I posted a blog on this but I wanted to talk about it a little more here. I Sunset Shimmer the most realistic character in MLP. Now when I say this I am mostly talking about her Rainbow Rocks performance because if you were to ask me that before hand I would have said no. Now obviously most of here are not former unicorns who turned humans and then into raging she-demons, but when I say realistic I mean more in the way she behaves talks and acts. Unlike the other Mane 6 Sunset Shimmer doesn't really have what I like to call..."A gimmick." That one thing that encompasses the character. Examples Twilight = Smart one. Pinkie Pie = Silly one Rainbow Dash =ego one. Now obviously the the mane six are more complex and layered than that but you can still narrow it down to a gimmicky personality trait. Sunset Shimmer doesn't have one, at least not anymore. In the first movie yes Sunset Shimmer = Mean Girl. But what about now, I guess you could say Sunset Shimmer = Ex Mean Girl, but even then I don't feel that. She is guilty yes, but not a defining character trait. And for me not having a gimmick or defining character trait actually makes her more real than the other characters, at least for me. Perhaps you folks could help me out and make sense of what even I'm trying to say, when I do say Is Sunset Shimmer the most realistic character in MLP.

3969557 I do agree she is one of the most relatable, which is why quite a bit of people like her so much. She is normal, just like everyone else, making her one of the ost relatable characters. I think one of those reasons of why she does not have a "trade mark thing" is because she is not that develoed and what exactly does her cutie mark mean? I have been wondering this for the longest time...
~ Estrella Scrolls

3969630 I would agree with that. I wouldn't say she's "not that developed" I think she definitely has some development. Cunning, determined, (Originally a bit greedy), but now compassionate, definitely guilt ridden, probably has good leadership skills but will probably need to say more of that. Definitely a temper (Now that one I have proof off). But yes I would agree, she definitely feels like a normal person. In fact she's probably more normal than the rest o the mane six.

I've always like Sunset Shimmer yes, even in the first movie although a lot of that was because she was a former student of Princess Celestia, someone who I thought would be a better rival to Princess Twilight than Trixie, (I'm not hating on Trixie these were just my thoughts on how I thought her original character would turn out to be) even though this turned out not to be the case I really like her plus in the first movie she transformed into a she demon and I thought that was awesome especially with me being a long time Anime fan so imagine my surprise when I found out that not only would we be getting a second Equestria Girls movie but that Sunset Shimmer would be in it, then when I actually saw Rainbow Rocks for the first time even though I've seen Rainbow Rocks three times now and the first movie six time Sunset Shimmer was my favorite part of the second movie, I've always like when a villain goes from being a villain to being a hero, once again as a long time Anime fan this is something that I've experienced many time before but I still always like when I see it regardless plus when she's being good Sunset is really really cute but anyway even though I really liked the Sirens especially Sonata Dusk, Sunset Shimmer is really awesome and my favorite Equestria Girls character/ favorite human, is she my favorite pony though now that role would go to Rarity but I still really like and enjoy Sunset Shimmer a lot.

Honestly, if we are talking realistic, I would say she is the second most realistic character. (Besides Applejack) She has the typical bratty teenage girl stereo type that turns good and friendly. Her looks also kind of look normal to I guess. Blue eyes and the tan skin are pretty normal.

3969812 To be honest I still think Twilight and Sunset are better rivals even they're not rivals any more. (Although they can technically be rivals in a more friendly way, example Sora and Riku in Kingdom Hearts).

3969816 Hmm...I don't know maybe, I don't see a lot of bratty teenage girl turned good stereo types so I wouldn't know.

For sure. And because she's only had two appearances (which I'm not saying is a good thing), she hasn't had to backtrack and re-learn lessons like the Mane 6. Probably the most solid character development we've seen on the show since Discord and Princess Luna.

3969874 I would love to see them be friendly rivals kind of like Vegeta and Goku after Vegeta officially became a good guy or Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzimaki for a large portion of the original series as well the end of Naruto Shippuden when Sasuke went from being good to evil to good again.

I don't see the need for them to be rivals anymore. If any hostilities were renewed between them, it would just render the ending of the first EQG movie pointless. She's good and friendly now. And frankly, that's the way it ought to be, seeing as she was more misguided and self-centered than malevolent to begin with (her transformation/corruption notwithstanding, obviously). Of course, there's still the question of whether this character development would be more relevant if she stayed at CHS or if she just moved back to Equestria. Personally, I think she'd be more relevant and beneficial as a character if she went back to Equestria, whether as the seventh Mane character, or as a supporting protagonist in the vein of Zecora, the Princesses, or even the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

3969557

I would say the answer is yes and no because it depends on how it's measured. For instance are you comparing her against the Equestria Girls main 6 or the FIM Main 6, or are you combining them? If you are looking just at Rainbow Rocks she is very very human, very realistic, and an extremely well developed character, and of you look at the other supporting characters they aren't as well developed. This is normal in all movies and shows, where supporting characters aren't as well developed even if they may be cooler or more interesting. The question would be what would she be like if she was a supporting character.

The reason why you do this is because it's the fair way to compare characters that can either be the main or supporting characters.

You also have to look at the density. Short episodes generally end up with less character development and longer movies generally tend to allow for more, though it all depends on style.

Rainbow Rocks was largely a redemption story. Redemption stories tend to demand more high quality character development and a more relatable personality. I think Sunset Shimmer was pulled of very well in this regard.

So, if you condensed all the personality and characterization and measure it as one lump sum I think Sunset is close to one of the most personable and realistic people. If you are only looking at Rainbow Rocks then the is definitely up there as one of the best if not thee best. If you are only looking at Rainbow Rocks and comparing her to the average personalization of both supporting and main character rolls with the other characters then she is clearly the winner.

3969816 Sunset and Applejack's eyes are both green. Different shades of green, but still green.

3980352
Sunset Shimmer's eyes are more like aquamarine or turquoise, depending on the ambient lighting.
AJ's eyes are unmistakeable green-apple green. What you see is what you get there.

3981528 Bluish-green, then. But her eyes are still more green than blue, even by just a little bit.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. It's like she felt more real, but I just couldn't put my finger on my why. That would honestly make a lot of sense, with the whole gimick-less thing.
Fact, more I think about it the more I feel that to be true in all circumstances, the characters I've always felt more real, aren't defined by one thing. Not to say the main six are only based of of one thing. They've certainly got a lot of depth to them but their personality still does revolve around a few particular things.

It's like in real life, you could describe someone in a few words sure, but it wouldn't give a very accurate depiction, it seems like any real person would be a lot less definable by just a few words.
Seems like if given a scenario, characters that you don't immediately know what they'd do, feel much more realistic then those you can come up with a few guesses quickly.
The whole concept of it though still baffles me a bit as to why characters, less defined as such, seem almost more real. It's really strange in a way.
I guess humans are just plain unpredictable.....then again I'm not actually sure that's a new concept.

Also while it was a small thing, the fact that she was doing more mundane things, (like volunteering to show new kids around school) may of helped as well.
Then there's whole redemption thing that many people can relate to on one level or another, but I'd say that's pretty obvious.

3981591
I also feel that her voice sounds more real. Not saying that the others are bad VAs, but they're given instructions such as "RD is an athletic tomboy, so make that quirk obvious through her voice." Pretty much all of the Mane 6 has that quirky "trademark voice" signature.
Sunset started off having the voice signature of "high school mean girl". But now that she's lost that. She doesn't have to keep up any trademark and can just concentrate on emoting with the plot.

Beyond that, I don't think Rebecca is trying as hard as say Disney heroine VAs to sound "nice." Sunset is nice in the movie, but she doesn't try to keep her voice smooth and even as if she's ready to burst into song at any moment (like say an airline stewardess). I feel it's a more natural pitch and tone (not completely, ofc).

3981540
Actually Sunset's eyes are mostly light-blue. The slightest hint of green that is almost not even there. Her screenshots are all over Google; most ppl would say her eyes are light-blue or ice-blue.

3981667 I'm sorry, but you'd have to be color-blind or something to think her eyes were light blue. You can very clearly see there's as much green in her eyes as there is blue. In fact, here's the color of her eyes as stated on the MLP Wiki: Moderate cyan. In other words, bluish-green.

3982883
Oh u meant cyan. U should have said so in 1st place.
Cyan is certainly not "more green than blue ".
U know what moderate cyan meant , I assume .

3983467 It's still not an exclusively blue color. That's the point I'm trying to make.

3983486

Sunset and Applejack's eyes are both green. Different shades of green, but still green.

Sunset Shimmer's eyes are more like aquamarine or turquoise, depending on the ambient lighting.

It could've stopped here.

3983978 You also could've just not replied at all. I said Sunset and Applejack's eyes were different shades of green, and cyan is a shade of green as much as it's a shade of blue, so this debate about her eye color was totally unnecessary from the beginning. And don't say mine wasn't necessary, either, because it's still wrong to just say that Sunset's eyes are blue.

3984029
I'm an artist so I'm not going to "leave it at that" after you accuse me of being blind.

You said it was Green; you did not say Cyan. I said no, more like Turquoise or Aquamarine, which is basically Cyan rather than Green. Then you said well, more green than blue. So I said y'know what I still say more blue than green (even if it is Cyan it's an ice-bluish Cyan).

Cyan is a good answer because either it's a range of colors, or it's exactly midway between green and blue, and it's exactly complementary to red so you can see the MLP artist's thought process of using an exact complementary of her eye color to make it stand out from her attention-grabbing hair design.

3984029 3984207
Can we just say 'Sunset's eyes are pretty' and leave it at that?

3984207 You know, this conversation is totally irrelevant to what the original post was about. I just wanted to correct someone about eye colors and you--a complete stranger in all this--butt in and turn it into an argument about what could've been a simple procedure: "one reply to one comment" because you had to be "Mr. Artist" and be picky/anal about all the different shades of blue and green that exist.

This is just like that one episode of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. You know the one ("Store Wars" if you don't). So let's agree that Sunset's eyes are NOT completely blue, and pretend this pointless argument never happened.

Although I think I might write a conversation like this in my story. Thanks for being such an unlikely source of inspiration. :)

3981667 So you weren't the only one. If I didn't know it was the same voice actress you would have sworn they got another actress. But after re-watching EQG 1 you can hear some of the old voice in it, just less...mean girl.

3969557
Actually, I see what you mean. When I was writing her myself and making some chatter between her and the other six, I realized that her dialogue was rather "plain" compared to the others who each had something I could latch onto. Rarity would definitely say this, Rainbow Dash is all about this, Applejack would use this term. Sunset didn't really have anything like that, and I was worried she would come off as uninteresting.
But reading this now, that's opening my eyes a little more. RR Sunset's the closest we've gotten to seeing a real person in the MLP world.
Wow. No wonder people like her so much.

3981667
I'd be curious to see how Sunset is going to be depicted in future films/episodes, now that she's gotten past two character arcs. First one every bit of dialogue was "I'm a selfish bully who wants power", second one was "I used to be bad, but I'm looking for redemption now" (not trying to undermine it, because I really did like her in RR). So now that she's redeemed herself and won't be relying on giving us puppy dog eyes, what's her personality going to be like from here on out?

4090204
I think the studio has the same insight that this thread had: "Hey guys, Sunset doesn't have a quirk. We have Brainy Smurf, Jokey Smurf, Smurfette I mean Vanity Smurf, Farmer Smurf, Bashful Smurf, and Lazy I mean Sporty Smurf..."

Sunset is currently at the cusp of being the Ensemble Darkhorse. The worst case scenario is as TV Tropes said: The first is that writers often "adjust" the character so that s/he can fit into a conventionally heroic role — in the process destroying the unconventional traits that made the character an Ensemble Dark Horse in the first place.

Sunset's standout trait is that she's the only Everyman in a cast of smurfs. This is the opposite of what a Darkhorse usually is; usually a show's boring main hero is the Everyman. If movie #3 takes away all of her bad girl edge because she's now the EqG lead doll, she would become an unironic Everyman and become boring. But I don't think the studio will make a mistake like that; just look at the subject matter of movie #3: LOL, motorball. I can't believe it. It's like a Battle Angel Alita crossover FiMfic.

4090526
I haven't seen anything on EQG3. But I wouldn't be quick to say "the studio won't make a mistake" because even if we disagree on what the blunders are, the studio has produced some pretty big blunders in the past few years.
That's not to say they CAN'T do a great job, because the potential to do great things has been realized recently as well. I'm just saying either possibility is more or less likely to happen. We'll just have to wait and see.

4090544
Want spoilers for EqG3? The first part of this video is full of them:

4090581 I wonder if they'll make a hunger games Reference if Sunset does that kiss salute thing TAKE MY MONEY NOW PLEASE!

4090581
I probably shouldn't have clicked that. I forgot that I don't do well with spoilers and anything related to "look at what Hasbro has planned!".

Oh well, hopefully the studio makes something salvageable like they did last time.

4090829 Always take what Hasbro and DHX do as separate...trust me I remember the RR dolls....

4090829
I mean, I was expecting "EqG3: High School Drama With A Dash Of Magic!" Instead I get "For our next movie we'll have girls varsity sports: Archery, roller derby, and motorcross!"
The anime-loving fanboy in me is cheering, ofc. But the practical part of me that knows who the target audience for EqG is is thinking, "Bwuh?!"
As much as the internets like to constantly talk about Hollywood/gaming sexism and how girls should do more, I still can't get over... archery, roller derby, and motorcross. Somebody at Hasbro is either high, or a visionary.

4092119
Actually, I thought them doing a sports themed thing was kind of cool. I mean, if the future of EQG movies is "The School All Participates in X Activity" then sports doesn't seem like such an awful idea.

As long as they don't do the whole "oh noes, the mane six are not getting along so they can't save the day" story AGAIN, then it should be enjoyable.
I really don't want to hear Pinkie Pie scream like she did when she said "IT'S THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF BEING IN THE RAINBOOMS!!" I... I did not do well when I had to listen to that.

4092154
Do you mean you don't like the VA's scream voice, or you are hypersensitive to scenarios of the Mane 6 friendship cracking?

4092229
Both. For one, I think the storyline where the mane six are bickering amongst themselves has been done three times already (once in Return of Harmony, again in EQG1, and a third time in RR). It's already old, so it would be a bad idea if they decide to do it again.
Second, I don't do well with high pitched shrill voices. It hurts my ears and makes my whole body tense up. I've seen the movie about 4 times, and each time that part with Pinkie screaming approaches, I have to cover my ears because it really bothers me.

I have to say that I really, really, really want Sunset Shimmer to just be able to do her own thing, and in Equestria. I know, I'm a totally broken record at this point, but sticking her in the human world just so that she can have character development just seems very wrong and forced. And if they have to make the Twilight Sparkle of the human world the bad guy in order to justify the fact that Sunset's in the group, then it's clear that the writers are just grasping straws to make their spin-off idea work.

Because Celestia forbid if anything interesting happened in the EQG world if it didn't involve Sunset Shimmer being there. *sarcasm*

Seriously, it's not that I don't like EQG, I just hate the idea that Sunset Shimmer is forced to be a part of it when she could easily accomplish more in FiM itself. Right now, Sunset just seems pretty much like the Ma-Ti of the Rainbooms: She can't do crap on her own, but the others somehow can't do crap either, unless she's there. And Sunset Shimmer has way too much potential to be wasted on a role like that. She can still convincingly be the "Everyman/Everypony" and be a talented magic-using unicorn in Equestria. I mean, Twilight's credibility in that role is declining as it is due to being the Princess of Friendship and all, so it's not like Sunset would be redundant characterization-wise if she were to be featured in FiM.

4093348 True but then we lose that awesome human design. And I like her human form more than her pony design.

4093843 Then they could just use her human world counterpart for the later EQG movies, and let the pony Sunset be...well, a pony!

4093857 I guess...I mean there doing it for Twilight. Don't know how you'd do it for Sunset though.

4093886 By having the human Sunset just show up, let the pony Sunset go back home to Equestria, and let the rest work itself from there. Next question?

Look, I like Sunset's human form all the same, but it's not worth having her be in that form if it freaking handicaps her and prevents her from using the magic she was BORN with!

4093920 I guess...But then she loses everything that made Sunset Shimmer interesting. (But then we get into a should EQG exist and I'm not having that debate, it exist and their's nothing we can do about it)...I guess you can make her like this over ambitious achiever kind of girl which would be interesting.

4093961 You don't have to change her personality at all, just let her be a magic-using unicorn again! And frankly, it would be more interesting to see how the human Sunset would mesh with the Rainbooms than see Sunset try and prove herself to be a good person to everyone at CHS for the 20th flippin' time.

4093970 True, true....I've always wanted to see her magic level. If what little we know about her, she has to be as equal at it as Twilight. I like to theorize she even know some of the darker stuff from her old days.

4093977 And if she went to back to Equestria and befriended the Mane Six, it would put a second unicorn back in the group (seeing as Twilght's become an Alicorn) and fix the pattern.

4093995 Well I don't see why that's important but sure.

At the present time I like Sunset right where she is, because as the Everyman she is the only person in the cast immune from both Plot Armor and Idiot Ball. The rest of the cast are smurfs of whichever flavor, inherited from FiM.

You know nothing bad would ever happen to the FiM girls. I'm not talking about physical harm, but like only Sunset can be put through social wringers like her ex-bf publicly humiliating her. It just won't happen to the other girls; only Sunset has no (or less) FiM plot armor. The stakes are higher when Sunset's around. And because she's not a smurf, only she is exempt from carrying the Idiot Ball. I expect that trend to continue.

4092119
When Equestria Daily first mentioned this third movie, I sincerely thought that it was a joke: surely someone at Hasbro has enough sense to realize that you can't do The Hunger Games in My Little Pony! Then things started coming into clearer focus and it became clear that this wasn't going to be post-apocalyptic gladiatorial combat, it was going to be post-apocalyptic-gladiatorial-combat-flavored sporting events... I still say that the toymakers did this on purpose to watch DHX squirm, though.

At least we get Sunset Shimmer on a motorcycle... versus Science Twilight and just maybe Principal Sombra. Sunset versus Sombra has potential to be really interesting; I compared Sunset to Feanor in another thread, and now look who she's going up against. (Pony Sauron or Pony Morgoth? The latter was a trickster as well as a tyrant; Principal Sombra will almost certainly not be made of smoke, so he'll have potential to be the same.)

As for the question being asked in the thread? "Realistic" is almost the wrong word to use, I think. There are probably plenty of people, and certainly no shortage of fictional characters, who are a lot less interesting and less psychologically deep than Sunset Shimmer. But as for "deepest character" or "most interesting character", I'd definitely say yes, and I'd almost wonder whether she didn't cause a substantial change in the tone of the setting as a whole...

4104482

I still say that the toymakers did this on purpose to watch DHX squirm, though.

Hasbro Design Dept: "Aha! Let's see DHX turn this turd into a marketable movie plot! We shall not be foiled again!"
I reallyreally don't see how Science Twilight is supposed to become Midnight Sparkle... It's like the Design Dept saw RR's end credits scene and somehow decided that the completely illogical antithesis would be the right way to go...

At least we get Sunset Shimmer on a motorcycle...

Albinocorn's head does not need to be any bigger...

I'd definitely say yes, and I'd almost wonder whether she didn't cause a substantial change in the tone of the setting as a whole...

Somepony canon who doesn't automatically kowtow to Celestia? Inconceivable.

4104564

Hasbro Design Dept: "Aha! Let's see DHX turn this turd into a marketable movie plot! We shall not be foiled again!"

I reallyreally don't see how Science Twilight is supposed to become Midnight Sparkle... It's like the Design Dept saw RR's end credits scene and somehow decided that the completely illogical antithesis would be the right way to go...

I honestly think that there's some kind of feud going on inside Hasbro. Most likely, the toymakers -- who have repeatedly tried and failed to get bronies to respect and be interested in G3 MLP -- resent DHX having suddenly made My Little Pony mainstream, and don't particularly care for the direction they've taken the show. Thus, little things like Pinklestia, medium-sized things like Sunset Shimmer's box-art caption ("Sunset Shimmer knows a magical path to faraway adventures! Years ago, she was also a student of Princess Celestia."), and now this, with superb Nerf Rebelle sales allowing the toymakers to really try to trip up DHX. It doesn't make any business sense, of course, but this isn't the first time Hasbro's acted in a way that doesn't make any business sense, and we know that there are a lot of factions in that company...

4106270
I don't think Hasbro's MLP toy dept ever voluntarily tried to appeal to the teenage-to-college male demographic; don't know why you'd think that Hasbro conceived of "bronies" before they even existed. Also I doubt the toy dept would resent anyone for helping them all get pay raises.

However, I do think that the MLP toy dept is still the same toy dept which churned out G1-G3 toys. They're not Lauren Faust or her spiritual successors at DHX; they have no idea what winning formula Lauren cooked up to make MLP FiM what it is. And yet they make the decisions which get passed down to DHX, and it is DHX which has to be Houdini every time: work with what it's given and find a spectacular escape. Hence Pinklestia, eternally-hatless AJ, CADENCE, and the EqG dolls looking more like Bratz than the animated models.

I still think that if Hasbro actually made the EqG dolls as approachable as their animated counterparts, they'd get more sales and also not have to compete with Bratz/ Monster High designs. Hell even I would buy them.

Regarding the "EqG: Hunger Games" decision... I'm actually looking forward to it. We are in no way Hasbro's target demographic, and yet unwittingly Hasbro has catered to our tastes with this arbitrary decision. I want to see what shonen shenanigans DHX cooks up. And it looks like Hasbro is already thinking along the same lines as Shooting For Friendship in making Flutters the reluctant sharpshooter.