Lord Tirek · 10:19pm Mar 23rd, 2022
Greetings, folks. This is Mr J.
Yeah, very rarely would I ever talk anything related to My Little Pony; however, if ever I do talk about anything related to it, you know it’s gonna be something really interesting. As far as this blog is concerned, this was something I meant to talk about back in 2020 back when I was really invested into the franchise. This is now long overdue—VERY LONG overdue blog post. Today I want to talk about one of the most famous villains of the show: Lord Tirek. Now, this walking tank used to be one of my favorite villains of the show besides Sombra and Grogar as I loved how he was handled in season 4 and was intrigued by his portrayal in season 9. Let me just talk about what I actually liked about him first in detail:
1). He was not only physically powerful from all the magic he absorbed but also was masterfully intelligent and psychologically powerful as evidenced by him tricking Discord into working with him to steal all the magic from Equestria until he no longer found any use for him once he got what he wanted.
2). He has an amazing design—both in his skinny, weak form and in his grown, muscular four-staged forms.
3). He is basically a polar opposite of Discord when you think about it. In “Twilight’s Kingdom”, we see the vast difference between Discord and Tirek in terms of their personalities and what they represent. Discord is the Lord of Chaos and Disharmony who loves to pull annoying pranks on his victims and spread his childish ways of chaos wherever he goes whereas Tirek is all about gaining power from those he considers as inferior to himself such as ponies and destroying all they ever love. We see who is the bigger villain and who is the better person.
4). Tirek is the perfect ultimate opposite reflection of the Mane Six. Twilight embodies magic, he eats magic; Rainbow Dash embodies loyalty, he is treacherous as demonstrated with him betraying Discord; Pinkie Pie embodies laughter, he is a bitter old grouch who gets easily annoyed; Applejack embodies honesty, Tirek deceives to get what he wants; Rarity embodies generosity, he is greedy and power-hungry; Fluttershy embodies kindness, he is sadistic and cruel. Thus, he becomes a fully three-dimensional villain with a balanced personality and villainous motivation.
All this I meant to write back in 2020, but in light of my recent changed opinions on him and his companions, here is what I have to say next:
The season four finale did justice to his character and made him an instant fan-favorite. So what the hell did the idiot writers for season 9 and Jim Miller do to his character?
They took away his defining personality traits and made him into a less badass, biceps-kissing imbecile. In season 9, he is a little too talkative, too lighthearted, and a guy who would not hesitate to eat cupcakes, crack jokes, make dumb faces, FUCKING SING A SONG, and brag about his physique. You see how they fucked up his character? He is not intimidating anymore! I can barely take him seriously now thanks to what they did to him. Some may argue that they gave him more personality, but I personally disagree with that. If you resort to downgrading what made them uniquely great in the first place and make them comically kid-friendly, it becomes blatantly clear you are a horrible writer and should stay away from a beloved franchise.
I don’t hate Tirek completely because he is still pretty much amazing in his own debut in season 4. It’s just his season 9 portrayal I just don’t like anymore. Thanks a lot, Jim Miller, Nicole Dubuc, Michael Vogel, and the others responsible for watering him down to a joke.
*sigh* Some time this week, I’m gonna rewatch “Twilight’s Kingdom” and thereby remember just how awesome it really was. At least there, he was a ferocious force to be reckoned with and a lot more intimidating back then. But alas, he got the General Grievous treatment.
See ya later.
Twilight´s Kingdom was MLP´s best finale ever. Perfect character development , well built up story, an epic battle, and most importantly a great antagonist. Interesting that you brought up the differences between him, the mane 6 and Discord. Tirek is actually one of my favourite MLP villains, he was the perfect balance between manipulative and physically strong.
*sigh* Season 9 did justice to no one. I think the worst was for Discord and Grogar, those two deserved way better.
Next to the Storm King, Lord Tirek is one of my favorite villains in MLP. As a matter of fact, I consider him to be one of the best parts of Season 9, because unlike Chrysalis and Cozy Glow he tries to take the smarter routes and makes sure not to underestimate his opponents twice.
I'm with ya Mr. J: I prefer Tirek in the role he did in the Season 4 finale rather than the role he did in Season 9.
Much more justice in regards to the former anyways. :)