Mane-iac

"Congratulations, Power Ponies! (laughs) You shall live just long enough to see me fire... the instrument of your destruction!"

- The Mane-iac

The Mane-iac is a fictional character that appears in the fourth season of the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and is the main antagonist of the episode entitled "Power Ponies". The Mane-iac appears to be an earth pony baring Princess Luna's face and body design with a violet coat, a mane consisting of large, green tendrils, and red-and-green eyes.

Depiction in the series
In the beginning of the episode, Spike shows Twilight Sparkle a couple pages of a Power Ponies comic book on which the Mane-iac is depicted.

She is stated to be the Power Ponies' "most evil nemesis". Originally, she was the power-mad owner of a hair-care product company, she was the victim in an accident at her shampoo factory and fell into a vat of green liquid and was electrocuted by a downed power line. The accident had given her strange new powers and caused her to go insane. Another page shows the Mane-iac breaking into the Maretropolis Museum and stealing something called the Electro-Orb.

When Spike and his friends are sucked into the comic book and become the Power Ponies, they're brought to the point in the story at which the Mane-iac has just stolen the Electro-Orb. She watches in amusement as they grow accustomed to their newfound superpowers before leaving the scene. When the Power Ponies track the Mane-iac down to her headquarters—her abandoned shampoo factory—she dispatches the ponies with her "Hairspray Ray of Doom", freezing the ponies in place and rendering their powers useless. She then takes the Power Ponies prisoner, but leaves Spike/Humdrum alone, considering him pointless. The Mane-iac uses the Electro-Orb to power her doomsday device, with which she plans to cause the manes of every pony in Maretropolis to grow wild. As she gloats to the Power Ponies over her apparent victory, Spike traps some of her henchponies and helps in freeing his friends. Just before the Mane-iac can use her weapon on Fluttershy/Saddle Ranger, a firefly enters her line of fire, and she swats it away. This action incurs Saddle Ranger's wrath, and she single-handedly does away with both the Mane-iac and her weapon.

As the result of being struck by her own weapon, the Mane-iac's mane grows out of control, ensnaring her in it like a straitjacket.

Role
Mane-iac is a stereotypical super-villain parody akin to the cackling maniacs found in early comic books (especially DC) - inhabiting a fictional world similar to Metropolis she was once a normal Earth Pony who fell into a vat of chemicals in a shampoo factory, which coupled with an electrocution mutated her and drove her completely insane.

As Mane-iac she developed the ability to use her hair as weapons and tools (like Marvel's Medusa or PPG's Sedusa) - she also developed her own personal army of hair-product themed henchmen and weapons.

Seeking a power-source for her doomsday weapon Mane-iac wanted to destroy the city so as to strike a blow for liberty and a victory for the forces of oppression (like many parody villains she was 2-dimensional evil).

Trivia

 * Her name is a pun on the words maniac and mane.
 * She is based on Sedusa from The Powerpuff Girls, which Lauren Faust also worked on - the pair both have hair-based powers and gimmicks, but Sedusa was a more manipulative villain while Mane-iac was destructive.
 * Her origin is similar to that of the Joker, as well as the animated version of Two-Face.
 * Her mane is also used in a similar way to the extra arms of Doctor Octopus.
 * Mane-iac's general attitude is based upon (and likely teasing) the tendency for early comic books to have melodramatic villains with no real motive other than to cause havoc.
 * Mane-iac's henchmen and hair-based weapons are also a homage to the silly gimmicks found in Batman villains of the 1960's (such as Egghead).
 * According to her voice actor, Ellen Kennedy, she was already bad before her accident.
 * She is similar to the Green Goblin and The Joker, due to how much she laughs evilly.
 * The Mane-iac is one of the few antagonists who are considered to be villains of the show.

Quotes

 * "Time for the 'mane' event."
 * "You know, I'm beginning to enjoy this. (evil laughter)"
 * "Power Ponies! (laughs) How kind of you to join us! (evil laughter)"
 * "(laughs) I see dementia must be a side-effect of prolonged exposure to the Hairspray Ray of Doom. (laughs) Tonight, we stand upon the brink of immortality, for we collectively -- though, mostly me -- have finally defeated our most hated nemeses! We have hurled the brush of badness into the now fearful face of (laughs) goodness, and have struck a blow for freedom in the name of oppression! And nothing will stop us! (laughs)"