Discord

Discord is a recurring character introduced in The Return of Harmony Part 1 as the main antagonist. Princess Celestia explains that Discord once ruled over Equestria in a state of unrest and unhappiness, until she and Princess Luna used the Elements of Harmony to imprison him in stone, but the spell was broken after the Elements lost their connection to the sisters, and Discord broke free. He returns later in the series, as Princess Celestia had decided that Discord should be reformed so his magic can be used for good instead of evil.

Production and development
Jayson Thiessen, the show's director, stated that the character Discord was "straight off Lauren [Faust]'s pen" and was inspired by John de Lancie's popular character Q from the Star Trek television series. At first, the production was planning on having a voice actor that sounded like de Lancie, and were later thrilled to find that they could have de Lancie himself for the part. John de Lancie let slip at a Calgary Expo panel that he had lent his voice again for a future episode; he later confirmed this on Twitter. De Lancie mentioned that his voice recordings of Discord are sped up and lose their deep bass sound.

Discord appears with a bright white flash, and the two even share some mannerisms, including a fondness for "games" and snapping his fingers to use his powers. In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Q Who, Picard refers to Q as "...next of kin to chaos".

On the DVD My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Princess Twilight Sparkle, Discord is listed in the credits of Games Ponies Play despite not appearing in the episode.

According to Lauren Faust, the villain Nightmare Moon, now Princess Luna, was originally named Discord.

During a Las Pegasus Unicon panel with John de Lancie on February 23, 2013, he mentioned that he had just done a recording "a couple of days ago" of something that rhymes with "Guy Whittle Stony".

In My Little Pony: The Elements of Harmony Official Guidebook, Meghan McCarthy stated this about Discord regarding his reformation:

"I don't think I'd want to reform all of our villains. I don't think that would be realistic. No matter how hard you try, some people (or evil alicorns) just aren't going to change their ways. But for a character like Discord, 'reforming' him allows us to tell more stories with his character. He gets to be the not-always-reliable ally instead of the known enemy."

Physical appearance
"This creature is called a 'draconequus'. He has the head of a pony, and a body made up of all sorts of things."

- Cheerilee

The word "draconequus" is composed of the Latin "draco" or Greek "drakon", and Latin "equus", meaning "dragon-horse". Discord is technically a chimera since he is composed of the body parts of different animals, but this term is not used in the show. His head is horse-like, much different from the other Ponies' head styles, though Cheerilee describes it as a "head of a pony". He has a deer antler on the right, a blue goat horn on the left, one long fang, different-sized pupils, a snake tongue, a goat beard, and white bushy eyebrows. He has the right arm of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, the right leg of a lizard, and the left leg of a goat. In addition, he has a bat's right wing, a Pegasus' left wing, a horse's mane and a dragon-like snake's tail with a white tail tuft. The shape of his body resembles that of a snake. Discord bears a resemblance to Chinese dragons who are often depicted having a serpentine body, feline claws and antlers.

Personality
The word discord means "a lack of harmony" or "a disagreement", and it is evident that he lives up to his name. In The Return of Harmony Part 1 and Part 2, Discord is shown to be a mischievous, manipulative trickster who effortlessly pulls pranks on his targets through the use of his powerful magic, illusions, and hypnotism, with little to no consideration towards his victims. He has a sense of showmanship and drama, preferring to be playful towards his victims before getting down to business, as seen when he mocks and banters with Celestia and the six main ponies in Canterlot Tower. He laughs and amuses himself with his magical chaos, often at the cost of others. Among other things, Discord turns the ponies against each other, making Twilight miserable and depressed, and generally causes ridiculous and grotesque things to happen.

Discord is arrogant and overconfident, as he underestimated the ponies' ability to restore their friendship and wield the Elements of Harmony. Despite having a fondness for anarchy and chaos, he can become easily annoyed if things don't go according to his plan; he becomes impatient when he cannot corrupt Fluttershy as easily as the other ponies. In Keep Calm and Flutter On, Discord states that he's never had a friend. He appears touched when Fluttershy declares herself to be his friend, and it is that glimpse of genuine friendship that causes him to undo the unnecessary chaos he has wrought. He states at the end of the episode that he will use his magic only for good from now on..."most of the time".

The Return of Harmony
Discord first appears in The Return of Harmony Part 1 during the opening scene, encased as a statue in the Canterlot sculpture garden. The statue is posed in a cheerful manner, in contrast to the frightened pose that Discord assumes when being turned into stone at the end of the next episode, which concludes the story arc. Cheerilee, who is taking her Ponyville class on a field trip, stops the class to point out the draconequus statue. The three Cutie Mark Crusaders bicker over what it is supposed to represent, resulting in his statue beginning to crack.

Before he is directly introduced, the six leading characters witness the effects of his power in Ponyville. Inexplicably, things begin acting irregularly, such as clouds made out of cotton candy that move of their own accord, chocolate milk pouring down from the sky as if it were rain, and animals that behave uncharacteristically and spontaneously change shape. Princess Celestia explains to Twilight Sparkle and her friends that Discord is the spirit of disharmony in a way similar to Cheerilee's teaching. He caused unrest and unhappiness throughout all of Equestria for Earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi alike. Princess Celestia and her sister, Luna, rose up against Discord and used the Elements of Harmony to turn him to stone. However, since she and Luna are no longer connected to the Elements of Harmony, the spell imprisoning Discord has broken and he has escaped from his stone imprisonment. When the Elements of Harmony go missing, Celestia accuses Discord of stealing them, because they were held in a chamber protected by a spell that she believed only she could break. Discord appears in the stained-glass windows of the palace and replies with a riddle, leading Twilight to believe that he hid the Elements in the Canterlot castle labyrinth.

When Twilight and her friends venture into the palace labyrinth, Discord prevents them from "cheating" in his "game" by magically removing the ponies' wings and horns. This enforces the first rule of his game: no flying and no magic. The second rule is that they must play the game, or else he wins. He physically separates them in the maze and the game begins. Discord uses representations of the friends' cutie marks to psychologically brainwash them into contradicting the elements they represent. The one exception is Fluttershy, who is not embittered by Discord's claim that her friends think she is helpless; he gets frustrated at the difficulty of upsetting Fluttershy, and manually brainwashes her. He bids her goodbye with an extremely agitated "arrivederci".

After making Applejack untruthful, Pinkie Pie disagreeable, Rarity selfish, and Fluttershy unkind, Discord plays with Rainbow Dash's loyalty to her friends by showing her a vision that her hometown of Cloudsdale would be destroyed without her. He offers her a choice: she can either have her wings back and go to the aid of Cloudsdale, or continue to seek the Elements. Falling for the bait, she flies out of the labyrinth and breaks Discord's "no flying and no magic" rule. Discord, having "won," destroys the entire labyrinth and proclaims that they "might be due for a big old storm of chaos".

Twilight is upset when Discord takes away the maze before they can find the Elements of Harmony until Discord reveals they were not in the labyrinth. Discord magically shows her the riddle again, and she realizes that the Elements are "back where she began". Afterwards, Discord turns Ponyville into what he claims will be the "chaos capital of the world". Twilight finds the Elements and forcibly places them on the corrupted ponies and Spike who was hastily substituting for Rainbow Dash. However, the Elements fail miserably just as Discord expected. Twilight loses faith in their mission and almost becomes entirely corrupted herself until she re-reads the letters that she wrote to Princess Celestia about the magic of friendship. With renewed motivation, she cures all her corrupted friends by making them remember the wonderful times they had together. Discord continues to be unconcerned and is easily defeated by the reawakened powers of the Elements. After being struck with a rainbow similar to that previously used on Nightmare Moon, Discord is turned back into stone, but this time with an expression of fear frozen onto his face.

Keep Calm and Flutter On
Discord's next appearance is in Keep Calm and Flutter On, in which Princess Celestia delivers his statue to Ponyville in the hopes that the six ponies can successfully reform him as a mutual ally. She casts a protective spell on the Elements of Harmony and personally requests Fluttershy to give him a chance. Once Celestia leaves, he is released by the elements and reveals that he has heard everything while imprisoned in stone. He resides in Fluttershy's cottage for most of the episode, taking advantage of her enduring patience and hospitality. During his stay, he is legitimately surprised to hear that Fluttershy defends Discord's actions and even considers him a friend.

The situation soon becomes critical because of an earlier prank resulting in the flooding of Sweet Apple Acres, so Fluttershy asks Discord to reverse everything. He says he will do so on the condition that Fluttershy will never raise her element against him, so she reluctantly agrees much to the chagrin of her friends. This leads to Discord betraying her and only freezing the water, believing that he is finally free to wreak havoc and offering Fluttershy to indulge in ice skating with him. Though Fluttershy does not break her own promise, she angrily renounces her friendship with him and walks away.

Initially, he brags about how no one tells him what to do and asks if she truly believed that he cared if he lost his first and only friend. This results in an epiphany as Discord finally understands the consequences of his actions - and realizes that he actually does value her friendship. Feeling ashamed and with his eyes welling up with tears, he returns everything to normal after finally understanding the magic of friendship, if somewhat embarrassed to admit it. When Princess Celestia arrives later, he announces that he is ready to put his magic to good use "most of the time".

While Celestia senses a change in Discord's outlook and is eager to accept him, she is aware that she is dealing with the spirit of chaos and leaves the Elements of Harmony in the possession of Twilight Sparkle as a contingency plan. Discord overhears Celestia revealing her intention to Twilight and shows a face of concern. Fluttershy holds his paw and reassures that "He can be a real sweetheart once you get to know him." However, the others give expressions of uncertainty.

Magical Mystery Cure
This episode shows Discord in one of Fluttershy's flashbacks as well as in a flashback during Celestia's Ballad. He is also mentioned by Spike, and seen in the stain glass windows towards the end.

Depiction in comics
A map of the region that the main characters are traveling in is included with Issue #2 of the comic series, which includes a desert-like area with odd chaotic structures to the west of the Forest of Leota, marked the "Sight of the Battle of Discord (Quarantined)".

Hub promotions
At The Hub's website's 2011 "Naughty or Nice?" contest, it was stated that he is a dragon. The part of the text that said this was later removed, though at least one link to the page still referenced it in its URL. Commercials for the contest initially included a fan-made picture of him, which was used again in two Hub promotional images, one for the 2012 "Naughty or Nice Awards" contest and one on the channel's Facebook and Twitter pages  , as the channel's YouTube account background, and on the channel's website.

Discord also appeared in the commercial for a 2012 Naughty or Nice Awards contest, saying "I wasn't nominated?"

Merchandise
A trading card was released of Discord in 2012. As a gag, the text, which says Discord can turn Equestria "upside down", is deliberately upside down.

WeLoveFine.com carries T-shirts, hoodies, and other merchandise of Discord. A formerly available WeLoveFine shirt design depicting a host of non-Hasbro characters shows an Alicorn resembling Discord. Samantha Bragg, the artist of this design, refers to this Alicorn as "Chaos" and describes him as "what Discord might have been had he chosen the path of good rather than evil" in a since removed post on her since deactivated deviantART page; the character, name, and description, as well as the shirt itself, predate the announcement of the episode Keep Calm and Flutter On.

Quotes
"Oh, what fun is there in making sense?"

- The Return of Harmony Part 1

"Twists and turns, are my master plan. Then find the elements back where you began."

- The Return of Harmony Part 1

"When all the truth does is make your heart ache, sometimes a lie is easier to take."

- The Return of Harmony Part 1

"Oh, for goodness' sake! You've been kind for far too long, my dear. Time to be cruel. Arrivederci!"

- The Return of Harmony Part 1

"A weighty choice is yours to make, a right selection or a big mistake. If a wrong choice you choose to pursue the foundations of home will crumble without you."

- The Return of Harmony Part 1

"Looks like we might be due for a big ol' storm of chaos!"

- The Return of Harmony Part 1

"Oh. Well, I've... never really had a friend before."

- Keep Calm and Flutter On

"I like it better my way, but I guess when you're friends, you can't always have things exactly your way all the time"

- Keep Calm and Flutter On

"Friendship is magic."

- Keep Calm and Flutter On

"I'm naughty..."

- "Round 1" commercial for The Hub's 2011 "Naughty or Nice?" contest

"I told you I was naughty."

- "Round 2" commercial for The Hub's 2011 "Naughty or Nice?" contest

"I'm naughty... and nice!"

- "Closed Voting" commercial for The Hub's 2011 "Naughty or Nice?" contest