These Wild Mass Guesses are about Discord and they make no sense. If you want to look elsewhere then:
- Either he's a unique mythical creature like the Pegasus was (Pegasus was originally the winged horse's name), or he murdered the hell out of the rest and took their powers.
- Or there's more of them but the rest have no interest in screwing with things the way Discord does.
- Which would make some very meta sense. Discord is basically Q, John de Lancie's famed Star Trek character, in a children's cartoon. In Star Trek it is later found out that Q himself is a member of ancient evolved race of nigh-omnipotent energy beings also called the Q or the Q-continuum. The rest of the Q are completely ambivalent to the lower planes of existence and the lifeforms that inhabit it, and in fact hold a strict policy of non-interference. In fact Q's constant meddling in the lower planes - which he justifies as a way to satiate his boredom - greatly annoys his brethren; so much so that after one particular "final straw" they strip him of his powers as a Q, and leave him as basically a normally human on the Enterprise D under the watch of his frenemy Captain Jean-Luc Picard; much to both men's displeasure. The rest of the Draconequi could very well mirror the rest of the Q-continuum, powerful benevolent to ambivalent reality warpers who avoid meddling or involving themselves in the affairs of others.
- Well, put it this way; Equestria is just one COUNTRY. It's not a continent or an island or the name of the planet. It's just one region of many, like North America or Japan or France. For all we know, Draconequestria could exist or maybe once did as well, maybe even next to Equestria. Discord may have been an oddball Draconequus and just wandered the world, or maybe he was exiled for his malicious nature, spreading hell where he went, and found ponies the easiest/funnest to torment and torture because of their general benevolent natures. This, or draconequus are malicious by nature but Discord is easily the worst of the lot, the other ones taking place my trying to get rid of each other in order to rule the other Draconequi (Draconequesses?).
- Even scarier, what if Discord is the White Sheep of his species? What if the other Draconequi are even worse than him and he left whatever homeland they had because Even Evil Has Standards? Perhaps Draconequi spend all their time in a chaotic and violent assault on every other member of their species that warps the laws of physics beyond their breaking point and that distraction of messing with each other is the only reason Discord is the only Draconequus to have wandered over to Equestria to mess with the ponies. Let's hope the others never show up.
- Or there's more of them but the rest have no interest in screwing with things the way Discord does.
- The only pony to use the term "Draconequus" was Cheerilee, and she wasn't referring to Discord at all; she was referring to the statue in the garden she genuinely had no idea was actually an imprisoned spirit. It's a nice theory, but really, he doesn't have a species.
- Wrong. The species has been confirmed to be Draconequus in the season 6 finale and onwards.
Though the attack seemed to have no effect at first, his pranks eventually started to get more vicious. Then he decided that it didn't matter if anyone else laughed, as long as he got a laugh. He went around, sewing chaos everywhere, and drawing power from the conflicts he caused. The dark force fed off this power, making Discord more malicious. As he grew more malicious, he caused even greater chaos to draw power from. A negative feed-back loop was formed.The dark force eventually began affecting his physical form, gradually twisting him into the monster we know him as now.
By the time the other alicorns figured out what had happened, he was too powerful for them to stop. He proceeded to wipe the alicorn civilization from the planet, until six young alicorns discovered the Elements of Harmony. By the time they engaged Discord with their new found power, the darkness in him was too powerful to be purged, but they managed to seal him in stone. During the battle, four of the six were fatally wounded, and during the sealing, a small portion of the darkness broke away and took up orbit around the moon. The two remaining alicorns, Celestia and Luna, last of their kind, preceded to rebuild civilization using the lesser pony races: earth, pegasus, and unicorn (and sea?).
The darkness eventually returned and attacked Luna, but Celestia, having seen the signs of corruption in Discord (particularly the first physical manifestation, those draconic eyes), banished her sister to the moon, isolating her from any source of power for the darkness to feed on, and giving her time to find new bearers for the Elements of Harmony. Since the darkness in Luna wasn't nearly as strong as it had been in Discord, Luna could be purified, but if she had been allowed to corrupt more thoroughly, her form would have also twisted, though retaining a lunar them, as opposed to Discords chaotic theme.
- If the Elements of Harmony alone weren't powerful enough to purify Discord, perhaps adding more 'good' elements will help?
- He's been redeemed through friendship, not purification.
- Nope nope nope. Think about it. Is the Everfree Forest normal? From the point of view of a world where physics and biology work without requiring magic, pretty much. Everywhere else in Equestria? It's not a zero on the discord scale, it's negative. Celestia making the world so orderly is like if we humans put away a criminal with chronic, sound-triggered migraines, then gave everyone free boom boxes and promoted the popularity of rock music.
- He's been functioning in the "normal" world pretty well after his reformation.
With that established, we can speculate on what their relationship was. Perhaps This video is true. Maybe Discord was a social outcast isolated by his physical appearance (perceived as a deformed pony, even? Since that's how his statue was described), and only befriended by Celestia. His reign of terror could be attributed to his own weird 'chaos' morality and a desire to 'get back' at the ponies that were cruel to him.
- Or he, like Luna, was infected by a dark magic that was even stronger, turning him from a harmless prank player and their best friend into the creature we know today — and Celestia's greatest failure, because unlike Nightmare Moon who could be cured he could not so she was forced to forever seal him in stone.
- He does know another guy who was imprisoned there.
- Physical God, check. Trickster God, check. Creates chaos for his amusement, check. Screws with peoples' minds for fun and profit, check. Played by John de Lancie, check. Take Q, hop a few dimensions and add a new body (which must have been fun to make) and you have Discord.
- Also in "Return to Harmony part 1" he said his favorite element is Laughter (who is Pinkie) while in one episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Deja Q", Q gives Data a "going away" present. What was the gift? Laughter.
- It's probably related to his personality, not the fact that "he" gave laughter to somebody.
- Alternatively, he could be a Mirror Universe counterpart to Q.
- If one pays attention to when he snaps his fingers to teleport or change something, the flash of light and chime will sound pretty
- Young Q got bored one day, came across a planet populated by pretty ponies, and decided it could use some "spicing up". So he created a monsterous, chaotic being with reality warping powers like himself and set it loose upon the land to "test" the inhabitants.
- This would also give Discord a rather tragic backstory — imagine finding out the reason you were different from everyone else was that you were created by a Mad God for fun
- Makes you wonder if the Flagship Captain could have made use of him.
- Optional WMG: If he returns, he won't be beaten with the Elements, but instead by the mane cast managing to starve him of Disharmony somehow.
- Not exactly. If he himself ceases to be discordant and chaotic, he simply... fades away.
- You mean like this?
- Partially supported by the documentary, where the professor voiced by John DeLancie is a unicorn, and near the end, has Discord like eyes.
- Season 3 seems to support this theory. Not only was Star Swirl working on a spell that may have been supposed to turn him into an alicorn, but it was never finished. Maybe something went horribly wrong....
- In "Keep Calm and Flutter On", it is also said that Discord has never had any friends. While in the finale, Celestia states that Star Swirl "Never understood friendship the way [Twilight] does".
- Then there are those possible leaked lines from an episode to come.
- Weren't those lines rumored to be from Keep Calm and Flutter On?
- Would go with "not really spirit of chaos, i'm just bragging" below
- Bonus points if Starswirl's brother was King Sombra.
- Jossed. Discord and Starswirl are separate people and both are present in the show's world independently of each other.
- would go with the "discord=starswirl the bearded" above.
- It could be what eastern dragon call corrupted members of their kind.
- Well, the effects of the incomplete spell are similar to something Discord would do. Maybe he was trying to turn himself into an alicorn, but instead of using the magic of friendship he accidentally channeled the power of Chaos instead, becoming a corrupted Draconequus.
- This becomes even more fitting in light of the fact that Starswirl is portrayed in IDW Comics as a fun-loving Cloud Cuckoolander comparable to Pinkie Pie in terms of personality.
- Jossed. Discord and Starswirl are different people.
- If they did, then they're arguably the most depraved ponies in Equestria. They purposefully tricked a nigh-omnipotent Reality Warper into becoming a God of Evil. If they did it because they thought it would make them figures of authority, then they're apathetic monsters. If they did it because they wanted Equestria to suffer, then they're sick monsters. Their And I Must Scream fate is completely deserved
- If they didn't, then we have some major Nice Job Breaking It, Hero going on. In some in-universe Ron the Death Eater, they believed Discord was an evil Reality Warper motivated by For the Evulz, instead of a Chaotic Neutral Reality Warper motivated by amusement. Discord overheard them, and was curious about the idea of truly screwing the lives of Equestrians over. If this is the case, the statues are of ponies so guilt-ridden they thought they only deserved an eternity of a fully aware and conscious statue.
- It's not like the show hasn't drawn on Greek Mythology before, and Typhon is pretty much the final boss in the Greek myths, the greatest, strongest evil in all existence. What's more — Typhon arguably also fits the definition of a draconequus, as he's been depicted before with a mess of snake/dragon-like body parts, combined with the head of a horse or donkey. Series like Percy Jackson and the Olympians have even described him as having a hundred heads, all representing different beasts (to paraphrase Cheerilee's description: "He has the head of a pony, and the body parts of all sorts of creatures...").
Chaos and Harmony are two sides of a coin; you cannot have Harmony without Chaos, just like you cannot have Chaos without Harmony. If one were to be lost, the world would be changed dramatically. Without Chaos, friendships do not last. Without Harmony, Chaos becomes Harmony, and thus would cease to function. Friendship is a form of magic in Equestria; and without Chaos, friendships are meaningless and void; they become words, not relationships.
Chaos is, by its own, a neutral entity; chaos can create as many positive events as negative ones. Discord (Chaos) is the balance between the Royal Sisters (Harmony) and Tirek (Disharmony); while Celestia and Luna tend to use magics with more positive aspects to the world, Tirek uses magic that negatively affects the world and Discord uses magic that does both; he both helps and harms the world, keeping the natural balance of both sides in check. If Celestia were to fall and Tirek was to take the throne, it's possible Discord would have fought him even without Fluttershy helping him, since he's, as the representation of Chaos, a neutral force and Tirek's plans were essentially to totally upset the balance of Harmony, Chaos and Disharmony, and thus negatively affect the world. Moral agency is something Discord has no need for; Chaos is neutral by nature, and thus so is Discord. Things like killing, destruction and suffering are negative forces, and things like life, building and joy are positive; being a neutral being, Discord can neither kill ponies or revive the dead without, in some way, unbalancing the order. He's, essentially, a strongly neutral being; if Celestia is lawful good and Tirek is chaotic evil, he's the middle ground; neither good nor evil, but a middle ground.
Should a being appear that would cause upset in the balance of the three, than Discord would most likely see to it that the threat is dealt with; a good character like Celestia would go the more friendly route, while a evil character like Tirek would outright kill the imbalance; Discord, being totally neutral, would be the easiest moral compass to choose; however, that does not mean he'd always be the most reliable compass, as Tirek was able to persuade Discord into joining his side through deception. But since Tirek was quite weak, he likely meant the words; at least until he became strong enough to try and fight Discord; Discord's own neutrality was his flaw. He only did what Tirek told him, and seemed quite uneasy over the acts he was aiding in.
Even when Tirek betrayed Discord, Discord did exactly what was needed and no more; he only gave Twilight her key, which allowed them to defeat Tirek; restoring the neutrality of the world. He could have taken on Tirek by himself, but he didn't; doing so would disrupt the balance of harmony, chaos and disharmony, and thus would only be making the issue worse. By acting in a moral, yet not harmonious, fashion, Discord restored balance to the three powers. The Rainbow Powers could well be something Discord had created at some point to help keep these powers in check; after all, with no Harmony, Chaos would be useless and without Disharmony, Chaos would no longer be chaotic.It's also worth noting what happened to each of the major villains hit with the Elements of Harmony or the Rainbow Powers; Nightmare Moon (a being acting under the influence of another) was reverted into her original state. Discord (a being of neutrality and chaos, with no absolute side) was imprisoned in stone and Tirek (a being acting out of malicious intent) was sent to Tartarus; thus indicating that Discord is a neutral entity.
Friendship grows with chaos; it's more fun to experience things with friends than it is to simply talk to them. Thus, Discord (in some kind of backwards way) is an essential part of friendship, and neutral by law. His positive and negative traits cancel the other out, leading to his neutrality. He makes no sense because he has no moral roots; Fluttershy's kindness to him contrasting with Tirek's treatment of him as a mere toy in his games is essentially boosting his power by keeping the balance in check on a personal level as well as the cosmic level.
Essentially, Discord is the Rayquaza to Celestia's Groudon and Tirek's Kyogre.
- Which explains him impersonating Grogar throughout season 9.
- Despite what Princess Celestia said, Discord does not equal Chaos. Harmony is the balance of Order and Chaos, as an absolute of either would be very bad indeed (A cold, logical world without fun, games or feelings without any kind of surprise, or a zany world where nothing makes sense). Discord, on the other hoof, means an imbalance, in his case, bringing more chaos than order, due to his crazy personality.
- Notice though, that Rainbow Dash actually falls when her wings disappear. If Discord can make objects intangible/undetectable for anyone else, then it doesn't really matter whether it's "real" or not. Same goes for all illusions, if they're perfect.
- If you were running and suddenly you couldn't feel your legs, I bet you'd trip too.
- Alternatively, Discord is not a Reality Warper, but just an extremely powerful telepath, and everything he does is only in the ponies' minds. Mind you, if he's powerful enough to inflict this illusion upon all of Equestria simultaneously, that doesn't make him any less dangerous.
- If you were running and suddenly you couldn't feel your legs, I bet you'd trip too.
- Further evidence for this: Literally everything that Discord did is instantly returned to normal upon his defeat, as if it had never happened. Is it No Ontological Inertia... or did it never really happen? In his second appearance the most important things he does are undone with a snap of his fingers and noone acts as if they think there was permanent damage to Applejack's crop.
- I was under the impression that the reason why everything Discord did is undone is that the Elements of Harmony are just THAT powerful.
- Just as powers of any pony who ever used illusions? You must stop calling everything clues about everything. To be closer to the subject, sure, he's so weak that he can only create illusions, and that's why ponies needed the Elements of Harmony to defeat him, not just Celestia or Celestia and Luna using their magic against him.
- It may be a symbolic image of him tormenting ponies in his usual ways.
- Alright, the rest is unconfirmed so far, but him breaking apart their friendship is confirmed.
- The newest preview seemingly confirms that he does feed off discord, possibly in the form of strife between people, as it appears that the CMC accidentally free him by getting into a fight in front of his statue and giving him the power to escape.
- Perhaps his defeat will spark an Alas, Poor Villain situation?
- What of Derpy? Or Dinky?
- Dinky's purple, so we could count on her being okay if this theory turned out to be true.
- Confirmed
- Or, the first time, he had no idea what the elements were or that they could hurt him, so he had no reason to fear. The second time, he knew what he was in for.
- Plus, it's possible that Celestia and Luna only had five of the elements instead of all six.
- In the opening of Season 1 Episode 1, it shows all six, implying that Celestia used all six against Nightmare Moon.
- Plus, it's possible that Celestia and Luna only had five of the elements instead of all six.
- Jossed
- Similarly, Spike is apparently the only one to notice the grey. If it represents a spell that he can sense but Twilight can't, that'd help explain why Twilight was unable to figure out what was happening in the maze. Otherwise, she'd be holding the Idiot Ball for not making a connection between "I'm fighting a god of chaos" and "suddenly my friends are both acting wildly out of character and looking blatantly different". And the writers wouldn't do such a thing, right?
- This could be Fridge Brilliance as a fair amount of animals actually can't make out colors. Granted, the colorful nature of Equestria suggests that ponies are among those, but Discord has a goat's head...
- Actually when Spike sees them, they are in second-level greyness. A huge jump from original colour to grey colour is a significant change. But, Twilight? What she notices first is level 1 grey, then before they go in the house, they turn into level 2 grey. Besides, in that time, Twilight has started to lose patience and just wanted to settle things as quickly as possible, while thinking that defeating Discord might restore everything back.
- My point: Either Twilight might not notice since it is a slow progression of greyness to her(unlike what a huge jump Spike notices), or she did notice but then she hoped that if she defeated Discord quickly with that party (that she still thought that there was hope), she could restore them back.
- Maybe she DID notice the grey, but she just didn't know how to deal with it or what to make of it.
- It's most likely that she noticed, but it didn't register. There was too much going on around her for her to really take proper note of her friends's new look when their personalities are suddenly so jarring, when they need to find the Elements of Harmony and each other, and when they need to stop Discord, who even Celestia seems to fear and is very wary of, when nothing else has thus far shaken her calm, collected, slightly amused demeanour.
OK, I stole this idea from 8-Bit Theater, but I think it fits.
- So if everything is chaos... nothing will be?
- In a world where nothing makes sense, there still isn't anything that makes sense. Perfect disharmony means no harmony, even on accident. Knowing that a situation will be unpredictable just means that you know that you won't be able to predict what will happen. If Discord imposed complete, total control over the world, it might become orderly to him, but he never tried for that level of control. Besides, his actions, especially his response to being defeated, showed that he wasn't trying to make the world truly chaotic, he was just using that as an excuse and theme for being a jerk to people.
- If indeed Discord is an Anthropomorphic Personification of chaos, it could be that it is physically impossible for him to win because winning is orderly. Much like Tzeentch, if his plans were to ever reach completion he would cease to exist, as he would no longer have anything left to corrupt into disharmony, thus by his very nature something will always happen to create disharmony against him and ensure he temporarily loses, until next time.
- He was in that pose because he was in the middle of a Villain Song, and Celestia and Luna were simply pragmatic enough to blast him mid song.
- He was mid-villainous laughter.
- Oh God, you mean he's Hexadecimal? In addition to being Q?
- Well, they both have a chaos motif.
- You gave me the image of Discord deciding to turn a pegasus pony to stone while she was above something interesting... But then reconsidering because it would be so much more interesting if she was made of silly putty. *shudders*
- Probably Jossed.
- This troper has noticed three ponies that just may be contenders for that position: they're nameless background ponies who each have flower-themed cutie marks (seen here), and are often the first to freak out when some huge chaotic thing happens in Ponyville. But their freak-outs are actually their own way of praising their master—what better way to pray to a chaos spirit than with uncontrolled screaming and hollering?
- Seriously, you not talking about "The Flower Trio", aren't you?!
- I support this if keepers of the "Elements of Discord" are involved.
- This Troper had fan ponies with Discordian cutie marks before the character Discord appeared... when he showed up they were uqickly reworked to be Discord cultists. I'm glad others have this idea, too.
- Imagine a Discord-cultist fighting some changelings:Once the Dice of Chaos have been tossed, the result is nigh-impossible to replicate! Mimic this, muffinhugger! Mwahahaha!
- Oddball, discontortionist extraordinaire - Additionally, Pinkie used to be a Cultist, which might explain her unexplicable powers - she has the Gift of Discord. She left when she realized his power is more malevolent than just pranks and chocolate rain.
- Maybe they're the ones trading Discord lamps...
- since Siscord had a Heel–Face Turn we may see some of his worshippers as good guys (or at least Anti Heros)
- We haven't seen the guy yet and shipping is already happening!
- We have now, although the shipping thing, I'm not sure.
- I'm probably just over-analyzing things like I always do, but something about the way and tone Discord recollected their past when talking to her in the hallway makes it sound like they've been together.
Discord: Oh, what a poor first impression I must have made! I admit it — I overdid it a little back then. It's just that I hadn't seen any proper chaos in such a long time! Anyway, I've had a lot of time to think — one tends to have a lot of time on their hands when they're frozen in place — and I realized that neither of us are going to get what we want if I keep messing everything up!
Twilight: None of this matters to you, Discord! We're putting you back where you belong!
Discord: Oh, haha! How cute. No — you see, you never had a choice. As I mentioned, I've had some time to think, and I've learned from my mistakes. You won't be getting one over on me this time, Twilight.
Twilight: Grr! Stop stalling! Come on, girls! *prepares friend beam*
Discord: Forgive me! Here I was, thinking I was being a good neighbor and warning you. Toodles! *teleports*
* beat*
Pinkie Pie: *gasp* Does this mean we get chocolate rain again?
- And the Mariachi ponies are where?
- Semi-confirmed. He's a recurring character, but no longer a villain.
- Jossed. He is in fact redeemed in "Keep Calm and Flutter On".
- Alternatively, this comic is true. That said, it would still mean the same thing, but still.
- Confirmed in "Keep Calm and Flutter on". At least the part of Discord returning.
- Actually, this video suggests they are in fact two separate entities...and rivals.
- Fegelein: There Can Only Be One
- Instead of vertebrae bones, he has an exoskeleton, and a cuttlebone.
- Seven and a half kidneys. In his head where his brain is supposed to be.
- A digestive tract that loops several times in a mobius strip despite being a tube.
- Platypus Spurs, behind his ears.
- A magnetic tail so if you're made of metal, he can latch onto you.
- An extra pair of eyebrows, That only appear on Saturdays.
- An appendix that's larger then his stomach. Still useless.
- A pancreas that acts as a black hole.
- And above all: No Heart.
Wouldn't it have made so much more sense to give Rarity a rock and brainwash her to perceive it as a diamond? Yes. But what fun is there in making sense?
- Going further, while under the influence of the love poison, the two of them had a pair of daughters. Because of their parents' lack of interest in anything other than each other, the older daughter become a chronic workaholic to compensate for their poor governance, while the younger grew up to be eternally starved for affection. No wonder Celestia was so pissed off when she saw him.
- It's more likely that the CMC actually came to blows, rather than just arguing, because of the seal on Discord starting to wear off.
- Adult!Spike's right leg.
- The left leg of the timber wolves.
- The right arm of the wendigos.
- Flim and Flam's shirt and hat.
- Ahuizotl's tail.
- Iron Will's left arm and/or right horn
- The left wing of the leader of the teenage dragons.
- Queen Crysalis's right wing and/or left horn.
- Jossed, he still looks like he did in season 2.
- Could be possible for him to transform at one point, knowing him it would be likely.
- Also Jossed. He maintains his usual shape outside of quick visual gags.
- Could be possible for him to transform at one point, knowing him it would be likely.
- Pinkie hasn't had a significant freak out yet, but we know she's already prone to flipping, like in Party Of One.
- Jossed. At least in his first re-apperance. Still a shame though.
- Not a proper villain song, but he does get a musical number in "Three's A Crowd".
- Major points if he gives a Don't You Dare Pity Me! speech.
- Or Babel.
- Bonus points if she is voiced by Ellen McLain! Who wouldn't want to hear GlaDoS and Professor Quadwrangle working together???
- Or Marina Sirtis for more STNG references.
- Jossed
- Honesty: When Discord spread relatively harmless acts of chaos, his friends enjoyed it. However when his antics got progressively more dangerous, he started to come into conflict with his friends. Embittered by the conflict, Discord starts to question if his friends actually ever cared about him or really enjoyed his chaos. In Discord's childlike world view, his friends protests of his chaos is the result of their true intentions becoming manifest. To him, honesty is a mere fallacy.
- Generosity: Seeing as how Discord is a creature of chaos, he might have actually believed to an extent that spreading chaos was a good thing. In adopting this viewpoint, Discord would seek to share the chaos that he so loves with other ponies. Of course, not all of them would necessarily enjoy chaos. This shakes Discord's faith in generosity, to him, it seems that the ponies only desire things that benefit them. However, whatever friendships Discord has are able to keep his faith in the element anchored. That is until Discord goes off the deep end. When his friends come into conflict with him, he concludes that they only actually enjoyed his presence for selfish reasons, that he was only kept around to keep others happy. From this point Discord comes to a conclusion, "I'm an omnipotent spirit of chaos. Why should I care about any of these ponies if they simply reject the chaos that I bless them with."
- Laughter: Growing up, it's likely that Discord didn't make friends easily, his unusual appearance, and strange personality would likely draw scorn and derision from the other ponies, who might even mock and laugh at him. Discord's faith in laughter is stabilized when he realizes that he's able to make those close to him happy, but when he comes into conflict with them, his warped mind concludes that his friends were laughing at him, that they had kept Discord around as a sort of jester for their own amusement. Seeking to make those who mocked him suffer, he began to delight in breaking the spirits of ponies for his own amusement. This is why Discord states that laughter is his favorite element, he still enjoys it, but unlike Pinkie Pie he doesn't view laughter as a way to bring ponies together, he views it as a selfish thing used to break ponies.
- Kindness: Going by the above theory that Discord didn't get along with many ponies, it's highly probable that he wasn't treated kindly, he might have even been called a monster. His friends did offer him kindness, but when his chaotic nature put him into conflict with them, they began to fear him and the worst Discord's got, the more his former friends resented him. Discord's warped mind comes to the realization that kindness, like honesty, is a fallacy. Going by the theory that Celestia and Luna were his friends, his cynicism is only amplified when he's punished, he starts to ask himself what kind of friends would punish him the way they have done.
- Loyalty: Going by all the text above, one can conclude that I view Discord to be a very childish being. A highly manipulative one, but a childish one nonetheless. And this childishness is especially important in regards to loyalty. Growing up it's highly possible that Discord's friends made the "best friends forever" promise to him. When Discord starts to feud with his friends, he views their protest of his actions as a betrayal. When they start to conflict with him it becomes worst. Now, going by the theory that Celestia and Luna were his friends, wouldn't it make sense that he'd view their imprisonment of him as the ultimate form of betrayal?
- Magic/Friendship: He doesn't use trickery to break Twilight Sparkle. Like her, he appreciates magic. Instead he shows her how easily friendship can be broken. Discord's fascination with Twilight is because she reminds him of himself at a young age. He views her as a naive child who wholeheartedly believes in the power of friendship, and because of this, Discord starts to loathe her. He doesn't like being reminded of what he believes to be a bunch of fallacies, which is why he so relishes in breaking Twilight. He loves showing her how easily her friendships can crumble.
- Dammit, now I start to feel bad for Discord...
- The purpose of chaos: Discord is the most prominent representative of chaos in this show. And going by the entire "harmony and chaos are two sides of the same coin" concept, Twilight Sparkle will learn that chaos is something that will be around forever, just like harmony. Twilight will learn from Discord that chaos isn't something you should try to fight, it's something that you have to live with, and on some level even embrace. As for Discord himself, he'll learn something about chaos as well. Despite loving it so much, he quickly reject any form of it other than his own if it inconveniences him (look at how he handled Fluttershy. He couldn't comprehend her so he just cheated in his game to bend her to his whim). The Draconequus will learn that chaos isn't just about wrecking havoc and screwing with the laws of the universe, it's also capable of producing miracles and bringing people together who are totally different. And think about this, to Discord, the main cast's friendship is something chaotic, to him it doesn't make sense how they could repair it. Twilight could point this out, and really make the guy think.
- Discord the immature: This is in part inspired by the "banality of evil" section of this analysis of In Cold Blood. Like the Perry Smith and Dick Hickock characters presented in the novel, Discord's reputation within the show and even inside parts of the fandom, is one of an utterly malevolent being. Now stripped of his powers, Twilight starts to see him differently. What she sees instead is a very sadistic, emotionally stunted child. For all his power, Discord is very juneville in his behavior. His treatment of the main cast in the Return of Harmony adds credence to this theory in my opinion. Think about how he treats his manipulations of them, he views it as a game. When he's confronted with Fluttershy, who doesn't play by his "rules" he throws a tantrum and just cheats to win, similar to a petulant child. He isn't a master manipulator, he's just an all powerful little boy who views ponies as a bunch of toys he can play with and break as he pleases. Now stripped of his omnipotence, he has to start viewing these creatures as equals instead of toys, he starts to comprehend what he was unable to, and might even start to feel remorse for what's he's done
- Punishing evil: Even before Discord would start his hypothetical turning of a new leaf, he'd still be able to plant a few seeds of doubt in Twilight's mind. Most notably, he'd get her to question if the punishment he's endured for the last 1000 or so years was really suitable. No matter what Discord has done or how terrible he is , Twilight starts to wonder if even he deserved a fate so terrible. Eventually coming to accept the role of chaos, Twilight concludes that Discord's punishment was wrong because it doesn't solve the problem, it only delays it and helps amplify the bitterness and hatred that exists within Discord. Realizing that the only other to stop Discord would be to take his life somehow, Twilight would go a third route and try to befriend him. Discord would brush of her attempts at first, but he'd gradually start to grow a spot for the unicorn. And who knows, maybe he could start to view her as a weird daughter figure of sorts.
- Forgiveness: This is going by the whole "Celestia/Luna were friends with Discord" theory so bear with me. But gaining the forgiveness of the princesses would be the final step in Discord's character arc. Of all the ponies that still live, Celestia and Luna likely have the greatest vendetta against the spirit of chaos. Unlike the main cast, they witnessed the horror of Discord's reign first hand, and what's worse, they had to deal with a fact that their greatest enemy was once their closest friend. They'd be unwilling to forgive him because of all the suffering he's caused, and due to the fact that they don't believe he can feel remorse, and Discord would be unable to forgive them due to them imprisoning him and because he doesn't want to risk getting into a friendship only for it fail. Enter Twilight Sparkle, as Discord would start to befriend her, he'd start to consider the possibly of mending the fences with his former best friends. Celestia and Luna on their part, would have to be convinced. Twilight would be able to convince Luna by telling her that "everyone deserves forgiveness, you of all ponies deserve that", and she'd convince her mentor by bringing out all the regret she's built up over imprisoning her best friend. In the classic, "students teaches something to the master" plot point, Twilight would tell Celestia that despite all that she and Discord have been through, their friendship is ultimately stronger than their animosity, and that what unites the two is stronger than what divides them. Discord tearfully reconciles with the alicorn sisters, and the elements, now seeing the good in him decide to return his powers to him. Discord remains in Equestria and becomes the being he was always meant to be. A representative of chaos that would put the ponies through various trails, but would genuinely care about them and try them so that they may grow.
- Semi-confirmed. He ends up becoming more closer to Fluttershy
- Jossed
- Jossed (so far).
(Discord appears, wearing a sombrero)
Discord: Au contriare, ma princesse! Heeeeeee's back!
(salsa music ensues)
- Confirmed (sans salsa).
- Confirmed, he has been helping them solve problems and helped them oust King Sombra when he took over Equestria.
- Confirmed.
- It counts as confirmed (sorta anyways), but it's a pony, but [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightsKingdomPart2 the villian from G1 Lord Tirek himself.
- Jossed.
- Discord was hardly ever a complete monster. He wasn't even that dangerous, other than "discording" the ponies, the world he created was more insane than a total hellhole. Compared to Nightmare Moon, who would've wiped out Equestria, or Sombra, who enslaved the Crystal Ponies in a state of eternal misery, and actually had nearly everything planned out so he wouldn't be defeated, Discord really was never that dangerous.
- Half-jossed; although he does change sides again, he only does it after another bad guy talks him into it, not because he was planning to all along.
- Confirmed in the Season 4 finale.
- While not an outright villain anymore, he's still a chaotic prankster, and Celestia didn't invite him for fear of him turning the walls into marshmallow or something similar.
- He simply wasn't interested.
- Just because he considers Fluttershy his friend doesn't mean he considers Twilight one. It's possible he genuinely didn't care that much.
- He was there. He just disguised himself as a normal pony so he wouldn't scare anyone.
- Public image problems. How do you think the general populace would react to Discord showing up at such an event?
- Exactly the point of the one above this one.
- I figured he was watching from the windows, or conjured up some kind of magic tv set to watch it on. He was interested enough to watch the coronation (not like there was anything else going on at the time), but didn't feel like dealing with all the ponies that would freak out over him being there. The guards probably still don't trust him not to mess with big important events like this. Maybe Celestia made a deal with him not to mess it up?
- Fluttershy's attempt to get him to behave seemed a bit too quick.
- Thats why Celestia was so certain that they would succeed. It was to convince the public that Discord was reformed.
- considering that psychologically break people and then Mind Rape them is actually evil...
- It's where the first of his Plunderseeds start emerging, so there might be something here after all. Perhaps he wants to set up base there because of its proximity to the Tree of Harmony, so he can send waves of attacks against it.
- Alternatively, it may be due to how, as a villain, he didn't want to break his toys. As fun as destroying a hapless passerby might be in the moment, Discord was smart enough to realize that killing people willy-nilly would quickly leave him without any new victims to torment.
- Jossed, at least seemingly. Discord revived King Sombra as part of his Legion of Doom Batman Gambit while posing as Grogar.
- Well he was hanging out in the castle it made at the end of S4, but idk if that counts.
So, the comic shop's name really was just hyperbole. Discord enchanted the comic for the lulz, and also possibly to shore up Spike's self-esteem.
- Discord visited the store and decided to redecorate?
- If so, the pony's being a very good sport about it.
- Confirmed
- Notice how he also saved her friends and reunited the Elements of Harmony. He told Tirek that Twilight would give up her own magic if her friends were returned to her. Thus, Tirek does this, and the Elements of Harmony are back together again AND have the final key to open the chest.
- This troper thinks Discord had at least SOME idea of what opening the chest would do and how to do it, since he particularly bookmarked the exact passages needed for Twilight to figure out what the keys were.
- If this is true, it has disturbing implications, in that Twilight is apparently worth more than the countless background ponies Discord and Tirek harmed during their rampage such that they can be sacrificed for Twilight's worth. Given that Twilight claims that she's not better or more important than anyone else, I would think if she ever found out, Twilight would get super pissed, thus making it a betrayal in a different sense. I could see Twilight possibly considering rejecting her Rainbow Power in she found out he was faking all along and let Tirek consume the magic of everyone around her just so she could acquire it her new Super Mode, as it was bought with the unnecessary pain and suffering of the ponies of Equestria.
- He just let Tirek drain their magic and helped a little. We never saw ANY pony get hurt or suffer due to this, they just passed out. And yes, Discord DOES consider Twilight and friends more valuable to him than the people who likely still see him as a monster and never forgave him. He ALSO seems to show this quite often. It's ONLY for Twilight and friends (mostly Fluttershy, but still) that he keeps his chaos under wraps, even though there is literally NOTHING but THEIR friendship holding him back. He couldn't give two flying fracks about those ponies who look at him like he's a monster. Ex: the scene in the theater. At first, all they see is Discord, they don't know about his betrayal yet, but they STILL look at him with suspicion. He DEFINITELY and OBVIOUSLY cares more for Twilight than any random background pony, including her brother. Twilight DID go to 'the ends of Equestria' for him in Three's a Crowd, showing that she does value him enough to help him, so...yeah, he wouldn't give a damn about the ponies who still think "monster" when they see/interact with him.
- "He just let Tirek drain their magic"... that's like saying "He just let Tirek cripple them and violate their souls", and he was fully complicit in these actions, giving Tirek unfettered ability to move about. The ponies that were drained looked pretty frikkin' miserable, they weren't passed out, they were just too weak to do anything. And considering Discord was responsible for the Plunder Vines in Princess Twilight Sparkle (and the damage they did, the terror they caused, and the kidnapping of the Princesses), the fake illness destroying ponies' homes in Three's a Crowd, and his previous repeated attempts at trying to bring about the apocalypse, maybe the other ponies are right to think he's still a monster since every time he shows up, it's to cause massive problems and screw them? And saying "they're the only reason he's not terrorizing the population" means that Celestia is an idiot to let Discord out. And ultimately, it does not matter what Discord thinks. It matters what Twilight thinks. If she knew he screwed over all those ponies for her sake when he could have curbed Tirek's rampage before it could reach critical mass, I think she would flip out, and try to reincarnate the key and destroy it as a symbolic "It's over", or try to give her Rainbow Power to the citizens of Equestria as payment for the unnecessary suffering they had to endure on her unwitting behalf.
- This troper thinks Discord had at least SOME idea of what opening the chest would do and how to do it, since he particularly bookmarked the exact passages needed for Twilight to figure out what the keys were.
- A mental patient.
- A mad scientist. Could possibly show up as a science teacher.
- A science experiment gone horribly wrong and being kept locked away. For now...
- A parody of Dead Pool.
- He looks at her very dreamily, even when she isn't around (like in the newer intro)
- It's because of her that makes him hesitate to work with Tirek (and keeps a picture of the two of them on his nightstand)
- He apologizes to her first after he betrays the ponies and Tirek betrays him
- He comes off as a little obsessed with her at times, wanting to spend every moment he can with her.
- He squees at the very mention of her name.
- "I can't have you interfering with my relationship with Fluttershy!" Note, "relationship", not "friendship".
- Pretended to be sick just to spend alone time with her.
- "We don't make sense to anypony else!" as if they're star-crossed lovers.
- If the comics count, he dreams of having a family with her, and seems unsure when he tells Baast Fluttershy is "just a friend".
- The comic cover of him as King Jareth and Fluttershy as Sarah. A movie famous for its Villainous Crush and Ship Tease-ing.
- Why shouldn't he be attracted? She's beautiful (enough to become a fashion model, more than any of her friends), sweet, patient, loving, and understands him more than anyone. Discord has every reason to love her.
Being as new to friendship as he is, he may be confused about his feelings, but it seems clear he has a crush on Fluttershy and may like her even more than that.