Sir Samuel Kurtis Mingo, The Shadow Griffin
Sir Samuel K. Mingo, named in legend as The Shadow Griffin, is an immortal magical flamingo-like griffin with the personality of Doctor Facilier. He is a master of evil and the current leader of the kingdom that the Arimaspi thief of the Isle of Boreas ruled. Long ago, he wanted to usurp King Grover as the king of Griffonstone and keep the Isle of Boreas for himself, and even got the advice of the Arimaspi King before he died and became immortal with the help of some ancient voodoo spirits called The Foreboding Ancients. Despite failing to become the ruler and being banished from Griffonstone, he instead became the ruler of the Arimaspi Kingdom following it's original king falling into the Abysmal Abyss while trying to steal the Isle of Boreas for him. He has since been planning to get revenge on Griffonstone, and his next plan may involve Gilda.
History[]
Sam was born in Griffonstone as the son of a trusted advisor to one of the kings of Griffinmainia who moved on and had a family following his retirement. The family moved to Griffonstone following it's founding and gave birth to Sam. During his fledglinghood, Sam was very interested in magical arts even though he was quite incapable of doing such a thing. He spent his time trying to perfect hand-based spells with no success until he eventually decided to become the royal advisor to King Grover. Even during adulthood, Sam was trying to perfect magic, yet gained enough experience to become a successful wizard. However, since Griffonstone grew to shun magic, it made them bored and uninterested with Sam's capabilities in magic, making him bitter and dishonest.
As the years passed, he grew more of a sour attitude until he decided that the only way for Griffonstone to accept magic is to become the new king of Griffonstone, and keep the Idle of Boreas for himself as a sign of his griffin greed. However, he believed that his plan couldn't work when Grover ended up befriending Princess Celestia and brought the griffin colony and in greater terms, Griffinmainia, into an alliance with ponies, Sam felt that, in light of the mess that the Great Fear War caused, it felt stupid to befriend ponies after what the Judu Des Clan did to many griffins among other creatures. Sam decided that if King Grover is gonna ignore his advice, he will make him and the ponies regret tampering with his logic.
With very few options, Sam felt that there was only one place to look to: a nearby Arimaspi kingdom in the Badlands. Despite almost getting killed on sight, he asked them and their king to see The Foreboding Ancients, and in return to offer the souls of any pony and even griffin that dares challenge him again, the Ancients made him immortal and capable of stronger magic. He returned to try and usurp King Grover of his throne and to claim the Idle all for himself. But despite defeating Grover, he failed to maintain the loyalty of the griffins themselves, and with help from Celestia, Sam was ultimately ostracized from Griffonstone and even Equestria.
Many years later, he became the new assistant to the Arimaspi king, and feeling sympathy for him, devised a plan that would benefit both him and the entire kingdom, that being to steal the Idle of Boreas, wait long enough for the kingdom to crumble following the Idles loss, come back years later and be dubbed a hero worthy enough for the crown, and double-cross his kind into a dictatorship with his army of Arimaspi, and eventually do the same thing with the ponies. The plan started with the King breaking into the kingdom and attempting to steal the idol, yet it ended with the king falling to his death with the Idle. While this made Sam's plan harder as a result of the Idle falling into the dangerous and intensely-windy Abysmal Abyss, he refused to back down since he was still succeeding with his plan. Though the Arimaspi forced Sam to become their king as a repentance for the loss of their real king, though Sam felt that wasn't a very serious punishment and more like an ill-advised reward, but he acknowledged that he needs to mend the strained relations with the Arimaspi regardless.
A generation and a crumbling of Griffonstone later, Sam discovered that one certain griffin would be a perfect choice to serve as his scapegoat: Gilda. Problem is, she is also capable to be a problem to him as well. His magic powers showed him a future where she would become a great hero, so Sam believed that if she were to become a hero, then she would possibly be in the way of his plan. So he eventually bribed Gilda to do as he said by placing her Grandpa Gruff into a curse that would kill him at command. He thought that, if Gilda were to leave a bad influence on the ponies, then there's no possible chance she can become a hero because nobody would want her. So Sam forced Gilda to break her friendship with Rainbow Dash so no one would miss her should anything happen to Gilda on being forced to try and regain the lost Idle.
Despite succeeding with this, the Foreboding Ancients warned him that the actions he just committed won't stop her from becoming a hero because she had just been motivated to become one and that he just revealed himself, advising him that he must keep his bribery on Gilda at all costs if he wants his plan to succeed. However, it didn't stop Gilda from giving up and assumed that the Idle was never real to begin with, and eventually becoming a hero anyway. But she was still secretly afraid of Sam as a result. However, when Rainbow and Pinkie not only fixed the problem in Griffonstone, but made amends to Gilda, and due to a freak accident forever compromised Sam's plans, and he would clearly have no intention to let it be ignored. However, doing so was likely to end with him dealing with more than just the Main Six and Celestia, but the hero team that Gilda became involved with being a force greater than he could anticipate. Running out of options, he needed a quick way out of this before he is discovered. He would eventually get it someday.
Quotes[]
- "I'm SIR SAM MINGO!? The Shadow Griffin."