Andrew Wiggin, Ender, Speaker for the Dead

Andrew Wiggin, nicknamed "Ender" as a child by his sister Valentine, is the title character in all the novels in the Speaker series. In the first novel, Ender's Game, he saves humanity by leading Earth's ships against the bugger home planet while participating in what he thinks is routine training. Ender is recruited by the commanders of Earth's forces because he is perfectly suited to the task of defeating the buggers. Both highly intelligent and creative, Ender possesses the ruthlessness of his brother Peter when necessary but also a great deal of the compassion of his sister Valentine. Not until he has almost entirely destroyed the buggers does he realize they never intended to destroy humanity. In fact, their colonization of Earth was based on the assumption that humans were no different than animals. By establishing a relationship with the last remaining...