H.I.V.E. (Book Series)
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40 free H.I.V.E. (Book Series) trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Mark Walden's H.I.V.E. novels drop a young genius, Otto Malpense, into a secret school that trains children to become the criminal masterminds of the future. The series mixes spy-film gadgets, rogue artificial intelligences and a group of students who turn out far more loyal to each other than a school for villains would like. This quiz covers the whole run: Otto and his friends Wing, Laura and Shelby, the teachers and assassins who run the school, the organisations that come after them, and the twists that reshape the story from book to book. A few questions look at the author and how the series reached readers. It is written for readers who have finished at least the first few books, though the opening questions are fair game for anyone who has only visited the school once. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so expect spoilers for the later novels.
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Q 01In Mark Walden's H.I.V.E. novels, the top-secret school for young criminal masterminds is hidden inside what?
An active volcano
The school sits inside an active volcano, and getting out alive would be an unprecedented feat, which is exactly what Otto Malpense and his friends attempt.
Q 02A failed experiment leaves H.I.V.E.'s head of stealth and evasion trapped in the body of which animal?
A cat
Tabitha Leon's consciousness ended up in her pet, and although she dislikes being a cat she finds the claws and enhanced hearing useful.
Q 03In Mark Walden's novels about young Otto Malpense, what do the initials H.I.V.E. stand for?
Higher Institute of Villainous Education
H.I.V.E. is the Higher Institute of Villainous Education, a school that accepts only children who have already shown a villainous skill.
Q 04Before H.I.V.E., Otto Malpense hacks a teleprompter to hypnotise and embarrass which figure during a speech?
The Prime Minister
Otto humiliated the Prime Minister in revenge for a government funding cut, and the stunt is what brought him to the attention of H.I.V.E.
Q 05Which careful villain has been headmaster of H.I.V.E. since the 1960s yet appears to be only in his thirties?
Maximilian Nero
Maximilian Nero has a reputation for heartlessness, yet he cares about his students and treats the assassin Raven as a friend.
Q 06Shelby Trinity, a wealthy American student at H.I.V.E., was already a notorious jewel thief under which alias?
The Wraith
Shelby stole jewels as the Wraith, an expert in stealth and lock-picking whose greatest fear is, fittingly, being locked up.
Q 07The Contessa, one of the most trusted teachers at H.I.V.E., bends almost anyone to her will using what?
Her voice
The Contessa commands people with her voice, though the strong-willed can resist; she betrays the school before dying to save its students.
Q 08Raven, the most feared assassin working for H.I.V.E., carries which signature weapons into a fight?
Twin katanas
Raven fights with twin katanas, and the pair she carries for most of the series are replacements built for her by the school's technology department.
Q 09Franz Argentblum, Nigel Darkdoom's best friend at H.I.V.E., is the son of a German magnate in which industry?
Chocolate
Franz is heir to a chocolate fortune, and the boy who constantly thinks about food later surprises his friends by turning out to be a gifted sniper.
Q 10In the first H.I.V.E. novel, Nigel Darkdoom accidentally breeds a giant flesh-eating plant with which name?
Violet
Violet escapes from the hydroponics lab and attacks the school, and it takes staff and students working together to stop the plant.
Q 11Laura Brand, the expert hacker among Otto Malpense's friends at H.I.V.E., comes from which country?
Scotland
Laura is from Scotland, and her skill is trusted enough that she helps the staff fix the school's own technical problems in Rogue.
Q 12At H.I.V.E., students in the Alpha stream of future leaders wear uniforms of which colour?
Black
Alpha students wear black, while Henchman wear blue, Technical white and Political/Financial grey, so a uniform shows a student's stream at a glance.
Q 13Otto Malpense, the white-haired English hero of the H.I.V.E. series, was raised in what kind of place?
An orphanage
Otto grew up in an orphanage called St Sebastian's, and two friends he left behind there later follow him to the school.
Q 21Which anti-terrorist group led by Sebastian Trent kidnaps the headmaster of H.I.V.E. in Escape Velocity?
H.O.P.E.
H.O.P.E., the Hostile Operative Prosecution Executive, tells the world it fights terrorism while secretly serving the AI Overlord and its followers.
Q 22Which self-replicating substance, injected into Otto Malpense of H.I.V.E. to control him, drives the plot of Rogue?
Animus
Animus is an organic supercomputer that kills almost everyone injected with it, and Otto survives only to be turned against his own side.
Q 23In Dreadnought, new H.I.V.E. student Lucy Dexter turns out to be which relation of the Contessa?
Her granddaughter
Q 14Otto Malpense of H.I.V.E. has a device implanted in his brain that links his mind directly to what?
Computer networks
Otto can interface with computer networks by thought, a gift that also leaves him open to possession by hostile artificial intelligences.
Q 15Which pair of Henchman-stream students at H.I.V.E. regularly bully Nigel Darkdoom and Franz Argentblum?
Block and Tackle
Block and Tackle pick on the Alphas, and in Aftershock a scheming older student uses the pair as muscle when he corners Otto and Laura.
Q 16Which head of technology at H.I.V.E. helped create the school's AI, H.I.V.E.mind?
Professor Pike
Professor Pike seems disorganised and distracted but hides a shrewd, cunning mind, and one of his failed experiments left a colleague living as an animal.
Q 17Which villain attacks H.I.V.E. in The Overlord Protocol and is later revealed to be Wing Fanchu's father?
Cypher
Cypher, a co-creator of the murderous AI Overlord, stages a failed revolt against the leadership, and in a later book his own son shoots him dead.
Q 18What is the name of the massive submarine commanded by Nigel Darkdoom's father in the H.I.V.E. novels?
Megalodon
Diabolus Darkdoom lived aboard the Megalodon for years after faking his death, and its replacement in a later book carries the same name.
Q 19Before writing H.I.V.E., Mark Walden was a senior producer of video games at which company?
Sony
Walden developed PlayStation titles at Sony, then left the games industry after ten years to write and to be a full-time father.
Q 20In Escape Velocity, Otto Malpense of H.I.V.E. discovers he is a clone of which G.L.O.V.E. figure?
Number One
Otto was cloned from Number One, the leader of G.L.O.V.E., and was designed as a host body for the artificial intelligence Overlord.
Lucy is her granddaughter, and she inherits the family gift for controlling people, though she can manage only a few at once.
Q 24In The Overlord Protocol, assassin robots ambush Otto Malpense and Wing Fanchu at a safe house in which city?
Tokyo
The ambush in Tokyo kills a bodyguard protecting the boys, and Wing appears to be shot dead, though the bullet is a disguised tranquilizer.
Q 25What name is given to the knock-out weapons used at H.I.V.E. in place of tranquilizer darts?
Sleepers
Sleepers stun rather than kill: Raven shoots Otto Malpense with one to bring him to the school, and he wakes up in a helicopter on the way there.
Q 26Wing Fanchu of H.I.V.E. refuses to kill his enemies because of a promise he made to whom?
His mother
Wing promised his mother he would never take a life, a vow he finally breaks in Rogue to stop an attack on Otto.
Q 27Raven is only a code name for the assassin of the H.I.V.E. novels; what is her real first name?
Natalya
Natalya was trained as a child assassin in the Russian wilderness, where she was forced to kill a friend and swore revenge on her teachers.
Q 28What is the name of the remote Russian facility where Raven of H.I.V.E. was trained as a child assassin?
The Glasshouse
The Glasshouse is where children are cruelly trained to kill, and a whole generation of kidnapped Alpha students is taken there in Aftershock.
Q 29In Aftershock, the H.I.V.E. training exercise known as the Hunt is ambushed in which remote region?
Siberia
The Hunt takes place in Siberia, where the Disciples lie in wait after a blackmailed Laura Brand is forced to reveal its location.
Q 30Which disfigured leader of the Disciples kidnaps a generation of H.I.V.E. Alpha students in Aftershock?
Anastasia Furan
Anastasia Furan helped train Raven as a child, survived being shot down in a helicopter by her, and takes her revenge through the kidnapping.