Cera

Cera (also known as Sweet but Strong-willed Cera or simply strong-willed Cera), is the deuteragonist and primary female character in The Land Before Time franchise. She is also the secondary antagonist of The Land Before Time. She was voiced by Candace Hutson from The Land Before Time to Journey Through the Mists, after which her voice was provided by Anndi McAfee. She is a Triceratops, which is known as a "Threehorn" to the characters in the franchise. Cera's most recognizable trait is her bossy, skeptical and proud demeanor, which covers up her caring and sensitive side. As seen in The Wisdom of Friends and the television series, Cera can also have a fun-loving side if given proper stimulus first, the yellow bellies admiring her horn in the case of The Wisdom of Friends and Tria's secret mud pools in the case of the television series.

She has a father named Daddy Topps, whose personality is quite similar to hers, but much more severe. In fact, it is very likely that she learned her gruff, stubborn, bossy, and sometimes just plain mean side from her father. Her biological mother has not been seen since the original movie, but as of the eleventh installment, Invasion of the Tinysauruses, she has a stepmother named Tria. She also has numerous siblings, but the only prominent one is her half-sister, Tricia, the daughter of Tria and Daddy Topps. Cera is friends with the other six main characters of the franchise: Littlefoot, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Chomper, and Ruby (that are Cera's friends), although her strongest friendships appear to be with Littlefoot and Ducky. In most instances in which the main characters are listed in order, she is placed second, after Littlefoot.

The character has come under a comfortable public reception, and has spawned plenty of merchandise, along with being mentioned in many other media. Similarly to the character Ducky, there has been confusion over Cera's species, although it has not been labelled incorrectly as often as Ducky's. The spelling of her name, however, has suffered from much more dispute. She is most commonly mistaken to be a Monoclonius, while her name is frequently mistaken to be spelled as "Sarah".

Trivia

 * Cera is five years old at the time of the first movie.
 * Cera has appeared in all of the movies so far, and in all but one episode of the TV series's first season. The only story to-date in which she hasn't appeared is "The Great Egg Adventure", because she is at the mud pools with Ruby and Spike, instead of being off on the adventure with Littlefoot, Ducky, Petrie, Chomper and Hyp, Mutt and Nod.
 * Plothole: Cera claims to be the oldest of the gang in The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island, even though Ducky was shown to be born first, in The Land Before Time. Further, Cera is the youngest among her nestmates, having been born last due to difficulty breaking her egg. It is unknown how she "knew" she was born first though, so it is possible she assumed it. This suggestion may hold some support as well when comparing Cera to her nestmates which shows them being somewhat larger than she is, this could also mean that Cera is among the only litter in nest to have hatched rendering her an only child much like Littlefoot.
 * Although she has a tendency to grunt angrily when singing, Cera is viewed by many to have a surprisingly good singing voice, especially in the later films, in which she developed a slight vibrato in her singing voice. Her solo song "Things Change", from The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers, is considered her best song by many fans.
 * The whites of Cera's eyes inexplicably change to light blue for a moment during the song "Things Change". Since this is only present for a single shot, it can be assumed it was an animation mistake.
 * On the Land Before Time sequels' (1994-2000) VHS covers, Cera's eyes are colored blue instead of their usual deep green color.
 * In the Italian dubs of the series, Cera is known as "Tricky".
 * Coincidentally, her name in the Italian dubs is the same name as a character from Star Fox Adventures.
 * Cera is spelled C-E-R-A, referencing the name of her genus (Triceratops), not S-A-R-A-H, as in Sarah Silverman or S-A-R-A, as in the bread brand Sara Lee.
 * Cera appears to get seasick easily, as she was seasick both when riding the log in the unsuccessful attempt to cross the Big Water and also when riding across on Elsie later, to which she says that she doesn't want to take any more rides on Elsie.
 * In the first two movies, it appeared that Cera was afraid of lightning. However, as lightning has appeared in subsequent films and the TV series, she didn't freak out over it. It appears that she has gotten over that fear.
 * It is implied much later in the first film that Cera might have felt responsible for the death of Littlefoot's mother. If she was too proud to admit going the wrong way the second time, she may have also been held back by a much greater guilt.
 * It is implied in movies V and VI that Cera is afraid of heights.
 * Cera is apparently rather fat, second to Spike in this regard. This is evidenced by how she got stuck in a log in the fifth movie; meanwhile, Littlefoot (who is about her size) could fit inside said log without any trouble.