Bacchus Groh

Bacchus Groh (バッカス・グロウ Bakkasu Gurō) is an S-Class Mage of the Quatro Cerberus Guild.

Appearance
Bacchus is a tall, muscular and pale-skinned man with straight black hair, which is slicked back and gathered on the back of his head, where it is kept in a bun, hidden away by a white cloth with ruffled edges secured by a similarly colored strip; a haircut which was popular in ancient China. He has slanted eyes marked by dark lines, with black pupils circled by lighter irises, each bearing four irregular black forms below it (with the central pair of forms being larger than the two on the sides), and which are topped by black, arched eyebrows. He also appears to possess sharp canine teeth. Hanging from his ears is a pair of light brown earrings, whose shape is reminiscent of a gourd; an object which is commonly employed to drink alcohol, and which Bacchus himself carries around for such a purpose. His Quatro Cerberus tattoo is located on the center of his muscular, exposed back.

Bacchus' outfit leaves most of his muscular torso exposed, instead covering his arms and shoulders with dark blue armor plates, which join on the upper part of his back and are topped by a wide, arched armored collar in correspondence to his nape. Covering his legs is a very baggy pair of dark pants, which ends below his knees (where it gets tighter) and sports large, light motifs reminiscent of flames on the legs' outer edges, and circling his waist is a light sash tied on his left hip, with its long edges left hanging. For footwear, Bacchus dons dark, plain Chinese-looking shoes with light soles. All in all, the S-Class Mage greatly resembles a Chinese warrior from ancient times in appearance, something made evident by both his choice of clothing and his own looks.

Personality
So far, Bacchus' personality has mostly been shown with him in an intoxicated state. As his very name and epithet suggest, he greatly enjoys drinking alcohol, and, even while sober, is very competitive, having approached Cana Alberona to challenge her to a drinking contest.

After winning such contest and getting drunk, he left her bare-chested by taking her bikini top "as a trophy"; something which also hints at a certain lack of decorum and at some perverse tendencies, again testified when Bacchus referred to Erza Scarlet as the usual "fine woman", and definitively confirmed when, before his match with Elfman Strauss, he asked the Fairy Tail Mage to make a bet with him; a bet which, in case of Bacchus' victory, would have resulted in him spending one night with Elfman's sisters Mirajane and Lisanna, both at the same time.

In spite of this, Bacchus appears to have a sense of honor, acknowledging Elfman as a "man" as he lost to him during their battle, admitting defeat, and being willing to cheerfully honor the bet he made with him despite it making a mockery of his guild's team in X791's Grand Magic Games, claiming it to be a "promise between men". He's also very exuberant, and, much like many of his fellow guild members, has the habit to refer to his or others' "spirit" as "wild". Bacchus, much like Elfman, has his own set of beliefs as to what makes a man, a man.

History
While on jobs for their respective guilds in the past, Bacchus and Fairy Tail's S-Class Mage Erza Scarlet have fought many times. However, neither defeated the other, leaving their score unsettled.

Grand Magic Games arc
While the members of Fairy Tail were in a bar in Crocus celebrating their defeat, Bacchus came into the bar and challenged Cana to a drinking match. Despite warnings from Cana, Macao Conbolt, and Wakaba Mine, he doesn't back down from the challenge, and, much to the shock of all the observers, he defeats her. After he defeats her, he takes her bra as a trophy, something which angers Macao and Wakaba and so Macao punches him. Bacchus gets up and knocks both Macao and Wakaba down, but stops when he is addressed by Erza Scarlet. The two Mages talk briefly before Bacchus leaves stating that if he and Erza met tomorrow or the day after, then they would settle things for good.

Bacchus later participates in the second day's event, Chariot. Though initially in fifth place behind Kurohebi of Team Raven Tail, Ichiya of Team Blue Pegasus, Yuka of Team Lamia Scale and Risley of Team Mermaid Heel due to the hangover from the night before, after seeing the effort everyone else in the race was putting out, Bacchus uses his immense strength to destroy some of the chariots, causing his opponents to lose their balance and enabling him to overtake them, gaining first place and winning 10 points for his team. Makarov then proceeds to compliment Bacchus' ability, proclaiming his shock not knowing Quatro Cerberus even had such a man in their guild.

Later on the same day, Bacchus is chosen to fight, with his match having been requested by the King of Fiore himself. Due to an incomprehension between the King and Arcadios, however, his opponent from Fairy Tail isn't his old rival Erza Scarlet, but Elfman Strauss. The two enter the arena, with Bacchus laying casually on the ground while drinking, and then asking Elfman to make a bet just like the previous fighters Toby Horhorta and Kurohebi: if Bacchus wins, he'll spend a night with Elfman's sisters Mirajane and Lisanna. Before he can think of something for Elfman's possible victory, the Fairy Tail Mage angrily states that he'll tear him apart. Bacchus sneers satisfied as the two ready for battle.

Their battle commences but Elfman cannot land an attack. Bacchus starts commenting about how he'd spend his night with Mirajane and Lisanna, angering Elfman and causing him to transform into his Beast Soul: Weretiger. But not only does Bacchus manage to dodge Elfman's attacks, he also manages to attack him with his use of Chop Hanging Fist. After enduring a few attacks, Elfman gets up and places his wager in their bet: if he wins the match, Quatro Cerberus will have to change their name to Quatro Puppy for the rest of the Games. Hearing this, Bacchus starts drinking from his bottle of alcohol and prepares to use Drunk-Chop Hanging Fist. He lands several hits on Elfman but soon discovers how bruised up his palms are afterwards. He sees that Elfman has transformed into Beast Soul: Lizardman before he attacked, thus causing injury to his palms. Bacchus gets excited and the two Mages continue their battle, with him on the offensive, and Elfman trying to defend himself with his newly-gained scales. As the clash comes to a conclusion, Bacchus remarks that Elfman is a real man before collapsing utterly defeated, in stark contrast to everyone's expectations. Thus, Elfman wins and gains Team Fairy Tail A 10 points.

At the end of the Games' second day, a fully recovered Bacchus laughs heartily at how his team's name was actually changed to Quatro Puppy, telling his dismayed teammates that it can't be helped.

On the third day's evening, Bacchus is present at the Ryuzetsu Land water park alongside the rest of his team, which are relaxing in a pool while repeating the guild's signature phrase. Lazily floating on a lifebuoy adorned by pandas, Bacchus states that the "era of real men" is starting before telling his guildmates about a close friend of him using his own name as an alias to commit thefts; a story he'd told them already countless times, as they notice. The group receives a visit from Cana, clad in her underwear due to the lack of a swimsuit, who cheerfully side-hugs both Rocker and Nobarly, much to everyone's embarrassment, and not without some pleasure on the former two's part. That evening, however, is brought to an abrupt end by Natsu Dragneel, who accidentally destroys the water park with his Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, leaving everyone on the ground, with Bacchus resting below Cana with a mildly pleased expression.

After the fourth day's event, Naval Battle, is concluded, Bacchus watches as the battle portions of the day are set to start.

Later, the tag battle between Team Blue Pegasus and Team Quatro Puppy is announced: Bacchus and Rocker versus Ichiya and the rabbit-costumed Blue Pegasus member. Bacchus, now sporting bandaged hands because of his battle with Elfman, is seen rather relaxed before their battle, unlike Rocker. Before the battle begins, the unknown Blue Pegasus member removes his mask, revealing himself to be the Exceed, Nichiya. Though shocked at first, Bacchus' shock turns to amusement, wryly smiling as he charges towards Nichiya, fiercely striking the Exceed, rendering him unconscious.

Bacchus takes advantage of Ichiya's shock and confusion, attacking him with his Under Moonlight. As Ichiya is sent flying, Rocker follows up Bacchus' strike with a chain of his own attacks. Ichiya, however, determined to avenge his comrade, uses his Power Perfume, vastly, albeit visibly, enhancing his strength. Ichiya punches Bacchus and Rocker with his Smiling Smash, knocking the two Quattro Cerberus Mages out in one hit, resulting in Team Blue Pegasus' victory.

During the last day of the Grand Magic Games, holding 6th place, Bacchus and his team enter the Domus Flau. As the rules for the day are explained, Bacchus listens alongside his teammates. Soon after the start of the day, Bacchus comes across Yuka and Toby of Team Lamia Scale. Distracted by the two, Sting Eucliffe takes advantage of the situation, attacking Bacchus from above, pounding the Mage into the ground. Because he was the leader of Team Quatro Puppy, Bacchus' defeat earns Team Sabertooth five points.

After the games end, with Fairy Tail arising victorious, Bacchus and the other Mages of Fiore are summoned to Crocus central square by the king. He is then left open-mouthed at the sudden revelation of ten thousand Dragons headed to Fiore to wreck havoc upon the land. Listening to the King's continuing speech, Bacchus is then relived to hear that the Eclipse Gate will be utilized to defeat a great number of Dragons, as are the others. He then joins in with the many Mages gathered as the King begs for their help, asking them to defeat the remaining Dragons, cheering in delight. Joined by Araña Webb and Beth Vanderwood, Bacchus and his Guildmates release wild cries of glee.

After it is revealed that the Eclipse Gate was not a weapon but a catalyst to the Dragon invasion, Bacchus and the rest of the Mages battle the Dragons to no avail, with Natsu revealing that it is up to the Dragon Slayers to defeat the seven Dragons that crossed through the Eclipse Gate. One of the seven Dragons, Motherglare, soars above the ground and deposits eggs which hatch into Draconian-like entities and preoccupy the Mages, commencing a full-on war of Man against Dragon. During the battle and carnage, Bacchus is shown to be overwhelmed by the Hatchlings and is lethally impaled in the chest. However, from afar, after Ultear's sacrifice, time goes back exactly by a single minute prior to Bacchus' fatal injury and with clairvoyant knowledge of the upcoming minute, Bacchus counterattacks against the Hatchlings.

Bacchus, along with all the other Mages that participated in the Grand Magic Games, is invited to the palace for a party to celebrate their survival against the Dragons. Bacchus joins Cana in drinking and invites her in another contest between them. Later, when every guild begins claiming Yukino Aguria as a Mage, Bacchus joins the brawl, exclaiming that she can be the only girl in a men-only guild.

Magic and Abilities
Palm Magic: Bacchus' Magic is a very simple and rather orthodox one, which focuses Magic Power on the palm of his hands. What makes his use of it fearsome is Bacchus' mastery of Chop Hanging Palm (劈掛掌 Hikashō), a martial art which allows him to make the most out of palm strikes, thus taking full advantage of the focused Magic Power. When employing his unarmed prowess alongside such Magic, Bacchus is shown capable of striking with great force mighty opponents the likes of Elfman Strauss (whose size was further enhanced by his Beast Soul: Weretiger) with mere touches of his hands, even sending them flying away from him without effort.

Immense Speed: A trained Mage specializing in melee combat, Bacchus possesses high levels of agility and reflexes, enough for him to avoid multiple assaults from Elfman Strauss's Beast Soul: Weretiger, a Take Over transformation said to greatly increase speed, with ease, employing the fluent motions typical of his fighting style to evade blows, and at the same time counter-attacking. He's also shown to be remarkably fast, possessing very great running speed even while on a hangover: during the Grand Magic Games's Chariot event, he could outrun Kurohebi, who was leading the race and had an advantage of several meters over him, in mere seconds, emerging victorious from the contest. When Bacchus consumes alcohol freshly, his speed doesn't suffer; on the other hand, it is further increased, and can reach unimaginable peaks: a single sip of alcohol from his gourd allows him to accurately hit foes seven times, subsequently moving several meters past them, in a single second, almost making it look like he's teleporting.

Immense Strength: Bacchus possesses an outrageous amount of physical strength: during the Grand Magic Games's Chariot event, he was shown capable of breaking down the chariot he was standing on and the ground below it, lifting all nearby chariots linked to it in midair as a result, with a simple stomp; an astonishing feat which was commented upon by both spectators and fellow competitors, leaving two physically powerful Mages such as Erza Scarlet and Elfman Strauss and even Fairy Tail's Guild Master Makarov Dreyar stunned.

Enhanced Endurance: Bacchus has proven himself to be considerably resilient and tolerant to pain: during his battle with Elfman Strauss, he continued to attack the latter, clad in his Beast Soul: Lizardman form, with a barrage of unarmed blows despite the numerous injuries he was gaining to his hands due to the opponent's hard scales, and kept on doing so even after the violence of the impacts broke all of the armor plates covering his arms. Afterwards, Bacchus was only shown to be significantly exhausted, and didn't seem to suffer any pain. He could also fight as usual two days later, brutally assaulting Ichiya and Nichiya with bandaged palms without any sign of discomfort.

Master Hand to Hand Combatant: Bacchus' fighting style revolves around his mastery of the martial art Chop Hanging Palm, which is focused around the use of palm strikes imbued with Magic Power through his Magic, distinctive attacks which Quatro Cerberus' S-Class Mage performs by assuming particular stances, bending his knees and diagonally stretching his arms upwards, allowing him to assault foes with great force and accuracy. Not only that, Bacchus improved such already powerful martial art in a peculiar way, adding it the consumption of alcohol he's used to, and thus creating Drunk-Chop Hanging Palm (酔劈掛掌 Sui Hikashō): when intoxicated, Bacchus' blows are said to be unpredictable, as well as much stronger than usual. In addition, their speed seems to be increased exponentially, as shown when Bacchus was able to land seven blows on Elfman Strauss in a single second, subsequently moving behind him, making it look like he had just moved through his opponent. Due to his mastery of such style, Bacchus' palm strikes can also be performed from seemingly unfavorable positions; something which can serve to take opponents off-guard and strike them, as shown when he could knock off their feet Macao Conbolt and Wakaba Mine and slam them both on the ground at the same time while facing backwards and raising from the floor where he had just collapsed due to intoxication. It's Bacchus' use of Drunk-Chop Hanging Palm that earned him his epithets The Drunk Falcon and Bacchus of the Drunk-Chop Hanging Palm. All in all, such fighting style is highly reminiscent of Zui Quan, sometimes known as "Drunken Palm", a traditional Chinese martial art whose users imitate the movements of an intoxicated individual to attack foes and evade their blows.
 * Under Moonlight (月下 Gekka): A Drunk-Chop Hanging Palm melee attack where Bacchus seemingly "slaps" his target with one of his palms through the fast and yet limited motion of the corresponding forearm. When he used it against Ichiya, this move was shown sending the man flying several meters away while raising a burst of sand from the ground he was standing upon seconds before; something which either hints at a remarkably great blunt force behind the attack or at Under Moonlight targeting a limited area rather than a single target.

Alcohol Tolerance: Bacchus is gifted with an immense level of alcohol tolerance, being capable of consuming huge amounts of alcohol, emptying entire bottles and many glasses, without losing consciousness, and even retaining a certain lucidity. He was able to defeat Cana Alberona, a seasoned drinker known in her own right for an incredible alcohol tolerance, in a drinking contest, something which left her fellow guild mates from Fairy Tail stunned. When consumed freshly, alcohol is shown to be even beneficial for Bacchus, allowing him to employ his signature Drunk-Chop Hanging Palm martial art, and thus making him deadlier in combat.

Equipment
Gourd: On certain instances, Bacchus is shown to carry around a gourd, which he uses to store alcohol and have it at his disposal to drink anytime. Such element is important in the execution of his signature martial art, the Drunk-Chop Hanging Fist, allowing him to consume alcohol during battles and employ his abilities to the fullest. The object is closed by a thin cork bung, and possesses the hourglass-like shape typical to the plant, with the lower bulge being slightly larger than the upper one, and a thin rope being tied in the concave part between the two. During battles, Bacchus appears to casually leave the gourd resting on the ground, approaching it and calmly drinking from it when he chooses to employ his Drunk-Chop Hanging Fist, as shown during his fight with Elfman Strauss, in which the gourd spent most of the time on the sandy ground of the Domus Flau.

In the manga, the lower bulge also bears three Chinese characters, contrary to the more commonly used Japanese kanji, again in reference to Bacchus' Chinese appearance. These are "Ghost" (鬼), "Cry" (哭) and "Drunk" (醉). Such trait was left out completely in the anime portrayal.

Trivia

 * Bacchus was the Roman name of Dionysus, the god of wine and everything related to it in Greek mythology.
 * Bacchus's fighting technique, the Drunk-Chop Hanging Fist, is similar to Zui Quan, a Chinese fighting style that imitates a drunkard's movements, popularised by the 1978 film Drunken Master. Bacchus also consumes alcohol to fight better, similar to Wong Fei-Hung and Beggar So, who increase their power by drinking alcohol.

Quotes

 * (To Erza Scarlet) "After seeing Warcry's sorry state, I just couldn't keep silent... That's a man's spirit for you."
 * (To Elfman Strauss) "You know, you... are a man!!!"
 * (To Rocker) "Whaaat? As long as our souls tremble, That'll be fine."
 * (To Quatro Puppy's members) ''"Oi, you guys. This is the age of Men not boys.

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