Theory THEORY: All MLP:FiM Antagonists are based off real life villains?

[Ranky64 31]

Now, this theory might seem a bit of a stretch, but I do have a personal idea about this: I believe that each villain in MLP are based off a real life criminal or evil trait. Now I'm not sure of each one yet, but I will list the ones I know and together we can discuss the rest.

 

THE CHANGELINGS: Terrorists

This one is the idea I like the most. A different species/race invades a country to kill all it's inhabitants in order to make the invaders happy (Changelings want to eat ponies, terrorists kill Americans to stabilize their "religion"). 

 

STARLIGHT GLIMMER: Joseph Stalin

Bronies have already been comparing Starlight's Town to communism/socialism/capitalism, so I'm not surprised that Stalin fits her. I was thinking of putting her as Adolf Hitler, but I'm saving that.

 

NIGHTMARE MOON: Count Dracula

Yeah, technically this doesn't count since he's fictional, but he is basically an icon of evil, so I'm going along with it. Anyway, they're practically twins! Sharp teeth, love of the night, they live in old castles, even Nightmare Moon is the opposite of Celestia similar to how Dracula is an unholy creature.

 

KING SOMBRA: Adolf Hitler

King Sombra enslaved the Crystal Empire (Hitler enslaved Jews). King Sombra wanted to take over the world (Hitler did too). King Sombra slowly took over the Crystal Empire (Hitler slowly took over Europe).

 

DISCORD: Saddam Hussein

Think of the fact that Saddam Hussein ruined countries like Iraq. Personally it kind of reminds me of Discord. Middle Eastern countries are a mess right now, and Saddam truly made it worse. What did Discord do? Mess up Equestria.

 

LORD TIREK: Satan

First off, no, this is not because he has horns and is red. It's because, let's see: he comes from Tartarus (A.K.A. discount Hell), that's a good start. But what really made me think this was his treatment of Discord. Discord turned good and now lives in Equestria with his friends and Celestia. However Tirek tempts him to to turn evil again, and he does. But once Tirek is powerful enough, he betrays Discord. So? Read more about "Satan" and you'll see the true comparison.

 

 

 

So if anyone else has any other ideas for other villains or want to give your own ideas on the mentioned villains, go ahead.

[Jeric 46,871]

 

 

Bronies have already been comparing Starlight's Town to communism/socialism/capitalism, so I'm not surprised that Stalin fits her. I was thinking of putting her as Adolf Hitler, but I'm saving that.

 

 

1) Starlight's Town is not styled after Communism. 

 

2) Why not Commodus, Caligula, Papa Doc, or King Ghezo? Sombra is far closer to Ghezo than Hitler. . 

[HighLunarStudios 100]

King Sombra is more like Makuta from the lego seires Bionicle

 

Starlight is more like a Slaver from Fallout 3 The Pitt

[cmarston1 5,962]

No.

I am pretty sure that this was not what the writers had in mind when creating MLP villains.

Especially seeing how Sombra is based on Sauron from Lord of the Rings.

[Black Sabbath 2,486]

STARLIGHT GLIMMER: Joseph Stalin

Bronies have already been comparing Starlight's Town to communism/socialism/capitalism, so I'm not surprised that Stalin fits her. I was thinking of putting her as Adolf Hitler, but I'm saving that.

But Starlight's Town had nothing to do with communism, do you have any other proof to support this? 

[SynBassilicious Pony 322]

....................

Edited January 30, 2023 by SynBassilicious Pony

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,163]

Sombra's main influence comes from Sauron, and outside of maybe a few things that can be common among tyrannical dictators; I don't think there is really much to actual correlate between Hitler & Sombra. As Jeric stated there are other dictators that look to fit the Sombra mold better, and when it comes down to it Sombra is typically categorized as patient, thinking, and a villain who waits for his prey to come to him. Granted yeah he would've started a war and was quick to anger when Radiant Hope was almost killed by Twilight, but he doesn't typically do rash things, and Hitler was pretty rash IIRC.

[Ranky64 31]

Looking back at this theory (even though it's only been a few days since I posted it), it is pretty far-fetched. However I want to make one more:

 

THE DAZZLINGS = DONALD TRUMP

 

Do I have to explain?

[Steel Accord 6,660]

Ehhhh maybe but I think it's a little more broad than specific names or phenomenon, nor do all of the villains reflect societal ills as much as personal ones. Fiction by its nature is often metaphor, but if everything was always made tailor made to what the author was afraid of in the day that it was made, all art would very quickly become dated as society changes and we know that doesn't happen.

 

More broadly I would say:

 

 

Changelings = the fear of identity theft and someone stealing your life.

 

Starlight Glimmer = the fear of group think.

 

Nightmare Moon = the fear of hurting those you love.

 

King Sombra = the fear of lurking, invisible, anxiety.

 

Discord = the fear of your loved ones betraying you.

 

Tirek = the fear of confronting adult obstacles without the aid of a parent or teacher.

 

You're right in that nothing exists in a vacuum but the idea that the creators were trying to purposefully model the shows villains off of real life threats is a little hard to believe. Chiefly because the comparisons to them are varying levels of "stretching it."

[Aurora Glimmer 494]

 

 

1) Starlight's Town is not styled after Communism. 

Since when? Our Town was clearly supposed to be a Communist analogue, right down to the drab, brutalist architecture, loudspeakers blaring propaganda and torture chamber re-education room.

 

As for whether or not Starlight Glimmer is based on Iosif Stalin, I think Starlight's ideology is closer to Maoism than it is to Stalinism, specifically Pol Pot's ultra-radical, ultimately self-destructive brand of Maoism.

 

Edited July 17, 2016 by Silvestra Spooner

[Jeric 46,871]

Since when? Our Town was clearly supposed to be a Communist analogue, right down to the drab, brutalist architecture, loudspeakers blaring propaganda and torture chamber re-education room.

 

As for whether or not Starlight Glimmer is based on Iosif Stalin, I think Starlight's ideology is closer to Maoism than it is to Stalinism, specifically Pol Pot's ultra-radical, ultimately self-destructive brand of Maoism.

 

I would say those features and the doctrine as presented are made to sound more like a Jim Jones inspired cult. Though he claimed to preach Apostolic Socialism, his actions and the accounting of his ministries indicate this was inaccurate. Attribution of Communism here is analogous to me stating I am writing in Sumerian and not English.

[Buck Testa 5,505]

Now, this theory might seem a bit of a stretch, but I do have a personal idea about this: I believe that each villain in MLP are based off a real life criminal or evil trait. Now I'm not sure of each one yet, but I will list the ones I know and together we can discuss the rest.

 

THE CHANGELINGS: Terrorists

This one is the idea I like the most. A different species/race invades a country to kill all it's inhabitants in order to make the invaders happy (Changelings want to eat ponies, terrorists kill Americans to stabilize their "religion"). 

 

STARLIGHT GLIMMER: Joseph Stalin

Bronies have already been comparing Starlight's Town to communism/socialism/capitalism, so I'm not surprised that Stalin fits her. I was thinking of putting her as Adolf Hitler, but I'm saving that.

 

NIGHTMARE MOON: Count Dracula

Yeah, technically this doesn't count since he's fictional, but he is basically an icon of evil, so I'm going along with it. Anyway, they're practically twins! Sharp teeth, love of the night, they live in old castles, even Nightmare Moon is the opposite of Celestia similar to how Dracula is an unholy creature.

 

KING SOMBRA: Adolf Hitler

King Sombra enslaved the Crystal Empire (Hitler enslaved Jews). King Sombra wanted to take over the world (Hitler did too). King Sombra slowly took over the Crystal Empire (Hitler slowly took over Europe).

 

DISCORD: Saddam Hussein

Think of the fact that Saddam Hussein ruined countries like Iraq. Personally it kind of reminds me of Discord. Middle Eastern countries are a mess right now, and Saddam truly made it worse. What did Discord do? Mess up Equestria.

 

LORD TIREK: Satan

First off, no, this is not because he has horns and is red. It's because, let's see: he comes from Tartarus (A.K.A. discount Hell), that's a good start. But what really made me think this was his treatment of Discord. Discord turned good and now lives in Equestria with his friends and Celestia. However Tirek tempts him to to turn evil again, and he does. But once Tirek is powerful enough, he betrays Discord. So? Read more about "Satan" and you'll see the true comparison.

 

 

 

So if anyone else has any other ideas for other villains or want to give your own ideas on the mentioned villains, go ahead.

 

Not only do I not think they are based off of these things, the correlations you've made themselves are flawed at best. 

 

Changelings do not bare any resemblance to the terrorists you've mentioned. Terrorists as they are defined are going after a political movement through violence. Changelings are more like a mix of different kind of Alien invasion movies. 

 

Our Town is far more like a cult than it is like communism. Look at the text book patterns of how cults recruit members and measure them against the episode and it lines up eerily well. 

 

Nightmare Moon bares NO resemblance to Count Dracula, especially not the Original from Bram Stoker, nor does King Sombra bare any resemblance to Hitler. 

 

I'm dumbfounded at the comparison of Saddam Hussein to Discord. The logical gymnastics it takes to even make such a connection is enough to give me a migraine

 

Even Tirek is kinda iffy with the Satan thing

 

 

 

If you ask me, each of them represent various aspects of Disharmony.

 

Sombra draws his power from his Treachery

 

Nightmare Moon draws her power from her Envy towards her sister

 

Tirek draws his power from his Cruelty 

 

Changelings draws their power from Love, but because they cannot create their own source of love they have to syphon it off of others, making it disharmonious in nature 

 

Discord literally IS Disharmony 

[honk friend 1,978]

STARLIGHT GLIMMER: Joseph Stalin

Bronies have already been comparing Starlight's Town to communism/socialism/capitalism, so I'm not surprised that Stalin fits her. I was thinking of putting her as Adolf Hitler, but I'm saving that.

 

"bronies have been comparing a 1984-esque society to [3 totally different economic systems]"

of all the fan-theories i've seen, this has to be the most half-baked one.

 

 

Since when? Our Town was clearly supposed to be a Communist analogue, right down to the drab, brutalist architecture, loudspeakers blaring propaganda and torture chamber re-education room.

 

INGSOC

Edited July 17, 2016 by Rowlet

[Aurora Glimmer 494]

I would say those features and the doctrine as presented are made to sound more like a Jim Jones inspired cult. Though he claimed to preach Apostolic Socialism, his actions and the accounting of his ministries indicate this was inaccurate. Attribution of Communism here is analogous to me stating I am writing in Sumerian and not English.

According to Tim Reiterman and John Jacob's biography of Jim Jones (Raven: The Untold Story of Rev. Jim Jones and His People), Jim Jones was heavily influenced by Maoism and his brainwashing/indoctrination techniques were copied directly from countries like North Korea and China.

 

"bronies have been comparing a 1984-esque society to [3 totally different economic systems]"

of all the fan-theories i've seen, this has to be the most half-baked one.

It's almost like people don't know what any of those terms mean.

Edited July 17, 2016 by Silvestra Spooner

[Ranky64 31]

I think you mixed up Tirek and Sombra.

Edited July 17, 2016 by Ranky64

[ph00tbag 108]

Since when? Our Town was clearly supposed to be a Communist analogue, right down to the drab, brutalist architecture, loudspeakers blaring propaganda and torture chamber re-education room.

 

As for whether or not Starlight Glimmer is based on Iosif Stalin, I think Starlight's ideology is closer to Maoism than it is to Stalinism, specifically Pol Pot's ultra-radical, ultimately self-destructive brand of Maoism.

 

Okay, you see, what you're actually talking about is a form of government known as Authoritarianism. Communism is, in theory, actually anarchy supporting a Socialist economic model. Most governments that purport to be Communist only do so because they coopted the name to gain popular support before overthrowing the government.

 

Starlight Glimmer's town is based, not off either of these political concepts specifically, but off of a literary concept known as the dystopia, a story describing a state where an oppressive and abusive totalitarian government creates the illusion of a perfect society. Often times, these governments exercise control under the guise of a corrupted version of a political model like socialism, but some use other models. Starlight's town, in particular is based on Egalitarianism. It's worth noting that while a dystopia can be used to denounce the corrupted model itself, like Atlas Shrugged or Bioshock, they can also be a cautionary tale against letting ideals be corrupted by authoritarians, like 1984 or The Giver. Personally, I think Starlight's town is an example of the latter.

[Jeric 46,871]

 

 

According to Tim Reiterman and John Jacob's biography of Jim Jones (Raven: The Untold Story of Rev. Jim Jones and His People), Jim Jones was heavily influenced by Maoism and his brainwashing/indoctrination techniques were copied directly from countries like North Korea and China.

 

While I do take Reiterman as someone who who should be properly sourced and cited for an accounting of the unfortunate and deadly assault during the visit in which he nearly died, he may not be an appropriate researcher of Jim Jones - for obvious reasons. After reading Raven it has the same narrative trappings that I have found in similar popular historical narratives that overdramatize elements (Ron Chernow is a notable example of bad researcher creating a good narrative that is ultimately inaccurate). The topic was focused on the characters as real world figures. The assumption is that Starlight Glimmers demand for 'sameness of ability' is an equivalence to the social and economic underpinnings of Communism. I firmly believe any attempt to create an equivalence between Starlight's desire to remove ability to create equality, and the more gender and class based equality of communist ideology creates an unfortunate misclassification. We will simply have to agree to disagree here. I feel that Starlight is simply a run-of-the-mill western cult leader, many of whom have taken pages from various philosophies and ideologies without technical adherence.  

[cider float 2,539]

Debatable if Satan and Count Dracula are real life villains.

 

There is Count Vlad Tepes Dracula who the writer Bram Stoker got the name Dracula from though.

 

 

[A Black Circle 1,586]

But Starlight's Town had nothing to do with communism, do you have any other proof to support this? 

I think that episode was used to test how little americans know about communism.

 

 

VERY LITTLE were the results.

[Vulcan 3,255]

 

 

NIGHTMARE MOON: Count Dracula Yeah, technically this doesn't count since he's fictional, but he is basically an icon of evil, so I'm going along with it. Anyway, they're practically twins! Sharp teeth, love of the night, they live in old castles, even Nightmare Moon is the opposite of Celestia similar to how Dracula is an unholy creature.

 

The usage of fictional characters , regardless of whether or not they are an icon of evil , kinda ruins the theory for me. 

 

 

 

 

THE CHANGELINGS: Terrorists This one is the idea I like the most. A different species/race invades a country to kill all it's inhabitants in order to make the invaders happy (Changelings want to eat ponies, terrorists kill Americans to stabilize their "religion"). 

 

 

I think terrorists and Changelings differ a bit too much on the motivations for their actions. Also " A different species/race invades a country to kill all it's inhabitants in order to make the invaders happy" describes a lot of the MLP villains when you think about it. 

[Sunny Fox 5,952]

If you tried, you could probably find parallels with real life villains, but to say the writers actually based the MLP villains on these people would take more than that, at the very least a statement from the writers about the inspiration of each. Things that are bad tend to be bad in fiction as much as reality (since writers have to get their ideas from something in the real world, after all), so any correlations are probably coincidental. It is fun to find those parallels where they exist, though.

[Aurora Glimmer 494]

While I do take Reiterman as someone who who should be properly sourced and cited for an accounting of the unfortunate and deadly assault during the visit in which he nearly died, he may not be an appropriate researcher of Jim Jones - for obvious reasons. After reading Raven it has the same narrative trappings that I have found in similar popular historical narratives that overdramatize elements (Ron Chernow is a notable example of bad researcher creating a good narrative that is ultimately inaccurate). The topic was focused on the characters as real world figures. The assumption is that Starlight Glimmers demand for 'sameness of ability' is an equivalence to the social and economic underpinnings of Communism. I firmly believe any attempt to create an equivalence between Starlight's desire to remove ability to create equality, and the more gender and class based equality of communist ideology creates an unfortunate misclassification. We will simply have to agree to disagree here. I feel that Starlight is simply a run-of-the-mill western cult leader, many of whom have taken pages from various philosophies and ideologies without technical adherence.  

You seem to have a pretty good understanding of Marxism and the underlying principles of Marxist ideology. That being said, I think Stalin is not an apt comparison for Starlight Glimmer. While I feel as though Starlight's ideology is supposed to be an allegory for Communism, I think she's more of a Maoist than a Stalinist. Similar to the Maoist regimes of Mao Zedong and Pol Pot, she doesn't allow any of the ponies in Our Town to be an expert in any single field, even baking. In real-life terms, Starlight's disdain for Cutie Marks can best be understood as a form of anti-intellectualism: Starlight believes the only way to create an egalitarian society is to purge it of intellectuals. In real life, men like Mao Zedong and Pol Pot rounded up intellectuals and either killed or "re-educated" them by brainwashing them or enslaving them; in Equestria, Starlight can strip ponies of their abilities by removing their Cutie Marks and brainwashing them.

 

On the other hand, if Starlight's ideology is merely a mish-mash of various ideas with little to no understanding of their technical underpinnings, then perhaps Muammar Qaddafi of Libya is a more apt comparison than Mao or Pol Pot, since he created a philosophy that combined elements of a whole bunch of different ideologies (Qaddafi's "Third International Theory" contained elements of Marxism, Maoism, Islamism and Arab Nationalism) that served as little more than a fig-leaf for his regime and never amounted to anything substantial.

Edited July 19, 2016 by Silvestra Spooner

[Jonny Music 3,468]

Now, this theory might seem a bit of a stretch, but I do have a personal idea about this: I believe that each villain in MLP are based off a real life criminal or evil trait. Now I'm not sure of each one yet, but I will list the ones I know and together we can discuss the rest.

 

THE CHANGELINGS: Terrorists

This one is the idea I like the most. A different species/race invades a country to kill all it's inhabitants in order to make the invaders happy (Changelings want to eat ponies, terrorists kill Americans to stabilize their "religion"). 

 

STARLIGHT GLIMMER: Joseph Stalin

Bronies have already been comparing Starlight's Town to communism/socialism/capitalism, so I'm not surprised that Stalin fits her. I was thinking of putting her as Adolf Hitler, but I'm saving that.

 

NIGHTMARE MOON: Count Dracula

Yeah, technically this doesn't count since he's fictional, but he is basically an icon of evil, so I'm going along with it. Anyway, they're practically twins! Sharp teeth, love of the night, they live in old castles, even Nightmare Moon is the opposite of Celestia similar to how Dracula is an unholy creature.

 

KING SOMBRA: Adolf Hitler

King Sombra enslaved the Crystal Empire (Hitler enslaved Jews). King Sombra wanted to take over the world (Hitler did too). King Sombra slowly took over the Crystal Empire (Hitler slowly took over Europe).

 

DISCORD: Saddam Hussein

Think of the fact that Saddam Hussein ruined countries like Iraq. Personally it kind of reminds me of Discord. Middle Eastern countries are a mess right now, and Saddam truly made it worse. What did Discord do? Mess up Equestria.

 

LORD TIREK: Satan

First off, no, this is not because he has horns and is red. It's because, let's see: he comes from Tartarus (A.K.A. discount Hell), that's a good start. But what really made me think this was his treatment of Discord. Discord turned good and now lives in Equestria with his friends and Celestia. However Tirek tempts him to to turn evil again, and he does. But once Tirek is powerful enough, he betrays Discord. So? Read more about "Satan" and you'll see the true comparison.

 

 

 

So if anyone else has any other ideas for other villains or want to give your own ideas on the mentioned villains, go ahead.

 

That theory of yours is definitely an interesting one.

[Phanact 333]

I'm pretty sure that they're just villians from a childrens show.

[El Duderino 879]

Most of those are kind of a stretch, but I can definitely rule out Sombra being based off a real villain. Sombra is obviously based off of Sauron from Lord of the Rings. I also doubt the others are based off real people. However, fictional characters often take on traits of real historical people, even if the writers don't realize it. It only reminds us that we do have real life villains in our world.

 

Also the whole terrorist part. I get the connection, but I have to specify a few things. Terrorists are not only radical religious groups. Terrorism happens for all sorts of reasons and is committed by all sorts of people all over the world. Also the point of terrorism is to strike fear into the enemy and to sometimes make a statement. The changelings are not just trying to strike fear into the ponies, but are tempting an entire takeover and extermination/enslavement of another race. That doesn't sound like terrorism, that sounds like war and genocide. I would compare that more to the Nazis.