Characters / Friendship Is Magic: Princess Celestia

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Main Index The Main Cast: Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Starlight Glimmer, the Cutie Mark Crusaders Supporting Cast: The Princesses (Princess Celestia, Princess Luna), Mane Family Members, the School of Friendship, Ponyville, Other Locations, Animal Companions Antagonists: Major Villains (Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra, Lord Tirek, Cozy Glow), Dangerous Creatures, Jerks and Bullies, Redeemed Antagonists (Discord) World of Equestria: Races, Historical Figures, The 2017 Movie, Expanded Universe, Toyline Exclusive, Miscellaneous Minor Characters: One-Shots, Other Characters, Background Ponies (Common Background Ponies, Special Background Ponies, Other Background Ponies) Equestria Girls: Heroines (Sunset Shimmer), Villains, Supporting Cast

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Don't ask us how she brushes that mane.

"I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart."

First Mention: "Friendship is Magic, part 1" ("Mare in the Moon")
Full Debut: "Friendship is Magic, part 2" ("Elements of Harmony")

Voiced by: Nicole Oliver^{Foreign VAs} Rebeca Patiño (Latin American Spanish); Kikuko Inoue [Seasons 1-2, Equestria Girls], Yuri Makuta [Season 3-onwards] (Japanese)

Co-ruler of Equestria. According to the Creation Myth, she governs both the sun and the moon, though she originally commanded "merely" the former and only assumed control of the latter after a disagreement with her sister. However, since said sister's return, she has passed the reigns of the moon back to Luna. A white-winged alicorn with a multicolored ethereal mane, she is noticeably taller and more slender than her subjects.

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Tropes A to L

• Abdicate the Throne: In the opening of season 9, she announces her and Luna's intent to retire from ruling Equestria and make Twilight its sole ruler. This is finally carried out in flashbacks from the "The Last Problem", with the two giving Twilight control over the sun and moon during her coronation, and then leaving Canterlot for Silver Shoals.
• Action Girl: She was one of Equestria's main heroes in the past, having taken down several god-like threats along with her sister and maintaining peace in the land. In the present, she has no problem helping out the Mane 6 if she really has to although it doesn't always end well for her....
• Absurd Phobia: Celestia — the centuries-old monarch who faced down the likes Discord, King Sombra, Lord Tirek, and Nightmare Moon — is deathly afraid of... chickens.
• Always Someone Better: Luna eventually felt this way about her, leading to her fall from grace. In the present, she still shows resentment at times over Celestia being more popular.
• Anti-Mentor: Celestia is a good mentor in magic considering that all her known students are immensely powerful. However, her teachings in the magic of friendship is sorely lacking, possibly because she's spent the last 1000 years as The Aloner. She certainly tries to encourage her students to make friends, but both of her most recent students spent their time under Celestia's tutelage being antisocial shut-ins, only making friends when outside circumstances forced them. In fact, her only student who had a good grasp on friendship was Radiant Hope in the comics, who was manipulated by her "friends" into unleashing an Ancient Evil. Woops.
• Badass in Distress: Despite being a Physical Goddess, in the course of the series she's been captured seven times: by Nightmare Moon (maybe), Queen Chrysalis, the Plunder Vines (along with Luna), Tirek (along with Luna and Cadance), Chrysalis again (along with Luna, Cadance, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, and the Mane Six), Tempest Shadow (along with Luna and Cadance), and the Season 9 villain trio (along with Luna, the Pillars of Equestria, Discord, and the Mane Cast except Twilight). Some episodes and statements throughout the series imply that the reason why she's defeated and captured so much despite being immensely powerful is because she is Willfully Weak due to fearing the destruction/collateral damage her unchecked power may cause ( she is also afraid of turning into Daybreaker) and also because she wants Twilight and her friends to save the day so they can become independent and stronger heroes as well as to prepare Twilight to become the new ruler of Equestria in her place.
• Badass Teacher: She's Twilight's personal mentor in the Magic of Friendship. She also posseses powerful magic and over the years, she fought against Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysallis, King Sombra and Tirek.
• Bad "Bad Acting": In "Horse Play", she proves to be a terrible actress, alternating between over-acting and under-acting: she starts out whispering at a barely audible level, overcompensates by going into the ear-splittingly loud Royal Canterlot Voice, can't work through a choreography to save her life and has seemingly no ability to suspend disbelief whatsoever. She can't even play charades.
• Barrier Warrior: She can create magical barriers at will.
• Berserk Button: The misuse of magic really makes her mad, such as the incidents with Discord or Twilight Sparkle in "Lesson Zero".
• Beware the Nice Ones: She is a kind, gentle and benevolent lady who put down two gods and a unicorn tyrant. She also essentially sent Tirek to Hell. She may be a kindhearted, forgiving sort, but she shows no lenience to the irredeemably evil.
• Big Damn Heroes: In "The Return of Harmony", she sends back all of Twilight's friendship reports to break Discord's corruption on her and reunite her friends.
• Big Eater: "Ponyville Confidential" caught her indulging on mountains of cake. Possibly justified in that she is over twice the size of most of her subjects.
• Big Fancy Castle: An homage to Minas Tirith.
• Big Good: She is ruler over the whole setting, Twilight's mentor, the one who more often than not tells the mane six they need to save Equestria and easily the most resourceful character on the show — and armed with the massive power that comes with being a Physical Goddess, to boot. The major villains see her as their chief opponent, and she's always the one to send out the heroes against them.
• Big Sister Instinct: Do not mess with her little sister or her much younger niece. It will end badly for you.
• Boring, but Practical: Of all the Princesses, she's the only one seen running a government.
• Broken Ace: She's powerful and beloved by all of the ponies she cares for in the kingdom, but her inability to constantly protect them, as in the cases with Discord and Queen Chrysalis, as well as being unable to save the Crystal Ponies weighs down on her heart. In the Season 4 finale, she also knows she will be unable to protect them once she transfers her magic to Twilight with Luna and Cadance before being captured by the villain, who then turns his attention to getting all their magic from Twilight, including hers.
• Casting a Shadow: Celestia is capable of using King Sombra's dark magic to this effect. Dark Is Not Evil because she does it as a demonstration for Twilight before sending her to stop him.
• Catchphrase:
  • "That's quite alright" in the first couple of seasons, although by Seasons 3 and 4 it doesn't show up much anymore, and it's completely absent afterwards.
  • When addressing multiple ponies at the same time, she usually refers to them as "My Little Ponies" ^note Justified, perhaps, since she's one of few full-size horses in the series. Note that "My little ponies" seems to be a pretty common way in Equestria for adult mares/stallions to address younger fillies/colts. And given that Celestia is the oldest living equine in the setting, by comparison everyone would be "little".
• The Chains of Commanding:
  • A far more benign example, but Celestia shows a great desire to be in a closer and more personal relationship with her subjects instead of the adoration, noble politeness, praise, and nervousness she causes wherever she goes, and she holds extremely dear her informal relationship with her star student. That being said, Celestia does have her limits. In the "Neigh Anything" arc in the comics, when Buck starts acting way too personal on her, Celestia tells Cadance to ditch him as soon as she can.
  • We also see signs of this in her disdain for the Grand Galloping Gala, though given that she seems to spend much of it greeting the numerous guests, it's not hard to imagine why she says that it's always awful. She also loathed the Summer Sun Festival because it served as an annual reminder of having to seal her sister away. She loathes it no longer now that Luna is back.
  • In "A Royal Problem", Luna learns just how difficult it is to be "perfect for everypony" and tells her sister to drop the mask whenever she herself is around.
• Characterization Marches On: Beginning with Season 2, the show has depicted a more serious and strict side of Celestia, contrasting with her ever calm and relaxed personality from Season 1. She can be fallible, have moments of vulnerability, be overwhelmed by her opponents, feel fear, get upset or angered, and on rare occasions even act downright childish. Season 7 and the comic books depict her as being a Slave to PR who never lets her caring persona drop.
• The Chessmaster: She used her god-like power to defeat her enemies in the backstory. In the main narrative she wins through clever planning. The pilot, the first season finale, and the two-part Season 2 opening provide examples. The show can leave you wondering if Celestia is in fact a Chessmaster or is simply an amazing Gambit Roulette player. This dissonance is mainly due to the exact workings of her prescience being left intentionally vague.
  Lauren Faust: I never wanted to define her [precognitive] abilities, even to myself. I wanted her to be mysterious and hard to understand on purpose. There are things she knows, things she has a mere sense for and things she can't see at all. invoked
• Color-Coded Wizardry: As of Season 2, her horn and objects affected by her magic have a bright yellow glow.
• Cool Big Sis: It's obvious Celestia adores Luna after she gets reverted from being Nightmare Moon, and Part 1 of "The Return of Harmony" confirms they were good friends before that (sharing the Elements of Harmony). In the Season 4 premiere, a flashback shows them doing just that: sharing the Elements of Harmony, to defeat Discord together.
• Cool Teacher: To Twilight Sparkle. Her idea of the "best night ever" is talking with Celestia all night.
• A Day in the Limelight: Downplayed in "Celestial Advice", while the episode puts her in a supporting role, we get to see things from her perspective and the episodes shows some of her past hidden insecurities about letting Twilight go.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • Since Twilight's transformation at the end of season 3 and the show's Retool of the aesops being recorded in journals rather than being sent to her in letters, Celestia's presence on the show has notably been reduced. She only showed up in the fourth season premiere, the penultimate episode, "Equestria Games", and the fourth season finale.
  • Her first appearance in Season 5 has her placed as a secondary character since it focused more on her former arch-enemy than the ponies.
  • Season 6 had her only show up in the premiere, a couple of episodes after that, with or without a speaking role, and then the second half of the finale after she's kidnapped by Queen Chrysalis with the Mane Six and the rest of the Royal Family early on off-screen. She has more presence in season 7, talking Twilight through her concerns during the premiere ("Celestial Advice") and then having a character-focus episode with her sister in the form of "A Royal Problem".
• Depending on the Artist: Celestia's coat looks white, but is actually a very light fuchsia-grey. Her human counterpart in Equestria Girls has light pink skin, her depiction in the comics usually has a light lavender coat, stylized depictions of her like storybooks and the stained glass windows in Canterlot depict her as light pink, and her toys range from white to vibrant pink.
• Dispel Magic: Her most common use of her powers early on is to neutralize out-of-control magic, like with young Twilight Sparkle's wild surge in the flashback of "The Cutie Marks Chronicles", or her "Want-It Need-It" spell in "Lesson Zero".
• Disproportionate Retribution: She doesn't actually indulge in this herself, but some of her subjects (Twilight in particular, who should really know her better) seem to fear she will enforce exaggerated punishments, such as banishing people, or throwing them into dungeons, or banishing them and also throwing then into dungeons, for minor infractions like looking after her pet without permission or missing a school assignment. While she has dished out horrible punishments, it never falls into this as Discord, King Sombra, and Tirek were all absolute monsters who deserved what they got. Her imprisoning Cozy Glow in Tartarus despite her just being a child might give some credibility to this, but even then Cozy Glow is a power-hungry manipulator who nearly succeeded in draining all of Equestria's magic for a power grab. That being said, turning her to stone in the finale could very well be seen as this considering the fact that she could have easily been re-imprisoned and wasn't a threat at that point, especially bad since no indication is given that Cozy will ever be let out, ever.
• Dream-Crushing Handicap: She has wanted to be a stage actress (at least for one production) since she was young, but she's seemingly irrecoverably talentless at anything remotely related to acting.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: The season four finale reveals that Celestia can have clairvoyant visions in her sleep. The one seen is of the present, so it's unknown if she can see the future or the past, but she can't seem to have them on purpose or guide them. This ability may explain some of the seemingly illogical choices and plans she has made over the course of the series, her visions telling her what to do in a way that will make things work out best, even if she appears to be sabotaging herself.
• Eccentric Mentor: She's got a mischievous sense of humor for a Physical Goddess and wise mentor.
• Ermine Cape Effect: While not to the tacky extreme seen in other girl shows, she is constantly dressed in impeccable finery and a tiara every time she appears. There's also her rainbow-colored gravity-defying hair. For Twilight's coronation ceremony in "Magical Mystery Cure", we see her in full regalia for the first time, including an ermine-trimmed crown instead of her usual tiara.
• Failure Knight:
  • She was unable to save the Crystal Ponies from Sombra's final curse and she failed to prevent her younger sister Princess Luna from being corrupted and turning into Nightmare Moon, which haunted her for over 1,000 years. Then her prized student Sunset Shimmer turns on her and demands to be made a princess, fleeing into another world to plot her revenge when denied. Then Discord comes back and leaves her powerless to stop him from terrorizing Equestria. Next, Queen Chrysalis successfully infiltrates her niece Cadance's wedding and defeats her in direct combat before having her cocooned to prevent further trouble from her. And after that, she and Luna are both seized by the wild vines growing out of the Everfree Forest and imprisoned until Twilight and company save them. It happens again when Lord Tirek imprisons her, Luna, and Cadance, before going after Twilight and her friends and getting bested in combat and thus freeing them once more. Worse, in the Season 6 finale, Celestia is captured by a vengeful Queen Chrysalis off-camera without any indication of a struggle alongside Luna, who actually did try to struggle and attempt to escape, Cadance, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, Spike, and the Mane Six, and remains stuck in a cocoon again for who knows how long before being freed with the others by Starlight Glimmer and Chrysalis' Swarm pulling a Heel–Race Turn. Needless to say, once Chrysalis reveals herself to still be alive, Celestia is furious over what the former Queen put her and the others through, but doesn't get the chance to get some payback as Chrysalis escapes to plan her future revenge.
  • The IDW comics see Celestia admonishing herself for her past decisions a few times. The whole "Reflections" arc in the comic book was caused by Celestia's acts of youthful impulse finally catching up to her. Her constant jumping between worlds to be with the good version of King Sombra finally caused Starswirl the Bearded to destroy the passage between the worlds, leading to a falling out with Starswirl.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: Her mane often covers one of her eyes.
• For Happiness: And friendship, and magic, and cakes.
• Friend to All Living Things: She tells Fluttershy that she also cares for animals in the episode "A Bird in the Hoof".
• The Gadfly: Not for nothing is "Trollestia" a meme. Since most ponies are completely in awe of her, she often has to resort to good-natured teasing to get them to lighten up. She considers the Grand Galloping Gala to be dreadfully dull, and is highly amused when Twilight, and later Discord, end up ruining the festivities.
• Gentle Giant: Much bigger than the ponies and just as benevolent.
• Genki Girl: "Between Dawn and Dusk" reveals the biggest reason Celestia and Luna don't get along is because Celestia is a larger-than-life extrovert in her free time, while Luna is a reserved introvert.
• Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: She's an extremely regal and graceful princess, both in appearance and personality, and also a Big Eater (who is weak for cake) and is an excitable Thrill Seeker who is not above pranking and screwing with those who are close to her (as Luna, Sunset and Twilight can attest to).
• God Is Good: She makes the sun rise, she's involved in the creation myth, her subjects say things like "as Celestia is my witness," etc. (Though she's later surprised she had become such an idiom.)
• God Job: Bringing the Sun and the Moon up every day for a thousand years until Luna was redeemed, and the Sun alone for some while before and since.
• God of Good: While her overt role is being the goddess of the sun, she fills most other qualities and in the creation story she's heavily connected to the Elements of Harmony.
• God of Light: Celestia governs the sun and the day.
• Gold and White Are Divine: Her coat is white, wears gold accessories and she is a Physical Goddess.
• Gold Makes Everything Shiny: All of her accessories are gold.
• Good Is Not Soft: She's a genuinely good pony who cares about her subjects and sister with all her heart. That said, she shows no mercy to a truly evil villain like Discord and was willing to seal her own sister away when she turned into Nightmare Moon.
• Guile Hero: She's more than willing to resort to sneaky plans to lead the heroes to victory. She masterminded Discord's defeat simply by sending Twilight Sparkle all of the friendship letters she'd sent the entire first season.
• Hates Being Alone: During the time she and her sister have their marks switched, part of why she finds Luna's duties so hard on her is that she just doesn't work as well alone. With no-one to talk to, she quickly ends up talking to herself constantly, visibly stressed out for it. However, given how she raised both the sun and the moon, it's possible that she has been like this for centuries since Luna's banishment and it's likely that it left her with some emotional scars from it.
• Her Heart Will Go On: The ending of the Reflections storyline of the comic ends her relationship with Sombra's Good Counterpart.
• Hero of Another Story: The IDW comics show her going on her own saving-Equestria adventures while the Mane Six go on theirs.
• The Hero's Idol: Twighlight's entire motivation for learning magic is owed to Princess Celestia and her appearance at the Summer Sun Celebration, and Princess Celestia becomes her mentor.
• Hidden Depths:
  • She comes across mostly as a formal and regal High Queen, and it comes across stronger to her subjects. Now observe her mischievous side, such as inviting the Mane Six and later Discord to the Grand Galloping Gala to liven up the night.
  • The Reflections story line in the comic shows that once upon a time, Celestia was just as inexperienced in matters of her duties as Twilight. Furthermore, she still had the emotional wants and needs of any other woman or mare, such as companionship or romance.
  • She enjoys cooking and making table spreads, which she does for Luna (but doesn't get much appreciation for it) in "A Royal Problem".
  • "2, 4, 6, Greaaat" reveals that Celestia is quite the sports fan. She starts an interscholastic buckball league between the various schools in Equestria, with the inaugural match played between her school and Twilight's. During the match itself, she loudly (as in, uses the Royal Canterlot Voice) cheers for her school's team.
• The High Queen: Most everypony around her treats her like this, but it's implied she'd prefer a more relaxed approach.
• Hot Goddess: She is drawn in a more clean, shiny, "beautiful" and pretty style compared to the rest of the cast. It's implied that she is (or fits) the ideal for equine beauty in Equestria; for example, the beauty parlor in Ponyville has a picture of a pony with her tall and slender proportions.
• In-Series Nickname: According to The Journal of the Two Sisters, Luna calls her "Celie".
• Interspecies Adoption: Lauren Faust at one point stated that it was Celestia that adopted and raised Spike (who is a dragon, no less) after he hatched from his egg. If the way he turned out is any indication, Celestia seemed to know what she was doing in rearing him.
• It's Personal: While we don't learn exactly what he did, it's clear from how she reacts to Discord being released that she has a great disdain for him.
• Lady of War:
  • She retains a refined air even when firing a deadly solar beam that comes this close to reducing Chrysalis to ashes.
  • We even see some evidence which shows how she and her sister were these in the past when Discord and King Sombra were involved.
• Literal-Minded: Her acting coaching in "Horse Play" goes terribly thanks to this.
• Light Is Good: She's the Big Good and is strongly associated with the sun.
• Lonely at the Top: She suffers a small degree of this, though it may have been cured after her reunion with her sister. Seems to tie in to why she Hates Being Alone — after a thousand years of enduring this, she has her sister back and does not want to return to her previous condition.
• Lying by Omission: Downplayed. She doesn't leave it out maliciously, but when recounting the history of Sombra and the Crystal Empire, she uses passive voice to describe how Sombra was overthrown and turned to shadow. The visuals, meanwhile, show quite clearly that Sombra's defeat was at the hooves of Celestia and Luna themselves, implying that Celestia is intentionally leaving out her own part in events.

Tropes M to W

• Mama Bear: Though this extends to all her subjects, with Twilight it is especially severe, do not mess with her apprentice or you will know her wrath.
• Master-Apprentice Chain: Her student in the Magic of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle, eventually becomes a teacher in her own right to Starlight Glimmer.
• Mentor Archetype: To Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer. She is the age-old mentor who helps Twilight get started on her trip to Ponyville.
• Metalhead: Apparently, her voice actress has stated that her favorite type of music is '80s' Metal. invoked
• Metaphorically True: Celestia tends to use half-truths whenever she's planning something. None of what she says is untrue, but she lies by omission pretty often.
• Modest Royalty: She is very social and prefers livelier, more personal get-togethers over extravagant soirees. It turns out this is one of the major reasons she invites Twilight and her friends to the Grand Galloping Gala. She hates how dull the event usually is since she effectively spends the whole Gala welcoming guests and doesn't get to enjoy it, and she's hoping the girls will liven things up a bit. They do. It happens again in Season 5 when she invites her former arch-enemy, Discord, to the Gala to liven things up like the Mane Six did previously. While secretly enjoying the chaos and mischief Discord and the Smooze cause, she physically acts like she is just as annoyed and discomforted by their actions as everypony else is, especially since she is always with Twilight when things went crazy. At the end of it all, she reveals the truth to Twilight, leaving Twilight completely baffled.
• Ms. Exposition: Many of her appearances in the series boil down to being this, mainly describing how creatures and artifacts work.
• My Greatest Failure: That Celestia has so many of these is to show us that despite being the pony equivalent of a goddess, she's just as fallible as anypony — and that no one knows this better than she does.
  • Despite putting a stop to his evil, she seems to feel very guilty about being unable to protect the Crystal Ponies from King Sombra's last curse.
  • It tore her up when she had to exile her sister to the moon, and the plot of the pilot is to remedy this.
  • Equestria Girls adds Sunset Shimmer, a pony she took under her wing not long before Twilight Sparkle that became cruel and dishonest despite Celestia's best efforts, to the list. Sunset's eventual fall from grace reminded Celestia of her forced banishment of Nightmare Moon, and she kept the mirror that Sunset escaped into as a reminder and in hopes of her wayward student's possible return, which eventually occurs in Forgotten Friendship where Celestia and the now-redeemed Sunset have a happy reunion.
  • The Reflections arc in the comics reveals that all of these failures have taken a heavy toll on her, and adds yet another: her falling out with Starswirl the Bearded and her use of the alternate world and Mirror Sombra to help alleviate her mountains of grief. It also shows that she is afraid of everypony, especially Twilight and Luna, finding out about her mistakes. Luna is able to snap her out of it by telling her it's nice to know she isn't actually perfect.
  • In Issue #98 of the comics, Celestia recalls how she and Luna were given doll versions of themselves as fillies by the royal court of Canterlot, to protect as they would one day protect the citizens of Equestria. When the dolls were lost during an encounter with a Kraken, Celestia believed that they had failed to protect them, and the guilt of their assumed failure followed her for years afterward.
• Nice Girl: One of the most well-meaning, kind rulers.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: Her reaction to Discord's escape. She calls the Mane Cast in and outright tells them to use the Elements Of Harmony to take Discord out ASAP. Unfortunately, Discord is more savvy, but she earns points for trying. Justified as she was there the last time he was free and knows just how dangerous he really is.
• No Sense of Direction: After splitting from Luna in "Between Dark and Dawn", Celestia ends up getting lost, noting to herself that Luna usually read the maps.
• One-Hour Work Week: Averted. "A Royal Problem" in particular has Luna going through what amounts to a normal day for Celestia, which includes various appearances, watching what she says, and presiding over court, all of which leave her exhausted and with little time for herself.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Her behavior in the Season 2 premiere is at odds with her normally relaxed manner in the first season, which serves to underline how serious a threat Discord is. To compare, when dealing with Nightmare Moon, she lets Twilight stumble upon the answer. Here, she calls the Mane Six and straight up tells them to take Discord out.
  • Also, the Season 2 premiere is the first time when Celestia is shown to be vulnerable and fallible: She is unable to wield the power of the Elements of Harmony, Discord outsmarts her by stealing the Elements out from under her nose, and rather than resort to an alternate plan, Celestia's only reaction is to jaw-drop and stand there with an Oh, Crap! expression on her face. Yes; Discord is that much of a menace.
  • "Lesson Zero" also showed us the first time Celestia gets visibly upset at Twilight's irresponsible use of magic; the Oh, Crap! look on Twilight and her friends was worth a thousand words.
  • In "A Canterlot Wedding – Part 1", she's obviously pissed at Twilight after the latter confronts the fake Cadance at the wedding rehearsal. In Part 2, she goes straight-up Lady of War on the revealed Queen Chrysalis... right before getting worfed.
  • In "A Royal Problem", her patience with Luna has been worn down to the point that she breaks into a extremely uncharacteristically loud and childish argument with her. When Starlight attempts to resolve this by switching their cutie marks, Celestia once again reverts to a controlled but very intimidating form of anger, something Starlight is very aware of and grovels terrified to stay reasonable with.
• Parental Substitute:
  • Word of God mentions that Spike was reared by Celestia. However, this is in conflict with some later material. Most notably, Issue #40 of the main series of comics has it that Celestia only reared Spike from the time from when Twilight hatched him to the time when she began attending Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, at which point she handed care of him to Twilight. Assuming that there wasn't a delay of more than a year or so between Twilight passing the entrance exam and her actually starting school, this would mean Celestia only reared Spike for a few months at most. From there, Twilight reared Spike more or less on her own. However flashbacks in "Sparkle's Seven" show Spike being raised alongside Twilight and Shining Armor by their parents.
  • To Sunset Shimmer. Unlike Twilight, there is no mention of Sunset's parents, so the only guardian Sunset is ever shown to have is Celestia, and their relationship certainly carries undertones of a mother and daughter who have a bad falling out. Especially apparent in Forgotten Friendship, where their reconciliation is marked by Celestia telling her that she missed her, Sunset breaking down in tears, and them embracing.
• The Performer King: Princess Celestia loves theater and always dreamed of acting in a play, even though her royal duties have never allowed her to take the time to do this. On learning this in "Horse Play", Twilight decides to give her the starring role in a play she had been writing about Celestia's own early life and ascent to rulership. Celestia is overjoyed, and takes to the role with gusto... until it turns out that she's an incredibly bad actress.
• Perky Goth: The ToysRUs exclusive Ponymania collector's set includes a gothic-themed redeco of her, complete with what appear to be French stockings.
• Personality Powers: She's warm, sensible and motherly, matching the warmth and life-sustaining rays of the sun that she controls.
• Person of Mass Destruction: It's implied that if she truly cuts loose, she is capable of being this. When she manifested in a dream, Celestia's Superpowered Evil Side Daybreaker doesn't hold back, and generates gigantic pillars and explosions of fire.
• Physical Goddess: Her great age and immense power qualify her as such. Whether she is literally a god or not, she's certainly a couple tiers above other ponies.
• Pink Means Feminine: Her mane and tail qualify her for this.
• Playing with Fire: Considering she's a sun goddess, this goes without saying. This is taken to literal measures when she's with her pet phoenix Philomena. And then there's Daybreaker.....
• The Power of the Sun: She is the one responsible for moving the sun and her magic normally involves light.
• The Prankster: Ascended Fanon; "A Bird in the Hoof", "The Best Night Ever", and "Make New Friends But Keep Discord" shows her engaging in lighthearted mischief at her subjects' expense, and "Castle Mane-ia" reveals that she filled her old castle with booby-traps for the sole purpose of pranking Luna. invoked
• Princesses Prefer Pink:
  • Downplayed in-show, as she has pink in her hair and has pink outlines but is mostly white. However, most toys based off her were Enforced into becoming this, as toy retailers would only sell it in pink despite the fact that she's shown as white on the box (and in the commercials).
  • Played straight in the episode "Magical Mystery Cure", where she wears a pink Pimped-Out Dress during Twilight Sparkle's coronation ceremony.
  • In Season 5's "Make New Friends but Keep Discord", she wears a pink, Roman-like dress for the Grand Galloping Gala, instead of just her tiara, horseshoes, and collar like back in Season 1's "The Best Night Ever".
• Projectile Spell: She can fire extremely powerful beams of light these from her massive horn.
• Psychoactive Powers: In comics Issue #98. Celestia loses the ability to use her magic after her anguish over the encounter with the Kraken becomes too much for her to bare.
• Rainbows and Unicorns: Princess Celestia is a Winged Unicorn whose mane and tail are blue, green, pink, and purple.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: She's willing to listen to her subjects and is generally understanding and forgiving... unless you're irredeemably evil.
• Renowned Selective Mentor: Is this for Twilight Sparkle. She was also this for Sunset Shimmer, but Sunset wasted the opportunity.
• Requisite Royal Regalia: Not really necessary, but she is always adorned with a golden tiara, a golden necklace, and golden shoes.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something:
  • She maintains life in Equestria by raising the sun every morning. When Luna was banished, she also raised the moon.
  • She put down Discord, Nightmare Moon, and King Sombra. And several hundred years ago defeated Queen Chrysalis and her army as well.
  • Apparently, she also seems to be the source (or a catalyst) of many of the magical properties in Equestria.
  • In the comics we get to see just how much she does when Luna takes over for her for a day.
  • In the Season 4 episode, "Equestria Games", when an accident involving an archery competition endangers her people, she flies up to assist the Pegasus ponies with her little sister, albeit in more of a supportive role to avoid endangering herself and Luna, until Spike tells them to get clear before melting the threat himself.
  • In the Season 5 finale, in an alternate timeline where Sombra returned to power in the Crystal Empire as the Mane Six were not there to help Cadance and Shining Armor free the Crystal Ponies, Celestia, as Commander-in-Chief of Equestria's military, leads the Royal Guards and Wonderbolts onto the front lines of the war, even managing to escape an ambush by four of the brainwashed Crystal Ponies by smacking them away with a shield spell.
  • In the Season 6 premiere, Celestia and Luna are in the Crystal Empire to see Cadance and Shining Armor's new daughter, but when the Empire is threatened with eternal winter after the Crystal Heart is shattered, Celestia and Luna assist with trying to protect the Empire, as it is still part of Equestria and their kingdom, putting their own lives in danger to buy time for the others to find a more permanent solution. Afterward, they are able to help in the restoration of the Crystal Heart, saving their lives along with the Empire.
  • In the Season 6 episode, "Gauntlet of Fire", it is revealed that she and Luna are almost always dealing with some sort of problem or crisis that they rarely have a moment to just relax and visit with a friend.
  • In School Raze, even when their magic was being drained away over several days, upon being warned of who was responsible by Chancellor Neighsay, she and her sister risked going in powerless to confront the Big Bad, with the support of an equally-powerless Neighsay and a whole battalion of Royal Guards behind them. Once Cozy's spell is broken and their magic is returned, Celestia and Luna quickly take flight once more with the Pegasus Royal Guards to reach Ponyville faster, arriving just in time to stop Cozy from escaping and punish her for her crimes.
  • In "The Beginning of The End", she and Luna help Star Swirl deal with the out of control Everfree Forest. "Between Dark and Dawn" shows that this inspired them to take a more active role in helping their subjects (albeit in mundane matters such as fixing a broken bridge, or helping Granny Smith cross the street).
• Silk Hiding Steel: Celestia generally desires a less formal relationship with her subjects and has a rather puckish sense of humor, but she clearly is a mare of great elegance and refinement. At the same time, when the chips are down, the steel comes out. Her overall character design reinforces this — undeniably feminine and motherly, but also emphasizing her sheer size and strength when compared to her subjects.
  • For example, when she orders the Mane Six to do away with Discord.
  • She goes horn-to-horn with Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings in order to keep her kingdom safe. And once before actually did defeat Chrysalis. And her entire army, sealing them in a volcano for hundreds of years and leaving them with their holes.
  • While a downplayed example, Celestia has twice shown to be able to easily undo the damage caused by Twilight's magic in "Lesson Zero" and "The Cutie Mark Chronicles", showing that her own magic power remains superior to that of most (if not all) unicorns or alicorns.
  • We find out later that she and Luna condemned King Sombra to a Fate Worse than Death for his horrific crimes against his subjects, albeit sometime before Luna became Nightmare Moon.
• Sink or Swim Mentor: Issue #3 of Friends Forever reveals that this is the reason for her oft-mocked lack of help for the Mane Six even in the direst circumstances. Celestia's fully capable of solving those problems herself, but this would only stunt the personal development of anypony she helped. And it wouldn't be good for anypony if they had to rely on Celestia to step in every time a problem came up. By the end of the issue, she also shows she will step in when the situation is truly hopeless for anypony but her.
• Socialite: Averted. She prefers more casual reunions and is so bored by the biggest and most important social event in the country that she is ecstatic when the core group trashes her ball room because it livens things up the first time and goes as far to invite Discord simply because she knows he'll do something crazy the second time. She prefers a casual reunion in a small donut shop with her student and friends.
• So Proud of You: Her reaction when Twilight finishes Star Swirl the Bearded's last spell, and becomes a princess.
• Standard Royal Court: Or more standard-ish than the rest of the incarnations. So far, there have been nobles, guards, a few royal positions, and the Mayor as a model of government.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: In the IDW comics, she has this relationship with a Good Counterpart to King Sombra from a Mirror Universe. It ends when Starswirl the Bearded destroys the method for her to go to the other world.
• Statuesque Stunner: Her looks combined with her size qualify her for this.
• Stepford Smiler: In the first part of the "Princess Twilight" season four opener, she admits to Twilight that for a thousand years, the Summer Sun Celebration was a bitter reminder of the fact that she'd been forced to banish her own sister, and that she'd simply been putting on a happy face for her subjects during the event. And if the IDW comics' Reflections arc are and indication, she has been through really bad things, and it really makes her happy expressions unsettling. Luna returning has taken away a large part of this trope away, but there are still painful spots.
• Stern Teacher:
  • In "Lesson Zero", she gives Twilight an extremely stern look and an equally stern order for Twilight to "meet her in the library". Absolutely justifiable considering the chaos Twilight caused and the fact that Celestia had to fix it.
  • She does it again in "A Canterlot Wedding" after Twilight calls out Cadance for being "evil". Unfortunately, this time Twilight was right, sort of: Cadance isn't evil, her imposter is. Regardless, it still counts that Twilight was right.
• Stop Worshipping Me: In many of her appearances, she's shown to be quite uncomfortable with all the genuflection and adoration (or fear) her subjects display. This could also explain why she takes so much interest in Twilight's lessons and letters and why she enjoys the meetings between her and the core cast so much.
• Story-Breaker Power: The main reason why she rarely gets screen time, especially in later seasons. It would be all too easy to solve daily problems with her vast powers (magical or otherwise). So most of the time, she isn't involved with the current conflict, and when she is, she's usually put out of commission quickly, leaving Twilight and her friends to save the day. Her hypothetical Superpowered Evil Side Daybreaker shows what she can do when she has no restraint about herself.
• Super-Strength: She rarely has an occasion to show it off, but one notable example is that when she takes part in hoof wrestling competition in Issue #10 of IDW comics, she easily defeats Big Mac of all people. He's straining with all his might, while Celestia is just smirking at him.
• Super-Toughness: Took a direct hit from Nightmare Moon's energy beam (and the great fall to the ground that came after), and while it certainly hurt her and knocked her out briefly, she appeared to have no major injury from it. This same energy beam was blasting her castle apart like it was made of paper.
• Sweet Tooth: "Ponyville Confidential" and "MMMystery on the Friendship Express" both imply she has a weakness for pastries, especially cake.

• Teleportation: "Lesson Zero" revealed that Celestia can teleport at will... possibly over a far greater distance than Twilight can. She implicitly came directly from her castle, a distance Twilight is shown to match only under extreme emergency, and that only once so far. This can explain why she literally appeared out from nowhere during Season 1 to deliver her advice to Twilight and friends.

• Teasing Parent: Princess Celestia can be considered one, depending on how you view her relationship with Sunset Shimmer. As revealed in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (IDW) Annual 2013, she presented Sunset Shimmer with mysteries and puzzles on occasion, telling her she would know fully when she was ready. This unintentionally fueled Shimmer's growing ambition and frustration, which lead to a fractured relationship and Sunset Shimmer's banish vanish into the human realm.
• This Means War!: The actions of Discord upon his return angered her. Until that moment, nobody knew she could get angry. Her explanation of what happened over 1000 years ago and what we see Discord do in the present imply she has very good reason to hate him.
• Thrill Seeker: She turns out to be this in "Between Dark and Dawn", with her activities during her and Luna's vacation being such things as ziplining, riding rollercoasters, etc.
• Took a Level in Badass: In "Keep Calm and Flutter On", she successfully enchants the Elements from being forcibly stolen again by Discord, effectively getting a last laugh over him for how helpless he rendered her during his debut.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Judging by the episodes "Ponyville Confidential" and "MMMystery on the Friendship Express", her favorite food is implied to be cake.
• Tranquil Fury: Most of the times Celestia is successfully made angry she remains soft spoken and composed... and forms an absolutely chilling Death Glare that can leave even the most powerful of ponies quaking in fear.
• Trickster Mentor: She occasionally "manipulates" Twilight Sparkle in order to teach her a valuable lesson or encourage her to do something exceptional. Usually. See below for when it's for personal reasons. This results in some fans nicknaming her "Trollestia".
• Universally Beloved Leader: Her people absolutely love her. Deconstructed in "A Royal Problem" which shows how hard and exhausting it is to live up to those high exceptions (which prior episodes hinted at) and no-one (save Starlight Glimmer, who they treated as crazy for it) was willing to confront them with her problems, causing them to get worse.
• Unmoving Plaid: The colors of her mane and tail wave... just not in the same way that the mane and tail themselves move. It probably reflects her innate magic, since on the rare occasions where she's defeated or depowered, her hair stops moving.
• Welcome Back, Traitor:
  • In the pilot episode, she allows her sister Luna to be her co-ruler again.
  • In "Twilight's Kingdom - Part 2", she holds no grudge against Discord for betraying Equestria to Tirek.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gets three of these during the Reflections comic-arc first from Star Swirl during the flashback for using the dimensional mirror behind his back despite the dangers of doing so, and then two from Luna in the present; first about disappearing without telling anypony and then when she found out Celestia tried to alleviate her loneliness following Luna's banishment with one from an alternate universe.
• Willfully Weak: She seldom, if ever, uses her full power.
• The Worf Effect: Celestia is basically a goddess, possessing the greatest raw power of anypony in Equestria, so the situation is truly dire if an enemy can defeat her.
  • Queen Chrysalis defeats her at the Royal Wedding, since she had absorbed enough power from Shining Armor's love at that point. Though it should be noted, even with her massive power boost, Queen Chrysalis was visibly straining against Celestia's power and was as shocked as everypony else when she actually won, so Celestia didn't lose that easily.
  • In "Make New Friends but Keep Discord," after the Smooze splashes her and everypony in its slime, Celestia is unable to use her wings or her magic due to her wings being soaked with slime and having a small glob of the stuff covering up the tip of her horn, blocking her magic from getting out. Subverted that she was acting as discomforted and annoyed at Discord as everypony else, but was actually enjoying the chaos and mischief he and the Smooze were causing and was avoiding using her magic anyhow to avoid ruining the fun.
  • In the Season 5 finale, in one alternate timeline where Discord won because the Mane Six were not there to wield the Elements of Harmony to re-imprison him, Celestia and Luna are reduced to being Discord's personal entertainment after he reclaimed his throne from them, humiliating them by having them dressed up as clowns for his enjoyment.
  • In the Season 6 finale, Celestia is kidnapped by the Changelings along with Luna, Cadance, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, and the Mane Six, all replaced by imposters. No one even knows how they pulled it off without being discovered.
  • This happens so often that a hypothetical Evil Celestia (Daybreaker) mocks her for this in Season 7, telling her to stop being so Willfully Weak. Worse, it implies that she finds herself tempted by the idea of cutting loose, damn the consequences.
• Worf Had the Flu: There's usually a good reason for her less than impressive showings, implying that they are the exception rather than the rule.
  • Her defeat is justified by Queen Chrysalis having gorged herself on an ungodly amount of love from Shining Armor and possibly Princess Cadance, and the fact that the room was packed full of her subjects (who she wouldn't want to harm) is important too. She had to avoid causing collateral damage. In fact, the My Little Pony: FIENDship Is Magic comic shows that hundreds of years ago, she fought Chrysalis and her army in Trot and defeated them.
  • In the Season 4 finale, Celestia mentions that the only reason she and Luna can't fight Tirek directly is because he has Discord backing him up.
  • Possibly due to Inverse Law of Utility and Lethality: Celestia can control the sun. Imagine how horrific that would look in a fight, and you see why she will never be shown to do it in the show. The depiction of her defeating Chrysalis in the past in the comics shows her firing a Wave-Motion Gun so powerful it blew bits of Chrysalis' body off while engulfed in flames, implying this is indeed the case, and in the show itself Daybreaker (who has none of Celestia's restraint) is shown going all out against Nightmare Moon in the dream realm by unleashing massive solar flares.
• Would Hurt a Child: She helps turn Cozy Glow (granted, a truly despicable villain, but still) into stone in the Season 9 finale.

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