Discord and Tirek -- Which Is Scarier? · 6:01pm Oct 14th, 2017
It's arguable whether Tirek or Discord are scarier.
Tirek is definitely more brutal than Discord. But pre-reform Discord tended to be subtly nasty -- he would twist and trick Ponies into betraying their friends and true nature. That may actually be more frightening.
It's also true that Tirek is more malign than Discord ever was. Much more so -- Discord reduced Equestria to chaos and in the SWSV misruled it as an anarchy beyond the village or town level for a thousand years , but he did not drain Ponies of their personal power en masse. He actually liked Ponykind and wanted them to survive. SWSV Discord even protected Ponykind from worse threats than himself. Tirek, very obviously, couldn't care whether they lived or died as a species, as long as he got their power.
On the other hand, that also makes Tirek more predictable. And one of the scary things about Discord is that he's often unpredictable.
Is Discord being nice to you? Well, is that because he actually likes you, or because he is setting you up for a horrible humiliation? Is Discord being nasty to you? Is that because he hates you, or because he likes you and is manipulating you toward a good fate?
It's notable that Discord hasn't changed in this respect since he reformed, save in that he's now far less likely to actually harm somepony. For instance, if you observe how he now treats the Mane Six, he sometimes is staight-out nice to them, and sometimes teases and tricks them to help them. He holds back with Fluttershy, but he likes to annoy Twilight Sparkle -- whom he probably likes rather a lot, because he respects her. And very often he annoys Twilight with the intent of teaching her some valuable lesson or offering advice. He is a classic Trickster Mentor in this regard.
And, while Tirek could absorb a lot of power, he did not have as much natural power as Discord. Tirek could be drained of his stolen power, but Discord could only be contained -- maybe killed.
Of the two of them, I find Discord far more terrifying.
Tirek is the metaphorical mad man with a machete. He's dangerous, could very likely kill you, and would feel no remorse over it. This makes him physically intimidating.
Discord is worse. Far worse. He knows your fears, your hopes, and your loves and is fully capable of breaking you down so utterly that you're less than a shadow of yourself. What's more, is it's all a game to him. So if he breaks the board... well, he can just go out and find a new one, can't he?
Discord is more terrify but, I think Discord has been holding back. We know he has to do choas because if he doesn't do chaos he disappears. That I think he keeps the chaos realm for taking over, because it most likely the chaos realm would be overwheming everything if he isn't there.
I honestly find Tirek more terrifying for these very reasons. With Discord, at least there's a chance that he's in a good mood. If you aren't powerful enough to stand up to Tirek, the best you can hope for is that he doesn't bother to crush you underhoof after he's sucked you dry. And that's just this incarnation of him; at least he isn't warping ponies into draconic servants.
Yes, Discord can warp reality and sanity like he's whisking cake batter, but there's an almost perverse fascination to that. He may render the world unrecognizable and break your psyche, but at least it will be interesting to witness. (And, on a personal note, that attitude might actually win me his capricious favor more often than not.) Tirek doesn't have style. Tirek doesn't feel whimsy. Tirek rapes, pillages, and burns, and you don't even get a free T-shirt.
Looking back, I seem to have some very odd priorities when it comes to what horrific, world-ending monstrosity I'd rather face, but I stand by them.
4697892
Hey, if your death is inevitable then it may as well be entertaining.
4698002
Accidentally double-posted
It's like debating between "getting shot in the stomach" and "drop-kicked off of an overpass." Either way, you're in for something horrific......
4697832
The difference is that even pre-reformed Discord might choose to merely tease you. And reformed Discord probably wouldn't hurt you.
Tirek came in malicious and remained malicious. And he inherently hates Ponykind.
4697892
Yes, exacty. Tirek is more malign even than pre-reformed Discord, and far more malign than Discord the way he is now. And even pre-reformed Discord was more inclined to mischief than to outright destruction.
Tirek. You only point out how he has power. You never mentioned that he had to negotiate and sweet talk Discord over to his side at first. At that point, Tirek was weak, and could still control the situation expertly. If the magic-less ponies weren't found, Tirek would've worked his way to power eventually. It would've taken time and a great deal of cunning, but Tirek has that. Keep in mind that Tirek got out of Tartarus before Twilight ascended. That means that either Tirek had been stealing magic for a long time, or had stayed hidden and had still managed to feed himself. Comparing his first appearance to his final shot, I would have to say the latter. This means that Tirek has enough cunning to find a way to survive until he was ready to go. To do this, he would need some way to acquire food, and he would be noticed if he stole to much. Remember, the first pony's magic he stole acted surprised to see Tirek where he was, NOT what he was. This implies that Tirek was a commonly seen face, meaning that he had somehow blended with pony society, despite his odd body shape. You speak of his power, and that is all well and good. But from where does power come? Trust. At least one pony knew him, and presumably trusted him, based on how he acted. Tirek's power was at first more of a stealth operation than anything else. He had cunning, but you skip that. You mention screen time, but what happened behind the scenes? What we saw was a small bit of a large whole of Tirek. View by many parts, not just the one. Watch from many angles, and your questions will fall into slots made for them.
4698403
We're really not sure either way. Pre-reformed Discord quite happily broke the main six, and based off Celestia's reaction to him, did the same for many, many others. Pre-reformation, he was only interested in his own amusement, regardless of how much suffering it could cause. Even post-reformation he happily assisted in actively ruining the lives of millions of ponies. Didn't care a whit until it backfired on him. The only saving grace is that he's incredibly capricious. But, that's also a major downfall. Catch him on a bad day and he'll punt you into a dimension filled with sarlaacs or something.
Tirek can't pop in at any time and turn you into an end table.
4698754
True. His MO is to cripple or kill you, period. Discord can be more elaborately cruel, if he chooses to be.
I'd say that Discord is scarier in the short term, but that Tirek would be more fearsome in the long term. As you said, Dissey might kill individuals, but mostly he wants people and ponies to keep existing, if only so he can play with them.
Tirek on the other hand wouldn't give a damn if he was the sole remaining living thing, provided he was the most powerful of them. Indeed I wonder if he had any long-term goals beyond 'blast everything into ruin'. He seemed more like a murderous vandal than any kind of a conqueror. Heck, the Storm King seemed more capable of long term thinking than Tirek.
4697832
So (to put it loosely), Tirek is Jason Voorhees, all physical violence, while Discord is Freddy Krueger, a sadist who loves playing mind games with victims?
4701137
That's how I see them, yeah.
Put another way, Tirek knew he couldn't beat Discord outright, he had to charm him, gain his trust, and then surprise attack him to gain his power.