Why Rainbow Dash is Best Protagonist · 4:20am Jan 19th, 2016
Okay, so, let me start off by saying something weird here: I have no idea if this is worth reading. It's just kind of a thought I had that I think I might have over-argued for what it's worth. On the other hand, I'm not one to let all this arguing go to waste. But at least keep in mind that this is not the hill comments section I'm going to die on. But it gives me a chance to plug my fic! Also: footnotes.
Somepony had to do something.
Doing something was Rainbow’s speciality. Especially when she had no idea what she was doing.
-- Lost Time, Chapter Seven
Rainbow Dash is one of the most popular characters, both on the show (in terms of polls) and in fanfic. She might not be the most popular by all metrics, but it’s clear that she has a large following, so much so that she was the corporate face of bronydom for a while.
In terms of fanfic, there are a lot of reasons for this: her canon popularity, the conventional wisdom that she can serve both as a self-insert for male writers and as a stand in for the “cool girl” that male writers wish they were dating, the conventional wisdom that in shipping she’s a main character who can act as a “male” half of a F/F relationship. I’m sure all of these things are true to some extent, and influence each other to some extent in various ways that I don’t really care to argue about.
But, the thing is, there are some undeniably good writers out there who write great Rainbow Dash fics[1]. I find it hard to imagine that the number of those is directly influenced by the items above, except maybe canon popularity, and even there it doesn’t really tell us why she’s so popular, it reduces it to “she’s popular because she’s popular.”[2]
But something struck me when someone PMed me a comment saying how much she likes fics about Rainbow Dash where her bluster and cluelessness are stripped away and she grows into the pony we all know she can be. I do too. So do a lot of people I know. (Except Peregrin Caged, but we still like him.)
What really struck me is that Rainbow Dash is the best protagonist of the mane six.
Now, I’m not saying that other characters don’t make good protagonists, and depending on the kind of story you’re telling they might be better than Rainbow. But as a general purpose character, for both the show writers and fanfic writer, Rainbow is a gold mine.
My personal thought about why this is can be divided into three areas: Neutral attributes, negative attributes, and positive attributes.
In terms of neutral attributes, and probably one of the most important reasons Rainbow makes a great protagonist, is that she’s always active. She wants to do something about any problem in front of her. She doesn’t need a writer to make her affected by a plot, she needs them to put her in the general vicinity of the plot and let her loose. When combined with her negative and positive attributes, this makes her perfect for easily generating and resolving conflict.
In terms of those negative attributes, from at least the early days of canon[3] Rainbow is arrogant, oblivious, thoughtlessly blunt, self-centered, and dumb[4]. That’s quite a load of flaws to dump on a character, but it’s actually not an uncommon combination for a certain kind of comedic protagonist. Ralph Kramden, Lucy Ricardo, Maxwell Smart, pretty much any comedy character that Bill Murray plays, Clark Griswold, Homer Simpson, Buzz Lightyear, and a ton of other examples fall into this category.
This set of flaws is a classic combination, and Rainbow adds that active drive in almost any situation. She can come into any situation like a wrecking ball, often creating complications for herself where other characters wouldn’t have had any. And on top of that, arrogance and self-centeredness tend to make it so that no matter how much people like her and are rooting for her, they enjoy seeing her take her licks, especially early in a story. It’s a comedy staple because the characters that share these traits can be sympathetic, but they’re not sympathetic enough that you can’t laugh at them taking a pratfall.
Now this is classic in comedy, but even in a more serious story it works to a writer’s advantage. Self-created problems are going to seem more personal to a character-- there’s a reason for them to have to fix it, rather than some arguably more competent character. And the series of failures that are part of a try-fail cycle can avoid becoming too miserable if the failures seem morally deserved to the readers.
But what really kicks Rainbow Dash up into awesomeness as a protagonist are her positive attributes: She works hard and is legitimately great at what she does, she’s laid back with bursts of unbridled enthusiasm, she would never intentionally hurt another pony, and she’s protective of her friends. Not to mention loyal.
These are the things people are really rooting for, and Rainbow Dash offers the opportunity to set up situations where they’re covered by her flaws and then allowed to burst through at the plot appropriate moment. And, when combined with that active drive, we know she’s going to do something to fix a problem, and keep doing things until she makes it right.
This is a combination that just makes for great stories. The potential for growth is there in spades, but while a reader is waiting they’re being entertained watching Rainbow fumble her way into trouble or generally screw up her life.
Now, I think it should be obvious that by saying that Rainbow Dash is the best protagonist, I’m not saying that the others are bad protagonists. What I am saying is that I think, if you took a group of ten writers and had them all write a story about Rainbow Dash, your stories would be overall more entertaining and interesting than giving the same ten writers another pony[5].
Among the rest of the mane six, I think that Fluttershy has a vulnerability that makes it hard to watch her fail. Even the show is super careful about that, often pulling punches the other characters would have to take after similar mess-ups. On top of that, Fluttershy has the problem that she’s often acting selflessly, or at least not selfishly, so that punishing her too much with failures can feel mean[6] (even if it’s for her own character growth.)
Pinkie has the same problem as Fluttershy with acting selflessly, and depending on the writer can also have the same vulnerability issue. She also brings to the table a kind of non-linear thinking that can make plotting a linear story difficult.
Rarity is the closest to Rainbow Dash, and can play a similar role, but she’s more socially aware and smarter, so her messes have to be carefully crafted to be her blind spots.
AJ also has to have her messes crafted to be her blind spots, and she actually has fewer of them than Rarity. In addition she has a bit of the selflessness problem Fluttershy and Pinkie share, though it’s not as bad for AJ as it is for them because one of her major negative traits is pride in that selflessness, which can be used to paint it as selfish (as it is in Apple Buck Season or The Last Round-Up.)
Twilight… well, Twilight is complicated. I believe, if I remember correctly, that there are more Twilight stories out there than Rainbow Dash. That makes sense because Twilight is another very useful type of protagonist: an investigator. Her curiosity and naivete get her into trouble, and her intelligence can get her out. But, and maybe this is just me, I feel like her flaws aren’t the type it’s satisfying to see her have to face in a story. Every great Twilight story I’ve read, including ship fics, has essentially been a mystery that left her more or less the same as a character in the end. Really, the most meaningful growth Twilight can really have is to lose her naivete, and that often (but not always[7]) makes for a more depressing kind of story.
Anyway, I just thought this was interesting when I got to thinking about it. I’m sure people will disagree, and I’m sure they’ll tell me why in the comments. But I still say that, as much as I love AJ, I could crank out a good Rainbow Dash story way more easily.
[1] ...there are some undeniably good writers out there who write great Rainbow Dash fics: No, not me. I’m a deniably good writer.
[2] ...it reduces it to “she’s popular because she’s popular.”: Which is how it work in real life, but this is analysis. It has nothing to do with real life.
[3] ...from at least the early days of canon...: Yes, Rainbow has grown as a character. Unless the plot of an episode needs her back.
[4] ...and dumb. Yes, I’m aware she’s not really dumb. She’s just functionally dumb.
[5] ...your stories would be overall more entertaining and interesting than giving the same ten writers another pony.:On the other hand, I’ll also admit that using the other characters probably ups your chances of having one or two stories that are far better than the Rainbow Dash collection. There are always a few people who do better work when they’re faced with a challenge.
[6] ...so that punishing her too much with failures can feel mean: Why do you think Bad Horse likes writing about her so much?
[7] ...but not always…: Hi, Bradel! You’re a footnote!
Since this is a Monday Blog Post, even though it’s a day late because my internet went out just as I finished, a big thank you to: bats, diremane, First_Down, sopchoppy, Bradel, stormgnome, jlm123hi, Ultiville, Singularity Dream, JetstreamGW, Noble Thought, horizon, Sharp Spark, Applejinx, Mermerus, Super Trampoline, Quill Scratch, Peregrine Caged, blagdaross, Scramblers and Shadows, BlazzingInferno, and Merc the Jerk.
...and I now have two people who contributed whose FiMfic names I don’t know. If you contributed money to me, and you’re not listed above, you can let me know who you are. I mean, if you’re into that whole me knowing who you are thing.
If you want to see your name in links, or get other fabulous prizes, check out this post for information on how to subscribe: Subscription Info.
Something that struck me at work: Rainbow Dash and Undyne (from Undertale) are very similar.
Whenever I want to write a story about an event or concept, rather than about a particular character, I usually default to Twilight as the protagonist. It just feels right to me, even if other characters could just as easily fill that role.
When I write Rainbow Dash I usually end up slotting into the role of what TVTropes refers to as "The Lancer", to Twilight (Or Sunset.)
3697049
Miley needs more metal:
See. I always upvote Pinkie Pie.
And I really like Rainbow Dash as well, but...
Another interesting layer of her to add to fics is to explore that arrogant side of her as false. She says she's awesome in the hopes that she'll someday believe it.
See her nervous breakdowns whenever she meets the risk of being exposed as not being as awesome as she says she is.
I think you bring up a pretty interesting point. The story that most comes to mind while reading this is Austraeoh. The series showcases a lot of the different aspects to her character that you've pointed out and I'd be hard-pressed to imagine a different member of the main six be developed nearly as well as Rainbow Dash given the same amount of attention.
Also, I really love the way you wrote your footnotes. Much less needless scrolling for context!
Rainbow Dash might be easy to write because she has very strong and transparent desires and goals. Because character-driven stories work best when they force their protagonist to choose between competing desires (e.g. advancing her career as a Wonderbolt vs being a good friend), Dash seems ripe for devising these sorts of internal conflicts. The same is true for Rarity and Twilight (Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and, to a lesser extent, Sweetie Belle too). In contrast, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Applejack are content with their own lives and don't have the same a grand ambitions as the other characters.
Also, whereas some stories get the complaint that the problems are caused by the characters passing around the "idiot ball," these criticisms apply less to Rainbow Dash than to some of the other characters (especially Twilight and Rarity).
3697105 We clearly need to get Bookplayer on the Noble Jury
trainship.Bookplayer, you should read Austraeoh. All the cool kids are. You don't want to be uncool, right?
Right?
3697110
The idiot ball part was more the point I was making. I read a lot of shipping stories, where the whole "drive" issue is kind of evened out (any of the characters can be given an ambition to date another character) but Rainbow is still the most likely to be interesting in a story.
I'd argue AJ makes the better protagonist, especially in an adventure genre, especially a hero's journey type of story, for the simple fact that she's more relatable than Sonic the fuckin' hedgehog right from the get-go. She's more grounded in reality, what with her steady job, homelife, and humble lifestyle, versus Dash's more solo approach and more bombastic origin and end game desires. Seeing AJ evolve or stay the same in a story can be fantastic, and watching her grow no matter how the story goes is something usually awesome.
I'm biased as hell on that one, to be honest, and while I really think Dash can be great for the comedy, Ghostbusters type of story with intentionally over-the-top sorts of malarkey, AJ fits far better when it comes to more serious works.
3697122
I don't have time to catch up. I mean, does anyone have time to catch up, at this point?
3697128 When they're determined, people sometimes do it in a few weeks. At least read the first book and then if you like it a lot keep reading and if not, stop there. Really the only thing the first book doesn't have that subsequent ones do is the magic of friendship
3697136
Honestly, if SS&E doesn't want to sell me on his own story with the description, I'm not really interested enough in finding out what it's about to try it. And the description doesn't really sell me.
Sorry.
3697124 Yup, and I definitely agree with everything you said, especially the part about the audience finding it easier to see Rainbow Dash fail at first before she succeeds. I wonder if that concept applies to popular media as a whole, explaining why relatively few shows and movies would feature female heroes (though the industry does seem to be moving in the right direction in recent years).
3697105
3697122
Sooo... Uhh... I don't really mean to pick an internet fight here, but I feel like I ought to say this anyway.
At present, Austraeoh and its follow-ons stand at about 2.6 million words. That's more than twice the total length of the Harry Potter series, which I think most people would acknowledge had some pretty good characterization.
I'm confident any of the mane six—or any background character, or any OC, or any human in Equestria, or any Displaced character—could be extraordinarily well-developed by the time you slog through 2.6 million words.
Excellent analysis. The funny thing is, RD isn't the type of character that I typically center a story on, possibly because she's further away from my own personality than any of the mane six.
Comparing her to Twilight is interesting, considering that they both can potentially have that wrecking ball characteristic in completely different fashions: Twi will analyze and magic a locked door until its hinges rust, whereas RD will just keep kicking it.
…maybe I need to write something with the two of them.
3697224
The Locked Door: A Character Study
Ya know, if it weren't so desperately unstorylike, I'd consider publishing a thing like that. I can even see how it'd go for everypony except Fluttershy, the way I'd write it.
3697228 Fluttershy would STARE at it and it'd meekly unlock itself.
Do I get a coauthor credit?
3697233
Nah, 'cause I'm not writing it. I got 2-3 sentences in and remembered someone else had already used my idea for a Luna magic test fic a few months back.
3697208
That's one of the best parts of the series. You get to watch her evolve and grow
3697208
That is true - my statement is rather hyperbolic. To be fair however, it's not like every chapter involves Rainbow Dash; sizable portions of the story do not even have her present. And the writer is SS&E who, though I enjoy his works dearly, does not exactly exude brevity. Regardless, I haven't thought too deeply into this, but it is my opinion that there seems to be more (if not a lot more) different directions that one can have Rainbow grow towards in comparison to our other protagonists (except maybe Twilight?) I guess I'd have to mull it over some more.
I feel like Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Fluttershy all have equal ability to be a protagonist, however there are caveat's to each of them.
Twilight:
Twilight is the show's protagonist and I think initially she was a great one. The first episode and earlier episodes saw her as a powerful and intelligent character who had some serious flaws. This archetype has been proven to work with Sherlock, Tony Stark, and several other brilliant but narcissistic characters. Over the seasons we've seen her flaws shrink as she generally becomes a much more well-behaved character, and while that character growth has been great to watch on one hand, on the other hand it has made her less interesting to watch overall.
So here's where Twilight becomes a great protagonist: I find excuses to make her that flawed individual. Either through having my fic set in season 1/2, or through creating an AU story in which Twilight is still a lone wolf who doesn't need friends. If you can give justifiable reasons to tweak her character in that direction, she's fantastic to write about, and her background and magic abilities can lead to many interesting story/plot ideas.
Fluttershy:
Fluttershy is... difficult. But I believe she has as much potential to be a protagonist as any. You see glimpses of it in Hurricane Fluttershy and some of her other episodes. I basically think she fulfills the role that Bilbo Baggins did: she is a scared, weaker character who has potential for some serious growth and character development, but nailing that sort of thing in writing is hard. She doesn't have any powerful latent abilities like Rainbow or Twilight, and so having her overcome problems requires some ingenuity. You can't typically just go "she won by punching/magic" like you can with Rainbow and Twilight. If I ever wrote another adventure story after my current one, I would make it about her and try to show this. She has the potential to be an overwhelmed protagonist who ultimately stands up to face a challenge.
And nailing all that is far more difficult than writing about other characters as protagonists. Which is why I think we see it done well so rarely.
I don't have much to say about Rainbow Dash. You summarized what makes her a good protagonist in your blog. I think those other two rival her potential as a protagonist, and ultimately it comes down to what kind of story you want to write. The three are all extremely different kinds of protagonists.
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I'm currently writing an adventure fic about the two of them, although their personalities are somewhat modified due to AU circumstance. (Rainbow Dash is a bit more sober, Twilight is more of a lone wolf/asshole).
I will say it's fantastic writing about the two as a juxtapose. They both have entirely different ideas about how to approach problems and what their priorities are. Twilight is a cautious, objective thinker and pessimist while Rainbow Dash is passionate and optimistic.
Had a ton of fun with it so far. If you try setting up a similar dynamic between two lead characters, I'm sure you'd see it to.
From a Tag Runthrough I did, dated August 15 2015:
You make really good points about Rainbow, I think. She's definitely an active, vibrant character with lots of drive, clear flaws and equally clear good points. A story with Rainbow as the main character isn't going to stall out because the author doesn't know what the protagonist would do. ("When in doubt, CHAAAAARGE!")
Personally, I find Rarity an excellent protagonist pony, especially for comedic stories. She's smart and perceptive and sophisticated and all that, which makes for all sorts of fun when she's jolted out of her comfort zone. And there's always the possibility for delicious marshmallow melodrama!
Count by stories:
Twilight Sparkle: 21,647
Princess Celestia: 22,343
Princess Luna: 18,838
Rainbow Dash: 11,438
Main 6: 28,635
FIMFICTION DISAGREES.
Though, more seriously, the main 6 are somewhat undercounted due to the redundant tag.
I don't think that suggesting that Rainbow Dash is a "better protagonist" than Twilight is really meaningful; they're both very good protagonists. Twilight has a lot of advantages over Rainbow Dash (her investigative and more thoughtful nature) but that doesn't necessarily make her better. She does take a lot of lumps, though (as does Rainbow Dash), and both characters are quite resilient.
That said, I do think those two are the "best" protagonists, while Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are the "worst". Applejack and Rarity are both very good protagonists but are both harder to use than Twilight and Rainbow Dash.
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I totally agree, but even so there's what I said about Twilight...
Your Highly Recommended list has about double the Twilight fics as Rainbow Dash fics. Makes sense, there are more Twilight fics out there.
But in your Top 15, Rainbow and Twilight even out to four apiece. I would imagine those would be the stories you found both well written and emotionally affecting in some way? (Including humor.) I haven't read enough of the Twilight tagged ones to tell, but is she the core of emotion in the fics tagged with her the same way as Dash is in the fics tagged on that list?
If it is, that's fine, I'm just curious.
Edit: As an example, I've always felt that Twilight was kind of a non-presence in Twilight's List. She's sweet and we want her to be happy, but it's Rainbow who provides all of the interest, it's Rainbow who causes the conflict, it's Rainbow who needs to fix the conflict. While the core idea of the story is very Twilight, and she's obstinately the protagonist, all of the energy comes from Rainbow. Even in her own fic, Twilight is just kind of blandly sweet.
3697228
Let's see:
AJ would discover a weak spot in the adjoining wall and break through at the same time as RD, leading to an argument.
Rarity would discover the key while tidying up the place, but wouldn't touch the nasty thing until she dusted off the cobwebs.
Fluttershy would befriend a mouse that would kindly (and adorably) pick the lock for her.
Pinkie would hop through a gap in the fourth wall.
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Yes! Yes they are. Only Undyne has better theme music.
Rainbow Dash, Corporate Face Of Bronydom
derpicdn.net/img/2014/7/13/674215/full.png
(I think you're absolutely right, and Dashie is best protagonist for the reasons you've given. I just couldn't resist)
For my purposes, Dash also makes a great everyman (everypony?) when dealing with the more arcane matters of science and magic that characters like Twilight and Celestia would delve deeply into. Dash-as-narrative-lens means I get to gloss over that stuff. It's not, in the end, important to the story, so it works out great that it's not important to Dash, either. It keeps the narrative from getting bogged down in side details, and perhaps even better leaves "gaps" that the reader/audience can fill in with their own speculation/headcanon.
Sometimes she ends up as a (stealth) college graduate! Not often, granted, but it's not unknown.
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Well, sure, but Rarity and Celestia are tagged five times. Does that mean they're better protagonists? :V
Well, I suppose one could make that argument. Celestia is, IIRC, the most tagged character on FIMFiction, and Rarity is awesome.
I'd say that Twilight is really a big part of the emotional core of three of those stories (The Price of Life is really about Shining Armor and Princess Celestia, even though Twilight is the subject of the story). Celestia is likewise at the emotional core of three stories. So is Rarity, for that matter. Three versus four isn't much of a difference. It is hard to say it is all that meaningful; Rarity has half as many stories as Rainbow Dash, does that mean she's even better?
I'm not really prepared to make that argument.
I think that my top 15 is too small of a sample size, really, especially given that it probably isn't very representative - there's not a single story from 2015 on that list, for instance. There's probably some stories that belong on that list over others. Looking at my highly recommended shelf, the distribution looks roughly proportional to tag prevalence on FIMFiction - Twilight and Celestia have the most, followed by Rainbow Dash, with Rarity and Applejack having a decent number as well. That suggests to me that people are making roughly equivalent use of the characters, though even though it may be due to some degree of bias - Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy are probably my two least favorite main characters, and they have by far the least stories on my HR list. Is that because they're my least favorite main characters, or because they're harder to write well (they have about as many stories as Applejack and Rarity), or just because I'm less likely to read a Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie story?
Glancing at my read stories lists (upvoted/no vote/downvote), I appear to read Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie stories about half as much as I read stories about Rarity and Applejack (and I read more Applejack stories than Rarity ones, apparently); I read about 50% more Rainbow Dash and Celestia stories than I do Rarity or Applejack stories, and I read about that much more Twilight stories than Rainbow Dash and Celestia stories. The fact that my HR shelf roughly mirrors these statistics suggests to me that there is little evidence that choosing a particular character for a story has a large effect on the quality of the story, and that the primary effect is what stories I'm reading. Now, it is possible that my reading habits are a consequence of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie stories being abnormally weak, and thereby reading them much less than would be expected by chance because they're less likely to be appealing, but it is also possible that it is just a personal preference.
3698507
I love when it turns out that she's brilliant at anything involving aerodynamics, climatology/meteorology, etc.
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So, if you, Bradel, bats, Bad Horse, Horizon, HoofBitingActionOverload, Cold in Gardez, and I each wrote a 10,000 word Rainbow Dash story, and a 10,000 word Twilight story, you would feel that the odds on which bunch of stories would be overall more interesting would be 50/50?
I just find that interesting, because I would put all my money (if I had any) on Rainbow Dash, with a side bet that the single best story would be Twilight, but her stories would be worse on average (though, with that group, still good to great.)
3697086 That's probably because Twi is the right kind of protagonist for non-character-centric stories: like bp said, she's an investigator. She doesn't need to be personally involved to get involved, she only need to be aware that there's something she doesn't know. And in her learning,the reader learns what's going on. So long as the events are interesting, the story can be interesting.
Plus you can have Spike do all the pratfalls for her.
3698748
With that particular group of writers, I'd give the advantage to Twilight. Bradel, CiG, Bad Horse, and myself all lean more towards Twilight, I think, and Horizon doesn't even have a Rainbow Dash tagged story. HoofBiting leans towards Rainbow Dash, and I'd put you and bats as toss-ups. I could argue myself into classing myself as a toss-up (I don't
writefinish nearly enough Rainbow Dash stories, but I have tons of them stored up and some of them are quite good in my own mind - though admittedly more than a few of them feature Twilight as well) but that would still be pretty biased in favor of Twilight, I think, just judging by existing bodies of work. So I don't think it would mean much if Twilight did "win" a competition like that.I was just thinking about what other Rainbow Dash writers there are, and it feels like a lot of them have vanished off into the mists, other than SS&E.
Clearly this all means I need to write more Rainbow Dash as she is a great character.
Or just in general.
3699215
I don't think it has anything to do with what you prefer to write. I obviously prefer to write AJ, I have way more AJ tagged stories than either Twilight or Dash, but I can still write a better story with Dash than AJ.
I can tell you that despite having written some good Twilight stories, and liking TwiJack better than AppleDash, I write better Rainbow Dash stories. With Twilight, I can write The Homesteading or Dubious Enchantment. With Rainbow Dash I can write Best Young Flyer or Lost Time.