The appearance of Tirek as an antagonist is a homage to My Little Pony Tales (1992), the first ever "My Little Pony" feature. My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (2010) producer/writer Lauren Faust cites this feature as an influence on the show.
Tirek is voiced by Mark Acheson, who had voiced the Transformer demon Unicron in Transformers: Armada (2002). Tirek's previous voice actor is Victor Caroli, who had been the narrator on The Transformers (1984).
When Discord first appears, he is dressed as Mary Poppins.