Lexa (The 100)
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Lexa of the Woods Clan (Leksa kom Trikru) |
| Occupation: | Commander of the 13 Clans (Heda, in Trigedasleng) |
| Relationships: | Costia (ex-girlfriend), Clarke Griffin (love interest) |
| Fandom: | The 100 |
| Other: | Portrayed by Alycia Debnam Carey |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Commander Lexa was a reoccurring character in The 100 series. As one of the few lesbian characters on television at the time, Lexa gained a huge following among queer female fans. Her death on the show sparked the "LGBT Fans Deserve Better" fan campaign that spawned widespread outcry about harmful tropes related to queer characters in media, and also spawned the femslash-focused procon ClexaCon.
Canon
Lexa, who first appeared in Season 2[1], is Commander of the Grounders, and was originally a member of the Woods Clan. She is initially in conflict with the Sky People but works with Clarke and her people, to attack the Mount Weather. She is portrayed as a wise and determined leader of her people who struggles to form relationships due to her responsibilities and her position of power.
Lexa betrays Clarke on the eve of their battle with the Mountain people. She does this to save her own people. Clarke later forgives Lexa, allowing the two to become allies again, and later lovers. Lexa is accidentally killed by Titus in Season 3. She returns twice after that, once when her consciousness is summoned by Clarke in the City of Light, and then again in the series finale, when a godlike being takes on her form because she is Clarke's greatest love.
Fandom
In Season 2, The 100 fandom seemed to explode after Clarke and Lexa's onscreen kiss[2]. It's also the first onscreen kiss between two girls.
Shipping
The most popular ship for Lexa is Clarke Griffin/Lexa (Clexa), with fans referring to themselves as Clexakru ("kru" meaning "clan" in the show's conlang). The second most popular pairing being Lexa/Costia, which pairs Lexa with her deceased former lover. Rarepairs include Lexa/Anya, Lexa/Luna and Lexa/Raven Reyes.
There was initially some interest in a threesome relationship of Lexa/Clarke/Bellamy which was offered as a solution to the Bellarke vs Clexa ship war, but was all but abandoned after Lexa was confirmed by the showrunner to be a lesbian.
A large proportion of fics featuring Lexa as a main character are Alternative Universe fics. These include Modern AUs, and possibly due to the age of the fanbase many of these are High School AUs or College AUs. There are also a large number of Canon Divergence AU.
Lexa's Death
- See More: LGBT Fans Deserve Better.
After Lexa was killed in season 3 episode 7, the fandom reaction started an unprecedented national debate about the "bury your gays" trope which garnered lots of media attention.
Lexa's "Return"
- See More: Clarke Griffin/Lexa#Lexa's "Return".
The series finale featured the return of "Lexa" — technically a godlike being who took on Lexa's form because she is Clarke's greatest love.
Alternate Lexas
Following Lexa's death in season 3, her fans embraced alternate versions of the character, namely Chip!Lexa and God!Lexa, mostly as a joke.
Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fanart
- Blood must be paid in blood by heavens-drive
- "Thonbluma ona noda tagon seimwe laik ... Jus drein jus daun." by PapurrCat
- The Arena by PapurrCat
- To War: Commander Lexa by PapurrCat
- Commander Lexa by LucaLeona
- Commander Lexa by alternativejunkie
- Lexa by Samanthadoodles
- May We Meet Again by MoishPain
- Waiting for Clarke to get to the City of Light... by critter-of-habit
Vids
Meta
- Commander Lexa: There Was Never Any Weakness in You by Choi.
- Yu gonplei nou ste odon: An Analysis of Lexa's Character from "The 100" (in Portuguese), thesis by Bárbara Kelly Leão Coelho Dias de Andrade and Bruna Cecilia Serafini Chan Vianna, University of Brasília (2017).
Links & Resources
- Lexa works at FFN
- Lexa works at AO3
- Commander Lexa tagged works at Tumblr
- Lexa at The 100 Wiki
References
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