History Characters / FriendshipIsMagicDiscord

* Shiptease:
** With Fluttershy

* CuteLittleFangs: He has one next to his creepier body parts; all part of the "disharmony" affect.

* GoodWingsEvilWings: Has mixed angelic (pegasus) and demonic (bat) wings, one of the more sinister types, further adding to his asymetric look and theme of disharmony.

* MixAndMatchCritters: He is truly a chimera. To further cement that he is chaos incarnate, Discord looks generally like an Eastern dragon, but with the head of a goat (not a pony as Cheerilee would have you believe), one goat horn, one stag horn, one fang, the tongue of a snake, the mane of a horse, a snake-like torso covered with eagle feathers, one eagle talon, one lion paw, one bat wing, one bird wing, one green dragon leg, one horse leg, and a red dragon tail. Even his species name is a combination of "dragon" and "horse".[[note]]Presumably "draconequuscervuscaperleonaquilalacertavespertilioserpens" would have been a bit too long.[[/note]]

* WhiteHairBlackHeart: He's a JerkassGod with white hair. Eventually the ponies find [[HiddenHeartOfGold there's some gold buried in that black heart of his]].

* ThePowerOfHate: He is the antithesis of the Elements of Harmony, which run on the PowerOfFriendship. As such, he's able to get stronger from strife and fighting between ponies. The Cutie Mark Crusaders getting into a fight in front of him is what grants him enough strength to break free from his weakening stone prison. Though some have theorized that the Crusaders' fight was not a cause but a consequence of Discord's impending breakout, and that they were in truth his first victims. Whatever the case, Discord thrives off hate magic, using it to undermine ThePowerOfFriendship.

* RealityWarper: He can do just about anything. For instance, he holds out a glass under a [[ItMakesSenseInContext cotton-candy cloud that rains chocolate milk]], and it fills up from [[ToonPhysics top to bottom]] rather than bottom to top. He then proceeds to drink the glass. Not the milk; [[SurrealHumor the glass itself]]. He then throws the milk over his shoulder and it [[StuffBlowingUp explodes]] (darkening the area rather than lighting it up). And of course that was after he warped Equestria into a surrealist mess that fit his aesthetic preferences better than the boring old version with gravity and normal weather and roads that aren't made of soap and such. He's a crazy one, that Discord.

* SelfDuplication: Discord can creates doubles of himself at will for whatever task at hand, like a HoldUpYourScore gag, or even simply to illustrate a point in the conversation. For example, a DastardlyWhiplash-styled double appears in "What About Discord?", to contrast his "old self" with the current one. "Discordant Harmony" reveals that he often conjures them so he can have someone to bounce ideas off of. In the ''Best Gift Ever'' special, he uses this to demonstrate how he'll be spending Hearth's Warming having "quality time" with himself, having a duplicate appear so they can sadly walk away together.

* StoryBreakerPower: Now that he's no longer considered as evil as when he was first introduced, his vast powers could potentially be used to easily solve most problems. Except that being a spirit of chaos, he's just as likely to do so as when he was out-and-out evil (that is, he isn't, although he's less likely to be the ''cause'' of said problems). Discord's game-breaking power [[spoiler:is actually put in check in the Season 6 finale, as [[WorfHadTheFlu he falls prey]] to an AntiMagic field created by Queen Chrysalis, her throne in particular. So Discord can't use his powers even if he wants to, in this case motivated to saving Fluttershy.]] The fact that he doesn't appear in [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 the Movie]] speaks volumes.

* CategoryTraitor: "Frenemies" reveals that the non-reformed villains see him as this; Tirek calls him a "turncoat", and gleefully reminisces about how he [[spoiler:tricked Discord into helping him]], while Chrysalis claims he was "really something" before friendship "ruined" him.

** The first pony he ever befriends? Fluttershy. It becomes the subject of "Discordant Harmony" when his insecurites about it (caused when other ponies keep commenting on it) have him try and put a lid on his chaos. It ''nearly '''kills''' him.'' Fluttershy manages to save him and points out it doesn't matter if their friendship doesn't make sense to others, it means a lot to both of them.

** With Spike and Big Mac. The thought of hanging out with a [[TheQuietOne quiet]] farm pony and Twilight's young assistant doesn't appeal to Discord at first, but they eventually form a genuine bond, and share regular "Guys' Night" activities from then on.

** While his friendship with all the ponies is vitriolic at best, it is no-nonsense Twilight Sparkle that distrusts and loses patience with him the most, which tends to only make her his favorite target for pranks and heckling. There is a blatant sign of sympathy between the two however, especially following "Twilight's Kingdom".

** And again with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo as of ''Friends Forever #2''. Not so much in the cartoon, where the CMC are not all that fond of him.

[[folder: Relationship]]

* AnnoyingPatient: During most of "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E11ThreesACrowd Three's a Crowd]]". When he actually does become sick at the end he seems to be a bit less demanding, but that could either be because we don't see him that long, because he was intentionally being annoying as possible when faking it, or because Fluttershy is taking care of him now and he likes her enough that he doesn't want to drive her round the bend with unreasonable requests.

* BatmanGambit: In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyBestGiftEver'' special, he [[spoiler:sets up Rainbow Dash to bring a winterchilla (an animal that turns into the giant, savage winterzilla when night falls) to Ponyville, so Fluttershy can be the hero of the day by taming it]].

[[folder:Tropes A to E]]
* AchillesHeel:
** Normally only the Elements of Harmony are powerful enough to match or contain him long term. In addition, his {{pride}} [[FatalFlaw can get the better of his judgment]] -- Discord is always convinced he's in complete control of a situation. For the most part he ''is'', but on the rare occasions when the situation proves him wrong, he's pretty easily toppled.
** Even without the Elements (or Rainbow Power), it's still possible to affect him on a smaller scale. Twilight proves this with her AntiMagic barrier near the end of "The Return of Harmony," Celestia proves this with her protective spell on the Elements in "Keep Calm and Flutter On," Cadance proves this with her health-preserving barrier in "Three's a Crowd", the Tatzlwurm proves this with its seemingly magic-hampering infection in the same episode, and Zecora proves this by brewing a potion that can break his presumed spell on Twilight's friends in "What About Discord?".
** His magic may be [[RealityWarper on a power scale that distorts reality itself]], but it's still ''magic''. [[spoiler:A fact which a powerful enough [[ManaDrain magic drainer]] could take advantage of, or that makes it vulnerable to an AntiMagic field...]]
** "Discordant Harmony" heavily implies he and his PocketDimension are linked FisherKing[=/=]FisherKingdom-style. [[spoiler:And giving the place too much [[OrderVersusChaos Order]] can cause him to be erased.]]
** In ''Friendship is Magic #57'', [[spoiler:Pinkie Pie stumbles into Discord's realm by accident, and over time, manages to gain control over it. This causes Discord to lose most of his powers. He is incapable of returning to his home on his own, and even remarks that it's like someone has "changed the locks".]]
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: While his gags are usually seen as annoying or hurtful by the other characters, he still gets the odd chuckle every now and then. In "What About Discord?", Twilight is left dumbfounded when the other ponies are in ''hysterics'' over his antics.

* AllPowerfulBystander: In ''Siege of the Crystal Empire'', he admits to feeling too lazy to fight the Umbrum directly. So he just makes Fluttershy's animals gigantic enough to fight in his stead, then goes on his merry way.

* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: The mane cast are given a big party in Canterlot celebrating his defeat, complete with a stained glass window depicting it.
* AnnoyingPatient: During most of "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E11ThreesACrowd Three's a Crowd]]". When he actually does become sick at the end he seems to be a bit less demanding, but that could either be because we don't see him that long, because he was intentionally being annoying as possible when faking it, or because Fluttershy is taking care of him now and he likes her enough that he doesn't want to drive her round the bend with unreasonable requests.
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Discord is the spirit of chaos and disharmony, something he visually represents by [[MixAndMatchCritters being composed of bits and pieces from a lot of different creatures]]. It's actually implied that he doesn't just ''represent'' chaos, but that on some level he is ''made'' of chaos -- [[spoiler:if nothing else, if he stops being chaotic he will quite literally stop existing (although he can be restored by introducing even small amounts of chaos to his vicinity).]]

* ApologyGift: [[spoiler:When Twilight saves him from Tirek even after he betrayed them, Discord gives her the pendant Tirek tricked him with, but as a ''real'' sign of friendship this time. Him giving Princess Celestia flowers later on could also be this (and/or FlowersOfRomance for shippers).]] He also tries to give Futtershy a flower after she implies he should apologize. She hits the flower out of his paw, however, because she meant for his apology to be directed at Tree Hugger instead.
* ArcVillain: Of "The Return of Harmony" two-parter and, to a lesser extent, the "Princess Twilight Sparkle" two-parter. [[spoiler:In "Twilight's Kingdom" he's DemotedToDragon by Lord Tirek.]]
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking:
** He enjoys causing chaos in Equestria, {{Mind Rap|e}}ing the Mane Cast, and bringing chocolate rain to Ponyville.
** Brought up again in "Keep Calm and Flutter On" as the Mane Cast cite reasons to Celestia why they don't relish the idea of working with Discord, "Turning them into the opposite of their true nature", "Turning Ponyville into Chaos Central" and "Had Chocolate Rain with not a dollop of whipped cream to be found."
* ArtifactTitle: His ''name'' has become somewhat an artifact after his reformation, since he is no longer evil nor causing disharmony among ponies ([[ReformedButNotTamed not too much, anyways]]), but he is still called [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Discord]].
* BadassFingerSnap: [[ActorAllusion Much like]] [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration de Lancie's old role as Q]], he frequently snaps his fingers to appear nonchalant while [[RealityWarper warping reality]].
* BadFuture: [[spoiler:In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E26TheCutieRemarkPart2 The Cutie Re-Mark – Part 2]]", he is briefly shown ruling over a WorldGoneMad version of Equestria as the Mane Six/Elements of Harmony were not there to seal him, having even turned Princesses Celestia and Luna into his personal clowns to torment for eternity as payback for his original defeat by them centuries prior.]]
* BatmanGambit: In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyBestGiftEver'' special, he [[spoiler:sets up Rainbow Dash to bring a winterchilla (an animal that turns into the giant, savage winterzilla when night falls) to Ponyville, so Fluttershy can be the hero of the day by taming it]].
* BeastAndBeauty: The Beast to Fluttershy's Beauty.
* BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: He uses each of the Mane Cast's specific Element of Harmony against them: he tells Applejack the truth about them splitting up, but not how it happens; he laughs, first with, then at Pinkie Pie; he "generously" gives Rarity a giant (fake) diamond; he tries being overly kind to Fluttershy (but she's ''too'' nice -- he has to resort to MindRape); he tests Rainbow Dash's loyalty between home and the world; and, finally, breaks Twilight through her friends. However, ''both'' of his defeats are the result of being beaten using one of his own tactics (FlawExploitation in the first, [[ManipulativeBastard manipulation in his second]]).
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: The reason Discord became Fluttershy's friend, and values her friendship above all others; Fluttershy was the first being to ever call him a friend, and treat him as such.

* BigNo: He does this after getting blasted with the Elements of Harmony.
* BigWhat: He invokes this in "Dungeons & Discord" after finding out he was only invited to "Guys' Night" because Spike and Big Mac felt sorry for him.
* BigYes: He does this in "The Return of Harmony" after confirming that he's pushed Twilight past the DespairEventHorizon.
* BigOlEyebrows: Part of his silly appearance.

** What "makes sense" to him doesn't make sense which ''does'' make sense. Confused yet?

* BreakThemByTalking: Combines this and HypnoticEyes to brainwash the Mane Cast. Worth noting is he doesn't have to do this, as his supernatural mind control works just as well without it; [[ItAmusedMe he just gets a sick kick out of it]].
* BreakoutCharacter: Discord first appeared as the BigBad of the two-parter "Return of Harmony" as essentially a chimeric version of [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Q]], and was so CrazyAwesome that many fans couldn't help but fall in love with him. Although TakenForGranite at the end of his debut, he was revived in season 3 to be successfully redeemed ([[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor of sorts]]) by Fluttershy, and was promoted to recurring character in season 4.
* BreathWeapon: In Creator/TheHub's {{Web Game|s}} ''VideoGame/AdventurePonies''. Confirmed to be able to breathe fire in canon as of "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E11ThreesACrowd Three's a Crowd]]".

* TheBully: Removing the Mane Six's wings and horns looks like a bully taking someone's lunch money. In general, Discord tends to enjoy lording his incredibly powerful reality-warping abilities over mortal ponies, and humiliating other people for his own amusement. Even after his HeelFaceTurn, he's periodically slipped into disturbing bouts of sadism when he doesn't get his way: like trying to banish Tree Hugger to another dimension forever out of jealousy, trapping Spike and Big Mac inside a board game so he can torment them for not letting him make their 'guy's night' all about him, and endangering the students at Twilight Sparkle's school because he was jealous she left Starlight Glimmer in charge and not him.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Beneath his {{Cloudcuckoolander}} status and overall silliness, Discord is one of the most powerful creatures in Equestria and actually highly intelligent.

* TheCameo:
** [[spoiler:A version of Discord briefly appears in "The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 2", in a AlternateTimeline where he was able to take over Equestria and turn Celestia and Luna into his personal clowns]].
** In "A Royal Problem", he is seen in a dream, having a pillow fight with the Smooze.
** He appears during the credits of [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 the movie]].

* TheChampion: He clearly fancies himself as such for Fluttershy, as he becomes livid when [[spoiler:Chrysalis captures her in the season 6 finale]].
* ChangingClothesIsAFreeAction: As shown in his second appearance, he can don outfits at will.

* ChekhovsGun: Much like Celestia's ability to raise the sun, Luna's ability to raise the moon, and Cadance's ability to make people fall in love, Discord can detect the flow of magic in the Universe. This means, whenever necessary, he can tell when something big and magical is happening, or when someone has lost their magical abilities. This comes in handy a few times, most notably in "Princess Twilight Sparkle" and "To Where and Back Again".
* ClassicVillain: Fits all of the criteria as a {{Wrath}} and {{Pride}} villain.

* ColorCodedWizardry: [[spoiler:As revealed in the season 4 finale, Discord's magic is apparently colored purple plaid.]]

* CoolShades: Has green-framed ones in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfHarmonyPart1 The Return of Harmony – Part 1]]" and red-framed ones in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E2TheReturnOfHarmonyPart2 The Return of Harmony – Part 2]]". Would count as SinisterShades, but he doesn't do anything particularly sinister while wearing either pair. He's also seen with 3D glasses in "Princess Twilight Sparkle".

* CouldSayItBut: In the Season 4 premiere, after the girls tell Twilight to go back to Ponyville against her wishes out of concern for her safety, Discord convinces her to go back to help them in his own... special way.

* CreepyCircusMusic: His {{Leitmotif}} incorporates a particularly sinister version of this.

* CryCute: In "Keep Calm and Flutter On" He sheds a SingleTear with PuppyDogEyes when he learned that Fluttershy does genuinely care for him as a friend and that he almost destroyed their friendship.
* CurbStompBattle: He gets the better of the Mane Six numerous times before they finally return the favor.
* CuteLittleFangs: He has one next to his creepier body parts; all part of the "disharmony" affect.
* CuttingTheKnot: After trying and failing to break [[IncorruptiblePurePureness Fluttershy]], he opts to straight-up hypnotize her.

* TheDarkTimes: His rule before the time of the show is referred to as a time of endless suffering by Celestia.

* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler:Sells out Equestria to Tirek in exchange for complete freedom to do what he wants. However, not only does his guilt keep bothering him, [[EvilerThanThou Tirek stabs him in the back]].]]
* DeathByIrony: He uses the group's personality flaws and his knowledge that the Elements of Harmony won't work if their friendship is destroyed to [[BreakTheCutie break them]]. In the end, it's his own personality flaw -- being too prideful to believe they're a genuine threat to him -- combined with that knowledge that renders him incapable of realizing that the Elements of Harmony are working for real until it's far too late. His FatalFlaw was also what defeated him the first time, as he was too prideful to realize until it was too late that Celestia and Luna could actually defeat him now.
* DefeatMeansFriendship:
** {{Defied|Trope}}; he sarcastically tells the Mane Six to "friend" him before they turn him back to stone.
** A variation in "Keep Calm and Flutter On". There he's defeated ''by'' friendship.
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:After Tirek turned on Discord, the poor thing is utterly devastated by the fact that he backstabbed all of Equestria and possibly destroyed his friendships for absolutely nothing. When Tirek attempts a HostageForMacGuffin gambit, Discord is the only one not telling Twilight to not to fork over the Alicorn powers because he's crossed this line.]]
* DidntSeeThatComing:
** In his first appearance he plans for everything except two things: first, that Celestia will send Twilight Sparkle her letters back, breaking her out of her HeroicBSOD and pulling her back from the DespairEventHorizon; second, that Twilight will somehow free and reunite her friends and wield the Elements of Harmony against him. The first he couldn't see coming at all; the second he doesn't even consider a possibility.
** It's shown in "Princess Twilight Sparkle" that he didn't see the existence of the Elements of Harmony coming either.
** In "Keep Calm and Flutter On", his plan is to take advantage of Fluttershy's hospitality and kindness to drive a wedge between her and her friends, thus rendering the Elements of Harmony ineffective against him. However, while he fully expected Fluttershy to put up with his antics, he never expected her to genuinely like him and consider him a friend.
** He also doesn't recognize the Tatzlwurm in "Three's a Crowd".
** He did not expect [[spoiler:Lord Tirek's betrayal]] in "Twilight's Kingdom – Part 2".
** In "To Where and Back Again -- Part 2", [[spoiler:he ''is'' aware of the changelings' tricks. When one is disguised as Fluttershy while he is separated from the rest of the group, he's smart enough not to fall for it, but he becomes shocked when an entire group of Fluttershys appear in front of him and the first one points out it might be possible the real Fluttershy could be among them somewhere. After the incident with Tirek, Discord [[HeroicBSOD can't bear potentially abandoning Fluttershy]] and is captured as a result.]]
** In "A Matter of Principals", he wasn't expecting Starlight to actually ''apologize'' to him after all the trouble he caused her.
* DimensionalCutter: In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E7MakeNewFriendsButKeepDiscord Make New Friends but Keep Discord]]", after growing increasingly irritated with Tree Hugger over the course of the episode, he raises his eagle claw, [[AudibleSharpness audibly sharpens]] it, and uses it to slice open a portal to another dimension to throw Tree Hugger into.

* DisintegratorRay: In ''Best Gift Ever'', he fires a white beam of light from his finger that totally eradicates Flim and Flam's "Holly the Hearth's Warmer" dolls, leaving only scorch marks behind.
* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: In ''Best Gift Ever'', he seems to genuinely believe Hearth's Warming Eve is an "exclusive, pony-only holiday". This is despite the fact that Spike regularly takes part in it (not to meantion the season 8 episode "The Hearth's Warming Club" showed the Young Six being invited to Twilight's castle for the event).
* DramaPreservingHandicap: According to the "Discord's Magical History Tour" comic, while he can TimeTravel practically whenever and wherever he wants, one thing he lacks is the power to actually change history.

** No one knows where he came from. The most we ''might'' know is a "college" he mentioned with the Smooze; whether he was serious or not isn't clear.

* EmotionEater: It's implied that the Cutie Mark Crusaders fighting in front of his statue prison (creating discord) gives him enough power to break free.

* EvilLaugh: He often mixes it with or switches it to an "Oh; that's just hilarious!" kind of laugh, but it's still undeniably evil. He's also capable of producing a very menacing one if he feels like it, such as when he's freed from his prison.

* EvilPlan: Return Equestria to its former state as a world of endless chaos.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes F to J]]

* FadingAway: [[spoiler:In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E12DiscordantHarmony Discordant Harmony]]", this is the end result of Discord making himself orderly to make Fluttershy more comfortable in his home. As the episode progresses, he becomes more and more transparent and his behavior more and more bland and robotic, until he fades to the point that his hands pass directly through objects when he tries to touch them and he is no longer capable of performing magic. Since Discord is a creature of pure chaos, being orderly is quite literally destroying him. Fluttershy is eventually able to reverse the fading by acting in chaotic, random ways until Discord regains enough physical presence to create chaos on his own again.]]

* FashionableAsymmetry: Part of his chaotic look. See MadEye and MixAndMatchCritters.

* Fiction500: Technically -- "Discordant Harmony" shows him casually creating piles of bits from nothing to pay various ponies for his tea-party supplies, confirming that money is no object to him.
* FinalBoss: He's the boss of Level 6 of Creator/TheHub's {{Web Game|s}} ''VideoGame/AdventurePonies''.
* FireForgedFriends: Discord and Trixie's egos clash quite a bit in "To Where and Back Again", even while they are working together to help rescue the Royal Family and Mane Six. By the end of the episode, they are on (somewhat) better terms and seem to have at least grudging respect for one another.

* FlatWhat: This is his reaction in "A Matter of Principals" when Starlight apologizes to him.

* {{Flight}}: Discord can fly by flapping his mismatched wings. However, considering how ridiculously small they are compared to his body mass, there are strong hints his flight is entirely magical. [[spoiler:Indeed, once drained of magic by Tirek, or within an AntiMagic field, he's ground-bound]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are subtle displays of character in "The Return of Harmony" that suggest his HeelFaceTurn isn't totally sudden:
** After breaking Twilight, he tries to convince her to just give into chaos and have fun with him. When a despondent Twilight refuses, he gives a brief [[BeingEvilSucks forlorn]], [[NotGoodWithRejection rejected]] look... before quickly [[MoodSwinger returning to his merriment]].
** It is [[MoralityPet Fluttershy]] he had the most trouble corrupting, her vigilant kindness eventually frustrating him to the point that he breaks off from his mind games and just corrupts her by force.
* ForgivenButNotForgotten: The Mane Six don't hesitate a second to accuse him of being behind the Everfree Forest overtaking Ponyville in "Princess Twilight Sparkle". Even Fluttershy isn't entirely willing to take him on his word that he's not responsible. [[spoiler:And technically, he was.]]

* TheGenieKnowsJackNicholson: Has made the odd reference to real world culture in his reality-warping antics. In "What About Discord?" he does a pretty perfect imitation of [[Series/TheJoyOfPainting Bob Ross]].
* TheGlomp: In his more sentimental moods, Discord can get surprisingly affectionate with the Mane Six, sharing warm hugs with the ponies in "What About Discord", "Twilight's Kingdom" and "To Where and Back Again". In the ''Best Gift Ever'' special, he hugs Rainbow Dash tightly when she invites him to Hearth's Warming.

* GodzillaThreshold: Celestia sends him, of all people, to recapture Tirek in the season 4 finale. [[spoiler:It backfires horribly, as not only does Discord betray them, but once Tirek has absorbed enough power even Discord is not immune to being drained of magic.]]

* GoodWingsEvilWings: Has mixed angelic (pegasus) and demonic (bat) wings, one of the more sinister types.
* GoOutWithASmile: Certainly did so when Celestia and Luna sealed him away a thousand years ago, as he's got a big open-mouthed smile when Cheerilee's class looks at the statue. Does not do so when the Mane Six seal him away. [[spoiler:We see this later on and find out he was laughing because [[DidntSeeThatComing he didn't realize they were a threat to him at all until the Elements had already turned him to stone.]]]]

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:Of "Princess Twilight Sparkle", albeit something of an accidental version. He planted the Plunderseeds just before Celestia and Luna defeated him the first time. However, the Seeds end up take far longer to kick in than he anticipated; and by the time they actually do, his priorities have already changed into those of an AntiHero.]]

* GreenThumb: [[spoiler:Has seeds called Plunderseeds that grow into large vines that feed on magic. They would end up causing trouble long after he was sealed.]]

* HatePlague: One of his abilities is breaking friendships.
* AHeadAtEachEnd: In "The Return of Harmony Part 2", Discord briefly appears to have a head at both ends of his body while taunting Twilight.

* HeroicBSOD: He suffers a minor one in "To Where and Back Again – Part 2" when [[spoiler:a group of Changelings all disguise themselves as a crying Fluttershy, and one of them points out one of them might be the real Fluttershy. Discord doesn't know what to do and is captured]].
* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
** He lets the Mane Six find the Elements of Harmony, knowing they can't use them since he has destroyed their friendship at this point and allows them a "free shot" at him, aware it will fail. He tries to repeat this a second time, only to realize too late that their friendship is back together. Heck, Applejack tells him this, but since he turned her into a liar, he doesn't believe her because he thinks she's still lying.
** It happens again in "Three's a Crowd", when he gets Twilight and Cadance to travel to the edge of Equestria to fight a giant worm and get a magical flower to cure his sickness. [[spoiler:Turns out he was faking the sickness to mess with them, but mere moments after he reveals his ruse, the worm that Twilight and Cadance had fought re-emerges and sneezes on him, making him sick for real.]]
** In "What About Discord?" he convinces the rest of the Mane Six to leave Twilight out of a weekend of fun, then gleefully rubs their new inside jokes and reminiscing in her face as she struggles to contain her jealousy. Once his ruse is revealed, the Mane Six develop an inside joke of their own, leaving Discord out. Since Discord had ''genuinely'' had fun and bonded with the others, being left out makes him feel as bad as Twilight did.
* HolyHalo: He sometimes makes an angel halo appears atop his head when he's pretending to be doing good; he rarely is, of course. Funnily, with the one he sports while talking to Tirek, he chases it as if an annoying bird.

* HypnoticEyes: What he uses to brainwash the Mane Six.

* IGaveMyWord: [[spoiler:Promised Fluttershy that he'd lay off the chaos for their friendship, and even once the Elements are gone, he keeps it.]]
* IgnoredEpiphany: In "Twilight's Kingdom", [[spoiler:Tirek's betrayal and Twilight's demand that Discord be freed in return for her magic]] convinces Discord that there is nothing more valuable than friendship, and he tells Twilight that he truly is her friend. However, later episodes show him risking his friendships through his selfish behavior (and having little interest in making new ones), and continuing to toy with and poke fun at Twilight for his own amusement like nothing ever happened.

* ImaginationBasedSuperpower: His magic works this way, allowing him to summon and transform objects in almost any way he pleases, with no obvious limit as to what it can do.

* IntergenerationalFriendship:
** With Fluttershy by the end of his second appearance.
** And again with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo as of ''Friends Forever #2''. Not so much in the cartoon, where the CMC are not all that fond of him.
* {{Irony}}: In "The Break Up Break Down", Discord, a RealityWarper and MadGod, claims to be a "realist."

* JackOfAllTrades: Demonstrates a larger variety of spells than any other character in the series so far.

* JerkassHasAPoint:
** {{Subverted|Trope}} when he tries to call Princess Celestia out on turning him into stone in front of the Mane Six. He only avoided things like that because it wouldn't be any fun for him.
** Played straight in the season 4 premiere, when Twilight has returned to Ponyville without her friends, because they feel that with Celestia and Luna gone, Equestria can't afford to lose another princess. Discord needles her about it, and Twilight runs off angrily to rejoin her friends.
** Shown again in "Three's a Crowd" after Twilight learns Discord faked his illness; he says he did that to test if she really saw him as a friend. Whether or not he lied about his reason, he's right that Twilight has never proved she sees him as a friend. Her befriending her, up to that point, had in fact been solely for pragmatic purposes and she was very open about it.
** Once again in "What About Discord?", where he correctly points out that Twilight not dealing with her jealousy of him because she doesn't want to admit that she's jealous or can even ''become'' jealous at all is a problem and one that she needs to address.
** In the ''Best Gift Ever'' special. While he wasn't being nice about it, Discord was right when he pointed out to Rainbow Dash that getting a candle as a Hearth's warming gift for Fluttershy, a pony who has many fluffy (and therefore, flammable) animals at home, isn't the best idea. He also points out out that Rainbow, having known Fluttershy since they were kids, really should have a better idea of what to get her. It makes Rainbow decide to get her something else.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes K to O]]
* KansasCityShuffle: The hint he gives is "Twists and turns are my master plan, then find the Elements back where you began", causing the Mane Cast to search the maze for them... [[ExactWords except he never says the Elements are in it]]; it's just a ploy to lure them into his trap.

* KryptoniteFactor:
** Certain kinds of wards, like Celestia's on the Elements upon his second release. [[spoiler:Likewise, in the Season 6 finale, Chrysalis's domain is revealed to contain a FieldPowerEffect that negates all non-Changeling magic (chaotic or otherwise).]]
** Also, he's shown to be vulnerable to the Tatzlwurm's disease.
** Season 7's "Discordant Harmony" shows that either being around or causing too much order (it's not clear which) [[note]]Alternatively, it's simply a FisherKing[=/=]FisherKingdom consequence of 180ing his PocketDimension way too much.[[/note]] has serious negative consequences for Discord. [[spoiler:When he forcibly changes his chaotic home realm to be more sane and orderly out of a desire to please Fluttershy, it ends up sapping away his life, causing him to start fading away into nothing. Fluttershy ends up having to reset Discord's realm back into a WorldOfChaos before Discord ''dies''.]]

* LeanAndMean: His main body is serpentine and he is a jerkass.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: His riddle is "Twists and turns are my master plan; then find the Elements back where you began". Where do they find the Elements? In the reference guide which was the very first thing we saw in the very first episode, literally back where the series began.
* GenreMotif: The music when he appears consists of circus music. The first theme song however, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6afMTdh8gs can be heard here]].

* LongingLook: Toward Fluttershy. He sometimes looks smitten when mentioning her, and sometimes even in front of her, but she doesn't seem to notice. Whether it's romantic or platonic remains debatable, but he definitely feels something strong when she's around.
* LovecraftLite: He's an eldritch abomination with reality-warping powers and is at odds with anything resembling logic and order, but he's eventually redeemed and most of his antics are PlayedForLaughs since then.
* MadEye: One of his eyes is sized differently and more deranged than the other.

* MasterOfIllusion: A rare example of this trope overlapping with RealityWarper; his method of corrupting Rarity and Rainbow Dash is closer to an illusion than true RealityWarping.

* MeaningfulName: Discord (chaos) is the polar opposite of harmony.
* MindOverMatter: An ability that's easy to disregard considering his various greater powers, but he can also use telekinesis at will, both on items or living beings. Unlike with unicorn magic, there is no visible aura around what he manipulates.
* MindRape: How he corrupts four of the Elements; he messes with their heads. The fifth he had to brute-force brainwash her.
* MixAndMatchCritters: He is truly a chimera. To further cement that he is chaos incarnate, Discord looks generally like an Eastern dragon, but with the head of a goat (not a pony as Cheerilee would have you believe), one goat horn, one stag horn, one fang, the tongue of a snake, the mane of a horse, a snake-like torso covered with eagle feathers, one eagle talon, one lion paw, one bat wing, one bird wing, one green dragon leg, one horse leg, and a red dragon tail. Even his species name is a combination of "dragon" and "horse".[[note]]Presumably "draconequuscervuscaperleonaquilalacertavespertilioserpens" would have been a bit too long.[[/note]]

* MorphicResonance: He can take many shapes on a whim, but he often retains some aspect of his true Draconequus form, notably his antlers, lopsided tooth and yellow/red eyes, or some aspect of his FashionableAsymmetry, if only with the colors. In the episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E25TwilightsKingdomPart1 Twilight's Kingdom – Part 1]]", it is downplayed when turned into a stallion, as it would give him away, but he still keeps the overall color scheme of his head (including that of his mane, not to mention his unicorn horn is the same blue color as his goat horn).
* MundaneUtility:
** When not spreading Chaos, his reality-warping powers are mostly used for mundane tasks like making chocolate milk, especially his telekinesis. In "Dungeons & Discord", they are used to turn a tabletop game into a LARP.
** In "The Break Up Break Down", Spike calls in Discord to quickly bake a pie Big Mac made for Sugar Belle. Discord is understandably a little annoyed at being summoned for such a minor task.

* MySignificanceSenseIsTingling: He has the power to sense magical disturbances in Equestria.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: You just know that an entity called "Discord" can be nothing but trouble, especially when the heroes are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

* NonIndicativeName: Despite his title of the "spirit" of chaos, Discord possesses a physical form, one that remains even after his magic has been removed or nullified, and is vulnerable to certain illnesses.

* NotBad: He holds this opinion towards Trixie in "To Where And Back Again -- Part 2", declaring her use of her [[SmokeOut smoke bombs]] to evade [[spoiler:the changelings]] "not exactly great and powerful, but effective", and later admitting that some of her illusions were "slightly above average".
* NotMeThisTime:
** In "Princess Twilight Sparkle", everyone but Fluttershy immediately suspects that he was behind the Everfree ordeal. Discord immediately denies having anything to do with it. [[spoiler:This is ultimately subverted at the end when he accidentally reveals that he was the cause of it... [[UnintentionalBackupPlan just much later than intended]].]]
** [[spoiler: The {{Flashback}} at the beginning of the "Cosmos" comic arc shows him invoking this, as the chaos that was currently happening was actually the work of Cosmos herself.]]

* OddFriendship:
** The first pony he ever befriends? Fluttershy. It becomes the subject of "Discordant Harmony" when his insecurites about it (caused when other ponies keep commenting on it) have him try and put a lid on his chaos. It ''nearly '''kills''' him.'' Fluttershy manages to save him and points out it doesn't matter if their friendship doesn't make sense to others, it means a lot to both of them.
** Has this with the CMC in the comics, although he acts like a child and they can cause a lot of chaos. Their main point of bonding seems to be that the CMC love new experiences, which the creative RealityWarper can supply in [[ShoutOut copyright-skirting]] spades.
** Basically anytime Discord forms a genuine friendship (which is admittedly quite rare) it turns into this. Another example is his friendship with mindless, amorphous blob Smooze.
** With Spike and Big Mac. The thought of hanging out with a [[TheQuietOne quiet]] farm pony and Twilight's young assistant doesn't appeal to Discord at first, but they eventually form a genuine bond, and share regular "Guys' Night" activities from then on.
** With Starlight Glimmer. She's all about control, while his entire raison d'être is Chaos. Yet, after their adventure against the Changelings, he tries to get Twilight to assign Starlight to him as a student, while she finds herself laughing at his playful antics.
* OhCrap: He gets that very look just before the Elements of Harmony hit him full force.
* OneManArmy: He is very possibly the single most powerful being in all of Equestria. Even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood no chance against him without the Elements of Harmony. In "To Where and Back Again", it is said that if it hadn't been for [[spoiler:Chrysalis's AntiMagic throne]], he could have defeated [[spoiler:the entire Changeling hive]] effortlessly on his own.
* OnlyFriend: For a fair while after his HeelFaceTurn, Fluttershy was the only one who could stand him (though he got occasional friendly gestures from Pinkie Pie). He seems to be edging out of this and gaining some positive bonding with the other ponies however, even they're still VitriolicBestBuds at best.

* OperationJealousy: He brings the Smooze to the Grand Galloping Gala as his guest in order to make Fluttershy jealous. When it becomes clear it isn't working, he stuffs the Smooze in a closet.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: His species name is draconequus and, while he's more of a chimera, he seems to be at least partly modeled off an eastern dragon. His left leg and part of his tail also seem to be those of a dragon.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes P to T]]
* PaperPeople: The very first appearance of Discord is under a stylized, two-dimensional shape moving over stained-glass windows in the royal Canterlot castle.
* PassThePopcorn:
** At the beginning of "The Return of Harmony – Part 2", he finds the sight of Twilight's bickering friends to be so entertaining that he gets a movie theater seat with a bag of popcorn to properly enjoy the show.
** He does it again during the season 4 premiere while Ponyville is being overrun by the Everfree Forest.
** He slowly chews on some popcorn while listening to Twilight making a speech about Starlight Glimmer in "Celestial Advice".
** He enjoys some popcorn in "A Matter of Principals" while watching Smolder sneezing fire uncontrollably (due to a Dragonsneeze tree he had "hired" as a substitute teacher).
** In ''Best Gift Ever'', he treats himself to popcorn while watching the Mane Six trying to contain the Winterzilla.. then dispenses with it out of annoyance over them not hitting upon the proper solution.

* PlayingSick: During "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E11ThreesACrowd Three's a Crowd]]", he fakes being sick to "test" Twilight's friendship by seeing to what lengths she'll go to take care of him and accommodate his inane requests.
* PlayingWithPuppets: Discord's favorite trick. If you look at the windows in the Equestrian palace as Princess Celestia talks about Discord, Fluttershy sees one of them with an image of Discord [[PeoplePuppets holding ponies up with puppet strings screaming over a pit of fire.]] [[spoiler:Look at the same window after he's helped Tirek banish the first three alicorn princesses and has begun re-making the windows. The "three tribe" ponies have been replaced with the three alicorn princesses.]]

* ThePowerOfHate: He is the antithesis of the Elements of Harmony, which run on the PowerOfFriendship. As such, he's able to get stronger from strife and fighting between ponies. The Cutie Mark Crusaders getting into a fight in front of him is what grants him enough strength to break free from his weakening stone prison. Though some have theorized that the Crusaders' fight was not a cause but a consequence of Discord's impending breakout, and that they were in truth his first victims. Whatever the case, Discord thrives off hate magic, using it to undermine ThePowerOfFriendship.

* PrehensileTail: He can pick up ponies with his draconic tail, growing it to a much greater length in the process.

* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Very very sneaky, but check the window of Fluttershy's cottage during her "Sharing Kindness" line in the theme song of the Season 4 opening and beyond. In the season 8 opening, he makes a more noticeable appearance in the background of Fluttershy's animal sanctuary.

* PsychoticSmirk: Sports one of these when feeling particularly devious.
* PullingThemselvesTogether: He can detach his body parts at will and reassemble them later. Notably, he falls into pieces while pretending to be under the "blue flu" in "Three's a Crowd", and splits his head from his neck to receive a medal in "Celestial Advice".
* PuppyDogEyes: His use is split evenly between sarcastic and genuine.
* RageQuit: His reaction to Fluttershy beating his mind games is to cease the mind games and outright brainwash her.
* RealityWarper: He can do just about anything. For instance, he holds out a glass under a [[ItMakesSenseInContext cotton-candy cloud that rains chocolate milk]], and it fills up from [[ToonPhysics top to bottom]] rather than bottom to top. He then proceeds to drink the glass. Not the milk; [[SurrealHumor the glass itself]]. He then throws the milk over his shoulder and it [[StuffBlowingUp explodes]] (darkening the area rather than lighting it up). And of course that was after he warped Equestria into a surrealist mess that fit his aesthetic preferences better than the boring old version with gravity and normal weather and roads that aren't made of soap and such. He's a crazy one, that Discord.

* RecruitingTheCriminal: Celestia's "use for Discord's magic" is tracking down Tirek. That's why she released him from his statue form.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: His irises are red, and there's hardly a minute goes by he's not doing something evil, or at least troublesome. They narrow and ''glow'' when he learns [[spoiler:that Fluttershy was kidnapped]]. He looks downright ''menacing'' and shows just how '''''[[TranquilFury pissed]]''''' he is.
* RedRightHand: Anyone made up of [[ThirteenIsUnlucky thirteen different]] [[MixAndMatchCritter creatures]] has to be evil.

* ReferenceOverdosed: Too many to name: He has dressed up as Mary Poppins and did a ''Dumb and Dumber'' tux ensemble with the Smooze, his Glass of Water song had one cut in Hogwarts, and went full ''Metal Gear Solid'' when he entered Sugarcube Corner Solid Snake-style!

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: He is part dragon after all, and he also moves and coils quite snake-like at times (especially in "What About Discord?" where he actually turns into a giant rattlesnake, before shedding the scaly skin). All of this highlights his evilly chaotic nature.

* RhymesOnADime: Not as often as Zecora, mind you, but loves handing out torturous riddles. He normally sounds far more menacing while doing so as well.

* RightForTheWrongReasons: He's right for calling out Princess Celestia for turning him to stone, considering that he had never done that to anypony in the past, but it isn't because he was a decent ruler or even because he thinks it's cruel; it's because having a kingdom of stone subjects would be too boring for him.
* RoaringRampageOfRescue: His mentality in "To Where and Back Again", when [[spoiler:Fluttershy is kidnapped by the changelings]].
* RubberMan: Given his impressive array of powers, this one might seem minor, but he can stretch out his arms, tail, and serpentine body at will. May fall more into the cartoonish ExtendableArms trope sometimes, though.
* RunningOnAllFours: He switches to a quadrupedal stance for a boost of speed in "To Where and Back Again – Part 2" [[spoiler:when pursued by changelings, but that's only because he cannot use magic to escape otherwise]].

* SelfDuplication: Discord can creates doubles of himself at will for whatever task at hand, like a HoldUpYourScore gag, or even simply to illustrate a point in the conversation. For example, a DastardlyWhiplash-styled double appears in "What About Discord?", to contrast his "old self" with the current one. "Discordant Harmony" reveals that he often conjures them so he can have someone to bounce ideas off of. In the ''Best Gift Ever'' special, he uses this to demonstrate how he'll be spending Hearth's Warming having "quality time" with himself, having a duplicate appear so they can sadly walk away together.
* ShaggyDogStory: Discord's whole motivation for holding the JerkassBall in "A Matter of Principals" is that he wanted to be involved with the School. Finally, at the end, he is made vice-principal... but then the Mane Six return, which means Discord won't be vice-principal after all. The episode ends with Discord sighing and throwing away the business cards he'd already made for his new role.
* ShamefulShrinking:
** In "Princess Twilight Sparkle – Part 2", he briefly considers the possibility of causing chaos with the Elements of Harmony gone. Fluttershy then scolds him, telling him to help clean up Ponyville if he wants to remain friends, causing him to shrink.
** He invokes this again in "What About Discord?", shrinking when he feels bad about being left out of the Mane Six's new inside joke.
* ShipTease: With Fluttershy. They're shown to spend a lot of time together off-screen (having tea together once a week and exchanging letters), he stares at her quite adoringly even when she isn't looking, strokes her face a couple times, she blushes when he hugs her, even gets jealous when he can't go with her to the gala, to name a few things.
* ShutUpKirk: Right after Celestia has explained how horrible things used to be thanks to Discord, he reveals himself and they have this little exchange:
-->'''Celestia:''' Discord! Show yourself!\\
'''Discord:''' ''[chuckling]'' Did you miss me, Celestia? I missed you. It's quite lonely being encased in stone. But you wouldn't know that, would you, because I don't turn ponies into stone!
* SillyRabbitRomanceIsForKids: In The Break Up Break Down", Discord dismisses Hearts and Hooves Day as just a greeting card holiday and romantic love as an illusion. [[spoiler:This opinion seems to change by the end of the episode, where he used his magic to arrange for Big Mac and Sugar Belle to be able to reconcile.]]

* SitcomArchNemesis:
** While his friendship with all the ponies is vitriolic at best, it is no-nonsense Twilight Sparkle that distrusts and loses patience with him the most, which tends to only make her his favorite target for pranks and heckling. There is a blatant sign of sympathy between the two however, especially following "Twilight's Kingdom".
** He also becomes one for Trixie after the Season 6 finale, as their egos come to blows quite a lot.
* SizeShifter: He can change size just as readily as he changes form. Often as part of his pranks or his TricksterMentor shtick, turning into a literal shoulder angel/demon for ponies. He also uses it twice to evoke ShamefulShrinking.
* SlasherSmile: He briefly sports one when he finally decides to directly engage the newly bonded Mane Cast with his magic.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The spelling of the name of his species, draconequus, has been mangled by both Creator/TheHub's web site (Dragonokis) and the closed captioning (draconequis). WordOfGod is [[http://comments.deviantart.com/4/1603670/2203256913 clear on the subject]], though, and his [[http://chimicherrychanga.com/img/tc/32b.jpg trading card]] and a [[https://twitter.com/MyLittlePony/status/270990341333725184 tweet]] by Hasbro's ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' Website/{{Twitter}} account both use the correct spelling.

* StalkerWithoutACrush: Towards the Mane Six themselves, but more so towards Twilight.
* StoryBreakerPower: Now that he's no longer considered as evil as when he was first introduced, his vast powers could potentially be used to easily solve most problems. Except that being a spirit of chaos, he's just as likely to do so as when he was out-and-out evil (that is, he isn't, although he's less likely to be the ''cause'' of said problems). Discord's game-breaking power [[spoiler:is actually put in check in the Season 6 finale, as [[WorfHadTheFlu he falls prey]] to an AntiMagic field created by Queen Chrysalis, her throne in particular. So Discord can't use his powers even if he wants to, in this case motivated to saving Fluttershy.]] The fact that he doesn't appear in [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 the Movie]] speaks volumes.
* SugarApocalypse: [[spoiler:In the Season 5 finale, Twilight sees multiple {{Bad Future}}s for if each villain came to power, and the episode specifically states each future is worse than the one she saw before. Discord is shown here as the worst villain of all (save for the Flim-Flam Brothers), with his reign over Equestria implied to be worse than Sombra, Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, ''or'' Tirek. And it still looks like a crazy WorldOfChaos instead of the more conventional {{Dark World}}s shown in the other timelines.]]
* SuperpowerLottery: RealityWarper, CompleteImmortality, VoluntaryShapeshifting, etc.
* SuperStrength: At one point, he uproots a tree with his bare claws like it is nothing (while pretending to be ill and [[HypocriticalHumor "unable to lift a spoon"]]).
* SurrealHumor: Thrives on it. This is why he turns Ponyville into a surreal Wonderland.

* SympathyForTheDevil: [[spoiler:The Mane Six are genuinely horrified when Tirek betrays Discord and drains his magic. Even Applejack, who had the most reason to want to punch the guy for the crap he pulled, had no biting sarcasm when she asked him if he saw that coming. And Discord sounds so thoroughly broken when he replies that he didn't.]]

* TarotMotifs: A stained-glass window of Discord has him hanging tied-up ponies over a pit of fire, bringing to mind the Devil card.
* ThisCannotBe: His reaction when the Elements of Harmony are activated after being so certain he's completely broken the Mane Six's friendship.

* TooPowerfulToLive: Given that [[StoryBreakerPower his]] [[RealityWarper powers]] make him stronger than almost every character in the series we've seen thus far, there's no way that he could stick around without the series [[DownerEnding ending on a downbeat note]]. At least until his HeelFaceTurn, but even then his appearances in the show are sparingly at best. After all, the plot would end in seconds if he was free to run around. That said, he has been shown since then to have more weaknesses than expected.
* {{Touche}}: "Well played, Fluttershy, well played."

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes U to Z]]

* UnskilledButStrong: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in issue #57 of the main comics. Discord, having always been all-powerful by default, has never needed to study magic; so he has to go to Twilight for help when he starts to mysteriously lose his powers. [[spoiler: However, during his WizardDuel with Chaosville!Pinkie Pie -- a DavidVsGoliath scenario where he's the former, and she's the latter -- he wins by tricking her into exhaustion (a common WeakButSkilled tactic).]]

* VillainousBreakdown: Twice. First he throws a hissy fit when Fluttershy doesn't give into his mind games. [[OhCrap Then he goes from cocky to terrified when he realizes the Elements of Harmony are working again]] after he becomes so certain he's broken the Mane Six's bond.
* VillainousBSOD:
** Undergoes a brief one in "Keep Calm and Flutter On" after realizing how much he's come to care about having a friend.
** Another in [[spoiler:"Twilight's Kingdom" after Tirek betrays him. Rather than the expected VillainousBreakdown over losing his beloved magic, Discord bemoans in earnest heartbreak that he thought their friendship was genuine as Tirek gives his DidYouActuallyBelieve speech. Even the ponies he just sold out feel sorry for him after this display.]]
* VillainousFriendship: [[spoiler:He genuinely hopes his partnership with Tirek will count as such, even viewing the medallion he gives him as a token of their friendship, only to find out he is just using him.]]
* VillainousLegacy: In the "Princess Twilight Sparkle" two-parter, the conflict stems from an old scheme of his coming to threaten Equestria, but he's more or less a good guy at the time and isn't directly involved with the action.
* VillainTeleportation: Utilizes this more often than walking; it goes well with his lack of personal space to teleport in someone's face.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Is capable of transforming into anything he desires, though he seems incapable of hiding (or simply unwilling to hide) some of his traits such as his horns. See MorphicResonance above.

* WasItReallyWorthIt:
** Does this to ''himself'' by asking Fluttershy if she thought he'd think his WorldOfChaos wasn't worth losing their friendship. To everyone's surprise, including his own, he discovers it really wasn't.
** Happens again in "Twilight's Kingdom". His expressions constantly show that [[spoiler:he's not sure whether selling out Equestria to Tirek to be fully free was actually worth it or not.]] In the end [[spoiler:he decides it ''wasn't'' worth it. At ALL. And now his mistake has cost him everything he had.]]

* WhenSheSmiles: Normally he's a creepy unnatural MadGod, but when he honestly smiles at the end of "Keep Calm and Flutter On" and "Twilight's Kingdom -- Part 2" he suddenly turns into an adorable UglyCute puppy.
* WheresTheFunInThat: "What fun is there in making sense?"
* WhiteHairBlackHeart: He's a JerkassGod with white hair. Eventually the ponies find [[HiddenHeartOfGold there's some gold buried in that black heart of his]].
* WingsDoNothing: Although he does flap his mismatched wings when flying, they are ridiculously small compared to his body mass, and it's likely he can't fly at all without his RealityWarper powers. Indeed, [[spoiler:once drained of magic by Tirek, or within an AntiMagic field, he keeps to the ground]].
* TheWorfEffect: Even he's gotten this occasionally.
** At the beginning of "Keep Calm and Flutter On", Celestia preemptively casts a new spell to prevent him from (directly) stealing the Elements anymore, and it works -- unlike her defenses that didn't even faze him in "The Return of Harmony". However, this is downplayed due to her still not doing anything to him directly.
** In "Three's a Crowd", the Tatzlwurm's sneeze makes him seriously ill and weakens him severely.
** Perhaps the most well-known example is when [[spoiler:Tirek ultimately betrays him and [[ManaDrain drains his magic]] in "Twilight's Kingdom," leaving him completely BroughtDownToNormal. Things were actually the other way around at first, until Tirek built up enough strength to be able to do this to him in return (though it still required Tirek draining ''most ponies'' in Equestria, including the powerful magic of the Mane Six sans Twilight Sparkle).]]
** In "Friends Forever #20", Luna is evidently able to not only just zap him unconscious now, but also wield a HomeFieldAdvantage over him in dreams -- the former understandably being a case of averted TalkingIsAFreeAction, and the latter being a case of what happens when a ''Reality'' Warper gets thrown out of his element.
** His powers are nullified in "To Where and Back Again" due to [[spoiler:the AntiMagic effects of Queen Chrysalis's throne]].
** In ''Friendship is Magic #57'', Discord starts to lose his magic after [[spoiler: Pinkie Pie stumbles into his realm and starts bending it to her will -- forcing him to face off against her in order to regain control. With his powers still weak, he is distinctly the underdog during the fight -- ultimately resorting to RopeADope tactics to trick Pinkie into exhausting herself.]]
** [[spoiler:In the "Cosmos" storyline, Discord is deeply outclassed by the eponymous villainess, whose own RealityWarper abilities were powerful enough to threaten the very fabric of existence.]]
* WorldGoneMad: Equestria's fate after he takes over during his debut episode. The former pastoral {{Arcadia}} is promptly turned into a surreal psychedelic mess to suit a MadGod's whims and amusement. The landscape is warped beyond recognition and the ponies themselves are either driven mad in a variety of unique and interesting ways or became helpless pawns in cruel mind games, all to the background of the laws of physics being firmly shoved out the door and told not to come back. This is all highlighted by Twilight being left sane and aware of twisted everything is and having to deal with a nonsensical world, the hateful, one-dimensional parodies her friends were twisted into and Discord's constant mocking.
* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: Gives one to Fluttershy and the others in "Twilight's Kingdom" after [[spoiler:being betrayed by Tirek and rescued by Twilight]].
-->'''Discord:''' [[spoiler:Oh but you are, Fluttershy. You're the pony that taught me that Friendship is Magic. I had friendship ''and'' magic, but now I don't have either.]]
* WorldOfChaos:
** Once he took over Equestria in "The Return of Harmony", he promptly began turning it into his vision of an ideal, chaotic world. By the end of the episode, this had resulted in an Equestria where the sun and moon switched places in the sky every few minutes and large parts of the landscape had been either patterned like chess sets or floated upside-down ''[[FloatingContinent above]]'' the landscape, and filled with things like roads made of soap, herds of rabbits with grotesquely elongated legs, cotton candy clouds, and ponies twisted mentally into performing various behaviors Discord found amusing. And going by Discord’s comments, that wasn’t even the finished result!
** Chaosville, the pocket dimension he takes up residence in after his reformation is an even more extreme example. Even at its most extreme, his version of Equestria still had a uniform ground instead of floating in multicolored pieces through the void, and that's before getting to quaint amenities like the weird fauna flying about the place, the bottomless pit, the psychedelic swirls of black and purple making up what's probably supposed to be the sky...

* YellowEyesOfSneakiness: Combined with his [[RedEyesTakeWarning red irises]], this marks him as particularly mischievous.

[[folder: A to E]]

[[folder: F to J]]

* TheGlomp: In his more sentimental moods, Discord can get surprisingly affectionate with the Mane Six, sharing warm hugs with the ponies in "What About Discord", "Twilight's Kingdom" and "To Where And Back Again".
** In the ''Best Gift Ever'' special, he hugs Rainbow Dash tightly when she invites him to Hearth's Warming.
* GodOfChaos: The spirit of chaos and discord, which he remains so even after his HeelFaceTurn.

** In the comics storyline "Chaos Theory", a rare cosmic event transforms Discord into Accord, a spirit of pure order. Accord is both affable and polite... [[spoiler:but quickly decides to brainwash every pony in Equestria into thinking and acting the same in order to achieve what he believes is ''true'' order.]]
** Then played with some more when it's revealed that [[spoiler: the event didn't transform him. Discord transformed himself into Accord because he felt that no one liked him as he was and sought to change himself.]]

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:Of "Princess Twilight Sparkle," albeit something of an accidental version. He planted the Plunderseeds just before Celestia and Luna defeated him the first time. However, the Seeds end up take far longer to kick in than he anticipated; and by the time they actually do, his priorities have already changed into those of an AntiHero.]]

** In "Make New Friends, but Keep Discord", he realizes that he [[{{Understatement}} "May have overreacted"]] by threatening to send Fluttershy's new friend Treehugger to another dimension.

[[folder: K to O]]

[[folder: P to T]]

[[folder: U to Z]]

[[/folder]]

* ImmortalImmaturity: He's thousands of years old, but usually acts like a bratty kid.

** Several episodes (and the ''Best Gift Ever'' special) show that Discord doesn't react well when he's excluded or left out of things. Despite his haughty, trouble-making nature, he really ''does'' want to spend time having fun with others.

** And again with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo as of ''Friends Forever #2''.

* EveryoneHasStandards: In the ''Best Gift Ever'' special, he is just as disgusted with Flim and Flam's shoddily-made Hearth's Warming dolls as everypony else, zapping two of them out of existence.

** Several episodes (and the ''Best Gift Ever'' special) show that Discord doesn't react well when he's excluded or left out of things. Despite his haughty, trouble-making nature, he really does want to spend time having fun with others.

** In the ''Best Gift Ever'' special. While he wasn't being nice about it, Discord was right when he pointed out to Rainbow Dash that getting a candle as a Hearth's warming gift for Fluttershy, a pony who has many fluffy (and therefore, flammable) animals at home, isn't the best idea. It makes Rainbow decide to get her something else.

* NotMeThisTime: In "Princess Twilight Sparkle", everyone but Fluttershy immediately suspects that he was behind the Everfree ordeal. Discord immediately denies having anything to do with it. [[spoiler:This is ultimately subverted at the end when he accidentally reveals that he was the cause of it... [[UnintentionalBackupPlan just much later than intended]].]]

[[center: [- [[Characters/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicTheManeCast The Mane Cast]] ([[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicTwilightSparkle Twilight Sparkle]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicApplejack Applejack]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicPinkiePie Pinkie Pie]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRainbowDash Rainbow Dash]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRarity Rarity]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicFluttershy Fluttershy]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSpike Spike]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicStarlightGlimmer Starlight Glimmer]]) | [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicTheCutieMarkCrusaders The Cutie Mark Crusaders]] | [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicThePrincesses The Princesses]] | [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicAntagonists Antagonists]] ([[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicMajorVillains Major Villains]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicDangerousCreatures Dangerous Creatures]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicJerksAndBullies Jerks and Bullies]]) | [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRedeemed Redeemed Antagonists]] ([[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicDiscord Discord]]) | '''Mane Family Members''' | [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSupportingCastPonyville Supporting Cast, Ponyville]] | [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSupportingCastOtherLocations Supporting Cast, Other Locations]] | [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicAnimalCompanions Animal Companions]] | [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicHistoricalFigures Historical Figures]] | [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSchoolOfFriendship School of Friendship]] | [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRaces Races]] | [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicOneShots One-Shots]] | [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicOthers Other Characters]] | [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicBackgroundPonies Background Ponies]] ([[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicBackgroundPoniesCommonPonies Common Background Ponies]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicBackgroundPoniesSpecialPonies Special Background Ponies]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicBackgroundPoniesOthers Other Background Ponies]]) | [[Characters/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 The 2017 Movie]] | [[Characters/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsHeroines Equestria Girls: Heroines]] ([[Characters/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsSunsetShimmer Sunset Shimmer]]) | [[Characters/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsVillains Villains]] | [[Characters/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsSupportingCast Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]] | [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicToylineExclusive Toyline Exclusive]] | [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicMiscellaneous Miscellaneous]]]]-]

* TheBully: Removing the Mane Six's wings and horns looks like a bully taking someone's lunch money. In general, Discord tends to enjoy lording his reality-warping powers over mortal ponies, and humiliating other people for his own amusement. Even after his HeelFaceTurn, he's periodically slipped into disturbing bouts of sadism when he doesn't get his way: like trying to banish Tree Hugger to another dimension forever out of jealousy, trapping Spike and Big Mac inside a board game so he can torment them for not letting him make their 'guy's night' all about him, and endangering the students at Twilight Sparkle's school because he was jealous she left Starlight Glimmer in charge and not him.

* TheBully: Removing the Mane Six's wings and horns looks like a bully taking someone's lunch money.

* {{Yandere}}: He acts like this when Fluttershy starts hanging out with Tree Hugger. Things get worse when he threatens to send her to another dimension. Of course he calms down after Fluttershy tells him that she didn't abandon him by inviting someone else.

** Only the Elements of Harmony are powerful enough to match him. In addition, his {{pride}} [[FatalFlaw can get the better of his judgment]] -- Discord is always convinced he's in complete control of a situation. For the most part he ''is'', but on the rare occasions when the situation proves him wrong, he's pretty easily toppled.

** Even without the Elements (or Rainbow Power), it's still possible to affect him on a smaller scale. Twilight proves this with her AntiMagic barrier near the end of "The Return of Harmony", Celestia proves this with her protective spell on the Elements in "Keep Calm and Flutter On", Cadance proves this with her health-preserving barrier in "Three's a Crowd", the Tatzlwurm proves this with its seemingly magic-hampering infection in the same episode, and Zecora proves this by brewing a potion that can break his presumed spell on Twilight's friends in "What About Discord?".

* AllPowerfulBystander: In ''Siege of the Crystal Empire'', he admits to feeling too lazy to fight the Umbrum directly, so he just makes Fluttershy's animals gigantic enough to fight in his stead and then goes on his merry way.

* AntiVillain: After his debut, whenever he antagonizes somepony, he's no longer malicious about it and/or he now has some friendship-based motive. [[spoiler:And even his relapse in "Twilight's Kingdom" ends in him seeing his error.]]

** Suffers from this again in the Season 6 finale when [[spoiler:entering Chrysalis's territory -- she happens to have a big-time PowerNullifier in her hive.]]

* ComplexityAddiction: Being a RealityWarper, he could very well just teleport his problems away or something. But given his {{Hedonist}}ic personality, he just loves his AwesomeButImpractical visual gags too much. This comes back to bite him on more than a few occasions (he didn't have to give the Mane 6 a chance to recover the Elements in his debut, he could've just warped Tirek back to Tartarus instead of merely handcuffing him for fun (thus leaving himself open to Tirek's manipulation) in "Twilight's Kingdom", etc.).

* DimensionLord: "Discordant Harmony" implies that his powers are linked to his dimension, [[spoiler:as he accidentally risks erasing himself by altering it too much]]. ''Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDWIssue57'' confirms that yes, Chaosville is the source of his powers [[spoiler:when Pinkie accidentally invokes HijackingCthulhu in there during one of his absences. By taking over as its ruler, she cut off his connection to it and deprived him of his powers, forcing him to rely on Twilight and co. in order to even return to it]].
* DramaPreservingHandicap: According to the "Discord's Magical History Tour" comic, while he can TimeTravel pretty much whenever and wherever he wants, one thing he explicitly lacks is the power to actually change history.

** In "Discordant Harmony", [[spoiler:making his PocketDimension too [[OrderVersusChaos Orderly]] ends up nearly erasing him.]]

** After breaking Twilight, he tries to convince her to just give into chaos and have fun with him. When a despondent Twilight refuses, he gives a brief [[BeingEvilSucks forlorn]], [[NotGoodWithRejection rejected]] look... before quickly [[MoodSwinger returning to his merriment.]]

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:Of "Princess Twilight Sparkle", albeit technically something of an accidental version. He planted the Plunderseeds just before Celestia and Luna defeated him the first time. However, the Seeds end up taking far longer to kick in than he anticipated, and by the time they actually do, his priorities have already changed into those of an AntiHero anyway.]]

** Certain kinds of wards, like Celestia's on the Elements upon his second release. [[spoiler:Likewise, in the Season 6 finale, Chrysalis's domain is revealed to contain a FieldPowerEffect that negates all non-Changeling magic, chaotic or otherwise.]]

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: In his [[spoiler:"Cutie Re-Mark" BadFuture, while he does invoke WorldGoneMad on Equestria, he's visibly far less cruel and much more juvenile than the other villains -- e.g.: he merely turns Celestia and Luna into clowns and chases them for fun; meanwhile, the other villains are warmongering [[PersonOfMassDestruction People of Mass Destruction]], and Nightmare Moon's payback on Celestia involves a lunar AndIMustScream]].

* NonActionBigBad: Among the {{Big Bad}}s, he's the least inclined to fight directly. (Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, Sombra, and especially Tirek and Starlight all have action scenes ranging from brief to lengthy.) At most, he just sticks around to watch his PowersDoTheFighting. Justified, as he's primarily TheTrickster.

* UnskilledButStrong: Played with in issue #57 of the comic. Discord, having always been all-powerful by default, has never needed to study magic, so he has to go to Twilight for help when he starts to mysteriously lose his powers. [[spoiler: However, during his WizardDuel with Chaosville!Pinkie Pie -- a DavidVsGoliath scenario where he's the former, and she's the latter -- he wins by tricking her into exhaustion (a common WeakButSkilled tactic).]]

* TheWorfEffect: Even he's gotten this occasionally:
** At the beginning of "Keep Calm and Flutter On", Celestia preemptively casts a new spell to prevent him from (directly) stealing the Elements anymore, and it works -- unlike her defenses that didn't even faze him in "The Return of Harmony". However, this is downplayed due to her not doing anything to him directly.

** Perhaps the most well-known example is when [[spoiler:Tirek ultimately betrays him and [[ManaDrain drains his magic]] in "Twilight's Kingdom", leaving him completely BroughtDownToNormal. Things were actually the other way around at first, until Tirek built up enough strength to be able to do this to him in return, though it require Tirek draining ''every pony'' in Equestria, including the powerful magic of the Mane Six sans Twilight Sparkle.]]
** In "Friends Forever #20", Luna is evidently able to not only just zap him unconscious by now, but also wield a HomeFieldAdvantage over him in dreams -- the former understandably being a case of averted TalkingIsAFreeAction, and the latter being a case of what happens when a ''Reality'' Warper gets thrown out of his element.

** In ''Friendship is Magic #57'', Discord starts to lose his magic after [[spoiler: Pinkie Pie stumbles into his realm and starts bending it to her will, forcing him to face off against her in order to regain control. With his powers still weak, he is distinctly the underdog during the fight, ultimately resorting to RopeADope tactics to trick Pinkie into exhausting herself.]]

* WorldsStrongestMan: While he's never actually described as this, his individual (i.e., default and unamplified) magic being the most widespread, combined with him giving Celestia and Luna more trouble in the past than any other villain of that time, arguably qualifies him as this.

* YellowEyesOfSneakiness: Combined with his [[RedEyesTakeWarning red irises]], this marks him as particularly mischievous.

* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: After stabbing the Mane Six in the back and selling them all out to Tirek for power and untold chaos, [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves Discord promptly gets backstabbed himself as soon as he's no longer useful to him]]]].

* WelcomeBackTraitor: In the season 4 finale, Discord betrays all of ponykind to the most titanically dangerous threat it has ever faced, and gleefully enjoys doing so until he gets backstabbed himself... and yet Twilight still rescues him with the rest of her friends. This is crucial to the episode's DoubleAesop and is what turns Scorpan's medallion into Twilight's PlotCoupon. Towards the end, when the Mane Six are having a GroupHug and a guilt-ridden Discord is nervously waving from off to the side, Twilight uses her magic to pull him into the group, making this trope literal.

* TheGlomp:
** In "To Where and Back Again -- Part 2" he gives Fluttershy a warm hug [[spoiler:after she is saved from the changelings]].

* MundaneUtility: When not spreading Chaos, his reality-warping powers are mostly used for mundane tasks like making chocolate milk, especially his telekinesis. In "Dungeons & Discord", they are used to turn a tabletop game into a LARP.

* MundaneUtility: In "The Break Up Break Down", Spike calls in Discord to quickly bake a pie Big Mac made for Sugar Belle. Discord is understandably a little annoyed at being summoned for such a minor task.

* SelfDuplication: Discord can creates doubles of himself at will for whatever task at hand, like a HoldUpYourScore gag, or even simply to illustrate a point in the conversation. For example, a DastardlyWhiplash-styled double appears in "What About Discord?", to contrast his "old self" with the current one. "Discordant Harmony" reveals that he often conjures them so he can have someone to bounce ideas off of.