YMMV / Fairy May Cry

• Catharsis Factor:
  • Ultear, Job, and Kain Hikaru spend much of their screentime in Awakening reveling in their power and being condescending to Fairy Tail. Made all the worse when Kain manages to snag one of Dante's hairs and force him to not only attack his friends, but simply stand and take Jobs beatdown, with all three members showing sadistic glee at the whole thing. As such, it is immensely satisfying when Lady and Trish undergo their respective Traumatic Superpower Awakening's and Natsu enters an Unstoppable Rage, starting a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on each of the Kin that manages to visibly terrify all three of the villains.
  • Considering how much of a vile self-righteous monster Sanctus was throughout the Order of the Sword Arc, there was much rejoicing when Natsu and Nero pummeled him into the ground and killed him in the finale.
  • After Sting spends much of Labyrinth Above the Blooming Capital acting like an condescending and arrogant prick towards Fairy Tail, it is satisfying when Natsu sends him flying into a wall with one punch. Fans were happy, and even Vergil, Sting's own guildmate in Sabertooth, said he had it coming for provoking the Salamander.
  • In Fangs Bared, Minerva spends the majority of the Naval Battle beating Lucy to near-death, and even continues attacking her after the event ends in a draw, all while being extremely smug and immature throughout the entire ordeal, while Sting, Rufus and Orga actually laugh at it. Suffice to say, it is hugely satisfying when Natsu gives her a beatdown himself moments later, and Vergil slams her head into the ground for her actions. Even more satisfying is Minerva continuing to attack Lucy after the event ended causes her earned points to be cut in half, costing Sabertooth the chance to get first place in the Games.
  • Devils and Dragons has Sabertooth receiving the ultimate humbling of a lifetime. Not only does Natsu manage to beat Sting and Rogue by himself like in canon, but after being beaten so many times by Vergil, and needing assistance to win other fights, Dante finally manages to defeat his brother by himself. To say it was satisfying would be the understatement of the century.
  • Brutal as it is, Lucia’s one-sided beatdown of Minerva during the Battle Royale is quite cathartic. Considering how arrogant and overconfident Minerva was, as well as her actions of kidnapping Happy, and torturing Lucy and Milliana on separate occasions, everybody was rejoicing when she was beaten to a pulp and left begging for mercy at Lucia’s feet.
• Complete Monster:
  • Mundus is the Demon Emperor of the Underworld. Originally a god called Pluto, after interfering with the mortal world, he was stripped of his power and banished to the Underworld where he eventually overthrew the then-ruler, and became the Emperor of Demons. Thousands of years before the start of the series, Mundus attempted to conquer Earthland, only being foiled by the demon Sparda and his alliance with the dragons. Since then, Mundus has made many attempts to escape to resume this conquest while taking every opportunity to get revenge on Sparda, sending demons to kill his wife Eva in front of his sons Dante and Virgil, leading to Dante and Vergil's tragic origins. This also made Sparda reluctant to reveal that he was one of the co-founders of the Fairy Tail guild, fearing that Mundus would send his demons to target the guild out of revenge as well. It's later revealed that he was the one who cursed Zeref, making him responsible for the 400 years of death and destruction caused by Zeref's creations and fanatical worshipers, as well as corrupting Fairy Tail's second guild master and co-founder Precht becoming Hades, the guild master of Grimoire Heart, in the effort of drawing out Zeref to continue to torment him. Mundus is responsible for almost every tragedy in the series in his effort to conquer other worlds with the intention of enslaving and exterminating humanity, while getting revenge on Sparda by going after his children and their allies.
  • Edolas arc: Nelo Angelo is a servant of Mundus who was created to aid in his conquest of Edolas. He would join the Magic Suppression Force in Edolas while secretly hiding his resentment towards his fellow captains, where he has killed thousands of guild members the including the Edolas Lisanna, and during his fights with the Earthland Fairy Tail, he took Wendy hostage, threatening to decapitate her. Upon revealing his true loyalties and becoming the Onyx Reaper, Nelo Angelo begins to use his newfound power as he slaughters his way though the royal army and begins his plan to pave the way for his master Mundus and his demon army to enter Edolas, which will result in the deaths of all the Human and Exceed populace. Upon fighting Modeus and nearly killing him, he plans to leave him alive long enough to see his guild mates perish then wipe out the Edolas Fairy Tail Guild out of spite for evading him for so long. Nelo Angelo proved himself to be among the worst of his kind and of Mundus's followers.
  • Devil Hand arc:
    • Arkham is the mastermind behind the creation of the Devil Hand dark guild, and the rise of the tower Temen-ni-gru in order to obtain the power of Sparda. Having killed his own wife and traumatizing his daughter Lady/Mary in the process, Arkham would later return to make an alliance with Vergil to form the Devil Hand guild along with seven other wizards to fill the ranks, including children such as Sheeree/Leviatha and Adrian/Beelzebub, who he emotionally manipulated to do so. Upon faking his death, Arkham would later reveal himself as the untrustworthy guide Jester, admitting that the true reason he formed Devil Hand was to not only awaken the tower but to gather pawns strong enough to tire out Dante, Fairy Tail's elite, and Vergil, so that he can claim Sparda's power for himself while everyone who could stop him would be unable to do so. A man who will use and betray everyone, including his own family, and unleash hell upon the world in order to become a god, Arkham remains as one of Fairy Tail's most vile and hated enemies.
    • Asmodeua represents the Sin of Lust of the Seven Sins and is a sexual sadist of the highest order. Once going by the name Black Widow, Asmodeua kidnapped three dozen women and teenage girls and subjected them to horrific torture as part of her collection. While they were all found alive, they were traumatized from the torture they endured, with Asmodeua enjoying the physical, emotional, and psychological torture she subjects to her victims' mind, body, and soul until they break so that their souls will always be hers even if they leave her and reunite with their loved ones, leaving them to be shells of their former selves, all while expressing pride in her crimes and planning to make a new collection, starting with Lucy, Lisanna, and Angel/Sorano.
  • Order of the Sword arc: Sanctus at first appears to be the benevolent leader of the Order of the Sword, but in reality is a self-righteous misanthrope who seeks exterminate all of humanity in Earth land and replace them with perfect ones. Sanctus sets the events of the arc in motion, orchestrating the escape and formation of the Neo Oracion Seis; ordering the deaths of many Celestial Wizards, including children; and tricking Fairy Tail into collecting the pieces of the Infinity Clock for their agenda. Upon revealing his true colors, Sanctus shows no remorse when disposing of his loyal subordinates in the Order of the Sword, even murdering his own loyal servant Credo in front of his childhood friends for defending his sister Kyrie from his plans, and allowing Agnus to experiment on the corpse of Sparda to aid his plans. Sanctus later reveals that he arranged the death of Lucy's father Jude Heartfilia, by giving her childhood doll Michelle/Imitatia life to act as a spy and implant a tumor in Jude's brain in order to get the clock piece he was guarding, then proceeds to callously absorb the magic from a remorseful Michelle/Imitatia. Once Sanctus uses the Infinity Clock to channel its power into the Savior, he begins to cause apocalyptic disasters across Fiore while beating Makarov to near death in front of everyone. Despite being human, Sanctus was one of the worst monsters ever faced by Dante and Fairy Tail.
• Evil Is Cool: As per usual, Vergil. Despite spending most of his debut arc terrorising Fairy Tail, he did so with such efficiency and ease, delivering a Curb-Stomp Battle to the likes of Mirajane and Erza that many fans found it awesome to watch. It certainly helps that he gave them a chance to surrender and maintained a code of honour all throughout. These traits do not lesson in the Devil Hand arc, and he remains just as formidable throughout the story.
• Growing the Beard: The story, generally speaking, was where most of the author's core strengths begin to manifest, with greater plotlines, more intriguing characters, and the like, which would follow suit into his future fanfics.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Vergil telling Lucy that her mother was weak for dying, and chastising her for not killing her own father after he caused the guild war with Phantom Lord is harsh enough on it's own. With The Reveal that the two are maternal cousins, this means he essentially condoned the death of his own aunt and uncle! Devil's Retribution makes this even worse when a flashback reveals that a younger Vergil received a poetry book from the Heartfilia couple, something he clearly appreciated, and that, before his death, Jude made several attempts to reach out to him over the timeskip.
  • Vergil attacking Fairy Tail becomes this in the Tenrou Island arc, after Hades reveals that Sparda was a founding member of Fairy Tail. Vergil was unknowingly attacking another aspect of his fathers legacy.
  • In Let's Welcome Chaos Natsu questions Vergil on what he'll do after he obtains enough power to be the ruler of hell, calling sitting on a oversized throne the entire time rather boring. In DMC 5 Vergil's demon side Urizen obtains enough power to accomplish just that, and spends most of the game doing everything (including fighting) while sitting on his throne, which is ironically part of what gave him such power.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight:
  • Dante awakening his Devil Trigger to save Lucy from Vergil becomes this when it is revealed that the two are maternal cousins. After they confirm said relationship he quickly develops a Big Brother Instinct towards her.
  • Dante joining Fairy Tail and being convinced to stay after the Vergil arc is already touching on its own. Come Tenrou Island, Hades reveals that Sparda was actually a founding member, essentially giving his son another family to be apart of posthumously. In Devils Retribution, it's revealed Sparda had also adopted Mavis and Zera (two of the founders), meaning he's essentially in a home given by his sisters, adding yet another layer of heartwarming.
  • In addition, there’s also the fact that the Edolas versions of his niece Lucy and late wife Eva are a part of that Fairy Tail, showing how even if Sparda doesn’t have an Edolas counterpart, his family in a way is together with Fairy Tail.
  • Wendy being the one to convince Modeus to join Fairy Tail, who goes on to become her teacher, as well as a father figure to her.
  • Trish acting as a Cool Big Sis to Lucy becomes this after Capricorn remarks that she acts exactly like the kind of daughter Eva would have had, and by Devil's Retribution even asks Lucy if she can be considered part of her family. Lucy considers her a Heartfilia from then on, and even has Morrison legally give her the last name to make it official.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • The author wrote the Tenrou Island arc before playing Devil May Cry 5, and gave Azuma a Dangerous Forbidden Technique called Tree of Life, which creates a tree that produces that fruit that lets him use Eden form. Said game involves the Big Bad plating the Qlipoth (a massive, demonic tree), and nurturing it with blood sacrifices to produce a fruit that grants whoever eats it immense power.
  • Asmodeua is a spider-like woman with a penchant for kidnapping. Her stint in the story is practically the author doing a dry-run for Code Prime 's take on Airachnid, who is coincidentally a depraved serial killer with a spider motif. The only difference is that she lasts longer, much longer. Asmodeua's almost Yandere-esque tendencies double down when you realize that, in Prime's Japanese dub, Airachnid is characterized as having an obsession with Jack Darby.
    • Beelzebub/Adrian is revealed to be a Death Seeker after his Take-Over ability resulted in the destruction of his home and family. Likewise, the author would later create a somewhat Decomposite Character of him in both Suzaku Kururugi (death seeking soul) and Rai (entire family killed by his powers).
  • Given the story was started before Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest began, as well as Iron117Prime admitting to not following it too much, several of the plot beats of Fairy May Cry become this as the canon sequel continues.
    • During his rant about all The Reveal's that occurred on Tenrou Island, Dante rhetorically asks if Natsu has any evil brothers. While a nod to his connection to Zeref, it's revealed Igneel has a biological son called Ignia, who unlike Zeref, is very clearly a villain through and through.
    • Similarly, Fairy Tail facing off against Vergil, an Iaijutsu Practitioner with a blue colour scheme, becomes this with the debut of Suzaku, a Sword Saint Dragon Slayer with a very similar fighting style. Bonus points for being the opponent Natsu faces most frequently given the nature of his antagonism with Vergil and the two forming an Enemy Mine against a more powerful opponent similar to when Natsu, Dante and Vergil did against Arkham.
    • Modeus bearing the moniker of "Demon of the Moon" becomes this in light of one of the Five Dragon Gods being Selene, the Moon Dragon God.
  • Owing to Capcom, Lucy taking up hand-to-hand fighting as a way of honing her powers becomes this when her English VA Cherami Leigh would later portray a Street Fighter character: Manon.
• Les Yay: After deciding to share Natsu, Lucy and Lisanna get a fair bit of this, spending a lot of their shared screentime complimenting each other. In Origins, Sparda teasing Lucy over emulating Natsu has the blushing Lucy being hugged from behind by a smiling and blushing Lisanna.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Mundus well and truly crossed it before the story even began, between his initial invasion of Earthland, having Sparda's wife Eva murdered (traumatizing Dante and Vergil in the process and triggering the latters Start of Darkness) and having cursed Zeref with his immortality and Walking Wasteland status.
  • Vergil nearly crossed it when he attempted to kill Wendy, before Natsu took the swing for her.
  • If Nelo Angelo didn't cross it with all the people in Edolas he killed (including Edolas Lisanna and Edolas Fairy Tail's former guildmaster), he certainly did when he attempted to use the Exceed Lacrima to open a portal to the Underworld by killing every Exceed in Extalia, and unleashing Mundus' legions into Edolas.
  • Arkham crossed it long before the series began when he sacrificed his wife right in front of his daughter, Lady, emotionally scarring her in the process. In the present, he seems determined to keep one-upping himself in this regard, between manipulating traumatised children like Sheeree and Adrian, showing no hesitation in harming Wendy, and unleashing Temen-ni-gru on the world.
  • Sanctus crosses it before the story even began, having ordered Agnus to cut up Sparda's corpse (despite claiming to worship him) to empower himself and his followers. If that wasn't enough, he definitely crossed it when he killed Credo in front of his former subordinates, all while mocking his care for his sister, as well as everyones grief at the act.
• Salvaged Story:
  • How the story handles Lisanna, who despite all the buildup for her return, did almost nothing of note afterwards in canon. Here she joins the main cast and notably Took a Level in Badass.
  • The Key of the Starry Sky arc has the battles between Fairy Tail and the Legion Corps more evenly matched rather than the embarrassing defeats the former suffered in canon. The latter repeatedly need backup to gain the upper hand and tend to lose whenever they underestimate the guild wizards, properly representing the protagonists' competence. It's only when the Neo Oracion Seis show up that the protagonists start getting clobbered, and even then, it's displayed as the villains being powerful rather than the heroes failing, managing to turn the tables once they're given time to prepare and backup in their rematches.
• Signature Scene: Dante, Natsu and Gajeel vs Vergil, Sting and Rogue from the Grand Magic Games Arc has become this, showcasing the best from all six combatants, culminating with Dante finally getting a one-on-one victory over Vergil after so long.
• Signature Series Arc: The Vergil Arc that starts off the entire story, which has the titular character running roughshod over Dante and the rest of Fairy Tail's best, establishing the type of antagonists going forward for the story.
  • The Devil Hand Arc can be seen as this, as this was the part of the story where many of the author's core strengths began to be displayed, with strong plotlines, intriguing characters, exciting battles, and notable canon divergences, many of these being shown in later stories such as Code Prime.
• Take That, Scrappy!: Mary Hughes is a Smug Snake who constantly condescends towards Fairy Tail and whose People Puppets magic lets her force allies to fight one another, and generally acting like an annoying bully. In almost every encounter with the protagonists, someone is ready with insults and she receives a satisfying asskicking.

---