What Is With Spitfire Being So Out Of Character In Rainbow Falls Episode?

[Castle Bleck 19,440]

By that logic Luna and Zecora have no character either. Sure we may not know as much about Spitfire as we do with the mane 6, but dosen't mean we don't know anything. We know that Spitfire can be harsh yet fair, is relatively laid back when off duty (although not as much as Soarin) is in many ways a more mature and level headed Rainbow Dash. This is not to say she is perfect by any means as we have clearly seen in Wonderbolt Academy but that she is not the manipulative pony we have seen in Rainbow Falls.

 

Exactly; this isn't really an issue of OOC so much as an issue of "180 from all her other appearances."

 

Oh, wait...

 

...That's EXACTLY what "OOC" means.

[hawkflame 3,312]

By that logic Luna and Zecora have no character either. Sure we may not know as much about Spitfire as we do with the mane 6, but dosen't mean we don't know anything. We know that Spitfire can be harsh yet fair, is relatively laid back when off duty (although not as much as Soarin) is in many ways a more mature and level headed Rainbow Dash. This is not to say she is perfect by any means as we have clearly seen in Wonderbolt Academy but that she is not the manipulative pony we have seen in Rainbow Falls.

 

This exactly.  She clearly has a good moral code, and can be pretty cool, and is tough but fair- clearly not consistent with the methods she employed in Wonderbolts Academy.

 

She's the captain of the Wonderbolts- the best flyers in Equestria.  That she didnt conduct herself with a modicum of professionalism here is very surprising.  Is it fitting for her to want to poach Dash for her team?  Yes.  To be as manipulative and backstabbing like that and throw Soarin under the bus?  That's something else, and very much unexpected for someone of her stature.  It's even worse if you consider the Wonderbolts to be a military organization- in that case, they should be the *last* ponies to need a lesson about loyalty.

 

If she was straight with Soarin, just told him they thought they found a better flyer, and never told Dash to deceive her teammates, it wouldn't have been as much of an issue.  But then, I guess it wouldn't have been as much of a story.  Frankly I think it would have been much better off if the Cloudsdale team was a new group of flyers instead of the Wonderbolts.

[GrimCW 658]

Spitfire never promoted recklessly endangering OTHERS, though. Nor did she ever give any indication she even knew about Dust doing such until RD pointed it out.

 

Recklessly endangering yourself and then being given a leadership position and NOT being expected to do so to others isn't likely. Spitfire saw what dust was doing, she even saw RD take the spill when dusts maneuvers became dangerous, and still did nothing but encourage it.

By placing Dust in command for the reason of "pushing herself" (I.E. being reckless) she knew that dust was a risk factor. Such a person (or pony) is not a good leader, and Spitfire, as a CO, should've known that. In giving dust that command SF encouraged the behavior, only backing down when RD told her off, and likely only because RD had the gall to do so.  Allowing RD to walk off would've been bad, and thats pretty much the only reason SF stopped her and brought her back.  (tis a cliche military movie thing too BTW)

A good CO would've enforced that those under her know their limits, yes they should push them, but not at the risk of others or by allowing that risk to even be so easily possible.

 

Spitfire encouraged the reckless behavior as a "winning attitude" and she showed this again in in Rainbow Falls by ignoring her own long standing teammate and trying to sabotage another team. This time, reckless, being the the leaving others behind who are capable and betraying your own squad for another. 

Edited January 22, 2014 by GrimCW

[BalanceBrony 259]

By that logic Luna and Zecora have no character either. Sure we may not know as much about Spitfire as we do with the mane 6, but dosen't mean we don't know anything. We know that Spitfire can be harsh yet fair, is relatively laid back when off duty (although not as much as Soarin) is in many ways a more mature and level headed Rainbow Dash. This is not to say she is perfect by any means as we have clearly seen in Wonderbolt Academy but that she is not the manipulative pony we have seen in Rainbow Falls.

 

This exactly.  She clearly has a good moral code, and can be pretty cool, and is tough but fair- clearly not consistent with the methods she employed in Wonderbolts Academy.

 

She's the captain of the Wonderbolts- the best flyers in Equestria.  That she didnt conduct herself with a modicum of professionalism here is very surprising.  Is it fitting for her to want to poach Dash for her team?  Yes.  To be as manipulative and backstabbing like that and throw Soarin under the bus?  That's something else, and very much unexpected for someone of her stature.  It's even worse if you consider the Wonderbolts to be a military organization- in that case, they should be the *last* ponies to need a lesson about loyalty.

 

If she was straight with Soarin, just told him they thought they found a better flyer, and never told Dash to deceive her teammates, it wouldn't have been as much of an issue.  But then, I guess it wouldn't have been as much of a story.  Frankly I think it would have been much better off if the Cloudsdale team was a new group of flyers instead of the Wonderbolts.

Again. There is never any evidence that she wouldn't backstab. People expect she wouldn't backstab because they have preconceptions of what a leader should have. But that is exactly the point. The point was to show that she isn't a good leader. That's why she needs to learn. But everyone screaming "OOC" have all failed to provide evidence based strictly on what's in the show that she wouldn't do this. Fanfic, headcanon, and expectations do not canon make.