Characters that grew on you (or did the opposite)

[Circadian 1,273]

Celestia has really grown on me. I used to think she was a condescending bitch. Now I think she's a warm-hearted, benevolent dictator.

 

With fabulous hair!

[Wingnut 6,990]

The CMCs. As a group, I found them to be annoying and childish at first. Their all out obsession to acquire their cutie marks seemed unhealthy. And even though I know MLP:FiM is a kids' show, it made me feel like they were pandering to children a bit too much. Imagine that. Here is a grown up Brony who feels a cartoon is trying too hard to appeal to kids. How rude of me, right? 

 

But now, those sentiments are a thing of the past. While they're still preoccupied with cutie marks, what they really have is a normal childlike zeal to make goals, accomplish them, and learn the lessons that they can grow on. Sweetie Belle has always stood out as my favorite because of her distinctive voice squeaks. But Sleepless in Ponyville shined a whole new light on what makes Scootaloo tick and established her as my second favorite CMC.

 

Pinkie Pie. Her randomness and need for validation from others were a turn off for me at first. I identify much more with Fluttershy who prefers quality over quantity when it comes to friends. I don't like making a big fuss over a bunch of mere acquaintances. Nor do I seek to be their center of attention either. Of the Mane 6 ponies, Pinkie Pie is the hardest one for me to relate to.

 

As time went on, I started to see what a huge contribution Pinkie Pie makes to the team. They wouldn't be the same without her on board. As crazy and insane as she is, Pinkie brings so much to the table. Pinkie Pie is Fluttershy's counterweight on the Mane 6's hyper-outgoing/ultra-reserved scale. And her greatest gift of all is her ability to bring out the best in her friends.

[VelvetDivan 96]

Increased:

 

Rainbow Dash - Like many of you, I really disliked her upon my introduction to the show.  She was everything I wasn't, her personality totally grated on me.  It was only after her one-dimensionality was expanded in later episodes that I found her tolerable, and then likable.  She really did grow into her aspect of loyalty, whereas in the pilot, it felt to me like her demonstration of it was more whim than anything else.  (Besides, no one had ever heard of this other team of fliers.  It's always been the Wonderbolts or nothing for Dashie, right?)

 

Pinkie Pie - Motor mouths drive me nuts, and life-of-the-party people have always come across as shallow to me, having piles of superficial friendships but no in-depth ones.  Pinkie resonated immediately with that stereotype for me, so I was ready to dismiss her too and focus on the remaining four ponies.  She proved too entertaining though in later episodes to ignore, and though she certainly does want to be everyone's friend, she's not collecting them as a numbers game or for popularity.  

 

 

Decreased:

 

Spike -  I really hope 'Spike at Your Service' was not a sign of where they're taking the character because it was a radical departure from Spike's nature up 'til then.  Spike was never so thoroughly inept as he was in this episode.  Twilight would never have been able to tolerate him if he was!  The enormous mess he made trying to help baking?  What happened to the little dragon who made snacks for the meteor-shower party that were such a hit?  The dragon who has his own little apron?  He's no stranger to cooking!  He's certainly no stranger to cleaning.  As for the life debt thing, that isn't the first time his life was saved, and it'd never come up before.  In short, I just hope that episode was a fluke and we'll have our un-brain-damaged Spike back soon.

[Spinelspike 78]

Well, to be perfectly honest, they all grew on me from the get go as I was not expecting much from when I first watched the show, and since I started watching, they all grew on me instantly, and have continued to do so to this day. None of them have really decreased their appeal on me, but I guess I would say that at a point my appeal for the CMC had decreased slightly, but that's only really when they are just looking for their cutie marks by trying every activity possible. It was a fun idea at first, but then it soon got slightly repetitive, so I certainly find the CMC more interesting and fun characters when they are not doing something that concerns just trying a brand new talent out just to get their cutie marks. Other than that, I have and always will love all the characters. They all instantly appealed to me at first, and they continue to do so

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,695]

You can probably guess who's grown on me the most. ^^

 

But out of the Mane 6, Rarity and Applejack have grown on me immensely. Now they're my 2nd and 4th favorites in the group. ^^  I like Nightmare Moon much better than I did before, although I'm still on the fence about Luna. xD

 

On the other side, my respect for Celestia has gradually declined because we never know what her thoughts or motives are, and IMO she's a lousy teacher for Twilight. Trixie's character also interested me much less in Magic Duel than it did in Boast Busters. She just seemed to be missing something there.

[Scootaloodle 1,622]

Increased:

 

The CMCs- I always liked the CMC episodes, but just recently I've really started to love seeing those characters get up to the mischief

 

Celestia- I hated that character at first, this is where I get a bit stuck. Because I don't reeeallly know why I didn't like her then, and don't really feel sure why I like her more now either

 

Decreased:

No pony

[Nah 3,182]

Well, since season 3 is nearly finished, and I almost rewatched the whole series, here is my list:

 

Neutral/no change:

 

Rainbow Dash

 

Pinkie Pie

 

Vinyl Scratch/DJ-Pon3

 

Fluttershy

 

Celestia

 

Rarity

 

Spike

 

Grew on me:

 

Applejack- her attitude, work ethic, behavior, and just honesty (#elementhonesty!), she really got into the midst of my 3 favorite, plus I just like the country girl setting. <3

 

Twilight Sparkle- Screw the alicorn shit, I don't care if she becomes one, all I have to say is, her character development, attitude, and just understanding of the characters really got onto me in a positive way. Plus her mane is just awesome, compared to RD's mane. :3

 

Luna- Wow, her character was just amazing, from the very beginning, she was awesome as Nightmare Moon, however, as just Luna now, she really got onto me, especially in Luna Eclipsed, however she fell a little bit in the Canterlot Wedding episode, with her minute appearance. That was easy to get back up in Sleepless in Ponyville.

 

The CMC, no explanation needed, just too many squee moments

 

Characters that shrank on me:

 

Derpy Hooves: Wow, what a year 2012 was for Derpy, first a speaking role, then foul play called for her voice, for "offending" mentally challenged people, and she is was too loved. :/

 

Cadence: God, how much I can't stand her or Shining Armor.

 

Shining Armor: Just so annoying

 

 

 

 

[Champion RD92 8,658]

Pinkie Pie probably grew on me the most. At first, I thought she was super incredibly annoying, but then I thought she was really funny. Although, in season 3, she is just kind of weird...and not really funny anymore :/

[Stellafera 3,836]

Grown on me? How about every one of the Mane 6 aside from Rarity? Well, in particular:

 

Applejack: Um, until Hearth's Warming Eve, she sat at a solid fourth. Now I'm the biggest female AJ fan on the site. I suppose it's best to start at the beginning to explain how I got from there to here. So sit down and let me tell y'all a story...

 

Hearth's Warming Eve was the first episode where I really saw Applejack's charm and funniness and was the first time I found myself saying that "Applejack was the best part about that episode", a phrase that now rolls off the tongue effortlessly. I remember my feelings when it was first aired:

 

"Rarity and Twilight, 1st and 2nd best ponies, were really disappointing this episode, but I actually loved the AJ and Pinkie bits. I almost never find those two interesting!"

 

 

So that was the start of things, but I thought it was just a one episode thing, you know. She made me laugh that one time. So what, right? Well, then, three episodes later, we got The Last Roundup. I never got to see this one live, but I can tell you that I was nonplussed by Derpy when I viewed it on Youtube. Actually, by most of the episode.

 

Until the ending. If there is anything that I love, I love characters who have issues with their images. And the reveal here suddenly brought Applejack into a new relief. No longer was she just one of the Mane 6. No, she was a pillar of her community, and tries so hard to be perfect all the time that she doesn't even know what to do the one time she can't. A character who is the element of honesty but tried to run away from her problems and ignore them. A character who decided to flee her friends and family because of her sense of obligation and responsibility towards them. You can just see how broken up she is when she thinks she has disappointed all of her friends, and the way that they comforted her was heartwarming, no matter how narmtastic is was. Guess which episode still has my favorite moral? That's right, The Last Roundup. 

 

Was Applejack my favorite pony at this point? Nope, but she was secretly rising up in the ranks. I still loved Rarity the best and considered her best pony, but by the season's end, it was almost a hollow cry, more out of loyalty to the one I once deemed favorite than to the one where my heart truly lay, Applejack. Between Season 2 and Season 3, I finally conceded that Applejack was best pony, not Rarity. And, well... I think that ever since I discovered both the style (Hearth's Warming Eve) and the substance (The Last Roundup) of the character, I've appreciated her role a lot more in episodes both before and after. 

 

Rainbow Dash: Not quite as big of a leap as AJ, but... actually, still a pretty huge leap. I had much the same opinion on her as I did on AJ back in Season 1, and now she's my second favorite. And it's all thanks to May The Best Pet Win and The Mysterious Mare Do Well (naturally). I believe that was also approximately the time where I realized that I would never be a normal brony who liked normal episodes, but that is not a relevant topic.

 

In those episodes, I saw that RD had layers. I mean, yeah, we saw that she was insecure with all that Sonic Rainboom business and stuff, but she still came across as boring. We saw what her flaws were, we saw that she was worried, we sympathized, she was awesome after all. Meh. But with the double Dash in Season 2, I saw both her little heroic core that she lacked in Season 1 and her dark side. She didn't express her feelings perfectly or acted perfectly when she was upset or treated others perfectly. In a word? A jerk. And that made me love her.

 

Just like Applejack though, I didn't immediately bump her up to 2nd favorite, although she rose faster in my estimation than AJ did. Then Hurricane Fluttershy happened. The thing is, all of those flaws from before were still there and were never forgotten. But there was also a incredibly loyal and incredibly caring aspect that just made her an amazing character of many contradictions. Just the thing that I used to love about a certain...

 

 

Rarity: Ah yes, my "eternal" favorite from episode one, now occupying Applejack's old place. Season 1 was amazing for her. She was a generous, hard worker who could still be a little vain and petty at times but was a good pony when it counted. What happened to her? What happened to the fact that she was almost always working, heck, that she has a job? What about her endless generosity? Or her caring and sense of tact?

 

Apparently she was in Season 2 a lot, but I sure didn't feel it. The only non-Rarity episodes where she felt like the pony I remembered from Season 1 were Secret Of My Excess and Putting Your Hoof Down, and those were both my favorites at the time of release. And while both of those appearances were great, I haven't really discovered anything new that I loved about her since the end of the first season; she's just been retreading the same ground again and again, even in her best episodes. I might even have to move Pinkie Pie above her at this point in my best pony list; Pinkie Pie has displayed much more development and growth than Rarity has.

 

I loved what we saw of Rarity so much, though, that I still feel hesitant about doing that. I only wish I could see more. 

[Betez 1,734]

Well, I originally didn't care for Rainbow Dash all that much, but lately I've started to like her more. She's certainly nit my favorite, but she's started to grow on me.

[Aeon Of Dreams 115]

Both Rarity and (to a lesser extent) Rainbow Dash grew on me. I did not hate the characters but I originally did not care for them as nearly as much as I do now.

Edited February 9, 2013 by The Oneiromancer

[Silverstream 51]

Scoot from CMC is

the pony that grew on

me the most i would say

this past year in truth! 

 

Less:  Pinkie Pie....

that pony is way to hyper

on me and spaz like for me

to even really like....

[pinkieshyrose 58]

Increased=pinkiepie i liked her at first but when i watched the first episode i thought she was only the girly elment of the show boy was i wrong

 

rarity=At first i didnt see anything in common with her and found some of her dramatic antic annyoing but others funny like when in bird of the hoof where she was yelling at everpony so she wouldnt rip her dress or somthing.....

 

 

decrerased

 

rainbowdash=she seems to make my way up to my favs then come down again her tomboyish personality is awesome but her jerky side is just to there...also the random her caling herself awesome thing just got anoying after one episode its like shes full of herself

and she still is......

 

twilight=i liked her character but then she was in the show to much and her personality was kinda drowned out.... but i still really like her

[Delzepp 2,939]

I have to say Rainbow Dash, and it's a pretty ambiguous/confusing story

 

as mentioned before, Applejack was my #1 fave pony from the get go, WRONG! the first pony I loved the most was Dashie, but this was during the very first few minutes of viewing the first episode for the very first time, by the end of the episode, AJ was my choice as best pony forever; then I saw the Ticket Master episode...oooooh, not good; this is probably the only time I'll admit it, but I didn't like her during the episode, and this was the first and only time I didn't like a member of the Mane 6, never happened again; that being said, RD really started to grow on me, as the title of this topic puts it;

 

I really like her now, and it's a real pity that many bronies seem to put her down for her stubbornness and...stuff...but that's what makes her great; in the end, her element is loyalty, and that's an amazing thing to be, loyal to your friends, and I'd give anything to have a friend like her X3

Edited February 10, 2013 by Delzepp

[Stellafera 3,836]

Reading my first few posts on this forum, it turns out that I actually considered Rainbow Dash as second best pony only with Sleepless In Ponyville, but it was basically a classification that was long coming (that is, since Hurricane Fluttershy). So my story is still valid.

[WWAPD 126]

Rarity. When I started the show, I really didn't think much of her at all, but by the time I saw the sonic rainboom episode, I really kind of hated her. But after watching the Diamond dogs episode, it became clear to me that RARITY IS THE BEST PONY ON THE ENTIRE SHOW.

[Zygen 6,066]

Increasing:

Rarity: at first during my watch of S1, and most of S2 I actually didn't like Rarity much, she just came off as very snobby and not very likeable, but this was actually due alot to the fact I didn't see "Suited for Success" skipping it because of the title(I know I skipped an episode of a little girls tv show because it sounded to "Girly" this was younger brony days ok? ) Eventually I came back and watched it and after seeing it and the other Rarity episodes she just kinda grew onto me and I actually started to appreciate her character.

Decreasing:

I can't say I have any here actually, I mean the characters would kinda fade around as they got more or less attention, but that shifts around so quickly that I feel its not worth mentioning. Overall its not enough to make me dislike any of the characters to any extent, and after Rarity had grown on me I really haven't had a case of hating any of the Mane 6. Or really any of the characters in the show.

[HunterTSN 1,444]

Rarity definitely grew on me, during S1 I found her kind of uptight and annoying, but now she is in my avatar. I also used to find Twilight boring and Pinkie two wierd, but they have both grown on me. Fluttershy is almost the opposite, throughout S1 I thought she was pretty cute and had a good character, Now she is always either being useless or a bitch and I can honestly say that she is one of my least favorite characters in the show.

[Pixel Stick 927]

I already replied earlier to this topic, but I've decided more recently that Princess Luna has surpassed all of the Mane 6 as my favorite character overall.  While I still love the Mane 6 to bits, I think Luna, despite having such a miniscule amount of screen time, has grown the most - from her grand entrance as Nightmare Moon, to her defeat, to her exceedingly awkward attempt to connect with common ponies, to taking part in her duties around the castle, and finally to comforting poor Scootaloo during her terrible nightmares.  To me, that's an amazing evolution.

 

As far as I'm concerned, Luna is a mysterious character full of wisdom and potential, and whose troubled past gives her motivation to find her place among the citizens of Equestria, not just as their guardian and their ruler, but as a friend.  She is a surprisingly powerful character, and honestly one I can't stop thinking about.

[Jemboi 127]

I was instantly drawn to Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy but I'd have to say that Rarity has been growing on me. I get a kick out of her overly dramatic antics. The voices she makes when she's whining or panicking are hilarious! 

[Stormlight34 21]

I've come to love Rarity and Pinkie Pie, but I hate Applejack FOR A REASON...(So don't

 go all AJ is best pony blah blah) I hate Aj only because i have nothing to work with her, she has the least amount of fanfics cuz there's not alot about her. I hate boring characters, I rather have a increate woven background like Rarity's. If AJ got more screentime and actual characterization then it could work for me. The only thing I have from Aj is: she's honest, lives on a farm, she's stubborn,  workaholic, and prideful. From Rarity I have a whole background on higher class ponies, her fasion busniness, her genrousity, her sister, her parents, her reasons for wanting tto be a canterlot person, etc. Rarity just so much more..

PINKIE IS JUST PINKIE!

[Rainblow H. Ash 5,091]

*Looks at avatar*

 

*Looks at post*

 

*Looks back at avatar*

 

*Takes a puff on pipe*
 

I understand your thoughts on Applejack. I hope they flesh her out more in the future.

 

To be honest, Applejack used to be my absolute favorite pony, but as I've watched the show and gotten more and more into the fandom, Rainbow Dash just naturally became my all time favorite pony, and I don't think she's losing that spot any time soon. I love brash, arrogant, prideful characters like her that have a strong sense of justice, friendship, and loyalty but also like to joke around. I guess that's why I just grew to adore her, as you would say.

[Bright Honor 2,669]

Well...I do not really hate anyone on the show. I pretty much like all the characters. So I guess I am gonna have to say that I enjoy them all lol.

[Rainblow H. Ash 5,091]

Argh, and then you change your avatar so now my joke in my first post has no meaning.

 

*Takes a puff on pipe*

 

Oh well, such is life in the Zone.

[Scootalove 10,689]

The characters that I've come to hate are well obviously Snips & Snails. We all know how annoying they are, I just haven't come across the line to liking them at all.