Spike's role and purpose in future seasons?

[Sazama Ichida 2,354]

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 4,144]

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)

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

I don't think Spike needs to be removed, he's a great character and a good friend and assistant to Twilight plus I enjoyed the episodes that focused on Spike.

[Buck Testa 5,503]

To answer the title question: Yes, There is a need for spike in future seasons.

 

however his role needs to actually be going somewhere. He's been ignored by the writers for far to long and given some seriously sub par episodes that have become infamous in the fandom. He has the potential to tell some really interesting stories, something I've gone to great lengths to point out on the forums, but that potential is entirely wasted as long as they stick him in these lackluster plots and continue to increase the gap between him and Twilight.

 

Or rather, Continue to increase the gap between those two without him reacting to it

 

Spike should be really upset that Twilight doesn't need him. His biggest fear which was established some time ago was getting rejected and sent away by twilight, and now with them barely interacting that fear should be influencing his decisions and driving his character, NOT the desire to ferret out a free back massage cause he name dropped the princess. 

 

there are a slew of factors established about his character that have almost never been addressed again and it leaves him hollow and meaningless if you just look at him from one episode to another. That is not right, he is a magical dragon with some serious potential for depth, this shouldn't be hard for the writers to work with. 

 

So yes, Spike has a role in the upcoming seasons, but let it be the spike he COULD be, not the spike they've been making out to be. 

[ManaMinori 4,144]

To answer the title question: Yes, There is a need for spike in future seasons.

 

however his role needs to actually be going somewhere. He's been ignored by the writers for far to long and given some seriously sub par episodes that have become infamous in the fandom. He has the potential to tell some really interesting stories, something I've gone to great lengths to point out on the forums, but that potential is entirely wasted as long as they stick him in these lackluster plots and continue to increase the gap between him and Twilight.

 

Or rather, Continue to increase the gap between those two without him reacting to it

 

Spike should be really upset that Twilight doesn't need him. His biggest fear which was established some time ago was getting rejected and sent away by twilight, and now with them barely interacting that fear should be influencing his decisions and driving his character, NOT the desire to ferret out a free back massage cause he name dropped the princess. 

 

there are a slew of factors established about his character that have almost never been addressed again and it leaves him hollow and meaningless if you just look at him from one episode to another. That is not right, he is a magical dragon with some serious potential for depth, this shouldn't be hard for the writers to work with. 

 

So yes, Spike has a role in the upcoming seasons, but let it be the spike he COULD be, not the spike they've been making out to be. 

I'd like to see an episode around that, myself. For the most part, though, he DOES seem to be upset that Twi's a princess and with the territory, gets more love and admiration from the commoner ponies, and him left feeling like he's not appreciated. But I want to see, as you said, the writers take that story and his fears that were established in this episode, and drive him forward. Also, to allow Twi to see just how much of an emotional toll her princess status and herself being in the spotlight is having on Spike feeling useless. Because it should've been addressed in the 101th episode. Twi and Spike just seem to be drifting further apart, and it's sad.

[Mantis01 19]

Some people hate or overreact on a character all because what they did, but had they not learn from those mistake. I never understood why Equestria Games was hated.  

[Prince Firemane 309]

One thing that's been floating around my head for a while is that what if Spike decides to leave Twilight? Sure, it was established that his greatest fear was being sent away, but if he matures he may decided to leave of his own volition.

 

Given the track record of Spike-centered episodes, maybe his is a character that just isn't suited for the spotlight; not every character is and that's okay. I can't imagine that Spike is an easy character to create stories for. He's more mature than one would give him credit for at first sight, but he's still a baby dragon; balancing those two facts can't be easy. Maybe he's just best suited for a secondary role.

[cider float 2,536]

The show is about friendship. He's going to be around to cause trouble or aid them in whatever way possible because he's a friend. And who says he cannot create new stories and plots?

 

Just like Alfred Pennyworth doesn't aid Batman in all his fights he is still there just to add in slapstick and another interaction. Spike is her assistant and maybe even it goes deeper as her adopted younger brother or son.

Edited June 25, 2015 by cider float

[Sectus 246]

I want to see him be pushed so far away from her and her friends that they actually create their own worst enemy in the form of a fully grown dragon Spike, who appears as a recurring villain in the series, and doesn't magically change alliances and become friends with them once again.

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

I want to see him be pushed so far away from her and her friends that they actually create their own worst enemy in the form of a fully grown dragon Spike, who appears as a recurring villain in the series, and doesn't magically change alliances and become friends with them once again.

That's not bad.  Maybe have him fall to the Dark side by some greater evil and have Spike become his second in command, not unlike a certain famous villain.    

[cider float 2,536]

That's not bad.  Maybe have him fall to the Dark side by some greater evil and have Spike become his second in command, not unlike a certain famous villain.    

I like the idea of Spike becoming evil for his trivial position.

 

I also like how Spike had a more important role in the G1 Tirek movie where he was the one that saw the good in Scorpan and encouraged him to stop taking orders from Tirek.

Edited June 25, 2015 by cider float

[ManaMinori 4,144]

I didn't think we'd see Spike in "party pooped", so I was surprised when he did appear, and was the only one who managed to calm the savage beasts...the yaks. When the Mane six couldn't. I was thrilled to see Spike succeeding in his mission....until we...and the Yaks discovered that the piano was a self playing one.

 

LUNABUCKINGDAMNIT, writers!!!!!! -goes on a smashing rampage with the Yaks-

 

Spike KNOWS how to play the piano!!! We saw this in "over a" bucking "barrel"!!!! Stop sabotaging his character!!!

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

Spike needs to be in season 6 and beyond. Plain and simple. 

[CastletonSnob 3,045]

I didn't think we'd see Spike in "party pooped", so I was surprised when he did appear, and was the only one who managed to calm the savage beasts...the yaks. When the Mane six couldn't. I was thrilled to see Spike succeeding in his mission....until we...and the Yaks discovered that the piano was a self playing one.

 

LUNABUCKINGDAMNIT, writers!!!!!! -goes on a smashing rampage with the Yaks-

 

Spike KNOWS how to play the piano!!! We saw this in "over a" bucking "barrel"!!!! Stop sabotaging his character!!!

 

Maybe the tune was more complex than the one in OAB.

 

They probably did it because they thought they could get away with it. I mean, the yaks weren't exactly smart.

 

Plus, they were stalling for time, and had to think up something quick. Spike wouldn't have had time to practice the song.

[Singe 2,109]

The only thing I could think of is Spike growing up for some kind of epic battle against another enemy of equal size.

 

Other than that, I have no interest in his development after Dragon Quest. He made his ultimate life decision to not live among dragons and continue with his life with the ponies.

[Goat-kun 2,505]

Our little dragon has a problem in that his character is too difficult to incorporate in pony plotline without completely circumventing his dragon nature or using it in a negative way. The best we can get is a Spike episode that completely focuses on his species-neutral childish shenanigans.

 

Let’s face it: Spike needs a monster friend, plain and simple. And by that, I don’t mean teenage dragons, pony-obsessed (fake comic) dragons, or emo fanfic-grade changeling outcasts. I mean a real, young, good natured monster with fangs and claws and all that good Jazz that would be able to love, tolerate, or even encourage his dragonesnesnes. We need to see him progress as a dragon that is friendly to ponies, not as a friendly pony that just looks like a dragon. But such progress can never happen unless writers stop using all those children of Typhon as mere plot devices, and start writing them as actual intelligent beings with lives end feelings. Inb4 argument that this show is called My Little PONY.

[ManaMinori 4,144]

Would anyone be remotely interested in an episode where the Crystal Empire pnies invite Spike, one day, when his friends go off on their friendship preaching work- and Spike gets a surprise upon arrival, when he realuzes the Crystal ponies integrated a holiday celebrating dragon kind, just for him, after he saved their Empire twice? And with borders open with Yakyakistan, maybe the yaks joinng in on the festivities, and even present a book from their library that they never returned to Equestria, depicting a time when dragons and ponies had peaceful relations in old time Equestria? Perhapsa even hinting on Spike's egg winding in Celestia's hooves, by telling of a Dragon mother and queen who offered up her only egg to help save a royal pony couple who ruled beore Celestia and Luna, but couldn't conceive a foal of their own, but managed to, against all odds, after the Dragon Queen left her egg with them and headed back to the dragon lands. It would be interesting to discover Spike actually being a drake prince, which would explain the powerful amount of magic needed to hatch his egg, which Twilight supplied.

[Goat-kun 2,505]

Would anyone be remotely interested in an episode where the Crystal Empire pnies invite Spike, one day, when his friends go off on their friendship preaching work- and Spike gets a surprise upon arrival, when he realuzes the Crystal ponies integrated a holiday celebrating dragon kind, just for him, after he saved their Empire twice? And with borders open with Yakyakistan, maybe the yaks joinng in on the festivities, and even present a book from their library that they never returned to Equestria, depicting a time when dragons and ponies had peaceful relations in old time Equestria? Perhapsa even hinting on Spike's egg winding in Celestia's hooves, by telling of a Dragon mother and queen who offered up her only egg to help save a royal pony couple who ruled beore Celestia and Luna, but couldn't conceive a foal of their own, but managed to, against all odds, after the Dragon Queen left her egg with them and headed back to the dragon lands. It would be interesting to discover Spike actually being a drake prince, which would explain the powerful amount of magic needed to hatch his egg, which Twilight supplied.

Let’s say you’re a mother now. And you’re a dragon now. Why, by five rivers of Erebus and all the wretched furies and hecatoncheires that squirm within that primordial darkness, would a dragon mother ever want to leave her poor, defenseless, little egg in the hooves of such transient herbivores?

 

Now if I was a dragon and my queen did something like that for the ponies, it would make me wonder: if she discarded her only son for the sake of these equines, then what would she do with the rest of us for the sake of (plot) “greater pony good”? I don’t know about you, but I’d start sharpening my dagger.

 

On the other appendage, your proposition does seem like something the show staff would come up with. It’s crisp, simple, and easy to execute in one episode. Spike gets respect, Rarity-senpai notices him, fans are pacified, we all shake our appendages, and all is right with the world. Balance=Restored

[ManaMinori 4,144]

Let’s say you’re a mother now. And you’re a dragon now. Why, by five rivers of Erebus and all the wretched furies and hecatoncheires that squirm within that primordial darkness, would a dragon mother ever want to leave her poor, defenseless, little egg in the hooves of such transient herbivores?[/font=cambria, serif]Now if I was a dragon and my queen did something like that for the ponies, it would make me wonder: if she discarded her only son for the sake of these equines, then what would she do with the rest of us for the sake of (plot) “greater pony good”? I don’t know about you, but I’d start sharpening my dagger.

 

On the other appendage, your proposition does seem like something the show staff would come up with. It’s crisp, simple, and easy to execute in one episode. Spike gets respect, Rarity-senpai notices him, fans are pacified, we all shake our appendages, and all is right with the world. Balance=Restored

I was thinking about the potential to start giving Sppike closure abot hisdragon heritage as well as set up potential characterization into the future. Learning more about how Equestria could've had a peaceful relationship with a dragon kingdom, so much so that A dragon queen gave her only egg to a barren couple, to keep Euestria with a ruler even if by adoption, would further strengthen relationhips between pony and drgon kingdom, especially by the time the egg hatched and her son ascended the throne.

 

But ypur comment actually lends to build on my theory- what if the dragons under that queen did just that? Turning on their queen and going to war with Equestria, once learning that the heir to their queen's position was handed over to ponies? I'd imagine that the reason why nopony in modern Equestria knows next to nothing about dragons is because that very well could've happened in olden times, and the dragons destroyed every bit of evidence of that part of history, back then.

 

But drawing back on show canon, and how the borders between Yakyakistan and Equestria haven't been opened for hundreds of moons, then it's all the more likely for the Yaks to have the only remaining book with that chapter of Equestrin history for Spike, if a pony from back then had travelled ther before, and they have, acording to Cadance, and had brought the boook with them, but just forgot it there and it wound up at the Yaks own library, with no one from Yak country bothering to return it Equestria, especially as time went on and their intenational dealings ceased.

Edited June 30, 2015 by Nightmare Muffin

[Allen 1,371]

Spike in the future can appear in some episodes as she's part of Princess Twilight Sparkle's best friend and assistant, she can still watch for every-pony in Ponyville that is important of something. 

[Will Guide 21,331]

....enemy in the form of a fully grown dragon Spike,

 

Hmm... I have been thinking about Spike (temporarily) becoming a fully-grown dragon as a foe to our heroes in my "2 years in planning" (not actual name) fanfic for some time. From what I can see, Spike could still be having some identity crisis about being the only dragon in pony society that can be exploited by some potential villain. This could be what causes this transformation. I'm still struggling to write my fanfic, but someday, I want to get it written and shared with the fandom.

 

Anyway, to the original poster, I still say Spike is still needed.  "Twilight Sparkle not caring for Spike as she used to" as others have said. AS IF!

[manic 121]

Friendship isn't about mutual utility and usefulness. That's called a business relationship. It's why Rainbow Dash loves Tank.

[GuyNamedEarl 1,332]

I feel this whole series is just an origin story for his rise as a villain

[Goat-kun 2,505]

I was thinking about the potential to start giving Sppike closure abot hisdragon heritage as well as set up potential characterization into the future. Learning more about how Equestria could've had a peaceful relationship with a dragon kingdom, so much so that A dragon queen gave her only egg to a barren couple, to keep Euestria with a ruler even if by adoption, would further strengthen relationhips between pony and drgon kingdom, especially by the time the egg hatched and her son ascended the throne.

 

But ypur comment actually lends to build on my theory- what if the dragons under that queen did just that? Turning on their queen and going to war with Equestria, once learning that the heir to their queen's position was handed over to ponies? I'd imagine that the reason why nopony in modern Equestria knows next to nothing about dragons is because that very well could've happened in olden times, and the dragons destroyed every bit of evidence of that part of history, back then.

 

But drawing back on show canon, and how the borders between Yakyakistan and Equestria haven't been opened for hundreds of moons, then it's all the more likely for the Yaks to have the only remaining book with that chapter of Equestrin history for Spike, if a pony from back then had travelled ther before, and they have, acording to Cadance, and had brought the boook with them, but just forgot it there and it wound up at the Yaks own library, with no one from Yak country bothering to return it Equestria, especially as time went on and their intenational dealings ceased.

So I’m a big bad dragon usurper. Me and my followers have just ended the Dragon Queen’s reign and established our new order within the flight. Now why would I want to attack Equestria because of some insignificant baby whelp whose claim to the throne has been all but revoked by his mother’s betrayal of dragon kin and my own oath to protect our scaly interests? If anything, I’d only go to war because of gems and gold.

 

As far as canon is concerned, we know how most dragons work in FIMverse: they are big, lazy, greedy lizards who prefer wasting their time sleeping on their treasure hoards, bathing in volcanoes, and that’s pretty much it. I don’t think they would care about some heir that can’t directly threaten to whoop their tails and work for their benefit at the same time. The only creature capable of doing all that is an adult dragon who thinks like a dragon.

 

Then again I’m not convinced that dragons even have a kingdom since we’ve seen them squatting all over the place. I kinda wish dragons will retain their independent, brutish, and greedy nature as the FIMverse expands. It’s their core fantasy, and you don’t go around rewriting that shit unless you have a damn good reason.

 

And Spike the Ancient Fertility Charm? It would be a good episode, I guess. If anything, you did offer a good, terminal solution to writers’ dragon problem by solving his place in the world, neutering the whole dragon threat, and making a whole new kingdom of potential friendship problems. I'm just afraid it would make dragons a little bit boring.

[ManaMinori 4,144]

I feel this whole series is just an origin story for his rise as a villain

you're gonna have o explain your reasoning behind that theory