Here is a list of characters from the Cloven Empire.
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People's Empire of the Cloven
"One People. One Banner. One Dream."
Also known in full as the "People's Empire of the Cloven", the Cloven Empire (Their entry here
) is a rising Great Power upon Equus, the Cloven Empire was once a collection of divided, impoverished and backward realms in the lands of Roedinia, ruled by increasingly corrupt, reactionary and ineffectual tyrannies, until they were all finally overthrown almost simultaneously after centuries of stagnation, poverty and misrule stressed their societies pass breaking point. From the ashes arose a Roedinian people united under a single ideal: a world free from tyranny of all kinds, and all people regardless of race could enjoy the fruits of unchained progress and prosperity. And in pursuit to those ends, a fearful world would bear witness the Cloven Empire's unfettered resolve... open/close all folders
General
- Cultural Posturing: Part of why most countries and most people don't like the Clovenists. Due to their own experiences with corrupt monarchies in their own country pre-revolution, the Clovenists think that everyone is ruled by mortal/divine tyrants, and that the People's Empire will free and unite them. However, often they try to do this by force.
- Defector from Decadence: Among those who joined the underground Roedinian Secret Societies were disillusioned nobles and royalties, such as Zara Kalakov, a princess and third-in-line to her family throne.
- Enemy Mine:
- While hostile to many other nations and powers on Equus over their 'reactionary' and 'tyrannical' cultures and leaders, they joined forces with other World Powers as part of the unofficial 'International Coalition' to fight the Storm Empire during the 'Storm King Crisis'. They also assisted the Changeling Courts and Dragon Lords in the Apterus and Toxikon Crises, though mostly to salvage their reputations.
- They also heeded High King Kaldr's call for aid in dealing with the Shadowed Ones, seeing them as tyrants beyond the pale for what they had done to the 'Nine Realms' and the Cervidian Pantheons for many cycles and ages.
- Even Well-Intentioned Extremists Has Standards: For all their ideological zealotry and willingness to purge tyranny and impose utopia by force and other questionable means, even they have lines they would not cross.
- Despite their willingness to use mass incarcerations/deportations/executions against real or perceived enemies of the People, like captured Storm King loyalists, even they were horrified by the unmentioned means which the Changeling Summer Court used to crush any remaining Storm Empire remnants and resistance in territories under Summer Court occupation following the Storm King Crisis/Conflict.
- Clovenist ideology opposes racism and genocide as a matter of principle, and because of this the Clovenist government categorically denied and refuse to believe any accusations of certain bad actors within the People's Empire cruelly experimenting on Sparkle Ponies, and when one of their military commanders went rogue and become involved in a plot to exterminate both Changelingkind/Dragonkind, the Clovenists immediately disowned him and joined forces with the heroic factions to stop him, capturing and sentencing him to a Penal Colony as soon as they caught the maniac.
- The Clovenists similarly see the mysterious 'Shadowed Ones' behind the Ragnarok Cycle in Cervidia as no different from all tyrants and oppressors they oppose, and agreed to lend aid when High King Kaldr requests assistance from all the mortal and divine forces of Deerkind to reveal and stop them once and for all.
- When Talon Bais launches a genocidal war against Free Dragons and other benevolent Dragonflights, the Clovenists ultimately can't just sit out, as it'd mean allowing tyrannical racists to harm innocent creatures.
- Despite their willingness to use mass incarcerations/deportations/executions against real or perceived enemies of the People, like captured Storm King loyalists, even they were horrified
- Evil Reactionary: The Clovenists despised reactionaries on principle, seeing reactionary mindsets and beliefs as contributing to the stagnation, corruption and hardships their lands had suffered for over 300 years, traditions having been used by their tyrannical rulers to justify their regime and oppression of their people. Now the Clovenists would not hesitate in the slightest in destroying anything and everything that is deemed reactionary and therefore a threat to the people, even if it means wiping out those who embrace them fanatically to the last.Centaur Khan: Death before dishonour!People's Legate: Well, we can definitely oblige them in the first part.
- Fantastic Racism:
- Subverted. While they're generally xenophobic and distrustful of outsiders, it's only due to culture inertia revolving events pre-Revolution and foreign intervention, and they're not explicitly racist. They do genuinely want to spread Clovenism to other races, believing it would free them from "tyrants" such as the divine monarchs that rule them. Their official policy stems from their sordid past, where the old tyrannical regimes which ruled over the Roedinian kingdoms inflamed and exploited bigotry and discrimination to divide their subjects too much to oppose their rule and to satisfy their petty hatreds against certain parts of the population, which led to the Clovenists to view bigotry and discrimination of any kind as tools of tyrants and excuse of fools, and anything and anyone which promotes such things must be ruthlessly and thoroughly eradicated for a better world to come into being.
- Their treatment with the Sparkle Ponies living in their territories placed their supposedly egalitarian and anti-racist stance into doubt. There are hints to suggest that this is more due to bad actors within the People's Empire then actually government policy, with the top brass unaware of what's being done, although this remains ambiguous.
- When they learned that Admiral Cloven had sided with the genocidal Dr. Toxikon, they immediately label him a traitor, and once everything is over, they drag him back in chains and punish him severely for his crimes.
- Zora also forbade her people from tormenting the critically-endangered Twinkle-Eye Ponies, not wanting them to experience more pain in addition to losing everything in Chrysalis's invasion of Timbucktu.
- In case their opposition to racism still isn't believable, their national Codex entry and drabbles confirm that they are committed to stamp out all and any form of discrimination between communities and groups, at least from the present Cloven government to their most prominent member states, with a ruthlessness to unnerve the outside world through harsh legal sanctions and thorough social engineering.
- To break intergroup grudges and hatreds at the root level, their education system mandates teaching of tolerance and coexistence to all children of the People's Empire, and families could see their children separated from their parents if the authorities find out the elders share discriminating views to prevent them from tainting their young.
- While the specifics are not elaborated, cultures have any practices and views which promotes discrimination downplayed if not outright scrubbed through propaganda and 'Deprogramming' operations.
- Offenders who commit bigotry and discrimination of any kind are harshly sanctioned. The least one can expect for using a racial slur are crippling fines and being forced to publicly confessed and apologize. Hate crimes leading to harm and death of others out of bigotry are enough for the offender to be immediately branded an 'Enemy of the Cloven People' subjected to long imprisonment, hard labour and forced reeducation. Whole communities who participates in pogroms and lynching against other communities could be harshly punished wholesale, ranging from mass executions of all direct perpetrators to/and 'Population Transfer' of the condemned community and group to remote corners of the People's Empire if they are judged too dangerous to those around them, with their property and wealth confiscated to serve as compensation for their victims.
- There are no major Tribalists and Autorists factions arising within the People's Empire, on account of the Clovenists opposing them on principle and having practically exterminated all local groups before they could gain traction. To note, even the Equestrians couldn't achieve this until the 'Canterlot Coup', the 'Second Equestrian Civil War' and the 'Continental Wars' forced their hooves, in part due to being less ruthless than the Clovenists.
- When Talon Bais launched a genocidal war to try and kill off Free Dragons and benevolent Dragonflights (seeing them as 'deceiving' the world and their founding civilizations as needing stamped out), the Clovenists decide to intervene on the benevolent Dragons' side. This is because the idea of racist tyrants slaughting innocent creatures who have done no harm is so sickening they fundamentally couldn't sit by and ignore it.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Roedinia is the deer equivalent of Russia, down to culture, the upheavals that resulted from generations of corrupt and stagnant ruling methods, and the founding of a revolutionary government. It is even heavily implied that the lands of Roedinia were originally those of Codexverse version of Russia and the USSR from the Second Age.
- Gone Horribly Wrong:
- What led to the Roedinians revolting was their patron goddess, Mother Deer, calling out the royal families for their severe incompetence, greed, hedonism, and selfishness. She originally intended for the recipients to change their ways and become more benevolent towards their subjects. However, the problems that plagued the country were already so deep at this point that her speech instead served as the trigger for a full-scale revolution.
- Their attempts to create a god that's wholly devoted to Clovenism after forsaking the Bogolenya deities resulted in the birth of Father Deer, a childishly cruel and sociopathic tyrant. Father Deer caused so much trouble that the Clovenists had to beg for help from the very people they had forsaken, thus while Mother Deer obliged by destroying Father Deer, relations between the Clovenists and the Bogolenya pantheon soured for a long time.
- Hate Sink: In-universe; their well-intentioned attempts to establish Clovenism in Equus, especially through force, had led to outspoken opposition among mortals and deities alike, such as Queen Dazzleglow, who thinks that the People's Empire is doomed to fail due to its national and ideological pride. Their reputation among several world countries soured even further when they refused to take responsibility for the creation of Dracozilla and his son, Dracozilla, Jr., the creation of the Kraken, and their involvement in the attempted experimentation of the Sparkle Ponies. It doesn't help that the leaders of the People's Empire feed their subjects embellished versions of what happened as propaganda. During the Battle with Ghost Dracozilla and the Fourth Demon King, Kazekami, a Neighponese wind deity, called the Clovenists "honourless cowards".
- It Is Beyond Saving: The royal monarchy system has grown deeply rotten by the time the patron goddess of Roedinia, Mother Deer, visited the country, plagued by greed, incompetence, inbreeding, and hedonism. Mother Deer didn't know this, and her attempt to convince the royal families to change their ways and become more benevolent only caused a full societal upheaval as the downtrodden Deer revolted.
- The Marvelous Deer: The predominant population of Roedinia are the Deers of the Erobreseg Herds, one of the three most notable cultural groups of the sapient Deers, although they are not the only Races/Species.
- My Greatest Failure: Belyolen considers the rise of the Cloven Empire as this, because he and the other deities could've intervened and saved the impoverished Deer from the corrupt monarchies before things escalated as they did. In an attempt to make his brother feel better, Temnobog pointed out that if they did interfere, history would've gone differently and a lot of heroes wouldn't have risen because of the Clovenists.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Though a tremendous technical achievement, like the Atomic Bomb of old, many Clovenist scientists and sorcerors were profoundly concerned about the potential catastrophic consequences their creation - the Mana Bomb - might lead to. True to their fears, its existence led to an arms race among world powers and the fallout from the tests and uses led to the creation of horrors and monsters like Dracozilla. One of them quote this trope word-for-word, minus the "My God" part.Scientist/Sorceror 1: The device! It worked!Scientist/Sorceror 1: ...Scientist/Sorceror 2: ... What have we done?
- Never My Fault: Despite being responsible for many incidents, such as the rise of Dracozilla and his son Dracozilla, Jr., the capture and attempted experimentation of several Sparkle Ponies, and the Kraken attack on Manehattan, the Roedinians refuse to take responsibility for their actions, even going as far as to turn their failures into more Clovenist propaganda, and blame Equestria for supposedly making them their scapegoat.
- Penal Colony: The Clovenists are not above sending their enemies and traitors among their own ranks to penal colonies as punishment for their crimes against the people and the People's Empire. Mass incarceration of any 'Enemies of the People', such as Storm King loyalists captured in the aftermath of the 'Storm King Crisis/Conflict', is also considered an acceptable method of 'Mass Rehabilitation'.
- The Purge: Due to their revolutionary fervor in their obsession with defeating all tyrannies and spreading Clovenism, many lands which had either been liberated by the Cloven Empire's armies or had been overthrown by Clovenist-inspired rebels would often end up conducting these on a massive scale against all those deemed enemies of the people.
- During its rise, Clovenist revolutionaries in all the Roedinian Kingdoms which would eventually form the People's Empire practically wiped out all the ruling monarchs and nobles who ruled over them and scattered the rest to the four winds, such was their vindictive hatred for the selfish, elitist and reactionary bastards who ran their realms into the ground with their corruption, tyranny and ineptitude.
- The People's Empire is not above mass incarcerations, mass deportations and mass executions of any enemy of the People who won't surrender to their noble cause and/or are not responsive to their attempts to reform them via propaganda and reeducation, as part of the 'Mass Rehabilitation' of those among their enemies whom they captured.
- Due to ideologically opposing Tribalists and Autorists, they are notably one of the few nations on Equus who ended up not having any prominent Tribalist/Autorist movements and factions gaining traction, having practically exterminated them all before they could with their willingness to imprison, reeducate, deport or outright execute anyone en-masse who promotes even the slightest bigotry/discrimination or support the rise of tyrannical regimes which the Tribalists/Autorists want to establish.
- Reign of Terror: One of the more unsavory aspects of the Clovenist revolutions/liberations involve the imprisonment, reeducation and/or liquidation of any and all those deemed to be enemies of the people - the wealthy who exploited the masses for profit, nobles and royalties who oppressed their subjects for power, reactionaries who held back society-benefiting progress in their fear and selfishness, anyone else who supports them...
- Royal Inbreeding: What partially led to the downfall of old Roedinian realms. All of the royal families have produced children amongst each other and the local nobility, resulting in their children having diminished competency in ruling and shorter lifespans even among the more benevolent family members. This led to corrupt decadence and stagnation among the upper classes and the impoverishment of their subjects.
- Trauma Button: Tyrants, as well as tyranny in all forms, is a huge one for them. This is because most of Roedinia lived under the collectively corrupt and depraved hoof of their increasingly incompetent rulers, who oppressed and exploited them for their own benefit while their subjects lived in absolutely dire poverty. If someone exhibits cruel and tyrannical behavior, they'll all become enraged to the point where they'll react at first chance, leading to their extremely one-sided battle with the giants of Moroz Valley, and their participation in the "Final Ragnarok" arc against the Shadowed Ones. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, the Clovenists' hatred of tyrants extends to even benevolent rulers, especially the divine ones, who they see as just tyrants wearing masks to deceive their subjects.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Deconstructed. The People's Empire is determined to get rid of all forms of tyranny and spread Clovenism throughout Equus, even if they have to do so by force and the so-called "tyrants" they're opposed to are actually benevolent rulers, many of whom are divine. Unsurprisingly, this has caused much of the world to look at them either with dread or hateful contempt. Golden Scepter, the antediluvian Alicorn Emperor of the Terran Empire, has publicly decried the People's Empire as being no better than tyrants and deluded extremists like he was during the Imperium era, while Kazekami, the Shinseina god of Wind, called the Clovenists "honourless cowards". They are also willing to use incredibly ruthless methods to achieve their ends which leaves others unnerved and apprehensive, even if their targets do deserve such treatments.
- Vicious Cycle: Roedinia was stuck in a centuries-long cycle of division, wars and intrigue that led to widespread stagnation, poverty and tyranny. The sudden downfall of the old monarchies and rise of the Cloven Empire changed all that.
People's Empress Zora Kalakov
The People's Empress and founder of the People's Empire. Once a sheltered princess of the Czardom of Elenna, one of the strongest Roedinian realms, she broke ties with her family and sided with her subjects once she caught wind of their suffering. For her role in helping kick off the revolutionary wave that also saw nearly all other Roedinian realms overthrowing their corrupt rulers, she was crowned the Empress of the People with overwhelming support from the rest of Roedinia.
- Antagonistic Offspring: To her own parents, siblings and relatives, the royal family of Elenna, after realizing what suffering the Czar's misrule and that of the elites had wrought upon the impoverished and oppressed people. It is implied that she even went and wiped them out after she ascended as the People's Empress, believing them unworthy of life, left alone reign after the 'Red Monday' Massacre that set everything off.
- Badass Boast: She issued one on the day of her coronation:Zora: From this day forward, let no warmongering conqueror wage war without trembling in fear of our intervention. Let no tyrant sleep easy at night knowing one day we will raise their people against them. Let no power mortal or immortal conspire against this new dawn. Let none who would stand against us bar our way, for we will prevail - No matter the costs!
- Defector from Decadence: After she discovered the wide-reaching effects of the suffering her people were put through by the Roedinian royalty and nobility, she disowned her family and went on to found the Cloven Empire, along with other disillusioned royals and nobles.
- The High Queen: In local Roedinia, anyway. She's revered by her people as the benevolent People's Empress, who saved them from countless generations of poverty and suffering at the hands of their corrupt leaders upper classes. Outside the country, however, the others see her as a proud tyrant who misleads her people and seeks to dominate Equus for extreme reasons.
- Never My Fault: What soured her reputation to the outside world.
- She, along with the rest of her people, refused to take responsibility for the mana bomb tests that birthed monsters like Dracozilla and his son, and the Kraken that attacked Manehattan. She also did the same when they captured several Sparkle Ponies to experiment on them, causing a "Mysterious Visitor" to tear through Roedinian territory, creating a wave of accusations that the Clovenists are involved in unethical experimentation of innocent people. Not helping is her use of propaganda to cover up what really happened in both incidents.
- She does, however, banish Admiral Cloven for deciding to help Dr. Toxikon, in committing genocide so the surviving children will be open to Clovenism, considering the act to be so horrific that it would actually do the opposite instead if people found out.
- The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified: While just as determined as the rest of the Cloven Empire in spreading Clovenism worldwide, she is implied to be just as determined in curtailing the excesses of Clovenist revolutions/liberations whenever possible.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Having grown up almost completely sheltered by her family, who were corrupt royalty, she understandably hates the idea of Equus being ruled by "tyrants", and wants to spread Clovenism throughout the world. Many of her detractors are benevolent monarchs (many of whom are immortal) who see her methods as too proud and extreme.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Implied and justified; her family kept her heavily sheltered so she wouldn't know anything other than her upbringing as a royal princess, causing her to be incredibly naive. Once she saw the suffering of her subjects, however, she cut ties with her family and helped her subjects instead.
People's Regent Zamrŭznal
- The Ace: Implied to be incredibly good as a warrior, leader and hero, since by the present day he's considered a Living Legend.
- Berserk Button: Do not hurt the innocent in his presence, like hapless Tinies. Khaligan the Brutal learnt this the hard way, twice.
- Big Good: Was and still is a legendary hero among the Roedinians, having protected, guide and lead the Roedinian people and kingdoms over the centuries. It comes to no surprise that even the Cloven Empire looks up to him and invited him to serve as one of the People's Regents.
- Fantastic Racism: Subverted. He is well-beloved among the Tinies of Roedinia because he went great lengths to protect and nurture them. He never looks down upon them and always shown to treat them with utmost respect as equals. He was livid when he heard how the Giants of Moroz Valley were treating the Tinies living there, and though he regretted not personally taking part in the "Battle of Moroz Valley" event due to being busy elsewhere at the time, he did not object to their pummeling and punishment.
- Good Is Not Nice: All his appearance and his reputation so far shows he is noble, honourable and compassionate. But if you did things too vile and monstrous in his eyes, like what the Roedinian Giant Khaligan the Brutal did with Tinies and even smaller Giants, he won't forgive or show mercy to you. At the end of the day, even he has limits.
- Hero of Another Story: As a Living Legend, he has a lot of untold history and stories of nobility and heroism which earned him the awe and respect from much of Roedinia. He's also often busy saving and defending innocents in other places before and after he became a People's Regent, so he doesn't appear as often and as involved in the events mentioned in the Codexes despite what his reputation implies.
- The reason why he didn't show up for the 'Battle of Moroz Valley', despite being requested specifically by name, was because he and his Giant allies were busy saving Cloven cities under attack from packs of Wyverns (Relatives of Dragons) on another side of the Empire.
- Living Legend: Is one among the Roedinians for centuries, and the main reason why he was ultimately invited to become a People's Regent. The Tinies loved him for all he had done to protect, guide and lead them over the centuries, while his fellow Roedinian Giants respected him enough that many followed him to join forces with the Cloven Empire.
- Our Giants Are Bigger: Is a Roedinian Ice Giant, slightly smaller relatives of the Cervine Jotunns. This means he must be at least 80 meters tall, and also capable of various ice-based powers.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Serves as one of the pillars of morality and reason, doing his best to advice People's Empress Zora and restrain the more zealous and unscrupulous tendencies within the Cloven Empire.
- Worf Effect: Implied; although powerful and capable, even he and his fellow Roedinian Giants were unable to stop the First Dracozilla or the 'Father Deer' Tulpa's rampages. Subverted with the Apterus and Toxikon crises, where he and his Clovenist forces were able to lend aid to resolve them.
Admiral Cloven
- Animal Nemesis: The sapience and animal status of the Second Dracozilla and other Kaijus are a matter of debate (he was, after all, a wild-magic mutated Dragon, which are sapient species in Canon and in the Codexverse), but if he is considered animal, then the Second Dracozilla is this to Admiral Cloven.
- Arch-Enemy: Considers the Second Dracozilla one, after suffering a major defeat from the draconic Kaiju.
- The feelings are apparently mutual, considering the Second Dracozilla came all the way from where he lives just to join the fight against the Antlergon during the final battle of the 'Crucible Crisis'. Though it might also be out of self-preservation, considering Toxikon's plan might kill him too - which was exactly WHY Admiral Cloven went rogue to help Toxikon in the first place.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: He isn't all there to begin with, but he officially done so by the time of the Crucible Crisis, going rogue to help Dr Toxikon with his attempted genocide on most Changelings and Dragons. The Cloven Empire denounced, discharged, and dispatched him to a Penal Colony in outrage and disgust.
- Sanity Slippage: Began having one while in command of the Antlergon after suffering a major defeat at the claws of the Second Dracozilla, though he managed to hold it together afterwards. That lasted until the Changelings under the crazed King Xestobium raided and stole a Mana Bomb, after which it got much worse. By the time of the 'Crucible Crisis' he was past caring and willingly aided Dr Toxikon in his attempted genocide on Changelings and Dragons if it means taking out the Second Dracozilla and any other enemies of the Cloven Empire.
Agent Red Thunder
Character: Heroic/Anti-Villainous
Alignment: Lawful Good
Type: Super Soldier/Deer/Secret Agent
Faction: People's Empire of the Cloven
"I am known by a different name in my village, but our leaders call me Red Thunder!"
Rebellious Sporit
