[Disclaimer: While this blog post discusses Rule 34 statistics, it doesn't contain explicit imagery, embedded links to pornographic material or excessive coarse language.]

It's the tenth of the month, so you know what that means. That's right! It's time for another in-depth analysis of clop!



My previous Rule 34 blog posts are available at the following links.

August 2012 / At the rate things are going...

September 2012 / Famous Bronies

October 2012 / Digimon

November 2012 / Equestrian elections

December 2012 / Top 11 Hottest Animated Women

January 2013 / General porn statistics

February 2013 / Touhou review

March 2013 / Season three wrap up

April 2013 / Idolm@ster

May 2013 / OC woes

June 2013 / Ribald Rivalries

July 2013 / A major announcement

August 2013 / Rule 34 Origins

September 2013 / Equestria Girls Review

October 2013 / Three years of MLP:FIM

November 2013 / Season Three Episode Retrospective

December 2013 / Twilight Sparkle's Rival

January 2014 / Passing the Bechdel Test

February 2014 / CP Atone

March 2014 / Loli and Stitch

April 2014 / The Binding of Wonder Woman

May 2014 / Cybersix Showdown

June 2014 / Sailor Moon and he Celestial Sorority

Without further ado, here's the latest data from Rule34.paheal.net!



As of July 10, 2014, here's the state of Rule 34:

Pokemon still holds the lead with 79,618 images. 1,535 new explicit images were added during June, giving Pokemon a 1.9% increase in porn from last month. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is in second place with 55,428 images. 1,682 new explicit images were added during June, giving My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic a 3.1% increase in porn from last month. Touhou is in third place with 49,768 images. 975 new explicit images were added during June, giving Touhou a 1.9% increase in porn from last month. DC Comics is in fourth place with 24,491 images. 208 new explicit images were added during June, giving DC Comics a 0.8% increase in porn from last month. Street Fighter is in fifth place with 18,743 images. 395 new explicit images were added during June, giving Street Fighter a 2.1% increase in porn from last month. Naruto is in sixth place with 18,384 images. 158 new explicit images were added during June, giving Naruto a 0.8% increase in porn from last month. Marvel Comics is in seventh place with 17,530 images. 121 new explicit images were added during June, giving Marvel Comics a 0.6% increase in porn from last month. Sonic Team is in eighth place with 16,964 images. 356 new explicit images were added during June, giving Sonic Team a 2.1% increase in porn from last month. Digimon is in ninth place with 12,901 images. 367 new explicit images were added during June, giving Digimon a 2.9% increase in porn from last month. Super Mario Bros is in tenth place with 11,617 images. 303 new explicit images were added during June, giving Super Mario Bros a 2.6% increase in porn from last month.

Street Fighter is not losing fifth place to Naruto without a fight. During the last month, the gap between the two series increased from 122 to 359. Looks like the first round of porn production goes to Street Fighter.



Now that we've gone over the monthly update for the top ten porn producers, it's time to analyze the latest data regarding Rule 34 images for the mane six.

As of July 10, 2014, here's the state of Rule 34 for the mane six, according to Rule34.paheal.net:

Twilight Sparkle has 8,289 images. 260 explicit images were added during June, giving her a 3.2% increase from last month. Rainbow Dash has 6,899 images. 182 explicit images were added during June, giving her a 2.7% increase from last month. Fluttershy has 6,493 images. 217 explicit images were added during June, giving her a 3.4% increase from last month. Pinkie Pie has 5,998 images. 165 explicit images were added during June, giving her a 2.8% increase from last month. Rarity has 5,440 images. 199 explicit images were added during June, giving her a 3.7% increase from last month. Applejack has 5,251 images. 178 explicit images were added during June, giving her a 3.5% increase from last month.

For the second time this year, Pinkie Pie has garnered the least amount of new porn from amongst the mane six. (The previous month was March.) One wonders just how much longer she can hold on to fourth place with her shrinking smut statistics. Maybe clop artists are no longer enamored by her brand of humor. Somepony should punish Pinkie Pie until her porn production improves.



Special thanks to Infinion, who made these amazing graphs of the data I collected.

To start off with, here's the master chart of the top ten Rule 34 producers.



This chart represents more than three years' worth of Rule 34 data. In order to more closely examine the numbers, Infinion has broken the data into more manageable semi-annual charts.

Oct. 2010 - Mar. 2011.

Apr. - Sept. 2011.

Oct. 2011 - Mar. 2012.

Apr. - Sept. 2012.

Oct. 2012 - Mar. 2013.

Apr. - Sept. 2013.

Oct. 2013 - Mar. 2014.

Which brings us to July 2014.



To get an idea of how far My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has come since its premiere, here's a chart highlighting the monthly numerical and percentage increase of MLP porn.



For those who desire a more consolidated look at the raw data, here's the numbers for the top ten porn producers, as well as their monthly increase.

Now let's take a look at the Rule 34 stats for the mane six. Here's their master chart.



In order to discover what these numbers mean, we'll need to delve deeper. In order to do that, we'll break down the data into semi-annual chunks.

Oct. 2010 - Mar. 2011.

Apr. - Sept. 2011.

Oct. 2011 - Mar. 2012.

Apr. - Sept. 2012.

Oct. 2012 - Mar. 2013.

Apr. - Sept. 2013.

Oct. 2013 - Mar. 2014.

Which brings us to July 2014.



For those who desire a more consolidated look at the raw data, here's the numbers for the mane six, as well as their monthly increase

For those who have been reading the My Little Pony comics from IDW, the most recent story arc involved Twilight Sparkle and her friends being transported to a mirror universe Equestria populated with morally-inverted characters.



The narrative focused on evil versions of the royal sisters and a good version of King Sombra.



Ironically, Sombra received more character development as a good guy in the comics than his corrupted cartoon counterpart. The mirror universe Sombra even had a romantic relationship with Princess Celestia!



Mirror universes share many similarities with dream sequences in terms of stories which are devoid of any real consequences. An alternate reality allows the writer to explore "what if" scenarios without jeopardizing the continuity of the main universe. What if all the heroes were evil and all the villains were good? What if the genders of all the characters were reversed?



Mirror universes and dream sequences both suffer a similar stigma. If the story has no impact on the primary universe, it can be difficult for the audience to become invested in the narrative. There are exceptions to every rule, of course. For a TV series like Fringe, a parallel universe plays an integral part in the story.



The dreamstates of Inception had real world consequences.



These concepts aren’t the primary focus of this blog post. I merely used King Sombra's kindly counterpart as a springboard to discuss a subject which has become increasingly popular in recent years: Villains who are re-imagined as misunderstood heroes.



One of the most recent examples of this trend has been Disney's Maleficent. [For those who haven't already seen the movie, the next couple of paragraphs will contain minor spoilers for the first half hour of Maleficent. Scroll past the next Maleficent poster to avoid spoilers.]



The titular character is the same evil fairy who cursed Princess Aurora in Disney's 1959 animated adaptation of Sleeping Beauty. The Maleficent film aims to “set the record straight” and reveals that nearly everything about the original story of Sleeping Beauty is a lie. The film begins with Maleficent's tragic past. As a child, she was a guardian of the forest who protected its magical inhabitants from the encroachment of man. One day, a human boy named Stefan enters the enchanted forest. Stefan is fascinated by Maleficent, and she's equally curious about him. The two of them become friends, and over time, their feelings for one another grow stronger. Maleficent and Stefan eventually share “true love’s kiss.”

As time passes, Stefan becomes obsessed in his pursuit of power and forgets all about Maleficent. King Henry desires the riches held inside the enchanted garden of fairies. He launches an attack on the forest, which is thwarted by Maleficent and her army of magical creatures. The King is humiliated and vows revenge. On his deathbed, King Henry decrees that whomever can bring him proof that Maleficent is dead, will be crowned the next king. Stefan goes back to the forest and meets with his childhood love. He drugs Maleficent and cuts off her wings. Stefan presents them to the king, and is crowned king himself. Upon discovering that her precious wings have been taken from her, Maleficent is thrown into a fit of rage and despair. She vows revenge on the man who betrayed and physically violated her. Welcome to Disney's version of I Spit on Your Grave.



Maleficent draws inspiration from a previous attempt to recast the villain as an unlikely hero. Based on a famous book, this Broadway play features a green-skinned main character who is shunned by a conformist society and eventually defies a corrupt ruler. I'm, of course, talking about Shrek the Musical.



But seriously.



First published in 1995, Wicked was adapted into a Broadway musical in 2003. It tells the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West and portrays her as a sympathetic character. She's ostracized for her green skin, had parents who hated her, and takes care of her wheelchair-bound sister. A traditionally-animated adaptation of Wicked is rumored to be in the works.



Wicked inspired people to re-imagine villains in a more sympathetic light. For example, in Disney's Aladdin, what if Jafar was really the good guy?



After all, the Sultan of Agrabah is a doddering old man who spends his time playing with toys while homelessness and poverty run rampant throughout his kingdom. The royal princess is delaying her marriage obligations and assaulting potential suitors with her tiger. One could see how these events would test the patience of any Grand Vizier. On top of that, the Princess runs away from the palace and bumps into a homeless, thieving liar named Aladdin. This concept was explored further in a full-fledged musical parody called Twisted.

During the play, there's even a musical sequence where Jafar meets other "misunderstood" Disney villains, including Maleficent.

While Twisted is a parody, Maleficent proves that Disney fully supports the notion of revisionist history. Other re-imaginings are in the works, including a Disney Channel original movie called Disney Descendants. The premise begins in a modern-day fantasy world where all the Disney fairy tales share a collective universe. The kingdom’s worst baddies have been imprisoned on a forbidden island with all the other villains, sinister sidekicks and evil stepmothers. After 20 years, the son of Belle and the Beast makes his first proclamation to free the children of the villains and offer them redemption. These villainous descendants are allowed into the kingdom to attend prep school alongside the offspring of iconic Disney heroes. However, the evil teens faces a dilemma. Should they follow in the footsteps of their evil parents and help the villains regain power or embrace their innate goodness and save the kingdom?

Going clockwise from the top left, we have the son of Jafar, the son of Cruella de Vil, the daughter of the Evil Queen from Snow White and the daughter of Maleficent.



This has some truly disturbing implications. The fact that Cruella has a son means that at some point someone had sex with her.



Does the carpet match the drapes? What's her expression when she orgasms?



The whole premise for Disney Descendants sounds strikingly similar to Ever After High, which also features the children of fairy tale characters who must choose whether or not to follow in the path their parents took.

Kristin Chenoweth has been cast as Maleficent in Disney's Descendants, although she looks more like Rita Repulsa.



Chenoweth also played Glinda in Wicked.



And while we're back on the subject, Idina Menzel played Elphaba, The Wicked Witch, in Wicked. She also voiced Elsa in Disney's Frozen.



The two characters have more in common than the first two letters of their names. Elphaba and Elsa are both shunned by society for being different. They both sing a show-stopping musical number about empowerment. (Defying Gravity and Let It Go, respectively.) They both have a concerned friend who tries to help them. (Glinda and Anna, respectively.) Frozen certainly drew more inspiration from Wicked than from Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen.



The Disney fairy tales are often viewed as the definitive version of these timeless classics. When they adapt a relatively obscure story like the Snow Queen, it's best to stick to the original story as close as possible. If the audience has no point of reference going into the film, there's nothing to subvert. This would be like if Wicked came out, but the Wizard of Oz was some obscure story as opposed to one of the most iconic films of all time. Wicked works in subverting expectations because the audience is already familiar with the Wicked Witch of the West. When you see her as a likable protagonist, it's unexpected. You can't surprise the audience by making the Snow Queen an unlikely hero if no one knows that she's supposed to be the villain.

The protagonists of the Snow Queen are two children named Gerda and Kai. After the evil Snow Queen abducts Kai, Gerda goes on a rescue mission to save him. On her travels, Gerda meets a witch, some talking crows, a princess and a band of robbers, including a little robber girl. Frozen was praised for having two strong female leads, but the original story had more than half a dozen prominent female characters.



Disney can change The Snow Queen to be more like Wicked if they want, but the film ended up with one serious flaw. Namely, the antagonist. There was a time when Disney villains were the stuff of nightmares. The Evil Queen ordered for Snow White to be killed and her heart brought back as proof. Maleficent summoned "all the powers of Hell" to transform into a dragon. The Coachman from Pinocchio turned children into donkeys and sold them into slavery. Let's talk about why Frozen has such an underwhelming villain.

[Spoiler alert if you're one of the few people on this planet who still hasn't seen Frozen, the fifth highest grossing film in history.]

Prince Hans is probably the most forgettable Disney Villain ever. He doesn't do anything truly villainous until the last fifteen minutes of the movie. He has no real connection to the characters. I understand Disney was trying to poke fun at the notion of love at first sight, but his ultimate betrayal would have more weight if Hans and Anna were closer. Maybe after Elsa locks herself in her room, young Anna and Hans could become friends. They grow up together and she falls in love with him. Hans might have to move away for a time in which Anna has to deal with loss again. She still carries a torch for Hans and is so happy when he returns that she doesn't realize his motivations towards her have become more sinister. (Shades of Maleficent and Stefan, anyone?) Hans doesn't have an iconic villain song. "Love is an Open Door?" That's weak sauce compared to "Poor, Unfortunate Souls" or "Hellfire." Hans manages to swing his sword one time before he's defeated in the final battle. He doesn't get the traditional Disney death by falling, or any death at all for that matter. He's merely imprisoned, which is actually a fitting end for such an underwhelming and inconsequential villain.



Arguments have been made that Hans is one of the best Disney villains because he's so unassuming. He's not outwardly evil like so many Disney villains. He gains the kingdom's trust and feigns compassion for the royal sisters. When he finally reveals his villainous intentions in the last act, it's done privately to Anna. There's no monologue before the masses. Hans is extremely subtle with his scheming. It's a fair point, but this subtly comes at the expense of all other facets of what makes a memorable villain.

Antagonists who revel in their own debauchery are becoming a rare commodity in these days of moral relativism. Pixar villains, like Lotso from Toy Story 3 and Syndrome from The Incredibles, often come prepackaged with tragic backstories. They're broken souls who went astray as opposed to forces of evil. Disney has embraced revisionist history in many of its recent films, which often includes attempts to understand, and occasionally redeem, the villains. Consider Mother Gothel from Tangled: She's a witch in the original fairy tale, but in Tangled she’s a selfish, passive-aggressive and manipulative mother figure. Part of what makes Tangled so compelling is the emotionally abusive relationship Gothel has with Rapunzel.



In this respect, Disney's decision to distance themselves from classic villain motivations is a welcome change. It allows for new stories to be told and explore new kinds of relationships with more psychologically complex characters. Wreck-it Ralph is another relatively recent Disney film which questions the roles heroes and villains play.

In spite of these improvements, something has been lost as well. Classic Disney villains weren't complex. They didn't need to be. They were frightening and charismatic. It seems like nearly every villain these days is being depicted as a misunderstood good guy.

Next thing you know, they'll try to make Adolph Hitler into a sympathetic character. (Oh, wait. Mel Brooks already did that in The Producers.)

With all this talk of villains, I think it's only fair to examine one of fiction's oldest antagonists and see if he doesn't deserve a little sympathy.



Grendel, for those who don’t know, is a book which was first published in 1971 and tells the story of Beowulf from Grendel’s perspective. Beowulf is the oldest epic poem in the English language and has been studied and analyzed for more than a thousand years. If any villain could be revised as a sympathetic character, it’s Grendel. Unlike Maleficent or the Wicked Witch, Grendel, in the original epic, was more a victim than he was a villain. He’s merely defending his territory from the raucous loud parties of the humans in their meadhall. After he's killed by Beowulf, his mother comes out to avenge her son's death. It’s a real tragedy.

What's fascinating about the 1971 Grendel novel is that it doesn’t attempt to portray him as some tragic hero, but rather as a genuine villain. If anything, Grendel is more evil in the novel than in the original epic. In the poem he’s just a brutish monster for Beowulf to dismember. In the novel he’s a nihilist with chronic depression who envies humanity.

"The world resists me and I resist the world." -Grendel

That's not to say that Grendel is unsympathetic. There's a stark difference between the Grendel-centric story and the Maleficent-focused film. Stories like Grendel make the villain relatable, but they don’t attempt to justify the villain’s actions. Stories like Maleficent and Wicked feel compelled to turn the villains into unsung heroes; martyrs on the wrong side of history. To keep things in perspective, Maleficent in Disney's Sleeping Beauty was the embodiment of evil.

Her motivations are encapsulated in a quote from Sleeping Beauty which claims that Maleficent doesn’t understand love and "probably isn’t very happy.” It's simple, but sometimes simple is all that’s required. Villains are often more menacing when they remain a mystery.

Grendel's defining moment comes when he's visited by a dragon who tells him that life is meaningless and that it’s his destiny to be a monster. The futility of his existence allows him to relish the death and destruction he causes. Grendel doesn’t kill people out of necessity so much as because he enjoys to kill. That being said, he’s shocked by humans who make war and waste so much food by leaving all the dead soldiers to rot. He’s intelligent enough to philosophize with the humans about the nature of evil. His relationship with his mother is also very humanizing. She’s barely able to speak, so Grendel carries on conversations with her by himself. It’s quit compelling. It will be a miscarriage of justice if Andy Serkis never ends up playing Grendel. Crispin Glover was okay, but he can’t compare to the master of motion capture. In addition, it should be noted that the 2007 Beowulf film was a retelling of the epic poem. I want Andy Serkis to star in an adaptation of the 1971 novel, Grendel.



One reason why audiences don’t revisit the story of Grendel very often is because it isn’t very pleasant. Grendel is a dark and morbid tale. It’s bleak, hopeless and claims that, in the end, nothing will amount to anything. Beowulf only appears in the last two chapters, although he's never mentioned by name. In the last few pages of the novel, the image of Grendel running through the woods and dying alone as he screams out for his mother is chilling, to say the least. For those who are interested, Grendel was adapted into an animated film in 1981.

Instead of defining characters as heroes and villains, we should instead view them as protagonists and antagonists. One way to write compelling villains is to make them a shadow form of one of the main characters.



This doesn't always have to be done so literally. It's important to remember that a good antagonist doesn't need to be evil. They just need a trait which is the opposite of the protagonist. We can see this in a few antagonists from My Little Pony.



Sunset Shimmer is a sinister shadow of Twilight Sparkle's studious nature. While Twilight was able to find a balance between her studies and her friends, Sunset Shimmer chose to isolate herself from others in her search for power. Lightning Dust is an example of what would happen if Rainbow Dash's ego went unchecked. While Rarity is generous, Suri Polomare manipulates those around her for selfish reasons.

This isn't to say that the mane six are without their flaws. Their respective strengths are also their greatest temptations. Twilight Sparkle obsesses over her studies to the point of forgetting her friends, Rainbow Dash wrestles with her pride and Rarity struggles to overcome feelings of greed. This same principle applies to Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Applejack for their respective strengths and weaknesses.

The fourth season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic had a story arc revolving around the mane six remaining true to their convictions in spite of intense pressures.



The secret to writing compelling villains is to look at the heroes. What are they conflicted about? What are their weaknesses? In what ways do they need to develop as a character? Once you discover the weakness of a hero, all that remains is to personify that weakness in the form of a villain. External conflict stems from internal conflict. Look at villains as an extension of the heroes. An antagonist represents what the protagonist will become if they abandon their moral principles.



A hero fighting a villain is an extension of the duality that exists within all of us. Each person struggles between good and evil. That's why heroes are only as good as the villains they overcome.

Thanks again for reading to the end of this blog. Please feel free to share any comments or opinions regarding the the trend of re-imagining villains as unlikely heroes. I'll be back on August 10th with another Rule 34 update.