Elfman Strauss

"I'm fine being trash! But I won't let you call my allies trash! As a man, I won't allow it!"

— Elfman Strauss to Rustyrose in "Arc of Incarnation"

Elfman Strauss (エルフマン・ストラウス Erufuman Sutorausu) is a Mage of the Fairy Tail Guild and the brother of Mirajane Strauss and Lisanna Strauss.[3]

Appearance
Elfman is a large, muscular man with tan colored skin, whose height causes him to tower over most of his fellow guild members. His long white hair is kept styled upwards in long, wavy spikes, his dark eyes possess no visible eyebrows and his rectangular, elongated face has a stitched scar running down its right side, crossing his right eye.[4] His black Fairy Tail stamp is located on the left part of his neck.[5] In his younger years, Elfman didn't have the scar on his right eye and his hair was shorter, with its style being reminiscent of a somehow messy bowl cut.[6]After three months of training in the mountains with his sisters and Cana, not only have Elfman's hair and sideburns grown longer, but he has also grown much more muscular physically.

Most of Elfman’s attires have a Japanese look to them. His usual outfit resembles that worn by fictional, Japanese high-school hooligans: it consists of a dark blue jacket with purplish blue inners, held closed on the front by a line of large buttons, with similar buttons on the sleeves’ back and the zip located on the high collar left open. The back of his jacket is adorned by large, light kanjis, which read “The greatest" (一番),[1] and the jacket itself seems to be worn over a light red shirt, sometimes seemingly replaced by an A-shirt covered in many vertical lines.[7] Elfman's outfit is completed by loose pants matching his jacket, held up by a simple belt, and traditional Japanese geta sandals, held in place by bands colored the same as his jacket’s inners. At the beginning of the Tenrou Island arc, Elfman, while retaining his sandals, switched to a lightkimono shirt with elbow-long sleeves, mostly covered in dark, elongated spots and held closed around the waist by a similarly dark sash, and loose dark pants reaching down below his knees.[8] Shortly afterwards, while on the ship leading the S-Class Candidates to Tenrou Island, he wore a dark fundoshi with the front covered by a large cloth adorned by a white kanji,[9] and he later donned dark pants alongside his standard sandals while remaining bare-chested.[10] Elfman's outfit rarely remains intact: employing his Take Over Beast Arm prompts the sleeve of Elfman's right arm to be torn to pieces, leaving his arm bare,[11] and his pants tend to get shorter, torn edges as a result of his Beast Soul: Full-Body Take Over changing the structure of his legs; when he makes use of it, his pants also gain extremely spiky higher edges.[12] When he was younger, Elfman donned a more elegant, Western-looking attire, consisting of a black suit over a white shirt, with a red papillon around the neck, and polished dark shoes.[13]

Personality
Some time ago, Elfman was notably shy and weak, with his only real talent being for cooking. This caring nature of his, which was under-appreciated by many members at the time, became quite useful for his younger sister Lisanna and Natsu though, as he looked after Happy's egg before it hatched. After Lisanna's supposed death, Elfman's personality changed drastically. He sought to become stronger in order to protect his sister, Mirajane.[14]

He considers himself the strong-willed and proud powerhouse of Fairy Tail. He is very self-conscious about his manliness and always uses the word "man" as a self-proclaimed image of himself and as a guide for others to follow.[15] He also scowled at Jet and Droy of Team Shadow Gear for puttingLevy in danger during their mission and also -on their part- failing to show pride as men.[16]

Despite his huge ego, he is always very kind, loving and protective of his sisters Mirajane and Lisanna, going to great lengths to protect them from any sort of danger, even threatening S-Class Mages or people who may even be stronger than himself, such as Bacchus.[17] As a child, when he lost his parakeet as a child he searched for it for a whole week, but found a different one.[18]

History
Sometime in his early years, Elfman's parents died.[19] After his older sister, Mirajane, defeated a Demon that terrorised their village and took on its form, Elfman was forced out of the village along with his two siblings. They later joined the Fairy Tail Guild and quickly fit in with the excitable guild. Due to Mirajane's self-imposed isolation, however, Elfman and Lisanna took to learning Take Over magic as well, so that their older sibling would no longer feel alone. Catching Mirajane in the streets just as she was about to leave them, Elfman promised that they would protect each other with their powers, convincing his sister to stay.[20] He was around 12 years old at the time. When he was younger, he was quiet, shy and kind. During this time, out of all his siblings, Elfman was the only one who couldn't do a Full-Body Take Over, something which depressed him greatly, as he was supposed to "be a man".[21] During this time, Elfman helped Natsu and Lisanna raise an egg they found.[22]

In the year X782, Elfman was deeply scarred by an incident where his younger sister, Lisanna, was supposedly killed by him when she tried to stop his rampage after he attempted to use Beast Soul: Full-Body Take Over.[23] During his rampage, Elfman hit Lisanna with great force, throwing her a great distance.[18] It is said that due to this, Elfman's heart was locked shut, despite his use of the spell to protect his sisters.[23]

Magic and Abilities
Take Over (接収, テイクオーバー, Teiku Ōbā): Elfman, alongside his sisters Mirajane and Lisanna, is known for the accomplished use of Take Over, a form of Magic which, as the name implies, allows the user to take over the appearance and abilities of beings they really "know".[187] It is their use of such Magic which made the three of them known as the "Take Over Siblings". Elfman's form of Take Over Magic is called Beast Soul (獣王の魂 (ビーストソウル) Bīsuto Sōru), which allows him to record and seal a monster's body part he has touched into his right arm, gaining the ability to subsequently transform his arm into that of the creature.[1] Transformations seem to take place by tearing Elfman's clothes off and covering his bare arm (or his entire body)[188] with many flat, square-shaped plates, which subsequently disappear, revealing the summoned part.[189] When he first revealed his power to Mirajane, Elfman displayed poor control of his transformations, suddenly changing his arm from the leg of a bear, to that of a giraffe; though also proving that even at a young age he had the strength to Take Over simple beasts.[190]
 * Partial Take Over: Initially, Elfman, unlike his sisters, could only utilize Beast Arm (ビーストアーム Bīsuto Āmu),[1] which exclusively transforms his right arm, something which made him uncomfortable.[191]However, Elfman's unique way of using Beast Soul seems to be somehow renowned, as several members of Phantom Lord were shown recognizing and acknowledging him through his use of it, and this is the reason behind his epithet "Beast Arm Elfman" (ビーストアームのエルフマン Bīsuto Āmu no Erufuman).[192]
 * Beast Arm: Reptile: Elfman transforms his arm into that of a reptilian beast's arm, covered in scales and sporting sharp claws. It has enough power to send several people flying at once and to successfully grab and stop Gajeel Redfox's Iron Dragon's Club from a close range.[193] (Unnamed)


 * Beast Soul: Bear: Elfman transforms his arm into that of a furry black beast's arm with sharp claws. It's very big and possesses great throwing power, as it was able to grab Totomaru while the latter was encased in ice and send him flying through the roof, tens and tens of meters up in the sky, in one throw, making him disappear from sight.[194] This was the first spell he had shown Mirajane upon learning Take Over.[195]


 * Beast Arm: Black Bull (黒牛 Kokugyū): Elfman transforms his arm into that of a large black beast's arm, which is dark in color and sports prominent muscles. It presumably increases Elfman's punching power or his strength, making him more formidable in melee, as shown from him activating it at the beginning of his battle with Sol and then trying to assault his foe with punches;[196]however, its specific effects and added qualities are unknown.
 * Beast Arm: Iron Bull (鉄牛 Tetsugyū): Elfman transforms his arm into that of a large beast's arm composed of metal, which is somehow similar to a gauntlet, sporting plates and different lines of bolts. Much like Beast Arm: Black Bull, it presumably increases his punching power, making his punches stronger due to its large mass and the heavy material which it is composed of; it was first used during the battle with Sol, after Black Bull,[197] with its particular effects being unknown.


 * Beast Arm: Stone Bull: Elfman turns his arm into that of a beast's arm composed of stone, presumably increasing his attack power. The plates covering his arm in such form are reminiscent of those he summons to initiate his Take Over transformations.[198](Unnamed)


 * Beast Arm: Jet Black Sword (漆黒の剣 Shukkoku no Tsurugi): After being pierced by Rustyrose's Jet Black Sword, Elfman used his Take Over Magic on him, gaining the ability to transform his arm into a large one composed of metal plates and sharp claws, identical to Rustyrose's spell. This grants Elfman great cutting power and was described by Rustyrose as being capable of cutting through anything. However, Rustyrose's own Golden Shield was capable of stopping the claws' slash.[199]


 * Beast Arm: Giraffe Leg: Elfman transform his arm into a sudden long giraffe leg uncontrollably, when he first learned Take Over Beast Soul.[200]


 * Full-Body Take Over: His first attempt to do so resulted in a catastrophe, with Elfman losing his will to the creature he tried to completely take over, running wild and seemingly causing the death of his sister Lisanna, something which prevented him from attempting to use Full-Body Take Over ever since. However, when his sister Mirajane found herself in danger during the confrontation between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord, Elfman managed to achieve controlled Full-Body Take Over, surpassing the seeming limits of this Magic to save his sibling.[23]


 * Beast Soul (獣王の魂, ビーストソウル, Bīsuto Sōru): This is one of Elfman’s most powerful spells, whose first attempt seemingly brought to Lisanna's death and which was eventually mastered during his fight with Sol,[23] Beast Soul allows Elfman to completely take over the appearance and abilities of a powerful, beastly creature known as “The Beast”, described by Mirajane as “the King of monsters”.[18] In said state, Elfman’s size increases exponentially, with his arms growing longer, larger and sprouting sharp claws, and he becomes covered in thick fur, with his abdomen and pectorals prominent in the middle. His hair takes on a mane-like appearance, his ears and canine teeth become pointed, and he grows a pair of striped horns pointing upwards, starting from a plate on his forehead. During his first controlled use of said spell, Elfman’s legs, much smaller in comparison to his large arms and torso, grew dark hooves, and he also gained a pair of protrusions sprouting from his shoulders, similar in appearance to his horns;[201] when it was used again during the Battle of Fairy Tail arc, however, Elfman’s feet bore resemblance to a large bird’s, with dark claws, and the protrusions on his shoulder weren't visible anymore.[202] He was shown again with his horn-like protrusions on the shoulders during his and Evergreen's fight with Rustyrose.[203] In both forms, however, the only piece of Elfman’s attire which remains on are his pants, which get shorter as a result of his transformation and sprout extremely prominent and spiky upper edges.
 * Enhanced Speed: Despite his larger size, Elfman’s speed is increased drastically in such state, as shown when he charged at the agile Sol and rapidly defeated him with a barrage of fists while spinning rapidly on himself, without giving the opponent a single chance to react, whereas before he couldn’t land a blow on him.[204][205] Elfman can also rapidly move around by jumping, and climb on vertical surfaces through the use of his claws with great agility and speed.[206]
 * Enhanced Strength: This form further boosts Elfman's already great physical might, so much that he was capable of releasing Mirajane from the grip of Phantom Lord’s gigantic Super Mage Giant Phantom MK II without much trouble,[207] and of stopping Belcusas' enormous fist with a single arm.[203] After three months of training, this form's strength has increased to the point of easily incapacitating Seilah in her enhanced state, a feat that Mirajane was unable to accomplish despite using her strongest Satan Soul.[208]
 * Enhanced Smell: In this state, Elfman’s sense of smell is greatly increased, being comparable to a beasts, as he was capable of chasing the flying Evergreen around while blindfolded, in order to avoid her Stone Eyes being used on him.[209]


 * Beast Soul: Weretiger (ワータイガー Wā Taigā): Elfman transforms his entire body into that of a Weretiger, a very massive, anthropomorphous creature, possessing distinctive traits characterizing a great variety of felines. In such form, he still stands on his rear legs, which, however, gain a structure similar to those of a feline, with his toes sprouting sharp, dark claws, not unlike those appearing on his fingers. He retains a toned and muscular physique, which, aside from the front part of Elfman's torso and the back parts of his legs, is largely covered in a series of dark spots; these, in spite of the Take Over's name, are more reminiscent of a leopard's than a tiger's. He also gains a long, messy and dark mane similar to a lion's topping his head, which sprouts a large, dark feline nose and large fauces lined up with sharp teeth. Thick, light fur grows on his lower face. Strangely enough, his ears remain human in placement and appearance, though they become elongated and extremely pointy. A mildly long, spotted feline tail ending in a dark tuft sprouts from his lower back. His Fairy Tail mark is no longer visible. Elfman's outfit also changes, with whatever type of shirt he might be wearing disappearing to leave his chest bare and with his pants being replaced by a dark, baggy pair reaching down below his knees, possessing light edges and light belts crossing on his thighs. His feline feet are bare.[210] The word Weretiger is a pun on the mythological Werewolf.
 * Enhanced Speed: According to Mirajane, Beast Soul: Weretiger is a speed-type Take Over, and thus allows Elfman to move faster when he employs it. It's currently unknown to what degree this form boosts his speed; however, an S-Class Mage specializing in martial arts like Bacchus was shown capable of effortlessly avoiding Elfman's melee attacks even in such state.[211]


 * Beast Soul: Lizardman (リザードマン Rizādo Man): Elfman transforms his entire body into that of a Lizardman, a large, anthropomorphous reptilian creature. His muscular figure is almost completely covered in scales, some of which, lined up, are shown to be particularly large, protruding and sharp. The only parts seemingly left bare are the front section of his torso and the palm of his hands. His fingers grow sharp, dark claws, similar to the ones sprouting from his toes, which become much more massive and stocky, also changing in placement, and thus making Elfman's feet similar to a reptile's rear legs. His hair is replaced by a long, messy and spiky light mane topping the top part of his head and extending to his middle back; Elfman's head itself gains reptilian features, becoming more stubby, losing a visible nose and gaining a large, protruding plate in correspondence to his forehead, topping his eyes. His Fairy Tail stamp is still visible on the flat scales covering the left part of his neck. Elfman's clothing is replaced by a pair of mildly loose, dark pants going down below his knees, held up by a belt completely composed of square studs and sporting rectangular metal plates covered in round holes on his thighs' front parts, held there by chains.[212]
 * Scales: The scales covering Elfman's body in such state are extremely resistant greatly boosting his defense, and their jagged outlines make attacking him unarmed dangerous: even if the opponent was to be strong enough to break the scales, their limbs would be damaged from doing so, and the effort required to break the scales itself is incredible. This Take Over form amazedErza Scarlet and, most importantly, allowed Elfman to defeat someone as powerful as Bacchus, who was left exhausted after striking him with a barrage of blows.[213]
 * Beast Soul: Belcusas (ベルクーセス Berukūsesu): The user transforms their body to that of Belcusas the Thunderclap, an enormous, heavily-armored and physically powerful creature that Rustyrose imagined into existence to fight on his behalf.[104]

Enhanced Durability: Elfman possesses great constitution and durability. He was shown undergoing a barrage of Magical and physical attacks from Sol without giving up or losing the will to fight, even when he was sent crashing through a wall by Sol's strongest spell.[214] During his fight with Rustyrose, Elfman further demonstrated his durability, enduring many slashes from the Dark Mage's Jet Black Sword and even managing to grab onto it and hold it still while it was piercing his body;[215] he was also able to stand and walk after being struck by the massive explosion generated by Rustyrose's Tower of Dingir,[216] which caused a pair of sharp sticks to pierce his chest and even carry the similarly injured Evergreen alongside him;[217]in addition, he was one of the first heavily injured Fairy Tail members shown awake and capable of standing after their respective battles, something which led to Rustyrose's defeat.[218]

Enhanced Strength: As evident of his massive size and muscular build, Elfman possesses a high degree of physical strength: even without the use of his Beast Arms, he's shown to be capable of lifting four humans by himself, holding two under each of his arm, without effort and to run freely while doing so.[219] He is also able to send several people flying high up in the air through simple punches even without the aid of his Magic.[220]

Enhanced Reflexes: Despite his large size, Elfman has displayed great reflexes and deceptively high speed, having been capable of evading most of Gajeel's close-range attacks during their brief confrontation, even when the latter assaulted him from different directions with the branches of his Iron Dragon's Club, a move which struck several people who were standing quite away from the two of them, but which Elfman, who was right in front of Gajeel, managed to avoid without fail.[221]

Enhanced Endurance: Elfman has been noted to possess a very large amount of stamina: while clad in hisLizardman form, he was shown able to undergo a long and exhausting barrage of unarmed blows from Bacchus, aS-Class Mage from the Quatro Cerberus guild specializing in hand-to-hand combat, whose strength is said to rivalErza Scarlet's, and remain the only one standing afterwards. Erza herself described Elfman's stamina as being likely unrivaled within Fairy Tail.[222]

Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Elfman is a melee specialist, with hand-to-hand combat, paired with his various Beast Arms, being the main element of his fighting style. He was shown making short work of different Phantom Lord members, defeating some of them with fast and accurate punches and others through sheer physical strength, and could also engage in close-range combat with Gajeel Redfox, being eventually struck just due to distraction.[223] During the preliminary phase of the Grand Magic Games, Elfman was shown capable of easily dispatching several opponents in unarmed combat even without the aid of his Take Over, using both strong punches[220] and simple grips[224] to overwhelm his foes.

Equipment
Artificial Keys:
 * Celestial Spirit Banishment Key (former): Banishes the Golden Bull, Taurus.[225]

Trivia

 * Elfman didn't have his scar when he took on the S-Rank mission with his sisters. However, after the job was finished, he had a bandage over his eye. His Full-Body Beast Soul Take-Over also shows the beast having a scar in the same place.[18][239][240]
 * In Elfman's Sorcerer Interview, the best quality of Fairy Tail, according to Elfman, is that there are a lot of strong men in the guild. He wishes to become a man among men in the future. He has a good relationship with his older sister, Mirajane. Elfman, like his older sister, did not wish to comment on the most difficult job he had ever taken.[241]
 * In Volume 32's extra content, Mashima provided the battle statistics for 31 of the 40 X791 contestants in the Grand Magic Games. The stats, however, were provided not from Mashima's point-of-view as the author but from the view point of Sorcerer Magazine reporter Jason. Which explains why some stats are missing and why others may be inaccurate. According to Jason from the Sorcerer Magazine, during his participation in the Grand Magic Games of X791, Elfman's stats are:[242]

Quotes

 * (To Phantom Lord Guild members) "Man! Man! If you're a man! Then you are a man!"[243]
 * (To Mirajane Strauss) "I'd swore that I never see your tears again,nee-chan... So why are you crying...?!!!! Who was it who made you cry?!!!!!"[244]
 * (To Rustyrose) "I'm fine being trash! But I won't let you call my allies trash! As a man, I won't allow it!"[245]