Summary
- Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin adds mystery and slasher elements while maintaining character parallels with the original series.
- Characters like Aria Montgomery and Imogen share loyalty and empathy, despite different motivations and relationships.
- Comparison between new characters in Original Sin and old favorites show similarities in personalities and motivations.
Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin dropped on Max in 2022, rebooting the series with a new mystery. Along with the mysterious and psychological aspect of the original series, the spin-off has also added a slasher aspect to the show. Despite the changes in genre and tone, some things remain the same, particularly the Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin characters matching up with those from the first series.
From the comparison of Aria Montgomery and Imogen to Jenna Cavanaugh and Karen Beasley, both of these shows have characters with undeniable similarities in their personalities. They might come across as different characters with different motivations and relationships with each other. However, when it comes to what makes them tick, there are more similarities than differences between the characters from Pretty Little Liars and the Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin characters.
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9 Kelly Beasley
Mona Vanderwaal From Pretty Little Liars
Kelly Beasley (Mallory Bechtel) is the quiet and calm version of her twin sister, Karen. However, underneath her calm exterior lies a dark side, and her unwavering loyalty to her sister brings this side of her out when the liars humiliate Karen in front of a theater of their classmates. She’s strategic in her revenge schemes, especially when meticulously planning the failed revenge against Imogen Adams at the Spirit Dance.
On a similar note, Mona Vanderwaal (Janel Parrish) is a self-conscious young woman who hides this behind schemes and the A persona. She exhibits loyalty to her friendship with Hanna and is willing to do anything to remain friends. These two characters do a great job of hiding who they truly are from others around them. They are both strategically intelligent and manipulative when needed.
8 Karen Beasley
Jenna Marshall From Pretty Little Liars
A new bad girl in the Pretty Little Liars franchise is Karen Beasley (Mallory Bechtel). She is the one character who does not take kindly to people not bowing down to her. To uphold her status at the top, she’s willing to do anything to ensure her spot isn’t threatened, even believing her lying boyfriend over her best friend to keep up with her popularity. She’s not afraid to bully and manipulate others around her to validate that she’s important.
Karen Beasley’s manipulative and aggressive personality is something that makes her and Jenna Marshall (Tammin Sursok) of the original Pretty Little Liars franchise so much alike. Like Karen, Jenna’s not afraid to blackmail and manipulate others to get her way. She goes as far as to threaten her step-brother Toby Cavanaugh to continue to have a sexual relationship with her, making her one of the biggest villains in the Pretty Little Liars series. These two characters aren’t afraid to destroy those they deem a threat to their selfish goals.
7 Shawn Noble
Caleb Rivers From Pretty Little Liars
Shawn Noble (Alex Aiono) and Caleb Rivers (Tyler Blackburn) from the Pretty Little Liars franchise are kind, supportive, and loyal. Both young men are loyal and patient with the women they love, making sure to be there for them in their times of need. They are more similar than not, despite their home lives and backgrounds being as different as they can get.
Shawn is a popular jock in Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, but he stands by Noa despite her complex past. Caleb is the resident “bad boy,” but he has a reason, thanks to his poor home life in foster care. Despite his own problems, he dives in to help Hanna and her friends with “A.” Nevertheless, they are two characters who only wish to help without looking for anything else, something unusual for anyone in a franchise fittingly filled with liars.
6 Chip Langsberry
Toby Cavanaugh From Pretty Little Liars
Both Chip Langsberry (Carson Rowland) and Toby Cavanaugh (Keegan Allen) are shy yet protective of those they care about, with Chip acting protective of Tabby and Toby being protective of Spencer. Often awkward around others, Toby and Chip are considered kindhearted young men willing to go above and beyond to protect those they love. Chip and Toby have done things they aren’t proud of to appease their loved ones. Chip was an accomplice in releasing the humiliating video of Karen with the Liars. Toby gave information to A at one point.
Despite these moments, both of these characters would do anything asked of them by the girls they love. However, while this was the best comparison, there is one major difference between the two. Chip was believed guilty of sexually assaulting Tabby and Imogen, making him a villain, whereas Toby was a good person.
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5 Faran Bryant
Hanna Marin From Pretty Little Liars
Faran Bryant (Zaria) and Hanna Marin (Ashley Benson) hide their past insecurities by keeping their true selves away from the world out of fear of hurt and rejection. For Faran, ballet is something she clings to as her own, practicing constantly to be the best. Hanna struggles with bulimia and clings to her status as the popular girl in school (which she took over after Alison disappeared). Each of these characters finds it hard to trust others, but when they do, they are fiercely loyal and protective.
Another similarity is that both Faran and Hanna seek the approval of one parent, Hanna with her father and Faran with her mother. They each have been robbed of a good parent-child relationship. However, they don’t allow these obstacles to break them. They are two strong-willed young women, making them among the bravest characters in the Pretty Little Liars series. For Hanna, it is about facing “A,” remaining loyal to who she is, and protecting her friends. For Faran, it is about surviving Bloody Rose while not losing her own morality at the same time.
4 Tabby Haworthe
Spencer Hastings From Pretty Little Liars
Both Tabby Haworthe (Chandler Kinney) from Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin and Spencer Hastings (Troian Bellisario) from Pretty Little Liars are highly intelligent and outspoken young adults. They are both unafraid to stand up to those committing injustice, with Tabby taking on mean girl Karen and Spencer standing up to Alison on multiple occasions (the only person who seemingly would). Furthermore, they take their passions and goals very seriously.
At the same time, each great Pretty Little Liars character is the intellectual part of their friendship group. Tabby has computer skills, and Spencer has the strategic planning and calculating ability to achieve the goals they each set forth. These two characters each bring a level head to their friend groups that aid in the form of the mystery that is “A.” They also remained strong, with Tabby standing up to Chip and his sexual assault and Alison remaining close to Toby as he fights to learn the truth.
3 Mouse Honrada
Emily Fields From Pretty Little Liars
Both Mouse Honrada (Malia Pyles) and Emily Fields (Shay Mitchell) from the Pretty Little Liars franchise are empathetic and compassionate individuals. They are introverted and shy characters who hide behind their interests. With Mouse escaping into the virtual world with her games and Emily focusing on her swimming, they each find it hard to communicate their true selves to others.
However, with the help of their friends, they each begin to gain a sense of self-confidence within themselves. They also both suffered a great deal. For Mouse, it was when she was a child, and she believed a man tried to abduct her from a carnival, only to learn later it was her biological father. For Emily, it was her love for Alison, who went missing and who “A” tormented about her inability to accept her sexuality.
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2 Imogen Adams
Aria Montgomery From Pretty Little Liars
Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale) and Imogen Adams (Bailee Madison) are decent and caring young women, two characters extremely loyal to their friends and empathetic for those who sometimes don’t deserve it. Even after being humiliated by her best friend for a boyfriend, Imogen still finds it in her heart to rescue her from making a huge mistake one night at a party, and Aria chooses to risk her life for those who don’t deserve it at times.
Nonetheless, both Imogen and Aria are creative minds who desperately seek to understand why people do what they do. They are both loyal to their friends, looking to protect them at all costs. Aria was willing to give up her relationship with Ezra when she learned she couldn’t get pregnant, but he said he loved her, and they married anyway. That also ties into Imogen’s story. She gives up her baby for adoption in the end, and the adoptive parents end up being Aria and Ezra, which should have been their happy ending.
1 Noa Olivar
Alison DiLaurentis From Pretty Little Liars
Two characters that understand the meaning of secrets, Alison DiLaurentis (Sasha Pieterse) from Pretty Little Liars and Noa Olivar (Maia Reficco) from Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, hold little trust in new people in their circles. They each find it hard to open up to others, and at times it can prove detrimental in the end. With Noa keeping the secret that she knows about the Beasley twin’s dad and Alison using others’ secrets against them, each character is very similar.
With Noa letting Imogen and Tabby take the blame for a humiliating video released of Karen to save herself and Alison faking her death to save herself from “A,” these characters have it in them to turn against their friends. However, they always prove to be loyal and protective in the end. Noa had a chance for revenge in Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin and chose not to, which saved her life. Alison finds her friends saving her from “A” and goes on to marry Emily, although it doesn’t last.