What is Discord?

[Bryght Knowledge 48]

 Well, I know his name is Discord, Lord of Chaos. And he appears to be a Chinese dragon-chimera with the ability of chaos magic.

 

 But is he a god of chaos, or is he a wizard that is an expert of chaos?

 

 And is he immortal like Celestria and Luna are?

[Jeremiah 1,586]

He is a male draconequus and former antagonist other than that yeah.

[Sunny Fox 5,929]

Well, he's a draconequus, and the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Nuff said.

[Steel Accord 6,658]

Knowing him, probably all of the above.

 

That being said, he was concretely defined as the spirit of chaos and given his habit of materializing and dematerializing at will and into any shape he desires, it can be assumed his corporeal body is a courtesy and a toy not necessarily a requirement.

[Justin_Case001 4,855]

I always liked the headcanon that's he's actually Starswirl.

[Wicked Funky 2,955]

I always liked the headcanon that's he's actually Starswirl.

Yeah I like that idea to. But I like another headcannon to, That Discord banished Startswirl when he got in the way of Discords plans, And he has been aimlesly roaming the void and that he one day may return. :3

[JH24 385]

I like to think Discord is a representation and/or an avatar of Chaos itself. Like Harmony, Chaos is a power, a binding force which can be tapped into by users who can harness it or are chosen by it. 

 

Harmony and Chaos are two sides of the same coin, and ideally should keep each other in balance. Perhaps the existence of the Elements of Harmony were a reaction to the dominance of Chaos, represented by Discord itself when he ruled the world a thousand years ago. Either Discord was born with these powers or he was chosen to be an avatar of Chaos instead.

 

 

My guess is Chaos doesn't really cares in itself if Discord is evil or not, or if its perceived as an evil/dark force. As long as its power and presence is represented/manifested in the world as a buffer against Harmony. If the Chaos force was truly a dark force it would have made Discord for example more like someone as Tirek.

 

Discord could have been someone who lived a long time ago, a creature or perhaps even a pony who was transformed by chaotic magic or powers, or he could have been born out of pure chaotic energy itself.

 

===

 

Celestia likely knew the inevitablity and necessity of Chaos. It would only be a matter of time before Discord would escape from its stone prison once again, and what if one of the following generations would fail to contain him? The world would then have to deal with an unreformed Spirit of Chaos.

 

Destroying Discord wouldn't work either, as it would likely be a matter of time before Chaos would chose or create a new Avatar to represent itself in Equestria and beyond, one that might be more dangerous than Discord ever was.

Edited May 26, 2015 by JH24

[Castle Bleck 19,163]

Knowing him, probably all of the above.

 

That being said, he was concretely defined as the spirit of chaos and given his habit of materializing and dematerializing at will and into any shape he desires, it can be assumed his corporeal body is a courtesy and a toy not necessarily a requirement.

 

Pretty sure he's just a physical shapeshifter; otherwise, the Tatzlwurm wouldn't have been able to infect him.

Edited October 7, 2016 by A.V.

[Steel Accord 6,658]

Pretty sure he's just a physical shapeshifter, otherwise the Tatzlwurm wouldn't have been able to infect him.

Unless the sickness was magical and therefore could infect partially incorporeal entities.

[The Awesome One 1,314]

I think that there are magical forces working behind the scenes in the universe of ponies that the Princesses do not know of. Two of these forces are Order and Chaos. Order works to keep the universe running according to plan while Chaos, whose physical form is the being known as Discord, works against him to keep a balance but after being reformed he hasn't done much. A little chocolate rain here and there to keep the chaos up but nothing too over the top.

 

So in my head canon, Discord is the physical form that Chaos has taken in the pony world and it probably has another form in the EQG world as well. The reason he is body parts from multiple animals is because he is DISCORD! *swag*

[Invincible 2,090]

Well, he isn't what i'd call 'godlike', especially if you consider season 4 finale. He is described as a Draconequus, a dragon-horse, whether or not he's the only one of his kind is another question all together. But he does seem to be susceptible to the elements, and his power can be taken from him.

 

Since his form is basically whatever he wills it to be, and his magic can change body-parts, trees, rocks... basically anything - i'd say he simply regenerates his body with his own chaos magic, so he's probably immortal through that. It's unclear about whether or not he ages, and if then what would his age be, but then it's discord. He is and isn't, all at the same time.

[Twilight Dirac 720]

Discord is a family friendly Eldritch Abomination.  Fits right in with the family friendly ponified succubi in Canterlot Wedding.

[~ Dr. Ocsid ~ 690]

Celestia likely knew the inevitablity and necessity of Chaos. It would only be a matter of time before Discord would escape from its stone prison once again, and what if one of the following generations would fail to contain him? The world would then have to deal with an unreformed Spirit of Chaos.

 

Destroying Discord wouldn't work either, as it would likely be a matter of time before Chaos would chose or create a new Avatar to represent itself in Equestria and beyond, one that might be more dangerous than Discord ever was.

 

And that would be Pinkie Pie.

Now imagine her with Discords powers.

The party will last foreverrrr!

 

And this is why Discord is back.

 

Also, I don´t think Chaos and Harmony are sides of the same coin.

Chaos and Order are the sides of the same coin.

Harmony is the rim of the coin.

Check out my poems about that!

(^^^Shameless self-promotion^^^)

Well, he isn't what i'd call 'godlike', especially if you consider season 4 finale. He is described as a Draconequus, a dragon-horse, whether or not he's the only one of his kind is another question all together. But he does seem to be susceptible to the elements, and his power can be taken from him.

 

Since his form is basically whatever he wills it to be, and his magic can change body-parts, trees, rocks... basically anything - i'd say he simply regenerates his body with his own chaos magic, so he's probably immortal through that. It's unclear about whether or not he ages, and if then what would his age be, but then it's discord. He is and isn't, all at the same time.

That depends on your definition of godlyness.

For example, Zeus once made Apollo and Poseidon mortal as a punishment.

So he fits the ancient Greek definition.

 

And about that thing how he keeps himself immortal, that does sound pretty god-like to me.

(Very Q-like, too, but, well, the Q are gods by most definitions.

Edited May 30, 2015 by ~ Dr. Ocsid ~

[Xeltor23 704]

Discord is a male draconequus, with peculiar powers which I think are unique to him with which he can do everything he wants. However, he doesn't seem to be able to harm or use his magic against someone stronger than him; we can see that with Tirek, who would be more powerful than him before he absorbed his power. I think that Discord is not invulnerable, just find someone more powerful than him and it's done

[~ Dr. Ocsid ~ 690]

Also, because of his chaotic structure, I think this question is redundant. The true question would be:

Why is Discord? Or, less precise, when is Discord?

And why does the next poster´s avatar look so surprised?

Good research, by the way.

Edited May 30, 2015 by ~ Dr. Ocsid ~

[Thunderlane 550]

Discord is a Draconequus. I did a little bit of research, and found that he was just a creature made up for the show, with "dracon-equus" meaning "dragon-horse" in Latin. I suppose technically Discord or any proposed Draconequus could be considered a 'Chimera', which is a Greek word for a mythical being made up of a conglomerate of animals.

[cider float 2,535]

Discord is a draconequus and it's a made up being by the writers. Though in D&D there is a monster called the Draconequi or something like that.

 

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Draconequi_%283.5e_Race%29

[~ Dr. Ocsid ~ 690]

Discord is a draconequus and it's a made up being by the writers. Though in D&D there is a monster called the Draconequi or something like that.

 

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Draconequi_%283.5e_Race%29

These draconequi are definitely copies of Discord, so indeed it was made up by the writers.

But the answer "Made up by the writers" is a boring one, because pretty much any thread in this section can be answered in that or a similar way.

The more interesting thing is: What is Discord inside the show?

My theory is that he is indeed unique, his body simply looking like he wanted it to, but dropped a few hints in former times that there were/are others like him, just to troll zoologists.

[Widdershins 9,955]

Pretty sure he's just a physical shapeshifter, otherwise the Tatzlwurm wouldn't have been able to infect him.

Well, granted, earlier that same episode we saw him playing sick to get attention so it's very well likely he's doing it again, just alot more reliably by intentionally inflicting symptoms on himself. I see Discord as a very...mind-minded being. If he doesn't have an audience or a "friend" that what's the point of all his fun? No doubt he's spent time with an entire planet completely under his thrall, and after a few hundred years that chaos gets predictable. The worst thing that can happen to a troll is getting no reaction at all!

 

 

Discord is a family friendly Eldritch Abomination.  Fits right in with the family friendly ponified succubi in Canterlot Wedding.

Sweet Merciful Me! That makes far too much sense! Just a mere juxtaposing of mythologies! Course, that depends on how insane your family is, but still.

 

Isn't Discord just about a carbon copy of the whole Q Continuum from star trek? One does get the impression that they initially intended it for it just to be inspired by it, then sent a request off to DeLancie on a whim, not expecting him to say yes, and when he did they just decided they kind of HAD to go whole hog with it then.