My Little Pony villains: rated worst to best

[@cortalina8617]

My favourite thing about discord is how he wasn't really reformed he still basically acted the same way he did before he changed sides which is realistic for him.

[@electricheartpony]

I saw another comment suggesting Discord wasn't a villain at all, that he's an antihero.

[@cortalina8617]

@@electricheartpony I'd go with villain to antihero potentially because I feel like at least initially he was a villain but antihero definitely makes a lot of sense once he changed sides

[@gabyzz1331]

He just decided to be less chaotic

[@albatross1688]

@@gabyzz1331 I don't actually think he decided to be less chaotic so much as deciding to try and be chaotic good rather than chaotic evil. In fact, apparently a big part of why he was a villain in the first place is because he didn't know how to be chaotic while getting along with others.

[@TOMNICE]

@@electricheartpony That comment was written by an idiot then. Discord literally went out his way to torture ponies only because he tought that was funny.

[@GwyndOwO]

Chrysalis has to be the one villain who has gotten closest to winning multiple times, she is iconic

[@pugdomination]

Discord? Cozy Glow? Tirek? Starlight?

[@GwyndOwO]

@@pugdomination chrysalis schemes in a way that people aren't even the wiser. She got the princesses and other ponies of importance. Plus if Thorax was never born and wasnt such a goody two shoes, she would've won :)

[@NacsSketcher]

@@GwyndOwO and her reason for taking over canderlot is actually not tedious or boring. She did what she thinks what's best for not only for her self, but also for her people and children .

[@princessofvideoshorts9897]

And is the closest to swish cheese

[@pugdomination]

@@GwyndOwO but remember, Starlight literally defeated twilight with her magic multiple times and messed up the timeline with almost no interference from Twilight. Plus, if she hadn't gotten redeemed she could've easily ruined the entire mane 6 by destroying the time travel spell. This isn't to say chrysalis didn't come close to winning multiple times but I still think starlight should be considered.

[@Hewylewis]

I feel the only reason Cozy Glow's act worked wasn't because she was very effective at being manipulative, but because almost every pony around her was a moron.

[@Abandonedezrachannel]

jsjsj true

[@toshitajoshi3851]

Bruh, That's like saying Palpatine didn't create the empire and destroy because he was manipulative but because everyone is a moron

[@LegoManiac_101]

I don’t consider Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Babs Seed, nor Cozy Glow to be villains. Just bratty cunts.

[@Hewylewis]

@@toshitajoshi3851 At least Palpatine was subtle and not flipping obvious.

[@toshitajoshi3851]

@@Hewylewis that's because star wars is for smart audiences, not 7 yr olds

[@russellgxy2905]

I dunno if I'd put The Dazzlings quite so low. As villains I still think they were some of the strongest in the show in terms of how well they carried out their schemes, and easily were the best in the EQG series. But as characters overall, yeah they were a bit underused.

[@Philweasel]

I still think they were the 'smartest' villains in the series. Most of the other villains lost because of blatant mistakes or miscalculations, the Dazzlings on the other hand pretty much succeed at every scheme until they're hit by something they could never have seen coming.

[@yay29823]

They took the spotlights in equestria girls and is because of them that i joined the mlp fandom

[@StephaniexBecca1600]

Tbh, the show ratings would have been higher if they would’ve made them a recurring villain or character. They could’ve made more shorts tbh...

[@kapustahater]

it’s kinda late to comment, my english may be not so good, and i don’t even know the canon very much, but my opinion is that the Dazzlings were too powerful to just lose. they were i-don’t-know-how-many years old sirens, so i don’t think they could be defeated that easily (final battle seems to me much cooler than battles from other parts though! i like those obstacles the main characters had to overcome to reach something). and they were the smartest. cmon Adagio’s intelligence is the thing noted like EVERYWHERE (every site i have checked has a note of it…) Adagio was the person who really DID something to win. i’m sorry i can underestimate Sonata and Aria’s contribution, but i saw only Adagio planning and doing all. so i think she deserved to get more than suffering such defeat… magic of friendship seems just as trumping every card thing. maybe i don’t know much about it (but i love this thing🤩) and see it wrong, it’s strange for me though.:( the Dazzlings made some mistakes in their manipulations… the one who gets their pressure should be Rainbow Dash instead of Sunset. i think so… Sunset’s personality was too strong to break down even when she was getting no good attitude in school (except her friends). if there were mistakes… um sorry😩

[@meisstupid]

I would have liked it if the Dazzlings were in the original series before being in EQG

[@TimToonsTalks]

I’ll say one thing about Gloriosa, I still find it a little odd that she was one of the only villains that had good intentions especially in a show like MLP.

[@ChelDorado]

Well, chrysalis had semi good intentions, she was trying to feed her people lol.

[@-ZH]

Starlight too, in a way. And what was cozy glows goal again? I can’t remember.

[@ChelDorado]

@@-ZH she wanted to get rid of magic from Equestria. And my guess is because she was a pegasus and she was jealous because unicorns/alicorns had magic.

[@kristinefisher6936]

@@ChelDorado she wanted power and through the school, she learned the friendship was power, so if she was headmare of the school she believed she would have the most friends, even above the princesses.

[@ChelDorado]

@@kristinefisher6936 oh ok thanks for explaining that to me

[@RaymanHortse]

I honestly after seeing Sunset acting all sweet and kind in the rest of EG movies and specials that it's hard for me to see her as a villain again. She's a cute bacon haired girl

[@lexezlao]

Sunset was basically a generic high school bully who gained magic powers at the climax

[@YourFriendlyShapeShifterFriend]

With anger issue

[@insertcoolname9613]

Lmao I remember when friendship games came out, I HATED sunset, for some reason

[@ncity515]

@@insertcoolname9613 funnily enough i consider friendship games as sunset's peak in terms of characterization lol

[@insertcoolname9613]

@@ncity515 ikr lmfao

[@atlas1924]

I don't consider discord a villain. He didn't try to take over the world or anything evil. He didn't want slaves to do his bidding. all he wanted was a chaotic life as he is the god of chaos. Discord would die without chaos so its kinda something he had to do

[@albigoat]

Discord is an antihero for sure

[@atlas1924]

@@albigoat and antihero makes sense more than a villain

[@enbiaroace]

I mean didn't he technically take over the world with chaos

[@michaelmcintyre3871]

Discord is Q from Star Trek. Same powers, same personality, same actor.

[@NacsSketcher]

He actually took over the world for fun

[@SpacialRend7]

I’m still disappointed that the real Grogar wasn’t part of the show. Discord’s portrayal of him was very convincing, making him seem like he was the most dangerous Equestrian baddie of all. I so wish that he had a bigger role in the finale. He’d be #1 on my MLP Villains list if that were the case.

[@benberlin57]

Yes! I don't necessarily hate the finale, I thought the final song was beautiful. But yeah, the whole Discord thing was a little more than disappointing. @OP I feel Cozy was more of an Easter egg in that she strongly reminded me of Darla Dimple from the animated film "Cats Don't Dance", in essence an evil Shirley Temple wanna be. So many questions, and practically zero answers not even a hammy flashback/ villainous monologue like Starlight had. Speaking of which I feel that Starlight was one of the darker villains in the show. Tirek was a pretty standard "destroy/take over villain, early Sombra an almost borderline lovecraftian entity, canon NMM appropriately enough, first appears in a storybook as the evil queen archetype. Starlight however, wasn't corrupted, or power hungry, or plain evil. No, the way I see it is that she chose her path, perhaps we could call it merely poor coping skills and/or perhaps she was bullied as a filly Regardless, she was too blinded by her hunger for revenge that she was 👉👈 this close to destroying everything for the sake of a childhood upset.

[@ASingleApe]

Grogar was a evil enough villain he would not have fit in the show.

[@benberlin57]

@@ASingleApe Tirek and Cozy Glow both conspired (and partially succeeded) in removing Magic from Equestria. Starlight Glimmer was borderline Stalin/Hitler in pony form who in a fit of anger/hatred was willing to alter the past and darn the consequences. After some of these, I don't see how a necromancer goat is much worse.

[@BIPPITYBOPPING]

grogar is waaaayyyy too ancient and i’m pretty sure he got put into the stars like nightmare moon was put into the moon

[@arturoayala1004]

... who Was grogar again?...

[@darkflare1810]

The best villains are the writers themselves 😂

[@bdlamuntesilamare5582]

🤣

[@GABE_MANIA]

Facts 🤣

[@michaelgillespie9112]

LARSON!

[@saraseelal685]

🤣

[@vbflame5645]

Big brain

[@bubliisek]

Also the reason why Sombra is out of place, looking dark and edgy is because he isnt a pony. He is an Umbrum. And Umbrum who was given him a pony form to take over crystal empire and free the other UMbrum. And i tell you, these Umbrum are terrifying in their full form

[@justagray-ace2787]

Wait...what do they look like? :(

[@marina_ida8172]

@@justagray-ace2787 you can look up umbrum Mlp and find images of them

[@oatmeal3013]

@@justagray-ace2787 a nightmarish ghastly horse with bug wings

[@janestarkage1]

That is comic canon, not the cartoon, who refers to him as Unicorn. Unfortunately most of the timesn s like two separate timelines

[@oatmeal3013]

@@janestarkage1 i'm pretty sure he's still an umbrum in the cartoon, it's just not explicitly mentioned. know how he turns into a giant shadow? that's an umbrum.

[@anonamouse5917]

If you were ranking the villains solely on evil intent, I'd have to put Tirek close to the top, if not at the top. He literally tried to end Twilight's life.

[@NinnyVids]

Remember when Sunset fired a ball of magic at Twilight after saying "Twilight has interfered with my plans way too many times already, she needs to DIE." 👀

[@anonamouse5917]

@@NinnyVids That must have been the first movie. You know what they say about memory when you turn from a young colt into a gray stallion...

[@codycartwright6998]

@@NinnyVids I do. I *also* remember the fact that she was corrupted and not acting of her own will because of it.

[@valuminescent]

@@NinnyVids According to the subtitles, she actually said "She needs to be dealt with." I always thought she said "die" though, so I'm not sure 🤨

[@The_True_Mx_Pink]

Nightmare Moon tried to impale her, kill Celestia and take over Equestria, Discord altered Twilight's entire personality, separated the Elements of Harmony, almost made Ponyville the Capital City of Chaos, and is literally the God of Disharmony and Chaos, Chrysalis invaded Canterlot, sent Cadence and Twilight to die, replaced powerful political leaders, almost divided the pony races, and besieged Canterlot, Tirek tried to lay waste to Equestria, helped Cozy Glow almost rid of magic, almost divided the pony races, and besieged Canterlot, Sombra tried to enslave an entire Kingdom, tried again twice, destroyed the elements and went out like a bitch, Starlight attempted brainwashing and dictatorship, and created various dark timelines, Daybreaker almost mentally damaged Starlight and went out like a bitch, Cozy Glow, a literal child, almost rid the world of magic, almost divided the pony races, and besieged Canterlot, and Grogar literally ruled the entire world with an iron hoof as Emperor and went out like a bitch. I think they're all equally evil in their separate ways. (Not counting EQG villains as I haven't seen the movies yet, sadly)

[@PriVerAnimation]

Great analysis!! Couldn't agree more with your list!

[@PriVerAnimation]

@@ramu-silly yes! I've always been a fan, since G1 and G2 growing up, but of course FiM especially is an exceptional show! 😍

[@itkunyz]

Woah! Hi priver! Didn’t know you liked mlp

[@JackMaglc]

you took the words right out of my mouth

[@Trish707]

i didn't think priver was gonna comment on this O.o

[@PriVerAnimation]

@@Trish707 Nini is actually a moderator for the Créu Server (what an honor!), it's my immense pleasure to be here and support her ❤️😍

[@zogozogy98]

I would actually put Discord first, and Starlight second. Starlight was such a well developed character that had so much screen time, even if she only started becoming more involved with the series starting at series 5. her backstory is so interesting.

[@leenal-anzy9119]

I totally agree, Starlight could even be my number 1 best villan if it wasn't for my obvious personal bias for discord, i just love that guy too much not to put him at number one

[@cyberfalcon9970]

Do you seriously like her? To me her backstory is not enough to justified her deeds and she was just waiting for a chance to release her evil self, regardless from Sunburst's left She have been forgiven too easy, while Sunset Shimmer or Trixie still to be outcast and unreliable at someone's eyes, i forgive them, but whit Starlight is hard, despite i respect your opinion

[@justagray-ace2787]

@@cyberfalcon9970 I somewhat agree with you. I like and love Starlight, but her backstory...ehhh, it felt...rushed? I feel like they could have done a better thing for her backstory to make what she did make more sense.

[@justagray-ace2787]

@EnviousLilDemon I agree so much with you! I love Starlight, but even she has her flaws, and her backstory was one of them.

[@justagray-ace2787]

@EnviousLilDemon Np! Her backstory will always rub me the wrong way, but I'm glad she has an amazing duo/friendship with Trixie! :)

[@toast-gaming2380]

ngl storm king is actually trash. I literally forgot he existed until i watched this (edit: how tf is this my most liked comment lmfao)

[@Ceo_OfRarepairs]

Me too lol

[@YourFriendlyShapeShifterFriend]

Shame

[@JintyGreen]

It's a pity, too. With a design like that, he could've gone a long way. But Tempest is far more iconic for sure.

[@arturoayala1004]

And now he’s a pile of stone debris...

[@autisticdancer]

Same

[@drag0nemper0r97]

King Sombra deserves WAY more screen time, his abilities are so unique to him alone that I cant help but ned an explanation. Not to mention he destroyed the Tree of Harmony, and single handedly took over Canterlot with ease. He's so underrated I think.

[@starlightplaysminecraft9743]

FR!

[@Scarlett_the_rainbow_friend]

I agree with this :)

[@NickelodeonFan176]

I honestly kinda agree with the Cozy Glow one. Yes, I do agree she was quite threatening, especially when she nearly got rid of every bit of magic in the season 8 finale. But I guess it was just kinda weird seeing that a freaking CHILD was so evil! Like, how? She never had any sort of backstory!

[@nobody.6126]

The thing is, I've litterly met people who are manipulative because they can get away with it, theres no reason for their manipulative personality, they were just born like that and I somtimes think people forget that not everyone has to have a reason to act aggressively and/or abusive.

[@opalescenc3]

I think the writers put her in there because they didn’t really have any fillys for major villains. Also she’s supposed to have a Shirley Temple vibe (I don’t care enough to look up how to spell that lol). I do think she deserved a backstory though! I think it would be fitting if she manipulated her parents into giving her what she wanted all the time so they sent her to the school of friendship. (I forget if she said she enrolled herself or not)

[@blueberrypie9608]

@@opalescenc3 or she's getting mistreated and manipulated all the time by ponies so she learns how to be manipulative

[@Philweasel]

@@nobody.6126 It tracks with how she's pointlessly manipulative, and therefore becomes considerably less effective once you see through her act. She's a pathological liar, and therefore a predictable one. She gets off on the lying itself, her motive is the thrill of being evil. Basically, she's your classic mid/high-functioning sociopath.

[@elizabethbernard4595]

There’s a theory by Sawtooth waves that kinda explains it

[@AvengedPanzer]

I kind of wish Day Breaker was here, she had very little screentime but is underrated in my opinion. Not to mention how cool her powers were, even if it was just a dream.

[@GhostlyMoonWitch]

I used to be terrified of Day Breaker, despite her not really having so much importance. She definitely deserved a place on here.

[@creation_crewovo7937]

She was an only one episode character so she didn't really do anything other then babe a nightmare

[@AvengedPanzer]

@@creation_crewovo7937 Yeah, but her powers and personality was pretty scary, as well as what she wanted to do.

[@AvengedPanzer]

@@creation_crewovo7937 If you really think about it, Celestia would have actually turned into her at some point if Starlight hadn't helped out.

[@tigerkat4419]

Plus the name day breaker is so cool like aikaak

[@elizabethfroman1581]

If you love fluttershy and Discord being together you should watch “Bride of Discord” series and the “Daughter of Discord” series. It is really great.

[@mouseonamushroom]

I remember I used to be OBSESSED with this series and ship. I still have a special place in my heart for both the series, ship and screwball 🥺 but now I'm a diehard flutterdash shipper

[@perrytheplatypus2001]

This feels very much like a "do not cite the deep magic to me witch, I was there when it was written" moment

[@flifo]

OH MY GWAAAH

[@notapeopleperson6761]

@@mouseonamushroom I think RD married AJ

[@FantasticFawnleap]

@@mouseonamushroom dude there is an age gap!

[@johnvu6702]

4:30 cozy glow was a great villain, but like you said, she really didn't have any actual reason to do so, she's just evil to be evil

[@witherslayer-7315]

I don't think every villain needs a "reason" to be evil. Some ppl are just bad.

[@johnvu6702]

@@witherslayer-7315 yep

[@gaziasker7683]

just like joker i guess (i'm not talking about killing joke i'm talking about the dark knight trilogy)

[@user-dl3vn8ze9n]

@@witherslayer-7315 exactly. only the redeemed need reasons because they werent born bad

[@aripig2179]

@@witherslayer-7315 Everyone has a reason of why they are evil. People aren’t just evil to be evil.

[@cordyceps7531]

Lol my brother also tried impressing our guy friends with the Tirek fight. I think Sunset is too high. She’s a great character, but was a horribly written villain. Starlight also loses points for her backstory, she’s only great as a villain in her debut.

[@ASingleApe]

King Sombra was definitely my favorite. Every scene he was part of in the episodes he ruled entirely. He didn’t only feel like a threat, he felt like a force of nature and everything about him screams Sauron.

[@twizzpaw900]

Hey was anyone upset with Cozyglow being the villain for season 8's finally and it NOT being Chrysalis, like the writers had the perfect opportunity to make Queen Chrysalis be Cozy in disguised but choose not to and made an entirely new character we know nothing about? Like no backstory for cozy, what happened before this? Does she have/use to have family? How did she come up with the idea of idea of sucking all of the magic out of Equestria? Was it because she a reader, is that why she's associated with books/libraries/knowledge? Was she a spoiled brat before all of this? What about her contacting with Tirek and getting pass Cerberus? Twilight knew about Cerberus in the episode "Its about time" so What Gives? The writers could have use a villan everyones been waiting for since the season 6 finally but instead made her a joke in "The Mean Six".

[@KikzoTheDemonJackal]

She was supposed to have a backstory but it got cut out due to time issues and restraints so they couldn't add it they try to but they just couldn't.

[@grumpyrainbow3289]

AGREED

[@blueberrypie9608]

i think she was bullied and mistreated for having no powers because shes not a unicorn, and also getting manipulated by other ponies. Or maybe she used that flower that can turn ponies young or old (The flower has three petals and the other petals were already used)

[@cecilmp2737]

Hopefully..... just hopefully she get's to have that backstory in G5 I mean the possibilities of her returning along with Tirek and Swiss Cheese are still 50/50

[@KikzoTheDemonJackal]

@@cecilmp2737 I mean magic is going to be gone in this era after thousnads of years went by and the tribes got separated again. And I mean with no magic wouldn't that mean magical prisons could stop working and those 3 might of broken free casue of it.

[@SonicStalker123]

Starlight, the Dazzlings, Nightmare Moon and Cozy are my favorite villains. They’re really cool in terms of design and backstory (except for Cozy’s backstory because we unfortunately never learned about it)!!!

[@Aego384]

Hold up, what is Cozy's backstory?

[@rbexcess]

IS THAT A DANGANRONPA PFP I SPY?????

[@SonicStalker123]

@@Aego384 Cozy’s backstory is unfortunately unknown but everybody else’s backstories are really great!

[@SonicStalker123]

@@rbexcess yes it is

[@azyat3639]

Luna is literally one of the best female villains

[@AlanJia8]

Definitely disagree strongly with Gloriosa, the sirens, Cozy, Sombra, Sunset, and Nightmare Moon. Gloriosa's motivations were so much stronger and more realistic than basically any of the other villains. And her hamminess is great. Maybe as a collective force the sirens aren't amazing, but Adagio on her own certainly is. She's cunning, sadistic, alluring, manipulative, powerful, threatening, is always 3 steps ahead of her enemy, waits like a spider for her prey to come to her, is able to react to situations quickly and improvise in any given situation, and her powers are cool as hell. As for Cozy, she's just so much fun with how ridiculously hammy she is, and she was pretty damn effective in the season 9 finale. She just waltzed in, blasted Twilight, molliwhopped the guards, outwitted the princesses, and had a blast the whole time. With Sombra, I kind of agree with your points, but I'll add that how utterly scary he is and how much presence he had in the episode plus his million step plan to ensure no single pony could get the heart pushed him into top 5 territory for me. Sunset isn't that good because she often came off as a generic bratty teenager and her plan to invade Equestria really didn't seem that well thought out. Plus, her ways of deception were not particularly clever. She really started to shine only after her redemption. The best thing about her is her concept, and execution is definitely more important than concepts. Nightmare Moon at least in her first appearance was pretty unremarkable to me. Sure her design and the mystery with her is cool, but she barely appeared in the episode, and was more of a force that didn't even have too much of a presence like Sombra had. In season 4 and 5 she was pretty entertaining though. Her voice acting was definitely better there and she came off as more threatening and her maintaining a kingdom was really cool in season 5.

[@wannabecartoonist7389]

I legit could not agree more,really well put

[@haileyparsons3844]

The whole plan of suneset shimmer taking over equestria I don’t think that was her originally plan. I personally think the magic from the crown corrupted her since she wasn’t the true owner of the element.

[@_XCaramel_FrapuccinoX]

I agrre with you, and it's ok if anyone has different opinions

[@lunaguy1195]

I couldn't agree more about Adagio, and also the fact that she litteraly said in Under our Spell "Capture in the web of my song" makes much more sence to me now.

[@_XCaramel_FrapuccinoX]

@@lunaguy1195 yes! She is actually my favorite villain in the saga

[@Lethargy_Lottie]

I love Discord because he’s such a moral gray area! In MLP evil and good are usually clearly separated but after he was redeemed he didn’t magically become a saint. It takes time and effort and struggle to become a better person! I always see him getting slack for not being a good person but you gotta remember he lived the same life for thousands of years: no friends, just sitting there watching the world spiral into your own personal playground. It’s obvious why he has trouble with friendship and he’s messed up a lot but he’s still trying to become a better person with the help of his new friends

[@rickydiscord7671]

when Celestia tests Twilight it's no big deal. but when Discord does it everyone loses there minds. and I'm talking about the "end" arc of the show. it was no different when Celestia send her and her friends to the crystal empire with no elements or the time that she knew Twilight needed friends and send her off to ponyville knowing for well Moon was returning. and when the last season showed up NOW her and fer friends are hopeless without outside help?! not only that but dumbed down also. Discord have every right on trying to remind the 6 they can do fine together and they have nothing to fear. and he wasn't testing them for laughs this time. I think to this point he actually have enough and just spread chaos once more. he has a right to be upset about there behavior through that whole season. it was almost like season 3 all over again.

[@haileyanimates2356]

I acknowledge that Starlight has grown so well since when she was a villain, but my God, I find her backstory so dumb. She enslaved an entire village for years, because her friend left her when she was little...? That backstory just instantly made her unlikable to me.

[@ShinoriDelfrim]

Yeah I have to agree with you like the backstory didn’t make sense with how she ended up in the present.

[@izunadara1894]

You’re only pointing out the negative actions Starlight has done and just claiming she hasn’t grown because she still makes mistakes. What about the positives, like when she was the only one who recognized that setting the pillars free may be bad or how she was crucial in saving Stygian from going back to limbo or convincing the entire changeling hive including Thorax to give love or pulling Twilight out of the brick of despair to save the school of friendship? Do these events simply don’t count? And swapping the princesses cutie marks was a GOOD thing because it ultimately helped them grow closer plus the map caused Starlights cutie mark to glow which means she succeeded so…there’s that.

[@haileyanimates2356]

@@izunadara1894 I litterly never said she never grew. She definitely did, her backstory is just so unlikable it makes her unlikable to me.

[@izunadara1894]

Dude, I literally just gave you examples of how she had developed as a character. Again, you only focus on the mistakes she made and choose to ignore all her accomplishments like they don’t count. And I couldn’t care less wether you judge me or hate Starlight for whatever petty reason you have. She is not a poorly written character just because YOU have a disliking for her. Don’t assume your opinion is objective fact. Her backstory? Sure, but her character had only grown from there. And honestly, if she didn’t stumble along the way I.e. casting spells on her friends by missing the point of the lesson, then her character would just learn everything instantly like Rey from Star Wars. THEN, you’d come here whining about her being a Mary Sue.

[@izunadara1894]

And honestly, if Starlight is poorly written, then the majority of the cast are as well. Name me a character and I can list reasons why they are “poorly written” just as you did Starlight. Based on your logic anyway…

[@Purple_Sweater]

Discord is an iconic villain. He is my absolute favorite mlp character. Glad to see him at the top of the list

[@LadyCeag840]

As much as I agree with the list, Queen Chrysalis is still at the top of my list. Not just because I have a soft spot for queen characters in any show (no matter how evil), but her drive makes her one of the most persistent characters I've ever met. As much as I wouldn't change a thing about her, I still wish to see a reformed Chrysalis like the other changelings.

[@opalescenc3]

Same lol, I just want to see her canon reformed design.

[@cavernecho]

Cheese Queen supremacy 🛐

[@arturoayala1004]

I remember there was a video about how her reformed form looked like...

[@snobey]

Sunset was generic villian that was evil without any good reasons. PS. Sunset is also my favourite pony

[@lananikolajevic5219]

Right.She is amazing character but damn,she was a trash villain.

[@user-dl3vn8ze9n]

ikrrrrrr

[@funsies8107]

Amazing character and redemption arc, highschool musical level of bad as a villain

[@-Crystal_Gamer-]

Wasn't the reason she became a villain is because she wanted to move onto the next level of her studies and become, yk, powerful? Unlike Twilight, Sunset had no friends and was unable to complete her studies with Celestia, and after Celestia refused to give her what she wanted I think she just fled into the mirror to the human world.

[@funsies8107]

@@-Crystal_Gamer- Those are the comics, we are not counting the comics for this video

[@internetuser528]

Discord’s original arc honestly scared tf out of me when I was little. Watching the episodes actually made me sick.

[@wanderer_1018]

10:52 "too bad they didn't have some kind of crazy hybrid child in the end of the show" oh I wish. we all do.

[@lullabye4053]

As much as I love Cozy Glow, I agree that she really needed a clear motive. There are theories around it but nothing concrete, I really think she has the potential to be one of the best villains but she never got the backstory she deserved.

[@AnneNicole-eo9vp]

Not all villains need a motive 😒😬🥱🙄

[@gOat_GrandMa]

Some kids can be straight up evil, they don't need a motive

[@Real..William.afton7]

That's a amazing list. But first, I love cozy glow. The thought of a pony being a villian and going against ponies is amazing. Especially if their just a filly you wouldn't expect at a young age becoming evil. And discord is by far my favorite because of his... You know, crazy personality

[@费子瑶]

I think Cozy Glow is such a great villain, a young little filly, yet so dangerous, smart and manipulative. Also I really like her cutiemark, I think it means Motivation/Manipulation? But I dunno...

[@DemonWolfLov45]

My favorite villain archetype is the one who knows that they are doing something bad but wants something so much that they're willing to be the bad guy, think of Varian from Tangled the series or in the case of my favorite mlp villain Tempest. They know they're in the wrong, but Varian was willing to do anything to get his voice heard and when talking didn't work he knew he had to become something they wouldn't ignore. Tempest wanted her horn back so ponies would accept her instead of fear her that she gave into being feared in hopes of having normal, stable magic, again.

[@lumini1i]

Discord is so amazing that he even got himself a song made by Th Living Thombstone. It's amazing and one of the best characters.

[@piotralex5]

actually it's a remix of odyssey

[@tylere.8436]

​@@piotralex5Yes, and TLT made a remix so popular it eclipsed the original and even transcended the entire fandom. Other fandoms use the remix too, TLT does concerts with the song and people who aren't even bronies sing along to it. lol

[@Virtualweakness]

Edit: before you go off on me, I'm only talking about Chrysalis in the Canterlot wedding 2 part episode, not her appearances after. Unpopular opinion: Chrysalis in her first appearance was actually the most incompetent villain. She could have won easily if she hadn't made this one stupid call. If she hadn't sent Twilight to the Canterlot Caves after her tantrum at the rehearsal, Twilight would not have found the real Cadence. She still would've felt guilty for chasing "Cadence" out of the room and calling her evil at the rehearsal after her brother scolded her harshly. She probably would have remained uninvited or at very least apologized and kept her mouth shut until AFTER it was too late. But no, she sent Twilight to the Canterlot Caves even though it was 100% pointless. She already felt bad. She had already been convinced Chrysalis was Cadence by her brother.

[@shadowhawkrine1947]

That's alright, your thoughts are well made and logical, that's all I ask for. What do you think about her later appearances?

[@Virtualweakness]

@@shadowhawkrine1947 pardon my late reply. I don't check my motifs much. I like her a lot better later on

[@GUILLE832]

Honestly, I think that kind of makes it even funnier how she keeps fucking up later down the line over and over. She's honestly kind of dumb, which I find interesting.

[@TheBlackQueen]

I definitely wouldn't put Stygian near the bottom, though I understand the cheesiness of some of the "darkness" lines. But generally, I felt he was one of the most believable villains of the show with a more traditional approach to character writting.

[@-Wayla-]

I absolutely loved his arc. They really were toxic to him, I don't blame him for trying to get back at them. Just he got too far with it.

[@Vigriff]

@@-Wayla- While they were callous to him, he did steal from them so I can't exactly blame them for not liking him. Problem was they overreacted, just like Shitstain Glitter. Then Stygian lost any sympathy from me when he made a deal with a Eldritch Horror., knowing what it would do

[@pyronuke4768]

My favorite is Sombra. When his introduction aired I was going through my edgelord phase and he kinda became one of my poster childs. So... nostalgia mostly. Shame how underused he was in the series.

[@JamboreeBlackberry]

I was today years old when I realized that we never see Tempest’s cutie mark

[@kingalex105x7]

Discord was the only villain in MLP that felt intimidating to me, loved him.

[@TheBlackQueen]

Also I'd put the Dazzlings above every other villain in EQG, because Sunset was a really bad villain but a great protagonist.

[@Anikathewolf]

You honestly forgot about Daybreaker but she’s pretty cool and to bad we never saw the real grogar

[@earlcursed8795]

My favorite is Cozy Glow, She's even my favorite character of the whole series. Just because she's such a psychopath. I love her.

[@AntiVillain26845]

Sombra was my favorite until The Beginning Of The End double-ruined him.

[@Notfallkaramell]

Double ruined? Did I miss something?

[@AntiVillain26845]

​@@Notfallkaramell They ignored all his depth and lore from the comics, then gave him a personality that was the complete opposite of how he'd always been.

[@tarponpet]

I love how Tirek despite his whole thing being never having friends, actually seemed the smartest and most pragmatic during the team up.

[@imlostaga1n]

I have to agree, Discord was probably one of my favorite characters in the show. Just the idea of him being the lord of chaos. Not to mention it was so interesting seeing him try to change. Just everything about his character is awesome.

[@miniovejita2070]

I love how they kept Sunset's anger issues even after she reedemed herself. There is even a 2 min compilation of Sunset being an angy girl

[@rosethz2474]

I'm really clapping that Discord is at the first spot. He is one of my favorite characters in the whole show and he stands out. The fact is I love fluttershy for how she cut Discord a lot of slack and I was really annoyed with the rest of the mane 6, especially Rainbow Dash because none of them appreciate Discord and think he's annoying. I think he's just comedy GOLD, reformed or not. Excellent comedic character and he's always underappreciated a lot of the times.

[@KikzoTheDemonJackal]

Well the reason why the Storm King was barely in the film is because of how many changes he went thru during devlopment of the movie. The Storm King was supposed to be really dark and one of the most darkest Villians in MLP and the entire movie was originally going to be much darker but the higher ups told them to tone it down and The Storm King suffered from it. And he was called The Storm King because the had a bunch of orginal degsins of being able to control clouds and stuff. His first desgin he was just a giant storm cloud monster, second desgin was a lighting wolf like creature and the last one was the best desgin a storm dragon. But his look got changed to what we now know him to look like today because higher up feared his aperance would terify little kids. And majority of stuff ment for Storm King got cut out casue the original film was supposed to be darker and when they cut that out and made changes they had little to do with his character so they putt him in more of a spotlight role in the prequel film comics and book. Because of how much they had to cut out Storm King lacks because of the higher ups at Hasbro. And if you read the comics and book it makes sesne why he betrayed Tempest and what his whole goals are and everything and when ye do find out well it does make him more scary and more threating. But if they kept the original version of the film then The Storm King would of been a better villian and the darkest villian of the entire franchise.

[@Zodia195]

Gees, all the issues DHX had to deal with when it came to Hasbro.

[@adamt2564]

I find the whole too dark for kids when it came to the storm king's original designs really baffling considering we already have a similar cloud monster villain in sombra's mist form and dragons are already in the show as big and menacing creatures, plus we have the timberwolves which are already creepier in appearance than the proposed storm wolf design that was created for the storm king, so I have no idea why they thought that the original designs that they intended would be too scary for kids. Hasbro can be a fickle entity sometimes. I hope g5 can be a lot darker than how g4 could, it would really help the series shine without it being an emo edgelord's hyper realistic blood's paradise.

[@fictiontheorizer4253]

@@adamt2564 Executives in general tend to be fickle and baffling in their design choices. I'm not surprised that the movie got hamstrung by their decisions. I would have liked to see how those designs and scripts would've turned out, had there not been executive meddling though.

[@rickydiscord7671]

I had a feeling the movie was meant to be darker. tempest has given a hint of a dark moment about you can't just make any friend you come across. bad things well happened to you when you have your hopes up to high around a wrong person. I have made my own version of the storm king and shown why he's actually a big deal to half of the races that know him. also about the whole him as a cloud being. reminds me of the older villains from G1 of mlp. there alot of villains with many shapes and sizes and a few were almost unstoppable. some were alot scarier looking then G4 villains. like G1 Tirek if you were a little kid at the time I would clearly say he's a demon and that's what he indeed was at the time and he was at the very 1st ep and plot and the only ep that the ponies actually look like horses. it would've been cool if Discord's ex was cannon. a being was much more power than he is with almost no hope of stopping? sign me up.

[@NeoDragonCount]

I made an entire post about monsters in Equestria, including the Dazzlings, and since MLP:FiM tended to procrastinate a lot with its world-building, aside from the "a thousand years ago" or the like; I have a theory, that the various monsters in the world were intentionally created, seeing, as much as I hated season 8's storyline (and 9's admittedly), the monsters interred in Tartarus were apparently just different beings fused together with magic. So when Twilight described Grogar in that storybook she was reading to the fillies and foals how he was a "Father of Monsters", and when there's so many allusions to Greek mythology: What is Grogar is like Typhon from Greek mythology? That he created all the monsters in Equestria, including the likes of the Sirens and some are just hardwired to cause havoc and destruction. Kind of his final punishment to Equestria.

[@shadowhawkrine1947]

I love this headcannon and I want it to be real canon

[@peanutslover4541]

10. Starlight Glimmer 9. Cozy Glow 8. Tempest Shadow and Storm King 7. Trixie Lulumoon 6. Corrupt Stygian 5. Flim and Flam 4. Lord Tirek 3. Nightmare Moon 2. Discord 1. Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra

[@just_a_mollusk]

The greatest villain of all is corporate expectations and the reboot.

[@kimscott29]

We have the same taste. My list was the exact same as yours and that’s amazing. I was silently rooting for discord to at least the top 5 and I was overjoyed to hear he was your top favorite as well as mine. We love discord✨👌

[@dockingwater1713]

I love Discord so much. Easily tied for my favorite character with Spike, who I love since I’ve always been attached to side kicks and he has so much unused potential to be a very interesting character with a unique back story.

[@BIPPITYBOPPING]

chrysalis and tirek are my favorite villains. chrysalis’s almost victories were well earned and made sense. tirek’s almost win was amazing with the way he manipulated discord and his semi-backstory makes so much sense

[@Nuel150]

Cozy Glow is my favorite character in My little pony. Cute but evil

[@uglybbezefir9285]

Great video and good points! My favorite has always been Starlight Glimmer: I'm in love with the unsettling anti-utopia setting she was doing and I love just how terrifying and powerful she was without being a supervillain, a queen, a monster, an alicorn, just being a normal unicorn who resentlessly studied and trained to create and protect what she believed in. And in her vengeful comeback we see just HOW much power she held with that, she could fuck the world up with her knowledge if only she didn't believe Twilight in the end. Honestly I stan.

[@jamestolbert1856]

3:18 Empathy. Her element is empathy.

[@SwaggyPants]

We all know that Discord is the top tier of almost all charecters ever.

[@lunaguy1195]

I do agree that they should have done more with the Dazzings, specially with Aria and Sonata not just show how much they dislike each other. And also not just use the typical siren trope of "I just want power for attention".

[@sunez_bs]

Bruh I absolutely LOVE discord toooooo like okay aside from being a great antag, I loved how many jokes he cracked up whilst turning equestria into absolute chaos XD

[@Shadowmew55]

Starlight is number one for me. I love her both as a villain and a redeemed character. The fact that the Element of Magic herself couldn't stop Starlight in a magical duel is just so fucking cool to me. Her motivation was very unique to not only the show but to media in general. People think her backstory is bland, but as somebody who has also been abandoned by 'best friends' when I was little, I can tell you its emotionally traumatic. And yeah, in her young mind it would be easy for her to connect cutie marks with suffering, something that could follow her into adulthood since she was never taught otherwise. She was so angry and stressed that all of her 'friends' (the village folk) were abandoning her as well, she straight up fired a death laser at them that only failed because twilight blocked it. It's scarily similar to how people with borderline personality disorder can be both overly attached and aggressive when they think they'll be abandoned. Her character after her reformation is equally as interesting. She still tends to rely on magic to keep friendships, between mindcontrolling 5 of the mane 6 to making a spell to take her and Sunburst back to childhood to banishing Discord from the school. Speaking of Discord, I loved him as a villain. Dont so much love him reformed. He has some great reformed episodes such as Discordant Harmony, but he has other episodes where he's downright insufferable to me. I think it just depends on who is writing him. A Matter of Principles remains the only episode of MLP I refuse to watch again because of what a fucking annoying prick he was, and how the episode still tried to frame Starlight for being in the wrong.

[@fictiontheorizer4253]

"People think her backstory is bland, but as somebody who has also been abandoned by 'best friends' when I was little, I can tell you its emotionally traumatic." It really is. They did a good job writing her character I felt (magical OP ness aside). Although, perhaps not as good a job explaining it, which is what most modern audiences seem to demand these days. "A Matter of Principles remains the only episode of MLP I refuse to watch again because of what a fucking annoying prick he was, and how the episode still tried to frame Starlight for being in the wrong." Yes thank you! So many people never call out this episode, and it drives me nuts!

[@Triantafyllos_777]

Adagio Dazzle is hands down my favorite character in the My Little Pony movies and Equestria Girls series. She stands out with her powerful presence, cunning intelligence, and her ability to lead with confidence. Adagio isn't just another villain. She embodies a level of sophistication and strategy that makes her incredibly captivating. Her charisma and the way she commands attention in every scene make her the best, hands down. Her voice, her style, and the way she manipulates situations to her advantage are all part of what makes her such a compelling character. Adagio’s ability to turn people against each other with just a song showcases her deep understanding of power and influence. While her helpers, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk, bring their own unique flair to the trio, it's Adagio who really drives the plot forward with her sharp mind and ambition. Adagio’s ability to turn people against each other with just a song showcases her deep understanding of power and influence. While her helpers, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk, bring their own unique personalities to the mix, it’s Adagio who truly defines the group. She’s perfect in every way. Her intelligence, her ambition, and her mastery of negative energy make her a force to be reckoned with. The way she harnesses that dark energy and uses it to her advantage is what makes her the best. No one else can compare to the power and perfection of Adagio Dazzle.

[@Miksy51]

The best villain is Discord The Master of chaos! He is such a cute draconequus! Doesn´t someone wanna have him as a pet? Yeah, he manipulated the mane six to loose contact with eachother, His only intimidating moment! But then he also became a hero and he would use his chaos powers for good! He also tested Twilight, to be more brave! And I guess only Fluttershy can take care of him! My idea is, that even in human world, he would have the same draconequus form, also being more powerful that ever but still weak, so he could control his powers!

[@alicenetti9580]

Actually I really like Starlight's Glimmer's original villain plan, because it's so different from what we saw, and if it wasn't for Fluttershy being a mole in that "Equal Society" she would've probably managed to keep the main 6 there until they gave up and became a part of their system

[@rainday315]

gotta admit though the dazzlings had some of the best songs in the entire series. the last song they sang was actually hypnotic to me especially when slowed down.

[@KiwiBubbles]

Discord in the #1 spot was all I needed honestly 🥰🥰🥰

[@michaelmcintyre3871]

The reason Discord is great is because they just took the greatest villain from Star Trek TNG and transplanted him into the show. Basically, same power set, same personality and same actor. John de Lancie is awesome.

[@tylere.8436]

Discord is what got me into the show back in 2012! I was like this show is for girls, why are men obsessed with this? Then I watched the show and the S2 premeir was so awesome (S2 in general was amazing, best season for me), the rest was history.

[@FoxyGamez]

I absolutely love discord, especially since he‘s not exactly „reformed“ but really just a simp for fluttershy

[@OfftheBrink99]

I think Cozy Glow has the strangest faces out of all of the ponys

[@olalas1455]

I love how discord is the perfect villain with no doubt)))

[@TuberoseKisser]

5:51 I like her design, it's nice to see that she retained the original color palette but has aqua to draw in your attention.

[@Corrinecreates]

0:01 WHAT DO YOU MEAN OVER HALF A YEAR!? Time goes tooooooooo fast!!!!

[@ДанилБулатов-ш7э]

Well, Cozy and Starlight, these are the only villains who came up to what I wanted to see - the puppet master. A character without powerful magical abilities who would succeed only through eloquence and manipulation. Seriously, the show was missing a villain politician.

[@ncity515]

chancellor neighsay was the closest one we got to a politician villain

[@VasiliyOgniov]

Well, Starlight is on par with Twilight (who is a freaking Alicorn), perhaps, even stronger, so I dunno what you mean by "without powerful magical abilities" cuz she indeed was a very powerful mage

[@FatCurlyCat]

I feel like the Storm King was just there to fill the villain role for the movie. It was clear they wanted the movie to revolve around mainly the Mane Six and Tempest, but the whole movie wouldn’t have happened without a main villain. So, putting effort into him and his character would be pointless when the focus wouldn’t be around him in the first place.

[@MILDMONSTER1234]

True but then AJ and Shy basically do nothing in the movie, like I think Spike does more in the movie then those 2

[@sooft_9725]

i agree. also hi, im a chrysalis fan. also gonna just dump this here, technically chrysalis had the best reason to try and take over equestria, her subject and herself all sustain themselves on love correct? well, equestria is one of the biggest places full of it, and when a place has so much of the stuff your entire kingdom needs, your going to fight to try and get that stuff. and thats why chrysalis is my favorite villian, also she's just cool in general.

[@opalescenc3]

YES! Chrysalis worshippers for the win!!

[@s4pphirre]

that one pony that saw the human world will forever be traumatized 💀

[@evanbarkman5786]

Despite the fact that Sunset Shimmer is my favorite character, I'm not sure I would have put her as high as a villain, while she had a lot of potential as being in my opinion the best evil counterpart to Twilight, with even some characterization similar to why Luna became Nightmare Moon, but she was kinda underutilized in her only movie where she was a villain, as she spends most of the movie as a high school bully with some big but vague plans. The Pony of Shadows had a ton of potential... but I think it failed because the plot basically went: We released him -> we came up with a plan to beat him -> it basically works once the characters actually talk to him. I think it would have been better if the two parter was actually a three parter, where part 1 is similar. Part 2 has the Mane Six and maybe the Pillars go after him and he basically destroys them (that shows that how much of a threat he is), then in part 3 they have to retreat to find a way to beat him and that's when the idea of actually talking to him comes. You could also rework his backstory a bit and maybe tone down the edginess a little. I'd put the Dazzlings higher. I do agree they were a little underutilized, but they did a pretty good job all things considered. I also think their motivation is to basically take over the world, I think they would prefer to go back to Equestria, but since they don't think it's possible they are content with ruling the human world (or at least causing enough chaos to get their full power back and run amok) Gozy Glow had a good plan, but as a character she was pretty mediocre... I also think that plan was the perfect opportunity for a proper crossover between Friendship is Magic and Equestria Girls, while I'm sure the writers didn't want to bring EQG as a critical part of FiM, I think if it were relegated to twoish specials, where the first one is effectively Cozy Glow's plan (with Cozy Glow or with a different villain) and at the end of the first one it succeeds and magic is gone, then we see back in Twilight's Castle that the book connected to Sunset's book is glowing and vibrating, because the magic went to the human world and was causing all kinds of chaos. I really liked Sombra in his first appearance, where he was more of a force of malevolence rather than a character, but when he came back for season 9 he was a lot more generic villain and probably less threatening due to him just basically walking in like nopony could stop him. The Midnight Sparkle fight was probably one of my favorite moments in the series.

[@nio804]

10:00 Oh god that scene. Somehow they managed to make her look *terrifying* in cutesy super-simplified flash animation. If that played out in some hyperrealistic horror game I'd probably punch through my monitor in fright.

[@Marucoquette69]

I LOVE DISCORD AAA HIS SARCASM IS JUST PERFECT

[@oklol7799]

FINALLY!! This is the first villain tier list for MLP with common sense! The rest of the ones on KZbin were so crazy and dumb. I personally think Nightmare moon is definitely too high though.

[@albatross1688]

Discord definitely ranks in my top 3, but I think I might actually put the Dazzlings at the top. Not only are they a remarkably successful adaptation of the siren concept into a modern setting, in a family friendly film, where the heroes are all female (except Spike), but the three of them proved to be more powerful than the combined forces of Twilight and the human counterparts of her five friends. There was no real guarantee they would have been defeated even with Sunset's intervention either.

[@Abandonedezrachannel]

awesome video! discord is my overall favorite villain and it makes me happy that you put him at the top of the list. ^^

[@LordProteus]

Writer/s revealed that Sunset's element is Empathy.

[@Hel7100]

Discord should have had more screentime, especially serious episodes. I simply adore the first time when he showed up, in the stained glasses, laughing and mocking of everyone. And yet, I see him as half-antivillain, half antihero. Although he was mean to the Mane Six in their first confront, brainwashing them and all. he could have destroyed the elements of Harmony (like Sombra did later) instead of giving the Mane Six a chance to get them back. And gave back the wings and horns to the Mane Six. Ok, makes sense with Rainbow Dash because Discord wanted her to fly away from her friends, but he didn't have to fulfill his promise on giving the rest back. Chrysalis, Tirek or Sombra never would do that. After noticing that, I started to think :"Maybe this is the reason why Celestia thought that Discord could be reformed."

[@amymoon1295]

I agree with you but I feel like discord was a misunderstood villain although we didn’t really get in depth of his backstory I feel like he is a misunderstood character. If you think about it he just wanted to feel accepted in society but he wasn’t because of his appearance and magic. He could’ve defeated the elements and even Celestial n Luna but he didn’t. He knew that he was capable of doing all that he even helped twilight find the elements of harmony when he was evil. But that’s just a theory I have.

[@mundoatena1674]

Now I can't stop thinking where the heck is other Sunset

[@opalescenc3]

Omg now I’m wondering…what place would other Sunset Shimmer have in the human world?? Since she was Celestias former student in the pony world would she be someone else’s student in the human world?? So many theories and possibilities!!

[@mundoatena1674]

@@opalescenc3 There's a high chance tha she is already an adult on the human worls, since ponies seem to age differently when compared to the human world

[@letsfailgaming9850]

Semi-recently watched all of the finals and premieres back to back, this would be interesting to see.

[@Vivalarunaway]

I agree with what you said on the storm king, but I did like him as a character! I enjoyed his voice actor and kinda just enjoyed his time on screen in general, but he definitely wasn't an amazing villain. He lacked a lot of stuff that makes villains good, but I still did enjoy his presence in the movie :)

[@dacatttttttt9493]

My favorite scene of discord was when he was drinking a glass and then threw behind him and it exploded it was epic!!! He's my favorite OC!

[@emilyhall8149]

i have to say that i think discord was a great villain, but he became more annoying when he became good … but hecc yeah someone who also loves tirek

[@Stardr0p7-t8t]

I feel like discord is more of an antihero, he’s genuinely one of the best characters and he has a complicated relationship with the mane 6, it’s so cool

[@animationfromkaitlyn3296]

Other than ranking Tempest at number 3, I got to say, the list is pretty spot on! 👍

[@nicholasnguyen5181]

Why do you look so cute in this video?! It’s so adorable! Also; nice video

[@markobakran6996]

My favorite villain is tirek because of his power draining.

[@karma-br7mj]

does no one talk about the fact that the sirens are like 1000 years old. and they still didn't have enough power to control everyone

[@razorshark9320]

Queen Chrysalis is my favorite villain.

[@Buried_Blu]

The Dazlings are my favourite Villains in mlp because their singing is just 🤌 perfection

[@ASR-Ansori]

MLP FiM villains, rather A MLP villains list would involve more than just the 4th generation :P

[@maddiemare5093]

Surprised Trixie wasn’t mentioned. Her return genuinely has me engaged in the story.