History Characters / FriendshipIsMagicPrincessCelestia

* BystanderSyndrome: Something she often suffers from and is often mocked for by fans, even on occasion characters in the series. As detailed in the tropes in this folder, she sometimes has a somewhat understandable reason for not getting involved but at others times its become highly questionable, such as doing nothing when Sombra returned. Its worth noting that, while part of is she wants Twilight to learn a lesson, this attitude has led to situations getting worse when a situation or threat got out of Twilight and her friend's ability to handle it; putting lives at risk and leading to collateral damage.
** Arguably she could actually be a subtle deconstruction of this concept. Its explained in the IDW comics its part of her SinkOrSwimMentor mentality and she is ready to intervene in case things get really bad. Yet many times things have, and she still has not; or worse yet even when she does try to she gets taken out easily. Its arguably a FatalFlaw and demonstrates a lack of judgment, despite all her wisdom.

** It is worth noting this mindset has already shown problematic in the show proper. As shown on this page, there have been many threats clearly out of the Mane 6's ability to handle (initially or without some aid ) that would have made sense for her to intervene in, yet she did not; this in turn has led to much descrution and put many ponies' lives in danger needlessly(such as doing nothing when King Sombra returned.) Additionally, even when she had intervened at times, she's gotten easily knocked out; it makes one question why, if certain threats can beat both the Mane 6 and her alone( even with the help of other supposed heavy hitters, such as Queen Chrysalis kidnapping her, the other Alicorns and Mane 6) why she does not adopt a more active role in defending Equestria on principle.

** Arguably she could actually be a subtle deconstruction of this concept. Its explained in the IDW comics its part of her SinkOrSwim mentality and she is ready to intervene in case things get really bad. Yet many times things have, and she still has not; or worse yet even when she does try to she gets taken out easily. Its arguably a FatalFlaw and demonstrates a lack of judgment, despite all her wisdom.

** Arguably she could actually be a subtle deconstruction of this concept. Its explained in the IDW comics its part of her *Sink-Or-SwimMentor mentality and she is ready to intervene in case things get really bad. Yet many times things have, and she still has not; or worse yet even when she does try to she gets taken out easily. Its arguably a *FatalFlaw and demonstrates a lack of judgment, despite all her wisdom.

!![[center: [- [[Characters/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Main Index]] -]]][[center: [- '''[[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicTheManeCast The Main Cast:]]''' [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicTwilightSparkle Twilight Sparkle]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicFluttershy Fluttershy]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRarity Rarity]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicApplejack Applejack]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRainbowDash Rainbow Dash]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicPinkiePie Pinkie Pie]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSpike Spike]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicStarlightGlimmer Starlight Glimmer]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicTheCutieMarkCrusaders the Cutie Mark Crusaders]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Supporting Cast:''' [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicThePrincesses The Princesses]] ('''Princess Celestia''', [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicPrincessLuna Princess Luna]]), [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicManeFamilyMembers Mane Family Members]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSchoolOfFriendship the School of Friendship]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSupportingCastPonyville Ponyville]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSupportingCastOtherLocations Other Locations]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicAnimalCompanions Animal Companions]]-]]] [[center: [-'''Antagonists:''' [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicMajorVillains Major Villains]] ([[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicQueenChrysalis Queen Chrysalis]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicKingSombra King Sombra]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicLordTirek Lord Tirek]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicCozyGlow Cozy Glow]]), [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicDangerousCreatures Dangerous Creatures]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicJerksAndBullies Jerks and Bullies]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRedeemed Redeemed Antagonists]] ([[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicDiscord Discord]])-]]] [[center: [- '''World of Equestria:''' [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRaces Races]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicHistoricalFigures Historical Figures]], [[Characters/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 The 2017 Movie]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicToylineExclusive Toyline Exclusive]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicMiscellaneous Miscellaneous]]-]]] [[center: [-'''Minor Characters:''' [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicOneShots One-Shots]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicOthers Other Characters]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicBackgroundPonies Background Ponies]] ([[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicBackgroundPoniesCommonPonies Common Background Ponies]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicBackgroundPoniesSpecialPonies Special Background Ponies]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicBackgroundPoniesOthers Other Background Ponies]])-]]] [[center: [- '''Equestria Girls:''' [[Characters/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsHeroines Heroines]] ([[Characters/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsSunsetShimmer Sunset Shimmer]]), [[Characters/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsVillains Villains]], [[Characters/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsSupportingCast Supporting Cast]] -] ]]

* StarCrossedLovers: In the IDW comics, she has this relationship with a GoodCounterpart to King Sombra from a MirrorUniverse. It ends when Starswirl the Bearded destroys the method for her to go to the other world.(due to is threatening the stablity of both worlds)

* TheWorfEffect: 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. This tends to happen very often though.

* PaperTiger: Downplayed, as she has plenty of power to her name, both magical and political, to say nothing of her various feats. That being said ,she tends to go down easily and quickly whenever a heavy hitting villain shows up. This happens so often that she began to fall under this trope, even though there is justified context to some of those defeats.

* PaperTiger: Downplayed, as she has plenty of power to her name, both magical and political, to say nothing of her various feats. That being said ,she tends to go down easily and quickly whenever a heavy hitting villain shows up, as scene in the *TheWorfEffect entry below. This happens so often that she began to fall under this trope, even though there is justified context to some of those defeats.

* StarCrossedLovers: In the IDW comics, she has this relationship with a GoodCounterpart to King Sombra from a MirrorUniverse. It ends when Starswirl the Bearded destroys the method for her to go to the other world.

* TheWorfEffect: 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.

* AntiMentor: 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 TheAloner. 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 AncientEvil. Woops.

* AntiMentor: 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 TheAloner. She certainly tries to encourage her students to make friends, but both of her most recent students spent their time under Celestia's tutelage bring 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 AncientEvil. Woops.

* AntiMentor: 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 TheAloner. She certainly tries to encourage her students to make friends, but both of her most recent students spent their time under Celestia's tutelage bring 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 Heart in the comics, who was manipulated by her "friends" into unleashing an AncientEvil. Woops.

* ParentalSubstitute: [[http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/12/spikes-original-backstory.html Word of God]] mentions that Spike was reared by Celestia. However, this is in conflict with some later material. Most notably, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDWIssue40 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 [[{{Flashback}} flashbacks]] in "Sparkle's Seven" show Spike being raised alongside Twilight and Shining Armor by their parents.

* SuperStrength: 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 ''[[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Big Mac]]'' of all people. He's straining with all his might, while Celestia is just smirking at him. Justified, since she is a powerful Alicorn, a species that has the strength of an Earth Pony but to the maximum level.

* BadassInDistress: Despite being a {{Physical God}}dess, in the course of the series she's been captured seven times: [[spoiler:by Nightmare Moon ([[AmbiguousSituation 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 captured so much despite being immensely powerful is because she is WillfullyWeak 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.

* TheChessmaster: She used her god-like power to defeats her enemies in the backstory. In the main narrative she wins through clever planning. [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon The]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E2ElementsOfHarmony pilot]], the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E26TheBestNightEver first season finale]], and the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfHarmonyPart1 two-part]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E2TheReturnOfHarmonyPart2 Season 2 opening]] provide examples. The show can leave you wondering if Celestia is in fact a Chessmaster or is simply an amazing GambitRoulette player. This dissonance is mainly due to the exact workings of her prescience being left intentionally vague.

* SuperStrength: 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 ''[[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Big Mac]]'' of all people. He's straining with all his might, while Celestia is just smirking at him.

* PlayingWithFire: Considering she's a sun goddess, this goes without saying. This is taken to literal measures when she's with her pet [[ThePhoenix phoenix]] Philomena.

* BadassInDistress: Despite being a {{Physical God}}dess, in the course of the series she's been captured seven times: [[spoiler:by Nightmare Moon ([[AmbiguousSituation 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 imply that the reason why she's captured so much despite being immensely powerful is because she is WillfullyWeak 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.

* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler:She helps turn Cozy Glow (granted, a villain, but still) into stone in the Season 9 finale.]]

* BadassInDistress: Despite being a {{Physical God}}dess, in the course of the series she's been captured seven times: [[spoiler:by Nightmare Moon ([[AmbiguousSituation 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).]]

* GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak: She's an extremely regal and graceful princess, both in appearance and personality, and also a BigEater ([[SweetTooth who is weak]] [[TrademarkFavoriteFoodfor cake]]) and is an excitable ThrillSeeker who is not above [[ThePrankster pranking]] and [[TheGadfly screwing with]] those who are close to her (as Luna, Sunset and Twilight can attest to).

* GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak: She's an extremely regal and graceful Princess, both in appearance and personality, and also a BigEater and excitable ThrillSeeker.

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/NicoleOliver; Creator/KikukoInoue [Seasons 1-2, ''Equestria Girls''], Yuri Makuta [Season 3-onwards] (Japanese)