Emma Barnes
<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Emma Barnes</default></title>
<image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <group><header>Basic Information</header> <label>Civilian Name</label> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Gender</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Death</label> <label>Age</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Post-timeskip</label> <label>Ward start</label> <label>Relations</label> <label>Family</label></group> <group><header>Professional Status</header> <label>Occupation</label> <label>Classification</label> <label>Unique Features</label> <label>Alignment</label>
<label>Status</label><format><label>Location</label> <label>Teams</label> <label>Previous Team(s)</label> <label>Base of Operations</label></group> <group><header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label></group> </infobox>Emma Barnes is the daughter of Alan and Zoe Barnes and the younger sister of Anne Barnes.
Background
During the summer before Emma started Winslow High, she was attacked by members of the Azn Bad Boys and was saved by Shadow Stalker after she fought back. After this traumatic event, she felt the need to purge everything about the old, "weak" her which included her friendship with Taylor Hebert.
Emma then started bullying Taylor and used the psychological weaknesses Taylor had revealed to her when they were friends to hurt her. This bullying continued on for a year and a half before she, Madison, and Sophia started planning something big. After winter break, their plan was revealed to trap Taylor inside a locker full of used feminine products.
Personality
Originally Emma was a relatively nice individual before her traumatic attack changed her for the worse. For a long time she became determined to be strong no matter what, going out of her way to get rid of everything she saw as a weakness. After Taylor was outed as Skitter, Emma was both shocked and terrified; she later was reduced to trying to slander Taylor when investigators contacted people who knew her.
On several occasions when she was stressed, she refused to leave her room for long periods of time.<ref name="I19">Interlude 19</ref><ref name="R1">Comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref>
Relationships
Emma was the leader of the "trio" - herself, Madison Clements and Sophia Hess<ref name="1.01"/>. She called Sophia her best friend<ref name="1.02"/>.
She was Taylor Hebert's best friend<ref name="1.01"/>from grade one all the way through middle school<ref name="1.02"/>. They alternated staying at each others houses every weekend<ref name="1.02">Gestation 1.02</ref>.
Alongside the Trio, she bullied Taylor mercilessly since the first day of high school<ref name="1.01"/>.
Appearance
Emma was a tall, curvy redhead, who was pretty enough to do amateur modelling<ref name="1.01">Gestation 1.01</ref>.
History
Emma held the door shut on Taylor while her friends doused her with juice<ref name = "1.01"/>.
She occasionally attempted to bully Taylor thereafter. She also remained in contact with Sophia until her imprisonment. In July Emma returns to Brockton Bay, and at her first day at Arcadia tries to bully Taylor. Due to her experience fighting the nine and coil, Taylor is able to resist Emma's taunts and manages to rile Emma to the point where she lashes out with physical violence. In the Principal's office, Emma was forced to contend with a principal who was already in Tattletale's pocket (though she and Taylor were both unaware), and Principal Howell looked through the records and discovered that text messages Regent had forced Sophia to send, which outlined the years of bullying that Taylor had undergone. Howell decided to expel Emma from the Summer classes, and when Emma protested by saying that her dad was a lawyer, Howell simply responded that they would have many conversations. When the Wards led by Dragon and Defiant attacked the school, Emma was in the cafeteria when Dragon revealed Taylor's identity as Skitter. She became shocked upon hearing Taylor's confirmation, and after Taylor demonstrated her powers by making a centipede crawl on Emma's hand. When over 100 students sided with Taylor and tried to help her flee, Emma simply stood with her fists clenched muttering under her breath. Taylor couldn't waste effort to find out what she was saying, and didn't care.
Emma dies during Golden Morning<ref name="27.3">Extinction 27.3</ref><ref name="27.1">Extinction 27.1</ref> as a result of refusing to leave her room to evacuate.<ref name="R1">Comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref> When Taylor encounters the Barnes they look at her accusingly<ref name="27.1">Extinction 27.1</ref>, and when Taylor interviews Sophia she seemingly already knows<ref name="27.3">Extinction 27.3</ref>. This led some readers to speculate that Emma took her own life.
References
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