Overview: Top 10 Season 4 Characters

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Hey, this is Kirb and I've done it. I've got through all of season 4! :-D
Oh, it's been hard. It's been a royal pain-in-the-ass to watch some of these. But now I'm finally done, and you know something? It was totally worth it.

Just one more review left to do, and this is it: my final overview of the season. In this, I'll be listing my top 10 favorite episodes, characters, the full overview of the season, and also the top screwups I made during my reviews of the episodes. With that said, let's start with the first section: characters.

Now granted, season 4 brought us a lot of weak characters. However, same goes for previous seasons, but they also had good characters to balance it out. For every Prince Blueblood, there was a Gilda, and for every Pumpkin Cake, there was an Iron Will. The same goes with this season, so with that said, let's sit back and look at the Top 10 Season 4 Characters.

#10. The Mane-iac from "Power Ponies"

I gotta be honest: Ever since I reviewed this episode, it has grown on me drastically. I grew alot warmer towards it, it sorta became a guilty pleasure and now when I rewatch it it's one of those episodes that's "so bad it's good". And that includes its villain, the Mane-iac. God damn, this is the closest thing to a real comic book villain that DHX has made in awhile. She has everything that comic book villains have. She has the laughable superpowers; she has a design that looks like a combination of the Joker, Medusa, and Doc Ock; she has constant evil laughter that never seems to end; she has the cheesy one-liners that would make even Schwarzenegger cringe; she has the silliest of plans for world domination:

...she has the all-too obvious secret lair that somehow nopony seems to find:

...and she even has the backstory which explains how she got her powers as well as why she went insane:

This is just like every other comic book villain, yet I can't help but enjoy her in her silliness. All I can say is, if this character tried to take over my town, I'd pledge everlasting allegiance to her while snickering inside.
Time for the MANE event!


#9. Daring Do from "Daring Don't"

Yes, I know this isn't technically a new character, as she appeared in the season 2 episode "Read It and Weep". But I didn't really consider her her own character in that episode, as back then she was presumably just a fictional character in a fantasy novel series, and was also Rainbow Dash's alter-ego (helped by the fact that she shares Dash's design, and also that Dash's VA, Ashleigh Ball, also voiced Daring in that episode.) Now when I review this character, I look at her in the sense that she is a real character, and not just a made-up one in the MLP universe. As we see her as Daring, we also look at her as the writer, A.K. Yearling, who I guess is supposed to be her secret identity. In her original version in Read It and Weep, all she seemed like was a catchphrase-spewing character, and was just like a copy of Indiana Jones, which I guess was supposed to be the point.

But in Daring Don't, she was developed a lot more, as we see she's quite introverted, doesn't want any help from Dash or anypony, and combined with the fact that she's the writer she does this as sort of a side project. Bam, you now have a much more developed character, which is why I put her as #9 on my list. Besides, how can you resist that booty?


#8. Lord Tirek from "Twilight's Kingdom"

I gotta admit as much as I hated this episode, it had a pretty cool villain. Lord Tirek could be every form of villain: cunning and manipulative, dark and brooding, quiet and subtle, and loud and booming. And he went through each of these phases as he progressed, going from the weakling at the beginning...

...to the giant behemoth at the end.

Now granted, I still wish they hadn't used a g1 villain, but hey, he was still intimidating, and he gave us a pretty cool action sequence at the end too. Plus, it's an interesting concept to have a centaur in MLP. In any case, this puts Tirek at my #8 spot.

I AM COMPLETE!!!

#7. The Monster from "Three's a Crowd"

Before anyone says anything, yes I know this isn't a pony. Yes I know it doesn't say or do anything really. But for some reason this creature left quite an impression on me. Maybe it's because it gives me quite the material for some jokes (phallic symbols anyone?) maybe it's because it gave me a chance to reuse my "Fucking Tentacles" joke, but I think the main reason is because it reminds me of the Graboids from the movie Tremors.

Don't tell me they don't look similar!
Whatever the reason, this monster leaves a lasting impression.

FUCKING TENTACLES!

#6. Ms. Harshwhinny from "Flight to the Finish" and "Equestria Games"

Again, I know this was technically an s3 character, but again, she wasn't really developed much until s4. In the s3 episode she was in, it was more centered around the main 6 thinking that that other mare was her, and Harshwhinny's purpose here was only to get humiliated and give material for cloppers.

Whereas in s4 she had 2 whole episodes, and we really got to know her better. She is quiet and subdued, yet can switch personalities like that. Her face can look fairly normal, but can also get quite exaggerated with its expressions.

She's like the female Nicholas Cage of Equestria! Bottom line, this puts her at #6 in my list. Oh yeah, and she also does this:

How come no one's made shipping from that?

#5. Suri Polomare from "Rarity Takes Manehattan"

Most antagonists in MLP aren't subtle at all. Many are overly greedy, many are overly blatant in just how evil they are. Suri is a little different. She sort of shows how manipulative people (or ponies in this case) can be, but all in all she's just a run-of-the-mill pony. She's not a great magician, nor is she a sleazy salesman. Rather, she's just an everyday pony who takes an opportunity when she has one. Plus, she serves as sort of a reality check for Rarity, proving how harsh Manehattan is, rather than how the idealistic vision of it says it is. I mean, come on Rarity, did you really believe all those things you sang about in that crappy song of yours?

Again, New York is not at all like that.

#4. Coco Pommel from "Rarity Takes Manehattan"

You all knew this was coming. If I included the antagonist, I'd obviously have to include her assistant, especially considering that she got quite a fanbase unexpectedly. Coco is like the exact opposite of Suri, yet always having to work for her. Believe it or not, I didn't actually mention her in my review of this episode. I mean, I briefly skim past her, but only refer to her as "Suri's assistant". I didn't see her immediate fanbase coming afterwards.
What is it about her that people love, though? Is it because we've all had to work for someone who treated us like crap at some point in her lives? Is it because she's adorable as all hell? My guess is that it's a combination of both. Whatever it was, though, it was actually enough to get her a short cameo in the finale.

(Hey c'mon, you have to admit she's adorable.)

#3. Flutterbat from "Bats!"

Ever since a short appearance in "Luna Eclipsed", the fandom has had a strange fascination with batponies. This is something I've never been able to fully understand. What makes them so different from normal pegasi? Whatever it is, the only way to make the most popular OC type even more popular is to combine it with the most popular character. Enter Flutterbat, who is simply THE MOST ADORABLE THING (slapped) I apologize for that, but still, she's pretty adorable.

Plus, Fluttershy gives a great cliffhanger at the end when she's still part-batpony.

(And while I know this technically isn't a new character, I needed to fill space in the reviews. C'mon! Top 9 doesn't sound right.)

#2. Cheese Sandwich from "Pinkie Pride"

It was a tough call choosing #1 and #2. Cheese Sandwich unfortunately lost the battle for #1, but he's still a great character. He's energetic, happy, always cracking jokes, sort of a mirror to Pinkie Pie (which is helped when he sings part of the Smile song), and it helps that his character is voice by parody artist Weird Al Yankovic.

Who better to battle the silliest pony in Equestria than the silliest man in the world? Similar to Coco Pommel, Cheese also makes an appearance in the finale. That's how great a character he is, and that's also part of why I give him the #2 spot.


Now several people have guessed as to who my favorite pony from season 4 is, and based on that speculation, I'm pretty predictable. What can I say? From the moment I saw this episode, there was only going to be one choice for my favorite s4 character.

#1. Maud Pie from "Maud Pie"

I don't know what to say. I love this character. What a unique approach: a deadpan, emotionless character contrasting amongst an entire cast of incredibly happy extroverts.
I think her popularity is because of just how different she is from the rest of the cast, leading to alot of deadpan humor in the majority of the episode, and also defeating most bronies' expectations of being exactly like her sister, Pinkie. Plus, I'm not sure if anyone noticed but she's really strong!

Look at that, she carves into solid rock with nothing but her bare hooves.

And then she nuked a town just by throwing a rock at it! You see what I mean?
Apart from that, the other reasons I can think of are that, for one thing, she's likeable from a nostalgic standpoint. Many bronies grew up watching Teen Titans, and Maud is undeniably similar to Raven, with her emotionlessness, tone of voice, and even sporting similar hair and skin colors.

But I think the main reason is because many bronies are introverts like Maud and don't express emotions about things, so we can identify with this character as a break from the normal personalities of the ponies. Once you get to know her, however, we see she's great to be around.

Like Coco Pommel, Maud gained an almost instant fanbase. Unlike Coco Pommel, however, I totally saw this coming. I mean, the combination of those things I mentioned make for a really enjoyable character. Add the fact that she gives a lot of material for rock-related puns, and this picture of Maud sporting a wet mane for the cloppers...

...and you have a character no brony can forget. I could go on for hours about her, but I'll spare you that. All I'll say is this character really rocks. (Puns!)
Now I know there was some controversy about how she wasn't one of the two original Pie sisters shown in season 1. Well, my response to that is: who the hell cares? She's still an awesome character, and my favorite from season 4. I love ya, Maud. I really do.

-Kirb

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The-Happy-Spaceman's avatar
My favorite ponies are: none, because I'm not a frikkin' brony.

(Though I find it interesting that "Weird Al" Yankovic got a part in the show.)