 You all know about Twilight by now. It was a phenomenon that very few escaped. Whether you're someone who was in the target audience and enjoyed it unironically, someone who thought it was hilariously bad, or someone who hated hearing about it, we're all familiar with the series. The important part is that no one will ever hate it more than Robert Pattinson. Did your Twilight experience turn out to be what you expected? Oh. And whenever something makes money, others want to try and make money the same way. From 2009 to around 2014, we got TV shows, movies, and piles upon piles upon piles of books that all clearly drew from the ideas that Twilight used. It wasn't a completely original concept. Vampire myths have been around for thousands of years and stuff like the Southern Vampire Mysteries also featured human girls falling in love with supernatural men whilst fighting bad guys. However, Twilight made it popular. For years, we were inundated with stuff like Fallen, Elixir, Hush Hush, Beastly, The Vampire Diaries, The Mortal Instruments, Blue Bloods, The Darkest Powers, The Immortals, Beautiful Creatures, Sweet Evil, Obsidian, Covenant, Night Watchers, Significance, and many, many more. Some of it was an exact one-for-one copy of Twilight. Some of it only took parts of the formula, but it was always clear where the inspiration came from. It eventually fell away in favor of Hunger Games clones, but you still see them on occasion, especially on the self-published Kindle Store. I've been wanting to find the specific reasons that this, uh, genre got so popular, and the first step to doing that is to break it down into its component parts so you can get a good look at how it works and what the important bits are. So I've come up with a list of criteria to determine whether something is truly a Twilight clone or not. Number one, there must be a magic or otherwise paranormal element. This almost goes without saying, there has to be something to make this different from a normal teenage romance, otherwise it's just that, a normal teenage romance. Twilight had two love interests who were supernatural creatures, one a vampire and one a werewolf. For something to truly be a clone, the love interest must be something like that, a fairy, a wizard, an alien, an angel, something along those lines. The reasons for this are pretty obvious, it's all about escapism. The real world is kinda boring. In fact, many of those clones start off by hammering in that the main character's life is horribly boring. She doesn't just want to find someone to love, she wants to be taken out of her mundane existence, away from homework and graveyard shifts at Taco Bell. And the best way to do that is to discover a whole new world. If the love interest is a regular human, then the story isn't a paranormal romance, it's a regular romance. There's nothing wrong with that, but no matter how many love triangles and blank main characters are in it, it isn't Twilight, it's just your average ABC Family original series. Wait, it changed its name to Freeform? Why the hell did it do that? The point is that to be a true clone, it needs to be more than a simple melodrama. Number two, the magical or paranormal element must be hidden from the public. This is a common trope among all sorts of fantasy stories, especially when the author is too lazy to create a setting that makes sense. Why show vampires or angels living alongside humans when you could just have them hang out in old castles? That way you can just slap some stuff on top of the real world without thinking about how they would interact, and as a bonus, you can default to the keep both worlds separate at all costs storyline. The primary draw of the hidden magical world genre is escapism, like I mentioned before. The idea that one day your ordinary life might someday become more exciting due to the influence of your boyfriend, who is also Balder or something. There are tons of genres that use this, and they all tie back to that same idea. If the magic is in plain sight, then it's just a fantasy world. Nothing wrong with that, it just means it's no longer a Twilight clone since you can't project yourself onto it as easily. I know there are books and movies and such out there where some sort of magical or supernatural element exists in plain sight in the modern world. Some are good, some are bad, but they're a separate thing. If Edward Cullen was able to just exist as a vampire and go about his life normally, he wouldn't have been hiding in high school in the first place, and therefore, he never would have met Bella. Plus, that would make her less special since she wouldn't be the lone human who managed to get a vampire to fall in love with her just because she's so awesome. That's the next part of the wish fulfillment, by the way. The lead being one of the few normal folks who gets to be part of the magic world makes them even cooler, which invites more projection. Number three, the protagonist must be a teenager. Teenagers are kinda stupid. It's not their fault they haven't had the chance to learn from the various piles of shit that life tosses in your face. Plus, I'm only 24, so it's not like I'm that much smarter or more experienced than them anyways. Part of being young is experiencing everything for the first time. Your first boyfriend or girlfriend, your first kiss, your first heartbreak, first time you have sex, among other things. And when you experience everything for the first time, it feels more intense. At the same time, you're trying to find your place in the world and learning a lot of new things about it, which ties in nicely to the whole discovering vampires slash aliens slash multi-dimensional K-pop stars are real thing. If the protagonist is already an adult, they won't be feeling things as intensely. The story will be less dramatic. A lot of the time, they would make better decisions, which would result in no story at all. Plus, it would be harder for the intended audience of teens to identify. And frankly, there's often some stalking or obsession involved here. That makes sense as a romantic gesture if you feel things so intensely that you can't control your actions and you're so inexperienced that you don't see the red flags associated with it. The love interest is also older than the protagonist a large portion of the time because there's absolutely nothing weird about a 500 year old man dating a teenager. It's just another way of showing off how special and mature the heroine is because he would never be interested in other girls her age. God, I feel weird just saying that. But hey, that's the fantasy that a lot of people have. And even if something is bad in real life, you're allowed to fantasize about it. There's tons of romance stories involving adults, but for all the reasons above, they're not Twilight clones. Number four, the protagonist must ALMOST always be a girl. Think of a romance aimed at men or boys. They're pretty much non-existent, kind of a shame if you ask me. More men should understand how to deal with emotions beyond incoherent anger and horniness, but they don't sell well, so they're rare. The same way the protagonist has to be a teen in order to appeal to teens, she has to be a girl in order to appeal to girls. That way sales stay strong. It's not just about being identifiable, it's about being something the audience can project onto, and that's easier if the character fits similar demographics. The only real clone I can think of with a normal boy meeting a supernatural girl is beautiful creatures, making this the only rule with a degree of flexibility. However, their relationship dynamic is just reversed, with Lena being the one who knows everything and has all the power and makes most of the important decisions, and Ethan just being devoted to her. There isn't much actual change going on. The point is that whoever the story follows cannot have too much personality to distract from the wish fulfillment. That's not necessarily bad, mind. Wish fulfillment is a tool like any other, but that's what it is. How much is there to Bella Swan other than she loves Edward? She's, uh, clumsy sometimes, and she doesn't like abortion. It's dull, but it made Stephanie Meyer a trillion billion dollars. The same way you'll almost never see a shonen anime with a girl in the lead, you'll almost never see a Twilight clone with a guy in the lead role. Number five, if there's a story outside the romance, it still has to tie into the romance. Many Twilight clones are extremely simple and are only about the romance, with absolutely nothing else being featured. Those are the worst things humanity has ever produced. Many more at least attempt to throw in some sort of conflict, usually revolving around the supernatural nature of the love interest. Think, the forces of hell want to kidnap me, or my fairy husband broke the law by marrying me, or my boyfriend is immortal but his blood cures erectile dysfunction so people are after him, and then the action and fighting commence. But even in the midst of all the action, there has to be several heaping doses of angst, drama, and woes about whether or not they're really in love. In Twilight, there are two storylines that carry through the series and involve life and death. The first is James and Victoria's quest to kill Bella, the second one is the Volturi trying to kill Renezme, insert joke about how that's a dumb name here. Both of these are tied directly into Edward and Bella's romance, as in, neither plot would have happened without the love story happening first, and while both storylines have strengths, since there are actual stakes involved, they are still subservient to the love story. In Fallen, a love triangle involving Lucifer literally caused hell to exist and the only way to destroy God is for the main characters to stop being in love. Yeah, try figuring that one out if you haven't read the books. Even if the romance didn't cause all the problems, it'll sure as hell play a part in ending them. Maybe it'll bring together the right people at the right time, or maybe the power of Twu-Wu will save the day. Whatever the case, it's important to know that love fixes all of your problems. Number six, it has to be a series. You might be thinking that this setup doesn't have a very long or complex storyline, and you'd be right. You might also be thinking that they would be better off as one book, and you'd still be right in many cases, but that's not what Twilight Clones were about. They were about making money. If it's one book, then that won't make as much, so to be a true Twilight clone, it has to be a series. Usually a trilogy, but sometimes there would be four books with an even thinner plot. This was usually the biggest issue affecting the quality of the works. See, making a series is more complex than making only one entry. If it's, say, a trilogy, then each book needs its own beginning, middle, and end to introduce things, build them up, and then reach a climax. But then, the trilogy needs its own intro, build-up, and climax, which have to be carefully balanced. If any individual entry just adds to the whole without having its own smaller conflict, then it feels like a waste of time. Many of the authors didn't have a clear idea of what they wanted to do beyond the basic love story, and so the bigger plot doesn't get a chance to thrive, leading to the whole thing turning into a muddled mess. A longer series means more individual sales, more time in the public consciousness, more opportunities to dredge up those amazing love triangles, and a better chance of a movie deal. If you time it right the way Twilight did, then you can capitalize on the popularity to sell a bunch of merchandise. I know this is cynical, but it's how the entertainment business works. If Twilight had been one book, it may have been a big success, and the difference between big and massive is far bigger than the difference between big and modest. And with that, you know all the major rules and why they're needed. There are some slight variations, sometimes, once in a while, occasionally. But if you pick up almost any book written to cash in on the craze, it'll fit into every one of the rules above, whether it was popular or not. So, why did these get so big? I've already brought up many of the small details that drew people to them, however, that doesn't answer why so many people were looking for this type of entertainment. Well, remember that the Twilight books were published from 2005 to 2008, then the movies started and brought the franchise into full public view. Most of the original fans were squarely in the target audience. They were teen girls who just wanted to read sappy romance, and I want to reiterate that I'm not judging them for that. I have my own dumb escapism. It's fine. 2008 was also the time that the world's economy fell into the toilet, or rather was pushed there by those who stood to profit from it. Things sucked, and they still do for most of us as wealth inequality continues to climb. People wanted something to help them forget about how awful things were. For some of us it was drugs, for some it was stupid action movies, and for many others it was Twilight clones. They wanted a world where things always worked out well, and even if bad things happen, the forces of good eventually prevail. They wanted a partner who loved them unconditionally, and with whom they'd have few troubles. There's always been people who wanted this because life has always sucked for some of us. But in times when shit sucks for most of us, like when the economy collapses while our governments twiddle their thumbs, more escapism is used. Once the trend caught on and every publisher slash producer started pumping the clones out, the movement subsisted on momentum for a few years. Some people enjoyed consuming similar stories over and over while others just didn't see anything else worth their time. Sometimes they were intrigued by the supernatural elements and didn't much care for the romance at all. The reasons are numerous and different for everybody. Yeah, you probably thought I was going to spend the next 15 minutes explaining all of that and going in depth with psychological research and stuff, but that would feel like padding. Self-aggrandizing padding. Sometimes the answer to a question really is that simple. Twilight clones were fantasies for young girls that came at the right time to make people forget about their troubles. That's not good or bad, it just is. And that's about all I have to say on the subject. Thanks a whole bunch for watching this far, especially to all of my patrons, the $10 up guys. 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