Zipp Storm, the Insufferable Problem Solver (and Why It's a Good Thing): A Pre-MYM Character Analysis

[NavelColt 22,880]

*slams hand on table*

Alright boys we back on this sh—

What is a Zipp? A Rainbow Dash clone? An unsympathetic pony and sister? A strawblueberry scoop of ice cream on a snow cone horse?

Up until now, we've seen various sides to Zipp's character, but very little to build anything truly consistent with. With certain clips of the Make Your Mark special now out, I believe we have something tangible to work with. Sit back, my little ponies, and let me do what I do best...streams of consciousness.

A rehash of what we know about Zipp.

In the G5 movie, Zipp was steadfast in her pursuit of magic—more specifically, flight. She was so focused on this that she spent most of her time researching methods of unlocking flight with or without magic, and, when presented with a lead through the notes in Argyle's journal, opted to (granted, with some hesitation) abandon her sister and mother in the midst of a public ousting to chase it. When confronted about this by her sister, her only response was that, when magic was restored, nothing else would matter anymore. More on this later.

Her entire character more or less revolved around wanting to fly and there was very little else, apart from enjoyment of music numbers and a rather endless number of moments with Hitch, her obvious soulmate.

This was rather concerning for lore buffs and analysts like myself, who wanted to see a character that had some semblance of a rounded shape, a character who could at least react differently in different situations when weighing what was more immediately important. Instead, we got a character with a very one-track-mind, with no depth provided into why she acted this way.

It was at this point that a hundred fanfics rained down from the digital sky, weaving tales of strained sister relationships, depression and anxiety, and a dozen other downtrodden topics to try and make sense of this undeveloped character.

So then Tell Your Tale comes along, and we got to see how Zipp behaved in a world with renewed magic. Suffice to say, it's a noticeable change.

Right from her focused introductory episode, 'Sisters Take Flight', Zipp is far more attentive of her sister, and they have a bonding moment near the end of the episode. But most noticeably to mention is 'Mane Melody', where Zipp has a rather interesting (and adorable) character arc within a mere five minutes. Though starting the episode with hiding from her sister's attempts to style her mane, Zipp ultimately ends up comforting Pipp after a styling mishap, and then allows her mane to be done, purely because it'll make her sister happy. This, right here, remains the most wholesome moment between these two so far, and was a much needed development after their seemingly strained/detached relationship in the film.

Tell Your Tale showed us that Zipp's character had mellowed out from what it was in the film. She was paying attention to smaller things and those around her far more than before, now that there wasn't some large-scale threat to flight and magic in Equestria.

And so NavelColt began to write adorable sisterfics to counteract all the dour and angst from the previous five months.

"*GASP!* Really?! You NEVER let me style your mane!"

"*verbal shrug* :)"

And so at last we reach the present, on the very cusp of the Make Your Mark special coming out. Well now, thanks to previews and clips galore coming out all the time, we have something interesting to take a look at.

Here, we see the return of that very one-track-mind pony we saw in the G5 movie, terrified of not having access to magic (and flight). Not only does Zipp blow off her sister's song (and in a deeper context, her attempt to help Zipp relax), she even shows a more instigator-y side when she purposefully gets a rouse out of Pipp for the sake of demonstrating her point about how the friendship crystals seem to be 'glitching'. Especially in the latter parts of this scene, you can see how laser focused she is on this issue, when she (and Sunny, after jumping in) brainstorm what exactly is going on.

And now, an analysis of Zipp's character from my perspective.

From the early days of her reveal, Zipp's criticizers have often referred to her as a Rainbow Dash clone, or a mary sue, or both. I'll lay out right now that Zipp is not a Rainbow Dash clone. An inspiration, maybe, but not a clone. Dash is a loud-spoken, boastful extrovert who largely emulates tomboy and jock stereotypes while Zipp is a modest, (mostly) laid-back introvert who has branching interests in math, science, and athletic pursuits. They also have polarizing views on attention. Dash loves to be the center of attention while Zipp actively avoids it, always denouncing her princess title and doing her best to stay away from public photos she believes are embarrassing.

"Pipp, no pictures!"

"Aww, cmon Zipp, just one? :3"

The mary-sue argument had more ground to stand on. It was born from the fact that Zipp, in addition to being athletic, is incredibly learned in math and science (having presumably written out all of the equations regarding aerodynamics and other mathematical functions seen at the start of this topic) while having no real, solid flaws. Even in the early promotional material, Zipp was kind of perfect. She's fit, she's smart, she's stealthy, she's courageous, and she's in line to be a queen. Before TYT and the MYM promotional trailers, it really did seem like Zipp was noticeably less flawed than the other four main characters.

For those paying close attention, this bit of promotional material confirms that Zipp loves math. She totally wrote those equations.

But now we have more material to work with. Now we know better. Zipp does have major flaws, and they can be summarized like this: When Zipp is fighting for/bothered by something she deems to be very important, nothing else matters. She can grow curt and impatient, narrow-sighted, and will even brush off friends or family in the face of trying to solve whatever she's faced with. To Zipp, chasing magic was more immediately important than attempting to help her sister or mother after the fallout of their family's lie. When Pipp confronted Zipp about this, she blew everything off—her sister's career(hobby?), her status, her worries, everything. She told Pipp to simply 'forget about all that' because '(they) think (they) can bring back magic.' She cited magic, again, as the solution to Pipp's worries and anger later on, saying that, 'once everypony gets their magic back they won't even remember any of that. You'll be a hero, Pipp.'

From what we can see so far from the Make Your Mark special, Zipp is displaying traits like this once again, and, like before, it's linked to a crisis involving magic. When magic was a thing that had been lost, it was an insatiable longing that drove Zipp. Now that it's a looming threat of losing magic again, it's become paranoia, as Pipp herself mentions. In both scenarios, this unease drives all of Zipp's major decision making. She likely has some manner of anxiety issue, which a lot of us can probably relate with.

In my latest work, 'The S-Regimen', I explore this stance further. Taking place prior to the G5 film, it shows the emotional (and heartfelt) climax that comes from months of Zipp doggedly chasing flight through non-magical means. Zipp's endless pursuit has not only caused her to isolate herself from her family, but to neglect certain rituals with her sister that they've done since foalhood. It takes Pipp yelling at her sister with tears in her eyes for Zipp to realize just how shut off she's made herself. As an introvert with anxiety issues, myself, I know about these things all too well, and again, I'm sure others can relate too.

Quote

"I feel trapped, Pipp. I feel claustrophobic all the time and I hate it. I've been looking for a way to stop that."

"...you mean how you wanna fly?"

Zipp nodded. "And l guess I feel alone, too. I feel like I'm the only pegasus who can't live without flight, the only one even bothering to search for it. It doesn't help that you and mom are content to pretend like we already know the answer, telling everypony only we can fly."

"Zipp, mom’s just trying to keep everypony from being upset that nopony can fly."

"I'm not pointing hooves right now, Pipp. This isn't about that. It's just hard being around you and mom, faking something I wish I could actually do—that I wish we all could do. I'd rather spend my time looking for a real way to fly."

Pipp sniffed again, and it drew Zipp's wandering gaze. She smiled, and with a simple shake of her body, jostled her sister and prompted a laugh.

"But maybe I've been a little too absorbed in it lately if I'm making my sister miss me, huh?"

Pipp nodded. Her tears had subsided, but they'd been replaced by a dull headache. She pressed her face into her sister's chest.

"Is that why you're always going into the mountains? Are you gliding or something?"

"Parkour, actually. But, yeah, same reason you're thinking of. For a few moments, it feels like I'm flying with every jump. Getting pretty good at it, too."

~ The S-Regimen, found on FIMFiction and in audio form (Parts 1 & 2 )

I think the Zipp we see in Tell Your Tale is a Zipp free of worries. She loves her sister and readily shows it when needed, genuinely enjoys being spontaneous with all of her friends and is (usually) a voice of reason in the group. The Zipp we see in the G5 film, and at least the pre-conclusion of the Make Your Mark special is a Zipp ruled by anxiety. She's often blunt, unsympathetic, and has a one-track-mind for solving the greater problem at hand.

Zipp has flaws, everypony, and they're starting to become tangible and identifiable. And that's cause for celebration. Zipp is a queen in both lineage and character, because she's a work in progress, and that's what makes her work. (Let's just hope the writers keep this consistent.)

Thank you for coming to my PONE Talk.

[HereComesTom 2,267]

Thanks for pointing all of this out about Zipp; she and Pipp got way too little screentime in the movie, and it's good to see she's getting characterization and turning into a rounded character!

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

This was a pleasure to read, and I can appreciate TyT much more thanks to giving both sisters much more depth. It helps us to appreciate their roles in the movie and MyM.

Well written!

[Goat-kun 2,527]

One does not simply point at a character flaw like some soyjak points at vegan nuggets and expect all the flaws of a character to evaporate. Zipp is a capable athlete who wuws the science and is the smartest pony evah. That's like every strong, independent fish that never sat on a bicycle. Mark these words: the greatest flaw shall become the character itself.

[Toastypk 923]

I avoided this thread until I watched MYM. And I have to say, I'm really appreciative of Zipp. I already loved her genuine personality, and this special has only re-inforced how much I like her. She's such a big fretter about this, like I can be.

Edited May 29, 2022 by Toastypk

[Sparklefan1234 170,683]

On 2022-05-22 at 10:10 AM, NavelColt said:

Zipp ultimately ends up comforting Pipp after a styling mishap, and then allows her mane to be done, purely because it'll make her sister happy.

 

This is my favorite moment in "Tell Your Tale" so far because it is adorable and it shows that Zipp will do anything to show her sister Pipp 

how much she loves and cares about her. 

[Toastypk 923]

Actually, now that I realize it, lemme elaborate about Zipp's worrisome-ness.

A character in G4 who I liked was the weather pegasus in The Summer Sun Setback, because of his out there panicky disposition. It was at least exaggerated, though. 

Zipp worrying felt a lot more based in reality, and nowhere near comedic. World-level important things could have gone wrong, and she was so fixated on it, and nopony took it seriously enough. I think it was at Mane Melody after the song, she said, "we can't just sing this away!" That sounds like the attitude that I would have. Large things really fixate on my ruminating mind.

Coupled with the backdrop of her royal obligations, the whole episode really did a lot to flesh her out more.

Edited May 29, 2022 by Toastypk

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

I agree about Zipp in Make Your Mark. She was my favorite character in the special and I think we can see more of her flaws in the new "Tell Your Tail" as well as her "detective" side here 

 

[Rosy Moonlight 369]

Zipp's determination reminds me of G4 Twilight's.

It would be funny if Sparky's first word was him calling Zipp "mama."

Possibly from Sunny joking about Zipp being her mom because she spends so much time with him and Hitch, in her job as deputy.

Edited June 4, 2022 by Rosy Moonlight