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| Tara | ||
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| Background Information | ||
| Age: |
15 | |
| First Appearance: | ||
| Status: |
Alive | |
| Powers: |
Has the power to create emotions such as fear and happiness using her electricity | |
| Alliances: | ||
Background
Tara is a Glow who lived at the Elgen Academy. Her ability is to create emotions such as fear and happiness using her electricity. She is the identical twin sister of Taylor Ridley, though it has been noted that 'Tara is not as pretty as Taylor'. Though she is Taylor's twin, she is extremely loyal to Hatch even when Taylor was not. Tara has been with Dr. Hatch since she was almost five years old. When she was little, Hatch most likely had her adoptive parents killed in a house fire, which she thinks was an accident. You see, Hatch has drilled into her and the other Glows' heads that they are a superior race and the humans are around 'only for their amusement'. One might find this ironic, considering Dr. Hatch himself is merely a human and has no electric powers himself. Tara uses her powers as an empath mostly for torture, wracking people's thoughts with disturbing, usually maddening images of their worst fears. Tara also helped the Elgen Corporation to develop a helmet that blocks any mental powers which was used on Taylor in the second book and the first book. Tara is, without a doubt, one of the most powerful Glows, the only remedy to her fear torture being the effects of Abigail, another Glow.
Books
We see Tara in the first three books. The Prisoner of Cell 25, Rise of the Elgen, and Battle of the Ampere.
In the The Prisoner of Cell 25 , Tara first greets Taylor after she's been abducted by the Elgen. She takes Taylor on a shopping spree to all the most expensive stores and shows her life as a Glow, as it should be. At a motorcycle rally, Hatch approaches Taylor and asks her to make sure that one of the motorcycle riders does not win. Taylor, knows she can't do this (with her powers) because it might kill him and refuses without telling him. Tara, afraid for her sister uses her own powers to protect Taylor from Hatch's rage and makes the motorcycle rider crash land. Hatch immediately knows that Tara did it and not Taylor and punishes both of them.
Later, after Taylor has been thrown down into Purgatory for not obeying Hatch, Michael Vey breaks into the compound to help her and his mother escape. It turns out that his mother has been moved to a different compound and he ends up trying to break out Ian, Abigail, McKenna, Ostin and Taylor.
As they escape the building, Tara is the one who tries to stop Michael and make him turn back by using her powers. Taylor then tells her to stop and join them. Tara responds with a reference to the story Hatch used calling his Glows 'eagles' and the regular mortals 'chickens'. Michael then says, "I didn't know you had a sister," to Taylor to which she responds with, "I don't."
In the Rise of the Elgen we see Tara with Hatch throughout almost the entire book, supporting him when even the board did not. When they are on a plane ride to South America, Tanner, one of the Glows, tries to bring their plane down (that is his power) to crash land them before they can do any more damage. Hatch stops him and Tara molds her hatred for the rogue Glows that escaped (The Electroclan) for worse. Later in the book, when they capture Michael they send Tara in disguised as Taylor saying that she never really cared for Michael. (Taylor is Michael's girlfriend.) She goes on to say that Hatch promised her diamond jewelry if she participated and says that she couldn't refuse. Tara continues to torture Michael by going on about how he thought a girl as pretty as her could ever love someone like him. After Hatch comes to talk with him, Michael has the last word by saying, "I know that Taylor and Tara are identical twins but really Taylor is much prettier," telling us tha Michael knew that Tara was not Taylor when she deceived him. Tara is last seen in the second book diving for cover as Michael throws glowing electric balls at Hatch and the enemy Glows.
In the Battle of the Ampere Tara is only in a few parts of the book and all she does is help hatch take over the Ampere.
Etymology
Tara's name most likely came from the word "terror", referring to the negative effects of her powers. Her last name is unknown as it was never mentioned in the books.