How I would write Spike better.

Today on EQD, there was a discussion question on how I would write Spike in the show. Needless to say, that I have been waiting a long time to drop my two cents on the matter. He's what I posted.


It's really only in episodes where he's the focus where Spike has had most of his problems. In episodes where he's the main support of Twilight, that's probably where he's at his best. The main problems I see in Spike in his episodes are ones a lot of people pointed out: Incompetence, immaturity, clumsy, greedy, etc. It especially bites the show in the flank because we see that Spike isn't any of that in episodes where the spotlight is on him. He's shown that he can be helpful the mane six, be a mature young drake, be selfless (i.e. giving Rarity the fire ruby) and be resourceful. I mean as far as him being a clumsy, he landed a triple salcow for crying out loud! 

Here's how I would write Spike in his episodes. He's his usually snarky yet upbeat self helping Twilight in anyway he can. The show could go into what he has to go through at times to help Twilight and why she depends on him so much. Kinda like they showed how hard Pinkie really works in preparing her parties or how hard Rarity works in making her dresses. He doesn't need to learn the same lesson over and over. 

Another important thing: be consistent. As we all know, the main problem with Spike At Your Service was that Spike was incredible clumsy and was bad at doing chores for Applejack that he normally does on a regular basis for Twilight. Not to mention that the whole Dragon Code was a BS plot device that wasn't needed at all. That's another thing. In Dragon Quest, Twilight said that ponies knew little to nothing about dragons. With that in mind, where the hay did this talk about a dragon code come from? Did it come in the same realm as the dragon sneeze plants? Bottom line, be consistent with writing Spike's character. Which is going to be tricky since every writer writes Spike differently but it can be done. You could do something with his all around demeanor as well. What fans need to understand is Spike is around the same age as the CMCs, if not younger. So he's going to have lapses where he screws up and gets over his head. I mean, who didn't do that as a kid. Though it doesn't really matter if Spike doesn't actually learn his lesson from that particular scenario and doesn't use that wisdom going forward. 

Aspect #3: Give Spike something he feels he needs to accomplish. I feel that Spike's character would be a lot stronger if he was given kind of an edge or he has to prove to ponies and to himself that he belongs. He could also eventually realize that he's not going to be able to live with his pony friends forever so he could contemplate at times what exactly he's going to do. Maybe to the point where he tries to make contact with a dragon again. Yes. I think they should try to somewhat redo Dragon Quest but instead Spike would come across an elder dragon that can show Spike's ways of their culture or whatever. Not only would that be great for Spike's character development, it would do well with world building. 

Finally and probably most importantly, the show really needs to put a stake in where Spike legitimately stands in the show. There have been several times in the show where I felt Spike should have been in an episode to the point where his absence is somewhat distracting. A big example is Sweet and Elite when Twilight and the manes moved her birthday party to Canterlot so Rarity didn't have to miss it? Where was he? Was he not invited? It really bothers me since I've seen fanart made of Spike being left completely behind. That's the keyword in all this, "left behind". Spike CAN be helpful more times than the writers are letting on. Make him wanting to know how to fight, get stronger, make his firebreath stronger for tight situations. Make him want to know more about where he came from to where he travels to Canterlot to confront Pr. Celestia about it. Character support. Spike has done a pretty good job up to this point in the series in supporting his friends when they need his support. In his episodes, they need to start being there for him a lot more than they have been. FiM is a show about character interaction and development, but in Spike episodes he has to keep the story going a lot of the time just on his own. He hasn't been developed enough to carry an episode by himself. He needs help. 

I know this was a long post but Spike is my favorite character in the show, mainly because of all the things he can be and some of what he already is. I know the writers are having a difficult time making him three dimensional, but I truly believe it can be done especially with how they've written all the other characters. 

Side-note, you could write the other characters in the show much better in Spike episodes too. Dragon Quest alone flanderized the manes like CRAZY. Keep them to their normal and loving characters and have them help Spike go forth and grow.