Lets just say his true intentions for being evil are too obscene to be elaborated in a kid’s show.
 
Perhaps he’s a unicorn who practiced dark magic and possessed by some spirit of hatred who feed off of pain and misery.
 
My headcanon suggests that his actions stemmed from revenge that eventually caused him to Hate everything that’s good.
 
I believe the writers simply made him this way on purpose so the creative community can fill in the void.

I kinda just wish they’d quit the monster-of-the-week format. Fanworks saved Chrysalis for me, but I wasn’t particularly happy when they pulled a villain out of nowhere there either. The old pony stories did that yes, but I liked how FiM just focused on everyday problems (you do not defeat evil by beating huge villains, the villain is you: you solve problems by understanding them and learning about others and yourself). I think that delivers a much better lesson.

Here’s the thing: His name is KING Sombre. He was built up to be an evil KING. I found the idea of a villain on the same level as the protagonist, as opposed to Godly might (Discord, Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis) or far below (the various jerks) and was rather dissapointed that all we got was another Godly enemy. And compared to the Godly enemies, he is absurdly boring and generic. Nightmare Moon had backstory, Discord had a unique appearance, powers, and was hilarious, and Chrysalis was just so fascinatingly grotesque. This guy was just dull in every way possible.

@Solaire  
He did make me think about Gwyn. We learned about him through the way he lived, ruled and the traps he casted. But the shadow thats left of him is just a raging animal. Almost.
 
I think Sombra was the most basic villain so far. He is just an unicorn that thirst for power.

What a loser.

one villain song would probably not have hurt though.

@equestria  
This, fucking this.
 
IMO, Sombra, due to being torn off his body, turned into a shadow, one thousand years locked in the ice and abuse of dark magic have completely torned off his mind, turning him into a almost animalistic being.
 
Like, he isn’t even able to talk, and after he penetrated the Crystal Empire we see even more of the fact he’s ax-crazy now.

My biggest problem with the whole thing is, before season 3: We knew nothing about him; now, we know very little about him. Like I said, I’d love for Sombra to make a return, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. Other than that, I loved everything about these episodes.

I’d say the most impressive thing about him was really the security system he set up in the distant past…

he did his job as a monster of the week
 
just means that people won’t be able to write fanfics about him being sad and misunderstood and just wanting love and all that

Unfortunately, that’s all the man did: LOOK scary.
 
Don’t get me wrong, he’s quite the bad-ass, and he makes me think of something that flew out of a John Carpenter film. The only problem I have is that he hardly “did” anything other than snarl and growl. We’re told by the crystal ponies that Sombra’s reign was horrible, but there isn’t much depth in that (probably because at the end of the day it’s a show meant for children).
 
He’s a cool character, and the first scene in which he actually makes an appearance (I’m thinking of the post-train trip to the snowy wasteland), I actually shivered when I heard that low, discordant wail. I see a massive, amorphous shadow appear, and I immediately think “Oh, crap. The main characters are getting themselves into one bloody shitstorm, aren’t they?” Unfortunately, no.
 
I liked Sombra, he has a decent concept, it’s just that the character doesn’t follow through with that concept. That’s just how I felt on the character. Decent, but by no means exceptional.

Yeah, he’s on fire!