Alternate title: Leave Diamond Tiara Alone

Foreword

Diamond Tiara, the undisputed most hated character of the show for many. It’s a pretty safe assumption that you absolutely loathe her or at least dislike her heavily. I was lurking through some of the dormant threads in the dark depths of the forum and I was a bit surprised at the amount of hatred the members had (and probably still have) for Diamond Tiara. Well, not so much surprised as disheartened I guess. As crazy as it may seem, I've come to like her recently and though I doubt it will change any of your minds, I will go ahead and explain why I like Diamond Tiara.

This is pretty much the largest reason why everyone dislikes Diamond Tiara so let’s get this out of the way – she’s a bully, mean and obnoxious. And it’s true; she is and I’m sure you don’t need me to list any examples to show that. Apple Bloom is the focus of her aggression. At first it seems like she bullies Apple Bloom for having a blank flank but I think there is more to it than that, she did team up with Babs against Apple Bloom after all. She’s obviously got something personal against Apple Bloom which is why she focuses her aggression on Apple Bloom and those that associate themselves with Apple Bloom. Diamond Tiara is probably just jealous of Apple Bloom and her strong bond with her family. I don’t know if you noticed but it doesn't seem like Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara’s dad, is around very often. The guy looks tired and overworked; he probably just buy his daughter gifts to sort of make up for not being around as often as he would like do to being busy with work. For this reason, Diamond Tiara finds satisfaction in bringing Apple Bloom down and acts out to get attention.

I realize you may be thinking, “That’s all just speculation. Diamond Tiara is rotten to the core” and I say that simply isn’t true. I seriously doubt that she has no redeeming qualities in fact some have already been shown. If you look back at “Family Appreciation Day”, you’ll notice that Diamond Tiara has plenty of love for her father. She stays attentive for his presentation and is the only one to applaud at the end. She obviously takes pride in her father’s accomplishments; it’s no wonder she’s quick to defend him when Apple Bloom uses Granny Smith’s story to undermine Filthy Rich’s accomplishments. There is no such thing as pure evil or pure good; even if we don’t get to see the good qualities of Diamond Tiara all that often, I’m sure they’re there.

Now that the appeals to pathos have been observed, let’s get to the real reason I like Diamond Tiara – she’s mean and obnoxious . I’m half-joking when I say that. The above paragraphs are truly my thoughts but I actually enjoy the mean and obnoxious side of her because she plays her role well, maybe even too well considering how many in the fandom absolutely despise her. She’s extremely manipulative as evidenced by her ability to get Apple Bloom to feel embarrassed by Granny Smith in a matter of seconds and how she gets Babs to turn on her own cousin and how she forces the CMC to continue writing gossip columns against their will (or at least they would have if the town didn’t shun them). I love how standard this evil is; no enslaving civilizations, no eternal night shenanigans, no invasions using emotion sucking parasites, just good old fashioned psychological beat downs on a particular pony.

It’s the normalcy of Diamond Tiara’s evil ways that has led to her downfall in the fandom opinion. Her actions are nothing compared to the dark deeds of the more prolific villains Nightmare Moon, Sombra and Chrysalis. Since she’s not in the group of major villains, her evil ways aren’t appreciated the same way. Chrysalis turns all of Twilights friends against her and at the moment when Twilight is weakest and most remorseful, Chrysalis banishes her. It was wicked; it was ruthless; it was one of my favorite scenes in that episode since it really showed how bad Chrysalis is. Diamond Tiara has never done something on that level but she has her ruthless moments like blackmailing Apple Bloom & co. Yet at the same time she’s different from the other antagonists Flim, Flam and Iron Will, because of her malicious intent. Her actions are too petty for her to be looked at the same way as the “big bads” but too spiteful to be excused like those of Iron Will. All these characters are antagonists. Some are loved for how evil they are, others for how normal they are and somehow Diamond Tiara has fallen into the gap for most people it seems but not for me.

tl;dr : *Whine* I want more DT fanart and fanfics. Diamond Tiara is best filly. I’m gonna start a DT fan club and none of you are invited! *whine*. And thanks Wingnut, for making me love the worst character of the series .

So, how many of you have been converted? When should the fan club go up?

Oh, and if you have thoughts to share, comment.