Protagonist Wade Watts is the 21-year-old CEO of GSS, the company that runs a virtual reality open world, the OASIS. Although he is presented as the narrator for much of the book, the real narrator is an artificial copy of Wade’s consciousness, which casts doubt on the reliability of the narration.

Wade, who grew up in extreme poverty, became a billionaire three years prior to this novel’s events after inheriting GSS from its late founder, James Halliday. After his ascension as GSS’s CEO, Wade grows increasingly reclusive, isolating himself from healthy people in his life, like his romantic partner Art3mis and his friends Og, Aech, and Shoto. He even engages in some of the toxic behavior exhibited by Halliday, like ignoring boundaries and violating L0hengrin’s privacy in an effort to uncover her birth-assigned gender.

As the narrative progresses, Wade’s arc involves distinguishing himself from Halliday by confronting his past trauma, extricating himself from the deceptive nature of nostalgia, and embracing his friends anew. For example, upon visiting Halcydonia for only the second time since his mother’s fatal heroin overdose, Wade allows himself to be vulnerable. While Wade would likely attribute his newfound emotional openness to the supposed empathy-boosting qualities of the OASIS, it is more likely that these bonds of camaraderie were reforged through the intimacy of participating in another world-saving ordeal with his friends.