Contains enough poison to kill the entire Mane 6.

@Background Pony #706C  
Three things:
 

@Scrounge  
That’s not how you write “even worse because it implied he’s less than human” Here,HERE he’s a fish like the rest of them”

@Scrounge  
It’s basically a head with fins, nothing else!

@Meanlucario  
I can live with it, but I’m not fond of it. Less because they made him a pufferfish, and more because the character design just looks wrong to me somehow. It looks like a cross between a tadpole and Spike’s disembodied head, but it’s more than just that, and I can’t put my finger on what exactly it is.

@Scrounge  
I honestly don’t mind Puffer Spike.

@Meanlucario  
If someone’s gonna get turned into a living pun, wouldn’t that be more Pinkie’s thing?
 
But sure, fine, if that’s what floats your boat. Just so long as it’s not a dogfish that looks like a tadpole.

@Scrounge  
So, he should be a dogfish?

@Soda Fizz  
I know! There are plenty of sea creatures that would have fit him better while still letting him fill the “cute comic relief animal” role. If it were up to me, I think he’d have been fun as a squid (and Twilight would have appreciated the free ink). It doesn’t help that he looks more like a tadpole than a pufferfish, either.
 
And Spike as a dog actually kind of fits his “number one assistant” thing. Think of all the jobs people train dogs to do. Sure, some require bigger dogs than others, but being a seeing eye dog or sniffing for clues seem, that kind of thing he (or his always-been-a-dog counterpart) could probably handle without much trouble.

@Adri347  
Disney would like to have a word with you, Hasbro.

@LunaLover20  
That’s the reason for the show itself.

@Background Pony #4D37  
Okay, after seeing that, I now realize this is happening because Hasbro wanted to make a new toy. (No surprise there!)

||Poor Spike. Once he turned into dog (ok, thats was cute)… But now he’s become a fish. It would be better to use design from the book. The idea of adding a bubble was better. Sorry.. It’s just my opinion. ||

@Background Pony #DC23  
I’m not a character designer either, but I know the difference between creative and crappy. Not to mention it looks lazy and poorly thought out.
 
And it does not help that this reminds me heavily of Flounder from the Little Mermaid!
 
I just want Hasbro to take Spike seriously!

@Meanlucario  
I don’t mind him being the “pet” or anything like that, heck I even liked him as a dog. It’s just… out of all things, why a Pufferfish? .w.

@Meanlucario  
The real problem is: he looks pretty dumb and ugly  
But I’m not a character designer

@Meanlucario  
Honestly, the last movie where he was a pet race did a good job by him, but I can’t say I’m not irked it is going to happen again.

@Background Pony #96AE  
Spike is also the only male character in the main cast, not just the only dragon. There are many things that separate him from the Main Six. Still, what’s important is how they treat him, and for the most part, it’s quite well, and as an equal, no matter what or who he is/was.

@Meanlucario  
I guess. The thing is that you can at least make the case that she was wrong to see him like that.
 
But… it’s harder to say “the magic of the universe determines this person is a pet, but they’re wrong to see him like that.”

@Background Pony #96AE  
Didn’t Flutters see Spike as a animal instead of another pony in the first episode?

@Meanlucario  
The problem is that the normal “different species” is a reasonably equal one. This one is more like what you would expect a pet to become.
 
Which is the reason in the first place people who actually want the character to be treated like a person and not a pet are irked.

Finding Spike.

First, he’s a dog and now he’s a frickin pufferfish? xD

Gasp! The character that’s a different species than the rest of the cast is a different species than the rest of the cast! The horror!