitive, shown when Tobias insults her (to make sure the other initiates don't know that he is in a relationship with her), and she slaps him, distraught.
Also unforgiving, this part of her character might have caused Al to commit suicide by jumping into the Chasm when she strongly refused to forgive him after he helped Peter try to kill her. Although she is quite brave, she, like anyone else, has fears. She has seven, to be particular, which is one of the lowest numbers of fears any Dauntless has ever gotten, next to Tobias' four fears.