History Characters / CodexEquusVicearchIniquitous

** While Iniquitous was already furious the "Foolish/Cowardly Usurper"'s attempts to possess one of Her younger children and use of a [[TheScapegoat Judicial Replacement]] to cover her escape, what sends the Vicearch into a "quiet rage" was a message that the "Foolish/Cowardly Usurper" [[DemonicPossession possessed Blue Suede/Caerulus]] in a bid for power after fleeing to Equestria[[note]]It was actually an accident, as Twilight/Amicitia was her original target, but the "Foolish/Cowardly Usurper" still tried exploiting her possession of Blue Suede/Caerulus anyway[[/note]]. While overseeing the "Foolish/Cowardly Usurper"'s trial, Iniquitous is further angered into silencing her wayward subject's pleading to be spared by [[ShockwaveStomp stomping the floor hard enough to crack it]], then surrounds herself with a baleful aura as she announces with a [[MakeMeWannaShout booming voice]] that she has ''absolutely no intention'' of letting the "Foolish/Cowardly Usurper" go.

* BatmanGambt: During her rise to power, Iniquitous pulled off several gambits of this nature despite the risks involved in order to Ascend herself to greater power.

* AlwaysABiggerFish: Due to her sheer power, intelligence, and cunning, Iniquitous serves as the "Bigger Fish" to even entire divine pantheons, many which had fallen to her in battle despite being older and more experienced. On the flipside, Iniquitous herself had been trounced and nearly killed by deities who are far older and stronger than even her, [[PragmaticVillainy making her go out of her way to avoid provoking said deities whenever possible]].

** We get a glimpse of the things She does to those who earned Her ire in Righteous Riposte, the Sanctioning Sword's entry. It's not pretty in the slightest.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: While confronted in her own throne room by Princess Radiant Rapier and her allies, Iniquitous proceeds to ask them a [[https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/870667629/4953811489 series of questions]] about their [[BlackAndWhiteMorality convictions on good and evil]], their [[{{Hypocrite}} supposed righteousness]], and whether or not the numerous sacrifices they made are actually worth being able to fight a living AnthropomorphicPersonification of Evil. [[ShutUpHannibal Several unsatisfactory responses]] later, Iniquitous ultimately decides to stop playing around and punishes both Radiant Rapier and her allies for their hubris by delivering a brutal CurbStompBattle, devouring everyone but Radiant Rapier, who only survived through [[GodOfGood Virtuecrat Fairytale]]'s timely intervention.

** In a very strange way, a [[https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/865347817/4895281256 canonized drabble]] sees her make one of these with Princess Radiant Rapier. If Radiant Rapier tracks down and apprehends Malrègnar criminals, truly vile, evil criminals who the world is decidedly better off if they're brought to justice, and brings them to her, Iniquitous will return her comrades who she devoured during Radiant Rapier's disastrous attempt against her. This is mutually beneficial, as Iniquitous considers these criminals' continued freedom an embarrassment to her and her empire, while Radiant Rapier gets her friends back ''and'' brings justice to numerous, extremely evil and monstrous evildoers that deserve to take her comrades' place inside Iniquitous. While the list of criminals did include a number of benevolent beings to have run afoul with Iniquitous, it's implied this was a SecretTestOfCharacter and Iniquitous is willing to bargain other, much more monstrous criminals' capture for their freedom.
** Iniquitous also made one with [[{{Characters/CodexEquusColticPantheon}} Slánú, the Shining/Shadow Savior]] of the Coltic Pantheon, whom She had devoured along with all her comrades and [[AndIMustScream spent millennia]] [[FateWorseThanDeath putting them through unspeakable torments]] within Her dark glory for daring to mess with Her and Her empire as part of Radiant Rapier's failed crusade. When despite being put through 'horror and agony without end' Slánú refuses to break, kept her comrades' hopes alive and even offered ''Iniquitous'' redemption, Iniquitous was impressed enough at her audacity and conviction to offer her a deal: Should Slánú manage to redeem 1,000 of the most monstrous and vile souls whom Iniquitous had also consumed and send them to her GoodCounterpart, the Vicearch would while not freeing them at least stop torturing them inside of Her. Despite being hinted to be an intentional SnipeHunt, Slánú succeeded in doing so, and Iniquitous [[IGaveMyWord would honour Her word]].
* BatmanGambit: During her rise to power, Iniquitous pulled not one, but SEVERAL such gambits, counting on those whose essence she desired to ascend to greater power to act exactly as she was counting they would, first as a "Demon Queen" and then eventually, a [[GodOfEvil Goddess of Evil]].
** Knowing she needed boons from diabolical patrons but unwilling to let them collect her soul for eternal damnation, she executed a plot so insane and audacious it stunned the likes of [[EvilOverlord dark lords]], demons and divines even to this day, with literally everything to lose for the incredible advantage she might gain. She basically summoned and sold her soul to not one, but SEVEN [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils demon lords]] (known only collectively as the 'Seven Sacrifices') who each embody a cardinal sin, each independently and hiding it with a special ward that only she developed. Then, after years of preparations, she, her brother and the witches/warlocks under her command prepared a specially warded, enchanted and sturdy ritual chamber, drew a special spell circle, and, with intent of personally summoning all seven demon lords at once, ''[[ThanatosGambit cut her own jugular]]'' and bled herself out, using her fading life-signs to draw them from their hell-realms into her chamber through the marks on her soul. The key thing here is that all seven demon lords HATED each other. Her entire gambit at this moment counted on them letting their self-destructive nature and mutual enmity override their fury towards her for her back-dealing 'betrayal'. It was an INSANELY dangerous gamble, yet it worked beyond her wildest dream, as they quickly turned on and destroyed each other over their rights to her soul, their IrrationalHatred amplified by the chamber reflecting [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard their diabolical influence back on them]] while cutting them off [[TrappedBehindEnemyLines from escape]] or their [[TheLegionsOfHell infernal reinforcements]]. By the time they had finished killing each other off, her brother had closed her wound and revitalized her, allowing them to finish off the battered survivor. With this single masterstroke, she not only managed to save her soul from potential damnation, but also keep her boons and more by [[CannibalismSuperpower devouring the now deceased Arch-Devils/Demons/Fiends' essences]] and transforming into a '[[DemonOfHumanOrigin Demon Queen]]' individually more powerful than other EvilOverlord rivals, warlocks and witches and even diabolical entities. And as a bonus, smaller portions of their demonic power was now available to boost her brother and her own witches/warlocks, and getting the demon lords' cultist worshippers and lesser demons to bolster her own forces. Nearly overnight, she turned from merely a powerful witch into one of if not the single biggest threat in the lands of Malrègnar, allowing her to really get her conquest of these lands going.
* BeastOfTheApocalypse: Iniquitous [[https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/836116391/4968831470 keeps]] one as Her familiar and ''pet'' called Deaavhgoth, the Lord of Death. It was said Deaavhgoth once reigned supreme in long-forgotten times over the lands that would one day become Malregnar, and Deaavhgoth was prophecized to bring about the doom of the gods, the lands and its people when it awakens to do battle with the first group, before going back to slumber once more - something which it's implied to have done [[ViciousCycle multiple times]] over long ages. Knowing of the prophecy and its power, when Deaavhgoth was awakened by the last of Her enemies at the end of Her ultimate conquest of Malregnar [[GodzillaThreshold in a final]] [[TakingYouWithMe desperate attempt]] to deny Iniquitous Her victory, Iniquitous manages to ScrewDestiny and break said cycle of doom by ''befriending and taming'' Deaavhgoth instead of fighting them like others would or had, and in the process gained Herself a loyal companion and incredibly powerful weapon which She could unleash in situations which warrant it, like [[https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/897831515/4961431532 when]] the Heralds of Extinction sent their avatars and hordes of Protodragons to attack Malregnar.
* BerserkButton:
** Though evil and domineering by nature, Iniquitous is [[PragmaticEvil pragmatic]], as she listens to advice, accepts constructive criticism to her decisions by those she respects or allows, and is even willing to calmly explain her reasoning for her actions. But what would quickly set her off is people questioning and/or challenging her worthiness and/or legitimacy as a divine sovereign, even indirectly. Doing so would result in Vicearch Iniquitous immediately crushing the offender(s) like vermin and subjecting them to a FateWorseThanDeath. This is something a prideful devil courtier learned the hard way in a [[https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/827845550/4810412556 Codexverse drabble]] - after he mutters in earshot about her being a "fool" for constantly refusing his suggestions to feed on innocent souls ([[ThisIsUnforgivable in spite of the very]] [[PragmaticVillainy good reasons why she doesn't]]), Iniquitous, who had otherwise been patient with him and his repetitive petitions, immediately [[OneWingedAngel assumed her true form]], [[NoBodyLeftBehind vaporized the offending courtier]] when he tried [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere fleeing]], and [[SwallowedWhole devoured his essence]] to be subjected to [[FateWorseThanDeath unimaginable torment]] inside her for his insolence. It's heavily implied that this came from [[SuperiorSuccessor wanting to distance herself from the extremely incompetent and flawed pantheon that used to watch over her homelands as much as possible]]. The only known beings who can do these things and get away with it are Despairing Cypress and her counterpart Propitious, who due to being the cornerstone of an agreement between Her and Virtuecrat Fairytale, are too valuable to actually punish like anyone else, on top of often making very good points in their criticisms.
--> '''Vicearch Iniquitous:''' '''No one. Questions.''' '''''ME''''', '''devil.''' ''(Vaporizes and devours her devil)'' '''NO ONE.'''
** She seems to really hate {{hypocrite}}s. This is one reason the Old Malrègnar Pantheon received as bad of a fate as they did, and why she genuinely respects those who stay true to their morals and principles in another.

* BreakingTheCycleOfBadParenting: While Iniquitous' own mother wasn't outright abusive to her and her brother, she was rather emotionally neglectful and later estranged herself from her children to keep her other life as a Lilithian witch a secret following her divorce. If Iniquitous' brother is to be believed, they rarely saw their mother except during occasions when she wants something from them. When their mother died, neither of them shed a tear, with Iniquitous' brother seeing her act of bequeathing her own belongings to her daughter as finally doing them some good. By contrast, once she became a mother herself, Iniquitous would remain consistently present in the lives of her children, the Princelings of Vice, which influenced the Princelings' relationships with her and how they see her overall.

* CloseToHome: She considers "[[StupidEvil Destructive Evil]]" to be a personal affront, worthy of severe punishment. Hints of her MysteriousPast suggests that growing up in a land that was plagued with squabbles and various vices caused her to grew extremely dissatisfied with the then-current state of affairs, and sought to bring order by any means possible, even turning herself into an infernal Alicorn goddess. Because of her experiences, she doesn't tolerate anyone treating Evil as [[ForTheEvulz little more than selfish, hedonistic amusement]], which her Fallen divine patron learned the hard way when his continuous refusal to devote his evil nature to a higher purpose eventually got him [[CapturedSuperEntity captured]], [[KillTheGod killed]], and [[GodEating devoured]] by the very mare he fell in love with.
* ColonyDrop: [[spoiler:Immediately after she defeated and devoured the greatest pantheon of the lands she intend to conquer, she kicks off her penultimate conquest of the lands by annihilating the holy city of Highhaven, the greatest religious center worshipping said recently-destroyed pantheon in Malrègnar, via dropping the palace-city of the gods that she and her demons had just invaded and ransacked - which is apparently on a floating landmass suspended in the divine-realm - right on top of it. It served three purposes to her plans: wipe out most of the mortal champions of the gods as well the gods' remaining holy artifacts and lore in a single stroke, demoralize opposition with undeniable evidence of her triumph over the gods, and inspire/intimidate the most powerful mortal [[EvilOverlord overlords, tyrants and villains]], some of whom had been her rivals, into submitting to her and gain powerful generals to lead her conquests in her name]].

* TheAce: Various entries and supplementary materials describe Iniquitous as not only [[TheArchmage the greatest Dark Magic practitioner]], but also a brilliant sovereign, politician, and strategist. Even before her Ascension, Iniquitous proved herself to be a cut above many wicked witches, warlocks, and infernals plaguing the former realms of Malrègnar by displaying a level of intelligence, arcane mastery, and charisma that even her peers couldn't match. After Ascending, Iniquitous felled not only the corrupt Old Malrègnarian Pantheon completely, but also defeated and devoured other deities who tried attacking her -- many who are often older and more powerful than her. She also founded one of the most powerful empires the world had ever seen... and yet despite it being ruled by evil, Malrègnar continues to remain in the present day thanks to the competent administration of Iniquitous and her family. Notably, the only one who can perfectly counter her, blow for blow, is Virtuecrat Fairytale; every fight between them and their forces, even proxy ones, have always ended with a stalemate.

Post-Ascension, Iniquitous' true form is said to be a towering infernal Alicorn of dark beauty, with jet-black fur, a mane and tail composed of a baleful rainbow of differently-coloured infernal energies, Dragon-like teeth, numerous pairs of bat wings with a rainbow gradient, and crimson eyes that show 'Hell itself' when looked at. Her hair shows either the faces of those she tortures within herself, or clear images of every single act of evil and vice known to sapientkind. She is constantly surrounded by a malevolent aura that by all accounts is described as being dark 'as the blackness of her heart' and red 'as the blood of the slaughtered'. Her Cutie Mark appears to be a complex, ever-shifting Enochian-like Dark Magic circle, with Malrègnar's iconic 'Chained Heptagram' symbol at its centre. As her true form has driven even young deities mad, she often assumes either more modest Alicorn forms or various mortal forms. Thus, only her fellow Sovereigns of Morality and other older gods have seen her true form without consequence.

* AlwaysABiggerFish: Due to her sheer power, intelligence, and cunning, Iniquitous serves as the "Bigger Fish" to even entire divine pantheons, many which had fallen to her in battle despite being older and more experienced. On the flipside, Iniquitous herself had been trounced and nearly killed by deities who are far older and stronger than even her, [[PragmaticVillainy making her go out of her way to avoid provoking said deities whenever possible]].
** Once, Iniquitous [[https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/865347817/4896457069 got into a fight with Emperor Golden Scepter]] over a misunderstanding. Despite her own capabilities, she lasted only ''[[CurbstompCushion twenty minutes]]'' against Golden Scepter due to him being a child of one of the Thirteen Empyreans, only surviving thanks to [[GodOfEvil Temnobog]]'s intervention. This led to her making efforts in avoiding all possible confrontations with the Terran Empire.
** When Iniquitous [[https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/861846716/4909854499 visited]] Omnia Equus in her library, she went knowing she would unlikely be able to get all that she wanted -- the "books" containing everything about her fellow Sovereigns of Morality even they don't know about since their conceptions -- save for her own "book", and that Omnia Equus is too powerful for her to force the issue. She even observes that if she cannot beat a deity as ancient and powerful as Emperor Golden Scepter, then she cannot defeat one who is far older than even Golden Scepter and his father.
** Iniquitous also does ''everything'' she can to avoid provoking the wrath of Grand Primevals or their oldest children, since even they surpass her and have the power to end her instantly. One example of this is her confrontation with [[https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/884432948/4929834588 Adversus' firstborn daughter, Strife]], who challenged Iniquitous to a fight to judge if she and her empire are worthy of living. It took the combined might of both Iniquitous and all of her eldest Princelings of Vice just to score a victory against Strife, and even then they only won by the skins of their teeth. While Strife was doing her job and thus was holding back, Iniquitous knows that Strife's fellow firstborns won't be as merciful if they're angered.
* AndIMustScream: Invoked upon those She devoured mind, body and soul and assimilated into Herself whom She found wanting and deserving of Her wrath. It's implied that the Old Malregnarian Pantheon - whose character faults and moral failings led to the stagnation and dysfunction of Her homeland and which led to Her despising them and everything they stood for - are implied to still be experiencing the most horrific torments and cruel tortures within Iniquitous for their sins after She devoured them all. The same also applies to many other mortals, celestials/infernals and deities whom She had also consumed after defeating them or condemning them for transgressions.
** We get a glimpse of the things She does to those who earned Her ire in Righteous Riposte, the Sanctioning Sword's entry. It's not pretty in the slightest.
* AnswersToTheNameOfGod: It is implied that the Vicearch's name had been invoked enough times in the past that Iniquitous finds it annoying, and prohibits Her subordinates invoking her name unless they have Her express or implied permission. This is implied to be necessary since, given She runs an [[TheBadGuysWin ascendant]] [[{{Mordor}} evil]] [[TheEmpire empire]], She needs to discourage those who serve Her from invoking her name often in vain, as there is actually a serious chance with their often greedy, prideful or ambitious dispositons that they might become DrunkWithPower from the mere idea that they implicitly have Her full backing when they do not, or presumptiously invoke Her attention and power as if She was some sort of genie who serves them when it's actually the other way around.
** [[https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/848558436/4868050190 Archwarlock Palefire]] of the Grand Cabal has a student who excelled enough in Her studies it managed to catch Iniquitous' personal attention, despite Her earlier misconduct, and Iniquitous is curious as to how Palefire managed to turn his apprentice around so effectively. She was ''not'' pleased when she found out that he had been invoking Her name and Her potential disappointment to 'scare his student straight', as there are rules against that in the Grand Cabal, from both Her direct mandate or implicit permission. But after he explains himself (it's how his parents set him straight) and seeing that it worked effectively, Iniquitous lets it slide, [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure even granting him permission to continue doing so as long as it produces similarly incredible results with his future students]]. However She does warn him, ''firmly'', that if he lets the idea [[DrunkWithPower he can invoke Her attention and authority without limits go to his head]], he would be shown exactly (and more) ''why'' She is TheDreaded.
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: She's an Alicorn goddess who embodies Evil, Vice, Domination, Power, and Dark Magic. Having consumed entire pantheons of gods and assimilated their knowledge, power and domains however, those are noted to be merely the most prominent, but FAR from only domains She had.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Asked [[https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/870667629/4953811489 several]] when confronted by Princess Radiant Rapier and her fellow gods in Her main throne room at the climax of the Princess of Justice's crusade against Her empire, from whether they think the terrible costs they paid just to reach Her [[WasItReallyWorthIt worth it]], whether Her actions of overthrowing/punishing the inept and corrupt gods of Her land and uniting and raising the disparate realms to greatness truly crimes worth punishing, to whether or not they really are so free from Evil and Vice they accuse Her of being, and whether or not they are just denying their own Evil and Vice in their self-righteosness. In the end, receiving [[ShutUpHannibal unsatisfactory responses]] from Princess Radiant Rapier, affronted by their self-righteousness and hubris, and having finally deemed them worthy of Her attention with their daring assault, She decided to [[GodzillaThreshold personally]] [[VillainNoLongerIdle enter the fray]] and dish out a brutal CurbStompBattle upon Radiant Rapier, her fellow gods and their forces which ultimately led to the annihilation of the entire crusade, Iniquitous [[GodEating devouring nearly all the gods]] who participated in it, and reducing Radiant Rapier to a tramuatised shell of her former self.
* TheAssimilator: One of the most notable beings in the Codexverse with such a status and one of the reasons for her eventual triumph: where her own already prodigious power is insufficient for her ends, Iniquitous consumed many, ''many'', '''''many''''' other beings to attain ever greater heights, adding the knowledge, experience, skills, might, domains and their very existence into her own dark glory. It is believed at absolute minimum Vicearch Iniquitous had devoured and assimilated tens of millions into herself mind, body and soul, from mortals to demons to gods, both the damned and those who transgressed against her and her empire [[FateWorseThanDeath who would know]] [[AndIMustScream horror and agony without end]] within her, while those who had been loyal and served her well would also be consumed and [[AHellOfATime be rewarded with joy and pleasure without limits]], such as her presently half-devilic brother whenever she does not need his advice and assistance.
* BackFromTheDead: Has this ability to invoke this, demonstrating that nothing - not even death - could allow one to escape from the Vicearch's grasp, except where She allows it or She is deterred by powers greater than even Her in might. Examples include Her brother, whose soul She consumed and assimilated into Herself post-mortem and would sometimes bring back as a wraith-like half-devilic being whenever She wants his honest advice or needs something which She could only rely on him to accomplish.
** In a PetTheDog moment, Vicearch Iniquitous [[https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/897831515/4963273215 brought back]] a mortal palace servant [[YouHaveFailedMe who was killed]] by a visiting King Grogar for [[EvilIsPetty screwing up a drink order]]. To note, the mare was reduced to charred bones and melted tar by Grogar's curse, but Iniquitous was powerful and skilled enough as a goddess of Dark Magic to reconstitute her body, put her soul back in, and bring the understandably traumatised mare to life with almost casual ease.
** It's implied they have done this themselves, with one entry relating to Iniquitous and Malregnar noting both She and Her virtuous counterpart Fairytale had managed to physically obliterate each other at certain points of their many conflicts, only to remanifest in the heart of their dominions as if nothing happened. This had led to theories that both had become so powerful (or so different) as deities that they are now less 'gods' in the conventional sense and more forces of nature with physical avatars.
* TheBadGuyWins: Essentially her most defining trait - she is an EvilOverlord / GodOfEvil who plotted and fought to take over the entire realm she and her brother were born in, and eventually ''succeeded'' after years of scheming, planning, and dealing with both heroic and villainous forces that sought to undermine her. She had reigned supreme over her lands as the unquestioned, absolute god-ruler of a (relatively) stable and (very steadily) ascendant [[{{Mordor}} evil]] [[TheEmpire empire]] for ''millennia''. It's even in her classification, being a 'Victorious Villain'.
* BadassBookworm: Of the sorcerous kind. A mortal Iniquitous studied, mastered and innovated further from her witch mother's work and that of her cabal to become a powerful witch matron, developing such an in-depth understanding and mastery of dark magical lore that when she achieved godhood, Dark Magic became one of her eminent domains, and is one of the world's foremost practitioners of Dark Magical spells, hexes, rituals and enchantments. It is also implied that she is a prolific author and academic on various other subjects, with a wealth of studies accumulating over the course of multiple millennia of her reign.