Ten Days of Pony: All the Rest · 9:55pm Dec 24th, 2017
Before we talk about the villain who climbed to the top of our list, let's talk about the ones who couldn't quite make it.
Marketing!
The Storm King. The main antagonist of the MLP movie. Well, at least the driving force behind the events that take place.
He's... interesting to say the least. However, he's more interesting in the prequel comics and is overshadowed by Tempest during the course of the actual movie. And since I'm focusing primarily on events that take place in the animation and not the side material that not everybody has read, it's not exactly a positive for this guy.
So what is he? A baboon? A yeti?
The Storm King wants Equestria's magic. Actually he wants all the magic in the world because... you know, I don't even know why. Something about PR or just because? It's unclear.
He may share Tirek's plan, but he has a different character at least. He switches between amicably evil, petulant, and ruthless in the blink of an eye, which is actually funny to see.
Sadly, we only really see it in the last twenty minutes of the film. The prequel comics give us a full treat of the Storm King, including his assault on the cat kingdom of Abyssinia. If the movie had started with that, I think it would have done a lot for his character. As it stands, he takes a backseat presence to Tempest who is given more urgency and an actual backstory.
Honestly, if they hadn't kept mentioning who Tempest was working for, you would have forgotten he was primary villain. He feels hyped up for the whole movie, and when we finally get to the confrontation, the fight is decent enough, but it doesn't make up for him being absent most of the movie.
While I woulnd't call him a bad villain, again, the comics make him out to be pretty unique, for the purpose he was supposed to serve, I don't think he did the best job.
Every light must fade! Every pony return to darkness!
The new kid on the block. Or the old one that came back?
The real Pony of Shadows. This behemoth of a monster was so great, it took the Pillars of Equestria's combined sacrifice to keep him contained.
While his presence is menacing, his design great, and his backstory tragic, like Nightmare Moon, he doesn't get to do anything. He shows up, the Pillars fight and seal him in limbo.
Twilight does a dumb and sets him free, then he goes and hides for most of the episode until everyone confronts him in the ruins of Hollow Shades. Then he gets sealed away again... in what better actually be limbo! I swear to Celestia, if that idiot Starswirl sent that thing to the human world like he did with the Sirens, I'm putting my boot up his crotchety ass!
As much as I want to put him on the list, he simply hasn't contributed anything other than some awesome lore. I will give him points for being strong enough that fourteen ponies had to band together to push him into his prison. Here's hoping he comes back at least one more time to cause some mayhem. There's a spot waiting for him if he does.
Do I hear five!?
Juniper Montage... drama brat that got a random mirror that gave her too much power and fantasy trip resulting in another she-demon. Next!
Here's how you do it right.
We love Midnight Sparkle, don't we, Sunset?
Shut up.
And while she served as an excellent climax for Friendship Games, she falls into this weird gray area for me. She's more than an antagonist, but not quite a villain in her own right.
Midnight came about from a combination of scientific desire and peer pressure/blackmail. Then you get into the nuance of how much was Twilight in control during her transformation.
Midnight is terribly powerful, slashing tears in the fabric of space like it was paper. All for the sake of understanding how magic worked, with little regard as to the well-being for those around her.
Certainly evil actions but... is she herself a villain? She isn't like Luna who willingly accepted dark power to become Nightmare Moon. Twilight was forced into it and got drunk on the magic trip.
"Tag, you're it."
It isn't until Legend of Everfree that Midnight becomes her own personality desperate to control Twilight and finish what she started. We can definitely call her a villain here...
But like the Pony of Shadows, while she serves as a menace, she doesn't get to do much. Had she succeeded in taking over Twilight's body at the end, then yeah, she'd be on here. But her plans are foiled before they really start, leaving her an antagonistic threat rather than a proper villain. Gloriosa falls into a similar category, taking the geodes to help save her home and then getting corrupted with too much power.
But Midnight's thirst for knowledge, tremendous power, and crazy-awesome design and expressions, she's probably our favorite 'villain' in the show so far. Huh, Sunset?
Shut. Up.
"Admit it, you think I'm sexy, don't you?"
Let's see who made the number one spot!
Yes, you are sexy Midnight.
A good list of runner-ups, and at least Midnight got plenty of love here, even if she didn't make top 10. And now to see who number one is.
Midnight is indeed sexy...Starlight why didn't you try and get an evil transformation?
*hides spellbook and grins sheepishly* eheheh
You had better be looking up how to revive me!
You'll be back to life come Christmas morning!
Its a miracle!
The Storm King easily one of my favourite villains in the series. Like it's said here the best way to describe him is he's unique. He's not some all powerful sorcerer he's just regular guy who is smart, ruthless and manipulative. His goal is to basically control the world but this isn't explained well in the movie and I would argue a villains motivations is never super important in a kids movie anyways. The comics do a better job of explaining that despite calling himself The Storm King he has no interest in actually ruling. When he conquers the cat kingdom he just leaves the current rulers to run the nation while he takes all their treasure. All he wants to do is control everything.
He's just a fun villain and I wish they gave him more to do because Liev Schreiber does a great job switching between ruthless conqueror and a villain who loves being the villain at the drop of a hat.
Admit it Saltset, you think Midnight Sparkle is HOT! Come on, I saw you staring at her.
Ehh... I hate thinking of Midnight Sparkle as a separate entity all together. At the end of the day, she is still a part of Twilight. The ambition, her thirst for knowledge of magic, her disregard for others in pursuit of it. All of that is still a part of her. It's not the entire person/pony of course, but it's still there.