Jackal

Jackal is an Etherious and was a member of the now-disbanded Dark Guild Tartaros as well as a member of the Nine Demon Gates.

## Appearance

Jackal appears as a young muscular Etherious who, living up to his name, possesses a number of animal features: his dark blonde hair, reaching down to his shoulders and covering the left side of his face, perpetually hiding his left eye from sight, juts upwards on top of his head in a pair of prominent protrusions shaped like ears (and which might actually serve such purpose, seeing as the Demon's human ears aren't visible), his nose is small and black like a canine's; he has a furry tail protruding from his lower back, coloured the same as his hair, and pointed, triangular fang-like teeth.

His one visible eye, complete with a dark slit pupil, bears a thick dark outline, and black spots are present both below it and above its linear eyebrow; Jackal's forearms and hands are covered by a larger variety of similarly coloured shapes, getting closer and closer in position as they approach his wrists, in correspondence to which they fuse together to leave his hands completely black.

Following his rebirth in Hell's Core, Jackal's appearance remains largely unchanged, with only his tail's shape being different, having gotten noticeably more thick and furry, like an actual jackal's.

In addition, his second attire reveals his legs as animal-like appendages, covered in light fur and sporting dark claws instead of toes, placed in a grappling position; his previous use of footwear prevents from knowing whether this was their original appearance.

Tartaros' guild mark is also visible on his now bare right pectoral.

Jackal wears a striped tank top on his torso (portrayed at times as being light blue, at others as dark green), paired with a brownish bandanna adorned by pale yellow spots (not unlike those found on his own body) circling his neck, arranged to form some sort of collar, which together with the main part makes for three ends left hanging downwards.

He sports a blue garb around his waist, secured by a large knot with hanging edges on the front (initially shown as held closed by a button on the front of its belt-like part) and split in two tails on the back, each adorned by a series of dark rectangles near their lower edges.

Jackal's pants, reaching down below his knees, are noted for being extremely loose and baggy; while mainly whitish beige in colour, they sport blue sections on the thighs' front and on the calves' back, the latter ones reaching to the clasp-like ornament located in correspondence to each knee.

His outfit is completed by plain black boots with light soles.

After his rebirth, Jackal goes around bare-chested, instead sporting loose light gloves, almost reaching up to his shoulders, each secured on top by two light buttoned bands, and bearing an ornamental motif consisting of large, dark rhombuses linked together on the outer sides; these gloves appear to reveal his dark fingers.

Jackal retains a garment identical to his former one tied around his waist and sports calf-length pants similar to his previous pair, but dark in colour, complete with both light hems and light ornamental bands located on his thighs, with jagged lower edges.

His furry calves and feet are left exposed, save for a dark band circling each of his ankles.

The Etherious still sports neckwear, this time coming in the form of a long dark scarf with light edges, circling his neck twice, which has its ends left hanging over Jackal's back, reaching down to his knees.

As an Etherious, Jackal has access to a larger, grotesque and more muscular lycanthropic form, entering it during his battle with Natsu due to the shock of finding himself overwhelmed by a human.

In such state, he grows fur over most of his body and gains a canine snout and face, complete with pointed fangs and a long tongue, mostly shown dangling down from the sides of his mouth.

He grows massive dark claws on both his black hands, with his forearms having had their spots enlarged to accommodate their new size, and his now animal-like legs; his tail becomes longer and bushier.

The disappearance of his hair exposes his left eye, crossed diagonally by a small scar; in this form, both of the Etherious' eyes are shown as blank and pupil-less, with more spots surrounding them.

Jackal's sudden increase in mass causes his tank top to be torn and his boots to disappear, while the rest of his outfit is left intact.

## Personality

Jackal has shown to be an extremely sadistic and cruel character, having no qualms about destroying the entire Magic Council, taking away countless lives in the process, and instead showing pride in doing so.

During his assault on Michello's house, he destroyed much of the surrounding city with his Curse for no other seeming reason than his own amusement, showing his penchant for causing unneeded casualties while out on missions.

Jackal feels great pleasure in torturing his opponents before murdering them, ignoring their pleads to stop and instead toying with them until the very end, as seen when he had Eve decide which of his victims (Michello or an innocent pregnant woman) should live, and which one should die.

His sadistic tendencies towards humans appear to partly stem from his belief that humans, beings much inferior to Demons, are corrupt and merciless creatures themselves, thus leaving him free to treat them as nothing more than playthings, rejoicing in seeing them suffer and act according to their own nature.

He is also prone to make evil jokes, claiming to be a "considerate guy" because, had Michello handed over the information Tartaros needed, he would have simply given his granddaughter a horrible death.

In battle, the Etherious poses himself in a calm, arrogant manner, having the uttermost trust in his Curse, and going so far as to calmy explain its powers while foes are assaulting him.

When feeling overwhelmed by an opponent, Jackal may experience fear and anger; feelings that made him unleash his Etherious Form in his battle against Natsu Dragneel, when the later was starting to gain the upper hand.

He is also very resentful and prone to hold grudges, wanting revenge on Natsu and Happy for his defeat at their hands; these very same grudges can be transferred to his offenders' friends, should Jackal believe the former ones to have died.

Jackal shows to be quite intolerant towards goofy behaviours, such as Lamy's fawning habits towards his newly reborn body.

He is also perfectly capable of threatening or even killing his own comrades, should he feel annoyed by them, as in Lamy's own case.

Despite his intolerance, Jackal is quite stubborn himself, always doing what he wants, even if someone as strict as Torafuzar tells him to stop playing around with his victims.

In stark contrast, he has displayed a degree of loyalty towards Kyôka, apologizing to her for his defeat at Natsu's hands before turning his own body into a bomb in a last effort to kill the Dragon Slayer and his comrades.

## Curses & Abilities

* Bomb Curse: Jackal, much like the other members of Tartaros, doesn't employ Magic, instead relying on a Curse, a power which he describes as standing above Magic. His Curse, in particular, revolves around the use of heat-based explosions, and is quite possibly the most destructive one out of all the Nine Demon Gates': Jackal has proven himself capable of effortlessly generating blasts of huge magnitude, wreaking havoc over both large buildings and entire towns, slaughtering individuals as powerful as Magic Council members in the process. Its use appears to be focused around the Etherious' blackened arms, either through direct physical contact with his target or through arm gestures, the latter ones demonstrating the Curse's extreme casting range (at least a seeming kilometer). This Curse can also be employed defensively, allowing Jackal to dispel offending spells by tearing them apart with explosions before they have a chance to connect with him. One more aspect of Jackal's power (as well as, according to him, its real essence) resides in it manifesting complex markings on the body of anyone who has touched him, in correspondence to the point/s of contact: such markings turn the victim into a living bomb, having them burst into an explosion whose size depends on the number of times they have touched Jackal or he has touched them; discouraging physical attacks against him.

* Exploding Spiral: By first moving one arm backwards with the hand open, describing an arc in the air, and then rapidly bringing it back before him with a now closed palm, Jackal enfulfs the area in front of him into a massive explosion, surging up high and extending vertically, which is notable for taking the form of a spiralling column. This causes great damage to the targeted spot; at the same time, the blast sends nearby objects and people alike flying away, scattering them in the surrounding area. The Nine Demon Gates member employed Exploding Spiral against Lucy and Wendy, leaving them momentarily incapacitated, in order to chase after Michello without further hindrances on their part.

* Landmine Curse: Jackal is capable of imbuing surfaces with his Curse's power by leaving circular, complex markings on them, at the same time turning the affected spot dark. These Enchantments, as the name implies, act in a similar way to a landmine: once someone steps on them, they will explode on further movement, causing the victim to remain frozen in place to avoid being blown up. If Jackal is attacked while his Landmine Curse is still unexploded, the markings (and thus the threat they pose) disappear. While chasing Michello and being chased by Eve, he proved himself capable of not only setting up the trap with remarkable speed, but also to foresee where Lucy would have appeared from, thus catching her in his Enchantment. It's unknown whether Landmine Curses are manifested at Jackal's will or require physical contact to be placed.

* Bomb Orb: With a simple flick of his arm, the thumb, index and middle finger outstretched, Jackal traps a target in the range of several meters into a transparent, floating orb, seemingly inescapable even for a former Magic Council member. This sphere is actually a bomb, exploding at Jackal's command, and obliterating the trapped victim. The Etherious is capable of creating at least two at the same time, using them on Michello and a pregnant woman in order to play a sadistic game with Lucy, having the girl choose which bomb should go off. Natsu's brutal assault on Jackal caused the orbs to disappear, leaving their victims free and unharmed.

* Etherious Form: Jackal, as an Etherious, has shown the ability to enter his true form: his Etherious Form.

* Enhanced Strength: Jackal's larger frame grants him considerable physical strength, causing a burst of debris all around him (as well as behind his target) upon assaulting Natsu with a punch; this very attack forced the Dragon Slayer to parry with both hands.

* Bomb Impact: While in his transformed state, Jackal retains the ability to activate his Curse through physical contact, at the same time enhancing its already formidable destructive qualities: by having his clawed hands glow as they strike the enemy, he can unleash terrifying explosions, which create massive shockwaves, sending onlookers off their feet, and destroy the surroundings, all while leaving him perfectly unharmed; he is also able to boost his already powerful melee strikes by accompanying them with blasts, causing each assault to devastate the area behind his target upon hitting them.

* Master Infiltrator: Jackal appears to be particularly talented in stealth and infiltration, approaching the targets of his missions unnoticed before rapidly disposing of them with his Curse: he managed to breach the Magic Council Headquarters' security, being only noticed the moment before he revealed himself by tearing the building apart with explosions, and was able to enter Michello's house, a building located in the middle of a lake, linked to the mainland by a single, thin line of earth, with only Natsu, thanks to his Dragon Slayer smell, noticing something was strange.

* Immense Durability: Jackal appears to be incredibly resistant to damage, suffering a heavy beating from Natsu, enduring a prolonged barrage of attacks enhanced by his Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, only to stand back on his feet seconds later, following a brief moment of unconsciousness, showing only slight bruises and acting as if nothing happened.

* Enhanced Reflexes: Jackal has shown to possess sharp reflexes, managing to both evade his opponents' attacks physically and to prevent them completely by anticipating them with his Curse, dispelling offending Magic with explosions.