What's with the popularity of Pinkie's 'Pinkamina' side?

[Misterian 118]

Okay, there's something I want help with understanding.

 

You know how Pinkie has this dark 'Pinkamina' side to her that first appeared in 'Party of One'?

 

you know, the side to Pinkie that, in stark contrast to the actual Pinkie, who's always idealistic, cheerful, friendly, and fun-loving, 'Pinkamina' acts mean-spirited, angry, cynical, and miserable.

 

Pretty much acting like everything Pinkie is NOT.

 

Yet, despite that, I keep seeing 'Pinkamina' frequently appear in fanfiction and several pics of fan art on DeviantArt. The only reason I can see for this is that there are those in the fanbase that actually like 'Pinkamina'.

 

Can someone help me understand the reasons behind this?

[Moonlight 7,279]

I love Pinkamena...let me try to give some reasons why...

 

• People usually enjoy the darker side of characters, it always turns out interesting.
• In my opinion, the hair style and darker color scheme of Pinkamena looks better than Pinkie.
• She's a dark, insane character and that's something you wouldn't normally see in MLP. 
• It's an interesting alternative to the normal, happy Pinkie. 
• Some people can relate to her...me included, in how sometimes it feels like your friends avoid you for seemingly no reason. And people like to assume things for the worst. 
• I like her more than Pinkie Pie, mostly because she's not as annoying as the regular Pinkie.

Those are, at least, my reasons for enjoying her..

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

Because her opposite side is really good with grimdark fanfics. When Pinkamena was first debuted in Party of One, this ignited a spark in some bronies. Pinkamena was what essentially created "Cupcakes". 

[Scootalove 10,684]

We didn't expect to a dark side to Pinkie Pie but, it's always interesting to see the dark side of characters. So, I do enjoy Pinkamena.

[Frith is Magick 1,471]

It's the same as the whole thing with Butchershy and Flutterrage, it's fun to see that complete opposite come out. With Pinkamena you have a normally crazy character like Pinkie Pie become a dark inversion of herself. The pure insanity and psychosis is appealing and amusing. It also reflects the dark side everyone has, the only difference is that it isn't channeled constructively. As previously mentioned, Pinkamena is well drawn and looks cool.

[FNGRpony 655]

Ever see the dark night?  Kinda how the joker takes harvey dent and brings him down to "his level."

 

taking something so good, and dragging it through the mud.  I don't get how you don't understand it.  Imagine taking a wonderful stain glass window and smashing it.  Taking a high prices sports car and setting it on fire.

 

But besides that?  with out party of one, PInkie is just this sugary sickeningly sweet character.

 

don't ignore pinkie or she'll cut you.

 

Now all of a sudden she has depth.

Edited October 2, 2013 by FNGRpony

[duidamasterXD 9,626]

A lot of her popularity comes from the fanon of her being a serial killer and all that. I actually like Pinkamena a ton, though for completely different reasons.

 

• She's adorable. When the happiest, bounciest character ever is down in the dumps, there's a part of you that just wants to give her a hug
• She's also kinda hot
  

• Party of One is actually the episode I relate to most, due to my having some issues with abandonment and loneliness, as well as getting all worked up over nothing. In a way, without Pinkamena I wouldn't have come to appreciate Pinkie nearly as much as I do (Pinkie is second best pony)
• I like the depth it gives her. Even someone like Pinkie can't be happy all the time, and part of me likes the idea that she conceals how she's really feeling behind a jubilant exterior some of the time.

[SBaby 660]

Ok.  I'm going to tell you the secret, of what makes Pinkie Pie's 'Pinkamena' side is so popular.  It's actually very simple.  It's because people just can't get enough of her straight, non-poofy hair when she's like that.  Also there's the fact that you just don't see it very often.  When you don't see something too often, it just makes you want to see it more.

[aoEAF2FBvC0MIo2Q 3,671]

Not sure how to explain. I think the context and implications played a big part in it. She acted on the idea that her friends have abandoned her. It happened a little fast, didn't it and it caught a lot of people off-guard, didn't it? It was so... absurd in a sense that it can hook someone's attention pretty firmly. Her mane just suddenly straightened, her colors darkened, she completely lost her mind and it was pretty surreal in how it was presented and executed. Those brief, sudden convulsions, how the background music was orchestrated part by part and the most shocking of them all was when the background disappeared into the messy painting where the objects came to life only to turn out that she'd been moving and speaking for them all along. Seriously, if that won't catch your attention, I don't know what will XD

 

So yeah, I think the execution of the Pinkamena scene has a lot to do with it. Being someone who's rather fascinated with mental illness, it kinda hit me in the intrigues >.>

 

[Silver Letter 1,830]

I think that the 'pinkamina' character reveals a lot about hidden personal issues that ponies might have such as abandonment issues and frustration with friendships and about life in general. When Pinkie was frustrated with the sudden change in her destiny in "Magical Mystery Cure", she turned back into that form due to the frustration. I can relate to the character in certain ways as well such as the worry about abandonment. It's a good alternative personality to have on the show.

[DokiLoki 518]

In my opinion dark sides are always better for characters and I enjoy seeing Pinkie not being her usual self. Its what makes it better. I do think that Party of One was one of my favourite episodes.

[--Thunder Bolt-- 534]

I think it has a lot to do with contrast.  A degree of contrast brings life to the thing having it (art, architecture, etc.).  For example, a painting of a vase of flowers will be more lively, more captivating of attention, if it has a variety of colors and shades, than if it is painted in tints of beige.  In art, contrast can also be done with light and shadow, or sharpness and blur.  In architecture, you have things like the contrast between the complex, organic scrollwork of a Corinthian column's capital, with the straight, elegant, fluted lines of the column's body.

 

In the case of FiM, there's at least two main levels of contrast: contrast with the mainstream of visual fiction (other shows and movies), and contrast within the show.  The current trend in fiction leans heavily toward grimdark, deliberate ugliness (especially in animation), or at least rough and gritty imagery.  The Dark Knight, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Thor: The Dark World, the Man of Steel movie with its grey Krypton (compare with the spotless white of the Crystal Spires and Togas utopia in Christopher Reeves' Superman), The Walking Dead (and the Zombie Apocalypse fad in general), cartoons with ugly characters inhabiting ugly worlds (even if they are funny, they're still ugly).

 

Then along comes MLP:FiM, with its lush, beautifully-drawn environments and adorable candy-colored ponies.  An unabashedly positive, happy world where characters still have flaws and face problems, but they address them and grow rather than slouching toward The Road or adopting a fashionable cynicism.  Result: a massive, unexpected fandom (bronies), many of whom wish they could live in Equestria instead of Earth.  That's the first level.

 

The writers were clever enough to introduce a second level, a subtle "Creepy Vibe" that's just dark enough to keep the show from overmodulating its overall positive atmosphere and becoming a pool of saccharine glurge.  The Creepy Vibe remains in the background, surfacing every once in awhile, but never so much that it takes over the show.  There's Twilight coming unhinged in Lesson Zero, Celestia's subtle chessmaster-like manipulation of events (like, Twilight's whole life...), the monsters that dwell in the shadows, the fate of the Pinkie clones in Too Many Pinkie Pies, Fluttershy's suppressed rage and aggression (the Iron Will episode) and mind-control power with lots of creepy potential (the Stare)...and Pinkamena. 

 

Pinkamena stands out as a Creepy Vibe contrast element because she has a unique design aesthetic that turns on and off suddenly, and it's a high contrast with Pinkie's normal self.  Twilight Unhinged is a messy, creepy version of Twilight, but doesn't have the kind of stand-out aesthetic that Pinkamena does.  I can't recall any other pony in the show having that kind of ruler-straight mane and tail style.  Angry Fluttershy is still Fluttershy, design-wise.  Angry Fluttershy is a sharp contrast with normal Fluttershy but does not have a unique design aesthetic (hence, no distinct name for the persona).  Twilight Unhinged has a different design aesthetic from normal Twilight, but personality-wise it's not so remote from normal Twilight with her compulsive list-making and by-the-book planning.  It's just what happens when that doesn't work out.  Pinkamena provides sharp contrast in both ways.  She has a unique design aesthetic that is opposite to Pinkie's in many ways, and her personality is the obverse of Pinkie Pie's.

 

A couple other things make Pinkamena interesting: it's arguably her normal (or at least initial) state.  It's the pony she was born and raised to be, until she saw the Sonic Rainboom and got her cutie mark as a party/comedian pony.  Also, there is implied metaphysical power.  When Pinkamena is talking with her "new friends" and the background changes to psychadelic Impressionist chaos, it implies that the High Strangeness is not quite "all in her head."  This is never made definitive; we don't see it as a field effect with a boundary or limits, or necessarily as something that "really is" happening out in the world of Equestria.  Even if other ponies (e.g. Rainbow Dash) don't experience it, we do.  With Twilight Unhinged, we see a character on the verge of madness, viewing her from the outside and at a safe distance.  With Pinkamena, we partake of the madness; we, too, are "seeing things."