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

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / The Weedverse Adventurers

Go To

Beware of unmarked spoilers!

Main Character Index | Adventurers | Canterlot | Crystal Empire | Twilight's Sparkle's School and Ponyville | Pie Family | Manehattan | The Frozen North | Rat Catcher's Guild and Associates | Other Heroes | Istanbull | Fancy | Sunfire Barony | Villains | Other Characters | The Celestials | Groups
    open/close all folders 

     Tarnished Teapot 

Debut: The Weed

Introduced as a teenage screw-up with an incomprehensible special talent, Tarnish is a unicorn who grows into a capable adventurer, and ultimately (re)founds the Druid order, taking the helm as the Archdruid and Heliophant. His talent also turns out to be far more important than he realised.

  • Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: After Maud leaves for Ponyville for a few days, Tarnish finds himself pining for her something fierce. It quickly leads to a Love Epiphany about how much he loved Maud. His yearning reached the point where it concerned Cloudy Quartz.
  • Alchemy Is Magic: One of the earlier examples of his forays into non-standard magic.
  • Alliterative Name: Tarnished Teapot.
  • Ambadassador: Celestia sends him into trouble spots, knowing that if negotiations fail, he will find other solutions.
  • Anger Born of Worry: After seeing Maud get eaten by a hydra attacking them, Tarnish assumes she's dead and gains his special spell. But when Maud turns out to be alive, Tarnish calls her out for making him go through so much grief. Maud listens and apologizes.
  • Badass Bookworm: Develops into this, possibly partially inspired by his Love Interest, Maud, who is very well-learned herself and has a double rocktorate in geology.
  • Battle Couple: With Maud, the longer they continue to travel and fight.
  • Big Damn Kiss: Their first kiss while dating was this. Then, right after their marriage, Tarnish decides to kiss Maud then and there. Nearly the entire population of Ponyville approves. Several more followed.
  • Big Eater: Magic is Cast from Calories, and Tarnish has a powerful passive magic, turning him into this when in Wild Magic zones.
  • Blow You Away: Tarnish's special spell lets him shoot torrents of heated air, hot enough to melt even the flesh of a hydra. However, its true nature is related to water magic, as it relies on conversion of matter.
  • Boring, but Practical: A lot about Tarnish is this, from his choice of headwear to his magical aptitudes that aren't Wild Magic. He even invents stuff with this in mind, the Body Spackle being a particular example.
  • Bridal Carry: A pony variant; at the end of The Weed, once the adventure is over, Tarnish carries Maud on his back as he walks into the new cottage the Pies built for them.
  • Character Development: In The Weed, Tarnish goes from being an insecure screw-up who is angry at his community for rejecting him and resentful of his talent... to a very mature and sensible pony who acknowledges when he made mistakes. Once he realizes what his cutie mark pertained to and how it relates to his destiny, his epiphany caused his cutie mark, a single poison joke flower, to sprout two additional buds.
    [From Chapter 42]: Tended, nurtured, cultivated, the weed had blossomed, and now had to make up for lost time.
  • Chekhov's Skill: Pinny Lane explains, and shows, to Tarnish that every unicorn has their own spell that only they could learn in different circumstances. Tarnish later gets his spell after seeing Maud get eaten by a hydra (she actually tricked it). It comes in handy with mundane stuff such as making tea or refilling water supplies on the go.
  • Combat Medic: Tarnish's magic purifies corrupted areas of foul magic by making the ground sprout fields of poison joke. He is also a capable fighter, and forms a Battle Couple with Maud.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Develops into this, he has no qualms about doing whatever is needed to win, even if it's cruel, excessive or unpleasant. It's a point of contention between him and the more moral Daring Do.
  • Detect Evil: The magical amulet Tarnish receives from Twilight as a gift in The Weed has a sapphire that can detect evil magic by changing color; the blue color gets darker the fouler the magic gets. It has a second use when Tarnish's Hate Plague magic is in effect, necessitating the need for his poison joke tea.
  • Disappeared Dad: Initially has no idea who his father is. Later on, he discovers who his father is; it's Jeff Letrotski, and he is utterly disinterested in his well-being.
  • Distracted by the Sexy: Tarnished's prone to this when Maud is around, though being his girlfriend and eventual husband, she doesn't mind in the slightest.
  • Druid: Tarnish's magic works with nature; he uses his magic to purify corrupted areas, which has the side-effect of sprouting fields of poison joke. He later attempted to revive the discipline, with a great deal of success.
  • Eating the Eye Candy: Tarnish often does this when Maud's around. Justified; according to Pinkie, he's a colt so he's supposed to do it.
  • For Want Of A Nail: In The Weed, if the ponies who attacked Tarnish at Dodge Junction managed to hang him properly, Maud would be doomed to being alone for the rest of her life. Heck, even the events of the Weedverse would happen differently if he died. Maud was so shaken up after thinking about this trope that she does a Security Cling on Tarnish.
  • Glowing Eyes: His eyes glow when Surging to cleanse particularly dangerous areas of Wild Magic.
  • Green Thumb: Part of being a Druid, but his cleansing effect can also lead to spontaneous generation of Poison Joke.
  • Handicapped Badass: Tarnish is a weak unicorn to Equestrian society in terms of magic, and his natural magic wreaks havoc if left unchecked. So to make up for it, he's one of the most powerful living Druids who actively works to restore natural habitats and protect them from magical corruption.
  • Happily Married: His relationship with Maud Pie is rather healthy in the intimacy department.
  • Hate Plague: Automatically and unconsciously produces a low-level version of this effect in ponies nearby, with himself as the target. It's one of the things suppressed by his poison joke tea.
  • Healing Hands: The one bit of unicorn magic that he's good at, according to Trixie.
  • Healing Herb: A master of these.
  • How Do I Shot Web?: Tarnish initially has struggles with his special spell shortly after gaining it. His first try at converting steam into water results in him scalding himself with boiling water.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Tarnish is very, very tall, something that he inherited from his mother, Pinny Lane. He's tall enough that Sumac asks about the practicalities.
  • I Am Not My Father: Expresses this in Chapter 53 of The Weed, before his Relationship Upgrade with Maud:
    Tarnished Teapot: You know, when this idea was first sprung on me, I had some doubts... some worries… but after hearing my mother talk about my father... and having met my father... I dunno... those doubts are gone. Those worries are fading. I don’t want to make those same mistakes. I’ve made enough mistakes already... I’ve done some really, really stupid stuff. And whatever it is that my dad is, I want to become the opposite of that. I don’t want to be my father’s son.
  • Immortality Seeker: Averted, and actually quite opposed to the idea. For all his unique talents, he has no desire to protect Equestria forever like the royal Alicorns do.
  • Likes Older Women: His girlfriend, and eventual wife, is Maud Pie, who is four years older. To be specific, Tarnish and Maud were sixteen and twenty when they started dating.
  • The Magnificent: As a hero of the realm, he was titled "Spider's Bane".
  • Making a Splash: Tarnish's special spell, according to Twilight, is related to water magic, as it relies on conversion of matter. He could convert steam into water, and vice-versa.
  • Mundane Utility: Tarnish's special spell is equally useful for fighting monsters or boiling a kettle. He also uses it to refill their water supplies in the wild.
  • Never My Fault: Gradually subverted. Due to being a confused teenager at the time with unpredictable magic and a cutie mark no one could understand, Tarnish believed that most of the problems he suffered were other ponies' fault. Then he realized that he brought said problems onto himself.
    [From Chapter 41]: It had been a painful moment to realise that he could have tried taking responsibility for his own future four years ago when his cutie mark had appeared. He could have tried looking for answers then. He could have picked up a book, asked questions, he could have tried doing something. But he had done none of those things. He had sat back and allowed life to happen. He allowed himself to be the victim, and then, when something happened, Tarnish would make excuses, saying that it couldn’t be helped.
  • Noodle Incident: Apparently, Tarnish's Wild Magic turned Big Macintosh into a mare and made Discord a model citizen once.
  • Oh, Crap!: When Tarnish realizes his poison joke cutie mark started 'blooming' and starts freaking out over how it's some kind of prank designed to make his life even weirder. Maud gives him a "Shut Up" Kiss to make him quiet.
  • Once Done, Never Forgotten: Maud isn't going to let him forget that he once swallowed a bug while trying to think of something to say.
  • Over-Enthusiastic Parents: When Pebble was younger. He got better.
  • Parental Neglect: Was subjected to this by his mother, Pinny Lane, who was not the most attentive of parents, but [[Hate Plague it wasn't entirely her fault. Once Pinny realizes what she had done to her son, she breaks down, and when she reunites with her son, she tearfully apologizes to him.
  • Power Incontinence: His magic is designed for stabilizing dangerous wild magic. Unfortunately, it has the opposite effect on controlled magic, and he can't turn it off.
  • Power Limiter: Poison Joke tea keeps the wild side of his powers under control.
  • Pragmatic Hero: Is one of the most ruthless of the heroic characters (though not to the degree of Dim Dark), to the annoyance of Daring Do and others who are more honorable.
  • Properly Paranoid: After the threats made against him by Grogar at the end of Venenum Iocus, Tarnish makes very sure to keep all his family very safe, surrounding their homes with lethal vegetation.
  • Random Effect Spell: Tarnish's magic has this effect initially, but he gets it more under control.
  • The Red Mage: Like the ancient druids, Tarnish seeks out and studies the magic of as many different traditions as he can, as his native power is a little unpredictable.
  • Relationship Upgrade: Eventually marries his girlfriend, Maud.
  • Reluctant Warrior: Doesn't like fighting or killing, but when someone needs rescuing, then he's there.
  • Shot Gun Wedding: Afternoon Delight the marriage clerk assumes Tarnish's wedding with Maud is of this nature, which is not helped by Maud's seemingly apparent disinterest. She doesn't know how much in love they are.
  • So Proud of You: Receives this from Pinny Lane a few times.
  • Spit Take: Inverted; Tarnish starts choking on his tea when Maud suggests making their relationship official.
  • Taught by Experience: Most of Tarnish's skills were learned on the road. He considers the outdoors to be a better classroom than reading books.
  • They Would Cut You Up: Because of his Wild Magic and his exploits in The Weed, Tarnish is seen as "the most dangerous pony alive", with ponies discussing whether he should be locked up or studied. Twilight swears that she won't let either fates happen to Tarnish, and most of it is just bluster anyway.
  • Through a Face Full of Fur: His chocolate-brown fur around his face and neck becomes deep purple when Pinny Lane decided to indulge and be embarrassing.
  • Trauma Button: The events of Skyreach are one to him afterwards.
  • Understanding Boyfriend: Becomes one to Maud; it's his compassion that allows Maud to gradually open up, emotionally.
  • Weak, but Skilled: He doesn't have much power by unicorn standards, but he knows about a lot of different kinds of magic, making him far more versatile a mage than he might be.
  • Weapon Specialization: Develops a preference for using a bullwhip at some point after Venenum Iocus.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: In The Weed, he calls out Maud for not telling him of her plan to trick a hydra into eating her so she could punch its heart, because it meant he went through a Traumatic Superpower Awakening and all that grief for nothing. Maud listens and apologizes for her actions.
  • Wild Magic: A natural antidote to areas of corruptive wild magic. Because the Pies' rock farm is situated on ley lines, it has unexpected effects, such as their water pump pouring water upwards. Tarnish first discovers his purpose when he magically "fixes" the water pump so the water pours downwards. However, the same effect means that his magic doesn't get on with areas of normal magic, causing the effects he's designed to suppress. Tarnish also believes that poison joke flowers also purify magical areas wherever they're planted, and their destruction by ponies is ruining the environment.
  • You Can't Go Home Again: At the start of the story, Tarnish is banished from Ponyville by Twilight after his Wild Magic proves to be a hazard for everyone around him. To her credit, Twilight was unknowingly affected by Tarnish's Hate Plague magic, and once she was out of its influence, she regretted banishing Tarnish when she could've done something to help him instead. When Tarnish comes back to Ponyville, the banishment is lifted and he's able to go there again, though he still had to stay outside of its borders for everyone's safety.

     Maud Pie 

Debut: The Weed

Stoic, near-indestructible and extremely strong, Maud is a stone pony, and she calls herself "The Rock" for a reason. She makes a living studying geology in places too dangerous for anyone else to enter, at least to begin with, but later receives a royal commission to study the effects of Poison Joke on the ley lines along with her husband.

  • Action Girlfriend: To Tarnish. Later on, she becomes his wife.
  • Armor of Invincibility: Acquires some centaur steel armor.
  • Badass Bookworm: Makes a living walking into the most dangerous places in Equestria and studying the geology.
  • Battle Couple: With Tarnish, the longer they continue to travel and fight.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: Part of why she fell in love with Tarnish; except her family, she almost had no one to socialize with, and those who did either made fun of her or assumed they knew best for her. Tarnish was the only one who saw the true pony beneath her stony exterior.
  • Berserk Button: Maud treats family stability as Serious Business since she grew up in a loving household, so seeing Tarnish's Disappeared Dad blow him off provoked her into utter Tranquil Fury.
    Kudzuhaiku: Maud is all about stability, and she associates stability with family. For a pony to so callously disregard family has shaken up her world view. To reaffirm that everything she believes in is right, she falls back on her core values, not knowing any other way of dealing with it.
  • Big Damn Kiss: Right after their marriage, Maud is subjected to one by Tarnish then and there. Nearly the entire population of Ponyville approves.
  • Big Sister Instinct:
    • Has stated at one point that she will not tolerate anyone who doesn't put up with her sisters' behaviors, good or not. She also sees herself as "The Rock", meaning that she's the person who's the source of stability in any relationship, familial or not.
    • When she was a filly, she protected Pinkie from a monster that was lurking under her bed because their parents did not believe there was. As it turned out, there really was a monster under the bed.
  • Cassandra Truth: Pinkie was afraid of a monster underneath her bed, but their parents didn't believe her. Maud had to step up to protect her sister herself, risking her own life in the process.
  • Character Development: Tanks to Tarnish, she gradually goes from being her stoic canon self to an emotionally open pony. This is represented by her faded rock cutie mark gaining color the more she expresses herself.
  • Child Prodigy: Revealed to be this once she was allowed to go to school, which got her many offers from several universities. Instead, she chose to go to Las Pegasus and earn her double rocktorate degree there.
  • Companion Cube: Boulder. Maybe.
  • Cool Big Sis: As in canon, has this relationship with Pinkie Pie and the other Pie sisters. She'll also do anything to protect them.
  • Curse Cut Short: She was about to call Tarnish's Disappeared Dad a "dick" when Pinkie shoved a hoof in her mouth.
  • Deadly Euphemism: After meeting Jeff Letrotski, Maud seriously considers "planting [him] in the ground".
    Maud Pie: I want to return Jeff Letrotski to the earth.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Has a very dry sense of humor, but most people never see it. Her daughter, Pebble, got her snark.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: Becomes noticeably more expressive over time as her relationship with Tarnish develops.
  • Does Not Like Spam: She doesn't care for sugary foods.
  • Embarrassingly Painful Sunburn: She burns easily, the reason she wears her characteristic smock.
  • Expository Hairstyle Change: Her straight hair becomes "Pinkified" every time she kisses Tarnish or has sex with him.
  • For Want Of A Nail: Maud thinks about what would've happened to her if Tarnish was successfully hanged, and was so shaken up that she does a Security Cling to Tarnish.
  • Geeky Turn-On: Appears to have shades of this, often commenting on Tarnish's attractiveness after he does or says something genuinely intelligent. The first time happens after Tarnish lists the ingredients for poison joke tea correctly and leaves to get his hat for the hot weather:
    Maud Pie: Hmm, it's hot in here, too.
  • Genius Bruiser: Has a double rocktorate, and is the first to work out how Tarnish's magic works. As for the 'Bruiser' bit, well, see Nigh-Invulnerability and Super-Strength.
  • Good is Not Nice: She wholly acknowledges that she and Tarnish are bad ponies, and she hopes she gets rocks in her stocking during Hearth's Warmingnote .
  • Happily Married: Her relationship with Tarnished Teapot is rather healthy in the intimacy department.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Maud's not overly small, but compared to her husband Tarnish, who is enormous for a unicorn, she's tiny.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Maud admonishes Tarnish for swearing in front of Pinkie, when Tarnish points out she never did so when Pinkie told him a dirty joke. This causes Maud to remark that it's "not fair" that Pinkie knows him longer than she does. Later, she was about to call Tarnish's Disappeared Dad a "dick", only for Pinkie to stuff a hoof in her mouths.
  • Insecure Love Interest: Despite her stoic exterior, Maud has her fair share of insecurities due to how other ponies react to her. One of her worries was Tarnish zoning out and ignoring her while she talked. Fortunately, Tarnish is the good kind of partner.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Due to burning easily.
  • Little Miss Badass: Killed a bed monster to protect Pinkie when they were fillies. When Igneous asked Maud if she was hurt, she replied, "No, Daddy, I'm The Rock."
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Has a moment during a conversation with Sumac in the epilogue of Princess Twilight Sparkle's School For Fantastic Foals: Winter Break - she realizes that she was responsible for Pebble becoming stubborn and disagreeable with other ponies like she was, which causes her to swear.
  • Nigh-Invulnerability: She is a stone pony, and as hard to hurt as a mountain. She wasn't kidding when she called herself a "rock".
  • No-Sell: Due to being a stone pony, Maud can walk right into the heart of a Wild Magic zone without harm, and generally difficult to affect with magic of any kind. Also has an immunity to Poison Joke, useful when your husband occasionally spontaneously generates it.
  • Not Now, We're Too Busy Crying Over You: Not telling your companion of a risky and dangerous plan to kill a powerful hydra will end up with said companion assuming that you've died once it's done. When Tarnish discovers that Maud survived after all, he calls her out for not telling him and putting him through unnecessary grief.
  • Not So Stoic: Has moments like this in The Weed, as Maud gradually begins to express herself more.
    • While her rage at Tarnish's Disappeared Dad was more a Tranquil Fury, Pinkie could tell she's angry because of the 'fire' in her eyes.
    • After thinking about what if Tarnish was hanged successfully, Maud was so shaken that she does a Security Cling to Tarnish.
    • Finding that Tarnish was petrified by a cockatrice while exploring Froggy Bottom Bog was when Maud became truly upset. Once Twilight turned Tarnish back to normal, Maud was immediately at his side, showering her husband in kisses.
  • Relationship Upgrade: Maud eventually marries her boyfriend, Tarnish, later in The Weed.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The calmer Maud sounds, the worse the situation appears to be. On the other hand, any overtly emotional response from her is important, given how stoic she normally is.
  • Revenge Before Reason: In The Weed, Maud nearly abandons an emotionally upset Tarnish to go after his jerk of a Disappeared Dad. Pinkie had to Cooldown Hug her to make Maud calm down, and once she does, she apologizes for her behavior and goes to support Tarnish.
  • Serious Business: According to Kudzuhaiku, stable family structures are this for hers. Ponies disrespecting family members ticks her off.
  • Shot Gun Wedding: Afternoon Delight the marriage clerk assumes Maud's wedding with Tarnish is of this nature, which is not helped by Maud's seemingly apparent disinterest. She doesn't know how much in love they are.
  • "Shut Up" Kiss: Maud gives one to Tarnish after he freaks out over his cutie mark 'blooming' and thinks it's an elaborate prank designed to make his life even weirder.
  • The Stoic: As in canon; Maud constantly looks like she's bored with everything, and only by noticing tiny movements in her facial muscles can someone discern her true feelings. This is something she inherited from her father, who has a similar personality. It's deconstructed, as her stoic personality made her look unapproachable to most ponies and only invited ridicule in the past, which secretly made her feel extremely lonely. An important part of any relationship with her is working out what she's actually feeling, and Tarnish's attempts to do so are part of what attracts her to him.
    • Maud's stoicism makes Afternoon Delight, Ponyville's marriage clerk, assume that she is completely disinterested in her would-be husband and Tarnish was going to be trapped in an utterly loveless marriage for the rest of his life. However, she doesn't know that Maud is very much in love with Tarnish.
    • Deconstructed Trope: Being almost completely stoic causes Maud to be the subject of ridicule as ponies have a hard time trying to understand her, and/or take advantage of her stoicism to say mean things to her with impunity. Maud's relationship with Tarnish revolves around her slowly learning how to become more expressive.
  • Sufficiently Analyzed Magic: Attempting this with rock farming, and rather good at it, having successfully improved the effectiveness of her family's techniques significantly.
  • Super-Strength: Again, as in canon. Explained here by her being a Stone Pony (compared to the more common Earth ponies).
  • Taught by Experience: Believes the outdoors and adventuring to be more effective than traditional learning methods.
    Maud Pie: No amount of classroom lecture and talking prepares you for actual work in the field.
  • Tranquil Fury: After seeing Tarnish's Disappeared Dad blow him off, she becomes rightfully angry, to where she almost abandons Tarnish during his time of emotional need... all while keeping her stoic expression. Pinkie had to Cooldown Hug her to make Maud calm down, and even then, she's still mad for a while.
  • Violently Protective Girlfriend: When a hydra tries going after Tarnish, Maud makes it her mission to end it permanently, so she tricks the hydra into eating her in order to take out its heart, and punches her way out.

     Flamingo 

Debut: The Weed

A sentient sword that Tarnish receives as a reward for rescuing Grey Owl.

  • Absurdly Sharp Blade: Able to cut through almost anything without problems, including Astral connections and literal shadows.
  • Afraid of Blood: One of her fears is blood.
  • Child Soldiers: She was one, prior to her transformation.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Believes herself to be the "Element of Pinkness", and doesn't always seem entirely aware that she's not a pegasus any more, as well as being generally odd.
  • Cowardly Lion: Afraid of the dark, spiders and blood, but when push comes to shove, will fight alongside the others as ferociously as anything.
  • The Ditz: Apparently not capable of keeping track of one train of thought for any length of time.
  • Exposition of Immortality: Casually mentions being a contemporary of Clover the Clever and other historical figures.
  • Motor Mouth: Not on the scale of Limestone Pie, but no slouch.
  • Mundane Utility: Occasionally used as a torch. Much happier with this role than when getting stabbed into icky creatures.
  • Power Glows: With a pink light, apparently.
  • Reluctant Warrior: Despite being a soldier and a weapon, Flamingo would much rather not hurt anyone.
  • Talking Weapon: A sentient sword.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Like any child, she fears spiders and the dark.

     Octavia Melody 

Debut: Venenum Iocus

A world-class musician, and a butterfly hunter by hobby. Also a member of the Stiff Upper Lip society and an adventurer. In an enduring relationship with Vinyl Scratch.

  • Accent Relapse: Occasionally slips from her usual RP accent to a much lower-class "Grittish" accent.
  • Does Not Like Men: Not a major example, but has some trust issues with stallions due to some very bad experiences in the past. She improves after some more positive experiences.
  • Elegant Classical Musician: Much like her canon counterpart, she prefers the classical side of music. For one, she sees jazz as the musical equivalent as someone masturbating.
  • Gaydar: Apparently Octavia's is pretty good (although infatuation can cause it to read false positives), and it's how she knows that Trixie and Lemon Heart's relationship is unlikely to work out.
  • The Heart: The emotional centre of her close friendship groups.
  • Opposites Attract: Serious and dignified. Her wife is...not.
  • Silk Hiding Steel: Refined, elegant, musically talented... and willing to kick ass just to protect her wife from prostitution.
  • Voice for the Voiceless: Sometimes, for Vinyl, who is mute.

     Vinyl Scratch 

Debut: Venenum Iocus

Another musician, and also a member of the Stiff Upper Lip society. In a relationship with Octavia. Later becomes the Herald of Selene, commander of the order of wizards loyal to the Druids.

     Grrr 
Appears to be a small Timberwolf that's taken a liking to Tarnish. Is actually a Canis Minor who just projects into the physical world as a Timberwolf.
  • Big Friendly Dog: In the Astral Plane, takes this form, much to Tarnish's shock upon first discovering it. In the material plane, acts like it.
  • Noble Wolf
  • Planimal: Appears to be this in the physical world. He's actually a Canis Minor.

     Stinkbug 

Debut: Stinkbug the Unwanted

A changeling with a very unfortunate problem that gets him exiled from the Hive.

  • Baby Factory: This was intended to be Stinkbug's purpose in the hive before his condition made that impossible.
  • Bizarre Alien Biology: Can create a variety of different spits for different things, including an acidic one used for bathing.
  • Bizarre Alien Reproduction: Apparently changeling biology function like seahorses; females lay eggs inside the males, who fertilize the eggs and bring them to term. Stinkbug is one such male.
  • The Conscience: To Celaeno.
  • Cursed with Awesome: His stink is highly inconvenient, but it does get him out of a few scrapes, and protects him from creatures that want to kill and/or eat him.
  • The Empath: Can sense love, and feeds off of it. Strong sources of love like Happily Married couples easily overwhelm him.
  • Hive Mind: Was once part of this as a changeling, and it regulated him on what emotions he should feel. Being exiled from it was what led to him gaining self-awareness.
  • Non-Action Guy: Downplayed. He's capable of fighting, but really not very good at it.
  • No-Sell: His chitin skin is completely immune to poison darts.
  • Smells Sexy: His stink is described by Celaeno as smelling like rotting carrion. Since she's a predator, she thinks the smell's great. Everyone else disagrees.
  • Super Spit: A part of the changeling power set.
  • Token Heroic Orc: The only heroic changeling until the introduction of Honey Suckle.
  • You No Take Candle: Starts speaking this way when he's starving. Justified; being hungry messes with his mind, which leads to stunted, slurred speech.

     Celaeno 

Debut: Stinkbug the Unwanted

A harpy that befriends Stinkbug, and apparently the only creature in existence that likes his smell.

     Gloomy August 
Debut: Whatever Way The Wind Takes You

A pegasus mare who, inspired by Tarnish and Maud's exploits leaves Ponyville in search of adventure.

  • Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Because of her growing attraction to Wormwood, Gloomy finds that his absence makes her miss him more.
  • Affectionate Nickname: "Wormy", her nickname for Wormwood.
  • Badass Normal: An average pegasus with a talent for making rainclouds. Two chapters into her story and she's saved two colts from a massive storm.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Was willing to fly right into a feral storm, the most powerful and dangerous of storms, to save two foals from drowning in the ensuing floods. To her, one pegasus is better than none.
  • Break the Cutie: Her encounter with a manticore and the griffon mother it killed, as well as retrieving Silver Lining's egg straight from her mother's womb, led to a great portion of Gloomy's trauma.
  • Death by Childbirth: Narrowly Averted when birthing Gloom Treader, as her large head became stuck.
  • Determinator
  • Gory Discretion Shot: It's implied that she had to carve Silver Lining's egg out of her biological mother's womb. We never see it, thankfully, but Gloomy is traumatised and covered in bits and blood afterwards.
  • Heroic Self-Deprecation: Seems to seriously believe herself a coward, even after all she's done.
  • Hero Worship: Idolizes Tarnish and Maud. Her custodian helmet was taken in honor of Tarnish's pith helmet.
  • Ironic Name: Despite having "Gloomy" as part of her name, she is generally an optimistic and cheerful mare.
  • I Will Wait for You: When she meets Wormwood, he's only five years into his ten years of service.
  • Mama Bear: She becomes one after coming across Silver Lining's egg; when Cadance suggests that she follow griffon philosophy and abandon the egg to nature's forces, Gloomy angrily refuses. Later, when Silver Lining is due for a medical checkup, the doctors had to hold Gloomy down.
  • Parental Abandonment: Cadance suggested that Gloomy do this to the griffon egg she found, as there is almost no one in pony society who knows how to look after a griffon, so it would be better to let nature take care of the egg. Gloomy emphatically refused.
  • Unishment: Twilight Sparkle banishes Gloomy from Ponyville for making a cloud rain on her, which was the result an aspiring adventurer like Gloomy was hoping for.
  • Walking the Earth: Sets out to do this in Whatever Way The Wind Takes You.

     Yam Spade 

Debut: They Fight Crime

A detective with a knack for finding things.

     Azure Serape/Guacamelee 

Debut: They Fight Crime

Yam Spade's mysterious partner.

     Hachikō 
A diamond dog ronin from Inujima.
  • Dying Alone: As he matures, he fears this more and more.
  • Fantastic Racism: Suffers somewhat from this due to being a Diamond Dog.
  • Warrior Poet: A wandering adventurer, but he wanders for philosophical reasons, and is very articulate with those reasons.
  • Walking the Earth: Sworn to do this.

     Long Ears and Kabuki 
Originally met as puppies in Venenum Iocus, where they're part of the Diamond Dog tribe that the heroes rescue. Later on, they're part of the network of adventurers that wander Equestria.

     Daring Do 
A member of the Stiff Upper Lip Society.
  • Adventurer Archaeologist: Much like her canon counterpart, she's a famous explorer.
  • Friend of Masked Self: The world believes that A.K. Yearling is Daring Do's public relations agent.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: In her novels, Rainbow Dash is called "Crown Agent Crash" and Tarnish is called "Crown Agent Cocoa", to avoid problems with revealing who they really are. She makes some other changes as well, Tarnish's Wild Magic is changed to a life-threatening cough, as otherwise it would be immediately obvious who he is.

     Gorgonzola & Grey Owl 

Debut: The Weed

A dragoness and her adopted pegasus foal, they wander Equestria and occasionally encounter the heroes. Tarnish and Maud first meet them after

  • The Cavalry: Occasionally, as there's not much that can handle an angry dragon.
  • Due to the Dead: Gorgonzola's construction of a cairn for Grey Owl's biological mother is what led her to discover the newborn pegasus.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Grey Owl's biological mother sacrificed herself to save her from a predatory creature by hiding her in a tree.
  • Improbable Infant Survival: Narrowly played straight with young Grey Owl, who would've become a spider's meal had Tarnish and Maud not saved her in time.
  • Interspecies Adoption: Gorgonzola is a dragon, Grey Owl is a pegasus.
  • Mama Bear:
    • Gorgonzola is, as noted, a dragon. Do not hurt Grey Owl.
    • Grey Owl's biological mother sacrificed herself to save her daughter from a predatory creature by hiding her in a tree just after she was born.
  • Missing Mom: Grey Owl's biological mother died to a predatory creature just after giving birth to her daughter. That was when Gorgonzola found her.

     Shēdo 
A diamond dog from Dig Dag's tribe, she's exiled before Tarnish and Maud's arrival, and goes on a revenge quest against Dig Dag.

     Conifer 
A zebra colt raised by a dragon as part of his hoard, he is given to Shēdo as payment for services rendered.

     Dim Dark 

Debut: Eigengrau

A scion of the House of Dark, he abandons his heritage to survive as a wizard for hire.

  • Abstract Apotheosis: The Entirely Optional Epilogue of A Knight To Remember suggests he's in the process of this, with him claiming to have given himself over to the flames and that he may later cast aside his body.
  • Anti-Hero: Very much so, he believes himself lost (though he hopes otherwise), and just intends to take down as much evil as he can before self-destructing, whatever that takes.
  • The Atoner: Eventually becomes one. Eerie Dark was counting on him being this so she could have proof that she herself is also not entirely irredeemable.
  • Attraction to Outliers: Part of why Dim's crushing on Blackbird is because she's unique.
  • Badass Boast: Does this to Eerie in Zwei, spoken entirely in German:
    Eerie Dark: Dim! Die Welt ist nicht dein, sie zu verbrennen!note 
    Dim Dark: Wenn ich es verbrennen kann, gehört es mir.note 
  • Badass Longcoat: Receives a tailor-made one in Zwei on the way to Istanbull, courtesy of Blackbird's sewing skills.
  • Beard of Evil: Subverted; his attempts to grow a beard results in a diabolical goatee, but despite this, he is not evil.
  • Blindfolded Vision: He's got a trick of using his telekinesis to "see" whilst conventionally blind. He would later teach Chartreuse the same trick in Lessons In Darkness, which helped her understand Chalcedony's problems.
  • Blue Blood: Was born of the House of Dark, even though he cut all familial ties with his family. In actuality, he and his family are descendants of Princess Luna, making them Royal Blood.
  • Boring, but Practical: His skillset consists of very mundane spells used for lethal effect, and end up being far more effective than most combat spells. Most of his House holds contempt towards this approach.
  • Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Forbids Quiet from seeing Nuance, despite the latter being her Love Interest. It's an act, to encourage Nuance to earn redemption for past acts and achieve greatness, despite his weakness, as Dim sees a lot of himself in Nuance.
  • Breath Weapon: He knows a dragonfire spell that has this effect, although it has only been seen inverted so far. It's later revealed to be a result of Alicorn DNA he's inherited off Luna, his distant ancestor. The alicorns were intended to be diplomats, able to speak any language, and speaking Dragon requires firebreathing.
  • Brother–Sister Incest: He and Darling Dark are half-siblings, products of this through Dark Desire and Dire Dark, who are siblings themselves, and incest is something that's encouraged by their House to keep their line "pure". When Dim and Darling did the same (as foals no less), they were praised by their family and showered with gifts. Being a foal at the time, Dim didn't know the ramifications until years later. The realizations were enough to fill him with self-loathing and make him want to leave home (which he eventually did).
  • Came Back Strong: In Zwei, after his near-death experience in Fancy and Pale sending him back to the mortal world, Dim came back stronger than ever.
  • Casting a Shadow: His special spell is to invert light sources to radiate darkness. This is actually a corruption of his true destiny of being Princess Luna's successor, a change inflicted by his mother.
  • Catchphrase: "Disgusting primitives". It was one he adopted from his mother, and shares with Sinister Dark.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Dim's hat. If he can kill someone, and he has time to think of something creative, then chances are that death will not be gentle.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Raised by the systemically abusive House of Dark, which got rid of almost every ounce of compassion and altruism in him, to the point where he even believes he is beyond saving. His mother, Dark Desire, also aborted his true destiny as Princess Luna's heir by turning him into an Umbra pony so he and Darling Dark could become the parents of a new line of monsters loyal to Grogar.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Pun aside, despite his belief in the opposite trope, this one applies to him.
  • Defector from Decadence: He and a few other Darks escaped the abusive environment of their House to become good ponies and make something for themselves. He believes he's beyond saving, but luckily for him, a few ponies still had faith he could be redeemed.
  • Divine Parentage: Well, ancestry; like the Sparkles and Lulamoons, the entire Dark line is descended from Princess Luna. Unfortunately, while he inherited her illusionary power, he also inherited her curse of insanity. He was also later revealed to be a back-up Celestial for Luna, but Dark Desire's experiments on him aborted that destiny, leaving behind the essence of The Night That Will Be.
  • The Dreaded: Apparently, due to his methods and Dark lineage. In House of the Rising Sunflower, Corbie claims that when nightmares dream, they dream of Dim.
  • Dude Looks Like a Lady: He comes across rather androgynous due to the Dark inbreeding, which leads to some confusion on Blackbird's part when they meet Eerie, who is the inverse trope for the same reason.
  • Family Theme Naming: Like the rest of House Dark, Dim's name is darkness-related. His daughter, Quiet Dark, follows the same theme; initially he didn't want her to (understandably), but Luna overruled him.
  • For Want Of A Nail:
    • In A Knight To Remember, during a brief emotional Freak Out, Dim acknowledges that Nuance has so many opportunities for improvement that he didn't have in his younger years.
      Dim Dark: If only somepony had believed in me sooner, so many years might not have been wasted. All that time left wandering about in the bleak dark...
    • Had the Darks never experimented on Dim and turned him into an Umbrum for the purpose of giving Grogar a weapon, Dim would've accepted his heritage as a backup Celestial and succeeded his ancestor, Princess Luna, as heir of the night.
  • Hard Work Hardly Works: Defied. The House of Dark believes in power at all costs, and most sold their souls for it. Dim, on the other hand, refuses to follow their example, believing all ponies have to work to earn their rightful station, and so is willing to get his hooves dirty.
  • Having a Blast: It's all just forms of pyromancy.
  • Hearing Voices: At some point, he starts hearing a "pink voice" that's trying to communicate with him. It actually belongs to Princess Cadence, who imparted a part of herself into his mind so she could serve as The Conscience. Dim being Dim, he prefers not to listen to her.
  • Hidden Heart of Gold: He acts like a Sadist Teacher to Nuance so it'll force him to improve himself on his own, and partially to hide any clue that he really cares for the unicorn colt.
  • Hunter of His Own Kind: Decides to hunt down the surviving Darks and return them to the darkness, after the Princesses kill off most of them.
  • Kill It with Fire: What he did to the Southbury Slasher, a serial killer and rapist - he hung the sicko from a bridge and set him on fire.
  • Knight in Shining Armor: He used to see himself as one when he was just a foal, inspired by tales of chivalry, protecting his "princess" Darling Dark in their games of pretend. Even as he grew up influenced by the Darks' abuse, he wants to be a knight, but doubts he could because of his self-perceived lack of virtue and honor. Hearing Nuance was doing the exact same thing was enough to provoke a very emotional response.
  • Kissing Cousins: Before he ran away, Dim was expected to enter a relationship with his cousin, Darling Dark... who's actually his half-sister.
  • Long-Lost Relative: Has an older half-demon half-sibling. Kudzuhaiku revealed that it is another half-sister, Written Word/Doomed Dark from Blank.
  • Master of Illusion: He often adds illusory riders to spells to improve their psychological impact. His facility is inherited from Princess Luna, his ancestor.
  • Mercy Kill: Sees his Neck Snap of Lady Blue Rhyme as this, since Grogar would've done something much worse to her if she returned without the recruit he wanted.
  • Mirror Character: Like Nuance, Dim was born a physically weak unicorn into a powerful lineage, with very emotionally absent parents (though Nuance's didn't intend to leave their own kids so screwed up), their inspirations being the chivalric tales of knights rescuing their fair maidens. They both suffer from the typical aristocratic pride towards their lessers due to their higher breeding, with a long list of mistakes they must atone for. They even end up paired with a mare who wants to redeem them through love. On the surface, Dim's often antagonistic to Nuance due to Nuance courting his daughter, Quiet... but when he realizes that Nuance is a lot like his younger self, he becomes aware of this trope and has a brief emotional breakdown. After that, he becomes invested in helping Nuance because he's been in a similar place, and knows Quiet can help Nuance as Blackbird helped him. It's occasionally Exploited against him.
  • Monster Progenitor: He was meant to be this, spawning a line of Umbrum with Darling Dark, but despite Desire's experiments, he went rogue.
  • Neck Snap: Does this to Lady Blue Rhyme after he leaves her brain-dead with a powerful magic beam. He treats it as a Mercy Kill.
  • Nice to the Waiter: Firmly believes himself above just about every other living thing, but is still polite and honest in dealings with them.
  • Nightmare Fetishist: Not many ponies would appreciate a snuggly Tarrasquenote .
  • Playing with Fire: Has quite a few fire spells. He later begins a process of Abstract Apotheosis as of A Knight To Remember, becoming one with the flame.
  • Playing with Syringes: He was transformed into an Umbrum by his mother, and has been told several times that he was "constructed". It's because of this trope that Dim's true destiny as Princess Luna's successor and heir of the night was aborted.
  • Phlebotinum Rebel: Dark Desire (and other Darks) experimented on him in an attempt to create a powerful weapon for Grogar. Too bad he went good.
  • Power Born of Madness: Subverted. Sanity-affecting magics have no effect on him, as he's already mad.
  • Rebel Prince: A Dark scion who ran away from home out of disgust towards his family's twisted ideals.
  • Refusal of the Call: Dim really doesn't want to be a hero, but between his noble ideals and the machinations of circumstance, he often ends up dragged into harm's way against his will.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: Dim wants to be someone of this type, inspired by his childhood books of knightly chivalry. He believes that the original purpose of the nobility was to serve the people they ruled over, and is disgusted with the Darks due to their abusive debauchery. While he thinks he's too far gone to be a Knight in Shining Armor moral-wise, he still keeps the lessons his old books taught him as inspiration for his actions.
  • The Runaway: Of the "Abused Runaway" type; he ran away from home because of his disgust towards the abusive environment of his House, his family's activities and their encouragement of incest.
  • Sadist Teacher: Becomes one to Nuance in A Knight To Remember, but this is actually a facade so his student will never know that he actually cares for him on some level.
  • Sanity Meter: According to Kudzuhaiku, he keeps track of Dim's. By mid-Eigengrau Zwei, it's never been above 60%, and has dropped sub-40 (with it being around 40 after chapter 38 of Zwei.
  • Scientifically Understandable Sorcery: One of his particular techniques, using his understanding of molecular science and manipulating it with magic allows him to perform some impressive tricks. He later shares his work with Sunburst and Chalcedony.
  • Self-Made Orphan: Spends a portion of Eigengrau believing himself this, since the first thing he did before running away was viciously attacking his mother in a darkened room (which was also his own doing).
  • Squick: In-universe; learning how he and Darling are related while being manipulated into having incest felt like a slap to the face. Dark Desire wanting some "alone time" after a creepy discussion about having grandchildren also provokes this response from him.
  • Squishy Wizard: Haemophiliac, so any injury could be fatal. It's a trait of all Darks, invoked to prevent them from leaving their home and engaging in anything associated with "disgusting primitives".
  • Stern Teacher: To Flurry Heart and Skyla, in contrast to Sunburst.
  • Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: When Blackbird is fully grown, she's huge compared to most ponies, let alone the scrawny Dim Dark.
  • Trademark Favourite Food: Scrambled eggs. Blackbird often cooks some to "motivate" him.
  • Unscrupulous Hero: He's very anti-heroic, but most of his actions are morally gray and to others, it paints him as a monstrous pony. He's usually motivated when he's paid handsomely. Among his other habits is the tendency to give his foes a Cruel and Unusual Death, something that a good pony wouldn't do.
  • Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Was a very innocent colt who believed in knights rescuing their fair maidens. Unfortunately, his caretakers came from House Dark.
  • White Sheep: One of the few Darks who are good. "Gray Sheep" would be a more accurate term due to being an Anti-Hero, but compared to those Darks who are evil, he would be a saint.
  • Wreathed in Flames: Apparently this trick rather impressed his mother.

    Blackbird Coffyn 
A pony who ends up hiring Dim Dark to help find her mothernote . Related to the Pies, making Pinkie Pie and her family distant relatives note .

    Starling 
Mother of Blackbird Coffyn, she goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge after Stinkberry Coffyn is murdered, Eigengrau Zwei: Die Welt Ist Grau Geworden is about Blackbird's attempts to find her.

     Cranberry 
An adventurer who drops into the stories at times, appearing in Venenum Iocus and Dogged Determination.

     Sinister Dark 
One of Celestia's students, she dealt with the Golem Lord, a powerful evil wizard. Her exploits were adapted into a silent film that Copperquick, Buttermilk, and her family watched in Spring Broke.
  • Body Surf: She exploited the Golem Lord's ability to do this by implanting a golem core into her body.
  • Catchphrase: Shares "Disgusting Primitives" with Dim.
  • Famed In-Story: She has a film made about her.
  • Family Theme Naming: Like the rest of House Dark, her name is darkness-related.
  • Handicapped Badass: Has clubfoot, meaning she walks with a limp. Didn't stop her from trapping an evil wizard in her own body.
  • Hell Seeker: Trapped the Golem Lord inside herself and walked into Tartarus.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Knew she couldn't stay free while the Golem Lord is in her body, so she threw herself into Tartarus. However, she somehow managed to get back.
  • Laughing Mad: If the film is any indication.
  • Posthumous Character: Is dead (or at least, trapped in Tartarus) before the main plot begins, and only comes up because other characters tell or hear of her. Later Subverted, as she gets out by as yet unknown means.
  • Really 700 Years Old: Due to not aging while in Tartarus and being trapped there for centuries. She has old eyes.
  • To Hell and Back: Although she wasn't intending to get out, she manages it, as shown by her appearances in later Weedverse stories. Exactly how is not yet specified.
  • White Sheep: Compared to the rest of the House of Dark, she is one.

    Smirk 
Debut: Princess Celestia's Adventurous Advice

A rogue (as in, D&D rogue) recruited by Celestia.

  • All of the Other Reindeer: Her Mark and skills make her an outcast.
  • The Atoner: To make up for running with a bad crowd in the past.
  • Because Destiny Said So: Because of her cloak-and-dagger Cutie Mark, ponies think she's destined to be a shady criminal for the rest of her life. Fortunately for her, Celestia thinks otherwise.
  • Escape Artist: Got her Mark escaping from being grounded.
  • Freakiness Shame: She sees her own Cutie Mark as a brand of shame, no thanks to the grief other ponies gave her. She wears a cloak to hide it. Celestia is the first pony who doesn't judge her for it.
  • Meaningful Name: The result of a surgically-repaired deformity in her lip, which resembles a perpetual smirk.
  • Reformed Criminal: Has this as her goal, which is why she became The Atoner.
  • Security Blanket: Her cloak, as it hides her Mark.
  • The Sneaky Guy: She's a rogue.

Previous

Index

Next

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

Important Links

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