History Fanfic / CodexEquus

The Codex is a detailed series of entries detailing a large number of things about Equestria and Equus as a whole, including the nations, cultures, history, animals and plants, magic and technology, and many many other facets of the world. ''Codex Equus'' attempts to massively expand, elaborate, and otherwise add additional details to the land of Equestria and the world beyond it, speculating and building upon what canon and optional canon material already been provided.

[[folder:O to R]]
* OddJobGods:
** Cultura is the Draconequi Goddess of Popular Culture. While certainly a weird thing to be based on, [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower it has some impressive powers]], such as being able to copy the powers of fictional characters, summon puppets of them to do her bidding, and trap her enemies in fictional scenarios. She also possesses encyclopedic knowledge of popular culture, all of it, which makes her a pretty skilled manipulator.
** Vehere is the Griffon Goddess of Modern Transportation and Travel. As with Cultura, this is more impressive than it sounds. She's incapable of getting lost (unless he wants to), has encyclopedic knowledge of vehicles, has a photographic memory, and can recreate any vehicle she's cataloged in her scrapbook from thin air, as well as create the means for them to travel wherever she likes. This includes things like tanks. She also can teleport, but she prefers to take the long route.
** Downplayed with Entasi, who is the Minotaur God of Strength and Victory on top of being the God of Sports. He gets unlimited stamina and incredible agility out of that part of his portfolio.
** Munditia is the goddess of Hygiene and Sanitation, who has the power to clean literally anything, including the body of toxins and poisons, pollution, and even the soul.
* OmnicidalManiac:
** Ahuizotl is one, being a nihilist who feels destruction is the only thing that gives life meaning. This is a huge reason why he wants to perpetuate the Cycle and attempted to kill Queen Dazzleglow, until Daring Do stopped him.
** King Xestobium is genocidally insane to the point of trying to detonate the entire 'Ring of Fire' in his attempt to kill off the Dragon species as well as the Summer Court, which would also trigger a mass extinction event via volcanic ice age, which he may have known about but no longer cared. There's implication that he had no intent to survive this himself, making him [[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery far more sympathetic]] than Ahuizotl, who kills because he sees death as a natural part of "The Cycle", and that [[ForTheEvulz it amuses him]].
* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: Dr. Toxikon is one, with his plan thus far involving an in depth knowledge of psychology, biotechnology, and chemistry, and also has invented machines for construction. Justified, as he's a Dragon and thus had 5,000 years to learn and pursue degrees.
* OneGenderRace: Subverted with the Alicorns; it's popularly believed that due to the abundance of female Alicorns, Alicorns in general are primarily female, and as a consequence, it is also believed that fillies and mares are more "worthy" and "capable" of Ascending, with proof lying in the fact that powerful mares like Princess Twilight Sparkle have often been chosen to Ascend. However, there do exist male Alicorns in the Codexverse, albeit at a far lower number, and when the infant Alicorn Godling, Prince Léon Blueblood, was officially introduced to the public by Celestia, some saw Léon as a threat to Equestria's existing social hierarchy simply because to his gender. Luminiferous would firmly and soundly disprove this notion, stating that he has mentored both mares and stallions alike, and not all of them Ascended. The Equestrian Princesses agreed with him, adding that anyone becoming an Alicorn is a cause for celebration. It is also speculated by [=BrutalityInc=] that even before its fall, the Alicorn civilization did have males, but at a very low number as did their mortal counterparts.
* OneManArmy: 'Visitors' have attacked both a Cloven base and Hive Brachion to [[RoaringRampageOfRescue save a Sparkle Ponies]] that were [[PapaWolf believed to be their offspring]]. Both did so alone and were effectively unstoppable. This is justified, as Visitors are implied to be aliens with power and technology that exceeds those of Equus.
* OneWingedAngel:
** Dreadmares possess the ability to do this if they gather enough fear, [[FusionDance fusing with their Terror]] to become a living storm shaped like a serpent. The first example of this was the mutant Dread.
** Zinabi, the previous TopGod of the Abyssinian Pantheon, does this after his opponent Jegina, the Abyssinian God of Courage and Heroism, managed to knock him off his feet and wound him in their duel for the throne of their pantheon. Zinabi sheds his AFormYouAreComfortableWith for his pure divine form, a titanic, Abyssinian-shaped storm singularity of cataclysmic power. Jegina follows suit shortly there after (after luring the battle to an area were mortals wouldn't be harmed), becoming a being of pure golden, heroic energy.
** Bolezn, Temnobog's second-youngest son and the embodiment of Gluttony, Greed, and Pestilence, has the ability to turn into a gigantic version of himself that's made of both fleshly and gem-plated insects/vermin. In this form, his powers are increased tenfold, and he's extremely hard to hit since parts of him can fly away to avoid attacks. Once he's done, however, he takes a while to rest and recover. Bolezn thinks that "One-Winged Angel" isn't an accurate way to describe his form, though, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint because if he really did go one-winged, he wouldn't be able to fly at all]].
** Yarost's ultimate form is an enormous, hulking, bloodthirsty dragon-like monster with black and red scales; rows of teeth literally made of sharp swords; long, spiraling horns; a spiky clubbed tail; two pairs of wings; and spikes made of flames. In this form, Yarost's physical strength and endurance are both enhanced tenfold, and his proficiency with fire magic increases, making him an absolutely devastating powerhouse that could potentially bathe Equus in blood and fire if he chooses to. However, he sees it more as a ClippedWingAngel form since it makes him more prone to rage and is ''incredibly'' destructive, and using that much power would only repeat the death and destruction he had previously caused in his grief, and only saves it for absolutely dire situations.
---> '''Yarost:''' I would rather fight my enemies in my weakest form first, than go all out and devastate the Deer realms with just a few strikes.
* OnlyTheChosenMayWield: A common enchantment for magical artifacts of enormous power.
** The Elements of Harmony, as in canon, are this, as are the Lights of the Seven Royals of Friendship Gardens. These are implied to be very similar powers.
** The Enchanted Throne of Friendship Gardens contains the Majestic Power, the magical power of [[WorldsStrongestMan the strongest mortal pony to ever live]] (heavily implied to be Queen Majesty), but will only give it (and thus the throne of Friendship Gardens) to one worthy. It's given it to heroes throughout history in times of great need, most recently Fluttershy, but most return it due to having no interest in ruling. Only Queen Sunsparkle has ever claimed it for any length of time, though she gave it up for a worthy successor to use so she could help those pony colonists who got stranded in space.
* OppositesAttract: Taken UpToEleven with Válka and his wife Mier, who are a WarGod and Goddess of ''Peace'' respectively. Mier balancing out Válka is one reason why he's the only one of his three siblings to ''not'' fall to evil. They're also SickeningSweethearts and deeply in love with each other.
* OrderVsChaos: Many conflicts between beings, factions and powers carries vibes of this.
** On top of it being [[ForTheEvulz amusing]], Discord's destruction of '[[{{Precursors}} The Ones Before]]' in Amorea and many other civilizations is described as especially beneficial to the Draconequus as they are bastions of order and stability whose existence is quite anathema to a Spirit of Chaos.
** The 500-years long "War Against Chaos" around 2,500 years before the present day of Equestria is essentially one, where a 'Celestial Alliance' of deities, immortals and races fought to contain the then-villainous Discord, his accomplices and their 'Disorder Lords' who had taken over the Equestrian subcontinent and wanted to takeover/remake the rest of the world. No guesses for who stands for Order and Chaos in this fight.
** The Progenitors of Changelingkind, personal animosity to Discord aside, are more or less foils to Discord in similar ways, both being the parents, originators and overarching rulers of [WIP]
* OriginsEpisode: The Storm King Crisis features one for the title villain.
* {{Orochi}}: A major villain in Neighpon's history, and his return is a major focus of many stories set there.
* OurGiantsAreBigger: Prominently mentioned, with the Codex going into extensive detail in explaining their various behaviors and cultures, revealing they have considerable HiddenDepths than most small races assume they have other than just being violent, over-sized brutes.
** Cyclops in the Codexverse are complete opposites of what they are depicted both in-universe and in real-life, being a highly civilized race of artisans, scholars and BadassPacifist individuals who prefer not to use violence to solve problems unlike most other Giants. They're very disappointed that the actions of their exiles had tainted outsiders' perception of them to be nothing more than pony-eating savages.
** Nature Giants, among some of the biggest Giants on Equus, are a race of druids attuned to nature ruled over by a theocratic matriarchal monarchy. They use to be more friendly to Tinies, but a terrible experience with Grogar and Tambelon's desecration of their domains in the First Age irrevocably ruined their relationship with Tinies outsiders and promptly lead to their continued isolationism to this day.
** The Grand Griffons are a demigod race of giant Griffons who are directly or indirectly descended from the gods of Griffonkind, specifically Boreas and Astra of the Northern Griffon Pantheon. Honorable and noble, they go out of their way to protect innocent Tinies and serve as allies, guides and teachers of many great heroes of the Tauren Peninsula where they are primarily based, next to Griffonnia.
** Queen Colossos' Empire is a Giant civilization of nomadic warriors who conquered much of the continent of Terra Equus at its height which eventually went to war against the Crystal Empire after a disastrous FirstContact.
** The Gigantes of the Taurus Peninsula Giant Lands are mentioned as one of the most prominent on Equus, with a warrior culture based around honour. Their chief deity is Terraton, the god of earth, battle and honour.
** The Giants of Light are this among the [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens 'Visitors']], with a culture which sees it a duty for them to battle evil monsters and threats and be benevolent defenders of Tinies and other races.
* TheParagon:
** Jegina, the Abyssinian God of Heroism and Courage, is this, seeking to be an ideal hero and inspiration for his kind. He's compared to a comic book superhero, even more so after becoming his Pantheon's TopGod.
** Luminiferous, despite being created to be the AntiChrist, ultimately chose to be this: he's God of Perfection, and unlike his father sees this as a call to be an ideal for others to be inspired by and strive to be rather than to lord over everything that's not him. He's regarded by others to be his father, as he should have been.
** The Deer god Belyolen was intended by his father, High King Irminsul, to become a divine force of good and benevolence. To that end, he attempted to cast a ritual on his then-unborn son to get rid of all his flaws and darker urges, so only compassion would be left. [[GoneHorriblyWrong Unfortunately]], this resulted in the birth of Belyolen's younger twin, Temnobog, the living embodiment of everything Irminsul tried to destroy. While he was favored and respected by his family and fellow gods, Belyolen did not agree with Temnobog's emotional mistreatment, and after he overheard his family considering the option of [[OffingTheOffspring killing Temnobog altogether]], he rebelled by shaming his family for their arrogance and abusive hypocrisy, and left with several of his brothers and sisters to form the Bogolenya pantheon. This in turn makes him a ''true'' paragon, unlike his petty and hypocritical family and peers.
** Gleaming Shield and his various mortal incarnations are often lionized in-universe as this, being the Eternal Hero who will always rise up to rescue his Princess/Queen, Radiant Primrose, and defeat his Eternal Foe, Blood Fang. However, while he is a noble hero, the truth is that he's a flawed individual who had to work to become the celebrated paragon he is today, something that is accepted by the morally tolerant Erobreseg Deer herds. Others try to make him "perfect" by editing out his flaws altogether from their stories of him.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Many deities, especially those with Karma as their domains, tend to dish this out to punish evildoers.
** Temnobog and his children, the Four Terrors, are very big on this, due to their views on the [[GoodNeedsEvil nature]] of [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil evil]]. Even before his reconciliation with his brother, Temnobog would curse those who he thought deserved it, bringing opposition from his good-hearted twin brother, Belyolen.
** Pakak, being a trickster god who embodies Karma, can be pretty brutal when he's punishing the wicked for their crimes, but never more than is deserved by their evil deeds. Just ask [[VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks Sunnytown.]]
** Being the in-universe embodiment of the CatharsisFactor, Katharsis likes to deliver humiliating LaserGuidedKarma to those who angered her. This does not mean she's a goddess of revenge, as she humiliates villains and other evildoers as a way to bring closure to situations and make them look pathetic in front of their victims.
** Changeling King Brachion of the Summer Court utterly destroyed an Alvslog Deer kingdom with an army of Changeling soldiers and biologically-engineered monsters on it, all to pay the royal family back for leaving him in a dangerous forest to die because he was a dormant Royal Changeling. The rumored things he did to his family were the stuff of nightmares, from subjecting his surrogate parents to horrific experiments to hunting, ravishing and eating his own surrogate siblings in forms of predatory beasts.
** Polistes did this twice.
*** After Blackthorn offered a chance to get revenge against the pegasi fanatics who tried to lynch him and his mother, he launched a plan where he secretly warned and evacuating the villagers who had nothing to do with their neighbor's crimes under the guise of "scouting" the place. When Blackthorn's raiders arrived to burn the village to the ground, they found that the place was deserted, save for the pegasi fanatics who were tied and blindfolded.
*** After learning that director Colton Marentino ([[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed a pony verison of]] Creator/QuentinTarantino) was abusing famed Griffon actress, Helga Greywing, and essentially holding her prisoner within her own trailer, Polisties launched the incredibly daring "Stolen Starlet Caper", rescuing Helga under the pretense of a kidnapping while he and his Wild Cards crew were disguised as cameramen. Then, after treating Helga to the celebration of her life on his airship, he helped her stage a dramatic escape that would not only increase her public standing as a hero, but also disgrace and blacklist Marentino after Helga exposed him for the abusive brute he is.
* PersonalitySwap: As in G1, Frazzits do this to those they effect.
* PetTheDog:
** Despite being an OmnicidalManiac who hates his own people and wants them destroyed, Xestobium shows some degree of kindness to both Polistes and Metamorphosis for being the only two of his brothers he ever actually liked due to being much more noble than their kin.
** Dr. Toxikon chose to spare Thorax and his New Changelings his genocide because of Ember and Thorax's friendship.
** King Brachion was so impressed by Fluttershy's refusal to break from learning the horrible truth about nature that he was willing to sponsor her animal sanctuary, being a Royal Changeling who is rich in bits. He also kept Fluttershy's thank-you letter as a treasured keepsake (as well as one of many closely-guarded secrets).
* PhysicalGod: An entire section of the codex is devoted to cataloging these. The Alicorn Princesses are confirmed as such. Deities in the Codexverse are defined by being composed and wielding Primordial Quintessence - magic in its basest, purest form as a primal force of nature.
* ThePigPen: The Changeling Queen Pentatomidae and her ''entire hive'' are this. Pentatomidae told her mother that when she was queen, she'd never make her hive take baths. [[ExactWords She wasn't joking]]. They smell so bad they can make an unprepared pony pass out, and Moufette couldn't stand her despite being a skunk.
* PintsizedPowerhouse:
** Queen Mab II, the Mother Goddess of the Breezies, isn't much bigger, being as big compared to them as Celestia is to a normal pony. A Yak king assumed her small size meant she was weak. He was promptly suplexed straight through the floor. Tiny or not, she's still a Goddess.
** King Sefyr, Mab II's husband and Father God of the Breezies, is also as small as his wife, but he's a powerful wind deity who at his strongest can create devastating wind-based storms, and is fast enough to ''run through people''. However, [[MoreDeadlyThanTheMale he considers Mab II to be more powerful as her flower magic is more useful and versatile in any given situation]].
** Queen Mab I, the mother of Mab II, is a small Fae goddess who not only had a nature-based portfolio, she could also wield Chaos magic like Discord. Her insanity makes her an extremely dangerous foe, using her powers to inflict [[BalefulPolymorph horrific transformations]], [[RealityWarper warp reality to her whims]], and cause [[ButterflyOfDoom "domino effects"]] that lead to utterly catastrophic disasters for anyone who tries to go after her. It took ''every'' Fae to seal her the first time, and it took ''even more'' people to defeat her the second time.
* PowerGivesYouWings:
** Naturally, becoming an Alicorn (if you don't have wings already) gives you this. However, according to Mzazi, the Mother of All Zebra and a Zebralicorn, once they get old enough Alicorns and their derivatives grow additional sets of wings with age. Luminiferous is at the age when he'll begin to grow his second set (being several hundred thousand), while Mzazi has eight sets due to being 4 million years old. Before that they get a gradient to them (which both Mzazi and Luminiferous possess), with Cadence's gradient and the one Twilight gets in Rainbow Power being indicators of them having extraordinary potential.
** In an inversion, the villainous unicorn trio Decepticolt, Zappityhoof, and Goldencap believed that ''wings'' would give them power, and to fulfill their goal of becoming Alicorns, they stole Rainbow Dash's wings by secretly amputating them for their own use. This ''enraged'' Princess Twilight Sparkle into sealing/stripping their magic indefinitely as punishment for their actions.
* PrinceOfPranksters:
** Arlequin is the literal Goddess of Pranks, and plays lighthearted pranks constantly, even on other gods. She gets it from her father Pakak, the God of Mischief and Discord's brother, who loves her pranks just as much.
** Prince Puck, Empress Blackrose's eldest son, is a literal Prince due to being a First-Spawn son of the Changeling goddess, Empress Blackrose. He's also a lover of pranks and is usually good-natured about it... but he'll resort to meaner pranks if someone has managed to incur his wrath.
* PrincessesRule:
** A double-subversion with the Crystal Empire, back when it was actually an empire. The official title was "Empress/Emperor", but in recent history it switched to a Princess system, which explains why Princess Cadence rules over the empire despite being... well, a Princess.
** The Equestrian Princesses, Celestia and her younger sister Luna, and Twilight all officially rule Equestria. Justified in that "Princess" is the highest official title in Equestria.
* PseudocanonicalFic: ''Codex Equus'' is essentially this, with a heavy dose of WorldBuilding and FixFic.
* PyrrhicVictory: The Crystal Empire managed to win victories against the Giants during their war with Queen Colossos' Empire 1,500 years ago, but many of them were wrought at a heavy cost. And it is all but stated at the start that they didn't even ''win'' it, merely surviving the onslaught, and the fallout of which would [[VestigialEmpire lead to their downfall]].
* RageAgainstTheHeavens:
** It's heavily implied that what caused the "[[{{Gotterdammerung}} Twilight of the Orosians]]" event was a major case of this, their mortal worshipers having gotten so fed up with the callous, petty treatment that [[KillTheGod they decided to exterminate all of them]]. Bellamos, a benevolent War god who once was a part of them, made it clear that [[AssholeVictim the Orosian deities brought it on themselves]] and refused to help them, instead focusing on helping people who got caught up in the event. Those Orosians who survived did so because [[KarmicJackpot their kindness and benevolence earned them the admiration and respect of their worshipers]].
** What led to the creation of Father Deer, a "False Deity" Tulpa, was the Deer Clovenists' extreme distrust towards the Bogolenya pantheon's good intentions, since none of them helped their mortal subjects while they were suffering under backwards, corrupt, and hedonistic monarchies. Their attempts to create a deity that's wholly devoted to Clovenism went horribly wrong, as Father Deer turned out to be nothing more than a psychopathic, childlike bully with godlike powers. Mother Deer destroyed him after the Clovenists swallowed their pride and begged for help, but their relationships with the divines had incredibly soured at this point.
* ReallyGetsAround: Ispita, Goddess of Temptation, is known for being this trope and having had ''many'' flings in the past. This is the result of one of the things she embodies is lust. She had eight children with Temnobog and also had a fling with Discord while siding with him during his reign.
* RealityEnsues:
** The leadership of the Abyssinian pantheon were JerkassGods who ultimately did nothing to stop the Storm King largely out of spite and the fact he didn't care about who his subjects worshiped. Their worshipers abandon them for more benevolent gods and ultimately the benevolent members of the Pantheon overthrew them. It's mentioned this is normally what happens to JerkassGods, since in this world mortals have a ''lot'' of options, all of which are equally real, so they don't have to put up with the jerks among the gods.
** The Changelings and Dragons have loathed each other for eons and have tried to exterminate the other at least once each. As such, there's a lot of FantasticRacism between them. This makes an extremely toxic environment even in the more benign Spring Court, which has very recently come back to bite them both ''very'' hard due to creating extremely dangerous villains via the psychological damage it's caused.
** Positive example: despite the eons-long blood feud between the Changelings and Dragons, not all of both sides actually buy into it. Apterus's parents didn't care about it, while Puck, Pentatomidae, Zoraptera and Theraphosa didn't view it as right due to being among the most moral of their Court. Pentatomidae made a point in punishing her family for their racism by avoiding them for ''500 years''.
** Choice makes it clear that just because the trio of villains that attempted to destroy the dragons and changelings spawned by their grudge were beaten, this does ''not'' mean that it's over. So long as the CycleOfRevenge continues, such monsters will inevitably follow.
** Various mutations have largely positive versions, but as genetic mutations can be random, there are versions of them with flawed genes that can be detrimental or even deadly.
** Most of the old Orosian gods were little more than irresponsible, arrogant, and spoiled children who constantly caused unnecessary wars and deaths with their petty squabbles and extreme intolerance for disrespect. As a result, they died during the [[{{Gotterdammerung}} Twilight of the Orosian Gods]], an event that was implied to be of their own making.
** High King Irminsul, TopGod of the once-united Elternteil pantheon, emotionally abused Temnobog for being born "evil" despite not having done anything evil while favoring the pure and radiant Belyolen, and encouraged his family and peers to do the same. This not only caused Temnobog to become a genuine GodOfEvil out of misery and resentment for a time, but also drove away Belyolen, who was rightly disgusted with his petty hypocrisy and left to form his own pantheon so he could get his brother away from him, especially after learning that some of his family members considered killing his dark twin. Irminsul's horrible parenting also attracted the Alicorn Primeval of Self-Love, Amour-De-Soi, who reportedly helped Belyolen and the other Bogolenya deities leave out of similar disgust. And presumably, his views on how to handle the future of Deerkind also partially caused the Elternteil schism, as other divine Deer left to form the Hoyklan pantheon.
* {{Reconstruction}}: ''Codex Equus'' strongly encourages this in regards to the problems of the Equestrian setting and stories.
* ReimaginingTheArtifact: Invoked, since ''Codex Equus'' encourages originality in a collaborative attempt to worldbuild Equestria and the world at large. The ''many'' G1 and G2 gimmick figures which haven't been seen since get reimagined by various writers as unique subpony types who range from genetic mutant variants to hybrids:
** Sparkle Ponies are either mutants or, more likely, hybrids with the Visitors, and are major player in the setting once Dazzleglow returns. The Visitors are likewise based off the unmade Celestial Ponies.
** Secret Surprise Ponies are {{Mutants}} who have a natural BagOfHolding in the form of biological pouch on their back with magic similar to a giants' that contains a PocketDimension. This is way more useful than it would seem, allowing them to store more or less whatever they want to in a given situation, and even act as living personnel carriers.
** Perfume Ponies have mutated scent glands that allow them to emit various smells. With training, they can do a large number of things with it and it becomes HeartIsAnAwesomePower (especially since they can do things such as imitate the smell of Dragon Sneeze Trees that gives a dragon an allergic reaction).
** Happy Tail Ponies in canon had a spinning tail gimmick. Here, they have a mutation that allows them to magically manipulate their tail like an extra limb, which is also used to explain why certain ponies in the show have {{Prehensile Tail}}s while most others don't.
** Rainbow Ponies got their name from their multi-colored hair, and their ability to control light and rainbows. Their prismatic hair and appearance are biological solar panels that absorb light and convert it into energy, yet there are faulty genes that make this ability deadly to the individual. Rainbow Ponies in general are treated as heroes, with the most famous Rainbow Pony is Rainbow Dash, the performer of the Sonic Rainboom, [[AchievementsInIgnorance though she's at present completely unaware of her heritage]].
** The Alicorn Amulet that showed up in Trixie's possession in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E5MagicDuel Magic Duel" was originally created to boost the prowess of magically weak ponies so they could stand as equals among those who were born powerful. It was ''meant'' to be a power-enhancer, nothing more... but later it became corrupted itself because [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters its wearers would abuse their boosted magic in doing terrible things and then blame their evils on something else]].
* {{Retcon}}: Some rewrites had occurred to make the Fourth Age more 'unique' compared to the past. With the entry of the 'People's Empire of the Cloven', the Hooviet entries had been outdated and replaced, though the authors stated they will be back for the Second Age.
* RidiculouslyAverageGuy: Persona, the God of Espionage and Spying, has multiple personalities, each with their own forte and skill set. His final personality is the most average guy imaginable... because [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower being so completely average, no one notices him]] and he's BeneathSuspicion, and thus can disappear in a crowd or hide in plain sight to listen in on conversations without standing out at all.
* RightlySelfRighteous: Generally deconstructed, as holy/good beings acting [[HolierThanThou morally superior]] is portrayed as bad as those who commit evil in Equus.
** The Elternteil pantheon are morally puristic and extremely patronizing about it because, in their own eyes, they ''are'' benevolent, and the constant praise from their worshipers only justified it. However, their petty hypocrisy in emotionally abusing the "evil" Temnobog, especially when they started considering the option of killing him altogether, caused his brother, Belyolen, to rebel and form the Bogolenya pantheon out of disgust. Their views on how Deerkind's future should be handled presumably caused the Hoyklan deities to leave as well. While both the Bogolenya and Hoyklan pantheons are thriving, the Elternteil pantheon is left a shadow of what it used to be.
** The Nature Giants see themselves as the rightful caretakers of Equus's ecosystem because they do have the compassion and magic necessary to preserve nature itself. However, they are extremely xenophobic and distrusting because of the actions of Grogar, and their matriarchs, based on the belief that WomenAreWiser, are no better, and they enforce extreme isolationist policies by suppressing and/or exiling anyone who pose a threat to their societal order. In short, they blind themselves to the benevolent potential of the mortals they hate.
** The Changeling Queens of the Spring Court see themselves as the rightful rulers of Changelingkind because they are the hybrid children of a Changeling goddess, and they ''are'' benevolent and nurturing to their subjects. That being said, they can be very arrogant and patronizing, treating their subjects like children who don't know any better, and see dissenters as ungrateful for rejecting their love and protection. It's also mentioned that, like the Summer Court, they scheme and undermine each other to earn Blackrose's favor, though of course it's all low-key and they don't admit it.
** Averted with the Bogolenya pantheon, who all make it a point not to act this way due to what happened to Temnobog while he grew up in the Elternteil pantheon. Since Temnobog and Belyolen are elemental twins and two halves of the person they could've been, it goes to show that even "bad" concepts such as evil and suffering as a place in Equus, as long as they're constructive.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge:
** Changeling/Dragon history is [[CycleOfRevenge essentially an aeons-long succession of these against each other.]] The dragons tried to wipe out the Changelings, then years later the Summer Court would attempt go on one of these against the dragons in revenge and almost succeed in killing them off. The hate this brewed combined with his own tragedy would eventually lead to Xestobium attempting genocide on the dragons again in a way that nearly causes a Mass Extinction Event, which in turn causes Broken Scale survivor Dr. Toxikon to finally snap and go on one in return. The actions of ''both'' sides' mutual hatred would lead to Princess Apterus going on one when she realized what they'd done to her and her family.
** When Grogar the Necromancer attempted to cut down large swaths of trees to provide resources for his Tambelon Empire, Gaea, a Nature goddess, was so ''enraged'' that she caused Grogar [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere to flee to the Shadow Realm while trying to escape her destructive rampage]].
* RousingSpeech:
** Crystal Empress Coranam of the Crystal Empire gives one to her people when war breaks out with Queen Colossos' Giants:
---> '''Empress Coranam III:''' We have faced terrible foes, from within and without. First there were the rival city-states who impeded our rise in the early days: by words or by blades they bent to our will. Then there were the Griffon Tribes; vicious predators who saw us as mere hunting animals. We purged them from our lands, so our children need not fear being carried off as a meal. And there have been countless other foes--the servants of Discord; the many nations that dared to challenge us: all ground to dust by our [[BadassArmy righteous cause and indomitable Crystal Legions!]] [...] We spread across the world, rightful heirs to the Old Empire’s legacy. [[BadassBoast Where we found chaos, we brought order! Where we found poverty, we brought prosperity! Where we found hatred and savagery, we brought the loving light of the Crystal Heart and our civilization!]] Our gleaming crystal palaces are the envy of the world...and now we face a terrible new foe: the Giants. [...] They have attacked us without cause, and shown their savage nature--cities have been slaughtered, ponies eaten alive; and our friends, families and comrades enslaved. They and their demon-spawn Queen think themselves invincible, that their size grants them the right to crush all smaller than them, as some twisted form of ‘honor’. I ask you, is bowing to monsters honorable? They know NOTHING of honor! They are savages, nothing more! They consider it hubris that we do not roll on our backs and beg for mercy, as if they were gods! Theirs is the TRUE arrogance! [...] These Giants think of us as insects. [[TheDogBitesBack We shall show them that some insects can STING.]] [...] To arms, citizens of the Empire! Avenge every innocent stallion, mare and foal who has died under these monsters’ hooves and in their bellies! We shall turn back this dark tide, and cut these oversized primitives down to size! The Crystal Empire is unconquered! We are UNCONQUERABLE! [...] My faithful subjects; I admit I am as terrified as you are. But I will make this fear steel me, for we have only one choice; one chance to survive and not have our civilization snuffed out under a tide of rapine and slaughter: We must purge these savages from our lands and drive them back to the rotting wastelands they came from! [...][[PatrioticFervor To arms! For your loved ones! For justice! FOR THE EMPIRE!!]]
* RuleOfThree: The kingdom of Hyrule has the "Triforce of Virtue", representing Courage, Wisdom, and Power. The respective "holders" of these virtues are Gleaming Shield, Radiant Primrose, and (supposedly) Blood Fang.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:S to V]]
* SapientEatSapient: As noted under EatenAlive, this is a depressingly common occurrence on Equus, with many monstrous or monstrous-sized sapient beings having no problems with eating other sapient beings, from [[IAmAHumanitarian cannibalistic cultists ritualistically devouring their victims]], to [[MostDangerousGame predatory sapients targeting prey sapients]], to [[BigEater gigantic beings eating whole lands]] and even [[GodEating Gods eating each other]] (And [[UpToEleven anyone else less powerful]]). Partly explained in that their very natures often mean they can't afford to be picky, and where they ''could'' choose to eat non-sapient sustenance they would often choose not to eat sapients, downplaying this aspect.
** Giants races and other enormous-sized beings like Giant deities and Dragons require enormous amounts of food to sustain their bodies (And even then, only to catalyze MagicEater metabolisms, [[RealityEnsues since the square-cube law means after a certain threshold no amount of food could had sustain them]]). Since their hunger means they can't afford to be picky, and their innate domineering instincts, this results in them having little to no reservations against eating the smaller 'Tinies' races. Hungry Giants can consume whole villages, towns and cities; meanwhile their gods can swallow ''WHOLE KINGDOMS AND PANTHEONS'' in an afternoon. As a rule of thumb/hoof, if they have even the slightest Giant heritage, they've more likely than not eaten people (And even enjoy it).
** [[GodOfEvil Temnobog]] Cultists, particularly those who worship the Four Terrors' god of Greed and Gluttony Bolezn the Master of Pestilence, are known for depraved cannibalistic rituals whereupon a [[HumanSacrifice sapient sacrifice]] is [[EatenAlive devoured alive]] as an offering to Temnobog and his son. The fact that they usually only target those [[PayEvilUntoEvil abhorrent enough to deserve it]] does not diminish the horror of their actions, but [[ReligionOfEvil they never claim they were saints]].
* ScienceFantasy: The main author had stated his intention to portray the setting as one. Magic is portrayed as the Fifth, grand-unifying Fundamental Force, for example, and treated as natural as the other four Forces. As in canon, many technologies depicted in the setting are either magitech or enhanced by magic.
* SealedEvilInACan:
** Many of the Summer Courts' First Spawn are this for many reasons.
** Like what happened in canon, Celestia had to seal Princess Luna in her own moon for a thousand years after the latter became Nightmare Moon and provoked a civil war in Equestria, something that Celestia herself regretted since Nightmare Moon's "birth" was largely caused by her own neglect of her little sister. Nightmare Moon eventually escaped, but the Mane Six use the Elements of Harmony to purify her, turning her back into Princess Luna and leading to her HeelFaceTurn.
** Blackheart the Accursed was imprisoned by Blackrose for her crimes. This was in part because she became immortal and couldn't be killed.
** Dread was imprisoned underneath the ocean. It's unknown whether or not he's still alive after the thousands of years he's been sealed.
** Yamata no Orochi's corpse is sealed away, with the demons spawned from his severed heads also being imprisoned.
** Grogar was repeatedly sealed away in legend. Whether or not he's dead or simply still imprisoned is currently unknown.
** The surviving Dyvaos eggs they couldn't destroy were sealed away by Mothryu and Battryu after the creatures nearly wiped out life on Equus. Brachion was tricked into releasing them in modern day, and [[EvenEvilHasStandards notably admits it was a mistake.]]
** Like Nightmare Moon before her, Final Epoch was sealed away in the Realm That Never Was (a potential future that is now impossible but not an alternate universe). Starlight Glimmer's time-altering revenge plan damaged time enough for her cult to set her free... which led to her defeat and HeelFaceTurn.
* SealedGoodInACan:
** Discord sealed his 'little brother' Pakak in a locket during his reign. One story in the verse depicts Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie being sent by the Cutie Map to help Discord free him and make amends.
** Queen Dazzleglow has been dormant for 20,000 years and only awakened recently. Apparently, she did this to herself [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture for a very specific reason.]]
* SecretTestOfCharacter:
** Midnight Bell's temporary transformation into a unicorn was actually this trope. Luminiferous, the one responsible for her change, had overheard her wish and wanted to see if she actually ''wanted'' to be a unicorn, with everything that comes with it. As it turned out, Midnight had so much difficulty with unicorn magic and the accompanying expectations that she eventually decided that it wasn't worth keeping once her wish ran out. When Luminiferous appeared to her in disguise and asked her if she wanted to be a unicorn again, Midnight refused, stating that she has everything she needs now, which greatly impressed and pleased the antediluvian Alicorn.
** Temnobog, the Bogolenya Deer god of Suffering, Darkness, and Evil, sees his domains as forces that test the heroic will and resolve of good-minded people, and never lets the villains and evildoers he "blesses" to become completely undefeatable. This would make every battle between good and evil this trope by default. In addition, many Roedinian myths spoke of deer champions and heroes seeking out Temnobog for aid, which led to them being tested by difficult trials in order to prove their worth.
*** And if Temnoism prevails on Equus and monopolizes all Evil as Temnobog seem to intend, he plan to ultimately make it that every conflict between Heroes and Villains, Good and Evil become this, ensuring both concepts of Evil and Good will survive and never grow stagnant/self-destructive, ensuring mortals will continue surviving and grow better.
** It's implied that Emperor Blackthorn of the Summer Court gives his sons/Scions the freedom they have so he could see which ones are exceptionally useful to him and his Court. He seems to lean towards those who prove themselves to be benevolent ''and'' competent individuals, such as King Lasius and King Metamorphosis, as they're more focused on ways to benefit the Summer Court as a whole rather than scheme and secure their own power. He's even on cordial terms with Prince/Captain Polistes despite having "betrayed" his father and becoming an Autumn Changeling/air pirate, and uses him as a smuggler for rare and exotic goods.
* {{Seers}}:
** The antediluvian Alicorn goddess, Hylia the Wise, was known for being a powerful seer when she was alive. Her fellow Alicorns believed that the only "mistake" she made was falling in love with a mortal, the original Gleaming Shield.
** Hylia's mortal reincarnations, Radiant Primrose, would inherit her power. This is what allowed her to make the best decisions and aid Gleaming Shield's various incarnations in winning their battles through many lifetimes.
** Princess Celestia was described as having a "gift of prophecy", which played an important role in Final Epoch's eventual defeat when Queen Dazzleglow received a telepathic warning from her through her Sun.
** Crystal Prism has an incredibly rare type of [[TheEmpath empathy]] that allows him to receive prophetic visions by displaying strong emotions/thoughts for someone before going to sleep. The Church of the Stars called this "emotional foresight". This came in handy a couple of times, such as getting
** It is mentioned in a comedy short written by [=BrutalityInc=] that the Alvslog Deer have Seers and Druids among them, usually employed by the royal family.
** Prince Blueblood, Celestia's adoptive nephew, has a special talent in clairvoyance, in which he is able to find various things based on which paths his magical intuition reacts strongly to. This is what allows him to manipulate and direct government power and authority to areas that need it most, making him an incredibly competent politician. However, by his own admission, he sees people like Celestia as "true" Seers in that they receive visions even while awake.
** Belyolen of the Bogolenya pantheon is a precognitive. His twin brother, Temnobog, is an inversion since he has retrocognition.
** Golden Scepter, an {{Expy}} of [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 the Emperor of Mankind]], has both precognition and retrocognition, allowing him to see the futures and pasts of sapient creatures. Notably, he was able to foresee Prince Sparkling Wing's future as the beloved ruler of a great kingdom, and has started mentoring the young Alicorn on leadership.
* SemiDivine: Demigods are mentioned, many being heroes in various cultures, though few have gotten prominent focus.
** It turns out Party Ponies with strange abilities like Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich likely are this trope: Pakak had twin daughters, Katharsis and Arlequin, with his wife, Shady of G1, who in turn ascended to godhood and had children of their own and thus distant descendants, leading to similar powers to Pakak's ToonPhysics powers showing up in a very diluted form. Though this would mean the divine blood is ''extremely'' diluted by now.
** Every Royal Changeling is a demigod, due to [[PhysicalGod Blackrose and Blackthorn]] having multiple flings with mortals from different races. This makes them more powerful than the Common Changeling, being stronger, smarter, tougher, and magically more powerful as well as [[MagneticHero possessing a natural aura that attracts Common Changelings to them]]. Unfortunately, their divine heritage also gives them an strong sense of entitlement, seeing themselves (and their Parents) as the rightful rulers of Changelingkind and treating their "rebellious" subjects as ungrateful, disobedient children for leaving their Court.
** Thorax is a strange example in that he was once a lowly drone of Chrysalis's hive who became a Royal Changeling by willingly sharing his love with his ex-Queen. Despite being the equivalent of an infant demigod, it's implied that he's ''incredibly'' strong, even sending [[SuperToughness Changeling King Zorpheus]] halfway across Avalon with a single arcane blast that would've killed normal Royal Changelings. If he were to go further on his potential, he would've become a god on the same level as Blackthorn and Blackrose.
** Crystal Prism, once a unicorn colt named Page Wheel, is physically a teenage Alicorn after Ascending very early in his life thanks to unethical experiments and strange, traumatic circumstances. According to Twilight Sparkle, Crystal's stint as a [[MagicEater magic-absorbing]] monster gave him so much magic that after he was killed by Luminiferous and the Equestrian Princesses, the magic reacted by reviving Page Wheel's dead body in a cocoon, Ascending him in the process. So he's quite young both in mortal and divine terms, especially the latter since he's the equivalent of an infant demigod.
** The many sons of Golden Scepter, an antediluvian Alicorn Emperor, are demigods, having been sired through a mortal pegasus mare named "Blessed Skies".
* {{Shapeshifting}}:
** Changelings, as in canon, with the Changeling Progenitors being considered indisputably the best.
** Trickster deities as a rule are talented at this.
* ShockingDefeatLegacy: The Storm King Crisis was this to Equestria. From what we know so far, given how most of their country got occupied by the Storm Empire during the conflict and that the Royal Guard got decimated so badly they are in process of being replaced by a new Equestrian military force.
* ShoutOut:
** Mothryu going on a rampage through Tokneigho and Roelisica after her tiny priestesses were kidnapped by a greedy businessman is heavily similar to what happened in ''Film/{{Mothra}}'', [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} Mothra]]'s debut appearance.
** The "Revenge of Apertus" arc, as well as Apertus's backstory, was taken from ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil, with Queen Acherontia as Eclipsa the queen of Darkness, Dragon Lord Vulcan as Eclipsa's monster husband, Globgor, and Apertus as Meteora, Eclipsa and Globgor's hybrid daughter.
** The film that Griffon actress Helga Greywing would make after replacing the brutish Colton Marentino is "Bitalian Holiday", a pony version of ''Film/RomanHoliday''. Both had stories involving a woman who breaks away from the stresses of their roles, and gets into hijinks with a friendly man while having the time of their lives in freedom for the first time.
** Crystal Prism and Midnight Bell's backstories were taken from the plot of ''Anime/MaryAndTheWitchsFlower'', with a few differences - namely, there's no magical flower or artifact involved. [[spoiler:And unlike Peter, who was turned into a monster and then turned back to normal by a spell]], Crystal Prism was fought by powerful beings, killed, then revived/Ascended into an immortal Alicorn demigod.
* SiblingYinYang:
** Celestia and Luna, as in canon. Celestia wields Sun magic and is serene and graceful, while Luna wields Moon magic and is boisterous and outspoken
** Belyolen and Temnobog are twin brothers thanks to a ritual their father, Irminsul, cast to get rid of all of his elder son's flaws, and are literally a GodOfGood and GodOfEvil, respectively. Belyolen is compassionate and uses his powers to help people, while Temnobog uses his powers to tempt people to the side of evil in order to test their resolve, and condemns those who willingly gave in to his influence. While this veered into CainAndAbel territory for a time due to Temnobog resenting Beloyen for receiving praise while he was cast off, they eventually reconciled as their unique nature prevented them from killing each other (one would be weakened/strengthened, and vice-versa), and Belyolen revealed that he always loved his brother despite being born as a tainted god.
** The Dragon deities, Yin and Yang, are ''literally'' this, embodying Shadow and Destruction and Light and Creation respectively and are opposite right down to their appearance. However, like actual yin and yang, each also has some small aspect of the other (Yin is an IceQueen with a HiddenHeartOfGold while her brother, Yang, is warm and friendly, but has a vicious side that comes out when enraged for example). They're joint gods of Balance for this reason, and get along well with one another despite how different they are.
** Arlequin and Katharsis are the twin daughters and G1 Shady and Pakak, and have a similar yin-yang to Pinkie Pie and Maud Pie. Fitting, given one of them is likely the Pie Family's ancestor.
* SizeShifter: Many deities are explicitly or implicitly capable of this. Amusingly, Astrid of the Jotunn Pantheon ''never'' manifests as anything but gigantic; even though she could easily be the size of a non-giant deer.
* SmellySkunk:
** Aniwyes are jumbo-sized ones of these. They're mostly peaceful if left alone, but their spray is ''much'' worse than normal.
** Pakak, the Draconequi Spirit of Mischief and Karma, has a fully functional skunk tail as one of his parts. He can actually create an aspect of himself based off it that assumes the shape of an Aniwye which was guarding his prison. Unfortunately for Rainbow Dash, she gets sprayed retrieving it, though luckily Pakak rewards her by cleaning her off. His daughter Katharsis inherited this aspect from him.
** The Great Skunks are a race of anthropomorphic sapient skunks, though of a more realistic version. Their Parental God Moufette is basically Pepe Le Pew, and actually is the stinking 24/7 type of skunk (though mainly due to lack of self control, as he ''can'' turn it off). Moufette is also ''far'' worse than even Aniwyes, to the point he can knock out fully grown dragons.
** Disskunks are {{Emotion Eater}}s that feed off disgust and revulsion. As such they effectively feed by spraying their prey, with their smell being worse than a normal skunk (though not as bad as an Aniwye's). Appropriately, [[PunnyName their names sound like "disgust" when said out loud]].
* TheSocialDarwinist: King Brachion Lyonesse is this, in part due to his backstory. Notably, for this reason he apparently has respect for his ArchEnemy Kick Hopper for being a fellow survivor.
--> '''Brachion''': The Law of the World is the Law of the Jungle.
* SoiledCityOnAHill: The Four Terrors have delivering divine wrath upon extremely sinful places as one of their jobs in realms in their pantheon's domain. When a kingdom grows so morally bankrupt that ItIsBeyondSaving, the rest of the Bogolenya Pantheon gives them a LastSecondChance to change their ways. If they don't, they evacuate the good mortals still there and 'Call the Terrors' to wipe out the kingdom and [[DraggedOffToHell claim the wicked who remain]]. The kingdom is then left behind as nothing but a gigantic scorch mark that's still there after several generations has passed, serving as a warning to other kingdoms that the Four Terrors might go after them, too if they don't change their ways.
* SoLastSeason: Toxikon was smart enough to study and develop countermeasures for every method the Changelings had made to slay dragons, meaning using them against him will fail at best and backfire at worst.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: Princess Laska, who was based on [[Anime/CodeGeass Princess Euphemia]]. [[spoiler:Unlike Euphemia, who was accidentally Geassed by Lelouch into committing genocide against the Japanese and then was {{Mercy Kill}}ed by Lelouch to stop her, Laska was never Geassed. Instead, Strazha, Lelouch's {{Expy}}, would save her from being Geassed into committing genocide against Bitaniya's non-Deer population by Deer Autorists, having been tipped off by his sister Vesna's prophetic visions. The result was Laska and her knight/fiance Falling Leaves (Suzaku's {{Expy}}) ''saving'' her would-be victims]].
**
* StartOfDarkness: Plenty are given to many villains or evil characters featured or mentioned.
** Changeling King Brachion of the Summer Court started life as a Deer Prince in a forest realm of Alvslog Deer Herd, with no idea of his Royal Changeling heritage, yet was still condemned to death, by his own Deer parents, for it when it was discovered. This forced him to flee into the dark, forbidden depths of the forest, still a buck at his time, where he was forced to survive for years, alone, against the elements and vicious predators, before his Royal Changeling side manifested. This traumatic experience directly contributed to him becoming the MadScientist and TheSocialDarwinist as a Changeling King he is today.
** The young Yeti who became the Storm King was born in a harsh, unforgiving mountainous land where those who lived in it had to be just as harsh and unforgiving just to survive. His mother disappeared when he was too young to remember her, and his father and brothers were abusive towards him. Constant competition and betrayals between him and other young Yetis for power and status in the band culminated in him ending up getting backstabbed and thrown off a ravine where he nearly died. All these experiences molded him and his worldview into one of a ruthless warlord who doesn't trust or care for anyone other than himself, and believes strength and power is all that matters in the world.
** Changeling King Xestobium was once a noble knight, living in a kingdom now long forgotten - because said kingdom was destroyed by a terrible dragon, killing everyone, including his own family, and even took one of his legs, before his True Nature manifested. This traumatic experience fills him with an understandable hatred for all dragons, which only worsens as he entered the Summer Court, which encouraged these sentiments with their historical enmity against Dragonkind; seeing only the worst of Dragonkind every time he and his hive goes out to slay them (And feed on the love reciprocated by those they saved); and in the process seeing his own tragedy repeated, over and over again. Adding the fact that his family are mostly monsters NotSoDifferent from the dragons in going about destroying others for their own gain, Xestobium's sanity slipped until he finally [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds snapped]], becoming an genocidal maniac who would stop at nothing to destroy Dragonkind (And the Summer Court, his own family) - even if it meant [[OmnicidalManiac wiping out the whole world]] in the process.
** It's speculated in-universe that the reason why Blood Fang was driven to conquer Hyrule and ultimately fell to evil is because he and his loved ones lived in extremely harsh environments, motivating him to conquer more fertile lands such as Hyrule so they could have the good life they never had. However, if one were to go further back, the greater demon Demise was also responsible for Blood Fang's evil, having possessed his ancestor Blood Feather in a last-ditch attempt to spite him, Radiant Primrose and Gleaming Shield for his defeat at their hooves. A portion of that same evil stayed with him when some gods reincarnated him after death.
* StrongerWithAge: Deities increase in power the older they become, and given they're immortal they can get very old. Deities predating recorded history, such as Luminiferous, tend to be immensely strong. Amareros, the Eldest of Wood, and Choice are among the oldest known deities and all of which are incredibly powerful, with Amareros being known as the Grand Primeval and even the Summer Court are afraid of him. His siblings are every bit as powerful as he is, and likewise no one wants to mess with them.
* SummonBiggerFish: Yearling/Daring Do ''can'' do this, as she's psychically bonded to Gamarea, but prefers not to as he's generally busy making sure the Dyvaos can't overpopulate and destroy the world, and she doesn't want to rely on him if she can handle things herself. That and she sees it as her job to help him with their bond, not the other way around.
* SuperEmpowering:
** Luminiferous has the ability to do two flavors of this: using an ancient artifact granted to him to battle his father (despite being a 'newborn' in comparison) called the "Divine Unity", he can let two deities lend their power to a champion which he used to do. The other version of invoking his power as a God of Potential to lend someone their true potential temporarily, though he can make it last longer by lending them his weapon, a poleaxe called ''Arisen Demon'', which extends it indefinitely as long as they're holding it. The second version is to show them what they can potentially become. During the battle with Apertus, he does this to Ember and Thorax, temporarily turning them both into gods to both hold her off and to show both the Changelings and Dragons what potential they were squandering by fixating on their racial grudge, while those two had long let go of theirs. This is particularly notable because Thorax became a Changeling God when his potential was unlocked, [[BeyondTheImpossible something the Summer Court had long believed to be impossible]].
** Prince Léon, an Alicorn toddler, has the power to empower people based on how deeply he trusts them, as he embodies Trust. This ability was discovered by accident during an attack on by tribalist factions, after Léon spontaneously empowered Cadence and Blueblood while laughing at the former's silly faces, allowing the adoptive royal cousins to defeat and drive off the tribalists with their strengthened magic.
* {{Superhero}}: Superheroes (and supervillains) would appear and become a very prominent feature of the Second Age of Known History, the time of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales Ponyland and the Tales Seven]] where magic was less prominent and Equus was a world of advanced technology. One of the first and greatest to appear is none other then a SupermanSubstitute, Metamare, though other heroic individuals have been recorded and confirmed by Queen Dazzleglow, such as [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Shadow Sentinel I]], [[ComicBook/LexLuthor Silver Smith, Sr.]], and [[Manga/{{Cyborg 009}} Wind Runner/C-009 and the 00-Cyborgs]].
* TheStrategist:
** Warlord Balander 'The Undefeated' from Queen Colossos' Empire is a notable military example. On top of being a Giant like the rest of his race and a peerless warrior, he is considered the greatest military commander ever produced by Colossos' Empire, a master of both strategy and tactics on par with the greatest conquerors of Known History. Famous in-universe for being undefeated in battle as his title implies, as well as masterminding Queen Colossos' invasion of the Crystal Empire when war broke out between the two realms. [[WordOfGod The Author]] compared him with the Real Life figure of Subutai, Genghis Khan's primary strategist and one of the most famous military commanders in history. His name is a wordplay of Balamber, a ruler of the Huns who predated Attila in real life.
*** To demonstrate how good he is, he was responsible for double-bluffing the Crystal Empire into believing their main invasion are coming from the south and getting them to scatter their forces trying to stop his incursions, allowing them to attack and destroy them piecemeal once the actual invasion came from the north. Then the Giant hordes rampaging in the south rallied, and under his command managed to crush NINE legions of the Crystal Empire's troops within a WEEK, THREE of them in the span of a single DAY. The Crystal Empire would remember that event as "The Week of Annihilation" - the single greatest military defeat they had ever suffered in their history.
** Bellamos, the Divine Strategoes, is a deity version of this from the Pramanthan Pantheon, known for very effective and efficient strategies. This stems partly from experience travelling the world and a desire to end conflicts as quickly as possible so senseless death and destruction could be avoided.
* TakeOverTheWorld: Multiple overlords and empires had attempted this throughout the Known Ages, with varying levels of success. Attempts to takeover certain countries like Equestria are generally more common and successful... though it is also deconstructed in that various entries had noted just how incredibly difficult it is for ''anyone'' to take over the world - whether due to logistical impracticality or stiff opposition from other world powers. Pretty much ''every'' attempt mentioned so far had failed, and had been noted in hindsight to have limited possibility of success from the start.
** An insert in Chrysalis' entry analyzing her world domination plans exemplifies this: her plan to take over Equestria, harvest its love, use the power boost to usurp her mother and sisters and then use the Spring Court to take over the world sounds simple, but in practice it does not consider facts such as her mother being a goddess whose magnitudes older and more powerful than Chrysalis is and is prepared (to the point of drastically modifying her own body in various ways) to take on ''Discord'' himself; that her sisters are generally older and more experienced, and their hives possess more resources than her hive; that the Changeling Summer Court would intervene in accordance to the agreements the Spring and Summer Courts had made (Not to mention Blackthorn's more personal relationship with Blackrose); and last but not least, the other Gods of Equus, like the ones in the Cosmic Council, would not sit back and watch Equestria and the Spring Court get taken over by Chrysalis, especially since many are friends with Celestia and Blackrose. All things considered, it is believed that the absolute best Chrysalis would hope for is keeping large parts of Equestria and holding the rest of the world off in a stalemate.
** The Storm King attempted this during the 'Storm King Crisis', and if all the hints so far had suggested anything, practically the ''entire world'' united immediately to stop him, both divines and mortals alike. The opposing side would also include villains who [[EvenEvilHasStandards retain an honor code]] and/or [[PragmaticVillainy are at least pragmatic enough to see what consequences the Storm King's campaign would bring if executed successfully]]. [[CurbStompBattle The Storm Empire got stomped out of existence within a short time]]. How it happened remains to be seen in the 'Storm King Crisis' entries.
** The kingdom of Hyrule is often the target of conquests of this nature, usually made by Blood Fang, the Dark Conqueror. Of course, just like in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', renowned heroes such as local master swordspony Gleaming Shield and Hylian Queen Radiant Primrose will always succeed in defeating Blood Fang before he could make his dreams of conquering Hyrule a reality, and their clashes has been the stuff of legends through Known History.
*** That being said, other evil overlords and villains have attempted to conquer Hyrule, but they always ended up being used as pawns by Blood Fang until they fall to either Gleaming Shield's sword, and/or Radiant Primrose's magic. Blood Fang doesn't tolerate anyone trying to conquer Hyrule first when he already "called dibs" on it, and will not hesitate to get rid of them at first opportunity... which is a good thing since Blood Fang's victims are usually ''worse'' - prominent examples are Malus Tenebris, who planned to plunge both Hyrule and Equus in "twilight", and one of the Storm King's generals who would've turned Hyrule and its surrounding lands into a WretchedHive. It has been implied and later confirmed that Blood Fang's behavior and "losses" to his Eternal Foes aren't what they seem - according to the Erobreseg Deer herds, he's actually an agent of Temnobog, who hired him to keep testing Gleaming Shield and Radiant Primrose's moral integrity because [[VillainRespect he has acknowledged their good deeds and wants them to always be strong enough to fight Evil]].
* TakesOneToKillOne: While it can be done with ''extreme'' levels of magic, due to the unique variety of magic that compose them, this is generally the case with deities, as divine magic has an inherent advantage over regular magic. Mortals managing to defeat them isn't completely unheard of, but it's also extremely rare and takes far more magic than is normally possible.
* TakingYouWithMe:
** During Queen Colossos' War, some of the Crystal Ponies, whether driven by [[DespairEventHorizon despair]] or [[DefiantToTheEnd fervor]], proposed releasing Rabia and the Umbrum from their prison beneath the Crystal Empire's capital in hopes that they can do this to the Giants. Crystal Empress Coronam refuse to even consider it, knowing how bad the idea is (And possibly because they don't know how to do it even if they want to).
** Even after he is defeated - and outright ''obliterated'' - Changeling King Xestobium still tries to do this with Dragonkind (and the Summer Court), first by triggering a Mana Bomb that was barely defused in time, and then with the Primordial Quintessence halve of his soul post-mortem trying to dive into the ritual that would set off a chain reaction destroying the dragon homelands of Draconia, again stopped only barely by a prepared counter-spell from his own father.
* TeamSwitzerland: Sauropoda is this, refusing to ever start a fight nor take sides in any external conflict. That said, they are more than capable of defending themselves. This is all based off of the real life Switzerland.
* TemptingFate: Xestobium's brothers laughed and mocked him when he stated his intention to [[FinalSolution wipe out the dragon race]], as they'd tried collectively to do so and failed despite coming close, so how could he do it alone? Cue the completely insane Xestobium launching a plan that if successful wouldn't just wipe out the entire continent of Draconia and everyone in it, but [[OmnicidalManiac possibly everyone else]], [[OhCrap the Summer Court included.]]
* TheTrickster: A sub type of deity is this, which are all known to be good shapeshifters as part of their portfolio. Blackrose and Blackthorn are included in this, due to the nature of their sire race. Others mentioned includes Lepus, parent deity of the Great Rabbits and Jackrabbits, Mchezaji, the Zebrican spider god, and Tachos the Orosian deity of Messengers and Fools. However, two trickster gods in particular have had entries devoted to them:
** Narren of the Eltentil deer pantheon, the God of Songs and Celebrations, is well known as this, and often plays pranks on his fellow gods. He also managed to outsmart Temnobog and rescue the TopGod of the pantheon from him (while accounts have been exaggerated, that part actually ''did'' happen).
** Pakak, the Draconequus of Mischief and Karma, has this as his RedBaron. He's very much a KarmicTrickster who punishes the wicked with curses made from their own bad karma, as well as a major mischief maker. He and Narren are good friends.
** Tikuri, the Abyssinian God of Bad Luck and Trickery, is also this, using his ability to cause bad luck to punish those who harm his followers, or his followers if they do wrong. He's also a TricksterMentor to his followers, and likes playing tricks and pranks on others. Upon his release, he tricked his captor into being imprisoned in his place.
* ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight: Boogeymares are this, being small imp-like EmotionEater creatures that feed off of fear and use their MasterOfIllusion powers to terrify children to feed. They're generally harmless and seen as household pests, but if they get strong enough their powers trade up into RealityWarper territory, though that's not easy for them to do. Dreadmares, however, are much stronger mutant variants and legitimately dangerous.
* TimeAbyss:
** Equestria of the Codexverse is set in the Fourth Age of Known History. Known History itself however stretches back at least 45,000 years, and there are hints that sapient life and civilization exists long before that in earlier Ages.
** Choice and the Eldest of the Woods, both ancient deities, are stated to had been around for eons, long before even Discord came. Choice in particular is said to be as old as sapient life capable of free will had been around - which in the Codexverse has appeared multiple times on Equus.
** Mothryu and Battryu, {{Exp|y}}ies of Mothra and Battra, are also super ancient deities. They've at least existed long enough to see one of those pre-known history civilizations, as [[PrecursorKillers Battryu was the one that destroyed it in the first place.]]
** Queen Dazzleglow is over 33,000 years old. Downplayed, as she's spent 20,000 of it SealedGoodInACan, but that still makes her over 13,000 years old.
** The author states that the Codexverse would be exploring timeframes of up to tens of ''millions'' of years before the present, if not billions of years, in future/potential sections and entries.
** Due to the passing of ages and deliberate misinformation, no one outside the Changeling Courts - and not even the common Changelings themselves - knew how long Changelingkind had been around. They could had appeared during one of the Four Ages of Known History; they could had been around long ''before'' Known History. The best estimates placed their existence to be within at least tens of thousands of years, but who can tell?
** Queen Mzazi, the Mother of all Zebra, is stated by her entry to be over 4 million years old, having guided her people's evolution since then. Since she frequently incarnates herself as a mortal to check up on her mortal children, it's possible that her age might go back even farther than the time she was the G1 zebra Zigzag.
** Amareros, a Grand Primeval, is impossibly ancient to the point of being there since the beginning of life on the planet. The same could also apply to the other Grand Primevals, who are his older/younger siblings and thus similarly ancient.
** The Alicorns from before Known History are extremely ancient, and have been considered to be the greatest of the god Equus's mortal/immortal Equine children. Luminiferous and Golden Scepter are examples of this, as they are the oldest members of the Church of the Stars and have been around since even before the First Age, though Golden Scepter is even older due to being an "Antecedent"-type Alicorn who lived before the Alicorn Civilization's fall.
* TokenGoodTeammate:
** King Metamorphosis of the [[TheDreaded Changeling Summer Court]] is notable for being a reasonable, fair and benevolent outlier among his generally amoral, scheming and back-stabbing Royal Changeling brothers, lacking their fratricidal tendencies and power-hungry ambitions, dedicating solely to his hive's prosperity and success. While it is implied that he had done some questionable things himself, it is always only if absolutely necessary, and always strive to find another way to solve problems that doesn't involve ruin and deaths of innocents, even non-Changelings. Changelings nicknamed him 'Summer's Conscience' for this, earning him undying loyalty from his own subjects and respect of those outside his hive (That aren't his brothers). This actually impressed his father enough that he's currently considered his favorite, and he had become the Summer Court's liaison to the Spring Court and Equestria following Thorax's ascension and the fall of the Masquerade.
** King Asbolus Lyonesse is another fairly benevolent member of the Court, due to being a NobleDemon and GentlemanThief with little desire to conquer or do unnecessary harm. While he is a thief, he will never target those who are incapable of defending themselves and often let's his hive better themselves using his stolen goods.
** The Nameless Queen is this to the Winter Court, being the only one among them to have had a HeelRealization and become TheAtoner.
* TokenEvilTeammate:
** Temnobog the Dark One, co-ruler of the Bogolenya Deer Pantheon, comes to mind. He's very literally a GodOfEvil who revels in causing suffering of those he believes 'deserves it', and for the longest time was the enemy of his older twin brother, Belyolen the Radiant Stag. This trope was deconstructed in that, having been born "evil", he was emotionally abused by his own family and peers, who thought that his corrupted nature would taint the benevolence of the Elternteil pantheon. Despite not having done anything evil at the time, Temnobog's mistreatment eventually turned him into the GodOfEvil that he was feared and expected to be out of misery and resentment. This caused Belyolen himself to rebel and leave home to start his own pantheon, as he was so compassionate that he felt understandably disgusted and upset with his fellow gods' petty hypocrisy. The reason why Temnobog took so long to let go of his grudge was because he thought that Belyolen, too, looked down on him for being "evil", but then he learned that his brother really ''did'' love him despite everything. After their reconciliation, this trope was reconstructed - he had become his brother's equal and his greatest supporter, directing his innate evil nature to a better purpose, embodying evil and suffering as a testing force, driving the good and noble among mortals to rise up and oppose evil while weeding out the evil and wicked to be punished for their moral failure.
** Temnobog's hellish hybrid children, the Four Terrors, are also this for the Bogolenya pantheon. While they are devoted to using their evil for constructive purposes like their father, they are rightly feared for their horrific actions, and as such, "Calling the Terrors" is treated as an ''absolute last resort'' for dealing with sin in the Deer realms. On the plus side, they are tolerated and even respected, with their cousins, the three children of Mier and Válka, Medik, Zmluva, and Mentálne understanding their roles and holding no ill will for it.
** Chrysalis ''was'' this for the Spring Court, until her two attempted attacks on Equestria that resulted in Thorax usurping the throne from her got her banished to the Winter Court. And the Winter Court entry reveals she wasn't the only Changeling Queen who had gone evil in the past.
** The Summer Court Changelings are this to Changelingkind in general. While a few steps above the Winter Court [[EvenEvilHasStandards which even they see as abhorrent]], they are essentially a DeadlyDecadentCourt that is rife with treacherous scheming and chronic backstabbing. Emperor Blackthorn himself is amoral and selfish than outright evil, but his motives are so ambiguous that more heroic-minded people like to think of him as evil.
* TopGod:
** Queen Tiamat and King Bahamut are co-rulers of the Dragon Pantheons.
** Irminsul was once the leader for the entire Elternteil Deer Pantheon. However, the pantheon fractured when everyone started disagreeing over Deerkind's future and (in Belyolen's case) the mistreatment of Temnobog, leading to the birth of two other Deer Pantheons, the Bogolenya and Hoyklan Pantheons.
** The Bogolenya pantheon is co-ruled by Irminsul's twin sons, Belyolen and Temnobog, founded by Belyolen who desired to get Temnobog away from their family's emotional abuse and give him the love and respect he deserved. Ironically, Temnobog initially ''sought'' to become this by usurping his brother, but he was given equal leadership power once both of them discovered they had a unique magical light/dark bond that would become incomplete if one of them tried killing the other.
** Empress Blackrose and Emperor Blackrose are each the TopGod of their respective courts.
** Indostruus, the God of Industry and Modernization, is the leader of the Novellus Pantheon. Unusually, Munditia is older than him, but sees him as the better leader and thus follows him, though he's still the strongest.
** Fik’iri, the Goddess of War and Love, and Zinabi, the God of Storms and Wind, co-led the Abyssinian Pantheon and were its strongest members. However, they were also JerkassGods who treated their worshipers rather callously, and refused to help protect their followers from the Storm King out of spite. This act got them overthrown by the benevolent members of the Pantheon, with Fik'iri losing her position and most of her power to Wibeti, the Goddess of Beauty and Romance, while Zinabi was overthrown by Jegina, the God of Courage and Heroism. Unlike most {{Top God}}s, however, Jegina and Wibeti aren't romantically involved since the latter is dating Moufette, the leader of the Great Skunk pantheon.
** The Grand Primevals in general seem to be this for ''all'' of Equus, as they're regarded as so powerful and ancient that almost everyone respects and/or fears them enough not to tick them off. Their opinion is generally given a lot of weight even by deities who don't follow them directly.
** Moufette, Wibeti's boyfriend, is the leader of the Great Skunk Pantheon.
** The Church of the Stars, while technically a pantheon, is actually a religion started by Queen Dazzleglow, a Sparkle Pony Alicorn Queen from the Second Age, making her its leader. However, she credits her father for coming up with the original idea that she expanded on, technically making her father the ''true'' TopGod of the Church of the Stars.
* {{Touche}}: Essentially Emperor Blackthorn's reaction to Crazy Ant's DeadMansSwitch, being more impressed than angry.
* TragicVillain:
** Chieftain Maul was simply an animal trying to survive, having enough intelligence to make a simple plan but not enough to properly comprehend the consequences of it. Mistmane felt genuinely bad for having to kill him to save Equestria.
** King Xestobium is an OmnicidalManiac, but at his core he's the result of the deaths of his entire kingdom and family by a dragon, was then adopted into a race of tyrants who fed that hatred, and even while trying to do good to feed his hive, was constantly exposed to the absolute worst Dragonkind had to offer. All these things eventually caused him to snap and attempt to perform genocide on the Dragons and Summer Court in a way that would trigger a mass extinction event, but at his core, he's nothing but a product of his environment and the tragedy of his existence is recognized.
** Princess Apterus, the child of a Changeling Queen and a Dragon, had her parents sealed away due to FantasticRacism and was kidnapped and abused horribly for a thousand years by a particularly cruel Changeling King with no knowledge of her true nature. It's little wonder she completely snaps when she learns the truth and goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
** Dr. Toxikon showed a Changeling King kindness and mercy when he found him near death. The King [[TheFarmerAndTheViper repaid him by using what he'd learned staying with him to wipe out his entire clan]] as part of the Time of Broken Scales, which saw the near extinction of his kind. He then tried to become an intellectual dragon to avoid it happening again, but his species wouldn't listen and looked down on him for it for five thousand years. He finally snaps when Xestobium launches his genocidal rampage and acts on plans he'd hesitated to launch for five thousand years to attempt the destruction of the Changelings and death of all dragons over a certain age (the latter to force the survivors to finally grow meaningfully, as he fears their species will die out if they don't).
* UltimateBlacksmith: Queen Odonata is this, her father being a Kirin and her using it as outlet for her anger at being a target of FantasticRacism. She's so good even some of the Summer Court have tried to commission her and she does most of the Spring Court's metal working.
* UnskilledButStrong:
** Queen Odonata is the UltimateBlacksmith of the Changelings, and has enormous physical strength from that role and also has a powerful Nirik form on top of it. However, she doesn't have much in the way of actual skill, with her sword slash being more like a baseball bat swing. However, her WeaponOfChoice, a giant forge hammer, doesn't require all that much skill.
** The newly-ascended Changeling King Thorax is incredibly young by Royal Changeling standards, and his meek and friendly disposition makes him not really all that keen on fighting... but his ascension has made him incredibly powerful, to the point he ''accidentally'' blew Zorpheus across Avalon Valley with a magic beam, leaving him unconscious in a crater with a cracked carapace. And that was because Zorpheus has a natural, insanely high defense, it's noted it likely would've been a One-Hit Kill on many other Changeling Royals. It's been stated and shown repeatedly that because Thorax is willing to let go of his people's racism against Dragonkind and forgive those responsible for perpetuating it, he has ''much'' greater potential than even the most experienced Royal Changelings, with his future potential being a Changeling Emperor that heavily resembles Emperor Blackthorn himself.
* VictoryByEndurance: Wibeti defeats Fik'iri this way: Fik'iri's complacency and hedonism left her with terrible stamina for a deity, while Wibeti's constantly being chased by Moufette gave her great endurance and agility. As a result, while Fik'iri has the advantage at first, she tires quickly and Wibeti still has stamina to spare, negating any advantage Fik'iri had as a war goddess.
* VertebrateWithExtraLimbs:
** Naturally very common, with winged races being the most obvious.
** Alicorns, naturally, but UpToEleven with the fact that as they age they start growing ''additional'' sets of wings. The 4 million years-old Mzazi has ''eight'' wings.
* VestigialEmpire:
** The Crystal Empire became one as a result of a war against a realm of Giants, although it was showing signs of decadence, arrogance and stagnation by the time war broke out. Many of its mistakes and the actions it took to survive the war ultimately contributed to its decline and collapse.
** Queen Colossos' Empire, said realm of Giants, also went into decline partly as a result of that conflict, although they apparently had it much better than the Crystal Empire.
** The Empire of Trot, one of the Crystal Empire's rivals, also had it bad, reduced to little more than a collection of squabbling hedge realms and petty kingdoms that were easy pickings for Queen Chrysalis and her Hive, as mentioned in her MLP Fiendship is Magic issue, starting with Timbucktu and finally ending with the city of Trot itself.
** Both above empires and the Principalities of Equestria were the three biggest successor states of the classical Equestrian Empire, whose declined and collapse climaxed at the beginning of Discord's reign and the five-centuries long Age of Chaos. Wonder if there's a link between the two events...?
** The Empire of Zinari is noted for its unusually rapid decline after the reign of Queen Parabola, leaving behind only its PortalNetwork and much of its stupendous wealth hidden in vaults across the world, one of which would eventually be discovered by Daring Do and Fluttershy as depicted in Issue 32 of the MLP Friends Forever comic.
* VillainSong: Propagare sings a version of [[Disney/{{Pocahontas}} "Savages"]] to Xestobium in order to tip him over the edge into carrying out his genocidal ambitions, which Propagare intends to capitalize on. Towards the end, Xestobium himself takes over and finishing the song, signifying the point where he fully gives himself in to his revenge.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:W to Z]]
* WarForFunAndProfit:
** Arma is the literal ''god'' of this trope, being the God of War Profiteering and {{Private Military Contractor}}s.
** [[Manga/{{Cyborg 009}} Black Ghost]] was a Second-Age organization of "death merchants" that is constantly producing military weapons for profit, including cybernetic hybrid warriors. [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard This eventually led to the creation of Wind Runner/C-009 and his team]].
* WarriorPoet:
** Queen Acanthosomastidae, the Cavalier Queen. On top of being one of the best warriors among the Changeling Queens, she's also among the greatest patrons of Changeling art and high culture, having authored, painted and directed many works of literature, artwork and theatrical productions. Unsurprising, considering [[{{Theatre/Tannhaeuser}} who her father is]] an expy of.
* WarriorPrince:
** Prince-Regent Blueblood is a powerful water mage and an experienced Navy soldier (now Commander), and thus is extremely capable of defending himself. During his long career, he fought off numerous assassins, who were rumored to have been sent by Blueblood's rivals and enemies in Canterlot, and he has healed scars as proof of the incidents. He also directly participated in the Storm King Crisis, rallying what was left of the Equestrian military with Shining Armor, directing war efforts against the Storm Navy, and even fought off a few Storm Troopers to protect his friend, Fancy Pants and his wife, Fleur-De-Lis.
** Prince Vultus IV is a [[LargeHam hammy]] and proud yet heroic and benevolent warrior. He is notable for being a skilled fighter despite not being a demigod, whose loudness is so profound that it can actually [[MakeMeWannaShout stun enemies and trigger avalanches]]. In one notable incident, he [[CainAndAbel opposed his treacherous fourth brother]] for killing their oldest brother in a bid for the throne, and fought and killed him by braining him through the helm. It's not surprising, since he was based on [[Film/FlashGordon1980 Prince Vulcan]] (who was also played by Creator/BrianBlessed).
* WasItReallyWorthIt: Luminiferous informs the Changelings of what their FantasticRacism causing them to ruin the lives of Queen Acherontia, Dragon Lord Vulcan, and their daughter Apterus cost them: the family's love may have given them the hope for a cure for their curse a millennia earlier as Thorax did in modern day. He then asks them if losing that was really worth continuing their blood feud with the dragons. Even the Summer Court finds it difficult to say it was. His lending Ember and Thorax their future potential was also a more subtle case of this, essentially showing both sides of the feud the potential they were squandering with their refusal to move on.
* WeHaveBecomeComplacent: A common theme around utopian, advanced, powerful, and/or morally puristic societies is that they would always end up becoming complacent and indulgent no matter what they do.
** Temnobog is disgusted by societies that become overly Good, since the absence of Evil will cause its inhabitants to forget why they're Good and think that they can do whatever they want because they're Good, unwittingly becoming the very Evil that they defeated in the first place. He even believes that Queen Dazzleglow's attempts to break the Cycle would result in a complacent Equus, except no, she also believes in Constructive Evil and wants people to break the Cycle [[spoiler:so everyone would be able to fight the... ''[[EldritchAbomination thing]]'' that's lurking in the Cosmic Void]]. On the other hand, Temnobog also opposes societies that have become overly Evil, and will not hesitate to let the Four Terrors, his surviving divine children, raze and burn such societies to the ground as punishment for their extreme Evil.
** Temnoist followers are also against societies promoting the absence of Evil/Good, as they believe that Good cannot exist in the absence of Evil and vice-versa, and the consequences of such a thing will be worse, than if Good and Evil existed together. So while they are feared and reviled as agents of Evil, Temnoists believe that by promoting Evil, they help good people become strong enough to oppose Evil, thus in turn allowing the Cycle of Good and Evil to continue.
** Dr. Toxikon sees the Dragonflights as complacent, arrogant, and stagnant, because they have become so confident in their own power that they refuse to learn new things and/or cooperate with other races. A prime example would be Dragon Lord Brutus, who emphasizes his people's focus on brute strength rather than intelligence and skill - [[CurbStompBattle he lost rather quickly]]. The reason why Toxikon praised Ember so highly is because she is one of few Dragons who averted this trope, yet he also became frustrated that no one else is willing, or don't want to listen to Ember's progressive ways.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Generally deconstructed, since good intentions or not, those who turn to shady and unscrupulous methods to achieve a noble goal still get painted as monsters who didn't bother to think of an alternate and safer option.
** In Crystal Prism's backstory as Page Wheel, there's the unicorn mare Noble Grace, and her assistant Bubbling Beaker. The two of them were disgraced teachers and wanted criminals who kidnapped and experimented on young foals with the intention of mass-producing Alicorns for the greater good of Equus. Their actions did result in Page Wheel becoming an Alicorn demigod, but he was left incredibly traumatized for some time, and they are nevertheless arrested for their crimes.
** Much like his character inspiration, Battryu is devoted to protecting Equus, but ''only'' Equus. As Nature's Wrath, he sees all the occupying races as a blight to the ecosystem and won't hesitate to kill everyone if they upset the balance in any way, innocents be damned.
** Dr. Toxikon was a victim of the "[[FinalSolution Time of Broken Scales]]" and created a plague that will kill off a very large majority of Changelingkind and Dragonkind because he saw both races as stagnant and unable to move past old grudges. In his eyes, only the younger, open-minded generations are deserving to live on Equus. While it did result in [[AssholeVictim the Summer Court getting devastated]], Dr. Toxikon is still seen as a genocidal monster, and those who sided with him are just as reviled by heroic-minded people.
** Poena, the Mistress of Punishment, is a Tulpa "goddess" who was born from the magic, emotions, and thoughts of downtrodden creatures whose tormentors often get away with their crimes, so as a result, she believes that justice should be without mercy or pity. It gets deconstructed while she ends up with a following of hotblooded young deities who are equally frustrated with their older superiors' indifference and failures, she often clashes with more merciful individuals who she believes are too "soft", and, as the dark Deer god Temnobog warned, she often runs the risk of becoming as monstrous and evil in her ruthless pursuit of justice. In one notable incident, Poena fought the god of mercy, Eiríni, over the fate of an evil Minotaur warlord and ended up lying unconscious in a crater. She also tried swaying the filly psychopomp, Ruby Heart the Confessor/Redeemer, to seeing her side so she could use the latter's "Chain Sight" ability to detect sinful individuals... but thankfully Ruby had friends who are willing to protect her from hard-lined and puristic people like Poena.
* WhatTheHellHero:
** Happens during the "Revenge of Apertus" incident, in which Empress Blackrose herself, the many Royal Children of the Spring Court (though not ''all''), and a number of the dragons (at least the ones who qualify as heroes) received a number of these a millennia ago for what they did to Queen Acherontia and Dragon Lord Vulcan out of FantasticRacism and fear of what their hybrid daughter could become, despite both of them doing nothing wrong to warrant such a punishment and Apertus being only a child at the time. Even non-Changeling deities were absolutely disgusted with what the perpetrators had done.
*** Mothryu, known as the most benevolent of the Neighponese {{Kaiju}}, outright refused to do more than evacuate the innocents caught in Apertus's path.
----> '''Mothryu's Priestesses''': "Was the Slaver King the only one who descended on her hive, with the intent of spilling a child's blood for no other reason but her heritage, and fear of what she may do? Was it him alone who decided to try and destroy a marriage approved of by the Grand Primeval of Love out of hate? Was he the one who sealed her parents away, rather than confront the racial hatred that has been allowed to fester? Mothryu will defend the innocent, and she will ferry them away here... but most of you are not innocent."
*** Mothryu's twin, Battryu, on the other hand, was more blunt about it.
----> '''Battryu's Priestess:''' You made your bed, now lay in it.
*** Even some of Empress Blackrose's morally good children joined in on the calling out. Queen Pentatomidae, after previously [[PleaseSpareHimMyLiege begged her family to spare her sister and her dragon husband]], pointedly expressed her displeasure by avoiding them for five centuries; Princess/Captain Mimetidae ''punched'' her own mother in the jaw (which Blackrose allowed) before storming off for two centuries; Puck would stay with his mother, but even he was incredibly disappointed.
---->'''Prince Puck:'''Remember when Choice said what you did to Acherontia would have consequences? Well those consequences just leveled an entire Summer King's territory in a day by itself and is tearing a trail of destruction towards one of our sisters... I hate to say I told you so... [[IWarnedYou but I told you so]].
*** Choice itself would visit both Changeling Courts and the Dragonflights and remind them of the "poor" choices they had taken with Apertus and her parents, ending with the final note that the consequences would catch up to them. When King Thomisus insisted they were "[[NeverMyFault above the consequences]]", Choice would apparently laugh in his face.
----> '''Choice:''' Do you have any idea how many times I have heard that? More than a number exists to count. Do you know how often it has been correct? ''Never.''
*** Luminiferous, while more disappointed than angry, nevertheless informed the Changelings and Dragons that had they not cruelly punished Queen Acherontia and Dragon Lord Vulcan for falling in love for each other, or treated Apertus like a disgusting abomination that deserved to be treated like garbage and/or be killed, they would have reached the potential that Thorax and Ember had already obtained. The Changelings in particular were told that the consequences of trying to satisfy a racial grudge had resulted in the delay or even potentially permanent squandering of a cure to their [[HorrorHunger Curse]]. His BadassBoast when unlocking Thorax and Ember's potential also had shades of this trope.
----> '''Luminiferous:''' Before you are the members of your kind who have rejected this aeons-long grudge. Behold: the potential of those who have moved past the limitation you have chained yourself down with. Now, Sanctified One, brilliant Daughter of Torch: Arise! Borrow the potential that waits for you at the next dawn!
* WingedUnicorn: The Alicorns, much like in canon. The Alicorns in ''Codex Equus'' are immortal and incredibly powerful, and as they get older, they gain extra traits such as new wings and/or a wing gradient. However, it's implied that all Alicorns [[DeityOfHumanOrigin were once mortal ponies]] - [=BrutalityInc=] has stated that he wanted to make his own take on the Alicorns, combining official canon descriptions of the Alicorns being merely long-lived with the fanon interpretation of Alicorns as bonafide gods. However, it's zigzagged in that Alicorns don't ''specifically'' have to be ponies, as there have been members of other equine species that Ascended to Alicornhood.
** Prince Léon, Blueblood's adoptive son, is an "[[MadeOfMagic Ethereal]]" deity who, according to Blueblood, Ascended into an Alicorn at the moment of birth. This makes him [[TheOneGuy the only male Equestrian Alicorn]] in the Equestrian pantheon.
** The Equestrian Princesses are prominent examples.
* WombLevel:
** In one of the Alvslog/Erobreseg Deer Herd's legends, the trickster god Narren had to enter the body of his (quite literally) EvilUncle [[GodOfEvil Temnobog]] in order to rescue his grandfather, High King Irminsul of the Eltenteil Deer Pantheon, whom Temnobog had de-powered and [[JustEatHim devoured]] as part of a partricidal revenge plot. Whilst in Temnobog's body, he had to avoid, trick or otherwise get through the countless other damned souls, disobedient demons and enemy deities (Including two of Temnobog's own children) that Temnobog had eaten over the ages to reach his grandfather. No shrinking is involved, but the narration made it clear that this is possible due to the bodies of the gods being 'quite different' from those of mortals, depicted as BiggerOnTheInside and apparently [[AnotherDimension planes/realms]] in their own right.
* WomenAreWiser: Zigzagged. Due to Equus being heavily matriarchal in some places, women in general have a tendency to be wiser, more compassionate, and more intelligent than males, mortal or divine. Supporting this are the various queendoms that dot Equus, as they're shown to be thriving underneath the rule of a queen. However, this does not automatically mean that women are "better" than men, as they are shown to be just as capable of being stubborn, racist, patronizing, arrogant, and evil as men. Men, meanwhile, can be as wise and compassionate as their female counterparts.
* TheWorfEffect: At their height, the Crystal Empire's military, backed by their sorcerous powers and enchantments, enabled them to reconquer much of the old Equestrian Empire's territories and enforce their rule over much of the known world with their Crystal Legions. Their devastating defeats at the hooves of the Giants during the Crystal Empire's war with Queen Colossos' Empire demonstrated [[AwakeningTheSleepingGiant just what sort of foe they had picked a fight with]].
* WorfHadTheFlu: Gamarea struggling with a single adult Dyvaos is explained as him not being fully grown yet and he doesn't bond with a pony until the very end of the fight when Yearling finally does. [[OneHitKill He then instantly kills the Dyvaos in one hit]].
* WorldBuilding: The entire purpose of the story is to provide this for Equus as a whole, with emphasis of expanding and adding details to many facets of the setting; for example, the Changeling civilization is vastly expanded, revealed to be far older and much bigger than just ex-Queen Chrysalis and her former hive with the four Changeling Courts.
* WorthyOpponent:
** King Brachion sees Kickhopper as this, due to him managing to survive everything the king has thrown ate him.
** Ahuizotl sees Daring as his ''exclusive'' one. He explains to Brachion this is because he ''expects'' other demi-gods and deities to be able to rival him, but a mortal who can is a far more interesting and exciting foe. Brachion seems to feel the same about Kickhopper.
** Emperor Blackthorn complimented on the Changeling Courts' enemy Dr Toxikon's skills during the 'Crucible Crisis', being able to repeatedly out-wit and out-gambit nearly all the Changeling Courts - an entire Sapient species known for their guile and cunning - for much of the Crisis and nearly succeeding in destroying them.
* WouldHurtAChild:
** Before his first death, Night Terror was a SerialKiller that went after children. He was eventually burned alive and killed by the angry, grieving parents of his victims... though his deal with Ispita allowed him to evade Yarost, Temnobog's oldest son, and continue his killing spree undeterred in the dream world... then Princess Luna and Tenya confronted and defeated him, ending with Night Terror being thrown into the real world [[OhCrap where Yarost was waiting for him]].
** [[VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks Sunnytown]]. The occupants of that place were extremely Cutie Pox-phobic, and killed a young filly named Ruby Heart for gaining a Cutie Mark. Pakak was ''enraged'', and cursed the entire town for their crime to become zombies, never truly able to rest until they accepted responsibility for their crimes and atoned honestly. Pakak was noted to have not shown any remorse for what he had done.
*** Several years later, however, history nearly repeated again when Apple Bloom followed Ruby Heart's spirit into Sunnytown out of curiosity, causing the zombified locals to chase her down once she discovered the town's horrible secret. Apple Bloom narrowly escaped thanks to interference from Ruby Heart and her older sister Mitta. Applejack made it clear that [[BigBrotherInstinct she'll applebuck Grey Hoof and his followers seven ways across Equus if they come after her little sister again]].
** There was an incident where Poena tried to recruit Ruby Heart to her side so the ghostly filly would accept her morally puristic version of justice, and to gain access to her "[[DetectEvil Chain Sight]]" ability. When Ruby refused, even [[NotSoDifferent comparing her to the extremist Grey Hoof]], Poena got mad and tried attacking her, only to be blocked by Crystal Prism and Princess Twilight.
** Since his "birth", Prince Léon has been a walking target for both tribalist factions, who see him as a freak of nature and a divine tyrant in the making, and evil/corrupt deities like Ispita and the Tyrannos pantheon, who see him as a threat since his empathy can help turn their victims/followers away from their infleunce. However, said deities also see potential in Léon as a corrupted god, since his magic also means he can be used as a wheel to spread corruption and tyranny on a wider scale. Thankfully, Léon has loved ones willing to protect him, especially his adoptive father, [[PapaWolf Blueblood]], and the [[MamaBear Equestrian Princesses]].
* WouldntHurtAChild:
** Elske, the Jotunn goddess of Love. She'll happily eat sinful/hateful cities and kingdoms, but she ''always'' spares the children; even taking them under her care afterwards to make up for eating their families and homes. Her more merciful diet is said to be catching on with mortal Giants.
** Polistes and the Wild Cards, by virtue of their [[WouldNotShootACivilian white-hat pirate]] ways. In one notable incident, a heist abroad a luxury cruise ship was interrupted when a heavily pregnant mare went into labor. Polistes spared the mare and her husband from being robbed and even had his crew help deliver a healthy foal. The newly-made parents reportedly shook his hoof out of gratitude.
* WretchedHive:
** The criminal state of Abyssinia from [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 the 2017 movie]] is justified here - the Abyssinian deities, Zinabi and his consort Fik'iri, let the country be assimilated into the Storm Empire to "[[DisproportionateRetribution punish]]" the people for poor worship. As a result, Abyssinia fell abject poverty by the time Twilight Sparkle and the Mane Six arrive there.
** This is also what Hyrule would've become if it officially became a territory of the Storm Empire. Fortunately, Blood Fang secretly manipulated and sabotaged the general responsible for conquering Hyrule, leaving him completely vulnerable against Gleaming Shield and Radiant Primrose, who both killed him.
* XanatosGambit:
** The Summer Court as a whole is very good at this, as implied by what we know so far about them, due to many Kings inheriting their patriarch's [[TheChessmaster scheming intelligence]] as well as being pragmatic and genre-savvy compared to many other [[EvilOverlord evil overlords]].
*** Naturally, said Patriarch, Emperor Blackthorn, is implicitly a master of these owing to being the [[TheChessmaster Sovereign of Schemes]]. In-universe, this trope is named after him - a 'Blackthorn Gambit'.
** Dr. Toxikon also managed to master this and its variant below, to the point that he could challenge the Summer Court and Changelingkind as a whole. In testimony of his brilliance, [[WorthyOpponent Emperor Blackthorn himself]] notes with a hint of pity that if Toxikon isn't so set in destroying them all, he would relish playing a game of Go with him like the ones he normally play with Dragon King Bahumet.
** Dragon King Bahumet is implied to be just as good, given he managed to hold the namesake behind the 'Blackthorn Gambit' himself and his schemes in check thanks to his vast age, wisdom and experience (up to ''tens of millions'' of years). This also hints at Blackthorn's own prowess at these gambits, given he manages to keep up with a being as wise and powerful as the Father of all Dragons; the implication is that he's ''just that good''.
* XanatosSpeedChess: The ''entire'' confrontation between Dr. Toxikon, the Changelings, and the Dragons (mainly Ember and Bahamut) is this, with all sides being incredibly intelligent and rapidly adjusting their plans.
[[/folder]]

!!This series contains examples of:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:A to C]]
* AbusiveParents: Just as there are good parents in Equus, there are bad ones as well.
** High King Irminsul, [[TopGod leader]] of the Elternteil pantheon, was one. He originally intended to make his then-unborn son, Belyolen, into a complete GodOfGood by casting a divine ritual that would get rid of Belyolen's darker urges and flaws. When this resulted in the birth of Temnobog, Irminsul shunned and emotionally abused his younger son out of disgust while encouraging his family and peers to do the same, fearing that Temnobog's mere presence would "taint" the benevolence of the pantheon. He would also prevent the radiant Belyolen, who he favored, from connecting with Temnobog and taught him to view his dark twin as "inferior" because of what he embodied. Naturally, this led to utterly miserable Temnobog hating his brother for being loved and praised, to the point where his grudge would not be amended until years later. Belyolen also secretly grew disgusted with their family's abuse, but it wasn't until he overheard his parents and some of his siblings considering the option of killing Temnobog altogether that he confronted his family and shamed them all for their blatant hypocrisy and arrogance, stating that [[NotSoDifferent by abusing Temnobog who didn't do anything to warrant his mistreatment, they became no different than the evils they opposed]]. This moved his brothers and sisters into [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regretting their actions]] and siding with Belyolen, who left home to create the Bogolenya pantheon so he could give Temnobog the love, protection, and respect he believed his brother deserved. Things between Belyolen and Temnobog are good now since they buried the hatchet and reconciled, but Temnobog now focuses his hatred on Irminsul and tries to harm him if he thinks he could get away with it, while Belyolen, despite still loving his family and trying to keep the peace between the now three Deer pantheons, tries to keep the Elternteil deities at an arms' length because of their harmful attitudes, even warning his parents that as long they continue to display said attitudes, they are not welcome around him or the Bogolenya pantheon. Irminsul's actions also ''enraged'' Luminiferous, who called him out on enforcing his twisted ideas of perfection onto his child to the point of irreversibly warping them, and stated that he's also no different from the evil, narcissistic Alicorn Morning Star, who also believed in perfection without flaws. Mentálne speculates that Irminsul suffers from some form of PsychologicalProjection, being unable to get rid of his own flaws and venting his feelings on Temnobog for being a living reminder of his failure... either that, or he's "just a big [[{{Jerkass}} jerk]]."
** Subverted with Temnobog - while he embodies Deerkind's Evil and thus is no loving parent according to mortal standards, he really loves his children in his own way, even though he does encourage their innate evil as per his nature. He was really heartbroken when four of his children betrayed the family to either side with Ispita after she became a Fallen goddess, or commit heinous crimes that even Temnobog wouldn't approve of, but he still had to punish them according to their actions. So those who sided with Ispita were devoured and slowly digested, while the others were stripped of their powers and identities, and reduced to immortal playthings for the siblings that remained loyal to Temnobog. And while the Four Terrors commit very heinous acts in the name of their father, it's for [[GoodNeedsEvil altruistic reasons]] and they absolutely adore Temnobog, [[SoProudOfYou and he feels the same way]].
** Emperor Blackthorn, being the counterpart of Empress Blackrose in almost every way, is a horrible parent. When one of his First-Spawn sons, King Rhyniognatha, engineered what was called "The Fratricide" in an attempt to remain his father's sole favorite, Blackthorn sealed him yet did nothing about the traditions of backstabbing and treachery that would be common among his sons and other Summer Court Changelings - while it's debated in-universe whether he let it happen to punish his sons' incompetence, root out the weak among them, or just plain didn't care, the fact is that he still let his sons kill each other in their bids for power, and even encouraged it. However, he still respects most of them, especially if they had proven themselves worthy, and is generally careful enough to retain most of their loyalty (mostly by letting them do whatever they want so long as they help him run errands, and avoid doing anything to make them resentful).
** The pony foster parents of Changeling King Lasius were worse - they were [[AristocratsAreEvil corrupt and lazy nobles]] who profited from the suffering of their subjects, and used their own money to fund their lavish lifestyles. They did nothing to encourage Lasius's brilliant intellect, causing him to grow increasingly bored and frustrated at home, and it's implied that if they got word of his true character, they would've tried persuading him into acting like them. Lasius eventually got fed up with this behavior and secretly assassinated every single member of the nobility and the kingdom's royal family during a party that ''he'' threw just for them. It's telling when Lasius's half-sister, Golden Bell, turned a blind eye to the familicide and had considered doing the deed herself, and even ''Blackthorn'' was pleased with Lasius for having plotted the entire nobility/royalty's downfall.
** Blueblood's parents, also [[AristocratsAreEvil nobles]], were controlling and emotionally abusive. When they weren't trying to mold him into the ideal unicorn, they were trying to make him develop tribalist attitudes towards non-unicorns, preventing him from playing with foals of non-unicorn nobles, and forbidding him from anything that seemed unbecoming of a unicorn noble. This left Blueblood feeling utterly ''miserable'', to the point where it caused Celestia to take notice during a day in her court. When she learned why Blueblood looked so sad, Celestia immediately adopted him, [[MamaBear and not only had Blueblood's parents escorted out when they protested, she also permanently banned House Platinum from her court]]. It's saying something when Blueblood made [[DamnedByFaintPraise humorously ironic speeches]] for his parents' funerals years later, and treats Celestia like the mother he never had despite being officially Aunt and Nephew.
* AcePilot: Polistes, an Autumn Court Changeling Prince who, on top of being a GadgeteerGenius, runs a band of noble SkyPirates called the "Wild Cards".
* ActionGirl: Nearly every benevolent female character is this, with some exceptions who are [[NonActionGuy generally noncombatants]].
** Princess/Captain Mimetidae is essentially a globetrotting heroic pirate Changeling who regularly fights whatever force of evil she comes across.
** Queen Theraphosa is an AmazonianBeauty of a Changeling Queen and one of the best warriors in the Spring Court.
* AdaptationalBadass:
** Ahuizotl is presented as a much larger threat, to the point he managed to clash with King Brachion in wits and power. In terms of personality, he was someone who only wanted to TakeOverTheWorld in canon. Here, he's an OmnicidalManiac who wants to perpetuate the Cycle because destruction is the only thing that's appealing to him.
** Queen Mzazi is the Mother of All Zebra, and an incredibly powerful 4 million year old goddess who once shredded an armada with a lightning storm. She's also G1 Zigzag, one of the Pony Friends from G1.
** Queen Dazzleglow of the Glimmering Isles was originally a G1 unicorn mare that was part of the "Glow 'n Show" pony toyline. Here, she's a Sparkle Pony, a type of mutated pony that could manipulate light and stardust, and is an [[PhysicalGod Alicorn]] (though she did appear as an Alicorn in the ''My Little Pony Tales'' series).
** Rainbow Dash in canon is the fastest pegasus alive, an Element of Harmony, and is the only one capable of pulling off a Sonic Rainboom. Here, she's a Rainbow Pony, a type of mutated pony that could manipulate light, energy, and rainbows, [[AchievementsInIgnorance though she remains unaware of her full potential]]. Luminiferous is interested in unlocking her development so she could perform the Rainbow Ponies' fabled "[[FasterThanLightTravel Rainbow Warp]]".
** In canon, Thorax physically transforms into a Changeling King after defeating Chrysalis with ThePowerOfLove, but is still rather meek, {{Adorkable}}, and struggling with being a leader. Here, Thorax's confrontation with Chrysalis resulted in him becoming a newborn Royal Changeling, the Changeling equivalent of ''demigod'', and the 'Progenitor' of his own hive, which contains purified changelings. He has so much potential that he accidentally blasted Changeling King Zorpheus across Avalon with a magic beam that would have ''killed'' anyone else. When Luminiferous briefly unlocked his potential to fight Apertus, Thorax emerged from his cocoon as a Changeling ''Emperor''.
** Prince Blueblood in canon was a boorish PrinceCharmless who mistreated Rarity when they first met at the Grand Galloping Gala. Here, he's a clairvoyant unicorn noble who's the Commander of the Royal Equestrian Navy and a respected hero known for [[NoOneGetsLeftBehind saving wounded comrades in heated battles]]; an excellent tactician and diplomat; and a skilled [[MakingASplash water mage]]... none of which showed up in canon.
** The Equestrian Princesses are [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething more active]] than they were in canon. Even though they mostly handle the politics of ruling Equestria, they still participate in major battles if need be. [=BrutalityInc=] has stated in response to a question about their "uselessness" that they do help whenever they can, it's just that they have to tone down their power because they don't want to inflict collateral damage upon their mortal subjects.
** Prince Léon, a one-shot Alicorn character who appeared in a French magazine as Celestia's very young cousin, is a divine Godling in the Codexverse, being capable of powerful [[TheEmpath empathy]] and [[HolyBurnsEvil divine purification]]. For one, he ''[[AchievementsInIgnorance accidentally]]'' purged the current host of Mr. Hide, one of Ispita's Fallen angels, significantly harming Mr. Hide and defeating him.
** In ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'', Jushtin Butterfly had brief access to magic thanks to his mother, Queen Skywynne, allowing him, having held high hopes for him as a potential King... only to be superseded when Skywynne gave into peer pressure and gave birth to a daughter, because her subjects didn't want a male ruler in a matriarchal kingdom. He was able to become a diplomat, but he faded into obscurity after that, with his only reputation coming from his being an "un-queen". As Jushtin's {{Expy}}, Sparkling Wing shows what could've happened had someone continued showing faith in Jushtin and giving him a chance to show off his own potential, instead of letting him fade into obscurity because of his sex. While Sparkling Wing wasn't able to inherit the throne from his mother, he still showed signs of becoming a great leader and king, and the influence of [[MentorArchetype Luminiferous]] and his many adventures and good deeds were what eventually allowed him to become an [[PhysicalGod Alicorn]] and a powerful mage.
* AdaptationExpansion:
** How [[VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks Sunnytown]] became cursed. The original game implied its inhabitants became cursed because of their crime of murdering an innocent filly for earning a Cutie Mark, but doesn't elaborate further. Here, it's explained that Pakak, the god of Karmic Mischief, was responsible, having been so enraged by the murder that he cursed Sunnytown to become a haunted place full of undead until the people accepted responsibility and atoned for their crimes.
** Instead of a mere sisterly spat in canon, the Nightmare Moon incident was implied in the Codexverse to be a bloody CivilWar that pitted mortal Equestrians against each other out of loyalties to either Celestia, or Luna/Nightmare Moon. And while Celestia's involvement in Luna's corruption was left ambiguous, it's implied that Celestia did have a part in Luna's bitterness and envy, either through neglect, being truly unaware of Luna's feelings, or actively ''encouraging'' their subjects to shun Luna's night [[ItsAllAboutMe so she would have the spotlight to herself]]. Celestia's heartbroken reaction to [[EvilCounterpart Tyrantlestia]] accusing her of being a [[BigBrotherBully a selfish bully]] to Luna lends some truth to it.
* AdaptationalKarma:
** Played with Noble Grace and her assistant/friend, Professor Bubbling Beaker, both [[{{Expy}} Expies]] of [[Anime/MaryAndTheWitchsFlower Madam Mumblechook and Dr. Dee]]. In the original movie, [[spoiler:both Madam Mumblechook and Dr. Dee have their lab destroyed by a transformed Peter, with the former being left completely powerless after absorbing her magic, and in the end they are both surrounded by the enraged animals they used to experiment on, implying a very grisly fate for them]]. While the events were more or less the same in the Codexverse, here they were arrested, transferred back to Germane, and properly tried for their crimes after Scarlet Bell, one of their former students, notified the Grittish authorities. It's noted that lawful authorities refused to let the jury take matters into their own hands, [[AssholeVictim regardless of the damage and harm Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker have inflicted on their victims]], because [[NotSoDifferent it would make the jury no different than the criminals]]. To quote a Pferdian Pony judge on the day of their trial:
---> '''Pferdian Pony judge:''' Considering how many animals and ponies she and her colleague had experimented on, the popular choice would have been to let the victims decide her fate. But cases like these is why we have the law - to bring justice to those who have harmed the innocent without resorting to measures that would make us no better than the criminals we punish.
** Night Terror, an {{Expy}} of [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]], is punished for his misdeeds and attempting to trick himself out of his well-deserved punishment in Temnobog's hell-realms when Princess Luna and Tenya teamed up to defeat him and throw him in the real world. A furious Yarost was waiting for him, having learned that Night Terror got away thanks to Ispita, and dragged him down to the hell-realms once and for all. It's rumored in-universe that he was reduced to an immortal plaything for Yarost to torment.
** In ''VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks'', the Sunnytowners were turned into zombies for murdering an innocent filly, though exactly what caused the curse is ambiguous. Here, it's stated that the curse was of divine nature - Pakak had been attending the party disguised as a pony when he witnessed the murder of Ruby Heart, and was so enraged that he cursed the entire town.
* AdultFear: Due to ''Codex Equus'' taking place in a realistic, expanded world, lots of horrifying things can happen.
** The events surrounding [[VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks Sunnytown]] are full of this trope.
*** Sunnytown itself is a prime example of what happens when a town is gripped by fear. After the spread of [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E6TheCutiePox Cutie Pox]], the people of Sunnytown were so terrified by the idea of experiencing another infection that they took extreme measures to prevent it. When a young filly named Ruby Heart earned her Cutie Mark for helping a neighbor woo his love with a gift she found, she unknowingly condemned herself to death, and her neighbors ritualistically murdered her for it. Her family initially wanted to protect her, but were talked into agreeing with their neighbors' decision ([[MyGreatestFailure to their great regret later on]]). The karmic god Pakak was so enraged by this that he cursed the town to become a haunted place full of zombies, until everyone accepted responsibility and atoned for their crimes.
*** Years later, ''Story of the Blanks'' happened when Apple Bloom wandered away from Twilight to follow Ruby's spirit out of curiosity, leading to the filly discovering Sunnytown's dark secret and being nearly killed by pursuing pony zombies who wanted to "protect" her. The only reason why she escaped was via interference from Ruby and her older sister, Mitta, who this time tried preventing her neighbors from killing another foal. Twilight was so worried for Apple Bloom that when she found the latter at the edge of the Everfree Forest, she felt extremely relieved that Apple Bloom was safe instead of being mad at her for wandering off.
*** Apple Bloom's adventure also traumatized her, and it took some time for her to recover and come to terms with what she had discovered. Namely, why the ponies of Sunnytown decided to kill a young filly for an extremely bogus reason.
** After Twilight and Spike were saved by Blueblood from being assassinated by the [[FantasticRacism Children of Platinum]] faction, Rarity tearfully hugged Twilight and Spike, terrified out of her mind by the thought of nearly losing two of her best friends to political conflict. The Mane Six's opinion of Blueblood in general also improved significantly because of this incident.
** Rarity also had a moment of this when Button Mash revealed what would happen to Sweetie Bell if he lost the "game" against [=CreepEntity513=], due to its intentions of targeting the Cutie Mark Crusaders after potentially killing Button Mash. It was noted that Rarity was extremely worried, but also relieved that her younger sister was spared a horrible fate.
* AlmightyIdiot:
** Blood Fang has the ability to transform into a demonic boar, which enhances his strength ''immensely'' [[ClippedWingAngel but makes him as dumb as an animal]]. Blood Fang actually disdains using it for this reason and prefers to avoid it whenever possible, though he also hates power gambits that puts the person at risk in general.
** Due to legends and conflicting information, King Sombra is interpreted as this. Blood Fang even calls Sombra a "complete imbecile" who didn't even have the sense to restrain himself while studying dark magic, and thus lost his mind and body as a consequence.
* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: ''Codex Equus'' offers and [[InvokedTrope even encourages]] multiple interpretations for characters both canon and fanon. This is intended such that any readers wishing to write stories based on the setting could write their own spin on them.
** Chrysalis, for example, is regarded in-universe to be either an EvilGenius or an incompetent maverick, and there are evidence to support both assertions. It is unanimously agreed in-universe or out that regardless of which view is correct, she is undeniably dangerous and a genuine threat to Equestria.
** The Storm King also allows for alternate interpretation of his character. His origin story portrayed him and his rise to power as either that of a brilliant genius who earned his status, or simply a cynical opportunist who happened to be extraordinarily lucky. On the other hand, several deities see him as a monster, with both Zmluva and his younger sister Mentálne labeling him as a sociopathic monster with no empathy or other redeeming traits whatsoever. That being said, he's still portrayed as a capable warrior and a pragmatic villain.
** Emperor Blackthorn, partially due to being TheStoic and mostly being TheChessmaster extraordinaire, is often speculated by both Changelings and non-Changelings to be a purely [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]] and ruthless "flank-hole" who uses even his most favored sons as pawns, or it's all a facade and he's really altruistic deep down.
** Blood Fang, known as "The Dark Conqueror", is treated in-universe as the Eternal Foe of Gleaming Shield and Radiant Primrose given how much he opposed them, and he's rightly feared as a villain. However, some of his more benevolent actions, such as helping protect Hyrule from the Storm Empire's invasions and manipulating other villains into being defeated, have been theorized to be motivated by [[PragmaticVillainy pure pragmatism]], or the few pieces of compassion he has left from his previous life as Blood Feather, a pegasus bully-turned-hero. A popular theory among the Erobreseg Deer herds is that Blood Fang isn't completely villainous as he seems, as the Deer god of Evil, Temnobog, hired him as his agent mostly because the dark stag was impressed with his self-imposed honor code, and trusts him not to fall into "careless" Evil like Ispita did.
** The antediluvian Alicorn queen, Hylia the Wise, was known in life as a powerful Seer whose actions and dying prayers to always reunite with her lover, the original Gleaming Shield, led to the constant cycle of ReincarnationRomance between the various mortal incarnations of Gleaming Shield and Radiant Primrose. Her fellow Alicorns presumably regarded her as a benevolent ruler whose only "mistake" was falling in love with a mortal. Radiant Primrose, however, wrongly assumed that her ancestor actually used the original Gleaming Shield as her pawn in the wars against demons, and [[SinsOfOurFathers believed herself to be just as guilty simply by being related to her]].
* AlternateTechline: In full force. Due to factors ranging from the presence of magic, availability of resources, to changes in culture over millennia and even divine interventions, different eras often advance down different paths of technology ''and'' magic.
** For example, due to the depletion of fossil fuels from the Second Age, internal combustion engines have limited prominence, resulting in no automobiles. Instead, 'Steamabouts' - Steam Cars in essence - become the dominant land transport, running on external combustion steam engines fueled by 'Timbercoal' (Charcoal), 'Lifeoil' (Biological oils) and 'Peatfire' (partly decomposed vegetable matter in acidic bogs), which even then never become as prominent due to inferior fuels and greater competition (and resistance) from magically-enhanced Ponies and other land-bound races. These are much more in common in other places, most notably on Machina, where instead of polluting fuels, they use fire generating organisms living inside specialized habitats in the engine that generate the necessary heat while getting a cozy place to live and food in return.
** Blimps and Zeppelins, like in canon, are much, much more prominent. It is implied that weather-manipulating magicks of Pegasi and other winged-races helped made them much more practical. The Fourth Age also saw the recent development of the 'Thermal Envelope Generator', a magitech device that generates a magical envelope for an airship in place of a physical one that contains and heats up the air volume inside to generate lift.
** The Fourth Age had their equivalent of the jet engine recently invented; yet while both the Jet Engine and the 'Vortex Engine' work on roughly the same principles, the actual means of achieving those effects is different, with the latter employing magic and magical artifacts for said purposes. Curiously, it is also received different on a cultural level, with the Vortex Engine receiving much greater resistance by racist Pegasi and other winged sapients for [[EvilReactionary making them feel inadequate and 'outdated']].
** Due to the threat of genetic instability to their race's survival, Changelingkind's biological sciences and magicks are at least ''centuries'' more advanced than any other present Fourth Age civilizations, and surpasses even that of civilizations in the Great Wars Era of the Second Age (Which are analogous to RL Earth's Late-Industrial/Atomic/Information Age). Their biomedicine had already cured many genetic illnesses and cancers that they are afflicted by (although they have far more of those than many other races), while they could create or cure biological weapons with relative ease, especially with the likes of Royal Changelings like Queen Zoraptera and King Brachion who specializes in curing and creating plagues, respectively. Dr Toxikon's plan to wipe out Changelingkind also involves [[SyntheticPlague artificial viruses]] which were combined with magic for increased potency.
** Weapons technology had developed differently in different Ages: Thanks to alchemy, high explosives were invented first, which thanks to a narrow efficiency threshold cannot be scaled down, while an equivalent of a deflagrating explosives like gunpowder was apparently never invented. This results in radically different paths in artillery and small-arms development: Blastfire Cannons and Bombs are built much bigger than their counterparts in RealLife to take advantage of Blastfire's unique magical properties; the crossbow remain an effective ranged weapon and became more advanced than in RL; Spring- and Pneumatic-launch ballistic weapons had relatively recently appeared; melee weapons and combat remains a staple of war and are apparently being combined with ranged weapons to make 'Combination Weapons' the staple small-arms of the Fourth Age. Firearms like those in RealLife meanwhile are considered in-universe fabled legends from the technological civilizations of the Second Age, tens of thousands of years ago.
** Disturbingly, Fourth Age biological and chemical weapons are far more prominent, advanced and deadlier than in the Second Age in-universe and RealLife, owing to the lack of armament treaties and powerful magic, especially when developed by the likes of [[SocialDarwinist Brachion]] and [[MadScientist Metrinii]]. The Fourth Age also got their own FantasticNuke in the form of the Clovenists' Mana-Bomb, which induces the magical equivalent of radiation when used on local wild environments like the oceans (which created {{Kaiju}} like the Dracozillas, Roedan, and the Kraken that attacked the coastline of Manehattan).
* AlwaysABiggerFish: It turns out even fully grown Dragons have a natural predator: Ōmukade, {{Kaiju}}-sized centipedes nature seemed to custom make to be a dragon eater. Ironically, both Orochi and Dracozilla were in turn this to the Ōmukade.
* AmazonianBeauty:
** Queen Theraphosa is this, due to having a member of the Cloudsdale Royal Legions for her father, who was also a very large stallion. She's a good deal larger than her sisters (minus Supia) and even many of the Kings, and pretty much solid muscle despite still being beautiful. Puck jokes whereas the other Changelings inspired the Fae, she inspired the Amarezons.
** Fik'iri, former co-TopGod of the Abyssinian pantheon, is described as being beautiful, built like an Amazonian, and dressed in splendid golden armor and regalia. Unfortunately, she's very fickle, lustful, capricious, and hot-tempered.
* AnAxeToGrind: Astrid, the Jotunn war goddess, carries an axe that can chop the tops off ''mountains''. Since she's a deity of Giants, it's also ''huge.''
* AntiAntichrist:
** Luminiferous, the clone/son of Morning Star, the one responsible for the destruction of the prehistoric Alicorn civilization, is this. His father created him to use as a living weapon to destroy his enemies, but Luminiferous (somehow) ended up raised by a loving family and turning into a noble hero who ultimately defeated his father and became one of the setting's BigGood entities.
** Flœrð, the adoptive Jotunn son of High King Kaldr of the Hoyklan pantheon, was fated to cause the Codexverse's equivalent of [[{{Gotterdammerung}} Ragnarok]] due to being born a TricksterGod that was adopted into another divine pantheon, which had in the past been responsible for kick-starting many Ragnaroks. This caused some gods like Irminsul to advocate for Flœrð's death and/or suppression for the good of all Deerkind, but Kaldr realized that to do so [[NotSoDifferent would make him no better than Irminsul]], who abused Temnobog simply for being born "evil" despite not having done anything to truly warrant it, and likely imbue Flœrð with the same bitterness and resentment that drove all previous TricksterGods against their Pantheons. Because of Kaldr's choice to become a good father instead, Flœrð became a heroic and well-adjusted trickster instead, and is actively fighting his supposed "destiny" by doing good deeds, despite what some people might say.
* AntiVillain: Maul nearly wiped out everyone on the Equestrian subcontinent, but he was simply a cornered animal with above-average intelligence doing what he believed necessary to survive.
* {{Archenemy}}:
** King Brachion and his rogue, heroic creation Kick Hopper are this, though Brachion seems to respect Kick Hopper and possibly even view him as his WorthyOpponent. On the other hand, the same can't be said about Winter Changeling Sparassidae Avalon, who he disapproves for being a glorified sports hunter that kills for fun rather than a wild predator acting on natural instincts.
** King Metrinii and his Spring Court counterpart, Queen Zoraptera, are also this, with an infamous intercourt rivalry. Namely, Zoraptera is dedicated to finding a counter to every one of Metrinii's chemical weapons and Metrinii is dedicated to finding one she can't counter.
** For some reason, Empress Blackrose developed a deep grudge for Emperor Blackthorn and his ilk, even fuming in rage (and spawning storm clouds!) after the latter offered to lend her aid during the First-Spawn Rebellion. For his part, Blackthorn still loves her, but it's likely that his more detestable traits drove Blackrose away.
** Gleaming Shield and Radiant Primrose have an Eternal Foe, Blood Fang the Dark Conqueror, whom they must fight for the fate of Hyrule. The feeling is mutual. It's noted, however, that both Temnobog and his Temnoist worshipers see their constant conflict and opposition as a good thing, since it'll ensure that Hyrule will never stagnate, with Blood Fang working directly under Temnobog to ensure the spread of constructive Evil.
** Golden Scepter saw Morning Star as this and for good reason, due to the evil Alicorn's betrayal and the massive destruction and death he caused in trying to achieve his twisted ideas of "perfection". It gets deconstructed - the traumas he suffered fighting Morning Star and protecting innocents from him affected Golden Scepter so profoundly that he started having nightmares and hallucinations about the evil Alicorn long after he died. His hatred of Morning Star also caused him to act hostile towards his enemy's "son", Luminiferous, due to looking exactly like Morning Star despite not doing anything evil. However, the CharacterDevelopment he went through as TheAtoner, therapy sessions with Mentálne, and learning how GoodNeedsEvil during his stay in the Bogolenya pantheon has helped him let go of his grudge and ironically become one of Luminiferous's best friends.
* ArmiesAreEvil:
** Khakiston is a young ''divine embodiment'' of this, being the god of warmongers, military dictatorships and amoral warriors. He also happens to be a ''Giant'' Divine, and has the personality of a sadistic bully who derives pleasure from tormenting those weaker/smaller than him.
** The Storm Empire's forces at their worst, if we go by what we know in canon and implied so far in the Codexverse. On top of being aggressive, they're depicted as fanatically loyal to the [[EvilOverlord Storm King]], whom they revere as the herald/prince of the 'Storm Spirits' that would lead their kind back to glory.
** Played with the infernal armies of Temnobog and his hybrid children, the Four Terrors. While their various demon servants and Ascended champions do sow Evil in their masters/mistresses' names, the large majority of them practice "constructive" Evil, doing horrific things to test mortal resolve and strength. Those who betray their roles to practice "careless" evil will end up being severely punished for their crimes.
* AristocratsAreEvil: A sadly common problem in Equus - for every mortal/divine noble/royalty that seeks to help their subjects, there's always someone who will try to counter them to maintain their own power.
** The foster family that raised Changeling King Lasius were a bunch of stubborn, lazy, incompetent, and greedy nobles and royalty who used their money and power to benefit themselves, while their severely impoverished subjects live in total anarchy. Lasius eventually got so fed up with them that he murdered them all during a welcoming party for Emperor Blackthorn, save for his genuinely benevolent half-sister, Golden Bell. Absolutely ''no one'' shed a tear when they died, and when Lasius was revealed to be a Royal Changeling following the fall of the Changeling Masquerade, his subjects didn't care at all since he was a ''much'' better ruler than his predecessors. Lasius also helped repair his childhood kingdom by using his dead family's palaces and statues (even the founder's statue!) to pave the roads, [[{{Unperson}} effectively getting rid of their memory for good]]. It's implied that Blackthorn sired Lasius specifically in that kingdom [[EnragedByIdiocy because of his disgust towards their idiotic complacence and incompetence]].
** The nobles of Canterlot are far more insidious than is shown in canon - they are stubborn, corrupt, and backwards, and would do ''anything'' to maintain the status quo and keep their power. Some of the nobles are also quite tribalist, with Blueblood's deceased parents and the pro-unicorn Children of Platinum faction being two examples; the latter even attempted to assassinate both Princess Twilight Sparkle as well as her assistant/adoptive son Spike ([[AssassinOutclassin which was thankfully foiled by Blueblood]]). They are completely willing to do ''anything'' that will ensure their power as well as the current status quo are protected, including assassination and sabotage. If anything, they are the reason why Prince Blueblood gradually lost his overt idealism and put up {{Jerkass Facade}}s in order to deal with them, and why the Equestrian government struggled to pass reforms that will overturn outdated policies and benefit the country as a whole.
*** Their backwards policies were also why Equestria as a whole were almost completely unprepared in dealing with the Storm Empire's invasion, with the opposing side nearly decimating their entire military while the Mane Six, their allies, and those within the country desperately led a counter-assault against them. It's also noted in Well-To-Do's entry that several nobles were complicit in the Minotaur's illegal and corrupt activities, and when Blueblood found out, he ''outright punched the guy in the face'' for trying to destroy evidence of their wrongdoings before having the Royal Guard arrest the noble and his co-conspirators on the spot.
** In one incident, Bolezn, the embodiment of Pestilence and one of the Four Terrors, created a devastating plague to punish a Erobreseg Deer kingdom for their blatant disregard of proper hygiene. A Deer Prince, Prince Prospero, arrogantly assumed he can use said plague to kill off his poor, worthless subjects, so he sheltered only the nobility and royalty in his castle and threw lavish masquerade parties for them while everyone else was left to die. Bolezn infiltrated the castle under the guise of a noble dressed as a plague victim, angering Prospero enough to chase him around the castle in an attempt to kill him. By the time everyone inside realized they were infected, it was too late, and they all died slow, agonizing deaths. The event would be recorded by [[Creator/EdgarAllanPoe Edgar Allan Pony]] in the form of an in-universe fictionalized version of ''Literature/MasqueOfTheRedDeath'', which Bolezn liked so much that he kept a copy in his personal library. Bolezn would admit later that the only regret he had was crashing Prospero's party itself, since it looked like fun and he wanted to join in, but "duty calls, I guess."
* AscendedExtra: In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'', Dazzleglow only had a brief appearance and didn't even have a speaking role. Here she's the queen of a lost kingdom and a [[PhysicalGod Sparkle Pony Alicorn]], and her return is a major event.
* AssholeVictim:
** While split, a great many feel that the Summer Court deserved the damage Dr. Toxikon did to them for their own misdeeds. However, others point out their hives might not have deserved the same fate, while others like Fetlock Holmes, feel that Toxikon being willing to resort to mass murder is proof he's too unstable to be trusted to stop there. He was right.
** The Propagare-worshiping cultists, as described in Elske's profile. As directed by their god, the cultists were sowing distrust and hatred among two Deer kingdoms in order to kick-start a war. Elske detected the malicious feelings with her [[TheEmpath empathy]], and after stomping one part of their army and sitting on another while revealing Propagare's deceptions, the Jotunn love goddess proceeded to kill the cultists by either devouring them, or slowly crushing them to death under her hooves as they begged for mercy.
** The old Orosian gods were also this. Most of them had personalities inspired by [[Myth/ClassicalMythology the Greek gods]], so they were very fickle, petty, arrogant, irresponsible, and extremely intolerant of even minor forms of disrespect. When the "[[{{Gotterdammerung}} Twilight of the Orosians]]" and the following "Sixth Taurus Dark Age" happened, no one did anything to save the gods from their own demise. Bellamos even made it a point to let them suffer the consequences of their actions as he disowned them as family, instead focusing on protecting the innocents and helping them deal with the aftermath of the disaster.
** Night Terror, a Deer serial killer who went after young fawns, was supposed to be taken to Temnobog's hell-realms after he was immolated by his victims' parents and Yarost collected his soul. But the thing is, he realized that he was just a divine pawn and made a second deal with Ispita, Yarost's mother, that allowed his soul to end up in the dream realm instead, where he would continue his killing spree undeterred. His KarmaHoudini status would run out when Princess Luna and Tenya, Abyssinian goddess of Sleep, defeated him and threw him back into the real world, [[OhCrap where Yarost was waiting]]. It's speculated that he's become one of the eternally damned souls that was turned into Yarost's plaything for trying to cheat his way out of his punishment.
** The foster pony family that raised Changeling King Lasius mostly consisted of lazy, incompetent, and greedy nobles and royalty who used their power and wealth to benefit themselves, while leaving their subjects to suffer in abject poverty and misery. The only good member, Lasius's half-sister Golden Bell, was so disgusted with her family and relatives that she didn't shed a tear when Lasius murdered them all, and no one objected to him being a Changeling since he was a ''much'' better ruler than his predecessors. In fact, when Lasius ascended to the throne, he repaired his family's kingdom by using their palaces and statues, right down to the founder's statue.
** Bolezn, one of the Four Terrors and the embodiment of Gluttony, Greed, and Pestilence, once created a deadly plague to infect a Erobreseg Deer kingdom with, and infiltrated a Deer Prince's castle to infect the person in question along with everyone inside it. However, said plague was a punishment for the kingdom's utter disregard of proper hygiene, and said Deer Prince, Prince Prospero, arrogantly tried using Bolezn's plague to KillThePoor and convinced the local nobility and royalty to take shelter in his castle while leaving their subjects to die. No one cried when they died, and the event was recorded by [[Creator/EdgarAllanPoe Edgar Allan Pony]] in an in-universe short story that Bolezn kept in his library as one of his personal favorites.
** King Strazha Svetilo, then a Prince, killed his parents, King Rovnyy and Queen-Consort Milyala, as well as his paternal uncle, Prince Pobeda, and afterwards he and his younger sister, Vesna, [[KlingonPromotion inherited their thrones]]. Strazha's three victims become less sympathetic when [[spoiler:they tried pulling off their plan to create [[AssimilationPlot a world without lies]], which would potentially destroy Equus]]. Temnobog himself even pointed out that because of their actions, their very names would be reduced to memories used as a warning for those who tried following in their footsteps.
* TheAtoner:
** The Nameless Queen, one of the Changeling Queens banished to the Winter Court, eventually had a HeelRealization after she was saved from a dragon by a good-hearted pony, but refuses to return to her mother's court until she's atoned for her crimes. To keep track of every good deed she's done, she's scratched tallies into her own carapace.
** Empress Blackrose became this twice. The first time was realizing that she became an unyielding, ruthless tyrant not unlike Emperor Blackthorn before and during the First-Spawn Rebellion, so she resolved to always be the kind, loving mother she used to be. [[spoiler:The second time was realizing (after being called out by some of her more reasonable children as well as several deities) that her grudge against Dragonkind hurt people close to her, so she made up for it by unsealing Queen Acherontia and Dragon Lord Vulcan, and reincarnating Apertus into a newborn egg after she was put down]].
* AwakeningTheSleepingGiant:
** Sauropoda has this as their ''national ideology''. It's home to a race of sentient sauropods the size of dragons with earth pony-like magic and every bit as powerful as that would suggest, but they mainly just want to be left alone in peace. But if attacked, they ''will'' defend themselves. Most people are smart enough to know that it's not worth it to try and mess with them, resulting in their country being a TruceZone.
** Queen Cicada and her hive can be considered this; since they spend most of their time sleeping and partying like crazy every 17 years, getting on their bad side would be a ''horrible'' idea.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Dr. Toxikon is an avid believer in this, believing the dragon's overconfidence in their sheer power is a handicap and by analyzing and learning from other races they could become so much more than they were before. He puts this into practice to utterly demolish the Dragon Lord he challenges for their scepter. When he escaped the massacre of his clan, he did so by analyzing how the Changeling Kings behaved, used that to single out a young, inexperienced one, and then exploited it as well as the Kings' infighting and lack of concern for one another to escape.
* BadLuckCharm: Woebegones are magical flowers that spread their pollen in self defense when disturbed. Whoever gets the pollen on them will be afflicted with horrible bad luck until it wears off or is washed off with a special herbal mixture. Ironically, if done carefully, the pollen can be used to make a potion that inverts its effects and grants the consumer ''good'' luck, but this is quite the endeavor.
* BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil: It is implied in lore that a balance between good and evil exists in Equus, and there are certain deities who are born to maintain that balance. Letting one side overpower the other tends to create disaster.
** The twin Deer gods, Belyolen and Temnobog, are living embodiments of this trope. They were supposed to be born as one person, but because Irminsul tried enforcing his twisted ideas of perfection by magically purging his then-unborn son of his darker flaws, he ended up with twin sons instead. Despite the other gods believing that Belyolen's natural compassion and radiance made him "superior" to the dark Temnobog, they're actually equals who embody Light and Dark, Good and Evil, respectively. They both share a unique elemental bond that causes power imbalances whenever one of them tries to gain an advantage, so they couldn't kill each other. They only get stronger when they work together because that is the brothers' purpose - to bring Balance to Deerkind. While Belyolen blesses his worshipers and protects them from evil, Temnobog works as the Bogolenya pantheon's chief punisher, using evil to test mortals and tormenting the souls of wicked people.
** As it turned out, the overabundance of Good within the Elternteil pantheon was what caused it to splinter into the Bogolenya and the Hoyklan pantheons, because there were no "Evil" deities to keep it in check. The only evil god among them at the time, Temnobog, was emotionally abused because his family and peers believed that his mere presence would "taint" their benevolence, [[ThenLetMeBeEvil which caused Temnobog to genuinely become evil]]. This ultimately caused the compassionate Belyolen to rebel, calling everyone out on their blatant hypocrisy and complacent arrogance out of disgust and leaving home to form his own pantheon, so he could protect Temnobog and give him the love and respect he believed his brother deserved.
** This trope is also the reason why King Strazha and his younger sister, Queen Vesna were blessed by Temnobog and Belyolen, respectively - both Deer gods were impressed with their actions, and made the young rulers their divine champions to ensure that their kingdom, Bitaniya, prospers under the Balance of Good and Evil. While Strazha is the feared "Hoof" of Bitaniya, Vesna is the beloved "Heart" who counters her brother's harsh methods with her benevolence.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: This applies to benevolent characters in general, who are very nice but will not hesitate to lay the smackdown if they or their loved ones are threatened.
** Construo, the Novellus Pantheon God of Modern Construction and Architecture, is a GentleGiant who would much rather build something than hurt anyone. If pushed too far, however, he'll quickly remind his enemy of how powerful a Giant God actually is, and that he's a GeniusBruiser. One notable incident ended with an antagonistic Giant God threatening to pillage and eat a village Construo had helped build vital infrastructure for. Said god ended up having his face used as a shovel to dig a canal and was left sealed in a huge block of divine concrete.
** Queen Mzazi, the Mother of All Zebras and a playful, motherly deity. But mess with her personal country in Zebrica and she'll remind you how dangerous a 4 million-year-old goddess is. Just ask the armada she obliterated with a cataclysmic lightning storm.
** Elske, the Jotunn goddess of love, is a motherly deity who can be surprisingly ruthless when pushed. Once, she discovered that Propagare and his cultists tried starting a war between two mortal Deer kingdoms by sowing distrust and hatred, so she put an end to the matter by stomping on one army, and sitting on the other as she told the Deer citizens of the divine deception. As for the cultists themselves, they were either SwallowedWhole or slowly crushed to death underneath her hooves.
** Queen Mab II serves as a mother figure for the Cosmic Council. She won't hesitate to [[EarAche pull ears]] if people start bickering, and once suplexed an arrogant Yak king for making fun of her size. She's also capable of wielding deadly flowers and plants.
** Mab II's husband, King Sefyr, is also very benevolent, if a bit stern. Likewise, inciting his anger tends to go badly for the ones responsible.
** The 'Visitors' are generally InnocentAliens who are benevolent towards Equus during interactions. However, those who believe in them often point out that if they wanted to take over Equus, the only reason they haven't is because they don't ''want'' to. This is shown when Clovenists and Brachion decided to experiment on Sparkle Ponies and invoked the wrath of their alien parent.
** Cutesaurs are friendly dinosaurs who are accepting of outsiders and prefer diplomacy over conflict. They're also ''huge'', extremely tough, and won't hesitate to ''[[GiantFootOfStomping literally]]'' crush anyone who invades their homeland.
** Many Changeling Queens are benevolent (save for the "bad apples" like Chrysalis), but the most prominent is Queen Supia, who is a Royal {{Kaiju}} Changeling who's the size of a skyscraper, yet due to hailing from [[UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} Neighpon]], she usually acts like a YamatoNadeshiko. She can literally stomp you into the ground (or eat you) if you threaten her home and subjects.
** Belyolen, one of two {{Top God}}s of the Bogolenya pantheon, is an extremely compassionate and forgiving divine stag, since he had all his flaws magically "purged" out of him by his father, Irminsul, while he was in utero. That being said, he grew increasingly disgusted with his family's emotional abuse of Temnobog, and after overhearing them considering killing Temnobog altogether, he confronted his family and [[CallingTheOldManOut called them out on their blatant hypocrisy and arrogance]], stating that they became no different than the evils they oppose by mistreating someone who hadn't even truly warranted it, before he left to form his own pantheon and took his brother with him. Having gained more confidence thanks to meeting the Alicorn goddess of Self-Love, Amour-De-Soi, Belyolen is willing to protect Temnobog from both moral hardliners and even his own family, having made clear to his parents that they are not welcome in the Bogolenya pantheon if they don't change their harmful attitudes. He also recognizes when a Deer kingdom has become completely irredeemable and allows his hybrid relatives, the Four Terrors, get rid of it (though he makes sure to evacuate all the good people first, and rightly sees the Four Terrors' methods as so horrific that he calls them as an ''absolute last resort'').
* BewareTheSillyOnes:
** Puck, Empress Blackrose's right hand man, is a fun-loving, mischievous prankster. He's also her First Spawn son and a demigod, meaning while not a Royal Changeling like his sisters, he's one of the most powerful and experienced changelings in the world. There's a reason very few Changelings in ''any'' court want to mess with him.
---> '''Puck:''' You're all welcome in Mother's house, but break the rules and [[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} you're gonna have a bad time.]]
** This is a major aspect of Pakak's character: he's the prank-loving, funny, and friendly God of Mischief, but he's also the God of Karma. He can be very creative with his curses on the wicked and truly enraging him is a very big mistake, as it's the only time he comes close to acting like his brother Discord. For example, in this universe, he was [[VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks the one that cursed Sunnytown for murdering an innocent filly.]]
** Censura, the God of Censorship and Conspiracies, is generally dead serious, but due to a quirk in how he came to be, he also contains [[MoralGuardians censorship pertaining to children's entertainment]]. He hates this part of himself, but it provides him with one of his most powerful abilities: the ability to NoSell anything that is 'family unfriendly' at all, even if he despises doing so.
* BigBad:
** Dread, a mutated Dreadmare, for the Storm of Terror entry, who attacked the town of Clear Waters during the early years of Equestria.
** Maul, a Temper Troll chieftain, for the War of Rage entry, who led the subcontinent's entire population of his kind in a war on Equestria.
** Yamata no Orochi, the Dragon God of Darkness, is essentially this for the overarching story arc in Neighpon.
** The Storm King is naturally this for the Storm King Crisis.
** King Xestobium serves as this for the "The Wrath of Xestobium" entry, launching a genocidal campaign against the dragons that could potentially cause a mass extinction event.
** Propagare, the God of Propaganda, is being built up as a more long-term one. He egged on and encouraged Xestobium's omnicidial ambitions as a step in his own plans.
** Princess Apterus for the "Revenge of Apterus" story serves as the main antagonistic force, though it was through [[FreudianExcuse absolutely no fault of her own]].
** Ahuizotl naturally serves this for Daring Do.
** Dr. Toxikon for the "Toxicon Strikes Back" story.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Taken UpToEleven with the Ōmukades, which when fully grown are {{Kaiju}}-sized centipedes capable of killing ''dragons''.
* BigEater:
** Giant races, often to the point that a group of hungry Giants could strip entire lands barren devouring everything edible - up to and including the [[EatenAlive Ponies and other smaller races living there]]. Partly justified in that their huge sizes means that they would require a lot of food just to sustain their enormous physiology, meaning they have little choice in the matter... though it sometimes gives them an excuse to prove their racial superiority to "[[FantasticSlurs Tinies]]".
** Terraton, the Gigantes giant race's chief deity and a leading member of the Tauren Giant pantheon, is this when not in battle. As he is enormous even by Giant deities standards, he has the appetite to pack away whole towns, cities and ''countries'' of both Tinies ''and'' Giants. And this is considered ''normal'' by Giant deities' standards.
** Princess/Captain Mimetidae is this. Apparently after the fight with King Xestobium, she went to an all-you-can-eat buffet and 'took that name as literally as possible'.
** Hilariously deconstructed with Elske, who loves eating mortals and their kingdoms even by Giant standards, but only goes after sinful mortal realms... which is a lot. As a result, she's a very plump Jotunn goddess whose girth has caused embarrassing incidents such as flattening mountains, making craters, and getting stuck in narrow mountain paths.
* BiggerOnTheInside:
** Giant Lands are regions of Equus which are spatially-distorted by wild magic, such that they are PocketDimension interposed with the wider world with much, much bigger volume than appearance suggests. An isolated valley can be big as the land it is in; a small island might be big as a continent. This partly justifies the sizes and diversity of Giant races that exist on Equus by giving them plenty of room to reach their colossal status and numbers. Some are as big as several ''mega-continents'' combined, and no one has yet discovered the sheer scale of Jotunnheim, home of the cervine Jotunns.
** Hinted to be the case with the Giants' ''bodies'', as well. Might partly explain their gluttonous impulses...
** Also apparently the case with the gods' bodies, if the tale with Narren and Temnobog is any indication. It took Narren ''days'' worth of exploring and adventuring after being eaten by his EvilUncle before he was able to find and rescue his grandfather High King Irminsul, whom Temnobog had also swallowed.
* BigGood:
** As in canon, Princess Celestia is often this, having participated in several international crises and made friends with fellow immortal rulers from other countries. She was even worshiped for her actions in Neighpon while disguised as "[[VideoGame/{{Okami}} Amaterasu]]", [[StopWorshippingMe much to her dismay]].
** The Empress of Neighpon, Nadeshiko, tends t act as this for stories set in that country, being a reasonable and benevolent mare who knows best for her people..
** Queen Dazzleglow, an ancient Sparkle Pony Alicorn who reawakened to break 'the Cycle' and is actively working to ensure the world does not undergo another apocalypse, is set as another one.
** Luminiferous, the AntiAntichrist son of Morning Star, sees his status as God of Perfection as a calling to be this, being a heroic, powerful figure to inspire and raise up heroes and help mortals reach their true potential. He, directly and indirectly, gave Thorax and Ember vital aid in the Apterus and Toxikon incidents, with his design seeming to have them becoming TheParagon for their respective kinds.
** Subverted with High King Irminsul, who was once the leader of a united and much larger Deer pantheon. Despite appearing (and being) good and benevolent, he acts superior about it and is extremely disdainful of anything he perceives as "evil", even when they're not actually evil. It's also speculated by Mentálne that beneath his veneer of benevolence is a form of untreated PsychologicalProjection, hating himself for being unable to get rid of his own flaws. He's also a ''horrible'' father, since he emotionally abused Temnobog for being born "evil" while encouraging others to do the same, and barely tolerated him because he's his son.
* BittersweetEnding:
** The "Revenge of Apertus" story arc [[spoiler:ended with the maddened titular villain being personally put down by her own parents to stop her rampage. But Empress Blackrose, one of those responsible for creating Apertus out of racial hatred, atoned for her own misdeeds by enlisting the help of several deities to reincarnate Apertus back into an egg, allowing her parents to raise her personally this time]].
** Crystal Prism's situation is described as having "a bittersweet ending" - while he did manage to survive being killed by Luminiferous and the Equestrian Princesses after he became a rampaging, magic-eating monster, he was incredibly traumatized by the ordeal and had to take a lot of therapy sessions with Mentálne just to recover from the worst parts of his PTSD. And while the ponies responsible, Noble Grace and her assistant Bubbling Beaker, were arrested for their horrible crimes, Crystal Prism still ended up turning into an Alicorn like they intended for him to be.
* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: As shown in interpretation of local legends and recent events, the Alvslog Deer are extremely unable to accept that Temnobog and his evil has a natural place in Equus's Balance as a constructive force that tests heroic mortals, so they paint him as a completely wicked servant to Belyolen, as well as his "lesser" brother. This is one of many details they get wrong, as Temnobog and Belyolen are actually born elemental equals who literally exist to balance each other out. The Alvslog Deer also revere High King Irminsul as a wise and benevolent god, even though Irminsul was very emotionally abusive to Temnobog for being born "evil" and was extremely biased against anything he perceived as evil.
* BloodKnight:
** Astrid, the Jotunn Goddess of War; natch. She's ''always'' itching for a fight, often going around crushing and devouring bandits and monsters for fun; even chopping the tops off of mountains with her divine axe. It's even mentioned that her boisterous demeanor and love of combat are ''rare'' among deities of conflict, who tend to be stoic and taciturn.
** Justified with Yarost, first-born child of Temnobog and oldest of [[GodOfEvil the Four Terrors]]. He embodies Deerkind's Wrath and Hatred and thus feeds upon those emotions, wanting nothing more than to butcher whole lands in his endless blood-lust. There's a reason why he possesses the title [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "The Prince of Murder"]].** Terraton is also this, though he's mellowed out from his early years. That said, it's gotten him into trouble, such as picking fights with Bellamos and Luminiferous, who both handed him his flank.
** Khakiston embodies the Giant stereotype of being a warmongering, bloodthirsty brute, which eventually caused Terraton to literally kick him out of the Giant pantheon. So far, he's gotten into several fights where his opponents are stronger and smart enough to [[CurbStompBattle hand him his ass]].
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Crazy Ant once described himself as a 'crazy awesome mad scientist changeling who happens to rule a small island nation' who once dedicated several months of labor solely to make a mechanical horse to give rides to the island's children. Despite this, he's just that brilliant and good at what he does that his people love him and in fact instated him as leader without him even intending to found a country, let alone intend to rule it.
* ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth:
** Despite being a divine ''moth'' Kaiju, Mothryu has BornAgainImmortality just like her character inspiration, [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} Mothra]]. Unlike typical deities, she can age and die like a mortal, so to make up for this she has [[ForeseeingMyDeath the uncanny ability to predict when she's going to die]] so she can lay an egg beforehand. This egg hatches into a larva that essentially [[GenerationXerox becomes her]], inheriting all her memories, abilities, and personality.
** The same goes for Battryu, except since he's male, a larva would always emerge from his corpse after death.
** Crystal Prism is a young Alicorn demigod with hybrid pegasus-butterfly wings, and has magic that is centered around butterflies like "[[HealingHands cocoon-healing]]" and telepathic butterfly control. He was once a unicorn colt, Page Wheel, who was kidnapped by two disgraced teachers with the intention of turning him into a god, but ended up turning into a magic-eating monster instead and went on a rampage before he was killed by Luminiferous and the Equestrian Princesses. However, the leftover magic saved Page Wheel by incubating him in a magical cocoon, then broke away to reveal his current form several days later. Quite fittingly, his divine portfolio is centered around change and rebirth, and he goes around helping people who are dealing with stressful changes themselves. To this day, no one knows exactly why he Ascended, though Twilight Sparkle theorized that either he absorbed so much magic, or Midnight Bell awoke ''something'' in him while she was trying to distract him, causing Page Wheel to attempt stopping his own rampage so he wouldn't hurt anyone else. It was later revealed in Noble Grace's entry that Crystal Prism becoming the Alicorn he is now is because Noble Grace intended to create an Alicorn that embodied Rebirth and Change to herald a "new age" for Ponykind in general, with many more that would come after him. However, Golden Scepter would encourage Crystal to [[ScrewDestiny determine his own place in life]], resulting in the latter breaking free from his intended role to help people instead.
* CanonCharacterAllAlong:
** A Diamond Dog legend, his appearance, and some of his abilities imply that Mampfen is actually Crunch the Rock Dog from G1.
** Queen Mzazi, the Mother of All Zebras and a 4-million-year-old goddess, is revealed part way through her entry to be G1 Zigzag, one of the Pony Friends. It's implied she may have been experiencing a lifetime living like a mortal to maintain perspective at the time.
** [[spoiler:It is heavily implied, though unconfirmed, that Empress Blackrose and Emperor Blackthorn are the Alicorn Princess and Earth pony Prince who both fell madly in love with each other in the Hearth's Warming Eve tale]]
** Gleaming Shield is implied to be [[spoiler:the young Earth pony who's spotted in Ponyville pulling a cart full of gems in the episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E12FlutterBrutter Flutter Brutter]]". Fans called him "Quarter Hearts" because of his partially full heart for a Cutie Mark]].
* CentralTheme:
** [[ViciousCycle Vicious cycles]] as a result of the flaws of mortals, spirits and gods as well as the very nature of the world/universe itself are referenced throughout ''Codex Equus'', and how it affects everyone and everything trapped in them. How great being and civilizations constantly rose to greatness, only to fall into decline and destruction, repeating itself endlessly for eons are explored, as are the efforts of Dazzleglow and others to break and escape the Cycle. The Equestrians' and other heroic characters' struggle to ensure friendship and harmony prevails over enmity and disharmony is framed within this context, portrayed as an epic struggle to overcome the moral and natural evils that resulted in such Vicious Cycles to occur for the future of Sapientkind. The overarching question: [[HistoryRepeats Are we and those who would follow us destined to repeat the same mistakes?]]
** Legacies - how we should come to terms with the burden, consequences and memory, good or ill, of those before us and what we ourselves leave behind. Can we live up to our predecessor's achievements and rise even greater? Should some legacies be left behind and forgotten?
** Progress in all forms comes with its benefits and its prices. A notable example would be the creation of the Vortex Engine, which received ''severe'' vitriol from almost all kinds of [[EvilReactionary reactionary]] winged species, especially pegasi and griffons, who believed that the Vortex Engine would make them "obsolete" and "rob" them of their rightful dominion of the skies, which had been divinely given to them by the gods. It got to the point where Fiery Flight received death threats, being nearly killed, and was made unwelcome in almost every country she fled to until arriving in Machina, where Crazy Ant took her in. The counter-response to the extreme prejudice and hatred, fortunately, was just as fierce, with even the famous Rainbow Dash condemning the Scions of Hurricane and is excited by the prospect of racing Vortex Engine-propelled vehicles one day.
** The fundamental nature of Sapientkind; [[RousseauWasRight are Ponies and other races and sapients fundamentally good or evil?]] Or both/neither? [[HobbesWasRight Are all that is good and perfect always doomed by what is evil and flawed?]] Can one rise above their innate nature to be better? What can they do if they ''can't''?
** The 'Changeling/Dragon Trilogy' has "Hatred is like an infection, the longer it's allowed to fester, [[CycleOfRevenge the more victims it leaves. And those that give into it are the first it claims.]]"
*** Also from the trilogy: "Great and wonderful fates can be thrown aside in pursuit of obsession."
** With entries like the ones with the Clovenists: Does the [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans ends justifies the means]] in achieving a better world? Even if utopia can be achieved, is it [[WasItReallyWorthIt worth the costs and the price?]] Is there a perfect world that can be reached for all, or is it fundamentally subjective to the self-interests of those reaching for them, like the Autorists, the Tribalists and other Evil/Fallen mortals and immortals whose dreams are a nightmare for others not them?
** [[EvilWillFail The self-destructive nature of Evil and how it'll ultimately ruined itself]] (with the exception of evil directed towards constructive purposes). Also Deconstructed as just because they're doomed to fail doesn't mean they shouldn't be stopped by the forces of good, especially [[NiceJobBreakingItHero when they will cause enormous amounts of damage even in short-term success]] and have a tendency of [[TakingYouWithMe taking everyone down with them when evildoers fall]].
** Several natural elements of Equus require some sort of balance in order for Equus itself to work, such as Light and Dark, Nature and Progress, Life and Death, and Good and Evil.
*** As shown with the twin Deer gods, Belyolen and Temnobog, attempts to have one side triumph over the other will fail; GoodNeedsEvil in Equus because if Evil did not exist, then the heroic mortals will become complacent and weak, making them even more vulnerable to evil deities and supernatural monsters. When High King Irminsul tried to make Belyolen TheParagon of the Deer pantheon and shunned Temnobog for being born (and encouraged his wife and peers to do the same), it only resulted in Belyolen leaving to form his own pantheon so he could give Temnobog the love and respect he believed his brother deserved. Temnobog initially hated his brother and sought to usurp him, but when he discovered that he was born Belyolen's equal and that the latter always loved him, Temnobog finally found a purpose in using evil for the betterment of Equus. It also falls on him to punish the souls of sinful mortals while the other gods devote themselves to protecting and blessing Deerkind.
*** As shown with the Nature Giants and their opposition of the "smallfolk", it is good for nature to flourish on Equus, but not to the point of overrunning civilization. Progress is good, but not to the point where it irreparably ruins the environment. However, the Nature Giants view mortals so pessimistically that it blinds them to the good mortals can do.
*** The twin Dragon deities, Yin and Yang, also embody the balance of Equus. While they sometimes bicker as siblings are wont to, they never actively oppose each other, because like Belyolen and Temnobog, and Celestia and Luna, both Yin and Yang embody certain elements that keep Equus going. They also serve as mediators, quelling their parents' arguments whenever Tiamat and Bahamut start disagreeing with each other. As they stated themselves, "Shadow and Light, Destruction and Creation - ALL must balance!"
*** As in canon, the sun and moon are equally vital to Equus. When Luna grew jealous and bitter towards Celestia being worshiped by their subjects while Luna's night was shunned, she turned into Nightmare Moon and attempted to bring about Eternal Night, not thinking of the long-term consequences this would have. Presumably, this led to Celestia regretting her ignorance towards her sister, so when Luna was defeated and later redeemed, things were made so they could continue ruling together.
** Common among deities and certain societies is the HolierThanThou attitudes displayed towards others for being "weaker" or not advanced/enlightened like them.
*** Most Giants (literally) look down on the "Tinies" and even see it fit to eat or enslave them for their own amusement, and even some benevolent ones tend to be racist at worst; the Cyclopes look down on those lacking intelligence, while the Nature Giants believe that ''they'' are the proper caretakers of nature since mortals are so selfish and destructive.
*** For more martial-minded races, it borders on AppealToForce, which is best embodied by Dragonkind who believe in strength while intelligence and skill is discouraged. This proves to be extremely detrimental, as Dr. Toxikon was able to easily defeat Dragon Lord Brutus, who followed the philosophy. Even Queen Tiamat is not above this, believing in Dragonkind's collective strength and ability to dominate most races. Dragon Lord Ember is one of few Dragons who do not embrace this; in fact, she got her position through intelligence and cunning as in canon.
*** This attitude is also prevalent among the Royal Changelings, most of who believe themselves to be entitled for the right to rule by virtue of being children of the Changeling Progenitors. Only ''they'' believe what's best for their subjects because they're stronger, bigger, smarter, and magically more powerful than Common Changelings. They do not tolerate dissension because they think those who reject their rule as being "ungrateful" for refusing their ruler's love and protection, and will do anything to assimilate them back into mainstream society. Even though the Spring Court doesn't partake in brutal methods like the Summer Court, who treats the incidents like mere conquests, the fact that the Changeling Queens are willing to use underhanded tactics to make their wayward subjects see their way shows what kind of people they are.
*** The Elternteil deities' superior and patronizing attitude was what largely caused their pantheon to splinter, and directly caused the birth of the Bogolenya pantheon. High King Irminsul tried purging his then-unborn child of his inner evil after his wife, High Queen Arvan, got pregnant with another son, which backfired when it resulted in Belyolen and Temnobog being born. Disgusted by Temnobog's presence and fearing he would "taint" their benevolence, everyone saw fit to emotionally abuse him and treat the dark fawn like Belyolen's evil cast-off, when he hadn't even done anything to warrant it. Belyolen was the only one who accepted Temnobog as kin at the time, but he was always prevented from even seeing his brother for fear his inner goodness will be corrupted. This left Temnobog with a multitude of issues that are still unresolved, a grudge against Belyolen that eventually cooled off, and an even deeper grudge against his father, Irminsul, who caused the entire situation to begin with.
** Another theme in ''Codex Equus'' is Potential - while everyone has potential, it must be gained through hard work and effort, and there are no shortcuts to achieving it. This is exemplified in the stories of Crystal Prism and Midnight Bell: Midnight Bell wished she was a unicorn instead of an Earth pony so she could be special, but once her wish was granted, her horn gave her so much trouble and trauma that she ultimately decided she was better off without one. Crystal Prism wished he was an adult so he could take care of his sick mother, only to have his wish granted in the worst possible way, so while he ultimately came out of his experience a demigod, he still had a lot of growing up to do even in his new form. The downsides of shortcuts are also exemplified in the villainous unicorn trio Decepticolt, Zappityhoof, and Goldencap, who got themselves expelled from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns because of their laziness and willingness to cheat, and infamously tried using Rainbow Dash's wings to turn themselves into Alicorns. They are unsympathetic {{Hypocrite}}s of the highest order, and blame Alicorns for being "entitled" people who want to keep the secrets of Ascension to themselves, when it is ''they'' who act entitled to the power and freedom they believe is rightfully theirs.
* CharmPerson: Propagare, the God of Propaganda and TopGod of the Tyrannos Pantheon, has this ability, causing those hearing him speak to be more inclined to believe him and if they're gullible or weak willed enough fall under his control. However, in order for it to work, [[MoreThanMindControl they have to believe what he's saying in some capacity]] and if they're convinced not to his spell will break. Unfortunately, [[ConsummateLiar he's very good at making others believe him.]]
* ChildEater:
** Dread, a mutated intelligent Dreadmare, was this. He actually had more reason than just being evil for doing it: the parents were more scared and thus the Boogeymares got more fear to feed on.
** Giants, both mortal and divine, are this by implication as at their hungriest they can devour whole lands and everyone in them - including presumably children. The only one who averts this is the Jotunn love goddess, Elske, who only restricts herself to eating sinful individuals while adopting all the children to make up for eating their families and homes; her philosophy is inspiring other Giants to do the same.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Deconstructed. The Summer Court's inclination for complicated and treacherous plots started when one of Blackthorn's First-Spawn sons, Rhyniognatha, kick-started "The Fratricide" to kill off his brothers so he'll remain his father's favorite. This caused a standard to be set, in which all Changeling Kings should involve themselves in some kind of plot; whether Blackthorn allowed it [[EnragedByIdiocy out of disappointment towards his sons' incompetence]], or to [[TheSocialDarwinist cull out the weak among them]], it was clear that he plain didn't care. This has a tendency to backfire in the long run, especially when their plots run the risk of exposing the Changelings or making the Summer Courts a target for extermination for both inside and outside threats. Ultimately, what led to their massive loss of numbers is when King Heterometrus, who embodies this trope the most out of his brothers, [[spoiler:betrayed a dragon who saved him from a dire situation by letting his brothers killed his family, leading to the birth of Dr. Toxikon]].
* ClippedWingAngel: Blood Fang sees his ability to turn into a powerful boar-like monster as this - while his strength is increased a thousandfold in this form, allowing him to rampage with little issue, it also makes him as dumb as a mere animal. Blood Fang would rather fight his Eternal Foes with a ''sane'' mind, even if he's put at a disadvantage for it, and would try to avoid shifting into boar form if he can help it.
* ConsummateLiar: Propagare, the God of Propaganda, is this. His ability to lie and twist truths is regarded as his most dangerous ability, even without his CharmPerson abilities being taken into account. He's actually managed to convince the Clovenists and Autorists into believing he's on their side and manipulating the other to their benefit despite both having xenophobic tendencies. It's to the point even Xestobium, who was aware of his deceitful nature and one of the smarter Changeling Kings, ultimately fell for his lies and was played like a fiddle.
* CoolAirship: The ''King's Ransom'', Polistes' flagship/home. It's a flying battleship bristling with guns and [[TheBattlestar a hangar for launching planes and natural flyers.]]
* CrazyEnoughToWork: Crazy Ant's plan to stop the main two Changeling Courts from destroying his country: blackmail them both (including their parent deities) to leave them alone with a DeadMansSwitch will give every world leader all their secrets. Blackmailing two entire races of demigods with their divine parents is naturally considered complete insane... which is exactly ''why'' it worked, to the point where even Emperor Blackthorn was impressed. As more is revealed about Crazy Ant, it becomes apparent he does literally everything with this mindset in mind or at least that's what he wants everyone to think.
* CreateYourOwnHero:
** If the old Orosian deities, Ematha and Machis, hadn't acted like spoiled, petty, arrogant children that constantly bickered with each other, they wouldn't have created the war that created the benevolent war god Bellamos.
** King Brachion's attempt to turn a disobedient Changeling into a monster as punishment for the constant sabotage of his work resulted in the birth of Kick Hopper [[SpannerInTheWorks when a lone guard let his own conscience move him into freeing said Changeling and fleeing Hive Erlking with him]].
* CreateYourOwnVillain: [[OmnicidalManiac King Xestobium]],[[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Princess Apterus]], [[MadScientist Dr. Toxikon]] would go on a rampage against the Dragons and Changelings... and were born entirely as a result of the eons old grudge between the two species.
* CrypticBackgroundReference: All over the place. The main author likes putting these in to foreshadow upcoming entries or events, or leave [[PlotBunny plot bunnies]] and hints for readers to speculate and write on.
* CurbstompBattle:
** The Giants of Queen Colossos' Empire dished out many of these towards the Crystal Empire in the early days of their conflict. The Crystal Legions were quite literally crushed under-hoof as the Giants combined their size and power with numbers and tactical/strategic acumen that they didn't see coming.
** Queen Colossos' War as a whole counted: By the time the first phase of the war end, 2/3 of the Crystal Empire's territories at the Terra Equus continent were under the Giants' control and the remnants of the once proud legions there were caught and destroyed in a continent-spanning pincer movement. The rest of the war [[CurbstompCushion got harder for the Giants]] as the Crystal Empire [[TheEternalChurchill fought back with everything they have]], but the fact that the Crystal Empire went into decline afterwards is a testament to how badly the latter got stomped despite surviving it.
** A single Visitor has proven capable of dishing one out to an entire Clovenist base. Hive Brachion didn't fair much better until the Visitor faced Brachion himself and managed to stalemate him despite Brachion being one of the strongest Changeling Kings.
** Fik’iri, after losing her status as a TopGod along with a large portion of her power, attempted to steal Princess Cadence's to regain both. Due to having been hedonistic and lazy before her downfall, Fik’iri became rusty despite being a WarGod (which directly contributed to her losing the challenge for her position to her hated rival, Wibeti,in the first place), resulting in Cadence easily defeating her and sending her running home with her tail between her legs.
** Terraton, the war god of the Gigantes giant race, once took on Bellamos the Divine Strategos and Luminiferous and was on the receiving end of one in both instances. As a Giant deity of Battle, however, he often dishes a lot more of those than took them.
** Griffon Warlord Gilded Chalice attempted to invade [[AwakeningTheSleepingGiant Sauropoda]]. The resulting confrontation is not considered a battle or war because of how extremely one-sided it was, and ended with their Queen giving him and his war chariot a [[GiantFootOfStomping literal version]] of this trope.
** [[GeniusBruiser Dr. Toxikon]] challenges Dragon Lord Brutus for his title. Brutus never stood a chance.
** As a test to see how strong Thorax post-ascension was, the Summer Court had him fight Changeling King Zorpheus. An arcane blast ''blew'' Zorpheus across Avalon Valley, leaving him unconscious in a crater with a cracked carapace, which was by ''complete accident''. It's noted that Thorax's attack would have killed many other Royal Changelings upon impact, [[UnskilledButStrong showing just how much potential he has now]]. It was a BreakTheHaughty experience for Zorpheus, who came to realize that his defenses are not as invincible as he thought they were.
* CurseEscapeClause: Pakak always includes these in his curses, as they're meant to be karmic punishment rather than permanent ones.
** In an incident involving [[VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks Sunnytown]], Pakak transformed its Cutie Pox-phoic inhabitants into zombies as part of a curse to punish them for murdering a young filly for earning her Cutie Mark. Since they were willing to let fear rule their hearts to the point of resorting to murder, they became as rotten as their ambitions were... unless they decided to accept responsibility and atone for their crimes.
** One detailed in an entry sees him curse a trio of teenaged Deer who have been heartlessly tormenting young fawns with curses that reflect their vices: the vain Morning Light is tricked into stealing a cursed flower from a fawn and putting it in her hair that makes her stink as rotten as her heart, the gluttonous North Star is tricked into stealing and eating a cursed flower that makes any food he eats taste as vile as his soul, and the cruel and sadistic Cold Wind is tricked into stealing and crushing a third cursed flower that makes him feel as cold as his heart. As all three curses are merely causing something to reflect the nature of their hearts, changing their ways reverses the curse. Morning Light and North Star eventually did so, but Cold Wind did not.
* CycleOfRevenge: Deconstructed. A deep grudge has been present for ''aeons'' between the Changelings and Dragons, including the destruction of the Changeling homeland and the Time of Broken Scales. Choice warns them both inevitably their choice to perpetuate this ancient grudge indefinitely will have consequences and reckoning, which has recently began to take hold with villains born from their grudge attempting devastating retribution against both sides. Thus far only Thorax, Ember, and Spike have managed to completely escape it unscathed. Thorax and Ember finally have enough after the end of the Toxikon Crisis and forgive the parental deities of the other's species for their kind's respective crimes, and apology for their own to the other, having come to see the cycle for what it was and wanting no part in it. Thorax also rightly points out that the meaning of survival is completely moot if one of Changelingkind's methods is to satisfy an old grudge that would get everyone killed.

[[folder:D to G]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: While still fundamentally optimistic, Codex Equus does not shy away from dark stories and themes not seen or explored in detail in the canon series, with entries detailing racism, wars, tyranny and genocide, as well as exploring themes of hatred, vengeance and trauma on individual and collective levels, with hefty doses of RealityEnsues and problems that have no easy solutions and cannot be fixed via ThePowerOfFriendship.
* DarkIsEvil: Zigzagged, as ''Codex Equus'' makes it clear that Darkness and Evil do have constructive roles in Equus despite their negative connotations.
** Blood Fang, known as "The Dark Conqueror", is often depicted by various Hylian legends as a dark figure clad in dark armor, but the most popular depiction of him is that of a tall, muscular, and scarred dark Alicorn. It's played with; while he's an evil overlord and a feared villain who has sowed much evil in his attempts to conquer Hyrule, he has an honor code and refrains from things he never approves of, such as [[InTheirOwnImage remaking Hyrule/Equus]], gaining power in ways that render one an AlmightyIdiot, and "careless/destructive" Evil in general. His sense of honor was what attracted Temnobog, who hired him as his agent to ensure Gleaming Shield and Radiant Primrose always remain strong enough to combat Evil.
** Deconstructed with Temnobog. Despite being a GodOfEvil and Belyolen's dark twin, he was feared and ''expected'' by his family and peers to be wholly evil, and was emotionally abused for it, despite having never done anything evil at the time. This caused him to become deeply resentful of Belyolen, who was lavished with praise and love for being "good" and "pure", and he tried sabotaging and even usurping his twin brother out of sheer resentment, hatred, and spite. However, what prevented him from outright killing his brother is their unique bond - due to being two halves of a greater whole, Temnobog and Belyolen were divine equals that existed to balance each other out, and thus when one tried gaining an advantage, they would end up weakening while the other got stronger and vice-versa. Only did they work together in harmony did they both get stronger. Thus, after Temnobog and Belyolen reconcile, the trope gets Reconstructed as "Both Dark and Evil can co-exist with Light and Good if they serve constructive purposes" - Temnobog is still unapologetically evil due to what he represents, but he serves to test heroic mortals and empower sapient creatures to become strong enough to oppose evil to prevent [[WeHaveBecomeComplacent stagnation]].
** Likewise, the Four Terrors are rightfully feared by both Deer and non-Deer due to their horrific acts and being children of Temnobog, to the point where a Deer kingdom can be motivated to change their sinful ways just by [[TheDreaded mentioning them]]. Since they follow their father's philosophy of "constructive" Evil, they sow evil as part of their job, and are totally fine with being feared.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Zigzagged, as ''Codex Equus'' makes it clear that Darkness and Evil do have constructive roles in Equus.
** Mourning Glories are plants that [[EmotionEater feed off feelings of sorrow, grief, and mourning]]...but are actually beneficial plants and seen as a sign that a deceased person was loved by others in life, as they only grow on graves of those who were loved and are missed and are commonly given to those who are grieving.
** Grief, the Goddess of Grieving and Mourning, is this, as despite what she represents, her main goal and purpose is helping those who have lost someone cope, heal, and finally move on. Ponies just misunderstand her as being the Goddess of Depression and Loss, rather than what she truly is.
** The Three Deaths are all [[DontFearTheReaper benevolent and good]] despite being death gods. Of the three, Malus is the only one someone shouldn't be happy to see waiting for them, but that's because they're wicked and about to be given what they've sown, not because he's evil.
** Played with in Temnobog, who ''is'' very much a literal GodOfEvil from the Bogolenya pantheon, but is a TokenEvilTeammate among the gods of Equus, and works with his twin brother and GodOfGood, Belyolen. He represents evil as a testing force rather than a destructive one. Interestingly, while he was born the living embodiment of Belyolen's evil side, he personally never did anything evil, and only became genuinely evil for a time because of the emotional abuse he suffered while living with his disdainful family and peers.
** Tikuri, the Abyssinian God of Bad Luck, is a Black Cat-inspired deity. Despite this, he's one of the most benevolent members of the Pantheon and actively protects their worshipers. He ultimately helps overthrow the JerkassGods ruling their Pantheon so more benevolent members can take their place, and he was Jegina's pick to be the new TopGod, though he turned him down.
** The Four Terrors, Temnobog's surviving children, are also evil deities, yet like their father, it's played with in that they're collectively the TokenEvilTeammate in the Bogolenya pantheon. They use evil as a testing force, and drag wicked souls down to Temnobog's hell-realms so they'll be tormented for their crimes. They're totally fine with losing against a hero as they're just doing their jobs to make sure that mortals get strong enough to oppose them, and if a hero dies, they let their souls go to heaven as a reward. Their fellow deities also use them to destroy Deer realms that have utterly fallen into sin, though only so, since their actions are regarded as horrific. Their cousins, however, understand their roles and don't begrudge them for it.
* DeadMansSwitch: Crazy Ant, a MadScientist Changeling who ran to the Autumn Court and managed to accidentally found a country, kept his country safe from both the Spring and Summer Courts via one of these. If he was killed or otherwise indisposed or willingly activated it, every world leader would instantly be given all the Changelings' secrets. Since the fall of [[TheMasquerade the Masquerade]] and a close shave with a Summer Court Hive that ensured he has updated his failsafe with other sensitive materials that both formal Courts would not want fall into the hooves of outsiders.
** In-universe, this was considered so brazenly insane that it actually works as a deterrent. Even Emperor Blackthorn of the Summer Court was impressed.
* DealWithTheDevil:
** Temnobog is known for being a patron of various types of villains, giving those who make deals with him a reputation of being "Touched by Temnobog". However, dealing with Temnobog in general is regarded as a bad idea as it essentially marks you for eternal damnation after death, since Temnobog works to weed out the wicked among Deerkind.
** The Deer serial killer Night Terror, formerly "Innkeeper", made a deal with Temnobog's eldest son and child, Yarost, so he could continue his crime spree of murdering children. When he realized that he was being used as a pawn to test mortals, Night Terror secretly made another deal with Yarost's mother, the fallen goddess Ispita, so that his soul would end up in the dream world instead of one of Temnobog's hell-realms. But even that dried up when Princess Luna and Tenya, the Abyssinian goddess of Dreams, rendered Night Terror powerless by freeing the souls of those he devoured and threw him through a portal into the real world, [[OhCrap where Yarost was waiting]]...
* DeathWorld: Equus. While there are still nice places to live in like Equestria, even it's not without problems, and there are races of creatures who are dangerous by nature, with even more dangerous pantheons backing them. And there are regions like the Parvata Mountain range that are deadly and terrible environments even by the setting's standards.
* DeityOfHumanOrigin: A subclass of deity, referred to as "Ascendant" deities. They're considered the rarest deities because it requires specific conditions for a mortal to gain godhood.
** As in canon, Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn, transformed into an immortal Alicorn thanks to finishing Starswirl's cutie mark spell.
** Thorax is another one, as he ascended through sharing ThePowerOfLove with Chrysalis and defeating her, purifying/transforming every Changeling in the process. Emperor Blackthorn theorizes that [[{{Determinator}} Throax's drive to share love]] was what actually caused the ascension. Either way, he is now a Changeling Progenitor, though a young one, and the nature of his ascension has become an important research topic for Changelingkind, as it provides a clue to breaking their Curse.
** It's implied that Queen Dazzleglow of the Glimmering Isles is this, as Daring Do expressed surprise at seeing a Sparkle Pony Alicorn. Her profile classifies her as "Ethereal/Ascendant". This is later confirmed, as Luminiferous the Alicorn god of Potential was revealed to have nurtured her, until she grew into her own potential and Ascended.
** It's implied that the Changeling Progenitors, Blackrose and Blackthorn, were once mortal. [[spoiler:Specifically, Blackrose was the Alicorn Princess from the Hearts and Hooves Day story, while Blackthorn is the Earth pony prince who tried seducing her with a love potion from the same story]].
** King Aspen of the Alvslog Deer realms and the Elternteil pantheon is described as an "Ascendant Godling" in Zecora's profile, implying that he was once mortal.
** Crystal Prism is a young, butterfly-like Alicorn demigod who was transformed at a young age. His "creators", Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker, wanted to invoke this by mass-producing Alicorns for the greater good of Equus, so they kidnapped him and made him one of their test subjects, but this backfired in a horrible way. Only after he was killed by Luminiferous and the Equestrian Princesses did he revive himself and Ascend.
** The enigmatic Medicine Seller's true form is that of a black-pelted Alicorn with gold markings and clothes. The fact that his "appearance" as a pale Neighponese unicorn is actually a magical disguise just raises more questions about his past, other than he was once mortal.
** It's implied that Blood Fang, known as "The Dark Conqueror", is one, as his most popular depiction of him is that of a dark Alicorn with red hair and covered in scars. Notably, he was so powerful that Queen Onyx Flare couldn't stop him even while at the height of her power, resulting in her fight tragically turning into a CurbStompBattle.
* {{Determinator}}:
** Nothing, not his hive being defeated, not himself being defeated, not his plan to blow up the 'Ring Of Fire' foiled, ''not even his own death'', will stop Xestobium from having his goal of destroying all of Dragonkind (And his own family) in revenge for all the loss and horror they had inflicted upon him and others.
** Ember during the Toxikkon Crisis is this. During the FinalBattle, she's got five broken bones from a crash she took in the previous battle, and she's still willing to defeat Dr. Toxikkon.
** Emperor Blackthorn theorizes that this trope is what caused Thorax to become a Royal Changeling, [[BeyondTheImpossible something that no Common Changeling has done before]] - Blackthorn's theory is that Thorax's drive to share love with others caused his love energy to have a purpose, creating a Dharma. When Chrysalis tried to drain him of love, Thorax used his Dharma to channel that love, which led to his Curse breaking and his body transforming him into the stag-like creature he is now.
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: Crazy Ant blackmailed ''both'' Changeling Courts into leaving him and Machina alone, including the extremely ruthless Summer Court Changeling Kings and ''both'' Changeling Gods. It worked, and Blackthorn [[{{Touche}} was actually impressed.]]
* DisneyVillainDeath: Mistmane tricked Maul into destroying the ground underneath him, sending the Temper Troll chieftain plummeting to his death. Notable in that this was practically the ''only'' way to defeat him at that point.
* DisproportionateRetribution:
** In one story, Zinabi was awoken by his Abyssinian worshipers, who were throwing a party in their gods' honor. Instead of being pleased with their devotion or simply asking his worshipers to be quiet, he ''created a flash flood'' to punish their insolence, resulting in thousands of deaths.
** The reason why Abyssinia was turned into a WretchedHive full of criminals and thieves in [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 the 2017 movie]]? It was because Fik'iri was jealous of the more benevolent gods being more popular than her, and persuaded Zinabi into letting the country be conquered by the Storm King as "punishment" for being poor worshipers.
* DivineRightOfKings:
** A literal case with the Changeling Courts where the SemiDivine Royal Changelings are hybrid children sired with different members of mortal races by the Changeling Progenitors, Empress Blackrose and Emperor Blackthorn, giving them legitimate rulership by biological divine right. Unfortunately, this gives even the most benevolent of them a strong sense of entitlement that makes them patronizingly arrogant, causing them to hate dissension of any kind because they threaten their legitimacy with their very existence.
** Thorax is the only aversion in that he was once a common drone of Chrysalis's hive, then became a Royal Changeling while confronting his ex-Queen through very unexpected circumstances. This made him a genuinely astounding and celebrated novelty among Changelingkind, as he ([[AchievementsInIgnorance somehow]]) managed not only to Ascend, but also break the Changelings' racial Curse on himself and his hive peers, returning them to their original forms.
** The kingdom of Mephitidia was founded when its first Queen united the Great Skunk clans into one and became their matriarch, with blessing from the Skunks' TopGod, Moufette.
** King Strazha and his younger sister, Queen Vesna were respectively blessed by the Bogolenya leaders, Temnobog and Belyolen, after inheriting the throne from their dead parents because their divine patrons were impressed with their actions, and to ensure Bitaniya's prosperity through the Balance of Good and Evil. Temnobog even states that while he usually blesses villains and other evildoers, he's willing to make an exception with Strazha because he's genuinely interested in how Strazha's harsh methods could be used positively when working in tandem with the benevolent Vesna.
* DontFearTheReaper: The Three Deaths are Gods of Death, but all of them are rather nice. Gavisus Manes throws huge parties for those who died contently in the afterlife and helps people die happy, and Audens Manes aids valiant people in making heroic {{Last Stand}}s and let's those who died heroically know how much good they've done. While Malus Manes is ''not'' someone you want to see waiting for you, that's because his job is to [[DraggedOffToHell take the wicked to the punishment for evil deeds]], but otherwise he's a nice guy and he will even give the genuinely repentant a second chance to earn a better fate.
* DoubleStandardRapeDivineOnMortal: Deconstructed and played for drama with the Abyssinian deities Zinabi and his consort, Fik'iri. The two of them are extremely fickle and hedonistic - Fik'iri is very unfaithful to her husband and her compulsive lust would often make her go have multiple flings with mortals, whether they want it or not. Those who pray for her services make it a requirement to hide their faces with veils, as Fik'iri would immediately be overcome with lust and try have her way with a person if they reveal their attractiveness to them. Not to mention that Fik'iri treats her lovers like toys, and refusing her advances is even worse than being dumped like yesterday's trash since her wrath is great and terrible. It's because of these factors that people often side with the much nicer Wibeti, another love goddess, much to Fik'iri's jealousy. And while Zinabi's activities were on a lesser scale compared to his wife's, he also has cheated on her with various other mortals for no other reason than his own amusement, which makes his fury over Fik'iri's infidelity quite hypocritical. This trope is partially why the more benevolent Abyssian deities decided to launch a coup and overthrow their superiors, which they succeeded in.
* DraggedOffToHell:
** As the God of the Deaths of the Wicked, Malus Manes' has doing this to those who were evil in life as part of his job description. Genuine repentance and atonement, however, can convince him to spare them this fate.
** This is what happens when a sinful person runs afoul of the Deer god Temnobog. If they make a DealWithTheDevil, then they personally get dragged down to his domain upon death. If he's too busy, however, then either his demonic servants, or his loyal surviving children, the Four Terrors, help him out.
** Night Terror managed to avoid this fate the first time by secretly making a deal with Ispita, the mother of Yarost, so he ends up in the dream world upon death. However, Princess Luna and the Abyssinian goddess of Sleep, Tenya, confront and defeat them there, and once he's thrown into the real world, Yarost finds him and drags him off to give him a much worse punishment for his trickery.
* TheDreaded:
** Many members of the Summer Court of the Changelings are this, due to being far more dangerous and evil than their Spring counterparts.
** Yamata no Orochi is this for Neighpon, due to his reign being their equal of Discord's rule over Equestria or Sombra's over the Empire. The possibility of his return is such a major threat the Neighponese government has an entire contingency devoted to the possibility of his return.
** Temnobog and his children, the Four Terrors; justified in that while they're work with the good guys, they're still a [[EvilIsOneBigHappyFamily family]] of [[GodOfEvil evil gods]] that delights in causing suffering. The Bogolenya pantheon and the Erobreseg Deer herds are relatively the only people who tolerate and even respect him. Outside of that, he's seen and reviled as evil incarnate.
** Luminiferous is this due to being both an extremely powerful god, as well as being the son and exact physical copy of a fallen Alicorn who was also the AntiChrist. Those who know him, however, know he's the AntiAntichrist and one of the world's {{Big Good}}s.
** Amareros, due to being a Grand Primeval and one of the oldest gods in all existence, as well as one of the strongest. To note, Emperor Blackthorn is ''afraid of him''. The other Grand Primevals are also this, and in general ''everyone'' tries their hardest to avoid angering them.
** The Dyvaos, {{Expy}}s of the Gyaos, are this to the point even more peaceful nations have a kill on sight order in place for them. This is because they're ancient bioweapons that could wipe out all life on Equus if allowed to reproduce (and nearly did) and are impossible to reason with.
** Queen Mab I, an insane Fae goddess and ex-Queen, currently holds the honor of being one of few beings that can deeply unsettle even Blackthorn himself.
* DugTooDeep:
** Apparently at one point the Diamond Dogs of Dimondia did this and disturbed Lava Demons. The Diamond Dog God of Mining, Mampfen, warns them against repeats.
** A Diamond Dog named Deep Digger started an aggressive mining project in Dimondia to attempt and recover from an economic crisis. Mampfen warned him and others about this trope, and sure enough they accidentally cause so much ecological damage it awakens Battryu from his slumber who attacks the country.
** Monsters from the mantle called Blaze Bats make deep mining run the risk of this. The Clovenists accidentally released one in a play on the Well to Hell hoax.
** In another homage to the "Well to Hell" hoax, the Clovenists also managed to dig into one of the Hells ran by Deers' GodOfEvil Temnobog. The workers were horrified to hear the screams of the damned shades from the microphone lowered down to it, and tried to forget the traumatizing experience by denying what they found.
* DyingCurse:
** Yamata no Orochi's is a the driving force of many Neighpon entries. When he was killed, he cursed Neighpon that his [[OffWithHisHead severed heads]] would eventually grow into eight monstrous demonic {{Kaiju}} to menace the country. Worse yet, if all of them are killed, Orochi himself will [[BackFromTheDead be resurrected]].
---> "Though I am scattered, I do not die.\\\
Though my body is in pieces, my darkness will remain.\\\
From each head of mine a demon shall rise.\\\
And when all are vanquished, [[WeWillMeetAgain the Demon King will come again!]]"
** And with the destruction of the Third Demon King, the Curse is now fully taking effect, and a [[OhCrap countdown has begun]]. It won't be long before all the other demonic kaijus are slain and Orochi is resurrected...
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Many characters in the Codexverse go through varying degrees of hell before they can achieve some sort of happinessi n the end.
** After being abused by her own director, Colton Marentino, and being confined to her own trailer yet barred from quitting by her film contract, famed Griffon actress Helga Greywing was rescued by Captain Polistes and his Wild Cards crew under the guise of a kidnapping. After having the time of her life on Polistes's airship for a few days, Helga would later stage a dramatic escape (with rehearsals) and returned to Applewood to expose her director's horrible treatment of her. She is regarded as a legendary hero who was courageous enough to escape from air pirates, and her first film as director, "[[Film/RomanHoliday Bitalian Holiday]]", is regarded as a beloved classic by fans and critics alike.
** After he was emotionally abused by both family and friends alike for being born "evil" since he was young, Temnobog developed a deep grudge towards his twin brother, Belyolen, for being the favored child and did everything he could to spite him. However, after discovering they shared a unique elemental bond and being forced to work together to resolve a crisis that was threatening the Deer pantheon, Temnobog and Belyolen discovered that because of a divine ritual, they were born two halves of a greater whole, making them elemental equals. They reconciled, and Temnobog became co-leader of the Bogolenya pantheon alongside his brother, feared and respected by divines and mortals alike as chief punisher of wicked Deer and the tester of heroes and champions.
** Like what happened in canon, Thorax went from a lowly Changeling drone living under the tyranny of (ex)Queen Chrysalis, to the benevolent king of her hive after usurping Chrysalis. Here in the Codexverse, however, Thorax's actions caused him to become a Royal Changeling, the equivalent of an immortal demigod in Changeling society, and purified his fellow Changelings of their racial [[HorrorHunger Curse]], providing an alternate explanation why their true forms look like colorful deer-beetle hybrids instead of the insectile abominations with holed legs they once were. Thorax is also regarded as a LivingLegend and revered as "The Sanctified One", and has multiple allies in both Changeling Courts, the Alicorn Princesses, the Crystal Empire, and a few dragons.
** Midnight Bell was born an Earth pony among unicorns, and because she's illegitimate (it's implied that her father's an Earth pony), her tribalist maternal relatives would've abused her, causing [[MamaBear Diamond Bell]] to secretly transfer her daughter to the care of great-aunt Scarlet Bell. The inferiority complex and loneliness Midnight developed, not helped by Page Wheel's teasing, caused her to wish to become a unicorn, which backfired as she was unable to control her new magic, and her lying to keep up her facade as a magical prodigy led to Page Wheel being kidnapped and experimented on by two disgraced teachers, transforming the unicorn colt into a monster. All of that gave Midnight PTSD on top of feeling inferior. She eventually realized her affinity for plant magic and her talent in chemistry, and has received private tutoring from a Zebra in alchemy and potion-making. She also became more mature and confident thanks to Mentálne's therapy sessions, and the love and support she got from her family, to the point where she impressed a disguised Luminiferous when she rejected his offer of becoming a unicorn again. She also reconciled with Page Wheel/Crystal Prism and became his "wing pal" while he's being mentored by Luminiferous.
** Crystal Prism was once a unicorn colt named "Page Wheel", who wished he was an adult so he could take care of his mother, who was gravely ill at the time. After teasing his young neighbor, Midnight Bell, for being clumsy, Page Wheel was later kidnapped and used as a test subject by two disgraced teachers to mass-produce Alicorns after Midnight lied about him being the real magical prodigy to save her own skin. He ended up becoming a magic-absorbing monster instead, and would rampage across the Grittish Isles before Luminiferous and the Equestrian Princesses killed him without realizing who the monster actually was until it was too late. Page Wheel was saved when the absorbed magic revived/Ascended him by incubating him in a magical cocoon, but when he came out several days later he was severely frightened and traumatized by what he went through. Thanks to Mentálne's therapy sessions and the support of his family and friends, Crystal Prism is gradually recovering, and while he's coming to terms with his new powers and demigod status he is taken in as a student by Luminiferous, who wanted to make up for his mistake, and eventually forgave Midnight Bell for her role in his trauma, becoming "wing pals".
* EatenAlive: A depressingly common occurrence in the Codexverse. Ponies, Griffons and other races often end up being on the menu of many monsters and predators, some of whom are sapient like themselves, and go either messily or are simply SwallowedWhole.
** Giants, Dragons and other large monsters are prone to this, partly justified in that their enormous size and physiology meant they can't afford to be picky in what they eat, lest they starve.
** Astrid the Jotunn Goddess of War likes inflicting this on those who anger or annoy her. She swallows and holds them in her belly for a while as a 'Time-Out', although she could and would digest them if she wants to. She also goes around eating bandits, monsters, demons or other evil foes when not stomping/[[AssKicksYou sitting]] on them, or chopping them up with her giant divine axe. Given Jotunns are cervine Giants who are titanic even by Giants' standards and she is a goddess of them who could change her own size at will, this is unsurprising.
** The Gigantes giants' chief deity Terraton also eats a lot of people, to the point that he could and had devour whole countries of Tinies and even Giants, and swallow dozens of gods during Divine Conflicts. Like with Astrid, this is considered ''normal'' by Giant deities' standards.
* EldritchAbomination:
** The... whatever that's residing in the Cosmic Void. It's implied that it's an evil being that was sealed within the Cosmic Void because it desired the end of the entire universe, and has done so to previous worlds in the past. The Church of the Stars warns that on the day the Cycle breaks, the Cosmic Void is the only place people should never explore, since the creation of Second Age villain Void Traveler [[spoiler:was the result of a pony wandering into it by accident, and the being inside proceeding to use said pony's body like a puppet]]. Queen Dazzleglow herself is trying to prepare everyone for when that day comes, but keeps her true motives a secret so the public wouldn't panic and her enemies wouldn't try destroying her. Its name is eventually revealed to be the Void Sovereign.
** It turns out the Void Sovereign has a sister, named the Genesis Sovereign, who is just as eldritch to behold and powerful as him, but [[CainAndAbel completely benevolent in her morality]]. She was the one who sent the seed that'd create the Tree of Harmony to Equus in the first place and also the creator of both the Rainbow of Light and the power held by the Seven Royals.
** The Grand Primevals are also this, though benevolent in nature and downscaled compared to the former two, being primordial deities of such scope and power that even Emperor Blackthorn is afraid to tangle with them, and having somewhat alien mannerisms. They're also the grandchildren of the Genesis Sovereign.
* TheEmpath: Several deities have this power, especially if their concepts involve Love, Diplomacy, or something similar.
** Princess Brightglow, the "Stellar Diplomat", has empathic powers that help her with diplomacy by allowing her to read people. This combined with her [[PlayingWithFire ability to read heat differentials]] makes it difficult to lie around her. Emperor Blackthorn finds her an amusing diversion, and often tests her limits whenever she goes on diplomatic meetings with the Changelings.
** While he doesn't have the traditional reading abilities of typical empaths, Crystal Prism, the young Alicorn demigod of Change and Rebirth, is still technically an empath, in that [[{{Seers}} he can receive prophetic visions if he displays strong sentiments towards someone before going to bed]]. This allows him to glean information about specific people in how they feel and what they're about to do.
** Zmluva, Mier and Válka's youngest hybrid son, is the Deer god of ''Empathy''. As such, he's a powerful empath, capable of "walking in another's shoes" and making others do the same, and [[EmotionBomb force other people's emotions onto his enemies]]. However, he's such a NiceGuy who only wants peace that he won't fight unless he ''absolutely'' has to.
** Implied with Princess Cadence who, as the Alicorn of Love, inspires tame affection.
** The Jotunn Love goddess Elske, is an incredibly powerful empath. Notably, emotion/love-manipulating magic has no effect on her, and she can pierce through even the most stoic of people to reveal their hidden feelings beneath. She perceives negative emotions and intentions as a "rot" on people's hearts, and unlike Cadence, she inspires hot-blooded passion that has resulted in wild orgies in the past.
** Divine Deer twins and co-rulers Belyolen and Temnobog both have empathy, except they use them according to their portfolios - Belyolen uses his empathy to allieviate suffering and induce good feelings, while Temnobog uses his empathy to prolong suffering. Temnobog also admits that his brother's empathy is partially why he felt so close to him as fawns, because Belyolen saw a miserable, abused sibling who wanted love instead of the dark abomination everyone thought Temnobog was.
** Bolezn, one of Temnobog's surviving sons, inherited his empathy from him. While not great in power or skill like his dark father or his nephew, Zmluva, who specializes in Empathy as a ''concept'', Bolezn can sense his victims' inner greed and gluttony as they covet other people's valuable possessions, which helps him appeal to their secret desires in order to weed out the wicked from those with strong morals and humble hearts.
** Yarost, Bolezn's oldest brother, is also an empath, except he focuses on Fury and Hatred, as those two emotions are what he embodies as an evil Deer god. He tempts the wicked and morally weak by subtly stoking their anger and appealing to their inner spite and desire for revenge, and spares those who resist their darker urges. He also used this for positive purposes, such as making Crystal Prism realize his trauma-based anger was unhealthy by appealing to his grudge against Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker and increasing his anger to unhealthy degrees.
* TheEmpire: Countless empires of ponies and other races had come and gone as civilizations rose and fell across 45,000 years of Known History.
** Equestria became one between its founding and its collapse at beginning of the five centuries long 'Age of Chaos', which at its height ruled much of the known world. Two of its three biggest successor states - the Crystal Empire and the Empire of Trot - are also this, until a string of failures and indulgence in flaws like pride, pettiness, and hedonism reduced them to little more than shells of their former selves.
** The Empire of Zinari is an empire built by Zebras, based on the Empire of Mali. Not only is it magically powerful, building a PortalNetwork that allowed them to possess territories beyond Zebrica, it was also [[Fiction500 absurdly rich]], to the point that enough treasure to buy kingdoms is considered 'pocket-change' to them. Queen Parabola from Issue 32 of the ''MLP Friends Forever'' comic was its ruler at its height before she suddenly disappeared. After that, everything went downhill for the empire, with many Zebra looking back on the era with fond nostalgia.
* EnemyMine:
** King Xestobium's [[OmnicidalManiac 'Final Reset']] plan forces one between the Spring and Summer Courts to stop him.
** Dr. Toxikon proves such a threat to all Changeling Kind that Queen Zoraptera seeks out King Brachion and forms a temporary alliance with him to save their species from destruction, as the two are the only Changelings with enough knowledge of plagues to keep up with the rapidly coming strains of the Crucible Virus and if they do so alone he'll eventually wear them down (which is exactly what he wants). As Toxikon is actively hunting the two down for this exact reason, they also have to board with Captain Polistes, Brachion's Autumn Court brother who he naturally hates. Zoraptera is smart enough to make Brachion swear on Blackthorn's name not to betray either of them.
** Queen Mab I, after completely falling into insanity, was such a threat that it allied the Fae with non-Fae during the second Great Fae War. Notably, the Changeling Progenitors worked together with ''Discord'' despite him being their sworn enemy.
** During the Storm Crisis, Zecora of Everfree managed to convince King Aspen, who is otherwise a fanatical nature-lover that is distrustful of non-Alvslog Deer, to ally with the Ponies by informing him that the Storm King's methods were not very eco-friendly.
** Blood Fang is willing to help his Eternal Foes, Gleaming Shield and Radiant Primrose, defeat other villains if their plans involve conquering Hyrule first and/or affecting Equus in such a way that it might damage/destroy the planet. A notable incident had Blood Fang manipulate one of the Storm King's generals into accepting him as an ally for conquest, then sabotaged him from behind the scenes so the general will be left utterly vulnerable to Gleaming Shield and Radiant Primrose's combined might.
* EmotionEater: Equestria is home to a large number of these, in addition to the canon ones like the Changelings. They're known as Emotivores.
** Boogeymares feed off of fear, normally by scaring foals with their MasterOfIllusion powers. Dreadmares are ''much'' stronger and more dangerous.
** Heart Flyers are butterflies that each feed off of different emotions based on their color and can invoke them in others by touch.
** Laughing Lilies are plants that feed off joy and laughter, which they get through tickling.
** Prism Racers feed off exhilaration and excitement, which they get through stunt displays, racing sports pegasi and griffons, or giving ponies flights on their backs.
** Accusers feed off of self-righteousness and indignation.
** Glory Hounds feed off of pride, which they get by 'whispering' into the ears of ponies telepathically and stroking their egos. Though they ''can'' feed off of positive pride rather than hubris and are beneficial if tamed.
** Browbeaters feed off self-hatred and despair, hence their name.
** Mourning Glories feed off sorrow, mourning, and the aspects of the grieving process. Despite this, they're actually [[DarkIsNotEvil benign and a well-liked plant.]]
** Temper Trolls feed off hatred, rage, aggression, and violence. This makes them quite dangerous, as their HealingFactor makes them virtually NighInvulnerable to most forms of attack, though their AchillesHeel is fighting defensively rather than pushing the offense, which weakens them quickly.
* EndOfAnAge:
** Known History is divided into four distinct Ages (Meta-wise corresponding the four MLP generations), and since this is the Fourth Age, the implication is obvious that the previous three Ages had ended at some point in the past, although it waits to be seen how it happened. And it is implied that [[TimeAbyss many, ''many'' more Ages]] had come and gone before then.
** Countless civilizations had rose and fell during these Ages, the collapse of each could be said to be this trope on at least a local level, or for a distinct historical era within the Four Ages. Causes vary, but it's usually due to a civilization's own flaws (selfishness, pride, hedonism, etc.) or an outside threat. Queen Dazzleglow and by extension, the Church of the Stars, seeks to break the Cycle so civilizations can withstand the presence of Evil.
* EnragedByIdiocy:
** Emperor Blackthorn will ''not'' suffer fools in his presence, even if they are his sons. He cared little the morality and character of his Scions, but those who spectacularly fail his standards or display gross incompetence ''will'' be Condemned to the Winter Court. His sons frequently use that as an excuse to off their rivals on the grounds that their negligence threaten the survival/interests of the Summer Court as a whole. One theory suggested Blackthorn allowed 'the Fratricide' between his sons to continue as collective punishment for their internecine foolishness. Another theory suggested, on the contrary, he [[TheChessmaster engineered]] it from its very beginning specifically to [[SocialDarwinist weed out]] the incompetent and foolish from his Court's ranks. Either way, it demonstrates just how much he detests idiocy.
---> '''Emperor Blackthorn''': We expect our sons to indulge in deceit and treachery... but we will not tolerate INCOMPETENT deceit and treachery.
** One of Blackthorn's sons, King Lasius, doesn't fall far from the tree. Justified, in that after having to put up with his rich foster family's lazy incompetence and greed, Lasius eventually conspired to kill them all for being so worthless to society, and did just that on the day Blackthorn was visiting to check up on him. Golden Bell, Lasius's half-sister, had similar feelings towards his family and turned a blind eye while Lasius murdered them all. After inheriting the throne of his foster kingdom and creating his own hive, Lasius doesn't tolerate his subjects becoming lazy or incompetent, since it'll serve as a reminder of what kind of bastards his foster family was.
** Blood Fang, being an experienced manipulator himself, had two incidents:
*** The incident where he discovered that Radiant Primrose magically regressed Gleaming Shield into a child so she could give him the childhood she believed he deserved was downplayed; Blood Fang was more shocked than angry, though he did call her action "the stupidest idea in the entire history of Equus". Radiant Primrose surprisingly agreed with him.
*** His opinion of King Sombra, however, plays it straight; upon hearing a pony mistake him for Sombra, Blood Fang was so annoyed that he went on a short angry rant where he called Sombra a "complete imbecile" who studied so much dark magic that he [[AlmightyIdiot eventually lost his mind and body in the process]].
* EntitledBastard: Decepticolt, Zappityhoof, and Goldencap are this themselves, believing that their great power entitled them to the privilege of becoming [[PhysicalGod Alicorns]], to the point where they tried breaking into Canterlot's forbidden archives (which got them expelled from the School for Gifted Unicorns by [[DisappointedInYou a disappointed Celestia]]), and succeeded in stealing Rainbow Dash's wings until Twilight Sparkle teamed up with her to get them back. In a display of utter hypocrisy, the trio also sees those who are already Alicorns as entitled individuals who are keeping the secrets and power of Ascension to themselves, such as Twilight and the newly-Ascendant Crystal Prism. This ''enraged'' Crystal Prism, as he had gone through a lot of traumatic experiences before he Ascended in the first place, and had to adjust to his new form.
* TheEpic: The whole Codexverse is shaping up to be this, given the sheer scales and number of characters involved, and apparently was designed with this in mind from the start.
* EpicFail:
** The "Queen Colossos" War in ancient times is a result of a series of this in communication and diplomacy between the Crystal Empire and Queen Colossos' Empire of Giants at FirstContact, with tragic/disastrous consequences.
** Epic failings and gross negligence in general is pretty much a death sentence in the Changeling Summer Court, which [[EnragedByIdiocy does not tolerate incompetence and idiocy]].
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** Despite being the opposite of the benevolent Spring Court and an amoral Court in general, the Summer Court still set a bar that most are not willing to touch.
*** The Winter Court Changelings are reviled by the Summer Court Changelings, which speaks volumes of how far one had to fall in order to be treated with such contempt. To note, one of Blackthorn's First-Spawn sons, ex-King Rhyniognatha was banished/sealed away there after he tried killing all of his brothers for "stealing" his position as his father's favorite. It was noted by Blackthorn himself that he brought his fate upon himself.
*** Xestobium's Final Reset plan was so horrific that even his brothers thought it was insane and actually formed an EnemyMine with the Spring Court and some of the Autumn Court to help stop it. Of course part of this was [[EvilVersusOblivion because their own lives were also in danger]].
*** While creating many bioweapons and being among the Summer Kings, even King Brachion sees the Dyvaos ({{Expy}}s of Gyaos) as too dangerous to exist and in a rare moment of humility admits that awakening them was a mistake.
*** Even if they did admire some of her past plots and strategies, the Summer Court treats Chrysalis as a "failure of a queen" whose pettiness and grand ambitions ultimately cost her everything. After her fall, they decided to protect the newly-ascended Thorax and his purified Changelings from Chrysalis-loyalists by installing hidden agents within his hive. Once they found one, [[KickTheSonOfABitch they gave him to King Brachion]].
** Despite being an unapologetically evil god, Temnobog represents evil as a constructive, testing force and deep down, he's a pretty decent guy. While he's known for being a patron of various types of villains, he actually sees them as moral failures and uses them as divine pawns to test mortals' heroic resolve. He is also ''very'' opposed to his ex-lover, the fallen goddess Ispita, and has a standing order for her among his divine children and servants that essentially amounts to "Kill on Sight".
*** This also applies to practitioners of Temnoism, both "Soft" and "Hard". Temnoists in general are bitter enemies of those who participate in "destructive/careless" Evil, as such a thing would potentially end Equus if left unchecked, so they try to sabotage them wherever they could be found. Of course, since they're "evil" themselves, they'll quite happily [[TakingYouWithMe take their victims with them as they fall if they're caught, too]].
** Even Battryu, who is otherwise a genocidal KnightTemplar that will not hesitate to kill off every single living creature on Equus to protect the planet, considers the similarly nature-loving King Aspen to be too fanatical for his tastes.
* EveryoneHasStandards: The Taurus Giant Pantheon were so disgusted by Khakiston, the Giant divine of Warmongers, Military Dictators and Amoral Warriors that they kicked him out of their ranks, with Terraton doing this to him quite literally out of the Taurus Peninsula. They might be domineering, aggressive and gluttonous at their worst, Terraton especially, but it seems even they can't stand the honorless brute Khakiston is shown to be.
* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: Cutesaurs are dragon-sized sauropods with cutie marks, Earth pony-like magic, clawed limbs for grabbing things, and their TailSlap can ''break the sound barrier''. They even have their own kingdom, Sauropoda.
* EverythingsBetterWithRainbows: Rainbow Ponies are a mutated sub-type of pony that are generally treated as heroes and mystical figures of legend. This is because, aside from their beautiful, prismatic appearance, they have the ability to control light, energy, and rainbows. The most famous Rainbow Pony is Rainbow Dash, the fastest pegasus and performer of the Sonic Rainboom, [[AchievementsInIgnorance though she remains completely ignorant of her heritage]]. It's averted with Lady Prismis, an evil Rainbow Pony sorceress who was known as "The Baleful Spectrum", but thankfully it wasn't enough to tarnish the overall reputation of her people.
* EvilOverlord:
** As in canon, the Storm King is one. How he went from being a young Yeti nobody of a primitive barbarian band in his homeland to the warlord ruler of a powerful empire audacious enough to attack Equestria forms a major part of the Storm King Crisis entries.
** The Changeling Summer Court is ''an entire civilization'' of shape-shifting conquerors and overlords, ruled by a family of (mostly) malevolent tyrants who are the demigod sons or grandsons of the ruthless, scheming Changeling Emperor. They are TheDreaded among Changeling-kind and are only rivaled and held in check by their (mostly) benevolent counterparts from the Spring Court. They are notable in that they managed all this while keeping their entire race hidden from the rest of the world prior to the fall of TheMasquerade.
** The Changeling Winter Court also has a number of Royal Changelings who fit this category, banished from both the Spring and Summer Courts, and they are evil and vile even by Summer Court standards. Ex-Queen Chrysalis is currently among their ranks.
** Temnobog is a patron of these fellows among the Erobreseg Deer Herds, and as the Deers' deity of evil he pretty much embodies that role as well. Interestingly, those evil overlords all fail to realize Temnobog ultimately has no intention of letting any of them succeed, as they are merely pawns to Temnobog's designs to spread suffering that would test mortals and maintain the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil by driving noble heroes and realms to oppose evil. Temnobog will collect and devour their wicked souls the moment they are defeated and slain for their sins.
* EvilReactionary: In the Codexverse, reactionaries of any form are almost consistently selfish, narrow-minded, petty, hateful, conceded, deluded, idiotic, hypocritical and otherwise unsympathetic, who had done nothing but hurt innocents and cause strife in their desire to hold back any form of advancement for any reason - a cause which in itself is always shown to be futile to begin with.
** Reactionary Pegasi attacked Polistes and his mother on the night his True Nature as a Royal Changeling manifested for having the audacity of innovating flying machines in his backstory. Reactionary Pegasi also persecuted the inventor of the 'Vortex Engine'. In both cases, they see aviation technology as 'blasphemous' and a threat to their dominance of the sky, [[{{Hypocrite}} though they're fine with pegasi and other winged creatures pursuing the same career choices]]. Polistes eventually got his revenge by leaving the ones who attacked him and his mother to the mercy of the Summer Court, while his crew evacuated those who weren't involved.
** 'Tribalist' organizations in Equestria and elsewhere are often this on top of being racists and xenophobes, implied by name to wanting to return Equestria to the time of the Three Tribes (with them being the dominant Tribe). Earth pony Tribalists are partly responsible for limiting introduction of other land transports.
** The Autorists are also stated to be blatantly reactionary, joining in the persecution of the inventor of the Vortex Engine along with the reactionary Pegasi beyond Equestria by making her PersonaNonGrata, and making it illegal to even ''discuss'' the new invention in their lands. Notably, even ''Rainbow Dash'', Bearer of Loyalty and a famous pegasus mare, has condemned the cruel treatment despite her personal feelings on the issue, and has expressed excitement towards the prospect of being able to race Vortex Engine-powered vehicles one day.
** The reason the old Roedinian regimes were so poor and backwards was the ruling elites' refusal to embrace or permit any form of innovation that could had greatly improve their peoples' lives, fearing they may undermine their power. Given that reason and how deeply corrupt and tyrannical they were by the time they were overthrown, it comes to no surprise they are this.
*** With that experience, the Clovenists who overthrown them views all reactionaries as this, and consequentially the Clovenist ideology embraced progress to almost [[TheUnfettered unfettered]] extremes.
* EvilVersusEvil:
** While The Changeling Kings in general are mostly amoral than outright evil, they spend a lot of time fighting each other for their father's favor and position in the court.
** King Brachion ended up in a fight with Ahuizotl after the latter managed to trick him into releasing the Dyvaos. It ended in a tie when Gamarea showed up to fight the adult Dyvaos.
** The Summer Court vs. Dr. Toxikon, as while Toxikon is a TragicVillain, he's still attempting genocide on the Changeling species and trying to kill every dragon over a certain age (his own species he views as stagnant and feels will only change and grow if he forces them).
** An interesting case with Temnobog. While he ''is'' the living embodiment of Deerkind's evils, he's actually a decent person who believes in evil as a constructive force, and is the founder of the Temnoism philosophy. He, his worshipers, and his loyal divine children oppose those who see evil as "freedom from restraints", and actively go after them since that kind of evil will lead to the destruction of Equus and possibly the universe. It's also for this reason that Temnobog hates his ex-girlfriend, Ispita, for becoming a Fallen goddess, and he wants her to suffer the same torment that she used to give to wicked souls in order to pay for her sins.
** Similarly, while Blood Fang is an evil Alicorn demigod and one of the most feared villains in Hyrule, he does have a sense of honor, whether fueled by pragmatism or a hidden soft heart. He opposes other villains as much he opposes his Eternal Foes, especially if their plans involve conquering Hyrule and/or destroying Equus for various reasons, and will not hesitate to get rid of them in various ways to ensure their plans don't succeed. Notable victims include the evil usurper Malus Tenebris, and one of the Storm King's generals. It's because of his sense of honor that Temnobog hired him as his agent, knowing that Blood Fang is too principled to fall into "careless" Evil that the Deer god opposes.
* EvilVersusOblivion:
** On reason the members of the Summer Court help stop [[OmnicidalManiac King Xestobium's Final Reset]]: it is an existential threat to ''them'' along with everyone else.
** Temnobog, as well as his his surviving loyal children, and his demonic followers, opposes destructive Evil because such a thing will eventually destroy Equus if left unchecked, much like how a wildfire will rage out of control until there's nothing left to burn.
** Blood Fang, an evil Alicorn demigod and one of Temnobog's agents, also opposes destructive Evil, since his conquest of Hyrule will be rendered utterly meaningless if Equus is left vulnerable to other "careless" villains.
* TheExile:
** The Winter Court of the Changelings is composed of these, consisting of those who were banished from all the hives for various unforgivable offenses. Naturally, Ex-Queen Chrysalis is currently considered one of them, due to her long list of heinous crimes. That being said, it is possible for Winter Changelings to redeem themselves, as shown with the Nameless Queen, though she hasn't asked Blackrose for a repeal because she feels that she wouldn't return home until she has performed one last good deed and checked off her last tally.
** The Cyclops civilization deals with its worst members by exile, since they don't believe in harsher punishments like execution. The idea behind this is since the ones being exiled had rejected their own people's civilized ways, Cyclops civilization in turn rejects them. One of these exiles is depicted in the Minotaur epic poem "Journey of Metis", which tainted the wider world's views of Cyclops, much to their discontent. This practice of exile is heavily similar to the real-life Greek practice of ostracism, where people are banished for a number of years for being a threat to society.
* {{Expy}}: A lot, since ''Codex Equus'' incorporates elements from many outside franchises and adapts them into the world of Equus.
** The {{Kaiju}} population of Neighpon come from the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' franchise, with beings like Dracozilla, Mothryu, Roedan, Battryu, and Gamarea. The "Imperfect Orochi" summoned by Orochi-worshiping cultists is also a dead-ringer for King Ghidorah, as both had three heads.
** Jegina, the Abyssinian cat god of courage and heroism, was inspired by [[WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985 Lion-O of the Thundercats]]. His battle cry is also heavily similar to Lion-O's.
** The members of the old Orosian pantheon were based on [[Myth/ClassicalMythology the Greek gods]], in that both of them acted like irresponsible, petty, spoiled children who caused disasters in their homelands with their squabbles. Specifically, Ouratheros is based on Zeus, Machis is based on Ares, and Ematha is based on Athena.
** There's quite a few characters inspired by ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series.
*** Gleaming Shield, Radiant Primrose, and Blood Fang are inspired by [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link, Zelda, and Ganon/Ganondorf]], respectively. They still follow a cycle of reincarnation, except here, Blood Fang is a demigod unlike Ganondorf, a mortal sorcerer empowered by the Triforce of Power.
*** The antediluvian Alicorn Queen, Hylia the Wise, Radiant Primrose's divine ancestor, and Blood Feather, Blood Fang's mortal "ancestor", are based on [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword the goddess Hylia and Groose]], respectively.
*** Queen Onyx Flare, an ally of Gleaming Shield who seeks to reclaim her throne from an evil usurper, Malus Tenebris, are both based on [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Midna and Zant]].
** Wind Runner, also known as "C-009, the Cyborg Hurricane", was based on the titular character of ''Manga/{{Cyborg 009}}''. His fellow cyborgs, as well as his ArchEnemy, [[WarForFunAndProfit Black Ghost]], are also based on characters from there, too.
** Prince Vultus IV is based on [[Film/FlashGordon1980 Prince Vulcan]], who was played by Creator/BrianBlessed. Both are proud yet heroic {{Warrior Prince}}s and {{Large Ham}}s extraordinaire, who helped participate in wars against a great villain.
** Crystal Prism/Page Wheel and his neighbor/wing-pal/filly-friend, Midnight Bell, are respectively based on Peter and Mary from ''Anime/MaryAndTheWitchsFlower'', except they serve as a case of RealityEnsues that deconstructs various things in the movie, such as [[spoiler:how Peter would react to being experimented on and turned into a magic-eating monster, how Mary would feel knowing she endangered another person with her lies, and how each of them would try to cope with everything that has happened after returning to normal life]].
** Night Terror is based on fictional serial killer [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]], as both of them were killed by being burned alive by grieving parents of their victims, and would become utter menaces of the dream world after death (though in Night Terror's case, it was because of a DealWithTheDevil).
** Quite a few characters were inspired by those from ''Anime/CodeGeass''.
*** King Strazha and Queen Vesna, sibling rulers of the Erobreseg Deer kingdom of Bitaniya, are expies of Lelouch and Nunnally, respectively, with Strazha being the scheming, well-intentioned brother while Vesna is Strazha's very kind sister who was blinded and crippled when she was young [[spoiler:until she was healed by Belyolen]].
*** Strahza and Vesna's parents and relatives, King Rovnyy, Queen-Consort Milyala, and Prince Pobeda are expies of Charles, Marianne, and V.V. respectively [[spoiler:in that they still tried to make [[AssimilationPlot a world without lies]]]], but with a few differences - [[spoiler:Pobeda, unlike V.V., did not betray and kill his sister-in-law out of jealousy, instead treating her as an ally; and Strazha killed his parents and uncle himself instead of commanding "God" to do it like Lelouch did]].
*** Princess Laska, Strazha and Vesna's half-sister, is based on Euphemia, being pink-haired princesses who are [[AllLovingHero compassionate to all peoples]] and staunch pacifists. However, [[spoiler:Laska didn't commit the genocidal massacre that Euphemia did because the writer [[ForWantOfANail removed Lelouch's Geass "accident"]], and was instead rescued from being Geassed by Deer Autorists by her brother instead]].
*** Falling Leaves, a Kirin who is Princess Laska's knight and fiance, is based on Suzaku, being Neighponese/Japanese allies of a prince and love interests of a princess. However, [[spoiler:because Laska didn't die, unlike Euphemia, Falling Leaves never became Strazha's enemy]], allowing him to eventually court Laska with Strazha's blessing.
** Prince Sparkling Wing, an [[PhysicalGod Alicorn]] member of the Church of the Stars, is based on [[WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil Jushtin Butterfly]], being royal Princes who had potential to become great heroes and beloved Kings, but were rejected by their own people because they didn't want to break matriarchal tradition by accepting a male on the throne. Sparkling Wing also has Jushtin's [[TheDandy foppish tastes in fashion]] and his talent in diplomacy, except here, he eventually became an Alicorn god because he had people who continued to believe in him and cultivate his potential, rather than let him fade into obscurity. His family members are also based on the Butterfly family, with his mother Queen Silver Clock being based on Skywynne Butterfly, his father King-Consort Cardinal Feather being based on Skywynne's husband Gem-robin, his sister Queen Rising Sun being based on Solaria Butterfly, and his niece Queen Obsidian Star being based on Eclipsa Butterfly.
** It's mentioned in Prince Sparkling Wing's backstory that two ponies he helped out were Lady Sweet Song and Lord Cerulean Heart, who are based on [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet Juliet and Romeo]], respectively, in that they were heirs of two feuding noble Houses who fell in love with each other despite their families' grudge. However, things ended differently - Sparkling Wing exposed the root of the noble Houses' petty grudge against each other, saving Sweet Song and Cerulean Heart from running away and committing suicide together just to escape their families' hatred, and uniting the noble Houses as [[AdultFear their parents each couldn't bear the thought of losing their beloved children]].
** Golden Scepter, a surviving antediluvian Alicorn Emperor from the fallen Alicorn Civilization, is based on [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 the Emperor of Mankind]]. Much like his character inspiration, Golden Scepter is an Emperor of godlike power and unmatched intellect, and is beloved by his subjects as a protector of a certain species, but also had raging flaws that ultimately spelled the stagnation and doom of his empire. However, unlike Emps, who ended up becoming a rotting corpse, stuck on the Golden Throne for all of time, Golden Scepter would ultimately survive thanks to the kindness of benevolent deities, realize the error of his ways, and become TheAtoner until he truly became a benevolent protector and ruler of Ponykind.
* FaceOfAThug: Luminiferous was created by his father Morning Star after his fall, and thus from his corrupted divine core. As a result, Luminiferous has traits of a Nightmareified pony - draconic eyes, demonic wings, and a King Sombra-like horn, on top of being the exact physical copy of a very infamous and loathed Fallen deity. Despite this, he's the AntiAntichrist and a BigGood who seeks to bring out the potential in others.
* TheFairFolk: The Changelings ''inspired'' this trope on Equus, although later entries revealed other 'Lesser' Faekinds exists and the Changelings are merely the preeminent ones. The Spring Court and the Autumn Court are known as the Seelie Fae, and the Summer Court and the Winter Court the Unseelie Fae. Furthering the similarity, Blackrose and Blackthorn's middle names are Titania and Oberon respectively.
* FakeMemories:
** Censura, the God of Censorship and Conspiracies, can erase and rewrite short-term memories. However, how well he can do so is directly dependent on how long ago the memory he's trying to rewrite was. He also needs to make direct eye contact to do so, and the memories can be broken if the victim realizes they don't make sense.
** King Rovnyy, being an {{Expy}} of [[Anime/CodeGeass Emperor Charles]], has the telepathic ability to erase and alter memories so things are not what people remembered. This was used to punish then-Prince Strazha for his rebellion by altering his memories to make his son think he's a loyal soldier of Bitaniya. Strazha got out of it thanks to his willpower, [[ThePowerOfHate his grudge towards his father]], and the help of a doe who's an expert in Geass magic.
* FallenHero:
** Nightmare Moon, like her canon incarnation, was this - she was the result of Luna giving in to her own bitterness and resentment towards Celestia's ignorance and their subjects shunning her night in favor of her sister's day, which corrupted Luna and turned her into a demonic Alicorn.
** King Xestobium was a noble knight before learning his true nature as a Changeling King, and even after that became one of the very few noble and benign members of the Summer Court, even actively fighting evil dragons and feeding his court by saving people. However, his hatred towards the dragons and eventually his own kind would eventually consume him to the point [[HeWhoFightsMonsters he became a genocidal maniac himself]] and an existential threat to the world.
** It's implied that Morning Star, Luminiferous's father, was this, being the Alicorn equivalent of {{Satan}}. For crimes unknown, he was banished from his people's society and vowed to get revenge. During their final clash, Luminiferous discovered that Morning Star was tired of his revenge quest and just wanted to go back home. Unfortunately, being a very prideful being meant that he didn't want to accept the better part of himself, forcing Luminiferous to kill his own father.
** Princess Stitching Time became Final Epoch from grief over the destruction of the Second Age, and Dazzleglow and Ourophion supposedly treating the problem lightly and forbidding her from reversing time. She was eventually redeemed when, after pulling off a complicated gambit to bypass her time powers, Dazzleglow enlisted the help of the Elements of Harmony to defeat her.
* FantasticNuke:
** The Clovenist-invented Mana Bomb is basically a wild magic nuke. The weapon's effect is described similar to that of the atomic bomb as originally imagined by H.G. Wells.
** [[spoiler:It is ''heavily'' implied that what A.K. Yearling and her associate Antiguo found in the belly of a Second Age Ponyland strategic bomber recently dug up is none other than an actual nuclear weapon, which naturally horrifies them. Given the Second Age, despite being an analogue of Earth's Information Era, is implicitly described as divergent in many ways, there's no telling what sort of 'fantastical' modifications and enhancements Second Age nukes possess which would classify them as this]]
* FantasticRacism: Deconstructed. Equus is by no means perfect, and several races have been known to have biases against other races either because of justified reasons, or [[HolierThanThou because they see themselves as superior]]. Either way, it's still rather harmful, as rampant hatred leads to the birth of [[TragicVillain monsters]]. [=BrutalityInc=] confirms that there would be entries specifically on the subject of racism later down the line.
** Changelings and Dragons do ''not'' like each other, at all. This is due to the fact that according the Changeling mythology/history, hordes of dragons were responsible for burning down their homeland, indirectly contributing to the suffering they endured at the dawn of their existence. This comes to a head with Xestobium, who takes this to insane lengths by Summer Court standards and nearly triggers a mass extinction event attempting to wipe the dragons out. Queen Acherontia and Dragon Lord Vulcan's love and resulting hybrid child was met with both courts and dragonflights descending on their hive and the two being sealed away. This came back to bite them when the two's daughter returns, now justifiably furious and all grown up. The Time of Broken Scales and Xestobium's rampage both caused Toxikon to despise the Changelings and eventually snap and try to wipe them out.
** Relating to above, Apertus was shunned and horribly mistreated for being a Dragon-Changeling hybrid, which resulted in her descent into villainy. Blackrose, who previously opted to ignore her granddaughter's existence, was forced to have her killed by her own parents to save Changelingkind [[spoiler:and then enlisted the help of several deities to reincarnate Apertus back into a newly-hatched egg so she could make up for what she did]]. Queen Odonata, who is half-Kirin, looked draconic enough that she was viciously bullied by some of her more racist sisters, which would have turned her into another Apertus had Blackrose and other benevolent family members hadn't intervened.
** Many Giants individuals and races look down upon the smaller races, often referring them as 'Tinies' and think nothing of crushing, eating, toying or otherwise dominating them. Likewise, the smaller races fear and revile Giants for being hungry, violent and otherwise monstrous brutes. That is by no means universal, as benevolent Giants who protect smaller races and nurtures their civilizations are said to be just as common, if less well-remembered. Supia, a gigantic Royal Changeling {{Kaiju}} Queen, avoids using 'Tinies' to refer to her subjects and the people she protects, because it's an indicator of a superiority complex.
** Relating to the point above, Nature Giants are extremely pessimistic and distrustful of "Tinies" because long ago, Grogar wrecked a large part of Equus's ecosystem in order to TakeOverTheWorld, ''enraging'' the nature goddess Gaea to the point where [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Grogar had to flee back to the Shadow Realm]] when the Nature Giants went on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against his empire. They see themselves as the proper caretakers of nature because in their eyes, the "Tinies" are selfish, destructive, uncaring beings who only look out for themselves. Anyone who argues otherwise is either suppressed, or permanently exiled from home to prevent societal upheaval.
** The [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Autorists]] movement mention is explicitly racist and promotes racial supremacy, with one of their leaders, King Gunther, being the griffon version of Adolf Hitler. While it is confined to Northern Griffons of Griffonnia so far, time will tell whether if this ideological movement would be picked up by other races and nations.
** Subverted by the Clovenists of Roedinia. While they are xenophobic and distrustful of outsiders (and that's only because of cultural inertia of attitudes Roedinans already has from pre-Revolutionary times and foreign intervention during the Roedinan Civil War), they are not explicitly racists. A Belomaneian Pegasi officer serves as a liaison to Neighpon from the Clovenists demonstrates this, as does their efforts to spread their revolution to the Diamond Dogs of Diamondia in hopes of helping them achieve Clovenism. They turn on Admiral Cloven the moment he joins the genocidal Dr. Toxikon to make the younger generations more open to Clovenism after he killed off all the adults, and ultimately drag him back home in chains to be prosecuted for his crimes, for this very reason.
** Defied by Queen Dazzleglow, who believes this trope is what partially perpetuates "The Cycle" - when one lets bigotry, pride, and hatred color their perceptions of others, they are doomed to failure. This is why she donated a large sum of money to the School of Friendship, applauding Twilight Sparkle for establishing a place where friendship and unity can be taught to the younger generations.
** The Scions of Hurricane group consist of pro-pegasi tribalists who revere Commander Hurricane and look down on the unicorns and Earth ponies for being hedonistic, petty, and cruel animals. Their end goal is to take over Equestria, overthrow the Equestrian Alicorns, referred to as the "False Princesses" and "freaks of nature", and establish pegasi as rulers and the master race of Ponykind in general.
** As implied in Prince Blueblood's entry, there's also a pro-unicorn faction called the "Children of Platinum", who true to stereotypes vie for unicorn supremacy and likewise want to overthrow the Alicorns so they could establish unicorns as rulers and the master race of Ponykind. One such member, who was one of Blueblood's surviving relatives, was involved in the failed assassination of Princess Twilight Sparkle, which Blueblood also foiled. [[LaserGuidedKarma She and her cohorts also ended up getting sentenced by Blueblood himself]].
** Midnight Bell suffered this in her backstory - she was born in Equestria, but was sent to the Grittish Isles to live with great-aunt Scarlet Bell so Midnight's mother, Diamond Bell, could protect her from her maternal relatives, all unicorns and pro-unicorn tribalists. Ironically, she was still subjected to racism after word got out that she used a wish to temporarily transform herself into a unicorn, causing people to contemptuously refer to her as an "imposter unicorn." This created an inferiority complex that Midnight gradually got over thanks to Mentálne's therapy, along with the divine hind teaching her to live a good life so she could expose her tormenters as being petty and pathetic.
** Averted with the Bogolenya pantheon. The deities there are quite welcoming of non-Deer divines, and as such, divine Draconequui such as Válka, Ispita (before she turned evil), and later Cosmos had been known to have lived among their Deer compatriots. They also include Deer hybrids such as Válka and Mier's children and Temnobog's children, the Four Terrors. It's due to this tolerance that Belyolen wants to protect the Bogolenya pantheon from those with harmful attitudes, especially the Elternteil pantheon - if they emotionally abused and ostracized Temnobog for being born "evil", they would surely do the same to the non-Deer and hybrids for merely existing.
* FantasticSlurs:
** There's "Tinies", which is popularly used by the Giants and other large races such as the Jotunn Deer and Nature Giants (though they use the "smallfolk" variant instead). Even the more benevolent Giants tend to use this, which makes them InnocentlyInsensitive. Changeling Queen Supia, a gigantic royal {{Kaiju}}, doesn't like using them because it indicates that the person in question has a superiority complex towards "inferior" races.
** Among Ponykind, there's "Mud-Hooves" (Earth ponies) and "Horn-Freaks" (unicorns), used by the Scions of Hurricane. There's also "imposter unicorn", which was used as an insult to refer to Midnight Bell, an Earth pony filly, after word got out that she used a wish to transform herself into a unicorn temporarily.
* FantasyConflictCounterpart:
** The rise of the 'People's Empire of the Cloven' takes cues from the Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917, but with considerable differences. Before the Retcon that had the Clovenists replace the Hooviets, the Hooviet's 'Roedinan Revolution' was much closer to their real-life counterparts.
** Queen Colossos' War is based on the Mongol Invasion of Khwarezmia in real life. Unlike Khwarezmia, the Crystal Empire [[ForegoneConclusion would survive the war]]. The Giants in that conflict are also partly inspired by the Huns as much as the Mongols.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture:
** Neighpon, with its population of kaiju such as [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} Mothryu, Battryu, Dracozilla and his son Dracozilla, Jr.]], is reminiscent of Japan. It also had a feudal period, going by the history of Orochi and his battle with Celestia/Amaterasu and her allies.
** The Jotunn Deer take cues from the ancient Vikings, being a proud race of gigantic warriors. Their homelands, Jotunheim, is based off of Norse society.
** The Tauren Peninsula, its pantheon, and its inhabitants are all based on ancient Greece. The Cyclopean civilization embodies this the most, as many facets of architecture, art, law, and literature seen in other parts of the world were inspired by the Cyclops.
** From what was implied, Helga Greywing's film "[[Film/RomanHoliday Bitalian Holiday]]" seemingly took place in the pony equivalent of Rome, Italy's capital.
** The Grittish Isles that both Crystal Prism and Midnight Bell hail from is implied to be based on Britain, since the two aforementioned characters were based on [[Anime/MaryAndTheWitchsFlower Peter and Mary]], both who are British protagonists.
** King Baarish, a divine Elephant, rules over Elephantkind in the country of Hind, which, according to [=BrutalityInc=], is the Codexverse equivalent of India.
* FantasyPantheon: Several are mentioned. An important note is that the gods and pantheons of Equus are not monolithic entities, prone to disagreements and divisions that could result in any one mortal race/species having up to ''several'' pantheons of gods to worship from. Not unlike the mortal races/species themselves being similarly divided into different nations and cultures.
** The deities that reside in Equestria as its rulers/protectors are counted as a pantheon in their own right, due to their divinity and encompassing benevolence. However, the Alicorn half of this "pantheon" [[AGodIAmNot don't like being treated as gods and discourage worship of them]], since they believe that even gods are capable of being flawed as mortals. After the Storm King Crisis and the Tyrantlesia debacle, Prince Léon, a male Alicorn and adoptive son of Prince Blueblood, became its newest addition.
** The Dragon Pantheon includes the Parent Deities of Dragonkind and all other Dragon gods, Tiamat the Dragon Queen and her consort, King Bahumet. Orochi the Dragon god of evil was once a member prior to his fall and eventual destruction.
** The Deer pantheon, once united into a large group, has now splintered into three sub-groups.
*** The Elternteil Deer pantheon is led by High King Irminsul and his wife, High Queen Arvan, and was constantly praised by their mortal worshipers for being wise and benevolent. Unfortunately, this swelled their ego so much that they became incredibly biased, arrogant, and patronizing, and when the dark Temnobog was born as the result of Irminsul's attempt to turn his then-unborn son into a GodOfGood by purging his inner evil, they emotionally abused him for existing. This ultimately led to their divine children leaving them to form different pantheons when arguments arose over the direction their mortal children are (and should be) taking with their civilizations, and the emotional mistreatment of one of their own gods, the Deer god of Evil Temnobog. The Elternteil pantheon oversees the Alvslog Deer herds, who reside in forested areas and are just as morally puristic, haughty, and close-minded like their divine patrons.
*** The Bogolenya pantheon is the first sub-pantheon of Deer to form from the divine schism, led by twin brothers Belyolen and Temnobog. This pantheon was formed after Belyolen, after overhearing his family consider killing Temnobog for being born "evil, called out his entire family for their pride and abusive hypocrisy and left home, taking with him both Temnobog and several other siblings [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone who were shamed by belyolen's speech]]. The Bogolenya pantheon oversees the Erobreseg Deer herds and is known for their incredible tolerance, letting both non-Deer and supposedly "evil" divines, such as Temnobog and his hybrid children, the Four Terrors, live among them in harmony.
*** The Hoyklan pantheon is the second sub-pantheon of Deer to form from the divine schism. Unlike the first two Deer pantheons, the Hoyklan Deer are led by the divine moose, High King Kaldr, when it turned out that no one among them was capable of leadership or standing their ground against Irminsul, who had been pressuring his divine children into reuniting with the Elternteil pantheon. They oversee the Nordskelt Deer herds, who live in a warrior-like society.
** The Griffon gods are divided into four pantheons, each representing a cardinal wind/direction. Boreas, of the Idol of Boreas fame, is the head of the Northern Griffon Pantheon alongside the Griffon goddess Astra. Notus of the Southern Griffon Pantheon is mentioned by a Griffon character in a Daring Do story set in the ''Codexverse''.
** Mampfen, the Diamond Dog Deity of Mining is a major god of the Diamond Dog Pantheon, but neither rules it or their mortal children as he firmly believes that it's not his job.
** The Changeling pantheon consists of two Parent Deities, the Changeling Progenitors, their many, many demigod Royal Changeling children, and the newly ascendant King Thorax. Depending on the reader's interpretation over the status of demigods, that makes them among either among the smallest pantheons or among the largest on Equus.
** The Cosmic Council, mentioned briefly in the G4 illustrated storybook "Under the Sparkling Seas", is mentioned frequently as the global alliance/organization under which many major pantheons and deities of Equus are members of, tasked with maintaining world order and peace between the gods.
** The Novellus Pantheon is a pantheon formed by gods representing new concepts such as industry, sanitation, popular culture, and espionage. Their intention is to lead advancement in a measured capacity for the benefit of everypony.
** The Tyrannos Pantheon is another pantheon of new gods, and PsychoRangers for the Novellus. Led by Propagare, they are in essence the representation of tyrannical regimes, embodying such concepts as Propaganda, Censorship, and War Profiteering.
** The Abyssinian Pantheon also exists, consisting primarily of divine cats, though they were previously run by JerkassGods until the benevolent ones (led by Jegina) overthrew them.
** The Old Orosian Gods were basically the Greek Pantheon and held dominion over the Taurus Peninsula. Their JerkassGod attitudes ultimately got them killed, and the benevolent gods that survived reforming as the much nicer Pramanthan Pantheon.
* FinalSolution:
** The Summer Court attempted this on the Dragons in the Time of Broken Scales, and nearly succeeded, though ultimately failed. The Dragons attempted it on them first, however, making this a CycleOfRevenge.
** King Xestobium makes his own attempt with his Dragon Extinction Operation... a plan so destructive and potentially cataclysmic that [[EvenEvilHasStandards even the Summer Court considers him mad]], in no small part because it's also revealed to be an attempted genocide on [[GenocideFromTheInside them as well]]. [[OmnicidalManiac And potentially everyone else.]]
** Xestobium's attempt would also cause Dr. Toxikon, a time of Broken Scales survivor to snap and attempt it on the Changelings in return... furthering the CycleOfRevenge. He also intends to kill off all dragons above a certain age as he views them as stagnant and refusing to learn even as the world is marching by them, wanting to ''force'' them to learn from the world around them now that they'll have no choice. It eventually turns out, however, that he intended to spare the New Changelings in a PetTheDog moment.
* FirstContact: One of these going horribly wrong due to misunderstanding and mistakes on both sides triggered a war between the Crystal Empire with a realm of Giants 1,500 years ago. It ends badly for both sides - more so for the Crystal Empire due to the sheer size and power of the Giants.
* FlingALightIntoTheFuture:
** Gamarea and the Guardian Monsters of Neighpon were created by a precursor race to protect a future civilization. It worked, since they proved very invaluable in fighting off a few of Orochi's Eight Demon Heads that attacked Neighpon.
** Implied to be the case with Queen Dazzleglow, who sealed herself away 20,000 years ago, allegedly to save the future from what she calls "The Cycle" of society-killing vices, as well as a similar disaster that destroyed her kingdom. She reawakened in the modern day while Daring Do was trying to protect her from Ahuizotl, who was trying to kill her and wipe away what remained of the Queen.
* FluffyTheTerrible: The denizens of Sauropoda are dragon-sized sauropods with earth pony magic and every bit as powerful as that name would suggest. Their common name is "Cutesaurus".
* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Implied to be the case with the Divines, who all seem to have a 'pure' form that is far more eldritch and otherworldly than the normal form. They normally remain in their default both to better interact with their worshipers, and because the mere ''presence'' of their true forms can be incredibly destructive.
* ForeverWar: The Changeling-Dragon blood-feud had spanned ''aeons'', with countless generations of the two races fighting each other on-and-off in an endless CycleOfRevenge over [[ItsPersonal respective wrongs they had done to each other]]; the 'Burning of Amorea' at the claws of the Dragons which nearly drove Changelingkind to extinction, and for the Dragons in particular the 'Time of Broken Scales'. {{Deconstructed}} in that both races' conflict and enmity for each other are ultimately only damaging themselves for little gain, and by the Fourth Age it's becoming a HopelessWar that threatens to wipe out both sides and take the whole world with them.
* ForTheEvulz: Usually averted. As a rule of thumb, a majority of the villains or evil bastards in the setting have some sort of motive or justification that makes sense, at least to themselves. Those who pursue senseless, banal evil for its own sake are generally seen as particularly abhorrent and usually deconstructed as being at least a little [[AxCrazy mad]], dysfunctional or just plain [[StupidEvil idiotic]].
** Temnobog Cultists and Hydianites both revere and commit Evil for its own sake out of ideological/religious reasons, though takes it in opposite directions: the former sees Evil as (and should be) serving a necessary, constructive role in the world and that both Good and Evil must exist in balance. The latter group by contrast are selfish and destructive villains who worships Evil as freedom from all restraints, including morality. Naturally, [[EvilVersusEvil they don't get along]].
** Valefor, an enemy of future Dragon Lord Pyro II, had for his ultimate goal awakening and unleashing an ancient primordial demon to ravage the world. And he wanted to do this because... actually, nobody knows for sure exactly ''why'' he wants to do it, not even Pyro II. It seems for all his evil and the threat he poised, Valefor had apparently ''no'' logical motive for his apocalyptic ambitions, which confused everyone to no end.
---> '''Pyro II:''' [[LampshadeHanging Honestly, it made ''no'' thrice-damned ''sense'' whatsoever]].
* FriendlyNeighborhoodSpider: Cuddle Spiders are the size of a medium-sized dog, but very friendly, affectionate, and make good pets fed by their owners' affections. They were originally primarily in the Changelings' possession, but after the Masquerade fell, they became a popular export. According to the one who introduced them to the Codex Verse, they're inspired by ''WebVideo/LucasTheSpider''.
* FriendToAllChildren:
** Elske the Jotunn Love goddess. She loves children and always tries to protect them from harm. Whenever she comes across a sinful realm, she has her worshipers evacuate the children before she eats everything, and then makes up for their loss of family members and homes by becoming their adoptive mother. Her divine realm, where her adoptive children live, makes them immune to all forms of harm.
** Crystal Prism, the young Alicorn of Change and Rebirth, is also one. Having been a former unicorn colt who was transformed into a monster by well-intentioned yet unscrupulous people, and experienced an equally traumatizing resurrection/Ascension after he was killed, Crystal Prism heavily sympathizes with those who undergo stressful changes themselves. This applies especially to children, whose fragile mental states often leave them overwhelmed in the face of changed.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Played straight and inverted.
** Dread was a member of a species considered household pests by most, but due to being a mutant he became the Dread Emperor, one of the first real threats Equestria faced.
** A few Changeling Kings from the dreaded Summer Court have humble beginnings. The hardships they endure in their youth often shape them into the ruthless tyrants and conquerors they become after their Errance.
** The Storm King and his army is shown to be this in their origin story: both the Yetis and the Monkey-Bears start out as a collection of primitive mountain tribes in the Parvata region of Equus (Codexverse-expy of Nepal), living in the ruins of their precursors' civilization. Yet decades later, they would be storming the gates of Canterlot and begin what history would remember as the Storm King Crisis.
** Inverted with Thorax. He was once a Common Changeling drone of Chrysalis's hive that was trained from birth to fight and die in the name of his Queen. A series of events, including his request for asylum in Equestria and his confrontation with Chrysalis, resulted in Thorax turning into a Royal Changeling and becoming a 'Progenitor' of a new breed of purified Changelings. Thorax is currently regarded as a near-legendary heroic figure by Changelingkind, calling him the "Sanctified One" and seeing him as their greatest hope in curing their racial Curse.
** An interesting case with Temnobog, who grew from an emotionally abused fawn treated as nothing more than garbage and an evil "cast-off" of his radiant twin brother, Belyolen, to a dark god who spreads evil and suffering through the Deer realms. While he is feared for what he does, he's also respected, since he uses evil for constructive purposes and to motivate mortals into becoming stronger to oppose evil.
* GaiasVengeance: This trope applies to any nature deity who gets pissed off by uncaring, destructive entities.
** Battryu, being a Battra {{Expy}} and the embodiment of Nature's "Wrath" as opposed to his twin, Mothryu, who is Nature's "Mercy", is more or less the personification of this. Thankfully, with the exception of the incident that awakened him in modern day, he's not nearly as hard on modern Equus, due to them generally being good about caring for the environment.
** A literal case in the Nature Giant goddess Gaea, who was so ''furious'' with Grogar's destruction of Equus's forests that she went on a destructive rampage. Grogar lost a majority of his forces and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere was forced to flee into the Shadow Realm]].
* GentlemanAndAScholar:
** Changelingkind in general, particularly the Royal Changelings, notably in direct contrast to the barbaric and simple Dragonkind, whom they and many others see as their antithesis. Both good or ill, Changelingkind emphasize heavily on intelligence, knowledge and culture when not obsessed with survival and secrecy, all of which are encouraged by their Progenitor parents. Notable examples of the trope include Changeling Queens Acanthosomatidae, Odonata and Ithomiini as well as their hives. Changeling King Lepid, Thomisus and Pholcidae from the Summer Court are more in the WickedCultured variety, although even their less flamboyant and more aggressive brothers are also quite sophisticated by most standards.
** Toxikon learned to be this from the Changelings, being a civilized dragon and brilliant scientist. Unfortunately, the trauma of the Changelings attempting to commit genocide against his people, as well as the Dragons themselves refusing to change their MightMakesRight mentality, slowly turned him into a monster instead.
* GeniusBruiser:
** Dr. Toxikon is a 5,000 year old dragon with multiple degrees and doctorates, being the world's only dragon scientist, and able to rival the Summer Court in cunning. This makes him every bit as deadly as that combination would imply, and he proves capable of taking all of Changeling Kind head on with a chance of actually winning.
** Like her canon self, Ember uses a combination of intelligence, strength, and skill to overcome her opponents, unlike her fellow dragons who believe in using pure strength to dominate their foes. This is what partially allows her to defeat Dr. Toxikon when she teamed up with Thorax.
* GentlemanThief:
** King Asbolus Lyonesse is this, due to being raised by a ClassyCatBurglar. He is definitely a master thief, but he's also a gentleman and affable by nature. He also has [[NobleDemon a moral compass and will never steal from someone who can't protect themselves.]]
** Polistes Lyonesse as well. As stated above, he's a noble SkyPirate. His Wild Card crew only steal or raid from those who can afford to lose the loot, and [[WouldNotShootACivilian always avoid getting innocents involved in their exploits.]]
* GiantFootOfStomping: The fate of anyone who antagonizes a Giant or Dragon, assuming they weren't eaten.
** This was the fate of Golden Chalice, who [[TooDumbToLive charged at a Sauropodian Queen in a war chariot]]. His armies surrendered and left rather quickly.
** The Jotunn love goddess Elske once confronted a group of Propagare cultists and their forces by crushing one army with her hooves, then [[AssKicksYou sitting down on another]] while explaining Propagare's deceptions to two mortal Deer kingdoms. As for the cultists themselves, most of them were ''slowly crushed to death''.
* GiantSpider:
** Cuddle Spiders are the size of a medium-sized dog. They're also [[FriendlyNeighborhoodSpider adorable, friendly, and make great pets]] sustained by their owner's affection and love. They're the domesticated version of a now long extinct species of love-sucking, wolf-sized spiders that were far less friendly. Not surprisingly, they were inspired by ''WebVideo/LucasTheSpider''.
** More traditional ones live in the Giant Lands, where proportionally to giants they're the same size as normal ones are to ponies. When they somehow get ''out'' of the Giant Lands, however, they're a much bigger problem.
* GiverOfLameNames: The First Age Ponies are noted as having not been very creative in the naming department, thus why some pony subgroups are named "Happy Tail" and they called Cutie Marks "Rump Designs".
* TheGlomp: Arlequin, Pakak's daughter and Discord's niece, found out her father was no longer SealedGoodInACan. She took this trope UpToEleven by launching herself half way across Equestria and giving him the 'biggest hug tackle in history.' [[NotHyperbole Literally]], she set the world record.
* GloryHound: Implied with Ematha of the old Orosian pantheon. As a war goddess, she embodies those who [[WeHaveReserves callously throw away the lives of their soldiers]] in order to achieve "beautiful" victories. This eventually disgusted Bellamos so much that he disowned her as his adoptive parent.
* GodEmperor: Generally justified, as there are many benevolent deities of Equus who are also sovereigns of their own kingdoms.
** Changeling Progenitors Empress Blackrose and Emperor Blackthorn are this, though not together, rather of separate Changeling courts.
** The Equestrian Princesses are all immortal Alicorns who are capable of powerful feats of magic, even Cadence, though she's technically not part of Equestria due to ruling the Crystal Empire. [[AGodIAmNot They all rather prefer their subjects don't see them as gods]].
** Queen Dazzleglow and her sisters once ruled over the kingdom of Kerajaan Cahaya in the Second Age, and now have emerged from sleep to continue their job in the Fourth Age.
** Golden Scepter is quite literally a GodEmperor - he is an extremely antediluvian Alicorn who existed even before the Known Ages, and has ruled over two empires as Emperor that have fallen before the First Age. After going through massive CharacterDevelopment and [[TookALevelInKindness becoming much kinder]], he established a much smaller yet thriving empire, which is ruled by him and his many SemiDivine sons. It's not surprising, considering that Golden Scepter is an {{Expy}} of [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 the Emperor of Mankind]].
* GodOfEvil: Several are described in detail, with varying levels of evilness.
** Grogar, the ancient tyrant of Tambelon from the First Age is a Fallen Deity of Dark Magic, a ControlFreak who believe mortals are too incompetent to rule themselves and thus seek to take over and control the world, starting by taking over Tambelon whilst still a mortal necromancer. A consummate master of Dark Magic with powers themed after the SevenDeadlySins. He has not been seen since the First Age and is believed to had been defeated or destroyed, but time will tell...
** Emperor Blackthorn of the Changeling Summer Court doesn't go out of his way to cause evil (and views himself AboveGoodAndEvil), but is still an extremely amoral [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]] who had [[ManipulativeBastard manipulated entire civilizations and even pantheons of gods over throughout history to advance his own inscrutable agendas]], caring little for anyone else other than his female counterpart, Empress Blackrose, and sees everyone who doesn't have his respect to be little more than pawns for his schemes. Most of his own Royal Changeling demigod sons are also ruthless schemers, conquerors and tyrants to a fault.
** Temnobog is an interesting subversion. While unapologetically evil, reveling in causing suffering, he operates on a unique philosophy which rationalizes evil as [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil an integral part of the world, as much as good]], and that [[GoodNeedsEvil both good and evil are needed to define one another and balance each other out]] for the world to function properly. As such, he's perfectly fine with co-existing with his good twin brother, Belyolen, with whom they co-rule the Bogolenya Deer Pantheon. He embodies evil as a testing force, driving the good and worthy to rise up against it while weeding out the evil and unworthy, whom he would then torment/devour in the afterlife. The only outright villainous thing he is up to is trying to destroy his father, High King Irminsul of the Eltenteil Deer Pantheon, whom he understandably hates for treating him as nothing more than Belyolen's "cast-off".
** Out of the eight children Temnobog had with Ispita before the latter's fall into evil, the Four Terrors remain "good". While they're unapologetic with their evil like their father, they use their horrific talents for constructive purposes, spreading evil as a way to test the strength and will of heroic mortals. They respect those who manage to defeat them, and if the heroes die trying, they let their souls pass on to the afterlife instead of dragging them down to hell as evil gods typically do. Despite their bad reputation, most of their family members and fellow gods tolerate and even respect them for the roles they play.
** Orochi, the eight-headed Dragon god of evil, tyranny and darkness takes the cake. He broke with his Parents after being refused a Dragon Lord title (Reserved for mortal dragons), descended upon Neighpon (Right after the Warring States period), and apart from being briefly driven away by a mortal samurai, Neighgi, wielding a magic sword, proceeded to conquer the Eight Great Islands and plunge it into a time of suffering and tyranny. He demanded sacrifices in form of innocent daughters that he would devour just ForTheEvulz, have armies of evil mortals and yokai terrorize and rule the place in his name, allied himself with other Fallen Deities like Rabia, and generally made life in Neighpon miserable for everyone. It took the combined might of Princess Celestia (who disguised herself as [[VideoGame/{{Okami}} Amaterasu]]), the Neighgi's descendant Susaneigho wielding his ancestor's sword, the Neighponese deities and their followers, and even ''Nightmare Moon'' indirectly helping to finally see his defeat and destruction.
** Zkáza the Destroyer is a Fallen Draconequu of Pollution, Decay and Destruction who had come to love destruction and ruin for its own sake, especially by tricking mortals into doing it to themselves and feeding upon the results. During Discord's reign he followed his sister Ispita to join Discord's side, though was forced to rein in his desires to bring down all civilizations as Discord wanted them around to toy with. Like Ispita, he was eventually [[SealedEvilInACan sealed away by Pakak]] with the help of the Deer Pantheons and other trickster deities, being sealed inside a great tree where he remains to this day. WordOfGod is that he is basically a mix of Hexxus of ''WesternAnimation/FernGullyTheLastRainforest'' with Zarm from ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanet''.
** Rabia in this universe is a Goddess, namely of Primordial Darkness.
** The Tyrannos Pantheon is composed of Gods representing various aspects of tyrannical regimes.
* GodOfGood: Several noble deities are mentioned besides the Alicorn Princesses. Most of the deities of Equus are of this disposition.
** Belyolen, co-TopGod of the Bogolenya pantheon, is a true paragon and the living embodiment of all of Deerkind's positive traits. Unlike his former Elternteil neighbors, who were patronizingly arrogant people who painted themselves as "benevolent", Belyolen is so compassionate that he was rightly disgusted with his family and peers' emotional abuse of his younger twin brother, the GodOfEvil Temnobog, and left to form his own pantheon to get Temnobog away from them. He was also willing to forgive and reconcile with him even though Temnobog did terrible things to spite him, because he already accepted him as his blood sibling.
** Also from the Bogolenya pantheon, Lestnamatya (Mother Deer) personally goes out of her way to check up on her and her fellow deities' mortal followers while the others are busy elsewhere.
** Pakak the Trickster, Draconequu Spirit of Mischief and Karma, fought against his elder brother Discord during his reign to protect mortals and sealed away Ispita, the Fallen Draconequu of Temptation.
** Queen Mab II the Floral Queen, mother deity of the Breezies with powers over flowers, acts as TeamMom for the Cosmic Council and is kind and compassionate. Just [[MamaBear don't threaten her people]] or [[BerserkButton call her small and weak]]. She also is the SuperiorSuccessor to her own mother, Queen Mab I, a Primeval-ranked Fae goddess who went completely insane due to a personal familial tragedy and never recovered from it.
** Mier the Peacemaker is a member of the Bogolenya Deer Pantheon whose entire portforlio is spreading peace, love and unity to mortals and gods, and despite being an ActualPacifist will put herself in harm's way to stop wars. [[MusicMagic Her songs]] can calm the bloodlust of combatants in battles, while her [[BarrierMaiden shields]] can tank all but the strongest divine attacks. She's amous in-universe for doing what was supposed to be impossible; namely, breaking the Draconequu God of War Válka out of his [[TheBerserker Berserker rage]] and calming him down, [[LoveRedeems which eventually leading to both of them fall in love and marry]], saving Válka from descending into evil like his brother and sister did in the process.
* GodzillaThreshold:
** Both incarnations of Dracozilla, the Codexverse-expy of Godzilla, were once a terrible threat to Neighpon, but the threat poised by other kaijus - most notably the demonic kaiju spawns of Orochi, the Fallen dragon god - often lead to Dracozilla more often then not becoming critical in saving the Eight Great Islands despite the damages kaiju fights cause, especially after the second Dracozilla become more heroic and less antagonistic.
** During 'Queen Colossos' War', as the Giants continue to attack and ravage the rest of the Crystal Empire, it is alleged that some the Crystal Pony nobles seriously considered letting [[SealedEvilInACan Rabia and the Umbrum]] out of their magical prison beneath the Crystal Empire capital, either hoping they could bargain with her and her ilk to help them for whatever price they demand, or simply in hopes that they could take the Giants with them when all hope is lost. Crystal Empress Coronam flatly refused to even consider such an option, possibly because the means of breaking the seal was long lost, partly because it would sully their founder's legacy, and partly because she considers letting something as evil as Rabia out for any reason to be [[EveryoneHasStandards too horrible]] even in the face of the Giants' onslaught
** If a Deer kingdom in the lands of the Erobreseg Deer Herds become so corrupt and evil as a whole, and [[ItIsBeyondSaving all attempts to right their ways completely fail]], the Bogolenya Deer Pantheon would consider evacuating all the remaining good Deers from the realm before sending [[GodOfEvil the Four Terrors, the dreaded divine children of Temnobog]], and their divine and demonic servants to destroy the kingdom in its entirety. Because the results of their rampage is utterly horrific, and by its end [[ApocalypseHow ''absolutely nothing'' will remain]] but charred desolation and all the condemned will be dragged to Temnobog's realm for eternal torment, 'Calling the Terrors' is often only used as an absolute last resort by the Bogolenya to prevent the fallen realm from becoming a danger to other lands of their mortal children as a moral and physical threat.
** Toxikon poses such an existential threat to Changelingkind that Zoraptera actually proposes an EnemyMine with King Brachion, as the two of them are the only ones capable of keeping up with Toxikon's Crucible Virus in its countless forms.
* TheGoodKingdom: Sauropoda and Kerajaan Cahaya are portrayed this way, being successful and relatively peaceful realms that are ruled by benevolent monarchs.
* GoodPowersBadPeople: Fik’iri, the Abyssinian Goddess of Love and War, has powers similar to Cadence's. She's a also JerkassGod who uses those powers to torment her followers for cruel and spiteful reasons by making the ones they love fall in love with others, or to make people have sex with her [[DoubleStandardRapeDivineOnMortal and often without their consent]]. It got to the point where her own worshipers had to hide their faces with veils whenever they pray to her so they wouldn't get unwanted attention simply by being attractive.
* {{Gotterdammerung}}: There are several instances where even entire divine pantheons have been wiped out, though it's usually because they acted like {{Jerkass God}}s towards their worshipers and thus had karma bite them in the collective ass, sometimes [[KillTheGod fatally]].
** The "Twilight of the Alicorns" event was a very brutal, enduring, and bloody civil war that lasted for ''ten Ages''. It has been stated in Golden Scepter's entry that the Alicorns gradually became so arrogant, complacent, and high-hoofed from their successes that they in turn became blind to their own corruption, giving birth to the treacherously evil Alicorn, Morning Star. The result was the Alicorn Civilization being irreparably damaged, and a massive chunk of the Alicorn population being killed off, with the survivors going into complete seclusion from the outside world to replenish their numbers. Golden Scepter was one of those few who refused to go with them, which set him on the path of breaking free from his people's mistakes and going through CharacterDevelopment to become a genuinely benevolent ruler as the Alicorns saw themselves as. He would even admit to Temnobog years later that both Morning Star's betrayal and the fall of the Alicorn Civilization were perhaps the best things that happened to him and his people.
---> '''Temnobog:''' A divine utopia of complete benevolence and fairness, with nothing but success to truly motivate them? No wonder your people fell. They've been sitting on their laurels for so long that they eventually became blind to their own corruption... until one of them snapped, that is.\\
'''Golden Scepter:''' ..I suppose you are right, Dark One. Even I was blind to it, as hard as I tried... Perhaps... perhaps Morning Star's betrayal and the destruction of my home were the best things that ever happened to the Alicorns, and me as well.
** The Old Orosian pantheon that watched over the Tauren Peninsula was nothing more than a group of arrogant, hypocritical, petty, and spoiled children who often bickered among themselves, had [[DisproportionateRetribution extreme responses towards even perceived insults and disobedience]], and callously used their powers to do whatever they wanted, often making their own mortal worshipers their pawns in their petty squabbles. The result was the "Twilight of the Orosians", where it was implied that they were eventually killed by mortals who got fed up with the cruel treatment and [[TheDogBitesBack actively opposed them]]. Bellamos, who was created from the violence of their senseless wars, let it happen as he correctly believed that the pantheon brought it upon themselves, while those who managed to survive were the few benevolent Orosian deities who would go on and make a new pantheon to replace their predecessors.
* GreyAndGrayMorality: "Queen Colossos' War" - the ancient conflict between an empire of Giants and the Crystal Empire 1,500 years ago is portrayed as this. Its outbreak was caused by a chain of unfortunate misunderstandings, which was in turn caused by bad luck, cultural attitudes and mortal failings that spiraled out of control. Neither side are portrayed as completely saints or sinners, completely at fault nor completely blameless, and in-universe it is ultimately considered to be "A disaster of monumental proportions" for everyone involved.

[[folder:H to J]]
* HalfHumanHybrid:
** 'Sparkle Ponies' are believed to be this between Equestrian ponies and the 'Mysterious Visitors.' However, others believe they may simply be {{Mutants}}. This includes Queen Dazzleglow and her sisters, which results in many of them seeking out and worshiping them. According to Dazzleglow as well as Princess Brightglow, two of their sisters "returned to their father", further implying this trope.
** Princess Apterus is a Dragon/Royal Changeling hybrid. Unfortunately, the FantasticRacism between her parents' species, as well as the abuse of a particularly cruel Changeling King, ruined her life and eventually turned her into an insane rampaging monster.
** Queen Odonata is a Kirin/Changeling hybrid, though much like Apertus, she has enough draconic traits that caused some of her more racist sisters to shun, bully, and abuse her. Fortunately, she was prevented from following Apertus with the intervention of benevolent family members, especially her older brother Puck, who ultimately inspired her in taking up weapon-smithing.
** All Royal Changelings are racial hybrids, due to being sired by a Changeling Progenitor and a member of a mortal species. This makes their mistreatment of Princess Apertus and Queen Odonata extremely hypocritical, as they're both hybrids just like their relatives.
** The Four Terrors are Deer/Draconequus hybrids, born from an unholy union between Temnobog and his now ex-girlfriend, Ispita the Deceiver. As such, all of them have different animal traits that pertain to their portfolios and what they embody.
* HatesBaths: Queen Pentatomidae really hates bathes, to the point she made it a part of her hive's rules that no one has to take bathes if they don't want to, and rarely (if ever) takes one herself. As a result, ''her entire hive'' is ThePigPen. Blackrose affectionately calls Pentatomidae 'her Stinkbug'. She apparently smells so horrid even Moufette, a TopGod for the Skunk pantheon, can't stand to be around her. Strangely enough, the ''goddess of Hygiene'' is best friends with Pentatomidae, though she wishes the Queen and her hive would bathe more often.
* HealingHands: Since Equus is a borderline DeathWorld, sapient creatures with healing powers have become a necessity in order to recover from various disasters.
** Crystal Prism possesses "cocoon-healing", in which he heals the wounded and sick via magical cocoons that restore them completely anew.
** Medik, appropriate to his epithet as "The Healing Warrior", is the Bogolenya Deer god of Combat Medics and Healing, so naturally he possesses the power to heal, though he can't restore lost limbs or bring back the dead. He often applies his healing magic actively by flying directly into war zones with his angels and heal wounded soldiers.
** It's mentioned in Belyolen's entry that he has healing powers, which is appropriate as he embodies Contentment. This comes in handy when he heals Queen Vesna Svetilo on the day of her coronation, [[spoiler:allowing her to walk for the first time in several years after she was crippled from the waist down by assassins who killed her mother]].
** After she ascended the Bitaniyan throne together with her older brother Strazha, following their parents and uncle's deaths, Queen Vesna was blessed by Belyolen and gained the power of healing to counteract Straza's magical curses.
** Emperor Golden Scepter, a surviving antediluvian Alicorn from the ruined Alicorn Civilization, has the power to [[HealItWithFire heal people through holy fire]], using it to burn away impurities and accelerate natural healing with warmth.
** Princess Laska, the younger royal Bitaniyan half-sister of King Strazha, has healing magic that comes from being a devout worshiper of Mier, the Bogolenya Deer goddess of Peace, [[PersonalityPowers which suits her pacifistic personality]].
* HeroicLineage:
** The Starswirls is actually a long line of heroic sorcerers whom had served and protected Equestria for countless generations. The fellow founder of Equestria, Starswirl the First, is a distant ancestor of the Starswirl who would become a member of the Pillars. It is not known as of this moment whether any of his line still exists apart from the returned Pillars!Starswirl.
** Flash Lightning is the distant ancestor of Flash Magnus from around the Founding Era, having fought alongside Commander Hurricane against Dread. It seems Flash Magnus had heroic material from the get-go...
** Princess Stitching Time is the immortal daughter of Dame Patch, who was originally a G1 pony from the Second Age and a member of the heroic Tales Seven. She briefly fell into evil as Final Epoch over grief towards the Second Age's destruction, but she became good again after her mother talked with her and she was purified by the Elements of Harmony.
* HigherTechSpecies: The 'Visitors' are this according to accounts, something Firestorm outright addresses following his sighting. However, they're at least benevolent towards Equus, as it's pointed out that had they meant Equestria harm, they could have conquered it long ago. Visitors have gone on RoaringRampageOfRescue to protect Sparkle Ponies, who seem to be hybrids, and [[OneManArmy singlehandedly managed to rescue them from the Cloven Empire and Hive Brachion]], showing they're far above what Equus is currently capable of.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: In-universe.
** This is often the case with Irminsul, father of Temnobog and Belyolen, and High King of the Elternteil pantheon. The morally pursitic Alvslog Deer herds portray him as a benevolent divine stag who can do no wrong, but in actuality Irminsul is a well-intentioned being with a multitude of issues, and emotionally abused Temnobog for simply being born "evil".
** This often occurs with Gleaming Shield as well, with many sapient races depicting him as a completely noble and righeous paragon of heroism while removing any unsavory traits he may have had, such as his money-grubbing and thieving tendencies.
** Belyolen, Irminsul's radiant son, is often depicted a pure and righteous individual who acts as Temnobog's superior and treats his brother as nothing more than a wicked servant that must be kept in line. In reality, he deeply loves Temnobog despite his innate Evil nature, since they were born divine equals and two halves of the person they could've been, and they share co-leadership of the Bogolenya pantheon.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: In-universe, this is often the case with Temnobog among a portion of the Deer herds. While he ''is'' a GodOfEvil and acts unapologetically about it, he works side by side with his twin brother to test mortals and punish the wicked, and his animosity towards his father has sympathetic reasons behind it. The Deers of the Alvslog Herds often portray him as a purely evil villain who is a "lesser servant" of Belyolen and whose childhood mistreatment was rightfully earned, which are among the many details they get wrong. This is because [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity the very idea of evil itself playing by the rules is baffling, blasphemous even]].
* HolierThanThou: Deconstructed. A common problem with many great races/civilizations/deities of Equus is that because of their power, competence, and influence in the world at large, they believe that ''they'' have the moral high ground and everyone should submit or agree with them, or else.
** Many of the Royal Changelings have this attitude, including the [[TheHighQueen Queens]] of the Spring Court. [[DivineRightOfKings Because they're all children of a Changeling deity]], the Royal Changelings feel they're automatically entitled for the right to rule. And because they're bigger, stronger, and more powerful, they believe that only ''they'' know what's best for their subjects. They hate dissension because they think the perpetrators are being "ungrateful" for rejecting their ruler's love and protection, and because it undermines their royal legitimacy. This, combined with FantasticRacism towards Dragonkind, creates a toxic ViciousCycle that only creates more harm than good. Fortunately, the only Royal Changeling who averts this trope is Thorax, whose former background as a lowly drone played in his favor as he was able to make multiple interracial friendships, and form his own hive of purified Changelings.
** The Nature Giants carry a pessimistic, distrustful view of mortals because of what Grogar had done to Equus's ecosystem to fulfill his desire to take over the world. They believe that all "smallfolk" are inherently destructive, short-sighted, and indifferent to nature, only caring about themselves. Therefore, only the Nature Giants are capable of preserving nature. Anyone who says otherwise are suppressed or permanently exiled to prevent societal upheaval (if a Nature Giant decides to leave home).
** The Elternteil Deer pantheon pre-schism was this. Because the pantheon heavily contained benevolent deities, with no "evil" deity to keep them all in check, they were biased against anything they perceived as "evil" and like to think of themselves as "wise" and "benevolent", largely due to their mortal worshipers' praise going to their heads. The most prominent example is High King Irminsul, who emotionally abused Temnobog and treated him as Belyolen's evil, unwanted cast-off, while encouraging his family and peers to do the same. It got to the point where the extremely compassionate Belyolen got fed up with the toxic behavior, especially after he overheard them considering [[OffingTheOffspring killing Temnobog altogether]], and shamed everyone for their arrogance and abusive hypocrisy, before leaving to form the Bogolenya pantheon. It's noted that Belyolen was helped by the Alicorn goddess of Self-Love, Amour-De-Soi, who was disgusted with Temnobog's abuse and encouraged Belyolen to do the right thing. The childhood treatment also left Temnobog with a lot of mental scars that are still being resolved, even with Amour-De-Soi's help.
* HolyBurnsEvil:
** Crystal Prism has the ability to produce magical cocoons that both [[HealingHands heal]] and purge people/objects of mundane curses and dark magic.
** Prince Léon is noted to have some degree of divine purification, as he unknowingly purified a cursed hoof mirror that stokes the vanity of its user just by touching it. By the time a worried Blueblood and Raven Inkwell found him, Léon was nibbling on the now powerless hoof mirror as if nothing happened.
** High King Irminsul of the Elternteil pantheon is implied to possess divine purification, as he tried to purify his then-unborn son in the womb to make him a god of all that is pure of good. He ended up creating Belyolen and Temnobog instead, which ultimately led to the Elternteil pantheon itself splintering into two sub-pantheons partially because Irminsul's emotional abuse sickened some of his children enough for them to leave. Irminsul's actions also ''enraged'' Luminiferous, who called him out on enforcing his twisted ideas of perfection onto his child and stated [[NotSoDifferent he was no different from his own evil, narcissistic father, Morning Star]].
** Belyolen, the "Good" half of the Bogolenya pantheon's leadership, also possesses divine purification, which helps counter Temnobog's magical curses.
** The Sword of Hylia, popularly known as the "Master Sword", was said to have been forged by the antediluvian Alicorn Queen, Hylia the Wise. It can purify corrupted areas just by sticking the blade into the ground, and cleave through hordes of demons like tissue paper, earning another epithet as the "Demon's Bane". It is owned by Gleaming Shield and his various mortal incarnations.
** Similarly, the Bow of Hylia can fire light arrows that purify and incapacitate even greater demons. It is currently owned by Radiant Primrose and her various mortal incarnations.
** Radiant Primrose herself also wields light magic that is capable of purifying corruption, as she is the mortal reincarnation of Hylia the Wise. She is noted to have the ability to temporarily imbue weapons so they can do the same thing.
** Golden Scepter, a surviving antediluvian Alicorn Emperor, has the power to use [[PlayingWithFire holy fire]], which allows him to purge corrupt influences from his targets. This is what allowed him to protect people from being used as [[DemonicPossession hosts]] for the Void Traveler, and also rescue those who fell under the thrall of Ispita the Deceiver and her various children/allies.
* HopelessWar: Many wars depicted in the series ultimately becomes this, with disastrous consequences even for the victors, which goes with the overall theme of the folly and futility of conflict. The worst part is that more often than not, the conflicting sides are often depicted such that they could both achieve so much had they worked together as allies instead of enemies.
** The aeons-long, generation-spanning Changeling-Dragon blood-feud is fast becoming this by the Fourth Age, with villains and forces unleashed as a result of the toxic enmity between the two implacably-opposed races threatening to wipe out ''both'' sides and take the whole world with them. It's noted to be so bloody, vicious, and long that when Thorax and Ember forgave the other's species and elders for their actions that spawned the conflict, it created a magical karmic backlash that birthed the Dragon/Changeling hybrid goddess, Princess Lampyridae/Firewing, who embodies Forgiveness and Spiritual Healing as concepts. Various benevolent individuals, such as Luminiferous, Thorax and Ember, and even more moderate Changelings and Dragons hope that Lampyridae/Firewing will finally end the blood-feud and bury the hatchet for good.
** 'Queen Colossos' War' - a conflict between the Crystal Empire and an empire of Giants, ultimately devolved into this, with the Crystal Empire nearly destroyed and even the empire of Giants coming out of it scarred and its rise stillborn.
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: A common theme in ''Codex Equus'' that great evils are often the result of mortal failings, [[NeverMyFault which then get blamed on some external cause to cover up said failings]].
** The Dracozillas caused much death and destruction in Neighpon ([[HeelFaceTurn though Dracozilla Jr. got better]]), but ultimately the Clovenists were responsible for their births when their Mana Bomb tests irrevocably mutated much of Equus's ocean life. The Clovenists had refused to take responsibility for both incidents and even denied approving the Mana Bomb tests in the first place.
** This heavily applies to Tulpas, since they are MadeOfMagic and birthed through the collective thoughts, emotions, and actions of mortals. Prominent examples include Father Deer, who was created by the Clovenists in an attempt to make a god completely loyal to their cause [[GoneHorriblyWrong except it backfired]]; and Tyrantlestia, who was born from the Equestrians' belief that the real Celestia is a tyrant, fueled by rumors and propaganda surrounding the Equestrian Princesses' supposed "inaction" during the Storm King Crisis.
** The enigmatic Medicine Seller is of this opinion. While dangerous and/or evil Tulpas need to be stopped for the good of Equus, they're ultimately created by the depraved and cruel acts of mortals. This is largely why he has low sympathy for anyone even as he protects them.
* HumongousMecha:
** Crazy Ant made one called 'Colossus' to act as Machina's guardian. When not protecting Machina, Colossus is used to stomp holes into the laboratories of those who participate in unethically cruel experiments, and that's the ''best'' punishment that can be done. Silver Screw, Crazy Ant's Vice-Engineer and DeadpanSnarker extraordinaire, also has the privilege to use Colossus and has occasionally done so in situations that got personal.
** Toxikon's final weapon, God Slayer, is this by normal size standards, though for an adult dragon it's closer to a MiniMecha. It was made Changeling-proof, but coordinated teamwork between Ember and Thorax allowed them to destroy it.
* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: A more serious example than most: Blackthorn notes that Dr. Toxikon revealed his plans to the Summer Court prematurely and thus knows they'll plan around his plans, and thus all he has to do is plan around ''their'' plans. He then notes he's probably planned for them planning around him planning around them planning around his plans. This is more serious as it shows how much of a battle of wits it is.
* ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty: Subverted with divines, as they simply age ''very'' differently than mortals do while still being immortal, and only growing StrongerWithAge.
** Twilight's current form is just starting an entirely different aging process, and Celestia and Luna, while not having physically aged in over a thousand years, are not yet remotely close to fully grown.
** The considerably older Luminiferous is a "Titan"-type Alicorn (well, Alicorn-offshoot, since he's a clone made by Morning Star with intentions to use his "son" as a weapon). As such, he's not only larger, but has a natural gradient to his wings they don't, and is incredibly ancient.
** Mzazi's (who's over ''4 million'' years old) true form is a giant by normal pony standards, has a mane composed entirely of lightning, and has ''eight wings'', which she explicitly states as just how Alicorns grow. Further evidence to Mzazi's claims is Luminiferous being about to start growing his second set of wings.
** Ascending Dawn is also another Titan-type Alicorn, but it's stated in his entry that he's far older than Luminiferous, having six wings while Luminiferous is about to gain four. This doesn't necessarily mean that he's more powerful, and Ascending Dawn admits that Luminiferous is more powerful than he is due to his innate potential.
** While younger than Mzazi, Golden Scepter, an antediluvian Alicorn Emperor from the ruined Alicorn Civilization, is still much older than both Luminiferous and Ascending Dawn, and currently the oldest divine member of the Church of the Stars. His true form is that of a six-winged Alicorn with a mane and tail being made of black spatial energy that shows off stars and yellow giants, and his wings [[HotWings have feathers made of holy fire]]. It's mentioned in his entry that an eighth pair of wings is on the way. His "default" form, however, is implied to resemble a rather normal two-winged Alicorn, which he presumably takes when around mortals.
* ImmortalRuler: There are plenty of these guys in the setting, due to Equus having dozens of divine pantheons that are not seen in canon. Most deities even have their own realm which they rule over.
** The Alicorns in general are this for the entirety of Ponykind, even its mutated subraces. The most prominent examples would be the Royal Princesses of Equestria, Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire, and Queen Dazzleglow of the Glimmering Isles.
** The Changeling Progenitors have ruled over Changelingkind for millennia since the founding of their race. The Progenitors' Royal Children also help in the ruling, though in their case they're SemiDivine due to one parent being mortal.
** King/High-Prince Thorax of the Autumn Court is an unusual example, since [[DeityOfHumanOrigin he's a newly-ascended Royal Changeling]]. Nevertheless, due to the unique circumstances of his rise in status, he has the same agelessness that is shared by his fellow Royals. He also is largely inexperienced in ruling due to his origins as a lowly drone of Chrysalis's hive, which has caused both Blackrose and Blackthorn to send him their children so they could advise him on how to rule.
** The Dragon Lords of the Dragonflights could also fit the bill, though their subjects are similarly long-lived and they have a term-limit.
** Subverted with the sibling rulers of Bitaniya, King Strazha and his younger sister, Queen Vesna. While they had respectively been blessed by Temnobog and Belyolen to be their divine champions, they are simply LongLived and thus can still die despite each possessing a much longer lifespan than the average mortal Deer. Belyolen states that both Strazha and Vesna can become immortal, as several similarly empowered individuals had done in the past, but the choice is really up to them.
* ImmuneToFate: Luminiferous, as a God of Self-Determination, has the ability to 'Reject Fate.' This amounts to being able to break prophecies and reject any inevitable fate he doesn't want to happen. It's also a major influence on his philosophy, that anyone, mortal and divine, has the power to ScrewDestiny and make their own fates in order to grow into their own potential.
* ImpossibleTheft: King Asbolus Lyonesse is known for this, often stealing weapons his brothers intended to use to kill him before they even knew he was aware of their presence.
* ImpossiblyCoolWeapon: Crazy Ant brought a 'gatling crossbow' to the Battle of Infernos, which is a gigantic steam-powered weapon with multiple full-sized crossbows on a rotating center axis. As if that wasn't enough to qualify, he made all the heads explosive to compensate for poor accuracy. Notably, it's this trope InUniverse, as said weapon was so oversized he needed a steam powered PoweredArmor just to use it... and not only was it a prototype that was deemed unfeasible to ever make more of, but every attempt to replicate it resulted in catastrophic failure. It is deduced the only reason Crazy Ant was able to use it effectively was because he's insane, which Crazy Ant himself agrees with.
* InHarmonyWithNature:
** Ironically enough, Indostruus, the God of ''Industry and Modernization'' is this. He originally was smug and self-righteous, but [[BreakTheHaughty seeing his concept abused and misused to destructive ends by groups like the Cloven Empire caused him to realize he was wrong.]] He now works in harmony with the nature-aligned deities to ensure progress happens, but in such a way to not cause havoc with nature.
** Befitting their name, Nature Giants are greatly attuned with nature, and even worship Gaea, a nature goddess, with their society being heavily matriarchal on the reason that WomenAreWiser due to Gaea's influence. While they're the most dedicated to protecting Equus's ecosystem, this trope also makes them [[HolierThanThou extremely haughty]], isolationist, xenophobic, and distrustful of "smallfolk", seeing themselves as the rightful caretakers of nature while the other mortal races are uncaring, selfish, and destructive.
* InnocentAliens: The 'Visitors' appear to be this, having no ill will towards Equus despite being a race of high tech aliens. They even saved the life of Spitfire's grandfather, Firestorm, during a sighting. One evidently ''did'' attack a Clovenist base, but is [[RoaringRampageOfRescue believed to have]] [[PapaWolf very good reasons for doing so]].
* IRejectYourReality:
** [=BrutalityInc=] has stated that this is the deal with [[FantasticRacism tribalist]] EvilReactionary factions such as the Scions of Hurricane, the Children of Platinum, the Guardians of Puddinghead, and so on. They will deny everything that contradicts their worldview, denying them as "Fake Information", and even [[NeverMyFault blame others for their own problems]]. [[BelievingTheirOwnLies Lying to themselves is also almost second nature to them]] and likely [[FatalFlaw contribute to]] [[EvilWillFail their undoing]].
** Grey Hoof genuinely believes that he's doing good by "protecting" ponies from Cutie Pox infection, which actually means he kills them just like he did Ruby Heart. However, he's so deeply insane that he constantly rejects Ruby's attempts to redeem him, still seeing her as an infected monster that needs to be killed. Ruby would later admit to her friends, Midnight Bell and Crystal Prism, that as much as she's dedicated to being a Confessor and helping redeem people, she eventually gave up on Grey Hoof after realizing that he wouldn't change.
* {{Irony}}:
** Despite the ancient, bloody feud between their species, it's suggested the Dragons and Changelings actually complement one another extremely well and would be better off allies instead of enemies. It seems [[TheParagon Luminiferous]] has specifically chosen Thorax and Ember to raise up as proof of this fact, empowering them twice to act on it. Notably, when lent his future potential, Thorax became a Changeling Divine, something even the power-hungry Summer Court had long wrote off as [[BeyondTheImpossible impossible for anyone to achieve, implying the feud really ''is'' just holding everyone back.
** Golden Scepter initially hated Luminiferous for looking exactly like his old enemy, Morning Star, an evil Alicorn who betrayed his people and ruined the Alicorn Civilization out of deep narcissism. However, after going through CharacterDevelopment and [[TookALevelInKindness becoming much kinder]] through his journeys across Equus, he would accept Luminiferous as the noble person he really is and become one of his close friends.
* ItIsBeyondSaving:
** If a Deer kingdom is falling into sin, the Bogolenya deities will send a warning, with Zmluva, Mier and Válka's youngest son, serving as the herald who offers a LastSecondChance for the kingdom to change its ways. If it doesn't, then the good citizens are evacuated before Temnobog marks the sinful kingdom with his "Black Sigil" and sets the Four Terrors upon it. What happens afterwards is considered so horrifying that the kingdom is nothing but a gigantic scorch mark that remains cursed for several generations, serving as a dire warning for those who fall into sin.
* ItsPersonal: Generally deconstructed, as ''Codex Equus'' shows how nightmarish, vicious, petty, and brutal a grudge can be to both sides of the grudge and those outside of it when taken to the worst possible extreme.
** The Changeling-Dragon Conflict shows the sheer nightmarish horror this sort of attitude/grudge would lead to when taken to literally racial/historical levels, with both races having wronged each other and refusing to let go of their grudges. This resulted in terrible consequences for both sides and the world as a whole, with both mortals and non-Changeling/Dragon divines calling out both sides for their extremely petty and shortsighted behavior, no matter how justified they were.
** During Changeling King Xestobium's rampage, he executed one of his air pirate renegade brother Polistes' friend and associate after interrogating him for information that would aid his genocide of Dragonkind. Needless to say, despite Polistes being one of the few brothers that Xestobium actually liked, Polistes swore revenge and become one of the central participants in the efforts to stop Xestobium. This also extended to Princess/Captain Mimetidae after he beat her in battle and destroyed the island she was trying to stop him from blowing up.
* TheJinx:
** Woe-Be-Gones can turn the victim in this, due to the pollen being able to spread to others.
** Tikuri, the Abyssinian God of Bad Luck, is a black cat capable of cursing those he crosses the path of with bad luck. However, he has a lot of control over it and reserves it for those who deserve it or a weakened version for pranks.
* JerkassGods: Naturally, some evil/corrupt deities exist, though it's {{Deconstructed}} in that RealityEnsues in the Codexverse, and they normally lose their worshipers to more benevolent gods because of their heinous actions.
** The Abyssinian Pantheon was lead by these who would treat their subjects spitefully and cruelly to the point of abandoning them to the Storm King for a petty reasons. They were overthrown by the benevolent members of the Pantheon for this.
** The Old Orosian Gods were based off the Greek Pantheon, so naturally, like their real-life mythological counterparts, the old Orosian gods acted like irresponsible, arrogant, and spoiled children who waged wars and severely punished their worshipers for minor infractions. As with the Abyssinian, this inevitably bit them in the butt and resulted in their demise, with the few benevolent members of the Pantheon surviving and rebuilding as the Pramanthan Pantheon.
** It's implied that for all their benevolence, wisdom, and power, and despite being the "greatest" children of the ancient god Equus, who is the [[MonsterProgenitor father]] of all Equines, the Alicorns still fell to stagnation and corruption, becoming arrogant, high-hoofed, and distant from their mortal subjects. This is what gave rise to Morning Star, who tried subjecting the planet Equus and its surrounding universe to his own twisted ideas of perfection. The result was ''ten Ages'' of civil war that wiped out most of the Alicorns and utterly destroyed the Alicorn Civilization, causing the survivors to retreat in complete seclusion to replenish their numbers.
** Golden Scepter was this for a time when he ruled the Imperium of Ponykind, due to coming out heavily traumatized by the "[[{{Gotterdammerung}} Twilight of the Alicorns]]" and losing so many of his people to Morning Star. However, after he reemerged in the Second Age and [[WalkingTheEarth wandered across Equus]], he gained much-needed CharacterDevelopment and became a much kinder stallion, allowing him to be a truly benevolent ruler by the Fourth Age unlike his Alicorn peers.
* JustEatHim:
** It is mentioned that eating your opponent is a common tactic in [[DivineConflict Divine Conflicts]], made possible and necessary thanks to the gods' divine powers and nature, just like in Myth/ClassicalMythology.
** One in-universe mythical example of above is Deer god of darkness and evil Temnobog's attempt to get rid of his father, High King Irminsul of the Eltenteil Deer Pantheon, swallowing him whole in the form of a dragon after depowering him. He also ate his divine nephew, Narren, who witnessed the act, to stop him from telling anyone of his deed, but that turned out to be what [[TheTrickster Narren]] [[EatMe intended]] all along.
** Also, the Giants' solutions to many problems involving "[[FantasticSlurs Tinies]]". While most do it out of arrogance and cruelty, some benevolent Giants only restrict their eating habits to evil people and realms that have fallen to corruption.

[[folder:K to N]]
* {{Kaiju}}: Many, including Dracozilla and Yamata no Orochi.
* KarmaHoudini:
** The Changeling Summer Court apparently got away Scot-free with many of the war crimes they committed during the Storm King Crisis, being on the side of the victorious international coalition and being too powerful to hold them accountable. What atrocities did they actually committed against the [[AssholeVictim Storm Empire]] during the Crisis remains to be seen, although so far King Macrodontia of the Summer Court is mentioned to have 'ravaged' their territories near Cervidia and Jotunnheim.
** Subverted with the Summer Court's attempted genocide on Dragonkind during the Time of Broken Scales ([[CycleOfRevenge in retaliation of the Burning of Amorea]]); 5,000 years later, Dr Toxikon nearly succeeded in returning the favour on all of Changelingkind in response, and even though he ultimately failed the Summer Court got pretty damaged as a result.
* KarmicDeath:
** Changeling King Lasius's foster noble family, as well as the local royalty and the aristocracy, were horrendously lazy and incompetent, and used their wealth to fund their lavish lifestyles rather than help their extremely impoverished subjects. Lasius got so fed up with their behavior that he murdered them all during a welcoming party he threw for Emperor Blackthorn, and used their palaces and statues (all the way down to the ''founder'') to pave and repair his foster kingdom's roads. His half-sister, Golden Bell, turned a blind eye while her family died because she too, was sick of their behaviors.
** The Propagare cultists Elske encountered were trying to stir up distrust and hatred so they could start a war between two Deer realms. After stomping on one part of their armies and sitting on another, Elske proceeded to slowly crush them to death with her hooves so they'll be an example of what happens when people give in to hatred.
** Golden Chalice was a Griffin warlord who tried to invade and conquer the peaceful kingdom of Sauropoda, [[UnderestimatingBadassery having severely underestimated what a society of large, sapient dinosaurs are truly capable of]]. He was instantly killed when Queen Immensa stomped on him ''once''.
** Much of the old Orosian pantheon behaved little more than irresponsible, arrogant, and spoiled children, causing unnecessary deaths with their petty squabbles and extreme intolerance to even minor infractions. They eventually died in an event of their own making, the "[[{{Gotterdammerung}} Twilight of the Orosians]]", with several people making a point to show that the gods had brought their deaths upon themselves. Likewise, no one cried when the new and more benevolent Orosian gods stepped up to take their place.
** The Alvslog royal family that raised King Brachion cast him out when it was discovered he was a dormant Royal Changeling, forcing him to survive in a forest where dangerous predators lived while he's ''still a child''. When he completed his Errance and became good at biological experimentation, he proceeded to return and [[PayEvilUntoEvil utterly destroy his foster family for abandoning him]], killing a good number of them and [[WhereIWasBornAndRazed razing their Alvslog forest kingdom]] to the ground to make way for his new Hive.
** One of the purified Changelings turned out to be a Chrysalis-loyalist who pretended to side with the ascended Thorax so he could undermine the latter's authority [[FrameUp by framing him for the deaths of several unpurified Changeling children]]. He was caught by hidden Summer Court agents and given to [[EvilutionaryBiologist Changeling King Brachion]], who would [[FateWorseThanDeath experiment on him]].
** Night Terror, a serial killer from the Deer realms who is the villainous {{Expy}} of [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]], was fatally burned alive by the grieving parents of the young fawns he killed. However, [[KarmaHoudini he managed to cheat his way out of hell]] by making a secret deal with Ispita, causing his soul to end up in the dream realm instead. Yarost was ''enraged'' when he discovered this, due to his hatred of oath-breakers and Ispita in general, and helped Princess Luna and Tenya find and confront Night Terror. When Night Terror was made powerless, defeated, and thrown to the real world by the two goddesses, [[OhCrap a furious Yarost was waiting for him, with no other way out of what awaited below]]. Temnobog himself lampshades how Night Terror was TooDumbToLive by thinking he could worm his way out of his rightfully-deserved punishment.
** Void Traveler, a Second-Age villain who tried to destroy Equus in the name of his "master" by putting it in a black hole, ends up completely obliterated by a few residents of the planet. As Princess Stitching Time and Queen Cosmosglow said, [[PreMortemOneLiner "Your time is up."]]
** Bolezn infected an entire Deer kingdom with a devastating plague for its blatant disregard for proper hygiene, and then infiltrated the castle of a royal Deer, Prince Prospero, who arrogantly assumed he can use said plague to KillThePoor. Under the guise of a noble who dressed up like a plague victim, Bolezn infected Prince Prospero as well as the various nobles and royalty who took shelter in his castle rather than help their subjects, leaving them to die a slow, agonizing death while their food and wealth were pillaged by Bolezn's subordinates/followers for their master to enjoy.
* KarmicJackpot:
** Hearth, as well as several benevolent members of the old Orosian pantheon, end up surviving the [[{{Gotterdammerung}} Twilight of the Orosian Gods]] because of their compassion, and the Tauren Peninsula became better for it.
** Button Mash's success over [[EldritchAbomination CreepEntity513]] was largely due to two things - his friendship with Crystal Prism, the young Alicorn demigod of Rebirth and Change, allowed Luminiferous to give him a trinket that would lend him his future potential even if Luminiferous himself isn't there to empower him, the antediluvian Alicorn having been tipped off by Crystal's troubling vision of Button Mash being pulled into another dimension. Button Mash's bravery and willingness to [[KirkSummation expose CreepEntity as a mere bully]] gave its numerous victims hope that they can be freed from their confinement and suffering, so they empowered Button Mash even after he was (temporarily) turned into an Alicorn. One of [=CreepEntity513=]'s victims was revealed to be Button Mash's idol, an Earth pony stallion named "King", who was also pulled into [=CreepEntity513=]'s video-game dimension yet lacked the courage to face him.
** Golden Bell, the pony half-sister of Changeling King Lasius, is one of his strongest allies and was extremely disgusted by her family's lazy incompetence, hedonism, and greed, with the only reason why she didn't kill them herself being that Lasius did it first. She ended up being the SoleSurvivor of her entire family, and trusted with a high position in the local government after Lasius inherited the throne.
** The Dragon/Changeling hybrid goddess of Foregiveness, Princess Lampyridae/Firewing, was born when Thorax and Ember stopped Dr. Toxikon and decided to utterly reject the racial Dragon-Changeling feud by forgiving each other's people and elders for their heinous actions. It was noted in her entry that the karmic backlash was so enormous that it spawned Lampyridae/Firewing in the form of an infant, making her Thorax and Ember's "biological" daughter since they work so well together.
** Prince Léon, the first male Equestrian Alicorn and the newest addition to its "pantheon", was born from the karmic backlash of Prince Blueblood's good deeds despite his {{Jerkass}} masks, and as such he embodies his "biological" father's innocence and compassion that he was forced to bury in order to deal with [[AristocratsAreEvil Canterlot's corrupt nobles]]. It's expected by both Celestia and Luminiferous that lots of good things will happen to Blueblood, too, if he continues raising Léon like a good father (which he currently is).
** Despite the horrific experiences she went through, Ruby Heart forgave her neighbors for killing her as well as her family for not protecting her (they were persuaded and threatened into standing by and watching). As a result, she was "promoted" by being turned into a psychopomp, becoming Grief's apprentice, got her family and a few of her remorseful neighbors to redeem themselves, and earned quite a few friends in both mortals and divines who are all willing to protect her from more hard-lined individuals like Poena.
* KarmicTransformation: This is Pakak's shtick, since he's a KarmicTrickster whose powers fluctuate depending on his target(s) morality and good/bad karma. However, he always makes sure to include a CurseEscapeClause to ensure their atonement.
** This is what happened to the Cutie Pox-phobic ponies of Sunnytown - after ritualistically killing an innocent filly named Ruby Heart for getting a Cutie Mark, an enraged Pakak (who had been attending the party as a pony) revealed himself and cursed everyone involved into becoming zombies to reflect their monstrous actions. In addition, they are forced to relive a magical simulation of the fateful day every year, and are unable to leave Sunnytown until they take responsibility and atone for their sins.
* KarmicTrickster: Pakak is the literal ''god'' of this trope, being the Draconequus Spirit of Mischief and Karma.
* KickTheSonOfABitch:
** Changeling King Brachion is infamous for conducting extremely horrific and unethical experiments on innocent people, save for a few occasions:
*** His foster family, a royal group of Alvslog Deer, cast him out and left him in the forests to die when he was discovered to be a dormant Changeling, ''while he was still a colt''. Years later, after finishing his Errance, he would return to unleash his revenge upon his family for their abandonment by corrupting the king into tyranny, killing off most of his family with his bio-engineered monsters, and turning the survivors into his test subjects.
*** After Summer Court agents spotted a purified Changeling in Thorax's hive that turned out to be a Chrysalis-loyalist, they secretly transferred him to Brachion's hive. Brachion proceeded to turn the Changeling traitor into his test subject to see what exactly caused Thorax's ascension into a Royal Changeling.
** Blood Fang, Gleaming Shield/Radiant Primrose's Eternal Foe who's known as "The Dark Conqueror", has been known to manipulate the heroes numerous times to forward his goals of conquering Hyrule. On the other hand, quite a few villains get manipulated by him, too.
*** He turned Malus Tenebris into his pawn by [[GodGuise appearing to him as a "god"]], and "blessed" Malus with great power so the evil usurper could conquer Hyrule and cover Equus in twilight... only for Blood Fang to betray him towards the end and leave him at the mercy of Gleaming Shield and his ally, then-usurped queen Onyx Flare, realizing that Malus's plans would have massive repercussions if they came to pass. This became Blood Fang's [[HoistByHisOwnPetard undoing]], though, as Malus snapped his own neck in spite and despair, killing Blood Fang as well due to having established a magical bond to "bless" Malus in the first place.
*** During the Storm King Crisis, he approached one of the Storm King's generals who conquered Hyrule so he could make a request about a possible alliance, which was presumably accepted. Later on, the general realized too late that Blood Fang secretly set him up, resulting in his armies being utterly massacred and him falling to the combined might of Gleaming Shield and Radiant Primrose. When asked why he helped Hyrule instead of trying to conquer it as usual, Blood Fang responded:
----> '''Blood Fang:''' Only a naive and mad fool such as the so-called 'Storm King' would try lay eyes on a territory that I called dibs on first.
* KillOnSight:
** The Dyvaos have such an order on them nigh-universally. This is for good reason: they're malfunctioning ancient bio-weapons that if allowed to reproduce and propagate can and almost ''have'' destroyed life on Equus. They're [[PrecursorKillers the reason their creators aren't around anymore]] and Gamarea and the Guardian Beasts of Neighpon were literally created to stop them from doing it to anyone else.
** Ispita has a similar order; having betrayed her own principles as a constructively Evil goddess to follow "diabolical" Evil, Temnobog fell out of love for her and not only punished two of his children who sided with her by eating them alive, he also ordered his surviving children to hunt down and kill her should she be spotted in the various Deer realms.
* KingInTheMountain: Queen Dazzleglow, the ruler of the lost kingdom of Kerajaan Cahaya, sealed herself away to awaken and prevent the destruction of her world from repeating itself. Daring Do awakens her, but it's more complicated than that: she's not returning to stop one specific disaster, but break the ViciousCycle of civilizations rising, then being completely destroyed that has repeated throughout Equus's history. Due to her having never been removed from power, she is also still the ruler of Kerajaan Cahaya, and begins rebuilding her kingdom with Sparkle Ponies flocking to her as their new Goddess.
* LargeHam:
** Entasi rivals Discord in terms of sheer ham, in part due to being a ''minotaur'' god.
** Crazy Ant fully embraces his status as a MadScientist, including the hammy parts of it. When using his [[ImpossiblyCoolWeapon gattling crossbow]] at the Battle of Infernos, he apparently never stopped laughing manically until it ran out of ammo, setting the in-universe world record for longest continual maniacal laugh.
** Prince Vultus IV is called "The Loud" because of his extreme hamminess. His voice is so loud that it triggers avalanches, and he even weaponized it by stunning people with his shouts.
* LaserGuidedKarma:
** Pakak has this as an explicit ''power''. He can convert a person's good or evil karma into spells, either giving them a great blessing or a terrible curse. Apparently he tore out one of Discord's fangs using his own evil during their fight when he was sealed. And after he learned that some Cutie Mark-phobic ponies from [[VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks Sunnytown]] murdered a young filly for getting a Cutie Mark, he cursed everyone to live as zombies until they took responsibility and atoned for their crimes. He was noted to have felt not a shred of remorse for doing it.
** Choice warned the Changelings and Dragons that their actions against Queen Acherontia and Dragon Lord Vulcan out of FantasticRacism and paranoia would inevitably have consequences and come back to bite them. Cue the two's hybrid daughter returning a millennia later, royally ticked off and on the warpath against them for what was done to her family. Notably, even Mothryu pointed out this was something they brought on themselves to the point she refused to do more than evacuate the innocent civilians from her warpath.
*** Empress Blackrose received this for mistreating her daughter out of disgust towards her relationship with a dragon as well as her hybrid daughter - many of her children called her out on her actions, with Princess/Captain Mimetidae outright ''punching'' Blackrose in the jaw before she cut off contact with her family for a few centuries. Queen Pentatomidae avoided the Spring Court for longer at a whopping ''500 years''. Puck also pointed out that Choice told them what the consequences of their racism would be, yet they didn't heed the deity's warning, capping off with [[IWarnedYou "I told you so."]]
** The Clovenist Empire had committed a few share of atrocities - when their Mana Bomb ocean tests resulted in the birth of a few {{Kaiju}}, they refused to take responsibility for it. And when they attempted to experiment on the Sparkle Ponies, some of them ended up killed by an enraged Visitor. As a result, most countries dislike or hate the Clovenists with a passion, with the Neighponese wind god Kazekami calling them "honourless cowards".
** A major reason why the Elternteil pantheon splintered was because they shunned and emotionally abused Temnobog for being born "evil", even though he personally didn't do anything evil to them at the time. This disgusted Belyolen so much that he rebelled against his family and left, hoping to give the love and respect he believed his brother deserved. It's noted that the Alicorn Primeval of Self-Love, Amour-De-Soi, helped Belyolen act on his decision out of similar feelings of disgust.
** Two disgraced teachers and criminals, Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker, tried to mass-produce Alicorns for the greater good of Equus by kidnapping and experimenting on young foals, including the unicorn colt Page Wheel, who was their latest test subject. Page Wheel ended up turning into a monstrous MagicEater which not only caused a lot of damage when he rampaged through the Grittish Isles, but it also exposed Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker's crimes, causing them to be arrested and imprisoned.
** High King Irminsul ended up becoming a BadlyBatteredBabysitter when he had to look after [[BrattyHalfPint Scrappus]] for a while, only for Scrappus to be so bratty that he drove Irminsul's wife Arvan to tears, and caused Irminsul to swallow Scrappus whole for a time-out. While this caused Scrappus to have a JerkassRealization and change his ways, it was also karma for Irminsul, [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter who emotionally abused Temnobog for being evil even though he never did anything evil at the time]], only to end up with a ''real'' brat later on.
* LastStand: Audens Manes has this as an explicit ''power'': as the Goddess of the Valiant Deaths, she can empower a dying mortal with enough life to perform one last heroic act before dying. The power is even called "Last Stand".
* LastVillainStand: King Xestobium, with his hive defeated, endgame ruined, himself having been battered and bloodied in the final battle, and now confronted by ''both'' Changeling Gods, ultimately picks up a sword and charges them, despite knowing it will be the end of him and he can't win.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: And the cast is only getting bigger and bigger with every entry. Justified; ''Codex Equus'' is mainly about [[WorldBuilding coming up for lore about Equestria and the world at large]], which inevitably involves introducing lots of characters to make things that happened in the canon show seem more plausible.
* MadeOfMagic: Many such entities are mentioned. They are described as magical Boltzmann Brains, beginning their existence as formless entities created from random fluctuations of the magic field of the world, achieving order and complexity by sheer chance, followed by sapience and intelligence.
** Elementals are magical entities spawned from natural events and processes, and are the most common magical entities in-universe due to natural processes being generally more energetic and frequent in occurrence.
** Ethereals are magical entities spawned from magical patterns imprinted/reflecting the thoughts, feelings and emotions of mortal races. These ranges from tulpas and ghosts, to angels and daemons.
** All the deities in the setting are essentially PureMagicBeing of divine proportions, and many start out as Elemental and Ethereal entities. The big difference is their magic is magic as a fundamental force of nature, undiluted and capable of effecting reality on a completely different level than mortals can.
** It is strongly implied that the incorporeal souls of sapients in the universe are made of magic as well.
** Tulpas are also made of magic, being created as living embodiments of the desires, emotions, beliefs, and thoughts of mortals. Their nature depends on what created them, but generally benevolent Tulpas exist, with the strongest of them being created by ThePowerOfLove like Queen Fantasia. Evil Tulpas ''do'' exist, however, and people like the enigmatic Medicine Seller work as Tulpa hunters to hunt them down.
* MadScientist:
** King Metrinii Lyonesse is this, building all kinds of chemical weapons and devices. His finest creation, the Despoiler Toxin, is a notable example of his horrific work.
** His brother, King Brachion Lyonesse, is this as well, specializes in creating all kinds of biological weapons, from abominable monsters to [[SyntheticPlague horrific pathogens]].
** Crazy Ant is a benevolent example. He outright admits he's a mad scientist, but is generally a good person who just wants freedom to build whatever he wants to without it being used for evil. That being said, he does not like anyone who starts veering into the bad side of this trope ForScience, with the worst offenders being permanently exiled and other countries being shown a magical list of the offenders' crimes, effectively blacklisting them.
** Dr. Toxikon wasn't this trope originally, but after snapping he becomes one.
* ManEatingPlant: One is mentioned in the Exotic Wildlife section: The Dangler Tree, which lures its prey into its vicinity with a scent that stimulates hunger, catches them with long, 'dangling' stalk-like carpels which secretes a strong adhesive compound and drags them into its flower-like feeding pods, within which they are digested. While extremely dangerous, they are still cultivated by the likes of Zebras and Changelings for both defense against intruders and harvesting various chemicals they produce for both medicinal and industrial applications.
** The infamous Ya-Te-Veo is also mentioned in the entry as a distant relative of the Dangler Tree, found in Zebrica.
* ManipulativeBastard:
** Emperor Blackthorn of the Changeling Summer Court is described as a consummate deceiver and masterful schemer, who had manipulated entire civilizations and even pantheons of gods for his own inscrutable agendas. His Changeling King sons are more or less chips off the old block themselves, with various places on the morality scale.
** The entries also strongly imply the Changelings as a whole has this as their hat, for [[BenevolentConspiracy good]] (In the case of the Seelie Courts) or ill (In the case of the Unseelie Courts).
** Propagare, being the God of Propaganda, is naturally this as part of his portfolio and very successful at it.
* TheMasquerade: The Changelings kept one for eons, but Chrysalis's mad quest for power and subjugation of all non-Changelings, and Thorax's ascension caused it to be broken. Thorax in particular is most notable since he has the potential to break their species-wide curse.
* {{Matriarchy}}: Zigzagged. While benevolent queendoms tend to be very common, with the rulers being benevolent deities or demigods, this does not automatically mean they are "better" than the patriarchies and mixed-gendered societies that co-exist with them.
** The Spring Court Changelings are ruled by Empress Blackrose and her daughters, with the large majority of the latter being Queens. They are famous for being benevolent rulers, being the positive counterparts of the patriarchal Summer Court... however, they are also flawed, with some of them displaying haughty, patronizing attitudes (especially towards Autumn Changelings, who they tend to treat as ungrateful children). Most of them are also racist towards Dragonkind, being willing to shun and mistreat two of their sisters for having draconic traits. Even Blackrose herself messed up in huge ways that got even ''deities'' calling her out for her wrongdoings.
** Like in canon, Equestria is ruled by the Royal Sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, with Twilight being added after her Ascension. They veer heavily into the Enlightened type, with the entire country being a SugarBowl, and stallions are just as important as mares in social and political standing.
** Kerajaan Cahaya and, by extension, the Glimmering Isles are ruled by Queen Dazzleglow, who is also aided by her sister, Princess Brightglow. Queen Dazzleglow is also the head of the Church of the Stars and its related pantheon, though she credits her father for having come up with the idea. However, the Church's priests and clerics, both male and female, also have a high standing in the kingdom, with Star Echo, the Head Priest/Cleric, having equal political power as Dazzleglow herself and is even magically linked to her.
** Hyrule is famously ruled by Radiant Primrose, who is a Queen in some lifetimes. However, it's subverted since her predecessor is a King, her father; in lifetimes where she's a Princess, the kingdom is ruled by her father until she is of age. How well her father rules varies with each legend.
** While Neighpon has been ruled by a male shogun in the past, he fell into insanity and corruption, influenced by one of his court mares and leader of the Hydianites, Matron Dākusutā. Currently, Neighpon is ruled by Empress Nadeshiko, who consistently proves herself to be a ReasonableAuthorityFigure.
** The Nature Giants are ruled entirely by mares, with the eldest of them called "Garránbhean". This is because Nature Giants worship Gaea as their deity, which caused them to believe that WomenAreWiser, and thus the mares of their species serve as religious and political leaders in each Grove community. At the head is a Nature Giant Queen who is revered as Gaea's prophetess. Stallions can have political power, but only if there's no legitimate female candidates. However, Nature Giants are distrustful and dismissive of "Tinies", assuming them to be foolish, uncaring pawns of Grogar, who once nearly destroyed Equus's ecosystem for his empire. Anyone who believes otherwise are either suppressed or exiled permanently from the Groves.
* MedievalStasis: Implied heavily with the 'Desolation Cycle' Theory. The reason why the tech level of pretty much every sapient race in Equus has never advanced past TheNewTens over 45,000 years of Known History (For comparison, the Sumerians who were credited as the first human civilisation were only 5000 years old.) is due to Dragons constantly razing any advanced civilisations to the ground for their riches. How it works is that the more a civilization advances in terms of sophistication, advancement and enlightenment - and with it, wealth and prosperity - the probability of it attracting the attention of greater numbers of Dragons seeking to plunder it increases exponentially, which in turns increases the level and intensity of Dragon activity and level of association, until it reaches a tipping point where it all becomes certain apocalyptic hordes of Dragons will descend upon it and annihilate it and all other civilizations of the era in rapine and plunder, forcing everyone to start from scratch. The theory is already strongly hinted to be completely accurate InUniverse, as during the brief retreat of Dragonkind from the world by the start of the Second Age allowed Equus to progress to the Information Age and beyond, and the 'Time of Broken Scales' attempted genocide by the Summer Court Changelings is coincided with Fourth Age Equus moving into the Industrial Age, giving both enough time to progress pass the point beyond the capability of singular or multiple Dragons to destroy them. This implies that throughout history, Dragons are responsible for long periods of stagnant and cyclic civilizations that never moved past the Medieval Era due to their greed. This may also be why Dragon Lord Ember and others like her, and the Free Dragons like Mina's folk, may be the best hope for Dragonkind in the Fourth Age as they have the ideals to avert this trope in the future for the sake of everyone.
* AMillionIsAStatistic: Subverted ''hard'' with the Changeling-Dragon Conflict. Despite the sheer scale of the blood feud, involving almost the entirety of the two races/civilizations, many individuals of Changeling and Dragonkind suffered terribly throughout the aeons-long, generations-spanning grudge, demonstrating the horror and costs of the CycleOfRevenge on a personal level. Some of these individuals - Xestobium, Apterus and Toxikon among the most prominent - would end up becoming tragic villains and monsters who would wreck terrible vengeance upon both races, becoming embodiments of the conflict's ultimate and most likely consequence.
* MonsterProgenitor: Empress Blackrose and Emperor Blackthorn are this for the Changeling species, the former spawning all the Changeling Queens and the latter spawning all the Changeling Kings (Thorax being the one exception). Thorax actually ascended into this, since he "created" a new breed of purified Changelings by inspiring his hive-mates to follow his example, though he's very young by divine standards and hasn't yet got to the progenitor part yet.
* MoralityGuidedAttack:
** Pakak, being Spirit of Karma, can convert people's good karma into blessings or bad karma into curses. The more of it they have, the more powerful a spell he can perform.
*** Despite Discord being far stronger than him, he managed to rip out one of his fangs with Discord's own evil in the fight that saw Pakak get sealed away.
*** He used the Sunnytowners' sin of murdering an innocent filly to fuel a curse that transformed everyone involved in the crime to become zombies for eternity, forced to repeat the day of their cursing every year until they break their cycle of fear, and accept Ruby Heart and her Cutie Mark. Those who don't repent are stuck that way until the potential end of Known History and Time.
** Malus Manes, being the God of Death representing the deaths of the wicked, has the ability to turn the evil of souls he's claiming against them, either by increasing in strength, or creating chains forged from their own evil that weight them down proportionally to how much they have performed.
* MultipleChoicePast:
** Crazy Ant has done this, rightfully knowing that not informing the Spring and Summer Court of his origins is in his best interests. Taken UpToEleven with the fact he made his autobiography a ''ChooseYourOwnAdventure story''. And even then, no one is sure if ''any'' past it details is his real one.
** Cosmos, the Serpent of Obsession, has once notably announced that if she did have a past, she would rather have it "multiple choice".
* TheMusicMeister: The Great Song Bird are a ''species'' of this. Their song compels anyone who hears it into spontaneously bursting into song when they try to talk, and are rather mischievous. The only way to get one to leave is to beat it in a singing duel.
* MustMakeAmends:
** Elske Titanna, the Jotunn goddess of Love, loves eating sinful realms and kingdoms, but [[WouldntHurtAChild she always makes sure to evacuate the children first]]. She knows that the children had homes and families in the places she devoured, so she makes up for it by adopting them and letting the kids grow up in her divine realm, where they are immune to all harm.
** Part of the reason why Luminiferous took in the newly-ascended Crystal Prism as his student is because, back when Crystal Prism was a unicorn colt named "Page Wheel", both Luminiferous and the Equestrian Princesses worked together to destroy a magic-absorbing monster that was rampaging in the Grittish Isles. None of them knew that the monster was a transformed Page Wheel until after they killed it, and they deeply regretted not looking for a way to restore Page Wheel back to normal.
* {{Mutants}}: Genetic mutations even get their own entry, with it being noted throwing magic into things makes things a lot more complex.
** Dreadmares are rare mutated Boogeymares. Dread was a mutant Dreadmare, dubbed a Dreadmare Emperor, with pony-level intelligence and much stronger than normal.
** In Changeling cultures, mutants are referred to as [[CallARabbitASmeerp 'Deviants']], and is often looked on with fear and rejection by the rest of their kind due to how unstable the Changeling genetic structure is. Chrysalis in particular hated them due to her racial supremacist views and had decreed their extermination during her reign. Thorax was one due to his ability to shapeshift into inanimate objects, something he hid from the rest of his hive until his and his hive's Purification. His hive ended up gaining it as well, and his brother Pharynx is also a mutant with his natural combat form.
** As it turns out, Rainbow Dash is one. She's a Rainbow Pony, a mutant with a genetic mutation that lets her metabolize light into energy and mana, which are know for their super speed. However, even by their standards she's extremely fast, [[AchievementsInIgnorance though she is unaware of everything the mutation would allow her to do]]. Luminiferous is interested in bringing out her potential so she could perform the legendary "[[FasterThanLightTravel Rainbow Warp]]".
** Applejack, Fluttershy, and Zecora are also mutants, though of a much less phenomenal degree than Rainbow. They possess the very common "Happy Tail" gene, and thus have {{Prehensile Tail}}s. Happy Tail mutations are also very common in Equus.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In Crystal Prism's backstory, both Luminiferous and the Equestrian Princesses reacted in horror when they killed a dangerous magic-eating monster that was rampaging through the Grittish Isles, only to discover too late that they killed a transformed foal when they found the body of a unicorn colt, Page Wheel. Fortunately, Page Wheel survived when his magic revived and Ascended him by incubating him in a magical cocoon, but the damage was done. Part of the reason why Luminiferous took Crystal Prism in as his student is to [[MustMakeAmends make up for his mistake]].
* NeverMyFault:
** The Kraken and Dracozilla incidents were caused by the Clovenists' Mana Bomb tests. While it seemed like they genuinely didn't anticipate the consequences of such actions, the Clovenists grumbled how Equestria is eager to make them their scapegoat for everything once evidence of the kaiju attacks were traced back to their Mana Bombs, very much displaying this attitude.
---> '''Shchi Kasha:''' Let me guess: This is somehow OUR fault, again. I suppose it’s only natural that the foreign bourgeois would scapegoat us for all their problems. At this rate, I won’t be surprised if we’ll end up being blamed for milk getting spoiled...
** The unicorn trio, Decepticolt, Zappityhoof, and Goldencap has this trope as one of their main flaws, aside from [[BrilliantButLazy laziness]] and LackOfEmpathy. They refuse to believe that their expulsion from Celestia's school was their own fault, or acknowledge their selfish laziness and improve themselves by actually working to become Alicorns. They also blame other Alicorns and accuse them as being entitled pricks who keep the secrets of Ascension to themselves so they could enjoy the power and freedom that comes with being an Alicorn, instead of teaching Ascension to more "worthy" individuals such as themselves, never realizing that it's their selfish laziness and lack of empathy that's keeping them from being Alicorns. This understandably ''enraged'' both Twilight Sparkle and Crystal Prism when faced with such accusations, while Luminiferous gave them a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.
** This trope is what separates Tyrantlestia, a "False Deity"-type Tulpa, and her real, good counterpart, Celestia. Tyrantlestia sees herself as above responsibility, and either tries to justify her horrible actions or pin the blame on someone else, while Celestia seeks to make amends any mistake she has made during her long lifetime. This is what partially causes her epic VillainousBreakdown when Celestia calls her out for being a "one-dimensional bully" who constantly plays the victim. Crystal Prism also notes (based on personal experience and what Mentálne told him) that if someone makes a mistake and they don't feel sorry about it, there must be something wrong with them, which there was.
* NonIronicClown: Arlequin, the Goddess of Pranks, Enthusiasm, Optimism with a clown motif, right down to having a clown nose as a biological part of her face. She's a lighthearted prankster and clown who genuinely uses her divine power to make people happy and is a muse of clowns and bards.
* NuclearNasty: Both Dracozillas and the second Roedan are mutants created by the [[FantasticNuke Cloven Mana Bomb tests and waste dumps]]. Significantly, the Clovenists [[NeverMyFault refuse to take responsibility for these incidents]], instead blaming the Equestrians and other detractors for turning their nation into their scapegoat.
* NighInvulnerable: Temper Trolls are nigh unkillable by conventional means, as their HealingFactor is powered by the very emotions felt when trying to kill them. Taken UpToEleven with Maul, who was so pumped up from the conflict around him even when not being fought with those emotions he healed faster than Mistmane and Flash Magnus could harm him. The only way they could kill him was tricking him into sending himself falling off a cliff. The only thing capable of flat out killing a Temper Troll in combat [[TakesOneToKillOne is another Temper Troll.]]
* NoBiochemicalBarriers: {{Subverted}}, the fact the Sparkle Ponies may be hybrids of the Visitors and Equestrian ponies is noted as causing much scientific upheaval if true, as it'd mean there would have to be some kind of connection between the two species for it to be biologically possible.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Colton Marentino, the brutish movie director who abused famed actress Helga Greywing and essentially kept her prisoner in her own trailer, is a nastier version of Creator/QuentinTarantino who eventually gets his comeuppance when Polistes "kidnaps" Helga and Helga eventually "escapes" to expose his crimes.
* NoSell: Choice ''cannot'' be bound, captured, or enslaved and any attempt to do so will fail, even by beings as powerful as Discord, due to being the God of Free Will. The only exception is if it ''desires'' to be captured and can escape at any time.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:O to R]]
* OddJobGods:
** Cultura is the Draconequi Goddess of Popular Culture. While certainly a weird thing to be based on, [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower it has some impressive powers]], such as being able to copy the powers of fictional characters, summon puppets of them to do her bidding, and trap her enemies in fictional scenarios. She also possesses encyclopedic knowledge of popular culture, all of it, which makes her a pretty skilled manipulator.
** Vehere is the Griffon Goddess of Modern Transportation and Travel. As with Cultura, this is more impressive than it sounds. She's incapable of getting lost (unless he wants to), has encyclopedic knowledge of vehicles, has a photographic memory, and can recreate any vehicle she's cataloged in her scrapbook from thin air, as well as create the means for them to travel wherever she likes. This includes things like tanks. She also can teleport, but she prefers to take the long route.
** Downplayed with Entasi, who is the Minotaur God of Strength and Victory on top of being the God of Sports. He gets unlimited stamina and incredible agility out of that part of his portfolio.
** Munditia is the goddess of Hygiene and Sanitation, who has the power to clean literally anything, including the body of toxins and poisons, pollution, and even the soul.
* OmnicidalManiac:
** Ahuizotl is one, being a nihilist who feels destruction is the only thing that gives life meaning. This is a huge reason why he wants to perpetuate the Cycle and attempted to kill Queen Dazzleglow, until Daring Do stopped him.
** King Xestobium is genocidally insane to the point of trying to detonate the entire 'Ring of Fire' in his attempt to kill off the Dragon species as well as the Summer Court, which would also trigger a mass extinction event via volcanic ice age, which he may have known about but no longer cared. There's implication that he had no intent to survive this himself, making him [[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery far more sympathetic]] than Ahuizotl, who kills because he sees death as a natural part of "The Cycle", and that [[ForTheEvulz it amuses him]].
* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: Dr. Toxikon is one, with his plan thus far involving an in depth knowledge of psychology, biotechnology, and chemistry, and also has invented machines for construction. Justified, as he's a Dragon and thus had 5,000 years to learn and pursue degrees.
* OneGenderRace: Subverted with the Alicorns; it's popularly believed that due to the abundance of female Alicorns, Alicorns in general are primarily female, and as a consequence, it is also believed that fillies and mares are more "worthy" and "capable" of Ascending, with proof lying in the fact that powerful mares like Princess Twilight Sparkle have often been chosen to Ascend. However, there do exist male Alicorns in the Codexverse, albeit at a far lower number, and when the infant Alicorn Godling, Prince Léon Blueblood, was officially introduced to the public by Celestia, some saw Léon as a threat to Equestria's existing social hierarchy simply because to his gender. Luminiferous would firmly and soundly disprove this notion, stating that he has mentored both mares and stallions alike, and not all of them Ascended. The Equestrian Princesses agreed with him, adding that anyone becoming an Alicorn is a cause for celebration. It is also speculated by [=BrutalityInc=] that even before its fall, the Alicorn civilization did have males, but at a very low number as did their mortal counterparts.
* OneManArmy: 'Visitors' have attacked both a Cloven base and Hive Brachion to [[RoaringRampageOfRescue save a Sparkle Ponies]] that were [[PapaWolf believed to be their offspring]]. Both did so alone and were effectively unstoppable. This is justified, as Visitors are implied to be aliens with power and technology that exceeds those of Equus.
* OneWingedAngel:
** Dreadmares possess the ability to do this if they gather enough fear, [[FusionDance fusing with their Terror]] to become a living storm shaped like a serpent. The first example of this was the mutant Dread.
** Zinabi, the previous TopGod of the Abyssinian Pantheon, does this after his opponent Jegina, the Abyssinian God of Courage and Heroism, managed to knock him off his feet and wound him in their duel for the throne of their pantheon. Zinabi sheds his AFormYouAreComfortableWith for his pure divine form, a titanic, Abyssinian-shaped storm singularity of cataclysmic power. Jegina follows suit shortly there after (after luring the battle to an area were mortals wouldn't be harmed), becoming a being of pure golden, heroic energy.
** Bolezn, Temnobog's second-youngest son and the embodiment of Gluttony, Greed, and Pestilence, has the ability to turn into a gigantic version of himself that's made of both fleshly and gem-plated insects/vermin. In this form, his powers are increased tenfold, and he's extremely hard to hit since parts of him can fly away to avoid attacks. Once he's done, however, he takes a while to rest and recover. Bolezn thinks that "One-Winged Angel" isn't an accurate way to describe his form, though, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint because if he really did go one-winged, he wouldn't be able to fly at all]].
** Yarost's ultimate form is an enormous, hulking, bloodthirsty dragon-like monster with black and red scales; rows of teeth literally made of sharp swords; long, spiraling horns; a spiky clubbed tail; two pairs of wings; and spikes made of flames. In this form, Yarost's physical strength and endurance are both enhanced tenfold, and his proficiency with fire magic increases, making him an absolutely devastating powerhouse that could potentially bathe Equus in blood and fire if he chooses to. However, he sees it more as a ClippedWingAngel form since it makes him more prone to rage and is ''incredibly'' destructive, and using that much power would only repeat the death and destruction he had previously caused in his grief, and only saves it for absolutely dire situations.
---> '''Yarost:''' I would rather fight my enemies in my weakest form first, than go all out and devastate the Deer realms with just a few strikes.
* OnlyTheChosenMayWield: A common enchantment for magical artifacts of enormous power.
** The Elements of Harmony, as in canon, are this, as are the Lights of the Seven Royals of Friendship Gardens. These are implied to be very similar powers.
** The Enchanted Throne of Friendship Gardens contains the Majestic Power, the magical power of [[WorldsStrongestMan the strongest mortal pony to ever live]] (heavily implied to be Queen Majesty), but will only give it (and thus the throne of Friendship Gardens) to one worthy. It's given it to heroes throughout history in times of great need, most recently Fluttershy, but most return it due to having no interest in ruling. Only Queen Sunsparkle has ever claimed it for any length of time, though she gave it up for a worthy successor to use so she could help those pony colonists who got stranded in space.
* OppositesAttract: Taken UpToEleven with Válka and his wife Mier, who are a WarGod and Goddess of ''Peace'' respectively. Mier balancing out Válka is one reason why he's the only one of his three siblings to ''not'' fall to evil. They're also SickeningSweethearts and deeply in love with each other.
* OrderVsChaos: Many conflicts between beings, factions and powers carries vibes of this.
** On top of it being [[ForTheEvulz amusing]], Discord's destruction of '[[{{Precursors}} The Ones Before]]' in Amorea and many other civilizations is described as especially beneficial to the Draconequus as they are bastions of order and stability whose existence is quite anathema to a Spirit of Chaos.
** The 500-years long "War Against Chaos" around 2,500 years before the present day of Equestria is essentially one, where a 'Celestial Alliance' of deities, immortals and races fought to contain the then-villainous Discord, his accomplices and their 'Disorder Lords' who had taken over the Equestrian subcontinent and wanted to takeover/remake the rest of the world. No guesses for who stands for Order and Chaos in this fight.
** The Progenitors of Changelingkind, personal animosity to Discord aside, are more or less foils to Discord in similar ways, both being the parents, originators and overarching rulers of [WIP]
* OriginsEpisode: The Storm King Crisis features one for the title villain.
* {{Orochi}}: A major villain in Neighpon's history, and his return is a major focus of many stories set there.
* OurGiantsAreBigger: Prominently mentioned, with the Codex going into extensive detail in explaining their various behaviors and cultures, revealing they have considerable HiddenDepths than most small races assume they have other than just being violent, over-sized brutes.
** Cyclops in the Codexverse are complete opposites of what they are depicted both in-universe and in real-life, being a highly civilized race of artisans, scholars and BadassPacifist individuals who prefer not to use violence to solve problems unlike most other Giants. They're very disappointed that the actions of their exiles had tainted outsiders' perception of them to be nothing more than pony-eating savages.
** Nature Giants, among some of the biggest Giants on Equus, are a race of druids attuned to nature ruled over by a theocratic matriarchal monarchy. They use to be more friendly to Tinies, but a terrible experience with Grogar and Tambelon's desecration of their domains in the First Age irrevocably ruined their relationship with Tinies outsiders and promptly lead to their continued isolationism to this day.
** The Grand Griffons are a demigod race of giant Griffons who are directly or indirectly descended from the gods of Griffonkind, specifically Boreas and Astra of the Northern Griffon Pantheon. Honorable and noble, they go out of their way to protect innocent Tinies and serve as allies, guides and teachers of many great heroes of the Tauren Peninsula where they are primarily based, next to Griffonnia.
** Queen Colossos' Empire is a Giant civilization of nomadic warriors who conquered much of the continent of Terra Equus at its height which eventually went to war against the Crystal Empire after a disastrous FirstContact.
** The Gigantes of the Taurus Peninsula Giant Lands are mentioned as one of the most prominent on Equus, with a warrior culture based around honour. Their chief deity is Terraton, the god of earth, battle and honour.
** The Giants of Light are this among the [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens 'Visitors']], with a culture which sees it a duty for them to battle evil monsters and threats and be benevolent defenders of Tinies and other races.
* TheParagon:
** Jegina, the Abyssinian God of Heroism and Courage, is this, seeking to be an ideal hero and inspiration for his kind. He's compared to a comic book superhero, even more so after becoming his Pantheon's TopGod.
** Luminiferous, despite being created to be the AntiChrist, ultimately chose to be this: he's God of Perfection, and unlike his father sees this as a call to be an ideal for others to be inspired by and strive to be rather than to lord over everything that's not him. He's regarded by others to be his father, as he should have been.
** The Deer god Belyolen was intended by his father, High King Irminsul, to become a divine force of good and benevolence. To that end, he attempted to cast a ritual on his then-unborn son to get rid of all his flaws and darker urges, so only compassion would be left. [[GoneHorriblyWrong Unfortunately]], this resulted in the birth of Belyolen's younger twin, Temnobog, the living embodiment of everything Irminsul tried to destroy. While he was favored and respected by his family and fellow gods, Belyolen did not agree with Temnobog's emotional mistreatment, and after he overheard his family considering the option of [[OffingTheOffspring killing Temnobog altogether]], he rebelled by shaming his family for their arrogance and abusive hypocrisy, and left with several of his brothers and sisters to form the Bogolenya pantheon. This in turn makes him a ''true'' paragon, unlike his petty and hypocritical family and peers.
** Gleaming Shield and his various mortal incarnations are often lionized in-universe as this, being the Eternal Hero who will always rise up to rescue his Princess/Queen, Radiant Primrose, and defeat his Eternal Foe, Blood Fang. However, while he is a noble hero, the truth is that he's a flawed individual who had to work to become the celebrated paragon he is today, something that is accepted by the morally tolerant Erobreseg Deer herds. Others try to make him "perfect" by editing out his flaws altogether from their stories of him.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Many deities, especially those with Karma as their domains, tend to dish this out to punish evildoers.
** Temnobog and his children, the Four Terrors, are very big on this, due to their views on the [[GoodNeedsEvil nature]] of [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil evil]]. Even before his reconciliation with his brother, Temnobog would curse those who he thought deserved it, bringing opposition from his good-hearted twin brother, Belyolen.
** Pakak, being a trickster god who embodies Karma, can be pretty brutal when he's punishing the wicked for their crimes, but never more than is deserved by their evil deeds. Just ask [[VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks Sunnytown.]]
** Being the in-universe embodiment of the CatharsisFactor, Katharsis likes to deliver humiliating LaserGuidedKarma to those who angered her. This does not mean she's a goddess of revenge, as she humiliates villains and other evildoers as a way to bring closure to situations and make them look pathetic in front of their victims.
** Changeling King Brachion of the Summer Court utterly destroyed an Alvslog Deer kingdom with an army of Changeling soldiers and biologically-engineered monsters on it, all to pay the royal family back for leaving him in a dangerous forest to die because he was a dormant Royal Changeling. The rumored things he did to his family were the stuff of nightmares, from subjecting his surrogate parents to horrific experiments to hunting, ravishing and eating his own surrogate siblings in forms of predatory beasts.
** Polistes did this twice.
*** After Blackthorn offered a chance to get revenge against the pegasi fanatics who tried to lynch him and his mother, he launched a plan where he secretly warned and evacuating the villagers who had nothing to do with their neighbor's crimes under the guise of "scouting" the place. When Blackthorn's raiders arrived to burn the village to the ground, they found that the place was deserted, save for the pegasi fanatics who were tied and blindfolded.
*** After learning that director Colton Marentino ([[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed a pony verison of]] Creator/QuentinTarantino) was abusing famed Griffon actress, Helga Greywing, and essentially holding her prisoner within her own trailer, Polisties launched the incredibly daring "Stolen Starlet Caper", rescuing Helga under the pretense of a kidnapping while he and his Wild Cards crew were disguised as cameramen. Then, after treating Helga to the celebration of her life on his airship, he helped her stage a dramatic escape that would not only increase her public standing as a hero, but also disgrace and blacklist Marentino after Helga exposed him for the abusive brute he is.
* PersonalitySwap: As in G1, Frazzits do this to those they effect.
* PetTheDog:
** Despite being an OmnicidalManiac who hates his own people and wants them destroyed, Xestobium shows some degree of kindness to both Polistes and Metamorphosis for being the only two of his brothers he ever actually liked due to being much more noble than their kin.
** Dr. Toxikon chose to spare Thorax and his New Changelings his genocide because of Ember and Thorax's friendship.
** King Brachion was so impressed by Fluttershy's refusal to break from learning the horrible truth about nature that he was willing to sponsor her animal sanctuary, being a Royal Changeling who is rich in bits. He also kept Fluttershy's thank-you letter as a treasured keepsake (as well as one of many closely-guarded secrets).
* PhysicalGod: An entire section of the codex is devoted to cataloging these. The Alicorn Princesses are confirmed as such. Deities in the Codexverse are defined by being composed and wielding Primordial Quintessence - magic in its basest, purest form as a primal force of nature.
* ThePigPen: The Changeling Queen Pentatomidae and her ''entire hive'' are this. Pentatomidae told her mother that when she was queen, she'd never make her hive take baths. [[ExactWords She wasn't joking]]. They smell so bad they can make an unprepared pony pass out, and Moufette couldn't stand her despite being a skunk.
* PintsizedPowerhouse:
** Queen Mab II, the Mother Goddess of the Breezies, isn't much bigger, being as big compared to them as Celestia is to a normal pony. A Yak king assumed her small size meant she was weak. He was promptly suplexed straight through the floor. Tiny or not, she's still a Goddess.
** King Sefyr, Mab II's husband and Father God of the Breezies, is also as small as his wife, but he's a powerful wind deity who at his strongest can create devastating wind-based storms, and is fast enough to ''run through people''. However, [[MoreDeadlyThanTheMale he considers Mab II to be more powerful as her flower magic is more useful and versatile in any given situation]].
** Queen Mab I, the mother of Mab II, is a small Fae goddess who not only had a nature-based portfolio, she could also wield Chaos magic like Discord. Her insanity makes her an extremely dangerous foe, using her powers to inflict [[BalefulPolymorph horrific transformations]], [[RealityWarper warp reality to her whims]], and cause [[ButterflyOfDoom "domino effects"]] that lead to utterly catastrophic disasters for anyone who tries to go after her. It took ''every'' Fae to seal her the first time, and it took ''even more'' people to defeat her the second time.
* PowerGivesYouWings:
** Naturally, becoming an Alicorn (if you don't have wings already) gives you this. However, according to Mzazi, the Mother of All Zebra and a Zebralicorn, once they get old enough Alicorns and their derivatives grow additional sets of wings with age. Luminiferous is at the age when he'll begin to grow his second set (being several hundred thousand), while Mzazi has eight sets due to being 4 million years old. Before that they get a gradient to them (which both Mzazi and Luminiferous possess), with Cadence's gradient and the one Twilight gets in Rainbow Power being indicators of them having extraordinary potential.
** In an inversion, the villainous unicorn trio Decepticolt, Zappityhoof, and Goldencap believed that ''wings'' would give them power, and to fulfill their goal of becoming Alicorns, they stole Rainbow Dash's wings by secretly amputating them for their own use. This ''enraged'' Princess Twilight Sparkle into sealing/stripping their magic indefinitely as punishment for their actions.
* PrinceOfPranksters:
** Arlequin is the literal Goddess of Pranks, and plays lighthearted pranks constantly, even on other gods. She gets it from her father Pakak, the God of Mischief and Discord's brother, who loves her pranks just as much.
** Prince Puck, Empress Blackrose's eldest son, is a literal Prince due to being a First-Spawn son of the Changeling goddess, Empress Blackrose. He's also a lover of pranks and is usually good-natured about it... but he'll resort to meaner pranks if someone has managed to incur his wrath.
* PrincessesRule:
** A double-subversion with the Crystal Empire, back when it was actually an empire. The official title was "Empress/Emperor", but in recent history it switched to a Princess system, which explains why Princess Cadence rules over the empire despite being... well, a Princess.
** The Equestrian Princesses, Celestia and her younger sister Luna, and Twilight all officially rule Equestria. Justified in that "Princess" is the highest official title in Equestria.
* PseudocanonicalFic: ''Codex Equus'' is essentially this, with a heavy dose of WorldBuilding and FixFic.
* PyrrhicVictory: The Crystal Empire managed to win victories against the Giants during their war with Queen Colossos' Empire 1,500 years ago, but many of them were wrought at a heavy cost. And it is all but stated at the start that they didn't even ''win'' it, merely surviving the onslaught, and the fallout of which would [[VestigialEmpire lead to their downfall]].
* RageAgainstTheHeavens:
** It's heavily implied that what caused the "[[{{Gotterdammerung}} Twilight of the Orosians]]" event was a major case of this, their mortal worshipers having gotten so fed up with the callous, petty treatment that [[KillTheGod they decided to exterminate all of them]]. Bellamos, a benevolent War god who once was a part of them, made it clear that [[AssholeVictim the Orosian deities brought it on themselves]] and refused to help them, instead focusing on helping people who got caught up in the event. Those Orosians who survived did so because [[KarmicJackpot their kindness and benevolence earned them the admiration and respect of their worshipers]].
** What led to the creation of Father Deer, a "False Deity" Tulpa, was the Deer Clovenists' extreme distrust towards the Bogolenya pantheon's good intentions, since none of them helped their mortal subjects while they were suffering under backwards, corrupt, and hedonistic monarchies. Their attempts to create a deity that's wholly devoted to Clovenism went horribly wrong, as Father Deer turned out to be nothing more than a psychopathic, childlike bully with godlike powers. Mother Deer destroyed him after the Clovenists swallowed their pride and begged for help, but their relationships with the divines had incredibly soured at this point.
* ReallyGetsAround: Ispita, Goddess of Temptation, is known for being this trope and having had ''many'' flings in the past. This is the result of one of the things she embodies is lust. She had eight children with Temnobog and also had a fling with Discord while siding with him during his reign.
* RealityEnsues:
** The leadership of the Abyssinian pantheon were JerkassGods who ultimately did nothing to stop the Storm King largely out of spite and the fact he didn't care about who his subjects worshiped. Their worshipers abandon them for more benevolent gods and ultimately the benevolent members of the Pantheon overthrew them. It's mentioned this is normally what happens to JerkassGods, since in this world mortals have a ''lot'' of options, all of which are equally real, so they don't have to put up with the jerks among the gods.
** The Changelings and Dragons have loathed each other for eons and have tried to exterminate the other at least once each. As such, there's a lot of FantasticRacism between them. This makes an extremely toxic environment even in the more benign Spring Court, which has very recently come back to bite them both ''very'' hard due to creating extremely dangerous villains via the psychological damage it's caused.
** Positive example: despite the eons-long blood feud between the Changelings and Dragons, not all of both sides actually buy into it. Apterus's parents didn't care about it, while Puck, Pentatomidae, Zoraptera and Theraphosa didn't view it as right due to being among the most moral of their Court. Pentatomidae made a point in punishing her family for their racism by avoiding them for ''500 years''.
** Choice makes it clear that just because the trio of villains that attempted to destroy the dragons and changelings spawned by their grudge were beaten, this does ''not'' mean that it's over. So long as the CycleOfRevenge continues, such monsters will inevitably follow.
** Various mutations have largely positive versions, but as genetic mutations can be random, there are versions of them with flawed genes that can be detrimental or even deadly.
** Most of the old Orosian gods were little more than irresponsible, arrogant, and spoiled children who constantly caused unnecessary wars and deaths with their petty squabbles and extreme intolerance for disrespect. As a result, they died during the [[{{Gotterdammerung}} Twilight of the Orosian Gods]], an event that was implied to be of their own making.
** High King Irminsul, TopGod of the once-united Elternteil pantheon, emotionally abused Temnobog for being born "evil" despite not having done anything evil while favoring the pure and radiant Belyolen, and encouraged his family and peers to do the same. This not only caused Temnobog to become a genuine GodOfEvil out of misery and resentment for a time, but also drove away Belyolen, who was rightly disgusted with his petty hypocrisy and left to form his own pantheon so he could get his brother away from him, especially after learning that some of his family members considered killing his dark twin. Irminsul's horrible parenting also attracted the Alicorn Primeval of Self-Love, Amour-De-Soi, who reportedly helped Belyolen and the other Bogolenya deities leave out of similar disgust. And presumably, his views on how to handle the future of Deerkind also partially caused the Elternteil schism, as other divine Deer left to form the Hoyklan pantheon.
* {{Reconstruction}}: ''Codex Equus'' strongly encourages this in regards to the problems of the Equestrian setting and stories.
* ReimaginingTheArtifact: Invoked, since ''Codex Equus'' encourages originality in a collaborative attempt to worldbuild Equestria and the world at large. The ''many'' G1 and G2 gimmick figures which haven't been seen since get reimagined by various writers as unique subpony types who range from genetic mutant variants to hybrids:
** Sparkle Ponies are either mutants or, more likely, hybrids with the Visitors, and are major player in the setting once Dazzleglow returns. The Visitors are likewise based off the unmade Celestial Ponies.
** Secret Surprise Ponies are {{Mutants}} who have a natural BagOfHolding in the form of biological pouch on their back with magic similar to a giants' that contains a PocketDimension. This is way more useful than it would seem, allowing them to store more or less whatever they want to in a given situation, and even act as living personnel carriers.
** Perfume Ponies have mutated scent glands that allow them to emit various smells. With training, they can do a large number of things with it and it becomes HeartIsAnAwesomePower (especially since they can do things such as imitate the smell of Dragon Sneeze Trees that gives a dragon an allergic reaction).
** Happy Tail Ponies in canon had a spinning tail gimmick. Here, they have a mutation that allows them to magically manipulate their tail like an extra limb, which is also used to explain why certain ponies in the show have {{Prehensile Tail}}s while most others don't.
** Rainbow Ponies got their name from their multi-colored hair, and their ability to control light and rainbows. Their prismatic hair and appearance are biological solar panels that absorb light and convert it into energy, yet there are faulty genes that make this ability deadly to the individual. Rainbow Ponies in general are treated as heroes, with the most famous Rainbow Pony is Rainbow Dash, the performer of the Sonic Rainboom, [[AchievementsInIgnorance though she's at present completely unaware of her heritage]].
** The Alicorn Amulet that showed up in Trixie's possession in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E5MagicDuel Magic Duel" was originally created to boost the prowess of magically weak ponies so they could stand as equals among those who were born powerful. It was ''meant'' to be a power-enhancer, nothing more... but later it became corrupted itself because [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters its wearers would abuse their boosted magic in doing terrible things and then blame their evils on something else]].
* {{Retcon}}: Some rewrites had occurred to make the Fourth Age more 'unique' compared to the past. With the entry of the 'People's Empire of the Cloven', the Hooviet entries had been outdated and replaced, though the authors stated they will be back for the Second Age.
* RidiculouslyAverageGuy: Persona, the God of Espionage and Spying, has multiple personalities, each with their own forte and skill set. His final personality is the most average guy imaginable... because [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower being so completely average, no one notices him]] and he's BeneathSuspicion, and thus can disappear in a crowd or hide in plain sight to listen in on conversations without standing out at all.
* RightlySelfRighteous: Generally deconstructed, as holy/good beings acting [[HolierThanThou morally superior]] is portrayed as bad as those who commit evil in Equus.
** The Elternteil pantheon are morally puristic and extremely patronizing about it because, in their own eyes, they ''are'' benevolent, and the constant praise from their worshipers only justified it. However, their petty hypocrisy in emotionally abusing the "evil" Temnobog, especially when they started considering the option of killing him altogether, caused his brother, Belyolen, to rebel and form the Bogolenya pantheon out of disgust. Their views on how Deerkind's future should be handled presumably caused the Hoyklan deities to leave as well. While both the Bogolenya and Hoyklan pantheons are thriving, the Elternteil pantheon is left a shadow of what it used to be.
** The Nature Giants see themselves as the rightful caretakers of Equus's ecosystem because they do have the compassion and magic necessary to preserve nature itself. However, they are extremely xenophobic and distrusting because of the actions of Grogar, and their matriarchs, based on the belief that WomenAreWiser, are no better, and they enforce extreme isolationist policies by suppressing and/or exiling anyone who pose a threat to their societal order. In short, they blind themselves to the benevolent potential of the mortals they hate.
** The Changeling Queens of the Spring Court see themselves as the rightful rulers of Changelingkind because they are the hybrid children of a Changeling goddess, and they ''are'' benevolent and nurturing to their subjects. That being said, they can be very arrogant and patronizing, treating their subjects like children who don't know any better, and see dissenters as ungrateful for rejecting their love and protection. It's also mentioned that, like the Summer Court, they scheme and undermine each other to earn Blackrose's favor, though of course it's all low-key and they don't admit it.
** Averted with the Bogolenya pantheon, who all make it a point not to act this way due to what happened to Temnobog while he grew up in the Elternteil pantheon. Since Temnobog and Belyolen are elemental twins and two halves of the person they could've been, it goes to show that even "bad" concepts such as evil and suffering as a place in Equus, as long as they're constructive.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge:
** Changeling/Dragon history is [[CycleOfRevenge essentially an aeons-long succession of these against each other.]] The dragons tried to wipe out the Changelings, then years later the Summer Court would attempt go on one of these against the dragons in revenge and almost succeed in killing them off. The hate this brewed combined with his own tragedy would eventually lead to Xestobium attempting genocide on the dragons again in a way that nearly causes a Mass Extinction Event, which in turn causes Broken Scale survivor Dr. Toxikon to finally snap and go on one in return. The actions of ''both'' sides' mutual hatred would lead to Princess Apterus going on one when she realized what they'd done to her and her family.
** When Grogar the Necromancer attempted to cut down large swaths of trees to provide resources for his Tambelon Empire, Gaea, a Nature goddess, was so ''enraged'' that she caused Grogar [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere to flee to the Shadow Realm while trying to escape her destructive rampage]].
* RousingSpeech:
** Crystal Empress Coranam of the Crystal Empire gives one to her people when war breaks out with Queen Colossos' Giants:
---> '''Empress Coranam III:''' We have faced terrible foes, from within and without. First there were the rival city-states who impeded our rise in the early days: by words or by blades they bent to our will. Then there were the Griffon Tribes; vicious predators who saw us as mere hunting animals. We purged them from our lands, so our children need not fear being carried off as a meal. And there have been countless other foes--the servants of Discord; the many nations that dared to challenge us: all ground to dust by our [[BadassArmy righteous cause and indomitable Crystal Legions!]] [...] We spread across the world, rightful heirs to the Old Empire’s legacy. [[BadassBoast Where we found chaos, we brought order! Where we found poverty, we brought prosperity! Where we found hatred and savagery, we brought the loving light of the Crystal Heart and our civilization!]] Our gleaming crystal palaces are the envy of the world...and now we face a terrible new foe: the Giants. [...] They have attacked us without cause, and shown their savage nature--cities have been slaughtered, ponies eaten alive; and our friends, families and comrades enslaved. They and their demon-spawn Queen think themselves invincible, that their size grants them the right to crush all smaller than them, as some twisted form of ‘honor’. I ask you, is bowing to monsters honorable? They know NOTHING of honor! They are savages, nothing more! They consider it hubris that we do not roll on our backs and beg for mercy, as if they were gods! Theirs is the TRUE arrogance! [...] These Giants think of us as insects. [[TheDogBitesBack We shall show them that some insects can STING.]] [...] To arms, citizens of the Empire! Avenge every innocent stallion, mare and foal who has died under these monsters’ hooves and in their bellies! We shall turn back this dark tide, and cut these oversized primitives down to size! The Crystal Empire is unconquered! We are UNCONQUERABLE! [...] My faithful subjects; I admit I am as terrified as you are. But I will make this fear steel me, for we have only one choice; one chance to survive and not have our civilization snuffed out under a tide of rapine and slaughter: We must purge these savages from our lands and drive them back to the rotting wastelands they came from! [...][[PatrioticFervor To arms! For your loved ones! For justice! FOR THE EMPIRE!!]]
* RuleOfThree: The kingdom of Hyrule has the "Triforce of Virtue", representing Courage, Wisdom, and Power. The respective "holders" of these virtues are Gleaming Shield, Radiant Primrose, and (supposedly) Blood Fang.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:S to V]]
* SapientEatSapient: As noted under EatenAlive, this is a depressingly common occurrence on Equus, with many monstrous or monstrous-sized sapient beings having no problems with eating other sapient beings, from [[IAmAHumanitarian cannibalistic cultists ritualistically devouring their victims]], to [[MostDangerousGame predatory sapients targeting prey sapients]], to [[BigEater gigantic beings eating whole lands]] and even [[GodEating Gods eating each other]] (And [[UpToEleven anyone else less powerful]]). Partly explained in that their very natures often mean they can't afford to be picky, and where they ''could'' choose to eat non-sapient sustenance they would often choose not to eat sapients, downplaying this aspect.
** Giants races and other enormous-sized beings like Giant deities and Dragons require enormous amounts of food to sustain their bodies (And even then, only to catalyze MagicEater metabolisms, [[RealityEnsues since the square-cube law means after a certain threshold no amount of food could had sustain them]]). Since their hunger means they can't afford to be picky, and their innate domineering instincts, this results in them having little to no reservations against eating the smaller 'Tinies' races. Hungry Giants can consume whole villages, towns and cities; meanwhile their gods can swallow ''WHOLE KINGDOMS AND PANTHEONS'' in an afternoon. As a rule of thumb/hoof, if they have even the slightest Giant heritage, they've more likely than not eaten people (And even enjoy it).
** [[GodOfEvil Temnobog]] Cultists, particularly those who worship the Four Terrors' god of Greed and Gluttony Bolezn the Master of Pestilence, are known for depraved cannibalistic rituals whereupon a [[HumanSacrifice sapient sacrifice]] is [[EatenAlive devoured alive]] as an offering to Temnobog and his son. The fact that they usually only target those [[PayEvilUntoEvil abhorrent enough to deserve it]] does not diminish the horror of their actions, but [[ReligionOfEvil they never claim they were saints]].
* ScienceFantasy: The main author had stated his intention to portray the setting as one. Magic is portrayed as the Fifth, grand-unifying Fundamental Force, for example, and treated as natural as the other four Forces. As in canon, many technologies depicted in the setting are either magitech or enhanced by magic.
* SealedEvilInACan:
** Many of the Summer Courts' First Spawn are this for many reasons.
** Like what happened in canon, Celestia had to seal Princess Luna in her own moon for a thousand years after the latter became Nightmare Moon and provoked a civil war in Equestria, something that Celestia herself regretted since Nightmare Moon's "birth" was largely caused by her own neglect of her little sister. Nightmare Moon eventually escaped, but the Mane Six use the Elements of Harmony to purify her, turning her back into Princess Luna and leading to her HeelFaceTurn.
** Blackheart the Accursed was imprisoned by Blackrose for her crimes. This was in part because she became immortal and couldn't be killed.
** Dread was imprisoned underneath the ocean. It's unknown whether or not he's still alive after the thousands of years he's been sealed.
** Yamata no Orochi's corpse is sealed away, with the demons spawned from his severed heads also being imprisoned.
** Grogar was repeatedly sealed away in legend. Whether or not he's dead or simply still imprisoned is currently unknown.
** The surviving Dyvaos eggs they couldn't destroy were sealed away by Mothryu and Battryu after the creatures nearly wiped out life on Equus. Brachion was tricked into releasing them in modern day, and [[EvenEvilHasStandards notably admits it was a mistake.]]
** Like Nightmare Moon before her, Final Epoch was sealed away in the Realm That Never Was (a potential future that is now impossible but not an alternate universe). Starlight Glimmer's time-altering revenge plan damaged time enough for her cult to set her free... which led to her defeat and HeelFaceTurn.
* SealedGoodInACan:
** Discord sealed his 'little brother' Pakak in a locket during his reign. One story in the verse depicts Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie being sent by the Cutie Map to help Discord free him and make amends.
** Queen Dazzleglow has been dormant for 20,000 years and only awakened recently. Apparently, she did this to herself [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture for a very specific reason.]]
* SecretTestOfCharacter:
** Midnight Bell's temporary transformation into a unicorn was actually this trope. Luminiferous, the one responsible for her change, had overheard her wish and wanted to see if she actually ''wanted'' to be a unicorn, with everything that comes with it. As it turned out, Midnight had so much difficulty with unicorn magic and the accompanying expectations that she eventually decided that it wasn't worth keeping once her wish ran out. When Luminiferous appeared to her in disguise and asked her if she wanted to be a unicorn again, Midnight refused, stating that she has everything she needs now, which greatly impressed and pleased the antediluvian Alicorn.
** Temnobog, the Bogolenya Deer god of Suffering, Darkness, and Evil, sees his domains as forces that test the heroic will and resolve of good-minded people, and never lets the villains and evildoers he "blesses" to become completely undefeatable. This would make every battle between good and evil this trope by default. In addition, many Roedinian myths spoke of deer champions and heroes seeking out Temnobog for aid, which led to them being tested by difficult trials in order to prove their worth.
*** And if Temnoism prevails on Equus and monopolizes all Evil as Temnobog seem to intend, he plan to ultimately make it that every conflict between Heroes and Villains, Good and Evil become this, ensuring both concepts of Evil and Good will survive and never grow stagnant/self-destructive, ensuring mortals will continue surviving and grow better.
** It's implied that Emperor Blackthorn of the Summer Court gives his sons/Scions the freedom they have so he could see which ones are exceptionally useful to him and his Court. He seems to lean towards those who prove themselves to be benevolent ''and'' competent individuals, such as King Lasius and King Metamorphosis, as they're more focused on ways to benefit the Summer Court as a whole rather than scheme and secure their own power. He's even on cordial terms with Prince/Captain Polistes despite having "betrayed" his father and becoming an Autumn Changeling/air pirate, and uses him as a smuggler for rare and exotic goods.
* {{Seers}}:
** The antediluvian Alicorn goddess, Hylia the Wise, was known for being a powerful seer when she was alive. Her fellow Alicorns believed that the only "mistake" she made was falling in love with a mortal, the original Gleaming Shield.
** Hylia's mortal reincarnations, Radiant Primrose, would inherit her power. This is what allowed her to make the best decisions and aid Gleaming Shield's various incarnations in winning their battles through many lifetimes.
** Princess Celestia was described as having a "gift of prophecy", which played an important role in Final Epoch's eventual defeat when Queen Dazzleglow received a telepathic warning from her through her Sun.
** Crystal Prism has an incredibly rare type of [[TheEmpath empathy]] that allows him to receive prophetic visions by displaying strong emotions/thoughts for someone before going to sleep. The Church of the Stars called this "emotional foresight". This came in handy a couple of times, such as getting
** It is mentioned in a comedy short written by [=BrutalityInc=] that the Alvslog Deer have Seers and Druids among them, usually employed by the royal family.
** Prince Blueblood, Celestia's adoptive nephew, has a special talent in clairvoyance, in which he is able to find various things based on which paths his magical intuition reacts strongly to. This is what allows him to manipulate and direct government power and authority to areas that need it most, making him an incredibly competent politician. However, by his own admission, he sees people like Celestia as "true" Seers in that they receive visions even while awake.
** Belyolen of the Bogolenya pantheon is a precognitive. His twin brother, Temnobog, is an inversion since he has retrocognition.
** Golden Scepter, an {{Expy}} of [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 the Emperor of Mankind]], has both precognition and retrocognition, allowing him to see the futures and pasts of sapient creatures. Notably, he was able to foresee Prince Sparkling Wing's future as the beloved ruler of a great kingdom, and has started mentoring the young Alicorn on leadership.
* SemiDivine: Demigods are mentioned, many being heroes in various cultures, though few have gotten prominent focus.
** It turns out Party Ponies with strange abilities like Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich likely are this trope: Pakak had twin daughters, Katharsis and Arlequin, with his wife, Shady of G1, who in turn ascended to godhood and had children of their own and thus distant descendants, leading to similar powers to Pakak's ToonPhysics powers showing up in a very diluted form. Though this would mean the divine blood is ''extremely'' diluted by now.
** Every Royal Changeling is a demigod, due to [[PhysicalGod Blackrose and Blackthorn]] having multiple flings with mortals from different races. This makes them more powerful than the Common Changeling, being stronger, smarter, tougher, and magically more powerful as well as [[MagneticHero possessing a natural aura that attracts Common Changelings to them]]. Unfortunately, their divine heritage also gives them an strong sense of entitlement, seeing themselves (and their Parents) as the rightful rulers of Changelingkind and treating their "rebellious" subjects as ungrateful, disobedient children for leaving their Court.
** Thorax is a strange example in that he was once a lowly drone of Chrysalis's hive who became a Royal Changeling by willingly sharing his love with his ex-Queen. Despite being the equivalent of an infant demigod, it's implied that he's ''incredibly'' strong, even sending [[SuperToughness Changeling King Zorpheus]] halfway across Avalon with a single arcane blast that would've killed normal Royal Changelings. If he were to go further on his potential, he would've become a god on the same level as Blackthorn and Blackrose.
** Crystal Prism, once a unicorn colt named Page Wheel, is physically a teenage Alicorn after Ascending very early in his life thanks to unethical experiments and strange, traumatic circumstances. According to Twilight Sparkle, Crystal's stint as a [[MagicEater magic-absorbing]] monster gave him so much magic that after he was killed by Luminiferous and the Equestrian Princesses, the magic reacted by reviving Page Wheel's dead body in a cocoon, Ascending him in the process. So he's quite young both in mortal and divine terms, especially the latter since he's the equivalent of an infant demigod.
** The many sons of Golden Scepter, an antediluvian Alicorn Emperor, are demigods, having been sired through a mortal pegasus mare named "Blessed Skies".
* {{Shapeshifting}}:
** Changelings, as in canon, with the Changeling Progenitors being considered indisputably the best.
** Trickster deities as a rule are talented at this.
* ShockingDefeatLegacy: The Storm King Crisis was this to Equestria. From what we know so far, given how most of their country got occupied by the Storm Empire during the conflict and that the Royal Guard got decimated so badly they are in process of being replaced by a new Equestrian military force.
* ShoutOut:
** Mothryu going on a rampage through Tokneigho and Roelisica after her tiny priestesses were kidnapped by a greedy businessman is heavily similar to what happened in ''Film/{{Mothra}}'', [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} Mothra]]'s debut appearance.
** The "Revenge of Apertus" arc, as well as Apertus's backstory, was taken from ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil, with Queen Acherontia as Eclipsa the queen of Darkness, Dragon Lord Vulcan as Eclipsa's monster husband, Globgor, and Apertus as Meteora, Eclipsa and Globgor's hybrid daughter.
** The film that Griffon actress Helga Greywing would make after replacing the brutish Colton Marentino is "Bitalian Holiday", a pony version of ''Film/RomanHoliday''. Both had stories involving a woman who breaks away from the stresses of their roles, and gets into hijinks with a friendly man while having the time of their lives in freedom for the first time.
** Crystal Prism and Midnight Bell's backstories were taken from the plot of ''Anime/MaryAndTheWitchsFlower'', with a few differences - namely, there's no magical flower or artifact involved. [[spoiler:And unlike Peter, who was turned into a monster and then turned back to normal by a spell]], Crystal Prism was fought by powerful beings, killed, then revived/Ascended into an immortal Alicorn demigod.
* SiblingYinYang:
** Celestia and Luna, as in canon. Celestia wields Sun magic and is serene and graceful, while Luna wields Moon magic and is boisterous and outspoken
** Belyolen and Temnobog are twin brothers thanks to a ritual their father, Irminsul, cast to get rid of all of his elder son's flaws, and are literally a GodOfGood and GodOfEvil, respectively. Belyolen is compassionate and uses his powers to help people, while Temnobog uses his powers to tempt people to the side of evil in order to test their resolve, and condemns those who willingly gave in to his influence. While this veered into CainAndAbel territory for a time due to Temnobog resenting Beloyen for receiving praise while he was cast off, they eventually reconciled as their unique nature prevented them from killing each other (one would be weakened/strengthened, and vice-versa), and Belyolen revealed that he always loved his brother despite being born as a tainted god.
** The Dragon deities, Yin and Yang, are ''literally'' this, embodying Shadow and Destruction and Light and Creation respectively and are opposite right down to their appearance. However, like actual yin and yang, each also has some small aspect of the other (Yin is an IceQueen with a HiddenHeartOfGold while her brother, Yang, is warm and friendly, but has a vicious side that comes out when enraged for example). They're joint gods of Balance for this reason, and get along well with one another despite how different they are.
** Arlequin and Katharsis are the twin daughters and G1 Shady and Pakak, and have a similar yin-yang to Pinkie Pie and Maud Pie. Fitting, given one of them is likely the Pie Family's ancestor.
* SizeShifter: Many deities are explicitly or implicitly capable of this. Amusingly, Astrid of the Jotunn Pantheon ''never'' manifests as anything but gigantic; even though she could easily be the size of a non-giant deer.
* SmellySkunk:
** Aniwyes are jumbo-sized ones of these. They're mostly peaceful if left alone, but their spray is ''much'' worse than normal.
** Pakak, the Draconequi Spirit of Mischief and Karma, has a fully functional skunk tail as one of his parts. He can actually create an aspect of himself based off it that assumes the shape of an Aniwye which was guarding his prison. Unfortunately for Rainbow Dash, she gets sprayed retrieving it, though luckily Pakak rewards her by cleaning her off. His daughter Katharsis inherited this aspect from him.
** The Great Skunks are a race of anthropomorphic sapient skunks, though of a more realistic version. Their Parental God Moufette is basically Pepe Le Pew, and actually is the stinking 24/7 type of skunk (though mainly due to lack of self control, as he ''can'' turn it off). Moufette is also ''far'' worse than even Aniwyes, to the point he can knock out fully grown dragons.
** Disskunks are {{Emotion Eater}}s that feed off disgust and revulsion. As such they effectively feed by spraying their prey, with their smell being worse than a normal skunk (though not as bad as an Aniwye's). Appropriately, [[PunnyName their names sound like "disgust" when said out loud]].
* TheSocialDarwinist: King Brachion Lyonesse is this, in part due to his backstory. Notably, for this reason he apparently has respect for his ArchEnemy Kick Hopper for being a fellow survivor.
--> '''Brachion''': The Law of the World is the Law of the Jungle.
* SoiledCityOnAHill: The Four Terrors have delivering divine wrath upon extremely sinful places as one of their jobs in realms in their pantheon's domain. When a kingdom grows so morally bankrupt that ItIsBeyondSaving, the rest of the Bogolenya Pantheon gives them a LastSecondChance to change their ways. If they don't, they evacuate the good mortals still there and 'Call the Terrors' to wipe out the kingdom and [[DraggedOffToHell claim the wicked who remain]]. The kingdom is then left behind as nothing but a gigantic scorch mark that's still there after several generations has passed, serving as a warning to other kingdoms that the Four Terrors might go after them, too if they don't change their ways.
* SoLastSeason: Toxikon was smart enough to study and develop countermeasures for every method the Changelings had made to slay dragons, meaning using them against him will fail at best and backfire at worst.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: Princess Laska, who was based on [[Anime/CodeGeass Princess Euphemia]]. [[spoiler:Unlike Euphemia, who was accidentally Geassed by Lelouch into committing genocide against the Japanese and then was {{Mercy Kill}}ed by Lelouch to stop her, Laska was never Geassed. Instead, Strazha, Lelouch's {{Expy}}, would save her from being Geassed into committing genocide against Bitaniya's non-Deer population by Deer Autorists, having been tipped off by his sister Vesna's prophetic visions. The result was Laska and her knight/fiance Falling Leaves (Suzaku's {{Expy}}) ''saving'' her would-be victims]].
**
* StartOfDarkness: Plenty are given to many villains or evil characters featured or mentioned.
** Changeling King Brachion of the Summer Court started life as a Deer Prince in a forest realm of Alvslog Deer Herd, with no idea of his Royal Changeling heritage, yet was still condemned to death, by his own Deer parents, for it when it was discovered. This forced him to flee into the dark, forbidden depths of the forest, still a buck at his time, where he was forced to survive for years, alone, against the elements and vicious predators, before his Royal Changeling side manifested. This traumatic experience directly contributed to him becoming the MadScientist and TheSocialDarwinist as a Changeling King he is today.
** The young Yeti who became the Storm King was born in a harsh, unforgiving mountainous land where those who lived in it had to be just as harsh and unforgiving just to survive. His mother disappeared when he was too young to remember her, and his father and brothers were abusive towards him. Constant competition and betrayals between him and other young Yetis for power and status in the band culminated in him ending up getting backstabbed and thrown off a ravine where he nearly died. All these experiences molded him and his worldview into one of a ruthless warlord who doesn't trust or care for anyone other than himself, and believes strength and power is all that matters in the world.
** Changeling King Xestobium was once a noble knight, living in a kingdom now long forgotten - because said kingdom was destroyed by a terrible dragon, killing everyone, including his own family, and even took one of his legs, before his True Nature manifested. This traumatic experience fills him with an understandable hatred for all dragons, which only worsens as he entered the Summer Court, which encouraged these sentiments with their historical enmity against Dragonkind; seeing only the worst of Dragonkind every time he and his hive goes out to slay them (And feed on the love reciprocated by those they saved); and in the process seeing his own tragedy repeated, over and over again. Adding the fact that his family are mostly monsters NotSoDifferent from the dragons in going about destroying others for their own gain, Xestobium's sanity slipped until he finally [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds snapped]], becoming an genocidal maniac who would stop at nothing to destroy Dragonkind (And the Summer Court, his own family) - even if it meant [[OmnicidalManiac wiping out the whole world]] in the process.
** It's speculated in-universe that the reason why Blood Fang was driven to conquer Hyrule and ultimately fell to evil is because he and his loved ones lived in extremely harsh environments, motivating him to conquer more fertile lands such as Hyrule so they could have the good life they never had. However, if one were to go further back, the greater demon Demise was also responsible for Blood Fang's evil, having possessed his ancestor Blood Feather in a last-ditch attempt to spite him, Radiant Primrose and Gleaming Shield for his defeat at their hooves. A portion of that same evil stayed with him when some gods reincarnated him after death.
* StrongerWithAge: Deities increase in power the older they become, and given they're immortal they can get very old. Deities predating recorded history, such as Luminiferous, tend to be immensely strong. Amareros, the Eldest of Wood, and Choice are among the oldest known deities and all of which are incredibly powerful, with Amareros being known as the Grand Primeval and even the Summer Court are afraid of him. His siblings are every bit as powerful as he is, and likewise no one wants to mess with them.
* SummonBiggerFish: Yearling/Daring Do ''can'' do this, as she's psychically bonded to Gamarea, but prefers not to as he's generally busy making sure the Dyvaos can't overpopulate and destroy the world, and she doesn't want to rely on him if she can handle things herself. That and she sees it as her job to help him with their bond, not the other way around.
* SuperEmpowering:
** Luminiferous has the ability to do two flavors of this: using an ancient artifact granted to him to battle his father (despite being a 'newborn' in comparison) called the "Divine Unity", he can let two deities lend their power to a champion which he used to do. The other version of invoking his power as a God of Potential to lend someone their true potential temporarily, though he can make it last longer by lending them his weapon, a poleaxe called ''Arisen Demon'', which extends it indefinitely as long as they're holding it. The second version is to show them what they can potentially become. During the battle with Apertus, he does this to Ember and Thorax, temporarily turning them both into gods to both hold her off and to show both the Changelings and Dragons what potential they were squandering by fixating on their racial grudge, while those two had long let go of theirs. This is particularly notable because Thorax became a Changeling God when his potential was unlocked, [[BeyondTheImpossible something the Summer Court had long believed to be impossible]].
** Prince Léon, an Alicorn toddler, has the power to empower people based on how deeply he trusts them, as he embodies Trust. This ability was discovered by accident during an attack on by tribalist factions, after Léon spontaneously empowered Cadence and Blueblood while laughing at the former's silly faces, allowing the adoptive royal cousins to defeat and drive off the tribalists with their strengthened magic.
* {{Superhero}}: Superheroes (and supervillains) would appear and become a very prominent feature of the Second Age of Known History, the time of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales Ponyland and the Tales Seven]] where magic was less prominent and Equus was a world of advanced technology. One of the first and greatest to appear is none other then a SupermanSubstitute, Metamare, though other heroic individuals have been recorded and confirmed by Queen Dazzleglow, such as [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Shadow Sentinel I]], [[ComicBook/LexLuthor Silver Smith, Sr.]], and [[Manga/{{Cyborg 009}} Wind Runner/C-009 and the 00-Cyborgs]].
* TheStrategist:
** Warlord Balander 'The Undefeated' from Queen Colossos' Empire is a notable military example. On top of being a Giant like the rest of his race and a peerless warrior, he is considered the greatest military commander ever produced by Colossos' Empire, a master of both strategy and tactics on par with the greatest conquerors of Known History. Famous in-universe for being undefeated in battle as his title implies, as well as masterminding Queen Colossos' invasion of the Crystal Empire when war broke out between the two realms. [[WordOfGod The Author]] compared him with the Real Life figure of Subutai, Genghis Khan's primary strategist and one of the most famous military commanders in history. His name is a wordplay of Balamber, a ruler of the Huns who predated Attila in real life.
*** To demonstrate how good he is, he was responsible for double-bluffing the Crystal Empire into believing their main invasion are coming from the south and getting them to scatter their forces trying to stop his incursions, allowing them to attack and destroy them piecemeal once the actual invasion came from the north. Then the Giant hordes rampaging in the south rallied, and under his command managed to crush NINE legions of the Crystal Empire's troops within a WEEK, THREE of them in the span of a single DAY. The Crystal Empire would remember that event as "The Week of Annihilation" - the single greatest military defeat they had ever suffered in their history.
** Bellamos, the Divine Strategoes, is a deity version of this from the Pramanthan Pantheon, known for very effective and efficient strategies. This stems partly from experience travelling the world and a desire to end conflicts as quickly as possible so senseless death and destruction could be avoided.
* TakeOverTheWorld: Multiple overlords and empires had attempted this throughout the Known Ages, with varying levels of success. Attempts to takeover certain countries like Equestria are generally more common and successful... though it is also deconstructed in that various entries had noted just how incredibly difficult it is for ''anyone'' to take over the world - whether due to logistical impracticality or stiff opposition from other world powers. Pretty much ''every'' attempt mentioned so far had failed, and had been noted in hindsight to have limited possibility of success from the start.
** An insert in Chrysalis' entry analyzing her world domination plans exemplifies this: her plan to take over Equestria, harvest its love, use the power boost to usurp her mother and sisters and then use the Spring Court to take over the world sounds simple, but in practice it does not consider facts such as her mother being a goddess whose magnitudes older and more powerful than Chrysalis is and is prepared (to the point of drastically modifying her own body in various ways) to take on ''Discord'' himself; that her sisters are generally older and more experienced, and their hives possess more resources than her hive; that the Changeling Summer Court would intervene in accordance to the agreements the Spring and Summer Courts had made (Not to mention Blackthorn's more personal relationship with Blackrose); and last but not least, the other Gods of Equus, like the ones in the Cosmic Council, would not sit back and watch Equestria and the Spring Court get taken over by Chrysalis, especially since many are friends with Celestia and Blackrose. All things considered, it is believed that the absolute best Chrysalis would hope for is keeping large parts of Equestria and holding the rest of the world off in a stalemate.
** The Storm King attempted this during the 'Storm King Crisis', and if all the hints so far had suggested anything, practically the ''entire world'' united immediately to stop him, both divines and mortals alike. The opposing side would also include villains who [[EvenEvilHasStandards retain an honor code]] and/or [[PragmaticVillainy are at least pragmatic enough to see what consequences the Storm King's campaign would bring if executed successfully]]. [[CurbStompBattle The Storm Empire got stomped out of existence within a short time]]. How it happened remains to be seen in the 'Storm King Crisis' entries.
** The kingdom of Hyrule is often the target of conquests of this nature, usually made by Blood Fang, the Dark Conqueror. Of course, just like in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', renowned heroes such as local master swordspony Gleaming Shield and Hylian Queen Radiant Primrose will always succeed in defeating Blood Fang before he could make his dreams of conquering Hyrule a reality, and their clashes has been the stuff of legends through Known History.
*** That being said, other evil overlords and villains have attempted to conquer Hyrule, but they always ended up being used as pawns by Blood Fang until they fall to either Gleaming Shield's sword, and/or Radiant Primrose's magic. Blood Fang doesn't tolerate anyone trying to conquer Hyrule first when he already "called dibs" on it, and will not hesitate to get rid of them at first opportunity... which is a good thing since Blood Fang's victims are usually ''worse'' - prominent examples are Malus Tenebris, who planned to plunge both Hyrule and Equus in "twilight", and one of the Storm King's generals who would've turned Hyrule and its surrounding lands into a WretchedHive. It has been implied and later confirmed that Blood Fang's behavior and "losses" to his Eternal Foes aren't what they seem - according to the Erobreseg Deer herds, he's actually an agent of Temnobog, who hired him to keep testing Gleaming Shield and Radiant Primrose's moral integrity because [[VillainRespect he has acknowledged their good deeds and wants them to always be strong enough to fight Evil]].
* TakesOneToKillOne: While it can be done with ''extreme'' levels of magic, due to the unique variety of magic that compose them, this is generally the case with deities, as divine magic has an inherent advantage over regular magic. Mortals managing to defeat them isn't completely unheard of, but it's also extremely rare and takes far more magic than is normally possible.
* TakingYouWithMe:
** During Queen Colossos' War, some of the Crystal Ponies, whether driven by [[DespairEventHorizon despair]] or [[DefiantToTheEnd fervor]], proposed releasing Rabia and the Umbrum from their prison beneath the Crystal Empire's capital in hopes that they can do this to the Giants. Crystal Empress Coronam refuse to even consider it, knowing how bad the idea is (And possibly because they don't know how to do it even if they want to).
** Even after he is defeated - and outright ''obliterated'' - Changeling King Xestobium still tries to do this with Dragonkind (and the Summer Court), first by triggering a Mana Bomb that was barely defused in time, and then with the Primordial Quintessence halve of his soul post-mortem trying to dive into the ritual that would set off a chain reaction destroying the dragon homelands of Draconia, again stopped only barely by a prepared counter-spell from his own father.
* TeamSwitzerland: Sauropoda is this, refusing to ever start a fight nor take sides in any external conflict. That said, they are more than capable of defending themselves. This is all based off of the real life Switzerland.
* TemptingFate: Xestobium's brothers laughed and mocked him when he stated his intention to [[FinalSolution wipe out the dragon race]], as they'd tried collectively to do so and failed despite coming close, so how could he do it alone? Cue the completely insane Xestobium launching a plan that if successful wouldn't just wipe out the entire continent of Draconia and everyone in it, but [[OmnicidalManiac possibly everyone else]], [[OhCrap the Summer Court included.]]
* TheTrickster: A sub type of deity is this, which are all known to be good shapeshifters as part of their portfolio. Blackrose and Blackthorn are included in this, due to the nature of their sire race. Others mentioned includes Lepus, parent deity of the Great Rabbits and Jackrabbits, Mchezaji, the Zebrican spider god, and Tachos the Orosian deity of Messengers and Fools. However, two trickster gods in particular have had entries devoted to them:
** Narren of the Eltentil deer pantheon, the God of Songs and Celebrations, is well known as this, and often plays pranks on his fellow gods. He also managed to outsmart Temnobog and rescue the TopGod of the pantheon from him (while accounts have been exaggerated, that part actually ''did'' happen).
** Pakak, the Draconequus of Mischief and Karma, has this as his RedBaron. He's very much a KarmicTrickster who punishes the wicked with curses made from their own bad karma, as well as a major mischief maker. He and Narren are good friends.
** Tikuri, the Abyssinian God of Bad Luck and Trickery, is also this, using his ability to cause bad luck to punish those who harm his followers, or his followers if they do wrong. He's also a TricksterMentor to his followers, and likes playing tricks and pranks on others. Upon his release, he tricked his captor into being imprisoned in his place.
* ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight: Boogeymares are this, being small imp-like EmotionEater creatures that feed off of fear and use their MasterOfIllusion powers to terrify children to feed. They're generally harmless and seen as household pests, but if they get strong enough their powers trade up into RealityWarper territory, though that's not easy for them to do. Dreadmares, however, are much stronger mutant variants and legitimately dangerous.
* TimeAbyss:
** Equestria of the Codexverse is set in the Fourth Age of Known History. Known History itself however stretches back at least 45,000 years, and there are hints that sapient life and civilization exists long before that in earlier Ages.
** Choice and the Eldest of the Woods, both ancient deities, are stated to had been around for eons, long before even Discord came. Choice in particular is said to be as old as sapient life capable of free will had been around - which in the Codexverse has appeared multiple times on Equus.
** Mothryu and Battryu, {{Exp|y}}ies of Mothra and Battra, are also super ancient deities. They've at least existed long enough to see one of those pre-known history civilizations, as [[PrecursorKillers Battryu was the one that destroyed it in the first place.]]
** Queen Dazzleglow is over 33,000 years old. Downplayed, as she's spent 20,000 of it SealedGoodInACan, but that still makes her over 13,000 years old.
** The author states that the Codexverse would be exploring timeframes of up to tens of ''millions'' of years before the present, if not billions of years, in future/potential sections and entries.
** Due to the passing of ages and deliberate misinformation, no one outside the Changeling Courts - and not even the common Changelings themselves - knew how long Changelingkind had been around. They could had appeared during one of the Four Ages of Known History; they could had been around long ''before'' Known History. The best estimates placed their existence to be within at least tens of thousands of years, but who can tell?
** Queen Mzazi, the Mother of all Zebra, is stated by her entry to be over 4 million years old, having guided her people's evolution since then. Since she frequently incarnates herself as a mortal to check up on her mortal children, it's possible that her age might go back even farther than the time she was the G1 zebra Zigzag.
** Amareros, a Grand Primeval, is impossibly ancient to the point of being there since the beginning of life on the planet. The same could also apply to the other Grand Primevals, who are his older/younger siblings and thus similarly ancient.
** The Alicorns from before Known History are extremely ancient, and have been considered to be the greatest of the god Equus's mortal/immortal Equine children. Luminiferous and Golden Scepter are examples of this, as they are the oldest members of the Church of the Stars and have been around since even before the First Age, though Golden Scepter is even older due to being an "Antecedent"-type Alicorn who lived before the Alicorn Civilization's fall.
* TokenGoodTeammate:
** King Metamorphosis of the [[TheDreaded Changeling Summer Court]] is notable for being a reasonable, fair and benevolent outlier among his generally amoral, scheming and back-stabbing Royal Changeling brothers, lacking their fratricidal tendencies and power-hungry ambitions, dedicating solely to his hive's prosperity and success. While it is implied that he had done some questionable things himself, it is always only if absolutely necessary, and always strive to find another way to solve problems that doesn't involve ruin and deaths of innocents, even non-Changelings. Changelings nicknamed him 'Summer's Conscience' for this, earning him undying loyalty from his own subjects and respect of those outside his hive (That aren't his brothers). This actually impressed his father enough that he's currently considered his favorite, and he had become the Summer Court's liaison to the Spring Court and Equestria following Thorax's ascension and the fall of the Masquerade.
** King Asbolus Lyonesse is another fairly benevolent member of the Court, due to being a NobleDemon and GentlemanThief with little desire to conquer or do unnecessary harm. While he is a thief, he will never target those who are incapable of defending themselves and often let's his hive better themselves using his stolen goods.
** The Nameless Queen is this to the Winter Court, being the only one among them to have had a HeelRealization and become TheAtoner.
* TokenEvilTeammate:
** Temnobog the Dark One, co-ruler of the Bogolenya Deer Pantheon, comes to mind. He's very literally a GodOfEvil who revels in causing suffering of those he believes 'deserves it', and for the longest time was the enemy of his older twin brother, Belyolen the Radiant Stag. This trope was deconstructed in that, having been born "evil", he was emotionally abused by his own family and peers, who thought that his corrupted nature would taint the benevolence of the Elternteil pantheon. Despite not having done anything evil at the time, Temnobog's mistreatment eventually turned him into the GodOfEvil that he was feared and expected to be out of misery and resentment. This caused Belyolen himself to rebel and leave home to start his own pantheon, as he was so compassionate that he felt understandably disgusted and upset with his fellow gods' petty hypocrisy. The reason why Temnobog took so long to let go of his grudge was because he thought that Belyolen, too, looked down on him for being "evil", but then he learned that his brother really ''did'' love him despite everything. After their reconciliation, this trope was reconstructed - he had become his brother's equal and his greatest supporter, directing his innate evil nature to a better purpose, embodying evil and suffering as a testing force, driving the good and noble among mortals to rise up and oppose evil while weeding out the evil and wicked to be punished for their moral failure.
** Temnobog's hellish hybrid children, the Four Terrors, are also this for the Bogolenya pantheon. While they are devoted to using their evil for constructive purposes like their father, they are rightly feared for their horrific actions, and as such, "Calling the Terrors" is treated as an ''absolute last resort'' for dealing with sin in the Deer realms. On the plus side, they are tolerated and even respected, with their cousins, the three children of Mier and Válka, Medik, Zmluva, and Mentálne understanding their roles and holding no ill will for it.
** Chrysalis ''was'' this for the Spring Court, until her two attempted attacks on Equestria that resulted in Thorax usurping the throne from her got her banished to the Winter Court. And the Winter Court entry reveals she wasn't the only Changeling Queen who had gone evil in the past.
** The Summer Court Changelings are this to Changelingkind in general. While a few steps above the Winter Court [[EvenEvilHasStandards which even they see as abhorrent]], they are essentially a DeadlyDecadentCourt that is rife with treacherous scheming and chronic backstabbing. Emperor Blackthorn himself is amoral and selfish than outright evil, but his motives are so ambiguous that more heroic-minded people like to think of him as evil.
* TopGod:
** Queen Tiamat and King Bahamut are co-rulers of the Dragon Pantheons.
** Irminsul was once the leader for the entire Elternteil Deer Pantheon. However, the pantheon fractured when everyone started disagreeing over Deerkind's future and (in Belyolen's case) the mistreatment of Temnobog, leading to the birth of two other Deer Pantheons, the Bogolenya and Hoyklan Pantheons.
** The Bogolenya pantheon is co-ruled by Irminsul's twin sons, Belyolen and Temnobog, founded by Belyolen who desired to get Temnobog away from their family's emotional abuse and give him the love and respect he deserved. Ironically, Temnobog initially ''sought'' to become this by usurping his brother, but he was given equal leadership power once both of them discovered they had a unique magical light/dark bond that would become incomplete if one of them tried killing the other.
** Empress Blackrose and Emperor Blackrose are each the TopGod of their respective courts.
** Indostruus, the God of Industry and Modernization, is the leader of the Novellus Pantheon. Unusually, Munditia is older than him, but sees him as the better leader and thus follows him, though he's still the strongest.
** Fik’iri, the Goddess of War and Love, and Zinabi, the God of Storms and Wind, co-led the Abyssinian Pantheon and were its strongest members. However, they were also JerkassGods who treated their worshipers rather callously, and refused to help protect their followers from the Storm King out of spite. This act got them overthrown by the benevolent members of the Pantheon, with Fik'iri losing her position and most of her power to Wibeti, the Goddess of Beauty and Romance, while Zinabi was overthrown by Jegina, the God of Courage and Heroism. Unlike most {{Top God}}s, however, Jegina and Wibeti aren't romantically involved since the latter is dating Moufette, the leader of the Great Skunk pantheon.
** The Grand Primevals in general seem to be this for ''all'' of Equus, as they're regarded as so powerful and ancient that almost everyone respects and/or fears them enough not to tick them off. Their opinion is generally given a lot of weight even by deities who don't follow them directly.
** Moufette, Wibeti's boyfriend, is the leader of the Great Skunk Pantheon.
** The Church of the Stars, while technically a pantheon, is actually a religion started by Queen Dazzleglow, a Sparkle Pony Alicorn Queen from the Second Age, making her its leader. However, she credits her father for coming up with the original idea that she expanded on, technically making her father the ''true'' TopGod of the Church of the Stars.
* {{Touche}}: Essentially Emperor Blackthorn's reaction to Crazy Ant's DeadMansSwitch, being more impressed than angry.
* TragicVillain:
** Chieftain Maul was simply an animal trying to survive, having enough intelligence to make a simple plan but not enough to properly comprehend the consequences of it. Mistmane felt genuinely bad for having to kill him to save Equestria.
** King Xestobium is an OmnicidalManiac, but at his core he's the result of the deaths of his entire kingdom and family by a dragon, was then adopted into a race of tyrants who fed that hatred, and even while trying to do good to feed his hive, was constantly exposed to the absolute worst Dragonkind had to offer. All these things eventually caused him to snap and attempt to perform genocide on the Dragons and Summer Court in a way that would trigger a mass extinction event, but at his core, he's nothing but a product of his environment and the tragedy of his existence is recognized.
** Princess Apterus, the child of a Changeling Queen and a Dragon, had her parents sealed away due to FantasticRacism and was kidnapped and abused horribly for a thousand years by a particularly cruel Changeling King with no knowledge of her true nature. It's little wonder she completely snaps when she learns the truth and goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
** Dr. Toxikon showed a Changeling King kindness and mercy when he found him near death. The King [[TheFarmerAndTheViper repaid him by using what he'd learned staying with him to wipe out his entire clan]] as part of the Time of Broken Scales, which saw the near extinction of his kind. He then tried to become an intellectual dragon to avoid it happening again, but his species wouldn't listen and looked down on him for it for five thousand years. He finally snaps when Xestobium launches his genocidal rampage and acts on plans he'd hesitated to launch for five thousand years to attempt the destruction of the Changelings and death of all dragons over a certain age (the latter to force the survivors to finally grow meaningfully, as he fears their species will die out if they don't).
* UltimateBlacksmith: Queen Odonata is this, her father being a Kirin and her using it as outlet for her anger at being a target of FantasticRacism. She's so good even some of the Summer Court have tried to commission her and she does most of the Spring Court's metal working.
* UnskilledButStrong:
** Queen Odonata is the UltimateBlacksmith of the Changelings, and has enormous physical strength from that role and also has a powerful Nirik form on top of it. However, she doesn't have much in the way of actual skill, with her sword slash being more like a baseball bat swing. However, her WeaponOfChoice, a giant forge hammer, doesn't require all that much skill.
** The newly-ascended Changeling King Thorax is incredibly young by Royal Changeling standards, and his meek and friendly disposition makes him not really all that keen on fighting... but his ascension has made him incredibly powerful, to the point he ''accidentally'' blew Zorpheus across Avalon Valley with a magic beam, leaving him unconscious in a crater with a cracked carapace. And that was because Zorpheus has a natural, insanely high defense, it's noted it likely would've been a One-Hit Kill on many other Changeling Royals. It's been stated and shown repeatedly that because Thorax is willing to let go of his people's racism against Dragonkind and forgive those responsible for perpetuating it, he has ''much'' greater potential than even the most experienced Royal Changelings, with his future potential being a Changeling Emperor that heavily resembles Emperor Blackthorn himself.
* VictoryByEndurance: Wibeti defeats Fik'iri this way: Fik'iri's complacency and hedonism left her with terrible stamina for a deity, while Wibeti's constantly being chased by Moufette gave her great endurance and agility. As a result, while Fik'iri has the advantage at first, she tires quickly and Wibeti still has stamina to spare, negating any advantage Fik'iri had as a war goddess.
* VertebrateWithExtraLimbs:
** Naturally very common, with winged races being the most obvious.
** Alicorns, naturally, but UpToEleven with the fact that as they age they start growing ''additional'' sets of wings. The 4 million years-old Mzazi has ''eight'' wings.
* VestigialEmpire:
** The Crystal Empire became one as a result of a war against a realm of Giants, although it was showing signs of decadence, arrogance and stagnation by the time war broke out. Many of its mistakes and the actions it took to survive the war ultimately contributed to its decline and collapse.
** Queen Colossos' Empire, said realm of Giants, also went into decline partly as a result of that conflict, although they apparently had it much better than the Crystal Empire.
** The Empire of Trot, one of the Crystal Empire's rivals, also had it bad, reduced to little more than a collection of squabbling hedge realms and petty kingdoms that were easy pickings for Queen Chrysalis and her Hive, as mentioned in her MLP Fiendship is Magic issue, starting with Timbucktu and finally ending with the city of Trot itself.
** Both above empires and the Principalities of Equestria were the three biggest successor states of the classical Equestrian Empire, whose declined and collapse climaxed at the beginning of Discord's reign and the five-centuries long Age of Chaos. Wonder if there's a link between the two events...?
** The Empire of Zinari is noted for its unusually rapid decline after the reign of Queen Parabola, leaving behind only its PortalNetwork and much of its stupendous wealth hidden in vaults across the world, one of which would eventually be discovered by Daring Do and Fluttershy as depicted in Issue 32 of the MLP Friends Forever comic.
* VillainSong: Propagare sings a version of [[Disney/{{Pocahontas}} "Savages"]] to Xestobium in order to tip him over the edge into carrying out his genocidal ambitions, which Propagare intends to capitalize on. Towards the end, Xestobium himself takes over and finishing the song, signifying the point where he fully gives himself in to his revenge.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:W to Z]]
* WarForFunAndProfit:
** Arma is the literal ''god'' of this trope, being the God of War Profiteering and {{Private Military Contractor}}s.
** [[Manga/{{Cyborg 009}} Black Ghost]] was a Second-Age organization of "death merchants" that is constantly producing military weapons for profit, including cybernetic hybrid warriors. [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard This eventually led to the creation of Wind Runner/C-009 and his team]].
* WarriorPoet:
** Queen Acanthosomastidae, the Cavalier Queen. On top of being one of the best warriors among the Changeling Queens, she's also among the greatest patrons of Changeling art and high culture, having authored, painted and directed many works of literature, artwork and theatrical productions. Unsurprising, considering [[{{Theatre/Tannhaeuser}} who her father is]] an expy of.
* WarriorPrince:
** Prince-Regent Blueblood is a powerful water mage and an experienced Navy soldier (now Commander), and thus is extremely capable of defending himself. During his long career, he fought off numerous assassins, who were rumored to have been sent by Blueblood's rivals and enemies in Canterlot, and he has healed scars as proof of the incidents. He also directly participated in the Storm King Crisis, rallying what was left of the Equestrian military with Shining Armor, directing war efforts against the Storm Navy, and even fought off a few Storm Troopers to protect his friend, Fancy Pants and his wife, Fleur-De-Lis.
** Prince Vultus IV is a [[LargeHam hammy]] and proud yet heroic and benevolent warrior. He is notable for being a skilled fighter despite not being a demigod, whose loudness is so profound that it can actually [[MakeMeWannaShout stun enemies and trigger avalanches]]. In one notable incident, he [[CainAndAbel opposed his treacherous fourth brother]] for killing their oldest brother in a bid for the throne, and fought and killed him by braining him through the helm. It's not surprising, since he was based on [[Film/FlashGordon1980 Prince Vulcan]] (who was also played by Creator/BrianBlessed).
* WasItReallyWorthIt: Luminiferous informs the Changelings of what their FantasticRacism causing them to ruin the lives of Queen Acherontia, Dragon Lord Vulcan, and their daughter Apterus cost them: the family's love may have given them the hope for a cure for their curse a millennia earlier as Thorax did in modern day. He then asks them if losing that was really worth continuing their blood feud with the dragons. Even the Summer Court finds it difficult to say it was. His lending Ember and Thorax their future potential was also a more subtle case of this, essentially showing both sides of the feud the potential they were squandering with their refusal to move on.
* WeHaveBecomeComplacent: A common theme around utopian, advanced, powerful, and/or morally puristic societies is that they would always end up becoming complacent and indulgent no matter what they do.
** Temnobog is disgusted by societies that become overly Good, since the absence of Evil will cause its inhabitants to forget why they're Good and think that they can do whatever they want because they're Good, unwittingly becoming the very Evil that they defeated in the first place. He even believes that Queen Dazzleglow's attempts to break the Cycle would result in a complacent Equus, except no, she also believes in Constructive Evil and wants people to break the Cycle [[spoiler:so everyone would be able to fight the... ''[[EldritchAbomination thing]]'' that's lurking in the Cosmic Void]]. On the other hand, Temnobog also opposes societies that have become overly Evil, and will not hesitate to let the Four Terrors, his surviving divine children, raze and burn such societies to the ground as punishment for their extreme Evil.
** Temnoist followers are also against societies promoting the absence of Evil/Good, as they believe that Good cannot exist in the absence of Evil and vice-versa, and the consequences of such a thing will be worse, than if Good and Evil existed together. So while they are feared and reviled as agents of Evil, Temnoists believe that by promoting Evil, they help good people become strong enough to oppose Evil, thus in turn allowing the Cycle of Good and Evil to continue.
** Dr. Toxikon sees the Dragonflights as complacent, arrogant, and stagnant, because they have become so confident in their own power that they refuse to learn new things and/or cooperate with other races. A prime example would be Dragon Lord Brutus, who emphasizes his people's focus on brute strength rather than intelligence and skill - [[CurbStompBattle he lost rather quickly]]. The reason why Toxikon praised Ember so highly is because she is one of few Dragons who averted this trope, yet he also became frustrated that no one else is willing, or don't want to listen to Ember's progressive ways.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Generally deconstructed, since good intentions or not, those who turn to shady and unscrupulous methods to achieve a noble goal still get painted as monsters who didn't bother to think of an alternate and safer option.
** In Crystal Prism's backstory as Page Wheel, there's the unicorn mare Noble Grace, and her assistant Bubbling Beaker. The two of them were disgraced teachers and wanted criminals who kidnapped and experimented on young foals with the intention of mass-producing Alicorns for the greater good of Equus. Their actions did result in Page Wheel becoming an Alicorn demigod, but he was left incredibly traumatized for some time, and they are nevertheless arrested for their crimes.
** Much like his character inspiration, Battryu is devoted to protecting Equus, but ''only'' Equus. As Nature's Wrath, he sees all the occupying races as a blight to the ecosystem and won't hesitate to kill everyone if they upset the balance in any way, innocents be damned.
** Dr. Toxikon was a victim of the "[[FinalSolution Time of Broken Scales]]" and created a plague that will kill off a very large majority of Changelingkind and Dragonkind because he saw both races as stagnant and unable to move past old grudges. In his eyes, only the younger, open-minded generations are deserving to live on Equus. While it did result in [[AssholeVictim the Summer Court getting devastated]], Dr. Toxikon is still seen as a genocidal monster, and those who sided with him are just as reviled by heroic-minded people.
** Poena, the Mistress of Punishment, is a Tulpa "goddess" who was born from the magic, emotions, and thoughts of downtrodden creatures whose tormentors often get away with their crimes, so as a result, she believes that justice should be without mercy or pity. It gets deconstructed while she ends up with a following of hotblooded young deities who are equally frustrated with their older superiors' indifference and failures, she often clashes with more merciful individuals who she believes are too "soft", and, as the dark Deer god Temnobog warned, she often runs the risk of becoming as monstrous and evil in her ruthless pursuit of justice. In one notable incident, Poena fought the god of mercy, Eiríni, over the fate of an evil Minotaur warlord and ended up lying unconscious in a crater. She also tried swaying the filly psychopomp, Ruby Heart the Confessor/Redeemer, to seeing her side so she could use the latter's "Chain Sight" ability to detect sinful individuals... but thankfully Ruby had friends who are willing to protect her from hard-lined and puristic people like Poena.
* WhatTheHellHero:
** Happens during the "Revenge of Apertus" incident, in which Empress Blackrose herself, the many Royal Children of the Spring Court (though not ''all''), and a number of the dragons (at least the ones who qualify as heroes) received a number of these a millennia ago for what they did to Queen Acherontia and Dragon Lord Vulcan out of FantasticRacism and fear of what their hybrid daughter could become, despite both of them doing nothing wrong to warrant such a punishment and Apertus being only a child at the time. Even non-Changeling deities were absolutely disgusted with what the perpetrators had done.
*** Mothryu, known as the most benevolent of the Neighponese {{Kaiju}}, outright refused to do more than evacuate the innocents caught in Apertus's path.
----> '''Mothryu's Priestesses''': "Was the Slaver King the only one who descended on her hive, with the intent of spilling a child's blood for no other reason but her heritage, and fear of what she may do? Was it him alone who decided to try and destroy a marriage approved of by the Grand Primeval of Love out of hate? Was he the one who sealed her parents away, rather than confront the racial hatred that has been allowed to fester? Mothryu will defend the innocent, and she will ferry them away here... but most of you are not innocent."
*** Mothryu's twin, Battryu, on the other hand, was more blunt about it.
----> '''Battryu's Priestess:''' You made your bed, now lay in it.
*** Even some of Empress Blackrose's morally good children joined in on the calling out. Queen Pentatomidae, after previously [[PleaseSpareHimMyLiege begged her family to spare her sister and her dragon husband]], pointedly expressed her displeasure by avoiding them for five centuries; Princess/Captain Mimetidae ''punched'' her own mother in the jaw (which Blackrose allowed) before storming off for two centuries; Puck would stay with his mother, but even he was incredibly disappointed.
---->'''Prince Puck:'''Remember when Choice said what you did to Acherontia would have consequences? Well those consequences just leveled an entire Summer King's territory in a day by itself and is tearing a trail of destruction towards one of our sisters... I hate to say I told you so... [[IWarnedYou but I told you so]].
*** Choice itself would visit both Changeling Courts and the Dragonflights and remind them of the "poor" choices they had taken with Apertus and her parents, ending with the final note that the consequences would catch up to them. When King Thomisus insisted they were "[[NeverMyFault above the consequences]]", Choice would apparently laugh in his face.
----> '''Choice:''' Do you have any idea how many times I have heard that? More than a number exists to count. Do you know how often it has been correct? ''Never.''
*** Luminiferous, while more disappointed than angry, nevertheless informed the Changelings and Dragons that had they not cruelly punished Queen Acherontia and Dragon Lord Vulcan for falling in love for each other, or treated Apertus like a disgusting abomination that deserved to be treated like garbage and/or be killed, they would have reached the potential that Thorax and Ember had already obtained. The Changelings in particular were told that the consequences of trying to satisfy a racial grudge had resulted in the delay or even potentially permanent squandering of a cure to their [[HorrorHunger Curse]]. His BadassBoast when unlocking Thorax and Ember's potential also had shades of this trope.
----> '''Luminiferous:''' Before you are the members of your kind who have rejected this aeons-long grudge. Behold: the potential of those who have moved past the limitation you have chained yourself down with. Now, Sanctified One, brilliant Daughter of Torch: Arise! Borrow the potential that waits for you at the next dawn!
* WingedUnicorn: The Alicorns, much like in canon. The Alicorns in ''Codex Equus'' are immortal and incredibly powerful, and as they get older, they gain extra traits such as new wings and/or a wing gradient. However, it's implied that all Alicorns [[DeityOfHumanOrigin were once mortal ponies]] - [=BrutalityInc=] has stated that he wanted to make his own take on the Alicorns, combining official canon descriptions of the Alicorns being merely long-lived with the fanon interpretation of Alicorns as bonafide gods. However, it's zigzagged in that Alicorns don't ''specifically'' have to be ponies, as there have been members of other equine species that Ascended to Alicornhood.
** Prince Léon, Blueblood's adoptive son, is an "[[MadeOfMagic Ethereal]]" deity who, according to Blueblood, Ascended into an Alicorn at the moment of birth. This makes him [[TheOneGuy the only male Equestrian Alicorn]] in the Equestrian pantheon.
** The Equestrian Princesses are prominent examples.
* WombLevel:
** In one of the Alvslog/Erobreseg Deer Herd's legends, the trickster god Narren had to enter the body of his (quite literally) EvilUncle [[GodOfEvil Temnobog]] in order to rescue his grandfather, High King Irminsul of the Eltenteil Deer Pantheon, whom Temnobog had de-powered and [[JustEatHim devoured]] as part of a partricidal revenge plot. Whilst in Temnobog's body, he had to avoid, trick or otherwise get through the countless other damned souls, disobedient demons and enemy deities (Including two of Temnobog's own children) that Temnobog had eaten over the ages to reach his grandfather. No shrinking is involved, but the narration made it clear that this is possible due to the bodies of the gods being 'quite different' from those of mortals, depicted as BiggerOnTheInside and apparently [[AnotherDimension planes/realms]] in their own right.
* WomenAreWiser: Zigzagged. Due to Equus being heavily matriarchal in some places, women in general have a tendency to be wiser, more compassionate, and more intelligent than males, mortal or divine. Supporting this are the various queendoms that dot Equus, as they're shown to be thriving underneath the rule of a queen. However, this does not automatically mean that women are "better" than men, as they are shown to be just as capable of being stubborn, racist, patronizing, arrogant, and evil as men. Men, meanwhile, can be as wise and compassionate as their female counterparts.
* TheWorfEffect: At their height, the Crystal Empire's military, backed by their sorcerous powers and enchantments, enabled them to reconquer much of the old Equestrian Empire's territories and enforce their rule over much of the known world with their Crystal Legions. Their devastating defeats at the hooves of the Giants during the Crystal Empire's war with Queen Colossos' Empire demonstrated [[AwakeningTheSleepingGiant just what sort of foe they had picked a fight with]].
* WorfHadTheFlu: Gamarea struggling with a single adult Dyvaos is explained as him not being fully grown yet and he doesn't bond with a pony until the very end of the fight when Yearling finally does. [[OneHitKill He then instantly kills the Dyvaos in one hit]].
* WorldBuilding: The entire purpose of the story is to provide this for Equus as a whole, with emphasis of expanding and adding details to many facets of the setting; for example, the Changeling civilization is vastly expanded, revealed to be far older and much bigger than just ex-Queen Chrysalis and her former hive with the four Changeling Courts.
* WorthyOpponent:
** King Brachion sees Kickhopper as this, due to him managing to survive everything the king has thrown ate him.
** Ahuizotl sees Daring as his ''exclusive'' one. He explains to Brachion this is because he ''expects'' other demi-gods and deities to be able to rival him, but a mortal who can is a far more interesting and exciting foe. Brachion seems to feel the same about Kickhopper.
** Emperor Blackthorn complimented on the Changeling Courts' enemy Dr Toxikon's skills during the 'Crucible Crisis', being able to repeatedly out-wit and out-gambit nearly all the Changeling Courts - an entire Sapient species known for their guile and cunning - for much of the Crisis and nearly succeeding in destroying them.
* WouldHurtAChild:
** Before his first death, Night Terror was a SerialKiller that went after children. He was eventually burned alive and killed by the angry, grieving parents of his victims... though his deal with Ispita allowed him to evade Yarost, Temnobog's oldest son, and continue his killing spree undeterred in the dream world... then Princess Luna and Tenya confronted and defeated him, ending with Night Terror being thrown into the real world [[OhCrap where Yarost was waiting for him]].
** [[VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks Sunnytown]]. The occupants of that place were extremely Cutie Pox-phobic, and killed a young filly named Ruby Heart for gaining a Cutie Mark. Pakak was ''enraged'', and cursed the entire town for their crime to become zombies, never truly able to rest until they accepted responsibility for their crimes and atoned honestly. Pakak was noted to have not shown any remorse for what he had done.
*** Several years later, however, history nearly repeated again when Apple Bloom followed Ruby Heart's spirit into Sunnytown out of curiosity, causing the zombified locals to chase her down once she discovered the town's horrible secret. Apple Bloom narrowly escaped thanks to interference from Ruby Heart and her older sister Mitta. Applejack made it clear that [[BigBrotherInstinct she'll applebuck Grey Hoof and his followers seven ways across Equus if they come after her little sister again]].
** There was an incident where Poena tried to recruit Ruby Heart to her side so the ghostly filly would accept her morally puristic version of justice, and to gain access to her "[[DetectEvil Chain Sight]]" ability. When Ruby refused, even [[NotSoDifferent comparing her to the extremist Grey Hoof]], Poena got mad and tried attacking her, only to be blocked by Crystal Prism and Princess Twilight.
** Since his "birth", Prince Léon has been a walking target for both tribalist factions, who see him as a freak of nature and a divine tyrant in the making, and evil/corrupt deities like Ispita and the Tyrannos pantheon, who see him as a threat since his empathy can help turn their victims/followers away from their infleunce. However, said deities also see potential in Léon as a corrupted god, since his magic also means he can be used as a wheel to spread corruption and tyranny on a wider scale. Thankfully, Léon has loved ones willing to protect him, especially his adoptive father, [[PapaWolf Blueblood]], and the [[MamaBear Equestrian Princesses]].
* WouldntHurtAChild:
** Elske, the Jotunn goddess of Love. She'll happily eat sinful/hateful cities and kingdoms, but she ''always'' spares the children; even taking them under her care afterwards to make up for eating their families and homes. Her more merciful diet is said to be catching on with mortal Giants.
** Polistes and the Wild Cards, by virtue of their [[WouldNotShootACivilian white-hat pirate]] ways. In one notable incident, a heist abroad a luxury cruise ship was interrupted when a heavily pregnant mare went into labor. Polistes spared the mare and her husband from being robbed and even had his crew help deliver a healthy foal. The newly-made parents reportedly shook his hoof out of gratitude.
* WretchedHive:
** The criminal state of Abyssinia from [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 the 2017 movie]] is justified here - the Abyssinian deities, Zinabi and his consort Fik'iri, let the country be assimilated into the Storm Empire to "[[DisproportionateRetribution punish]]" the people for poor worship. As a result, Abyssinia fell abject poverty by the time Twilight Sparkle and the Mane Six arrive there.
** This is also what Hyrule would've become if it officially became a territory of the Storm Empire. Fortunately, Blood Fang secretly manipulated and sabotaged the general responsible for conquering Hyrule, leaving him completely vulnerable against Gleaming Shield and Radiant Primrose, who both killed him.
* XanatosGambit:
** The Summer Court as a whole is very good at this, as implied by what we know so far about them, due to many Kings inheriting their patriarch's [[TheChessmaster scheming intelligence]] as well as being pragmatic and genre-savvy compared to many other [[EvilOverlord evil overlords]].
*** Naturally, said Patriarch, Emperor Blackthorn, is implicitly a master of these owing to being the [[TheChessmaster Sovereign of Schemes]]. In-universe, this trope is named after him - a 'Blackthorn Gambit'.
** Dr. Toxikon also managed to master this and its variant below, to the point that he could challenge the Summer Court and Changelingkind as a whole. In testimony of his brilliance, [[WorthyOpponent Emperor Blackthorn himself]] notes with a hint of pity that if Toxikon isn't so set in destroying them all, he would relish playing a game of Go with him like the ones he normally play with Dragon King Bahumet.
** Dragon King Bahumet is implied to be just as good, given he managed to hold the namesake behind the 'Blackthorn Gambit' himself and his schemes in check thanks to his vast age, wisdom and experience (up to ''tens of millions'' of years). This also hints at Blackthorn's own prowess at these gambits, given he manages to keep up with a being as wise and powerful as the Father of all Dragons; the implication is that he's ''just that good''.
* XanatosSpeedChess: The ''entire'' confrontation between Dr. Toxikon, the Changelings, and the Dragons (mainly Ember and Bahamut) is this, with all sides being incredibly intelligent and rapidly adjusting their plans.
[[/folder]]

** Despite being an amoral Court in general, the Summer Court still set a bar that most are not willing to touch.

** The Autorists are also stated to be blatantly reactionary, joining in the persecution of the inventor of the Vortex Engine along with the reactionary Pegasi beyond Equestria by making her Persona Non Grata and making it illegal to even ''discuss'' the new invention in their lands.

** The Winter Court of the Changelings is composed of these, consisting of those who were banished from all the hives for various unforgivable offenses. Naturally, Ex-Queen Chrysalis is currently considered one of them. That being said, it is possible for Winter Changelings to redeem themselves, as shown with the Nameless Queen, though she hasn't asked Blackrose for a repeal because she feels that she wouldn't return home until she has performed one last good deed and checked off her last tally.

** Implied with Noble Grace and her assistant, Prof. Bubbling Beaker, both [[{{Expy}} Expies]] of [[Anime/MaryAndTheWitchsFlower Madam Mumblechook and Dr. Dee]]. Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker were disgraced teachers and criminals who both performed horrific experiments on young foals with the intention of mass-producing [[PhysicalGod Alicorns]] for the greater good of Equus, with one of their test subjects being a unicorn colt named Page Wheel, who would become the Alicorn demigod Crystal Prism. It's noted in Crystal Prism's profile that they were arrested and punished by the law for what they did [[spoiler:whereas in the original movie, both Madam Mumblechook and Dr. Dee have their lab destroyed by a transformed Peter, with the former being left completely powerless after absorbing her magic, and in the end they are both surrounded by the enraged animals they used to experiment on]].

** Princess Apterus for the "Revenge of Apterus" story.

** Crystal Prism is a young demigod who looks like a butterfly-like Alicorn, and has magic that is centered around butterflies. He was once a unicorn colt, Page Wheel, who was kidnapped by two disgraced teachers with the intention of turning him into a god, but ended up turning into a magic-eating monster instead and went on a rampage before he was killed by Luminiferous and the Equestrian Princesses. However, the leftover magic saved Page Wheel by incubating him in a magical cocoon, then broke away to reveal his current form several days later. Quite fittingly, his divine portfolio is centered around change and rebirth, and he goes around helping people who are dealing with stressful changes themselves. To this day, no one knows exactly why he Ascended, though Twilight Sparkle theorized that either he absorbed so much magic, or Midnight Bell awoke ''something'' in him while she was trying to distract him, causing Page Wheel to attempt stopping his own rampage so he wouldn't hurt anyone else.

** Disskunks are {{Emotion Eater}}s that feed off disgust and revulsion. As such they effectively feed by spraying their prey, with their smell being worse than a normal skunk (though not as bad as an Aniwye's).

* SuperEmpowering: Luminiferous has the ability to do two flavors of this: using an ancient artifact granted to him to battle his father despite being a 'newborn' in comparison called Divine Unity, he can let two deities lend their power to a champion which he used to do. The other version of invoking his power as a God of Potential to lend someone their true potential temporarily (though can make it last longer by lending them his weapon, which extends it indefinitely as long as they're holding it) to show them what they can potentially become. During the battle with Apertus, he does this to Ember and Thorax, temporarily turning them both into gods to both hold her off and to show both the Changelings and Dragons what potential they were squandering by fixating on their racial grudge, while those two had long let go of theirs. This is particularly notable because Thorax became a Changeling God when his potential was unlocked, [[BeyondTheImpossible something the Summer Court had long believed to be impossible]].
* {{Superhero}}: Appeared and a feature of Second Age of Known History, the time of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales Ponyland and the Tales Seven]]. One of the first and greatest to appear is none other then a SupermanSubstitute, Metamare.

** Bellamos, the Divine Strategoes, is a deity version of this from the Pramanthan Pantheon, known for very effective and efficient strategies. This stems partly from experience travelling the world and a desire to end conflicts as quickly as possible.

** The Storm King attempted this during the 'Storm King Crisis', and if all the hints so far had suggested anything, practically the ''entire world'' united immediately to stop him, even those villains who retain an honor code and/or are at least pragmatic enough to see what consequences the Storm King's campaign would bring if executed successfully. The Storm Empire got stomped out of existence within a short time. How it happened remains to be seen in the 'Storm King Crisis' entries.

*** That being said, other evil overlords and villains have attempted to conquer Hyrule, but they always ended up being used as pawns by Blood Fang until they fall to either Gleaming Shield's sword, and/or Radiant Primrose's magic. Blood Fang doesn't tolerate anyone trying to conquer Hyrule first when he already "called dibs" on it, and will not hesitate to get rid of them at first opportunity... which is a good thing since Blood Fang's victims are usually ''worse'' - prominent examples are Malus Tenebris, who planned to plunge both Hyrule and Equus in "twilight", and one of the Storm King's generals who would've turned Hyrule and its surrounding lands into a WretchedHive.

** Due to the passing of ages and deliberate misinformation, no one outside the Changeling Courts - and not even the common Changelings themselves - knew how long Changelingkind had been around. They could had appeared during one of the Four Ages of Known History; they could had been around long BEFORE Known History. The best estimates placed their existence to be within at least tens of thousands of years, but who can tell?
** Queen Mzazi, the Mother of all Zebra, is 4 million years old, having guided her people's evolution since then.
** Amareros, a Great Primeval, is impossibly ancient to the point of being there since the beginning of life on the planet.

** Flœrð, the adoptive Jotunn son of High King Kaldr of the Hoyklan pantheon, was fated to cause the Codexverse's equivalent of [[{{Gotterdammerung Ragnarok]] due to being born a trickster god that was adopted into another divine pantheon. This caused some gods like Irminsul to advocate for Flœrð's death and/or suppression for the good of all Deerkind, but Kaldr realized that to do so [[NotSoDifferent would make him no better than Irminsul]], who abused Temnobog simply for being born "evil" despite not having done anything to truly warrant it. Because of Kaldr's choice to become a good father instead, Flœrð became a heroic and well-adjusted trickster instead, and is actively fighting his supposed "destiny" by doing good deeds, despite what some people might say.

** High King Irminsul of the Elternteil pantheon is implied to possess divine purification, as he tried to purify his then-unborn son in the womb to make him a god of all that is pure of good. He ended up creating Belyolen and Temnobog instead, which ultimately led to the Elternteil pantheon itself splintering into two sub-pantheons partially because Irminsul's emotional abuse sickened some of his children enough for them to leave. Irminsul's actions also ''enraged'' Luminiferous, who called him out on enforcing his twisted ideas of perfection onto his child and stated he was no different from his own evil, narcissistic father, Morning Star.

* ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty: Subverted with divines, as they simply age ''very'' differently than mortals do while still being immortal and only growing StrongerWithAge. Twilight's current form is just starting an entirely different aging process, and Celestia and Luna, while not having physically aged in over a thousand years, are not yet remotely close to fully grown. The considerably older Luminiferous is not only larger, but has a natural gradient to his wings they don't, and the currently oldest introduced Alicorn (well Alicorn offshoot) Mzazi's (who's over ''4 million'') true form is a giant by normal pony standards, has a mane composed entirely of lightning, and has ''eight wings''. Mzazi explicitly states this is just how Alicorns grow and Luminiferous is about to start growing his second set of wings.

** King/High-Prince Thorax of the Autumn Court is an unusual example, since [[DeityOfHumanOrigin he's a newly-ascended Royal Changeling]]. Nevertheless, due to the unique circumstances of his rise in status, he has the same agelessness that is shared by his fellow Royals.

* ImmuneToFate: Luminiferous, as a God of Self-Determination, has the ability to 'Reject Fate.' This amounts to being able to break prophecies and reject any inevitable fate he doesn't want to happen.

* ImpossiblyCoolWeapon: Crazy Ant brought a 'gattling crossbow' to the Battle of Infernos, which is a gigantic steam-powered weapon with multiple full-sized crossbows on a rotating center axis. As if that wasn't enough to qualify, he made all the heads explosive to compensate for poor accuracy. Notably, it's this trope InUniverse, as said weapon was so oversized he needed a steam powered PoweredArmor just to use it... and not only was it a prototype that was deemed unfeasible to ever make more of, but every attempt to replicate it resulted in catastrophic failure. It is deduced the only reason Crazy Ant was able to use it effectively was because he's insane, which Crazy Ant himself agrees with.

** Befitting their name, Nature Giants are greatly attuned with nature, and even worship Gaea, a nature goddess, with their society being heavily matriarchal on the reason that WomenAreWiser due to Gaea's influence. While they're the most dedicated to protecting Equus's ecosystem, this trope also makes them [[HolierThanThou extremely haughty]] and distrustful of "smallfolk", seeing themselves as the rightful caretakers of nature while the other mortal races are uncaring, selfish, and destructive.

* {{Irony}}: Despite the ancient, bloody feud between their species, it's suggested the Dragons and Changelings actually complement one another extremely well and would be better off allies instead of enemies. It seems [[TheParagon Luminiferous]] has specifically chosen Thorax and Ember to raise up as proof of this fact, empowering them twice to act on it. Notably, when lent his future potential, Thorax became a Changeling Divine, something even the power-hungry Summer Court had long wrote off as impossible for anyone to achieve, implying the feud really ''is'' just holding everyone back.

* ItsPersonal:
** Deconstructed with the Changeling-Dragon Conflict, showing the sheer nightmarish horror this sort of attitude/grudge would lead to when taken to literally racial/historical levels, with both races having wronged each other and refusing to let go of their grudges, with terrible consequences for both sides and the world as a whole.

** Nature Giants, among some of the biggest Giants on Equus, are a race of druids attuned to nature ruled over by a theocratic matriarchal monarchy. They use to be more friendly to Tinies, but a terrible experience with Grogar and Tambelon's desecration of their domains in the First Age ruined their relationship with Tinies outsiders and promptly lead to their continued isolationism to this day.

** In an inversion, the villainous unicorn trio Decepticolt, Zappityhoof, and Goldencap believed that ''wings'' would give them power, and to fulfill their goal of becoming Alicorns, they stole Rainbow Dash's wings, rightfully angering Princess Twilight Sparkle into sealing/stripping their magic indefinitely.

** Celestia and Luna, as in canon.

* AdaptationExpansion: How [[VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks Sunnytown]] became cursed. The original game implied its inhabitants became cursed because of their crime of murdering an innocent filly for earning a Cutie Mark, but doesn't elaborate further. Here, it's explained that Pakak, the god of Karmic Mischief, was responsible, having been so enraged by the murder that he cursed Sunnytown to become a haunted place full of undead until the people accepted responsibility and atoned for their crimes.

** In ''VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks'', the Sunnytowners were turned into zombies for murdering an innocent filly, though what caused the curse. Here, it's stated that the curse was of divine nature - Pakak had been attending the party disguised as a pony when he witnessed the murder of Ruby Heart, and was so enraged that he cursed the entire town.

** After Twilight and Spike were saved by Blueblood from being assassinated by the [[FantasticRacism Children of Platinum]] faction, Rarity apparently hugged Twilight and Spike while in tears, terrified out of her mind by the thought of nearly losing two of her best friends to political conflict. The Mane Six's opinion of Blueblood in general also improved significantly because of this incident.
** Rarity also had a moment of this when Button Mash revealed what would happen to Sweetie Bell if he lost the "game" against [=CreepEntity513=], due to its intentions of targeting the Cutie Mark Crusaders after potentially killing Button Mash. Rarity was extremely worried, but also relieved that her younger sister was spared a horrible fate.

** Flœrð, the adoptive Jotunn son of High King Kaldr of the Hoyklan pantheon, was fated to cause the Codexverse's equivalent of [[{{Gotterdammerung Ragnarok]] due to being born a trickster god that was adopted into another divine pantheon. This caused some gods like Irminsul to advocate for Flœrð's death and/or suppression for the good of all Deerkind, but Kaldr realized that to do so [[NotSoDifferent would make him no better than Irminsul]], who abused Temnobog simply for being born "evil" despite not having done anything to truly warrant it. Because of Kaldr's choice to become a good father instead, Flœrð became a heroic and well-adjusted trickster instead, and is actively fighting his supposed "destiny" by doing good deeds.

** Queen Mab II the Floral Queen, mother deity of the Breezies with powers over flowers, acts as TeamMom for the Cosmic Council and is kind and compassionate. Just [[MamaBear don't threaten her people]] or [[BerserkButton call her small and weak]].

* GreyAndGrayMorality: "Queen Colossos' War" - the ancient conflict between an empire of Giants and the Crystal Empire 1,500 years ago is portrayed as this. Its outbreak was caused by a chain of unfortunate misunderstandings, which was in turn caused by bad luck, cultural attitudes and mortal failings that spiraled out of control. Neither side are portrayed as completely saints or sinners, completely at fault nor completely blameless, and in-universe it is ultimately considered to be "A disaster of monumental proportions" for everyone involved.

** Night Terror, an {{Expy}} of [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]], is punished for his misdeeds and attempting to trick himself out of his well-deserved punishment in Temnobog's hell-realms when Princess Luna and Tenya teamed up to defeat him and throw him in the real world. A furious Yarost was waiting for him, having learned that Night Terror got away thanks to Ispita, and dragged him down to the hell-realms once and for all.

*** Gleaming Shield, Radiant Primrose, and Blood Fang are inspired by [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link, Zelda, and Ganon/Ganondorf]], respectively. They still follow a cycle of reincarnation, except here, Blood Fang is a demigod unlike Ganondorf.

** It turns out Party Ponies with strange abilities like Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich likely are this trope: Pakak had twin daughters with his wife, Shady of G1, who in turn ascended to godhood and had children of their own and thus distant descendants, leading to similar powers to Pakak's ToonPhysics powers showing up in a very diluted form. Though this would mean the divine blood is ''extremely'' diluted by now.

** Crystal Prism, once a unicorn colt named Page Wheel, is physically a teenage Alicorn after Ascending very early in his life thanks to strange, traumatic circumstances. According to Twilight Sparkle, Crystal's stint as a [[MagicEater magic-absorbing]] monster gave him so much magic that after he was killed by Luminiferous and the Equestrian Princesses, the magic reacted by reviving Page Wheel's dead body in a cocoon, Ascending him in the process. So he's quite young both in mortal and divine terms, especially the latter since he's the equivalent of an infant demigod.

*** The Winter Court Changelings are reviled by the Summer Court Changelings, which speaks volumes of how far one had to fall in order to be treated with such contempt. To note, one of Blackthorn's First-Spawn sons, ex-King Rhyniognatha was banished/sealed away there after he tried killing his entire family for "stealing" his position as his father's favorite.

** Reactionary Pegasi attacked Polistes and his mother on the night his True Nature as a Royal Changeling manifested for having the audacity of innovating flying machines in his backstory. Reactionary Pegasi also persecuted the inventor of the 'Vortex Engine'. In both cases, they see aviation technology as 'blasphemous' and a threat to their dominance of the sky, [[{{Hypocrite}} though they're fine with pegasi and other winged creatures pursuing the same career choice]]. Polistes eventually got his revenge by leaving the ones who attacked him and his mother to the mercy of the Summer Court, while his crew evacuated those who weren't involved.

** Similarly, while Blood Fang is an evil Alicorn demigod and one of the most feared villains in Hyrule, he does have a sense of honor, whether fueled by pragmatism or a hidden soft heart. He opposes other villains as much he opposes his Eternal Foes, especially if their plans involve conquering Hyrule and/or destroying Equus for various reasons, and will not hesitate to get rid of them in various ways to ensure their plans don't succeed. Notable victims include the evil usurper Malus Tenebris, and one of the Storm King's generals.

''Codex Equus'' (previously named ''Codex Equestria'') is an ongoing, collaborative WorldBuilding project by [=BrutalityInc=] of ''Fanfic/EquestriaAcrossTheMultiverse'', Godzillawolf of the ''Fanfic/ThePonyPOVSeries'' fame, and many other writers.

''Codex Equus'' (previously named ''Codex Equestria'') is an ongoing, collaborative WorldBuilding project by [=BrutalityInc=] of ''Fanfic/EquestriaAcrossTheMultiverse'' fame, and many other writers.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: In-universe. This is often the case with Irminsul, father of Temnobog and Belyolen, and High King of the Elternteil pantheon. The morally pursitic Alvslog Deer herds portray him as a benevolent divine stag who can do no wrong, but in actuality Irminsul is a well-intentioned being with a multitude of issues, and emotionally abused Temnobog for simply being born "evil".

** The foster parents of Changeling King Lasius were worse - they were [[AristocratsAreEvil corrupt and lazy nobles]] who profited from the suffering of their subjects, and used their own money to fund their lavish lifestyles. They did nothing to encourage Lasius's brilliant intellect, causing him to grow increasingly bored and frustrated at home, and it's implied that if they got word of his true character, they would've tried persuading him into acting like them. Lasius eventually got fed up with this behavior and secretly assassinated every single member of the nobility and the kingdom's royal family during a party that ''he'' threw just for them. It's telling when Lasius's half-sister, Golden Bell, turned a blind eye to the familicide and had considered doing the deed herself, and even ''Blackthorn'' was pleased with Lasius for having plotted the entire nobility/royalty's downfall.

* AdaptationalKarma: Implied with Noble Grace and her assistant, Prof. Bubbling Beaker, both [[{{Expy}} Expies]] of [[Anime/MaryAndTheWitchsFlower Madam Mumblechook and Dr. Dee]]. Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker were disgraced teachers and criminals who both performed horrific experiments on young foals with the intention of mass-producing [[PhysicalGod Alicorns]] for the greater good of Equus, with one of their test subjects being a unicorn colt named Page Wheel, who would become the Alicorn demigod Crystal Prism. It's noted in Crystal Prism's profile that they were arrested and punished by the law for what they did [[spoiler:whereas in the original movie, both Madam Mumblechook and Dr. Dee have their lab destroyed by a transformed Peter, with the former being left completely powerless after absorbing her magic, and in the end they are both surrounded by the enraged animals they used to experiment on]].

* AntiAntichrist: Luminiferous, the clone/son of Morning Star, the one responsible for the destruction of the prehistoric Alicorn civilization, is this. His father created him to use as a living weapon to destroy his enemies, but Luminiferous (somehow) ended up raised by a loving family and turning into a noble hero who ultimately defeated his father and became one of the setting's BigGood entities.

---> '''Pyro II:''' Honestly, it made ''no'' thrice-damned ''sense''.

** Temnobog Cultists and Hydianites both revere and commit Evil out of ideological/religious reasons, though both takes it in opposite directions: the former sees Evil as (and should be) serving a necessary, constructive role in the world and that both Good and Evil must exist in balance. The latter group by contrast are selfish and destructive villains who worships Evil as freedom from all restraints, including morality. Naturally, [[EvilVersusEvil they don't get along]].

** Valefor, an enemy of future Dragon Lord Pyro II, had for his ultimate goal awakening and unleashing an ancient primordial demon to ravage the world. And he wanted to do this because... actually, nobody knows for sure, not even Pyro II. For all his evil and threat, Valefor had apparently no logical motive behind his plan, which confused everyone to no end.
---> '''Pyro II:''' Honestly, it made ''no'' thrice-damned sense.

** Valefor, an enemy of future Dragon Lord Pyro II, had for his ultimate goal awaken and unleash an ancient primordial demon capable of destroying the world. Why does he wanted to do this? Actually... no one was exactly sure, not even Pyro II. And as far as Pyro II knows, it wasn't apparently out of any rational motive.
----> '''Pyro II:''' Honestly, it made ''no'' thrice-damned sense.

''Codex Equus'' (previously named ''Codex Equestria'') is an ongoing, collaborative WorldBuilding project by [=BrutalityInc=] and many other writers.

* CrazyEnoughToWork: Crazy Ant's plan to stop the main two Changeling Courts from destroying his country: blackmail them both (including their parent deities) to leave them alone with a DeadMansSwitch will give every world leader all their secrets. Blackmailing two entire races of demi gods with their divine parents is naturally considered complete insane...which is exactly why it worked. Even Emperor Blackthorn was impressed. As more is revealed about Crazy Ant, it becomes apparent he does literally everything with this mindset in mind or at least that's what he wants everyone to think.

** One detailed in an entry sees him curse a trio of teenaged deer who have been heartlessly tormenting young fawns with curses that reflect their vices: the vain Morning Light is tricked into stealing a cursed flower from a fawn and putting it in her hair that makes her stink as rotten as her heart, the gluttonous North Star is tricked into stealing and eating a cursed flower that makes any food he eats taste as vile as his soul, and the cruel and sadistic Cold Wind is tricked into stealing and crushing a third cursed flower that makes him feel as cold as his heart. As all three curses are merely causing something to reflect the nature of their hearts, changing their ways reverses the curse. Morning Light and North Star eventually did so, but Cold Wind did not.

** Gleaming Shield, Radiant Primrose, and Blood Fang are inspired by [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link, Zelda, and Ganon/Ganondorf]], respectively. Their story about being reincarnations of specific people, as well as the deceased Alicorn goddess Hylia herself and Blood Feather, Blood Fang's mortal "ancestor", comes from ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword]]''. Queen Onyx Flare, an ally of Gleaming Shield who seeks to reclaim her throne from an evil usurper, Malus Tenebris, are both based on [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Midna and Zant]].

** Crystal Prism/Page Wheel and his neighbor/filly-friend, Midnight Bell, are respectively based on Peter and Mary from ''Anime/MaryAndTheWitchsFlower'', except they serve as a case of RealityEnsues that deconstructs various things in the movie, such as [[spoiler:how Peter would react to being experimented on and turned into a magic-eating monster, how Mary would feel knowing she endangered another person with her lies, and how each of them would try to cope with everything that has happened after returning to normal life]].

** King Strazha and Queen Vesna, sibling rulers of the Erobreseg Deer kingdom of Bitaniya, are expies of [[Anime/CodeGeass Lelouch and Nunnally]], respectively, with Strazha being the scheming, well-intentioned brother while Vesna is Strazha's very kind sister who was blinded and crippled when she was young [[spoiler:until she was healed by Belyolen]]. Their parents and relatives, King Rovnyy, Queen-Consort Milyala, and Prince Pobeda are expies of Charles, Marianne, and V.V. respectively [[spoiler:in that they still tried to make [[AssimilationPlot a world without lies]]]], but with a few differences - [[spoiler:Pobeda, unlike V.V., did not betray and kill his sister-in-law out of jealousy, instead treating her as an ally; and Strazha killed his parents and uncle by himself instead of commanding "God" to do it like Lelouch did]].

** As implied in Prince Blueblood's entry, there's also a pro-unicorn faction called the Children of Platinum, who true to stereotypes vie for unicorn supremacy and likewise want to overthrow the Alicorns so they could establish unicorns as rulers and the master race of Ponykind. One such member, who was one of Blueblood's surviving relatives, was involved in the failed assassination of Princess Twilight Sparkle, which Blueblood also foiled. [[LaserGuidedKarma She and her cohorts also ended up getting sentenced by Blueblood himself]].

** Night Terror, a serial killer from the Deer realms who is the villainous {{Expy}} of [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]], was fatally burned alive by the grieving parents of the young fawns he killed. However, [[KarmaHoudini he managed to cheat his way out of hell]] by making a secret deal with Ispita, causing his soul to end up in the dream realm instead. Yarost was ''enraged'' when he discovered this, due to his hatred of oath-breakers and Ispita in general, and helped Princess Luna and Tenya find and confront Night Terror.
When Night Terror was made powerless, defeated, and thrown to the real world by the two goddesses, [[OhCrap a furious Yarost was waiting for him, with no other way out of what awaited below]]. Temnobog himself lampshades how Night Terror was TooDumbToLive by thinking he could worm his way out of his rightfully-deserved punishment.