History Characters / EarthsChildrenAyla

* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: People are generally shocked (even by Cro-Magnon standards where [[TeenPregnancy Teen Pregnancies]] are common) when they find out how young she was when she had her first child. She was only [[spoiler: ''eleven'', she having been [[ChildByRape raped]] by Broud]]. She isn't considered unusual by Clan standards, as they reach physical maturity much sooner, but when Jondalar figures out how young she was, [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer she has to assure him the age is, in fact, correct]]. RealityEnsues, as being pregnant at such a young age causes Ayla a lot of health problems and she has a [[ScreamingBirth very difficult and excruciating birth]], which brings her [[NearDeathExperience close to death]]. To put this further into perspective, by the time she's twenty, she [[spoiler: has two kids under ten, one of whom is nearly ''half'' her age]].

* ActionSurvivor: In the first few books. Becomes an outright ActionGirl when facing off against Attaroa and the Three Sisters Camp, and against Charoli's gang, in ''The Plains of Passage'', and against Balderan's gang in ''The Land of Painted Caves''..
* AgeLift: In the film adaptation, she appears to be in her twenties, or possibly her late teens, during the second half of the movie (Daryl Hannah was about 25 during filming). In the book, she was only fourteen by the end of the novel and didn't reach her twenties until the ''last book''. This was probably done for practical/ethical reasons, given that the book depicts [[spoiler: Ayla being raped by Broud and giving birth to Durc when she's only ''eleven years old'']].
* AllGirlsLikePonies: Taken UpToEleven; she adopts an orphaned foal out of loneliness and becomes one of the first people to tame and ride horses.

* TheAloner: For a good part of ''The Valley Of Horses''. She's actually surviving completely alone in the wilderness, using all the skills she learned in the Clan.
* AmazonianBeauty: Played straight; she has an athletic build and Jondalar even thinks she's one of the strongest women he's ever seen, though by Clan standards (and in her own opinion), she's seen as more of a BrawnHilda.
* AnimalMotif: The [[PantheraAwesome cave lion]], which is her totem animal.
* TheApprentice: To Iza, who taught her medicine. She was also an informal apprentice to Droog, who she learned how make tools and weapons from (he didn't see any harm in letting her watch him and play around making tools, as long as didn't touch any made for the Clan's use, which is considered bad luck) and to Zoug, whom she secretly watched to learn how to use a sling. She later receives some shaman training from Mamut in ''The Mammoth Hunters'' and becomes the official acolyte of Zelandoni Who Is First at the end of ''The Shelters of Stone''.
* {{Archenemy}}: To Broud.
* BattleCouple: With Jondalar in the fourth book.
* TheBeastMaster: To an extent. Many people believe she can control animals through some kind of magic, though in reality, she can simply command animals she has raised from infancy and who's behaviour she has closely studied. For example, she can give commands to Baby, her cave lion, because he views her as his mother and thus dominant over him. If she tried it with any other cave lion, she'd probably lose some limbs. No matter how she tries to explain this to people though, they still generally believe she has mystical powers over animals.

* BerserkButton: Insulting her half-Clan son and her adopted family, or calling the Clan 'animals'.

* BigDamnHeroes: Twice in the fourth book; first she comes riding in [[HorseBackHeroism on her horse]] to stop Attaroa from [[spoiler: killing Jondalar]], and then again with Jondalar when they come to a Clan couple's rescue.
* BladeOnAStick: When she isn't using her sling (mostly when she needs to hunt larger prey), she uses a spear. She teaches herself to use one in ''The Valley of Horses'', having learnt how to make one by watching Droog's work. She's initially apprehensive about it, as Clan women are forbidden from using weapons [[spoiler: (she was permitted by Brun to hunt with a sling, but ''only'' a sling)]], however she realises she needs a spear to get food and survive by herself. She initially uses a typical Clan spear, which are quite short, heavy and used primarily as a stabbing weapon, until Jondalar shows her how to make and use the spears used by Cro-Magnon, which are lighter and [[JavelinThrower can be thrown]].
* BlindObedience: Due to being raised by the Clan, where women are expected to be subservient to men, this causes confusion when Ayla first interacts with the Others. Even after being told that women are free to do as they please, Ayla often has to resist the urge to automatically comply with a man's or a leader's wishes.
* BornLucky: Although she later survives and achieves things through her own skills, Ayla got some incredibly lucky breaks as a child; she's extremely fortunate to have lived past the ''first chapter'' of ''The Clan of the Cave Bear''. The Clan actually believe her to be a source of good luck, as shortly after she's adopted by them, she finds a cave that is ideal for them to set up a new home. And though it's likely just a coincidence, after Broud unjustly curses Ayla with death an earthquake destroys the cave, with some of the Clan believing his actions angered the spirits and caused them to retaliate.
* BraidsOfAction: Often wears her hair in lots of small braids to keep it off her face when she hunts.
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: She and Jondalar have a bit of this dynamic.
* CannotTellALie: Because the Clan who raised her [[LanguageOfTruth communicate via body language]], the concept of lying is virtually unknown to her. She can [[LivingLieDetector usually tell if other people are lying to her]] and cannot fathom lying herself - the best she can do is "[[YouDidntAsk refrain from mentioning]]".
* CatholicSchoolGirlsRule: Culturally and genderswapped. [[spoiler: When asking for clothing, Ayla is given as a prank winter underwear for a boy and the belt for signifying they started puberty. Because it is boy-sized (snug) and Ayla's ignorance of the faux pas it becomes a SexyWhateverOutfit.]]
* ChildByRape: [[spoiler: Her son Durc, whom she gave birth to when she was only ''eleven'', after being raped by Broud. She has no angst over it, in fact, finding out she's pregnant snaps her out of her depression after being abused by Broud, as she had always wanted to be a mother]].
* ChildOfTwoWorlds: Of the RaisedByNatives variety: she is Cro-Magnon but was raised by Neanderthals after being orphaned. It causes her a lot of problems throughout the story, though she mostly liked living with the Clan.
* ChristmasCake: Thinks of herself as one in ''The Shelters of Stone''; she's 19 years old when she finally gets married. Justified: Clan girls reach menarche at 9 or 10, and it's not unusual for women of the Others to have children by 16.
* {{Claustrophobia}}: Getting snowed in during blizzards without an understanding of air holes--snuffs out any fire and increases [=CO2=] levels--brings this out. [[spoiler: First occurs during the death curse (complete communal shunning and ostracization). "The evil spirits, they tricked me. They made me think I was alive in my cave, but I am dead."]]
* ConstantlyCurious: A central trait of her's. It leads to her making some pretty amazing discoveries and innovations...but it also [[CuriosityIsACrapshoot gets her in trouble at times]], especially when she's living with the Clan.
* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: Becomes one in the opening pages of the first novel, kickstarting the events of the whole series.

* CoolBigSis: To Uba (who is her adopted sister), Latie, Rydag, Madenia and Folara.
* CradleOfLoneliness / TragicKeepsake: Does this with the cloak she used to carry her son with, in the second book. She only takes it with her to remind herself of him after she's forced to leave him. [[spoiler: She eventually leaves it behind in the third book, when she accepts she will probably never see him again]].
* CulturalRebel: Amongst the Clan, her teaching herself to hunt with a sling is not only frowned upon, but is completely baffling to them, as Clan women no longer possess the genetic memories for hunting and so wouldn't even consider learning to hunt.
* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: Gender-flipped, in regards to her son, Durc. At the end of ''The Clan of the Cave Bear'', she is forced to leave the clan by Broud, who [[spoiler: curses her with death, meaning she is literally [[UnPerson seen as dead]] by the clan]]. Ayla cannot take Durc with her because travelling to locations unknown in the wilderness is difficult enough without a young child to look after and he would [[spoiler: likely be considered dead as well, cutting him off from the Clan permanently]]. Ayla knows he'll be alright because her sister Uba and Brun will care for him, though they are both clearly devastated by the separation. A few years later, in ''The Mammoth Hunters'', Ayla seriously considers trying to find Durc and bringing him to live with her at the Lion Camp. However, in the end she decides against this, partly out of practicality (she has no idea where his clan is living now or how to find them) and partly because she realises it would be unfair to Durc - he has spent his whole life with the Clan and has a place amongst them, whilst he would be [[HalfBreedDiscrimination discriminated against]] amongst Cro-Magnon and have a much more difficult life.
* {{Determinator}}: She's been one since she was ''five years old'', managing to walk several miles before collapsing despite being dehydrated, exhausted and running a fever from an infected wound dealt by a cave lion. She later manages to survive for three years, completely alone save for a horse and a lion, in the wilderness. And these are only two examples of her surviving or achieving something through sheer force of will.
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: Does this with Brukeval. She'd been trying to assure him his Clan heritage didn't bother her and that she actually thought him attractive because of it, and ends up mortally offending him by mistake.

* DoubleConsciousness: Particularly at the start of the series, Ayla struggles between her identities as a Clan woman (what she was raised as) and a Cro-Magnon woman (what she was born as). She may have been raised by a clan, but as Iza points out, she isn't truly one of them and can never be due to the biological differences. Despite this, she still holds onto Clan traits, customs and beliefs, even when living amongst her own kind and even when they conflict with her personal values and desires. See also FamilyVersusCareer.
* DreadfulMusician: Ayla cannot sing at all. She can learn and use rhythms, whistle and imitate birds or animal noises. But with her own voice the best she can do is hum in a tuneless monotone, which Iza used to do to her to comfort her when she was little.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Seemingly develops this gift after she inadvertently [[spoiler: goes with the Mog-urs on a spiritual journey/drug trip at the Clan Gathering]].
** In the first book, she has visions that imply the extinction of the Neanderthals and the continuing evolution of human society, even up to the modern age (she sees “Boxlike structures...long ribbons of stone...strange animals crawling at great speeds...huge birds that flew without flapping their wings.”).
** In the third book, she dreams she has two sons, one that looks like Durc and another that looks like Jondalar, who are hostile to each other. Ayla knows somehow that one will kill the other, although Mamut states it is merely symbolic – most likely it foreshadows that Neanderthals will eventually die out whilst Cro-Magnon will live on.

* DrivenToSuicide: [[DefiedTrope Defied]]. At the beginning of ''The Valley of Horses'', she briefly considers it out of despair after being [[spoiler: banished from her clan]], leaving her completely alone in the wilderness. However, she realizes that succumbing to [[spoiler: the death curse]] will mean that [[ArchEnemy Broud]] will win and she determines to make good on her previous BadassBoast that [[WorthLivingFor no matter what else he did to her, he could never make her die]].
* DudeMagnet: Almost every man who meets her considers her one of the most beautiful women they’ve ever seen and several of them try flirting with her or getting her into bed with them. This is especially prominent in ''The Mammoth Hunters'', where she has three men (Jondalar, Ranec and Vincavec) vying for her hand. However, this is only amongst her own kind. Amongst the Clan, she’s considered so ugly her own mother believed she’d probably never find a mate.

* ElectiveMute: She is perfectly capable of speech, but she limits herself from doing so when she lives with the Clan, as they have a far more limited capacity for speech and have only a few spoken words. After discovering her son has the capacity for speech too, she plays a private game with him where they make nonsense sounds. When Jondalar first meets Ayla, he believes she may have taken a vow of silence as part of shanman training, [[SubvertedTrope until]] he realises she ''does'' want to talk but just needs to be reminded how.

* FalseSoulmate: To Ranec. He falls head over heels for her in just a few months and is convinced they are meant to be, going as far as asking her to become his mate. Ayla ends up moving in with him, considers staying with the Lion Camp instead of following through with her original plan to move in with the Zelandonii and even [[spoiler: agrees to marry him]]...[[AllLoveIsUnrequited but her heart isn't truly in it]]. She eventually breaks things off with Ranec and goes back to Jondalar, the man she truly loves. Ranec is pretty distraught [[spoiler: but he eventually gets over it somewhat and ends up mating his ex Tricie, whom he was intending to marry before he met Ayla]].
* FamilyVersusCareer: Struggles with this in ''The Land of Painted Caves'', especially in the second half of the novel where the demands of her role as an acolyte clash cause her to prioritise it over her family. She herself laments that she feels she's been neglecting her family whilst being caught up in her zelandoni training, which she genuinely enjoys. In the end, [[spoiler: she seems to have worked out a healthy balance between the two; the fact her family are very loving and supportive helps]].

* FriendToAllLivingThings: Has a way with animals, especially horses, wolves and even a ''cave lion''.
* ForeignFanservice: Due to coming from so far away, Ayla is perceived as somewhat 'exotic' no matter where she goes, which serves to highlight her attractiveness. She's apparently from Crimea in Eastern Europe, she having been found on the Crimean Peninsula as a young child.
* ForWantOfANail: In the second book, Ayla decides on a whim to take Whinney out for a ride...and so finds and saves Jondalar, the love of her life and the guy she ends up following across Europe, drastically altering the course of her life and affecting many other events in the series.

* HappilyAdopted: She had a largely happy upbringing by her adoptive mother Iza and her unofficial father, Creb. Later, she is HappilyAdopted by [[spoiler: the Lion Camp of the Mamutoi]].
* HappilyMarried: To Jondalar as of the fifth book. [[spoiler: They hit a rough patch in ''The Land of Painted Caves'', due to Ayla being preoccupied with her shaman training and both of them (technically) cheating on each other, but they are reconciled by the end]].
* HeartWarmingOrphan: Mostly in the first and second books.
* HeroesLoveDogs: More specifically, a wolf she adopts as a cub.
* HeroicBSOD: Has two in ''The Clan of the Cave Bear''. The first is when [[spoiler: Broud begins raping her]] and the second is when [[spoiler: Iza dies]]; in the second case, she's so distraught that her breast milk dries up and she has to rely on other women to help feed her baby. She gets better both times. She goes through another major one late in ''The Land of Painted Caves'' after [[spoiler: suffering a miscarriage and finding out Jondalar is cheating on her]], snapping out of it after [[spoiler: she almost dies during a dangerous rite of passage]].
* HorseOfADifferentColor: She occasionally rides Baby, her pet cave lion, although she cannot control his movements as she does with Whinney the horse.
* HospitalHottie: Stone Age equivalent. She's a highly skilled medicine woman and [[HeadTurningBeauty very beautiful]].

* IJustWantToBeNormal: Often states this, especially in the last few books. Played with in the final novel, where she seems happy enough with her shaman training, but she still enjoys playing happy families with Jondalar and [[spoiler: their daughter]].
* InnocentBlueEyes: Has wide, blue-grey eyes and is kind and pure-hearted.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: She come off this way when interacting with people at times, sometimes bordering on (unintentional) BrutalHonesty. She never intends to be rude or hurtful, but she tends to say exactly what she thinks and feels, and due to being raised by the Clan and travelling around a lot, she is often ignorant of social norms and customs, which can unintentionally cause offense.
* InsecureLoveInterest: To Jondalar, at first, wondering why he'd ever want to be with a "[[IAmNotPretty big and ugly]]" woman like her.

* LastGirlWins: [[spoiler: For Jondalar]].
* LittleMissBadass: By the time she was ten, she was a very capable huntress, even taking on predators such as lynxs and hyenas, and also survives living alone for a whole month.
* LoveMartyr: Comes across as a bit of one towards Jondalar in ''The Mammoth Hunters''.
* LoveTriangle: With Jondalar and Ranec in the third book.

* MamaBear: When her newborn son is considered deformed - meaning he must be left to die - Ayla [[spoiler: runs away with him to a small cave she had lived in when she was cursed with death a year or so earlier, intending to return after seven days, as if a baby lives that long, it must be accepted by the clan's leader. This is despite the fact she is still torn, heavily bleeding and quite weak from her traumatic birth, which almost ''killed'' her]]. She later stands up to Broud in front of everyone and calls him out when he tries to separate her from her son, and vehemently defends him and his half-Clan heritage from her own people. She's also very protective of her animals, some of whom she regards as her children.
* MeaningfulName: Ayla can be used as a variant of the Scottish name Aila, which means "from the strong/resilent place", which is very appropriate for the character given her ability to endure and adapt in the face of great hardship.
* TheMedic: She is trained as a medicine woman (healer) by Iza. Although she lacks Iza's racial memories for healing, she has [[TheGift a natural skill]] for it, especially in diagnosis, which Iza encourages and refines through training. Ayla's healing skills often become intregal to the story and play a big part in Zelandoni asking her to become her acolyte, so that she can practice medicine as part of the zelandonia.
* MerlinAndNimue: The Nimue to Mamut's Merlin in the third book. Unlike some examples of this trope, there's no romance, with Ayla viewing Mamut as a [[ParentalSubstitute father figure]], especially as he [[YouRemindMeOfX reminds her of Creb]].
* MinorLivingAlone: In ''The Clan of the Cave Bear'', she lives alone for a whole month [[spoiler: after being temporarily cursed with death for using a weapon]]. In ''The Valley of Horses'', she lives completely alone (discounting her pets) from the age of fourteen to seventeen in steppeland, until she meets Jondalar.
* MsFanservice: From the second book onwards, especially when described from [[MaleGaze Jondalar's perspective]].
* [[NatureHero Nature Heroine]]: In ''The Valley of Horses'', to an extent. Just about everyone in the setting lives InHarmonyWithNature and worships the [[MotherNature Great Earth Mother]] or totem spirits, but Ayla in particular lives isolated from other humans and lives with animal companions.
* NearDeathExperience: In ''every'' novel (save for the fifth one). In the first book ''alone'', she has four or five near death experiences (surviving an earthquake which wiped out her family, surviving a cave lion attack, nearly dying of infection and dehydration, being [[spoiler: cursed with death]] and outrunning an avalanche, and nearly dying in childbirth before [[spoiler: being cursed with death]] ''again'').
* NeverForgottenSkill: She remembers how to swim due to being taught it by her biological family, despite forgetting them after they die in an earthquake and being taken in by the Clan, who can't swim. She also [[spoiler: subconsciously remembers how to speak verbally; a few weeks after Jondalar starts teaching her his language, she spontaneously remembers and quickly becomes fluent)]].
* NiceGirl: She's very kind and compassionate to almost everyone she meets and feels bad for even inadvertently offending people.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: She [[spoiler: saves Brac, Broud's son, from a hyena attack. She then gets cursed with death for a month for breaking the Clan's rules about women using weapons, with [[UngratefulBastard Broud]] actually pushing for a permanent curse]].

* OrphansOrdeal: Though she's more or less HappilyAdopted, Ayla struggles to adapt to Clan life, and is regarded as quite strange and ugly. She gets into dire trouble for breaking Clan rules and protocols, and then there's villain Broud, the leader's {{Jerkass}} son who hates her guts and does everything he can to make her life ten times harder, up to and including beating her into unconsciousness and [[spoiler: raping her]]. She later gets kicked out of the Clan and has to survive completely alone, with no human contact, for close to ''three years''. All before the age of seventeen, we might add.
* PimpedOutDress: Her Matrimonial outfit. We are treated to a [[CostumePorn very detailed description of it]] - among other things, the leather's been specially treated to stay supple, it's been dyed a gold-like colour and has [[GemEncrusted hundreds of amber beads sewn over it in an intricate pattern]]. Everyone who sees it is practically awed. Ayla herself thinks it's very beautiful and it has personal value to her as it was made by people she considered family, but her new in-laws know just from looking that the outfit is fit for someone of very high status because of how long it would've taken to make and the quality of the materials and craftsmanship.

** Due to Iza's increasingly poor health in the second half of the first book, Ayla begins taking on more of her duties as a medicine woman. [[spoiler: After Iza's death, the position becomes official]].
** At the end of the sixth book [[spoiler: she is promoted from acolyte to full zelandoni status after being 'Called' by the Mother. Despite this, she still goes by Ayla, not yet feeling comfortable with giving up her name and going solely by her title]].
* RapeAsDrama: [[spoiler: In ''The Clan of the Cave Bear'', she is ''repeatedly'' raped by Broud, starting from when she was only ''ten''. She eventually comes to terms with it and has positive, consensual sexual relationships; it also results in the birth of her son, Durc]].
* RebelliousSpirit: Has a habit of challenging or bending social norms and rules, especially within the Clan (which gets her into trouble).
* RefusalOfTheCall: When both Mamut and Zelandoni Who Is First realise her potential as One Who Serves the Mother, they both try to persuade her to become their acolyte, feeling it is her destiny. Ayla is pretty reluctant at first, because her abilities frighten her and she [[IJustWantToBeNormal just wants to live a normal, peaceful life]]. However, she eventually accepts that she may be destined for more and becomes Zelandoni's acolyte at the end of the fifth book (having also previously does some informal training under Mamut). Previously, Ayla had also refused Iza's advice to leave the Clan and seek out her own people, being reluctant to leave the only home and family she'd ever known. Of course, by the end of the first book she has [[CantRefuseTheCallAnymore no choice]] but to the leave, due to [[spoiler: an [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive earthquake destroying the clan's cave]] (''again'') and [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive Broud ordering her to be cursed with death]]]].
* RepressedMemories: Implied. She remembers almost nothing of her life before being found by the Clan and it's suggested that, in addition to being only five when she lost her birth family, she repressed the memories of her early childhood due to [[TraumaInducedAmnesia the trauma of her family dying in an earthquake]].
* RescueRomance: With Jondalar, who she saves from a cave lion and [[FlorenceNightingaleEffect nurses back to health]].
* ReturningTheWeddingRing: When she decides to call off their impending marriage, Ayla returns the mutii (a carved figurine of the Great Earth Mother) that her Promised Ranec had made for their Matrimonial (the Mamutoi traditionally make a mutii to protect the new hearth they create once they're married). He keeps it as a reminder of her for years afterwards.
* RunawayBride: At the end of ''The Mammoth Hunters'', on the day of her planned Matrimonial ceremony to Ranec, she changes her mind and decides to go back to [[FirstGuyWins Jondalar]] and journey to his people.
* SageLoveInterest: To Jondalar. She's a skilled healer, later trains as a shaman, and has a number of skills and abilities that seem almost supernatural in origin to others, including her inventions, taming animals, incredible memory, dreaming the future etc. (some have more mundane explanations, though others are less easy to explain); Jondalar even thought that she was a manifestation of the Great Earth Mother the first time he saw her. She often gives Jondalar advice or provides him with a different way of looking at things, which is one of the things he admires about her. Interestingly enough, Jondalar in turn helps her with areas she's less knowledgeable in, mostly around Cro-Magnon cultures and social norms (as she was raised by Neanderthals).

* ScreamingBirth: When giving birth to Durc. Justified in that he's a hybrid with an overlarge head and she's [[spoiler: only eleven years old]].
* SecondLove: For Jondalar. Although he had ''many'' lovers after losing his FirstLove, Zolena, and cared for some of them, he couldn't ever fall in love with another woman until he met Ayla.

* [[SociallyAwkwardHero Socially Awkward Heroine]] / NoSocialSkills: Downplayed. Ayla is a total badass when it comes to hunting and healing, but when interacting with other people, she sometimes comes across as a bit odd or awkward, due to her mannerisms picked up from the Clan, in particular her tendency to be [[CannotTellALie very honest]], which can make her seem [[InnocentlyInsensitive rather blunt]]. However, once people get to know her, they usually warm up to her due to her [[NiceGirl friendly and compassionate nature]].
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: A very downplayed, mundane version. She cannot ''speak'' to animals per se, but due to having spent a lot of time observing their behaviour and practising their vocalisations, she can more or less communicate with certain animals (mostly the ones she hand-reared from babies) by mimicking their movements and sounds. An example would be letting Wolf jump up and take her jaw in his teeth, then doing the same, as she knows this is how wolves greet packmates.

* SurprisePregnancy: Her pregnancy in ''The Clan of the Cave Bear'' comes as a complete shock to the clan, as most people believed her totem was too strong to be overcome by any of the men's (the Clan believe women are impregnated when their totems are defeated by a man's, though Ayla's totem is a freaking ''[[PantheraAwesome Cave Lion]]''). Ayla herself doesn't realise she's pregnant until Iza notices the symptoms and points it out to her. Even with a modern understanding of conception, Ayla's pregnancy is highly unusual: [[spoiler: she's only ''eleven'']].

* TechnicalVirgin: In ''The Valley of Horses'', Jondalar seems to view her as such, due to the fact that [[spoiler: her only sexual encounters up to that point involved rape; she had never experienced consensual sex and had no knowledge of sexual pleasure]]. He's only too happy to show her a magical 'first time'.
* TeenPregnancy: Ayla is actually [[spoiler: [[UpToEleven only eleven]]]] when she gives birth to her son. It nearly kills her as a result. [[spoiler: Downplayed when she gives birth to her second child; she's nineteen and it's considered far more usual for Cro-Magnon women to give birth in their late teens]].

** To a lesser extent, [[spoiler: when she goes into labour]] in ''The Shelters of Stone'', she starts panicking because it brings up her memories [[spoiler: of her son's birth, which was extremely painful and nearly killed her. Zelandoni is able to calm her down and reassures her that the birth will be easier this time, because her nineteen year old body is far more equipped to handle giving birth]].
* TrrrillingRrrs: She has a habit of slightly rolling her 'R's, clearly demonstrated [[FunetikAksent in-text]] in ''The Shelters of Stone'' when she is heard from a Zelandonii character's perspective.
* TheUnreveal: [[spoiler: Where she originally came from and who her birth tribe was]].
* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove: Downplayed. When Jondalar [[LoveConfession tells her he loves her]], she has to ask "What is love?" However, it's the word itself, rather than the concept behind it, that she's unfamiliar with: the Clan ''do'' feel love, but they don't have a word for it and instead express affection through their actions.

* YouNoTakeCandle: Talks in this manner when Jondalar is starting to teach her Zelandonii. She soon becomes fluent, though, and speaks with complex grammar. She speaks the S'Armunai language this way, though it's actually impressive she knows it at all (she learnt the basics in a manner of ''days'', simply by listening to and memorising conversations, and cross-referencing it with Mamutoi, to which it has a similar structure).
* YourCheatingHeart: Towards the end of ''The Land of Painted Caves'', she [[spoiler: has sex with ''[[SlimeBall Laramar]]'', of all people, mostly to get back at Jondalar for cheating on her with Marona (although the Zelandonii don't actually have a concept of cheating, it's still seen as a betrayal). She actually has no interest in Laramar and deeply regrets it. Also, given she was extremely drunk at the time, it's...[[QuestionableConsent debatable]] as to how coherent she was]].
[[/folder]]

* ReturningTheRing: When she decides to call off their impending marriage, Ayla returns the mutii (a carved figurine of the Great Earth Mother) that her Promised Ranec had made for their Matrimonial (the Mamutoi traditionally make a mutii to protect the new hearth they create once they're married). He keeps it as a reminder of her for years afterwards.

* {{Claustrophobia}}: Getting snowed in during blizzards without an understanding of air holes--snuffs out any fire and increases CO2 levels--brings this out. [[spoiler: First occurs during the death curse (complete communal shunning and ostracization). "The evil spirits, they tricked me. They made me think I was alive in my cave, but I am dead."]]

* EveryoneLovesBlondes: Has golden blonde hair and is extremely attractive.

* MamaBear: When her newborn son is considered deformed - meaning he must be left to die - Ayla [[spoiler: runs away with him to a small cave she had lived in when she was cursed with death a year or so earlier, intending to return after seven days, as if a baby lives that long, it must be accepted by the clan's leader. This is despite the fact she is still torn, heavily bleeding and quite weak from her traumatic birth, which almost ''killed'' her]]. She later stands up to Broud in front of everyone and calls him out when he tries to separate her from her son Durc, and vehemently defends him and his half-Clan heritage from her own people. She's also very protective of her animals, some of whom she regards as her children.

* [[NatureHero Nature Heroine]]: In ''The Valley of Horses'', to an extent.

* RepressedMemories: Implied. She remembers almost nothing of her life before being found by the Clan, and it's suggested that, in addition to being only five when she lost her birth family, she repressed the memories of her early childhood due to [[TraumaInducedAmnesia the trauma of her family dying in an earthquake]].

* TheAce: Ayla is notably adept at a variety of things. Many of the things she's good at come from years of dedicated practice and training by people better than her, and by living with the Clan, where she was required to develop various skills (such as her physical strength and excellent memory) simply to keep up and avoid being TheLoad. She's also not without her issues, particularly surrounding her self-confidence and sense of identity, arguably making her more of a BrokenAce. Regardless of her myriad skills, Ayla can't carry a tune to save her life.

* AgeLift: In the film adaption, she appears to be in her twenties, or possibly her late teens, during the second half of the movie (Daryl Hannah was about 25 during filming). In the book, she was only fourteen by the end of the novel and didn't reach her twenties until the ''last book''. This was probably done for practical/ethical reasons, given that the book depicts [[spoiler: Ayla being raped by Broud and giving birth to Durc when she's only ''eleven years old'']].

* AmazonianBeauty: Played straight, though by Clan standards (and in her own opinion), she's seen as more of a BrawnHilda.

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Mostly played straight, [[IAmNotPretty though personally she thinks she's ugly]].

* BerserkButton: Insulting her half-Clan son and her adopted family or calling the Clan 'animals'.

* BlindObedience: being raised by the Clan where women are subservient to men this causes confusion when Ayla first interacts with the Others. Even after being told that women are free to do as they please Ayla often has to resist the urge to automatically comply with a man's or a leader's wishes.

* CatholicSchoolGirlsRule: culturally and genderswapped. [[spoiler: When asking for clothing Ayla is given as a prank winter underwear for a boy and the belt for signifying they started puberty. Because it is boy sized (snug) and Ayla's ignorance of the faux pas it because a SexyWhateverOutfit.]]

* {{Claustrophobia}}: getting snowed in during blizzards without an understanding of air holes--snuffs out any fire and increases CO2 levels--brings this out. [[spoiler: First occurs during the death curse (complete communal shunning and ostracization). "The evil spirits, they tricked me. They made me think I was alive in my cave, but I am dead."]]

* DreadfulMusician: Ayla cannot sing at all. She can learn and use rhythms. Whistle and imitate birds or animal noises. But with her own voice the best she can do is hum in a tuneless monotone, which Iza used to do to her to comfort her when she was little.

* FriendToAllLivingThings: Has a way with animals, [[AllGirlsLikePonies especially horses]] and wolves, and even a ''[[FluffyTamer cave lion]]''.

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Played straight.

* InnocentlyInsensitive: At times. Sometimes bordering on (unintentional) BrutalHonesty.

* JunglePrincess: Qualifies as one, especially if you believe the Clan are animals. (Jondalar has to teach her to speak verbally).

* NiceGirl: Is very kind and compassionate to almost everyone she meets and feels bad for even inadvertently offending people.

* OnTheRebound: She begins a relationship with Ranec [[spoiler: and nearly marries him]] almost immediately after she and Jondalar break up in ''The Mammoth Hunters''. It understandably doesn't work out and she gets back with Jondalar.

* RaceForYourLove: Near the end of the third book, she finds out Jondalar is preparing to leave the Mamutoi and journey back to the Zelandonii alone, meaning they will probably never see each other again. Even though [[spoiler: she's meant to be marrying Ranec]], she leaps onto her horse and races after him to stop him. They end up reconciling and leave together.
* RankUp: Due to Iza's increasingly poor health in the second half of the first book, Ayla begins taking on more of her duties as a medicine woman. [[spoiler: After Iza's death, the position becomes official]].
** At the end of the sixth book [[spoiler: she is promoted from acolyte to full zelandoni (shaman) status after being 'Called' by the Mother. Despite this, she still goes by Ayla, not yet feeling comfortable with giving up her name and going solely by her title]].

* RunawayBride: At the end of ''The Mammoth Hunters'', [[spoiler: on the day of her planned Matrimonial ceremony to Ranec]], she changes her mind and decides to go back to [[FirstGuyWins Jondalar]] and journey to his people.

* SecondLove: For Jondalar.

* StatuesqueStunner: Nearly 6ft tall and very attractive.

* SupremeChef: She is mentioned as being quite a good cook, having learned it from Iza, and can make a variety of meals in any weather.

* ThisIsGonnaSuck: Her whole reaction/inner thoughts consist of this when she has to tell [[spoiler: Ranec]] that she's [[RunawayBride calling off the wedding]] - she knows he loves her and thinks he's a nice bloke, but she [[AllLoveIsUnrequited just doesn't feel the same way]].
* TookALevelInBadass: After she teaches herself to hunt with [[SufferTheSlings a sling]] in ''The Clan of the Cave Bear''.

* HospitalHottie: Stone Age equivalent. She's a highly skilled medicine woman and [[HelloNurse very beautiful]].
* IAmNotPretty: She was regarded as being "big and ugly" by the Clan's standards and continues to see herself as physically unattractive, despite the fact [[HelloNurse most men of her species see her as incredibly beautiful]].

* BeenThereShapedHistory: She is responsible for many significant technological advances or innovations in the setting, including domesticating horses and wolves, travois, starting fires with flint, suturing wounds, sewing with needles and figuring out how conception works.

* Claustrophobia: getting snowed in during blizzards without an understanding of air holes--snuffs out any fire and increases CO2 levels--brings this out. [[spoiler: First occurs during the death curse (complete communal shunning and ostracization). "The evil spirits, they tricked me. They made me think I was alive in my cave, but I am dead."]]

* DreadfulMusician: Ayla cannot sing at all. The best she can do is hum in a tuneless monotone, which Iza used to do to her to comfort her when she was little.

* BlindObedience: being raised by the Clan where women are subservient to men this causes confusion when Ayla first interacts with the Others. Even after being told that women are free to do as they please Ayla often has to resist the urge to comply with a man's or a leader's wishes.

* TheAce: Ayla is notably adept at a variety of things. Many of the things she's good at come from years of dedicated practice and training by people better than her, and by living with the Clan, where she was required to develop various skills (such as her physical strength and excellent memory) simply to keep up and avoid being TheLoad. She's also not without her issues, particularly surrounding her self-confidence and sense of identity, arguably making her more of a BrokenAce.

* OrphansOrdeal: Though she's more or less HappilyAdopted, Ayla struggles to adapt to Clan life, and is regarded as quite strange and ugly. She gets into dire trouble for breaking Clan rules and protocols, and then there's [[BigBad Broud]], the leader's {{Jerkass}} son who hates her guts and does everything he can to make her life ten times harder, up to and including beating her into unconsciousness and [[spoiler: raping her]]. She later gets kicked out of the Clan and has to survive completely alone, with no human contact, for close to ''three years''. All before the age of seventeen, we might add.

!!!'''Appears in:''' ''The Clan of the Cave Bear'' | ''The Valley of Horses'' | ''The Mammoth Hunters'' | ''The Plains of Passage'' | ''The Shelters of Stone'' | ''The Land of Painted Caves''

!!!'''Appears in:'''

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-> '''Appears in:'''

* TheAce: Ayla is notably adept at a variety of things. Some people would argue it's bordering on MarySue, though in her defense, many of the things she's good at come from years of dedicated practice and training by people better than her, and by living with the Clan, where she was required to develop various skills (such as her physical strength and excellent memory) simply to keep up and avoid being TheLoad. She's also not without her issues, particularly surrounding her self-confidence and sense of identity, arguably making her more of a BrokenAce.

* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: People are generally shocked (even by Cro-Magnon standards where [[TeenPregnancy Teen Pregnancies]] are common) when they find out how young she was when she had her first child. She was only [[spoiler: ''eleven'', she having been [[ChildByRape raped]] by Broud]]. She isn't considered unusual by Clan standards, as they reach physical maturity much sooner, but when Jondalar figures out how young she was, [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer she has to assure him the age is, in fact, correct]]. RealityEnsues, as being pregnant at such a young age causes Ayla a lot of health problems and she has a [[ScreamingBirth very difficult and excruciating birth]], which brings her [[NearDeathExperience close to death]]. To put this further into perspective, by the time she's twenty, she [[spoiler: has two kids under ten]].

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: Good grief, yes, especially considering all she's been through]].

* [[SociallyAwkwardHero Socially Awkward Heroine]]: Played straight, though she still manages to endear most people to her.