Divergent Book to Film Differences

WARNING: This page contains spoilers from both the Divergent Novels and the Films.

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The following are noted differences between the original Divergent book and Divergent film. Please add any differences between the two that you noticed.

Book	Movie
The Dauntless only wear black.	Instead of all black costumes, the Dauntless also wear red, and their headquarters are made from white and light grey marble, as opposed to dark stone.
In Tris Prior's Aptitude Test, a female voice tells her that she had to choose between a knife or cheese. The test takes place in her school cafeteria. After she tackles the dog, she enters a bus, where a man asks her if she knows the criminal pictured in the newspaper he's holding.	The test is in a mirrored room and Tris can see herself from all angles. Another Tris tells Tris to choose between a knife or meat. The bus scene is not shown.
On her way home from the Aptitude test, Tris he meets a factionless man and gives him some food. He frightens her and tells her to "make the right choice."	This is not shown in the movie.
Jeanine does not appear in the Choosing Ceremony scene. The room is arranged in concentric circles, with the 16-year-olds standing in alphabetical order on the outermost circle; the audience, in seats separated by faction, in the next circle, and the choosing bowls in the innermost circle. Once they have chosen a faction, the candidates stand behind the appropriate seating section.	Beatrice and Caleb are introduced before the Choosing Ceremony to Jeanine Matthews, who is there to give an introduction speech before Marcus begins calling names. The ceremony takes place in an auditorium, where everyone in attendance is seated in sections corresponding with their original faction. Once they choose a faction, the candidates sit in the appropriate seating section.
The first person to transfer factions is James Tucker, who leaves Dauntless for Candor.	The first person shown to transfer factions is Morgan Stokes, who leaves Candor for Amity.
Tris mentions that there were only nine faction transfers.	Many more are shown.
Christina helps Tris on the train after the Choosing Ceremony and wants to hold her hand then they jump on the rooftop.	Tris and the other Dauntless initiates climb up the support beam of the train track to reach the top and run along the edge in order to get on the train. Tris falls behind but manages to jump on to the train without any help where she lands next to Christina. When it comes time to jump, Christina and Tris jump at the same time instead of holding hands.
Christina is taller than Tris.	Christina is shorter than Tris.
A girl falls while jumping off the train on the rooftop after the Choosing Ceremony.	One of the initiates is seen dangling from the roof in one shot, but no one seems to have died.
Four is 18 and has risen to prominence within the Dauntless faction in the two short years since his own initiation.	Four is 24 years old.
Lynn and Marlene are introduced.	Lynn and Marlene do not appear until Insurgent.
Drew, Myra, Shauna, and Zeke are introduced.	Drew, Myra, Shauna, and Zeke are not in the movie.
Tris hangs onto her Abnegation clothing during initiation.	After the initiates receive a tour of the sleeping quarters, Four asks them to change into the clothes on the beds. Tris tosses her old clothes into a furnace with the other initiates.
On the first night of initiation, Four explains how Abnegation eat plain food when Christina comments on Tris's reaction to their dinner of hamburgers.	In the movie, Tris tells Christina that she's seen hamburgers before but never ate one. Instead of Four, Will explains Abnegation's eating habits (a "plant-based diet with no sauces and minimal seasoning") to Christina.
Tris is first introduced to Will during their first day they learn how to shoot a gun. He explains she is currently defying statistics by missing the target, as a normal person would have hit the target once by then, even if by accident.	In the movie, Tris and Christina first meet Will at dinner the first night of initiation. He explains Abnegation's diet in a textbook precise manner, which leads Christina to throw a sarcastic comment his way. Unfazed, he introduces himself.
Al is introduced by Tris shortly after lights out the first night, describing him as the biggest initiate who is crying nearby her bunk. She is tempted to comfort him but chooses not to.	Al is seated next to Will in the dining hall and observes Tris eating her first hamburger. He sarcastically aims a joke insult at Will in response to the latter's commentary about Candor members having no filter. Christina acknowledges Al by name when complimenting his diss.
Peter exhibits a threatening and more active role as an antagonist during initiation; he is vicious, cruel, and "willing to kill, maim, and destroy to get to the top". He picks on Tris by spraying "Stiff" on her bedding, pulling off Tris' towel after she showers, and feeling her up when he kidnaps her with the other boys, in addition to verbal torments. When he is ranked as #2 in stage one, he secures his place as #1 by stabbing Edward in the eye with a butter knife from the dining hall.	Peter's level of bullying is reduced to verbal comments. He does not engage in any physical tricks or pranks on Tris other than saying comments to provoke her, nor does he attack Edward during initiation.
Edward loses an eye.	Edward appears but doesn't lose his eye in the theatrical cut of the film. In a deleted scene on the DVD, the other initiates wake when they wear Edward's cries for help.
Tris had her first fight with Peter and she lost, and she got her second fight with Molly, whom she beats.	Tris got her first fight with Molly, who beat Tris, and Tris lost her second fight with Peter and she was kicked out of the ring because she was continuing beating up Peter.
Molly is very aggressive and antagonistic towards Tris along with Peter. She laughs along with Peter when he pulls away her towel. Later she feeds lies to an Erudite reporter as revenge for ranking lower than Tris.	Molly is aggressive in the beginning, but congratulates Tris when she stands up to Eric by standing in front of the knife target and ceases to taunt her.
When Christina forfeits her fight with Molly Atwood, Eric orders her and the other initiates to follow him, before telling Christina to climb over the railing and hold on for 5 minutes.	Eric acts kind to Christina at first, helping her up, tells everyone to take a break, and asks how she's feeling as he leads the group to The Chasm. He then pushes Christina off the walkway and tells her that she has three options: hang on and her act of cowardice will be forgotten, let go and die, or give up.
When Christina is hanging over the chasm, Albert cheers her on and times how long Christina has been hanging. He and Tris help her up when time is called.	Tris cheers for Christina once before receiving a look from Eric, who times Christina. When time is called, Edward and Tris help Christina up.
When Tris loses her fight with Peter, she is given a chance to recover in the medical ward and is not kicked out of Dauntless immediately. She is allowed to partake in Capture the Flag.	Because Tris lost her second fight during the first stage of initiation, she wakes up in the medical area and is informed by Will and Christina that Eric decided to cut her. They leave her to recover and Tris sneaks out of the ward and boards the train with Four's help. Eric confronts her and asks who let her leave and she states that she chose to leave the medical ward, which Eric accepts and allows her to stay.
When they play capture the flag, Tris and Four go up in a Ferris wheel. He sees she is about to fall for the second time. Four crawls down and starts the Ferris wheel.	In the movie Tris and For crawl up in the Ferris wheel but Tris is not about to fall for the second time.
During capture the flag the initiates use paintball guns to shoot each other. Tris, Christina, and Uriah work together to make it to the flag, which is hanging on a tree branch guarded by an unnamed initiate who Uriah shoots. Christina and Tris both reach for the flag, but Christina tells Tris to let her take the flag. She later apologizes for being jealous, saying she shouldn't have done it.	The initiates use "neurostim darts," which simulate the pain of a gunshot. Christina and Tris go for the flag together, teaming up against Peter and shooting him twice. Molly guards the flag in a bell tower, where Tris manages to defeat her and take the flag, signaling the victory. She and Christina celebrate together.
Uriah invites Tris to the Dauntless initiation ritual of ziplining after Edward is stabbed when he and the other Dauntless born are heading towards the train in the middle of the day. .	Ezra, a film specific character and another Dauntless initiate, invites Tris to take a short cut back to the Dauntless compound after the capture the flag match, which is at night, using the ziplines to cut across the ruins of the city.
Tris is caught by the other initiates when she's done zip lining.	Tris has to pull on a brake and stop herself when she's done.
Natalie Prior appears on Visiting Day and talks to Tris about the initiation.	Visiting Day is not shown. Natalie Prior appears and has a clandestine meeting with Tris while Dauntless initiates are supposed to be loading cargo. On the DVD there is a deleted scene of Natalie departing the compound on Visiting Day and asking her to enjoy a slice of chocolate cake for her.
Natalie asks Tris to talk to Caleb about researching the simulation serum.	This is not mentioned.
When viewing the rankings, Tris only mentions 7 initiates on the list.	Over 30 initiates are listed.
The final test is a fear landscape, which means that everyone knows that they are in a simulation, so Tris can face her fears without worrying about exposing herself as being Divergent.	Like the Aptitude Test, only Divergents are aware that they are in a simulation during the final test, so Tris must face her fears without revealing herself to be a Divergent. She is also laying on a chair while in the simulation, as opposed to standing in the fear landscape room.
Tris has seven fears in her fear landscape.	Tris has five fears in her fear landscape.
When Tris goes to find Caleb Prior she goes and demands to see him at the front desk with the portrait of Jeanine Matthews behind it. Then they go under the bridge with mirrors to talk.	Tris walks up and finds Caleb working. Caleb pulls her aside from everyone else and talks to her.
Caleb is mentioned to wear glasses while he is an initiate in Erudite.	Caleb doesn't wear glasses.
Upon returning to the Dauntless compound by Jeanine's guards, Eric confronts Tris and demands to know why she left the compound, threatening to reconsider her rank. Four comes to her defense and she pretends to cry, claiming she ran off after Four rejected her flirtations.	Eric does not pull Tris aside to question her reasons for leaving. This scene is omitted and replaced with Tris being kidnapped by Peter, Al, and another initiate who attempt to hang her over the Chasm.
Tris is assaulted by Drew, Peter Hayes, and Al, the plan masterminded by Peter due to his jealousy of her rank; she is blindfolded and carried to the chasm. She figures out that Al is one of her captors from the scent of lemongrass and sage that he is associated with, and it is Peter whose mask she pulls off. The boys proceed to feel her up before attempting to push her over the railing.	When Tris is assaulted, she is not blindfolded by her captors. All three captors don masks during the assault and Tris pulls off Al's mask during the scuffle. The boys attempt to push her off the ledge near the chasm while she struggles to fight back. Their motives are implied, not outright stated.
When Tris and Four are going through Four's fear landscape, they jump off a roof and sit in the box. Four shoots a plain woman, and Tris participates in the fight against Marcus.	Tris and Four are on a high, long platform instead of a roof and have to walk towards to a window in order to move on. Tris attempts to stop the walls from closing in, and the woman Four shoots looks like Tris. Tris tries to help Four fight Marcus but is pushed aside.
Tris gets a second tattoo.	This is shown for a split second during the scene where Four and Tris kiss.
Tris has three tattoos. Three ravens, Abnegation sign (right shoulder) and Dauntless sign (left shoulder).	Tris has only two tattoos. Three ravens and Abnegation sign.
During the final simulation test, only the Dauntless leaders watch the simulation while connected to wires.	The simulation is displayed on a large screen and Jeanine, Four, and other Erudite are present and watching.
In the first simulation of Tris's final test, she makes a gun appear to shoot the birds.	In the movie, she sees a big stick in the distance, and she uses it to swat away the birds.
While in her final fear landscape, one of Tris' obstacles consists of Jeanine telling her to kill her family and she counts down. Tris' family tells her that it is OK for her to do that, but Tris shoots herself to save her family at the end of the countdown.	Tris has Jeanine tell her that the landscape is "over" in the obstacle, but that she must kill her family to become Dauntless. She does, and her family remains silent. Four is also present.
Natalie saves Tris from drowning in a tank filled with water.	Natalie saves Tris from being shot in a field.
Natalie Prior is killed while trying to lead members of Dauntless away. Natalie tells Tris the secret knock to get into the hideout before she dies.	Natalie is killed while firing back beside Tris. The secret knock is not mentioned.
Tris finds Four in the control room, where they end up squaring off and then Four shuts down the system after he gains control over himself.	When Tris finds the control room, Four is tied down to a chair and Jeanine is there controlling the system. After the square off Tris makes Jeanine take the serum and shut the system down.
Tris gets shot in her right arm.	Tris gets shot in her left arm.