Why do people hate Flash Sentry?

[MermaidPony 8]

Okay, I get it, he was a jerk during RR, but he was under the sirens' spell!

Why do people hate him so much? I personally think Flash is cute  

[Merion 783]

He is cute, especially in his pony form! But I think it's not about him being cute or not... Nor about what he did when he was possessed by the Sirens, for that matter.

 

I guess we all hate him because we fear that his relationship with Twilight might ruin her status of an independent female protagonist...

 

Ooooor maybe we'd hate to see him steal Twilight away from us? You know, just like when your friend starts dating someone and the two become inseparable. As if they fused together and formed a two-headed dragon... It's just SO annoying. (Get lost, Sentry, we want to spend some time with Twilight for a change!)

Edited December 3, 2015 by Merion

[Venomous 18,813]

Flash Sentry is disliked because he simply doesn't do a whole lot. He's boring.

[Evil_Emperor 176]

ruin her status of an independent female protagonist...

This is just an absurdity.

[Odyssey 5,713]

The big reason why Flash gets a lot of hate is that he isn't interesting enough. We've only seen him be nice and dorky at times. The closest we got to an interesting moment with him was when he helped Twilight after she got framed by Sunset from the first movie, but otherwise, he didn't do anything outside of looking cool and talented. If we knew more about his backstory or he was given a goal in life, then we would have more of a reason to care for him.

 

Another reason is because of the relationship between Twilight and him, and it's actually not a matter of the fandom feeling disgusted that their waifu was "stolen". For three seasons before EqG, we knew Twilight as the analytical but quirky main protagonist with a love of reading and magic. You would've expected her to like Flash as time goes on slowly, but instead she was swooned over him as soon as she laid eyes on him. As such, it seems very off to see the intelligent Twilight only like Flash based on his looks.

 

But hey, if you like Flash Sentry, then you should definitely go for it. Just because most of the fandom hates him doesn't mean you should as well. Heck, I find it even quite nice to find a Flash Sentry fan.

[Denim&Venöm 16,490]

Because he's bland, generic and uninteresting. Him being paired with Twi feels very forced and cliche. It feels like Flash's only purpose is to be the love interest. Like he was grown out of a test tube and programmed for that very reason. That's not how relationships work. That's not how you get chemistry between two people. It even feels out of character for Twi to like him. It's like she was put under a spell to like this stereotypical high school cool guy archetype. Give us some back story, give us some depth, have them be friends first, and add some dimension to his character. Then we'll talk. Yes, many background ponies don't have personalities either. But we as fans invent personalities for them. We never got to do that for Flash. The writers made him one dimensional, whether it was intentional or not.

I actually liked it when he was snapping at Twi during RR. That showed depth to his character.

[Gestum 2,493]

I personally think that half of the problem is his lack of character and the other half is the fact that he stole Twilight.

[cider float 2,535]

A lot of fans dislike him because he "stole" Twilight Sparkle away.

Their waifu has been taken LOL.

 

Nah. In all seriousness, Flash Sentry is disliked because he simply doesn't do a whole lot. He's boring.

That's like every background pony yet bronies like background ponies that does nothing at all. It's mostly because he's male rather than any of that. 

[Nintenboy195 384]

Because he's tryin to steal my mare man... Who does that?

[TubeSock2018 325]

I wanna say it's because he's as interesting a slice of wheat bread, but when I suggested to a fellow fan that I would love to see more Flash in FiM to flesh out some character, he responded with "No! No more Flash!"

I've heard arguments that it's because he's just the stereotypical cool guy character.

Ok, but then again the Mane 6 all started off as stereotypes. They became interesting from how the writers would use their stereotyped character. It was fun to see the jock resist being an "egghead" or the quiet shy one becoming loud and angry.

The same could be applied to Flash.

In fact, the scenes that evoked the best reactions from the audience (in my experiene watching the movies in theaters) was when he broke the cool guy attitude.

First was the scene where he got "rejected" by twilight in Equestria Girls (the audience actually went "awww") and the second was when he awkwardly bumped into the school entrance's door. Both these moments broke the "cool guy" stereotype and left a positive impact on the audience.

 

So why he's hated, idk. I could think of some reasons, but they could be interpreted as "mean", so I'll just leave it at that.

Edited December 4, 2015 by pollo20x6

[Singe 2,109]

Seems normal to not like characters who are just there as a love interest in a non-romance story.

[Kivil 1,721]

He has little to no back story

He is just there to be a love interest to Twily

He made her cry

He stole a lot of people's Waifu (That means my celeb brony senpai BlackGryph0n)

And he looks stupid

[Steve Piranha 28,765]

Well, the OP of the following thread made a good point about why Flashy is so hated 

https://mlpforums.com/topic/141243-is-flash-sentrys-major-flaw-really-the-issue/

 

The promos made him out as a mildly big deal in his debut, but he hardly did anything worthwhile except being Twi's love interest :cof:stolewaifu:cof:, so, I guess that made him a valid target of hating, plus the waifu stealing thing . He had many chances to be fleshed out, but seems the writers are in the dark to what actually do with him, as he's getting less and less screen time

 

Now that I think about it, the Shadowbolts kinda fell victim of the same thing: being big deals in the promos, but in the actual movie, they kinda didn't 

[Luna the Great of all the Russias 2,697]

My opinion on him is neutral. There's nothing about him I hate but there isn't anything about him I like either. Basically, I only remember him as a rock musician, was nice person, and had particular fondness for Twilight. Beyond that, there's nothing that stands out about him for me except that he was made just to be love interest character. Perhaps there is potential for Flash as a character, but that potential not yet unlocked and it seemed like he has gotten less and less screen time per movie (maybe I'm wrong but I remember it like that).

Edited December 4, 2015 by Tsaritsa Luna

[MermaidPony 8]

I get it now XD I do like him, but I guess everyone feels differently!

[Flying_Endeavor 73]

I do not dislike Flash, and I would truly want him to be developed more. 

 

He needs more character development, however, Hasbro might turn him into a wasted opportunity.  

[cmarston1 5,951]

Personally I am indifferent to Flash Sentry.

He doesn't have like any personality what so ever, and his romance with Twilight is basically nonexistent.

But I like his design.  So he has that going for him.

Also I liked Flash Sentry getting a tiny bit of personality in the Friendship Games short he was in.

I want to see him actually grow as a character and become interesting, but I don't see that happening.

[Spikey-Wikey 378]

Because people can't ship their OC with Twilight Sparkle now.

[gyashaa 251]

I think he's just too damn cliche and boring. There's nothing interesting about him. Twilight can do so much better. Cmon.

Edited December 6, 2015 by gyashaa

[AbeLinkedIn 69]

For me I don't hate Flash entirely, but his character is extremely cliche and boring; the kind of direction MLP was trying to get away from. He's the Zac Efron of the EG universe with all the personality of a stick of chewing gum: All flavor in the first few minutes before it fades away to nothing. I could care less about the Twilight thing since I was never into the waifu business and even then, Twi isn't my top pick anyway. I dislike him more so with how his character is written as the cool guitar playing chick magnet, pretty much a staple of the generic high school setting. 

 

If he had more depth and wasn't so one dimensional he'd disappear in a profile shot, he'd be alright in my book. MLP has taken many one-note characters and made them work. Big Macintosh is a good example, so I have confidence they can do it. Then again, EG is what happens when you ring out all the girly stereotypes, cliches, and stock characters from the base show and turn it into its own entity. If they fleshed out Flash on the main show, I'd be fine with it, but I've never been huge on EG as a whole (Because its main motivation was to compete with Monster High) and reeks of corporate cheese. 

[Singe 2,109]

Some people might just be fatigued from romance in cartoons. Legend of Korra with a love triangle. Thundercats 2012 with another love triangle. Gravity Falls with Dipper's crush. TMNT 2012 with another love triangle. Equestria Girls with another love triangle Twilight Sparkle with Human Flash and Pony Flash.

[Tonyan 122]

Pretty much because he's one of the typical cliché, popular, cool and handsome guy, making females fall in love with him for no apparent reason really. And clichés like this are pretty much unnecessary in Equestria Girl's plot and story. If it was to be added into a serious romantic plot, then I would be okay with it and understand. But so far the Equestria Girls plots aren't about romantic ideas at all.

 

Edit: Without forgeting that Flash Sentry's character is MOSTLY a background character, a figurant. He is technically not supposed to appear often in the cannoned show.

Edited December 6, 2015 by Tonyan

[Steve Piranha 28,765]

I do not dislike Flash, and I would truly want him to be developed more. 

 

He needs more character development, however, Hasbro might turn him into a wasted opportunity.

My opinion on him is neutral. There's nothing about him I hate but there isn't anything about him I like either. Basically, I only remember him as a rock musician, was nice person, and had particular fondness for Twilight. Beyond that, there's nothing that stands out about him for me except that he was made just to be love interest character. Perhaps there is potential for Flash as a character, but that potential not yet unlocked and it seemed like he has gotten less and less screen time per movie (maybe I'm wrong but I remember it like that).

Thing is, as wrote before, we kinda care about most Disney princes because they had a minor role in each final battle, AT LEAST, instead of just being the satellite role interest they made Flashy in EG series. And I don't see that changing, with a combination of generally bad reception of him, AND, the girls themselves are the ones usually solving the problems

 

I get it now XD I do like him, but I guess everyone feels differently!

I used to not care about him, but, ironically, people hating him is what made me like him 

 

Because people can't ship their OC with Twilight Sparkle now.

He stole their waifu 

[Flying_Endeavor 73]

Thing is, as wrote before, we kinda care about most Disney princes because they had a minor role in each final battle, AT LEAST, instead of just being the satellite role interest they made Flashy in EG series. And I don't see that changing, with a combination of generally bad reception of him, AND, the girls themselves are the ones usually solving the problems

 

 

 

If only other ponies could have a hand in solving friendship problems, and not just the Mane 6  

[PROJECT: Simon 3,953]

He "stole" a waifu or he's not a dynamic character  From what I've heard.. :c ;~;