Queen Chrysalis

"(laughing) Right you are, Princess. And as queen of the changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects. Equestria has more love than any place I've ever encountered. My fellow changelings will be able to devour so much of it that we will gain more power than we have ever dreamed of!"

- Queen Chrysalis explaining her true plot. "There is no revenge you could ever conceive of that will come close to what I will exact upon you one day, Starlight Glimmer!"

- Chrysalis swearing revenge on Starlight Glimmer for defeating her.

Queen Chrysalis (simply known as Chrysalis) is one of the main antagonists of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. She is the (former) queen of the Changelings who seeks to feed her subjects' hunger for love and later expand her rule across Equestria in the process.

She appears as the main antagonist in Season 2's two-part finale "A Canterlot Wedding", Season 6's two-part finale "To Where and Back Again", and the Season 8 episode "The Mean 6". She was also featured as the main antagonist in IDW's first comic arc, The Return of Queen Chrysalis, as an antagonist in the ninth comic arc, Siege of the Crystal Empire and was the main antagonist of The Guardians of Harmony in the IDW specials.

She is even now the archenemy of Starlight Glimmer, after her defeat in the finale of Season 6.

She is voiced by Kathleen Barr, who also voiced Trixie, as well as Britt McKillip in her Princess Cadance disguise and Ashleigh Ball in her Applejack disguise.

Appearance
Queen Chrysalis is a changeling and thus a shapeshifter who is capable of taking many forms. She spends the entirety of "A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1" and the beginning of "A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2" in the form of Princess Cadance.

Only the occasional flashes of her own green eyes and the color of her magic differ from that of Cadance's own. Her true form looks like a pony with a twisted and gnarled unicorn horn, a pair of insectoid wings, and stands as tall as Princess Celestia herself. Unlike a pony however, she has black skin, a sharp pair of fangs, dark green eyes with vertical, dragon-like pupils and no visible cutie mark. Interestingly, her eyes have a double pupil: a vertical, dragon-like one within a normal round one.

She has a teal mane and a tail, and also seems to have a greenish saddle, bluish-green rib plate, and a small, black crown tipped with blue circles. Her voice has a layered quality, as if two people were speaking in sync. All of her hooves are full of holes in them, yet she can stand firmly on the ground. Her limbs, along with her torso, are extremely skinny.

Personality
Chrysalis is best known for being manipulative, sadistic, arrogant and selfish. Being the Changeling Queen, she is easily the most skilled member of her race when it comes to using her powers to manipulate others, convincing everyone except Twilight of her Cadance disguise, despite not even bothering to act like the real one, also using said disguise to turn everyone against Twilight. She enjoys the suffering and misery her actions tend to cause others as well, taking satisfaction in trapping Twilight and telling her that no one will bother looking for her. However, when she is in a position of strength or has an advantage over her enemies, she will immediately take the opportunity to egotistically boast about herself and her success, which tends to result in her defeat.

Her goals are driven by both a desire for power and control, and the more "selfless" desire to provide for her subjects, who would wither without being nourished by the love of others. However, she is rather small-minded in her desire to help her subjects, wanting them to only see her rule as capable of sustaining them, completely ignoring alternate methods, like sharing love, that would ensure them better. As such, she openly despises any attempt to convince her minions otherwise, utterly banishing and shaming Thorax for becoming friends with ponies and "betraying" her. She is ultimately stubborn enough to outright reject the idea of friendship and Starlight's offer for her to change her ways, swearing vengeance on everyone who defeated her.

In the season 8 episode, Mean Six, Chrysalis starts to show signs of insanity, such as bragging her plans to lifeless pictures of the Mane Six, possibly due to the loneliness she's endured since her hive's uprising.

In the comics, Chrysalis' personality is mostly similar to her depiction in the series, only she is typically seen as being more comedic. She has a tendency to implement cynical humor into her activities, and openly mocks her enemies to comical effect. Her temper is noticeably shortened as well, being unable to remain composure when annoyed by the Cutie Mark Crusaders for several hours. Despite this, she completely crossed the line by seemingly outright murdering one of the citizens of Wuvey-Dovey Smoochy Land in front of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and later threatening to dispose of them, due to having no use for them once the Mane 6 were in the Changeling Kingdom. She is also vain enough to be offended and outraged when Twilight calls her "old".

Powers and Abilities

 * Changeling Biology: As a Changeling, Chrysalis in naturally imbued with various different abilities.
 * Shapeshifting: Like other changelings, Chrysalis can take the form of anybody she desires, perfectly mimicking their voices and appearances, although her personality and magic color will still remain the same.
 * Love Draining: Chrysalis can naturally drain the love and affection out of a pony or animal, both feeding her and leaving her victim weak and frail. Additionally, unlike most Changelings, the love she drains also enhances her own abilities as well, draining Shining Armor's love for Cadance alone making her powerful enough to defeat Celestia. In the comics, Chrysalis' love draining can also expand to magic as well.
 * Enhanced Durability: As shown in both the television and comic continuities, Chrysalis and her Changelings can survive being blasted away thousands of feet and landing directly on the ground. With other characters, it is heavily implied that a fall of said magnitude, if much less, would be fatal, meaning that the Changelings can endure far more punishment than regular ponies. Though it is possible she recovered with her wings in the show, she also survives the explosion of her throne unscathed. It is possible she is completely impervious to any form of damage, though this could also be from becoming powerful after feeding off love.
 * Flight: Chrysalis can fly for long distances without tiring.
 * Magic: Chrysalis possesses some of the most powerful magic in the entire series, rivaling the likes of Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Twilight Sparkle.
 * Magical Blasts: Chrysalis, like almost all other unicorns and alicorns, can fire extremely powerful magic blasts at her opponents.
 * Pyrokinesis: Chrysalis can summon magic green fire.
 * Mind Control: Chrysalis can influence the mind and thoughts of anyone around her by use of a mind control spell, which she used on Shining Armor, Lyra Heartstrings, Minuette and Twinkleshine.
 * Biological Manipulation: Chrysalis is implied to have the ability to either manipulate her body in ways other than her shapeshifting or have little to no bones, as she can bend her limbs in ways impossible for other ponies and turn her neck a full 360 degrees.
 * Immortality: In the comics, Chrysalis is stated to have been alive for hundreds, if not thousands of years without showing any signs of aging, making her one of the oldest characters in the series. It is unknown if this is canon in the show.

Weaknesses

 * Chrysalis does not always do a good job acting like the pony she is impersonating, as her behavior while disguised as Cadance made Twilight suspicious of her.
 * It is implied that, like other changelings that have not transformed, she grows weaker if she does not feed off love for a long time.
 * Chrysalis seems to take a long time in coming up with plans, as after her defeat at the end of Season 2, it took her four seasons to return, and afterwards she does not return for revenge until one season later.

Reception
Chrysalis was once regarded as "best villain", alongside Discord, by many, who loved her for being darker and having more epic battles than her two predecessors (as well as some praising her appearance and song). Chrysalis gained more popularity when Discord lost some due to his redemption, although Discord has since regained much of his popularity. She has appeared in some fan videos.

Despite her taking a fall over a mountain and seeming unable to use her wings, a scenario she is unlikely to survive, most fans refused to even consider the possibility of Chrysalis's death out of love for the character. This was later repeated with King Sombra even though he was disintegrated onscreen. Meghan has been silent about Chrysalis but confirmed Sombra's death. It was because of this that the IDW comics (which may or may not be canon) brought her back in their first arc, both because fans wanted her to return and because many of the writers themselves are bronies and pegasisters.

Chrysalis has since been outshined by Tirek, whose battle is more epic than hers, although in a complete reversal of the Chrysalis and Sombra scenario, many were disappointed that he wasn't killed, and some, out of hate for the character, have speculated that Cerberus eats him as punishment for sending the princesses to Tartarus, or that he was killed either the first time or second time he was sent to Tartarus.

Some have written fanfics that depict her as more sympathetic than depicted in the show, saying that she only did what she had to do to survive (although Cadance and Chrysalis state that she consumes love to gain power, and the Elements of Harmony book says that she and her subjects crave destruction). In Season 6, it is confirmed that the changelings do need the love energy to survive, or are at least severely weakened without it, but it's also established that there are ways of getting love energy without hurting anyone.

The reception to Chrysalis is likely the reason she returned in the Season 6 finale, when the creators seemed to decide against it for several seasons. In the end she survives and escapes while swearing revenge making her the only returning major villain not to be reformed and becomes a recurring villain in the later seasons which made her more popular.

Episodes and Appearances
{|class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" width="100%" ! Appearances on The Show

Season 2

 * A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1 (in Princess Cadance form)
 * A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2

Season 5

 * The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 1 (mentioned)
 * The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 2 (alternate-timeline)

Season 6

 * The Times They Are A Changeling (flashback)
 * To Where and Back Again - Part 1
 * To Where and Back Again - Part 2

Season 7

 * Celestial Advice (mentioned)
 * To Change a Changeling (mentioned)
 * Shadow Play - Part 2 (mentioned)

Season 8

 * The Mean 6
 * What Lies Beneath (fear illusion)

Friendship is Magic

 * The Return of Queen Chrysalis
 * Zen and the Art of Gazebo Repair (cameo)
 * Neigh Anything (cameo)
 * My Little Pirate: Friendship Ahoy (logo only)
 * Reflections (cameo)
 * The Good, the Bad and the Ponies (cameo)
 * Siege of the Crystal Empire
 * Tempest's Tale (cameo)

Micro-Series

 * Micro-Series Issue 10 (cameo)

Friends Forever

 * Friends Forever Issue 8 (signature only)
 * Friends Forever Issue 14 (mentioned)
 * Friends Forever Issue 38 (cameo)

My Little Pony: FIENDship is Magic

 * My Little Pony: FIENDship is Magic Issue 1 (cameo)
 * My Little Pony: FIENDship is Magic Issue 5

Specials

 * My Little Pony Annual 2017
 * My Little Pony: The Movie Prequel (initials only)
 * }

Trivia

 * She is the first major villain in the series to have a song (though the Flim Flam Brothers had a song before her, they were minor villains). To date, she is the not the only singing major villain, as this trait was taken by the Dazzlings, Starlight Glimmer, Principal Cinch and Shadowbolts.
 * Queen Chrysalis is the only recurring villain alongside Tirek.
 * Queen Chrysalis is regarded (along with King Sombra and Tirek) as one of the most evil and cruel My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic villains. However, Nightmare Moon is shown to be just as evil as them in the Season 4 premiere and the Season 5 Finale.
 * Fans of the show often tied Queen Chrysalis with Discord as the most popular villain in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic back in Season 2. But when Lord Tirek arrived in Season 4 and the Dazzlings in Rainbow Rocks, they outshine them both. But both Discord and Chrysalis remained popular to fans.
 * Queen Chrysalis and the Changelings may be based off of Sinisteeds, dark, horse-like creatures who thrive on feeding off of love and emotion in the novel Gossamer by Lois Lowry.
 * Chrysalis is slightly similar to the Harry Potter antagonist, Lord Voldemort, whose final duel with Harry Potter inspired that of Chrysalis and Celestia. Voldemort's inability to love may be mirrored by Chrysalis's line about "not having any room for love in her heart".
 * Her name was never mentioned in her main episodes "A Canterlot Wedding", but was given by one of the show's creators and mentioned on the episode's script. She is also named in media such as the Elements of Harmony book. Outside of the title, her name was first mentioned in the comic by Fluttershy, although it is unclear how the ponies know her name. Twilight does not refer to her by name when she mentions "the changeling queen" in the Friendship Journal. In "The Cutie Remark: Part 1", Her named was finally mentioned in the show.
 * In both the comics and the series, Fluttershy is the first pony to mention her name.
 * Chrysalis's defeat by an energy explosion caused by the power of love mirrors the defeat of Wiseman from Sailor Moon and Lamia from Stardust, although unlike them she is not disintegrated but sent flying into the distance in a similar style to Team Rocket. Also unlike them, she survives.
 * The fiery dome she creates around Twilight looks similar to the one created by Zelda from The Swan Princess 3.
 * One of her voice actors, Kathleen Barr, also voices another villain from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, The Great and Powerful Trixie. She also voiced the minor antagonist Hoops, when he's an adult.
 * Prior to the release of the episode, there was speculation that "Cadance" would turn out to be Trixie in disguise, out for revenge on Twilight.
 * She also does the voice of Roodaka from Bionicle, who is often compared to Chrysalis as the sinister queen of an insectoid race. Her voice is nearly the same.
 * It has been revealed that Queen Chrysalis will appear in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Journey of the Spark (the fan-made movie of the series).
 * Some fans speculate that Queen Chrysalis was once a special breed of pony (possibly a flutterpony from Generation 1) who was cursed to turn into a Changeling.
 * On page 11 of Friends Forever Issue #8, a sign under the Mount Monument observation deck reads "Sign the petition to add Queen Chrysalis to the monument" and bears Chrysalis' fresh signature, which in turn strongly suggests they have since recovered and are back to plotting and causing trouble for Equestria.
 * Queen Chrysalis is one of the three major villains who weren't outcasted before their actual appearing (Nightmare Moon was sent to the moon, Discord was turned into stone, King Sombra was trapped in the ice, Sunset Shimmer went to the human world, the Plunderseeds were held by the Tree of Harmony, Lord Tirek was imprisoned in Tartarus and the Dazzlings were banished to the human world), the other two being Starlight Glimmer and the Storm King.
 * In her FIENDship is Magic debut, she becomes the second antagonist that physically attacks Twilight, the first being Tirek.
 * Also, in her FIENDship is Magic comic, she becomes the second villain to appear victorious over the main characters, the first being the human versions of the Flim Flam Brothers.
 * It is unknown what effect the Elements of Harmony would have had on her, whether it would turn her to stone like Discord, whether it would destroy her like the Crystal Heart did to King Sombra on account of being pure evil, or whether, due to her apparent invulnerability, she'd be immune or resistant to it like the Pony of Shadows.
 * Seasons 3 and 4 are the only seasons in which she does not appear. Season 5 is also the only odd season in which she does appear, though only in an altered future.

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