Should G5 have more male characters?

[Plonkett 345]

Since G4 had a dominant female cast, do you think G5 should increase the number of female characters? I'm not just talking about minor characters like Big Mac and Shining Armor, but I mean ones who would get more screen time. If Hasbro is going to want to appeal to a wider audience, then I think it would be reasonable if they did that. It would also be a good way for fans to create more straight ships since people don't have to keep resorting to lesbian ships like with G4.

Edited November 20, 2018 by vgmaster9

[Clod 8,295]

I believe that G5 should have more male characters, yes. The main characters are all female in G4. That isn't really a problem, but it would be better if there was a male character or two in the main group.

[Passion 3,484]

I wouldn't mind this at all, but I do not deem it completely necessary either really. As long as they don't decide to introduce those weird, totally overused romance tension elements (Like EQG did), I'm absolutely fine with this.

I mean, looking at student 6, they seemed to have no brakes in here anymore and nobody batted an eye.

[Jeric 46,866]

This is a question phrased wrongly. Gender and race should only be selected to support or elevate a character. You should strive to create a compelling character without these attributes, and if delving into the character you find that it makes sense to be a female or male, you go with that.  Otherwise going with some pulled-from-the-air number is basically an arbitrary assignment of charactistics that can limit your creation. 

[Plonkett 345]

1 minute ago, Jeric said:

This is a question phrased wrongly. Gender and race should only be selected to support or elevate a character. You should strive to create a compelling character without these attributes, and if delving into the character you find that it makes sense to be a female or male, you go with that.  Otherwise going with some pulled-from-the-air number is basically an arbitrary assignment of charactistics that can limit your creation. 

I'm not saying we should have them just for the sake of having them, it would just be nice to have some diversity (not talking about the SJW kind) in the cast.

[Castle Bleck 19,387]

6 minutes ago, vgmaster9 said:

it would just be nice to have some diversity (not talking about the SJW kind) in the cast.

In which case, don't call it "diversity" (they seem to have ruined that word); just call it something casual, like "mixing things up."

[Oleks 1,993]

I wouldn't mind a few more male main characters, but I think that having mostly female main cast is one of the features that define this series, and I'd rather have it stay this way instead of shifting to 50/50 or so. 

[Goat-kun 2,530]

It should have better male characters. And by that I mean marketable to young boys. Mane 6 should stay girls.

[Plonkett 345]

8 minutes ago, Oleks said:

I wouldn't mind a few more male main characters, but I think that having mostly female main cast is one of the features that define this series, and I'd rather have it stay this way instead of shifting to 50/50 or so. 

Yes that is true. There are still some male characters that could appear frequently, like the CMC.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,162]

Honestly; it really depends on how the characters are implemented. It was nice seeing male characters in the Pillars and Student 6, but that doesn't mean the actual main set of characters would benefit from such a dynamic. As it stands we do have young male fans of G4, so I could see Hasbro maybe adding a main male to the mix for G5, but at the same time I still see MLP leaning mostly female.

As it stands G4 has done fine with it's main cast so I see little reason for change.

[Flutterstep 47,199]

I think it would be nice to include some male characters, so long as they’re not tokens. The show could gain many benefits if it were marketed more to males as well as females.

[MangoFoalix 25,040]

I mean, I don't exactly mind more male characters. The only questions is why does it matter if there is or not?

[Plonkett 345]

29 minutes ago, TwilySparky said:

I mean, I don't exactly mind more male characters. The only questions is why does it matter if there is or not?

I mean, it doesn't HAVE to have more male characters. I would just like to see the show go beyond what G4 has done.

[Quinch 1,120]

2 hours ago, A.V. said:

In which case, don't call it "diversity" (they seem to have ruined that word); just call it something casual, like "mixing things up." 

I'm partial to the term "parity", when referring to amounts or ratios. You can have a diverse cast while still falling prey to tokenism.

[RDDash 19,212]

More male characters is fine but on the other hand there is going to be an issue of a Spike syndrome, that particular character is a perfect supportive character but weak solo episodes character.

[Sondash Studios 4,857]

Definitely, we need more of those macho guys to show off to the girls!

[Ganondorf8 11,414]

I wouldn't mind seeing more male characters so long as they are given appropriate character development.

[Hardway Bet 96]

It's not every day you hear people asking for more male representation.

But no, I don't care either way. What I would like to see, are more prominent recurring characters. I think MLP has been very good about this already, but I want an even more prominent secondary cast - not every episode has to be about the main characters, and for a show about friendship, I think it would be interesting to explore the dynamics of different overlapping groups of friends.

[Dreambiscuit 10,323]

I don't see any point of going out of the way to predetermine a set percentage of male vs female ponies. G4 didn't lose any fans for being predominantly female. Some male fans probably even prefer it that way. If the idea is to create more possibilities for romantic pairings, there hasn't been a huge push for that in G4, even where males are available, so I don't think that's a huge priority anyway, especially since Hasbro is probably still focused on the young demographic to sell their toys.

Trying to decide by committee too many details about gender and specific personality types is only going to drain the spontaneity out of any future shows. I'd avoid such thinking.

[Black Sabbath 2,486]

No, male characters dominate practically every other half decent show so it's a bit refreshing to watch something with only female main characters

18 hours ago, vgmaster9 said:

it would just be nice to have some diversity (not talking about the SJW kind) in the cast.

What's the difference between this and "SJW" diversity?

[Misty Shadow 7,981]

I would like for G5 to have more male characters, granted that they are well-written. I think the main cast should always be female-dominated, as part of the show's identity is 'girl power' and appealing to young girls. So long as they would not be putting in more male characters just for the sake of it and giving young girls admirable male models to feel inspired by, I think that would be pretty cool.  

[ExplosionMare 18,096]

No. Maybe a few more males in general would be nice, but not as main characters.

[Vlazamal 338]

Regardless of moral/social implications, gynocentrism has basically proven to be the meta in western animation as of lately. I'd like male representation but it would likely be less profitable for the franchise based on what I've seen.

[Feather Spiral 1,892]

I agree that we need recurring males who're developed as characters rather than just... kinda "there" for support and representation. I'm not seeing much peer pressure on girls to avoid shows catering to boys, so it wouldn't do any harm.

Before anything else, I want to see more of the already-established males; we barely know anything about their childhoods and motives, certainly not as much as we know the girls. We were shown how Big Mac became a man stallion of few words, or things about Shining's youth when Twilight prepared him that surprise nostalgia bedroom, or how Soarin got a nickname like all the other Wonderbolts. But we really don't know much about the boys on their own; before their sisters were born, before Soarin joined the academy etc.

Once that's done, they could consider having new guys, but that's really not as important as their quality as characters.

(I'm not sure why there's a few people who bring up "50/50 ratio" or "predetermined numbers"? Because seeking more male mains doesn't necessarily mean desperately trying to match a specific ratio or meet a quota.)

[Mirage 24,774]

I think it's a rather complex question (no pun intended for girls...well maybe ).

I personally adore the female dominance for a couple of reasons - 

1) females are cute

2) females are inspirational heroes

I say - leave the girls. It's MLP's 'brand' to be female dominant, so I think it should stay that way.

The last thing I want is something that mirrors a something like new Die Hard movie with a female hero - because it just isn't fair for a male to 'own' a certain character...the battle of the sexes is so fucking lame. Staahp it.

By the way - where is Wonder Man!