Ten Days of Pony! 2: Lord Tirek · 2:58am Dec 24th, 2017
Get ready to get Ti-wrecked!
When it comes to raw power, a thirst for destruction, and bringing about the total annihilation of Equestria and all it inhabitants, Tirek has become the poster child.
While not quite as menacing as his G1 counterpart who threatened to behead Spike and turned ponies into dragons, G4s Tirek is one of the greatest foes the mane 6 have gone up against, creating what is still, to me, the best finale of the show.
Just once, I wanna see a villain hiding their face in a pink hood.
Remember when we thought he was the Pony of Shadows? Boy, were we wrong!
Tirek pops onto the screen in a fantastically sinister way that made me squee when he uttered his name. He sucks the magic out of the poor pony, leaving him drained and cutie markless.
Take notes, Starlight.
The only thin better than lore. Lore that references older canons!
They came from the land of the ice and snow,
from the midnight sun, where the hot springs blow.
Wanting to steal Equestrian magic, because attacking us was the cool thing to do 1000 years ago, Tirek and his brother Scorpan planned an invasion.
But, Scorpan found friendship and kindness were, surprise surprise, nice things to have, so he tattled on his brother and got him sent to Tartarus.
How the heck are they related?
Their mother... got around.
Who the heck gave birth to Tirek?
"I'm the friend that you need."
Before we see his monstrous power, we see Tirek as a cunning manipulator able to play Discord like a violin. Sure, a lot of the ponies hadn't given him the warmest greeting after turning a new leaf, but Fluttershy considered him a dear friend, and Celestia trusted him to protect the country. Tirek got him to turn his back on both.
It takes a high level of charisma to manipulate the master manipulator.
"The doorbell was broken."
Tirek embarks on a buffet quest to eat up every ounce of magic in the kingdom, finally leading him to Canterlot to consume alicorn magic.
Once he finds out the princesses are dry, he doesn't just leave them be, he subjects them to karmic levels of punishment by sending them to Tartarus.
Tirek allied himself with one deus ex machina, banished three more, and in a twist that shocked no one, turned on the first one.
What do you think chaos magic taste like?
...Pudding?
Pudding.
Tirek has a few trust issues after Scorpan betrayed him. Once Discord outlived his usefulness, Tirek made sure there was no chance for any backstabbing... by backstabbing Discord.
Shoot them before they shoot you.
Tirek doesn't take any chances. He saves his hubris until he's absolutely sure he's won. He keeps Discord and Twilight's friends prisoner for bargaining chips later! But I'm getting ahead of myself.
"Dude, you're ripped!"
"Thanks. I work out."
Yes, Tirek is shrewd and cunning, and yes, he can trick Discord. But let's be honest, he's this high on the list because—
He can go toe to toe with an alicorn wielding four different kinds of magic in a showdown that left everyone with their mouths hanging open, gasping for air! He destroyed the library for Celestia's sake!
The only villain to cause permanent collateral damage.
"What is a princess to a god?"
"What is a god to a non-believer!"
Tirek used Genesis Supernova!
We never get actual fights between our heroes and villains. They show up, the hero does something, the villain does something, the hero gets the mcguffin, and the bad guy goes away. This was an all out, magic-powered showdown that appeased the shonen fan in all of us.
"Your friends or your magic."
Silly, Tirek. Friendship is magic!
Instead of fighting it out to the death, Tirek knows when to switch tactics. If you can't beat 'em, force them to make a choice.
What's surprising here is that Tirek let them go afterwards. I don't know if it's hubris or him being a good sport. Granted, once you have all of the magic in Equestria, I think that warrants some hubris.
"Ooooh, pretty lights."
But, Tirek had no way of knowing about Rainbow Power. Still, he came pretty damn close to a total victory.
If there's any faults with Tirek, it's his motivation. He wants power for the sake of having power. Which isn't bad, it's just generic.
Actually, now that I think about, he's kinda the first villain in the show to want power just for the sake of it. So his lack of motivation makes him unique? Regardless, he stands as one of my favorite villains here. Destructive, crafty, and certainly the strongest on the list at full power, he makes is G1 counterpart proud.
So, who's the one villain that could top him? Come back tomorrow to find out. The answer might surprise you. Or disappoint you.
Opinions!
Racking my head for who #1 could possibly be. Sombra? Too underdeveloped. Midnight Sparkle? Maybe but I dunno if I'd say #1. Ditto Trixie. Hmmm....
If Tirek is #2 on the list, whoa, I can only guess who is #1 at this point.
Sombra.
So Twi didn't hold back against you...HM!?! *glares at starlight*
No fair she has triple the amount of alicorn magic here!!!
she's still capable of leveling a town if she wants!!! VEGETA WHAT DOES THE SCOUTER SAY ABOUT THE BULLSHIT LEVEL?!?
+removes and breaks scouter+ ITS OVER 9000!!!!
4757379
Yes normally it would be impossible for Sombra to take number one but if you count the comics it makes sense. Frankly other than comic Sombra I can't think of any other villain that isn't already on the list.
4757379
I actually love sombra even if he has little explanation but just knowing the fact that he subjected an entire kingdom even though he was only a unicorn
Tirek was an awesome villain from his intro to his defeat. It'd certainly be nice to see him come back and work on a new plan for defeating the Rainbow Power by means other than power. That, or find a way to use a twisted magic of friendship. And now we wait for number one. Gonna be honest, I'm baffled as to who it might be. I know there are plenty of options still, but it's anyone's guess as to which one and why precisely that is. Placing my bet - Midnight Sparkle. Because she had an awesome design, a fun personality while she lasted, a great battle with Sunset, and a unique motivation of just wanting to know more about magic, even if it did destroy two worlds after falling to darker impulses from peer pressure.
Silly AJ, Genesis Supernova is Twilight's attack! Tirek used Inferno Overdrive!
At this point I have no idea. Midnight Sparkle, Sombra, Stygian (corrupted)—any of those three could be number one.
Taking a long shot for #1
Evil comic other-mirror-universe Celestia and Luna
Guys, guys, guys... #1 is obviously Angel Bunny!
Just kidding. It's Philomena.
#1 is Starswirl. No contest.
-Dumped a bunch of Sirens in the human world instead of dealing with them.
-Betrayed a friend, leading to the near-destruction of Equestria, over a simple misunderstanding ON HIS PART.
-INT 20, WIS 9, CHA 8.
-A huge jerkass all-around.
Could the Great and Powerful Trixie possibly be number one on the lists?
It would stand to reason. As the Great and Powerful Trixie is number one on all the lists.
Film and Flam. i.ytimg.com/vi/93-jSxOs0Uk/maxresdefault.jpg
Tirek is a weird one for me. In a vacuum, he’s great, but the episode around him drove me crazy. First off, he’s been just kind of there since It’s About Time. It took him that long to start draining ponies, which let the perfect Deus Ex Machina being set up against him. His lack of knowledge about Princess Twilight after being out for so long and knowing about Cadance also felt wonky. Then we have his manipulation of Discord, which didn’t feel like a strength of Tirek but shoddy writing on Discord (only to be made worse soon after when his next episode is learning you can have more than one friend...).
Couple that up with a rather nonsense battle (I’m guessing Twilight got all the power from Cadance as we’ve never seen Celestia and Luna pull off combat feats, or maybe they’re limited in how they can use their magic and Twilight isn’t due to being a magic talent, still, the mechanics around the fight were dumb) that amounted to nothing but a cool factor, and the single most infuriating moment outside early Spike episodes and Mirror Magic for me. I get it, Friendship is Magic, but seriously, she gave up the last remaining thing that could stop Tirek. She traded the fate of Equestria, and all ponies in it, for her friends, in a deal she couldn’t know Tirek would honor. Then she got a free save by the Tree of Harmony (which gets worse after Shadow Play), a fancy new castle with a magical map, and a special title... Soon followed by an episode where she finally remembers her old friends and turns out she really hurt one of them to the point of being a shut in...
Really liked Tirek as a villain, liked the impact he left with destroying the library, liked Discord’s arc, really did not like the rest of the episode. Overall my second least favorite finale, right behind the season 6 one.
Anyways, for number one, my guess is the Pony of Shadows. Without the comics, Sombra doesn’t offer much, and even with them, I’m not sure it would be enough to break into number one (especially when the season 5 finale made no reference to it). Midnight Sparkle lasted all of what, 3 minutes? And while ponies close to Celestia go evil pretty often and she hasn’t been shown to make practical decisions much, I don’t think she counts as a villain. The Pony of Shadows technically was one of the most effective villains, having taken the original mane 6 sacrificing themselves to bind it, who were actually fighting threats instead of using Deus Ex Machinas and demonstrated actual tactics and prowess. Plus, he destroyed an ancient monument, had a decent enough backstory, nearly resulted in the death of the Tree of Harmony, and overall took the largest force to stop.
So many low-tier options... I'm gonna go with Daybreaker for the simple fact of corrupting the incorruptible
That or the gag-answer of 'the fandom'
More like the Inferno Overdrive.
4757606
you're a bit late to the party there
4757609
Yeah, but what can ya do?
4757510
Bold choice! I hadn't considered that Fame and Misfortune would have the best villain.
Meh, I always found Tirek a bit disappointing.
When he first showed up, that scene was awesome. He was this creepy, spooky old man who sneaked up on ponies to steal their magic, and when he was confronted by someone way out of his league, he simply used his silver tongue to get his way. If he kept that up, then I think I would like him a lot more.
Problem is: when he started to go big, red and temperamental, he also lost all of his charm and simply turned into a generic Dragon Ball villain. Sure, that fight scene was cool, but everything else just bored me and left me disappointed that he lost his creepiness factor. So no, not even close to being one of my favourites. Heck, I found the Storm King far more enjoyable by comparison.
For my money, Season 4 is still the best because it had a clear story arc throughout, ending with the coolest finale.
Yeah, Tirek went from schemer to brute force once he'd gained enough power. However, he was always more into brute force than pulling strings. He used subterfuge because he wasn't strong enough yet to take what he wanted.
As for the deus ex machina argument, I say it's less DEM than a lot of other finales because of the aforementioned season arc and the Keys of Harmony quests.
I like the explanation of Celestia's and Luna's seeming weakness given in many fanfics. Princesses with the power to move the heavens themselves have to tread lightly when it comes to using that power in Equestria. It's the Black Bolt dilemma for them.
No one has brought up this possibility: The Darkness is #1. It corrupted Stygian making him the Pony of Shadows, and it corrupted Luna, making her Nightmare Moon. Sombra was seen too little, and though the Pony of Shadows was interesting, I would say through friendship stuff, he wasn't the worst villain.
Plot twist: #1 is M. A. Larson.
4757753
Oh shoot that reminded me I haven't seen the S7 finale yet lol
4757797
Go watch it now! (And then go watch the Hearth's Warming Eve episodes)
4757753
Hey, I brought it up!
Not in great detail true, but still!
4757925
You specifically said Stygian (corrupted). I was not talking about his corrupted form, but the actual darkness that not only corrupted him, but also Luna. Though I do see your point.
4757927
Otru
I see yours too, however can "darkness" be considered tangible enough to be a "villain" or is it just one of those "absence-of-light" kinda things?
4757930
As we see in Stygian's case, the darkness made promises to him of power. The Darkness does seem to be an entity of some sort. It weaves a web of lies and it corrupts, subtly changing pony's worldview into something negative.
Woah, I just thought of something. What if SOMBRA IS THE DARKNESS?
4758003
omg
Power is a drug. For some, being in control and having more power over someone or a group of individuals, can create a high. The possibilities for what you can do could be endless.