David

David leads the Smoke, a hideout outside the city that lives close to nature. His parents, Maddy and Az, were city scientists who ran away. At the Smoke they work on a cure for what the surgery does to Pretties' minds.

That's where Shay runs to, and where Tally shows up soon after, looking for her.

The Smoke has a bit of Walden in it, Thoreau's book about simple living in the woods: nobody there has a made-to-order face, and everyone works to keep the group going. David was raised far from the surgeries and has never thought of the city as home.

David takes Tally in without knowing Dr. Cable sent her. The two grow close, and it's through him and his parents that Tally understands what the city is hiding.

Tally decides not to give anyone up and throws her tracker into the fire. David has no idea what she just gave up.

It's at the Smoke that Tally hears what the city never says: the operation damages the brain so Pretties won't question authority. To David, that isn't theory. It's why his parents ran.

Cable's troops storm the Smoke. During the raid, Peris, Tally's old friend turned soldier, kills David's father. Tally is exposed as a traitor.

Even so, she convinces David to help her rescue the rebels the city took.

Losing his father in front of everyone changes David. The guy who welcomed newcomers with open arms now knows the city is willing to kill to keep its secret.

The rescue works, but Shay has already been operated on. When Peris corners the group, Tally tries to reach the friend he used to be. David remembers that Peris killed his father and throws him off a building.

David's mother has the last piece of the cure. Tally volunteers to test it and goes back to the city.

For David, the fight didn't end with the rescue. The cure his mother holds is what could undo what the city did to Shay and to every Pretty in the city. He and his mother are the only ones who know how close it is to working.

In the books, David is also the son of the Smoke's founders and plays a big part in the original trilogy. In the movie he is played by Keith Powers.