Twin demons that were trained by Sparda have arrived in Magnolia, but while one wishes to live peacefully, the other desires to fight strong enemies, with Dante as his primary target.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Despite attacking Dante and nearly killing Wendy, Baul's death is treated as a tragedy by the members of Fairy Tail and Modeus, especially since all he wanted was a final fight with a Worthy Opponent, and had traits of a Noble Demon to boot.
- All-Loving Hero: Modeus shares his old teachers love of humans, finding joy in people watching and is considered a noble soul by Erza.
- Always Someone Better: Baul is a Master Swordsman trained by Sparda himself, and manages to dispatch Natsu with little to moderate difficulty each time. He then finds himself on the other end of this trope against Dante.
- Berserk Button: Attacking his guildmate Dante immediately gets Baul on Natsu's bad side, the latter confronting him several times throughout the chapter.
- Blood Knight: Baul's sole desire throughout the chapter is to challenge Dante. Modeus even says that his brother isn't out to take over the world, just fight Worthy Opponents.
- Can't Take Criticism: The bar owner was so pissed off by Modeus' suggestion about improving his strawberry sundae's he tries to kick him out, and does so to the Fairy Tail members when they agree with him. They lampshade it.Happy: He got all moody.
Natsu: That guy can't really seem to take criticism pretty well, huh?
Carla: He won't be getting any more customers with that attitude. - Continuity Nod:
- Wendy tells Modeus about the Oracion Seis arc.
- Everyone immediately notes the similarities between Baul and Vergil after hearing the former is Modeus' Evil Twin.
- When telling Modeus that he can stay with Fairy Tail, who know the pain of losing loved ones, Wendy recalls Cait Shelter while Erza remembers her friends from the Tower of Heaven.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Downplayed given he was clearly still raring to go, but Baul manages to dispatch Natsu in each of their encounters without much difficulty.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Unlike canon, Dante simply intended to defeat Baul, and was even willing to let Wendy heal him. Instead, Modeus is forced to kill him in order to protect Wendy.
- Establishing Character Moment: Modeus shows how servile he is by continuing to be polite to the bartender despite the latter angrily yelling at him, even trying to give constructive criticism on his food. He later enjoys spending time with Wendy people watching, establishing him as a Friend to All Children.
- Eyes Never Lie: Dante remarks that even when disguised as humans, demon eyes have a spark to them. This is how he pegged Baul as one.
- Family of Choice: Fairy Tail's status as such is referenced, with Wendy outright calling them her family when talking with Modeus.
- Fantastic Racism: Despite being trained by Sparda, Baul directly refers to humans as lesser beings, being confused as to why Dante would join a guild full of them.
- Foil: Baul and Modeus are greatly contrasted in appearance and personality. The former is a white demon who seeks a good fight and holds disdain for humans whereas the latter wears prominently dark clothing, mentions having long since given up the sword, and enjoys being around humans, even being a Friend to All Children.
- Foreshadowing: Baul and Modeus both mention they have met dragons before despite the beasts disappearance, hinting at their true age and demonic nature.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: Baul breaks out his true demon form against Dante, revealing he wasn't going all out in his battles with Natsu.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How Baul meets his end, from Modeus' sword no less.
- The Nose Knows: Natsu can tell both Baul and Modeus are demons thanks to his sense of smell, as well as picking up on them being related even before they state they are brothers.
- Not So Similar:
- Upon hearing that Baul is Modeus' Evil Twin and is seeking Sparda's power, the rest of Fairy Tail naturally thinks of Vergil. Modeus states that Baul does not have any grand ambitions like Dante's brother, simply wishing to fight strong opponents.
- While Modeus compares Bauls eagerness to fight to Natsu, the latter retorts that he doesn't kill people and use their power to increase his own.
- Papa Wolf: Modeus kills Baul in order to protect Wendy.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Natsu manages to rattle Baul by pointing out how far removed his actions are to Sparda's principles.Natsu: You want to be as strong as Sparda so bad, then don't try and kill his son! If you're really his apprentice, I doubt he'd agree with something like this. I bet the only reason you won't fight Modeus is cause you're scare. That's it isn't it?
- Retired Badass: Modeus is a former apprentice of Sparda but mentions having given up his sword a long time ago.
- Sore Loser:
- When Happy brings up how Baul beat Natsu twice, the latter irritably says he was caught by surprise.
- Played with for Baul, who isn't so much upset that he lost as he is by the fact that Dante won't finish him afterwards, even attacking the other members of Fairy Tail to provoke him.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Since he was the one to kill Baul instead of Dante, Modeus doesn't try to fight the latter out of revenge and the chapter ends with him convinced to join Fairy Tail.
- Super Mode: Downplayed. Entering his true devil form gives Baul a boost in power, though several of those watching note it's not as much of a boost as a Devil Trigger.
- Sword Pointing: Baul does this to Natsu and Happy during their first confrontation.
- The Worf Effect: Baul demonstrates how strong he is by dispatching Natsu twice with minimal effort.
- Would Hurt a Child: Baul nearly killed Wendy, only stopping short from Modeus' intervention.
