Why do people think Babs Seed is an antagonist?

[Lamer 11]

I don't understand why some people consider Babs Seed an evil character. Yes, she was bullying, but not because she wanted to. She did it because she didn't want to BE bullied.

These people just point up the bad more often than the good.

[duidamasterXD 9,627]

Probably because she spent most of her introductory episode antagonizing the CMC. She wasn't a character who was a jerk without reason, but she was still a jerk. Now, she turned it around and became a positive character of course, but until that point she terrorized the Crusaders more harshly than we've ever seen Tiara or Spoon do.

[The Pulse 210]

Babs created a strong impression in people, and for the majority of the show she was acting as a bully and even though she reconciled towards the end, the bullying is what people will focus on because of first impressions and such.

[Quilava 1,290]

 Well, antagonist doesn't necessarily have to mean "evil" or "bad" in terms of a character, an antagonist at a basic level, is just a character (or group) that acts opposite or in opposition to the main characters/protagonist(s). The fact that she became a bully (no matter the reason), and targeted the main characters of the episode, marks her as the antagonist. However, she is, in fact, a dynamic character since she went through quite a change throughout the run of the show.

[Lamer 11]

Babs needs more episodes, maybe then people will stop dislike her and think she's obnoxious like Tiara/Spoon. But who knows...

[SCS 7,537]

I disagree with the proposition that Babs Seed was ever an antagonist. In technical literary terminology, yes, she was an antagonist before her reconciliation with the Crusaders, because she was working against them. However, in a broader, more abstract sense, I would argue that she was not. 

 

To me, the word "antagonist" connotes that the individual is fully aware of the implications of their actions, and is performing them maliciously through their own free will. Therefore, in the context of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, characters such as Queen Chrysalis or King Sombra would undoubtedly be antagonists. However, Babs Seed is different. 

 

Babs Seed is not a fully mentally developed adult undermining others through her own free will. She was a misguided child. Psychologically, it makes perfect sense why she chose to bully the Crusaders. While what she was doing was definitely wrong, I cannot label it as having true malicious intent. Her actions were a psychological defense mechanism as opposed to a deliberate undermining of goodness. 

 

Expanding upon this point, I do not consider neither Diamond Tiara nor Silver Spoon to be true antagonists. While the manner in which they treat the Crusaders, as well as others, is definitely negative, I cannot classify it as true malice. I do not believe that a child is capable of true malice, as there are enough psychological factors to consider in any act of negativity from an adult, without having to factor in psychological aspects of the developing mind through the stages of childhood and adolescence. 

 

To summarize my standpoint, Babs Seed used to be an antagonist from a technical literary, denotative frame of reference. However, from a connotative, abstract frame of reference, she was not, and neither are Diamond Tiara nor Silver Spoon.

Edited May 27, 2013 by SCS

[Mutemutt 773]

As was said, Babs was the antagonist of that episode. That just means she was the source of conflict that the protagonists (the CMC) had to overcome.

 

On a slightly related note, Babs was way worse than Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. I don't know if Babs was trying to impress the two or if she developed a taste for power.

 

 

I disagree with the proposition that Babs Seed was ever an antagonist. In technical literary terminology, yes, she was an antagonist before her reconciliation with the Crusaders, because she was working against them. However, in a broader, more abstract sense, I would argue that she was not. 

*snip*

 

I say that since we are talking about a fictional narrative, technical literary terminology is most appropriate. And if you don't want to use the literary definition of antagonist when talking about literature, I suggest you use other words that more accurately get your point across instead of trying to give another meaning to antagonist.

 

And I mean this in the nicest way possible.

[Lamer 11]

Even though she was acting worse than These Two, she later confessed and reconciled with CMC. Unlike These Two.

And, yes, she's only 8. These Two are both 8 as well.