Why have Pegasi seemingly dropped in popularity?

[Landi 597]

A while back, towards the earlier days of the fandom, pegasus ponies were generally considered the most popular type of pony. Many people both liked them and made them their OCs. There was even a poll by Equestria Daily that showed that this was the case. Fast foreword to more recent times, and they have fell out of favor by many. If you look at many of the polls nowadays, pegasi are typically ranked second or even third on pony rankings. Now unicorns have become the most popular ponies by a fairly large margin. So why have pegasi become less popular as the series went on?

I have a few guesses along the lines of:

• Because they were so popular, people stopped liking them and changed their OCs
• Because the show didn't do the best at showing off pegasus ponies, people lost interest.
• Because the show focused so heavily on unicorns, they quickly overtook pegasi in popularity.

These are just my guesses though. What do you all think?

[Megas 27,069]

Definitely that 3rd one, the show practically masturbated over unicorns in terms of favoritism

[Crunchypuff 152]

I think as the series went on, unicorn magic just got more and more powerful, with pegasi and earth ponies remaining the same. At least in the beginning, pegasi were the only ones to be able to fly and walk on clouds, but with self levitation for unicorns, they lost that uniqueness.

I wish they could've at least added more powers for the other ponies while they powered up the unicorns, just to make them all more special in their own ways. 

At least there's always fanfic to add things in, but then what powers would be added to earth ponies and pegasi to make them more even?

[Gaines 1,111]

There are a lot of artists (usually with unicorn OCs) and/or introverts (usually with earth pony OCs) in most fandoms.  While being a pegasus seems super cool, not everyone might be as confident or athletic as the ponies seem to be  Or.. that's just what I think.

Edited February 11, 2021 by Gaines

[HedonismBot 218]

4 minutes ago, Crunchypuff said:

I think as the series went on, unicorn magic just got more and more powerful, with pegasi and earth ponies remaining the same. At least in the beginning, pegasi were the only ones to be able to fly and walk on clouds, but with self levitation for unicorns, they lost that uniqueness.

The butterfly wing spell was introduced all the way back in season 1 in "Sonic Rainboom". Though it was extremely difficult to cast, and neither that nor self-levitation offer flight performance equal to a physically fit pegasus. Plus we've seen a hang glider and a helicopter, so it isn't just unicorns who are horning in on the whole "flight" thing.

[Harmonic Revelations 8,833]

The reason pegasai have become less popular is simple, it's because we now know the burden they carry, for they know what is beyond the clouds, that which cannot be unseen.

[Misty Shadow 7,088]

Pegasi were my favorite type of pony watching the show for the first time, and I'm still happy to have a pegasus as my OC. However, my interest in pegasi as a type definitely did dwindle as the show went on. There was just so much going on with so many other different creatures and non-pony characters that I just kind of forgot about pony types altogether. 

[Landi 597]

13 hours ago, Megas said:

Definitely that 3rd one, the show practically masturbated over unicorns in terms of favoritism

Unfortunately, that seems pretty likely. From Starlight to Trixie to Sunburst to Starswirl to even Luster Dawn, unicorns were constantly added and fleshed out. Meanwhile we hardly get any prominent pegasus characters outside of the mane six. I mean, there are the Wonderbolts, but the show didn't do a good job at actually giving them personality.

12 hours ago, Crunchypuff said:

I think as the series went on, unicorn magic just got more and more powerful, with pegasi and earth ponies remaining the same. At least in the beginning, pegasi were the only ones to be able to fly and walk on clouds, but with self levitation for unicorns, they lost that uniqueness.

I wish they could've at least added more powers for the other ponies while they powered up the unicorns, just to make them all more special in their own ways. 

This also seems pretty accurate. I started noticing this around season 5 when we were shown Starlight and all of her overpowered unicorn magic. Then they just kept adding more and more abilities to the unicorns, while doing nothing for the other two. By the end of the series, they put unicorns on such a pedestal, that the other ponies seemed useless and obsolete.

[Rainy Daze 1,700]

I'm wondering if it's a sort of ignored middle child syndrome. The earth ponies are more of your scrappy underdogs while unicorns are definitely the enterprising successful types. A lot of people can more easily identify with extreme ends of a spectrum and the pegasi are more of a middle ground. 

[HedonismBot 218]

10 hours ago, Landi72 said:

This also seems pretty accurate. I started noticing this around season 5 when we were shown Starlight and all of her overpowered unicorn magic. Then they just kept adding more and more abilities to the unicorns, while doing nothing for the other two. By the end of the series, they put unicorns on such a pedestal, that the other ponies seemed useless and obsolete.

From the beginning, unicorn magic was shown to be incredibly versatile. There's also the matter that magic was shown to be studied and practiced scientifically, with unicorns being the intellectuals of Equestria - I've been wondering if that might have appealed to nerdy types.

[Landi 597]

32 minutes ago, HedonismBot said:

From the beginning, unicorn magic was shown to be incredibly versatile. There's also the matter that magic was shown to be studied and practiced scientifically, with unicorns being the intellectuals of Equestria - I've been wondering if that might have appealed to nerdy types.

I suppose, though the writers definitely did a better job at keeping that magic balanced in the earlier seasons. For instance, average unicorns used to only be able to use telekinesis and maybe another spell related to their cutie mark. It seemed like they forgot that by the end, and they made unicorn magic the wild card.

Though the unicorns were often shown as the intellectual ones, that's not to say a pegasus couldn't be intelligent also. I mean, Cloudsdale has lots of businesses and companies, and that place is all pegasi. That being said, I get what you mean. I guess I just break the mold; being a nerd who loves pegasi.

[HedonismBot 218]

5 minutes ago, Landi72 said:

I suppose, though the writers definitely did a better job at keeping that magic balanced in the earlier seasons. For instance, average unicorns used to only be able to use telekinesis and maybe another spell related to their cutie mark. It seemed like they forgot that by the end, and they made unicorn magic the wild card.

Not really - The only unicorns to practice much magic beyond telekinesis are those who had dedicated a great deal of time studying and practicing (Twilight, Starlight, Sunburst, etc.). Unicorns who pursue careers in anything other than wizardry wouldn't have that kind of time to focus on magic.

[Goat-kun 2,500]

Powerful unicorns are the new alicorns. They are a meme. But powerful pegasi are a joke. Those who cling to canon out cannot give them wings.

[Landi 597]

On 2021-02-11 at 11:05 PM, HedonismBot said:

Not really - The only unicorns to practice much magic beyond telekinesis are those who had dedicated a great deal of time studying and practicing (Twilight, Starlight, Sunburst, etc.). Unicorns who pursue careers in anything other than wizardry wouldn't have that kind of time to focus on magic.

Well yeah, that's how it should be and that's exactly how it used to be. I'm just saying towards the later seasons (mostly season 8-9), writers seemingly forgot about this. By the end, average unicorns were shooting magical lasers, teleporting, and even self levitating.

[North Star 4,540]

On 2021-02-11 at 6:11 PM, Rainy Day said:

I'm wondering if it's a sort of ignored middle child syndrome. The earth ponies are more of your scrappy underdogs while unicorns are definitely the enterprising successful types. A lot of people can more easily identify with extreme ends of a spectrum and the pegasi are more of a middle ground. 

I think this too  

although finding out pegasi are unpopular really makes me want to make another pegasus OC

[Odyssey 5,713]

i think there's less creativity over pegasus ocs, a lot of peeps make them mostly because flying is cool to them. but their main talent is music/art/games, and the flying part is an afterthought. there's cooler ideas to unicorn and earth pony ocs, i believe. with those two you can make more believable ocs by correlating their talent and their race.

[Pandora 38,004]

I would think because  a lot of other species exist -- Heck I love pegasi though.. a good 80% of my OC is pegasus

[Landi 597]

1 hour ago, abrony-mouse said:

although finding out pegasi are unpopular really makes me want to make another pegasus OC

You should! I think they are great for characters. Plus, it's fun to make a variety of different personalities when making pegasus character. A pegasus could be a weather pony who wants become one of the best flyers, or maybe a baker who wishes he/she could fly better. The possibilities are endless!

50 minutes ago, Pandora said:

I would think because  a lot of other species exist -- Heck I love pegasi though.. a good 80% of my OC is pegasus

Unfortunately, that may be one of the reasons behind this decline. But just like you, I adore pegasi!  At least 60% of my OCs are pegasi, and they are my favorite characters to make and develop.

[Pandora 38,004]

3 minutes ago, Landi72 said:

You should! I think they are great for characters. Plus, it's fun to make a variety of different personalities when making pegasus character. A pegasus could be a weather pony who wants become one of the best flyers, or maybe a baker who wishes he/she could fly better. The possibilities are endless!

Unfortunately, that may be one of the reasons behind this decline. But just like you, I adore pegasi!  At least 60% of my OCs are pegasi, and they are my favorite characters to make and develop.

Mine too!  

[HedonismBot 218]

1 hour ago, Landi72 said:

Well yeah, that's how it should be and that's exactly how it used to be. I'm just saying towards the later seasons (mostly season 8-9), writers seemingly forgot about this. By the end, average unicorns were shooting magical lasers, teleporting, and even self levitating.

When was this? Starlight and Trixie are well beyond "average unicorns" magic-wise. Trixie wasn't that far above average when she was first introduced, but she started working to improve her magic after she hooked up with Starlight.

[Landi 597]

4 minutes ago, HedonismBot said:

When was this? Starlight and Trixie are well beyond "average unicorns" magic-wise. Trixie wasn't that far above average when she was first introduced, but she started working to improve her magic after she hooked up with Starlight.

In season 9, I believe Rarity used her horn to shoot a magical beam and levitated pinkie in the air as if the was flying. In "2, 4, 6, Great", Snails uses self levitation. And in "Growing Up is Hard to Do", Sweetie Belle teleports into a hay bale. In "The Beginning of the End", many unicorns begin shooting beams at the mane six, and as early as season seven, Twilight Velvet is shown levitating multiple ponies in the air on the zeppelin. While comics don't really count because their cannon is shaky, there are scenes where Rarity uses strong magic like teleportation.

It seems like the writers of season nine either favorited unicorns by a large margin, or they forgot that only powerful unicorns were supposed to able to do these kinds of spells.

[BornAgainBrony 2,395]

Seems like a lack of development. Unfortunately "cloudwalk" made the Pegasus native lands somewhat inaccessible, except for other ponies needing augmentations of one kind or another. And even then it was dangerous because accidents can easily happen. It's too bad Cloudsdale wasn't more like the Wonderbolts Academy, being on a plateau at cloud altitudes. That would've made it far easier for more earthbound ponies to interact with them on their own turf.

This problem made visits to Pegasus territory a rare treat rather than a common thing. This meant most of our time spent with Pegusi happened on the ground, which isn't their element. Pegusi are at their best in the sky, which is where they do the work that their bodies are built for. It's amazing that we don't even get a single episode about "weathercraft" even though we have probably dozens of episodes about farm life. The Pegusi really got short-changed in that regard while the talents of the other ponies get showcased all the time. Fluttershy is an Earth Pony disguised as a Pegasus, and Rainbow Dash doesn't really do much to give us Pegusus experience either. Fast-flying is mostly a leisure sport that has little to do with any practical application. And while the Wonderbolts are exceptional demonstrations of that athletic prowess, and Pegusi have their place in the military, this isn't the norm. Their primary role is controlling the climate, which is pretty darned important to the stability of the ecosystem.

Even when it comes to battles (the low-hanging fruit), everyone gets wowed by Unicorn magic over and over and Earth Ponies can score field goals using their foes as the pigskin, but the show never even seems to bother acknowledging what Pegusi are capable of. And what we DO see of that, is usually in the form of blunders, such as the tornado at the academy, or Derpy shocking herself with a thundercloud. Weather mastery is nothing to scoff at, and Tirek should've been getting bombarded by a siege of lightning bolt artillery instead of all the flying horses just trying to body check him.

[Landi 597]

2 hours ago, BornAgainBrony said:

Seems like a lack of development. Unfortunately "cloudwalk" made the Pegasus native lands somewhat inaccessible, except for other ponies needing augmentations of one kind or another. And even then it was dangerous because accidents can easily happen. It's too bad Cloudsdale wasn't more like the Wonderbolts Academy, being on a plateau at cloud altitudes. That would've made it far easier for more earthbound ponies to interact with them on their own turf.

This problem made visits to Pegasus territory a rare treat rather than a common thing. This meant most of our time spent with Pegusi happened on the ground, which isn't their element. Pegusi are at their best in the sky, which is where they do the work that their bodies are built for. It's amazing that we don't even get a single episode about "weathercraft" even though we have probably dozens of episodes about farm life. The Pegusi really got short-changed in that regard while the talents of the other ponies get showcased all the time. Fluttershy is an Earth Pony disguised as a Pegasus, and Rainbow Dash doesn't really do much to give us Pegusus experience either. Fast-flying is mostly a leisure sport that has little to do with any practical application. And while the Wonderbolts are exceptional demonstrations of that athletic prowess, and Pegusi have their place in the military, this isn't the norm. Their primary role is controlling the climate, which is pretty darned important to the stability of the ecosystem.

Even when it comes to battles (the low-hanging fruit), everyone gets wowed by Unicorn magic over and over and Earth Ponies can score field goals using their foes as the pigskin, but the show never even seems to bother acknowledging what Pegusi are capable of. And what we DO see of that, is usually in the form of blunders, such as the tornado at the academy, or Derpy shocking herself with a thundercloud. Weather mastery is nothing to scoff at, and Tirek should've been getting bombarded by a siege of lightning bolt artillery instead of all the flying horses just trying to body check him.

Wow, you are spot on! The pegasi really were shortchanged, and it's sad for me to see, as a pegasus fan. The fact that they were so seldom utilized, and that when they were utilized, they were treated poorly, is sad; especially considering pegasi had such a promising start in the beginning (big thanks to Sonic Rainboom). The only episodes that truly did pegasi their justice were Sonic Rainboom and Hurricane Fluttershy, two of my favorite episodes. So yeah, the show really did do them dirty, and that could be a part as to why they have dropped in popularity.

[Toastypk 920]

They're less popular now?

Screw that, us Pegasi rock! *wingfive*

When I designed myself to become a pegasus, that's because that's what I felt like inside. I may not be athletic, but not all pegasi are either. But I felt just that pegasus was the one for me to become.

Edited February 20, 2021 by Toastypk

[Lucky Love 80]

30 minutes ago, Toastypk said:

They're less popular now?

Screw that, us Pegasi rock! *wingfive*

When I designed myself to become a pegasus, that's because that's what I felt like inside. I may not be athletic, but not all pegasi are either. But I felt just that pegasus was the one for me to become.

I felt the same! I'm not particularly athletic, but neither is Fluttershy and I'm sure many other pegasi aren't all built the same way, too. Not everyone can be a Wonderbolt, after all.

I chose pegasus for myself (despite preferring unicorns) is because I feel like I just identify more with pegasi. We can't always get what we want, and that's actually a part of my character's background! As a kid she studied magic and wanted to grow up "to be a unicorn" despite that not ever being able to happen. :,)