Why Doesn’t Vinyl Scratch talk? (Theory)

[Mana Minori]

Many within the g4 pony community have oft wondered by Vinyl Scratch (DJ Pon-3) hasn’t spoken a single word since her initial appearance. Curious minds have led to wonder if she is, in fact mute- whether by accident or by choice. She is seen having a preference to communicate through body language, if anything.

I think this is a rather interesting development and poorly represented form of communication in media, as not everyone is either adept or willing to communicate through words.

And I think that in Vinyl’s case, it could be explained as the latter, and by doing so, could paint her as a most powerful character. How could this be so? Well,
Let’s try taking a look at what a spell” is.

The root “spellam” originally meant story, saying, tale, history, narrative, fable and then the term ‘spell’ started to take on the meaning of a charm or magical incantation in the Middle Ages.

In the Indo-European tradition, words were always viewed as having magical abilities, or possessing a dangerous magic. For example, the daughter languages of Proto Indo-European arrange the consonants in the root for the animal “wolf “ in bizarre ways. This is probably because the original speakers (before 3000 BC) feared that if they said the actual word for ‘wolf’ it would magically cause the animal to appear. It’s the origin of ‘curse words’ — the belief that the usage of particular words had powerful negative effects — the ability to curse yourself or others.

Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it. – Albus Dumbledore. So what does all this magic talk really mean? Well, for writers, it means we’re magicians; we’re powerful. We can cast spells over the world by spelling words into existence and we can change the way people think, feel, and act. That’s our ability as writers, speakers, and storytellers, that’s our gift — to influence others, to create the unexpected, to change the way people see and understand the world, to put on a show.

Still don’t believe in the power of words? Finish this sentence:

“What if…”

Oh, the endless places those simple words, those six letters, can take you. The sparks of imagination burning in your brain this very moment. Your imagination, like a child’s, explodes with unrestrained possibility. What if you could use that very power of inspiration, creation, and connection with everyone you meet? Answer: you can.

We wielders of words, we sorcerers, charmers, creative conjurers, magical beasts, we are free to spell words into existence at will — writing that’s crafted to convince, to change, to instill a sense, a feeling in someone beyond their control. There’s real power there. We are undoubtedly unstoppable.

Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little. – Tom Stoppard For non-writers, take note: that power is not held by writers alone. We’re ultimately talking about the brain — our endless canvas, where words live and breathe — and it’s open to all. Artists, designers, strategists, thinkers, and any sort of creator in this world: you’ve made it this far, so I have a gift for you: you, as well, are magical. You too have the power to create thoughts, feelings, and imagery in people’s minds in your own way. You speak, you write, you think, you are unstoppable, as well.

How? By using your passions and craft to tell stories. You are human and therefore you are a natural storyteller. It’s built into you. You can control minds. You do it for yourself without realizing. Every night your stories give you an escape, letting you play in fantasy worlds. You go to bed and your brain sits up telling itself wonderful stories, both memorable and mundane.

Mankind has spent thousands upon thousands of years developing the magic of communication and stories. How dare you not believe in it. Words are mankind’s greatest creation; capable of transcending time and space; capable of controlling the human mind; capable of anything. We see this mirrored also in how Twilight rewrites one of the greatest magicians known to ponykind’s spells- Starswirl the Bearded, in Magical Mystery Cure.

While we may look at Twilight Sparkle as a pony with an inexhaustible well of magical ability and spells through her bibliomaniacal tendencies, accesses, and lineage (Taking into account the profession of an author (and also spell crafter) her mother, Twilight Velvet has), then perhaps we can look at Vinyl as one who willingly rejects the amount of influence words , and thus, spells, might have on the world around her.   She constantly surrounds herself with the art form of music, rather than that of written word and influence.   Perhaps this can be seen as a Personal influence, as music can alter the listeners own mood and emotions.

I suspect that Vinyl may have a far greater degree of control in the field of magical manipulation than Twilight herself- not only by refraining from crafting written and spoken spells, but also by showing that with great power can come greater responsibility, she indeed conducts herself far more responsibly by comparison. Vinyl has all the power in the world to influence others around her with a single word, a single spell. But I think she is willingly choosing not to. And THAT, is why she remains mute.

[Ponybookworm]

"What if..." began so many story ideas for me it's untrue!!!

I do love this theory, & I've seen how certain languages in assorted fantasy stories are magical because quote "the word IS the thing."
And since the spells of FIM are all in English, I get why Vinyl Scratch won't speak in that case.

My own big story has a thing where using a certain Voice compels people, & it's by no means alone (Star Wars AND Dune both have similar Voices).

Not to mention my IRL experiences with many of the names I've been called which I still remember to this day.
So yep, words are powerful.

Makes me wonder what would happen If Vinyl ever sang...

[Leave a Whisper]

Because she's a background character and not all of them do

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Interesting theory! I always just went with she is mute or selectively mute.

[NanoRuby]

Because she's a background character and not all of them do

If she was just a normal BG character this could be likely, but Vinyl has gotten more attention than most because fans liked her design. So when she has gotten more focus in episodes, such as Slice of Life, she is shown using physical communication as opposed to verbal, even when talking to the main characters. And in one of the holiday episodes, she was shown talking in the background and animators later confirmed that this was a mistake, pretty much proving that her muteness, whatever it may be caused by, is deliberate.


Going back to the theory, I think that's really interesting! I love how it combines her lack of speech with magic and her affinity for music, it's not something I ever would have though of before.
Also I never knew about the origin of "curse words". You learn something new every day.

[SpacePinto]

Maybe they just didn't bother finding a voice actress for her?

[Minty_Magic]

Interesting!

I honestly always thought she went deaf because she listened to her music too loud and now she selects music to play from either songs she knew and loved or new songs that she “feels” are jams based on their vibrations.

I honestly never paid too much attention to her character, so idk if my theory even lines up, but I think the idea of a deaf DJ is neat anyway!

[lonewolf]

Maybe they just didn't bother finding a voice actress for her?

At one point they asked Jessi Nowacking (the long standing fandom voice for Vinyl) if she (now he) wanted to, but declined as she wouldn't be able to voice Vinyl on  fandom projects anymore.

[Carrehz]

I always assumed they deliberately kept her mute to avoid another Ditzy incident - you know, certain parts of the fandom freaking out cause it was different to "their" voice for her, or whatever.

Maybe they just didn't bother finding a voice actress for her?

At one point they asked Jessi Nowacking (the long standing fandom voice for Vinyl) if she (now he) wanted to, but declined as she wouldn't be able to voice Vinyl on  fandom projects anymore.

huh, really? Interesting.. but then why not just get a different VA? lol, reminds me of how Sundance's VA didn't come back for MLP and Friends so she just went mute after the movie.

[Leave a Whisper]

Because she's a background character and not all of them do

If she was just a normal BG character this could be likely, but Vinyl has gotten more attention than most because fans liked her design. So when she has gotten more focus in episodes, such as Slice of Life, she is shown using physical communication as opposed to verbal, even when talking to the main characters. And in one of the holiday episodes, she was shown talking in the background and animators later confirmed that this was a mistake, pretty much proving that her muteness, whatever it may be caused by, is deliberate.


Going back to the theory, I think that's really interesting! I love how it combines her lack of speech with magic and her affinity for music, it's not something I ever would have though of before.
Also I never knew about the origin of "curse words". You learn something new every day.

So? Just because a buncha fans like her, doesn't automatically qualify or disqualify her from getting a va. And its not the first or last time a toytoon company has pushed more merch of increasingly popular minor chars.

[Zapper]

She's mute and expressing herself through her music.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m-DChtO4lF0 (example from a superior show where the mute character was "singing")

[NanoRuby]

So? Just because a buncha fans like her, doesn't automatically qualify or disqualify her from getting a va. And its not the first or last time a toytoon company has pushed more merch of increasingly popular minor chars.

Except the whole point of the main episode I mentioned, Slice of Life, was to focus on the fan-favourite background characters. Every single BG character that had focus in the episode was given a proper voice actor, except for Vinyl. Whether it was because they couldn't find a voice actor for her or didn't want to give her a voice from the start, by the time the episode came out it's clear that her being nonverbal was now a part of her character.

[brightberry]

I always thought it was to make her look “cooler”.

“Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.”

Pretty much all the quiet ones in movies are the cool, even scary characters.

I don’t think the writers had anything as clever in mind as Mana Minori has theorized.

[Taffeta]

Because she's a background character and not all of them do

If she was just a normal BG character this could be likely, but Vinyl has gotten more attention than most because fans liked her design. So when she has gotten more focus in episodes, such as Slice of Life, she is shown using physical communication as opposed to verbal, even when talking to the main characters. And in one of the holiday episodes, she was shown talking in the background and animators later confirmed that this was a mistake, pretty much proving that her muteness, whatever it may be caused by, is deliberate.


Going back to the theory, I think that's really interesting! I love how it combines her lack of speech with magic and her affinity for music, it's not something I ever would have though of before.
Also I never knew about the origin of "curse words". You learn something new every day.

So? Just because a buncha fans like her, doesn't automatically qualify or disqualify her from getting a va. And its not the first or last time a toytoon company has pushed more merch of increasingly popular minor chars.

Let's not forget that the mantra of G4 is to believe everything in the show happened because the fans dictated it there. While in actual fact all the money ended up in Hasbro's pocket because Hasbro dictated it there pretending to flatter said fans' egos. (This not targeted at the OP or anyone in this thread by the way).

My point being that Hasbro wouldn't do anything that they couldn't merchandise.

If they really cared about the fans' opinions they'd have used the fans' name for her when they sold the toys, and they didn't. But good for Hasbro for leading them on enough to make FIM such a success.

In answer to the OP's question, I like Zapper's option best.

[Carrehz]

they were weird with Vinyl's name, I'm sure I saw some official stuff that called her "Vinyl Scratch"?

I think "DJ Pon3" or however you spell it (stupid name why they went with that over Vinyl or anything else, I'll never know) was originally a fan name too, though.