Why Power Ponies Ruined Fluttershy's Character

This episode, Power Ponies, was a foray into the comic book universe, where characters gained superpowers that correlate with their character. This seemingly innocent episode was responsible for one of this show's greatest tragedies: the complete degradation of Fluttershy's character. Cute, sweet, innocent Fluttershy transformed into a hideous, vindictive abomination, if only for no more than one minute. Such a disgrace to Fluttershy that will haunt her for her entire life.

Firstly, the entire concept of The Incredible Hulk as Fluttershy's superhero alter ego was deeply flawed. You don't have to think too deeply to understand the superpowers chosen for each pony are reflections of their personalities, talents, and miscellaneous attributes. Rainbow Dash is a weather pony, Pinkie Pie already travels arbitrarily fast, Rarity has a creative flair, Applejack is a lassoing expert, Twilight Sparkle's the resident magician, and Fluttershy... has anger management problems. Yes. Instead of focusing on a more positive character trait Fluttershy could have probably worked with, such as the power to summon animals or even The Stare, the writers have decided to derive a superpower from a character trait that is so contrary to her usual demeanor that Flutterhulk's almost the polar opposite of her character: angry, violent, big and ugly.

Speaking of violence, Flutterhulk violates Fluttershy's pacifistic nature. What makes Fluttershy unique is that she almost never solves her problems with violence, unlike so many other fictional characters. Instead, she gives her adversaries stern scoldings, then promptly leaves them alone once they're intimidated enough. In "Power Ponies," when Fluttershy Hulked Out, she began smashing The Mane-iac's hairdryer weapon in a similar manner to how The Angry German Kid smashes his keyboard when he gets frustrated. While Fluttershy definitely loses her temper, I certainly don't remember her thrashing around a dragon and knocking the stuffing out of a cockatrice. This assault against that hairdryer makes her nonviolent stance against others hypocritical, and one may certainly expect Fluttershy to initiate physical violence on her enemies, no different than in so much media.

Grotesque. Hideous. Ugly. These are three words Fluttershy should never be associated with. Another trait that makes Fluttershy so unique is her unrelenting beauty. Her shy, timid nature is surely endearing, and Fluttershy herself has a lovely design befitting of a wallflower like her. This design....this... abomination.... is a complete perversion of her original design. With grossly misshapen muscles, poorly proportioned hooves, and a physique some bronies think is obese, this thing is a crime against nature and should be killed before it mates. Fluttershy being ugly is like Mr. Rogers being a jerk, The Beatles being untalented songwriters, The Godfather movies being total stinkers, etc. Such a concept should never exist. Before Power Ponies, nobody could ever conjure up the idea of Fluttershy being unattractive; her adorableness has so been ingrained in our systems that some of us recoil in sheer horror seeing her transform into The Hulk, like a beloved relative or pet suffering a freak accident, deforming their once approachable looks into mangled, barely recognizable shapes designed to look like body parts, except Flutterhulk was played for laughs. This "ugliness" of Flutterhulk will haunt our image of her for an indefinite time.

There we have it. Fluttershy has reached a point of no return, a void plagued by the complete subversion of everything we once knew about her, an identity warped and mangled into someone else's. Instead of transforming her into a different person, the writers should have embraced what makes her such a special, precious little gem: Her pacifism, her cuteness, her shyness, and her ability to care for a multitude of animals. Unfortunately, the writers seem hellbent in subverting her character, manipulating it for cheap laughs, all in the name of stupid little jokes like Flutterhulk. They have constantly pulled similar stuff like this: The Grand Galloping Gala, Dragonshy, etc. This, Power Ponies, is the last straw. This is not just a stupid little joke anymore. This is the systematic desensitization of Fluttershy's character, and I'm not sure Fluttershy will ever fully recuperate.