King Sombra

King Sombra is a male initially-umbrum unicorn, the former tyrannical ruler of the Crystal Empire, and the antagonist of the season three premiere and the IDW comics' thirteenth story arc. Princess Celestia tells Twilight Sparkle that he took over the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago but was banished into the frozen north. Before his banishment, King Sombra put a curse on the Crystal Empire which made it vanish into thin air. When the Empire returns, so does Sombra, who attempts to retake it. He is defeated by Princess Cadance and the Crystal Ponies' use of the Crystal Heart, later returning again with help from Radiant Hope and eventually reforming.

"My crystal slaves..."
 * —King Sombra, To Radiant Hope.

Appearance

 * Voice actor: Mark Acheson (English), Not Known (Japanese), Not Known (French), Raffaele Farina (Italian), Tomasz Borkowski (Polish), Not Known (German), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Danish), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Russian), Guilherme Lopes (Brazilian Portuguese), Miguel Jenner (European Spanish), Víctor Aguilar (Latin American Spanish)

Appearance
King Sombra is a dark gray unicorn with a black spiky mane and tail. Unlike regular unicorn horns, which match the pony's coat color and are straight and segmented, Sombra's horn is curved, smooth, sharp at the tip and it gradients from dark gray to red. He has sharp teeth with two visible fangs unlike other ponies and red—green when younger—irises, but most often his otherwise white eyes appear green and have a purple mist emanating from them, which disappears both times he is attacked. He wears silver armor on his legs and neck, a crown with horn-like points on his head, and a red cape that covers his flank. When his flank is shown briefly in Princess Celestia's flashback, he has no visible cutie mark. When he is turned to shadow in the flashback, only his head remains, and when he returns as an amorphous black cloud, only his eyes are visible at first.

Personality
King Sombra is described by Princess Celestia as a unicorn whose heart is "black as night". In terms of personality, King Sombra is sadistic, fierce, and cruel, as evidenced by his referring to the Crystal Ponies as his "crystal slaves" and appearing to take delight in seeing them suffer. Though rarely speaking, he appears desperate to retake the Crystal Empire, as he chases Shining Armor, Spyro, Avenge Landers and the Mane Six during their first encounter and curses Shining Armor, causing black crystals to grow on his horn and nullify his magic, and when rushing toward Spike in an attempt to regain the Crystal Heart.

Family

 * King Sombra (Good counterpart)

Magic
Twilight Sparkle says that King Sombra uses dark magic. Black crystals shoot out of the ground as he advances towards the Crystal Empire, and he turns into a shadow in various scenes, dodging attacks and traveling large distances. His horn dissolves when it touches Princess Cadance's protective shield around the empire, and he is eventually repelled by her Crystal Heart magic.