Andrew Wiggin

Lore & Background

Andrew Wiggin is the youngest of three children in a family granted special permission to have a third birth. He faces immediate hostility at school, particularly from a bully named Stilson; after a fight, Ender beats Stilson so severely that the boy is hospitalized and later dies, though Ender does not learn of this until much later. At home, his brother Peter acts as a sadist tormentor, while his sister Valentine serves as his only protector and friend.

When accepted into Battle School, an Earth-orbiting station, he is brokenhearted at leaving Valentine, though she assures him they will always share a bond. At Battle School, Ender excels in academics and the zero-g Battle Room, eventually commanding Dragon Army, which he molds from unwanted students into the school's most successful unit. His success breeds jealousy among fellow commanders, leading to torment by a lead bully named Bonzo, who attempts to kill him in the shower room.

Ender kills Bonzo in the fight without knowing it. Transferred directly to Command School on Eros, he trains under Mazer Rackham using holographic simulators. In the final battle, which he believes is a simulation against overwhelming odds, Ender relays commands to his former Battle School classmates. He breaks protocol to destroy the enemy planet with the Doctor Device. He is then told the battle was real: he has committed xenocide, eradicating the Bugger species.

Reader's Guide

Andrew Wiggin's role evolves from a military student to an interstellar diplomat and guardian. As a "Third," he is uniquely positioned by the International Fleet to lead against the Formics due to his exceptional ability to understand opponents' weaknesses, a trait honed in Battle School's zero-g environment. Key turning points define his path: the accidental death of Stilson, the killing of Bonzo in self-defense, and the final battle where he destroys a planet believing it to be a game. These events lead to his exile and transformation into a figure seeking atonement. In Speaker for the Dead, he navigates complex inter-species relations on Lusitania involving humans, piggies, and Formics. He manages the descolada virus threat in Xenocide, where the virus is fatal to humans but essential to piggies, while the Formics possess an immune system capable of protection.

Did You Know?

• Ender is the youngest of three children, a rare status granted only because his parents received special permission to have a third child under strict state laws.
• Speaker for the Dead begins 3000 years after the events of Ender's Game, and the 22-year voyage to Lusitania ages Ender less than two weeks because of relativity.
• The Bugger Queen reveals through telepathy that her species modeled the location of their pupa to resemble a game Ender played in Battle School, having learned of it during his dreams in Command School.