Equestrian Throwdown fun facts 1:

I figured since I had spare time on my hands, I'd share some little facts of the story based on past experience, the comments, and other stuff. I did my best to avoid spoilers for the most part.

1) Miles Skylark's concept is based on two scrapped fanfic characters, a nameless OC from a typical human-turned-pony fic, and Swift Research, a pegasus pony in The Crucible- a scrapped fic about a death competition. The idea was to bring a fish out of water, yet also someone who had enough familiarity to stand a chance.

2) The Nacht Jäger's name was based on one of Valkenhayn R. Hellsing's attacks in the BlazBlue series. The trigger; tasting blood, is meant to represent a monstrous side to Skylark, something that will grant him power yet something he himself is ashamed of, demonstrated by the fact that each time he uses it, he uses his own blood.

3) Rarity's comment about the red coat and yellow glasses was a reference to Alucard from Hellsing, another monster who is under the command of a human; mirroring Skylark being bound by Lyra's magic. Funnily enough, Thule responded by posting a picture of Vash the Stampede, who actually has a stronger resemblance physically to Skylark.

4) Balrog was intended to have a far more malicious role than his current incarnation, who is more loosely based on Akuma from Street Fighter with his desire for an equal in combat. I realized that Balrog being more antagonistic would cause the participants to overshadow the ponies too much for my taste, thus I made Trixie the main problem, making Balrog the means rather than the instigator.

5) Pulling from #4, Balrog was directly named after Balrog the Boxer from Street Fighter 2. Likewise, the historian Vega Lorewalker was named after Vega the Spaniard from the same game.