Mane Eight Ranking · 5:37pm Nov 29th, 2015
With Starlight Glimmer joining the main cast of characters, the time has come to once again rank them from least favorite to most favorite. Since Mane Seven already included Spike and the mane six, and Starlight is now part of the group, Mane Eight was necessary.
8. Starlight Glimmer
Why she is on the bottom: Starlight Glimmer was definitely an interesting villan, even if the backstory given to her was kind of bare bones to put it lightly. With her being Twilight's student, there is a good possibility we'll see more of her. For right now, she's on the bottom specifically because what we saw of her redemption was lackluster, and hopefully that will change in Season 6.
7. Spike
Why he stayed the same: Spike got a raw deal this time around, only getting one episode to himself, which did not turn out very well. But even casting aside "Princess Spike", there seemed to be a lot of episodes where he was present early on, then forgotten about. He was good in episodes such as "Amending Fences" and "The Cutie Re-Mark" where he could play off of Twilight and keep her grounded in reality, but considering both Big Macintosh and Shining Armor got more development than him, Hasbro and DHX really don't have an excuse for neglecting him. We need stronger outings from him, like we got in Season 4.
6. Applejack
Why she moved down: Season 5 seemed to be living proof that Applejack can work really well if she has someone else to play off of, but when she's thrust into the spotlight on her own, the writers usually can't think of anything to do with her that doesn't involve apples or family. Part of why "Made in Manehattan" turned out the way it did, was because Applejack just couldn't hold scenes where she wasn't playing the straight mare to Rarity's antics and Coco's literal mindedness. "The Mane Attraction" seemed to break this trend, but since the writer of that episode is leaving us for Disney, time will tell if lightning can ever strike again. In the meantime, it would seem that joke about Applejack crying on the inside may not have been completely factual.
5. Rainbow Dash
Why she moved up: Rainbow Dash really seemed to become modest and mellow out in this season. The writers appear to have finally realized that, while you can still give Rainbow Dash an ego and a need for attention, you don't have to play up her bluntness in order to do so. As the season progressed, we saw more and more that Rainbow Dash works really well when she comes out of her shell, and shows us how far she's come since Season 1. Say what you will about "Tanks For The Memories", but considering Rainbow Dash previosuly tried to avoid showing any emotions such as sadness, her character has really come a long way.
4. Twilight Sparkle
Why she moved down: Much of what made Twilight such a good character early on has still stuck, despite a few slip ups here and there. The problem is, since becoming the Princess of Friendship, Twilight still hasn't had much of a role. She is still pretty much the same character, except now the writers have used up their only excuse for not doing anything with her role. Twilight has a title, a castle, and now a student, so I think the time has come to make her take on something of a bigger role. "Make New Friends But Keep Discord" and "Party Pooped" were steps in the right direction, with Twilight organizing things on her own terms, but they were just minor details.
3. Fluttershy
Why she moved up: Despite "Scare Master" being a terrible focus episode, Fluttershy in Season 5 seemed to finally apply the lessons she'd learned from earlier episodes, and developed quite a backbone. As early as "Tanks For The Memories" we saw that Fluttershy was not afraid to do the right thing, and understood that sometimes we must be cruel to be kind. And in every episode she was present in, except for "Scare Master", Fluttershy showed that she could stand up for herself. And this is exactly what drew me to Fluttershy in the first place, a character who recognized they had a problem, and took steps to overcome it and become a better individual. I hope that growth will continue into Season 6 and beyond, and will be properly reflected in her focus episodes.
2. Rarity
Why she moved up: It took the second half of Season 5 to really give Rarity the attention she deserved, but it was well worth the wait. Despite two of her three focus episodes largely being meh, Rarity showcased her growth tremendously, and has now become the third character of the group who's character arc seems to be complete. But as "Rarity Investigates" showed us, Rarity can still entertain us with her antics, while maintaining the growth she showed since Season 4.
1. Pinkie Pie
Why she stayed the same: Pinkie Pie was on a roll throughout all of Season 5, as opposed to Season 4 where her potrayals were all over the place. Her weakest outing was definitely "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" but it really says something when her weakest potrayal still ultimately ended without any major long term consequences, and that everything worked out for the better in the end. Even in episodes where the comedy was rather hit and miss, or just tacked on, Pinkie Pie wasn't annoying or badly written to a level that was painful to watch. Hopefully, that will stay the same in Season 6 and all future seasons.
Why can't we call them the Mane 7, when they were the Mane 6 before Starlight.
Just going to say I imagine Applejack was crying on the inside during the first altered present. On all occasions where she's been shown shedding tears she's either been happy, or in a place she thinks she won't be seen. (The caves) I mean, just listen to her during her exchange with Twilight. She sounds extremely apathetic and hopeless.
Here's how I rank them:
1. Rainbow.
2. Twilight
3. Pinkie.
4. Spike.
5. Fluttershy.
6. Starlight.
7. Applejack.
8. Rarity.
Rainbow's on top because she had the best reactions to everything (especially in Scare Master and Rarity Investigates), and her episode was one of the most emotional of both the season and the series. Heck, I had more of an emotional response to her telling Scootaloo how proud she was than I did to AJ acknowledging the death of their parents.
Yes, I find Starlight more sympathetic and a better character overall than Rarity and AJ.
AJ for pretty much the reasons you said here.
Rarity because, despite her character improving this season, I still find it hard to take her seriously. Plus, she still hasn't had any moments that really made me sympathize with her.
Don't know I should called Starlight Glimmer a main character yet, at least till the writers had say something first
Even though I do have problems with how the finale turned out, I think I was more mad at the Mane Six being more forgiving then I was mad at Starlight. Because you brought up a good point on how she admitted it was all her fault and was ready to take consequences for her actions. Because of that I personally put her above Applejack, Rainbow Dash and maybe even Fluttershy.
3578340 Because the mane eight includes Spike, who really doesn't deserve to be neglected.
3580028 Okay, but he doesn't have a Mane. The Main 8 makes sense, but the mane 7 would make just as much.