Storm King

"Friendship is a weakness. A liability. Friends distract you. Make you weak. Friends can betray you, make you forget your goals. I have soldiers, commanders, workers -- but no friends. Which means nobody will ask me to sacrifice my ambitions. My goals are my own."

- Storm King to his soldiers

The Storm King was the primary antagonist of My Little Pony: The Movie Prequel and My Little Pony: The Movie Comic Adaptation. He is the member of an unknown race from a non-Equestrian land. Deemed a conqueror, but not a ruler, the Storm King is ruthless, violent, cruel and ambitious.

Background
Much like the rest of Equestria and beyond, the Storm Kings age is vague. He appears to be somewhat youthful, given his tongue and cheek sense of humor and energetic demeanor, but has apparently been warmongering for quite some time. The Storm Kings true name has not been mentioned, the narration of refers to his name as "Storm King". It is unknown if this is his actual name or just a title.

Destroyer of a Dozen Lands


Described as a conqueror and destroyer, the Storm King is an experienced warlord who "conquered a dozen lands, and destroyed a dozen more". Cruel and vicious, the Storm King puts on the guise of appearing at least somewhat affable in the presence of his soldiers and who would be his victims, but can perform unthinkable acts on anyone he so wishes at any time with no remorse.

One day while commanding his troops, the Storm King simply decides to set his sites on the kingdom of Abyssinia.

Sacking of Panthera


The Storm King made haste in storming the kingdom. His airships attacked buildings, burning them to the ground while his soldiers assaulted the civilians. Not at all phased by the carnage, the Storm King waltzed up to the Abyssinia Castle with a battalion of guards and smashed down the gates with a ram. In a faux-affable guise, the Storm King asks the monarchs to just surrender

After the monarchs inform him that he already owns Abyssinia, he quips that he doesn't want to rule the land, he simply wants the riches. He demands absolutely anything even semi-valuable from the kingdom. The monarchs try to reason with the Storm King, but he doesn't take kindly to it and smashes a hole into their vault. After peering into the vault, seeing the gold and treasures, he orders his soldiers to haul away the entire treasury. He then forces the two monarchs to direct him to where the magical artifacts are located. Although they protest, he eventually discovers the Misfortune Malachite. After hearing the cursed nature of the artifact, the Storm King tosses it to one of his guards.

After leaving the castle, the Storm King merrily watches the chaos and misfortune he's caused. Mortified and desperate, the monarchs asks the Storm King just why he did all of this, to which he simply replies "because it was next on my list". After plundering the country, the Storm King remarks how warmongering isn't even a challenge anymore. While Strife is documenting what just happened, the Storm King cruelly reminds Strife that they are not friends, nor does he have any friends, and that friends are a weakness.

Battles against the pirates
The Storm King's disregard for his second-in-command would cost him, as Strife would betray the Storm King in pursuit of his own gain. Contacting Captain Celaeno, Strife arranged for her forces to be able to approach the Storm King's fleet undetected, which allowed them to seize control of several ships. Celaeno's crews had been attacking the Storm King's shipping lines previously, but had been unwilling to strike larger targets until Strife reached out to them. Strife also sabotaged the Storm King's personal airship, preventing him from giving chase to the pirates or the vessels they stole from him. Furious at the betrayal, the Storm King chose Grubber to be his new second-in-command, seeing in the diminutive creature someone too cowardly to betray him.

Repairing his ship swiftly, the Storm King caught up with Celaeno's forces, and after boarding her ship repaid Strife's treason by throwing him overboard. Impressed by Celaeno's abilities, the Storm King offered her the chance to serve as his new second-in-command. Upon learning that her crew would be relegated to cargo ship duty, Celaeno refused, and then stopped him from capturing a single escaping airship. As a result, Celaeno would also be sentenced to service aboard a cargo ship, while the Storm King set out to find the free airship, which carried the Misfortune Malachite.

Recruiting Tempest Shadow
The Storm King's forces eventually tracked down the malachite, only for it to be stolen from them by a unicorn from Equestria. Impressed by her resourcefulness, the Storm King set out to find both her and the malachite, though accounts differ as to how they eventually met in Bleak Valley. By one account, the Storm King attacked a caravan with which she was traveling, and found her after she tricked Rambler into serving as her decoy. According to another, the unicorn wandered into the valley alone and met Grubber, who led her on to the Storm King. In either case, the Storm King persuaded her to hand over the Misfortune Malachite and serve as his second-in-command in exchange for his restoring her broken horn.

Having seen the destruction left in the path of the malachite, the Storm King crushed it, before tasking his new lieutenant-who introduced herself as Tempest Shadow-a mission. Still in search of magic to make himself more powerful, he ordered her to travel to Hippogriffia and steal the Pearl of Transformation from Queen Novo. Having had altercations with the Hippogriffs previously, the Storm King hoped that Tempest would be able to infiltrate the city without arousing any suspicion until it was too late. Unfortunately, Novo awoke during her attempted theft of the pearl and roused the Royal Guard of Hippogriffia, who engaged the Storm Creatures sent to back Tempest up. Novo and her people escaped with the pearl, leaving the Storm King greatly displeased.

Tempest convinced the Storm King to give her another chance, informing him about the Alicorns of Equestria and offering to obtain their magic for him. The Storm King agreed to the deal, but warned Tempest against failing him again. She soon led a successful invasion of Canterlot, and captured three out of the four princesses. When the Storm King contacted her for an update, he expressed his displeasure with the current state of affairs. Tempest explained that his Staff of Sacanas would enable him to wield the princesses' magic, and asked for a three-day reprieve to get things finalized. The Storm King agreed, but warned her that "your horn won't be the only thing that's broken" if she failed in her mission.

Power of the four alicorns
After Tempest captured, she returned to Canterlot to find the Storm King waiting for her, rather annoyed at being surrounded by so much "cute". His tune changed when, as Tempest had promised, he was able to drain the princesses' magic using his staff. The Storm King was greatly amused by his newfound abilities, playing with the orbit of the sun and moon. He became annoyed, however, when Twilight's friends-joined by Capper, Princess Skystar, and Celaeno's crew-attacked the city and overpowered his Storm Creatures. After making a mockery of the ponies, he channeled his stolen power into creating a massive storm, which even drew his own minions into its swirling winds.

At this point, Tempest pleaded with the Storm King to restore her horn as promised, vowing to use her magic in his service. Enamored of his new power, the Storm King had little regard for her offer or her previous faithful service, revealing that he had manipulated her in order to get what he wanted. Having no further use for Tempest, he attacked her, only for her to counter with her own destructive magic. The blast knocked them both backwards, but the Storm King quickly recovered and zeroed in on Tempest and Twilight, the princess having decided to help her captor.

Before he could attack again, however, the Storm King was himself struck by Twilight's friends, who had breached the storm using {{FIM|Pinkie Pie]]'s Easy Bake Confetti Cake Cannon. The staff became lodged in a stained glass window in the throne room, and the ponies worked quickly to try and retrieve it. The Storm King, incensed, raced to try and get to it first, but was beaten there by Twilight. The window then shattered behind them, and both Twilight and the Storm King were pulled out into the storm.

Death and postmortem
Twilight, having retained her hold on the staff, was able to dissipate the storm and returned to her friends safely. However, the Storm King had managed to grab onto the balcony where they had been standing, and readied an obsidian orb for use on the ponies. Tempest saw his actions and rushed in, taking the hit and then charging her former master as the transformative smoke was unleashed. Petrified by his own attack, the Storm King fell to the ground below and shattered into multiple pieces, his final expression one of horrified shock. The shards were later inexpertly assembled by one of the Storm Creatures, with the eyes showing some signs of continued life.

Though gone, the Storm King was far from forgotten, with Tempest in particular finding it hard to forget her old master. She later set out to spread word of his defeat and help repair the damage he had done, and was later moved to put the skills she had learned under him to use as one of the Nightmare Knights. His defeat was among the various feats attributed to Twilight Sparkle and her friends, though some were skeptical as to how they had accomplished it. Illusions of the Storm King and his minions were also conjured by the Tree of Harmony to test Silverstream, and by Princess Eris in her bid to convince Capper to help her defeat the Nightmare Knights. While pretending to be allied with her, Capper noted that the Storm King, like her Pony of Shadows, had been too forceful in his tyranny and thus allowed chaotic elements to bring about his downfall.

Appearance
The Storm King appears to be a vaguely ape or monkey like animal with snow white fur and a dark, grey face. His eyes are a distinct green-blue. The Storm King is very tall, taller then most other anthropomorphic/humanoid figures, which compliments his incredible strength and intimating aura. He wears black armor, and appears to have horns and/or a crown atop his head.

Personality


The Storm King is goofy and comical at first glance, often cracking jokes or wisecracks about the situation, or humorously mocking his enemies and their believes. However, make no mistake, the Storm King is as wicked and merciless as they come. Described as a destroyer of a dozen lands, the Storm King has no qualms with destroying, sacking and plundering entire countries out of sheer boredom. The Storm King was very hands-on about his warfare and often times fought alongside his soldiers in order to assure a quicker victory. Because of these traits, the Storm King became among Equestria's biggest threats, and arguably the one closest to succeeding.

The Storm King despises friendship, as he feels that it's a weakness and a liability. He firmly believes that having friends is a sure fire way to be betrayed, and that striking fear into his soldiers is the more preferable method. The Storm King occasionally puts on a facade of being amicable and affable, however this is only a guise and may be an extension of his strong sense of humor as he has no qualms with suddenly breaking this guise in order to harm his enemies.

Storm King has next to no respect over his subordinates and does not pick them based on favorable traits like skill, strength or experience. Quite the contrary, after Strife betrayed him, he quickly forced Grubber to become his right hand man for being useless, too useless to even think about betraying him. He was also perfectly willing to deceive Tempest Shadow in order to get what he wanted, and utterly mocking of her loyalty once she had accomplished her mission.

Despite his habit of conquests, the Storm King has little actual interest in building a political empire. He seemed to regard his villainy as a business, complete with branding and merchandise. His pursuit of power seemed centered around increasing the presence of his brand.

Magic
The Storm King was a skilled user of the magical arts.
 * Weather Alteration: Storm King was able to conjure large thunderstorms in order to shake up his enemies, an ability he used multiple times in his battles against the Sky Pirates.

Physical attributes

 * Superhuman Strength: Storm King was very powerful in terms of raw strength. He was able to smash down walls with bare fist and effortlessly defeated Captain Celaeno with just one arm, without even trying.
 * Superhuman Speed: Although not gone over, the Storm King was inhumanly fast, able to attack Captain Celano—who could dodge sudden lightning bolts out of nowhere—before she could even react.

Strife
Storm King had no care or respect for his former right-hand man, Strife and he made every opportunity he could to gloat about that very fact, rubbing it in Strifes face that he was not his friend, but his mere henchmen. This attitude eventually turned on him as Strife turned traitor, giving out the coordinates of his ship and treasure to the Sky Pirates out of revenge. Despite his constant spiteful attitude towards Strife, the Storm King was hurt by Strife turning on him and let his anger be known.

Films

 * My Little Pony: The Movie (2017 film)

Cartoon

 * Season 8
 * School Daze - Part 1 (mentioned)
 * Surf and/or Turf (mentioned)
 * What Lies Beneath (illusion)

Comic books

 * The Movie Prequel
 * Animated
 * My Little Pony: The Movie Comic Adaptation
 * Animated
 * My Little Pony: The Movie Comic Adaptation
 * My Little Pony: The Movie Comic Adaptation

Novels

 * The Stormy Road to Canterlot

RPGs

 * Tails of Equestria: The Official Movie Sourcebook