Minerva, Shasta, Delia, & Juanita-The Four Girls of a Clique who refuse the television clique stereotype

Back in late 2018, I created four female characters for my Cartoon MARYLANDIA. Throughout 2019 and later 2020, I was in the process of fleshing them out.

These four would later be referred to as:

Minerva Ashei Lysander

Shasta Jenner Burkeville

Delia Schulman Inverness

&

Juanita Castro Moreno

But there's a reason for me creating these four girls in the first place. It's actually me venting my frustration with this thing I keep seeing on 90s and 2000s television cartoons and anime where they had these group of four girls in a clique who's only role is to antagonize the protagonists.

TV TROPES has a title for these kinds of characters: ALPHA BITCHES.

Ugh.... it absolutely pains me every time that this kind of character gets written into animation and comics. What's the deal with writers and artists who put that kind of personality into such characters. 

Whether it be the Ashley's from Disney's Recess

 

or the Sixth Grade Girls from HEY ARNOLD

Phoebe's not amused by the this kind of clique stereotype

Part of the problem with this kind of characterization of Cliques is that they only have one personality: BITCHY. They are the paradigm of non-malicious villainy and upping their social status. 

Did I mention they almost have no personality except for the aforementioned one above? 

Sometimes you can break it up and give these kinds of characters more personality compared to what television standardizes for these kinds of characters but it's not frequent all the time which is the problem.

Sometimes due to conventions in screenwriting, it's either hard to make these characters likeable vs making them chew toy foil.

I can't tell you how many times I get pissed off when I see characters like Tammy Larson from BOB'S BURGERS or Britney Wong from STAR VS. THE FORCES OF EVIL acting like the entitled bitches they are in these shows....

But what I do find funny is how these characters actually suffer the brunt of their actions. Even in animation, you can't escape from consequences.

Then we have characters who are still Bitchy in personality at first but at least the writers and artists go out of their way to actually make them likeable and give them the much need personality they need.

These Include Amity Blight from THE OWL HOUSE

Saki Tenjoin from TO LOVE RU

She's the one with Blond hair in case you're wondering.

And of course Beebe Bluff from DOUG (Both Nickelodeon and Disney)

Thank balls for my AMAZON Complete Nickelodeon Series DVD that I have a clear screenshot of Miss Beebe Bluff here.

So yeah, my frustrations were indeed real so when I created the four girls in my cartoon, I needed to humanize them so they are actual characters with actual individual personalities, not the single shared personality you see so frequently in animation.

That meant diversifying the character's personalities, traits, likes and dislikes, etc.

So for example:

Minerva is the leader so naturally, she has the bitchy personality you find in animation. I had no choice but to portray Minerva like this but how does one flesh out her personality?

Give her a tragic Backstory.

Minerva's beef is due to an issue with the mafia, them bastards. She lost her parents but never fear, she's catholic so she was assigned a War Veteran to be her Godfather. Part of Minerva's personality is due to her mafia roots, the loss of parents, and the need to look tough. Then Hayden came along.

Shasta, the residential black princess of Clairemount, has it all. She's rich due to her father's job as a judge for the supreme court but she's not happy about her wealth. On top of that, Shasta is frusturated with her father putting more time towards her brother's future career.

 She is totally in love with Hayden. 

She is one of the nicest characters in the series.

Delia Inverness is the brainiac of the clique. She's smart and knows her way through things like politics, strategies, life, computers, etc.

She can be snarky however.

And then there's Juanita Moreno.

She's a mysterious one indeed. She's Half-Mexican, just like me.

But for some reason, Juanita's hiding something. Also, she's manipulative. She's almost as manipulative as George Costanza.

Yes, I approve of inspiration.

Anyway, you get the gist of how I created these characters. I aim for creating characters who are wholesome in personality instead of shared like you see in so many cliques portrayed in media.

We need more wholesome Single Personalities in Animation.

Oh Ho Ho Ho Ho.... I think you're right Maverick-San. I think you're right. We all should have hearts of gold... metaphorically speaking.

Thank you Saki... You know what will make things much better for me? 

TOTAL CREATIVE CONTROL!!!

If in the event that Marylandia is picked up as a TV series or a NETFLIX, HULU, MAX, PEACOCK, PARAMOUNT+, or AMAZON original series, I demand creative control on these characters so their personalities don't spiral out of my control.

It would be tragic if the one thing in Clique Character personality I crusaded against is ever enforced by the writers into my CLIQUE characters.