Why is Chrysalis evil?

[FlootahBabby 265]

There has to be a bigger reason to why she made an entire army of changelings in the first place. No real person is just evil for the sake of being evil, they all do it for some kind of movement that they think will have a positive outcome on themselves or the world. So what do you think is Chrysalis' reason?

[Kronos the Revenant 1,971]

I thought that in her debut, she made it clear that she's just trying to provide food for her subjects, and Changelings feed off of love, so, in a sense, she's trying to find populations with heavy concentrations of love to feed herself as well as her subjects. The motivation for Chrysalis is basic necessity for survival. Plus, maybe her entire army of Changelings is the entire populace of her kingdom that she's just trying to feed.

Edited July 15, 2016 by Kronos

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,937]

It is honestly a sad thing to think about. Chrysalis technically isn't purely evil. She just wants to provide for her kind, who potentially are all her 'children' in this case. That honestly is a fair thing to want, but sadly it requires her to make really brash decisions.

 

I hope if she makes her second appearance this season, that we see a different side to Chrysalis, because I have a feeling she just isn't the tyrant we are made to believe that she is.

[PiratePony 8,485]

She prides herself on manipulation and not caring about how her actions affect others, though. I have zero sympathy for her. She just wants to take for herself. In the time travel episode, she also prided herself on destroying and taking over everything, even Zecora's small stronghold.

 

Sometimes people/beings are evil just for their pursuit of ultimate power and victory.

[Swifty 249]

There's only one tyrant. Celestia. It's all her fault. Not Luna's fault, not Cadance's fault, but Celestia's fault. Chrysalis is just misunderstood. They destroy their victim's lives, but that doesn't matter. It's just nature. They all have to deal with it. Did i mention that it's all Celestia's fault?

Edited July 15, 2016 by Swifty

[BastementSparkle 20,334]

In the comics, she gives her "Backstory".

 

 She doesn't have a reason, no tragic backstory, no false sense of justice. She was just born that way. She didn't create her changeling's either, they were created along with her. It was a bit of a weird creation.

 

 Anyway, what positive effort could being so evil have? Well, her and her changeling's feed off of love. So, love is food, and seemingly power as well, so that's why they do what they do, she just also seems to enjoy tormenting ponies as well.

[Castle Bleck 19,390]

In the comics, she gives her "Backstory".

 

 She doesn't have a reason, no tragic backstory, no false sense of justice. She was just born that way. She didn't create her changeling's either, they were created along with her. It was a bit of a weird creation.

 

 Anyway, what positive effort could being so evil have? Well, her and her changeling's feed off of love. So, love is food, and seemingly power as well, so that's why they do what they do, she just also seems to enjoy tormenting ponies as well.

 

And even if she started out merely Necessary Evil, it's clear she eventually started getting thrills from it.

[Mesme Rize 15,687]

Well, she kinda did take over and enslaved Equestria in the alternate future. That could be considered a bit evil.

[biologypony 43]

She seems to be a more sentient version of Dementors, which I don't think makes her evil. I mean, feeding off of love isn't the best thing in the poniverse, but the enjoyment of tormenting ponies is an issue (As Base said). It's unfortunate, really, because she has the potential for a great backstory. She could have had a great redemption arc and everything.

[shy0wl 484]

I think Chrysalis is really just a giant mosquito.  Annoying, deadly, and trying to feed their young.  Except in this case they feed off of love, not blood.

[Discordian 6,015]

It's pretty obvious she enjoys hurting others. Could be a case of learning to love what you are instead of fighting your nature but regardless of anything else she shows no remorse for anything she does.

[LHfunk 422]

She's evil because the way she achieves her goals normally hurt others or endanger others. While she is doing what she does for her changelings, she chooses the ways that will harm others and genuinely enjoys doing so. That's just how she is.

[Dreambiscuit 10,472]

It is honestly a sad thing to think about. Chrysalis technically isn't purely evil. She just wants to provide for her kind, who potentially are all her 'children' in this case. That honestly is a fair thing to want, but sadly it requires her to make really brash decisions.

Exactly. 

She's just a character who knows what she needs/wants and becomes so focused (by her passion, culture and the need to feed) that she overlooks the greater good of other species. Any being can become evil, but it's not always so much a matter of choice but of circumstances. I'd call her weak rather than evil because she has simply given in to her impulses rather than civilization and reason. 

Edited July 17, 2016 by Dreambiscuit

[Thrond 3,263]

She gets a thrill from hurting others and wants to amass ever more power and wealth. Needing to feed her subjects is an excuse; I struggle to believe that there isn't a less aggressive solution to that, and even when watching her in the show it's pretty obvious that she enjoys what she's doing. I mean, it's possible that she goes with invasion because it's all she knows - I've been toying with a headcanon that she was a war leader before she ascended to the throne - but she's still a sadistic megalomaniac. 

[Red Cedar 1,408]

Chrysalis is not evil. She is a benevolent ruler devoted to the well being of her race.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,699]

 she eventually started getting thrills from it.

THIS.

Even if she has to get food for her subjects, its pretty clear she gets off on the pain and suffering she causes.

Its like this: If a guy steals to feed himself, one can sympathize wit it. But if that same guy steals to feed himself while laughing at the person they're beating/mugging for money, its kind of hard to not say they're an evil person.

 

 

 

Also, if one takes the comics into account, she also cares absolutely nothing for her subjects beyond them being a means to an end for her; She threw one of her guards into the lava without a second thought just because he had the nerve to speak out of turn.

 

A ruler wants a strong nation simply because that benefits THEM: A dictator profits very little from running their nation into the ground after all. Same here, chrysalis looks after her swarm because they're her power base, not out of genuine love for them.

[Sunny Fox 5,952]

It's not only a matter of food. She also wants power and domination

 

Queen Chrysalis: [laughing] Right you are, Princess. And as queen of the changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects. Equestria has more love than any place I've ever encountered. My fellow changelings will be able to devour so much of it that we will gain more power than we have ever dreamed of!

 

Through feeding, her Changelings gets more powerful. It's clearly not merely a matter of survival, although I suppose it is a part of it. Still, Shelob pretty much had the same motivation: devour everything for my own benefit. Vampires too for that matter. It's her disregard for anyone other than her and her Changelings that pushes her over the evil line.

[El Duderino 879]

She is trying to provide for her kingdom. She just happens to be lying, manipulating, crazy, and just plain mean at the same time who really just sees her subjects as a way to power. She's not necessarily EVIL, but she is still a terrible being. She still deserves no sympathy.

 

Ok I guess that does kind of qualify as evil.

Edited July 17, 2016 by El Duderino

[Jackie Snack 1,498]

If I had a thousand babies, I'd subdue an entire country to feed them.

[Sunny Fox 5,952]

If I had a thousand babies, I'd subdue an entire country to feed them.

And that country would think of you and your actions as evil, at least.

[Jackie Snack 1,498]

And that country would think of you and your actions as evil, at least.

Sickening, isn't it? Can they see that I'm taking over their kingdom as motherly love?

[cmarston1 5,960]

Why can't she just be evil for the sake of it?

I am really tired of all these villain reformations.

[Darthmeyler 8]

I would have assumed that she started off nice, trying to just feed her people. Because of their appearances, however, many ponies probably would have been scared off, so they would have found it harder to get love. As ponies, as a whole, are fearful beings, they would have made sure to find some small countermeasures to make sure some people weren't changelings in disguise. This would have gotten worse over time, making it harder for the changelings to find love to survive. Chrysalis would have turned mad, constantly trying to feed her ever increasing population with an ever dwindling supply. Eventually, this would have driven her to extreme measures (i.e. Canterlot Invasion). When she realised that Canterlot was a wealthy supply, and would have given her the ability to stop the nation's leader from stopping her from feeding her children, she invaded the city in the hopes of giving her children enough food to survive for now. This, of course, would have created a mindset within her already broken psyche, one which gives her the lust to conquer ponykind. In the parallel timeline, this would have taken over her entirely because she wouldn't have been stopped.