Martin Kemp

Martin Kemp is a minor character in ''How to Survive High School. ''Martin is a stereotypical redneck who likes monster tucks, mudding, hunting, fishing, and football. He is one of Ace Dienf's cronies on the football team, willing to do anything Ace tells him to and usually seen following him around (along with Wyatt). Because of this, he is typically hostile toward Leo, although occasionally shows signs of trying to prevent Ace from hurting Leo. Martin is a bit nicer than Ace and Wyatt. He is starting his sophomore year of high school in Book 1.

Personality
Martin is loud and has a southern drawl. He has many of the stereotypical redneck characteristics, such as an interest in mudding and monster trucks. He is easily one of Ace's most loyal followers, although why is unknown. He is one of the poorer kids in school, living in a trailer park, and thus is less shallow or greedy than the other popular kids. Although Martin can be just as mean as Ace, he does sometimes show a soft spot for others, and seems to try to avoid having to beat people up.

Appearance
Martin is large and brawny, like the other football players. He has black hair in a buzzcut with a large nose and freckles. He also has thick eyebrows. He is usually seen wearing a sleeveless shirt with cargo shorts and brown combat boots. Other times, he can be seen either with his Letterman jacket or in his football uniform.

Book 1: The New Kid
Martin is first seen hanging out with Ace and the other jocks, and is one of the first characters Leo meets. He laughs at Leo several times as Leo tries to impress them, but when Leo accidentally ruins Ace's car, Martin urges Leo to run away, showing he isn't all bad. Despite this, throughout the rest of the book he serves as Ace's crony.

After Leo humiliates himself flirting with Natalie, Martin is there with Ace to intimidate Leo. When Natalie dumps Ace, causing him to storm away, Martin remains to try flirting with the newly-single Natalie, along with Wyatt and several other guys. He later watches the fight between Ace and Leo. He is seen standing with Ace again when Leo tries joining the football team, and cheers Ace on when he punches Leo in the gut.

On the day Venice's Louis Antoinette is stolen, he is one of the jocks who congratulates Ace for hitting Tammy in the head with a football, only to be surprised that it was Santiago who took it from them to throw it at her. Later, he is seen flirting with Natalie again, despite the fact that she is Ace's ex-girlfriend. During Leo's football tryouts, he participates on the scrimmage as Ace's teammate. Later on in the book, he mentions that Ace is "kind of a dick sometimes," but beats Leo up for agreeing with him. His final appearance in Book 1 is at the homecoming game as one of the people fleeing the collapsing football field.

Trivia

 * Like most characters, Martin's personality is derived from his name. Martin comes from Mars, the god of war, and Kemp comes from champion or soldier. This is somewhat fitting yet also somewhat ironic, since he is quite violent (hence making it fitting), but also possibly the least violent of the football players (even though his name implies he is the most violent).
 * He has a crush on Natalie, Ace's ex-girlfriend, a fact he frequently tries to hide from Ace.
 * His number in football is 23, because 2 times 3 equals 6, and Ace's football number is 66.