Are there to many characters in MLP?

[LordDiscord 289]

I feel like MLP keeps adding in way too many characters, and are starting to overcrowd the show. What I mean is, before Seasons 5 and 6, how long had it been since we saw Trixie or Gilda? How long has it been since we had an episode focused around the Cake Twins? How long has it been since we have seen Zecora? How long since we have gotten to see the Cakes themselves outside of background appearances. It seem that the more main characters and background characters they add, the longer it takes before we see other characters. It just feel like there are too many characters to have to worry about to fit in episodes. I mean I don't mind new characters, but they have got to add a better balance, because, now that Gilda is reformed, how long will it be before we see her again? Will we ever see the Sea Serpent from the first episode of season 1 that reappeared in the 100th episode special again? I don't know how many more seasons, we have but we already have so many characters that have not been seen for seasons, and that is due to so many characters constantly being added.

[Xeltor23 704]

Too many characters for a kid's show, maybe, but as a story, don't think so

[Concerned Bystander 2,903]

Not every character warrants regular appearances and a 'fair share' of screen time.  Where it would be good to see Steven Magnet again we really aren't losing out by him not making regular appearances, and the same applies to most of the other bit players in the cartoon.  Sure, we've only seen Gilda a couple of times, and like every other character she has her fans, but we do we really need to be seeing her on a regular basis?  I would argue that we don't.

 

Many programs work in the same way, they bring in a 'character of the week', and if that character warrants a repeat performance then they bring them back later on, otherwise they just leave them.  Not every character will be deemed worthy of multiple appearances.

Edited November 2, 2016 by Concerned Bystander

[ponykittylonelygirl 73]

I feel like there's too many 'fan favourites' as silly as that sounds. Like they're just writing shows around the popular characters rather than writing good shows about our main characters.

(This mainly comes from my boredom of Starlight and how many episodes have been centered on here).

I want stories about the Mane 6, the CMC and our Alicorn princesses. Other characters I love, but they don't need to be in the center all the time. Though I agree we need more Zecora!

[cmarston1 5,959]

With how characters like Zecora and especially Celestia have been treated and left behind, I would say that there are.

[Ganondorf8 11,370]

That's an issue I've had with the show for some time now. Because they continue to add new characters every season, many of them have since become forgotten or have been lacking in character development in favour of the more established characters. This results in the fandom having to take up the gauntlet and provide backstories for these characters. The reverse is also true regarding established characters. Some of them have been ignored and are now forgotten because they want to add in new characters. Perhaps the writers should cut back on adding new characters and work on improving what they already have.

[Megas 27,765]

I don't think so, all we really need are the mane 6, the CMC, and Spike. More appearances with other minor characters, or some returning every once in a while would be nice, but otherwise, we're fine with what we have.

 

Only characters that need to show up more are the Princesses, for obvious reasons, and Starlight, especially if they want to actually get people to care about her instead of pulling more bullshit like ELTSD and TWABA

Edited November 2, 2016 by Megas

[cider float 2,538]

I've been saying this for years. Too many characters can dilute the substance of the overall lore and story. For instance this cartoon can use less Starlight Glimmer, any other character could have taken her place in the Season 6 finale for one. 

[KiraTakahashi 748]

I think there really is too many, heck too many to keep up with...just like pokemon.

[cider float 2,538]

What the buck happened to characters like Zecora, Mayor Mare, Pipsqueak etc.? They're completely forgotten. That's what I'm talking about not only does the overall lore gets diluted lots of characters are forgotten just because they wanted to try and make us like Starlight Glimmer and to have her replay all of Twilight's lessons and then make her a hero at the end.

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

No, not in my opinion. It helps make the world feel populated by recognizable faces.

 

If you really consider there are not nearly as many characters of any substance out there compared to the vast sea of background characters we have seen. The large majority of them all are just names and personalities given to them by the fandom.

 

The show will mostly likely always be about the mane 6, but one thing I appreciate is their interactions with the side characters and the background characters. It creates a much more realistic world if one could call it that. Having little minor interactions with all these characters also helps define the main cast and their overall relationships within their respective environments. Take Ponyville for example... it just feels like home in a sense... not just because of the mane 6, but because of the background characters so many have grown to know and believe in... even those who only appear for a few seconds of screen time throughout several episodes, help make Ponyville feel like a real place with real characters... not just generic ponies that all look alike, say nothing, and walk back and forth in the background just to put anything on the screen so that it does not look like a ghost town.

 

A lot of the more recent additions that have appeared have mostly been do to cutie map episodes and CMC troubles... which means we may or may not ever see them again. They helped define the episode and may have been pretty interesting, but most certainly they are not needed in the show anymore. That being said, everyone has background characters they like and want to see more of, everyone wants to see certain characters given more screen time just because they are curious about them, and want to learn more.

 

I love the mane 6, but would love to see interactions with more characters out there when it comes to friendship lessons or whatever. I have seen several people asking for several characters to return, and right now, the comic is the best chance to see some of those interactions through their Friends Forever book... but I would like to see the show test some of the waters as well. For example, imagine instead of an episode with RD and AJ going on some silly map quest to follow the same plot most of us can see coming from a mile away... they travel with a character like Octavia who the fandom adores, and yet has very little characterization at all to her name. The story could be a musical issue that challenges all three characters and both gives us a good AJ and RD story, but also gives some characterization for Octavia.

 

Honestly though, they don't have to be the stars of an episode to make people wonder about them, to write about them or in the end to care about them, and as long as people keep caring and wondering I think we will keep seeing more.

[Thrond 3,263]

This show exists to sell toys. There can never be too many characters. 

 

On top of that, because of the episodic nature of MLP's stories, the fact that it introduces too many characters to develop properly doesn't have a significant impact on the show. These characters (usually) serve their purpose, and then are left for viewers to either attach to (in which case they buy merchandise and/or make fan works) or to just move past. All that truly matters is the original ten main characters and Starlight Glimmer; everyone else is ultimately irrelevant. For instance, I'm really not all that bothered that Zecora's mostly disappeared, given that she was never a particularly important character. She only ever existed to further stories starring the main characters, so I never became overtly invested in her. 

 

This results in the fandom having to take up the gauntlet and provide backstories for these characters. 

I don't see this as a bad thing. It allows for a vibrant fanfiction community. I know not everyone cares about that, but I think one of this show's strengths is that it's an absolutely fantastic platform to build fanfiction off of. 

[Ganondorf8 11,370]

I don't see this as a bad thing. It allows for a vibrant fanfiction community. I know not everyone cares about that, but I think one of this show's strengths is that it's an absolutely fantastic platform to build fanfiction off of. 

 

I don't see it as a bad thing either so I apologize if my words made it sound that way. Fanfiction writers have proven to bring forgotten characters into the limelight by giving them personalities you'd never think of them having given their lack of presence in the show.