Top Ten New Character of Season 9 · 1:02pm Oct 17th, 2019
Season 9 introduced quite a few new characters to us, though not all of them necessarily made a lasting impression. So which ones stood out in the end? Which are the ones that might inspire us to make more stuff about them or be eager to see if they'll appear in the comics at all? Well, let's find out. As always this list is purely the result of my personal opinion.
10. Spur and Biskit: All things considered they were okay. They were kind of like the Barrel twins from "Rainbow Roadtrip", except with those two we got some idea of what made them tick and why we should care about them. Spur and Biskit's conflict was something that "Growing Up is Hard to Do" just tossed in there because it couldn't think of anything else for the grown-up CMC to do (which may be why the idea was shelved in the first place). As actual characters they were decent but sorely in need of fleshing out.
9. Dusty Pages: What ultimately put her into the list of memorable characters is what they ultimately did with her. It would've been so easy to make her a rip off of Moon Dancer in an episode that was already basically just rehashing "Amending Fences". But no, she's not mad with Twilight because of an overdue library book. In fact she finds it liberating because it enabled her to let go of her sense of perfection and enjoy life. Honestly, her character there is where "The Point of No Return" should've started, not ended (Twilight visiting Dusty Pages in retirement and learning from Dusty what she did after leaving the library).
8. Rusty Bucket: Now this is a character "Fame and Misfortune" could've sorely used, someone who actually saw a benefit in the friendship journal published who wasn't a child character with a reused G3 model. It was actually surprising to see how he wasn't fooled by Cozy Glow despite not knowing who she was. And that when the Legion of Doom came along the worst that happened was that he got buried by snow. He certainly proves why he kept his post for so long, me thinks Shining Armor and the royal guards could learn a thing or two from him about maintaining your post and not lowering your guard.
7. Shimmy Shake and Lighthoof: A.k.a the dance twins. There's no denying the fandom went nuts for these two, if the fandom were more active I imagine we'd have seen a ton of fanfics with them and probably more art (I'm sure there was some). My biggest problem with them is how we don't know anything about them besides being dancers. Are they sisters? Cousins? Best friends? Maybe even step sisters? Who knows? And we also don't know if they're professional dancers (they seem to be) and if so how Twilight got in contact with them (assuming they didn't just show up after learning of the cheer squad via word of mouth). And I would like to know who it was who voiced them, because I'm fairly certain that Shimmy Shake's VA was the same one who voiced Pinkie Pie in that live action skit parodying late night talk shows.
6. Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty: Okay, maybe I'm cheating a little with these two since they were technically introduced to us in the "Ponyville Mysteries" chapter books (the comics designs were never finalized or approved by anyone), but I think it still counts when we saw them canonically in "The Last Crusade". If not for the chapter books I doubt anyone would've even known they were lesbians, because the episode certainly didn't elude to it at all. We still don't know about their careers, but Lofty at least seems to be a bit of a homemaker (sewing and baking). I do wish they could've at least given them a few cameos after "The Last Crusade", perhaps even a mention once or twice.
5. Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood: Bet you're surprised that they're not on the top considering how much I've defended them and even written fanfics that involve them. Well it's not because my opinion on them has soured recently, I still think they're way overhated and are fantastic characters. They aren't intentionally being hurtful, they do care about Scootaloo and we saw that they were willing to admit they were wrong. And it's easy to see from them why Scootaloo would look up to a pony like Rainbow Dash. The thing is though, even if they were saving them until nearly the end of the show it would've been nice to get some illusions to them existing before "The Last Crusade". Even just a few lines about how Scootaloo's parents are always out of town due to their work so other ponies watch over her would've been nice, it would've still let fans draw their own conclusions until Snap and Mane debuted. And I just feel a little bit stronger about each of the remaining characters.
4. Luster Dawn: Yeah yeah, she's obviously yet another Twilight Sparkle expy (same name themeing, same overall design, same original species, similar doubts about friendship) but I think she was given enough screen time to evolve into something beyond that. And hey, the fandom's certainly putting her to good use, which is a good sign. She was enjoyable in "The Last Problem" and seeing her make friends at the end was truly inspiring, a way for everything to come full circle.
3. Wind Sprint: Patton Oswalt's daughter, Alice, is apparently a really big fan of the show. So I imagine her getting the chance to voice Wind Sprint alongside her dad was a dream come true for her. Putting that aside, Wind Sprint is enjoyable and sympathetic, even if at times she come across as a bit of a brat. They're not exactly clear on what happened to her dad, the context from real life suggests it's death but we'll probably never know for sure. She does raise a valid question when she asks her mom why she likes Quibble Pants so much, which is something I think more parents who re-marry should be ready to have their children ask them.
2. Clear Sky: It is a bit confusing to have a unicorn mare named Clear Sky when there was a pegasus stallion named Clear Skies, but that confusion aside she was pretty good. She was sweet, caring, and trying to play peacemaker between her daughter and her boyfriend. I do love her nickname for Quibble Pants: Q. It's those little touches that make her so sweet.
1. Sans Smirk: It would've been so easy to make him the bad guy, but they took the high road with him and made him care about Cheese Sandwich. He's not the reason Cheese lost his laugh, he's not trying to replace Cheese. He really is a good guy with his own intentions, and I can't be the only one who thinks of Baymax with the way he talks. Some fans even compared him to Maud in his connection to Cheese, which I can definitely see. And for all those reasons, I'm happy to put him on the top.
And there you have it, come back tonight when we'll rank all the songs of Season 9.
Wind Sprint and her Mother were a nice Addition, so were scoot's parents. (Although i Support the Royal Guard idea for her) i was Surprised of the Redesign of her aunts though
Shimmy Shake is voiced by Diana Kaarina (who also voiced Aria Blaze), while Lighthoof is voiced by Kelli Ogmundson.
5141196 Well the comics designs were done in a vaccum, the show staff never signed off on them.
5141238
Yeah, though I find the comic design looks better
5141239 Eh, the colors kind of killed it for me. They used the same color scheme for Lyra and Bon Bon for the most part, the only difference was giving Aunt Holiday young Granny Smith's mane color.
5141251
Yeah, I meant when first shown. I was kind of used to this before the episode that showed them in the show