G5 Villains Ranking (G5/G5 Spoilers!) · 5:38pm Jun 14th, 2023
G5 hasn't had as many villains yet compared to G4, but then again G5 could be going for a quality over quantity approach when it comes to villains. Yes, villains is plural, there's more than one to talk about even if one in particular has been commanding the most attention. For the record, villains is different from antagonists. Antagonists can include anyone who's ever opposed the protagonist for any reason, it doesn't necessarily mean they're outright evil like villains (or borderline evil). As always, the characters included here are the result of my personal opinion, so please respect it. And since I'm only doing villains, that means I will not be including Queen Haven, Alphabittle or Posey Bloom, all of whom were antagonists at one point or another but were obviously not outright villains (even considering Posey was significant in the first Make Your Mark special). That leaves us with four villains to talk about.
4. Sprout Cloverleaf
Why he's on the bottom: I still can't take him seriously as a villain or any sort of threat in "A New Generation". They treat him like a joke even after he's supposedly supposed to be dangerous. It feels like an ongoing joke that forgot to get to the punchline. If we'd only seen Sprout as the victim of misfortune or panic, such as him chasing after Sunny in the beginning of the film or stepping into one of the boxes when Izzy shows up, then maybe they could've spun it as him being dangerous if given the opportunity to prove himself. But he intentionally weasels his way out of going with Hitch, then complains about Hitch going off on his own as if Sprout suddenly decided he wanted to go along with Hitch after all. Even him taking over and stirring up an angry mob is something that he has to be talked into, and his defeat is pretty anti-climatic. I know this is a hot take, but I find him more believable as a villain in the video game "A Maretime Bay Adventure", even with all the plot holes surrounding when it alledgedly takes place (wouldn't surprise me if the game's creators and developers were only given small tidbits of information on G5 and told to make a game within the deadline). That's because his actions amount more to sabotage than anything else, and him just being an opportunisit. It could even be that he didn't mean for things to get so out of control there, but once they did he realized there was no going back, he couldn't come out and say it was all just a joke.
3. Misty Brightdawn
Why she's not on the bottom: Yes, yes, I know Misty was doing what she did under orders from Opaline. And she clearly was conflicted about doing so on multiple occasions. But following orders is not an excuse, you still have free will. The devil never makes you do anything you yourself don't already want to do. If you choose to do something even though you think it's the wrong thing to do, you're responsible for the consequences. Misty was never brainwashed or possessed by Opaline when she did any of the things she did. Henchmen to the main villain still count as villains in their own right. The only thing that really Misty back as a villan is that after they spent a lot of time in Make Your Mark and Tell Your Tale having her constantly fail to capture Sparky, they didn't show us how she succeeded in doing so in "Missing the Mark". And they could've easily done that even via flashback if they'd cut the second apology scene that was pointless to the narrative.
2. Opaline Arcana
Why she's not on the top: Shocker of shockers! The biggest G5 villain so far is not number one. Well, I've said before and I'll say it again, I'm still not sold yet on the premise of Opaline being the one to succeed where even the Legion of Doom could not against Twilight and her friends. Even with Opaline supposedly being an alicorn at the same time as Celestia and Luna, but with unique magical powers, I'm still not seeing what Opaline could've done that necessitated Twilight sealing magic away inside of the crystals. I think that in turn relates to Opaline's biggest problem, prior to Chapter 4 of Make Your Mark when she finally started doing things on her own, she was almost completely irrelevant to the story. The mane five never knew she existed, never suspected she or Misty were involved in anything, and never played a role even indirectly in thwarting Opaline's plans. The only thing smart she did during that time frame was send Misty to spy and ultimately infiltrate the mane five, which makes you wonder why she didn't do that from the start. Chapter 4 Opaline is when Opaline finally started being a credible threat, especially towards the end when she successfully trapped the mane five, drained Sparky of nearly all his magic, and ultimately fought Sunny to a draw. Perhaps the next chapter/chapters of Make Your Mark will do more to shed light on Opaline's past, and how it relates to Twilight and the crystals. If so, maybe she'll have a chance to be number one next time.
1. Phyilis Cloverleaf
Why she's on the top: I would not be surprised to learn that Phyilis was supposed to be the main villain of "A New Generation" and that they switched it to Sprout last minute. Almost everything Sprout does in the movie he does because of Phyilis' influence. Phyilis is also the one to directly challenge Argyle and Sunny's beliefs, and we see that she actually does believe that unicorns and pegasi are a threat when she aids earth ponies around Canterlogic in preparing and maintaining defenses, even if her tech doesn't actually do what it's supposed to do. The concept art for Roverleaf has me convinced that she was supposed to be the one to attack the lighthouse, not Sprout. It would make sense for her to exploit Hitch's absence, because with Hitch and Sunny both gone she would have no one to oppose her or tell her no. The fact that we really haven't seen or heard from her at all since the movie is further proof in my book that she remains the most villainous of any villain we've had in G5 so far, even considering Sprout's community service and the shuttering of Canterlogic. That's not to say that she hasn't changed her ways, I doubt she would be bold enough to challenge Hitch and Sunny at this point. But perhaps her absence is because she's struggling to come to terms with the fact that she was wrong all along, that everything she ever believed in was wrong. And admitting to that is really difficult.
And there you have it, come back tomorrow when I'll do a ranking of every episode and special of Make Your Mark to date (haven't seen Tell Your Tale and no desire to see it, so there won't be one for Tell Your Tale).
I get what you're saying about Phyillis since she was the one most opposed to Argyle and Sunny's beliefs and just about all of Sprout's actions were done in an attempt to gain her approval. I do believe that what the writers wanted was to show how being raised in a toxic, fear-mongering environment can corrupt someone especially when they're being raised by a parent who seemly encourages a lot of their worst qualities.
BTW, was there any statement on where "A Maretime Bay Adventure" fits within the G5 timeline? We know it takes place after the movie but that's it.
5733351 I don't believe there's ever been a statement on where "A Maretime Bay Adventure" could fit timeline wise. It feels almost like it's an alternative take on the first special, because it has a lot of similar plot points to it.