First of all I had to see whether any characters other than the main six would be anywhere in the top list. Skipping all the ones that had one line or less and were generally unimportant without excluding any that have become popular via internet left me with a large selection. Of that came the following.
Bon-Bon & Lyra have had a good deal of fandom but personally they have not produced the kind of fanstuff or footage, etc that particularly interests me. It's good for some folk but not me. The same can be said about Doctor Hooves, Cheerilee, Vinyl Scratch and pretty much any of the side characters anyone's heard of. It's nothing personal but I like certain things and I can't see them fitting that category.
But that lead me to a dangerous decision. Do I keep Derpy in my top favs. I decided that Derpy would be up there with the main characters so I left this for now.
Then there are the part-time appearance characters. These are ones that are important to the plot and play a main role in an episode or two. Plus they say whole streams of dialogue and not just one line. That is why the Wonderbolts are not in this category.
This includes Gilda, Trixy, Luna, Celestia, Snail and a few more. Although these are all great characters and everything I'll have to state that they are just not for me. Most are fairly one-dimensional and i could have pretty much written their lines and actions in the script off the top of my head. But that's OK because they are here to develop the important characters in the show. I have nothing against them but they were main characters I can tell you now that they would not go far before people got bored of the characters simplicity.
They serve a purpose but it's just not an adaptable enough, well-rounded enough character for me to bond with so I'll have to say no.
Zecora & Apple Bloom however have potential but I imagine Zecora would get old fast if used too much. Apple Bloom's character is a well-used one but that doesn't mean it's not adaptable. So I decided to leave that for later.
So now we have the final few
Apple Bloom
Apple Jack
Derpy
Flutter Shy
Rainbow Dash
Pinkie Pie
Rarity
Spike
Twilight Sparkle
Apple Bloom
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She's a very nice character but i think she's just not mature enough to have a rounded enough personality. Compared to what's left she is a great character and there is so much potential but I really can't do much with her. It's not that there's anything wrong with her but me personally I couldn't really develop her as a persona. That's not because there's anything wrong with the character. It's just that children in general are just under-developed socially. I must sound like the biggest hypocrite in the world for saying that but you can't deny that it's true. A child's personality goes only so far. Kids don't understand a deeper meaning of things and they could never do. Ethics and Philosophy is well beyond their understanding so for that reason I must say no. Nothing wrong with her but it's just not pliable enough for me. There isn't much I could do with it.
Spike
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He's got alot of potential but again he just can't take anything serious enough. He just doesn't have that quality. It's not impossible to develop but I'd be just as stuck as with Apple Bloom. So basically everything I said about Apple Bloom you can just copy and paste to here.
Rarity
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These are all great characters but I have to choose one. Of all the characters that are left I think Rarity is prolly the true girls character if you know what I mean. I don't think guys can see how pampering is really a sign of kindness. I think they see it as showing off but it's more than that. Pampering is a way of making somebody feel special and it's a nice feeling but men just don't get it. Men feel special when people complement their skills not when they have someone make things for them. It makes them feel cared about but it doesn't raise their personal sense of self esteem like it does with girls. For that reason and that reason alone I can't have her as my main character. I really like the character and I love the personality and understand it better than any other man I know but by instinct every time she talks it just grinds on me yano. To me she sounds arrogant and even though I can tell she's not I couldn't put her above some of my other favorites in the show. If she didn't just slightly irritate me every time she talks, maybe being a girl would help but I could put her right near the top if not for that little twinge inside me. It's instinct, I can't help it and I really want to like her, she is tied for top spot but I just can't do it OK.
Phew, that was tough.
Flutter Shy
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Flutter Shy is sweet and all and well worthy of being in the top few but I don't see how the character has any kind of rounding yano. She's a bit of a cliche and that annoys me. It's not that they haven't tried to round her but even with her rounded personality I just keep getting the question "What does she do?". We know she like animals and all that but what really do we know of her skills. It doesn't seem like any kind of skill, more like an ability. It just looks like things happen to her rather than her causing them. Bare in mind this is before the babysitting episode so hopefully I'll have a different perspective by this Friday. She just seems to me to be reacting to what happens around her and not actually acting on anything. It could be because she's shy but even Twilight gets to bounce her influence back and forth through the group. In the episode where she stops the dragon it was like she was a piece of furniture they were dragging around or something. I know that was the whole point but when she took charge it was because she had to. She seems incapable of acting or taking part. I think she should have a more central role in the plot so we can see her make decisions on her own. So for that reason it's not her. Sorry Flutter Shy.
Twilight Sparkle
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I get this character through and through. I understand everything about her clear as day. I can associate with every single action she makes. And that is the exact reason why I know she shouldn't be at the top. She is alot like me but that is not what I'm looking for. I like me and I like her but that only makes us neutral. I have no reason to dislike her in any way and if I made a fanfic I'd put her in it. But I would do that only because I could portray myself through her. I don't dislike her for any reason whatsoever but there is also nothing that really interests me about her either. I feel like I've just read a good book through from cover to cover with her. I enjoyed it but now I feel kinda empty because there is nothing more to read unless I read it all again and then it would be nowhere near the same because it would have lost its impact. It's that feeling of "well that was great, but what do i do now". I get her, i understand, i know exactly how she feels and where she's coming from but that also means there's nothing new, nothing interesting, nothing that gets my interest. Don't get me wrong, she's not a boring character and I'm sure other people would like her but she's just too close to home. Nothing really wows me about her but that's just the way I am. So Twilight is great and all but just not for me.
The Top 3
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Now it gets real tough.
Apple Jack,
Derpy,
Rainbow Dash &
Pinkie Pie
are left and trust me this was not an easy decision at all. Each has there own qualities and there is nothing wrong with them and so much right with them. When I tried to pit their personalities against each other I found they were all equally good. And when I tried to put the character designs against each other they were on a par again. There is equally enough fanstuff to keep me going, I can do so much with the characters and they work so great with everyone. Their irritating qualities are what makes them unique and they are kept enough under control and enough freedom to express themselves equally well. Twilight was equal to them but just to close to me and I think Flutter Shy needs more development. Maybe if she cried it would show another side to her or something but these three are so damn close it was really fucking hard to chose. I ended up thinking of stupid reasons just for closure but every single point bounced off another. In the end it was a choice of personal taste because there is no quality about these I can fault nor any reason why any should have any sort of advantage over another so if my reasoning sounds stupid it's because it was really just that close in the end.
*deep breath*
Pinkie Pie
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Much as I have to say it she just lacks in character. Again there is nothing wrong with her character but if you needed a heart to heart discussion you just wouldn't ask Pinkie Pie would you. She has no power to come down to earth, even when it's important. Sometimes that doesn't matter. In fact most of the time that doesn't matter. However, I just cannot use this character in every possible circumstance. I feel that if I were to write a script I would have to consider whether Pinkie Pie could play that role. In other words, I would have to write a script around her not the other way around. So personally she's not for me.
Derpy
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I know you are going to say that she is equal to Pinkie in what I just said but hear me out a moment. We don't know anything about Derpy. That means she could be anything we want. Rather than a PP copy she could be a whole character that just slips up every once in a while. From what I've seen of her she could be a fairly balanced character but she needs time to develop. I don't know what the writers have planned but a blank canvas sounds good enough for me. I personally don't get the impression of her being a cliche muffin loving derp face joke. I think she has potential as a lovable character that others could be loyal to but next to the other two up next I don't think any number of character development could match it so for that reason I think she'll always be second best. Sorry Derpy but you are just not there yet.
*GGRRRRAAAAAAAA!!*
This is a really hard decision and I'm still reconsidering it now. So in this last section I'll explain both together. It's tough but I think I made the right decision in the end maybe, not so sure. Anyway, I'll try to go over it. If I can't decide I'll have to see what you guys think about it.
APPLE JACK vs RAINBOW DASH
Apple Jack
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Pros:
Apple Jack has many good qualities. When she isn't obsessed with being the strong one and being in charge she has a caring encouraging side to her and she is humbled unlike Rainbow Dash. Although both characters are obsessed with being the best it's more a personal quest for Apple Jack. She doesn't need the attention she just wants to be strong for everyone else and prove to herself that she can do things. She's a very practical pony and not afraid of hard work or doing anything to get things done.
Cons:
Unlike Rainbow Dash she is more quick tempered. Rainbow has an attitude but never really gets that angry. Apple Jack however does get irritated by people especially if they are being unjust, selfish or prim. She's practical and she'll do what it takes to get things done but I think she would be reluctant to if it made somebody she hates look good.
Rainbow Dash
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Pros:
She may get distracted and have an attitude but she really does care about her friends even if they are annoying her. I think the fact she stuck her tongue out at Apple Jack in the scene above is very telling. She has no ill will against AJ. For all her talk it's just show and if someone ever took deep offense at it she would be deeply upset. She probably is the most caring of all the character really beneath that bravado.
Cons:
Although she is very caring and she is always thinking of her friends I wouldn't be surprised if somehow the exact circumstances came along so that she would temporarily forget her friends and get distracted. She cares alot and the cons aren't in her heart more like in her head. I think that given the right situation would lead her to unintentionally forget her friends.
As the two of them go they are both 'real' in a sort of way and that's what makes us love them so much. It is nearly impossible for me to separate them and in any fanfic I would be seriously tempted to put them both in but the one thing and I mean the only one thing which just twinged the balance a mere millimeter was the character's design. And when I say the character design I mean visually and I mean from the perspective of drawing it.
THE RESULT
I don't know about you but Rainbow Dash just looks more interesting from a glance. I guess I'm judging it from its cover but trust me I've gone through everything else. Half the things I thought I haven't even typed here. If you said that you love this show and handed them a picture of a character I imagine Apple Jack would get a reaction like "That look's pretty cool" whereas Rainbow Dash would get a reaction like "Oh, that looks AWESOME". And so the result is Rainbow Dash. That does not make any other character any less worthy but for me Rainbow is the one thing that both me and a complete stranger that's new to the cause could agree on being the best choice.
do you see what I mean
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