My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Characters/The Mane Cast

The Mane Six. These are our heroines. From trying to get along at a slumber party to defeating Physical Gods of darkness and chaos, these girls overcome just about any obstacle with the Magic of their Friendship. They're cute. They're awesome. They're the embodiment of the Elements of Harmony and they're here to Love & Tolerate the crap out of you.

Oh and Spike is here too.

Return to the character index here.

Tropes shared by the Mane Cast

 * Action Mares: All of them have their moments but Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Twilight Sparkle fit the best.
 * Badass Adorable: Each of the main characters qualify but in different ways.
 * Twilight Sparkle is a Badass Bookworm.
 * Spike is a Pint-Sized Powerhouse.
 * Applejack is a Badass Normal.
 * Pinkie Pie is a Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass.
 * Rainbow Dash is straight-up Badass.
 * Rarity is a Badass Damsel.
 * Fluttershy is a Badass Pacifist.
 * Badass Crew: Even without the Elements of Harmony, they can accomplish some impressive tasks when they work together.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: They are all pleasant and supportive towards others, but push their buttons and... well...
 * Break the Cutie: They all experience this at some point,
 * Character Exaggeration: Most of the characters have underwent this to some slight extent in later episodes, due to higher individual focus compared to the intitial episodes (which focused more on the whole cast and their bonds), with most of their defining flaws made more overblown and detrimental to their actions. Their other personality traits are still given focus however, along with some feasable Character Development, preventing it from leaning into Flanderization.
 * Circle of Friendship: When they activate the power of the Elements of Harmony, they form this.
 * Color-Coded Characters / Color Motif
 * Cool Big Sis: Most of them are this. Applejack and Rarity have little sisters who both look up to them and think they're the coolest ponies in town.
 * Twilight is a surrogate one to Spike.
 * Pinkie Pie acts this way towards Apple Bloom and Spike. She helps AB make cupcakes when she's upset and invites Spike to be her co-announcer when she sees that he wants to but is afraid to ask. Fluttershy is a little less amused when Pinkie tries this on her.
 * She also hangs out and chaperones the other kids in town on "Nightmare Night."
 * Then there's the Cake twins.
 * Fluttershy herself gets the admiration of the Cutie Mark Crusaders after saving them from a cockatrice.
 * Rainbow Dash is this in Scootaloo's eyes although this is also averted by Word of God who says that she probably wouldn't be the best big sister in the world.
 * She does get moments of this towards Fluttershy in later episodes however.


 * Cool Pet: All of the main characters have one. See here for info on them.
 * Deadpan Snarker: They all have their moments of this with Twilight Sparkle being the most prominent.
 * Depending On the Writer: While the Mane Cast all have consistent defining traits, the extent they are played or exagerrated varies from episode to episode. This can make all the difference between them playing The Straight Mare or a complete Cloudcuckoolander (both of which all seven have played at least once).
 * Determinator: These are some stubborn ponies. See below for more detail.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: They have defeated two Physical Gods, both incredibly powerful threats to Equestria.
 * Dude, Where's My Respect?: The Mane Cast has saved the world twice, got publicly honored and knighted by Celestia the second time and they've done some pretty impressive stuff individually. And yet with a few exceptions, no one seems to remember this. Though truth be told, they themselves don't seem prone to broadcasting that fact nor do they actively seek recognition for it.
 * Fire-Forged Friends: While all the ponies had broad knowledge of the other's existence beforehand and some were explicitly shown to have known each other (Such as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash going to the same Flight Camp), it's also implied that some of them wouldn't have associated with each other prior to the series (Such as Applejack and Rarity) so for most of them their first significant activity together was saving the world from Nightmare Moon.
 * Friend to Bugs: Every main character except Pinkie (though especially Fluttershy) finds Parasprites endearing until realizing the harm they cause and even then, still consider them cute as far as appearance goes.
 * Reinforced in the toy-line. Two Rarity toys and one Fluttershy toy are accompanied by butterflies, one Rainbow Dash toy is accompanied by a dragonfly and one Applejack toy is accompanied by a ladybug.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: Within the six, there are three pairs of ponies who are noticeably closer to each other than the others.
 * Rarity and Fluttershy: The two regularly go on spa dates, and Fluttershy is the first to be called when Rarity tries to figure out what is wrong with the first set of Gala dresses.
 * Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash: This is cemented when the two bond over pranking.
 * Twilight Sparkle and Applejack: They turn to each other first for advice and comfort.
 * Interestingly, they all seem to alternate these positions recently. In particular, Rainbow Dash has been shown with Fluttershy quite often, Pinkie Pie with Twilight, and Applejack with Rarity.
 * Hidden Depths: One of the greatest things about this cast is the fact that they all have different dimensions to their personalities.
 * Master Character Heroines:
 * Twilight Sparkle is an Athena the Father's Daughter.
 * Applejack is a Hera the Matriarch.
 * Pinkie Pie is a Persephone the Maiden.
 * Rainbow Dash is an Artemis the Amazon.
 * Rarity is an Aphrodite the Seductive Muse.
 * Fluttershy is a Demeter the Nurturer.
 * Large Ham: Some are more apparent than others (eg. Rarity and Rainbow Dash rarely aren't), but all of them like Chewing the Scenery when the time fits.
 * Only the Chosen May Wield: Only they can wield the Elements of Harmony now. Celestia and Luna, while they once did, can't anymore.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: These ponies may be little, but they've all displayed impressive feats of strength with Applejack and Rainbow Dash as the top contenders.
 * Ponies are Flawed: A good part of their appeal is that while they are sweet ponies at heart, each has one or more cardinal flaws that she needs to learn to work on Once Per Episode.
 * Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: They're a graduate student taught by a Physical Goddess, a stubborn apple farmer, a hyperactive baker, a brash sound barrier-breaking flyer, a prim and proper fashion designer, and an overly shy animal caretaker. Not only have these True Companions defeated two gods with their Elements of Harmony, but Celestia seems content with letting them take care of a stubborn dragon whose smoke threatens Equestria.
 * Red (p)Oni, Blue (p)Oni: Such pairings exist between all members of the mane cast. From most red to most blue, the cast would be as follows: Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Spike, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy. This is given the following evidence (the Red Oni is listed first followed by the Blue Oni):
 * In general:
 * Spike and Twilight Sparkle
 * Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle
 * During an episode:
 * Applejack and Twilight Sparkle ("Applebuck Season")
 * Applejack and Rarity ("Look Before You Sleep", "Sisterhooves Social")
 * Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash ("Griffon the Brush Off")
 * Pinkie Pie and Spike ("Fall Weather Friends")
 * Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle ("Feeling Pinkie Keen", "MMMystery on the Friendship Express")
 * Pinkie Pie and Applejack ("Hearth's Warming Eve")
 * Rainbow Dash and Applejack ("Fall Weather Friends")
 * Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy ("Sonic Rainboom", "Hearth's Warming Eve", "Hurricane Fluttershy")
 * Rarity and Fluttershy ("Green Isn't Your Color")
 * Rarity and Twilight Sparkle ("Hearth's Warming Eve")
 * Spike and Rarity ("A Dog and Pony Show")
 * Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy ("A Bird in the Hoof")
 * Romance Genre Heroines: According to Lauren Faust, the main girls are based around these:
 * Twilight Sparkle is The Librarian
 * Pinkie Pie is The Free Spirit
 * Applejack is The Boss
 * Fluttershy is The Nurturer
 * Rainbow Dash is The Crusader
 * Rarity is The Waif
 * And on the Romance Genre Heroes side, Spike fits nicely as The Best Friend
 * Sanity Slippage: All of the ponies have had at least one moment when they act contradictory to their personalities, whether out of physical and/or emotional stress.
 * She Cleans Up Nicely: They all looked wonderful in their dresses at the Grand Galloping Gala.
 * Six Pony Band
 * The Heroine/The Smart Girl: Twilight Sparkle
 * The Lancer: Rainbow Dash
 * The Big Girl: Applejack
 * The Chick: Rarity
 * The Heart: Fluttershy
 * Kid Appeal Character: Pinkie Pie
 * Town Girls: The six form this type of trio x2. Rainbow Dash and Applejack are the tomboys, Rarity and Fluttershy are the girly girls. Pinkie and Twilight are the in betweens.
 * True Companions: Despite their differences, it's clear they have a strong bond between them with it growing stronger throughout the series.
 * Vague Age: All of them are old enough to live alone (Applejack's case is justified by the fact she works on a family farm), have jobs, and hold major roles in Ponyville community activities like Winter Wrap-Up, yet emotionally they are officially "young adults with a maturity level of anywhere from 12-18," which explains such things as Twilight's appreciation of slumber parties, Rarity's thinking like a fairy tale, etc. Yes, that's as close as we are gonna get.
 * And one episode reveals Fluttershy is a year older than Pinkie Pie.

Twilight Sparkle
""I am her student and I will do my royal duty but the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends.""



"Debut: "Friendship Is Magic, Part 1" ("Mare in the Moon")"

"Voiced by Tara Strong

Singing by Rebecca Shoichet"

The protagonist of the series, a unicorn from Canterlot who serves as Princess Celestia's apprentice. She's less than thrilled at first about the suggestion that she should try making friends but naturally winds up giving it a shot. Has a natural talent for Magic that goes far beyond what most unicorns are capable of. She's also very intelligent, levelheaded and organized, making her a great unofficial leader for the six.

"Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!"
 * Aborted Arc: Her role as student of Princess Celestia appears to have been dropped entirely as of "Lesson Zero".
 * It shows up occasionally. In Baby Cakes, she can't babysit on account of finishing up a (humorously overplayed) homework assignment, and in It's About Time, her status as Celestia's student indirectly keeps her above suspicion for sneaking around Canterlot Castle. It's just that it's no longer her defining trait.
 * Her role as a student resembles that of a graduate student with a very lax advisor. She is expected to do her own research into friendship and occasionally update the Princess with status reports, occasionally completing side projects as well.
 * Adorkable: Whenever genuinely excited about something such as what can safely be assumed is her first slumber party ever, her awkwardness comes into focus. And it is adorable. Dialed Up to Eleven during her flashback in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" and then again immediately afterward.

"Twilight: Now tell me; what exactly have you actually seen Zecora do?
 * And in Sweet and Elite, she dances like such a total nerd it's adorable. Possibly in a Shout-Out to Seinfeld.
 * Agent Scully: Tends toward this despite being a purple unicorn who can do magic.
 * She justifies this in "Feeling Pinkie Keen" by explaining that true magic as can be done by all unicorns is essentially nothing more than Sufficiently Analyzed Magic.
 * And Knowing Is Half the Battle: At the end of most episodes, she writes a letter to Princess Celestia describing the Aesop she learned this week.
 * As of Lesson Zero, she has been given permission to pass this duty on to pretty much anyone around her that learns An Aesop.
 * Anti-Heroine: In the pilot she was a type II, being aloof and unsympathetic to her future friends. She grew out of it but has occasional relapses, such as "Feeling Pinkie Keen" and "Lesson Zero"--after all, Ponies Are Flawed.
 * Anti-Magic: Her force fields can cancel out other magic.
 * Awesomeness By Analysis: Twilight places fifth in the annual Running of the Leaves race despite knowing about racing only from having read books about it.
 * Badass Bookworm/Magic Knight: Not only talented at magic but perfectly capable and willing to lead a charge to the point where she's willing to run right at Nightmare Moon though this is actually a feint to teleport past her. She also places 5th in a marathon despite it being her first, using mostly her book-smarts.
 * Badass Bureaucrat: She manages to take the mess that is the Winter Wrap-Up and make it a smooth and efficient process by administrative expertise and organization.
 * Badass in Distress: In some episodes like Stare Master she has to be rescued by one of her friends.
 * Badass Family: She is a certified Badass Bookworm/Magic Knight, her brother is the captain of the Royal Guard. As if that wasn't enough, he marries Princess Cadence, a Badass Princess and Princess Celestia's niece, making her now part of Celestia and Luna's family too. And if the theory about her mother being the G1 Twilight is correct, she probably counts too.
 * Barrier Warrior: She can create Anti-Magic force-fields that she can move as seen in "Return Of Harmony Part 2" and "Ponyville Confidential".
 * As of the second season finale, she seems to have gotten that spell from her brother.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: In the episode "The Return of Harmony Part 2", Twilight Sparkle quite literally beat up Gray Pinkie Pie and Applejack after they stole her book.
 * Big Brother Worship: As a filly, she thought of Shining Armor as her best and only friend (at least until she hatched Spike). When she came to Ponyville and made new friends, however, they started to drift apart.
 * Break the Haughty: A Lighter and Softer version; starts as an Ineffectual Loner who believes she simply doesn't have time for friendship and is smugly convinced that Celestia will naturally listen to her concerns. Then Celestia seemingly blows her off, sends her off to run some mundane errands and expects her to actually try and make friends in a town where she thinks she's the Only Sane Pony...
 * Burning With Anger: Rarely does it such as in "Feeling Pinkie Keen".
 * Butt Monkey: Shares this role with Spike.
 * Iron Butt Monkey: But as shown in "Feeling Pinkie Keen", she can take a lot of damage and still keep on going.
 * Character Development: During the two-part pilot, she started out as a bit of an asocial jerk who wouldn't be caught dead working with others. Over the course of that episode, she learns the value of friendship, and she is now almost always seen working with or helping her friends.
 * The Chew Toy/Humiliation Conga/Slapstick Knows No Gender: Expect her to be on the receiving end of a lot of accidents as soon she starts questioning facts, attempts to fit in or figure out things, such as in "Winter Wrap Up" and especially "Feeling Pinkie Keen", AND "Lesson Zero".
 * Her Chew Toy status is played for major drama in "The Return of Harmony, Part 2".
 * Child Prodigy: Even as a filly, Twilight was unusually adept at learning new spells. In the Power Incontinence scene referenced below, Princess Celestia - a physical goddess - says she has never seen so much raw talent for magic in a pony before.
 * City Mouse: The pilot and a few Season One episodes revolve around Twilight getting acquainted with Ponyville and its traditions, with varied success.
 * The City vs. the Country: Her initial plot arc is a Lighter and Softer version of this. She's sent from Canterlot to Ponyville in part to prepare for a celebration held there but is also told to make friends while there. She resents having to do this and focuses on work instead but by the end of the pilot, she's warmed up to her newfound friends and wishes to stay with them.
 * Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: While most characters play this to Pinkie Pie, Twilight is her most prominent foil.
 * Color-Coded Characters / Color Motif: Her name is Twilight so naturally she's purple.
 * Color-Coded Wizardry: Her horn and objects affected by her magic glow when she uses it. It was at first a light purple that matched the color of her coat but it is now a red-violet color that matches the center of her Cutie Mark and her mane's Skunk Stripe. Her mother and big brother have the same red-violet magic aura, so it may run in the family.
 * The Comically Serious: Big time. Anytime she attempts to look dignified and intellectual, expect it to be ruined by some other ponies' antics or her own hidden goofiness.
 * Control Freak: Though not overbearing per se, her over attention to detail and occasional irritance with her friends leads her to be insistant on her own direction of things. She can also be quite a nagger, something Spike knows all too well.
 * Cool Car: An upcoming Pony Wedding toy package will give her one that appears to be a Palette Swap of Pinkie Pie's RC Car.
 * Cool Crown: Unlike the other five Elements of Harmony (which are necklaces), her Element of Magic is a "big crown thingy."
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Cute Bookworm
 * Cute Librarian: She takes up management of the Golden Oak Library in addition to living inside of it. She fits the personality type of Hot Librarian, but is more cute than hot.
 * Cute Witch
 * Deadpan Snarker: Perhaps more frequently than any other character in the show. She's voiced by Tara Strong, it's practically a requirement.

Rainbow Dash: Well...once a month she comes into Ponyville.

Twilight: Ooh.

Rarity: Then, she lurks by the stores.

Twilight: Oh my.

Fluttershy: And then...she digs at the ground...

Twilight: Good gracious."


 * Defrosting Ice Queen: During the pilot towards her friends.
 * Determinator: When she wants to do something, she'll keep trying no matter what. For better or worse.
 * Ditzy Genius
 * Elemental Powers: Not weaponized but she can make a strong gust of wind and spark a candle among her abilities.
 * Expy: Of G1 Twilight. The cartoon even (jokingly) implies that Twilight Sparkle is the daughter of the original Twilight. Her coloring also resembles that of Twilight Twinkle from G3.
 * Flat Earth Atheist: Doesn't believe in many of the weird things that happen in Ponyville despite the fact that she uses magic (which she claims is different from other "Mumbo Jumbo") and is the personal student of a Physical Goddess.
 * Forgotten Phlebotinum: She fails to use her teleportation for most of the first season, starting after "Applebuck Season". Averted in Season 2 which has her putting it to regular use.
 * Four-Temperament Ensemble: Melancholic: introverted, organized and high expectations.
 * Friendless Background: In the first episode, it's shown that "she's more interested in books than friends." Some hints later on show it might not have been quite that simple. In "Look before You Sleep", she reveals she's "always" wanted to have a slumber party. In any case, as seen in the first episode, her studies were certainly getting in the way of having a social life, even if she might have wished for one when not occupied with something else interesting as in that episode.
 * Funny Afro: Twilight temporarily has one after Rainbow Dash messes up her mane in the first episode.
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom: Seems to be a side effect when she uses especially powerful magic, such as her Power Incontinence episode in her Flash Back in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" and any time she uses the Elements of Harmony.
 * Grumpy Bear: At times, while she's not pessimistic in general, she is rather cynical and non nonsense in personality, and has a rather grouchy temper if riled up enough. She can switch between cynical and naively optimistic at the blink of an eye however.
 * Guile Heroine: She can be this at times.
 * Heroic BSOD: When the stress of the parasprite invasion finally gets to her and her tortured psyche (briefly) snaps.
 * Has an even bigger one in "The Return of Harmony, Pt. 2" when.
 * And has an even more psychotic one over the course of "Lesson Zero".
 * Hidden Depths: Despite her history of not socializing by choice, she reveals in "Look Before You Sleep" that she's dreamed about throwing the perfect slumber party and is innocently enthusiastic about getting the chance to try her very first one. This being Twilight, she even has a guide to ensure she does everything by the book.

"Lauren Faust: It passed legal."
 * Humble Heroine: Wants nothing to do with being associated with the greatness of her deeds. Rather she wants to be viewed as an ordinary unicorn unlike her Shadow Archetype Trixie.
 * This also makes her a great Foil to Rainbow Dash.
 * Granted, as much as she tries to keep her ego under check, she sometimes can't resist acting haughty due to her role as Celestia's apprentice and very often considering herself the Only Sane Mare. See Pride below.
 * I Can't Dance: Sweet and Elite shows us that dancing is one of the many social activities she's yet to master.
 * Sweet fancy Moses.
 * I Just Want to Have Friends: Defied at first; she doesn't want friends when she first comes to Ponyville and it isn't until they help her defeat Nightmare Moon that she realizes how much she really needs them.
 * Image Song: The Theme Tune Extended (included as a sing-along on the DVD The Friendship Express, and partially included elsewhere) can be seen as one for Twilight.
 * Incredibly Lame Fun: A bookworm through and through, Twilight considers re-shelving library books or "a crazy weekend of studying" the height of entertainment.
 * Her favorite toy growing up was "Smarty Pants", an ugly pony doll with accessories so you can pretend she is studying. Not only does she think this was a great toy, she thinks it was so great that offering it to some young fillies will naturally cause them to fight over it.
 * Ineffectual Loner: Other ponies make clear efforts to reach out to her before the plot kicks off but she blows them off.
 * Inferiority Superiority Complex: Twilight can be rather condescending and arrogant about her intelligence over the others at times, and frequently badgers others over tasks, however it's revealed she has brought herself up with very high standards to upkeep and is absolutely terrified of disappointing peers or friends (especially Princess Celestia). She had a complete mental breakdown when she was out of schedule for even one single task.
 * Innocently Insensitive: Justified because Twilight doesn't have a lot of experience with dealing with ponies yet. But she doesn't realize her feelings are necesarily feelings anypony else will share, and she doesn't realize her point-blank bluntness hurts feelings.
 * When she was losing her grip in "Lesson Zero", it didn't even occur to her that anypony else would think that her Smartypants doll, that comes with accessories for doing homework, wasn't a great toy.
 * In "Secret of My Excess", Twilight is embarrassed to realize that the books she's given Spike for his birthday every year were not really appreciated as birthday presents by the little dragon.
 * In the episode "Baby Cakes", she offers to help Pinkie Pie babysit the Cake Twins because she states Pinkie can't handle the job alone, and offends Pinkie in the process.
 * Also in the episode "The Last Roundup", when the mail pony shows up at Applejack's surprise party and thinks that the party was for him because it was his birthday, Twilight rudely takes Applejack's message from him and slams the door in his face without a second thought.
 * Insufferable Genius: Light example. She is the most intelligent of the main cast and (often) shows a lot more common sense. Her neurotics can be irritating the others however and she can be a bit smug and prideful if over aware of her logic. Not to mention being an apt Deadpan Snarker.
 * I Work Alone: Her attitude during the pilot but after her Character Development she prefers working with others.
 * Kamehame Hadoken: One of her offensive spells is a beam of destructive magic.
 * The Kirk: She's generally at the balance between being emotional and logical, hence why she's the unofficial leader of the six.
 * The Leader: Leadership is one of Twilight's main secondary abilities, thanks to her organizational skills and levelheadedness. She serves as a Type I and Type II leader for her group of friends, and even for the whole town of Ponyville at times.
 * Loony Friends Improve Your Personality: She's made a better person of sorts when forced to make new (some definitely bizarre) friends. As far as she's concerned, friendship really is magic.
 * Lovable Nerd
 * Madness Makeover: Trope picture despite being the Only Sane Pony most of the time.
 * Magic Librarian
 * Meaningful Name: In the first two episodes, Twilight eventually brings peace to the ponies representing night and day. Twilight is the time when night and day briefly intersect. Additionally the book on the Elements of Harmony talk about a "spark" needed to ignite their power; this ends up being Twilight Sparkle.
 * Mind Over Matter: And a particularly strong telekinetic too. She can simultaneously levitate a humongous bear and a huge water tower.
 * Motifs: She tends to be associated with stars.
 * Symbol Motif Clothing: Her dress for Grand Galloping Gala has many stars on it.
 * Ms. Vice Gal: Normally even-tempered but Twilight does sometimes have problems with being grouchy and dismissive when something's bugging her. She also has an insensitive streak.
 * Multicolored Hair: Purple with pink streaks.
 * Nerds Love Tough Schoolwork
 * Nervous Wreck: When her neurotics reach their worst.
 * New Powers As the Plot Demands: Justified as she is almost always studying and learning new things (magical and otherwise). She can improvise spells as well, though this does not always work out so well.
 * Nice Girl: Whenever she's not in Grumpy Bear mode.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
 * Her attempt to use magic to stop the Parasprites from eating all the food in town just causes them to start eating the town instead.
 * When she tries to use magic to clear a field during the Winter Wrap-Up, it results in the plow going out of control and causing the part of the field already plowed to be covered up again.
 * In "Lesson Zero", she decides if she can't find a friendship problem to solve, she'll make one to solve. Cue the whole town fighting over her old Smartypants doll she enchanted with a "Want It, Need It" spell she isn't able to disenchant.
 * No Social Skills: Because of her solitary life, she starts out like this.
 * She returns to form in "Look Before You Sleep", running her first slumber party straight out of the book to ensure success. And it works!...sort of.
 * Even later on she still has a bit of this. In "Baby Cakes" she casually tells Pinkie Pie that she knew Pinkie wouldn't be up to babysitting the twins by herself and completely fails to pick up on the fact that Pinkie is offended by this statement.
 * Not Quite Flight: Her magic force-fields can do this.
 * Obsessed Are the Listmakers: Most notably her slumber party and in "Lesson Zero". It comes in handy in "Winter Wrap-Up" as she's the only pony there who knows how to prioritize.
 * Odd Name Out: She's the only pony in the Mane Six to have four syllables in her name (Twi-light Spar-kle) instead of three.
 * This most likely doesn't actually mean anything though as the characters didn't all have the same names in early development (for example, Pinkie Pie was originally a white Pegasus named "Surprise").
 * The names of the rest of the Mane Six were trademarks left over from the G3 series and their names may have intentionally been chosen to have three syllables to make the G3 theme song easier to write ("Rainbow Dash always dresses in style/Sweetie Belle's magic brings a great big smile....") The only ponies in G3's core 7 not to have three-syllable names were Toola Roola and Starsong.
 * Only Sane Pony: Generally the voice of reason compared to her friends. Most obvious in the pilot where her first impression of Ponyville comes from Pinkie Pie. Made even more obvious in "MMMystery On The Friendship Express" when Twilight, relegated as The Watson to Pinkie's Sherlock Holmes role, keeps shooting down Pinkie's ridiculously wild accusations so often that they exchange roles with no argument from Pinkie.
 * Inverted Trope during "Look Before You Sleep" where she's so intent on throwing a perfect slumber party that she insists on consulting a guidebook for everything. Justified in that she's never experienced one before and is completely unfamiliar with all of the classic trappings. She doesn't even know what a pillow fight is! She also wonders if a tree falling through her window is part of the procedures but we'll just blame that on the probable concussion.
 * Exaggerated Trope when all the other ponies were Brainwashed by Discord.
 * Deconstructed in Lesson Zero. When she approaches her friends for help on completing her weekly friendship report and they dismiss it as a trivial problem, Twilight believes she is the only one who understands just how dire the situation truly is but the audience clearly sees that it is Twilight who is bottoming out on sanity. Further deconstructed when her myopic perspective actually results in disaster.
 * Like every other character with so much as a speck of sanity over the others, the show seems very fond of displaying her own flaws and making her do something odd or indignifying whenever she gets too high a pedestal.
 * Out of Focus: In Season 2, at least compared to her role in Season 1. So far she's only had two focus episodes, has been in more of a supporting role in most episodes, and has been missing entirely from three. Quite odd, considering that she's supposed to be the lead protagonist of the mane cast. The writers clearly reveled a bit in not needing to shoehorn her into every story after "Lesson Zero."
 * Parental Substitute: Can be seen as a mother or sister figure to Spike...especially knowing that she hatched him as part of passing the entrance exam at her school and also following the events in "Owl's Well That Ends Well".
 * Platonic Life Partners/Promotion to Parent: With Spike because of the above.
 * The parental skills are further supported by her remarks to Pinkie in "Baby Cakes". She seems to know well what babies need.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Telekinetically anyway.
 * Waif Fu
 * Plucky Girl: At times.
 * Power Copying: Unicorns use magic spells associated with their special skill. Twilight's special skill is magic, allowing her to learn spells used by almost any other unicorn.
 * This is seen directly in "A Dog and Pony Show" when she copies a spell used by Rarity though Rarity did teach her how to do it. She even does it better than Rarity; while Rarity can only find one deposit of gems at a time, Twilight can reveal them throughout a volume the size of a room.
 * She also uses teleportation right after being subjected to it by Nightmare Moon, notably making her the only unicorn capable of it (not counting the princesses of course).
 * Power Incontinence: A flashback reveals that the awakening of Twilight's magic immediately turned her into a immense danger to everyone and herself. Her attempts at using magic to rectify a problem have about a 50% chance of going this way.
 * Pride: Clearly takes a lot of pride in having Celestia as her Mentor. However she's afraid of being seen as too prideful after witnessing how ponies react to Trixie's bragging.
 * Properly Paranoid:
 * Purple Eyes: Used to reflect her powerful magic skills.
 * Purple Is Powerful: She's a purple unicorn who's one of the most powerful magic users in the show.
 * Psychic Powers: Has telekinesis like all unicorns, and also has limited Telepathy, as seen in "Swarm of the Century" and "The Return of Harmony".
 * The Red Mage: Twilight's special talent is the ability to learn any magic.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: She's the Blue Oni to all of her friends, expect Fluttershy.
 * Renowned Selective Mentor: She was just trying to get into the royal academy. One magic overload later, she's studying directly from Princess Celestia.
 * Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: Twilight's magical skill is off the chart but she's a social misfit and painfully incompetent at basic manual labor.
 * Downplayed later on. In the first episode of Season 2, she lifted a huge rock ("Tom") and in the last episode she pushed a mine cart by herself.
 * Schedule Fanatic
 * Serious Business: Since her teacher is Celestia, aka the ruler of all Equestria herself, Twilight takes her studies very, very seriously. As seen in "Lesson Zero", the mere idea of failing an assignment and disappointing her teacher (which would surely be cause to send her back to... MAGIC KINDERGARTEN!) is stressful enough to unhinge her. Spike and the others tend to lampshade this now and then.
 * Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Not to an excess, but she has a more advanced vocabulary and more correct grammar than her friends. This makes her a Foil to Rainbow Dash and Applejack, both of whom tend towards Buffy-Speak, and to Pinkie Pie who is a Cloudcuckoolander.
 * She does play it completely straight in "Hurricane Fluttershy", complete with Spike providing a Layman's Terms punchline.
 * Skunk Stripe: The pink and lighter-purple shades of her mane.
 * Slasher Smile: Gets one in "Lesson Zero" when she goes completely off the deep end.
 * The Snark Knight
 * Socially Awkward Heroine: And how! Even within the first episode, she runs away from the "lots and lots of friends" Pinkie Pie introduces her to, but not from Nightmare Moon who has been imprisoned in the moon for centuries and just escaped.
 * Partly attributable to seeing it as part of her duty to confront Nightmare Moon, but not to make friends.
 * Sorcerer's Apprentice Plot: Sorta. Sometimes she performs amazing feats of power but she often also spectacularly messes up spells and makes everything much worse.
 * When she tries to stop Parasprites from eating all the food in Ponyville, the spell just makes them eat the buildings instead.
 * In another instance, enchanting a plow to clean up snow on its own made the plow go out of control, making the mess worse when it ends up causing an avalanche that ruins everyone else's work.
 * In "Lesson Zero", Twilight tries to create a problem she can solve using the "Want It, Need It" spell on a doll which quickly affects every pony in town. The ensuing riot prevents her from disenchanting the doll.
 * The Spock: When not being The Kirk, she takes a very logical and scientific view on the world. She refuses to believe in anything that doesn't seem to make sense.
 * Squishy Wizard: "Winter Wrap Up" openly displays her being much weaker than an average Earth Pony and rather klutzy with her hooves (unable to ice skate well or construct a bird's nest without the help of magic). Applejack and Rainbow Dash also state she is physically unfit for the race in "Fall Weather Friends". She gets the last laugh by coming in fifth while they tie for last. She seems to have averted this by season 2, however, as she can carry a boulder twice as large as herself, push a minecart, and holds her own against
 * Strong As They Need to Be: Twilight's magic can range from very menial strength to near unlimited depending on what the scenario calls for. While some episodes do at least put a better distinction on what she is capable of (or what strain it has on her), there are definitely scenarios or obstacles that shouldn't really be a problem compared to her power against others.
 * Supernatural Is Purple
 * Super OCD: On and off; often whatever happens to be funnier. Alternately leaves her library in an unholy strewn mess and then applies neurotic meticulousness rivaling Rarity's in cleaning it.
 * When given materials to make a bird's nest in "Winter Wrap Up", in the two seconds it takes the camera to pan away and back, she's already laid out all the ribbons and sticks into neat rows and sorted individual strands of straw by hue.
 * "Lesson Zero" shows just how bad this can get.
 * She makes checklists for everything including checklists, to ensure she has everything she needs, to make checklists.
 * In "It's About Time", she's shown staying up all night worrying about not having left time in this month's schedule to make a schedule for next month.
 * Season 2 appears to make it consistently 'on', now that she no longer has to be the star.
 * Superpower Lottery: Short of Celestia and others like her, Twilight is the single strongest unicorn in the series. For bonus points, she isn't even limited by a specialized discipline, instead having magic itself as her skill. She also seems to be able to use other unicorns' talent-related magic at higher levels than the original user.
 * Though the Power Incontinence mentioned earlier fortunately balances it out, so that she doesn't completely overshadow the rest of the Mane-rs in capability.
 * Swiss Army Superpower: Her magic. Sure, spells have some vague rules, but she specializes in every kind of magic and has an enormous amount of raw power. The only story-wise limit for her magic might be that she can't do an outright Deus Ex Machina.
 * Team Mom: Sometimes she takes this role with Spike and the other ponies.
 * Teleport Spam: Twilight has a tendency to warp around quickly when flustered like in "Lesson Zero" when fretting about not submitting a friendship report to Celestia on time.
 * Exaggerated in "Applebuck Season" while dealing with a sleep-deprived Applejack; if AJ takes more than four steps away from her, she'll instantly teleport over rather than simply walk the three feet separating them. To be fair, Twilight was getting increasingly annoyed at the time and likely wasn't thinking straight, though not nearly as much as the above example.
 * Teleporters and Transporters: Unlike previous My Little Pony series, she is the only unicorn with the ability to teleport that we've seen so far. Strangely when she teleports Spike with her, he comes out slightly singed. She says she did it by accident in that instance.
 * Since "Secret of My Excess," it has been shown that Twilight is capable of teleporting others to her and with her. She apparently teleports long-distance in "Dragon Quest", and it also establishes her teleportation is not a Story-Breaker Power because long-distance teleportation takes too much energy to do regularly.
 * Rarity dressed Twilight in her "Winter Wrap Up" vest by teleporting it onto her.
 * Tempting Fate: Twilight seems to have an unfortunate habit of asking whether things could possibly get worse. They almost always do.
 * Tsurime Eyes: More prominent on her toy.
 * Twitchy Eye: Gets this in "A Bird in the Hoof" when she panics about Celestia's presence.
 * Also in "Swarm Of The Century" for the same reason.
 * In "Lesson Zero", worried about letting Celestia down by being late with her Friendship Report, she gets this, twitchy ears, a teeth-grinding slasher smile, and a mussed up mane due to really, really losing it.
 * Undying Loyalty: To Princess Celestia, considering she's "her most loyal and faithful student".
 * Unfortunate Names: Twilight Sparkle.
 * Given Ms. Faust's comments on the matter, may have been intentional.
 * Given Ms. Faust's comments on the matter, may have been intentional.


 * Unskilled but Strong: Actually she's the most magically powerful unicorn in the whole show as is repeatedly pointed out. The "Unskilled" comes from the fact she often only practices a new spell until she can pull it off right in practice once and then moves on to the next, more difficult spell. This practice severely limits the practical and effective use of her stronger spells in helping her with her day-to-day problems which sometimes comes back to bite her in the plot when the obstacles she faces require high-level magic and the magic backfires or falters on the field. The 'strong' portion of this trope refers to her magical abilities; she is the physically weakest of the six but can often use her intelligence (or magic) to help in situations where strength isn't an option.
 * "Well Done, Student" Girl: Her relationship with Princess Celestia has some definite shades of this. Twilight obviously idolizes Celestia and desperately seeks her approval though Celestia's approval is not nearly as conditional as Twilight thinks it is.
 * When She Smiles: Double Subverted, as Twilight does smile a decent amount, but when she's genuinely happy it really stands out.


 * Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: If Winter Wrap-up is anything to go by, she is terrified of snakes.
 * Wise Beyond Their Years: Well...she's a young adult but she has been shown to be much more effective at leading than the elderly mayor of Ponyville.
 * With Great Power Comes Great Perks: Like all unicorns, she uses magic for just about everything (where appropriate). And she gets even more perks than most unicorns because she can use any type of magic.

Spike
""You really should lighten up, Twilight. It's a party!""



"Debut: "Friendship Is Magic, Part 1" ("Mare in the Moon")"

"Voiced by Cathy Weseluck"

A baby dragon who hangs around Twilight as her "#1 Assistant" and seems to be the closest thing she had to a friend before traveling to Ponyville. He can transport messages to Celestia by burning them with his green flames; this communication goes both ways as she can then send messages that he burps out. Messages he sends to Celestia arrive in a much more dignified manner.

""I don't want any of that girly, frilly, frou-frou nonsense" he says and then walks out giggling after receiving his ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala."
 * Aborted Arc: Attempts to give Spike a Catch Phrase ("Holy Guacamole!") in "Feeling Pinkie Keen" have mysteriously vanished.
 * All Love Is Unrequited: He has a major crush on Rarity who seems to either not notice this or not care. She never shows any indication she could imagine getting together with him nor of being bothered by the notion and wanting to reject it. Unless she's being really blind to his obvious feelings, it probably has something to do with how the only reason they are even remotely the same size is because he's still a child or the fact that he's still a child.
 * This status quo is demolished at the climax of "Secret of My Excess" when Spike finally confesses his feelings to Rarity.
 * All There in the Manual: According to Lauren Faust it was Princess Celestia who raised Spike and taught him how to magically send messages. Apparently Ponies know very little about dragons and have never seen a baby one before which is why Celestia decided to take the challenge of raising one herself.
 * Possibly Subverted though, as Lauren had said that this was just a concept that was never actually added to the show yet. So the writers may change his backstory.
 * Always Someone Better: His initial view on Owloysius.
 * Audience Surrogate: Sometimes ends up getting pulled into the girls' adventures against his will and then ends up enjoying it all in spite of himself. Clearly some of us are meant to relate.

""Uh...I got nothing. 'Twilight Sparkle?' I mean seriously; I can't even work with that.""
 * To drive the point home, he plays with the miniatures of Shining Armor and Cadence in the season 2 finale.
 * Badass Adorable: It's not seen a whole lot (see The Load) but when pushed enough he can fight back pretty well if a friend is in danger.
 * Badass Longcoat: He wears one in the episode "The Mysterious Mare Do Well".
 * Badass Mustache: Wears one on several occasions.
 * Berserk Button: Never come between him and Twilight or disrespect Rarity while he's around.
 * Big Eater: Spike will eat almost anything and everything. He's got a lot of growing to do after all.
 * Big No: He does this after his plan backfires in "A Dog and Pony Show".
 * Bizarre Alien Biology: Normally understated but "Secret of My Excess" emphasizes that Spike's got some serious physical quirks compared to most creatures that ponies deal with.
 * Blessed With Suck: Dragons are amongst the most powerful creatures in Equestria. A power gained by losing control of your materialism and becoming a mindless beast.
 * Bratty Half-Pint: Spike is helpful and obedient to Twilight. However, he can be incredibly obnoxious and childish at times, not to mention has a very dry wit.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall: He does this in "Bridle Gossip" where he directly addresses the audience (and even the creators).

"Spike: That nest needs to be condemned!
 * And again in "Lesson Zero", ending Twilight's imagine spots.
 * Breath Weapon: Like all dragons, he can breathe fire, though he hasn't yet been shown to use it as a weapon even in a serious fight. Indeed, even though he is known to use his fire for cooking and popping popcorn, even a full on (albeit accidental) blast only gives Twilight a new hairstyle.
 * Butt Monkey: Shares this role with Twilight Sparkle.
 * Iron Butt Monkey: The cartoon even lampshades this by explaining that (unlike Twilight) Spike's natural body armor allows him to shrug off a lot of damage. He says this while being used as a literal pincushion for Rarity, and later shown to be exceptionally sturdy even by dragons' standards.
 * Character Development: In episode 3 he didn't want to be seen at a "Girly Gala Gunk". 45 episodes later he's seen wearing pink apron out in the open, not being embarrassed to be seen in it (until Rainbow Dash started teasing him).
 * Few episodes later Spike is seen enjoying spa with the other girls. Even Rainbow Dash wouldn't be caught dead getting a manicure! Although in Spike's case the right sort of a manicure might qualify under "proper maintenance of natural weapons for maximum effectiveness".
 * Compressed Hair: See Nice Hat below. The question of where his spikes go when his head is covered is never addressed. It's especially notable because unlike hair (or manes, whatever) they're rigid, though they do briefly go floppy when he gets drenched with water in "The Return of Harmony Part 2".
 * Cowardly Sidekick: Depending On the Writer. Spike can be either (with thanks to Monty Python) suicidally brave or hilariously cowardly depending on which is funnier at the time.
 * Crazy Consumption: Spike loves to eat gemstones. Not only can he chew them with ease but he can also suck on one and melt it as if it were a large piece of hard candy.
 * Curtains Match the Window: for particularly scaly definitions of "curtains"
 * Cute Little Fangs
 * A Day in The Limelight: "A Dog and Pony Show" (shared with Rarity), "Owl's Well That Ends Well", "Secret of My Excess", and "Dragon Quest".
 * Deadpan Snarker: Not quite as much so as Twilight Sparkle but still noticeably so. (Perhaps it's a result of being raised by Twilight?)

Rarity: Spike, it's not that bad; perhaps the birds can use it as...

Spike: ...an outhouse?"

""There is no pain that would keep me from assisting the most beautiful creature in the world!""
 * Determinator: He is determined to win Rarity's heart and won't give up no matter what.

"Pinkie Pie: Little Spikey-wikey! Who knew that big ferocious dragons started out so cutesy-wootsey?"
 * Does Not Like Spam: If this Hub commercial is to be believed, he thinks green beans are nasty.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: A dragon falls in love with an equine immediately after they meet. This sure seems familiar.
 * Dogged Nice Guy: To Rarity.
 * Dude, Where's My Respect?: Goes through some cases of this, especially since he does A LOT of work for the girls, with not too many thanks from them (this is Subverted only in Owl's Well That Ends Well), and is even mysteriously absent at many of their parties, or adventures. As proven a few times though, Twilight is very grateful to have him around, even if she doesn't always make it apparent.
 * Eat Dirt Cheap: His favorite food is gemstones.
 * Era Specific Personality: G1 Spike was less sarcastic (and in the original pilot was an antagonist before receiving a Heel Face Turn) while G3 Spike was a 1000 year old Stuffy Brit.
 * Expy: Of G1 (prototype) Spike, G1 (TV series) Spike and G3 (DVD only) Spike.
 * Extreme Omnivore: He'll eat grass, fruit, gemstones (his favorite), worm-filled muffins he scooped from the trash...
 * Although he seems oddly picky about apples.
 * Although he does treat gems like a human would treat a high-quality steak or fine cheese. In "Secret of My Excess", he talks about a rare fire ruby he's been carefully aging for some time now and expresses great excitement over eating it for his birthday dinner.
 * Although this Hub commercial has him claim that green beans are nasty.
 * He eats ice cream off the floor in "It's About Time", which also says something about the cleanliness of Canterlot's floors.
 * Familiar: Spike seems to be this for Twilight, though Owloysius may be a better fit.
 * Food As Bribe: Rarity and Pinkie Pie have each offered him gems to eat in exchange for a favor.
 * For Halloween I Am Going As Myself: What costume does he wear on Nightmare Night? A dragon costume. Real original.
 * Fun Size: He's TINY compared to an adult dragon. He could fit in its palm and bring several friends. "The Cutie Mark Chronicles", "Secret of My Excess", and "Dragon Quest" all VERY strongly indicate that Spike will eventually grow to a massive size.
 * Fun Size: He's TINY compared to an adult dragon. He could fit in its palm and bring several friends. "The Cutie Mark Chronicles", "Secret of My Excess", and "Dragon Quest" all VERY strongly indicate that Spike will eventually grow to a massive size.


 * Genre Savvy: He immediately recognizes that Twilight Sparkle's Freak-Out in "Lesson Zero" will end badly and tries to take steps before it gets too out of hand.
 * Greater Need Than Mine: He gives Rarity his Fire Ruby that he's been saving for month for his birthday dinner all so she can be happy.
 * Greed: Dragons have an innate predisposition to this fault. Spike doesn't normally show it but excessive gifts can trigger this in him.
 * Happily Adopted: As of "The Cutie Mark Chronicles", it looks like he was raised by Twilight and it's obvious in "Owl's Well That Ends Well" that he sees her as a surrogate mother or big sister, which makes sense, since she was responsible for hatching him.
 * Heavy Sleeper: Justified, since he is a baby dragon and needs his sleep.
 * Hypercompetent Sidekick: Spike is very skilled at cleaning, cooking, categorizing, taking notes, sending and receiving messages, etc. He can also fight, quickly spots mistakes in Twilight's plans, takes care of diplomatic business on his own and has connections with important people such as the famous Hoity Toity. On top of that, he absolutely loves his job.
 * Oddly in the very first episode, a brief scene gives Spike a less-than-average understanding of spelling basic words. Thankfully averted in the series since.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: As good as he is at his job, Spike can also frequently be hindered by his childishness and can be a bit of an obnoxious goofball. Twilight has to keep him in line just as often as vice versa.
 * Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Temporarily in "Owl's Well That Ends Well", complete with with a Dastardly Whiplash attire and a hammy Evil Laugh.
 * Innocent Prodigy: Arguably even more so than Twilight since he actually is a kid.
 * Innocently Insensitive: Sometimes. "Hurricane Fluttershy" is a particularly gruesome example, when his statements made in practicality on Fluttershy's poor flying ability break her spirit.
 * In-Series Nickname: "Spikey-Wikey," used by Pinkie Pie in "Owl's Well That Ends Well" and by Rarity in "Secret of My Excess" and "Dragon Quest".
 * Interspecies Romance: Hopes for one with Rarity.
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: Spike can seem awfully rude at times like when making fun of his friends' afflictions in "Bridle Gossip" or his machinations against the owl in "Owl's Well That Ends Well". Apart from that though, he's an okay guy.
 * Large Ham: Sometimes he becomes this.
 * Large Ham Announcer:
 * In "Fall Weather Friends", he enjoys announcing the Iron Pony Competition so much that Pinkie Pie makes him co-announcer for the Running of the Leaves.
 * In "Suited for Success", he gives a ridiculously pretentious intro for Rarity's first fashion show...which is par for the course as far as fashion shows go.
 * Likes Older Women: Rarity being the example.
 * As some fan art has pointed out, this would lead to a weird Mayfly-December Romance, since while he is a Baby Dragon, he'll also live much much longer than any Pony will.
 * The Load: When things get gritty at least. Spike is a highly competent assistant to Twilight and proves useful outside the action, but in terms of actual physical involvement, he's mostly useless, either staying on the sidelines or needing the ponies to protect him. He does get sparse moments however.
 * Love At First Sight: Automatically falls in love with Rarity after he first meets her.
 * Magikarp Power: So far we've seen that Dragons are obscenely powerful beings almost without equal but since Spike's a baby, he's relatively easy to thwart. This becomes all the more apparent when he occasionally stops being a baby and becomes a much greater threat to everyone nearby.
 * Magitek/Mundane Utility: He uses his magic fire to send and receive letters which makes him a living fax machine.
 * He's also incredibly useful to the rest of the cast because he's the only main character with usable hands.
 * He's also used for cooking in "Over a Barrel" and "A Bird in the Hoof".
 * Meaningful Name: He's called Spike because he has spikes.
 * Meta Guy: He seems to be the only character thus far to canonically be aware of the audience (and possibly even the creators of the show) despite Fanon about Pinkie Pie.
 * Nice Hat: Spike seems to have a thing for sweet headgear. Apparently the Animators like putting stuff on his head because it's funny.
 * The Nicknamer: Takes this role in "Bridle Gossip" when he comes up with clever nicknames for the girls after they've been affected by the poison joke.
 * Non-Pony Sidekick: To Twilight Sparkle.
 * Non Standard Character Design: One of only two wingless dragons shown in the series. He's also the smallest seen so far.
 * The Not-Secret: In "Green Isn't Your Color", Spike "reveals" to Twilight and Pinkie Pie that he has a crush on Rarity. Twilight of course already knows although Pinkie Pie is surprised and forces Twilight into keeping it secret.
 * As Secret of My Excess shows,.
 * Odd Friendship: Believe it or not with Twilight; the two of them really don't have that much in common yet they stick together. The argument can be made that they're more like family than friends though.
 * He also seems fond of Pinkie Pie, despite his rational, cynical personality. He acts as befuddled as everypony else at her stranger excesses, but they often end up sharing scenes and supporting each other. To be fair, she is a Friend to All Children, and Spike is used to dealing with Twilight's less coherent moments.
 * The One Guy: The only regularly recurring male character in the main cast, and for a long time the only confirmed male in the toy line.
 * Only Sane Man: He has his moments like everyone else, but he's usually in this role, especially once Twilight starts to lose it.
 * Opposites Attract: Spike is a dragon (which are greedy by nature) with a crush on Rarity (the bearer of the element of Generosity).
 * Scratch the surface and it starts looking like Not So Different: greed is a major vice of Rarity's while Spike's willing to put Rarity's happiness above his own.
 * Played with, really. On the surface, Rarity is a vain and greedy girl while Spike seems endlessly giving and humble. But Rarity will put someone's happiness above her own without a second thought and Spike has an ego and (literally) monstrous greed that he usually suppresses. Similar qualities but different presentations.
 * Our Dragons Are Different: And apparently used as living E-mail clients.
 * He even appears to be a separate species from the grown dragons that live in the Everfree forest; he's flightless for one thing and capable of sending letters with his flame although Word of God says that the latter is a learned skill.
 * Out of Focus: He has considerably less screen time in season 2 than in season 1, even having the ponies that learn An Aesop just say it in a narrative voice instead of having him directly write the letter most of the time, causing some fans to joke that Spike is now unemployed.
 * It's especially funny because in the first half of the season Spike was featured in almost every episode (even ones where Twilight never appeared) "Spike is the new main character" became a meme.
 * Overly Long Tongue: As seen in "Lesson Zero" and "Secret of My Excess".
 * Pals With Jesus: Like Twilight, he has a direct line to Princess Celestia (mostly because he is the direct line to Princess Celestia) though oddly he's far more laid back around her than any of her other subjects are.
 * Word of God states that Celestia raised him after Twilight caused his egg to hatch. Jesus is his mommy.
 * Phrase Catcher: "Spike, take a letter."
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Don't let his size fool you; he's a lot stronger than he looks. The Diamond Dogs learn this the hard way. In his head anyway.
 * Nigh Invulnerable: His offense might not be much to write home about, but being covered in dragon scales means there's not much that can do more than knock the breath out of him.
 * Platonic Life Partners: With Twilight; see Odd Friendship.
 * Playing With Fire: He breathes a "magic fire" to send messages to Princess Celestia but is also capable of producing plain old regular fire too. "Owl's Well That Ends Well" suggests that he can even produce fire from his claws.
 * Or even produce fire by accident. He's also accidentally sneezed green fire, resulting in random items being sent to Princess Celestia.
 * Becomes amazingly literal.
 * The Power of Love: It turns out that Spike's love for Rarity
 * Precocious Crush:
 * He has a big crush on Rarity.
 * One of The Hub's Royal Wedding bumpers gives him a crush on Tori Spelling.
 * Purple Is Powerful: See Pint-Sized Powerhouse.
 * Raised By Ponies: Comes up in "Dragon Quest."
 * Real Men Wear Pink: He at first thinks the Grand Galloping Gala is too girly for him, but later is enthusiastic about going. He's also willing to serve a as a model for Rarity's designs.
 * He also wears a pink apron and has tea and biscuits picnic complete with china set in ""Dragon Quest".
 * Shoulder-Sized Dragon
 * Shout-Out: Spike's magic green fire may very well be this to the Floo Network fireplaces in Harry Potter.
 * Significant Birth Date: Twilight hatched his egg on the same day that she got her Cutie Mark.
 * Singing Voice Dissonance: While he hasn't yet sung in the show itself (outside of Crowd Songs in which his individual voice can't be made out), the "Equestria Girls" video implies that the song's male backup is Spike despite not sounding like him (i.e., sounding like Snoop Dogg).
 * Spike of All Trades
 * Straight Man: His most consistent role.
 * Superpowered Greedy Side: **see Magikarp Power**
 * Tagalong Kid/The Sixth Ranger
 * Technicolor Fire: His fire breath is a neon green color.
 * Totally Radical: At least in the Polish version when compared to the other main characters. He uses phrases and words such as "Jesteś w dechę!" (You're totally awesome!), "wtopa" (bummer) or "ściema" (a slang variation of "lie").
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Gemstones. This is a little frustrating for him living in Ponyville as the few ponies who do trade in gemstones use them as decoration instead of food.
 * Undying Loyalty: To Twilight Sparkle, and the rest of his friends to a certain degree.
 * Unknown Rival: To Owloysius at first.
 * Vague Age: This applies to most of the cast but Spike is probably the one who sticks out the most because he is younger than the mane cast but seems to be older than the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Dragon biology and society offers much in the way of questions but little in the way of answers, so figuring out his relative age comes down to looking at how he acts and how the rest of the cast treats him. Judge how his behavior compares to the Mane Six for yourself.
 * On the high side, he has a full time job as Twilight's assistant/valet, he has been left in charge of the library and Fluttershy's pets when the others go away, and takes care of business in Canterlot on his own. He's also the voice of reason when Twilight starts freak out.
 * On the low side, he's ran away from home out of jealousy, he tends to get talked down to, and his advice is often ignored. He also has terrible tact.
 * Vocal Evolution: Spike's voice has been getting slightly deeper since his first appearance. He's still growing so it makes sense.
 * It actually might just be Weseluck getting into the role. In an interview, she said that she thought he was a toddler at first.
 * In "Secret of My Excess", his voice gets progressively deeper until even modulating his actress' voice digitally doesn't cut it anymore and they just start using animal grunts, growls and roars instead.
 * You Need a Breath Mint: According to Twilight, Spike's breath always stinks.
 * Brimstone, or sulfur, a common ingredient of dragon fire, smells like rotten eggs.

Applejack
""This is your sister Applejack, remember? The loyalest of friends and the most dependable of ponies?""



"Debut: "Friendship Is Magic, Part 1" ("Mare in the Moon")"

"Voiced by Ashleigh Ball"

An earth pony from the huge Apple family, a herd that runs multiple apple farms across Equestria. Applejack helps run Sweet Apple Acres, the ancestral farm of the family. Sensible and down to earth, she's admired for her honesty and integrity. However she also has a bit of a stubborn streak at times.

"Applejack: This is your sister Applejack, remember? The loyalest of friends and most dependable of ponies?
 * Affectionate Nickname: Sometimes calls her closest friends "sugarcube".
 * American Accents: She has a distinctive Tennessee drawl, as is fitting given the large number of apple orchards in that particular region.
 * Bad Liar: Representing the Element of Honesty, Applejack isn't usually one to lie but when she does, she's terrible at hiding it as shown in "Party of One" (despite her excuses technically being true).
 * Badass Normal: She doesn't have the powers of a unicorn or the flight of a Pegasus (or Pinkie's reality-warping) but she still manages to accomplish a great many tasks through strength, will, determination and a healthy dose of stubbornness.
 * Even in the toys, she still manages to be badass. The description of her Farm Truck states that "APPLEJACK drives her truck to bring fresh apples to the market. Between deliveries, she likes to practice jumping over fences!" While the wording is a little vague, this could be taken to mean that she does Ramp Jumps in her spare time. (It may also be a Mythology Gag referencing G1 Applejack who used to crash and break fences all the time.)
 * Big Eater: Applejack's heavy farm chores make her burn a lot of energy so she is used to eating a lot of food. This is made explicit when she moves with her Orange relatives and is baffled at the minuscule food servings they're used to eating there.
 * Book Dumb: In "Applebuck Season", she criticizes Big Macintosh for bringing numbers into their conversation.

Big Macintosh: But still only one pony and one pony plus hundreds of apple trees just doesn't add up to...

Applejack: Don't you use your fancy mathematics to muddy the issue!"

"Watching all the rosy apples; whoops; there goes another fence
 * She describes most things which aren't the stuff of salt-of-the-earth ordinary farm life as "fancy." For example, in "The Cutie Pox", when Apple Bloom starts speaking French, Applejack proclaims she's "speakin' in fancy".
 * Broken Ace: Often plays this in her spotlight episodes. She's incredibly gifted and relied on frequently by the rest of Ponyville, because of this however she cannot take failing someone even in the most understandable of circumstances and works herself ragged trying to please everyone above her capabilities. Similar to Rainbow Dash her arrogance can perk up and hinder things at times as well.
 * Bruiser With a Soft Center: True to her "cowgirl" demeanor, Applejack is a rowdy and assertive Cute Bruiser, but ultimately friendly and rational minded.
 * Call to Agriculture: Turned down the fancy life in Manehattan to settle on her old farm and hasn't regretted it even once.
 * As far as we know. She may be the embodiment of honesty, but that doesn't mean she can't stretch the truth.
 * Chronic Hero Syndrome: A more mundane example than Rainbow Dash, but equally defining. Applejack is renowned for her reliability throughout Ponyville, often providing help where ever she can. It is this status however that leads her to sometimes exhaust herself in her devotion to others.
 * The Clan: Has a large extended family with apple-related Theme Naming like Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Apple Brown Betty, Braeburn, etc.
 * Living with her on the farm are the similarly theme-named Granny Smith, Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh.
 * There's also Aunt and Uncle Orange up in Manehattan.
 * The Comically Serious: Not as often as Twilight, but her gruffness and straight faced demeanor sometimes plays her into this. She is a cowgirl after all.
 * Competition Freak: Not quite as bad as Rainbow Dash, but her brashness does provoke this hard at times, especially against the former.
 * Companion Cube: Treats one of her apple trees, Bloomberg, as one of her own children.
 * Conflict Ball: Despite often acting as the voice of reason, she arguably has the largest number of Feud Episodes with another pony, most often with Rainbow Dash. Perhaps what leads Twilight to so quickly assume that the two are fighting at one point.
 * Cool Big Sis: Often plays this role to Apple Bloom. She seems to play this with a few other ponies as well, most recurringly Twilight.
 * Cool Truck: Her Farm Truck from the toys (the Periphery Demographic may not think so, but it wasn't meant to appeal to them).
 * Country Mouse: According to "The Cutie Mark Chronicles", it was visiting her City Mouse aunt and uncle that helped her realize she belonged on the farm.
 * Cowgirl
 * Cute Lightning Bruiser or Mighty Glacier Waif: Can be one of the faster or slower ponies depending on the episode but always the physically strongest.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Not to the extent of Twilight or Rainbow, but she can get pretty snarky.
 * This is taken Up to Eleven when she plays Smart Cookie in the Hearth's Warming Eve play.
 * Determinator: She becomes this especially if/when her stubbornness gets the better of her...particularly in "Applebuck Season".
 * Edible Ammunition: She planned to kick some of her apples at the dragon in the episode "Dragonshy".
 * Era Specific Personality: Friendship is Magic's Applejack is one of Ponyville's best athletes. Her First Gen counterpart is...uh...not.
 * To put it more clearly, G1 Applejack was a Disaster Girl type of character, constantly getting herself in trouble for doing things she was NOT supposed to do, or simply causing (unintended) mayhem around her, thanks to her clumsiness, HUGE appetite for apples and her lack of "Horse Sense".
 * On a UK story tape, G1 Applejack got a special song dedicated to her clumsiness, titled "Who's a Silly Pony?" Some sample lyrics:

Are you coming? Are you going? Why don't you use your horse sense?

Who's a silly pony? You're a silly pony! Who is? You is! Applejack!

Bumping into gates and knocking over fences! Who is? You is! Applejack!"


 * This was a bit of an Informed Flaw, though, since in the My Little Pony TV Specials the one big accident she was involved in was thanks to Firefly's recklessness. She did fall off a bridge later, but that would have happened regardless of which pony walked across last.
 * Naturally the internet has made the most of this.
 * Like every other pony, Applejack isn't immune to clumsiness or slapstick. Her athleticism doesn't stop her continuing the role of Iron Butt Monkey it seems.
 * Everypony Hates Mathematics: "Applebuck Season" hints that math...or even counting for that matter...isn't Applejack's strong point.
 * Averted in the episodes "Fall Weather Friends" (instantly adding 17 seconds and a 5 second penalty to get 22 seconds as her time for the Barrel Weave) and "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000" (she instantly realizes that losing the money from selling cider will cause the farm to go under financially.)
 * The Everymare: She's really the most normal of her group of friends, albeit still by comparison only.
 * Expy: For the original Applejack.
 * It probably wasn't intentional but she's also an expy of Megan from G1. They're both highly competent Action Girl team moms that work on farms. Megan was more maternal than Applejack is generally portrayed as but she was also almost always the designated adult.
 * The Face: Appears to be the most prominent member of the Apple family in Ponyville, mostly due to Big Macintosh's quiet demeanor and Granny Smith's age.
 * Family Business: Growing and selling apples along with all the myriad methods of preparing them. Applejack takes this very seriously; her primary interest in the Grand Galloping Gala is setting up a stand there.
 * A common fandom joke is that she sells apples and apple accessories.
 * Four-Temperament Ensemble: Choleric: extroverted, confident and stubborn.
 * From a Certain Point of View: She's the element of honesty, but that doesn't mean she has to tell the whole truth.
 * Genre Motif: Country/bluegrass played on banjos or acoustic guitars. She sometimes gets a motif reminiscient of western movie "riding" themes when she gets into action.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: Her being named after an alcoholic beverage may or may not be intentional but the nickname Spike chooses for her when she shrinks in "Bridle Gossip" certainly is.
 * Hair Decorations: She wears red scrunchies on her mane and her tail.
 * Honor Before Reason: In "Applebuck Season", she struggles to keep all of her promises (and turning down help) despite being stretched to her limits, nearly working herself to death through exhaustion.
 * In "The Last Roundup," she's so ashamed at her failure to win any rodeo events that she decides to start a new life in another town and refuses to return to Ponyville until she earns enough to replace the prize money she failed to win.
 * How Do You Like Them Apples?
 * Just to drive the point home, she says it word for word in "Applebuck Season".
 * Which is then turned around on her less than five seconds later.
 * I Call It Vera: She calls her back legs Bucky McGillicuddy (her left one) and Kicks McGee (her right one).
 * Inferiority Superiority Complex: Utilized with her work overzeal. When given a difficult task, Applejack can be rather pig headed and arrogant, refusing help from others. Ultimately however, she is only insecure about her strengths and reliability, and takes letting someone down very hard (even when the person in question is far less upset about it). Also plays into her Team Mom role, while she is usually kind and understanding to others' shortcomings, she has great difficulty accepting her own.
 * Ink Suit Actress
 * In-Series Nickname: Her name is often shortened to "A.J." in series.
 * Intergenerational Friendship: In the toys, she apparently has one with toy-exclusive unicorn filly Star Dreams, seeing as they "love having slumber parties together!"
 * I Work Alone: She's not a loner in general, but hates being told she needs help, and when driven to complete a task on her own, there's rarely any reasoning with her.
 * Jack of All Trades: In The Last Roundup she competed in a national rodeo and, according to Cherry Jubilee, scored in the top four of every event.
 * Master of None: What Applejack THOUGHT she was, which was the source of her personal drama for the episode.
 * Kick Chick: Granted she is a pony but she uses her kick far more than anyone else...especially when she knocks apples off of the trees on her farm.
 * Knight Templar Big Sister: She is shown to be very overprotective and strict in protecting Apple Bloom in "Bridle Gossip" and acts extremely paranoid and hostile to Zecora at the thought of her harming her. This trait is toned down in most later episodes, where she is more of a Cool Big Sis.
 * The Ladette: Applejack cringes at the thought of wearing feminine clothing, regularly lapses into crude and aggressive behavior and won't hesitate to charge into action when needed.
 * Married to The Job
 * Massive Numbered Cousins: Applejack has to pause to catch her breath when she introduces them to Twilight Sparkle.
 * Meaningful Name: "Apple" is obvious. "Jack" may refer to a jack-of-all-trades; i.e. someone who can do a lot of different things but isn't a specialist.
 * Applejack or apple-brandy is a high-proof beverage distilled from cider. It has something of a kick to it (FiM) and also tends to result in less-than-optimal coordination and judgement (G1).
 * Ms. Vice Gal: Applejack's stubbornness does help when she's in a tough spot but it also gets her in trouble on a fairly regular basis, most notably in "Applebuck Season" where she refuses to admit that she needs help and when it interferes in attempts to negotiate with the Buffalo in "Over A Barrel".
 * Never Bareheaded: She always seems to wear a cowboy hat...even when in a formal dress. Averted in the toys, however, where she is almost never seen with a hat.
 * Nice Hat
 * Not So Different: While she plays Blue Oni to the impulsive Rainbow Dash, her stubborn streak makes her in turn a Red Oni towards others like Rarity. There are also times she is shown eagerly assisting Rainbow Dash with stunts.
 * Number Two: In episodes where the entire Mane Six is facing a common problem, Applejack often falls into the role of a second-in-command to Twilight.
 * Out of Focus: Compared to the rest of the main six she gets the least episodes as the main character. Though on the other hand if she's a primary supporting character she gets that honor in spades, due to her maturity and being something of a Team Mom to the others. She also gets the lion's share of episodes shared between two characters (often due to her Conflict Ball moments).
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: She may be small but she has no problem moving several carts of apples bigger than she is at the same time.
 * Waif Fu
 * Power Blonde: She's the sole blonde and the physically strongest of the six.
 * Pride: Has a stubborn streak miles wide and hates backing down from any challenge.
 * The Rival: Had an occasional (usually) friendly competitive streak with Rainbow Dash early on.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Applejack is actually both depending on the situation. She's Red Oni to Rarity and Blue Oni to Rainbow Dash.
 * She's also the Red Oni to her brother, Big Mac.
 * The Reliable One
 * Second Place Is for Losers: She thinks this way, especially in "The Last Roundup".
 * She Cleans Up Nicely: Her dinner with her rich relatives in Manehattan proves this.
 * Spell My Name With an "S": Once in a great while, her name will be spelled as "Apple Jack."
 * Spirited Competitor
 * Stealth Pun: She has her mane tied up in a ribbon to make her hair into a ponytail. Her actual pony tail is styled the same way.
 * She's the Element of Honesty and the tough one of the lot, making her the embodiment of Brutal Honesty.
 * Spotlight-Stealing Squad: In season two she and her family have more screen time than any of the other mane cast, even Twilight.
 * On the other hand, she has noticably more minor roles in most season two episodes, even her own centric episodes often give another character an equally prominent role, in contrast to the first season, where she was a leading character in several episodes.
 * Straight Mare: Generally being one of the more sensible, level-headed members of the group, she often falls into this role. Like every other pony though, she gets her turn to be less than rational, see below.
 * Stubborn Mule: Once she has decided something, her mind is completely locked on the matter and there's no way possible to make her reconsiderate, especially when her Honor Before Reason trait gets combined with it.
 * To drive the point home, right after having a frustrating conversation with Applejack, Twilight strikes up a short conversation with a mule who unlike Applejack, happens to be very polite and understanding.
 * Supreme Chef: Explicitly stated but so far we haven't seen it. We get to see her cooking while tired and overworked.
 * Well, we do know that she can make some great apple treats, like Soarin's apple pie.
 * The cartload of goodies she rolled out as a bribe to Twilight in "The Ticket Master" counts, even if Twilight refused to eat any of them.
 * She was in charge of the catering for the wedding.
 * Team Mom: Especially highlighted in "Dragonshy" where she demonstrates saintlike patience with Fluttershy's severe timidness.
 * Theme Naming: Applejack and all of her relatives are named after different types of apples and apple-related items.
 * Plus Aunt & Uncle Orange in Manehattan.
 * Tomboyish Ponytail: A Visual Pun even!
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Type 2 with both Rainbow Dash and Rarity.
 * Vocal Evolution: Her voice was a little higher pitched in the first few episodes and has gotten deeper over time. This was intentional on Ashleigh Ball's part as she felt Applejack and Rainbow Dash (the other main character she voices) sounded too similar and wanted to separate the two a little.
 * The Workaholic: To the point that it nearly kills her.
 * Youthful Freckles: She had even more as a filly.

Pinkie Pie
"''"♪ This is your singing telegram; I hope it finds you well,

You're invited to a PARTY 'cause we think you're really swell! ♪"''"



"Debut: "Friendship Is Magic, Part 1" ("Mare in the Moon")"

"Voiced by Andrea Libman

Singing by Shannon Chan-Kent"

A hyperactive earth pony who prances to the beat of her own percussion section. The sheer force of her cheerful personality can be overwhelming at first but anyone who shows a little patience with her eccentricities is rewarded with a truly unique and wonderful friend who fills every day with laughter. And musical numbers. And PARTIES! Try to imagine a pink rocket made of happiness. That's Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie: Too old for free candy? Never!"
 * Added Alliterative Appeal: It's almost a Verbal Tic.
 * Adult Child: Vague Age aside, Pinkie Pie clearly has shades of this as demonstrated by her trick-or-treating in Luna Eclipsed and getting asked if she's too old for this.

"Spike: You know, Pinkie; these two ponies have a bit of a grudge match they're trying to settle, trying to prove who's the most athletic.
 * The second season episodes Baby Cakes and A Friend In Deed serve to demonstrate the more problematic aspects of this trope. In the former, Pinkie lacks an understanding of the responsibilities attendant to childcare, initially seeing the newly born Cake Twins as little more than new playmates and taking a full episode learning about what it means to actually be responsible for them. In the latter, she shows a strong lack of understanding about the importance of privacy and property, rooting through Cranky's possessions and forcing her way into his home, frequently ignoring pleas to stop.
 * Aerith and Bob: In a world with characters with names like Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, her full name is (we assume) Pinkamena Diane Pie.
 * Alliterative Name
 * Aside Glance: She does this on a number of occasions.
 * Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny
 * Awesomeness By Analysis: She has an eidetic memory for what makes people happy.
 * Badass Normal: She doesn't have the powers of a unicorn or the flight of a Pegasus but she still manages to accomplish a lot of things her powered friends can't and is smarter than she looks. For instance, she manages to solve the problem of the Parasprites by herself while none of her friends can. She is also able to outrun Rainbow Dash.
 * Becoming the Mask: She goes to insane lengths to stay in character of a Nightmare Night costume.
 * Including "pecking" at candy lying on the ground and somehow laying an egg when frightened by Princess Luna.
 * Berserk Button: Whatever you do, NEVER, EVER break a Pinkie Promise.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: She takes neglect very hard.
 * Big Eater: Can slurp up an entire cake (larger than her head) with her tongue.
 * Blue Tomboy, Pink Girl: The Pink Girl to Prankster Partner Rainbow Dash.
 * Break the Cutie: The episode "Party Of One" covers this completely.
 * The episode "Baby Cakes" does this too,
 * Poor Pinkie Pie seems to be going through quite a bit of this in season 2- she's driven to the brink of tears by the Cake twins' antics in 'Baby Cakes', in 'A Friend In Deed' she is clearly upset when Cranky Doodle Donkey repeatedly rejects her friendship (although he does accept it by the end of the episode), and 'Putting Your Hoof Down' has Fluttershy reducing both her and Rarity to tears.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall: Done occasionally, either with an Aside Glance or a closing iris gag.
 * Broken Bird: During "Party of One".
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Despite appearing completely insane to outsiders, Pinkie Pie is regularly entrusted with important tasks by local authority figures who have known her long enough to be aware there's a method behind her apparent madness.
 * Highlighted in "Swarm of the Century" where nopony takes her seriously until her music drives the parasprites out of Ponyville, demonstrating that she was right all along.
 * The Cameo: Her face shows up in a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo during the "Wingin' It" musical number on The Aquabats Super Show episode "Cowboy Android!"
 * The Cat Came Back: One of her stranger abilities.
 * Catch Phrase: "Okey dokey lokey."
 * Chocolate Foal: Her mother is silver and her father is brown, but she came out pink.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Especially in episode 13, "Fall Weather Friends", where she doubles as a Cuckoolander Commentator:

Pinkie: Yes! And "grudge" rhymes with "fudge"!

Spike: Yes it...does? What?

Pinkie: And I like fudge. But if I eat too much fudge, I get a pudge and then I can't budge.

(Beat)

Spike: So...no fudge?

Pinkie: Aw, no thanks. I had a big breakfast."

"Rainbow Dash: When we get to Appleloosa, do you think we're going to need to carry that heavy tree all the way from the train to the orchard?
 * And remember: this is Pinkie Pie when she's sane.
 * Color-Coded Characters . Color Motif: Her name's Pinkie so naturally she's pink.
 * Cool Big Sis: To the Cakes' twin babies. Even after her first disastrous babysitting experience.
 * Cool Car: Her RC Car from this toy commercial and the toys, though it's hard to tell how cool it really is since the only other car we've seen so far is Dan's car (in this Hub Crossover commercial).
 * Crazy Prepared: How does she set up parties so quickly? Simple. She has a party cannon!!!
 * She also keeps marshmallows on her person in case somepony eats something too spicy, and keeps rubber balls and eyepatches stashed all around Ponyville in case of emergencies.
 * Cuckoolander Commentator: In "Fall Weather Friends"
 * The Cuckoolander Was Right: In "Swarm of the Century". and again in "Feeling Pinkie Keen".
 * Cute but Cacophonic: She has a tendency to screech if she's frustrated, like in "Griffon the Brush Off", "Swarm of the Century", and "Party of One".
 * in "Luna Eclipsed", Twilight Sparkle defined it as shrieking and made her promise to stop doing it as she was trying to get ponies to accept Princess Luna as a friend rather than the fearsome former Nightmare Moon.
 * Death Glare: In "Party of One", poor Applejack has to endure about ten or twelve different variants from her in a row when standing at the barn door to keep her from entering.
 * Determinator: Proven in "Party of One". When she wants to find out something, she will.
 * The Ditz: Some of the time. Other times...
 * Does Not Understand Sarcasm:
 * Referring to a tree called Bloomberg they are transporting on a train, this exchange takes place between Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie:

Pinkie Pie: What tree? You mean Bloomberg?

Rainbow Dash: No. Fluttershy.

Pinkie Pie: Fluttershy's not a tree, silly.

Twilight: What's going on?

Pinkie Pie: Rainbow Dash thinks Fluttershy's a tree!"

"Pinkie Pie: Uh...Twilight? You got a little something on your face there.
 * After a frog falls on Twilight's face...

Twilight: Oh really? Did your "Pinkie sense" tell you that too?

Pinkie Pie: No; I could just see it."

"Chief Thunderhooves: It seems that Sheriff Silver Star and I have come to an agreement.
 * Dreadful Musician: Not the most blatant example of this trope, but she loves to sing and takes the same scattershot, stream-of-consciousness approach to music as she does to everything else. She is specifically called out as this in Over A Barrel, where her song is actively harmful to the peace talks.

Sheriff Silver Star: Indeed we have.


 * Beat*

Chief Thunderhooves: That was the worst performance we've ever seen."

"Gilda: I'll be watching you...like a hawk.
 * It happens again (kinda) in "Baby Cakes" when she tries to entertain Pound and Pumpkin by singing her "Oink oink oink" song. The reception is [[media:what_the_shit_3602.png|less than positive.]]
 * Edible Ammunition: She throws cakes
 * Era Specific Personality: G3 Pinkie Pie was the leader of the Core 7 late into the generation (beginning around 2007) and wasn't nearly as hyperactive.
 * Even Pranksters Have Standards: Pinkie Pie may love pranks but she knows better than to prank Fluttershy who is extremely sensitive.
 * Expressive Mane: In "The Cutie Mark Chronicles", Pinkie Pie's mane is flat when she's young and goes to being a poofy mess when she sees the Sonic Rainboom. In "Party of One", her mane goes flat again after she thinks her friends don't like her anymore and gets depressed. As soon as she cheers up, it poofs up again.
 * And it's more than just an Expressive Mane in "Party of One". In addition to her hairstyle changing, her entire body darkens a bit. Not just her coat, all of her.
 * Played with in "The Best Night Ever" where Pinkie tries to tame her mane for the Gala only to have it poof back up again because she's so excited.
 * Strangely this trope is avoided in "The Return of Harmony, Part 1".
 * Could possibly be explained by the fact that she's not depressed, just dead-serious and angry. Or it could just be because
 * Expy: Of Surprise, a G1 pegasus who loved fun things as well as G3 and G3.5 Pinkie Pie who also loved parties.
 * Extreme Omnivore: Not so much as Spike but she is willing to eat cupcakes with hot sauce and totally burned cupcakes. In one instance, she is capable of devouring a big cake in one gulp.
 * Fiery Redhead: During the rare times when she gets mad.
 * For Happiness: Her motivation for just about everything.
 * Four-Temperament Ensemble: Sanguine: fun-loving, loud, and driven to seek others' attention.
 * Friend to All Children: She loves playing with little kids, and chaperons some of them during Nightmare Night.
 * She also loves the Cake Twins dearly, like they were her own little siblings.
 * Full Name Ultimatum: Pinkamena Diane Pie, as revealed by her mother in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles".
 * Fun Ponified
 * Gadgeteer Genius: Not stated explicitly, but occasionally implied (like with her flying machine in Griffon The Brush-Off and her party cannon from Sweet And Elite). What makes this more amusing is that her voice actress has a degree in engineering.
 * GASP: Her introduction.
 * Does it again after Spike reveals to her that he has a crush on Rarity.
 * Genius Ditz: Despite being a bit scatterbrained and crazy, she's very good at baking and arranging parties, and gets handed the Smart Ball fairly often.
 * She also remembers everything about everypony, because she loves to see people smile
 * Genki Girl: An Up to Eleven Exaggerated Trope Parody for the majority of her onscreen appearance. Her genki-ness was however also Deconstructed, Subverted Trope, and Double Subverted in Party of One.
 * Genre Savvy: Pinkie's perceived "randomness" tends to actually be her way of resolving issues she sees long before the other ponies. A good example of this is in "Swarm of the Century": Not only does she realize what the Parasprites are going to do but she instantly figures out exactly what ridiculous method she's going to have to use to stop them. For the rest of the episode, she ignores all cries for help and accidentally sabotages all of her friends' efforts because she knows getting a ton of musical instruments is going to be WAY more important.
 * Girls Love Stuffed Animals: In "Party Of One", you can see she has a large teddy bear in her bedroom. However, she apparently doesn't love it quite enough to invite it to her crazy party (the guests at said party include a bag of flour, a pile of rocks, and a ball of lint). Additionally the Ponygeist billboard shows her with a doll of Spike.
 * Good Feels Good: Pinkie genuinely feels her happiest when she makes other ponies happy, whether it be from a joke or from one of her many parties. Her "I Am" Song "Smile Song" establishes this beyond the shadow of a doubt.
 * Good Is Not Dumb: Comes up most notably in "Griffon the Brush-Off" where Gilda insists that the party pranks were all part of Pinkie's secret plan to humiliate her.
 * Hidden Depths: "Party Of One" shows that if she ever feels betrayed and alone, she will perform an emotional 180 and become a recluse. Quite impressive seeing as how until this point, she was probably the flattest character in the mane cast.
 * "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" implies that this is actually her original pre-Sonic-Rainboom personality; care of a Fantasy Counterpart Puritan upbringing on a Rock Farm.
 * "A Friend In Need" shows that Pinkie has a rather large memory of personal details (like birthdays) for every resident of Ponyville.
 * Hilariously Abusive Childhood: According to her, she grew up on a Rock Farm. Although not intentionally abusive, it falls under the "seriously bizarre methods of parenting" heading.
 * "I Am" Song: Her "Smile Song" from "A Friend in Deed".
 * Implacable Pony: Is able to follow a rapidly fleeing Rainbow Dash during "Griffon the Brush-Off" and even get ahead of her, despite the fact that Rainbow flies at top speed while Pinkie skips ahead without a care. Repeats the feat during "Party of One", although she doesn't bother with the skipping.
 * Inexplicably Awesome: Pinkie Pie regularly stares at, leans on or ignores the fourth wall, defies the laws of physics whenever plot- or humour-convenient and launches into musicals when nopony else does. She's popped out of locations too small for her to fit into, appeared inside a mirror and even fought the closing iris at the end of an episode. While this in itself isn't unusual for a cartoon, she's the only pony in this show who behaves like that. Everypony else is well aware that Pinkie Pie doesn't really work with the same rules as anypony else and they just do their best to ignore the weirdness. Her strange actions drive the plot in several episodes.
 * To drive the point home, this is a setting with magic-using ponies, and Pinkie is strange even to them. She is explicitly stated to be simply too weird for magic to explain.
 * Innocently Insensitive: Pinkie is never mean, her goal in life being to make others laugh and be happy, but she has a tendency to assume that her idea of fun is everyone's idea of fun. Fluttershy is an exception: Pinkie refuses to prank her (or let others do so) because she's well aware of how sensitive Fluttershy is and that she may get the wrong idea from any pranks. It's not certain if Fluttershy herself appreciates Pinkie's protective behavior, though....
 * After a poorly executed stunt lands Rainbow Dash in the hospital, the first question Pinkie Pie asks the doctor is, "Is her face going to stay that way?"
 * Intergenerational Friendship: With Cranky Doodle Donkey.
 * Jabba Table Manners: Her favorite method of eating often seems to involve plunging her face into food. Of note, her table manners horrified Mr. and Mr. Cake during Princess Celestia's visit, as well as Canterlot's elites when she attended their garden party.
 * Jekyll and Hyde: Pinkie/Pinkamena.
 * Karmic Protection: Pinkie's behavior and insensitiveness seldom gets reprisal, most notably with poor Cranky. Those who tried to discredit Pinkie would at least get a rather painful Humiliation Conga. That said, sometimes this Karmic Protection gets stripped off, resulting in a very battered babysitter.
 * Kid Appeal Character: Considering that the whole show was intended this way, Pinkie stands out even more. "A Friend In Deed" pretty much hammers this home and out the other side.
 * Kubrick Stare: Delivers one to the mane cast after being dragged to her surprise party in "Party Of One".
 * Large Ham
 * Life of the Party
 * Literal Minded

Pinkie: Why? Can't you watch me like a griffon?"

"Pinkie Pie: The Elements of Harmony: A reference guide.
 * Magnetic Heroine: There is literally no pony in Ponyville that isn't her friend. It seems the only characters she can't befriend are the antagonists, and that's probably only because they don't stick around long enough or are too fundementally screwed up. This led to some trouble when she met someone who didn't want to be her friend.
 * Meaningful Name: She's pink and she loves sweet things.
 * The Messiah: This is the real reason why Pinkie got her cutie mark (the party thing is merely her bread and butter), exemplified by her "I Am" Song in "A Friend in Deed".
 * Motor Mouth
 * This becomes weaponized in The Last Roundup.
 * The Music Meister: Pinkie Pie, so far, has started/led most on the songs in the show, and seems also capable of causing others around her to participate, as seen in "A Friend in Deed".
 * Nice Girl: She's a good example of this unless you push her Berserk Button.
 * Nice Hat: Wears one while playing Chancellor Puddinghead in "Hearth's Warming Eve".
 * Odd Name Out: Her full name is Pinkamena Diane Pie, which means she's one of the few characters so far to have a middle name.
 * Offscreen Teleportation
 * Only Known By Their Nickname
 * Only Sane Pony: While she is known to be the craziest pony in the cast, she takes over this role in "Swarm Of The Century", where she is the only pony to have any knowledge of the parasprites, and nopony else (not even Twilight) will listen to her when she knows of a way to get rid of them.
 * She is also the one to find a book on the Elements of Harmony. "It was under 'E'."
 * Overly Long Tongue: As seen in "Swarm of the Century".
 * Photographic Memory: Pinkie can remember every detail she's ever seen or heard about her friends, no matter how small or obscure.
 * Phrase Catcher: "Pinkie Pie, you are so random" and "She's just being Pinkie" tend to get thrown her way a fair bit.
 * Plucky Comic Relief
 * The Pollyanna: She has such a bright outlook on life that she can literally laugh away her fears. MOST of the time. She also seems to believe that anyone is capable of being a friend if you're nice enough to them, no matter how hostile they've been in the past.
 * Poor Communication Kills: If Pinkie Pie had just told her friends in the beginning how dangerous the parasprites were and that music would lure them away, a lot of trouble could have been saved.
 * The Power Of Oompah: Swarm of the Century
 * The Prankster: Though it's made clear that her pranks are all in good fun and she refuses to prank Fluttershy for fear that her friend would take it too seriously.
 * Precognition: "Pinkie Sense." She also has the uncanny ability to predict where other ponies are going to be and what they're going to do.
 * Promotion to Parent: The Cakes literally promote her to regular babysitter of their twin children at the end of the episode "Baby Cakes".
 * Quirky Curls: Oddly, her hair seems to be naturally straight. It poofs up when she witnesses the Sonic Rainboom and experiences joy for the first time. And it's basically stayed that way ever since, only straightening again when she's depressed (i.e. almost never).
 * Quivering Eyes
 * Reality Warper: Any time it aids the joke, she's shown with this ability. She's appeared in two places in a single animation frame several times and spends about half of "Green Isn't Your Color" popping out of places she can't possibly fit in just to remind Twilight that secret-keeping is a big deal, to the point of appearing inside a mirror.
 * This little piece says it all...
 * If you want a great full episode example, A Friend In Deed pretty much takes this Up to Eleven.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: She's the only member of the mane six who's never been a Blue Oni to any of her friends.
 * Rhymes On a Dime: Not as frequently as Zecora, but Pinkie still likes to rhyme a lot... especially when she's singing.
 * Rose-Haired Girl
 * Round Bushy Hair
 * Rule of Funny: See Inexplicably Awesome, above, and Super Speed below.
 * Sad Clown: Pinkie Pie is the Element Of Laughter, and near perpetually bubbly and cheerful. Take that happiness away from her however and the reaction is rather depressing.
 * Serious Business: Never ever attack Sugarcube Corner, or break a Pinkie promise. You have been warned.
 * Sidetracked By the Analogy: Constantly. "Sticking to you like caramel on a candy apple"? She'll reminisce about candy apples. "Watching you like a hawk"? She'll ask why you can't watch her like your own species. "Hit the books"? She'll question why you're hitting them instead of reading them. "Holding a grudge"? She'll notice 'grudge' rhymes with fudge and proceed to chat about how she loves fudge.
 * Silly Trot: All the other ponies will trot or gallop. Pinkie will bounce... complete with unique sound effect.
 * Simpleminded Wisdom: When Pinkie gets the Smart Ball, it often comes in this form.
 * When Twilight can't find any information in her library about the Elements of Harmony:

Twilight: How did you find that?

Pinkie Pie:(singsong) It was under E!"

"(Pinkie is participating in the Equestrian equivalent of trick-or-treating with several foals much younger than her)
 * Skip of Innocence
 * Spell My Name With an "S": Once in a great while, her name will be spelled as "Pinky Pie."
 * Spider Sense: Her Pinkie Sense essentially is this.
 * Stalker Without a Crush: Multiple times in a series but given that she's stalking her friends, it's similar in theme to stalkers WITH a crush.
 * "Griffon The Brush-Off" has Pinkie Pie following Rainbow Dash around quite a bit but in a fairly cheerful way. Dash finds this slightly annoying at worst but also amusing.
 * "Party Of One" features a less pleasant variety when Pinkie's friends seem to be making excuses for why they aren't coming to her latest party. She puts on a "disguise" to spy on them and then Dash—who can tell it's Pinkie but not that she's trying to disguise herself—says "Hi, Pinkie Pie." Then It Gets Worse; Pinkie chases Dash very aggressively and angrily, loudly asking what the real reason Dash doesn't want to come to the party is. When Dash hides in Applejack's barn, Pinkie full-on interrogates Applejack about why she's in there.
 * Stealth Hi Bye: She's so skilled with this that she can keep pace with Rainbow Dash using this ability.
 * Suddenly Fluent in Gibberish: At the beginning of "Feeling Pinkie Keen", she claims to understand a frog's ribbit as "'nice catch' in Frog."
 * Super Speed: She can run on land faster than Rainbow Dash can fly! Whenever it serves a sight gag, that is.
 * Supreme Chef: She works as a baker/candy maker at the Sugarcube Corner and is very much adept at it (unless assisted by an exhausted or overenthusiastic pony) even if Gummy taking a bath in the punch is her "special ingredient".
 * Sweet Tooth

Pinkie Pie: Enough chit-chat! Time is candy!

Twilight Sparkle: Pinkie Pie, aren't you a little old for this?

Pinkie Pie: Too old for free candy?! (glares at Twilight) Never!"

"Twilight: Tell me she's not...
 * That Reminds Me of a Song: Lampshaded the first time she launches into one:

Rarity: She is."


 * A running gag is that whenever Pinkie launches into a musical number, no one else joins her. They usually just stand aghast at the insanity. Pinkie of course couldn't care less.
 * The one she sings in "Over a Barrel" is so awful that it drives the Buffalo and the Apple-loosians into an all-out showdown.
 * Pinkie Pie's actually aware of it, too. In "A Friend in Deed" she includes "Sing a random song out of nowhere" as part of her checklist.
 * Theory of Narrative Causality: Pinkie Pie's super power. She can warp reality because it's funny.
 * Three Faces of Eve: Pinkie Pie is the Child.
 * Toon Physics: Often uses this.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Chocolate Cake, as explained in "The Mysterious Mare Do Well".
 * Chocolate in general is probably more accurate; in "Return of Harmony", she repeatedly interrupts whatever she's doing to get a drink from chocolate rainclouds.
 * Twitchy Eye: During "Party of One" when she thinks she's throwing her party of crazy.
 * Vocal Dissonance: Though still feminine, her voice gets a lot deeper when she starts crying.
 * Voice of the Legion: Played for Laughs, she chews out Applejack in one after she breaks a Pinkie Promise in The Last Roundup.
 * Weirdness Coupon: Perhaps best demonstrated in "Party of One", when Rainbow Dash's freakout at meeting her has absolutely nothing to do with the fact Pinkie Pie's dressed like a haystack in Groucho Marx glasses.
 * Works against her in "Swarm of the Century", when her search for instruments is dismissed as her just being Pinkie.
 * When All You Have Is a Hammer: Her solution to a large number of problems seems to be "throw a party."
 * When She Smiles: This is actually a plot point considering the fact that when she was a filly, she was pretty dreary considering her upbringing. Once she saw the Sonic Rainboom and learned how to smile, she found her love of parties and earned her cutie mark.
 * Wingding Eyes: In "Bridle Gossip" as part of her song, and in this piece of stock art.
 * Wolverine Publicity: If Twilight is the main character, than Pinkie is the show's ambassador. She's in most of the promotional material, most likely because she's pink and was the main character for a while in G3.
 * The Wonka: Not yet but if she ever takes over the bakery she will be.
 * Wrong Genre Savvy: Her Imagine Spot in The Ticket Master makes it clear that she thinks she's in an earlier generation of the show.
 * Your Answer to Everything: When there is a problem, Pinkie Pie will either throw a party or sing a song. In her defense, these things work most of the time.
 * Except when a dragon attacks. Then she assaults it with cake.

Rainbow Dash
""What'd I say? Ten. Seconds. Flat. I'd never leave Ponyville hangin'.""



"Debut: "Friendship Is Magic, Part 1" ("Mare in the Moon")"

"Voiced by Ashleigh Ball"

A speedy pegasus hailing from Cloudsdale who loves to race and compete whenever she can convince someone to go against her. Though a Prideful braggart, she's also loyal to her friends despite a somewhat self-centered attitude.

"Rainbow Dash: Most people thought the Sonic Rainboom was just an old mare's tale but on that day, the day I discovered racing, I proved that the legends were true; I made the impossible happen!"
 * Ace Pilot
 * Acquired Situational Narcissism: Once she's the town hero, her attitude goes from "I'm awesome" to "I'm awesome and everyone should admire me for it." She gets better, though.
 * Always Someone Better: Her initial view on Mare-Do-Well.
 * Anime Mane
 * Anti-Heroine: Arrogant, brash, boisterous, aggressive, and lovable all around--type II behavior.
 * Awesome McCoolname
 * Badass: Inarguably the biggest one of the six. She kicked a fully-grown dragon in the face and made it flinch and she's the only pony ever to break the sound barrier.
 * Berserk Button: Never threaten or hurt her friends if you know what's good for you.
 * Beyond the Impossible: Her ability to perform the Sonic Rainboom.

"Rarity: I'm nothing but a laughingstock!
 * Big Ego, Hidden Depths: Most of her spotlight episodes look into her prideful nature, showing her insecurities and drives to be the best.
 * Blow You Away: Actually an ability shared by all Pegasi, going hand in hand with their cloud-controlling abilities.
 * Blue Tomboy, Pink Girl: The Blue Tomboy to Prankster Partner Pinkie Pie.
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Bookworm: Becomes one during "Read It and Weep," having nothing else to do but read while recovering from a broken wing. She goes to great lengths to hide this from everypony else.
 * Brilliant but Lazy: She's very competent but tends to slack off every so often. This is said to be the reason she was kicked out of flight school though she protests that assertion.
 * Broken Ace: Rainbow Dash is apparently a renowned heroine in Ponyville and her skills are genuinely amazing. She has quite an ego because of it however, and often seems quite needy for attention. She is also shown to be very insecure about losing, and reached the brink of a nervous breakdown at the thought of publically making a fool of herself.
 * Bruiser With a Soft Center: For as tough and action-y as she is, she'll still shed a few tears at heartwarming moments. (Oh Rainbow Dash, you don't need to hide your feelings from us.)
 * Brutal Honesty: She can be very blunt at times.

Twilight Sparkle: You're not a laughingstock, Rarity...

Rainbow Dash: She kind of is!"

"(When they were preparing to climb a tall mountain and Rarity took out her scarf...)
 * Bully Hunter: She stood up for a young Fluttershy who was being bullied back in Cutie-Mark Chronicles.
 * She also stood up for Spike when he was being hassled by the teenage dragons in "Dragon Quest".
 * Burning Rubber: When flying close to the ground, she can leave a trail of flames. Naturally the flames are rainbow-colored.
 * Butt Monkey: Slowly becoming one in season two. Part of it also comes from the fact that she is the bold, straightforward, fight-picking character in a show about friendship and tolerance, so she frequently ends up failing, crashing into stuff or being held back by her friends in order not to create a contradictory message, even though her attitude would make her a fine protagonist in an action series, More like an Iron Butt Monkey.
 * Captain Crash: Sort of. Dash is a superb flyer; her landings however are sometimes far from graceful as Twilight's library can attest. Taken Up to Eleven when she's afflicted by Poison Joke which inverts her wings, leaving her crashing into things every few seconds, thrust-vectoring into the floor and other such mishaps.
 * A lot of crashing is indicated to come from constantly attempting impossibly difficult stunts in an effort to impress the Wonderbolts. She also has a tendency to lose concentration or get distracted at critical moments (if she starts talking to someone while flying, it's a safe bet she's going to hit something in the next few seconds).
 * Catch Phrase: "Best __________ ever!"
 * Character Development: Regarding her friendship with Fluttershy. In early episodes, Rainbow Dash had little patience for Fluttershy's meekness. Starting with Season Two however, she is shown devoting more time to her and acting more gentle and encouraging, somewhat taking the role of an abrasive Cool Big Sis.
 * Childhood Friends: With Fluttershy.
 * Something of a variation. Most of their closeness as adults comes from being pegasi and Cloudsdale natives, but as children, it's unclear whether they even knew each other's names.
 * Chronic Hero Syndrome: Especially in the episode "The Mysterious Mare Do Well".
 * Closet Geek: Of Daring Do briefly during "Read It and Weep." By the end of the episode, she comes out of the closet, and is seen reading it during "A Friend In Deed."
 * Color-Coded Characters / Color Motif: She spends a lot of time flying in the sky so naturally she's blue.
 * Combat Pragmatist: During the fight with the changelings, Rainbow Dash protects Fluttershy by pretending to be a changeling so she could blindside them before they could attack. She also shows hints of this in "Over a Barrel".
 * Commander Contrarian: Due to aforementioned reasons, Rainbow sometimes ends up as this, prefering a "fight first, ask questions later" tactic in a team of peaceful and tactizing characters. She sometimes picks up the Smart Ball however.
 * Competition Freak: Rainbow Dash hates losing.
 * Cool Big Sis: Despite her arrogance, she is shown looking out for her team mates a lot of the time, most notably Fluttershy. She also stands up for Pinkie and Spike against bullies on separate occasions. Scootaloo pretty much sees her as this in full form.
 * Cool Helmet: Wears one while playing Commander Hurricane in "Hearth's Warming Eve".
 * Cool Shades: Wears a pair in "Lesson Zero", "May the Best Pet Win!" and "The Mysterious Mare Do Well".
 * She wears more in The Merch. The Fashion Style Rainbow Dash toy and the About To Get Magical, Rainbow Juice, Mane Six & Scootaloo and Dash shirts show her wearing different pairs while the Radicalness shirt & hoodie and EQD Pony Party shirt show her wearing the same pair from the show.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Not as much so as Twilight Sparkle but still noticeable.

Rainbow Dash: Yeah; that'll keep you nice and cozy."


 * Drill Sergeant Nasty: She can have a very dominating voice as seen in the beginning of "Sonic Rainboom" and "May the Best Pet Win!"
 * Era Specific Personality: Put her together with her previous incarnation and you get Tomboy and Girly Girl.
 * Everything Makes a Mushroom: Apparently her Rainboom can make one if used to demolish something.
 * Everything's Better With Rainbows: Thanks to her rainbow mane, she can even leave rainbow blurs in her wake while zipping around.
 * Everything's Better With Spinning: A regular part of her repertoire, whether it's spinning clouds at top speed for a new stunt or generating an instant whirlwind by flying around at high speed.
 * Expy: Word of God confirms Dash is meant to be the Firefly of the cast.
 * She's also an expy of the G3 and G3.5 Rainbow Dash (who by the way was a plain and girly Earth Pony).
 * Rainbow Dash is also the Mane Character with the most obvious parallel among the Powerpuff Girls (her fellow tomboy Buttercup).

"Twilight Sparkle: Ahh; what a gorgeous day!
 * Facehoof: Has over time become a signature move of Rainbow Dash. Mostly directed at Fluttershy or Rarity.
 * Failure Is the Only Option: No matter what impossible feats of aerial speed or agility she accomplishes, no matter how many members she meets and befriends and no matter how many times she helps save the world, Rainbow Dash will never achieve her stated ultimate goal of joining the Wonderbolts...at least not in any meaningful fashion as doing so would preclude her from being able to adventure around with the other Mane Cast members on a regular basis.
 * Fantastic Nuke: Applejack asks her to destroy her old barn. Rainbow Dash happily obliges. HOLY SHIT ensues.
 * Fiery Redhead: Played with; the way her mane colors are layered displays the red, orange and yellow most prominently for her bangs while the cooler colors are mostly hidden behind her neck.
 * For Want of a Nail: Turns out her first Sonic Rainboom actually indirectly caused all the rest of the Mane Six to get their own cutie marks as well as helping Pinkie Pie "create Equestria".
 * Four-Temperament Ensemble: Choleric: ambitious and prone to aggression.
 * Friend to All Children: To the point where she has her own fan club run by Scootaloo.
 * Genre Motif: Rock. Her appearance is often accompanied by an electric guitar in musical numbers that don't use the instrument anywhere else such as Rarity's second fashion show and "At the Gala".
 * Genre Savvy: Despite not representing the Element of Honesty, Rainbow Dash seems to clue in the quickest when somepony is being deceitful.
 * Possibly because she's got some experience in deceit/sneakiness from the other side of things.
 * Guilty Pleasure: Reading as of "Read It And Weep." Stops feeling guilty of it by the end of the episode.
 * Hates Being Touched: A mild example. In "Ponyville Confidential" she first refuses to have a hooficure because it's too girly for her, then she nearly agrees to have one only to admit she hates other ponies touching her hooves.
 * Heavy Sleeper
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Improbable Flying Skills: Despite her tendency to crash when attempting a fast landing or something especially difficult, Rainbow Dash can achieve phenomenal speed and agility in the air. She can literally break the sound barrier and has been able to perfectly dodge falling rocks and debris in two separate instances.
 * Inferiority Superiority Complex: Underneath all her boasting, she's extremely insecure about losing as seen in "Fall Weather Friends" and "Sonic Rainboom" in which she is terrified into near catatonia at the thought of failing in front of the others (in particular, her idols, The Wonderbolts).
 * Also crops up in "The Mysterious Mare Do-Well" where she has a breakdown once it becomes clear that the Mare Do-Well is better than her.
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: Rainbow Dash has a tendency towards being obnoxious and insensitive to others. However while she sometimes seems full of herself, she has no problems helping out other ponies in need as well as sticking by her friends no matter what.
 * The Knights Who Say Squee: Any time she's near the Wonderbolts.
 * The Ladette: She's as close as you can get to this trope in a G-rated work.
 * Large Ham
 * Laser-Guided Karma: she seems to experience this quite a bit.
 * Lazy Bum: Oddly enough. She's insanely fast and athletic but also terribly lazy. It's implied that this is what got her kicked out of flight school.
 * Also hinted at by Spike in one Cold Open.

Spike: Rainbow Dash must've gotten up early for once and cleared all the clouds away!"

"Twilight Sparkle: Oooh...what would a brave pony like Rainbow Dash do? (Beat) CHAAAARGE!"
 * Leeroy Jenkins: Her first instinct is to fight whatever threat may happen to pop up, be it a manticore, a dragon or Nightmare Moon. She is stopped from doing so with Nightmare Moon and the dragon incident backfires on her.
 * Lampshaded in "Feeling Pinkie Keen" when Twilight Sparkle is facing a giant Hydra to buy time for her friend's escape.

"Rainbow Dash: They don't call me "Rainbow" and "Dash" for nothing!"
 * Inverted in "Over A Barrel". Rainbow Dash actually attempts to use stealth and caution to track down the buffalo and save Spike. Pinkie Pie showing up out of nowhere quickly undermines her efforts.
 * Let Me At Him: Applejack usually restrains her during her Leeroy moments.
 * Lightning Bruiser
 * Lovable Jock
 * Made of Iron: There is barely an episode without her flying face-first into something. Still she never seems to suffer any lasting injury (except when it's a plot point).
 * Making a Splash: She can do this when she makes clouds produce rain.
 * Marely Tears: Sheds some over Fluttershy's 'hole in our hearts' statement from "The Last Roundup". She snaps out of it though in an effort to save face.
 * Meaningful Name: She loves to dash and every time she does, she creates a rainbow. And then there's her Sonic Rainboom, the epitome of technicolored velocity.
 * She even says it herself in Boast Busters.

""Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!""
 * Morality Pet: To Gilda.
 * Ms. Vice Gal: She has a huge ego and can sometimes be a jerk, but her heart's in the right place and she can always be counted on to do the right thing in the end.
 * Multicolored Hair: All the colors of the rainbow in fact.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: A minor example but it is Rainbow Dash who tells Apple Bloom to keep trying various things in rapid succession in the hopes that she finds her cutie mark. This carries on into the Cutie Mark Crusaders' modus operandi.
 * Noodle Incident: We know Rainbow Dash was kicked out of flight school but the reasons are unclear.
 * Odd Friendship: How she sees her relationship with Pinkie Pie after warming up to her.
 * One-Dimensional Thinking: Rainbow Dash often tries to escape from land-based threats by flying straight ahead rather than straight up.
 * Opposites Attract: In a non-romantic way with her pet tortoise Tank, considering that she's one of the fastest ponies ever and he's a slow tortoise.
 * Paralysis By Analysis
 * Passionate Sports Girl
 * Personality Powers: Free-spirited and impulsive, the only kind of personality for the fastest pony alive.
 * Plucky Girl
 * The Prankster: Enabling her to bond with Pinkie Pie.
 * And she really goes all-out in Nightmare Night, taking every chance to shock someone from behind with a lightning cloud.
 * Gets paid out in her own coin at the end...
 * Pride: She knows she's talented.
 * Rebel Relaxation
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: She's the Red Oni to all of her friends, except Pinkie Pie.
 * Remember When You Blew Up a Sun?: Her Sonic Rainboom is one of the few if not only acomplishments that gets brought up more than once.
 * The Rival: To Applejack in some early episodes. She's mostly a Friendly Rival...mostly.
 * Screw Destiny: Unlike everypony else, she firmly believes it's possible to make your Cutie Mark appear. After all it seemed to have worked for her.
 * Second Place Is for Losers: Really doesn't take losing very well.
 * Shock and Awe: She can induce clouds to release lightning. She mostly uses this to startle others.
 * Signature Move: The Sonic Rainboom.
 * Squee:
 * Upon winning the Best Young Flyers Competition and getting to meet the Wonderbolts.

""I'm hanging. With the. Wonderbolts!" *Squeee!*"
 * Also when invited to "hang out" with the Wonderbolts in the final episode of Season 1.


 * Spirited Competitor
 * Super Speed: In flight. Her sprinting speed is simply that of a well-trained pony.
 * The Team Wannabe: Wants to join the Wonderbolts.
 * There Is No Kill Like Overkill: How does she get rid of Applejack's decrepit old barn in "Lesson Zero"? She NUKES it!
 * Tomboy: One of her most well-known traits.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: While considerably more tomboyish than Pinkie, she gets along with her fairly well.
 * Also plays this role (perhaps even more so) in relation to Fluttershy.
 * Too Fast to Stop: Quite often. Only Pinkie Pie's shown to catch up to her, much to Rainbow's confusion. Inverted by the Sonic Rainboom which seems to allow her to turn on a dime at over Mach 1.
 * Mach 10, if Death Battle is to be believed.
 * 20% More Awesome: The (partial) Trope Namer! In regards to the dress Rarity makes for her, she simply says it needs to be "20% cooler".
 * Undying Loyalty: Towards Celestia, her friends and her homes, Ponyville and Cloudsdale.
 * Rather than, Discord merely plays on this:
 * Up, Up, and Away: Frequently flies like this.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Type 2 with Applejack.
 * And again with Fluttershy. They are the definition of Red Oni, Blue Oni, but they are often very devoted to each other, with later episodes playing them as a team more and more.
 * Vocal Dissonance: In the Brazilian dub, her voice sounds male (she's still referred to as female though). Mind you, she's still voiced by a woman in this version, albeit one with a rather low-pitched voice. Probably they cast this way to make Dash sound more tomboyish. Her original voice isn't the most recognisably female one around, either.
 * Weather Control Pony: Her occupation is controlling Ponyville's weather.
 * Wolverine Publicity: Not only has she inherited Firefly's personality but she seems to have inherited this trope as well. She shows up on almost every single official t-shirt and was the focus of hyping up "Cutie Mark Chronicles", a popular episode expanding on the mane cast's backstory.
 * The Wall Street Journal agrees.
 * You Gotta Have A Rainbow Mane

Rarity
""A unicorn needs to be more than just muscle. A unicorn needs to have style. A unicorn is not a unicorn without grace and beauty!""



"Debut: "Friendship Is Magic, Part 1" ("Mare in the Moon")"

"Voiced by Tabitha St Germain

Singing by Kazumi Evans"

A unicorn with an eye for fashion and a generous spirit, Rarity is a beautiful clotheshorse. A huge fan of Fairy Tale-style romances and Happily Ever Afters. While there's nothing new about a girl's cartoon having a fashion-focused character, Rarity breaks from this stereotype in that instead of following trends, she creates them as the owner and lead designer of Ponyville's premier dress shop: the Carousel Boutique.

"Trixie: Ooooo; what's the matter? Afraid you'll get a hair out of place in that rat's nest you call a mane?
 * Action Fashionista: For a prim & proper dress maker she sure isn't afraid to get in a fight.
 * Affectionate Nickname: Spikey-wikey for Spike, after he gave Rarity his cherished fire ruby just to make her happy. The nickname stays for the rest of Season 2.
 * Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Rarity's parents are kind and carefree but they look and behave like a couple of middle-class hicks. Among other things, they dress in gaudy clothes, enjoy eating disgusting food and don't have even a sliver of Rarity's (or even Sweetie Belle's) class.
 * Rarity's mom looks like Peg from Married With Children and her father may or not may be a gritty Earth Pony since the place his horn would be is always hidden by a gaudy straw hat. That sums it all.
 * Several fans have noticed a comparison between Rarity's dad and Tom Selleck's character of Thomas Magnum from Magnum PI.
 * Rarity's lifestyle purposely appears to be completely counter to her parents' behavior.
 * American Accent/British Accent: Her accent is a blend of both called a "Mid-Atlantic Accent" (which by the way doesn't occur naturally; she had to purposefully cultivate it).
 * It has been repeatedly indicated (most notably by her family) that her accent is an affectation.
 * Anti-Heroine: Her vanity and occasional self-centered attitude indicate type II material.
 * Berserk Button: After Rarity states that she's above challenging Trixie…

Rarity: Oh; it is ON!"

"Rarity: Look upon me, Equestria for I. AM. RARITY!"
 * Big Sister Instinct:
 * Break the Cutie: On multiple occasions. Her first fashion show with Hoity Toity is a great example of this.
 * Break the Haughty: Her encounter with Trixie leads to this. It isn't pretty, literally or figuratively.
 * And her "fall from grace" when her temporary wings melt high in the sky right before Rainbow Dash saves her life.
 * Rarity is the pony incarnate of this trope.
 * Catch Phrase: "It-Is-ON!"
 * "I vant to be alone!"
 * "Eye-dee-ah!"
 * "Darling" when she talks to people she likes and "Ruffians!" when she talks to people she doesn't. Sometimes she mixes them for sarcastic purposes.
 * Color-Coded Wizardry: Objects affected by her magic have a pale blue glow.
 * Cool Carriage: Her Gem-Encrusted Royal Gem Carriage from the toys.
 * Cool Crown: Briefly wears one during "Sweet and Elite". She wears a different one while playing Princess Platinum in "Hearth's Warming Eve".
 * Cute but Cacophonic: She's pretty and she's a talented designer but her voice when she's whining is the most grating thing you'll hear in all of Ponyville and she knows it. She uses it to invoke Pity The Kidnappers in "A Dog and Pony Show" after which her abductors let her go with crates full of jewels.
 * Ironically her singing is often praised by fans.
 * Cute Witch
 * Determinator: When she wants to finish a dress, nothing's going to stop her.
 * Except multiple commitments to high-society gatherings.
 * Dowsing Device: Her horn is used this way in order to locate gems.
 * Drama Queen: Although self-aware about it. Still, the girl brings a portable fainting couch on picnics.
 * The Empath: She is the holder of the Element of Generosity for a reason. Not only can she perfectly read the rest of the cast most of the time but she is ready to throw everything away to help them or a stranger in an instant.
 * In particular, she was the only pony to notice Rainbow Dash's stage fright in "Sonic Rainboom" and seemed concerned about Twilight early on in "Lesson Zero."
 * She even was perfectly happy to help find gems for the Diamond Dogs (despite the fact that they kidnapped her and dragged her underground) but started getting extremely irritated very fast when they wanted her to dig them up, lug them around in an extremely heavy cart with a rusty and tight harness and generally were abusive slavedrivers towards her.
 * Era Specific Personality: FiM Rarity is a young adult with refined tastes, great talent, a generous heart, a strong sense of responsibility and the maturity and sensibility to run a successful business. Her G3 counterpart is a filly who only wants to have fun, needs constant adult supervision and whose irresponsibility causes a nationwide disaster. Curiously enough in both incarnations, Rarity befriends a baby dragon named Spike.
 * If you put her together with her previous incarnation, you also get Tomboy and Girly Girl.
 * Etiquette Nazi: A more benign one; while she can get exasperated by ponies being "rude", she can move from this and maintain civility and friendship with relative ease and she honestly believes it is for their own good.
 * Everything's Sparkly With Jewelry
 * Expy: Strongly resembles Glory, sharing many of the same physical characteristics (white unicorn with dark purple hair and blue eyes).
 * Despite resembling Glory, she's based off Sparkler. Rarity also resembles G3's Rainbow Dash in personality and they both have an accent (though Rainbow's is a British Accent) and say "darling" quite a bit.
 * Similarities in appearance to an Italian variation of Sparkler have also been noted.
 * Also G3 and G3.5 Rarity who is a multicolored filly unicorn. (To be exact, she is the young Princess heir of Unicornia.)
 * The Fashionista: Played with in that Rarity is never seen gushing about shopping or poring over fashion magazines. Instead she's written as a (somewhat haughty) artist whose medium happens to be clothes. And when she's making clothing, her demeanor changes entirely: She's overjoyed to be in her element and won't stop or cut corners until the customer has exactly what they want no matter how hard she has to work.
 * This was a specific intention by Word of God to satisfy Hasbro's desire to have clothes to accessorize the toys while still providing a completely counter character to the stereotype: "We portray her not as a shopaholic but as an artist."
 * The Expanded Universe, having different writers, does occasionally give her an interest in shopping. In The Hub's game Adventures in Ponyville, one of the problems she needs help with is that she was overloaded with sweets while shopping at Sugarcube Corner and forgot to pay for some that she had already eaten. And in the Sparkle World story Rain, Rain Go Away!, she goes shopping with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie and even says "I love shopping!"
 * Four-Temperament Ensemble: Melancholic: work-focused and obsessed with detail.
 * A Friend in Need: While she might stray every now and then ("Sonic Rainboom"), nothing will stop her from helping her friends when they are in need.
 * "Friend or Idol?" Decision: Nine times out of ten, she will choose friends. She's not perfect after all.
 * Friendship Moment: She is made out of this.
 * Gem-Encrusted: Loves jewels and gems and can use her horn to detect them. "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" shows that her penchant for covering her designs with jewels started when she was quite young though it's suggested that most jewels are so common in Equestria they're considered nothing more than pretty rocks. Spike eats them by the bowlful.
 * Girly Bruiser: Was the first to attack the manticore, and was more than prepared to lay down a whooping to protect Spike in Dragon Quest.
 * Good Feels Good: Even though she's a Fashionista who can be stuck-up sometimes, she is really, truly happy when she helps other people. This is exemplified when she goes to extreme lengths to design dresses for her friends to their exact specifications even though they are incredibly tacky by the final revision.
 * Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Her mane and tail and several of her outfits. Her white body color even has a slight lavender tint to it. In "Griffon the Brush Off", when it's time to play Pin the Tail on the Pony (which she states is her favorite game), she asks for the purple tail.
 * Greater Need Than Mine: It's the element she bears.
 * Greed: Her love of gems and accessories.
 * It also derails her efforts to charm away the dragon in "Dragonshy".
 * In contrast however, her kindness ends up subduing Spike's own Greed in "Secret Of My Excess" (if somewhat obliviously).
 * Green-Eyed Monster: In "A Dog and Pony Show", she states that a lady is never jealous. However she spends most of "Green Isn't Your Color" being jealous of Fluttershy's new-found popularity. Subverted in that she notices this rather quickly and is disappointed in herself for it.
 * Guile Heroine: Rarity can be pretty crafty when she wants to be.
 * Happily Ever After: As her fantasy during "The Ticket Master" shows, she dreams of meeting her Prince Charming and experiencing her very own. Subverted HARD after learning the Prince Charming is anything but due to his personality.
 * Heroic BSOD: She suffers a breakdown of epic proportions after being chewed out by Hoity Toity.
 * Hidden Depths: Her Establishing Character Moment sets her up as very concerned about fashion and personal appearance; then in Everfree Forest, she knowingly subverts Beauty Is Never Tarnished by lopping off her own tail and giving it to a very depressed sea serpent to cheer him up. Promptly Lampshaded by Twilight's stunned reaction at having her first impression shaken so suddenly.
 * She's also quite capable of bucking a manticore in the face during the second episode, shows off the pony equivalent of Martial Arts in Return of Harmony II and displays amazing athletic aptitude in the Sisterhooves Social. Basically she's a lot stronger than she looks.
 * Fridge Brilliance: She has to mine her own gems most of the time. While they aren't too rare in Equestria, she still has to dig them up and she needs lots of them.
 * She also values generosity to a high degree, both when giving and receiving. She is shown drooling over the ruby Spike gives her; however, as much as she loves its beauty, it has sentimental value to her as well since it was a gift from her "widdle Spikey-Wikey".
 * Hoist By Her Own Petard: Played with. Three times she's gotten herself into severe trouble but it's never done by ego or pride; instead it's either her generosity getting the best of her or her work being so good that it has unforeseen consequences.
 * Hypocritical Humor: Rarity is a common source of this: she'll promote a reasonable response to a situation only to explode once something offends her personally, or call someone a "drama queen" from atop her fainting couch. She is, however, self-aware enough to acknowledge the fact most of the time.
 * "I Am" Song/"I Want" Song: "Becoming Popular (The Pony Everypony Should Know)" from "Sweet and Elite".
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: More like "Heart of Gold with occasional Jerk tendencies." She's primarily nice...but she let her greed derail an attempt to speak with a dragon, nearly ruined Twilight's slumber party and stole the spotlight from Rainbow Dash during the Best Young Flyers competition.
 * Kindhearted Cat Lover: Her cat's name is Opalescence or Opal for short. She loves her dearly even if the feeling is not exactly reciprocated.
 * Lady of War
 * Large Ham: She tends to get pretty hammy when she goes into histrionics.
 * This is taken Up to Eleven in the episode "Sonic Rainboom".

"Rarity: Of all the worst things that could happen, this is The. WORST! POSSIBLE!! THING!!!"
 * And in "Lesson Zero"...

"Rarity: I WILL DESTROY HER!"
 * What? She really means it this time.
 * In "Sisterhooves Social", she gets pretty darned hammy. For example when Sweetie Belle tells Rarity that she's ruining her life, Rarity gasps...twice.
 * She is so adept at hamming it up that as seen in "Sweet and Elite", she is able to act hammy while magically writing a letter.
 * "Ponyville Confidential" when excerpts from her private diary are printed in the paper:

"Rarity: ALRIGHT I ADMIT IT! I WEAR FALSE EYELASHES!!"
 * "MMMystery on the Friendship Express", a mystery about who took a bite out of the cake:


 * Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Being vain (though not quite as much so as she seems), Rarity represents the "dark" half in comparison to Fluttershy.


 * Master of Illusion: Of a mundane sort. She creates some fairly impressive special effects for her second fashion show in "Suited for Success".
 * Married to The Job
 * Meganekko: She wears glasses while she's designing clothes.
 * Morality Pet:
 * Ms. Vice Gal: Her vice is vanity. She often displays humorous superficiality and fusses over neatness and can sometimes get carried away by her love of attention. Still, far from being perpetually self-centered, she can be very considerate towards others and her caring for her friends is perhaps the strongest motivation she displays.
 * Motor Mouth: This is how she escapes the Diamond Dogs.
 * Neat Freak
 * Nerves of Steel: Played with. Rarity goes into amusingly over-the-top histrionics over the most minor of things, and she's as vulnerable to Heroic BSOD as any other mane cast member. However in the face of actual danger, she's often completely unflappable.
 * Also shows up in her interactions with Prince Blueblood and Sweetie Belle. Despite the abuse both have put her through (though Sweetie Belle is well meaning), she manages to put up with most of it. It's only after a near constant onslaught of it that she snaps and even then she just gets mad instead of suffering Sanity Slippage like some of the others have.
 * The best illustration of this is when she gets captured by a rampaging dragon. While she's concerned about the safety of her friends, and her cape, she starts chewing it out while being held in its tail.
 * No Sense of Personal Space: Most of the time she has a pretty good grasp on this but when she's excited or agitated, she can get rather close to the person she's talking to. This is seen best with her behavior around Twilight in very early episodes but it crops up again when she's grilling Fluttershy about how to improve her dress.
 * Noblewoman's Laugh: Does this in "Suited For Success" when Applejack shows surprise that Rarity can make dresses for the six of them "lickety split". She also does something like this in "Sonic Rainboom"; while not the usual "Oh ho ho ho" stereotype, it's...interesting.
 * It's more of a giddy sort of "Wha ha haaa!" She just was so impressed by how pretty her wings looked. It's only a little off from an Evil Laugh which just shows how much she's lost it.
 * Non Standard Character Design:
 * She is the only pony so far with a shaded mane. This is likely because her mane is so intricately coiffed that without the shading, it would look like a mess. The fashionista would be appalled.
 * Rarity is also one of the few ponies to have eyelashes in groups of four (though they aren't real). Nearly all the other ponies have eyelashes in groups of three if they have them at all.
 * Odd Friendship: Between her and Applejack. She has also been seen with Rainbow Dash on occasion.
 * Oh Crap: She gets one at the end of "Suited For Success" after Hoity Toity asks her to make a dozen of each dress she just showed to him before next Tuesday. That makes 72 hand-made dresses right after she was pushed beyond her limits to make "only" 11.
 * Again at the start of "Dog and Pony Show": after Rarity spends all her gem supplies on one dress, Sapphire Shores orders 5 more dresses of the same type.
 * Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: When providing Rarity's singing voice, Kazumi Evans doesn't affect the mid-Atlantic accent that Tabitha St. Germain normally gives Rarity. This is most notable during "Winter Wrap Up" though Kazumi seems to be making a much more concerted effort to sing with the accent in later songs.
 * It's becoming a running joke that she starts sounding oddly Swedish whenever she's in the middle of a bout of self-pity, riffing off Greta Garbo's "I vant to be alone!" line.
 * She also lacks a majority of her accent as a filly though it has been said you don't have a set accent until puberty.
 * Probably justified; her parents as seen in "Sisterhooves Social" don't have an accent anywhere close to hers so she probably cultivated it in an attempt to seem classier.
 * Pimped-Out Dress: Doesn't wear one around town but her fashion choices amount to this as we see when she forces them upon Twilight. Rarity's particularly fond of Gem-Encrusted things.
 * Designs a whole horde in "Suited for Success" with some turning out better than others....Mind you; that's what her friends have demanded of her and she's too nice to point out the flaws while making them.
 * She also wears one in the episode "Sonic Rainboom" when she enters the Young Fliers competition.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Unicorns are not known for their physical strength but Rarity is capable of dragging large carts of gems with ease. She can also carry a rock TWICE HER SIZE on her back.
 * Pride: In her appearance, making it an easy target for anyone looking to bring her down a peg.
 * Taken Up to Eleven in "Sonic Rainboom" after receiving a temporary enchantment of gossamer wings. Of course, Pride goeth before a (literal) fall...
 * Princess Curls
 * Proper Lady: Elegant, poised, able to conduct herself in society and she never gets her hooves dirty.
 * Punctuated for Emphasis: "It is ON!"
 * "Look upon me, Equestria for I! AM! RARITY!"
 * Of all the worst things that could happen, this is THE WORST! POSSIBLE! THING!
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: When she confronts Sweetie Belle about being Gabby Gums in "Ponyville Confidential," despite her earlier initial fury about the article about herself, she gives Sweetie Belle a deserved scolding, uses her own rifling through Sweetie Belle's stuff to make a point, and wraps it up by asking if she really wants writing hurtful gossip stories to be her destiny, which prompts the Cutie Mark Crusaders to try and stop being Gabby Gums and write their letter of apology at the end. Everypony else either shunned them outright or was so angry that they sent the CMC away to avoid saying something they'd regret.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Like Applejack, she fulfills both roles, acting as a Blue Oni to Applejack and a Red Oni to Fluttershy.
 * Smooch of Victory: She gives Spike one after she succeeds in receiving his Fire Ruby,
 * Spoiled Sweet: She comes off as a bit of a prissy snob most of the time but she represents the element of generosity for a reason.
 * Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Not necessarily a bad thing but she does receive the most focus episodes and Character Development of the six main characters.
 * Stepford Smiler: Not usually but in "Suited For Success" when her friends don't like the first dresses, she hides how crushed she is and tries her very best for them.
 * This is also how she repeatedly stops herself from losing her temper at Sweetie Belle in "Sisterhooves Social".
 * Super OCD: Oh so much.
 * Demonstrated in "Look Before You Sleep" where she shows an almost obsessive attention to detail, bordering on the compulsive. However by the end of the episode, it's explained as her being attentive to small details in contrast with Applejack's attention to big details with both being necessary and neither alone sufficient for all-around sensible action.
 * She also spends half a day trying to fix Twilight's bird nest in "Winter Wrap Up" and eventually breaking down in tears because it's so appalling.
 * And again in "Green Isn't Your Color" with the outfit Fluttershy is going to model.
 * If you look closely during her first freak out in "Lesson Zero" she straightens out a rug.
 * Proved beyond a shadow of a doubt in Sisterhooves Social where she goes ballistic any time Sweetie Belle messes with anything of hers.
 * Including, ironically, when her little sister "helpfully" tidies up the carefully-cultivated disorder of her "inspiration room."
 * Talking The Monster Into Submission: This is how she escapes the Diamond Dogs.
 * Thinks Like a Romance Novel: More like "Thinks Like a Fairy Tale". She imagines meeting Celestia's nephew to play out like a fairy tale. It doesn't of course.
 * Third Person Person: Slips into this when she's in the zone.
 * Three Faces of Eve: Rarity is the Seductress.
 * Tsurime Eyes: Highlighted by her blue eyeshadow.
 * Twitchy Eye: Whenever she gets stressed.
 * Unkempt Beauty: Rarity is one of the cleanest and prettiest ponies around but she also manages to look great while dripping wet.
 * Unlimited Wardrobe: Has a wide assortment of pretty dresses, hats and accessories, all self-designed.
 * Vain Sorceress: Rarity's pride and obsession with her appearance combined with her magical abilities sometimes borders on this description.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Type 2 with Applejack but they grow out of it (mostly).
 * With Great Power Comes Great Perks: She mostly uses her magical abilities for fashion.
 * Woman in White: Her white coat color, emphasizing her refined nature as well as her cleanliness.
 * The Workaholic
 * You Gotta Have A Blue Mane: Well...technically it's dark purple but it's close enough.

Fluttershy
""Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness.""

"Debut: "Friendship Is Magic, Part 1" ("Mare in the Moon")"

"Voiced by Andrea Libman"



A Pegasus also from Cloudsdale who is just as shy as her name suggests. Gentle and kind, she has a natural way with animals but has trouble dealing with other ponies due to her Shrinking Violet nature. Still, don't even think about hurting her friends.

"Rarity: [exasperated] Oh, what now?!
 * Acrophobic Pegasus: Fluttershy is afraid of almost everything including heights.
 * Spike lampshades this in "Party of One".
 * Adorkable: All you have to do is merely express interest in wanting a pet and she's all over you with a menagerie of animals to offer up as potentials.
 * Apologises a Lot: Almost like she was brought up in a culture where apologizing is the social grease for everything you ever do.

Fluttershy: [completely sincere] Oh; sorry. I thought the "Open" sign meant you were open but I must have been mistaken."

"Twilight Sparkle: If you can't catch her, Discord wins!
 * Badass: The thing involving a dragon that Rainbow Dash did to earn her Badass cred?, Fluttershy topped that in the same episode.
 * Badass Pacifist: Don't let her timid demeanor fool you: If you upset her enough to spur her into action, she will kick your ass and she won't even have to resort to violence to do it
 * She stares and talks down a dragon and a cockatrice to protect her friends from harm.
 * She also manages to calm down Cerberus when it invades Ponyville by giving it a belly rub. That's right, the guardian of the underworld is still no match for Fluttershy.
 * In the second part of "A Canterlot Wedding", she joins the other Mane Cast in fighting off an army of foes, despite her visible trepidation in doing so. Yet she manages to hold her own, faking out the enemy and using her shyness to cause one to trip up.
 * The Beastmistress: No, she doesn't use it for combat; mostly organization. She has however commanded a dragon and a cockatrice to concede when her friends are in danger, and pacified Cerberus by giving him a belly rub.
 * Berserk Button: Animals running from her and not wanting to be her friend will send her off the deep end.
 * Threatening her friends isn't a good idea. You. Do. Not. Hurt. Her. Friends.
 * Threatening children in front of her is an even worse idea.
 * In "The Return of Harmony Part 2", the idea of Discord emerging triumphant is enough incentive for Fluttershy to stop crying and push herself to her physical limits while the ponies are.

Fluttershy: That. Big. Dumb. MEANIE!"

""You're…going…to LOVE ME!""
 * A milder example, but she does not like to be treated like a child (See Deadpan Snarker below).
 * Beware the Nice Ones: She hardly ever gets angry but when she does...
 * In "Dragonshy", despite being terrified of a facing a full-grown dragon, she suddenly develops the wherewithal to make said dragon back down completely (and even whimper) after seeing what it's done to her friends.
 * From Fluttershy's character video: "But don't be fooled. Although she is timid, she is a determined pony with admirable strength. She always defends those who are treated unfairly."
 * The "admirable strength" part of that description was played with hilariously in "Lesson Zero". Twilight tries to see if Fluttershy is having one of her Cowardly Lion moments only to find her beating the living crap out of a bear three times her size, then killing it by snapping its neck. Twilight and the audience no doubt shared a moment of shock.
 * Completely pushed to its logical extreme at the Grand Galloping Gala. Like Pinkie she doesn't take rejection well.
 * Brought up once again in Putting Your Hoof Down, where it becomes downright terrifying.
 * Beyond the Impossible: She manages to outstare a cockatrice, i.e. a creature that turns others to stone by staring at them. All while protecting three young fillies.
 * Brutal Honesty: In "The Ticket Master" and "Suited for Success".
 * She gives an incredibly scathing speech to Pinkie Pie and Rarity in Putting Your Hoof Down in regards to their chosen careers.
 * Character Development: A subtle one but post-Discord corruption and throughout season 2, she seems to have become more assertive and willing to actually get physical. Of note, she did a Limit Break while dragging a hot-air balloon, the bear wrestling sequence, shouting loudly and engaged in an off-screen tussle with Twilight, actually dragging Rainbow Dash off to her house, and becoming a valid target for RD's cake prank, as well as participating in its retaliation.
 * Rainbow Dash found out the hard way that when Fluttershy says "No," she means "NO!"
 * Chewing the Scenery: Even she has her moments of this. "You're...going to LOVE ME!!!!!"
 * Childhood Friends: With Rainbow Dash.
 * Something of a variation. Most of their closeness as adults comes from being pegasi and Cloudsdale natives, but as children, it's unclear whether they even knew each other's names.
 * Children in Tow: There are scenes in both "Griffon the Brush-Off" and "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" where she is seen helping a mother duck lead its ducklings.
 * Color-Coded Characters / Color Motif: She's timid and gets afraid very easily, so naturally, she's yellow.
 * Cowardly Lioness: She's usually a pushover and terrified of danger, and happily admits to being "weak and helpless", but get her protectively angry and her willpower multiplies by a factor of about a million.
 * Cowardly Sidekick: She is terrified of nearly everything...even her own shadow.
 * Cute and Psycho: Normally a sweet and gentle pony…but when she gets pushed to her limits, as seen in "Best Night Ever", she's scary.

"Pinkie Pie: Don't worry your pretty little head about mean ol' Gilda! Your auntie Pinkie Pie's got it all taken care of!
 * She also has severe anxiety issues due to being constantly bullied as a foal, as can be seen here.
 * Cuteness Proximity: Noticing Spike helps draw her out of her shell when she first meets Twilight. In a flashback, landing on the ground for the first time and seeing all the cuddly animals is enough to make her burst into song.
 * The Cutie: Provides the trope image. Most fans believe not loving Fluttershy borders on some sort of criminal act.
 * Justified further by "Hurricane Fluttershy", a by-the-book Break the Cutie Fluttershy episode.
 * Dandere: She's cripplingly shy but sometimes she forgets that.
 * In the first episode, she's so nervous when she meets Twilight that she can barely even say her own name out loud. And then she notices Spike.
 * In "May the Best Pet Win", she's extremely apologetic when they realize they haven't invited Rainbow Dash to their pet playdate, and then practically Squees when Rainbow expresses an interest in a pet, dragging her to home to sing a song about pet selection.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Occasionally.

Fluttershy: *annoyed* I'm a year older than you."

"Fluttershy: [breathes in heavily] Yayyy."
 * Death Glare: Yeah; you read that right.
 * She uses some strange melange of a Death Glare and a Care Bear Stare really.
 * This is taken Up to Eleven in the episode "Best Night Ever" when she chases a herd of animals into the palace while trying to befriend them.
 * There may actually be power behind this beyond just her stare and choice of words: in "Applebuck Season" she apparently harvests all the apples from one tree just by staring at it.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: How she stops the manticore's rampage. And when her talking down the dragon causes it to burst into tears, she immediately tries to calm it like a mother with a frightened and upset child.
 * Determinator: When it comes to helping others whom she cares for, she'll do whatever it takes to make them happy.
 * This is also proven in the episode "Best Night Ever". She WILL make all of the animals love her, one way or another.
 * She will not let "That...big...dumb...MEANIE!!", a.k.a. Discord, win.
 * She stares down a cockatrice that is using its gaze attack to turn her to stone. And it works!
 * Era Specific Personality: G4 Fluttershy is very shy. G3 Fluttershy was an earth pony and a shutterfly, basically making her an earlier Photo Finish. Let that simmer for a moment.
 * Even the Girls Want Her: Much to her dismay in "Green Isn't Your Color".
 * Expy: Of G1's Posey, sharing her coloring, mane style and elements of her personality.
 * She's also a lot like G3's Wisteria, who is also very shy and has an affinity for nature.
 * Extreme Doormat: Given her shy personality, she is naturally rather passive and unassertive a lot of the time.
 * Lampshaded, parodied and called by name in Putting Your Hoof Down. The whole episode is about Fluttershy becoming more assertive.
 * The Face: But only for non-ponies. Otherwise she's a Shrinking Violet. For example, in Dragonshy Twilight's Plan for dealing with a dragon boils down to: 1.) Escort Fluttershy to the dragon's cave and 2.) have her talk with it.
 * Feather Fingers: Briefly displayed that pegasi can use their wings as hands, at least when it comes to opening saddlebags.
 * Flat Joy: Her cheering in "Sonic Rainboom" is spirited and heartfelt but done so softly it's hard to tell. At least until Rainbow Dash actually pulls off the stunt.

""Well, you should have a picture of Opal as a cutie mark instead of those butterflies.""
 * Fluffy Tamer: The clearest example seen so far is the encounter with the manticore with Baby Talk and everything but there's no reason to assume she only has a thing for manticores; Twilight automatically assumes she'd be of help dealing with a dragon too. Of course this doesn't mean she doesn't usually deal with critters others would agree to be cute too.
 * Another example is her giving Cerberus a belly rub in "It's About Time."
 * Forgot I Could Fly: Fluttershy is shown walking on the ground far more than other pegasai in the show, Particularly compared to Rainbow Dash.
 * Specific example: Fluttershy is so terrified in "Dragonshy" that she initially forgets that she can fly instead of climb...and then after an ill-timed snore from the dragon, is scared to the point that her wings totally lock up, rendering her completely unable to fly.
 * It happens again in "Feeling Pinkie Keen" when she and the others are being chased by the Hydra.
 * In "Putting Your Hoof Down", she ends up kicking over a pair of carts being driven by some rude ponies because they were blocking her way. Many fans were quick to point out how she could have just flown over them.
 * It's also been shown in several episodes like "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" and "Hurricane Fluttershy" that she's very self-conscious about her flying ability, especially around other pegasi, who used to bully her constantly about her apparant lack of flying talent.
 * Four-Temperament Ensemble: Phlegmatic: introverted, compassionate and docile.
 * Fragile Flower: She is, however, growing out of it, as explained in Character Development.
 * "Friend or Idol?" Decision: Inverted during "Green Is Not Your Color" as Fluttershy accepts becoming a famous model (which turns her life into a living hell) because she thinks that Rarity will feel sad if she refuses to do so.
 * Friend to All Children: Proven when she takes care of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
 * Friend to All Living Things: More comfortable around animals who aren't ponies. Or grown dragons.
 * Fluttershy takes this trope very literally; she loves the ugly or mean creatures just as much as the nice cute little critters.
 * Friend to Bugs: Yes; even them. Perhaps especially them; she referred to a Parasprite as "the cutest thing ever." During "May the Best Pet Win!," she suggested several bugs as potential pets, including a cricket, a ladybug, a monarch butterfly and a wasp.
 * Her cutie mark is butterflies which is about as close to having "friend to bugs" literally written all over her as a pony can get.
 * Gollum Made Me Do It: In Putting Your Hoof Down, Fluttershy referring to 'Old' Fluttershy and 'New' Fluttershy has very strong echoes of this.
 * Gone Horribly Right: Iron Will's assertiveness training seminar was unfortunately a little too effective on Fluttershy. She gets better though.
 * Heart Is an Awesome Power: Her love and connection to animals (along with the Sonic Rainboom) are what help her find her Cutie Mark. This also gives her the desire to help and protect her friends no matter what.
 * Her connection to animals also applies to mythical animals, effectively making her the one who calms down the giant rampaging beast kicking the rest of the mane cast's flanks.
 * Hidden Depths: Fluttershy has quite the eye for sewing and fashion trends, which she demonstrates in "Suited for Success" to Rarity's shock.
 * Spends most of Season 1 having her flying capabilities made out to be of poor standard compared to most other Pegasus Ponies. Then in the second part of The Return of Harmony, we find out
 * In Hurricane Fluttershy we finally get a chance to. Though it is greately hindered by the worst case of performance anxiety ever, once she overcomes it she makes up for eight pegasi.
 * Incorruptible Pure Pureness:
 * Ironic Fear: She's afraid of… a lot of things, but since she's a Pegasus, the one that fits here is her fear of heights.
 * Kindhearted Cat Lover: It comes with the territory considering that she's a Friend to All Living Things. Rarity's cat Opal would have to agree.
 * Lampshaded by Rarity, to whom Opal has not taken a liking.
 * Lampshaded by Rarity, to whom Opal has not taken a liking.


 * Let's Get Dangerous: Prone to these moments quite a bit. See: her confrontation with the dragon in "Dragonshy", her talking down the cockatrice in "The Stare Master" and the change from "I just can't go any faster (tears)" to "I won't let that big meanie win! (zoom)" in "The Return of Harmony Part 2".
 * Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Being sweet, kind, and caring, (most of the time) Fluttershy represents the "light" half of this in comparison to Rarity.
 * The Load: Seen as this in "Dragonshy". Awesomely subverts it by ultimately being the one to get the dragon to go away.
 * And to a minor extent in "Swarm of the Century" when she decides to keep one of the Parasprites after the ponies get rid of the first batch which starts the vicious cycle all over again.
 * Discord certainly tries to paint her this way in "The Return of Harmony". She frustrates him by politely agreeing.
 * Long Manes Are Feminine: Pretty, pink and long enough to hide behind. From certain angles her locks even appear to frame her face in a heart.
 * Lovable Coward: She can get dangerous when the time calls for it, most of the time however she is scared of her own shadow, and downright adorable because of it.
 * Mama Bear: She defeats a cockatrice to protect the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
 * Also towards her friends. She's even willing to stand up to a full grown dragon (which she has justified fear of) when it hurt her friends.
 * The Matchmaker: Of a not-romantic type. One of the few things that will elicit an enthusiastic and energetic response from her is suggesting you might be interested in getting a pet. When Rainbow Dash suggested she might eventually want a pet, Fluttershy proceeded to drag Dash off to her cottage so she could introduce her around to the various and sundry animals she's caring for at the moment.
 * Meaningful Name: She flutters and she's shy.
 * Also she has a particular place in her heart for butterflies. They're her cutie mark after all.
 * The Medic: She usually is shown healing injured animals.
 * The Messiah: When you're the Element of Kindness, it comes with the package.
 * Morality Pet: Ironically for her own pet Angel Bunny.
 * Seems to be acting as one for Rainbow Dash in Season Two. While still very benevolent, it's rare to see the usually aggressive braggart have many gentle and nurturing moments to another pony.
 * My God, What Have I Done?:
 * Nature Heroine: Being in tune with nature has saved the lives of her and her friends and the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
 * Nice Girl: MOST of the time.
 * Non Standard Character Design: In "Cutie Mark Chronicles", we see Fluttershy as a filly and she's noticeably taller and ganglier than her peers. Either she was older than the other foals we saw in her flashback (which has some support with her canonically being older than Pinkie Pie) or she hit pony-puberty a bit early.
 * Her thinner legs and overall shape mimic the body style of the first generation's Flutter Ponies which had butterfly-style wings. Mythology Gag maybe?
 * Adult Fluttershy shows as well two subtle design differences compared with her friends. One, she is the only character who flaps her wings while she's running and two, she might be the only left-handed character seen in the cartoon (she's seen opening her bag with her left wing).
 * Not Good With Ponies
 * Not So Weak: Fluttershy is an adorable, cute little Pegasus who is literally afraid of her shadow. However, despite what Discord and herself think, Fluttershy is a lot tougher than she looks, especially if you hurt her friends.
 * Older Than They Look: In the fifth episode, she reveals that she is a year older than Pinkie Pie but her sweet and innocent nature makes her appear a lot younger than most other ponies. See Non Standard Character Design above for her filly appearance that coincides with this.
 * Out of Focus: Mostly in the first half of the second season.
 * Peek-a-Bangs
 * Performance Anxiety: Spelled out in full in "Hurricane Fluttershy" - She can show great flying if it's an emergency, but put her in front of an audience, and she can barely fly.
 * Plucky Girl: She has her moments of this.
 * The Power of Friendship: When she's alone and confronted by Gilda the Griffon, she's unable to defend herself and bullied into running away in tears but when her friends are in danger, she won't hesitate to risk herself to protect them.
 * Punctuated for Emphasis: Has a habit of doing this the few times she gets genuinely ticked off. This is normally a sign bad things are in store for the target.
 * "How DARE you!"
 * "You're... going to LOVE ME!"
 * "THAT...BIG...DUMB...MEANIE!!!"
 * "I....SAID...NO!!!"
 * Rapunzel Mane: Besides maybe Pinkie, she has the longest hair out of the main characters.
 * Her tail is the only one out of the mane six that trails on the ground.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: To the Cutie Mark Crusaders when she takes care of them.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: She's the only member of the mane six who's never been a Red Oni to any of her friends.
 * Rose-Haired Mare
 * Shrinking Violet: Again, growing out of it.
 * Silk Hiding Steel: Definitely fits the character type (humble, loyal, wise, nurturing, etc. but with a clear touch of iron).
 * Socially Awkward Heroine: VERY shy, yet still bold in standing up to creatures several times her size.
 * Speaks Fluent Animal: Her special talent is communicating with (non-equine) animals on a different level than most ponies.
 * Squee: Done adorably in "The Stare Master"
 * Staring Down Cthulhu: A dragon and a cockatrice, a monster that can turn you to stone by staring at you!
 * And she's being Taken for Granite as she stares it down!
 * She's the page picture for a reason.
 * And now, she's also stared down a monster...I mean, minotaur.
 * Talking The Monster Into Submission: She's done this on multiple occasions.
 * Tareme Eyes: Very noticeable when compared to the others.
 * Team Mom: Mainly towards animals. Also has a Mama Bear moment in "The Stare Master".
 * This Means War: When she actually gets mad at someone, you know they've crossed the line and are in trouble now.
 * Taken Up to Eleven in Putting Your Hoof Down, when she starts to make a vendetta out of the smallest things, such as the mailman accidentally mixing up her mail with someone else's.
 * Three Faces of Eve: Fluttershy is the Wife / Mother.
 * Tranquil Fury: She's displayed this from time to time.
 * Twitchy Eye: Seen when she becomes increasingly unhinged in "The Best Night Ever".
 * The Voiceless: A small hooffull of episodes (so far, "Ponyville Confidential" and "A Canterlot Wedding, Part 2" have her appear prominently, but act even quieter than usual (which is saying a lot). There are even spots where you can tell she was supposed to have lines, but where she says nothing - the Pinkie voice must put a serious strain on Andrea.
 * Who Dares: Right before her Badass Adorable Talking the Monster To Death moment: "How DARE you!"
 * Why Did It Have To Be Dragons?: She isn't scared of young dragons like Spike, but is terrified of adult dragons.
 * You Don't Look Like You: Her fully-molded toys and collector cards all depict her as a Palette Swap of Rainbow Dash.
 * Your Answer to Everything: "Uh... panic?"
 * Your Answer to Everything: "Uh... panic?"