Which Villain Defeat Method Do You Prefer? Death, Tartarus or Reform?

[Luminance 2,181]

Villains are in varying angles deserve varying degrees of judgement. Reformations are timely and must develop right or run the possible effects of risks(Discord). Death by no means really equates to the show's moral standpoint but if it's done justly then the justice prevails. Tartarus basically eternal prison, runs weak security measures so any outbreak of Tirek or who knows what's next seem to be just a plot device at best. In the best method, I would like to give a chance to villains to turn a new leaf but if they can't help themselves or others then it's time to serve time in Tartarus or death is the ultimate punishment with defeat.

[GrimGrimoire 4,970]

Regardless, imprisonment is logically only a temporary solution.

 

Not necessarily. By all understanding, if Cerberus had not left his post, then Tirek would have remained imprisoned indefinitely. And who is to say that there are not prisoners within Tartarus locked away with no hope of escape. Also, there are other forms of punishment such as banishment which was used to send Nightmare Moon to the... well... to the moon. It could very well be possible that Celestia does have the ability to go further than Tartarus and remove any evil tyrant to some inescapable void or dimension if need be.

[cider float 2,535]

Why did you not put turning into stone and being sent to the moon? Though the EoH has different punishments for different villains.

[OmegaBeamOfficial 622]

Why did you not put turning into stone and being sent to the moon? Though the EoH has different punishments for different villains.

Well, that's pretty much the same sort of solution as Tartarus.

[Aurora Glimmer 494]

I think there have already been enough villain reformations, so either death or Tartarus for me.

Edited November 2, 2016 by Silvestra Spooner

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,278]

I am most likely in the minority but I highly prefer reformation. I like the idea of forgiving those who have done wrongs and them becoming a friend to others. While not always accurate for real life, it matches the show's entire theme very well and it is definitely the most positive of the 3.

[Vlazamal 338]

Death. It solves many problems - no pony, no problem! If Tirek was sentenced to death the first time...same with discord.

 

It wo uld stop a lot of potential suffering, and most importantly, foster justice.

 

In Starly's timeline, Equetria was destroyed multiple times. In real life, we would of prosecuted her and gave her the death sentence for the lives that she costed. The families destroyed. etc. etc. 

 

Chrysalis, that is, Comic Chrysalis, is a terrible, terrible being. In fiendship is magic her story is...dark.

 

And I'm sure the fandom would put Angel Bunny on this list too.

[RealityPublishing 323]

Considering the incredible villain shortage in Equestria, I'm going to have to say Tartarus. I mean, it does give them a chance to escape and try again in the far future, though it'd still be nice for a few to just run away and come back sooner. Damn, we really do need new villains, don't we? 

[Yufery 205]

I'll go with the minority opinion and say reformation. Thus far, I think all reformations are done well (yes, even Luna's, though I won't turn this thread into an off-topic tangent as to why), and wouldn't mind seeing more. After all, it fits with the show's theme nicely. However, I do agree that some villains may be better off imprisoned, such as Tirek. But, nonetheless, I do think reformation is the best option of them all. I would even go as far as to say I would like to see (though wouldn't be disappointed if they weren't) villains such as Chrysalis or Flim & Flam reformed. 

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

It depends on the villain and how bad their transgressions were. If they have a chance at reformation, I say let them have it. If they choose not to reform and want to continue hurting, enslaving or killing others, then their lives become forfeit, and they deserve to die.

[StormBlaze 991]

no more reforms please. 

had enough of it. I like good strong Villain characters and it annoys me to see so many being reformed, like theres ALWAYS good around us. Life has many battles and conflicts and MLP shouldnt keep taking that away with happy endings. I love recurring bad guys, like im still hoping for a Team Rocket pony antagonist to just keep coming back with schemes and such. 

There need to be more truly evil characters. Not everyone can be friends in the end. 

 

My fave is Sombra and Im still hoping that he will come back.... I really despise the Good King Sombra in the comics. Utterly hate his character. 

[Merrypaws 71]

I think all options are problematic to some degree.

 

Reforms are very much up to par with the show's general theme of friendship and harmony, but I think it gets unrealistic at certain point. Not everyone is willing/able to change.

 

Death/destruction after a long and hard battle against a truly despicable opponent can be very satisfying for the audience, but then again, it means you're then short a bad guy. A good villain must also be a well developed character, and if one needs to come up with a new villain every time there is need for one, any writer will eventually run out of ideas. On the flipside, if the villain is simply made to be a one hit wonder, then they usually aren't all that deep and faceted, so their death hardly has as much impact on the audience. (Case in point, Sombra).

 

Imprisonment seems like a good middle ground between the two previous options, but these days most people who follow any mass media are genre-savvy enough to know that it's basically a setup for "oh no, (name) has escaped and is out for revenge!"

[Vlazamal 338]

Imprisonment seems like a good middle ground between the two previous options, but these days most people who follow any mass media are genre-savvy enough to know that it's basically a setup for "oh no, (name) has escaped and is out for revenge!"

 

Thankfully, Equestrian prisons are more effective than Gotham's. Not to say Tirek won't return, lol.

[Splashee 28,537]

On 10/30/2016 at 3:53 PM, Le Trotteur Sauvage said:

Did King Sombra really die ?

In 2019, YES, he did. And it was brutal even for my eyes!

[Le Trotteur Sauvage 13,049]

2 minutes ago, Super Splashee said:

In 2019, YES, he did. And it was brutal even for my eyes!

Maybe you didn't read some of my posts but, I still didn't see season 8 and 9 so  
Don't worry a lot has already been spoiled 

[Splashee 28,537]

1 minute ago, Le Trotteur Sauvage said:

Maybe you didn't read some of my posts but, I still didn't see season 8 and 9 so  
Don't worry a lot has already been spoiled 

I didn't mean to

 

You need to watch those

[Le Trotteur Sauvage 13,049]

1 minute ago, Super Splashee said:

I didn't mean to

 

You need to watch those

Yeah don't worry !
But you're right ! I do need to watch those...

[Megas 27,063]

I honestly wish the show had the balls to kill off more of their villains, but I also understand that.....it's not really the kind of show for it.

Redemption only works for either the right characters and if it's pulled off well. Some have become worse in hindsight(Discord), and many others were such a mess that they needed multiple episodes just to clean up the mess.

Tartarus is pretty much the equivalent of throwing them in jail, which is harmless enough for a saturday morning cartoon, able to avoid the moral implications of killing them, while not carrying the baggage reforming usually does

[RDDash 18,864]

I don't know, i consider Death to be more merciful compared to fate of life imprisonment in Tartarus/stone/whatever. Reformation or should I say nullification since elements of harmony were just doing whatever the plot wanted were preferable method of punishment because the character needs to have a believable emotional growth in order to be reformed.

Edited May 17, 2020 by RDDash

[ExplosionMare 18,007]

Tartarus cause then the villains can reform to themselves in their own terms

[Sunlight Glisten 368]

Tartarus. Then we get to see them again in all their dark glory. I always thought tirek was great. Then we got season 9 tirek and he was even more awesome. 

[Rushing cash 824]

Depends on the villain, some villains should get reformation, some imprisonment and some death.

Like I can't imagine chrysalis or tirek or sombra reform. 

9 hours ago, Le Trotteur Sauvage said:

Maybe you didn't read some of my posts but, I still didn't see season 8 and 9 so  
Don't worry a lot has already been spoiled 

If you want to watch them, than be careful here, there's a ton of spoilers in forum for someone who did not watch the whole show. 

[JH24 385]

Reform. There's just something satisfying about a character changing his/her ways. Although a villain doing something good for selfish reasons can work too.

Death and Tartarus both share the second spot. Even death doesn't mean a villain is gone forever.

Edited May 21, 2020 by JH24

[TotallyNotNyx 15,563]

Death perhaps. Would be nice to finally see a death in mlp (I'm sure they'll somehow be resurrected sometime later anyway)

I think that's one thing that I loved about Transformers Prime. Season 1 starts off immediately with a death, making it gripping and interesting. Even though you haven;t been watching much, you feel the pain of Team Prime for Cliffjumper's death. And yes ik that Transformers Prime was aimed at a slightly older audience but either way a death in mlp would be nice. 

It doesn;t have to be really be an onscreen death. They could always do something like Jet's death in Avatar:The Last Airbender, where he dies off screen but everyone knows that he dies

Edited May 23, 2020 by Princess of Bolts ⚡🔥⚡

[Evil Pink One 12,972]

Storm king.... Sombra