Line #30 YMMV/MyLittlePonyTVSpecials


1	* AngstWhatAngst: The ponies that were [[ForcedTransformation forcefully transformed]] and were made to assist Tirac bring in TheNightThatNeverEnds sure don't seem too broken up about it at the end of ''Rescue from Midnight Castle'', if we are to assume that [[AlternateIdentityAmnesia they remember it in the first place]].
2	* AnimationAgeGhetto: Thanks to this, people are still surprised at how dark the first special was decades after it was made.
3	* {{Anvilicious}}: The anti-drug message of ''Escape from Catrina'' is... unsubtle.
4	* {{AwesomeMusic/Awesome Music}}: The song, "Call Upon the Sea Ponies" is pretty catchy.
5	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
6	** The sea ponies' musical number in the first special, which comes out of nowhere and is only tangentially referenced afterwards.
7	** At the beginning of ''Midnight Castle'' Ember talks with Twilight about getting her cutie mark. Their discussion is interrupted by the stratodons attacking and cutie marks are never talked about again.
8	* CatharsisFactor: Given how evil Tirac is, his death at Megan's hands is very satisfying.
9	* ClicheStorm: As good as the original special was, it is also this. An EvilOverlord is trying to TakeOverTheWorld and only a PluckyGirl KidHero and her {{ragtag bunch of misfit\|s}} friends can stop him using a powerful MacGuffin given to them by a absent-minded wizard. The same goes for the follow-up.
10	* ContestedSequel: To a lot of fans either everything that came after these two specials, or just anything after ''Rescue at Midnight Castle'', period.
11	* CreepyAwesome: Tirac is personified NightmareFuel, and became an EnsembleDarkhorse because of it.
12	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
13	** Firefly. Spunky tomboy with guts and attitude? Check. Inspired Rainbow Dash? Check. Being voiced by Creator/SandyDuncan also doesn't hurt.
14	** The Moochick: this character is fondly remembered by many fans of the series as one of its finer points. Being voiced by Tony Randall probably helped.
15	** Applejack, too, considering her only animated appearance was in "Midnight Castle" but later got a song, reappeared in the UK comics, and a few generations later became one of the main characters of ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Friendship is Magic]]''.[[note]]Of course, this was in part due to legal reasons. Applejack is apparently the only pony from G1 that Hasbro kept the trademark for because she was reused in G3.[[/note]]
16	** Tirac is also surprisingly popular with the ''Friendship Is Magic'' fans. [[spoiler:The creators eventually brought him back in said series.]]
17	** Medley, Bow-Tie, Glory, Twilight, Moondancer, and Ember[[note]]One of the only G1 foals not to be a copy of an adult.[[/note]] all have garnered their place amongst fandom.
18	** And of course Habbit, the Moochick's long-suffering rabbit assistant.
19	** The Sea Ponies. They're especially popular with the ''Friendship is Magic'' fanbase, which is still waiting for them to show up in the series proper. They finally make an appearance in the feature film (albeit with a different design), with the voices of Kristen Chenoweth and Uzo Aduba!
20	** The White Mystery Pony with the cat from ''Rescue At Midnight Castle'', who is theorized to be First Born, who was released as a porcelain figure, seems to be quite popular in the G1 MLP community, despite her having no lines.
21	* EvilIsCool: Tirac.
22	* FanPreferredCouple: [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Firefly and Medley]] have been gaining a bit of support in more recent times.
23	* FirstInstallmentWins: ''Most'' of G1 fans consider ''Midnight Castle'' (and sometimes ''Catrina'') to be high point of the cartoons that were made at the time. With its slick animation, [[VileVillainSaccharineShow menacing and competent villain]] Tirac, AntiVillain Scorpan, and awesome climax...it's not difficult to see why.
24	* HePannedItNowHeSucks: Expect anyone who dislikes ''Midnight Castle'' to get this treatment, even if they did have a well thought-out reason why.
25	* MemeticMutation: The Seaponies and their "Shoo-be-doo, Shoo-Shoo-be-do!"
26	* MoralEventHorizon: Tirac threatening to behead Spike, a ''baby'', to punish Scorpan for his failure. If not then, the 'turn ponies into mindless monsters to pull his chariot' is probably the point where Tirac crossed this line.
27	* NightmareRetardant: As horrifying as Tirac can be, his sheer [[EvilIsHammy hamminess]] occasionally makes him outright goofy.
28	* NightmareFuel: Tirac, everything from his voice to turning ponies into dragons, even leaving one out and forcing her to watch.
29	* OnceOriginalNowCommon: To a lot of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic FiM]] fans. Though these specials were pretty edgy for Franchise/MyLittlePony, G4 has incorporated aspects of these specials, particularly Nightmare Moon and a more powerful Tirac, leaving some G4 fans unimpressed. Although it's downplayed as G4's villains end up being much more humorous after their first appearances unlike G1 Tirac who is never played for laughs.
30	* PopularWithFurries:
31	** Firefly, Twilight, Applejack, and several of the others are popular amongst fans mainly because of this adaptation. Spike as well.
32	** Being an anthropomorphic cat, Katrina is one.
33	* SacredCow: ''Midnight Castle'' is generally this for G1 fans. ''Catrina'' is this to a lesser extent.
34	* {{Shipping}}: Pairings like Firefly and Medley, Bowtie and Applejack, [[CrackPairing Megan and Scorpan]], Twilight and Moondancer, and of course Catrina and Rep have popped up in the rare fanfic.
35	* TearJerker: Meta example-all these ponies you've watched and grown attached to in these specials? They're all going to be replaced by an entirely different cast and you'll never see or hear from them again.
36	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
37	** Tirac was a ''very'' EvilOverlord with intentions of ushering an [[TheNightThatNeverEnds age of eternal darkness]] and thus rule Ponyland and possibly Earth for eternity. To do it, he put the local enchanted creatures through [[PainfulTransformation painful transformations]] and constantly [[KickTheDog kicks]] his right hand goat-man, Scorpan around without relent and with threats of [[OffWithHisHead decapitating]] his only friend Spike. Scorpan himself was formerly a prince who had previously been enslaved by a previous conquest by this guy. He only got one half-hour to show his stuff, and he spent most of that time sitting on a throne.
38	** While the special itself does make great use of Scorpan as a rare ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' AntiVillain[=/=]AntiHero who unwillingly serves his evil master in spite of his own good nature, he is never seen again after this and he never undergoes any more CharacterDevelopment.
39	** Firefly, despite all her WolverinePublicity during G1, never appears again in the cartoons. It's an especially bizarre case because she ''kept being sold''. However, every time she got re-released, they'd just re-run or re-release the one special she was in. She was sold like she was the Optimus Prime of the franchise even ''beyond'' the show's era, to the point of being on shelves alongside ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'', or even ''[[NoExportForYou instead of]] MLPT'', nearly a decade after her first and last appearance.
40	** All of the ponies, who only appear in one special each and are then replaced by a completely new cast.
41	* ToughActToFollow: If you start watching the G1 cartoons starting with these, depending on how you view these specials, or even the franchise as a whole, you may or may not be less than impressed with anything that followed after.
42	* UnnecessaryMakeover: Many fans prefer Catrina's appearance as a villain, with most fanart being of her evil design.
43	* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: ''Escape From Catrina'' has an [[DrugsAreBad anti-drug theme]] that doesn't appear in post-1990s cartoons much. Otherwise it avoids looking obviously 1980s due to the lack of humans and timeless fashions.
44	* ViewerGenderConfusion: Applejack is a girl in ''Midnight Castle'', but the gravelly voice can make it hard to tell.
45	* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: A mild example, but some who flipped onto the station to watch this couldn't have expected to '''behold the Power of Darkness'''.
46	* TheWoobie:
47	** Scorpan, Spike, and Ember in the first special.
48	** Rep, Sundance, and Baby Moondancer in the second.

Context YMMV / MyLittlePonyTVSpecials