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Is Spike becoming a background character?


CastletonSnob

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Spike only had a brief cameo this episode, while Starlight got a speaking role. And Starlight took his place in Fame and Misfortune. He's barely had any screentime this season.

Is Starlight replacing Spike? Do you think he'll become a background character next season? Will he even get any episodes?

Why is he being given so little screentime after a great season 6?

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He's not going to become a background character, especially when they still wind up giving him at least one episode per season. For crying out loud, he's with the mane six on the adventure in the movie. They just often don't need Spike for stories that don't involve him.

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It's always the same with you spike fans isn't it?

He needs to not be in one episode and already he is in the background. He is the main in one good episode and he suddenly is a important as twilight and starlight.

If it was for you, he should be staring in every episode and even then you wouldn't be happy.

Sorry that it sounds a bit harsh, but this stuff has been going on for years now. Spike is Spike, not more or less.

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46 minutes ago, MegaSean45 said:

He's just buying his time! He's gonna get a HUGE amount of appearances in the future with a much bigger role! We just gotta wait!

I kinda want an episode of Spike, Ember and Thorax just hanging out next season. Or even better, solving a friendship problem. 

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The writers might not know what to do with Spike every now and again given he can be tricky to write for--the same can be said about all characters--but I have every confidence that he will continue doing what he's always been doing.

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1 hour ago, VG_Addict said:

I kinda want an episode of Spike, Ember and Thorax just hanging out next season. Or even better, solving a friendship problem. 

Ahhum! Hello! We have Triple Threat for that. And don't say it doesn't count, because all 3 characters had appropriate screentime.

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6 minutes ago, Ganondorf8 said:

The writers might not know what to do with Spike every now and again given he can be tricky to write for--the same can be said about all characters--but I have every confidence that he will continue doing what he's always been doing.

He's really not that tricky to write for! For me, he's easy! I would tell the writers if I could: just keep doing with him what you've been doing back in season 6! They're just not thinking hard enough for him at times! Just do with him what they've been doing with every other character! ;)

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SO, I don't want to start any sort of fandom panic, as this is just barely speculation, but Spike has been suspiciously absent this who,e year of MLP, not just FIM, but EQG as well. There has been a lot of Mlp this year, season 7, EQG specials, the summertime shorts, and he's barely been in any of it.

Hes only had, what, three major appearances this season, Celestial Advice, Flurry of Emotions, and Triple Threat. He had two lines in A Royal Problem, and I think that's it for supporting roles. He had only three lines in Dance Magic, and unless I'm forgetting something, didn't have anything else in the other two specials. He had zero lines in the summertime shorts.

This kind of absence isn't the result of writers, it's almost always the actor. Best case scenario, Cathy Wesluck is just busy, or is working on something else lately. Worst case scenario, the reason we haven't heard anything about Uncommon Bond is because it's Spikes farewell episode.

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1 minute ago, ShootingStar159 said:

SO, I don't want to start any sort of fandom panic, as this is just barely speculation, but Spike has been suspiciously absent this who,e year of MLP, not just FIM, but EQG as well. There has been a lot of Mlp this year, season 7, EQG specials, the summertime shorts, and he's barely been in any of it.

Hes only had, what, three major appearances this season, Celestial Advice, Flurry of Emotions, and Triple Threat. He had two lines in A Royal Problem, and I think that's it for supporting roles. He had only three lines in Dance Magic, and unless I'm forgetting something, didn't have anything else in the other two specials. He had zero lines in the summertime shorts.

This kind of absence isn't the result of writers, it's almost always the actor. Best case scenario, Cathy Wesluck is just busy, or is working on something else lately. Worst case scenario, the reason we haven't heard anything about Uncommon Bond is because it's Spikes farewell episode.

I STRONGLY doubt that last one! Maybe Cathy is just prepping for Spike's huge role in season 8! If Spike is actually leaving, they'd give him a TON of episodes at once!

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4 minutes ago, MegaSean45 said:

I STRONGLY doubt that last one! Maybe Cathy is just prepping for Spike's huge role in season 8! If Spike is actually leaving, they'd give him a TON of episodes at once!

Not wanting to throw fuel on a fire I don't think is actually there, but, he didn't appear in the season 8 animatic either.

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5 minutes ago, ShootingStar159 said:

Not wanting to throw fuel on a fire I don't think is actually there, but, he didn't appear in the season 8 animatic either.

That's because he's busy doing something else! He's not leaving the show. He's much too beloved by fans, and Cathy loves being Spike! Why should she quit?

What I think might happen is Spike leaving the Mane Six to become Equestria's offical ambassador to non-pony races, and getting his own segment on the show filled with his own little episodes, much like the CMCs! That might mean less common Spike appearances, but at least more starring episodes than he usually has! I can handle this! Spike would be achieving so much more than he was being Twilight's assistant! :D

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8 minutes ago, MegaSean45 said:

That's because he's busy doing something else! He's not leaving the show. He's much too beloved by fans, and Cathy loves being Spike! Why should she quit?

What I think might happen is Spike leaving the Mane Six to become Equestria's offical ambassador to non-pony races, and getting his own segment on the show filled with his own little episodes, much like the CMCs! That might mean less common Spike appearances, but at least more starring episodes than he usually has! I can handle this! Spike would be achieving so much more than he was being Twilight's assistant! :D

I don't think Spike will leave the show. He might not be as popular as the Mane Six, but he has a good number of fans.

I think most fans like Spike, just not his episodes.

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5 minutes ago, MegaSean45 said:

is Spike leaving the Mane Six to become Equestria's offical ambassador to non-pony races

Why would he leave? It isn't like our world where ambassadors live in the country they deal with. Pinkie is the ambassador to the yaks and she still lives in Ponyville and not Yakyakistan. There is no reason why, even if he was given some new title, he wouldn't still be living in Ponyville most of the time, just like Rainbow Dash is often seen around Ponyville unless there's something specifically related to the Wonderbolts going on.

Plus I don't think Spike would want to have a job that makes him have to leave Ponyville, Twilight, and everyone else. It was explicitly stated in The Crystal Empire that his greatest fear would be being sent away.

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2 minutes ago, Marimo said:

Why would he leave? It isn't like our world where ambassadors live in the country they deal with. Pinkie is the ambassador to the yaks and she still lives in Ponyville and not Yakyakistan. There is no reason why, even if he was given some new title, he wouldn't still be living in Ponyville most of the time, just like Rainbow Dash is often seen around Ponyville unless there's something specifically related to the Wonderbolts going on.

Plus I don't think Spike would want to have a job that makes him have to leave Ponyville, Twilight, and everyone else. It was explicitly stated in The Crystal Empire that his greatest fear would be being sent away.

Yeah that would be pretty far-fetched for him to leave. It's just that he hasn't hung with the Mane Six lately so it seems he's getting his own life outside them. Still hanging with Twilight of course, and at certain times Rarity, but haven't been hanging with the rest of them. It all started in season 6 with befriending Starlight, Ember, Thorax, and hanging with Big Mac and Discord. Something is happening with him, we just don't know what, just something.

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1 minute ago, MegaSean45 said:

It's just that he hasn't hung with the Mane Six lately so it seems he's getting his own life outside them

But that makes no sense chronologically. In the future he's getting his own life outside them, so that's the reason why he isn't hanging out with them now? If something was keeping him away from the others, it would've been established first. Really, it's just the writers don't really need him usually. Since season 1 he's just sort of been absent, like how in Sonic Rainboom he just wasn't around when everyone else cleaning up the library and then later he didn't go on the trip to Cloudsdale.

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1 minute ago, Marimo said:

But that makes no sense chronologically. In the future he's getting his own life outside them, so that's the reason why he isn't hanging out with them now? If something was keeping him away from the others, it would've been established first. Really, it's just the writers don't really need him usually. Since season 1 he's just sort of been absent, like how in Sonic Rainboom he just wasn't around when everyone else cleaning up the library and then later he didn't go on the trip to Cloudsdale.

I'm not talking about him being absent in an episode. I'm talking about him growing up. It's been established quite clearly of the CMCs growing up. Spike is starting to grow out of hanging with ponies he doesn't have much in common with, and starting to hang with those he relates to more. Why actually make him part of the Mane Six if he hasn't had any combo episodes with half of them? Or even have his own element of harmony? He seemed to be so natural and extra happy when he hung out with those he hung with in season 6! The more he hung with the Mane Six, the more he seemed like the seventh wheel, like much in season 4 for example!

That's why I think he would be happier with his own group of friends! That's when he's at his best! Either that or with Twilight, but she's family, she don't count in this regard. Their bond is automatically superior to all else, because who can be closer than family? :)

I think we should stop here because I forgot where I was going with this! XD

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1 hour ago, ShootingStar159 said:

SO, I don't want to start any sort of fandom panic, as this is just barely speculation, but Spike has been suspiciously absent this who,e year of MLP, not just FIM, but EQG as well. There has been a lot of Mlp this year, season 7, EQG specials, the summertime shorts, and he's barely been in any of it.

Okay, let's be fair here: the Spike in Equestria Girls is a dog. There's only so much they can have him do. I'd probably like the recent Equestria Girls stuff more if there was more of cute doggy Spike, but his absence is understandable. 

 

Anyway: I've noticed there doesn't appear to be as many Spike episodes this season as usual, but that might not be due to anything other than the writers not having enough Spike stories they liked more than other stories this season. It doesn't seem like he's interacting with the mane six as much lately, but has he ever been a regular part of mane six storylines? I honestly can't remember very well. 

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8 hours ago, VG_Addict said:

Spike only had a brief cameo this episode, while Starlight got a speaking role. And Starlight took his place in Fame and Misfortune. He's barely had any screentime this season.

Is Starlight replacing Spike? Do you think he'll become a background character next season? Will he even get any episodes?

Why is he being given so little screentime after a great season 6?

It has been pointed out in other threads that all the main characters have been getting less screen time this Season. So Spike getting less is not surprising. I have said myself that Spike tends to only be around when the focus is on him or Twilight, and Twilight herself has been absent a lot this Season.

I would also like point out that Spike has never been quite on the same level as the Mane 6, and hasn't had the same prominence. He is a sidekick character after all.

However, after stating that, I believe that there is a shift in the dynamic occurring. I agree that Spike has been bumped from the #1 assistant slot, and that this is part of Spike breaking out, which has been happening since Season 6.

Maybe they are trying to figure out how to make Spike work in this new dynamic, but I don't see any reason to think that Spike would be relegated to the background, or to not get any more episodes. There is still a lot of ground to explore with his character.

2 minutes ago, AlexanderThrond said:

Anyway: I've noticed there doesn't appear to be as many Spike episodes this season as usual, but that might not be due to anything other than the writers not having enough Spike stories they liked more than other stories this season.

Spike had one episode in Season 1 and one episode in Season 5. So this is nothing unusual.

1 hour ago, VG_Addict said:

A little off-topic, but anyone else think Spike has mostly gotten over his crush on Rarity?

It hasn't been a major focus since Season 4, but has popped up from time to time. The latest being "Honest Apple" this season. As of this episode he is still very much enamoured with her, so the answer would be no.

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1 hour ago, VG_Addict said:

A little off-topic, but anyone else think Spike has mostly gotten over his crush on Rarity?

I figured "Inspiration Manifestation" was a major turning point, and I don't remember it being that big a deal in the two seasons after it, but given "Honest Apple," it's clearly still there. 

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6 minutes ago, AlexanderThrond said:

I figured "Inspiration Manifestation" was a major turning point, and I don't remember it being that big a deal in the two seasons after it, but given "Honest Apple," it's clearly still there. 

Still there, but it'll be gone sometime after the movie! It's a joke at this point, so why is it still there?

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