Mane Eight Ranking, Version 3

Now that a full season has come and gone, it's time to see where our cast of main characters currently stands and what (if anything) can be done with them to maybe change their rankings next time. Here's the previous version, from during the month long hiatus between the first and second half of Season 6. Remember that this list isn't official so feel free to disagree. Now let's see who moved up, who moved down, and who stayed the same.

8. Applejack
Why she stayed on the bottom: While Applejack did well playing off of Fluttershy in "Viva Las Pegasus" and was thankfully not made a straw man for not wanting to help Flim and Flam, that doesn't really make up for the rest of her bad performances this season. "The Cart Before The Ponies" brought back the same kind of Applejack I couldn't stomach in "Somepony To Watch Over Me" and "Appleloosa's Most Wanted" and she really should know better especially since they never bother to give her a motive for wanting to win Most Traditional other than because it's what the family has always won, "Buckball Season" required her to hold the idiot ball with Rainbow Dash during the drilling sessions (though at least there she learned her lesson and tried to make up for it), "P.P.O.V (Pony Point Of View)" was a couple of seasons too late for Applejack's view of Rarity and Pinkie Pie, and "Where The Apple Lies" did nothing to justify it having to be an Applejack flashback episode especially when the problem came about once again through her terrible lack of proper business practices (labeling the crates would've averted the mix-up). As I've said before, Applejack is a straight mare and she works best when she's got someone else to play off as the voice of reason. When she doesn't have that (whenever she's in the spotlight) the writers refuse to give her any traits that can be used to develop her beyond family and farming and so they have to dial up her flaws to a ridiculous level. At this point I don't know if much can really be done to fix her, since all the writers who seemed to know about her potential in earlier seasons have left or have yet to come back.

7. Rainbow Dash
Why she stayed the same: Wow, "Newbie Dash" was only the tip of the iceberg for how badly they would botch up Rainbow Dash this season. "Stranger Than Fanfiction" and "Top Bolt" defied this curse but only because Rainbow Dash was sharing the spotlight. It seems that whenever Rainbow Dash is in the spotlight on her own, she has to have her flaws be dialed up to an uncomfortable level for the sake of the lesson, and it often makes it seem like she needs someone to act as her moral compass. Maybe this was acceptable in Seasons 1, 2, and even 3, but by now Rainbow Dash is a full fledged Wonderbolt so there's really no excuse for her continuing to be so thickheaded and jerkish in episodes like "28 Pranks Later". I also didn't really agree with her arguement not to tell Sky Stinger what Vapor Trail was doing for him, since he could already know and intentionally be deciding to ignore it. Maybe it's just because many of the writers who handled Rainbow Dash better aren't around and Rainbow Dash can easily be handled poorly if you don't know what you're doing, but there is potential to fix her again like they tried to do in Seasons 3 and 4, and managed to do pretty well in Season 5. It's worth mentioning that of the three big sisters in "The Cart Before The Ponies" she was the only one who never knew what her little sister wanted, not that it excuses or justifies her behavior.

6. Rarity
Why she moved down: Ouch, for supposedly being Haber's favorite pony Rarity wasn't handled well at all in the second half of the season even though she no longer hogged the spotlight. "The Cart Before The Ponies" had her forget the one lesson she has consistently been shown to remember, listening to and considering the opinion of her little sister, and this coming two episodes after "Spice Up Your Life" was like throwing salt onto a wound that just opened, it hurt badly! When she finally got to take the spotlight again in "P.P.O.V (Pony Point Of View)" while it was understandable why she'd exaggerate the details a little, it still doesn't explain why she would think the way she does about Applejack at least and particularly after "Spice Up Your Life" kind of tainted her perception of Pinkie Pie when she previously seemed to be among the more tolerable ones toward her. Sadly, even her human counterpart got the short end of the stick in "Legend of Everfree" with that unfunny and frustrating running gag of the dock being a runway. It's really saying something when Rarity's best episode is this season is remembered more for what her friends did than what she did. I guess maybe Haber is to Rarity what Lauren was to Rainbow Dash, a big fan who just didn't understand how to properly transfer that love to writing for his favorite character.

5. Starlight Glimmer
Why she moved up: She'd probably have stayed stuck at number six if it weren't for the finale, especially after she regressed in "Every Little Thing She Does" (it did provide an interesting contrast to Twilight in "Lesson Zero" but it still didn't do her any favors). Starlight isn't just unicorn Twilight 2.0, she shouldn't be defined by her magical capabilities. I still do feel like she might as well be a different character now compared to how she was in Season 5 and in retrospect if they had done that it probably would've worked out much better (like say the past Starlight was taken in by Twilight, not the present Starlight). Still "To Where And Back Again" was a good step forward for her and hopefully they'll address her not being able to redeem Chrysalis at some point in the future, maybe she'll move up again next season or maybe she won't, we'll have to wait and see.

4. Twilight Sparkle
Why she stayed the same: I did like how Twilight got to be paired up with someone other than Spike or Starlight in "Top Bolt" and I found myself agreeing with her solution almost immediately upon the problem being revealed. There's no point letting Sky's confidence stay when it's propped up with falsehoods that he can't depend on. And it was great to see her royal title finally get put to good use in "The Times They Are A Changeling" and even to an extent in "Viva Las Pegasus" and "Every Little Thing She Does", and of course her adorkable nerd like self made a glorious return on several occasions after being noticeably absent in the first half of the season. I just hope that we can get a good solo episode from her next season to wash away the stain of "What About Discord?", even if we can't get another "Lesson Zero" or "Amending Fences", at the least hopefully they won't use Trixie as the new Discord for her.

3. Spike
Why he moved up: I really wanted to put this little guy in second place or even first place, I really did. But with the finale regressing him back to butt monkey status after a season of amazing character growth from him (especially in his interactions with Discord and Starlight, he seems to have a knack for not tolerating their excessive thickheadedness when they're trying to hide something) gives me cause for concern especially if Josh Haber or Meghan McCarthy aren't returning to the editor's seat (and I hope both of them do but they take turns, Haber edits some episodes and Meghan edits others so that way neither editor gets worn out and starts slacking off), I don't want to believe that Mike Vogel could be the one to send Spike's growth back downhill again if he does indeed take over as story editor in Season 7. This was an outstanding season for Spike, though I don't think he deserved to benefit at the expense of almost half the mane cast being written poorly (surely there can be a balance so no character has to look bad in order for another character to look good) and hopefully Season 7 won't be the end of it.

2. Fluttershy
Why she stayed the same: Thank goodness this season didn't reset Fluttershy's growth like Seasons 4 and 5 did in their second halves. I've said it several times before, Fluttershy works best when she remembers her character growth and doesn't forget it. I suppose maybe less is more for her in terms of focus episodes, especially when she wasn't in the spotlight on her own in any of them. Maybe Fluttershy also works better in a team up than on her own? Anyway, I do hope Season 7 continues this strong display of character growth, especially if they're gonna keep giving us Fluttershy clones (this season gave us Vapor Trail, last time it was Marble Pie, and the season before that Coco Pommel albiet only the bare minimum of one). So who's on top? Well, you probably know the answer by now due to process of elimination.

1. Pinkie Pie
Why she stayed the same: Maybe I'm a little bit biased towards Pinkie (and yes I'm not ashamed to consider that possibility) but I think this was another splendid season for her albeit a bit more rocky than Season 5 where even in her worst performance she was still helpful. Here, her weakest potrayals were definitely "Newbie Dash" (Josh Scorcher's review demonstrates what a beginner's guide to Pinkie Pie will get you) for reasons I already stated (though it's worth mentioning she wasn't the one who implemented the idea for Rainbow Dash to stand out positively, Rarity and Twilight did that completely forgetting that in the military you don't get ahead by standing out you get ahead by working hard and following orders) and "P.P.O.V (Pony Point Of View" since it's been made clear in numerous other episodes that Pinkie Pie never has a bad thought about any of her friends no matter what (maybe that's a bit too idealistic in real life but it's not wrong to want such a thing) and thus seeing her think so shallowly of her friends is shocking. Thankfully, Pinkie did well in every other episode she was in, including having some surprisingly good chemistry with Fluttershy in "Buckball Season" and being the voice of reason to Rainbow Dash in "28 Pranks Later" before she then organized the massive prank to teach Rainbow a lesson. As for what the future holds for her: Well I'm a little concerned about what Meghan will do with her if she gets back into the editor's seat, as Pinkie Pie seems to be a weak spot for Meghan, but maybe if she has more time to focus on editing she can do better than she did in Season 4. Otherwise, I think that the most that can really be done with Pinkie is to try and focus more on her friendships with Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. They could maybe give her some sort of goal to work towards (same goes for Fluttershy) but she's managed to last this long without needing one. That being said, I would also love an episode focusing on her relationship with The Cakes, especially since Word of God states they love her as a daughter.

And there you have it. As always, feel free to disagree and let me know what you think.

Comments

[superfun]

Here's how I personally rank them:
1. Starlight Glimmer: With each appearance of hers, I loved her more and more. Now, I consider her the best character on the show. Every episode she was in satisfied me in just the right way.
2. RD
3. Twilight
4. Pinkie Pie
5. Spike
6. Fluttershy
7. Rarity
8. Applejack

[TheAmazingPeanuts]

I don't agree that Starlight is a main character, because Jim Miller has point this out that she isn't part the main cast, she's recurring character. And she only appeared in eight episodes in season six.

However, if she was part of the main cast, I would put her down on the list, because she still my least favorite character on the show, but at least she did good in the season finale.