Yeah lets not start the whole CM debate. Really he is EVIL, but he's more a force of pure chaos then anything else. Really no villain has gone of the MEH, well except Gilda of cuarse, you can't be forgiven for doing that to Fluttershy

reposting this as a pagetopper

edited 3rd Jan '13 10:53:30 AM by Seraphem

Discord was bad by MLP standards, but I really don't see him being a Complete Monster. The trope evokes the Joker or Darkseid or Ted Turner.

Which is why I see what's happening in the next episode potentially working. If they can actually turn him, then having just a little of that chaos might keep things fun and interesting.

The Mind Rape of Pinkie, the stain glass window which shows him burning ponies in a fire for the lulz, don't tell me that doesn't count for something.

for him being evil yes, CM no, and we don't know he ACTUALLY did that, it's likely just a symbolic thing.

Oh not this again.

Discord has the personality of a Complete Monster, but he doesn't fit tjhe trope. Please let's move on.

Also, please don't spoil people!

Personally, I really liked Discord, but liked Chrysalis even more.

All she needs is a sandwich.

Birthmas.

Discord is best villain ever. Sure, other might be better characters, but none had his pure style.

I'm fairly certain his terribleness is played seriously less than it isn't.

edited 3rd Jan '13 11:06:00 AM by Badwolfwho

nothing beats a nice tall exploding chocolate milk of glass

yeah other then the mane 6 the stuff he did was less For the Evulz, then For the Lulz, he didn't go out of his way to hurt ponies for the sake of hurting them, he just did what he thought was funny without caring about them. The mane 6 he had to treat specially since they were the only one that could stop him. Even then, he could have just magic'd their heads off and been done with it.

edited 3rd Jan '13 11:08:00 AM by Seraphem

Indeed. That's why he doesn't fit the trope as I said.

I used to think Cirno was one of the main characters in Touhou.

That I do not understand, she just doesn't stand out. She doesn't have the subtle, Dangerously Genre Savvy of Sombra, the Anti-Villain y of Nightmare Moon, or the Faux Affably Evil, physics breaking awesomeness of Discord.

The feeling of evil was never there as Fake!Cadance, it really just seemed like another Diamond Tiara until Twilight was kidnapped. She clearly didn't expect to defeat Celestia so that's points off for no Xanatos Speed Chess and even her excuse to feed the Changelings is kinda diminished when she doesn't seem to have more than a We Have Reserves mentality when they get defeated.

I just cannot see it.

She sent Twilight to hell at the end of the first episode. How is that not evil?

You mean the crystal caves? That seemed like a very tacked on attempt to prove she was evil as I see it.

The design was good, ...but the voice? No! The voice is part of the reason I can never see her being anything more than some Alpha Bitch

edited 3rd Jan '13 11:26:37 AM by terlwyth

Plus just how shear epically amazing her whole design was, and the voice...yeah she's awesome.

That's honestly part of what sold me on Chrysalis; the fact that she kept her evilness under wraps long enough to no only fool Celestia and Shining Armor, but the audience as well. You couldn't tell whether she was being evil or just a bitch; you knew something was wrong, but you didn't know what. It raised the tension a lot more than if it would have been obvious from the start what was going on. You don't get that kind of ambiguity in kids' show villains very often. The other thing I liked about Chrysalis was that she was a threat primarily because of her planning rather than her sheer power level. NMM and Discord were straight up threats simply because they were powerful. Chrysalis had to beguile her way into Canterlot before attempting a direct attack. She showed far more forethought than Discord or NMM, and she had more of a personality than Sombra did.

That said, I still think Discord was the best villain in terms of writing and personality, but Chrysalis is definitely up there.

As for whether she was evil, I think that stranding a bride in a cave on her wedding day, taking her place, and then brainwashing the groom to use as a power source is pretty evil. Just because we don't realize that she was doing that until late in the episode doesn't mean that she wasn't.

edited 3rd Jan '13 11:27:12 AM by JapaneseTeeth

She also accomplished a lot more than NMM. Plus she got one of the best songs in the series (actually probably the only villian song if you don't count the Flim Flams)

I agree with JT, though I have a slight preference for Chrysalis over Discord.

EDIT:That too. And the idea of changelings is simply cool.

edited 3rd Jan '13 11:32:32 AM by Sereg

Soemthing just occured to me - maybe the chrysalises actually change ponies into changelings.

Pretty sure the comic explicitly says that their only use is to restrain the pony being impersonated.

Yes, but are the comics canon?*

I feel we might have a lot of fun with that question in the future

There EU, it's up to each person how canon they are, but the writers have already said they are working with the show staff to keep the two as close as possible.

I'm going with canon unless the show contradicts it. Unless the episode that contradicts it is one I don't like, like Over A Barrel or something.

I guess people are free to say that they're not if they really want to, but I personally feel no reason to assume that they aren't, especially when they're doing cool things like providing a map of the wilds to the south of Equestria.

It's seriously a cool map.◊

edited 3rd Jan '13 11:49:37 AM by PerpetualLurker