He is the smartest of the Pogues and has a scholarship on the line — his ticket to a life outside of the Outer Banks. John B describes Pope as 'the brains on the operation'. Although Pope is always up for an adventure with his friends, he is also the cautionary voice in the group. He is constantly thinking of possible consequences to their actions and warns the group when he feels that they are about to do something stupid. His warnings, however, often fall on deaf ears. JJ Maybank and Pope Heyward are core members of the Pogues in Outer Banks, known for their deep, brotherly bond and extreme loyalty. As opposite personalities—JJ is impulsive and reckless, while Pope is intellectual and studious—they balance each other out, with JJ providing emotional support and Pope often helping JJ with his future and stability. Pope lives on the poorer side of town known as The Cut. His father owns and runs Heyward's, a seafood store, which provides seafood for the entire island. Pope's father, Bobby Heyward known simply as Heyward, is a legendary character in Outer Banks who can provide anything for anyone on the island. Pope is described by John B as a bit of a weirdo at times or an oddball but also the smartest person he knows. Pope is under a lot of pressure from his father to excel in academics, his dream is to study medicine. Pope is the most responsible out of the group and always wants to do the safe and legal thing. He is more quiet and calm than the others. He wants to stay out of trouble because he wants to get a scholarship for a college. This doesn't work out very well because the group constantly breaks all kinds of rules and gets into trouble a lot. Pope is caring and protective. Sometimes he doesn't know what he wants. Although he is usually the one that tries to calm down his friends when they get into fights, he can get angry and aggressive, especially when it's about his friends. JJ and Pope are probably the closest duo of the group. When Rafe and Topper beat Pope up when he was delivering groceries on Figure Eight, JJ, helps him with his revenge. When Pope gets caught by the police, JJ takes the fault even if it meant getting beat up by his abusive father, and when he was in jail he smiled because he knew taking the fault for Pope was worth it because it was a close friend of his, even when he knew what was going to happen to him later. Pope was worried about JJ and asked for him, but a few minutes later he sees JJ and hugs him very tightly, then JJ, jokingly and platonically, kisses him on the cheek and said "I love you too man". Pope sees bruises and cuts on JJ's face and asked him if Shoupe did it, to which JJ responded that it was his dad. Pope told him that it was his fault (Pope to JJ that it was Pope's fault) and that he was going to say to the police that he had all the fault, JJ was telling him to shut up, but then he grabs Pope's face and said to him "for once in your life trust someone else". JJ has also stepped between a gun and Pope to protect him, while Pope put his hands on JJ's shoulders to keep him in line. Pope is often seen calming JJ down as well as stopping him from doing stupid things. They are seen hanging out with each other outside the story's plotline. JJ helps Pope through all his struggles and always has his back whenever times are hard. When JJ revealed the bruises on his abdomen that were given to him by his father, Pope was initially shocked and sad for JJ, but there for him nonetheless. Pope is a handsome teenage guy who is usually seen wearing button up t-shirts, shorts and a cap. He is African-American. He is of above average height and has a lean yet athletic build.