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is sunset shimmers the best villain


TheMarkz0ne

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While my favourite villain is (and nobody agrees with me) King Sombra, I do agree with a lot of your points. I too like to think of Sunset Shimmer as the "gone wrong" representation of Twilight. Losing track of her studies and being expelled, and turning into a spiteful demon? Thank goodness that hasn't happened to Twilight.~

 

My only qualm with Sunset Shimmer is that she's halfway between relatable and clichéd. High school bullies are always around in anything remotely to do with high school, so she seemed like nothing less than what you always get from that scenario. But what I too like about that is how Hasbro turned it on its head - we thought Sunset was nothing more than a grumpy brat who yelled to make things go her way, but it turns out she gets so mad she explodes into some gargoyle-type demon creature. (And remember, this could have happened to any single pony in Equestria. That's pretty scary.)

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For some reason it won't let me watch the video, but I'll throw in my two bits anyway.

 

Personally, I'd say the best villain is probably Discord (well, if you can still call him a villain) but I agree that, as a portrayal of what Twilight could have become without friendship, Sunset Shimmer is certainly an interesting villain. The problem for me though is that while her concept is interesting, Sunset Shimmer didn't really do much that was interesting in Equestria Girls until the very end, nor did she have her character developed much beyond the whole "evil Twilight" thing.

 

I'm glad she turned out to be more than just some generic high school bully villain, but I think more could've been done with her character. 

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(edited)

I did not watch the video, yet anyways, but I will give my opinion. I personally think she is already underrated. Sure, she kinda is this generic bad girl that rules the school, but the way I see it, is that is because of the world she was in. That was clearly the best way take control, given the situation (I know, OH ITS SO GENERIC AND BLAH). While I do not think she is the best villain, she is probably a close second. I do think she is intimidating to a degree and really, she actually is one of the more evil ones. She actually had murderous intent towards Twilight and wanted to take over Equestria, which Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis wanted to do prior. Plus, she completely mind controlled those students.

 

I know many think that her controlling a teenage army is really stupid, but think about it, they would most likely be ponies once through the portal and she clearly had the ability to send them into demonized berserk mode, which I think she was quite the cool design.

 

Maybe it is just me, but I really liked her. There could have been more done with her, but that is usually the case with a lot of things. The ending with her was quite emotional to me. I really did feel bad for her.

Edited by Kyoshi
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(edited)

I can't watch the video, try to upload it once you get home instead :WWW

 

Anyways, I think she is the worst villain ever. She's just a huge cliché without any ground breaking reason to be evil (Ruling the world, how fucking original). Her method of doing this makes no sense either, why did she enroll into high school for 3 years (there was 3 pictures of her in Principle Celestia's office, so I'm assuming they took 1 per year), only to lure Twilight to earth? Couldn't she do it sooner?

 

Also, she's boring as all hell, her lines can be seen a mile away and she got nothing interesting to say.

Edited by Soundgarden
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(edited)

Far from it, actually.

 

NMM wanted to bring infinite night in order to gain more respect, Discord wanted to have fun with no regard for the expense of others, Chrysalis wanted to invade Canterlot in order to feed her changelings, Sombra wanted to reclaim his throne, and Sunset wanted to take over Equestria with an army of.........non-magical highschoolers (.........what???).

Edited by Anti-Villain
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Far from it, actually.

 

NMM wanted to bring infinite night in order to gain more respect, Discord wanted to have fun with no regard for the expense of others, Chrysalis wanted to invade Canterlot in order to feed her changelings, Sombra wanted to reclaim his throne, and Sunset wanted to take over Equestria with an army of......non-magical highschoolers (......what......?).

This is the complaint I hear a lot and while it does sound weird at first, it makes sense, given the plot. She had the ability to demon them out which I would assume would grant them magical abilities as well as flight, so, she potentially could have made them much more intimidating. It just did not happen obviously due to her defeat. Some people are really looking at that in a very narrow view, in my opinion.

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Of course not! The others villains (excluding Sombra who at least had some decent build up) had motivations  and personalities. Sunset Shimmer is just a generic, cookie-cutter antagonist. In fact, I think Sunset Shimmer is even worse than Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, because at least with them you know they'll grow out of it.

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I do not like her, at all.

Her transformation was way to "I'm gonna looklike a demon!" and i despise that concept. Her personality and way of dealing with things are also way to cliche and boring. 

My favorite has to be Chrysalis and Sombra after that. Chrysalis has it all, honestly.

 

She got a unique look, good personality, and her motive makes total sense.

Sombra is just your typical badass.

 

Discord got runied in the episode where he turns "good". 

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(edited)

Great points! I especially liked what you said about how Discord is just having some fun and how Chrysalis is doing everything for her changelings, but Sunset Shimmer is doing what she's doing for her and her only. I feel like there was a LOT of potential in her being a formidable villain. She wasn't a bad villain in EQ Girls, but I feel like she could have been the best villain hands down. She's fueled by hate and jealousy toward Twilight, and it's clear in EQ Girls that she'd go to extreme measures to defeat Twilight. She also strikes me as a smart pony, who could probably even outsmart Twilight at times. I also think a powerful unicorn villain is more interesting than some huge overpowered villain.

 

I kind of wish the writers made Sunset Shimmer as a villain in the actual MLP:FIM show, since I found her to be very memorable. The writers could have put more about her backstory, and it seems like she has the potential to defeat the Mane 6. I also think she has a great character design as a pony, so it would be nice to see scenes of her as a pony since I like how she looks.

Edited by fimdash
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(edited)

I think Shimmer can be the second best or even THE BEST villain in all of the series. The reason? She did it all for herself.

 

While a lot of people think that Chrysalis is the second best, I think that she had some valid and heartwarming reasons for doing what she did (she had people to feed, so there's some sort of excuse for her behaviour). King Sombra is, sadly, underdeveloped (but if he comes back in season 4, prepare your hooves, because he has shown his capabilities as an outstanding villain!). Luna/Nightmare Moon was a good villain but she was used just to introduce a contrast to the magic of friendship and how being alone is not as powerful as it. Trixie is not exactly a villain (I think that the mane 6 made her the way she is), but she sure can be corrupted to become one.

 

Now,going back to Shimmer, she is truly evil at some point of the movie, showing that she was really capable to trick people to believe she wanted to be only "popular," when she was actually planning much, much more. A lot of people say that she's like an "Evil Twilight", but that's not what I think. Twilight was all alone before, but she always wanted to be a better student in order to be recognized. Shimmer just wanted to be praised, without even improving her magic skills.

 

The things that stops her from being the best is the fact that her potential was kind of wasted in EG, and that, even though she had great ideas, she's not as intelligent as Discord (the way he tricked every pony in both of the confrontations they had was just superb).

 

Anyway, I hope she appears again in the show. Right now, she's the third best for me.

Edited by cd_solidsnake
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(edited)

This is the complaint I hear a lot and while it does sound weird at first, it makes sense, given the plot. She had the ability to demon them out which I would assume would grant them magical abilities as well as flight, so, she potentially could have made them much more intimidating. It just did not happen obviously due to her defeat. Some people are really looking at that in a very narrow view, in my opinion.

She transformed Snips and Snails, and I don't recall them doing anything useful afterward.

 

And even if they HAD managed to reach Equestria, she and her "army" would've had to get past Celestia, Luna, and (possibly) Discord, and I doubt that the power from just the Element Of Magic would've cut it.

Edited by Anti-Villain
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Pro tip don't like a mobile youtube video on a forum (man I am being an ass today I apologize) no big deal just click the Desktop link on the top of the page.

 

OT: I think that she could have been the best villain but she was underplayed. I still think the best was King Sombra. I know what your thinking but hear me out. He's the best because of what he did and wanted to do. I mean he's not just fooling around like Discord and he's not feeding his minions. He's putting ponies into slavery and scaring them for life heck he probably killed a few.

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Eh, I wouldn't say in my opinion shes the best, I mean she was a little more cliche in some cases, and her random redemption sorta makes it hard for me to say shes best Villain. She had her strengths and weaknesses as a villain though. 

 

I think her backstory was her strongest point, since we got to find out what happened to her to make her want to do what she did.

 

However she didn't get as far as alot of the Villains really in my eyes exactly, but I guess in one way she kinda did.

 

Her redemption being to quick is probably her weaker point for me.

 

Shes still a good Villain I think, like all the Villains in the show really.

 

My favorite personally is still Discord, but like I said they all have their own ups and downs.

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(edited)

There really isn't a best villain. They're all different, and they all have unique traits, abilities, and motives. NMM, Discord, and Sunset Shimmer changed their lives after being defeated whereas Sombra and Chrysalis were just the typical evil villains who had to be stopped at all costs.

 

If I had to pick a favorite villain, it would be Sunset Shimmer. She isn't an evil princess. She's not a queen. She's not a king. She's just a simple pony. One who was given the same opportunities as Twilight Sparkle, but her lack of friendships led her astray. She took a dark and dishonest path rather than an upright path like Twilight. Sunset is the most interesting and complex villain in my eyes, due to her backstory and motive. Sunset is the one with the strongest personal connection to Twilight. I just wish there was more overall depth to Sunset's past, because it's an intriguing story, even if a tad similar to Nightmare Moon's. Sunset's change of heart also shows that she's not just a one-dimensional jerk.

Edited by Sugar Cube
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Is she an interesting character that could have been the best villain thus far if she was expanded upon? Yes. But as is, where she's relegated to the stereotypical mean-girl-in-every-bad-high-school-movie-ever, is defeated in a redundant anti-climaxed, and has her fascinating backstory glazed over with little to no exploration? Nope, she's just an okay bad guy. Just okay.

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I thought she was a very good character. Interesting background, cleverly written. And she was a real bitch at times! So yeah. Best villain. I'm glad she came along, as I couldn't decide before out of Discord, Chrysalis, Sombre... Whoever else....

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  • 1 year later...

All I know is that as a character, Sunset Shimmer has grown on me. The new film has so much potential to expand on her characterization and have some juicy moments between former and current antagonists.

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