Those Big Dumb Meanies
Hello & welcome to Nightmare Night, last year, we counted down my Top 6 MLP Villains and this year, my Top 6 Other MLP Villains. With this out of the way, let's see who made the list, this year.
6. Flutterbat - Bats!
Admittedly, I'm not the biggest fan of this episode as I find it to be one of the weakest episodes of the entire series. But having said that there was one aspect of that episode that I liked was that of Flutterbat. The idea of Fluttershy, the most timid and shy pony becoming a vampire bat that sucked on Applejack's apples was a unique idea. Because here you have the (best) pony that you'd least expect to become a monster turn into a vampire and you could see how much that affected her friends in particular, AJ as she was the other central character in this episode. Flutterbat works like a werewolf in that, when Fluttershy becomes Flutterbat, she has no memory of what is going on as Flutters isn't in control as the bat instincts take over. So, while her actions aren't deliberate as she is just acting on instinct but it's still a bit creepy to see one of the ponies turn into a monster that has no control over what they're doing. I could argue that is somewhat like Nightmare Rarity but even then, Rarity tried to the Nightmare entity that had taken over her body where Fluttershy was at the mercy of being Flutterbat. Flutterbat has also become something of a fan favorite as you'll find a lot of fan art of her all over the web and there are even some fan made toys of Flutterbat being sold. Also, FIM, you didn't do anything with the tease that Flutterbat may still exist at the end of this episode.
I hope that you do something with this in season five because it would be cool to see but I doubt that'll happen.
5. Flim & Flam - The Super Cider Squeezy 6000/Leap of Faith
Well, lookie what we got here, brother of mine, it's the same in every town. Yep, The Flim-Flam Brothers who are based on the main character from The Music Man. The first time, I saw The Super Cider Squeezy 6000, I wasn't the biggest fan of them as I just found them annoying but over time, they've grown on me. They are slick greasy business men that are cons that'll do anything for a quick buck. And an interesting thing to point out is that they're the complete opposite of Applejack, and that's why you see her go up against the brothers in all of their appearances. Most of the girls have an adversary that is their complete opposite, Twilight Sparkle has Trixie and Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash has Lighting Dust and to a lesser extent, Gilda but I'd argue that she's more of Pinkie's adversary and Rarity has Suri Polamare. Really, the only character that doesn't have an opposite is Fluttershy. In the context of opposites, Flim and Flam probably work the best in being Applejack's opposites. I say that because in every interaction between AJ and the conpony brothers, you see how their underhandedness conflicts with AJ's tight moral compass of always being honest. I mean in Leap of Faith, they even go so far as to use Applejack in their promotion for their Miracle Cure All Curative Tonic, when they take something she says out of context.
Even their Equestira Girls counterparts are slimy and tricky as we see in A Case for the Base featuring Applejack, where they buy her guitar from Granny Smith and they have to try and get it back.
No matter, where they are, they're always the same slick underhand con men that will do anything to make a quick buck.
4. Diamond Tiara
Yeah, I had to include Diamond Tiara on this list. She's be one of the most constant bully characters always making fun of the CMC and oh, sure you may think that I'm crazy putting her over Flim and Flam but ahem, in case you forgot my review of Flight to The Finish with The Second Opinion, I spent a portion of that review as this wretched brat and saw things that no one should ever see. But seriously, the reason Diamond Tiara is so high on the list is because well, she shows what bullies can truly be like and sure you could argue, we had that with Gilda and Babs but the difference there is that Gilda was a one-off character, whose next appearance was in a book that is debatable as to whether or not it's canon and Babs in her later appearances has been shown as a friend to the Crusaders whereas this evil little filly has been mocking Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, & Sweetie Belle for 4 seasons straight and we have never once seen any remorse from her whatsoever or even wise up that maybe what she's doing isn't right and she never gets punished for any of her bullying. The closest thing, we get is her having to make the Zap Apple Jam at the end of Family Appreciation Day but overall, when you stop and think about it, there have not been any consequences for DT's actions. Now sure, you may not think that is enough to land in the number 4 spot but I feel that it is because it shows how realistic bullies can be and how they can get away with their actions without anyone trying to stop them. Am I overthinking Diamond Tiara? No, not really because there are bullies out there that do get away with their constant bullying.
3. Alternate Universe Celestia & Luna- Reflections Saga (IDW Comics)
Honestly, I'm surprised it took until the seventh arc of the IDW comic series for MLP to do a parallel universe story, where King Sombra rules Equestira and is our Celestia's lover. (Yep, Celestia got herself a boyfriend) And Celestia and Luna are evil. Anyways, Celestia and Starswirl The Bearded had created a portal that could take them to other worlds, similar to the one that Sunset Shimmer used and on one occasion, they happened to come across a parallel Equestira and for many years, Celestia secretly used the portal to be with the one that she loved. There, Luna never became Nightmare Moon and Celestia felt that she had her sister again. Apparently, they have offered a bargain, they'll leave the parallel Equestira and let our Good Tia be with the one, she loves if they are allowed to cross over into Equestira Prime (the Equestira we know) and bring terror and torment there. Parallel Sombra refuses but let's just say that Evil Celestia tries to merge both universes and take over both of them. I won't spoil the ending but it is a bit of a letdown. Now, the idea of Evil versions of noble characters is nothing new and technically Nightmare Moon was the evil version of Luna but we've never in canon, seen an evil Celestia and that is something that I thought we would never see. Think of the ways, Equestira was depicted when Discord was in charge or when evil Sombra was in charge of The Crystal Empire and that should give you an idea of what their ruling of this parallel Equestira would be like if they were to get their evil hooves on it. One other creepy thing to take into consideration with these character is that they cannot be physically attacked, because as we see, if physically attacked, not only do they feel the pain but so do our Celestia and Luna and evil Celestia knows this because towards the end of the arc, she purposefully attacks the parallel Luna.
2. Discord - The Return of Harmony
Last year, I intentionally left Discord off my list of MLP Villains but I couldn't do that two years in a row and if it weren't for season 4's finale, he would be # 1. Sure, Discord has reformed and now hangs out with Fluttershy but in his first appearance in the season 2 opener, you could see that the show had stepped up it's game with their villains because compared to Nightmare Moon, Discord was on a whole other level. He likes a mix of the Genie and The Cheshire Cat having all these powers but loves making things loopy and crazy. He's a god of chaos and wants to spread it all throughout Equestira and didn't care what harm came to anyone else so long as it brought him some form of enjoyment. Let's be honest, the real reason, he's on the list is because of John de Lancie. John de Lancie probably gives the best performance of any of the MLP Villain voice actors as he owns that role and makes you believe that he is Discord. It's such a brilliant performance. Now, I never watched Star Trek nor The Next Generation, so MLP was my introduction to the awesomeness that is John de Lancie. So admittedly, I am a little lost when people compare Discord to the character of Q and each time, I see Q, I wanna go "That's Discord!" I only bring this up because I do recall reading that Q was an inspiration for Discord and I do think it's pretty cool that a Star Trek influenced easily the most popular MLP villain. Also, it's not lost on the comic writers as in an issue of the Friends Forever series featuring Discord and The Cutie Mark Crusaders, there was this TNG sequence with Discord dressed as Q.
Even as someone that isn't a fan of Star Trek, that is pretty cool. Though, I'm not sure about Scootaloo as captain.
1. Tirek - Twilight's Kingdom
Yeah, if any of you saw Twilight's Kingdom, you knew that Tirek was going to take the top spot. This dude is creepy. He feeds off the magic of ponies and it drains them of their powers and their cutie marks and the more, he feeds on it, the stronger he gets. He doesn't look like that, when we first meet him. Which his introduction is a good contender for new creepiest moment.
"'Is he friend, or is he foe?' the pony wonders. I can assure you... I am no friend. I am Lord Tirek, and I will take what should have been mine long ago."
Factor in the way, he says this, the atmosphere and the pony that he says this to looking scared outta of his mind, yeah. Yeah, kinda creepy.
Even then, with all of that, that is not the main reason, Tirek is number one on this list. The reason, he's number one comes down to something that I thought was impossible. He tricked Discord. He tricked the trickster of MLP.
- "Oh, please, I've seen this before. But he was always weak minded. You are Discord, you are legend, you cannot fall into the same trap that claimed my brother! Help me to grow strong, and be rewarded with something far greater than friendship: freedom."
He played on Discord's ego and for a moment there, got Discord to go back to being evil thinking that it was an equal partnership but that was never the case at all because as soon as Tirek, no longer needed Discord, he disposed of him at the first opportunity and even took Discord's magic.
Oh, and the fight between Twilight Sparkle and Tirek is one of the coolest things ever. Seriously, I don't think there has been a fight this good on MLP before. You just gotta watch it. Here ya go.
By the way, I'm still pissed about what Tirek did to Golden Oak Library because that place had been a part of the show since season one and no, Twilight getting her own castle doesn't make up for the destruction of the library. Seriously though, that fight is just awesome.
I hope that you've enjoyed this look at the other villains of MLP. Join me tomorrow as we head to Storybrooke as I continue my villains streak with the Top 6 Villains of Once Upon A Time.
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