Sombra and dialogue

[ManaMinori 4,144]

Why does it seem, that even now, people still obsess over Sombra's lack of dialogue, and write him off as a weak or pathetic villain because he wasn't the talkative sort? If anything, Sombra has proved that he's one of the more competent and most awesome villains to date, in FiM. Sure, he didn't talk, but he made his presence known, enough to make an entire empire tremble and have PTSD after it reappeared. He was threatening. He covered pretty much all his bases to thwart anyone from reaching the Crystal Heart at every turn- it was highly unlikely that anypony in or outside of the Empire would learn about the Crystal Hearty after he wiped the memories and stole the page out of the only book that contained history about the Empire, unlikely that anyone would let alone approach his castle, let alone search the throne room, or hit a crystal in the room with dark magic, let along even know of have access to dark magic, even unlikelier still that if they dare got that far, that they'd pass the dark magic nightmare door waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. Or escape the trap that got activated around the Crystal Heart, of by some stupid luck they got to the end of all his traps. The one thing he didn't take into account was the buddy system and that anyone would get as far as Twilight did, with Spike at her side (and armed with knowledge of Dark Magic from Celestia, along with her friends to keep the spirit of the Crystal Empire up)

 

There is absolutely no reason fort a lack of dialogue to make Sombra a pathetic villain, when he's one of the best. Actions speak louder then words, after all.

 

But what say the fandom?

[Goat-kun 2,502]

And why do people think that setting up a few traps in your own backyard makes you an evil mastermind? You guys are making Wile E. Coyote seem like Lex Luthor.

[BornAgainBrony 2,395]

I think it comes down to dissapointment more than anything. A LOT of time was spent building him up, he finally appears, and then a stallion throws his wife at him and he falls like a house of cards. He had the potential to be such a great villain. That he had a conventional kingdom and wasn't just a supervillain made things much more interesting. But he had no time to become it. A thing which happens far too often. Nobody survives more than two episodes.

The first war with Sombra must have been far more interesting.

[Dashy 4 Ever 4,832]

I think he was wasted as a villian. He seemed the most interesting antagonist MLP has given us so far, yet he only lasted like 2 episodes? Seriously? He had much more potential and I think his story and background could've been told throughout better.

Let's hope his return in season 9 finale will be awesome.

Edited March 21, 2019 by Sondash Studios

[Steve Piranha 29,146]

1 hour ago, Nightmare Muffin said:

 

 

There is absolutely no reason fort a lack of dialogue to make Sombra a pathetic villain, when he's one of the best. Actions speak louder then words, after all.

 

But what say the fandom?

Problem doesn’t lie in his lack of lines, but actually the strong build-up that pay off too little. There’s been so much time spending how powerful and cruel he is, only for him to appear in person, and gets defeated seconds later, without showing why he was so dangerous. I’m sure the final season will rectify it 

49 minutes ago, Sondash Studios said:

I think he was wasted as a villian. He seemed the most interesting antagonist MLP has given us so far, yet he only lasted like 2 episodes? Seriously? He had much more potential and I think his story and background could've been told throughout better.

Let's hope his return in season 9 finale will be awesome.

That would be the premiere tho 

[TBD 17,231]

Like these good potential villains; The Storm King, Nightmare Moon, and The Pony of Shadow...all that time for their best moments are wasted for their  long grand opening. I'm crossing my fingers that Grogar won't fall into that.

Edited March 22, 2019 by TBD

[BornAgainBrony 2,395]

1 hour ago, Steve Piranha said:

Problem doesn’t lie in his lack of lines, but actually the strong build-up that pay off too little. There’s been so much time spending how powerful and cruel he is, only for him to appear in person, and gets defeated seconds later, without showing why he was so dangerous. I’m sure the final season will rectify it 

I think the poor guy is cursed actually. A DM decided to bring back Sombra for an adventure. Well, he finally showed up. We all kept rolling nat 20's or very close to it. Trapped in a containment field, he kept getting crit fails trying to break out, while others concentrated fire on him until he was toast. He was OP, hints of him coming back had been going on throughout the game, and then... poof.

[Misty Shadow 7,243]

On 3/21/2019 at 4:29 PM, Goat-kun said:

And why do people think that setting up a few traps in your own backyard makes you an evil mastermind? You guys are making Wile E. Coyote seem like Lex Luthor.

 

Because they were very well devised traps put there as part of a well-calculated plan, not Looney Tunes gags where Wile E's traps always backfire horribly.  No invader or rebel in the empire would've stood a ghost of a chance at trying to steal the heart and even Twilight would've failed had Spike not been there to help. 

Also, yes. You can tell I completely agree now that Sombra's problem was not his character itself, just his lack of screen time and dialogue. This is why I'm so excited for the Season 9 premiere, as it's obvious from the trailers that his actions are going to be speaking louder than words much more than they did in the Season 3 premiere. 

Edited March 31, 2019 by CloudMistDragon
Minor grammar error

[Goat-kun 2,502]

6 hours ago, CloudMistDragon said:

Because they were very well devised traps put there as part of a well-calculated plan, not Looney Tunes gags where Wile E's traps always backfire horribly.  No invader or rebel in the empire would've stood a ghost of a chance at trying to steal the heart and even Twilight would've failed had Spike not been there to help. 

Also, yes. You can tell I completely agree now that Sombra's problem was not his character itself, just his lack of screen time and dialogue. This is why I'm so excited for the Season 9 premiere, as it's obvious from the trailers that his actions are going to be speak louder than words much more than they did in the Season 3 premiere. 

Then why didn't he destroy the damn thing and move his empire over the mountains? He'll now apparently destroy ToH and try to conquer the world so the first try makes him look stupid and indecisive. And he's using ordinarily ungulate slaves to do his bidding. Minions tell a lot about the dark lord. Alas, Sombra has no problems as a villain of FIM since FIM has shitty villains. The standards are so low that Wile E. would fit right in

[Misty Shadow 7,243]

King Sombra will have actual dialogue in the Season 9 premiere, as confirmed by the latest Season 9 trailer, and we can rejoice.

"Long live the king." 

Of course it would be a Disney reference.  His voice sounds different too. Though I feel Big Jim Miller did a good job in the Season 3 premiere, his voice here sounds better to me.

[Castle Bleck 19,206]

Pro: He finally gets more dialogue.

Con: His new voice < the Smaug-sounding echo (The Crystal Empire) and the Tirek-sounding laugh (The Cutie Re-Mark).

Edited July 27, 2020 by Anti-Villain

[Goat-kun 2,502]

Yay, Sombra gets to speak ... And gods, it's so lame!

[EpicEnergy 22,505]

To me, King Sombra was amazing no matter how much he spoke!