User blog:Heatherfan343/Total Drama: Review of the Casts

The Total Drama Franchise
Since Total Drama Island we have been following the stories, drama, conflicts, and relationships of 52 total contestants competing for the chance to win some monster cash. Total Drama Island brought us the classic 22 players who would serve as the base of the first 3 seasons including an additional 3 faces, later added to the original cast. In 2011, we returned to Camp Wawanakwa to be greeted to 13 brand new contestants each with their own interesting and unique personalities separate from that of the original 25. Only a season later (production season) that is we are given another brand new cast of complete misfits, 14 of them to be exact. So what makes each of these sets of contestants interesting and how are they unique from one another? Who are clearly the major players and the minor characters who simply serve as fodder? How could each of these casts be summed up? Well let's check that out now. Feel free to comment below with your own personal opinions.

The Originals


The original 25 (including the 3 newcomers to Total Drama World Tour) served as the basis for the first 3 seasons of Total Drama and included some returners for the fifth season of the series as well. This cast had a very unqiue and relatable set of competitiors. While each of them tended to play their stereotypical role or label that was assigned to them very well, this cast by far had the most amount of development. This fact mostly stems from the fact that this cast in particular was simply given more seasons to develop than the other two. Also this is by far the largest cast totaling out to 25 competitors. Characters such as Heather for example went from playing the stuck up queen bee antagonist to becoming the anti-hero in World Tour that everyone was rooting for. She managed to go from a completely unlikeable person to someone who doesn't mind being viewed as the hero in some situations. For me personally the females of this cast are much more likable for me personally with many fan favorites including Leshawna, Gwen , Heather, Lindsay , Sierra , Courtney , Izzy , etc. The males of this cast for me personally have some of the least amount of character development and the small amount that do typically at most have appeared in two seasons.

I would argue that characters like Owen never really developed too much from their original personalities, consistently maintaing their original attitude throughout the series, which may be good or bad. Duncan for example tended to serve as a severely bland character, not bland as in not interesting, but bland as in we knew what we could expect from Duncan every single episode. Sure he had the "nice side" of him which was taken to the extreme in All-Stars but in all respect Duncan is a villain and the classic bully. Some good development was certainly given to Harold in Action and Cody in World Tour. Overall, the males for me were never as memorable as the females in this cast but some may think otherwise.

Getting down to it this cast can easily be described as the "Classic Total Drama Cast" because its the cast that many of us grew to love throughout the entire franchise.

Seasons Appeared: Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, Total Drama World Tour, Total Drama Revenge of the Island (Cameos), Total Drama All-Stars, Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race.

The Primary Characters: Alejandro, Courtney, Duncan, Gwen, Heather, Lindsay, Owen, Sierra

The Secondary Characters: Beth, Bridgette, Cody, DJ, Geoff, Harold, Izzy, Leshawna, Trent

Minor Characters: Blaineley, Eva, Ezekiel, Justin, Katie, Noah, Sadie, Tyler

The Finalists: Owen and Gwen, Beth and Duncan, Heather and Alejandro

Revenge of the Island Cast
Total Drama Revenge of the Island introduced the fans to 13 brand new contestats to the show to freshen some things up from the constant screen time that the orginal cast got from seasons one to three. The fourth season cast was by far the smallest cast with one less competitor than that of the third generation. The cast has a mixed record for me, mainly in the fact that some of the characters were quite bland or it may be due to the fact that this cast really only got one season to develop. Only seven of these 13 would return for All-Stars but that is not enough time to allow some of the others to be given more development that they may need. This cast began a trend of taking most of the relatability out of the equation. Many of these characters were given a stereotype and for the most part they stuck to it consistently throughout the seasons that they appeared. Some cast members that recieved good development included characters like Cameron who went from being scared of everything to a character who was willing to never give up in any situation. Others like Dakota, went from being self-absorbed to realizing that friendships and looks are not everything.

It is clear that the males characters dominate this cast as the females tend to get the least amount of development and screen time, not to mention the fact that the females in this cast are outnumbered 6 to 7 and four of them are voted out even before the merge occurs. The males clearly dominated with memorable characters such as Brick, Sam, Mike, Cameron, Lightning, and Scott. Personally for me, I tended to like the female characters a tad bit more than the males, but overall this cast can be a hit or a miss for people. I hope to see many of those who were voted out early to come back for a redemption type season or an all-stars redo or something like that.

Getting down to it I would describe this cast as the "Fresh Start Cast" as they breathed life back into the series by adding a little bit of seasoning to the diversity of the already growing number of Total Drama contestants.

Seasons Appeared: Total Drama Revenge of the Island, Total Drama All-Stars, Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race (Cameo Appearance from Anne Mara)

The Primary Characters: Cameron, Jo, Lightning, Mike, Scott, Zoey

The Secondary Characters: Anne Maria, Brick, Dakota, Sam

The Minor Characters: B, Dawn, Staci

The Finalists: Cameron and Lightning, Mike and Zoey

Pahkitew Island Cast
The second half of season five (production) or as some call it season six (in universe) brought together another band of new contestants to compete for the chance to win one million dollars. This cast featured a total of 14 individuals who by far have to be the most quirkiest group of contestants Total Drama has ever seen. The Pahkitew Island cast did bring some fresh laughs and new faces, however the stereotypes and actions of the cast members were sometimes outrageous and almost unrealistic. It is interesting to see how we have gone from characters like Heather to the totally unrealistic characters such as Max. However, that is not to say that this cast is horrible, this cast was interesting and that is what Pahkitew Island was as well. The cast reflected to the odd nature of the island itself and there were some memorable characters with some good development. However, like the Revenge of the Island Cast, the Pahkitew Island cast can also be a hit or a miss for many fans of Total Drama. The second half of season five was a huge relief from Total Drama All-Stars and so the season did provide more hope that the franchise isn't completely going downhill.

This season had both an equal amount of males and females, but unlike the Revenge of the Island Cast, the females of this cast were clearly the stars. Many of the males in this cast were not the most memorable, most of them serving as throw away characters for early eliminations. The females on the other hand were the ones that were much more likable and had much more development and character story arcs. Of course, the likability for this cast may be so low now as this group has only really had one chance to be given some development. I am sure it would be awesome to see not all but some of these characters return for a redemption season or for another all-star season of Total Drama.

Getting down to it I would describe this cast as the "Complete Oddballs Cast" because of the cast's many odd and often extreme personalities including LARPers, fairytale princesses, and just plain old weirdos.

Seasons Appeared: Total Drama Pahkitew Island, Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race

The Primary Characters: Dave, Jasmine, Shawn, Sky, Sugar, Max, Scarlett

The Secondary Characters: Ella, Samey, Topher, Amy

The Minor Characters: Beardo, Leonard, Rodney

The Finalists: Sky and Shawn