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

[ReverseFaller 2,484]

Spike's a Dragon so I don't think it was his fault completely when he rampaged through town wanting everyone's stuff. I wouldn't say Rarity is really greedy either. She has shown herself to be greedy in several episodes as mentioned by people above. I guess I'd say Rarity since Spike's a dragon as stated earlier, and we all know what that means.

[TheSupremeLeaderOfChaos 1,214]

Hm. Let's see. Who has a bigger problem with greed. The character who just becomes slightly annoying, and or funny, when being greedy, or the character who turns into a giant rampaging monster with major memory loss of who was a friend and who was not. You decide!

 

Okay, okay. On a regular basis, Rarity has a problem with greed. She has to balance the two sides of herself. The one that wants to help and please everyone, and the one that wants to please only herself. She is in a constant battle between those two sides.

 

Spike has a generally giving nature, unless he lets his instincts take over. He's always trying to help people, and he even gives away things that are extremely important to him.

 

So, most of the time, Rarity seems to have more of a problem. But Spike does have the minor setback of greed being written into his genetic code, and that he will become a huge, raging, tear-the-town-apart, monster when he gets too greedy.

[Blique 211]

It's not a very clear-cut comparison. They're both greedy, but in completely different ways.

 

Rarity is vain and greedy, but only about certain things. Gems are her favorite, and it's not necessarily because they're expensive. People likely wouldn't see her as "greedy" if her aesthetic preference happened to be apples or flowers. Just look at how upset Applejack gets when anything messes with her apple trees, or before that, look at how many apple trees she has in the first place! Greedy! You could argue that apples are her livelihood, but so are gems for Rarity. She loves gems because she can use them for dresses, which she sells, as part of her clothing business. She doesn't hoard all the gems she finds, and she takes every opportunity she sees to stock up on dress materials.

 

She enjoys the company of high-class folks in Canterlot because they happened to be more interested in her work than others. Throughout the series, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow and Pinkie Pie have very little respect or interest in her dresses/ability, and the only reaction we get from Fluttershy is when she looks down on Rarity once, thinking she can't even sew a dress properly. Of course Rarity would be happy when she's surrounded by people who understand her vision and respect her skils.

 

In contrast to Rarity, who's only interested in gems and aesthetics, Spike is greedy about many things. He wants to be Twilight's #1 assistant, he wants all the gems he can get, he wants credit and praise for everything he does well, he wants a moustache, he wants Rarity, he wants to be tough and handsome, he wants sleep, and he wants people to listen to him. When he went on his greed rampage, he took literally everything, even the leaves off the trees.

 

However, it should also be considered that Spike is only a baby. Children often want many, many things, even though they often end up realizing they're not interested in it after all. I personally don't think that this means that they're greedy, just curious (which arguably is another way of saying "greedy for information and exploration").

 

If I have to choose? Spike. Rarity is just plain normal in my book. It's unknown whether Spike will grow out of his "greed" habits, but as of now, he does display strong signs of greed, and I predict it will continue being part of his personality in the future. Greed isn't necessarily a bad thing, as seen in Rarity, and I believe he could find a way to redirect it to a more positive path.

[Zygen 6,066]

I think overall Spike has the bigger issue, because once he gets greedy it leads to more greed, and more greed, and not to mention he becomes a dragon.

 

So his greed leads to more greed, which I think makes him the one with the bigger issue.

 

Rarity has her own issues with it though, but I don't think quite as often.

[DarligPegasi 315]

Spike by a landslide. I mean he's greedy with compliments and material things. And it is true about him being a dragon and dragons accumulate objects for their horde, but he also is basically a baby/little kid. And I read this thing about how kids don't mean to be horrible but they just don't see things the way we do and they can't see why their actions would affect us badly.

 

But I also really don't like Spike. O.O

 

Rarity just liked attention.

[Mr. Critical 434]

Rarity may show signs of greed, but her generosity outweighs that. plus her showing that she has a sense of greed adds to her character. After all she is the element of generosity. Spike may not show it, but when he gets greedy he turns, literaly, into godzilla. So I think character is better than destruction.

[Lost Profile 644]

Spike... Mainly because he matures and grows into a big grown up dragon.

 

And best pony (XD) really isn't greedie at all... Sure there are thoes times where she makes sweetie belle pull her and all her luggage at times but still...

[Sunny Fox 5,961]

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. 

Rarity didn't ask for it, she merely praised it and hoped that he would give it to her, which he did. Secondly, Spike did not have any sentimental feeling for the ruby - he was going to eat it! Also, if you notice, Rarity didn't even try to charm Spike into giving it to her until she found out that he was going to eat it. She didn't want it for herself as much as she wanted him not to eat it. You're completely misreading her intentions there. Well, mostly, anyhow.

 

 

 On Spike's birthday, she seduces Spike just to take his jewel. Yeah, real generous right there.  -_-  

 

Same as above, she had other reasons to charm Spike's jewel away from him than just "I want it".

Edited July 21, 2013 by Full Spectrum

[Inactive01 5,299]

Also, if you notice, Rarity didn't even try to charm Spike into giving it to her until she found out that he was going to eat it. She didn't want it for herself as much as she wanted him not to eat it. You're completely misreading her intentions there. Well, mostly, anyhow.

 

Spike's original intent was to eat it, and I agree. However, the generosity is still there. He chooses to give his last gem to Rarity despite the fact it was his last gem. Even if it involved charming, he still chose to give it. He could have very easily just ignored the charms and just eaten the gem.

 

The argument here was which character had a greater tendency to greed. Both characters have had their share of generous and greedy moments. I'm not afraid to say Rarity's had more frequent greedy moments, albeit minuscule. The only reason we're talking about Spike's so much is that they've been magnified by the consequences they brought to Ponyville. At least, that's the impression I get from most people saying it's Spike on this thread. 

 

The main point is that I feel it's unfair that Spike's considered greedier just because he's a dragon and that his actions breed more consequences. Both of them have their greedy moments and both technically have equal dispositions to greed. In reality, I feel that both can be just as greedy really. I placed my vote on Rarity just so I could against the flow and make the point I just stated in the first sentence of this paragraph.  

Edited July 21, 2013 by Sterling Crimson

[Sunny Fox 5,961]

Spike's original intent was to eat it, and I agree. However, the generosity is still there. He chooses to give his last gem to Rarity despite the fact it was his last gem. Even if it involved charming, he still chose to give it. He could have very easily just ignored the charms and just eaten the gem.

 

The argument here was which character had a greater tendency to greed. Both characters have had their share of generous and greedy moments. I'm not afraid to say Rarity's had more frequent greedy moments, albeit minuscule. The only reason we're talking about Spike's so much is that they've been magnified by the consequences they brought to Ponyville. At least, that's the impression I get from most people saying it's Spike on this thread. 

 

The main point is that I feel it's unfair that Spike's considered greedier just because he's a dragon and that his actions breed more consequences. Both of them have their greedy moments and both technically have equal dispositions to greed. In reality, I feel that both can be just as greedy really. I placed my vote on Rarity just so I could against the flow and make the point I just stated in the first sentence of this paragraph.  

Oh, I'm not trying to disprove your point about Spike's generosity. Indeed, Rarity later says that it was precisely that generosity that inspired her to make ruffled taffeta capes for her friends. I just wanted to counter your argument that Rarity was being greedy when she got him to give up his gem to her. I think you're doing her a disservice to reduce the situation down to "Rarity wanted it so she took it."

Edited July 21, 2013 by Full Spectrum

[Descant 1,898]

Rarity's the Element of Generosity, for buck's sake. She's naturally the opposite of greedy. Personally, I believe having a sincere love of the spotlight has nothing to do with greed. And the love of the spotlight, and her drama queeniness, and overall prissiness are Rarity's major faults. Greed does not enter the equation. Therefore, I think this is a bit of a ridiculous question. No offense.

[Betez 1,735]

I honestly think Rarity. As much as I wub her, I do think she has a problem with greed. That seems to jut be her natural character, though.

 

Spike's greed problem to me just seemed to be a one time deal.

[SixNine 4]

Rarity has a greed problem,Spike on the other hand,does not. Is he greedy? Yes,but,for his species,is he unusually greedy?

No, infact,he is less greedy than most other dragons,therefore making it not a problem. (Implying we're talking about a problem with his personality as a dragon,instead of as a pony.)

[Proton 565]

I don't really think Spike is greedy. However; I do think he has a terrible addiction to gems.

So it's Rarity for me. Even though I don't find her THAT greedy either.

[WWAPD 126]

If you look at both Spike and Rarity's greed moments, it's Spike's and not Rarity's that end up causing the most external damage. When Rarity tricks Spike into giving her his birthday gem, nothing much comes of it, but when Spike ends up becoming greedy, it's due to the fact that everyone BUT Rarity was giving him everything he wanted. In fact, it was Rarity who ended up saving Ponyville from Spike using the birthday gem example to convince him not to be greedy.

 

In Sweet and Elite, Rarity does act selfishly, but does anything bad happen? No. She ends up realizing that she could have gotten exactly what she wanted without such inappropriate behavior. And after all, wasn't the fact that she was willing to make Twilight a dress in the first place an example of Rarity's generosity?

 

In fact, it's moments when Rarity is generous that get her into the most trouble. In suited for success, Rarity offers to make dresses for the whole mane six, and they end up taking advantage of her generosity instead of being thankful. Is it not right after this episode when Rarity begins to exhibit the first of her greedy behavior?

 

So yeah. In my opinion, Rarity may be selfish at times, but that does not outweigh her overall generosity. Spike's character is just overall motivated by greed.

[碇 シンジン 27,439]

Spike is greedy  Rarity is generous  the opposites I dont really see why there is any confusion