Codex Equus / Tropes C to D

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

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Codex Equus provides examples of:

C

• Came Back Strong: The most effective method of coming Back from the Dead without drawbacks is by ascending to divinity, transcending life and death in a traditional sense. However, they can't become a Death god, however, or they're still partially bound to the afterlife.
• Cannibalism Superpower: A potential outcome of consuming your rival/enemy as a god if you went and indulge in God-Eating during a Divine Conflict. Usually, you just get a considerable power-boost, while depending on how one does it you can even add their domain into your own. Can do this non-fatally to the eaten god, as Codexverse deities' eldritch nature allows them to potentially imprison their consumed rival in a Stomach of Holding and drain them steadily for an ever-replenishing source of power.
• Canon Character All Along: Justified. Many gods and goddesses are actually My Little Pony characters who have Ascended to godhood and chose to rename themselves to reflect this change.
  • For a long time, it was hinted that Empress Blackrose and Emperor Blackthorn are the Alicorn Princess and Earth pony Prince who both fell madly in love with each other in the Hearth's Warming Eve tale, which was eventually confirmed in later entries. However, the Codexverse has a darker take on it - the incident that would become the Hearth's Warming Eve tale started when Blackthorn, then an Earthpony Prince, tried seducing Blackrose with the infamous 'Love Poison', leading to them conceiving the Zeroth Spawns under its influence. Blackrose was so traumatized that she became a monstrously abusive mother to the Zeroth Spawns, causing them to flee and hide themselves from her. Also, Blackrose was revealed to be the Flutterpony Queen Rosedust, but it's never clear which one she is, as all Flutterpony Queens were traditionally given the name.
  • Gleaming Shield is implied to be the young Earth pony who's spotted in Ponyville pulling a cart full of gems in the episode "Flutter Brutter". Fans called him "Quarter Hearts" because of his partially full heart for a Cutie Mark.
  • The "Ponyfriends" group from G1 was also incorporated into Codex Equus, though reimagined for the setting and under different names to reflect their current status as Ascendant deities.
    • High King Kaldr, the co-leader of the Hoyklan Deer pantheon, was G1 Oakly the Moose, who was friends with Mzazi/Zigzag and later Ascended to godhood with her help.
    • It's implied, though unconfirmed in-universe, that Queen Tiara of the Sauropodian pantheon was once the original G1 Cutesaurus who Ascended, likely through Mzazi/Zigzag's help.
    • Queen Mzazi, the oldest of the "Ponyfriends" at four million years old, is actually Zigzag, a G1 Zebra. Here, she's the first sapient Zebra and adoptive daughter of Alchimia Equus, one of the Thirteen Empyreans, who helped create mortal Zebrakind. During the First Age, Mzazi incarnated herself as Zigzag because she wanted to maintain perspective by living like a mortal.
    • Satori of the Llama pantheon is actually Cha Cha the Llama from G1. She was once a mortal Llama who later Ascended to godhood under Mzazi/Zigzag's tutelage. She changed her name to reflect her transformation after this.
    • Sultana Sahra' is actually Spunky the Camel from G1. She was once a mortal Camel who later Ascended to godhood under Mzazi/Zigzag's tutelage. She changed her name to reflect her transformation after this.
  • A Diamond Dog legend, his appearance, and some of his abilities imply that Mampfen, the Diamond Dog god of Mining, is actually Crunch the Rock Dog from G1.
  • Princess Maya Dolos Ponyland, a member of the Kerajaan Pantheon, is actually Masquerade, a G1 Pegasus character from My Little Pony 'n Friends. It's justified as she changed her name to reflect her transformation into a goddess after she Ascended.
• Celebrity Power: This is extremely common thanks to many Codexverse characters being based on real-life people.
  • Many Trimortidae members are based on real-life celebrities, but unlike their inspirations, they had the option to Ascend to godhood and took it, becoming Death deities.
    • Alan Rickman is a famous and respected British actor, known for playing villains and deeply complex characters. Here, as Sir Curtain Call, he would become the Alicorn god of Death, Villainy, Acting, and Understanding after dying of old age.
    • Jimi Hendrix is one of the most legendary and influential guitarists whose experimental applications of feedback and distortion revolutionized both rock music and how people played electric guitars. Double Helix is essentially the Codexverse's Ponified version of Hendrix who, as a result of changes in both circumstances and choices in his life, ends up becoming the Zebralicorn god of Death, Addiction, Enlightenment, and Spirit.
    • Beloved Light, also known as his HoofTube handle "Love504", is based on bassist, YouTuber, and memelord Davie504. Following his death from old age, he Ascended to godhood as the Alicorn god of Death, Memes, Encouragement, Bassists, and Rhythm.
  • Prince Healing Song (now Prince Medela Cantor Cahaya) is based on Jeff Healey, a Canadian-born jazz/blues musician. In life, Jeff Healey was a prodigy, being a songwriter, actor, and DJ in addition to being a Blind Musician, but died of cancer in his forties. Here, Healing Song was saved by a last-minute Ascension while he was dying possibly thanks to a disguised Luminiferous, becoming an Alicorn god with Psychic Powers and Magic Music. Initially, he was a Martial Pacifist, but after realizing he was holding himself back, he changed his beliefs and unleashed his full power, healing himself in the process. Later, being exposed to the reality-warping presence of an Eldritch Abomination (who is the corrupted form of his friend, Moon Ray/Canticum) turned Healing Song into an eldritch god with the power to perceive alternate dimensions via light.
  • All members of the Redeeming Six are based on Stevie Ray Vaughan and his inner social circle, consisting of his wife, his older brother, and his bandmates in Double Trouble. Unlike their real-life inspirations, however, they would all first start out as Angels (or Angels of Death) before Ascending to godhood. Presently, all of them are eldritch deities thanks to Moon Ray/Canticum re-Ascending as one and then later helping his loved ones Ascend, too.
    • Stevie Ray Vaughan was a very talented guitarist who revived the stagnant Blues genre, and is now regarded as one of the most iconic and influential Blues musicians in history. The Codexverse takes it further by having his expy, Moon Ray Vaughoof, become first an Angel of Death after his death, then an Alicorn 'prodigy' after learning to forgive and let go of his past. He's also a skilled artist and therapist, a powerful psychic and Seer, and is experienced with spotting signs of abuse/addiction in general, all which Stevie Ray doesn't have (ironically, Stevie Ray did show potential in art as a high school student, but ultimately chose to pursue music). Later, a series of events would turn Moon Ray into an eldritch god, and the changes become permanent once he realizes the cyclic nature of things and reconciles with his Prophecy domain.
    • Prince Proclivitas Cahaya, born Fret Pick, is based on Tommy Shannon, Stevie Ray Vaughan's bassist, but unlike his real-life inspiration, he became an Angel of Death postmortem, dragging wicked souls to the Hell-Realms as punishment for their crimes. It would be three Ages later that he Ascends to godhood with Moon Ray/Canticum's help, but as an eldritch Alicorn.
• Celebrity Survivor: Blue Suede Heartstrings had survived two cataclysmic events that ended two Known Ages, such as the "Void Aeon", as well as the Third Age cataclysm that also destroyed the musical island archipelago of Mousikós. It's implied that he participated in and survived other events like the Maretian Wars, the "Winter Wedding Crisis", and even the Second Great War... to say nothing of the tornado outbreak that struck and devastated southern Ponyland, which he and his family narrowly survived when he was just one-year-old.
• Central Theme:
  • Vicious cycles as a result of the flaws of mortals, spirits and gods as well as the very nature of the world/universe itself are referenced throughout Codex Equus, and how it affects everyone and everything trapped in them. Great beings and civilizations constantly rose to greatness, only to fall into decline and destruction, a process which repeats itself endlessly over the eons. The Equestrians' and other heroic characters' struggle to ensure friendship and harmony prevails over enmity and disharmony is framed within this context, portrayed as part of an epic struggle for the future of Sapientkind by overcoming the moral and natural evils that resulted in such Vicious Cycles to occur. The efforts of Dazzleglow and others to break and escape the Cycle are also examined in detail. Yet the overarching question remains: Are we and those who would follow us destined to repeat the same mistakes?
  • Legacies - how we should come to terms with the burden, consequences and memory, good or ill, of those before us and what we ourselves leave behind. Can we live up to our predecessor's achievements and rise even greater? Should some legacies be left behind and forgotten?
  • Progress in all forms comes with its benefits and its prices, but it's still preferable to stagnation and regression as the world will change and force you to change no matter what. A notable example would be the creation of the Vortex Engine, which received severe vitriol from almost all kinds of reactionary winged species, especially pegasi and griffons, who believed that the Vortex Engine would make them "obsolete" and "rob" them of their rightful dominion of the skies, which had been divinely given to them by the gods. It got to the point where Fiery Flight received death threats, being nearly killed, and was made unwelcome in almost every country she fled to until arriving in Machina, where Crazy Ant took her in. The counter-response to the extreme prejudice and hatred, fortunately, was just as fierce, with even the famous Rainbow Dash condemning the Scions of Hurricane and is excited by the prospect of racing Vortex Engine-propelled vehicles one day.
  • The fundamental nature of Sapientkind; are Ponies and other races and sapients fundamentally good or evil? Or both/neither? Are all that is good and perfect always doomed by what is evil and flawed? Can one rise above their innate nature to be better? What can they do if they can't?
  • The 'Changeling/Dragon Trilogy' has "Hatred is like an infection, the longer it's allowed to fester, the more victims it leaves. And those that give into it are the first it claims."
    • Also from the trilogy: "Great and wonderful fates can be thrown aside in pursuit of obsession". The Changelings threw away one of their best chances to end their racial curse with Apterus because they can't stand the idea of inter-racial romance with their racial Arch-Enemy. The Dragons likewise lost someone who might had led their race out of their complacency and stagnation when he choose instead to dedicate himself fully to genocidal vengeance against the Changelings. So much potential is ultimately lost because those on both sides are unable to let go of their obsessions.
  • With entries like the ones with the Clovenists: Does the ends justifies the means in achieving a better world? Even if utopia can be achieved, is it worth the costs and the price? Is there a perfect world that can be reached for all, or is it fundamentally subjective to the self-interests of those reaching for them, like the Autorists, the Tribalists and other Evil/Fallen mortals and immortals whose dreams are a nightmare for others not them?
  • Also related to above: the conflict between Principles and Pragmatism. Can principles survive in a world where nothing is absolute except that one must adapt or die? Does pragmatism truly offer a better option? Should a person stick to their principles, be honourable and rule-bound at all times, even if it leads to inflexibility and even ruin for themselves and everyone? Should a person be pragmatic, willing to do whatever it takes, no matter how distasteful, to achieve a better end, even if it means making yourself no different from what you fight against? What if there simply isn't any choice?
    • The Changeling Courts by racial and cultural imperative is dedicated to surviving no matter the costs, and represents the extremes of pragmatism with their secretive survivalist civilization. Their mercurial ruthlessness reach a level to unnerves even the outside world, but given their circumstances and the results, could one blame them for thinking like that?
  • The self-destructive nature of Evil and how it'll ultimately ruined itself (with the exception of evil directed towards constructive purposes or at least done pragmatically). Also Deconstructed as just because they're doomed to fail doesn't mean they shouldn't be stopped by the forces of good, especially when they will cause enormous amounts of damage even in short-term success and have a tendency of taking everyone down with them when evildoers fall.
  • Several natural elements of Equus require some sort of balance in order for Equus itself to work, such as Light and Dark, Nature and Progress, Life and Death, and Good and Evil.
    • As shown with the twin Deer gods, Belyolen and Temnobog, attempts to have one side triumph over the other will fail; Good Needs Evil in Equus because if Evil did not exist, then the heroic mortals will become complacent and weak, making them even more vulnerable to evil deities and supernatural monsters. When High King Irminsul tried to make Belyolen The Paragon of the Deer pantheon and shunned Temnobog for being born (and encouraged his wife and peers to do the same), it only resulted in Belyolen leaving to form his own pantheon so he could give Temnobog the love and respect he believed his brother deserved. Temnobog initially hated his brother and sought to usurp him, but when he discovered that he was born Belyolen's equal and that the latter always loved him, Temnobog finally found a purpose in using evil for the betterment of Equus. It also falls on him to punish the souls of sinful mortals while the other gods devote themselves to protecting and blessing Deerkind.
    • As shown with the Nature Giants and their opposition of the "smallfolk", it is good for nature to flourish on Equus, but not to the point of overrunning civilization. Progress is good, but not to the point where it irreparably ruins the environment. However, the Nature Giants view mortals so pessimistically that it blinds them to the good mortals can do.
    • The twin Dragon deities, Yin and Yang, also embody the balance of Equus. While they sometimes bicker as siblings are wont to, they never actively oppose each other, because like Belyolen and Temnobog, and Celestia and Luna, both Yin and Yang embody certain elements that keep Equus going. They also serve as mediators, quelling their parents' arguments whenever Tiamat and Bahamut start disagreeing with each other. As they stated themselves, "Shadow and Light, Destruction and Creation - ALL must balance!"
    • As in canon, the sun and moon are equally vital to Equus. When Luna grew jealous and bitter towards Celestia being worshiped by their subjects while Luna's night was shunned, she turned into Nightmare Moon and attempted to bring about Eternal Night, not thinking of the long-term consequences this would have. Presumably, this led to Celestia regretting her ignorance towards her sister, so when Luna was defeated and later redeemed, things were made so they could continue ruling together.
  • Common in the Codexverse is the Holier Than Thou attitude that stems from feelings of Pride. While it can arguably be justified, those who do develop it are often portrayed as Jerkasses who like to rub their so-called superiority in others' faces and are barely tolerated at best. This is especially common among heroic deities and mortals, like the Nature Giants, the Poenan Pantheon, and the Elternteil Deer Pantheon, who oppose evil yet are extremely judgmental and abusive towards others for not having the same standards of 'good', becoming as bad as the evils they oppose.
  • Another theme in Codex Equus is Potential.
    • While everyone has potential, it must be gained through hard work and effort, and there are no shortcuts to achieving it. This is exemplified in the stories of Crystal Prism and Midnight Bell: Midnight Bell wished she was a unicorn instead of an Earth pony so she could be special, but once her wish was granted, her horn gave her so much trouble and trauma that she ultimately decided she was better off without one. Crystal Prism wished he was an adult so he could take care of his sick mother, only to have his wish granted in the worst possible way, so while he ultimately came out of his experience a demigod, he still had a lot of growing up to do even in his new form. The downsides of shortcuts are also exemplified in the villainous unicorn trio Decepticolt, Zappityhoof, and Goldencap, who got themselves expelled from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns because of their laziness and willingness to cheat, and infamously tried using Rainbow Dash's wings to turn themselves into Alicorns. They are unsympathetic Hypocrites of the highest order, and blame Alicorns for being "entitled" people who want to keep the secrets of Ascension to themselves, when it is they who act entitled to the power and freedom they believe is rightfully theirs.
    • There is also consequences for those who dash and ruin someone else's potential, regardless of the reason for doing so. Sparkling Wing's childhood's kingdom rejected him as Queen Silver Clock's heir, despite his great potential as a beloved and powerful ruler, because they didn't want to break matriarchal traditions by accepting a stallion on the throne. They ended up being ruled by his sister, a racist, warmongering queen who ultimately died in the Pony-Griffon war, and whose actions likely cost the kingdom as well. Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker are also examples of this - they tried pursuing a benevolent, yet extremely lofty goal of turning Ponykind into Alicorns by experimenting on foals and teenagers the moment they started showing exceptional talent. Ultimately, their work would unravel twice by the intervention of Scarlet Bell, one of their former students who opposed the harm done by their actions, and would get them arrested by calling the authorities as soon as she learned they're now in the same country as her. As the final kicker, Crystal Prism, their only "success" of their work, decided not to follow their intended role for him as herald of a "new age" because he was encouraged by several benevolent individuals to forge his own path.
  • Another theme is that while Equus is ultimately a hopeful and fantastical world, not even the gods can escape the natural and inevitable consequences of certain actions and events that are usually brought by their own doing, however people wishes it was not to be. And more often then not, the world would instantly or eventually catch up, with outcomes ranging from the hilarious and heartwarming to the harrowing and horrific.
  • A prevailing tone of Impermanence and Insignificance could be found expressed/implied in the entries of the Codex. In the face of the sheer scale of the setting, Nothing Lasts Forever and We Are as Mayflies tropes are in effect for even the greatest gods or the most long-lived mortals. Countless civilizations had rose and fell; countless leaders and rulers have come and gone; countless heroes and villains are remembered and forgotten in their fame or infamy. When all the world's a stage, and all are just merely actors, just what difference can any one individual make upon the script? Here, again, the Power of Friendship and Harmony are framed in this context as an even more positive and important force, as when even the greatest individuals are insignificant in the grander scheme of things (give or take a few exceptions), only by working and doing anything together can the world be changed, for good or ill.
    • The Demon lord Don'yoku has for his title the 'Lord of Greed', which is impressive. Then the Codex entry of him casually states he's merely the 475th known entity to have that title, in the Fourth Age alone. In short, he wasn't the first to have it, demon or no, and he won't be the last.
    • Morning Star, Codexverse's Captain Ersatz of the Devil, was an infamous Fallen Alicorn of Perfection who prior to Known History brought down the antediluvian Alicorn Civilization and caused extensive damage to Equus in a conflict lasting Ten Ages (around 100,000 years) before he was finally vanquished for good. While his actions were quite consequential and he remained remembered as a Devil figure in various mythologies for quite some time, by the Fourth Age, barely any-pony even remembered he existed.
    • And speaking of which, who remembered the antediluvian Alicorns, the greatest of Equus' children, apart from a few immortal Alicorns who once lived in it and stayed behind when they retreated from the world? Who remembered the Federal Republic of Ponyland and the Hooviet Union from the Second Age? Who remembered the Zinabi Empire of the Zebras, whose wealth eclipsed kingdoms and whose magic allowed them to reach as far as Equestria? Who remembered the Crystal Empire and the Empire of Trot until recent events, despite them being once rivals to the Principalities of Equestria in the 'Tournament of Crowns'? Who remembered the old Griffon Empire of Garald Goldenclaw? All of them believed themselves to be unrivalled and unparalleled in history, yet in the end, they were as only as fleeting and transient as all their predecessors were, and all their successors to come.
    • The individual Changelings of the Changeling Courts are well aware of their impermanence and insignificance in the scheme of things, and in the light of their obsession with survival no matter the costs, they not only accept but even embrace the fact that they are utterly expendable for the good of their hives and swarms. The humble Changeling is nothing among the multitudes of millions, and only the hive/swarm endures. They live by the phrase "Serve the Hive! For tomorrow, you may be dead!" - and if their unremembered sacrifices could ensure future generations of Changelings could survive and prosper, then it's worth it.
  • Emotion Suppression and refusal to treat trauma or other mental and emotional issues will only result in more suffering and pain down the line.
  • The importance of forgiveness. Several characters realize that while one can hate that which is evil and fight it, holding onto a grudge and letting hate rule you can turn you into something you aren't. As such, even if the person doesn't deserve forgiveness, sometimes you need to do so anyway in order to set yourself free and heal.
• Cernunnos: Cernunnos, the Lord of the Hunt, is the Coltic deer god of hunting, animals, the sun, rebirth and masculinity.
• Charm Person: Propagare, the God of Propaganda and Top God of the Tyrannos Pantheon, has this ability, causing those hearing him speak to be more inclined to believe him and if they're gullible or weak willed enough fall under his control. However, in order for it to work, they have to believe what he's saying in some capacity and if they're convinced not to his spell will break. Unfortunately, he's very good at making others believe him.
• Child Eater:
  • Dread, a mutated intelligent Dreadmare, was this. He actually had more reason than just being evil for doing it: the parents were more scared and thus the Boogeymares got more fear to feed on.
  • Giants, both mortal and divine, are this by implication as at their hungriest they can devour whole lands and everyone in them - including presumably children. The only one who averts this is the Jotunn love goddess, Elske, who only restricts herself to eating sinful individuals while adopting all the children to make up for eating their families and homes; her philosophy is inspiring other Giants to do the same.
• The Chosen One: Done realistically. Various individuals been chosen by divine forces over the Ages, usually Luminiferous, to act as embodiments of heroism and benevolence due to their extraordinary potential and actions. However, one of the Codexverse's main themes is that everyone has the potential to become great under the right circumstances, especially when given the right resources and the right people to nurture their innate talents. There are those who choose to squander their potential by making the wrong choices, or try to cheat their way to greatness through shady means, but they generally never succeed in their endeavors unless they choose to fulfill their own potential the right way. The Codexverse's realistic take on the concept of being a 'chosen' one stemmed from several writers' collective contempt for tropes that undermine people's self-worth like 'predestination' or 'birthright'.
  • Thorax, formerly a lowly mutant Changeling drone of ex-Queen Chrysalis's hive, became a Royal Changeling after willingly sharing his love with Chrysalis while she was publicly executing him by forcibly draining him of his love. Because of this, he has garnered the attention of both Spring and Summer Courts, as well as Luminiferous, who would later state that his act of forgiveness during the Toxikon Crisis (among other things) resulted in Thorax having more innate potential and power to become a true Changeling deity should the time comes. This is in comparison to the Royal Changeling children of both Blackthorn and Blackrose, most of whom are at best hypocritical, imperialistic, and/or racist.
  • Ember is likewise regarded as a receiver of great destiny because she, unlike her fellow Dragons, was open-minded enough to befriend Thorax, a Changeling, and valued mixing strength with intelligence. She is regarded as one of few individuals who could save Dragonkind from being hunted and wiped out for all the cruelties they had done to those "lesser" than them. And because she forgave the divine elders of Dragonkind as well as the Progenitors of Changelingkind for their role in the Toxikon Crisis, she has great potential to become a divine dragon that's even larger than Torch, her father.
  • Played with Crystal Prism. Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker wanted to create an Alicorn who embodied Rebirth and Change so they could be the herald of a "new age" for Ponykind, though it's implied that the role could have been given to anyone they took and experimented on. Crystal Prism ending up in a magical cocoon after becoming a magic-eating monster for a short time was proof to them that he had the potential and power to become a bonafide Alicorn god. Fortunately, Scarlet Bell and her grandniece, Midnight Bell, intervened before they could do anything else to him, and several benevolent individuals like Golden Scepter encouraged Crystal to forge his own path instead of following the one his "creators" intended for him.
  • The Mane Six, as in canon, were chosen by the Elements of Harmony because each mare had a certain trait that resonated with a specific element, such as Loyalty, Kindness, Magic, Generosity, and so on. This turned out to be invoked by Celestia, who was banking on Twilight making friends so they could unlock the power to defeat Nightmare Moon and rescue Luna. Later on, the Mane Six would be chosen by the Tree of Harmony itself to go spread friendship and harmony beyond Equestria's borders. After Ascending to godhood, they would pass on the Elements to the Young/Student Six, though they could still use their respective powers as by then, they already came to embody each Element as a concept.
  • The Church of the Stars' prophecy refers to three specific people who will help break 'The Cycle' that is keeping Equus from reaching the stars: 'She Who Will Unite Us All', 'They Who Will Pierce The Stars', and 'They Who will Break Cycles'. The first role is already filled by Princess Twilight/Amicitia Sparkle, while the latter two are left open for anyone qualified to take it. By the Fifth Age, Dr. Hooves gets the second role by inventing space technology, while Rainbow Dash/Fidelitas gets the third role by becoming the Alicorn goddess of Breaking Cycles.
  • Divine reincarnation sort of works on this, with elements of 'first come, first serve'. Becoming a reincarnation of a dead deity mainly involves making the right choices and staying true to their beliefs. This means that anyone can reincarnate, and managing to do so will give the person all that the dead deity possessed, including their memories and power. However, only the one who reincarated first will receive the dead deity's soul to guide them through the process, meaning that anyone else who try to reincarnate afterwards will just become a 'reincarnation clone'. Prime examples of this are Tranquil Harbor/Omega (who becomes Promes' reincarnation), Twilight Sparkle (who becomes Mana Equus' reincarnation), and Diamond Tiara (who becomes Diamond Glow's reincarnation). In Twilight's case, her status as Mana Equus' reincarnation is kept secret by the Church of the Stars so she'll be protected from those who will come to resent her for being handed everything on a silver platter.
  • According to a 'Tales of Equestria' story, the Grand Primevals consider Moon Ray Vaughoof to be this alongside Princess Rainbow Dash/Fidelitas. The main reason is because, as a benevolent god of Cycles who continuously learned from his mistakes and rose above them, Moon Ray has great potential to serve as a Redeeming Replacement for High King Ragnarøkkr. It also makes Moon Ray the perfect partner to Rainbow Dash/Fidelitas, who, as an Alicorn goddess of Breaking Cycles, can counter his Cycle-based powers. The Grand Primevals are interested in cultivating their potential so eventually they'll inherit a shared role in creating/maintaining healthy cycles that will sapientkind evolve, while going after entities that create/perpetuate toxic, self-destructive cycles.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Deconstructed. The Summer Court's inclination for complicated and treacherous plots started when one of Blackthorn's First-Spawn sons, Rhyniognatha, kick-started "The Fratricide" to kill off his brothers so he'll remain his father's favorite. This caused a standard to be set, in which all Changeling Kings should involve themselves in some kind of plot; whether Blackthorn allowed it out of disappointment towards his sons' incompetence, or to cull out the weak among them, it was clear that he plain didn't care. This has a tendency to backfire in the long run, especially when their plots run the risk of exposing the Changelings or making the Summer Courts a target for extermination for both inside and outside threats. Ultimately, what led to their massive loss of numbers is when King Heterometrus, who embodies this trope the most out of his brothers, betrayed a dragon who saved him from a dire situation by letting his brothers kill off the dragon's entire family, eventually leading to the birth of Dr. Toxikon.
• The Church: Because of the prevalence of deities and pantheons in the Codexverse, so too is the world awashed with many religions, and many of them in the form of centralized churches. Both flavours of this trope are depicted, as the Codexverse does not shy away from depicting the worst aspects of religion as corruptible, manipulative, intolerant, reactionary, anti-intellectual, fanatical and hypocritical institutions of faith, yet also affirms the existence of benevolent churches which does their best to guide adherents towards morality, peace, salvation and enlightenment. Members of both kinds of churches could even sometimes be found within the same church.
  • The Roamane Magnean Church in the Second Age is an Expy of the Roman Catholic Church in Real Life. They worship the King In Heaven (A distorted depiction of King Equus, Father of All Equidkind), and has all the fame and infamy that comes with their RL counterparts. Bon Bon, the Faithful Designer of the Virtuous Seven and her family are members of the congregations.
  • The Church of the Stars based in the kingdom of Kerajaan Kahaya, founded by Queen Dazzleglow, her sisters, and her allies, is firmly a Saintly Church and one of the biggest and most influential Big Good factions of Equus in the Fourth Age, trying to break the various Vicious Cycle which had doomed previous ages and civilizations and unite all of Equuskind in benevolence so that they may reach their highest potential and reach for the stars.
• Citywide Evacuation: Multiple times throughout Known History whenever there is a major crisis, with varying levels of success.
  • The constant crises and conflicts of the 'Second Age' meant the authorities of Ponyland, the Commonwealth and the rest of the world became very good at pulling these off, with civilians becoming very used to conducting the process in a calm and orderly manner. One drabble have every-pony being promptly evacuated to the nearest shelters no sooner the alarm is sound of a massive global ballistic missile attack being conducted by a renegade faction, with those in the drabble being more annoyed than anything at the disruption of their daily routine.
  • At the outbreak of the 'War Against Order' during the Fourth Age 'Time of Trials', Despotic Destiny's appearance and takeover of Canterlot prompted a massive evacuation from the capital city the royal government and as many civilians as the authorities could while the Royal Equestrian Legions Hold the Line against the Ordered forces. The performance of the REL and the government was noted to be a massive improvement from the utter rout the Royal Guards and authorities suffered during the 'Storm King Crisis' due in part to the complacency and corruption of the Equestrian nobility.
• Civil War: Due to various factors, the nations in the world of the Codexverse are far more prone to civil strife and conflict, exemplifying one of the overarching themes of the setting over whether people can truly ever get along or are they doomed to be forever at each others' throats over their conflicting differences and desires.
  • The First Equestrian Civil War is a major event in Codexverse Equestria's history, where Princess Luna, the Nightbringer fought against Princess Celestia, the Daybringer, tearing the realm apart in a years-long conflict as their subjects, servants and scions took one side or another. While initially and on the surface it was over irreconcilable disagreements and differences about how the Principalities should be and should become, but deep down Luna is motivated by her jealousy over her elder sister getting all the credit and attention of their subjects and she and her night being ignored despite their contributions and presence, which boiled over and corrupted her to madness and fratricidal hatred as Nightmare Moon. The conflict proved so brutal and traumatising, at least for the guilt-ridden Celestia who was forced to banish her own sister to the Moon, that in the Celestian Autocracy which followed the fallen First Diarchy did everything possible to play down or scrub out history of this and other conflicts and implemented other social-engineering and political measures which she hoped would curb her little Ponies' violent natures and ensure internecinal bloodshed on such a scale would never happen again. Sadly, she ultimately failed, and a heartbroken Celestia is Forced to Watch her Ponies kill each other again when after more than a thousand years a Second Equestrian Civil War broke out.
• The Clan: Many prominent long-lasting clans with multiple families and generations are mentioned throughout the Codexverse, producing heroes, villains and everything between throughout the Ages and many members achieving renown or infamy as participants of many mythical and historical events of note.
  • The very large Apple Clan is one of the more prominent in the series, dating their origins back to as early as the First Age with Applejack the First of the First Line who was once a subject of Queen Majesty and ally of Megann Wilms, the Rainbow Empress. Applejack of the Fourth Age, who would go on to become the Element of Honesty and later ascend to become Princess Veritas, the Eyes of Truth, wife of Prince Clear Voice of the Terran Empire and a member of the Equestrian Pantheon and the Terran Royal Family, is the 'Fifth Applejack of the Fifth Line'.
  • The Sandwich Clan is a more infamous Equestrian clan, notorious for producing eccentrics and maniacs throughout the generations.
    • The first mayor of Ponyville, Soup Sandwich, belongs to this clan, and is responsible for many of its wacky and silly festivals - to put it lightly, he is insane, and it was said his regular habit of wearing trousers for a hat is considered the least eccentric part of his character. It is a Riddle for the Ages as to how he managed to get voted as mayor despite his fairly obvious silliness/insanity.
    • Cheese Sandwich, the Festive Wanderer, also a member of this clan, is a party-pony whose talent and wackiness surpasses even that of Pinkie Pie (whom he would eventually marry), serving as a positive example of the clan's eccentricities.
    • Cheese Sandwich's older sister Marine Sandwich meanwhile would embody the clan's darker, madder side on account of being an eccentric and unstable gourmet artist who snapped over having her place in a cooking contest in Ponyville accidentally taken over by Applejack and not being believed, which led to her trying to freeze the venue with fondant/icing in retaliation and later descend into full-blown super-villainy by becoming a Ravenous Regent of Queen Eclaira, the Voracious Shadow of the Shadowpact Pantheon/Empire.
• Classical Anti-Hero: Many heroes, divine and mortal, are recorded within the Codex, and because of the project's objective views, some of these heroes are depicted as flawed yet generally good people who must overcome their flaws to become better.
  • Moon Ray Vaughoof, the expy of Stevie Ray Vaughan, is one. Moon Ray is humble, merciful, intelligent, and forgiving stallion, with talents in both music and art. But an abusive foalhood left him with numerous issues such as anger problems, swearing habits, and a crippling fear of his violent drunkard father. He also became an addict for a time, and was very humble to the point of veering into Heroic Self-Deprecation. After suddenly dying in a helicopter accident, Moon Ray became obsessed with the Glory Days of his past to the point of shirking his Reaper duties and ignoring everything/everyone else. And by Moon Ray's own admission, he took certain things for granted, like the Balance Between Good and Evil and his ability to steer himself and others away from bad influences. Much of his development arc involves acknowledging (and overcoming) his flaws and traumas, while learning the importance of forgiveness and letting go. It ends when Moon Ray realizes the cyclic nature of the world, owns up to his mistakes, and reconciles with his long-repressed Prophecy domain, which is the final nail in a series of events that causes him to permanently transform into an eldritch deity.
  • Blue Suede Heartstrings is a musical prodigy and the Second Age's greatest musician, a compassionate, All-Loving Hero who despises racism of all kinds, and a Magnetic Hero who was able to befriend even the likes of the dreaded Vicearch Iniquitous and her family. But he's also a Shell-Shocked Veteran and abuse victim who deeply repressed his traumas for three Ages (which is roughly tens of thousands of years), and as everyone discovered, he felt extremely bitter, angry, resentful towards all the people who hurt him in even the smallest ways. All these factors (and other things) contributed to his Sanity Slippage and eventual breakdown, which nearly corrupts him into a Fallen Alicorn. He recovers thanks to therapy, his friends and family's support, and a rather smelly wake-up call from Nittunak, and comes out of his ordeals better than before, even becoming King of a divine pantheon and a reincarnation 'clone' of a dead ancient goddess. However, it's noted that his flaws haven't entirely gone away; he just got better at controlling them.
  • Changeling Empress Blackrose is undoubtedly heroic, friendly, and noble... but she's also deeply flawed. Her most prominent flaws are her fury, her vindictiveness towards those who wronged her, her staunch Fantastic Racism towards Dragons, and her inability to move on from her Dark and Troubled Past. Much of her character arc involves being forced to reexamine herself and her actions for what they are, realize that she has problems, and try to make amends with those she genuinely hurt. Come the War Against Order Arc, decades in the future, and it seems she's lost the 'anti' part.
• Clipped-Wing Angel: Blood Fang sees his ability to turn into a powerful boar-like monster as this - while his strength is increased a thousandfold in this form, allowing him to rampage with little issue, it also makes him as dumb as a mere animal. Blood Fang would rather fight his Eternal Foes with a sane mind, even if he's put at a disadvantage for it, and would try to avoid shifting into boar form if he can help it.
• Closet Punishment: "The Chokey" is an old, narrow, antique closet-turned-Iron Maiden, its walls lined with sharp nails and glass shards. It's big enough for a child to fit inside, but no one can lean against the walls without getting scarred in the process, making it very claustrophobic. Trench Bull used the Chokey to both punish students for perceived slights and satiate her own sadism, and she got away with it for years because everyone initially thought the Chokey was too outrageous to exist. This led to the Chokey becoming The Dreaded among students, with one foal forcing himself to eat a large chocolate cake to avoid being imprisoned forever. During a school visit, Prince Crimson Star psychically experienced (implied) years worth of fright and despair from all the students trapped within the Chokey, nearly leading to an emotional breakdown until his younger brother, Prince Night Shade, dragged him to a safer place. Fortunately, the Chokey was destroyed after Trench Bull's arrest and imprisonment, with the goddess Katharsis filming the event for the abused students.
  • On the other hand, it's noted that this is just one of many punishments that awaits Trench Bull in the Hell-Realms should she die. Phykti, the oldest sister of the Four Terrors, loved the Chokey so much that she built a divine version of it, and had requested for Golden Scepter to let her have "first dibs" to Trench Bull's soul to test it out. The deities and archangels of the Poenan Pantheon, on the other hand, have been fighting to have Trench Bull's soul transferred to their jurisdiction, so they could give her "an ironic, eternal taste of her own creative medicine".
• Confirmed Bachelor:
  • Prince Shamrock Bloom is an "The Uninterested In Love Bachelor" example. He's both asexual and aromantic, and thus feels awkward and/or oblivious whenever someone tries flirting with him. This didn't change at all after Ascending to godhood and living for three Ages. Notably, Princess Twilight/Amicitia Sparkle Equestria is distantly related to him, but as a descendant of one of his siblings. At one point, Shamrock felt insecure over "missing out", but his godfather, Blue Suede Heartstrings, helped by giving him sound relationship advice and dealing with anyone who insensitively tried forcing Shamrock on dates. Shamrock was also able to figure out that Princess Daphné Odora Moufette is also aro/ace like him, and made her parents realize they've been ignoring her issues for a while after learning of her siuation.
  • Like her 'Uncle' Shamrock Bloom, Princess Daphné Odora Moufette is asexual and aromantic. This gave her a lot of issues as both of her parents, Tough Love and Moufette, are Love/Romance deities, and she would be set up on dates she pretended to like by those who assumed/expected her to be a romantic herself. However, Shamrock saw how miserable Daphné felt, and he and Amour-De-Soi would talk to Tough Love and Moufette about it, causing both of them to realize they had been ignoring their daughter's issues for so long. This would lead to a heartfelt conversation where Daphné found herself accepted by her parents despite her aro/ace orientation and domains, allowing her to find peace and abandon her self-imposed masks. For her part, Tough Love is extremely willing to fry the 'nards' of any deity who looked down on her daughter with lightning.
• The Conqueror: Owing the vast time-spans explored in the Codexverse, the setting is chocked-full of them. The Codexverse is notable for being willing to portray them in more sympathetic light where they aren't flat-out evil, presented with complex nuance and wide historical contexts behind their actions. Entries of them look at both the well-intents behind (where they exist) and terrible consequences (almost inevitable) of their ambitions and brilliance.
  • Many RL historical conquerors have their ersatzs mentioned or depicted in the early Second Age, coming in the likes of Bucephalus (Alexander the Great), Genitor (Julius Caesar) and Marengo (Napoleon) among others.
  • Overmare, widely considered the greatest supervillain of the Second Age, is considered one with her desire to Take Over the World (For a good cause), and is notable for being brilliant and capable enough that were it not for the likes of superheroes such as her archenemies Metamare and Silversmith stopping her time and time again, has a realistic chance of actually WINNING.
  • Sekra the Indomitable, High Queen of Crypta is widely considered one of the greatest conquerors to have ever lived and likely the greatest in the Third Age, her legendary Empire of Crypta having nearly taken over the world time and time again and serving as one of the greatest challenges to those who lived in an otherwise compassionate and fantastical Age. And thanks to the unwitting aid of Daring Do, has returned in the Fourth Age with intent to finish what she started.
  • [WIP]
• Consummate Liar:
  • Propagare, the God of Propaganda, is this. His ability to lie and twist truths is regarded as his most dangerous ability, even without his Charm Person abilities being taken into account. He's actually managed to convince the Clovenists and Autorists into believing he's on their side and manipulating the other to their benefit despite both having xenophobic tendencies. It's to the point even Xestobium, who was aware of his deceitful nature and one of the smarter Changeling Kings, ultimately fell for his lies and was played like a fiddle.
  • Changelingkind are also this on a cultural level, made necessary due to their nature and their obsession with secrecy and survival.
• Contractual Genre Blindness: Third Age villains and those following in their foodsteps generally abide by 'the rules' of being a villain, including intentionally making mistakes and leaving openings because they genuinely just want to challenge the heroes and have fun rather than actually hurt anyone. There are exceptions, such as Mistletoe Dreamer, however.
• Conveniently Interrupted Document: Presented as in-universe texts, "Codex Equus" are subjected to ambiguities and censorship prevalent to many works, with certain information either left out because the author does not have enough researched material to add in, or alternatively they were [REDACTED] or otherwise excised on account of the information being deemed too inappropriate/dangerous for public referencing.
• Cool Airship: The King's Ransom, Polistes' flagship/home. It's a flying battleship bristling with guns and a hangar for launching planes and natural flyers.
• Cool Car: The 'Blazers' are a line of 'Motoracers' starting with the 'Orange Blazer' designed/built by Scootaloo and/or others to serve as the by-then Badass Driver and Ace Pilot's primary motoracing vehicle. All are described as masterpieces in magical and technological engineering, not only outmatching other motoracers in speed and mobility but also packed with an arsenal of gadgets to rival other 'super-cars' such as the Shadowmobile, the Agent 777 cars and the Racer family's 'Mach' series, which combined with Scootaloo's driving skills made her practically a 'demon on wheels'.
• Cool Versus Awesome: While the conflicts between the Empire of Malrègnar and the Realms Vertusia have this by default, their Grand Fleetmasters deserve special mention: an Expy of Jean-Luc Picard vs an Expy of Grand Admiral Thrawn.
• Conveniently Empty Building: Justified and lampshaded: in a canonized drabble, Lancer and Teddy, who have become Power Rangers, discuss why Ponyville has an abandoned warehouse district where the giant monster fight they're currently in is taking place. It's actually built to be a decoy to trick monsters and supervillains into attacking a cheaply built, abandoned section of the city instead of the populated ones. It actually works quite well.
• Conveniently Interrupted Document: Many Codex Equus entries have parts that are either [REDACTED] or have [SECTIONS MISSING]. Meta-wise this is a convenient means for RL authors to get around Writer's Block, avoid Spoilers or leave behind a Plot Bunny for interested readers and prospective writers to speculate and expand. In-universe, they are due to archival inconsistencies and problems, or censoring content that are deemed either too controversial or dangerous to be published for public consumption.
• Cornered Rattlesnake:
  • What the three villains Lord Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow were reduced to by the time of the 'League of Domination' Crisis. Their attempts at conquest had failed; the forces of Harmony were either closing in on them or already had them captured. They were for all intents and purposes on the verge of utter defeat, and would had been doomed were it not for Grogar II (who was also reduced to this, having been hiding out for centuries just to recover and plan) rescuing them from their predicament. The relevant entries made it clear that forming the League of Domination and their ultimate attempt at conquest was their desperate, last-ditch attempt to finally win, with nothing left to lose and knowing they won't have another chance. They were right.
  • This is the state of the Equestrian nobility post-Storm King Crisis. The 'Storm King Crisis' had caused massive public backlash to be directed at the corrupt nobility - being a large reason why the Storm King was able to invade Equestria easily - which finally gives the Equestrian Royal Family a chance to pass the reforms the nobles were trying to block. However, Princess Celestia is given a warning by a disguised King Brachion about just how far they may be willing to go to secure their crumbling power.
    King Brachion: Beasts are at their most dangerous when wounded and cornered. They will not go down without a fight - they will thrash, they will struggle, they will bite and tear and kill; they will take any chances and go any lengths to survive. Many a hunter on the edge of triumph had found their throats torn open by the dying animal they sought to put down. Take care, your highness, if you wish to slay your beasts; you may never know what they would not do, what they are not incapable of, if they felt they have nothing left to lose.
• Cosmic Entity:
  • The Grand Primevals' mysterious parent is implied to be this, having tasked them with creating and maintaining Equus. It's implied in both Pyro II and Cinder I's entries that said parent is the sapient life-force of Equus, contained within the planet's core.
  • The three cosmic Sovereigns, Genesis, Void, and Perpetuity, are on a galactic level of power, with Void having had the potential to destroy the entire galaxy. Genesis is also the grandmother of the Grand Primeval.
  • Above the Cosmic Sovereigns is the Architects. Each of them are vastly incomprehensible, with their eyes being the only thing that could be perceived by lesser beings, but they are decidedly benevolent and care a great deal for their creations. They created the divine hierarchy so lesser deities of various tiers can interact and help mortals on their behalf, knowing their Blue-and-Orange Morality and Time Dissonance would just put a hamper on things.
• Cosmic Horror Story: As more entries are published, Codex Equus is slowly revealed to be this at its core - a story that takes place in a world where sapient creatures live together, governed by (mostly) benevolent divines and demi-divines. They're also largely unaware that their collective existence is set on a metaphorical timer, as the Void Sovereign, an extremely ancient Eldritch Abomination that wants to return everything to the Void, is sealed in a Pocket Dimension in space, waiting to be freed. However, as it is set in My Little Pony, Codex Equus is also Lovecraft Lite, as despite its depressing and even nightmarish moments, the story also has very optimistic undertones as various individuals, both divine and mortal, have been known to take down even the most dangerous of threats under the right circumstances, which the Church of the Stars hopes would work on the day the Void Sovereign is let loose upon the universe once again.
• Cosmic Keystone: The Heart of Ponyland (as well as other such 'Cores') and the Wands of Ponyland, much like in canon. They serve a vital purpose of stabilizing and maintaining the magical fabric of Equus itself, and thus if tampered with could trigger a magical, global cataclysm. As such, Princess Tiffany, now Princess Regina, stands guard over the Wands and the Heart to protect them. The fact they're this has caused more pragmatic villains such as Overmare and Blackthorn to protect them, or at least consider them off limits, as the destruction of the world goes against their best interests.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: In the "Revenge of Apertus" event, Luminiferous makes it very clear to Changelingkind that if they hadn't let their grudge against Dragonkind influence their actions entirely, they would have been cured of their Curse early. But instead, they tore an innocent loving family apart out of hatred, and stalled the discovery of a cure by a few thousand years.
• Crapsack World: While the setting is fundamentally optimistic, there are often times and places on Equus and beyond that brings a lot of darkness and despair to the setting. Every Age, no matter how bright, is seemingly doomed to face its own suffering, even if those who lived through them would persevere to better times.
  • One of the most notable eras of the 'Second Age of Known History' is the 'Great Wars Era', and its name is no exaggeration, as it was a time of tribulation and turmoil as a whole for the world and Ponykind. The world is far more conflict-prone and war-torn than the Human world, with MULTIPLE global wars between hostile superpowers occurring almost periodically, while countless more smaller border wars, civil wars, proxy wars and other lesser conflicts rage across Tellus/Equus even in more peaceful times. WMDs and other super-weapons are often fired with impunity during these conflicts, stopping just short of global, civilization-ending exchanges, and just as often out of it by various renegade factions. Alien Invasion from Mares, Venera and other worlds of the Solar System poses a constant threat to Pony civilization. Super-Villains, Mad Scientists, Diabolical Masterminds and Evil Geniuses run amok, trying to plunder nations, conquer the world or just blow it all up for whatever diabolical reasons. Giant monsters stirred or spawned by the wars, pollutions and recklessness of Ponies then would rampage and level cities, while ancient, forgotten horrors and evils often awaken to find a near-hapless world at the mercy of their dark and terrible powers. Vast, hidden and often squabbling conspiracies manipulate modern civilization from the shadows, pursing agendas both sinister or not that threaten the freedom of all Ponykind. All this shows that while in many ways the Second Age is the best of times - a promethean age of Pony progress and power - in many ways it is also the worst, even by the standards of the Ages of Known History.
• Crazy Enough to Work: Crazy Ant's plan to stop the main two Changeling Courts from destroying his country: blackmail them both (including their parent deities) to leave them alone with a Dead Man's Switch will give every world leader all their secrets. Blackmailing two entire races of demigods with their divine parents is naturally considered complete insane... which is exactly why it worked, to the point where even Emperor Blackthorn was impressed. As more is revealed about Crazy Ant, it becomes apparent he does literally everything with this mindset in mind or at least that's what he wants everyone to think.
• Create Your Own Hero:
  • If the old Orosian deities, Ematha and Machis, hadn't acted like spoiled, petty, arrogant children that constantly bickered with each other, they wouldn't have created the war that created the benevolent war god Bellamos.
  • King Brachion's attempt to turn a disobedient Changeling into a monster as punishment for the constant sabotage of his work resulted in the birth of Kick Hopper when a lone guard let his own conscience move him into freeing said Changeling and fleeing Hive Erlking with him.
  • As Temnobog pointed out, if Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker hadn't experimented on talented foals and teenagers in a well-meaning yet lofty attempt to create Alicorns, Crystal Prism wouldn't have existed.
• Create Your Own Villain: There are countless examples in the Codexverse who later become villains, whether through their own choices, the actions of those around them, and other external circumstances beyond their control.
  • King Xestobium, Princess Apterus, and Dr. Toxikon would go on a rampage against the Dragons and Changelings... and were born entirely as a result of the eons-old grudge between the two species, with neither side wanting to let it go despite the pointless harm and destruction being done to themselves as a result of their grudge. This would prompt Thorax and Ember's choice to forgive the divine leaders of Changelingkind and Dragonkind, as they rightly believed doing anything else would only perpetuate the cycle of racism, violence and death, and understandably were both sick of it.
  • Queen Eclaira wouldn't have become the goddess she is today if her foalhood kingdom actually looked past her mediocre looks and loved her for who she is. Instead, they scorned and abused her for being 'ugly' by their standards, turning her into an utterly miserable foal who eventually gained the desire to become the Fairest of Them All. And for their mistreatment of Eclaira, they would become the first among the many a vengeful Eclaira would devour to sate her own ravenous hunger and vanity. It's revealed Prince Dissonant Tune had a role in Eclaira's rise - he happened upon Eclaira's kingdom as it was sinking into corruption and, disgusted, proceeded to tempt them to see if even a single person would rise above their growing vanity. Dissonant's efforts failed, and the kingdom was later devoured by a vengeful Eclaira armed with dark sorceries taught by Overlord Vondor.
  • Prince Dissonant Tune himself is another example that ultimately became a positive one. As a result of being constantly judged and mistreated by Ponyland at large for for being one of War Rock's children, he became a self-destructive villain with an It's All About Me mindset similar to his father's... and was utterly miserable for it. But after surviving a drug overdose and meeting Luminiferous, Dissonant would end up learning about the story of Moon Ray Vaughof, inspiring him to become a divine punisher of the wicked. It leads to him Ascending to godhood as the Alicorn god of Music, Vice, Corruption, and Revelry.
  • Temnobog, the Deer god of Darkness, Evil and Suffering, was born because High King Irminsul selfishly tried to turn his unborn son into a perfect, flawless ruler, mutilating him in the process. For the crime of being born 'evil', Temnobog was horrifically abused by his family and extended relatives, while his older twin brother, the radiant Belyolen, was psychologically manipulated by their parents into condoning his abuse. The abuse later caused Temnobog to snap and become a villain to spite his family, validating their perception of him as an abomination that must be killed. Fortunately, a series of events and divine intervention from benevolent deities led to Temnobog and Belyolen learning of their true origins, allowing them to accept each other's natures and reconcile. While still evil, Temnobog decided to use his nature for constructive ends, spreading evil and corruption to test mortals so they can be prepared to face real threats.
  • One of the Elternteil Deer Pantheon's mortal Deer champions became a Fallen Hero because their negligence and stubborn refusal to heed prophetic warnings led to his home's destruction. Out of grief and revenge, the Deer champion allied himself with Hydianite covens so he could corrupt everything the Elternteil Deer Pantheon treasured. On the flipside, the Deer champion's rampage led to the rise of twin brothers, Prince Golden Ash and Prince Rowan, as heroic demigods - and ultimately their choice to abandon the Elternteil Deer Pantheon and Alvslog Deer Herds altogether after seeing their divine/mortal people's corruption.
• Creepy Good: The Black Heron Corpse Investigation Team. All of its five members are pretty cynical individuals with a morbid sense of humor and perception of the world, and they hang around dead bodies a lot, but they're undeniably heroic and compassionate. People in-universe also regard them as such, since the group helped them out but some of their behavior are kind of off-putting. Fortunately, the Shinseina pantheon is working on curbing their nastier personality traits so they could become benevolent and proper deities post-Ascension.
• Crossover Relatives: This happens all over the place, as Codex Equus is a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Fix Fic that makes every single generation of My Little Pony related to each other to justify the combined setting.
• Crown of Power: The Nemesis Crown was created by a Duardin Runemaster named Aldric the Mad, with its original purpose being to control one's destiny and impart wisdom of previous wearers onto the current wearer. However, being made from Warpstone, the Nemesis Crown became an Artifact of Doom that makes its wearers evil and insane instead, creating a series of wars and calamities as various factions throughout history fought for ownership of the crown... until it was rediscovered in the ocean in the Fourth Age by a Church of the Stars' research exploration party, having been chucked there by its last wearer, a remorseful Queen. Despite the Nemesis Crown's attempts to lure the party into wearing it, it was successfully defeated when one party member, Prince Canticum Lunae Cahaya, engaged the crown in a psychic battle of wits to protect his friends and telepathically drove it into insanity. Afterward, once the Church of the Stars gained sufficient research from it, they transferred the now gibbbering Nemesis Crown to N'ghft Vulgtmog, whose forces and royal family are rumored to either have sealed the crown away or outright destroyed it and purified its remains.
• Cryptic Background Reference: All over the place. The main author likes putting these in to foreshadow upcoming entries or events, or leave plot bunnies and hints for readers to speculate and write on.
• Crystal Dragon Jesus:
  • The Second Age has one in the form of the Magnean/Meganian Faiths, which worships the 'King In Heaven' (a distorted form of King Equus, the progenitor of Equinekind) and reveres Megann Wilms, the Rainbow Empress as a messianic figure.
  • Promes, the Overlord of Light, one of King Equus' heirs is the closest analogue of Jesus in the Codexverse, although he is actually based on the Overlord of Light from Kamen Rider Agito, who is also this trope.
• Cultural Posturing: Deconstructed. A common theme in Codex Equus is that cultural/national/social pride will often lead to great acts of hubris that will provoke their downfall, and contribute to the existence of Vicious Cycles as others will attempt to destroy/conquer those who brag of their own achievements out of resentment and envy. Queen Dazzleglow hopes she and the Church of the Stars could help mortal/divine sapientkind in general break free of this nasty habit so they could become truly successful.
• Cultured Badass:
  • Queen Acanthosomastidae, known as "the Cavalier Queen". On top of being one of the best warriors among the Changeling Queens, she's also among the greatest patrons of Changeling art and high culture, having authored, painted and directed many works of literature, artwork and theatrical productions. Unsurprising, considering who her father is an Expy of.
  • The Changeling Courts, particularly the official ones, are this in general on account of the Changeling culture valuing guile over strength, brains over brawn. This is encouraged by the Changeling Progenitors themselves.
• Culture Justifies Anything: Deconstructed, mocked and subverted. It turns out many people ultimately don't give a rat ass about traditions and customs of other cultures if said traditions and customs leads to them hurting others (and even themselves) unnecessarily and undeservedly.
  • Subverted at gunpoint by the Tellusian Ponies in the Second Age. Following the 'Final Maretian-Tellusian War', the Tellusian Ponies of the Second Age conducted 'Deackackianization', a massive social engineering programme upon the defeated Ackackian Maretians, a particularly vicious, warmongering race and civilization of Mares, to make them less warlike and more peaceful by scrubbing out everything in their culture and society which promotes war and genocide. It seemed to have worked, as by the Fourth Age sporadic contact from the red planet revealed at least some of them had turned peaceful and benevolent, to the point they revered Saint Sweetheart of the Virtuous Seven as their role-model.
  • Following its transformation into a fanatical Police State, the kingdom of Talon Bais tried to defend their exposed racist atrocities against dragons - such as making a delicacy out of dragons' unhatched babies - by claiming them to be integral parts of Talon Bais' culture (technically true, given they are a nation famous for its dragonslayers) and counter-accuse those who take issues with it (which was pretty much most people) of being cultural supremacists out to destroy the Talon Bais' way of life. Almost NO ONE bought those excuses, and did not hesitate to call them out or dismantle it when matters came to a head.
  Pony Diplomat: F*** your culture! F*** your traditions! F*** your way of life! And F*** YOU! You're EATING BABIES! Absolutely NOTHING justifies it!
  • Even in the afterlife, it is made abundantly clear while the culture and worldviews of the departed in their time and place are put into consideration, it is only done for fairness and cannot definitively absolve the actions of the departed for all their crimes, especially when said actions are simply too immoral by almost all standards to be considered acceptable.
    Talon Baisian Soldiers: B-But it was just what everyone did!
    Mortem Notam: While one's society and time may count as a degree of extenuating circumstances, there is a limit to which that rule may provide one protection. Sins to which that is no valid excuse. Information which one can be exposed to that invalidates the excuse of 'my society did not know any better.' You were exposed to all of these. You have had the full depth of your sin rendered bare before you and still use that as your excuse. So, to quote my brother... ARE YOU READY?!
• Curbstomp Battle:
  • The Giants of Queen Colossos' Empire dished out many of these towards the Crystal Empire in the early days of their conflict. The Crystal Legions were quite literally crushed under-hoof as the Giants combined their size and power with numbers and tactical/strategic acumen that they didn't see coming.
  • Queen Colossos' War as a whole counted: By the time the first phase of the war end, 2/3 of the Crystal Empire's territories at the Terra Equus continent were under the Giants' control and the remnants of the once proud legions there were caught and destroyed in a continent-spanning pincer movement. The rest of the war got harder for the Giants as the Crystal Empire fought back with everything they have, but the fact that the Crystal Empire went into decline afterwards is a testament to how badly the latter got stomped despite surviving it.
  • A single Visitor has proven capable of dishing one out to an entire Clovenist base. Hive Brachion didn't fair much better until the Visitor faced Brachion himself and managed to fight him to a stalemate, despite Brachion being one of the strongest Changeling Kings.
  • Fik’iri, after losing her status as a Top God along with a large portion of her power, attempted to steal Princess Cadence's power to regain both. Due to having been hedonistic and lazy before her downfall, Fik’iri became rusty despite being a War God (which directly contributed to her losing the challenge for her position to her hated rival, Wibeti, in the first place), resulting in Cadence easily defeating her and sending her running home with her tail between her legs. Wibeti would force Fik'iri to publicly apologize to Princess Cadence as soon as she heard of the incident, adding to the humiliation.
  • Terraton, the war god of the Gigantes giant race, once took on Bellamos the Divine Strategos and Luminiferous and was on the receiving end of one in both instances. As a Giant deity of Battle, however, he often dishes a lot more of those than took them.
  • Griffon Warlord Gilded Chalice attempted to invade Sauropoda. The resulting confrontation is not considered a battle or war because of how extremely one-sided it was, and ended with their Queen giving him and his war chariot a literal (and fatal) version of this trope.
  • Dr. Toxikon challenges Dragon Lord Brutus for his title. Brutus never stood a chance.
  • As a test to see how strong Thorax post-ascension was, the Summer Court had him fight Changeling King Zorpheus. An arcane blast blew Zorpheus across Avalon Valley, leaving him unconscious in a crater with a cracked carapace, which was by complete accident. It's noted that Thorax's attack would have killed many other Royal Changelings upon impact, showing just how much potential he has now. It was a Humble Pie experience for Zorpheus, who came to realize that his defenses are not as invincible as he thought they were.
  • The 'Battle of Moroz Valley', prelude to the Giant Wars, was notable for being the biggest Curbstomp Battle between Giantkind and Tinies not seen since Queen Colossos' War 1,500 years earlier. The difference being that THIS time around, it is the Tinies of the Cloven Empire who did this to a Rampage of Giants (Numbering 50+ Giants and could wiped out a kingdom), utterly annihilating it via superior tactics and superior firepower. Needless to say, the Giantkinds of Equus were stunned beyond measure.
  • In one incident, A group of Pony Autorists once attacked the Terran empire, bent on eradicating its non-Pony population. Golden Scepter got many of them to surrender by psychically showing them the harm they were causing his subjects, making them regret their actions and were thus allowed to leave with a gentle yet firm warning. However, the same couldn't be said about their leader, who got a most severe punishment when she decided to continue her hate-filled rampage.
  • This tends to happen to the Poenan Pantheon frequently, as their brazen attempts to punish evildoers, as well as their lack of tact and relative inexperience often leads to confrontations with individuals far older, more powerful, experienced, and skilled than them.
    • A small army of fanatically loyal divine/mortal followers of Poena, led by Poena herself, tried attacking Golden Scepter after he publicly condemned them as tyrants and deluded extremists. Golden Scepter quickly defeated them, and to drive the humiliation further, Katharsis would show up to take humiliating photos of the losers and send them to their victims. Hilariously, this would also confuse the hell out of Golden Scepter, as if humiliating his enemies that way was something he never saw or considered before.
    • Prince Fanged Paw, Golden Scepter's second son, would thrash and humiliate a group of young followers of the Poenan pantheon for trying to attack Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, despite the two having atoned for their actions as bullies. Prior to this, he made it quite clear that he would show the Poenan worshipers why he's called "the Savage Wolf" if they kept going, a warning that some of them chose to ignore.
  • The Skylanders' first fight with the Darkness doesn't go well. Due to its incorporal nature, their attacks were incapable of meaningfully harming it, and after it shatters the Core of Light, it allows them to wear themselves out trying to no effect. It then messes with the arcane weave (which is now unstable due to the 'control node' being out of commission) to De-power them and every other hero in Skylands in an instant. The title of the section is even 'Crushing, Ruinous Defeat.'
• Curse Escape Clause: Pakak always includes these in his curses, as they're meant to be karmic punishment rather than permanent ones.
  • In an incident involving Sunnytown, Pakak transformed its Cutie Pox-phoic inhabitants into zombies as part of a curse to punish them for murdering a young filly for earning her Cutie Mark. Since they were willing to let fear rule their hearts to the point of resorting to murder, they became as rotten as their ambitions were... unless they decided to accept responsibility and atone for their crimes. Mitta became one of the first to break free from Pakak's curse after finally gathering the courage to stand up to Grey Hoof and his fanatical followers and save Apple Bloom from them, inspiring her parents and her more repentant neighbors to follow her example.
  • One detailed in an entry sees him curse a trio of teenaged Deer who have been heartlessly tormenting young fawns with curses that reflect their vices: the vain Morning Light is tricked into stealing a cursed flower from a fawn and putting it in her hair that makes her stink as rotten as her heart, the gluttonous North Star is tricked into stealing and eating a cursed flower that makes any food he eats taste as vile as his soul, and the cruel and sadistic Cold Wind is tricked into stealing and crushing a third cursed flower that makes him feel as cold as his heart. As all three curses are merely causing something to reflect the nature of their hearts, changing their ways reverses the curse. Morning Light and North Star eventually did so, but Cold Wind did not.
• Cycle of Revenge: Deconstructed. A deep grudge has been present for aeons between the Changelings and Dragons, including the destruction of the Changeling homeland and the Time of Broken Scales. Choice warns them both inevitably their choice to perpetuate this ancient grudge indefinitely will have consequences and reckoning, which has recently began to take hold with villains born from their grudge attempting devastating retribution against both sides. Thus far only Thorax, Ember, and Spike have managed to completely escape it unscathed. Thorax and Ember finally have enough after the end of the Toxikon Crisis and forgive the parental deities of the other's species for their kind's respective crimes, and apologize for their own to the other, having come to see the cycle for what it was and wanting no part in it. Thorax also rightly points out that the meaning of survival is completely moot if one of Changelingkind's methods is to satisfy an old grudge that would only get everyone killed. Fortunately, other Changelings and dragons begin to actually follow their example and eventually Blackrose/Rosedust decides to forgive dragonkind and apologize for her people's actions.

D

• Damned by Faint Praise:
  • Moon Ray Vaughoof's reasoning for buying the highly controversial Cosmic Cataclysm comic was "Ah like the art". Notably, it was the only compliment he gave due to being an artist himself, despite taking issue with the comic's flanderized portrayal of him and his friends/family as incompetent idiots who were horrifically killed off by Cosmos for the sake of plot.
  • This happened in one notable occasion when Prince Blueblood was tasked with overseeing his birth parents' funerals — he couldn't be openly honest about his parents because funerals required proper decorum, so he made adoring and reverent speeches for each parent that ironically exposed their worst flaws. Those who caught on were greatly amused to the point where a few, like Luna, quickly collapsed laughing.
• Darker and Edgier:
  • While still fundamentally optimistic, Codex Equus does not shy away from dark stories and themes not seen or explored in detail in the canon series. Several entries explicitly detail racism, wars, tyranny and genocide, as well as explore themes of hatred, vengeance and trauma on individual and collective levels, with hefty doses of reality and problems that have no easy solutions and cannot be fixed via The Power of Friendship.
  • Skylanders Academy is adapted, but as it's both set in a more serious universe, set in the same universe, and direct sequel to The Legend of Spyro, things are far more serious over all, and borrows from the generally darker IDW comics. One consequence of this is rather than being the funnier, weaker Skylanders Malefor, the Skylanders have to deal with the far stronger and more evil Legends Malefor in the form of Valefor. The characters' backstories are also explored much more in depth and more seriously. The Darkness is also treated as a genuine Eldritch Abomination and brings about the Darkest Hour.
• Darkest Hour: Happens with various arcs and situations, some more than others.
  • The Dark Crystal Conflict sees Dark Crystal kill the Tales Seven and absorb them, then prepare to destroy the world. Thankfully, they manage to will themselves back to life and turn the tables.
  • The aptly titled 'The Darkest Hour Crisis' begins with the Darkness escaping its prison, seemingly destroying the Core of Light (and sending Guiding Light into a coma due to her connection to it), inflicts a mass De-power on every hero in Skylands before hunting them constantly, and plunges the entire country in eternal night and despair. Tellingly, the title of the section where this happens is 'Crushing, Ruinous Defeat.'
• Dark Is Evil: Zigzagged, as Codex Equus makes it clear that Darkness and Evil do have constructive roles in Equus despite their negative connotations.
  • Blood Fang, known as "The Dark Conqueror", is often depicted by various Hylian legends as a dark figure clad in dark armor, but the most popular depiction of him is that of a tall, muscular, and scarred dark Alicorn. It's played with; while he's an evil overlord and a feared villain who has sowed much evil in his attempts to conquer Hyrule, he has an honor code and refrains from things he never approves of, such as remaking Hyrule/Equus, gaining power in ways that render one an Almighty Idiot, and "careless/destructive" Evil in general. His sense of honor was what attracted Temnobog, who hired him as his agent to ensure Gleaming Shield and Radiant Primrose always remain strong enough to combat Evil.
  • Deconstructed with Temnobog. Despite being a God of Evil and Belyolen's dark twin, he was feared and expected by his family and peers to be wholly evil, and was emotionally abused for it, despite having never done anything evil at the time. This caused him to become deeply resentful of Belyolen, who was lavished with praise and love for being "good" and "pure", and he tried sabotaging and even usurping his twin brother out of sheer resentment, hatred, and spite. However, what prevented him from outright killing his brother is their unique bond - due to being two halves of a greater whole, Temnobog and Belyolen were divine equals that existed to balance each other out, and thus when one tried gaining an advantage, they would end up weakening while the other got stronger and vice-versa. Only did they work together in harmony did they both get stronger. Thus, after Temnobog and Belyolen reconcile, the trope gets Reconstructed as "Both Dark and Evil can co-exist with Light and Good if they serve constructive purposes" - Temnobog is still unapologetically evil due to what he represents, but he serves to test heroic mortals and empower sapient creatures to become strong enough to oppose evil to prevent stagnation.
  • Likewise, the Four Terrors are rightfully feared by both Deer and non-Deer due to their horrific acts and being children of Temnobog, to the point where a Deer kingdom can be motivated to change their sinful ways just by mentioning them. Since they follow their father's philosophy of "constructive" Evil, they sow evil as part of their job, and are totally fine with being feared.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Zigzagged, as while there are 'evil' individuals out there, Codex Equus makes it clear that Darkness and Evil do have constructive roles in Equus, despite their negative connotations.
  • Mourning Glories are plants that feed off feelings of sorrow, grief, and mourning...but are actually beneficial plants and seen as a sign that a deceased person was loved by others in life, as they only grow on graves of those who were loved and are missed and are commonly given to those who are grieving.
  • Grief, the Goddess of Grieving and Mourning, is this, as despite what she represents, her main goal and purpose is helping those who have lost someone cope, heal, and finally move on. Ponies just misunderstand her as being the Goddess of Depression and Loss, rather than what she truly is.
  • The Three Deaths, Audens Manes, Malus Manes, and Gavisus Manes are all benevolent and good despite being Death deities. Of the three, Malus is the only one someone shouldn't be happy to see waiting for them, but that's because they're wicked and about to be given what they've sown, not because he's evil.
  • Played with in Temnobog, who is very much a literal God of Evil from the Bogolenya pantheon, but is a Token Evil Teammate among the gods of Equus, and works with his twin brother and God of Good, Belyolen. He represents evil as a testing force rather than a destructive one. Interestingly, while he was born the living embodiment of Belyolen's evil side, he personally never did anything evil, and only became genuinely evil for a time because of the emotional abuse he suffered while living with his disdainful family and peers.
  • Tikuri, the Abyssinian God of Bad Luck, is a Black Cat-inspired deity. Despite this, he's one of the most benevolent members of the Pantheon and actively protects their worshipers. He ultimately helps overthrow the Jerkass Gods ruling their Pantheon so more benevolent members can take their place, and he was Jegina's pick to be the new Top God, though he turned him down.
  • The Four Terrors, Temnobog's surviving children, are also evil deities, yet like their father, it's played with in that they're collectively the Token Evil Teammate in the Bogolenya pantheon. They use evil as a testing force, and drag wicked souls down to Temnobog's hell-realms so they'll be tormented for their crimes. They're totally fine with losing against a hero as they're just doing their jobs to make sure that mortals get strong enough to oppose them, and if a hero dies, they let their souls go to heaven as a reward. Their fellow deities also use them to destroy Deer realms that have utterly fallen into sin, though only so, since their actions are regarded as horrific. Their cousins, however, understand their roles and don't begrudge them for it.
  • The Black Heron Corpse Investigation Team. Their call-sign is a black heron, and it was noted that in their mortal lives, they would often wear black due to the nature of their work. While they're collectively and individually flawed, deep down they are all very compassionate and altruistic, and have trouble saying "no" to both dead and living people in need. It's noted in their group entry that pre-Ascension, they all wore black due to the morbid nature of their work.
  • All members of the Trimortidae are Death gods and goddesses who are the biological/adoptive children of the Three Deaths, but they're pretty benevolent and they all have a huge role in preserving the balance/cycle of Life and Death, ushering the souls of the innocent into a blissful afterlife while subjecting the wicked to eternal damnation. In terms of philosophy, many of them see Death not as a malicious, frightening concept, but as a normal, everyday change that is ultimately beneficial for everyone. Members include Bossa Nova Heartstrings, Moon Ray Vaughoof, Sola Mors, and Cloudy Brush.
• Deader than Dead:
  • When someone dies, generally their soul is ushered into an afterlife realm that fits whatever their morality was in life. However, there are ways to kill a soul, which makes death permanent. Doing this to an innocent person is considered to be so vile In-Universe that the Grand Primevals watching over Equus created a Primeval Law forbidding the destruction of an innocent soul. The only exception is if this was done as a punishment, and this is only someone had done things horrible enough to warrant it.
  • This is the fate of Queen Gossamer, the former ruler of the Griffon Autorist kingdom Hawktalon. Found guilty of breaking Primeval Law via using necromancy to bind an innocent Pony mare's soul to her, she was sentenced to be reincarnated as the heroic Monarch Wing so she could learn compassion. This backfires as Gossamer remained cruel and unrepentant, and when Monarch Wing inherits her former crown, she seizes the opportunity to try defeat the latter so she could seize control of her body and resume her old ways. Monarch Wing soon turns the tables once she realizes Gossamer's greatest fear, and grants Gossamer's wish of taking her body by overloading her with her own memories, utterly destroying Gossamer's persona and sense of self while leaving only her memories behind]. This also had the strange result of Monarch Wing, who was a Pegasus until this point, Ascending to demigodhood as a Hippogriff demigoddess since she absorbed Gossamer's memories into herself.
• Dead Man's Switch: Crazy Ant, a Mad Scientist Changeling who ran to the Autumn Court and managed to accidentally found a country, kept his country safe from both the Spring and Summer Courts via one of these. If he was killed or otherwise indisposed or willingly activated it, every world leader would instantly be given all the Changelings' secrets. It was even considered in-universe to be so brazenly insane that it actually works as a deterrent, which impressed even Emperor Blackthorn of the Summer Court. Since the fall of the Masquerade and a close shave with a Summer Court Hive that tried going after him, he has updated his failsafe with new sensitive materials that both formal Courts would not want fall into the hooves of outsiders.
• Death Before Dishonor: Spoke word for word in a Drabble by a Centaur khanate which refused to advance socially and technology due to viewing any such progress as a violation of their 'honourable' culture, and when it bit them in their equine flanks and left them vulnerable to a Clovenist invasion, the khan and his last warriors made a final charge to the Clovenists forces rather than surrender to them or to progress. The Clovenists unceremoniously wiped them out with pneumatic-catapult fire and Blastfire artillery before they even reached the 100 meters mark.
  Khanate Centaurs: DEATH BEFORE DISHONOUR!
  Clovenist Officer: Well, we can help them with the first part.
• Deal with the Devil:
  • Temnobog is known for being a patron of various types of villains, giving those who make deals with him a reputation of being "Touched by Temnobog". However, dealing with Temnobog in general is regarded as a bad idea as it essentially marks you for eternal damnation after death, since Temnobog works to weed out the wicked among Deerkind. The only exceptions to this rule would be Blood Fang, who was hired to keep Gleaming Shield and Radiant Primrose strong enough to oppose evil, and King Strazha, who impressed Temnobog so much that he made him his divine champion, interested in how the young Deer king would apply his harsh yet reasonable methods to ruling.
  • Night Terror was a Erobreseg Deer serial killer formerly named "Innkeeper" who made a deal with Temnobog's eldest son and child, Yarost, so he could continue his crime spree of murdering children. When he realized that he was being used as a pawn to test mortals, Night Terror secretly made another deal with Yarost's mother, the fallen goddess Ispita, so that his soul would end up in the dream world instead of one of Temnobog's hell-realms. This infuriated Yarost, as he hates oathbreakers in general. When Princess Luna and Tenya, the Abyssinian goddess of Dreams, rendered Night Terror powerless by freeing the souls of those he devoured and threw him through a portal into the real world, Night Terror found that Yarost was waiting for him the entire time.
  • This would happen to Prince Crimson Star, Golden Scepter's eighth demi-divine son, a few times.
    • After he was blinded saving his classmate from an out-of-control carriage, he tried researching ways to restore his sight, including summoning eldritch and demonic forces. However, his research would be swiftly ended by Golden Scepter, which contributed to his spiral into a deep depression, having realized that he's now on the same level as those he had dismissed and wronged. It's noted by his entry that his blindness makes him likely to pause if someone offers him a way to restore his sight, but after going through Character Development, he would turn the offers down in the end, as they almost always contain some huge price to pay in return.
    • In another incident, when he visited the Bogolenya Deer pantheon, Pokhot, Temnobog's youngest daughter and the goddess of Lust and Pride, tried tempting Crimson Star into pursuing forbidden knowledge again, as well as researching ways to restore his sight. Crimson Star would ultimately turn her down after realizing he'll pay heavy prices for accepting. This impressed Pokhot so much that she gave him genuine words of praise, as well as a gift in the form of a tome containing information on lost civilizations.
    • Crimson Star would exploit this in another incident involving his friend, Jasper, and the Bogolenya Deer Pantheon. According to Jasper, he foresaw one of Pokhot's sons, Prince Cselszövő, the Alicorn-Deer-Draconequus god of Scheming, Deception, Fate, and Hope, becoming a Fallen deity and causing much destruction. To prevent this, Crimson Star made a risky gambit where he "lost" his soul in a devil's deal, and instructed Jasper to lose the ensuing card game that will decide the fate of his soul. It worked - not only did Cselszövő have his pride shaken over nearly losing to a mere mortal, he was also spectacularly humiliated when a protective Golden Scepter arrived and repeatedly and mercilessly poked Cselszövő into giving up Crimson Star's soul.
    • In a huge irony, it's revealed that defying this is led to Crimson Star's Ascension. Once, he attempted to stop a group of students from using a dangerous magic ritual to give themselves knowledge of the past, present, and future. In protecting the students, he ended up absorbing a huge amount of the magic that was intended for the students, yet refused to let it overwhelm/corrupt him in any way. This turned him into the Alicorn of Psionics, Knowledge, and History.
  • This is how Dark Illustration, Ispita's demi-divine son, was born; his mortal Pony father, a carnival owner, approached Ispita with a request for help in making his traveling carnival succeed. In return, he had to give Ispita a child that she'll raise as her own. Once he was old enough, Dark Illustration would take over the carnival and kill his now elderly father by revealing his sinister plans, making his father die of fright. Since then, he used his father's carnival as a prison and torture device for the souls of those who bargained with him, turning them into twisted freaks that are bound to his will so they could provide negative emotions to feed on as well as sadistic entertainment for him and his divine family.
  • In his mortal youth, Prince Knight Shade resorted to making a deal with Arabus in exchange for musical success and a manager to help promote him, since he wasn't having much luck on his own. He realized too late that Arabus intended to steal the shadows of all Ponies so he could return to his true divine might, and was forced to work as Arabus' slave lest he have his shadow stolen, his hometown destroyed, and his beloved mother killed. Once the heroes, including Megan Williams, provided an opportunity for him to betray Arabus, he quickly took it and redeemed himself by helping destroy Zeb's shadow-stealing machine. It's because of these experiences that he presently sympathizes those who were forced into Faustian deals like Shadow Song (though he doesn't feel the same for those who willingly made such deals), and also shares Blue Suede Heartstrings' distaste for corrupt managers in general.
• Death Is Cheap: Downplayed. Theoretically, anyone can come back to life, even thousands of years later, but the method of doing so is extremely difficult and not something just anyone can do on a whim. Namely, it requires becoming a demi-god of a domain other than Death, which effectively earns an 'extra life' in the process. While anyone can theoretically ascend, it's something that normally takes years of training and the patronage of someone who is already divine to pull off. There are other ways to bring someone back to life, but most of them involve using Necromancy and are extremely frowned upon by Death deities, as they rob an innocent soul of their eternal reward.
• Death World: Equus. While there are still nice places to live in like Equestria, even it's not without problems, and there are races of creatures who are dangerous by nature, with even more dangerous pantheons backing them. And there are regions like the Parvata Mountain range, the Amorean jungles, and Meridia that are deadly and terrible environments even by the setting's standards.
  • Tellus (as the world was called back in the Second Age), especially during the 'Great Wars Era' where it is constantly threatened by supervillains and diabolical masterminds, manipulated by world-spanning secret conspiracies, invaded by alien invaders from multiple worlds, troubled by reawakening ancient evils and antediluvian monsters, torn by multiple world wars between superpowers, among other constant perils. It is implied that even with many superheroes, hidden deities and other good and noble people and forces fighting the good fight and holding the line, Tellusian Ponykind became rather militant just to survive year by year, to the point they became known across 'Known History' as the "Lords of War"
  • Meridia deserves particular mention: even the sheep are/became borderline psychopathic savage omnivorous monsters just to survive and thrive (though they got along well with other Meridians, who often provide room and board in their farms in exchange for fur and protection). Then there's plants that eat you, torture you, or shoot seeds at you with speed and force to blow your brains out; the seas full of poisonous coral reefs, sea monsters, flesh-eating sea worms, enormous whirlpools and what not; the horrible geography where the land is toxic, the ground could give way to crevices with jagged rocks below, and the storms could flay the flesh off your bones; the predatory wildlife which could kill you horribly in a thousand ways while simultaneously being too tough to kill; the incorrigibly hostile natives who would butcher you if they catch you...
  • The antediluvian Golden Imperium saw Ponykind establishing an inconceivably vast empire across the galaxy, but constantly besieged by countless threats from within, without and beyond. Worse, the incapacitation of their founder/ruler, Emperor Golden Scepter, in a brutal Civil War saw a slow, steady decline into religious fanaticism, internal corruption, technological regression, and rampant intolerance, dooming it to a slow death. It took exceptional amount of effort by Queen Majesty and good fortune for it all to be fixed.
• Declaration of Protection:
  • When Prince Fanged Paw found a group of young Poenan followers trying to attack Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon for being bullies, despite the two of them having made up for their actions by now, he would furiously confront them and declare that the young fillies are under his protection, and proceeds to make it clear that if the Poenan followers refuse to back down, he'll show them why he's called "the Savage Wolf".
    Prince Fanged Paw: STOP RIGHT THERE! Those two fillies you seek to destroy are under MY PROTECTION!
    Poenan followers: Says who?!
    Prince Fanged Paw: Says I, PRINCE FANGED PAW, SECOND-BORN SCION OF THE RADIANT EMPEROR! If you bunch of MILK-SOPS even THINK about raising your weapons against my young protectorates ONE MORE TIME, then I will show you WHY my enemies call me THE SAVAGE WOLF!
  • Duchess Twilight Velvet of Canterlot has one as her entry quote, which also has shades of Badass Boast.
    Duchess Twilight Velvet: As long as I still draw breath and my blade remains unbroken, I shall continue protecting all that I hold dear!
  • Golden Scepter's entry quote mixes this with Badass Boast, declaring that "No Pony shall be beyond my protection!"
• Deity of Human Origin: "Ascendant deities" are a subclass of deity. They're considered In-Universe to be the rarest deities because it requires specific conditions for a mortal to gain godhood. The Church of the Stars is trying to invoke this on a global scale — not only to help mortal sapientkind become the best they can be, but to prepare for the day when the Void Sovereign manages to escape his cosmic prison so everyone wouldn't pay a huge price for defeating him like what happened in the Second Age.
• Depraved Bisexual: Many individuals, both divine and mortal, have entered both heterosexual and homosexual relationships with others depending on their gender, but are also either amoral and/or villainous in character.
  • The God of Evil Temnobog is this, since he embodies mortal Deerkind's lustful aspects. Because of his philosophy of 'constructive Evil', he often vents his depraved lust on the damned shades of wicked mortal Deer to punish them for sexual crimes in life. However, his lust has extended to 'evil' deities Temnobog has fallen in love with, like the goddesses Cosmos and Ispita (before she Fell), as well as his own infernal family like his surviving children, the Four Terrors (with Pokhot, his youngest daughter, embodying Lust and Sex), and his infernal grandchildren. Temnobog has also admired Emperor Golden Scepter's physical body, but constantly resists the urge to force himself on him because their friendship would be irrevocably destroyed if he gives in, and would validate Irminsul's beliefs that Evil entities in general must be destroyed for mortal Deerkind's benefit.
• Determinator:
  • Nothing, not his hive being defeated, not himself being defeated, not his plan to blow up the 'Ring Of Fire' foiled, not even his own death, will stop Xestobium from having his goal of destroying all of Dragonkind (And his own family) in revenge for all the loss and horror they had inflicted upon him and others.
  • Ember during the Toxikkon Crisis is this. During the Final Battle, she's got five broken bones from a crash she took in the previous battle, and she's still willing to defeat Dr. Toxikkon.
  • Emperor Blackthorn theorizes that this trope is what caused Thorax to become a Royal Changeling, something that no Common Changeling has done before - Blackthorn's theory is that Thorax's drive to share love with others caused his love energy to have a purpose, creating a Dharma. When Chrysalis tried to drain him of love, Thorax used his Dharma to channel that love, which led to his Curse breaking and his body transforming him into the stag-like creature he is now.
  • During the "Storm King Crisis" event, it was initially assumed that Prince Steel Barricade protected one of his older brothers, Prince Clear Voice, from both Hydianite forces and their demonic allies by resisting their dark magic and mind-control through sheer force of will. It would be later discovered that he developed the supernatural ability to resist brainwashing and mind-control magic as a part of his Endurance domain by sheer accident.
  • Bossa Nova Heartstrings was willing to do anything just to connect with Blue Suede Heartstrings, the younger twin brother he could've grown up with had he not been stillborn, to the point where he neglected both his adoptive family and his duties as a Psychopomp. After Gavisus Manes let him go find Blue, he quickly took up the offer and left home... only to find that he didn't know what to do with himself once he completed his goal, which led to him resenting Blue for having something to look forward to. Blue confronting him on his resentment is what led to him realizing how much he screwed up, and he would go back home to apologize to his adoptive family after Blue forgave him and encouraged him to make amends.
  • During his and his brother's fight against the former Elternteil Deer champion, Prince Golden Ash tried to counter the corruption spell that was cast on his home realm Orofarnë and other neighboring realms with his team of druids and mages. Even as his team fell one by one, he absolutely refused to give up. His efforts were what triggered his Ascension to demi-godhood, creating a surge of holy power that cleansed the corruption easily and quickly.
  • Part of why Prince Night Shade is called "the Unrelenting Judge" is that once he sets his eye on a certain criminal or evildoer, Night Shade will pursue them, and will never give up until they're well within his grasp. His dogged determination in seeing criminals brought to justice has led to quite a few horror stories when he was a Poenan, though after his Heel–Face Turn, he has tempered that determination with his burning curiosity to find the truth and reasoning behind all crimes.
    • One incident involved Night Shade chasing down a pegasus stallion closely associated with the Striga family, whose members have all been imprisoned for transferring their rich clients' souls into living bodies of their victims as a form of quasi-immortality. Notably, Night Shade chased the pegasus stallion all the way to Neighpon, where the Black Heron Corpse Investigation Team also pursued the target to try bring him to justice themselves after they were tipped off by a dead "client" who ran afoul of the runaway criminal. The intersecting pursuits led to the pegasus stallion running straight into Night Shade's hooves, though Night Shade did thank the Black Herons for their help.
    • Night Shade also pursued the hidden sky-city of Elysium, an Outlaw Town inhabited by the criminal elites that no one had been able to crack because the multiple illusions and glamours made it hard to find, and it is armed to the teeth with magical artifacts and private armies of pegasus mercenary soldiers and mages. Thankfully, Elysium was finally brought down when the Terran Empire teamed up with the Equestrian Crown and other benevolent governments, allowing Night Shade, his friend Princess Radiant Rapier, his brothers Prince Clear Voice and Prince Written Word, and his sister-in-law, Princes Applejack/Veritas, to finally launch a raid on Elysium, culminating in Night Shade and Radiant Rapier storming the place and proclaiming that every single inhabitant is under arrest.
• Devious Dolphins: Exaggerated. Unlike popular portrayals, Dolphinkind of Equus - or at least some of them - are closer to marine equivalent of The Fair Folk in how they behave than the cute and playful critters usually portrayed in fiction, which is actually closer to what they are like in real life. Adagio Dazzle, an Oceanaiad, outright mocked both Humans' and Ponies' perception of Dolphins as friendly creatures and told the Rainbooms/interviewers of the Codex project under no uncertain terms that, at least from the Sirens/Dazzlings' personal experiences, the Dolphins they know of are capricious, sadistic and murderous sociopaths who might help you on a whim one day and then kidnap, torture and kill you the day afterwards.
  Adagio Dazzle: They never gave us a reason for why they did those things - they just laughed. Even as we killed them, they just laughed...
  • And the worst part? Some of what Adagio mentioned Dolphins do in that Drabble - group-abuse and gang-raping their own females, casually killing their own younglings, torturing other animals for fun, and waging wars of extermination against other schools? Real dolphins do those things, all the time.
• The Dictatorship: In addition to democratic republics and constitutional monarchies, there are also many undemocratic/unconstitutional autocracies and dictatorships throughout the setting.
  • Moki Sunbright, a character whom Bright Eyes met and befriended in My Little Pony Tales, received a minor Adaptational Angst Upgrade with her homeland, Tropika, being ruled by a dictatorship which ruthlessly suppressed dissent and tried to turn her into an asset and weapon of the regime as soon as they found out she became a superheroine, forcing her to fight them off and flee to Ponyland with her parents to seek asylum. And since they had backing from a superpower at the time, nobody can do anything to overthrow it without sparking off a global conflict.
  • Reichist Germaney and many of its Axis Powers allies are One-Party Dictatorship versions of this trope during the Second Great War in the Great Wars Era of the Second Age. Their Fourth Age counterparts, the Autorists and Tribalists, are also this, though many of them are more the Personal Dictatorship types in the form of autocratic monarchies aligned with Autorism and Tribalism.
  • Some are found even among the good guys (nominal or actual): the regime founded by Gilded Pleasantries, a follower of the morally/judicially-hardline Poenan Pantheon, in his home country of Amber Plains is a Theocratic Dictatorship which worships the Poenans as their state religion and is dedicated to fighting evil in all forms, even if it means crushing dissent and deviance within the nation and preparing for war with more hostile and malicious countries. They are still considered on the side of righteousness due to their foreign enemies such as the Autorists and Tribalists being worse and the Poenans in general still dedicated to the side of good and righteous.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?:
  • Crazy Ant blackmailed both Changeling Courts into leaving him and Machina alone, including the extremely ruthless Summer Court Changeling Kings and both Changeling Gods. It worked, and Blackthorn was actually impressed.
  • After leaving the Poenan Pantheon and accepting his vampiric side, he would get into a heated argument with an angry Poenan deity, who criticized his decision to defect and throw away his potential to become a god of Justice. Silver Bane essentially tells the Poenan deity where to shove it, reminding them that following the Poenan Pantheon's teachings for years nearly killed him.
    Silver Bane: I would rather save lives as a BLOODSUCKER than Ascend to godhood by being a hypocritical, extreme, and self-righteous murderer like YOU.
• Disabled Deity: Surprisingly, there are a few deities (and demi-deities) in the Codexverse who have some kind of disability.
  • Prince Healing Song is a blind Alicorn who lost his sight as a baby; he got infected with retinoblastoma, a rare ocular cancer, and doctors had to surgically remove his eyes to prevent spreading. When he Ascended to godhood on his deathbed, he was still blind, but he managed to get around this thanks to his mentor, Blue Suede Heartstrings. Despite being blind all his life, he refused to let it define or embitter him, and he's quite willing to joke about himself. He does get annoyed and snarky when people insult/patronize him, however. A large reason why he ended up befriending Gagal of the Kaluan Pantheon is due to Gagal admiring him for accepting his blindness, just like how he accepted his albinism.
  • Muet, the Great Skunk goddess of Pantomime, Performance Art, and Silence, was born with mutism, which physically renders her unable to speak. Even after Ascending to true godhood, her disability remained. She's somewhat sensitive over how people react to her mutism, especially in a negative way, but is generally accepting of it and hasn't let it embitter her.
  • Gagal of the Kaluan Pantheon was born with albinism; while he's not blind like Healing Song, he suffers from bad eyesight and he's extremely photosensitive, forcing him to wear sunglasses and carry umbrellas with him all the time. However, like Healing Song, he never let his disability embitter him and sees it as a fault that he's willing to work with. He was bullied for being albino as a foal, but he didn't let it affect him, and his albinism didn't really become a social issue anymore once he reached adulthood.
  • Prince Crimson Star is also blind. He was previously an Insufferable Genius, but then he got horribly injured in a carriage accident caused by a worker's slip-up after he pushed a classmate out of the way of a runaway carriage, costing him his eyes. His blindness was treatable then, but it later became permanently untreatable thanks to a combination of a failed Deal with the Devil to restore his sight, the Jerkass Realization and suicidal depression that followed, and the vicious bullying he received from a few of his brothers. Golden Scepter refused to give up on him, however, and helped him adapt to his blindness as best as he could by teaching him how to use magic to get around and hiring certain people to make reading materials that he's able to read without sight. He has since accepted his blindness, and sees it as both a sign that he was 'punished' for his foolishness and a reminder of what'll happen should he become arrogant again.
  • Prince Varázsló is also blind, though it was self-inflicted — when he was younger, he and his twin brother Cselszövő were thrown into the Well of Eternity, which gave them both incredible knowledge and power, but transformed them into eldritch gods and drove them insane. He in particular was so tormented by the psychic visions he would constantly receive that he desperately tore out all of his eight eyes just to make the visions stop... except it didn't work because being blind now meant the potency of his visions increased. He has since learned to live with it, but it's common for people in his hell-fief to hear him screaming/muttering random prophecies.
  • Poor, poor Kardin. No amount of description can do justice to what he went through thanks to Grogar which turned him from a jovial and complete Eltenteil Deer Pantheon god to the sombre, broken member of the Shadowpact Pantheon he is today.
• Disabled in the Adaptation: Many Codexverse characters have been given mental and/or physical disabilities that their canon selves didn't have originally.
  • Gotaro Kujo of the Stardust Crusaders is autistic, giving him quirks like avoidance of eye contact, fixation on certain details, social awkwardness, literal-mindedness, and the tendency to stim. This is based on fan interpretation of Jotaro Kujo as being autistic, owing to his No Social Skills, his perpetual stoicism, and his Closet Geek hobbies. He also suffered from PTSD — whether from his foalhood bullying, his social marginalization, or having to kill people during and after his trip to Neighgypt.
  • Unlike his canon counterpart, Radiant E. O. Speedwagon suffers from a load of psychological issues here — including PTSD from fighting various threats like Dio Brando and the Abyssal Ones, low self-esteem, and a notable Guilt Complex over his perceived failures to save his loved ones from the aforementioned threats. He also has lingering baggage from his broken upbringing, which led to him despising corrupt, elitist nobles as well as Abusive Parents.
  • The Codexverse version of Hol Horse suffers from intense PTSD from his time as one of Godly Brand's Tarot Assassins, including having panic attacks whenever he is triggered by reminders of his former boss (an element taken from the spinoff manga Crazy Diamond's Demonic Heartbreak), and being afraid of failure even in the smallest things. Unlike his manga canon counterpart or even his CDDH counterpart, however, he also has trauma from being frequently molested and raped by Dio Brando/Godly Brand when the latter was alive.
  • Played with in regards to Prince Crimson Star, who is based on Magnus the Red. Magnus's loss of one of his eyes in canon depended on who wrote him — either he was a mutant born with only one eye, or he once had two eyes but gave one away when he made a pact with the Chaos god Tzeentch. Here, Crimson Star starts off with perfect sight, then becomes completely blind after saving a classmate in a carriage accident that left him horribly injured.
  • Unlike her canon counterpart, Masquerade here was badly affected by her time as one of the Jewel Wizard's slaves, developing claustrophobia that went beyond a Pegasus' dislike of closed spaces. Due to this, she has panic attacks whenever something triggers her PTSD.
• Discard and Draw: Due to their interchangeable natures, deities in the Codexverse gain and/or lose domains depending on the circumstances, with physical, mental, and magical consequences.
  • This happens to Moon Ray Vaughoof twice.
    • His transformation into Caelum Filum warped his original portfolio and gave him new domains — Death became Reincarnation, Temperance became Balance, Water became Fluidity, Forgiveness became Cycles, and Prophecy became Fate.
    • After becoming an eldritch god for real, he still keeps Death and Forgiveness as part of the portfolio of his Alpine form, but everything else were either lost or permanently turned into new domains. Notably, his Prophecy domain has evolved and is split into Endings, Beginnings, and Fate, while his old domain of Water can now be evoked through other domains like Forgiveness, Balance, and Renewal. This also had the consequence of turning him into a cyclic entity who shifts through three cycles of Death, Reincarnation, and Life, with his appearance and portfolio changing depending on the cycle.
  • Prince Healing Song used to embody Music, Potential, Teaching, and Psionics, giving him Psychic Powers and Magic Music. After he turned into an eldritch god, his portfolio dropped Music and Psionics and changed to include Light, Protection, and Fear to reflect his character development.
• Disney Villain Death: Mistmane tricked Maul into destroying the ground underneath him, sending the Temper Troll chieftain plummeting to his death. Notable in that this was practically the only way to defeat him at that point.
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • In one story, Zinabi was awoken by his Abyssinian worshipers, who were throwing a party in their gods' honor. Instead of being pleased with their devotion or simply asking his worshipers to be quiet, he created a flash flood to punish their insolence, resulting in thousands of deaths. Fortunately, his mother, Isati, was able to get rid of the flood easily as she is an ancient and more powerful goddess.
  • The reason why Abyssinia was turned into a Wretched Hive full of criminals and thieves in the 2017 movie? It was because Fik'iri was jealous of the more benevolent gods being more popular than her, and persuaded Zinabi into letting the country be conquered by the Storm King as "punishment" for being poor worshipers.
  • In one incident, Poena personally led a small group of her own divine and mortal followers in an attack against Golden Scepter because he publicly decried them as "deluded extremists". For that, they would get their collective ass kicked and be further humiliated when Katharsis took photos of their defeat shortly after and showed them to everyone.
• Divine Parentage:
  • Golden Scepter is revealed to be a son of Profectus Equus/Iridium Signet, one of the Thirteen Empyreans and the first Alicorns created by King Equus himself in his desire to have companions. This means that Golden Scepter is technically one of King Equus' grandsons.
    • In a roundabout way, Golden Scepter became the biological father of the nineteen demi-divine sons by marrying a mortal pegasus mare, Blessed Skies, and settling down with her. All of his sons, dubbed the 'Terran Princes', managed to Ascend at some point in their lives thanks to his benevolent influence, which is a testament to how well Golden Scepter raised all of them despite the difficulties that came with it.
    • Golden Scepter is also revealed to be the 'Parental Deity' of modern Ponykind - specifically, he was responsible for creating the Earthpony tribe, with Peachy (later Rhodonite Mirror) being the first sapient Earthpony mare to be born. By all intents and purposes, this technically makes Peachy his daughter. When Peachy had many children with Chestnut, the first sapient Earthpony stallion, he and his siblngs would help guide said children's evolution until they turned into their own tribes.
  • The Repulsive Ringmaster Dark Illustration is a demi-divine son of Ispita, a Fallen goddess, and a mortal Pony stallion as part of a Deal with the Devil the latter made in order to make his traveling carnival a success. Dark Illustration would be raised by his mother as another part of the deal, explaining his evil and sadistic behavior later on.
  • Lysets Far, He's the son of Astrid Titanna, the Jotunn goddess of War, Strength, and Victory, and an Equine Giant of Light. His mixed heritage grants him a powerful combination of magic from both parent races as well as a "perfect" light-absorbing gene that lacks the weakness of energy burning that his fellows have. Astrid has stated that her younger sister, Elske, was responsible for bringing her and her future lover together.
  • Blue Suede Heartstrings, the Alicorn god of Music and Humility, is the father/patriarch of the Caerulidae, a Badass Family consisting of his surviving Ascendant biological/adoptive children; Prince Crystal Clear is his oldest adoptive son and child, while the infant Prince Perfect Tone is the youngest. However, through his many lovers, he has many descendants as well, with Lyra Heartstrings and Crystal Prism being two known examples. Flash Sentry, Roneo, and Gladstone are also rumored to be related to him either by having similar fur/hair colors, or by association. In a roundabout way, Blue Suede himself is speculated to be a demi-divine son of Amareros who eventually Ascended to true godhood. This might explain why one of his divine domains is Love, though the truth is actually an inversion of this, being a stallion born to mortal parents who managed to Ascend to godhood.
  • The Amaredae, like the Caerulidae, is also a Badass Family consisting of divine and demi-divine children sired by Amareros, a Grand Primeval and the oldest Love god in Equus.
    • Canteros, the god of Requited Love and Reconciliation, is Amareros' firstborn son and child, hence his epithet as "Love's Firstborn". However, the identity of his mother is unknown - it's speculated that either Amareros sired him with a mortal mare from an early sapient Equine species, or he was born when Amareros and Symvíosi created the concept of Co-Existence based on mutually-shared love, leading to a massive abundance of marriages and dates, but also heartache, broken promises, and unanswered desires. The latter would make Symvíosi the mother/father of Canteros if true, despite them and Amareros being siblings.
    • Amour-De-Soi, the Alicorn goddess of Self-Love and Self-Esteem, is a biological daughter of Amareros. Her mother is an unnamed Alicorn goddess.
• Divine Ranks: The Cosmic Council has a ranking system for gods of Equus which ranks all gods in terms of their age, which - while not always entirely accurate - generally gives a reasonable view of the ranked gods' overall power and experience. The Tiers are as follows, and it is stated those after Titan have their own sub-categorizations:
  • 0) Demigod (Indefinite until death/ascension)
  • 1) Godling (1 - 100 years)
  • 2) Lesser God (100 - 1,000 years)
  • 3) Intermediate God (1000 - 10,000 years)
  • 4) Greater God (10,000 - 100,000 years)
  • 5) Titan (100,000 - 1 million years)
  • 6) Antecedent (1 million - 10 million years)
  • 7) Preeminent (10 million - 100 million years)
  • 8) Primeval (100 million years and beyond)
• Divine Right of Kings:
  • A literal case with the Changeling Courts where the Semi-Divine Royal Changelings are hybrid children sired with different members of mortal races by the Changeling Progenitors, Empress Blackrose and Emperor Blackthorn, giving them legitimate rulership by biological divine right. Unfortunately, this also gave them a strong sense of entitlement that causes them to believe they are the rightful rulers of mortal Changelingkind and any Changeling who says otherwise are Ungrateful Bastards who either need to be killed, or brought in line. Even the Changeling Queens, generally known to be benevolent and fair, are not immune to this imperialistic mindset.
  • Thorax is the only aversion in that he was once a common drone of Chrysalis's hive, then became a Royal Changeling while confronting his ex-Queen through very unexpected circumstances. This made him a genuinely astounding and celebrated novelty among Changelingkind, as he (somehow) managed not only to Ascend, but also break the Changelings' racial Curse on himself and his hive peers, returning them to their original forms.
  • The kingdom of Mephitidia was founded when its first Queen united the Great Skunk clans into one and became their matriarch, with blessing from the Skunks' Top God, Moufette.
  • King Strazha and his younger sister, Queen Vesna were respectively blessed by the Bogolenya leaders, Temnobog and Belyolen, after inheriting the throne from their dead parents because their divine patrons were impressed with their actions, and to ensure Bitaniya's prosperity through the Balance of Good and Evil. Temnobog even states that while he usually blesses villains and other evildoers, he's willing to make an exception with Strazha because he's genuinely interested in how Strazha's harsh methods could be used positively when working in tandem with the benevolent Vesna.
• Do Androids Dream?: A debated topic In-Universe. It's eventually revealed the answer is 'yes' and that any machine that becomes fully sapient will grow a soul of its own, and can even ascend to godhood. However, many people are unwilling to accept this, with pro-organic supremacist factions forming for the purpose of 'proving' that all sapient machines are evil and/or rebellious.
• Doing In the Wizard: Notably defied: while scientific studies and analysis for magic and even divines are discovered, it's pointed out this doesn't mean they stop being magic or gods. While some like Overmare refuse to call them such, it seemed to have been the general consensus in the Second Age that calling it 'Magic' or 'Metamagnatism' was more up to personal preference than anything, with both sides recognizing they're just different words and interpretations for the same thing. The Fourth Age simply has a science of magic without trying to make a distinguish between a scientific understanding and a mystical understanding. While how gods work can be scientifically understood, that doesn't change the fact they still have access to a form of magic that can warp and alter reality on a level beyond anything else and have a completely different composition than any nondivine creature.
• Don't Fear the Reaper: Many Death deities recorded in the Codexverse are benevolent, and it's a much-needed necessity considering that dying is a very serious matter. Whenever a Death deity shows up, they devote their time and effort to comforting the dying/dead so the process of ushering them into an afterlife realm would go smoothly. Angering a Death deity is not a good idea, as there are limitless options to make the offender's life (and afterlife) utterly hellish.
  • The Three Deaths are a trio of Death deities who are also siblings, but all of them are rather nice. Gavisus Manes throws huge parties for those who died contently in the afterlife and helps people die happy, and Audens Manes aids valiant people in making heroic Last Stands and let's those who died heroically know how much good they've done. While Malus Manes is not someone you want to see waiting for you, that's because his job is to take the wicked to the punishment for evil deeds, but otherwise he's a nice guy and he will even give the genuinely repentant a second chance to earn a better fate.
  • This also applies to the Trimortidae, the adoptive/biological children of the Three Deaths. Many of them are very benevolent, compassionate, and heroic. Their roles either consist of comforting the dying by bringing them joy in their last moments, delivering them to their eternal reward for good deeds, and/or punishing the wicked for their crimes. They also serve as protectors who defend the deceased from those who seek to resurrect them against their will, and/or wicked souls and demonic forces who prey on the innocent. However, it's implied there are exceptions, as one member of the Trimortidae joined the Poenan Pantheon out of disillusionment towards her family and their duties.
• Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Deconstructed. Abuse (and its consequences) is treated very seriously in the Codexverse, and whenever characters are shown to be abused, regardless of gender, it is not played for laughs. In-Universe, the reason why perception of abuse victims tends to be skewed is because of social bias leaning in favor of females, resulting in them being portrayed as more sympathetic than males and female abusers being lionized by the public. Shifa' Alhabi Moufette, the young Great Skunk/Abyssinian goddess of Mental Healing and Abuse, loathes double-standard abuse due to knowing how harmful and toxic it can be for male abuse victims, and will quickly and angrily set the record straight whenever people come to her with such beliefs.
• Double Standard: Rape, Divine on Mortal: Deconstructed and played for drama. Rape is viewed and treated very seriously in the Codexverse, and those deities who participate in it are regarded as horrifying and monstrous because they see their divinity as an excuse to have their way with anyone who stirs their lust. Naturally, they always suffer some kind of karma, whether by their own victims or benevolent individuals who are rightly disgusted with them, sometimes fatally.
  • The Abyssinian deities, Zinabi and his consort, Fik'iri, participated in this when they were still leaders of their pantheon. Fik'iri is very unfaithful to her husband and her compulsive lust would often make her go have multiple flings with mortals, whether they want it or not. Those who pray for her services make it a requirement to hide their faces with veils, as Fik'iri would immediately be overcome with lust and try have her way with a person if they reveal their attractiveness to them. Not to mention that Fik'iri treats her lovers like toys, and refusing her advances is even worse than being dumped like yesterday's trash since her wrath is great and terrible. It's because of these factors that people often side with the much nicer Wibeti, another love goddess, much to Fik'iri's jealousy. And while Zinabi's activities were on a lesser scale compared to his wife's, he also has cheated on her with various other mortals for no other reason than his own amusement, which makes his fury over Fik'iri's infidelity quite hypocritical. This trope is partially why the more benevolent Abyssian deities decided to launch a coup and overthrow their superiors, which they succeeded in.
• Dragged Off to Hell:
  • As the god of Death, Sin, and Punishment, Malus Manes' has doing this to those who were evil in life as part of his job description. Genuine repentance and atonement, however, can convince him to spare them this fate.
  • This is what happens when a sinful person runs afoul of Temnobog, the Deer god of Darkness, Evil, and Suffering. If they make a deal with him, then they personally get dragged down to his domain upon death. If he's too busy, however, then either his demonic servants, or his loyal surviving children, the Four Terrors, help him out. Many of the Erobreseg Deer Herds' lore about Temnobog speak of various kingdoms and realms scrambling to atone for their sins en masse just to avoid this fate.
  • Night Terror managed to avoid this fate the first time by secretly making a deal with Ispita, the mother of Yarost, so he ends up in the dream world upon death. However, Princess Luna and the Abyssinian goddess of Sleep, Tenya, confront and defeat them there, and once he's thrown into the real world, Yarost finds him and drags him off to give him a much worse punishment for his trickery.
  • Bitter Thicket ends up suffering this fate when Maud, Pinkie, and the Black Herons destroy her dolls, resulting in Malus Manes and her victims dragging her screaming to the nearest Hell Realm.
  • This is the final fate of "Colonel" Hollow Note, Blue Suede Heartstrings' psychologically abusive manager. After dying from health-related complications that stemmed from both his poor eating habits and equally poor spending, he would be dragged off to the Hell-Realms by Malus Manes. However, Malus Manes also let the spirits of Blue Suede's understandably enraged parents, Copper Wheel Heartstrings and Sunny Love, accompany him, with the former punching Hollow Note in the face for what he did to his younger son.
• The Dreaded:
  • Many members of the Summer Court of the Changelings are this, due to being far more dangerous and evil than their Spring counterparts.
  • Yamata no Orochi is this for Neighpon, due to his reign being their equal of Discord's rule over Equestria or Sombra's over the Empire. The possibility of his return is such a major threat the Neighponese government has an entire contingency devoted to the possibility of his return.
  • Temnobog and his children, the Four Terrors; justified in that while they're working with the good guys, they're still a family of evil gods that delights in causing suffering. The Bogolenya pantheon and the Erobreseg Deer herds are relatively the only people who tolerate and even respect him. Outside of that, he's seen and reviled as evil incarnate.
  • Luminiferous is this due to being both an extremely powerful god, as well as being the son and exact physical copy of a fallen Alicorn who was also the Antichrist. Those who know him, however, know he's the Anti-Anti-Christ and one of the world's Big Goods.
  • Amareros, due to being a Grand Primeval and one of the oldest gods in all existence, as well as one of the strongest. To note, Emperor Blackthorn is afraid of him. The other Grand Primevals themselves, who are Amareros' siblings, are also this, and in general everyone tries their hardest to avoid angering them.
  • The Dyvaos, Expys of the Gyaos, are this to the point even more peaceful nations have a kill on sight order in place for them. This is because they're ancient bioweapons that could wipe out all life on Equus if allowed to reproduce (and nearly did), and are impossible to reason with.
  • Queen Mab I, an insane Fae goddess and ex-Queen, currently holds the honor of being one of few beings that can deeply unsettle even Blackthorn himself.
  • Implied with Prince Fanged Paw. When he confronted a group of young Poenan followers about to attack and kill Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, and revealed his full name and title, some of the Poenan followers were noted to have recognized him and wisely backed off. Those who didn't heed his warnings ended up getting thrashed and humiliated.
  • Emperor Golden Scepter's relationship with the Elternteil Deer Pantheon revolves around this. Ever since Golden Scepter publicly humiliated High King Irminsul for his abusive behavior towards the Bogolenya Deer Pantheon (especially Temnobog), the Elternteil Deer Pantheon has taken great pains to avoid incurring the Alicorn god's wrath. This ends up saving Blue Suede Heartstrings' life when he ends up wrongly punished by them for talking to some Alvslog Deer; Belyolen points out that Golden Scepter will go after them again if he learns they horribly abused a god connected to the Bogolenya Deer Pantheon out of xenophobia. The Elternteil Deer Pantheon quickly dropped the case and let Blue Suede go free. Golden Scepter being a far more powerful and ancient deity than even Irminsul played a large part in this.
  • Skin Walkers are nigh-universally feared. This is because rather than just being a different kind of werewolf, they follow actual Navajo mythology and are extremely powerful monsters with a wide variety of deadly abilities, and becoming one in the first place practically requires already being an irredeemably monstrous psychopath. To note, Vinyl Scratch is utterly terrified to discover she and Octavia are near one, despite being a very powerful Equestrian Vampire herself. Many evil realms and empires abhor Skinwalkers as well, with Malrègnar passing extremely harsh laws forbidding the practice of rituals required to become one.
• Dug Too Deep:
  • Apparently at one point the Diamond Dogs of Dimondia did this and disturbed Lava Demons. The Diamond Dog God of Mining, Mampfen, warns them against repeats.
  • A Diamond Dog named Deep Digger started an aggressive mining project in Dimondia to attempt and recover from an economic crisis. Mampfen warned him and others about this trope, and sure enough they accidentally cause so much ecological damage it awakens Battryu from his slumber who attacks the country.
  • Monsters from the mantle called Blaze Bats make deep mining run the risk of this. The Clovenists accidentally released one in a play on the Well to Hell hoax.
  • In another homage to the "Well to Hell" hoax, the Clovenists also managed to dig into one of the Hells ran by Deers' God of Evil Temnobog. The workers were horrified to hear the screams of the damned shades from the microphone lowered down to it, and tried to forget the traumatizing experience by denying what they found.
• Dying Curse:
  • Yamata no Orochi's is a the driving force of many Neighpon entries. When he was killed, he cursed Neighpon that his severed heads would eventually grow into eight monstrous demonic Kaiju to menace the country. Worse yet, if all of them are killed, Orochi himself will be resurrected. With the destruction of the Third Demon King, the Curse is now fully taking effect, and a countdown has begun. It won't be long before all the other demonic kaijus are slain and Orochi is resurrected...
    "Though I am scattered, I do not die.
    
    Though my body is in pieces, my darkness will remain.
    
    From each head of mine a demon shall rise.
    
    And when all are vanquished, the Demon King will come again!"

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