Top 10 Differences Between The 100 Books & TV Series

Top 10 Differences Between The 100 Books & TV Series

It was life-or-death for these plot points, and some just didn’t make it. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Differences Between “The 100” Books and the TV Series.

For this list, we're looking at the most noteworthy events and characters left out, added or changed for the TV adaptation. Since we’ll be going over the plots of both the novels and series, we’re instating a spoiler alert from here on in.

#10: Clarke's Parents

Clarke’s relationship with her parents is a sore point in both the books and show. In the show, only Clarke’s mother remains alive, having ratted out her father for treason - a source of ongoing conflict between mother and daughter. But in the source material, both her parents were apparently executed, after the Vice Chancellor forced them to conduct illegal radiation experiments on children. We later learn in the book that Jaha Senior actually had them surreptitiously transported down to Earth, and that both are alive and well.

#9: Mount Weather: Friend or Foe?

Holed up in Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center, a few humans survived the nuclear apocalypse that takes place before the series begins, and in the books, these “Earthborn” actually protect the 100 from a hostile renegade faction. With help from Clarke and company, the Mount Weatherites then defend themselves against the real villain - Vice Chancellor Rhodes, who was likely the basis of the characters Marcus Kane and Charles Pike in the adaptation. But the TV series turns this all on its head. Unable to leave Mount Weather due to radiation outside, the “Earthborn” survivors hold the 100 prisoner in an attempt to harvest their radiation-resistant bone marrow in gruesome experiments.

#8: New Characters

Fans of the show who haven’t read the books might be surprised to learn that pivotal characters Raven, Finn, Murphy, Jasper and Monty are all unique to the TV series. In some cases, elements of their roles or personalities are based on characters found in the novels. For example, Lincoln, another original character, replaces an Earthborn girl from the books called Sasha, who, like him, forms a relationship with one of the 100. Lexa, on the other hand, the badass Grounder commander who has a all-too-brief relationship with Clarke, wasn’t in the books at all - but still managed to make a huge impact with viewers.

#7: Octavia's Past

In both the books and the show, Octavia is an illegal second child who grows up hidden by the family. But in the books, it gets a whole lot darker. Fearing execution, her own mother tries to strangle her to death, then commits suicide, while the traumatized Octavia becomes addicted to sleeping pills in an orphanage. The bond between Octavia and her brother Bellamy is still just as strong, but tested when she steals medicine from camp supplies. Oh, also, she’s fourteen years old, so the whole “leaving innocence behind with sexy swims and sex with muscle-bound warriors” is not a thing.

#6: Missing in Action

Some notable characters didn’t make it from page to screen. The action of the books is told through the eyes of four main point-of-view characters: Clarke, Wells, Bellamy . . . and Glass, a delinquent who escapes the dropship that sends the 100 to Earth. Glass provides perspective on events in the space colony throughout the first and second books, but is missing from the show, as is her love interest Luke, Clarke’s best friend Thalia, and thugs Graham and Asher. To an extent, Raven takes over from Glass and Luke, remaining on the Ark for a few episodes after the launch of the dropship, and possessing Luke’s mechanical expertise.

#5: The Many Faces of Bellamy Blake

In the show, Bellamy is an ambivalent character, whose pragmatic and ruthless actions are sometimes an asset to the 100, but at other times lead him down dark (and bloody) roads. His human side comes through primarily in his dedication to his sister, Octavia. But in the books, although Bellamy is still hot-headed, he’s also a more sympathetic character, and even a bit of ladies’ man. In fact, he’s part of a love triangle involving himself, Wells - who turns out to be his half-brother - and Clarke. Yep, Bellarke is a real thing.

#4: Wells Is Still Alive

Wells is a main character throughout the novels, as well as leader of the 100 and Clarke’s on-again off-again beau in the first book. He and Clarke dated up in the space colony before Wells’ actions led to her parents’ supposed execution. He then sabotaged the whole space station to save Clarke from the same fate. In other words, Wells is an important character; so readers of the books were pretty shocked when he was killed off in the show’s third episode - leaving Clarke and Bellamy to fill his shoes as leaders, and Octavia rather than Wells to get all romantic with the 100's Grounder prisoner.

#3: A.L.I.E. & the City of Light

A.L.I.E., the artificial intelligence responsible for the nuclear armageddon that scoured the Earth, is the archvillain of season three. But she’s actually doesn't appear in the books at all. Working through erstwhile Chancellor and now fanatic disciple Thelonius Jaha, A.L.I.E. seeks to induct the survivors into a virtual world to wait out a second nuclear disaster. She confronts Clarke and company with a difficult choice: a painless life of peace and pleasure inside a shared simulation, or the freedom to experience suffering too - the right to be unhappy and to make mistakes in the real world.

#2: The War Between Grounders & Sky People

The conflict between the survivors of the Ark and the earthborn Grounders is one of the driving conflicts of the show. It allows the series to dramatize familiar themes relating to colonialism, discrimination, and how fear can fan hostilities and encourage the rise of despots. While this is also seen in the books, when a renegade faction of Earthborn attacks the 100, and the Colonists turn on the survivors in Mount Weather, the war between the Colonists and the Grounders takes on a more central role in the adaptation, providing space for new plotlines and characters and fleshing out the post-apocalyptic world of the series.

#1: Clarke Griffin

In the show, Clarke is the clear protagonist of the series, a fearless heroine and leader of the 100. This is actually an upgrade from the books, where she’s one of four main characters, and takes on less of a leadership role. Her early love interests include Wells rather than Finn, and both her parents are still alive. In focusing more on Clarke, the adaptation is able to follow her journey through a post-apocalyptic world with more detail and breadth, and just make her generally more badass. She also has relationships with women as well as men, making her the first bisexual main character on the CW Television Network.