Ajeel Raml

Ajeel Ramal (アジィール・ラムル Ajīru Ramuru) is part of the Alvarez Empire, wherein he is one of the Spriggan 12, the elite personal guard of Emperor Spriggan, and leads his own team inside the Imperial Army, the Ajeel Squad. His epithet within the empire is "Desert King" (砂漠王 Sabaku Ō) for his mastery of Sand Magic.

Appearance
Ajeel is a dark-skinned, relatively muscular young man of average height with large, thick, brown hair that juts out wildly in every direction. He bears the symbol of the Alvarez Empire below his right shoulder.

Ajeel's wears a thin light gold cloth tied around his neck and upper torso, leaving his bare chest and abdomen exposed, in lieu of a traditional shirt, as well as large, baggy, brown-colored trousers with an upper portion that is lighter in color. He accents this outfit with two large brown spherical earrings in both ears, intricately designed gold bracelets on each wrist, and gold bands on each of his biceps, and completes it with gold lock-in sandals and a golden scarf bearing an eye on the region covering his forehead.

Personality
Ajeel is a very informal young man, not bothering to address those of higher positions with a respectful tone or its preferred, accompanying language. Quite battle-happy, at the mere mention of a war taking place between Ishgar and Alvarez, he became extremely giddy.

Ajeel is also extremely condescending and antagonistic, best evidenced when he interrupted Makarov's rescue operation to proceed to tease him about his yearlong stay in the Alvarez Empire before threatening to kill him; another example is him taking pride in having killed many Mages and using his superior power to torment his foes. Additionally, befitting his title as the Desert King, he has an affinity with sand and, as such, finds it to be quite amazing and useful, taking pride in his ability to understand what it tells him. Furthermore, Ajeel has a habit of saying the word "sweet" in regard to things that surprise him, most of which, if not all, having to do with being surprised at things related to battle or the strengths of others. Ajeel has also exhibited a small degree of sadism, as he stated during his chasing of Makarov and those that came to rescue him that seeing their pained faces "made [his] day".

Unsurprisingly, Ajeel has an extremely high level of arrogance, and desired to lead the mission to destroy Ishgar alone, proclaiming without hesitation that if God Serena was the strongest Mage Ishgar had to offer, then he could raze it to the ground with ease. The limits of his pride seem endless, as when subjected to injury at the hands of Erza Scarlet, Ajeel rage peaked and he referred to himself as "the great Ajeel", after which he subsequently created a destructive, city-wide sandstorm that he stated while within, he was God. The God complex ties back to his sadistic nature, where he psychologically and physically tortures his opponents from within the sand with both comments and Magic, even making terribly gleeful smiles upon seeing his opponent's body being withered by his Magic. Indeed, he even goes as far as to try and force Erza to call him God and beg for forgiveness, promising her a swifter end if she did. Finally, Ajeel, befitting his arrogant self, cannot comprehend his own defeat.

Alvarez Empire arc
Upon Zeref's return to his palace in Vistarion, Ajeel and Dimaria Yesta appear and are chastised by Invel for the casual way they address the emperor. Zeref, however, is unconcerned and when he mentions the Dragon King Festival, Ajeel is very excited about the prospect of engaging in a fight. At that moment, Yajeel appears bringing Makarov Dreyar in to have an audience with Zeref, and Ajeel, Invel, August, and Dimaria leave upon Zeref's request.

Shortly after, when Makarov tries to flee the empire, Ajeel intercepts him and his comrades, telling them that the land told him his targets' location. Makarov immediately gives the order to retreat, and Erza tries to distract Ajeel by throwing a barrage of swords at him. When the group gets into a Magical Vehicle and attempt to escape, Ajeel pursues them riding on top of an enormous sand golem. Gray and Lucy climb onto the vehicle's roof and stalls Ajeel by obliterating his sand minions. When Gray disintegrates Ajeel's sand golem by turning it into ice, Lucy equips her Sagittarius Form Star Dress and shoots down the rest of his minions with her Star Shot. Impressed by his opponents' skills, Ajeel then traps the entire vehicle in quicksand, forcing the occupants out of the vehicle. As Ajeel gleefully watches the Fairy Tail Mages flounder in the sand, he boasts that nobody has escaped this spell before and that Ishgar would soon belong to the Alvarez Empire. However, his joy is soon changed into astonishment as Natsu evaporates the sand, allowing his friends to escape and face the Desert King. Natsu then claims that the fairies will protect Ishgar as he punches an astounded Ajeel in the face.

Ajeel is then sent flying, but lands on his feet, virtually unharmed but excited at having received a good punch for the first time in a long time. He then attacks the Mages with waves of sand that dries up whatever they touch, including Gray's ice. As his sand begins clinging to his foes, Makarov grabs his rescuers and tries to protect them from Ajeel's Magic, but Ajeel merely creates a gigantic wave of sand that sucks the moisture from its victims, all the whilst chiding his foes for underestimating the power of the Spriggan 12. However, a bolt of lightning strikes Ajeel's sand, courtesy of the newly arrived Laxus Dreyar aboard the Christina. As his targets escape to the flying ship, Ajeel sends sand after them, chastising them for running away, but his sand is yet again dispersed by Laxus, who says that they are not running away, but merely going home for the time being. The lightning blast grows to exponential size, completely vaporizing everything around Ajeel, whom emerges unharmed from the lightning blast, thanks to the efforts of his comrade August (who erected a magical barrier), albeit taken aback by Laxus' strength. Ajeel is then reprimanded by August for his recklessness, implying that Ajeel would have died from the lightning blast, but Ajeel merely brushes the comment off and instead tells August that he's going senile.

After the incident, Ajeel attends a meeting organized by Zeref, unperturbed by the fact that many of the Spriggan 12 refused to appear. When Zeref then states that they will be going to war against Fiore, Ajeel excitedly asks the Dark Mage to leave everything to him. Soon after, Ajeel, with a fleet of Alvarez airships, arrives over Magnolia to begin the invasion. Ajeel orders the canons on the ships to be fired, and is surprised to see that a Jutsu Shiki barrier has formed to protect the town.

Thinking that they will eventually be able to break through Freed's Magic with sheer force, Ajeel orders a continued attack, and is surprised when Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel begin taking down his fleet, being carried by their Exceed. Telling his troops not to fall back, Ajeel presses forward, also blocking an attack by the Jupiter Cannon, which is fired at him by Bisca. The Dragon Slaying trio land on Ajeel's ship to face him next, though their motion sickness causes them to immediately fall, much to Ajeel's amusement. As he grabs up a disoriented Natsu and prepares to take him out, the bow of his ship is cut away. Startled by the attack, Ajeel turns to find Erza, who promises to take him down. Ajeel then proceeds to effortlessly dodge and parry various attacks from two of Erza's more prominent armors and insults her strength as he does so, asking whether her guild has any others that could possibly be stronger than her. He is angrily sliced at, being told not to underestimate Fairy Tail, after sarcastically thanking Erza for the warm-up, but dodges and traps her in his sand, telling her that she isn't worth underestimating. Ajeel then continues to taunt Erza as his sand continues to suck up the moisture in her body.

When the miniature Marin is taken out by Lucy, Erza regains control of her Requip and requips into her Wind God Armor, which surprises Ajeel, blowing much of his sand away. She then attacks him, but he easily blocks the strike. Mere moments later, when Bakel is blasted through his ship by Natsu, Ajeel's averted attention is taken advantage of, and he is dealt a decisive blow to his chest by Erza, due to her Sea Empress Sword, which allows her to harden sand and thus strike Ajeel, who desertifies anything that touches him. Angry that Erza managed to wound him, Ajeel summons his Sand World, which covers the ship, and the entirety of Magnolia, in a thick torrent of sand that blots out all visibility.

Ajeel then proclaims that in his Sand World, he is God, and then attacks and torments Erza while he melds and moves within his sandstorm. He ultimately grabs her, begins to suck up the moisture in her body, and promises to end her life quickly if she calls him God, but she refuses and requips into her Morning Star Armor, creating a bright light; Ajeel prepares to behead her with his Ramal Fa'as, but the Jupiter cannon is fired through the sandstorm by Bisca Connell, who could aim due to the light, and hits Ajeel and destroys his ship. As he is taken aback by his sudden severe wounding, he is defeated by Erza's Nakagami Starlight, and his Sand World dissipates. Despite having fallen from such a great height and being critically wounded, Ajeel remains alive.

Later, completely healed, Ajeel reconvenes at the Fairy Tail Guild's new location (due to Universe One) with all of Alvarez's forces and the other Spriggan 12 members; there, he proudly declares that Fairy Tail won't be able to make it through to their guild as long as he is there. Fellow Spriggan Jacob reminds Ajeel of his disgraceful defeat, which Ajeel spits back at Jacob, after which he also remarks that his loss was a fluke which won't be repeated. Ajeel then stands alongside the entirety of the Spriggan 12 in an intimidating battle formation. Before long, Ajeel makes his move, using Sand World as a means to blind his foes until Elfman negates it with his Beast Soul: Sand Beast, prompting Ajeel to trap him in his Ant Lion Pit; he ends up escaping due to the arrival of his sister, Lisanna, and Ajeel ends up personally facing the two Fairy Tail Mages, both of whom he quickly manages to overpower without breaking a sweat.

However, after his comrade Irene's death and Universe One's dispelling, Ajeel is defeated by his foes. Much to his chagrin, his grandfather Yajeel appears to ask them not to kill his grandson, as the both sides have lost too much in the current war. Ajeel is surprised to find that all wars are supposed to have loss, but becomes angry when his grandfather descends to pleading Ajeel ultimately points out, when his foes state they do not kill their defeated enemies, revealing that they are brother and sister, that they look nothing alike.

Magic and Abilities
Sand Magic (砂の魔法 Suna no Mahō): Ajeel is an immensely potent user of Sand Magic, both offensively and defensively; so much so that he has been given the epithet "Desert King." He can mold sand into sandstone of various shapes similar to Dynamic Ice-Make, and can even turn into sand himself. He seems to have a special connection with sand, seeing as he was able to determine Makarov and his comrades' location by simply "asking" the land. He can near-instantaneously turn any inanimate object into sand on touch, rendering him immune to most armed assaults. In addition, when coming into direct physical contact with living beings, Ajeel can utilize this Magic to suck the moisture from one's body dry, draining the victim's energy in the process.
 * Sand Golem: Using his Magic, Ajeel can create a giant golem out of sandstone, which can be used for travel, and was fast enough to catch up to a Magic Vehicle being powered by a Mage of Erza Scarlet's caliber. (Unnamed)
 * Sand Monsters: By waving his hand in a swift upward direction, Ajeel can create Pterodactyl and Wyvern-like structures out of sand to attack his enemies.
 * Ant Lion Pit (蟻地獄 Arijigoku): Ajeel can create an enormous quick sand pit that can completely engulf his enemies. According to him, he has swallowed entire towns whole with the technique, and prior to his battle with the Fairy Tail Mages, no one had been able to escape the spell.
 * Sands of Death (死の砂 Shi no Suna): Ajeel can create an enormous wave of sand that can completely engulf his enemies. According to him, when hit by this spell, the receiver's body is dried out from the inside and mummified.
 * Sand Body: Ajeel is capable of turning himself into sand and is able to hide within it. (Unnamed)
 * Sand World ( Sando Wārudo): Ajeel is capable of creating a massive sandstorm, large enough to surround an entire town the size of Magnolia, forcing everyone inside it to rely on limited movement and field of vision. In addition, Ajeel himself is able to move freely and very efficiently in the sandstorm, seemingly merging and blending in with the sand, allowing him to attack a target from any location. Judging from Wall Eehto's words, Sand World is akin to a last resort to Ajeel, and as such is rarely used.
 * Ramal Sayf ( Ramuru Seifu): Ajeel, after first leaping into mid-air, can envelope himself in a whirl of sand, before then raining down blades of sands at his target.
 * Ramal Fa'as ( Ramuru Fāsu): Ajeel can create a double-bladed axe made of sand which is supposed to be sharp and strong enough to decapitate a target.

Immense Magic Power: As a member of the Spriggan 12, Ajeel boasts an insurmountable amount of Magic Power; his levels of strength are stated to be on par with those of the strongest Mage Ishgar has to offer: God Serena, and were compared to that of fellow Spriggan Brandish μ's own, someone renowned for toppling entire nations single-handedly, and whose Magic Power exceeds Makarov Dreyar's own caliber. With great injuries, Ajeel managed to conjure a sandstorm so great that it completely covered all of Magnolia and the skies above, and completely blotted out all visibility, save for Ajeel's own.

Immense Durability: While rarely providing his opponents with a chance to attack him directly, Ajeel has proven to be considerably resilient, suffering little to no damage when struck to the face by a fire-enhanced punch from Natsu (even reacting with excitement at finally having received a powerful blow), and two direct slashes from Erza's Sea Empress Sword (one of which left a large wound on his torso) did little more than cause his anger, not managing to hinder him in any way. He only suffered defeat when directly hit by two consecutive attacks by Jupiter and Nakagami Armor.

Enhanced Agility: Ajeel has displayed sharp reflexes and a degree of acrobatic prowess, allowing him to evenly match Erza Scarlet in close quarters combat and, through the use of his Magic, effectively outmaneuver her. His speed is such that he managed to intercept all the blades thrown by Erza's Circle Sword with his hands before they had a chance to reach him.

Immense Strength: In accordance with his stated levels of magical ability, Ajeel has exhibited such vast brute strength as to deflect the massively destructive Jupiter cannon bare-handed and easily with absolutely no injury posed to himself. Later, less impressively, he easily lifted Erza from the ground with a single hand to subsequently choke her while dehydrating the woman's body via his Sand Magic.

Trivia

 * In Volume 52, Hiro Mashima showcased some early concepts drawings of the Spriggan 12, one of them including Ajeel. In the rough sketch, Ajeel remains largely unchanged besides a few minor adjustments to his attire and his equipment. Regarding his attire, Ajeel's earrings are much more smaller and pear-shaped, compared to his finished design where his earrings are rounder and bigger in size. His baggy capris are not embedded with any symbols upon them, while he has a jeweled wristband to go along with the other light-colored bands on his wrists. Along his waist is a large cloth that flaps out from his backside, reaching down to his ankles. Lastly, his Alvarez Empire mark appears to be larger in size, as it reaches from his shoulder to his forearm while he is also shown holding a lamp, to go along with his overall  design.
 * "Ajeel" is an Arabic male name, which means "fast" and "quick". Combined with "Ramal", which means "sand", his name means "quicksand".

Quotes

 * (To Fairy Tail): "I've killed more two-bit Mages like you guys than I could ever count! We're on completely different levels, maggots! The land of Ishgar has been abandoned by god. It shall, from here on out, be ruled by Alvarez. Sucks to be you, doesn't it!?"
 * (To Makarov Dreyar): "Hah... and you think that'll be enough to protect everyone? You really are clueless... you have no idea the power that the Spriggan 12 possess..."
 * (To Erza Scarlet): "Revere me as a God!! And beg for my forgiveness! If you do, I'll grant you the mercy of a quick death."

Battles & Events

 * Team Natsu & Makarov Dreyar vs. Ajeel Ramal
 * Erza Scarlet vs. Ajeel Ramal