My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Analysis/Background Ponies: Difference between revisions

In "[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S1 E11 Winter Wrap Up|Winter Wrap Up]]", [[All There in the Script|Rainbowshine]]/[[Fan Nickname|Rainbow Day]] tells Rainbow Dash that a pony named Ditzy Doo went "north to get the ''southern'' birds". Ditzy was never on-screen during this moment. While there's [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment|speculation]] on who the real Ditzy Doo is, [[Lauren Faust]] stated that they might use Derpy's design if they ever need to show Ditzy, and since then a lot of fans have adopted this as her "real" name. One [http://kreoss.deviantart.com/journal/37142876/ animator] says she was called "Ditzy", "Stoneface", and "Bubbles" in-studio before the brony phenomenon kicked off, though more recently the official storyboard sketches and "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E14 The Last Roundup|The Last Roundup]]" call her "Derpy".

A popular school of thought is that her eyes reflect a mental disorder, ranging from malapropisms (''"Doorknob! I.. I don't want it twenty-score! Everypony gives me books when I wear it. I don't like their herring, and why are you hare?"'' from ''"The Doctor and the Doo"'') to actual impairment. Most of these only impair what she is able to say or do; her basic feelings towards others usually don't change. The show hadn't actually addressed it directly until "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E14 The Last Roundup|The Last Roundup]]"(when it's shown she broke the Town Hall, and proceeds to cause more damage), unless you count her "costume" (and actions) in "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E4 Luna Eclipsed|Luna Eclipsed]]", where she was dressed in paper bags and (accidentally) pulled the plug from the apple bobbing tub.

Strange and outrageous things seems to happen to her out of nowhere. [[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E2 The Return of Harmony Part 2|Discord]] makes a bunch of fake houses collapse as she sneezes, and [[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E17 Hearts and Hooves Day|Big Mac]] drags her whole house out of it foundations ''with her inside''. No wonder [[The Alcoholic|she drinks]].

For those unfamiliar with [[Doctor Who]] mythos, The Doctor has the ability to "regenerate" whenever he comes close to dying, with a new body and personality, though he's never been anything other than a British man, much less a pony. [[Running Gag|And he's still not ginger]]. Technically speaking, the Doctor would have a ''new'' personality in his new form, but fans usually just give Whoof the Tenth Doctor's ([[David Tennant]]) personality, though some give him Eleven's ([[Matt Smith]]) or Four's ([[Tom Baker]]) traits, and some even go for a [[Composite Character]] route. It's also common to give him a necktie<ref>And one does appear on him in [[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E15 The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000|The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000]].</ref>, [[Bow Ties Are Cool|bowtie]], fez, Four's scarf, or some other classic piece of Doctor clothing in fanart.

Since the end of season 1, the brown pony with the hourglass cutie mark hasn't been seen or appeared prominently<ref>Base models (no extra parts like wings or cutie marks) of both Doctor Whooves and Derpy Hooves can be seen beside each other as part of a crowd scene in ''The Mysterious Mare Do Well''. This was probably intentional to lessen production time or they're just animation errors</ref> for a long time since his last known appearance. Later in season 2, [http://ponibooru.413chan.net/post/view/93086 a new background pony with an hourglass cutie mark has appeared]. The pony appeared in the episode "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E9 Sweet and Elite|Sweet and Elite]]", [http://ponibooru.413chan.net/post/view/93362 a black and gray Earth pony stallion who wears a formal getup]. Fans have taken notice of him thought that he bears an [http://ponibooru.413chan.net/post/view/93448 uncanny resemblance] to the 11th Doctor [[Matt Smith]]. Others say he [http://ponibooru.413chan.net/post/view/93558 resembles] the 2nd Doctor [[Patrick Troughton]] (ponifying his name into "Patrick Trotton").

In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the Doctor regenerates into a new person whenever he is near death or suffers a mortal wound. He gains a new body and a new personality yet still retain the memories of his past incarnations. Due to these, fans had speculated that the brown Doctor Whooves hasn't been appearing since because he has regenerated into the black and grey pony, though it was [[Jossed]] by the reappearance of the original Doctor Whooves in "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E13 Hearths Warming Eve|Hearth's Warming Eve]]", "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E11 Family Appreciation Day|Family Appreciation Day]]", and later episodes.

In "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E15 The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000|The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000]]", he appears with a tie like that worn by [[David Tennant]], as well as operating an hourglass. This [http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/01/doctor-hooves-actually-was-reference.html has been confirmed] to be a nod to the fans from the creators.

More of a [[Running Gag]], but the "Lyra wants to be human" deal comes from her [[Funny Background Event]] in "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S1 E7 Dragon Shy|Dragonshy]]", where she's seen in the background sitting (or slouching to be precise) on a bench like a human being in contrast to another pony beside her who is sitting like a normal pony would. Later in "[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S1 E13 Fall Weather Friends|Fall Weather Friends]]" she's seen holding a drinking cup with her hoof when she could've easily just used her unicorn magic to hold it instead.

There is a popular fanon within the community revolving around Carrot Top and Derpy Hooves being [[Heterosexual Life Partner]] and roommates. Their friendship was popularized by [[Carrot Cake Storybook|a series of story sketches]] by [http://elosande.deviantart.com/ Elosande]<ref>Elosande is also known for drawing Derpy and Carrot Top comic sketches which have also solidified the "I emptied your fridge" [[Running Gag]] meme and the notion that they live in the same house.</ref> which has also spawned the "I emptied your fridge" meme back in January of 2011. Carrot Top is usually portrayed as [[The Straight Man|the straight mare]] to Derpy's [[The Ditz|goofiness]]. As noted on the main page, they were spotted standing next to each other in some crowd scenes in Season 1. The "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E4 Luna Eclipsed|Luna Eclipsed]]" scene where Derpy accidentally drains an apple bobbing tub while Carrot looks on annoyingly at her action seems to be a [[Fandom Nod]] by the animators to this friendship.

Many fans have taking a liking to Derpy being the mother of a background filly named Dinky. The whole thing came from speculation around the time "[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S1 E12 Call of the Cutie|Call of the Cutie]]" aired. At the time, it wasn't known that Sweetie Belle was Rarity's sister, and fans speculated that all the adult ponies at Diamond Tiara's party were either the parents or older siblings of the fillies there, with the obvious exception of Pinkie & Twilight. Derpy was at the party and Dinky was noted to having similar hair. A fanfic involving the two later popularized the idea, resulting in a ton of adorable fanworks. Up until "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E5 Sisterhooves Social|Sisterhooves Social]]", they had never been seen on screen at the same time, and even then they're not standing near each other.

Who Dinky's father is is up in the air and most fans have their own interpretation. The most popular male pony to be shipped with Derpy was another background pony known as Doctor Whooves. Due to the pairing's popularity and the fact that both their last names sound the same when pronounced<ref>That is, if you [[Spell My Name with an "S"|actually call him "Whooves"]]</ref> has spawned the notion that he may be in fact be Dinky's father albeit an adoptive one, seeing as Doctor Whooves is an earth pony. However, with the episode "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E12 Baby Cakes|Baby Cakes]]" showcasing that ponies can have children outside their race (albeit rarely), him fathering a unicorn daughter is not impossible.

Dinky is shown to have an older sister in "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E5 Sisterhooves Social|Sisterhooves Social]]": A lesser known background pony known as Sparkler, who first appeared alongside Lyra in the pilot episode but has never had much fanon tied to her. Inconsistencies in the episode aside<ref>Sparkler and the other big sisters are shown in the stands watching themselves race</ref>, this new piece of information has spawned numerous debates concerning Dinky's fanon status as Derpy Hooves's daughter. Numerous theories have been purposed from Derpy being much [[Older Than She Looks]]<ref>A common back up to this theory comes from the episode "[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S1 E23 The Cutie Mark Chronicles|Cutie Mark Chronicles]]" where we see her among the crowd in a flashback where the mane cast were still fillies. Another explanation involves the Derpy Hooves/Doctor Whooves shipping fanon where it claims that Derpy doesn't age due to an incident caused by the pony Doctor.</ref>, to Sparkler being Dinky's half-sister, to Sparkler posing as Dinky's sister in a similar fashion to Sweetie Belle and Applejack, [http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/11/story-my-sweetie_22.html to Dinky being Derpy's biological daughter and Sparkler being adopted], to the entire Derpy and Dinky fanon being [[Jossed]] among other things. Already, this new fanon is beginning to spawn its [http://fav.me/d4fds9a own] [http://fav.me/d4f7jtj series] [http://fav.me/d4fczm5 of] [http://fav.me/d4f9ejx fanworks] [http://fav.me/d4fl2bz deriving] from this. Whatever Sparkler's connection to the two may be, it certainly looks like there's a new addition to Derpy's family. In "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E8 The Mysterious Mare Do Well|The Mysterious Mare Do Well]]" she is seen having a picnic with [[Fan Nickname|Tootsie Flute]] who may be her daughter.

* [[Happily Adopted]]: Another popular fanon is that Derpy's daughters are actually adopted. Before the episode "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E12 Baby Cakes|Baby Cakes]]" revealed that any pony race can give birth to any of the three pony races, this was one of the primary reasons why some fans think that this relationship is biologically impossible.

Another popular fanon pairing (even more than shipping the main characters) is two background ponies. Lyra is mentioned above. Bon Bon is a cream-coated earth pony with a blue and pink mane. Of the two, Bon Bon has had the most speaking parts (Bon Bon's parts include looking for Fluttershy in "[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S1 E20 Green Isn't Your Color|Green Isn't Your Colour]]", fending off Apple Bloom's advances in "[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S1 E12 Call of the Cutie|Call of the Cutie]]", gushing over the enchanted Smartypants doll in "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E3 Lesson Zero|Lesson Zero]]", complaining about her rotten cider in "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E15 The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000|The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000]]", and wanting to hear a joke in "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E19 Putting Your Hoof Down|Putting Your Hoof Down]]", whereas Lyra had no lines at all until [[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E25 A Canterlot Wedding Part 1|A Canterlot Wedding - PArt 1]]). The idea started when these two ponies were shown together in the background of some scenes (as background ponies tend to do), with fans liking the idea of them being in a relationship. The main reason the two ended up together in the show was more 'aesthetic reasons'. Fan reaction helped persuade the artist behind the San Diego Comic-Con poster to put them together. Looking at each other. Most fanworks, whether text or art, have them as at least good friends, with Bon Bon occasionally reacting to Lyra's human-like habits (see Lyra above). As a nod to the fans, the crew put the two of them in the background of [[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E10 Secret of My Excess|an episode]] where they appear together by a well, only to have Derpy pop out of the well and ruin their moment. Later, [[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E19 Putting Your Hoof Down|another episode]] showed Bon Bon wearing a saddlebag with a clip shaped like Lyra's cutie mark.