Hogarth Hughes

Full nane, Hogarth William Hughes Jr. Growing up in 1957, in Rockwell, Maine, Hogarth is a fairly average kid; he is talkative, curious, intelligent, funny, sarcastic, friendly, quirky, (a bit) sassy, fun, and a good friend. Hogarth is also very smart for his age and has been pushed up a few grades higher by his mother for his strong intelligence. Growing up alone with his equally sassy, intelligent, and independent widowed mother, Hogarth spends much of his time exploring the woods and trying to find "pets" that he can be friends with, since he tends to be an outcast in school for his intelligence and being a grade higher than everyone else. Hogarth's mother had moved him up a grade because of his current grade at the time being too easy and simple for him and not challenging enough for him (said by his mother). She was doing her best for her son supporting him even though he constantly gets bullied for being moved up a grade. At nine years old, Hogarth had already moved up a grade and was bullied by the older kids at school as a result. Hogarth shows a surprising amount of maturity and intellect, as he already has a deep understanding of people, likely coming from losing his father to war. He teaches the child-like Iron Giant humanity and the concept of an inner soul, essentially teaching the Giant right from wrong and that he has either the potential for evil destruction and chaos, or the potential for peace, friendship, rebuilding, and to help those in need. In a sense, it is his own personality that shapes the person that the Iron Giant comes to be. Hogarth is also very confident with what he knows and he is the kind of person that will do what's right even if it means jeopardizing his own safety. One example of this is when the Giant becomes extremely dangerous, by mourning over Hogarth, and lets the technical part of his metal body take him over, forcing a defense program (from the metal suit), about to bring down the hostile force attacking him. Hogarth still approaches him, trying to bring him back to his senses and show the Iron Giant that he is still alive, risking his own well-being to save the people that were about to be the Giant's first kills and the Giant himself from doing something that is wrong and would lead him astray as the Iron Giant would never want to hurt anyone. Hogarth is also shown to be a fan of Superman, Mad Magazine, The Spirit, Atomo The Metal Menace, and some other comic books. He shows some of his comics to the Giant when trying to teach him right from wrong and to be good. This shows Hogarth's personality, his curiousness, that he is talkative at times, and that he's very kind.