Villains make Equestria a very dangerous place

[Pastel 7,630]

Yeah, it is pretty dangerous when you put it that way. Still, there needs to be villains so the mane 6 can defeat them... I wonder if there were any villains before the mane 6 formed.

Maybe... there were Discord.

[SparklingSquirrels 21,366]

Maybe... there were Discord.

Well, I meant besides him; if there were villains we haven't heard about. I suppose the princesses would have taken care of them..

[Fractured 2,684]

Hello?  G4 had more competent villains!  Not to mention, G4 also has possibly more sadistic assholes than G1, even in the slice-of-life episodes!

Just off the top of my head...

Catrina enslaved an entire race to make potions for her, at some point, she actually leaves one to drown in a well; if her second in command didn't save him, he would've died very painfully

Porcina turned an entire kingdom of ponies into glass

Tirek has the Rainbow of Darkness that turns you into a twisted montrosity and robs you of your free will. He also threatened to murder Spike.

The Smooze is a semi-sentient sludge wave of destruction. It crushes anything in its path, and if you touch it, it robs you of the ability to feel.

G4 has impressive villains, but the show paints them in a light where they're much less imposing than the villains in G1. Discord is a goofball, Nightmare is incompetent, and Chrysalis is arrogant to the point of stupidity.

[ideaguy1998 15]

Just off the top of my head...

Catrina enslaved an entire race to make potions for her, at some point, she actually leaves one to drown in a well; if her second in command didn't save him, he would've died very painfully

Porcina turned an entire kingdom of ponies into glass

Tirek has the Rainbow of Darkness that turns you into a twisted montrosity and robs you of your free will. He also threatened to murder Spike.

The Smooze is a semi-sentient sludge wave of destruction. It crushes anything in its path, and if you touch it, it robs you of the ability to feel.

G4 has impressive villains, but the show paints them in a light where they're much less imposing than the villains in G1. Discord is a goofball, Nightmare is incompetent, and Chrysalis is arrogant to the point of stupidity.

Discord may be a goofball, but he's a sociopathic, clever goofball.  G4 Tirek managed to steal half of Equestria's magic and get Discord onto his side, solo, the ponies at Flight Camp traumatized a foal, and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon almost drove Scootaloo to suicide.  I can imagine Diamond Tiara managing to turn all the G1 villains against eachother.

[Fractured 2,684]

Discord may be a goofball, but he's a sociopathic, clever goofball.  G4 Tirek managed to steal half of Equestria's magic and get Discord onto his side, solo, the ponies at Flight Camp traumatized a foal, and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon almost drove Scootaloo to suicide.  I can imagine Diamond Tiara managing to turn all the G1 villains against eachother.

Discord's changed,emotionally he's basically a child. he's very easily manipulated; ten seconds of sweet talking got him to change sides. He is by no means a sociopath. 

Tirek himself got by on the general stupidity of everyone around him. He also failed to kill the Mane Six when he had them at his mercy.

Fillies can be so cruel...but the ones at flight camp aren't really villains, just bullies.

Diamond Tiara is smart, but unfortunately, not very well rounded.Her retorts consist of little more than petty name calling. Of course, G1 villains wouldn't hesitate to hurt a child anyways, I doubt she'd have time to even do that.

G4's villains are dark in their own way, but it's all potential that we never see onscreen. G1 villains don't give a damn, they go all out from the beginning and never stop. It makes them much more imposing, since it seems like they're not holding back. How many times has a villain had the Mane Six at their mercy...and let them live for no reason?

Edited August 20, 2014 by Shimmer5000

[ideaguy1998 15]

Discord's changed,emotionally he's basically a child. he's very easily manipulated; ten seconds of sweet talking got him to change sides. He is by no means a sociopath. 

Tirek himself got by on the general stupidity of everyone around him. He also failed to kill the Mane Six when he had them at his mercy.

Fillies can be so cruel...but the ones at flight camp aren't really villains, just bullies.

Diamond Tiara is smart, but unfortunately, not very well rounded.Her retorts consist of little more than petty name calling. Of course, G1 villains wouldn't hesitate to hurt a child anyways, I doubt she'd have time to even do that.

G4's villains are dark in their own way, but it's all potential that we never see onscreen. G1 villains don't give a damn, they go all out from the beginning and never stop. It makes them much more imposing, since it seems like they're not holding back. How many times has a villain had the Mane Six at their mercy...and let them live for no reason?

I'm pretty sure that Diamond Tiara could just tell the G1 villains to team up, then bring up what to do about the prize after they've won, thus getting them all defeated if not killed.  Thus allowing Diamond Tiara to claim the prize and maybe even take possession of any of their weapons.

Not to mention, Tirek actually makes barely any mistakes.  He didn't kill anypony because they lacked the power to take him out.  And besides, why kill somepony when you could subject them to worse?

Edited August 20, 2014 by ideaguy1998

[Fractured 2,684]

I'm pretty sure that Diamond Tiara could just tell the G1 villains to team up, then bring up what to do about the prize after they've won, thus getting them all defeated if not killed.  Thus allowing Diamond Tiara to claim the prize and maybe even take possession of any of their weapons.

Not to mention, Tirek actually makes barely any mistakes.  He didn't kill anypony because they lacked the power to take him out.  And besides, why kill somepony when you could subject them to worse?

None of them want the same thing; that idea wouldn't work at all. And Tirek messed up... a lot.Kid friendly versions include betraying Discord when him winning was guaranteed if he stayed with him, or not sending Twilight and co. to Tartarus once he was done with them, or even during research and learning about anybody or anything win the several months he had escaped from Tartarus. And why wouldn't you get one of the one group of ponies who can destroy you? It seems like G4 villains just...give up sometimes, like they've got nothing to do after they've won.After each of them defeated the Mane Six, Discord sat back and watched the world, Nightmare Moon started laughing maniacally, Chrysalis stared out a window, and Tirek wander off in a random direction doing Celestia knows what. None of them make the slightest bit of effort to stop the heroes. In contrast, the Maneiac was more competent than any of the main villains. I love G4, but sometimes the villains are just so...underwhelming. Dark, at times, but underwhelming.

[Mr. Mustang 647]

If you were suddenly sucked into Equestria with essentially nothing but the clothes on your back. The Ponies are definitely friendly and would help, but if a super villain like Tirek shows up again, well you'd be turned into paste.

[They call me Loyalty 1,951]

But they also make Equestria such a fun place, in some cases. They also allow the Mane-six to grow up after every difficult trial. Each test brings each Mane-six closer to each other.

Remember, conflict often means growth.

[Darker 1,352]

Yeah it is. But what did you expect. Next to it there's Tartarus.

[ideaguy1998 15]

But the 

 

Discord's changed,emotionally he's basically a child. he's very easily manipulated; ten seconds of sweet talking got him to change sides. He is by no means a sociopath. 
Tirek himself got by on the general stupidity of everyone around him. He also failed to kill the Mane Six when he had them at his mercy.
Fillies can be so cruel...but the ones at flight camp aren't really villains, just bullies.
Diamond Tiara is smart, but unfortunately, not very well rounded.Her retorts consist of little more than petty name calling. Of course, G1 villains wouldn't hesitate to hurt a child anyways, I doubt she'd have time to even do that.
G4's villains are dark in their own way, but it's all potential that we never see onscreen. G1 villains don't give a damn, they go all out from the beginning and never stop. It makes them much more imposing, since it seems like they're not holding back. How many times has a villain had the Mane Six at their mercy...and let them live for no reason?

But the damage those little cu**s at Flight Camp did to Fluttershy still scared her and that was inexcusable.  They deserve to suffer how horrible of ponies they are and I give Tirek a giant thumbs up for sucking all there magic up.  I'd just love to take their pictures and cherish them for all eternity.  Plus, G1 only looks worse because that the ponies were weaker.

None of them want the same thing; that idea wouldn't work at all. And Tirek messed up... a lot.Kid friendly versions include betraying Discord when him winning was guaranteed if he stayed with him, or not sending Twilight and co. to Tartarus once he was done with them, or even during research and learning about anybody or anything win the several months he had escaped from Tartarus. And why wouldn't you get one of the one group of ponies who can destroy you? It seems like G4 villains just...give up sometimes, like they've got nothing to do after they've won.After each of them defeated the Mane Six, Discord sat back and watched the world, Nightmare Moon started laughing maniacally, Chrysalis stared out a window, and Tirek wander off in a random direction doing Celestia knows what. None of them make the slightest bit of effort to stop the heroes. In contrast, the Maneiac was more competent than any of the main villains. I love G4, but sometimes the villains are just so...underwhelming. Dark, at times, but underwhelming.

I just realized by your logic, that would mean G1 Tirek made the following tactical blunders:

1. G1 Tirek didn't do his research either and overlooked the possibility of any hidden/potential threats.  This is especially jarring considering that

a) Tirek had an army of minions that could do that and save him the work.  Even if his minions weren't suited for scouting and spying, then he could easily make himself minions better suited for the job.

True, the ponies appeared weak and kept the Rainbow of Light hidden, but the fact that Scorpan is a prince obviously means that Tirek in the very least had to bypass the defenses of another territory.  Doing such thing would likely give him suspicions that his enemies and targets of choice could have tricks up their sleves.  And speaking of Scorpan,

2. Tirek hired a noble guy like Scorpan to lead his troops, one of his most valuable resources.  True, Tirek did threaten to kill Spike to keep Scorpan from turning against him , but the fact he didn't keep Scorpan supervised 24/7 somewhat negates that and gave Scorpan the chance to turn the tables against Tirek in secrecy.  Which he did when he saved Megan.  And speaking of again,

3) Tirek didn't brainwash Scorpan.  If Tirek used his magic to turn him into an asshole, then that would spare Tirek time and troops.

[UnknownFry 169]

They do, but life is always full of dangers and perils. What matters most is being prepared and knowing how to address such threats.'

 

Frankly it is nice to have some kind of powerful threat popping up every now and again to keep things from becoming stagnant while providing further opportunity for growth as ponies step up to handle such crises.