Top Ten Villans of FiM, Version 3 · 5:14am Dec 5th, 2015
Here is, the second version, so let's see who's going to be on the list. Despite one of his episodes not being the greatest at showing it, Discord is technically not a villan anymore, so he drops off the list. But you can consider him among the honorable mentions, alongside Gilda.
10. Suri Polomare (Episodes appeared in: Rarity Takes Manehattan, Mentioned in: Twilight's Kingdom Part 1)
Why she stayed the same: Considering the huge amount of petty antagonists we met in Season 5, Suri's appeal as a down to earth antagonist has only increased. An interesting thing to note, is that she's actually voiced by Tabitha St. Germain, which only further cements her as the anti Rarity. Even if she is a bit closer to the petty antagonists we got in Season 5, at least Suri feels like the sort of petty character you're actually like to meet in real life. As opposed to someone who just wants their record to be maintained, no matter what, or someone who doesn't even realize that pulling out of a charity concert for no reason would be a PR nightmare.
9. Lightning Dust (Episodes appeared in: Wonderbolt Academy)
Why she moved down: Compared to Wind Ryder, Lightning Dust was a much more believeable antagonist that the Wonderbolts legtimately weren't aware of until her true colors were revealed, and she had a better motive and more realistic potrayal. She is also an example of why villans such as her are rememebered more than petty villans like Wind Ryder. Complex villans who are created from moral grey areas are more appealing, and more realistic. We can see parts of ourselves reflected in them, and thus they serve as a powerful reminder that the path to hell is paved with good intentions. One of the show staffers teased the possibility of Lightning Dust and Wind Ryder teaming up to form the Anti-Wonderbolts in Season 6, but we'll have to wait and see if that's true or not.
8. The Mane-iac (Episodes appeared in: Power Ponies)
Why she moved down: The Mane-iac was a cliche comic book villan, and while she was definitely done well in spite of that, she made far too many predictable mistakes that really undercut how powerful she was intended to be. Ellen Kennedy churned out a great performance, but they went overboard with the one-liner puns and obvious hideout. I mean really, your name is The Mane-iac, and your hideout is inside a shampoo factory. You might as well put up a giant neon sign saying "This is my hideout, come and get me!". Her potential flirting with Hum-Drum could be quite interesting, though not much has been explored to show that such is the case.
7. Queen Chrysalis (Episodes appeared in: A Canterlot Wedding Parts 1 and 2, The Cutie Re-Mark Part 2)
Why she moved down: It's largely thanks to her appearance in the second alternate timeline in "The Cutie Re-Mark Part 2" that Chrysalis beats out The Mane-Iac and no longer becomes the most generic major villan. Chrysalis wasn't quite as generic, and actually quite intimidating in her second appearance, although I question why the echo effect to her voice was not added, it made her stand out more. The fact that she was able to locate the secret base of Zecora's resistance, and get soliders to infiltrate said base undetected, indicates that she is capable of thinking in advance. Something that was sorely lacking in her first appearance back in Season 2, when she mostly got by on luck.
6. Lord Tirek (Episodes appeared in: Twilight's Kingdom Parts 1 and 2, The Cutie Re-Mark Part 2)
Why he moved down: Looking back, Tirek is kind of a "Villan Sue", though that doesn't stop him from being impressive and enjoyable to watch. A "Villan Sue" isn't always a bad idea if executed properly, so long as the end result still sees them being defeated. Tirek was simply lucky that Celestia's plan had so many holes, and that he was able to exploit Discord for as long as he did. Like I said in the last list of villans, Tirek worked a little bit better when he got to play the manipulator working behind the scenes, rather than as a large and intimidating unstoppble force. The DBZ esque fight between him and Twilight was impressive, but another villan would get a much more impressive (if a bit absurd) fight with Twilight a season later.
5. The Dazzlings: Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk (Movies appeared in: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks)
Why they were added: If there's one thing "Rainbow Rocks" did better than "Friendship Games", it was villans. Principal Cinch was done well for a really despicable villan, and a more down to earth one. But she lost all credibility when she demanded that human Twilight unleash the Equestrian magic, even when she knew Twilight couldn't control it. Plus, Cinch's plan hinged entirely on intimidating Twilight into not telling anyone what was going on. At any point, Dean Cadence, or anyone fortunate enough to catch what Cinch was doing, could've blown the whistle on her and gotten her arrested. The Dazzlings took no chances, they knew what they wanted to accomplish, and what they had to do to ensure they would win. Any element they couldn't control, they removed before it could backfire against them, though I do question how they could not have been aware that one student wasn't affected by their music due to her headphones. My only complaint is that Sonata Dusk got all the redemption fanfics since she was the cute and innocent (if a bit naive) one, and Adagio Dazzle got a lot of fanfics devoted to how attractive she was as the leader of the trio, but Aria Blaze was all but forgotten, even if all she had going for her was that throwaway power struggle line.
4. Nightmare Moon (Episodes appeared in: Friendship is Magic Parts 1 and 2, Princess Twilight Sparkle Parts 1 and 2, The Cutie Re-Mark Part 2)
Why she moved down: Even with the inclusion of the alternate timeline where she ruled Equestria, and banished Princess Celestia to the sun, Nightmare Moon didn't do much other than further move away from being a generic throwaway villan. In regards to what kind of leader she was, we never really got to see that, the only villanous act she performed was holding Spike hostage in the hopes that it would give her a bargining chip to keep Twilight from doublecrossing her, and it didn't work. Being able to stop some timberwolves wasn't much of a feat, and we didn't learn much about the timeline she was in other than how it was an inverse of the past 1,000 years.
3. Spoiled Rich (Episodes appeared in: Crusaders of The Lost Mark)
Why she was added: It's funny how Spoiled Rich came shortly after "Friendship Games" and had a lot of similarities to Prinicpal Cinch, but done slightly better. Her existence and behavior explained so much about Diamond Tiara's character that we never knew before, and the sad truth is that she is perhaps the most realistic villan of. Abusive parents exisit, and not all of them physically abuse their child. Many kids in abusive situations don't realize that the behavior of their abusive parent is not normal, and that they should speak up and get help. Diamond Tiara was able to get Spoiled Rich to obey her towards the climax of her introductory episode, but I hope she wasn't allowed to stay on the school board after she verbally abused her daughter in front of several witnesses, including a school teacher. Some people want to see her reformed just like Diamond Tiara (she even shares Diamond Tiara's voice actress, Chantel Strand), but I don't know if she can be redeemed as easily as her daughter was. Diamond Tiara didn't like what she was doing, but saw no other way. Spoiled Rich clearly knows what's she doing is wrong, though her concern about image and reputation isn't entirely to be dismissed. Sure, you should never care about your own self image and reputation to the extent Spoiled Rich does, but it never hurts to at least be aware of what others think of you.
2. King Sombra (Episodes appeared in: Crystal Empire Parts 1 and 2, The Cutie Re-Mark Part 1)
Why he stayed the same: It goes without saying that King Sombra's alternate timeline was the best of the ones shown. He manages to not only top his feat of enslaving an entire empire, and almost recapturing it without making any mistakes in the original timeline, but also adds the distinct honor of engaging in war with Princess Celestia and Equestria, and appears to be winning. Just like Princess Celestia, he leads his troops on the front line, and although he still didn't speak at all, you can't deny that he was every bit as intimidating and powerful as he was before. And many consider his Fiendship is Magic issue to be the best of the bunch, though the current IDW main series arc he's appearing in isn't looking so good. But we're not here to talk about that.
(Alright quick recap before we get to number 1. 10. Suri Polomare, 9. Lightning Dust, 8. The Mane-iac, 7. Queen Chrysalis, 6. Lord Tirek, 5. The Dazzlings, 4. Nightmare Moon, 3. Spoiled Rich, and 2. King Sombra)
1. Starlight Glimmer (Episodes appeared in: The Cutie Map a.k.a Cutie Markless Parts 1 and 2, The Cutie Re-Mark Parts 1 and 2, Amending Fences and What About Discord? (Cameo appearances))
Why she is number one: Yes, yes, I know she's no longer a villan, and she'll likely be joining the main cast next season. But for now, she's still largely a villan who was just redeemed towards the very end. And considering what she did, I'm not so sure if she deserved redemption. Her backstory doesn't even really justify the monster that she became, and the monster that she was. Starlight Glimmer is largely on here because of her potrayal in the premiere, rather than the finale, though she was fairly good there as well. In the premiere, Starlight Glimmer depended on her wits to gain the advantage. She was a manipulist far better than the likes of Tirek and The Dazzlings, even though some people may have had a problem with her being another equalist movement leader type of villan. But villans like her exisit for a reason, to serve as a reminder to all of us about not always believing everything everyone tells us. Many great leaders in history rose to power by promising big changes, and capturing the frustration of people who felt they were being ignored. Some leaders turned out to be leaders for the greater good (such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.) while others turned out to be opressive dictators that punished anyone who dared to speak out against them (such as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin). In the finale, Starlight Glimmer became powerful enough to match Twilight, and even rig a spell to spend her back in time ahead of Twilight, and that definitely feels like an unnatural progression of skill. Starlight attracted attention for depending more on her brain, and her refusal to take chances, both of which were on display in the premiere. In the finale, though she still utlizied her brain, she was a lot more malicious, and much more actively attempting to stop Twilight by any means necesary. For now at least, that even puts her ahead of Discord in terms of a villan, since Discord made one glaring mistake (he ignored something he knew had defeated him once before, and didn't even try to stop it until it was too late). But I'll probably knock her off the list next season, once I see how she works as a redeemed character.
Great list!
I got a hard time believing Glimmar is 100% good she could be planning to betrey them earn their trust so she can strike back.
I'm abit sad that Discord wasn't really in the season much but at lest unlike season 4 final he learned his lesson of not betraying his friends.
I hope the map Is used more in season 6 and hopefully we go past 6 as well.
I like to think that one of the more subtle differences between each world is how certain characters sound. Remember, RD's voice was more aggressive in the Nightmare Moon world.
I personally prefer Cinch to the sirens because:
a. She felt both more realistic and yet at the same time more over the top, which made her more enjoyable to watch.
b. She actually managed to walk away with some degrees of dignity. Heck, I think she's the only villain in the EQG movies so far to not suffer any physical harm (i'm counting the voice effects for the Sirens as physical)
I'd also put Starlight at number one, but more for her behavior in the finale before her redemption.
My theory on why she displays power in the finale that she didn't in the season 5 premiere is that, in said premiere, she was simply holding back. She ran off in the end because she was outnumbered. Dealing with Twilight alone was easier for her.
I more or less agree with this list. Except, I'd swap King sombra with Spoiled Rich and Starlight Glimmer with Principal Abacus Cinch.
The reason for my choice... well, it's mostly a matter of how much they appeal to me, as a guy feeling directionless and with delusions/wishes of grandeur, and desires of covert control.
On the opposite end, Starlight never stroke me as much as an interesting villain. It may be because it feels like it's all played for a "excess of the order" gimmick, or may be because the origin story didn't really click for me. In any case, she's not exactly my first choice.
3594020 Yeah, it will take a lot to sell me on the concept of Starlight being good. If they made her to try and follow up on the popularity of Sunset Shimmer, they'd better be aware of the fact that Sunset Shimmer only became enjoyable to much of the fandom when she earned her redemption, and worked to be forgiven.
3594355 I definitely admit Starlight isn't the most original villan on the show, but compared to Tirek and The Dazzlings, she was a villan on a different level. She wasn't some all powerful deity or creature, she was just an ordinary pony with unheard of powers, and a secret to hide. Prinicpal Abacus Cinch was good, until she made the decision to convince Twilight to unleash the magic, even when she knew what it would do, and that Twilight couldn't control it. Even EQG1 Sunset Shimmer wasn't that stupid.
As far how powerful the villains Tirek would #1 because he could easily drain Starlight's power.
As Starlight goes she was redeemed too quickly (after one music montage), and like think that Starlight was equal to Twilight because the plot said so. Starlight overall is not that powerful, she only had to distract Twilight, plus Twilight was traveling through time and I think that took a toll on her. I also think that Twilight has not been praticing magic in a while and being an alicorn does not mean her power has increased just by becoming one. Josh Haber should have not written the finale MA Larson was more qualified and he created Starlight as a character. She would had a better backstory and it would a perfect 10/10 finale. I just give the finale 7/10.
I still think Starlight is a good villain just not the best.
3598793 Larson and Sonneborn created Starlight together, and Meghan wrote the story. Probably because Meghan can do really well with pre-established villans, but tends to suck when creating her own. Queen Chrysalis was generic and kind of stupid, even more so than pre Seasons 4 and 5 Nightmare Moon, King Sombra was a good departue but didn't get much of a chance to shine as a result, and Sunset Shimmer was pathetic. But Chrysalis and Sombra got to redeem themselves with the Season 5 finale alternative timelines (Nightmare Moon just further made herself look amazing), and when Sunset Shimmer became her own character, everyone loved her for it.
The Dazzlings and Lord Tirek were somewhat exceptions, but Tirek was a villan sue (though he was a villan sue done well), and The Dazzlings weren't used to their full potential because of the rushed pacing and uncomfortable mean spirited ness from The Rainbooms. But Haber doesn't seem to be much better, he made Cinch do something beyond stupid for no good reason, and he made Starlight Glimmer too powerful and petty. He's improved somewhat since Season 4, but it looks like he's another writer that should not tackle villans.
3598942 You are correct as time goes on the villains get better even more so if you want to count the comics. Haber has improved as a writer, but is still no the level Larson. Sonneborn is the only other writer who I think should tackle villains. He started off weak with Somepony to Watcher Over, but he improved with Do Princesses Dream a great mid-seaon finale. I hope he gets better in season 6. As for Starlight if she joins the Mane six please let the writers do it well. I have in them I just don't want MLP to start going down hill is all. Every season has been better than the previous.
3599011 You mean you DON'T want it to go downhill, slight typo.
3599089 Fixed it. Any some people say MLP went down after season 2 or 3, but I disagree.