Gildarts Clive

Gildarts Clive is one of the Fairy Tail Guild's S-Class mages. Gildarts is widely accepted by all the members as the strongest member in the guild under Makarov. Whether or not he is as powerful as Makarov is widely debated. He is frequently absent in the guild due to the nature of the requests he receives. He is widely referred by members of the Fairy Tail Guilds as "That Old Guy". His back shows a man with spikey hair, wearing a tattered cloak. His infamy as a mage was also commented upon by the Guild Master of the Phantom Lord Guild, Jose Porla: "... Erza and Laxus, Mystogan and Gildarts... Their names spread as far as my own hometown..."

Background
Gildarts went out of the guild 3 years ago to carry out his job, and recently has returned to the guild. He is rumoured to have taken both a 10-year-job as well as a 100-year-job, which is classified above the SS rank jobs as the difficulty is ranked on how long it would take for completion. His long-term periodic absences may be the reason for Makarov's decision for dropping Gildarts out of equation as his successor, and why no attempt of communication was made during the Phantom-Fairy Tail War since he already had his hands full.

He also seems to be an incredibly popular and important, or at least, infamous, mage throughout Magnolia Town as well. His impending arrival is subject to a large bell being rung in a "special manner" to notify people of his coming, and the town is rearranged to protect itself from Gildarts destructive magic.. Also the Fairy Tail mages seem to burst into celebration as a reaction to his arrival, indicating that unlike Mystogan who is virtually unknown and Laxus Dreyar who was generally disliked due to his attitude, he is extremely well liked by the town and everyone at Fairy Tail. He himself loves his guild according to his profile but he dislikes Makarov's son Ivan Dreyar indicating the two have some form of history.il et tros fort et styler

Personality
Gildarts is an easy-going and laid-back person. He is well respected by the whole town and guild. He also appears to be a bit dense, as he apparently doesn't pay attention to what he's doing such as not recognising the guild or Mirajane, thus causing him to use his magic by accident. However, he is respected enough that the town does everything to prepare and prevent as much accidental damage as possible, going as far to re-organizing the whole town for the mage.

Galuna Island arc
Gildarts is declared as one of Laxus's rivals for the title of "Strongest man in Fairy Tail" alongside Mystogan.

Fighting Festival arc
After the Tower of Paradise, where Natsu was resting in Lucy Heartfilia's apartment (healing from the side-effects of eating Aetherion) Lucy asked whether Laxus was "really strong" Happy replied by saying he was probably the strongest person in the guild, except for Gildarts.

When Laxus tried to take over the guild, at the Caldia Cathedral Mystogan confronted him. When asked, by Laxus, about the rumors circulating as to who was the strongest member of Fairy Tail, Mystogan (without hesitation) replied "I would propose Gildarts". Laxus says, "eh, he's no use... he ain't coming back" ,

Edoras Arc
Gildarts finally returns to the guild after being away for three years. Everyone seems happy to see him as bells chime in warning and celebration of his return. Mirajane also states that Gildarts has also been on a one hundred year mission, a mission only the most powerful mages dare attempt, an indication of his power. He returns from his mission telling the whole guild that he failed the mission, much to everyone's shock. He later leaves and tells Natsu Dragneel to meet him as he has something to tell him.

As Natsu arrives at his house, he instantly asks his relationship with Lisanna seemingly still unaware that she died two years ago, and in which this bothers Natsu. As Natsu attempts to leave, he tells Natsu that he met a Black Dragon which captures Natsu's attention. In his mission, Gildarts explains that the Black Dragon attacked him which resulted in him losing his left arm, a leg and an organ, which was also the cause of him failing the mission. Gildarts warns Natsu how a human cannot stand up to that dragon but Natsu says thats what Dragon Slayers are there for and that he may have a chance. Natsu rushes off in hope that the Black Dragon will help him find Igneel, and Gildarts encourages Happy to support him all the way. Gildarts was most likely sucked into the Anima along with the rest of the town, though his Edoras counter-part has not been seen yet.

Magic and Abilities
Crash (クラッシュ Kurasshu): An Ultra-High Level Magic that smashes everything he touches into pieces. It seems that this ability is so terrifying that the town restructured themselves to give Gildarts an unobstructed path to the guild. As he has a tendency of absentmindedly using his magic and walking into things without noticing.

Super Strength: Gildarts is also shown to be physically quite strong, as when Natsu attempted to attack him, he simply threw Natsu into the ceiling with one hand.

Trivia

 * Gildarts' design appears similar to Gale Glory and Gale Raregroove (aka: King) from Hiro's previous work Rave Master. He also possesses the same ability as Cookie Crusher, a minor character from that series.
 * In the manga, Gildarts is mentioned a couple of times by random people as being the strongest mage within Fairy Tail, but so far in the anime there has been no indications or mentions related to him.
 * Gildarts' house is shown to be run down and old due to him being gone for several years