Template:RavenCoven/April 2016

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Hello! How are my favorite wiki peeps doing? I hope the recent chapters have not let you down as much as they have let me down. Anyway, that's not why I'm here at all! It's time for another coven, and after a big fan demand, the man of the hour is...
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SHANKS GILDARTS CLIVE!!!

...You guys have terrible taste ( ._.)

BUT I will listen to you people. Just to debunk the popular myth that Gildarts is the best thing ever. Let's do this.

DESIGN
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https://41.media.tumblr.com/e73a449bdba8c3276c5e25bce9fc94e4/tumblr_o5s4n0Q3k81utjytuo1_400.png

fooled you for a moment there didn't I?



Gildarts look like a stereotypical cool old man in manga. He's almost a cliche. He's got the badass beard. The hair. The amputated hand/leg as proof of his badassness. THE DARK CAPE! The bandages! I don't really find anything in his design that makes him unique or interesting. He's just a cool looking dude. No really, I'm trying my hardest to be unbiased here. I challenge you readers to point something unique in this character's appearance at me. Your reward will be a night with the magazine editor of your choice. Go!

The Shanks comparison doesn't help either. Let's see things they have in common:
 * Same facial hair.
 * Same hairstyle and hair color.
 * Similar clothing (only Shanks wears a white shirt under the cape while Gildarts has bandages.
 * Both are an arm short (only Gildarts is a leg short too).
 * Though not an appearance trait, both are father figures to the protagonist of their respective series and are also considered among the strongest men of their respective manga.

Gildarts is cool and all, but unfortunately, he came some years too late. He'll always be remembered as the Shanks clone appearance-wise (and personality-wise too). That, or the cool-looking dude I mentioned above. Anyway, it's a lose-lose situation for him.

5/10 Not a fan

PERSONALITY

Personality is not Gildarts' strong suit. I mean, he's entertaining for sure. I lol'ed at his chapter and there were not even words! Also his clumsiness at his introduction was a highlight, definitely. However, this character archetype has been overdone. Complicated tough guy who has an easygoing, cheerful and compassionate exterior, but can be really scary if you piss him off.

Also, I know I'm sounding like a broken record at this point, but do you know who else fits exactly the same description?

https://45.media.tumblr.com/88677eec39d18294632ad4623259c3b1/tumblr_o5s9x7212O1qc6u9ro1_500.gif

Yeah, this guy.

Gildarts does get extra points here, though. He is more goofy than Shanks, thus more entertaining, and has the extra "protective proud daddy" layer ever since we learned about his relation to Cana. He also likes to tease Laxus or Natsu (or anyone, really). He is also irresponsible and a womanizer. Add those, and your cliche character gains slightly more substance! Yay!

7/10 Very entertaining but by no means perfect

ABILITIES

https://45.media.tumblr.com/732edd12552d48c10b5cc216d1ccac39/tumblr_o57lumg53L1vpd3wao1_500.gif

Personally I think this is Gildarts' strong suit. Not because he is really strong because this doesn't necessarily qualify a good character *cough*Laxus*cough* but because his magic is actually very interesting and unique! Crash basically wrecks things, but it's also a great defensive magic (evades the effects of other magic). Disassembly Magic is also rather unique and unusual. It can chop up everything to little pieces, even humans without killing them which is BS but anyway. I wish I could analyse this more but we've seen next to no Gildarts in combat situations, so I can only remain hopeful that we'll see some intriguing uses of his abilities.

8/10 Surprising is good!

SIGNIFICANCE TO PLOT/ROLE IN THE MANGA If I like Gildarts for a reason, that's because he developed Cana's character a lot further. Up until then, she was that chick in the guild that drank a lot and fought fodder when she had to. Come S-Class Trial, though, he became the main driving force behind Cana wanting to become S-Class, because she wanted to prove herself to him. She then learned to use Fairy Glitter and is ever since the only one capable of unleashing it, because according to Mavis, Gildarts' latent magic power resides inside Cana as well. I'd say that thanks to him Cana became a major character in the FT-verse and is one ever since his introduction.

Other than that, Gildarts was a nice character to use to hype up Acnologia (and boy, did he live up to the hype), and also as a missing piece from Natsu's mysterious past. There's also a 99% chance that he'll return during this arc to save Cana or the guild from an imminent danger, but I hope one-shotting a big baddie is not the only way he'll be utilized in.

I'd say that despite his cliche personality, he's been a key character to Fairy Tail's (and Natsu's) past pre-Lucy joining the guild, which was more or less a blank period before his introduction. He shed light not only to that period, but also to the character of Cana Alberona. He is a minor character done right, and although I have my issues with him as I explained above, I really appreciate him for what he's offered.

9/10 Key player for a minor character


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Overall, Gildarts scores...  7.25!!! Huh, that bastard actually did pretty good. I guess he's not as bad as I thought. BUT, he's still not top-notch. He's barely ahead of Gray, so make what you will out of that :P

Let's see if Gildarts impresses the other editors more than he impresses me:

In his defense, he didn't know :P

This guy gets it. All of it.

I'd rather learn Shanks' full story before being the judge of that.

The only real question.

That's it with this month's coven guys.

Give me something for next month! Kagura Mikazuchi Bacchus Groh Minerva Orland Laxus Dreyar Cana Alberona Levy McGarden

See ya!