Winston

"I'd rather get a sunburn than get my head attacked by some ball of steel. Let's go!"

Winston is the Keeper of the Slicers. He might have been named after Robert Winston, a British scientist, or possibly Winston Churchill.

Biography

The Maze Runner

In The Maze Runner, Winston is introduced as the Keeper of the Slicers. When a Gathering is called to discuss Thomas' actions and the consequences of going into the Maze overnight, Winston states that he thinks what Thomas did was brave, but he should be punished for what he did or it would set a bad example for others. He follows Thomas to escape the Maze and survives.

The Scorch Trials

In The Scorch Trials, Winston is first made notable in the events following the entrance into the Flat Trans, where he and another Glader, Frankie, are attacked by a strange liquefied metal that seeks out and solidifies on contact with a human head. Thomas manages to stop the metal from encasing Winston; however, Winston is left with most of his hair ripped out and raw wounds covering his head. He goes missing in the lightning storm, along with Jack, Stan, and Tim, presumably killed by a lightning strike.

Film

The Maze Runner

In the Maze Runner film, Winston is present when Thomas arrives in the Glade. When Thomas starts to run, but trips and falls, Winston and the Gladers laugh at this.

When Gally stops Thomas from walking into the Maze, Winston and the Gladers join Gally in stopping Thomas from walking into the Maze.

At night, at the bonfire, Newt introduces Thomas to Winston, who he says is the Keeper of the Slicers. Winston watches Thomas and Gally wrestle before Gally knocks Thomas down, causing Thomas to remember his name.

The next day, Ben gets stung by a Griever and attacks Thomas. Winston and the Gladers manage to restrain Ben, see the Griever sting on his stomach, and take him to the Pit.

Later, Winston and the Gladers banish Ben from the Glade.

At night, Winston watches on as Gally crosses Ben's name on the wall out.

The next day, Winston watches on as Thomas runs into the Maze to help Minho and Alby, who have gone into the Maze to retrace Ben's steps, when Alby got stung by a Griever.

The next day, Winston is present when Thomas, Minho, and Alby return to the Glade.

In the Council Hall, during the Gathering, Winston is present when Gally suggests that Thomas should be punished for going into the Maze to help Minho and Alby.

Winston is also present when Teresa arrives in the Glade.

Later, Winston goes into the Maze with Thomas, Minho, Frypan, and Zart to investigate a dead Griever.

Later, Teresa, who has woken up and fled to the tower, throws rocks at Winston and the Gladers, but Thomas stops her. As Thomas goes up to talk to Teresa, Winston and the Gladers leave.

The next day, when Thomas and Minho return to the Glade, Winston watches Thomas and Gally argue with each other, when Teresa calls out to them and the Gladers and tells them that Alby is awake.

At night, during the Grievers' attack on the Glade, Winston, Thomas, Teresa, Newt, Minho, Frypan, Alby, Chuck, Jeff, and Clint hide in the Council Hall. Winston watches Alby and Clint get killed by Grievers.

After the attack, Gally punches Thomas in the face, causing Winston, Newt, Minho, Frypan, and Jeff to restrain him. As Winston, Newt, Minho, Frypan, and Jeff try to restrain Gally, Thomas takes a Griever stinger from Chuck and uses it to stab himself in the thigh to regain his memories. Winston, Teresa, Newt, Minho, Frypan, Chuck, and Jeff tend to Thomas.

The next day, Thomas tells Winston, Teresa, Newt, Minho, Frypan, Chuck, and Jeff that he and Teresa worked for WCKD and created the Maze.

Gally takes command, has Teresa tied to the pole, and attempts to have Thomas tied to the pole. Winston, Teresa, Newt, Minho, Frypan, Chuck, Jeff, and Jack fight off one half of the Gladers while Thomas and Teresa break free. Winston escapes with one half of the Gladers while Gally stays in the Glade with another half of the Gladers.

Winston helps the Gladers fight off the Grievers, but Jeff dies trying to save Minho from a Griever. The Gladers go into the WCKD lab and watch a video left by Ava Paige, who shoots herself at the end of the video.

Winston and the Gladers are about to leave when Gally, who is stung by a Griever, arrives and tells that they will never be free. Gally aims a gun at Thomas, but Minho throws a spear at Gally, impaling him in the chest, while Gally shoots a bullet at Chuck, hitting him in the chest. Winston watches Chuck die in Thomas' arms before a group of masked soldiers arrive and take the Gladers to a helicopter.

The Scorch Trials

In the Scorch Trials film, Winston is one of the few Gladers to escape the WCKD facility. After arriving at an abandoned building, Minho manages to turn on the power, alerting the Cranks which lurked there. As the Gladers run away from the Cranks, they come across a door where Winston offers to hold off the Cranks with a gun. During the process, however, he gets scratched across the abdomen by a Crank, which later becomes infected and begins to spread through his body. Seeing his inevitable fate to become a Crank, Winston pleads the Gladers to let him kill himself so he won't become a Crank. Newt then places the gun in Winston's hands and Winston thanks him in return. As the Gladers continue on with their journey, a sound of a gunshot rings out, signaling Winston's suicide.

The Death Cure

Although Winston obviously doesn't make an appearance in the Death Cure film, three figures resembling him, Alby, and Chuck are present in Minho's dream of the Glade. Near the end, Winston's name is seen engraved on the rock along with the names of the victims in the war with WCKD.

Physical Appearance and Personality

In the books, Winston's only mentioned physical characteristics are that he was short and muscular, with bad acne. After the incident with the Metal ball in The Scorch Trials, he loses his hair, receives burns and scabs to most of his face, and is almost unrecognizable. He is very stubborn.

In the film adaptations, Winston is depicted as a dark-haired boy who has warm brown skin, dark eyes, and no acne.

Trivia

In the book Inside the Maze Runner (as well as a deleted scene from the Maze Runner film), Winston is quoted saying that if Minho trusts Thomas, then he trusts him.
In the Death Cure film, Frypan carves Winston's name on the memorial rock at the Safe Haven.