20 Strongest Fairy Tail Characters (RANKED)
Due to the wide range of magic abilities available in the Fairy Tail series, I decided to list down the best ones in the series. To do so, I checked who are the strongest characters who attained such tremendous power through the unique Magic abilities that they possess.
Here top 20 strongest Fairy Tail characters and their respective Magic abilities, as well as a brief description of them and some of their famous battle feats.
20. Rogue Cheney
Rogue Cheney is one of the two Dragon Slayers of the Sabertooth guild, who was formerly hailed as the strongest guild in Fiore. Rogue is a member of the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth. He was one of the Dragon Slayers 400 years ago who was sent into the future to fight Acnologia.
Rogue is a third-generation Dragon Slayer, which means he learned Dragon Slayer magic from his adoptive father, Skiadrum, and also received a Dragon Lacryma to augment his power even further.
Rogue’s Shadow Dragon Slayer magic is known as one of the fastest Magic abilities in the series, as it lets him merge with shadows, and turn into one for him to “crawl” over his enemies, making it perfect for evading and sneak attacks. Additionally, unless Rogue himself got touched, his Magic becomes completely intangible like a shadow.
Aside from all these abilities, Rogue also has easy access to Dragon Force, a form that makes them as powerful as the dragons. Rogue got into the list as he is as strong as Sting, as well as help defeat Acnologia. though the latter had a bigger achievement than he did.
19. Sting Eucliffe
Sting is the other member of the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth and is known as one of its strongest members as well. His strength and talents eventually made him the guild master of Sabertooth, basically making him its strongest member. Just like the other Dragon Slayers, he was sent 400 years into the future to help defeat Acnologia.
Sting is also a third-generation Dragon Slayer, who also received a Dragon Lacryma and not just natural Dragon Slayer Magic from his adoptive father, Weisslogia.
His White Dragon Slayer Magic lets him generate and control light, with Sting stating that he has the power of the “judgment of holy white”. It lets him use light to increase his damage through blasts, orbs of light, and beams. He can also use the light to blind his opponents.
As a third-generation Dragon Slayer, Sting can activate Dragon Force at will. One of his most amazing feats was his fight scene against Larcade Dragneel, one of the overpowered Spriggan 12, as well as helped defeat Acnologia in the end.
18. Wendy Marvell
Wendy Marvell is another Dragon Slayer and a member of Fairy Tail. She was previously a member of Cait Shelter, but eventually joined Fairy Tail as it turned out that her former guildmates are spirit projections. She was also sent 400 years into the future to help eliminate Acnologia.
Wendy also had a foster parent, Grandeeney, who taught her Wind Dragon Slayer Magic. Wind Dragon Slayer Magic is mainly focused on supporting its teammates, such as healing them or boosting their attack and defense.
Her abilities in using her support Magic played a huge role in defeating Irene Belserion, Dimaria Yesta, and Acnologia. Her Magic can also help her defeat opponents, who often underestimate her for her small size.
Wendy is also known to be capable of advanced enchantment magic when she realized that her Dragon Slayer Magic is related to the said type of magic. When consuming a source of extremely powerful magic, she can gain access to Dragon Force, which is way stronger than the Twin Dragons.
17. Gajeel Redfox
Gajeel is another member of Fairy Tail but was previously an enemy and a member of a former guild called Phantom Lord. He is known to be one of the strongest members of the guild, rivaling Natsu in terms of strength at most times. He is also known to have a lot of amazing abilities as a Dragon Slayer.
He is a first-generation Dragon Slayer, who was adopted by the dragon Metallicana. His Iron Dragon Slayer Magic lets him generate and turn his body into iron at will. Because of this, he can turn his body into iron weapons for cutting and blunt attacks.
He can also become as hard as iron. His ability to use his Dragon Slayer Magic is not just all about iron, as he also knows how to consume other substances to mix it with his already powerful magic.
There was an instance where he also gained the power of Shadow Dragon Slayer by consuming the shadows generated by Rogue. Gajeel also managed to gain access to Steel Dragon Slaying Magic when he fought one of the demons of Tartaros, who used carbon to poison its enemies, which Gajeel consumed to mix with his Iron. Lastly, this bad boy can also access Dragon Force, giving him even more destructive power that just matches his berserker fighting style.
16. Dimaria Yesta
The Spriggan 12 are considered to be some of the most overpowered characters in the whole series, proving that they are truly worthy as the final opponents in the series. Dimaria Yesta is one of them. She is known as one of the fiercest female fighters in the series, just like Erza, who happens to use swords as well.
Aside from being superhuman in terms of strength and speed when fighting with a sword, Dimaria also possesses a powerful version of Time Magic. Her version of Time Magic allows her to freeze time, making her seem like she is superhuman in terms of speed. This proved her to be an extremely dangerous opponent and took the efforts of Wendy and Sheria to defeat her.
15. Gray Fullbuster
Gray is a member of Fairy Tail and is one of the major characters in the series. He is known for his ability to generate Ice and turn it into weapons. His Ice-Make ability is also known to have created a huge number of weapons throughout the series. He also has the power to case Iced Shell, which sacrifices his own life in exchange for freezing his opponents.
Also, due to his Demon lineage upon discovering the true identity of his father, he learned how to access Demon Slayer Magic, an extremely powerful form of Magic that’s perfect against Demons.
He also uses Ice for his Demon Slayer Magic, which enables him to generate and manipulate Ice, which helps improve his Ice-Make Magic. His Demon Slayer Magic also makes him capable of completely freezing his enemies or a large area around him.
He is also one of the few characters who can beat Natsu, as seen when he fought the E.N.D. form of Natsu that resulted in a draw.
14. Mirajane Strauss
Mirajane is a member of Fairy Tail that does not seem capable of possessing a high level of Magic when first introduced. She was introduced as the best model in Fiore and oftentimes stays in the guild as a bartender. But in truth, she is an S-Class mage who was not able to use her powers at first due to an incident regarding her sister Lisanna.
But when her true powers were revealed, it was shown that she is just like her siblings, capable of using Take-Over Magic to assume a different form. Mirajane’s version of Take-Over is in a far different league than her siblings, as she is capable of transforming into a Demon.
Named Satan Soul, her Take-Over Magic allows her to transform into an overpowered demon that uses dark energy to obliterate her enemies. She also possesses superhuman strength and speed in this form, which is why she earned the title of being Erza’s rival, particularly when they were young.
13. Kagura Mikazuchi
Kagura is a member of Mermaid Heel, a guild that has average-level of strength but was strong enough to compete in the Grand Magic Games. Kagura is their strongest member and is known to be an extremely fierce fighter as well. Like Erza and Dimaria, she is also a specialist in using a sword as per weapon of choice.
Kagura’s swordsmanship is known to easily match the likes of Erza in terms of strength. She possesses a powerful sword called the Archenemy, which is a deadly blade when unsheathed. She is proficient in using it and can cut her enemies down even when the blade is still sheathed. Only extremely powerful enemies of Kagura can live to see the blade of Archnemesis.
Kagura is known to wield Gravity Magic and is responsible for teaching it to one of her guildmates, who happens to use it as her main combat style.
12. Laxus Dreyar
Laxus is the grandson of Makarov, Fairy Tail’s guild master, and is one of their S-class mages. Laxus was initially one of the bad members of the guild, who attempted to take over the guild from his grandfather. He even became an antagonist of one arc because of this, before he turned over a new leaf after getting beaten by Natsu. But after becoming a better member of the guild, he is one of those who are deemed worthy to become the next master of the guild.
Laxus is a second-generation Dragon Slayer, the type who received Dragon Slayer magic through Dragon Lacryma. As a result, he can generate and manipulate lightning at will.
With this, he can launch destructive attacks that are just as powerful as Natsu’s. However, with the help of some power boosts from Natsu, as well as becoming capable of consuming Laxus’s lightning itself, the former was able to beat the latter. But still, it took the assistance of Gajeel to damage Laxus during that fight.
11. God Serena
God Serena is one of the Spriggan 12 and was a former number 1 of the Wizard Saints of Fiore before defecting to the Alvarez Empire. He is also known as one of the Four Gods of the Ishgar continent, making him one of the most powerful wizards of all time. He is also known as the Eight-Dragon God Serena because of his spectacular Magic ability.
God Serena is a second-generation Dragon Slayer, but at a whole new level than Laxus and other second-generation Dragon Slayers that were introduced before.
The reason is that he has eight Dragon Lacrymas infused in his body, and was capable of mastering all of them. He gained wind, lightning, cavern (high-level earth magic), purgatory (high-level fire magic), sea king, and three other elements that were never revealed because he got flown away by Gildarts during their battle.
10. Erza Scarlet
Erza is one of the strongest mages of Fairy Tail, earning her the rank of S-Class just like Laxus. She earned titles such as “Titania” for being a formidable warrior, and the “Queen of Fairies” for being the strongest female member. She is famous for both her swordsmanship and the wide variety of armor that she wears for various situations.
There are a lot of armors that Erza possesses, which she can easily access through her Requip Magic. She also has numerous weapons that she can access with the same magic as well, with some matching her outfits due to their respective abilities.
But despite her armors, she never got the chance to use the full powers of all of them due to instances in her battles that causes her armors to get damaged, or from being hindered from using her Requip Magic.
But despite not revealing all of the abilities of her armors, it seems that she does not need to use them all during a battle. Her superhuman strength and her skills in using a sword are enough to make her extremely powerful.
She also has a high level of durability and willpower that made her defeat opponents that seem impossible for her to beat when not wearing armor. Perhaps she possesses a strong plot armor that she does not need to Requip anymore.
9. Makarov Dreyar
Makarov is the guild master of Fairy Tail and is one of the Ten Wizard Saints. He is a small old man that has a powerful ability and Magic Power despite his elderly appearance and age. You can say that he is one of those anime stereotypes of elderly people who have immense power.
Makarov is capable of turning himself into a large muscular person, granting him immense strength and durability that’s perfect for battling multiple people. He has the power to create a maximum defense seal that lets him protect the town of Magnolia or his guild.
He is also a user of Light Magic, which lets him produce blasts of light to attack his enemies. He is also a master of various Magics, including Fairy Law, which can instantly defeat anyone who he sees fit as an enemy.
8. Brandish
Brandish is one of the well-loved characters in the series because of her beautiful looks, and her character that does not seem evil at all. She is one of the Spriggan 12 and is known to be extremely powerful without the need to hold weapons.
She may seem too apathetic and calm to the point of appearing like she cannot fight at all, but she is one of the characters in the series who possesses a massive amount of magic power.
Brandish can reshape, shrink and enlarge any objects at will. Her magic power is so large, that she can shrink or enlarge anyone and anything, including a whole island if she wants to do it. It is implied that she can also shrink down entire continents if she uses all of her magic. In that way, she can easily crush every opponent that she sees fit.
Gladly, she was neutral during the Alvarez Empire Arc, rather than being a main opponent like the other Spriggan 12, as she has the potential to defeat the majority of the guild all by herself.
In terms of combat abilities aside from his Curse, Mard Geer is also extremely fast. Note that Sting and Rogue got defeated by this Demon. And to make him more powerful, he also has a Demon Form, which Gray and Natsu also had a hard time defeating if it were not for plot armor.
7. August
August is one of the Spriggan 12, and is known as the “Wizard King”. August is the son of Zeref and Mavis Vermillion. He is one of the anime stereotypes of old men who have incredible abilities.
He is known throughout the world as a master of countless types of magic and is known for his incredible strength as well. He belongs to the top list for being capable of defeating the Oracion Seis with no effort.
August has mastered Copy Magic due to his mastery of several types of magic. Copy magic allows him to perform the same magic that anyone can do, as well as use it to nullify the ability, making him immune to almost any form of magic. If it were not for Gildarts, August might have killed most of the Fairy Tail mages without any effort at all.
6. Mavis Vermilion
Mavis is the founder and the first master of Fairy Tail. Just like her lover Zeref, she is an immortal who’s suffering from the Curse of Contradiction after using an incomplete version of Law to defeat her enemy. This granted her the curse that can instantly kill anyone close to her by accident if she still chooses to care and value life.
Aside from being capable of the curse, she is also proficient in performing Magic. She is a master of Projection magic, and can also use the three most powerful spells of Fairy Tail.
Her curse also caused her to become Lumen Histoire when she decided to imprison herself in a lacryma to prevent people from killing. Due to her immortality, the lacryma contains infinite Magic, which is why Fairy Tail guild masters kept it a secret from anyone else.
Aside from being a master of Magic, Mavis is also a keen tactician, which helped a lot during the battle against the Alvarez Empire.
5. Irene Belserion
If Erza is overpowered, so is her mother. Irene Belserion is one of the Spriggan 12 and was the very first Dragon Slayer and Dragon at the same time. She was the creator of Dragon Slayer magic, which turns out to be a form of enchantment that Dragons can pass over to humans to grant them the ability.
Like Wendy, Irene is the master of Enchantment Magic, which lets her enchant even her soul towards others, as seen when she used it to Wendy.
She is also capable of compressing and rearranging the geography of an entire country with her magic, as well as revert it if needed, plus summon meteors to destroy a large area. If Irene did not have a change of heart because of her battle against Erza and Wendy, she might have defeated everyone in the guild all by herself.
4. Natsu Dragneel
Natsu is one of the strongest mages of Fairy Tail, and of course, the hero of the series aside from Lucy. Natsu is an S-class wizard of Fairy Tail who loves a good fight against enemies and friends alike. He is a very competitive person who has mustered enough power to become stronger due to his aim to become the strongest in his guild, and possibly against everyone else.
Natsu is a Fire Dragon Slayer who learned the magic through his adoptive father, Igneel. As a result, Natsu can generate and control flames at will.
His power has grown so much over the series to the point where it gets as destructive as a gigantic laser beam or explosion when he uses his finishing techniques against his opponents. He also gained additional Lighting Dragon Slayer Magic through Laxus, which boosts the destructive power of his Fire element Magic.
Natsu is also an expert in hand-to-hand combat and is a formidable fighter. He is also a popular mage in Ishtar and is considered a very dangerous opponent when angry. His flames are also known to grow more intense if his emotions grow as well.
Lastly, he also has access to Dragon Force when he consumes a high-level source of magic or fire magic, a feat of his that he rarely uses, but seems to get stronger as the series progresses. Also, Natsu possessed a demon’s power due to becoming one when Zeref attempted to resurrect him when he was young.
3. Gildarts Clive
Gildarts is an S-class mage of Fairy Tail but is known to be at a different league than Erza, Laxus, and Mirajane. Because of this, he often appears only when the situation gets too dangerous for the entire guild to handle, or when there is an enemy that’s extremely powerful than the other S-class mages. He is known to have faced those overpowered enemies and lived to tell their defeats.
Gildarts is a user of powerful destructive magic called Crush. As the name suggests, the Magic can crush everything on sight once Gildarts attacks a certain object, place, or even his enemies. He can use this to turn his enemies into smaller weaker beings, crush a large cathedral, and fly powerful enemies away with his punch that’s imbued with the magic.
As a testament to Gildart’s abilities, he has an extremely high level of magic power that lets him control the Crush magic, which can destroy anything around it if Gildarts is left unchecked, though Gildarts still has a hard time controlling it.
Aside from this, he has an immense magic power that can make the strong Natsu Dragneel fall on his knees, as well as a high level of strength and endurance that made him fight Acnologia and survived to tell the tale despite his defeat (and lost limbs and organs in the process).
2. Zeref Dragneel
The Black Mage Zeref is a powerful wizard who also happens to be Natsu’s older brother. Zeref is rarely seen in combat but was mentioned many times over the series as a powerful and legendary mage.
His reputation alone has created a cult. His spells are known to be mostly composed of 1-hit-kill spells, such as the one that he used on Precht to instantly kill him for awakening his powers.
Just like Mavis, Zeref also possesses the Curse of Contradiction, which kills everything in sight if his care for human life remains. But when disregarding life and every existence, Zeref becomes an extremely destructive mage.
The stories they tell about Zeref, as well as samples of his magic powers were enough to regard him as top 2 of this list despite his lack of full combat scenes.
1. Acnologia
If there’s no plot armor or sudden powerups that happened in the Alvarez Empire Arc, Acnologia could have killed everyone in sight for his pleasure. Acnologia, the self-proclaimed Dragon King, is the most powerful of all characters in Fairy Tail when it comes to reviewing all of his abilities, and with the plot being fair to him.
Acnologia possesses a Dragon Slayer Magic of an unknown element. This Dragon Slayer Magic lets him call forth shooting stars, release a beam through his roar, and create apocalyptic blasts from the palm of his hand.
He also has the power to warp people into his dimension, which was the final battleground between Natsu and him. Even the Spriggan 12 cannot defeat the immense magic power of this creature.
Additionally, he has gained the power to become a dragon at will due to consuming dragons and bathing in their blood.