Sam Goode

Sam Goode is John's best friend in I Am Number Four.

Sam is a devoted believer in aliens and alien conspiracies who believes that aliens abducted his father from his truck. He first suspects what John is, after they are attacked on the Haunted Hayride by Mark and his friends, but is convinced by John otherwise. However, when he sees John fight the three men in Athens who write the alien conspiracy magazine, They Walk Among Us he finds out he was right.

He is a gangly kid with glasses, though they are not his —  he explains to John that they belonged to his father, and he wears them in an attempt to connect with his father. He has a crush on Sarah's friend, Emily. During the battle against the Mogadorians, Sam saves John's life by killing one of the soldiers, and also saves Six by carrying her back to his truck after she is injured. He decides to accompany John and Number Six away from Paradise by the end of the novel.

In the second novel The Power of Six, Sam remains on the run with John and Six. It is later revealed in a letter from Henri that Sam's father, Malcolm Goode, is one of the people who knew about the Loric and welcomed the Garde and their Cêpans when they arrived on Earth for the first time. Henri originally went to Paradise to meet with him and talk about the rest of the Garde, but found him to be long gone. Sam takes in the information and accepts it, motivating him even more to find his father. During the story, Sam forms feelings for Six, who also has feelings for Sam and John at the same time.

While Six travels to Spain to find Number Seven, Sam and John travel to the Mogadorians secret cave headquarters in West Virginia, to find Six's and John's chest. They end up discovering Number Nine and set him free, but are discovered by the Mogs in the process. John loses contact with him while escaping Mogadorians and is trapped inside.

In the Lost Files: The Search for Sam, Sam is revealed to be held in a secret government base in New Mexico and kept in a cage. Sam's father, Malcolm Goode, and a rogue Mogadorian, Adamus, find him and set him free. Sam and Malcolm are able to evade the on-coming Mogadorians with the help of Adamus, who stays behind and fights them. This happens during the battle against Setrákus Ra, in The Rise of Nine.

In the fourth novel The Fall of Five, Sam's capture is explained and also repeats his escape by Adam and his father in The Search for Sam at the very beginning. The book is narrated by Sam intermittently and shows he has escaped the base, along with his father. Sam and his father catch up on lost time, even leave a message to his mom, and plan to reunite with the Garde. They later find John, Six, and Sarah in Arkansas, along with Number Five. They join them in Nine's penthouse in Chicago. Sam finally asks Six about having a relationship, which she replies that it isn't the right time, leaving him heartbroken. While Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, and Five leave to get Five's chest in the Evergreens, Sam stays behind with his father and Sarah. By the end of the novel, Sam receives a call from Adam (actually where Lost Files: The Forgotten Ones ends), who warns him of the coming Mogadorian attack, thanks to Five's betrayal. Sam, Malcolm, and Sarah hold off the Mogs and later escape, while Four stays behind.