Lucy Heartfilia

Lucy Heartfilia (ルーシィ・ハートフィリア Rūshi Hātofiria) is a Celestial Spirit Mage, a member of the Fairy Tail Guild and of Team Natsu. She is the main female protagonist of the series.

Appearance
Lucy has brown eyes and shoulder length blonde hair that is usually tied by ribbons in a variety of colors in a small ponytail to the right side of her head with the rest of the hair loose. However, in the year X791 she appears to keep her hair up more often in pigtails. She has large breasts, and a curvaceous body. Her (presumed) measurements are: bust, 91 cm; waist, 59 cm; and hip, 88 cm (37in, 23in, 36in). These measurements were later revealed to be slightly different, with the breasts being two centimeters less, and the others one less.

Her pink Fairy Tail stamp is located at the back of her right hand. Additionally, Lucy does not consistently wear the same outfit. However, she always has a belt that, along with keeping her skirt up, holds her Celestial Spirit keys and a whip with a heart-shaped end. She also wears black, leather high heeled boots. She also bears a striking resemblance to her mother.

Personality
Lucy takes exceptional pride in her appearance and is very confident in her sex appeal, often exuding a certain amount of vanity. Despite this superficial attitude, she is a clever, kind, and genuinely caring person. Lucy is passionate for literature and is in the process of writing her own novel about her adventures with Fairy Tail although she does not like telling anyone about it. Aside from her interest in writing and reading prose, she also likes shopping, cooking and assertive men. Her favorite colors are blue and pink. She is a member of the Heartfilia family, once one of the wealthiest and most influential conglomerate families in the country of Fiore. However, due to her estranged relationship with her father and the death of her mother, Layla Heartfilia, she left home to follow her own path, which displays an ambition for independence.

Lucy is very kind to her Celestial Spirits, and refuses to utilize them as shields or think of them as such. She fights alongside her Spirits and treats them as friends, unlike several other Celestial Spirit Mages, who view them as mere tools and objects. Lucy cares greatly for her Spirits and will also go to great lengths to give them happiness, even at the cost of her life. Despite technically being an owner of the Spirits, she refuses to be addressed as such, and instead prefers to be called their friend. Although, Lucy is, in most cases, cowardly and easily frightened, she has no problems with fighting and would happily stand up to danger, even if she ends up getting hurt, for her friends and guild. While her powers are normally not as overwhelming as her teammates', Lucy has proven to be a capable combatant herself, often using her cleverness to her advantage, and thinking outside the box during battle. She has eventually inherited Natsu's stubbornness and refusal to give up, even when all the odds are against her favor.

Lucy usually freaks out at her guildmate's antics. Unlike most of her friends, she does not get very excited about fighting and is not quick to resort to violence as the solution. However, she does admit that being around her guildmates is really fun. Being a Celestial Mage, Lucy always keeps her promises. She gives her all for the sake of her guild and friends.

Magic and Abilities
Celestial Spirit Magic (星霊 魔法 Seirei Mahō): Lucy practices Celestial Spirit Magic, which allows her to summon Celestial Spirits, Magical beings residing in the Celestial Spirit World, using the Keys of their respective Gates. When summoning a Spirit, the Keys are enveloped with a soft, golden light. Once a contract has been made with a Spirit, such Spirit will be available for Lucy to summon on certain days, in which it will fight on her side and perform several tasks for her. Her Celestial Spirits have varying levels of power, with different ones being more suited for certain tasks than others, not necessarily related to battle.

For example, Aquarius can control the water, creating powerful waves which can sweep away large amounts of foes, while Taurus has enormous physical strength, making for a valuable melee fighter able to flank Lucy during battle and tackle opponents on her behalf. However, Celestial Spirits are sentient beings who possess personalities and traits, and are thus able to act accordingly during battle, sometimes even ignoring Lucy's orders and acting on their own, something which is usually portrayed in a comical way (such as Aquarius acting arrogantly and catching even Lucy herself in her attacks, or Taurus having perverse tendencies about her).

Lucy has explained to Natsu Dragneel that Celestial Spirit Mages have the potential to obtain extremely rare Gold Keys, which open the gates of the "Ecliptic Zodiac", and common, store-bought Silver Keys. According to Lucy, while there is a large number of Silver Keys, there are only 12 Gold Keys, each of them being related to a specific astrological sign. So far in the series, Lucy has obtained 10 Gold Keys and 5 Silver Keys, a considerable amount of Keys for a single Celestial Spirit Mage. Lucy's ability to summon her Spirits is limited by how much Magic Power she has to sustain them; the more (and more powerful) Spirits she summons, the more of her Magic is exhausted. She has been shown capable of using five of her Ecliptic Zodiac Keys in one day, a noteworthy feat. Lucy has also demonstrated the ability to summon Celestial Spirits only by calling them instead of using the keys.


 * Force Gate Closure: Lucy is able to force the gate of a Celestial Spirit to close against their will, prompting them to return to the Celestial Spirit World. Such skill would come in useful if one of her Spirits had been taken over by the foe through various means and was forced to attack her, allowing Lucy to remove them from battle without actually harming them. For a Celestial Spirit Mage, obtaining this ability seems to be a remarkable feat.


 * Multiple Summons: Lucy has gained the advanced ability to summon more than one Celestial Spirit at once: she has been even shown summoning all of her Gold Keys (5 of them at the time) and one of her Silver Keys (Nikora) at once, something which greatly astonished Loke; however, due to the large amount of Magic Power required for such feat, she was able to keep it active for just a handful of seconds. In the anime, this mass summoning is further enhanced, with Lucy calling forth all of her Celestial Spirits at once. After gaining access to Second Origin, Lucy gains a greater control over this ability, as seen during her fight with Flare, by learning to keep two Celestial Spirits gates open nearly effortlessly. This gives her greater flexibility as she is able to combine the aspects of Spirits' powers and abilities to form new and more powerful attacks. She can also use her own Magic in combination with another Spirit to increase the power of an attack. During her fight against Tartarus, Lucy managed to open three gates simultaneously, something which has been referred to as a forbidden technique.


 * Recompense Summoning: A technique that only a Celestial Spirit Mage that can open three or more gates simultaneously is able to achieve in order to summon the Celestial Spirit King, the strongest among the Spirits, once. In order to save her friends, Lucy sacrificed the Gate of the Water Bearer Key as the sacrificed key needed to be of a Spirit she has strong mutual trust with. With much sadness, Lucy was able to summon the Spirit King and destroy Plutogrim.

Unison Raid (合体魔法, ユニゾンレイド,Yunizon Reido): A spell which allows two Mages to unite their Magic into a single, combined and stronger attack. This is, apparently, a highly advanced form of Magic, with many priests having wasted their entire lives trying to achieve it, without success. However, Lucy and Juvia Lockser succeeded on their first try, with Aquarius's giant wave combining with Juvia's own water to create a powerful, large whirlpool which not even Vidaldus Taka's water-proof hair could absorb. Later on, Lucy managed to achieve Unison Raid again, this time with Wendy Marvell, combining Scorpio's Sand Buster with Wendy's Sky Dragon's Roar in a single, powerful vortex, which, together with Gray Fullbuster's Ice-Make: Hammer, greatly enhanced Natsu Dragneel's speed, allowing him to strike Hades with his Fire Dragon's Sword Horn.

Urano Metria (ウラノ・メトリア Urano Metoria): A powerful spell, known as the "Ultimate Magic of the Stars", in which the knowledge to achieve such was momentarily bestowed upon Lucy by Hibiki Lates through the use of his Archive Magic. It is the only known Caster Magic she's capable of using. After she was granted such spell, Lucy fell in a state of trance, in which she went on to chant out the spell's incantation. This prompted the area around her target to become full of star-like lights, followed shortly after by a dark blanket reminiscent of a night sky. All of the star-like lights explode at the same time, causing heavy damage upon the target. Once Urano Metria was cast, Lucy woke up from her trance, completely unaware of what she did. This spell was used to defeat Angel, a member of Oración Seis. It seems to be exhausting to cast, with Lucy claiming to lack the energy to move after waking up from the trance. During the Grand Magic Games, Lucy combines her Magic power with Gemini and together they cast this spell. However, the spell is cancelled by another Mage before its effects can be seen. After receiving Aquarius's Magic from the Celestial Spirit King, Lucy is able to cast the spell on her own to defeat Jackal.

Ushi no Koku Mairi (丑の刻参り Ushi no Koku Mairi): Kain Hikaru's Lost Magic, which was taught to him by Hades, Ushi no Koku Mairi revolves around the use of the doll Mr. Cursey, which is essentially a voodoo doll: if a person's strand of hair is placed on Mr. Cursey's head, manipulating Mr. Cursey will allow the user to manipulate that person as well. Lucy is first shown employing the Magic on Kain himself after the man recklessly gives Mr. Cursey to her with his hair on it, in order for her to try out his powers. After stealing Mr. Cursey from Kain, Lucy, Natsu and Happy momentarily gain the ability to use this Magic, with Natsu and Happy manipulating Mr. Cursey while the doll had Lucy's hair on it, and Lucy thus being controlled to fight.
 * Fire Dragon's Iron Fist (Lucy Version): While Lucy is being controlled with Mr. Cursey, Natsu ignites one of her hands (although without actually harming her) through the use of his Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, in a similar fashion to his own Fire Dragon's Iron Fist.


 * Secret Attack: Lucy Fire (必殺　ルーシィファイア Hissatsu Rūshi Faia): With Lucy's hand still set aflame, Happy grabs the doll and, employing his Max Speed, he prompts it and Lucy's whole body catches on fire. He then sends Lucy at the target, with Lucy delivering them a powerful melee blow with her legs, which is enhanced by both Natsu's fire and by the momentum gained from Happy's Aera. This "technique" was powerful enough to defeat Kain himself, one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory.

Water Magic (水系各種魔法 Mizu Kei Kakushu Mahō): After sacrificing Aquarius' key to summon the Celestial Spirit King, Lucy was bestowed the Magic of Aquarius by the Celestial Spirit King. Acquiring this Magic also gave Lucy a tattoo similar to Aquarius' across her collarbone.


 * Water Barrier (水のバリア Mizu no Baria): Lucy generates a powerful barrier of water, capable of blocking even the explosions generated by Jackal's powerful Curse.

Enhanced Durability: Despite her fragile appearance and her tendency to avoid combat, Lucy has proven herself to be quite resilient: she was able to survive the assault of a sadistic Zero, while she was still unconscious and somehow get back up; withstand a barrage of kicks from Kain Hikaru, an individual capable of breaking down trees and rocks through sheer physical power, without incapacitating damage, and also endure Kain trying to crush her head with his massive arms. Later on, during Team Natsu's fight with Hades, she survived being blasted, together with Erza, by one of his explosions.

Keen Intellect: Lucy has proven herself to be a very intelligent, logical and intuitive Mage. She was able to figure out that Bora had slipped a sleeping drug in her wine without tasting it. Being an avid reader, she has also shown to be adept at solving words-related puzzles and riddles: she was able to see through the spell which Zekua Melon cast onto his Daybreak book and work out the book's true content; in addition, during the S-Class Trial, she figured out the location of Mavis Vermilion's grave with relative ease through the use of the "clues" hidden in the Trial's setup, being apparently the only member of Fairy Tail to achieve this.

Expert Whip Specialist: Despite not being often shown due to her tendency to avoid battle or have her Spirits fight for her, she is efficient in using a whip, being skilled enough to grab opponents through its use, and to employ it as an effective weapon at short-to-mid range.

Hand to Hand Combatant: While not as proficient as the other members of Team Natsu, Lucy possesses some skill in melee combat. In addition, while never relying on punches, likely due to her limited physical strength, Lucy possesses some kicking prowess, as seen during the Phantom Lord arc, she was able to send Reedus flying with a simple kick despite him being much larger than she is, being shown employing kicks in both comedic and real battle situations.


 * Lucy Kick (ルーシィ・キック Rūshi Kikku): A so-called "final attack" which is more of a simple, non-Magical melee move: Lucy lashes out in her target's direction, then jumps and uses the gained momentum to strike the opponent with a simple kick. While not particularly powerful or exclusive in its performance, this attack was effective enough to defeat the leader of the Dark Guild Naked Mummy raid squadron sent to rob the Love & Lucky Guild as well as Bickslow during the S-Class Promotion Trial.

Equipment
Her basic items are her Celestial Spirit Gate Keys. Currently, she has fourteen different keys.

Gold Keys:
 * Gate of the Water Bearer Key: Summoned the Water Bearer, Aquarius. (former)
 * Gate of the Golden Bull Key: Summons the Golden Bull, Taurus.
 * Gate of the Giant Crab Key: Summons the Giant Crab, Cancer.
 * Gate of the Maiden Key: Summons the Maiden, Virgo.
 * Gate of the Archer Key: Summons the Archer, Sagittarius.
 * Gate of the Lion Key: Summons the Lion, Loke.
 * Gate of the Twins Key: Summons the Twins, Gemi and Mini.
 * Gate of the Ram Key: Summons the Ram, Aries.
 * Gate of the Scorpion Key: Summons the Scorpion, Scorpio.
 * Gate of the Goat Key: Summons the Goat, Capricorn.

Silver Keys:
 * Gate of the Southern Cross Key: Summons the Southern Cross, Crux.
 * Gate of the Clock Key: Summons the Clock, Horologium.
 * Gate of the Lyre Key: Summons the Lyre, Lyra.
 * Gate of the Canis Minor Key: Summons the Canis Minor, Nikora (Plue).
 * Gate of the Compass Key: Summons the The Compass, Pyxis.

Normal Whip: A normal whip which Lucy initially employed as her weapon of choice. It was brown in color, completely covered in small rhombs, and possessed a notably large handle, in comparison to the thin rope part. It ended in a distinctive, heart-shaped cracker. Lucy was usually shown carrying it around rolled up, secured to her left hip via a small clasp on her belt.

Fleuve d'étoiles (エトワールフルーグ 星の大河 Etowāru Furūgu): An extendable whip coming from the constellation of Eridanus, in the Celestial Spirit World. After losing her standard whip during her imprisonment in Edolas, Lucy was given this weapon by Virgo to fight Byro, in order to avoid depleting all of her Magic Power by summoning her Spirits. While not in use, only the whip's handle is visible, this possessing a simple, cylindrical form, with a dark central part and lighter edges; the lower one is covered in stud-like ornaments and has a small rope hanging from it, to which a star-shaped pendant is attached. When the weapon is being used, a jet of flowing water is created from the handle, which remains compact, and twists as if it were a whip's rope part. The water seems to have material properties, with Lucy being capable of grabbing foes or objects with it, as well as to perform attacks. The Fleuve d'étoiles is Lucy's current weapon, with her carrying it around in the very same spot which her old whip used to have, attached to her belt, in correspondence to her left hip. "Fleuve d'étoiles" is French for "River of Stars", living up to the whip's appearance and origin.

Gale-Force Reading Glasses (風詠みの眼鏡 Kazeyomi no Megane): Lucy, being an avid reader, possesses a pair of enchanted reading glasses, allowing her to read at an extremely accelerated rate. Through their use, she was capable of reading Daybreak, a full book, in only a few minutes. Having a simple, plain dark frame and elongated oval lenses, the only distinctive traits of such Magical glasses are the small carvings on the left lens' bottom left part, depicting a small wing flanked by a pair of stylized hearts, as well as the wing-like protrusion on the side of the frame. It's currently unknown what rate of reading speed Lucy's pair provides.

Trivia

 * Lucy is currently the second most popular girl in the series.
 * Almost every time Lucy goes to her apartment, one or more of her guild mates is there.
 * Her quote when summoning Spirits she wishes to contract is: "I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits, now! O spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate!"
 * Hiro Mashima gave Lucy her name when he was listening to the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".
 * Presumably, she joined the guild on July 3.
 * During a Q&A, when a reader asked who was the lead female character in Fairy Tail, Lucy immediately considered herself as such. However, Hiro Mashima said people can draw their own conclusions.
 * If she were to compare herself to an animal, Lucy would have considered herself to be a rabbit.
 * Her ideal type is an assertive man.
 * In the manga, Lucy changed clothes during the Phantom Lord arc after she got captured. In the anime, she wore the same clothes.
 * Mirajane somehow has a spare copy of Lucy's house key and often lends it to Natsu and the others so that they can enter Lucy's house.
 * Jellal, as Siegrain, was in Lucy's "Perfect Boyfriend" list, right on top of Loke.
 * From the Volume 16 Limited Edition: Sorcerer Interview, the best quality of Fairy Tail according to Lucy was that "It [had] a lot of powerful Mages". She wants to become a novel writer in the future. She has a good relationship with Natsu and Levy. Lucy thinks that every job she takes is difficult, and wants easier ones.


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

Early Concept
The earliest concept of Lucy was not much different from the original idea. Lucy used cards instead of keys, but because this idea has already been repeatedly used, Hiro Mashima decided to abandon it.

Early Lucy also had curly locks, two pony-tails instead of one bunch, and wore a more retro-like clothing, with jabot, frills and lace. Her skirt before seems to have a bit of ruffles and her top has an inner scarf. In her early concept, she doesn't seem to be wielding her usual weapon, which is a black whip with a heart-like cracker at its end. Also, in her early concept, she's wearing high heels with laces, in contrast to her black high boots she wears currently.

Quotes

 * (To Gajeel Redfox) "You guys are complete idiots! I feel so sorry for you, I think I'm tearing up. Phantom Lord? The spirit ruler? What a joke; I'm not afraid of you at all!"
 * (To Gajeel Redfox) "Then why don't you try killing me? If you do that, you'll be in bigger trouble than this! Fairy Tail will never forgive you! That's the kind of guild they are! You'll be shivering under the shadow of the world's scariest guild every day for the rest of your life!"
 * (To Jude Heartfilia) "There's nothing happy about having your fate decided for you! You have to grab your own happiness!"
 * (To Jude Heartfilia) "Never lay a finger on Fairy Tail again. The next time you do, I...everyone in the guild will consider you as our enemy!"
 * (To Jude Heartfilia) "What I want isn't money or pretty dresses, but a place that recognizes me as who I am. Fairy Tail is my other family, and it is a far more warming family than here!"
 * (To Loke) "I said I'm going to save you no matter what! I can force open the Gate to the Spirit World; watch me!"
 * (To the Celestial Spirit King and Loke) "It's not a sin! Caring for your friends feelings is not a sin! If you disappear, then Aries, myself, and everyone here will be filled with sadness! You won't be repenting your sin that way!"
 * (To Loke) "I'm not your owner. I'm your friend, right?"
 * (To Erza Scarlet) "If...if someone here was hurt or died because of me, I think I'd suffer a lot like Loke. But it's okay, because if we all work together, we can overcome any trouble we might have, right?"
 * (About Juvia Lockser) "Someone who could shed tears for their friends... could never be rejected from Fairy Tail!"
 * (To Loke) "Spirits aren't shields! I fight alongside them! That's my style!"
 * (To Angel) "But they feel pain! They have feelings! And yet you call yourself a Celestial Spirit Mage?"
 * (To herself) "Thank you... I appreciate you Spirits for taking care of me."
 * (To Byro) "If she's your ally, then shouldn't you be protecting her? I'll never lose to someone who doesn't even understand that. I swear on the name of my guild!"
 * "I'm not done yet! I can't be defeated here! Natsu and Erza are still fighting, we can't give up until they do! Because we're..... FAIRY TAIL WIZARDS!!"
 * (To Cana Alberona) "I will become your partner, Cana! I refuse to let you quit the guild! I will make you an S-Class Mage!"
 * (To Natsu Dragneel) "I don't want...to run away by myself... because no matter what...I'd rather be together with everyone..."
 * (To Aquarius) "You're one of my friends too! I can't sacrifice someone to save the others! There must be another way! I'm not giving up!"