Should MLP Have Had A Fallen Hero?

[Denim&Venöm 19,755]

And what do I mean by that? I mean a character who was good in the beginning becoming a villain either subtly through their own nature or through tragic circumstance. 

A character that Twi and company have known to be good but must now confront them as an adversary. 

Should the show have done this and who would've been best to exemplify this trope? Or would it have been too dark for a TV-Y show? 

The only example I can think of is Midnight Sparkle, but that feels like a cop out, as Midnight felt more like possession and brainwashing, rather than SciTwi's choices leading her to becoming the main villain. Luna is another example, but we're introduced to her as a villain, so we never see her fall from grace. Only her redemption. 

[Sparklefan1234 174,788]

I've wanted Twilight Sparkle to have a "turn to The Dark Side" during a Season Premier or Finale for years, does that count?

[King of Canterlot 9,604]

I think there may be an upcoming case of this "Fallen hero" in MLP

Spoiler

I've heard of a possible "Fallen hero" in MLP season 8, I can't say for certain because the episodes haven't been released yet, BUT it does look like Twilight takes on this student for her magic/friendship school in the beginning of season 8, and then that same student locks Twilight up and tries to destroy Twilight's magic/friendship school at the end of season 8. Again though, the episodes haven't been released yet, not even in the leaks, though the season 8 synopsis has been released so that's what I'm going off of. 

 

[ShootingStar159 2,157]

I really don’t see any of the main six turning on each other, kinda defeats the whole friendship can solve any problem theme the show has. Even if it’s through some magical trickery, it won’t last very long before they’re fixed.

The closest the show has gotten was Disord’s betrayal. But that was not only resolved very quickly, nobody really trusted Discord that much to begin with, so it’s not exactly that satisfying of a “fallen hero.”

Daybreaker is a good ‘what if’ moment, but it’s doubtful it will go beyond Starlight’s insane dreams.

Starlight has the power to be a threat, and a different way of thinking from the rest of the group, but she’s lived that life before and would never go back through her own will, so some mind control shenanigans would be required (ironic). Even so, I want to see her get closer to the main cast, the last thing I want is for her to be an enemy again, even if it isn’t by choice.

Luna would also never turn again by her own free will.

The rest of the cast lacks the power or the screen time to be effective “fallen hero’s,” so unless they introduce a new character just for this, I don’t really see it happening.

[Kadeda 178]

Only people i could possibly see it happening to is ... Twillight... and Celestia maybe. Doubt it would ever happen but if it was going to happen... It would be one of them. We saw what happens if Celestia turns evil this season... It could be foreshadowing.

[ShadOBabe 19,014]

5 minutes ago, Kadeda said:

We saw what happens if Celestia turns evil this season... It could be foreshadowing.

Except that was in Starlight’s imagination.

[Nye 1,652]

What if... the Mane Six realize they are so strong, that they take over the world?

 

Thats a joke by the way.

 

A cool Fallen Hero type thing would be possibly Twilight deciding to get the Alicorn amulet from Zecora to study, but then she puts it on on accident, and she becomes corrupt.

[Prospekt 11,027]

Well... there's Luna and Stygian. But they fell from grace a very long time ago and ended up being redeemed. There's Rarity in the comics, who turns evil during an early arc. There's Sombra in the comics, who wasn't necessarily a hero per se, but rather an innocent colt, who turned evil.

But on the actual show, outside of flashbacks and tales of old? It hasn't happened before. I'd be interested to see it.

[KH7672 1,604]

10 minutes ago, Nye said:

What if... the Mane Six realize they are so strong, that they take over the world?

Nah, only Sunset Shimmer has that ability. She's utterly flawless and too good for the likes of these trouble-causing pony lives.

[Singe 2,111]

I would say the idea of a character who gains power by having friends and they become controlled followers that pledged their loyalty. So this character makes friends/followers and becomes more powerful by drawing their friendship essence.

Someone who twists the idea of friendship is magic.

Edited January 23, 2018 by Singe

[Ganondorf8 11,432]

Technically, we've had one in the form of Princess Luna becoming Nightmare Moon due to her jealousy overwhelming her. The reason I say this is a technicality is because she was changed back to normal and has since learned from what she did despite a few hiccups along the way.

[Kadeda 178]

44 minutes ago, ShadOBabe said:

Except that was in Starlight’s imagination.

I don't see how that matters. What matters is that it was showed... period.

[ShadOBabe 19,014]

47 minutes ago, Kadeda said:

I don't see how that matters. What matters is that it was showed... period.

Actually it matters a lot. It never actually existed in history or reality. It was the product of one frightened pony’s bad dream.

You’re trying to argue that if I dreamed I was the Ruler of the Universe, then it s foreshadowing that I will one day be Ruler of the Universe.

Bow down, everyone. @Kadeda has deemed me Ruler of the Universe.

Actually, no, I’ve never dreamed that. But when I was a child I had a dream that I was disguised in a Barney costume to hide from giant killer insects in a labyrinth. It had as much foreshadowing as Daybreaker has.

Edited January 23, 2018 by ShadOBabe

[Denim&Venöm 19,755]

6 hours ago, Ganondorf8 said:

Technically, we've had one in the form of Princess Luna becoming Nightmare Moon due to her jealousy overwhelming her. The reason I say this is a technicality is because she was changed back to normal and has since learned from what she did despite a few hiccups along the way.

I still wouldn't count it.  We never see her fall fall from grace. Only her redemption. If anything, she's the exact opposite in a redeemed villian.

[Kadeda 178]

9 hours ago, ShadOBabe said:

Actually it matters a lot. It never actually existed in history or reality. It was the product of one frightened pony’s bad dream.

You’re trying to argue that if I dreamed I was the Ruler of the Universe, then it s foreshadowing that I will one day be Ruler of the Universe.

Bow down, everyone. @Kadeda has deemed me Ruler of the Universe.

Actually, no, I’ve never dreamed that. But when I was a child I had a dream that I was disguised in a Barney costume to hide from giant killer insects in a labyrinth. It had as much foreshadowing as Daybreaker has.

Your problem is trying to go by the reality of the show... not the fact that Hasbro created an evil Celestia. I was stating that the fact that they created an evil Celestia to show could mean something... that is all. The reality of the show does not matter.

[Divine plywood 1,248]

12 hours ago, Nye said:

A cool Fallen Hero type thing would be possibly Twilight deciding to get the Alicorn amulet from Zecora to study, but then she puts it on on accident, and she becomes corrupt

This is the only way I could think writers could be able make this happen. We also saw something similar in "Inspriration Manifestation" in season 4, where Rarity founded that spellbook and began corrupted.

While I found this concept of fallen hero intriguing, show don't really have time to exetute this kind of plotwist properly. Now that FiM's lifespan is reaching it's end, writers have enough loose ends to deal with. They probably try to give all major supporting characters at least some screen time and make final boss fight as epic as possible. These kind of preparations to end an entire series take times and lot of episodes. If one of the Mane Six or princesses would turn evil, whole season would have to be sacrificed solely for this storyline.

Given that writers have used and recycled these evil sentinent amulets and other Deux ex machinas already several times, I would wager that they keep their distance for now. However, if something like this would happen, they would probably use some side character and get it over with in one single episode like before.

There are enough bad guys in pony universe writers can use, no need to make new from one of the protagonists.

 

Edit: Just remembered those King Sombra's mind controling helmets. Turning Pinkie into brainwashed terminator and killing machine would be interesting possibility

Edited January 23, 2018 by Divine plywood

[Hierok 11,832]

Isn't Luna a kind of fallen hero?  She was good and was loved by her subjects (even while she didn't realize). Her for she became evil. You know the rest. 

[Singe 2,111]

Spoiler

A good example of this would Varian from the Tangled Series. He does something that gets his father trapped in crystal and Rapunzel turned him away to help him save his father. He becomes the main villain for the season after that.

http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Varian

This would the kind of thing FIM would need to do.

 

[MAIKUN 262]

HELL YES!!!! I want Starlight to become permanently evil again, I mean, it's the best idea since Tangled: The Series on Disney Channel! That would be SWEEEEEEEET!

[Denim&Venöm 19,755]

On 1/23/2018 at 2:24 PM, Hierok said:

Isn't Luna a kind of fallen hero?  She was good and was loved by her subjects (even while she didn't realize). Her for she became evil. You know the rest. 

Again, it doesn't really count since we never saw the fall. Her redemption was literally the second episode. She's pretty much the exact opposite of a fallen hero. 

[Hierok 11,832]

8 minutes ago, Denim&Venom said:

Again, it doesn't really count since we never saw the fall. Her redemption was literally the second episode. She's pretty much the exact opposite of a fallen hero. 

It doesn't matter if we saw it or not. If we are going to look from Equestria she is a fallen hero. For us she isn't one. 

[Denim&Venöm 19,755]

Just now, Hierok said:

It doesn't matter if we saw it or not. If we are going to look from Equestria she is a fallen hero. For us she isn't one. 

Within context of the show she is a fallen hero, but in terms of the overall story, portrayal and narrative, she's a redeemed villain. It's like only watching the original Star wars trilogy and saying that Vader is a fallen hero.

[Hierok 11,832]

2 minutes ago, Denim&Venom said:

Within context of the show she is a fallen hero, but in terms of the overall story, portrayal and narrative, she's a redeemed villain. It's like only watching the original Star wars trilogy and saying that Vader is a fallen hero.

Well, that's a convincing example. I actually think Darth Vader is a fallen hero, who later got redeemed. It matters how you look at it I guess.

[jackfettgames 50]

I haven't watched this episode, but wasn't this executed on a slice-of-life scale with Moondancer?  She was referenced as hosting a party in the pilot, and the episode that focused on her had her reject Twilight's friendship, making her an antagonist for that episode.

Otherwise, I don't think "fallen hero" would fit into any of the characters' arcs well, and I don't think it will be implemented on a large scale.

(I'll just write this here because I've already spent a while writing this, but I think the "Iron Will" episode (can't remember its name) fits Fluttershy into "fallen hero" quite nicely.)