Princess Luna
Luna's season one design
Other names	Nightmare Moon, Night Mare Moon, Lu-Lu
Kind	Alicorn (or Pegasus Unicorn)
Sex	Female
Fan voice(s)	Hannah Trusty (Snowdrop) Kate Covington (Children of the Night, song)

Princess Luna is the sister of Princess Celestia, banished to the moon 1000 years before the events of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic's first episode. She returns as the antagonist Nightmare Moon, who is eventually defeated by the show's main characters and turned back into Luna, genuinely regretting her previous actions. Despite only being featured in the first two episodes of season one, she garnered a substantial fan following with wildly variant interpretations of her personality. As of the end of season two, she has only been featured in three additional episodes, sporting a design different both from Nightmare Moon and from her short appearance as Luna in Friendship is Magic, part 2. She is highly popular among the fandom.

Contents 1 Woona 2 Nightmare Moon 3 Grown-up Luna 3.1 Studying 3.2 Socially awkward 3.3 Trolluna 3.4 Reluctant co-regent 3.5 Confident 3.6 Gamer Luna 4 The New Lunar Republic 5 Gallery 6 See also 7 References 7.1 Fan art examples 7.2 Other references 8 Comments

WoonaEdit

Luna's in-show reappearance in Luna Eclipsed did not just lock in her "canon" personality, it also changed her outward appearance to more closely resemble Princess Celestia with a flowing, multi-shaded mane and a significantly larger body. One widely-disseminated comic attempts to explain the discrepancy with a mixup on the palace shower.

Luna's smaller, original design remains popular among fans. A common subject in fan art that uses the light blue single-color mane is Luna as a filly, from the time before her rebellion against Celestia. This incarnation is frequently called "Woona", a baby talk transformation of her name; the term had come to refer to Luna as a child since at least summer of 2011. Fan art of an older Luna who retains her first season design (as opposed to adopting the one from Luna Eclipsed) is also occasionally tagged as "Woona".^{[FA 1][FA 2]}.

Nightmare MoonEdit

In the show Nightmare Moon only appears in three episodes. She is the main antagonist in the first two and is simply a prank in "Luna Eclipsed." After being defeated by the mane six in "Friendship is Magic Part 2" she becomes Princess Luna again and goes to rule with Celestia again. In fan fiction, Nightmare Moon mostly appears as a flashback character, and only occasionally as a returning villain. There are a handful of alternative-universe fics that reinterpret the show's pilot to make Nightmare Moon win; one example is Nightmares Don't Last Forever, where Nightmare Moon develops a relationship with Twilight. Or After That Fateful Night where she becomes the Queen/Tyrant of the land.

In the story Inscape, Nightmare Moon is depicted as a parasitic entity that feeds off of and warps the desires of her host, leading to said host obsessing over what they want most.

Grown-up LunaEdit

Prior to season 2's episode 4, fans had nothing to base Luna's character on except for a couple lines in season 1's episode 2 where she apologizes to Celestia for her Nightmare Moon tantrum. This led to a variety of guesses as to who this smaller alicorn really was and why she was apparently too busy to visit Ponyville again during season 1. The following are some of the more common or popular character traits:

StudyingEdit

Luna had been locked in the moon for 1000 years, and Equestrian culture had marched on without her. As a result, Luna needs to spend most of her free time reading up on history, law, and other subjects that have been significantly changed over the past millennium.

Luna's behavior in Luna Eclipsed basically jossed this idea.

Socially awkwardEdit

Again, 1000 years of exile isn't conducive to being able to interact with others. While few were able to correctly predict Luna's in-show behavior, many fans rallied around the idea that Luna had become shy and unsure of herself and needed assistance, whether from the Mane 6 or members of the castle staff, to learn how to step out and take risks.

For better or worse, this seems to be a dominant part of Luna's in-show characterization.

TrollunaEdit

In more light-hearted depictions, Luna is seen as being a prankster in a similar vein to her sister Trollestia. The sisters may get into prank wars that send the staff and guards running for cover, or conspire to lighten the boring court sessions with strange happenings.

A rather popular prank-war they got into involves Luna playing Super Mario Bros. 3, and Celestia uses her magic to cause the sun to attack Mario. Luna, simply put, is not amused.^{[FA 3]}

She gets back at Celestia by manipulating the moon while Celestia plays The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.^{[FA 4]}

Reluctant co-regentEdit

For one reason or another, Luna does not feel fit to take back her role in raising the moon and managing the night-time affairs of Canterlot, or feels that her contributions aren't given the same weight as her sister's. Celestia will either give her an encouraging speech and opportunities to take charge of smaller things, or simply declare a need for a vacation and drop her sister into the throne for a week.

ConfidentEdit

This Luna has gotten over most of the big issues and has the gumption to take matters into her own hooves to solve the minor ones. She's also confident enough to take over Celestia's job in times of crisis, or simply because she wants it. In a negative light, this trait equates to Luna remaining jealous of Celestia and being willing to stage another coup.

Gamer LunaEdit

Another common depiction of Princess Luna is that she is fond of video games. This is expressed in a number of ask pony blogs,^[1][2] pony comics,^[3][4] pony fanfiction,^[5][6][7] and pony videos.^[8][9][10] Often, Princess Celestia joins the fun as well.

The New Lunar RepublicEdit

The New Lunar Republic is a slogan and common fan labor meme centered around Luna forming a resistance movement against a tyrannical Celestia and her "Solar Empire". Depending on the story, this rebellion was the real cause of Luna's banishment, and Luna secretly carries on plotting against her sister after her return; or it is a new development, based on old resentment. The meme manifests itself in art, fan fiction, and music.

GalleryEdit

Princess Luna image gallery

See alsoEdit

• Princess Luna on the FiM Wiki

ReferencesEdit

Fan art examplesEdit

1. ↑ izzyhorselover (2011-08-05). Woona :3.
2. ↑ Artwork by unidentified artist.
3. ↑ Trollestia trolls Luna, archived locally
4. ↑ TheBb55 (2011-10-15). "Luna's REVENGE", aka Trolluna trolls Celestia. Retrieved on 2012 September 13.

Other referencesEdit

1. ↑ Sujay (2011-3-29). Ask Gamer Luna. Retrieved on 2012 September 13.
2. ↑ johnhoseco (2011-10-??). Ask Princess Molestia. Retrieved on 2012 September 13.
3. ↑ Echowolf800 (2011-07-14). Luna Plays: Fallout 3. Retrieved on 2012 September 13.
4. ↑ Echowolf800 (2011-10-5). Luna Plays: Modern Warfare 2. Retrieved on 2012 September 12.
5. ↑ ChaoticNote (2012-09-10). Luna Plays…. Retrieved on 2012 September 13.
6. ↑ Ezio (2012-09-13). My Little PWNy: Rage-Quitting is Magic. Retrieved on 2012 September 13.
7. ↑ Ezio (2012-03-16). There’s a Gamer in All of Us. Retrieved on 2012 September 13.
8. ↑ 2Snacks (2012-04-26). Two Best Sisters Play Portal 2. Retrieved on 2012 September 13.
9. ↑ 2Snacks (2012-03-14). Two Best Sisters Play – Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. Retrieved on 2012 September 13.
10. ↑ X6800 (2011-08-18). Princess Luna Plays Mario Bros.. Retrieved on 2012 September 13.