I'm with Mousa: I'd always seen Discord as being not at all malevolent. Chaos simply happens to be inconvenient for most people. He seems malevolent, but chaos is simply in his nature, and people don't generally like that. Like how someone who speaks before they think could be seen as a jerk, even if they don't mean to be, necessarily.

@Ginger: Well I believe you have stated before that you dislike overpowered characters, or powerful characters getting additional abilities. Having any of the mane six go Alicorn would elevate high above any of the regular ponies in those terms.

@Kegs: On the other hoof, he went out of his way to deliberately Mind Rape the Mane Six, and took delight in breaking them.

edited 16th Jan '12 11:34:22 PM by AceOfScarabs

I think his intrinsic purpose is not particularly malevolent, but he personally has a nasty sadistic streak. If that makes sense to anyone.

Yeah, heaven forbid we have an EVIL villain or something.

Look, I'm a fan of leather pantsing. I'm a fan of trying to make villains sympathetic, but for some reason it annoys me when it's done with Discord. He was an incredibly fun, gleefully evil villain, and once in a while, I like that sort of bad guy.

edited 16th Jan '12 11:34:18 PM by gingerninja666

Commander Hurricane, HERO OF EQUESTRIA, clearly kicked Discord in the face until he begged the sisters to seal him in stone, that's why he has bad teeth. Then Hurricane became sealed in stone as the pony of victory to always keep her eyes on Discord.

edited 16th Jan '12 11:34:44 PM by Badwolfwho

^That's the thing. His Mind Rape of the girls, particularly his mental torture of Pinkie and his anger when Fluttershy doesn't react according to plan, speaks to a cruel sense of humor. Even if he's only doing it to chaos-ify the girls - as in, even if that's simply the best way to spread chaos where they're concerned - he takes too much delight in it.

Actually, yeah - he's shown that he can teleport and is generally much faster than the girls. If his end goal was just to discord them, he could have touch-discorded all six of them before any of the girls had a chance to react - or just sent out a discording wave like he apparently did to the rest of Ponyville. Taking time to individually break them belies a cruel mind.

You guys think they're gonna do the same thing and make a 2 part Elements vs ancient villain thing for the season 3 opener? Personally I hope they do something a little more original this time. The first time was fine, and reprising it with Discord was pretty cool, but if they keep at it it's going to feel pretty bland. A few ideas:

Establish the Elements as something other than a one-shot make everything better device.

Have the villain escape, to cause occasional trouble throughout the rest of the season. I'd love to see a recurring villain.

Yeah definitely not denying that he's a dick.

edited 16th Jan '12 11:38:17 PM by Bluespade

He's a cruel asshole, I really don't understand people who try to paint him any differently

...

wow... is this what it's like to be around me sometimes?

edited 16th Jan '12 11:38:42 PM by gingerninja666

Personally, I want to see the elements gain sentience and BECOME villains themselves

Or I want to see a villain deflect the elements

edited 16th Jan '12 11:41:06 PM by gingerninja666

Bluh..? I don't see how the elements could possibly be villainous. They're pretty unambiguously good.

Loyalty, Honesty etc all have their bad points.

Become corrupted and turn into a group of Well Intentioned Extremists. Infecting Equestria with the virtues of harmony to an entirely debilitating degree (Brutal Honesty, Blind obediance etc)

edited 16th Jan '12 11:43:51 PM by gingerninja666

Ginger, I'm not you, I'm not leather pantsing a soul here, I stating an opinion based on observed fact, an opnioned based extrapolation if you will, but I do not make it my business to downplay a character's poor traits out of a twisted love for them *coughdiamondtiaragildabluebloodcough*. He does have a sadistic mind, admittedly, cruel and sick most certainly, but not wholly evil, just highly inconvenient.

At worst, he actively ignoress suffering to perpetuate his enjoyment.

To clarify, I think his methods and motivations are evil, but not necessarily his goal.

...wait, somebody likes Blueblood?

edited 16th Jan '12 11:45:20 PM by Bluespade

@Mousa I thought you were WITH ME!!!!! I thought you LIKED the fact that he was a simple, evil, entertaining villain?

Which I think is worse. If he was born evil then I can accept him as a force of nature. If he goes OUT OF HIS WAY to be cruel and sadistic then he's arguably MORE evil that way.

I never ONCE downplayed Blue Blood's dickishness. His dickishness is the only thing I LIKE about him

edited 16th Jan '12 11:47:20 PM by gingerninja666

I like Blueblood.

At worst, he personally perpetuates suffering for his own amusement, Mousa. Like I said, if it were a matter of utility or acting as a force of nature, he wouldn't have taken so long doing it. He takes pleasure - I might even say glee - in breaking Twilight's friends, and taunts Twilight to the breaking point herself afterward.

edited 16th Jan '12 11:47:04 PM by RedSavant

Basically yeah. I thought he was loads of fun, but I ended up disappointed with his episodes anyway. At the end it really felt like he just gave up and let the mane cast win.

Conflict resolution is not this show's strong point.

@Blueblood: I always found it amusing how people seemed to think he was some kind of total monster. All he actually did was expect Rarity to do for him everything she wanted him to do for her. Maybe he's some kind of extreme masculinist?

edited 16th Jan '12 11:49:19 PM by Bluespade

The elements can easily be bad. Turn honesty on its head and you get Rainbow Dash. Up the generosity and you get a doormat in a vein similar to Fluttershy. Twist loyalty and you have a blind follower ester to please to the detriment of any other consideration, including themselves. Flip laughter on its own axis and you have active schadenfreude. And of course kindness can become smothering and friendship can be controlling, manipulative, needy, and clingy.

I do enjoy Discord for what he is, Ginger, but I'm a bit more analytical than saying he's a pure and simple villain guy.

edited 16th Jan '12 11:51:04 PM by MousaThe14

@Blue I like Blueblood

He's a FANTASTIC asshole. I desperately want to see him again

edited 16th Jan '12 11:50:08 PM by gingerninja666

You mean awesome?

G'night.

edited 16th Jan '12 11:52:47 PM by Bluespade

I'm going to sleep for a few more hours. See ya in a little bit, guys

I mean a blunt tactless person that can't keep their mouths shut and Rainbow Dash is not awesome.

^You're too harsh on her sometimes, I think. All the girls have flaws; that's why we like them, because they're roundly characterized (not to mention stupidly cute).

'Night, Ginger!