History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E6PowerPonies

** Rainbow/Zapp controls the forces of weather with her necklace, making her a stand-in for [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]] and ComicBook/{{Storm}}. (In the second Annual issue of the comics, this leans more toward Thor with her archaic speech patterns.)

** And outside of ''Avengers'' mashups, a comparison of Applejack to Franchise/WonderWoman.

** Among the Power Ponies is Mistress Mare-velous, who's essentially a Franchise/{{Batman}}-esque hero except for the lasso that can be controlled by thought.

** Applejack/Mistress Mare-velous wields a lasso (which glows when in use), a nod to Franchise/WonderWoman and a hint of Franchise/{{Batman}} with a pair of horseshoes she throws around the ankles of a charging mook to stop him. It helps that Wonder Woman's lasso is known as the "Lasso of Truth" and Applejack is the element of honesty.
** Pinkie Pie/Fili-Second is a stand-in for Franchise/TheFlash. [[note]]Honestly, she's a ''lot'' like Bart Allen as Impulse -- the costume's even a bit similar -- but given the WordOfGod, this was probably an accidental result of giving a goofy, hyperactive FunPersonified character SuperSpeed.[[/note]]

** Rarity/Radiance's power to create "attack constructs" from her jewelry is equivalent to that of Franchise/GreenLantern, though her color is more in like with Star Sapphire.
** Twilight/Masked Matter-Horn is able to shoot various forms of magical beams from her horn, similar to [[Franchise/XMen Cyclops]].

** The Mane-iac is a combination of a number of different supervillains: ComicBook/TheJoker (origin, green hair, and insanity), [[Franchise/SpiderMan Doctor Octopus]] (mad scientist behavior and the distinctive way that he moves around with super-powered appendages), and [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls Sedusa]] (PrehensileHair and overall hair theme).

** The episode features a city called [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Maretropolis]].

** The Mane-iac resembles Medusa from Myth/GreekMythology. She also uses her tentacle hair to move about in a fashion similar to Doctor Octopus of ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' fame. The PrehensileHair aspect, as mentioned above, also makes her similar to Medusa of ''ComicBook/TheInhumans'', Sedusa from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scream_%28comics%29 Scream]] from ''Franchise/SpiderMan''. (Prior to this reveal, fans gave the character the nickname "Mare-dusa" due to this connection, and she used to be tagged "Doc Sedusapus" on Derpibooru).

** Her oversized functioning props is a clear homage to Bill Finger, a major [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] writer of Franchise/{{Batman}} and the original Franchise/GreenLantern who often had such props in his stories.

** Rarity's [[Franchise/GreenLantern constructs]] being ''pink'' also alludes to the Star Sapphire Corps or [[Franchise/Ben10 Gwen Tennyson]].

* SuperheroEpisode: The second one, after "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E8TheMysteriousMareDoWell The Mysterious Mare Do Well]]", though this one is more explicitly so with the costumes and the city being called [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Maretropolis]]. The characters even have superpowers based on things they can do anyway: Twilight has earlier used beam attacks, Pinkie Pie always moves at arbitrarily high speeds, Applejack is already a champion with lassos and throwing horseshoes, weather control is Rainbow Dash's day job, Fluttershy can ''intimidate'' a dragon when she's angered, and Rarity is an established artist/designer who gets on a roll when inspired.

-->'''Mane-iac:''' Puh-lease. Everypony knows you just keep him around because you ([[KickTheDog condescending tone]]) feel sowwy for him. Wah. Wah.

'''Mane-iac:''' (''[[EvilLaugh laughs]]'') I see dementia must be a side-effect of prolonged exposure to the Hairspray Ray of Doom.

* WhatMeasureIsANonBadass: InUniverse, Spike dislikes the character Humdrum for being a bumbling sidekick useless compared to the Power Ponies, reminding Spike of his own perceived inadequacy.

* VillainousBreakdown: A quite SurpriseCreepy one, as the Mane-iac goes LaughingMad upon being trapped in her own hair, sounding very different from her typical laughter so that it's clear her mind has snapped.

** A RunningGag is made of Lampshading [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles the uselessness of Humdrum's cape]].

* AwesomeButImpractical: The hairspray completely paralyzes ponies and takes away their powers, but only lasts a couple minutes. Mane-iac compensates by assigning one of her henchmen to give another dose when it's about to wear off. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments He uses an egg timer.]]

** Creator/AndreaLibman does a fair bit of [[ChewingTheScenery scenery chewing]] when Fluttershy[=/=]Saddle Rager finally [[HulkingOut hulks out]]... then Saddle Rager starts to literally [[UpToEleven chew the scenery]].

* RageBreakingPoint: With an heavy emphasis on "rage"! Fluttershy is unable to unleash her Saddle Rager persona until the near end of the episode, [[spoiler: when she sees The Mane-iac swatting away a random firefly. Being a lover of all things animals, Fluttershy is reasonably upset, to put it mildly, and finally [[HulkingOut hulks out]] complete with RantInducingSlight.]]

* TheScrappy: In-universe, Spike really hates Humdrum. Not least because the bumbling sidekick reminds him too much of himself.

* WinsByDoingAbsoluetlyNothing: How the first battle with Mane-iac goes. She starts the battle by tossing a few things at the heroes, but other than that barely needs to do anything. The Mane Six [[HowDoIShotWeb don't know how to properly use their new powers]] and end up doing more damage to themselves than the Mane-iac does, allowing her to just sit back and enjoy the show. Once she's had her fill watching them humiliate themselves, she just leaves unopposed.