Looking at how Sunset never really got a backstory on why she became the mean and arrogant bully we see her as in the first Equestria Girls movie, what theories do you all have on why she became mean in the first place?

Ask the writers.

Well, I have theories about why she might go evil AGAIN.

TSunset Shimmer Decides to Turn to the Dark Side

• Equestria Girls
• Comedy
• Slice of Life

"Really! This time she means it! 🤣"

• Sunset Shimmer
• Rainbow Dash (EqG)
• Spike (EqG)
• Sci-Twi
• Fluttershy (EqG)

Mockingbirb · 1.3k words  ·  35  3 · 769 views

I have fun making up stories about how she might have become a mean bully, but I don't insist on treating any of them as even my own serious fanon.

To gain an official identity in the human world, by Impersonating a human criminal?

TTime Served (Human Sunset Shimmer Wants Her Old Life Back)

• Equestria Girls
• Comedy

After four years in prison, human Sunset Shimmer comes back to reclaim her identity. For the pony who's been impersonating her, this might get complicated.

• Violence
• Profanity
• Alt. Universe
• Other
• Sunset Shimmer
• Dazzlings
• Sci-Twi
• Main 7 (EqG)

Mockingbirb · 3.6k words  ·  18  11 · 1.2k views

When she was newly arrived in the human world, homeless and struggling, she was taken under the wing of a 'protector' who taught her all the wrong things?

TSunset Shimmer's Secret Summer (Princess Angel Pop Star)

• Equestria Girls
• Romance
• Dark
• Drama

When Sunset Shimmer was stranded in the human world, only Sven Gallop noticed she was homeless, and offered to help. But there was a price to pay. There often is.

• Other
• Sunset Shimmer
• Rainbow Dash (EqG)
• Main 7 (EqG)
• Svengallop

Mockingbirb · 2.4k words  ·  36  2 · 711 views

I have at least one other story in which Sunset bullied classmates for their lunch money and committed other crimes just because she didn't know how else to make ends meet. I guess more of my Sunset Shimmer stories also provide at least a bit of their own backstory about this question...but for some, telling you now might be a bit of a spoiler, idk. 😛

7936338
We did in a comic. She was arrogant and entitled before Celestia dismissed her from her role as personal student and thought she deserved to become an alicorn

7936338
There was a comic that established her as being arrogant and full of herself. So far as my own headcanon went, I figured she also held herself up above the mere humans that she was forced to deal with - despite not being able to use magic, she nonetheless had it, and in her mind, that made her better.

The fact that we don't have a firm story for her before the events of the first film is both a plus and a minus for the fandom, in my opinion. Sure, there's lots of room for speculation, but I for one would love to have more to build upon.

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That wasn't a backstory in the comic, it only shows how she found the mirror and canonicity is ambiguous given Moondancer, Lemon Hearts, Lyra, Minuette, and Twinkleshine's appearance there. It doesn't show WHY she acted so rude and condescending to others even before she found the mirror, or why being an alicorn meant that much to her. Like no one is born mean and evil considering Sunset was capable of changing later on, so surely there's a bigger story than that.

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The dude said "any theories." You don't have to be an asshole.

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She has anger issues and also never really got friendship like Twilight did, so she lashed out.

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At least I remember to wipe myself.

My personal headcanon is, in short, Mommy issues.

Sunset would have been an orphan, taken in by Celestia when she was discovered to be a prodigy. Problem was, Sunset saw her as her mother, but Celestia always kept a degree of emotional distance: Sunset was her Ward/Student, never her Daughter (sidenote: I also headcanon that this is related to Celestia's falling out with Luna; she just sucks at dealing with people that close to her). This sets the stage for Sunset pushing herself and becoming an overachiever, in the hopes Celestia might finally acknowledge her as her daughter.

Things only became worse when Cadance pops up and Celestia immediately adopts her as family, leading Sunset to rationalize that in order for Celestia to acknowledge her, then she has to become an alicorn. Long story short, this leads to Sunset tunnel-visioning on that particular goal, to the point she ends up forgetting just why she wanted to become an alicorn. This leads to her relationship with Celestia quickly falling apart, culminating with her running away through the mirror.

There's a few stories playing around with this concept, but one of my favorite takes was this chapter on Sunset's Isekai:

A few choice bits:

"Celestia, you know what Sunset sees you as, right?" Sunset asked, setting her cup down on the table.

The princess sighed and nodded. "I know what she saw me as, when she was a little filly. But I cannot be her mother. She understood that and grew out of it."

"I saw you… or my Celestia the same way," Sunset said, tapping the table with her fingers as she remembered. "I was terrified of saying the wrong thing, because it hurt so much that you would just… tell me I was a good student. A gifted pupil. That you would just… brush over that and leave me feeling alone."

My friendships in school were little more than ponies trying to suck up to me to get closer to you, either through their own initiative, or their parents'. The few ponies who would have been my friends without those interests, were intimidated by the others into going away. And, when it came to love and caring… I didn't have an example for that. Because the only pony I wanted to care for and love me, only needed a pupil."

Celestia closed her eyes. "That is a very hard thing to hear."

I know that when I left, I was old enough to make some choices, but I was still just a teenager, Celestia. I had no example of family; no examples of real friendship… and when Cadance became an alicorn, you immediately adopted her into your family." She studied Celestia's face as she said that. "How do you think I… your Sunset felt about that?"

Celestia bit her lip, but did not argue.

"You judged her as an adult for lashing out and testing the limits when the only recourse she thought existed of being meaningful to you was to become an alicorn. And instead of reassurance, and… you know, a firm hoof… you exiled her."

"It was intended as a lesson," Celestia said slowly. "I was hoping it would make her reconsider."

"At that point… it just felt like the last nail in the coffin," Sunset replied, taking her cup in both hands and studying the honeyed tea within. "In my eyes, you had Cadance, and you had just told me I would never be worthy of you, and that I might as well just get out. It was too harsh a punishment… too raw a scare to work against my resentment for it to turn into teaching me humility." Sunset shrugged. "In short… it was a mistake—as we adults often make—but it came at the worst possible moment."

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Yes, but that comic is also the most we got. Unfortunately.

I think it was a combination of wanting to come back to equestria and take over and the fact she needed to get popular quickly so she became the mean girl

Pebble in her shoe.

7936338
My theory is that she started off as someone trying to make her way in the human world, and gradually worked her way to being respected and adored. But after a while, the praise went to her head and she began to slowly abuse her status (you can see her demeanor change in each of her Fall Formal portraits):

The breaking point came when Flash (who was confirmed to be her boyfriend at the time), would be the one to call her out in front of everyone, resulting in a massive display of her blowing up at him and him just calmly walking away; breaking things off, as she's no longer the same woman he fell for.

In order to save face, she doubles down on her nasty personality and masks her grief behind dominance, leading to the events of the first EG movie.

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I like to think she maybe tried when younger. But found most in Canterlot only befriended her for what she could do for them as the Princesses student. So she pushed them away and got bullied by some of those that were part of the nobles. So she started focusing more on her magic and power to fight back. Over time these habits developed into her projecting her personality we see in the comic, & later the movie.

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The everyloving F you talking about the context made it pretty clear she wanted to be an Alicorn Celestia was trying to get her to make friends cause the writers decided friendship is magic but instead of even trying to make friends the angsty angy unicorn decided Celestia doesn't want me to be her equal and decided I'LL SHOW HER jumps through the mirror cause she thinks it will give her alicornhood it obviously doesn't then years later twilight got what sunset wanted alicornhood because SHE MADE FRIENDS cause the writers say friendship is magic so now the angsty angy unicorn steals the element of magic gets her butt kicked and learns she was wrong

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But WHY did being an alicorn mean so much to Sunset? Heck, we don't even know if her family influenced her behavior. And WHY did Sunset not like the idea of friendship? And WHY is Sunset rude and condescending initially? That feels like there's a missing backstory right there.

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Getting hung up on this is like getting hung up on why Cozy Glow did what she did. Sometimes, people are just assholes. Sometimes, like Sunset, they can change and sometimes, like Cozy, they're just psychopaths who will never change. It's not that deep.

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Dude, you don't need to be such a dick. :/

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Cozy never had a redemption, while Sunset did, that's the difference. And given how Starlight had more backstory on why she became evil initially (whether or not it was good is irrelevant to this) and Discord has the excuse that "if he doesn't do chaos magic, he'll die", Sunset sticks out like a sore thumb as a redemption without a backstory for her initial mean behavior.

Plus with other characters in other shows with Sunset's archetype like Amity Blight (had an emotionally abusive mother), Sasha Waybright (parents' divorce led to her control issues), Hunter/Golden Guard (Raised by a tyrany Belos), Zuko (abusive dad with Ozai), and Pacifica Northwest (abusive parents), Sunset sticks out in lacking a backstory for why she became mean.

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As I said, sometimes, people are just entitled assholes who feel like they deserve the world for no other reason than they exist.

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That’s why I have to wear a condom when outdoors. I’d be arrested for indecent exposure otherwise.

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I have a similar theory. Personally, I think that she saw Princess Celestia as a mother figure whereas Princess Celestia only saw her as her pupil. Then Cadance came along and Celestia immediately adopted her as her niece. So Sunset naturally thinks that to be seen as family in Princess Celestia's eyes, you had to be a alicorn. She starts doing every thing she can to become an alicorn, like studying forbidden magic. Eventually, she becomes so obsessed with becoming an alicorn that she forgets why she wanted to become one in the first place. She becomes bitter and resentful. She pushes everyone close to her away, including family and friends. She starts to believe that if she want something, she have to do it herself, that relationships of any kind will slow her down. She grows angry and resentful that Celestia is refusing to listen to her demands to make her an alicorn. So when she goes through the portal, she is still carrying all that bitterness and hate. She still wants to be an alicorn but she's stuck in another world. So she makes a plan for the next time the portal opens, enrolls herself into Canterlot High and begins to bully the students, because if she can't be an alicorn, she'll have the next best thing, power. That leads up to the beginning of the first movie and the rest is history.

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That's not what I meant. :/