Dauntless

Box title	Dauntless Faction
Definition:	Fearless, undaunted, and brave. Courageously resolute, especially in the face of danger or difficulty; not discouraged.
Traits:	Bravery, courage, fighting, and physical skills.
Physical Traits:	All-black clothes, tattoos, piercings, (occasionally) unnatural hair colors.
Faction Relationships:	Neutral with all factions, allies with the Erudite.
Leader(s):	Max † Eric † Four/Tobias Eaton Tori Wu † Harrison
Serums:	Simulation Serum
Flaw:	Cruel
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""You chose us. Now we have to choose you." — Eric to the initiates

"Then there's Dauntless. They're our protectors, our soldiers, our police. I always thought they were amazing. Brave, fearless, and free. Some people think Dauntless are crazy, which they kind of are."

Dauntless is one of the five factions in the world of Divergent, the faction dedicated to courage, bravery, toughness, and fearlessness. It was formed by those who blamed fear and cowardice as a cause of the problems society faced. It tries to fight cowardice by giving the advantage of preparation and the ability to act when facing a fear to its members. 

The members generally wear provocative and (sometimes) clingy black clothing, are pierced, tattooed and have a tendency to seek thrill and action.

History

Formation

Dauntless was a faction formed by those who blamed cowardice for society's problems. The only answer is to face your fears is through bravery. As you die as a dauntless you are called a hero said so by Eric but Four says it's insanity. 

Elder Initiation

If you become an Elder you have 2 Choices: Become Factionless or Jump down in the Chasm.This can be seen that in The factionless group there are elder dauntless staying there.

Divergent - Allegiant

Dauntless becomes an important faction in the plot as it is the faction the protagonist, Tris Prior, chooses. During Tris's initiation, it becomes apparent that Dauntless has steered away from its core belief of attaining peace through freedom from fear. With growing influence from Erudite, Dauntless evolved into a faction focused on preparing its members for violence and murder. The faction became instrumental in toppling the Abnegation-controlled government when Erudite made use of a simulation serum they had manufactured to control Dauntless members. 

Description

Virtue

The Dauntless value the virtue of bravery over any other, as such they train to fight and use weapons to prepare their bodies to respond to threats and challenges, which is necessary if they want to survive life as a Dauntless member. The faction also emphasizes the idea of freedom from fear, and test this daily by attempting death-defying feats. Dauntless members and initiates are the only ones allowed to ride the train and do so in a daring way; jumping onto and off the train while it is moving. Most Dauntless children are known to choose the knife in the simulation of the Aptitude Test when facing the dog and they take the stairs in an act of wildness.

Characteristics

The Dauntless are the only faction that have their members, upon reaching a certain age that hinders their ability to uphold the virtue of their faction, become Factionless, or choose to die. Hence, the faction does not have a member that is of old-age.

When it comes to funerals, the Dauntless have it immediately after they are pronounced dead because they want to acknowledge the death as soon as it happens. It is more of a celebration and there is a lot of drinking. Every member gets a certain amount of points to spend per month, they spend their points on clothing and other resources as they see fit. The traditional jobs of Dauntless include but are not limited to: Fence Guard, City's security force, tattoo artist, weapon maker, fighting for entertainment, initiate trainer, or as a Dauntless leader. Some members volunteer to do jobs that traditionally belong to other factions in order to have them closer and not make members go far away (i.e. nurses).

Physical Traits

The dauntless

Dauntless always dress in black. The women wear skin-tight pants, tights, tight dresses, and black boots and shoes. The men wear black pants and form-fitting shirts. Dauntless like to tattoo and pierce their bodies. Girls might wear dark eyeliner and makeup. They might also dye their hair in unusual colors. In the movie, they are shown to wear some red clothing, close to the colour of maroon so they wouldn't be mistaken for the red that Amity people wear.

Functions

The people of Dauntless are in charge of the city's security, protecting its inhabitants from threats within and without as the city's peacekeepers. The Dauntless were previously responsible in policing the Factionless sectors of the city until the City Council voted to relieve them of that duty. Their main task is to guard the fence that surrounds the city. It is considered a dangerous job, but it is also a necessary one and it seems likely that this is part of the reason no other faction has a disagreement with Dauntless. They maintain the city gates which are locked from the outside.

Faction-Relations

Despite being the most warlike faction, Dauntless appears to have a smoothly neutral relationship with the other factions. While Erudite and Abnegation  for government control and Candor and Amity fight over peace and deception, Dauntless are seen as the fighters. They prove to be good allies as they are trained in the art of fighting and honing physical skills.

Johanna Reyes of Amity states that  “Peace between Amity and Dauntless can only happen when we maintain our distance from each other.” Understandably, the Amity's pledge to promote peace is stark contrast of the Dauntless' confrontational nature.  Children born into Dauntless rarely leave the faction, as it is easy to remain brave if you were raised in a similar manner from childhood. Children born in Candor and Erudite are the most common transfers to this faction.

Abnegation transfers are rare, as there's only been two transfers - Tobias Eaton and Tris. When Tris came the members and Initiates teased her and called her a stiff. They also underestimated her.

Loyalty

The Dauntless are fiercly loyal After Erudite place all of Dauntless under the attack simulation, it is revealed that all of the Dauntless leaders were traitors siding with the Erudite, the faction that enslaved their minds. The faction then divides into two groups, the Loyal Dauntless who side with their chosen faction, and the Dauntless traitors who align with Erudite to help carry out their plans. The loyal Dauntless elected three new leaders: Tori Wu, Harrison and Four (Tobias). Four is then forced to execute Eric, a former leader, for his crimes against humanity.

Dauntless Manifesto

Manifesto

"We believe that cowardice is to blame for the world’s injustices. We believe that peace is hard-won, that sometimes it is necessary to fight for peace.

About

But more than that:

• We believe that justice is more important than peace.
• We believe in freedom from fear, in denying fear the power to influence our decisions.
• We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.
• We believe in acknowledging fear and the extent to which it rules us.
• We believe in facing that fear no matter what the cost to our comfort, our happiness, or even our sanity.
• We believe in shouting for those who can only whisper, in defending those who cannot defend themselves.
• We believe, not just in bold words but in bold deeds to match them.
• We believe that pain and death are better than cowardice and inaction because we believe in action.
• We do not believe in living comfortable lives.
• We do not believe that silence is useful.
• We do not believe in good manners.
• We do not believe in empty heads, empty mouths, or empty hands.
• We do not believe that learning to master violence encourages unnecessary violence.
• We do not believe that we should be allowed to stand idly by.
• We do not believe that any other virtue is more important than bravery."

Dauntless Initiation

Tour

1. The initiates all sleep in the same room (boys and girls).
2. The initiation process very seriously.
3. There are three stages to Dauntless initiation: The physical, the emotional, and the mental.
4. The initiates are separated during the first stage of initiation. The Dauntless born initiates are trained by Eric, and the transfers are trained by Four.

First Stage

1. Any initates who do not qualify after each round are kicked out and become factionless.
2. The Dauntless born initiates and the transfers are scored separately for the first stage, which is physical combat.
3. In the physical stage, initiates learn how to fight and are pitted against each other to prove what they have learned. They are scored based on their victories and losses.

Emotional

1. In the emotional stage, initiates are put into a simulation where they face their fears, oblivious to the fact that it is a simple simulation, and have to calm themselves to get out. The Divergent seem to have a knack for this stage, as they are aware it is not real.

Final Stage

1. In the final stage, the mental, initiates are put into their fear landscapes, which reaches for every fear within the person subjected to it and creates a simulation in which they must face each one. This time, they are aware that it is not real.
2. The Dauntless provide the transfers with some basic black clothing at the beginning of initiation.

Jobs

1. Those not in the top five of each initiation class typically end up as guards.
2. It is tradition for initiates to divide into two teams and play capture the flag with their instructors at the Navy Pier during initiation.

Visiting Day

1. On Visiting Day, initiates are reminded to not to seem too attached their families if they visit since the Dauntless take the phrase ‘faction before blood’ very seriously.

Initiation

1. Initiation Day is an exciting but chaotic experience with people everywhere, many of them drunk.
2. The higher the rank is the better jobs

Trivia

• Muffins and toast are usually served for breakfast
• Burgers are also a main part of thier diet
• Chocolate cake is their dessert of choice
• The paths in the Dauntless compound are treacherous and hard to climb. Physical endurance and capability is required to be a member. Once members can no longer climb them, they cannot be a member of Dauntless. When members pass their physical prime, they are asked to leave in one way or another, either by death or becoming factionless
• An old Dauntless derogatory term for the Amity was "Pansy Cake" but it died out since they thought it sounded stupid
• In order to perform a Dauntless execution, three leaders of Dauntless must have one gun each and only one gun has one bullet while the others are empty. The guns are then put down and shuffled, after which each leader picks the gun in front of them, aims their gun at the head of whoever is to be executed and pulls the trigger. Its doesn't matter who shoots the gun but mostly who's lucky enough.