What if Fluttershy Died?

[Black Sabbath 2,486]

I would be happy, perhaps they would replace her with a character with a real personality. 

[Flutter's lover <3 8,205]

@@Banul,@@Dark Qiviut,

 

Sorry. I guess I got a little overzealous. I hate her as a person and I hate how she's used in the show. I don't feel like she benefits the show enough to be a main character.

 

 

I beg to differ....I think she benefits fully as a main character. Each of the mane 6 has their own personality and their own quirks and their own strength and weaknesses. To get rid of Fluttershy as a main character? That'd totally break up the whole harmony thing. It just wouldn't work without her. You need kindness, just like you need loyalty, generosity,laughter, honesty and magic... Together, they give each other strength and a lasting bond of friendship. She's there for her friends whenever possible. Without her, her friends would've been owned by that dragon in Dragonshy, Discord would probably be reigning chaos all over Equestria, and the rest of the mane 6 just might've been all turned into Equality ponies, under ruling of Starlight Glimmer. Rainbow wouldn't of gotten to participate in the Equestria games if it wasn't for Fluttershy..(and bulk biceps of course) But as Banul said previously,  the show is about friendship...not how useful somepony is.

 

Yea, she has her faults, but no character is perfect. the faults is what allows room for development of that character...If the characters didn't have their faults, the show would get stale pretty fast.

 

 

I honestly don't get how so many people hate on Fluttershy...I mean, there's characters I'm not that fond of, but I dont hate them. How can someone hate on somepony that's so kind?

[Pastel 7,630]

Her or anypony else, I really don't want a death of a main character in the show.

That would be depressing, and... not My Little Pony.

[Randimaxis 8,652]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

There would be HELL to pay - and I would be the bill collector!  *cocks shotgun*

[Discordian 6,015]

I beg to differ....I think she benefits fully as a main character. Each of the mane 6 has their own personality and their own quirks and their own strength and weaknesses. To get rid of Fluttershy as a main character? That'd totally break up the whole harmony thing. It just wouldn't work without her. You need kindness, just like you need loyalty, generosity,laughter, honesty and magic... Together, they give each other strength and a lasting bond of friendship. She's there for her friends whenever possible. Without her, her friends would've been owned by that dragon in Dragonshy, Discord would probably be reigning chaos all over Equestria, and the rest of the mane 6 just might've been all turned into Equality ponies, under ruling of Starlight Glimmer. Rainbow wouldn't of gotten to participate in the Equestria games if it wasn't for Fluttershy..(and bulk biceps of course) But as Banul said previously,  the show is about friendship...not how useful somepony is.

 

Yea, she has her faults, but no character is perfect. the faults is what allows room for development of that character...If the characters didn't have their faults, the show would get stale pretty fast.

 

 

I honestly don't get how so many people hate on Fluttershy...I mean, there's characters I'm not that fond of, but I dont hate them. How can someone hate on somepony that's so kind?

My problem with Fluttershy extends to her being such a coward. It goes beyond mere social anxiety and paranoia. She's a complete pushover, to the point that she will do whatever people will tell her so long as they're pushy enough about it. All of the episodes where she improves on that are irrelevant because the next episode after that she's back to being the doormat.

 

This also goes into a dependency issue. She got lucky with Discord. If she tried that sort of "Oh yes, I'm very weak" tactic with any of the other villains she would have been obliterated.

 

The show in general may be about friendship but that doesn't excuse them for bringing such a weak person into battle. At that point it is about usefulness and the only reason she survives anything is because of convenient storytelling. She's also now a member of a royal court and how useful she is will be a huge factor.

 

She's the type of person who I personally would get sick of dealing with on a daily basis because of her entire lack of improvement.

 

I admit that a lot of my problem is with how she's handled in the show. She's a victim of the writers' whims and flips back and forth all the time whenever they want her to. If I ever met a person like her in real life they would do nothing but piss me off.

[Guest]

You're objectively wrong.

 

Pro tip:

 

Objectively means something that is based on pure facts. So you may want to avoid using it when talking about a fictional show and discussing a point that is a matter of opinion. In a fictional universe there are no concrete "facts" because it's not real. It is in his opinion she is useless, therefore there can be no "objectively" wrong or right.

 

 

You're objectively wrong.

1. Healed the manticore by pulling out the splinter.
2. Cleaned up the Golden Oak Library to receive Twi's second ticket.
3. After her friends were assaulted, Fluttershy scolded the dragon to the point of submission and convinced him to relocate.
4. She chose to babysit the Cutie Mark Crusaders and risked her life to save them and Twilight Sparkle.
5. Because she saw a sick bird, she brought him to her cottage to take care of him until he felt better.
6. Countertrolled Discord; only she wasn't coerced.
7. Corralled Rainbow Dash as she flew away from the ReMane Five, saving Pinkie and Rarity in the process.
8. Punched her stage fright in the face and helped pull the rest of Ponyville's reservoir water to Cloudesdale.
9. Became Discord's first friend.
10. Contributed to the Equestria Games.
11. Saw Starlight's disguised cutie mark and outed her.

And there's plenty more that I didn't mention yet.

 

Besides, like what @@Banul already said, this ain't about who's more useful than another. This is a show about friendship, and Fluttershy's just as much a friend as the rest of the ReMane Five. Combined with her being one of the most popular characters in the fandom, killing her off will be suicide for the show.

 

Many of these supposed points do not exactly prove usefulness or exceptional value. For starters many of these things could have simply been performed by many of the main cast without Fluttershy's assistance. Some of them are also not showcasing her element very well.

 

1. Removing a splinter is hardly healing. That and there is always the possibility that someone else could have removed it and to top that off, its removal wasn't central to their advancement. They could have just as easily defeated the creature and carried onwards.
2. This is not an example of kindness actually. She wished to clean the library because she was trying to butter Twilight up to receive said ticket. That isn't exactly an act of kindness, it's more or less bribery.
3. Which was laughable writing at best. I think our friend's point is that when Fluttershy "does" help it comes off as very forced and I would have to agree. A dragon that did not fear being kicked in the face, the magic of unicorns or the other characters at all is simply intimidated by a stare and the yells of a quiet girl. This also is partially relevant to Fluttershy as a character in terms of entertainment. Many people could in their opinion feel that Fluttershy breaking her character archetype in a very cliched and stereotypical way is uncreative writing. The shy girl sometimes has moments where she becomes the polar opposite of her normal demeanor. I would say that many people can find that to be in their opinion boring and lazy writing.
4. Ironically Twilight would never have been in danger had Fluttershy been able to admit she could not handle the 3 of them in the first place.
5. Whom she also took without permission. In the end that ended up just being a waste of time because had she asked in the first place she would have seen there was no need. So she effectively proved she is excellent at wasting time due to a lack of foresight.
6. This could be attributed to her being so simple minded that it was impossible to fool her. Can't fool a fool so to speak. It doesn't necessarily show her usefulness or superiority, if anything, it shows she is so stupid she isn't even capable of being brainwashed due to lack of brain power.
7. Adrenaline rush. Not to mention another example of the cliche of the shy girl having outbursts of extreme anger. Same joke rewrapped over and over in different packages.
8. And yet she still contributed a very small amount of wing power, thus further proving her uselessness. She is only able to help them by a small margin which just so happened to be the minimum of what they needed. She was not able to improve much at all despite all of her training, thus showing she also lacks aptitude for physical activity, yet another skill she fails to possess.
9. And? Becoming friends with Discord seemed to have caused the cast more trouble than help. Sure he's helped them out of a jam here and there, but not after causing more problems himself.
10. So did all the others.
11. Such a discovery had little to do with Fluttershy herself, she just happened to be the one to see it. Nothing about Fluttershy being Fluttershy was central to that discovery, it could have happened to anyone.

That being said, your points are all subjective. They are not concrete evidence of anything as anyone with a different opinion could interpret them differently as I just demonstrated. It's all a matter of how you look at it as there is really few "wrong" ways to look at it since it's a fictional world and we are talking about enjoying a character or not enjoying a character. You really need to be careful in saying things like "objectively wrong" as you are making bold claims then.

 

That being said killing off a fan favorite character would not inherently kill off the show. Many series have eliminated popular characters and had great success as it gets people talking about the show. Controversy sells, thus it would not inherently hurt the show. The only fans that would be lost are the ones who can't handle the fact that they don't control the show and thus the show and that the writers don't adhere to their will.

 

Many popular shows have killed off fan favorite characters and found it to be wildly successful moves.

Edited August 20, 2015 by Guest

[Razege 6]

Death in the show neednt be within the mane characters, and it really ought not ta be.

It's already established that they do die, but any death in-show should be in the background.

 

If they did this, the show would feel wrong somehow.

[Trixio 443]

How would you react if Fluttershy died in the newest episode of the MLP series?

Like a tragic death.

 

nooo....However,at the same time, I would have been "fascinated"  by this "dark side" of MLP.

[RattPitt 172]

Equestria would be absolutely fucked.

If the world lost one sixth of the Elements of Harmony, then there's practically nothing holding back the villains. That's before season 4's finale. After? Ponies across the world would be extremely depressed, losing somepony that helped save the entire planet multiple times. Ponies would riot. Dogs and cats living together. Mass hysteria.

 

Not to mention what would happen to the fandom. We'd rip each other, Hasbro, and whoever the writer of that episode would be to pieces.

[The Pixelated Pony 883]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s

Is an explanation neccicary?

[HereComesTom 2,267]

 

 

My problem with Fluttershy extends to her being such a coward. It goes beyond mere social anxiety and paranoia. She's a complete pushover, to the point that she will do whatever people will tell her so long as they're pushy enough about it. All of the episodes where she improves on that are irrelevant because the next episode after that she's back to being the doormat.

 

I dunno; in Castle Sweet Castle, she had enough of a spine to passive-agressively tell Pinkie exactly why her animals were getting mad and popping Pinkie's balloons.  That seemed like a hint of character development to me.

 

Then again...she was an utter wimp in the episode where Trixie took over Ponyville, whimpering to her birds she wished she had her teddy bear...I guess I could chalk that up to her being extra-terrified of Trixie (emotions are things that have ups and downs, after all), but it also hinted at a reset-button of Fluttershy's character development after Putting Your Hoof Down, too.

[Monsoon 1,662]

I would most likely say "well that escalated quickly" and continue my day estimating how many people this has affected

[derpy4ever 48]

Life would instantaneously end een if I hadn't watched it yet/ had no knowledge of it

[Guest]

Equestria would be absolutely fucked.

If the world lost one sixth of the Elements of Harmony, then there's practically nothing holding back the villains. That's before season 4's finale. After? Ponies across the world would be extremely depressed, losing somepony that helped save the entire planet multiple times. Ponies would riot. Dogs and cats living together. Mass hysteria.

 

Not to mention what would happen to the fandom. We'd rip each other, Hasbro, and whoever the writer of that episode would be to pieces.

Maybe the fandom dissolving and dying would be a good thing then. This is one of the few fandoms that seems to not be able to handle the fact that they don't write the show and that the show creators will make choices that they may not agree with. I love Doctor Who, and hate Stephen Moffat, but I don't get all pissed off that the show runner makes choices I wouldn't make. If anything it stops predictability.

[Lady Diana 412]

R.I.P. Fluttershy Bye Bye

>=| I wish she wasn't dead

[Steve Piranha 29,424]

I'll think: "Shit just got real.......". I mean, kill the cutie seems one of the last tropes FiM is willing to have  . 

I' would be sad too, Flutters is my best poneh   

[Velcorn 279]

I would join the angry mob on their way to burn down Hasbro headquarters xD

 

After being satisfied with revenge, I would lay down, try not to cry, cry a lot :'(

[GuyNamedEarl 1,332]

Mike Kroon would probably kill himself.

[Megas 27,652]

That being said killing off a fan favorite character would not inherently kill off the show. Many series have eliminated popular characters and had great success as it gets people talking about the show. Controversy sells, thus it would not inherently hurt the show. The only fans that would be lost are the ones who can't handle the fact that they don't control the show and thus the show and that the writers don't adhere to their will.

 

Many popular shows have killed off fan favorite characters and found it to be wildly successful moves.

I think the problem here, and this goes for all the mane 6, is that there's really no reason to kill off Fluttershy. No one has really been able to come up with a reason to kill her off, and anyone who has hasn't said anything aside from "she's stupid an I hate her". 

 

In the end of the day you can't really kill anyone off without a good reason. For example in Gurren Lagann

 

 

They kill off Kamina in order to further Simon's character development or else he'd continue living in Kamina's shadow

 

 

And then in Dragon Ball Z

 

Goku dies in the Cell Games, and would pass the torch to Gohan to become the Earth's new hero after years of build -up...which they shat over completely in the Buu Saga  

 

 

While it's true that many series have pulled off killing off characters well(hell that's GoT selling point ), it's still a very risky move that could definitely piss off fans especially if the character was popular and the death was handled in a poor manner and/or without reason

Edited August 23, 2015 by Green Biker Dude

[Cyandashie 128]

I would definately get lucky

[Dark Qiviut 22,418]

I would be happy, perhaps they would replace her with a character with a real personality. 

Fluttershy's personality's as real as Rarity's, Dash's, or Apple Bloom's. Despite being a victim of flanderization, she has grown as a character, and many moments and episodes during the series — all of Hurricane Fluttershy, telling Dash the blunt and honest truth in Tanks — showed off why she earned her popularity.

 

Pro tip:

 

Objectively means something that is based on pure facts. So you may want to avoid using it when talking about a fictional show and discussing a point that is a matter of opinion. In a fictional universe there are no concrete "facts" because it's not real. It is in his opinion she is useless, therefore there can be no "objectively" wrong or right.

Just because an opinion is expressed doesn't mean you won't be called out for providing false context. Opinions when addressing fiction can be illogical and wrong. Calling Fluttershy "useless" is an objectively wrong opinion. Why? Because she's everything except useless regardless of the writing quality. Even Trade Ya!, one of the worst thoroughly characterized episodes of the show, doesn't make her look useless.

 

Removing a splinter is hardly healing. That and there is always the possibility that someone else could have removed it and to top that off, its removal wasn't central to their advancement. They could have just as easily defeated the creature and carried onwards.

They weren't going to defeat the manticore unless they figured out the source of the problem. Her friends were fighting, but 'Shy saw something else despite not seeing the splinter. Defeating him the way they tried initially was completely unnecessary.

 

points #2-6, #9-10

The quality of the writing doesn't change one bit of my point. The point here is how despite it, Fluttershy isn't useless. I have plenty of problems with the flaws of Dragonshy, but none of them have anything to do with Fluttershy's "use." Stare Master has problems themselves, especially the Cutie Mark Crusaders' obnoxious shouting, but 'Shy is still responsible for everyone's safety. Without her confronting the cockatrice, who knows what will happen to Twilight or the CMCs.

 

Of all the Discorded characters, it makes perfect sense for Fluttershy to not fall for his tricks. He tried whatever he could to make Fluttershy fall for it, but she was written to be too "pure," for a lack of a better word, for his evil.

 

Adrenaline rush. Not to mention another example of the cliche of the shy girl having outbursts of extreme anger. Same joke rewrapped over and over in different packages.

Once more, still doesn't change my point. 'Shy had trouble flying fast while hauling the balloon. Twilight telling her she had to catch Dash to defeat Discord to give her the adrenaline doesn't invalidate her use.

 

And yet she still contributed a very small amount of wing power, thus further proving her uselessness. She is only able to help them by a small margin which just so happened to be the minimum of what they needed. She was not able to improve much at all despite all of her training, thus showing she also lacks aptitude for physical activity, yet another skill she fails to possess.

In other words, Fluttershy was useless because she barely contributed due to stage fright. That's like saying a person with autism is useless because he or she can't capture social cues or a blind man's useless because he can't see. Stage fright isn't a quirk. It affected both her ability to help out with the rest of the team and herself. But when the team needed her the most, she had to confront her phobia, and she was able to beat that phobia, at least for one night. Echoing the moral, your contribution matters no matter how big or small it is.

 

Such a discovery had little to do with Fluttershy herself, she just happened to be the one to see it. Nothing about Fluttershy being Fluttershy was central to that discovery, it could have happened to anyone.

She still discovered it. From how The Cutie Map was written, you can make an educated guess that nobody ever saw Starlight with her true Mark. Was it a coincidence? Yes. But she still discovered it. If 'Shy was truly useless, then she wouldn't out her as a fraud.

 

That being said killing off a fan favorite character would not inherently kill off the show. Many series have eliminated popular characters and had great success as it gets people talking about the show. Controversy sells, thus it would not inherently hurt the show. The only fans that would be lost are the ones who can't handle the fact that they don't control the show and thus the show and that the writers don't adhere to their will.

 

Many popular shows have killed off fan favorite characters and found it to be wildly successful moves.

There are two problems with this argument, as well.

1. Controversy does sell, but for how long? Will it sell well for the long term or short? In shows like Beast Wars, Dinobot was portrayed as a tough, philosophical, honorable, and tragic warrior. It makes sense for the writers there to kill him off at some point in the series, but the question was when. They gave clues early in season two thanks to the monologues and Shakespeare references. Code of Hero was an excellent payoff, and it enhanced his popularity.

    

   But why Fluttershy? What's the actual point in killing her off? You can't say it's because of a so-called "weak" personality or poor writing in many of her episodes; you only gyp the integrity of her character, the rest of the canon, and the fanbase itself. "Character development" or "controversy" don't work, either, for this show runs season by season. When the staff finishes scripting the season, they won't know if there will be a next of FIM. Season four had to be improvised from season three. Season five had to be improvised from season four. Chances are season six will be the same.

    

   Also, consider the series' optimistic backdrop. There are serious and dark episodes like Amending Fences and The Cutie Map, respectively, but FIM doesn't relent its symbol of hope. Killing off a character like Fluttershy will be a double entendre: kill the character and optimistic tone off, permanently.

    

   More importantly, for the reasons stated, it comes across as a rating's trap. In other words, they only pull this plot just to rack up viewership. DHX and Hasbro will only look desperate, which neither need because it's Discovery Family's flagship franchise. You can kill off an entire show this way.

    

   In conclusion, killing off a character like Fluttershy exploits her and the overall theme. It'll be suicide for FIM.

2. The fandom doesn't own the show, and the fandom knows this. Hasbro, DHX, and IDW are entitled to what direction they might want to take, as long as it makes sense for both the optimistic roots of the franchise and Hasbro's bottom line. But they're not entitled to not have their decisions called out and questioned. Analysis is fun, but fandoms aren't hiveminds, and bronies aren't sheep. The brony fandom is no exception. If there's really terrible writing, like Rainbow Falls in the show and The Good, The Bad, and The Ponies in the IDW comics, they're not afraid to break down what went wrong piece by piece.

Edited August 23, 2015 by Dark Qiviut

[Celli 4,338]

I'd be really upset. No character deserves to die. I don't give a damn how much you dislike them. It would be a terrible idea and it would probably be near impossible to pull off without repercussions. 

[Sugar Cube 4,843]

Yes, let's kill off the character that won The Hub's favorite pony poll, one of the major characters in the show who has helped provide countless memorable moments. I don't much care for these type of what if scenarios, because the answer is always the same - it would ruin the show for no reason. I don't care if you hate Fluttershy, the fact remains that she is a staple of the series, and with all that the show has established, it simply could not go on without her and still fare well. Nearly the entire fanbase would backlash harder than they did with Twilicorn and Equestria Girls combined. Not to mention stirrup a ton of controversy from concerned parents and young children alike who watch the program expecting good wholesome entertainment, not grim and depressing deaths of beloved major characters. And killing off such a wonderful character like Fluttershy, who is perhaps the most pure and innocent presence on the show, would accomplish.... what, exactly? Satisfy some warped desires of a vocal minority who despise her for stupidly unsound reasons? 

[BlueBrony 388]

it would be a daring move, and probably outside the realm of possibility for this children's show. I just don't think you would be able to pull off a tragic, well-developed plotline for killing fluttershy in a 30 minute episode. In a movie, there would be more possibilities, but again I think it would be to much for the target demographic to handle. We already have a very well put together episode about dealing with heavy grief that doesnt involve anybody dying. I will say that if that was a major plot point for the MLP movie, it could possibly work, if the movie was marking the end of the series. A storyline about how the bonds of friendship can extend beyond the grave would have the potential to be a awesome movie. Again, much care and attention must be made in consideration of the original target audience.

[RarityFan01 2,444]

I don't like Fluttershy, but I don't think the show would be the same without her.