The Old Man

The Old Man is the main antagonist of the novel Starters.

Starters
The Old Man is the creator of the body bank, Prime Destinations. He acts as the main antagonist, running a company which appears to send teens to their doom. In Starters, not much is known about him, as he remains an enigmatic and notorious figure of power. He rarely comes into contact with Callie- or anyone- himself, though towards the end of the book it is revealed he was controlling Blake, a Starter assumed to not be a donor, which Callie grew to have feelings for.

Enders
In the second book it is revealed that the Old Man is actually a Starter named Hyden. Though in the beginning of the book Hyden lies that the Old Man is his father, Brockman, he is later forced to reveal that the Old Man is really him. He created this older, intimidating persona in order to found Prime Destinations. He says Prime Destinations was made in order to save teens, rather than doom them as Callie and others had assumed. Throughout Enders, Hyden has Callie's help in attempting to save Starters, beginning with the Metals who were put in immediate danger thanks to Brockman.

Appearance
When presenting as the Old Man, Hyden wears a disguise, consisting of a long brimmed hat, a coat, a white wig, and most notably, his iconic mask. The mask is a screen which cycles through different faces, and is capable of distorting his voice. The mask only reacts to his face, and so no one else can wear it. This disguise also makes Hyden appear larger and taller.

Beneath the disguise is Hyden, an average looking Starter. He is of average build, has dark hair which is described as neither curly nor straight, and he has faint scars on his face from a lab accident. Callie describes him as having a strong jaw and piercing eyes. Though it is not obvious, particularly due to these scars, he is a Metal as well.

History
Before the Spore Wars, Hyden worked with his father to make transposition (body transferring) a possibility. While he saw the potential for good, his father, Brockman, saw the potential for greed. While Hyden developed the software for the implants, he needed Brockman to create the chips themselves. With the war, they went their own ways, using the technology for their own interests: Hyden for good, and Brockman for bad.

Whilst in the lab, before the war, Hyden and his mother suffered a lab accident in which there was an explosion. While Brockman was not affected by this, Hyden and his mother were, leading to them finding any contact to their skin unbearably painful. After many attempts at treatment, Hyden became tolerable of most contact, aside from skin to skin, which still causes him pain, though by the end of Enders he was able to withstand contact more so than before.

After the Spore Wars, Hyden created Prime Destinations to utilize his technology. This body bank became notorious, and Hyden- disguised as the Old Man- was viewed as a villain. In reality, Prime Destinations was created with the intention of helping Starters, allowing them better lives in the long run, rather than being locked in Institutions. Although Callie ruined these plans when she took down Prime Destinations, Hyden continued his quest to help Starters, protecting the Metals left over from Prime Destinations with Callie's help, continuing these efforts even when his own life was in danger.

By the end of Enders, Hyden was able to help Callie take down Brockman, and he ended up joining Callie and Micheal in working for Dawson, who had previously kidnapped them, at his Transposition Research Center.

Callie Woodland
Hyden met Callie through Prime Destinations when she became a donor, and later came into contact with her while using Blake's body. Initially he only kept close to her because of her altered chip, but over time he developed feelings for her. When Hyden met Callie as himself, they soon started working together to save Metals, and Callie began to feel for Hyden again, this time as himself. They both appear to be in love with each other, having kissed several times, though it is unknown if they actually got into a relationship.

Brockman
Brockman is Hyden's father, who he is not on good terms with. They developed transposition together- Hyden creating the software and Brockman creating the hardware- but saw different uses for the technology. They went separate ways after the Spore Wars, but some contact in the form of spying was kept, as Brockman had Tinnenbaum working at Prime Destinations, and Hyden knew of some of Brockman's work via his technology.

Trivia
 * 1) Assuming the information he gave as Blake is true, Hyden's favorite color is blue, favorite food is potato chips, and favorite cause is endangered species- which, could be foreshadowing for his true role shown in Enders.