Vulcan

Spike being setup as a hero along the lines of Goku ,but being treated as comedy relief

Princess Luna: Her Season 5 episode...enough said

Shining Armor And Cadence: Chess Piece romance storytelling

I do not feel the creators ever wanted to set spike up as the hero on the lines of goku, at best he's krillin. In my mind he fits the incredibly rare "Assistant in training" arc type , and he fulfills it quite well. True that he's not perfect in his actions but that just makes his character more interesting.

Princess Luna, okay you got me there, though if we're being honest here, that episode horribly represented a lot of characters as well, especially the dream sequences.