Zeref Dragneel

Zeref Dragneel, commonly known as The Black Wizard, later referred to as Emperor Spriggan, is the main antagonist of the manga/anime series Fairy Tail. He is considered the strongest mage in the series, as he possesses incredibly deadly, powerful, and destructive magic. 
He first appeared as a self-hating youthful recluse who could not control his Powers and was later revealed to be the estranged older brother of Natsu Dragneel, illegitimate father of August and creator of the Etherious originally created to kill him. He is also the love interest of Mavis Vermillion, co-founder and first Guild Master of the titular organization Fairy Tail. He is also revealed to be the Emperor of the Alvarez Empire, known to the citizens there as Emperor Spriggan, being the master of his personal guardians, the Springgan 12.
He is voiced by Akira Ishida in the Japanese version of the anime, and by Joel McDonald in the English version.
== Appearance==
Though Zeref appeared to be a young man he was actually just over 400 years old but due to his Cursed immortality he retained a youthful appearance throughout his life. In addition he kept the characteristics he had back then noticeably his short black hair, clean pale skin, big dark eyes and abnormally-sharp canines.
In terms of clothing Zeref wore a high-collared red (black in the anime) and tan robe with gold trimmings and black pants nearly identical to the one initially worn by Rogue Cheney with a white toga draped over his left shoulder and black lace boots on his feet. He also had a pendant around his neck where he kept a childhood picture of him with Natsu. As Emperor Spriggan (in Japanese: 皇帝スプリガン, Kōtei Supurigan), first leader and founder of the Alvarez Empire he donned a regal and formal version of his usual attire consisting of a white toga lined with golden strings and markings at the edges; underneath this he had a black long-sleeve coat with metal cuffs reminiscent of those sported by Gajeel Redfox.
In his years before becoming immortal he normally wore a version of his usual outfit consisting of a white robe, blue toga and wooden sandals.
When emotionally unbalanced, Zeref's irises become dark red (sometimes purple) with concentric black rings around their pupils, giving him a frightening appearance.
After undergoing the Transformation following his use of the Lumen Histoire, or Fairy Heart his hair and clothing turned white with intrinsic designs on his robe and radiant silver wings sprouting from his back. In the manga, his eyes are also white, but in the anime, they're black.
==Personality==
Zeref was said to have been the darkest, most evil wizard in the magic world as he mastered the Black Arts of Magic Power and created Demons and other monstrous creatures which continued to wreak havoc well into the present. However, the truth was far from what had been previously described: In reality Zeref was a calm-minded, sincere, kind, selfless, humble, trustworthy, straightforward, and optimistic person though over the years he found himself in a state of self-loathing where he wished to isolate himself from others and have his own life be taken away. He regretted the sins he committed and thus wanted to die before he found himself committing more horrid crimes.
After killing so many innocent lives unintentionally through his good nature triggering the Curse of Contradiction, Zeref felt painfully traumatized and broken, losing so much happiness in his life. In an attempt to stop hurting more people, he tried to end his own life by creating demons tasked to destroy him, but they all failed and started wiping out more innocent lives, and many villains even started committing many crimes under his name, which led to Zeref becoming the most hated man in the world. What's worse is that Zeref couldn't save the people who were attacked by the demons or the sinners, because it would mean valuing their lives and that will trigger his curse into killing them automatically; this made Zeref feel so much pain and misery, feeling like he has taken away all meaning in his life. Naturally, Zeref felt troubled and wanted his suffering to end. Despite his painfully large amount depression however, Zeref still tried to find a solution to end his own life and eventually found a way to bring back Natsu, getting help from Anna and Layla Heartfilia to take him to a magic-rich era, hoping that Natsu would become strong enough to kill him.
Zeref showed concern for others when he warned them not to come near him knowing they would most likely perish if they did; he once told Mavis he never chose to stay in one place or enter extended contact with living creatures. He was also emotionally fragile and vulnerable when he believed Mavis somehow died after they showed love for each other and realized his younger brother was not ready to eliminate him yet becoming hysterical and/or breaking down in tears on both occasions. Despite Zeref's capability for evil, he was a more tragic character once others knew him personally; this extended to the point that Mavis tried to cheer him up with her Illusions.
Zeref cared deeply for his family and friends (even innocent lives who were unintentionally harmed by him or were victimized by sinners), wishing that he could be himself around them without triggering his curse. He loved Natsu very much as a brother (even if the latter can be rather hard to reason with a lot of times) and despite wanting to be ended by him, deep down, he wanted Natsu to know how much he truly cared about him and that he never wanted them to be enemies. He kept a pendant containing them in their childhood to remember him. In the Tenrou Island Arc, after seeing Natsu again after so many years, Zeref was happy to see his little brother, but he's naturally sad that Natsu doesn't remember him (aside from the fact he's sad that Natsu wasn't strong enough to destroy him at the time). In his brief appearance during the middle act of the Tartaros Arc, Zeref aided Natsu in winning the battle against the members of Tartaros through a holographic image (despite the latter being distrustful towards him). After Tartaros was defeated, Zeref appeared in person and verbally threatened Natsu and his friends, but deep down, he didn't mean any of that and only wanted to keep his curse from automatically killing them. When he believed he would die by Natsu's hand, he told him the truth of their relationship and revealed how he waited for him.
In contrast to Natsu's reckless, impulsive, and airheaded nature, Zeref is more mature, serious, insightful, intelligent, and principled as an individual. Furthermore, he's a diligent student at school who amazed the professors for how smart and hardworking he is. Additionally, he developed strong feelings for Mavis Vermillion, as she's the only one who has been so kind and understanding towards him. When he first met Mavis, Zeref never told her his name because he knew it would scare her away, and he wanted to keep her safe from his curse. After Zeref unwillingly killed many trees in front of Mavis, the latter immediately recognized the kind of magic, which surprised Zeref as she's the first one who knew about his curse. However, Zeref still chose not to tell her his name because it's not easy. When Mavis requested Zeref to teach magic to her and her friends in order to save Magnolia, he accepted and used his high knowledge of magic to guide them, but when he finished teaching them, he chose to leave because he felt like his job was done and that he doesn't want to cause any problems for Mavis and her friends. Years later, Zeref got to see Mavis again and after feeling like they have known each other enough, he eventually told her his name and Mavis was surprised that Zeref wasn't anything like what the rumors depicted him to be, even saying he has gentle eyes.
Zeref had a clear-cut disdain for the "cultists who longed for [his] resurrection" viewing them as "a group of desperate fanatics" with unamusement and spite likely due to seeing those followers (in the loosest sense) as a majority of the negative histories and legacies he left behind before deciding to return and held similar regards, if not lower for the tales about him apparently having kept tabs on the Magic World while inactive as he was visibly appalled with former student and Fairy Tail's second Guild Master Precht Gaebolg and his new Guild Grimoire Heart for taking the stories about how he had already died and the "Keys" to reawaken him by unlocking his "Seal" very seriously to the point of considering it a holy script deeming said legends antiquated fiction and calling it all "a lie that an old fool put stock in".
Zeref, who's normally a very easygoing individual, does have a cold and brutal side within him as he would punish those he believed or already knew beforehand to be evil (to the point where they cannot be redeemed). This was shown when he ruthlessly slaughtered Precht who had become known as Hades and he correctly thought to have willingly performed or authorized a number of unforgivable and horrific atrocities. As a result of the immortality and agelessness enabling his extended lifespan, Zeref developed some disillusion for humankind and its idiosyncrasies of hatred, evil and conflict.
When personally confronted by Mavis' Thought Projection after the Grand Magic Games, he talked about his plans for the world and how he would bring everything crashing down, though he never revealed or fully explained to her his true plan, possibly because he knew that even Mavis couldn't easily believe something like that. While nearly everyone believed that Zeref was going to destroy all life using Fairy Heart, in reality, what he actually wanted was to reset the timeline to stop Acnologia from becoming too powerful to the point where all of humanity will be easily destroyed by him (and there's a very high chance he will destroy all of life and it's not guaranteed he would be defeated by any method in the present), with Zeref and Natsu killing him in the past to prevent him from beginning his rampage once more. Additionally, Zeref wants to undo every sin humanity committed under his name and prevent them from making more in the future, because as long as Zeref lives, many sinners will continuously commit horrible actions under his name and it can potentially corrupt the future, and this can happen if Acnologia managed to be ended in the current timeline, but with Zeref still alive (Zeref partially blamed himself for all the innocent lives who suffered by sinners who committed crimes under his name, since him cursing himself indirectly led to that). In addition, after Zeref resets the timeline, he can finally relive his life before he got cursed and finally live a normal life with his family, and he wouldn't make the same mistake of cursing himself again (which of course would lead to him and everyone in the world go through tons of misery). Plus, Zeref can finally be his true self without automatically killing anyone and being able to show Natsu how much he truly loved him as a brother (but he never told anyone about his true plan as he knew it's not easy to believe and that almost no one can really understand him). He did however reveal to Natsu a partially unclear explanation his true plan during their second fight, when the curse briefly took control over Zeref's mind and rendered him temporarily unstable, leading him to be more honest about it once he regains control. Zeref, in reality, just wanted to set things right and wanted humanity to have a better future. However, resetting the timeline would mean that Zeref wouldn't be able to meet Mavis again, but his self-loathing made him believe that Mavis' life would have been better without him, thinking that although they may have gotten along really well, he felt like he left a negative impact on her life because of all the bad things he indirectly caused.
His reputations on the continents of Alakitasia and Ishgar differed as Ishgarians thought of him as an aggressively single-minded tyrannical dictator bent on conquest while Alakitasians spoke of him as a benevolently noble and caring leader. Yajeel stated Zeref would show either or both sides depending on situations; the Black Wizard told Makarov that even though his personas were one and the same he preferred to be what Ishgar believed in. One of his more defining traits was an uncanny knack for (un)consciously seducing others into accepting his ways of thinking in the examples of organizations purely dedicated to serving what they saw as his will.
Before his descent into darkness, Zeref was polite, courteous and formal but also curious, ambitious and rebellious when he continued dangerous research into the truth behind life's existence and absence regardless of the consequences it would've had in the long run; he was rather sentimental and emotionally-attached considering the tremendous lengths he went to get back what he cared the most about. Upon conversion, Zeref displayed great sorrow for the disasters caused by his presence until he buried any emotions under a cold warped shell that turned into the exterior of the person he became known as over the following years; he did this again after losing Mavis by telling himself that falling in love had been a mistake on his part.
In the Alvarez Empire Arc, Zeref chose to suppress his good nature towards others to control his curse and go on with his plan without struggling as much on what to do in situations, even if it meant looking like the kind of man he was depicted in the rumors. When confronted by Fairy Tail's third, sixth, eighth and incumbent Guild Master Makarov Dreyar, Zeref purposely assaulted him as a chance of getting a rise out of Natsu (and knowing that if he tried sparing his life, it would still kill him either way). During his plan of invading Ishgar with the Springgan 12 to obtain Fairy Heart, Zeref knew that Natsu would attempt to track him down and try to kill him, and he let him do so. Zeref thought that his death by Natsu could be an alternate solution to end his suffering in case his plan to obtain Fairy Heart might fail. Even if it meant that Zeref would look like the evil mage he was depicted in the rumors (even to Mavis), he wouldn't really feel bad about it because of how much he blamed himself for all the devastating things he indirectly caused throughout his life.
After Natsu failed to destroy him using Igneel's power in their first fight, Zeref said to Invel and to some of his other allies that since Natsu cannot destroy him anymore, they can continue on with their plan with no more distractions. Knowing that every guild in Ishgar would think that Zeref is malevolent no matter what he does, he and the Springgan 12 fought against them to try succeeding their plan.
After he was defeated for the first (and only) time by Natsu, he looked solemn as Mavis hit him for his actions, expressing that he deserved her hatred for him. Mavis then apologized to Zeref for not having enough faith in him. Even after Mavis learned about his full story and difficult life, she initially had some doubt towards Zeref after learning that he's the wizard who has been considered by many as the most evil mage in history, but Zeref doesn't blame her and instead understood her as it's not easy to fully understand someone in his situation. However, Mavis tells him that it's still wrong of her to not to understand him completely, especially since she's the only one who knows about his pain and suffering (and that he really cannot do anything without hurting people). However, when Mavis finally realized what she had to do, she started breaking down sobbing because expressing her love for Zeref would mean that they wouldn't be together. Zeref, on the other hand, felt touched by the fact that Mavis loved him and thanked her for everything, even apologizing to her because he would have to leave her if she expressed her true feelings towards him. However, Mavis eventually accepted the outcome and chose to show her true feelings for Zeref, kissing him. After being loved by Mavis, Zeref felt truly happy, but Mavis requested to die with him. After Zeref accidentally expressed his feelings for Mavis again by saying she has to continue living, he felt a bit guilty killing her a second time, but he's also happy that he gets to spend more time with her after so long. As the both of them finally died in peace, Zeref once again showed remorse for his past and wished he could have made amends with his younger brother and everyone else. Before he ascended to the afterlife, he left his pendant in the living world and wanted Natsu to find it. Although Zeref failed in his attempt to reset the timeline and make a better future for humanity, he hoped that he could at least let Natsu know how much he truly cared about him as his brother. Natsu, on the other hand, was rather stubborn and ignorant towards Zeref's suffering and feelings (even after Mavis revealed to him about the curse and that he cannot show kindness without hurting or killing people) and kept trying to find the worst in his brother, taking every cold thing he does at face value and blindly treating it as though he wanted to be like that. Even after Natsu learned about their past and that Zeref is his brother, he was not the least bit reluctant to have him killed and never once tried understanding why Zeref did all the things he did in the Alverez Empire Arc (blatantly viewing Zeref as nothing but someone who wants to be evil), even treating Zeref as though he didn't care about his family when Natsu himself was foolishly disregarding what he's going through and carelessly forgetting the fact that he cannot be himself around him or others due to him constantly struggling with his curse. He also angrily blamed Zeref for not finding any happiness in life even though it's painfully obvious that everything that makes him happy dies, yet Natsu kept throwing it in his face even after seeing Zeref visibly suffering in front of him. Even after learning his true plan and good intentions, Natsu kept forcing himself into thinking that Zeref is just pure evil and only caring about himself (even though he really cannot value the lives of others because of his curse). This made Zeref angry at Natsu for accusing him of selfishness, getting the last word by declaring Natsu himself has never experienced what it's like for those who suffered rejection everyday & that his little brother knew nothing. It isn't until after Zeref's death when Natsu realized how complicated his older brother was, even feeling he was absolutely wrong for blindly misunderstanding his own brother (the only blood-related family member he had left) and being blatantly relentless in hating him and wanting to have him dead, eventually wishing that he was there for him when he was still alive.
From Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest, after Wolfen copied Zeref, inadvertently using the same curse that nearly destroyed Aldoron Natsu declared the Ankhseram Black Magic is what made his brother do many horrible things & fall into despair (which he never wanted) before apologizing to him with affection. Natsu also eventually promised to view Zeref as family as well, even viewing him as his only true brother, since Ignia (Igneel's son and Natsu's adoptive brother) was nothing like him.
In the afterlife during Natsu’s near-death experience against the Ghost Dragon Wraith, Zeref is now a loving father and a family man. Furthermore, he can finally be himself around others without killing them.
==Magic and Abilites==
Black Arts: Zeref was able to master Black Magic and brought countless Demons to life. His Magic Power is enormous; so enormous, in fact, that he cannot consciously control his own Magic, though whether this was always the case is unknown. Zeref's lack of control over his Black Arts seems to come from his emotional state. He, himself, has stated that when he cares of the lives of others, his Magic becomes uncontrollable and randomly bursts outward, killing all those around him, but, when he no longer cares about others, he gains complete control over his Magic, and becomes the ruthless, cold-hearted Zeref spoken of in legend.
*Ankhseram Black Magic: It is a Black Art that allows Zeref to kill any living thing he desires. This Magic seems to be uncontrollable at times, causing it to burst out randomly, killing anything within a certain radius around him. However, when Zeref forgets the value of, and no longer cares about, a human life, he can fully control this Magic. Certain Magic Items can protect people from Ankhseram Black Magic, such as Natsu Dragneel's scarf. This Magic also appears, contrary to the nature of the Black Arts, unable to be learned, as Zeref only gained this curse-like Magic by upsetting the ancient God Ankhseram, who apparently bestowed this upon Zeref due to his making light of the connections between life, death and people in his race to bring his brother back to life. The side effect of this Magic is immortality and the inability to age. 
**Death Predation: This usage of this spell creates a dark wave that kills everything in the user's immediate vicinity.
**Death Orb: A spell that, when used, destroys everything in its path.
**Repent: Zeref swipes both of his arms in a circular motion until the bottom of his hands meet. The hand on top has the index and middle fingers pointing upwards, while the other hand has the little and index fingers pointing downwards. While doing this, he is surrounded by a dark aura. This spell creates a huge vertical explosion, and it's blast radius is seemingly controllable. It was used to kill Hades.
**Dark Blast Inferno: Zeref gathers flame-like dark matter in his palm and strikes his target with the powerful attack.
***One Ultimate: Zeref cloaks his hands in flame-like dark matter and engages in hand-to-hand combat or uses it as a piercing attack.
*Living Magic: A very ancient, long-forgotten form of Magic that breathes life into an object. Some of Zeref's creations are sentient, and seek to further Zeref's former, as-of-yet unknown, evil desires. Most of the beings that Zeref created were Demons.
**Deliora: One of Zeref's many creations, Deliora was a monstrous Demon that attacked the icy villages in the North. Deliora was imprisoned in a block of ice by Ur. Lyon Vastia tried to unfreeze it so he could kill the Demon, however, after years of being imprisoned in Ur's ice, the Demon's life force was greatly reduced, so much, in fact, that simply upon being released from the ice, it died.
**Lullaby: A flute that can transform into a giant Demon. Whoever hears Lullaby's song (aside from the caster) will die. Erigor hoped to use this to kill the Guild Masters at their meeting. As Kageyama failed to carry out the mission, Lullaby transformed into its Demon form to feast upon souls. However, Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, and Erza Scarlet were able to defeat the Demon flute. It currently is in the Magic Council's possession.
**E.N.D. (Etherious Natsu Dragneel): The strongest of his Demons, thought to be able to kill the immortal Zeref.
**Nemesis: This spell creates Demons from rubble. It can create an entire army of Demons with just a few rocks. This spell was used by Hades while battling Fairy Tail. Hades learned this spell from Volume 4 Verse 20 of one of the Books of Zeref.
**Tartaros: Zeref stated that all of Tartaros' members are Demons he created.
***Mard Geer Tartaros: One of his strongest Demons and the founder of Tartaros.
**Bloodman: Apart of the Alvarez Empire's Spriggan 12, he was at some point created by Zeref and he wields the supreme collection of all of the Curses possessed by the Nine Demon Gates and their leader Mard Geer.
**Larcade Dragneel: Apart of the Alvarez Empire's Spriggan 12, he was deemed the strongest failed Etherious creation from the multiple attempts at remaking Natsu Dragneel, donning the last name of Zeref as proof of his strength.
*Immobilization Magic: A Black Art of Zeref's that allows him to freeze time for all except those he specifically chooses to remain mobile. After casting this Magic, the surrounding area and all those affected by the Magic appear inverted in color, whilst those unaffected remain as they are.
*Teleportation Magic: Zeref was shown to be able to teleport easily by conjuring a Death Orb in thin air at his desired location and easily emerging from it.
Law: Although he was never shown to use it, Zeref was the one who taught this supreme type of Black Magic to Mavis, in order for her to fight for her friends.
Fire Magic: Zeref is shown to be capable of using this type of Magic, such as when he used it to burn Mard Geer's tome.
Telepathy: Zeref has shown to be capable of using this Magic, contacting Larcade through the use of this Magic in order to cease his Magic.
Bullet Magic: A Magic that Zeref uses to produce ballistic projectile of Magical energy out of his finger.
*Piercing Bullet: Zeref releases magical energy from his finger to pierce the Book of E.N.D.
Enchant Magic: Zeref has been shown to be a master Enchanter. He was capable of morphing Irene's dragonized form into the physique of a human, something which she, a very skilled Enchanter herself, was not able to do.
Fairy Heart-Induced Form: Zeref, after activating the Magic of Fairy Heart, accesses a mode that he himself calls "surpassing a God of time and space". In this form, he becomes fully white overall, with an intricate clothing design as well as wings. Due to Fairy Heart's infinite Magic Power combined with the power of time from the Space Between Time, he is able to control time and space, as when Natsu blew him back with a powerful attack he reformed his being as well as the area that was destroyed with ease. However, this form lasted until Natsu was able to burn his time power with his Fire Dragon King Mode. 
*Time Magic: After accessing Fairy Heart's power, Zeref was said to have the control of time, shown by reversing the debris of the destroyed part of the guild when attacked by Natsu.
**Neo Eclipse: With the power of Fairy Heart and the Space Between Time, Zeref is able to merge both Magics into one, to create this Magic. With it he can relive life again, destroying the current world while the new one replaces it. Neo Eclipse was in the form a door (by walking through it will induce the magic) as Zeref merged it with Fairy Tail's guild door.
Enhanced Durability: Zeref is quite physically durable, as he was able to take a punch from Natsu Dragneel (no visible marks were left), and return to his feet, completely unfazed.
Expert Sensor: Zeref was able to sense Acnologia approaching Tenrou Island from quite a fair distance, as well as talk to Mavis Vermilion despite not being able to see or hear her.
Immortality: Approximately 400 years ago, Zeref successfully attained immortality, which is revealed to be a byproduct of him being cursed by the God Ankhseram with Ankhseram Black Magic. In addition, he is also unaging.
*High-Speed Regeneration: Owing to his status as an immortal, if Zeref has gone at least a short amount of time with receiving damage occurring in successive intervals, his wounds heal without a trace.
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