Starlight Glimmer, 'Good Guy'? A Character Analysis (S5 Finale Spoilers) · 11:53am Nov 29th, 2015
So, the most common comments I've heard so far:
- She's screwed Equestria twice. She's the biggest villain ever. How can she reform just like that?
- Weak back story!
- Worse than Sunset Shimmer!
Okay, so episode execution is questionable. But hey, how is that different from the usual? But thinking through her character, I personally believe there is a lot more to her than meets the eye. This is my own (admittedly possibly biased) take on Starlight's character.
Does she believe herself a villain?
So, steals cutie marks just like Tirek? Check. Enslaves ponies just like Sombra? Check. Wishes to take over Equestria just like Nightmare Moon? Check. Brainwashes ponies just like Discord? Check. More deceptive than Chrysalis? Check. More obnoxious than Trixie? Double check.
Hold on, hold on, the kicker is, right, the kicker is....she canonically believes herself to be the good guy.
WTH YOU SMOKIN' MAN?! AND WHY AREN'T YOU SHARING?!
No, really, hear me out. She sincerely believes equality is the way to a better, happier Equestria, something she reiterates in the season finale. She believes equality is the only way to achieve true friendship. She actually believes herself to be the only sane pony in Equestria. Everyone who stands against her 'radical white knight' views must, therefore, be 'evil'. Right? Ponies who stand in the way of a better, happier Equestria must be stopped, right?
I would like to believe she has never taken any action out of petty cruelty (like, y'know, all of MLP's villains to date, including even Trixie and the Flim Flam brothers). I'm not saying she has never done anything evil, but she has never committed evil without some reason she can justify with her own warped moral compass. Everything she did in the S5 opening was to save her village and promote her beliefs. Now we move on to headcanon territory - in the S5 finale, I'd like to believe she meant to 'Save Equestria' from Twilight and her meddling and to take back her town and home. Sure, she did give in to petty vengeance along the way, but, hey, what do you expect from a child whose maturity was stunted by a lack of social interaction?
Weak back story!
Yeah, can't argue with that, really. The biggest flaw is - It fails to elicit that 'Must-Hug' instinct in me. Starlight Glimmer is, at present, far from huggable.
My only response is this:
How could SHE reform?!
Green is good, yellow be mellow, red is dead.
I agree, how could she reform? Reformation implies she was evil to begin with. She wasn't. Going by my argument above, she's always been a 'good guy', at least in her own head. She just has the moral compass of a falling brick. She went to the trouble of building an entire town to spread a manifesto that she sincerely believes will one day create a better, happier Equestria. C'mon, when was the last time we went and built an entire town in the name of a good cause we believe in? She still believes in saving Equestria as much as Twi and her friends and has the willpower to back it. If you tell her the world is ending tomorrow, she'd probably be the first to volunteer for the suicide mission crew.
So for her to turn from her own 'good cause' to someone else's? Not as big a leap as you might think. The only obstacle is her firm belief in her own brand of good.
Worst Villain or Most Profound Character?
Difficult to say. I agree the execution of her character in the S5 finale was lacking. But she is undeniably the only villain so far who isn't, in the strictest sense of the word, 'evil'. Her brand of 'good' is simply one that is too difficult to understand, perhaps even too extreme for the world at large. It is not possible to comprehend her character at a superficial level (Unlike, y'know, every other super transparent 'destroy everything' villains). Hence why, I suspect, at a glance she just reeks of poor characterization and flawed character development. Unlike MLP's previous straightforward 'I'M EVIL AND I'M GONNA WRECK IT' villains, it takes a little more thought and reasoning to suss out just what makes Starlight Glimmer tick, what makes her the 'villain' she is.
But 'Friendship' is all about bridging differences, seeing things from other people's perspectives. And it takes a hell of a lot of 'seeing' to achieve that with Starlight. She and Twilight overcame one hell of a difference to become friends. And if you can overcome something like that, you can overcome anything.
Is this another one of your shameless plugs?
Yes, yes it is. If you are interested in seeing how my own head canon on Starlight might work in a story, read the tagged story, a 'Glimmer of Friendship'.
I prefer this argument to most of the other ones I've seen, it's certainly the most erudite yet, and on the upper edge of open mindedness.
What miss Glimmer needs now is a new job. Are there any posts coming up for ninja maids (nudge nudge wink wink say no more say no more)? She might not enjoy being in service, goes against her beliefs after all, but maybe she can be shown that a pecking order isn't necessarily all bad.
I hate how everyone immediately dismissed Starlight's motives.
When she's not evil (and sometimes when she is) Starlight's pretty likable. I'm looking forward to see how season 6 plays out, it looks like it's headed back in the direction of the first seasons with one primary character.
The dashabuse in the episode was priceless.
I LOVED IT!
I personally don't mind that Starlight's backstory wasn't that strong, because:
a. It's one of the more relatable ones in the show.
b. We still don't know all of her backstory. We don't know how exactly she started the village in the first place, and we don't know how she got her Cutie Mark.
Frankly I loved the episodes but....yes Starlight story is weak, but meh its a nice explanation on why she did what she did. Loved the alternate reality's but......you seriously cant tell me she gets let off scot free like that, just my one real griep, the rest is just small details that no one should care about like twilight talking to Zecora a bout the wedding.
Interesting point of view. I honestly wasn't that thrilled about her in the first two episodes of the season. I just missed the whole 'wreck-the-world-potentail' that all the over villains seem to have, even if that is a little superficial at me. But someone like Discord screams a lot more 'threat' than an Unicorn. She was a little tame and even weak for my taste and barely over Trixie and Gilda on my villain list. Of course you pointed out that she technically isn't a villain, since she has no evil intentions, and I can only approve of that notion.
The last two episodes with her were also interesting, and gave a bit more insight on her. I honestly don't know what to think of her, since she managed to wreck more havoc than I could have imagined (also let it be noted that Discord had not enough screentime in the two episodes, and I was really looking forward to Twilight's interaction with him) and made her a better villain...non-villain-villain? Seriously what do you call her? Ah! An antagonist! That fits! Ha! I just avoided your villain trap, Author! But to get back on topic, I also kind of hoped at the end that she would become Twilight's apprentice (the discussion in the throne room just screamed for that!), but it probably wasn't meant to be. I personally hope for more episodes with her in the next season!
You actually make a stroing case here. But i have to ask you. Did Adolf Hitler think he was being evil when he decided to genecide an entire race? or how about all those terroist attacks did the people who executed those believe they were being evil? No, they believed they were doing good work.
I know it's a massive line between these two subjects, but I'm just pointing out that anyone who does do evil, don't actually think of themselves as being evil. Clink this link for my thoughts on Starlight Glimmer
Anyways, your stories look interesting so Imma go peruse them now.
to be fair, Sunset's “reformation” was atrocious, as she was a heartless, self-centered beast who manipulated, terrorized, and oppressed others just for fun; she was beyond redemption. condoning her heel-face turn only to complain about Starlight realizing the errors of her ways and surrendering to Princess Twilight just seems asinine.
sure, Starlight's backstory was weak and all that we see of her redemption is in the form of a musical montage, but what did you expect from a show that runs for no more than twenty-two minutes per episode?