1. Quirks and Random Talents
For a lot of shows with multiple main characters, it’s easy to fall under troupe creating. Basically using troupes to make the characters different and appeal to different types of people. Rarity is the girly one into fashion, Pinkie is the energetic happy one, Rainbow Dash is the sporty one, etc. With Sunset, they gave her the “cool girl” one, but gave her a lot of hobbies that can also put her under the artsy type. She drew a comic in Super Squad Goals, paints in The Art of Friendship, and did graffiti art in Displays of Affection. They also made her a gamer in Game Stream. I can tell they wanted to make Sunset less traditional by giving her a lot to do. We didn’t even know she would be playing guitar after Rainbow Rocks. Where did she even learn how to do that along with the other talents she has? I can’t imagine how long any of this would’ve taken while being a lame mean villain in the beginning.
2. After reforming, she’s still not perfect
This seems to happen a lot with reformed characters regardless of if they’ve been magic to good like Nightmare Moon or if they’re giving a stern talking to and decide to become good like Starlight Glimmer and Discord. Sunset was kind of in the middle of both options where magic turned her from a demon, but a stern talking to made her realize her mistakes. But even with changing for the better, she wasn’t completely perfect or made out to not make mistakes. Forgotten Friendship is probably my favorite special that talks about this where Sunset wants the life she had back with her friends and would stoop to stealing the memory stone back by force while Wallflower Brush was in the middle of her teen angst song. Really messed up, but it made her realize that she didn’t give Wallflower the chance to change like how a certain purple pony princess gave to her. This short really shows that you can mess up a lot, but as long as you make amends and know when it’s wrong, you can be better.
3. She’s careful, but not shying away from mischief
There are probably a million excuses of not having a random sociopath like Starlight Glimmer to go back into the human world. Who knows if she might meet any Russians over there. But I didn’t realize how badly I needed these two to interact with each other. If not for Sunset making a life of her own in the human world, I could see these two being closer friends than even Starlight and Trixie. But I liked that Sunset did think about the possibilities of having another pony friend to hang with in the human world along with the mountain of head canons she created. The idea that she hasn’t seen a version of Starlight in the human world so she couldn’t run into herself is so fascinating. Meaning there’s a change there’s not another Sunset Shimmer in the human world. Just with one scene in Mirror Magic and most head canons were obliterated.
4. Lots of shipping fuel
Yeah I usually have one moment of this in these lists, but it’s made a lot better with Sunset Shimmer. Mostly because of the actual direct of Equestria Girls confirming that Sunset is Bisexual in September 2019. It’s not such a big deal since a lot of ships the fans enjoy like Rarity and Applejack or Applejack and Rainbow Dash has been heavily hinted at in Rollercoaster of Friendship and The Last Problem, the final episode of FiM. But the fact that we got to hear this information from the crew itself via Twitter makes it all the more special.
5. She became a great leader
Ok I know in a show with this many characters with big personalities, there’s not really a set leader. Except when one of the main characters from the original show became that princess of all Equestria. But in terms of EqG, I like that Sunset became more of the head while even having another Twilight in the series. It makes sense that she has a lot more to live up to from her exile to the human world to trying to take over the school and finally redemption and becoming a better person in the making. It’s such a different way of becoming the leader when you have Twilight starting as just an antisocial bookworm to becoming ruler of all Equestria. Regardless of whose path you like, Sunset is a great motivator for anyone trying to change for the better and knowing when you can stand tall again.
Sunset Shimmer was probably the worst villain, and by worst, I mean there was nothing there to be scared of or entertained by. Just a mean girl being mean. But since Rainbow Rocks, she’s climbed the ranks to be one of the best moments of EqG, a series not many fans had high hopes for. Rainbow Rocks not only got the fan attention to Equestria Girls, but it got the fans attention to Sunset as a reformed bad guy. I could’ve mentioned her great singing voice, her chilled personality, or the fact that her outfits are usually my favorite, but she was a lot more than just that. She’s still tries and struggles and can mess up, but knows when to say sorry or to have patience when things don’t go her way. She’s still my favorite character out of the whole series and hopefully we can see more of her growth one day in the future. I’m Penny Wrights and I have some video games to rage out at. Hopefully none involving squirrels.
