Hughes

Hughes (ヒューズ Hyūzu) is the 'Magic Militia Third Division Commander' of the Royal Army of Edolas.

Appearance
Hughes is a young man with strange arrow-like eyebrows (shaped like clock hands), and has shiny dark purple hair which makes it seem white depending on where the light source is coming from; either that or his hair is 2-toned; it also has rather long bangs that obscure both his forehead and temples.

Personality
Hughes seems to find many things astounding, and to have a penchant for the word “Amazing”, repeating it several times in the space of a few pages, and even coming up with various degrees of “Amazing”.

When out of the battlefield, Hughes is portrayed as calm, easy-going and playful, and even during battle, he sometimes plays with his adversaries from time to time, or laughs carelessly at their funny mistakes. Despite this jocose nature of him, or possibly due to a twisted side of it, his love for the amusement granted by the dying Magic in Edolas is so great that Hughes would resort to any means to obtain more of it, even at the cost of Earthland Mages’ lives, revealing a heartless, reckless and far more serious and determined side of himself.

He also appears to have zero perversive tendencies, showing absolute indifference to a bikini-clad Lucy, after Natsu convinced her to take part in his "Super Sexy Strategy".

Edolas arc
When Erza Knightwalker and Sugarboy return from their failed attempt to capture the Edolas Fairy Tail, Hughes joins them as they admire the giant lacrima. As the three walk, talking about the Magical Power and the lives of the people within it, they meet up with the Royal Army's Chief of Staff, Byro. Byro complains to Erza, pointing out that she still haven't captured and eliminated the remaining Mage guild in Edolas, Fairy Tail. Hughes and Sugarboy defend Erza just as the 1st Army Captain, Pantherlily arrive. After telling Hughes and Byro to be quiet, Pantherlily leaves. Erza, commenting on Pantherlily's moody attitude, tells the others that he isn't pleased about the captains' competition to see who destroys the rebels first.

After Erza captured Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia, Wendy Marvell, Happy and Carla, Hughes throws Natsu and Wendy in prison and informs them that Lucy will be executed and that Happy and Carla have been returned to Extalia and are probably enjoying their reward since they manage to complete their mission. Wendy doesn't belief what she is hearing, saying that Carla told them that she forfeited her mission when they came to Edolas. Hughes contradicts her, saying that Carla finished her mission which was to capture the Dragon Slayers in order to take their Magical Power.

Hughes then attends a meeting with Faust, Coco, Byro, Sugarboy, and Pantherlily. Byro informs the group that the Earth Land Mages have Magical Power stored within them, similar to the Exceeds but greater. Hearing this, Hughes proposes that they don't execute Lucy but suck her Magic out of her. Faust contradicts him and informs the group that Queen Shagotte ordered that Lucy was to be executed. Hughes thinks that it's a waste but Byro informs him that, with their current abilities, they are still unable to extract Magical Power from human but are capable of extracting from Dragon Slayers since they are like human but not. Byro then informs the group that if they manage to extract the power of the Dragon Slayers they will gain a near infinite Magical Power. Hearing this, Hughes and Coco cheers while Faust orders Byro to start with the extraction of both the dragon slayers and the giant lacrima. With that, the captains, except for Pantherlily, leaves, talking about what they will do if they achieve their goals. When Lucy, Happy, and Carla escape, the Extalia Guards and the Edolas Royal Army surround them. Among the army is Hughes, standing with his fellow division captains. After Faust activates Code ETD, Hughes comments that the events are getting interesting while Sugarboy is unsure about the decision.

Together with Hughes, Sugarboy later confronts Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster and Lucy in the Royal City's amusement park E-Land. While Sugarboy is having fun riding the merry-go-round, Hughes attacks the group with a viking ship. The two captains inform the group that they will do anything to stop them from achieving unlimited amount of Magic. Before attacking, Sugarboy asks the group if they prefer to be imprisoned or die but Hughes tells him off, saying that they should not be given the freedom to choose. With his Command Tact, Hughes attacks the group by controlling the viking ship but Gray manages to defend against the attack with an Ice-Make: Shield, surprising Hughes and Sugarboy. Natsu then charges at Hughes and begins to fight while Sugarboy uses his Rosa Espada to soften the ground surrounding Gray and Lucy, making them incapable of saving Natsu. Hughes then manages to trap Natsu in a Hell Coaster which he explains can accelerate at a velocity that can destabilize anyone on-board after a few minutes. Only to realize that Natsu has already been disabled, much to his own surprise and amusement.

Realizing that Natsu is in trouble, Gray throws Lucy at the coaster in order to save Natsu while using a Ice-Make: Grappling Hook, he escapes Sugarboy's trap and begins to battle him. Lucy manages to get on the coaster but ends up crashing to the park's water. As Natsu confront Hughes about their goals, Lucy tells him to get down and summons Aquarius. Aquarius tries to attack but fails when Hughes reveals that he is also able to control the water. Hughes then proceeds to attack the group with the water.

The water washes Natsu and Lucy to the Monster Academy, and Hughes finds (after some difficulty) them there. Lucy uses a 'sexy strategy' against Hughes in an attempt to bring his guard down, but it fails and he sends his monsters after her. He then uses his monsters, such as the Mummy and the Frankenstein monsters, to battle against Natsu but both ends up overpowered, stunning Hughes. But not enough to deter him as he sends more monster minions against Natsu, diverting their attention away from Lucy (who then was able to make a clean escape); for a moment, their sheer numbers appear to have allowed them the upper hand. However, the monsters are scared off by Natsu, whose rage causes them to see a dragon. Hughes shows utmost shock at the sight of Natsu, calling him a real monster. Hughes is later punched against a wall by Natsu, crashing into Byro (whose head was against it on the other side) in the process. With the explosion that follows, both Hughes and Byro falls, defeated.

Due to Mystogan's plan to rid Edolas of all its Magic, the Reverse Anima is activated and Byro, Hughes and Sugarboy stand together, watching the Magic being sucked out of their world.

Former Magic and Abilities
Command Tact: His weapon is a thin Magical wand with a flat, circle shaped portion at the middle close to its handle and a sphere (possibly the Lacrima that supplies its power) above it. It can manipulate any part of the Edolas Capital's amusement park, such as the roller-coasters and the water. It can also control all of the monsters at the Monster Academy, a school where the daily lives of various monsters can be observed. However, there appears to be a limit as to how he can control the monsters, since they were seen to shrink away from an overly-enraged Natsu, leaving Hughes to fend for himself. He also doesn't seem to have absolute awareness of everything that goes on in the park, having had to search for Natsu and Lucy himself after the duo managed to escape from him before being found again in the Monster Academy.

Major Battles

 * Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster & Lucy Heartfilia vs. Hughes & Sugarboy
 * Natsu Dragneel & Lucy Heartfilia vs. Hughes & Byro