Okay, so I'm slow!
Here we go:
Cera's character has changed a fair amount throughout the series. I attribute this mainly to the change in directors between LBT 4 and 5. Whether or not this change is for the better seems to be under debate.
In LBT 1, we see Cera for the first time when she is hatching (see Pokeplayer's avatar
). As a hatchling, Cera behaves in a way that I accept completely; we see her repeat her father's words to Littlefoot when he wants to play: "Threehorns never play with longnecks!"
Progressively through LBT 1, Cera tries to both develop and show off her independence on others. We begin to see a side of her where she feels, vulnerable, mortal, perhaps even a little bit outcast, when she wakes up in the middle of the night to see the rest of the Gang huddling together in a nearby footprint, some distance from her. Cera is willing to be sensitive and internally strong enough to approach her friends, who let her in with welcome arms (literally).
Cera outcast herself in previous scenes, when she chose not to take part in the gathering of leaves from the tall tree. I say "outcast" because she isolated herself from the gang's activities on purpose, in order to prove her abilites to survive by herself. I think she was trying to prove this to both her friends, and to herself.
That being said, Cera seems to be the kind of character who likes to learn by trial and error, or "learn by doing". She wanted to experience independence without completely thinking of the consequences of doing so. In the case of LBT 1, these consequences were that she was willing to make certain social sacrifices. Perhaps she Did think of it, and perhaps Cera, as a hatchling, wasn't comfortable being sociable with other species. This, in combination with Cera's wanting to show her intependence, resulted in a character who ultimately learned that she still had some growing up to do.
Cera made some interesting decisions in LBT 1; some of them good, some of them poor. She chose to take the wrong path in the brambles early in the film, where Sharptooth immediate caught up them. However we don't know where the other path led so we can't judge this to be a definitely good or poor decision.
The scene where Cera headbutts the downed Sharptooth demonstrates a trait of Cera that could be considered egocentric. After all, she is demonstrating that she is superior by kicking her 'enemy' when he's down; walking all over him, so to speak. She acted in a similar manner when she was angry with Littlefoot when the Great Valley wasn't over the cliff.
Generally, Cera felt that she had every right to express herself when she felt superior to her opponent, either by sticking her tongue out at it, hitting it, laughing at it, walking over it, or plowing through it.
Cera's character was a complex arrangement of elements, many of which were clearly demonstrated throughout the first film. The audience observed a character who was attention-seeking (ex. "I was all alone with him in the dark, just the Sharptooth and me..."), yet self-isolating (ex. "I can get my own green food"). Her pride and desire to be right was one of her top priorities externally, but her internal desires were simply to be accepted and safe(ex. when she went the 'wrong way' she felt as though she had lost the respect of her friends, and became depressed. Another ex. The sharptooth footprint sleeping scene).
We see quite a bit of Cera's growth in LBT 1. As a hatchling, Cera wanted to show off her abilities to survive on her own, and more importantly (to her), demonstrate her superiority over longnecks. I suppose her liking of longnecks didn't improve much when the herd of longnecks gobbled down nearly all of the food at the small grove of trees they found.
: By the end of the film, Cera was concerned about more mature matters, such as her relationship with her friends and working together to reach the Great Valley, not to mention celebrating it together when they finally made it. I don't expect Cera to be extremely mature at this point in the series, but her growth and her family (ie. being a threehorn) makes her a very promising and potentially character in the future,
By the end of LBT 1, Cera certainly has respect for various species, and I suspect she learns more respect for them by spending time in the Valley, between LBT 1 and 2.
Regarding continuity, LBT 2, 3 and 4 seem to continue the basic traits of Cera from LBT 1 quite nicely overall.
I will continue this topic shortly but I have to go to bed.
