| “ | Ahh... Long live the king. | „ |
| ~ King Sombra after reconquering the Crystal Empire. |
King Sombra is the secondary antagonist of the animated series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, serving as a minor antagonist in Season 3 and the opening antagonist to Season 9.
He is the king of the Crystal Empire who enslaved its citizens and caused great emotional damage to the crystal ponies given he took away their memories and happiness for a thousand years by cursing the empire to disappear for that amount of time. He's also the biggest enemy of the Mane Six.
He was voiced by Jim Miller in Season 3 and Alvin Sanders in Season 9.
What Makes Him a Shonen Villain?[]
- Villainous/Anti-Villainous: He enslaved a variety of areas (including the Crystal Empire and Ponyville), drained the crystal ponies of their memories for a whole millennium, threatened Princess Cadence and Shining Armor into surrendering by holding Flurry Heart (a filly) hostage, started a war in Equestria in an alternate timeline while letting everyone suffer 24/7 and temporarily destroyed the Tree of Harmony.
- Powerful/Skillful: He's good at using dark magic against his opponents and can place curses that would knowingly break the wills of any ponies who fall victim to his cruelty.
- Power-Hungry: His main priority is keeping the Crystal Empire under his control and thus, he craves power wherever he goes and will eliminate any threats to his goal.
- Pursues a Big-End Goal: He strives to destroy the Mane Six and their friendship after taking everything they love away from them all for the sake of proving to them that he has won.
- Arrogant: To say that Sombra is arrogant is a massive understatement; He refuses to kill people simply because he would rather gloat that he is nearing his victory, not out of moral standards.
- Intelligent: He made sure to look for any witnesses outside of Princess Cadence's barrier close to the Crystal Empire and succeeded in conquering it again in Season 9, and he stealthily stalked the Mane Six to where the Tree of Harmony resides so he could kill it right in front of them.
- Cold-Hearted/Ruthless: He'll harm anyone in his way, even babies.
- Short-Tempered: He has his fair share of villainous breakdowns here and there, especially in his second and permanent death.
- Psychopathic: He explicitly states that he only cares about himself when Grogar (who is actually Discord in disguise) offers him a chance to team up with the Legion of Doom.
- Has a Sinister Laugh: He laughs like the Joker after destroying the Tree of Harmony.
- Sadistic: He enjoys seeing others in mental pain.
- Bloodthirsty: He makes no exceptions when it boils down to torturing or brainwashing others.
- Is a Game Changer: He turns the sunshine and rainbows tone of the series into a dark, edgy and dramatic vibe whenever he appears. Plus, the fact that he is intentionally killed by the Mane Six just shows how seriously he is taken.
- Has Black Air Force Energy: Despite being aware that Candence wouldn't allow him to retake over the Crystal Empire, Sombra didn't care and did it anyways, even forcing her, Shining Armor and Flurry Heart to kneel before him with spears aimed at them in case they refuse.