Why are the new changeling designs overhated?

[ggg-2 3,554]

Yes, they're drastically different than the original design, but that's the dang POINT! And one of the biggest reasons for the hate is hypocritical at best. This reason is because of the color scheme. ......So, brightly colored changelings are bad, but brightly colored technicolor ponies are A-Okay? I like the new designs, personally.

[honk friend 1,987]

The whole concept of a "changeling reformation" is retarded and it's part of the reason why I stopped watching.

Idk if that's what this is about, but the original changeling designs were fine and should be left alone.

[Photon Jet 5,493]

Yes, they're drastically different than the original design, but that's the dang POINT! And one of the biggest reasons for the hate is hypocritical at best. This reason is because of the color scheme. ......So, brightly colored changelings are bad, but brightly colored technicolor ponies are A-Okay? I like the new designs, personally.

I like them too. Nothing wrong with that. 

[Jeric 46,878]

Yes, they're drastically different than the original design, but that's the dang POINT! And one of the biggest reasons for the hate is hypocritical at best. This reason is because of the color scheme. ......So, brightly colored changelings are bad, but brightly colored technicolor ponies are A-Okay? I like the new designs, personally.

People in general are weird about changing things they are familiar with, but yes it appears that their design and color selection is the main reason. It does not bother me that much, but I can't fully accept it as hypocrisy. The variety in the Pony characters are greater in both color selection, and general style. You have a seemingly never ending combination of variance with the ponies. That doesn't appear to be the same with the new Changeling design.

 

Like you, I may not agree with the hate, but I also can't agree with your rebuttal and accusation either.

[Ganondorf8 11,691]

The colour scheme is something you need time to get adjusted to since it is a radical departure from what they were before Thorax started the trend that was adopted by the others. I personally see nothing wrong with the new look of the Changelings though I did need to re-watch the season six finale several times to fully embrace what happened.

[Megas 28,069]

They just look gross and garish

[TBD 17,271]

The design is minor setback, the real probelm is that the whole colony chose  to  be reformed. you would at least expect half  sided with QC and other sided with thorex.  Guess life is  better when everything is cupcake and rainbow  now is it?

[Luminance 2,187]

They ruined on of the most iconic villains in FiM just because for the sake of reforming them and toys.

[cmarston1 5,962]

I generally don't really have a problem with the designs or the reformations of the changelings, but I do admit that if they were to have continued using a cooler color scheme, they would have looked significantly better.

[Concerned Bystander 2,904]

The new design is a bit... loud.  I think the design itself is the lesser part of why people dislike them now.  We should be used to the 'blink and you'll miss it' reformations by now but they still never fail to disappoint.  The fact that the changeling have existed for, centuries?  millennia?  and yet in a single instant the entire hive unreservedly embrace a radically different paradigm, a paradigm that has somehow eluded them for the entire existence of their race.

 

It inevitably comes down to the simple matter that it's a cartoon aimed primarily at younger children, and based on a format that requires resolution of most issues within the allotted twenty two minute period, or the occasional double episode.

 

Personally, I'm just glad that Chrysalis rejected the offer of forgiveness in favour of nursing her hatred and swearing to wreak her revenge upon Starlight Shimmer.  I have little doubt that she will join the new hippy-hive eventually, but hopefully we'll get another good episode of her as a villain before that happens.

[Unlikeable Pony 2,700]

changelings are one of the most beloved Races/parts of FIM due to being a very intriguing and enjoyable (Both visually and THEMATICALLY) group of villains; their entire premise is being Succubi, parasites like vampires or whatnot that feed on others. Never ONCE in the show have the changelings shown themselves to be anything but unrepentant assholes that reveled in their actions: Look at them during the Finale for example, every single one of them, up till they all turn into Beetle things, are very clearly enjoying being douches to everyone.

 

So for them all to just all of the sudden jump from being a bunch of card carrying villains to super nice Beetle people comes off as a bit wrong to many people, PLUS it robs the series of one of its most beloved group of antagonists. It'd be like if Warhammer 40k suddenly had the Dark eldar realize they just needed to be Kind to each other instead of causing pain to others to survive and transforming instantly into a bunch of super nice people Without a single reference to all the evil and suffering they caused and reveled in up to that point.

 

Additionally, people, as a whole, are starting to get upset with the constant reformations of villains, and the changelings come off as a textbook example of a group of beloved villains being turned nice just for the premise of "Friendship solves everything!"

 

 

 

 

The design of them being less visually appealing than their evil designs is just the proverbial Icing on the cake as to why people are having a hard time accepting it. (Honestly, I really hope we get a comic arc "Fixing" this by having at least half of them realise they LIKED being douches and relapsing into their original forms so that only a few of the changelings honestly reform and change their ways)

[Thrond 3,271]

The specific colours are rather jarring, so while I dunno if they're *bad,* per se, they'll take time to get used to. Plus, they're arguably unnecessary. Does every stereotypically "evil" species need to become colourful when they become nice? That seems a tad reductive, and the "scary" designs were arguably cuter. Plus, the way rulers are always physically larger than the rest is a bit strange to me; her relative smallness is probably the only interesting thing about Princess Ember.

 

With that said, and as far as the Changeling reformation goes: Pigeonholing Changelings as a species of "card-carrying villains" also seems reductive; if anything, I wish the show pushed against this even more than it has. We are talking about an entire species here, and it feels more complex and realistic to me to not have the majority of them be evil. And while it does seem a bit too rapid in the grand scheme of Changeling history, I think a group of starving people accepting a seeming end to their hunger isn't all that hard to believe. I'll concede that having a few loyal changelings follow Chrysalis would have made sense, but the idea of not going hungry all the time is pretty darn powerful.

 

I do hope Chrysalis stays evil, though. Just love to hate her.

[SBaby 660]

one of its most beloved group of antagonists.

 

A group of antagonists that have had an on-screen time of approximately 20 minutes total (not counting Thorax, since he was never an antagonist).

 

 

It'd be like if Warhammer 40k suddenly had the Dark eldar realize they just needed to be Kind to each other instead of causing pain to others to survive and transforming instantly into a bunch of super nice people Without a single reference to all the evil and suffering they caused and reveled in up to that point.

 

If EA ever got ahold of the rights to the franchise, that would be what happens in the next game.

 

 

(Honestly, I really hope we get a comic arc "Fixing" this by having at least half of them realise they LIKED being douches and relapsing into their original forms so that only a few of the changelings honestly reform and change their ways)

 

My view on the canonicity of the comics to the cartoon notwithstanding, I do agree that it is likely that there could still be changelings around that weren't reformed.  You don't necessarily need a comic arc to show this.  Just have Chrysalis rebuild her army with changelings that weren't reformed. 

 

Mind you if I were ever put in charge, there would be a major faction of villains and nothing would reform them.

 

 

But yeah, I think it's similar to the hate that Flurry Heart got.  People are just overreacting to what is probably just a minor thing that isn't going to have any long term significance to anything.

Edited February 4, 2017 by SBaby

[Zel 56]

I don't really like the new design because... I think it's a pretty dumb and dull idea.

The point of the Thorax episode was to show what under their appareances they could be good guys... so magicaly transforming all the changelings from a "bad appareance" to a "good appareance" kinda ruin the moral in my opinion. If the changelings would have kept their original designs it would have been a most powerful message in my opinion... They had a change of heart and I think it's a pity that implied a physicial change as well ^^

 

In addition the new designs are... well... the color palet is offputting for some changelings. I know it's because they wanted to make a contrast with the very dark and evil changeling original design, but they go a bit too far in the color department for my taste ^^

[chili 120]

I don't have a problem with their designs, I like deer and they sorta look like some kind of mix between bugs and deer. Pretty cool, if you ask me. And it's nothing weird to me, that the Changelings actually reformed that quickly. Sure, QC is their "Mom" or whatever so that could have been a soft spot for them, to leave her. But how were they to know she wouldn't go along with it? She sort of betrayed her babies and loyal followers? Sure, I'm happy QC didn't reform because she's an awesome villain, for sure. But what if you were starvning and had been starving for such a long time as the Changelings had... Wouldn't you be tempted to want to live a better life, without having to starve anymore? I'm pretty sure I'd go for it as soon as I got the offer, just like they did. It's pretty logical.

[Baykush 328]

I kept reading "overheated" and didn't know what this was about. Anyway, I don't have a problem with them, I actually think they look pretty cool, like bug fairy deers or something like that, but they are extremely colorful compared to the non reformed changelings, and the fact they had to change appearance once they became good was kind of unnecessary. 

[Goat-kun 2,530]

It's not just the color scheme. They look like lame deer sectoid clowns. At least before they looked like evil sectoid minions which was kinda cool. Ayy lmao, those Advent scientists really did a number on the original design. Then again, that's subjective.

 

The second problem is that people like evil changelings being evil, and writers just took that away cause flinedshippu ressonso. I don't care what kind of a moralist fetish you have, if you can't comprehend how that is a negative thing then I can't help you ... No, seriously, if you think most people like this show cause flinedshippu ressonso then go MRI your cranium. They'll probably find elemental harmonoglioma growing in your frontal lobe. Don't worry. Red Pill Therapy is known to reduce its size in less advanced cases.

 

And one last thing: this is fast food fantasy for buck's sake. Entire factions can be evil. That never prevented folks from enjoying such a product. In fact, it awkwardly tends to enrich the experience.

[Whirlwind 1,060]

Because it feels like a pretty rushed design

[Steve Piranha 29,496]

I'm not sure why they are disliked so much . I think they are fine because they are reformed, looking closer to ponies, but also keeping some stuff to tell them apart  

[SBaby 660]

I'm not sure why they are disliked so much . I think they are fine because they are reformed, looking closer to ponies, but also keeping some stuff to tell them apart

 

The reason is because fans of the show have this tendency to overreact to everything.  This is by far, not the first time the fanbase has gone over-the-top over something in the show.

 

 

They had a change of heart and I think it's a pity that implied a physicial change as well ^^

 

I thought the reason they physically changed is because if they hadn't, they wouldn't have been able to survive without draining the love from all the ponies.

 

 

The second problem is that people like evil changelings being evil, and writers just took that away cause flinedshippu ressonso. I don't care what kind of a moralist fetish you have, if you can't comprehend how that is a negative thing then I can't help you ... No, seriously, if you think most people like this show cause flinedshippu ressonso then go MRI your cranium. They'll probably find elemental harmonoglioma growing in your frontal lobe. Don't worry. Red Pill Therapy is known to reduce its size in less advanced cases.

 

Twenty minutes, my friend.  The Changelings had 20 minutes of screen time, out of six Seasons.  I would agree with you if they were in the show more frequently (like if they were main villains that constantly pestered the characters, for instance), but they were essentially one-off characters.  I mean, who cares if they get turned good?  They didn't really do anything with them to begin with.

 

No, what I think the show really needs is a dedicated villain that poses a constant threat, where the main characters actually have to deal with them on a regular basis.  Something like that would definitely work well to shake things up, and it would be a nice change of pace after 7 Seasons of essentially the same routine over and over again.

Edited February 6, 2017 by SBaby

[Sovereign Leader Rarity 12,023]

Because silly season 1 bronies cannot handle even the slightest bit of change when it comes to the show. These new designs are hated because of the same reason that Twilight's castle is hated, except the changelings do not even have a big impact on the show. Stop being silly.

[Fluttery Shy 102]

It's pretty rushed, but it isn't something unusual for a 20 minute episode of the series. I don't care too much about it and I personally liked the concept of Thorax. What I'd like to see are stories with changelings that are overwhelmed with friendship and don't get it and rebels that stick with Crissy. But the general hatred is just stupid, it's okay to dislike something, but pretending the show goes to crap, because new toys is so eh.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 42,202]

I am actually okay with the designs themselves, it is the colors that I heavily question. The choice of colors just seems....really off. The original color scheme was nice and simple and the two colors went together well. The new ones don't mend together anywhere near as good. Maybe the old colors would not have worked with the new design but I feel most other ones would still be better than what we now have.

[Lambdadelta 1,462]

I dont like the color schemes myself but to me, it make more sense than Rainbow Power, it called metamorphosis and it supposed to be a drastic change in appearance and even behavior. Anyone complained about toy stuffs keep forgeting what made this show, get over it. Changelings's sudden change of heart is the result of Thorax transformation, their past behaviors are influenced by their queen and now their freaking genes are mutated, Thorax is their new "queen", their past behaviors and instincts are erased and replaced, they are hive-mind afterall, and again, Changeling reformation made sense to me, they are freaking evil by genes and their genes got Rainbow Mutation, make perfect sense.

 

 

Rainbow Surpreme!!! Anything has less than 3 colors will be Redesigned. Muahahahaha

[Goat-kun 2,530]

Twenty minutes, my friend.  The Changelings had 20 minutes of screen time, out of six Seasons.  I would agree with you if they were in the show more frequently (like if they were main villains that constantly pestered the characters, for instance), but they were essentially one-off characters.  I mean, who cares if they get turned good?  They didn't really do anything with them to begin with.

 

No, what I think the show really needs is a dedicated villain that poses a constant threat, where the main characters actually have to deal with them on a regular basis.  Something like that would definitely work well to shake things up, and it would be a nice change of pace after 7 Seasons of essentially the same routine over and over again.

20 minutes is all one needs, my fellow forumgoer. You forget that original changelings are also used in GoH and IDW comics to greater extent than they are in the show itself while not a single official physical product exists of these new insect clowns. I mean, Boba Fett had how many lines in original Star Wars trilogy? He was just wandering around, looking menacing.

 

I trust you can understand this line of reasoning: if there are no products that warranted the change of changelings, then they were changed for change's sake. How can you expect them to construct a villain you crave for if they gladly sacrifice existing ones for ineffectual plotlines? In order to do that effectively, you'd first need to cut the friendship bullshit and turn FIM into a fantasy that does not bow to an overarching philosophy but just respects it instead.