The Mortal Instruments: Books vs. TV Series vs. Movie - Part One: Main Characters

By: Aplentyofsenseinnonsense (edited by: Bookperson876 & Crystal J. F.)

Cover art by: Aelin Shadowhunter

Disclaimer: this is not meant to be critical towards the actors; they did a good job. It is just a comparison of the adaptations themselves with the book series.

1. Clary Fray:

(Fanart of Clary by @taratjah on Tumblr)

In the books - Clary is described as being a stubborn little red-head with green eyes. When she turned 16, her mother was kidnapped by Valentine Morgenstern and she found out that she is a Shadowhunter. With the help of her new friends, Jace, Izzy and Alec, plus her childhood friend Simon Lewis, she tries to find her mom. An important typical feature of Clary is her small size (just a bit over five feet tall).

Movie:

I think Lily Collins played her role really well, but as I watched the movie, there were some critical points I have to mention:

1. Book Clary has curly red hair. Movie Clary - nope. Her hair tone in the movie is more of a brown than a red. This is one very true point that explains why a movie will never be the book.

2. As written before, Clary in the books isn't very tall. She is around one head shorter than her boyfriend Jace and his adoptive siblings Isabelle and Alec. Her Mundane best friend Simon is taller than her too. The group image above is of them at Magnus's party in the movie. As you can see, Clary is taller than the Lightwood siblings (who in the books are described as the tallest of the group) plus, Simon is also about the same height as her.

3. Clary's age in the books is 16. She is a very young character and the others are about a half to 2 years older than her. In the movie she is 18 and no longer underage which is something that plays a role in the books.

4. Movie Clary is very smart. She connects the clues in her new world and adapts to it. All at once she can draw runes, fight and deal with portals. Clary from the books needs a longer time to get used to everything. For example, she only recognizes her runic ability in the second book.
   

TV Show:

Katherine McNamara is a great actor, but she'll never be my Clary.

Here are my reasons:

1. Her hair was orange, but later it became lighter and lighter until it became a shade of blonde.

2. Like the Movie Clary, TV Show Clary is much older than the Book Clary. Again she starts off at 18 and in this case ends the series in her 20s.

3. Clary's Character: Clary in the TV show is much more confident and does things that she wouldn't do in the books. This is not the fault of the actor. It was just a stupid script mistake. It seems like Freeform wanted to make "Shadowhunters" full of action and with creepier plot twists. A good example of this is the fact that Clary joined her evil brother Jonathan and fights against her friends. She even fights Jace, to whom she has a deep binding to in the books.

2. Jace Herondale

(Jace as pictured by Cassandra Jean in the 10th anniversary edition of City of Bones)

In the books, Jace is often described as amazing physically. He has pale gold eyes, flowing golden hair with an overall perfect appearance. Clary compares him when she first sees him with a lion. Jace often jokes about his looks, which especially annoys Simon. Nevertheless, he always stands up for his friends. A weak point of Jace is that of his relationship with his father. Jace has 2 adoptive fathers (Valentine Morgenstern and Robert Lightwood) and a dead biological father (Stephen Herondale).

Movie:

Jaime Campbell Bower really looks like Jace. It is impossible to find someone with golden eyes, so that is not the producers fault.

However, these are some examples of how the movie isn't like the books:

1. In the "City of Bones" (movie), Jace is an empathetic person. He helps Clary find her mother and consoles her (visible among other things in the ruined house of the Frays). His book counterpart on the other hand is rather mysterious. In the beginning he seems cold, even repellent. Only later does he become a more empathetic character.

2. Also, the relationship between Jace and his "father" Valentine was changed. In the books, Jace was always loyal to Valentine. It is only when he finds out what his adoptive father did in the past, that his admiration wavers. At the end of the first book, Jace does not join Valentine, but he did not have the courage to kill him. In the film however, the finale was an action-packed battle scene between the two, which was meaningless for book fans.
   

TV Show:

There are so many things I would have changed about Jace Herondale (as portrayed by Dominic Sherwood) in this show, but then this would be an endless list. So I won't mention things like his look or age. These are the things that bothered me the most:

1. Clace: In the books, it was like an endless black hole when you found out that Clary and Jace are siblings; Valentine dragged it out to make it hurt. Not in the show. The whole exchange was over in 2 minutes; just "oh you're siblings. Bye now" and that was it. After that, they still acted like they were dating — I know there were some gross scenes in the books too but still. And then when they realized they weren't related, he stabbed Clary with a dagger. Several times. Not cool.

2. Since when did Jace join Valentine and believe everything he said? That's the other extreme mistake the show made with Jace and Valentine. The Jace I know never would have stepped through that Portal.

3. Simon Lewis

(Drawing of Simon by Cassandra Jean from The Shadowhunter's Codex)

Simon is Clary's clumsy Mundane friend. He has a huge crush on Clary which he has had for ten years and plays in his bad band (they all really shouldn't be musicians). As a nerd, he likes playing D&D in his free time. The only reason why he gets dragged into the Shadow World is Clary. In the second book he gets turned into a vampire by Raphael Santiago. Later on, he became a daylighter.

Movie:

For Robert Sheehan as Simon, I don't have many bad points. He acted very well and really showed Simon's character. The only main differences I noticed are:

1. His hair. Who came up with the idea to give Simon curls? Why can't the actors have matching hair?

2. Book Simon didn't loosing his shirt at the Hotel Dumort.

TV Show:

This isn't meant to hate on Alberto Rosende (I could listen to "Fragile World" every day) but there are some differences to the book Simon:

1. Only in the second book (City of Ashes) is Simon transformed into a vampire. This is so destructive of the story, it seems that the show just wanted to be action-rich.

2. Also added on the show is Simon's relationship with Maureen Brown. In the books, Maureen was 3 to 4 years younger than Simon, loved pink and glitter and had a crush on him. Simon, on the other hand, never took her seriously, until she was Turned.

3. Raphael Santiago's blood turned Simon into a vampire. In the Show, it was Camille. The show made her more important than she truly was.

4. Book Simon can't sing, TV Simon can.

4. Isabelle Lightwood

In the books, at first you think Isabelle is the typical I-know-that-I-am-pretty girl. Later you find out that she isn't really like that and why she behaves that way — Isabelle is scared to be hurt. Izzy is still a strong, great and loyal female character and she is always there for her siblings.

Movie:

Jemima West will never be Isabelle for these reasons:

1. Lets talk about her eyes. Are they yellow-white? Book Izzy is known for her dark nearly black eyes. (The movie mostly sucks with eyes.)

2. Her hair is brown and not black like Izzy's.

3. They made her not really important. I felt like I saw her 3 times: - When she whips the Demon boy at the Pandemonium club - When she tells Jace that he just cares about Clary - When she fights at the Institute with fire against the demons. And none of these scenes were like these in the book.

TV Show:

Emeraude Toubia really can't be compared with Book Izzy. I mean they look the same but there are some things that they changed so badly:

1. Izzy's dresses. They just way shorter than the things Book Izzy wears.

2. She is in more deeper relationships that really don't make sense and are unnecessary for the plot.

3. Also, the way she acts. Izzy in the TV show acts like a super model that forgot her shirt and is feeling like a queen. A good example is her introduction to Simon. Her whole character is more bitchy than in the books.

I know the show did some good things, but what they made of Izzy isn't Isabelle Sophia Lightwood.

5. Alec Lightwood:

(Alec's flower card by Cassandra Jean)

At the start of the series, I thought that Alec was a total asshole. Later on, he became my favorite character. Alec is a gay Shadowhunter with homophobic parents. That is why he always tried to hide the fact that he had a crush on Jace.

He came out in City of Glass when he kisses Magnus in the Hall of Accords, in front of nearly the whole Shadow World. In the following three books, he and Magnus are in a relationship, despite those who don't accept them.

Movie:

Maybe this is just me but every time I see the movie versions of Alec (Kevin Zegers) and Izzy, I question the producers. Here's just some of the reasons why:

1. The same mistake that they made with Izzy: the Lightwood siblings' do not have light-hazel eyes. Alec's eyes are blue!

2. You can't see the reasons to Alec's actions. He is just there and he hates everything. In the books, you can find reasons why people (not just Alec) are doing the things they do — that is something the movie really should have worked on better.

3. Like Izzy, he is only important in 2 or 3 scenes. I wouldn't think that he is a main character.
   

TV Show:

After I saw the other characters on the show, I wanted to see what they made of Alec (played by Matthew Daddario). There were really low expectations from my side; I was positively surprised though. They did a great job for the show's standard characters. Sure he wasn't perfectly characterized, but that isn't too dramatic.

My only critical point is that they made this whole sub-plot up that showed Alec planning to live a lie with a fake marriage. It just doesn't fit. Also, who is Lydia? The arranged marriage ended up great for Malec shippers, it was just awful to show it. It was like the producers decided the needed something interesting and said "let's make the opposite of what Malec should be."

6. Magnus Bane

(Magnus's flower card by Cassandra Jean)

Magnus Bane is an approximately 400 year old warlock, who lives in an apartment with his cat, Chairman Meow.

Jocelyn Fray paid him to take away Clary's memories/visions of the Shadow World. That's why the group that consisted of Jace, Clary, Alec, and Izzy searched for him in City of Bones. Later on, they often needed his magical skills for healing and such. In the third book, Magnus became the boyfriend of Alec Lightwood. His warlock mark is his cat eyes and he doesn't often like talking about his past. Otherwise he is a funny and glittery character.

Movie:

First I'd like to say: Ave Atque Vale, hail and farewell, actor Godfrey Gao.

Back to the comparison. It is hard to compare a character that had about 10 minutes in the movie and only a few pages in the first book. I think the movie couldn't bring him in more and it' became impossible for a great characterization.

TV Show:

There are some little (and big) mistakes they made with Magnus's character (as portrayed by Harry Shum Jr) :

1. The cat eyes: Magnus doesn't show them only Alec sees them later. It is sad that the show did this, because it was one of his distinct features in the books.

2. The team up with the Seelie Queen: Can you remember the scene where Magnus agreed to join the Queen and defeat Valentine and all the Shadowhunters in the books? You can't, it falls under the category "plots the show made up."

3. His relationships: In the books he had lots of relationships in the past, but not A LOT. Somewhere in the books he says he's had about 1500 to 2000 (remember he is over 400 years old). In the show he mentions about 17000 and that is just impossible, plus he met Alec 50 years after Etta died.
   

So in conclusion, I would say that the books will always be my favorite. The show and movie both have many differences and issues that could have been made better. The show changed the characters to better fit how they changed the plot line and the movie just made the characters be good or bad with no reason behind it. It is hard to make quality TV/movie content on a similar level to a wonderful book. I hope you can understand why you should always read the books.