Line #5 Literature/HollyGibney


1	[[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_3743.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:1000:Left to right: Creator/JustineLupe and Creator/CynthiaErivo as Holly Gibney]]
3	Holly Gibney is a character created by Creator/StephenKing, featuring as both a supporting player and a central protagonist in King's more crime oriented stories. Introduced in the "Bill Hodges" trilogy, Holly is a sensitive, empathic, and probably neurodivergent private investigator, with obsessive compulsive tendencies and anxiety issues.
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5	She has been played by Creator/JustineLupe in the television adaptation of ''Series/MrMercedes'', and by Creator/CynthiaErivo in HBO's version of ''Series/TheOutsider''. Lupe also provided narration on the audiobook version of ''Holly,'' reprising her role in the process.
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7	!!Appearances:
8	* The Bill Hodges trilogy:
9	** ''Literature/MrMercedes''
10	** ''Literature/FindersKeepers''
11	** ''Literature/EndOfWatch''
12	* ''[[Literature/TheOutsider2018 The Outsider]]''
13	* ''Literature/IfItBleeds''
14	* ''{{Literature/Holly}}''
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16	!!Tropes:
17	* AgeLift: In the source material, Holly is middle-aged from her first book, moving into her fifties by the time of ''Literature/{{Holly}}''. Both screen adaptations dramatically de-age her, placing Holly at around her early thirties as of ''Literature/MrMercedes,'' likely as a means to fully establish her as a surrogate daughter to Hodges in the first three books.
18	* AmbiguousDisorder: She is clearly somewhere on the autism spectrum, with ''Mr. Mercedes'' establishing Holly's propensity for stimming (an umbrella term for self-soothing habits common to people on the spectrum) and ''Finders Keepers'' describing her tics as "Asperger's-like". King never diagnoses Holly outright in the text, but both of Holly's actresses have openly played her as autistic.
19	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Despite being probably the single kindest character in her author's entire body of work, Holly is ''not'' a woman to be pushed too far, and boasts by far the highest success rate of any character in King's detective series when it comes to killing or incapacitating villains, by means of varying and sometimes spectacular brutality: [[spoiler: Brady Hartsfield (head caved in, permanently disabled), the Outsider (head caved in again), the Ondowski-Thing (hurled down an elevator shaft), Roddy Harris (throat slashed), and Emily Harris (neck snapped).]]
20	* BreakoutCharacter: Other than [[Literature/TheDarkTower Roland and Flagg]], Holly is probably the most popular, ubiquitous character in King's entire bibliography, appearing in no fewer than six novels. This wasn't even originally by design, either; per the author himself, Holly was meant to be no more than an incidental character in ''Mr. Mercedes,'' but ended up appealing to him so strongly that she worked her way up to eventually becoming TheHero of King's detective mythos.
21	* FantasyCreep: ''Literature/MrMercedes'' is a straightforward crime thriller, as is its sequel ''Literature/FindersKeepers''... until the last few pages, when it's implied comatose killer Brady Hartsfield has developed unusual mental powers. The final book, ''Literature/EndOfWatch'', goes into full blown sci fi/horror territory as Brady learns to BodySurf and plots a mind-plague of suicides.
22	* GenreShift: The books in which Holly appears are somewhat [[GenreShift genre-fluid]]. For instance, ''Mr. Mercedes'' and ''Finders Keepers'' are fairly grounded crime thrillers, whereas ''End of Watch'' introduced more paranormal elements [[spoiler: such as telepathy]]. ''The Outsider'' and ''It It Bleeds'' steer things into more familiar Horror territory that King is best known for (both stories feature [[spoiler:horrific shapeshifting monsters]]), although ''Holly'' does return the series to its non-supernatural roots.
23	* NiceGirl: Especially coming from an author known for almost exclusively writing characters who range from morally complex to outright repulsive, Holly is just fundamentally ''good.'' She has her moments of frustration and anger - sometimes rage, [[BewareTheNiceOnes as the villains and assorted dicks of her mythos discover]] - but Holly is a woman who genuinely doesn't understand cruelty and ignorance, stubbornly treating everyone she meets, be they pleasant or unpleasant themselves, with the same basic standard of politeness and respect.
24	* NoSocialSkills: Partly because of her [[AbusiveParents questionable upbringing]] and partly because of her specific combination of neurodivergent quirks, Holly remains a bit lost in social situations throughout her whole series. Though she is always perfectly, almost obsessively polite toward everyone she meets, especially clients, Holly is obviously uncomfortable around all but a very select few people, mostly leaving friendly conversation to her friends - first Hodges, then later Jerome and Pete.

Context Literature / HollyGibney