Why doesn't Applejack get any love?

[Renzo 1]

I think it is because AJ is a very level headed, down-to-earth pony that rarely loses her cool.  She's very reasonable, problaby the most mature of the Mane6.

 

Her only (known) flaws have been dealt with and it seems that she learn very quickly from her mistakes.  Basically speaking, she's almost a perfect character that doesn't need any more development. 

[Starshine 16,331]

 

Isn't it ironic that Applejack actually have the third most most airtime in Season 1 & 2? Even above Rainbow Dash?

 

http://mlpforums.com/topic/7535-eqd-character-screentime-analysis/

 

Not to mention the fact that all those "AJ is background pony" talks only made her even more popular than she should be?

She's hardly the least popular mane six, that seat was reserved for Rarity.

Edited December 4, 2012 by Twinkleshine

[None42069 520]

This question's been bothering me for a while and excuse this if it's already been discussed, but why do you think Applejack gets less attention than the others?

 

I've never seen a big craze for her, but I've also noticed that Target almost never has her merchandice (I was going to get my anti-brony friend a gag gift) and even the super target in my town only had the whole "Applejack family set", but nothing individual.

 

So, what do you think?

 

Great. Another topic filled with liarjack posts and- wait.

*Reads through the posts*

 

this will be very messy plz find Clarity the true #1 AJ fan to translate

 

well i think the who thing about her being one dimensional is kinda true if you look at it from only one angle.

the truth is that its seen that way because all these different sides of AJ resolve around a strong core that is her personality.

 

let get started with the obvious

she is a southern pony/ Rancher/ Apple farmer- this automatically triggers people alarms because of a faults depiction of southerners as hill billies , bigots ect ect. which always make me laugh because iv'e seen a guy say how she is a bigot and then point out he can't stand her accent and uses that as an excuse not to like her but i'm drifting of now

 

her hard working attitude- this is what her cutie mark rely represents her desire to hopefully run the farm/ family business which is her core drive.

 

her Cutiemark- in the Cutiemark Chronicles her scene to me had the strongest character because what she did could be considered a spiritual journey because she went out to find her desire what ever it might be, and the orange family representing the opposite of that. basically this was the more personal development out of the other stories 

 

her Lie- a common defense from AJ haters so let go on about all the lies she has told

Boost busters and her lie to rarity- she lie as to not hurt rarity's feeling and to not break her down more then Trixie already had

Party of one- ok she wasn't the only one to lie and even then the cause was good  (if you harp on her the you must also do so for the  rest of them.

 

return to harmony- she was Discorded moving on

the last round up- yeah this was a big one and it was all down to the disappointment AJ had of her self that she pretty much failed Ponyville for not winning any money and that why she lie so she could work to get the money to fix the town hall.

 

Crystal empire- if i have to explain this to you then you rely shouldn't be on a computer unsupervised

 

OK i could literally go further with this and do a complete Episode by Episode rundown of every thing that AppleJack has done to prove she isn't one dimensional but i don't want a mod to ban me  

(^Only post concerning liarjack)

Wow. Impressive, forums. A single post explaining why Applejack and it was understanding instead of using it as THE reason for all the applejack hate.

 

 

Anyways, my answer has been posted many times by everyone else here but she just doesn't have an interesting personality. She's great and seems more like a big sister (figuratively to the rest of the group) than anything. She's just sort of meh.

Edited December 4, 2012 by Xidphel

[sirseansy 87]

She's much more simple than the other ponies. 

 

Twilight is the future ruler of Equestria (I hope)

Pinkie is nutty

Rainbow is a flashy showboat

Fluttershy is always scared and freakin' adorable

Rarity is a massive drama queen

 

But AppleJack...she's just...normal.

 

Aside from her enormous work ethic, and dedication to family, there's nothing that really makes her stand out. And that's precisely why she's among my all time favorites. 

[Clarity 3,094]

Ha, so much repetitiveness here.

 

Seeing the fact that so many people wonder why AJ is unpopular, she basically became popular. Not in a good way, of course.

 

Perhaps if her personality showed in the very first episode had continued, that playfulness and excitement when she welcomed Twilight, then she would have more fans. It saddens me the way they changed her from a friendly, playful, and honest friend to somepony who's just a filler of space. Seriously, rewatch Friendship is Magic Part 1, and you'll see.

 

Other than that, what others said before.

[duidamasterXD 9,626]

Ha, so much repetitiveness here.

 

Seeing the fact that so many people wonder why AJ is unpopular, she basically became popular. Not in a good way, of course.

 

Perhaps if her personality showed in the very first episode had continued, that playfulness and excitement when she welcomed Twilight, then she would have more fans. It saddens me the way they changed her from a friendly, playful, and honest friend to somepony who's just a filler of space. Seriously, rewatch Friendship is Magic Part 1, and you'll see.

 

Other than that, what others said before.

Welcome back Clarity, to be honest I'm surprised it's taken you this long to post in this thread

 

Interesting avatar too.

 

 

You know, the Applejack episode later this season sounds interesting to me. I think that it has a lot of potential to show Applejack's personality off and improve her standing. Is anyone else optimistic about what the future holds for her?

[BeatrixBow 119]

I, for one, absolutely  adore applejack! I think it's because she's an earth pony, and has no special abilities and whatnot, or maybe it's because she doesn't get that many big parts in the show. It's like no one is interested in her except for her accent. She has no perkiness or funniness like the others and she tends to shy away from the bigger parts. She's like a background. Loyal, and always there to help, but no one really notices it. She is a BACKGROUND pony. 

[Zygen 6,065]

I think its got to do with mutiple things.

First of all she's had the least amount of screentime out of the mane 6.  So therefore shes had less character development then most of the other mane 6 really.

 

I think the other part of it is she doesn't have quite as much character depth as the other do. This may be due to the fact she has not as much screentime as the rest of the mane 6 however.

 

 

To be fair though, there is alot of loyal AJ fans on these forums. If they haven't already made there way here I'm sure they will .

 

I'm thinking that maybe after her extra screentime, and hopefully getting some character development this season she might get more popular.

 

I think shes actually become more interesting this season, and she seems to be getting more screentime aswell. Which is good!

 

Can't see any other reasons to hate AJ. Unless you hate us southerners .(Even if AJ is my least favorite at the moment, I like all the ponies to a somewhat even extent, and I certainly don't hate her. Besides i'm southern how could I ?)

[Shanks 10,811]

I think people choose their favourite ponies based on who they most identify with. Our culture doesn't value hard work, integrity, dependable-ness or honesty as much as it used to. AJ seems pretty old fashioned at times.

That is true for far too many people, but speaking for just me for a second I can relate to Applejack more than any of the other Mane 6 because I have had to work hard just to get what most people take for granted and I can be honest to the point of being extremely blunt. I think the genius in her character is the simplicity, it is not that she dosen't any glaring flaws it is that we haven't seen as many episodes bring those to our attention as the other Mane 6. Applejack is often very stubborn set in her ways, prideful and reluctant to ask for help.

[Princes Cadance 345]

I really like AJ personally

I feel her character is a good impression of a hard worker but she hasn't got many episodes based around her

hell maybe applebloom (CMC) even have more episodes

[Rooish 47]

I think its got to do with mutiple things.

First of all she's had the least amount of screentime out of the mane 6.  So therefore shes had less character development then most of the other mane 6 really.

 

 

Amazingly she has had a bit more that Fluttershy over seasons 1 and 2... but way less than any other pony. According to this awesome person's chart. http://dziadek1990.deviantart.com/#/d527wls

[Derpyroo 14]

i have to say I love Applejack, she is the grounding force for the other mane 5, she is kind, and reassuring and always helps her friends, she may not be as popular but she does have a special place in my heart, cause she is the big sister/best friend we would all like. Right Sugercubes?

[Zygen 6,065]

Amazingly she has had a bit more that Fluttershy over seasons 1 and 2... but way less than any other pony. According to this awesome person's chart. http://dziadek1990.deviantart.com/#/d527wls

Wow, thats actually a really cool chart, but Fluttershy has less screentime over S1-2 then AJ?(I know its like 25 seconds, but dang...)

Idk, maybe its she has screentime, but the fact she doesn't do anything important in those times shes shown or something?

Idk lol. This is an interesting chart, it also shows that the developers did a pretty decent job balancing Rainbow dash, Pinkie, And Rarity.

However AJ And Fluttershy gets a bit less then the others, And twilight gets alot more, but then again shes basically the main character(Expecially S1.)

 

I dunno if I'd count spike as a full main character or anything, but I guess considering he has plenty of lines and screentime he may as well be included.

 

 

This was very informative though, so thanks

[None42069 520]

While I have already posted my opinion on this, I have also noticed a few people posting about how this thread is almost the same as others. For this, I have found an appropriate image:

[PonyEcho 1,610]

While I have already posted my opinion on this, I have also noticed a few people posting about how this thread is almost the same as others. For this, I have found an appropriate image:

agreed, perhaps people should try and bring the dead topic back to life rather then deformed clones.

or perhaps people could shut up about Liarjack and the background pony stuff 

[8ballgremlin 20]

I totally love Applejack. And it's weird, I see less flaws in her than other ponies.  I do think her character is a bit flat because of it... (minus the fact that she totally gave up with being tortured by feathers in the last ep, I was surprised she wasn't stronger). Either way, I totally wish there was more merchandise because I would buy it all. 

Yeah i mean she's kinda just there. She has no major virtues and major vices. On top of that she's boring, she's the only truly normal member of the mane six thus she isn't interesting. Twilight has her Aspergers, so we get to see her struggling to learn social skills, I seen cases made for Fluttershy as well, Rarity has her OCD so mess up the order she has her life in and her freakouts become hilarious. Pinkie's got her ADHD, so we get randomness out of her and Rainbow's got narcissism so we can enjoy seeing her thunder get stolen. Applejack on the otherhand is simply there.

[Delzepp 2,939]

Hmmm.... - Big family sense - Lots of pride. - Overconfidence bordering excess. - Biggest fear is disappointment about her from others. - Will not let others go without help, but will not let others help her. - Most level-headed alongside Twilight. - Expert at her job as well as the others. - Is a great athlete. - She as well can't escape the opposite points of her Element. I dunno about you, but a lot of those things could make anyone attracted to a character. I would find it sad if only a matter of mental "OMG WHAT THE HELL?!" things is the only way to get captured by a character.sad.png

 

Excellent points of view, although I'd also like to add something:

 

out of all the ponies forming the mane 6, she cares the most about their friendship; lemme tell you how I reached this conclusion:

 

in the Return To Harmony episode, as someone pointed out, she started lying because she was "discorded"; how was she discorded? she was a vision of the six of them fighting and ending their friendship once and for all; unable to live with that thought, that they weren't going to be friends anymore, she gave in to Discord's power and was changed, "I couldn't face to truth, so I started telling lies" (hew own words)

 

if you ask me, that's pretty solid proof of how much their friendship means to her; and, in a show about friendship, that's really something; so I definitely think she's a really great pony to be friends with, as you know just how much she values her friends XD

 

also, I've read many comments about her being too one-dimensional; I dunno how one reaches that conclusion when one constantly learns new things about her with every AJ episode, at least in my view

[Jemboi 127]

Ha, so much repetitiveness here.

 

Seeing the fact that so many people wonder why AJ is unpopular, she basically became popular. Not in a good way, of course.

 

Perhaps if her personality showed in the very first episode had continued, that playfulness and excitement when she welcomed Twilight, then she would have more fans. It saddens me the way they changed her from a friendly, playful, and honest friend to somepony who's just a filler of space. Seriously, rewatch Friendship is Magic Part 1, and you'll see.

 

Other than that, what others said before.

I see it completely different but I respect your opinion. I think AJ has developed MORE over the seasons and been given very adequate screen time for a "unpopular" pony. She has a distinguished personality and a fleshed out family. What other ponies have that? I think it's becoming a sort of "poor AJ" bandwagon as of late around here and it's not justified whatsoever. AJ fans should be incredibly happy. It's Rarity and Fluttershy fans who should be complaining incessantly. Just my two cents.  -_-  

 

Hmmm....

 

- Big family sense

- Lots of pride.

- Overconfidence bordering excess.

- Biggest fear is disappointment about her from others.

- Will not let others go without help, but will not let others help her.

- Most level-headed alongside Twilight.

- Expert at her job as well as the others.

- Is a great athlete.

- She as well can't escape the opposite points of her Element.

 

I dunno about you, but a lot of those things could make anyone attracted to a character. I would find it sad if only a matter of mental "OMG WHAT THE HELL?!" things is the only way to get captured by a character.

Excellents points and even further establishes my belief that AJ is the most developed of all the ponies, even Twilight. My opinions seem to be controversial around here, but it is what it is. Thanks for this great post. 

[NavelColt 22,877]

'Why isn't Applejack as popular as the rest?' has been merged with 'Why doesn't Applejack get any love?'. While the OP's and titles seem a bit different, what I noticed from reading through both topics is they more or less talk about the same exact thing: Applejack's character, whom many find lackluster and not flashy, which plays a big part in why she isn't loved much/isn't as popular as the other main characters.

 

Also, it's much preferred if people provide links to topics you believe are the same, instead of just talking about how a topic is like another topic. The former gets things merged and organized, the later just begins to derail the topic at hand. As much as I love chaos, the alicorn upstairs doesn't find it all that amusing

[Arcanel 3,041]

It's Rarity and Fluttershy fans who should be complaining incessantly.

Excellents points and even further establishes my belief that AJ is the most developed of all the ponies, even Twilight.

Umm...I am a Rarity and Fluttershy fan and I'm not complaining incessantly.  Still, I think this is the part where it gets slightly subjective.

 

I don't think Applejack is the most developed of ponies. I always try to balance and think that each character throughout this seasons have been as properly developed as possible. Fact is, I could tell you as many facts of each mane 6 if you asked me too. The interesting thing with Applejack is the next fact.

 

Her family.

 

To the contrary of the rest of the mane 6, Applejack is the only one with a family that appears on a fairly frequent basis. And as we have seen, her family provides for a lot of the humor and the development that she gets involved in. Some would say that what she doesn't show, is shown by her family. And this wouldn't be exactly out of the truth. Since Applejack has to share a lot of the spotlight with her family on a decent amount of occasions, her alone time isn't exactly that alone time. But then again, she wouldn't be Applejack without her family. So this shared time could cause good or bad reactions. Because people would think that, because of her family, Applejack loses development time to something directly related to her family, and therefore, develop her character OUTSIDE her family. But once more, this is a trait of Applejack. Her sense of family. And it's quite a commendable one, in my honest opinion.

 

In the end, most would divert to how much you like her unique traits. Most would think she's boring, and therefore, not care for her just as much as others. I personally disagree with this, but it is one's own opinion. I like Applejack a lot even though she's not a favorite.

[Agent505 661]

I think the main reason that she is overshadowed as a main pony is because of the other ponies roles in the show. 

 

We have:

Twilight - unicorn - the perfectionist - element of magic.

Pinkie Pie - earth pony - the entertainer - element of laughter. 

Rainbow Dash - pegasus - the showoff - element of loyalty.

Rarity - unicorn - the "upper class" - element of generosity.

Fluttershy - pegasus - the shy one - element of kindness. 

 

As we all know, that's 2 pegasi, 2 unicorns and 2 earth ponies counting AJ. 

All the interesting elements have been taken, and honesty is a valuable life trait for people to learn, so they almost have to add in honesty in the show to get the message out to kids. 

 

Think about it this way. 

AJ is an honest earth pony.

Laughter, randomness, hyperactivity, kindess, shyness, loyalty, vanity/egotistic notions, superior magic, superior intelligence, nerdyness, generosity, high standards and perfectionism. 

 

Now try and make AJ more interesting, while keeping her an earth pony who has to constantly portray honesty - without using any of the above. Not trying to say that it can't be done, but looking at it from that perspective - at least for me shows just how difficult it can be to create an interesting character with those circumstances. 

 

Also, I would just like to add...

 

https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/6928133888/h1C5A7344/

 

Edited January 10, 2013 by Agent505

[Fhaolan 4,471]

Applejack is hard to write for, because she is down-to-earth, hardworking, suitably cautious, and whatnot. Most times she's not going to instigate the plot, her role is to react to it.

 

It's the straightman/funnyman issue. (straightpony/funnypony? Hah, no: straightmane/funnymane, that's better.) The funnymane's role is to deliver the joke, the straightmane is to react to the joke and often to feed the setup of the joke to the funnymane. Unfortunately, human nature being the way it is, the funnymane gets the attention more often than the straightmane.

 

Pinkie Pie is always the funnymane. Rainbow Dash only acts as the straightmane to Pinkie Pie, otherwise she's the funnymane. Twilight gets to be funnymane when she goes neurotic (which is relatively often), and Rarity goes funnymane when she's being a diva (again, relatively often). Fluttershy is mostly straightmane, but her extreme fear reactions are easier to write.

 

Applejack's character is designed to be always the straightmane. She's the exact opposite from Pinkie Pie. And whenever either of them switches roles in the show, there's a feeling of disconnect, like they're acting out of character.

 

So in the end, it's just difficult to write Applejack. It's not impossible, but it's difficult.

[Fender 1,283]

Oi,

 

 

This make you feel any better, mate? I simply.......adore this song. Go Turquoise Splash and Pony1Kenobi for making this song! I know it's not a fanfic, but hey, I figure it's just as good at telling a romantic story.

[Stary Dreams 87]

I like Applejack for one, though when I ask other bronies who's pony they love most they almost always say Applejack as their least or second to last favorite. Then I ask them why and they just shrug. Applejack needs more love

She's a caring, honest (<--- Derp) and has a cool accent. Why don't people seem to like her that much?

[Wingnut 6,763]

I like Applejack for one, though when I ask other bronies who's pony they love most they almost always say Applejack as their least or second to last favorite. Then I ask them why and they just shrug. Applejack needs more love

She's a caring, honest (<--- Derp) and has a cool accent. Why don't people seem to like her that much?

Sugarcube, while I can't speak for the fandom as a whole, I can think of several Bronies in this forum who think very highly of Applejack.    My two favorite ponies are Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, but AJ is easily number 3 on my list.  I'm a bit guilty of overlooking her at first because she lacks the extraordinary talents the other five have.  AJ is a very likable, well rounded person.  But sadly, for some people well rounded means nothing stands out and, therefore, they consider those characters boring.