Thinking Post: Sombra · 1:53pm Oct 11th, 2013
Why didn't Sombra, work as a villain?
I mean look at him!
I know this topic has been covered in one way or another, in most cases probably by people significantly more qualified than myself to offer their views; still I think Sombra, for his faults, was a good villain even if I acknowledge that he didn't really work in this case. But I decided that I wanted to look into why, I, think he didn't work and perhaps discuss what the creators were aiming for and what could have been done instead. Who knows if I'll actually cover all that.
Now as I said I actually like Sombra, I thought that given his traps, he was clearly at one point an intelligent villain and more than that he's the only villain so far who was able to give the princess's a Pyrrhic victory. One could say that NMM accomplished that as well, but that's only because she's Celestia's sister not because of any villainous accomplishment before her sealing. This puts Sombra pretty high on the competence list, probably more so than any other villain thus far. But I think I need to back up a bit and discuss who inspired the mad unicorn.
I don't think it's any secret that Sauron was probably in mind when the writers were working on Sombra, both were armor plated dictators who corrupted the land and world itself, they wielded great, and seemingly corruptive power, and were noted for intelligence before being defeated, destroyed and returning as a semi-spiritual entity with little personality and obsessing over "small" incredibly valuable objects. But then why is it, if they followed Tolkeins lead did Sombra get such a harsh reception? Why is it that the MLP staff, generally regarded as very good writers, managed to not swing one out of the park the way they did with the other villains?
Well I think it, like most things, comes down to comparisons and intentions. Put simply, I think they were trying to do so many new and to an extent contradictory things with Sombra at once and with so little time that it ended up collapsing out from under.
I'll compare him to his Tolkein counterpart first then move on to other MP villains.
So why is it Sauron, as an eye or a warlord is generally regarded as a good villain? There are a few reasons and most of it comes down to execution, atmosphere and character, or lack there-of. If you've only read/seen the Lord of The Rings movies like myself then Sauron really is just a formerly metal guy who's now a giant flaming eye and yet he, or it, still managed to be an intimidating and overarching presence in the story.
There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, I think a lot of it comes down to build up, this was a problem NMM had as well. Sauron was built up throughout dialogue and in the atmosphere as a massive corruptive force of malevolence, we didn't need to see much beyond a flash of an eye and the utterly terrified reactions of everyone involved, Boromirs speech was very helpful. It gives us an evil force that's clearly behind everything, corrupting wizards and directing the orcs while doing something very clever, we don't see it much, or at all really. To paraphrase Ben Yahtzee "it's scarier when you don't know what's chasing you, a faceless monster is more intimidating than a human one"
Ben Yhatzee was discussing and comparing two silent hill games, in one all you know is that your in a town, it's dark, overly silent and while there are people they are all "off" not seeing the same thing as you and there are monsters, but they're more like dolls & only interested in tearing one-another apart. It apparently gives the player a crushing sense of isolation, add in that you don't actually, know, what's causing it adds to the mystery which adds to the intimidation factor. All you know is there is 'something' terribly wrong with this place and it's the cause of everything, but it has no face, no body nothing to identify with or attack. What's in the dark is always scary because it's the unknown along with being a threat. Comparatively in a different game while you can't tell 'what' the "source" is you can see it, it's a big wobbly thing floating behind you.
Sombra actually got this to an extent as well, we saw him mutate the entire Crystal Empires land more or less just by being there (affecting the scenery and showing power) and he existed as a faceless monstrous storm, combined with the build up from Celestia/Luna and what we initially saw of him, just a cloud of power that made Shining Armor look like nothing in comparison (Worf effect). Sombra was set up to be pretty scary. A giant faceless malevolent force of incredible power and scope. Add in that this is essentially, just, the left over of what was once there and you have a great sense of dread for what happens if they get the heart/ring.
This worked for Sauron and it could have worked for Sombra, all we saw were two monstrous eyes and a tornado, for Sauron, just a big flaming eye on a tower and both existed as evil forces, as much a part of the nature of the land, and monsters, as anything else, nearly untouchable and decaying all they encountered while directing, from the background, the powers/orcs of evil.
And that's where the problem came in, they gave him a face.
This is one of the better pictures; also His spell on the crystal ponies was good though, but needed to be used more.
Now before I go on I want to say I don't have an issue with Sombras design, cept maybe the curved horn which I find a but unnecessary, I've seen some comparisons to crappy OCs, perhaps that's true, perhaps not and that probably played a part, but I think it was genuinely a pretty good design, similar to a pony, but just off the mark, clearly powerful and imposing and more beastly and twisted than anypony. This also ties into one of the things I like about him he's the first confirmed "mortal" villain, he's not an alicorn 1000 year long lifespan thing, not a chimera reality warper and not an alicorn like queen of an entire species. Just a unicorn who had some evil magic and managed to challenge the princess's.
So why did giving him a head change so much? There are multiple reasons I feel that this didn't work. Firstly a floating head, can, be intimidating but often isn't and if it's not framed properly a giant floating head can look cartoonish (a joking cartoon) against the more serious and grounded backdrop a small one would probably be similarly comedic. Had it been wreathed in shadows then it might have worked giving the impression of a beast in a cave, but just floating there it looks, out of place and generally is hard to take seriously. But here's where the real problems comes in, a face denote humanity (or pony) in this case, it immediately makes us identify it as something we could hold a conversation with, (if they;d gone the mad beast route it could have used more attention) regardless of it's behaviour. And to once again take from Ben Yahtzee "humans are reasonable, they go to the bathroom eat crisps, faceless evils are scarier because you can't associate anything of yourself with them."
Put simply, a face denotes personality, this immediately takes away from the concept of a shapeless formless evil, with no face or clear center to attack and not even a true appearance and instead makes it much closer to, just a dude made of shadows with a floating head. Saroun would likely have been significantly less intimidating had it actually spoken, or had a face, that's why Sauron was kept in the background, a monstrous presence of evil but totally alien, pulling all the strings but still beyond comprehension or association.
Which is what brings us to the other problem and connects back to what I said earlier in this ramble about comparing Sombra to the other villains, personality. The moment something has a face it cannot work as a faceless evil, or at least not as easily, add in a voice and thought process and you've got a person and people, villains or otherwise need to show some clear personality, some form of thought and actions lest they seem inactive, or just plain strange.
It's often said, I think, that the villains in MLP have a lot of personality, this is true, to an extent. We only saw two of them for a brief time, but they conveyed a great sense of personality, motivation (motive is very important once they have a face, they need to make some degree of sense however evil) and they usually had something else going for them as well that was a huge part of their characters (and villains arcs) for the fans to build from, going in order.
NMM had mythic building, motive and a huge affect on the scenery that tied back with it all. Discord conveyed a ton of personality, motive and was very proactive. Chrysalis had an original design, shock value, and a unique motive to compensate for a lack of screen time.
Mythic build up & Large Ham!
NMM had an excellent intro with the mythic descriptions, thus build up, and a very dramatic and very hammy reveal, showing personality, at the end of episode one, capturing Celestia (presumably) and bringing about eternal night time, this also had a great affect on the setting what once was so bright is now dark and intimidating; this becomes even more effective once you enter Everfree Forest. It works because it also leaves her as a constant presence and reminds us of her power, plan and background without any effort. All this compensates for a lack luster counter to the heroes.
Sombra had an affect on the scenery but we never really saw how or why, if he'd just been a mass of barely conscious evil it would have worked, but then he started talking and having a head, yet displayed no personality.
Talk, talk, talk, magic, joke
Discord had a lot of personality, he was extremely proactive and to many he was even funny, thus making them enjoy his constant presence. Combine that with a massive affect on the setting, creating an impressive juxtaposition that reflects his desires and personality and you have a memorable villain with a great deal of threat value and a personalty. Even if his motives were thin, evil fun, they were clearly communicated and his personality, how he was portrayed and carried himself, did the rest. The Joker is similar.
Sombra didn't convey much personality at all, beyond possibly insane beast like behaviour and an obsession with crystals/slaves. If this had been framed better, perhaps been wafting over the breeze as opposed to straight out of his mouth it could have been haunting; but it didn't and instead it just sounded narmish, despite the awesome delivery. This also meant there was very little personality being conveyed and that is crucial once a villain has a face, they need a motive how ever pointless, they need a reason, a plan and some character. Sadly Sombra didn't get enough background explanation or enough characterization to give him either.
Shock and Awe
Chrysalis is a bit harder, she appeared a great deal but we only got to see the "real her" in her true form for a few minutes, regardless of what flaws there might be in her plan though Chrysalis gave us a great deal to work with, from very little. Chrysalis introduced a whole new dimension to the show, Changelings, they had a unique design, close to pony but not quite, a strange an alien need for love to survive and a possible, but malleable societal structure we'd never seen before. This compensated for a lot, but more than that it was her reveal. Chrysalis went form somepony impersonating Cadence and controlling Shining Armor into an alicorn like entity we'd never heard of, with no way of seeing it coming, no character driven introduction and then she proceeded to defeat and capture Celestia of all creatures. Chrysalis made up for a lack of intimidating villainous screen-time by taking advantage of what she had and shocking us every step of the way, capturing Twilight, taunting her, the reveal Celestia all of it. She also had a great motive, food, her subjects stuff just perfect for capturing peoples imaginations and that made up for a lot and left her deeply ingrained in the fans minds, incredible potential, for her and her species.
Sombra didn't have much in the way of an motivation beyond, evil magic evil, Discord didn't either but he made up for it with presence and personality. While there were some shocking and cool moments they were almost all thanks to traps Sombra had laid, not his own actions, had he just been a monstrous wraith this could have worked, had we known more of him before the fall it could have worked. But as it stands they seem so separate from what we have of the character they don't fit well together in the viewers mind. Plus he never did much to shock people, his initial appearance was a surprise but besides that, not much on his own effort, he was just hovering there, had he perhaps broken through at the start of episode 2 and they spent the rest of the episode fighting him off more could have been done. But he was cut out of the episode, thanks to the shield, and we did't get to see enough of him to really get a feel for his personality. Add in that while his voice was intimidating the repeated dialogue sounded, strange, and like a few other thing narmish.
So what was the problem? To me it was that there were too many incompatible ideas mashed together and with so little time they weren't combined well and didn't get fleshed out. Sombra as a dictator could have worked, Sombra as a shade could have worked, Sombra as a evil wizard or as a master mind could have worked, putting them all together with so little time or explanation though did not serve him well. Sombra had, and still has, great potential as a character but they weren't able to utilize it, these combined traits led for an awkward, barely present villain who lacks the action, the mythic backdrop, the motive or personality to carry himself into the viewers memory.
Having a "mysterious" villain with a constant presence in the story really doesn't work, much like Sauron it was his influence, not his character, that everyone feared, it was the return to himself that they were more terrified of than anything. Sombra was a constant presence removing him from a distant looming figure and instead making him the enemy battering against the wall and had we seen more of that, to set up more tension, it could have worked really well, and the growing corruption was a good idea, but they never went far enough with it to cause much more than a bit of excitement.
But what made Sauron, and villains like him good, is that they are overarching, they infect everything the characters do without even being there, they're a constant weight and dread and they are framed properly for it, that is to say the use of Sombras screen time and the manner it was used did not work towards this goal. The emperor has little to no presence but was pretty scary as well.
What really damaged Sombra was having a face and voice, with that he needed a personality and the lack of said personality, and all that one requires, motive history emotion, and with none of that we had only some very small pieces to pull from to try and construct a personality, but not much of one which left us struggling to be entertained intimidated or identifying with him. and his lack of history left us having a hard time of extrapolating on him or even wanting to.
It's worth remembering I still like Sombra and think he has potential; he was clearly a strategic villain with amazing power and had some cool, if overlooked moments, taking something from the princess's (the empire) being a seemingly normal creature and fighting them, how he managed to so break the Crystal ponies, strategy and not being terrified near death. But I can see why others don't think he worked, maybe, and why other villains have maintained more popularity than him, they are significantly easier to write about for one thanks to having character and motives that leave us curious about them, feeding our imaginations. Still I like Sombra and might make use of him in the C!verse, might not id still essentially be making an OC, just with baggage. But as I said, I like Sombra and think he was a good villain from the characters perspectives if sadly not our own.
All hail the king
Pretty much, yeah. Sombra was really never a character, just a plot device, and not even a very consitent one, but rather just filling in as a cheep sorce of conflict whenever the writers felt the need to ramp up the drama.
This is sort of why his traps don't really help him look like such a consument planner. The traps themselves while seemingly clever, aren't really reflected in what we ever actauuly se of him. As the growling floating haed never displays any genre savvyness, it's hard to see the traps he laid as anything more than contrivances that do nothing but slow the plot down and facilitate the final moral of the episode when Twilght has to deligate here taks to Spike.
1411514
It's worth noting that Sauron could almost be considered a plot device, just a looming threat to spur the quest on and not an active character. The differences comes in with framing and execution. I think Sombra had the bones of a good villain; but bones are only so good when covered in flesh and muscle. That got weird. Heck I think he has what ti takes to be any sort of villain/character if a direction had been picked or a better frame chosen, it's a shame but that's the conclusion. Thanks for reading and commenting.
1411708
It's worth noting that even Sauron has often recieved heavy criticism for being an inefectual villain in and of himself, and it's really moreso only the prestige of the books and the author that carries him.
Also, though the kind of character the works in literature is not the same as what works in a more visual media.
1411733
Fair point, for a different comparison, the emperor from star wars, or the town form silent hill 2. Sorry it's late I can't think of good examples.
One thing I liked about Sombra, isn't just his genre saviness, but hi fridge horror. Look at the lack of foals or newborns in the empire, the zero amount of crystal unicorn or pegasi. This man must have gon e onto some serious genocides in his life. Just think about what he had the doctors do to ensure that no unicorn would be born who could make their way through his traps, no pegasus to fly and save the day. Those ideas just make me go, AHHHHH!! and give me plenty of material to work for.
1453439
I usually assume the empire didn't have many/any of those tribes personally, but I have enjoyed/been impressed with fics that took that route and it's definitely plausible and as you said extremely horrifying.
Thanks for the comment! :)
1453512
Heck, one fic that has been bouncing around in my head for the past month is Cadence dealing with a lack of doctors and nurses because of Sombra had them do to young foals for that purpose. I so want to see Cadence having to deal with the fallout of the actions of Sombra
1453614
That sounds like a pretty fascinating fic concept, what did Sombra do to the doctors and nurses? Were they killed because of everything they had done? Regardless seeing Cadence manage and emotionally, physically weakened and overall damaged empire 1000 years out of time would be fascinating.
1453636
MY idea is that Sombra, forced the doctors and nurses to kill the unicorn and pegasus foals when they were born. Anytime the baby was found to be an unicorn or pegasus, the doctors and nurses would be forced to euthanise it. I was thinking that they would become so wracked with the guilt of the sins that Sombra made them commit (either through mind manipulation or a do this or your family is dead scenario) That this would end up making them all quit, unable to do their jobs anymore. This would make Cadence have to deal with that and train a new slew of medical personelle.
1453816
Interesting idea, it would make a good amount of sense given what has been shown and not shown. Though Cadence 'could probably' ask her aunts to send at least some emergency and relief medical workers until she had a new batch trained up. Though the culture might be bit fearful at that point as well.