About
Derpy Hooves is a nickname given to a background pegasus character from the animated TV series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The moniker comes from a stillshot in the pilot episode, wherein the character is seen wearing a googly-eyed expression similar to the DERP face.
Origin
The name Derpy was conceived by the fans on 4chan’s /co/ board on October 25th, 2010.1 The original thread was submitted by Dr. Foreigner, who posted: “Go to 17:18 into the first episode and look at the ponies in the background. When you see it…”
The iconic Derpy eyes can be observed at 17 min and 33 sec into the first episode, in the crowd next to twilight’s horn.
Following the pilot episode, Derpy has made several additional appearances with and some without the “derpy” eyes. Derp face has been also observed in two other unconfirmed variations of the character: A filly version (but manifested as a unicorn instead) and a purple-haired version that was seen in the episode “Winter Wrap Up” at 20 min and 1 sec mark.2 This effect is most likely due to the show’s “cloning” method in which they take various pre-defined pattens and put them together to make the background ponies.
Spread
Creator’s Response
The show’s creator, Lauren Faust, later explained on her deviantART page3 that the character’s googly-eyed face was an error by an animator. While the character remains officially nameless, Lauren Faust has also expressed that she may use Derpy’s design for another pony named “Ditzy Doo”. Ditzy is mentioned in the episode “Winter Wrap Up” as a rather dim-witted pegasus pony, but she has not been introduced onscreen. Quote from Lauren Faust about Derpy Hooves:
From Fyre-Flye (Lauren Faust) – "Ha! I lurk around a bit and I noticed the Derpy phenomenon. As far as I know, her wall eyed moment was an accident -- or perhaps a layout artist entertaining him/herself. Who knows? Background ponies have no name, and their butt symbols are picked at random, so she can be Derpy if everyone likes. A later episode references a less-than-intelligent local pegasus named “Ditzy Doo” so maybe she can be her if we ever need to show her. But I would not want to step on everyone’s Derpy love."
Faust later sold two sketches of characters from the show’s “original pitch bible” to help with the relief effort in Japan that was going on at the time.4 The user that won these two sketches, Metacritter, decided immediately to put one of the items back up for sale on ebay in an auction. Upon asking Lauren Faust for the blessing of this auction, he received this response in one of her deviantART journals5:
From Fyre-Flye (Lauren Faust) – "
I’m offering 2 more drawings from the same batch of development sketches---- plus a brand new sketch. The first time I’ve ever drawn this character."
The file name of the picture reads “derpy11.jpg” suggesting the name for the pony. This original drawing of Derpy Hooves went on to raise $2,151 on ebay.6
Portrayal in Fan Fiction
Following the viral rise of My Little Pony on 4chan’s /co/, Derpy quickly became one of the fan-favorite characters, establishing itself as a popular subject of fan fictions and illustrations.’’
The character is often portrayed in online tributes and fan fictions as the town’s “mailmare” despite her appearance in the show as a crew member of a moving company, which was established through fan-fictions7 released prior to the broadcast of the official episode. In this alternate storyline, Derpy is seen as being extremely efficient at her job despite her lack of dexterity and mental capacities. She has been also paired up as the companion of Dr. Whoof, another off-screen pony who has taken on an online identity of his own due to Internet popularity.
Apparently, Derpy Hooves has been also referred to as the mother of a young pony named “Dinky”. This pony appears to be the unicorn variation of Derpy aforementioned by Lauren Faust.
Derpy Day
March 1st has become known as the “Derpy Day” due to a group started on Facebook. It can be celebrated by:
- Eating muffins
- Wearing gray
- Making derpy eyes in mirrors and photos
- Delivering letter by hand
Muffins
One of the most common associations with Derpy Hooves is …muffins. The show placed her in the background of a scene where some muffins were being given out. In episode four of the TV series, she is seen mouthing the word “Muffin” as the word is being said. Here is the footage:
This character has become so popular that there are a number of websites, games, and videos made in her honor. One of these websites is called DerpyHooves.com8, which brings the latest updates on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic as well as forum discussions, pictures of Derpy, IRC chats, games, and other related information. There is another notable website called Derpymail, an e-mail service boasting the ability to “take your mail and send it in all directions.”9 In addition, My Little Pony-themed single topic blog Equestria Daily10 also provides an ample coverage on Derpy.
External Links
1 Derpy Hooves – Derpy Hooves Origin / Posted on 5-10-2011
2 YouTube – My Little Pony Episode 11 – Winter Wrap Up
3 DeviantArt Journal – Ms. and MLP
/ Posted on 12-24-2010
4 DeviantArt Journal – buy original MLP art and help Japan / Posted on 3-17-2011
5 DeviantArt Journal – MLP art for Japan UPDATE / Posted on 3-21-2011
6 Ebay – Derpy Hooves Lauren Faust MLP:FIM Original Art / Posted on 4-18-2011
7 FanFiction – A Friend for Derpy Hooves / Posted on 12-16-2010
8 DerpyHooves – Derpy Hooves [MLP:FiM] / Launched on 12-10-2010
9 Derpy Mail – DerpyMail.com / Posted on 5-10-2011
10 Equestria Daily – Search Results for Derpy Hooves