Why do you think Spike is a child?

[Page.Turner 940]

I would say he is a baby by dragon standards. After all, aren't the ponies always saying, "He IS a baby dragon, after all."

 

He's not a pony, so he can't be considered by pony age the same way you can calculate a dog/cat age by humans. Seven human years being about 35 cat years etc.

 

The show itself has labelled him as a baby dragon, so he is a baby dragon. It is canon. The fact that he is mentally more mature does not make him anymore an adult than if we decided 12 year old kids should drive because they're technically more mature than five year olds.

[Stargaze 8]

I would say he is a baby by dragon standards. After all, aren't the ponies always saying, "He IS a baby dragon, after all."

 

He's not a pony, so he can't be considered by pony age the same way you can calculate a dog/cat age by humans. Seven human years being about 35 cat years etc.

 

The show itself has labelled him as a baby dragon, so he is a baby dragon. It is canon. The fact that he is mentally more mature does not make him anymore an adult than if we decided 12 year old kids should drive because they're technically more mature than five year olds.

 

I agree with this.

Spike is young by dragon standards, seeing as how dragons can live for hundreds, maybe thousands of years.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

Being a baby isn't a prerequisite for his character to be considered appealing to young children.

 

Well, now I know that you're intentionally being obtuse. Are you even aware that there were no such things as Bronies when the first episodes were being written? The Spike character was created to appeal to little girls, and that is it. There was no bronie movement on the web when the two part premiere episode was originally broadcast. This is where Spike was beyond a shadow of a doubt identified as a baby, with no inkling of an idea at appeasing a fanatic group of adult fans. Anne McCaffery's Pern dragons are self aware and can telepathically communicate with their chosen rider at the moment of hatching. That doesn't change the fact that the hatch-lings are in fact baby dragons. It could be that hers, and other literature on dragons influenced the character design for Spike, a BABY dragon with thinking/reasoning skills at about an intelligent twelve year old's level.

 

Ya know what? Why am I even arguing this? I'm turning into one of the nut job fans that make all bronies look like assholes. There's no deep meaning here. Spike is a cartoon character, nothing more. He's presented as a baby dragon, because the character designers and writers wanted little girls to like him. There were no such thing as bronies until after the first few episodes actually aired. The bronie influence didn't hit until the second season was being written. Spike was created only for little girls to like, not for grown up people to obsess on and debate over what the writers REALLY intended to say with his character.

 

 

I'm done with this thread now. I don't want to become one of THOSE fans.

"FIN"

[Esmeshy 58]

Physically, he's a baby dragon.

 

But inside he's a teenage pony from having been raised by Twilight!

[Swit Swat 536]

Because otherwise... HE WOULDN'T BE CUTE! So yeah, physically, he's a child. But mentally, he's not. Not sure what age mentally though... maybe 16?

[MVC NVMXD JVRXD 2,406]

You do know that an earlier version of Spike was portrayed as a thousand year old dragon? As old as he was, he was still small bodied. The ponies thought he was really really old but Spike said he was still very young compared to other dragons and wouldn't be considered old until he was a million years old.

 

 

Where do you get the nerve.. to post.. PAST GENERATIONS?!

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Where do you get the nerve.. to post.. PAST GENERATIONS?!

 

Because the original generation is the reason why we have Friendship is Magic? And the earlier generations still held true to G1?

[MVC NVMXD JVRXD 2,406]

Because the original generation is the reason why we have Friendship is Magic? And the earlier generations still held true to G1?

 

NO.

[Page.Turner 940]

NO.

 

*Facehoof* you're one of those, aren't you?...

[MVC NVMXD JVRXD 2,406]

*Facehoof* you're one of those, aren't you?...

 

I tried to appreciate past generations, but they just weren't for me.

[Page.Turner 940]

I tried to appreciate past generations, but they just weren't for me.

 

Doesn't mean you have to be appalled every time someone mentions it. And that doesn't mean you have to say something rude when someone does bring up past generations. Like the old idiom goes, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"

[hoofian 10]

Spike is deffinately a child, at least in dragon terms. He also cannot be a thoudand in FiM, because Twilight Sparkle found the egg. However; he was raised by Twilight, which is bound to make him more intelligent and mature than most of the ponies. Our caretakers have a profound effect on who we turn out to be (though genetics also play a factor). We don't know what really constitutes a baby or child in Dragon terms, either. As far as maturity, Spike far surpassed the adolescent dragons. Perhaps he will always remain a baby, as long as he doesn't give into his greed again?

[Demi 545]

Because he's a baby dragon. But otherwise he is rather man-ish.

[hoofian 10]

He just seems very mature for his age, to me. He still does childish things (like eating a lot of ice cream, knowing he will have to deal with a stomach ache).

[Loli_shine 7]

Even though it seems I've joined in on this topic a little late and I haven't done more than skimmed through the first page of replies, let me offer up my opinion.

 

I think spike is still a "child" because even with the mental stability of the ponies hes around, in the episode "Dragon Quest" he was so quick to jump along with the dragon migration after the Rainbow Dash insulted him even with Rarity's coaxing that he didn't need to go. Specifically after Rainbow Dash's saying he isn't like other dragons he stormed off then proceeded to do research about dragons late into the night. The next morning he leaves to join the dragon migration. To be simple I think he's a child because he doesn't really know what he is. All the ponies aren't children because they know what they are even with a few aspects of who they are clouded. Spike though not so much.

 

I won't deny that Spike has a more mature personality that you see from Twilight Sparkle, but he's been with her since birth so of course she would have rubbed off on him at least a tiny bit.

 

I wouldn't say hes a child or baby, but he's somewhere in the adolescence area, with the personality traits he's gotten from the ponies, and other traits he himself has developed.

[ⓡⓐⓘⓝⓓⓡⓞⓟⓢ 25]

hmm odd how can he be a child?

[hironakamura 126]

Here's another strange thing I realized on the show about ages. I'll probably make another thread about it later because its a derail from the original topic.

 

How come we don't see any teenaged ponies?

 

We've seen baby ponies (Cake Twins), child ponies (CMC), elderly ponies (Granny Smith) and adult ponies (everyone else) yet we've never seen a transitional phase between child ponies and adult ponies.

[Demi 545]

^ Because then you'd have to start throwing in all kinds of pointless drama.

[The Alpha Team 51]

Adult Spike nearly destroyed Ponyville

[sweetolebob18 724]

You must remember, Spike was hatched during the events in S1 E23 The Cutie Mark Chronicles.  So Spike's age = "How long ago was the 1st rainboom?"  Good question.  Rainbow probably joined the Wonderbolts shortly afterr she turned 18.  This means she was 17 during the pilot (Hasbeo says the 1st 3 seasons took place over 1 year).  So, if you assume the rainboom was abbout 10 years before the pilot, Dash was 7 at that time.  Obviously, it can't be too much longer than 10 years.

 

Given a dragon's probable life span, in dragon terms Spike is younger than the Cake twins.  Twilight is right to call him a baby dragon.

Edited November 5, 2016 by sweetolebob18

[darknessrising24 56]

Actually Spike may not be as young as the show lets on considering that dragons only age due to their greed, much differently than ponies. Spike has had his fair share of moments that him a greatly mature light and even sometimes more mature that some of the mane six. Plus there's the glaring fact that he was allowed (or in Torch's case, outright expected) to be part of the Gauntlet of Fire despite the majority of contenders being teenagers, and yet no one complained about him being "a child" when he got the scepter.

[cmarston1 5,951]

Given how Spike was hatched when Twilight was a filly around/younger than the CMC age, he can't really be all that old.

[Olsen1987 133]

Considering how dragons in MLP matures, he's still a baby dragon.
Remember, he was once a full grown dragon.
And as Zecora said, greed makes a dragon grow.
Sure he has experienced much, but i would still say he's far from as reasonable as his pony friends.
He still behaves more childlike than most others in the show.

[Luigi 7,868]

Weve already seen how Adult Spike can be a recipe for disaster in Season 2, so it's all for the best.

[blackstarraven 142]

If by "Child" you mean. Representative of being younger then legally adult?
Yes.

But.

___________

Let's understand Child means different things in different places. Even in the United states a little more then 100 years ago people where more or less expected to be adults by about 15. Your great grand parents got married at 14-16 pretty standard. (Maybe Great Great, depending on your age) - People moved out, got jobs, drove at a younger age.

I more or less consider some one to be "A person" When they can hold a discussion about a serious subject. And that comes at different ages for different people.

Spike is 100% at that point.

________
Now that being said. I can tell you what Spike is.

________
 

Spike is "The younger brother"

That's what he does and always has represented in the show.

But not the "Little Brother"

Not a 5-9 year old brother to a 10-12 year old sister.

Spike is the 11-14 year old brother to a 15-18 year old Sister.

Or even a 14-16 year old brother to a college student sister.

-

He's adult enough to have a conversation with. Hang out with his sister and her friends. Have a Crush on one of his sisters friends. And do some things that actually need a trust worthy person to do.

-

Actually Spike is more or less Me at 13-17 with my older sister being twilight... well actually my sister was more a Fluttershy. And I was more a Twilight. But you get the point.

Spike does everything that the younger (But very closer) Younger brother does.

________________________________________________________________________

But as somepony already pointed out.

No one complained that he was a 'child' when he saved the day.

Just like one one in history ever complained when some one who was 'A bit young' for there role preformed well.

-

 

In short.

Spike is a "Young man"

I would say Pre-Teen to Teen. With Twilight being a High School Senior to College Age older sister.

Edited April 6, 2017 by blackstarraven