Codex Equus / Tropes K To L

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:

K

• Karma Houdini:
  • The Changeling Summer Court apparently got away scot-free with many of the war crimes they committed during the Storm King Crisis, being on the side of the victorious international coalition and being too powerful to hold them accountable. What atrocities they actually committed against the Storm Empire during the Crisis remains to be seen, although so far King Macrodontia of the Summer Court is mentioned to have 'ravaged' their territories near Cervidia and Jotunnheim.
  • Subverted with the Summer Court's attempted genocide on Dragonkind during the Time of Broken Scales (in retaliation of the Burning of Amorea); 5,000 years later, Dr Toxikon nearly succeeded in returning the favour on all of Changelingkind in response. Even though he ultimately failed, the Summer Court got pretty damaged as a result.
• Karmic Death:
  • Changeling King Lasius's foster noble family, as well as the local royalty and the aristocracy, were horrendously lazy and incompetent, and used their wealth to fund their lavish lifestyles rather than help their extremely impoverished subjects. Lasius got so fed up with their behavior that he murdered them all during a welcoming party he threw for Emperor Blackthorn, and used their palaces and statues (all the way down to the founder) to pave and repair his foster kingdom's roads. His half-sister, Golden Bell, turned a blind eye while her family died because she too, was sick of their behaviors.
  • The Propagare cultists Elske encountered were trying to stir up distrust and hatred so they could start a war between two Deer realms. After stomping on one part of their armies and sitting on another, Elske proceeded to slowly crush them to death with her hooves so they'll be an example of what happens when people give in to hatred.
  • Golden Chalice was a Griffin warlord who tried to invade and conquer the peaceful kingdom of Sauropoda, having severely underestimated what a society of large, sapient dinosaurs are truly capable of. He was instantly killed when Queen Immensa stomped on him once.
  • Much of the old Orosian pantheon behaved little more than irresponsible, arrogant, and spoiled children, causing unnecessary deaths with their petty squabbles and extreme intolerance to even minor infractions. They eventually died in an event of their own making, the "Twilight of the Orosians", with several people making a point to show that the gods had brought their deaths upon themselves. Likewise, no one cried when the new and more benevolent Orosian gods stepped up to take their place.
  • The Alvslog royal family that raised the future King Brachion cast him out when it was discovered he was a dormant Royal Changeling, forcing him to survive in a forest where dangerous predators lived while still a young colt. When he completed his Errance and became good at biological experimentation, he proceeded to return and utterly destroy his foster family for abandoning him, killing a good number of them and razing their Alvslog forest kingdom to the ground to make way for his new Hive.
  • One of the purified Changelings turned out to be a Chrysalis-loyalist who pretended to side with the ascended Thorax so he could undermine the latter's authority by framing him for the deaths of several unpurified Changeling children. He was caught by hidden Summer Court agents and given to Changeling King Brachion, who would experiment on him.
  • Night Terror, a serial killer from the Deer realms who is the villainous Expy of Freddy Krueger, was fatally burned alive by the grieving parents of the young fawns he killed. However, he managed to cheat his way out of hell by making a secret deal with Ispita, causing his soul to end up in the dream realm instead. Yarost was enraged when he discovered this, due to his hatred of oath-breakers and Ispita in general, and helped Princess Luna and Tenya find and confront Night Terror. When Night Terror was made powerless, defeated, and thrown to the real world by the two goddesses, a furious Yarost was waiting for him, with no other way out of what awaited below. Temnobog himself lampshades how Night Terror was Too Dumb to Live by thinking he could worm his way out of his rightfully-deserved punishment.
  • Void Traveler, an utterly nihilistic Second-Age villain who tried to destroy Equus in the name of his "master" by putting it in a black hole, ends up completely obliterated by a few residents of the planet. As Princess Stitching Time and Queen Cosmosglow said, "Your time is up."
  • Bolezn infected an entire Deer kingdom with a devastating plague for its blatant disregard for proper hygiene, and then infiltrated the castle of a royal Deer, Prince Prospero, who arrogantly assumed he can use said plague to Kill the Poor. Disguised as a noble who dressed up like a plague victim, Bolezn infected both Prince Prospero and the various nobles and royalty who chose to take shelter in his castle rather than help their subjects, leaving them to die a slow, agonizing death. Their stored food and wealth, meanwhile, were pillaged by Bolezn's subordinates/followers for their divine master to enjoy.
  • The unnamed father of Queen Krásná Tradice was emotionally abusive to his children despite loving them, and taught them extremely bigoted, toxic, and hypocritical lessons. When one of his sons accidentally revealed himself to be a Deer-Draconequus, he immediately executed him on the spot for being a hybrid, which traumatized Krásná for years. In revenge, his lover, Pokhot, would orchestrate his fall, culminating in him being killed by High King Irminsul after becoming insane enough to launch military campaigns against neighboring Alvslog Deer kingdoms for not being "pure" or "loyal" to tradition. By the time he was Dragged Off to Hell, he had become a screaming, gibbering wreck.
  • The cabal of Pony sorcerers who once ruled over Princes Varázsló and Cselszövő's native kingdom were wicked Sorcerous Overlords who abused their magic for selfish gain, and treated their helpless subjects like pawns in their schemes. One of them, 'The Knowledgeable Sorcerer', was a horribly abusive father-figure to Varázsló and Cselszövő growing up, culminating in him throwing the twins into the Well of Eternity so he could learn its secrets without compromising himself. Varázsló and Cselszövő miraculously came back alive, but they were turned into into all-powerful (save for 'The Cruel Sorcerer', their Token Good Teammate who disappeared during the chaos) yet insane Eldritch Abominations. This leads to Pokhot unleashing her maternal fury on the sorcerers in revenge for what happened to her sons, and after they're Dragged Off to Hell, they're given her worst punishments. 'The Knowledgeable Sorcerer' in particular was turned into a thrall by Varázsló and Cselszövő themselves, forced to serve their every whim.
  • The fates the the remaining seven Malrègnarian Pantheon members would receive from Iniquitous are extremely karmic. Had it been anyone else, it would've been a horrifying Cruel and Unusual Death, but because they neglected the lands they watched over and treated their mortal subjects/worshipers like shit, they really deserved what they got. They would also be collectively erased from public history, with only their worst sins and flaws to remember them by.
    • For his slothful approach towards his divine duties and his Dirty Coward tendencies, Iniquitous took out 'The Slothful Messenger' by magically making him increasingly lethargic in both body and mind when he tried fleeing her coming presence to save his own skin. This left the Slothful Messenger completely vulnerable to being devoured by Iniquitous.
    • For her gluttonous greed, Iniquitous transforms Ceres into an emaciated horror that's constantly devouring everything and everyone (including her own children) to satisfy her own ravenous hunger, despite tearfully pleading for Iniquitous to make her stop. Iniquitous gloats to Ceres about the many times she selfishly ignored the pleading of her starving subjects, before devouring the goddess herself in the form of a vermin swarm.
    • For causing untold levels of poverty and destitution with his nihilistic greed, Iniquitous gave "the Avaricious Smith" and his children a very complex curse that transformed them into either priceless statues, Greed demons, and/or dragons the further they gave in to their inner greed. In the case of the Smith, he was found as the former, and his statue crumbled into precious minerals the moment Iniquitous devoured his divine essence.
  • The Talon Bàis Pantheon was so corrupt and racist that they, among other things, broke Primeval Laws regarding proper treatment of the dead by welcoming wicked souls like Gael into their Heaven-Realms as a "reward" for their genocidal actions, while silencing the souls of innocent Dragons by sending them to their Hell-Realms. This leads to the Talon Bàis Pantheon experiencing their own "Twilight" when, during the "Talon Bàis War", they are massacred by Deireadh and her army of benevolent deities on the Grand Primevals' behalf; save for the genuinely innocent and repentant who were spared, those who died were dragged away to Nekelmu's Hell-Realms to be eternally tormented for their crimes. Not only that, but upon arriving in the Hell-Realms meant for wicked deities, Nekelmu himself would confront their damned souls in the form a multi-headed Ryujin, each head bearing one eye.
  • An In-Universe example happens during a session of Ogres & Oubliettes hosted by Spike. The Big Bad of the storyline created by Spike's group is a god who loved mortal sapientkind so much that he tried killing off every other god in the universe (save for himself) so he could give them the power to literally change the world as they wished to. This not only threatens to unmake the universe, but also gets him erased from existence, though not without divine help and a Heroic Sacrifice executed by one of Spike's party members. To rub salt in the wound, his plans are utlimately All for Nothing as many people stepped up to replace the gods he murdered to enacted his plan — including Moon Ray Vaughoof's character avatar, a who takes on the mantle of a [[GodOfTheDead Death god.
  • Queen Krásná Tradice's father, an Alvslog Deer King, was an emotionally abusive, xenophobic, and puristic parent who taught his children bigoted, toxic, and hypocritical lessons, and had no qualms over killing one of his sons when the latter accidentally outed himself as a Deer-Draconequus hybrid. His lover and Queen, a disguised Pokhot, orchestrated his fall to avenge her dead son, and later, the Alvslog Deer King became such a paranoid and tyrannical ruler that his own subjects fled and he tried warring with neighboring Alvslog kingdoms for not being "pure" or "loyal" to Alvslog traditions enough. He is then killed by an enraged High King Irminsul, who confronted him personally while his mortal worshipers deals with the Alvslog Deer King's armies, and the Alvslog Deer King himself was dragged to the Elternteil Deer Pantheon's Hell-Realms screaming and gibbering.
• Karmic Jackpot:
  • Hearth, as well as several benevolent members of the old Orosian pantheon, end up surviving the Twilight of the Orosian Gods because of their compassion, and the Tauren Peninsula became better for it.
  • Button Mash's success over CreepEntity513 was largely due to two things — his friendship with Crystal Prism, the young Alicorn demigod of Rebirth and Change, allowed Luminiferous to give him a trinket that would lend him his future potential even if Luminiferous himself isn't there to empower him, the antediluvian Alicorn having been tipped off by Crystal's troubling vision of Button Mash being pulled into another dimension. Button Mash's bravery and willingness to expose CreepEntity as a mere bully gave its numerous victims hope that they can be freed from their confinement and suffering, so they empowered Button Mash even after he was (temporarily) turned into an Alicorn. One of CreepEntity513's victims was revealed to be Button Mash's idol, an Earth pony stallion named "King", who was also pulled into CreepEntity513's video-game dimension yet lacked the courage to face him.
  • Golden Bell, the pony half-sister of Changeling King Lasius, is one of his strongest allies and was extremely disgusted by her family's lazy incompetence, hedonism, and greed, with the only reason why she didn't kill them herself being that Lasius did it first. She ended up being the Sole Survivor of her entire family, and trusted with a high position in the local government after Lasius inherited the throne.
  • The Dragon/Changeling hybrid goddess of Foregiveness, Princess Lampyridae/Firewing, was born when Thorax and Ember stopped Dr. Toxikon and decided to utterly reject the racial Dragon-Changeling feud by forgiving each other's people and elders for their heinous actions. It was noted in her entry that the karmic backlash was so enormous that it spawned Lampyridae/Firewing in the form of an infant, making her Thorax and Ember's "biological" daughter since they work so well together.
  • Prince Léon, the first male Equestrian Alicorn and the newest addition to the Equestrian "pantheon", was born from the karmic backlash of Prince Blueblood's good deeds despite his Jerkass masks, making him the living embodiment of this trope. And as such, he embodies his "biological" father's innocence and compassion that he was forced to bury in order to deal with Canterlot's corrupt nobles. It's expected by both Celestia and Luminiferous that lots of good things will happen to Blueblood, too, if he continues raising Léon like a good father (which he currently is).
  • Despite the horrific experiences she went through, Ruby Heart forgave her neighbors for killing her as well as her family for not protecting her (they were persuaded and threatened into standing by and watching). As a result, she was "promoted" by being turned into a psychopomp, becoming Grief's apprentice, got her family and a few of her remorseful neighbors to redeem themselves, and earned quite a few friends in both mortals and divines who are all willing to protect her from more hard-lined individuals like Poena.
  • Scarlet Bell's childhood actions in opposing two morally/mentally bankrupt teachers and saving her classmates from their horrible experiments would result in Pferdia lauding her as a hero, though she would shortly move to the Grittish Isles to escape the attention and protect herself from potential retribution. Years later, after learning that Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker have also moved to the Grittish Isles to escape the law and continue their work, she promptly called the authorities and attempted to find her grandniece, Midnight Bell, who ran off alone to save a kidnapped Page Wheel. Her intervention not only got Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker arrested, but also saved Midnight Bell and Page Wheel from them, especially the latter, as he was being revived in a magical cocoon at the time and was rendered a sitting duck. This would also result in Scarlet Bell becoming acquainted with an Alicorn demigod once Page Wheel was healed and Ascended as Crystal Prism.
  • Ink Wheel and her family would become good friends with Scarlet Bell sometime after the latter moved to the Grittish Isles. Ink Wheel's son, Page Wheel, would later become an Alicorn demigod after coming in contact with Scarlet's maternal grandniece, Midnight Bell, which would prove handy in curing his mother's sickness as Page Wheel, now Crystal Prism, gained the ability to heal by encasing people in magical cocoons temporarily. Scarlet Bell herself would also intervene on Page Wheel's behalf by protecting him from Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker while he was cocooned, potentially saving his life in the long run. As a result, Ink Wheel quite enjoyed bragging to her neighbors about how she became the mother of a young Alicorn, much to her son's embarrassment.
  • Emperor Golden Scepter's genuine efforts in redeeming himself for his crimes and achieving Character Development would eventually reward him come the Fourth Age.
    • His compassionate and empathetic treatment of Temnobog, the Bogolenya Deer pantheon's God of Evil, led to them becoming good friends as Golden Scepter was still willing to reach out to Temnobog despite his inner evil, and treated the latter like a person instead of a corrupted and evil cast-off of his radiant brother, Belyolen, that everyone else saw him as. Because of this, Temnobog and his surviving children, the Four Terrors, would interact closely with Golden Scepter and his demi-divine sons years later.
    • Being a good father towards all of his nineteen demi-divine sons, regardless of the difficulties he would experience in raising them, would eventually lead to them Ascending to demi-Alicornhood and becoming powerful and highly-respected heroes in their own right. This is especially impressive since in Warhammer 40,000, the Primarchs fractured because of the Emperor of Mankind's rather lousy parenting, causing almost half of them side with the Chaos Gods while a few loyal ones ended up dead or missing.
• Karmic Transformation: This is Pakak's shtick, since he's a Karmic Trickster whose powers fluctuate depending on his target(s) morality and good/bad karma. However, he always makes sure to include a Curse Escape Clause to ensure their atonement.
  • This is what happened to the Cutie Pox-phobic ponies of Sunnytown - after ritualistically killing an innocent filly named Ruby Heart for getting a Cutie Mark, an enraged Pakak (who had been attending the party as a pony) revealed himself and cursed everyone involved into becoming zombies to reflect their monstrous actions. In addition, they are forced to relive a magical simulation of the fateful day every year, and are unable to leave Sunnytown until they take responsibility and atone for their sins. It's noted in Grey Hoof's entry that he was among the first to become zombies, being directly responsible for Ruby Heart's death and the murderous fervor of Sunnytown towards Cutie Marks.
• Karmic Trickster: Pakak is the literal god of this trope, being the Draconequus Spirit of Mischief and Karma.
• Kill on Sight:
  • The Dyvaos have such an order on them nigh-universally. This is for good reason: they're malfunctioning ancient bio-weapons that if allowed to reproduce and propagate can and almost have destroyed life on Equus. They're the reason their creators aren't around anymore and Gamarea and the Guardian Beasts of Neighpon were literally created to stop them from doing it to anyone else.
  • Ispita has a similar order made against her; having betrayed her own principles as a constructively Evil goddess to follow "diabolical" Evil, Ispita earned the undying hatred of her ex-lover, Temnobog, who not only punished two of his children who sided with her by eating them alive, but also ordered his loyal surviving children, the Four Terrors, to hunt down and kill her should she be spotted in the various Deer realms.
  • Lady Wolfsbane and many others have this philosophy about Skin Walkers. This is because not only are Skin Walkers insanely dangerous and hard to kill, but that every single one is a psychopathic monster due to the ritual to become one virtually requires the person to have been horrifically evil to begin with.
• Kill the God: In the Codex Equus universe even immortal gods are not entirely protected from mortality, as it is entirely possible to kill them despite their power and nature if one has the means, the strength and the will to do so. It is even encouraged to a degree by the higher powers that be to keep gods honest and accountable, as the fastest way to gods getting offed on Equus (and presumably elsewhere) is to be a Jerkass God that earned the homicidal hatred of angry mortals and more benevolent divines. There are even gods like Nikealogos, the Champion of Victory/Slayer of Gods who have a specific domain and reputation at slaying gods.
  • Actually doing so is also Deconstructed. According to BrutalityInc, killing a god — which is already extremely difficult to do by itself — would have catastrophic consequences based on what domains they have. This is because gods are products of both the elements of both the natural world and abstract concepts created by sapientkind. For example, killing a Water god would cause massive floods, while killing a War god would birth rampant conflicts, and killing a Wind god would cause uncontrollable storms. This is largely the reason why gods tend to resort to either sealing away or even devouring other gods because actually killing one is a cost too great to handle. However, it is possible to contain the catastrophic meltdown that follows if one has the power or means to do so.
  • A Codexverse drabble provides an In-Universe example inspired by the mechanics of the Pony POV Series. In a session of Ogres & Oubliettes hosted by Spike, the Big Bad is a god who loved mortal sapientkind so much that he tried killing off every other god in the universe (save for himself) so he could give them the power to literally change the world as they wished to. It's deconstructed as with every god killed, the universe is robbed of vital Concepts that keep it stable and thriving. Once the god is defeated and erased from existence (with divine help), many people had to replace the murdered gods by adopting their mantles to keep the universe from falling apart; one of said people is Moon Ray Vaughoof's character avatar, a Necromancer who takes on the mantle of a Death god.
• Kinslaying Is a Special Kind of Evil: Zigzagged. From various entries, slaughtering one's family is considered evil, especially since a love of one's family is considered one of the most redeeming qualities even villains can have. However, if said family is themselves abusive, corrupt and all-around terrible, it's considered free game to off them even if you're related.
  • Ivory Towers effectively crossed the Moral Event Horizon when she murdered her innocent parents to summon the demon Don'yoku, just so she could sell her soul to him for power. Many readers considered this act to be particularly abhorrent.
  • By contrast, virtually no one bats an eye towards Changeling Queen Buprestidae Avalon's homicidal obsession with her sister Chrysalis Avalon, since Chrysalis is a petty and despicable tyrant who committed many terrible crimes against her victims and even her subjects and family, including committing genocide against gem-eyed ponies which Buprestidae's father was and trying to overthrow her mother during the League of Dominations crisis.
• King in the Mountain:
  • Queen Dazzleglow, the ruler of the lost kingdom of Kerajaan Cahaya, sealed herself away to awaken and prevent the destruction of her world from repeating itself. Daring Do awakens her, but it's more complicated than that: she's not returning to stop one specific disaster, but break the Vicious Cycle of civilizations rising, then being completely destroyed that has repeated throughout Equus's history. Due to her having never been removed from power, she is also still the ruler of Kerajaan Cahaya, and begins rebuilding her kingdom with Sparkle Ponies flocking to her as their new Goddess.
  • Justified with Emperor Golden Scepter, though not of his own will. He was very active up until the Imperium era, after which he disappeared. This is because, after a slew of terrible mistakes that resulted from the traumas affecting his judgement, Golden Scepter was gravely wounded in a violent coup kick-started by General Aurum Lupus, who saw him as a divine tyrant and rebelled to oust him, and was put in magical stasis to save his life. However, everyone gradually forgot about him, and he ended up sleeping through countless Ages until he was found and revived by Luminiferous and Dazzleglow in the beginning of the Second Age.
• Klingon Promotion: In Equus, sometimes the only way to advance in life is to kill someone higher up the ranks and take their place, with all the power and prestige that comes with it.
  • Changeling King Lasius inherited the throne in the kingdom he grew up in by killing off both the entire nobility and royalty for their lazy incompetence. Fortunately for the people, he turned out to be The Good King who introduced to them a higher quality of living.

L

• Lady of Black Magic: Some users of dark magic are skilled, experienced females, whether divine or mortal.
  • Princess Winter Opera is an Alicorn goddess of Dark Magic and a Goth who wears lavish ball gowns, though her personality is zigzagged - she has a stage persona where she is a refined Proper Lady, but off-stage she is rather casual with friends and family. That being said, she can still be composed and well-mannered at times, and when teaching, she is very kind and nurturing towards her students. It's justified as while she is skilled in dark magic, she was taught how to approach it with ethics and rightful behavior by Luminiferous.
  • Even before she became a 'Demon Queen' and a 'Dark Goddess', Vicearch Iniquitous was a skilled and capable witch, having learnt from her mother's notes, and building upon and developing it further by innovating new spells and hexes that were instrumental to her eventual triumph. To note, Dark Magic remains part of her portfolio, and she is widely considered one of the greatest practitioners of dark magic in and to ever come into existence. As a result, many come from far and wide to learn from her, and she became a mentor to various deities, such as Prince Dissonant Tune and a few members of the Deti Uzhasov.
  • Like Blue Diamond, Blue Diadem is demure, refined, and soft-spoken, and she evokes the image of a classical witch with her gloomy disposition and regal robes/gowns and hooded cloaks. Some of her powers involve emotion and energy manipulation. Except here, she's the strongest and most accomplished spellcaster compared to her older/younger sisters, as she is the most skilled in wielding the magical aspects of her domains. She also wields a Magic Staff as her main weapon. However it's subverted; not only does Blue Diadem embody Primordial Light, but she was also a victim of horrific familial abuse for much of her life, leaving her with a Hair-Trigger Temper that makes her prone to Disproportionate Retribution if someone makes slight deviations to her rules and policies. Blue Diadem's demure personality was also the result of being indoctrinated by Silk Dawn to fulfill a traditionally feminine role, in accordance to her being White Corona's sorrow and guilt given form. Fortunately, with Rose Regalia and Moon Ray Vaughoof's help, she gets better.
• Large and in Charge: Generally, divine sovereigns are larger than their mortal subjects, with older ones being gigantic. This is because deities have an aging process that's different from mortals - the older they are, the larger and more powerful they get, with their overall appearance becoming increasingly eldritch.
• Large Ham: Many characters in the Codexverse are recorded to have hammy behavior.
  • Entasi rivals Discord in terms of sheer ham, in part due to being a Minotaur god.
  • Crazy Ant fully embraces his status as a Mad Scientist, including the hammy parts of it. When using his gattling crossbow at the Battle of Infernos, he apparently never stopped laughing manically until it ran out of ammo, setting the in-universe world record for longest continual maniacal laugh.
  • Prince Vultus IV is called "The Loud" because of his extreme hamminess. His voice is so loud that it triggers avalanches, and he even weaponized it by stunning people with his shouts.
  • Prince Fanged Paw is literally large, being a tall demi-Alicorn Prince who towers over his mortal subjects. He's also described as a Boisterous Bruiser-type person who can be loud, dramatic, and outspoken, to the point where one of his younger brothers, Prince Steel Barricade, suggested they should find him based on who's the loudest if he ever gets lost in crowds. It's because of this trope that he was able to befriend King/Prince Vultus IV and the god Clamos over their sheer volume and ham.
  • Much like Elvis Presley, Blue Suede Heartstrings dedicates himself to entertaining his audiences when on-stage, usually by adding a wild, flashy, and charismatic swagger that makes people cheer and swoon over him.
  • Blue Suede's older identical twin brother, Bossa Nova Heartstrings, also gets really wild and hammy whenever he performs on-stage.
  • Downplayed with Princep Indicum Occento, an Alicorn fusion. While they tend to be bold and hammy at times, they're more restrained about it.
  • Moufette, the leader of the Great Skunk Pantheon, is known for being hammy and over-the-top.
  • Malus Manes, the eldest sibling of the Three Deaths, can get rather loud and terrifying whenever he comes to take the souls of wicked people to Tartarus. He would jokingly reveal to a then-young Bossa Nova Heartstrings that this is part of his secret to appearing as a scary figure to the wicked, as in his words, "sinners tend to get scared VERY easily".
  • Following her departure from the Elternteil Deer Pantheon, Zmeniť became loud and bombastic like the thunderstorms she embodies. This is a stark contrast to the demure, quiet, and submissive doe that her familiy wanted her to be in accordance to tradition.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Has its own page here.
• Last Stand:
  • Audens Manes has this as an explicit power: as the Goddess of the Valiant Deaths, she can empower a dying mortal with enough life to perform one last heroic act before dying. The power is even called "Last Stand".
  • The 'League of Domination Crisis', the last major crisis event before Princess Twilight's ascension as the sole ruler of Equestria, is this for Equestria and many of its allies as the League of Domination, composed of newly-empowered Lord Tirek, Ex-Queen Chrysalis and Cozy Glow made an all-out attempt to take-over Equestria and destroy all their enemies. Surprisingly, it is noted that this was a Last Stand for the three Evil Overlords themselves.
• Last Villain Stand:
  • King Xestobium, with his hive defeated, endgame ruined, himself having been battered and bloodied in the final battle, and now confronted by both Changeling Gods, ultimately picks up a sword and charges them, despite knowing it will be the end of him and he can't win.
  • The League of Domination (Lord Tirek, Ex-Queen Chrysalis and Cozy Glow)'s ultimate attempt at conquest is portrayed to be this for them as it is a Last Stand for the allied forces of Harmony. Like in canon, all three villains were on the verge of utter defeat: Both Lord Tirek and Cozy Glow had been captured and imprisoned in Tartarus. Chrysalis has lost everything except her own life, hiding out in a remote jungle and slowly going mad from isolation. They would had been doomed were it not for Grogar II's rescue. Realizing none of them could succeed alone and they would not have another chance like this again, they would team up to empower themselves and rally substantial amount of villainous forces to their banner, kick-starting the crisis. The relevant entries made it clear that this was, for all intents and purposes, their desperate, last-ditch attempt to finally win, claim revenge on their enemies and Take Over the World. They were correct in realizing it to be this trope too, considering the outcome and their ultimate fate.
• Legend Fades to Myth: The Garden of Eden myth, specifically one that focuses on Peachy and her husband, Chestnut, the first Earthponies, has been subjected to this treatment. The Magnean religions of the Second Age propagate a version where Peachy and Chestnut failed the Secret Test of Character Emperor Golden Scepter gave them by blaming someone else for their disobedience. In reality, Peachy and Chestnut succumbed to their temptations, but they still passed the test by realizing their mistake and apologizing for it, earning Golden Scepter's forgiveness. There had been other 'Gardens' where the first sapients of other races failed their tests, but thanks to the passage of time, details got distorted and switched. Both Golden Scepter and Peachy herself were incredibly dismayed when they learned religious demagogues and elites had been using Peachy and Chestnut's story to preach unquestioning obedience and loyalty to divine forces to the masses, instead of teaching them the importance of independence and owning up to one's mistakes as was originally intended.
• Legion of Doom: Several villainous factions are formed over the course of Codexverse's Myth Arc, especially as a 'Time of Trials' arrive and the forces of harmony and disharmony ramp up their efforts in opposing one another. As their existence demonstrates, the good guys are not the only ones who can unite their efforts under a common cause or when endangered by a greater threat, even if the bad guys' nature would likely make such alliances inherently unstable, frequently step on each other and prone to infighting.
  • The canonical alliance between Lord Tirek, Cozy Glow and Chrysalis is known in-universe as the 'League of Domination', and while they are the top three members, there are also an additional number of individual and groups of villains allied, associated or assimilated into the faction, as well as whole armies of minions, making it even stronger and more numerous than the show's portrayal. And the League itself survived their founders' ultimate defeat, albeit splintering into different factions without their commanding presence.
  • The Tyrannos Pantheon led by Propagare and include the likes of Censura, Arma, Khakiston and others are a divine version of this, made up of deities whose domains cover tyrannical and dictatorial concepts.
  • A canonized drabble hints Temnobog, the Dark One and Emperor Blackthorn, patriarch and master of the Summer Court (And Propagare's mentor), are planning to form an alliance of Evil Deities and followers themselves to create a new world order that would serve as a counterweight to the Cosmic Council, an insurance against rival/upstart destructively evil/Fallen deities and a means of advancing all their ruthless, villainous self-interests.
  • The 'Legion of Gloom' that's increasingly mentioned in post-LoD entries appears to be a prominent one formed just before or after Twilight's ascension as sole ruler of Equestria, and is making increasing amount of troubles and attacks. Also, the Autorists from the Griffon Kingdom of Talonia are backing them with ulterior motives.
• Light 'em Up: Various individuals, both divine and mortal, have the power to manipulate light.
  • Crystal Prism is described as having a developing talent in light magic, and some of his capabilities include firing searing light beams, creating barriers and light-based illusions, and having butterflies made of light guide him and his allies through dark places. He can also blind and disorient people with light through magical flash-bangs, manipulation of reflective surfaces, and channeling his light magic through his own body so he looks brighter than he initially is. During his rescue of Button Mash and the victims of CreepEntity513 from its collapsing game realm, he made a series of light-based platforms so they could cross a bottomless chasm and enter a portal into the real world.
  • One of Belyolen's divine domains is Light, so naturally he has light-based magic. He gets stronger during daytime and the Summer season, where light is most abundant. It's noted that whatever he can do, Temnobog can also do thanks to having similar capabilities with his darkness magic. Appropriately, Belyolen is described by his entry as a light-pelted stag who's always surrounded by a halo of light.
  • Prince Healing Song's Magic Staff, Medela Lux, grants him the ability to wield psionic light, which is appropriate given its name. He can create psionic blades of light through his staff to cut through mental barriers and psychic armor. He can also use light to calm agitated people, blind his foes with flashbangs, and heal people with light. In particular, his light-based spells can be used in conjunction with his Music-empowered voice, resulting in spells that both heal and grant peace of mind simultaneously.
  • As a god of Balance, High King Bogolenya can wield light magic, which he can combine with shadow magic to create an extremely damaging Yin-Yang Bomb. It's noted that his light magic comes from Belyolen, who represents Deerkind's moral purity and other good traits.
• Living Legend: Many, since Codex Equus revolves around the inhabitants of a planet that's also a World of Badass.
  • It's noted in Prince Sparkling Wing's entry that after leaving his childhood kingdom to travel with Luminiferous as his student, stories and legends about him would pop up throughout the Third Age, telling of a lavender-pelted pegasus stallion who would resolve conflicts all over Equus and manipulate the skies themselves. It's what later led to Sparkling Wing meeting Queen Dazzleglow in the Fourth Age post-Ascension, having heard of said legends and was interested in his potential role in breaking "The Cycle".
  • A conversation with BrutalityInc reveals that Golden Scepter is seen as a heroic legend among both Alicornkind and the rest of Equus, being not only a peerless genius and powerful psychic whose mind is said to be unmatched when compared to even the mightiest of Alicorns, but also an incredibly competent ruler who founded three empires in his lifetime. He's also a beloved war hero who personally fought against Morning Star, and protected and hid away those who didn't want to participate in the war, saving Alicornkind from complete extinction. However, he's not without detractors - many Alicorns see Golden Scepter as "eccentric" for choosing to stay behind and help rebuild Equus after the war rather than go into seclusion to help his people regain their former glory, and his actions during the Imperium era made him a very controversial figure even by the Alicorns' standards.
  • When he was a mortal in the Second Age, Moon Ray Vaughoof was a guitar virtuoso and one of the greatest Blues musicians to have ever lived, having saved the increasingly stagnant Blues genre singlehoofedly. When Moon Ray successfully overcame his drug addictions that defined his early career, and helping others overcome their addictions, he became even more popular. Then he suddenly died in a helicopter accident, cutting his career short and understandably leaving him very depressed, bitter, and resentful about it. However, with help, he gets over this and focuses on the present, becoming a therapist for both addicts and abuse victims in addition to ushering/comforting the dead. Moon Ray's good deeds eventually earn him enough repute that, following his re-Ascension into an eldritch deity, even the Grand Primevals learn about him and become interested in his potential as a Redeeming Replacement for High King Ragnarøkkr, since much of Moon Ray's actions involved breaking free of toxic behaviors and helping others do the same.
• Lost Superweapon: Due to effects from the passage of time, uncovering a weapon from a previous Age's heyday is generally this. For specific examples:
  • The Dvar got their hooves on a Second Age Zaku, which is used as their trump card in their invasion.
  • The 'Heart of Oro' is a powerful Third Age artifact found by King Golden City. This turned him from a normal pony to an immortal, incredibly powerful warlock. When deprived of it by Daring Do and Sekra, he lost his mortality and his powers were reduced to what they were originally.
  • The Kamili Empire ends up uncovering a Crystal Titan, a giant Third Age crystal golem that serves as a Humongous Mecha. While it's heavily damaged with most of its magical 'systems' wrecked, the frame and armor are still intact and thus can at least be the skeleton for a new superweapon.
• Lost Technology: Given the sheer time scales involved in the Codexverse (45,000 years worth of history for the 'Four Ages of Known History' by themselves), many innovations, technological, magical, both or other things entirely had been created by the various civilizations arose throughout the ages. When those civilizations fell, so too went the knowledge of how to create them, leaving only relics and rumours with which savants of later days would attempt to piece together and recreate those lost marvels. Assuming that they're not so dangerous that they're best to be left forgotten...
  • 'Firearms' from the Second Age - when Equus had an Atomic/Information Era and beyond technological civilization - are considered something of a holy grail in weapons technology. Gunpowder as we know it has not been reinvented by the Fourth Age, and it's heavily implied that attempts to recreate it is heavily discouraged if not outright prevented by the Powers That Be - up to and including the Gods of Equus - in an attempt to reduce conflict and bloodshed, resulting in an Alternate Techline where melee-weapons and shields remain relevant in war, ranged weapons are dominated by crossbows and 'pneumatic-catapults', and 'Blastfire' is used for cannons and bombs instead.
  • Prince Steel Barricade's entry mentions foresight-based technologies such as the Acuity from the Imperium era, and the various Cutie Mark-predicting 'supercomputers' owned by the Alicorns of yore. BrutalityInc would point out that such technologies were of the "Looks good on paper yet bad in practice" sort of ideas, as the prediction models were either flawed, were unable to factor in certain things into their predictions, or both. Steel Barricade's entry also states the construction and use of foresight-based technologies in general was what contributed to the fall of great kingdoms and organizations, including the Alicorn Civilization, as their creators used them to help get certain outcomes and control their subjects' lives and futures as they saw fit, something that Golden Scepter had personally witnessed. When he found that Steel Barricade managed to build his own working version, he was proud of his son's accomplishment yet disapproved of what he created, and had Steel Barricade dismantle his project permanently after explaining to him why using foresight-based technologies is a bad idea in the long run.
• Lovecraftian Superpower: Various eldritch beings, divine or no, have certain powers that defy convention and make reality cry.
  • Unlike most eldritch beings seen in the Codexverse, Moon Ray Vaughoof/Prince Canticum Lunae Cahaya is unique in that his very nature is connected to the four seasons, making him go through three cycles of death, reincarnation, and life in an endless loop while giving him three portfolios associated with each 'cycle'. His domain of Cycles in particular gives him the ability to sense, create, and manipulate cycles, as well as other powers similar to those of High King Ragnarøkkr. However, he is vastly inexperienced in comparison and generally uses them for benevolent purposes.
  • As an 'Abyssal One', Queen Kthoryu's power is vaguely understood; notably, it is fueled by Dark Mana, which is not Dark Magic, but rather the magical equal of Dark Matter and/or Dark Energy. The nature of Dark Mana is so alien that it is only observable via its passive effects on the things around it. It is still being heavily researched, and it's believed that Dark Mana is the reason why her temple/palace has strange, eldritch qualities. Kthoryu's domain of Dark Energy gives her powerful anti-gravity abilities, but otherwise the full scope of it is unknown due to difficulty in observing it.
    • Kthoryu's domains of Primordial Sea and Primal Fear are also Lovecraftian, to a lesser degree. Being a goddess of Primordial Sea means that her powers are 'purer' and more potent compared to normal Sea deities, making her incredibly dangerous. Her domain of Primal Fear generally revolves around thalassophobia, the fear of oceans and/or deep bodies of water, though she is able to invoke other primal fears depending on her targets.
  • Following his transformation into an eldritch Alicorn, Prince Healing Song's Light domain gains eldritch properties, giving him new abilities such as reality-warping, transmutation, and, notably, seeing other dimensions and planes via light (which he calls the "Light of Dimensions"). His Fear domain, when combined with his Light domain, gives him the ability to inflict existential dread on his opponents and illuminate everything that they fear/hate about themselves.
• Lovecraft Lite: The world of Equus can be best described as A World Half Full — it's crawling with Ancient Evils and other antediluvian horrors of incomprehensible morality, and several gods and pantheons are shown to be either Jerkass Gods or flat-out evil. Certain beliefs and thoughts can bring to life various entities like Tulpas and demons if given enough power. Even some 'civilized' sapient races, like Giants, Dragons, and the Summer/Winter Changelings, can be vicious, arrogant, and cruel. And the overarching conflict of the story involves the Void Sovereign, a nihilistic Mad God who is currently sealed within the Cosmic Void, but will destroy everything once he breaks out. Despite this, various entries make clear that for all their power and the sheer horror they project, all of the aforementioned entities mentioned above can be defeated. It is possible for mortals to Ascend to godhood by taking the necessary steps to get there. Also, both Equus and its universe essentially run on The Power of Friendship, with mortals and deities alike being capable of defeating enemies greater than themselves just by cooperating with each other. And as it turns out, the entire setting was created by the Architects, benevolent Eldritch Abominations who genuinely love everything, to the point where they created beings lesser than themselves to help them care for the universe they created on their behalf.
• Love Goddess: There are many deities on Equus, both male and female, who embody Love and its various aspects.
  • One of Blue Suede Heartstrings' domains is Love, but in his case he embodies Philia Love, also known as 'friendship'. He can see the bonds of friendships shared as 'ropes', allowing him to magically repair or sever them. He can also empower himself based on how much Philia Love is present, and empower others through his friendships with them; since he and his friends tend to be True Companions, this makes them super powerful. He also has curses for punishing those who abuse or break friendships for cruel reasons, such as inducing Hate Plagues. His domain is thematically tied to how he broke away from the toxic music/media industries and stayed true to himself thanks to people like Luminiferous. His first entry notes that while his actions have led to friends becoming lovers, he has stated that friendship is a crucial step that leads to romantic love, as it requires developing long-established trust, respect, and faith for all people involved. He later receives an amulet that empowers his Love domain as a Hearth's Warming gift from Vicearch Iniquitous, allowing him to use his powers in direct combat and fight supernatural entities that thrive on hatred like Wraiths, which is what happened between him and the revived "Colonel" Hollow Note during the 'Dark Ages Crisis'.
  • The most likely account of Cosmos' Mysterious Past has her being a Love goddess of a forgotten pantheon who tried to reach out and reform Discord. Unfortunately, she failed, as Discord saw through it and turned it around by seducing her and transforming her into an evil, monstrous being who is hopelessly obsessed with him. There are evidence to suggest this as her portfolio covers Love and she retains some powers over it, albeit now twisted into an embodiment of obsessive and profaned love.
  • The Amaredae is an entire group of Love-based deities, consisting of the divine sons and daughters of Amareros, the Love Primeval.
    • As the firstborn son and child of Amareros, Canteros is a Love god who embodies the concepts of Requited Love and Reconciliation. He reaches out to people whose desires for love go unanswered, and helps lovers who are separated by cruel and fickle deities reunite with each other. He also serves as a mediator and peacemaker for couples that have broken up, helping them acknowledge their flaws and where they went wrong so they could repair their relationships. However, Canteros has another aspect as the avenger of unrequited Love, and harshly punishes those who ignore the pining of others or break their hearts for their own amusement. His entry notes that his domains can also apply to friends, as friendships are a platonic form of Love.
    • Amour-De-Soi is an Alicorn goddess who embodies Love, though in her case, while she does have the abilities typical of a Love-based deity, she embodies the concepts of Self-Love and Self-Esteem. Because of this, she has been reaching out to self-loathing and despairing individuals from even the brink of suicide so she can save them, and help teach them how to love themselves. That being said, she treats both narcissists and the concept of Narcissism with great contempt, seeing them as perversions of Self-Love entirely.
    • Princess Carnation represents Maternal Love. This gives her psychic empathy, allowing her to produce an aura that makes those around her feel loved, as if by a mother. It also allows her to sense when her children are in danger even on completely opposite sides of Equus, a power she can grant to mortal mothers. She can empower herself based on how much maternal rage and protection she feels in regards to her children, and produce love-powered flames. She's also a goddess of Fertility with the power to increase one's likelihood of bearing children, allowing couples who are normally incapable of procreation with one another (including different species) to have children, while restoring one's fertility if they're rendered sterile. It also allows her to repair physical damage that would prevent them from having children (or, if they do, cause the child(ren) to miscarry).
  • Elske is one, since she has powerful empathy and all of her divine domains involve Love in some form. Though unlike Princess Cadence, who inspires tame affection, Elske inspires the hot-blooded romance variety, invoking such passion in mortals that they tend to get completely caught up in the moment... until it wears off, that is.
  • Prince Bright Eyes, the ninth son of Emperor Golden Scepter, is a Love god who specifically embodies Storge Love, known as the love shared by families. Through this domain, his psychic empathy is enhanced further, and he gravitates towards those who love their families very much or are falling out of love with them. In addition, he can see the bonds that tie people together as family. This gives him the ability to help fix these bonds if their relationships are deteriorating or forcibly broken by those who separate family from their own kin. However, he can also sever these bonds, which he uses to help free people from toxic, abusive families. As the embodiment of Storge Love, Bright Eyes is empowered by the presence of familial love and grows stronger when there's a massive abundance of it, though the opposite can happen if there's so little.
  • One of Princess Tough Love's domains is Love, but she specifically embodies an aspect of Familial Love called "Tough Love", which sometimes forces a person to let someone fall down in order for them to learn harsh yet necessary lessons, yet also be there to help said person(s) get back up when they need it. As such, her magic involves reminding people of their familial love for each other and empowering herself through her own familial bonds. In her case, though, she tends to empower her physical attributes rather than her magical ones.
  • Shifa' Alhabi Moufette is the young Great Skunk/Abyssinian goddess of Relationships and Love. Her domain of Relationships allows her to see people's relationships as vines that look either healthy or diseased depending on the type of relationship, and gives her forms of both precognition and retrocognition that shows her people's potential relationships and relationship history. She can also repair broken relationships and magically sever them, but only does the latter to help a person get out of toxic relationships they otherwise can't by themselves. As for her domain of Love, she helps people learn the difference between positive, healthy love and toxic, abusive love, whether romantic or platonic. She can play images that show examples of healthy and toxic types of love, and cast various curses to punish those who abuse/exploit people for genuinely loving them.
  • Moufette, the leader of the Great Skunk Pantheon, is a god of Romance, which gives him the same abilities as Wibeti such as inducing romantic attraction in people and predicting potential romantic matchups that would be fullfilling for both partners. Many of his children would inherit aspects of his Romance domain from him. Unfortunately, this would give his family problems for a while, as his reputation and actions would cause his daughter, Daphné Odora Moufette, to develop identity issues as an asexual/aromantic. Once this problem is revealed to him, he makes amends with Daphné and makes it clear that he still loves her for who she is.
  • As a goddess of Love, ALICE/Adelais specifically embodies unconditional love, and thus has similar abilities to individuals like Princess Sweetheart/Astraea Sanctus Equestria and King Ibrida. She can also infuse her own weaponry with Love-based magic to boost their capabilities.

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