Does the fandom still like the Mane 6 even today in 2018?

[PCutter 127]

One of my honest fears is that the fans no longer see the M6 as relevant anymore. The M6 may be seen as developing as time passes, but then they can develop new flaws, if I'm right. Maybe they might keep some degree of their old flaws. Sometimes fans see that a flaw not being eradicated completely is a bad thing. Or is it that they still need to continue to be flawed?

Gosh I don't know how to word all this properly.

To cut to the chase, will you forever still like/love the M6 unconditionally, no matter what they say/do or how catastrophically bad they mess up?

I hope I don't come across as overly needy for reassurance about this. I'm just so afraid.

[O-78 28,607]

Of course we do! I like Twilight, Rarity and Applejack, and I absolutely love Fluttershy!

[BastementSparkle 20,326]

Yes, I still love the Mane Six. The kind of screw up it would take to make me hate any single one of them would have to be something extremely, extremely severe, I'm the type to forgive the characters in this show pretty fast, so the writer's would practically have to actually try to make me hate them. I don't think they could make them that bad on accident, and at that point I'd consider them so wildly out of character, I probably wouldn't even hate them, just get really mad at the writers for somehow doing that. So, yeah, at this point the Mane Six have basically got my love no matter what.

 Some people have always disliked certain members of the Mane Six since the very beginning, and some people are always going to dislike certain episodes with them in it, no matter what. That doesn't mean most people dislike or hate them, the Mane Six still get plenty of love from fans, don't worry about it.

Edited September 22, 2018 by BasementSparkle

[King of Canterlot 9,603]

14 minutes ago, PCutter said:

To cut to the chase, will you forever still like/love the M6 unconditionally, no matter what they say/do or how catastrophically bad they mess up?

I believe so, I've always enjoyed the mane 6, some characters more than others, but the fact is is that I still love episodes featuring the mane 6, and yes, we have gone through a lot of story ideas in these past 8 seasons of the show, but that just makes the writers have to get more creative and create more interesting plot lines for episodes with the mane 6. I also think they're able to keep mane 6 episodes interesting cuz the writers introduce new characters into the show (such as Mudbriar) that the characters of the mane 6 can interact with. So as far as I'm concerned, I'll always enjoy the mane 6, I'll always love Rainbow Dash as my favorite mane 6 pony (so far nopony else is as awesome as her to take that spot from her, at least in my view) so if your worried about people in the fandom not liking the mane 6 anymore, I don't think you've gotta be worried, after all, the mane 6 are kinda the face of the fandom itself    

[FirePuppy 735]

Personally, after 8 out of 9 seasons, I no longer want to see a significant number of Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, or Rainbow Dash episodes. Sure, most of them don't get along often with one another, but if they keep on getting more episodes like they did this year, they'll easily wreck Fluttershy and Pinkie's chance of being on the show as usually intended.

Edited September 22, 2018 by FirePuppy

[SaburoDaimando 1,196]

Mostly its Rarity and Pinkie Pie.  But I do want to see focus on other characters.  Especially Starlight Glimmer and the Student Six.

[Oleks 1,993]

1 hour ago, PCutter said:

To cut to the chase, will you forever still like/love the M6 unconditionally, no matter what they say/do or how catastrophically bad they mess up?

I will like them as long as episodes with them keep me entertained. And I highly doubt that I'll ever really dislike them, as the Mane Six are the reason I got into this show, and even if they become uninteresting and boring, I'll still have very fond memories of them.

[Sparklefan1234 171,581]

2 hours ago, shyabetes3939 said:

Of course we do! I like Twilight, Rarity and Applejack,

 

I watch MLP:FiM to see these three ponies so, yes. 

Edited September 22, 2018 by Sparklefan1234

[Castle Bleck 19,376]

I'm pretty sure.

After all, I still do.

Edited September 22, 2018 by A.V.

[The Kaeya Simp 13,989]

HOW COULDN'T YOU?!
TWILIGHT IS PART OF THE MANE6!
OR HER REAL NAME, 
Her Royal Highness Princess Twilight Sparkle the First, bringer of friendship, love, joy and also with a really really hot sexy ass!

[Sepul-Coloratura 762]

I'm dying for more Mane 6 focused episode. It is safe to say I mostly care about them. I frankly don't care about background characters (even derpy) and the young six, the pillars. My problem with the show is that there are not enough Mane 6.

3 hours ago, PCutter said:

The M6 may be seen as developing as time passes, but then they can develop new flaws, if I'm right. Maybe they might keep some degree of their old flaws. Sometimes fans see that a flaw not being eradicated completely is a bad thing. Or is it that they still need to continue to be flawed?

And dealing about flaws is not the only way to make a new episode about the character or develop a character. 

Revealing flaws is a good way to introduce a grounded, relatable character, overcoming flaws is a good character arc, setting up flaws can be a nice way to build a character around an archetype.

But that's not all there is. Sometimes people get better and less flawed. Some people are very close to having no flaws. And that can still be an interesting character. Being a boring character is not always because of they lack flaws. Star Trek Next Gen has a pretty flawless captain. Hunter x Hunter has a flawless protagonist. There are lots of things to make a new good episode without bringing flaws on the table.

The reason why The Mane 6 seems to be less relevant nowadays is because they are written badly. They also have less episodes. The writers don't know what to do with them from subtle details to big scale stories. That's why.

Edited September 22, 2018 by Sepul-Coloratura

[Twilight Luna 31,408]

25 minutes ago, Sherbert Music-Guard said:

HOW COULDN'T YOU?!
TWILIGHT IS PART OF THE MANE6!
OR HER REAL NAME, 
Her Royal Highness Princess Twilight Sparkle the First, bringer of friendship, love, joy and also with a really really hot sexy ass!

Don’t forget the mother of your child. 

[The Kaeya Simp 13,989]

16 minutes ago, Twilight Luna said:

Don’t forget the mother of your child. 

Yeah! That too!  

[bigbertha 414]

I definitely don't care about them as much as I did in seasons 1-6. Since then, it seemed like the writers didn't and still don't know what do do with them. There are exceptions, but these last two seasons have not been doing the mane six any favors in making them interesting to watch. The show is less focused on finding new things for the mane six to do and more focused on introducing new characters. This started in season 5 but it didn't become too noticeable until season 7 where the mane six really stagnated and now continue to stagnate. Even the fun episodes with them don't reveal anything new or interesting about them except for "A Health of Information", "Once Upon a Zeppelin", "The Maud Couple", and "The Washouts".

[Truffles 2,033]

The problem with the Mane 6 is all of their character arcs are complete. The show makes up new stuff to give them things to do, and for the most part, it has worked out. The episodes they shine in now (outside of the premieres and finales) are the ones where they are mentors and not the cause of a problem. One only has to look at episodes like "Non-Compete Clause" where an old, seemingly resolved issue is shoehorned into the plot in an attempt to give focus to a pair of characters. (And then the new student side characters have to come in and save them anyway.)

I still think the Mane 6 are great characters, but the stories can't revolve around a problem they create any more. Spike learned this the hard way in earlier seasons. If there's a problem, it has to be a new one that springs naturally from their existing idiosyncrasies, or from parts of their past that haven't been explored yet. The old way of pairing off characters that grate on each other in certain situations has worn out its welcome.

[heavens-champion 1,905]

44 minutes ago, Truffles said:

The problem with the Mane 6 is all of their character arcs are complete. The show makes up new stuff to give them things to do, and for the most part, it has worked out. The episodes they shine in now (outside of the premieres and finales) are the ones where they are mentors and not the cause of a problem. One only has to look at episodes like "Non-Compete Clause" where an old, seemingly resolved issue is shoehorned into the plot in an attempt to give focus to a pair of characters. (And then the new student side characters have to come in and save them anyway.)

I still think the Mane 6 are great characters, but the stories can't revolve around a problem they create any more. Spike learned this the hard way in earlier seasons. If there's a problem, it has to be a new one that springs naturally from their existing idiosyncrasies, or from parts of their past that haven't been explored yet. The old way of pairing off characters that grate on each other in certain situations has worn out its welcome.

I still don't see how they can't develop anymore.

[Van123 29]

the fandom with mane 6 does not matter. what matters is our staff with some shows that we like.

[Thrond 3,263]

I can't really speak for anyone else... the mane six are still the characters I care about most in this show, even if relatively few of their roles have interested me that much recently. I object to the idea that, because the mane six have completed their "arcs," they can't exist in anything other than mentor roles. For an example, part of why I was so excited about the friendship school was because it gave the mane six something new to do, and watching them adjust to those new roles could lead to interesting new character arcs, and present them with distinct challenges which might not have been possible in the previous status quo.

But maybe that would be too hard for the target audience to relate to, and maybe that's why stories involving the mane six tend to be increasingly contrived and oversimplified. "Non-Compete Clause" was more or less what I'm asking for, but it spiralled in the wrong direction, maybe because it was too focused on teaching a moral to children. I don't want to see the mane six cause problems due to immaturity or selfishness, but I don't want to see them become moral exemplars either. I don't want them to become secondary characters in their own stories. 

Sometimes I tell myself that I don't care anymore, but the truth is, I still care a lot about those characters. I'm not sure I would still be watching this show if that weren't the case. Every once in a while, with an episode like "Horse Play," the show reminds me that this show can still make these characters interesting. I still care enough to hope for those moments. 

[PCutter 127]

@Sepul-Coloratura@bigbertha@Truffles

I still don't see the M6 any differently than I used to years ago. Or is it because I'm wearing so called rose-tinted glasses? I say that I'm sure that the M6 are still relevant. They are NOT badly written to me

[bigbertha 414]

14 hours ago, Truffles said:

The problem with the Mane 6 is all of their character arcs are complete.

I don't think this is the problem. Characters don't just have one arc. If they did, sequels to movies that focus on the same character would have nothing to do. The issue for me is that the writers don't want to make new arcs for them. Rarity opened her boutiques so instead of having Rarity deal with that pressure or have anything else like that, they make Fluttershy screw around in the Manehattan boutique for a little bit. Instead of having Fluttershy's animal sanctuary span across multiple episodes, it's finished within the same episode it's introduced. 

As proven by episodes like "The Maud Couple", there are still interesting new sides to these characters that the writers can use. Instead of fully capitalizing on this, the writers seem more interested in making underdeveloped new characters and season long story arcs.

[MangoFoalix 24,969]

Personally, I think this is a silly concern. Of course people still absolutely love the mane six. I don't think people will ever not like them.

[TBD 17,254]

I have no problem with them except for fluttershy. 

[Truffles 2,033]

On 9/22/2018 at 5:24 PM, heavens-champion said:

I still don't see how they can't develop anymore.

On 9/23/2018 at 6:54 AM, bigbertha said:

I don't think this is the problem. Characters don't just have one arc. If they did, sequels to movies that focus on the same character would have nothing to do. The issue for me is that the writers don't want to make new arcs for them. Rarity opened her boutiques so instead of having Rarity deal with that pressure or have anything else like that, they make Fluttershy screw around in the Manehattan boutique for a little bit. Instead of having Fluttershy's animal sanctuary span across multiple episodes, it's finished within the same episode it's introduced. 

As proven by episodes like "The Maud Couple", there are still interesting new sides to these characters that the writers can use. Instead of fully capitalizing on this, the writers seem more interested in making underdeveloped new characters and season long story arcs.

Perhaps I was too broad with my opening statement "The problem with the Mane 6 is all of their character arcs are complete." I didn't mean to imply they couldn't develop any further, but that the arcs that the audience essentially "grew up" with, completed and new stuff had to be found for them to do - with mixed results. Sometimes it works out great, other times it falls flat. I guess my point is when they try to revive old flaws in their characters, the results have been more miss than hit. So I agree giving them new goals is a good idea to avoid problems like that.

Though I have to admit, I've been enjoying the focus switching to the students in the latter half of S8. There's something compelling about the chemistry the 6 of them have with one another that is fresh and reminds me of the early seasons with the Mane 6. Yet they're not redoing the same conflicts or morals, so it's been really fun to watch.

 

[heavens-champion 1,905]

I don't hate them. I still find them interesting.

[PacificGreen 1,163]

Just because the Mane Six have already gone so much development and change, doesn't mean we don't love them anymore.   The fandom without a doubt still likes them as they are. Just look at all the fanart that gets posted every day.

That said, you may feel differently from me, but I actually won't mind if they start drifting away from the Mane Six and start focusing on newer or BG characters- the Student Six, the Pillars, Thorax, Sunburst, Ember, whatever. It gives them time to keep expanding this world while keeping a sense of continuity with the previous seasons. Even then I'm sure the Mane Six could take a role as teachers throughout Equestria, just as they've done in the past with the map missions and the friendship school.

To be realistic, though, I think the Mane Six will always be the focus of the show for as long as it keeps going, so I wouldn't worry about them becoming irrelevant anytime soon.

What you would have to worry about is them becoming irrelevant once G5 rolls around...rumor has it it's going to be a hard reboot.