Hiro Mashima
When Hiro Mashima was creating "Fairy Tail", he cited Akira Toriyama, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Yudetamago as influences on his work. He based the titular guild on a local bar he was visiting at the time. He based Natsu Dragneel on his early years as a junior high school student. Natsu's motion sickness is based on one of his friends, who gets sick when they take taxis together. He has said that his father's death influenced the relationship between Natsu and the dragon Igneel.