Are the main five characters misunderstood?

[Amaranthine]

I'm not too sure if everyone would understand or never the less agree what I am about to say, because I do believe my views considering LBT are pretty strange compared to most of the people here it seems.

Anyhow, about this topic, I thought over this as I was observing the characters and how they interacted with one another. While they are kids and they are developing their own personalities, I think that they are misunderstood and not completely figured out by everyone. I will list the main five characters and I'll explain my thoughts about them.

Little Foot- I believe Little Foot is the least misunderstood character because everyone that has seen all of the movies and the tv show, practically in every sequel, it was all about him. While in one or two sequels, it centered around Petrie or Cera. Also in one sequel is centered around Spike and Ducky, Little Foot pretty much gets all of the glory. I think he does have his arrogant and perfectionist moments. I think in the tv series, he is shown as an arrogant kid, while he is still some what in character, to me, he has become arrogant. I also think Little Foot could pass as a gary-stu.

Cera-This character I do believe is a very misunderstood character. She has this mean and gruff exterior and tries to act all tough and has her um..."special" moments when she out bursts. She does have a sweet side that makes her "pretty" I remember in a few scenes I saw this character smile and I must say when she's concerned for her friends or if she's happy her smile really brightens her up.

Petrie-I think this guy is a very misunderstood character, while he gives everyone the impression that he is weak and a coward, honestly I think this guy is actually angry with himself because he keeps missing chances of being brave. I mean yes, he is brave in many cases such as in the first movie, he pays the price for trying to save Ducky and he accidently falls along with the sharp tooth, but he ends up surviving. Another is when he tries to stand up to his uncle and tell him, "We have our place and we like it just the way it is". However I think he's trying so hard to break out of this shell, and I can see how frustrated he seems to be with himself. Maybe perhaps with other characters too, just as when Chomper keeps asking him in one episode if any of the stones are the "sky colored stones" and he makes that out burst. It was a matter of impatience that I'm not too sure it was nessaccary.

Ducky-While I remember saying a while back that I don't care for this character because she seems to take in that role as a "damsel in distress". I still believe that she does, however, this does have to do with her size and her personality in general. I remember in that "Shiney Sky Stone" episode that she was all greedy when she saw the stones and didn't want to show Ruby or Cera the stones. We definitely saw her insecure part of her. So she's not dim or too naive, she's in fact well aware of her "weakness", and like Petrie, she tries hard not to be a scaredy cat. So in a way I do admire this character.

Spike-Spike as we all know, doesn't talk much. However I think even though he gives that "clueless" or "dim" exterior, he is a wise one, and probably the most gentle character out of all of the characters of LBT.

So those are my thoughts about these characters so far. Feel free to debate or ask questions is anything I said doesn't sound too clear.

[Shinji-Lee]

interesting. really.
but what by the gods of creation makes you consider littlefoot as arrogant?
he is kind of a main main character, so of course it is about him, most of the time. something, main charas have in common, right?
what is a gary-stu?

as for ducky's behavior in >shiny sky stones<, it is a little out of character. only incident, she was selfish in, if i didn't forget anything. i understood the idea of that episode, but maybe cera would have fitted better...

[Amaranthine]

but what by the gods of creation makes you consider littlefoot as arrogant?
he is kind of a main main character, so of course it is about him, most of the time. something, main charas have in common, right?
what is a gary-stu?
 

To answer your first question, in the tv series, I can tell that they changed Little Foot's personality in a way. He to just want his why and only his way.

A gary-stu is the male term of a "mary sue". Meaning that he seems to be the most perfect and he seems to have many gary-stu qualities. I don't think he's a complete gary stu, but he does have the makings of one.

[Shinji-Lee]

in the tv series, I can tell that they changed Little Foot's personality in a way

well, i did watch no five of the episodes...i will investigate that.
any of them, in which this trait is strongly shown?

[Amaranthine]

It was mostly in the Sky Color Stone episode. Little Foot was sticking to his own plan to find the stones and everyone kept telling him, "Little Foot, we should probably go find Cera, Ruby, and Ducky and look where they are since we can't find any here." Little Foot at first goes, "yeah whatever" and then after three or four times the others tell him, "Little Foot, we can't find them anywhere!" He goes, "Oh, fine!" I guess I am using the term "arrogance" wrong...but I don't know he just seems immature in the tv series.

[Explorer]

You're right about that part, but that doesn't mean its always valid, right?

By the way, I wouldn't think of Spike as "clueless". He expresses himself very well, in fact, and I didn't actually see a scene where you could consider him like it.

[Kor]

I do think Ducky was acting a bit out of character in that one when she's not shown any hints of that sort of personality trait before.  As for how Littlefoot is acting, one could either say he is acting out of character, or he may just be mad and holding a grudge over the argument he and Cera had.

[Mumbling]

I dont feel too much for the tv-series, so honestly, I don't believe Ducky would actually become a little evil about those skycolorstones.

I think the tv-series caused a lot of confusion when it comes to characters. They just made them all different, not only with drawing them but also personality.

Though there's on of the episodes I do kind of like and that's 'through the eyes of a spiketail'. Of course this one isn't too realistic either. I'm sure spike doesn't here a melody when he smells food. But I do find it funny that he hears blahblahblah Cera blahblah Littlefoot. I don't think that part is true either because he understand it when Ducky talks to him.

Actually, I think Spike is very smart. There have been some humans too, which didn't talk until they felt like doing so. They were very, very smart though. The fact that he's still a kid makes him look a little bit clueless, and the fact that he loves food for he's a spiketail

I only have that point of view because he yelled for Ducky in the 4th movie, I think that was his time to talk. He knows how to, and when.

[Kor]

& in the 8th movie also.  

If you look at Spike's expressions you can see he understands what the others are saying.  Also the others have talked to Spike and he has responded so it's clear he does understand the others.

[Amaranthine]

I only said Spike looked "clueless" because to some people he is stupid or looks stupid. So I was sort of trying to look through those person's eyes and basically give my point, "He may look "dumb" sometimes but he really isn't, just because he doesn't talk doesn't mean he's dumb. He might be in the fact the most wise of them all."

[Mumbling]

I know. I share that point of view.

[Amaranthine]

I know. I share that point of view.

I was mostly trying to debate with Kor and some of the other people. I knew you agreed.

[Kor]

you can find someone to argue with, it'll not be me though since I don't argue.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Dude, why not? Arguing rocks.

Rat_Lady7, I'm with you on three out of five:

1)Littlefoot: Not sure about arrogant, but if you mean stubborn, you've got my vote. Littlefoot rarely asks others for help, he generally does what he thinks is best, and doesn't sway for anyone's opinion except his own. The reason for this is, my opinion, extremely fourth-dimensional: I believe he's subconciously realized that no matter what he does, he will never in any way die or be injured. In short, he's discovered his character shield, and acting on it. There are scores of exmples to back this up. Just think about it: If you knew beforehand that, no matter what course of action you took, you would emerge unscathed and victorious, would you follow your own opinions, or someone elses?

2)Cera: You don't seem to say much here, except that she looks cute when she smiles. I guess so. But I think her friendly side is more submerged than you think. Remember in LBT 11, she goes through the whole movie disliking Tria, and it's not until Tria severs the reationship that Cera lets her "friendly" side shine through.

3)Petrie: I don't see Petrie as intelligent enough to act on his cowardice. He's a character who commonly accepts what is said and follows it: in "The great Circle celebration" he's practicaly religious about the sun, and it took his mother to convince him of Pterano's antagonism. I don't think he sees his cowardice as something bad; he merely accepts it for what it is.

4)Ducky: Again, adorable as hell, but not mature enough to recognize a basic personality quality as a fault. when Spike bumps her in, LBT 12 I think, she doesn't bemoan the fact that she's little, she says, "I do not like being knocked off ledges!" or something to that effect.

5)Spike: Agreed. And I think "Through the Eyes of a Spiketail" cinched it for both of us.

[Amaranthine]

Dude, why not? Arguing rocks.

I'm not exactly intending to just flat out argue and say, "You're wrong, I'm right." Like I said before, I just wanted to debate. I mean yes, if you look up in the dictionary, you can find that debating is a "argument about a particular subject", but debating to me is more of an elegant way of arguing. You are not just flat out saying, "This is my opinion and I don't like yours" and that's that, you might say, "I see what you mean, however, blah, blah, blah..."

Anyhow, back on topic:

1)Littlefoot: Not sure about arrogant, but if you mean stubborn, you've got my vote. Littlefoot rarely asks others for help, he generally does what he thinks is best, and doesn't sway for anyone's opinion except his own. The reason for this is, my opinion, extremely fourth-dimensional: I believe he's subconciously realized that no matter what he does, he will never in any way die or be injured. In short, he's discovered his character shield, and acting on it. There are scores of exmples to back this up. Just think about it: If you knew beforehand that, no matter what course of action you took, you would emerge unscathed and victorious, would you follow your own opinions, or someone elses?

I do agree that Little Foot by far is probably the strongest and most mature emotionally besides, however, in the tv series, he seems to act a bit "bratty" or "immature". Such as the "Sky Color Stone" episode. I do remember he seemed to be a bit "harsh" with Petrie in the first movie when he seems to be yelling, "You're a flyer, now start flying!" Someone might disagree and think Little Foot is simply encouraging Petrie in a "strong" way, he just seemed to have a bit of a mean streak in that part. However, Little Foot of course did see his mom die on the spot and I guess Little Foot was being impatient, but I think he could have been a bit more gentle with Petrie since Petrie is a bit of a sensitive guy.

2)Cera: You don't seem to say much here, except that she looks cute when she smiles. I guess so. But I think her friendly side is more submerged than you think. Remember in LBT 11, she goes through the whole movie disliking Tria, and it's not until Tria severs the reationship that Cera lets her "friendly" side shine through.

To see my full opinion about Cera go here: http://z7.invisionfree.com/thegangoffive/i...?showtopic=1381

3)Petrie: I don't see Petrie as intelligent enough to act on his cowardice. He's a character who commonly accepts what is said and follows it: in "The great Circle celebration" he's practicaly religious about the sun, and it took his mother to convince him of Pterano's antagonism. I don't think he sees his cowardice as something bad; he merely accepts it for what it is.

Now correct me if I am wrong, but I believe their is a difference between naiveness and stupidity. Being stupid is when you have a lack of intelligence, but naiveness is when you may be smart, but you have a lack of experience in something.

Now it could just be me and my "fan girlyness" when it comes to this character, since he is my favorite one out of the five, but I honestly look at him closely and his facial expressions and I just see his frustration with himself. If you look in the seventh sequel, you see him being upset with himself when Ducky is kip napped and he just can't believe he trusted Pterano, he even says in the seventh sequel all upset at his uncle when he and his friends find the meteor on the volcano, "You lied to me uncle, you lied to everybody!"

I agree with you that he is a follower, but Petrie has proven himself to be "original" in the "Day of the Flyers" movie when he flies differently then everyone else. Also he tries to go against what Cera wants him to do, but in the end, he does so anyway, which I find sad.

4)Ducky: Again, adorable as hell, but not mature enough to recognize a basic personality quality as a fault. when Spike bumps her in, LBT 12 I think, she doesn't bemoan the fact that she's little, she says, "I do not like being knocked off ledges!" or something to that effect.

If you haven't seen the tv series yet, then well I understand why you would make this statement. Do recall though in the eighth sequel when she is getting lessons from Cera to express herself, same in a episode in the tv series, she gets lessons from Ruby on how to stand up for herself. In the Sky Color Stone episode, she gets all greedy when she finds the stones because she is afraid that Cera and Ruby will take them all away. While this is not the Ducky everyone knows and grew to love, I think it was an interesting twist on Ducky's personality since it showed her completely insecure side.

[Malte279]

With impending exams and consequent lack of leisure I cannot at this time write something thorough. There was one view expressed here which I cannot share though:

The reason for this is, my opinion, extremely fourth-dimensional: I believe he's subconciously realized that no matter what he does, he will never in any way die or be injured. In short, he's discovered his character shield, and acting on it. There are scores of exmples to back this up. Just think about it: If you knew beforehand that, no matter what course of action you took, you would emerge unscathed and victorious, would you follow your own opinions, or someone elses?

I'm do not believe Littlefoot is aware of being invulnerable. In fact I think he is far from being invulnerable. Littlefoot is not aware that he is a character in a story which he has to survive for the story to continue. And I do not think that his behavior of having his way even if he has to do something "on his own" is based on any idea of personal invulnerability. We see him displaying fear of being killed or injured on many occasions and we do see him injured (though minor injures of no lasting damage they are). Being knocked out by a rock in LBT 4, screaming with pain when Spike clings to his tail in LBT 5, loosing consciousness for lack of oxygen (almost drowning) in LBT 9, and his having some thorn in his food in one of the TV episodes (Meadow of the Jumping Waters I think) are all cases showing that he is not invulnerable.
His stubbornness when it comes to acting is, I think, based on his extreme sense of doing the right thing. When he sees his sense of justice violated (be it for seeing Doc blamed unjustly as the causer of bad luck or the tinysauruses for the treesweets being gone) he is ready to try to do things right even against the views and wishes of everyone else, especially if he feels that he or he and his friends are to be blamed for that injustice (as in case of both of the above examples). Littlefoot on the one hand shows a huge degree of responsibility for trying to get things right, but the responsibility he shows in this respect does not come along with the kind of responsibility that it would take not to act rashly to get these things right (and in doing so (acting rashly) risking his own safety as well as that of his friends).
Tolerant as he is in general Littlefoot shows very little tolerance when he sees his own sense of justice trespassed and will not make any compromises about it. He may not think much about the possible consequences for himself or others (apart from whomever he wants to help), but I don't see him as thinking of himself as invulnerable or immortal or anything. We have many examples where he shows mortal fear.

PS: I must agree though with the view that debating matters which can be seen in different ways is a good thing. I know of quite a couple of our members who are not willing to participate in discussions for fear of them deteriorating into quarrels or for fear of others disagreeing with them. We are a rather civilized lot though and not going to get to anyone's throats for expressing their views. Personally I think it is kind of sad that many things remain unsaid or that in many cases people are even dishonest for fear that the truth might be seen as impolite. There is a balance though allowing for both truth and politeness to coexist. I wish to encourage everyone to take part in discussions.

[Cancerian Tiger]

So, Littlefoot's personality change is not just my wild imagination.  Yeah, something I've noticed in the TV series is that he seems to not be as compassionate or caring.  I've especially noticed this in regards to Cera.  As close as those two have seemed to be, why wasn't he the one helping her home in "The Great Logrunning Game," or at least coming along with Spike?  I also noticed he did not express much anxiety when he saw she was in trouble later on.  The way he acted in "The Sky-color Stones" ep is also bizarre.  One other odd thing is how he seems to have suddenly gotten closer with Chomper than his other friends, despite the fact that he grew up with and became close with his friends and has not shared that same experience with Chomper :blink:.  The TV series has really jacked up his personality, for this kind of behavior is not the Littlefoot we all know <_<.  I really wish Universal would get their act together and bring our pals' personalities back to how they are in the movies.

To me, Cera seems to be the most misunderstood out of the five main characters.  I think many viewers only see her tough exterior and judge her on that rather than try to understand her.  It appears to be in human nature to find fault in others quickly and perceive oneself to be greater than others.  I don't know why such a trait exists, but it gets old after awhile and can be overcome.  Anyhoo, this character is a sweet and compassionate individual.  I just believe she, like Ducky, is aware of her faults and does not want others to see her vulnerability.  As everyone here knows, I like Cera's personality a lot.  She's not another female stereotype or damsel in distress.  She's a strong and independent female, which makes her a rare find in the world of animated films.  

I'll post more later .

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Malte, I don't remember the drowning bit from LBT 9 (haven't seen the movie in ages) but your other examples are from too early in the franchise. I agree, in the earlier movies, he didn't believe this. He didn't have time, and there wasn't enough proof. I'm talking like the 12th movie through the TV series. Since then, he's survived 11 different catastrophes, and none of his mistakes has had any lasting repercussions. That's one hell of a track record for pure chance; I know I'd be curious.

And I included the word "subconsciously" because I don't believe he's exposed it exactly for what it is. He doesn't think,

'Well, because this is a TV show watched by futuristic mammal-things that don't exist yet, I can do whatever I feel like.'

No. It'd be impossible for anyone to truly think that. What I think is, he reasons subconsciously that,

'under normal circumstances, I wouldn't try something like this. But whenever I've done something dangerous in the past, it's always turned out all right. So I'll go ahead.'

Cancerian Tiger, I see you agree with Rat_lady7 on Cera, but you don't give any back-up for your opinion. Why do you believe Cera is a sweet and compassionate individual, who is aware of her faults and does not want others to see her vulnerability?

[Kor]

Littlefoot does almost drown in the 9th movie.  As I recall it is Mo that saves him.  If you want I can look at the movie and tell you the exact minute and seconds when that scene starts.   And he is hurt in the Meadow of Jumping Water when he steps on a ground prickly.  In the Big Longneck Test episode some bubbling fire bubbles up and he jumps back as if he knows he could be burned.   Also he stops right before he would have tried jumping over that pit of bubbling fire.   If he believed he was invulnerable he would have gone ahead and jumped, knowing something would save him.  He does run from the mother fast biter in the tv episode The Great Egg Adventure.  If believed he was invulnerable he would not run, he would just walk away, or just stand there waiting for something to happen to save him.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Both of those cases involve imminent danger, not a time when he'd be debating philosophy. Clark Kent would get out of there too if a velociraptor was bearing down on him.

Again, I believe the knowledge is, to him, an unconscious suspicion, not a full blown solipsistic commandment.