DJ P0N-3

About

DJ P0N-3 (sometimes known as “Vinyl Scratch”) is a nickname given to a background unicorn character from the animated TV series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Despite its very brief appearance as a nameless disk jockey in one of the episodes, the character’s cool demeanors caught the attention of My Little Pony fans and led to a series of audio / video remixes on YouTube, usually set to electronica and house music.

Origin

This blue-haired unicorn originally appeared in Episode 14: “Suited for Success,” as a DJ at the fashion show hosted by one of main characters Rarity. Although the character was seen on-screen for less than 5 seconds (starting at about 13 min 47 seconds as seen below), her unique design and cool attitude left a distinct impression on the fans for greater period of time.

Soon after the broadcast on February 4th, 2011, single topic blog Equestria Daily¹ published a poll on February 9th, asking readers to choose the character’s unofficial fan name:

The poll resulted in a tie between DJ P0n-3 and Scratch; the character was given the nickname “Scratch” and the stagename “DJ P0N-3” (generally written only in capital letters). Later on, her name was extended to Vinyl Scratch by Equestria Daily and 4chan’s fanbase. As with other beloved background characters who were given fan nicknames, there are dozens of fan illustrations and anthropomorphic drawings made in tribute to DJ P0N-3.

Fan Illustrations

Usage

Following the successful launch of Scratch on Equestria Daily, some YouTube users began sampling Scratch’s head-bobbin’ footage in loop with electro-dance music. While the earlier instances of A/V remix generally consisted of the looped video footage and a dance track, many derivatives that came later adopted heavier modifications in lighting, playback speed, background footage and others².

DJ P0N-3 Videos

Daft Punk – Derezzed | Deadmau5 – Ghost N’ Stuff

Haddaway – What is Love? | Doctor Whoof ’s Request

External References

¹ Equestria Daily – Poll Results: What is the Pony DJ’s Name? / Posted on 2-9-2011