Looking at all those comments i’m both in the middle technically and practically in the one with people hating her, coz i see rights and wrongs with the way of describing her - on the one hand the whole torture thing feels, as much as close overexadetared and is more of a emotional manipulation and her motivation can traced to her birth home and father overprotective and annoying nature. On the other hand being okay with her, because she is sorry and redeemed does not mean she is great character, as she has very weak motive and her crimes is not excusable and just because it’s the show for kids (any show) it more like means the story is still bad/mediocre in a message of forgiving and especially letting them go it.
In short both her and Cozy Glow are a bad example of certain types of villains (forgiven and unforgiven).

Glad to see how you pointed her crimes out. What she did in her debut made her the most realistic and twisted villain in the show… well, Cozy Glow came in second place since the show deliberately made her just a psycho child just out of nowhere.

Starlight was not an ancient entity with world domination sights like the previous four seasons’ villains, she was just a regular unicorn back in her foalhood who at the the sight of her friend Sunburst gaining a cutie mark and being enrolled to the magic school, she didn’t take it very kindly… I mean, she could be just jealous of him for obtaining his cutie mark first, BUT straight out being sour on him for finding his special talent? Friends not always gonna stick together forever; they have lives and dreams to pursue and accomplish… and for Starlight not wanting Sunburst away to find his place in the world? It makes me see her as immature and selfish, instead of supportive as the supposed best friend she was to him. I still find just him being the sole reason for her negative emotions drive her to hate cutie marks needing more depth.

Now, as a resentful adult with ridiculous amount of power (which none knows how it came to be), she might just take revenge on her former friend… but she never did. Instead, she had to go and ruin many stangers’ lives through psychological manipulation and torture for how many years. Basically stealing special talents and creating a separatist cult (having into account Our Town was never under Equestria’s radar until the Cutie Map came around)

After her “defeat” and rushed reformation, what still doesn’t sit well around and makes some people not to like her is the fact her psychological crimes were left untreated by the law aspect: you know: taking her to a court, rehabilitation, teraphy, community service. And a harsh approach on her for how she attacked royalty and messed with Equestria’s timeline so many times. Not many people like it when someone doesn’t face charges by that sort of acts against innocent people.

But then again… the thing is since it’s a colorful cartoon show for kids, the staff didn’t seem to look deeply at said aspect.

@Vivace
Yes it is. Maybe the ones who should change isn’t Starlight.

@Just Wayne
Isn’t it ironic?

Based as fuck.

It’s like people are stuck in the past or something.

@Eragor14
Nope, I don’t. They’re free to disagree with this.

@Background Pony #D4DD
I think you should try giving this video a watch: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2vaPZmXYNNs

@Background Pony #D4DD
I am not qualified to respond to allegations like that. I would love to hear from the other side (people that like SG) what they think.

@Mr.Myoozik
I think this especially goes for you, Myoozik. Do you have a response?

After mentally torturing and brainwashing various ponies to make them believe their cutie marks were a curse, not to mention she tried to manipulate Twiligh, showing her this mediocre-written past in a pathetic attemp to empatize with her.

Torturing ponies, manipulating a future princess, and breaking temporal lines causing dystopian-like scenarios after making a intervention in the past are not flaws. Those are serious crimes, and I’m honestly quite suprised how some people are okay with that.

Speaking of flaws, an anonymous below me mentioned she was like a Mary Sue, but not only in the magic like he said, but also in her ways. While Twilight Sparkle was in direct combat against the changelings, leaving us clear they were a hostile and irrational race with an almost endless hungry for love, Starlight made change their ways using only words and appealing to how magical can be the friendship, leaving one of the worst argumental hollows in the series, and showing us how Starlight can make things just for the power of the script, just like many Mary Sues out there. And no, Thorax doesn’t count, he was supposed to be a flaw, an anomaly in his species. The idea that changelings can feel emphaty or love for the ponies was functional with him because of this, he was an anomaly or an exception to the rule. Trying to now make the whole changeling species like Thorax was cleary power of the script with Starlight in the middle.

Out of all I said, this is the only thing that makes sense, based in the past of Starlight, it makes sense how much she care about the kids. However, after all the points I made before, this hardly matters.

@Mori
Sounds like comic:what about the future

I see her more as a cringe parent. One of those who drive to school and enter class without permission just to tell their child it’s wearing their Tuesday underwear on Monday and they have to change it right now.

Don’t know which one I like more

@Background Pony #1273
People hate SG because at one point, it seemed Hasbro plans to replace Twilight with her.

Starlight is quite a nuanced character tbh. I’ve always felt like her magical abilities are on the mary sue spectrum, but as a person, she does grow and learn, yet sometimes acts unreasonable just as all us people do. And I also find it unjustified that people portray her these ways. There are plenty of antagonists in FIM who might fit the role of an evil sadistic person much better.

I come to the conclusion that people just hate Starlight and therefore project negative traits on her