Natsu Dragneel

For Natsu's Edolas counterpart, see Natsu Dragion.

Natsu Dragneel (ナツ・ドラグニル Natsu Doragoniru) is a Fire Dragon Slayer, a member of Fairy Tail, and the leader of Team Natsu. He is the main male protagonist of Fairy Tail.

Appearance
Natsu is a lean, well-built young man of average height with light tan skin, black eyes, and spiky rose-colored hair. He always wears a scarf that is detailed with white scales, given to Natsu by his adoptive father, Igneel. Natsu has a scar on the right side of his neck that is visible in the few instances he does not wear his scarf. His red member's stamp is located at the top of his right arm, just below his shoulder.

Natsu's outfit mainly consists of a black waistcoat with gold trimmings over his chest with no shirt underneath, short white trousers that go down to his knees, and a wide black wristband on his left wrist and sandals along with his scarf. He has also been known to wear a rolled up comforter strapped across his back, though he rarely carries it in battle.

Personality
Natsu is a carefree and reckless in nature and, despite his constant brawls with the other members of the guild, is a fiercely loyal and protective friend. He thinks things through in a straightforward manner that usually involves taking things "head on". Even when faced with obvious hostility or previous grudges, he rarely holds a grudge or negative feelings towards an enemy, usually seeing the good in them. He does, however, hold a grudge against Jellal Fernandes for some time, but eventually forgives him and comes to consider him an ally. He has also been shown to occasionally feel compassion for his enemies, such as when Cobra was betrayed by Brain.

Natsu constantly tries to prove his strength to others. He has challenged both Erza and Laxus to fight him in the past, only to be defeated both times. However, he holds no grudge against them as he considers any member of his guild to be his friend, even in Laxus's case when he threatens the lives of his own guildmates. Due to his reckless nature, any fight Natsu involves himself in usually ends with widespread destruction. His continuous desire to fight causes Natsu to develop great wit in battle, quickly identifying his opponent's weaknesses and forming strategies to block the plans of his enemies. At times, he even defeats enemies with just his wit and trickery without throwing a punch, such as during the Galuna Island arc against Toby. Natsu also seems to be very stubborn, hardly ever admitting defeat.

During the time of Lisanna's supposed death and disappearance, Natsu would get extremely upset whenever anyone carelessly brings up her name. Because of this, no one in Fairy Tail mentions her to him out of respect for his feelings. This, of course, changes after Lisanna is discovered to be alive and returns from Edolas.

He suffers from motion sickness from all modes of transportation, including trains, boats, and carriages. It is to the degree that he can get sick from simply looking at a mode of transport or thinking about it, and even when he is carried by another person. The only "transportation" that Natsu can freely travel on and not get sick is being carried by Happy. Despite being quite dense Natsu has shown to be somewhat perceptive, especially when it comes to his friends and their feelings.

History
Natsu was found as a baby by Igneel, a powerful Fire Dragon whom Natsu called his "father". Igneel raised him and taught him how to talk, write, and use a form of Lost Magic known as Fire Dragon Slayer Magic. On July 7, X777, however, Igneel mysteriously disappeared, leading Natsu to set out in search of him. He was eventually found by Makarov Dreyar, the master of the Fairy Tail guild, where he became a member and formed a close, sibling-like rivalry with Gray Fullbuster and Erza Scarlet.

One day, Natsu found an egg in the forest east of Magnolia Town. Assuming it to be a dragon egg, Natsu took it to the guild and asked Makarov to make it hatch, but Makarov and Erza taught him that only Natsu could do it by watching over and caring for it. Lisanna offered to help Natsu to raise the egg until it hatched, which Natsu accepted happily. The two built a shack out of straw in the park to keep the egg warm, developing a very close friendship in the process.

The next morning, Natsu discovered that the egg had disappeared and assumed that someone had stolen it. After Natsu argued with everyone in the guild and fought with Mirajane over the egg, Elfman appeared with the egg and confessed he wanted to help Natsu and Lisanna raise it, but was too embarrassed to ask. Suddenly, the egg hatched and, to everyone's shock, a blue cat with wings was born. Because everyone stopped arguing and became happy upon the cat's birth, Natsu named him Happy.

A few years later, Lisanna left together with her siblings to go on an S-Class job to hunt a giant monster called "The Beast". Natsu wanted to go, but Elfman opposed as he felt he should be the one to care for his family. While on this mission, Lisanna was supposedly killed accidentally by Elfman after he lost control of himself while attempting to take over the monster. Though Natsu forgave Elfman, he was greatly saddened by the event.

Macao arc
Natsu receives a tip from Krov that a "Salamander" had been spotted in Hargeon Town. Convinced that the "Salamander" is Igneel, Natsu and Happy travel to Hargeon by train, but are sidetracked when Natsu passes out on the train and is forced to ride it a second time around. After finally getting off the train, the two stumble across a crowd of lovestruck young women eagerly shouting the name "Salamander." Excited, Natsu breaks into the crowd but, rather than seeing a dragon, instead meets a narcissistic fire mage claiming to be named Salamander. Downtrodden that the "salamander" wasn't Igneel after all, Natsu rejects an autograph from the imposter, causing the mage's legion of female fans to attack Natsu and drive him away.

Through these antics, he saves a traveling mage, Lucy Heartfilia, from the influence of "Salamander's" illegal Charm magic, which he used to infatuate the crowd of girls. Out of appreciation, Lucy pays a meal for him and Happy, and rambles on about her ambition to join a famous guild. During the conversation, they reveal their search for Igneel in town. They are taken aback when Lucy points out a dragon would never be found in the middle of town, as this had not previously dawned on them before. Lucy leaves the two to finish their meal, but Natsu and Happy are so grateful for her random act of kindness that they feel indebted to her since they hadn't meant to help her in the first place. Natsu offers Lucy the autograph "Salamander" gave him, but she immediately refuses it, and they part ways.

Later that night, Natsu overhears that "Salamander" is supposedly a member of Fairy Tail. Natsu immediately becomes suspicious and quite literally gatecrashes the party on the mage's ship, discovering Lucy to be on board as "Salamander" had tricked her into thinking he could get her into Fairy Tail. The ship's rocking motion immediately takes its toll on Natsu, leaving him defenseless against Salamander's crew. After being rescued by Happy, Lucy summons the celestial spirit Aquarius, whose powerful water magic washes the boat and everyone on it ashore.

With the ship on dry land and its rocking motion gone, Natsu regains his vitality and confronts "Salamander," declaring himself to be a member of Fairy Tail and exposing the fire mage as an imposter member. Though one of the impostor's crew members reveals his name to be Bora, Natsu shows no interest in his identity and is only concerned with his attempts to tarnish Fairy Tail's name. Their fight is short as Natsu easily decimates Bora and his crew, destroying a majority of Hargeon's port in the process. The fight attracks the attention of the Rune Knights, prompting him and Happy to flee with Lucy in tow. Lucy is initially chagrined, but Natsu, now knowing that Lucy wants to join Fairy Tail, invites her to join his guild, which she happily accepts.

Upon returning to the guild in Magnolia Town with Lucy, Natsu angrily attacks Krov for giving him false information on the "Salamander," starting a fight which swiftly evolves into a full-scale brawl. The unruly mages are stopped by Makarov, who reads out loud to them a list of various complaints from the Magic Council about the guild members, including (but far from limited to) Natsu's destruction of Hargeon's port. However, Makarov ultimately disregards the documented complaints and sets them aflame, giving his guild an inspiring speech (and giving the burning documents to Natsu as a snack).

After feasting on a fiery meal, Natsu goes up to the guild's job request board to find work for food money. While picking out a job, Natsu overhears Romeo Conbolt, son of Fairy Tail's Macao Conbolt, complaining to Makarov over how his father has not yet returned from his job in Hakobe Mountain to slay Vulcans. Empathizing with Romeo's troubles, Natsu leaves together with Happy to find Macao. The two are accompanied by Lucy, now an official member of Fairy Tail. The three reach the snowstorm-ravaged mountain where they are attacked by a Vulcan, which notices Lucy and whisks her away to its cavern lair at the peak of the mountain.

Reasoning that this particular Vulcan is responsible for Macao's disappearance, Natsu chases the Vulcan to its lair and demands to know where it has hidden Macao. However, the Vulcan tricks Natsu into coming near a hole in the cavern wall and pushes him out of it, sending him plummeting off the side of the mountain. Fortunately, Happy rescues him. Once back inside the cave, Natsu sees Lucy fighting the Vulcan using her celestial spirit Taurus and, mistaking the bull spirit to be another monster, sends him flying. He soon defeats the Vulcan, who is then revealed to actually be Macao, having been taken over by the Vulcan. Natsu's attack causes Macao to fall out another hole through the wall, but Natsu, Lucy, Happy, and Taurus manage to pull him to safety. They find Macao to be seriously wounded, having fought nineteen Vulcans before being taken over by the twentieth. Natsu saves his life by burning the wound shut, and returns to Magnolia with his friends to reunite Macao with Romeo.

Daybreak arc
After Lucy gets settled into her new home, she finds that Natsu and Happy have shamelessly invaded it. While she scolds them, Happy sharpens his nails on the wall, distracting her from Natsu who peeks at her bundle of sheets. She dives for them, keeping them away from Natsu, and demands that they leave, to which Natsu refuses. Giving up, she offers the two a cup of tea and teaches them a little about Celestial Spirits. For a demonstration on contracting with Celestial Spirits, Lucy summons the Canis Minor Nikora, which she named Plue. She shows them the procedures that Celestial Wizards go through to contract with Celestial Spirits, telling them that she doesn't break promises. Plue suggests that they form a team, to which Natsu agrees to, and in turn, Lucy does. Their first mission is to steal a book which involves the book's owner hiring a blond maid. Using the Celestial Wizard's words against her, Natsu gets Lucy to join him in the job which makes Lucy think Natsu had prepared for it from the beginning.

When they arrive in Shirostume town, Natsu recommends they go to eat before their mission whilst Lucy went off elsewhere, declining his offer. Natsu and Happy are shocked to find that when she returns, she is adorned in a maid outfit when they had only been joking about it. Regardless, they make their way to the client's house, where Kaby Melon details their mission and stuns the three of them with the announcement that the reward had increased ten times in value. Impassioned, they head towards the mansion where Lucy is interviewed for the maid position by Duke Everlue.

After she is rejected for being too "ugly", they resolve to sneak into the mansion by having Happy fly them to the roof and Natsu melt a window to let them in. Quietly, they move around the mansion until they are confronted by Everlue's other maids who Natsu instantly deals with. They then discovered the library and after a quick search, Natsu locates the book DAYBREAK. Natsu was about to burn it when Lucy snatches it from his grasp as she saw it was a book by the famous author, Kemu Zaleon, and begged for him to let her keep it.

Just then, Everlue literally dives up from the ground, having previously held back to see what they had been up to, and calls on the Vanish Brothers to deal with them. However, Lucy declares that there was a secret in the book and runs off, asking Natsu to buy her some time. Everlue goes after her, interested about the secret, and Natsu tells Happy to follow them while he dealt with the brothers.

After a brief fight with the Vanish Brothers, Natsu quickly defeats the brothers and grabs the head maid when she begins to move. Consequently, when Everlue summons this head maid, who is actually the Celestial Spirit Virgo, he is pulled through the Celestial Spirit world back to the Human world. Lucy shouts for him to deal with Virgo while she defeats Everlue. He complies, delivering her a powerful blow.

Lucy makes them return the book to the client where he found out the truth about the book, and to whom the book was meant for; the group decides not to take payment for the job (much to Lucy's dismay) since they didn't specifically complete what was asked for: "destroy the book". They begin to return, with Natsu realizing that Lucy's earlier protectiveness was because the bundle of sheets was a novel she was creating, explaining her knowledge of books. She shouts at him to not tell anyone.

Lullaby arc
Natsu returns to the guild and gets into another fight with Gray, but Loke warns them that Erza has returned from her mission and they comically pretend to be good friends. Much to their dismay, Erza forces Natsu and Gray to go on a mission with her. When Erza finally arrives at the train station, Natsu issues her an agreement that he would only go if she agreed to fight him when they returned, to which she agrees. On the train, Natsu gets his usual motion sickness and Erza, in an attempt to make him feel better, knocks him out. The other members start to discuss their mission, but in the process, forget to wake up Natsu when they leave, leaving him on the train. Kageyama, a member of the Dark Guild Eisenwald that the group was discussing earlier, tries to start a conversation with him. However, Kageyama attacks him and the two get into a fight with Natsu quickly getting the upper hand when the train stops. During their fight, he notices the Lullaby flute, and before the train starts to move again, jumps out of the train's window and into a Magic four-wheel vehicle driven by Erza.

They return to the train station via the vehicle, causing Natsu to get motion sickness again, and requiring the assistance of Lucy (who is considered transport by Natsu) to drag him to the station. Although denied entry, they enter anyway and are confronted by the members of Eisenwald at the station platform. Upon hearing Kageyama's voice, Natsu revives and saves Lucy from being harmed by one of Kageyama's attacks. Erza then orders him and Gray to go after Erigor, and the two agree to split up to find him.

As Natsu searches, he starts destroying the walls to find him, despite the fact that doors were right next to him. Kageyama sneaks up bhind him and attacks him and after they exchange a few blows, he quickly overwhelms him and questions him on the whereabouts of Erigor, just as Erza and company arrive to question him on how to dispel the barrier of wind around the station. However, to everyone's surprise, Kageyama is suddenly stabbed in the back by one of his allies and Natsu, in rage, attacks the assassin and tries to avenge Kageyama.

Team Natsu is then freed from the wind wall by Lucy's new Celestial Spirit Virgo, who apologizes to Natsu for her previous fight with him and he quickly forgives her. Natsu then uses Happy's maximum speed to chase after Erigor. After he runs into him, he proves himself powerful enough for Erigor to evoke his Storm Mail spell. As the wind armor causes Natsu's fire to be put out and stops him from punching Erigor, Natsu becomes angry to the point of heating his flames using his emotions. Happy notices the effects of the superheated fire on Erigor's Storm Mail and provokes Natsu to increase his fire's heat by appealing to his sense of rivalry with Gray. This sends Natsu into a rage, and he is able to defeat Erigor.

When the others arrive, Kageyama steals the Lullaby flute and goes to the Guild Masters' meeting. The team quickly follows and are stopped from saving Makarov by the other Guild Masters, while Makarov convinces Kageyama to give up. Since Kageyama refused to play the flute and finish off Makarov, the flute turns into a huge beast. Seeing this, Natsu teams up with Gray and Erza to take it down. Unfortunately, the team destroys the Guild Masters' meeting place in the process. When the Guild Masters see this they turn around they see that Fairy Tail was already running away except for Natsu who offered to help chase his teammates unaware that he was being chased as well.

Galuna Island arc
True to her word, Erza begins her fight with Natsu, but just as it warms up, Erza is arrested for property damage amongst other crimes. To prevent him from recklessly going after Erza, Natsu is literally transformed into a salamander and stuck under a glass. However, it is revealed that it was actually Macao who had transformed himself to give time for Natsu to smash into Erza's court hearing, crudely dressed as her, and proclaim that he is actually Erza which results in them both being imprisoned for a short time.

Due to Erza's arrest being a mere formality, Natsu and Erza are soon released. Natsu once again tries to fight Erza, but is swiftly defeated with one blow. Natsu then tries to pick a fight with Laxus Dreyar, but is prevented from doing so by Makarov, who says he isn't allowed up to the second floor "yet". Later on, Natsu breaks into Lucy's apartment, much to her annoyance, and tries to persuade her to go on a S-class mission, 'The Cursed Island', with him and Happy. She initially refuses but then agrees when she notices that the award includes a Golden Key. Unable to find someone to ferry them across, Natsu falls on the idea of swimming to the island, but is soon stopped when Gray appears. Just as they begin to fight, one of the sailors who had previously refused, notices their Magic and agrees to sail them across. Natsu then quickly knocks Gray out and drags him onto the boat. The sailor leading then suddenly disappears, just before a tidal wave shipwrecks them on the island's shore.

With Gray now agreeing to help them, they go to their client, the mayor of the island, to find out about the curse affecting the inhabitants. Initially asked to do the impossible task of destroying the moon, they resolve to explore the island the next morning. In the forest they are confronted by a gigantic mouse, which they quickly defeat, and find a ruined temple. Natsu then stamps on the floor of the temple which causes it to crumble apart, and sends them hurtling down into a large cavern. The cavern contains a frozen demon Deliora, and the Mages Yuka Suzuki, Sherry, and Toby. Gray tells them that they are going to stay put until the moon comes back out and Natsu instinctively falls asleep at this piece of news. Night soon arrives, and they discover that the purple moonlight is hitting the frozen Deliora; they run up the surface to investigate and discover a ritual to free Deliora.

Natsu, enraged by Lyon Bastia's command to Toby and the others to destroy the village, jumps out from hiding and attacks, but is quickly stopped by Lyon's ice Magic and pushed down a hill by Gray. Natsu returns back up the hill to find a beaten up Gray, and carries him back to the village. When he arrives at the village, he falls into the trap that Lucy had previously placed for Lyon and his Mages. The village is then attacked by Lyon's Mages who use poison jelly to try kill everyone, but Natsu destroys a large amount of the poison with his Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame attack, and sends the rest to the outer skirts of the village. Natsu and Lucy are then confronted by Sherri, Yuka and Toby. After Sherri and Angelica leave to destroy the villagers, Lucy accidently grabs onto Angelica and leaves Natsu to fight Yuka and Toby. When Happy decides to go check on Lucy to make sure she’s okay, Natsu remarks that that’s fine and that he would take care of these two, and after a brief battle, he defeats Yuka and tricks Toby into poisoning himself.

The next day, Erza arrives and Natsu reappears alone, going into the temple from earlier. After he goes into the ruins, he begins breaking them to try tilting the temple so the moonlight wouldn't reach Deliora. He then starts to fight Lyon, but midway through is interrupted by Gray, who tells him that he'll fight Lyon instead. Gray attempts to use the powerful spell Iced Shell to kill both himself and Lyon, but is stopped by a punch to the face by Natsu. Enraged at being ignored by Zalty, he chases after him and falls into another fight.

Their battle leads into Deliora's cavern, where Natsu is shocked to find that Deliora's frozen prison is melting. Natsu eventually finds a way around Zalty's Arc of Time Magic and punches him away just as the ritual for Deliora's revival is complete. However, it is then revealed that Deliora had actually been long dead. They then realize, thanks to Erza, that the ritual had nothing to do with the villager's demonic transformations, but that it was instead excess Moon Drip Magic creating a barrier around the island, making the moon look purple and making the villagers forget that their demonic appearance was actually their true appearance.

Phantom Lord arc
As they return from their S-rank mission, they find the guild destroyed. They learn from Mirajane that it was their rival, Phantom Lord. Natsu argues with the master, telling him that they should fight back, but Makarov decides there is no point in getting angry with someone who attacks an empty guild, much to Natsu’s dismay. Later, they discover the heavily injured bodies of Shadow Gear's Levy McGarden, Jet and Droy nailed to a tree, and Makarov declares war on Phantom.

They rush to Phantom Lord's guild and directly attack its members. When they arrive, Natsu breaks down the door and the battle between the two guilds begin. When Makarov leaves to crush Phantom Lord's leader, Jose Porla, Gajeel Redfox joins the fight. He initially fights with Elfman before Natsu takes over, and the two dragon slayers have a fairly equal fight. However, the fight soon turns sour when Makarov falls from above after losing his Magical power.

After witnessing the Master’s apparent defeat, Erza orders them to retreat, much to the dismay of Natsu and the rest of the guild. Just as they are about to leave, Natsu overhears Gajeel and a member of the Element 4, Aria, saying they had captured Lucy. He kidnaps one of Phantom Lord's members, burning him until he told Natsu where Lucy may be. Out of fear of further injury, the member of Phantom Lord tells him that she was most likely at their headquarters. Natsu sprints to it, shouting Lucy's name, leaping in the air, and catching her as she deliberately fell from the headquarters's tower prison. Seeing as they were at the headquarters, Natsu wishes to continue the fight, but Happy and a tearful Lucy make him reluctantly agree to retreat.

Back at the guild, Natsu consoles a depressed Lucy, telling her that Fairy Tail is her "home". The guild begins to quake and they go outside to see a gigantic walking building: Phantom Lord's headquarters, which unveils its powerful cannon, Jupiter. Jose then orders the cannon to be fired, but Erza requips her adamantine armor and resolves to stop it, despite Natsu and the rest of the guild begging her not to. The cannon is then shot towards the guild, but Erza takes the full brunt of Jupiter, and prevents it from annihilating the guild. Jose warns them that another such blast will be fired unless Lucy is given to them, but every single one of them adamantly refuses. As a result, Jose tells them to shiver in 15 minutes of fear as it reloads.

Natsu declares that he'll smash it before this happens; Happy flies them to the building, but just as he is about to destroy the lacrima of the cannon, he is confronted by a member of the Element 4, Totomaru. Because Totomaru's element relates to fire, he is able to control any type of flame, and causes grief for Natsu before he figures out how to overcome Totomaru's control and destroy the lacrima the moment before the cannon fires. Enraged, Jose orders for the walking building to transform into a gigantic Mage; the transformation process caused it to temporarily turn into a vehicle, invoking Natsu's motion sickness, and Totomaru almost strikes him with his Rainbow Fire before the arrival of Gray and Elfman, who finish the Phantom member off. Happy rushes outside to see what has happened and informs them that the building has become a Mage and is about to unleash a massively destructive spell. They then agree to split up to find the source of the Magic.

As Natsu is searching, he meets the strongest of the Element 4, Aria. Natsu is dominated during the fight and nearly loses his Magic via Aria's Void; he is saved by Erza, who defeats Aria in one blow. Erza collapses from exhaustion moments before Jose announces (via loudspeakers) that they have captured Lucy. Erza shouts for Natsu to unleash his hidden power and protect them all. Natsu, inspired by this, discovers newfound determination and flames forward until he smashes through a wall and saves Lucy being impaled from one of Gajeel's daggers.

The two Dragon Slayers then begin their lengthy fight. Although equal at first, Gajeel takes the upper hand when he eats the metal tiles and restores his health. This abruptly changes when Natsu gets to eat fire thanks to Lucy's Celestial Spirit, Sagittarius, and he simultaneously defeats Gajeel with his Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon Fist, and destroys his guild. Natsu falls due to fatigue but stays behind in the guild as Happy takes Lucy back to Fairy Tail. Natsu questions Gajeel about where he learned his Magic; Gajeel replies from the metal dragon Metalicana who disappeared on the date 7/7 X777, similar to Igneel.

Whilst reconstructing the broken guild, Natsu carries a great deal many more wooden beams than necessary, and indirectly challenges Gray to carry as twice as many, who accepts and does so for a short second. Erza hits them and forces them to stop messing around before Loke gives Gray Lucy's keys, which she had lost when she was caught by Juvia Lockser. Natsu, Gray and Erza decide to go to her house for a short break, but find that she has left to go home. They rush to her house and are relieved to discover that she was only going to see her mother's grave. When they return, Natsu and Gray overhear Lucy’s conversation about the punishment she received from Aquarius from losing the keys, and ponders what expression Lucy would have if he made her butt hurt. He never follows through with this, as he is struck by a chair thrown by an enraged Erza. Her fury is directed at Laxus, who derides the weakness of Shadow Gear. Natsu throws a fist at Laxus who effortlessly dodges and then leaves with the affirmation that he will make the strongest guild. Erza tells Natsu to leave him, and then proposes that she, Natsu, Gray, Lucy and Happy should do a job together: attack an illegal Magic school. While doing the job, they destroy half a stretch of road.

Loke arc
Natsu is first seen incorrectly playing pool with Gray. After Lucy takes a “special job” from Mirajane, Natsu, Erza, Gray, and Lucy travel to their destination, and Natsu is seen laying on the ground, suffering from his usual motion sickness. Natsu and the others go to help a theater house by becoming actors for a play. However, Natsu's and the others' destructiveness cause the play to become apparently ruined, but, to their surprise, it becomes a hit anyway.

Later, Natsu and the others go to Balsam Village and after defeating some troublemakers in the area, decide to stay in the town for the night. As they are talking, they notice Loke in the distance and come over to speak to him, until he quickly runs away at the sight of Lucy. During their stay, Natsu, Gray, and Erza get into a serious pillow fight. Gray apparently wins, but Natsu wouldn't accept it so the two of them call on Lucy to decide for them. He later searches through the town for Loke, who had suddenly left Fairy Tail.

Tower of Heaven arc
Upon discovering that Loke is a Celestial Spirit, Natsu expresses his desire to be able to summon a dragon, claiming he wants a way to test the extent of his Dragon Slayer Magic. When Loke gives Lucy the tickets to a resort, where he had previously reserved rooms for himself and his girlfriends, Natsu joins her, Erza, and Gray in a break from the jobs assigned at Fairy Tail. After spending a day of relaxation at the resort with the other members of the group, Natsu tries his luck at roulette in the casino, but is attacked by Wally Buchanen in the middle of the game, who tries to kill Natsu by firing his gun into his mouth.

After the abduction of both Erza and Happy, Natsu, incensed by Wally's attempt to kill him, assists the others (with the newly arrived Juvia Lockser) in tracking Erza by using his sharp sense of smell to follow her scent across the sea to the Tower of Heaven. Upon arrival, the team uses Juvia's oxygen bubbles to sneak into the tower's basement through an underwater tunnel, and Natsu's desire for an open fight is fulfilled when they are challenged by the guards there. After meeting up with Erza, Natsu rushes off on his own to find Happy, and gets his revenge on Wally.

After finally arriving at Millianna's room, he tries on a cat-themed costume head, but finds that it is stuck. When Wally tries to ambush him again, he is saved by Millianna, who believes that Natsu is a real cat and doesn't want Wally to hurt him. He is nearly killed again when Wally convinces Millianna that he is not, in fact, a cat, and the two attack in tandem, but he is saved by Happy's return. He ends up defeating both Mages by using a joke-move, the "Ultimate Strike: Kitty in Pain", to invoke Millianna's pity and make her release him from his bonds, allowing his Magic to return and beating them with a single attack using his Fire Dragon's Wing Attack.

After Happy finally removes the cat mask off of Natsu, Wally attempts to continue their fight, but Natsu states that it is already over. Suddenly, dozens of mouths grow all over the walls, and Jellal tells everyone that they are part of the Paradise Game and explains the rules to them. Following Jellal Fernandes's beginning of the Paradise Game, Natsu tries to cheat by using Happy's Magic to fly to the top floor directly, but is intercepted by Fukuro. Simon tries to fight Fukuro in Natsu’s stead, but is easily defeated. Natsu and Fukuro then begin their battle. Fukuro takes advantage of Natsu’s motion sickness to incapacitate and then swallow him, thus absorbing his Dragon Slayer abilities. But the final stages of absorption are stopped by Gray, who, in a rage due to Erza's condition, battles and then defeats Fukuro with his Seven Slice Dance, freeing Natsu from his stomach.

After the fight with Fukuro, Natsu wakes up on Simon’s back. Simon takes Natsu and begs him to save Erza. Natsu refuses at first, saying that Erza needed to defeat her own opponent and that was something he didn't want to interfere, but he changed his mind once Simon told him that she can't defeat Jellal. He also states that she is still trying to save Jellal and that Jellal will take advantage of her emotions. Simon displays his concern that Erza might take advantage of the Etherion to die and take Jellal down with her, which makes Natsu reach his boiling point, and ask Simon about Erza's whereabouts. After the Etherion was fired, Natsu manages to arrive just in time to save Erza from being absorbed into the R-System lacrima and tells her that they need to finish their job, otherwise they won't make it to Lucy's rent on time. She tells him that she can't move, to which he comically tickles her. Erza then tells Natsu to leave and not to fight Jellal because he will only lose, and she tearfully begs him to listen to her. However, Natsu picks Erza up, asking her why she is like that and telling her that he'll win this fight, subsequently knocking her out. He turns back to Jellal, accusing that he was the reason behind Erza crying and he says she should be strong, mean, and scary,. Natsu says he hopes Erza will be the Erza he knew once she wakes up and that he'll fight Jellal for that and charges him.

Natsu fights Jellal and seems to dominate over him, before Jellal reveals that he wants to know the Dragon Slayer abilities. Natsu has trouble predicting a now serious Jellal's movement and is seemingly overpowered by Jellal's Grand Chariot attack. When Jellal talks about that the damage that he had dealt to the tower, Natsu takes advantage of his words and begins destroying some of the lacrima, saying that Fairy Tail mages specialize in property damage and that he's still able to fight. He tries to fight Jellal once more and destroys more of the lacrima; this prompts Jellal to prepare an attack that will finish off Natsu, but Erza wakes up and steps in, hoping that he wouldn't attack her. Jellal tells them that it doesn't matter anymore and launches his attack on them. Much to their shock, Simon steps in and sacrifices himself to protect them. While Jellal is mocking Simon, Natsu starts eating the lacrima, and he tells Jellal to shut up and punches him when Jellal says they will not escape. He eats more of the Etherion-infused lacrima and starts to go wild. Natsu experiences negative side effects from eating the lacrima, apparently being unable to handle the magic power of Etherion. He suddenly stabilizes and enters Dragon Force and is able to dominate Jellal. Jellal is able to get away and fly above the tower and attempts to use Abyss Break to defeat Natsu; however, a wound caused by Erza interrupts his attempt at casting the powerful spell. Natsu says there's no freedom for someone possessed by a ghost and takes advantage of this opening to attack and defeat Jellal.

Natsu faints after the battle and Erza carries him, but she realizes that the Etherion went out of control and will soon cause a giant explosion that will kill everyone around them. Erza decides to sacrifice herself and fuse with Etherion to save everybody. Natsu wakes up as she starts the fusion and asks Erza what she is doing. She replies that this is the only way to save everybody and she can't imagine the world without Fairy Tail or her friends. If she can save everyone, then she will do it without any hesitation. Erza finishes the fusion and says she'll always be with them as a crying Natsu begs her to get out of there; the tower then disappears. After this, Erza sees a vision of her funeral. In the vision everyone is very sad that she is dead except for Natsu who loudly denies that Erza is dead and is attacked by some attendees of the funeral and shoved to the ground. Seeing this, Erza realizes that her decision left her friends with a sad future and wants it to stop. She suddenly wakes up and realizes that she is alive and sees everyone running towards her. She notices that Natsu is carrying her, and he lets her down while stating that they are the same. Natsu, in tears, tells her not to do something like that ever again. Erza promises Natsu not to risk her life again and gives him a genuine thanks, realizing that she needs to live for her friends' sake to bring a happy future.

Natsu sleeps for three days straight and temporarily wakes up after Gray insulted him who also reminds him of how he got eaten by Fukuro. He suddenly falls asleep again. He feasts later that night after finally waking up from his Etherion injuries. As Erza starts her send off for Wally, Millianna and Shô, Natsu appears and says he hopes to see them again sometime soon and sets off fireworks, using his magic, along with Gray and Lucy as a farewell.

Fighting Festival arc
Natsu returns from the tower to find the guild rebuilt and two new members: Juvia and Gajeel. Provoked by Gajeel, he starts a huge fight with him, which quickly includes the other members. It appears he doesn't particularly like the new look of the guild as well, saying that it is not the same as it used to be. Later, he starts to suffer from some side-effects from absorbing the Etherion during his fight with Jellal. He leaves for home, but sleeps instead in Lucy's bed. Later, he returns temporarily to hunt a Sorcerer Magazine guy that he believes is destroying his reputation.

During the Festival, Natsu is still dozy as Evergreen froze the participants of the Miss Fairy Tail contest. Laxus, along with his bodyguards, the Thunder God Tribe, announced his "Fairy Tail battle", threatening to kill the girls unless everyone joined in, effectively making them hostages.

Natsu is suddenly rejuvenated by the prospect of a battle royale between guild members, and is back on his destructive feet. He leaps forward to attack Laxus, but a quick electric shock from Laxus deals with Natsu. Swiftly getting back on his feet, he sprints to join the fight, but is unable to leave the guild due to Freed Justine's enchantment (which affected Gajeel the same way). It is believed that, due to their Dragon Slayer Magic, they are unable to get out of the guild. He then tried to free Erza with Gajeel by heating her up. Inadvertently, they succeeded, but not without Erza punching them both for their carelessness and then running out to fight. Her reappearance in the battle came in tandem with the arrival of Mystogan. Despite Makarov's worries, Natsu still had faith that Laxus wasn't going to harm anyone. However, Laxus himself cast serious doubt on this when he threatened to destroy the entire town by activating his Hall of Thunder, in response to losing his hostages after Evergreen's defeat at the hands of Erza. Levy, now released from the stone enchantment as well, offers that she can break the barrier, allowing Natsu and Gajeel to enter the battlefield, and eventually manages to do so.

Natsu eventually finds and confronts Laxus at Caldia Cathedral and is just in time to catch a glimpse of Mystogan's face, which looks exactly like Jellal. Erza asks Mystogan if he is Jellal, but Mystogan denies this and says he only knows Jellal. Natsu then challenges Laxus, and while initially indifferent to him, Laxus starts to take him seriously after Natsu manages to score a few hits. As Erza leaves to deal with Laxus's Hall of Thunder, Natsu chides Laxus for not really wanting to carry out his plan, saying that he just wants his grandfather to give in (whom neither realize has fallen deathly ill). He has faith that Erza will stop the spell, despite Laxus's thoughts otherwise. Natsu's faith is proven as they see a report that the Hall of Thunder has been stopped due to Erza and the recovered Fairy Tail members. Though the town is spared from the Hall of Thunder, the inhabitants are now threatened by an enraged Laxus as he goes berserk.

Natsu holds his own for a few moments, but is soon overpowered. Gajeel then joins in, saving Natsu from a finishing strike, and both reluctantly team up to fight Laxus. After a few assorted combos of Metal and Fire Dragon Slayer techniques, after the smoke clears, a still-unharmed Laxus remains unimpressed and offers to show them both "true Dragon Slayer magic". Laxus releases a lightning version of the Dragon's Roar, inflicting critical damage and paralyzing both Natsu and Gajeel. Laxus attempts to use the extremely powerful Fairy Law to kill everyone, both from the guild, as well as the whole of Magnolia, but the attack fails.

Freed, still injured from his fight with Mirajane, appears and explains it is because Laxus's heart doesn't see the Fairy Tail members nor the people of Magnolia as enemies. Laxus vows to change the guild but then Natsu gets up, ready to stop him and prove that his comrades are precious to him. Natsu is then beaten into the ground by Laxus but keeps getting back up. Laxus is about to kill Natsu with another Lightning Dragon move, but Gajeel absorbs it by using himself as a lighting rod. Finally, Natsu comes back with a flurry of Fire Dragon moves in an eight-hit combo, defeating Laxus. Victorious, Natsu stands tall and yells at the top of his lungs.

After the fight, most of the members recover from the brutal beatings they had taken, Natsu included, whose mouth was bandaged shut, muffling his speech. When Laxus shows up at the guild to see Makarov, Natsu yells (his muffles translated by Gajeel) at him that he didn't consider the two-on-one as a fair victory, and that he wanted a rematch with Laxus. However, instead of the usual comeback, Laxus merely waves after the guild without facing them, earning him a confused glance from Natsu. Despite his injuries, Natsu takes part in the Fantasia parade in a fire-blowing float.

Oración Seis arc
The following week, his injuries healed, Natsu confronts Makarov about Laxus's excommunication, but is stopped by Erza. When Lucy worries about her lack of money, Natsu suggests they take a job, making her weep in joy. The next day they, along with Happy, Erza and Gray prepare to leave to find and capture the escaped convict Velveno. Lucy suddenly darts off - confused, the others follow her, but find that she is okay and had almost literally defeated a whole guild by herself.

As Lucy is short on payment for her rent, Natsu, along with Gray and Erza, help her by taking jobs as waiters and waitresses in a Magical restaurant. However, Natsu spends most of the time eating the food rather than serving it, and after all the work is done, supports a rather bloated figure. They return to the guild to find a drawing of the various factions of the Dark Guilds and the current strength of the Balam Alliance. Makarov then picks him and his team as delegates to go after Oración Seis.

As he ventures to the meeting point, he meets The Trimens and Ichiya Wanderlei Kotobuki, who were Blue Pegasus's delegates. He, along with Gray, is not impressed with them. Soon, they meet the Lamia Scale Guild members to join them and he becomes even more unimpressed in the form of two old foes, Lyon and Sherry, and one of the Ten Wizard Saints, Jura Neekis. However, as he meets the Cait Shelter Guild member, Wendy Marvell, along with her cat Carla, he gives an impression of recognizing Wendy's name. Later, he runs out looking for the Oración Seis to take them all on, one on one.

After the Oración Seis find them, Natsu is beaten by them and nearly killed until Jura Neekis arrives to save him and the others. As they discover Erza's poisoned state, Carla suggests that they find the captured Wendy, who is revealed to be the Dragon Slayer of the Sky, and Happy, so she can save her. With this, Natsu runs off with Carla and Gray, asking Carla along the way what element Wendy consumes using her Dragon Slayer powers, which happens to be air. Natsu wonders if it is tasty to which Carla replies she doesn't know, though Gray conjectures that it is the same as inhaling. They continue their search, only to find and beat the Naked Mummy Guild. After discovering Oración Seis's hideout, Natsu goes on ahead while Gray fights Racer. As he arrives, Natsu is met with a shock: Jellal is revived. Natsu takes his time to take Wendy back to Erza so she can heal her. Hibiki Laytis helps Natsu bring Wendy to Erza and she is healed. Suddenly, Nirvana is revealed, and Natsu rushes headstrong to stop Jellal.

On his way, he runs into Racer's personal guild Harpuia and defeats them easily. Natsu then finds an unconscious Gray floating in a river and tries to help him, but when he gets there, a raft pops up out of the water and Natsu's motion sickness takes over. Gray gets up, acting strangely, and prepares to make a killing blow. Lucy and Hibiki appear, halting Gray as the raft comes to a stop; despite this, Natsu still feels the effects. It is revealed that Gray was actually Angel's Celestial Spirit, Gemini. Lucy faces off against her and wins, but rapids suddenly appear and drag her and Natsu (by the raft) down the river and a waterfall. He later wakes up on dry land along with Lucy, and notices that Virgo has been taking care of them by treating Lucy's wounds and changing their clothes by her own will. Sherry, who has murderous thoughts due to Nirvana, appears suddenly and is about to attack Natsu and Lucy when Gray crashes in and holds her down, and Lyon shows up to be alive as well, making Sherry revert to normal. Natsu, along with Gray and Lucy, are caught up in the activation of Nirvana's second stage; they are later seen climbing up one of its legs.

As Natsu's motion sickness kicks in, Happy arrives to help him, so as he flies to stop Brain, Cobra takes to the skies as well to battle Natsu. As the two begin to battle, Cobra stays ahead of Natsu by reading his thoughts, but Natsu overcomes this by fighting on instinct. Natsu becomes shocked as he realizes that Cobra is the Poison Dragon Slayer.

However, he learns that Cobra is actually artificial like Laxus, so Natsu fights to defeat yet another artificial Dragon Slayer. After being infected with some of the poison, Natsu becomes enraged that Cobra considers all dragons extinct and tries to defeat Cobra again with a huge roar that shatters Cobra's sensitive ear drums. However, Cobra survives only to be defeated by Brain. With this, Brain reveals that he plans on using Nirvana to turn Natsu evil so he can serve him, but the timely arrival of Gray, Lucy and Jura save him. After Jura deals with Brain, Wendy and Carla arrive and Wendy heals Natsu's poison while temporarily curing him of motion sickness.

As the team is led into a trap by Brain, Natsu becomes enraged to see Jura nearly killed from defending them from it. When the seventh member of the Oración Seis, Brain's staff Klodoa, appears to him, Gray, Lucy and Happy, Natsu is unfazed by the fact that he is a talking stick and waves him around, demanding that he stop Nirvana.

Klodoa, however, frees himself from Natsu's grasp and tells him of their plan to destroy Cait Shelter so Nirvana cannot be resealed. Klodoa then starts whacking, but then abruptly acts nervously (due to Midnight's defeat at Erza) as he tells that since all the Oración Seis members have been defeated, a new side of Brain will emerge, codenamed Zero. This new personality then appears himself; Natsu comments that Zero's Magic feels disgusting, and attacks him when Zero easily smashes through Gray's Ice Shield. Zero dodges Natsu's attack and delivers a powerful one of his own, knocking Natsu down. After some encouraging words, Natsu wills himself back up and goes to Lacrima #1.

However, Zero awaits him and the two battle fiercely. Natsu even stops a spell Zero thought couldn't be stopped. Suddenly, Jellal appears and delivers a powerful Magic blast to Natsu, shocking both him and Zero, the latter asking if Jellal had regained his memories. In fact, Jellal's memories had not returned, but he does remember Natsu's name and calls him the ray of hope. The Magic blast was actually a powerful fire attack intended to give Natsu back his strength.

Initially, Natsu refuses Jellal's help and even proceeds to attack him. Taking advantage of the situation, Zero fires another spell at Natsu. Jellal defends him by taking the full force of the blast. This prompts Natsu to accept the Flame of Rebuke from Jellal to defeat Zero, and he receives a large boost in strength and speed. In his Dragon Force mode, he manages to beat Zero (after some initial trouble controlling his power) and destroys the Lacrima Crystal, along with the other five Mages in each leg of Nirvana.

At last, they manage to stop the Nirvana and the Oración Seis once and for all, but the celebration doesn't last long as the newly reformed Council shows up to take away Hoteye and Jellal into custody. While Natsu and Wendy protest against this, Jellal, Erza and everyone else only look on sadly.

Natsu tries to take Jellal back by force and attacks the council guards, but is stopped by Erza. He later appears at Cait Shelter and gets a new outfit to replace his torn up one and learns about Cait Shelter's disturbing secret. Natsu shows joy about being on a boat thanks to Wendy, but quickly gets sick again when her Magic wears off. He returns to Fairy Tail and tries to tell Elfman about his battle against Cobra.

Edolas arc
After finding out that Gildarts Clive was on his way back, Natsu and the rest of Fairy Tail prepare for his arrival. Even the whole town gets ready, dividing in two in order to avoid Gildarts accidentally smashing through private houses. Upon Gildarts's arrival, Natsu immediately challenges him to a fight and charges at him, only to get deflected into the ceiling, where he comments on how strong Gildarts is. Gildarts invites him to visit him a bit later at his house. When Natsu and Happy arrive, Gildarts jokes about Natsu's relationship with Lisanna, but is shaken when Natsu tells him that she died two years ago while he was on his mission. Natsu tries to leave, but Gildarts mentions that he ran into a dragon while on his mission. He says it wasn't Igneel because it was a black dragon, not a red one. He recounts that he fought it and that it was the reason he failed the quest. Natsu decides he will go to the sacred mountain, Zonia, where Gildarts encountered the dragon, in the hopes of learning where Igneel is. Gildarts stops him and shows him the wounds he received from the dragon: the loss of his left arm, leg and an organ. Natsu runs out afterwards, saying a Dragon Slayer could defeat the dragon, tripping and falling into a pond before reminiscing about Igneel.

While asleep, the Anima absorbs the guild. Only he, Wendy, Happy, and Carla are left behind because of their Dragon Slayer powers. Here, Carla explains about "Edolas", a parallel world. Natsu then plans to go to Edolas to save the guild. As he goes to the Edolas version of Fairy Tail, he becomes amazed as he sees how everyone is so different. He then gapes at how scary the Edolas version of Lucy is from her counterpart.

Edolas Lucy quickly realizes who Natsu is, likely confusing him with the Edolas Natsu, and hugs him, asking where he's been before punishing him. Later, Edolas Lisanna shows up and Natsu quickly sheds tears of joy. Just as he is about to hug her, Edolas Lucy kicked him in the face, and he soon hears Carla saying that everyone here is not from their guild and that they are their Edolas counterparts. Just as he is about to search for his friends, news of the Fairy Hunter arrive, and the guild has to transfer away. He later learns that the Fairy Hunter is none other than Edolas Erza, and to get his friends back, he probably will have to fight her.

Upon escaping the Fairy Hunters, Natsu reveals that they came from Earth Land to save their guild, which surprises the Edolas Fairy Tail members. When he requests to know how to get to the Capital, just about everyone tells him to give up on that idea, as it is practically suicidal. However, even after hearing the history of Edolas on guilds and their master, Natsu isn't faltered and firmly says that he will save his guild and his companions. This shocks everyone in the guild, especially Lucy. Upon receiving the directions to the Capital, Natsu gets sidetracked and wants to capture a small, frog-like creature and give it to Earth Land's Lucy as a gift, to which Happy says it's a bad idea. The capture, however, is unsuccessful, as an extremely large frog-like creature appeared, and they are forced to run away when they realize that they can't use Magic. Out of nowhere, Edolas Lucy saves them, and tells them that she came with them because the area was dangerous, and not because she was worried. Upon hearing that, Natsu says that she's Lucy after all, to which Lucy responds by saying that was a twisted way of logic he was thinking.

Later, the group makes their way into the Town Of Luen, where Natsu purchases a Magic sword hilt from a secret Magic black market. When the Edolas Royal Army discovers them, he immediately puts his weapon to use, sending streams of fire at the soldiers. However, they use a Magic shield against his attack, and Natsu finds that he is unable to use any more Magic due to it being limited in Edolas. He then manages to escape for a short while with the rest, and is shocked to find out that Earth Land Lucy has managed to find her way into Edolas with the help of Mystogan.

Eventually, Natsu and the group made it to Sikka, where they decide to spend the night. While eating, he watches the two Lucys arguing about their bodies, to which Natsu retaliated with a question of why they were taking a bath with their counterpart. The next day, while listening to Edolas Lucy explain that a race called Exceed existed, they see an airship that belonged to the Royal Army. Natsu wants to ride on to get there, but when Wendy states she can't perform Troia here, he says that that was a bad idea after all. Watching Lucy fail to summon the correct Celestial Spirit due to one of Loke's dates, Natsu and Wendy decide to battle with their weapons fully recharged. They are defeated in matter of moments, however. When the airship flys off and they almost get captured, all hope seemed lost until Edolas Natsu emerges with his vehicle and escapes with the group. Experiencing motion sickness, he listened to his counterpart introduce himself as Natsu the Fireball.

Arriving at the outskirt of the capital of Edolas, Edolas Natsu threw everyone out. He explains that he doesn't want to fight the capital as it's extremely foolish, and says that the only reason why he even did them a favor is because Edolas Lucy requested him to help. Before Edolas Natsu has the chance to leave, Earth Land Natsu pulls him off his vehicle and asks why he won't get motion sickness. His counterpart's cowardly response off his vehicle surprises everyone else. Earth Land Natsu then comments on how Lucy should treat his counterpart better, even though she was only trying to introduce herself to his counterpart. Although Edolas Natsu says that they won't win against the Royal Army, Earth Land Natsu only gives a smile of confidence, saying that they will rescue their friends and companions from the enemy. Later, inside the kingdom, they find the Lacrima, which is guarded by the Royal Army.

While listening to the king's speech, they notice that parts of the Lacrima have been removed, and when the King chipped off a bit of the Lacrima, Natsu nearly loses it, had Lucy not held him back. Later, when Carla devises a plan to sneak into the palace, they take a path into an abandoned mine and once they make it out, they are captured by Edolas Erza. Natsu looks on, shocked at Happy, as the soldiers bow down to Happy and Carla. Natsu and Wendy are locked up in a jail cell; Natsu asks the guard what happened to Lucy. After hearing the guard say that they will execute her, he becomes furious and threatens to kill them if they touch Lucy. The guards later reveal that the Exceeds' mission was originally to assassinate the Dragon Slayers, but had been changed to capture them instead. Natsu is next seen unconscious as Byro prepares to extract his and Wendy's Dragon Slayer Magic. When Gray and Erza save Lucy, Happy, and Carla from Erza Knightwalker, Gray gives an unconscious Natsu an Ex-ball, a food that allows Earth Land wizards to use their unlimited Magic in Edolas. Upon waking up, Natsu sees his power restored, breathes out fire, and rushes to stop the Fairy Tail Lacrima from colliding with Extalia.

He eventually runs into Wendy, Carla, Lucy, and Gray. At first, Natsu is confused about the situation until Lucy and Wendy explain that Earth Land Gajeel, Gray and Erza showed up. Now cleared up, the group splits into two; Natsu travels with Lucy and Gray, and asks where the king is. Gray and Lucy suspect in some important place, but Lucy starts to wonder, since the courtyard and prison were in such strange locations for a castle. Natsu then says that in short, the place has a strange layout. Lucy responds, saying that she wouldn't be surprised if there was an amusement park, and coincidentally there was one right in front of them. Sugarboy and Hughes show up, stating how much they want unlimited Magic, and prepare to fight Natsu and the others. Hughes starts off by dropping a ship on Natsu, Gray, and Lucy, which is blocked by Gray's Ice Shield.

Natsu then attacks Hughes, demanding that his comrades be returned. Hughes denies Natsu and uses his weapon, Command Tact, to get Natsu onto a roller coaster which debilitates him. Gray throws Lucy onto the coaster to help Natsu, but the coaster track ends in a small lake. Hughes talks of how awesome Edolas Magic is, and why it couldn't be allowed to run out, which infuriates Natsu, as they are killing Fairy Tail and the Exceeds just for unlimited Magic. He says the important thing is that they are living things, that "These are lives, dammit!" Lucy proceeds to use Aquarius to attack Hughes, but Hughes' control of anything in the park overrides Aquarius' control of the water, and he collapses a large amount of water on Natsu, Lucy, and Aquarius.

The two are washed into the Monster Academy. Natsu finds Lucy inside a coffin that can change ones clothes, so he devises a plan to have Lucy distract Hughes with a sexy bikini, which ultimately fails. Hughes controls the monster dolls into attacking them, driving Lucy away from Natsu. As Natsu is getting beat up by the monsters, he becomes enraged and the form of a dragon could be seen in his smoke and fire, causing Hughes and his monster army to back away in fear. He is seen later punching Hughes through the Monster Academy sign, knocking out Byro at the same time.

Natsu later meets up with Lucy, and when Coco tries to give them a key to the king's plan, he is surprised, but is then caught off guard when Sugarboy glides past them and steals the key. After going after and defeating Sugarboy, Gray catches up with Natsu. When he catches up, Natsu is a little surprised to see the key destroyed, but then learns that Gray can create a replica and that they can use it to turn everyone back to normal. Shortly after, Erza Knightwalker (actually Erza Scarlet in disguise) shows up and captures them. He is later seen seemingly unconscious and tied up, being taken by Erza past a gate to where the cannon is. Erza tells Gray to create a duplicate of the key; they were secretly trying to hit the lacrima with the cannon, but when the plan failed (because of Gray not knowing how to use the cannon), Erza tells Natsu to move, knocking out some of the soldiers, taking the king as hostage, and ordering the soldiers to change the target of the cannon to the lacrima itself. Erza Knightwalker appears from above and attacks Erza, releasing the king and returning the cannon to its original target. When firing the cannon, Lucy arrives with Coco on a Region to take everyone to Extalia and stop the lacrima.

When the strength of the Mages was not enough, the entire population of Extalia, including the queen to the surprise of many, come to help and suddenly the lacrima disappears, leaving some smoke and the Mage Mystogan there, who explains that thanks to them, he was able to find an Anima large enough to send the Lacrima back to Earth Land and return everyone to normal. He then reveals himself as the Prince of Edolas who Pantherlily saved many years back. Suddenly, Pantherlily is attacked by Erza Knightwalker, who was going to attack the Exceeds with a group of soldiers on Regions. When Mystogan tries to stop Erza Knightwalker, the king appears inside an enormous dragon-like machine called Dorma Anim, which nullifies all external Magic attacks. The king orders the soldiers to capture the Exceeds and then shoots a Magic beam from the Dorma. Mystogan uses the Triple Magic Rune: Mirrored Water, to deflect the attack back to it, but it doesn't have any effect. Dorma Anim shoots again and takes Mystogan down. When the king is about to attack again, the Dorma Anim is suddenly beaten 3 times, revealing Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy, who had decided to take on the king, leaving the rest to deal with the soldiers.

Wendy casts a spell on Natsu and Gajeel while they fight with the Dorma Anim, making them faster and 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 and gains in power, 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, turning the tide in the king's favor. Gajeel decides to try some different tactics, revealing that 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, it takes a while to recharge after it's all used up. Natsu gets up, saying he'll use tomorrow's Magic. Gajeel gets up and pins the Dorma Anim's 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 and succeeds in tearing through the Dorma Anim.

Seeing the islands falling, a tip from Nadi about Mystogan, and Pantherlily's conversation make Natsu decide to dress up and declare himself as the Great Demon-Lord Dragneel. Showing up with his servants and a tied up Faust on the Royal Capital, he declares that he was the one responsible for taking Magic away from Edolas. He commands his servants to destroy the streets of Royal Capital. Mystogan shows up, saying that there's no reason to fight anymore with the king defeated, but Natsu doesn't listen and reveals Mystogan's lineage towards the masses. The Great Demon-Lord then taunts Mystogan to either fight him or he will destroy the whole city. With Mystogan's arrival, Natsu taunts him by demonstrating his Magical power to the powerless prince and the crowd, in order to setup the perfect scenario. Though Mystogan continues to doubt the success of the plan, Natsu doesn't listen and starts a fist brawl against the prince. Knowing that Mystogan was still lacking confidence, he further taunts him to fight seriously, which causes him to receive a kick in the face. As the brawl continues, Natsu begins to tell Mystogan the three rules for leaving the guild as the final departing ritual.

With the final rule finished, Natsu falls with a smile, while hoping to see him again one day. With their bodies beginning to glow because of Anima, he, along with Gajeel and Wendy, pretend to be suffering, to further convince the crowd that Prince Jellal has defeated them. As Natsu leaves, Faust tells Natsu he forgot about so many things when he became a king. He then asks if being in a guild is fun. Natsu looks puzzled at first, but then replies with a big smile telling him that they are. When the crowd can no longer see them, they give a bright smile as a sign of good luck.

Afterwards, Natsu and the others cross through the Anima and see that their guild and Magnolia are back to normal. They get another surprise when they see all the Exceeds in Earth Land as well. However, after learning the truth involving the 6 year mission, he bears no grudge against them and they part on good terms. As they are about to head back to Fairy Tail, Pantherlily (in a smaller form) shows up, asking to join their guild. He pulls a suspicious person he caught out from behind a bush. Natsu then gets a major shock when he sees that it is the Edolas Lisanna, and wonders how and why she is in Earth Land. However, he is extremely happy when he figures out that she is, in fact, the Earth Land Lisanna. With this, he helps her back to her siblings for a tearful reunion.

Tenrou Island arc
Natsu and the rest of Fairy Tail celebrate Lisanna's return, and get into a brawl that Natsu and Gajeel cause. Days later, Natsu rushes to the work board to get jobs for the upcoming S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial, and Natsu is chosen by Makarov to be a participant along with Gray, Juvia, Elfman, Cana, Freed, Levy, and Mest Gryder.

As the participants head towards the island, Makarov arrives to explain the rules of the first trial. After hearing and realizing the boat stopped, Natsu tries to head towards the island first. However, Freed uses a rune on the boat, which prevents everyone from leaving for 5 minutes, though Levy and Gajeel as well as Evergreen and Elfman, are able to rewrite the rune, leaving only 5 teams trapped. As soon as the rune is released, Natsu and Happy fly to the island and Natsu chooses path E, out of the remaining four, since he believed E stood for Erza, whom he wanted to fight. They continue down the E path, Natsu believing he would definitely fight Erza here. The path opens up, revealing Gildarts. Natsu instantly charges to fight Gildarts. Despite numerous attacks, Gildarts easily overpowers Natsu using Hand to Hand Combat. Natsu then tries his Dragon's roar, but Gildarts uses his dis-assembling spell to dissipate the attack; however it hits Natsu as well, and he turns into numerous mini versions of himself.

Natsu continues fighting even in his chibi form, which impresses Gildarts. Gildarts eventually loses his patience while fighting the mini-Natsus and he turns Natsu back to normal. Realizing that this was his best chance, Natsu uses his strongest attack: The Crimson Lotus Exploding Flame Blade. But the attack does nothing more than push the crash user back a few feet. Gildarts stops holding back on Natsu and releases his Magic Power that is felt over the entire island, and Natsu bows down to Gildarts in defeat. Gildarts explains that Natsu has learned to face his weaknesses and he lets Natsu pass, and Natsu begins to cry.

Makarov announces the beginning of the second trial, and Natsu officially challenges Gray, Cana, Levy, and Elfman for the S-Class title, which everyone almost immediately agrees to. With the second trial starting, Natsu and Happy discuss a possible location of Mavis' grave. They decide to check out the top of the island, but along the way, they meet up with Elfman and Evergreen confronting Zeref. Natsu manages to save them by making them duck in time to avoid Zeref's Death Magic. Zeref calls out to Natsu, but he doesn't seem to recognize who he is. Natsu demands that Zeref go away, but When the Killing Mage states that he was anticipating Natsu's arrival, Natsu somehow interprets this declaration as a challenge and rushes towards him and punches him in the face. Zeref feels another wave of Death Magic coming and tells Natsu and the others to run. Natsu realizes his Magic takes away life and tells everyone to run away. As Elfman and Evergreen run, Natsu stays. Natsu emerges okay and realizes the boy has disappeared. Happy then notices Natsu's scarf has turned black, and wonders if Igneel gave him the scarf so he would be protected.

When Natsu sees the warning signal sent up by Erza he, along with Happy, start thinking about who is the enemy. Natsu and Happy continue through the forest when they hear a loud noise, thinking they will find enemies there and go towards it. Natsu then sees a column of fire from one of Azuma's attacks and runs towards it, knowing that nobody in Fairy Tail can use that type of Magic. When they arrive, the perpetrator has disappeared and he confronts Mest, whose memory control Magic has worn off. Soon after, the Grimoire Heart members arrive from the bubbles released by Caprico, and he prepares to fight them. He proceeds to defeat most of the members, but Zancrow shows up and incinerates the rest of them for being too weak. Zancrow then launches his flames at Natsu, who tries to consume them before realizing he can't and is heavily wounded. Zancrow then explains to Natsu that he is a God Slayer, and is thus superior.

Natsu and Zancrow battle and Zancrow overwhelms Natsu completely. However, Zancrow is held back by Makarov before he can hurt Natsu any further and when Makarov let's Zancrow go, Natsu unites the flames of Dragons and Gods in the Dragon God's Brilliant Flame attack, defeating Zancrow. However Natsu falls over shortly after finishing the battle. Wendy arrives at some point and tries to heal the wounded Makarov and Natsu. However, she can't properly heal Natsu yet, as Makarov notes that the evil staining his muffler is tainting him.

Natsu then suddenly wakes up, and his muffler and clothes have been fixed thanks to Wendy. He then perks up as the scent of the man he met on Galuna Island (Zalty) reaches his nose. He head off, and when he reaches the place, Zeref is unconscious, and Ultear had disappeared, feeling Natsu's approximation. Suddenly, a sprout in the ground grew into a giant tree that almost hit Natsu. Then he sees Ultear sitting on the one of branches. Natsu recognizes her as "that one guy", and mildly accuses her as a cross-dresser. Ultear denies this and clarifies that she is assuming her true form; she asks where his future will go. In short dialogue, she reveals that she is the leader of Seven Kin of Purgatory, Ultear Milkovich. Ultear also asks about what plans does Fairy Tail have for Zeref, making Natsu aware of the Killing Mage's identity as Zeref, much to his and Happy's shock, and says that she must repay debt, bearing in mind that Natsu had hit her on Garuna Island. While Natsu tries to climb the tree, and complains that Grimoire Heart appearance had interrupted the exam, she hits him with her orb and he recoils from the tree. After that, she produces many orbs and attacks Natsu with her ability "Flash Forward".

Natsu is next seen when he intervenes, when Kain was about to kill Lucy, and kicks him in the face and sends him flying over to Ultear. After conversing briefly, Lucy and Natsu high-five each other, and they both remark that they should defeat Kain and Ultear.

After Kain agrees to handle Natsu and Lucy by himself and Ultear takes her leave, Natsu attempts to stop Ultear's departure, but Kain gets in the way. Lucy tries to help, but is under Kain's Magic, and he reveals he was capable of taking a string of her hair while chasing her before, and forcing her to attack Natsu. Natsu is successful in avoiding one of Lucy's attacks and prepares to counterattack, but Lucy's unpredictable movements prove too much for him to avoid. Natsu, Lucy, Kain, and Happy battle briefly, and Kain gains the upper-hand. Kain eventually captures Lucy and she is tortured by Kain. Natsu asks her to run, but she refuses, prompting Kain to kill Lucy by crushing her head. Before he can do it, Natsu uses the doll to manipulate Lucy's body into a counterattack, in which Kain takes a brutal beating. Further boosting Lucy with his own Dragon Slayer Magic, Natsu gives Happy the doll so that he can use the speed to further power Lucy, who finally defeats Kain Hikaru with a brutal kick on the face.

After the battle is over, Lucy and Happy struggle, and finally manga to pull Natsu out of the boulders he was trapped in. Once out, he suggests that they get back to where Makarov is resting and that they would have Pantherlily or Carla go and search for Grimoire Heart's ship.

When Natsu arrives at Makarov's resting site, Doranbolt arrives, Natsu asks where he went, and Lucy says that it is Mest of the Council. He then tells Lucy that his name is really Doranbolt and that he's there to help them, which surprises Happy and Carla. He then says that with his powers, everyone can leave the island, but Natsu and the others refuse. Despite Doranbolt's attempts to convince them otherwise, they all decide to stay on the island and fight, and Natsu, along with Wendy and Lucy, try to convince Doranbolt to stall the council while they defeat Grimoire Heart.

Later, he, along with Wendy, Happy, Carla and Lucy, are confronted and beaten in one blow by Grimoire Heart member Bluenote Stinger. When Cana arrives and fights Bluenote, she asks Natsu to distract him while she builds up Magical power. However, their plan fails when Bluenote uses his Gravity Magic to push them to the ground. As Bluenote is about to kill Cana, Natsu uses his Fire Dragon's Roar on the ground in order to counter Bluenote's Magic and attack him, only to be thrown back. However, Cana uses this as an opening to cast Fairy Glitter, but fails to attack Bluenote when it is parried by the ground.

When Bluenote is about to kill Cana, Gildarts arrives just in time to stop him, much to everyone's relief and delight. After Gildarts' arrival, he orders everyone to get away, and the force from Gildarts and Bluenote clashing sends Natsu and the others flying. After realizing that they'd only be in Gildarts' way, Natsu and the others leave. Later, when Azuma destroys the Great Tenrou Tree, Natsu is seen collapsing along with the other members of Fairy Tail.

After Erza defeats Azuma, Natsu, Lucy and Wendy regroup with the rest of the guild at the main camp, and they are shocked that so many are injured. Natsu then resolves to go and defeat Hades, asking for Lucy and Happy to come with him. Wendy and the other Exceed decide to come along. Along the way to Hades, they meet Gray and Erza, telling them that he is always needing to be saved by somebody as well. Natsu, Erza, Gray, Lucy, and Wendy then arrive at Hades' ship, ready to fight. Hades tells them to come when they're ready, and Natsu yells for him to come down there and fight to no avail. He then asks Happy and the other Exceeds to find and destroy the ship's power source, just in case it flies during their fight. Wendy also casts Troia on Natsu as another preventative measure for Natsu's transportation sickness. The group then enters the ship using stairs made by Gray, Natsu being fired up that he can finally fight Hades. Natsu starts the fight and after a barrage of attacks, Hades explains that normal mistakes eventually become experience, but in their case, the mistake of fighting him will lead to them having no future. As he emerges unscathed by their attacks, everyone is shocked and Natsu notes how the level of his Magic Power has changed.

Hades remarks that Makarov's kids are interesting and Natsu asks if he is an acquaintance of the old man. Hades reveals to them that he was Fairy Tail's second master and nominated Makarov as his successor. Natsu rushes toward him calling him a liar but is then attacked by Hades, resulting in a big explosion. Hades then talks about the origin of the name Fairy Tail and walks to Natsu, saying their journey is about to end. He is angry that he entrusted his will to Makarov as he doesn't like the changes made to the guild in his absense. Natsu says there is nothing wrong with change and that Hades lives like he's already dead, compared to them who are living with their lives on the line. He then says if you don't have the courage to change things, you might as well be dead. Natsu is shot multiple times with Hades' Bullet Magic, and tells Natsu to hate Makarov for causing them to suffer. Natsu says Hades is the old man's rival; this prompts Hades to ready a finishing blow, but lightning strikes this ship and hits his arm before he can attack.

Laxus appears and asks Natsu if Hades is the old man's rival. Hades is shocked, recognizing Laxus from when he was younger, calling him the brat and is quickly headbutted by Laxus. Natsu watches as Laxus battles Hades on mostly even terms until Laxus is hit by one of Hades explosion attacks. As Hades uses a big attack to finish Laxus, Natsu is given Laxus' lightning. Natsu thanks Laxus for the meal and asks Laxus why he did this, saying he is so much weaker than him. Laxus tells him it's not about being weak or strong and says that someone with the guild's brand should be the one that defeats Hades, unlike him. Laxus tells him to take the pain that was caused to the guild and return it 100 fold. Wendy notices as the flame and lightning are fusing together in Natsu, who proclaims that this is the Lightning Flame Dragon 100 Fold Payback. With Laxus's Magical Power inside him, Natsu seems to overpower Hades with a combination of Fire Dragon Slayer Magic and Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic. With his Lightning Fire Dragon's Roar, Hades seems to be defeated. However, Hades recovers from Natsu's attacks, unaffected. He then unleashes his Devil's Eye by removing his eye patch. Having exhausted his Magical Power, Natsu can do nothing but watch as Hades prepares to kill them.

Hades explains that using magic is to sink into darkness and in the deep abyss, there is the "Magic of One." He says he is close to attaining this magic, but the last stretch is the most difficult to reach. He further explains that Zeref's awakening will create "The Great World of Magic" which will allow him to attain the "Magic of One." He then uses Hidden Magic, the Punishers of Heavens: Nemesis which allows him to summon powerful demons from even the lowliest of rocks. Wendy, Erza, Gray, and Lucy are all scared realizing these demons are very strong; Natsu grabs Lucy arm, saying that he's got a comrade right beside him after all. He tells them the words of Gildarts, that fear isn't evil but that it allows them to learn their own weaknesses. He says that when learning their own weakness, they can grow stronger and kinder; now that they've learned their weakness, he says they need to grow stronger now and face their enemies head on. He says that alone, the fear they have might be too much to bear, but they're all beside each other. He yells that there is nothing to fear since they're not alone. Hades says Natsu's words are empty and that he will end them. Everyone resolves to not give up despite not having any magic power, and they rush to attack Hades. Hades asks them what they can do with such a small amount of power, and then, he orders his demons to dance. Natsu trips while running to battle, but Lucy and Wendy grab him and throw him forward. Gray and Erza then kick Natsu further forward, allowing Natsu to close in on Hades. A big explosion then occurs on Hades ship.

After the explosion, Natsu was able to punch Hades in the face. Hades says this is impossible and wonders how his dark magic had no effect. He realizes his magic is gone as Natsu punches him again. Hades realizes his heart was destroyed, which was done by Happy and Carla. Back on Tenrou Island, Rustyrose says that the heart was the secret to Hades' great magic and longevity, the "Devil's Heart." Natsu attacks Hades more with big barrage of kicks and punches. After Ultear has fully restored Tenrou Island, Natsu and everyone gets their magic power returned. After more attacks on Hades, Natsu declares that this their victory; however, Hades pushes Natsu back saying that the devil will not sleep until he has defeated them. Laxus then punches Hades in the face and tells Fairy Tail to attack now. Lucy uses Capricorn, Wendy uses the Heavenly Dragon's Wing Attack, Gray uses Ice Bringer and Erza uses Tenrin - Pentagram Sword to attack Hades. Natsu then attacks, first with the Wave Dragon's Special Technique Revision, then with Crimson Explosion Lightning Blade. Hades is apparently defeated by this, and Natsu yells as "This is our guild!" as the sun rises on Tenrou Island. The battle ends and the Exceed finally arrive while being chased by Grimore Heart members. Natsu and the others have already run out of Magic, but then the members in the camp come to the rescue. While the others are enjoying their reunion, Natsu is seen being fired up to continue the exam. He is reminded by Gajeel that he has severe wounds, but he says that he still has his newly acquired lightning-enhanced powers... Before collapsing to the ground, exhausted. Erza comments it's because he ate something other than fire.

After the war is over, Natsu rests at the camps base with the rest of his guild mates. The rest is cut short when Acnologia arrives and starts attacking the guild members. Makarov uses his Titan Magic to hold off the Dragon, and tells the guild to run and heed his final order. Natsu along with the others try to protest, but when he is grabbed by Laxus and sees the tear in his eye he agrees.

Ignoring Laxus's protest, Natsu goes back and fights Acnologia, along with the rest of the guild who follows him. As Fairy Tail is fighting, a mysterious girl watches with a smile and clasps her hands. Acnologia eventually flies into the sky, and preapares to destroy the island with one final attack. All the Fairy Tail members on the island hold hands, as Tenrou Island is destroyed by the Acnologia's Dragon Breath.

X791 arc
Once Tenrou Island reappears, the new Fairy Tail Guild finds Natsu buried in some dirt. Natsu who wakes up, surprised to see them there and confused about how much Jet and Droy have aged. He says that they were hit by Acnologia's attack and then wonders where everyone else is, and Natsu watches as Mavis reveals that she was the one who saved them using Fairy Sphere. Natsu and the others then return to the Fairy Tail Guild, and as Romeo is about to be attacked by Teebo and his gang, Natsu kicks Teebo across the room. He is then seen along with all of the other Fairy Tail members who were lost 7 years ago and says that we're home. Natsu sees Romeo and says he's all grown up. Romeo cries in happiness and welcomes back Natsu and everyone.

At the party celebrating their return, Natsu is impressed by Romeo's new Fire Magic abilities. Romeo reveals to Natsu he had been taking classes from Totomaru. Natsu asks to come, but Romeo says it would be best not to, as Totomaru still holds a grudge against Natsu. Later on, after Natsu and Happy realize they have no savings at their house, they follow Lucy to see her father, hoping he would lend them something. When they arrive at Love & Lucky, and Lucy asks to see her father, they are informed that Mr. Heartfilia had died one month ago.

Natsu, along with Happy, travel back to Magnolia Town with Lucy. On the way, they encounter two girls talking about how terrible their fathers are and Natsu screams for them to be quiet. Lucy tells Natsu to stop yelling at them and apologizes for making them worry about her. Later, Natsu and Happy bring Lucy a job to cheer her up.

Some time later, Natsu and Max Alors battle, Max has the upperhand at first until Natsu starts getting revved up, and he summons Lightning Flame Dragon Mode and attacks with Lightning Flame Dragon's Roar. Even though it doesn't hit Max, it destroys everything behind him. The power of the spell shocks everyone, and Lucy asks Natsu since when has he had the ability to do that, to which he responds since now. Wendy is amazed and Max forfeits the battle as getting hit by something like that would kill him.

Natsu asks who wants to go next, laughs, but then falls because of the exhaustion of using the spell. Gray Fullbuster, who had been watching from the sidelines, says that in this world their power isn't enough anymore, so he, Lucy, Wendy, Happy, Carla and Natsu decide to go visit Porlyusica for some concoctions that can make them stronger. They go to meet Porlyusica, but she merely hits them with her broom and shoos them away. Once they are a safe distance away, Wendy states that she thinks that Porlyusica is Grandeeney, as they discuss this, Porlyusica reveals that she is not Grandeeney, but Grandeeney's Edolas counterpart and that she had met Grandeeney before and that Grandeeney left some spells for her to give Wendy.

Later, they head back to the Fairy Tail Guild, and Romeo suggests that they enter the Grand Magic Games, and they decide to enter it. The Tenrou Team, because they spent 7 years stuck in Fairy Sphere, goes off to train for the tournament at a beach resort. On the second day of training, Natsu and co. are interrupted by Virgo who tells everyone the Celestial Spirit World is in great danger and they need everyone's help. After Virgo dresses them in Celestial Spirit clothes, they are sent to the Spirit World, where they find out there is no trouble, but all of Lucy's spirits had planned a party for everyone's return. After a day of celebrating, Virgo informs the gang that time runs different in the Spirit World than Earth Land, thus they have lost almost the whole three months of training in the one day.

Once they realize this, Natsu and the others become depressed about their predicament until Erza recommends that they embark on a 5-Day Crash Training from Hell. As she speaks, a Pigeon lands on her head with a note tied to its leg that tells Erza and the others to come to the Suspension Bridge in the West Woods. They head out to the broken bridge, which fixes it self before them, and when they cross it they meet Jellal, Ultear, and Meredy. After a brief reunion, Ultear decides to increase everyone in Fairy Tail's power by activating their "Second Origin" with her Arc of Time. Everyone celebrates more after hearing this, and Natsu hugs Ultear and states that he is finally starting to see her as a real woman. When Ultear begins the process, Natsu writhes around on the floor in pain.

Later, Natsu along with Erza, Lucy, Gray, Wendy, Happy, and Carla, arrive in Crocus. After a brief meeting with the rest of the Guild members that arrived, Natsu goes to explore the city. While exploring, they encounter Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney, who mock Natsu for being a Dragon Slayer that lost to a Dragon. They then go on to say that they are "true" Dragon Slayers, since they killed the Dragons that raised them.

Later, Natsu returns to the Honeybee Hotel, and is scolded by Erza for his lateness, but it is interrupted when Lisanna and Elfman walk in, and they begin to greet each other. The meeting is interrupted, however, when it is announced that the preliminary for the Grand Magic Games is about to begin. They are informed that in order to be in the games, they must be one of eight teams that make it to the arena, Domas Flau, first, and that all of their team must make it there. Natsu and the others are worried because Wendy is nowhere to be seen, but Elfman decides to take her place so they set off. Eventually, by defeating other guilds and taking their maps of the Sky Labyrinth, they arrive at Domas Flau, but they are informed that they are the last of the eight teams to make it.

Magic and Abilities
Fire Dragon Slayer Magic (火の滅竜魔法 Ka no Metsuryū Mahō): He is adept with his Dragon Slayer Magic and makes use of it in many different ways in combat. As with all Dragon Slayers, he can consume his respective element, with the exception of that which he has created, to replenish his energy reserves. The heat of his fire can increase in temperature, which is proportional to Natsu's emotional state. Natsu subconsciously used this against Erigor; his flame's heat significantly rose as he got more enraged. This is also called the Flame of Emotion. He incorporates the flames he ignites into his fighting style, greatly increasing the damage of his blows. As such, Natsu's Magic revolves around the usage of fire that can spout from any part of his body. Natsu's ability to eat flames gives him immunity to most types of flames and allows him to spew fire from his lungs. This fire is exceptionally strong - equivalent to a dragon's fire - being able to burn even through metal. He can even use his flames to create a propulsive effect. The type of fire he uses can be changed. For example, it can be solidified to cling to surfaces.


 * Fire Dragon's Roar (火竜の咆哮 Karyū no Hōkō): Natsu breathes a long line of fire that becomes a large fireball, which burns his opponent.
 * Fire Dragon's Claw (火竜の鉤爪 Karyū no Kagitsume): Natsu ignites his feet with a very large flame to increase the power of his kicks. He can also use the strong ensuing flames to jet-propel him in any direction he wishes.
 * Fire Dragon's Iron Fist (火竜の鉄拳 Karyū no Tekken): Natsu engulfs his fist in large flames and punches his opponent which makes his opponent fly away. Natsu renamed this ability Cat Fire (猫ファイアーNeko Faiā) while wearing cat mask.
 * Fire Dragon's Wing Attack (火竜の翼撃 Karyū no Yokugeki): Natsu takes hold of his opponent and ignites his arms and hands on fire, in the form of dragon wings as support, to throw them far away while burning them.
 * Fire Dragon's Sword Horn (火竜の剣角 Karyū no Kenkaku): Natsu ignites his entire body on fire in order to ram into his opponent at full speed, then launch them high into the air with his large horn of fire.
 * Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame (火竜の煌炎 Karyū no Kōen): Natsu creates fire on both hands, and brings them together, creating a giant explosion that destroys everything around him. In the anime, he ignites both of his hands and combines the flame, but instead of creating a giant explosion, he throws a very large fireball at his enemy, blowing them away.
 * Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow (火竜の炎肘 Karyū no Enchū): After Natsu ignites the tip of his elbow, he uses that flame to strengthen his fist, and rocket the opponent high in the air.
 * Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang (火竜の砕牙 Karyū no Saiga): With his hand ignited with a large flame, he gouges his hand into his enemy and quickly swipes his enemy away from his sight.


 * Dragon Slayer's Secret Art (滅竜奥義 Metsuryū Ōgi):
 * Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist (紅蓮・火竜拳 Guren Karyū Ken): Lighting his hands on fire, Natsu rapidly punches his opponent. Each punch causes a fiery explosion. This attack was used to defeat Gajeel, the Dragon Slayer that uses iron, and as an added result, had enough destructive power to destroy the entire guild building of Phantom Lord. In the anime, Natsu defeated Erigor with it in battle.


 * Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade (紅蓮・爆炎刃 Guren Bakuenjin): After a series of destructive attacks, Natsu finishes with a torrent of blade-shaped flames that strikes the enemy in a spiral formation. Every time the enemy is hit with a blade, it explodes and burns the enemy. Described as the ultimate Dragon Slayer technique, this attack is so powerful and destructive that it has been shown to smash through dragon scales which is known to have extremely tremendous endurance capabilities. This attack was used to defeat Laxus, the Dragon Slayer that uses Lightning, and even caused Gildarts to take two steps back.


 * Hidden Fire Form - Crimson Lotus: Phoenix Blade ("不知火型" - 紅蓮・鳳凰剣 "Shiranui Gata" : Guren Hōō Ken): Natsu ignites his entire body with the power of the Flame of Rebuke. He then charges towards the enemy and delivers a devastating punch that blows up the enemy, then proceeds to headbutt him. This is also described as The Ultimate Dragon Slayer Technique and the Dragon Slayer's Hidden Art, Sea Fire Style. This could be Natsu's strongest attack, as not even Flame Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade was able to defeat Zero's strongest attack, though this may be because Exploding Flame Blade focuses on piercing penetration instead of mass destructive damage. This unstoppable and destructive attack was used to defeat Zero.


 * Dragon God's Brilliant Flame (竜神の煌炎 Ryūjin no Kōen): The same as the Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame, but on a much larger scale. Natsu summons flames on both fists just like the original technique, but combines Fire Dragon's flames on his right hand with Fire God flames on his left hand. The moment he brings them together, he creates a giant explosion powerful enough to destroy the surrounding area and blow the enemy a major distance away. Used to defeat Zancrow.


 * Lightning Flame Dragon Mode: After eating Laxus Dreyar's lightning and having the flame and lightning inside his body fused together, Natsu gained the ability to use his Fire Dragon Slayer Magic enhanced with lightning. Even though it was momentary, Natsu is able to call upon it when he is in a state of anger. However, this ability places a heavy strain on his body to the point that even a single use is capable of completely draining him of his energy.
 * Lightning Flame Dragon's Roar (雷炎竜の咆哮 Raienryū no Hōkō): An alternate, enhanced version of the Fire Dragon's Roar, performed when the user has been empowered with lightning. He/she combines such lightning with his/her fire, gathering them within his/her mouth and subsequenly releasing them towards the opponent. This generates an extremely large and destructive sparking blast, which produces an immense amount of light and is capable of travelling for great distances, wreaking havok wherever it passes, as shown when it crossed the distance of half Tenrou Island generating a large explosion. This spell leaves a huge strain on the user's body.
 * Lightning Flame Dragon's Fist: An alternate version of Fire Dragon's Iron Fist. After having been empowered by lightning, user creates a sphere of such element around his/her fist and uses it to strike the target, electrocuting and damaging them. While empowered by Laxus Dreyar's Lightning Magic, Natsu Dragneel has been noted to combine the flames from his Fire Dragon Slayer Magic with the lightning inside his body, allowing him to punch the opponent with fire and consecutively have a lightning bolt strike them.
 * Lightning Flame Dragon's Brilliant Flame: An alternate, more powerful version of Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame. User, after having been enhanced by lightning, creates a certain amount of such lightning on his/her left hand, and combines it with the flames he/she produces on his/her right hand. Their contact generates a very large, sparking explosion around the targeted enemy.
 * Dragon Slayer's Secret Art (滅竜奥義 Metsu Ryū Ōgi):
 * Crimson Lotus: Exploding Lightning Blade (滅竜奥義・改　紅蓮爆雷刃 Metsuryū Ōgi Kai Guren Bakuraijin): An enhanced version of Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade, the spell was used by Natsu Dragneel to defeat Hades, empowered by Laxus Dreyar's Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic. After having consumed lightning, the user engulfs one hand with the said lightning and the other with flames from his/her Fire Dragon Slayer Magic. Then, by swinging his/her arms around, he/she extends such elements in length, creating a vortex of fire and lightning which greatly damages the opponent and pushes them away from the user with great force.

Dragon Force (ドラゴンフォース Doragon Fōsu): By consuming Etherion and the Flame of Rebuke respectively, Natsu achieved Dragon Force. This Magic is said to be the final and most powerful state a Dragon Slayer can attain in which the user's body turns into that of a dragon. Their Magic Aura becomes visible and their Dragon Slayer powers increase tremendously.

Transformation (変身魔法 Henshin Mahō): Natsu has mastered the rudimentary skills of Transformation Magic. He was able to transform into Lucy successfully on his first try.

Ushi no Koku Mairi (丑刻の参り Ushikoku no Sanri): During his fight with Kain Hikaru, Natsu briefly gained possession of Kain's doll, Mr. Cursey, and utilized its abilities.
 * Fire Dragon Slayer Doll: Natsu uses his Fire Dragon Slayer techniques and ignites Mr. Cursey with a Lucy hair. The fire appears on Lucy causing no harm to her and granting her the ability to use it at her advantage. (Unnamed)
 * Fire Dragon's Iron Fist (Lucy Version): While using Fire Dragon Slayer Doll, Lucy, under Natsu's control, punches her opponent with great force. (Unnamed)
 * Secret Attack: Lucy Fire (必殺・ルーシィファイア Hissatsu : Rūshi Faia): While being controlled with Mr. Cursey and after Natsu has ignited her, Happy uses Max Speed to make her whole body catch on fire and accelerate, culminating in an extremely fast fire-enhanced attack on the enemy.

Enhanced Smell: Natsu has a very keen sense of smell. His nose is so sharp that just by being around Kaby he could tell that he was poor, despite the fact that he was using his friends' mansion to try to trick Team Natsu into believing he was rich. He also was able track Ultear despite the distance between them.

Enhanced Strength: Natsu has shown on numerous occasions to possess an incredible degree of strength, enough for him to commit feats such as breaking down a palm tree with his bare hands and then freely swing it around as a makeshift weapon, stopping the gargantuan Dorma Anim's foot, which was going to stomp on him and his fellow Dragon Slayers, all by himself, subsequenly throwing the robotic dragon off balance by rapidly pushing it away.

Immense Durability: Natsu has shown himself to have incredible durability. He managed to take continual, deadly assaults which would have killed a normal human from powerful enemies in most of his fights, and, despite this, to still stand up to fight, and eventually obtain the victory: such astonishing resistance was first shown during his battle with Erigor, in which, no matter how many times Natsu got hit by his opponent's bursts of cutting wind, he still managed to defeat him. Also, during his fight with Cobra, Natsu displayed a natural resistance against the Oración Seis' member's poison, described as lethal and corrosive.

Expert Hand to Hand Combatant: Natsu is an extremely proficient unarmed fighter, often using his Dragon Slayer Magic in combination with punches, kicks, and even headbutts to combat his opponents to great effect. Such skill is paired with amazing physical prowess: aside from his strength, Natsu has displayed high degrees of speed, agility and reflexes, enough for him to match melee-specialists of Erza's calibre in battle.

Equipment
Sealed Flame Blade: When Natsu couldn't use his Dragon Slayer Magic in Edolas, he fought using an Edolas form of Magic in the form of a destructive flame blade. However, the blade was depleted after one use due to Natsu's lack of skill with it and his usual excessive nature when he fights. (Formerly)

Igneel's Scarf: It is a scarf given to Natsu by Igneel; Natsu always wears it to remember him. It is a white scarf that has scales on it. It is something similar to a charm that protects Natsu from harm. It protected Natsu from Zeref's Death Magic, but the exposure to the death Magic turned it black. During the time when it was tainted, Wendy was unable to heal Natsu. In order to heal him, she had to reverse and remove the tainted evil within the scarf.

Relationships
Due to Natsu's insane and lovable personality, many members in the guild love Natsu. That love is also backed with slight fear of his destructive abilities, as everyone outside the guild fears Natsu's capabilities and hates him for his destructive nature. However, Natsu has shown on several occasions that he is loyal and protective to his friends, especially towards his teammates.

Appearances in Other Media
Natsu is a playable character in Fairy Tail's first official video game, Fairy Tail Portable Guild, and its sequel, Fairy Tail Portable Guild 2. In both, he can be chosen from the very beginning. Natsu is also playable in the game Sunday VS Magazine: Shuuketsu! Choujou Daikessen!, along with Lucy.

Trivia

 * In the short-story version of Fairy Tail, Natsu wasn't a human, but a spirit with horns.
 * The original color for Natsu's clothes was supposed to be red. However, Hiro Mashima decided to change it to black because he wanted a better contrast between Natsu's fire and his clothing.
 * Natsu and Happy collect items to perserve the memories of missions (i.e Lucy's maid costume, the fake Salamander signature, a souvenir from Galuna Island, etc.)
 * Hiro Mashima said that Fire Dragon's Iron Fist is Natsu's signature move.
 * From the Volume 16 Limited Edition: Sorcerer Interview, the best quality of Fairy Tail according to Natsu was "There are a lot of strong guys there". He wishes to defeat Erza and Laxus and find Igneel in the future. He has a good relationship with Happy and Lucy. Natsu claims that he hasn't found a job yet that is difficult for him to handle.
 * Like other Fairy Tail characters, Natsu has also resembled or borrowed things from Mashima's other works. For one, his Dragon Slayer fighting style has a resemblance to Rave Master's Let who is also coincidentally a dragon himself. In addition, his appearance as the Great Demon Lord in Edolas is similar to Lucia Raregroove (with the exception of the horns), the main antagonist of Mashima's Rave Master.

Quotes

 * (To Lucy Heartfilia) "You want to join Fairy Tail, right? Then come with me!"
 * (To Gray Fullbuster) "Don't feel insecure just because you lost!! We are Fairy Tail! We're from the guild that doesn't know when to stop! We won't survive unless we keep running!"
 * (To Gray Fullbuster after he stops him from killing himself) "So you're gonna end this by dying, huh? Stop running away!"
 * (To Hughes) "You bastards lay one finger on Lucy and I'll turn all of you to ash."
 * (To Jellal Fernandes) "Erza is a Fairy Tail Mage, I won't hand her over!"
 * (To Jellal Fernandes) "Erza was crying, her voice was shaking, and she was giving up. I don't want to see Erza like that. Erza should always be strong and courageous, that's why... I'LL FIGHT!!!"
 * (To Jellal Fernandes) "It's all because of you! You're the one that made Erza cry!"
 * (To Erza Scarlet) " We are the same... It's the same for all of us... Don't you ever do a thing like that again... never! "
 * (To a Guild Member about Laxus Dreyar) "Ah come on, Laxus wouldn't do that! He can be an ass sometimes but he's still a member of our guild, right?"
 * (To Brain) "I am already used to taking on the same sins. For a Fairy Tail Mage, the true sin is averting one's eyes... and no longer being able to believe in anyone!"
 * (To Brain) "I am not alone. I can hear them... I can hear everyone's voices... I can sense everyone's feelings... I am not alone... everyone's feelings... they support me... they are what give me the will to stand and fight!"
 * (To Jellal Fernandes) "You've got to stay by her side! For Erza's sake! So come with us, we're all here for you! You are one of us now, right? Jellal!"
 * (To Hughes)"My comrades are alive right now!! The Exceeds are alive too!! Whether they've got magic or not, the important thing is that they're alive! These are lives, dammit!"
 * (To Pantherlily)"We'll stop it, even if my body crumbles to bits I'll stop it with my soul!"
 * (To Faust) "We joined a guild so that we could live, I might not know much about this world, but for the sake of all living things of this world, I'll defeat you!"
 * (To Faust) "Don't give up. It's not over yet. Bring it on, bastard... I'm standing right here!"