Who Has a Bigger Problem With Greed: Rarity or Spike?

[A Talking Dragon 257]

For the record, I'm not trying to take anything away from these characters. It is possible to be both selfless and selfish. People are constantly doing a balancing act with these two everyday.

 

Greed seems to be both these characters' major flaws. Think about what you've seen in the show; In which is this flaw more present in?

[Moonlight 7,279]

Spike, by far has a bigger problem with greed. I mean he turned into a giant rampaging dragon for being greedy...when Rarity's greedy, she doesn't destroy most of Ponyville. 

[MLPRainbowDash 47]

Spike, by far has a bigger problem with greed. I mean he turned into a giant rampaging dragon for being greedy...when Rarity's greedy, she doesn't destroy most of Ponyville. 

thats so true and i cant really think of a time when rarity turned into a giant fire breathing dragon and tried destroying ponyville

[Armin 168]

I think that Spike naturally has a bigger problem than Rarity. His species needs greed to grow, so he has to be naturally greedy to actually progress in life.

Edited July 15, 2013 by Rai

[Shanks 10,811]

Even at her worst Rarity dosen't literally turn into a rampaging monster when she gets greedy but everytime Spike gets greedy that become a serious risk.

[Ihei 711]

Spike has a huge problem with greed, considering that he needs it to grow. 

 

Rarity just wanted Tom when she was greedy, so she wasn't that bad.

[Chain Combo 135]

Alright lets compare, Spikes greed is called dragon greed, it  makes him grow quickly, makes him compelled to steal so he can grow even faster and makes him aggressive. Rarity loves spotlight I would say so if she's in it she gets carried away. For example when she got wings, and the episode with fancypants. 

[Bucky McGillyCuddy 956]

Zacora herself said "There's no worse mojo than Dragons greed" And she's never wrong haha. Poor old spike will grow up to be a relentless stealing machine.

[Orablanco Account 3,706]

Spike. He has a genetic disposition towards greed, so it's much more of a struggle for him. And at least nobody's life is endangered when Rarity gets greedy. Most of the time.

[Radiance64 7,051]

Oh definitely Spike, he really does have quite the problem with it as we saw with how it effects him in Secret of My Excess and how it can effect others like in Just for Sidekicks. The only times Rarity acts greedy are usually just played for laughs like when she talks to the dragon in Dragonshy or goes for the bouquet at the end of A Canterlot Wedding, and it doesn't really seem to be a major character flaw for her, save for when Discord was controlling her in Return of Harmony(and even then it was still mostly just funny).

[Inactive01 5,298]

You know what? I think I'll go against the flow for this one. Let's consider Secret of my Excess. Yes Spike grew immensely because he had a compulsion for taking things that weren't his and wanting to have a sense of property. HOWEVER, one has to note that the reason he became a baby dragon again was because of his generosity. Think back to how Spike gave the last red jewel to Rarity. That was probably the most generous act he could have ever done. The fact that Rarity just asked for that jewel without considering Spike's sentimental feelings towards the jewel just screams greedy. 

 

Also, Just for Sidekicks is another case where Spike matures. Yes Spike wanted the jewels badly. HOWEVER, he still became selfless after the episode's completion after learning from his mistakes. He apologizes to the pets and even makes it up to them. Rarity? Well let's say she hasn't changed much and still has that greedy compulsion. 

 

What I'm saying is that Spike learned a ton about greed and how it's a bad thing. Rarity hasn't. Spike thus becomes less greedy than Rarity. At that point, Rarity's got the bigger problem now, but only time will tell I suppose.

Edited July 15, 2013 by Sterling Crimson

[Megas 27,080]

Spike easily has a bigger problem. He sorta turns into godzilla when his greed takes over his mind and body. Rarity at worst gets crazy

[Dark Horn 430]

Eh, Spike causes problems with greed, however, remember when he gave Rarity that fire ruby? That was pretty generous if you ask me. Also, he's done some really nice things for other ponies in the past. Here's my opinion on the subject:

 

Spike is less greedy than Rarity, but when he is greedy, it causes major problems for everyone.

[hawkflame 3,308]

The thing is, with Spike, he;s not very aware of his own greediness.  With Rarity, at least, she's generally the most aware of her own faults, more than any other character. 

[Hemlock_Conium 46]

Rarity just gets a little antsy and jealous or discorded when she's greedy.

 

Spike? He ruins most of Ponyville and puts lives at risk.

[Sylentmana 271]

Greed is something everypony struggles with at some point in their lives, but only a dragon actually needs to be greedy in order to grow.

[fimdash 1,196]

I'd say Rarity. Spike is a dragon, and dragons are innately greedy. Spike simply can't help feeling greedy, because it's in his blood. Rarity is greedy, but there's a lot more she can do to stop it. They both have their greedy moments, but I think Spike's greed is more justified due to his natural inclination for avarice.

[Forlong 1,725]

Rarity's desire for stuff has never prevented her from making a cake for herself.  Also, she won't turn into Godzilla, if she gets to greedy.

[Smarts 1,621]

Rarity.

 

Oh yeah, I'm being different. Rarity may not transform into a purple godzilla and rampage about, but I swear at times she has the heart of a greedy monster. On Spike's birthday, she seduces Spike just to take his jewel. Yeah, real generous right there. -_-  How about the time when she was in Canterlot and completely disregarded making Twilight a dress for her birthday because she cared more about being with the high ranking social class instead.

 

Spike is just a baby and a dragon. Dragons have a natural greediness about them. Spike can't help it, it's just dragon instinct. Rarity is a grown adult and not a dragon. She just chooses to be greedy to gain something out of it. Rarity can help it, but she chooses not to.

[A Talking Dragon 257]

Looking at some of these, I got to wonder.

 

I don't think that "Spike is dragon therefore . . ." is a good enough argument. I was thinking along the lines of in-show examples. There are a good amount these examples where Spike's dragon nature is not controlling him and he's acting on his own self interest. Anyways, worrying about who would be more dangerous is a whole other discussion. 

[Broseph 215]

That's a good question..
I can excuse Spike's greedniess because, yeah, he's a dragon and it's in his nature to be greedy.
There is the argument that Spike isn't technically considered a dragon considering he's lived in Ponyville amongst the Ponies for so long, but as the saying goes, "you can take the girl out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the girl"..
Or something, I'm not good with sayings.

But Rarity's greed just seems to be part of her personality, which I don't think is as excusable as Spike's nature.
That and Spike seems to learn his lessons about being greedy, and I can't recall a moment where Rarity learned from hers.. Maybe in 'Sonic Rainboom', but that was more vanity than greed I guess

I probably worded this horribly, but there's my two cents.. Whatever that means
Still bad with sayings

[Scootalove 10,684]

I think that dragons have a bigger problem with greed since, dragons are pretty greedy with materialistic things and gems. They will basically do anything for a gem or a rare jewel like Rarity. But, to be honest Spike has a problem because dragons have a tendency to be greedy of course. But, Rarity has greedy moments too.

[HunterTSN 1,444]

Hmmm let's see, the element of generosity or the immature baby dragon... good question!

 

Honestly though, as much as people love to get onto Rarity for not living up to her element, she is anything but greedy. A lot of her actions can come off that way but most of what she does benefits somebody else as much as it does herself.

 

Spike on the other hand is still young and doesn't know any better. Plus he's a dragon so hoarding is naturally in his blood, even when he isn't raving mad and giant.

[DND 2,354]

Sure Rarity is greedy in the first episode of the second season, but it was all caused by Discord, who was trying to make them exactly as they aren't to help him rule Equestria once more. Other than that, she represents the element of Generosity, and I don't think I've seen anything really noticeably 'greedy' coming from her.

[NavelColt 22,876]

I'm hardly a 'Rarity fan', she's only fifth best Mane Six of the friends, with Fluttershy being the only one that interests me less. However, I've got to go with Spike, too. While Rarity has her greedy moments, she -is- the Element of Generosity. Yes, many of those moments of hers seemingly show she's the opposite of generous, but she's also overly dramatic, girly and a diva in every sense of the word. She dramatizes everything. Even the most greedy of her moments are still just examples of how none of the characters are perfect to their element, all of the time. Dash isn't always loyal, AJ isn't always honest, Pinkie isn't always laughing or causing laughter and Fluttershy isn't always kind. They all display plenty of times where they've shown the contrary. If they didn't, the realism, character-driven stories that drag us in with characters we can relate to would be gone. We may as well watch G3 at that point.

 

And then, there's Spike.

 

 

I love him to pieces, who doesn't, but, Spike has had many, many more greed moments than Rarity has. It's a part of his species. Yes, other than his entire episode based around it, those moments are often less impacting than say, Rarity's more intense greed moments, but as I said, Rarity is a born diva, so that's simply to be expected.