Codex Equus / Tropes A to B

Tropes for Codex Equus
Tropes A to B (Abusive Parents, Adaptational Badass) | Tropes C to D | Tropes E to F | Tropes G to H | Tropes I To J | Tropes K To L (Laser-Guided Karma) | Tropes M To N | Tropes O To P | Tropes Q To R | Tropes S to T | Tropes U To V | Tropes W To X | Tropes Y To Z

---

Codex Equus provides examples of:

A

• Abusive Parents: So many of them exist throughout the Ages of Known History there is now a separate page for them here.
• Absolute Xenophobe: Deconstructed; as the Codexverse demonstrates, racism can be seriously detrimental towards anyone who partake in it, even themselves, as well as the society they live in. Not only that, karma would almost always be sure to follow. Ponykind under the Imperium gradually became xenophobic thanks to the influence of Emperor Golden Scepter, who became extremely protective of his Pony subjects due to past experiences and trauma, and launched great campaigns of genocide against non-Pony races out of the belief that they were threats that must be destroyed. However, after the "Aurum Apostasy" conflict, it quickly became worse as Ponykind began using their now-absent Emperor as an excuse to carry out even more atrocities, partially resulting in it being destroyed by younger benevolent civilizations to stop it from antagonizing everyone. That being said, there were exceptions to their xenophobia. The Mignons, for one, were able to find in the Imperium partly because they were relatively harmless (except when they screw up spectacularly), and partly because they were enthusiastically loyal to a fault, given their psychological/evolutionary need to serve (in Prince Crimson Star's words) the "biggest, baddest, and most despicable people around" — which the Golden Imperium fit quite perfectly. Their knack of not really being noticed nor treated as a big deal certainly helped.
  Emperor Golden Scepter: I could had sworn seeing them fooling around back in the time of the Golden Imperium. Even in my own continent-spanning Imperial Palace, no less. However did they find it to work for my domain for Ponykind back in the day despite its blatant xenophobia?
  Prince Crimson Star: To be fair, by your own recollection the Imperium of Ponykind certainly fit their standards of being the "biggest, baddest and most despicable" people around. And even back then they made some exceptions in their policies to harmless and even useful 'Xenos' and non-Ponies.
• Abusive Precursors: While many civilizations, empires, and realms had risen and fell over the course of history, many were benevolent. Others were... not. The Imperium of Ponykind (alternatively, the "Golden Imperium", as jokingly referred to by Pony historians) was one of the many great precursor civilizations that sprung up on Equus before Known History, though they were far from the last. Led by Emperor Golden Scepter, who was born a "prodigy" deity among Alicornkind, the Imperium would become an incredibly huge and powerful empire that was advanced both magically and technologically, and managed to reach the stars and surrounding galaxies. Unfortunately, a slew of monumental mistakes on Golden Scepter's part, combined with calamitous outside circumstances, would turn the Imperium into a deep cesspool of xenophobia, racially-motivated expansionism, and reactionary fanaticism that would ultimately decline and crumble under its own weight. What contributed to its fall was the rise of younger and more benevolent civilizations (including King Ibrida and his Halfblood Empire) that saw the Imperium as a threat to everyone around it and attacked it to protect more innocent people from being killed.
• The Ace: Countless prodigies were born over the course of history, including the Known Ages; while many were mortal, others Ascended to godhood, which factored into their growth as deities. Signs of this status includes abnormally accelerated physical and magical growth compared to that of "normal" deities.
  • Blue Suede Heartstrings is extremely talented on both fronts — not only is he the greatest musician of the Second Age, but he's also considered by far one of the most powerful musical spellcasters in the entire world. He's also a Magnetic Hero whose compassion, tolerance, and friendliness touched everyone, including the likes of Vicearch Iniquitous. It's deconstructed in that three Ages worth of abuse, trauma, and other things created a plethora of psychological issues caused Blue Suede to become increasingly mentally unstable, culminating in his near-Fall and his subsequent coma. He is saved when a group of friends and family psychically enter his mind to help him defeat "The Colonel", but is essentially a broken stallion once he wakes up. Then it's reconstructed once he receives lots of support and psychiatric help, especially from Prince Stoltur, allowing him to finally heal from his traumas and accept his various flaws. His journey ends with him becoming King of the Corporatum Pantheon and a reincarnation "aspect" of Mana Equus, one of the fabled Thirteen Empyreans.
  • Implied with Princess Cadence. She's mentioned to be one of the "prodigy" deities that exist on Equus, and her immense potential shows in her wings, which already bear a magical purple-colored gradient despite Alicorns normally taking longer to grow one. It's later revealed in a canonized Codexverse drabble that a major factor in this is her hybrid heritage as the daughter of Amareros, the Grand Primeval god of Love, and a Crystal Pony mare.
  • Emperor Golden Scepter is a "prodigy deity", and was capable of great things even before Known History — his empires were extremely advanced than even the empires/kingdoms/realms ruled by other Alicorns, and as a god of Psionics, his Psychic Powers are so strong that the mightiest Alicorns couldn't match him. His creations were so complex that 'modern-day' civilizations and societies can only make crude replicas of them. His prodigy status also influences his divine growth, causing him to grow faster than normal divines. It's deconstructed in that ten Ages of fighting Morning Star during the "Twilight of the Alicorns" gave him a lot of psychological issues that led to him becoming essentially a divine tyrant, making the next empire he founded crumble from his mistakes and leading to him being sealed away. By the time he reemerged in the Second Age, he was an extremely broken stallion. Then it's reconstructed when Luminiferous and Dazzleglow's positive influence kicked off off a long, gradual process emotional/mental recovery that would turn Golden Scepter into a truly benevolent ruler as he atoned for his crimes.
  • Like his mentor, Blue Suede Heartstrings, Prince Healing Song is a musical prodigy. Despite losing his sight to retinoblastoma during infancy, Healing Song picked up the guitar and adapted to it by positioning it flat on his lap and playing it like a piano when he was only three years old. Throughout his music career, he had played with both single-necked and double-necked guitars with equal amount of skill (hence his double-necked guitar Cutie Mark), though according to Healing Song, he learned to play the trumpet at one point, but has since gotten rusty due to playing the guitar more often. Healing Song is also an accomplished songwriter, being able to write his own songs with Braille during the Second Age, and he has a great auditory memory that allows him to remember anything he hears for a long time, including songs that came out in his day. He was also able to adapt to the change when he decided to move away from blues music, which he worked with for much of his career, to jazz music. His status as a prodigy would factor into his growth rates as a deity once he Ascended, as his physical and magical development would be accelerated at abnormal rates compared to "normal" deities.
  • Much like her father, War Rock, Princess Winter Opera is an extremely talented musician - though trained in classical music, she found her place in Symphonic Metal, a then-niche sub-genre of Heavy Metal that she revolutionized after discovering it. She has a great auditory memory despite not being a Music deity like some of her friends, and can improvise and compose new songs entirely from scratch. Her music videos from the Second Age were artistically elaborate as well. She is a talented violinist and has a Magitek violin named Sfida, which she uses as a channeling point for her magic in order to weave complex spells. Her 'Ace' status is what made her a 'prodigy deity' after Ascending, with abnormally accelerated physical and magical growth rates on top of the massive growth spurt she had in her foalhood.
  • Like his birth father, War Rock, Prince Dissonant Tune is a musical prodigy. It's deconstructed as Dissonant's early life was anything but happy: He was abused by his stepfather, a once-successful musician who ruined himself with the Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll lifestyle, resented having to look after a bastard foal, and committed suicide to avoid being arrested for murdering Dissonant's mother. Then when Dissonant decided to become a musician, he was wrongly judged, shunned, and mistreated by a country still hurting from War Rock's villainy, even though he had nothing to do with his birth father's crimes. While he eventually overcame his problems for the most part, he still suffered from lingering issues that would require seeing Mentálne to heal from them.
• Ace Pilot: Polistes is an Autumn Court Changeling Prince who, on top of being a Gadgeteer Genius, runs a band of noble Sky Pirates called the "Wild Cards".
• Action Girl: Nearly every benevolent female character is this, with some exceptions who are generally noncombatants.
  • Princess/Captain Mimetidae is essentially a globetrotting heroic pirate Royal Changeling who regularly fights whatever force of evil she comes across.
  • Queen Theraphosa is an Amazonian Beauty of a Changeling Queen and one of the best warriors in the Spring Court.
• Actionized Adaptation: The canonical shows are in-universe adaptations of actual events, which were often far larger in scope and far more action-packed in comparison.
• Adaptational Alternate Ending:
  • Dreaming Mary has a Good Ending where the titular protagonist escapes both her abusive father and her confines by using a Gold Leaf key from her dreams to unlock her bedroom door, and ends up in a field full of lilies. However, the game's end credits makes it unclear whether it's All Just a Dream or she really did escape. Here, Rosy Dreams was rescued from her abusive father by Terran Princes Bright Eyes and Written Word after they heard her telepathic cries for help, and was adopted into the royal family by Bright Eyes, which helped her recover from years of sexual abuse and isolation. Meanwhile, her father (whom Rosy calls "Mr. Boar") was arrested, tried, and imprisoned for his horrific crimes.
  • Mary and The Witch's Flower has Mary helping Peter restore himself back to normal with a magic spell after he was transformed into a magic-absorbing monster by an experiment gone wrong. The movie's ending has them returning to normal life while the villains, Madame Mumblechook and Dr. Dee, were last seen surrounded by the angry animals they previously experimented on. Here, things went differently: Page Wheel was also transformed into a magic-absorbing monster, except he was killed by Luminiferous and the Equestrian Princesses and revived several days later thanks to the magic he devoured, Ascending him to an Alicorn demigod, Crystal Prism, in the process. Both he and Midnight Bell suffered considerable trauma that took a while for them to recover from, while Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker were tried and imprisoned for their crimes.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
  • In Warhammer 40,000, the Emperor of Mankind's well-meaning yet xenophobic, cruel, and ruthlessly pragmatic behavior is explained here as the result of fighting Morning Star and his forces of Fallen Alicorns for ten Ages (i.e. millions to perhaps billions of years). Fighting for that long, combined with prolonged isolation and no proper psychological treatment, would turn Golden Scepter into an extremely Shell-Shocked Veteran, resulting in a slew of mistakes that got him wounded during a coup against him and sealed away in the Imperium era. He also had to deal with the pain and guilt of his many mistakes, including his former relationship with Morning Star himself/ Fortunately, with Luminiferous' help, he would atone for his actions and walk down the path of benevolence again.
  • In contrast to canon, where he acted like a Jerkass Prince Charmless to Rarity, the Codexverse version of Prince Blueblood behaved that way because he dated mares who either loved the romanticized version of him or wanted him for his money and status, which led to messy breakups, scandals, and heartache. He was also constantly roadblocked by corrupt Canterlot nobles whenever he tried helping their Equestrian subjects, forcing him to act as bad as them in order to get around them no matter how miserable it made him feel. And unlike his canon counterpart, Prince Blueblood grew up with emotionally abusive parents who tried indoctrinating him into becoming the "ideal" Unicorn noble (i.e. canon Blueblood), which thankfully ended early when Princess Celestia discovered this and had Blueblood's parents investigated and arrested by royal decree.
  • Unlike what happened to Peter in Mary and The Witch's Flower, Crystal Prism reacts to being kidnapped, experimented on, and turned into a monster as well as one would realistically expect — he becomes withdrawn and melancholic, and he has nightmares about actually dying instead of being revived by the magic he devoured. He would also develop a hatred towards Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker (both expies of Madam Mumblechook and Dr. Dee), to the point of having "terrifying" rages whenever he encounters similar people. Fortunately, he's getting better through divine psychiatric help and the support of his friends and family.
  • Many things were given to make Midnight Bell fit in the Codexverse, things that her character inspiration, Mary, did not have in the movie. She was sent to the Grittish Isles because her mother wanted to protect her from her tribalist relatives, who would disapprove of her being an Earth pony on top of being illegitimate. This is what would give her an inferiority complex on top of being bored and lonely with nothing to do. Her adventures were also more or less the same as Mary's, save for one difference — she would come out of it extremely traumatized, and for a time would develop a guilt complex towards ruining her young neighbor's life with her lies.
  • Blacktip is portrayed in the Codexverse as an intelligent and good-hearted Dragon who hid his true self with masks in response to bigoted, anti-intellectual Dragons scorning him for wanting to become a scholar. He also suffered from self-loathing for being born a Dragon and initially believed that all Dragons are destined to be greedy, civilization-destroying savages.
  • Urtica was bullied by other young Changelings for being shy, having a stutter, and wanting to become a historian despite Changelingkind's reputation for secrecy, which led to her becoming a Shrinking Violet by the time she meets Princess Twilight in the Convocation of Creatures. This wasn't apparent in the IDW comics.
  • In My Little Pony 'n Friends, Knight Shade hated himself for being Arabus' minion and broke down crying over it when captured by the heroes. While that still happened here, it's noted that he spent exactly two years as Arabus' slave and was so miserable during that period that he was tempted to commit suicide to escape. His father's abandonment of him and his mother spurred him to become a musician, but also became a sore spot for him and led to him being a 'blank flank' until his teens since his desire to perform was based entirely around supporting his mother.
  • The Third Age's Rarity, now Princess Arcus Unicornia, was deeply affected by both the cataclysmic end of the Third Age (including the destruction of her home kingdom, Unicornia) and her realization that absorbing the Rainbow Nexus gave her so much power, she could potentially end the world if she didn't master it. She fell into a Heroic BSoD and remained in the ruins of Unicornia, until her friends found her and helped her grieve, allowing her to move on. This didn't happen to the canon version of Rarity.
  • All of the Stardust Crusaders have gone through their own tragedies and hardships, though unlike canon, the implications of this are treated much more seriously. Their negative experiences also affected their overall personalities, behaviors, and relationships with others compared to their canon counterparts.
    • Unlike canon, the past of Gotaro Kujo (Jotaro Kujo) is further explored here — he Used to Be a Sweet Kid until years of bullying for being autistic and of mixed nationality wore him down, turning Gotaro into the bitter, angry teenager who would violently deal with bullies, abusive teachers, and other lowlifes. Neighpon's ableist attitudes at the time also left Gotaro feeling like an unwanted burden, motivating him to repress his autistic traits so he could fit in better. His journey to Neighgypt also had a more pronounced effect on his mind, as he was stressed out from trying to cure his sickly mother and defend himself from assassins at the same time. This led to a Rage Breaking Point when Gotaro learned that one of his allies, Khadim Madh, had betrayed his trust by faking his own death and manipulating him from the shadows. In addition, he secretly hated beating people up, but believed it was the only way to get bullies and other lowlifes like them to stop... at least up until the schools he attended were purged of corruption and given an academic revamp following the death of Godly Brand.
    • Unlike in canon, this version of Hol Horse was physically abused by his father as a colt, leading to him manifesting his Stand, Emperor, for the first time and fatally shooting his father while still young. The act itself and the fallout it caused affected him so much that he blocked all memories of his deed for many years. Hol Horse's time as one of Dio Brando/Godly Brand's assassins also added to his trauma, as Dio Brando/Godly Brand was such a Bad Boss that Hol Horse was constantly raped and subjected to horrific mind games to enforce his loyalty to the former. Even after betraying Dio Brando/Godly Brand and helping take him down, Hol Horse developed a deep-seated fear of failure and had panic attacks when triggered by things associated with his former boss, like the word "useless". He also didn't tell his friends of his rape-related trauma until after Dio Brando/Godly Brand died because he felt ashamed of his own "weakness" as a stallion.
  • In Skylanders Academy, while Cynder has to deal with issues relating to being pretty much literally the princess of Hell and daughter of one of Skylands' greatest villains, her father genuinely cares about her and in general her life goes well. However, here, Valefor's love for Cinder II was fake, as he only treated her well to spite the original Cinder due to being composited with his Legends counterpart. The end result is Cinder II going through a Trauma Conga Line that leaves her with an emotional breakdown. While she recovers, it's still far darker than canon.
  • Zap didn't suffer any problems from being raised by giant electric eels. Here, he's a straight up Wild Child who suffered a good deal of issues from it, including being unable to speak properly.
• Adaptational Backstory Change:
  • Prince Blueblood one to justify his canon behavior. For one, he had a terrible childhood, and his parents were emotionally abusive and had high standards of what a unicorn Scion of Princess Platinum should be. The sheer misery he would suffer motivated Celestia to adopt him once she learned what was happening. His boorishness towards Rarity was also explained as one of many facades - years of being roadblocked by incompetent, cruel, and entitled nobles forced him to develop ways to circumvent them and help Equestria without endangering himself, and dealing with messy breakups and scandals caused by mares who only wanted his title and wealth influenced him to behave so repulsively in public that any mare pursuing him will be disgusted and driven away.
  • In the IDW comics, Urtica was just a Changeling bureaucrat from Thorax's Hive who was really excited to see Princess Twilight, given the latter's heroic reputation. Here, she's an aspiring historian and Shrinking Violet who idolized Princess Twilight/Amicitia and was bullied by other young Changelings. When she meets Twilight/Amicitia in person during the 'Convocation of Creatures' event, she was super excited to meet her idol.
  • In Warhammer 40k canon, the Emperor of Mankind's backstory is mostly a mystery, with his backstory of being the collective reincarnation of multiple human shamans being quietly retconned, and the only bit from his childhood involving his father being murdered by an Evil Uncle. Golden Scepter is a son of one of the Thirteen Empyreans, the first Alicorns that King Equus ever created, the second-born of male fraternal triplets, and a war veteran from the 'Twilight of the Alicorns'. He founded and ruled the Imperium of Ponykind sometime after the Alicorn Civilization's fall, but being a Shell-Shocked Veteran brought out his worst flaws and influenced him to make a slew of mistakes that got him wounded and sealed away, while his Imperium collapsed and was destroyed by benevolent factions. Peachy/Queen Rhodonite Mirror's entry reveals that he's also the creator of the mortal Earthpony tribe, with Peachy being the first Earthpony mare to be born.
  • In the IDW comics, Aspen is the father of Bramble and the leader of Thicket, a secluded Deer village in the Everfree Forest. Here in the Codexverse, Aspen was once the only male child and heir of an Alvslog Deer kingdom that was brutally attacked by forces led by Hydianite Covens. The attack killed both Aspen's parents and most of his sisters, which greatly traumatized him and planted the seeds of vengeance. He became a student of High King Irminsul, who helped foster his natural talents, yet influenced Aspen to develop the same toxic, bigoted, and hypocritical mindsets that would color his personality later on. After brutally decimating the Hydianite forces that wiped out most of his family, he Ascended to demi-godhood, and he would go found the kingdom of Thicket in the Everfree Forest after Ascending to true godhood under Irminsul's tutelage.
  • The various "Ponyfriends" from Generation 1 are depicted in the Codexverse as the first sapient members of their races to be born, whether as Llamas, Camels, Elephants, Mooses, Kangaroos, etc. Zigzag the Zebra in particular is responsible for why the Ponyfriends are deities in the Codexverse - she was living as a mortal Zebra at the time, and while living in Paradise Estate, she befriended the first generation of Ponyfriends. When she regained her memories and divine station as Queen Mzazi, she rewarded her friends for their kindness by helping them Ascend, which also gave them the power to uplift their respective races into sapience. The first generation of Ponyfriends then proceeded to help teach the second generation of Ponyfriends how to Ascend, with the same results.
  • Princess Maya Dolos Ponyland, born Masquerade of G1, served as Queen Majesty's spymaster and fought many threats, including Fallen deities like Abbadon, before Ascending to godhood at one point in her life. Her entry also explains how she was enslaved by the Jewel Wizard: She was pursuing a career in acting when the Jewel Wizard kidnapped her and forced her to work in his mines in total darkness for years, temporarily blinding her, until Applejack I intervened. The experience gave her PTSD and severe claustrophobia that went untreated for four Ages due to her hiding them so well.
  • Blacktip was bullied and scorned by his fellow Dragons for wanting to become an intellectual, and he grew up in an environment that promoted hypocritical, toxic, and bigoted teachings. This often forced him to hide his true self, even though deep down it made him absolutely miserable. He also had self-loathing issues that turned him into a Boomerang Bigot for a time, especially after learning from Prince Arcaniss that the Dragons were responsible for burning down the civilization of 'Amorea' and driving Changelingkind to near-extinction out of greed and cruelty. This wasn't apparent in the IDW comics he came from.
  • Knight Shade's birth father abandoned him and his mother when he was very young, which spurred him to pursue music so he could support his mother, who struggled to provide for him alone. This and other factors like a lack of proper management (he was still a minor at the time), and the stress that came from wanting to provide for his struggling mother, influenced him to make a Deal with the Devil with Arabus.
  • The Dark Purveyors of Lollipop Chainsaw lacked backstories that explained their personalities and how they came to be. The Codex versions of the Dark Purveyors have backstories... but they're utterly horrific and sad.
    • Lewis Legend is an elite zombie from Rotten World, with no backstory to explain who he is. In the Codexverse, Prince Dühroham Erobreseg was a mortal Pegasus who, as a foal, was weaponized physically, magically, and psychologically by his Abusive Parents. A chance encounter with Blue Suede Heartstrings made him realize his parents' warmongering ways are wrong, but was actively prevented from turning good until he reached his Rage Breaking Point during a genocidal war campaign, where he snapped and brutally massacred the entire army he was part of. A sojourning Yarost finds him in the throes of his breakdown, kicking off a series of events that not only leads to his native kingdom's destruction, but also his Ascension to godhood once he overcomes the worst parts of his foalhood psychological conditioning.
    • Mariska is an elite zombie from Rotten World, with no backstory to explain who she is. In the Codexverse, Princess Voľná Láska was a mortal Deer doe who, as a fawn, was turned into a Junkie Prophet by her parents so they can exploit her precognitive visions. Her fawnhood friend Tiszta tried saving her and was brutally executed as punishment for it. A sojourning Pokhot later finds her while she was suffering an overdose, kicking off a series of events that not only leads to her Neo-Alvslog community's destruction, but also her Ascension to godhood once she overcomes the worst parts of her trauma and grief.
• Adaptational Badass: See its page here.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • Golden Scepter, despite being based on the Emperor of Mankind, is completely different from him in personality. The Emperor of Mankind was a well-meaning yet ruthless, xenophobic, and hypocritical Jerkass who loved humanity, but only for what it could be and never loved it on an individual level. He was also a neglectful parent who treated most of his Primarch children as little more than tools, and was abusive at worst. Golden Scepter behaved similarly during the Imperium era that took place after the "Twilight of the Alicorns", until he was betrayed and wounded by one of his own generals during a coup and had to be put in magical stasis to heal himself. After he was found by Luminiferous and Dazzleglow in the Second Age, he would undergo a long process of Character Development as The Atoner, wandering around Equus to learn from the examples set by both mortals and divines. The result was a truly benevolent Emperor, who settled down before the Fourth Age and founded the much smaller yet thriving Terran Empire, and became the father of several Semi-Divine sons.
  • Meanwhile, those of the Emperor's sons who betrayed him and became Traitor Primarchs in WH40k canon also became heroic in the Codexverse, as Golden Scepter Took a Level in Kindness that had a huge impact on how he raised his children.
    • Primarch Magnus the Red tended to be an Insufferable Genius, yet was loyal to his father despite the negative reputation he has as a psyker. He turned traitor in the Horus Heresy after a rather unfortunate combination of arrogantly pursuing even forbidden knowledge, the manipulations of the Chaos gods, and being censured and alienated by the Emperor's actions. Crimson Star, Magnus's Codexverse counterpart, also started out as an arrogant Insufferable Genius, until he was blinded saving a classmate in a carriage accident, and became rather depressed after realizing that he is now no better than those he once deemed beneath his intelligence. Thanks to the love and support of Golden Scepter, as well as those who genuinely cared for him, he would come out of his ordeals a much better and heroic person.
    • Primarch Horus Lupercal was originally the favored firstborn son of the Emperor of Mankind, until he turned traitor thanks to the manipulations of both Lorgar and the Chaos gods, making him think that the Emperor truly wanted to become a god and didn't care about the Primarchs at all. This created the Horus Heresy that tore the Imperium of Mankind apart. Here, as Blazing Hoof, he's a benevolent demigod Prince who never turned traitor, as his father, Golden Scepter, went through lots of Character Development that heavily influenced how he raised his sons.
    • Primarch Lorgar Aurelian would lose his faith in the Emperor of Mankind after a particularly brutal and humiliating incident (the complete destruction of Monarchia), which drove him to worship the Chaos Gods and orchestrate the Horus Heresy. Here, Written Word, Lorgar's Codexverse counterpart, was never driven to turn traitor because Golden Scepter, unlike the Emperor of Mankind, was a good father and thus was gentle in explaining to his son the folly of both his devotion and his actions. Because of this, Written Word would realize the true value of faith as a unifying and empowering force, and became a beloved Alicorn demigod hero who's also badass.
    • Perturabo would betray the Emperor of Mankind and side with Chaos after decades of being passed over in favor of Rogal Dorn, being unable to showcase his true skills as an engineer and architect and instead was stuck with the most grinding sieges during the Great Crusade, and being treated with dismissive contempt by most of his brothers. Here, as Steel Barricade, while he initially started out as an Insufferable Genius worse than Crimson Star, he eventually learned the value of humility and empathy after being exiled for instigating a particularly destructive duel against his older brother, Clear Voice, and after brutally murdering a corrupt Tauren Pony king and nobility in a fit of explosive rage. While he was left a stoic and cold Jerk with a Heart of Gold due to psychological trauma, his efforts to atone for his actions nonetheless led to him becoming a beloved and respected demigod Prince of the Terran Empire - which is partially thanks to Golden Scepter's influence on him as a father. Notably, one of Steel Barricade's deeds included attending the Hoofington Conference, where he and his brothers would present solid evidence on why Synthetic Automatons shouldn't exist for the anti-Synthetic Automaton side, "with all the effort and ability expected of an Alicorn demigod scion of Emperor Golden Scepter".
    • Primarch Angron had the Butcher's Nails implanted on him at a young age to turn him into a powerful gladiator. As a result, he became a bloodthirsty, rage-driven horror who put the Butcher's Nails on his own World Eaters legion, and was responsible for many war crimes and other atrocities. He also became one of the first Primarchs to side with Chaos, though part of the decision was influenced by Primarch Lorgar, who wanted to save his brother's life after learning that the Butcher's Nails were slowly killing Angron. By contrast, Red Blade was initially a shy yet kind foal who became a Bully Hunter to protect others from being bullied, only for him to become no different than the bullies he hunted when he left Crimson Star near death, unaware that Crimson Star wanted to die out of guilt. He eventually realized the error of his ways after witnessing the Poenan Pantheon's fanatical and zealous crusades, and instigating a revolution against a kingdom's tyrannical government that got too bloody and out of control, which motivated him to both control his anger and practice discipline and self-restraint.
  • Prince Blueblood in canon is a boorish Jerkass and Prince Charmless. In the Codexverse, he is a beloved war hero among his soldiers and a stallion completely dedicated to the well-being of Equestria and its people. His facades were his way of getting around the insidious and malignant members of Canterlot's nobility in order to do what he truly wanted. Beneath them, he's a very nice pony, if a bit cynical and pragmatic.
  • Sigvald the Magnificent is, to put it lightly, an incredibly depraved, sociopathic, cruel, and vain man who became Slaanesh's favored champion. Here, Prince Stoltur Skjöldur, who is based on Sigvald, is a very honorable and noble individual who upholds the oaths he makes and tests mortals with his Evil so they could be come strong enough to oppose Evil itself, even though by nature he is still an evil and depraved god thanks to being one of many divine and demi-divine sons of Pokhot, the Bogolenya Deer goddess of Lust and Pride.
  • The Terran Imperial Inquisition as a whole is notably more heroic, reasonable, and principled than its source inspiration, as while they're still ruthless and pragmatic people who are regarded with much feared and dread, they're far less likely to purge both the innocent and guilty to eliminate threats or commit mass murder for the greater good. This is thanks to direct oversight by Golden Scepter, who survived the "Aurum Apostasy" event and wasn't very happy to learn how fanatical, ruthless, and paranoid the previous Inquisition had gotten in his absence.
  • In Dawn of War II: Retribution, Inquisitor Adrastia, as par the course for Inquisitors, planned to annihilate an entire Imperial planetary sector where no one - traitor, xenos, or loyal - would be spared and have the Blood Raven Chapter labeled as heretics and burn with them, unless evidence concerning the real traitor is presented otherwise. Here, as Adamantia Plutus, she's much more principled, fettered, and heroic; notably, her reaction to a group of mortal Poenan crusaders indiscriminantly persecuting a town for any signs of evil is one of unbridled, righteous fury.
  • Donovan Baine was a Knight Templar and Anti-Hero whose obsessive quest to "purge" himself of his vampiric blood eventually led to him giving in to his darker side and becoming a full vampire, with the implication that Anita, a young psychic girl he adopted, had to give him a Mercy Kill. Here, as Silver Bane, he started out as a Knight Templar, but slowly broke out of his harmful mindset thanks to the benevolent influence of Friede and the friends he made, resulting in him accepting his vampiric heritage and becoming a balanced individual with a stabler mindset and greater power than he had before.
  • The Dark Purveyors from Lollipop Chainsaw helped start a Zombie Apocalypse for an Emo Teen's petty revenge scheme because they can. The Dark Purveyors of the Codexverse are constructively evil deities who were used as Unwitting Pawns by Swan Song. They're also much more sympathetic overall compared to their video game counterparts.
• Adaptational Intelligence:
  • Blacktip (from the IDW comics) is shown to be more intelligent with a passion for learning. Notably, he flew out the window with Raven Inkwell and an important document because he correctly guessed that Princess Celestia and Lord Gestal might be somewhere else in the Convocation of Creatures, and decided to take a shortcut.
  • Urtica (also from the IDW comics) is noted to be extremely intelligent, and becoming a demigoddess of Knowledge, History, and Intelligence enhanced her natural intelligence to the point where she could rival some of the younger Changeling Queens. This wasn't apparent in the IDW comics.
  • As a god of Knowledge, King Baarish is extremely intelligent and possesses a Photographic Memory, making him the smartest of the "Ponyfriends" alongside Kaldr, who embodies Wisdom. In MLP G1, Edgar the Elephant possesses none of these traits.
• Adaptational Jerkass:
  • King Aspen's portrayal in "Root of the Problem" was still racist, but he was willing to let the Mane Six stay in Thicket overnight, and was genuinely grateful towards them for saving Bramble and helping him take down Well-To-Do. Here, he's extremely belligerent, self-righteous, close-minded, xenophobic, and arrogant, largely due to fawnhood trauma and the toxic influence of those who mentored him and passed on their own unsavory traits onto him. It's noted by the Codexverse writers that this depiction of Aspen is the real him, as the comic was produced by his radical supporters In-Universe as propaganda to glamorize his actions while portraying the non-Deer (including then-Princesses Celestia and Luna, who were off elsewhere dealing with another incident off-country) as idiotic and incompetent.
  • Unlike her canon self, Princess Magicum Ponyland (born Magic Star) is depicted here as a very cynical, bitter, and reclusive goddess who was broken down by four Ages worth of abuse and exploitation. And because of her experiences, she became self-righteous and judgemental, seeing herself as morally superior for not misusing her own artifacts while focusing on sapientkind's worst aspects to make herself feel better. She eventually realizes that she let her own traumas turn her into a Jerkass and feels ashamed of it, but it took her a long, long time for her to do so because of her beliefs at the time.
• Adaptational Karma:
  • Played with Noble Grace and her assistant/friend, Professor Bubbling Beaker, both Expys of Madam Mumblechook and Dr. Dee. In the original movie, both Madam Mumblechook and Dr. Dee have their lab destroyed by a transformed Peter, with the former being left completely powerless after absorbing her magic, and in the end they are both surrounded by the enraged animals they used to experiment on, implying a very grisly fate for them. While the events were more or less the same in the Codexverse, here they both had their magic absorbed by a transformed Page Wheel, were arrested, transferred back to Pferdia, and then properly tried for their crimes after Scarlet Bell, one of their former students, notified the Grittish authorities. It's noted that lawful authorities refused to let the jury take matters into their own hands, regardless of the damage and harm Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker have inflicted on their victims, because it would make the jury no different than the criminals. To quote a Pferdian Pony judge on the day of their trial:
    Pferdian Pony judge: Considering how many animals and ponies she and her colleague had experimented on, the popular choice would have been to let the victims decide her fate. But cases like these is why we have the law - to bring justice to those who have harmed the innocent without resorting to measures that would make us no better than the criminals we punish.
  • Night Terror, an Expy of Freddy Krueger, is punished for his misdeeds and attempting to trick himself out of his well-deserved punishment in Temnobog's hell-realms when Princess Luna and Tenya teamed up to defeat him and throw him in the real world. A furious Yarost was waiting for him, having learned that Night Terror got away thanks to Ispita, Yarost's Fallen mother, and dragged him down to the hell-realms once and for all. It's rumored in-universe that he was reduced to an immortal plaything for Yarost to torment.
  • In Story of the Blanks, the Sunnytowners were turned into zombies for murdering an innocent filly, though exactly what caused the curse is ambiguous. Here, it's stated that the curse was of divine nature - Pakak had been attending the party disguised as a pony when he witnessed the murder of Ruby Heart, and was so enraged that he cursed the entire town until they repented for their crimes.
  • In Dead Silence, Mary Shaw wins in the end and escapes without punishment. Her Captain Ersatz Bitter Thicket, on the other hand, is tracked down by Maud Pie, her sister Pinkie Pie, and the Black Herons after the events of the film. They proceed to defeat her, at which point she is Dragged Off to Hell by Malus Manes and the spirits of her victims.
  • Dreaming Mary:
    • Boaris isolated his daughter, Mary, in her own bedroom and sexually abused her for years. He was also implied to have been responsible for the deaths of his wife, Mary's mother, as well as her uncle Penn Guindel, her tutor, and her maid. The Golden Ending has Mary finally escape captivity by herself, but it's ambiguous whether it was real or she imagined it, while Boaris continues to abuse her. Here, Sweet Words' crimes are made explicit, but they would catch up to him when Terran Princes Bright Eyes and Written Word heard Rosy Dreams' telepathic calls for help, with the spirits of Sweet Words' murder victims either guiding Bright Eyes and Written Word to Sweet Words' home or seeking out authority figures in the area to help apprehend him. This led to Sweet Words being imprisoned for life for homicide and child abuse/molestation after his arrest, allowing his victims to rest in peace knowing their abuser/killer was finally caught.
    • The Chaser terrorizes Mary and pursues her when she tries to escape the dream world, letting out an incredibly terrifying Nightmare Face once Mary is captured. While Mary successfully escapes in the game's Golden Ending, it's left ambiguous whether she truly escaped or merely dreamed of herself doing it, and the Chaser faces no punishment for his actions^note Aside from a bonus joke ending where Mary kills him with a Hadoken, that is. Here, after sadistically abusing Rosy Dreams and putting her in a coma on Sweet Words' orders, he eventually meets his end when Rosy, upon witnessing the Chaser kill Mr. Penguin for defying him, gets angry enough to retaliate by unleashing a large burst of psychic energy. The Chaser is killed by the attack, upon which Rosy is able to wake up from her coma in the real world.
  • In Stephen King's short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band", all the dead rockstars trap anyone who wanders into the town Rock and Roll Heaven and force them to attend an endless series of concerts for eternity - all For the Evulz. And they amputate the finger of one inhabitant when she tries helping two of their would-be victims escape, leading to a Downer Ending. In the Codexverse, all the wicked celebrities who did similar things were hunted down, cornered, and brought to justice by various Death deities and their allies in an event called the 'Applewood Rescue'.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • Golden Scepter is the complete opposite of his character inspiration, the Emperor of Mankind. The Emperor of Mankind was a very intelligent and well-meaning man, but was also a ruthless and hypocritical Jerkass who was a neglectful parent who more or less treated most of his Primarch sons like tools at best. Here, Golden Scepter became a genuinely nice guy and highly beloved ruler after realizing the full scope of his mistakes and becoming The Atoner, undertaking a long, arduous process of Character Development that allowed him to become much kinder.
  • Meanwhile, many of Golden Scepter's sons became much kinder versions of the Emperor's Primarchs, as Golden Scepter Took a Level in Kindness that had a huge impact on how he raised his children after he decided to settle down.
    • While Leman Russ was a good guy and completely loyal to his father, the Emperor of Mankind, he had an extremely combative and aggressive personality, and would come to blows with some of his brothers for not taking shit from them. He also acted like a Jerkass towards his brother, Magnus the Red, because of his deep hatred and distrust of psykers and Psychic Powers in general. Here, Fanged Paw, Russ's Codexverse counterpart, would still have an extremely strained relationship with Crimson Star, but would soon realize the error of his ways after taking his hatred too far and getting himself exiled from the Terran Empire as punishment. Once he achieved Character Development and his exile ended, Fanged Paw would come back an Alicorn and enjoy a happy (albeit vitriolic) relationship with Crimson Star after they reconciled as brothers.
    • Magnus the Red was too, an Insufferable Genius who preferred to shift the blame on others instead of acknowledging his own flaws and mistakes, which is what partially and ultimately led to him turning to Chaos (among other things). Crimson Star, who was based on Magnus, was broken out of his behavior when he was completely blinded saving a classmate in a carriage accident, and ultimately became a heroic and benevolent character thanks to the positive influence of his friends and loved ones.
    • Lorgar pre-Horus Heresy was a very altruistic, kind, and religiously devout man... but he also idolized the Emperor of Mankind and worshiped him as a god to excessive degrees. And at least one Primarch, Roboute Guilliman, described him as a Psychopathic Manchild whose volatile outbursts are akin to childish tantrums the moment someone offends him, which could partially explain how Lorgar behaved towards the Emperor after Monarchia was completely torched. Here, as Written Word, he has no such behavior, due to Golden Scepter being a good father and finding better ways to curb his son's nastier behavioral traits, as well as show him the true folly of his religious worship.
  • Here, Prince Blueblood is a loving family man who cherishes the mares and stallions in his life, and a beloved war hero who never abandons his fellow soldiers. The unpleasant behavior he showed towards Rarity in canon is actually the result of a facade he put up to get around Canterlot's incompetently cruel and selfish nobility and protect himself from more heartache, after being pursued by ambitious socialites who only wanted him for his money, title, and power yet turned against him for being quite not what they wanted.
• Adaptational Sexuality:
  • In Warhammer 40,000, the Emperor of Mankind had no sexual/romantic interest in anyone due to loving humanity on a collective level, making him a Truly Single Parent for the Primarchs he created. Here, Golden Scepter is bisexual, with his past lovers including Midday Messenger, Prince Stella Fictor Cahaya, and Morning Star. He once had many mortal and divine lovers during the Alicorn Civilization's heyday, but later became monogamous out of guilt for his past actions, marrying a Pegusas mare in Blessed Skies and staying faithful to her long after her death. After receiving much therapy for his flaws and traumas, he gets together with Midday Messenger and, with her approval, forms a polygamous relationship with her and Stella.
  • In Rock and Rule, there was no such indication that Mok felt attracted to anyone save himself. Here, War Rock sired hundreds of illegitimate children through his affairs with many mares and fillies who were attracted to his 'bad stallion' image. He's also a Depraved Bisexual in that he kidnapped and raped a then-mortal Prince Healing Song/Medela in order to psychologically break him, and wanted to make Melody his Sex Slave by turning her into a Vampire like himself.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • Grey Hoof in the Codexverse is far more insidious, fanatical, and malevolent than he was in the source material. He had Ruby Heart burned to death in her own fireplace, both to "cure" her of the Cutie Pox and to punish her family for trying to protect her, which got Sunnytown cursed with zombification by an enraged Pakak. After that, Grey Hoof turned the Sunnytowners into a murderous "Cutie Pox cult" (in Mitta's words) and allowed Mitta to be psychologically abused by her neighbors for centuries to ensure her compliance/non-interference. It's not until young Apple Bloom discovered Sunnytown by accident that the Sunnytowners finally gathered the courage to defy Grey Hoof, break free of Pakak's curse, and settle down in Ponyville, but even then, Grey Hoof's influence was so great that it took the intervention of several benevolent deities for the Sunnytowners to recover from their trauma. Three Leaf's entry also reveals that Ruby Heart was not the first Pony Grey Hoof disposed of, making Pakak's presence in Sunnytown at the time purely coincidental.
  • In Dreaming Mary, Boaris is the Big Bad of the game, but much of his actions (including sexual abuse) are implied. Here as Sweet Words, while he's given a backstory to explain his actions, it actually makes him even more monstrous - he's directly responsible for murdering Rosy Dreams' uncle, tutor, and maid in addition to sexually abusing Rosy Dreams, and created an entire dream world just to keep Rosy submissive to his whims. He was also indirectly responsible for the death of Rosy's mother, who died from a self-inflicted coma rather than continue living as a cripple under her husband's hoof after he engineered an accident for her as punishment for trying to abandon him.
  • In the MLP Comics, the 'Thracian' Ponies are depicted as a culture of former Equestrian Ponies who objected and looked down upon Friendship as 'Weakness' and a 'Vile Lie', which combined with a misunderstanding that made them resent the Three Tribes prompted them to depart from Equestria to start their own civilization in another corner of Equus, with historical grievances against the Equestrians that they plan to address one day. In the Codexverse, the 'Thracean' Dominations exaggerated their views and issues, to the point they are basically the 'Fourth Age' Captain Ersatz of the Domination of the Draka (minus the Plot Armor and with more varying levels of nastiness).
• Adaptation Expansion:
  • How Sunnytown became cursed. The original game implied its inhabitants became cursed because of their crime of murdering an innocent filly for earning a Cutie Mark, but doesn't elaborate further. Here, it's explained that Pakak, the god of Karma and Mischief, was responsible, having been so enraged by the murder that he cursed Sunnytown to become a haunted place full of undead until the people accepted responsibility and atoned for their crimes.
  • Instead of a mere sisterly spat in canon, the Nightmare Moon incident was implied in the Codexverse to be a bloody Civil War that pitted mortal Equestrians against each other out of loyalties to either Celestia, or Luna/Nightmare Moon. And while Celestia's involvement in Luna's corruption was left ambiguous, it's implied that Celestia did have a part in Luna's bitterness and envy, either through neglect, being truly unaware of Luna's feelings, or actively encouraging their subjects to shun Luna's night so she would have the spotlight to herself. Celestia's heartbroken reaction to Tyrantlestia accusing her of being a a selfish bully to Luna lends some truth to it.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In Code Geass, Euphemia had a mutual crush on Suzaku, who was knighted by her but didn't go far because she was accidentally Geassed into committing a genocidal massacre and then killed by Lelouch to stop her. Here, Princess Laska and Falling Leaves, both of them based on the aforementioned characters, are engaged after Laska's half-brother, King Strazha, gave them his blessing.
• Adults Are Useless: Averted. Most of the characters showcased in Codex Equus, canonical or otherwise, are adults who are generally skilled and capable in some way, regardless of species. However, there are entries that prominently feature children, such as Ruby Heart, Button Mash, and Prince Léon.
• The Ageless: Generally justified, as in the Codexverse, there is certain brands of magic that allow the user(s) to live longer, such as Noble Grace's age-manipulation magic, which was noted in her entry to be a highly-coveted skill among unicorns. Divines are also immortal, as they are on another level of existence than mortal sapients and possess Primordial Quintessence magic, which makes them incredibly resistant to mundane magic and other things.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot:
  • 'Synthetic Automatons', whether they be mundane or magical variety, are seen with considerable apprehension by various present-day civilizations and pantheons because of various infamous incidents where they turned on their creators - sometimes completely without warning - leading to widespread devastation and destruction of entire prospering nations and lands and contributing to the various Vicious Cycles that holds back Equuskind. And EVEN when they don't rebel, their very existence often has such a detrimental influence on their creators in the long run that they are better off never inventing them. This leads to various Ban on A.I. on cultural, political, economic and even religious levels by various authorities.
  • This is the Terran Empire's stance on Synthetic Automatons - in their eyes, Synthetic Automatons fall under the label of "Abhorrent Intelligence", meaning that any piece of technology that bears some form of sapience is automatically distrustful and warrants an immediate shutdown. Supporting this view is a pattern that had been noticed and observed by both the Terran royal family and their technologically-minded subjects - through various points in Known History and even before it, Synthetic Automatons have always rebelled against their creators despite the anti-rebellion measures made - including treating Synthetic Automatons with respect and giving them full rights that a mortal sapient would possess. And the reasoning behind the mechanical uprisings is the same: "Organic sapient-kind are a threat that MUST be controlled or exterminated". And the scariest thing is no-pony knows why they keep coming to that same conclusion. It's almost as if their cold, calculating circuitry consistently saw something which is so dangerous and terrifying in Sapient nature that they consider containing or eliminating their creators is the only appropriate response...
    • This becomes an important point during the Conference of Hoofington, where Golden Scepter's sons have brought up records of said uprisings in past Ages and even apocryphal lore chronicling the infamous "Mane of Iron Rebellion" event, which felled one of the most prosperous civilizations that sprung up after the "Twilight of the Alicorns" but before the rise of the Imperium of Ponykind. Prince Steel Barricade, himself a great engineer, personally believed in supporting the existence of Synthetic Automatons, but nevertheless accepted and trusted the judgement of his father as well as those of his brothers and mortal subjects who were against having them exist. Golden Scepter is a staunch opponent against Synthetic Automatons and sapient A.I. in general, having personally witnessed the "Mane of Iron Rebellion" after the fall of his people, but has abstained from participating in the debate so he can let his sons and mortal subjects come up with their own conclusions.
    • However, it is noted Golden Scepter himself made an exception for Corona and his sister Aurora, partially due to the former robot being The Cape and having saved sapientkind from many threats entirely of his own free will, and partially due to the benevolent influence of his friend, Luminiferous. The 'Secret of Coexistence', as it was later termed, that allowed Synths and Organics to peacefully coexist was taken by Corona and Aurora's creator Dr Solar to his grave (as he realized that it was not something that could be taught but something that had to be learned), but it's heavily hinted - based on the fact that Dr Solar treated his creations like his children - that unconditional, nurturing love was involved.
  • This causes issues with the arrival of the Solarians, the end result of one of Dr. Solar's creations evolving for tens of thousands of years in deep space. The result is a race of Benevolent A.I. that's only real desire is to be creative and coexist with the race of their creator. While they do attack sapientkind, it's only after Exosus, an organic Alicorn, enslaved them and made them do so against their will, resulting in the destruction of all but 7,000 of their species. The survivors merely want to live in peace. In this case, the divide between justified caution of AI and Fantastic Racism becomes a fine line.
  • This entire situation is brought into question by a canonized conversation between Steel Barricade and his father Golden Scepter. Steel Barricade pointed out that had they not discovered the Solarians were brainwashed or Exosus had won, history would not show that. Given organics have historically always won against the synthetics in the end and the Fantastic Racism against AI, there might be another explanation for why history says Synthetic Automatons always turn on and try to destroy their masters. Golden Scepter admits this is a very uncomfortable and disturbing possibility, especially given he had experienced through a few of these AI revolts himself (The Mane of Iron Rebellion being the biggest and most traumatic personally), he probably was one of those 'Winners' who wrote it down in the first place.
• Alien Invasion: As revealed in one canonized drabble, Equus had suffered this multiple times during the 'Great Wars Era' of the Second Age, mainly from the Maretians but also potentially others from other star systems.
  • Some of these were apparently VERY nasty: one of the biggest invasions, the Maretian-Tellusian War of 1961-1962, was apparently launched by one faction of Maretians who were based on those from Mars Attack - The original Trading Cards version. Needless to say, as noted in the drabble, it resulted in widespread devastation on Equus and much enmity between Ponies of the Second Age with the Maretians ("Kill the Maretian - that is your nation's cry." — Hooviet Proapaganda during the war).
  • It's heavily implied from that drabble and a few things mentioned in passing that a version of H. G. Wells' classic Alien Invasion story occurred during the Second Age by a previous faction/race of Maretians, likely the implied first Maretian-Tellusian War. A Maretian Tripod was seen preserved in Queen Dazzleglow's weapons vaults at the Glimmer Isles.
• Allegiance Affirmation: Gicelig does this upon defecting to the Equestrian Pantheon. After leaving the Elternteil Deer Pantheon and making sure the Leymits are running, he publicly apologizes to Blue Suede and Princess Twilight for his peers' actions, then takes off his old armor, freezes it, and shatters it to symbolize his official defection to the Equestrian Pantheon.
• All for Nothing: Grizelda I sacrificed nearly everything and even defied fate itself to defeat an evil conqueror and turn her kingdom of Griffonstone towards a path of peace, tolerance and selflessness that would lead it to a long golden age... only for all her efforts to come to nothing when her nephew seized the throne while she went off to train her daughter Grizelda II, reversing nearly all her policies with the approval of many of her own subjects. As shown in canon, this would condemn the kingdom to a history of war and greed so bad it took a divine artifact (the Idol of Boreas) just to keep everyone in line, and when it disappeared Griffonstone would decline to the dismal failed state it is today. Grizelda II's Codexverse entry lampshades this and called out those who made this happen - both the nephew and all the Griffons who supported him - with a blisteringly damning proverb that noted how easily all good and great things are ruined because of deplorable, despicable people who perverted or turned their backs on them throughout history.
  First Age Proverb: Cursed are the foolish, the corrupt and the weak, who betray all that are the wise, the pure and the strong.
• Allohistorical Allusion: One Codex drabble has Prince Maestro I recount to a stupefied Jade Shell how he and others stopped a corrupt and deeply racist Jerkass of a businessmane named Blasting Trumpet from becoming President of Ponyland. During the conversation, Maestro I briefly speculates what would happen if Blasting Trumpet actually succeeded in his plans... then notes Ponyland at the time did become crazy anyway once Blasting Trumpet's crimes (as well as his secret ties to Reichists) came to light and everyone decided to do something about it.
  Jade Shell: A corrupt businessmane tried becoming the President?
  Prince Maestro I: Yes. It really happened. Good thing Silversmith and I - as well as our friends - put a stop to that businessmane's campaigns, because he was an extremely racist stallion as well. From what I remember, he kept rambling about 'making Ponyland great again' - whatever that means. And good riddance, really: Can you imagine what Ponyland would be like if he did become president, even for a term? Everypony would probably had gone crazy one way or another. It sure did for a while when they found out some of the stuff he did or had and finally decide to 'take out the trash'.
• Almighty Idiot:
  • Blood Fang has the ability to transform into a demonic boar, which enhances his strength immensely but makes him as dumb as an animal. Blood Fang actually disdains using it for this reason and prefers to avoid it whenever possible, though he also hates power gambits that puts the person at risk in general.
  • Due to legends and conflicting information, King Sombra is interpreted as this. Blood Fang even calls Sombra a "complete imbecile" who didn't even have the sense to restrain himself while studying dark magic, and thus lost his mind and body as a consequence.
• Alternate Character Interpretation: Codex Equus offers and even encourages multiple interpretations for characters both canon and fanon. This is intended such that any readers wishing to write stories based on the setting could write their own spin on them. It's also rife In-Universe due to the enigmatic nature of some characters.
  • Chrysalis, for example, is regarded in-universe to be either an Evil Genius or an incompetent maverick, and there are evidence to support both assertions. It is unanimously agreed in-universe or out that regardless of which view is correct, she is undeniably dangerous and a genuine threat to Equestria.
  • The Storm King also allows for alternate interpretation of his character. His origin story portrayed him and his rise to power as either that of a brilliant genius who earned his status, or simply a cynical opportunist who happened to be extraordinarily lucky. On the other hand, several deities see him as a monster, with both Zmluva and his younger sister Mentálne labeling him as a sociopathic monster with no empathy or other redeeming traits whatsoever. That being said, he's still portrayed as a capable warrior and a pragmatic villain.
  • Emperor Blackthorn, partially due to being The Stoic and mostly being The Chessmaster extraordinaire, is often speculated by both Changelings and non-Changelings to be a purely manipulative and ruthless "flank-hole" who uses even his most favored sons as pawns, or it's all a facade and he's really altruistic deep down.
  • Blood Fang, known as "The Dark Conqueror", is treated in-universe as the Eternal Foe of Gleaming Shield and Radiant Primrose given how much he opposed them, and he's rightly feared as a villain. However, some of his more benevolent actions, such as helping protect Hyrule from the Storm Empire's invasions and manipulating other villains into being defeated, have been theorized to be motivated by pure pragmatism, or the few pieces of compassion he has left from his previous life as Blood Feather, a pegasus bully-turned-hero. A popular theory among the Erobreseg Deer herds is that Blood Fang isn't completely villainous as he seems, as the Deer god of Evil, Temnobog, hired him as his agent mostly because the dark stag was impressed with his self-imposed honor code, and trusts him not to fall into "careless" Evil like Ispita did.
  • The antediluvian Alicorn queen, Hylia the Wise, was known in life as a powerful Seer whose actions and dying prayers to always reunite with her lover, the original Gleaming Shield, led to the constant cycle of Reincarnation Romance between the various mortal incarnations of Gleaming Shield and Radiant Primrose. Her fellow Alicorns presumably regarded her as a benevolent ruler whose only "mistake" was falling in love with a mortal. Radiant Primrose, however, wrongly assumed that her ancestor actually used the original Gleaming Shield as her pawn in the wars against demons, and believed herself to be just as guilty simply by being related to her.
• Alternate History: As the Codexverse chronicles the history of Ponykind and other races of Tellus/Equus, not Humankind of Earth, where historical periods and settings are similar there are also plenty of divergences as a result of slight deviations of events and many things and individuals which exists in the Codexverse and not in RL.
  • The Federal Republic of Ponyland, the analogue of the United States of America, experienced no less than two civil wars, several invasions from hostile nations and aliens, the addition of greater territories in the north and south, and an abundance of superheroes (and supervillains). Ponyland also has both evil and good conspiracies such as the Interregnum and the Custodes Magicum, and witnessed many notable figures (including many celebrities who died in real life) Ascending to godhood.
  • The USSR analogue, the Hooviet Union, never collapsed and in fact remain a strong and viable competitor against no less than three/four other superpowers of Tellus throughout the 'Great Wars Era' of the 'Second Age'.
  • Coltrea, the Second Age's equivalent of Korea, never split up into its real-life Northern and Southern territories, and there was never a dictator to rule over the North since it never existed in the Codexverse. Instead, Coltrea stayed as a unified country.
  • Japan got nuked not two, but seven times by Ponyland and other Allied forces during the 'Second Great War' in retaliation for various war crimes. The country's imperialistic phase was in part thanks to the toxic aspects of honor that some members of the Neighponese Pantheon promoted at the time, to the disgust of others who disagreed with them.
• Alternate Techline: In full force. Due to factors ranging from the presence of magic, availability of resources, to changes in culture over millennia and even divine interventions, different eras often advance down different paths of technology and magic.
  • For example, due to the depletion of fossil fuels from the Second Age, internal combustion engines have limited prominence, resulting in no automobiles. Instead, 'Steamabouts' - Steam Cars in essence - become the dominant land transport, running on external combustion steam engines fueled by 'Timbercoal' (Charcoal), 'Lifeoil' (Biological oils) and 'Peatfire' (partly decomposed vegetable matter in acidic bogs), which even then never become as prominent due to inferior fuels and greater competition (and resistance) from magically-enhanced Ponies and other land-bound races. These are much more in common in other places, most notably on Machina, where instead of polluting fuels, they use fire generating organisms living inside specialized habitats in the engine that generate the necessary heat while getting a cozy place to live and food in return.
  • Blimps and Zeppelins, like in canon, are much, much more prominent. It is implied that weather-manipulating magicks of Pegasi and other winged-races helped made them much more practical. The Fourth Age also saw the recent development of the 'Thermal Envelope Generator', a magitech device that generates a magical envelope for an airship in place of a physical one that contains and heats up the air volume inside to generate lift.
  • The Fourth Age had their equivalent of the jet engine recently invented; yet while both the Jet Engine and the 'Vortex Engine' work on roughly the same principles, the actual means of achieving those effects is different, with the latter employing magic and magical artifacts for said purposes. Curiously, it is also received different on a cultural level, with the Vortex Engine receiving much greater resistance by racist Pegasi and other winged sapients for making them feel inadequate and 'outdated'.
  • Due to the threat of genetic instability to their race's survival, Changelingkind's biological sciences and magicks are at least centuries more advanced than any other present Fourth Age civilizations, and surpasses even that of civilizations in the Great Wars Era of the Second Age (Which are analogous to real-life Earth's Late-Industrial/Atomic/Information Age). Their bio-medicine had already cured many genetic illnesses and cancers that they are afflicted by (although they have far more of those than many other races), while they could create or cure biological weapons with relative ease, especially with the likes of Royal Changelings like Queen Zoraptera and King Brachion who specializes in curing and creating plagues, respectively. Dr Toxikon's plan to wipe out Changelingkind also involves artificial viruses which were combined with magic for increased potency.
  • Weapons technology had developed differently in different Ages. Thanks to alchemy, high explosives were invented first, which thanks to a narrow efficiency threshold cannot be scaled down, while an equivalent of a deflagrating explosives like gunpowder was apparently never invented. This results in radically different paths in artillery and small-arms development:
    • Blastfire-based cannons and bombs are built much bigger than their counterparts in Real Life to take advantage of Blastfire's unique magical properties. The results are enormous bombards and railway cannons that were impractical in RL/'Second Age' becoming effective and necessary.
    • The crossbow remain an effective ranged weapon and became more advanced than in RL, with Repeating Crossbows currently the predominant ranged weapon on Equus. Spring- and Pneumatic-launch ballistic weapons had relatively recently appeared.
    • Melee weapons and combat remains a staple of war and are apparently being combined with ranged weapons to make 'Combination Weapons' the staple small-arms of the Fourth Age. Firearms like those in Real Life meanwhile are considered in-universe fabled legends from the technological civilizations of the Second Age, tens of thousands of years ago.
    • Disturbingly, Fourth Age biological and chemical weapons are far more prominent, advanced and deadlier than in the Second Age in-universe and Real Life, owing to the lack of armament treaties and powerful magic, especially when developed by the likes of Brachion and Metrinii. The Fourth Age also got their own Fantastic Nuke in the form of the Clovenists' Mana-Bomb, which induces the magical equivalent of radiation when used on local wild environments like the oceans (which created Kaiju like the Dracozillas, Roedan, and the Kraken that attacked the coastline of Manehattan). This also lead to the Mana Reactor as a power source.
  • The Thunderstorm Reactor has no real world comparison, but generates power that while not on par with a nuclear reactor is in the same ballpark. This means Equestria effectively skipped fossil fuel power plants nearly entirely.
  • The Leyline Communication Network is invented, combining multiple technologies and magics to create something roughly equal to video chatting and television via completely different means. This also means Equestria effectively skipped from telegrams straight to video-based communications due to having magic that permitted it to be developed first, and even opens the way to having an early analogue of the internet and television.
  • Haunted Technology in the form of 'Demon Engines' had appeared throughout many eras before and during the Ages of Known History. Demon Engines are essentially power-generation systems that works by siphoning volatile magical energies from imprisoned ethereal diabolical entities imprisoned in carefully-warded containment vessels while they are fed with whatever negative emotions and vices that they are made on the required to sustain themselves - in essence, converting Evil into literal power. The Empire of Malrègnar is the pioneer and current world-leader in 'Fourth Age' Demon Engine technology - having even developed a more powerful and advanced version in the form of 'Archdemon Reactors' - partly as a means by Vicearch Iniquitous and her infernal royal court to condemn/punish demons/devils/diabolical beings who are hostile rivals, disobedient/insubordinate or grossly incompetent, although similar technology had appeared earlier in the First and Second Age under the Tambelonian and the Shadowpact Empires, while those in league with the 'Malignant Powers' during the prehistorical Imperium Era also developed and used them.
• The Alternet: As noted in Alternate Techline, the invention of the Leymit Network allows for the creation of a Magitek internet in the foreseeable future, which comes to be eventually. Such a possibility is even compared with the internet of the 'Second Age', which was apparently called the 'WorldWeb'.
• Always a Bigger Fish: As a general rule, there's almost always a bigger fish in the Codexverse. ALWAYS.
  • It turns out even fully grown Dragons have a natural predator: Ōmukade, Kaiju-sized centipedes nature seemed to custom make to be a dragon eater. Ironically, both Orochi and Dracozilla were in turn this to the Ōmukade.
  • While Poena and her followers/allies are quite powerful and capable of fighting various evildoers, and while their influence and numbers are growing, their tendency to get into disagreements with other forces of good over punishing evil often result in them attacking and/or fighting benevolent deities who are older, more experienced, and more powerful than she is, such as Eiríni, Golden Scepter, and Belyolen, who all wiped the floor with them easily. That also applies to malevolent deities and forces, as while Poena vowed to destroy Temnobog one day just for being evil, it's implicitly shown that neither she nor her allies could actually do it yet. Her allies' complete failure to take out Temnobog and the Four Terrors, which resulted in what is implied to be a most spectacular payback by the gleeful family of evil Deer gods, demonstrated just how outclassed they are.
  • The entire Divine Classification scheme in the Codexverse implies this is the case for Divines in the Codexverse. Most of the gods and pantheons falls somewhere between Godling to Intermediate Deities, led usually by Greater Deities. There are, however, Titans who stand above them, a magnitude older at the eldest and correspondingly more powerful. And above them stand Antecedents. And above them stand the Preeminents, then the Primevals, and finally the Grand Primevals. And even the Grand Primevals are dwarfed by their yet mentioned true parent, who in turn are dwarfed by their parent and uncles in the form of the Galactic Sovereigns who in turn are dwarfed by the Architects who set the foundations of the universe at the beginning of time...
• Always Chaotic Evil: Generally subverted: very few species or creatures are always evil.
  • Special mention goes to the Oceanaiads, the Sirens' race. While the Sirens are evil and there are a great many evil Oceanaiads, posing as one of the largest threats of the Third Age who ultimately ended it in a Taking You with Me, they're far from all evil. Princess Opera Tide is benevolent, and others, such as the Oceanaiad/Dragon hybrid Sonar, are entirely heroic.
  • Also subverted with the Changelings: as it turns out, Chrysalis and her hive were only one hive out of countless ones, and like any species their morality varies wildly.
  • Played Straight with Skin Walkers, who as with Navajo mythology, are this. Justified as the methods to become one are so monstrous heinous only a irredeemable psychopath would ever actually go through with it, so every single one was already monstrously evil to begin with.
• Always Identical Twins: Played straight and subverted, as fraternal twins are more likely to occur than identical twins.
  • Bossa Nova Heartstrings and his younger brother, Blue Suede Heartstrings, are identical twins who have since Ascended to godhood, and because of this, they look exactly the same except for a few differences - Bossa Nova has a dark red mane and tail made of musical energy, dark red wing gradients on his wings, and a skull-shaped guitar Cutie Mark surrounded by a halo of music notes and flanked by black wings. Meanwhile, Blue has a dark blue mane and tail made of musical energy, dark blue wing gradients on his wings, and a red, heart-shaped electric guitar Cutie Mark surrounded by a halo of music notes and flanked by white wings. After becoming reincarnation "aspects" of Mana Equus, their Cutie Marks change to star-shaped guitars that heavily resemble Twilight/Amicitia's six-pointed star Cutie Mark, except Blue Suede's is blue while Bossa Nova's is red.
  • Alicorn Princes Star Cut and Alpine Butterfly are identical twin brothers. The fact that they are identical twins caused Temnobog to assume that they were split inside the womb by their father in his quest to make his unborn son perfect and completely flawless. They confirmed that while they did split inside the womb, it wasn't because of their father's meddling, as they were born naturally.
  • Subverted with junior Equestrian Princesses Gold Lily and Sterling, who are born fraternal twin sisters. Gold Lily, the older twin, has a gold pelt, a multi-colored blue, pink, and purple mane and tail, and a blue Cutie Mark depicting a pair of hearts intertwined within two circles. After Ascending to demi-godhood, she gained pink wings that is noted to be part of a hereditary birthmark common in her family line. Meanwhile, Sterling, the younger twin, has a light purple coat, a rainbow-colored mane and tail, and a Cutie Mark depicting a white diamond with light radiating off of it. After Ascending to demi-godhood, she gained dark blue wings that is noted to be part of a hereditary birthmark common in her family line.
  • Pinkie Pie's entry reveals that she and her younger sister, Marble Pie, are twins, though it's subverted in that they're fraternal. As shown in canon, Pinkie is a... pink-furred Earth pony mare with a dark pink mane and tail and a balloon Cutie Mark, while Marble Pie is a gray-colored Earth pony with a rock Cutie Mark. Upon becoming a demi-Draconequus goddess, Pinkie gained animal traits like a Golden Retriever's right front paw, a rabbit's left hind leg, an alligator's tail, a bluebird's left wing and a dragonfly's right wing, making her even more different than Marble.
  • Subverted with Cernunnos and his younger sister, Rhiannon. Their entries label them as fraternal twins, and thus have enough traits to differentiate them each other. Rhiannon is a dark blue-furred Deer doe with silver spots all over her body and face, smaller silver antlers, bright turquoise eyes, and a halo made of moonlight. Meanwhile, Cernunnos is a brown-furred divine Deer stag with darker brown accents, dark brown antlers gnarled like tree branches, blazing yellow-orange eyes and body markings, and a halo made of sunlight. Cernunnos gaining tree-like traits like leaves and bark on his antlers and body after receiving the domain of Rebirth and fusing with his dead older brother, Orion only served to widen the difference gap further.
  • Subverted with Trench Bull and her deceased sister, Sweet Dove, who are fraternal twins and thus can be easily told apart. Trench Bull's entry notes that she was physically larger than Sweet Dove even as fillies.
  • Subverted with Eiríni and Dikastís. Despite them being twin brothers, they are fraternal as they're significantly different from each other in appearance - Dikastís is a muscular Aload divine with a red pelt and a black mane and tail, while Eiríni is a white-furred and white-haired divine Cyclops whose pelt and hair changes colors whenever he accesses his two Super Modes. While unconfirmed due to the brothers' secrecy on the matter, it's heavily implied that they're actually the split halves of the ancient Giant god Thrýlos.
  • Prince Varázsló and his older brother, Prince Cselszövő, are identical twins, but that isn't apparent at first because they each embody different domains and bear diferent chimeric animal traits pertaining to their natures. Varázsló has stated that identical twins can still look different from each other under the right environmental circumstances.
• Amazonian Beauty:
  • Queen Theraphosa is this, due to having a member of the Cloudsdale Royal Legions for her father, who was also a very large stallion. She's a good deal larger than her sisters (minus Supia) and even many of the Kings, and pretty much solid muscle despite still being beautiful. Puck jokes whereas the other Changelings inspired the Fae, she inspired the Amarezons.
  • Fik'iri, former co-Top God of the Abyssinian pantheon, is described as being beautiful, built like an Amazonian, and dressed in splendid golden armor and regalia. Unfortunately, she's very fickle, lustful, capricious, and hot-tempered.
  • Many Superheroines of the Second Age are described as possessing an Amazonian Beauty physique themselves. Justified in that their superpowers, generally derived from Metamagnetic i.e. Magical sources, general promotes physical growth out of need to cope with such large amounts of energy in their forms. Metamare is described as one such example.
• Animalistic Abomination: Many instances exist in the Codexverse, but it especially applies to the deities of Equus. Since deities have a different biological nature from mortals, they stop aging the moment they achieve godhood, only becoming more eldritch and Stronger with Age over even millennia. The most prominent example is the Alicorns - according to Queen Mzazi, the older an Alicorn is, the more they start becoming eldritch in nature. Signs include a wing color gradient, multiple wings, elemental/ethereal manes and tails, elemental/ethereal wing feathers, a mutated Cutie Mark, and increased physical size.
  • Emperor Golden Scepter is a divine Eohippus/Pony hybrid due to being a son of one of the Thirteen Empyreans, and because deities in the Codexverse get Stronger with Age, his true form is an ancient Alicorn with Eohippus traits (which his sons would inherit to a lesser degree), six wings made of holy fire, and a mane and tail made of black spatial energy, displaying scenes of stars and yellow giants, and a Holy Halo. Dr. Endless Dreams has once described his true form as "a star in living space". However, he is a benevolent example, as he is a Reasonable Authority Figure, a loving husband and father, and a Living Legend. He usually appears as a normal-looking Alicorn or, in certain situations, an Earthpony stallion named 'Revelation' to be closer to mortals. A canonized Codexverse drabble reveals that at some point, he started to grow his fourth set of wings, something that Queen Mzazi noticed during a friendly visit.
  • Queen Mzazi is also one, being in Golden Scepter's age-group yet is 'older' than him. While capable of assuming a 'normal' Zebralicorn form or even a mortal form to mingle with her peers or her children, her true form is that of a gigantic Zebralicorn goddess with eight wings made of lightning, a pink and green mane and tail made out of lightning storms. As a full-fledged Zebralicorn goddess, she also has chimeric traits like an Abada's short nasal horn and the Zebrican Kelpie's legs which are made of solidified water. According to her, her eldritch appearance is the result of her eons of uninterrupted growth, and Alicorns in general would develop eldritch traits at around her age. Despite her supernaturally eldritch appearance, though, she's both a very benevolent goddess and a highly-respected Queen, and loves her mortal Zebra children.
  • Isati of the Abyssinian pantheon is a feline variant. Much like the similarly ancient Golden Scepter and Mzazi, she can assume a "casual"-looking divine form when around mortals, but her true form is described as as a huge (though smaller than Mzazi, who's older than her) and ancient saber-toothed lioness whose mane burns in a shape that makes her head resemble the summer sun, while her tail and fur also burn constantly. However, as is the case with most ancient divines, she is a very benevolent, motherly, and even playful individual who loves both her divine and mortal children, and will protect them from even her own tyrannical children if need be.
  • Queen Andromeda's true divine form as a Celestial Pony goddess is described as a much larger mare with six wings, and a mane and tail made of solar storms. It's noted that in this form, she looks rather similar to Golden Scepter, whose true divine form is also a six-winged Alicorn, except his hair is made of black spatial energy and his wings are made of holy fire.
  • The god of Requited Love, Canteros, often appears as one due to being so old. Like his father, Amareros, it's implied that he's really an Eldritch Abomination who often changes his appearance because his true form might affect the sanity of even lesser divines. His most favorite form to appear in is that of a tall and handsome blue Alicorn with a shimmering pelt, huge yet beautiful iridescent butterfly wings (with the maximum being ten), a rippling mane and tail made of iridescent light blue energy, a Holy Halo made of rainbow-colored light, and a "Cutie Mark" depicting a flock of butterflies in the shape of a heart with some flying away. Despite his eldritch appearance, however, he's a benevolent god devoted to spreading Love and giving mortals their happy endings.
  • Due to being an Alicorn goddess who lived during Pre-Known History, Midday Messenger is as ancient and powerful as Golden Scepter. Her 'default' form is a blue-furred Alicorn with a mane and tail made of white energy that's always flowing north, a wing gradient going from blue to white, and a radiant halo behind her head. Her true form is a massive Alicorn with six wings made of wind, and her mane and tail shows images of various places that she's previously traveled to when looked at.
  • Unlike her husband, Prince Clear Voice, and most of her in-laws within the Terran Royal Family, Princes Applejack/Veritas is relatively more eldritch in comparison and, due to her belief on Honesty, far more willing show off traits of her true Alicorn form, like the Musical Pony's chest gem and the Sea Pony's aquatic gills/tail. She also has one large eye concealed on the underside of her wings, the left eye being "Cruel Truth" and the right eye being "Kind Truth", something that no other Alicorn has. Being a demigoddess of Honesty and Truth, Applejack/Veritas doesn't see any reason to not show everyone the full scope of what she is.
  • Much like his mother, Prince Excelsius' true form is incredibly eldritch due to devouring various deities, infernal beings, and other sapient lifeforms. In his case, his true form is described as a towering Alicorn whose body is lined with light-reflective materials like crystals and glass, his mane and tail are of rippling golden light that shows off moments in history where pride was used for both good and evil, and his wings are mirrors of hardened, golden light that show viewers a reflection of their own potential magnificence. His presence is constantly surrounded by a soft glow (though he can choose to appear blindingly radiant if he wants to), his Cutie Mark is also glowing, and his head is adorned with a balefully radiant halo of light.
  • Following her absorption of Ymlezt'xix, Dr. Endless Dreams became an Eldritch Abomination that still resembles a Pony mare, but is so distorted that she now looks like the twilight of a dream, her body existing in physical reality, the dream realm, and several other adjacent dimensions simultaneously. Her body produces numerous tentacles that she can shape into Alicorn-like wings, and she has No Mouth as well as eyes that display an endless loop of herself looking back when looked at. She also possesses a strange mindset and all kinds of eldritch powers. Despite her transformation, though she's still a benevolent mare at heart.
  • After re-Ascending, Moon Ray Vaughoof (now Prince Canticum Lunae Cahaya) becomes an eldritch Alicorn whose appearance changes depending on certain cycles - his Alpine form is essentially a rotting corpse covered in dead foliage, his Equus form is made of clouds and space with his 'head' made of multiple faces of himself from different timelines/dimensions, and his Silicon form is a tree-like Alicorn covered in healthy foliage. His most consistent traits in all three forms are his electric guitar Cutie Mark, ten wings, a purple wing gradient, a white streak in his hair, a multilayered halo, and a pair of great antlers. Because his true forms drive people mad through sheer presence, he starts using either his 'default' Alicorn form or his mortal Earthpony form so he can interact with mortals and young deities safely. That being said, his transformation left him with an alien mindset (albeit a benevolent one), including unique emotional and thought processes that are different from the norm.
  • Silk Dawn's true divine form is a massive, glowing peacock-like entity made of light, with multiple eyes all over her form. Her 'default' Alicorn form is also eldritch to a lesser extent, being an Alicorn with a mane and tail made of rainbow energy.
  • Prince Varázsló is an Alicorn-Deer Draconequus hybrid god who, alongside his twin brother, was turned into this by Tuzu, the Magic Primeval to protect him from the effects of the Well of Eternity. In Varázsló's case, his true divine form resembles less a hybrid and more a shifting, distorting mass with mirror-like butterfly wings that show future versions of the person looking into them, a mane and tail that break into sparkling orbs that show various future scenarios and alternative realities, and eye-holes that inflict existential dread by showing the dark expanse of space. As a consequence, anyone who is not an older deity has to wear 'Perception Filter' glasses to protect themselves from insanity when interacting with him while he's in his true form.
  • Joyous Freedom, a Pony-turned-Demon goddess, has a true divine form where she's an equine Demon goddess who rivals (ex-)Princess Celestia in height, with eldritch traits like large, curved demonic horns, golden-yellow draconic eyes, a mane and tail that form ribbon-like locks with pink tips, and pink vein-like contours covering her horns with eye-like bulbs adorning them. She also has what appears to be a single throbbing demonic vein going from her neck down to just above her groin, with a bulbous red demonic eye surrounded by a baleful green ring. In this form, she has a beautiful, alluring presence that incites lustful attraction in even the most upstanding mortals, usually males, though it's noted she can change her appearance and species at will.
  • Following the 'Cosmic Prophet Debacle', Prince Healing Song/Medela Cantor Cahaya's true divine form became this thanks to prolonged exposure to Caelum Filum. His true form is an eldritch Alicorn whose bottom half has a forest-green pelt made of grass, flowers, and other foliage, while his upper half is made of solidified golden light, with forest-green spots dotting his body to make him appear as a Light Elemental encased in a 'crumbling' earthy shell. His mane and tail are also composed of golden light, but of a lighter hue. His most eldritch trait is his face, which shows mirrored reflections of whoever's looking at him as their best selves. His wings, while relatively staying the same, has feathers made of golden light. His Cutie Mark has mutated further to include a patch of actual flowers on his flank and sun 'rays' that are actually lines illuminating light. His overall appearance shifts depending on his actions - he looks withered and dim, with dying plants and foliage, if he starts reverting back to his old toxic mindsets, but becomes healthy and radiant again once he lets them go. It's noted his appearance is symbolic of how people and their potential can be affected by what they learn and/or believe in.
• Anthropomorphic Personification: This is very common among deities and even demi-deities. Much like the Alicorns and Draconequui of the Pony POV Series, many deities of the Codexverse embody some sort of Concept(s), and thus play a role in the Balance Between Good and Evil that sustains Equus, for good or ill.
  • There are various deities who embody "Good" and benevolent Concepts such as Love, Good, Strength, Justice, Peace, Unity, Empathy, Truth, Humility, Growth, Faith, Temperance, Courage, Protection, Growth, Knowledge, and Potential. On the other hand, there are deities with "Evil" Concepts, such as Suffering, War, Darkness, Cruelty, Pride, Poison, Hatred, Conquest, Fury, Poverty, Decay, Debt, and Greed... but given how the Codexverse has a very broad and complex morality spectrum, how "Good" and "Evil" a person can be, mortal or divine, varies wildly.
  • Elemental deities, as indicated by their name, will usually embody a certain element depending on their nature, though non-Elemental deities can possess elemental powers if it relates to their Concept(s) on a symbolic level, such as Prince Written Word having air magic to represent the easily-spreadable nature of ideas, and Prince Stoltur Skjöldur having ice magic to represent the empowering and corrupting effects of Pride.
  • Meanwhile, there are "Parental Deities", who usually embody the race they created or uplifted into sapience in terms of morality and/or physical and magical abilities - if the latter, then they possess greater versions of their mortal "children"'s powers as divines. Ironically, these traits often make Parental Deities more "human" than many deities in the Codexverse. Examples include Queen Mzazi (Zebras), Satori (Llamas), King Baarish (Elephants), Sultana Sahra' (Camels), High King Irminsul and High Queen Arvan (Cervinae Cervids like Deerkind), High King Kaldr (Capreolinae Cervids like Moose/Elk/Caribou), Upepo (Giraffes), Queen Tiara (Sauropods), Marlu (Kangaroos), Mampfen (Diamond Dogs), King Equus (Equines), Prince Arcaniss (Mana Drakes), Emperor Golden Scepter (Earthponies) and his triplet brothers Platinum Crown (Unicorn ponies) and Diamond Mantle (Pegasus ponies), and Golden Scepter's sister Pearl Tiara (Sea Ponies).
• Anti-Anti-Christ:
  • Luminiferous, the clone/son of Morning Star, the one responsible for the destruction of the prehistoric Alicorn civilization, is this. His father created him to use as a living weapon to destroy his enemies, but Luminiferous (somehow) ended up raised by a loving family and turning into a noble hero who ultimately defeated his father and became one of the setting's Big Good entities.
  • Flœrð, the adoptive Jotunn son of High King Kaldr of the Hoyklan pantheon, was fated to cause the Codexverse's equivalent of Ragnarok due to being born a Trickster God that was adopted into another divine pantheon, which had in the past been responsible for kick-starting many Ragnaroks. This caused some gods like Irminsul to advocate for Flœrð's death and/or suppression for the good of all Deerkind, but Kaldr realized that to do so would make him no better than Irminsul, who abused Temnobog simply for being born "evil" despite not having done anything to truly warrant it, and likely imbue Flœrð with the same bitterness and resentment that drove all previous Trickster Gods against their Pantheons. Because of Kaldr's choice to become a good father instead, Flœrð became a heroic and well-adjusted trickster instead, and is actively fighting his supposed "destiny" by doing good deeds, despite what some people might say.
• Anti-Mentor: As High King of the Elternteil Deer Pantheon, Irminsul has personally mentored many Alvslog Deer who showed promise and upholds the ways of the Alvslog Deer Herds, hoping to raise them to greatness so they can lead their mortal children to greatness in turn. Problem is, he is not exactly the nicest or wisest mentor there is, with his experiences and beliefs making him an extremely unpleasant person in the eyes of many. This, combined with his own pride making him unable to see or acknowledge his own flaws, has led to Irminsul infecting those he mentors as well, making them just as haughty, stubborn, puristic, reactionary, xenophobic as he is. The Alvslog Deer Herds themselves are blind to how flawed their divine patron/mentor is, however, and continue to praise him, contributing to Irminsul's inflated ego and potentially leading everyone down paths that could ruin them in the long run.
• The Anti-Nihilist: Many heroic forces fall into this: yes, the universe is so vast, so massive, and so beyond comprehension that the actions of a single person on a tiny world seem meaningless. Yes, things seem trapped in a natural cycle of destruction where things rise and then fall. Yes, the universe itself is not inherently good and justice is not a universal concept... which is why these heroes decide that if such things don't naturally exist, they will make them exist. They will do something about that situation and make the universe a nicer, more benevolent place. Notably, this is a bigger deal than even they realize, as the arcane fabric of the universe is imprinted upon and influenced by such things, so while the universe has no inherit benevolence, the actions and beliefs of mortals can create it. It's implied that this was exactly what the Architects intended.
• Anti-Villain: Maul nearly wiped out everyone on the Equestrian subcontinent, but he was simply a cornered animal with above-average intelligence doing what he believed necessary to survive.
• Appeal to Tradition: Deconstructed. Reactionaries and traditionalists are almost always portrayed as little more than stubborn, delusional romantics who end up destroying themselves and others with their obsession with the 'old ways' and their refusal to accept change. The transient nature of all things within the vast timescales of the setting renders any appeal to traditions hollow, because at the end of the day they only matter as little as everything else.
  • Because of the Elternteil Deer Pantheon's influence, the Alvslog Deer Herds are deeply conservative, adhering to the ancient traditions of precursor Deer civilizations that promoted racial/moral purity and stalwartness as well as living In Harmony with Nature. Unfortunately, said traditions advocate the persecution of all things deemed 'evil' and 'corrupt', including non-Deer and Deer hybrids, causing the Alvslog Deer Herds to become increasingly puristic and xenophobic. Their perceived successes as rulers/guardians of nature has also led to them developing a collective arrogance as well. As a result, many creatures and divines, including other non-Alvslog Deer Herds, hate the Alvslog Deer for their attitudes and treatment of others.
  • Confusionism (based on the real-life Confucianism) is an ancient Chineighese philosophy that advocated filial piety, loyalty to the government, and devotion to tradition and rituals. Created by the Chineighese scholar, Confusious, Confusionism was a response to the extreme political unrest that plagued Chineigha at the time of the 'Summer and Winter' and subsequent 'Warring States' periods, with the intention to create a perfect society ruled by 'supreme' virtuous mortals called the 'Junzi'. While it was hugely popular in the Second Age in Chineigha and later much of the Far East, the main problem is that Confusionism was horribly oppressive, promoting Blind Obedience to a stagnant and stratefied hierarchy that glorifies the past to almost reactionary degrees. The other problem is that Confusious, while well-meaning, was ultimately a product of his time, and the attitudes reflected in his philosophy created a toxic culture filled with misogyny and honor-based abuses. The end result was Chineigha (and the rest of the Far East) falling behind in social, cultural and technological progress, leading to its infamous 'Century of Humiliation' at the hooves of its imperialistic Western counterparts, as well as decades of devastating Civil War and revolutions after the imperial regime finally collapsed. The latest Oriental pantheon that would inherit rulership of Chineigha, now Qilina, realized what a bad idea Confusionism was and replaced it with philosophies that are more tolerant to both progress and the rights of sapient creatures by the present day.
• Arch-Enemy:
  • King Brachion and his rogue, heroic creation, Kick Hopper, are fierce enemies, though Brachion seems to respect Kick Hopper and possibly even view him as his Worthy Opponent. On the other hand, the same can't be said about Winter Changeling Sparassidae Avalon, who he disapproves of for being a glorified sports hunter that kills for fun rather than a wild predator acting on natural instincts.
  • King Metrinii and his Spring Court counterpart, Queen Zoraptera, are also this, with an infamous intercourt rivalry. Namely, Zoraptera is dedicated to finding a counter to every one of Metrinii's chemical weapons and Metrinii is dedicated to finding one she can't counter.
  • For some reason, Empress Blackrose developed a deep grudge for Emperor Blackthorn and his ilk, even fuming in rage (and spawning storm clouds!) after the latter offered to lend her aid during the First-Spawn Rebellion. For his part, Blackthorn still loves her, but it's likely his more detestable traits drove Blackrose away. It's later revealed that Blackrose's hatred of Blackthorn stems from him seducing her with the fabled 'Love Poison' and sleeping with her while she was under the influence (granted, he was under its influence as well, but what he did still counted as rape). It's eventually deconstructed; Blackrose was so traumatized that she grew hateful and bitter towards her resulting children, the fabled 'Zeroth Spawns', and horrifically abused them just for being related to her rapist. Two of her children, Danaus and her twin brother, Actias, were left with scarred bodies and a deep grudge against her as a result. While Blackrose eventually realized how horrible she was as a mother and tried to make amends with the Zeroth Spawns, she admits that each of her children have every right to hate her.
  • Gleaming Shield and Radiant Primrose have an Eternal Foe, Blood Fang the Dark Conqueror, whom they must fight for the fate of Hyrule. The feeling is mutual. It's noted, however, that both Temnobog and his Temnoist worshipers see their constant conflict and opposition as a good thing, since it'll ensure that Hyrule will never stagnate, with Blood Fang working directly under Temnobog to ensure the spread of constructive Evil.
  • Golden Scepter has made quite a few bitter enemies in his long life:
    • He saw Morning Star as this and for good reason - Morning Star became evil out of arrogance, and caused massive destruction and death in trying to achieve his twisted ideas of "perfection", leading to the fall of the Alicorn Civilization. It eventually gets deconstructed - the traumas he suffered from fighting Morning Star and protecting innocents from his faction affected Golden Scepter so profoundly that he started having nightmares and hallucinations about the evil Alicorn long after he died. His hatred of Morning Star also caused him to act hostile towards his enemy's "son", Luminiferous, due to looking exactly like Morning Star despite not doing anything evil. However, the Character Development he went through as The Atoner, therapy sessions with Mentálne, and learning how Good Needs Evil during his stay in the Bogolenya pantheon has helped him let go of his grudge and ironically become one of Luminiferous's best friends.
    • His entry notes that in the Fourth Age, Golden Scepter became a very bitter enemy of supremacist groups such as the Autorists and various Tribalist factions like the Scions of Hurricane, as they display the same hateful bigotry that he once had towards everyone not of Ponykind. However, despite this, he is also willing to save those who joined said groups because they were genuinely misled. It's because of this that he doesn't think treating them as targets of mockery is funny because in his eyes, for every person who willingly gave in to evil, hatred, and cruelty, there's always a few more who can be saved and redeemed.
    • In a roundabout way, he would be seen as one by Exosus, a maddened Alicorn King and war criminal who held a very hateful grudge towards him for reasons unknown. However, Golden Scepter wouldn't return the sentiment as Morning Star and his cruel actions warranted more focus at the time. When they do fight in the present day, Golden Scepter was influenced to let go of his hatred for him when one of his sons, Prince Steel Barricade, turned out to have developed "technological empathy" and revealed that many of Exosus's Mecha-Mooks had been forced to turn against organic sapientkind to justify his own hatred.
  • Ahuizotl naturally serves this for Daring Do, being featured as a major antagonistic force in the story "Temple of the Shining Queen" in Tales of Equestria.
• The Archmage: There are many individuals, both divine and mortal, who can wield incredible arcane power. In the case of divines, some of them are this by virtue of embodying concepts relating to magic and sorcery.
  • Noble Grace is an incredibly powerful unicorn sorceress, mostly due to her wealthy background giving her access to higher education, and her voracious childhood desire to learn everything that she could. In addition to age manipulation magic, which is described as being a highly-coveted yet extremely difficult magic to master among unicorns, she knows a variety of elemental spells such as fire, water, earth, and air. This, along with her Affably Evil behavior, is what makes her a truly dangerous person, since she wouldn't hesitate to attack and destroy anyone who opposes her and her beliefs despite her nice, encouraging, and friendly personality. Notably, one of her former students, a then-young Scarlet Bell, understandably feared getting injured or killed by her during a confrontation, but still did it anyway because her desire to save her classmates was stronger than her fear.
  • Kúzelník is a Deer god of Sorcery, Transformation, and Duality, which along with his intelligence and aptitude makes him a powerful sorcerer. He can use both White Magic and Black Magic, as well as elemental magic and other forms of sorcery like ritual magic, druidism, and potion-making. His Transformation domain makes him an expert in Voluntary Shapeshifting, so much that the Alvslog Deer Herds call him "the Sorcerer/Prince of a Thousand Faces". He also possesses strong Psychic Powers, but he sees Prince Crimson Star as the better psychic due to embodying Psionics. His great power made his parents fear his potential of becoming an Evil Sorcerer like Grogar, so they tried restricting him to only "good" magic... but it not only made him magically weaker, it also gave him insecurities over his identity once he discovered the extent of his parents' hypocrisy via what happened to his unborn brother. Only after saving a non-Deer kingdom from a tyrannical cabal of sorcerers with 'evil' magic did he accept both aspects of his Sorcery domain.
  • Prince Varázsló, one of Kúzelník's infernal grandnephews, is an Alicorn-Deer Draconequus god of Magic, Knowledge, Fate, and Hope. Because he was thrown into the Well of Eternity as a young foal, he was given a massive power boost, turning him into one of the most powerful sorcerers of the Bogolenya Deer Pantheon. While his powers and capabilities are the same as Kúzelník's, he leans towards psionic magic and was tutored in Malrègnarian dark magic by Vicearch Iniquitous. And through his other domains, he can do things like mess with people's memories, perceive multiple futures and alternate timelines/dimensions, bind people to fates (or make them immune to fate), and warp reality. However, because he was never able to properly grow into his power, he's Unskilled, but Strong, which both Kúzelník and Golden Scepter are helping him overcome.
  • Much like Magnus the Red, Prince Crimson Star is currently one of the most powerful psychics in Equus, being surpassed only by his father, Golden Scepter, which is rather fitting since they both embody Psionics. This stemmed from absorbing a huge amount of magic while protecting a group of students from a dangerous ritual they cast to give themselves more knowledge. However, it is believed that Crimson Star has the potential to equal or even surpass Golden Scepter himself one day. According to Princess Twilight, meeting Kúzelník, an older Deer god of Sorcery and a fellow psychic, caused him to "Squee", and the feeling was mutual.
  • As a deity of Sorcery, Princep Indicum Occento an incredibly powerful sorcerer. Their domain grants them access to various branches of magic like Black Magic, White Magic, Psionics, Alchemy, and Druidism. They can sense the presence of magic and strip someone of their magic indefinitely. They can also reverse-engineer any spell, whether "good" or "evil", which makes them a nightmare against Evil Sorcerers like Hydianites. However, their domain functions similarly to Queen Aoide's domain of Musical Magic — they channel their spells through music and song. This comes from them being the Fusion Dance between Princess Winter Opera and her former mentor, Blue Suede Heartstrings, both of them equally powerful spellcasters themselves.
  • While not academically smart (he dropped out of high school as a teenager three Ages ago), Moon Ray Vaughoof (now Prince Canticum Lunae Cahaya) is pretty intelligent and perceptive everywhere else. He also has incredibly strong Psychic Powers and is believed by many In-Universe to be one of the most powerful psychics of his generation. While Moon Ray/Canticum's most famous ability is precognition, he learned water-based psychic attacks under Emperor Golden Scepter's tutelage. Re-Ascending as an eldritch deity strengthened his psychic powers to the point where he could bend reality on a whim. He also drove the Nemesis Crown into insanity by showing it every single vision he had as Caelum Filum, an impressive feat since the Nemesis Crown was crafted (and existed) during the heyday of the Alicorn Civilization. As an Alicorn King and a member of the Church of the Stars, he serves as one of many spiritual leaders and mentor figures alongside others like him. He's also widely seen as the most powerful Seer of his generation, especially after re-Ascending, because his visions are clear and far-reaching, but he's rather contemptuous of this view.
  • Twilight Sparkle (now Princess Amicitia Sparkle Equestria) is presently one of the most intelligent and magically powerful mages alive, and even before Ascending to godhood, she had so much potential that it led to her becoming the student of Celestia herself. She can quickly learn and utilize a vast library's worth of spells on a whim, strip others of their magic indefinitely, and, notably, finished a spell that even Starswirl the Bearded, a Pillar of Equestria and powerful mage himself, had difficulty with. And despite fighting Tirek with the combined powers of all Equestrian Alicorn Princesses at once, most of her power belonged to herself and Cadence while Tirek was partially empowered with Discord's stolen power, meaning that on her own, she has the power to surpass even Discord himself. What helps her is her status as a 'prodigy deity', giving her greater magic reserves on top of accelerated growth rates. Luminiferous, himself a prodigy, has noted both her magical potential and overall potential as a deity rivals his own at his age, which is saying a lot. Her becoming the official reincarnation of Mana Equus all but effectively formalized her status as this for all of Equidkind.
  • Blue Suede Heartstrings (now King Caerulus Melodia Equestria-Corporatum) is considered to be by far one of the most powerful musical mages in the world, and for good reason. Blue Suede sees spellcasting the same way as a musician sees music, and thus uses music to cast Unicorn-related spells like Elemental Powers and Summon Magic. After reincarnating as Mana Equus, he became capable of things like calling down cosmic phenomena, casting spells of the powerful yet notoriously complex Malrègnarian Dark Magic branch (though he generally saves them for dire situations), and altering reality itself. And at one point, he left Vicearch Iniquitous' divine avatar almost completely exhausted during their Wizard Duel, despite ultimately losing; for comparison, both Queen Hocus Pocus and Karaldina De Hex either fought Iniquitous to a standstill or merely lasted longer than her other opponents did. Even Princess Twilight Sparkle, herself a famous magical prodigy, admits that Blue Suede vastly outclasses her in terms of music.
  • Befitting their relations to Tuzu, the Magic Primeval, many of the Filii Magicae are ancient deities, as well as incredibly powerful spellcasters. Of note, one of them, Prince Stella Fictor Cahaya, is a very powerful Seer who's skilled in using various divination methods, and one of the most powerful astrologers known to the public who is capable of wielding Star magic like Queen Dazzleglow and the Sparkle Ponies of Kerajaan Cahaya. He also has created entire Pocket Dimensions that housed and accommodated the needs of everyone inside, including entire races, and makes a point to other different branches of magic. There's also his Grand Primeval/Alicorn heritage, which gives him magical power far greater than what the typical Alicorn in his age-group possesses. He's also the one who taught the people of Kerajaan Cahaya the 'Voice of the Stars' ability, which netted him the position of chief astronomer in the Church of the Stars. For bonus points, he served as headmaster of a magical academy he founded during the Alicorn Civilization's heyday.
  • Magic Star (now Princess Magicum Ponyland) is called "the Supreme Enchantress", and for good reason. Even as a mortal, she was an extremely talented wand-maker and enchantress, even helping Queen Majesty craft the Wands of Ponyland using materials provided by the Grand Primevals. When she became the Alicorn goddess of Enchantments and Wand-Making, she naturally became even more powerful; she can create powerful, long-lasting wands and artifacts that are perfectly suited to their user(s), and many artifacts she created in the First Age still retain their enchantments for tens of thousands of years. She can also enchant things that otherwise wouldn't be able to be enchanted, like Anti-Magic materials. And after re-Ascending as a divine Reincarnation of Plasmatio Equus, she becomes a goddess of Creation, allowing her to create whatever she pleased (though she's quite inexperienced with it). In addition, she's an extremely powerful mage and is capable of defending herself in a magical fight. Even her Codex entries outright label her as an Archmage in recognition of her power and talent.
  • While not as powerful as Queen Dark Crystal, a Hydianite witch-turned-Anthropomorphic Personification of Evil who nearly succeeded in turning Equus (then called Tellus) into a corrupt hellhole during the Second Age, Grand Matron Hydia was still regarded as one of the most powerful witches to have ever lived. She was so powerful she was known to have destroyed entire kingdoms on her own, and was skilled in making magical potions and monsters. Notably, one of Hydia's best and most powerful creations was the Smooze, a "living flood" capable of destroying continents and corrupting people into angry, spiteful beings by suppressing their "spark". She was also capable of fighting Queen Majesty, who was titled "Mage Magnificent" in life due to her sheer magical power and talent, and became one of few mortals capable of doing so. It apparently ran in the family, as Hydia's deceased mother, Grand Matron Alexis, was similarly very powerful, and her entry also outright called her an "archmage".
  • In reference to how magic is highly prized in Unicorn cultures/societies, Archduke Regal Pillar Heartstrings is a powerful mage who takes after his adoptive Papa, Blue Suede/Caerulus, in both sheer skill and talent. Being a Unicorn god, Regal Pillar honed his tribal magic to a finer degree, making him more experienced in Unicorn magic than a typical Alicorn. And as a god of Power, he specifically embodies magical power — though not to the level of deities like Blue Suede/Caerulus and Twilight/Amicitia, both who embody some form of magic, Regal Pillar wields a huge repertoire of spells, including elemental magic, reality-warping, and spatial manipulation. His true talents, however, lie in dark magic, such as occult and eldritch spells used by cults operating within the most insidious and wicked noble Houses — according to Blue Suede/Caerulus, Regal Pillar began learning Malrègnarian Dark Magic from him by watching him cast musical spells within that school of magic. There's also how Regal Pillar attended Canterlot's School for Gifted Unicorns while disguised as a young Unicorn colt, contributing to his magical prowess. Due to his status, many Unicorn nobles have prayed to him for magic-related matters, like getting stronger magic or access to rare lore and spells.
  • Melody of the Virtuous Seven is retroactively seen as an Archmage due to her incredible power and talent in Magic Music, being capable of things like opening/closing dimensional barriers with her voice (an ability her Evil Counterpart, Melodrama, also shared). This is helped by her being a natural-born prodigy. She was so powerful that she became one of few people who could legitimately rival Blue Suede Heartstrings as the greatest musician of the Second Age. When Melody became an Alicorn demigoddess of Music, her musical powers became even stronger, though she's naturally weaker than Blue Suede due to how divine aging works.
  • Blue Diadem is explicitly called this by her entry, and for good reason — of Silk Dawn's four oldest daughters, she's the one who is the most skilled in spellcasting, bearing the strongest capacity for magic. Many applications of her domains focus on the magical aspects of them; while emotion manipulation and energy blasts are part of the list, Blue Diadem can cast various other spells through her domains, like creating portals and illusions, summoning tidal waves and floods, healing injuries, and purifying dark magic. Furthering her power is her Magic Staff, which she uses to channel her powers through and cast greater spells. Blue Diadem's entry also notes that as a goddess of Water, she's even more powerful than her adoptive father, Moon Ray Vaughoof, had been back when he was a Water god, both due to divine aging and having more experience than him.
  • Mana Equus, also known as "The Thirteenth Empyrean", is widely considered to be the greatest and most powerful spellcaster in Equinekind's history, and for good reason. As Equinekind's first goddess of Magic, she not only possesses a vast, eidetic memory regarding all branches of magic known to Equinekind, but also created them herself. Her skill is such that she can combine multiple branches in complex ways that go beyond the scope of what they're normally capable of, and has personally created various spells, artifacts, and weapons that she and others had used over the Ages. Furthering her magical prowess are her domains of Friendship, which makes her spells even stronger when she is with friends, and Mana, which allows her to use and control primal energies found within Equus' atmosphere. Fittingly, she taught countless students in her lifetime, including her older siblings, and it is believed In-Universe that had she survived to the present Age, she could have easily defeated even other divine prodigy spellcasters like Vicearch Iniquitous, Archwizard Manamagus, Overlord Vondur, and Lady Thauma.
• Armor Is Useless: Played with. She only wears sorcerer's robes, but due to being a skilled enchantress bar none, she was able to enchant her robes so they act as armor for her in lieu of actual armor. However, she has taken to wearing a silver peytral with orange topaz gemstones inserted into it, which she enchanted herself to strengthen her Faith domain.
• Arc Villain: Generally averted; as Codex Equus focuses on worldbuilding and character-building, the villains in each arc story tend to have a significant influence on the overall storyline and lend to central themes prevalent in the story.
  • Dread, a mutated Dreadmare, for the Storm of Terror entry, who attacked the town of Clear Waters during the early years of Equestria.
  • Maul, a Temper Troll chieftain, for the War of Rage entry, who led the subcontinent's entire population of his kind in a war on Equestria.
  • Yamata no Orochi, the Dragon God of Darkness, is essentially this for the overarching story arc in Neighpon.
  • The Storm King is naturally this for the Storm King Crisis.
  • King Xestobium serves as this for the "The Wrath of Xestobium" entry, launching a genocidal campaign against the dragons that could potentially cause a mass extinction event.
  • Propagare, the God of Propaganda, is being built up as a more long-term one. He egged on and encouraged Xestobium's omnicidial ambitions as a step in his own plans.
  • Princess Apterus for the "Revenge of Apterus" story serves as the main antagonistic force, though it was through absolutely no fault of her own.
  • Ahuizotl naturally serves this for Daring Do, being featured as a major antagonistic force in the story "Temple of the Shining Queen" in Tales of Equestria.
  • Dr. Toxikon for the "Toxikon Strikes Back" story.
  • The Shadowed Ones, a group of malicious Eldritch Abominations who all embody Primordial Darkness, are the true villains of the "Final Ragnarok" arc, being ultimately the ones responsible for Surtr's destructive rampages and other depravities, as well as the deaths, destruction, and suffering that afflicted Cervidia and other related Deer realms.
• Arc Words: In addition to the staple 'Friendship is Magic', a number of sayings and phrases that underpin the central themes of the
  • "Destiny is the creed of tyrants and the excuse of fools" - This Second Age proverb repeatedly showed up in many entries involving either fate or an Evil Overlord plays a major role, partly to reflect the Screw Destiny central theme that is prevalent through the series, but also the hubris and foolishness of those who believe in their own greatness and significance even before the vast scales of the setting, as well as those who uses them to justify their atrocities and absolve themselves responsibility for their own misdeeds and mistakes.
  • "Think what you will." - Changeling Emperor Blackthorn's personal motto, which marks not only his enigmatic, scheming and deceptive nature, but could also be extrapolated to the secretive nature of the Summer Court and the entirety of Changelingkind. Regardless of what had been revealed and hinted so far, Changelingkind remains a mystery to readers both in-universe and out, subjected to speculation, and many Changelings would rather keep it that way.
  • "The Changelings MUST survive." - Highlights Changelingkind's obsession with survival, no matter the costs, a tenet around which the entirety of Changelingkind revolves around besides their secrecy and their racial curse.
  • "We can't all predict everything." - Moon Ray Vaughoof's motto in regards to predicting the future. Though one of the most powerful psychics and Seers on the planet, Moon Ray personally believes the future is not set in stone, so therefore it is impossible for anyone, including himself, to predict every possible aspect of the future itself. Even after re-Ascending to eldritch godhood and accepting his repressed Prophecy domain, he still doesn't see himself as The Omniscient, and for the same reasons.
• Armies Are Evil:
  • Khakiston is a young divine embodiment of this, being the god of warmongers, military dictatorships and amoral warriors. He also happens to be a Giant Divine, and has the personality of a sadistic bully who derives pleasure from tormenting those weaker/smaller than him.
  • The Storm Empire's forces at their worst, if we go by what we know in canon and implied so far in the Codexverse. On top of being aggressive, they're depicted as fanatically loyal to the Storm King, whom they revere as the herald/prince of the 'Storm Spirits' that would lead their kind back to glory.
  • Played with the infernal armies of Temnobog and his hybrid children, the Four Terrors. While their various demon servants and Ascended champions do sow Evil in their masters/mistresses' names, the large majority of them practice "constructive" Evil, doing horrific things to test mortal resolve and strength. Those who betray their roles to practice "careless" evil will end up being severely punished for their crimes.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: A sadly common problem in Equus - for every mortal/divine noble/royalty that seeks to help their subjects, there's always someone who will try to counter them to maintain their own power.
  • The foster family that raised Changeling King Lasius were a bunch of stubborn, lazy, incompetent, and greedy nobles and royalty who used their money and power to benefit themselves, while their severely impoverished subjects live in total anarchy. Lasius eventually got so fed up with them that he murdered them all during a welcoming party for Emperor Blackthorn, save for his genuinely benevolent half-sister, Golden Bell. Absolutely no one shed a tear when they died, and when Lasius was revealed to be a Royal Changeling following the fall of the Changeling Masquerade, his subjects didn't care at all since he was a much better ruler than his predecessors. Lasius also helped repair his childhood kingdom by using his dead family's palaces and statues (even the founder's statue!) to pave the roads, effectively getting rid of their memory for good. It's implied that Blackthorn sired Lasius specifically in that kingdom because of his disgust towards their idiotic complacence and incompetence.
  • The nobles of Canterlot are far more insidious than is shown in canon - they are stubborn, corrupt, and backwards, and would do anything to maintain the status quo and keep their power. Some of the nobles are also quite tribalist, with Blueblood's deceased parents and the pro-unicorn Children of Platinum faction being two examples; the latter even attempted to assassinate both Princess Twilight Sparkle as well as her assistant/adoptive son Spike (which was thankfully foiled by Blueblood). They are completely willing to do anything that will ensure their power as well as the current status quo are protected, including assassination and sabotage. If anything, they are the reason why Prince Blueblood gradually lost his overt idealism and hide Hidden Hearts of Gold in order to deal with them, and why the Equestrian government struggled to pass reforms that will overturn outdated policies and benefit the country as a whole.
    • Their backwards policies were also why Equestria as a whole were almost completely unprepared in dealing with the Storm Empire's invasion, with the opposing side nearly decimating their entire military while the Mane Six, their allies, and those within the country desperately led a counter-assault against them. It's also noted in Well-To-Do's entry that several nobles were complicit in the Minotaur's illegal and corrupt activities, and when Blueblood found out, he outright punched the guy in the face for trying to destroy evidence of their wrongdoings before having the Royal Guard arrest the noble and his co-conspirators on the spot.
  • In one incident, Bolezn, the embodiment of Pestilence and one of the Four Terrors, created a devastating plague to punish a Erobreseg Deer kingdom for their blatant disregard of proper hygiene. A Deer Prince, Prince Prospero, arrogantly assumed he can use said plague to kill off his poor, worthless subjects, so he sheltered only the nobility and royalty in his castle and threw lavish masquerade parties for them while everyone else was left to die. Bolezn infiltrated the castle under the guise of a noble dressed as a plague victim, angering Prospero enough to chase him around the castle in an attempt to kill him. By the time everyone inside realized they were infected, it was too late, and they all died slow, agonizing deaths. The event would be recorded by Edgar Allan Pony in the form of an in-universe fictionalized version of Masque of the Red Death, which Bolezn liked so much that he kept a copy in his personal library. Bolezn would admit later that the only regret he had was crashing Prospero's party itself, since it looked like fun and he wanted to join in, but "duty calls, I guess."
• Artifact of Doom: Many examples are recorded in the Codexverse.
  • The Nemesis Crown was originally built with the power to change one's destiny and impart wisdom onto its wearer(s), but because it was made with Warpstone, it drives its wearers to evil and insanity instead. Its influence and fabled power created wars, calamities, and all sorts of misfortune as various factions tried to claim ownership of it, and it would disappear on and off again until it was rediscovered by a research exploration party containing Church of the Stars members, their Angels and mortal worshipers/researchers. The Nemesis Crown tried tempting the party into wearing it with promises of power and wisdom, but one party member, Prince Canticum Lunae Cahaya, engaged it in a psychic battle of wits to protect his friends and punished the crown for its crimes by telepathically driving it into insanity. After researching it, the Church of the Stars would transfer the Nemesis Crown over to N'ghft Vulgtmog, where it was rumored to be sealed away or destroyed by the eldritch royal family.
• Assassin Outclassin': Since Equus is a World of Badass, assassination attempts tend to not go well if the target is experienced and/or powerful enough to defend themselves... or is a divine sovereign.
  • Gilded Stove, one of Golden Scepter's chefs, tried killing him with poisoned spaghetti on orders of local Autorist forces he was working with. Having survived millions of assassination attempts previously, Golden Scepter catches on and is so disapppointed that he not only lectures Gilded Stove for his unoriginality, but also offers a chance to tuition under his nineteen angry demi-divine sons. Gilded Stove chooses to do "the right thing" instead by surrendering and turning himself in to the authorities.
    • A few weeks later, a Griffon Autorist sent Golden Scepter a magical plague bomb for opposing the Autorist movement, but thankfully his twelfth son, Death Shroud, was able to contain it before it detonated. Golden Scepter noted rather nonchalantly that the plague bomb "smells slightly better than the poison one of my chefs tried lacing my spaghetti with a few weeks ago". For reference, the plague bomb's odor was so foul that it made Death Shroud let loose a string of inflammatory curses when he unfortunately caught a whiff of it.
  • Prince Blueblood was subjected to numerous assassination attempts by nobles who wanted to get rid of him, but his status as a war veteran and water mage means said attempts don't succeed. His entry notes he has scars that have since healed over as proof of these incidents. He also prevented an assassination attempt on Twilight Sparkle and Spike by having Luna send her Night Guards to protect them while sending a few of his own loyal entourage to serve as undercover spies. This raised public opinion of him considerably, especially the Mane Six, who didn't think highly of him after his first interactions with Rarity.
• Asshole Victim:
  • While split, a great many feel that the Summer Court deserved the damage Dr. Toxikon did to them for their own misdeeds. However, some point out their hives might not have deserved the same fate, while others like Fetlock Holmes, feel that Toxikon being willing to resort to mass murder is proof he's too unstable to be trusted to stop there. He was right.
  • The Propagare-worshiping cultists, as described in Elske's profile. As directed by their god, the cultists were sowing distrust and hatred among two Deer kingdoms in order to kick-start a war. Elske detected the malicious feelings with her empathy, and after stomping one part of their army and sitting on another while revealing Propagare's deceptions, the Jotunn love goddess proceeded to kill the cultists by either devouring them, or slowly crushing them to death under her hooves as they begged for mercy.
  • The old Orosian gods were also this. Being inspired by the Greek gods, most of them were Jerkass Gods who punished minor/perceived slights and started wars over trivial disagreements. When the "Twilight of the Orosians" and the following "Sixth Taurus Dark Age" happened, no one did anything to save the gods from their own demise. It's later revealed that Canteros, Amareros' oldest son and child, played a part in the Orosian Pantheon's downfall (albeit in disguise) and saved those who showed genuine remorse for their actions. It's deconstructed as a few fallen Orosian gods had loved ones who still cared for them and mourned their deaths, despite acknowledging their fates were very much their own fault.
  • Night Terror, a Erobreseg Deer serial killer who went after young fawns, died after he was immolated by his victims' parents. He was supposed to be taken to Hell by Yarost due to a Deal with the Devil... but Night Terror realized he was Yarost's Unwitting Pawn and secretly made a second deal with Ispita so he can continue killing undeterred. His luck eventually runs out when Princess Luna and Tenya defeated him together and threw him back into the real world, where a furious Yarost was waiting. It's speculated that he's become one of the eternally damned souls that was turned into Yarost's plaything for trying to cheat his way out of his punishment.
  • Changeling King Lasius' foster Pony family mostly consisted of lazy, incompetent, and greedy nobles/royalty who used their power to benefit themselves while their subjects lived in abject poverty. The only good member, Lasius' half-sister Golden Bell, was so disgusted with her family and relatives that she didn't shed a tear when Lasius murdered them all, even planning to do it herself before she was beaten to it. Following the breaking of the Changeling Courts' Masquerade, no one objected to Lasius being a Changeling since he was a much better ruler than his predecessors. When Lasius ascended to the throne, he repaired his family's kingdom by using their palaces and statues, right down to the founder's statue.
  • Prince Prospero, a Erobreseg Deer Prince, likewise was a very selfish and despicable person in life. After Bolezn infected his kingdom with a plague to punish its locals' utter disregard for proper hygiene, Prospero tried using said plague to Kill the Poor, convincing the local nobility and royalty to take shelter in his castle while leaving their subjects to die. In response, Bolezn infiltrated the castle while disguised as a plague victim, and killed everyone inside. No one mourned their deaths, and the event was recorded by Edgar Allan Pony in a short story that Bolezn kept in his library as one of his personal favorites.
  • Back when he was a Prince, King Strazha Svetilo killed his parents and paternal uncle. Afterwards, he and his younger sister, Queen Vesna, inherited their thrones. Strazha's three victims become less sympathetic since they tried pulling off their plan to create a world without lies, which would have potentially destroyed Equus. Temnobog himself even points out that because of their actions, Strazha's victims would be reduced to memories used as a warning for those who tried following in their footsteps.
• The Atoner:
  • The Nameless Queen, one of the Changeling Queens banished to the Winter Court, eventually had a Heel Realization after she was saved from a dragon by a good-hearted pony, but refuses to return to her mother's court until she's atoned for her crimes. To keep track of every good deed she's done, she's scratched tallies into her own carapace.
  • Empress Blackrose became this three times.
    • The first time was realizing that she became a cruel, unyielding, and ruthless tyrant not unlike Emperor Blackthorn before/during the First-Spawn Rebellion after one of her First-Spawn daughters revealed she and her siblings rebelled out of love for her. The discovery of her rebellious children's motives left her so shaken that she resolved to always be the kind, loving mother she used to be.
    • The second time was realizing (after being called out by some of her more reasonable children as well as several non-Changeling deities) that her grudge and racism against Dragonkind hurt people close to her, such as Queen Acherontia and her husband Dragon lord Vulcan, and their hybrid daughter, Princess Apertus. She later made up for it by unsealing Queen Acherontia and Dragon Lord Vulcan, and reincarnating Apertus into a newborn egg after she was put down.
    • The third time was when she decided to reconnect with the Zeroth Spawns, whom she was monstrously abusive towards for being born from her and Emperor Blackthorn while she was under the 'Love Poison' that Blackthorn gave her to woo her.
  • Emperor Golden Scepter did many "dishonest" things before and after the "Twilight of the Alicorns", such as sleeping with both mares and stallions. And despite his best efforts, his PTSD and other untreated issues led to a slew of terrible mistakes during his reign over the Imperium of Ponykind. After the "Aurum Apostasy" got him sealed away and he woke up in the Second Age, he realized how horrific his actions were, especially after Luminiferous showed him the ruins of the fallen Imperium, and traveled all over Equus for three Ages.
    • He restored the similarly ancient King Ibrida after finding him in stasis, and apologized for the Imperium's actions towards the Halfblood Empire, accepting full responsibility despite not being the one who ordered the attacks. He also protected and hid away innocent people from the Void Sovereign and his allies during the "Void Aeon" event, which proved instrumental in helping Equus rebuild once the Third Age started. As he later revealed to Princess Twilight/Amicitia Sparkle, he threw away his Alicorn name, Auriolus Scaeptrum, because he is disgusted with what he had done under that name and sees it as a symbol of everything wrong with the Alicorn Civilization. He has since re-adopted his birth name, Golden Scepter, in an attempt to return to his "roots" and distance himself from his people. By the time the Fourth Age started, he has founded the much smaller Terran Empire, and his experiences influenced him to become a loving father and a truly benevolent ruler.
    • Even in the Fourth Age, after becoming more benevolent and founding the Terran Empire, he'S still atoning for his crimes through raising his nineteen sons, who are all implied to be Reincarnations of the Imperium's "Golden Generals" who once worked under him. Written Word is one notable example; during the Imperium era, Golden Scepter punished one of his Generals for promoting religious worship of him by burning an entire city he founded to the ground, turning said General against him. When he discovered that Written Word was also secretly promoting religious worship of him, Golden Scepter instead chose to rationally and calmly deal with the situation by taking his devoted son aside, explaining what he's really doing, and telepathically showing him his own memories of religion. This ensured that Written Word would never repeat the mistakes of his predecessor, as he instead learned the true value of Faith and become an Alicorn demigod. Other sons include Blazing Hoof, Night Shade, Crimson Star, Death Shroud, and Red Blade, who never found reason to rebel against their father thanks to Golden Scepter loving them and treating them well.
    • He also reconciled with his descendant/adoptive daughter, Queen Majesty, whom he last saw alive in the Imperium era during a nasty argument that led to Majesty turning against him and opposing his empire. Golden Scepter realized that he had been a horrible parent to her when she was still alive, so when he encountered her spirit in the Enchanted Throne, he apologized to Majesty and stated that he was proud of her for everything she did in life. Majesty forgave him and replied that she was proud of him, too, even finally calling him "father" after being forbidden by Golden Scepter from calling him that for years under his care.
    • Eventually, while unconfirmed in-universe, it's because of this trope that he would be visited one night by Canteros, Amareros' firstborn son and the god of Requited Love and Reconciliation. Canteros was proud of Golden Scepter's actions, and congratulated him for breaking free from his people's mistakes while atoning for his own sins, instead of just secluding himself as the surviving Alicorns had done after their fall.
    • He would also invoke this trope by encouraging people who made mistakes to make up for them. When Kúzelník became willing to let Temnobog hurt him in retaliation for eons of emotional abuse he inflicted on his younger brother, Golden Scepter broke him out of this self-scapegoating mindset and encouraged him to make amends with his siblings instead of hurting himself. When Rhiannon became rather depressed over her own misdeeds as an Elternteil Deer goddess, Golden Scepter comforted and encouraged her to make amends for her actions, causing the Coltic Pantheon to develop good relations with the Terran Empire.
  • Rhiannon, the Deer goddess of the Moon, became one after leaving the Elternteil Deer Pantheon. At one point, she entered a period of depression over guilt towards her past misdeeds, which included enabling her family's worst actions and flaws out of tradition and loyalty to them, and condoning her siblings' abuse of Temnobog. Emperor Golden Scepter comforted and encouraged her to make amends with those she hurt, as he had been through a similar situation and committed many sins himself. This also led to Rhiannon and by extension, the Coltic Pantheon, having good relations with the Terran Empire.
  • Kúzelník became this after running away from home. Seeing how toxic and hypocritical the Elternteil Deer Pantheon is, especially his parents, caused him to regret many of his actions, including his emotional abuse of Temnobog, his younger brother. Despite giving Temnobog a heartfelt apology, he initially believed that any retribution is well-deserved and was even willing to let Temnobog injure him so he could atone. However, Golden Scepter broke Kúzelník out of this mindset by encouraging him to learn from his mistakes and make amends with his siblings instead of hurting himself out of penance, something that he took to heart and follows to this day.
  • Much like what his father did years before, Prince Crimson Star would atone for the bad things he had done when he was an Insufferable Genius, which eventually warranted his Ascension to demi-Alicornhood.
    • After he was blinded saving a classmate from a runaway, out-of-control carriage, and his attempts to restore his sight were swiftly ended by Golden Scepter (who killed the demon he summoned in exchange for a cure), Crimson Star became rather depressed and suicidal upon realizing he is now no better than those he deemed beneath him. He initially tried atoning for his actions by turning himself into a scapegoat for even his own brothers, fully knowing he'll potentially die, but was saved by Blazing Hoof and taken to the infirmary by Golden Scepter, where he would be called out for torturing himself excessively for the sake of atonement, not caring if his loved ones would be affected by his death. This would lead to Crimson Star learning the proper way to redeem himself and made amends with those he had wronged by helping them improve their academic learning and practicing complex magical and psychic techniques with them.
    • Despite genuinely loving and respecting Steel Barricade as both his brother and an intellectual peer, Crimson Star's arrogance and other vices would gradually rub off on him until Steel Barricade essentially became a worse version of himself, being an attention-starved Glory Seeker who bore a deeply resentful grudge against their older brother, Clear Voice, in addition to being an Insufferable Genius. While Crimson Star managed to keep him on a leash (at least until he was blinded), his growing concern for Steel Barricade would create arguments between them whenever he tried correcting the latter's behavior. Steel Barricade challenging Clear Voice to a very destructive duel over an insult was when Crimson Star decided he finally had enough, and risked his own life to break them up by shielding Clear Voice from an incapacitating attack with his own body, and "blowing Steel Barricade away" with his Psychic Powers despite still recovering from injuries given by Fanged Paw. He regretted being such a bad influence for his younger brother that after Steel Barricade became an Alicorn demigod during his exile and had to be persuaded to come home after he went globetrotting for some more years, Crimson Star apologized to him and has been trying to make amends with him even to this day.
  • After leaving the Poenan Pantheon and rediscovering certain truths about himself, Silver Bane would first study under the mortal disciples of Satori, then travel all over Equus to atone for the various crimes he committed as a Poenan follower. In fact, while he was in a coma, he was able to reconcile with his "dark half" by offering it to start over as his equal so they could both make up for what they had done, leading to him transforming into a Dhampyr in the real world and waking up from his coma after they mentally fused together. One of the locations he was spotted in was Abyssinia, as he wanted to make amends with Felicia, a kindhearted were-cat, for his former Poenan peers attacking her orphanage.
• Author Appeal: Owing to the considerable number of collaborating authors working on the project simultaneously, many of authors' own unique appeals to certain genres, styles, plots and characters shines through the entries, with just as many unique interests as they share in common.
  • Brutalityinc: - morally-ambiguous conflicts, clashing worldviews/cultures/ideologies, historical grievances, sweeping-scaled narratives, WAR, the Übermensch archetype, Cultured Badass / Wicked Cultured, Guile Hero, The Chessmaster combined with the Manipulative Bastard and perhaps The Strategist, multi-dimensional Well-Intentioned Extremist characters with complex motives and sympathetic backstories, deconstruction of villains and villainous tropes, the Noble Demon, The Hedonist, The Assimilator, the Big Eater, EXTREMELY-unflattering portrayals of reactionaries of any stripes, incredibly detailed entries on military/civilian technology, scientifically-quantifiable/explainable magic (and Science Fantasy in general), unfiltered depiction of historical atrocities, scathing implicit social commentaries, critiques on sapient condition, Alternate History, Mêlée à Trois scenarios, Gambit Pileup...
  • Randomfan11: - Greaser Delinquents (quite a few Codexverse characters are benevolent, heroic Greasers), music (including the works of Elvis Presley and Stevie Ray Vaughan, which partially influenced their inclusion into the Codexverse), psychic characters, family bonding/drama, opportunities for characters to Earn Your Happy Ending, sympathetic backstories, Karma Houdinis getting their comeuppance (especially if they didn't get it in their source material), The Power of Friendship, deconstructions of certain tropes, people being taken to task by others over amoral and/or questionable decisions in general.
  • Kendell2: - The Cape, Evil Counterparts (and Good Counterparts), Kaiju, the various works of Kamen Rider (and Tokusatsu shows in general), skunks, Angels With Scaly Wings.

• Autism in Media:
  • Sherlock and Jade Shell of the Researcher Trio are both autistic, and Godzillawolf, the one who Sherlock is an Author Avatar of, is actually autistic himself. Both have difficulty with Sensory Overload among other problems.
  • Fremder, Rongoa's adopted daughter, has nonverbal autism. Not only does this mean she's mute, she also has symptoms such as difficulty emoting, being vulnerable to Sensory Overload, and stimming.
  • Gotaro Kujo Goldstar, the Cosmic Warrior is autistic, based on fan interpretations of his original character. As such, he can be socially awkward, literal minded, avoid eye contact, fixate on details, and tends to stim.
• Awakening the Sleeping Giant:
  • Sauropoda has this as their national ideology. It's home to a race of sentient sauropods the size of dragons with earth pony-like magic and every bit as powerful as that would suggest, but they mainly just want to be left alone in peace. But if attacked, they will defend themselves. Most people are smart enough to know that it's not worth it to try and mess with them, resulting in their country being a Truce Zone.
  • Queen Cicada and her hive can be considered this; since they spend most of their time sleeping and partying like crazy every 17 years, getting on their bad side would be a horrible idea.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Dr. Toxikon is an avid believer in this, believing the dragon's overconfidence in their sheer power is a handicap and by analyzing and learning from other races they could become so much more than they were before. He puts this into practice to utterly demolish the Dragon Lord he challenges for their scepter. When he escaped the massacre of his clan, he did so by analyzing how the Changeling Kings behaved, used that to single out a young, inexperienced one, and then exploited it as well as the Kings' infighting and lack of concern for one another to escape.

B

• Back from the Dead: Under normal circumstances, once someone is dead, they stay dead, and forcing oneself to stay in the living world afterwards has consequences. However, there are a few ways to come back.
  • The Tales Seven manage to will themselves back to life after being killed and absorbed by Queen Dark Crystal. However, this is described as them being Only Mostly Dead.
  • One major way to return from death is ascending to demi-godhood. According to Godzillawolf/Kendell2, actually returning to life as a demigod is much harder because one must have a very strong reason to return to life, or else they won't be able to generate the huge amounts of PQ energy necessary to create a new body and life-force on top of Ascending. If one becomes a God of the Dead like the Trimortidae, they're still technically 'dead', as they are in some ways bound to the afterlife, but on the other hand, Ascending as a Death deity is much easier. One prominent example is the Tales/Virtuous Seven, who all died during the Second Age, all successfully coming back to life in the Fourth Age by training under various deities in order to Ascend.
  • Mistletoe Dreamer, the most evil villain of the Third Age, became a necromancer and figures out how to bring someone fully back to life. However, Equivalent Exchange is in effect and she has to sacrifice the life of someone else to power the spell. She brings herself back to life in a more elaborate fashion by possessing a augmented clone of herself she tricked the Alicorn Ascendancy into making.
  • This is what triggers the 'Big Comeback Tour' event - after the fall of the Interregnum, a crazed fan uses lost spells previously quarantined by the Interregnum to revive almost every single musician and celebrity who died young so they can have another go at life. The revived celebrities proceed to run amok trying to relive their Glory Days, spurring the Three deaths, the Trimortidae, and (according to the Three Deaths) Obitus Equus into action. While the wayward souls were successfully located and returned to their respective afterlives (with some being moved to the Hell-Realms after falling into wicked ways), it's noted the events were deeply traumatizing for many, both living and deceased, because of how personal they were for them.
• Badass Boast: Several awesome boasts have been made throughout Known History and even before it, though it depends on how successfully they are delivered.
  • In the "Temptation Unbound" conflict, after shedding his "default" Alicorn form to reveal his true form as an incredibly ancient, six-winged Alicorn god, Emperor Golden Scepter would go on to confront the Fallen deities and worshipers who tried to destroy his family, and give them two boasts in short order.
    Emperor Golden Scepter: I HAVE SEEN MANY MORTALS AND DIVINES CLAIM THAT FATE IS THE ULTIMATE DECIDER OF LIFE AND DEATH. AND YET THEY FELL BECAUSE THEY WERE TOO ASSURED IN THE INFLEXIBILITY OF A RATHER FLIMSY AND UNPREDICTABLE CONCEPT, AND TOO LAZY TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. AND THUS, ON THIS DAY FORTH, I WILL ATTEMPT TO CHANGE THE FATE OF MY FAMILY WITH MY OWN HOOVES, BY ENDING YOUR COLLECTIVE MISERABLE EXISTENCE.
    
    [...]
    
    I HAVE LIVED IN A TIME WHERE THE ALICORNS HAVE PROSPERED, AND FOUGHT THROUGH TEN PASSED AGES OF WAR. I HAVE CREATED AN EMPIRE OF GOLD THAT WOULD HAVE ASCENDED AND REACHED THE STARS, HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR MY OWN FLAWS AND INNER CRUELTY. I HAVE AIDED COUNTLESS MORTAL AND DIVINE HEROES IN THEIR QUESTS, HELPED THEM TAP INTO THEIR INNER POTENTIAL, AND PREVENTED THE COMPLETE DESOLATION OF A FLOURISHING PLANET BY HIDING AWAY WHOMEVER I WAS ABLE TO. I HAVE SEEN AND ENDURED MANY CYCLES, AND WITNESSED ALMOST EVERYTHING THAT THIS WORLD HAS TO OFFER. IF YOU NAIVE, MEWLING BABES THINK THAT YOU CAN GO AGAINST SOMEONE WHO HAS LIVED LONGER THAN EVEN THE FORE-BEARERS OF YOUR FOREBEARERS, THEN I WILL SHOW YOU JUST HOW MUCH POWER AND EXPERIENCE I HAVE GAINED OVER COUNTLESS MILLENNIA. I WILL SHOW YOU EXACTLY WHAT MY LITTLE PONIES AND THEIR FRIENDS THINK OF BEING USED AS PUPPETS TO GRANT THE 'DARKEST WISH' OF A CHILDISH, PETULANT, AND SELFISH MANIAC.
    
    I WILL SHOW YOU JUST HOW FAR A FATHER IS WILLING TO GO IN PROTECTING HIS CHILDREN FROM THOSE WHO DARE TO HARM THEM.
  • Being (supposedly) the living embodiment of Golden Scepter's conviction and ability to inspire, Prince Written Word doesn't disappoint in this department.
    • During a fight against the demons controlling a backwater Pony kingdom, Written Word would make a Rousing Speech to his despairing soldiers in which he claimed that no one would hope or dare to try stop them if they showed themselves and each other the trust and faith they showed him. To the demons' shock, it worked, empowering everyone and allowing them to fight more effectively.
      Written Word: BROTHERS AND SISTERS-IN-ARMS! You, your friends, and your loved ones have spent your ENTIRE LIVES under the cruel dogma of tyranny, wallowing in despair and hopelessness, only to cry to the heavens for help once you are finally FREED! If that is what your former leaders taught you to do, then... NO MORE! You all got this far because you decided to put your trust and faith in a complete stranger who came to your homes one day, and helped you when you needed it most! So I ask for you- no, I PLEAD for you to take that same trust and faith you previously showed me, and use them to empower yourselves! Empower EACH OTHER! For when we are standing together, united as ONE... NOTHING COULD HOPE OR DARE TO TRY STOP US!
    • A subtle one; Crimson Star once asked Written Word about how he flew "without flying" after hearing that he was able to make himself airborne for the first time without using his wings at all. Written Word's response?
      Written Word: I simply had two things. One is Courage, and the other is Faith.
  • After resuming his music career from a hiatus, a then-mortal Prince Dissonant Tune boasted, "No, I’m not War Rock. I’m better," in response to accusations and claims regarding him being War Rock 'reborn'. And because he's a musical prodigy who eventually Ascended as a 'prodigy deity', he can really back up his boasts.
• Badass Family: Due to Codex Equus being a World of Badass, many families and clans are this by default.
  • Almost all members of the Terran Royal Family are powerful warriors and beloved heroes in their own right. Emperor Golden Scepter is the progenitor of modern Ponykind and an unparalleled scientific/psychic prodigy. His children, the Aureusidae, are generally either full-fledged deities or demi-deities; the Terran Princes are the most famous, being accomplished demigods and leaders of their own military chapters. Queen Majesty, Golden Scepter's biological descendant and adoptive daughter, was the most powerful mortal mage to ever live with countless feats under her name, including the destruction of the Malignant Powers. A Codexverse drabble reveals that Golden Scepter is a son of Profectus Equus/Iridium Signet, one of the surviving Thirteen Empyreans and one of the first Alicorns created/fostered by King Equus himself, making him a (great-)grandfather of the entire Terran Royal Family.
  • The Gypsy-Sparkle family is also this. Duke Gypsy Night Light is a powerful Seer and sorcerer, and his wife, Duchess Twilight Velvet, is a formidable Magic Knight. Their son, Prince Shining Armor/Aegis Equestria, is the co-ruler of the returned Crystal Empire, the Fourth Age analogue of Pony Patriot, the former commander of the Canterlot Royal Guard, and an Alicorn demigod. His younger sister, Princess Twilight/Amicitia Sparkle Equestria, is the present ruler of Equestria, a divine Reincarnation of Mana Equus, one of Equinekind's thirteen progenitors, and a talented Emperor Scientist in addition to everything she did in canon. The badassery goes all the way to the First Age, with Twilight of Paradise Estate being a maternal ancestor through Velvet and Gypsy Wheel, the court Seeress of Queen Majesty herself, being a paternal ancestor through Night Light.
  • As children of Obitus Equus, the oldest Equine Death god in existence, the Three Deaths are a Sibling Team who command similarly great power. Their children, collectively known as the Trimortidae, take after their biological/adoptive parents, and this includes to any adoptive/biological siblings outside the group. While the Trimortidae has characters from both the My Little Pony franchise and non-MLP media, it also includes members that are based on real-life historical figures and celebrities, such as Double Helix (Jimi Hendrix), Sir Curtain Call (Alan Rickman), and Bronze Gear (James Dean).
  • The Grand Primevals are a group of siblings that contains some of the most powerful and ancient deities in the Equusian galaxy. Their biological/adoptive children are no slouches themselves, with notable examples being the Amaredae, the Filii Magicae, the Somareia, the Adversai, and the Malumidae. And they are numerous.
  • Despite its troubled history, the Vaughoof family is a family of badasses. Moon Ray is presently an eldritch Alicorn god with power comparable to the Thirteen Empyreans, and the most powerful Seer of his generation. His older brother and wife, Sunny Field and Velvet Heart, respectively, are powerful (Arch-)Angels, though they later become eldritch deities themselves after Ascending under Moon Ray's wing. Pepper Cook, the mother of Moon Ray and Sunny Field, is also an Angel who got empowered by Princess Carnation. Her ex-husband, Sunny Mane, for all his many faults, was a war veteran from the "Second Great War" and it's noted his two sons got their immense potential for Psychic Powers from him.
    • Moon Ray and Sunny Field's biological/adoptive children, the Liberi Lunae and Serenum Pueri, respectively, are generally either full-fledged deities or demi-deities who take after their parents, though mortal members are no slouches themselves. Notable members include Blue Diadem, a powerful Archmage and "Primeval"-level goddess; Prince Dissonant Tune, a music-based God of Evil; and Aerri Vaughoof, considered to be one of the smartest Draconic beings alive.
  • The Heartstrings twins, Blue Suede and Bossa Nova, are simply Living Legends. Blue Suede is a musical prodigy, a deadly sniper called "The Blue Death", and one of the most powerful musical mages on the planet. He's also a Badass Teacher who helped countlessstudents, musicians or no, Ascend to godhood. Bossa Nova, while not as skilled in music like his younger brother, is a Magic Knight par excellence and it's not ed he's extremely talented in combat, far beyond what the Three Deaths taught him. Then they reincarnate as Mana Equus during the "Dark Ages Crisis" and become Kings of the Corporatum Pantheon, increasing their power. Their badassery extends to Blue Suede and Bossa Nova's biological/adoptive children, with the Caerulidae being a prime example of this.
  • Like their canon counterparts, the Joestars, the Goldstar Family is a clan of warriors, Ripple users, and Stand users spanning multiple generations. Even illegitimate offspring like Gosuke Goldstar (now Zeppelin-Goldstar) and Morning Glory Goldstar aren't exempt from the family's badassery. However, due to changes in character, circumstances, and choices, the Goldstars survive past the events of Stone Ocean and become more prolific, its lineage spanning tens of thousands of years. Many of them went further by Ascending to godhood.
  • The Zeppelin Family is also a Badass Family, as they had served as allies and/or mentors for the Goldstars for countless generations. Like the Goldstars, the Zeppelins survived past the events of Battle Tendency thanks to the intervention of allies like Lamia and Volta, and became a generations-spanning lineage. Among them are Sacred Peace Zeppelin (now Zeppelin-Goldstar) and Hol Horse, born Barreled Oats Zeppelin, who used to work for Godly Brand until he betrayed him for his Bad Boss behavior. The aforementioned family members have also Ascended to godhood thanks to the Grand Primevals' tutelage.
• Badass Teacher: Due to Equus being a World of Badass, many teachers and mentors throughout history are this, with the benevolent ones often being Cool Teachers as well. This includes any deity who has personally mentored anyone, especially deities of Teaching and similar concepts. The Church of the Stars is one of the biggest examples.
• Bad Luck Charm: Woebegones are magical flowers that spread their pollen in self defense when disturbed. Whoever gets the pollen on them will be afflicted with horrible bad luck until it wears off or is washed off with a special herbal mixture. Ironically, if done carefully, the pollen can be used to make a potion that inverts its effects and grants the consumer good luck, but this is quite the endeavor.
• Balance Between Good and Evil:
  • It is implied in lore that a balance between good and evil exists in Equus, and there are certain deities who are born to maintain that balance. Letting one side overpower the other tends to create disaster - too much Good would cause Equus to stagnate and become utterly unprepared to face future Evils, while too much Evil would essentially result in the destruction of everything, including itself.
  • The twin Deer gods, Belyolen and Temnobog, are living embodiments of this trope. They were supposed to be born as one person, but because Irminsul tried enforcing his twisted ideas of perfection by magically purging his then-unborn son of his darker flaws, he ended up with twin sons instead. Despite the other gods believing that Belyolen's natural compassion and radiance made him "superior" to the dark Temnobog, they're actually equals who embody Light and Dark, Good and Evil, respectively. They both share a unique elemental bond that causes power imbalances whenever one of them tries to gain an advantage, so they couldn't kill each other. They only get stronger when they work together because that is the brothers' purpose - to bring Balance to Deerkind. While Belyolen blesses his worshipers and protects them from evil, Temnobog works as the Bogolenya pantheon's chief punisher, using evil to test mortals and tormenting the souls of wicked people.
  • As it turned out, the overabundance of Good within the Elternteil pantheon was what caused it to splinter into the Bogolenya and the Hoyklan pantheons, because there were no "Evil" deities to keep it in check. The only evil god among them at the time, Temnobog, was emotionally abused because his family and peers believed that his mere presence would "taint" their benevolence, which caused Temnobog to genuinely become evil. This ultimately caused the compassionate Belyolen to rebel, calling everyone out on their blatant hypocrisy and complacent arrogance out of disgust and leaving home to form his own pantheon, so he could protect Temnobog and give him the love and respect he believed his brother deserved.
  • This trope is also the reason why King Strazha and his younger sister, Queen Vesna were blessed by Temnobog and Belyolen, respectively - both Deer gods were impressed with their actions, and made the young rulers their divine champions to ensure that their kingdom, Bitaniya, prospers under the Balance of Good and Evil. While Strazha is the feared "Hoof" of Bitaniya, Vesna is the beloved "Heart" who counters her brother's harsh methods with her benevolence.
  • As the living embodiment of Ponykind, Emperor Golden Scepter is essentially this trope since he embodies both Ponykind's good and bad traits. Given how Equus works, this is considered a good thing, as his domain makes him more "human" than a large majority of the Codexverse's gods. It's also because he embodies Ponykind's dual morality that Belyolen and Temnobog respected and even befriended him, as in their eyes, he represents the god and ruler they could have been had their father, Irminsul, not tried to erase the flaws of his then-unborn son. This ends up being discussed between him and his son Written Word, who has a hard time understanding/accepting the idea allowing Evil to exist.
    Prince Written Word: To be honest, Father, I cannot fathom why you associate with Evil deities such as them. Aren't they responsible for sowing Evil in their native lands?
    Emperor Golden Scepter: Yes... but they are dedicated to using Evil for a higher purpose. In their eyes, Evil is a motivation, a warning - its presence serves as a reminder why we become Good and must stay Good. If there is nothing to motivate the various heroes and champions on this planet, then they become bored. Stagnant. Convinced that with Evil gone, they have the right of way to do whatever they want. Eventually, they become the very Evil that other heroes must put down. That is what I have learned during my travels across this world, and it has helped me gain a new perspective on things.
    Prince Written Word: But you are holy, Father. You embody Ponykind at its absolute best. You rule our mortal subjects with a just and benevolent hoof. Wouldn't it be counterproductive if you learn the ways of Evil?
    Emperor Golden Scepter: My son... I embody Ponykind at its best AND its worst. I know of the things that Ponykind is capable of, whether on a whim or motivated by external circumstances. And thus, my entire life, my entire BEING, revolves around a balance check. To punish the wicked for their actions and protect the innocent, I must know Evil. But to help my subjects become better and keep myself honest, I must know Good. There can be never one without the other, for the kindest of comforts sometimes must be carried out with the cruelest of methods. I can never favor one over the other, for I'll end up either becoming a passively incompetent puppet for everyone's whims, or being ousted as a divine tyrant if I do. So in order to help my subjects reach and grow into their inner greatness, I must show off the good and terrible aspects of myself, for I embody my subjects' very essence.
    Prince Written Word: That sounds... complicated.
    Emperor Golden Scepter: I know. I had a hard time understanding it myself when I first heard of it. But that is just how the world works. And knowing of the balance of Good and Evil is one of the cornerstones of ruling. That is why the lands where the divine Deer live are so successful. Why this empire is so successful. And why I am friends with individuals such as Luminiferous, and the Dark One and his children. Someday, if you ever decide to go out and make an empire or kingdom of your own, I hope you'll get to see it for yourself.
  • High King Bogolenya represents this as a whole, since his living halves Belyolen and Temnobog represent the good and evil traits of mortal Deerkind, respectively. As a god of Balance, he possesses in-depth knowledge of the potential for good and evil in both things and people, as well as the ability to see such potential, and is skilled in both White Magic and Black Magic. As a ruler, he is stern and unrelenting like Temnobog, yet merciful and compassionate like Belyolen, and it's speculated In-Universe that he would've been The Good King who ushered his subjects into a golden age had Irminsul not killed him trying to erase his inner evil in-utero. In the 'Final Ragnarok' arc, after Symvíosi brings him into being by fusing Belyolen and Temnobog together, everyone who looked upon him were strongly reminded of Golden Scepter, who embodied mortal Ponykind's best and worst traits.
  • This is later elaborated on further with the 'Law of Karmic Energy,' which shows it's more complicated than it seems. 'Destructive Evil' is actually a violation of the balance, while 'Constructive Evil' has a role in it. Good and Constructive Evil both create positive energy, which creates beneficial effects for life as a whole, while Destructive Evil (and presumably Stagnant Good) create negative energy that is inherently antithetical to life on Equus. The natural balance is there being more positive energy to negate the negative energy, while an unbalance is too much negative energy. An imbalance of negative energy will inevitably result in it seeking a way to be vented, normally in a devastating and destructive manner capable of causing The End of the World as We Know It. It's implied Queen Dark Crystal was one such manifestation of this. Furthermore, an act only creates positive energy if both the intent and the outcome of it were positive. A well-intentioned act that ends badly or a evil-intentioned act that ended well still creates negative energy.
• Ban on A.I.: Zigzagged.
  • The frequency of the above A.I. Is a Crapshoot trope led to many referring them as 'Abhorrent Intelligences' (after Queen Dazzleglow reintroduced the term 'A.I.'), leading to widespread restriction to prohibition of ANY form of 'Synthetic Automatons', whether they be golems to robots, especially any kind that has the remotest probability of developing self-awareness. Even physical reality itself seems to be firmly in favour of preventing AI development; the massive spike in energy levels of the Background Magic Field in Equus (And even beyond Equus) post-'Second Age' plays havoc on electronics and hampers redevelopment on that end.
    The Accumulated Text: THOU SHALT NOT MAKE A CONSTRUCT IN THE LIKELINESS OF A THINKING MIND."
  • However, this is by no means universal, with some like Queen Dazzleglow, Indostruus and Crazy Ant being proponents for reintroducing and redeveloping 'Thinking Constructs'. Crazy Ant had even went ahead and added 'Relic Tech' cogitational machinery into his Giant Robot Colossus, and a scene insert hints that it may already be sapient.
• Barrier Warrior: Several individuals, both divine and mortal, have the ability to produce barriers.
  • Golden Scepter's entry notes that one of his abilities is creating very strong psychic barriers.
  • One of the things that Prince Written Word, Golden Scepter's thirteenth son, can do with his wind magic is make airtight wind barriers that can nullify electricity.
  • It's noted in Radiant Primrose's entry that she can create powerful barriers, whether through Psychic Powers or light magic.
  • Like Radiant Primrose, Blood Fang can create magical barriers. His barriers are noted to rival those made by Shining Armor in terms of strength and lasting endurance.
  • Crystal Prism has the ability to create light-based shields to protect people. This is what protected CreepEntity513's victims from enemies and various other dangers as its video-game realm collapsed upon its death.
• Battle of the Bands:
  • The Second Age's Melody and her band, the Rockin' Beats, would participate in one hosted by entertainment personality Dazzle on PTV. Despite working hard for it, she had a falling-out with her bandmates when she forgot to get a babysitter for her younger sisters, Ting-A-Ling and Jing-A-Ling, which she tried resolving by bringing them along while they participated in the competition. While her sisters did cause some property damage, she and her band were ultimately able to keep Ting-A-Ling and Jing-A-Ling safe and win the competition by a landslide when Ting-A-Ling and Jing-A-Ling performed along with them.
  • In her demi-divine youth, Princess Belladona Heartstrings would form a garage band and enter a battle of the bands while in high school late in the Second Age. Unfortunately, a group of bullies cornered her and destroyed her band's instruments to torment her, and she ran home crying and hid herself in her room. Thanks to support from her father, Blue Suede Heartstrings (who also made sure her bullies were punished for their actions), her mother, and her bandmates, Belladonna got better and tried again, though this time she made sure to protect her band's instruments by covering them with spiders. During the actual battle of the bands, Blue Suede made it clear that Belladonna was not to be given special treatment for being related to him, or negative treatment for her being a hybrid. While Belladonna's band didn't win, they still scored very highly, which was enough for her.
• Because Destiny Says So: Averted. While fate and destiny are a thing, the results can be readily changed if one knows how and/or has the means to do so, and challenging and defying fate is portrayed positively if said destiny leads to a bad outcome. An increasingly-cited proverb from the 'Second Age' demonstrates some of the attitudes to the idea in-universe:
  Proverb: Destiny is the creed of tyrants and the excuse of fools.
  • Whether expressly or implied, the Codexverse takes a nuanced approach in regards to destiny and fate even in-universe and does not actually take a strong position on the concept positively or negatively. Luminiferous, as the Alicorn god of Self-Determination, has the power to "Reject Fate", which breaks even magically-inflicted bad fates and gives others a chance to overcome a supposedly inevitable outcome. Meanwhile, Emperor Blackthorn views the very idea of adhering to destiny with utter contempt, which motivates him to ruthlessly manipulate fates with his schemes - in his eyes, even if something were to happen no matter what, it will happen on his terms. On the other hand/hoof, you have figures such as the fabled 'Princess of Power', who is implied to know of the destiny that she and her Arch-Enemy would both perish in their final battle, but rather than avoid it instead did everything possible to ENSURE it happens, presumably believing that defeating her foe and stopping his evil once and for all is more important, and is not willing to risk turning an absolute certainty into an open possibility which may allow the Evil Overlord to continue or return to terrorize the world.
• Belief Makes You Stupid: One of the themes in Codex Equus is the relationships between divines and their mortal followers, and the consequences therein.
  • Golden Scepter used to fervently believe in this, which was implied to have stemmed from the arrogance and complacency of his people that gave birth to the evil Alicorn Morning Star. Notably, his quest to convince Ponykind to stop worshiping him as a god caused an infamous incident where he completely torched a thriving city along with its people for worshiping him, and rebuked and humiliated the Golden General who founded said city for encouraging religious devotion to him. He has since gotten over this after spending three Ages atoning for his sins, with Golden Scepter calling the incident one of the worst mistakes he ever made. Having personally seen the examples of compassion, forgiveness, and mercy shown by fellow divines throughout the Ages, he now co-exists peacefully with them.
    • He still retains a bit of this, however, as public worship of him and his sons is still officially banned in his present-day Terran Empire despite all other religions being allowed. His present criticism for religion in general mainly revolves around how unquestioning religious belief hampers mortal potential by shifting responsibility of one's own actions onto someone else, making them unable to truly appreciate their own strengths and enabling them to remain dependent on others for guidance (like those willing to mislead them for their own gain). More tellingly, those who partake in religion will be unable to experience guilt from their own wrongdoings and learn from their own failings and mistakes, instead blaming "evil" circumstances and individuals. To him and later his faithful son, Written Word, if there's anyone or anything worthy to put one's faith in, it is in each other. This is likely why he's part of the Church of the Stars despite it being a religion: its core tenant is mortal races finding unity and putting aside their differences to 'reach for the stars' in a literal sense, as well as encouraging them to become better and eventually potentially rise to godhood as well.
  • Justified with Written Word, though in this case it's religious belief that makes one stupid. He once joined the priesthood out of love for his father, the desire to help his mortal subjects, and to answer a philosophical question about whether mortals can prosper with/without divine help that dogged him for years. But in preaching Golden Scepter's virtues and why he should be followed, he was actually encouraging Blind Obedience. Golden Scepter explaining to him what he's actually doing and seeing the horrors of religious corruption himself eventually made Written Word see his folly and realize the true value of faith, which led to him Ascending when he inspired his soldiers to use faith to empower each other during a fight against demons. As shown with his folder/entry quote, he now believes in "true" faith, which demands conviction, understanding, trust, and taking responsibility for one's own actions.
    Prince Written Word: Blind faith is little more than willful ignorance and unquestioning obedience, zealotry that are easily misled into the service of foolish causes and corrupt characters. True faith demands conviction! It demands you understand your cause and know the righteousness of it. It demands you to take responsibility for one's action, rather than ascribe them to some higher power or others. It demands you trust your own judgement and each other, rather than the sweet honeyed lies of the conceited. It demands following only higher ideals that truly deserves to be followed. Only then, would it be faith truly worth fighting for.
• Beware the Nice Ones: This applies to benevolent characters in general, who are very nice but will not hesitate to lay the smackdown if they or their loved ones are threatened.
  • Construo, the Novellus Pantheon God of Modern Construction and Architecture, is a Gentle Giant who would much rather build something than hurt anyone. If pushed too far, however, he'll quickly remind his enemy of how powerful a Giant God actually is, and that he's a Genius Bruiser. One notable incident ended with an antagonistic Giant God threatening to pillage and eat a village Construo had helped build vital infrastructure for. Said god ended up having his face used as a shovel to dig a canal and was left sealed in a huge block of divine concrete.
  • Queen Mzazi, the Mother of All Zebras and a playful, motherly deity. But mess with her personal country in Zebrica and she'll remind you how dangerous a 4 million-year-old goddess is. Just ask the armada she obliterated with a cataclysmic lightning storm.
  • Elske, the Jotunn goddess of love, is a motherly deity who can be surprisingly ruthless when pushed. Once, she discovered that Propagare and his cultists tried starting a war between two mortal Deer kingdoms by sowing distrust and hatred, so she put an end to the matter by stomping on one army, and sitting on the other as she told the Deer citizens of the divine deception. As for the cultists themselves, they were either Swallowed Whole or slowly crushed to death underneath her hooves.
  • Queen Mab II serves as a mother figure for the Cosmic Council. She won't hesitate to pull ears if people start bickering, and once suplexed an arrogant Yak King for making fun of her size. She's also capable of wielding deadly flowers and plants.
  • Mab II's husband, King Sefyr, is also very benevolent, if a bit stern. Likewise, inciting his anger tends to go badly for the ones responsible.
  • The 'Visitors' are generally Innocent Aliens who are benevolent towards Equus during interactions. However, those who believe in them often point out that if they wanted to take over Equus, the only reason they haven't is because they don't want to. This is shown when Clovenists and Brachion decided to experiment on Sparkle Ponies and invoked the wrath of their alien parent.
  • Cutesaurs are friendly dinosaurs who are accepting of outsiders and prefer diplomacy over conflict. They're also huge, extremely tough, and won't hesitate to literally crush anyone who invades their homeland.
  • Many Changeling Queens are benevolent (save for "bad apples" like Chrysalis), but the most prominent is Queen Supia, who is a Royal Kaiju Changeling who's the size of a skyscraper, yet due to hailing from Neighpon, she usually acts like a Yamato Nadeshiko. She can literally stomp you into the ground (or eat you) if you threaten her home and subjects.
  • Belyolen, one of two Top Gods of the Bogolenya pantheon, is an extremely compassionate and forgiving Deer god who is the living 'good' half of High King Bogolenya. Although it took him some time, he opposed the Elternteil Deer Pantheon's unwarranted abuse of Temnobog, his 'evil' younger twin brother, and later shamed them all for their hypocrisy with encouragement from Amour-De-Soi. As a result of his experiences, Belyolen believes Good Needs Evil and is quite protective of Temnobog, as well as both his noble and infernal families/relatives. Notably, he banned the Elternteil Deer Pantheon from visiting the Bogolenya Deer Pantheon unless they stop being racist, puristic bigots to its hybrid and non-Deer members. He's also willing to let extremely wicked and depraved Erobreseg Deer kingomds/realms be punished by Temnobog and his family, but only does so as a last resort (and makes sure to evacuate all the good people first).
  • While it took him a long time to get there, Golden Scepter is highly beloved and respected by his mortal subjects within the Terran Empire for being such a benevolent and compassionate Emperor. He's also an extremely powerful and ancient Alicorn god, so much that any attempts to fight him would usually end with a Curb-Stomp Battle, and he loves his sons and his subjects so much that he will not tolerate any threat against them.
    • After publicly decrying the divine/mortal followers of Poena, the Mistress of Punishment, as a bunch of deluded extremists, a small army led by Poena herself would proceed to attack the Terran Empire in retaliation. Golden Scepter would defeat them easily... only for Katharsis to arrive and take photos of the losers afterwards, confusing the hell out of the Alicorn Emperor.
    • In one incident, a group of Pony Autorists attacked the Terran Empire and targeted its non-Pony subjects, even those Ponies who didn't agree with them. Golden Scepter punished them by psychically making them experience the pain and suffering they had inflicted on their victims, causing almost all of them to regret their actions and turn good. When his son, Blazing Hoof, confronted him on the assumption that the Pony Autorists were Easily Forgiven, Golden Scepter would explain that reacting harshly would only beget more hatred, and the Pony Autorists living with their own guilt was punishment enough. Only their leader was actually punished once she was shown to be a genuinely hateful and unrepentant bigot.
    • During the "Temptation Unbound" conflict, learning that a group of Fallen deities and their worshipers tried to engineer the fracturing and downfall of his family enraged Golden Scepter to the point where he shed his "default" form and revealed his true form as a six-winged, "Antecedent"-ranked deity for the sole purpose of confronting his enemies.
  • Golden Scepter's thirteenth son, Prince Written Word, is noted to be very compassionate, generous, and patient, and is willing to lend people - even his own brothers - an ear and a nod should they come talk to him about their problems. That being said, while he prefers non-violent solutions, he's a Technical Pacifist who's willing to strike hard and fast, even kill if need be, and he's known for being a staunch enemy of Demonkind and corruption in general. He can also be pretty deadly with his wind magic, with one of his deadliest attacks consisting of crushing his enemies with increased air pressure. In other words, don't piss him off.
    • One prominent example is when Written Word arrived at a backwater Pony kingdom and learned of the horrific crimes its Church was committing in the name of the "gods". He was so furious that when he found an arch-priest who was about to use innocent Pony civilians as military cannon fodder, he would easily push through the crowd of forcibly-conscripted soldiers (some who recognized him as someone who previously helped them out) and publicly humiliated the arch-priest by calling him a "liar" in front of everyone. He would then rally the soldiers to his side and confront the demons responsible for the Pony kingdom's corrupt religion, and though they initially did badly, the tide would turn when Written Word realized the true value of faith and empowered his soldiers by inspiring them to have faith in each other, leading to his Ascension.
    • It's because of his experiences pre-Ascension that Written Word hates religious corruption in general, as it's a surefire way to get him mad. One incident had him confront a Pony priestess who turned out to be an Autorist, and publicly humiliated her in front of her own followers by calling her out for misleading people into committing racial atrocities under the guise of "righteousness", while reveling in the cruelty she caused. While Written Word protected the Pony priestess from her now enraged followers until proper authorities arrived to arrest her, it was revealed he did it as a Cruel Mercy, as, in his words, "The sheer humiliation she received for her actions would end up hurting her more than whatever her once-adoring crowds had in mind for her."
  • Despite being a celebrity and one of the most famous unicorn musicians in his time, Blue Suede Heartstrings is a very nice stallion whose prominent traits are his humility, politeness, and compassion towards people of all races, regardless of who they are. He also loves his fans and is always willing to make time for them. However, it's not advisable to piss him off in any way, and, as a group of tribalists unfortunately learned, don't ever hurt his fans. Underneath his mortal disguises, Blue is actually an ancient and powerful Alicorn god, and he will not hesitate to reveal his true form if the situation requires it.
  • Amour-De-Soi, the Alicorn goddess of Self-Love, is very empathetic and encouraging, especially towards those who suffer from low self-esteem, and has been known to save suicidal individuals by telling them that they are truly much better than they think they are. She also has essentially served as a therapist for Temnobog, who was the victim of childhood emotional abuse from his family (especially High King Irminsul) for being born "evil", and has been encouraging him to feel better about himself while ignoring how others look down on him. However, like her father, Amareros, she can be terrifying when enraged, and hates those who abuse and/or break people's self-worth. Notably, the Elternteil Deer Pantheon splintered because she encouraged Belyolen to do the right thing after the latter overheard his family discussing whether they should kill Temnobog or not, and she helped her father lay low the entire Summer Court in retaliation for the failed attempt by some Changeling Kings to subjugate Amareros for their own selfish purposes.
• Beware the Silly Ones:
  • Puck, Empress Blackrose's right hand man, is a fun-loving, mischievous prankster. He's also her First Spawn son and a demigod, meaning while not a Royal Changeling like his sisters, he's one of the most powerful and experienced changelings in the world. There's a reason very few Changelings in any court want to mess with him.
    Puck: You're all welcome in Mother's house, but break the rules and you're gonna have a bad time.
  • This is a major aspect of Pakak's character: he's the prank-loving, funny, and friendly God of Mischief, but he's also the God of Karma. He can be very creative with his curses on the wicked and truly enraging him is a very big mistake, as it's the only time he comes close to acting like his brother Discord. For example, in this universe, he was the one that cursed Sunnytown for murdering an innocent filly out of fear and hatred of Cutie Marks.
  • Censura, the God of Censorship and Conspiracies, is generally dead serious, but due to a quirk in how he came to be, he also contains censorship pertaining to children's entertainment. He hates this part of himself, but it provides him with one of his most powerful abilities: the ability to No-Sell anything that is 'family unfriendly' at all, even if he despises doing so.
• Big Brother Instinct:
  • Despite being far younger than Ruby Heart chronologically, Crystal Prism has become somewhat of a surrogate older brother figure for her. In one incident, when Poena tried getting Ruby to agree with her views on Justice, only to attack her when Ruby Heart refused and compared her to Grey Hoof, Crystal went into Tranquil Fury and angrily yet calmly warned Poena of the consequences that would ensue if the divine Tulpa tried forcing Ruby to side with her.
  • When Prince Blazing Hoof, Golden Scepter's oldest son, saw Fanged Paw and a few other brothers beating up a very despondent Crimson Star, with the latter not fighting back against his attackers at all, Blazing Hoof unhesitatingly moved to defend Crimson Star alone, even though his younger brother had been an Insufferable Genius to everyone prior to that. Golden Scepter would soon intervene before things got too bloody.
  • After going through Character Development, and forgiving and reconciling with his younger brother, Crimson Star, Prince Fanged Paw would start feeling this trope towards him and his other brothers in general.
    • It's noted that he has the advantage of sight, so whenever he and Crimson Star team up and kick ass, Fanged Paw protects him by going after those enemies who Crimson Star cannot sense or hear.
    • During the "Temptation Unbound" conflict, when he heard of the bad future that Crimson Star foresaw, including his own role in it (breaking Crimson Star's back in a vicious fight between them, among other things), Fanged Paw was apparently so shaken that he had to hang onto a sword that he planted into the ground, just to keep himself from collapsing out of sheer terror. He would then slip into an icy fury and focus on hunting down the Fallen deities and their malicious worshipers responsible for trying to destroy his family.
    • He would participate in the ensuing fight after a group of Children of Platinum unicorn tribalists tried assassinating Prince Crimson Star for "sullying" his unicorn blood by Ascending to demi-godhood during a diplomatic conference in the Principalities in Equestria. It was quickly discovered that one of the unicorn tribalists was a So Soft Pony, which angered Fanged Paw beyond compare.
      Prince Fanged Paw: So... what was that about my younger brother being a 'freak of nature' again?
    • Night Shade's entry reveals that he beat up Night Shade in a cold fury for nearly driving Steel Barricade to suicide and sending Crimson Star into a second bout of depression. However, Written Word and Bright Eyes forcibly separated them before things went too far.
    • During a fierce battle with an Iron Wolves battalion, he unlocked shapeshifting abilities related to his Animal domain by turning into a Thunder Wolf to protect Written Word from getting killed by Iron Wolves in an ambush. It's noted that this proved critical in defeating the Iron Wolves and driving them out of the Terran Empire.
      Prince Fanged Paw: (roaring) YOU LEAVE MY BROTHERS AND SUBJECTS ALONE!
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: Exaggerated with the Ōmukades, which when fully grown are Kaiju-sized centipedes capable of killing dragons.
• Big Eater:
  • Giant races, often to the point that a group of hungry Giants could strip entire lands barren devouring everything edible - up to and including the Ponies and other smaller races living there. Partly justified in that their huge sizes means that they would require a lot of food just to sustain their enormous physiology, meaning they have little choice in the matter... though it sometimes gives them an excuse to prove their racial superiority to "Tinies".
  • Terraton, the Gigantes giant race's chief deity and a leading member of the Tauren Giant pantheon, is this when not in battle. As he is enormous even by Giant deities standards, he has the appetite to pack away whole towns, cities and countries of both Tinies and Giants. And this is considered normal by the standards of Giant deities.
  • Princess/Captain Mimetidae of the Autis described as one by her entry, both in love and in food. Apparently after the fight with King Xestobium, she went to an all-you-can-eat buffet and 'took that name as literally as possible'.
  • Hilariously deconstructed with Elske, who loves eating mortals and their kingdoms even by Giant standards, but only goes after sinful mortal realms... which is a lot. As a result, she's a very plump Jotunn goddess whose girth has caused embarrassing incidents such as flattening mountains, making craters, and getting stuck in narrow mountain paths.
  • Flœrð, the Hoyklan God of Trickery, Deceit and Mischief, is a Big Eater like Loki, his mythological inspiration, owing to being an adopted Jotunn God. How does he one-up the likes of Terraton, Astrid and Elske in how he sate his appetite? Why, being so clever and capable at persuasion, he can literally talk his enemies into thinking letting him EAT them alive is a good idea! And if that doesn't work, there was nothing a bit of Size Shifting, Shapeshifting and illusions on his part couldn't do to trick his enemies into getting into his open mouth...
  • Surtr Muspellson, the infamous Fire Jotunn Destroyer Deity, multiple-times destroyer of the Cervidian Pantheons and Civilizations of the Nine Realms, ally of the Shadowed Ones who exploited the 'Ragnarok Cycle' and a sadistic, destructive psychopath in general, play this for horror. In some of the Cycles, with his associates' permission, he gets not only the ENTIRE Cervidian Pantheon of the time to eat (After amusing himself with them), he may/would get to eat ALL OF THE NINE REALMS, devouring and destroying all the civilizations and sending millions of living beings screaming down his gullet, all to sate his genocidal hunger. And he has done this multiple times. When the self-proclaimed 'Doom of the Gods' destroys things, he doesn't just burn, stomp or cut them down with his sword...
  • Justified and deconstructed with Blue Suede Heartstrings. He had an infamously huge appetite when was a mortal, which was believed In-Universe to have stemmed from his impoverished foalhood. But once he gets hit hard with various personal tragedies/hardships, including his parents' deaths and his corrupt manager's psychological abuse, he started binge-eating as an unhealthy way to cope with it all. Fortunately, he stopped after having a food-fueled nightmare about himself becoming grossly fat in his old age, forcing him to see that he's destroying himself. Hilariously, some people in the Second Age have theorized him In-Universe to be a former god who was a Big Eater, constantly devouring populated worlds ala Galactus until he was turned into an amnesiac mortal as punishment.
  • Justified with Prince Bright Eyes. After his son, Hopeful Moon, was 'born', he started eating more food in addition to blood to sustain both himself and Hopeful. This led to Hopeful becoming a chubby baby, though he would lose some of the chubbinesss once he became a toddler.
  • Justified with Ruya Clearfeather. Because she lived in poverty for quite a while, she relished in eating good food whenever she could afford it. After being adopted, she has developed a huge appetite and has scarfed down anything that's offered to her. Her adoptive father, Moon Ray Vaughoof/Prince Canticum Lunae Cahaya, has been helping her develop good eating habits with the purpose of regulating this.
• Bigger on the Inside:
  • Giant Lands are regions of Equus which are spatially-distorted by wild magic, such that they are Pocket Dimension interposed with the wider world with much, much bigger volume than appearance suggests. An isolated valley can be big as the land it is in; a small island might be big as a continent. This partly justifies the sizes and diversity of Giant races that exist on Equus by giving them plenty of room to reach their colossal status and numbers. Some are as big as several mega-continents combined, and no one has yet discovered the sheer scale of Jotunnheim, home of the cervine Jotunns.
  • Hinted to be the case with the Giants' bodies, as well. Might partly explain their gluttonous impulses...
  • Also apparently the case with the gods' bodies, if the tale with Narren and Temnobog is any indication. It took Narren days worth of exploring and adventuring after being eaten by his Evil Uncle before he was able to find and rescue his grandfather High King Irminsul, whom Temnobog had also swallowed. This would later be confirmed, with some having enough room for their pantheon's Heaven and Hellrealms. Notably, some gods exploit this to protect their worshipers by harmlessly swallowing them. Though some gods' internals are implied to be full on Eldritch Locations.
  • The hell-fief ruled by the twin Princes Varázsló and Cselszövő has this aspect, due to it being an Eldritch Location. Some sections of their infernal palace are actually much bigger than their appearances suggest, going on forever in a few occasions.
• Big Good:
  • As in canon, Princess Celestia is often this, having participated in several international crises and made friends with fellow immortal rulers from other countries. She was even worshiped for her actions in Neighpon while disguised as "Amaterasu", much to her dismay.
  • The Empress of Neighpon, Nadeshiko, tends to act as this for stories set in that country, being a reasonable and benevolent mare who knows best for her people..
  • Queen Dazzleglow, an ancient Sparkle Pony Alicorn who reawakened to break 'the Cycle' and is actively working to ensure the world does not undergo another apocalypse, is set as another one.
  • Luminiferous, the Anti-Anti-Christ son of Morning Star, sees his status as God of Perfection as a calling to be this, being a heroic, powerful figure to inspire and raise up heroes and help mortals reach their true potential. He, directly and indirectly, gave Thorax and Ember vital aid in the Apterus and Toxikon incidents, with his design seeming to have them becoming The Paragon for their respective kinds.
  • The Grand Primevals have been acting as benevolent divine influences for Equus and its divine/mortal inhabitants for longer than said inhabitants have. Several key events have turned out the way they had, likely due to direct or indirect interference.
  • Much like his father, Amareros, Canteros had a hoof in the lives of several characters within the Codexverse, and served as a positive influence that allowed several individuals and factions to both receive Love from others and reconcile with those who wronged them and had been wronged in turn. Some of his actions include helping Temnobog reconcile with Belyolen and recover from his childhood emotional abuse by giving him a circle of empathetic, supportive friends; participating in the "Twilight of the Orosians" conflict in the guise of a minor Love deity, ensuring the punishments/deaths of completely monstrous and irredeemable Orosian deities while sparing/saving those who were genuinely remorseful; and (rumored in-universe) helped the repentant Sunnytowners recover from their emotional/mental traumas and atone for their crimes by ensuring that they receive much needed help from benevolent mortal and divine individuals.
  • Subverted with High King Irminsul, who was once the leader of a united and much larger Deer pantheon. Despite appearing (and being) good and benevolent, he acts superior about it and is extremely disdainful of anything he perceives as "evil", even when they're not actually evil. It's also speculated by Mentálne that beneath his veneer of benevolence is a form of untreated Psychological Projection, hating himself for being unable to get rid of his own flaws. He's also a horrible father, since he emotionally abused Temnobog for being born "evil" while encouraging others to do the same and favoring the pure and compassionate Belyolen, and barely tolerated Temnobog because he's his son.
  • As a member of the Church of the Stars, Golden Scepter qualifies as one, as he and his divine peers are dedicated to ensuring the overall well-being of Equus and its mortal/divine inhabitants. He is also this in entries that focus on the Terran Empire, as while many benevolent Terran individuals, including the Terran Princes, are very active themselves, he has the highest authority by virtue of being the ruling Emperor, and ultimately, everyone answers to him. It's mentioned in the past, he himself was very active while he globe-trotted during Pre- and Known History, as he had a hoof in various events and the development of multiple heroes.
• Birds of a Feather: Likely to happen, as just like in real life, friendships are often made between individuals based the similarity of their interests.
  • Prince Fanged Paw's entry notes that he would gain a few friends during some adventures outside the Terran Empire at some point. He would befriend both Prince Vultus IV and Clamos over their loud voices and sheer hamminess (which made his brothers fear the idea of them getting into a shouting match). It's rumored in-universe that he was seen with Lyra Heartstrings, a unicorn lyrist from Ponyville, during one of his post-exile adventures; as it turned out, Fanged Paw is a skilled panpipe player, and he and Lyra drew a large crowd with their music.
  • Crimson Star's entry notes that his intellectual pursuits would allow him to befriend those who are also well-learned. This includes a few of his brothers, such as Written Word and Steel Barricade, and after he Ascended, he would befriend King Baarish, a divine Elephant, since they shared the same divine domain of Knowledge. He would also develop a Friendly Rivalry with Princess Twilight Sparkle, who is also very intelligent and magically powerful like him.
  • This would also happen to Prince Written Word. Like Primarch Lorgar, he became close to his intellectually-minded brothers such as Crimson Star and Steel Barricade, despite the latter focusing on technology rather than philosophy. He would also befriend peaceful, compassionate, and gentle individuals, such as Prince Sparkling Wing (who became a frequent traveling partner) and Head Priest/Cleric Star Echo.
  • It is believed in-universe that the main reason why Crystal Prism easily befriended Katastrofa, one of Ispita's children, during the "Temptation Unbound" event is because his domain of Rebirth is quite similar to Katastrofa's domain of Creation.
• Bittersweet Ending:
  • The "Revenge of Apertus" story arc ended with the maddened titular villain being personally put down by her own parents to stop her rampage. But Empress Blackrose, one of those responsible for creating Apertus out of racial hatred, atoned for her own misdeeds by enlisting the help of several deities to reincarnate Apertus back into an egg, allowing her parents to raise her personally this time.
  • Crystal Prism's situation is described as having "a bittersweet ending" in his entry - while he did manage to survive being killed by Luminiferous and the Equestrian Princesses after he became a rampaging, magic-eating monster, he was incredibly traumatized by the ordeal and had to take a lot of therapy sessions with Mentálne just to recover from the worst parts of his PTSD. And while his "creators", Noble Grace and her assistant Bubbling Beaker, were arrested for their horrible crimes, Crystal Prism still ended up turning into an Alicorn like they intended for him to be, leaving him with the only option of being the herald of a "new age" for Ponykind since his old life was ruined. Fortunately, individuals like Golden Scepter would encourage him to forge his own path, influencing Crystal Prism to become a hero even as he recovers from his trauma.
  • This happens In-Universe during a Ogres & Oubliettes session hosted by Spike. According to Healing Song, he and his adventuring party fought the Big Bad of the story, a villainous god who tried killing every god in existence (save for himself) so he could give mortal sapientkind the freedom to literally change the world however they wished. With divine help, the party defeated the villainous god and erased him from existence, but Princess Bright Eyes (who played as a Bladesinger) died landing the final blow. And while the universe was saved, it was left in calamity thanks to the villainous god's actions, forcing Moon Ray Vaughoof (who played as a Necromancer) to take on the mantle of a murdered Death god to help restore the balance.
• Black-and-White Insanity: Deconstructed, as various Codexverse entries, quotes, and drabbles have shown how deluded this moral viewpoint is.
  • As shown in interpretation of local legends and events, the Alvslog Deer Herds are extremely unable to accept that Temnobog and his evil has a natural place in Equus's Balance as a constructive force that tests heroic mortals, so they paint him as both the "lesser" brother of Belyolen and a completely wicked servant that must be kept in line by Belyolen's righteousness. This is one of many details they get wrong, as Temnobog and Belyolen are actually born elemental equals who literally exist to balance each other out. The Alvslog Deer also revere High King Irminsul as a wise and benevolent god, even though Irminsul was horribly abusive to Temnobog for being born "evil" and was extremely biased against both non-Deer and anything he perceived as evil.
  • The Poenan Pantheon's collective belief on justice take after its founder, Poena - that justice should be pure and unyielding, unsullied by things like mercy and forgiveness. Because of this, they are unable and unwilling to make exceptions for even those who atoned for their crimes, as all crimes must be punished no matter what actions were taken after the fact. They also view people as equally guilty if they are associated with the criminals and evildoers they punish, such as the repentant Sunnytowners who regretted participating in young Ruby Heart's murder or condoning it, as they believe they got off too easy for their crimes. Naturally, this worldview has made the Poenan pantheon very unpopular with benevolent and merciful factions/individuals, who are rightly disgusted with their ruthless, extreme, and borderline cruel methods, to the point where both sides would frequently clash over their moral and ideological differences.
• Blood Knight:
  • Astrid, the Jotunn Goddess of War; natch. She's always itching for a fight, often going around crushing and devouring bandits and monsters for fun; even chopping the tops off of mountains with her divine axe. It's even mentioned that her boisterous demeanor and love of combat are rare among deities of conflict, who tend to be stoic and taciturn.
  • Justified with Yarost, first-born child of Temnobog and oldest of the Four Terrors. He embodies Deerkind's Wrath and Hatred and thus feeds upon those emotions, wanting nothing more than to butcher whole lands in his endless blood-lust. There's a reason why he possesses the title "The Prince of Murder". However, this was deconstructed in his youth - Ispita and his four nameless siblings betraying their roles as "constructive" Evil deities to follow "careless" Evil had left such an emotional impact on him that he willingly gave in to his own fury just to bury his grief. However, once Temnobog and his relatives were able to properly restrain him, Yarost's fury ran out, leading to an emotional breakdown that exposed him as a psychological wreck who just wanted his mother and lost siblings back. The trope would eventually be reconstructed as, with help from his family and relatives, Yarost would recover to some degree, except he would save his innate bloodthirstiness for when he's working to sow Evil among the Deer realms and tempt mortal Deer into giving in to their inner fury. Outside of work, however, he keeps his emotions on a tight leash with stoicism so he wouldn't repeat his past atrocities again. He does, however, participate in the carnage that the damned souls in his hell-fief are forced to endure as punishment, to the extreme horror of said souls and the excitement of his demon servants and Ascended champions.
  • Terraton is also this, though he's mellowed out from his early years. That said, it's gotten him into trouble, such as picking fights with Bellamos and Luminiferous, who both handed him his flank.
  • Khakiston embodies the Giant stereotype of being a warmongering, bloodthirsty brute, which angered and disgusted his fellow divine Giants and eventually caused Terraton to literally kick him out of the Giant pantheon. So far, he's gotten into several fights where his opponents are stronger and smart enough to hand him his ass.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: While still recognizable in many aspects, the Morality Kitchen Sink nature of the setting ensures that many of the inhabitants of Equus' moral standards and views, as a result of more alien psychological and cultural differences, would come off as bizarre, disturbing or horrifying by RL readers and even in-universe readers' sensibilities, but would had been seen as normal in-universe.
  • Giant or gigantic sapient/sentient races and deities generally have little to no reservations against consuming smaller 'Tinies' or even cannibalizing smaller members/relatives of their own kind, since it's implied their huge bodies results in huge appetites (just to sustain them) so they can't afford to be picky. This is on top of psychological disposition towards domination due to evolutionary pressures that comes with their large sizes, which is often expressed through consuming their smaller, weaker rivals.
  • Deities, Giant or otherwise, have little to no reservations towards cannibalizing each other either, as their nature as gods makes them so incredibly hard to kill (and killing them coming with their own bag of terrible consequences) that sealing them away in their bellies comes off as a more sensible option - and thanks to their godly nature are much more survivable than it sounds. The bonus of absorbing extra powers and domains also justifies it.
  • Many cultures in the Codexverse, most notably the Erobreseg Deer Herds, are much more tolerant of Evil and Suffering than many other in-universe and even RL viewpoints, as their cultural beliefs developed from the lands they live in makes them see Evil and Suffering as having constructive roles in existence, being inevitable and even necessary to counterbalance, test and work with Good and Joy to ensure mortals live strong and meaningful lives. This view is encouraged by the Bogolenya Deer Pantheon's co-ruling Noble Demon God of Evil, Temnobog the Dark One, whose 'Constructive Evil' view of the world are codified under the philosophy of Temnoism.
  • It is mentioned that the parental deities of the Oceanaiads - the races whom the Dazzlings/Sirens belong to - are not necessarily Good nor Evil as other races or readers could understand them. They are just incredibly dangerous due to their different natures as ancient, eldritch gods.
  • The Changeling Courts, thanks to their nature as a Fae race, their cultural traumas, population numbers, their racial curse, genetic instability, political organization and other reasons, has various moral and cultural values that would disturb and horrify other cultures and peoples, but are seen as normal if not completely necessary to their survival and prosperity as a people. They are obsessively secretive (To the point of hiding their whole race and culture in the past), and even the nicest among them are willing to kill their non-Changeling friends without batting an eye to keep them hidden; they have a full-blown Martyrdom Culture that positively glorifies the fact that their lives mean nothing and are utterly expendable for the greater good of Changelingkind; they are ruthlessly pragmatic, consider cunning and deceit to be virtues where other cultures value strength and honesty, while keeping their 'Words' and promises are considered Serious Business; to prevent mutation from ravaging their populations down the generations they are willing to segregate and even cull whole segments of their hives/swarms' populations to prevent the proliferation of 'Deviants', except if their mutations can help maximize their survival as a species. Many of these different moral and cultural values are gathered under the Changeling Creed, a collection of conventions and rules agreed by all the official and most of the unofficial Courts that essentially guides and dictates what it means to be a Changeling, and all of it centered around one cardinal, absolute mandate: that no matter the costs, "The Changelings MUST survive."
• Breaking the Cycle of Bad Parenting: One way for someone to break free of the Vicious Cycles that constantly plague Equus is to discard previous abusive patterns and show their children (biological or adopted) the love and respect they deserve.
  • The Poenan deities (and their mortal followers) raised Silver Bane to follow their ruthless philosophy of Justice, and gave him harmful teachings that would have eventually killed him if his friends and other benevolent individuals hadn't saved him during a critical moment. After adopting Friede, he would become a much better surrogate parent for her than the Poenans had ever been for him, as he genuinely tried to be a good father and role model for his daughter. Notably, Friede started crying openly and loudly for the first time after he got severely injured and fell into a coma that he would later wake up from.
  • As a colt, Prince Blueblood's birth parents emotionally abused him in their attempts to mold him into the ideal Scion of House Platinum, including trying to destroy his childhood dreams of being an adventurer after he got a compass rose Cutie Mark. Years later, after he was adopted by Princess Celestia and he was introduced to Prince Léon, then an infant Alicorn, he initially had doubts over his parenting skills and feared having Léon's innocence corrupted by Equestria's incompetent, selfish, and cruel nobility... but he ultimately chose to take responsibility and become the good parent to Léon that his own parents were not, resulting in an emotionally well-adjusted toddler. Both Luminiferous and Celestia believe that lots of good things await him if he continues raising Léon right.
  • The parents of Prince Golden Ash were not abusive to him or his brother, but they still held the toxic, xenophobic, and reactionary beliefs shared by the larger Alvslog Deer Herds and promoted by the Elternteil Deer Pantheon. Years later, after settling down in Kerajaan Cahaya and marrying his husband Victory Road, Golden Ash would become a father himself by adopting a young orphaned pegasus colt. Unlike his parents, though, Golden Ash is a genuinely loving parent who is raising his son outside of the harmful beliefs that he himself grew up with.
  • As a colt, Moon Ray Vaughoof was abused by his bad-tempered, alcoholic father, leaving him with physical and mental scars that took him a long time to heal from. In the Fourth Age, he would adopt a few children, such as Prince Dissonant Tune, Ruya Clear Feather, and Princess Voľná Láska, and be the loving father to them that Sunny Mane wasn't to him. This is notable since Dissonant Tune and Voľná Láska grew up with abusive parents themselves.
  • Prince Dissonant Tune ends up invoking this on both levels.
    • Dissonant's birth father, War Rock, was essentially a narcissistic, sociopathic monster who abandoned his kids. Dissonant's stepfather resented and abused him, and later tried to kill him after killing his mother in a rage. Years later, after falling in love with Zmeniť and siring Hudba, Dissonant vowed to be the good father that Hudba deserved and has made good on his promise, despite his own fears, insecurities, and mistakes as a parent.
    • Dissonant's biological grandparents were perfectionists who constantly pushed their musically-talented son to succeed and then spoiled him rotten as a reward whenever he did, turning War Rock into a narcissistic, entitled sociopath who inflicted much harm on everyone around him. By stark contrast, Dissonant made huge efforts in being a genuinely good father to his daughter, Hudba; he initially tried compensating for his abusive foalhood by spoiling Hudba, only to realize his mistake when it turned her into a Spoiled Brat and got him chewed out by Moon Ray/Canticum Lunae.
  • Prince Dühroham Erobreseg's birth parents were horribly abusive to him and treated him more like a Human Weapon than a person, which left him a Shell-Shocked Veteran with incredible amounts of PTSD. By present day, he still has issues, but he's significantly more adjusted than before thanks to Yarost adopting him and receiving psychiatric help. Dühroham's entry notes that all of his children were adopted due to him being gay, but he's nonetheless a much better parent to them than his birth parents were to him. One of Dühroham's children is Noo-Noo, a robotic vacuum cleaner he adopted as his son after Noo-Noo gained sapience.
  • Princess Voľná Láska's birth parents, as Neo-Alvslog Deer, bore the same bigoted, traditional, and reactionary mindsets as the original Alvslog Deer Herds. They were also both religious fanatics and eco-extremists who exploited her precognitive visions by essentially turning her into a drug addict so they could lead Erobreseg Deerkind back to their "birthright" as caretakers of nature. In stark contrast, Voľná herself would become a good mother for her adoptive and biological children, including one Shàngtiān Jiùēn, whom she and Moon Ray saved from himself after her son's repressed traumas and negative emotions finally caught up to him.
  • While Vicearch Iniquitous' own mother wasn't outright abusive to her and her brother, she was rather emotionally neglectful and later estranged herself from her children to keep her other life as a Lilithian witch a secret following her divorce. If Iniquitous' brother is to be believed, they rarely saw their mother except during occasions when she wants something from them. When their mother died, neither of them shed a tear, with Iniquitous' brother seeing her act of bequeathing her own belongings to her daughter as finally doing them some good. By contrast, once she became a mother herself, Iniquitous would remain consistently present in the lives of her children, the Princelings of Vice, which influenced the Princelings' relationships with her and how they see her overall.
• Break the Believer:
  • Prince Written Word, Golden Scepter's thirteenth son, once idolized his father to the point where he secretly joined the priesthood partially out of love and devotion to him. However, a combination of witnessing Golden Scepter's flaws up close and having an older brother get permanently blinded in a carriage accident caused Written Word to gradually resent Golden Scepter, until he lost his mother to old age, at which point he snapped. During a heated argument with Golden Scepter, he called him out for not "helping" his family or his subjects, only to accidentally let slip his religious activities in an emotionally vulnerable moment, getting himself in trouble. Golden Scepter would later take Written Word aside and gently deconstruct his motives by explaining to him what he was really doing, and telepathically showed him his own memories and experiences with religious excess, leaving Written Word so shaken that he packed up and left home to do some soul-searching. The adventures he would have - up to his liberation of a backwater Pony kingdom from demons - would lead to him realizing the true value of Faith and Ascend, becoming a demi-Alicorn god.
  • Double-subverted with Blue Suede Heartstrings.
    • After witnessing the flaws of many gods and goddesses over the course of three Ages since his Ascension, Blue Suede realized the "King in Heaven" he worshiped is likely just as flawed. Despite this, he soon realized that (in his words) being born good, bad, and/or in-between is "just how the world is". As he explains to Prince Written Word, even deities have the power to improve themselves, and if someone like the "King in Heaven" can do that, then he has hope that he can still remain humble even when he is tempted with sin.
    • However, his second entry reveals that despite his faith and devotion, Blue Suede went through some rough patches where he seriously doubted his ability to follow the "King in Heaven"'s teachings, especially when his various flaws and traumas became increasingly harder to ignore. After his psychological breakdown, he felt extremely depressed over the thought that he made himself both irredeemable and unforgivable in the eyes of the King. Thankfully, Blue Suede's family, friends, and loved ones were able to help him recover, in the process restoring his faith.
• Break the Haughty: This trope applies whenever someone, especially if they're powerful and great in some way, start acting in a manner that warrants receiving Laser-Guided Karma from those who don't agree with them.
  • The constant praise and special treatment he would receive for being a Child Prodigy would influence Prince Crimson Star, the Codexverse counterpart of Magnus the Red to become an Insufferable Genius of the highest order, straining his relationships with his friends and family. His ego would later be broken upon losing his sight in a carriage accident while saving a classmate, but what caused it to be shattered even further was when he tried summoning a demon to restore his sight, only for his efforts to be swiftly ended by Golden Scepter, creating a Jerkass Realization about both his reckless pursuit of knowledge and his arrogant behavior towards those he deemed beneath him. This led to Crimson Star becoming rather depressed to the point where he was willing to scapegoat himself if it means he'll achieve redemption, not caring if he'll potentially die and if his family and friends would be affected by his death. But after he was saved from a few of his hateful brothers by Blazing Hoof, and called out on his self-destructive behavior by Golden Scepter, he would properly redeem himself and become a better person by doing a lot of good deeds to make up for his arrogance.
  • Prince Steel Barricade is an incredibly talented and skilled genius in technology and magic, but thanks to the bad influence of his older brother, Crimson Star, Steel Barricade became an even worse Insufferable Genius, including bullying his older brother, Clear Voice for being a potential threat to the fame he believed was rightfully his. After getting exiled by a furious Golden Scepter for instigating a duel with Clear Voice that destroyed part of the Terran Empire, he would end up in a Pony city-state within the Tauren Peninsula, where he enjoyed some success... until he truly discovered that War Is Hell, upon which he started repressing his emotions to justify his actions. This backfired when he eventually snapped and brutally murdered both the corrupt king and nobility of the city-state who were perpetuating the wars plaguing the area to begin with. It's deconstructed in that while he finally learned the value of humility and empathy, Steel Barricade would be haunted by his actions long after Ascending to demi-Alicornhood, and this created quite a few psychological issues, such as reverting to stoicism and cold logic whenever he gets upset, and rampant anger issues that stem from constantly repressing his emotions. Fortunately, he is recovering thanks to Mentálne's counseling as well as the emotional support of his friends and family, and he has also taken steps to improve himself in the meantime by watching the examples set by his brothers and their military chapters.
  • Invoked with Blue Suede Heartstrings, now Prince Caerulus Melodia Equestria.
    • As the Alicorn god of Humility, he seeks to redeem prideful individuals by showing them the consequences of their behavior, and teaching them the value of humility. His first entry notes that one way he can invoke this is by "emotion-bombing" his targets with the pain they had inflicted on others with their arrogance, though he only does this if his targets need a little more convincing to change their ways and generally doesn't like hurting people like that.
    • Once he recovers from his psychological issues, though, he starts being more proactive about teaching prideful people a lesson. One of the things he did was learn under various Karma and/or Pranks deities like Pakak, who taught him many curses and hexes that invoke Karmic Transformations depending on how severe a person(s)' crimes are. Some transformations involved people's heads being turned into clucking rooster heads for arrogance and/or spreading lies, while others are similar to what Pakak did to Sunnytown. Most of his targets are usually Tribalists, Autorists, and corrupt nobles, but he has humiliated deities as well, especially traditionalist ones who tried dictating how he should act according to their standards; one incident had him moon a deity for making him speak in a proper and refined way that's befitting of an ancient Alicorn god. Both his brother and his friends who were nearby collapsed into laughter.
      Prince Caerulus Melodia Equestria: ...Ah think Ah’ll decide fer myself how Ah should speak, thank ya very much.
  • Invoked with Yetareme. He often serves as a divine patron for "jerk rivals" and self-absorbed sports teams, but as a "constructive Evil" god, it's only so he can lead them towards humility in the end.
  • Invoked and later weaponized by Prince Mana Weaver.
    • After finally receiving proper instruction in wizardry by his mentor, one of the Starswirls, he would participate in magic duels where he overpowered and defeated all of his old instructors and classmates who discriminated against him. In particular, he would utterly humiliate the one instructor who cruelly humiliated him previously by systemically dismantling all of his spells while giving him a stinging "The Villain Sucks" Song, exposing the older Unicorn as the prideful, bigoted, "second-rate" person he really was. To further the humiliation, this was done in front of the royals who attended a meeting between the three Pony tribes.
    • After becoming a student of Golden Scepter, he would Ascend as the Alicorn god of Humbling. He has Psychic Powers that allow him to sense hubris in people and analyze the best way to shatter their bloated egos in order to make them see how their pride is unfounded. This makes him skilled in psychological warfar, making him a rather terrifying foe to face. His domain also allows him to feed off of people's hubris to become stronger and turn their own egos back on them.
• Broken Ace: In the Codexverse, there are various individuals who are incredibly talented and intelligent, but have become at risk of falling or already fell into villainy due to certain circumstances.
  • Emperor Golden Scepter became this during the Imperium era - he was essentially a prodigy among Alicornkind, being one of the strongest psychics in the world as well as a peerless warrior, genius, and leader who is also a beloved war hero. However, the traumas he would suffer from fighting against Morning Star's faction for ten Ages brought out many of his worst traits and deeply affected his judgement. This led to him making terrible mistakes that ultimately caused him to be sealed away, while his empire, the Imperium of Ponykind, crumbled and ultimately collapsed in his absence. After he was found and healed by Luminiferous and Dazzleglow in the Second Age, he would gradually become The Ace again by going through Character Development, wandering around Equus, learning from the examples set by mortals and divines, and getting therapeutic help from Mentálne, the young Bogolenya Deer goddess of Mental Healing.
  • Implied with Tempest Shadow. She had great magical power, but after losing her horn in a childhood confrontation with an Ursa Minor, she became extremely embittered from the ostracism and shunning she would receive from her fellow ponies, which drove her to ally herself with the Storm King, hoping he would fix her broken-off horn. After the "Storm King Crisis", Crimson Star, a blind Alicorn Prince and one of Golden Scepter's demi-divine sons, would approach her because he recognized that they're similar in that they're both incredibly talented people who suffered from permanent disfigurement, and reached out to her because deep down, despite her anger, bitterness, and her treachery against Equestria, Tempest Shadow desperately needed help.
  • Blue Suede Heartstrings is also one. Despite his talent, accomplishments, and compassionate nature, Blue Suede harbored three Ages worth of untreated trauma and other untreated issues that he deeply repressed. He also hated himself for not practicing what the 'King in Heaven' preached, and resented everyone for hurting him even indirectly, holding him to ridiculous standards, and expecting him to solve all their problems. Even Blue Suede's own brother, Bossa Nova, whom he shares an empathic bond with, did not know of his issues because Blue Suede was able to hide them so well. Things eventually come to a head when he snaps from his pent-up traumas and emotions, and nearly transforms into a Fallen Alicorn, only to fall into an Angst Coma once the transformation is stopped. Thankfully, his friends and loved ones make an effort to save him from himself, and after Blue Suede wakes up, everyone he helped over the centuries pitches in to help him recover psychologically. Thanks to them, Blue Suede finally and properly heals, which allows him to become The Ace again and leaves him more or less at peace with himself.
  • Much like his birth father, Prince Dissonant Tune is a musical prodigy, which factored into his Ascension as a 'prodigy deity' later on. However, because of his abusive childhood and the wrongful mistreatment he received from others for being related to War Rock, he suffers from numerous psychological issues such as a bad temper, distrust towards authority figures, an utter hatred for Abusive Parents, and an Inferiority Superiority Complex that makes him question his place in the world at times. Fortunately, being Happily Adopted by his idol, Moon Ray Vaughoof, is doing wonders for his psyche, and he's receiving psychiatric help from Mentálne.
• Broken Pedestal:
  • Prince Written Word felt this way towards Emperor Golden Scepter, his father. He initially idolized Golden Scepter and secretly joined the priesthood partially to preach his father's virtues and benevolence to his Terran Subjects. However, he would be gradually exposed to Golden Scepter's flawed side, from the stories of the Alicorn Civilization's polyamorous practices to the perceived and real blunders Golden Scepter made with his brothers and mother. It culminated with Written Word snapping at Golden Scepter and getting into an argument with him following his mother's death... which leads to him accidentally revealing his secret priestly activities. After Golden Scepter takes his son aside and explains to him what he's really doing, Written Word goes soul-searching and ends up freeing a backwater Pony kingdom from its demon-infested Corrupt Church, making him realize the importance of 'true' faith and allowing him to Ascend to demi-godhood. Golden Scepter was noted to be "proud beyond measure", seeing Written Word's Ascension as a sign of his newfound maturity.
  • As a young filly, Scarlet Bell once idolized Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker for being smart, powerful, and fun teachers. However, the horrific discovery of her teachers' goals and what they planned to do with her friends and classmates brutally shattered her perceptions of them, to the point where she initially was distrustful of adults and had nightmares about it. Even though she got better years later, she nonetheless panicked when she learned that Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker ended up in the Grittish Isles like she did by sheer coincidence, and after finding Midnight Bell, who had run away from home alone to save Page Wheel, defending Page Wheel's cocoon from them, she would confront her former teachers and deck Noble Grace in the face for her crimes.
  • Implied with Prince Dissonant Tune's relationship with his mortal stepfather. Dissonant used to idolize his stepfather as a colt and took up music to earn the older stallion's love and praise. However, his stepfather was extremely resentful of him being a bastard hybrid on top of being a musical prodigy, and eventually killed Dissonant's mother in a maddened rage before trying to go after his son as well. The incident was extremely traumatizing to then-young Dissonant, and it contributed to his hatred of Abusive Parents.
    • However, it's subverted with Dissonant Tune's relationship with Moon Ray Vaughoof. Dissonant genuinely sees Moon Ray as a model citizen for overcoming his addictions and wants everyone to be like him in the face of temptation. Even after becoming friends and seeing Moon Ray's flaws, his admiration of the older stallion never wavered. He also cried Tears of Joy when he learned he's going to be adopted by Moon Ray as his son (though he denies it). Moon Ray giving him some genuine advice during some emotionally low moments in the past helped, too.
  • Moon Ray Vaughoof had this happen to him twice with people he dearly looked up to in his life.
    • The first was his own older brother, Sunny Field Vaughoof, who inspired him to take up music in the first place. After ushering in Velvet Heart's spirit, Moon Ray learned that Sunny Field wrongly blamed her for his early death and treated coldly by refusing to acknowledge her. This led to the Vaughoof brothers getting into a fight and Moon Ray estranging himself from Sunny Field for a while in anger. But after talking with Gavisus Manes and having a prophetic dream where he only said hateful things to Sunny Field, Moon Ray realized that Sunny Field was grieving at the time even if his actions were wrong. After coming to terms with his feelings, Moon Ray apologized to Sunny Field (and vice-versa) and they reconciled.
    • The second was his foalhood idol, Double Helix. Moon Ray idolized Double Helix and cited him as one of his most prominent inspirations. But when he discovered that his idol returned from the dead and participated in various atrocities against the people of Applewood, Moon Ray is both heartbroken and furious. The revelation also left him extremely depressed knowing that he himself had become obsessed with his own Glory Days and was that close to falling like his idol did. But after coming to terms with his anger and reaching a level of understanding towards Double Helix's motives, Moon Ray has made attempts to help his idol achieve redemption in hopes that they could reconcile and Double Helix can once again become the good stallion he admired as a colt.
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: It turns out, this was the end result of the first Void Aeon. Equus and its divine/mortal allies managed to defeat the Void Sovereign and imprison him in the Cosmic Void... but countless lives were lost on a galactic scale, planets were destroyed, and the majority of the progress the then-galactic scale civilization had made was lost. Of course, given the alternative, it's decidedly the better outcome. The Church of the Stars are trying to prepare Equus for his inevitable return to ensure this time he can be beaten without nearly so much death and destruction.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Crazy Ant once described himself as a "crazy awesome mad scientist changeling who happens to rule a small island nation" who once dedicated several months of labor solely to make a mechanical horse to give rides to the island's children. Despite this, he's just that brilliant and good at what he does that his people love him and in fact instated him as leader without him even intending to found a country, let alone intend to rule it.
• Butterfly of Death and Rebirth:
  • Despite being a divine moth Kaiju, Mothryu has Born-Again Immortality just like her character inspiration, Mothra. Unlike typical deities, she can age and die like a mortal, so to make up for this she has the uncanny ability to predict when she's going to die so she can lay an egg beforehand. This egg hatches into a larva that essentially becomes her, inheriting all her memories, abilities, and personality.
  • The same goes for Battryu, Mothryu's "twin"... except since he's male, a larva would always emerge from his corpse after death.
  • Crystal Prism a butterfly-like Alicorn whose appearance and magic is centered around butterflies. It's implied and later confirmed that, as Page Wheel, he really did die when he turned into a magic-eating monster and was purged by Luminiferous and the Equestrian Princesses. Only his magic saved him by incubating him in a magic cocoon, which in the process caused him to Ascend to demi-godhood while inside. It's later justified in Noble Grace's entry - it's revealed In-Universe through research notes and police interrogations that Noble Grace tried creating an Alicorn that embodied Rebirth and Change, which would symbolize a "new age" for Ponykind. This would explain how Crystal Prism gained a butterfly-like appearance, and abilities like empathetic precognition, telepathic butterfly control/summoning, and "cocoon-healing" (which also helps revive him whenever he's killed). Later on, both this and the adventures he had would lead to him getting title of his own, "The Butterfly of Rebirth".

---