My thoughts about when characters don't face their consequences

[Sepul-Coloratura 765]

Recently I watched Ant-man and the Wasp, and I realized one big thing about me when it comes to judging characters.

Spoiler

In that movie, there was the ghost-woman who could move through solid objects and turn invisible. I hated her and just wanted a good old super hero punch at her jaw to knock her out the whole time. You know why? She didn't take her consequences. She was being a brat all the time and acted selfish while risking lives of innocent people. But she got cured, forgiven, and nothing else. Not that I wanted for the good characters lynching her, but the story should somehow punish the bad and reward the good.

In Disney's Coco, the protagonist is the worst character I have ever seen in any animated motion picture.

Spoiler

He is a thief, uses others for his own goal and abandons them as quickly as possible, his opportunism is contemptible. He never faced his consequences. He got what he wanted and everybody praised him as a hero. How many people actually wanted to see him gamora off the stage at the climax?

The character must face the consequences of it's own actions. And this aspect is deeply connected to the story itself, as if all characters are deeply connected to it's own story. Of course there are lots of things to consider when judging a character, but I would focus on this aspect.

When it comes to the characters of MLP, I don't like Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Not just because they were cruel and mean to the CMCs, but because they were characters that hardly suffer their consequences. The only time I saw it happen was when Diamond Tiara was forced to wear a rabbit suit and do a thing that she made fun of early in Family Appreciation Day (S02E12). If shallow dumb mean bully characters built only for the sake of being mean bullies could face their consequences and get what they deserve every time, they could be characters that we love to hate and we care about, look forward to see them again. But most of the time, they didn't. Diamond and Silver were being totally harsh, and they went away with it. The problems they created was left for others (CMCs) to solve. It helps making us hate certain characters and root for other characters, but it isn't satisfying that much. But it doesn't mean that all dumb bully villains are bad characters. After all, we love villains like Biff in Back to the Future or Harry and Marv from Home Alone.

Trixie faced the consequences of her actions. So even she is still pretty much the same old cocky mare, we love her. (and of course she actually changed) Think of how much people hate Pinkie Pie for her often causing problems but not facing the consequences. Good that she has good episodes that shows she's not totally an inconsiderate crazy pony. Rarity faced her consequences. She got dirt on her dress, felt guilty for her actions, fell from Cloudsdale. Guilda, Nightmare Moon, Zephyr Breeze, Chrysalis, Discord, all faced their consequences. Do you know who didn't faced it's own consequence? Starlight Glimmer. She didn't got what she deserve, didn't fixed her pathological behavior of overreacting, she got what she always wanted, she got forgiven, she's friends with the princess and everybody loves her. I couldn't clearly explain some of the parts why I disliked her in the first place, but I think I am more clear about why.

Flim Flam brothers seems like they face their consequences every time because they always get caught, but the truth is quite the opposite. The fact that they come up with another scam every time with no remorse and no damage taken, and most ponies except for the mane six gets fooled every time proves this. If they have had faced their consequences in the first place, Flim Flam brothers couldn't show up the second time as crooks. The only time they suffered the consequence was in Best Gift Ever. (but some might say this wasn't a scam, ponies were just stupid to buy it) Sludge got away from what he did without any harm to himself, but he got revealed and won't be welcomed anymore. And that's why I don't want him to return. It won't work and it would be stupid.

Cozy Glow and Chancellor Neighsay are particular cases because one goes to prison in hell and the other gets locked up by a pony and gets rescued by non-pony creatures. You could say they get what they deserve. But in this case, there are way more bigger flaws about them. Maybe I will talk about it later.

I like the moment when the villain steps on his own banana peeling and flips upside down. Or in a brutal final fight scene where the bad guy's own weapon backfires on him like Ben-Hur. Bruce Lee kicking a guy to a spear. I like to see characters get what they deserve for the sake of a good satisfying story and likable good/bad characters. That's why the moment Spike gets a cup of ice cream from Twilight in P.P.O.V. (S06E22) is so memorable and satisfying to me. And if the story is more of a character driven story, this becomes more important. Choices that characters make are important. If there is no consequences to an action, the choices becomes irrelevant, the character becomes irrelevant, the story becomes irrelevant.

I'm curious about what you think about consequences in MLP, or stories in general.

[BastementSparkle 20,335]

I don't really care about "Consequences" that much really, at least when it comes to reforming characters. What I care about when it comes to a character reforming is them acknowledging their own mistakes and being willing to change, and putting in the effort to try and change and be better. Somepony like Starlight's fine with me, because she stood down of her own accord, was willing to accept a punishment if it was handed down to her, and has put effort into trying to change and be a better person. Yes, she still slips up and falls into old habits and makes mistakes, but that's to be expected for someone who's still learning.

 In my mind, punishments and consequences should ideally serve a kind of purpose. It should be to show someone how their actions affect others, to teach them a lesson, to make them understand something, to make them make amends for what they've done, or in drastic cases, to lock them up or keep them away from others for those people's safety. If somebody already feels bad, already understands what they did wrong, already is trying to make amends for their actions, and isn't too much of a danger to anyone else anymore...what is the purpose of a punishment, or "Consequences" then? There should be a purpose in my mind, if you're just doing it to make yourself feel better or because they "Deserve" it...I think that's a scary mindset, personally.

 In the case of really bad guys, like say...a murderer, I can kind of get the point of laying down consequences even if they are sorry and willing to change, but I think that still falls under the category of a punishment for "Safety". You're punishing them to try and protect others ideally.

As for unrepentant baddies, well, like I said, the punishments should serve a purpose. Reformative or protective. If we're just talking about "Narrative" consequences rather than in-universe ones, I think those are fine. It can be a little cathartic to see some bad guy get a bit of bad karma for his actions, but really only to a point for me. I don't really see any kind of satisfaction out of people suffering, even if it is "Deserved".

[Once In A Blue Moon 896]

1 hour ago, Sepul-Coloratura said:

When it comes to the characters of MLP, I don't like Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Not just because they were cruel and mean to the CMCs, but because they were characters that hardly suffer their consequences.

Didn't they? Diamond Tiara had a pretty rough time in Crusaders of the Lost Mark, and one thing that episode tried to do was put a perspective on why she's a bully. She was clearly pressured by her parents and didn't have a happy home life and so she made bad choices. It's not the whole 'karma' thing about always getting your comeuppance, it's about recognising that someone is influenced and shaped by their environment and might not deserve a punitive response.

That's not to say there aren't cases where actions lacking consequences does rather annoy me, but perhaps consider that contrition is an action that should have a consequence too - and Diamond Tiara's realisation and subsequent choice in Lost Mark should have positive consequences. My view is that a genuine desire to change merits forgiveness. Idealistic? Definitely, but perhaps a children's show can indulge in some idealism from time to time.

...

@BasementSparkle  definitely put that in a better way than I did.

Edited February 10, 2019 by Once In A Blue Moon

[Goat-kun 2,531]

The characters in MLP are fake as shit. Even Bronies who spout religious bullshit about Harmony and Friendship do not honestly believe it can work outside the show itself. After all, I do exist within this community and my shitposts carry with them levels of unprecedented suppression

 

OPs reaction is human. The reactions of FIM characters are less so. Programmed drones; puppets whose thoughts are chained to one single, unnatural, unreachable, unnecessary message. This is not even about the consequences demanded by law. It's about the change in relationships that have nothing to do with courtly justice.

[Megas 28,139]

In Ant-Man And the Wasp, they made it really clear that Ghost, despite being the villain, they wanted to help cure rather than defeat

In Coco, De La Cruz was exposed in both the World of the Dead and of the Living as a fraud, and was forgotten about. In that universe is the equivalent of true death

In MLP Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon has faced the consequences several times, even if it wasn't that pronounced(like getting punched in the face)

 

The only character I have a problem with not facing the consequences is Discord, who gets worse in each appearance, to the point in Matter of Principals where he's rewarded for torturing everyone. Fuck that shit right off

Edited February 10, 2019 by This Whomps

[BastementSparkle 20,335]

4 minutes ago, This Whomps said:

The only character I have a problem with not facing the consequences is Discord, who gets worse in each appearance, to the point in Matter of Principals where he's rewarded for torturing everyone. Fuck that shit right off

I still like the way Starlight handled that, actually. I can get where you're coming from, but I think looking at as him being "Rewarded" for acting out is the wrong way. Discord was acting how he was because he felt left out and unincluded, pushing him further away like Starlight originally did was just worsening the issue. Apologizing and including him was the right way to handle it, in my opinion. Not because Discord was justified in acting the way he did, but because Starlight realized what he "Needed" was to be included, and that if she offered him that it might solve the problem. Just punishing him would probably only make him angrier and worsen things in the long run. She put Discord's need to be included over the "Need" for a punishment.

 Now, one could argue that maybe a punishment in combination with offering him inclusion would then be the ideal way to go, though I wonder what punishment you could really give to him? Maybe have Flutters give him a stern talking to, that's really about the only thing you can do, short of locking him up in stone again which would be horribly overkill. Also, wouldn't really say he get's worse each appearance, as I think his most recent appearances prior to that episode all actually showed him in a pretty positive light mostly.

 But I've had this argument about this episode a million times, don't think I'm gonna stop having it anytime soon.

 

[Castle Bleck 19,453]

Reminds me of my #1 gripe with Kingdom Hearts III...

 

Master Xehanort gets the mother of all @$$pull redemptions, and an insultingly peaceful death -- despite years of acting like a Complete Monster, causing fates worse than death, exploiting already-offered forgiveness, showing no remorse for any of it, etc.

Edited February 10, 2019 by A.V.

[Sepul-Coloratura 765]

11 hours ago, Once In A Blue Moon said:

Didn't they? Diamond Tiara had a pretty rough time in Crusaders of the Lost Mark, and one thing that episode tried to do was put a perspective on why she's a bully. She was clearly pressured by her parents and didn't have a happy home life and so she made bad choices. It's not the whole 'karma' thing about always getting your comeuppance, it's about recognising that someone is influenced and shaped by their environment and might not deserve a punitive response.

That's not to say there aren't cases where actions lacking consequences does rather annoy me, but perhaps consider that contrition is an action that should have a consequence too - and Diamond Tiara's realisation and subsequent choice in Lost Mark should have positive consequences. My view is that a genuine desire to change merits forgiveness. Idealistic? Definitely, but perhaps a children's show can indulge in some idealism from time to time.

...

@BasementSparkle  definitely put that in a better way than I did.

I have a more episodic perspective when talking about MLP stories because of what MLP is and how it is consumed by viewers and also my thoughts of  how most series should work in general. Each episode should be satisfying in some way and has it's own conclusion.

That the episode itself was created for the sake of redeeming Diamond Tiara, I don't think it's a good way eventually. It was surely an afterthought and was fixing a problem that was their own mistake. When it's not satisfying in the first four seasons, that's what we got. And after that episode, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon completely evaporates from the show. I don't think it was that of a good episode.

11 hours ago, BasementSparkle said:

Reformative or protective. If we're just talking about "Narrative" consequences rather than in-universe ones, I think those are fine. It can be a little cathartic to see some bad guy get a bit of bad karma for his actions, but really only to a point for me. I don't really see any kind of satisfaction out of people suffering, even if it is "Deserved".

I was talking about a narrative consequence. When someone chooses A instead of B, the story should reflect it. If that person gets both A and B, that's just cheap.

Edited February 11, 2019 by Sepul-Coloratura

[Sepul-Coloratura 765]

10 hours ago, This Whomps said:

In Ant-Man And the Wasp, they made it really clear that Ghost, despite being the villain, they wanted to help cure rather than defeat

In Coco, De La Cruz was exposed in both the World of the Dead and of the Living as a fraud, and was forgotten about. In that universe is the equivalent of true death

In MLP Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon has faced the consequences several times, even if it wasn't that pronounced(like getting punched in the face)

 

The only character I have a problem with not facing the consequences is Discord, who gets worse in each appearance, to the point in Matter of Principals where he's rewarded for torturing everyone. Fuck that shit right off

The Ghost was inconsiderate of other lives and just cared of her own life and pain. She choosed to act that way. I understand why she acts that way, but still she is a selfish person. And she didn't help anything eventually.

In Coco, I was talking about Miguel.

Can you give me examples of Diamond Tiara suffering from her consequences?

The Matter of Principals, it was a very disappointing episode.

Edited February 11, 2019 by Sepul-Coloratura

[RDDash 19,246]

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon completely vanished from the show like they weren't even there to begin with. Well okay, Silver Spoon doesn't really count because she was never the antagonist.

I don't really like Neighsay, he is like that one person that you wanted to punch him in the face the entire time, and yet the show just forced forgiveness on to him. He never earned it and he probably never will.

[Sepul-Coloratura 765]

10 hours ago, Goat-kun said:

The characters in MLP are fake as shit. Even Bronies who spout religious bullshit about Harmony and Friendship do not honestly believe it can work outside the show itself. After all, I do exist within this community and my shitposts carry with them levels of unprecedented suppression

 

 

 

OPs reaction is human. The reactions of FIM characters are less so. Programmed drones; puppets whose thoughts are chained to one single, unnatural, unreachable, unnecessary message. This is not even about the consequences demanded by law. It's about the change in relationships that have nothing to do with courtly justice.

 

I do believe that there are some valuable lessons and real characters in the show, but most psrts, I can't deny that the lessons and characters are getting worse and it's kind of a mess. The elements themselves are traditional values from long time human history, but how those values portrayed are very poor.

I like best when MLP characters act like what actual people would act, even they are magical ponies in wonderland, there are room for realism fits that reality.

Sad that you're right.

[Sepul-Coloratura 765]

15 minutes ago, R.D.Dash said:

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon completely vanished from the show like they weren't even there to begin with. Well okay, Silver Spoon doesn't really count because she was never the antagonist.

I don't really like Neighsay, he is like that one person that you wanted to punch him in the face the entire time, and yet the show just forced forgiveness on to him. He never earned it and he probably never will.

I think the show didn't know what to do with those two anymore. It would have been good if they included them as a background character and show their gradual progress of their relationship with others (showing Diamon Tiara playing with other ponies, showing her with Mayor Mare, etc.)

Twilight should have blasted his face in front of Celestia, and all leaders from six realms wouldn't even bat an eye. Neighsay isn't also a good villain because he isn't a threat, just annoying. (how easily they solve the problem just by ignoring him) But even if he was stronger than Discord, I think he would still be annoying and a bad character.

Edited February 11, 2019 by Sepul-Coloratura

[Megas 28,139]

1 hour ago, Sepul-Coloratura said:

The Ghost was inconsiderate of other lives and just cared of her own life and pain. She choosed to act that way. I understand why she acts that way, but still she is a selfish person. And she didn't help anything eventually.

In Coco, I was talking about Miguel.

Can you give me examples of Diamond Tiara suffering from her consequences?

The Matter of Principals, it was a very disappointing episode.

Yeah, I read what you said about Miguel and I'm positive you didn't even see the same movie, because I don't see how in any universe anyone could come to such a conclusion. Miguel had a passion for music that his family was needlessly harsh against, to the point where his grandma berates him in front of the family and fucking destroys his guitar, which caused him to "run away" so to speak. He never used anyone for his own gain, he was greatly upset that no one in his family, including his ancestors, supported his dreams and were actively going out of their way to take it away from him(of course this was before anyone found out the whole story of what happened between the villain and his Great Great Grandpa. And how the fuck is he a thief? When did he ever became a thief? Are you talking about the Guitar he takes at the beginning/end of the movie? Because that guitar belonged to his family, and the guitar was stolen from him

As for Diamond Tiara/Silver Spoon, in Call of the Cutie, DT had all the thunder stolen from her own Cuteciniera by the CMC, Family Appreciation Day she's made to participate in the Bunny hop when she clearly wanted to, in Ponyville Confidential Cheerilee punishes her for her actions and makes her clean up the place, in One Bad Apple she and Silver Spoon are made into a mess by falling into a Pig Pen, Crusaders of the Lost Mark has her both lose the school election and fractures her relationship with her only friend

[Goat-kun 2,531]

13 hours ago, Sepul-Coloratura said:

I like best when MLP characters act like what actual people would act, even they are magical ponies in wonderland, there are room for realism fits that reality.

Exactly. It's the growing dissonance between the viewers and characters that breeds frustration more than any redemption. The lessons themselves are bad since they are not applicable IRL and that enforces the dissonance.

 

13 hours ago, Sepul-Coloratura said:

I do believe that there are some valuable lessons and real characters in the show, but most psrts, I can't deny that the lessons and characters are getting worse and it's kind of a mess. The elements themselves are traditional values from long time human history, but how those values portrayed are very poor.

Again, I exist. Haters exist, or at least they have. Not one Starfoal approached us using the methods we've seen inside the show. Why? They don't work on real people cause real people are not mindless drones controlled by mild ideologues who write children cartoons for breadsticks and hopes of a Disney job. In fact, their behavior, human as they are, is nothing like we've ever seen in the show. This whole little struggle is proof that our glorious writers don't know how to human all that well since minor struggles are FIM's bread and butter. What can I say? GG go next. Or maybe it's us who have failed at humanity  

[Sepul-Coloratura 765]

22 hours ago, This Whomps said:

Yeah, I read what you said about Miguel and I'm positive you didn't even see the same movie, because I don't see how in any universe anyone could come to such a conclusion. Miguel had a passion for music that his family was needlessly harsh against, to the point where his grandma berates him in front of the family and fucking destroys his guitar, which caused him to "run away" so to speak. He never used anyone for his own gain, he was greatly upset that no one in his family, including his ancestors, supported his dreams and were actively going out of their way to take it away from him(of course this was before anyone found out the whole story of what happened between the villain and his Great Great Grandpa. And how the fuck is he a thief? When did he ever became a thief? Are you talking about the Guitar he takes at the beginning/end of the movie? Because that guitar belonged to his family, and the guitar was stolen from him

As for Diamond Tiara/Silver Spoon, in Call of the Cutie, DT had all the thunder stolen from her own Cuteciniera by the CMC, Family Appreciation Day she's made to participate in the Bunny hop when she clearly wanted to, in Ponyville Confidential Cheerilee punishes her for her actions and makes her clean up the place, in One Bad Apple she and Silver Spoon are made into a mess by falling into a Pig Pen, Crusaders of the Lost Mark has her both lose the school election and fractures her relationship with her only friend

I misunderstood that you might have misunderstood me. I thought you were talking about De La Cruz as the protagonist.

However, I still detest Miguel. And I also don't like his family, but at least the family are more understandable and the dead family tries to save his life.

Every character from a movie has to have at least one positive characteristics. Even a corrupted scum gangster like Tony Montana in Scarface (1983) for example, he has principles to not kill women and children and he has determination and guts, balls. He is a worst kind of human being, but he gets us invested in the story in his perspective, somewhat make us partially root for him. Traditional Disney movies are way more easier to do this because they are good guys, and even mostly children. In Miguel's case, his passion for music is the main reason why we should root for him. But there is difference between passion and right choices. We do know Anna from Frozen likes Hans very much, but we doubt that her marrying him instantly is a good decision, even think it's foolish. We don't know any details or specifics about his passion about music, it's a very vague and mediocre depiction. When he sees the shape of the guitar head is identical to the picture of his great great grandpa and instantly jumps to the conclusion to what he wants to think? Great f***ing detective kid. I was sarcastically snickered how much of a dumba$s he was when he suddenly shouts out to his family to be a musician and instantly gets his guitar smashed. Actually, a character like Miguel makes people passionate about music look bad. He demonstrates an aspect of why parents don't want their kids not to do music. He's irresponsible and impossible to reconcile (in a bad way).

The point you make about that he isn't a thief because it belongs to his family in the first place, here's an example. There is a black comedy comics called 'Kimchi-Man' in South Korea. In one episode, the main hero (or you could say the villain) and his fellows decides to pick on a pedestrian and beat the crap out of him, just by nitpicking him for some minor insignificant things. Soon, a police officer comes and arrests the beaten pedestrian, reveals that he was a wanted criminal who is a serial killer. The crew who beat him up receives an award certificate by the police. By some kind of a miracle, the same kind of incidents happen whenever they decide to beat the crap out of a random pedestrian. The main hero did believe he was right to beat 'em up even before the police revealed the serial killer.

Even if Miguel 'thought' he has the right to use the guitar, that's just what he thought. Just his sharp eyes piercing through the truth and knowing exactly who his great great grandfather was. Surely Miguel knew and he was right all along. Not to mention to break in to a tomb and desecrate it, and also convicting a crime. (oh of course it doesn't matter because he was a murderer and a scam all along.)

Miguel also causes a trouble while carrying a photo of his dead ancestor so one of them couldn't come back at the day of the dead. And he breaks a promise 1 second after he makes it. He also promises to Hector that he will return a picture of him to the real world and prevent him from getting forgotten and turn into oblivion, but Miguel breaks it. Miguel lied, throws the picture, not returning to him, but throws it to the air, not caring if it gets lost forever while Hector desperately tries to grab it. Simply put, he didn't care if Hector died, or maybe even worst that he didn't care if he himself died. (think of kids don't want any vaccination injected because it hurts, but the parents gets it done for the sake of saving it's own life. Miguel is a kid, and especially a dumb one.) He causes all sorts of problems for others to fix and suffer but he doesn't take any responsibilities. Miguel shouldn't shit on the floor for other to clean up.

When he sneaks into the party, asks the winners of the contest to hide him, takes advantage of them and doesn't even turn around to say a simple 'thank you' when he leaves the train or an elevator or whatever it is. This might not be as significant as a life and death problem (which he also already caused), but still shows what kind of a person he is. Oh, and the only good trait of him was that he did take care of a dog Dante, which later he casts away and talk $hit to. So he canceled out the only good character trait.

And later, after when he loses everything and falls into a pit and meets Hector there, he apologizes which he has no other options. He has no other way to get out, so he apologized. I want to believe that he actually meant it and Disney protagonists doesn't have that malevolent heart, but no. People who do bad things doesn't do thing for the sake of being evil. Sometimes they bend their own words, morals and they fake themselves, compromises, make excuses for themselves.

What I meant by 'consequences' is, the movie Coco ignores and even further, subverts consequences by pure coincident. Which is, a plot twist that Hector was his real great great grandfather and he was the real songwriter of all those famous songs and De La Cruz was evil and poisoned Hector and stole his songs. Which Miguel didn't considered while making choices and doing actions. (the possibility that Miguel being right based on the shape of the guitar head was very low, almost delusional) If Hector was just an ordinary bum from nowhere that they accidentally encountered, which was 99.9999% of the possibility, and who he actually considered to be until the twist, they would have been f***ed. If Miguel was wrong, which was very likely to be, he wouldn't be able to be justified, which I already don't.

Edited February 12, 2019 by Sepul-Coloratura

[TBD 17,274]

I believe the whole lessons was to able to understand  the villain's point of view and how can it be resolve?  Instead of punishing them just for the sake of feeling good about it. 

[Sepul-Coloratura 765]

3 hours ago, TBD said:

I believe the whole lessons was to able to understand  the villain's point of view and how can it be resolve?  Instead of punishing them just for the sake of feeling good about it. 

If we're gonna understand the villain's point of view, we should also learn not to make a wrong choice at the first place. Punishment without solving the real problem and just for the sake of vengeance isn't right. But that's not the point I was making.

All stories should come with consideration of proper consequences. Not just about what the characters do to the villain, but mostly what the writers do about the whole story, what the villains causes. And the only difference between villains and heroes are what their choices. Redemption is important, but I'm talking about a logical chain reaction of what the characters do. If a bully chooses to act like an asshole to everyone, that character would be alone eventually. If a person chooses to kill someone, the police would try to find that person. If Someone chooses career before family, the family would have less intimacy with that character.

When Aang from Avatar has to choose between stopping the villain by killing him or not, but stops the villain without killing him with some kind of magic anyway, that's bullshit to me.

[TBD 17,274]

1 hour ago, Sepul-Coloratura said:

If we're gonna understand the villain's point of view, we should also learn not to make a wrong choice at the first place. Punishment without solving the real problem and just for the sake of vengeance isn't right. But that's not the point I was making.

All stories should come with consideration of proper consequences. Not just about what the characters do to the villain, but mostly what the writers do about the whole story, what the villains causes. And the only difference between villains and heroes are what their choices. Redemption is important, but I'm talking about a logical chain reaction of what the characters do. If a bully chooses to act like an asshole to everyone, that character would be alone eventually. If a person chooses to kill someone, the police would try to find that person. If Someone chooses career before family, the family would have less intimacy with that character.

When Aang from Avatar has to choose between stopping the villain by killing him or not, but stops the villain without killing him with some kind of magic anyway, that's bullshit to me.

I get what you're saying, I myself don't like it when a villain go on Scott free from their crime just because they choose to reform. I would like it more  if they did some repents before being accepted by others.  Some developments or growth per se. Tempest for example. She basically helped storm king conquer half of the world and then go about it as if it never happen. (in the IDW comic). But this is MLP, so I don't think the writers wants to go though all that troubles or the complicacy regarding punishing villians other then being send to the Tartarus. 

[EpicEnergy 23,247]

I think FiM emphasizes forgiveness and mercy rather than inflicting punishment on a character.