Fairy Tail/Tropes F-P

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Face Fault
  • Face Heel Turn
    • Laxus, though how much of a Face he was to start with is debatable.
    • The entire reason Oración Seis seeks Nirvana is the ability to cause these at will in whoever they want.
    • Gray in the anime exclusive arc, though he's more of a Fake Defector. It turns out that Natsu forgot a promise to the villager that was sealed by Daphne and he kind of wanted him to destroy Daphne's artificial dragon.
  • Fake Crossover
    • Plue is a summon Lucy uses that originated from Rave Master.
    • There's Musica walking around in the background. Heck, half the interest for fans of Rave Master is spotting these moments.
    • And then there this page.
    • Chapter 102, page 02, bottom panel, right in the front.
      • Musica and Hebi pop up in the same chapter.
      • Go to the title page and look at the mask Natsu has on the side of his head.
      • Haru watches the farewell fireworks put on by Gray, Natsu and Lucy.
    • Griff showed up on the cover of volume 6.
      • He also pops up when Wendy is being welcomed into Fairy Tail and in episode 21 (Happy is eating him while they're at Lucy's house).
      • Heck, Griff can even be spotted IN THE FIRST CHAPTER!
    • A character from Plue's Dog Diaries is in the trash can in one of the omake.
    • Elie is amidst the crowd fleeing the train station in the Lullaby arc. She even has her weapon out.
    • In Yajima's restaurant, there's a man dressed like Ruby who has his same verbal tic: poyo!
    • The anime sees the return of the Jiggle Butt Gang (a.k.a., the Big Butt Bandits).
    • The beach omake not only has Elie and Julia in it, but Ship Tease for Belnika/Musica, which was quickly shoved aside in Rave Master in order to deal with the final battle.
    • Aside from characters from Rave Master making cameos in Fairy Tail, several names are used in both series. Etherion, Oracion Seis, just to name a few...
  • Fake Defector: Gajeel. Also Gray in a filler arc.
  • Fan Service: Oh dear sweet Lord of everything holy in this sweet world, where do we start?! The anime even has a unique sound effect just for the fanservice moments. And it gets plenty of use.
  • Fan Service with a Smile: Team Natsu briefly work in a cafe at one point. Lucy and Erza have ridiculously sexy outfits, and Gray forgets his uniform save the bow tie.
  • A Father to His Men: Master Makarov is very much this. Phantom Lord kidnapping and hurting three of his "children" was what finally drove him to defy the law against guild fights and teach those belligerent jerks a lesson they never forgot. Gajeel has had roughly ONE MOMENT of Oh Crap. This is a guy who taunts Natsu for fun. What makes him brown his trousers? Angry Makarov. What was he doing? Inviting Gajeel to join Fairy Tail.

[[spoiler: Gajeel: But I hurt your guild members.
Makarov: And THAT IS UNFORGIVABLE.
Gajeel: (Oh Crap face)
Makarov: But so is abandoning a young man surrendering himself to darkness.]]

  • Feed It with Fire: Dragon Slayers can regain energy by eating their given element (though not any that they create). Some, such as Gajeel the Iron Dragon Slayer and Wendy the Sky Dragon Slayer, are more fortunate than, say, Laxus (lightning) and Cobra (poison). Though Cobra was smart enough to keep a poisonous snake so that he wouldn't have to rely on luck to refuel.
  • Fiery Redhead: Definitely Erza, and Natsu too if you count pink.
  • Filler
    • An entire filler episode at episode nine? The only reasoning for this is that they wanted to showcase the Crowning Music of Awesome again before they moved on to the new arc.
    • Episode 19 seems to confirm that we'll get filler between each major arc. But at least it means more Fan Service Character Development for secondary characters.
  • Final Boss Preview: Done very often. Zero's first act is to beat the shit out of Natsu. Laxus did the same thing, although he was only stunned. Reitei Lyon's first appearance has him using Gray as a soccerball. Hades' first fight is curb stomping Makarov. Subverted with Phantom Lord when Jose turns out to be an illusion, and Makarov is taken out by Aria's sneak attack.
  • Finger Gun: Hades does this after he shrugs off Team Natsu's combined efforts. Naturally, he kicks the crap out of everyone with it.
  • Five-Bad Band
    • Reitei Lyon and his group.
    • Master Jose, Gajeel, and Element 4 from the Phantom Lord arc.
    • The Raijinshu can qualify if you ignore the fact that there are only four of them (Fried plays two roles).
    • Ivan Dreyar heads one that he's bringing with him to the tournament.
  • Five-Man Band: Team Natsu.
  • Flanderization: Rampant in the fillers. Gray is all Juvia talks about, and Fried is unable to make a simple decision without wondering what Laxus would do.
  • Floating Continent: Edolas has several, the most prominent being the one where Extalia lies.
  • Fluffy the Terrible
    • Arguably, Mystogan, an S-Class wizard on par with Laxus who's name suggests that he's useful for watering your houseplants. (In the second OVA he literally carries squirt bottles.)
    • Also, Pantherlilly, who is one of Faust's generals.
    • Also Elfman and the name Fairy Tail in general.
  • Foil: All over the place.
    • Laxus and Mystogan are both S-class wizards that don't spend much time in the guild. Laxus is a flashy Jerkass Social Darwinist who thinks he's too good to hang around the weaklings in Fairy Tail, while Mystogan is a Shrouded in Myth Master of Illusion who is ashamed of where he comes from and wants to thwart his father's plan to turn this world's wizards into Lacrima. Laxus dresses in flashy clothing, such as a fur lined jacket and a royal purple shirt, while Mystogan wears baggy clothes in black and gray.
    • Another foil for Laxus is his grandfather, Makarov: a wise, humble old man with the power to flatten a city, who prefers not to fight except as a last resort. Makarov has a habit of downplaying how much of an effect his guidance has on his highly successful guild, and attributing it all to the members.
    • Natsu and Gray are an obvious example. They're quite similar in age and temperament, but use opposing types of magic, and Natsu is Hot-Blooded and impulsive while Gray is more thoughtful and methodical.
    • Erza and Lucy. They're both young, attractive, and want what's best for their friends, but Erza is a calm and collected S-class wizard who fights with melee weaponry [1] and Lucy is a summoner who's always freaking out over something.
    • Erza and Mirajane: They're both the same age, a little off and were constantly bickering with each other and later they're both the relative Team Moms of the guild while Erza is the stern one while Mirajane is the bubbly one.
  • Foot Focus: Seen quite a few times in the manga, especially in the Edolas arc. Lucy and Erza tend to get this treatment.
    • During Erza's fight with Evergreen, she takes off her shoes (and long socks) so that she may hold an additional two swords with her toes.
  • Foreshadowing
    • Wendy is shown in some Fairy Tail group shots well before being invited to join. That's certainly different from One Piece's policy...
    • Gemi and Mini show up in a couple chapter covers long before they were ever introduced. Though since they just look like a couple of odd creatures (never too surprising in Mashima works), it's easy to just pass over them.
    • In the last shot of the anime's second opening, Loke is seen standing behind Lucy and next to her Celestial Spirits... I wonder why?
    • At one point in the third opening, there's a shot of Natsu with Gajeel and Laxus leering in the background. Whatever could be the reason for that?
    • Episode 4 ends with scenes not in the manga, including a battle with enemy wizards, one is a fortune teller who predicts that Gray "will have problems with water and women." Does that remind you of anyone?
    • Added scenes in episode 26 hint toward Loke being a Celestial Spirit.
    • If you notice the cover for the 197th chapter Edolas Lisanna isn't part of the Edolas Fairy Tail guild waving goodbye. Why is that? She's actually Earthland Lisanna!
    • Remember how Gajeel wanted a cat before the beginning of the Edolas arc? Guess what he got at the end of that Edolas arc. In extension, the anniversary of Lisanna's "death" Anniversary just happened to be arriving right before the Edolas arc. Guess who shows up while Mirajane and Elfman are visiting her grave at the end of the Edolas arc.
    • The anime adds in a scene where Gajeel's action figure has a place on it's stand for a small cat. The Natsu/Happy and Wendy/Carla figureines are sold in pairs, so they figure that Gajeel is eventually going to get a feline companion.
    • Natsu telling Zalty (Reitei Lyon's Dragon) that he smells like a woman. Zalty is actually Ultear in disguise.
    • The last page for Chapter 234, a seemingly out of place page with a boy, who resembles an older Romeo, staring at the sea; he appears again in Tenrou Island arc's ending marking the beggining of a 7 year Time Skip, the year is X791, this date could be seen in the boy's next appearance on the newspaper next to him.
  • Forgotten Fallen Friend: Subverted. Though Simon and Ur both seem to quickly vanish from memory after their arcs, Simon comes up whenever Jellal plays a key role in an arc, and Ur's fate ends up playing a role in resolving Ultear's story roughly 200 chapters after she was last mentioned.
  • For the Evulz: Edolas!Erza admits that she hunts people down solely because she likes causing pain.
  • Fourth Wall Mail Slot: At the end of each volume there's a Q&A corner that Lucy and Mirajane take part of with occasional visits from other characters.
  • Freaky Friday Flip: Episode 19. For all the True Companions.
  • Friendly Tickle Torture: Natsu does this to Erza after rescuing her from Jellal the first time.
  • Furo Scene: Happens quite a lot, almost all of them with Lucy.
    • Most notably the first one is in the 3rd episode and forth chapter.
    • Lucy has three more as filler scenes in episodes 21, 29 and 42.
    • Lucy and Cana have two together near the beginning and end of the S-Class Trial arc.
    • The Fairy Tail special Welcome to Fairy Hills one with Erza, Evergreen, Levy, Bisca, Juvia and Laki.
    • Chapter 261 does it in an Onsen, this time with the "guys trying to peep on the female side" part (led by Natsu of all people!) Naturally, Erza sees no problem in telling them to join...
  • Gainaxing: Recent episodes in the anime have taken to a subtler-than-most application.
    • In episode 58, when Gemini Lucy removes her top the bouncing is noticeable, it's even commented by Hibiki.
    • And now again in episode 89, when Coco is trying to extract Lucy from being trapped under Byro's octopus form.
  • Gecko Ending: Averted, fortunately. The anime-only Daphne filler arc was supposed to be the anime's ending at 72 episodes.
  • Gender Blender Name: A male cat, the strongest and biggest of the Exceed is called... Lily.
  • Genre Savvy
    • Gajeel wasn't torturing Lucy for some sadistic thrill, he was doing it because he knew Natsu would get there to rescue her and wanted to fight Natsu when he was angry, and therefore more powerful.
    • Erza appears to be aware of Temporal Paradox when Team Natsu traveled back to the year X778.
  • Gentle Giant
    • "Beast Arm" Elfman.
    • Makarov is an inversion. He's kind and gentle normally, when he's two feet tall, but when he uses his Titan Magic, it means he's about to kick someone's ass.
    • Also Gildarts.
  • Get Back to the Future: The plot of the third OVA.
  • Girlish Pigtails
  • Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: Loke does this to Caprico before their battle, as seen on this masterpiece [dead link]
  • Giving Up the Ghost
    • This happens to Mira during the guild brawl in episode 2, and to Kage in episode 8.
    • Also to Makarov during the anime, when contemplating the property damage team Natsu caused while taking out Lullaby.
  • Gonk
    • Duke Everlue and his maids.
    • Mirajane's Imagine Spot of Elfman and Evergreen's child.
    • Wally, Richard and Ichiya.
  • Good Costume Switch
    • Bickslow loses the skulls on his shoulders and gains a tuft on the back of his hood, making him look more like a knight.
    • Juvia is debatable, as her before and after outfits don't look particularly good or evil, just gloomy vs. cheerful.
  • Gratuitous English
  • Gratuitous Spanish
    • Oración Seis, (allegedly) "the Six Prayers."
    • Juvia's name is taken from "Lluvia," which is Spanish for rain.
  • Green Thumb: Droy, Lucky, Azuma, and Beth.
  • Green Rocks: Lacrima
  • Griefer: Raven Tail's strategy in the tournament appears to be this; they don't seem that concerned if they actually win as long as they make sure the Fairy Tail wizards lose as badly as possible. One of this guild's members, Flare, even gets beaten up when she almost loses her battle with Lucy if not for one of her guildmate's intervention.
  • Groin Attack: Lucy goes all out with this one, combining it with Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty. She convinces Jose that yes, she is in fact going to use a bucket as a toilet if he's not going to let her use a washroom. Then she winds up and kicks him in the balls from behind in an attempt to escape.
  • Guns vs. Swords: Erza and Bisca use the same magic and the latter admires the former.
  • Handicapped Badass
    • Gildarts, who can still toss other guild members on their ass even if he loses an arm, a leg, and "some organs" to Acnologia, the Black Dragon.
    • Ur is this as well: having lost her leg to Deliora due to protecting Gray/Lyon, she simply makes an icy prosthetic and goes on to kick the demon's ass. "Don't you think molding magic is wonderful?"
  • Happily Married: Alzack and Bisca, after the Time Skip. With a kid, too.
  • Heal It with Fire
    • Natsu does this to Macao in order to keep him alive long enough to reach treatment towards the beginning of the series (manga only).
    • Natsu suggests doing this to Erza when she is poisoned and they think they need to cut off her arm, but luckily Wendy arrives in time.
  • Heartbeat Soundtrack: Right before Zeref kills Zancrow.
  • Heel Face Return: When Natsu and his friends return from a mission, they suddenly discover that Gajeel has joined their guild. They are not amused.
  • Heel Face Turn: Kageyama, Lyon and most of his underlings, Juvia, Shou, Simon, Wally and Miliana, Gajeel, Fried, Laxus, a Nirvana-influenced Hoteye, Jellal, Meldy, Ultear, and the Celestial Spirits Gemini, Caelum, and Capricorn (though the last was possessed by Zoldio). In short, Fairy Tail loves this trope.
  • Heel Face Revolving Door: Jellal, though a lot of the times it only looks like he's changing sides at the time.
  • He Is Not My Boyfriend
    • Lucy, whenever Happy or someone else eggs her on about her relationship with Loke.
    • Also happens with Virgo egging Lucy on, only about Natsu. Poor girl never catches a break.
    • And a variant whenever Juvia accuses her of being after Gray.
    • A more recent example is occurring during the S-Class trials with two of the minor characters, Elfman and Evergreen.
  • Hero Antagonist: The magic council, especially Dranbalt and Rahal.
    • Every competing guild in the Tournament Arc save, Raven Tail. Yes, even Sabertooth.
      • Then came chapter 281, it shows that Sabertooth isn't so good after all.
  • Heroic Fantasy: Fairy Tail as a manga is inspired by European tales of old from various cultures, but is set mostly in a town in the middle of a world fabricated completely by the mangaka where magic is commonplace, and there are parallel universes. Time is measured in centuries that haven't reached 4 digits yet, and yet 20th Century inventions exist, and everyone wears some degree of classical costumes and modern designer clothes for some reason! Swords and sorcery are present in many forms.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Ur and Simon. Erza, Juvia, and Lyon all try at some point, but ended up surviving.
  • Heroic BSOD: Gildarts does this to Natsu (the local Determinator and Idiot Hero) in the last arc by putting the fear in him. That's right, what dozens of obscenely powerful villains, near-death experiences and assorted demons could not do in 200+ chapters, he did it in the span of five panels and he do this by simply getting serious. That how badass Gildarts is. It should be pointed that this is a more benign example than usual, for he does it to help Natsu grow as a wizard.
  • High Heel Face Turn: Performed mid-battle by Juvia while a member of Phantom Lord. She is one of only two characters who changed guilds at the end of the Phantom Lord arc, the other being Gajeel.
  • High School AU: The entire premise of the second OVA. All the characters retain their basic personality traits, but they manifest in different ways. (eg. Natsu has Tobasco sauce and hot rocks instead of fire magic, Gray eats snow cones and has his stripping fetish, Lucy uses her cell phone to call in favors from friends). The plot for the second half is essentially a truncated Phantom Lord retelling.
  • Hollywood Pudgy: Happy is strangely insistent to point out Lucy's weight. He even finds her heavier than Gajeel. There may two big reasons for that but still...
  • Hope Spot
    • The whole battle with Grimoire Heart is a sequence of these. Gajeel defeating the first arriving Grimoire Heart members, nearly killing himself in the process? These are only scouts, and the real enemy fighting force, the Seven Kin of Purgatory, are far more powerful. Makarov getting serious from the beginning and nearly destroying Grimoire Heart's airship? The airship is restored in seconds and guildmaster Hades steps up to curbstomp Makarov. Fairy Tail members on the island miraculously managing to defeat most of the Seven Kin? Hades' second-in-command, Bluenote, steps in and blows most of those still standing away with no effort. Cana managing to bring the secret magic of Fairy Tail, Fairy Glitter, to bear against Bluenote? It doesn't work because he's just that much more powerful than her. Gildarts, Fried and Bickslow returning to the island and seemingly overpowering Grimoir Heart members for a moment? Azuma seizes control of the island's magic so that instead of protecting Fairy Tail members from death, it instead drains their power. Natsu, with the combined power of his and Laxus' respective elements, proceeding to kick Hades' ass before finally knocking the guy out? Hades gets up without a scratch five minutes later and whips out his strongest magic.
  • Hot-Blooded: Natsu
  • Hot Chick with a Sword / Implausible Fencing Powers
    • Erza, naturally.
    • Ikaruga even more so. She cuts through dimensions.
    • Edolas Mirajane: though without the Implausible Fencing Powers.
    • Kagura: Can cut with her sword still stuck in its sheath.
  • Hot Mom: Ur, as maternal figure to both Gray and Lyon. One of the first things we see her do is strip to her underwear, and we don't mind. She's also actually the mother of Ultear.
  • Hot Springs Episode
    • During the Loke arc with Lucy and Erza.
    • There is another one in chapter 261 with Lucy, Erza, Wendy, Levy and Juvia. Natsu, Gray, Jet and Droy try to do some Outdoor Bath Peeping.
  • How the Mighty Have Fallen: Fairy Tail completely falls apart after the tragedy of Tenrou Island and is now a nearly defunct guild who can't get any jobs. The few members who remain are haunted by the loss of their friends and are constantly harassed by the town's new dominant guild.
  • Humongous Mecha: King Faust owns one called Doroma Animu, a mecha dragon.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Levy and Gajeel, as partners for the S-Class exam. Levy stands about five feet tall, and Gajeel is tall enough that he can -- and does -- use Levy's head as a convenient elbow rest.
  • Hyperspace Wardrobe
    • Erza sometime uses her power in this way. She loves being dressed for the occasion.
    • In chapter 183, Natsu and Lucy find a machine that can change a person's clothing magically and surprise surprise, it's used for more Fan Service.
  • Hypocritical Humor

Lyon: Gray, do something about that stripping fetish.
Gray: I don't wanna hear that from you!

  • I Am Spartacus: After seeing that the Earthland versions of Hughes, Sugarboy, and Coco have no idea what Lucy looks like, Michelle, Natsu, and the other guild members invoke this in order to let Lucy escape safely.
  • Immortality Inducer: During the Tenrou Island arc, Hades' source of power and life is a device called Devil's Heart. The good guys have one too in the form of the Tenrou tree growing on the sacred island.
  • An Ice Person
    • Gray, Lyon and Ur with their Ice Make magic.
    • Eve with his snow magic.
    • Ultear
  • Idiot Ball
    • For god's sake, Lucy! Just because you can't summon Loke or Aquarius, you don't instantly become useless! You have seven other strong summons! Use them!
    • Team Natsu (Plus Wendy and even Carla and Lily) charging into Hades' ship while exhausted and with the knowledge that Hades defeated Makarov. They didn't even need to since Hades wasn't going anywhere and his objective (Zeref) was elsewhere. Grabbing Zeref (Gray even knew where he was) and leaving would have been infinitely more intelligent and was never even considered. This is more an example of Honor Before Reason. Perhaps Natsu wouldn't have considered running with Zeref under any circumstances, but he'd be the only one of that group. No, Grimoire Heart had kicked in their door, basically invading their home and trying to kill them all off, on top of successfully destroying the island. It wasn't that they were unable to consider tactics, it was that they were pissed.
  • Idiot Hero: Natsu's actually a subversion. He's quite intelligent, he's just too impulsive to actually use his brain.
    • And that actually becomes a key element in his fight against Cobra of Oración Seis. "This can't be...! This guy...! He isn't thinking at all!" To be fair, that was in the heat of battle... and only when he realized he had to, as until and after that point he was continually trying to use cleverer strategies only to have them thwarted via mind reading.
  • Ignored Enemy: The anime occasionally Lampshades this by cutting to the opponent's nonplussed reaction while the main characters are ignoring them to argue amongst themselves.
  • I Let You Win: How Cana and Lucy were able to defeat Fried and Bickslow so quickly during the S-Class promotion exam.
    • Also turns out to be used by Mest in the same event.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Gray and Makarov.
  • Important Haircut
    • Fried Justine, after Laxus is excommunicated from the guild, gets a buzz-cut. Which sucked because he had such pretty long green hair... It's alright though. It grows back between then and the end of the Nirvana arc.
    • Edolas!Lucy does this as well to differentiate herself from Earthland!Lucy, though there's a minor subversion, in that she claims it isn't important because the people in Edolas are too focused on trying to survive instead of their appearance. It's still viewed as an Important Haircut by the others, though.
    • Edolas!Erza also pulls this stunt for the same reason as Edolas!Lucy. Erza knocking her out, stealing her clothes and impersonating her probably helped in that decision.
    • Juvia after joining the guild.
  • Imagine Spot
    • Lucy pulls this a few times.
    • Juvia sometimes gets this after misinterpreting one of Gray's comments as a come-on.
    • Natsu, Happy and Wendy each imagine what Edolas Erza would be like. They're all DEAD WRONG.
  • Imagine Spotting: Juvia's Imagine Spots are either visible, or everyone just knows her too well. Carla being able to see them is probably due to her having mild psychic powers.
  • Incendiary Exponent: For Natsu a typical meal is usually something like a chicken leg, a plate of spaghetti, and a drink; only everything is on fire. Even the drink. With regards to the drink, maybe it's not so impossible if we consider one of those flaming cocktails.
  • Informed Ability: Erza says that Ichiya is a powerful wizard, but thus far he's been beaten up for comic relief, got taken out by a party of nameless thugs, and the only useful ability he shows are perfumes that can act as a painkiller and temporarily boost his strength, both of which have only been used once.
    • As if to underline this, his stats given for the Grand Magic Games are downright pathetic, leaving him outclassed not only by his own teammates, but by everyone else participating in the tournament.
  • Innocent Fanservice Guy: Gray
  • Instant Allegiance Artifact: Nirvana, arguably.
  • Instant Runes: In the anime any overt use of magic creates this -- noticeably, Dragon Slayer magic has a dragon head as the central design.
  • Instrument of Murder: Zeref's Lullaby demon flute, as well as Vithaldas's guitar.
  • Intercontinuity Crossover: With Flunk Punk Rumble of all series (apparently because it's Mashima's favorite series, done by a former assistant). And apparently the author of that series's favorite author is Mashima, so that probably helped things along quite a bit. Most stunning of all is despite the WTF, it ain't half bad. The joint attraction of having both series' voices of reason in the same place being just one hilarious example.
  • Invisible Jerkass: In a filler episode. Lucy isn't the worst offender out their, but the first thing she does when she reaches Fairy Tail is get everyone to fight one another.[2]
  • Ironic Echo Cut: Season 2, Episode 86

""(while trying to find way through labyrinth-like castle)
 Lucy: It honestly wouldn't surprise me if there was an amusement park here as well.
(cut to Gray, Natsu, Lucy looking stunned in front of an amusement park)
Lucy: What? There really is an amusement park!

  • Irony
  • It's All My Fault: Gray does this during the Galuna Island arc. As a child, he set out to defeat the demon Deliora, who had killed his parents. His mentor Ur saved him by sacrificing herself to seal Deliora away. He's lived with the guilt ever since.
  • Jerkass: Laxus (pre-Character Development), as well as most of the villains, with special mention going to Raven Tail.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold
    • Definitely Erza and eventually Gajeel.
    • The Edolas farmer Happy and Carla run into. Screaming the entire time about how much trouble it is, he takes them in, feeds, and clothes them, and recognizes his son at first sight.
    • Laxus after his He's Back moment.
  • Katanas Are Just Better
    • In her battle during the Tower of Heaven arc, Erza has to fight Ikaruga using a katana. The woman destroys every one of her armors, and all her weapons except two. At the end, Erza wins using that pair of weapons. Which weapons did she use? You guessed it!
    • Ikaruga, as well as Totomaru and Yomazu, are villainous examples.
  • Keep the Reward: Occurs twice with technicalities being cited as justification.
  • Kill Sat: Despite how bizarre that seems in a magical setting.
  • Kissing Discretion Shot: After three whole pages of their lips getting closer, Jellal and Erza are silhouetted as the view zooms out, making it impossible to tell if they really do get their kiss or if they're still just very close before Jellal decides he actually shouldn't.
  • Kung Fu Wizard: A large number of wizards, Natsu and Gajeel in particular.
    • This one is interesting, because the Vanish Brothers specifically mention in the early chapters that the main weakness of wizards is their body, a natural aversion of this trope. However, literally every noteworthy wizard we've seen has been quite capable in the physical department.
    • To be fair though, Natsu, Gajeel, Erza and a few others are arguably more fighter than they are wizard. Just fill in "chi" with "magic". Possibly because the smart ones realize this and train their bodies as well as their magic. The wizards who live to see 40 are the ones who can dodge a sword.
  • Lady of War: Erza again.
  • Lampshade Hanging: Quite a few.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia
    • Jellal receives amnesia and has no idea who or where he is, what's going on, and who he's interacting with, but he can remember where Nirvana is and how to use his magic, which he remembers he needs to use to destroy Nirvana because it's too dangerous. It's made even funnier by him saying Erza's name then saying "That's the only word I can remember" before pleading to be told who he and "that person" are.
    • Happy seems to have a case of this. Carla as well, but to a slightly lesser extent. Except that they really don't. Carla interpreted it as this, but she was really seeing the future without realizing it.
  • Late Arrival Spoiler
    • Mentioning that Jellal and Siegrain are the same person is like mentioning that Darth Vader is Luke's father. Honestly, after Siegrain's first on-page meeting with Ezra in the manga, where he displayed the ability to project astral illusions of himself to hold conversations with people, it should have been fairly obvious that Siegrain was Jellal's astral projection.
    • Several villains pull a Heel Face Turn in this series, with some (Juvia, Gajeel, Pantherlily) joining Fairy Tail and others (Lyon, Jellal, Ultear, Meldy) join/form other guilds.
    • There is a seven-year Time Skip.
    • First Episode Spoiler: That goofy pink-haired guy that Lucy ran into is not only a wizard, but he's the real Salamander from Fairy Tail.
  • Leeroy Jenkins: Natsu, big time. Occasionally, others as well, such as Gray or Gajeel.
  • Literally Falling in Love: That's the way Erza and Jellal become an Official Couple. Well, more or less official...
  • Little Miss Badass
    • Wendy is on her way to become one.
    • Mavis Vermilion, Fairy Tail's first guild master.
  • Loads and Loads of Characters: Most of the support cast populating Fairy Tail. However; they all have character bios and some have been given character development and backstories.
  • Logic Bomb: Old-style Dragon Slayers are raised and taught their magic by dragons. Wait, what?
    • It gets lampshaded by Lucy early on. Later, after meeting two other dragon slayers, Natsu is revolted to find out they killed the dragons who raised them.
  • Long Bus Trip: Erza's friends and Mystogan.
  • Loud of War: Natsu uses this to his advantage against Cobra, who has incredibly powerful hearing that lets him read minds, somehow. He tricks him with the phrasing of the attack beforehand as a widerange roar, which would normally mean a gigantic fireball. Nope, it's actually an extremely loud, actual dragon's roar.
  • Lovable Sex Maniac
    • Loke
    • Makarov would also count.
  • Love Dodecahedron: There isn't one, but that doesn't stop Juvia's wild imagination from conjuring one up.
  • Love Freak
    • Sherry, one of the Lamia Scale wizards fought early on, was a villainous example before her Heel Face Turn.
    • Hoteye becomes a milder example after his Heel Face Turn.
  • Lucky Seven
    • Inverted. July 7th year 777 is when every dragon parental figure vanished. By the way, that was 7 years ago.
    • It got played straight outside of the manga though. Volume 7 was released in English on July 7th. Manga release equals good luck.
  • Luke, You Are My Father: Cana eventually reveals to Gildarts that she is his daughter.
  • Made of Iron: It is a shonen series, what do you expect?
  • Magical Computer: A literal magical computer. Also, Hibiki's magic.
  • The Magic Goes Away: The end of the Edolas arc.
  • Magic Knight: Erza is hardcore about this and Gray has some elements of it.
  • Magic Music/The Power of Rock: Vidaldus
  • Magic Skirt: Surprisingly, considering the massive amount of Fan Service in the manga.
  • Magitek: Any vehicle, and Hibiki's magic. Also Doroma Animu, Faust's Humongous Mecha.
  • Make Me Wanna Shout: How Natsu defeats Cobra. After "not thinking" to confuse Cobra goes south when Cobra starts fighting back with poison, Natsu turns Cobra's sensitive hearing into his weakness, by performing a Dragon's Roar, stunning Cobra deaf. In fact the roar is so loud it could be heard for miles away, making Lucy think it's made by an Eldritch Abomination or something. And considering Happy could barely stand it with just normal hearing, the effect is absolutely devastating on Cobra's ultra sensitive hearing.
  • Making a Splash: Juvia, Mirajane, and Aquarius.
  • Male Gaze: *cough*
  • The Man Behind the Man: Zeref, who is doing the manipulating to bring himself back to life (although he seems to not technically be dead). Ultear also plays this role both for Lyon and Jellal. Although in reality that was Ultear pretending to be Zeref. Zeref himself doesn't seem to be aware of any of this stuff happening.
  • Manly Tears/Cry Cute: Happens often.
  • Manipulative Bitch
    • No, not Jellal a.k.a. Siegrain. Ultear.
    • Angel of the Oración Seis is a pretty manipulative bitch too. Especially when she summons Aries, someone Loke is very close to, to fight him.
  • Marshmallow Hell
    • An interesting twist. Erza tries to pull Natsu into one while apologizing, either forgetting or ignoring the fact that she's wearing steel armor. Complete with a sound effect and Natsu complaining about the pain. Erza has done this to Lucy and Gray at least once as well. When we learn more about Erza's past, one may figure this is a part of her psychological dependence on armor and her difficulty actually letting others get close. The gag hasn't repeated itself since, so presumably the issue is resolved. Give new meaning to the phrase Boobs of Steel.
    • Taken to the extreme in chapter 227 I wish I was Natsu...
  • Mask Power: Mystogan is one of the strongest active member of the guild and of course wears a mask that hides his face.
  • Masochist's Meal: The Hanezakana (Winged Fish) is awful no matter how you prepare it.
  • Mathematician's Answer

Lucy: What the heck is that!?
Virgo An octopus tentacle.

  • McCloud Speech: Subverted, leading Master Makarov to give the page quote.
  • Mega Manning: This is the power of the assassin Fukuro, who eats his opponent whole and "digests" their power. He swallowed Natsu and used his Dragon Slayer techniques, but Gray commented that they don't really compare to the real thing.
  • Miniature Senior Citizens
    • Makarov; inverted whenever he feels like it.
    • Also a few members of the council.
  • Mind Control: Vidaldus. Ultear as well.
  • Mistaken Identity: Jellal's amnesia isn't the reason he doesn't remember saving Wendy's life. He's never met her before; it was Mystogan who saved her.
  • Monster Mash: The Monster Academy.
  • Mood Whiplash: Happens often to the point where characters lampshades it.
    • One notable example is chapter 249. Most of the chapter is a mix of Heartwarming and Funny moments as Fairy Tail celebrates its victory, and ends with Zeref telling the remnants of Grimoire Heart that he will destroy the world.
    • Also occurs during some of the more serious episodes as an unfortunate side effect of the cute little animation in the middle of the episodes: Happy acting cute while a jaunty tune plays in the background. Not so adorable when it's interrupting a big serious fight.
  • Mr. Exposition
    • The whole reason for Klodoa's (Brain's sentient staff) existence, apparently, to the point that he is killed after there's nothing left for him to explain about the Oración Seis.
    • Happy often serves as this. Despite being, you know, six.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Gray. How bad has he got it? His magic training left him with a deep-seated habit of stripping naked for no reason whatsoever, without even noticing. Racer calls him a "lady killer" out of nowhere, if only to reinforce this trope.
    • There's also the handsome and extremely morally ambiguous Jellal, who gets to wear skin-tight outfits that subsequently get shredded and need to be replaced with a dashing Badass Longcoat. Not to mention the mangaka just loves filling up panel after panel with closeups of him.
  • Mundane Utility
    • Erza can use her Requipping magic to instantly change her outfit, in addition to summoning various magic armors, swords, spears, etc.
    • Also Natsu can use his abilities to cook food and dry clothes.
  • My Greatest Failure: Lisanna, Elfman and Mirajane's younger sister, almost died while trying to calm Elfman down when his Take Over magic went awry. While the exact details of the event are unknown, Elfman and Mirajane's lives were completely changed after the event.
  • My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours: Surprisingly averted for the most part. The main characters don't get significantly stronger throughout the series, with the exception of Lucy, who gets several new celestial spirits (one of whom, Loke, is probably stronger than any she started with). They continue to triumph anyway by virtue of being Determinators and through good ol' fashioned teamwork. That last one makes sense given the strong emphasis being True Companions in this series. Also, battles are usually determined not by strength but by strategy and luck.
    It is played straight a few times. Mirajane's victory over Fried was mostly because she just had more power than he did. Elfman had to get a new Take Over to beat Sol. Natsu gets a temporary powerup from Jellal in order to defeat Zero.
  • Myth Arc: We have yet to go a full arc (with the exception of the minor Lucy-centric arcs) without a reference to either the dragons or Zeref (dragons: Beginning of the story, Phantom Lord, Tower of Paradise, Fighting Festival, Oración Seis; Zeref: Lullaby, Galuna Island, Tower of Paradise, Oración Seis), and they've been hinted to intertwine. Whatever is up with Jellal turns into one of these as well.
  • My Friends and Zoidberg: Happy gets this when people count the number of wizards on Natsu's team (he even does it to himself). Natsu seems to treat Lucy a little this way too.
  • Mythology Gag: This is not the first time Hiro Mishima introduced Etherion.
  • Narrator: Lucy becomes this from time to time, especially after every arc, as if she's writing the events of the story in a book, a diary, or a letter. Appropriate, as she's an aspiring novelist with a habit of writing letters to her deceased mother.
  • Never Found the Body: Acnologia destroys Tenrou Island and all of the members of Fairy Tail on it with a single attack. No survivors are found, at least for the next seven years.
  • Never Gets Drunk: Cana, she has only been shown drunk once.
  • Never Learned to Read: Natsu, in the anime, learned what the letters meant but not the actual words (except for food). There's a flashback of Erza helping him out.
  • Never Split the Party: During the S-class arc, Levy suggest that she, Lisanna, Elfman and Evergreen stick together, in light of the circumstances. Meanwhile, Natsu, Gray, and Cana have all run off by themselves.
  • New Powers as the Plot Demands
    • While fighting Erigor, Natsu is knocked off a bridge without Happy to save him, but manages to change the make-up of his fire to use it to as a sort of rope. He never uses or even mentions it again. In the anime, this is explained as him emulating a trick Macao showed him when he was a kid. Macao's bio states that he uses the same fire magic as Bora, the first villain, and the anime shows this, so it's not like there's no precedent for it.
    • Also, Lucy's forced dismissal of celestial spirits, "learned" when fighting Sherry. It's not completely forgotten later on and is used a few more times (mostly as a joke, but to good effect when fighting Angel), but it comes completely out of nowhere. At least that power is a logical step up from her previous powers.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The guild can never complete a mission without pulling this off, mostly through collateral damage.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki seems to resemble a deformed version of Dustin Hoffman, with his powers being a reference to Hoffman's role in The Perfume.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown
    • The Oración Seis completely wipe the floor with Team Natsu and the guild representatives they've partnered up with.
    • Midnight did this to everyone he fought before Erza beats him.
    • And shortly afterward, the resurrected Zero delivers one to everyone else that requires a Gory Discretion Shot.
    • The first half of the fight against Yomazu and Kawazu is this for Gajeel. If Levy hadn't been there, it's entirely possible that he could have died.
    • After their fight with Rustyrose, Elfman and Evergreen are lucky to be alive.
    • Hades does this to both Makarov and Team Natsu.
    • The black dragon to everyone on Tenrou Island and the island itself.
  • Numerological Motif: There's one in the Oracion Seis arc that's so subtle it might not even be intentional. Oracion Seis has six members. Sent to stop them are five wizards from Fairy Tail, four from Blue Pegasus, three from Lamia Scale, and two from Cait Shelter. After Oracion Seis is defeated, one of them gets back up again and reveals his Super-Powered Evil Side, Zero.
  • No Ontological Inertia: Played with. Spells have been seen lasting long after a person's death, but this is usually considered an impressive feat.
  • Non-Human Sidekick: Happy, Carla, and Miki Chickentiger's bird, Pii-chan. And later Pantherlily.
  • Won't Work On Me: Attacking Dragon Slayers with their own element will result in this. Fire wizards usually go Oh Crap after having their first attack eaten by Natsu.
  • Not-So-Small Role: Siegrain's first appears to be a minor character whose only role is to comment on the actual events of the story. Of course, he did look just like Sieg Hart so it wasn't too surprising when he turned out to be important.
  • Not What It Looks Like: Now, I know what you're thinking...
  • Obliviously Evil: During the Tower arc Jellal seems to think he's doing the right thing in trying to revive Zeref. That he's torturing, enslaving, and even killing others (all of whom are his former friends) to do so is something he doesn't seem to notice.
  • Official Couple: Aquarius and Scorpio, Edo!Alzack and Edo!Bisca, and later their Earthland counterparts after the timeskip. Sherry and Ren also count after the Time Skip.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome
    • In the Edolas arc, Gajeel, despite being a dragon slayer, didn't show up with Natsu and Wendy in Edolas for some reason. Must be because he is waiting to pull a Big Damn Heroes moment, right? Right, and he pulls a really big one, probably turning the tide of the whole Edolas saga...and all of it happens offscreen. Fortunately, the anime pulled an Adaptation Expansion and included an entire sub-plot covering Gajeel's actions.
    • The other S-Class trial fights.
    • Jellal's prison break. Considering all the parties involved, it was probably awesome.
  • Oh Crap
    • When Fried got owned very hard, it happened three times in a row.
    • "Black Wizard Zeref". The entire Magic Council (those that aren't in on the scheme anyway) have a collective Oh Crap after hearing the name of the one Jellal wants to resurrect using the R-system.
    • Klodoa gets one when it realizes that Brain's other personality is about to wake up.
    • Natsu, Wendy, Happy and Carla realizing the Edo!Erza is hunting them.
    • vergreen when Erza pulls off the ultimate bluff during the Laxus arc, which like Fried, shows three panels of increasing "Oh Crap I'm fucked."
    • During the announcement of the S-Class exam, everybody minus Natsu gets this when they are told that the eight competitors will face the S-class wizards aka Erza, Mirajane and Gildarts.
    • Lucy and Cana when they see who their first opponents in the exam are Fried and Bickslow
    • Elfman and Evergreen when they see that their first opponent is One-Winged Angel Mirajane.
    • Makarov, when he realizes the former guildmaster of Fairy Tail is the guildmaster of Grimoire Heart. Not that he backs down.
    • Natsu has a couple of these moments in the S-class trial arc. The first is when he realizes that Gildarts is exponentially stronger than him and he is brought down to his knees by pure fear. It happens again when he realizes that he can't Won't Work On Me Zancrow's God-Slayer flames.
    • Natsu's and Gajeel's reaction to Laxus revealing he's a Dragon Slayer.
    • In chapter 240, Ultear is shocked when Gray freezes his own blood to counter her time magic. Gray gets his turn when Ultear resorts to Ice Maker magic instead--magic that is exactly like Ur's.
    • Master Hades has a huge one when he realizes that the source of his magic, the "Devil's Heart", was destroyed.
    • When a pissed off Zeref appears in front of them in chapter 250, Rustyrose and Kain Hikaru are so terrified they can't even move. Kain is even crying Tears of Fear.
    • Erza's first appearance gets a collective Oh Crap from everybody except Lucy and Mirajane.
    • The entire title guild when Acnologia shows up and starts wrecking Tenrou Island. Makarov is the exception, and that's because he's fighting the damn thing.
    • The leader of Twilight Ogre reaction to a pissed off Makarov, Erza and Mirajane.
    • Surely in the Celestial Realm, one year is one day on earth! Wrong: one day in the Celestial Realm is three months on earth. Made all the more funnier by the fact that many readers were fooled on that one.
  • Opposite Gender Protagonists: Technically, Lucy is the protagonist, as the story mostly follows her point-of-view since the first chapter, with Natsu introduced only after a little while, and he is only the first of many members of the magical guild who gives the series its title. As the story evolves, however, increasing focus is put on Natsu's Mysterious Past and motivations, so he and Lucy share the spotlight equally.
  • Opposites Attract
    • As stated here, Gajeel and Levy are complete opposites of each other but they are the closest thing to being a couple among the main cast since Erza and Jellal's situation is complicated.
    • The budding situation between Elfman and Evergreen may qualify as well.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: Brain's other personality Zero doesn't care for scheming or plans. He's just a powerful nutcase that wants to destroy everything for the sheer hell of it.

Gray: You asshole! You're going to attack a man who can't move?
Zero: It matters little if he can move or otherwise. AS LONG AS HE HAS A PHYSICAL FORM, DESTROYING HIM IS WORTH ENJOYING!!!!!!

  • The Omniscient Council of Vagueness: Especially the new one.
  • One-Winged Angel: The whole point of "Take Over" magic performed on one's self. Erza's Purgatory armor is implied to turn the user into a demon somewhat; but we never got to see what it truly does despite her doing the usual "None have lived" boast that comes with a One-Winged Angel.
  • Only Sane Woman
    • Lucy
    • Also Max and Warren.
  • Only Six Faces: Averted hard. Even one-shot background characters managed to look unique. Unlike most other contemporary shonen series with Loads and Loads of Characters, Fairy Tail manages to do it without resorting to Gonk. Much. Here's a particularly good example: [1]
  • Orcus on His Throne
    • Jellal is quite happy to send out minions to attack the Tower's intruders, rather than fight himself.
    • Laxus sits in Kardia Cathedral while everyone gets trapped in Fried's runes because no matter how much he hates Fairy Tail's reputation, he doesn't have the stomach to directly kill anyone.
    • Hades after defeating Makarov just sits in his ship and let's the 7 Kin take down Fairy Tail.
  • Overshadowed by Awesome
    • Remember Lucy taking out that whole dark guild on her own? Or Vidalus? Duke Everlue? No? Well, maybe if she took a few steps away from Natsu and Erza you would.
    • Also Sherry (who had a powerset custom-tailored to beating Lucy's), Bickslow (who had already wiped out Gray) and Angel (one of the Oración Seis who had already outsmarted and defeated Ichiya, Jura, Natsu and Hibiki, and like Sherry just happened to have the power to steal control of Lucy's spirits). For that matter, by this point in the story she apparently possesses over half of all the powerful celestial spirits in the world (ten of the twelve golden keys of the zodiac -- which, she explains, are unique). A person with three such spirits qualified for the Oración Seis. Possibly her lack of recognition has something to do with the fact that she uses Summon Magic rather than beating things up directly, and because if she loses her keys she's mostly powerless.
    • The one time someone acknowledges her accomplishments, she gets modest and points out how inaccurate his list of her exploits is.
    • Her tendency towards Heroic Self-Deprecation probably does not help either.
  • Papa Wolf: Gildarts, already one of the most powerful characters, is normally a rather nice guy. When Bluenote nearly kills Cana, however, he gets angry...
    • This is more of a subversion because up until that point in the arc Gildartz didn't know yet that Cana's his daughter
    • It's later lampshaded in chapter 275 when someone straight out of Jackie Chan's The Drunken Master outdrinks Cana and takes her top as a prize and some members point this out. If you thought Gildartz with the lack of knowledge that he's her father was scary when he saved Cana from Bluenote.... there's no telling what he'd do to the poor bastard however strong he is by Erza's standards
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: In the third OVA, Natsu, Gray and Happy avert this by putting on really convincing disguises while Erza and Lucy play it straight.
  • Parental Abandonment: Nobody in Fairy Tail seems to have any (living and non-absent) parents except Lucy (at least, until the timeskip), but her dad is an ass. Somewhat justified by Makarov mentionning that one role of the Guild is to shelter orphans. At least the Fairy Tail members themselves (those two who have children/grandchildren) seem to be caring parents.
    • For Natsu, Parental Abandonment serves as a source of motivation whenever the subject of dragons is brought up: Gajeel and Wendy went through it, as well.
    • And Happy and Carla weren't so much abandoned by their parents as much as kidnapped from them so that those Exceed children could escape the prophesied collapse of their homeland.
    • There is Laxus, grandson of guildmaster Makarov and son of Raven Tail guildmaster Ivan, but they are not a happy family.
    • Macao is Romeo's dad, and their touching and close relationship is basically the entire reason they were introduced in the first place.
    • Gildarts is Cana's father, but doesn't know it. To be fair she knows he's her father, and has known him for the past 12 years and never told him, so it's not really his fault.
  • Passing the Torch: Beautifully subverted in chapter 259 after multiple chapters of set-up. Makarov chooses Gildarts as the fifth master of Fairy Tail, only to have Gildarts choose him as the sixth.
  • Peek-a-Bangs
    • Erza, on occasion.
    • Fried, all the time.
    • Alzack, until the timeskip.
  • Perpetual Poverty: Despite taking on some very high-paying jobs, Lucy is always worried about whether she'll be able to afford the month's rent, because most of the reward money gets swallowed up by her teammates' destructive habits.
  • Personality Powers: Natsu is Hot-Blooded, with Gray often used as a contrast. Laxus is a Psycho Electro. Makarov uses this trope as well.
  • Playboy Bunny: When Erza is asked by a reporter what's her favorite "armor", she answers: the Bunny suit. And then Lucy, starving for attention by the same reporter, dresses in turn as a Playboy Bunny.
  • Playing with Fire: Natsu with his Dragon Slayer magic, as well as Totomaru (who can make fire with weird properties like freezing instead of burning and smelling bad), Bora, and off-screen (until the anime), Macao. Romeo, after the timeskip.
  • Pose of Supplication: Natsu and Happy to Lucy on their first encounter.
  • Pound of Flesh Twist: When the crew goes off on an S-Ranked mission to save an island from a curse that turns them into demons, they find that there is a demon on the island that was sealed away in ice and the villains are trying to resurrect it. The villains manage it, only to find that it was already dead.
  • Power Creep, Power Seep: In the Crossover with Rave Master, Mashima was really smart about how to even the characters powers given they are all created by him. Those in touch with Rave will notice that Haru Glory seems to be about only one-third of his original adventure, and the Fairy Tail cast seems to be early versions as well; it was the right thing to do since Haru Glory, Elie, Musica and others at the end of their adventure could prove too much of a task to the then young Natsu, Grey, Lucy and Erza who didn't have a Grand Finale to estabilish their maximum power level yet.
  • Power Crystal: The lacrima crystals, which are used to power almost every kind of magic item.
  • Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Well, Juvia and Fried's hair had to grow back somehow.
  • Power of Friendship: And how.
    • It's explicitly a style of powerup, even. "Magical Fusion", or "Unison Raid".
    • It also played a key part in helping Mavis Vermilion cast Fairy Sphere.
  • Power of Love
    • Somewhat played straight and subverted with Elfman. Him wishing to save Mirajane made him able to finally use his full Take Over magic. Sadly, it wasn't enough to save Lisanna when he lost control. Except it turns out she's still alive.
    • And again in Chapter 230, when Meredy's sensation-sharing power backfires on her, as Juvia unintentionally uses it to talk her down, with a combination of a Cooldown Hug and Meredy feeling Juvia's feelings for Gray (and relating them to her own feelings for Ultear).
  • Power-Up Food: Dragon Slayers are powerful fighters on their own, but they gain a massive temporary boost when they eat something of their respective elements, some of which can be very common.
  • Powered by a Forsaken Child: The magic in the parallel world, Edolas, comes from absorbing people from the normal world, Earthland, and turning them into raw energy.
  • Powers Via Possession: Jellal displays no magic abilities whatsoever until brainwashed, though retains said magic afterward.
  • Progressively Prettier: Laxus after the timeskip now that he's not making the Psychotic Smirk or a Slasher Smile. Overlaps with Good Costume Switch and Adrenaline Makeover.
  • Proper Lady
    • Mirajane
    • Cana's Edolas counterpart lives and breathes with this trope
  • Protagonist-Centered Morality: Plays a part in why villains are Easily Forgiven. Take Jellal for example. When he was a villain, the protagonists hated him, especially because what he did to Erza. However, when he shows up in a future arc and helps the main characters, he's eventually forgiven for his past actions entirely. They even protest and are angry at law enforcement when they show up to arrest Jellal at the end of the arc for his past crimes. It is very telling when the spoiler tags become fill in the blank.
    To be entirely fair, however, all the main characters do have a strict Thou Shalt Not Kill policy, which they have never broken for anyone, and they're all strong believers in the concept of True Companions as well. There's also the fact that some villains (Brain/Zero, Faust and his court) who are not Easily Forgiven in the slightest. And with the example given, they were more afraid that Jellal wouldn't be treated fairly by the council, as it was implied that Jellal was Not Himself in his villain days.
  • Psycho for Hire
    • Gajeel in the Phantom Lord arc. He drops "psycho" part after his comeback.
    • Also, the Trinity Raven assassins.
  • Psychosomatic Superpower Outage: This happens to Mirajane and Elfman after the latter tries a full-body Take Over, loses control of himself, and ends up killing their younger sister Lisanna. Though maybe not They're both left unable to use Take Over, because trying to use it reminded them of the incident.
  • Public Domain Soundtrack: The anime has its own songs (or at least obscure enough songs no one's heard of), but there are scenes that play classical music in the style of the rest of the soundtrack (such as the Bar Brawl being accompanied by the Can-Can).
    • Also sprach Zarathustra pops up during Gray's fight with Juvia too, along with Pachelbel's Canon.
    • Amusing for American viewers whenever "Pomp and Circumstance" (i.e.: The Graduation song) comes up.
    • The song "Rakuen no Tou", which plays during The Reveal that the Tower of Heaven is made of lacrima and again during a portion of Erza's battle with Azuma, is the first movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2.
  • Punch-Punch-Punch Uh-Oh: The entire fight against Hades is this. No matter how many times they use their strongest attacks and combos, no matter how much outside help or power ups they receive, and no matter how confident they are in their victory once he's on the ground and knocked senseless, he still keeps getting up without a single scratch. Things only turn in their favor once Happy and Carla destroy the machine that's been making him invincible. After that, Hades is pretty much screwed..
  • Punny Name
    • Natsu Dragneel, the dragon slayer -- Justified since Natsu was reared by a dragon anyway, so his name probably would be along those lines.
    • Erza Scarlet the girl with bright red hair. Erza didn't originally have a last name. Jellal picked Scarlet for her because he figured it would be easy to remember that her last name was her hair color.
    • Nichiya, the Edolas version of Ichiya (whose name means "One Night") means "Two Night."
  • Put on a Bus: Jellal and Laxus. The Bus Came Back for both of them, though only briefly for Jellal.
  1. ↑ Though sometimes she tends to take things way too seriously
  2. ↑ she does this after they made fun of her.
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