Matthew Freeman

Matthew Freeman is the main protagonist of the book series The Power of Five and is the leader of the Five Gatekeepers which form the main heroes of the series. Matthew Freeman is the incarnation of Matt, the first form of his character, and he is said to represent Jesus as he is omniscient, all powerful, and has supernatural powers. He is the brother of Jamie, Scott, Pedro, and Scarlett, the son of the Librarian, and the protector of humanity.

Nature
Matthew is sent into the world to fight the Old Ones, ancient evil demons and destroyers of humanity created at the dawn of Time. Matthew is not alone, he has the other four Gatekeepers to help him, and the Librarian sends him prophetic visions and omens in his Dreamworld.

Early life
Matthew was from a happy family in North London and had everything he could wish for. His parents were Mark and Kate Freeman, strongly hinted to be the human, living forms of the Librarian and his wife from the Dreamworld. But disaster struck when Mark and Kate were killed tragically in a car crash, but Matthew somehow saw the disaster in a dream, tried to warn his sceptical father, but was denied any reasoning, because his parents were going to a wedding that day. Matthew watched his parents drive off and since then he cursed himself forever to despair because they died as he predicted.

Matthew then was fostered, with an abusive aunt and uncle, Gwenda Davis and Brian Conran, in Suffolk, and he became antisocial, and a delinquent. He got friends with Kelvin Johnson, a boy who taught him how to steal. But eventually one day his theft went wrong when Kelvin and him broke into a warehouse, and Kelvin stabbed the security guard.

Lesser Malling and Raven's Gate
Things went from bad to worse when the police captured them both, sending Matthew for adoption in Lesser Malling village in Yorkshire. However, the whole village was a black magic cult, worshippers of the Old Ones, who wanted to free their masters. They tried to sacrifice Matthew, but with help from his new friend Richard Cole, Matthew realized the power of his supernatural telekenisis and escaped, banishing the Old Ones.

Matthew met a secret society designated to protect him and the Gatekeepers, the Nexus, and this was a band of influential, rich businessmen and investors who were protecting the Five to fight the demonic Old Ones. Matthew met them several times in London, and the Nexus sent him to a new school in York. But things went wrong when Matthew's possessed aunt Gwenda Davis drove a tanker into his empty school. The Nexus realized the second gate from Hell was opening, so they sent Matthew to buy a prophetic diary written by Saint Joseph of Cordoba to save humanity. But the evil businessman Diego Salamanda stole the diary from Matthew and killed William Morton the bookseller who was going to give Matthew the diary. Salamanda lured Matthew to Peru, under disguise of a holiday with Fabian, an agent of the Nexus, but Fabian betrayed the Nexus by aligning himself with the Old Ones and tried to get Matthew killed. Things were not in vain, Matthew met Pedro, the second of the Five, an extraordinary boy with the power to cure any injury. Matthew and Pedro became best friends and the quest continued.

The second Gate
The boys reunited with Richard, and they lived with the survivors of the Inca race in their mountain city. Then they went to visit Professor Joana Chambers, who knew of the Inca survivors, and the Nazca desert, and the famous Nazca Lines, which actually turned out to be the second Gate. Even though Matthew killed Salamanda with his supernatural powers, the Gate opens and the Old Ones break free, winning this battle. To make matters worse, they punch Matthew, and leave him for dead. But Pedro arrives in time to save Matthew.

When the Native American twins Jamie and Scott, twin brothers with the powers of telepathy and mind control, arrive on the run from the evil Nightrise corporation, another sect of Old Ones worshippers, Matthew welcomes them but he doesn't fully trust Scott, worried that the Old Ones will use him to injure or kill the Gatekeepers because of their mind manipulation they used on Scott. Matthew finds the fifth Gatekeeper, Scarlett Adams, in London, goes with Jamie, leaving Pedro and Scott in Peru, and finds that Scarlett goes to Hong Kong. So Matthew flies there after her, and meets the Triads, who were protecting Scarlett. He meets the Master of the Triads, Hang Shung-Tung, who arranges him to enter Hong Kong, which is possessed. But Matthew is almost killed by the Old Ones, and although they manage to meet Scarlett, save her from complete possession, the entire city of Hong Kong is destroyed by a typhoon that Scarlett summoned, unaware her power was weather control. The city is ruined, but the Five all escape through a temple door that serves as an interdimensional portal which all of them can use.

By this time, Matthew has met the Librarian, his ancient father, in the mysterious Dreamworld which all the Five go to in their dreams. Matthew doesn't know whether to trust the Librarian, but the man says he is there to protect him and the Five. Matthew is given the book of his life in the Library, which the Librarian says will give him prophetic knowledge, but Matthew refuses to read it.

Oblivion and death
All the Five emerge from different doors in the churches and temples around the world, ten years in the future. They almost wish they hadn't. Because by this time, the Old Ones have won. The world is almost destroyed, electricity is non existent, technology is absent, humanity has reverted to Medieval times, and the planet is on the verge of extinction. The Old Ones rule every evil aspect of the world, causing global wars, genocide, mass murder and giving evil people power for their own pleasure. Matthew almost gives up upon seeing the state of the world. Him and Lohan, the Triad son of Hang Shung-Tung, emerge into Brazil and see the devastation the floods have caused. Almost all the Brazilians are dead and the ones who survive survive by slavery. Slave gangs are everywhere, so Matthew encourages Lohan to sell him for money. But eventually, the fifth time this happens, they are found out by an evil gangster, who sells them to the mines. But Matthew destroys the mine with his supernatural powers, saves the slaves, and him and Lohan flee Brazil.

Matthew's powers are growing all the time, so he controls the entire plane that Lohan is piloting, making him fly it to Antarctica, where the palace of Oblivion is, the evil center of the Old Ones. Their Lord, Chaos, is waiting for Matthew there. After an argument, Matthew and Lohan fly there. The final battle of humanity and the Old Ones takes place at Antarctica, led by Commander David Cain and it is a disaster, all of the soldiers are maimed or massacred. All of humanity flees Oblivion after the slaughter, not wishing to face the demons again.

Matthew stays, because Scott has sent him a message inviting him for a parley, because Scott has joined the Old Ones, against all odds, and he will betray Matthew. Matthew knows all this because in his dreams he returned to the Dreamworld, saw the Librarian, and read the book of his life history, and found out that Scott will betray him. It is his fate to die so humanity will be saved. Matthew goes to meet Scott, but is betrayed, and held captive by the evil Old Ones, who flay him alive, torture him badly, and beat him. They capture Richard, and force him to watch his friend's execution, but the Old Ones tell Richard they will never kill Matthew, because of the incarnation problem, and they will keep Matthew tortured forever. But Richard takes out the Incan sacrificial knife, invisible to enemy eyes, and stabs Matthew with it, ending his torture and effectively killing him.

However, Matthew's past form, Matt, comes back to fight and kill the Old Ones, and this effecitvely eliminates Matthew's sacrifice.