Villains Being Redeemed

[Cwanky 17,590]

I actually like the idea and no, it hasn't been overused. In fact the 2 characters who were "redeemed" are hardly villains at all.

Despite her best efforts to act like 1, Trixie as many have noted was more of a rival and adversary to Twilight than an actual villain, unlike Sunset Shimmer who took things much further. Even when she did act as a villain in Magic Duel, one could easily argue Trixie was still largely innocent for what she did to Ponyville. After all as the episode notes, it was the Alicorn Amulet that was corrupting the wearer's (Trixie) mind and thus manipulating her to do bad. Even should the viewer accept that Trixie was guilty for seeking out the Alicorn Amulet, and exposing herself to its corruption for bad purposes, she was doing it more for attention and vengeance, or basically a continuation of her rivalry with Twilight. At best, Trixie is an anti-hero, but falls short of true villainy.

 

Discord on the other hand, has actually played the role of a villain before, though he never actually lives up to being a true villain. He's more fun than fiery and all inclinations pointed towards him being a rather harmless, if god-like, prankster, which was especially made clear after his reformation. His betrayal later just further validates the notion that he was an anti-hero rather than a true villain, as he lacks the heart to truly see, enjoy and have people suffer.

In all actuality, there hasn't been any actual villains in the show that were redeemed, not even true anti-heroes like Vegeta in DBZ. That said, it would be really interesting to see a character that is actually evil at heart turned to good, or even vice a versa. 

[Dattebayo 2,850]

Hate it

-infinity/10 Would complain loudly about

Edited September 4, 2014 by Dattebayo

[deadprofile 1,122]

Not all villains have been redeemed...which is good...It strikes a nice balance with the world building, showing the ponies and other creatures are just as flawed in their world as in ours. There are people in our history who would never be redeemed (Hitler, Stalin, etc) and yet have been people who are redeemed (take any person whose gone through the prison system for serious crimes, only to get out and actually become contributing members of society and truly turn a new leaf).

It is best to have this delicate balance in the world of FIM. It really makes the show that much more engaging because of how well we can relate the "villians" in our lives...

[Red Cedar 1,408]

I'm not sure we can say for certain that Trixie has been "reformed" in any meaningful way. Of course, she really wasn't much of a villain in the first place, until her second episode anyway. Criminal, perhaps, but not evil. And while Discord may have been, there's still the likes of Tirek and Chrysalis out there who most definitely have not been.

 

I would agree it is not something MLP should get in the habit of, or it could become predictable and leave them without any good recurring bad guys, but the reforming of a villain can be a powerful story unto itself. (Darth Vader, anyone?)

[Conred 274]

The redeemings and forgivings in the comics need to end

The story with Kelpie was ridiculous, i cant believe it happened