Do you think that MLP's villains lack the same evil presence as the classic ones?

5831076 I think only Discord and Chrysalis had that sort of Potential too. Discord being similar to Hades and Chrysalis having some similarities to Maleficent. They both even use green fire.

5831244 I agree with Chrysalis. While I see Discord as a huge goofball. ( mostly his time with the ponies makes him look less interesting. ) As villain I could agree with you him being Hades's level baddie.

While Nightmare Moon & King Sombra felt bland. ( Mostly because we don't see them doing anything. )
Lord Tirek however was similar to Jafar. ( With powered up with Genie powers at the end. ) But fell short at the end with his character.

Trixie Lulamoon, Sunset Summer & Starlight Glimmer were all promising rivals for Twilight, to get pass to next level. But their characters were similar each others. ( with similar names. ) And they were mostly made for us to love-hate in fandom.

5831076 Some do, I personally feel that Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, and King Sombra all had that dark charm to them (though Nightmare and Chrysalis being based partly on Maleficent by the writers helps), but whether through being connected to a bad plot-line or being later "defanged" in later episodes or not being given a proper moment or direct actions in their appearing episodes, they are open to more distaste by other fans. Lesser "villains", such as Starlight and Sunset Shimmer (who I actually like, even after her reformation) either are given ridiculous characterizations or suffer from being in a bad plot-line and being handled poorly, respectively. The one set of villains I think MLP has done perfectly are the Dazzlings, clear motivation, magnificent performance both in song and speech, some comedic acts, they feature just as prominently if not more than the protagonists, and they (or at least Adagio) absolutely revel in the misery and wickedness of their plans

5831629

Discord most certainly had it, his whole character was at odds with the calm, innocent and optimistic mindset the first season had, and his only purpose was to humiliate every character and everything they believed in only to turn them into walking jokes and subsequently laugh at their misery.

5838046 Very good. Just like he made a laughingstock of Celestia & Luna in Discoverse.
But it is shame that such god-like power will go to waste for jokes and comedy relief. He was more sinister as villain.

5831076 The classic Disney villains put MLP villains to shame, no questions asked.

5864175 Amen to that