Derpy

Derpy Hooves is the fan-given name of a gray pegasus background pony who became famous among the show's internet following due to having a cross-eyed, or "derpy" expression in the first episode. Starting with Feeling Pinkie Keen, the show's crew began giving the pony crossed eyes intentionally, as a nod to the fans. The name Derpy has since been adopted for the character by the crew.

Origin
Alert viewers noticed a googly-eyed pegasus in the series' first episode, standing in the crowd in Twilight Sparkle's welcoming party. After the image was captured and posted on 4chan's comics and cartoons board /co/, fans began speculating of the nature of this odd pony. Her name is derived from the slang term "derp", which is associated with someone behaving in a silly manner and is usually connected with crossed eyes.

Wall eyes
The gray pegasus with a bubbles cutie mark was one of several background ponies, chosen from a palette and placed in the scenes on the whim of layout artists. At first the pony's face wasn't supposed to be visible in that particular scene, but a later layout change uncovered it. Jayson Thiessen, the supervising director of the show, stated that he noticed and was amused by her expression. Since Hasbro had already given the episode green light, he didn't order fixing Derpy's eyes. Thiessen relayed in a Q&A that he was so delighted after discovering popularity of Derpy that he requested altering Derpy's eyes in all episodes that hadn't been sent to the Hub yet.

Name
Lauren Faust has acknowledged the fan following of Derpy. Before the name Derpy was used by the production crew, Faust stated that in one of the un-aired episodes at the time, Winter Wrap Up, there is a mention of a "featherbrained" pegasus named Ditzy Doo whose appearance is never established on-screen, and should Ditzy make an appearance the show may assign Derpy's design to her.

Even though background ponies have no official names, an animator from the Philippine studio working on the show said that Derpy was nicknamed Stoneface, Bubbles, Bubblehead, and Ditzy by the crew. Thiessen later relayed that the Canadian crew has adopted the name Derpy. Derpy is featured in her Nightmare Night paper bags costume in the Castle Creator flash game, with the file name for her asset containing the word "Derpy".

Charity auction
Lauren Faust participated in a charity auction for the 2011 Japan relief effort by donating several of her My Little Pony Friendship is Magic production sketches. In addition to sketches drawn in 2008, she drew a new sketch of Derpy Hooves, which sold for 2,151 USD. The character was explicitly called Derpy Hooves by the auctioneer.

Merchandising
Officially licensed apparel sporting Derpy is available on WeLoveFine.com.

Depiction in the series

 * See also character appearances

Derpy first appears in the first episode of the series in the background of several scenes, and, as noted above, makes her googly-eyed appearance at Twilight Sparkle's welcoming party.

Derpy can be seen throughout the season trotting through a park, helping with storm preparations, participating in the Running of the Leaves, visiting Ponyville's market, and more. She is one of the ponies admiring Pinkie Pie's "baked bads" in Applebuck Season, delivering the line "muffins" among the crowd. She appears with intentionally crossed eyes in Feeling Pinkie Keen; when Twilight spies on Pinkie Pie, a series of objects falls on her head: a flower pot, an anvil, a cart of hay and finally a piano. A camera pan reveals that items were dropped by Derpy and her friend, who are hovering next to a movers' truck.

She appears in nineteen episodes of season one as a background character. For season two, she has gained a scripted-character status rather than an arbitrary background pony, and she is considered a "Where's Waldo"-type challenge for the fans.

In the remastered version of the opening sequence that is first used in Lesson Zero, she appears in the top window of the first train car. She is one of the ponies under the effects of Twilight Sparkle's spell on her doll, Smarty Pants, in Lesson Zero. When Princess Celestia removes the spell from everyone, Derpy finds herself fighting with the Mayor, and returns to her derped-face self. In the photo on the right here face is the same face shown in the very first episode of season one. In Luna Eclipsed, Derpy Hooves dressed in several brown paper bags and participates in Applejack's apple bob activity during Nightmare Night, however while bobbing for apples she accidentally pulls the plug causing all the water in the bob to go down the drain.

She makes a brief cameo in Sisterhooves Social among the crowd listening to Granny Smith's announcement. In The Cutie Pox, a wall-eyed pegasus filly with the same color scheme as Derpy appears briefly for one shot in the schoolyard, with most of her body obscured by Apple Bloom and another filly. Derpy herself makes an appearance in Twilight's book, wearing a snorkel. Derpy makes a brief appearance in the doorway to Fluttershy's chicken coop in May the Best Pet Win!, an episode otherwise devoid of background ponies.

In the Mysterious Mare Do Well, she is seen briefly among the crowd cheering after Rainbow Dash saves the old folks falling on the balcony.

In Sweet and Elite, she appears along with many other ponies during a shot in the song Becoming Popular (The Pony Everypony Should Know), wearing the same paper bag that was part of her costume in Luna Eclipsed, in addition to a pearl necklace. She appears from out of a well in Secret of My Excess.

Appearances
The following charts details Derpy Hooves's appearances in the show, using approximate times from various videos available online.

Quotes
"Muffins!"

- Applebuck Season

Galleries

 * Derpy Hooves image gallery
 * Gallery of characters making faces