Sting Eucliffe

Sting Eucliffe (スティング・ユークリフ Sutingu Yūkurifu) is a Mage of the currently strongest Guild in Fiore, the Sabertooth Guild.

Appearance
Sting is a slim, yet muscular and toned young man of average height with blonde hair, which is kept in spiky strands jutting outwards in every direction, and a smaller, frontal tuft of hair partially hanging on his forehead. He has slanted dark eyes, and above the right one is a visible thin scar, diagonally going up his forehead. His left ear is adorned by an earring, with a prominent metal pendant reminiscent of a double-edged blade attached to it. His dark Sabertooth stamp is located on his left shoulder. Being a Dragon Slayer, he possesses distinctively sharp canine teeth.

Sting dons a blue vest with golden outer edges and inner edges covered by a prominent trimming of gray fur over a short, cream top, leaving his muscular upper abdominals exposed. His arms are covered by dark blue gloves reaching up to his middle biceps, with their upper edges being adorned by light grey bands hanging down several centimeters. He wears loose, cream pants, similar to Natsu's, but held up by suspenders, attached to the pants' loops by square-shaped rings. Over them, he dons distinctive, dark blue galoshes-like footwear, reaching up to his thighs and attached to the upper edge of his pants. The prominent soles of the "boots" are distinctive in their own right, having rectangular protrusions pointing upwards on their front part, similar to square fangs.

Personality
Sting is a calm individual, who is usually seen smiling and rarely loses his temper. He apparently thinks that people who abandon their comrades are scum and does not hesitate to punish them for their behavior ; at the same time, he was angered when Natsu said that fighting for his comrades was his reason for entering the games. Also, he seemingly had no problem with killing his own foster parent. Sting thinks that it is natural for a Dragon Slayer to kill dragons, and thinks that Dragon Slayers who are defeated by a dragon are nothing but a disgrace.

Sting apparently likes to watch fights, as he was excited to see Orga and War Cry fight. However, he was disappointed that Orga finished the fight rather quickly. He also desires to fight strong opponents, as after Natsu left after fighting his master, Sting showed a very excited face at Natsu's strength having a desire to fight him.

He seems to be quite arrogant as well, as he often boasts about his superiority as a Dragon Slayer. Also, after Yukino was banished from their guild for her failure, he seemed like he was not the least bit troubled, instead he said that they are the strongest guild and they had no need for weaklings. His only reaction was that a young Mage would replace Yukino, and that Sabertooth's five strongest Mages would be reassembled for the Grand Magic Games. He also has a sadistic side, going as far as to laugh at Lucy's suffering and over Minerva's cruel treatment towards her. However, he seems to care a lot for his Exceed companion Lector; this is demonstrated when he enters Dragon Force mode during his fight with Natsu stating that he will win for Lector's sake. And again when he attacks Jiemma in a grief induced rage for "killing" Lector.

After Lector's death, Sting's personality has changed considerably, he now acts more serious and solemn, such as when he attacked Bacchus, he attacked him in an emotionaless state rather than act like his cocky and his happy self due to his battle loving self.

History
Sting was raised by a Dragon, Weisslogia, who taught Sting White Dragon Slayer Magic. He eventually used this Magic to kill Weisslogia, in order to become a "real" Dragon Slayer. His Exceed partner, Lector, once bragged to people that Sting killed his own parent but was bullied for it, causing him to cry. Not wanting him to cry anymore, Sting promises Lector that he will challenge a man known as the Salamander, whom he was a fan of at the time, and defeat him; that way, Lector's words will not be taken as lies.

At some point in his life, he also implanted Dragon Lacrima in his body, which made him a Third Generation Dragon Slayer.

Grand Magic Games arc
After wiping out an entire army of Dark Guild Mages, Sting and Rogue discuss the return of the Fairy Tail members who went missing seven years ago, including Natsu Dragneel. Despite Rogue's claims otherwise, Sting feels that Rogue would very much like to meet Natsu. As their conversation shifts to Rogue's apprenticeship to Gajeel Redfox, an archer from the Dark Guild they defeated appears and shoots an arrow at them, but Sting grabs the arrow, eats it, and scares the archer off with his Dragon's Roar. They regroup with Lector and Frosch, who praise the two Dragon Slayers. As they walk away, Sting suggests to Rogue that they duel Natsu, though Rogue shows no interest.

Five days before the beginning of the Grand Magic Games, Frosch and Lector inform Sting and Rogue about Natsu deciding to participate in the tournament. Sting gets enthusiastic with the tournament while Rogue expresses his disinterest.

At the city of Crocus, Sting and Rogue fight and defeat some Mages before meeting Natsu, who they make fun of for being a Dragon Slayer who could not defeat a dragon. They then announce that they are third generation Dragon Slayers who killed the dragon that taught them Dragon Slayer Magic. Sting, Rogue and their Exceeds then leave, but not before Sting tells Natsu they will show him the true power of a Dragon Slayer if the main event ends up being a battle. .

Later on, the teams which passed the preliminaries of the Grand Magic Games arrive at the stadium one by one. After the teams are revealed, Sting walks out with Rogue and the three other members of his team who took 1st place in the preliminaries, greeting Natsu along the way and telling him to enjoy the game. Sting cheers for both Rufus, and Orga Nanagear, from the side lines, as they both manage to place Sabertooth in the lead, with 20 points in total.

Sting later participates in the second day's event, Chariot. However, the task proves to be difficult for him as he becomes motion sick alongside Natsu and Gajeel, and the three are left behind while the rest of the participants race towards the goal. As the others finish, Natsu, Gajeel and Sting are ridiculed by the audience. Sting decides to give up but notices Natsu and Gajeel continue, deciding he will let the two have the points as he feels it will not matter for his team in the end, though Gajeel warns him not to complain if it comes back to haunt him later. When he notices that the two are really determined to finish the race, he asks why, to which Natsu responds that it is for their guild mates who waited seven years for them to return as well as to symbolize that Fairy Tail will never give up. As Natsu and Gajeel finish and gain points for their teams, even getting applause from the audience for their tenacity. Sting exits the field, angered by Natsu's reason for joining the tournament.

He then watches the battles for the second day of the tournament until the final one between his team's Yukino Aguria and Mermaid Heel's Kagura Mikazuchi. Orga chastises Sting for not scoring any points though Yukino is confident that she can put them on the board. Sting reminds her why she is in Sabertooth, to win and not sully the guild name. However he is later left completely stunned and shaken when Yukino loses even after pulling out her most powerful Celestial Spirit, as well as losing the wager she had made with Kagura on her life. With this defeat, Sabertooth gains zero points in the second day of the games.

Later at night, Sting and the rest of Sabertooth attend to a meeting with the Guild Master, Jiemma. After holding his speech, Jiemma tells Sting that he will only give him one more chance, which Sting accepts. Afterwards he watches Yukino being expelled from the guild. After the meeting, Sting points out that their master takes things to the extreme. Rogue expresses his doubt about their guild's concept and reminds Sting that Yukino was their comrade. Sting simply replies that she had to disappear because she was weak.

In the middle of the night, the Sabertooth lodging is attacked, and the noise causes Sting and Lector to wake up from their sleep. Rogue and Frosch inform them of an intruder, and the Twin Dragons hurry to find him, with Sting quickly getting dressed along the way. They then witness their guildmates being attacked by an angered Natsu, who had recently heard about Yukino's excommunication from the guild. Sting is shocked to see his guild-mates being attacked, and watches as Natsu challenges Jiemma to a fight. After seeing Dobengal's defeat, Sting tells his master to let him battle Natsu, but Jiemma tells him to stay back. Sting is also surprised at Minerva's return. When Natsu leaves, Sting is shocked at Natsu's strength.

At night, after the events of the third day, Sting stares up at the night sky as Lector approaches him, asking if he cannot sleep. Sting responds that he has a feeling he will be fighting Natsu the next day, stating that it is what he was been waiting for for seven years. They stand together outside for a little longer and witness from afar the destruction of Ryuuzetsu Land, albeit without knowing what the commotion is really about.

The next day, during the Naval Battle, Sting watches Minerva and Lucy clash. He talks to his guildmates about how devilish Minerva is, then later when the Sabertooth Mage tortures Lucy deliberately, Sting does nothing more than laugh gleefully at Fairy Tail's loss.

Sting, along with the rest of his teammates, comes down to the field, where Lucy is grievously injured, to protect Minerva from team Fairy Tail A. When Erza Scarlet tells his team that making an enemy out of Fairy Tail has been the greatest mistake they committed, Sting looks at them and smiles. Later on, when the new Team Fairy Tail is formed, Sting and his teammates stare at the new team.

Sting enters the battle field with Rogue Cheney as his partner as they get ready to fight Team Fairy Tail's Iron Dragon Slayer, Gajeel Redfox, and Fire Dragon Slayer, Natsu Dragneel. Sting looks at Natsu and tells him that he has been yearning for this day to come. Sting, anxiously waiting for the battle to start, thinks about how much he has been waiting to fight Natsu. The Pumpkin Man gives the signal to begin the battle when the bell is rung, Sting and Rogue rush towards Natsu and Gajeel but are left stunned when they meet their opponents face-to-face.

Sting is attacked with a barrage of attacks by Natsu. He regains his posture and uses his White Dragon's Roar, but does not land a hit. He changes the direction to where Gajeel is standing, giving Rogue an opening to attack Gajeel. However, Natsu grabs Rogue and drags him towards Sting and uses his Fire Dragon's Wing Attack on both of them. After stating that he knew Natsu would be a tough opponent, Sting activates White Drive. He runs towards Natsu and attacks him with his White Dragon's Punch, dealing significant damage to Natsu. As Sting keeps assaulting Natsu with his attacks, he tells him that he has always looked up to him and aims to surpass him. He sends a beam of light towards Natsu, which lands on his stomach, creating a Stigmata.

As he gets ready to land the finishing blow, affirming that with his upcoming attack he will surely surpass him, Natsu evades it and punches him. Surprised and excited, Sting gathers light and uses his Secret Dragon Slayer Art, Holy Nova, but is easily stopped by Natsu. After many hits, Sting lays on the ground next to Rogue. With Mato questioning the outcome of the match, Sting, promising to win for Lector's sake, and Rogue get up and enter Dragon Force mode. Sting warns Rogue to stay back, saying he is good enough. He quickly lunges at Natsu and Gajeel, using a wide range of melee attacks, throwing both of them off their guard. He attacks with the powerful White Dragon's Holy Breath move that not only destroys the ground but also deals immense damage to his opponents. He follows up with Holy Ray and continues pulverizing the two Dragon Slayers. As he fights, he asks in his mind if Lector is watching him, thinking back to his promise several years ago. With his onslaught apparently over, he stands victorious over his opponents. As his Dragon Force loses its effect, Sting compliments Natsu and Gajeel for their strength. However, to his shock the both of them get back up on their feet, seemingly uninjured. He asks how it is possible, as he used Dragon Force. Sting then watches as Natsu pushes Gajeel in a cart, sending him away, and then facing the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth with the intent of defeating them both alone.

Surprised by this, Sting becomes enraged and prepares for an attack while stating that Dragon Force is the same as the Dragon's power and nothing excels it. He then attacks Natsu, saying he killed Weisslogia with his power, but Natsu stops his attack and punches him. Sting shouts that the battle is not over yet, however, Natsu overwhelms him, weakening him. Sting and Rogue prepare for a Unison Raid and attack Natsu with it, to which Natsu uses a Dragon Slayer ultimate technique, creating an explosion in Domus Flau. When the smoke clears, Sting tells Lector that Natsu is too strong, and falls to the ground knocked out. Sting is left incredibly exhausted afterwards alongside Rogue.

Sting is later bandaged and brought to the Sabertooth lodgings with the rest of his Guild. He remains silent when under the presence of Jiemma. However, when Jiemma shows his true rage at his and Rogue's defeat, he beats them, particularly kicking away Sting. In response, a frightened Lector walks up and tries to reason with Jiemma for them losing, awing Sting. To his horror, he then witnesses his Exceed best friend suddenly disappear, seemingly killed by his Guild Master's hands. Heartbroken, yet infuriated, he screams with tears running down his face. In his blind rage, he viciously attacks Jiemma with White Dragon's Punch, blasting a massive hole through the latter's body.

As he despairs over Lector further, Minerva tells him that because of his victory, he is now a candidate for Guild Master. Sting is told the differences between him and Natsu, receiving a more shocking piece of news afterwards: Lector is truly alive. Sting begins to hysterically thank Minerva. However, he is warned that he will not see Lector again if he fails to lead Sabertooth to victory on the last day.

During the opening ceremony of the last day of the Grand Magic Games, Sting enters the arena, along with his guildmates from Sabertooth. Evidently sad at the loss of Lector, Sting promises that this time he will not lose. After noticing that Juvia Lockser has replaced Natsu in Fairy Tail's team, he answers to Rogue's surprise that they have to consider themselves lucky this time.

Sting sits on a box as the commentators state the rules of the event, and launches into action as soon as the bell has rang. He sneakingly jumps from a building and lands a punch on Team Quatro Puppy's leader, Bacchus, earning his team five points. Before he is able to attack Yuka Suzuki and Toby Horhorta, who were passing by the area, he sees Kagura Mikazuchi defeat them with a single blow; forcing Sting to flee the battle before Kagura can attack him.

While in hiding, Sting thinks back to what Minerva told him following his rebellion against Jiemma, vowing that he will not lose.

Magic and Abilities
White Dragon Slayer Magic (白の滅竜魔法 Haku no Metsuryū Mahō): A form of Dragon Slayer Magic which allows Sting to transform the physiology of his body into that of a White Dragon, allowing him to generate and manipulate light as he wishes. Unlike that harnessed by standard Light Magic, however, the White Dragon Slayer ' s element has been described as being "holy", with Sting remarking that his opponents suffer the "judgement of the holy white". Strangely enough, while such form of Magic is focused around light, thus supposed to grant Sting the ability to consume light to replenish his strength, for unknown reasons, the Sabertooth Mage was shown able to consume a metal arrow. As a member of the Third Generation of Dragon Slayers, Sting learnt this form of Magic through two means, by both receiving the teachings of Dragon named Weisslogia and having Dragon Lacrima implanted into his body.


 * White Dragon's Roar (白竜の咆哮 Hakuryū no Hōkō): As the Dragon's Roar typical to his Magic, Sting is capable of firing a ray of light from his mouth to attack opponents. While being relatively small in width when compared to other Roars, the White Dragon Slayer is capable of freely moving his head around while performing it and thus make it curve at his whim, thus managing to lash a wider area with this move while he targets foes. Natsu Dragneel noted how the generated beam resembles a laser, and its effects are not unlike it, seemingly slicing the ground it struck while lifting a linear explosion of debris in its trajectory. After devouring a metal arrow which was fired at him through unknown means, Sting was shown using a different Roar, this consisting of a powerful, larger whirlwind which pierced through several buildings with ease, leaving a clean, round hole in each of them.


 * White Dragon's Holy Breath (白竜のホーリーブレス Hakuryū no Hōrī Buresu): Sting jumps over his opponent and releases a powerful beam that was powerful enough to destroy Domus Flau's battle arena's floor.


 * White Dragon's Punch: Sting covers one of his hands into a sphere of light and then punches the target with it, striking with boosted power and making it look like he is firing some sort of beam at close range. He is shown capable of unleashing extremely fast barrages of such attacks, momentarily driving even an accomplished unarmed fighter the likes of Natsu Dragneel into a corner. (Unnamed)


 * White Dragon's Claw (白竜の爪 Hakuryū no Tsume): A close range move which he described as a "holy attack", Sting performs White Dragon's Claw by generating a sphere of light around one of his hands and then firing a blast of medium size from it. If such blast connects with the body of the opponent, it tears through clothing and blackens the struck area, at the same time leaving a light, complex mark on it, a so-called "stigma", which, according to Sting, takes away the body's movement; something which leaves the foe open to the White Dragon Slayer ' subsequent attack. It is currently unknown how much such move limits the target's freedom, as Natsu Dragneel was able to burn the symbol away with his own Dragon Slayer Magic exploiting one of its seeming weaknesses, fire. A stigma is a supernatural mark of faith found in Christianity, living up to the holy theme of White Dragon Slayer Magic.


 * Holy Blast: Sting generates a white light on his hand and unleashes it against the target in the form of a white ball of light. (Unnamed)


 * Holy Ray (ホーリーレイ Hōrī Rei): Sting first joins the open palms of his hands together, with all the fingers on one hand in contact with the corresponding ones on the other hand, and then separates his palms while keeping the fingers in contact through their tips. Light is generated in the hollow part between his hands, expanding from the holes between Sting's fingers. At this point, the White Dragon Slayer completely separates his hands, extending them horizontally at his body's sides as the light he generated takes the form of a large sphere, from which a number of shiny rays are fired towards the targets, leaving their starting point in a curved trajectory to strike them. Foes are thus bombared by a barrage of beams which cause heavy damage upon them, striking them in rapid succession. Sting was shown using this move on Natsu Dragneel and Gajeel Redfox while the latter ones were in midair.
 * Dragon Slayer's Secret Art (滅竜奥義 Metsuryū Ōgi):
 * Holy Nova (ホーリーノヴァ Hōrī Nova): A technique which Sting described as "the best of (his) best", and which he initates by bending his right arm backwards, the fist clenched, and extending frontwards a mildly bent left arm, tiny streaks of light gathering before the outstretched fingers from the surrounding area. He then rushes towards the target and punches them with his right hand, which is now covered in a very massive, horizontal column of light enveloping his entire arm and a remarkable distance behind it. This move creates a large, impressive explosion on contact, which leaves Sting unharmed, but is seemingly lethal to the target. The true power of the White Dragon Slayer ' s most powerful attack, however, remains unknown, as Natsu Dragneel stopped it with a single hand and emerged unscathed from its blast. However, Orga Nanagear and Rufus Lohr's shock at such a feat hints at the highly destructive capabilities Holy Nova possesses.

White Drive (ホワイト・ドライブ Howaito Doraibu): A technique which, according to Mavis Vermilion, amplifies Sting's Magic abilities, completely cloaking his body into an aura of bright light which allows him to better employ his Dragon Slayer Magic, at the same time seemingly enhancing his physical prowess to a degree, particularly his speed. According to Sting himself, White Drive harnesses "the power that kills dragons", and it indeed allowed the White Dragon Slayer to momentarily overwhelm Natsu Dragneel, who had him completely outmatched beforehand. This state either grants Sting the ability to perform new moves or makes them stronger, as the Sabertooth Mage has been shown employing several skills only while in such form. This technique is very similar to that used by Sting's fellow Dragon Slayer and partner Rogue, the similarly named Shadow Drive.

Dragon Force (ドラゴンフォース Doragon Fōsu): Being a product of the so-called Third Generation, Sting is capable of entering the most advanced state a Dragon Slayer can achieve at his will, without the need to consume strong, external sources of Magic. Such a feat greatly surprised several individuals who have intimate knowledge of Dragon Slayer Magic, leaving them blank. While activating this form, Sting's body gains additional traits making him more alike to a White Dragon, with his whole body becoming cloaked in an aura of light even more brilliant than that generated by White Drive, and with pure white scales appearing to cover the outer edges of his face and extending down the sides of his neck to the rest of his body. These are shown to be more and more uniform as they get farther from the central part of his body, which instead bears several scattered, distinct scales, elongated and placed diagonally.

Unison Raid (合体魔法, ユニゾンレイド, Yunizon Reido): A spell which allows two Mages to unite their Magic into a single, combined and stronger attack. Sting has shown to be able to combine his magic with Rogue's creating powerful spells.
 * Holy Shadow Dragon's Flash Fang (聖影竜閃牙 Seieiryū Senga): Sting and Rogue combine their magic together releasing a large amount of shadows and white light from their fists, creating a strong burst of white light and shadows.

Expert Hand to Hand Combatant: Sting is shown to actively engage opponents in melee combat, using the light generated by his Dragon Slayer Magic to boost the power of his blows. When punching under the effects of White Drive, the White Dragon Slayer is capable of literally bombarding his foes with a barrage of shining blasts at close range, leaving even a seasoned martial artist like Natsu Dragneel open to attacks, despite him eventually overwhelming Sting.

Enhanced Durability: As expected from a Dragon Slayer, Sting is shown to be considerably durable, undergoing a barrage of physical attacks from Natsu, some of which were enhanced by the Mage's own Dragon Slayer Magic, without suffering debilitating injuries, and continuing to fight employing his best techniques afterwards.

Enhanced Endurance: Sting has shown to possess a high amount of physical endurance, being able to confront two fellow Dragon Slayers at the same time with his partner Rogue, being struck by powerful melee blows from Natsu all the while showing moderate signs of weariness and still have the strength to stand back up on his feet just a little later to attack the opponents again with a powerful Dragon Slayer Magic Technique. And also near the end of the Battle with Natsu and Gajeel, Sting was still capable of performing a powerful Unison Raid Dragon Slayer Magic attack with Rogue and only collapsed after being struck by Natsu's Secret Dragon Slayer Attack.

Enhanced Speed: Sting can move at considerably high speed, having been capable of grabbing an arrow which was flying towards Rogue in midair even while seated, something which greatly surprised the archer who shot it. He could also make it to floor of the Domus Flau's battle arena all the way from his group's stands to come to Minerva's aid when the latter was confronted by Team Fairy Tail A in a matter of seconds.

Enhanced Strength: As a trained Dragon Slayer, Sting's physical prowess is remarkably high, enough for him to smash Bacchus into one of Crocus' streets with enough force to break both the stones composing it and a nearby barrel; though it's worth noting that the Sabertooth Mage also took advantage of the momentum gained from an extremely high jump to carry out such a feat.

Battles & Events

 * Twin Dragons of Sabertooth vs. Unnamed Dark Guild
 * Twin Dragons of Sabertooth vs. Unnamed Mages
 * Sky Labyrinth
 * X791 Grand Magic Games Inauguration
 * Chariot
 * Natsu Dragneel & Gajeel Redfox vs. Sting Eucliffe & Rogue Cheney

Trivia

 * In Volume 32's extra content, Mashima provided the battle statistics for 31 of the 40 X791 contestants in the Grand Magic Games. The stats, however, were provided not from Mashima's point-of-view as the author but from the view point of Sorcerer Magazine reporter Jason. Which explains why some stats are missing and why others may be inaccurate. According to Jason from the Sorcerer Magazine, during his participation in the Grand Magic Games of X791, Sting's stats are:

Quotes

 * (To a Dark Guild's member) "Are you going to just abandon your comrades? You really are scum."
 * (To himself about Natsu Dragneel) "For the sake of your comrades? That's just trash."
 * (To himself about the Grand Magic Games) "Victory shall be mine... At any and all costs."