Gajeel Redfox

For Gajeel's Edolas counterpart, see Gajeel (Edolas).

Gajeel Redfox (ガジル・レッドフォックス Gajiru Reddofokkusu) is an Iron Dragon Slayer Mage, a member of the Fairy Tail guild, and a former S-Class Mage from the Phantom Lord guild.

Appearance
Gajeel is a tall and muscular man with long, spiky black hair, which is usually kept slicked back, revealing his forehead, red eyes (initially portrayed as green) with slitted dark pupils, and no visible eyebrows. Most of his exposed body is covered in sets of simple, round studs. The most visible studs are on his face, with three of them right above his eyes (acting as "eyebrows" of a sort), three on each side of his nose, and two on his chin, just below his mouth. His ears are adorned by two sets of five earrings each. He also sports four studs on each of his forearms, with his right one being covered in scars. As a member of Phantom Lord, he bears his Phantom Lord stamp at the top of his right shoulder. After joining Fairy Tail, his black Fairy Tail stamp is located on his left arm, just below his shoulder. Being a Dragon Slayer, his teeth are distinctively pointed.

Gajeel's usual outfit consists of a shabby, black, sleeveless tunic with studded edges, with a studded belt around his waist, loose whitish pants tucked inside studded black boots, and a pair of studded brown gloves paired with similarly studded wristbands. He also sports a distinctive wing-like ornament, seemingly made of feathers jutting upwards, over his right shoulder, attached to his tunic by a large stud.

Personality
As a Phantom Lord Mage, Gajeel didn't care at all about Fairy Tail, and seemed to think that Phantom Lord was a stronger and more worthwhile guild. When he was first introduced, he was depicted as cold and apathetic, and not at all above injuring his allies if they irritated, as seen when he iron-clubbed a fellow Phantom Lord Mage who was praising his abilities, all because the latter was disturbing his meal at the time.

However, he is completely and genuinely dedicated to whatever guild he is affiliated with. In fact, he ignited the Fairy Tail/Phantom Lord Guild War mainly because, as long time-rivals, he believed that the Fairy Tail Mages were enemies, and as a Phantom Lord Mage, Gajeel saw it as an obligation to "protect" his own guild, even if it meant starting an unprovoked attack against Fairy Tail. Upon his recruitment to Fairy Tail, this sense of comradeship did not change in the slightest; he even went as far as reprimanding Laxus (whom he admits to be a more powerful Mage than he is) for attempting to kill Natsu with his lightning, when they (Laxus and Natsu) are supposed to be allies.

Despite saying that he doesn't want to make friends, he tries in his own way to do so. So far he has sung an off-key solo (after chaining Mirajane to a wall) and not fought back when attacked by Shadow Gear or Laxus. He even protected Levy McGarden after Laxus Dreyar shot a blast of Lightning at her, showing that Jet and Droy were wrong about him, and he does want to make friends with the other members of Fairy Tail.

He has a short temper, seen when he and Natsu bicker constantly over childish things. Like Natsu, Gajeel lives for the thrill of combat, and is visibly frustrated when faced with circumstances where he is denied the opportunity of fighting a skilled adversary as seen during the S-Class Trails.

Despite his cold personality, he has shown a humorous side of himself when he was shocked to see Mirajane transform her face to look like him, and when he failed to break Freed Justine's Magic enchantment. After the conflict with Oración Seis, he is shown to be upset when he realized that he's the only Dragon Slayer that doesn't have a cat as a partner. He then desperately tries to find a cat in the alleys but ended up starving and becoming heavily exhausted. Later on in Edolas, Gajeel finds the partner he is looking for in Pantherlily and, on arriving back in Earth Land, cries tears of joy when he discovers Pantherlily made it to Earth Land, despite his reduced size.

Gajeel is apparently more perceptive than his demeanor suggests, and has demonstrated being able to relay indiscernible pieces of information, baring meaning that most people would have trouble understanding otherwise, to his comrades. He also has a unique way of laughter. It goes as "Gi Hi Hi Hi".

History
Similar to how Natsu learned his "Fire Dragon Slayer" magic from the dragon Igneel, Gajeel learned his "Iron Dragon Slayer" from the dragon Metalicana. Both Igneel and Metalicana disappeared seven years prior to the beginning of the series on July 7 in the year of X777.

Phantom Lord arc
Gajeel leads the attack on Fairy Tail by wrecking the Fairy Tail guildhall with large iron rods. He then attacks Fairy Tail's Shadow Gear team and pins them to a tree, crucifixion style, burning the Phantom Lord symbol into their waists. This act ultimately provokes Makarov into declaring war on Phantom Lord.

Gajeel surveys the battle between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord before entering the fray to fight Elfman. Their battle is interrupted by Natsu, interesting Gajeel with the idea of battling another Dragon Slayer. Though they exchange a few blows, Natsu is forced to retreat when Makarov is lead into a trap by Jose Porla and injured by Aria.

Gajeel uses his superior sense of smell to track down Lucy Heartfilia, who he captures and brings back to his guild after the Element 4 are defeated. He is ordered by Jose to watch Lucy, but Gajeel cruelly tortures her to pass the time. As Lucy insults Gajeel, he smells Natsu coming and moves to kill Lucy, provoking Natsu into fighting him a second time. The two are initially equal in strength, but Gajeel gains the upper hand by covering his body with metal scales and eating scraps of metal to replenish his strength. However, Natsu is able to retaliate after Lucy summons Sagittarius to start a fire (which he does by destroying nearby machinery and causing and explosion), allowing Natsu to feed and giving him enough strength to knock him through the Phantom Lord building, demolishing it and defeating him.

After the battle ends, Natsu questions Gajeel about where he learned his Dragon Slayer magic. Gajeel reveals his relationship with Metalicana, and is shocked to learn that Natsu's guardian dragon Igneel disappeared on the same day as his own dragon. The two bicker over this, and stop after Gajeel yells at Natsu to get out of what is left of his guild, declaring that he will one day take revenge.

Sometime later, Phantom Lord is disbanded, and Gajeel remains at the ruins of his former guild. He is eventually approached by Makarov, who tells him that Juvia Lockser, another former member of Phantom Lord, has joined their guild, much to Gajeel's displeasure. Although still enraged that Gajeel had destroyed his guild and injured Shadow Gear, making it clear that he would never forgive Gajeel for it, Makarov offers Gajeel membership to Fairy Tail so as to help guide Gajeel down the right path. Moved by Makarov's statement, Gajeel accepts his offer.

Fighting Festival arc
Despite not being a fully trusted member of Fairy Tail, Gajeel is given a mission by Makarov to find Iwan Dreyar, Makarov's son and master of the dark guild Raven Tail, and infiltrate his dark guild to act as a double agent and spy on him. Gajeel somehow manages to make contact with Iwan and feigns allegiance with him, claiming to spy on Fairy Tail so that he may take revenge against Natsu.

Gajeel's inclusion in the newly renovated guild is not well-received by the other guild members, particularly Team Natsu, who discover that he has joined after their return from the Tower of Heaven. While shocked and angry, they reluctantly accept his membership as part of Makarov's decision, though Erza maintains that he should be watched closely. Gajeel similarly acts distant and hostile towards Natsu and his other new guildmates, saying that he doesn't intend to get along with any of them and has only come to find work. With encouragement from Juvia, however, Gajeel begins making attempts to fit in with the others, and though his methods of doing so are questionable (such as chaining up Mirajane just so he could put on a stage performance for the others in her place), he gradually earns a grudging respect from the guild.

One of the other groups that refuse to accept Gajeel is the Shadow Gear team; Jet and Droy hold a grudge against him for attacking them, while Levy frequently cowers in fear of his presence. Jet and Droy pick a fight with him while he tries to go on a mission, though he does not fight back. Laxus soon arrives and, blaming him for ruining Fairy Tail's reputation by destroying and then joining the guild, begins attacking him in a manner so much more brutal than Jet and Droy that even they become concerned that Laxus is overdoing it. Even still, Gajeel does not fight back, leading Shadow Gear to reason that he is trying to earn their acceptance. They try to make Laxus stop attacking him, but Laxus fires a bolt of lightning at Levy out of frustration. To Shadow Gear's shock, Gajeel takes the hit for himself and defends Levy. With no one willing to fight anymore, Gajeel staggers off to continue his mission.

As Laxus tries to take over the Guild, Gajeel eats some metal and prepares to go after him, but as with Natsu, he is stopped by Freed's enchantment that blocks people over the age of 80 as well for some unknown reason. He then helps Natsu try to release Erza but as she awakes, she promptly beats them for touching her. Shortly after, Levy managed to dispel the enchantment, enabling Natsu and Gajeel to enter Laxus' tournament. Later, Gajeel is seen speaking to Iwan Dreyar through a form of Magic resembling a shikigami, falsely reassuring him that he still intends to get revenge of Fairy Tail.

Gajeel later appears in the church where Natsu was fighting Laxus and saved Natsu from his Raging Bolt spell. He then suggests that he and Natsu work together to take down Laxus and protect the guild, which surprises Natsu.

They put forth a valiant effort, but Laxus surprises them by revealing that he, too, is a Dragon Slayer. Using this power, Laxus nearly defeats them both. His powerful attacks weaken Gajeel too greatly for him to continue the fight. For a short while, Natsu is forced to fight Laxus alone. However, in the final moments, Gajeel uses his Iron Dragon Slayer powers to make himself a living lightning rod. This causes Laxus's attack to change course and miss Natsu, hitting Gajeel instead. Taking advantage of this, Natsu then finishes Laxus off.

In the Guild Hall, after Laxus's defeat, Gajeel and Natsu sit alongside one another covered from head to toe in bandages. When Natsu springs up from his seat to talk to Laxus, his every word is completely muffled by his bandages. Surprisingly, Gajeel is somehow able to understand him and relays what Natsu says to Laxus. He soon confronts Iwan about Laxus being a Dragon Slayer. Iwan reveals to Gajeel that Laxus is a "fake" Dragon Slayer, and because he pitied Laxus for being so weak, he implanted lacrima into Laxus's body to let him gain Dragon Slayer powers. Gajeel assures Iwan once more that he won't be caught as a "spy" before leaving. He returns to the guildhall during Fairy Tail's Fantasia parade, meeting Makarov in private and giving him a note containing a report on Iwan's location and dealings.

Edolas arc
He later appears again after Wendy Marvell has become a new member of Fairy Tail guild. He's shown to be upset and perplexed at the observation that both Natsu and Wendy have cats with them. Being a Dragon Slayer like them, he ponders and questions the fact that he doesn't have a cat himself and is seemingly troubled by this fact. He later begins looking for a cat to own in an alleyway but after numerous tries, he grows exhausted. He then trips and lands face-first in front of a silhouetted cat. However, the cat apparently clawed his face, as he runs into Happy afterward, who asks why Gajeel's face has multiple scratches.

As Anima sucks all Magnolia into Edolas, Gajeel is not shown to be at the guild. However, Carla says that Dragon Slayers should be safe. It was later revealed by Gray that Mystogan transported Gajeel to Edolas, along with the medicine, X-balls, that can allow Earth Land Mages to use their Magic in Edolas. Gajeel later freed Gray Fullbuster and Erza Scarlet from the Lacrima stationed at the grounds of the Royal Capital, and gives them the medicine to use Magic. While rampaging at the Royal Capital, Happy carries him to the Lacrima where the rest of the Fairy Tail members were trapped. He reveals that he can revert Anima's effects on the Lacrima by destroying it with Dragon Slayer Magic. As he is about to do so, he is interrupted by a flying Pantherlily who attacks him with a gigantic blade.

Their fight starts to get intense, when Gajeel's Iron scales allow him to withstand an attack from Pantherlily's sword, but in the middle of the fight when Pantherlily mentions about being an outcast, Gajeel immediately takes a liking to him and tries to make him his cat companion.However before deciding to make him his companion, Gajeel decides to show him who's stronger and manages to smash his sword. Their fight now is between hand to hand combat. As the Lacrima is about to smash into Extalia, Gajeel decides to postpone their fight and help prevent the collision of the Lacrima with the help of Team Natsu and the Exceed.

Gajeel along with the Fairy Tail members and the Exceed manage to stop the Lacrima destroying Extalia. Mystogan then arrives and is successful in sending the Lacrima back to Earth Land and states that once the Lacrima returns through the Anima the fairy tail members will change back to normal.Erza Knightwalker shows up and shoots Pantherlily through the chest calling him a traitor. Gajeel is outraged by this saying "How dare you shoot my cat!". The King then makes an appearance in a giant metal dragon called the Dorma Anim as saying the metal dragon repels all Magic attacks. Gajeel, Natsu and Wendy engage the Dorma Anim in battle as only their Dragon Slayer Magic can stand up against the Dorma Anim.

Wendy casts a spell on Natsu and Gajeel while they fight with the Dorma Anim, making them faster and another one to make them stronger, the king then fires some tracking missiles after Wendy but Natsu intercepts and destroys them. When the king is about to shoot again, Gajeel hits the missiles before launch, but gets hit by the tail of the Dorma. A group of missiles is fired again, but these ones explode before Natsu can hit them.The king gets surprised when Natsu eats the fire of the explosions while Gajeel starts eating the tail of the Dorma. Suddenly the Dorma changes color as the king states that he is going to "Drain all the fighting spirits".

The new form of the Dorma Anim grants it a huge increase in power and a change of color as well, turning the tide in the king's favor. Gajeel decides to try some different tactics, revealing they hadn't been using full power because they didn't know what could happen. All three of them attacked at once with their respective roars but it had almost no effect.The king proclaims victory, saying that although they have infinite Magic, once it runs out it takes awhile to recharge. Natsu gets up saying that he'll use tomorrow's Magic. Gajeel gets up and pins the Dorma Anim leg down to the ground, telling Natsu to attack and that he was the only one who could do it. Natsu tells Wendy to aim a roar at him to boost his speed by the rotation of her roar and succeeds in tearing through the Dorma Anim.

When Nadi told them about Mystogan and Pantherlily's conversation, the three Dragon Slayers decided to put up a show, with them as the antagonist side of Mystogan's initial plan. Showing up along with the Great Demon-Lord Dragneel, he wrecked the streets of Royal Capital and helped Wendy to scare off some civilians; and at the same time, grudgingly putting up with Natsu's degenerative rants as he referred to Gajeel and Wendy as his "minions". Gajeel and Wendy then looked on Natsu's destructive demonstration in front of the crowd, with Wendy asking whether Natsu was going overboard. Gajeel, however, said that the salamander was merely setting up the perfect scene for the people to trust Mystogan. With Natsu's 'defeat', their bodies began to glow, and Gajeel tells Wendy to prepare a flashy defeat appearance. As Anima removes them from Edolas, the three Dragon Slayers faked a suffering gesture before smiling on Mystogan, signaling that everything will be alright.

Returning from Edolas, Gajeel, along with the rest of the gangs, were surprised by the appearance of the Exceeds. After listening to the Exceed Elders' explanation and the Exceeds departure, Gajeel searched frantically for Pantherlily. Showing up in a much smaller size, everyone were surprised by Pantherlily's new form. Pantherlily then requested to join the guild that the Prince once stayed in order to keep a promise to Gajeel, which Gajeel couldn't help but agreeing with laughter and tears.As he pulled the person out, everyone was left speechless by the fact that person is Lisanna. She asks Pantherlily if he is an Exceed, to which he replies by stating his name, and Gajeel angrily asks her if she is picking a fight with his cat. When Lisanna revealed that she is actually from Earth Land and was sent to Edolas 2 years ago, Gajeel alongside Natsu and the others help Lisanna to return to her siblings.

Tenrou Island arc
Back at Fairy Tail, everybody is celebrating Lisanna's return and Gajeel is shown to have become more cheerful by proposing a fight between "his Lily" and Natsu's and Wendy's Exceeds, but ends up as a fight between himself and Natsu and everyone in the Guild. At one scene, everyone finishes fighting and is sleeping from exhaustion. Gajeel is seen sleeping, while hugging Pantherlily with one arm.

A few days later he watches Pantherlily and Erza doing a spar with swords, after the battle he brags about Lily and his abilities. Gajeel like the rest of the guild, witnesses the master announcing the S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial, but is greatly shocked that he wasn't chosen as a candidate and surprised that Juvia was chosen over him. He also is greatly upset since he would have stood out as much as the other candidates,if his secret mission to infiltrate Raven Tail was revealed, and shows that his trust with the guild is not as strained as they believe it to be.It is shown that it was actually Erza who prevented him to be promoted, feeling it was too early for him.

When Jet and Droy are arguing over who will be Levy's partner, Gajeel steps up saying that he will help her. Levy feels she has no chance since she doesn't consider herself strong, which prompts Gajeel to yell at her to be more positive, and he'd help make her stronger causing her to blush.

As the participants head towards the island, Gajeel gets drowsy from the heat. When the first trial started Freed used a rune on the boat, which prevents everyone from leaving the boat for 5 min. However Levy managed to rewrite the rune in an instant, though she only lets herself and Gajeel leave. They then swim to the island and arrive before everyone else, except Freed's team. It is unknown which path he and Levy have chosen, but they managed to choose the quiet path. Gajeel was clearly not pleased by this since he couldn't fight against anyone.

During the second part of the test, Gajeel is seen grumbling about the test and him not being able to fight Natsu or Erza. Levy is seen to be frustrated with Gajeel for ignoring her and teasing her about her strength, before running away from him. Later, she regrets running away but is captured by two Grimoire Heart members. Gajeel saves her just in time and tells her not to leave his side again to which she agrees. With Gajeel and Levy back-to-back, he then asks for the identities of their ambushers, and though the perpetrators chose not to answer, the Guild crests on their person reveal to Gajeel that they were affiliated to the Grimoire Heart Guild.

With Grimoire Heart Mages present during the S-Class Trials, Gajeel wonders if the Master recruited Mages from a Dark Guild to pose as obstacles being part of the Trials without telling anyone else, to which Levy dismissed as negative and replies that it is more likely they have sneaked into the Island unauthorized.

Gajeel then says that if he cannot take care of a mess this small, he wouldn't have what it takes to be an S-Class Mage. Then, after Yomazu states that they are sent to poach all the Fairies on this island, he releases his attack, Gou, which makes the surroundings so loud so that Gajeel, along with Levy, cannot hear their surroundings. Gajeel cannot hear Levy's warning, so she pulls Gajeel away from Kawazu, who drops Egg Busters. When Levy uses her Solid Script: Silent to silence Gou, Gajeel, who is now able to hear, punches Yomazu. Despite gaining this advantage, Yomazu is able to cut through Gajeel's iron dragon scales with Zan. He then uses Kan to pierce right through Gajeel. Yomazu then uses Narukami to hit him again. With Gajeel down on the ground, and Levy watching nearby in horror, Yomazu and Kawazu converged, musing to themselves that if the other guild-members of Fairy Tail were just a weak as both Gajeel and Levy, then the two of them would be enough to take down the rest of the guild long before their reinforcements arrive; hearing this, Gajeel inquired about the "reinforcements" that they were talking about, to which Yomazu replied that he was referring to the entire Grimoire Heart wizards who were also deployed to their location, and would be arriving on Tenrou Island shortly, much to Gajeel's shock.Realizing that the gravity of the situation is worse than he initially anticipated, Gajeel tells Levy that from that point on, things will escalate beyond her imagination, and so he instructs her to run. When Levy showed her hesitation to leave Gajeel behind, he shouted that informing everyone else about Grimore Heart's arrival is more important right now, and urged her to go, saying he can take care of these two on his own. Yomazu opted to go after Levy, only to have Gajeel thwart his attempt using an iron-club arm that stopped dark guild Mage in his tracks. Before she leaves, Levy leaves a Solid Script Iron for Gajeel to devour and replenish his energy with, and then ran off, without looking back with tears in her eyes, begging him not to get killed.

With his strength replenished, Gajeel manages to get back on his feet, much to the shock of Yomazu and Kawazu; he remembers the time he fought with Natsu and how he defended the name and honor of Fairy Tail. Gajeel currently feels the same as Natsu did and vows to defeat his enemies. As he starts fighting, he starts off using his Roar, but they still hang. They use against him numerous spells and attacks, although he manages to defeat Kawazu with Iron Dragon Sword. This leaves Gajeel open, allowing Yomazu to stab Gajeel through the length of his steel arm with Tsuranuki, but he continues to latch on the sword, ignoring the cracks that were beginning to form on the surface of his arm due to Yomazu's sword penetrating him there, astounding Yomazu with his strength. Gajeel then remembers the day he join Fairy Tail.

Gajeel, recalling the times of comradeship that he experienced while side-by-side with the other Fairy Tail Mages, snaps back to the present and screams that he is a Fairy Tail Mage, right before forcibly destroying the sword with his damaged arm, leaving Yomazu flabbergasted at Gajeel's power. He uses his ultimate technique, Dragon Slayer Secret Technique: Karma Demon Iron Sword, to defeat Yomazu. He collapses right after that from his wounds and exhaustion.Levy, Erza, and Juvia find him and his opponents on the ground. Levy runs to his side, telling him to hang in there, while Erza announces to the rest of the guild that the exam was paused for now, and that everyone had to get ready for battle. Levy, with Gajeel on her back, then says that she will carry him to camp and departs. When the Grimoire Heart members arrive from the bubbles, Levy hides, with Gajeel still unconscious on her shoulder. He is later seen unconscious at the rest spot next to Mirajane, being tended to by Levy and Lisanna.

After Grimoire Heart's defeat, Natsu wishes to continue with the exam, Gajeel however, berates him telling he can't win in his condition. Natsu disagrees, but before they can fight, Natsu passes out which annoys Gajeel.

Everything is interrupted when Acnologia, the infamous Black Dragon, lands on Tenrou Island and starts attacking everyone. All of the Fairy Tail members start moving towards the ship as the dragon goes on its rampage. Makarov then enters full Titan mode and grabs Acnologia, holding it off from attacking the guild members. Everyone wishes to help Makarov, but he shouts not to disobey his final order. When Makarov is overwhelmed by Acnologia, all of them return back and go all out against the dragon. As Acnologia, having shrugged off all the combined attacks from its assailants, flies high up into the sky and readies to fire a breath attack against Tenrou Island, the guild members join their hands in a circle. While promising they will return home to Fairy Tail, they are struck by Acnologia's blast, which completely annihilates Tenrou Island, leaving nothing behind.

X791 arc
Gajeel along with the rest of the others are rescued by Bisca, Alzack, Jet, Droy, Max, Warren and the Trimens from Blue Pegasus. He watches as Mavis Vermilion reveals that she was the one who saved them and then disappears. He returns to the Fairy Tail Guild and, along with Natsu, Erza, and Gray, defeats the members of Twilight Ogre who were threatening Romeo and is later welcomed back by Romeo.

He wasn't shown for some time, almost after they came back from Tenrou Island, as Levy said he and Lily were having a hard training and didn't want to bring her with them. Later, they looked at the stars and smiling, after training to the point of exhaustion for the Grand Magic Games

Magic and Abilities
Iron Dragon Slayer Magic (鉄の滅竜魔法 Tetsu no Metsuryū Mahō): Like Natsu, Gajeel was taught by a dragon to manipulate a particular element into his fighting style: in Gajeel's case, the dragon Metalicana taught him how to use Iron Dragon Slayer Magic. However, as the name implies, his Dragon Slayer Magic deals with iron instead of fire. Just as Natsu eats fire to regain his strength, so can Gajeel eat iron to regain his own. His teeth and jaw muscles are apparently powerful enough to gnaw through solid metal with ease, and he can devour even the Magic-canceling metal of the Dorma Anim. Gajeel's Magic deals with producing multi-sized iron rods as well as changing parts of his body into steel. Most of his attacks involve transforming his arm's into hard-as-steel weapons, which he can do at will.


 * Iron Dragon's Scales (鉄龍の鱗 Tetsuryū no Uroko): Gajeel covers part of his body (or the entirety of it) with steel scales to dramatically increase his offense and defense. When punching while covered by these scales, Gajeel was capable of creating powerful gusts of wind through mere kinetic force; when confronted with Natsu Dragneel's flames, the resulting clash generated a powerful shockwave which heavily damaged the area surrounding the two of them. These scales are strong enough to shatter bone and rock alike, resilient against regular flames, and much harder than normal iron (just like Natsu's flames) as shown when Pantherlily's gigantic sword wasn't able to cut through them.


 * Iron Dragon's Roar (鉄竜の咆哮 Tetsuryū no Hōkō): Gajeel's exclusive, metal-based variation the Dragon's Roar. After gathering Magic Power into his mouth, Gajeel shapes it into a powerful tornado which he subsequently emits and sends towards his foes. Such tornado possesses immense force, being capable of generating powerful explosions and inflicting heavy blunt damage, but also releases sharp shards of metal in the process, to shred the opponents' body.


 * Iron Dragon's Club (鉄竜棍 Tetsuryūkon): Gajeel transforms his arm or leg into a large steel club, increasing punching and kicking power. He can also create multiple smaller clubs from the end of the original, hitting many enemies at once. The clubs can be elongated at Gajeel's will, making for powerful ranged weapons. He is also apparently capable of increasing their size dramatically and to detach them from his body: several of these clubs, enlarged to gargantuan size, were the main cause of Fairy Tail's building destruction. Also, for added manoeuvrability and to take opponents off-guard, the club can be rapidly turned into the similar Iron Dragon's Sword.


 * Iron Dragon's Sword (鉄竜剣 Tetsuryūken): Similar to Iron Dragon's Club, but possessing cutting instead of blunt power and thus being possibly deadlier, Gajeel transforms his arm or leg into a large, jagged steel blade. The spikes along the blade's edge make its slashes more painful and dangerous, and the weapon's length can be increased to reach enemies away from him. In the anime, the sword can also function like a chainsaw, effectively increasing its damage. Used, among other instances, to defeat Kawazu.


 * Iron Dragon's Lance: Demon Logs (鉄竜槍 鬼薪 Tetsuryūsō: Kishin): Gajeel turns his arm into a large spearhead, from which a large number of steel spears is fired towards his enemy multiple times in rapid succession. In the anime, the attack is sometimes portrayed with Gajeel instead extending one arm towards his target's direction, with the fingers outstretched, and then summoning his Dragon Slayer's Magic Seal in front of him, from which the spears are fired.


 * Iron Dragon's Foot Blade: Gajeel sprouts a sharp, harpoon-like blade from the sole of each of his feet. By planting these blades in the ceiling, he's capable of remaining suspended and to move around as if he were walking normally. (Unnamed)


 * Iron Dragon's Throwing Knife: Gajeel is capable of creating throwing knives in his hands, which appear from almost nowhere due to his Iron Dragon Slayer's powers. These are rather short and sport a ring at the end of the hilt, bearing resemblance to kunai. They can be thrown with pinpoint accuracy. (Unnamed)


 * Iron Dragon's Restraint: Gajeel is capable of creating iron restraints to immobilize his opponents by attaching them to surfaces. These restraints consist of a flat part with a hole, meant to immobilize the victim's limb, and come with some bolts, which secure the flat parts, and thus the victim, to the chosen surface. Both the restraints and the bolts come in different sizes. (Unnamed)


 * Iron Dragon's Hard Fist (鉄竜の鋼拳 Tetsuryū no Gō Ken): Gajeel punches the target while covered in Iron Dragon's Scales, greatly enhancing his punching power. His Dragon Slayer's Magic Seal is created before him fist while he does so. (Anime Only)


 * Iron Dragon's Blinds: Iron blinds extend from Gajeel's eyelids and cover his eyes.


 * Dragon Slayer's Secret Art (滅竜奥義 Metsu Ryū Ōgi):
 * Karma Demon: Iron God Sword (業魔・鉄神剣 Gōma Tetsu Jin Ken): Seemingly one of his most, if not the most powerful attack in his possession, being acknowledged as one of the Secret Arts attainable by the Iron Dragon Slayer, Gajeel claps his hands together above his head, and, in a moment, swipes down on the ground a gigantic sword generated between them, which destroys a huge area in front of him. This attack was first used to defeat Yomazu.


 * Karma Demon: Iron Spiral (業魔・鉄螺線形 Gōma Tetsu Rasen): Seemingly his second ultimate move, Gajeel transforms his legs into a giant drill, which rotates at high speed, heavily damaging whatever it strikes and possessing great piercing power. He used this move to attack the red center spot of the Dragonoid to free Natsu from his prison. Although it did what it was intended to do, Gajeel acted cool and tough, saying that he still had a long way to go, since he "planned" to destroy the whole Dragonoid, along with Natsu. (Anime Only)

Enhanced Smell: Gajeel has an incredible sense of smell, which he shares with other Dragon Slayers. He uses this for tracking purposes as apparently, nothing can escape his nose. This is best shown when he could track Lucy to Fairy Tail's secret hideout. It is also inferred that he used this skill when he was tracking down Levy, who ran away from him in the S-Class Trials out of frustration.

Enhanced Durability: Even without his Dragon Slayer's abilities, Gajeel has consistently proven himself to be one of the more resilient characters in the series: when he was confronted by team Shadow Gear after joining Fairy Tail, he was able to shrug off the combined attacks from Jet and Droy without retaliation and, in the the anime, only resorted to finally summoning his metal scales to increase his defense when Laxus tried to attack Levy. During his time in Edolas, Gajeel used his metal scales to fight Faust's mechanical Dragon, where he absorbed extremely powerful blows with little trouble.

Enhanced Speed: Gajeel's overall speed and reflexes are impressive, enough for him to intercept attacks like Laxus' Magical bolts and reach Levy in time to save her from a double-team ambush of two Grimoire Heart Mages.

Enhanced Strength: Gajeel has shown on different occasions to be incredibly strong: during his time under Jose Porla, while he was tormenting the captured Lucy Heartfilia, Gajeel could casually headbutt a fellow Phantom Lord member who was asking him to stop with enough force to shatter the stone floor he had the man crash on. His physical might is enough for him to clash with Natsu on even terms, to block and shatter Pantherlily's gargantuan Bustermarm Sword, and to pin down and hold still the gigantic Dorma Anim all by himself, allowing Natsu to finish it off.

Master Hand to Hand Combatant: In battle, aside from his Iron Dragon Slayer Magic, Gajeel is known for extensively employing unarmed combat, and to possess great proficiency in doing so: his style is a brutal one, consisting of powerful, direct moves such as devastating punches and headbutts, complemented by his high physical prowess, with his strength making his blows highly damaging, and his speed allowing him to land them in extremely fast succession. When employed alongside his Iron Dragon's Scales, his unarmed blows become far deadlier.

Levy McGarden
The first time Gajeel and Levy met, Gajeel attacked Levy and her teammates, defeated them in battle, nailed them to a tree, and branded the Phantom Guild's symbol on Levy's stomach. After the war between the two guilds and Gajeel's subsequent conversion over to Fairy Tail, Levy was still among those who had their doubts about Gajeel's entrance to the Guild as one of their newest members. However, after Laxus attacked Levy, Gajeel blocked the blow for her, which lowered Levy's doubts about Gajeel. During the S-Class Trials, Levy was among the eight candidates who were selected to take part in the test; Levy showed her lack of confidence, but in the end, was encouraged by Gajeel, who even volunteered to become her partner, which made her blush. During the "Intelligence" part of the S-Class Trial, he constantly annoyed Levy and told her that if she wants attention from him, she should get stronger and seriously fight him every once in a while, not regarding Levy's disappointed feelings at his demeaning words. However, when Levy runs away, Gajeel runs after her and saves her life from two members of Grimore Heart. He tells her that "it was really hard looking for someone so small," but follows his remark by saying, "so don't leave my side."

Makarov
Makarov found Gajeel in what remains of the Phantom Lord Guild, and invited him to join the guild. Gajeel initially refused, since he was the one who destroyed it and injured its members. Makarov said that even though he would never forgive him for that, he wouldn't forgive himself for letting a young man fall into darkness and Gajeel finally accepted his offer. Later, Makarov apparently delegated Gajeel the task of acting as a double-agent for Fairy Tail on his son's Dark Guild, Raven Tail, something that not even the other members of Fairy Tail are aware of.

Juvia Lockser
Being formerly affiliated with Phantom Lord as he is, Juvia is the only member of Fairy Tail who also happens to be Gajeel's ally since his days in Phantom Lord. Because of this, Juvia can relate to Gajeel better than the other Fairy Tail Mages. He even took up Juvia's suggestion to try to open up with Fairy Tail, and went to the extremes of performing an on-stage solo "song" of friendship for the entire guild to hear. Juvia also seems to care for him as a close friend, since she calls him "Gajeel-kun" and was the one who recommended him to the guild, being worried because of his loneliness. Because she asked, Makarov went up to Gajeel and asked him to join.

Wendy Marvell
He seems to view her as a younger sibling, having aided her at scaring off an unfazed child denizen of Edolas (whom Wendy had trouble intimidating due to her cute appearance) by casting the child a menacing glare. After returning from Edolas, Gajeel also included Wendy "among the greatest" (according to Lucy) to have a competition between their cat companions. When Makarov later imparts his last orders upon Fairy Tail, Gajeel was seen with his hand over Wendy's head in an attempt to comfort her.

Natsu Dragneel
Gajeel would often get into unnecessary fights or arguments with Natsu over needless issues. But deep down, Gajeel seems to respect Natsu as a rival, having been defeated by him in the past and will aid him in any way he can in the battlefield, working well together. He also seems to be familiar with how Natsu's mindset works, having assured Wendy of Natsu's actions during the latter's "fight" against Mystogan in Edolas.

Pantherlily
Gajeel first encountered Pantherlily when he was on the verge of returning the Mages of Earth Land Fairy Tail back to normal by smashing the giant Lacrima in Edolas, only to be halted by the Exceed; after a lengthy battle, Gajeel came to respect Lily to the point where he openly declared to make Lily "his cat". Upon his return to Earth Land, Lily followed him and agreed to be his companion, much to the Iron Dragon Slayer's delight. Gajeel seems very fond of Lily and often brags about his abilities.

Appearances in Other Media
Gajeel appears as a playable character in the first Fairy Tail Video Game, Fairy Tail Portable Guild, and its sequel, Fairy Tail Portable Guild 2. In both games, he is unlocked through quests.

Trivia

 * On the cover of Volume 8 Gajeel's eye color was green, but was later changed to red on the cover Volume 13.
 * When he appeared first time as a member of Fairy Tail (in chapter 103), his guild symbol wasn’t on his left arm, but later we can see it there.
 * According to Gray, Gajeel is a very good song writer, however, his singing skills and ability to play musical instruments are poor.
 * In the manga, Natsu shows up to fight Gajeel when he is trying to pin shards on Lucy. In the anime he is about to kick her with his leg metalized.
 * Gajeel's Iron Dragon Roar looks different in the anime. In the manga it is a whirl with metal scraps in it. In the anime it looks almost like Natsu's Roar only in a gray-blue tone. Later in the anime, Gajeel's Iron Dragon Roar followed the manga as the wind is gray-blue in colour.
 * From the Volume 16 Limited Edition: Sorcerer Interview, Fairy Tail had no good qualities according to Gajeel. He has no dreams for the future. He doesn't have a good relationship with anyone in the guild. The most difficult job he ever took was a personal request by Makarov.
 * Gajeel's name is derived from the Japanese word かじる (Kajiru), which means to bite, to gnaw, or to nibble. The "Ka" sound is changed to "Ga" sound because "ガジガジ" (Gaji Gaji) sounds like a person eating in Japanese standard.

Quotes

 * (To Jose Porla)"Well, if they got beaten by a trash, that just make them trash as well."
 * (To Natsu Dragneel)"There ain’t room for two dragons in the sky."
 * (To Happy)"What a troublesome guild. When we get back you better buy me all the metal I can eat."
 * (To Pantherlily) I will make this guy my cat!"
 * (To Levy McGarden)"I will make you big."
 * (To Levy McGarden after saving her Yomazu and Kawazu)"It's hard looking for someone so small. So don't leave my side."
 * (To Levy McGarden)"This isn't some mundane war. This is going to escalate beyond your wildest imagination. You need to let everyone know! I can take care of these guys easily by myself!"
 * (To Kawazu and Yomazu) "You want war... with Fairy Tail? I'm not the same... as before... I'll make you feel the same."