Fluttershy isn't just black and white like a few others (opinions)

[Silver Stream. 708]

While she isn't my favorite, I still enjoy Fluttershy to a great deal and pay more attention to her than the other mane six. Before I go deep into my opinions on Fluttershy, I'm curious to what you guys think. I'll respond to your opinions as much as I can

Edited October 21, 2015 by Princess Sunset

[RarityFan01 2,444]

I think Fluttershy is very underdeveloped. There is so much they can do with her, but they keep putting her in similar scenarios. She probably think she has deja vu frequently. I'm not saying she's black and white. She's not developed as much as she could be, though. She's a kind animal lover with pantophobia, anxiety, and low self esteem. There's got to be more to her, though. It bothers me how she's portrayed as a weak pony. I'm not saying she's weak. She's strong and will stand up for her friends or two others when necessary. She's just portrayed as a weak pony, and that doesn't help the negative portrayal of kindness as a weakness. There should be an episode where it's portrayed as a strength. Maybe Fluttershy abandons her kindness temporarily, but decides to be kind even with what is going on which shows that kindness is a strength an not a weakness? Fluttershy may be more towards the bottom of my Mane Six list, but I don't think she's bad. She's just underused. I think they should focus on her strengths more. Her self esteem isn't great, but it doesn't mean she's not great. 

[PROJECT: Simon 3,955]

She's adorable and kind hearted, that's all I care <3 

[Brony_B 128]

There should be an episode where it's portrayed as a strength. Maybe Fluttershy abandons her kindness temporarily, but decides to be kind even with what is going on which shows that kindness is a strength an not a weakness?

While Fluttershy never abandoned her kindness, they did try to show a differnet angle on it in the episode with the breezies.  They wanted to show that being kind doesn't always look the same in every situation.  Sometimes "tough love" is necessary. 

[Black Sabbath 2,486]

She's one of the most boring characters in the show. Almost all of her episodes are the same thing over and over again.

[green 331]

While she isn't my favorite, I still enjoy Fluttershy to a great deal and pay more attention to her than the other mane six. Before I go deep into my opinions on Fluttershy, I'm curious to what you guys think. I'll respond to your opinions as much as I can

Im with you one that one. I pay attention to Fluttershy alot. Though Im not sure if its because shes adorable or because I relate to her.

[Flutterstep 47,287]

Although Fluttershy is my favourite character, there is a lot of things I dislike about her. For starters, she is based on a stereotype; a character that is supposed to be portrayed as a shy person, is more presented as a person who is scared of way too many things, quiet and has disabilities, like flying. It makes her incredibly unrealistic which ruins her likeness. Big Mac does this far much better; although shy, he is strong and fearless.

 

Another this I dislike is her development and purpose in the show. In seasons one, she both overcomes her fears of dragons and she makes a speech in front of the whole town with out breaking a sweat. Newer episodes ignore this and completely change her personality for the sake of a plot. I sometimes wonder, if she has multiple personalities, but other shows also run into this problem.

 

That's pretty much it though. I really like her character as she's polite, cute, kind and can be really funny. Everything wrong with Fluttershy can be said about all of the Mane 6, so I don't even care that much. Just my thoughts on it anyway.

[Kenshiro 13,493]

Fluttershy isnt my favorite after all but i like her kindness and shyness.Because most of people have forgotten kindness and shyness.Someone or some pony needed to remind them =)

[Steel Accord 6,660]

@,

 

Well of course she is not, none of the Mane Six could be accused of being two dimensional. I was actually afraid that her becoming "more assertive" would make her loose the very aspects about her that I found endearing. "Putting your hoof down" though showed us exactly what I feared . . . before turning around at the end and showing how Fluttershy could still be her demure and reserved self but still know when to draw the line and when to make her stand without even needing to raise her voice above a calm command.

 

"It ain't easy being breezies" in the rainbow connection arc also showed us Fluttershy taking her core, kindness, to a level that wasn't expected. (Much like the same for the rest of the Six.) In this case, when she had to finally tell the breezies to hit the gust, it broke her heart. That was new for her. In most cases it is easy for her to be kind, she's naturally giving of herself, that time though, she had to do what was best for her friends but at a cost to herself.

[KatonRyu 1,033]

Fluttershy is the character I'm most divided about. She's got unique talents and skills, but personally I feel that she's holding back the others too often. Too many of her episodes focus around her not wanting to do something, or being afraid of something, or being pressured into doing something by Angel. And yet, she's the one who managed to reform Discord through kindness alone. She'll stand up for her friends when it really counts and despite her fears she's still there alongside them.

 

She'll never be my favorite pony or even make top 3, but I do respect her at her more awesome moments. At other times, this is basically the expression I get watching her:

[Silver Stream. 708]

Holy sh*t well I guess I have to respond to a lot of you guys so this post may be super long.
@RarityFan01 @PROJECT: Simon @Brony_B @Yamet @WindRide @Venomous @Steel Accord
I was expecting that many people would point out her inconsistency throughout the show and how the writers go overboard with her character. And I'm not going to lie....I felt....and in a way I still feel the same why. You guys aren't wrong by any means. But when rewatching a lot of episodes, I do see WHY she was so inconsistent up until Season 4:

Fluttershy isn't just shy. Once you come to these terms, you'll find her execution and reactions more bearable. Fluttershy has a social anxiety disorder, and too many specific phobias to count. It explains why she over reacts in many ways that we might find annoying. A shy person does not have a panic attack from being seen on stage. A shy person will not lock herself in her cottage to hide from people who's obviously wearing costumes. A shy person does not scream and runaway from simple things unless it's part of their phobias. And what pissed me off was how much they had misused Flutters in Season 1.

When you have all the disorder and phobias that Fluttershy has, it's unfair to expect her to be consistent whenever she breaks through a problem. They just don't go away at the drop of a hat. It's almost like depression.....one day you're feeling great and you have an empathy that everything is fine, and you're worth more than you used to feel. Then the VERY NEXT DAY you're back to being low and depressed. So it makes sense for her inconsistency than some of you may realize regardless of how annoying it may be. At first...I was confused why all of Fluttershy's "accomplishments" are smaller than what the other mane 5 have accomplished. When you look back at what Flutters have done......it isn't much. The only huge thing she's done was reform Discord which many believed was impossible.

So why the h*ll do writers downplay Flutter so much? And the answer is, they don't. It depends on how you look at it: what we might consider small may be huge for people like Fluttershy. As Discord said, she is literally THE weakest of the mane 6. She started out far behind everyone else and basically slowed everyone down. At times, I wondered if Twilight and the others only allowed her to be around out of pity rather than "friendship". Everyone either pities her or scolds her for something that isn't her fault. And what I like about Fluttershy is that she actually DOES try. Sometimes her efforts are...cut short, but she wants to be "normal" all the same.

But many will still ignore this and blame her for being so inconsistent after overcoming a problem that should make her better. But thing is...in most of her episodes, she doesn't actually "overcome" anything. Example: Dragonshy. She doesn't get over anything....she doesn't even get over being afraid of larger dragons. (which you can clearly see in Dragon Quest). She was put in a predicament where she was forced out of her shell by pure impulse to protect those she cared for the most. This has happened quite a few times. Jumping out of character at random when you see someone in danger or are in need of your help isn't exactly overcoming the issue altogether. 

One episode you can REALLY see her put a lot of effort into was Hurricane Fluttershy. Rainbow needs her, but the fear of flying in front of ponies because she was teased about her weak will to fly when she was younger stopped her. (thank goodness she has a good reason for being scared of something for). Fluttershy clearly wants to help...you can see it from how she struggles with herself to force herself to meet Rainbow's expectations. There were a few times she chickened out, but it was her choice to keep coming back. She then trains herself to overcome her fear with the help of her animals friends but doesn't meet the cut and is ashamed about it. Long story short, she says "f*ck you" to her past and literally flies past it making the pegasi succeed in meeting the required speed to get water to Cloudsdale. Putting your hoof down is another example of her wanting to not be who she is (which is a little sad....I sometimes feel sorry for her). And despite taking things too far...she ends up reverting back to her old self though she seems to be more assertive which shows in "Scare Master". and eventually in "It Ain't Easy Being Breezy".....and if you think about it, she used this in "Dragon Quest" as well. Remember, Fluttershy forced herself to tag along in Dragonshy...but in Dragon Quest, she stands her ground about not wanting to go with her friends to watch the dragon migration. Many people miss that. So in a way, Fluttershy isn't as inconsistent as you may think.


Filli Vanilli is an episode where she literally takes 5 steps back. Which was annoying, but not too surprising given her condition. Sometimes we have our worst days when it comes to living in a world of depression or anxiety and fear. And Flutters definitely lives in a world of the last two. But the mistakes of that episode (there were too many on Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie) were redeemed in It Ain't Easy Being Breezy. THAT episode was glorious. I had to watch the episode twice because I had a massive heartattack from cuteness overload and missed the true meaning of the episode: unconditional kindness isn't always good. That too much kindness can cripple a person. But it wasn't even that simple in this episode so I find it a bit funny they included such a complicated lesson in a kid's show. They also said that different situations calls for different ways for it to be handled. At times, kindness can be the answer, but in others, you have to give tough love. Seabreeze was overusing tough love which made the others resent his orders and words of reason. I can see how this may confuse a little kid watching the episode but it makes perfect sense for those who are mature enough to understand that this episode wasn't a "black or white" lesson but covered a more gray area.

In Scare Master, whoever hasn't watched it yet, you'll see a change in Fluttershy. You might find the episode "okay" but I advise you to look deeper the second time around. It starts out a bit annoying and you see the episode going in one direction, but it actually goes in another. All I gotta say, Fluttershy in Season 5 has indeed grown. And it makes sense that it took awhile for her to grow even if she hasn't grown dramatically in some people's eyes because they don't fully understand her struggles. While she hasn't had many scenes and episodes so far in this season, you can see a great deal of change in her by just looking at a few scenes.

 

Her development is slow, but paying off in this season more than some may realize. We shouldn't expect a whole lot from her or some huge turn around because as she said in Filli Vanilli, she is going to take it one little step at a time. She was far behind the others when the series first started, we can't expect her to be at their pace. And this is where I stop rambling......but I do have a question for you guys: Did you notice something a bit sly in Fluttershy while reforming discord?   .  And even after? I'll put it like this.....she's nearly as good as a manipulator as Tirek was...even if it isn't intentional  

Edited October 22, 2015 by Princess Sunset

[green 331]

Well said Sunset. I also loved Fluttershy in Scare Master as it shows she is growing. And season 5 is showing alot more growth for her. Like in the cutie map, and especially Tanks for the Memories

Edited October 21, 2015 by WindRide

[Silver Stream. 708]

Well said Sunset. I also loved Fluttershy in Scare Master as it shows she is growing. And season 5 is showing alot more growth for her. Like in the cutie map, and especially Tanks for the Memories

Thank you...though all that typing took a lot out of me. Flutters owe me a good episode next time she's the focus. 

[green 331]

Thank you...though all that typing took a lot out of me. Flutters owe me a good episode next time she's the focus.

 

Dont worry, Fluttershy dosen't disappoint

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,162]

@

 

As this topic is dealing with a character from the show it has been moved to Show Discussion.

 

Thanks.

[Silver Stream. 708]

@

 

As this topic is dealing with a character from the show it has been moved to Show Discussion.

 

Thanks.

No thank you apologies for posting this in the incorrect board. Still getting used to it