The United States Raising Hand Program

A Battle Royale Fanfic written by The Wax Factory that chronicles the eponymous Program, in which 42 students from Spanish Rivers High School are kidnapped by the fascist U.S. goverment and sent to a remote island of the coast of Florida called Cuna Cielo. Here, they are each assigned a weapon and must fight to the death within 3 days, until only one remains.

As in the original book, they are fitted with explosive collars and must avoid preset Danger Zones.

The story is notable for taking established character archetypes (the Alpha Bitch, the Jerk Jock, the Nerd, etc.) and gradually developing them into well-rounded, believable characters.

This Fanfic is sadly defunct as of September 2010.

It can be read here.

Tropes used in The United States Raising Hand Program include:

Abusive Parents- Lea's aunt holds Lea's arm under scalding water after she questions the existence of heaven. Chris's dad also emotionally abuses and belittles him.
Actual Pacifist- Winston
Alpha Bitch- Subverted by Amber, Shyla, Erin, and Victoria, who turn out to be sympathetic characters. Played straight by Adrienne, who also happens to be a psychotic murderer.
Asshole Victim- Enrique
Asian and Nerdy- Mae. It's practically all we learn about her.
Axe Crazy- Lea, Adrienne, and Adam.
Author Appeal- Classic Rock bands and songs (especially The Beatles) are frequently mentioned.
Backstabbing the Alpha Bitch- Erin, Shyla, and Amber attempt to do this to Adrienne.
Berserk Button- Even so much as hint at threatening David or someone he cares about and he will tear you limb from limb. This ends up getting him killed.
Beware the Quiet Ones- Who knew quiet bookworm Lea would turn out to be such a monster?
Blind Without'Em- Demi, after her glasses are destroyed in a fight with Lea.
Break the Cutie- Poor, poor Demi.
Broken Bird- Roxy, after her Attempted Rape at the hands of Eddie.
Cast Herd
Character Development- Most prominently, Erin, who goes from a personality-less follower of Adrienne to a main viewpoint character.
Chekhov's Gun- Chris's weapon (a medical kit) which Preston later kills him with.
Cloudcuckoolander- Subverted by Terry. Other characters initially think of her as this, but she's much more down to earth than expected, if a bit of an idealist.
Cruel and Unusual Death- Enrique. Who thought a golf club could have done so much damage? Meyerhold's death also qualifies.
Cut Short
Deadly Game- The premise.
Dirty Coward- Luke Graystone, Preston until his Heel Face Turn
The Dog Bites Back- Preston snaps after years of abuse and brutally kills Jerk Jock Chris.
Driven to Suicide- Jesse and Skylar, and later, Demi after she accidentally kills Winston
Follow the Leader- Uses the same three day limit and chapter format as 72Hours.
Gorn
Gentle Giant- Winston, who refuses to lay a hand on anyone, despite his imposing stature.
Groin Attack- Lea castrates Meyerhold with a pair of bolt cutters. Ouch.
Hair-Trigger Temper- David. Although he always feels bad about it afterwards.
Heroic BSOD- Peter has a mental breakdown and abandons his friends after Roxy is killed. Logan helps him through it just in time for him to be killed by Adam.
A House Divided- Zane and his friends (J.C., Jesse, Skylar, and Rory) quickly turn on each other.
I Just Shot Marvin in the Face- Mitch accidentally shoots Risa with her own gun after disarming her.
Jerkass- Chris, Travis, J.C. and Enrique.
Jerk Jock- Chris and Eddie start out as this and just get worse. Averted by Tristan Igolovsky, who is a jock and a Nice Guy.
Karma Houdini- Mare never gets comuppence (as far as we know) for her part in Winston's death and is made a sympathetic character shortly afterwards.
Knight Templar Big Sister- Prudence Mercedes is very protective of Sadie.
Kill'Em All- Suprisingly Averted; almost half the cast survives. Of course, this is due to the story being unfinished.
Loads and Loads of Characters- par on course for a Battle Royale fic.
Made of Iron- Lea. She is crushed by a bookshelf and shot several times by Prudence Mercedes, but just keeps coming back.
Made of Plasticine- Lea apparently hits Enrique so hard in the back with a golf club that it tears off enough flesh to expose his spine.
Manipulative Bastard- Jude, who is adept at exploiting other peoples' weaknesses and orchestrates the deaths of several classmates by tricking them into killing each other or themselves. Adrienne also qualifies, but is less successful, as she attempts to turn Amber's Girl Posse against her.
Mercy Kill- Adrienne uses this as her justification for killing Victoria, whose injury (a brick to the head) was probably survivable.
Mistaken for Murderer- J.C. thinks that Zane murdered Jesse and Skylar, because she finds him standing over their bodies after they had been arguing with him.
Only Sane Man- Jesse is the most reasonable of Zane's group of friends.
Overly Long Title
Not So Harmless- Lea and Nathan
Otaku- Nathan
Psychopathic Manchild- Darren, who because of his Down's Syndrome is basically a five-year old in a fifteen-year old's body. He also wants to "die" people.
Redemption Equals Death- Preston
Rouge Angles of Satin- Becomes noticeable after awhile.
Sacrificial Lamb- Mae and Enrique pretty much exist to be killed by Jude and Lea, respectively, establishing the latter two as villains.
Shrinking Violet- Mae Yamamoto
The Sociopath- Jude, again.
Sour Supporter- Travis, among Peter's group of revolutionaries
Squick- Loads. One example is when Eddie grabs a handful of Kevin's brains, after the latter has been killed, and uses them to play toss with Chris.
Star-Crossed Lovers- Erin and David.
The Stoner- Rory North is an extreme example, as he is barely coherent throughout most of the story and is not Played for Laughs.
Stuff Blowing Up- The tram station where Miguel, David, and Erin are taking refuge, due to stupidity on Miguel's part.
Together in Death- Jesse and Skylar, who commit suicide with Rory's "weapon" (sleeping pills).
There Can Be Only One
"Well Done, Son" Guy- Chris's Freudian Excuse.
Wholesome Crossdresser- Peter Juntz.
Who's Laughing Now?- Subverted by Meyerhold, who sets out to get back at his classmates for bullying him, but loses his nerve after wounding Logan with a hand saw.
Your Head Asplode- Risa and Mae die in this manner. Risa is shot in the head and Mae is tricked into a Danger Zone by Jude.