Humanized Ponies and Characterization: My Observations and Thoughts

You know what I like about pony stories; nothing.

You know what I like about humanized pony stories; nothing.

The reason is that those two ideas are just that: ideas. So you're gonna write a humanized/anthro/pony story, what next? At their core, none of these stories are special. The thing that is special, and let's not forget important, is if the characters stay faithful to their personality. Don't get me wrong, settings and atmosphere are also important, but how the characters act is what the readers should focus on.

A while back. I posted a discussion thread about humanized pony stories. I know, it was a bad idea, but I was just curious. Long story short, the main arguments I saw were that this is My Little Pony, not My Little Human. This would have been a great argument if it wasn't for how it was backed up. The opposers said that 'they aren't ponies' and that was it. Really? Did a brony just judge an entire genre, just because of how the characters looked?! I found this funny in a cynical way. Looks like someone has to re-watch 'Bridle Gossip', right?

Personally, I feel that people shouldn't care about how the characters look. The important thing to ask yourself when reading is: Do the characters act the same way we know they would? Is Rarity still the most generous drama queen out there? Is Rainbow Dash still the arrogantly loyal bastard we all know and love? That should be what you, the readers, should be asking. Not whether a character has opposable digits.

Still don't believe me? Then let me give you a scenario:

Let's say that there is a ponified story of the book Twilight. Now, before you roll your eyes and leave, just hear me out. Let's say that characters of Twilight are replaced with the ponies of My Little Pony. And now, let's say that the original dialogue and characterization from the book are kept. The only difference is that the characters are now the mane 6. Now imagine Rainbow Dash, the Rainbow Dash, portraying Belle, the insecure, low self-esteem main character. Yeah, not a pretty sight.

Now, let's compare that to a fanfic like The Journey of Graves by GentlemanJ. In the story, all of the characters are humanized. Before people start raging, let me tell you that the setting is still Equestria, not that it should matter much. Now, let me talk a little about the characters in the story. There's Twilight Sparkle, the studious bookworm, Applejack, the honest hard worker, Rainbow Dash, an arrogant speed demon who loves her friends, Rarity, the fashionista with a heart of gold, Fluttershy, a shy animal caretaker, and Pinkie Pie, a fun loving and crazy prankster.

Now let's compare the two ideas above. Would you rather read a story that has ponies that are so OOC that it isn't even funny, or a story of humanized ponies that stay faithful to the characters that we all cherish?

If you choose the former, well, I'm speechless.

Now, don't point of this blog is not to get people infatuated with humanized ponies. The point of the blog is to at educate you to not dismiss a story that has a human/anthro tag. You should only dismiss a story if you don't love the characters. If the reader doesn't like the character, then they won't enjoy the story. So remember, the characters' personalities are more important than whatever shape or form the actual characters take.