History Characters / FairyTailZeref

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: He's not a cruel person to his comrades all across the board but if you're an associate, past or present, who's angered him for whatever reason, petty or not, he'll turn his back on you and end you with the same casual disregard as a normal person would feel towards stepping on a cockroach. Even if it was a KickTheSonOfABitch moment, Zeref had no problem killing Hades, a former student of his. And then there was the way he coldly ended Mard Geer's life for seemingly no other reason than failing to defeat Natsu and Gray. Even worse is his brutal murder of Larcade, one of the Spriggan who genuinely loved Zeref and considered him family. While he could have simply told Larcade to stand down against Natsu, Zeref decided instead to brutally kill him in the most callous way possible. And that's not even getting into his attitude towards Natsu, whom Zeref seemed to genuinely love and wanted the Dragon Slayer to end his life at first... but then quickly changes his mind during their climactic battle and decides he's perfectly okay with committing fratricide so he can fulfill his own agenda of slaying Acnologia and going back in time to give himself a happier ending.

[[AC:Main:]] ''[[Characters/FairyTailZero Zero]]'' | ''[[Characters/FairyTail100YearsQuest 100 Years Quest]]'' ([[Characters/FairyTail100YearsQuestFiveDragonGods Five Dragon Gods]])\\

* ChildProdigy: He was ''the'' most brilliant student at the Mildian Academy, to the point where he made his teachers nervous for studying [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow magic typically considered taboo]] and creating several magical theories most sane mages wouldn't even touch. According to his teachers, this is supposedly what pissed [[JerkassGods Ankhseram]] off.

* AllPowerfulBystander: What he was prior to the Tenrou Island arc, and what he wanted to be indefinitely. [[AwakeningTheSleepingGiant Until Hades forced his hand.]] Though given TheReveal in Chapter 444, he apparently spent part of the last few hundred years establishing an empire on another continent.

* AllPowerfulBystander: What he was prior to the Sirius Island arc, and what he wanted to be indefinitely. [[AwakeningTheSleepingGiant Until Hades forced his hand.]] Though given TheReveal in Chapter 444, he apparently spent part of the last few hundred years establishing an empire on another continent.

** Despite the fact that "official" history has gotten a lot of things wrong about him, Zeref is quite possibly more responsible for the state of the world than the entire rest of the cast combined. The [[TimeMachine Eclipse Gate]]? His invention. The [[BackFromTheDead R-System]]? ''Also'' his invention. Tartaros and the other Etherious? [[AntagonisticOffspring His creations]]. The Alvarez Empire? He founded it, and is TheEmperor. The dragons disappearing? Part of his, Igneel's, and Anna Heartfilia's plan to kill Acnologia. The Dragon Slayers? Without him, they would not be in the present, and Natsu in particular wouldn't have lived past the age of two. Lucy's mother, Layla? She died because of the aforementioned plan with Igneel and Anna, because Layla was the one who had to open Eclipse from the other side, and had to CastFromHitPoints to do it. And finally, Fairy Tail itself? If he hadn't taught its founders magic, the guild itself (as well as Grimoire Heart) would have never existed, and Mavis Vermillion, Zeref's former lover, would have never become Fairy Heart, which is quite possibly humanity's last, best hope to stop Acnologia now that Zeref and Igneel's Plan A seems to have failed. And the icing on the cake? Not only did he teach its founders magic and was mutually in love with its First Master, but three of Fairy Tail's members (Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel) are even ''in this century'' at all because he sent through through Eclipse with their dragon parents [[ItMakesSenseInContext inside of them]] as a part of the plot to stop Acnologia! If it's a major plot in the series, in ''some way,'' it can all be traced back to him, for better or [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom worse]].

* ChildProdigy: He was ''the'' most brilliant student at the Mildian Academy, to the point where he made his teachers nervous for studying [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow magic typically considered taboo]] and creating several magical theories most sane mages wouldn't even touch. According to his teachers, this is supposedly what pissed [[GodIsEvil Ankhselam]] off.

[[AC:Main:]] ''[[Characters/FairyTailZero Zero]]'' | ''[[Characters/FairyTail100YearsQuest 100 Years Quest]]''\\