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Grogar
The main villain of the Weedverse, and a dangerous and immortal Evil Sorcerer.
- Big Bad: An Evil Sorcerer intending to destroy the world so he can rule over it.
- Casting a Shadow
- Early-Bird Cameo: First mentioned early on in The Weed, as Twilight tells Tarnish of his previous defeat at the hooves of Snowy Summit, but doesn't become important until later.
- Emotion Eater: Gains power from strife between ponies, according to Darling Dark.
- Necromancer: Specialises in this.
- Never Found the Body: After his historical defeat by Snowy Summit. It wasn't much of a surprise that they didn't find the body, the explosion created the San Palomino desert, but he survived somehow.
- Un-person: Much to Twilight Sparkle's annoyance, as previous attempts to erase him from history are hampering their ability to stop him in the present.
Catrina
Grogar's right hand.
- Arch-Enemy: To Sumac Apple.
- Cat Folk
- Chekhov's Gunman: First mentioned in passing in Venenum Iocus, but doesn't become really important until Princess Twilight Sparkle's School For Fantastic Foals.
- The Dragon: To Grogar.
- Our Liches Are Different
- Vain Sorceress: Despite being a rotting corpse.
Flam Apple
First Appearance: The Weed
Sumac's biological father, he gets arrested during the major Time Skip, resulting in Sumac being taken in by Trixie.
- Chekhov's Gunman: He first appeared with his brother, Flim, in Dodge Junction selling drugs that Tarnished Teapot purchased. He would later have an important role after the Time Skip.
- Con Man: Much like his canon self, but less likable about it here.
- Mr Fix It: Can fix gadgets, something that Sumac inherited from him.
- Silver Tongue: His magic is focused in this direction. Sumac, his son, inherited the Grift from him.
- Transflormation: Ends up subjected to this after attempting to kidnap Sumac.
The Equalist Movement
First Appearance: The Perilous Romance Of Swans
A group of ponies who believe that Starlight Glimmer had the right idea before her reformation.
- Bomb-Throwing Anarchists: The worst of them consist of these, being the reason why the bridge to the Crystal Empire was destroyed. Their leader did not approve of this action and was shocked they didn't follow his orders.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The best of them believe that Princesses Celestia and Luna are tyrants, and want to bring down their monarchy in a well-meaning attempt to free Equestria.
The Alicorn Ascendancy
A group attempting to magically force Ascension.
- Soul Power: How they're trying to create new alicorns.
Mr. Mariner
First Appearance: The Perilous Romance Of Swans
A male Earth pony who is the owner of many businesses in Equestria, including the newspaper that tries to slander Gosling.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Mariner's a newspaper magnate, and owns a lot of buildings and other businesses in Manehattan, including the bog-standard pigeon coop apartments Sleet and Gosling once lived in. He was also mentioned in Spring Broke to have tried buying the local businesses in the Grittish Isles, but the people there got wise and drove him out.
- Establishing Character Moment: Mariner's first meeting with Gosling depicted him psychoanalyzing the latter, accusing him of being a lazy noble who keeps the throne warm, and making veiled threats to Gosling and his mother when he mentions the apartment complexes they once lived in. He also throws in this line should Gosling try threaten his activities:
- Faux Affably Evil: Mariner's very, very polite, but also utterly ruthless and willing to make veiled threats against entire populations if it gets him his way.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Wears glasses, and is an utterly amoral pony and businessman.
- Karma Houdini: So far, he is yet to be caught by the authorities for his act of treachery against the Royal Sisters and Equestria at large.
- Manipulative Bastard: Had Skyfire Flash bribed in exchange for causing a scandal involving her ex, Gosling, to hurt the Royal Family,
- MegaCorp: The owner of one.
- Morton's Fork: Inflicts Celestia with this after he activates his Xanatos Gambit - he gets to accuse Celestia of tyranny if she intervenes, or he'll cause Equestrian society as we know it to crash and burn with him if she doesn't
- Never My Fault: Mariner claimed that while he does own several newspapers, he wasn't responsible for Skyfire's act of slander because he doesn't control what goes on the front pages. Gosling isn't impressed.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Attempts this against the Crown. The Crown wins.
- Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Mariner warns Gosling in their first meeting that his idealism and desire to improve things may destroy Equestria's current system.
- Smug Snake: An utterly ruthless and amoral slimeball who sees himself as above others. He's also a large Earth pony, so he gets the additional bonus of looking down on his peers.
- Taking You Down With Me: One possible result Mariner hopes for after he enacts his Xanatos Gambit. If Celestia doesn't act, then Equestria crashes and burns with him.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: His entire gambit was based on exposing the cracks in the system and removing the Royal Sisters from power.
- Xanatos Gambit: Mr. Mariner attempts this in Chapter 57 of The Perilous Romance of Swans when he is forced to face the music for his newspaper's attempted slander of Gosling. He evicts all his tenants from Manehattan, Vanhoover, and Baltimare; closes all his businesses, making the Equestrian economy crash; and given he also controls several power plants, this means that entire cities go dark. He also shuts down the telegraph, cutting off Canterlot's supply of information. If Celestia moves to block him, then he can claim she's a tyrant and convict her in the court of public opinion. If she doesn't, he gets to take Equestria down with him.
Humiliation
A book sent with She to catalogue her torments in the mortal world.
- Animate Inanimate Object
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: His contents aren't terribly humiliating, to a pony, but to a demon, they truly are.
- Tome of Eldritch Lore
The Rat Bastard
A captured intelligent rat the Rat Catcher's Guild is holding as a test subject.
Contagion
A rat champion that becomes the focus of a cult of rats, an attempt by Grogar to exploit Enshrinement.
- Dark Messiah: To the rats.
- Dream Walker: Becomes one after his death.
- Hero Killer: Responsible for the deaths of Flicker Nicker (this one doesn't stick), and Dr. Sterling (this one does).
- My Death Is Just the Beginning: Dying to Dr. Sterling's Heroic Sacrifice simply allowed him to Ascend.
- The Only One Allowed To Kill You: Towards Flicker, at Grogar's insistence.
- Talking Animal: A talking rat.
Dark Desire
First Appearance: Eigengrau
Dim Dark's mother, and the most visible face of the powers that be in House Dark.
- Abusive Parents: The entire House systematically abuses its foals, but Dark Desire is most visible, due to her direct links to Dim.
- Blue Blood: The Darks are said to one of Equestria's oldest noble houses, and Desire's no exception.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Dim's father was Dire Dark, Desire's brother and Dim's uncle, which would make Dim and Darling half-siblings. Hearing the truth of his parentage, as well as realizing the implications of what he had been doing to Darling (having sex) felt like a vicious slap to the face.
- Dark Is Evil: Well, when part of your name is Dark and you encourage systemic abuse of your own children, then you're this by default.
- Deal with the Devil: Has sold her soul and her daughter for power.
- Evil Matriarch
- Laughing Mad: She has a tendency to make screeching laughs, due to the inbred insanity of the Darks.
- I Want Grandkids: And takes a creepy interest in the process.
- Our Liches Are Different: Dim's attempt to kill her forces her to accelerate the transformation.
- Self-Made Orphan: At least, we hope that "cast into the dark spaces between the walls" means that her parents are dead. Either way, they aren't coming back.
Darling Dark
First Appearance: Eigengrau
Dim's former partner/toy. Broken by the abusive upbringing she's suffered, she is addicted to him.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When Dim takes out her escorts without taking a hit, she begs for her life.
- Blue Blood: As a member of one of Equestria's oldest noble houses, she is one.
- Brother–Sister Incest: She and Dim are products of this, being half-siblings through relations Dire Dark and Dark Desire. In fact, incest is encouraged to keep the Dark line pure. When Darling and Dim had sex for the first time (when they were foals, no less!), their family celebrated and showered both of them with gifts.
- Deal with the Devil: Sold her soul for power, and after she dies, they come to collect.
- Harmful to Minors: She and Dim first had sex when they were still foals. This combined with the abusive behaviors of the Darks twisted Darling into a sex toy and a broken mare with an unhealthy addiction to Dim.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: She used to believe in tea parties and make-believe tales of knights in shining armor. The toxic environment of House Dark utterly destroyed her innocence.
- Villainous Breakdown: Does not go quietly into the night.
Belladonna Apple
Sumac's biological mother.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Initially mentioned as Sumac's imprisoned mother, but doesn't seem important beyond that until much later.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Was originally just the wife of a small-time con artist. She ended up becoming a crucial part in Grogar's plan, birthing his new body and invading Tartarus to try and get him more power.
Tweedy Penny
The therapist of Honey Dew, she got dragged into some dark stuff, including experiments on foals.
- Blackmail: Was initially dragged in due to the threat of having an affair revealed.
- The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much: The police are certain she committed suicide. Absolutely certain.
- Pet the Dog: Did what she could to keep the foals comfortable, such as sedating them before an experiment.
- Posthumous Character: Her first appearance is bled out in a bathtub.
- Would Hurt a Child: Was involved in experiments on foals. However, she did try to make the foals feel comfortable and painless before and during the experiments
Bourgogne Blintz
First Appearance: Down With The Pastryarchy
A female earth pony, and a celebrity activist for earth pony rights. Though initially portrayed as sympathetic to her tribe's plight, things are actually not what they seem.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She's well-spoken, cordial, and claims to sympathize with the Earth pony plight, but she's actually a sheltered, selfish mare who adapted Cadance's psychological methods for her own use and uses them to stir up public opinion, while keeping herself away from the core of the real issues Earth ponies face.
- Disproportionate Retribution: She cuts off Bundt's microphone the moment she announces Twilight's presence on air, and then fires her as her assistant. She tries to cover up her actions with the excuse that Bundt's water broke, but Twilight is suspicious and is not pleased to learn the truth.
- Evil Counterpart: Twilight is infuriated when she learns that Blintz has taken Cadance's psychological methods, originally designed to heal troubled ponies, and weaponized them to exploit the public at large for her own purposes. It helps that her coat is a muted pink.
- Hypocrite: She, as an earth pony, claims to sympathize with the problems her tribe faces at large, but as Twilight deduces, she's actually a very sheltered mare who rode to the top on the backs of many ponies and chooses to remain ignorant, using prestige and Cadance's psychological methods to stir up public opinion for her own goals.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Twilight unleashes an absolutely brutal one on her, utterly deconstructing her Motive Rant about being a Self-Made Man, and informing her of the real atrocities that ponies have directly fought to protect others from suffering them. It results in Blintz holding a deep grudge against Twilight.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Realizing that she couldn't cow Twilight easily, she instead chooses to pull a Taking You with Me by leaving and pull many of the Great Equestrian Bakeoff's sponsers and celebrities with her, all to spite Twilight for exposing her true character.
- Self-Made Man: Blintz claims that her origins were based on this in a Motive Rant. But because Blintz's speech sounds tailored, Twilight suspects otherwise, and gives her a brutal "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
- Shadow Archetype: She's what Twilight could have been, if she chose to stay oblivious to the heart of the public issues she claims to sympathize with, and used prestige and public opinion to manipulate things into her own favor.
- Taking You with Me: Her sudden departure is of this manner; by leaving and taking many corporate sponsers with her, she ensures the failure of the Great Equestrian Bakeoff, leaving many earth ponies without a good chance to become successful, all to spite Twilight and the many ponies who sided with her.
- Would Hurt a Child: After she was fired, Bundt Buttercream confides to Twilight that Blintz wouldn't hesitate to send security after her if she continues to stay on the premises, not caring that her former assistant is heavily pregnant with twins. This causes Twilight to promptly Bundt to her friends' hotel room and enlist Applejack to be Bundt's bodyguard.
