Lately, as I scroll through the nostalgia of the old episodes of MLP, I realize that I find it hard to watch the first EG movie. Not because it dwarfs compared to the sequel (although that would be a good reason), but because of something else.

Sunset Shimmer being a mean girl!

I mean, when the first came out, that was all she was known for. Being the typical mean high school girl who turns into a she-demon and tries to take over Equestria with an army of teenage zombies (you know, the typical stuff). But since Rainbow Rocks, she has changed SOOOOO much! They've made her into such a likeable character! I betcha that over half the people who saw it say that Sunset was their favorite character of the movie! Ever since then, that old mean girl personality from the first movie just feels...not right when watching it! Give me adorably awesome Sunset Shimmer any day!

Just a random Sunset thought. Anyone else feel that way?

Eh, same here. I love Sunset!

A little, but the mean girl was part of her character and I have come to appreciate it in retrospect (and only in retrospect). What was interesting about her was that she spent all that time groping for power, and when she finally gets the ultimate power that she had wanted all along...she cries. Not while she's in the demon body, but when she's transforming and afterwards, of course. It really made me feel for her more than a lot of the other villains even though she wasn't supposed to be sympathetic; because deep down Sunset was just a confused teenager with a rebellious attitude.

4410770 I know what you mean. Last night was my first time watching the movie in well over a year, and it felt so odd to see Sunset being mean. We've all grown so accustomed to her adorable new self that it's hard to look back.

I actually remember wanting to punch her in the freaking face when she was acting like a bitch to Fluttershy (and that's saying lot, considering how I hate Fluttershy).

I have a liking for stories in their entirety. I find Sunset's character more interesting knowing this part of her past. And in the history of bad girls, she wasn't the worst.

4410770

Honestly I feel the same way. Originally I didn't think much of her character but the whole redemption thing with her character was an interesting angle to take the series and they pulled it off quite well.

Naturally this makes the first movie tricky since Sunset seemed to do a 180 as opposed to other characters like Discord who everyone liked both as a villain as well as an anti hero.

Though I like to think that this is a good thing as it shows how much we've come to love the character of Sunset. Many reviews cited her as the weakest element of the first movie and now see her as the strongest element of the current film. I honestly think that's an amazing character shift, to take a character we didn't care for and make her so endearing to us.

Then again that's just me.

i see where you're coming from. But something that's important to consider is that it's the dark place she's in during the first movie which lends such an impact to her growth of character in the second. Without both parts to the whole, I don't think she'd be nearly the relate-able and interesting character that she's become.

4410787 How come you dislike Fluttershy? Is it because she's a weak character?

4410770
Honestly I liked her before EqG2 came out, and was very much pleased with the sequel's handling of her redemption. I think part of it was because she was so one dimensional it made it easy to fill in all the gaps of her background and to think of exactly why she acted the way she did

4410770 i know how you felt my friend. Its really painfull to watch the first movie of EG because of sunset being evil
thanks to rainbow rocks she become a likeable character.

For those who love bad and evil sunset its okay their oppinion and our opinion

4410770 Same. It's very hard for me to believe she was that mean sometimes

4410770 I actually didn't think anything about Sunset when both movies came out. I just acknowledged her and moved on. It wasn't until I got on Fimfiction that I suddenly saw how great of a character she was. I personally like her as a mean girl, but reformed. What I mean is this: the Sunset Hasbro portrays now is completely changed around to being good. I'm not partial to complete turn-arounds since they aren't realistic, but because it's Sunset what can I say? I love it anyhow.

But I like when people make Sunset not a goody two shoes, but not an entirely bad person. So she's pretty neutral, though she may make mistakes. I have no idea if this makes sense.

With the second movie showing her redemption starting to truly blossom and her getting more friends, but the third movie, she'll be one of the most likeable girls at CHS with dozens of new friends! And hopefully the creators don't ruin the character in any way. Am I right?

4410770 I don't let if bother me too much. After all, her past does not define her, for her past is not today.

4410854

4410770 I find it hard to watch but for a different reason, though one still related to Sunset Shimmer: The ending. -_-

4410840 The writers are already screwing up her character. They've been doing it since they decided to have her stay in the human world. Rainbow Rocks is so far the only good thing to happen to Sunset Shimmer. Sure, I love the characterization she has now, but she's being wasted by being shackled to this spin-off.

4410770
Ha, posers the bunch a' yous.
(Blue means light-hearted ribbing where I come from.)

Well, she reminds me of Kevin Levin. From delinquent punk in the original series:

To "I'm not evil. I'm nuanced." in Alien Force and Ultimate Alien:

Escaped growing up into his alternate timeline fate as an iredeemable sociopath:

Omniverse made him a Neanderthal, bleh. But at least they messed up Gwen too:

4411136
Omniverse is a travesty.

4410840 I am just hoping that they have her return to Equestria by the end of the third movie.

4410980
This. I don't like Sunset as evil character, but I don't like her a butter-sweet either. That is also why I like the scene in RR where she yellow on Trixie with rage. So yeah, I would be surprised If she gonna be same in third movie compared to RR

4411048
>Only
What? That it's not enough?

4411198 She'd be put to better use back in Equestria, than hanging around a mundane high school environment. That's what I'm saying.

4411212
Well, I disagree. But whatever.

4411218 Very well. We can agree to disagree, then.

Did anyone else notice that in the "My Past Is Not Today" short, that Sunset looked at the first picture where she won a crown with longing and regret? (The one where she was smiling and it looked genuine, without malice or condescension)

I found that interesting because it implies that at first, Sunset wasn't a Raging She-Demon, and instead got caught up in becoming the alpha bitch of Canterlot High.

4410770 I agree 1000%

4411180
Yes in a lot of ways. The original creators say "We're trying to get back to the campy roots of the original series." What they forget is that not only are the faithful viewers growing older, the characters are too. I like that they're at college now, but the characterizations regressed. What other 18 y/o girl you know, would go back to the hairstyle she had when she was 10? That said, Omniverse did give me back the real Charmcaster, so it's not all bad.

Welcome back, you bad bad girl:

Look, it's not that I don't like you. But you're not Charmcaster:

4411212
She's not in a mundane HS environment, just like Ben Tennyson didn't go on a mundane summer camping trip. She's at a magical girl anime HS environment, where apparently varsity extreme sports is some kind of thing. Rainbow Dash should be a freerunner.

4411356 Except Ben Tennyson has a watch that turns him into a bunch of aliens, and has a grandpa who's an ex-alien hunter. So it's easy to expect weird stuff to happen. Things might have started normal for him, but then they gradually became more over-the-top and intense.

Sunset Shimmer, however, is in an environment that's far more limiting than the one she came from. It's not a fair comparison.

CHS may not be your typical high school where normal stuff happens, but it's still extremely distilled and watered-down compared to Equestria. If they wanted a more normal environment, then they should've started with a normal environment. Sunset Shimmer comes from a world with more possibilities than our own and she has incredible abilities that most of her kind would probably envy, and she just throws it all away for a world where only a tiny fraction of those possibilities exist, and her fantastic abilities don't even work, and she instead has to improvise with what is essentially a generic Sailor Moon-esque "Magical Girl" routine that makes no sense.

Seriously, this could be the new "Chewbacca Defense". Because it DOES NOT. MAKE. SENSE.

4411369
If she goes back to Equestria, then I won't be able to see what new clothes she wears this week.
MAKES SENSE TO ME!

(I wouldn't mind her showing up in S05.)

If you can't handle her at her worst, do you really deserve her at her best?

4410770 I actually have to agree. Equestria Girls was what got me into the fandom (shocking, I know), but after Rainbow Rocks, I LOVE Sunset Shimmer, to the point she ties with my fav pony. Now, whenever I rewatch Equestria Girls, I shudder at seeing the original Sunset Shimmer cause it just doesnt feel right

4411727
No, stop your nonsense. That saying is so stupid.

4411984 i dont like it either i just thought it fitting

4410770
Hmm.... nope; not feelin' it,

I liked Sunset for her character design alone back when she first showed up and figured they wouldn't Rebecca Shoichet as her VA unless they were planning on keeping her around (you don't cast a singer like that in a role unless you plan on making her sing, ).

What I didn't expect was just how much of a turnaround they managed to pull off with her. She went from 'oh, cool design' in the first movie to 'omfg, she goes from adorbs to whoa-nelly to I will not bow and back again' in the span of the second, and now she's one of my favorite characters of the whole franchise.

For someone who has less total screen time then some of the secondary and even tertiary characters in the actual show, that's pretty damn good,

4412135
Fair enough.

But, like, the worst here is a fireball in your face. I don't think anyone can handle that.

4412140 Twilight and co did.

4412145
Magic isn't exactly readily available to us common folk :P

4410770 You get grumpy when you don't have your daily Sunset Shimmer, here take this:

4410980

Having given some thought to Sunset's characterization, I tend to think of her as less of a "mean" girl and more as the "rebel" type: She's an individualist who doesn't like to be told what she can and can't do and has a bit of trouble getting along with authority figures. Even when her intentions are good, she tends to treat rules more as guidelines or suggestions.

She's very goal-oriented and when she doesn't have a clear objective she can become a bit insecure, like in Rainbow Rocks, but once she has her mind set on something she doesn't back down easily.

4410770

Yes, when I watch the first movie and compare it to the second, she is MUCH different in the second movie. Watching the first one now, just feels off. I totally know how you feel!

SUNSET SHIMMER IS BEST HUMAN!!! IF ANYONE TRIES TO TELL YOU DIFFERENT THEY ARE LIARS!!!

4412217
Thanks! I needed that!

4410770
y'know, the only part of the first movie I actually can stomach right now is the final encounter with Sunset... even if she's mean, we can see her tears right before the transformation into she-demon, which implies she knew something was not right in that moment; even if short, is a moment of regret, which makes her regret after "Taste the rainbow" blast much more believable... but other than that, yeah, I think I can only see Rainbow Rocks now, for all the reasons you just mentioned... heck, Sunset is now my favorite character of the franchise, even above Luna and Pinkie (my previous faves), over the last week or so, I found myself liking her more and more... and... and...
...
SHE'S MY WAIFU NOW!!! GET AWAY FROM HER, SHE'S MIIIIIIIIIIIIIINEE!!!!!!!!!!!111

4411671 I'm not sure whether or not you're joking, but it's not like she can't wear clothes as a pony.

4416242
Ponies usually don't. Also, she won't be wearing leather as a pony. Dahling.

4417603 There's still a lot of pony characters that DO wear clothes. The Apple Family, Flim-Flam Brothers, etc.

If ponies didn't wear clothes that much, then Rarity, Suri Polomare, and the like would be out of a job.

4410770 I honestly wouldn't know seeing as I haven't watched Equestria Girls since before Rainbow Rocks but I can definitely see where that might be considered a problem. I've even had worries about if I would consider Equestria Girls a lesser film because of that. I guess I'll just have to cross that bridge when I get to it.

I myself have never found it difficult to watch Equestria Girls persay, although it's definitely not as fun a time as the show proper. Or Rainbow Rocks.

But do I think it's necessary for Equestria Girls to exist? Absolutely. I believe what drew everyone to Sunset Shimmer was seeing her redemption arc play itself out after the end of the first movie. Which by itself that's a good thing, but with the existence of the first movie we got to see how bad she was at the start and so we can further appreciate how much she's grown since then.

As to what OP said... is it a bit weird to see Sunset in Equestria Girls? Yeah, definitely. Funny how radical change does that.

I assume everyone who here who "has trouble watching EQG1 again", never watched shows like Game Of Thrones, Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Hannibal, etc?
Cuz damn, if you can't even get used to Sunset's arc, how would you be able to watch those shows?

(To be fair, I stopped watching BB because it just felt too depressing...)