Why is AJ so popular?

[Shanktastic 7]

I mean she isnt my favorite pony and all. But I think she deserves more credit than what she gets.

[Tetris 115]

She started getting called best background character in season 2.

 

And she barely has any episodes

[The Blades Shadow 444]

At first I read that as "Why is AJ so popular?"

I was like "what? WHAT? AJ popular? That's funny!"

 

But seriously, I've heard that people just see her as a boring character without much personality to her or something like that :/

[Pastel 7,627]

She's my least favorite mane 6: I like her but compared to the other characters of the show I find her and her episodes a little boring...

[Pinkamena-Pills 6,838]

Idc how 'popular' Applejack is or isn't,i still think she is a wonderful mare,and a well grounded one too in terms of values and maturity. 

 

Edited August 2, 2014 by Pinkamena-Pills

[boiteporte 591]

She is almost my favorite character. She takes care of her family, she is honest to everyone and her cider is good.
I do not know why she is unpopular.

 

EDIT : Damn, I misread the title

 

What I said still stands though, just ignore the "unpopular" part.

Edited August 3, 2014 by boiteporte

[Jammo 986]

 And she barely has any episodes

She has quite a few episodes but most people ignore them because there are louder more "lol so funneh" characters she's with. Last Roundup was a great moment where she had to struggle with her personal sense of honour and stubbornness but most people are like "Derpy episode!". Pinkie Apple Pie gives insight into her family dynamic and how they have internal conflicts and strife but all bronies care about is "Look Pinkie is being silly"

 

AJ is ignored more by the fans than the show for a couple of reasons.

 

1. AJ already has her ideal life and has very little room to grow. She has her dream already.

 

2. AJ is very grounded and down to earth. People expect her to be a cartoon and when someone acts very human and straightforward people find it "boring" despite there being so much to respect in a character besides "quirks".

 

3. People are ignorant and treat her like a hick because of her southern motif and accent, and this keeps people from embracing her strengths.

[The Blades Shadow 444]

Pinkie Apple Pie gives insight into her family dynamic and how they have internal conflicts and strife but all bronies care about is "Look Pinkie is being silly"

To be totally honest, I hated Pinkie in that episode. I don't mean to sound like a dick or anything but she just ruined the whole episode for me -.-

[Lightwing 12,955]

Applejack sadly suffers the curse of being the least interesting member from the Mane 6.

All the other Mane 6 have their own dreams and aspirations,but Applejack has a settled life,and doesn't pursit more than keeping the farm and her family.

 

And also has a little trouble with her episode,being a bit less funny than other Mane 6 episodes(although with better lessons sometimes),being her humor more bittersweet than the rest,making it harder to be understood.,and,therefore,making it sem less funny.Also,when a brony watches the show,he doesn't tend to stop to look at Applejack,if not that they look at the other characters,who have a more interesting external aspect than Applejack,because Applejack's cuteness is not as evident as the others' cuteness.

 

In sum,Applejack is a character who can't be judged at first sight.She can only be judged after looking better and patiently at her behavior,and her personality,and then,one can discover how complex can she be,but people tend to judge her at first sight,without looking depper,and that leads to a disliking to her compared to the others,leading to her unpopularity

[Jeric 46,835]

AJ deserves more appreciation that's fer sure.

 

Some think that it was a fact that AJ faced her one major flaw and overcame it early on in the series. I've heard other comments that she is used more to supplement other character centric stories leading to the opinion that is where is is best used. Meh.  It's hard to say. She is more popular in other counties though. For me, Applejack is a personal Pony. I don't want to go into why here (I briefly touched on it in other places), but AJ has a little space carved out in my heart for her. 

 

Not that long ago (thanks in part to a little popularity contest we had on this board) I found out that popularity or lack thereof had no influence on how I perceive the characters. AJ is am amazing Pony, even if she is unappreciated by some.

Edited August 3, 2014 by Jeric

[Megas 27,086]

I'm gonna be that guy and say that I've never really saw AJ as unpopular. I've always felt that she was the more universally liked among fans, and by the sound of it she's the most liked character among both the show's and comic's staff.

 

That said, it is annoying when people denounce her for being boring, which I don't think is true(especially if season 4 is anything to go by). Sometimes(especially during the second half of season 2) some people might forget about her because she might not have that quirkyness some others have, which might not make her stand out as much

[Shanks 10,811]

It is because a lot of people see Applejack as a bland and boring character which is something I couldn't disagree with more but it is how a lot of people see her. They point to the fact that she dosen't have some ambitious goal but there have been plenty of great characters over the years where you can say the exact same thing yet they were still able to be interesting. Part of it is also because Applejack is seen as less relatable because she has the fewest flaws and is the most adult like/mature, a lot of bronies are teens and early 20's and haven't yet gone through a lot of the trials and tribulations that Applejack has because they are not at that stage in their lives yet which is why a lot of the Applejack fans tend to be older bronies including me (I am 28).

[ReGen 1,466]

I personally find Applejack to be one of the more interesting characters. I've heard people say that she's a boring character since she's already fufilled her dream and doesn't really have anymore ambitions to try to achieve, and that she doesn't have any weird quirks. And while that may be true to an extent... I don't know... I think that that makes me more interested in her. It's a sort of "what now?" kind of feeling I get. I just wonder what direction the writers will take with her now. And again, for the umpteenth time, I haven't watched S4, so i'm not aware of any AJ-centric episodes in that season.

[LZRD WZRD 1,929]

Season four brought AJ from my least favorite to...er not my least favorite

 

I think that's the result of her getting more focus in the show (I think the best background pony phase really hurt her popularity for awhile)

Edited August 3, 2014 by LZRD WZRD

[ghostfacekiller39 23,857]

At first I read that as "Why is AJ so popular?"

I was like "what? WHAT? AJ popular? That's funny!"

 

You seem nice.

 

 

Anyway, it's stupid, honestly. Most of the criticisms leveraged at her are misinformed.

 

"She's boring"

 

I'm sorry that she's happy at home with her family, but what about her family-oriented nature? What about her parents?

 

Maybe she's not happy because she's at home with her family, but she's happy because she's with her family Something terrible could've happened to AJ's mother and father and maybe she's protective over the aging Granny Smith, the silent and somewhat socially inept Big Mac, and the young and rambunctious Apple Bloom because they're all she has left of her actual parents and if she weren't at home to keep things running and grounded, they'd fall apart. Didn't she show not only a love of performing in rodeos, but a talent at it? Didn't she travel outside of Ponyville to go compete in a Rodeo? Hell, for all we know, she could secretly have big dreams of being a famous rodeo star, but really just puts her own dreams aside to stay home and make sure the ones she cares about most are safe, because without AJ, that whole Apple Farm would fall apart. Maybe that's why she's so grounded - it isn't because that's who she is, it's because that's who she has to be.

 

The amount of room for depth and speculation for these characters is limitless, once you decide to put forth an actual effort into understanding them a little bit Hell, I've never even thought of that before. I just had a basic understanding of AJ's character - that I put forth effort into learning - and was able to come up with that on the fly using only what I know about her.

 

"She's a background pony"

 

How in the name of all that is holy did you draw that conclusion? She's had entire episodes to herself. Most background ponies don't even have any lines, let alone episodes

 

Stuff like that. Really, it's just silly, but whatever.

Edited August 3, 2014 by ghostfacekiller39

[The Blades Shadow 444]

 

You seem nice.

I'm just being honest, Applejack has never been that popular

[ghostfacekiller39 23,857]

I'm just being honest, Applejack has never been that popular

I'd like to think there's a difference between honesty and degradation of something for its shortcomings, but eh. That's a discussion for a different time.

 

Not getting an off-topic warning.

 

[Jaref 344]

I think a lot of people just assume no one likes Applejack because of the "hue hue Applejack is background pony" meme that's been around forever (because the fandom loves their memes). She's certainly not the most popular character, but not everyone can be the most popular. Does that make her unpopular? I never noticed any lack of AJ love in terms of fan content, fan art, fan fiction, videos ect.

 

But people tend to see what they want to see. Like "The Last Roundup", the perfect example

 

Me: "Great long awaited Applejack episode that lived up to all my expectations"

 

90% of the fandom: "OMG DERPY stole the show! Poor Applejack became the background pony in her own episode!"

Edited August 3, 2014 by Jaref

[Jeric 46,835]

The amount of room for depth and speculation for these characters is limitless, once you decide to put forth an actual effort into understanding them a little bit

 

I think that this little quote right there is going in as my text signature (with proper attribution of course). That way I can just post "See Signature" when we run into these 'defend your character with your life' topics. If that is ok with you that is.

 

You brought something up that I had never considered either. If AJ is burying a hidden dream for herself, and putting her family and farm above all others, that actually creates a sympathetic opposition to her element. Damn fine job. You know my personal views on the character so her motivation would be obvious.

Edited August 3, 2014 by Jeric

[Tigerpop198 696]

I guess she doesn't interest people enough. I guess she is looked at as the "bland" pony of the group. I got no problem with AJ and that is all that counts.

[Malinter 3,064]

She's a cute little orange pony with a funny accent and a hat. Whats not to love? 

 

For some folks magic and flying don't make good traits for a character, especially if they are trying to relate to it. AJ has to do things the way we ourselves would do things. She's shows us how hard work is worth it, no matter how small the gains are. She loves her family (who are as cooky as her in alot of ways ).

 

Also she's stubborn, its adorable watching her try and stay angry.

[DND 2,354]

LOL WUT- TITLE?

 

I don't personally believe she's popular nor is she high on my mane six list but I definitely see the appeal in her. She's funny, love her accent, she's down to earth (like me), rough n' tumble, and honest. We should strive to be more honest. 

[Jeric 46,835]

 

 

She's a cute little orange pony with a funny accent and a hat. Whats not to love?

 

You know, if I ever write a e-book outlining how to create a memorable character, those two are going in there. Funny accent and a hat ... check and check.

 

I do know this, AJ is the Pony I would go to for advice first. 

[11th Doctor Whooves 794]

I feel like AJ has a loyal following, but I wouldn't call her popular.  I felt so bad yesterday, my friend has a table at the BronyCon vendor Hall, he made 17 different plushes, and the last one to sell was AJ, and she was alone on the table for an hour before someone bought her.

 

I don't think she gets enough love.  She's not my favorite pony, but she's still a great character, even if she doesn't face the same kinds of problems the others do.

[Jeric 46,835]

LOL WUT- TITLE?

 

I don't personally believe she's popular nor is she high on my mane six list but I definitely see the appeal in her. She's funny, love her accent, she's down to earth (like me), rough n' tumble, and honest. We should strive to be more honest. 

 

I think the title had quotes so it had to be changed. It was originally "un-popular" which does what you would expect when you use special chars in a topic title. Somehow Unpopular became Popular.