text: The Special Cure After she created the pills curing pretty lesions, Maddy created a cure for Specials. Unlike the pills, the Special Cure had to be injected with a needle. This cure didn't remove the "scary" appearance (sharp teeth and fingernails), but it removed the lesions in the brain, like the pills. After the mind rain, Tally is the only Special in existence from her city without the Special Cure. All other Specials were either despecialized or have an unknown status.  However, it is implied that Tally again rewired her brain so that she can have an incredible body, but still have control over her own thoughts.
  Characters
  Tally Youngblood
  Tally is the protagonist of the books, first appearing in Uglies as a young, 15-year-old girl, waiting for her 16th birthday so that she can be turned pretty. Throughout the series, Tally undergoes significant changes physically and mentally from Ugly, to Pretty, to Special, different classes of citizen in her city. Tally is also known as Tally-wa, and Squint, throughout the  series.
  Ugly
  Tally has very frizzy, curly hair, "squinty" eyes, and a patchy complexion with a wide forehead, a squashed-in nose and thin lips. Her nickname is "Squint". She notes to her best friend, Shay, that she likes the left side of her face more than the right, which is symbolic because that side is the one Tally hates most because her left eye is barely "squintier" than her right.