He's been showing up at least once an arc, usually as a different person. Given that we know he can split himself into multiple people, we can only assume that everyone in the world is Gerard. C'mon, you know you were thinking it.

• And since now his crucified body is back, with a chance of coming back to life, we can assume Gerard is Jesus. Maybe in Purgatory. Following the above WMG, Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory.

Naturally, it will be in the hands of a major villain, leading to a Shadow of the Colossus style boss fight. And it will be awesome.

• Alternatively, it's in Zeref's hands, and he hasn't given it to anybody since the contract was broken by his being evil.
• Or it can only be summoned by the holder of the other 12 Zodiac Stellar Spirit- 13, counting the Ophiucus. Or maybe the Spirit King actually is the Ophiucus.
  • He isn't Ophicus

Self-explanatory

Complete with her own transformation sequence

• Someone find an alternative website to upload one with the original sound, it's CMOA worthy.

She`s shown some interest in Mirajane and Erza (though neither of those are particularly surprising) and she seems pretty close with Levi. Sure, she has Ship Tease with guys too, but she openly oogled pics of Mirajane!

• Well, lets consider this. At the start of the series, she only has one idea in mind, to join Fairy Tail. She says that she's a big fan of the guild. The thing is, she didn't know any of the most famous members, except Mirajane. She had never heard of Luxus, Mystogan, Erza or Gildarts, even if, like Jose said at the end of his arc, they are famous all around the country. So, the only thing she knew about Fairy Tail was that Mirajane was there. What a devoted Fangirl Lucy is...
  • Lucky seems to agree, according to the OVA at least. We'll have to see if The Cuckoolander Was Right though.
  Happy (Asking about who various Fairy Tail members like): What about Lucy?
  Levy: It's definitely Natsu.
  Bisca: It could be Gray.
  Juvia: Juvia thinks it's Loki.
  Lucky: Isn't it Mira?

  • Possibly subverted if the third OVA is canon.
• Also, Lucy has so much Les Yay with so many girls, (just look at the main page), it's becoming hard to believe she's only interested in men. It will probably soon be canon. Let's hope.
• Lucy has only shown explicit interest in a man twice. The first was Loki, and that stopped when she found out he was a Stellar Spirit. The second was in a bonus chapter, that appears to have been rendered non-canon by the events of chapter 253.

After her mother's death, our dear Lucy was feeling really lonely, her father keeping her in their mansion and always working, neglecting her. The only friend of her age that Lucy had was a maid, daughter of two servants working for her father. Both of them had developed a strong bond and were the best friends someone could imagine. One night, after Lucy first met the man that her father wanted her to marry, she ran in her room, crying. Her friend came in her room, not wanting to let Lucy alone. Only, the maid couldn't keep her secret to herself any longer, and declared her love and admiration to Lucy, and how she wanted to always be with her. At this moment, both Lucy and her friend understood that their friendship was much more than that. It lasted for a little while, but when her father discovered it, the maid and her family were fired and sent away. Obviously, Lucy never forgave her father and it was one of the reason as to why she ran away, hoping to find her again.

Finally, Virgo uses the appearance of Lucy's long lost love, because it's how Lucy wants her to look like.

Igneel gave him his scarf, so Natsu has a great attachment to it. But why did he receive it in the first place?

Take note- this is pretty much the only time you see Natsu's uncovered neck. http://www.onemanga.com/Fairy_Tail/10/18/

My guess: Natsu sliced open his neck pretty badly when he was with Igneel (that is a HUGE scar to have on one's neck!), and Igneel turned to Grandine to help heal it. Thus, explaining why Natsu would know the name Wendy!

This troper just nearly shat himself rereading old chapters of Fairy Tail. Lucy's mother's grave said she died in the year 777. Same year the dragons went missing. Coincidence? Some catastrophe happened that year that she just caught up in? Or did she have some relationship with the dragons?

• One of Lucy's flashbacks implied that her mother may have been a Celestial Wizard as well. There's a dragon constelation. It could have to do with that.

Alternate Character Interpretation - Bixlow is actually a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who sincerely care about his children (which either came from an deceased wife/girlfriend or orphans). Yet he realized that his five children will only be miserable because he doesn't have the adequate skills to become a father and that his job doesn't allow him to be with them everytime. He is forced to implant them to five dolls, as painful as it is to him. But at least Bixlow doesn't have to leave them anymore (nor does he have to feed them).

• Or his children may have been on the brink of death, and since there is obviously very little healing magic his last resort was implanting their soul.

In chapter 101, Igneel seems to be short tempered and jerkish, however Grandine doesn't seem to take offence. This may be because Grandine knows Igneel is simply sore about not being able to help Natsu, so he's lashing out at others. Hey, just because they live a long time, doesn't mean dragons can't have tantrums too.

That's why they're so fearsome. How else would the Black Dragon have seriously injured Gildarts, the guy you burst into pieces if you even touch?

Edoras inverts people's personality's but not their morality. Natsu will not be a dragon slayer in this verse, but have other weaker magics. He will fight by being a tricky manipulative and ruthless bastard rather than being a Determinator Idiot Hero.

• As of Chapter 174, the weak part is somewhat confirmed. If Natsu gets sick when he is in a vehicle, his counterpart is afraid ot everything when he is "not" in his car.
• Also in this universe Luxus(who is a Shrinking Violet and wears conservative suits) and Gildartz will be fanboys/mooks of his. Like Luxus' own bodyguard in the main world.

There's also a possibility of Heel Face Turn for Makarov's son / Luxus' father, and Raven and Fairy tail will ally together and take on the dark guild alliance.

This explains how Mystogan, Gerard, and Sieg Hart from the Rave Master universe look alike and how Lucy was able to summon Nikora/Plue from the Stellar Spirit World. The Stellar Spirits are probably memories of famous people stored within Stellar Memory. This also explains how a dragon slayer manage to go through the Stellar Spirit World since dragons are somewhat common in the Rave Master world.

• It could at least the Makai World/Mystic Realm

All the Stellar spirits are named after constellations and in Greek mythology, constellations were the deceased put into the sky by Gods. The Stellar Spirits were people who were renown for their strength and were turned into Stellar Spirits after their death.

• It means that Cancer was the most badass hairdresser the world ever saw, Sagittarus was a cosplayer who went so overboard that even Gods thought he deserved to live forever and that Virgo was...lets not talk about it.
  • Aries... made awesome pillows? Yay.

Evidence for the future of Rave Master: Magic becomes more common due to the un-exile of mages from Sieg's village. Etherion has either been passed on to the planet or the council can call on Resha somehow. The parallel world of Edoras is reminiscent of Makai or the Mystic Realm, where Let, Julia, Ruby and various dragons/dragon race and other sentinoid races are from (i.e.: the Green Race). Dragon Slayers are mechanically different from Dragon Race, however, who's to say that the Stellar Spirit World and Edoras would not be able to coexist with Makai if Fiore and Symphonia are indeed on the same planet. The method of creation of Rave Stones and Dark Bring (Crystals formed through special magic power and processes) are passed down to the guilds as Lachryma. Lost Time magic.

Evidence for the past of Rave Master: Etherion is never given an origin, it's fired from the sky, can be stored in lachryma and as far as we know wasn't possessed by a single person. I've always wondered what it was that got the Raregroove family so screwed over. Well now I have an idea. Zeref wants to destroy/rule the world/is really evil. He's a Raregroove and a big reason the world of Rave Master got screwed up the way it did. Lost Time Magic due to threat of Endless, but Ultear doesn't know/doesn't care.

Notice that the roles could be changed a little. Anyway, things would turns out so bad, only the ultimate team of Fairy Tail would stand a chance to save everyone. The possibility of a Sixth Ranger is also there, and it would probably be either Gajeel/Gazille, Laxus/Luxus or Gérard/Jellal. Have we any reason for thinking that something like that might happen? Not at all. But does someone has the guts to say that it doesn't sound awesome? That's what I thought.

For one, both Gajeel & Natsu have been hinted to be Really 700 Years Old, so it'd be true to form if Wendy were so as well. Moreover, Edoras!Wendy looks about the same age as them, which implies that either 1) Edoras!Wendy existed for ~10 (apparent) years before Our!Wendy came to be, or 2) they're both the same age, but Our!Wendy looks younger. Given how everyone has a matching counterpart and it'd be really weird to have only half of the picture for so many years, so I lean towards the latter.

• Moreover, Wendy's the Sky Dragon. Not Wind or Air, but Sky, an element usually associated with the holy, a "higher element" of sorts. In conjunction with the fact she could bring back from near-death someone even though she's still pretty immature in the use of her powers, we can suspect she will eventually grow to be extremely powerful, perhaps even more so than Natsu or Gajeel. Ergo, someone, fearful of her power, and probably incapable of completely sealing it, chose to limit it by de-aging her.
• coughandfuturewendysreallyhotandidlovetoseemoreofhercough

Especially since Lisanna is one again part of the equation, even getting Ship Tease right off the bat... It'll mostly be Lucy being anxious, though.

• In one of the next chapters, she watches Natsu and thinks he looks cute as he's sleeping...

Gildartz appears again, talking with Makarov and Lucy wonders if Natsu ever gets lonely, specifically mentioning Igneel. The new dude has everything dropping dead around him, anxious to meet Natsu. My theory? Being the same person who wrote the huge Doroma Animu is Black Dragon guess, I'm not of the mind to avoid repurposing a guess. That whole energy sucking thing? Yeah. I'm guessing the Black Dragon double-crossed this guy and didn't help to stabilize him. Gildartz being asked if he's gonna stick around is like saying, "We're gonna focus on the dragons for a while now! Not ALL about them, but we'll give you a better idea of their role! :)" Yeah. This has definite possibilities. Exciting ones at that!

That's the true reason that Igneel and other dragons dessapeared, beacause they know that te return of zeref is near, and the "Dragon King" have summoned them to discuss what to do.

maybe they have some kind of magic that protects them, thats the real reason that Natsu can be in the stellar spirit wolrd without die.

I don't think mashima will explain about the fake dragon slayers if he wasn't going to make one to unite the guild, and before someone new, i preffer an old one.

• E Hm, dude... Luxus is a "fake" Dragon Slayer who's already in the guild. Gray is still the main example of -element- Make magic.

Those who read Rave Master may remember the scene where everyone goes to the museum dedicated to the Kingdom War. While getting a special tour the gang sees a painting of what looks like the love child of a wolf and a unicorn, later revealed to be... a wild mass guess made by historians/artists as to what Plue might look like. That is what Canis Major will be.

Mystogan's magic transports all magic from Edoras to Mangolia. So if his plan has gone the way he wished, Pantherlily would have been the king, and be transported to Mangolia soon after, leaving a disorganised Edoras.

The source is the magic from Edoras.

Rather, the original Mystogan was another person who didn't want his identity to become public. Gellal usurped his identity. Mest was a student of the original one. Gellal had to keep his cover and told Mest some information.

• Mirajane/Fried has a following, and the latest chapters have really pointing towards Elfman/Evergreen. Of the respective trios, only Bixlow and Lisanna are left. Granted, Lisanna is more likely to end up with Natsu than Bixlow, but this is Fairy Tail.

They look the about same and are both leaders of a dark organisation.

• For starters, We don't know anything about Laxus's mother or Ultear's dad. Ultear mentioned something about her mother, Ul/Ur being abandoned by her father for being foolish. Laxus's father, Ivan,was excommunicated from Fairy Tail and is now the master of a dark guild. Hmmm.
  • My only real problem with that is that Laxus and Ur look nothing alike. I mean, sure, maybe Makarov's hair color skipped a generation and just showed up in Laxus instead of Ivan but from what I've seen so far, everybody in-series who has blood relatives all tend to favor. Makarov, Ivan and Laxus all have similar eyes; Ur and Ultear could be twins. Happy and Lucy both look like a mix of their parents... Can't say that for Laxus and Ur.

• Consider the four guards from Edolas. One was Edo!Erza, one looks like Macao's drinking buddy, one Joined Fairy Tail as Gajeel's cat and the other looks like The Killing Mage. Logic dictates he will join Fairy Tail by the end of the arc.
  • So what if he's also Zeref? It could still happen.

• It will either be a gold key, or a silver, but with the strength of a gold one.
  • In addition, Ophiucus is the current Chairman of the Magic Council, or the Chairman stole his snake staff.
  • Alternatively, the staff is either Ophiuchus' key, or Ophiuchus himself.
  • Possibly Jossed since Yukino of Sabertooth possesses it.

Mest is only able to implant memories on a subconscious level. This explains why the Fairy Tail members can only vaguely recognize him. Also, he cannot teleport, he can only make others fail to register his existence in their minds. If this WMG is true, then this would automatically make Mest either a Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass or Obfuscating Stupidity, since Mest basically won the Superpower Lottery.

• He can teleport.

Lacrima is Italian/Latin for tear, so it might be an indicative name.

• Possible, but not necessarly. For example the spell used by Edolas, Anima, is the Italian for "Soul", but it doesn't seems to have something to do with souls, hasn't it?

Erza figured that Natsu was only able to rescue her from the Etherion because she hadn't actually fused with it, since that would mean having her body broken down way to much for anyone to piece back together. She reasons instead that Jellal sacrificed himself to save them, but Jellal didn't die, so that's also unlikely. In Rave Master Plue had a few special abilities linked to Etherion (AKA Resha). Lucy's summons have displayed an ability to appear without her trying before, and to recognize if she's in danger. Plue, sensing that Etherion was about to kill her, came out and sent the Etherion into the sky himself.

Or at the very least, he has the potential to be. His personality seems to be bordering on Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass and with Makarov dead, someone has to stop Hades. Also, nothing Makarov has ever done could make Natsu drop to his knees crying in fear, which Gildartz did just by releasing his Battle Aura.

The end of chapter 216 did say "The one who shall inherit... Makarov's soul hands over Fairy Tail and entrusts the future to his 'kids!!'" with Laxus on the page.

It's pretty obvious why Laxus is a legitimate choice, see WMG above. Jellal on the other hand seems to be the only person both powerful and wise enough to have the makings of a good master.

He'll discover that you can light alcohol on fire and will spend an entire afternoon doing nothing but drinking flaming cocktails, only to wake up the next morning with a very rude realization of why that's a bad idea.

Except Dragon Slayer magic. That's why he thinks Natsu is the only one who has a chance of destroying him for good — no other magics can harm him because he created them.

are the source of all the magic in the world. As a God-Slayer, Zancrow implies this since he is a user of ancient, Lost magic. Hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago, mages probably learned magic that way. This probably makes Zancrow the Last of His Kind.

• If this pans out, then it's possible that Zeref is also a god, which would explain his power and immortality.

• Natsu now has officially copied God Slayer magic. He now has the ability to create Black Fire and combine it with his default Dragon Fire permanently.
• OR Natsu can only create Black Fire after every time eating it. Therefore, he virtually can only do it once.
• Natsu will be horribly sick after eating Black Fire. Sick enough to take him out the rest of the arc, giving way for everybody else to shine. Especially Lucy.

It says in Giltarts' profile that he majorly dislikes Ivan, and the two of them are about the same age. (Gildarts is 45, and while we never actually get Ivan's age, his son is 24, so it's not a bad guess) It would also make sense why he's in a tight knit guild like Fairy Tail when he's practically a nomad; he wants to stay close with Makarov.

Erza Knightwalker and Mystogan are what they would have become had they not been tortured and enslaved as children.

Erza is violent by nature, using corporal punishment on a regular basis. Her magic also reflects this; it's different armors that help her cut her opponents apart rather than something more "hands off" like fire or summoning. The reason Erza Scarlet isn't a saddistic Blood Knight is because of the torture and slavery she experienced as a child. She knows what hopelessness and pain are like, and would never inflict them on another without good reason. Knightwalker never went through anything like this, so she doesn't understand the full scope of how horrific what she's doing is.

• Probably not. Erza Scarlet displays no violent tendencies until the very end of her captivity.

Mystogan/Jellal on the other hand, has a kindhearted nature. Mystogan made it his life's work to save a group of people he'd never met and barely got to know while he was even doing it. He even jumped in to help them against completely unrelated dangers (taking out Phantom Lord's subunits, challenging Laxus) Jellal reflects this, as even while he's a villain, he's got good intentions and believes that he's creating a better world. When he gets amnesia and loses Ultear's brainwashing, he becomes a legitimate hero, fighting to stop Nirvana from awakening.

Looking through the earlier chapters in the manga, specifically at Erza's trial after the Lullaby arc, one can spot who is presumably the Chairman judging the case. What's notable about it? Not only is his entire body framed in shadow apart from eyes, but it's only one eye we get to see, his left eye. The right eye isn't seen, which is the eye Hades has his eyepatch on. It also makes sense during the Tower of Paradise arc, where the Chairman is said to have fallen ill. We learn after that arc that Hades managed to get one of the keys to unseal Zeref. Essentially this might be what he did while he pretended as the Chairman to be ill.

• Nice catch, but the ONLY real problem with this theory is that he can't appear shadowed all the time, and probably made a public appearance or two - at least to the magic guilds. Makarov, being a Guild Master, should know what he looks like, and would've recognized the former master that he hasn't seen in 40+ years.
  • Quite true that I shall admit. Of course we don't know if does make such public appearances either though, or if he uses transformation magic for such, but that is speculating too far. Also, Makarov didn't recognise Hades purely on appearance alone, but also how he spoke to him, what he spoke of, as well as him using Grimoire Law.

Nirvana is a magic which reverses light and darkness. Every member of Oracion Seis was more or less good until they were turned in the Tower of Heaven. But how does Brain want to use Nirvana? To turn his Superpowered Evil Side in Magic Jesus, at that point he knows that Nirvana is dangerous and destroys it. That also explains why Oracion Seis has six members, one for ecery Nirvana Lacrima.

• Holy...shit...I LOVE THIS THEORY. It's too bad that he was shown even before turning into Zero to want to use Nirvana on Cait Shelter...Otherwise, this would be a cool idea.
  • That could be written off as a sensible precaution to prevent those who might have a sneaky surprise from sealing if they didn't realise what he was doing or didn't agree.

She disappeared on a strangely important date - X777, the same year the dragons disappeared. However, with the recent revelation that she was a summoner, and had Capricorn as one of her spirits, it is possible since his magic lets him summon humans for himself. Foreshadowed with the Hero of Rubengard, who went "mysteriously MIA" when Capricorn kidnapped him. How is Capricorn still alive after being in the real world for 17 years, when Loki could barely last three? He's been drawing on Layla's magic power.

• Officially jossed as of 224. Capricorn got a new master after Layla's retirement. Now that he knows Lucy's alive and his old master kicked the bucket, he's back to being the property of the Heartfilia family.

They look almost identical, and Rave Master (of which Fairy Tail recycles ideas) features a similar scenario with two identical characters of which one was disappeared.

• That would mean Lucy is her own mother...eew.
• WARNING. Rave Master spoiler ahead: The scenario that was mentioned involves Elie and Resha. Elie was originally thought to be Resha's reincarnation, but then it was found out that Resha never died, she was only put into suspended animation and her memory wiped. However little a chance this has to be right, the chance isn't zero, as Lucy is an expy of Elie/Resha.
  • But now that's wrong, since Chapter 224 says that Lucy's mom retired as a mage due to sickness and passed her keys on. Lucy apparently got Aquarius and Cancer while Zoldeo got Capricorn...and then...just read the chapter guys.

Is because she considers her a Replacement Scrappy for Layla. We learn in 224 that she along with Capricorn and Cancer used to belong to Layla. Maybe it just pisses her off that no matter how much Lucy looks like Layla, she's not actually her.

In chapter 225 Ultear stated that she can create/conjure all possible futures. At one point during their fight Natsu will find one in which he is complete and utter badass (well, more than now) and somehow trick Ultear into using it, or in some other way will bring it into life. As a result the ending of the fight will be Ultear versus Future Badass Natsu, say from ten years into future after realizing his Dragon Slayer potential to the fullest and gaining experience from innumerable battles.

• Also few things may happen:
  • Ultear will use the magic on Natsu,which fast forwards him into future but we will find that he's immortal and never changes his appearance
  • Future Natsu will appear,but he will come from a doomed future where everyone is dead, which made him into an angsting badass that is willing to rip Ultear apart and rest of the Black Mages
  • Natsu will turn into a Dragon
  • Subverted it was [[spoiler:Gray

Think about it. She said it herself that she manipulated Jellal into thinking she was Zeref since childhood, but looks no older than him. But how would this be possible? Remember, her magic deals with time, so she actually COULD have traveled back in time, and brainwashed Jellal than. Another possible theory would be that Ultear is using her magic to actually keep herself younger, or even take herself out of the actual time stream. It could explain why her mother thought she was dead, too.

• Not likely. She looks pretty young in that flashback.

Fiore is afterall stated to be a kingdom, so it'd obviously make sense for there to be a king, as the Magic Council only governs those who use magic. In contrast to Faust, the king will likely be a Reasonable Authority Figure. The possibility of being a Badass Normal is also there, to put a contrast to Faust who was completely obsessed with magic. Jellal would still be the king's son, just as Mystogan was to Faust.

He just didn't kill Gildarts because he wasn't near Zeref.

and the king Lucy meets is his right-hand who pretends to be him because Plue prefers to know the human world. it's easy to have him in the human world because near the 99% of magic needed to maintain him in the human-world comes from him.

• Plausible since Mirajane does think that Plue is the strongest spirit that Lucy has.

He'd Ride The Lightning on his way there, and then stopped because he remembered that Phantom Lord was on a different Metalica album.

The descriptions given to his magic are very similar to the way Gildarts fights. Emphasis is put on his ability, and the fact that he's highly destructive. He and Hades keep referring to the Fairy Tail mages as "Makarov's kids" suggesting that Bluenote is significantly older than they are (Gildarts is 45). Bonus points if he turns out to be an Expy of Gale Raregroove. It could also give Natsu another chance to show that he actually learned something from his fight with Gildarts by watching him back down from a majorly superior opponent. Or maybe someone has to pull a Heroic Sacrifice to save him, and he's forced to live with that for the rest of his life.

To prevent overtaking the manga, there will be a Filler Arc of the anime that will basically retell the story of Clannad, with Gray and Juvia taking the respective rolls that their voice actors played, Tomoya and Nagisa.

• As a fan of the series, I REALLY wish that would happen! XD

Self explanatory. Or it will be the second to last arc, the last including the dragon slayers meeting up with their dragons. Or those two will be combined.

In Rave Master the original world had become uninhabitable at a previous date and abandon. If Zeref is revived then the world will become just that for 90% of the population. Plus, having a powerful wizard parent doesn't mean magic is strong with you as well, as proven by Laxus, who's magic comes from the implanted lachryma. That remaining 10% would dwindle until eventually only Aciela is left. This doesn't mean a Downer Ending. Natsu can still save the day, he'll just save the day after a lot of people are dead. There will still be hope to rebuild in the end, making it a Bitter Sweet Ending, but they'll fail at that.

Although it might be a less direct, political one. He seems to consider Fairy Tail differently now, and you'd think the members of the Council would be powerful. Two were S-Class (assuming Urtear is), one of whom was one of the Ten Wizard Saints, and another was a member Makarov's group in his youth.

He's set the current arc to bluff the fanbase, mostly those who have drawn the connection between Gildarts, being a father figure to one of the main characters and the actual father of Cana, a primary (for this arc) supporting character and Gale Glory from Rave Master. Charle's vision eggs this on. He'll make us think Gildarts is dying, but he'll survive. He just wants to mess with us. Although, this might just be me looking for a way for Gildarts to survive.

• This may be true. Especially considering who Gray is having a conversation with right now. Ultear doesn't seem like the type to bat an eye at killing someone For the Evulz.

Seen in the flashbacks of chapter 241, Ur says that Ultear is proof of the "Power of Life". While it may be taken as simply the phenomenon of Ultear's birth into the world, it may mean something more, given that Ultear was discovered to have enormous amounts of magic power in her (hence she was sent to the magical doctors for treatment). This power might be what it takes to defeat Zeref (whose power is death), and it also might be why she became so Yandere towards Zeref (the "opposites attract" phenomenon). In the end, she may not do it herself, but lend it to Natsu.

This explains why Ultear was born with huge magical power: she absorbed Ul's magical power. Ul knew this and thus named her Ultear, lacrima is Italian for tear after all.

Rule of Three. Gray and Erza have both nearly gotten themselves killed trying to pull one off, only to be stopped by Natsu just in time (twice in Gray's case), then gone on to later have a perfect opurtunity to do this again but decide not to, as Natsu has opened their eyes to how they must cherish their lives. If Lucy tries this too then that'll be all of Natsu's team mates.

First of all, most of the rest of the guild would not be good choices due to how... chaotic (for lack of a better word) they all are. Secondly, since Lucy is the narrative voice of the series, it stands to reason that she will be very closely tied to the final moments of the series. Also, during the Fighting Festival Arc, she is the one member of the guild who got everyone to stop bickering, and actually work together, prompting one character to say that she (as a newbie) has more Fairy Tail spirit than any of the other members.

...and why Edolas!Gildarts was never shown is because, unlike his Earthland version, he found out earlier that he was going to have a child, and decided to retire from Fairy Tail so that he can take care of Cana after she was born.

• CMOH Worthy :)

After most fights Natsu's cloths are damaged, so he carriess needles and thread to fix them himself

• that, or there is someone in the guild who has sewing magic, and fixes everyone's clothes.
• or Happy carries it for him.

That's why he hasn't aged, or how he can take a hit from Natsu and come out no worse, or why he recovered from Ultear's beating so fast. All the other spirits seem unaffected by time and pretty good at handling punishment. Also, that would be why the world rejects him-only half of him belongs there. He can't properly control his powers because the magic he uses isn't meant for humans or vice-versa, and he didn't used to value human life because having a spirit for a parent warped his views/perspective of life.

...were each invented by one of the guild masters. Mavis invented Fairy Sphere, which is why she can use it from beyond the grave. Purehito invented Fairy Law, which is why he can use Grimoire Law as Hades; it's practically the same spell. That would leave Makarov inventing Fairy Glitter, which we've seen nothing to confirm or deny.

Alternatively, switch Makarov and Mavis. It would make perfect sense that Makarov would make a defensive spell, as protecting his "kids" is his number one priority.

• Makarov did not invent Fairy Glitter; if he did, how was Mavis able to transfer it to Cana?
  • OK, so Makarov invented Fairy Sphere, Purehito invented Fairy Law, and Mavis invented Fairy Glitter.
    • Or Mavis just invented all three, and taught Fairy Law to Purehito, who taught Makarov.

According to Zeref it won't even talk to mere mortals. And considering that very few dragons talk to humans anyway, it's not a big step that he wouldn't deign to talk to creatures that only a few of his subjects would bother talking to as well.

Assuming Zeref and Acnologia are the final villains of the series, they would need aditional underlings for the rest of the cast to fight. This will end up being Zeref's dark guild which is made up of the greatest magicians from throughout history who have recieved Zeref's immortality and are currently hiding away in preparation for the war on the rest of humanity. Also Layla is alive and has joined this guild.

• Though he seems to try to avoid human contact as much as possible, and has stated he doesn't like causing harm.

That, or they're fake.

• It is possible that they are Artificial Dragon Slayers, since we have not seen the over-sized canines on them that Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy have, though Chapter 258 didn't really give us a good look at their teeth. However, Sting was shown to be able to use his Dragon's Roar without being in Dragon Force mode, which changes things. The two Artificial Dragon Slayers we have seen so far have had to enter Dragon Force (Where the user's body grows scales and basically becomes a humaniod Dragon) to be able to use any Dragon Slayer abilities. Sting's body showed no signs of scales while eating his element, or during/after his Dragon's Roar. Rogue was not seen to use any Dragon Slayer magic, so we can't say anything about him yet.

With Raven Tail joining in the Grand Magic Games, this might actually happen.

Mavis has shown herself to be able to move as she pleases, despite having apparently spent most of her afterlife in the area around her grave. She also still seems to be capable of affecting the living world, though only through others, and can be seen by members of Fairy Tail. Zeref would be in a similar situation, there's just no requirement for people to be able to see him. He can still use some of his power (perhaps because of the whole 'world rejecting him' thing) but he can't use his full power because he's dead. It's not like he went and summoned a giant demon to take out Hades after all. In fact, the event that made him value life was dying himself.

...is Laxus's half brother. They're going to wind up in the same event and he's going to Hannibal Lecture Laxus. Although considering who we're dealing with, there's probably going to be a Shut Up, Hannibal!.

• Alternatively, he's Ivan himself in his best disguise. Come on, do you think he'll let go a chance to fight his own son face to face?

Someone had to say it.

• Zeref is a Time Lord, which explains why he is so old and seems to know Natsu.
• Alternatively, Natsu is a Time Lord who regenerated into someone new, and for some reason forgot who he previously was. Zeref, however, recognizes him. Gajeel and Wendy are the same, but Zeref doesn't recognize them.

Which Gray will counter by completely draining himself of magical power, leaving him unable to cast spells but also undetectable. Remember any attack works, it doesn't have to be a magical attack to score a point.

Her fight with Gray

• It's possible since she was struck by Gray's Ice Make: Gungir in the back and her back was never shown afterwards.

They used to be great fans of Gajeel and Natsu, so they just mastered the Artificial Dragon Slayer (btw: "Darkness" for Rouge and "Light" for Sting) and persuaded those two Exceed (who went on Earthland after Edras' fall) to join them. The thing about murdering their dragon parents is just a lie they spread.

• Flare Corona will get hers from Alzack and Bisca Connell.

Maybe Mavis taught Zeref the value of life 400 years ago, or is at least the reason why he came to learn it. She may be a lover or an irreplaceable friend to Zeref. That, in turn, may be why Zeref has spent the last 400 years on Tenrou Island, where Mavis is buried.

• Not likely. For starters, she looks really young. Even if she was old when she died and is just a kid in spirit, Hades couldn't have been more than 150, so Mavis would have had to have lived 250 years to have known Zeref then. Since only members of Fairy Tail are supposed to be able to see her he probably didn't meet her ghost either. Even if she met him after his rampage and he came to her island because of that, one would think he'd have then known it was her guild's island. He was probably just there because it was a warm climate.

With the humiliating defeats Fairy Tail has suffered in the games, it may be only a matter of time before the pressure gets to them. Maybe the reason the members of Raven Tail have exclusively fought/targeted Fairy Tail thus far is because they're trying to cast a spell on them that would turn everyone against each other or something, thereby destroying the guild from within. We've yet to see Gray again after his fight, and he looked pretty damn pissed at the two specific guys who beat him. Let us wait and see how Gray will continue to behave when he next appears.

Just because Erza started wondering about him in the last chapter. He is also responsible for the dark magic that has been gathering. Raven Tail and Arcadias are just Red Herrings. He just came over from the Naruto verse to cause some trouble.

He can get 100% on expert on every song, but only when he activates Dragon Force.

In the anime he was the only not in line when Erza put on her Naughty Nurse Outfit.

• Plus he's far more devoted to Laxus than the other Raijinshu...

He can cut off your air supply for breaking the rules. So why would he not be able to do this.

Think about it: it's usually Lucy who would act as the "narrator" of the series. The end of Chapter 274 has Levy narrating/writing a letter to Lucy that has some foreboding implications about the aftermath of the Grand Magic Games.

The last person we saw using black elemental magic was Zancrow, the Fire God Slayer. Since Zancrow is dead, we're not likely to learn much about God Slayers unless a new one comes into the picture. Just like Natsu had to overcome God Slayers, who are superior to Dragon Slayers, Laxus will have to overcome Orga's Lightning God Slayer magic.

However, they are either considered lost or got stuck in their own Stable Time Loop.

Besides all the lesyay, at the end of chapter 274 she writes a letter 'to my Beloved Lucy Heartfilia'.

• Non-romantic love?

The snake theme and they look alike.

She told him she wanted to use his power to make the ultimate magic world, which he had to have known the implications of, and attacked him when he refused. After she'd made it clear that she wasn't above knocking him out and forcing him to do things her way he tried to beg her to stop before passing out. He later begins to regain conciousness while being held off the ground by someone, and can sense Acnologia approaching. He has no way of knowing he's changed hands several times and the logical conclusion is that this mad woman has successfully abducted him and has now found yet another potential world ending power. Having every reason to want her dead, he goes into full power mode and blasts her instantly, only to fully come to and see that he was actually being carried by someone else, which reverts him back to his normal melancholic state.

Because post time-skip Romeo really looks like he could be a less cute, child version of Zeref. It would also explain how Zeref somehow knows Natsu. He looked up to him as a child but Natsu never saw Romeo as an adult. Something in the past-perhaps just missing everyone from the present-will drive him mad and he'll become the infamous black mage.

The manga simply hasn't got around to revealing that yet, and it's possible since we don't know a lot about the fairies in this world- the closest we get are seeing a swarm of fairies in the first OP of the anime! The guild being founded by an actual fairy would also be an obvious twist!

The new chapter makes it clear she's definitely not treated well in Raven Tail, with being seen bruised up after her near-loss, and she's the only female villain this editor can think of in this series who is drawn with crazy eyes/thousand yard stare. Also, notice that she's crying when she's being threatened by the masked man, whilst she just seemed shocked when Lucy nearly defeated her, and frightened because It would have ended in her being beaten even more badly.

• This could also make her suitable for an Heel Face Turn.

Compare her appearance from before the seven year timeskip; her body was more childlike in contrast to her now taller and buxom build. It's possible that after she changed back to her original self, her body started to catch up in growth during the seven years.

Come on, they forgave Gajeel and even Jellal, she's still in time to switch sides. Also: during her battle with Lucy she tried to put the Raven Tail's brand on Lucy's Fairy Tail's mark. Maybe after joining Fairy Tail she'll put the new mark over her old one?

400 years ago, he was alive and plagueing the world with giant demons and death magic. Also 400 years ago, Raubaul and the Nirvit made Nirvana to create peace in a war-plagued world. Is possible that the two events are linked.

We see Sting bite the head off of a metal arrow, and they claim that they murdered the dragon who raised them. They also look to be about 16 to 17 years old, so they were obviously pretty young when the dragons disappeared 14 years ago. And unless there was a pair of three-year-olds who killed a dragon by themselves, it might not too far a stretch to say that at least one dragon attempted to raise another child. Also notice how, out of the three parents of the main Dragon Slayers, Metallicana is the only one who has yet to actually show up in some way. (That illusion-thing Gajeel made of him in Edolas notwithstanding.)

• Maybe he has the "Wood" dragon slayer? Or it was a magical arrow and he was eating the magic inside it. And if Gajeel is of any indication, Metallicana doesn't seems to be the friendliest of the dragons....

By weird chance, she gained four (or five, depending on your opinion of Capricorn's case) new golden keys purely because the former owner got in trouble and broke the contract terms. Because of this, Lucy will be surprised that the keys for Libra and Pisces won't be in the hands of a Dark Chick or Dark Action Girl, but just some Jerkass that follows his/her terms. Really, it's a bit weird that such rare items somehow come into this girl's possession so easily.

• Mostly Jossed. Pisces and Libra are in the hands of a wizard who isn't evil, but it appears to be that Libra is a Gravity Master and Pisces is at least non-human. Worse that they both serve as The Worf Effect for Sabertooth's team as Yukino isn't exactly experienced.

Up to this point, ten of the spirits look relatively human and some have shown some sort of powers. Since Libra is usually associated with justice, she is likely going to be able to have Detect Evil as a power and Pisces, like Aquarius, requires water and is a potential Eldritch Abmomination. As for strongest, this will show that Aquarius isn't exactly The Ace of the zodiac spirits in general and would provide that even she can suffer The Worf Effect.

• Jossed: Pisces is a two-bodied, Yin Yang like fish spirit who can use water, while Libra looks like a sexy belly dancer with gravity powers.

Our cute little Dragon Slayer, who since her appearence has never fought someone one on one will eventually face down with Obra of Raven Tail and defeat him with the two new spells taught to her by Grandine. It would also be awesome and also kinda Karmic.

Since she's a more vulnerable Stellar Spirit Mage. This could lead to a team up between Sabretooth and Fairy Tail against the bad guys.

• Arguably Jossed. Gemma has shown he has no tolerance for even the slightest defeat and likely won't raise a finger to help after kicking her out. Rogue (and maybe Sting) will likely help since they shown some concern for her, but the rest of the guild is a bit tough to follow.
  • Only the second part. But the first one is confirmed: now that she's expelled she's even more vulnerable. Arcadios may even take advantage of her desire for revenge against Gemma in order to trick her into willingly partecipate to the Eclypse Doomy plan of Doom or whatever that's called.

I CANNOT have been the only one to think Wesker when Jellal said that.

They seem to be targeting Lucy and now Yukino for it, right? Well, Layla Heartfilia was also a Stellar Spirit mage and she died on the day that the dragons disappeared. My theory is that the Eclipse plan has already happened once before- it sacrifices a Stellar Spirit mage in order to seal away the dragons. Layla was the first sacrifice- I guess voluntarily, since she gave away her keys beforehand - and after that the dragons went missing. Lucy and Yukino are the only Stellar Spirit mages in Fiore with golden zodiac keys, so it's only logical that they'd be targeted. This could mean that the plotters are WellIntentionedExtremists who want to seal away Acnologia for safety.

• Or possibly Arcadias learned of the original Eclipse plan and wants to reverse it, if he believes he can somehow use it or another method to control the Dragons. The king just doesn't realise Arcadias wants the power for himself, not the kingdom.
• Both are possible. The only problem is that they never say what day Layla died on. Her grave only showed the year.

After hearing her story, Makarov will accept her into the guild to provide the comfort that she needs as a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming. After that, he will head over to Sabertooth, and in a Crowning Momentof Awesome informs Gemma that he accepted Yukino in before dropping "The Reason You Suck" Speech on him.

Sting seems to be pretty bug on the whole 'strongest' thing while Rogue seems to lean towards the idea of nakama. They'll fight Natsu and Gajeel in the final found of the tournament, almost win, then ultimately get their asses handed to them by their former idols. After being booted for their failure (and it may just be that only Sting is booted, since he's the one who's gotten a warning, and Rogue will just get fed up and quit) Sting will decided to go to another guild that's big on being the best, like Raven Tail, while Rogue will go to the number one nakama guild, Fairy Tail, and the two will have a friend turned foe dynamic.

He looks down on all the other guilds, but is smart enough to acknowledge them as potential threats and is willing to use an ex-member as a pawn to abuse Fairy Tail's True Companions and Honor Before Reason beliefs to get them riled up enough to assault their lodges outside the match in a bid to get them expelled from the games.

The likely reason why he doesn't reciprocate is that he knows that her behavior towards him and her wild imagination won't make a healthy relationship.

Igneel told Grandine that they're not supposed to get involved with humans, but that clearly wasn't an issue when they all adopted kids. At the same time, Rogue and Sting said that rather than heve their dragon(s) leave on July 7th X777 they slayed it, an implied that they did so before it would have left. What better reason to make a rule to avoid humans then the humans you showed kindness to killing you in return?

The magic attacks highly resemble the typical attacks a dragon would use (e.g. breathing fire). As the slayers utilize the power more fully, their skill starts to develop scales. The users of the magic seem to have unusual longevity. This also explains why the dragons themselves would be teaching something called "Dragon Slayer" magic to humans: They used to be humans, too.

• That, or...
• In addition, the final test of mastery is to kill the dragon that taught you the magic.
  • Those two jerkass guys in Sabre Tooth killed their dragon/parent/master with its consent because it wanted them to kill Acnologia; unfortunately they have no idea what they're going to be dealing with if they face Acnologia for real.

So far, it's safe to say the Dragon Slayers seem to have no human parents and were raised by their respective dragons/parents. The ages can be explained by 80 years gestating in a dragon egg; the practice in many Asian countries is to determine that a child is 1 year old when its born, after all. Their skin seems to be a hint at it too; Gajeel's skin even has bolts in it, and Natsu's skin develops scales when he uses his Dragon Slayer magic, and both have fangs even when not using their magic attacks (Laxus only had fangs when using it, a hint to his being fake). Another big hint is that they can eat their respective element; even with magic, it's a bit hard to explain how a learned magic (in comparison to an inherited magic) can be in constant use to keep Gajeel and Natsu's insides from getting ripped to pieces/burned. Even looking at Natsu's nickname (The Salamander), it seems to follow that he's not quite human. So, then why are they Dragon Slayers? Simple: there's only been one Dragon of anything at any one time, and even though they're referred to as Dragon Slayers, they're also the Dragons of ___ (Natsu being fire, Gajeel metal, and Wendy sky): in order to master their magic, they must slay the previous dragon (their parent). Natsu and Gajeel have been referred to as the Dragons of Fire and Metal repeatedly in narration and dialogue, despite that they use Dragon Slayer magic. It's not that big of an assumption that the purpose of the magic is to indeed slay dragons, and it follows that the best way to know it's been mastered is by slaying the dragon that taught them how to use it.

• The previous WMG about them turning into dragons applies in the sense that they'll change forms once they finally master their magic, but in reality they've just been dragons in human form for the time being.
• It's worth noting right off the bat that Laxus' reveal as the supposed Lightning Dragon Slayer does nothing to challenge this. It's been revealed that it was a fake magic that he acquired as a child, and his father plans to remove it for his own uses. There's been no such discussion in the manga to point to the idea that the others' Dragon Slayer magic is removeable.
• Wendy's appearance seems to promote this idea too; she's very young (Natsu or Gajeel is the oldest DS so far), doesn't seem to have any parents with how Charle takes care of her, and her dragon (ie parent) doesn't seem to be around.
• This WMG (and the one above it) actually makes more sense when you remember that in Rave Master, not only were dragons capable of reaching a human form, they were actually stronger as humans than dragons. Mashima could simply be inverting that idea for Fairy Tail.

Surprised this isn't here yet. I actually had this idea when Natsu Beat Gerard, given he started forming scales of all things on his face but from what's been seen since then it explains a lot of things, especially the Dragon's Roar chapter, along with the fact that both Natsu and Gazille couldn't get through the barrier. Ultimately this will result in a scene in which the Dragon Slayers learn that the one who had taken care of them for so long never actually left, and instead were right there all along, in order to protect them and in turn prepare them for what was to come. Likely something to do with the Big Bad Zeraf given the way multiple plots have been set up and interconnecting of late.

• The only issue with this is that we've had a scene where Igneel was talking to a wisp about him leaving Natsu behind. Doesn't quite fit together.
  • Depends on where that took place. If it took place elsewhere, then yeah, there's an issue. If it took place in the equivalent of Natsu's mind scape, then everything still fits together.
  • That wasn't a wisp, that was Grandine, the dragon who raised Wendy. She mentions Wendy in that conversation too, and I believe Wendy refers to her later on when she herself appears.
  • Exactly. And for some reason Natsu remembered the name Wendy when he first met her, but just couldn't place where he heard it (telling Gray to remember for him). Provided that conversation took place in the equivalent of Natsu's mind scape, many things click together all at once.

Because the author loves doing the exceedingly bizarre at times, and it explains their completely bizarre vitality.

• more evidence within the Luxus arc, in which Natsu, Gajeel, and Makrarov are stuck behind that barrier. "Rule: Those above the age of 80, and stone statues, may not pass." And since we've seen Natsu as a little kid with Erza as a little kid, he can't be much older than her. Unless she's actually 80 as well.

Since it's somewhat common in Shonen for Big Bads to share similar Game Breaking powers as one or more of the protagonists, such as the case of Haru vs. Lucia in Rave Master. We already know that Zeref is at least capable of creating demons, but nobody said that was the limit of Zeref's abilities. That, and Dragon Slayer vs. Dragon Slayer fights are always awesome.

• Actually this one would also work with young/amnesiac? Zeref saying that he is waiting for Natsu to kill him because Natsu is the only one who can. Since dragon slayers already seem to be as good as dragons, it would make sense for dragon slayers to be slain by other dragon slayers.
• Specifically, he's probably the Life Dragon Slayer, given the nature of his ability to kill anything that comes near him (consume life) and create living magic (breathe life). And if that's the case, then the dragon he's connected to is most likely Acnowlogia.
• Alternatively, he is a God Slayer, like Zancrow.
• Well, the first thing I've noticed in a Zeref's close up is his sharp canines. Maybe he's the Dragon Slayer of the Dragon King, who can use Yin (Death) and Yang (Life)?

Dragon Slayer magic incorporates the very essence of dragons into the user's body and dragons are often up into a couple millenia in age at least. So Fried's barrier around Fairy Tail during the Festival arc registered them as MUCH older then 80 even though their really around 16.

Every constellation has a spirit or spirits based on it and there is a Dragon constellation. The Dragons had to go back for a similar reason to Loki's they were running out of energy.

So far, we have three "true" Dragon Slayers- Fire, Metal, and Wind. The five elements are: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Void. Earth extends to metal, so that explains that. If this is true, we can expect to see Water and Void Dragon Slayers in the future. "Void", so far, has been seen as just an extension of air magic, but in Japanese fiction Void is usually associated with magic power- something that Dragon Slayers can eat, but not something they normally should. So, it shouldn't be doubted that we'll see a Dragon Slayer who eats magic power instead of magic converted into an element- most likely as a villain. Wouldn't be surprised if this meshes with the "Zeref is a Dragon Slayer" WMG.

• The element of Metal implies that they're using the Chinese element system. But there's also air, which is Japanese or Western. Plus, Poison and lightning Dragonslayer fakes probably means that those are real schools of Dragonslayer magic. Most likely it's whatever elements they feel like having, and the Black dragon would be Darkness.

While its hard to figure the two other elements, this might just happen since that number motif is prominent when it comes to dragons.

Natsu's "Flames of Emotion" are said to be exclusive to Dragon Slayers, and Wendy's healing magic is a lost art only available to users of Sky magic like herself. It's not too much of a stretch to think that Dragon Slayers each have abilities in addition to their standard magic.

• What about Gajeel then?

It would explain a lot. Lachryma is crystal so a human fashioned out of it would count as a crystal statue, which may have been close enough to stone for the barrier. In the Phantom Lord invasion arc Natsu destroyed the Lachryma that controlled the cannon when his opponent said that he wouldn't be able to damage it enough to destroy it even with the crack in it, if Dragons=Lachryma then Dragon Slayer magic should do more damage to Lachryma as well. It also answers questions about the Edoras arc; the Dragon Slayers don't get converted to Lachryma because they already are Lachryma, and they can turn the Lachryma back to who it had been previously because they convert things to and from Lacryma all the time!

• additional thought: maybe when Dragon Slayers slay dragons the dragons revert to the (human) form they previously had, while the Dragon Slayer begins changes into a full dragon.

Natsu can become a Dragonslayer of Energy, Wendy a Dragonslayer of Gas, and Gajeel a Dragonslayer of Solid.

• Natsu has been shown to Use lightning, days after he absorbed it from Laxus. So partially confirmed.

Natsu's reason why he can't is it would feel the same as Lucy eating one of her spirits, so it's more of a mental thing rather than physical. Besides, in episode 2 Natsu catches an axe with his hands, uses his fire magic to super heat it until a bit melts of, the drops fall in his mouth and he then eats the "fire" in them, spitting out cold chunks of metal, how is that him not eating his own fire?

• Look again: rather than "eat" the metal he just chew it and spit it back. I Think that Dragon Slayers can eat their own element, but since it comes from their own energy they don't get much force back, only the one spend for the produced element. For example: if Natsu spends "5 mana points" to make a fire, then he eats said fire he gets just 5 mana points.

It makes sense, Zeref knows Natsu beforehand, though Natsu doesn't know him. What if the Dragons all created Dragon Slayers in the aim of killing Zeref, as to why they can't themselves, maybe that black dragon is protecting him, so naturally they make a mage who can kill dragons. Igneel may have even fought that black dragon at some point, he had to get those scars from somewhere. As to why Zeref seems to be waiting for Natsu over the others, it could be that Natsu showed the quickest growth early on, and thus had the highest potential out of the Slayers, but slowed his progress once his daddy went missing.

• Is also worth mentioning that Igneel's scarf (made from his scales, I presume) was capable of absorbing Zeref's Death Magic.

We have seen that all Dragon Slayers suffer from motion sickness, whether they are riding a vehicle or being carried, but when Happy carries Natsu, Natsu doesn't get sick

• But Gajeel (who suffers from Motion Sickness) didn't have a cat, and also the artificial Dragon Slayers like Laxus and Cobra.
• And Wendy subverts this, thanks to Grandine giving her a Troia Lachrima.
  • Lachrima? Well, I thought that Toroia was part of her healing spell baggage, separated from her Dragon Slayer magic. Maybe she can just cast it at will on her. Or the author simply thinks that a little cute girl about to throw up is a bit too gross.

Their elements are Fire, Iron, Sky, Lightning, Poison, White, and Shadow (for Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Laxus, Cobra, Sting, and Rogue, respectively). As such, we've seen them all. It matches with the Numerological Motif commonly seen with Dragon Slayers along with the different magic elements seen in Rave Master. There were originally only five, but Laxus and Cobra were created artificially to add to that.

• Alternatively, there is a "real" (or First/Third) Generation Lightning and Poison Dragon Slayer somewhere that we haven't seen yet.
• Zeref could also possibly be the 8th Dragon Slayer, whose element is death or space, the ultimate element from Rave Master.

It will be Freed's Edolas counterpart, a Moe girl cat with a massive crush on Laxus.

You know you were thinking he is due to the chapter title. Reason he's not: The members of Fairy Tail are obviously very close to him, so if they declare Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy their only Dragon Slayers, they mean it.

• Alternate explanation: His "100 year mission" is to kill the Dark Dragon.
  • Jossed in Chapter 166. The dragon was apparently just a random encounter that was too much even for him. Gildarts was forced to withdraw from the mission after said dragon tore away an arm, a leg, and one of his organs.

So far most of the strongest of Fairy Tail's mages have been either dicks(Luxus) or loners(Mistgun) so the reason Natsu so happy that Gildartz is back is because he's much more fun to be around.

• Pretty much. He's revealed to be a fairly cheerful and affable figure, despite missing two limbs and a kidney.

Why else would the kingdom send Happy and Charle to another world to find people that already existed in Edoras?

• Confirmed. They're normal mages (as far as Edolas mages go) there.

In chapter 172, we see that Edoras' magic is largely stored via Lachryma, and no person can use magic naturally. We shall assume that Mystogan's home world is Edoras and his staves are made of Lachryma. In order for him to be more powerful, he will need obtain many staves, thus the explanation for his apparent staff obsession.

• If this is true, and if he will become even more abnormally powerful later on, and if he will survive, the first time we may actually see the full display of his powers is when he has already a hundred staves. Just imagine all of those staves sticking in the ground like a Field of Blades and projecting a whole army of Eldritch Abominations while battling another whole army of Eldritch Abominations.

It's kinda obvious actually, since there's a plot hook for the Raven guild. He will be a an important part to Fairy Tail's victory against Raven (or dark guild alliance). Perhaps he might even make a Heroic Sacrifice.

• Confirmed.

As Ultear is the daughter or Gray's mentor, it would be a very fitting match for Gray. Lyon could possibly join the fight if the Light Team rejoins to fight Grimoire Heart.

• Confirmed - they did fight, one on one. Gray won.

By which I mean, when Edolas Lisanna died, she somehow switched places with Earthland Lisanna, thus why her brother and sister thought her dead (especially if they buried the body)

• I was under the impression that Edo!Lisanna fell from a great height and they Never Found the Body. That was why they're so happy in seeing Lisanna.

• The anime makes it clear that this is true.

• Or a Stellar Spirit Mage using Capricorn, whose power is apparently turning people into goats.
• Now his name is revealed it is even more obvious.
• He's actually A mage who was using Capricorn's body.

• My money is on Lisanna being the recipient, btw. Unfortunately.
  • Played with Acnologia's blowing up Tenrou Island

He'll do it because it needs to be done, and because he knows he's the only one capable of doing it. He'll often daydream of the days that he used to be able to take SS-level quests and travel wherever he wanted, but it's not all bad, because he'll know he only has to do the job for a few years. That's because he'll spend most of his spare time training Natsu and Laxus, the former to reach his full combat potential, and the latter to take over the position of guildmaster. Fairy Tail will end with Laxus as the Big Good and Natsu as his Dragon.]]

• This is confirmed when he made Makarov the Sixth Master after he went on his journey.

It's a two part title, they are slayers, who were trained by dragons, or as also been stated before, they are slayers from the dragon race.

• Well, the japanese kanji for "Dragon Slayer" read as "Metsuryu Maho", literally "Magic of the Dragon Destroyer". A dragon-killing attack would have been named something like "Ryuumetsu" (eg: "Hito-kiri" means manslayer, but Kiri-Bito would mean more like "a man who cuts". So in short, Dragon Slayer/Metsuryuu is more like Dragon-who-destroyes).

It would explain why Cana and Natsu are crying in the premonition. Lucy did narrate that she would be participating in the S-Class Mage Exam in a surprising way, and maybe it didn't just mean by being Cana's partner.

• Confirmed, though it had nothing to do with their crying.

The name of the issue is "Thunder Crashes" which could be a reference to the storm outside, to Laxus (who was shown sensing something was wrong after Makarov went down) or possibly both. He could have some super move or powerup that he can only use during a thunderstorm, that will allow him to challenge Hades. Bonus points if he takes a hit to save someone, and then berates them for being weak.

• Confirmed.

will become a running gag.

• This is correct! At least, until Gildarts leaves the guild to go on a journey.

During the seven year Time Skip he joined Fairy Tail. He never believed that all the most powerful members of the guild were killed so he's back searching for what happened to them.

• Confirmed in chapter 254. Say hello to Romeo, everybody.

• Mavis Vermillion's ghost/spirit
  • It is her. The second guess is probably also true.
• An actual fairy

Or...

• all of the above.
• Or Grandine, the Sky Dragon.

Tenrou Island is stated to "protect those bearing the mark of fairy tail", But let's face it, that dragon's tailed beast bomb (I'll call it that for a mo') was SUPER strong, and the island was destroyed. Even residual protection would have been very little. So that fairy, who we believe was Mavis, cast a protection spell on the members of Fairy Tail, which would spare their lives and lead them to a safe place to recover. However, none of them has any form of transportation and I doubt Levy has enough magic power to create runes for a large vehicle, so they haven't been able to return for 7 years

• In chapter 255: Mavis' ghost protected everyone in Tenrou Island by enclosing the island in a sphere called Fairy Sphere. They also haven't aged by the looks of it.

• Partially confirmed already. The members of Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale have already visited the FT guild.

Something really big happened in the Shounen medium with this 7 years time-skip, I mean what other manga in recent memory had a time-skip this long? Even big names such as One Piece, Naruto and Bleach didn't dare to skip more than 2 to 3 years, it's a huge challenge for the writer, everything has to look all new: the characters, the setting, everything. Seriously, in 7 years basically everyone but Wendy will be at least in their middle twenties, nothing to say about those who will probally be in their early thirties; my point is that modern Shounen just doesn't stick with adult characters as the Main Characters, I predict Mashima will Hand Wave Natsu and friends not growing up with something as wherever they may be, it's a Year Outside, Hour Inside for them, or if they do grow up, it will be something just for this arc and in the end some Time Travel or Alternate Universe shenaningan will happen.

That's just me being skeptical in vision to what modern Shounen seems to have turned out, though. In reality I do hope Natsu and Friends will come back Older and Wiser, it sure would be a fresh breath in the middle of so many Shounen with a young main cast, it could step up to all time classics like Dragon Ball (the Z part in particular) and Fist of the North Star with their adult cast.

• There are some more modern shonen with adult protagonists. Hell, Kenshin is in his thirties for the whole series. Simon is 21 after his Time Skip. It matters more how they act than their actual age (Kenshin is quirky, and Simon can still act like a Hot Blooded teenager despite his age). Some of them will be more mature, but Natsu will just be an Adult Child.
• Wow you got me with Simon, can't believe I forgot about Gurren Lagann for a second, but that's one of a kind though, Rurouni Kenshin is certainly not a modern Shounen as it started in 1994 and he was 27 for the whole run, he went 30 in the finale; I see modern Shounen as any work post the aforementioned big three (One Piece, Naruto and Bleach). Anyway, I do see Natsu not really changing even as an adult, and here I am hoping the timeskip sticks for good.
• Confirmed in Chapter 255. They haven't changed a bit thanks to Tenrou Island being in Mavis' Fairy Sphere.
• Damn, I predicted it right, and kind of feel bad about it...
  • It should be noted however that this ends up being a really, really bad thing.

Why else would Romeo learn Fire Magic from him?

• Confirmed. He was specifically said to teach a magic class by Romeo.

Ivan is no fool. He knew that the reason he was managing to stay out of the Magic Countil's eye is because the Balam Alliance was taking up so much of their resources. When they got taken down, he cut a deal with someone to change Raven Tail into an official guild. It's not like there's never been a "legal" guild that breaks laws and operates as a dark guild in disguise (Phantom Lord), so he could still be an outright villain.

• Confirmed as of Chapter 267.

Come on, you know this will happen.

• Confirmed in Chapter 280

Is Millianna

• You can see that she has whiskers underneath her hood, also her Cat Smile.

Notice how Hades wears an eyepatch covering his right eye. It just so happens that Org of the Magic Council had been closing his right eye throughout the entire series, not having ever opened it even once. And to boot, he slightly resembles Hades.◊ Perhaps Hades is pulling a Jellal and keeping tabs on the Council.

• Jossed. Org turned out to be a pretty nice guy by now and we saw him post Time Skip, after Hades' death.

Related to the "Zeref will turn out to be a dragon slayer" idea, except Urtear will be a dragon slayer(probably ice or darkness) and Natsu's last foe. Zeref with his habit of creating monstrosities will instead be Lucy's final antagonist in a massive summon battle. Averting Designated Girl Fight.

• Urtear's powers are time related though (she can freeze or accelerate the "time" of objects, but not people). Meaning that she might be the Time Dragon Slayer.
• And the two of them have already fought once before, with inconclusive results (Natsu did land one good hit on Urtear, but she was only using about half of her power).

It makes some sense, it explains why they look the same and why they seem to possess such incredible magical powers.

Going from the previous entry, let's just say that Mystogan is the good side and Gerard is the evil side of the same soul. But now Gerard has lost his memory and potentially has an opportunity to redeem himself and stop being evil. Obviously, at some point later in the manga, there will be a much stronger opponent that no one can beat, and then they will fuse back into one body and powerup.

• Which of course means the Saiyans in this equation, the Dragon Slayers, will within an arc or two if not the arc in which they fuse, will surpass them. I mean, just look at Gajeel's hair style!

Related to the two "Dragon slayers become/are dragons" theories, and to the "Winged Cats really are dragons" theory. Wings are one thing that humans (or human-form dragons) can't develop, so a separate creature is created in egg form that later merges with the dragon slayer when they become a dragon. Gazille simply hasn't found his wings yet (or perhaps Iron Dragons don't get them).

My proof: Natsu went through the Stellar Spirit world and came out unharmed- something which Lucy has stated should not be. Only Stellar Spirits may reside in the Stellar Spirit world- humans going to their world is far more lethal than Stellar Spirits coming to ours. We can thus conclude that Dragon Slayers are either offered a measure of protection against the Stellar Plane, or, he is a Stellar Spirit. Possible proof for the latter: Natsu is the only one who understands what Plue, a Stellar Spirit, says.

• Jossed as of recent chapters, as most of the main cast made a trip to the spirit world and didn't suffer any ill effects, besides lost training time.

The Erdoras Mirajane acts just like the regular one because in this world Hisana never died and her personality never reversed. Because of this one of several things will happen.

• The other characters will realise she's pulling a Stepford Smiler and convince the original Mirajane to revert to her original Delinquent Jerkass personality.
• Mirajane will realise this herself and change on her own.
• The Erdoras Hisana will come back to normal world with them, causing Mirajane to revert to her true personality as her sister is back. Sort of. The local Silk Hiding Steel Mirajane will be shown transforming into a Delinquent too, perhaps as a result of no longer having to set and example for her little sister. Or deciding she needs to set an example of badassery for the wimpy Erdoras Elfman.
  • I don't really see much point in Edo!Lisanna going to Earthland. As far as I'm concerned, the members of Fairy Tail acknowledge the fact that the dead are such, and they aren't going to return. If anything, Lucy is the Replacement Goldfish since it's been pointed out that she's similar to Lisanna in that she looks somewhat like her and is good friends with Natsu. But that's not the point you're trying to make. My opinion is that Mira won't change, or at least not as dramatically as you seem to be implying. My guess is that she'll take on a more active role, possibly helping more in future battles involving the entire guild, but I think her personality might remain as-is. And who's to say that Edo!Mira isn't the Stepford Smiler for a different reason?
    • Actually, Edoras!Lisanna does go to Earthland. She may have been the Earthland!Lisanna all along without realizing it, considering she actually had magic in her body to be able to transport herself to Earthland.
    • Edo Lisanna is Earthland!Lisanna. Edor Lisanna died, btu Edo Mirajane and Edo Elfman didn't change, since Earthland!Lisanna took the role of Edo Lisanna. Edo Mirajane and Edo Elfman knew this, but we didn't see them change.

Or sealed inside it, or something very closely related. Evil crazy powerful dark mage, evil dark dragon that's also ridiculously strong. Probably a connection at least as strong as Zeref being the Black dragons Dragonslayer pupil... type... thingy.

• Probably not. We know what Zeref looks like now.
  • Jossed.

This arc, we've gotten quite a few hints here and there about Natsu's feeling for Lisanna, and how no one talks to him about her anymore after her death. To see history seemingly repeating itself with Edo-Lisanna, Natsu could conceivably lose it, and trigger a Second Dragon Force form, where he is more dragon than human. The ensuing rampage against Faust would leave him powerless against this new form, and should anyone else try to attack him in that berserk state (say, Edo-Erza for example), they'd be killed in an instant. I say this because the Black Dragon felled Fairy Tail's strongest in an instant, and in the Second Dragon Force State, a similar fate would await anyone in the way of Natsu's rampage.

• Alternatively, it could happen to Lucy, since everyone has been drawing the parallels between them, and something happening to her would exemplify them more.
• The black dragon mecha has gone kablooie so that's unlikely, but there's always the real deal later on.
  • Jossed. This never once happens.

Because he's too cool to from being kicked out of the plot. Also, implanting memories is one of Mystogan's powers.

• But if you take the latest chapter into account...for god's sake, can't any Gerard's stay freaking good?!

• Unlikely, since the Killing Mage is Zeref. Unless Zeref is also Igneel. And Jellal.
  • Original poster here. This was my thought process in doing the WMG- Killing Mage=Zeref=Igneel. Wouldn't put it past Jellal though.

Considering a war is going on, there is a chance that Makarov says that they've proven they're S-class material by kicking Gilmoire Heart's asses. Or the grave is found by multiple persons at the same time.

• Subverted none of them become S-Class because of the attack.

Caprico lokks like a goat-man and his two subordinates Yomazu and Kawazu are also animal people, so it seems likely. Even if he is Capricorn, it could still be his power.

• Jossed.

He's extremely old and has had major health problems for quite a long time now. Either Hades or the combined forces of the Seven Kin of Purgatory will be the ones to finish him, possibly in a You Shall Not Pass Obi-Wan Moment. Gildarts or Erza will lead the guild, while Laxus will settle his unfinished business with Ivan.

• It'll be Gildarts. Makarov flat out says that Erza's too young to lead the guild. Bonus points if they toss in a Time Skip and bring Laxus back as The Dragon.
  • That's if Gildarts wants to. If Makarov dies, he won't get to choose the next leader - they'll have to take that burden upon themselves. If no one else steps up to the plate, Erza will have to do it. Mirajane can be her dragon!
  • Hades just curbstomped Makarov, and it's very strongly suggested that it was a fatality.
    • He's still alive...but he's just taken a severe beating and had a heart attack, so who knows if he'll survive.
    • He's still alive thanks to Mavis's Fairy Sphere

Grimoire Heart will win the battle and their goals will be fulfilled, leading the series to a Darker and Edgier route (especially if the above WMG is true and Makarov dies).

• Subverted he was never sealed in the first place.

Zeref will become the tool to unleash his plans however, in one way or another, depending on if his evil self is unsealed immediately or not. If not that, Zeref will be the Bigger Bad instead.

• Zeref killed Hades

One of the WMGs flying around is that Dragon Slayers are actually dragons who start life born as humans. Wouldn't it make sense for the most evil black mage of all time to turn the most powerful dark monster of all time? As for the killing mage that everyone thinks is Zeref: he's the black Dragon Slayer.

• Acnologia and Zeref were revealed to be two different entities.

...is the ability to use his own key to summon himself.

• Actually, now that we get to see him in action in 223, that's not far from the truth. Like Loki, he can stay in the human world for an undetermined amount of time. His actual magic summons people the same way Lucy and Layla summon spirits.

When Lucy was born, Capricorn tried to return to the Heartfilia family, but Zoldeo wouldn't let him. Thus, Zoldeo tried to subdue due him with magic to force him to stay, but because the magic wasn't supposed to be used on non-humans, Zoldeo got stuck in Capricorn's body. It's just what I figure to have been the logical course of actions.

• This is more or less what happened.

...it's Bad Future. Wendy is all grown up, Lucy has toughened up because of the harsh world, Levy (and the other members of Team Shadow Gear) have become Badass in honor of dead Gajeel, the master & Rajin tribe sacrificed themselves, Natsu has a trauma because Happy died. Jellal travelled back in time to redeem himself, furthermore, Jellal was based on Siegrain from Rave Master, who also travelled back in time, King Faust is either Hades, the council leader, or the actual king. The catalyst of the magic disappearance is Zeref, who did not quite remove all non-mages from existance.

• What about Elfman being a wuss? Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?
• Jossed, Edoras is indeed another world. As for Elfman his sister is dead in this world too.

A lot of manga writers have gone on Twitter or other communication media after the massive earthquake in Japan to say that they're alright. Mashima has not. Sorry, but it needed to be said. And now that it has been, someone hurry up and Joss it. Please!

• Unconfirmed, but word on the street says that he's alive, but injured.
• Apparently, he's participating in a charity doujinshi to help the victims of the tsunami. So, unless he's actually undead, this probably means he's alive. Thankfully.

Chapter 228 is called 13 Women drenched in the rain. Juvia is obviously responsible for the rain and she is currently fighting Meledy whose magic has not yet been revealed.

• Alternately, Meredy has multiple personalities and each personality uses its own type of magic. Every time we've seen her, her personality was different, from quiet and stoic, to cold and calculating, and childish and insecure. A Storm of Blades by themselves wouldn't be powerful or rare enough to be considered Lost Magic, so she can probably use all different kinds.
  • Jossed.

It may have just been a sucker punch with Lucy passing out, but no matter who wins Juvia's fight, Gray's gonna be pretty beaten up by the end.

We will then be treated to a much Darker and Edgier storyline in which the dark guilds curbstomp the New Council and proceeds to start a campaign of terror and Muggle killing. The surviving heroes, of course, will form La Résistance and be joined by Jellal and Hoteye, find a new leader in Gildartz or Luxus, form an epic stand of awesomeness against Hades, and somehow pull off a particularly crazy win. Perhaps involving property damage. Finally, as the dust settles, the New Council's remnants will pop up to re-arrest Jellal and Hoteye, and Natsu will finally torch their asses.

And then Zeref will pop up from the rubble and kill everyone.

• Jossed for Hades is defeated
  • However it was Acnologia the Black Dragon appeared instead

His lesson to Natsu is going to be hammered home by his own death. Natsu is going to find Grimore Heart's ship and challenge Hades, but Bluenote will step up to fight him in a "you can't get to my boss unless you go through me" kind of gesture. Natsu, being the typical shonen Leeroy Jenkins, will charge ahead and get his ass handed to him. Gildarts will come in to save him, and his fight with Bluenote will be a Mutual Kill. Why do I think they're going to do this? Because Gildarts is an expy of Gale Glory, and right after Gale was introduced, he fought his Evil Counterpart to the death in order to save Haru.

• Possibly made more likely by Cana's revelation that Gildarts is her father and she was seen crying in Charle's vision.

The fact that he had what was described as a "Gushing Aura" and what he said about Natsu being able to fly, seems to imply that he knows something about Dragon Slayers. He could very well be the first Dragon Slayer not to Face Heel Turn.

• He uses gravity magic, that is why the water gushes: he makes it fall faster.

She just didn't realize it and he was hiding the fact that he knew for some reason. Fairy Tail focuses too much on bonds and True Companions for this not to be the case.

• He might feel he didn't deserve to be her father when he wasn't around for her mother's death or feel his constant traveling on quests would make him ruin raising her. Something like that.
• Possibly confirmed, since he looks like Bluenote utterly destroyed his Berserk Button by nearly killing Cana.
• Jossed. He had no clue that Cana was his daughter, and when he does find out, he had to list down thirteen different women before he realized who her mother was. His anger at Bluenote was just for attacking his comrades in Fairy Tail.

Natsu will pull his typical Leeroy Jenkins antics and take on enemies infinitely stronger then himself forcing Gildy or Makarov to pull a Heroic Sacrifice.

• Made more likely by the incoming arrival of the Black Dragon Acnologia.
  • Officially jossed as of 255.

He was executed during the time skip. He was facing either a lifetime sentence or the death penalty. No matter how messed up a criminal you're dealing with you don't put someone in a room too small for them to lie down in for the rest of their life. That was a temporary cell for criminals too dangerous to let live. He's dead.

• I doubt it, Jellal is related to many plot threads to just die off like that, hell, he wouldn't be such a Base Breaker if he didn't appear that much in story; the guy is a an Expy from Sieghart, he is a fountain of Ship Teasing for Erza. I say he still is alive, in fact I would go as far as to say Jellal will become more important as the series goes on, Mashima uses him that much, much to his fans joy and his detractor's chagrin.
  • His being an Expy of Seighart just suggests that he did die. Sieg dies before the end of Rave Master.
  • I pointed his likeness to Sieghart not because Jellal will never die, it's for comparison, Sieghart became a very important character after his debut, and his death was way later in the story, and all there was to his character got developed through, and Jellal will follow suit in living for more volumes.
  • So he isn't dead, but he will be soon.
• Jossed, at least for now - he was going to be executed over the TimeSkip, but Ultear and Meredy broke him out of prison before that could happen.

.]] Because it seems far too important an event for Gajeel not to join in. Pantherlily may not be present, as a subtle signal to Team Natsu that something isn't right.

• Raven Tail is revealed to be participating in the games with a mage completely covered in armor and a helmet. It could possibly be Gajeel.
• Both Jossed. Gajeel is in the Games, but on the Fairy Tail B Team.

In the first shot of the Midnight Commando, we see a sort of wolf-like thing just right to her. Maybe she can summon spirits or beasts from her body, like Chrona summons Ragnarok from his/her body.

• Jossed. Flare's magic involves Prehensile Hair.
  • Partially still, if you look at her Hair Wolf it's so perfect and well detailed that it has well defined eyes, claws, teeth and even tongue. Plus, it cries when is cut by Cancer. I'd think it's close enough to the abovementioned theory (even if it's done with hair).

Natsu has Sting, Gajeel has Rogue, Lucy has/had Yukino as a counterpart, Gray has Rufus, and Laxus has Orga. We'll also finally get the chance to see Wendy go up against an opponent one-on-one.

• Jossed, she's shown in chapter 283 to be an adult, black haired woman with a chinese motif and possibly a sort of Barrier Warrior power set. Oh, she's also Jiemma's daughter.