G5 Villains Ranking, Version 2 · 5:31pm Nov 30th, 2023
I did a list mentioning G5's villains almost half a year ago, And after what happened in "Secrets of Starlight", this list needed to be updated to reflect some newcomers. But did anything else major change? Well, let's find out. If you're curious, you can see the original version here. And remember, this is just my personal opinion.
6. Twitch
Why he's on the bottom: I guess Twitch is supposed to be the sidekick to Allura, and a lot of good villains do have sidekicks or henchmen. But what exactly is Twitch supposed to be? He really just feels like a discount Angel Bunny that's completely evil. Yeah, I get that Angel often acted like a borderline villain and did questionable things in FiM, but having a character like him just feels lazy. He doesn't do anything of significance, it doesn't feel like Allura needs him for anything. He feels like a villain on par with Grubber, just minus the annoying blabbermouth ab-libbing to undercut tensions.
5. Sprout Cloverleaf
Why he's not on the bottom: I don't know if I mentioned this before or not, but leaked details about "A New Generation" established that Sprout was originally going to be Sunny's boss back when the lighthouse in Maretime Bay was meant to be tied to similar lighthouses across Equestria. So I guess them making Sprout the big bad in the movie as it was was their attempt to salvage their plans for him. Then again, in that same draft, Pipp was supposed to be an antagonist with Zipp teaming up with Sunny, Izzy, and Hitch to plan a heist, and Pipp never became a villain in the final product (Queen Haven arguably did). As clunky as "A Maretime Bay Adventure" was, that at least made Sprout as a villain somewhat more credible. I still can't really buy him being a competent villain or threat. And his two appearances in Make Your Mark since show that he's still very much a joke, even his mother seems to find him an annoyance.
4. Misty Brightdawn
Why she's in the bottom half: Again, Misty did everything she did under Opaline of her own free will. Sure, she was misguided and desperate, but deep down she still knew what that she was doing was wrong. We know now that she wasn't abducted by Opaline, she was more or less "adopted", and we know she had remorse and regret about what she was doing. Still, we really needed to know she finally succeeded in capturing Sparky at the beginning of "Missing The Mark", considering we'd watched all her previous attempts fail.
3. Opaline Arcana
Why she moved down: If Chapter 6 had come right on the heels of Chapter 4, maybe Opaline as the end game threat would've been more credible. In addition to my critiques of Opaline in regard to her villain song, there's also the fact that we know very little about her and what makes her so important. We got two small tidbits of information: She was an alicorn at the same time as Celestia and Luna who was apparently snubbed by them (though Opaline telling us raises the possibility that Opaline's perspective is biased), and that she was banished from Skyros (which is where Celestia and Luna were from). Even if we're to assume that she killed someone during her showdown with Twilight, Spike, and everyone else, it's still a big stretch that she succeeded where even the Legion of Doom failed. Maybe there was more planned for her before Make Your Mark got the axe? But why couldn't they have salvaged more of it during Chapter 5 if that was the case? Why did we suddenly cut from Opaline stealing one cutie mark and not having captured any dragons, to Opaline suddenly having stolen lots of cutie marks and imprisoning two dragons?
2. Allura
Why she's not on the top: Allura at the very least feels more credible as a threat. She has an established personality, even if it's basic, and she has an actual on-screen presence. We see that she's powerful and not easily defeated. Yes, she does seem to have the typical "Gravel in my throat" voice that's used to make someone sound menacing or threatening, but it's not too grating. I'm not sure if she's supposed to be based on any sort of mythological creature, because otherwise she's just a snow leopard with wings and with the same power as the Dazzlings: Controlling others through voice. Her apparently having a "brother" that's trapped somewhere is interesting, but I don't know if we'll ever see anything come of it. Honestly, she feels like she has far more potential than Opaline ever did. Even Opaline's design was uninspiring and unoriginal: Lots of people thought of the idea of evil alicorns. Still not seeing what Aurora needs Twitch for, though.
1. Phyilis Cloverleaf
Why she stayed on the top: Intentional or not, Phyilis' absence on-screen for almost all of Make Your Mark outside of two non-speaking cameos has me convinced that, like Sprout, she hasn't really changed her ways much (if at all). I still believe she was supposed to be the big bad of "A New Generation" originally, or at least was supposed to be during the time that Roverleaf was a concept. After all, she's the entire reason Sprout things the way he does, and we know she enables his beliefs and his behavior, at least to an extent. I feel like there's an entire unwritten story about the role she must've played in getting Sprout to be approved as Hitch's deputy. What remorse and regret she might have for fueling her son's worst instincts certainly seems to not have made her open to the pegasi and the unicorns if her cameos are anything to go on. Maybe she's like Spoiled Rich in that she can't really, truly change. Not everyone is capable of change even when you try your best to help them do so.
And there you have it, come back tomorrow when we'll look at the top twelve episodes of Make Your Mark (in my opinion).
Nice list! I personally never considered Misty to be a villain, even back when she was first introduced in Chapter 2. The term morally grey antihero was more like it, as there was a bit of moral complexity to her dilemma in both Chapter 2 and 4 as to whether or not she should choose a life with her friends or carrying out Opaline’s wishes that made her so much more than just the stereotypical henchpony. We all saw from a mile away that she was going to be given a redemption and become a central figure, so I never personally considered her a villain. Twitch though, I completely agree with you on, and you even voiced my thoughts exactly in the third sentence. I just don’t get what the deal is with him, not to mention he was shown to be completely incompetent by being tricked so easily and having the Nova Charm stolen out from under him. Only time will tell if he becomes better going forward.
I never really found the jump in threat level with Opaline all that jarring. I mean yeah, it is kinda sudden, but in my opinion, it actually increased her fear factor knowing that she was able to get so much done within that amount of time. There a couple of writing tips like that, where you build the threat level of the antagonist by things you don’t see at first as a way of building them up. Knowing that she accomplished stealing so many cutie marks within the short time slot between “Nightmare On Mane Street” and “The Isle of Scaley” actually makes her so much scarier in my opinion.
Also, the evil snow leopard’s name is Allura, not Aurora. Just a friendly reminder. Can’t wait to see your Top 12 list!
Apparently, Allura is an “Aq Bars”, a mythical winged snow leopard that supposedly flies around the mountains of Turkey.
The best I can come up with is an evil counterpart to Sparky, given they're both voiced by Robert Tinkler.