Why is Spike portrayed as the weakest member of the group (besides Fluttershy)?

[Chann3l Chas3r 367]

I mean, he’s a dragon.  Yes, he’s a baby dragon, but he’s still a dragon, raised by ponies or not.  He has innate abilities which nopony (especially him) ever seems to realize that he could use to defend himself.

 

Point A : Of course, being a dragon, he breathes fire.  Now, seeing as he can bake a pie or pop popcorn without completely incinerating either, probably means that he can control the temperature of his fire breath.  Fire typically burns at 500+ degrees fahrenheit, with the “coldest” fire on record in natural conditions recorded at 250*F (at this point I need to remind myself that in the MLP universe, rainbows are tangible and gemstones are dug up cut and polished, so physics probably don’t have much jurisdiction here.)  Either way, fire is fire and being on fire is generally considered a bad thing.

 

Point B : He’s done a belly flop into molten lava, so it’s pretty safe to assume he’s fireproof as well (he even mentions it at one point.)  This also suggests that he would be well-insulated against cold, too.  As for the belly flop, if a person, and definitely if a pony, did the same thing, it would knock them unconscious and they would drown, if it didn’t shatter the bones in their neck first; the other, stronger, dragons even remark that he’s “one tough little dragon,” impressed by this feat.

 

Point C : He can eat gemstones like cookies, which says that:

• He has insanely strong jaws
• His teeth are damn near unbreakable
• His extend-o-tongue is like steel, given that his mouth isn’t cut to shreds whenever he crunches down on a gemstone and turns it into a million razor-sharp shards
• It would take very little effort for him to bite clean through somepony’s leg

Point D : It’s pretty safe to assume that his scales are very thick, and probably to an extent, his skin, seeing as Rarity could use him as a pincushion without seeming to cause him any pain.  If this strength and thickness also applies to the scales on his head, a headbutt could be a pretty effective defense method.

 

And, lastly, Point E : His tail, which he can apparently use an effectual club or a jack-hammer without break, sprain, or injury.  He can also support his whole weight on it (though that isn’t saying much.)

 

Oh, and let us not forget, he has claws.

 

So, as small and friendly as he is, it’s really easy to forget that, although he is young, Spike is a fire-breathing,  sharp-toothed, thick-skinned dragon that could royally fuck somepony’s shit up if he really wanted to.

 

And I don’t think this is ever acknowledged. 

Edited January 11, 2013 by Lagtim3

[Leafeon 2,701]

He has the assets, yes. He doesn't have the skills to use these in a combat situation. Like you said, he's a baby dragon. While I don't think that he would go AWOL, ever, they don't bring it up because it's a kids show. And you can only get away with so much on a kid's show which is supposed to be for marketing toys.

 

But, you are right. I'm sure there are many fanfics on this.

[The Awesome One 1,314]

Yes there are. There is one where Spike has reached a growth spurt and he has a fight with that Green dragon whose horde Spike was eating in one episode. The reason he fights Spike is because he feels his territory is threatened. Much like real animals.

 

 

Spike may be a baby dragon but lets face it, if he wanted to, he could easily kick flank. Maybe even make short work of a phalanx of The Royal Guards once he's a bit older. I'm guessing he's 10 right now at max. When he hits his growth spurt and probably grow wings (or maybe he's like a land dragon) and he'll be complete overkill.

 

 

But right now he's just a baby dragon which makes squee noises if poked.

[Twinhead B 482]

It's also important to remember that Spike is a baby dragon who was hatched and raised by Twilight Sparkle. Ponies are all he knows, so it's safe to assume his dragon instincts have never been developed, or at the very least, have been diluted over time.

[Colt 555]

You also forgot him being totaly inmune to high temperatures despite it's source he took a bath in a volcano and stoped the woden cart with just his claws. 

 

But well the real deal is that dragons are just too awesome so im sure his contract for the show have a clause that makes him BY LAW play as a wimp in the show. Its cool because that way the other chars can shine. But yeah sometimes as a male fan of the show I feel spike and all the male chars are missing something... and that something means 2 things

[Antismurf9001 1,271]

Exactly what Twinhead B said.  We've seen in Secret of My Excess that he has the potential to completely annihilate Ponyville if he had the motivation.  However, I believe that because he was raised by Twilight, his moral code has taught him to fear his natural dragon instincts because they are very likely to hurt his friends.  He could use these powers, but he is afraid to.

 

The best analogy I can think of at the moment is the X-Men.  Many of the 'good' X-Men know that they have these potentially earth-shattering powers, but they avoid using them because they were taught that giving into such instincts is a bad thing.

[FabMarmalade 7]

Being a baby dragon I think Spike would be potentially the strongest member of the group under some circumstances. Twilight's magic may be a little stronger than a dragons basic abilities but it's easy to see that is Spike were older he'd definately be a force not to be messed with. But an adorable force not to be messed with

[Obsidian_Winter 1,159]

I personally its like a person with a gun or knife. You can have said weapon but without the will to use them, it doesn't matter. He is a baby and raised by ponies. Could he kick flank? Yes. But he has neither the will nor the experience to do so. An untrained person with a weapon can be easily dispatched. A trained person is something else entirely.

[Flying Whales 311]

Yeah, like stated before we have seen Spike's potential as a dragon in Secrets of My Excess.

 

HoloSnipe, does raise some great points though. While he does have some innate skills and abilities as a dragon to kick somepony's tail, I firstly do not think that is in Spike's nature, and I believe another reason he is portrayed as a "weaker" memeber of the group is because he is a baby, dragon or not.

[Winona the Dog 1,981]

 

Seriously those are really good points to prove Spike is infact one of the strongest characters in the show (of course its because he's a dragon :3). I don't know why people automatically assume that he must be the weakest  just because of his young age but they forget appearances can be deceiving. The only thing though is that Spike is obviously non-aggressive and rarely gets to show off that he is as powerful as he's made out to be. 

 

As with his rampage through Ponyville when greed corrupted him he was pretty much unstoppable not even Twilight's magic could slow him down. So if he were to decide to be aggressive there'd be little that could be done to stop him other than another dragon his size.

Edited January 11, 2013 by ~Chaotic Harmony~

[Rarietty 632]

Why are people just realizing that Spike overall isn't a very brave or strong because of Spike at your Service? (in the weakness sense, not that he's a weak character as in his personality is weak) Episodes like Dog and Pony Show and Dragon Quest have shown that he really isn't all that brave or courageous. Even the one time he did save the day (Crystal Empire) it was because he had to, not because he wanted to. 

 

Why? He's the only boy in a group of girls. He's like the baby brother character that you'd see in a show directed towards girls. Girl oriented show means girls doing awesome stuff. Therefore, the mane 6 end up saving Spike. See where I'm getting at here? 

 

Besides, he may have claws, fire resistant scales and the ability to breathe fire, but just because somebody has deadly body parts doesn't mean that they can utilize them in combat. 

Edited January 11, 2013 by Rarietty

[Scootalove 10,684]

Well, since he is the only baby dragon on a show that reflects on girls, I don't really see why Spike is the weakest member.

but Fluttershy's stare will put you in trances.

[Zygen 6,065]

Well Spike does have the tools to do alot, I don't think he really understands his capacity and thats why he doesn't do much. Plus since he doesn't ever really use any of that in combat he has no experience with it.

 

Plus he isn't the bravest dragon ever, so I doubt he'd be the first to charge into a battle. I do agree that he is kinda portrayed as pretty weak, but maybe its because he doesn't have much bravery and was raised by pony's so he isn't aware of his power.

 

Of course he has seen what he can do as a full grown dragon to a whole town..

[Rainbow Dash 1,471]

The show wouldnt be for kids if spike acted like an actual dragon. The creators just got a little "creative" when thinking him up and how he would act. If we are trying to go for some accuracy, Spike is in his innocent phase and being raised by ponies will make him docile when he grows older.

[ComradeUncleJoe 29]

Spike is OP as hell, like all dragons. Anyways, he's still technically a baby and he's probably a bit physically weak. Plus he was raised by ponies so that probably softened him up a bit. Anyways, when he's older, he'll be badass.

[kain17 88]

spike is a powerful character but he is a baby and has no will to fight. it has been shown that pony fear dragons because of there power and destructive nature but they still get along. however it is still true that if a dragon did decide to attack the ponies they would be hard pressed to stop it.