Elfman Strauss

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

Elfman is a Mage and S-Class Candidate of the Fairy Tail Guild.

Appearance
Elfman is a tall, muscular man with white hair, blue eyes, and a scar running down the right side of his face. He has a black Fairy tail stamp on the left side of his neck. In his younger years, he wore a formal blue suit with a red bow tie on it. Also, his hair was neatly done unlike his current appearance.

Personality
Previously, Elfman was shy and weak, with his only real talent being for cooking. This caring nature of his came in useful though, as he helped Natsu look after Happy's egg before it hatched.

He always uses the word man for showing his pride. He gets emotional as he cried upon hearing Lucy' s story and claims that sometimes men can get emotional. He also scowled at Jet and Droy of Shadow Gear for putting Levy into trouble during their mission and also on their part failing to show the pride as a man.

Despite his huge appetite, he is always very kind as such when he lost his parakeet, he searched it for a whole week, but found a different one.

History
Sometime in his younger years, Elfman's parents died and so he, along with his two siblings, joined the Fairy Tail Guild. He was around 12 years old at the time. In the year X782 he was deeply scarred by an incident where his younger sister, Lisanna, was supposedly killed when she tried to stop Elfman's rampage after he attempted a "full body transformation" that went wrong. It's said that due to this, Elfman's heart was locked shut, despite his use of the spell to protect his sisters.

In the past, when Elfman, Mirajane, and Lisanna were all kids, Elfman was the only one who couldn't do a full-body Take Over. This depressed him because he was supposed to be a man. When he was younger, he was quite shy and kind. One example of this is when he helped Natsu and Lisanna raise the egg Natsu found. He was also said to be a good cook.

Macao arc
Elfman is first seen towering over Lucy, complaining about the noise and that they should use their fists to fight and show their manhood. He then joins in with the rest of the guild. When everyone tried to use Magic, the master arrived to stop the fight. Elfman is then scolded for assaulting the VIP that he was supposed to be escorting.

Galuna Island arc
When Lucy talks about Erza and Natsu fighting, she points out that two of the members of Fairy Tail's "strongest team" are fighting. Gray asks her where she heard that they were the strongest team. Mirajane admits it was her and cries, claiming she was just so excited. Elfman comments as well, stating he admires Erza and Natsu's strength, but there are much stronger people in Fairy Tail. Either way, Elfman agrees the battle will be interesting. As Elfman watches the fight, he praises his prediction.

After Erza is arrested, Elfman sits with the rest of the guild wondering her fate. Elfman, Loke, and Max wonder why the Magic Council is arresting somebody this time, as they have done so many other things in the past. After Macao is revealed to be disguised as Natsu so Natsu could go save Erza, Elfman gets angry at him, predicting Natsu will cause a huge rukus at the Magic Council. Makarov just tells the guild to calm down, and wait.

When Erza returns, Elfman instigates another fight between Erza and Natsu. After Natsu loses quickly, he falls asleep with the rest of the guild (except Makarov), due to Mystogan's arrival.

Phantom Lord arc
When Fairy Tail assaulted Phantom Lord, Elfman was seen taking out a few of their members (while talking about being a man) as well as fighting with Gajeel before Natsu interrupted. He was also later seen trying to comfort Lucy along with Gray, Natsu, and Happy. He, along with Gray, intervene with Natsu's fight against one of the Element Four (also stating that he shouldn't get sick in vehicles but make them sick instead). While searching Phantom Mk. 2, Elfman runs into Sol, a member of the Elemental 4, and is nearly beaten. He decides that he has to do a Full-Body Take Over in order to win, but remembers his sister Lisanna and fails to perform the transformation.

While fighting, Mirajane is attacked and taken hostage for pretending to be Lucy. Elfman, enraged when he sees this and determined to become strong enough to protect his sister, attempts and succeeds in a full-body Take Over, and easily defeats Sol. After defeating Sol, Elfman makes his way towards Mirajane, freeing her and apologizing to her for taking the form that killed his sister again. However, Mirajane comforts him and she figures out how to stop the Abyss Break. They later catch up to Gray who had just defeated Juvia Lockser and explain the details to him, and then joined up with Erza, who just defeated Aria, where Elfman couldn't believe she fought in such a serious state. Master Jose then arrives, complimenting them before taking Elfman and Gray out instantly. Elfman and Gray regain consciousness when Master Makarov arrives and are told to retreat. He is later seen celebrating the Guild's victory over Phantom Lord.

Fighting Festival arc
When the reporter for the weekly Sorcercer, Jason, comes, he asks Elfman what is manly to him. Elfman replies, "It's manly". Lucy gets upset that Jason is writing down stupid answers like Elfman's, instead of paying attention to her.

At the Harvest Festival's "Miss Fairy Tail Contest", Elfman watches his sister transform her head in Gajeel's. Elfman is shocked by her performance. After Evergreen arrives and petrifies seven female members of the guild, including Mirajane, in a scheme set up by Laxus Dreyar, Elfman becomes determined to save his sister and runs out into Magnolia Town with the rest of the guild so he battle against his guild mates to save the contestants.

He eventually runs into Evergreen. Elfman charges towards her claiming Evergreen should act like a man and not take hostages. Evergreen lifts her glasses, but Elfman is able to quickly close his eyes. Because of this he gets attacked by Evergreen, crashing into a flower stand. Elfman then uses Full Body Takeover and demands Evergreen revert Mirajane and everyone else back to normal. Elfman also has a blind fold over his eyes so he won't turn into stone himself. Evergreen mocks his idea at first, but is then a bit surprised after she dodges some of Elfman's accurate punches. She realizes Elfman's beastly sense of smell and uses Fairy Bomb: Gremlin to defeat Elfman. Evergreen then proceeds to petrify him with her Stone Eyes. He was later released due to the Evergreen's defeat at the hands of Erza Scarlet, and is then carred by Mirajane.

As they walk, Cana Alberona smashes through a wall, shouting at Freed Justine to take back what he said about Juvia being a "Phantom Girl". Cana is then subsequently defeated by Freed. Elfman, angered by the sight, limps towards Freed. After a brief conversation with Mirajane, Freed uses Dark Écriture: Pain, putting Elfman through a sensation of hurt. Freed then proceeds to use Dark Écriture: Fear, and finally Dark Écriture: Suffering. Elfman, then gets slashed multiple times. Freed then starts to finish Elfman off with Dark Écriture: Death. Mirajane, realizing she was about to lose another sibling, achieves Satan Soul and takes over the battle.

After the defeat of Freed, he was seen next to Cana carrying Juvia. He is then seen in the Fantasia Parade doing his Full-Body Take Over.

Oración Seis arc
Elfman is seen amongst the guild members getting a lecture and commenting on the Dark Guilds. When Team Natsu returns to Fairy Tail, Natsu tells Elfman about his big fight against Cobra, much to Elfman's frustration as he couldn't understand as to how a snake can fly if it's not even a man.

Edolas arc
Elfman lectures Jet and Droy about how to become stronger, and then departs with Mirajane to the church because it is the anniversary of their sister, Lisanna's, death. After the Anima strikes he is brought to Edolas.

Following the event in Edolas, Mirajane and Elfman continued on to the graveyard and offer their prayers for the anniversary of their sisters death. At the time Elfman said that they should be leaving but Mirajane wanted to stay a little bit longer. Just then they hear a voice calling out to them and turn around to see Lisanna running towards them. Immediately left speechless, they couldn't believe their eyes but then become filled with joy when they reunite with a hug.

Following everyone's return to the guild, the rest of the guild members are exceedingly happy about the return of Lisanna. A lot of the people even thought up dirty thoughts so Elfman tried to keep everyone away from his sister. Shortly after he enters another of Fairy Tails usual brawls and fought so much that he fell asleep alongside his sisters.

S-Class Trial arc
Elfman is first seen in the aftermath of Lisanna's welcoming party, sleeping on the floor with Lisanna, Mirajane, Jet and Droy. A few days later, Elfman along with several members take up jobs and complete them so fast that he takes up another one immediately afterwards. The next day, when the master announces Fairy Tail's usual S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial, he gets picked as one of the selected candidates. Elfman reacts greatly and says this is the perfect opportunity to be a man above all men.

After the ceremony, Elfman talks with team Natsu and others about the contest, and gets angry that Lisanna teamed up with Juvia instead of him. After a talk with Lisanna he decided that Evergreen would become his Trial partner after Freed Justine chose Bickslow and not her. As the participants head towards the island on a ship, Elfman is barely tolerating the summer season's hot weather. Shortly after the boat comes within sight of the island, the master arrives to explain the rules of the first trial. As the first trial starts (while everyone is still on the boat), Freed sets a rune barrier that prevents anyone from leaving the boat for five minutes. Evergreen counters this by rewriting the rune barrier, saying that because she has been with Freed for such a long time, she knows how to rewrite runes of this caliber. This allowed Elfman and Evergreen to bypass the rune barrier and head toward the island without any problems. Evergreen and Elfman chose route A and find Mirajane as their opponent. They both freak out since Mira doesn't plan to go easy and has entered her Satan Soul, ready to fight.

Elfman and Evergreen beat Mira mostly by telling her they are engaged before knocking her out in her moment of shock. Elfman is then shown to be heavily injured so Evergreen has to help him walk; they are the last to clear the first trial and their appearance somewhat surprises everyone. After Natsu announces his challenge of seeing who becomes the S-class Wizard, he just smiles and says that as a man, he will gladly accept.

When the second trial to find Mavis Vermilion's grave begins, Elfman and Evergreen run into one of the piglike wild animals on the island. While Elfman and Evergreen are running he tells her where to go which upsets her. As they continue running, Elfman spews out more stuff about how men shouldn't run away, but Evergreen just wants him to stop talking. Right when the animal is about to trample them, Elfman grabs Evergreen and pushes him and her of harms way. They roll down a tunnel and back out into the wild with Elfman's body ontop of Evergreen's. She pushes him off and reminds him that they just pretended to be engaged to beat Mirajane in the last trial and not to start thinking she actually liked him. Just then the Zeref runs into them while they are arguing.

He is surprised there are people on the island. Evergreen and Elfman wonder how he got here since they know that he wasn't in the guild. Elfman starts charging towards him, but before he can get too close the boy tells him to stop and not to come near him. He agrees to leave them alone, but suddenly he feels the death praying coming. A gray circle that kills anything in it starts to form around him and approaches towards Evergreen and Elfman. Just when they are about to be hit by the wave, Natsu comes and pushes them down onto the ground, saving their lives. Natsu shouts to the boy, asking who he is. Just after that Zeref disapears and Evergreen expresses concern for the exam, but Natsu and Elfman insist that they should carry on as its the S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial and so they move on with the exam, with Evergreen still not taking orders from Elfman. We later see her and Elfman take the warning from Erza that the Trial is on hold and they are about to take part in battle against an enemy.

Numerous Grimoire Heart Guild members then emerge from bubbles in the sky and prepare to fight the two. Elfman shouts that a man does not excuse intruders, and Evergreen notes all of them as pests. Nonetheless, the two easily dispatch all of them in their immediate vicinity. Rustyrose then arrives, and because of his weird personality and hand motions, Elfman questions if he is a man, to which Evergreen tells him that this person was an "idiot".

Rustyrose begins by summoning a giant armored creature which he calls "Belcusas the Thunderclap", which then begins attacking the pair. Elfman protects Evergreen from an attack by the creature, telling her to petrify Rustyrose. She replies that she can't because he's wearing glasses and the two begin arguing after he calls her useless. Elfman then continues engaging Belcusas, telling Evergreen to defeat Rustyrose. However, Rustyrose transforms his arm into a claw and cuts her down. Distracted, Elfman is brought down by Belcusas. On the ground, the pair then listen as Rustyrose explains that once Grimoire Heart has acquired Zeref and made him king, they would all live in a world where non-Magic users are nonexistent.

As Elfman starts getting back up, he gets angry at what Rustyrose just said, saying that non-wizards make up 90% of the living world and that the support people provide for each other is what allows the world to exist. He then argues with Rustyrose, talking about how the trust between people allows for guilds to be formed, and Rustyrose laughs at this and talks about the horror of Zeref. Enraged, Elfman charges Rustyrose but gets slashed by his claw. As Rustyrose attacks again, this time Elfman catches his claw with his left arm and uses his Take Over Magic to transform his own right arm into a replica of the claw. He then attempts to hit Rustyrose with it, but the claw is deflected by Rustyrose's golden shield. However, Elfman managed to take his glasses and promptly crushes them, allowing for Evergreen to move in and petrify Rustyrose. Rustyrose then cuts down Elfman and Evergreen once more and it is seen that he is still wearing glasses. Rustyrose explains that his Magic allows him to materialize anything he wants and that he has never been beaten in his life. Rustyrose then creates a tower from the ground which immobilizes them and lifts them both upward. About to be defeated, Evergreen apologizes to Elfman, but he simply smiles and thanks her for the help she gave him so far.

A heavily wounded Elfman later arrives at Fairy Tail's base camp carrying Evergreen. He starts getting frustrated and states that he is pathetic as a man since he not only lost, but was also unable to protect his sister and his partner. He also admits to the enemy being strong, and that they have no hope of winning against them. However Levi stands up and says that if the enemy is a strong group, then Fairy Tail should unite, put aside the differences they had during the trial, and fight to win against the enemy.

Elfman is later seen resting alongside Evergreen, Mirajane and Gajeel, having succumbed to his wounds.

When Freed, Bickslow, Lisanna, Pantherlily and Levy are caught by Rustyrose in his Tower of Dingir, Bickslow uses his Figure Eyes to take control of Elfman, who attacks Rustyrose and releases him and the others from Rustyrose's Magic, resulting in Rustyrose's defeat at the hands of Freed and Lisanna.

After Natsu defeating Hades, he comes along with other injured Fairy Tail Mages defending Natsu and others from Grimoire Heart

Magic and Abilities
Take Over: Beast Soul (ビーストソウル Bīsuto Sōru): Elfman's form of Take Over Magic. It allows him to record a monster's body part he has touched and then summon it into his own arm.


 * Beast Soul: Full-Body Take Over (ビーストソウル Bīsuto Sōru): Elfman's most powerful spell that changes his entire body to a large hairy monster with horns; it increases his speed and power drastically. He got this form when he took on a S-rank mission and tried to take over the king of beasts to save his sisters. The Beast was a revered beast across the land, and all of its powers now belong to Elfman. Despite his Full Body Transformation, he can change parts of his form.


 * Beast Arm: Black Bull (黒牛 Kokugyū): Elfman transforms his hand into a large black bull arm that increases his punches' power.


 * Beast Arm: Iron Bull (鉄牛 Tetsugyū): Elfman's arm transforms into a large metal bull fist that increases his punches' power.


 * Beast Arm: Stone Bull (獣の腕・石牛 Jū no Ude : Ishigyū): Elfman turns his arm into that of a stoned-body beast which increases his attack power.


 * Beast Arm: Jet Black Sword (漆黒の剣 Shukkoku no Tsurugi): After being pierced by Rustyrose's transformed arm, Elfman gained the ability to transform his arm into a form similar to that of Rustyrose's.

Appearances in Other Media
Elfman 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

 * Mirajane also told Lucy that Elfman hasn't changed much since he was younger, despite the differences between his past and present self.
 * Elfman didn't have his scar when he took on the S rank mission with his sisters. However, after the job was finished, he had a bandage over his eye. His Full Body Beast Soul Take Over also shows the beast having a scar in the same place.
 * From the Volume 16 Limited Edition: Sorcerer Interview, the best quality of Fairy Tail, according to Elfman, is that there are a lot of strong men in the guild. He wishes to become a man among men in the future. He has a good relationship with his sister, Mirajane. Elfman, like his older sister, did not wish to comment on the most difficult job ever taken.