Core Ponies

Over the My Little Pony generations Hasbro has chosen core character sets within each generation, but the treatment of 'main characters' has varied over time.

Generation 1

My Little Pony 'n Friends

Firefly

(toy line)

Sundance

My Little Pony Tales

Sweetheart

Starlight

Clover

Patch

Bon Bon

Bright Eyes

Melody

(Anyone better acquainted with the G1 shows, please jump in.)

Generation 2

Sundance (Sunsparkle)

Light Heart

Sweet Berry

Ivy

Generation 2 is unique among the generations in that no TV shows or movies were made depicting its characters. (The first DVD releases of the G1 TV and movies were released during this time, very often with G2 artwork/ponies all over the packaging, which was/is confusing.)

Despite the lack of animated unity the main characters were established by featuring only the same four ponies together on all merchandise as well as occasional re-releases. Towards the end of the line these characters started being released under different names. They were also featured in the Euro comics(???).

Core 7

Generation 3	Generation 3.5
Pinkie Pie Rainbow Dash Scootaloo Cheerilee Toola-Roola StarSong Sweetie Belle	Pinkie Pie Rainbow Dash Scootaloo Cheerilee Toola-Roola StarSong Sweetie Belle

Generation 4

Mane 6

Twilight Sparkle

Applejack

Fluttershy

Pinkie Pie

Rainbow Dash

Rarity