Ranking the Twilight Sparkle Expys From Worst to Best · 1:59am Oct 11th, 2020
Ten years ago today, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic debuted to the world! Hardly anyone thought it would be a big deal, no one imagined it would last a decade and change so much. But it did! And in keeping with the joyous celebration today, we're going to be looking at (and ranking) all the Twilight Sparkle expys. Like Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, Twilight ultimately got eight, though unlike them she had Equestria Girls counterparts/parallels to compare to. So that means Equestria Girls (the spin-off that never got the attention it deserved from Hasbro) will be considered for the first time. Though again, like always, this is based on how well the characters are as expys of Twilight and not necessarily how they are as overall characters (as the previous two expy lists can probably attest). Please keep that in mind.
8. Trixie a.k.a. The Great and Powerful Trixie
Why she's on the bottom: Trixie may have been the first Twilight expy, and for her original appearance she was fine (did you know they actually wanted to make Trixie a stallion? Just imagine how many ship fics would've been launched if that had been the case), she was meant to show what Twilight would be like if she ever got too wrapped up in her abilities. The only problem is that Twilight learned to let go of her pride in the same episode, and although it did crop up again a little when she became an alicorn it never got to the level where she was in danger of being a bragger like Trixie. And Trixie never developed any further, not even as a Twilight expy. She basically clung to Starlight Glimmer as a bad influence and refused to change, continuing (at least for a time) her silly, non-existent rivalry with Twilight that she had to know was one sided.
7. Tempest Shadow a.k.a. Fizzlepop Berrytwist
Why she's not on the bottom: Intentionally or not, she feels very much like an edgy edgelord and it seems like this is carrying over into the comics. They do try to be a little more original with Tempest, she claims that she isn't like Twilight at all and even tries to use her backstory to show how warped her world view has become. But therein lies the problem, there are too many gaps to fill in to explain how Tempest became the way she is. Yes, physical trauma at a young age can have profound mental effects, but we don't know if Tempest had parents or any sort of family or guardians. Supposedly, secondary material suggests the orphan route, but like all the secondary material for the movie it's stuff that we needed in the actual movie itself instead of side material not everyone was going to ready. And it still doesn't explain how she came to trust in the Storm King so willingly, let alone became willing to betray her own country without hesitation. The two parter in the comics that focused on her had her pretty much play the victim, even though it was obvious that she was imagining most of her hardship and it was only her own personality that kept her from moving on.
6. Sunset Shimmer
Why she's in the bottom three: Let me explain myself before you all think I'm crazy. Sunset Shimmer became an amazing reformed villain and the breakout character of the entire Equestria Girls franchise, but it's easy to forget that she started out so shallow and uninteresting. The first Equestria Girls movie tried to blend her somewhat unique backstory of being a former student of Princess Celestia, with the generic mean girl villain of high school movies. The two didn't really mesh well, and from "Rainbow Rocks" onward they really didn't touch much on Sunset's past aside from her briefly returning to make amends with Princess Celestia in "Forgotten Friendship". As a Twilight expy, she didn't get to develop much (her pony self had so little screen time it's easy to forget she appeared at all). The IDW comics did try to fill this gap, but considering we saw Twilight's Canterlot friends at the same age as Sunset while also seeing a filly Twilight the canonicity of that story from the annual is questionable. And we never quite got to see that scrapped subplot of Sunset being home sick as was originally planned for the already crowded "Friendship Games". She did pick up a few Twilight traits, but the Equestria Girls franchise would end up creating their own Twilight and give Sunset more of a unique role. And speaking of the Equestria Girls Twilight...
5. Human Twilight a.k.a. Sci Twi
Why she's in the bottom half: Sci-Twi is the only other character in the entire Equestria Girls franchise who developed into a unique character despite being based on someone from Equestria (they certainly tried with the Rainbooms, but for the most part they were just content to make them one dimensional versions of their pony counterparts while relying on fan service to pick up the slack). Much like her pony counterpart, Sci-Twi was withdrawn and narrow minded, she cared little for friendship and only valued her own pursuits (though unlike her pony self she faced actual social rejection and arguably bullying because of it). She in turn was forced into the titular friendship games, pressured into unleashing a power she couldn't control and nearly destroyed both worlds in pursuit of exclusive knowledge before being shown a better way. Much like Sunset Shimmer she didn't immediately overcome her past and had to learn to accept that it had been part of her. But from there, unlike Sunset Shimmer, she faded into the background with the rest of the Rainbooms. She was mostly used just to be someone for Sunset to bounce exposition off of and occasionally call her or another Rainboom out for a reckless or stupid decision.
4. Sunburst
Why he's in the top half: Sunburst occupies a unique role as a Twilight expy, showcasing what she would be like if her magical talents were no good but she still didn't care about friendship. Sunburst, like Twilight, displays a lot of knowledge but he isn't capable of using that knowledge to its full potential. It defined him early on, and he did become a sort of fellow geek/nerd for Twilight during his time in the limelight late into Season 7. But after "Shadow Play" Sunburst slowly faded back into the background, now developed into a somewhat more confident but still isolated individual until at the very end of the show he was brought on to serve in the School of Friendship. He got some development, more than most characters with similar amounts of screen time got, and that's what's put him higher up on the list than he might have on his own merits.
3. Starlight Glimmer
Why she's in the top three: Season 6 and early Season 7 had an unfortunate tendency to often make her into Unicorn Twilight 2.0 for her focus episodes, and they completely failed to realize that Starlight was her own character (not the least because when they tried to make her like unicorn Twilight they had her act on gut instinct and express little to no remorse even when it backfired on her). In her debut, Starlight Glimmer did a good job of showing what Twilight would've been like if she were forced to make friends while still studying under Princess Celestia. She'd view solely as an experiment, and would come to see it as something to control instead of understand. I'm not saying Twilight would've gone so far as to strip others of their talents and individuality, but she most certainly would've tried to "create" friendship artificially and without understanding the importance of making a genuine connection. All of this was part of what doomed Starlight's philosophy and society, focusing all power onto her and giving her control through lies and subjugation. Thankfully, though it took time, Starlight did eventually manage to emerge from the shadows of both Twilight and Sunset to become her own character by the end of Season 7. And I feel like that comparison I made between her and Korra makes sense since Korra was just as troubling a character for fans, displaying a similar attitude about problem solving and appearing to be broken as a character, before eventually morphing into a character that had experienced hardship and emerged from it stronger.
2. Starswirl the Bearded
Why he's not on the top: While he was pretty much a straw man meant to be proven wrong, Starswirl the Bearded's attitude was somewhat understanding. And especially early on Twilight was a lot like him, prideful in her own work and annoyed if anything or anyone disrupted her "perfection". Given how Twilight at times let her royal title get the best of her in Season 5 (having learned to embrace it she now felt that she had to consider her title in everything she did, and it sometimes blinded her to the fact that she was slipping into bad habits), Starswirl does have similarities. Just like Twilight he didn't really make friends of his own accord initially, friendship found him and he slowly came to understand its importance. The biggest difference is that unlike Twilight he wasn't willing to consider each situation as it came, something that could be a strength and a weakness (Twilight's tendency to forgive no matter what was a problem, but at the same time it did help to turn enemies into allies). It's kind of unfortunate that even with the officially canon "Legends of Magic" comics that Starswirl didn't get much of a chance to shine after being brought back from limbo. After "Shadow Play" he was only used three times and amounted to little despite all his build up. "Magical Mystery Cure" was right when it showed that Starswirl never understood friendship, and that's what sets him apart from Twilight originally. Ultimately, his lack of screen time and his straw man arguments hold him back.
1. Moondancer
Why she's on the top: Moondancer is without a doubt what Twilight Sparkle would've been without friendship if everything else about her character remained the same, a shut in who cared about nothing but the pursuit of knowledge. I do think Moondancer overreacted, but at the same time her break down was heartfelt and came from a place of deep wounds that had not been addressed. I mean heck, Moondancer literally styled herself to look just like Twilight, to the point where the two could've been sisters if you didn't know better. I did like seeing her return for "The Point of No Return", even if it didn't accomplish much in the grand scheme of things. Moondancer was a one shot character who stole the show in her only major appearance. As a Twilight expy she's the one closest to being the anti-Twilight, and she's also the one who got the most development. Those two factors combined are ultimately what elevate her above the competition, so for all those reasons I'm willing to put her on the top.
And there you have it, come back tomorrow when we'll look at and rank the Rarity expys.
Obviously for me, Starlight and Sunburst would be the top two.
And as much as I adore Tempest, I do agree that as far as being a Twilight expy goes, she's not one of the better ones.
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Eeyup.
And a happy decade of FIM to everyone; hard to believe it's been this long. Also, it surprised me, slightly, that Moondancer was on top, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised.