Creating Villians?

[Ashton]

I've been toying around with some characters I was thinking of exporting from some fanfics I'm working on that are, quite literally, villains. Their goal being domination/destruction of Equestria (or of X pony/group who wronged them in the past) However I've seen antagonistic ponies turned down in the past in apps...

If I were to make an antagonist who has a legitimate background, proper motivation, and is believable, would it be allowed, or would this be considered inappropriate? (Just to be clear, these are not "Mare E Sue" villains, these would have a strong past reason to be who they are, and proper character development prior to and including RP, but they would be... at best "mean" at worst "evil" (though I'm not planning any Absolute Monsters who have cross the Moral Event Horizon, *technically* all of them are redeemable if proper conditions are met, and honestly given the theme of the series, I'd bet money at least 1 would be) and while 'death' and 'torture' might be on their minds, events will, of course, prevent this from actually happening (though being captured and torture/death *seeming* imminent would of course happen if the villain was capable enough and the hero dumb enough (or having bad enough luck))

If there is a scale, I'm more than glad to work with it. I'm looking at everything ranging from characters like 'Gilda' (basically just a schoolyard bully) to 'Nightmare moon' (evil) to 'Discord' (blue and orange morality, completely bat-turds insane) in terms of evil.

(and to further clarify to anyone skimming, I'm NOT asking to specifically make 'gilda' 'nightmare moon' or 'discord' those have all been addressed in the past (actually I think Gilda was allowed, app'd and accepted) I'm just using them as examples)

[RarityDash]

Yep. Gilda was accepted and she's mine. I don't really consider her a villain though. It's not how I play her at least.

My Arcana on the other hand is generally not a very good pony. She's rather villainous, I tend to think. It depends on the situation whether I'd call her specifically a villain, and I think she has a lot of qualities that redeem her, but she's distinctly antagonistic. She wants to enact change in Equestria; she just lacks the power for that (which doesn't stop her from looking for it).

And I don't think she's alone. I've seen a handful of other defiant and antagonistic ponies get approved. I think the staff is perfectly willing to accept less than nice ponies if you don't go overboard or give them too much power.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Like Phil the Time Wizard said, we do allow Gilda, and some other characters that don't always have the best motives. There's a character named Dusty who is an outlaw, and other such characters who didn't really have the most noble intentions.

But, I think generally we try to steer characters to a redemption stage. Like, they used to be bad and now they kinda regret their actions and are good. Or go for a Robin Hood like style. He was a villian to the prince, but his motives were good. So... I'd say just app the character and see. Or maybe post an excerpt (or the whole app) here and get some opinions.

The whole torture and death thing seems too grimdark though, just going to point that out. Maybe try the Creating new monsters? (or expies?) topic as well.

[GingerbreadSpy]

What about a character that thinks they're doing really good but is actually doing.... not so good? (I was thinking about maybe having a character that's kind of like Captain Hammer from Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long blogs). And also, they're kind of a jerk simply by not realizing that they're being a jerk? *lol*

[Ashton]

One of the characters I was toying with is what I'd call an un-redeemed Rainbow Dash, based on my head-canon of her i.e. orphan raised in a large group home, always having to fight to prove she was 'as good as the boys' and being seen as a serious 'trouble maker' --- except that unlike Dash, this character didn't get her 'rainboom redemption' and continues to be bitter and mean --- actually what might be similar to a back-story for Gilda except she wouldn't even have the 1 friend that Gilda had in Dash --- and while not outright 'evil' sees everyone as an enemy trying to pull one over on them or screw them out of a good hand in life (in essence an inferiority complex, paranoia, and some aggression issues) A few good friends and she could be redeemed

On the other end of the scale I was looking at a unicorn who was the son/apprentice of a percieved-evil unicorn-mage and saw their master/teacher/father either killed, drug off in chains or their horn (and thus magic) permanently removed, and decides to wage unending war on the 'good' forces of equestria because he percieves them as being evil to destroy his 'innocent and loving' father/teacher. Possibly even to the point of becoming megalomanical enough to seek a spell to summon an eldrich abomination to destroy everyone and everything (though obviously such a spell is never attained) depending on when this character is encountered (pre-megalomania or post) would determine if he could be redeemed or not. He has a very real risk of crossing the Moral Event Horizon and becoming a Complete Monster that can only look forward to, at best, Redemption Equals Death

I was hoping to find a balance that would be allowed in the mane RP (since crossover gets so few active threads --- I know in crossover practically anything goes that's not endowed with god-like powers) I mean as the series has shown, there are plenty of plots that dont involve true evil rising, but to me I look for something a little more fantastic than worrying about wining a competition or about steampunk cider machines driving you out of business. (honestly I'm a little dissapointed that FiM didnt go the 'magical girl' rout that Faust had mentioned being a possibility, though I'm impressed at how well it's handled the 'everyday' plots)

What about a character that thinks they're doing really good but is actually doing.... not so good? (I was thinking about maybe having a character that's kind of like Captain Hammer from Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long blogs). And also, they're kind of a jerk simply by not realizing that they're being a jerk? *lol*

Oh I'd love to see a Cap. Hammer expie... or a Act1/act2 Dr Horrible even (before he crosses the Moral Event Horizon and is a very incapable, and not-very-evil villian) If you do go this rout I'd love to throw my 'hero' Dunes at him to show your char what a true hero is like (not that dunes considers himself a hero, he's too modest for that, but he IS, after all a loose expie of Indiana Jones)

[Stainless Steel Fox]

I was considering an NPC group to act as villians, though exactly how evil they are would be negotiable. One idea I had is given below.

Unicorn Supremacy Movement

The setting could use some good antagonists. If not the Mane RP, certainly they might be useful as a cross-over or private RP idea. Incompetent ones, but mean and nasty and generally someone you can cheer getting their come-uppance. Most would be NPCs, but you'd need a couple of player 'super-villians' to get away and set up the next plot. So I offer the Unicorn Supremacy Movement.

The Hearth's Warming Eve story states the unicorns raised the sun and moon before Celestia and Luna. It also shows them as nobilty, with castles and fine clothing. Is it such a stretch to believe that they were the rulers, the same way Celestia and Luna are now. May not be true, but an attractive lie works just as well for our purposes.

This is the basic belief of the Unicorn Supremacists. Either Unicorns ruled Equestria before the Alicorns, or they should have. Celestia and Luna are usurpers who rewrote history, and the present 'disgusting equality' is an un-natural state. Even worse, it's a state most of their fellow unicorns seem happy to perpetuate. By comparison, the USM motto is 'One horn to rule them all!'

Obviously, this credo would attract either unicorns who weren't particularly important or successful, as well as the rich and bored, and we've seen that there are quite a few of those. Most of them are just talk, sneering at other races as lesser, and doing it fairly quietly, as such opinionsa would not be generally popular, but I'm sure a few would decide to do something about it.

They'd be few in number, but they'd be well-funded, by the rich ones, have at least some connections in Canterlot (lots of unicorns) and they would have magic, including maybe a few fairly powerful mages who felt their talents were under-appreciated or under-used and that they could do a far better job of raising the sun than any old alicorn. Cut-price Death Eaters in other words, though they'd be more on the evil level of Team Rocket.

They'd harrass sucessful earth ponies and pegasi, even non-supremacist unicorns who should know better. Going after the Princesses would be foal-hardy, but you'd have to be cracked in the head to start with to support this kind of thing anyway, so a plot against them would make an awesome thing for PCs to stumble on and stop.

Almost any kind of evil activity could be justified, as fanatics can find the most flexible reasons to be complete and utter sods. A nut-job with the bit between his teeth can do a lot of harm, and stopping whatever they're up to could be the theme of almost any adventure themed RP. Part of the fun is that, although they have a common credo, they aren't a single organisation, so no matter how many times you take down a group of them, they'll always be another one to use for the next adventure.

[Ashton]

Unicorn Supremacy Movement

Depending on how you make them, I think this is a very good idea, but at the same time I can see them quickly evolving into a group like... er... WWII-era-Germany (can I use the N word here in a historical context?)

By comparison, the USM motto is 'One horn to rule them all!'

lol. Love the Tolkien reference

Team Rocket.

*idea* *scribbles down 'Jessie and James as ponies!'*

Almost any kind of evil activity could be justified, as fanatics can find the most flexible reasons to be complete and utter sods. A nut-job with the bit between his teeth can do a lot of harm, and stopping whatever they're up to could be the theme of almost any adventure themed RP. Part of the fun is that, although they have a common credo, they aren't a single organisation, so no matter how many times you take down a group of them, they'll always be another one to use for the next adventure.

If this is allowed and you dont mind collaborating, I created the 'one-shot' "Cult of the Midnight Flame" to be the Antagonists of Dunes in my 'Indiana Pony' thread (They for some reason think NMM was a kind and benevolent ruler who has been unjustly 'misrepresented' by history and should be ressurected, so they're trying to collect enough ancient unicorn relics to do so) It would fit in as a nice branch of your USP

[Stainless Steel Fox]

Actually, I think the USP would be a third faction. After all, Nightmare Moon is still an alicorn. But the USP group might be after the same unicorn relics, but to empower themselves to the point where they could take on the Princesses. That would muddy the waters nicely. There's much more scope for alliances of convenience, and plotting and double crosses... I like your Cult of the Midnight Flame idea.

[Dunder]

I think if you made a villian it would be interesting. My character Dunder Blust is all into the fighting evil thing XD

Anyway, if yo did, I'm always open to RP.