Am I missing something with Cadence?

[Leafeon 2,702]

Well, I'm not sure how many of you notice, but I have a distinct dislike for 4 characters. One of these, is Cadence.

 

The reason I don't like her is because she has next to no flaws. This makes her unrelatable, or at least for me.

 

The reason I bring this up, is because I have only met one other person that actually doesn't seem to like her. Generally, I look at all characters the same way, and then evaluate how much I like them on different departments (Design, Personality, Flaws, and Relationships to other characters - and in that order). With Cadence, I get trapped at the second one. I can't seem to determine her personality. So I skipped to flaws. I couldn't find any, which means her personality is probably being perfect. Thinking that over again, to make sure I didn't miss anything, I don't think I did.

 

Now, the argument here is that Cadence doesn't have enough screen time to have a solid personality. Well, Luna had one episode, Celestia had about the same time as her in season 1, and both of them are very distinguishable. They have personalities, as well as a few flaws, and are quite good characters. Celestia is an obvious troll, who lets off less of what she knows then she actually does, but it also quick to jump to conclusions. Luna is a bit more obvious, she's socially awkward.

 

Now, before you wonder why this is a thing, I'm reviewing episodes. As Cadence is most defiantly going to have a big role in the finale, I don't want to be unfairly saying stuff about her that is due to bias.

 

If anyone can point any flaws of hers, or tell me what her actual personality is, other then perfection.

 

Kthxbye.

[Champion RD92 8,658]

I like her cause she's pretty. *shrug*

 

I don't think her character has been developed enough for her to show any kind of flaws yet. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Prismatic 49]

I'd say there is a difference between screen time and first episode of appearance.  In other words like Shining Armor she's just sewn into the storyline without any consideration for the first year and a half the show has been on the air.

 

I like Cadance but I suppose like her husband they are all Mary Sue characters and aren't really that developed unlike the mane six (well, depending on which direction really).  It's something I might have to put a bit of brain power into later on.

[Leafeon 2,702]

  On 2013-02-13 at 2:32 AM, Prismatic said:

I'd say there is a difference between screen time and first episode of appearance.  In other words like Shining Armor she's just sewn into the storyline without any consideration for the first year and a half the show has been on the air.

 

I like Cadance but I suppose like her husband they are all Mary Sue characters and aren't really that developed unlike the mane six (well, depending on which direction really).  It's something I might have to put a bit of brain power into later on.

That's the other problem I have with them I forgot to mention. I seem to run into that issue a lot, but that's probably more Hasbro then the writers.

 

  On 2013-02-13 at 2:31 AM, RainbowDash92 said:

I like her cause she's pretty. *shrug*

 

I don't think her character has been developed enough for her to show any kind of flaws yet. We'll just have to wait and see.

I'm probably over thinking this. It just irritates me that I can't seem to give her a proper assessment.

[akita-ken 581]

Both Cadence and Shining Armor haven't had enough opportunities to show whatever flaws that they might have. I don't really like either of them either because they were more or less just 'parachuted' in to the end of S2, which seemed too convenient for the writers imo. There's definitely room for character development and with the 26 eps in S4 I really hope that they take some time to do so, or otherwise just relegate them to minor roles. Right now with all the "oh crystal empire this, crystal empire that", Cadence and SA have been popping around all over the place with no real explanation of how exactly they're related to the whole mess. And if Cadence has not enough screen time, SA has even less. He's just 'the brother that shows up and then leaves after'.

Edited February 13, 2013 by akita-ken

[Discovery Dream 592]

I like Cadence, probably because she reminds me so much of my aunt. But I do agree she should have more character flaws and that she isn't the best character traits-wise. Her hospitality-turned-to-slight-confusion was really nice in Equestria Games, though. I think she just needs time.

[Prismatic 49]

  On 2013-02-13 at 2:38 AM, Firebolt said:

That's the other problem I have with them I forgot to mention. I seem to run into that issue a lot, but that's probably more Hasbro then the writers.

 

I'm probably over thinking this. It just irritates me that I can't seem to give her a proper assessment.

 

For all practical purposes you can only rate Cadance on a maximum of 15 episodes whereas most of the other major characters (note: I consider her to be major since she has more than one episode and holds a very close tie being Twilight's Sister-in-Law) have been around since the first season.

 

I think, if anything I would find rather dislikable is how she's royalty despite not having any sort of princess-like traits.  Unless you wish to consider her being a crystal princess but I felt that to be highly possible in real life unless she's over 1,000 (and based on their flashbacks she doesn't appear to be).  If I remember right Faust had no idea she was an alicorn but merely a princess.

Edited February 13, 2013 by Prismatic

[Homura Akemi 974]

I do not like Princess Cadence, either. She is my least favourite character on the show. Not to say that she's terrible, but she is not to my liking in any shape whatsoever. She just came out of nowhere and way too goody-two-shoes for my taste. I don't hate any of the characters, but I simply don't like her.

Edited February 13, 2013 by Dismajo

[Glimmer Shield 4]

I like her design, but I think her character is pretty typical so far. We know she was a flawless baby sitter, and we know she loves Shining Armor, and we know she's nice. Those are the basics, but unless she gets some angst going on, or anger, or something, she'll stay kind of lack luster. I think that might be part of her character, though. The writers probably didn't mean for her to grab all too much attention yet.

[~Asuka <3~ 867]

I really love her character. There is so much potential for her to grow, too. We haven't heard much about her yet, other than some very basic traits, but I think she'll be playing a bigger role in episodes to come.

 

Plus, I really like her mane! Ok, that was lame, but it's true. It's cute.

[duidamasterXD 9,627]

I'm pretty neutral on Cadence. She showed fortitude with her determination to rescue Shining Armor and by maintaining her force field to the point of utter exhaustion, but she is an extremely underdeveloped character at the moment. I've seen some fan works do some interesting things with her, but Celestia and Luna appeal to me far more as characters. So nothing I particularly dislike about her, but there are much better minor characters that I'd like to see developed.

[Galex Dj 173]

I mostly love Cadence because she is calm, caring, and loving. In the last episode when Twilight got angry at Pinkie Pie for jumping in the mud bath Twilight looked at Cadence and they both did a breath in and breath out kinda thing for Twilight to calm down. And Cadence did it with her trying to get Twilight to try to stay positive and calm with the other ponies. She understands other ponies and always trust to look at the bright side and not make big deals about small things.

 

But even with all this, I did agree with you. They creators have never shown her having any flaws of any kind what so ever so far. She up now has only been perfect in every way possible, making her hard to relate too as well. Like for example, I love Pinkie Pie because even though she is always mostly happy she does have her sad days when she is depressed, just like me a lot of the time. And like with Rainbow Dash as well, sometimes Rainbow Dash freaks out before a performance because she thinks she'll mess up in front of the whole crowd, also something I do as well. That why I love those two ponies a lot as well, they have flaws but I can relate to those flaws and feel happy that I'm not so perfect all the time.

 

But I do hope that Cadence will get more screen time in the furture, with more time to show her and her flaws in her maybe.

[Zygen 6,066]

I'm sure your not the only one who doesn't like her Firebolt .

 

I really just don't analyze characters much, to be honest. I guess I'm what you could call easily amused or something. Thats not to say I don't analyze at all, I guess I'm just not the type to really dislike a character because of one thing I don't like or something idk .

 

I don't dislike Cadence, I mean shes not like super amazing, but I do like watching her and Twilight do their little random dance when they meet each other, I dunno why I find it kinda adorable .

 

Then again I find all the ponies adorable.

 

I just dunno. I find it impossible to dislike any characters, I don't mind if people dislike characters, but I myself can't do it.

 

My least liked character is Gilda, and thats probably just because she hardly ever showed up and shes a jerk(And she yelled at Fluttershy SHE CAN NEVER BE FORGIVEN! )

 

But yeah.. I don't harbor any dislike or enough to be significant I guess. Just how I am idk . I'm kinda the same with Episodes.

 

But everypony's entitled to their own opinions!

[Prismatic 49]

Also, I might as well add I think the reason why I like Cadance is probably because she's that chill easygoing go-lucky pony that I've kinda always wished I had.  Granted when I was younger I used to have babysitters like this but I rarely have or see friends that aren't about their own best interests.

[Goose 181]

I don't understand the flaw thing. She's just a pretty nice princess... what's with the hating on perfection? I don't want her to be a bitch or have some deep set mental problems. She hasn't had much screen time like others have said, so I guess she hasn't had a chance to show any flaws.

[Leafeon 2,702]

  On 2013-02-13 at 5:16 AM, Zygen said:

I'm sure your not the only one who doesn't like her Firebolt .

 

I really just don't analyze characters much, to be honest. I guess I'm what you could call easily amused or something. Thats not to say I don't analyze at all, I guess I'm just not the type to really dislike a character because of one thing I don't like or something idk .

 

I don't dislike Cadence, I mean shes not like super amazing, but I do like watching her and Twilight do their little random dance when they meet each other, I dunno why I find it kinda adorable .

 

Then again I find all the ponies adorable.

 

I just dunno. I find it impossible to dislike any characters, I don't mind if people dislike characters, but I myself can't do it.

 

My least liked character is Gilda, and thats probably just because she hardly ever showed up and shes a jerk(And she yelled at Fluttershy SHE CAN NEVER BE FORGIVEN! )

 

But yeah.. I don't harbor any dislike or enough to be significant I guess. Just how I am idk . I'm kinda the same with Episodes.

 

But everypony's entitled to their own opinions!

It kinda makes me giggle when people say that abot Gilda, because Flutters had been yelled at by Dash a few times...

 

  On 2013-02-13 at 6:07 AM, Goose said:

I don't understand the flaw thing. She's just a pretty nice princess... what's with the hating on perfection? I don't want her to be a bitch or have some deep set mental problems. She hasn't had much screen time like others have said, so I guess she hasn't had a chance to show any flaws.

Perfection isn' t realistic. Its nice at the start, because you can imagine yourself as that character, but then when they statt to have a slight personality, you cant anymore.

 

Thats why early super heros are so bland, and without flaws, so you can pretend to be them.

 

That may be Cadence's point, but if you look at it critically, it is not a good character.

 

Twilight gained its popularity for doing something similar-ish. Of course, critics hate it.

[Zygen 6,066]

  On 2013-02-13 at 4:48 PM, Firebolt said:

It kinda makes me giggle when people say that abot Gilda, because Flutters had been yelled at by Dash a few times...

 

 

Eh thats true, but it feels different I guess considering the fact Gilda just yelled at Fluttershy to be mean. Dash has done it but only because of her being competitive, plus hes had times where hes been nice and learned to be softer on her(Hurricane Fluttershy)

 

That said I don't dislike Gilda really that much even. I guess its more of me just trying to think of some character to dislike, when I just don't really spend the time to think about disliking any character .

 

Idk I'm weird sue me Xd

Edited February 13, 2013 by Zygen

[Leafeon 2,702]

  On 2013-02-13 at 4:54 PM, Zygen said:

Eh thats true, but it feels different I guess considering the fact Gilda just yelled at Fluttershy to be mean. Dash has done it but only because of him being competitive, plus hes had times where hes been nice and learned to be softer on her(Hurricane Fluttershy)

 

That said I don't dislike Gilda really that much even. I guess its more of me just trying to think of some character to dislike, when I just don't really spend the time to think about disliking any character .

 

Idk I'm weird sue me Xd

...him? You may be attacked by fan boys now. (And yes, they do bite)

 

And, I let that slide because friends. But meh. If I didn't love Trixie, I would probably like Gilda a lot less.

[Betez 1,734]

I feel like they just kinda threw Cadence into the finale of Season 2. Like others have said, we just haven't seen enough of her to notice her flaws. I hope that after the finale of season 3, we'll know her better.

[Zygen 6,066]

  On 2013-02-13 at 4:58 PM, Firebolt said:

...him? You may be attacked by fan boys now. (And yes, they do bite)

 

And, I let that slide because friends. But meh. If I didn't love Trixie, I would probably like Gilda a lot less.

I can't tell you how many times I've messed up him and her.. I suck at pronouns for somereason. I bet you I could call Fluttershy a "Him" on accident if I wasn't paying enough attention.(Which I don't alot of the time .)

 

Like I said I don't really even dislike Gilda, my feelings are just kinda eh for her since I've only seen her once, I suppose for her job as a kind of antagonist sorta she served her job. She didn't do anything to make me like her I guess.

 

I'm terrible at analysis though, which is probably another reason why I don't really dislike any of the characters .

 

I actually like Trixie though, Especially after the more recent episodes since it made her feel less of a one time character like Gilda, it gave me more to get attached to.(Plus I find characters who talk in the 3rd person to be really entertaining for somereason) However I'd be signing my own death wish trying to analyze Trixie with you right here . (Considering I suck at you know) So I think I'll stop .

[hawkflame 3,310]

  On 2013-02-13 at 6:07 AM, Goose said:

I don't understand the flaw thing. She's just a pretty nice princess... what's with the hating on perfection? I don't want her to be a bitch or have some deep set mental problems. She hasn't had much screen time like others have said, so I guess she hasn't had a chance to show any flaws.

I don't think that the problem is perfection, per se, she just has no real notable personality quirks. Applejack has her cowgirl attitude, Rarity has her overdramatic Large Ham moments, Rainbow Dash has her supreme confidence, Fluttershy is adorably timid, Twilight has her tendency to geek out over things sciency, and Pinkie Pie is about 80% personality quirks. None of these are flaws really, they're just parts of each character that make them stand out and endear them to the audience.

 

Cadence, on the other hand, is just generally "nice" and that makes her bland as a character.

  On 2013-02-13 at 4:48 PM, Firebolt said:

Perfection isn' t realistic. Its nice at the start, because you can imagine yourself as that character, but then when they statt to have a slight personality, you cant anymore.

 

Thats why early super heros are so bland, and without flaws, so you can pretend to be them.

 

That may be Cadence's point, but if you look at it critically, it is not a good character.

Except Batman. He was a scary badass from the beginning.

 

I think that a character like Superman (who is something of an overgrown boy scout) works because of A) his upbringing as Clark Kent, which connects him to the rest of the world, and B ) a world that's a little bit more rough and grounded than Equestria (like the DC Universe) so that his ideals stand out more. But Cadence is a princess 24/7, and with Equestria generally being a pleasant place as it is, her bland "niceness" doesn't really stand out.

 

Ironically, if she was even *nicer* (like ridiculously deferential and giving of herself) she might be *more* interesting.

Edited February 13, 2013 by hawkflame

[poniesforfun 716]

I would like to venture into why you actually dislike her rather than just stay neutral about her. I mean I think her having no flaws doesn't ring right with me in fact I think she seems to depend heavily on others and is portrayed in the typical "damsel in distress" that is always in need of saving and encouraging which is surprising for a show that usually showed women as strong, independent and leaders. I do believe Cadence is added in as a request of Hasbro which can make her seem unlikable for the typical Brony.

 

I would say she lacks character so far. She was first caught (don't know how Chrysalis imprisoned her in the first place) but she was caught like a typical Disney or Nintendo princess. She seemed very depressed and Twilight seemed to have to hold her hand throughout the mine. I mean why didn't Cadence leave when she was alone in the first place? Let's look at the latest episode as well. She doesn't seem to care for perfect presentation and gave up quickly when none of the stylists could fix her hair up and said "just a small detail." If it was Rainbow Dash, Applejack or Twilight Sparkle they would be like heck no! Perfect the hair!

 

But does that make her unlikable for me? Well I find her essential for the series because she adds variety and fills the role of the gentle mare. And it's not like she can't throw down the gauntlet when she asked Shining Armor to throw her to the Crystal Heart and she did this calmly as well. I wouldn't want her to go banshee anytime soon I think her personality staying pristine and gentle is necessary for the lineup of the characters. It also goes well with her magic specialty and cutie mark.

Edited February 13, 2013 by poniesforfun

[Lady Leopardess 393]

I really like her since she's really nice and positive attitude .

Her main flaw is it doesn't seem like she's super strong.

Or she's kind of like Sailor Moon where she has to be prompted by someone else to use her powers ,otherwise she won't.