Theresa Wiggin

Theresa Wiggin is a fictional character from the Ender's Game series of novels by Orson Scott Card. She is the mother of Peter, Valentine and Ender Wiggin, and the wife of John Paul Wiggin.

She appeared in the novels "Ender's Game", "Shadow of the Hegemon", "Shadow Puppets", and "Shadow of the Giant" and is a central character in a prequel to "Ender's Game", the short story "Teacher's Pest".

In "Teacher's Pest," the chronological first account of Theresa, then Theresa Brown, is given. She is depicted as a graduate student researching community formation and social connections, but overshadowed by her father, who is renowned as a theoretical military genius. It is guessed by Theresa and John Paul in "Teacher's Pest" that John Paul's forced attendance of her class may be a ploy by the International Fleet to allow them to meet.

Although she has hidden her Mormon faith, she remains devoutly religious when allowed to speak freely, which is rare. She prayed over the sleeping Ender when he was young, and in a conversation with Bean in Shadow of the Hegemon reveals efforts on behalf of her children to raise them religiously were stifled by the International Fleet's interest in them and the fact that the Fleet would have undoubtedly interfered had they attempted to instill a specific value set.

After both Peter and Valentine were determined to be inappropriate for Battle School, the International Fleet bent their population restrictions and allowed the unfettered birth of Ender. As a Third, a child born third to the family, Ender faced discrimination, but it is revealed that Theresa and John Paul intended to have a third child regardless of the International Fleet restrictions for religious reasons.

She also notes that it was too late to teach Peter religion, but that after seeing his violent, ambitious, and ruthless tendencies, she tried with John Paul to teach him basic concepts like decency, although at the time Peter despised them both.

She is a minor character in the Ender quartet but is given a much more prominent role in the Shadow Series. It is revealed in the Shadow series that she and her husband, John Paul, were fully aware of Peter Wiggin's actions as a teen and his work under the penname "Locke". The series also outlines in detail the struggles she experienced as the mother of three of the most brilliant minds on Earth.