History Characters / FriendshipIsMagicDiscord

* ReformedButNotTamed: Despite his HeelFaceTurn at the end of "Keep Calm and Flutter On", his mischievous streak is still intact, and he's not above pulling the occasional prank or voicing his amusement at whatever chaos befalls Ponyville without his direct input. His more villanous tendencies can come out when he is left out. In Discord's case its more of a {{Justified Trope}} in general, as if he were to completely change his chaotic mindset, he would disappear.

** [[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]].

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/JohnDeLancie, Creator/ShigeruChiba (Japanese)

* 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.

** Zig-zagged and Justified in the Season 10 comics; There isn't really anything to forgive.[[spoiler:Nobody seems to even blame Discord that due to his actions in the past, he is partially responsible for the Knights of Order attacking Equestria. It happened a long, long time ago and Discord has become a much different person since then, so there is no point in lambasting him — especially now, when Canterlot is under attack. Discord also tries to warn his friends and is a big part in ending the conflict. Also, the BlackAndWhiteInsanity displayed by the Knights is hardly a logical and reasonable reaction to what Discord did]].

** Practically [[spoiler:the entire Villains arc]] in Season 9 was a huge one for him. [[spoiler:He pretends to be Grogar, forms a LegionOfDoom with them, and attempts to teach teamwork and helping each other in order to set them up as a major threat for Twilight to defeat, believing it will boost her confidence. It fails miserably since [[IWorkAlone King Sombra first strikes out on his own]] and ends up getting the Elements and Tree of Harmony destroyed. Then, Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy manage to get Grogar's Bell and the means to use its power without him finding out and end up [[OneWingedAngel powering themselves up]] and discover his ruse.]]

** The biggest example is [[spoiler:in "The Ending of the End"; it is revealed that he was actually pretending to be Grogar all season, and had gathered the previous villains together to form a LegionOfDoom and provide Twilight with one final challenge to give her the confidence boost in being ruler. Although he was setting the villains up to fail, he never expected for them to eventually [[TheStarscream conspire against him behind his back]] or lie that they failed to retrieve the powerful artifact he sent them to get and keep it for themselves. By the time he discovers their betrayal they have already drained him of his magic and things have spiraled out of his control, putting Equestria in the most danger it has ever been]].

** His biggest one was [[spoiler:when he attempted to use the remaining major villains as pawns by assuming the identity of the AncientEvil Grogar in order to teach them to work together as a team and attack Twilight's coronation, assuming that she and her friends would be able to defeat them and gain the confidence needed to rule Equestria in the process. [[GoneHorriblyRight He]] gets [[TheStarscream them]] working [[NiceJobBreakingItHero together]] as a [[VillainTeamUp team]], [[OutGambitted all right.]]]]

** The biggest example is [[spoiler:in "The Ending of the End"; it is revealed that he was actually pretending to be Grogar all season, and had gathered the previous villains together to form a LegionOfDoom and provide Twilight with one final challenge to give her the confidence boost in being ruler and prepare her to rule Equestria in the process. Although he was setting the villains up to fail, he never expected for them to eventually [[TheStarscream conspire against him behind his back]] or lie that they failed to retrieve the powerful artifact he sent them to get and keep it for themselves. By the time he discovers their betrayal they have already drained him of his magic and things have spiraled out of his control, putting Equestria in the most danger it has ever been]].

** The biggest example is [[spoiler:in "The Ending of the End"; it is revealed that he was actually pretending to be Grogar all season, and had gathered the previous villains together to form a LegionOfDoom and provide Twilight with one final challenge to give her the confidence boost needed to rule Equestria. Although he was setting the villains up to fail, he never expected for them to eventually [[TheStarscream conspire against him behind his back]] or lie that they failed to retrieve the powerful artifact he sent them to get and keep it for themselves. By the time he discovers their betrayal they have already drained him of his magic and things have spiraled out of his control, putting Equestria in the most danger it has ever been]].

** Practically [[spoiler:the entire Villains arc]] in Season 9 was a huge one for him. [[spoiler:He pretends to be Grogar, forms a LegionOfDoom with them, and attempts to teach teamwork and helping each other in order to set them up as a major threat for Twilight to defeat, hoping it will boost her confidence. It fails miserably since [[IWorkAlone King Sombra first strikes out on his own]] and ends up getting the Elements and Tree of Harmony destroyed. Then, Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy manage to get Grogar's Bell and the means to use its power without him finding out and end up [[OneWingedAngel powering themselves up]] and discover his ruse.]]

** His biggest one was [[spoiler:when he attempted to use the remaining major villains as pawns by assuming the identity of the AncientEvil Grogar in order to teach them to work together as a team and attack Twilight's coronation, assuming that she and her friends would be able to defeat them, in gain the confidence needed to rule in the process. [[GoneHorriblyRight He]] gets [[TheStarscream them]] working [[NiceJobBreakingItHero together]] as a [[VillainTeamUp team]], [[OutGambitted all right.]]]]

** His biggest one was [[spoiler:when he attempted to use the remaining major villains as pawns by assuming the identity of the AncientEvil Grogar in order to teach them to work together as a team and attack Twilight's coronation, assuming that she and her friends would be able to defeat them. [[GoneHorriblyRight He]] gets [[TheStarscream them]] working [[NiceJobBreakingItHero together]] as a [[VillainTeamUp team]], [[OutGambitted all right.]]]]

* PetTheDog: Even after reforming, Discord is still generally a JerkWithAHeartOfGold only really on a good day, but he does have genuine moments to show he cares for others more than he lets on. Any interaction he has with fluttershy are generally the biggest example of this. "Discordant Harmony" in of itself is an entire episode of Discord showing kindness.

* PayEvilUntoEvil: Shown to be completely on board with this in "The Ending of the End" [[spoiler:Discord decides to stone Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow like he once was as a villain, deciding it’s only fitting for beings who rejected and hated friendship more than anything given how they divided Equestria to be forced to spend a eternity together.]] Even if one sees him as doing this as too cruel, it is true that after everything they attempted to do or did to the characters for genuinely evil reasons they had it coming quite a bit.

** In the end of Cosmos arc (''MLP Friendship Is Magic'' issue #78), Discord dresses as a ghostbuster to suck Cosmos into a ghost trap. And in the issue #97, he feels Fluttershy is in danger, much like Luke Skywalker feels his friends' suffering in [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack The Empire Strikes Back].

* SociopathicHero: After his sincere HeelFaceTurn, he still has little to no innate regard for anyone [[MoralityPet other than Fluttershy]], which at first came of as [[{{Yandere}} possessive]] at first, such he yawns when hearing of everyone kidnapped by Queen Chrysalis and only cares when [[ItsPersonal he learns that Fluttershy was one of them]]. He still prone to lying to or manipulating her and others, is quick to anger when he doesn't get his way, and [[SmugSuper overestimating himself and underestimating others]]. Even when he does have good intentions, he goes about it in often morally questionable ways. It's only after he's flat out told why his actions are wrong or the consequences of them catch up to him that he sees the error of his ways and atones.

* SociopathicHero: After his sincere HeelFaceTurn, he still has little to no innate regard for anyone [[MoralityPet other than Fluttershy]], which at first came of as [[{{Yandere}} possessive]] at first, such he yawns when hearing of everyone kidnapped by Queen Chrysalis and only cares when [[ItsPersonal he learns that Fluttershy was one of them]]. He still prone to lying to or manipulating her and others, is quick to anger when he doesn't get his way, and [[SmugSuper overestimating himself and underestimating others]]. It's only after he's flat out told why his actions are wrong or the consequences of them catch up to him that he sees the error of his ways and atones.

* ByronicHero: Downplayed given the nature of the show. However, he's the closest thing MLP has to one after his reformation next to Tempest Shadow. He's moody, somewhat sophisticated, intelligent but also very self-centered, very arrogant, has a BlueAndOrangeMorality but ultimately he has good inside of him and does want to be a good friend.

* ByronicHero: Downplayed. Post-reformation he's the closest thing MLP has to one after Tempest Shadow. He's moody, somewhat sophisticated, intelligent but also very self-centered, very arrogant, has a BlueAndOrangeMorality but ultimately he has good inside of him and does want to be a good friend.

* ByronicHero: Post-reformation he's the closest thing MLP has to one after Tempest Shadow. He's moody, somewhat sophisticated, intelligent but also very self-centered, very arrogant, has a BlueAndOrangeMorality but ultimately he has good inside of him and does want to be a good friend.

* BecomingTheMask: Pretends to behave in front of Fluttershy to trick her, but after discovering she really ''does'' care about him, he ultimately cannot bring himself to do something that would destroy their friendship. He eventually is completely genuine in acting as a Trickster Mentor for the sake of Twilight's Growth.

** By the end of "Keep Calm and Flutter on", he decides to now use his magic for good instead of evil...more or less. Which he does so by using chaos to teach lessons to the other characters especially Twilight.

** By the end of "Keep Calm and Flutter on", he decides to know use his magic for good instead of evil, which he does so by using chaos to teach lessons to the other characters especially Twilight.

* BecomingTheMask: Pretends to behave in front of Fluttershy to trick her, but after discovering she really ''does'' care about him, he ultimately cannot bring himself to do something that would destroy their friendship.

* CryCute: In "Keep Calm and Flutter On", he sheds a SingleTear with PuppyDogEyes when he learns that Fluttershy does genuinely care for him and that he almost ruined their friendship.

* 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". He falls to pieces again in "A Matter of Principals", and quickly restores himself.

-->'''Discord''': Now, look who's a liar. Anyone can plainly see that I'm not big at all. ''(camera zooms out to show a tiny Discord sitting on the couch)''

* 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.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: [[UpToEleven He makes Pinkie Pie look like a dullard]].[[note]]Literally. He turns her into a complete dullard.[[/note]] Fitting, considering he is the spirit of chaos.

** He enjoys causing chaos in Equestria, {{Mind Rap|e}}ing the Mane Cast, and bringing chocolate rain to Ponyville.

* 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]]).

** He is able to break a pony's minds by [[MindRape Mind Raping]] them, either through subtlety or with force.

* FairPlayVillain: Poses as one, but subverted -- he sets up a game where he claims he'll allow the ponies to search the maze for the Elements of Harmony, then {{Mind Rape}}s them to make them lose, also knowing the Elements were never there anyway. Lampshaded when Twilight tells him he didn't play fair, and Discord replies [[CardCarryingVillain she's obviously forgotten he's the spirit of Chaos and Disharmony]]. (On the other hand, he returned the wings and horns to the Mane Six as he promised. Big mistake, but still.)

* MindRape: How he corrupts four of the Elements; he messes with their heads. The fifth he had to brute-force brainwash her.