TV Tropes - Nicodemus

Alone in a Crowd: Even among his fellow unicorns, Nicodemus doesn't have anybody. He doesn't even have a mate or any offspring of his own. That's what makes his relationship with Terence's family so significant.

Big Good: He may not be big in stature, but you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn't heard of him and who doesn't respect him, even if they won't (fully) admit it.

Cool Old Guy: Or cool old unicorn, or whatever you want to call him.

Family of Choice: He has no biological family, but he has come to think of Amethyst and her sons as family, and vice versa. He certainly liked Amethyst well enough to have his heart broken when she died, and he kept an eye on Terence and Tristan until they became mature stallions.

Friend to All Living Things: He recognizes the value in every creature, and he was one of the few unicorns to truly befriend Amethyst and Terence despite the vast age difference.

Friendless Background: For all his wisdom and grace, much of his life has been surprisingly lonesome.

Lonely At the Top: He's the most intelligent and most revered of all the unicorns...and yet he has no family and precious few friends.

Meaningful Name: Quite frankly, I couldn't come up with a better name for him. I did call him "Nico" for a while but that didn't work.

The Mentor: To Terence. Even though most of his advice doesn't appeal much to Terence or flies way over his head, Terence feels Nicodemus is the only unicorn he can really talk to, or who at least won't laugh at him or brush him off.

Older and Wiser: Than most unicorns. It's not known for sure (but it wouldn't be too surprising) if he was the oldest and the wisest of them all.

Papa Wolf: Terence and Tristan may not be Nicodemus's sons, but who knows what would have become of them had it not been for him?

Parental Substitute: He's old enough to be Terence's grandfather, or even his grandfather's grandfather. In any case, after Terence and Tristan's father went away and their mother was slain, Nicodemus was all they had for many years.

Platonic Life Partners: With Amethyst. He first befriended her shortly after Darkheart left her, and she was understandably wary of getting too intimate with another stallion. While she never said this outright, Nicodemus figured her feelings out, and he gently assured her that he hadn't a shred of interest in such a relationship. Still, he always spoke to her kindly, he brought her nice things to eat during her pregnancy with Terence, and he was always willing to talk or to just listen. Thanks to him, Amethyst began to regain her will to live.

The Prophet: I guess Nicodemus would be the unicorn equivalent, anyway. He definitely has a pious streak and has been known to pray out loud.

Reasonable Authority Figure: Not what you'd call an appointed authority figure; he just sort of became such on default.

Too Good For This Sinful Earth: That's mainly what makes him such a social pariah. Some unicorns avoid him and even resent him because he's so much better than them and they know it.