Do you think Sparky will grow up in Generation 5 or will he be a baby forever?

[Ring Team 119]

Hi.

When I was sharing my impressions on Chapter 2 of Make your Mark, one of the things I suggested for the series was to make Sparky grow up a little bit more in the future. I want him to grow as a kid who can talk and have his own opinion and his own voice.

But that leads to the quetion you're reading right now. Will Sparky grow up in Generation 5 or will he be a baby dragon forever?

I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed as a baby, but considering how it came out of an egg, I'd find weird if they did let him stay as a baby and call it a day.

What are your thoughts about it?

[J.J 918]

On the one hand it makes the plot structure more mutable and unpredictable to keep him as a baby with no control over his magic powers, (in Hasbro's eyes) doing this makes for a lot of potential plotlines that would be otherwise nonexistent if we just had a magical baby dragon that could breathe a puff of smoke and literally almost do anything... It would just be like, "oh no there's trouble in Equestria with not having enough of (X)", "oh no somepony broke somepony's (X) what will we do now". Well with a wide array of problems like these the answer to this with a matured Sparky that has control over his wacky magic fire would be, "oh we can just have sparky transform that trash can into a new TV." Really light examples but I "think" you know what I'm "trying" to say...  That much like what they are using him for now, a "plot crutch" keeping him as a baby not only keeps them from having easy resolutions to everything, but creates the potential for him to create chaotic plots, from trapping Pipp in a pumpkin to literally switching cutie marks, his unpredictable, uncontrollable dragon magic sets up the plot for many unique scenarios that just wouldn't exist if he was a more mature dragon with control over these abilities... 

 On the "other hand" I think Hasbro may have noticed the backlash of how unliked he is as a character and how a lot of individuals just don't find his design all that charming at all, he's kind of literally just a "plot tool"... So if they did age him, I believe it would only be slightly so he still wouldn't have very good control over his powers, set up plots like, 1. Him thinking he could help with his magic but making everything worse, 2. Him being asked to use his magic by other ponies for good reason but being far to insecure to try knowing the kind of chaos he has and could potentially cause... 

Aging him would give them a chance to change that horrendous Cocomelon design that they somehow thought was cute, if they aged him I feel like it would have to be toward the end of g.5 bc with Sparky in control of his powers, plotlines will be harder to come by, and he would indefinitely be some type of wacky baby dragon Discord Mary sue that could literally "do anything" and having a character with that potential makes the show LESS interesting not more... 

One that I would like to see, being an extremely sentimental person myself would be something like Sparky transforming a "one of a kind creation" maybe something Izzy makes bc we know she doesn't repeat projects, or possibly even the lantern(but God knows what implications that would actually have) and not being able to turn it back, obviously if it was the lantern they would have to find a way to turn it back, but ultimately one of the ponies getting into a big argument with Hitch over Sparky and giving him the what for, and like ultimately having a new sentimental moment with Sparky but at the end he's able to transform whatever item it was back(,or not) and now have a new sentimental item signifying their special bond with him as well as the item from before... Or just have them let go of whatever item it was that Izzy made bc "nothing is more special than memories made with friends". Lol idk I could see a plot there,  potentially see a new side of ponies that we wouldn't think would ever get to emotional or upset through out this plot

Edited October 29, 2022 by Spook Conundrum

[Props Valroa 26,046]

I would like to see him become an actual grown up dragon - which is something Spike didn't do. I find Sparky annoying from time to time, so it would be a welcome change to see him grow up over the course of Generation 5. Already the idea of him not having control of his dragon fire magic is getting over-done, it's been re-used as a plot point several times. I feel like they over-do the "cuteness" of Sparky, especially in TYT. 

[ProjectRKA 2,840]

Spike did stay as a baby dragon forever. It wasn't until the later stages of G4 that he actually grew. I'm hoping they will probably let him grow to Spike's age, leave him there. And then probably (highly unlikely) let him grow up like Spike did in G4. 

[Misty Shadow 7,085]

Spike was a baby dragon for the entirety of the series discounting The Last Problem and the same goes for baby Flurry Heart too. FiM wasn't known for aging toddlers into adults as the series progressed. The problem with having baby characters age up is the fact that you would also have to age up the main cast. Since Sparky was born at the start of the MYM show while Spike was actually a teenager in dragon years, I can't imagine them having the main cast grow that much older in the run of the series. The only way I could see Sparky acting like a kid or a young teenager in the future of the series is if some kind of magic enables him to or if the way dragons grow up in this generation is different. 

[Skylight Scintillate 1,851]

I think that Sparky, like several other things in G5, are stuck in an awkward position. We probably won't see the dragon grow up because there would have to be a significant time gap or it would have to happen very gradually stretched through the series. However, Sparky is literally just a "plot tool" currently. Like when they need some powerful magic to do something unpredictable for the mane five to try to solve, like come on, can't they be more creative?

[Steve Piranha 28,782]

I highly doubt he’ll grow up. Only enough to talk at most, but he’ll likely remain a baby. Took until the second to last season (out of 9) of FIM for Spike to go into puberty. Not expecting to see him grow much unless there’s a time skipped epilogue similar to The Last Problem

[nightshroud96 116]

They really need to age him up so he is an actual character

[EStarscout 56]

Well, no one can stay to be baby for ever so I'm sure that one time, he will for sure grow. Even Spike is grown in the end of the FiM show sk why not Sparky 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 *smiling with Sunny while saying this*

[Twitchy-Tremor 281]

I think they’re keep him as a baby. It would have to be like a time skip but it could happen I guess that way. Honestly I’d like to see him a bit older to though I think he’s a bit annoying at times as a baby. But it’s probably easier to fit into the plot as a baby.

[Lucky Bolt 34,914]

On 2023-09-03 at 9:43 PM, Twitchy-Tremor said:

I think they’re keep him as a baby. It would have to be like a time skip but it could happen I guess that way. Honestly I’d like to see him a bit older to though I think he’s a bit annoying at times as a baby. But it’s probably easier to fit into the plot as a baby.

I'm going to have to agree with this one. I'd like to see him grow up and become at least maybe Spike-aged but I somehow can't see that becoming a thing. 

[AlbaTross 1,581]

People call him G5's Spike, but I disagree because he's more like G5's Cutie Mark.  He could be like G5's Spike if he talked though.  I...doubt he will grow up though.  G5 can barely manage its current developments.  I doubt aging up Sparky is even on the minds of the writers, animators or anyone involved with G5.  

[Rafa Stary 680]

No because Sparky is clearly the classic "super goofy cute" kind of character with little to no personality made to appeal to the pre schoolar audience, I can only see him aging if they try to make him have babies so they can be as silly as he was.

[Brainstorm 4,092]

I think Sparky will grow in G5, maybe they'll make him Spike's age.