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The following contains major plot details about the series. Turn back now and pretend like you didn't see anything! Perhaps listen to some nice music.. That's better.
Max-Ernest
1010566- 21
Vital Statistics
Age 10-12 (The Secret Series)
around 24 (The Bad Books)
Gender Male
Occupation Comedian, Magician, Writer
Affiliation The Terces Society
Family Paul-Clay (brother)
Unnamed Mother
Unnamed Father
Ernest (paternal grandfather)
Max (maternal grandfather)
Status Alive
Location Currently Unknown
First Appearance The Name of this Book is Secret
Last Appearance Bad News

Max-Ernest is a main character in The Secret Series. He is one of the three major protagonists in the pentalogy, along with his two best friends Cass and Yo-Yoji. He debuts in the first book of the series, The Name Of This Book Is Secret, which is also the book where he first meets Cass.

Max-Ernest is an active member of the Terces Society, a clandestine society founded by the Jester to protect the unveiling of the Secret, which was rumored to reveal the secret to immortality, a power the Midnight Sun thirsts for and spends every day of their lives deviously plotting to reach. He also dreams of becoming a magician or a comedian, but his jokes and tricks are frowned down upon, and as a result, he is constantly ridiculed by his peers.

Biography[]

Before the series[]

Max Ernest's name consists of two names; Max deriving from his maternal grandfather's name, and Ernest from his paternal grandfather's name. Both his parents had fought over Max-Ernest's name, but neither could come to an agreement in names, hence his name containing both.

Shortly after this incident, his parents divorced, leading Max-Ernest to grow up sharing practically everything between the two parents so as to not favor one over the other and upset either parent. He even shared his house between the two (the house was split in half and his bedroom was "smack in the middle").

At one point, when he was a baby, he nearly drowned in mayonnaise but was saved by the chef.

If you have finished the series, and you are smart, you may have discovered that he is Pseudonymous Bosch. I mean, they both love chocolate, are afraid of mayonnaise, and he was shown to be a writer.

Secret Series[]

The Name of this Book is Secret[]

His parents decide to separate their houses for good, splitting up the halves of their houses. He makes his first friend, the lone survivalist Cass, and they attempt to rescue Benjamin Blake from the evil clutches of the Midnight Sun in their spa Midnight Sun Spa and Sensorium.

If You're Reading This, It's Too Late[]

Max and Cass find Pietro Bergamo in The Magic Museum and officially joins The Terces Society.

This Book is Not Good for You[]

Max-Ernest discovers that he is not allergic to chocolate, and from hereafter, is addicted to it.

This Isn't What it Looks Like[]

Max-Ernest looks through the Double Monocle and sees his future self as the author of The Secret Series. Later, his parents decide to reconcile, and they re-marry and have a child, Paul-Clay. Likewise to his older brother, they cannot decide on a name for their second son and, hence, they go with two names.

You Have to Stop This[]

Cass, Max-Ernest, and Yo-Yoji went on a field trip to an Egyptian museum where Cass accidently breaks off the finger of the mummy which appears to be the mummy of the psychologist who first learned the secret. After this, Cass, Max-Ernest, and Yo-Yoji go on a trip to rescue the mummy after they figure that Lord Pharaoh had stolen the mummy. Cass tells Max-Ernest to think of the oldest joke in the book about a chicken where the chicken was an ibis. I don't want to spoil it more but try to think about what the secret might mean and what it is!

After the series []

At some point after the events of the series, he decides to write a series of books telling the events under the pen name of Pseudonymous Bosch. As it turns out, the series of books is The Secret Series.

Bad Books[]

Bad Magic []

After Clay writes in his journal “Bad Magic” it turns up on the teacher’s wall then Clay is sent to a camp, Earth Ranch and the camp has some mystery’s that the camp leaders are hiding a death from one of the campers, Clay tries to uncover the secret but the janitor in the library catches him taking the campers old journal.

Bad Luck []

Max-Ernest is on the cruise ship that Mr. Perry and Amber are on, posing as a magician. Stressed, he talks to his rabbit, Quiche, and runs into Amber. Later on, he helps Clay and his friends by distracting the audience and later rescues them. He tells Clay more about what's going on with the dragons and, after saying goodbye, leaves.

Bad News []

Max-Ernest is mentioned when Clay complains to Cass about Max-Ernest and his visit. The two discuss him and it is revealed by Cass that he is dating a man named Anthony, to which Clay reacts, surprised- but he says it is only because he didn't think Max-Ernest was the dating type. Later, Max-Ernest is reunited with Clay, who tells him about what Pietro said. The two put on a magic show for the camp, and Max-Ernest is assumed to have stayed.

Physical Appearance[]

The most notable thing about Max-Ernest is his hair, which is spiky, and each strand of it is cut the exact same length so as not to favor any one strand. Cass notes it makes him look like a porcupine.

He likes to dress nicely, as shown in some of the chapter drawings. He is usually depicted in buttoned-up shirts with the collar folded down, jeans, and dress shoes. In comparison to his friends and peers, he is very small. In most depictions of him in chapter art, he seems to be the shortest one in comparison to Cass and Yo-Yoji.

Personality[]

Max-Ernest is a very logical person, finds to say "How 'bout that?"

He has a hard time understanding sarcasm, as he tends to be very literal-minded, although he does start to pick up on it throughout the series. People usually find him very annoying because of his tendency to pick out every fallacy he notices, although his observational skills prove useful time and time again.

He is very kind and has a warm heart. When it comes to being a good friend, he is always one to step up and do whatever it takes.

He is very insecure about himself. This feeling is heightened when he feels like his friendship with Cass is being threatened, or when he is trying to come to an agreement with his parents.

A trait he shares with his friend Cass is the inability to recognize the emotions of others or even himself. Both friends are described as "not very good at interpreting emotions Max-Ernest and Cass are not very good friends and probably will fade away from each other. In the first book, the two are shown to be just collaborators and nothing more. Cass seems to be particularly annoyed with him and even ends up saying she doesn't want him to be her collaborator anymore. It all changes, though, when she gets trapped at the Midnight Sun Spa and desperately needs help, Max-Ernest comes to her rescue and helps her save Benjamin.

After the first book, Max-Ernest and Cass become best friends. Max-Ernest and Cass have shown to have a closer relationship with each other than with Yo-Yoji.

Cass sometimes will push Max-Ernest to do things he never dreamed of doing before, but he knows she does it for his own good. An example is when she pushes him into the water even though he is deathly afraid of drowning. The Midnight Sun was going after them, so she has no choice. blah blah blah

Nonetheless, the two enjoy each others' company very much and are shown to think very highly of each other. Without each other, they would still be friendless, which is why they are very thankful to have each other in their lives. They have a very heartfelt relationship, and they are probably the definition of true friendship.

However, towards the middle in the fifth book, Cass seems to be spending less time with him and more with Yo-Yoji. They start to make fun of him and tease him. Max-Ernest is even shown to be thinking to himself that he didn't feel right with them, feeling out of place when they were IMing. The chapter ends with him having doubtful feelings towards them. Throughout the whole book, he acts jealous of them.

It is very unlikely that Max-Ernest becomes a third wheel to Cass and Yo-Yoji, but there is a possibility. Max-Ernest is always doubting himself in the fifth book. He says to himself things like, "Why wouldn't she like him more? He's better at everything." (Not exactly how he said it but same concept)

That is probably how he became Psuedonymous Bosch, a "friendless writer," although they are probably still friends.

Relationships[]

Max-Ernest lives with both of his parents, his mother, and his father. Although they are divorced, they still live together, albeit living separate lives. Being psychiatrists, they believe that children should grow up with both parents.

Yo-Yoji[]

During Yo-Yoji's first appearance in the 2nd book, Max-Ernest is jealous of him. He starts saying things like "sick" and "yo" to Cass, possibly because he thinks Yo-Yoji is trying to steal his best friend away from him. However, later on in the book, he and Yo-Yoji become good friends.

Their friendship is a little awkward at first, considering both of them are horrible with their feelings and expressing them. But it's because they like each other so much.

Yo-Yoji is kind of like a big brother to Max-Ernest because he teaches him things that he should have known but nobody ever bothered to show him. For example, Yo-Yoji held out his fist to Max-Ernest and he thought that he was going to punch him. Yo-Yoji then showed him how to fist bump.

Although Yo-Yoji can be shown to be annoyed with Max-Ernest, he does love him when it really comes down to it.

Paul-Clay (Clay)[]

His biological brother, Max-Ernest feels a fatherly bond to the boy, as he tells Clay in Bad News. He regrets not being able to spend quality time with him, something Clay has grown past. The siblings were shown to have many enjoyable moments together practicing magic tricks, telling jokes, and listing "bad words".

Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais[]

They hate Max-Ernest more than they hate Cass because he is the one who's always solving the riddles and cracking the codes. Without him, Cass probably wouldn't have discovered the Secret. Aside from capturing Cass, they also sometimes capture Max-Ernest because they really do not like him.

Melanie[]

Cass's mother does not think too fondly of him. Mel doesn't seem to have much of a problem with him at first, she's just glad her daughter has finally found someone to be friends with. That is until Cass starts running away along with him and goes into a "coma" when she was in the room with him. Mel suspects that he's a trouble-maker and is the one getting her into the problems that Cass creates herself.

In the fourth book, when they were in the hospital visiting Cass, Mel says, "Why is it that these things always happen when-" to him, but then doesn't finish her sentence. It's obvious she was going to say "when she's with you." She's hesitant to let him into the hospital room, but Grandpa Larry and Grandpa Wayne tell Mel that Cass would want him there with her. She then lets him in, flustered.

Grandpa Larry and Grandpa Wayne[]

Grandpa Larry and Grandpa Wayne treat Max-Ernest like their grandson. They love him because he's Cass's best friend. Max-Ernest comes to the fire station with Cass every Wednesday, where her grandfathers worsk. They bake the two cookies and they have chai.

Owen[]

Although maybe not as much as Cass, Owen loves Max-Ernest. He is always there helping him, even if he may not see it at first. He is one of his dearest friends. In the fourth book, Owen dresses up as the secretary and gives him the Double Monocle. He also dresses up as a teacher, Mr. Needleman, in the second.

Pietro Bergamo[]

Max-Ernest's relationship between him and Pietro is what Max-Ernest would say: "He's like an imaginary brother to me." No. Max does not know him.

Trivia[]

He was once mistaken for a man named Raphael Simon, Pseudonymous Bosch's actual name.

Appearances[]

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