Elfman Strauss

Elfman is one of the physically stronger Fairy Tail mages, exhibiting the ability called "Take Over," which allows him to absorb the power of monsters he defeated into his arm, earning him the nickname "Beast Arm Elfman" (ビーストアームのエルフマン Bīsuto Āmu no Erufuman). His member stamp is black and is on the left side of his neck.

Appearance
Elfman is a tall muscular man with white hair and blue eyes, and a scar running down the left side of his face.

Images can be found in Bonus Gallery.

History
It seems both he and his sister Mirajane were deeply scarred by an incident where their younger sister, Lisanna, was supposedly killed when she tried to stop Elfman's rampage after he attempted a "full body transformation" that went wrong. It's said that due to this, Elfman's heart is locked shut, despite his use of the spell to protect his sisters.

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

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

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

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

Fighting Festival arc
After Evergreen petrifies seven female members of the guild, including Mirajane, in a scheme set up by Laxus Dreyar, Elfman becomes determined to save his sister. However, he is forced to fight Evergreen, and even though he utilizes full-body Take Over and fights blindfolded to counter Evergreen's gaze, he is defeated and subsequently petrified. He was later released due to the Evergreen's defeat at the hands of Erza Scarlet.

After Cana is defeated by Freed, Elfman then goes to fight Freed since Mirajane hadn't regained her abilities. Elfman is almost killed by Freed, however Mirajane regains her abilities saving him. After the defeat of Freed, he was seen next to Cana carrying Juvia. He is then seen in the Fantasia Parade doing his Full-Body Take Over.

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

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

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

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

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

After the ceremony, Elfman talks with team Natsu and others about the contest, and gets angry that Lisanna teamed up with Juvia instead of him. After a talk with Lisanna he decided that Evergreen would become his Trial partner after Freed Justine chose Bickslow and not her.

As the participants head towards the island on a ship, Elfman is barely tolerating the summer season's hot weather. Shortly after the boat comes within sight of the island, the master arrives to explain the rules of the first trial. As the first trial starts (while everyone is still on the boat), Freed sets a rune barrier that prevents anyone from leaving the boat for five minutes. Evergreen counters this by rewriting the rune barrier, saying that because she has been with Freed for such a long time, she knows how to rewrite runes of this caliber. This allowed Elfman and Evergreen to bypass the rune barrier and head toward the island without any problems. Evergreen and Elfman chose route A and find Mirajane as their opponent. They both freak out since Mira doesn't plan to go easy and has entered her Satan Soul, ready to fight.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Magic and Abilities
Caster Magic User: Elfman is one of the powerful members of Fairy Tail, and has been chosen by Makarov to participate in the S-Class Trial.


 * Beast Soul Take Over (ビーストソウル Bīsuto Sōru): Elfman's most powerful spell that changes his entire body to a large hairy monster with horns giving him an increase in speed and power.


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


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


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

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

Major battles

 * VS Gajeel Redfox = INTERFERED
 * VS Sol = WON
 * VS Evergreen = LOST
 * VS Freed = INTERFERED
 * with Evergreen VS Mirajane = WON
 * with Evergreen VS Rustyrose = LOST

Trivia

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