Elements of Harmony indeed!

[Discordian 6,015]

So I came to a realization that made the EoH fit the mane 6 even more: Each of them align so well with their element that it resembles them to a fault.

 

Applejack: Honest to a fault. She will believe so wholeheartedly that she can do something that she'll be stubborn about it and not give up even when she should. Ex: Applebuck Season when she says, so honestly that she believes it herself, that she needs absolutely no help and will not accept help from Twilight.

 

Fluttershy: Kind to a fault. She will be so kind to the point that she cannot bring herself to stand up to others because she seemingly believes that it's kinder to let one walk all over her than to show herself some respect and stand her ground. Ex: Guilda (Gilda?) Nuff said.

 

Rarity: Generous to a fault. She will give and give to the point that she gives too much or pandering to her own self-interests in the belief that she's being generous and doing it for their own good. Ex: When she first meets Twilight and not only fixes her hair but throws her into an ensemble of her own creation.

 

Pinkie Pie: Fun to a fault. She believes so fully that fun is the answer to everything that she may not even see when the fun is actually annoying other people. Ex: Any time she brings up parties it's usually at a rather inappropriate time.

 

Rainbow Dash: Loyal to a fault. She will remain so loyal to "friends" that she won't do the right thing so that she is accepted by them. Ex: Wonderbolts Academy with that other fast flyer, Starstream I think it was.

 

Twilight Sparkle: Magical to a fault. Ignore the crude wording but she has a tendency to get so obsessive about her studies on magic that she will actually go crazy. Ex: Lesson Zero. She goes nuts trying to get a report to Princess Celestia on the magic of friendship that she uses her magic to FORCE problems to happen so she can "fix" them.

 

Kinda grasping at straws at that last one and I'm sure someone else can find better examples of all of them for me but it seems to be a recurring theme I've noticed while watching the show.

[Scootalove 10,689]

Your right, the Elements of Harmony all reflect on what each pony of the Mane 6 all represent as one whole. Pretty much, the Elements of Harmony are the Elements of the Mane 6 mainly because of their characteristic traits.

[Discordian 6,015]

Can't believe I didn't think of this until after I made this but you could say they are the Elements of Harmony as well as the Elements of Disharmony.

Edited January 26, 2013 by Discordian

[Dev 251]

Yup, each of the characters have their own faults, and they all support each other throughout their adventures. That's why they're called the Elements of Harmony, silly. If one of the ponies was taken out of the equation, the group would most likely fall apart, because again, the group needs each and every one of the ponies to make up for the faults the others have. For instance, when Applejack and Rainbow Dash get really competitive about who is the best athlete in ponyville, Twilight moderates the two and they make up, and when Fluttershy gives the dragon a piece of her mind to protect her friends, there is another example. Lauren Faust has done a good job. :3

[Discordian 6,015]

Oh I understand that well enough but I guess I didn't make my point clear that their elements represent more than just what's good in them but it also encompasses their entire beings as individuals, not as psuedo-power rangers.

[hawkflame 3,310]

Another one you should mention about Applejack (and this is probably my favorite display of her element) - She's representing Honesty, so of course on multiple occasions she's shown to be a *really* bad liar.  Look at her sweat and nervously grin in Party of One when she's trying to keep Pinkie Pie from looking into the barn, telling her that there was "construction" going on.  Or in the Crystal Empire, when the Crystal ponies see the fake heart:
 

Rarity: Oh, of course it isn't. The real one is-

Applejack: On its way!

Rarity: I was going to say 'being polished' to buy us some more time.

Applejack: Oops.

 

Hell, even when *discorded* into a liar she looks guilty and shifty eyed!

[ZLTavs 87]

I didn't like reading what you made because you got a shit load of names wrong

 

Learn the names of the characters before you speak.

[DoctorWhovian1902 596]

Wow, I never thought of it that way. I guess they really represent their elements on the show well. I don't know why I never noticed it until now...

[Discordian 6,015]

I didn't like reading what you made because you got a shit load of names wrong

 

Learn the names of the characters before you speak.

 

Wut.

 

Where did I get the names wrong? Because I called Pinkie's element "fun" instead of "laughter"? Pretty much considered them equivalent to get the point across.

 

Or perhaps you are referring to Gilda, which I wasn't sure how to spell, and Lightning Dust (rather than Starstream), from an episode I saw once like a month ago. C'mon, man, cut me some slack.

[TheGreatandPowerfulZecora 16]

I do agree with your theory, and have come to see one of my own, although not as well thought out.

Does anypony see the pattern trends around the 6 elements? 2 ponies, 2 pegasis, and 2 unicorns. Same for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. What i've noticed isn't that though, its this: Rainbow dash, the brave daredevil is the exact oppsent of timid Fluttershy. Rareity, the proper lady is the exact opposent of Applejack, the work horse. And finally, smart and organized Twlight is the exact opposent of crazy and werid Pinky Pie.

[Discordian 6,015]

I do agree with your theory, and have come to see one of my own, although not as well thought out.

Does anypony see the pattern trends around the 6 elements? 2 ponies, 2 pegasis, and 2 unicorns. Same for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. What i've noticed isn't that though, its this: Rainbow dash, the brave daredevil is the exact oppsent of timid Fluttershy. Rareity, the proper lady is the exact opposent of Applejack, the work horse. And finally, smart and organized Twlight is the exact opposent of crazy and werid Pinky Pie.

 

Holy crap, I never really saw this. That's amazing. I never really thought of it that way. You learn somethin' new every day, eh? 

 

There's an episode today, right? Please tell me I'm right. I'm up for some new MLP. (Been watching the DVD of season 1 cuz I just got it though)

[MandelSoft 29]

You're not the only one who noticed it. It goes even further; they are ALL opposites of each other:

 

http://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/6942031104/h3408EF05/

 

Isn't that interesting?

 

Best,

Maarten

[hawkflame 3,310]

Holy crap, I never really saw this. That's amazing. I never really thought of it that way. You learn somethin' new every day, eh? 

 

There's an episode today, right? Please tell me I'm right. I'm up for some new MLP. (Been watching the DVD of season 1 cuz I just got it though)

 

You can also break it up along the lines of femininity:  Girly-girl (Rarity and Fluttershy), Tomboy(Applejack and Rainbow Dash), and Neutral (Pinkie Pie and Twilight).

 

And look within those pairs- you have one that's an introvert, and one extrovert. 

 

Yep, there's a new episode today- Just For Sidekicks.

[TheGreatandPowerfulZecora 16]

Thank god there's a new one!!!!

And that is really interesting, Mandel. I had no idea it was that complex... I wonder if the creators really saw that and purposely did that, or the ponies are just that awesome.

[Harmonic Revelations 8,835]

I agree fully. In a way, they also simultaneously represent their opposites. Like the Mane six are in a constant struggle to maintain the personality traits that make them themselves.

I didn't like reading what you made because you got a shit load of names wrong

 

Learn the names of the characters before you speak.

The only spelled one name wrong, what are you on about?

[PlunderSteed 1,252]

Interesting and insightful.  Still, I maintain that Rarity embodies her element the least consistently.  Hell, just this morning she skimped on the gems that Spike took as payment.  Notice how the ruby she gave him was easily the smallest of the 6 he collected (which is why it was the first one that he willingly parted with).

[Stellafera 3,836]

I do agree with your theory, and have come to see one of my own, although not as well thought out.

Does anypony see the pattern trends around the 6 elements? 2 ponies, 2 pegasis, and 2 unicorns. Same for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. What i've noticed isn't that though, its this: Rainbow dash, the brave daredevil is the exact oppsent of timid Fluttershy. Rareity, the proper lady is the exact opposent of Applejack, the work horse. And finally, smart and organized Twlight is the exact opposent of crazy and werid Pinky Pie.

 

But each of those pairs have hidden similarities. RD and Fluttershy were both victims of bullying in their childhood and are insecure. Rarity and Applejack are both mature, hard workers who have young little sisters. Twilight and Pinkie Pie have a tendency to magnify small problems, are skeptical, and get really excited about things they love. 

 

Each member of the same species also contrasts each other. RD and Fluttershy were already mentioned. Pinkie Pie is wacky, AJ is down to earth. Twilight is all about function rather than form and doesn't have very good social skills, while Rarity is all about form and uses her charms to grease her way through almost any situation. In addition, Twilight is from Canterlot but doesn't fit in with the culture there, while Rarity was born of lowly status in Ponyville but would love being a Canterlot pony. 

 

It's an excellently balanced cast, and the way that each element of harmony balances the others out only further shows it.

Edited January 26, 2013 by Stellafera

[Wingnut 6,992]

This all very thought provoking, especially early on a Sunday morning. One of the most tried and true themes in kids' television, especially anime, is that true friendship makes a group as a whole stronger than the sum of their parts. Sometimes, this isn't done very well and all we're given are insipid semantics and wishful thinking as to why this is so. But MLP:FiM, on the other hand, gives very tangible reasons why it works for the Mane 6. I'm too sleepy to write out the details. So I'm going to refer you to another excellent post contributed by one of our colleagues. In fact, I'm somewhat surprised he hasn't chimed in himself.

 

http://mlpforums.com/topic/45658-thoughts-on-the-mane-six-and-the-unique-effectiveness-of-their-group/

 

Quote

Each of our protagonists generally has at least one major shared trait and one major difference with each of the others. For example Rainbow Dash and Applejack are both very stubborn and driven people, yet Rainbow Dash has to prove her greatness to the world where Applejack is generally content with proving her greatness to herself. Rarity and Pinkie Pie are very comical people, but Rarity is funny while taking herself entirely seriously, where Pinkie has no trouble laughing at herself or finding humor in anything in her life. Fluttershy and Twilight seem generally introverted and hesitant to take the spotlight but Twilight is this way due to general lack of interest and Fluttershy behaves the way she does due to her active fear of attention and her desire to be left to her own devices. Rarity and Rainbow are the only two actively pursuing some sort of future goal, yet the natures of their respective dreams are extremely different, preventing them from fully empathizing with each other (It doesn't help that they are each generally dismissive of or ininterested in the type of activity that the other loves). There are many other comparisons and contrasts, but I'll leave them for you to discuss for now and I can pop in again if I think of one that deserves special mention.

 

Because of these differences, each of the six interacts with each of the others in extremely different ays. Not all of these dynamics have been fully flushed out yet, but we can agree that Rainbow Dash's friendship with Pinkie Pie is extremely different than her friendship with Applejack. This holds true for all of them, so there is a lot of ground that the writers can explore just by playing different characters off of each other. And that's just for pairs of them. If you could split the six into two random groups, put each group into separate rooms for an hour and observe them, you would undoubtedly see very different events happen in each room. That actually sounds like a fun thing to try . By mixing the characters together in different ways, much like chemicals, you can discover some dramatically different and fun results.

 

So far we have only been considering day-to-day scenarios. If something happens to shake up their lives, such as Rainbow trying to join the Wonderbolts, Twilight having an anxiety induced lapse in sanity or Rarity having a feud with her sister, then existing dynamics can change greatly, ether temporarily or permanently. It allows the writers to display many different sides of each character as they confront their crisis of the week. For example we have observed Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash's extremely different responses to sudden increases in their fame and popularity, and during those episodes we gained insight as to how that changed their relationships with the rest of their friends and how they differentiate from each other. This can be even more prominent when the change in the status quo is related to the introduction of a new character, such as Gilda or the certain person that will be visiting during the next episode . We can see how having this new person around affects their existing dynamics and the contrasts between the characters can be explored through their varying interactions with someone new who they may or may not get along with. We can expand on it further by adding in family members, idols or mentors. Twilight, for example, is a VERY different person when Celestia is visiting vs. when she isn't. There is a veritable gold mine of potential with regards to character development here.

Special thanks to DashForever for composing that fantastic piece on the Mane 6's group dynamics.

Edited January 27, 2013 by ~Chaotic Wingnut~

[Aeon Of Dreams 115]

I like how they gave said characters faults based on their trait, rather then making them one-dimensional Mary Sues about how "flawless" said character is.