MLP Cliche

[Lyipheoryia]

5 Seasons (soon to be 6)

Mane Six, Spectacular Seven (with Starlight Glimmer)

Chrysalis, Tirek, Discord, Starlight, Nightmare

 

Let's talk about MLP cliches.  So much has happened in these few years, but I can't help but point out a few things that are starting to become a bit...cliche:

-reformation of villians

-banishment of villians

-"Elements of Harmony"/"Bearers of Harmony"/"Spirits of Harmony" that stuff.  Repetitive phrasing...

-journal-writing/letter-writing

 

 

 

[pollo20x6]

Spot on.

I guess that's just the formula.

I remember watching the first episode Gilda came out in and rolling my eyes thinking "Here comes the stereotypical cliche 'let's all be friends' ending". But no, I was genuinely surprised to see a friendship die that day.

And then we eventually got the Gilda reformation episode which, to be honest, was something I was expecting considering Trixie, Discord, and Sunset had already reformed by this point.

So when you can predict something is eventually coming, that kinda sucks the fun out of it. But at the same time, so far the reformation cliche hasn't been too bad.

Gilda was interesting because we got to see her background and it made sense.

Diamond Tiara's reformation episode was heartbreaking.

So reformation episodes, when done well, are fine. Gilda's and Diamond's felt different enough to not feel repetitive.

Starlight's felt out of nowhere. There's a case where the cliche hurt the overall narative.

As for the journal writing, I'm ok with that cliche. It moves the plot along and really just serves as a way to explicitly explain to kids watching what they were supposed to get out of the episode.

I guess the bottom line is, they didn't expect MLP to become so popular and essentially have to keep resorting to these cliches.

But yes, you are absolutely right. Those are the cliches of MLP.

[MidnightMask]

I don't think cliché is really the right word. Thematic tropes might be more in line.

How to Deal with a Villain in a Plot:
-Imprison/Banish: Dealt with for the time being
-Destroy: Dealt with permanently
-Reform: No longer a villain
-Foiled for Now: Beaten, but still out there, being villainous

MLP is, of course, not big on destruction, so they have to resort to one of the other three. There's little else left.

As for letter/journal writing, it's the original format of the show. Calling it cliché is like saying it's cliché the show has ponies in it. It's part of the basic design.
 

[Rosewind]

I think my big caveats are with characters that tend to have very similar episodes; they supposedly learn a lesson, then when their next episode comes along, it's like they learned nothing. Fluttershy and Spike are notorious for this.