August

August (オーガスト Ōgasuto) is part of the Alvarez Empire as the strongest male member of the Spriggan 12, the protection guard of Emperor Spriggan. His epithets within Alvarez are the "Magic King" (魔導王 Madō Ō), due his mastery of countless Magics from all around the world, and the "Disaster" (災害 Saigai) for his matchless Magical strength.

Appearance
August appears as a relatively tall, fair-skinned elderly man with blackish eyes and roughly shoulder-length, wavy, silvery white hair, with the majority of his bangs swept leftward. He has a short mustache, and a lengthy, mildly thin beard that reaches down to his upper torso, shoots up towards the mouth in large spikes, and links to his main hair via sideburns. Additionally, he has thick eyebrows, a pronounced nose bridge, and high cheekbones. August's many facial wrinkles evidence his advanced age, most prominently those on his forehead and below his lower eyelids, and his laugh lines. He also has a dark tattoo consisting of a thick dot surrounded by two circles on the back of his left hand, and two straight lines going from the circles' bottom end down the front of his forearm.

As for clothing, August sports a long, light-colored robe consisting of two major pieces: a long garment that reaches past his knees, with a tattered bottom edge and intricately designed linings on the ends of its sleeves, including a line of dark lozenges, and a shorter, more billowing garment above it, over only his chest area. The longer garb is kept tied together with a thin light girdle made of a seemingly rope-like material. An externally and internally dark-colored cape is additionally above both parts of the robe, jutting out in sharp, more elongated lozenge-shaped spikes around the back of his head, also having a tattered bottom edge, having the Alvarez Empire's symbol emblazoned on its back, and being kept in its place by a long, less wide cloth tied around it and August's neck, which in turn is held fast by a spherical-shaped dark clip. Finally, a dark ring on his right middle finger and plain dark high boots complete the outfit.

Personality
Befitting his oldness, August's demeanor is among the more cool and stern of Zeref's Shields, rarely expressing strong emotions; he quickly settled down after seeing God Serena being slain up close. Wise and often speaking cryptic, Brandish μ, herself a Shield, also labeled him the wisest of Zeref's Shields. Additionally, despite his status as one of the world's strongest, he's also aware of and accepts his limits, saying to another Shield that they, together, still had no chance of defeating Acnologia himself (whereas his equal, Irene Belserion, sanguinely dared confronting the Dragon King all by her lonesome).

Whereas, according to Jacob Lessio, August is truly "bad news", lacking the barest sense of humor, he's very gentle by word of Brandish, reportedly the easiest one to talk things out with among the Spriggan 12, a statement later proven well-founded. In fact, August's mellow bearing is such that, regarding enemies, he told God Serena to desist from killing, of all people, the helpless four then-strongest of Ishgar's Wizard Saints; regarding comrades, he cares much for and is protective of at least fellow Shields, saying that it's a terrible thing to lose one after having saved Ajeel Ramal (possibly his life) from Laxus Dreyar, asking if Jacob is still alive after the latter had gone on ahead to fight Fairy Tail, and saying that the dead God Serena remains inside his heart. He also rightfully deduced that Brandish stabbing him wasn't voluntary, consequently putting her asleep rather than hurting her in return.

Besides, the elder's loyality to Zeref (whom he reverently calls "Your Majesty", unlike Ajeel's informal behavior, but more casual than Invel's interaction with Zeref ) is proven to be near inflexible, considering himself and his collegues Zeref's pawns only, and likewise reminding Brandish of their dedication of their minds, bodies, and very souls to their emperor, while at first brushing aside Brandish's inability to find meaning in Alvarez's war against Ishgar as her betrayal as an enemy whom he ought to eliminate (in spite of knowing Brandish from her childhood days). And yet, he acknowledges the need for even Zeref to have the infinite Magic Power of Fairy Heart in order to kill Acnologia. Also, Brandish managed to initially convince him into first listening to what Fairy Tail had to say to him rather than immediately proceed with the plan of obtaining Fairy Heart, by imploring him to understand like her the senselessness and malevolence of the bloodshed that was their war with Ishgar, and that Fairy Tail wasn't evil (although the fact that seeing Natsu Dragneel seemingly reminded him of something might have also played into that). Then, though, when Mest Gryder used Brandish to attempt to kill him, he instantly decided on utterly anihilating the Fairy Tail members in front of him.

History
August and Brandish μ have maintained a good relationship from when she was a young girl, with Brandish saying that she always considered him her grandfather.

Alvarez Empire arc
August first appears in Vistaron's palace, approaching Zeref, as well as Dimaria Yesta, Ajeel Ramal, and Invel, commenting on the fact that Zeref seems happier than before, implying that it's because he found his answer to Ragnarok. Zeref replies that, in Ishgar, they actually call it the Dragon King Festival. At that moment, Yajeel appears, bringing in Makarov Dreyar to have an audience with Zeref, and August and his fellow Spriggan 12 members leave upon Zeref's request.

Some time later, August is seen approaching Ajeel, having protected the Sand Mage with a Magic barrier from a lightning blast of Laxus Dreyar. Ajeel confronts him about his actions, while August states that it's painful to lose a comrade. Ajeel asks if August really thinks that he'd die from something like that, noting that the old Mage has gone senile. Then, at a following meeting of the Spriggan 12, August bows his head and tells Zeref that they are all prepared for the end; the war against Ishgar. After Zeref states his wish for mankind to perish, August responds that they are but his pawns. Eventually, August takes off towards the west by airship to arrive at Fiore's eastern border with two other Shields, God Serena and Jacob Lessio, along with a force a million foot soldiers strong; along they way they've flown over Bosco and annihilated the country and all its guilds between the three of them. Upon leaving their ships, they encounter Draculos Hyberion, Wolfheim, Warrod Sequen, and Jura Neekis waiting for them, with Warrod remarking on the Magic King's status.

Alongside Jacob, August remains completely uninvolved in the ensuing fight between God Serena and his former comrades, instead watching God Serena easily defeating them all by himself. Upon observing God Serena's opponents launching a counterattack and leaving him cornered, August stops Jacob from stepping in, citing the rarity of getting to see God Serena's true power. The duo then witness God Serena utilize his various types of Dragon Slayer Magic and leave his foes in critical condition, after which August stops God Serena from killing them, commenting on the latter being the "Hybrid Theory": a man blessed by the Dragon Gods. August having said that, the three Shields make for Fairy Tail, but are halted by the sudden appearance of none other than Acnologia, who strikes down only God Serena, leaving August utterly bewildered. As an angry Jacob then readies to attack in return, a recomposed August halts him, pointing out the Dragon King's strength, and reminding Jacob about their primary objective: procuring Fairy Heart.

Later, it's revealed that Jacob has gone ahead of August to "lighten his work", while August deduced that they were being located by Fairy Tail's Magic Radar and hid the both of their positions from it. After Jacob's eventual defeat at Fairy Tail's headquarters, when the captive Shield Brandish μ warns Fairy Tail of the threat August poses, the old wizard is briefly seen walking through an empty, barren landscape.

His walk is halted when he sees Brandish, as well as Mest Gryder, Lucy Heartfilia, and Natsu Dragneel riding a massive, flying Happy towards him, and the elder sternly gazes up at them. When his opposition has gotten off Happy, August asks Brandish about her intentions, with Brandish returning that she's come to negotiate with him. August then quickly asks if Jacob has been killed, and Brandish replies that he's been defeated at the hands of Natsu and Lucy, and that he isn't dead, but a prisoner of war. Brandish proceeds to ask where God Serena is, with the Magic King stating that God Serena is right there with him, and he then points out that Brandish doesn't seem to have come under torture, asking if he's to interpret the woman's actions as betrayal. Brandish states that this couldn't be further from the truth, that she'll always be loyal to Alvarez, as she's just can't find meaning in the war. August retorts that those very words are in direct betrayal of his majesty's will, reminds Brandish that the members of the Spriggan 12 have dedicated their very beings to his majesty, and then states that if, in spite of that, Brandish still can't comprehend why she must fight for Zeref's cause, then she's nothing more than an enemy whom he shall eliminate.

However, August continues to listen as Brandish's weighs in her viewpoint of the war being nothing but bloodshed, then trying to attempt to implant the thought into her mind that His Majesty is to decide how the war ends, before being quickly cut off, as she urges him to think for himself. Brandish reveals to him that she finds the Fairy Tail Guild to be far from evil; August's eyes sway away to glare at the three Mages behind Brandish, seemingly recognizing Natsu. He then agrees to hear out Fairy Tail, not wanting to make a fool out of Brandish. However, he's promptly stabbed by Brandish with an enlarged dagger, her memories having been altered by Mest to make her do so. Angered by the turn of events, August unleashes a transformation, but not before expressing his anger for the enemy's method of resolution to the war.

August quickly puts Brandish, who still hasn't fully recovered from the altered memories made by Mest, to sleep and then unleashes an incredible powerful spell onto the Fairy Tail Mages. The light that gets created with it is so bright that even the Fairy Tail members present in the Guild hall see it intensely.

Magic and Abilities
Sleep Magic (眠りの魔法 Nemuri no Mahō): August can use this Magic, as he was able to easily put Brandish μ to sleep in a moment with a meager wave of his hand.

Magical Barrier: August can conjure up extremely potent barriers; he used one of unknown shape and size to completely shield fellow Shield of Spriggan Ajeel Ramal from a massive electric explosion of the Wizard Saint-tier Laxus Dreyar (which dispersed Ajeel's Sands of Death), which left the Desert King astonished when witnessed; August even implied that he had expected Ajeel to die from the blast, although Ajeel dismissed this as a foolish thought.

Magical Camouflage: August can camouflage his and others' Magical presence from Magic Radar detection.

Dark Transformation: August can assume an unknown transformation. His skins turns dark and his hair flares upwards wildly, his main hair, beard, and eyebrows more so than his mustache. On his forehead emerges a thick, light-colored circle, flanked by three light-colored lines to its left and right, which go down under his eyebrows to reach his eyes, and from their bottom go further down to his jawline, increasingly parting.
 * Light Pillar: Once in his transformation, August can summon forth a gargantuan pillar a light energy around his being that surges upwards to incalculable heights at extreme speeds, such that it can be clearly seen kilometers away, tearing away and, as hinted by the Magic King himself, dissolving into oblivion everything so unfortunate as to lie within the immediate range of effect.

Magical Aptitude: Lauded as the supreme "Magic King" both past and present, August is rumored to have effortless control over every single element of Magic there is, even possessing more types of Magic than Zeref himself.

Immense Endurance: August has been shown, for his age, to be quite the enduring person, as he wasn't visibly bothered at all from being pierced through his abdomen by what equaled a regular broadsword in size.

Immense Magic Power: August wields particularly terrifying reserves and strength in Magic Power, being crowned the strongest man and strongest individual among the Spriggan 12, placing comparable with Irene Belserion, the strongest woman of the twelve. His power goes so far beyond what the other ten have normally at their disposal that even Makarov Dreyar, one of the highly esteemed Ten Wizard Saints and Fairy Tail's Guild Master, grew very visibly scared upon simply remembering some of August's Magical capabilities at work. Even fellow Shields Jacob Lessio and Brandish hold the elder's might in very high regard, with the latter one stating that, of all Mages in existence, only Irene has a shot at defeating him. Mest Gryder, Lucy Heartfilia, and even Natsu Dragneel were awed by his immense Magical presence, with Mest pointing out how, despite knowing of August's power level, he didn't expect him to be that powerful, and that his power is in fact in a completely different dimension from even Brandish's (hers already being exceptionally overwhelming).

Equipment
Staff: In his right hand, August carries a long and thin, light-colored wooden staff, exceeding its owner's height, with a rather large, oviform, dark-colored orb fixed on its tip, partly overgrown by the wood. It's currently not known if the staff holds some specific purpose.

Quotes

 * (To Ajeel Ramal): "Losing one's comrades is a terrible thing, Ajeel."
 * (To Brandish μ): "Need I remind you, we Spriggan 12 have dedicated our minds, bodies, and souls to His Majesty."