Dissecting Five’s Character In The Umbrella Academy by Aiden Zylman
Five Hargreeves, the 5th child, is one of the most beloved characters in The Umbrella Academy. Five is gifted with the abilities of time travel and teleportation, and is one of the most complicated characters in the series, if not the most. He’s a serious character with little to no emotion other than annoyance and anger;, however, there are fragments in the series where he feels more emotions aside from those two.
Why is Five’s name Five? It’s because he’s the fifth child and because his father, Reginald, named all seven kids after numbers. Six of the seven kids were eventually named proper names, Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Ben, and Vanya. Five wasn’t given a proper name because he was absent and missing. At the age of 13, Five ran away from home and went missing, which is why he wasn't able to be named properly. He time-traveled too far into the future, causing him to get stuck in the apocalypse for 45 years, surviving on anything he could find. In the comics, Five stated, “It took me a few days to figure out I was the only boy alive. But once I did, I was ecstatic. I was free.,” This shows how Five felt trapped.
At the academy, their father was rigorous, training the kids heavily, not allowing them to talk during meals, and even tattooing the kids to show they were part of the Academy. In the series, Five discovered his dead family, leaving him powerless and afraid. He took 45 years to find anything he could about math and physics, trying anything to get back to 2019 and stop the apocalypse. In the process, Five got hired by The Commission, a large group of people who maintain the space-time continuum. They sought him out because of his time travel abilities and survival skills. The Commission made a five-year contract with Five which he eventually broke and managed to return to his family with the apocalypse still on the rise.
The apocalypse left Five with PTSD which is seen in season 1, episode 3, where he finds himself back in the apocalypse until he’s eventually snapped out of it by his brother, Luther. In the series, Five claims, “I want to forget it, but I can't,” when discussing the apocalypse. His trauma from the apocalypse is seen through his physical form, this is because Five quote-unquote, “never acorned,” after time traveling back to 2019. “Not acorning” is why Five is in his 13-year-old body with the consciousness of a 58-year-old man. According to Gerard Way, the creator of the comics, Five’s design is critical because it represents what they all looked like as children. Moving onto Five’s wants, all he craves is caffeine, retirement, and a happy family. Overall, Five is arguably the most complex character who unarguably deserves better.
Why is Five’s name Five? It’s because he’s the fifth child and because his father, Reginald, named all seven kids after numbers. Six of the seven kids were eventually named proper names, Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Ben, and Vanya. Five wasn’t given a proper name because he was absent and missing. At the age of 13, Five ran away from home and went missing, which is why he wasn't able to be named properly. He time-traveled too far into the future, causing him to get stuck in the apocalypse for 45 years, surviving on anything he could find. In the comics, Five stated, “It took me a few days to figure out I was the only boy alive. But once I did, I was ecstatic. I was free.,” This shows how Five felt trapped.
At the academy, their father was rigorous, training the kids heavily, not allowing them to talk during meals, and even tattooing the kids to show they were part of the Academy. In the series, Five discovered his dead family, leaving him powerless and afraid. He took 45 years to find anything he could about math and physics, trying anything to get back to 2019 and stop the apocalypse. In the process, Five got hired by The Commission, a large group of people who maintain the space-time continuum. They sought him out because of his time travel abilities and survival skills. The Commission made a five-year contract with Five which he eventually broke and managed to return to his family with the apocalypse still on the rise.
The apocalypse left Five with PTSD which is seen in season 1, episode 3, where he finds himself back in the apocalypse until he’s eventually snapped out of it by his brother, Luther. In the series, Five claims, “I want to forget it, but I can't,” when discussing the apocalypse. His trauma from the apocalypse is seen through his physical form, this is because Five quote-unquote, “never acorned,” after time traveling back to 2019. “Not acorning” is why Five is in his 13-year-old body with the consciousness of a 58-year-old man. According to Gerard Way, the creator of the comics, Five’s design is critical because it represents what they all looked like as children. Moving onto Five’s wants, all he craves is caffeine, retirement, and a happy family. Overall, Five is arguably the most complex character who unarguably deserves better.