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The Storm King's forces

The Storm King

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mlp_2017_stormking.png

"Now I truly am the Storm King, and the entire world will bow to my ba-ba-ba-BOOM, baby!"

Voiced by: Liev Schreiber^{Foreign VAs}

A ruthless conqueror who has laid waste to the lands south of Equestria, and now sets his sights on the ponies and their magic. Sinister and slightly insane, the Storm King commands an army of storm creatures that only aim to please him and spread his will across the world.

Adaptation Species Change: In the somewhat obscure G1 comic where he first appeared, the Storm King was a burly, troll-like humanoid. In the movie, since there aren't supposed to be any humans or human-like creatures in the G4 world, he is portrayed as a yeti-like creature with satyr-like hooves.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Not in the movie proper, but in its comic adaptation the Storm King tries to get Tempest to not turn him into stone with her by frantically telling her he changed his mind about breaking their agreement. Not that it works.
All for Nothing: Because of his limited knowledge on how to use the Alicorn magic in his staff, his hopes of subjugating the whole world are dashed when his staff is taken from him by the Mane Six and he is killed shortly after.
And I Must Scream: If the credits are taken seriously (which it's unclear whether or not they are meant to be), being turned to stone and shattered didn't kill him, and he's still conscious despite this.
Anti-Magic: Equips his forces with various Kryptonite Factor-esque Magitek tools — e.g., the Obsidian Orbs, and the Anti-Magic shields and cages (one of which Twilight ends up trapped in during The Climax). If you're going to invade a kingdom ruled by a bunch of Physical Goddesses magic-wise, you're going to need every advantage you can get.
Asshole Victim: He tries to turn the Mane Six to stone with an obsidian orb, only for Tempest to take the hit and turn both of them to stone. While Tempest is saved, the Storm King himself is not so lucky as he shatters to pieces. Not even his army seems to care about his death, especially since he dropped the Benevolent Boss facade and pulled You Have Outlived Your Usefulness on them.
Ax-Crazy: It should come as no surprise that the Storm King is stark raving mad. As soon as he drains the alicorn Princesses' magic to power his staff, he conjures a powerful storm to destroy Canterlot with sadistic glee. Then he descends to animalistic rage once the staff falls out of his clutches.
Badass Boast: Gives one near the end of chapter one of the prequel comics.
Storm King: I am not the king of the storm. I am a king who is a storm. I am a FORCE OF NATURE! I AM GREATER THAN ANY ONE CREATURE!
Bad Boss: While he usually has a Benevolent Boss attitude (even if it is simply Pragmatic Villainy), he has hints of this trope too...
- In the prequel comic, the Storm King outright tells Strife that he doesn't see him or his army as friends. He seemed to have no qualms about saying it to Strife's face (which may have been a catalyst of his betrayal). Then after Strife's betrayal, the King appoints Grubber as his replacement only because he's too cowardly and weak to even attempt to cross him (not to mention, that his way of promoting Grubber was to angrily grab him, insult him, and then toss him down).
- He seems to be this to Captain Celano and his crew after forcing them to become cargo haulers, as shown when they only obey to avoid his wrath. It takes a Pep-Talk Song to get them to defy him.
- He tells Tempest in the beginning of the movie that if she fails to capture all the Princesses so that he can steal their magic, her horn won't be the only thing that's broken.
- Capper tells the Storm Guards guarding Canterlot that he's bringing a victory cake to him. When they decline to let them through, he warns them that the Storm King won't be very happy with them for doing so. While the cake delivery was just a trick to get the Mane Six, the pirates, and Skystar into Canterlot and rescue Twilight, the fact that the guards ultimately comply shows that seemingly benevolent or not, they fear him enough to not get on his bad side.
- Then there's the whole You Have Outlived Your Usefulness moment in the climax.
Benevolent Boss: Subverted. He's shown treating his soldiers incredibly well in the prequel comic, even planning to throw them a party for their services in conquering and pillaging in his name. As he later says, it's simply to ensure their loyalty to him as he sees them as mere enforcers of his will. In the movie, once he gets what he wants, he reveals that he lied about restoring Tempest's horn and that he now intends to kill her since he no longer needs her.
Beware the Silly Ones: He's Laughably Evil and comical... but he's also a dangerous warlord that has conquered multiple countries and left them devastated (something that previous villains, while potentially world-threatening, were not exactly known for doing). He's also quite willing to kill if it benefits him. His actions at several points (such as suddenly getting serious talking to Tempest in the middle of his otherwise comical talk with her and his reaction to her not using an Obsidian Orb on Twilight, as well as his Villainous Breakdown) show he's very capable of being serious and intimidating when he wants to be.
Big Bad: While Tempest gets the central focus in the movie, the Storm King is the one who calls the shots.
Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: As a big, monkey-like creature with long white fur and goat-like hoofs, his design has some clear yeti influence to it.
Card-Carrying Villain: The Storm King is always concerned about his "brand", as though he were an executive of a company, and how his actions reflect on that image (he also has Storm King merch that he shuttles around the world for... whatever reason, presumably it plays some part in funding his conquests). It just so happens his brand is in the "Take Over the World" market.
Composite Character: He's basically a mix of Discord (pre-Heel–Face Turn), King Sombra, and Lord Tirek.
- Like Discord (pre-Heel–Face Turn), he's a Laughably Evil Psychopathic Manchild who plays with the sun and the moon at one point, and he ends up Taken for Granite.
- Like Sombra, he's an Evil Overlord with special Power Nullifier traps, he chains up and enslaves the inhabitants of his targeted city, and he ends up in a Literally Shattered Lives state.
- Like Tirek, he's a Power Parasite with a Maniac Monkeys-like appearance, and his ultimate goal is to steal all four Princesses' magic. Not to mention that he ends up backstabbing his ally, starting his own downfall in the process. The Prequel Comics also show that like Tirek, he sees friendship as a weakness and is shown to be a Hypocrite who only hates betrayal when it happens to HIM.
The Conqueror: His prequel comic depicts him as such, with him being in the process of conquering the cat country of Abyssinia. He doesn't actually rule the nations he overruns or form an actual empire, as he doesn't want to get distracted and bogged down by actually the whole political aspect, and instead prefers to rob his victims blind and move on to the next target after each conquest, leaving them devastated. His ultimate goal, however, is to take over the whole world once he's powerful enough.
Consummate Liar: He's got his entire army fooled that he actually gives a damn about them and Tempest didn't suspect him stabbing her in the back until it actually happened.
The Corrupter: Tempest Shadow had already become aloof and distrusting of others in the prequel comic, but it's implied that his influence was a major reason she became as villainous as she did.
Deal with the Devil: Tempest meets the Storm King when she fails to find a place to belong or a way to restore her horn back to full, and he capitalizes on that fact to invade Equestria for Alicorn magic with a pony on the inside, promising to give her both wishes. In truth, whether he actually could or could not actually restore Tempest’s horn, he was never intending to fulfill his end of the bargain and would dispose of her (though possibly to prevent a Strife 2.0) as soon as he gets enough magic to outmatch her.
Defiant to the End: He endures fallen rubble and survives his own conjured tornado in his efforts to get his staff back. He's not so lucky when he gets turned to stone by one of his own weapons, falls off the castle balcony and shatters to pieces.
Disney Villain Death: After being Taken for Granite by one of his own obsidian orbs, he falls onto the courtyard below, breaking into pieces.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: His apparent revulsion on the aesthetics of Equestria and ponies is heavily reminiscent of any anti-bronies mocking the show and its fandom.
The Dreaded: Mostly to the Hippogriffs. This comes to play in the season 8 episode What Lies Beneath, when Silverstream is terrified of what seems to be the Storm King (which is actually an illusion) until she snaps out of it and calls him out with encouraging help from Gallus. Capper also implies that he fears the Storm King as well when Tempest confronts him about the Mane Six’s whereabouts. (though he still doesn’t reveal their real location)
Dub Name Change: He's named Re Tornado ("Tornado King") in the Italian dub.
Elemental Embodiment: The prequel comic suggests him to be one. The narrator and even the Storm King himself refer to him as a force of nature; not a king of storms, but a king who is a storm.
Establishing Character Moment: He's first seen on a magical phone call with Tempest. His manner of speaking emphasizes his evil plans, his Faux Affably Evil demeanor and his Mood-Swinger tendencies.
The Storm King: Here's the deal. I'm in the middle of a big re-brand here. "The Storm King" is tracking, well, as intensely intimidating, but you know what? I need to back it up. You know what I need to back it up with? A STORM! THAT WOULD BE GREAT!
Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He has no known name beyond "the Storm King". The prequel comic implies that this is an actual name he gave himself, and the movie has him talk about "the Storm King" as a brand.
Evil Is Hammy: He's loud, boisterous, wise-cracking, and almost gleeful once he gets his hands on the power of all four alicorn princesses, doing a little dance while raising the sun and the moon in rapid succession. It puts him in quite a contrast with his commander, as Tempest is very cold, methodical, and stoic.
Evil Laugh: He does a pretty good one when he absorbs the magic of the 4 alicorns with his staff, and again when he uses the staff to conjure a giant tornado.
Evil Overlord: He has conquered all of the lands south of Equestria, with "King" even being part of his name, or at least title. The prequel comic, however, shows that he is less interested in actually ruling the nations he conquers than stealing their riches to fund his armada. Despite his taking over the whole world is still his ultimate goal.
Evil Plan: According to the prequel comics, his is basically the Take Over the World kind, which he seeks to achieve by conquering kingdom by kingdom (without actually ruling so much as pillaging from them) until he can find something powerful enough to do so. His plan in the movie proper is to power up his staff with Alicorn magic in order to achieve said world domination, which he temporarily succeeds in the former, but not the latter.
Family-Unfriendly Death: He gets turned to stone, falls off a balcony, and shatters into pieces. Although some might overlook this compared to how graphic it would have been if he hadn't been turned to stone.
Fauns and Satyrs: He has cloven hooves for feet, his facial appearance looks more goat-like and a large crown with goat horns to this effect, just replacing the human half with a different primate.
Faux Affably Evil: Despite his intimidating appearance, he's actually quite a charismatic, laid-back, childish, all-around Laughably Evil guy even while he's reducing entire nations to their knees. He acts like a genuinely Affably Evil villain and a Benevolent Boss to ensure that his minions don't turn on him, even throwing them pizza parties. However, this is all just Pragmatic Villainy to get them to stay loyal to them. He really cares nothing about his minions, and once he gets what he wants, he shows his true colors when he reveals that he lied about restoring Tempest's horn and that he now intends to kill her since he no longer needs her, or anyone for that matter.
Final Boss: He's the final foe in the film the Mane Six have to stop after Tempest almost outlives her usefulness.
Friendless Background: His speech about friendship in the prequel comic firmly cements him as deliberately having no friends, seeing them as distractions and potential traitors.
A God Am I: In the prequel comic, he proclaims himself to be a force of nature that is greater than any living creature.
Hair-Trigger Temper: He gets irritable very easily when things don't go the way he sees fit. Tempest even warns Captain Celano and her crew that if they were carrying fugitives aboard her ship, he can be quite "explosive".
Hoist by His Own Petard: He got sucked into the storm that he had created after Twilight Sparkle leaped to grab the Staff of Sacanas before he did. Then after Twilight used the staff to end the storm and they both returned to solid ground, Tempest Shadow tackles him while being effected by the Obsidian Orb he threw at her, causing it to turn him to stone and send him plummeting to the ground far below, where he shatters to bits on impact.
How Do I Shot Web?: Once he fully empowers the Staff and gains the powers of the Princesses... he has no idea how to use them. Particularly because he barely knows who the Princesses are, let alone what powers they have. While he's a quick learner, he's ultimately defeated before he gets the chance.
Hypocrite:
- In the prequel comic, he states that part of the reason he doesn't believe in friendship is because friends can betray you, even telling his second-in-command, Strife, that he is not his friend. Despite this, he still manages to be outraged when Strife betrays him. Strife even lampshades this, pointing out that the Storm King still trusted him despite not thinking of him as a friend.
- Let's not forget that betrayal is okay when HE does it.
I Just Want to Be Badass: Wants to be an epic supervillain, judging by both his "brand" and his particular desire for Weather Manipulation magic. He succeeds only for a short time.
I Lied: He managed to get Tempest under his employment by promising to fix her broken horn once her end of the bargain was fulfilled. Once she does, he reveals he had no intention of truly doing so (and possibly couldn't either) and planned on disposing of her as soon as her job was done.
Irony: His claim that he doesn't believe in friendship because friends can betray you. When you get right down to it, anyone can betray you, but friends are far less likely to do so.
It's All About Me: Everything the Storm King does is self serving at its core. Even being a Benevolent Boss is just making sure his minions are loyal to him. His Pragmatic Villainy is all about making life easier for himself.
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: In the prequel comics, even with his pillaging of lands, he acts like a Benevolent Boss toward his troops and has Tempest join his ranks with a promise to restore her horn as a reward for all she provides for him. Come The Climax of the movie, he creates a tornado that sweeps several of his own minions away, and betrays and tries to kill Tempest when he no longer has use for her.
Karmic Death: Tempest, whom he manipulated and betrayed, causes his own Obsidian Orb he tried to use on the Mane Six (and had used on the Princesses) to turn him to stone, sending him falling to the ground and shattering to pieces.
Kick the Dog: When Tempest fulfills her side of the deal with him to fix her broken horn, he refuses to honor his end of the bargain and makes it clear he was just using her as a pawn before disposing of her once her job was done. It's possible that he may not have even been able to heal her in the first place, but there's no reason to rub it in her face.
Lack of Empathy: If it's not him, his only concern is how he can use it to his own advantage.
Laughably Evil: He switches between Buffy Speak and being unable to find the right direction to look at his subordinates... to calling down giant thunderstorms and destroying Canterlot Castle.
Literally Shattered Lives: Is turned to stone by his own obsidian orb and then falls off a balcony, shattering to bits on impact. It's unclear whether or not this actually killed him or not.
Living Statue: The Storm King is actually seen "dancing" with the others at the party in the credits. Unfortunately for him, he's still broken and not put back together properly, and falls apart again. It's unclear if the credits are meant to be taken seriously, however.
Logical Weakness: Besides his How Do I Shot Web? problem, the Storm King has no magic of his own (Magitek doesn't count), hence why he needs to use the Staff of Sacanas to absorb the Princesses' magic for him instead of doing so directly like Tirek did. As a result, when he gets separated from it, he's no more dangerous than he was previously. And even with the staff in his hands, he is physically no more powerful or tough then he usually is, allowing the Mane Five (plus Spike) to knock him down and separate him from the staff just by flying into him.
Love Is a Weakness: In the first issue of the prequel comics, he has a speech about friendship to this exact effect:
Storm King: Friendship is a weakness. A liability. Friends distract you. Make you weak. Friends can betray you, make you forget your goals. I have soldiers, commanders, workers — but no friends. Which means nobody will ask me to sacrifice my ambitions. My goals are my own.
Made of Iron: He is shown to quickly recover from having the Mane Five and Spike slam into him at high speed after they were shot out of an enormous cannon, being buried under heavy rubble and getting sucked into a tornado, all in the span of a few minutes. It takes turning him to stone and letting his petrified body fall and shatter to finally stop him for good.
Magic Staff: The Staff of Sacanas, which according to All There in the Manual material was stolen from an Arimaspi king and made from a branch of the Tree of Harmony. It doesn't actually have any magic of its own starting out, but the Storm King's plan is to use the magic of the princesses to empower it.
Maniac Monkeys: Resembles a giant, long-tailed primate in appearance, and is described as "loud, angry, and a little bit crazy".
Mood-Swinger: He shifts his demeanor between pleasant and cheerful, sardonic and petulant, and cold and ruthless at the drop of a hat. As stated by the director, Jayson Thiessen:
He's sort of scary because he seems friendly one second, but then he's screaming at you the next, so you don't know what he's gonna do next.
Moral Myopia:
- In the prequel comic, he's angry with Strife for betraying him to the point of hunting him down and mercilessly executing him. He has no problem betraying Tempest Shadow when You Have Outlived Your Usefulness (though that also could've been suspicious of her betraying him first).
- His Villainous Breakdown is triggered by being separated from his Staff and seeing the Mane Six trying to take it, repeatedly claiming its his Staff... which not only did he himself steal, the Storm King has been pillaging and stealing from all over the south half of the planet and his Staff is powered by the stolen magic of the Princesses.
Multiple-Choice Past: In the prequel comic, the Storm King suggests multiple different origins for himself, from being the son of a thundercloud and the sky, to hatching from an abandoned egg on a mountaintop, to being an ordinary creature with dreams of greatness. He then tells us that it doesn't matter.
Narcissist: He cares only for himself and has a gigantic ego, to the point where currency in his territories is named after him.
Near-Villain Victory: He managed to gain the power he wanted and nearly destroyed all of Equestria with his created storm. He only lost due to the Mane Five ramming into him with Pinkie's giant cannon (which was a lucky shot), Twilight taking the staff from him which she used to end the storm, and Tempest's Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal later on.
No Name Given: It's made clear the Storm King isn't his real name (as he states he's "testing" it to see how it fares), but his real name is never mentioned and it's unclear if his minions actually know it.
Non-Indicative Name: He calls himself a king, but his lack of interest in actually governing the nations he conquers in favor of pillaging them of their riches and artifacts peg him as more of a glorified pirate. Furthermore, he doesn't actually control storms, though gaining that ability is on his to-do list. In the prequel comic, he justifies his choice of name by stating he sees himself as "not a king of storms, but a king who is a storm".
Not Quite Dead: The credits suggest that his shattered pieces are still alive and conscious.
Obviously Evil: While not to the same extent as Tempest (initially due to dropping the evil part), he has an intimidating appearance with malicious-looking facial expressions even in spite of his funnier traits and even has devilish horns, showing that he is not a good person. He is also obsessed with wanting to create storms.
One-Man Army: What he wishes to become by empowering his staff. This is presumably why he betrays Tempest and possibly his Mooks after doing so, feeling that he doesn't need them anymore.
Orcus on His Throne: He doesn't physically appear until the final act and he only becomes an active threat after he steals the magic of the Princesses. Subverted in the prequel comics where he's very much active, personally leading the charge against Abyssinia and going to successfully pursue the pirates and Strife, and later Tempest.
Physical God: Desires to become this by absorbing the Princesses' power into his staff, granting him both Weather Manipulation powers and All Your Powers Combined. He manages to do so, but is beaten before he can actually get a complete hang of his newfound power.
Position of Literal Power: Subverted. Given their relative feats and natural magic abilities, Tempest Shadow is almost certainly stronger than him and he's never shown conclusively to be more powerful than his mooks. It's likely part of why he's so intent on acquiring a literal Bigger Stick.
Power Parasite: Wishes to gain the magic of the alicorns in order to empower his staff.
Pragmatic Villainy: Subverted on both fronts.
- The Storm King's actions seem to be driven by practicality and self-interest before other considerations, with little in the way of either genuine compassion or needless cruelty. He's very generous towards his soldiers and treats them extremely well, but this is simply to make sure they remain loyal to him as shown in The Movie where he discards and betrays his underlings once he thinks they're no longer needed.
- He also doesn't bother to enforce his rule on the nations he overruns, since he doesn't want to get saddled with the minutiae of ruling and administrating, simply sacking them for all they're worth before moving on.
Psycho Electro: Is capable of manipulating lightning, and is the Big Bad of the film.
Psychopathic Manchild: He has shades of this, spending a lot of time mocking Equestria's aesthetics and ponies for being too cutesy in the manner of a young boy who is disgusted by "girly" things. Even the first thing he does when he's absorbed Celestia's and Luna's powers is to play with the sun and moon using his staff. According to his actor, he is also prone to temper tantrums.
Sanity Slippage: While he always was a twisted villain, the Storm King (at least outwardly) was a somewhat Affably Evil overlord who uses Pragmatic Villainy to avoid unnecessary conflict and achieve his goals. He even had some preparedness for the invasion, as he has several Magitek in his disposal (magic-blocking shields, magic-proof cages, and the Obsidian Orbs). However, once he succeeds in stealing the magic of all four Alicorn Princesses, he stops being pragmatic altogether and not only plays around with his newly acquired powers like a Psychopathic Manchild, but pulls a You Have Outlived Your Usefulness on Tempest and his own army. Then after he is accidentally separated from the Staff of Sacanas, he goes into a Villainous Breakdown that continues until his death.
Satanic Archetype: He commands an army of ferocious beasts, has conquered multiple countries and left them devastated, and has Tempest do his bidding with a promise to restore her broken horn. In addition, he has horns, a pointed crown, and goat legs reminiscent of Satan.
Sigil Spam: His logo, two light blue lightning bolts in a shape not unlike his face, is all over the place, including his and Tempest's armor.
Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: His forces enslaving the population of at least Canterlot is treated with the most weight and seriousness.
Smug Super: He's just so sure of himself and the power he has over the world that once he starts getting the hang of his new powers by conjuring a massive tornado, he sees no further use for Tempest and attempts to kill her. This ends up costing him dearly.
The Sociopath: Has zero empathy for anyone that's not him, is a master manipulator and Consummate Liar who puts on the façade of a Benevolent Boss to ensure his minions' loyalty and played Tempest like a fiddle, thinks extremely highly about himself to the point of making an entire brand about himself for no other apparent reason but to stroke his own ego, and the moment he actually gets the power he craves he begins playing around with it, fitting the need for stimulation. He also actively hates the idea of forming bonds with anyone, viewing it only as something to use as a one-way street to get whatever he wants. All in all, the Storm King comes off as a high-functioning sociopath, one of the few played completely straight sociopaths in the franchise.
Sorcerous Overlord: Wants to upgrade from Evil Overlord to this by fully powering up his Staff. He succeeds, but doesn't live long enough to fully enjoy it.
Spell My Name with a "The": Capper outright calls him "Mr. The Storm King" at one point.
Take Over the World: His ultimate goal, as seen in the prequel comic. It's also seen in the movie when he says the entire world would bow to his "ba-ba-ba-BOOM, baby".
Took a Level in Dumbass: His portrayal in the movie is considerably lacking compared to his comic counterpart. He not only shows none of the pragmatism he displayed in the comics but he falls into the typical villain traps, and despite having the combined magical power of the Princesses in his staff, the Storm King is easily thwarted by the good guys. However, he does still manage to pull off a Near-Villain Victory and there may have been some pragmatic reason for some of his actions in the movie.
Uncertain Doom:
- It's unclear whether or not being shattered to bits killed him or not, given he's shown still alive in the credits, but it's unclear given certain elements of the credits (such as Pinkie dancing with the 'Queen of Hippos') if they're meant to be taken seriously or not. The fact that even Discord can't move his eyes while turned to stone further suggests they aren't.
- An original draft of the credits depicted his eyes turned to stone. Since this scene was changed in the final cut to show his eyes moving, but no such change was made to his actual "death" scene (in which his eyes are petrified with the rest of him), then it was likely that they were not censoring his death (as some believe), but making clear he was comically trying to pull himself together (which of course he wouldn't be able to do in canon), rather than give the morbid impression that a Storm Creature was playing with his corpse.
- More evidence to support that he is dead is the fact that during the restoration of Canterlot, the spot where he shattered is shown, but his pieces have vanished, implying that the staff's power erased his remains rather than either leaving them as is or, Celestia forbid, returning them to flesh.
Uncle Sam Wants You: Our very first look at him is a big banner with him doing the classic Uncle Sam pose, pointing to the viewer.
Unskilled, but Strong:
- Gains power comparable to Tirek when he and Twilight fought in scope, but little idea how to actually use them. While he's a quick learner, this bites him in the butt as all that power doesn't do him much good if he doesn't know how to use it. As a result, he manages a couple impressive displays of power, but is defeated before he can get the chance to truly master them.
- He has shades of this even without the staff, in that while lacking magic he is still physically strong enough to move around for a while in the storm winds that required the ponies to be tethered down to keep from blowing away, but he never displays any actual fighting skills with that strength.
Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: Inverted but Downplayed, while the Storm King is fairly threatening, it's offset by his many goofy quirks and irreverent speech mannerisms. His Dragon, Tempest Shadow, is much more consistently menacing and has a far more no-nonsense demeanor.
Villainous Breakdown: When he's separated from his staff (by the Mane Five slamming into him after being shot out of a cannon) and sees them heading for it, his Affably Evil and Laughably Evil traits vanish and he spends the rest of his (admittedly short) life snarling in rage.
Villainous Legacy:
- He is long dead by the events of My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Spring Breakdown, but his storm magic is still the source of all the problems there.
- In "What Lies Beneath", Silverstream is terrified by an illusion of the Storm King returning, showing the lasting effects of his attack on the Hippogriffs.
Weather Manipulation: He aims to imbue his staff with the power to control the elements,^note both to give him the strength of a thousand armies, and because he figured there's no sense in calling himself "the Storm King" if he doesn't have a storm to back it up with. He manages to obtain this power by the end of the film and generates a huge tornado.
Worf Had the Flu: He goes down a bit easy given he had the combined power of all four Princesses and Weather Manipulation. However, he also hadn't had the power for more than a few minutes and was still figuring out how to work it at the time.
Would Hurt a Child: He has no qualms about locking up and enslaving Canterlot's citizens, children included, or even hurling an Obsidian Orb at Twilight and her friends, including Spike.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Once the Staff of Sacanas is powered up with alicorn magic, he quickly becomes Drunk with Power and forgets all about his Pragmatic Villainy, refusing to honor his deal with Tempest and conjuring a tornado that threatens the lives of both his soldiers and newly-acquired slaves. It can be assumed that he figures he can finally conquer the world as a One-Man Army and doesn't need them anymore.

Tempest Shadow

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mlp_2017_tempest.png

"How about we start with your complete and total surrender?"

Voiced by: Emily Blunt^{Foreign VAs}

The Storm King's right-hand unicorn, and commander of his invasion fleet. A traitor to her homeland of Equestria, Tempest was alienated from the other ponies at a young age after losing her horn in an accident. Now she faithfully serves the Storm King in hunting down the Princesses of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle in particular, believing that their magic may restore her own.

Ace Custom: Being the second-in-command of the Storm King's Armada, Tempest's personal airship is smaller and more armored than the standard ships belonging to the rest of the Storm King's airships, with the ship's envelope and the tailfin of the balloon being colored like her coat and mane respectively. The ship's bow also has a concealed harpoon anchor that seemingly none of the other standard airships have.
All for Nothing: Spent quite some time doing a number of horrible things for the Storm King trying to get her horn fixed. In the end, he decides not to honor his end of the bargain (if he ever could for that matter) and stabs her in the back, rendering all of her villainy for naught.
All of the Other Reindeer: After she lost her horn, and thus her handle on her magic, her own friends supposedly began to fear her and thus shunned her. The Stormy Road to Canterlot reveals that this wasn't the case at all. Her friends did not abandon her and indeed tried their best to support and include her. It's just that they noticed how upset she got and did not want to cause her more grief and strife. So regardless of what they did, she still felt left out and became resentful.
Arbitrary Skepticism: In the Season 10 comics storyline "The Farasian Shores", Tempest scoffs at the idea that Cactus Rose the Abada can talk with plants, despite seeing many other extraordinary things in her time.
The Atoner: At the third act of the movie, she gives up the one chance to fix her horn with the Storm King's staff and instead uses it to fix the ruined city and revive the victims she petrified. Afterwards in the comics she helps others in Equestria as she looks for a place to call home. This is also the reason why she joins Princess Luna's team in the My Little Pony: Nightmare Knights miniseries
Authority Sounds Deep: She has a deep, intimidating voice, reinforcing her position as Commander of the Storm King's army.
Awesome, but Impractical: Her broken horn grants her a magical blast with a Wrong Context Magic advantage. However, not only did she have to learn how to control said blast, but she's unable to cast anything else (levitation, teleportation, etc.). Hence why she primarily sticks with her physical prowess unless the situation calls for the blast.
Back for the Finale: In the series finale, she returns as a member of the army the Young Six raises for the final battle.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Tempest ends up Taking the Bullet for Twilight because the latter tried to help her despite what she did.
Berserk Button: She intensely dislike being called by her old name Fizzy, as Glitter Drops found out. When she and Glitter Drops make up, though, Tempest inverts this by insisting on Glitter call her by her real name.
Big "NO!": She does one when she saves Twilight and her friends from the Storm King.
Blood Knight:
- After a brief The Easy Way or the Hard Way exchange with the princesses, she says with a smile that she was hoping they would pick "difficult".
- In Nightmare Knights, when the team needs a distraction, Tempest instantly decides to challenge the alternate universe Celestia to a fight, noting that it's something she's wanted to do since she came back to Equestria.
- In the Season 10 comics, Tempest bonds with Rockhoof over sharing this trait, and positively revels in battling the Grootslang in Zecora's homelands, especially once the varmint demonstrates how tough and persistent an opponent it is by Issue #93. The look on her face says it all.
  Tempest Shadow: [wide, snarling grin] FINALLY, A GOOD FIGHT!
Broken Bird: She was once as sweet and kind as any other pony could be until she lost her horn and then entered into the Storm King's service, events that turned her into a jaded and hateful young mare.
Brutal Honesty: In the comics, she's very blunt towards Cadance in stating her opinion that her title Princess of Love represents everything wrong with Equestria and why it so easy to conquer, in that Cadance's love didn't stop her from being subdued by the petrifying orbs.
Byronic Hero: Scores in all of the checkboxes. Passionate yet cynical, aloof and independent thanks to a dark past, a skilled fighter and commander despite a broken horn, and the Inner Monologues of the comics showcases a sense of self-awareness up to questioning herself in her views. After the movie she starts to move away from the more self-destructive aspects of this trope as she accepts herself as she is, broken horn and all, and comes out of her shell up to rekindling her friendship with Glitter Drops.
Canon Character All Along: A variant; Tempest's color scheme, affinity for fireworks-like magic, and her real name Fizzlepop Berrytwist, reveal her to be a G4 re-imagining of Fizzy Pop, a G3 pony with an identical color scheme and a love for fireworks.
Charles Atlas Superpower: Earth ponies are the ones that get a boost to strength from their magic, not unicorns, but Tempest can not only jump incredibly high but has taken on creatures multiple times her size and won with little effort, through physical force alone.
Cold Ham: She doesn't raise her voice often, but she manages to be over-the-top and threatening while speaking in hushed, stoic tones. Typically, when she's really about to turn up the ham, she'll sport a Slasher Smile.
Commonality Connection: During "The Farasian Shores", she develops a kinship with Crystal the kelpie, as they are both aloof, combative and cynical mares with good hearts underneath.
Conveniently an Orphan: The fact that Tempest Shadow was able to run away from home so early in her life means that either her parents didn't care much for her or she didn't have any family to grow up with.
Cursed with Awesome: When she attempts to cast spells from her broken horn, it appears as an unstable overload of magic. After Tempest learned to control this overload, she weaponizes it as bursts that shock her targets. These bursts are shown to be powerful enough to destroy an entire airship.
The Cynic: Tempest into a very cynical and jaded mare, due to having to survive on her own and feeling abandoned by her friends. Though it turns out the last part wasn't as accurate and indeed, the follow-up story shows at least some (if not most) of her cynicism was self-inflicted.
Dark Action Girl: She effortlessly subdues Celestia, Luna and Cadence, attacks the Mane Six, and later takes on a fish-like creature three times her size, and drops him without any effort.
Dark and Troubled Past: She lived a fairly idyllic life, until the accident that cost her her horn. The isolation she endured from other ponies eventually drove her to run away from home and into the service of the Storm King.
A Day in the Limelight: She had an issue of the prequel comic dedicated to her, a book focusing on her past, and she's the focus of a two-part storyline in the main comic series.
Defiant Captive: In the Nightmare Knights series. After being captured by Princess Eris (a spirit of chaos on par with Discord), Tempest doesn't tell her anything, and mocks her repeatedly.
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: At the beginning of the movie, she effortlessly defeats Celestia, Luna and Cadance, the goddess-alicorns of Equestria, with her petrifying orbs. Though admittedly, it's more like "Did You Just Blindside Cthulhu with Kryptonite Factor Grenades?" She even lampshades it in the follow-up story, noting that she needed those to have any chance for the invasion working.
Disney Death: She sacrifices her life to save Mane Six, but they use Storm King's magic to bring her back.
The Dragon: She is the commander of the Storm King's armada and his most dangerous subordinate.
Dragon-in-Chief: She plays a bigger role in opposing the Mane Six than the Storm King himself.
Dragon with an Agenda: It's made very clear that she is only working for the Storm King to get her horn back. The Storm King may not trust her either and might have suspected a betrayal coming, as it indeed happened with his previous Dragon, Strife.
The Dreaded: Almost every time she appears in front of someone else, they'll respond with some form of "Oh, Crap!". The ones that don't quickly learn why.
The Drifter: Becomes one post-Heel–Face Turn as of the comics. While she likes her new friends, she feels like a fish out of water in Equestria, and often spends some time wandering, while helping others along the way, to find a place she can feel like she belongs.
Even Evil Has Standards: Even she isn't very thrilled about the Storm King throwing his newfound power around like a Psychopathic Manchild. And that was before his You Have Outlived Your Usefulness moment.
Everyone Has Standards: Despite her Heel–Face Turn, she is Reformed, but Not Tamed. She maintains her saltiness and bitterness toward her former friends over the incident that lost her her horn. But when she confronts that the alternate would've been sending one of her friends to do it and them potentially undergoing a similar if not worse fate, she's utterly horrified and notes that she would always choose to go herself... which makes her reassess how she was viewing the incident and patch things up with her friends.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Near the end of the movie where the Storm King deems her expendable once he got the power he craves and tries to kill her. Before she gets whisked away in the tornado, Twilight grabs and pulls her back, making her confused as to why she would bother helping her. She stops being evil after Twilight's reply, as shown when her broken horn stops sizzling.
Evil Counterpart: To Twilight. Both were young unicorns who dreamed of being accepted into Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, but whereas Twilight was able to get in and become a prodigy of magic, Tempest's horn was shattered, ending her dream of going into school and instead making her focus on her physical prowess. Also, whereas Twilight started out as an anti-social bookworm who later wound up embracing friendship, Tempest had plenty of friends before her accident drove a wedge between them, making her bitter and lonely. They also both have smaller animal assistants who they share a close bond with.
Evil Cripple: She is a unicorn with a broken horn, working as The Dragon to the Storm King. Downplayed in that while her horn is broken, leaving her unable to use most spells, it is useful for firing dangerous explosive blasts in a form of weaponized Power Incontinence.
Evil Redhead: She has a red mane and is The Heavy of the film until her Heel–Face Turn.
Eyes Are Unbreakable: Her scarred eye is still perfectly intact, despite the injury that caused it being powerful enough to break her horn off.
Fictional Disability: She's a unicorn whose horn was severed in a foalhood accident, costing her the ability to use magic properly. She's still at least partially capable of magic, as she's seen with magic swirling around her horn, but said magic seems limited to shocking or explosive blasts and so she mostly relies on magical weaponry or physical skill to get the job done instead.
Fluffy the Terrible: Tempest's real name is Fizzlepop Berrytwist. Yeah, not the most intimidating of names. Is it any wonder a tough, no-nonsense mare like her had it changed? After her Heel–Face Turn, she shows discomfort in having ponies call her that, most of all her former friends. However, when she makes up with Glitter Drops, she insists on having Glitter call her "Fizzy", likely trying to distance herself from her criminal past.
Foil: To Twilight. Her refusal to trust anyone after being betrayed by her friends serves as a direct contrast against Twilight's status as the Princess of Friendship. Ironically enough, over the course of the film, Twilight slowly becomes more like Tempest, after being exposed to the cruelty of the world outside Equestria.
Freakiness Shame: She used to hide her broken horn from everyone except her friends in The Stormy Road to Canterlot, afraid of how other ponies would react. She has since grown out of it with encouragement from Grubber and the Storm King.
Freudian Excuse: She lost her horn as a filly, and with it, her dreams of both enrolling in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns with her friends and becoming an alicorn princess someday. This eventually spurred her to run away from Equestria, believing she had nothing left there. In the years that followed, the hardships she endured to eke out a living before entering the Storm King's service hardened her into a bitter and ruthless mare.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Tempest went from being any other unicorn you'd find in Equestria to the Storm King's most ruthless enforcer and Bounty Hunter.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Aside from her broken horn, she also has a scar over her right eye. She obtained it at the same time she lost her horn.
Handicapped Badass: Her handicap is a Fictional Disability in that her unicorn horn has been broken, meaning she can't even cast basic spells like levitation. That said, she is far from helpless, as shown when she turns all but one princess to stone with Magitek, and her fighting skill lets her effortlessly take out a creature more than twice her size.
The Heavy: While the Storm King is the Big Bad, Tempest is the villain who actively hunts Twilight after she and the other Mane Six escape her invasion.
Heel–Face Turn: She pulls this towards the end of the film; After Twilight saves her from being pulled into the Storm King's tornado, she sacrifices herself to save the Mane Six and Spike from being turned to stone by the Storm King.
Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Even though she is clad in armor, she doesn't seem to need a mask or helmet the Storm Guards usually wear. Considering she can blast uncontrolled energy from her broken horn, a helmet would probably be a bad idea.
Heroic Sacrifice: She ends up Taking the Bullet meant for Twilight and her friends.
Hypocrite:
- Her motto in life became to live in a way where she didn't have to depend on or trust anyone, and yet she places all her hopes in the Storm King being able to restore her horn, showing that ultimately she did have to depend on someone.
- Tempest also destroys Captain Celaeno's ship with her, her crew, and Capper for "betraying" the Storm King (Forget that they didn't even want to serve him and were forced to.), yet ignores that she basically betrayed her own people to the Storm King and managed to be shocked when he betrays her (though given the Storm King himself is a Hypocrite when it comes to betrayal as well, this may be due to his influence).
Icy Blue Eyes: Her blue eyes compliment her cold personality and piercing gaze.
I Have Many Names: The Stormy Road to Canterlot shows that Tempest Shadow wasn't her original name, and that before she entered the Storm King's employ she went by aliases like "Caramel Chip" and "Cherry Pie". At the end of the movie, she reveals that her real name is Fizzlepop Berrytwist.
I Just Want to Be Normal: Being a unicorn who can't use magic because of her missing horn, her end goal of helping the Storm King take Equestria's magic is so she can use it to restore her horn and become an ordinary unicorn again.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: Claims to be one of the "mighty" and puts on an air of superiority...but clearly feels incomplete and insecure about her broken horn, to the point her entire driving force is to get it back. When she finally finds acceptance, her haughty traits vanish as well.
Insistent Terminology: Unlike most ponies, she doesn't use the terms "anypony" or "everypony", which is a sign of how disconnected she is from her own kind. Following her Heel–Face Turn, she used the term "everypony", showing that she has gotten better.
Iron Lady: A villainous example. She is the commander of Storm King's invasion fleet and is very stern, straight-forward and somepony you don't want to mess with.
Irony: After finally capturing Twilight, Tempest tells her that she needs to "open up [her] eyes" and see the world as she does: an unjust, cruel place where you can't rely on anyone but yourself. Ultimately, Tempest is the one who has her eyes opened; Twilight saves her life, proving Tempest's philosophy wrong, and inspiring her Heel–Face Turn. The soundtrack even lampshades this by playing a softer version of the score from "Open Up Your Eyes" during that moment.
It's All About Me:
- Her Dark and Troubled Past leads her to believe this is the way the real world works and she's willing to help him conquer several kingdoms and betray her own people to get what she wants (her horn back). She snaps out of this mindset after being betrayed by the Storm King but saved by Twilight.
- This is also how she viewed the tragedy that broke her horn. When she meets up with one of her old friends, Glitter Drops, and she saves Tempest from an Ursa Minor, she actually laments the tragedy that happens to Tempest and regrets not going since she was the one who lost the ball. Tempest re-examines the tragedy and realizes that she went there because she finds the idea of making her friends go in her stead utterly horrifying.
I Work Alone: After breaking her horn as a young filly, her former friends shunned her out of fear after her injury left her unable to control her magic, leading her to adopt this philosophy. Her Villain Song, directed at Twilight, is about how friendship is a childish dream and that you can't rely on others to help you find your place in the world.
Jerkass: She's violent, spiteful, and condescending and makes zero effort to hide it. Eventually, she matures into a Jerk with a Heart of Gold after her Heel–Face Turn.
Jerkass Realization: Even when she does become good, she's still pretty abrasive and holds a grudge. She does mellow out when she meets her old friend Glitter Drops once more and the latter saves her from an Ursa Minor. She realizes that if she did not go and get the ball, she would've made one of her friends do so. She found the idea too terrible to consider and realizes she would've always chosen for herself to go... and making her realize just how much of a jerk she was being.
The Lad-ette: She dislikes Equestria's sweet aesthetics, and would rather have princesses of hoof-to-hoof combat and explosions than those of love and friendship. Unfortunately for her, Cadance pokes a lot of fun at her by pointing this out.
Laser-Guided Karma: Stabbed her own people and country in the back and caused a lot of pain. She gets stabbed in the back herself by the Storm King. This case is mutual, as she is also the cause of his own Laser-Guided Karma shortly afterwards.
A Lighter Shade of Black: Compared to the Storm King. She's The Heavy of the story, but she's also a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds who's ultimately trying to heal herself of a crippling injury and having a horrible life has left her bitter and angry. The Storm King is just a selfish Sociopath who is willing to ruin and enslave entire countries to fulfill his selfish ambitions.
Meaningful Name: Fitting as The Dragon to the Storm King, "Tempest" means "a violent windy storm". Her full name essentially means "the shadow of a violent storm", a name that signifies her as the herald of his arrival. Her real name, "Fizzlepop", is perfect for a unicorn who creates beautiful fireworks.
Meet the New Boss: While Starlight Glimmer isn't in the movie, here's another evil unicorn who started out as a happy child prodigy of magic who ended up separated by her friends by a misunderstanding resulting in her believing friendship is worthless, and uses magic artifacts to get a one up over the heroes to fulfill her personal ambitions, before ultimately being redeemed by Twilight Sparkle.
Might Makes Right: Her struggles and other experiences outside Equestria convinced her that fairness and justice were just fantasies of naive ponies that didn't apply to the rest of the world, where everyone seemed to only look out for themselves and to serve those more powerful than them. As such she sought to put herself "among the mighty."
Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal:
- The Stormy Road to Canterlot sees her doing this to her friends. Even after she retrieved their ball from an Ursa Minor's cave, losing her horn in the process, she was still ostracized for having uncontrollable magic due to her broken horn, causing Tempest to turn her back on them.
  - However, the sequel comic reveals that they never ostracized or betrayed her. They tried to include her in activities, but seeing her upset at her uncontrollable magic worried that they were making her more miserable as a result. They also lost contact with her because they dropped out of magic school.
- After the Storm King reveals that he had no intention of restoring her broken horn (along with some added ambiguity if he even could), Tempest turns on him. This proves to be his undoing.
Motive Decay: Started out travelling the world looking for a method that would restore her horn so that she can be accepted by others in Equestria again. Over time, she eventually became even more and more desperate until by the time the Storm King offered her his deal to be his second-in-command and the restoration of her horn, she joined him and became a turncoat when she suggested Equestria to be his next target, effectively forgetting why she wanted her horn back in first place. Suddenly her swearing loyalty to the Storm King when he got the power makes a lot more sense.
The Napoleon: Being a pony, she's the second shortest figure in the whole army after Grubber. For this reason, she's almost always shot with Hitler Cam to make her look more intimidating. Ironically, amongst her own kind she is easily one of the tallest ponies, with only Celestia, Luna, and possibly Cadance standing taller than her.
Nerd in Evil's Helmet: Behind the petrifying orbs and military might is a candy-colored unicorn that never grew past her childhood tragedy, changed her name to be more intimidating and tries hard to be tough. However, she literally doesn't wear a helmet that goes with her armor.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished:
- Her horn was broken when she bravely entered an Ursa Minor's cave to recover a ball she and her friends were playing with. Despite sacrificing her horn for the sake of her friends, she was still ostracized, and became rather bitter as a result. The Stormy Road to Canterlot sums it up well:
  As she started off into the night, she reminded herself of the worst part. She'd been the brave one that day in the forest. She'd volunteered to go into the cave to get the ball so her friends didn't have to. She'd yelled to Glitter Drops and Spring Rain, telling them there was an Ursa Minor inside so they wouldn't get hurt. She'd done everything right. And what did she have to show for it? What did she get for being a good friend? Nothing, she thought as the lights from the town grew smaller in the distance. There's nothing left for me there.
- This is deconstructed in the sequel comic, where she realizes what would've happened had she not gone. She would've made one of her friends go in her stead... an idea she couldn't fathom making herself go through. While her good deed did cost her horn, the alternative would've involved making her friends suffer a similar or worse fate, something that would've haunted her... the same way it haunted her friend Glitter Drops. Tempest realizes this after Glitter saves her from an Ursa Minor. Furthermore, she never was actually ostracized, as seen in Self-Serving Memory.
No-Nonsense Nemesis: She never wastes time with malicious gloating or silly banter, in stark contrast to most other My Little Pony villains. When Tempest leads the invasion of Canterlot, she immediately orders for the Princesses' complete and total surrender. When they refuse, Tempest doesn't hesitate at going straight on the offensive.
Non-Standard Character Design: Tempest has distinctly more angular features than most of the other ponies shown. She has narrower and duller eyes than the large, round ones that are the norm.
Obviously Evil: Red and black and purple color patterns? Check. Scarred face and broken horn? Check. Deep, intimidating voice? Check. Serious and stoic personality? Check.
Odd Friendship: Forms one with Princess Cadance in the comics. One is a ruthless bounty hunter turned local grump, the other is a love-powered and happy Princess Classic. Obviously they have drastically contrasting outlooks on whether love is more effective in protecting Equestria than military strength, but that doesn't stop the two from respecting each other to an extant and working together for Equestria's safety.
Perpetual Frowner: Tempest's default face seems to be one of disinterest and disdain. Whenever she does crack a smile, it's a rather nasty one (until her Heel–Face Turn, that is).
Power Incontinence: According to The Stormy Road to Canterlot, her magic become dangerously unstable after her horn broke, scorching the ground like misaimed fireworks. This was one of the factors in Tempest's decision to run away from home, since not even her own friends felt safe around her anymore. By the start of the film, however, she has much more control around it.
Psycho Electro: Tempest's magic manifests as arcs of electricity, and she's the cold and stoic top enforcer of the Storm King. Additionally, her displeasure is underscored by electricity flaring to life around her horn.
Psychopathic Womanchild: A downplayed example, but it's pretty clear that despite her front as an intelligent and cynical mare, second of a powerful warlord, her motivations are that of a bitter and resentful filly who never grew up (not so different to the Storm King, who's basically an obnoxious bullying brat with a lot of destructive power). She's very self-centered as she sells out her people to a warlord for an opportunity to try and get restored. Even her alias of Tempest Shadow sounds like something a child would name themselves to sound intimidating. This becomes more pronounced in the follow-up story. While she has reformed, she still holds plenty of spite toward her former friends, as seen with Glitter Drops. She gets a sick pleasure out of hurting them, but she ends up needing her help to be rescued from an Ursa Minor, being just as helpless as when she was a kid. In fact, it's revealed that she has a Self-Serving Memory over the incident (mainly, they did not abandon her, but they had no idea how to help her and felt including her in activities made her feel worse along with losing touch with her when they went to magic school). She is even compared to the Ursa Minor; despite seeming dangerous and fierce, both are just scared, sad and hurt children. Fortunately, Character Development has her healing from this. One notable contrast has her initially snapping when Glitter Drops calls her by her old name, but when they patch things up, she insists on Glitter calling her by her real name.
Purple Is Powerful: She has a purple coat, and is quite the badass.
Put on a Bus: The Season 8 opener says that Tempest isn't in Ponyville because she's spreading the message of the Storm King's defeat, and learning about friendship in her own way.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: She has a red mane and dark purple fur, wears black armor, and is a villainous character.
Red Is Violent: A red mane paired with a red hot violent streak.
The Resenter: In The Stormy Road to Canterlot, a disguised Tempest briefly encounters Twilight Sparkle while scouting out Canterlot for the upcoming attack, and quickly grows resentful of her. Having hoped to become an alicorn princess herself during her youth, Tempest bitterly acknowledges that Twilight is living the life she had always dreamed of.
Reformed, but Not Tamed: Even after becoming The Atoner, Tempest is temperamental, preferring the violent approach to solve problems, and has to struggle to reign in her anger when insulted. During "The Farasian Shores", Tempest asks Medley Brook the kelpie about her species' weaknesses, telling Applejack that she wants to be prepared if the ponies ever decide to invade Farasi.
Redemption Earns Life: She proves her redemption by Taking the Bullet for the Mane Six, who save and revive her in turn.
Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: She's a traitor to her people and her homeland. The Storm King ultimately pulls a You Have Outlived Your Usefulness on her as soon as she's gotten him what she promised and she only survives because Twilight saves her.
Riddle for the Ages: She is never seen without her armor (except in the flashback of her as a young filly, and in there, she is still a blank flank), so her cutie mark is unknown.
Scars Are Forever: She has a scar across her right eye and a broken horn. Both of these injuries were caused by an Ursa Minor Tempest encountered while she was still a filly.
Self-Serving Memory: During "Open Up Your Eyes", Tempest claims that her friends instantly rejected her after she lost her horn, which quickly drove her to leave her home town. However, in The Stormy Road to Canterlot, Tempest's friends were unnerved by her unstable magic, but tried to be supportive, with the revelation that they were leaving to attend Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns being the catalyst for Tempest's departure. This is further supported by the "Tempest's Tale" story arc in the comic, which shows that they didn't abandon her at all, but instead tried to give her her space after they noted that their attempts to include her just made her grow upset. They ended up losing touch with her because, while they did go to magic school, they did not do well there and ended up leaving soon after.
Silly Rabbit, Cynicism Is for Losers!: She despises friendship because of her Dark and Troubled Past and belittles Twilight for still clinging to it, but the mighty ruler she saw as representing the way the world works ultimately betrays her and she's saved by the very princess she derided. It's her choosing to stand with the heroes that finally gets her the happiness she wanted. Heck, this continues into the follow-up comics. Turns out a good deal of her cynical nature was her own fault. Her friends did not abandon her; on the contrary, they tried their best to be supportive and inclusive, but noting how she kept getting upset when they tried to include her, they worried whether it was right to do so. Then they lost touch because they dropped out of magic school. Once Glitter Drops saves her from the Ursa Minor and reveals her own feelings, she realizes just how self-centered she was and her own cynicism hurting her.
Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Her song "Open Up Your Eyes" expresses the belief to a caged Twilight that having friends will only lead to disappointment in the long run.
The Smurfette Principle: She is by far the only female member of the Storm King's army. That is until her Heel–Face Turn.
The Social Darwinist: The Storm King's influence is sending her down this route. She believes that you shouldn't rely on or trust anyone, and her Villain Song has the line "me among the mighty, you caged at my command".
Stab the Scorpion: She charges the Mane Six at the climax in order to do the Diving Save to get between them and the Storm King's petrification orb.
Start of Darkness: Losing her horn started propelling her down a dark path to try and get it fixed, but meeting the Storm King is the factor that helped propel her into full villainy.
Statuesque Stunner: Tempest is half a head taller than Twilight, who already became slightly taller than average mares after becoming an alicorn. She's about the same height as Fleur Dis Lee, Sassy Saddles or Princess Cadance, but with bulkier hind legs.
Stranger in a Familiar Land: After her redemption and befriending of the main heroines, her retained cynicism she gained from her experiences outside of her past home clash with Equestria's culture and alienates her; though she still tends to be called Tempest Shadow though when she patches things up with her old friend Glitter Drops, she insists on Glitter calling her by her old nickname, Fizzy, showing that not all of her was lost.
Surrounded by Idiots: Occasionally rolls her eyes at the antics of Grubber, the Storm Guards, and even her own boss, the Storm King. The film's novelization provides some additional insight into Tempest Shadow's mental state:
"Well, answer it!" Tempest barked. Sometimes she couldn't help feeling as though she was surrounded by incompetent oafs. They couldn't even accomplish the simplest tasks, like answering a potion call.
Taken for Granite: She gets turned to stone in the movie's climax. Unlike the Storm King, who ends up breaking into a million pieces, she gets better thanks to Twilight using the Storm King's staff to save Tempest from falling.
Taking You with Me: When she protects the Mane Six from the Storm King's last orb, she continues forwards as she's being turned to stone to tackle him so he gets petrified as well.
Tempting Fate: After Twilight, Spike, and the rest of the Mane Six get away, she asks how far they could get. Cue shot of them trudging through the desert.
Token Competent Minion: Tempest Shadow lead the invasion of Canterlot, pursued the Mane Six to Mt. Eris, and even succeeded in capturing Twilight and bringing her back. In comparison, Grubber is a buffoon who only got the position as the Storm King's right hand due to lack of ambition and not being The Starscream like Strife, the Storm King's previous right hand. The Storm Guards are typical Mooks who get beaten by the heroes in the end after Tempest Shadow is no longer on the Storm King's side. Indeed, Storm King actually seals his doom by reneging on his deal with Shadow.
Token Human: Or rather, token pony. She is the only pony member of the Storm King's army.
Took a Level in Kindness:
- At the end of the picture book The Great Princess Caper, the post-Heel–Face Turn Tempest apologizes to Grubber for being so harsh with him. She takes a moment to list his good qualities, gives him a cupcake with the word "sidekick" written on it, and gladly accepts his friendship.
- Her follow-up comic has her patch up with her old friend Glitter Drops after Glitter saves her from an Ursa Minor and Tempest re-examines her tragedy from a more objective standpoint.
Tragic Dream: When she was young, she dreamed of attending Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns with her friends. The Ursa Minor incident shut that dream down.
Tragic Villain: When she was a filly, The Ursa Minor ripped her horn off and she had to give up on her dream of attending Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns as result. She is mostly helping the Storm King because she wants to get her horn back.
Turncoat: Is an Equestrian who joined the invading army so she could get her horn repaired.
Unskilled, but Strong: Tempest is physically strong enough to effortlessly manhandle a creature twice her size, and while her broken horn means that her magic lacks finesse, it's still plenty powerful in its own right. As in, strong enough to mostly block the magic of the Storm King's staff after he absorbs the power of all four princesses (though she is still blown back by it and he was admittedly still figuring out how to use the power).
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Went from a sweet unicorn with dreams of greatness to the jaded, hateful, cynical dragon of the Storm King.
Villainous Friendship: The Stormy Road to Canterlot shows that she and Grubber have some manner of friendship as he was the first to react to her unstable magic with amazement rather than fear.
Villain Song: "Open Up Your Eyes", a song about trying to convince Twilight that friendship is meaningless and that the only one you can rely on in today's world is yourself.
When She Smiles: Her genuine, post-Heel–Face Turn smile is adorable.
Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Her real name is "Fizzlepop Berrytwist". The way Tempest leans in to whisper it to Pinkie's ear implies she is potentially embarassed about it. On the other hoof, Pinkie thinks it's the best name ever. However, it may also be a way to enforce how different she was. In fact, in the follow-up comic, her former friend calling her Fizzlepop or her former nickname, Fizzy, set her off. Once they patch things up though, she insists that Glitter Drops calls her Fizzy, both to symbolize their renewed friendship and likely showing her move-on from Tempest Shadow.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: She was once just a regular unicorn living in a small town with friends her age, but one day when she went to retrieve a lost ball she was attacked by an Ursa Minor. It gave her a scar across her eye and broke off her horn, causing her magic to go out of control. She lost contact with her friends, and became bitter, started to see friendship as pointless and left Equestria, eventually joining The Storm King's army.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The Storm King got Tempest Shadow under his employ by promising to restore her horn if she helped him gather all the magic of Equestria. Once he has, Tempest asks him to uphold his end of the deal, but he refuses just because he can. He outright tells Tempest she was nothing more than a pawn for him to use before attempting to kill her. It is implied that the Storm King suspected that Tempest would pull this trope on him, though whether she would actually do this is never revealed.

Grubber

"Oh, I love pie!"

Voiced by: Michael Peña^{Foreign VAs}

A pug-faced hedgehog that serves in the Storm King's army as Tempest's sidekick. Grubber talks a big game to make up for his short stature, but would really like nothing more than to sit back and relax with a good snack.

Affably Evil: He's really a pretty fun guy, more interested in fun and snacks than being evil.
Big Eater: He has a huge appetite.
Bumbling Sidekick: Serves as this to Tempest, and the Storm King by extension.
Butt-Monkey: What do you think when you get electrocuted by Tempest and never get to eat your cake? The Prequel comics don't help either.
Captain Ersatz: His short stature, pointy ears and rounded nose design looks similar to Stitch with dark skin and a white spiky punk hairdo.
The Creon: Grubber got to being the Storm King's right-hand man in the prequel comic by having no ambition of power, unlike the prior second-in-command Strife. Given how he was originally just a lowly janitor on the Storm King's ship, he's more than happy staying at his current position.
Evil Counterpart: Grubber is a small animal sidekick with a big appetite, much like Spike, except he's much more cowardly and certainly not as kind.
Extreme Doormat: After being betrayed by his previous number two in the prequel, the Storm King promotes Grubber to the role as he'll clearly have no such ambitions.
Funny Animal: He's a walking, talking hedgehog-like creature.
Good Costume Switch: The credits show that he has replaced the shirt with the Storm King's symbol he wore through the whole film with a shirt with a piece of cake on it.
Harmless Villain: He doesn't really do anything inherently evil throughout the movie. The closest he gets to averting this trope is when he inadvertently discovers the good guys hiding in a cake and alerting the Storm Guards.
Heel–Face Turn: The credits reveal that he turned good along with Tempest and the Storm Guards. The illustrated picture book elaborated on this: Tempest, following her redemption, asked him to come with her as he'd been her only real friend while they were evil.
Hero Worship: The Great Princess Caper shows that Grubber quickly came to idolize Tempest for her strength and fierceness, and wanted to become her sidekick.
Minion with an F in Evil: His profile describes him as "a good guy put in a bad situation".
Mix-and-Match Critters: He is a hedgehog-like creature with the face of a pug.
Number Two: He is the Storm King's second-in-command in the prequel comic, promoted to this role after the Storm King was abandoned by his previous, more treacherous Number Two. This may have just been temporarily as Tempest seems to have that role in the movie with Grubber reduced to her Bumbling Sidekick
Proud Warrior Race Guy: Believe it or not, he's a member of a hardened warrior tribe. Unfortunately for him, he lacks the physical size to live up to the title.
Running Gag: He is constantly trying to eat various pieces of cake throughout the film, only to get hurt in some way or the cake ruined. He finally gets a taste of some cake only to get captured by Celaeno's crew for discovering their Trojan Horse plan.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Once The Storm King makes his entrance in the throne room, Grubber gives a quick bow before running for the door to leave Tempest with him.
Shoo Out the Clowns: Grubber provides most of the comedy for the bad guys to balance Tempest's serious attitude. Once The Storm King appears in the third act, Grubber runs out of the throne room to keep the climax serious. He's also absent from the final battle since he was captured by Calaeno's crew for discovering their plan.
Speech Impediment: He speaks with a noticeable lisp that's only present in the movie.
Sweet Tooth: Mentions liking pie, and also takes a bite of the cake the Mane Six use to sneak back into Canterlot.
Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: Grubber is a comical, cowardly, unthreatening hedgehog. But he works for the dead-serious Tempest Shadow and her threatening-but-not-quite-so-serious Storm King boss.
Villainous Friendship: In The Stormy Road to Canterlot, he and Tempest are the closest thing anyone has to being friends in the Storm King's service, since he was the first not to be alarmed by her dangerously unstable magic.
What Happened to the Mouse?: He disappears after the Mane Five and their friends sneak back into Canterlot. Though if the credits are to be believed, he has reformed along with Tempest and most of The Storm King's army and is partying with the ponies. Though the credits are not meant to be taken seriously, book adaptations have depicted him as reforming and becoming friends with Spike.

The Storm Guards

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/large_4_73.png

The army of hulking, Faceless Mooks who serve as muscle and enforcers for the Storm King and Tempest Shadow.

Anti-Magic: They use shields that stop magical bolts.
Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: Like their king, they're bipedal, white-furred, apelike creatures visually reminiscent of yetis. They're a much more hulking and bestial take on this trope than the Storm King is, though.
Crippling Overspecialization: The Storm King's forces are equipped with Anti-Magic equipment, a reasonable choice when coming to invade a city of unicorns. This helps them take over Canterlot fairly easily, but it seems to just be okay at dealing with anything else and nigh useless against fire. When the heroes and their allies Storm the Castle in the Final Battle, Rarity is the only magic user and she primarily uses it to fight indirectly, so his army no longer has any considerable advantage.
Faceless Goons: Their identical face plates and uniforms make them indistinguishable from each other, making it easier to visually portray them as just another obstacle for the heroes to overcome rather than individual characters in their own right.
Heel–Face Turn: Several Storm Guards are shown joining in the festivities during the credits sequence. In the movie proper, one of them is reformed by Fluttershy.
Informed Ability: They're treated as an army formidable enough to have conquered multiple nations and force the entire hippogriff race into hiding. But as they were soundly defeated by a thirteen-member Ragtag Bunch of Misfits without magic/artifact assistance and the only nations they're shown successfully conquering seemingly never even had their defending armies show up, it's questionable how they got that reputation.
Law of Chromatic Superiority: Tempest has two Storm Guards with unique red crests and red-fringed tails following her around as a sort of honor guard. They're not seen doing anything particularly notable, but their unique color scheme and status as Tempest's private guards still set them apart from the faceless rank-and-file.
Logical Weakness: Their fur-covered bodies make them highly vulnerable to fire.
Man on Fire: When the heroes storm the Storm King-held Canterlot Castle, Capper fends off the Storm Guards attacking them by using Spike as an impromptu flamethrower and dousing them in flames. This results in said Storm Guards running around in panic while their backs are blazing merrily with Spike's green fire — and one Guard simply falling over, completely engulfed by flames.
Militaries Are Useless: While they presumably defeat the forces of Canterlot (an even bigger offender of this trope), said forces never even appear on-screen, and the Storm Guards are ultimately routed by a thirteen-member Ragtag Bunch of Misfits.
Mooks: They're an army of evil, Faceless Goons who exist for the dual purpose of acting as the bad guys' muscle and getting mowed down by the heroes in the climax.
The Unintelligible: The only sounds they make on-screen are grunts and gibberish. Two do briefly speak in the final battle; One says "goodbye" after Fluttershy comforts him, and another screams "I can't see!" when Skystar throws Shelly and Sheldon into his eyes. They seem to speak English more in the Prequel Comics.
Top-Heavy Guy: Their torsos and arms are hulking, heavily built and muscular, but their legs are comparatively very small and thin.
Undying Loyalty: This is what the Storm King wants from them, which is why he appears as a Benevolent Boss in the prequel comics. Once he stops using Pragmatic Villainy after his Near-Villain Victory, it's extremely unlikely they'll have any loyalty left, even if the credits with their Heel–Face Turn aren't canon.

Klugetown

Capper

"Capper's the name. Charming's my game."

Voiced by: Taye Diggs^{Foreign VAs}

A conniving cat con artist who calls Klugetown his home. Capper lost everything he had when he tried scamming the local crime boss, and has since resorted to swindling others just to make ends meet.

The Artful Dodger: The prequel comic shows he lived his whole life gleefully stealing from the streets of Abyssinia. By the start of the movie, however, he's pretty sick of it and only continues doing it because he feels he has no other choice.
Animal Jingoism: In #97 of the comics, Capper is surprised to hear that a pair of Diamond Dogs nursed Chummer back to health (with Chummer admitting he was surprised too).
Badass Longcoat: He wears a long, tattered red coat. Rarity fixes up a bit of the tatter and adds a few gold buttons as thanks for getting the Mane Six out of a tight spot.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Getting his coat fixed up by Rarity and being asked nothing in return causes Capper to second-guess his plan to betray them. He nearly falls back into his old ways when interrogated by Tempest over the Mane Six, but one look at the shiny buttons Rarity gave him kicks off his complete Heel–Face Turn.
Becoming the Mask: He starts out as a False Friend to the Mane Six so he can sell them off and wipe away his debt, but spending time with them ends up bringing out the good in him.
The Cameo: He makes brief appearances in the show, such as "Between Dark and Dawn" during the "Lotta Little Things" song and the Grand Finale.
Cat Folk: He's an Abyssinian, the franchise's version of humanoid cat people. Generally, he resembles an upright cat more than a catlike humanoid — besides his hair and hands and a broadly anthropomorphized face, his body is mostly catlike; he even has fully digitigrade legs and claws at the tips of his fingers.
Cats Are Mean: At first, he is a manipulative criminal who pretends to be the Mane Six's friend out of selfish motivation. He grows out of it.
Cats Are Snarkers: He gets a snarky line there and there.
The Charmer: He's a conman, so you have to expect he's skilled at getting others to do what he wants. Rarity is noticeably flattered, much to Spike's ire.
Con Man: He is of the song-and-dance variety, much like the Flim-Flam Brothers from the show. It's not entirely by choice, though, since he's in some serious debt to Klugetown's biggest crime lord, and conning the Mane Six is the only way he can make a living.
Dark and Troubled Past: The prequel comic shows that Capper was a Street Urchin from Abyssinia who fled his home alongside his best friend, Chummer, after the Storm King invaded. They eventually made their way to Klugetown where they made a living scamming others until Chummer ultimately betrayed and abandoned Capper, not wanting to give up a life of crime as Capper did, leaving him on his own.
"Eureka!" Moment: During the battle in Canterlot he, Spike and the Mane Five are surrounded by Storm Guards. He glances down at Spike and remembers that Spike's a fire-breathing dragon and the Storm Guards are covered in fur.
Capper: Hey, ain't you a fire-breathing dragon?
Spike: [smirks]
Capper: [laughs as he uses Spike as a flamethrower]
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Not really evil, but Capper is technically a criminal in a crime-filled town. Rarity fixes up his coat for him, prompting him to immediately ask what the catch was. She merely replies it's just thanks for helping her and her friends out. Capper is confused by this since as far as he knew, no one does anything for anyone for free.
Expy: He has traits similar to Han Solo in A New Hope when he tries to raise money to pay off his debts, and shades of Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back, when Tempest tries to take the Mane Six away, and like Lando, he begins to do what it takes to help them out by attempting to help them escape Tempest Shadow, remembering how Rarity mended his coat.
False Friend: He starts as one to the Mane Six, saving them from the rest of the town and guiding them to his home while singing about how great a friend he is, while planning to sell them to repay his debt. He becomes a real friend to them once Rarity repairs his coat at no charge and tries to keep Tempest from finding them.
Forgiveness: When he reunites with Chummer during the "Abyssinians" story, Capper is quick to forgive him for his betrayal after seeing that Chummer is truly sorry for it, and has been leading La Résistance against King Meowmeow to honor his old friend.
Funny Animal: An anthropomorphic bipedal cat.
Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: He wears a Badass Longcoat and nothing else.
Heel–Face Turn: While no means a pure bad guy, he goes from scamming the Mane Six to becoming their ally.
Hidden Depths:
- Despite his smooth talking and confidence, he's deeply insecure about his role as a petty thief.
- The "Abyssinians" comic arc reveals that he is the Abyssinian Element of Generosity.
Improvised Weapon: During the final battle he uses Spike as a makeshift flamethrower.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Capper starts out as a sarcastic, sneaky Con Man, but after the Mane Six (mostly Rarity) show him some kindness, he shows his more helpful, friendly side.
Lovable Rogue: Definitely plays this part in the movie.
Meaningful Name: "Capper" is a slang term meaning a liar or confidence trickster.
Prehensile Tail: During his song, he's seen picking up three orange fruits with his long tail.
Pyromaniac: If his reaction to using Spike as a makeshift flamethrower during the climax is any indication, he might be one.
Rousing Speech: In comics Issue #96, Capper ends up giving a truly epic one when trying to convince the king of his former land to accept magic again... too bad it ends up with him and his comrades in jail.
Significant Wardrobe Shift: For most of the prequel comic, Capper simply walks around naked. However, after Chummer's betrayal and being stranded in Klugetown, he dons his red coat to symbolize his cynical transformation.
Then Let Me Be Evil: After getting betrayed by his best friend and left in Klugetown in the prequel, he decides to stay in the life of crime he tried to escape.
Three... Two... One...: When helping the Mane Five and their new friends sneak into Canterlot, he is initially turned away by the guards, but warns them what might happen if the Storm King doesn't get the cake he ordered. He then silently counts down from three and points at the entrance right when the guards move to let him pass without even looking at them.

Verko

"Heeeere's Verko!"

Voiced by: Brian Dobson

The crime boss who runs Klugetown. He holds a tight leash on Capper, who wound up in serious debt to him after a swindle gone wrong.

Ash Face: Gets this from Tempest after being electrocuted by her.
Asshole Victim: Gets electrocuted by Tempest when he gushes over how cute she is. Given that he was cheerfully planning to buy the main characters as slaves only moments before, it's hard to muster up much sympathy for him.
Barefoot Cartoon Animal: Otherwise, he's a Badass in a Nice Suit.
The Don: In the prequel comic, Verko claims that "every lowlife, knave, and villain who ever picked a pocket" in Klugetown answers to him.
Funny Animal: He's a bipedal naked mole rat in clothes.
Karma Houdini Warranty: Despite various humiliations, he remains in charge of Klugetown. However, in My Little Pony (Gameloft), it's revealed shortly afterward he attempted to arrest Capper and Celaeno, who in turn convinced the rest of Klugetown, who also hated him, to rise up and kick him out.
Mugging the Monster: He verbalizes his curiosity about how much he could sell Tempest for, complete with cutesy-talk and petting, which ends with him getting electrocuted.
Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: He does not appear in any of the trailers.
Stealth Pun: He's a clothed naked mole rat.
Too Dumb to Live: He openly mocks and denigrates Tempest Shadow, the Storm King's second-in-command and a fearsome general and combatant whom everyone else — with good reason — treats with fear and respect. Verko's reaction to seeing her is to causally start inspecting her like livestock for sale, squish her cheeks and talk about about purchasing her like she was a pet, all while Tempest grows more and more visibly furious. Doubly so given the fact Klugetown uses Storm Bucks (and thus is under the Storm King's control), meaning he really should know better. When he asks her "what can [she] do?", she promptly blasts him with her violent and unstable magic. Downplayed in that he doesn't actually die, exactly, although he still ends up looking like he caught a thunderbolt with his face.
You Dirty Rat!: A naked mole rat rather than a common sewer rat, but his appearance and his evil, slimy personality fit the stereotype.

Other Klugetowners

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/klugetowners.png

The assorted inhabitants and background characters who populate Klugetown.

Beast Man: Klugetown's population consists entirely of humanoid animals. Overall, they have relatively few human physical characteristics besides the bipedalism and opposable thumbs, and lean fairly heavily towards the "animal on two legs" end of this trope.
Cartoon Creature: While most of Klugetown's residents are recognizable as anthropomorphic variants of one species or another, others match no real animal and just appear to be generic sort-of mammalian sort-of reptilian designs made up for the occasion.
Fish People: One of the most visible Klugetowners is a large, stocky humanoid fish with large fins and visible gill slits.
Lizard Folk: Several humanoid lizards and lizard-like creatures are present among Klugetown's population, including a blue one similar to an Australian frilled lizard.
Pig Man: Two bird vendors appear to be bipedal boars with large tusks, and apparently very bad breath as well.
Rat Men: One of the Klugetowners visible in the market scene, and who later appears as the bouncer figure in "I'm the Friend You Need", is a very large anthropomorphic rat with prominent buck teeth. Another rodent-like Klugetowner has a more mouse-like design and very large ears.
Shark Man: A couple of lanky humanoid sharks are visible in background shots.
Visible Odor: One of the pig men's halitosis is visible as a cloud of green gas.
Wretched Hive: Klugetown is a crime-ridden slum of a city, and its inhabitants are perfectly happy to engage in such unsavory activities as kidnapping, slavery and the trade of sapient beings' body parts.
You Need a Breath Mint: One of the piglike bird-sellers has horrible halitosis, which is parodied when Pinkie offers him a breath mint while trying to bargain for information.

Pirates

Captain Celaeno

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mlp_2017_celaeno.png

"Let's show these little ponies how it's done!"

Voiced by: Zoe Saldaña^{Foreign VAs}

The parrot-like leader of the pirates. Once proud and daring explorers of the skies, Celaeno and her crew were roped into the Storm King's service as mere freight haulers. It takes a certain group of six pony stowaways (plus one dragon) to rekindle her zest for adventure, making her an invaluable ally.

Action Girl: She helps retake Canterlot by fighting off a bunch of the Storm King's guards.
Affably Evil: Despite being a pirate (formally working for the Storm King), she's quite a friendly sort and willing to help the heroes in need.
Alliterative Name: With her title, her full name is Captain Celaeno.
Ambiguous Species: Unlike most of the characters to appear in the story, her species is never stated, although she's clearly some kind of bird. Some promotional works claimed that she was a parrot, which is what Issue #100 of the comic settles on as well.
An Arm and a Leg: Her right leg from just below the knee is replaced with a pegleg. By her own admission, she lost it pirating at one point.
Big Damn Heroes: In Issue #100 of the comics. Celaeno manages to save Rainbow Dash and the rest of the group from her crashing ship all by herself.
Bird People: She has the head and tail of a parrot, and talons for her hands and foot, but no visible wings.
Childhood Friends: In her youth, she was friends with Prince Aello and Princess Ocypete (due to her parents working as servants to the royal family).
Childhood Friend Romance: Celaeno has been in love with Ocypete since they were young, and Ocypete returns those feelings after seeing them for herself.
The Chosen One: In the comic only Season 10 Issue 100, she finds out she represents the element of "Perseverance" in the Ornithia's Tree of Harmony.
Crazy-Prepared: Comics Issue #100 shows that Celaeno has a back-up hat and sword hidden in her outfit's cumberbund.
A Day in the Spotlight: She's the main focus of the 100th issue of the comic tie-in with it going over some of her backstory as well as conflict in her homeland.
Determinator: In Issue #100 of the comics, she makes it clear that she never gives up. This, coupled with the remaining throne of the Tree of Love glowing when Celaeno touches it, causes Ocypete to realize that Celaeno is the missing Element of Perserverance.
Dressed to Plunder: She sports traditional pirate attire such as a tricorn hat, a golden earring, and a crystal peg leg.
Dynamic Entry: In Issue #100 of the comics; Rainbow Dash and Spitfire improvise a slingshot to send her back to the Orinithian castle quickly enough for her to literally crash Princess Ocypete's wedding to Prince Huginn.
Feet-First Introduction: Her first appearance is punctuated by an initial focus on her talon brace and peg leg stomping across the deck of her ship.
Friend to All Children: Downplayed, since she only ever interacts with two children in the prequel comics, but she gives up a potential lucrative carrier in the Storm King's service in order to stop him from capturing Capper and Chummer when they make their escape aboard one of the king's ships.
Good Costume Switch: Celaeno and her crew start out wearing plain black uniforms issued by the Storm King. When Rainbow Dash persuades them to go back to their old ways, they ditch the uniforms for their pirate duds.
Handicapped Badass: Even though she's lost one leg and is wearing a metal brace on her remaining foot, she can hold her own in close combat.
Harping on About Harpies: Her design appears to be largely influenced by the harpies (part-bird/part-woman) of Greek mythology, even being named directly after one of them. She takes after her bird half than her human half, having the head and talons of a bird, but lacking wings and having a humanoid anatomy. She also has Pointy Ears similar to how griffons are sometimes depicted.
Hide Your Lesbians: Issue #100 reveals she's in love with Ocypete who returns those feelings, but it's so close to the finale there's no time so show said relationship once confirmed.
Karmic Thief: The prequel comic establishes that she and her crew only stole from the Storm King and no-one else.
A Mother to Her Men: The prequel comic shows that she sees her crew as family and cares about them more than any amount of treasure. She does everything she can to minimize the risks in their work, and when the Storm King catches them and offers her the position of right-hand creature, but says the crew will be relegated to cargo haulers, she accepts the offer to join to keep her crew safe but turns down the offer of a high rank in favor of staying with her crew.
Pay Evil unto Evil: She's a pirate, but only targeted the Storm King's forces.
Pirate Girl: And she is the captain.
Pirate Parrot: Played with. She is a pirate, but doesn't simply have a parrot; she is a parrot.
Punch-Clock Villain: She and the crew initially appear to be loyal servants to the Storm King when they come inches away from tossing the Mane Six overboard, but as soon as the lunch bell rings, she turns out to be a decent bird lady stuck in a situation she doesn't want to be in. A Pep-Talk Song from the ponies is all it takes for her to get her on their side.
Retired Badass: The Storm King has forced her and her crew to retire from pirating, making them message carriers instead. It takes a pep talk from the Mane Six to remind her how awesome she used to be.
Seadog Peg Leg: She has a crystal peg on her lower right leg. While she's working for the Storm King, it's just a plain old wooden leg. In the comics, when her old friend notes it, she cites it as a hazard of being a sky pirate.
Sky Pirate: Matching her avian appearance, she commands an airship.
Spell My Name With An S: Her name is misspelled as "Caelano" at the Toy Fair 2017 panel.
Straight Gay: Issue #100 of the comic reveals she's actually homosexual and in love with her childhood friend Ocypete, but avoids any sterotypical mannerisms.

Celaeno's Crew

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/large_2_6.png

From left to right: Squabble, Boyle, Captain Celaeno, Mullet and Lix Spittle.

Voiced by: Mark Oliver (Mullet), Max Martini (Boyle), Nicole Oliver (Lix Spittle)

Captain Celaeno leads a hardy crew of parrot pirates much like herself. Their names are Mullet, Boyle, Lix Spittle, and Squabble.^note

The crew also appears in the prequel comics, where they're rather more numerous than in the movie.

All There in the Script: The pirates' names are all given in the script and credits. Notably, two of them (Mullet and Squabble) have different names in the final draft of the script than during development (Grin and Murdock).
The Big Guy: Boyle is the largest and burliest of the parrots.
Bird People: Like their captain, they resemble humanoid parrots with a second set of claws instead of wings. Unlike their captain, however, they also have long, bony reptilian tails instead of feathery bird tails. Their portrayal in the comics also makes them resemble a variety of parrot species, with crew members resembling cockatoos and hyacinth and blue-and-yellow macaws — and one toucan — appearing among the other green pirates.
Chef of Iron: Lix is the ship's cook, and a proud pirate in her own right.
Dressed to Plunder: They have a lot of the typical pirates' attire and accessories, most visibly Boyle's hook hand and Mullet's eyepatch.
Eyepatch of Power: Mullet has the standard pirate's eyepatch.
Fish Eyes: One of Squabble's distinguishing features are his eyes, which never point in the same direction and never seem to focus on anything.
Handicapped Badass: All of them, to varying degrees (Boyle's hand, Mullet's eye, the end of Lix's tail, Squabble's walleyes and beak), but it doesn't stop them from beating back the Storm King's troops once they reach Canterlot. Many of the additional pirates from the prequel comic are also portrayed with similar prosthetics, sporting things such as hook wings, peg tails, and prosthetic beaks.
The Heart: Lix, by virtue of being the only female besides Celaeno and a caring, motherly presence.
The Lancer: Mullet is Celaeno's first mate.
Mix-and-Match Critters: Unlike Celaeno, who is strictly in Bird People territory, her crew has a dash of Lizard Folk thrown in with their reptilian tails. Birds are dinosaurs, after all...
Punch-Clock Villain: They only do the bidding of the Storm King to get paid and because they believe they have no other choice. If the clock says they are allowed a break (they only get one a day), they have an immediate change of heart.
Satellite Character: They're never seen without Celaeno, and don't get much characterization beyond "they are her crew".
Swiss-Army Appendage: Boyle can replace his missing right hand with anything the situation calls for.
Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Lix's pink feathers are about all the indicator you'll get that she's a female.
The Voiceless: Squabble doesn't speak, but squawks.
What Happened to the Mouse?:
- In the prequel comic, the crew were greater in number, with several additional members. In the movie itself, the crew number only five (counting Celaeno), with all the other members from the comic nowhere to be found.
- Also in the main comic; they are seen when Celaeno and her team arrive in Orinithia, but vanish afterward. Their whereabouts after Princess Ceridwen puts Celaeno's team on her ship and sets it on a collision course with a mountain aren't brought up at all.

Seaquestria

Queen Novo

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/novo.png

"I guess there is one small thing we can do for you."

Voiced by: Uzo Aduba^{Foreign VAs}

The ruler of Seaquestria, the kingdom of the seaponies. Novo had to evacuate her people to their current location after their original home, Mount Aris, came under threat from the Storm King's forces. Although she insists she and her people are happy with their new, secluded lives, she can't deny how much she misses their old way of life.

Achilles in His Tent: She was going to change her mind and help Twilight and the others, but Twilight's attempt to take her pearl caused her to expel the Mane Six from her kingdom.
Back for the Finale: She makes a brief appearance along with her daughter in the series finale listening to her niece Silverstream's Rousing Speech.
Berserk Button: Don't take advantage of her hospitality, and certainly don't try to take her pearl. Tempest found this out the hard way in The Stormy Road to Canterlot. Twilight also found out the same, getting all of them banished far from Novo's kingdom.
Bystander Syndrome: Novo would much rather kick back and relax in her safe, underwater kingdom than take any direct action against the Storm King again. Justified as their previous home was conquered by him and his troops.
Forgiveness: She appears to have forgiven Twilight for trying to steal her pearl, despite being upset by her actions, but she stayed to enjoy the festival after arriving to get Skystar, and if the credits are to be believed, talked friendly with Celestia. Justified as Twilight helped save the world again and beat the Storm King, who was the reason she and her subjects were hiding in the first place. This is reinforced in the show's eighth season, where she allows for her niece, Silverstream, to attend Twilight's School of Friendship.
Get Out!: After she catches Twilight trying to steal her pearl she declares that the ponies don't deserve to be one of them and changes them back to normal and warps them to the nearest shore far away from the island, albeit while they are still underwater.
Good Is Not Soft: She may be a kind, beautiful, and pampered queen, but she won't hesitate to fight to protect her subjects. Tempest finds this out in the prequel book; the only reason she and Grubber survive the fight against her is because of two Storm Guards interfering.
The High Queen: She's a kind and majestic queen who is ultimately on the same side as the Mane Six, making her the series' first major aversion to God Save Us from the Queen! and Princesses Rule.
Our Hippocamps Are Different: She's a seapony, a horse with the lower half of a fish, formally known as a hippocampus. She wasn't always one, however; she was originally a hippogriff (half-horse, half-bird) who transformed herself and her entire race to hide from the Storm King.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite any initial reluctance, Novo eventually comes around to answer the Mane Six's call for help against the Storm King. Unfortunately, it doesn't last long due to catching Twilight attempting to steal her pearl.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: When Tempest tries escaping with her Pearl of Transformation in the prequel book, Novo personally hunts her down and throttles her against a wall.
Sassy Black Woman: At times, she could give Sapphire Shores a run for her money in this department. E.g., when she gets exasperated with Skystar, and when she mentions her "seaweed wrap".
Queen Novo: Did I not say don't tell them? But hey, I'm just the queen. Don't mind me.
Tranquil Fury: She never raises her voice when she is angry, but she remains quite imposing and terrifying when she is.
Transformation Ray: She possesses a magical pearl that can transform creatures into other species, using it on the Mane Six to turn them into seaponies, and Spike into a puffer fish. She used the same method on herself and her people to turn them into seaponies to escape the Storm King's forces.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: The comics reveal that she can shapeshift between her Sea Pony and Hippogriff forms at will, without the Pearl of Transformation or even a shard of it. Exactly how she can do this is unknown, but it seems unique to her.
Walking Spoiler: She is the "queen of the hippos" the Mane Six are looking for.

Princess Skystar

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mlp_2017_skystar.png

^Spoilers

"There are so many things we can do!"

Voiced by: Kristin Chenoweth^{Foreign VAs}

The bubbly seapony princess of Seaquestria, and Queen Novo's daughter. Skystar longs to spread her wings and make new friends after spending too many years cooped up in her undersea home. She gets her wish when she stumbles into the Mane Six in their quest for help against the Storm King.

Action Girl: Is actually surprisingly effective in a fight. Just ask Storm King's Mooks.
All-Loving Hero: Is more saddened than angered by Twilight stealing the pearl, and only takes a quick "discussion" with Shelly and Sheldon offscreen to decide it was an act of desperation and to help the ponies out.
Back for the Finale: She makes a brief appearance along with her mother in the show's Grand Finale listening to her cousin Silverstream giving a Rousing Speech.
Beware the Silly Ones: As silly and odd of a person as she is, when she actually fights she proves to be pretty dang effective.
Cloudcuckoolander: A Genki Girl who, among other things, makes Companion Cubes out of seashells.
Companion Cube: She spends her spare time befriending seashells and giving them names like "Shelly" and "Sheldon". She weaponizes them by throwing them into one of the Storm King's minion's eyes.
Could Say It, But...: When she's explaining their history to the Mane Six and Spike, her mom interrupts her and forbids her from telling them anymore. She then continues the story, saying if she could tell them.
Curtains Match the Windows: She has Innocent Blue Eyes to match her aquamarine hair-like fin.
Cute Bruiser: Adorable, sweet, and bubbly... but also surprisingly tough when it comes to a fight. She's strong enough to physically overpower, pick up, and throw the Storm King's much larger Mooks.
Disappeared Dad: There is no mention of Skystar's father at all in the books or the film.
Genki Girl: She's bubbly, chatty, and energetic, a classic Kristin Chenoweth character if there ever was one.
I Just Want to Have Friends: Before meeting the Mane Six, Skystar is in a state of intense boredom and loneliness over feeling locked up in her kingdom. It was so bad, she made friends out of inanimate seashells (she named them Shelly and Sheldon).
Let's Get Dangerous!: She is a Genki Girl, silly, and makes "friends" out of seashells... but when she decides to fight, she can fight.
Meaningful Name: The name "Skystar" is an indicator that her race actually belongs in the sky, not the sea.
Nice Girl: Is willing to help the Mane Six in their fight against the Storm King, even after Twilight tried to steal the pearl, and after her mother forbids her.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: She still ends up grounded by her mother even after she helped save everyone.
One-Winged Angel: Assuming her true Hippogriff form towards the end of the film could be seen as a heroic one: it's a good bit more intimidating than her adorable sea pony form, makes the size difference between her and the Mane Six more apparent (she's about a head taller than them), and is also the point her Cute Bruiser traits show up and she shows herself capable of throwing around the Storm King's Mooks fairly easily.
Oh, Crap!: She gets one when she is reunited with her mom at the party, and is told that she is "so grounded."
Our Hippocamps Are Different: Just like her mother, Skystar is a seapony (half-horse, half-fish). Also like her mother, she was a hippogriff (half-horse, half-bird) to begin with.
Rebellious Princess: She would much rather leave Seaquestria and make some friends than abide her mother's warnings and live in isolation. She's the princess of her kingdom, and is incredibly kind and helpful to the Mane Six.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: She plays a crucial role in helping the Mane Six get the seaponies' support, and even accompanies them on their journey in her original hippogriff form. She even takes part in the Final Battle and proves very effective in combat.
Valley Girl: She has the accent and a typical personality of one.
You Are Grounded!: She arrives to help the Mane Five despite knowing she's going to get so grounded for disobeying her mom. She ends up being correct, as Queen Novo immediately grounds her once they're reunited.
Youthful Freckles: She has orange freckles in between her eyes.

Equestria

Songbird Serenade

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mlp_2017_songbird.png

"I can see a rainbow from your tears when they fall on down."

Voiced by: Sia

Equestria's latest and greatest musical sensation. Songbird is brought on to lend her vocal talents at the Friendship Festival.

Advertised Extra: She's played by one of the celebrity guest stars and featured on one of the posters, yet she serves no role in the overall story.
Alliterative Name: Songbird Serenade.
Break the Cutie: When the captured Twilight is brought back to Canterlot, she sees Songbird in a cage, sadly singing the lyrics to "Rainbow" until a Storm Guard hits the bars of her cage, forcing her to be quiet. Songbird then shares a sad look with Twilight. Even with her bangs, you can tell Songbird is in as much despair as Twilight is. She gets better after the Storm King's death.
Eyes Out of Sight: Her mane completely covers the upper half of her face, just like her voice actress. Her backup dancers also share the same hairdo.
Ink-Suit Actor: She is essentially a ponified version of Sia.
Meaningful Name: Two-fold. Her name obviously references her occupation as a famous singer, but Songbird is also a very appropriate name for a pegasus.
Nice Girl: She's surprisingly down-to-earth for such a big star. When Twilight accidentally gets some cake on Songbird's outfit, Songbird, rather than be upset, makes a joke about Twilight being "caked in cake".
Visual Pun: Being stuck in a cage near the end of the movie and her name being Songbird. Thus a bird stuck in a cage. One of the guards even smacks the cage to shut her up.

Spring Rain and Glitter Drops

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mlp_springrainglitterdrops.png

Spring Rain (left) and Glitter Drops (right)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/my_little_pony_fim_spring_rain.jpg

Grown Up Glitter Drops in the Comic

A pair of unicorn foals seen in a flashback sequence. They were Tempest Shadow's childhood friends, but drifted apart after Tempest lost her horn to an Ursa Minor.

All of the Other Reindeer: They shunned their former friend Fizzlepop after she broke her horn, fearing her now-uncontrollable explosive magic. Except they didn't and additional materials show this was just Tempest's Self-Serving Memory. They actually tried to include her, but they noted it just made Fizzlepop more miserable about the thing.
All There in the Manual: Their names are revealed in tie-in material, left out of the film proper. The mobile game also reveals their cutie marks; Spring Rain gets a sun behind a raining cloud, and Glitter Drops gets two stars around a blue ring.
Ambiguous Gender: Spring Rain has a square muzzle and no eyelashes in the flashback, which normally suggests the character is male, which is stated in the comics. However, in both the mobile game and The Stormy Road to Canterlot, Spring Rain is referred to as female.
Ascended Extra: Glitter Drops gets a starring role in the comics teaming up and reconciling with Tempest.
Chromatic Arrangement: Spring Rain is blue, Glitter Drops is green, and Fizzlepop is red.
Depending on the Writer: In the movie, they are shown to have abandoned Fizzlepop immediately after she lost her horn. However, The Stormy Road to Canterlot shows them to be more patient and understanding, visiting her periodically and trying to help her hide her broken horn. The comic follows up on this and it's revealed more or less to be due to Tempest's Self-Serving Memory about the incident and said follow-up has her re-examine what happened.
Karma Houdini: They seemingly get off scot free for abandoning Fizzlepop... because it turns out they never abandoned her in the first place.
Nature Hero: Glitter Drops as an adult becomes a ranger in the Crystal Empire. Alongside Tempest, she reunited a rampaging Ursa Minor with its mother.
Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: The comics reveal that they were this in terms of academic abilities; while top of the class in their home village, they just couldn't keep up with the lessons at Celestia's school, and eventually dropped out entirely, unable to continue.
Poor Communication Kills: The comics reveal their "abandonment" of Fizzlepop was actually an attempt to give her some space after attempts to include her in their activities just ended up making her feel worse and once they enrolled Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, they were too busy to stay in touch. They would also drop out after a while.
Small Role, Big Impact: Their supposed abandonment of Fizzlepop began her Start of Darkness towards becoming Tempest Shadow.
Survivor's Guilt: Glitter Drops feels responsible over Tempest's broken horn as she thinks she should've gone after the thrown ball. This actually causes Tempest to realize that she had a Self-Serving Memory since she comes to the conclusion that she couldn't live with the thought of making Glitter get the ball, which is why she went in the first place.
Ungrateful Bastard: Subverted. Rather than showing gratitude toward Fizzlepop for saving their lives from the Ursa Minor, they freak out about her broken horn and abandon her... However, it turns out that this was Tempest's own Self Serving Memory. The Stormy Road to Canterlot and the sequel comics show that they did include her in activities and tried their best to assist her. She just became more miserable and when they went to their studies, they were unable to maintain contact, especially after they dropped out.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Had it not been for them abandoning Fizzlepop, she wouldn't have become Tempest Shadow and nearly doomed Equestria. Subverted as ultimately it was Tempest's own Self-Serving Memory and they never actually abandoned her.
Walking Spoiler: Both in showing the events of Tempest's childhood, along with the events that lead to her disillusionment from the magic of friendship and in the follow-up comic issues, which show Tempest was not being completely honest.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Spring Rain's whereabouts remain unknown. After reconciling with Glitter Drops, Tempest considers her to be her "only real friend", suggesting no-one even considered similarly reuniting with Spring.

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