Spike's role and purpose in future seasons?

[You Heard Nothing 1,213]

no, i don't think so. they should stop using him just for comedic relief, and should invest some time in his character. keep him consistent. goodness knows they've been doing precious little of that. 

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

We had brought this up before, and the majority answer remains the same. Spike is a character who can be supportive, reasonable, and relatable on a certain deeper level if the writers did not constantly exaggerate his negative traits and regress his character just because he's different. Instead of exploring what it means to be a non-pony living in the pony world, instead of speaking up when the other characters need it, he is turned into a buffoon and a non-essential presence on the show, when really the show needs his alternative viewpoint now more than ever.

 

Consider that the Mane 6 all have, by definition, successful or near-successful lives at this point. They have all achieved their life goals or are well on their way to doing so. Spike is the only one who seems not to have that opportunity, because of his servant position. It seems that nothing about his future is ever discussed and he is denied good character development on the simple fact that he is not a pony. They reduce him to a comic sidekick when he has been shown to come through for Twilight and friends when necessary ("The Crystal Empire"), providing a leveling voice in tense situations ("Lesson Zero", "Simple Ways"), and backing the ponies up in other ways. He's subject to believable character flaws; jealousy, greed, immaturity, and whatnot.

 

The problem is that the writers are using too much of the negative and little of the positive. When you think about what this could imply to the audience, it's about time they cleaned up their act.

[BlueSkies 82]

Nope.  Right now they're struggling to decide what to do with Spike, but writing him out would be admitting defeat.  I think Spike could be a useful and interesting character, but they need to sit down and come up with a game plan for his development, rather than letting the writers run him in circles.

 

What makes you think he has potential as a character?

 

He's younger than the Mane Six, a non-pony in an pony world, who has been friends with the Princess of Friendship all his life and much of hers.  He potentially knows things about her that the rest of her friends don't.  Yet somehow we know next to nothing about him.  What does he do in his spare time?  A bit of cooking, some mooning over Rarity, arguing with Owlicious.  Surely that can't be all?  What about aspirations?  We know he sometimes fancies himself a knight, but does he genuinely dream of being something other than Twi's assistant?  Maybe he decides to become the Royal Biographer, and comes into conflict with Twi because she keeps reading over his shoulder or editing his work. 

 

He also hasn't really formed a definite relationship with anyone but Twi and maybe Rarity.  Spike at Your Service was a bit of a disaster, but only because it was so overdone and he felt somewhat OOC.  It would be neat to see him hang out with the rest of the Mane Six/etc--perhaps he gets wrapped up in a prank war between Pinkie and Dash (and becomes completely overwhelmed), or helps Fluttershy cheer up a cranky Discord (and chews him out for his ingratitude, which actually helps).

 

I think it would also be interesting to see him interact more with the CMC.  He seems about their age, and with his own identity crisis could serve as a foil to them.  Especially because he takes his responsibilities so seriously--maybe they could learn a thing or two about commitment.  We've also never touched on his winglessness--maybe he and Scootaloo have something to talk about?

[Buck Testa 5,505]

With all the potential and untapped story potential he has it would be a terrible move to write the guy out of the show. 

[cuteycindyhoney 13,306]

Twilight would never give up her #1 assistant!

[Sazama Ichida 2,367]

Of course not. He's still a main character. Why would you even ask something like that?

[ThatOneComrade 1,091]

No because the fans'll go ballistic and Spike is a cutie pie c:

[WriterOnTheRun 25]

I think Spike has a lot of potential but the way they write about him (comic relief) just makes it a bit hard. I know tons of people who love him and they'd lose a lottt of fans if they just wrote him off. I'd be kinda disappointed myself.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,302]

I think they should have Snips and Snails go visit dragons.  Spike is my mom's favorite; he's my leverage to keep her watching. xD

[Anilewe 2,178]

Yeah, because it's such a wise move to get rid of liked and important character instead of trying to do something about it and try to improve said character...

 

Spike has potential. Even though he was in most of the episodes, we don't really know that much about him. I'd love to learn more about his childhood with Twilight. Find out if she was more like his mother or older sister. And maybe learn more about his relationship with Celestia, Cadence or even Twilight's parents. And what about his future? Will he ever meet other dragons? Find love? And his education? We assume that he's around CMC's age, but seems to be more mature and educated than them. Did he go to school? Or just spent so much time with Twilight and around books that he educated himself? There're so many questions. Many ways to improve his character and make him more interesting. Getting rid of him would be a very bad move.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Anilewe

[Ryzu 984]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgVENA6jqkg

Why would we ever remove spike? If we didn't have him how would we explode twice?

[Justin_Case001 4,881]

Spike's great.  He has some of the funniest scenes in the show.  Like when Twi tells him they need more nachos for Twilight Time, and then he comes out with the huge mountain of nachos at the end and everypony's gone.  But it's true that a lot of the Spike spotlights haven't been great, but he's got plenty of potential.  I think it's high time he matures a bit.  I kind of feel like a lot of his spotlights weren't that good because he's a bit too immature at times.  If he grows up a bit, I think his episodes could get a lot better.  But they should never get rid of him.  I think it's important to have a non-pony that's part of the group.  Plus I think that Twi and Spike's relationship is adorable.

[LZRD WZRD 1,929]

Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!

 

Spike is best worst character! We need him so we can appreciate the good characters even more

[baltosaa 86]

No that would be a horrible idea!

That is almost as bad as an idea as turning Twilight back into a unicorn!  Both would be terrible moves that would showcase a lack  of trust in the writers. From retconing a major change in status quo and character development or removing a major character in the entire series for no good reason both would be evident of crappy writing.

He still has a purpose in the show (being the token male) and his character dynamic with Twilight is actually pretty fun and cute.

I don't know why anyone would think that this would be a good idea in the slightest.

 

 

^Pretty much this...

 

 

There's no reason to write Spike out of the show, and it just wouldn't make sense...

[Judgement 445]

Spike is supposed to be Comic Relief, and I think he is fine in the show just as long as they give him funnier jokes and/or improve his character.

 

They still haven't made an episode where he gets turned into a stallion so he can date Rarity.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Judgement

[The Second Opinion 270]

Considering that both of the claims this thread is based on stopped being true in season 4 (even season 3 to an extent, bad as that season could be), and Spike just recently earned a throne right next to The Princess of Friendship as her right hand dragon, that would probably be REALLY stupid on the writers' part.

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

How would they do it?.... Spike gets ran over by a run away cart?.... They do an entire episode around that and his time in the hospital and then the Doctor say he's not going to make it?....... Yeah I really don't think that'd work SOO well.

[Cleverclover 1,526]

Okay, seriously? Wasn't there just a topic like this not too long ago? Why so much Spike hate lately? 

 

 

 

I'd love to learn more about his childhood with Twilight.

 

Same here. But until we do, this is my personal headcanon:

 

For most of his life, Spike ended up being cared for in a Canterlot nursery since Twilight was too young to care for him herself, and her parents certainly were not up to the idea of raising a dragon. However, every other day, Twilight visited and spent time with him so that he was able to develop an attachment to her early on. Of course, she gave him his name, taught him how to speak and to read, and frequently played with him. So years later when Twilight was old enough, Spike was turned over to her care, and she is recognized as his legal guardian.  

Edited March 19, 2015 by Cleverclover

[yeet 2,027]

Not sure I agree with this, honestly. He's not a bad character who serves a distinct purpose as well as has his own shining moments from here to there.

 

I dig him, honestly. Good fella, good show. I say he should stay.

 

you want him to stay cause he has a crush on mallowbutt too

Nah, he should go, worst character. -21/10 would keep him.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Brechard

[SteffieMusings 295]

No, I personally believe that they should keep Spike in the show. They simply need to expand his role as a character and do some character development. There is so much potential for him in the show, if the writers could simply embrace that.

[SteffieMusings 295]

Yes, I personally believe that Spike should still be in the show.

 

He had been in the show since the beginning, and it'll be sad if he left. Besides, there's potential in his character; and the writers can use that. They can develop him as a character as time goes on.

[Pastel 7,630]

I don't see any good reason why they should remove him from the show. Maybe you don't like him, but (many) others do.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Blobulle

[Jeric 46,851]

@VG_Addict, 

 

I merged your topic with a recent one created by Nightmare Muffins. 

 

And no. From my perspective the Season 4 Spike focused eps were decent. Also this is my favorite moment from the entire show. 

 

[Sazama Ichida 2,367]

I for one really like him as a character. He's a good dragon and not only that but he's so cute. Seriously I would take him for a pet.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Asbel Lhant

[ManaMinori 4,145]

and poor Spike just continues to get hated on by the fandom after episode 100. I adore the little guy, but I'm still wondering if people just want him removed from the show entirely, at this point. (not that i think that would solve much of anything, and only serve to sadden what seemingly few Spike fans there are)