Switching Titles:
Lucinda Price (Fallen) and Bella Swan (Twilight)
To officially commemorate our Switching Titles series, I thought it would be fun to theorize about two of the worst female protagonists in the history of fantasy fiction. Firstly, I would like to point out that Fallen and Twilight are practically the same book: they both have boring, dull female protagonists, they both have the same exact plot (just switch vampires with fallen angels), and they both have horrible, irritating male leads with whom our female characters inevitably fall in love with (for no reason at all). With that said, I decided that it would only be appropriate to switch these two female leads and consider whether or not their respective novels would be any better, or any worse, compared to what they are now.
To begin, I decided to offer a brief characterization of both Luce and Bella to highlight just how similar they are. For example, forcing yourself to read Luce and Bella’s inner-thoughts will demonstrate their utter lack of shame or self-worth. Why? Because they’re constantly willing to throw themselves at their male leads, despite the fact that said male lead does his absolute best to discourage their advances (*sigh*). Moreover, our two female leads are described as incredibly smart (like, they get good grades somehow), but are also presented as immensely stupid. I mean, they always manage to make the worst decisions which inevitably lands them in some sort of trouble that requires the male lead to jump in and save the day. Let’s also consider the fact that both of these characters are mind-boggling boring. What goes on in their minds? Nothing, I suppose, other than their “boy troubles.”
Here are some Luce quotes to prove my point:
- “She felt flattered- and nervous, then frustrated with herself.”
- “As soon as her eyes found him, it was hard to look anywhere else. Which didn’t make sense, because a gorgeous and friendly guy was standing right behind her, asking her what she’d like to drink.”
- “All she knew was the effect it had on her. Everyone else in the room went out of focus and she melted.”
- “He was so perfect, and helpful, and exactly what she should have needed right now. It was just…he wasn’t Daniel.”
I’m sorry that these quotes were mostly about the gorgeous and wonderful (sarcasm intended) Daniel Grigori, but that’s literally all Luce thinks about.
Now, enjoy these very similar Bella quotes:
- “It was to Forks that I now exiled myself- an action I took with great horror. I detested Forks.”
- “If I was being honest with myself, I knew I was eager to get to school because I would see Edward Cullen. And that was very, very stupid”
- “Edward Cullen didn’t come back to school. Everyday, I watched anxiously until the rest of the Cullens had entered the cafeteria without him.”
- “I was surprised he would remember the name; I’d mentioned it just once, almost two months ago.”
- “And what was my other choice–to cut him out of my life? Intolerable. Besides, since I’d come to Forks, it really seemed like my life was about him.”
Anyway, do you see the similarities?
To resume our discussion, let’s proceed to swap our titular characters. Because, honestly, would there be any difference? Actually, Lucinda Price in the Twilight Universe would be a real riot because Edward is actually slightly less rude than Daniel. You see, Edward seems to forget his innate hatred much quicker than Daniel who insisted on maintaining his anger for the entire length of Fallen. Moreover, I feel like Lucinda would have immediately cut Jacob out of her life in a similar way she did to Cam. Perhaps we would have been saved from having to endure a preposterous love triangle for three novels if Lucinda had been the main character of Twilight. She would have been far more obsessed with Edward than even Bella was (and that’s saying a lot). I mean, literally, Lucinda is borderline creepy with her stalker tendencies.
On the other hand, if Bella had been the main protagonist of Fallen, I think the entirely one-sided love triangle with Cam and Daniel would have, at least, been more entertaining. With Lucinda, I never once believed in the possibility of Cam somehow winning her affections. At least Bella cared about Jacob. I’m pretty sure Lucinda just entertained Cam because the author demanded her to do so. In my opinion, Cam was a far superior character in comparison to both Lucinda and Daniel. Thus, perhaps if Bella had been in the position to pursue Cam, we might have actually genuinely believed they would have had a chance to be together. After all, Daniel is, by far, the biggest asshole in either book series. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that Daniel is even worse than the Volturi simply because he has a terrible personality, rotten attitude, and poor sense of judgment.
*sigh*
And full disclosure, I actually never finished the Fallen series, so I have no idea what happens to Lucinda and Daniel. I did finish the Twilight series (curse my middle school years) with incredible patience. Therefore, I can’t actually be in an objective position when considering what might have happened to Bella beyond the first Fallen novel. I will say that I vastly prefer Bella as a character simply because Lucinda has a darker past (I mean, she killed her previous boyfriend). Needless to say, I think Bella might have made Fallen a bit better, if only a little, simply by virtue of being inherently good. Yes, she might be boring and tedious, but she never sets out to hurt anybody. Just look at all those stupid, selfless decisions she made!
In conclusion, I think Fallen would have actually benefited from a Bella Swan character (as much as that hurts to write). I think Bella would have been slightly less aggravating when it came to pursuing Daniel (because Bella might have appreciated Cam’s humor). And if the author insists on having a love triangle, it would have been much better with Bella in the middle of Cam and Daniel.
Moreover, Lucinda would have immediately destroyed the age-old conflict of whether or not Jacob or Edward was a superior choice. Why? Because Lucinda only likes guys who are extremely rude to her. Jacob was nothing short of heroic in the novel (let’s be honest), so Lucinda would have never considered him. Goodbye, convoluted love triangle. Finally, Lucinda might have actually been the perfect inclusion to make Twilight a standalone novel! After all, without that ridiculous love triangle, how could there have been three more books?! Problem solved!
