"Listen, just do what you think's right, and we'll support it." ~ 'Sticky Washington, "The Prisoner's Dilemma"
Sticky Washington
Sticky Washington is the exact opposite of Kate, being extremely intelligent but hardly courageous in the least. He has photographic memory, and such inborn ability is a very big advantage to the Mysterious Benedict Society. With Sticky around, it's like the clique has a walking encyclopedia with them.
George "Sticky" Washington
Appearance
Sticky is a very skinny boy with a unusually bald head. He has large spectacles that he constantly polishes at nervous moments. It turns out Sticky made his own hair remover. By the end of the first book his hair grew back. However, he chose to keep using the hair remover.He never quite loses the bald look throughout the series, but at the end of the third he gets contacts. Constance isn't happy about that.
Abilities
Sticky can memorize anything at all simply by looking at it, though it takes a bit of time for his brain to process. Even with this slight weakness, he still reads twice as fast as Reynie (who reads about twice as fast as the average adult) and can make it halfway through a thick book in mere minutes.
Personality
Sticky is naturally an anxious, nervous person who doesn't hold up well under pressure. It's made a point of that he is modest and seems to think his abilities make him strange and stand out, and he's afraid of being different from others his age. Peer pressure has a lot of effect on him, though it doesn't seem to have changed much about his personality.
\hahhahahaha
Sticky has his moments of bravery
In the second book, Sticky is much more confident in himself (it's mentioned that he briefly had a girlfriend; whether the others have been involved in relationships is not mentioned) to a point that is almost annoying. He will start lecturing almost randomly on subjects no one really cares about, and then it's a while before he realizes no one's listening (Constance is the only member brave - or blunt - enough to tell him when he's being conceited), at which point he fades out, blushes, mutters an apology, and is silent for a while. This continues throughout the book.
In the third book, Sticky has lost a bit of his pride but is still confident in his abilites. He is also somewhat braver and willing to do anything for his friends (mentioned in Prisoner's Dilemma when he tells Kate to go. It is implied that he cares more for her than himself). He also is better at lying, or at least doesn't stammer as much when he knocks a Ten Man out using his own strength against him.
Sticky may have a crush on Kate. This notion has support from fans and is noted in the abovementioned situation when he tells her to go without him.
History (Before the series)
According to Sticky in the first book, he was once "an agreeable child with agreeable parents" but everything changed when his parents had figured out his ability. This was done when his mother asked (rhetorically) why it rained so much. Sticky, helping her to a chair, gave a detailed explanation of weather patterns and such things, astounding his mother, who checked to see if he had a fever.
After this, they began to encourage his reading and enter him in competitions, which he invariably won. They gained all sorts of new things and money as prizes and rewards. It was nice at first for Sticky, but being a shy child who didn't want to be very public at all, when the competitions kept coming he began to be put under more and more pressure, and unbeknownst to them his parents weren't being any help at all. Eventually (at age ten or so) he decided to "pretend" to run away. He essentially hid from them for days, taking food from the kitchen and keeping away from them. Around the time he turned eleven his father remarked something about being "better off now." Sticky misunderstood this to mean that they didn't need or want him anymore (indeed they were rich from his winnings now) and so he ran away for real. (He became bald in an attempt to disguise himself. It worked, but the tonic he used hurt and itched terribly, according to him.)
He stowed away on a boat to get to Stonetown, where he lived on the streets for a few days, fending for himself. Then he saw the ad in the newspaper ("Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunites?") and took the tests. He then meets Reynie, passes the tests, and proceeds to help defeat Ledroptha Curtain.
Trivia
- Sticky is the only member of the Society whose biological parents are present.
- He is the only member of the Society who has black hair.
- He is the only member of the Society who is of African-American descent.
- He is the only member of the Society who wears spectacles/contacts.
- He is the only member of the Society who was mentioned to have a girlfriend.