History Characters / FriendshipIsMagicKingSombra

* GutturalGrowler: In his first appearance, he doesn't speak much aside from growls and snarls.

** In "Return of the Crystal Empire", his traps only seemed to account for somepony coming to look for the Crystal Heart alone. Because Spike accompanies Twilight, he's first able to snap her out of Sombra's illusion spell, and then when she's trapped by Sombra's Crystals, she's able to pass the Crystal Heart to Spike so he can get it to Cadance.

* CursedWithAwesome: Played with. Turning him into living darkness was Celestia and Luna's doing, though whether he's more powerful in this form than in his true form is anyone's guess. On one hand, he's less of a flesh-and-blood pony and more of a manevolent force of nature which makes him much harder to fight directly. On the other hand, he's little more than a beast in shadow form while his CrazyPrepared status suggests he was far more intelligent before. However, with ''[[ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFiendshipIsMagic FIENDship Is Magic]]'' revealing he's a splinter/agent of the Umbrum, he wasn't so much changed into a living shadow as that the shadow ''is'' his true form, and Celestia and Luna merely reverted him back to it after he spent so much time disguised as a unicorn.

* DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: Unlike Discord, he sees his victims as slaves instead of playthings and goes to great lengths to maintain control of the Crystal Empire and keep the Crystal Ponies under his hoof through fear and dark magic.

[[quoteright:252:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mlp_resource__king_sombra_01_by_zutheskunk-_837.png]]
[[caption-width-right:252:[-King Sombra in his pony form.-] ]]
[[quoteright:252:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/king_sombra__s_shadow_by_fercho262-d5kfka0_5042.png]]
[[caption-width-right:252:[-King Sombra in his shadow form.-]]]

->'''Voiced by:''' Jim Miller[[note]]according to [[https://twitter.com/TheBiggestJim tweets]] by Jim Miller[[/note]] ("[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E2TheCrystalEmpirePart2 The Crystal Empire – Part 2]]"), Alvin Sanders ("The Beginning of the End"); Dan Osorio (Latin American Spanish); Masatoshi Fujita (Japanese)

->'''Voiced by:''' Jim Miller[[note]]according to [[https://twitter.com/TheBiggestJim tweets]] by Jim Miller[[/note]] ("[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E2TheCrystalEmpirePart2 The Crystal Empire – Part 2]]"), Alvin Sanders ("The Beginning of the End")

* ScaryBlackMan: A large, dark stallion whose IKnowWhatYouFear powers make the "Scary" part literal. He's also TheSilentBob, complete with a BadassBaritone whenever he does speak.

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: According to ''[=FIENDship=] Is Magic'' #1, before Sombra learned who he really was, he was just a quiet orphan colt who wasn't very good at talking, and so he got constantly picked on by all of the other foals in the orphanage.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: He took over the Crystal Empire and declared himself king by force, and none of the Crystal ponies were strong or brave enough to challenge him.

* SacrificialLamb: King Sombra serves as this in "The Beginning of the End" for Grogar's LegionOfDoom. Grogar resurrected him and brought him to his lair to recruit him along with Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow, but Sombra refused to work with any of them and declared he could win on his own. As a result of his arrogance he is killed once again and his defeat only serves to reinforce Grogar's claim that they can only win by working together.s.

* SupernaturalIsPurple: His eyes are constantly trailed by a purple aura.

* DeathByIrony: He ends his first appearance by being obliterated by his former slave race. His {{Permadeath}} in the final season is a result of the Mane Six still able to wield the Elements' magic within them, and they unleash the Magic of Friendship -- without any Elements and all -- to finish him off for good.
* DeathCryEcho: Instead of the BigNo previous villains were accustomed to using.

--->'''King Sombra:''' How? This shouldn't be possible! Your magic cannot defeat mine! [[spoiler:I destroyed the source of your power!]]\\
'''Twilight:''' You can't destroy our friendship, Sombra!\\
'''Rainbow:''' And we keep telling bad guys...\\
'''Applejack:''' But y'all just don't seem to remember.\\
'''Mane Six:''' '''FRIENDSHIP ''IS'' MAGIC!!!!!'''

* DeathByIrony: He ends his first appearance by being obliterated by his former slave race.

--->'''King Sombra:''' How? This shouldn't be possible! Your magic cannot defeat mine! [[spoiler:I destroyed the source of your power!]]

* BackFromTheDead: He's revived by Grogar's magic. It doesn't stick; Sombra eventually gets ReducedToDust thanks to the Magic of Friendship used by the Mane Six, and this time, [[DeaderThanDead he doesn't come back]].

* BadPowersBadPeople: He's a tyrant conqueror who uses dark unicorn magic powered by negative emotions. In the comics, Sombra's awakening of his shadow powers comes hand-in-hand with him embracing his evil nature, and his reformation sees him purified of these powers.

A cruel unicorn who took over the Crystal Empire and enslaved its inhabitants 1000 years ago, and declared himself its King. Celestia and Luna banished him and turned him into a living shadow, but not before he cursed the Crystal Empire to vanish with him. During the events of the show, the Crystal Empire returns and brings Sombra's spirit with it, and he attempts to complete his resurrect and continue what he started -- the conquest of the Crystal Empire and then all of Equestria.

A cruel unicorn king who took over the Crystal Empire and enslaved its inhabitants 1000 years ago, and declared himself its King. Celestia and Luna banished him and turned him into a living shadow, but not before he cursed the Crystal Empire to vanish with him. During the events of the show, the Crystal Empire returns and brings Sombra's spirit with it, and he attempts to complete his resurrect and continue what he started -- the conquest of the Crystal Empire and then all of Equestria.

* TheDreaded: The Crystal Ponies don't ''want'' to remember his rule, and shudder in fear at the thought of it. [[spoiler:This is why he hid the Crystal Heart in his palace; he knew they'd be too afraid of him to look for it there.]]

* EvilTowerOfOminousness: Used his powers to convert the Crystal Castle into this during the peak of his villainy. And it remains his best weapon during his PresentAbsence, courtesy of [[spoiler:some tricky BlackMagic effects and traps that he preemptively rigged it with]].

* DependingOnTheWriter: Perhaps the most famous example in the show. In the comics, Sombra's backstory was built out to reveal that he was a TragicVillain, a pony who discovered he was literally MadeOfEvil and was created to destroy the Crystal Empire for the Umbrum, but he grew discontent with this destiny and turned on the Umbrum and reformed. In the show, Sombra's backstory is not given much more depth, but his expanded characterization in later seasons depicts him as a CardCarryingVillain who seeks to conquer and rule Equestria, and he's emphasized to be a cunning and arrogant schemer who could actually pull it off unless he's quickly stopped.

A snarling, black-hearted unicorn king who ruled over the Crystal Empire and enslaved its inhabitants long ago. Celestia and Luna banished him and turned him into a living shadow, but not before he hid the Crystal Heart that protected the empire and caused it to vanish with him. After a thousand years, Sombra returns with plans to continue what he started.

In the tie-in comics by IDW, King Sombra is given a radically different backstory, motivation, and personality, that the show ignored when bringing him back in Season 9. For information about Sombra as he's depicted in the comics, see Characters/FriendshipIsMagicExpandedUniverse.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: As the lengths he goes to maintain control of the Crystal Empire condemns its inhabitants to a life of never-ending misery and he [[MindRape makes them unable to remember anything about life before his reign]], yeah that's inevitable.

* AlmightyIdiot: His shadow form, while very huge, powerful, fluid, and able to spread with only a single fragment of his horn, is only capable of speaking short sentences and phrases and charging forward, in contrast to the highly-prepared sorcerer he once was. But still downplayed in that he still shows signs of ItCanThink -- e.g.: singling out [[BarrierWarrior Shining Armor]] for some PowerNullifier crystals, waiting for [[BarrierMaiden Cadance]] to run out of stamina, activating his final trap once Twilight's presence signals him, etc.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Out of all of Grogar's LegionOfDoom, Sombra seems to easily be the one with the most powerful (innate, unaugmented) abilities. Yet as powerful as his magic is, he doesn't even register as an annoyance against Discord, who's essentially a PhysicalGod. [[spoiler:Until he manages to catch Discord off-guard by forcing him into TakingTheBullet for Fluttershy. Only it turns out Discord was faking being injured from that as well.]]

* AnimalisticAbomination: Sombra's pony form has charcoal grey fur with [[SupernaturalFloatingHair an ethereal black mane and tail]], no Cutie Mark, an upward-curved red horn, red eyes with [[HellishPupils rhombus-shaped pupils]], and fangs. He can also turn into living darkness at will, spawn jagged black and red crystals, and can MindRape others into being his slaves by forcing them to witness their greatest fears.
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: While not a literal example like Discord, both his role in the episode and [=McCarthy=]'s description of the character make him out as more of a living embodiment of Fear rather than a pony.
* TheArchMage: He seems to be this considering the traps he set up. "The Beginning of the End" also shows him to have pretty high levels of power in direct combat, too.
* ArcVillain: Of "The Crystal Empire" and "The Beginning of the End".
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: He's so powerful that he ruled the Crystal Empire with an iron hoof because the Crystal Ponies were too terrified of him to challenge his reign.
* BackFromTheDead: He's revived by Grogar's magic. It doesn't stick; Sombra eventually gets ReducedToDust thanks to the Magic of Friendship used by the Mane Six, and this time, [[DeaderThanDead he doesn't come back]].
* BadPowersBadPeople: He uses dark unicorn magic powered by hatred and fear. To no one's surprise, he's an EvilOverlord. A major part of his characterization in the comics, where he invokes this. He's literally MadeOfEvil, so being a bad person is pretty much the only option for him.
* BigBadWannabe: He ultimately serves as this during "The Beginning of the End". Sombra does manage to accomplish quite a bit -- he [[spoiler:destroys the Elements of Harmony and the Tree of Harmony with his dark crystals]], and manages to conquer both the Crystal Empire and Canterlot with little effort. However, it's made clear that Discord could have beaten Sombra any time he wanted, and the only reason Discord held back was to prove a point. By the end of the episode, Sombra ends up DeaderThanDead, ReducedToDust by the Mane Six and their Magic of Friendship. Grogar predicted this would happen, and uses Sombra's failure as a warning to the rest of his LegionOfDoom not to go against his plan, ultimately making Sombra nothing more than an [[MakeAnExampleOfThem example]]. [[spoiler:Even Sombra's destruction of the Tree of Harmony only helped to make it stronger come "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS9E3Uprooted Uprooted]]", where it grows into the Treehouse of Harmony thanks to the Young Six. This ultimately means Sombra's attempt to TakeOverTheWorld actually made things worse for the bad guys.]]
* BigEntrance: Sombra ''really'' knows how to make a dramatic entrance, as shown in pretty much every one of his appearances.
* BigNo: Twice during "The Beginning of the End".
** In Part 1, he yells this when Cadance recovers the Crystal Heart.
** In Part 2, it's the last thing he says before being vaporized by the magic of friendship.
* BizarreTasteInFood: After brainwashing the Cakes, he has them bake him a black licorice fruitcake to celebrate his conquest of Equestria. Pinkie despairs that it's the worst cake she's ever seen.
* BlackMagic: His magic generates black crystals, and is powered by hatred and fear.
* BondVillainStupidity: Twice in "The Beginning of the End -- Part 2".
** He traps the Mane Six in a ring of crystals, but intentionally passes up the chance to turn them into his brainwashed slaves, preferring instead to leave them with their "greatest fear" of him conquering Ponyville. This gives the Mane Six the chance to escape and ultimately defeat him.
** After seemingly wounding Discord, he simply stands there and mocks the Mane Six as they tend to him, rather than take the opportunity to attack them while they're distracted.
* CanonDiscontinuity: His return in season 9 invoked this on his appearances in the comics, which brought him back much earlier, and took him in a ''very'' different direction.
* CastingAShadow:
** He was turned to shadow by Celestia and Luna when he was defeated the first time. He took the form of a giant, amorphous shadow being upon his return.
** His magic is explicitly stated to be dark and malevolent in nature. He can cast spells that make people see their worst fear, trap people with dark crystals, and brainwash people into slavery with corrupting armor.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In his vastly expanded screentime in "The Beginning of the End", King Sombra is characterized as being more pompous and self-indulgent than he was in "The Crystal Empire", where he was more creepy and far less talkative.
* TheChessmaster:
** The steps he took to keep the Crystal Heart from being found in the first place imply that he considered ponies of ''all'' races to be able to find it. In fact, most of the threat that he poses is a result of his actions ''before'' the episode even started.
** In "The Beginning of the End", he weaves a fairly complex plan for taking out the Bearers. His conquest of the Crystal Empire is a feint -- by taking over the Empire, he draws the Bearers into taking the Elements and coming to obliterate him, obfuscating his true goal and letting himself lose their encounter in order to make them think they have won and let their guard down. When the main characters think they have defeated him, [[spoiler:he follows them to the Tree of Harmony, destroys the Elements at their source, and takes out the chief threat to his conquest of Equestria.]] His plan relies heavily on the main characters behaving as he predicted and tricking them into thinking that they actually defeated him the first time -- and it works.
* ColdHam: Despite his minor screentime and lines and his seriousness, his dragon-like roars and EvilLaugh still give him some flair; and just look at his RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver motif. Very apparent in his comic book appearances, where rage is pretty much the only emotion he can reliably express; normally he's pretty morose, delivering hammy lines with little real enthusiasm.

* CreatorCameo: His few lines [[https://twitter.com/TheBiggestJim/status/267356800981008384 and other noises]] were provided by storyboard supervisor "Big" Jim Miller in "The Crystal Empire".
* CursedWithAwesome: Played with. Turning him into living darkness was Celestia and Luna's doing, though whether he's more powerful in this form than in his true form is anyone's guess. On one hand, he's less of a flesh-and-blood pony and more of a malevolent force of nature, which makes him much harder to fight directly. On the other hand, he's little more than a beast in shadow form while his CrazyPrepared status suggests he was far more intelligent before.
* DarkIsEvil: He's a dark shadow cloud and TheDreaded.

* DeaderThanDead: His second death in "The Beginning of the End". While he was broken apart into pieces by the Crystal Heart in his first appearance, the second time sees [[https://derpibooru.org/2004578 the Mane Six using the Magic of Friendship to obliterate Sombra]] so thoroughly that he's ReducedToDust. He never appeared in the series again after this happened, making him gone for good with no chance of resurrection.
* DeathByIrony: He ends his first appearance by being obliterated by his former slave race.
* DeathCryEcho: Instead of the BigNo previous villains were accustomed to using.
* DeathGlare: He has one so terrifying that the Crystal Ponies shudder just thinking about it.
* DemotedToDragon: Defied in Season 9, where he refuses to work for Grogar and runs off to fight Equestria on his own.
* DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: Unlike Discord, he sees his victims as slaves instead of playthings and goes to great lengths to maintain control of the Crystal Empire and keep the Crystal Ponies under his hoof through fear and dark magic.
* DidntSeeThatComing: What repeatedly spoils Sombra's plans is that he overlooked a small detail that unravels everything.
** In "Return of the Crystal Empire", his traps only seemed to account for somepony coming to look for the Crystal Heart alone. Because Spike accompanies Twilight, he's first able to snap her out of Sombra's illusion spell, and then when she's trapped by Sombra's Crystals, she's able to pass the Crystal Heart to Spike so he can get it to Cadance.
** In "The Beginning of the End", Sombra seemingly predated the Elements of Harmony, or at least doesn't know the Mane Six are their wielders. He thinks that because the Crystal Heart is under his control, nothing can hope to stop him, and then the Mane Six storm in with the Elements and blast him. [[spoiler:While he makes a comeback by destroying the Elements and the Tree of Harmony, he doesn't realize the six ''embody'' the virtues of the Elements and don't need the gemstones themselves to call on their power, which they do to destroy him a second time.]]
* DiscOneFinalBoss: He sets up as this for the final season, as he's the first villain the Mane Six have to face before [[LegionOfDoom Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow]].

* ErmineCapeEffect: When he was in his physical form, he wore a red ermine-trimmed cape.
* EvilCounterpart:
** To the Crystal Heart (and thus Cadance). He's a being of shadow whose magic is fueled by ThePowerOfHate and fear while the Crystal Heart is powered by the light, love, and hope of the Crystal Empire.
** "The Cutie Re-Mark" plays him up as one to Celestia in his timeline. They're the leaders of their respective nations in the war for Equestria, [[LargeAndInCharge they both tower over their subjects]], he's dark and male where she's light and female, he's a cruel, merciless tyrant where she's a benevolent and compassionate leader, he seeks to enslave Equestria while Celestia fights to keep this from happening and they're the most powerful fighters and magic-users in their respective sides.

* EvilOverlord: This is what he was before Celestia and Luna overthrew him; a tyrannical slavemaster of the Crystal Empire.
* EvilPlan: He was banished from his domain and he's back to reclaim it and re-enslave the Crystal Ponies.

* EvilSoundsDeep: The few times he speaks it is like this. (Unlike Discord, this is played completely straight.)
* EvilTastesGood: Licks his lips in anticipation of whatever he intended to do to Spike when he caught him.

* EyeMotifs: The imagery of Sombra's glowing green eyes is a recurring symbol of his. In his shadow form at first the only recognizable feature is his eyes (later he's able to form a proper head), when the Crystal Ponies try to remember their past and remember Sombra, they're shown to see a vision of his eyes, and those under the influence of his dark magic, either channelling it or being subject to his spells, have their own eyes glow green like his. In the BadFuture where he almost conquers Equestria, his brainwashed soldiers wear helmets that give them the same glow.
* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath:
** He is [[LiterallyShatteredLives shattered to pieces]] in "The Crystal Empire". Even more shocking is if one looks closely, some parts of him ''hadn't'' turned to crystal. It's particularly noticeable in that he's the only villain aside from the Windigos to actually be destroyed and unlike with other villains of the show, nothing is said to imply that he's ''not'' dead, so we can assume he's KilledOffForReal. You can even see his severed horn flying toward the screen! WordOfGod confirms that he is dead.
** He's resurrected in "The Beginning of the End" by Grogar, but ends up getting killed again by the Mane Six wiping him out with the Magic of Friendship. This time, he vanishes into dust as he's hit with a WorldHealingWave and Grogar chooses not to resurrect him again.

* FatalFlaw: {{Pride}}. He's ''very'' confident in his abilities, spurning Grogar's offer of an alliance due to the belief that he can conquer Equestria on his own. While he comes close to succeeding, his refusal to take out the Mane Six when he has the opportunity (believing they're not a threat to him) ends up costing him dearly. When the Mane Six are seconds away from finishing him, he still rants about how their magic can't be a match for his, being completly unable to accept the truth.

* FlatCharacter: In his Season 3 debut, he has only a handful of lines which are only a couple words each, leaving interpretation of his character down to reading through his actions. Averted with Season 9 bringing him back fully for its premiere and letting him show off his personality in full.
* GenericDoomsdayVillain:
** He is built up as being a huge threat to the Crystal Empire, and is also revealed to have [[spoiler:set up an intricate security system to prevent anypony from getting the Crystal Heart in the past]], but other than that, his characterization is nonexistent, especially in comparison to the show's other villains, and there is barely any backstory for him to speak of. This isn't helped by him [[TheSilentBob speaking very little]] and not having any meaningful interaction with the other characters and spends most of the two-parter as more of a wave of blackness rather than an actual character. The show treats him more like a powerful malevolent force than a character in his own right. According to WordOfGod, he was intended to be more of a menacing and terrifying presence lurking over everything. In other words, ''fear itself''.
** "The Cutie Re-Mark – Part 1" builds on this a bit by showing a BadFuture where the Mane Six weren't around to stop his return, but this story that explicitly ranks the danger levels of the show's major villains still puts him at the very bottom... though only in the sense that his is the most "normal" world. In Sombra's future, Equestria is slowly being bled dry as Sombra's legions of slave warriors push on to conquer it as he conquered the Crystal Empire -- in contrast, Nightmare Moon has placed Equestria under TheNightThatNeverEnds and is implied to be slowly going ''insane'', Chrysalis has enslaved all ponies to use as food and forced the survivors to flee into the Everfree Forest, Discord has turned the world into {{Cloudcuckooland}} and Tirek is just laying waste to everything. The only other villains with a similarly vanilla BadFuture are the Flim-Flam Brothers, who've turned Equestria into a polluted, over-industrialized wasteland.
** This trope is wholly averted during Sombra's second major appearance in the show in "The Beginning of the End", where a fully restored King Sombra is shown to be a very talkative villain and is given a lot more characterization, building on what was already established about his personality. He's confident in his own skills to the point of pompousness and hubris, he loves to taunt his foes about their inadequacies compared to his own strength and humiliate them to destroy their morale, and he's shown to be very cunning and manipulative, lulling his enemies into a false sense of security before striking their most vulnerable points when they least expect it to get ahead.
* GeniusBruiser: He's a CrazyPrepared NoNonsenseNemesis who's practically a living WorldWreckingWave.

* GoodHurtsEvil: Can be repelled by Cadance's shield of light and love, and contact with it cuts him like a blade. By contrast, normal ponies are completely unaffected by contact, so that may have been a side effect of his shadow form.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
** He tries to reach Spike and the Crystal Heart by launching into the air on a crystal pillar, reverting back to his pony form in the process (either from regaining strength or simply being close to the Crystal Heart). This leaves him standing on said pillar, several hundred feet in the air without his far more agile LivingShadow form, giving him no way to escape the Crystal Heart's energy wave.
** Being so horrible to the Crystal Ponies makes it worse. It's why [[TheDogBitesBack they had no qualms about killing him when the opportunity presented itself]].
* HulkSpeak: Seems to have been a side effect of his long imprisonment or his smoke monster transformation, the ninth season reveals he was once capable of complete speech.
* ICanRuleAlone: He refuses to work for Grogar, instead opting to conquer Equestria on his own. This ends predictably and disastrously, and Grogar uses him as an example of what happens to those who defy him.
* IKnowWhatYouFear: Sombra boasts this, using his mind manipulation magic to show Twilight a vision of her friends being brainwashed into his slaves, and of Celestia and Luna being corrupted into Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon.
* ImplacableMan: Celestia, Luna, Shining, and Cadance can only delay him without the Heart. Even that doesn't destroy him for good, though, and his spirit eventually reforms.
* InexplicablyAwesome: The comics aside (which are BroadStrokes canon to the show), there's no explanation given for how Sombra is so strong. His various powers, including fear illusions and anti-magic crystal barriers, are capable of affecting alicorns like Twilight and Cadance, Starlight Glimmer falls under his thrall the same as any other pony, and it's implied in Season 4 that Sombra's BlackMagic is something otherwise exclusive to alicorns. He's even able to [[spoiler:survive being blasted by the Elements of Harmony, then destroy the Tree of Harmony and shatter the Elements]]. This would make Sombra one of the most powerful unicorns in known history, possibly even above Star Swirl the Bearded.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He is the only villain to immediately reject Grogar's idea for a VillainTeamUp, claiming he doesn't do "ours", only "mine", and [[ICanRuleAlone claims he can defeat the Mane Six himself]].
* KarmicDeath:
** Given his viciousness and the sheer scale of his intended atrocities, it's fitting that he's the only antagonist thus far to die.
** Double subverted in that he returns alive in Season 9, but gets wasted once again by the Mane Six.
* KilledOffForReal:
** Meghan [=McCarthy=] confirmed at Unicon 2013, making him the only character to actually ''die'' on the show. However, [[FlipFlopOfGod the comics and some merchandise]] leave it ambiguous, and in the comics his spirit lived on inside his horn.
** In "The Beginning of the End," he's hit with this again as the Mane Six use the Magic of Friendship to wipe him out. It was Sombra's last appearance on the show, meaning he's gone permanently. Grogar uses Sombra's death as an example of why his VillainTeamUp is necessary. Granted, he was technically undead to begin with.
* KneelBeforeZod: After Sombra conquers the Crystal Empire, he puts Shining Armor, Cadance, and Flurry Heart in chains and orders them to kneel before him. Shining and Cadance comply, Flurry doesn’t.

* {{Leitmotif}}: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU1A3FT7TgA He has a pretty ominous one.]] It definitely serves to give what screen time he has a good deal of impact.
* LiterallyShatteredLives: What happens to him upon his first defeat. The Crystal Heart's power overwhelms him, making him explode into several pieces.
* LivingShadow: His state when he begins his first revival is to return as one of these, before he reforms his own body. He retains elements of it when fully resurrected in Season 9, able to shapeshift into clouds of darkness and back at will.

* MakeAnExampleOfThem: Grogar doesn't punish Sombra for abandoning the proposed VillainTeamUp, even sending him right to the Crystal Empire to start his attempt to take over the world alone. Grogar allows this knowing Sombra would fail, and uses his DeaderThanDead defeat at the hooves of the Mane Six as a warning to the other villains to not defy him.
* ManOfKryptonite: He can spawn PowerNullifier crystals seemingly at will.
* MeaningfulName:
** "Sombra" means "shadow" in Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician. It becomes even more meaningful when the Princesses turn him into a LivingShadow when overthrowing him.
** It also sounds like "Somber", which makes [[VileVillainSaccharineShow no small amount of sense]]. The comics reinforce this interpretation, where bar a few moments of triumph and satisfaction, he's mostly miserable and depressed about his fate.
* MightyGlacier: He's extremely powerful, and his LivingShadow form can get large enough to surround an entire kingdom. However, he also moves like an AdvancingWallOfDoom, and it seemingly takes him a while to react properly to anything that catches him off-guard; therefore, he excels at things like CrazyPrepared-ness and {{Long Game}}s to compensate.
* MindRape:
** He did this to the Crystal Ponies a thousand years ago. Not only are they incapable of remembering anything before his rule, they're left in a perpetual state of unhappiness and despair. The former is implied to be psychic, but the latter might be mundane, considering his [[SlaveRace treatment of them]].
** He also booby-trapped the door to the Crystal Heart to do this to whoever tried to enter it, trapping them in a vision of their greatest fear to prevent them from going further.
** He attempts this on the Mane Six in "The Beginning of the End – Part 1", but the Elements of Harmony allow them to break free.
* MysteriousPast: Absolutely nothing about his backstory or the reasons behind his great power in pony form is remotely hinted at.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: As listed above, his name is one.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: His [[spoiler:destruction of the Tree of Harmony in "The Beginning of the End" [[NotQuiteDead doesn't completely kill it]] so in "Uprooted" it's able to reach out to the Young Six for help and when they build a memorial tree-house from its remains it [[CameBackStrong regenerates and grows into a larger and stronger form]] with a large tree-house in it. In other words, by breaking the Tree's old form, Sombra ultimately helped the tree gain an even stronger form]].
* NoNonsenseNemesis: What makes Sombra so dangerous aside from his magical prowess is that he likes to be simple and direct when dealing with obstacles.
** In "The Crystal Empire", Sombra constantly probes the shield for weaknesses and tries to get inside the moment he finds one. When he senses Twilight approaching the Crystal Heart, he immediately imprisons her inside a field of anti-magic crystals. Then while slowly filling the Empire with his dark crystals and savoring his impending victory, when he notices Spike carrying the Crystal Heart, he makes a beeline straight for him.
** The Crystal Heart, the one thing that could stop him, was protected ''extremely'' well behind numerous different illusion spells conjured by BlackMagic, something that very few ponies aside from Sombra know how to use. He also ringed the Heart itself with a protection spell that alerts him the second somepony approaches it, and he took steps to erase all knowledge of its existence from memory.
** Revived and returned to Equestria in his full power in "The Beginning of the End", Sombra takes over the Crystal Empire in ''minutes'', brainwashing the ponies he finds and making them march behind him as he walks toward the palace and moves in. When he's defeated, he [[spoiler:destroys the Elements of Harmony]] and then heads to Ponyville, brainwashes its inhabitants into a new army, and marches on Canterlot. Along the way, when confronted by powerful ponies he can't control, like Cadance and her family or the Mane Six, he quickly traps them with fear illusions or anti-magic crystals. When confronted by Discord, Sombra just starts blasting magic at him, which only doesn't work because Discord is a PhysicalGod who can neutralize all of his attacks.
* NotSoAboveItAll: After brainwashing the entirety of Ponyville into becoming his army, Sombra has the Cakes bake him a congratulatory cake.
* OhCrap:
** He has this reaction to realizing the Crystal Heart is being powered up.
--->'''King Sombra:''' What? No... no! Stop!
** He also has this reaction when the Mane Six nullify his dark magic with the magic of friendship [[spoiler:''after'' he destroyed the Elements of Harmony]].
--->'''King Sombra:''' How? This shouldn't be possible! Your magic cannot defeat mine! [[spoiler:I destroyed the source of your power!]]
* OneManArmy: While he does like to use an army when he can get one, Sombra really doesn't need one -- he's got AntiMagic strong enough to nullify an Alicorn's powers, can take over the minds of normal ponies, and can create powerful fear illusions. In Season 9 he takes over the Crystal Empire and Canterlot by himself and just uses his brainwashed army to defend the fortresses after.
* PowerEchoes: When he talks, he has this effect on his voice.
* PowerNullifier: He seals Shining Armor's magic during their encounter, which keeps Shining from using his shield spell to help to keep him out. [[spoiler:And his last trap is an AntiMagic CrystalPrison that prevents Twilight from just teleporting away with the Crystal Heart.]]
* ThePowerOfHate: According to Celestia, his magic is based off of fear and hatred. This is pretty much the only thing sustaining him in the comics. Normally he's fairly depressed and miserable, with his only displays of emotion being rage when his enemies move against him, and occasional grim satisfaction when he gets revenge on those who have hurt him.
* PragmaticVillainy: Despite the Heart being his AchillesHeel, it's heavily implied that he didn't just smash it -- instead hiding it via all those traps -- because he wants to convert it from ThePowerOfLove to ThePowerOfHate. "The Crystalling" reveals yet another reason that keeping it intact was beneficial to him; without it, he would've lost both his base of operations and his SlaveRace to eternal winter.
* PresentAbsence: Despite his minor screentime, his BlackMagic effects and traps still let him pose a major threat.
* RaceAgainstTheClock: The only thing keeping him out of the Crystal Empire is Cadance's love spell, which is slowly failing. The moment the shield goes down, we get to see exactly why it was so important to keep him out. He starts covering the Crystal Empire in his dark crystals in ''seconds''.
* RealityIsUnrealistic: Sometimes a horse will have fanglike teeth, called "wolf teeth".
* RealityWarper: He once turned the whole Crystal Empire into a {{Mordor}} (and starts to do so again in the present), he made it completely vanish for over an entire millennium, and the layout of his {{Booby Trap}}ped path to the Crystal Heart shows that he can even create {{Pocket Dimension}}s. [[spoiler:In "The Beginning of the End," it's revealed that he can also create his MindControl helmets (first seen in "The Cutie Re-Mark") from thin air.]]
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: His color scheme in pony form.

* ReducedToDust: His death in "The Beginning of the End". The Mane Six use the power of friendship to completely wipe him out so that there's nothing left of his body. This time, [[DeaderThanDead Sombra's death sticks, as he never reappeared in the series]].
* RefugeInAudacity: How he takes over the Crystal Empire again in "The Beginning of the End". While most other villains scheme and plan ahead of time, Sombra just walks up to the palace and moves in, brainwashing the Crystal Ponies he meets along the way into a new army. Cadance and Shining Armor barely have time to get word to Twilight that he's back before he captures them, and by the time Twilight and her friends arrive, Sombra is lounging on the throne with the royal family in chains.
* ResurrectedForAJob: By Grogar ([[spoiler:actually Discord]]) in Season 9. Sombra immediately decides to do his own thing, which ends in his second death.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: In the dark future shown in "The Cutie Re-Mark – Part 1", King Sombra leads his enslaved, brainwashed troops into battle himself, dueling the princesses and their army.
* SacrificialLamb: King Sombra serves as this in "The Beginning of the End" for Grogar's LegionOfDoom. Grogar resurrected him and brought him to his lair to recruit him along with Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow, but Sombra refused to work with any of them and declared he could win on his own. As a result of his arrogance he is killed once again and his defeat only serves to reinforce Grogar's claim that they can only win by working together.
* SameCharacterButDifferent: King Sombra is written very differently throughout the franchise: he's an ominous GenericDoomsdayVillain in his first appearance, a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds lashing out at the world in his story arc in the comics, and a pompous SmugSnake badass tyrant in his second major appearance in the series.
* SatanicArchetype: His initial takeover of the Crystal Empire (stated to be Equestria's CosmicKeystone kingdom) was similar to Lucifer's first rebellion in {{Heaven}} from ''Literature/ParadiseLost''; his subsequent exile (to be sealed underground in ice) reflected the deepest part of {{Hell}} from ''Literature/TheDivineComedy''; and his TakingYouWithMe curse upon the Empire reflected Lucifer/Satan's RevengeByProxy introduction of sin among humanity, and his fearful and depressing PresentAbsence over the Crystal Ponies was similar to how Satan is described as "prowl{ing} about like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour," both examples being in ''Literature/TheBible''.

* TheSilentBob: A break of tradition from [[EvilIsHammy every other villain from before]], he surprisingly speaks very little, mainly growling like a monster. At one point during the comics he notes that Queen Chrysalis [[YouTalkTooMuch Talks Too Much]]. Averted in the final season opener when he becomes much more vocal.
* SlasherSmile: His default expression.
* SlaveRace: What he turned the Crystal Ponies into. He even calls them his "Crystal slaves" at one point.
* SmallNameBigEgo: He is very arrogant. When he seemingly defeats Discord, he states that he is more powerful than him, completely ignoring the fact that Discord was clearly winning and Sombra just got in a lucky shot because of him TakingTheBullet for Fluttershy. [[spoiler:Even more so when it's revealed Discord was faking defeat]].
* SmugSnake: He arrogantly states to Grogar that he'll take over Equestria alone, with Sombra believing himself to be powerful enough to do so. [[NearVillainVictory He was almost right]]. Throughout the Season 9 premiere, he's very smug and boastful about how easy it was to deceive and overpower the Mane Six, taunting them and their friends at every opportunity, partly to destroy their morale and keep them under his heel, partly to feed his own ego, and partly because he loves making other ponies squirm. When he finds the throne room at Canterlot castle empty, he immediately assumes Celestia and Luna (the ones who defeated him the first time) fled rather than face him, and has no problem believing he is capable of besting Discord.
-->'''Twilight:''' Discord, I'm so glad you're okay, we can't beat him without you!\\
'''Sombra''' (smirking): Heh, you couldn't beat me with him either.
* TheSociopath: Likely to be one one of the biggest in G4 due to his callous regard of anyone else, his cruel treatment of his "Crystal Slaves", the many tricks in the book he used to keep anyone from finding the Crystal Heart, and his obvious enjoyment in trying to kill a child. This is more apparent in Season 9 when he refuses to join Grogar's Legion Of Doom for purely selfish reasons. What's more, unlike the others (Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow), he doesn't have a single PetTheDog or EvenEvilHasStandards moment, making one of the few who play this trope completely straight along with the Storm King and Principal Cinch.
* SorcerousOverlord: The traps that he set imply that he used to be a mighty sorcerer when he was still the Emperor.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: WordOfGod [[http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=88003&view=findpost&p=2162181 has]] [[https://twitter.com/MMeghanMcCarthy/status/257249978081214464 confirmed]] [[http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=88003&view=findpost&p=2163071 the]] [[https://twitter.com/TheBiggestJim/status/267325607048773632 spelling]] [[https://twitter.com/TheBiggestJim/status/267340093637935105 to]] [[https://twitter.com/TheBiggestJim/status/268603888318431234 be]] "Sombra" (matching the in-show pronunciation), yet a [[https://twitter.com/MyLittlePony/status/265942986926456832 tweet]] by Hasbro's ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' Website/{{Twitter}} spells it as "Somber" (which proves to be a MeaningfulName in its own right, as "somber" means "unhappy" -- much like the Crystal Ponies affected by his spell). Both words ultimately derive from the Latin word "umbra", meaning "shadow".
* SuddenlyVoiced: He's much less of TheSilentBob in "The Beginning of the End," speaking in full, complete sentences and prone to boasting about his strength as a conqueror.

* TheyKilledKennyAgain: Compared to the other villains, poor Sombra’s defeats usually involve him being graphically destroyed into oblivion.
* ThisCannotBe: As he faces his defeat in "The Beginning of The End", he rants that it "can't be possible".

* TookALevelInDumbass: In "The Beginning of the End", he's much more gung-ho and overconfident than the patient pragmatist from "The Crystal Empire" and "The Cutie Re-Mark" (though he does briefly slip back into the latter when [[spoiler:ambushing the Tree of Harmony]]). This makes it a lot easier for him to be humiliated by both Grogar and Discord [[spoiler:(one and the same, no less)]], and ends up getting him [[spoiler:killed yet again (this time for good, on top of it)]].
* TrapMaster: The sheer number of traps he set qualify him for this.
* UngratefulBastard: He shows no gratitude to Grogar for bringing him back to life, dismissing his idea for a VillainTeamUp so he can rule by himself.
* VillainousBreakdown: In "The Beginning of the End," once the Mane Six manage to nullify his magic [[spoiler:without the Elements of Harmony]]. He actually sounds like he's on the verge of tears as he desperately tries to deny his impending defeat.
* VillainousLegacy: "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS9E3Uprooted Uprooted]]", which takes place after the season 9 premiere, deals with [[spoiler:the loss of the Tree of Harmony from Sombra's actions. Ironically him destroying the Tree's old form [[NiceJobFixingItVillain helped it get stronger]] thanks to the Young Six]].

** In "The Beginning of the End," he's hit with this again as the Mane Six use the Magic of Friendship to wipe him out. It was Sombra's last appearance on the show, meaning he's gone permanently. Grogar uses Sombra's death as an example of why his VillainTeamUp is necessary.

!![[center: [- [[Characters/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Main Index]] -]]][[center: [- '''[[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicTheManeCast The Main Cast:]]''' [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicTwilightSparkle Twilight Sparkle]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicFluttershy Fluttershy]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRarity Rarity]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicApplejack Applejack]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRainbowDash Rainbow Dash]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicPinkiePie Pinkie Pie]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSpike Spike]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicStarlightGlimmer Starlight Glimmer]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicTheCutieMarkCrusaders the Cutie Mark Crusaders]]-]]] [[center: [- '''Supporting Cast:''' [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicThePrincesses The Princesses]] ([[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicPrincessCelestia Princess Celestia]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicPrincessLuna Princess Luna]]), [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicManeFamilyMembers Mane Family Members]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSchoolOfFriendship the School of Friendship]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSupportingCastPonyville Supporting Cast, Ponyville]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSupportingCastOtherLocations Supporting Cast, Other Locations]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicAnimalCompanions Animal Companions]]-]]] [[center: [-'''Antagonists:''' [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicMajorVillains Major Villains]] ([[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicQueenChrysalis Queen Chrysalis]], '''King Sombra''', [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicLordTirek Lord Tirek]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicCozyGlow Cozy Glow]]), [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicDangerousCreatures Dangerous Creatures]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicJerksAndBullies Jerks and Bullies]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRedeemed Redeemed Antagonists]] ([[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicDiscord Discord]])-]]] [[center: [- '''World of Equestria:''' [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRaces Races]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicHistoricalFigures Historical Figures]], [[Characters/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 The 2017 Movie]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicToylineExclusive Toyline Exclusive]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicMiscellaneous Miscellaneous]]-]]] [[center: [-'''Minor Characters:''' [[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]])-]]] [[center: [- '''Equestria Girls''' [[Characters/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsHeroines Equestria Girls: Heroines]] ([[Characters/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsSunsetShimmer Sunset Shimmer]]), [[Characters/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsVillains Villains]], [[Characters/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsSupportingCast Supporting Cast]] -] ]]

[[center: [- [[Characters/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Main Index]] -]]]
[[center: [- '''[[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicTheManeCast The Mane Cast]]''' ([[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicTwilightSparkle Twilight Sparkle]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicFluttershy Fluttershy]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRarity Rarity]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicApplejack Applejack]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRainbowDash Rainbow Dash]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicPinkiePie Pinkie Pie]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSpike Spike]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicStarlightGlimmer Starlight Glimmer]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicTheCutieMarkCrusaders The Cutie Mark Crusaders]]) | '''Supporting Cast''' ([[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicThePrincesses The Princesses]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicPrincessCelestia Princess Celestia]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicPrincessLuna Princess Luna]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicManeFamilyMembers Mane Family Members]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSchoolOfFriendship School of Friendship]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSupportingCastPonyville Supporting Cast, Ponyville]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSupportingCastOtherLocations Supporting Cast, Other Locations]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicAnimalCompanions Animal Companions]]) | '''Antagonists''' ([[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicMajorVillains Major Villains]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicQueenChrysalis Queen Chrysalis]], King Sombra, [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicLordTirek Lord Tirek]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicCozyGlow Cozy Glow]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicDangerousCreatures Dangerous Creatures]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicJerksAndBullies Jerks and Bullies]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRedeemed Redeemed Antagonists]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicDiscord Discord]]) | '''World of Equestria''' ([[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRaces Races]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicHistoricalFigures Historical Figures]], [[Characters/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 The 2017 Movie]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicToylineExclusive Toyline Exclusive]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicMiscellaneous Miscellaneous]]) | '''Minor Characters''' ([[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]]) | '''Equestria Girls''' ([[Characters/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsHeroines Equestria Girls: Heroines]], [[Characters/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsSunsetShimmer Sunset Shimmer]], [[Characters/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsVillains Villains]], [[Characters/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsSupportingCast Supporting Cast]]) -] ]]

* FamousLastWords:
-->'''Sombra:''' NO! This can't be possible! Your magic can't defeat mine!! [[spoiler:'''I DESTROYED THE SOURCE OF YOUR POWER!''']]\\
'''Twilight:''' You can't destroy our friendship, Sombra!\\
'''Rainbow:''' And we keep telling bad guys...\\
'''Applejack:''' But y'all just don’t seem to remember.\\
'''Mane Six:''' FRIENDSHIP ''IS'' MAGIC!!!\\
'''Sombra:''' '''''[[BigNO NOOOOOOOOOO!]]'''''

* TheSociopath: Likely to be one one of the biggest in G4 due to his callous regard of anyone else, his cruel treatment of his "Crystal Slaves", the many tricks in the book he used to keep anyone from finding the Crystal Heart, and his obvious enjoyment in trying to kill a child. This is more apparent in Season 9 when he fuses to join Grogar's Legion Of Doom for purely selfish reason. What's more, unlike the others (Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow), he doesn't have a single PetTheDog or EvenEvilHasStandards moment, making one of the few who play this trope completely straight along with the Storm King and Principal Cinch.