Ten Days of Pony! 1: King Sombra · 11:29pm Dec 24th, 2017
Hail to the king, baby.
I see those pitchforks ready.
Hold on an let him plead his case before you impale him.
Yeah, I know. Unpopular opinion coming. 'You picked "blargh, crystals" to be number one?" Yes, I did. Out of everyone on this list, Sombra has done the most, succeeded the most, and arguably has the most dangerous presence out of any other villain.
Don't let him be your interior decorator either.
1000 years ago—seriously, what the heck?—King Sombra single-handedly took over the entire Crystal Empire, turning it into a bastion of of misery, where the crystal ponies were reduced to mere slaves.
The question is, what did he make them do?
It wasn't until Celestia and Luna stepped in that his tyranny was ended. But he couldn't go quietly, he had to be the biggest sore loser and take the entire empire with him!
Piggedy pistols, he comin' for them crystals.
Fast forward to the present, the empire is back, along with the shadowy form of its former king. Let's be honest, y'all make fun of his smoke form, but if you saw this creeping toward you, you'd wet your pants.
His shadow form has a storybook characteristic to it, which kinda fits with the rest of the atmosphere of the episode. The Crystal Empire sees like some fantasy place out of a foal's tale.
But don't let his looks fool you, Sombra is both crafty and dangerous. He's done something very few villains here have: shown foresight. And not just quick, last ditch effort plans, actual forward thinking.
Just ask the door nicely, Twilight. No need to shoot it.
Sombra keeps the Crystal Heart, the only thing that could stop him because the Elements are conveniently not around, locked behind several traps that require dark magic to get to it.
Or a pegasus. But I was under the impression all crystal ponies were earth ponies so, you know.
His trademark weapon is fear, creating a door that shows you your worst hallucination and keeps you paralyzed there. Hell, he has every pony in the empire in fear of him!
"No happy thoughts allowed. Get back to work!"
The mere memory of King Sombra is enough to get the crystal ponies cowering in fear. He wasn't even in charge for that long a time. Of course, he is the last thing they all remember before taking a millennium long nap.
Power, planning, and fear all make him formidable, but what really sets him apart is his presentation.
Many people cite him as underutilized and under developed, having next to no lines. However, I disagree.
Return of the king.
The show writers have likened him to Sauron and I think it shows. Sombra isn't just a villain, he's a force. And unlike the Storm King, his presence is kept at the forefront of the episode the entire time. The mane 6 have to keep the crystal ponies distracted or else they'll panic, and Twilight has to find the heart before the barrier falls.
Sombra is the only villain to not get the mcguffin in the end. Twilight's whole mission was to make sure he never touched the Crystal Heart, because if he did, that's it, game over.
If your big bad is so dangerous that them getting the thing means you lose, that's pretty bad.
And we see what happens if he does get the heart.
Cue Imperial March.
In one of the darkest of the alternate timelines, Sombra has taken over the empire and waged an all out war against Equestria and has made some decent progress if the corrupted map is to be believed.
The guy brainwashes his own subjects into his army for crying out loud! Doesn't get much worse than that. I would know!
This is all without counting the comics which give him a surprisingly good origin story. Sombra isn't even a unicorn. Turns out he's an Unbrum, a race of shadow creatures sealed beneath the empire. He was created for the sole purpose of setting the rest of his people free.
And when the Crystal Fair came along every year, the light from the heart would cause him excruciating pain. One year, Queen Amore finally reveals that she knew all of this about Sombra and did nothing to help.
In retaliation, Sombra turned her to crystal and shattered her. Yeah... can't say I don't feel for the guy. With a legitmate reason to take over the empire, he makes for a complex and ruthless villain. Of course, the comics are optional. Without them, he's reduced to wanting to rule for the sake of it which, again isn't bad, just generic.
If we do count comics, then we also have to include Siege of the Crystal Empire, which is a mixed bag for a lot of people and ultimately reforms him.
Reformation or not, his time as a villain had him accomplish the most. A successful take over, haunting his subjects from the grave, and being so dangerous that getting the Crystal Heart means a bad ending, he takes a little of everything from the previous villains on the list and puts it together in a neat, if arguably still underutilized, package.
"Be prepared!"
And so ends this years Ten Days on Pony! Remember, this is just one writer's and pony's opinion. Feel free to disagree with me all you want, I only ask you do it in a constructive manner.
Or call us a pair of losers who don't know what we're talking about and leave a long ranting post about how emphatically wrong we are with plenty of expletives. Either one. Here at Sunset Shimmer Productions, we value your opinion.
I told you, we're not calling us that.
Why not? Every story you write features me somewhere in it.
... That's not untrue.
Thanks for bearing with us these past ten days, broken pictures and all. Seriously, we're not sure what's with the pictures. Something about browser functionality.
But, as a reward for putting up with us, tomorrow, something new and shiny is waiting under the Hearth's Warming tree! The first chapter of a brand new story! What's it gonna be? You'll have to wait and see!
So from us to you, thanks for reading, and have a very happy holiday!
Interesting top choice, but I see your reasoning. Now all I have to do is wait for the new story!
Eh... I can't help but separate him into past and present versions. They're just too different for me. And AU-Sombra is entirely another character. So... no. I respectfully, but emphatically, disagree with your choice.
Sunset Shimmer Productions? I like that. I like that a lot!
Nice written case for Sombra.
I had a feeling it would be Sombra. Nothing whatsoever beats your inner most fears. Fear debilitates and prevents you from doing stuff without the strongest of inner resolves and triumphs. It may not sound like much, but Fear is probably the strongest thing out there. Fear of failure, fear of spiders, fear of the unknown, fear of pocket change, it all resonates on a psychological level. I kinda figured the last one would be Sombra.
Figures the top slot would go to the only villain who should have won.
Seriously.
He would have one fair and square. He should have, and it’s slmost painfully obvious that the writers realized too late that they did too good a job with him. He’s the only one on the list who came straight outta Nintendo. He’s the Battletoads ROM hack where every level is Turbo Tunnel, and the only reason he lost is because of a Game Genie.
A fair choice. And another reason you should play Filly Fantasy VI where he's a major antagonist.
I still say Angel is the #1 villain in MLP, but this works too. 😋 Have a happy Christmas, Albi! 🎄🎄🎄
Yeah, I can see it. In terms of being a force, I’d definitely give it to Sombra. While technically not as effective as Tirek or Chrysalis, he actually made sense. Yes, there was dumb stuff in the episode, but it was mainly on Celestia. Still, for me, Sombra was kind of boring. The TV-Y limitation made him feel a bit goofy, so I didn’t really feel his presence. My preference is towards the entertaining villains (preferably with good mechanics as well), but I definitely see the appeal here.
4758086
Eh, I'd say it's more he should have won because Celestia sent Twilight off to fight her Ganon expy with the wooden sword when she had the Master Sword ready to go in her closet.
Seriously, Crystal Empire still stays near the top of my list for 'Celestia's stupid plans' for me. She sent Twi to save the Empire with only vague info on Sombra's abilities, little info on the Empire itself, NO info on the Crystal Heart (you know, that little thing she both needed to defeat him and, as pointed out here, needed to keep away from him), orders that she needed to do this alone (which if she'd actually followed to the letter meant she wouldn't have had Spike with her at the end to get the heart to Cadance), and not even the Elements of Harmony as a plan B (or even a decent reason why they couldn't take them). I half suspect her demonstration of dark magic that Twi would end up needing was accidental too. It's sheer luck that things played out so that Sombra lost.
And then there is Sombra's worst enemy: GAK!
I agree with you that Sombra is the best villain of the show. Yes, he was underutilized, but isn't that a sort of blessing? It means there is still a possibility that he will come back, and it also makes him more mysterious. And a mysterious villain is a dangerous villain, I believe.
4758153
Glad to know I'm not the only one with problems with Celestia's half-baked ideas.
I'm gonna admit, my eyes widened at the number one. Not that I think he's bad or that thinking of him as the best is wrong. I did find him an intimidating force of a villain. All throughout these ten days I was thinking, "Sombra probably won't be here, given popular opinion" and "who could possible be left for the last spot? We've done all the big majors except... nah, can't be. Can it?"
With all the complex villains higher up on the list and in the stories here, it was quite the unexpected winner in Sombra. Still, I get the reasoning and it is all valid. He probably wouldn't have been my number one, but he would have been up there. A great ten days of evil and looking forward to the new story tomorrow. Merry Christmas and Happy Hearth's Warming!
4758128
Can confirm
The Sauron comparison is apt... which is why Sombra fell a little flat for me at first. He's an evil mastermind with no minds to master in his premiere. He's arguably a Twilight analogue with his magical and organizational skill, but a general without an army just doesn't hit maximum menace. "The Cutie Re-Mark" addresses this, but it's three seasons after the fact. Still, he's definitely a strong contender for the top of the list. Thanks for the whole list, and Merry Christmas.
The way FiM ends: Sombra.
Siege did give Sombra 1 accolade that no other villain can claim.
He won.
And not in a "won in an alternate timeline" or "then immediately got a Deus Ex Machina undoing his victory" kind of win, but straight up had the heroes beaten with no chance to retaliate kind of won. Even his reformation was in spite of the heroes this time: he just didn't like evil so he stopped being evil.
Without the comics I would call shenanigans on Sombra being #1. With them it's a well earned spot.
Can't really agree with your reasoning I hate villains like Sauron, I want my villains to have a personality at the very least. He is definitely one of the coolest villains in the series and I hope he makes a return in season 9.
Sombra was the scariest villain in Equestria. He is a shadow clouding your mind and spreading dear to your heart. He is the ultimate of bad and I hope the writers bring him back.
Also, this theme goes great with him.
I agree with all of this reasoning. He gets so much flak for not having any lines, but the context of everything in the S3 premire tells you how quite explicitly how much of a threat he is. That kind of non-verbal storytelling is a rare sight in this show.
"For all of his threatening presence, he never actually does anything."
"Oh, and I'm only basing this on what we see in the animation, not the implied effectiveness."
"I'm only counting actual canon material."
I mean, if you like Sombra, you like Sombra. But when you start giving off your reasons and try to show how he somehow surpasses the rest (even if only by a small margin), apparently he does so by adhering to an entirely different standard than you used for all the rest.
You do you, but this was some of the worst "reasoning" for explaining a set of opinions that I've seen in a long time.
Having skimmed this set of blogs because they have been dumb enough to cause people to complain, I am convinced that you and the people who confusingly agree with you aren't actually watching the same show as I am.
I would suggest you go back and watch MLP:FiM instead of whatever it was you've been watching (or complaining about without watching) for the last several years, and actually apply some critical thinking.
tl;dr: your opinions are bad and you should feel bad.
4759536
Gee, really feeling the holiday spirit. I'm so sorry my short introspections don't live up to your grand expectations and align with your perspectives. I'll be sure to try harder in the future.
4759604
Good children get presents, bad children get lumps of coal. Glimmer whiners are bad children.
I have never come to read your illustrated review blogs because I thought you're an academic critic. I think it's pretty obvious everyone reads them because the banter is funny, it scratches the "Need more Sunset" itch, and you select good screenshots (and tons of them). So despite disagreeing with your list, I think in the end the order doesn't matter for my enjoyment.