Millard Nullings is a male invisible. He is a scholar of all things peculiar and one of Miss Peregrine's wards.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Like most invisibles, Millard was born visible and began disappearing likely around puberty.[1][2] He was terrified when it started happening.[3] Sometime in the 1930's, Alma LeFay Peregrine tracked him down and he became one of her wards on Cairnholm. In 1984,[4] he began monitoring the residents of the island so he could write "the world's first complete account of one day in the life of a town," which he had been working on for twenty seven years by the start of the series.
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children[]
In the prologue, Abraham Portman shows a photo of Millard to a young Jacob Portman.
Millard would join a group of five others to explore the bombed house outside the loop when Jacob Portman comes sniffing around. The children run back into the loop instead of confronting the boy after Jacob sees them. Eventually, Emma captures Jacob, and Millard helps her get Jacob back to the house. While Millard and Jacob are waiting for Miss Peregrine, they watch several other kids show off their abilities. As Miss Peregrine prepares to have a private conversation with Jacob, she sends away Emma and Millard. At dinnertime, he is the fourth peculiar to tell Jacob his age.
On Jacob's next visit to the loop, everyone agrees to do an exhibition of their abilities for him, with Millard acting as the announcer for the show. After lunch, he joins Jacob, Emma, Fiona, Hugh, Horace and Bronwyn on a trip to go swimming, and on the way he tells Jacob about his project of compiling the world's first complete account of one day in the life of a town.
After Esmerelda Avocet arrives at the loop, the house is put into lockdown, which Millard doesn't like. After Martin Pagett's death, Emma, Jacob, Bronwyn and Enoch agree to leave the loop and go to the fishmonger's so Enoch can revive Martin for questioning. Millard disapproves of the plan and has to be bribed to keep him from telling Miss Peregrine.
Later, he goes with Jacob, Emma and Bronwyn to fight Golan and rescue Miss Peregrine and Miss Avocet. Millard attempts to use his invisibility to hide from Golan as he moves through the water, but gets shot. He afterwards rides on Bronwyn's back as the four continue on, shielded by a cargo hold door. When they reach the lighthouse, Bronwyn tends to Millard's wound while Jacob and Emma pursue Golan. Up on the lighthouse, Golan tosses the birds into the sea.
Jacob and Emma successfully retrieve a peregrine from the water, who they believe to be Miss Peregrine. However, unbeknownst to them, the peregrine is actually Caul. The children get worried when the bird doesn't turn back into a human, so they agree to leave the island to find another ymbryne to help "Miss Peregrine." Before leaving, Millard, Emma, and Olive join Jacob in paying a visit to Jacob's father so Jacob can say goodbye. At the end of the book, Millard and the other children board three rowboats.
Hollow City[]
Picking up from where the first book left off, Hollow City begins with the children lost at sea. Millard is first mentioned helping correct Emma's navigation as they sail away from Cairnholm following it's destruction. Soon a storm hits, causing his loop atlas the Map of Days to be lost at sea. Millard is devastated, as it was a very rare artefact (one of five) and one of his most prized possessions.
When they reach land and spot the submarine hunters searching the beach, it is presumed that they are wights hunting them. They try to subtly hide their boats, but leave tracks. Millard strips off his bandages for the sake of not being seen and covers the tracks, but his wound begins bleeding once again. Although he tries to stop her, Emma burns his wound closed and immediately worries about the injury scarring, obviously not an issue an invisible should worry about. He sulks for a while after.
When Claire begs for another story while hiding from wights, Millard expresses his aggravation toward the Peculiar Tales. But, when they prove to have logical clues toward loops, he changes his mind completely, using the book through out the rest of the story.
Finding the loop hidden in the mouth of the stone "giant", Cuthbert, Millard is quite sure it is only a coincidence, but once inside, he becomes quite excited that there may be truth within the fiction.
When the hollow is found in the loop, it is Millard who explains that the monsters have evolved something similar to peculiarities, allowing them to enter loops. In fact, he earlier explains to Jacob that his ability to see hollows will evolve.
When they leave Cuthbert's loop, Millard navigates using Miss Wren's map. After some time, they run into gypsies and are caught riding on their wagon. Millard plays a major role in their battle for freedom, hiding from sight while the others are captured. He sets off one of the peculiar chicken eggs to distract the gypsies from noticing him pick pocketing the key from them. When they are caught in the act of escaping, they all use their powers against the gypsies, Millard was seen throwing eggs at them and shouting ominous words of destruction.
When Bekhir wishes for his son to be examined, Millard is invited to visit, along with Jacob and Emma. Millard sympathizes with the boy, as he is slowly becoming invisible too, and he tells the young peculiar of advantages to being unseen.
Later, when on the train, he attempts to comfort Jacob about his nightmares. He is also seen studying the Tales of the Peculiar, quite interested in the loop locations hidden inside. He continues, expanding on his thoughts of the hollows having peculiars' second souls.
Millard opens up to Jacob, telling him how he would have been a teacher, if he was not born the way he was. Millard also calls an attendant on the train pretty which caused Jacob to pity him, although he notices this by the way Jacob is looking at him , he doesn't appreciate it much.
Millard plays an important role in trying to phone a loop, although the plan failed as adults attempted to force them on a train. When that fails, they bring up the idea of entering a punishment loop. Millard panics at hearing this, explaining why it would be suicidal to do so. But, he comes up with the idea to capture a pigeon that will lead them to Miss Wren. He reads the story of The Pigeons of St. Paul's.
Later, when they find Miss Wren and are examining the bodies of what are believed to be tortured peculiars, Millard begins investigation. He denies the claims of the peculiars from that loop, angering them. However, he proves his point, explaining his theory that the wights do not only need ymbrynes, but are stealing the souls of peculiars to use for themselves.
When the loop is taken over, Millard, along with the others, is taken captive by wights. After the fight at the train station, his whereabouts are confirmed to be with the captives as Caul "made sure he was accounted for as well."
Library of Souls[]
After being rescued with all the other children he helps fight the wights and expresses the most concern when Miss Peregrine is captured (again). He introduces Jacob to Perplexus Anomalous and begins to talk to him later on, saying he is a big fan of him to which Perplexus replies that Millard had already said that before and expresses his gratitude for it.
Millard tries to threaten Mr. Bentham into releasing Miss Peregrine by holding a knife at his throat, but backs off when Caul threatens Miss Peregrine in return, and runs away. Later, he shows Jacob's mom his invisibility to which she responds "You're not real".
Millard stays at Jacob's house with the other peculiars.
A Map of Days[]
Following the recent events of the third book, he suddenly joins in on a conversation between Jacob, Emma and Miss Peregrine in the kitchen. Miss Peregrine tells him that polite people do not spy on private conversations, to which he replies by saying that he wasn't spying and that he was only hungry. He also came to ask her not to hog on Jacob as they just arrived.
After Hugh walks out of the room after becoming upset about Fiona, the children and Miss Peregrine discuss Fiona possibly being alive somewhere. However, Millard rates it unlikely and supplies the word "body" after Jacob is unable to bring himself to say it, causing him to get scolded by Miss Peregrine for his lack of tact. Later, Millard tells Jacob that Hugh wouldn't even get new bees as he states that he wouldn't love them the same if they had never met Fiona.
At dinner-time, Miss Peregrine and Millard argue about his nudity. Miss Peregrine gets the upper hand which leads to Millard getting off the couch and looking for something to wear while grumbling something about prudes in the process. He comes back a minute later with a bath towel loosely tied around his waist, but Miss Peregrine disapproves of this and Millard has to get different clothing. He returns the second time far too overdressed, with Bronwyn exclaiming that he will perish of heatstroke. Millard responds that at least no one would have to imagine him in a state of nature, which manages to annoy Miss Peregrine and make her leave the room. He complains about being lectured about every little thing, but Claire agrees with Miss Peregrine. Millard asks if his constant nudity annoys anyone else to which all the girls raised their hands. He sighs and says he will make sure that to be fully dressed at all times, lest that anyone will be made uncomfortable by 'basic facts of biology.'
While everyone is talking about their adventures during the time they were exploring peculiar places with the Panloopticon, Millard says that the loop in Amazonia was hot and the insects were terrible, though the locals were extremely nice and they showed them how to make excellent medicines from plants. He explains that there had been a train disaster when Emma shows Jacob a photo of a train that had been tipped over sideways. Millard says that it was carrying some sort of chemical and a few minutes later the picture had been taken. He also tells Jacob that the children were going on these trips to help Sharon.
When Olive shows Jacob her guidebook, Peculiar Planet: North America, Millard says that the book is awfully out-of-date, however Olive ignores what he said.
In Chapter Two, Millard sets the table along with Emma. He tells Jacob that they've been up for hours and that they've been loop-lagged rather terribly. Having been dressed by Horace, he wears a full outfit of plum-colored pants, a light sweater and a scarf around his neck. Jacob asks where the groceries had come from, and Millard implies that he had stolen all of it, earning a scolding from Miss Peregrine. She asks him what he would have done if he had been caught, to which Millard replies that it would be impossible since he is a master thief. However, Jacob reminds him that there are cameras in stores now that could catch that on video.
When Jacob asks what they should start with in their normalling lessons, Millard suggests covering the entire knowledge of the past seventy-five years such as history, politics, music, popular culture, recent breakthroughs in science and technology, but Jacob is thinking of things more along the lines of learning how to talk like they're not in 1940 and crossing the street without being killed.
When the peculiars search for beach-appropiate clothing amongst the closets of the house, Millard wears nothing at all but a slather of sunscreen across his face and shoulders. Outside the house, the others talk about the new-found academy, which Millard finds dull as he knows more than the teachers, who aren't ymbrynes. When Jacob asks why the Ymbryne Council are holding meetings all day and all night, Millard answers that the council is having its authority challenged, oblivious to Miss Peregrine's curdled expression. Later in the trip, Bronwyn asks why they can't just pretend to be normal when Jacob's parents are around, and Millard reminds her that some of them don't have the privilege of pretending they're normal. In response to Horace, he also explains that too many wipes will make people go soft in the head, so wiping Jacob's parents' memories every day would not be feasible.
As Jacob re-introduces his friends to his parents, Millard shouts out of nowhere while wearing a floating bathrobe.
In Chapter Three, Millard is one of the children on the first shift of shopping for new clothes. When Bronwyn asks why Abe chose to move to Florida out of all the places in America, Millard says that it was because Florida used to be one of the best areas for peculiars to hide before the Hollow Wars, andd that it was said that anybody, no matter if they were peculiar, could find a place to blend in there or to vanish. The conversation turns to visiting Abe's house, which Millard thinks to be a bad idea, but the group takes a detour there.
Upon visiting Abe's house, Millard observes that it's a humble place, and adds that he expected it to be at least a bit grander. Inside, the children agree that Abe's house shouldn't be left in the mess as it is. When Enoch expresses his reluctance to help clean, Millard shoves him and tells him he can just go back and lock himself in the boot of the car again.
In the end of the tour around Abe's house, Millard asks Jacob where the war room is located, but Jacob does not know of such a place. Millard pays his respects to Abe with the other children at the place where Abe died. Millard, Enoch, Bronwyn and Olive then go back into the house, where Millard asks Olive to take a walk around the house, having noticed that parts of the floor sounded hollow. After Jacob and Emma return, Millard pries up a section of the floor and reveals a metal door that led to Abe's secret bunker.
Millard helps Jacob guess the code to the lock by suggesting that it may be in Polish. After Jacob successfully opens the door, the group climbs down a ladder into the room, where Millard says that the shelter doubled as a receiving station. He then identifies a pneumatic teleprinter that Abe had used to communicate to other hollow-hunters, and makes an educated guess that there were not more than a dozen of them. Millard wonders why Abe didn't seek shelter in the room the night the hollowgast had come for him, and Jacob realizes that Abe was attempting to draw it away to protect Jacob. Millard then shows Jacob Abe's Operations Log, and the group discovers that Abe's work also involved saving peculiar children.
In Chapter Four, Millard is surprised to learn that Miss Peregrine had created a pocket loop in Jacob's backyard shed, having thought that the council hadn't approved any as of the moment. In Devil's Acre, Millard informs Jacob that Jacob is a celebrity, and warns him to watch out once they go outside. Millard later tells Horace that a girl in America who can remove nightmares could perhaps be of assistance to him, though Horace rejects the idea.
Inside St. Barnabus' Asylum for Lunatics turned peculiar ministries building, Miss Cuckoo assigns Millard to Peculiar Intelligence, as invisibles make top field agents. Millard believes that the Ministry of Mapping would be a better fit due to his cartographic expertise, but Miss Cuckoo tells him that Intelligence is understaffed and Mapping is full. She politely tells him to go report to Mr. Kimble in Intelligence room 301. Disappointed, Millard abides. He remains frustrated with his assignment in Chapter Five, and Hugh tells him to appeal directly to Perplexus Anomalous, the head of the Mapping Department, which Millard says that he'll do.
Itch approaches the children from Fever Ditch, and Millard stops everyone, saying that the man won't hurt them and that Itch is peculiar. Itch and his family question the group on when they too can have their internal clocks reset, with one of the finned boys accusing them of not wanting to share the secret. Millard informs them that the ymbrynes are still studying it, and they aren't sure if the reset can be re-created. He and the others return to Jacob's house through the pocket loop Miss Peregrine created earlier.
Inside the house, the children attempt to watch TV, but find its effect to be too much. However, Millard says that if modern people watch, then they shall too. Bronwyn says that she doesn't want to have a melted brain from it, and Millard reassures her by saying that nothing's going to melt and that she should think of it as a vaccine, inoculating her against the bigger shocks of the world.
In Chapter Six, he appears with the others as they crowded into the front hall to meet Jacob and Emma after they return from receiving a mission from H. Jacob and Emma want some of the others to come with them on the mission, and Millard is part of the few that seem ready to join Jacob and Emma in the car right then. Millard argues to those unconvinced that they're wasted in the Acre since they can go fearlessly into the present, and no others with their level of experience can do so. In Chapter Seven, Millard volunteers for the mission along with Enoch and Olive. He agrees with Enoch that the headmistress still treats them like children when they're nearly a century old, and that it was about time they started acting their age or at least, half of their age. He also says that they've got to start making decisions for themselves. Millard is chosen along with Bronwyn to accompany Jacob and Emma. When Emma wonders how Miss Peregrine just really went to sleep, Millard admits that he had blown a pinch of dust into her room.
In Chapter Eight, Millard reveals he had brought along Peculiar Planet despite its maps being very out-of-date. Jacob drives the group to All-Mart so they can buy new clothes, where Millard takes mental notes of the place. He steals a few items, avoiding the cameras but not knowing that there are alarms. Loss-prevention agents start chasing the group, and Millard grabs the shopping cart from Jacob and sprints toward the car with it. Emma scolds him once they're on their way.
At Mermaid Fantasyland, Jacob thinks the mermaids are just an old tourist trap, but Millard tells him that Mermaid Fantasyland was also listed in Peculiar Planet, meaning there could have been a loop there before. The peculiars at Mermaid Fantasyland try to ensnare the children, particularly after Millard reveals himself and therefore erasing any doubts as to whether they are peculiar. After they manage to escape, Bronwyn asks why H would send them there if the place was dangerous, to which Millard replies that maybe it was a test.
Upon meeting Paul, Millard dares to speak for the first time after Paul says the word "peculiar." Bronwyn is hesitant to enter the loop in Flamingo Manor because of its look, but Millard tells her that as it is a loop, it would be nicer on the inside. Inside the loop, the children meet Adelaide Pollard and Al Potts and ask them about a portal, but they do not know. Millard states that portals don't exist and the children are going to keep getting the same answer. However, Paul tells them that he knows where the portal is as that's where he's from. Millard repeats that there's no such thing as a portal before getting cut off by Paul, who restates that he is from the town of Portal, Georgia and its loop. Paul tells the children that they cannot get to the loop without him. Millard says that he is a certified cartographer and sure that he can handle even the most complex directions, but Paul explains that the location of the entrance changes, to which Millard snorts in response. As the children prepare to leave with the highwaymen on their tails, Paul tells them to take the back way out, but Millard says that they can't just leave the loop's residents at the mercy of the highwaymen.
In Chapter 10, Bronwyn suggests that they call their friends, but Millard tells her that they can't as they're in 1965 and that they'd be calling Jacob's house in 1965. He asks Paul if there are any peculiar thugs and highwaymen in Portal, Georgia, and about the ymbryne who made the loop there. Realizing Paul cannot go into Johnnie's Brite Spot because of the time period's racism, the children do not stop for food and drinks. Enoch suggests burning the place down as it would only take a minute, but Millard reminds him that it would accomplish nothing because the past always heals itself.
The group must drive into the Portal loop as someone might use the car to deduce the entrance location if it is left outside. Upon entering the loop, the car has a terrible landing, and a carsick Millard groans from the backseat and throws up outside.
When the group has dinner with the Portal residents, he compliments the lamb to be absolutely delectable and asks how it was possible to cook a seventy-two-hour lamb in a twenty-four-hour loop. Elmer explains they made the loop after the lamb had already been roasting for two days, and Millard comments that it is a brilliant use of loop-time. Enoch introduces the children as Miss Peregrine's wards when Alene asks, saying that they are kind of a big deal when the Portal peculiars say they have not heard of them. Millard tells him to not be conceited and goes on to explain that Enoch meant they enjoy some small prominence in their own peculiar community, thanks to the role they played in the victory over the wights at the Battle of Devil's Acre. He is surprised that the locals of the town have not heard of Abraham Portman, though the group quickly learns that Abe also went by Gandy. Elmer asks how Gandy has been doing since the Portal peculiars haven't seen him for quite a while, and Millard tells them that Abe passed away several months ago.
The conversation turns to loops in which only one kind of peculiar lives, and Bronwyn asks if it was against the ymbrynic code for only one type of peculiar to live together. Millard explains that partitionment according to ability is discouraged under the codes, but what's expressly forbidden are closed loops, in which only one type of peculiar is allowed to live and all others are banned. After the dinner, by the time the children regroup, Millard has learned more about Elmer and calls him an interesting man. Once they get out of the loop with the car, Millard throws up again.
At 24-HR OK BURGER, he orders a combo two for the group, with the cashier unperturbed by his invisibility. When they read the back of the napkin, it reveals a set of coordinates. Millard begins excitedly analyzing them, but is cut off by Jacob who has entered them into the Maps app. Frustrated, Millard says that no piece of techology can replace a real cartographer. He also orders a combo number three, which gives food and a grenade.
Horace later calls Jacob from the house. When Olive asks, Millard tells her they will be back as soon as they can. He also says that once Miss Peregrine finds out what they've been up to, he's certain she'll understand, though Olive is not so sure. After the call, Millard and the others discuss their plan for the mission.
After arriving at J. Edgar Hoover High School, Millard suggests going inside to look for the uncontacted peculiar, but Jacob does not find this realistic. As they are all tired, they go to The Falls motel to rest, picking the location from one of Abe's postcards to Jacob, on which he has left a note with an acrostic spelling LOOP. As they are looking for loop ten thousand forty-four, Millard says that there may be someone in the hotel that knows. When the hotel clerk asks to see proof that they are peculiar, Millard lifts up a business card holder on the front desk to demonstrate his invisibility.
In their hotel room, Millard and Jacob look over Abe's logbook in order to see how the hollow-hunters faced challenges during missions. Millard had read the entire logbook twice during the long road trip and his memory for details was so sharp that he had an almost instant recall of vast portions of the log. As an example, he turns to a mission report from the early 1960s, in which Abe and H blended in with the local populace and asked people in order to locate the peculiar child they were looking for. Millard says it was simple, straightforward detective work which was the best kind. He also turns to a report on how the hollow-hunters tracked down an invisible woman.
The next day, the children prepare to go back to the school to ask around and look for the uncontacted peculiar. Millard, fully dressed, says that the peculiar is definitely powerful and possibly dangerous, and tells the others that if they suspect they found the person they were looking for, they shouldn't engage and should alert the rest of them to determine the best course of action to take. In the school, Millard suggests that they split up, as they'll attract less attention that way. Since he cannot talk to people because of his invisibility, Millard plans to sneak into the main office to look for incidents in the files.
The children regroup after Jacob pulls the fire alarm. Although Millard did not have luck with the files, he tells them he talked with a sweet young woman in the office, to the others' initial alarm. Continuing, he says that she knows the person they are looking for. The two had made arrangements to meet in a cafe later to discuss the matter further, and the children head there. Millard is concerned about first impressions, and Enoch says that Millard must really fancy the girl. Millard also casually tells Jacob that he had deduced the location of loop ten thousand forty-four from one of Abe's postcards.
At the cafe, the group meets up with the girl, Lilly, and Millard converses with her in a way that makes Jacob feel like the rest of them are intruding on a date. The whole group then begins discussing the uncontacted peculiar, Noor Pradesh. They tell Lilly about their own peculiarities, and Millard, reluctantly, goes last. However, Lilly, who is not completely blind, tells him she already knows he is invisible. Lilly agrees to take the group to Noor, and leaves to text Noor through speech-to text. Once she is out of earshot, Millard announces that he thinks he is in love.
On the way to Noor and Lilly's hideout, Millard assists Lilly up a stairwell. He and the others later explain peculiardom to Noor. After they escape from the men who'd tracked them down, Jacob tells Noor he thinks she should come home to Devil's Acre with the peculiars, to which Millard objects that it is not the mission they were given. However, he ends up agreeing with Jacob, saying that Noor would likely not have an ymbryne to teach her how to be peculiar if they brought her to the loop the mission specified.
Millard again helps Lilly up the stairs of a subway as the group rush to get Bronwyn, who has been shot with a dart, to a hospital. However, the group is caught in a trap to Frankie's peculiar trafficking ring. Along with Jacob, Emma, Bronwyn, and Noor, Millard is tied to a chair as Frankie tries to sell them to three gang leaders. She points out Millard after Wreck and Dogface say they need lookouts and chameleons respectively. The children eventually overpower Frankie, and Millard tells the gang leaders they would be in serious trouble when the Ymbryne Council finds out about their actions, and calls them criminals. The group is later caught by Leo Burnham's men.
Millard is forced to wear a striped gown to prevent him from slipping away. He is punched in the stomach by Leo after he asks what a feral is. After Miss Peregrine gets the children released, he changes into a white shirt and gray slacks. He says that they owe Enoch, who escaped Frankie's diner and called Jacob's house, their lives. Millard, Emma, Bronwyn and Enoch visit Jacob after his injuries are treated, and they are scolded by Miss Peregrine, who explains to them the bad situation in peculiar America. When Jacob persists in asking about Noor, further angering Miss Peregrine, Millard hisses at him to desist. He and the other three later leave Jacob's room, all of them believing the mission to have been a bad idea.
The Conference of the Birds[]
In Chapter Two, Jacob was hugged by Millard whom was wearing a purple-velvet smoking jacket. He said that it was wonderful that Jacob came back to them alive however he asked if they had their reunion somewhere other than a public street. Millard then began to shove them inside the house.
Once they got inside the house, Millard talked about how America was a dangerous place. He called Noor's ability to emerge from the darkness impressive. When Jacob announced what happened to H to the rest, Millard commented by saying that any compatriot of Abe was undoubtedly, a good man. He broke the brief, awkward silence as he said that he was glad that Noor got away from Leo Burnham.
He, along with the rest, listened in to the conversation between Jacob, Noor, Miss Peregrine, and Horace about the prophecy. His purple jacket paced the floor as he thinks that H must've believed in the prophecy otherwise he wouldn't have risked his life to save Noor's and roped Jacob and the rest of them into assisting to find her. Millard added to Miss Peregrine's words about why H didn't say why V was the only person who could help them to which he said that H might have believed that there were things that Jacob didn't know about the situation. Once Noor brought up about H leaving them a map, he quickly spun to face her and asked if she could tell about it.
When Jacob handed Miss Peregrine the piece of a map that H directed for Horatio to give them, Millard's jacket bent over the headmistress as they looked at it. After only a few seconds of study, he said that the map wasn't much to review as it was just a tiny detail from a larger document that is mostly topographical. Millard said that map grid coordinates would help if they had the whole map which they don't or if the map had included place names, towns, roads, and lakes. He then asked Jacob what the ex-hollow said to him and Noor. When Hugh said that his words sounded like it was a looped hurricane or cyclone, he responded that it was obvious.
Once Miss Peregrine said that America was not her area of expertise, Millard said that it will be someone else's. He told Noor not to despair as he asked to borrow the map, the map seemed to float as he held it up. He said that if he couldn't solve it, he'd bet that someone around the place can. When Noor said that if Millard went asking around, she would much like to go with him to which he agreed, sounding quite pleased. Later on, Miss Peregrine excused him from work.
The Desolations of Devil's Acre[]
TBA
Graphic Novels[]
TBA
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (film)[]
He first appears when he goes with Olive, Bronwyn, Emma, and the Twins to fetch Jake. After Jake runs off into what he thought was the present-day Priest Hole, Millard follows him and begins throwing the glasses and dishes around the establishment in order to distract everyone just before Olive pulls Jake out of the building and sets the place on fire. Jake is convinced he was throwing things around with his mind until they are in the cart and Millard tells him that he is actually the one who did it. Jake is a little surprised to the fact that Millard is naked. Emma then passes Millard clothes, and he puts them on while the others talk.
Later, once in the loop, he is shown playing soccer with Hugh who uses his bees to cheat in the game. Millard then tells him to stop cheating. He kicks the soccer ball into a topiary and Horace comes in to interfere, stating that he wishes they wouldn't play at all if they were going to continue squabbling.
At dinnertime, he sits in a chair whilst being naked once more, playing with the utensils. Jake accidentally sits on him, making Miss Peregrine tell Millard to go put something on. Later during the meal, he reappears with clothes on, that being a robe and what appears to be a towel around his head.
At movie-time, he is naked again and passes Jake some hot chocolate, telling him that it had extra marshmallows. Emma tells him to go put clothes on to which he replies that it was too hot. Horace then tells him to stop complaining.
As Enoch leads Jake into Victor's room, Millard can be seen playing with Horace and Hugh in one of the rooms. During the daily walk, Millard walks beside Horace and appears to be talking to him.
When Miss Avocet wakes up, telling everyone about what had happened to her wards and loop, Millard is behind the couch she was sitting on. Later, as the others begin to leave the room, Olive put her hands on Millard and together, they walk out.
With the others rushing to pack their things, Millard goes up to a drawer as he grabs his cap and quickly places it on his head before making his way past the Twins and Fiona. He then gets his suitcase from his room and tells the others to wait for him.
When Barron comes into the house, holding Jake captive, Millard is with the other peculiars on the stairs behind Hugh. With Miss Peregrine's orders for them to go downstairs, he follows as well as everyone else. Going into the parlor, he nods at Miss Peregrine before entering. Millard watches Emma hug Miss Peregrine with his arms crossed. Before Miss Peregrine closes the doors of the parlor, Millard puts a hand on one of the Twins. When Barron tosses Jake into the room, Millard slightly steps away from his position. As Barron pretends to leave and scares the children, Millard gets surprised and put both of his arms onto the shoulders of one of the Twins. Ordered by Miss Avocet, he shuts the windows. He gets handed a fork by Olive as a weapon. With Miss Avocet getting taken by a hollowgast from the windows, he backed away along with everyone else.
After Miss Peregrine is taken by Barron, Millard and the other peculiars escape from the hollowgast through the rooftop window of the house. When Jake and the others try to make up a plan to go after Miss Peregrine and Barron, Millard says that Blackpool is miles away and that they wouldn't make it in time with the next ferry taking hours. Later, Millard is on the ship looking out the window. He appears behind the others as Enoch talks to Jake and Emma.
Afterwards, Jake and Emma bring him along to Blackpool in order to begin their plan. As they went to a secluded area, Jake tells Millard that there's something he needs to do first wherein Millard replies that he knows. He then proceeded to take off his cap and unbutton his shirt. Continuing, Jake says that the tower is not far off. Despite being invisible, Millard makes visible footprints on the ground.
As they start to put their plan into action, he goes with Jake and Emma to where the meeting between Barron and the other wights was going to commence. Millard hands Jake the rope. He tips a can over and blasts open the doors. He then meets up with the others when it was time for their plan to enter into step 2. After everything is over, as the peculiars return to a loop, Millard goes up and hugs Jake, who pats him on the head in return.
Description[]
Physical Appearance[]
As Millard is invisible, there are no specific details about his true appearance. To stay hidden from others, he is almost always nude. Miss Peregrine makes him put clothes on from time to time.
Millard is 87 (though he tells Lilly he is 97 in A Map of Days), now 16 and has lived with Miss Peregrine for a great number of years. An estimated year of birth would be 1924, considering what year the book takes place in. He is one of the few characters who reveal their age to Jacob, the others being Enoch, Horace, Olive and Emma.
In the film, he wears a sweater vest, baby blue button down shirt, and a brown jacket, with a matching brown newsboy cap.
Personality[]
According to Jacob, Millard is a bit of a sycophant when it comes to the rules. He constantly refuses to help with plans and schemes, and he refuses to participate in what the other children view as fun. However, this is mainly in the first book, and in A Map of Days, Millard willingly decides to come with Jacob and some others on their trip to rescue a peculiar child.
Millard has tendencies to not wear clothes, making him completely invisible, to, for one, sneak up on people undetected. Only Miss Peregrine seems to know when he is there, often reprimanding him for it ("Polite persons do not take their suppers in the nude!"). He also uses this to steal things, saying that pickpocketing is one of his talents. He does not quite see anything wrong with being invisibly nude, calling it "basic facts of biology."
Another one of Millard's main characteristics is his love for books and learning, saying he would have liked to try his hand at teaching had he not been born with the peculiarity of invisibility. Studying the September 3rd, 1940 Cairnholm people for his loop life, he spent three years on observing the pigs alone (for which he was mocked by Hugh). Upon arriving at the mainland, he took the loss of the Map of Days very hard. He also spent his time on the train studying Tales of the Peculiar for its hidden meanings.
Although Millard says he likes being invisible and that is the very core of who he is, there are times that he wishes he could turn it off.
He is not always tactful when he speaks (being direct in his choice of wording as well as not being very quiet while the peculiars were talking about Fiona who they presumed to be dead, in earshot of an upset Hugh), and he is usually oblivious to emotional dynamics of a conversation. Jacob states that Millard doesn't lack feeling, but just isn't good at minding the feelings of others. However, he does have some tact, as he stays many steps ahead of Jacob and Noor after the three visit Klaus in order to not intrude on the pair's private talk. He excels at changing the subject when it becomes too emotional.[5]
Peculiarity[]
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Millard's peculiarity is invisibility, a state that he is permanently in. However, he reveals in Hollow City that he was born visible but bit by bit, began to fade away like Bekhir's son, Radi. To stay hidden from others, he is almost always nude. Miss Peregrine makes him put clothes on from time to time but he seems keen on picking fights with her every now and then.
Despite having no control over his peculiarity, Millard is optimistic about it and uses it to his full advantage. He has been able to become a master spy, pick-pocketer and an observer of things to which he is studying.
Relationships[]
Jacob Portman[]
Millard and Jacob are friends, although Jacob is no closer with Millard than he is with the other children. In the first book, his knowledge of the island impresses Jacob much to Millard's pleasure. In the second book they seem to bond a bit more, having personal and private conversations. Jacob soon pities Millard, because Millard has given up at hoping for a chance of having a normal life.
Miss Peregrine[]
Millard is considered a suck up to Miss Peregrine through Jacob's eyes. Though Millard is completely invisible when nude, Miss Peregrine knows when he's around spying. She occasionally wrestles with him on this issue of clothes. Millard obviously cares for the headmistress, as he risks his own life to follow Dr. Golan and return her to safety, getting shot in the process. He showed more independence in A Map of Days when choosing to go behind Mrs. Peregrine's back and run off with Jacob and the others.
Emma Bloom[]
Millard and Emma are the first two peculiars that Jacob meets in the loop and their companionship is hinted, despite the fact they disagree upon whether Jacob is a wight or not. Although the two do have conflicting personalities, Emma still has a sisterly love for her fellow peculiar.
Lilly[]
Millard met Lilly at Noor's school when on a mission to find Noor for her safety. He spent time talking to Lilly, and felt like a normal person, for he believed that Lilly couldn't see him because she was blind. He discovered later that Lilly had minimal vision, and was aware of Millard's invisibility.
Millard said that he thinks he is in love with Lilly.
Perplexus Anomalous[]
Millard had a great appreciation for Perplexus Anomalous, who invented the Map of Days, the book that Millard was in possession of on Cairnholm. Even, Millard himself said that he snuck out in the middle of the night to meet with Perplexus.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Millard said that he would have liked to become a teacher had he not turned invisible.[6]
- In Hollow City, Millard reads a Dutch saying aloud, so it can be assumed that he understands the language.
- He also understands French, Latin, and a few words of Old Peculiar as he recognizes an Old Peculiar lullaby and is able to translate it to Jacob.
- The real-life book, Tales of the Peculiar, was written by Ransom Riggs under Millard's name.
- He is allergic to grimbear dander and almond butter.[7]
- He is a philologist[7] as well as a cartographer.
- While living in Miss Peregrine's loop, he earned over twenty correspondence degrees.[7]
- It is believed that Millard is Scottish.
- He has a near perfect memory.
- He may have had relationships in the past that he hasn't talked about during the books, but he is currently in love with Lilly.
- He considers himself a master thief even though he almost got himself and the others arrested twice in a row.
- His birthday is December 2 according to the official peculiar calendar.
References[]
- ↑ Hollow City (Chapter 5)
- ↑ Miss Peregrine's Museum of Wonders (A Necessarily Incomplete Taxonomy of Peculiar Abilities)
- ↑ A Map of Days (Chapter 13): "There was a young woman rapidly turning invisible. She was... if my own experiences can be brought to bear, almost certainly terrified."
- ↑ The first book takes place in 2011, as stated in one of Ransom Riggs's Instagram livestreams.
- ↑ A Map of Days (Chapter 12)
- ↑ Hollow City (Chapter 7)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Tales of the Peculiar (About the Author)