Why I don't like Discord · 3:06am Oct 2nd, 2012
Okay, the title is misleading. In many ways, I think Discord is fantastic. He's well-written, charming, funny, and compelling. On top of that, he's effective. In his less-than-an-hour of screentime, he defeats Celestia, corrupts the entire Mane Six, and is already in almost total control of Equestria. I can't think of another villain who came so impossibly close to victory (unless it's in a series where the villain actually wins). He only lost because a) Celestia is a freakin' genius, and b) he got cocky. I love a good villain; the heroes are great, naturally, but it's the villains who drive the plot. In every way that I can think of, Discord is the perfect enemy for the Element Bearers. He should be, by the rules I apply to all other shows, books, and movies, my favorite character. And yet...
Maybe it's because he's too good. Discord could have won, I have no doubt of that. Had Twilight not read those letters, or had she failed to restore her friends, or had Discord paid a little bit more attention, there would be no more Equestria. That's scary. MLP is a show about colorful, talking ponies learning about friendship. The main characters are likable and realistic. They have flaws, but they work to overcome them, and become better ponies for it. Discord, in the space of about fifteen minutes, so thoroughly breaks them that they're not even recognizable as the ponies we'd come to love. I hate him for that. Maybe it says something about the quality of the show that I can feel so much tangible hatred for a fictional character based solely on his actions towards other fictional characters.
Whatever he says about being the embodiment of chaos, he's lying. Making buildings float upside down in the sky is weird, sure, but it's not chaos. Chaos is change, and the breaking of rules. It's random. What Discord does is none of these. He simply replaces the existing order with his own, albeit twisted, form of order. He plans things, and gets angry when his plans fall through (I'm looking at you, Fluttershy). If anything, he's even more committed to the rules than anypony else.
Maybe I don't like him because he's so irredeemably evil. He's funny, sure, but there isn't the slightest bit of goodness in him. I don't get these fans of Discord who try to portray him as 'misunderstood' or 'tragic' (no, wait, tragic is understandable, in the sense that he has a tragic flaw that sends him to destruction). He takes a sadistic glee in mental torture, and he messes with ponies' heads because it amuses him. I'm going to talk about Pokemon for a bit, so bear with me. In The First Movie, Mewtwo is technically the villain. In 2000, it's that collector guy. In 3, it's Molly, Entei, or the Unown. These villains all have motivations, and the damage they do is merely collateral. Discord hurts the Mane Six because he can. Don't tell me it's because he needed to disable the Elements; he'd already stolen them from under Celestia's nose. He could have hidden them away, so that nopony would be able to find them. What does he do instead? He gives them back. He gives the Bearers hope, only to take it away again. That is cruelty for the sake of cruelty.
Finally, and this is the reason that I will never use Discord in any of my fics, Discord is done. Maybe it's possible for him to come back, but it doesn't matter. He served his purpose, and there's no reason to use him again. In my opinion, there's very little that can be done with him that wasn't done in his two-parter. I don't expect many of you to agree, and that's fine, but I won't write a story about Discord.
~Gizogin
