Tropes Media Browse Indexes Forums Videos Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Tools
Cut List New Edits Edit Reasons Launches Images List Crowner Activity Un-typed Pages Recent Page Type Changes Changelog
Tips
Creating New Redirects Cross Wicking Tips for Editing Text Formatting Rules Glossary Edit Reasons Handling Spoilers Word Cruft Administrivia FAQ
Tropes HQ
About Us Contact Us Advertise DMCA Notice Privacy Policy Report Bug
Go Ad-Free Changelog
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Highlight Links
 

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / Codex Equus Shinseina Pantheon

Go To

Here is a list of characters from the Shinseina Pantheon.

To return to the main character index, click here.

Shinseina Pantheon

The Shinseina Pantheon is a group of Neighponese deities that watches over the country of Neighpon. Kazekami, god of Wind, and Fukurokuju, god of Wisdom, are currently two unveiled members of this pantheon, while Empress Izanami-no-kami (and presumably her husband, Emperor Izanagi-no-kami) are the co-rulers.

In the Fourth Age, they have "promoted" the BHCIT, a small group of five Neighponese university students, to demigods after the latter displayed their heroism through several crises that plagued Neighpon, and adopted them into the pantheon as psychopomps. However, their rather casually flippant attitude, greed, and morbid outlook would frustrate the older deities.
    open/close all folders 

    General 
  • My God, What Have I Done?: They were horrified in the Second Age when Neighpon performed horrible actions in the name of 'honor,' a mentality they themselves promoted. They learned their lesson and went out of their way to prevent it from happening again in the future.

    Emperor Izanagi-no-kami 

Classification: ???

Portfolio: ???

Rank: ???

  • Happily Married: Implied, as he's mentioned by Izanagi-no-kami as "[my] beloved husband" in a conversation with the BHCIT. This is in stark contrast to Japanese Mythology, where Izanami and Izanagi were once close until the former died in childbirth, then her husband ditched her after trying to bring her Back from the Dead because he saw her as a rotting corpse and not the beautiful wife he wanted.
  • Top God: Leads the Shinseina pantheon together with his wife, Empress Izanami-no-kami.

    Empress Izanami-no-kami 

Classification: ???

Portfolio: ???

Rank: ???

  • Don't Fear the Reaper: From what was implied, she seems to be a goddess of Death who rules over the Neighponese underworld, where the wicked (including those the BHCIT goes after) are sent to be punished eternally for their crimes. Despite this, she's presumably a benevolent goddess and Empress of her pantheon.
  • Happily Married: Implied, as she mentions Izanagi-no-kami as "[my] beloved husband" in a conversation with the BHCIT. This is in stark contrast to Japanese Mythology, where Izanami and Izanagi were once close until the former died in childbirth, then her husband ditched her after trying to bring her Back from the Dead because he saw her as a rotting corpse and not the beautiful wife he wanted.
  • Hell: It's implied that she rules over this kind of realm - specifically one where the souls of the wicked and unrepentant go after death, including the criminals the BHCIT go after.
  • Top God: Leads the Shinseina pantheon together with her husband, Emperor Izanagi-no-kami.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Justified. She calls out the members of the BHCIT for their irresponsibility and general flaws because she genuinely cares for their well-being, and wants to see them grow into their potential and become benevolent deities for Neighpon. In one incident, she scolds them for thinking they can capitalize on their newly-gained divinity as an "infinite meal-ticket", and warns them that severe consequences will follow if they don't do their jobs correctly.
    Izanami-no-kami: (to the BHCIT) Being a divine is not an 'infinite meal-ticket' as you just called it, nor is it an excuse to go do whatever you want, as other malicious, tyrannical, and incompetent pantheons of certain countries have learned in the past. Being a divine comes with a huge sense of responsibility than all five of you realize - people wholly depend on you, and if you don't perform your job correctly, severe consequences will follow. I am responsible for overseeing the hell that awaits the wicked, the same place that you send criminals to after you sic their deceased victims on them, just as my beloved husband oversees the heavens that serves as a reward for the innocent and the blessed. If I let myself become so lazy and incompetent that I neglect the needs and perils of my divine and mortal children, I will be overthrown and replaced by someone more benevolent and diligent. Or, in a worst-case scenario, Equus and the surrounding universe as we know it will potentially- no, most definitely be destroyed in the end.

    I can see in your hearts that all five of you were affected by the evils of this world in some way, whether personally or through circumstances beyond your control. And yet, despite your greed and desire to live at all costs, you still choose to strive in doing the right thing even if it wouldn't net you enough yen for your next meal. That is why we chose you. You all have so much potential, both as gods and stewards of Equus, and we do not want to see it go to waste.

    Please, do not make us regret our decision.

    Tsukiyomane 

Classification: ???

Portfolio: Moon, [WIP]

Rank: ???

    Kazekami 

Classification: ???

Portfolio: Wind, [WIP]

Rank: ???

  • Anthropomorphic Personification: He's a Shinseina god who embodies Wind.
  • Blow You Away: Implied; he was described as a wind deity in one of the Codexverse entries, so he must have wind magic as part of his domain.
  • Meaningful Name: His name means "wind deity". It is also a switched version of the kamikaze, a Japanese term meaning "divine wind".

    Fukuroekuju 

Classification: ???

Portfolio: Wisdom, [WIP]

Rank: ???

    Azamuku, the Rebellious Conscience 

Classification: Ethereal/Ascendant

Portfolio: Deceit, Rebellion, Moral Goodness

Rank: Divine (Tier IV/Greater)

"Honor means nothing if it's turned into an excuse to abuse innocent creatures and commit atrocities. That is why I exist - as a middle claw to those who use honor in such a way."

Azamuku (his entry here) is the Shinseina Alicorn-Kitsune hybrid god of Deceit, Rebellion, and Moral Goodness, and is a living example why honor can be a bad thing if taken into extremes.
  • Anthropomorphic Personification: He's a Alicorn-Kitsune hybrid god who embodies Deceit, Rebellion, and Moral Goodness.
  • Asian Fox Spirit: He's the son of a Pony Samurai lord and a female Kitsune, making him half-Kitsune himself.
  • Honor Before Reason: Defied. In contrast to his more traditional and honor-bound divine peers and their mortal worshipers, he believes that moral goodness matters more than preserving one's honor, as being obsessed with honor can lead to a person becoming arrogant, imperialistic, and abusive. He presently exists in the Fourth Age to counterbalance and curb these tendencies.
  • I Warned You: After the Shinseina Pantheon tried to sabotage his efforts in defying Second-Age Neighpon's broken honor system, even trying to seal him away at one point, karma would eventually come back to bite them when the honor they promoted turned Neighpon into an imperialistic country that committed many crimes in the name of power and superiority. Azamuku would personally show the pantheon the consequences of their actions as Neighpon was invaded and nuked seven times, and spent much of the Second Great War telling them "I told you so" as payback for the deities' arrogant, short-sighted ways.
    Azamuku: Is honour truly worth it, if it leads to this?
  • Modest Royalty: He was the equivalent of Neighponese nobility due to being a son of a Pony samurai lord as a mortal, and after Ascending and becoming a member of the Shinseina Pantheon, he is now the divine equivalent of a ruling sovereign. Despite this, he prefers to go naked instead of wearing divine barding/regalia because he hates acting like he's superior to others. His response to some deities who tried convincing him to wear divine barding/regalia was to moon them.
  • Mooning: He has taken to mooning people as a way of humiliating them for claiming to be 'honorable' yet being rotten at heart.
    • While fighting members of the Interregnum during their final showdown, he would moon them in retaliation for driving his Kitsune mother to fake her death in order to protect herself and her hybrid son from persecution.
    • He also does this to arrogant, traditionalist deities who try molding him into a 'proper' deity. Whenever they tried to convince him to wear divine regalia or barding instead of going around naked, his response was to moon them. He would moon a deity who tried making a visiting Prince Caerulus Melodia drop his southern accent, and would suggest using this method to deal with those who try making him act 'proper', something Caerulus would take to heart once he went back to Equestria.
      Azamuku: Your Highness, sometimes you'll meet gods who think they know how you should act, and tell you things you don't want to hear. So when things get too much and they won't stop no matter what you say, just turn around and show them your rear!
  • The Prankster: He's this by nature, as being half Kitsune makes him inherently mischievous and prone to playing pranks.

    Bakugami 

Classification: ???

Portfolio: Bombs, Explosions

Rank: ???


Bakugami (first introduced here) is the god of Bombs and Explosions.
  • Fanboy: OF Michael Bray, finding his use of explosions artistic.

    Princess Kouyou, the Maiden of Autumn 

Classification: Ascendant

Portfolio: Autumn

Rank: Divine (Tier III/Intermediate)

  • Adaptational Badass: Kimono in G3 is the wise sage of Ponyville and keeper of all Pony legends and lore, and had been described as the smartest mare 'in all the lands'. Here, she kept this, but was also considered so intelligent and knowledgeable she was widely considered the smartest pony of the Third Age, widely compared to Silversmith of the Second Age (and widely believed to be one of his descendants) and at one point even ascended to Alicornhood. She was also considered The Rival / Arch-Enemy to Sekra the Indomitable herself on the side of Good, responsible for holding off the High Queen in endless battles of wits and stopping Crypta from Taking Over The World many times, which had served to earn her nothing less than Sekra's undying respect and appreciation.
  • Anthropomorphic Personification: She's a Shinseina Alicorn goddess who embodies Autumn.
  • Friendly Enemy: Her relationship with Sekra the Indomitable of Old/New Crypta was apparently this, from the way she unironically referred to Sekra as a 'dear friend' when she finally met Sekra again in the Fourth Age. Sekra confirms this as for her part she was delighted when she realized one of her greatest foes survived to the present and wasted no time resuming their contest.
  • Humongous Mecha: She's the inventor of the Crystal Titans, a line of powerful magical crystal golems that act as these. This includes her personal Titan, Amethyst Serenity, which she rebuilt and maintained after the end of the Third Age. Just in case.
  • Superweapon Surprise: During the 'New Crypta Conquests', when Sekra the Indomitable unleashed her Kaiju-sized giant scorpion companion Merew during the first battle between her and her Arch-Enemy in ages, Princess Kouyou responded by revealing that she had repaired and maintained her own own personal 100-meters tall Crystal Titan for just this sort of situation.
    Sekra: Sekra is curious, our old enemy. What do you have prepared to counter Merew? You would not have come here without it.
    Kouyou: Observant as always, Sekra...

    From crystal caves and times long past,
    The time has come to arise from your rest.
    My old friend, come forth and once more ascend:
    Amethyst Serenity...

    Hasshin.
  • World's Smartest Man: Or rather, Pony. She was widely considered to be this for the Third Age, to the point that she has been compared to Doctor Silversmith, Sr., who was the World's Smartest Pony during the 'Second Age', and is speculated by many to be one of his descendants.

    Bōkun 

Classification: [TBA]

Portfolio: Abusive Bosses, Overwork, Death

Rank: Divine (Tier ???)


Bōkun (first introduced here) is the god of Abusive Bosses, Overwork, and Death, and is a constructive god who helps improve workplace conditions by going after abusive bosses and easing the troubles of employees.
  • Anthropomorphic Personification: He's a god who embodies Abusive Bosses, Overwork, and Death.
  • Bad Boss: Invoked. As a god of Abusive Bosses, he acts this way specifically to punish those who mistreated and/or abused their employees for whatever reason.
  • Don't Fear the Reaper: He's a god of Death whose nature and role is similar to Malus Manes: They both have 'evil' domains and are people no one wants to see after death, but they're also divine punishers who go after the wicked and genuinely care for the innocent.
  • God of Evil: He embodies aspects of toxic work environments in Neighpon such as corrupt and/or bosses, overwork, and the deaths that comes from abuse, working oneself to death, or killing oneself out of guilt and/or shame over failure to meet the expectations of their workplace and society overall. However, it's subverted as he uses his domains for constructive purposes, such as encouraging whistleblowers to expose corruption, making Workaholics realize they shouldn't work themselves to death, and/or helping suicidal people find reasons to live and deal with their own pain in healthier ways.
  • Meaningful Name: Bōkun's name means "tyrant" in Japanese when using certain kanji. As a god of Abusive Bosses, Bōkun embodies tyrants in the sense that bosses can act tyrannical and abusive to their own workers.

    Muroemasa, the Cursed Swordsmith 

Classification: Ascendant/Ethereal

Portfolio: Swordsmithing, Curses, Bloodlust

Rank: Divine (Tier IV/Greater)


Muroemasa (his entry here) is the Deer god of Swordsmithing, Curses, and Bloodlust, and is a constructive deity with a troubled history who goes after bloodthirsty warriors and hypocrites who hide their monstrous sides with a veneer of honor.

    Yahata Hachimane, Lord of the Eight Banners 

Classification: Ascendant

Portfolio: Agriculture, Fishing, Archery, War

Rank: Divine (Tier IV/Greater)


First introduced in a Drabble, Hachimane was one of Neighpon's legendary emperors who ascended to become its famous god of war, and had watched over Neighpon, its people and its Imperial Houses since then as their patron defender.
  • Mundane Utility: Some question his possession of Agriculture and Fishing as domains and wonder what use they have for a War God, until he reminds them their value in ensuring Easy Logistics.
    Hachimane: You try leading an army to victory on empty stomachs.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Like the rest of the Shinseina Pantheon, he's horrified and disgusted with Neighpon's war crimes and atrocities during the Second Age and worked to mitigate that come Third and Fourth Ages.
  • War God: One of the more honourable ones, on account of his mother's teachings and disgust with Neighpon's military atrocities in the Second Age and working hard to inspire honour in battle and nobility in war.
    Hachimane: War can be brutal, stripping away our souls and leaving behind violent shells in its wake. Yet there can be honour in battle, such as treating enemies with respect and fighting nobly with restrain, thus allowing us to retain our hearts. So long as I stride the battlefields, I will stand firmly by my code, and teach all those who wield the bow or sword to fight to do likewise.
    • To note, as with his Real Life counterpart Hachimane has a greater role to play than being a god of war: He is a god of agriculture and fisheries, and farmers and fishers pray to him for good harvests/yields. This incidentally has great Mundane Utility in ensuring Easy Logistics.

    Queen Torikku, the Mother of All Kitsune 

Classification: Ascendant/Ethereal

Portfolio: Trickery, Wisdom, Fortune, Kitsune

Rank: Titan


Queen Torikuu (her entry here) is the Kitsune Goddess of Trickery, Wisdom, Fortune, and Kitsunes, and is her race's mother goddess.
  • Anthropomorphic Personification: She's a Kitsune goddess who embodies Trickery, Wisdom, Fortune, and Kitsune.
  • Beware the Silly Ones: She is quite the mischievous goddess who enjoys pranking people and making puns; in fact, she was responsible for integrating puns into Neighponese culture. She is also prone to "rolling-on-the-back"-type fits of laughter despite her being a Queen and the Kitsune's mother goddess. That being said, she is still an ancient and powerful goddess who can be a terrifying enemy when enraged, and her wrath is capable of ending entire dynasties. She is also extremely intelligent and wise, and therefore extremely difficult to outsmart. Many deceitful and exploitative lovers have met grisly ends at her paws, and she angrily mocked the Old Neighponese Pantheon for obsessing with honor to the point of getting millions of innocent people killed. And as a Karmic Trickster, her pranks get more meanspirited and dangerous the more wicked her targets are.
  • Blue-and-Orange Morality: As a divine Kitsune (which is a type of Youkai), she has some alien behaviors and traits that can be off-putting, making her similar to Fae. Being the oldest Kitsune goddess alive doesn't help.
  • Deity of Human Origin: She was once a mortal fox that gained sapience and eventually Ascended to godhood, one of the things about her past that she personally confirmed wasn't a fabrication made by her.
  • Divine Parentage: She's the distant ancestor of Azamuku, the Alicorn-Kitsune hybrid god of Deceit, Rebellion, and Moral Goodness, as his mother was a Kitsune. Besides Azamuku, however, she's the mother of countless children, hybrid or otherwise, due to acquiring a number of lovers huge enough to rival the number of partners taken by Love deities.
  • Due to the Dead: Despite her anger towards the Neighponese Pantheon and their collective obsession with honor, she still restrained herself from laughing at them out of respect for the bilions of people in Neighpon who died thanks to their own pantheon's mistakes.
  • Everyone Has Standards: While openly contemptuous, angry, and mocking towards the Old Neighponese Pantheon over how their obsession with honor and tradition led to tremondous disaster, she restrained herself from laughing in their faces out of respect for the billions of people in Neighpon who died thanks to their pantheon's mistakes.
  • Lady Luck: As a goddess of Fortune, she can manipiulate casuality and increase a person's good luck or bad luck, depending on the situation. She uses her powers to punish wicked people.
  • Karmic Trickster: While she pranks everybody, her pranks are mostly harmless and playful. Her more meanspirited and dangerous ones, however, are saved for those who are genuinely, unrepentantly wicked.
  • Large and in Charge: She is roughly the size of Celestia, making her very tall. She is also the Queen and mother goddess of the Kitsune, having sired them after traveling to Neighpon.
  • The Magnificent: Known as "the Mother of All Kitsune", due to her being the mother goddess of both mortal and divine Kitsune (even those sired by her through multiple lovers).
  • The Maker: She's the mother goddess of the Kitsune race, having sired them after traveling to Neighpon. Many of the Kitsune's racial traits, such as their mischievousness, trickery, and intelligence came from her.
  • Mathematician's Answer: She would reply "Yes" when asked whether she is an adoptive or biological sister of Revontulet, the Tulikettu goddess of Auroras, Hunt, and Snow. She did state that she is younger than Revontulet, however.
  • Mind over Matter: As a goddess of Wisdom, she has psychic telekinesis.
  • Multiple-Tailed Beast: She is a nine-tailed Kitsune goddess. Notably, normal Kitsune only have one tail, so her having nine tails is a sign of her extreme age and power.
  • Mysterious Past: Her past is a mystery, and she has given multiple accounts of how she came to be. Any attempts to question her about them has been met with replies of "Yes". She has, however, confirmed that she is Revontulet's younger sister, and was once mortal fox that became sapient and Ascended to godhood, after which they became part of different pantheons.
  • Our Titans Are Different: She is a "Titan"-ranked deity, having been born before recorded history and is between 100,000 to 1 million years old. Because of how deities age, she is incredibly powerful and eldritch; notably, as the Kitsune's creator and mother goddess, only she possesses nine tails while normal Kitsune have only one, which is a sign of her extreme age.
  • Polyamory: She's okay with open relationships and it's implied she had done this in her long lifetime. She will enter one if her lover requests it.
  • The Prankster: As part of her mischievous streak, she enjoys playing pranks on mortals and even fellow deities. Depending on the morality of those she targets, her pranks can range from mostly harmless and playful, to meanspirited and dangerous. While she sees no one as "off-limits", she's more likely to prank people who serious and composed; she once snuck a whoopee cushion onto Emperor Golden Scepter's chair during a diplomatic meeting. Naturally, this tendency makes her hard not to take seriously and difficult to deal with in diplomatic situations as her pranks has enraged people.
  • Psychic Powers: As a goddess of Wisdom, she has various psychic powers like telepathy and psychic telekinesis.
  • Pungeon Master: She's prone to making puns and Neighponese word-plays, and she is credited with inventing and imbedding them into Neighpon's cultural identity.
  • Shapeshifting Seducer: As a Kitsune, she can change forms at will, and she had so many mates over the Ages that the number of them rivals the number of mates taken by Love deities. She also has a playfully seductive side that she shows to her mates.
  • Telepathy: As a goddess of Wisdom, she has telepathic powers.
  • Woman Scorned: It's noted that while normally friendly and playful, if one marries Torikku, they should make sure not to do her wrong or break her heart, as horrible fates normally await those who do.

    Princess Higanbana Moufette, the Keeper of Graves 

Classification: Ascendant/Ethereal

Portfolio: Love, Self-Determination, Graves

Rank: Divine (Tier IV/Greater)

Affiliation: Shinseina Pantheon (main), Great Skunk Pantheon

"Love is like a living creature. It shouldn't be bound to outdated traditions or the graves of people who genuinely don't deserve respect."

Princess Higanbana Moufette (her entry here) is the Skunk/Kitsune hybrid goddess of Love, Self-Determination, and Graves, and is a benevolent member of the Shinseina Pantheon.

    Lord Bitkei 

Classification: Ethereal

Portfolio: Loyalty, Weaponry, Warriors

Rank: Divine (TBA)

Affiliation: Shinseina Pantheon

"None shall force their way over this bridge with evil intent. If you possess it, turn back now."

Lord Bitkei (first introduced here) is the god of Loyalty, Weaponry, and Warriors, and is the gatekeeper of the Shinseina Pantheon's divine realms.

    Masked Beauty, the Guardian of Love/The First Moon Guardian 

Classification: Ascendant

Portfolio: [WIP]

Rank: Divine (TBA)

Affiliation: Shinseina Pantheon


Masked Beauty (first introduced here) is the first Magical Filly of the Second Age, and a masked superheroine who eventually Ascended to godhood.

    Heroic Island, the Father of Modern Worldbuilding 

Classification: Ethereal/Ascendant

Portfolio: Gaming, Misdirection, Worldbuilding

Rank: Divine (Tier IV/Greater)

Affiliation: Shinseina Pantheon (main), Novellus Pantheon

"When you actually play my games, I don't want Ponies to play them just for fun, or because they have nothing else to do. I want the players to find something more, to enrich their lives through games."

Heroic Island (his entry here) is the Alicorn god of Gaming, Misdirection, and Worldbuilding, and a living legend known for his talent in game development and world-building.
  • Abstract Apotheosis: Under Luminiferous' tutelage, he would eventually Ascend to godhood after traveling the world incognito and having multiple adventures (including sabotaging and clashing with Dalong SynTech forces). However, after this, he revealed his godhood to the world in such an unorthodox way that people thought he was trolling them until they realized no, he wasn't joking.
  • The Ace: It goes without saying that he is one of the most talented storytellers and video-game creators in the world, having created multiple beloved video-game franchises like the Metal Gear series that earned him thousands, if not millions of fans across the world. His departure from Kounnami was a huge contributing factor to its fall as a company (as he revealed many of the abuses inflicted upon him while he worked there), while the independent company he founded afterward, Heroic Island Productions, became wildly successful in contrast. This factored into his Ascension as a "prodigy deity", and after Ascending, he would continue inspiring others, even helping Luminiferous and Prince Maestro I mentor young Button Mash as an Ascendant-in-training.
  • Anthropomorphic Personification: He's an Alicorn god who embodies Gaming, Misdirection, and World-Building.
  • Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: His Cutie Mark depicts the planet Equus with a gaming controller in front of it, representing his talents in worldbuilding and gaming.
  • Badass in Distress: While details aren't clear as to how it happened, he apparently was kidnapped and imprisoned by Dalong SynTech at one point. Fortunately for him, Solitary Serpent came to his rescue with help from long-time partner "Otacon".
    Heroic Island: Serpent... What took you so long?
    Solitary Serpent: Got held up at work. You know the drill.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: He loves creating things for the sake of sharing them with others and inspiring them, and essentially believes that everyone desires to have friends of their own. However, he hates toxic honor and traditions, corporate abuse/corruption, and those who chose to waste and/or destroy their friendships with others. And as a god of Gaming, Misdirection, and Worldbuilding, he can get very creative in punishing genuinely wicked people when enraged — one Pocket Dimension he created is described by him as the "Quiet Valley Treatment", in which those thrown in it are forced to face horrific manifestations of their own sins. There's also the fact that he's an expert in stealth combat thanks to his friendship with Solitary Serpent, and he can fool others with his silver tongue even while telling the truth.
  • Beware the Silly Ones: Despite his mild-mannered appearance, he's a rather impish stallion who likes playing pranks and trolling people, though he generally means no harm and is extremely apologetic whenever people are offended and/or hurt by his pranks. He's also a Consummate Liar, an ancient god with incredible power and mastery over gaming and reality-warping, and a skilled combatant thanks to learning from the likes of Luminiferous and Solitary Serpent. One of his most terrifying abilities involves creating Pocket Dimensions specifically to punish wicked people for their crimes; one such dimension is called the "Quiet Valley Treatment", in which anyone left in there are forced to face horrific manifestations of their own sins and flaws.
  • Consummate Liar: As a god of Misdirection, he has a silver tongue, allowing him to fool others even if he's telling the truth. Even before Ascending, he was infamous for his trolling, which caused people to think that him revealing his true form as an Alicorn thought it was one of his pranks at first. His mistreatment at the hooves of Kounnami and Second-Age Neighpon's toxic honor system also played a part in this, as he had to lie to protect himself from both social abuse and disapproval.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: As a young colt, he lost his father to a traveling accident, leaving him with no one in his family to share his aspirations and hobbies with. His father's death also inflicted financial hardship on his family, causing many people to strongly encourage him to pursue high-paying careers that were also socially acceptable; when he announced his intent to make video-games, he was met with strong discouragement from even his own foalhood friends, who outgrew their film-making days. He eventually got the job he wanted at Kounnami, but his bosses developed a grudge against him and abused him so severely that he left to create his own company, Heroic Island Productions. And even then, his bosses continued hounding him out of pure spite. Because of Neighpon's social attitudes towards mental health and workplace abuse at the time, he didn't talk about it for years, only doing so when he met Dr. Silversmith and Prince Maestro during a trip to Ponyland and he couldn't take it anymore. Fortuantely, this was the turning point where everything went uphill for him, but the horrific abuse he suffered, along with years of social isolation and toxic social attitudes at the time, inflicted a lot of psychological scars that lasted for Ages.
  • Deity of Human Origin: He was once a mortal Earth Pony who, sometime after being freed of Kounnami's abusive exploitation, met Luminiferous, who took him under his wing as a student. He eventually Ascended as an Alicorn god of Gaming, Misdirection, and Worldbuilding, which he proceeded to reveal to the world in a rather unorthodox manner.
  • Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones: He loves creating things for the sake of sharing his creations with people and inspiring them to create themselves, and he essentially believes that all people, whether divine or mortal, desire friends to a degree. However, he hates Kounnami due to his bosses' abuse of him, and was instrumental in its downfall. He also hates those who choose to waste and/or destroy their own friendships with others, seeing such acts as foolish and self-destructive.
  • Exact Words: As a god of Misdirection, this is how he can fool others — he can tell the truth in ways that makes it hard to tell if he's lying or not.
  • Executive Meddling: In-Universe; he experienced a severe form of this in the Second Age when he was a mortal. A few of his games (such as the Codexverse equivalent of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain) became Troubled Productions (in Cultura's words), with the much-awaited psychological horror game Silent Hills (a collaboration between him and close friends like Spiraling Yarn and Protecting Bull) being outright cancelled by the video-game company he once worked for. In addition, he was psychologically abused and treated like a prisoner in general; at one point he was banned from attending a game awards ceremony when he protested his mistreatment. Understandably, he got fed up and left to found Heroic Island Productions, but his experiences left him with trauma that wouldn't be resolved until the Fourth Age.
  • Fun T-Shirt: He often wears graphic T-shirts of any kind along with a pair of round glasses and a leather jacket.
  • A God Am I: Played for laughs. After Ascending to godhoo under Luminiferous' tutelage, he proceeded to troll the entire world by enthusiastically announcing online, "Rejoice, my friends: FOR I HAVE BECOME A GOD!", before appearing a few days later at a gaming convention as a normal Earth Pony as if nothing happened. When he revealed his true divine form anyway, it took everyone twenty seconds for them to realize that no, he wasn't joking. Fittingly, the incident earned him the title as "The Stallion Who Trolled the World".
  • God in Human Form: As a god, he can choose to appear in his mortal, pre-Ascendant form. In one notable incident, he trolled his fans by announcing on the WorldWeb that he became a god, and then showing up a few days later at a gaming convention as a mortal Earth Pony like nothing happened. Then he revealed his true divine form anyway and announced that He's Back!, eliciting enthusiastic cheering and applause all over the world after it took twenty seconds to realize that no, he was not joking.
  • Good Parents: Unlike his father, who died when he was young, he got married and lived long enough to raise his two sons, even taking inspiration from them to continue making video-games even when he suffered immensely under Kounnami's tyranny.
  • Happily Married: Implied. At one point, he got married while still a mortal and had two sons; unlike his father, who died when he wase young, he lived long enough to raise his sons well. It can be assumed that he had a happy relationship with his wife despite the extreme stress he was under at the time.
  • Hates Being Alone: He had gone on to state that his father's tragic death, combined with years of repeated social isolation and abuse at the hooves of his corrupt bosses, left him feeling extremely lonely at times. It didn't help that being a god naturally meant he would outlive all of his mortal friends, which he discovered the hard way. Fortunately, he has received therapy for this.
  • Hell-Bent for Leather: He often wears a leather jacket along with a pair of round glasses and graphic T-shirts of any kind.
  • Heroic BSoD: He was devastated when he learned for the first time after Ascending that being a god means he has to watch as he outlives all his mortal friends.
  • He's Back!: Shortly after Ascending to godhood, in true Kojima fashion, he proceeded to troll his fans by announcing that he became a god on the WorldWeb, then showing up in-person as a mortal Earth Pony at a gaming convention as if nothing happened. He revealed his true divine form anyway and announced, "I'm back!", but due to his reputation as The Prankster, everyone thought he was just pranking them before realizing twenty seconds later that he was really telling the truth.
  • Holy Halo: Post-Ascension, he gained a halo made of Misdirection energy.
  • I Just Want to Have Friends: He sees all sapients, whether divine or mortal, as inherently social creatures who desire to form emotional connections with others. Thus, he is enraged by those who waste or destroy their connections. This stemmed from not only moving around a lot, but also losing his father at a young age and having to deal with both social and corporate oppression in a country dominated by a toxic honor system — all which caused him to develop a deep sense of loneliness.
  • Immune to Fate: As a god of Midirection, his mere presence prevents Seers and other clairvoyants from gleaning any information about him.
  • Interspecies Friendship: In the Fourth Age, he befriended Film Trivia, the Pony-Draconequus god of Film and Pop Culture. Being a huge movie geek who used tropes copiously in his works himself may have helped in this.
  • Invisibility: As a god of Misdirection, one of his powers is invisibility.
  • Magic Hair: Post-Ascension, his black mane and tail became composed of pixelated Gaming energy.
  • The Magnificent: Known as "the Father of Modern World-Building" for implementing his in-depth knowledge of various topics and movie tropes into his games, creating complex stories and settings. Hilariously, he's also known as "the Stallion Who Trolled the World" due to his tendency to prank and/or troll his fans, with one notable incident involving him meeting his fans in the form of a mortal Earth Pony after announcing he became a god.
  • Master of Illusion: As a god of Misdirection, he can produce powerful illusions on a wide scale.
  • Meaningful Name: His name, Heroic Island, is a rough translation of Hideo Kojima's name. He hails from Neighpon (which consists of eight islands like Japan) and remains a kind, honorable, and creative, if impish stallion despite suffering abuse and social isolation in a time when Neighpon was obsessed with honor and tradition. He even helped Neighpon develop healthier, positive standards of goodness, virtue, and honor in the Third and Fourth Ages after becoming a god.
  • Mentor Archetype: In the Fourth Age, he would aid Luminiferous and Prince Maestro I in mentoring young Button Mash, who has great potential to Ascend as a new god of Gaming.
  • Nanomachines: When asked by a reporter how he managed to stay physically young in his middle-age, he jokingly answers it was nanomachines, referencing one of his games where the main villain was powered by nanomachines.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: He's based on Hideo Kojima, best known for creating the Metal Gear franchise and trolling his fans, among other things. His life is more or less similar to Kojima's, including losing his father at a young age, his clashes with the corrupt video-game company Kounnami, and the founding of his own successful video-game company, Heroic Island Productions (based on Kojima Productions). Unlike Kojima, however, he ends up Ascending to godhood thanks to a series of different circumstances and choices, and outlives both Kounnami and Dalong SynTech, the company that bought up Kounnami after its fall into bankruptcy.
  • Odd Friendship: At one point, he befriended Solitary Serpent (details unknown), though they're complete opposites since he's a somewhat pacifistic video-game creator who loves pranking (and trolling) people, whereas Solitary Serpent is a grizzled, hardened Super-Soldier. Despite this, his friendship saved him when Solitary Serpent rescued him from imprisonment by Dalong SynTech forces.
  • Older Than They Look: Despite being a middle-aged mortal and enduring a hellish life as a Kounnami employee at the time, he still managed to inexplicably look much younger than he actually is. When questioned by a reporter, he jokingly responded it was due to having nanomachines in his blood — something that didn't seem too far-fetched due to the existence of anti-aging treatments in the Second Age.
    Reporter: How do you stay so young, Mr. Island?
    Heroic Island: Nanomachines!
  • Oppose What You Suffered: He became a staunch opponent of predatory and abusive video-game companies in the Fourth Age, which stems from his own experiences with being psychologically abused and sabotaged by his former employers in the Second Age.
  • Pocket Dimension: As a god of Worldbuilding, he can create pocket dimensions for various purposes, such as makeshift storages for anything he collects over the years, or, when sufficiently when enraged, torture rooms used to punish wicked people for horrible crimes. The "Quiet Valley Treatment" is a prime example of the latter, where those thrown into it are confronted by horrific manifestations of their own sins and flaws. When combined with his other domains, his pocket dimensinos become nigh-indistinguishable from reality, which can be advantageous when facing hostile enemies.
  • Really Moves Around: Justified. His father was a pharmacist which required him to be in different places, so consequently he and his family moved around a lot. This meant he also had to leave his friends behind whenever he moved. This, along with his father's death and later his social isolation by Kounnami, greatly impacted his worldviews and instilled in him a deep loneliness that would never go away.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He contributed to the downfall of his old company, Kounnami, and his abusive bosses by releasing a polite yet incredibly damaging public speech on Kounnami's de-equinization (as the term was known as in the Second Age) of its own workers.
  • Seen It All: During an interview, he tells Sherlock that he isn't surprised Dalong SynTech's most evilest Board member is the corrupt CEO of a defunct gaming company... because he was a former victim of said CEO and his cohorts. Sherlock was so irate that he went on a Foreign-Language Tirade.
    Sherlock: Wait... so the Board had an evil AI, an immortal warlock, a weapon-making warmonger, a calculating sociopath and so on... yet the most evil one was an game company CEO?!
    Heroic Island: Honestly, after my experience with the company, it didn't surprise me.
    Sherlock: (goes into an angry Mephitidian tirade)
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: In formal situations, he would wear a business suit when he's not wearing a traditional black Neighponese kimono for stallions, depending on his whims and location.
  • Smart People Wear Glasses: Much like Hideo Kojima, he wears a pair of round glasses, and is both a master storyteller and video-game creator who also happens to be the Benevolent Boss of his own company, Heroic Island Productions. Here, though, he is also an Alicorn god of Gaming, Misdirection, and Worldbuilding who can come up with creative and interesting uses for his powers (which can make him terrifying if you enrage him). His entry also notes that he's a Consummate Liar who is really good at fooling others besides his (harmless) trolling, though part of that is influenced by his nature as a god of Misdirection.
  • Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Justified. As a god of Gaming, he can summon weapons from various video-games, though it requires in-depth knowledge and/or previous experience with playing the game(s) his weapons are summoned from.
  • Start My Own: After leaving Kounnami for good, he started his own video-game company, Heroic Island Productions, so he can freely create his own games without having to deal with abusive bosses like Auspicious Grace. Unfortunately, Kounnami continued to harass him out of sheer spite, even trying to permanently block Heroic Island Productions from access to health insurance. The torment finally stopped when he revealed everything he went through to Dr. Silversmith and Prince Maestro I during a trip to Ponyland, leading to Kounnami's downfall. While Heroic Island Productions fell during the Second Age's end, he revived his company in the suceeding Ages, with it becoming an ally of benevolent companies like Maestro Multimedia.
  • Trickster God: As a god of Misdirection, he has powers like illusions, invisibility, voice mimicry, and shapeshifting. Navigation-based technologies, items, and spells don't work around him, and Seers can't glean information about him because he's automatically Immune to Fate. Appropriately, he's an impish stallion who likes playing pranks and trolling people, though he generally means no harm and is extremely apologetic whenever his pranks/trolling have hurt someone.
  • Troll: Like Hideo Kojima, he has a tendency to troll both fans and non-fans alike, with Cultura outright calling him a Trolling Creator In-Universe. He once went so far as to message everyone online that he "became a god"... only to show up in-person later as a mortal Earth Pony as if nothing happened (he revealed his true divine form anyway). His antics fittingly got him named, "The Stallion Who Trolled the World", though he generally doesn't mean any harm and, unlike most examples, is very apologetic if he finds his trolling did hurt someone. His trolling tendencies also factored into his domain of Misdirection once he Ascended to godhood.
  • Voice Changeling: As a god of Misdirection, he possesses voice mimicry.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: As a god of Misdirection, he possesses shapeshifting abilities. He soemtimes uses them to appear as other people as a joke.
  • Who Wants to Live Forever?: He was devastated when he first discovered that being a god meant outliving all of his mortal friends, which is worsened by how he either lost people close to him in his youth, or was repeatedly subjected to social isolation in various forms, one way or another.
  • Winged Unicorn: After Ascending to godhood under Luminiferous' wing, he became an Alicorn god with a black mane and tail made of pixelated Gaming energy, a halo made of Misdirection energy, and a magical wing gradient from light yellow to black.

    Sonkei Moufette 

Classification: Ascendant/Ethereal

Portfolio: Respect, Leadership, Pursuit

Rank: Divine (Tier IV/Greater)

Affiliation: Shinseina Pantheon (main), Great Skunk Pantheon

"A healthy respect for someone, especially for those in power, is something that needs to be earned, not given away freely at a moment's notice."

Sonkei Moufette (first introduced here) is the Fae Skunk/Kirin hybrid goddess of Respect, Leadership, and Pursuit, and is a benevolent if stern daughter of Nittunak Moufette.

The Black Heron Corpse Investigation Team (BHCIT)

"Your body is our business!"
— Team Slogan

The Black Heron Corpse Investigation Team originated in a group of five university students who attended a school of the Shinseinism faith, and were brought together by a corpse who approached them for help, which became their first case. Said case involved reuniting the corpse in question, a young Kirin who committed suicide, with his Pony lover, a deceased idol singer. Using their powers and skills, they located the Kirin's filly-friend in the clutches of her father, a sexually abusive stallion obsessed with "protecting" her, and exposed him for the hypocritical, perverse-minded criminal he was.
    General 
  • Adaptational Badass: In The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, they're five young adults fresh out of the Buddhist university they attended, and work as non-professional detectives for their dead "clients", though the lack of a steady cash source ensures they live in Perpetual Poverty. Here, their good deeds eventually get recognized by the Shinseina pantheon, who decided to promote them to demigod psychopomps as a reward for the good deeds they've done.
  • Amateur Sleuth: What they were pre-Ascension. Though Makino is the only one with job training, being a licensed embalmer, none of them had proper training in actual investigating. Yet they frequently got roped into "cases" via Guiding Light's dowsing and Whispered Winds' ability to talk to the dead. Their only ally was Fire Bullet, a former homicide detective-turned-social services agent.
  • Conditioned to Accept Horror: It's mentioned in their group entry that because they've all experienced deeply horrific and/or personal tragedies in their childhoods, they would develop a borderline morbid sense of humor and perception of the world. As a result, they are largely desensitized to the various horrors that plague Equus, which might be a good thing in some situations, but would often unnerve those who aren't used to a bunch of people conversing casually and flippantly as if it's just another day of work for them, even as they deal with some powerful villain or an eldritch horror. It's speculated in-universe that their eccentricity comes from being a collective Weirdness Magnet as they are constantly haunted by spirits, which is true to some degree, as Whispered Winds was rumored to have been accompanied by the benign spirit of a long-deceased relative who wanted to make sure he was alright before passing on.
  • Creepy Good: They're pretty cynical individuals with a morbid sense of humor and perception of the world, and they hang around dead bodies a lot, but they're undeniably heroic and compassionate. People in-universe also regard them as such, seeing them as collectively off-putting yet acknowledging their good traits.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Their call-sign is a black heron, and it was noted that in their mortal lives, they would often wear black due to the nature of their work. While they're collectively and individually flawed, deep down they are all very compassionate and altruistic, and have trouble saying "no" to both dead and living people in need.
  • Deadpan Snarker: It's mentioned that they dish out snarky remarks to everyone they associate with it, including their enemies.
  • Deity of Human Origin: All five members were "promoted" to godhood by the Shinseina pantheon as a reward for their good deeds. This turned them into Alicorn demigods, the equivalent of newborn infants according to divine standards, though both the Shinseina pantheon and Luminiferous believe that they have the potential to become powerful individuals once they get "older".
  • Expy: They're based on the Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service team. Collectively, they are both teams of five university students who have the black heron as their call-sign, are regarded as creepy and eccentric weirdos who aren't used to them or their line of work, behave in a cynical, sarcastic, and morbid manner, and are very opportunistic and greedy because of their floundering businesses and generally poor financial situations. They even rely on a former homicide detective-turned-social services agent for expenses and dead "clients" in return for doing odd jobs for him. However, they are also both compassionate people who are very unwilling to turn down a dead and living person in need, even at the cost of earning more money for themselves. For bonus points, their team names are heavily similar, with "Kurosagi" meaning "black heron" in Japanese. However, what would make them different from their character inspirations is that after they became Alicorn demigods, their nastier personality traits would actually be taken into account and curbed by more experienced deities in the Shinseina pantheon, as they want the Black Heron group to become benevolent and proper deities by doing away with unsavory behaviors that would eventually spell not only their doom, but Equus's doom as well.
  • Freudian Excuse: All of them have reasons for acting the way they are now. Unfortunately, their behavior would come to bite them once they are surrounded with Reasonable Authority Figures who can see right through them and won't hesitate to call them out for bad behavior.
    • Living in Perpetual Poverty due to a floundering corpse-related business has made the BHCIT incredibly opportunistic and greedy, to the point where they gladly started accepting cash gifts from their mortal worshipers post-Ascension. When they were caught celebrating their rewards and treating their newly-gained divinity like an "infinite meal-ticket", Empress Izanami-no-kami lectured them for their bad behavior and warned them that if they continued behaving irresponsibly and in ways unbecoming of a god, severe consequences will follow.
    • Horrific and/or personal childhood tragedies have left them with cynical and borderline morbid humor and perceptions of the world, to the point where they would crack jokes and converse with each other during a fight as if it's just another day of work. It's implied that much of their behavior is a way to cope with their traumas, as their mortal followers see their sense of humor as an effective way to deal with life's stresses.
  • Interspecies Friendship: The BHCIT consists of a group of friends - two of them are Kirin Alicorns, and the remaining three are Pony Alicorns.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: All five of them are cynical and morbid to varying degrees, and due to living in poverty because of a floundering business, they are incredibly opportunistic and greedy. However, deep down, they are very compassionate and altruistic, and it's mentioned that they collectively suffer Chronic Hero Syndrome and thus can't bring themselves to say "no" to a person in need, both dead and living, even if it'll inconvenience them financially in the long run. The Shinseina pantheon is currently working on getting rid of the "Jerk" part of the trope so the BHCIT make use of their full potential and become truly benevolent deities.
  • Karmic Jackpot: Despite their collective reputation as creepy eccentrics who hang around dead bodies, they managed to get the attention of the Shinseina pantheon with their long list of good deeds, leading to them becoming demigods.
  • Perpetual Poverty: Justified and deconstructed. Because Neighpon favors cremation and the dead aren't exactly good sources of money, every member was forced to take up other jobs just to make ends meet, and had to rely on the kindness of Fire Bullet, a former homicide detective-turned-social services agent. Because of their constant poverty, all five members of the BHCIT became incredibly opportunistic and greedy, and when they were promoted to demigods by the Shinseina pantheon and started receiving gifts from grateful mortal followers, they celebrated their good fortune and the constant rewards, seeing their newly-gained divinity as an "infinite meal-ticket". Apparently this pissed off Empress Izanami-no-kami, the co-Top God of the Shinseina pantheon, so much that she lectured them on their bad behavior and warned them that if they continued using their divinity as an excuse to behave irresponsibly, severe consequences will follow not only for them, but for Equus as well.
  • Semi-Divine: Currently, they're demigods, the equivalent of infant divines, after they Ascended. The Shinseina deities believe that they all have the potential to become much more as they grow "older".
  • Significant Anagram: Played for laughs; When the Shinseina pantheon discovered that "BHCIT" is an anagram for "BITCH", they were immensely displeased. Kazekami would scold them for their crass and immature behavior, and requesting that they change their group name for something more appropriate. It's possible that the BHCIT's mortal followers knew of this, leading to phrases like, "Justice is a BHCIT", and the BHCIT members themselves see nothing wrong with it.
  • Two Girls to a Team: Lovely Bones and Violet Peony are the only mares in the group. The other three members are stallions.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Guiding Light's entry describes the group in general as such. They constantly get on each other's nerves by ribbing and snarking at each other, but they are nonetheless very good friends and will not hesitate to defend each other.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: They were on the receiving end of this trope a few times, mostly by the Shinseina pantheon. It's justified; while the members of the BHCIT are compassionate and unwilling to say "no" to anyone in need, they have a lot of flaws that make them off-putting. The Shinseina pantheon wants them to become better people so they could become proper divines and protectors of Neighpon, so making the BHCIT aware of their own flaws is a very reasonable solution.
    • Empress Izanami-no-kami once lectured them for celebrating the constant cash rewards they would get from their mortal followers and treating their newly-gained divinity like an "infinite meal-ticket". She warned them that being a deity comes with a lot of hard work and responsibility than all five demigods realize, and if they continue behaving irresponsibly, severe consequences will follow for them and Equus.
    • Hilariously, after learning that the "BHCIT" abbreviation of their name is really an anagram of "BITCH", Kazekami would scold them for behaving in a crass, immature, and flippant manner, and requested that they change their name to something more appropriate so they wouldn't be treated poorly by other deities and pantheons.

    Whispered Winds, the Dead Speaker 

Classification: Ascendant

Portfolio: Death, Transition, Justice

Rank: Demigod

  • Alliterative Name: Whispered Winds.
  • Back from the Dead: Much like his character inspiration, he has the ability to temporarily revive people from the dead, though it's explained here that he temporarily gives them a portion of his own power to allow them to move. He has no control over what happens next, however, so he only saves it for the genuinely wicked and unrepentant.
  • Kirk Summation: He sums up the motivations of the sexually abusive father they encountered on their very first case.
    Whispered Winds: Y'know, I've been thinking about it... you said you made your daughter happy, yet once your daughter got away from you, she couldn't wait to commit suicide. Kinda sad, isn't it? [...] Admit it, you only like her better this way. With her dead, she's become even less of a person to you now.

    Guiding Light, the Dead Revealer 

Classification: Ascendant

Portfolio: Death, Empathy, Truth

Rank: Demigod

"We all lose things at some point. That's what I'm here for."
  • Anthropomorphic Personification: Embodies Death, Empathy, and Truth.
  • Armor-Piercing Attack: It's noted that he can use the kanabō, a Neighponese war club, in smashing armor.
  • Armor-Piercing Question: In a canonized Codexverse drabble, Izanami-no-kami mentions to Guiding Light that his and his friends' greed could potentially make their mortal followers destitute and homeless if they kept accepting money from them, and then asks Guiding Light if a similar thing happened to them in their mortal lives. His composure breaks at that moment. Then, he instinctively shouts out "No!" when asked if he really thought that the Shinseina deities charge rent in exchange for room and board in their divine realm, before he pedals back and says a truthful yet hesitant "Yes...".
  • Blind Weaponmaster: He's blind since birth, but after becoming a demigod, he's become skilled in using the kanabō, a Neighponese war club, despite his handicap and his weapon's heaviness. This is thanks to the lessons of his divine mentors, including one local war god.
  • Broken Pedestal: Implied; his bluntness stems from discovering that his old Kirin mentor who taught him dowsing had also lied to him about the location of his childhood friend's missing family. The Kirin knew that they were murdered and buried in a construction site, but he was bribed to keep quiet by a company building there, not wanting to lose money over a potential scandal. Because of this, Guiding Light has developed a strong distaste for lying, seeing it as a good way to betray someone's trust.
  • Brutal Honesty: Because he was lied to by someone he trusted in regards to the fate of his childhood friend's missing family, he acts blunt and straightforward in his interactions with other people.
  • Carry a Big Stick: His primary weapon post-Ascension is the kanabō, a Neighponese war club made of divine metal, which he can use to smash enemies' armor and shatter bones. Despite his blindness, he can efficiently use it by applying the philosophy of Don't Think, Feel, relying on his instincts and magical awareness of his surroundings, and using his own body as a counter-weight to balance the heaviness of the kanabō. His entry also notes that he sometimes tricks and goads enemies into rushing him by noisily thumping his weapon against the ground like a mere staff, giving away his position and making his enemies think that he's an easy target, thus leaving them vulnerable to attack.
  • Crippling Overspecialization: Defied. Pre-Ascension, he only knew how to dowse for corpses, which wouldn't land him a stable job anywhere in Neighpon or any other country. The only job he did get was a corpse-related business that his friend, Lovely Bones, founded, but it ended up floundering because dead people don't really pay well. After he became an Alicorn demigod, his divine mentors in the Shinseina pantheon made sure he would learn how to dowse for other things, such as missing people, wayward spirits, lost objects, and valuable treasures.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: When he was a colt, he learned that the family of a childhood friend he was close to suddenly and mysteriously disappeared, leaving said friend all alone, so he tried to find them for her. An old Kirin would teach him the art of magical dowsing so he could find anything and anyone he wished, while giving him a pair of sunglasses and teaching him that a true stallion always hides his tears. However, he would learn years later that the old Kirin knew what happened to his friend's family and where they were buried, but a company bribed him to keep quiet so they could continue building over the burial site and not lose profits should word get out. By the time Guiding Light finally found them, it was too late, and he blamed himself for it ever since, though he did give his friend closure by showing her the place of her family's burial.
  • Deity of Human Origin: Was once a unicorn before the Shinseina pantheon "promoted" him and his friends, turning him into an Alicorn.
  • Disabled in the Adaptation: He's blind in the Codexverse, where his character inspiration, Makoto Numata, is not.
  • Disabled Snarker: He's blind, but that doesn't stop him from snarking. During their very first case, when confronting an sexually abusive father who kidnapped his daughter's corpse so he could protect her forever, Guiding Light proceeded to sneer, "World's Greatest Dad", provoking a Villainous Breakdown.
  • Don't Think, Feel: His entry describes his fighting philosophy word-for-word. The reason why he wields the kanabō despite being a brutish and seemingly unusable weapon is so that he can be learn discipline and balance, while turning his natural strength, instincts, and blindness into great assets. Indeed, he can execute graceful yet mighty swings that smash armor and shatter bones by using his magical awareness and his own body as a counter-weight to balance the heaviness of his war club.
  • Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Justified. His entry mentions that he gets irritated whenever someone pities him and/or gives him special treatment for being blind, which he sees as degrading. It's also the reason why he's close to his friends despite their constant ribbing and snarking, because they treat him like a normal person who's part of the group rather than an invalid.
  • Dowsing Device: A living example. Unlike his character inspiration, who uses a pendulum that swings in circles when near corpses, Guiding Light uses magical dowsing, which taps into the residual spiritual and natural magics left behind by corpses and spirits. Presumably, he uses his horn as a focus. Originally, he can only find corpses, but after Ascending, he started learning how to dowse for other things like missing people, lost objects, wayward spirits, and valuable treasures. This would later prove handy in finding those who got lost on their way to the afterlife... or those who tried escaping their eternal fate.
  • The Empath: He's described as having empathy, which allows him to discern when people are lying to him. This suits his rather blunt nature. Post-Ascension, he became capable of doing things like form barriers made of positive emotion to ward off dark magic and curses that both invoke and thrive off of negative emotions (though he can only repel them, as only Lovely Bones can eliminate them entirely through divine purification and her domain of Forgiveness), and force criminals and villains to develop regret for their actions by projecting their victims' emotions onto them. It's noted that he initially didn't like messing with people's emotions on purpose, but has since acknowledged and accepted the necessity if there's no other way to make a villain see the error of their ways and atone. As the Alicorn god of Truth, he can also use empathy to cure unhealthy denial by talking to people and gradually bring their repressed emotions to the forefront, allowing his friend, Felt Actor, to give them emotional closure through Catharsis.
  • Fate Worse than Death: In-universe; being blind is seen as this trope by many pegasi, since they need their sight to navigate themselves during flight. Even Guiding Light didn't believe that he could fly despite becoming an Alicorn demigod, due to being blind since birth. Fortunately, his mentors decided to work around this handicap by teaching him how to use pegasi magic as an inner "compass", so he could sense and avoid changes in the weather such as storms and other hazards while he flies.
  • Freudian Excuse: Deconstructed, as while his experiences make his behavior understandable, he does have the opportunity to move on from them, and that some of his actions are off-putting or inexcusable despite the situations that spawned them.
    • He's always blunt and straightforward with others because his Kirin mentor knew what happened to his childhood friend's family and where they were buried, but kept it a secret because he was bribed to keep quiet by a company that was building over their place of burial. Guiding Light blamed himself for it ever since, even though his childhood friend doesn't, and sees dishonesty in general as a good way to betray someone's trust and screw people over. However, his childhood friend had long forgiven him for his supposed "failure" and doesn't even blame him for it, and gained closure once she was shown where her family was buried.
    • He's opportunistic and greedy because pre-Ascension, he lived in Perpetual Poverty due to Lovely Bones' corpse business floundering, and even lost a home since he failed to pay rent. Unfortunately, his and his friends' willingness to earn money in any way possible would later get them scolded by Izanami-no-kami after she caught them treating their newly-gained divinity like an "infinite meal-ticket". Guiding Light would later privately admit to the divine Empress that he thought living in the divine realms would be just like Neighpon, rent included, and he and his friends just wanted to stop worrying about living expenses for once. Izanami-no-kami proceeded to point out that requesting money from their followers as gifts could potentially make them destitute in the end, making them no different from how he and his friends lived in constant poverty in their mortal life. Hearing that caused Guiding Light to break his composure and be overcome with guilt.
  • Handicapped Badass: He was born blind, yet he was able to learn how to magically dowse for corpses when he was a colt. He would use this skill to help his friends find dead "clients" so they could help them finish any unfinished business. Being "promoted" to a demigod psychopomp by the Shinseina pantheon just made him even more badass, as a few local deities would take him in as their student and teach him new techniques he wouldn't be able to learn as a mortal. Notably, he uses the kanabō, which would've been impossible due to its heaviness, but he managed to become quite skilled with it thanks to learning how to use his magical awareness and his own body as a counter-weight.
  • Hell-Bent for Leather: Like his character inspiration, it's noted in his entry that pre-Ascension, his Iconic Outfit consisted of a pair of sunglasses and a black leather jacket. However, he has sometimes donned leather vests and bomber jackets.
  • Iconic Outfit: It's noted in his entry that pre-Ascension, his outfit consisted of a pair of sunglasses and a black leather jacket.
  • Immune to Mind Control: As the Alicorn god of Truth, he can resist and even shrug off attempts to persuade and/or coerce him, magically, mentally, or otherwise. This makes Geass magic and brainwashing techniques in general useless against him.
  • Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Averted. While he's blind and has several abilities and skills to make up for it, it's noted in his entry that the Shinseina pantheon chose to Ascend him (as well as his friends) solely because of his compassion and altruism, and they taught him many things so he could fulfill his role as a Death god despite his disability. Their desire to turn him into a benevolent and proper god stems from the fact that they find a few of his flaws (namely, his cynicism, morbid sense of humor, and opportunistic greed) off-putting and potentially detrimental to any good he might do as a demi-divine. Guiding Light also gets irritated whenever someone pities him and/or gives him special treatment for being blind, and is close to his friends in the BHCIT despite their constant ribbing because they treat him as part of the group rather than an invalid.
  • Interspecies Friendship:
    • Two of his best friends in the BHCIT, Felt Actor and Violet Peony, are Kirin Alicorns.
    • He would end up befriending Muet, the Great Skunk goddess of Pantomime and Silence, despite being of different species and pantheons. Guiding Light stated that he thought she was "weird" at first, but once he knew of her mutism and began perceiving her in a different way, he quickly grew to like her.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a cynical and morbid individual who doesn't bat an eye to horrific things and hates lying, and he's also opportunistic and greedy, but he's also a very empathetic and compassionate individual who can't say "no" to people in need. The Shinseina deities are currently working on making him drop the "Jerk" part of the trope so he could become a benevolent and proper god instead of the crass and immature university student he once was.
  • Meaningful Name: "Guiding Light" is a rather appropriate name for someone who can dowse for corpses and detect lies.
  • Men Don't Cry: When he was a colt, he was taught by an old Kirin that a true stallion always hides his tears, and was given a pair of sunglasses just for this purpose. While he has mostly stayed true to this principle, it's ironically subverted in that he has sometimes cried even with his sunglasses on, which he states is okay since his tears are completely genuine.
  • My Greatest Failure: He deeply regretted not managing to find his childhood friend's deceased family, especially after learning that his Kirin mentor kept their ultimate fates and their location a secret from him for many years. This is why he's often so blunt and straightforward - being dishonest has led to a great tragedy that could have been resolved if his Kirin mentor had been honest instead. His childhood friend, however, forgave him long ago and doesn't even blame him for his supposed "failure".
  • Noodle Incident: It's mentioned in his entry that he once located corpses on top of telephone poles. According to him, "Long story behind that, but uh... it involved snails and birds and it was really gross." This is actually a Shout-Out to The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, where one case involved people getting infected and mutated by eating infected snails, which made them climb things like trees and telephone poles under the delusion of becoming a "bird" so they can be eaten by birds.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: Izanami-no-kami bringing up how the BHCIT's acceptance of cash as gifts would potentially make their mortal followers as destitute as they were pre-Ascension is what causes Guiding Light's stoic facade to break, leaving him more emotionally vulnerable. Notably, he instinctively shouts out "No!" when asked if he really thought that the Shinseina deities charge rent in exchange for room and board in their divine realm, before he pedals back and says a truthful yet hesitant "Yes...".
  • Odd Friendship: Forms one with Muet, the Great Skunk goddess of Pantomime and Silence, despite having different disabilities and being of different species and pantheons. Guiding Light admits that he initially saw her as "weird" due to her lack of voice, but quickly grew to like her once he got past the non-speaking barrier. Because of his magical and emotional sensitivity, he can perceive Muet's body language as "speech", and to him she appears as speaking from the soul, which appeals to his Brutal Honesty.
  • Semi-Divine: He's an Alicorn demigod, the equivalent to an infant god by divine standards. While his full capability currently remains unknown, he's still very powerful than the average mortal and has a lot of potential. It's expected by both the Shinseina pantheon and Luminiferous that he'll become a powerful individual someday.
  • Shattering the Illusion: Post-Ascension, after becoming the Alicorn god of Truth, he gained the ability to see illusions and literally shatter them, making him an absolute nightmare for illusionists. The reason for this is the increased sensitivity to magic he got to make up for his blindness, which allows him "see" illusions in the form of walls and other structures that only he can break down. It's mentioned in his entry that he first discovered this ability by complete accident - a Hydianite sorceress trapped the BHCIT in a powerful illusion that targeted their worst memories and experiences, and Guiding Light unwittingly broke it while trying to free his friends.
  • Spared by the Adaptation: Unlike Numata's family, who were all murdered and buried in a construction site that was built over years later, Guiding Light's family is still alive. Instead, it would be the family of his childhood friend who would be killed off instead.
  • The Stoic: While not to the degree of his friend, Lovely Bones, he can still be quite stoic and calm. This is largely due to his sunglasses, which hide his eyes and makes face-reading somewhat difficult.
  • Stoic Spectacles: He often wears sunglasses to hide his emotions, which largely makes him look stoic and calm, because he was taught that true stallions always hide their tears. However, it's subverted in that he sometimes cries even with his sunglasses on, which he claims is okay since his tears were completely genuine.
  • Supernatural Floating Hair: Subverted. After becoming an Alicorn, his hair grew longer, and the lower parts of his hair began shining with a white light, like a moon illuminating the night sky. However, because he's a demigod, he's not powerful enough to gain the Alicorns' trademark magically rippling hair yet.
  • Traumatic Superpower Awakening: Implied to be the case with his empathy - he felt incredibly hurt that his old Kirin mentor knew about what happened to his childhood friend's family and where they were buried, but didn't tell him until after he died because he was bribed by the company he worked for. He developed empathy originally for the sole purpose of detecting lies and dishonesty in general.
  • Underestimating Badassery: Invoked. He sometimes noisily thumps his kanabō war club against the ground like a mere staff, which gives his position away so his enemies would think he's an easy target and rush him. Those who make that mistake often get a nasty surprise as they are left vulnerable to being attacked by him in turn.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: His entry mentions that he has this kind of relationship with his friends - they constantly get on each other's nerves by ribbing and snarking at each other, but they are nevertheless very good friends and will not hesitate to defend each other. Guiding Light really appreciates this, however, because his friends treat him like a normal person despite his blindness, instead of pitying him and giving him special treatment for being disabled.
  • Winged Unicorn: He became an Alicorn after years of helping both the dead and living, which attracted the Shinseina pantheon's attention and impressed them enough to decide to Ascend him and his friends.

    Lovely Bones, the Dead Forgiver 

Classification: Ascendant

Portfolio: Death, [TBA]

Rank: Demigod

  • Forgiveness: Weaponized. By forgiving someone, she absolves any harmful magic that may have been created by long-lasting grudges, guilt, and hatred. This works in freeing those who are tortured by the guilt generated by their own sins.
  • The Stoic: Implied; as her group's entry mentions that she takes a stoic approach to the horrors she would witness in Equus.

    Felt Actor, the Dead Channeler 

Classification: Ascendant

Portfolio: Death, Survival, Catharsis

Rank: Demigod

  • I See Dead People: More specifically, he can see and expel malicious spirits that are possessing people. He gained this ability after he became a demigod.

    Violet Peony, the Dead Preserver 

Classification: Ascendant

Portfolio: Death, Preservation, Fortune

Rank: Demigod

Kumo-rui Pantheon

    General 

    Chīsana Kumo, the Spider Queen of Kumo-rui 

Classification: Ascendant

Portfolio: [TBA]

Rank: [TBA]


Queen Chīsana Kumo (first introduced here) is the ruling Spider Queen of Kumo-rui, a reclusive island kingdom of sapient spiders far off the coast of Neighpon, and the adoptive daughter of Adversus, the Adversity Primeval.
  • No-Sell: She took a cannon ball to the face like it was nothing.

Previous

Index

Next

  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Wide Load

Important Links

Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Go Ad Free!
Crucial Browsing
Resources
Top