Which characters best incorporate elements of Mane Six ponies?

[AlbaTross 1,586]

Hi, so I can't be the only one who has noticed that all of the Mane Five have personality traits that somewhat mirror those of at least one pony from the Mane Six.  I've been giving it some thought, and I think I have a personal ranking now of who does it best, vs who does it the worst.  As a disclaimer, I'm not actually looking at who seems to be the most like a FiM character, but rather, who I think is best written in such a way that elements of a previous character come across as more of a homage than a straight up rip-off, and can incorporate those elements into a personality that's otherwise more or less original to that character.  

For fun, I think I'll do my rankings in reverse order:

#6 Hitch - Fluttershy: Eh...I found that in the movie Hitch was kind of just stalked by animals who seemed to be more there for the sake of cute gags and because Fluttershy.  There was no real payoff either.  In TYT it seems he has a deeper relationship with the animals, along with a greater desire for relationship, and judging from the trailer for MYM, he's given the ability to understand them.  However, all of this comes across as forced, and a quick and shallow way to appeal to the fandom, and adding wings and horns to them comes across as an equally shallow way to drum up interest.  If Hitch had shown signs prior that he had a thing for animals even as a side interest, maybe I would be more accepting of all of this, but no...I don't think this aspect of his character has been cleverly implemented, no matter how many cute gags come as a result.

#5 Sunny - Twilight: Here we have a mane character who's based on a surface level understanding of another mane character.  Twilight wasn't just "friendship".  She had clear interests and pursuits outside of friendship.  It took only a couple minutes to establish her as "bookhorse" in the pilot for FiM.  With Sunny, both before and after her adventures in ANG, it's unclear to me what she does all day when she isn't at work.  In the beginning, was she somepony who obsessed over friendship with other races 24/7 and had no other interests?  Now that her new friends live with her, I still can't tell you what she does with her time when she's not working or with her friends.  As a result, she's just kind of generic to me and lacks much in the way of personality.  At the very least, her interest in friendship is an established personality trait though, so I'll give her the number 5 slot.

#4 Izzy - Pinkie: Going purely off of the film, I would have ranked Izzy much higher, as she seemed to take the happy-go-lucky personality of Pinkie while making it her own.  Well, as of two episodes of TYT, she has basically become a discount Pinkie without much of what made Pinkie an engaging character.  Pity, because I used to really like her.  Now, an Izzy episode feels like an obnoxious Pinkie episode with a lot of fat and little in the way of originality.  Oh well, she can have the number 4 slot.  

#3 Pipp - Rarity: Pipp certainly has moments such as when she packs a ton of suitcases that seem like cheap homages and shortcuts to establishing her personality.  I guess I'm supposed to chuckle and think "that's so Rar...I mean Pipp!"  Heck, even her social media personality isn't all that removed from some Rarity EQG stuff.  However...I'll give Pipp some credit for going down a somewhat different path than the fashionista route.  Her social media presence is her defining trait here, and while the whole hair salon thing came out of nowhere, at least it's something different, I suppose.

#2 Zipp - Rainbow Dash: TBH, I go back and forth in how I would rank the Pegasus Sisters in this category.  Zipp certainly has moments where she seems like she's treading the same ground as Rainbow.  However, she does have a bit of a different personality.  She doesn't always display the same confidence, for example.  She also appears to take more time to consider her actions before she jumps into them, and in general, seems to have more going on than just being a tomboy Pegasus with an interest in flying stunts.  I also really like how these two sisters play off of each other and encourage one another.  If Rainbow Dash and Rarity were sisters, and princesses, I have a feeling their dynamic would play out similarly. 

And, for my #1....Hitch - Applejack: Ok, here's how to take an aspect of a character while incorporating it in such a way that it doesn't detract from the new character's unique personality.  In fact, Hitch is the only one who completely satisfies me in this regard...for this particular element, of course.  He's honest, down to earth, a voice of reason...and a cop.  Heck, while I didn't quite understand the background pony jokes regarding Applejack, with Hitch not actually living in the lighthouse I've noticed that he kind of feels that way here.  But, more importantly though, he's a pony who appreciates an honest day's work, and does so in a way that's distinctly Hitch.  For that reason, I think he's the best example of how to write a new character that acts as a throwback to another.  

Anyways, tl:dr, what are your thoughts on which characters best embody traits of members of the Mane Six while making them their own?  You don't have to do a full ranking, and certainly don't need to write a paragraph like I did, though you're welcome to comment on my thoughts too.  

[ExplosionMare 18,062]

Sunny actually does do something outside of friendship, she works at a smoothie stand in TYT. Everyone has a job except Izzy, although she could easily set up a craft shop if she wanted to.

I agree with you on how shallow Hitch's Fluttershy side is. It made me a bit angry in the new trailer when it was revealed that-

Spoiler

he could talk to animals. That's not very original at all and it takes away how special Fluttershy was for having this talent.

 

[Sparklefan1234 170,713]

8 minutes ago, ExplosionMare said:

Everyone has a job except Izzy, although she could easily set up a craft shop if she wanted to.

 

Izzy is the town kook.  Everypony is always asking "Who in Equestria is that!?" which, helps get her name out there & builds her "brand recognition". 

---

Seriously, I would say Sunny Starscout because she was passionate about bringing the Magic of Friendship back to Equestria when no pony else would.

 

[AlbaTross 1,586]

2 hours ago, ExplosionMare said:

Sunny does do something outside of , she works at a smoothie stand in TYT. Everyone has a job except Izzy, although she could set up a craft shop if she wanted to.

I agree with you on how shallow Hitch's Fluttershy side is. It made me a bit angry in the new trailer when it was revealed that-

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he could talk to . That's not very original at all and it takes away how special Fluttershy was for having this .

 

Yes, Sunny does tend a smoothie stand, but that's more of her 9-5 job.  I don't get the sense that it's much more than just her means of income,.  Perhaps she could display an affinity for smoothies in her time off, if we're to accept that as a defining character trait? Personally, I'm more interested in what she does with her time when she's neither at work nor with friends.  I'll give the series some time to fill us in on that, as I think she's the pony who needs the most development and I think she has potential to be an interesting character if handled right.  She seems to surprisingly be neglected in spite of being the lead among the Mane Five, even with TYT episodes, as she has only really had one, and shared that with her friends. Everypony else has had two, one of which is clearly better than the other, but still, that's development that they've gotten while she has yet to have that.  

Actually, a craft shop for Izzy would be a great idea!  Much like how Pipp runs a hair salon and does a lot of Pony Tik Tok, something like a craft shop or some other kind of artistic business would be a great way to channel her inner Pinkie while taking things in a direction that's at least a little bit different.  

Yeah...I suppose the whole Fluttershy thing is an extension of how I feel about this series in general, which is that it lacks originality in some areas, and takes away from FiM rather than being a proper homage to it or just being wholly original.  With the Fluttershy throwback, I get the sense that maybe there was originally a sixth pony, but in lieu of that the trait was just added to Hitch.  He at least seems written around any Applejack-like traits he has, while that really doesn't appear to be the case with the animal stuff.  If he was even so much as portrayed as somepony who really liked owning a lot of pets (something my cousin really got into for a time while having a different focus career-wise), maybe it would be easier to suspend my disbelief, but as it stands, I think Hitch has that ability to tick off a box.

2 hours ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

 

Izzy is the town kook.  Everypony is always asking "Who in Equestria is that!?" which, helps get her name out there & builds her "brand recognition". 

---

Seriously, I would say Sunny Starscout because she was passionate about bringing of back to Equestria when no pony else would.

 

Eh...Pinkie already did that.  At least in the movie I got the sense I was looking at a character who put her own spin on that.  TYT seems to have stripped away a lot of that and just made Izzy Pinkie 2.0 though.  Maybe it's the way she's animated, how she's voiced, or just the way she's written, but what originality movie Izzy had seems to have evaporated.  

You may be correct that the direction chosen for Izzy has to do with brand recognition first and foremost.  I still think there's more that can be done to set her apart as a new and unique character though.  

I will say Sunny does display the friendship side of Twilight, at least to a degree, so there's that.  She's a homage to a part of Twilight's character, though Twilight had more complexity than just being "friendship pony".  Given how different Sunny's personality is from Twilight's, it should actually be especially easy to take her character in a different and interesting direction, even compared to the rest of her friends.  It's as if the writers so far have skipped over the need to have her be something other than friendship though (aside from giving her a 9-5 service job, I suppose).  Besides, her ark in the movie has been completed (not necessarily to my satisfaction, but still, it's done), so it's important to show who Sunny is now, and I would argue even more so as that's who Sunny is/will be for the rest of the series.  I have to wonder if TYT has intentionally been dedicated to her friends while MYM is supposed to focus more on her.  I guess we will find out soon enough.  

4 hours ago, -Buttercup- said:

I agree with your points and I quite enjoyed reading them. I hope that we can see more on characters in the future.

Thank you, and yeah, let's wait and see what MYM does with the mane cast, as that will probably be where we will see the most development.  

[ExplosionMare 18,062]

23 hours ago, AlbaTross said:

Yes, Sunny does tend a smoothie stand, but that's more of her 9-5 job.  I don't get the sense that it's much more than just her means of income,.  Perhaps she could display an affinity for smoothies in her time off, if we're to accept that as a defining character trait? Personally, I'm more interested in what she does with her time when she's neither at work nor with friends.  I'll give the series some time to fill us in on that, as I think she's the pony who needs the most development and I think she has potential to be an interesting character if handled right.  She seems to surprisingly be neglected in spite of being the lead among the Mane Five, even with TYT episodes, as she has only really had one, and shared that with her friends. Everypony else has had two, one of which is clearly better than the other, but still, that's development that they've gotten while she has yet to have that.  

Actually, a craft shop for Izzy would be a great idea!  Much like how Pipp runs a hair salon and does a lot of Pony Tik Tok, something like a craft shop or some other kind of artistic business would be a great way to channel her inner Pinkie while taking things in a direction that's at least a little bit different.  

Yeah...I suppose the whole Fluttershy thing is an extension of how I feel about this series in general, which is that it lacks originality in some areas, and takes away from FiM rather than being a proper homage to it or just being wholly original.  With the Fluttershy throwback, I get the sense that maybe there was originally a sixth pony, but in lieu of that the trait was just added to Hitch.  He at least seems written around any Applejack-like traits he has, while that really doesn't appear to be the case with the animal stuff.  If he was even so much as portrayed as somepony who really liked owning a lot of pets (something my cousin really got into for a time while having a different focus career-wise), maybe it would be easier to suspend my disbelief, but as it stands, I think Hitch has that ability to tick off a box.

Eh...Pinkie already did that.  At least in the movie I got the sense I was looking at a character who put her own spin on that.  TYT seems to have stripped away a lot of that and just made Izzy Pinkie 2.0 though.  Maybe it's the way she's animated, how she's voiced, or just the way she's written, but what originality movie Izzy had seems to have evaporated.  

You may be correct that the direction chosen for Izzy has to do with brand recognition first and foremost.  I still think there's more that can be done to set her apart as a new and unique character though.  

I will say Sunny does display the friendship side of Twilight, at least to a degree, so there's that.  She's a homage to a part of Twilight's character, though Twilight had more complexity than just being "friendship pony".  Given how different Sunny's personality is from Twilight's, it should actually be especially easy to take her character in a different and interesting direction, even compared to the rest of her friends.  It's as if the writers so far have skipped over the need to have her be something other than friendship though (aside from giving her a 9-5 service job, I suppose).  Besides, her ark in the movie has been completed (not necessarily to my satisfaction, but still, it's done), so it's important to show who Sunny is now, and I would argue even more so as that's who Sunny is/will be for the rest of the series.  I have to wonder if TYT has intentionally been dedicated to her friends while MYM is supposed to focus more on her.  I guess we will find out soon enough.  

Thank you, and yeah, let's wait and see what MYM does with the mane cast, as that will probably be where we will see the most development.  

Oh, I see what you mean. I wonder what would happen if she was left alone to tend to her own hobbies. She really doesn't do much outside of campaigning but that's over and done with, at least for the time being. She should consider doing more roller blading like she did in the movie or just enjoy nature.

[AlbaTross 1,586]

3 hours ago, ExplosionMare said:

Oh, I see what you mean. I wonder what would happen if she was left alone to tend to her own hobbies. She doesn't do much outside of campaigning but that's over and done with, at least for the time being. She should consider doing more roller blading like she did in or just enjoy .

True, she can rollerblade.  It's a start.  Now it's simply a matter of whether she will actually be seen doing that in her spare time.