Why do fans call Tempest edgy?

[heavens-champion 1,905]

What do they mean when they call Tempest edgy? What does that even mean?

Edited December 25, 2018 by heavens-champion

[Midnight Solace 5,132]

Maybe it's because of her horn... 

[Castle Bleck 19,364]

Because she looks like somepony from Hot Topic.

[Mirage 24,770]

There are two meanings:

edg·y
/ˈejē/Submit
adjective
1.
tense, nervous, or irritable.
"he became edgy and defensive"
synonyms:    tense, nervous, on edge, anxious, apprehensive, uneasy, unsettled; More
2.
INFORMAL
at the forefront of a trend; experimental or avant-garde.
"their songs combine good music and smart, edgy ideas"
synonyms:    cutting-edge, on-the-edge, fringe, avant-garde, innovative, original, offbeat; gritty
"an edgy new novel"

 

I would say she falls under definition 1 in the Movie. She wanted to get her horn back more than anything, so yeah, she was anxious enough to be quite edgy. 
 

[Brony Number 42 10,069]

I don't think she is edgy.

[ShadOBabe 18,997]

@Mirage gave the formal meaning, but online, "edgy" is often used ironically to mock things that seem like they are deliberately attempting to be edgy, rathen than just being edgy naturally. Something deliberately subversive, harsh, mean, or dark, but often unecessarily so.

Go to YouTube. Find a nice, sweet video. Then look for the one or two people in the comments trying to pervert the video into something dark or distrubing, or perhaps just unloading some rather vicious, and out-of-place criticism. Then immediately watch for the responses saying something along the lines of, "Careful you don't cut yourself on that edge..."

Tempest, while obviously awesome once you actually see her in action, very much invokes the feeling of a kid's oh-so-awesome-and-bad@$$-donut-steel-u-gais OC. Her dark and angry personality that clashes with the sugarbowl world of Equestria, her spiked up hair, classic (but admittedly overused) over-the-eye scar, broken horn... All things that the fandom was doing LOOOONG before Tempest ever came around.

Tempest is amazing, but she's also hilariously edgy, to the point that it's almost parody. 

Edited December 25, 2018 by ShadOBabe

[Megas 27,662]

Just look at her. She's the embodiment of an insecure 12 year old boy trying to make their own My Little Pony character; a mohawk-like manestyle, kicks bombs, dark colored, looks like a badass fighter, armor, broken horn, scar across the eye, her name is fucking Tempest Shadow. They tried to make a character look badass but forgot that they were working on universe about candy colored ponies spreading friendship

[heavens-champion 1,905]

1 hour ago, Mirage said:

There are two meanings:

edg·y
/ˈejē/Submit
adjective
1.
tense, nervous, or irritable.
"he became edgy and defensive"
synonyms:    tense, nervous, on edge, anxious, apprehensive, uneasy, unsettled; More
2.
INFORMAL
at the forefront of a trend; experimental or avant-garde.
"their songs combine good music and smart, edgy ideas"
synonyms:    cutting-edge, on-the-edge, fringe, avant-garde, innovative, original, offbeat; gritty
"an edgy new novel"

 

I would say she falls under definition 1 in the Movie. She wanted to get her horn back more than anything, so yeah, she was anxious enough to be quite edgy. 
 

But neither of them describe her.

 

4 minutes ago, This Whomps said:

Just look at her. She's the embodiment of an insecure 12 year old boy trying to make their own My Little Pony character; a mohawk-like manestyle, kicks bombs, dark colored, looks like a badass fighter, armor, broken horn, scar across the eye, her name is fucking Tempest Shadow. They tried to make a character look badass but forgot that they were working on universe about candy colored ponies spreading friendship

What would you prefer?

[ShadOBabe 18,997]

1 minute ago, This Whomps said:

Just look at her. She's the embodiment of an insecure 12 year old boy trying to make their own My Little Pony character; a mohawk-like manestyle, kicks bombs, dark colored, looks like a badass fighter, armor, broken horn, scar across the eye, her name is fucking Tempest Shadow. They tried to make a character look badass but forgot that they were working on universe about candy colored ponies spreading friendship

Pretty much.

But what's fun is that the makers of the film are not 12-year-old children. You know they were sitting in the conference room during production one day and said, "Okay everyone, we need to brainstorm the antagonist pony character. Go to the internet, search 'dark mlp oc', and write down the most common features you see. IGNORE ALICORNS. We will dump them all into a hat, get super drunk at the office party, and then pick them out of the hat and make every artist on the team doodle said edgeloard pony. The best design gets put in the film."

2 minutes ago, heavens-champion said:

But neither of them describe her.

What would you prefer?

Tense, unsettled, offbeat, and gritty all describe Tempest perfectly.

But you seem to think being "edgy" is a complaint, rather than just an observation.

[heavens-champion 1,905]

Just now, ShadOBabe said:

Pretty much.

But what's fun is that the makers of the film are not 12-year-old children. You know they were sitting in the conference room during production one day and said, "Okay everyone, we need to brainstorm the antagonist pony character. Go to the internet, search 'dark mlp oc', and write down the most common features you see. IGNORE ALICORNS. We will dump them all into a hat, get super drunk at the office party, and then pick them out of the hat and make every artist on the team doodle said edgeloard pony. The best design gets put in the film."

Tense, unsettled, offbeat, and gritty all describe Tempest perfectly.

But you seem to think being "edgy" is a complaint, rather than just an observation.

To be fair, when ever I hear the word edgy, it's usually said in a way that makes it sound like dramatic and serious characters are bad ways to write a character, not to mention the 'edge' jokes.

[Castle Bleck 19,364]

1 hour ago, A.V. said:

Because she looks like somepony from Hot Topic.

That said, she's definitely not ugly.

Just want to clarify.

[Megas 27,662]

1 minute ago, heavens-champion said:

To be fair, when ever I hear the word edgy, it's usually said in a way that makes it sound like dramatic and serious characters are bad ways to write a character, not to mention the 'edge' jokes.

Because more often than not, they're poorly executed characters that look out of place in that universe. Shadow the Hedgehog is the textbook example of this, he's black and red, brooding, and tries to be dark and badass, and often swears to push his game's E10 rating. But the series he comes from is about colorful talking animals trying to thwart the plans of a mad scientist with the personality of a saturday morning cartoon villain

In contrast Kratos from God of War is an edgy character, angry, vengeful, full of red marks and battle scars, but he comes from a series he's well suited for and fits into it's universe.

That's where the former two fail, they're basically trying to put someone like Kratos into My Little Pony

[heavens-champion 1,905]

1 minute ago, This Whomps said:

Because more often than not, they're poorly executed characters that look out of place in that universe. Shadow the Hedgehog is the textbook example of this, he's black and red, brooding, and tries to be dark and badass, and often swears to push his game's E10 rating. But the series he comes from is about colorful talking animals trying to thwart the plans of a mad scientist with the personality of a saturday morning cartoon villain

In contrast Kratos from God of War is an edgy character, angry, vengeful, full of red marks and battle scars, but he comes from a series he's well suited for and fits into it's universe.

That's where the former two fail, they're basically trying to put someone like Kratos into My Little Pony

I slightly agree with you on Shadow (what is about works of fiction with anthropomorphic animals that make people think they shouldn't be serious? Guardians of Ga'Hoole and The Secret of NIMH never had that problem), but Tempest? Eh, she doesn't have any guns or motorcycles, nor does she swear, so I don't see it with her.

[ShadOBabe 18,997]

14 minutes ago, heavens-champion said:

To be fair, when ever I hear the word edgy, it's usually said in a way that makes it sound like dramatic and serious characters are bad ways to write a character, not to mention the 'edge' jokes.

That’s probably because for most older fans, they’ve seen all these “edgy” traits in a million and one different forms of media. It’s old hat and the novelty isn’t there anymore.

I don’t mind because I find it so over the top that it reverts right back to being entertaining.

[Steve Piranha 29,425]

11 minutes ago, A.V. said:

That said, she's definitely not ugly.

Just want to clarify.

I have to agree. She’s definitely one of the most attractive horses there, in a more rough, dark, and powerful way, but still attractive  

[Mirage 24,770]

54 minutes ago, heavens-champion said:

To be fair, when ever I hear the word edgy, it's usually said in a way that makes it sound like dramatic and serious characters are bad ways to write a character, not to mention the 'edge' jokes.

Oh I get it. Well, compared to the Storm King, who was probably among the worst villains ever created, Tempest was quite layered with consideration. Tempest is a neat character, she has a favorable following I think. There's no need to worry about what some of the fans think.

The Movie as a whole couldn't hold a candle to the quality of the show. I think we've all gotten past that. If they bring Tempest into the show, then we'll see what she's really like.

 

[Black Sabbath 2,486]

46 minutes ago, heavens-champion said:

but Tempest? Eh, she doesn't have any guns or motorcycles, nor does she swear, so I don't see it with her.

You don't need guns or motorcycles to be edgy, so I don't really see your point.

Like, everything about Tempest, from her backstory to her personality to her design, just screams edgelord. I don't think it's fair to completely ignore that just because she isn't the same kind of edgy character that Shadow is. 

[heavens-champion 1,905]

1 minute ago, Black Sabbath said:

You don't need guns or motorcycles to be edgy, so I don't really see your point.

Like, everything about Tempest, from her backstory to her personality to her design, just screams edgelord. I don't think it's fair to completely ignore that just because she isn't the same kind of edgy character that Shadow is. 

What's so edgy about a tragic backstory?

[Oleks 1,993]

Fans started calling her edgy since the very moment her pictures were first shown. It’s because of her looks, naturally – the color scheme, the scar, the horn. I too thought that she’s unnecessarily edgy, but that was before I saw the movie. Now I think that Tempest has the perfect amount of edginess in her. And the fact that her being edgy was never actually played for laughs is astonishing.

[Dashy 4 Ever 4,835]

Maybe because she looks like the type of pony that would slam you into the wall if you annoy her.

[They call me Loyalty 1,948]

My understanding of edgy is giving a personal image that does not necessarily represent reality, often defined by exaggerated traits as a mean of compensation for a personal shortcoming.

The persona does not necessarily represent the actual person. Meaning the behaviour is more akin to acting or pretence.

For example, there's this man dressing in black overcoat, with dark eyeliner, chains, spiked choker. This person is also obese. He doesn't want others to interpret it as such, and thus adopts a personality or trait that would detour attention from the issue.

The thing is, it only highlights it.

Tempest's personality is certainly exaggerated in my view, she reminds me of those edgy anime character with overdone traits. Perfect for teenagers.

[ToastedScone 397]

I'm pretty sure it's her colour palette,scar and snapped horn that give people the "edgy" vibe. When put up against the Mane Six on the design front, she DOES stand out quite significantly in terms of colours (she's far darker, and has no pastel whatsoever in her palette) and she is also one of the very few (I think?) canon characters to have a scar, which makes her stand out a lot.

Her personality isn't TOO edgy, though. I think people are mostly just judging their opinions off of her design alone.