the rise and fall of Derpy Hooves | the most "controversial" My Little Pony character

[@Shunks]

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[@androidps1440]

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[@androidps1440]

@@hamtaro126 hey what's your problem???

[@zartexkrontaculys1097]

@@androidps1440 my problem is that I'm retarded

[@pegamationproductions6062]

Aw, fuck! She got a sponsor?! Nooooo!!! Well, you know what sponsors are gonna pop up next on her channel. Raid Shadow Legends, Squarespace, NordVPN and Skillshare, here we not come. >:(

[@pegamationproductions6062]

@@hamtaro126 I agree. Usually, these companies are all scammy and deceptive, and they run ads EVERYWHERE. But, Amazon also does the same thing, so Im not so sure about sticking to them.

[@MaxEverywhereSystem]

- four legged creature - most noted trait is their strange eyes - commonly headcanoned to be/beloved by people who are neurodivergant derpy is the tbh creature before the tbh creature even existed

[@holli_ra]

YOU'RE RIGHT OMGG

[@clonevpnfan]

YIPPEEEEEE!

[@Bubblegumtwipp]

YIPPEE MUFENSSSZ

[@mikuenjoyerXD]

🎉🎉🎉

[@mywaterco0lerromance]

the muffins creature

[@andlien2175]

Honestly I never really understood the hatred of the name Derpy or the choices made for her. Like I guess some people could call it "ableist" but as a crosseyed neurodivergent person I loved Derpy and the recognition she brought to people like me. The love for disabled individuals that spurred through love of a silly little disabled horse. But the whole "Save Derpy" thing was kinda cringe and Ditzy Doo is actually a really cute more canon sounding name.

[@nhilz]

iirc the rage was coming from parents of disabled kids, and not ppl that were actually disabled

[@graceanderson8731]

Same. I had a bad lisp growing up and it felt good to see a beloved character talk the way I did without being ridiculed or made fun of

[@noremac7216]

@@nhilz To be fair I think parents have to right to be offended for their child's sake, even if this is a bit much

[@KarmaGrass]

@@graceanderson8731 if you mean Twist. Yeah she got shafted once the cmc became a thing. Not a big fan of her though.

[@GravyBaby420]

I always thought the backlash to her name and the way she talked was actually a bunch of 4chan assholes who wanted to shit all over the bronies parade. I could totally see them pretending to be a bunch of outraged moms.

[@KiKekkosa]

I feel like another name for Derpy could have been based on her cutie mark or her occupation more. Just giving a little more creative wiggle room and add more to the character. Overall, I like how despite her disability she's canonically caring and diligent, asking RD if she was ok after her accidents.

[@billyjoecobras]

So true!! That's why I call her Bubblecup, truthfully. It's a name shared with a g1 pony iirc but like it's far more fitting

[@lalas181]

I've always been fond of the name Bubble Breeze. I think it's cute and it suits her happy-go-lucky personality.

[@billyjoecobras]

@@lalas181 Bubble breeze is so cute!! I love that!!!

[@Wubster649]

@@lalas181 Good name!

[@MiguelGonzalez-du8de]

iirc she was actually called Bubblehead by some staff members, same with Dr. Whooves being called Time Turner due to his hourglass cutie mark

[@milkyway1145]

I remember Ditzy/Derpy being so special to me as a child because she had a lazy eye... Just like me! It may sound silly but that kind of representation made me so happy at the time ^^ plus she's so cool

[@SoggycereaI]

I don't have a lazy eye, but that's something I've specifically thought about it as too. How much characters can I recall with one except for Ditzy/Derpy? It's such a unique character trait, that's a small change but shows a lot. Like, with tooth gaps, , or well with any teeth design, but tooth gaps being the easiest.

[@milkyway1145]

Yes! Isn't that so? And it's not that lazy eyes are uncommon or unheard of! But just as different teeth designs, there's just not much representation as one would like u.u (That's why I say: Derpy supremacy!!)

[@anyuisnotanya]

Her eye made her cute and special, I think it's adorable! Also: Oh my god another precure fan, that's two, i'm so happy, agh

[@anyuisnotanya]

@@Valkyomi currently squealing

[@catsoda]

same!! I don't have cross eyes but I do have a lazy eye. one of my pupils goes way farther than the other, and she meant so much to me as a kid

[@magpiesoddities]

Little confused here, I thought it was proven that the "angry emails about Derpy" was actually just 1 angry mom, not a multitude of people?

[@TailsClock]

I dont think it was even proven they were a mom, as much as "soccer mom" was thrown around. It was during a time when not enough people knew what a 'Social Justice Warrior' was, which is what they were. But yes it was just some Tumblr drama account and their friends/alt accounts. But none of that explains why 10 angry messages were acted on instantly. But when they got 1000 sad messages from the actual fanbase they refused to budge. It's always made me wonder if one of those individual complainers was actually part of the show staff, or someone at Hasbro or Apple (Since Itunes were the first to remove and censor the episode).

[@ImmaLittlePip]

It wasn't angry soccer mom's But a bunch of Tumblr users I used to know the name of the person behind the cancel derpy movement but that's been forgotten through time

[@squeakybelle3711]

​@@ImmaLittlePip I know who you're referring to, but even that wasn't really proved either. Enough people just assumed it was her as soon as it happened and a lot more people followed suit. A while back someone actually shared with me a link and it's still the only definitive source I've ever seen where users explicitly encouraged others to send those angry emails, and it wasn't even on tumblr. Shame I've misplaced it atm, because I've yet to find anyone in the anti-derpy camp on tumblr actually saying they sent those initial emails, only that they were glad it happened. (I know people can just lie and say they didn't, but there isn't much left to lose when that person was already being attacked from all directions and decided not to be involved with pony after that.)

[@arthas640]

@@TailsClock pretty common behavior, studios will have a knee jerk reaction when controversy gets kicked off and try to get ahead of it by making a snap decision since it makes them seem proactive, dynamic, and like they care, but when and if they get proven wrong they'll drag their feet since it makes them seem vacillating, wishy washy, and flighty.

[@colorbar.s]

16:43

[@tiffany-chan1235]

While I do love Muffins as her official name, I'll admit that I proudly defended her during that controversy and I don't mind Derpy's name Also as an autistic pegasister, I like the neurodivergent headcanon for her and I enjoy how they incorporated to into the canon

[@caitlynn03]

Yess, I love that headcannon too :)

[@AoiUsagiOtoko]

same! i'm autistic and i like the thought of her being ND, especially considering she's such a beloved and iconic character who's so well-liked!

[@caitlynn03]

@@AoiUsagiOtoko It would be great to have more positive disability representation like that :)

[@Apsie]

She's probably my favorite character and as a neurodivergant person myself (ADHD, currently waiting to go for an autism diagnosis), I love the headcannon. I cried in testing testing 123 because I could relate to Dashie but there's just something special about such a well loved ND pony.

[@anyuisnotanya]

I wholeheartedly agree! (ps i'm a big fan of your voice acting and also very happy to see another precure fan in the wild this is the first time ive seen a precure fan on any video other than a precure video)

[@gelleries]

I was hoping you'd talk about the 100th episode a bit more, as to me that was the biggest Derpy recognition we got canonically, but overall, it's really nice to look back on all of this, I was REALLY into Derpy back on the day, being my favorite character from the show for many years. I now think it's a little dumb given there's so many characters that are way more developed, but I guess as I was so deep into the fandom it makes sense she was like an icon to me.

[@miatortelllini4049]

No I get it, many many moons ago I was a Derpy Hooves role play account with an in character blog and various videos made on MS Paint. The Derpy hype was real

[@gelleries]

@@miatortelllini4049 That's amazing. Where are you now?

[@alejandrocervantes3624]

I was just about to coment this, i remember watching that episode & having no idea about all the references to fanon BUT I did knew Derpy

[@cherrysauce7877]

I wasn't really around the MLP fandom at the time (and never really was), but this whole "save derpy" thing reminds me of when the vocaloid fandom went nuts thinking that there was some sort of mastermind trying to erase miku from the internet, spawning the "save miku" movement. IIRC it was actually just a search engine glitch.

[@milkyway1145]

YES OMG or the whole Galaco thing saying that she was not a mistake, do you remember?

[@xxxangelbreezexxx7821]

@@milkyway1145 hold up, I’ve been in the vocaloid fandom for sooo long and didn’t know this happened explain

[@_toulouse]

@@xxxangelbreezexxx7821 An incident in 2012 where many popular Vocaloid uploads on KZbin were being taken down due to fraudulent copyright strikes. At the time, the fandom was very reliant on fan-translators who uploaded their videos because almost no composer was on KZbin at the time. Young fans started fearing they would no longer be able to see Vocaloid content on KZbin. Especially since they were naive and had zero understanding about what Miku really is at the time, they assumed Miku was truly having a "disappearance" and the song was about it. Japanese users took notice and started suspecting it was jealous Korean users who were angry with Miku taking over their idols (this was not the case). Thus this kickstarted the brief "Save Miku" scare.

[@ctoacu6188]

Fun fact: TLT's Discord remix and Derpy speaking happened on the same day, so two of the biggest events in the early fandom on the same day. Theres a pretty big chance I joined the fandom on said day due to neither of them. Yes, I did the math.

[@TheBombyExtra]

I have Autism and ADHD, and Derpy was awlays my favorite character in the show as a kid. (She honestly still is) So the whole controversy about her being "offensive" honestly took me by suprise when I first learned about it Glad to see this cross eyed muffin loving legend getting the recognition she deserves. As she holds a very special place in my heart!

[@BUBBL33SS]

That's Beautiful dude😊😊

[@knotzuo]

as a physically disabled autistic person, I grew up watching mlp and always loved derpy. I didnt see her as a stereotype, I saw her as the only representation I had being the "weird" kid. to this day, she still has a place in my brony heart and I love her to bits. (pun slightly intended)

[@Arancia_observes]

Why did this make me so happy, I don't know but it just did.

[@abanana]

i really loved derpy when i was younger, i think it was cause of the whole 'rawr xD' phase

[@RaveyDoesStuff]

Same and she is still my fave

[@moonbunny24]

The one of the wildest parts of the Derpy controvery to me is how when they redubbed the episode, Rainbow Dash's expressions and tone are completely contradictary. Like her face still says "CAREFUL. 😡😤🙄" But her voice is like "now, careful... 🥺❤" And it just doesn't match Rainbow Dash's characterization to sound so patient and understanding imo

[@tr0y644]

As an autistic person… I’m allowed to be pissed at how condescending that is, right? Like… oh my god.

[@Yomamathesecond]

@@tr0y644 absolutely you are!!

[@gloomyTurtle413]

Also it sounded so off? Like they clearly didn’t put that much effort into making it actually sound somewhat decent. The cut is super obvious and the audio sounds really low quality in comparison to the rest of the audio. And yeah, I definitely agree that it sounded super condescending, coming from another autistic person

[@rachaelgreen1812]

I also kind of prefer derpy's deeper voice

[@ΡΙΖΟΣΚΡΑΒΒΑΡΙΤΗΣ]

@@tr0y644 Yes!! They changed the tone to "annoyed" (because Rainbow dash genuinely WAS annoyed) to "baby talk"??? What?? Derpy is a full grown adult??

[@nuggman4896]

If Derpy Hooves has million fans, then I'm one of them. If Derpy Hooves has one fan, then I'm THAT ONE. If Derpy Hooves has no fans, that means I'm dead.

[@eightbitfeline9012]

same

[@BluTheMacawIsMe]

Same

[@jessicanewton8051]

I've always preferred Ditzy Doo to Derpy anyways, it sounds cuter

[@jessicanewton8051]

@Who’s That? Thanks!

[@MisseryJinx413]

Tbh, Ditzy Doo doesn’t sound as iconic as Derpy. But I respect your opinion.

[@w0rmteeth]

yeah it may not be as iconic but it sounds more like a classic mlp name

[@TuesdaysArt]

@@w0rmteeth exactly!

[@cirnosnumberfan6449]

Well even the people who worked on the show thought that Derpy fitted better.

[@marek1shtar538]

I'm not afraid to admit I was part of the pro-derpy name thing but it was very silly and obnoxious at the time. I still like the name Derpy and use it as defacto and headcanon but honestly it don't matter if they use it in merch and whatnot she's the same character either way

[@denkiryu226]

I can't believe people thought showing derpy meant Hasbro was ableist, if there was an ADHD pony that was struggling with focusing I wouldn't be offended, I would be appreciative that they acknowledge me at all.

[@holli_ra]

actually I think rainbow dash has ADHD

[@y.9645]

I kinda find it funny how part of Tumblr (or most of it) now find the name Derpy offensive and call her Muffins/Ditzy/Bubbles when back then everyone tried to "save Derpy" from censorship but tbh it's understandable in a way and they can call her what they want but now it's just a bit difficult to find fanart of her when she has multiple names lmao

[@eddie-roo]

Can’t you search multiple tags at once in Tumblr?

[@shiggy724]

I dont mind the name lol

[@themyofmy]

@@eddie-roo no

[@imaymellow]

@@themyofmy Dang, how does searching work on Tumblr then? Been thinkin' of using it to stick in the chill side of the fandoms i'm in Like ik it's diferent from other social medias which is why i like it feels like it's gettin' better if you don't count the whole thing with Twitter migrating to it

[@somethingwithbungalows]

@@imaymellow I thought most of the peeps from Tumblr migrated to Twitter awhile back instead?

[@phonegingi]

my mom absolutely HATED derpy and I was always like 😭 whyyy!!! cuz like personally I see her as great rep! she's nice, works, has friendships, etc!! despite being disabled!! (for context btw I'm both physically disabled & autistic, my mother is neither)

[@SenoritaMarian]

i think its because she was mainly a laughingstock back then for being disabled because people were like "lol shes so clumsy and dumb adorable!!" from whta i remember

[@enderwalkgang]

Ugh, autism mom's, I dislike em, (autistic myself)

[@hamflavoredlipbalm6077]

those are all excellent points!

[@Arancia_observes]

Your mom is a bit of my hate list ☹️

[@Lily-ey9zw]

Derpy was my late childhood friend’s favorite character. She would cry while watching the save derpy video and I thought she was so silly for it, but she just had a really big heart. I revisited the show after her passing and now Derpy holds a special place in my life.

[@errortryagainlater4240]

The weirdest thing is that the word "Derpy" had _nothing to do with disabilities_ when it was created?? It was a meme about pulling dumb faces. It was one of the most innocent memes of the era lol, kinda sucks that people think it was about discrimination.

[@gingermaniac5484]

Ike? I remember it being used mostly as a response to something incomprehensibly stupid that person one would say, person two’s reaction would be a derp

[@onyxtheowl24]

When I use the word “derpy” I don’t mean it in a rude or offensive way. Derpy as a word means to me “something that looks dumb or empty headed but in an endearing or lovable way”.

[@v0m1tg0r3gutzz]

This!! Idk how it became about disabilities, derp is just dumb faces!!

[@colorbar.s]

read the official statement of one of the writers about this.

[@babeysheep]

I really wish that she kept the name Ditzy, that's such an adorable name and I still refer to her as it because it feels nicer than calling her Derpy (nothing against people who do call her that; but when I was younger people would bully me and call me that because of my lazy eye so I'm not much a fan of the name)

[@spectre9340]

I got a lazy eye too. I had these Brony guy friends in high school and one of them said I was like one of the ponies. And when I asked him which one, he showed me a picture of Derpy 😭

[@L0rdOfThePies]

Derpy is a very 2010s rage comics name, im here for ditzy

[@TuesdaysArt]

Ditzy Doo sounds really cute and feels more like a MLP name

[@UnauthorizedThing]

Love this video, it's funny to see how famous this silly horse got. The pony section in Hot Topic is something I completely forgot about until now, I truly miss it. I used to have that WeLoveFine shirt that says "I just don't know what went wrong" you showed in the video! I wore it to my first day of middle school, which should have been an awful idea, but I ended up making two other horse-obsessed friends on my first day because of it. Good times

[@uglybad4]

I met one of my lifelong friends because I decided to wear a Derpy lanyard on the first day of my freshman year

[@ivan_ivankovich]

I have only been a fan of the show for 2 years. When I knew of just how beloved Derpy was by the community, I was initially confused. I understand her relevancy but me being a new fan who was unaware of this while watching the show, I was never attached to her character.

[@sidspit9983]

yeah, its very much a "you had to be there" type situation lol

[@Tadpole_Plyrr2]

I have been a fan since it came out, to be a fan of Derpy you just kinda have to “know” you understand what I mean?.. like I grew up with the show/fandom so I grew up around the derpy craze it was basically like “HEY THERES DERPY!” Everytime she was in the background. She’s a background character so of course you won’t get attached by JUST watching the show. It’s an insider thing

[@Tadpole_Plyrr2]

@@sidspit9983 yeah exactly like that

[@ivan_ivankovich]

I'm basically Twilight in "What About Discord?"

[@uglybad4]

A friend of mine got into the show in the last few years and as we were watching it together, he would occasionally ask when certain characters were gonna get the spotlight as he had seen fanart over the years that featured side characters like Derpy and Berry Bunch. Trying to explain to him why the characters were beloved despite basically having no canon characterization or screen time at all made me realize just how bizarre the old fandom's obsession with background characters was lol

[@TheCommenterDragon]

All i'll say is that despite that Derpy is considered to be the most controversial character of mlp G4, the fandom still grew to adore her anyway. and even though certain things about her were confirmed by the writers and creators and what not we still love her for who she is.

[@RX-12]

I think Starlight Glimmer or Discord are the most controversial.

[@najpotenicewolf934]

@@RX-12 Discord? I kinda understand Starlight, as I came across some people who despise her (even thou she is one of my favourite characters). But Discord was always loved by the overwhelming majority of the fandom.

[@RX-12]

@@najpotenicewolf934 That was true for most of the show, but his role in Season 9 was very contentious.

[@-elliott-averagedragonenjo1812]

@@RX-12 I left the fandom at season 7. What was he like in season 9? Also why was starlight controversial? She did nothing wrong. I understand derpy because her entire character is an ableist stereotype.

[@RX-12]

@@-elliott-averagedragonenjo1812 In Season 9, Discord brought together three villains (one of them a child) and incited them to attack Equestria, and when the heroes learned about this, he claimed it was well-intentioned because it would boost Twilight's confidence. Then Discord decided the villains were irredeemable for attacking Equestria (despite that being his fault) and turned them to stone. Derpy was only controversial because of The Last Roundup, which was admittedly mishandled, but the rest of the time she's just cute and endearing, and the lazy eye started out as an animation goof, so it wasn't mocking disabled people.

[@jesperlivid9184]

I still remember my father going to buy me MLP merch at the height of it's popularity from Hot Topic by himself... He was a bit older and a military vet, so he was a bit. Uh. Taken aback lets say when the cashier asked if the merch he was purchasing was for himself and suggested a bigger size- And then to his horror, when he got home I had to explain to him what a 'brony' was while laughing a bit. Ahhh childhood.

[@SantoSelene]

imagine f-ing up a background character layout and another bg characters eye twitch for three seconds then becoming an character icon. oh and when "the last roundup" first aired and saw her speak I kinda fanboyed.

[@gooeater1544]

It's honestly so interesting to see how derpy went from just. Some random pony in the bg. To this like majorly popular/well known character that people either loved ir hated. I'm glad the whole thing has calmed down in recent years though and the community is more understanding of different sides &all that !!

[@patriciov.catricura3074]

Derpy is definitely the non-main Token pony of the 4th Generation. As it happens (in most cases) with Moondancer in G1 and Minty in the G3 (which is not part of the core seven, although she has her own special). Sunset and Starlight could enter in this category too, but they have major roles in later seasons. And it's not the first time fans take control of characters. As it was the fandom itself who made Dr. Whooves a Doctor Who equivalent, and also, the responsibles of LyraBon, with two background ponies people found adorable together. And interesting sub-plot in the series.

[@jinxtheunluckypony]

I love that all of Derpy’s merch is labeled with an emoji. It always looks out of place and it makes her toys impossible to look up. Something about that is just deeply hilarious to me.

[@CLOV3RZ26]

derpy was one of my favorite characters when i was little, and tbh shes one of the most iconic,if not the most, in the mlp franchise

[@galaxymew5138]

I have ADHD and a slight lazy eye so I absolutely ADORED Derpy when I was a kid! I found her so cute and I'm still a big fan of sweets like cupcake and muffins so I was a big BIG fan of her!

[@gunjfur8633]

I wonder, how is "Ditzy" any different than "Derpy", dont they basically convey the same idea?

[@smuglumine9379]

I suppose ditzy refers more to her clumsiness and derpy is more to her eyes, though in the end they'll both have the same design and personality. I personally find derpy iconic and cute, and I don't think it's a particularly harmful stereotype as there's a few other disabled ponies who seem to be just as capable

[@puppiekit]

"Ditzy" is more like "clumsy", while "Derpy" is more like "stupid". If you look at the definitions, at least. Similar but definitely different

[@sokol2629]

@@1unartic I didn't know a word with this meaning existed in english too

[@colorbar.s]

when one of the writers googled definitions for derp, the r slur showed up. that's why she and other writers wanted it gone.

[@isaacorr3180]

@@puppiekit no ditzy definitely has the connotation of stupid and clumsy

[@Meowvier]

Omg she got sponsored I so proud 😭 I have derpy trading card and for the name box it’s blank but she still slaying

[@zeldamaster52]

Anyone else remember the Doctor Whooves and Assistant audio series? BaldDumboRat's Derpy voice was so endearing that she basically became everyone headcanon voice for the character for years, even when the character was voiced in the show.

[@pundertalefan4391]

No matter what anyone says, I will ALWAYS love Derpy. She's my favorite pony, and she's helped me through some tough times.

[@BlueEngland]

Yes, they should've referred to her in the show as Ditzy and not Derpy. 1. That was the original name they wanted to use for the character (Probably changed to make the fans happy) 2. It would've resulted in less controversy for the character, even if fans kept Derpy

[@DanknDerpyGamer]

IMO point one is a great point. wasn't she referred to as Ditzy Doo before Last Roundup, in Winter Wrap-up?

[@puppiekit]

Ditzy is literally tye same thing as Derpy, it just sounds a little less insulting. I have no clue why they didn't jeep it. Ditzy Doo is the CUTEST name ever.

[@DanknDerpyGamer]

@@puppiekit I'm unsure about whether I'd agree about it being insulting, but it is a fair point that this is subjective. Ditzy Doo IS a very cute name though! EDIT: I don't agree about it being insulting upon further reflection, ALL IMO OF COURSE - it CAN be used in an insulting manner, yes, but doesn't mean it inherently is/should be considered such.

[@puppiekit]

@@DanknDerpyGamer I mean the definition of Derpy is literally "stupid", so its kinda hard for me not to take it as an insult tbh. The only reason most people wouldn't consider it as an insult is because of the early 2000s/2010s internet scene crowd (who used "XD Derp!' In a less-offensive manner). It still meant "stupid", but it was used in a funny/cutesy way, so nobody took any offense to it. I guess that's why so many people like the name, because they grew up with the friendlier use of the word. (Which is OK btw, words change over time!) Ditzy just translates to "silly" which Is why I personally like it more, she is a very silly/clumsy pony and it's a part of her charm I think. It makes me sad they they would give her a name that literally means "stupid" :(

[@cirnosnumberfan6449]

@@puppiekit "Stupid" can come in many different forms, like if you have close friends doing silly things, you say things like "You're so stupid!" But in a more friendly way of course, pretty much depending on the tone of the situation. And that's the case with Derpy, she isn't meant to be taken all too seriously. But like it or not, Derpy is what she's mostly known for, so you just have to take it for what it is.

[@batxic]

derpy was always my favorite as a kid. i have a lazy eye and autism, so I found her really relatable and cute. it was representation for me.

[@35caliber.]

as many in the comment section, i have autism and adhd and honestly i was OBSESSED with derpy as a kid. every single social media i had for quite some time was derpy hooves themed. i can understand why a parent would be concerned by the character, but i personally think she’s just so lovable and memorable.

[@clobbahdatderekirbeh2710]

I had a severe lazy eye growing up, and got picked on for it at school. My family would tell me to look straight whenever they took pictures. Derpy made me feel so much better about it when I was young, I loved her so much. I still have a lazy eye, but it’s gotten better. I’m glad everyone else loved her as much as I did.

[@mrs.doctor1241]

I loved Derpy so much growing up, i used to headcannon she was my adopted daughter from a parallel universe That one day i found her on the street alone when she was a filly and decided to raise her🥲😂❤️ She’s still my favorite pony!

[@DerpyHooves_77]

Derpy is my favorite character from equestria and I adore Derpy Hooves a lot, and Derpy Hooves she is my adopted daughter in my heart and I always have Derpy Hooves in my life and also in my mind, I also have pictures of Derpy Hooves from my gallery and I also made a picture of me sitting down next to Derpy and I always love Derpy Hooves for eternity and Derpy Hooves will always be in my life as well.

[@PhoenixRedtail]

I remember seeing the Derpy controversy as a 13 year old. I was so confused.

[@shiningskiess]

she will always be derpy hooves in my heart 💗 i grew up with the show, watching it from the start, and i remember when derpy first became so beloved. to me she is just derpy.

[@srfrancium9728]

Derpy is kind of a weird case, she only really is confirmed to have esotropia(?), the only notable thing about her is that in thinking about her being an implied dumb character with crossed eyes, it made me remember that Wilt from fosters is the only cross eyed character I can think of that has crossed eyes and isn't implied to be dumb in any way. Very forgettable actually

[@crash10125]

If you pay attention to the background in Applejack's flashback episode, she was in the hospital with bandages around her eyes. In another episode she is seen in first place for air races only to decline in places as her eyes began to change. Kinda sad.

[@crash10125]

@Skittles the Unicorn That's the premise of the episode, it was the one when she lied a lot as a filly.

[@cirnosnumberfan6449]

@@crash10125 That implies that Derpy had surgery done to her eyes at a young age.

[@lusaminefushiguro5332]

I remember living the Save Derpy movement. I don't think I even fully processed what was wrong or why she was being removed,I just knew I didn't want it to happen. I fell in love with Derpy rather fast,finding her cute and endearing,and it made me happy to see the amount of people who adored her. So little me was actually worried over seeing her so sad about the situation... I think that out of all the things the fandom offered (from animations to the grimdarks) Derpy Hooves AKA Ditzy Doo AKA Muffins is the thing that made me stay...

[@accordingtosophia]

I swear, I thought I was the only one who remembered the insanity that was SaveDerpy!

[@YumeQueen]

wow

[@WhiscashGirl]

I was never a huge Derpy fan, but I can definitely appreciate the creative efforts around her from the fandom and this was a fun and nostalgic watch! I definitely think there's an interesting conversation to be had about corporations essentially selling memes back to consumers, which I notice is happening more and more recently, so it's interesting to think of MLP - not only with Derpy but giving the fan favourite background characters more of a role in general, with the 200th episode being the epitome of this - as an early example of this trend. I have probably too many mixed thoughts to express on this lol, it definitely can feel cheap and cynical but can also be a lot of fun and nice to acknowledge fan and internet culture when done right. For me the key thing is the use of memes or injokes etc has to feel natural and not forced, and not used as a lazy substitute for actual good jokes and writing (there's a particular scene in Spider-Man: No Way Home which really exemplified this for me, and I'm sure lots of other examples). IMO despite the controversy, MLP managed to do a pretty decent job of this in how they incorporated Derpy's character into the franchise, without it being at the expense of the main characters or alienating more casual viewers/the target audience who weren't deep in the fandom.

[@user-ph4vk9lx9o]

Next video you should talk about the “pony fucker” or “horse fucker” era where they would meme the hell out of the show and people would have edited photos of ponies with snap backs on them.

[@shinypaintf588]

omg is this ur first sponsored video??? congratulations shunks!!

[@snobey]

I remember that on derpibooru there was a lot of troll and ironic memes like "x is the worst pony". Most of them were recieving downvotes and just it. But when I made an ironic meme that said "derpy is the worst pony" a lot of people were defensive and even used tags like "derpygate". People just love this pony.

[@ShellySwirl]

OMG

[@ShadowLightMewEndlessOceanMew]

She will always be Derpy Hooves to me :) Thanks for this trip down memory lane. I was there when it all started, Derpy became our Waldo in Pony and then so much more. We love you Derpy

[@starshine_lue5823]

Derpy holds a special place in my heart. I owe her for getting me into friendship is magic. (And i guess I owe the people who made that sad animation of her cause it was the first thing i saw of her and made me look deeper) growing up I watched g1 all the time, but i always thought g4 looked dumb and was just one of those bad and needless reboots, but when i saw derpy stuff i wanted to see more of her, so i looked her up and watched that clip from the last roundup. I dont think i would ever have gotten into it without her, or the controversy around her.

[@twurtz]

i may be totally lost and laying around sad as shit in my bathroom, but any time a shunks video comes up in my feed, it finds away to make my day and current mood 20x better than its been thank u so much to the end of the earth for being around shunks and being a role model for individuals like me that just love technocolor horses and merch 🖤💖🖤💖🐏

[@sasamichan]

Never heard of "Too young for Hot Topic" though we did used to say "Too young for Spencer's Gifts" Also I think you should have gone in to more details over Rainbow Falls and over her major roll in and after the 100th episode. or looked at more fan animations.

[@LifesNeverHumDrum]

“Ditzy Doo” is a really cute name though, I love that

[@frostedflies]

I think we can all agree we love derpy because she’s so cute.

[@penti8345]

back in the day i had one of those hot topic seatbelt belts that had derpy alllll over it and i thought it was the drippiest thing of the century. i also had a hot topic t-shirt with a manga styled version of derpy almost as if she were in a manga panel. of course i also had the derpy funko vinyl figure. as an autistic person who actually HAS a mental disability, i find it hard to believe that any of the people who got heated over derpy’s existence were even disabled themselves. sounds like a fuck ton of helicopter parents and people trying to find shit to be mad about out of boredom

[@harmonetheanimationaddict4419]

I don’t mind any of the names, though Muffins sounds more like a nickname.

[@TobbyMLP]

Great video on Derpy, I think it's interesting to see how she progressed in both the fandom and the show itself

[@eddie-roo]

I was really confused as a wee lil child about the derpy voice controversy. In the Latin American Spanish dub we got both the name Derpy and a really high pitched voice from the start.

[@lizzietheshortie]

I was a big fan of Dr Whooves because at the the time I was a big fan of Doctor Who as well (mostly because my mom was and kinda still is a Superwholock) I actually have one of those vinyl figures of him and a blanket with him, the tardis, and I think a pony version of Rose or Derpy. I was kinda in the demographic of the show at the time, but still considered myself a brony or pegasister. I remember kinda obsessing over Dr Whooves a bit that I would watch anything that featured him. I actually recently found my old Pinterest account and wouldn't you know he's there along with derpy! I don't think I really shipped them, I more thought of them as companions like in the show (minus rose cause I kinda didn't like her, my fave was Donna lol). Honestly, I think I should definitely revisit mlpfim. I never really considered myself ever leaving the fandom, just putting it on the back burner. My hype for the show was dying near 2016-17 when I was going into middle school. Sorry for the block of text lmao.

[@Sparking_Ram]

13:38 I forgot how unhinged the Hub's commercial bumpers were.

[@Mephitinae]

One aspect of the Derpy "fandom" always bothered me. The denial. Those bronies who insisted that their Derpy "waifu" was just "silly" and "klutzy", and totally not cognitively impaired, despite speaking like a 6 year old in literally every piece of fan work. All those grownass dudes fawning over Derpy reminded me of Brian dating that "special needs" woman in Family Guy, except the bronies had less self-awareness obv.

[@yupok8425]

Literally lmfao

[@nikothehusky2384]

Interesting how non disabled fans wanted to censor the pony that appeared disabled

[@kadaverklown]

Weird, huh… It’s almost as if non-disabled people think disabled people can’t speak for themselves or have their own opinions…

[@i_teleported_bread7404]

"Epic Rage Time? More like Epic Rage _Of Its Time."_ Don't come after my childhood like that dawg.

[@messyribbonzz]

I have the same condition as derpy and in my opinion shes a great representation and I dont find her ableist at all 😭 in fact, she's always been my fav

[@loadingresourcesdotdot]

On Netflix in that episode (I think) rainbow dash doesn’t call her derpy, but it’s written in the subtitles.

[@citruslemonade3326]

I think I've felt myself age rapidly the second you've mentioned "derp"

[@mj_ultra]

Yeah I don't have a real common name so every time that one patron (marsh marlowe) gets read out I nearly shit myself. Thank you so much for the amazing video, it's so nice to go on nostalgia trips with you

[@NerdKirby]

Great story lesson on Derpy! I still really love her and she was really fun to see back in the day.

[@terminalshutin]

Derpy is still probably my favorite. I felt the show had a missed opportunity. They had their slice of life episode, but I feel like maybe they could have done more with a full Derpy episode. It's a show about friendship and Derpy somehow got the shaft. The episode could have explored the way the other ponies treat her due to her clumisness and how the others have given her hard time or something, starting with her eyes (there was a flashback in one season where it showed them as young flyers. and Foal Derpy didn't start out that way. Over several flying contests you see her eyes progressively derpify. Despite the...pardon the term, handicap, she still works and does her best, and it would've been nice to see the Mane 6 interact with her or the cutie mark crusaders talk with her....they Pretty Woman'ed a yak in the series. They couldn't have a nice friendship ep exclusively with the klutzy pony?

[@RariettyC]

This brought me back to how watching MLP during season 2 while it aired was such a ride, something that will probably never be replicated even with other shows. It felt, at the time, that anything could happen as the writers and other crew members gradually noticed the fandom. I watched the premiere of The Last Roundup in a packed live-stream and it felt like I had witnessed history being made, lol. Like, seriously though, it felt so surreal to see a fandom's creation so directly referenced like that. Now, I feel like it's a lot more common for TV writers to directly call-out fandoms, but in 2012 it felt like something I had never seen in a childrens' cartoon before.

[@LivingEncyclopedia]

Man. I remember the Background Six. I was obsessed with seeing all the cool ways people wrote them. I was also hardcore in the group that shipped Ditzy/Derpy and Dr Whooves with Dinky and Sparkler as their kids. In retrospect that part of the fandom got SO specific

[@axolotlfairy2473]

Honestly I do prefer the name Ditzy Doo for Derpy, it's not a BAD name but I just think Ditzy is a lot cuter. I also like Bubbles/something related to bubbles as her name

[@xenoponyyyyyy]

I for no reason recently entered a “I need to go look back and look at older Background Six/find new Background Six content” for no reason, so this video couldn’t be more perfectly timed for me xP

[@MC.PR1NCESS]

Reminder: I haven't fully watched this video, but this is from what I remember. Derpy Hooves has eyes in different directions because the artist of Derpy accidentally put the pupil in a different direction, so they changed the unknown old name of Derpy, to Derpy Hooves.

[@pyrofur_nx]

"epic rage time" is the most 2012 thing ive ever heard

[@Milkmouse1966]

The Tomodachi life music along with a controversy I REMEMBER my friends in high school being really passionate about is taking me down memory lane right now. But really, I was in a special needs program in high school, so I spent a lot of time with other autistic and adhd people/bronies who just LOVED Derpy Hooves and MLP and were really upset when she was censored in the show. From what I remember it mostly seemed to be non-ND people/parents complaining about it.

[@AnnoyingMystery]

I've never really been into mlp that much despite watching a bit of the show (mainly for the catchy songs) and being obsessed with an earlier gen (idk which one) version of Pinkie Pie as a child -- always hearing stuff abt mlp and the fandom and being curious enough to consider myself on the "outskirts" of it all but never really getting too close -- but Derpy has always been a much more notable character to me than any others. It started when I was having a really hard time in school due to being disabled and in a horrible small town where the majority of people massively dehumanized me because of that and would often legit treat me like a dog whenever they were being "nice" and felt charitable. My only "friend" at the time was much nicer than everyone else but still often treated me like I was just a pet she was taking care of in order to get good karma. She was a "Weird kid" herself, however, and was into things like mlp and other 2010s media/internet culture a fair amount so our main form of conversation was talking about things like Dr Who, Harry Potter, etc etc and asking eachother which characters the other person thought we resembled the most. Though she tried to be nice and sort of subtle about it, she would always compare me to characters who were seen as dumb or useless / lesser than all the other characters in a form of media, especially if I didnt actually watch or read whatever we were talking about and had to google the characters in order to learn what they were like whenever i got home from school, and it honestly hurt a lot though i could never tell her that i realized what she was doing. The only time i ever asked for an in depth reasoning for why she thought I reminded her of a certain character was whenever she assigned me the character of Derpy Hooves, however, and my heart just shattered whenever she thought for a moment and said "Well, you're both dumb. B-but in a fun way!". I didnt even know that Derpy Hooves existed at this point in time and only felt compelled to ask because I knew what "derp" meant and the name alone already had me feeling sad and anxious. After that, I would always get so sad whenever I saw anything about Derpy Hooves but she eventually grew on me a lot as I grew out of being a much more scared and anxious preteen who didnt stand up for herself in certain situations because being treated poorly was "better" than being alone. Now, I feel intense fondness for the silly character without even knowing that much about mlp:fim and feel weirdly touched whenever I learn how loved she is by the fandom.

[@sofm-v2164]

awww i remember when i was younger i really liked derpys original voice and when rewatched the series i was kinda sad that it **changed

[@Stage_Lol]

I'm autistic, and I have crossed eyes. I absolutely love Derpy, and will never understand why people decided she was ableist. I'm also 90% positive most of the people who sent complaints or hated her, were people without any disabilities. She was representation of the disabled community, even if she didn't mean to be. We want representation!

[@TheBellKeeper]

This is the most comprehensive explanation about Derpy, thank you for making this.

[@myrikmalyne3185]

I had that "Derpy is best pony" shirt back in the day, too! Ah, middle school... She was my favorite way back when and I was also huge on "save Derpy," but these days I'd rather call her Ditzy Doo or Bubbles or whatever because the name "Derpy Hooves" is a little too much a product of its time to me. I'm all for 2010s nostalgia but I do have a limit, I guess.

[@springbreezegaming4017]

Both her names should have been mashed together to make the name Ditzy Hooves cuz then it still keeps some of what the fandom make, but that's just my thoughts.

[@BryaStar]

Around the start of season 2 was when I watched my first episode of MLP, Lesson Zero. This was after I joined a TF2 forum where many members were big fans of the show and I often got to see talks about it. After that episode and over winter break at college I started to watch random episodes one at a time and start to understand the fandom culture a bit more., Once I had heard about Derpy appearing in the episode *by name* I remember feeling ecstatic and excited that I was able to recognize why this was such a big moment... I guess you could say that was my "spark" That made me realize that I do indeed like this show. There was actually a DVD that contained the original unedited version of The Last Roundup (which I'm pretty sure that we have at home). There is actually a tiny controversy that the original run of that contained an audio bug that desynced the audio. Shout factory reacted by offering replacements for those DVDs and heavily clarifying that the original unedited version of the episode will remain on the fixed DVDs. Also my fiance, Amber, has collected most of the really nice vinyl figures and we still have all of them including nearly every variation to this day (except for one regular Lyra one which we've been too lazy to find >

[@socks4302]

I kinda want Hot Topic to bring back their old brony merch, they do have one mlp fim shirt already I think

[@eyesofthevoid9595]

I just thought Derpy as a name just meant 'cute in a silly way'

[@zj_gaming9800]

I’m relatively new to the fandom, but have already claimed Derpy Muffin Hooves as my fave pony.

[@chelseamcguire7958]

The show is supposed to teach love and acceptance among other lessons. And with this decision to derpy, they threw this lesson out the window

[@stevennorthrup5790]

You can blame the soccer moms for that

[@AKawaiiDragon]

"and made possible by viewers like you" hittin with that pbs nostalgia right off the bat, excellent

[@orktv4673]

14:50 "Derp" was always a word that implied silliness. It didn't mean "retarded" when South Park coined it, nor was that on people's minds when they gave her that name on /co/ in 2010. Yamino and her friends (who brought all this drama about) were fabricating offense where there was none to be had.

[@xxscribbledragonxx9744]

honestly derpy is a great character imo - she's a disabled character who has a full time job and lots of friends who support and accept her for who she is and i think thats great :)

[@danielk2427]

One of the dvd compilations did include the original version of the last roundup

[@_BROVIA_]

I would have never guessed that Derpy had a tragic back story

[@bashfulwolfo6499]

I’ll never forget the day where my mom asked me who my favorite ponies were (MLP was the only girly thing I liked as a kid), and I of course said Applejack and Derpy. My aunt then proceeded to harass me, saying I shouldn’t like a character like Derpy because it’s not good and it’s offensive. She didn’t even try to explain to me what was offensive about it, so I just thought that things/people like Derpy were apparently “bad”. I still loved Derpy to death though.

[@destineejohnson5315]

One of my favorite BronyDanceParty songs is a song called "Autumn", a song about Derpy. It's one of those songs that truly (in my opinion anyways) touches the soul. It makes me wanna cry with how beautiful the song is almost everytime I hear it.

[@mightyfilm]

I'm sure someone's going to correct me on this, but didn't the term "Derp" come from South Park? They used it in one episode as an intentionally stupid catchphrase of a character they made to mock the idea of replacing Chef with a lamer character. Then again, more well known in the episode mocking Rob Schneider movies. As for the Spongebob memes...well... the franchise is like 90% meme now, even the show over references them to the point they even managed to briefly sneak a Squidward's Suicide reference before Nick recalled the episode.

[@ImmaLittlePip]

Derpy really is the most beloved character in the fandom isn't she even despite that one "controversy" Plus you kinda have to have an understanding of meme culture of the time

[@killshot314]

Of course I'd see you here xD TITENIC!!!!

[@abandonedship-c5r]

The best belated bday gift in awhile