Jose Porla

Jose Porla (ジョゼ・ポーラ Hoze Pōra) was the Guild Master of the former Phantom Lord Guild and the main antagonist of the Phantom Lord arc. He was also one of the Ten Wizard Saints before instigating the guild war with the Fairy Tail Guild, which cost him his title and caused his Guild to be disbanded.

Appearance
Jose is a tall, slim man with long, straight black hair reaching down to his shoulders and a thin moustache, which were given a reddish tone in the anime. He has got a long and sharp face, vaguely pointed ears, prominent eyelashes and dark-coloured lips.

His first attire bore a resemblance to the fictional depictions of both a sorcerer and a jester, consisting of a flamboyant coat with a high collar, sporting a jagged mantle and jagged lower edges, as well as intricately decorated borders and inners (which were instead portrayed as plain in the anime), featuring two prominent wings similar to a bat’s, with a matching witch-like hat bearing Phantom Lord’s symbol, complete with an extremely long, bent top hanging down on Jose’s left; a plain shirt which sported his Wizard Saint’s medallion around the neck, with two light ribbons falling down from it, loose striped culottes paired with long socks, and a pair of pointed shoes each bearing two furry balls, one on the front and one on the back of the foot. While donning this attire, his left hand's fingers were adorned by a pair of rings, with one of them sporting a spherical gem.

His second outfit was less flamboyant, being more military-looking: it consisted of a long, greyish (blue in the anime) coat closed on the right side of Jose’s chest by a belt circling his waist and by another one going over his right shoulder, sporting Phantom Lord’s symbol on its buckle; the coat had wide golden stripes going down from the high collar, which sported a pair of large rings hanging from it on the front, to the cuffs, with other golden parts in correspondence to the closure and below the waist, on each side. His Wizard Saint’s medallion was still visible on the same spot, but had dark ribbons hanging from it instead. Covering Jose’s left arm was a brownish cape, sporting a wide golden-coloured stripe near the edges and some small shield-shaped ornaments placed at the same distance from one another. The outfit was completed by loose pants tucked inside boots. While donning this second attire of him, Jose didn't sport a hat, and his hair was tied in a high ponytail. In addition, his left hand still sported two rings, with the one decorated by a gem seemingly being the same, but with the other being adorned by large black lines.

Personality
At first, Jose acted very silly, somehow like his rival Makarov, using jokes and silly motifs to make points and dodge important questions asked to him. He was also portrayed as a comical character of sort, displaying stunned expressions on different occasions, such as when Lucy Heartfilia was seemingly going to pee before him, when she kicked him in the groin, or when she let herself fall from tens of meters from the ground to escape him. He also claimed to be a gentleman, and appeared to be very respectful of his subordinates, referring to them with the honorific "-san", and even referred to the captive Lucy with the even more honorific "-sama". He was also shown sincerely praising Erza Scarlet's skills, showing himself prone to commend Magical talent.

However, Jose’s true personality tends to surface every time he gets angry. In such state, he shows himself as he truly is: an evil, reckless and sadistic man, willing to cause extreme suffering to his enemies and to commit evil deeds only to prove the superiority of his own Guild, which seemed to get his full attention and care. He is also greedy, and willing to blackmail and pump money out of the rich Heartfilia family by keeping Lucy hostage to finance Phantom Lord's activities. This evil side of him seems capable of literally affecting Jose's appearance, as seen during his fight with Erza, in which he was shown taking on monstruous features while claiming that she was a woman worth killing.

Jose also seems to have a jealousy streak and a lot of pride, as well as a distinctive, boundless hate for Fairy Tail. He truly loved his guild, and he took Fairy Tail's rise to power as a insult to his pride for making Phantom Lord the best. After hearing that Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord were considered equals, he almost went ballistic; but it was not until Mr. Heartfilia asked him to find his daughter Lucy, who had joined Fairy Tail, that he truly started to crave for a guild war to claim back his guild’s supremacy: fearing that the Heartfilia funds would have made Fairy Tail surpass Phantom Lord, Jose couldn't take it anymore, and started to sew the seeds of war between the two guilds.

History
Jose Porla's hatred for Fairy Tail began six years ago, during the Annual Guild Master Meeting. After the masters had a bit to drink, Makarov began to brag about Fairy Tail and all of the Mages in it. This caused Jose to try to compete his guild against Fairy Tail. Eventually, Jose began to bad-mouth Fairy Tail, which angered Makarov, and the both of them began to fight. The battle ended with Makarov the victor and Jose beaten badly, resulting in Jose's last regular meeting, and began his never-ending hatred towards Fairy Tail.

Phantom Lord arc
Jose's plot for the annihilation of Fairy Tail begins by sending Gajeel Redfox to destroy their building, in order to to prompt the Guild to start a Guild War with Phantom Lord; for added measures, Gajeel beat and pinned the Shadow Gear team, composed of Levy McGarden, Jet and Droy, to a tree, something he was seen discussing with Jose during the Master's first appearance, in which he reminded Gajeel of not killing a certain, unknown person in Fairy Tail, no matter what happened. Indeed Fairy Tail responds in kind for the latter action, with an attack on the Phantom Lord base. As the two guilds battle, an enraged, gigantic Makarov heads on ahead to personally battle Jose, who, on the other hand, greets him jokingly, remembering their last meeting six years before, and revealing his seeming body in the building as a Thought Projection, claiming that a battle between two of the Ten Wizard Saints would cause too much damage, and that he'd rather go for a rational victory. He summons forth another Thought Projection, this time portraying an unconscious and tied up Lucy Heartfilia, whose previous capture he entrusted to Element 4's Juvia Lockser and Sol. He then raises a dagger to seemingly stab her, distracting Makarov. This distraction is enough for him to be caught from behind by Element 4's Aria, who manages to drain all of Makarov's Magic out of him with his Metsu spell, rendering him temporary unable to use Magic and sending him flying to the main hall, where his Guild is. but finds only a projection of him. As Makarov receives Aria's attack, Jose voluntarily missess Lucy with the knife, claiming that there's no way they'd kill her for now, expressing astonishment about Makarov not knowing who she really is while she's a member of his Guild, but stating that it's not of his business anymore. As he raises the tied up Lucy, with Juvia and Sol now at his side, he goes on to explain the mechanichs behind Aria's Airspace Magic, and declares that the victory goes to Phantom Lord. Fairy Tail is forced to retreat. Jose reappears again in Phantom Lord's headquarters, paying a visit to the prisoner Lucy. He introduces himself as Phantom Lord's Master, apologizing for tying Lucy up and putting her in a cell, claiming that she should understand, being a captive. Lucy angrily demands him to untie her, and blames him for what happened to Levy. He then states that, if Lucy were to behave well, they'd give her a suit instead. Lucy asks why they attacked Fairy Tail, to which Jose states that such attack was merely an extra, and that their target was a certain individual. Lucy asks about the identity of such individual, and Jose, calling her slow, states that is none other than her, as the heir to the rich Heartfilia family. The fact that Jose is aware of her status surprises Lucy, and he goes on to express astonishment that the daughter of one of the richest men in the country was hiding her status away and taking on cheap and dangerous jobs. Lucy asks wheter they kidnapped her for a ransom, to which Jose states it was her own father who requested her capture. This surprises Lucy even more. She claims that her father would never do that, to which Jose responds that's only natural to search for an escaped pretty daughter; Lucy then cries out that she'll never return home. Jose calls her troublesome, and refuses again to let her go.

Lucy then states she needs to use the restroom,and excuse Jose calls classic as he points her a bucket in the cell, leaving her blank, and stating that it's SO classic that she won't able to take them off-guard with it. However, he remains blank when Lucy raises on her legs and prepares to use the bucket before him, which prompts Jose to turn her his back, stating that she's really a shameless lady while he's a gentleman. However, as he's turned, Lucy kicks him in the groin, and Jose falls to the ground in pain. Lucy states that such a classic strategy isn't so bad in the end, and bids him farewell, preparing to escape. However, she soon finds out that the cell is located tens of meters from the ground, and Jose explains that is their sky prison. He then painfully raises on his legs, asking Lucy how did she dare to kick him and stating that he'll punish her and teach her the atrociousness of Phantom with a wicked expression.

However, Lucy chooses to jump, something which leaves Jose blank and prompts him to fall on his knees in pain again. It's revealed Lucy jumped aware of the fact that Natsu Dragneel was around, and she cries out his name. Natsu, in fact, appears, managing to catch Lucy, and takes her to safety. In the meantime, Jose is still unable to stand due to the pain. He asks to himself how Lucy dared to do that to him, calling her a little bitch with an evil and enraged expression on his face.

Jose takes the offensive: Phantom Lord's headquarters, revealed to be capable of moving through the use of six enormous mechanical legs, literally march against Fary Tail. Still angered, Jose orders his subordinates to fire the Magical Convergent Cannon - Jupiter, in order to obliterate his hated rival Guild. Jupiter's blast is stopped by Erza Scarlet through the use of her Adamantine Armor; this, however, leaves her heavly injured and unable to fight. Jose activates a loudspeaker and states that, with both Makarov and Erza unable to fight, they don't stand a chance, and orders them to hand over Lucy. However, the whole Fairy Tail refuses, unwilling to offer a comrade to the enemy. This prompts Jose to cry that they'll fire an even bigger and stronger Jupiter against them in 15 minutes, once it's reloaded, and he summons a large amount of his Shades to fight them, stating that they can either be killed by his soldiers or by Jupiter.

When Natsu Dragneel, who infiltrated the headquarters with Happy's help, manages to destroy the lacrima powering Jupiter and Fairy Tail starts fighting back, Jose angrily calls them "disgusting brats". He then orders to activate the transformation process of the headquarters, which are turned into Phantom Lord's most powerful weapon, the gigantic robotic Mage Super Mage Giant Phantom MK II, who starts to draw a massive Magical seal in the air. Mirajane, worried about her brother Elfman, who infiltrated Phantom's base with Gray Fullbuster to help Natsu, runs out from Fairy Tail's building disguised as Lucy, screaming for Jose to stop attacking the Guild. However, Jose reads through the deception, stating that he knew from the very start that Lucy wouldn't be on the frontlines. He then has the gigantic robot catch her with one hand, claiming that he doesn't like her and that, for trying to deceive them, he'll smash her to pieces. When all of the Element 4 are defeated, with the Mage robot collapsing as a result, an even more enraged Jose is seen crying out that it's impossible for Fairy Tail to have defeated them. He asks his underlings where Gajeel is, and is told that they don't know. However, Gajeel himself suddenly appears, carrying a beaten up Lucy with him, having tracked her down through his Dragon Slayer's smell, defeated Reedus Jonah, who was protecting her, and recaptured her. Jose remains surprised and pleased, stating that he didn't expect less from the Guild's ace. He uses the loudspeaker to announce Lucy's capture to Fairy Tail, forcing them to hear her cries as she receives more beating. He then states that, having achieved their first goal, now they just have to slaughter all of them, referring to them as disgusting brats again. His now greatly empowered Shades then proceed to assault Fairy Tail again. Jose entrusts Lucy to Gajeel, stating that a few "insects" invaded their Guild, and that, in order to let them know that they won't see more miracles, he'll take care of them himself.

He subsequently appears before Gray Fullbuster, Elfman, Mirajane and Erza, with his sinister Magical power scaring them, clapping hands while sinisterly stating that they put on a wonderful show, and that he didn't expect them to provide him so much entertainment. He says he'll show them his gratitude for such a splendid, gratifying display, and rapidly takes down both Gray and Elfman, who stepped before the girls to protect them, with his Darkness Magic, subsequently blowing them and Mirajane away with an explosive wave. Erza, evading one of his attacks, requips her Black Wing Armor and tries to slash him, but Jose dodges, grabs Erza's leg and throws her several meters away. He then asks her how did she manage to take Jupiter's blast and stand, to which Erza responds that's due to her comrades fueling her will, claiming herself ready to sacrifice her body for their sake. Jose, with his eyes turned black and an evil grin on his face, praises her fortitude, and claims she's a woman worth killing.

When Natsu manages to defeat Gajeel, causing further damage to Phantom Lord's headquarters, Jose comments about that, stating that the dragon has gone on a bit of frenzy. Erza proceeds to praise Natsu's abilities, claiming that he's now on par with her, maybe even stronger. Jose praises Erza's modesty and her Magic abilities, stating that no one ever managed to last long as her against him, and that, had not been for Jupiter weakening her, he would have had to fight her seriously. He then attacks her, saying that's what makes him so angry, that a strong Mage like her is a member of Makarov's Guild. He then reveals that the reason for leaving Makarov alive back during the first attack was to make him suffer true despair before death, seeing his "children" and his Guild annihilated. As he continues attacking Erza, he states that Phantom Lord has always been a superior Guild, but that Fairy Tail's arrive out of nowhere took away their glory, something wich made him angry. As Erza asks him wheter he did everything for envy, Jose claims instead that it was to teach Fairy Tail its place and to let it know about the superior Phantom. He immobilizes Erza with his Darkness Magic and states that the true reason behind the Guild War was the request to take Lucy back to her father and her joining Fairy Tail: if the Guild had been granted access to the funds of the Heartfilia family, then it would have obtained the place of top Guild, something Jose couldn't possibly allow. Erza laughs at his efforts, stating that Lucy, being a runaway, would never obtain her family's resources, and that she's a comrade of them, sharing her life and interests with them. She states that a child can't choose the parents she's born to, and cries at Jose for not knowing the first, most important thing about his target. Jose simply states that he'll have to change the situation, and adds that, by keeping Lucy hostage for a nice amount of time, he'll obtain her family's whole fortune. Erza cries out, insulting him, but Jose tightens the grip of the spell restraining her, hurting her and stating that struggling will just make it worse. However, before he can finish Erza off, someone nullifies his spell, freeing her. As Jose asks who the caster is, a shadowy figure appears in the smoke, stating that Jose has spilled too much blood belonging to his children, and that many of them suffered and shed tears because of him. He ends up by saying that Jose's reign of terror will end by his hands, as he reveals himself as Makarov, his power restored. Jose asks wheter he's sure about that, and if he really wants to be responsible for causing the damage stemming from the confrontation between two of the Ten Wizard Saints, to which Makarov responds that, for his Guild, he'll render the whole planet asunder.

As the two of them stare at each other, Makarov orders Erza, Gray, Elfman and Mirajane to leave, something they rapidly comply with, with Jose commenting that, with Makarov on the place, he doesn't have to amuse himself with his peons anymore, adding that, however, they will follow him to the afterlife shortly. He then starts recalling the past, remembering when he and Makarov stood face to face six years before, and commenting that, while Fairy Tail blossomed in such a short amount of time, it withered in an even shorter one. Makarov replies that a Guild isn't defined by such trivial things, but instead by the integrity of its members, which prompts Jose to say that he's happy of facing Makarov, with both of them being members of the Ten Wizard Saints. As he readies to fight, casting a spell, he compliments his underlings for fighting with such effort, claiming that they showed astonishing pride as members of Fairy Tail.

The confrontation between the two prompts the clouds to surround the area in a whirl, the waves to raise up high and thunders to appear, amazing the Fairy Tail members outside. As an earthquake seemingly shakes the area as well, the fight starts, with Makarov piercing Jose's left shoulder with a beam of light. Jose sneers, and Makarov's right shoulder receives a cut, too. Jose then uses his Dead Wave spell on Makarov, but Makarov guards himself against it, peforming several hand seals and releasing a halo of light which further shakes the surrounding area.

Makarov praises Jose's skils, stating that they were right to make him one of the Ten Wizard Saints even at his relatively young age. He adds that, had Jose chosen the lawful path, he would have been an example and a role model for his successors, and the Magic world would have greatly benefited from him, to which Jose asks wheter Makarov is lecturing him. Ignoring his question, Makarov states that, in accordance to Fairy Tail's code of conduct, he'll grant Jose three seconds to kneel before him in order to end the fight, activating his Titan Magic. He counts to 1, as Jose criticizes the "crap" he got instead of Makarov's word of wisdom. Makarov counts to two, as a sphere of light forms between his hands. Jose cries out that he'll never kneel before Makarov, as that would mean to be inferior to him while he's a peer of him, then correcting himself, to state that Makarov is nothing more than a flunky to him. Makarov counts to 3, and Jose cries out that he's the one who will be known for having erased him and his Guild from the face of the planet. Makarov states that they're done talking as he activates his Fairy Law, literally creating a hole in the sky and covering the area in pure light.

Fairy Law succeeds, annihilating all of Jose's Shade Troopers and defeating Phantom Lord's Master himself. Makarov tells some parting words to Jose, who was left blank and in a "withered" state by the spell, warning him not to dare glancing in Fairy Tail's direction again, stating that his brashness had the better of him, and that the Magic Council won't overlook the matter. He turns his back to him, stating that they've got some things they need to tend to. Aria suddendly appears behind him, trying once again to ambush him, but is rapidly knocked down by one of Makarov's elongated punches without Fairy Tail's Master even facing him. He advises him to know when to cut losses, since the outcome of the battle has been decided. Before leaving the place, he tells him to grab Jose and disappear before he changes his mind.

It is later revealed that the Magic Council stripped Jose of his Wizard Saint's title and disbanded Phantom Lord.

Magic & Abilities
Darkness Magic (闇の魔法 Yami no Mahō): Jose is a master of Darkness Magic. His spells revolve around the manipulation of ghostly figures that are formed by him, which can be used for a variety of purposes. He mainly employs his Magic for offense, having proven himself capable of shaping large masses of his ghosts into powerful ethereal tornados, pillars and lightnings, and also to immobilize opponents. Jose's Magic has been described as feeling very evil, and has been shown to make nearby people feel physically sick and cold when Jose employs it.
 * Shade (シェード Shiēdo): Jose is capable of creating ghostly soldiers that he can command at will, even from far distances. These have their faces hidden by hooded capes, with their blank eyes glowing under the hoods, don long robes and are armed with large sabers. Their initial abilities are likely those of simple trained soldiers, but Jose can freely increase their strength remotely, to the point that they become powerful super-soldiers: in such state, their eyes become more evil-looking, their robes crackle like flames, and they don't employ weapons anymore, assaulting their enemies bare-handed with strong unarmed moves. Until they are destroyed, those ghostly soldiers show no sign of fatigue or exhaustion. They can be produced in large masses, as Jose could create enough of them to overpower the exhausted Fairy Tail members.
 * Jellyfish Form: Several of Jose's Shades merge together to form a large, strong jellyfish-like ghost with many arms, which floats high up in the air and uses its numerous, massive fists to attack. (Unnamed, Anime Only)
 * Dead Wave (デッド ウェーヴ Deddo Vēvu): Jose extends his right arm sidewards and generate several of his ghosts around it, which start circling it in spirals. He subsequently shapes such ghosts into a destructive wave of Darkness Magic which is sent rushing at the enemy, splitting anything in its path, including the ground itself. The full power of this attack was never seen, as Makarov Dreyar, whom it was used against, blocked it before it could connect. The anime, on the other hand, portrayed this attack as a large beam fired from Jose's Magic Seal.
 * Dark Explosion: Jose moves his hand in an arc before him, engulfing a large area in an explosion following the same pattern as his hand. (Unnamed)
 * Shade Entangle: Jose's ghosts are used to grab, immobilize and strangle an enemy, causing them great pain. Jose claims that, the more the opponent struggles, the tighter the grip on them will become. (Unnamed)
 * Dark Beam: Jose shoots beams produced by Darkness Magic out of his fingertips as if they were bullets. He can fire them simultaneously from each of his fingertips. (Unnamed, Anime Only)

Thought Projection (思念体 Shinentai): Jose has been shown capable of using this Magic, producing an astral projection of himself, impervious to damage, which allowed him to communicate over long distances, and, most importantly, carry on his deceptive plans, as shown from his using of Thought Projection to distract Makarov Dreyar and have him sneak-attacked and critically injuried by Aria. Jose's skill with this form of Magic seems remarkable, as shown from Makarov exchanging words with it, not reaziling that what he was talking with wasn't actually Jose before physically striking him, and even managing to project the image of another individual, this being an unsconscious, tied up Lucy Heartfilia.

Enhanced Durability: Jose has proven himself a resilient Mage, having a large beam of light from Makarov pierce clean through his right shoulder and immediately counter-attacking without a flinch.

Enhanced Speed: Jose, aside from his Magical abilities, is known to possess deceptively great agility and reflexes: he was shown capable of effortlessly avoiding all of Erza Scarlet's sword slashes during their confrontation, ducking with fast and almost acrobatic motions, as well as dodging them by moving sideways and stepping backwards while calmly speaking. In the anime, this speed of him was further increased, with Jose being capable of traversing over short distances in the blink of an eye, appearing and disappearing at an incredible rate, actually making it look like he was teleporting.

Enhanced Strength: Despite not favoring melee combat, Jose displayed a highly considerable amount of physical strength: he was shown able to throw Erza Scarlet flying several meters away from him and crashing through a solid stone wall, destroying it in the process, with a single, upwards swipe of his left arm while the latter was clad in her Black Wing Armor.

Immense Magic Power: Jose, as one of the Ten Wizard Saints, possesses a vast amount of Magic power, which is manifested through the ghosts from his Darkness Magic. It is so great that even Mirajane was rendered nauseous and sick just by standing near Jose, although her powers were sealed at this time, and its immensity was proven again during Jose's clash with Makarov, when the surrounding environment was altered in a wide area by the two Wizard Saints confronting each other, with the sky, the earth and the sea being affected.

Equipment
Dagger: Jose was shown wielding a dagger, holding it in reverse, while threatening Lucy to distract Makarov, in order for Aria to catch him off guard with his Airspace Magic. The weapon possesses a simple, flat handguard curved towards the blade, which is large, double-edged and sporting a wide darker part between the two edges. The hilt is seemingly wrapped in leather bands.

The dagger wasn’t portrayed in the anime, where Jose instead summoned forth his Magic Seal to seemingly perform a spell.

Major Battles

 * Erza Scarlet, Gray Fullbuster, & Elfman vs. Jose Porla
 * Makarov vs. Jose Porla