Garble is a male teenage dragon who is the older brother of Smolder from the animated series, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. He first appears in Dragon Quest as the leader of a gang of dragon bullies that Spike encounters. He is not named in Dragon Quest, but he is named in the episode's script, in Gauntlet of Fire and other episodes onward, and in other materials.
Depiction in the series[]
Season 2[]
He appears as the main antagonist of Dragon Quest and is first seen fighting another dragon. As Spike confronts the gang, they start mocking him for being such a young dragon. Garble challenges Spike to a belching contest to prove he is not pathetic, but he ends up coughing a letter from Princess Celestia, and Garble throws it in the lava.
He then challenges Spike to tail wrestling. He wrestles "Crackle's cousin," who is really Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity in disguise. Garble declares Spike the winner after their "wrestle," and he begins to take back his mocks at Spike and calls him a "real dragon." When Spike starts acting cocky, Garble chooses another dragon for Spike, one of which has an enormous and dangerous tail. Spike gets thrown to the wall and loses.
Afterwards, he challenges Spike to a game of "King of the Hoard," where he must knock Garble and other dragons off a pile of gems to be on the top. Other dragons fight their way up to the top too, but Garble throws each off to keep his place. Spike accidentally pushes Garble over, and he falls off the pile. Spike, after declaring himself the winner, falls off the pile and Garble calls it another fail.
Garble challenges Spike and the other dragons to one last game: Lava Cannonball. He announces that whoever makes the biggest splash is the ultimate dragon. He dives first, followed by more dragons. Garble torments Spike for being too afraid to jump off, but he ultimately does. Spike makes a belly flop onto the lava and impresses Garble and the other dragons for living through the belly flop, calling him a "tough little dragon."
For his effort, Garble dubs Spike "rookie dragon," and he accepts him as one of their own. He gives Spike a noogie as an initiation ritual, and has a party to celebrate Spike's addition to their horde. Garble says Spike should stay, and learn what he can do as a dragon that he couldn't do in Ponyville.
Garble offers Spike to go on a dragon raid, where they will steal from a nest of phoenix eggs. Garble instructs Spike that he, as a rookie dragon, must lure the parents away from the nest. After Spike lures them away, Garble looks inside the nest to find the eggs have already hatched.
He tries to take the hatchlings, but fails as they manage to get away. He and two other dragons from his gang chase the hatchlings, and he unintentionally causes an egg to fall from the nest. The phoenix parents find out about Garble's raid, and they get their hatchlings back. As the phoenixes are flying away, Garble tries to stop them, but the male phoenix counter-attacks and knocks him and his friends into a tree. They fly back to the nest to find Spike holding the egg Garble knocked down earlier. He is impressed by this, and tells Spike to smash it. Spike refuses, and Garble is angry that he said "no" to him. Garble and the two other dragons close in on Spike, but Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity come and threaten the dragons if they try to hurt Spike. Garble and his friends laugh at this, completely unafraid at the ponies' threat. He asks Spike if these are really his friends, and he proudly answers yes, and even insults him and tells him to back off. Garble is annoyed as Spike runs away from him, so he and his friends chase the ponies, but they get away and Garble and his friends crash into another tree.
Season 6[]
Garble appears again in Gauntlet of Fire as a minor antagonist, still harboring a low opinion of both Spike and ponies in general. He is summoned to the Dragon Lands by the call of the Dragon Lord to take part in the Gauntlet of Fire, the winner of which will be crowned the new Dragon Lord. Garble wishes to be the Dragon Lord so he can get revenge on the ponies who crossed him, intending to lead the dragons in looting and burning down Equestria.
Throughout the Gauntlet, Garble mocks Spike for his small stature and pony-like characteristics. However, he under-performs at multiple times during the race. In the final dash for the bloodstone scepter that decides the winner, Garble faces both Spike and his partner Ember. As a result of their teamwork, Garble loses. As punishment for his actions, Spike—the winner and temporary new Dragon Lord—commands him to go home and hug every dragon he passes along the way without disclosure, much to Garble's humiliation.
Season 7[]
In Celestial Advice, Garble appears in a simulation produced by Twilight. He meets Starlight Glimmer and has a hard time trying to pronounce her name. He then holds onto her and dives into the lava with her.
In Shadow Play - Part 1, Garble appears using Flash Magnus' shield as a gorge-surfing board. Unwilling to give up the shield, he challenges Spike to a gorge-surfing race for it. Spike beats Garble over the finish line, but rather than relinquish the shield, he attempts to attack Spike instead. Rainbow Dash intervenes and tricks Garble into relinquishing the shield by challenging him to another race and convincing him to put the shield down to fly faster. As Garble flies the race, Rainbow and Spike fly away with the shield.
Season 8[]
Garble is indirectly mentioned by Smolder in Molt Down when she tells Spike of the pungent smell her brother acquired when going through the molt effect.
Season 9[]
Garble appears in Sweet and Smoky, revealed to be Smolder's older brother. When Spike, Smolder, and Fluttershy travel to the Dragon Lands for dragon hatching season, Garble picks on Spike as he always does, but his friends mention that he has been mopey lately, and he rejects Spike's efforts to befriend him. It is later revealed that Garble is secretly a beat poet who hides his passion for poetry from his friends for fear of being mocked, and picks on Spike so his friends won't pick on him (which both Fluttershy and his sister scold him for). With Smolder and Fluttershy's encouragement (and some unintentional inspiration from Spike), Garble uses his poetry to help in hatching the dragon eggs.
Garble also appears in Between Dark and Dawn during Lotta Little Things. In The Ending of the End - Part 2, Garble takes part in the final battle against Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, and Cozy Glow. In The Last Problem, he briefly appears in a group shot during The Magic of Friendship Grows.
