MLP Rule 34 Update: August 2013 / One Year Anniversary Special / Rule 34 Origins · 7:03pm Aug 10th, 2013
One year ago, I gathered porn statistics from rule34.paheal.net. At the time, there were only eight intellectual properties which had each managed to generate more than 10,000 pornographic images.
Pokemon
Touhou
DC Comics
My Little Pony
Street Fighter
Marvel Comics
Naruto
Sonic Team
As the months went by, Digimon and Idolm@ster managed to break the 10K threshold, which rounded out the top ten porn producers.
The numbers in these early blog posts weren't completely accurate, due to the inability to search for images by date. After working with some of the fine admins of rule34.paheal.net, I managed to effectuate a change to the search engine. Those who were moderating the site took my suggestion to heart and enabled a way for people to find porn images based on when they were posted.
Needless to say, I was very excited.
For the first time, it was now possible to go back several years and see exactly how much porn each series had generated monthly. In my initial rule34 update, I speculated that before the release of Friendship is Magic, My Little Pony had 293 pornographic images. With the new search capabilities, I was able to collect more accurate data and discovered that there were only 88 explicit images of My Little Pony posted on the site prior to the premier of Friendship is Magic.
For those of you who would like to review my previous Rule34 blog posts, you can find them here.
August 2012 / At the rate things are going...
September 2012 / Famous Bronies
October 2012 / Digimon
November 2012 / Equestrian elections
December 2012 / Top 11 Hottest Animated Women
January 2013 / General porn statistics
February 2013 / Touhou review
March 2013 / Season three wrap up
April 2013 / Idolm@ster
May 2013 / OC woes
June 2013 / Ribald Rivalries
July 2013 / A major announcement
While the numbers in these older blog posts aren't as accurate as the current data, they still manage to offer insights into the evolving world of erotic art. The reason why I moved my monthly updates from the 5th to the 10th is because MLP:FIM premiered on October 10, 2010. (Besides, 10-10-10 seemed like a nice memorable date to start recording data.)
Starting from 10-10-10, I went and recorded the monthly increase of the top ten porn producers, in addition to the mane six. What follows is the first monthly update based on more accurate data.
It's the tenth of the month, so you know what that means. That's right! It's time for another in-depth analysis of clop! 
Specifically, I'm talking about Rule 34 statistics. Since this is the first blog post which utilizes the revised data, we're going to examine all the porn that's accumulated since the premier of Friendship is Magic. But first, let's take a moment to examine the new porn added during July. (Please note that these new numbers will not correlate with the information found on previous rule34 blog posts, since all the statistics have been revised for the sake of increased accuracy.)
As of August 10, 2013, here's the state of Rule 34, according to Rule34.paheal.net:
Pokemon still holds the lead with 63,208 images. 1,277 new explicit images were added during July, giving Pokemon a 2% increase in porn from last month.
Touhou is in second place with 41,461 images. 892 new explicit images were added during July, giving Touhou a 2.1% increase in porn from last month.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is in third place with 35,915 images. 2,751 new explicit images were added during July, giving My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic a 8.2% increase in porn from last month.
DC Comics is in fourth place with 21,934 images. 320 new explicit images were added during July, giving DC Comics a 1.4% increase in porn from last month.
Street Fighter is in fifth place with 16,418 images. 153 new explicit images were added during July, giving Street Fighter a 0.9% increase in porn from last month.
Naruto is in sixth place with 16,006 images. 226 new explicit images were added during July, giving Naruto a 1.4% increase in porn from last month.
Marvel Comics is in seventh place with 15,713 images. 206 new explicit images were added during July, giving Marvel Comics a 1.3% increase in porn from last month.
Sonic Team is in eighth place with 13,494 images. 410 new explicit images were added during July, giving Sonic Team a 3.1% increase in porn from last month.
Digimon is in ninth place with 10,944 images. 132 new explicit images were added during July, giving Digimon a 1.2% increase in porn from last month.
Idolm@ster is in tenth place with 10,381 images. 6 new explicit images were added during July, giving Idolm@ster a 0.05% increase in porn from last month.
Wow. I couldn't have timed this better if I tried. In the two years and ten months since MLP:FIM started, more new pony porn was generated in July 2013 than any previous month. Recently, some have speculated that the popularity of My Little Pony is beginning to wane and people are leaving the brony fandom. I would argue that this data proves that miniature equine aficionados are as firm in the fandom as they ever were.
My Little Pony produced more than twice the amount of new porn as Pokemon in July 2013. If you disregard Pokemon, My Little Pony generated more smut last month than the other eight members of the top ten porn producers combined!
In my first blog post about rule34 stats, I declared that MLP would be the "undisputed king of porn" before the start of season four. While Pokemon currently has the highest number of explicit images, no other series can keep pace with My Little Pony in terms of porn production. Pokemon may currently wear the crown, but My Little Pony is profuse with pornographic power.
Here's an update on Rule 34 images for the mane six:
Twilight Sparkle
has 5,299 images. 391 explicit images were added during July, giving her an 7.9% increase from last month.
Rainbow Dash
has 4,594 images. 291 explicit images were added during July, giving her a 6.7% increase from last month.
Pinkie Pie
has 4,063 images. 304 explicit images were added during July, giving her an 8% increase from last month.
Fluttershy
has 3,938 images. 294 explicit images were added during July, giving her a 8% increase from last month.
Rarity
has 3,372 images. 254 explicit images were added during July, giving her a 8.1% increase from last month.
Applejack
has 3,351 images. 289 explicit images were added during July, giving her a 9.4% increase from last month.
A special congratulations to Twilight Sparkle, who broke the 5k barrier! Go ahead and celebrate this milestone, Twilight! You've earned it.
Pinkie Pie also has a reason to party, since she now has more than 4,000 porn pics! Let's show our appreciation for a special mare who can be funny and fappable at the same time.
Rarity has only 21 more images than Applejack. These two have had a heated rivalry for months. When the next update rolls around on September 10th, there's no telling who will come out on top.
Now that the current state of rule34 has been presented, let's peruse past prurient pictures. In order to do this, we'll need to go back in time.
First of all, a very special thanks to Infinion, who made these amazing graphs of the data I collected.
To start off with, here's the master chart of the top ten rule34 producers.
This chart represents nearly three years' worth of rule34 data. Notice the slope of MLP as it rockets into third place. In order to more closely examine the numbers, Infinion has broken the data into more manageable semi-annual charts.
First is Oct. 10 - Mar. 11.
In the first six months after the premiere of Friendship is Magic, My Little Pony was still struggling to establish itself as a cultural phenomenon. During this period, the only intellectual properties with more than 10,000 images were Pokemon, Touhou and DC comics. Marvel comics also surpassed Street Fighter.
Next is Apr. 11 - Sept. 11.
My Little Pony quadrupled its numbers during this period. Street Fighter reclaimed its fourth place position and went on to break the 10k barrier.
Next is Oct. 11 - Mar. 12.
My Little Pony has moved into ninth place after passing Idolm@ster in January 2012. Naruto also surpassed Sonic Team during this period. Beginning in February 2012 and continuing into this most recent update for August 2013, My Little Pony is the only member of the top ten that has produced at least 1,000 new porn images per month.
Next is Apr. 12 - Sept. 12.
During this period, My Little Pony jumped from ninth place to fourth place by surpassing Digimon in May 2012, Sonic Team and Naruto in June 2012, Marvel comics in August 2012 and Street Fighter in September 2012. Idolm@ster saw a huge increase in April 2012 and even surpassed Digimon in May. The reason for Idolm@ster's huge increase in porn production during these months is currently unknown, but it is believed to be a backlog of already existing Idolm@ster porn which hadn't been posted on rule34.paheal.net before.
Next is Oct. 12 - Mar. 13.
My Little Pony surpassed DC comics in November of 2012 and became the third-largest porn producer, after Pokemon and Touhou. Digimon surpassed Idolm@ster in February 2013 and Naruto surpassed Marvel comics in March 2013.
Which brings us to Apr. 13 - Aug. 2013.
Things have settled down by this point. No one has surpassed anyone else yet during this period, but My Little Pony is closing the gap on Touhou. The 2,751 new explicit images generated by My Little Pony during July 2013 is the greatest monthly increase of any top ten member since the premiere of Friendship is Magic. Even Idolm@ster's huge monthly increase in April 2012 was still less than the amount of new My Little Pony porn made during July 2013.
To get an idea of how far My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has come in just under three years, here's a chart highlighting the monthly numerical and percentage increase of MLP porn.
January 2012 seems like a focal point for pony porn, since that's where the numeric and percentage increase intersects. That same month was also when My Little Pony first ranked higher than tenth place.
For those who desire a more consolidated look at the raw data, here's the numbers for the top ten porn producers, as well as their monthly increase.
Now let's take a look at the rule34 stats for the mane six. Here's their master chart.
In order to discover what these numbers mean, we'll need to delve deeper. In order to do that, we'll break down the data into semi-annual chunks.
First up is Oct. 10 - Mar. 11.
Even though Twilight Sparkle didn't exist as a character prior to Friendship is Magic, her star power as the protagonist helped propel her to first place, in terms of porn. It's surprising to see how different things were when each pony was still jockeying for position.
Next up is Apr. 11 - Sept. 11.
In what is sure to be a surprising upset, not only did Rainbow Dash make it to first place, but she held her lead for several months. There were other interesting changes, like Fluttershy making it into third place.
Next up is Oct. 11 - Mar. 12.
The competition between Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash is so intense during these months. Neither one is giving an inch. I didn't realize that Fluttershy held on to third place for so long.
Next up is Apr. 12 - Sept. 12.
From here on out, things have begun to settle down. All the ponies seem to have found their places.
Next up is Oct. 12 - Mar. 13.
Not much has changed, other than Twilight Sparkle's lead continues to increase. It's like there are four tiers among the mane six. Twilight Sparkle is tier one, Rainbow Dash is tier two, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy are tier three and Rarity and Applejack are tier four.
Which brings us to Apr. 13 - Aug. 13.
As the gap between Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash grows, the gap between the other tiers shrinks. Pinkie Pie and Rarity may have their respective leads over Fluttershy and Applejack, but that could all change soon.
For those who desire a more consolidated look at the raw data, here's the numbers for the mane six, as well as their monthly increase.
2013 marks the tenth anniversary since the term Rule34 was first used.
Back in 2003, a 16-year-old British boy named Peter Morley-Souter enjoyed making web comics with his sister. He was highly-influenced by Bill Waterson's masterpiece, Calvin and Hobbes.
Peter would come up with ideas and his sister, Rose, would draw them. One day in 2003, a friend emailed Peter an explicit drawing of Calvin and Hobbes having wild sex with Calvin's mother. At the time, Peter said he felt "pretty traumatized."
"I knew there was a lot of sex on the Internet. But Calvin and Hobbes?" Peter said, "If there was porn of Calvin and Hobbes, I figured there must be porn of anything and everything."
Viewing a pornographic image of Calvin and Hobbes led Peter to create a single panel response comic which would forever change the discussion of porn.
And thus Rule34 was born.
Peter grew up to be a teacher. His rule34 comic has faded into obscurity, but its caption has only grown in popularity. The phrase has been modified over the years into its current form. "Rule34: If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions."
In May of 2007, the Rule34 database was launched on Paheal.net.
There's currently only 105 explicit images of Calvin and Hobbes on rule34.paheal.net, yet we wouldn't have the term 'Rule34' without them and a traumatized 16-year-old boy named Peter.
I wanted to thank everyone who has followed me on this yearlong journey into perversity. Rest assured that there will be another rule34 update on September 10th. July was a slow month for me in terms of writing new stories because I spent a lot of time compiling nearly three years worth of data for this blog post. Now that this update is done, I can devote more time in August to writing.
Thanks to everyone who follows me and enjoys my stories and/or blog posts. As of this writing, I've reached 1,550 followers, which makes me the 28th most watched person on FIMfiction.net. It's deeply humbling to know that so many are entertained by my writings.
I'd like to once again thank Infinion for creating nice visual representations of my data.
A special thanks goes to my editor Blue Breeze, who runs quality control for my stories and helps keep me grounded.
I also wanted to thank twow443, who makes me laugh as the official riffer of my stories.
In closing, just remember that when life seems scary, it's nice to know we can always escape to the fantasy world of porn.
I did no such thing to Calvin's mother!
Now a graph would be interesting on how many of those followers followed you cause of those porn blogs.
1275395
I´m sure you didn´t Hobbes. But what if it was the other way around?!
All in all: Daaaaamn, would have never thought that my little pony would become such a huge porno producer. Or that some of that stuff looks really really really high-quality. Not to mention all the animated porn stuff of MLP.
I checked once throug derpibooru to find a picture of Mayor Mare for my second fic and was surprised that I found more porn of Mayor Mare than "normal=non-pornographic" pictures. Like every page was either full of porn or of memes. After looking through all the pages of Mayor Mare, i got like 6-7 pictures which could be taken as fic cover without getting deleted by the mods. Clopcrazy fandom, not even the background ponies are save.
Could you make a list of background pony porn too or would that be too much work to see how many Derpi/Vinly/Octi/Princess Luna/Princess Celestia/Shining Armor/Big Mac/etc porn is out there?
The front runner for increase!
This would change so much if you took out the horrible pictures. XD
And WOW has it already been a whole damn year?!
SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET
static4.fjcdn.com/comments/well+shiet+kid+_a40a2cc6a8611cd7f3ad1607ea2e477e.jpg
static1.fjcdn.com/comments/HOLY+SHIET+_df551175272dd71ac5a51bd65315ef9a.jpg
static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Shiet_bbce36_4292656.jpg
The tenth of the month continues to provide the sexiest statistics of the month. Thank you as always, Bronystories. Also, congratulations on your work with rule34.net to bring us better smut censuses.
This is amazing, yet so horrifying at the same time. I could only wonder what the outside world thinks of our community now.
You have way too much bloody time on your hands.
this is all I have to say
derpicdn.net/media/W1siZiIsIjIwMTIvMDcvMjYvMDBfMDFfMDVfMzEzXzU2NjAyX19zYWZlX3dvb25hX21hY3JvX25zZndfbm90X3NhZmVfZm9yX3dvb25hIl1d/56602__safe_image%2Bmacro_woona_nsfw_not%2Bsafe%2Bfor%2Bwoona.jpg
Bronystories, before I started following these blog updates of yours (I think I started with the second one), I never would have imagined that examining the statistics of explicit imagery production could be so compelling, but it genuinely is! It feels really exciting for MLP to be on the cusp of taking second place. And after that, the sky's the limit.
Thanks so much for this entertaining and insightful series. ^_^
...I have to say, though, considering how massive the spike in production was this month, I'm curious as to what contributed to it. Equestria Girls, perhaps?
Are you considering to be a journalist, or are you already one?
1275569
It's only bloody your first time.
Damn dude... I could spend hours reading these analysis'. Actually this one alone took almost 30 mins itself. And that 8.2% increase? Damn dude...
Nothing can stop the horsefuckers.
Tell me the numbers Jackson!
.
.
.
Oh My GOD!
Take the numbers away Johnson, TAKE THEM AWAY.
i56.photobucket.com/albums/g194/WitchyWebcomics/My%20Motivationals/DoubleFacepalm.jpg
Well... That was a trip.
It also reminded me why I love your blog posts, Bronystories.
pleated-jeans.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/1-16.jpeg
Last pic felt really related to the last sentence...
I watch you because of your epic Not Safe For Woona posts. Haven't read any of your stories since Lyra and Bonbon Odd Jobs. The first one, tried reading the second but it felt too cloppy. And I rather not read something that gives me a boner right in front of my brother, or when I need to sleep at night. Might try it again now that my brother have moved out.
Thanks again for the update, Bronystories!
Good god, do you work for Standard & Poor or something? This sounds like the kind of data Economists watching China would go on about
Still, this is all fascinating stuff. I like analysis as well, so this quite interesting
1275776 static.fjcdn.com/comments/22/f5/22f590570ac827a659be645b1b12b2fe.png
1276943
Who doesn't love a little analysis every now and then?
That was a pretty awesome read! Thanks for putting all this data together.
That last pic...
i.imgur.com/wQ55NWz.gif
1278433
More like...
cdn.arwrath.com/1/102771.gif
I'm caught in a whirlwind of "DAYUUUUUUUM!!!", "This guy has too much time on his hands", "That much that fast, I'm gonna be sick...
", and lastly "That much that fast? Well now, I got some work to catch up on..."encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRsM4Ock9L-bNsY1x-1ZEAx3eokSOTJwrY-Em1LYyOKe8_43ct8hA
That was actually pretty fun to see mate! Sure, the technical stuff went through both ears and never came back, but it was still fun!
I love these. I love these so much. I'm curious though. Have you ever done something like this with other fandoms or is this the first time you've taken such interest in rule 34 statistics? What is it about this fandom that sparked your interest so much as to spend as much time as you do to gather all this data and put it all together to share with us? By the way. Thank you for going through the trouble to put it all together for us in a nice easy to read package. Never has porn been so interesting. To many more!
~Have a good one.
You all win the internet. Everyone! Everything. It's just winning today.
1279179
The level of porn generated by bronies rivals all other fandoms. I can't think of a better time to be following rule34 trends.
This is interesting data. I've watched the trends, but I'm glad someone took the time to actually collect all that data.
The looming question seems to be when MLP's production levels will stabilize and what they will be at. All of the other IPs seem to have a fairly constant growth rate, with occasional influxes that presumably come from new content. Pokemon in particular has been averaging ~1,100 pics a month for three years straight with only one major outlier when everyone was too busy playing BW2 last June. MLP seemed to balancing out around 1,500 to 2,000 for the past year, but last month's spike has me wondering if it's set to grow even more.
Discounting abnormal spikes and using growth averages for the last year we're set to overcome Touhou in about 6 months, I doubt there'll be any sort of drop off in this time with season 4 holding interest. Pokemon, on the other hand, has such a massive lead and large enough growth that we won't catch them for about 3 years without stepping up production even more.
It might also be interesting to extend the character data to other series too. I know Twilight only has a few other characters in front of her. It's also interesting to note how much certain IPs are stacked based on one or two popular characters while others just have a wide spread of characters. Street Fighter is completely carried by Chun-Li while the Pokemon doesn't have a single character with more content than AJ despite having almost twice as much overall.