Mard Geer Tartaros

Mard Geer Tartarus (マルド・ギール・タルタロス Marudo Gīru Tarutarosu) is an Etherious of the Dark Guild Tartarus and is known as the "Underworld King".

Appearance
Mard Geer resembles a young man with pale skin and narrow eyes. He sports dark, shaggy hair, long enough for the bangs to reach his nose and fall to his collarbones. On the back of his head, the rest of Mard's hair forms a big ponytail. His attire consists of a dark-colored shirt and a light-colored cape with a ragged pattern along the hem. Mard also wears light-colored trousers that are tied by straps on his thighs and ankles, as well as boots.

Personality
Often seen smirking, Mard is a cool, collected, yet arrogant man who plays himself off as being extremely intelligent; he quite regularly refers to himself in the third person. Also, much like the rest of his kind, Mard belittles humans, and thinks of them as nothing more than insects. Indeed, he finds the mere thought of letting a human live when given the chance to kill them a tragedy, and is not above torturing his subordinates when they cause him any sort of inconvenience. Additionally, Mard takes great pride in being one of Zeref's Etherious; he also has a habit of referring to Cube as his "garden", and appears to love it enough to make Fairy Tail pay for bringing harm to it, even though he noted that ultimately, it didn't matter in the slightest.

History
According to Keith, Mard Geer acknowledged Silver Fullbuster's power as a Devil Slayer and granted him the title as one of the Nine Demon Gates either by his whim or that the Exorcist Mage act as a deterrent for the Demons of Tartarus.

Tartarus arc
Mard Geer appears for the first time inside of Tartarus' HQ. Sitting on a throne in his room and holding a book with the letters "E N D" written on the cover, Mard talks about Zeref's Demons, the Etherious: beings superior to humans. Seemingly reassuring the Master, Mard states that the darkness of Hell's gate will soon appear and eat up the world's light.

Shortly after, Mard is approached by Kyouka, who informs him that the plan to activate Face failed, and that the resurrection of Franmalth and Ezel was halted by members of Fairy Tail. Seemingly bemused, Mard tells Kyouka that Sayla too was only just defeated, causing the Demon woman to ask for E.N.D. to be summoned to assist them; however, Mard informs her that there is too much Magic power present in the world for E.N.D. to properly resuscitate, and, though Kyouka reminds him that that was the entire point of using Face, he states that their plans will still come to fruition. Asking Kyouka about their goals as a guild, Mard proceeds to attack the woman when he finds out that she was "playing with humans", a punishment he states she deserves for daring to interact with them too much. As Kyouka tries to thank him for righting her wrong ways, Mard decides that he may have to use Alegria given the current situation. Making his move, Mard hijacks Warren Rocko's Telepathy, and uses it to introduce himself to the Fairy Tail Guild. Bidding them farewell, the man makes use of Alegria, which proceeds to warp and deform Cube, swallowing everything and everyone present inside. Kyouka warns the Demon that he is sacrificing their own troops, though Mard seems not to care, berating the human race as he waits for his command to finish. However, as the morphing of Cube comes to an end, Mard senses that one of the Fairy Tail Mages managed to avoid being captured, laughing as he debates whether or not Lucy Heartfilia has good or bad luck for being able to slip free from Alegria's grasp.

Mard then uses Telepathy one more time, informing the members of Tartarus that Alegria has gotten rid of the intruders so the Face project can continue. However, he also reveals that Lucy has escaped the effects of Alegria and promises that if any of the soldiers kills her, they will receive the title of Nine Demon Gates, or in the case of the current Nine Demon Gates, a prize; this prompts the entirety of Tartarus to chase after the Mage. Mard later stands before the Celestial Spirit King, after the latter appears thanks to Lucy's sacrifice and destroys the transformed Cube.

He expresses his surprise that someone was able to summon the Celestial Spirit King and then explains to him that the book he's carrying is the soul of E.N.D. The Celestial Spirit King then asks about their motive and Mard reveals to him that they are trying to revive their Master and reunite with Zeref. The Celestial Spirit King then questions if this is the reason for Lucy's wounds and sorrow, and when Mard confirms it, he is attacked by the spirit's sword. Mard envelops himself in a sphere of Curse Power and strikes the Celestial Spirit King, however, the latter counters it with ease. Wasting no time, Mard summons thorns to pierce through the spirit's body, claiming this to be the end, but the Celestial Spirit King cuts through them and replies with an attack of his own: Meteor Blade. The technique causes great destruction, although it misses its target, Mard, who commends the king for his efforts. Mard and the Celestial Spirit King continue clashing as the latter lends Aquarius' power to Lucy Heartfilia.

Mard and the Celestial Spirit King continue the battle, with the former noting that the latter is becoming slower. Mard attacks with his Curse one more time, claiming that this is the end, however, the Celestial Spirit King defends himself and proceeds casting Galaxia Blade. While shielding himself, Mard smirks, asking whether the Celestial Spirit King is willing to sacrifice Lucy, however, it soon turns out that this spell instead cancelled Alegria. As the Celestial Spirit King begins vanishing, Mard starts turning into stone. As he gives a warning that the malice for humankind won't be forgotten, Mard ends up being fully petrified. After it is revealed that there are several more Face devices, Mard, albeit still petrified, smirks that this is the true appearance of the continent's Magic Pulse Weapon.

Having been completely freed from his petrification, Mard Geer walks back into the ruined Cube, stumbling across Erza and Minerva just as the former has seemingly ruined the latter's resolve to fight. Hearing them speak about life and death, Mard Geer interrupts, calling the two women garbage and vowing to clean them out. He blasts Erza away seconds later, and, after flinging Minerva into the air with his Curse, moves to blow her up as well; however, the woman is saved from his attack by Sting and Rogue, who arrive just in time to protect her.

With Mard watching on, Sting and Rogue vow to return Minerva to their guild and ask Erza to take her, Lector and Frosch to safety, preparing to stay and fight on their own. Seemingly letting them do as they please, Mard calmly states that their actions mean nothing, as the Magic world will be destroyed in under an hour when the 3,000 continent-wide Face devices are fired. Minerva tries to calm the group by reminding them that Face weapons need to be activated manually and that such a feat can't be achieved, though Mard interrupts and explains that through Keith's necromancy and Crawford Seam, Tartarus have the capacity to remotely set all of the weapons off at the same time. Believing him, Sting and Rogue tell Erza to go and stop the plan, and together they rush Mard and engage him in battle. Whipping around the Tartarus Demon, the Dragon Slayers try to attack from both sides, though Mard continuously evades their assaults with carefully timed maneuvers and parries. Flinging Rogue backwards into Sting, Mard powers up an explosive spell and attempts to blow the duo away, commenting that he hates that Dragon Slayer Magic is used by such petty humans. Sting and Rogue—albeit taking the blow—both continue to stand, angry in return that Mard hurt their friends.

Mard is then quickly subject to more attacks from the Dragon Slayer duo that, like before, leave him less than phased. As he takes the hits, Mard states that he understands why Kyouka enjoyed playing with humans so much: it is because they do not see their demises, they act out of emotion, and are oblivious to how frail and weak they truly are; all things Mard finds blissfully ignorant. As the fight continues, Mard does eventually give Sting and Rogue credit for being at least competent in their Dragon Slayer Magic, as few match him in battle. However, he follows this up by gloatingly remarking that he can see why the two would be so wrongly full of themselves and confident.

Some time later, Mard temporarily interrupts the battle to comment on Acnologia's sudden arrival. Noting that it exceeds his wildest imagination, Mard wonders what exactly lured the Dragon King, Demons or even Zeref himself. Mard notes that even he can't tell what will happen now that Acnologia has appeared. He then realizes that he wishes to destroy E.N.D before its resurrection and ponders whether it is because it fears E.N.D.

Shortly after, Igneel emerges from Natsu's body and engages the black Dragon over the Tartarus ruins. Watching the two fight, Mard vows to let neither get in the way of his plans, and remarks that he has made slight alterations so that both Dragons will be erased from history. However, as he watches the spectacle above, Igneel too notices him in return, and asks Natsu to retrieve the book of E.N.D. from Mard's possession. With a smile on his face, Mard then watches as Natsu launches himself towards him, ready to fight.

Mard is swiftly attacked by Dragon Slayer, and is shocked to hear that Igneel is Natsu's father. Pushed back, the Demon King retaliates with his thorns, but these are evaded by Natsu, who proceeds to punch him in the face as he demands the Book of E.N.D. be handed over. Grounded, Mard telepathically contacts Kyouka and tells her to form an Organic Link with the Face controls in order to speed up the firing of Face with her body; this will wipe the abilities of both the Dragons and Mages faster, and give them the edge in their fight. Kyouka questions the plan, as to fuse with Face will forfeit her life, though Mard disregards this, smiling as Kyouka complies with his demands.

With Face seemingly sorted, Mard continues his fight against Natsu, and, calling the Dragon Slayer a false Dragon, pushes the Fairy Tail Mage down into the ruins of Cube. Leaping after him, Mard tries to finish the falling Dragon Slayer off, though is stopped by Sting and Rogue, who rush in to protect Natsu. Waiting as the three converse, Mard is then attacked simultaneously by the three men, who decide to take him on together. To begin with, the Underworld King manages to hold them back, but, after some skilled teamwork between the three, is eventually beaten back. Pulling himself from the ruins, Mard Geer smiles sadistically at the trio as he declares that he is finally mad.

Mard Geer nearly loses control of himself, but sits on his throne to calm himself down while apologizing to Master E.N.D. as he puts down the book he has been carrying all this time, citing that he doesn't like to let his emotions run wild. He then attacks from his chair with a surprising increase of power. Natsu manages to get close a few times but none of his attacks even phase Mard. Even after being launched from his throne by Natsu for Sting and Rogue an opening for a combined attack, Mard simply absorbs the power and sends it right back at them and shrugs off Natsu's Lightning Flame Dragon Mode spell before pushing the Fire Dragon Slayer back, and sitting on his throne again as if nothing happened. As the three Dragon Slayers reel from his power, Mard comments he hasn't even gotten serious yet.

Mard then attempts to contact Kyouka, but finds that she is too engrossed in her battle with Erza. Deciding to leave her be, he answers Sting's question regarding the extinction of Magic, which he explains they're doing so that they'll be able to destroy the seal placed on E.N.D.'s book, which is composed of Magic Power, and return to Zeref's side. Inquired as to what that means, Mard explains that written in their genetic code is the desire to reunite with Zeref, which he reveals is Zeref's way to finally day: he created the Etherious so that they could ultimately kill him. Adding that when E.N.D. is revived they can kill Zeref, Mard responds to Sting's complaint of human endangerment by calling humanity weeds in their path to their creator. Mard then whips his opponents away with his Prison Flower, but it, along with his arm, is frozen by Gray's Ice Devil Slayer Magic. Stunned, Mard asks exactly who Gray is and is shocked to learn that he's a Devil Slayer.

Mard is then attacked by Gray and recognizes Silver's Magic, stating that he always knew the man would betray him, but remarks that the way in which he was betrayed is fascinating. Attacking Gray, Mard's thorns are frozen almost immediately and he hit with a blast of ice. Subject to Gray's rage, a potentially fatal blow is stopped by a demonic Jiemma, which delights Mard; after Jiemma reveals to everyone that he chose to be remade into a Demon, Mard makes a claim that his power far surpasses the Nine Demon Gates' own. Smirking at Jiemma's threat to his life, Mard Geer says that the adjustments to Jiemma's emotions were a failure. As his wounds heal, Mard asks Gray if he believes his newfound power will work when he releases his true form and states that he, like E.N.D. will truly awaken after a long period of time; entering his Etherious Form, Mard reveals his true name, Mard Geer Tartarus, and states that they can call him the Underworld King; the definitive Demon. He then tells Natsu and Gray to step forth, calling their battle the final one.

Beginning, Mard spreads his new wings and summons a large number of very thick, dangerous thorns which are immediately burned and frozen by Natsu and Gray, respectively. However, the Underworld King immediately appears above the two Fairy Tail Mages and grabs them by their heads before soaring upwards; as he does so, he grinds the two Mages' faces off of the concrete structures that surround him, telling them that on the other side of Tartarus lies punishment for those that transgress against Demons, and that he's going to grind everything of theirs (even their emotions) away. However, before long, Gray and Natsu begin to resist and free themselves before ultimately punching Mard into the stone he was trying to kill them with.

Curse and Abilities
Thorn Curse (荊の呪法 Ibara no Jūhō): A Curse of Mard's which allows him to create a series of thorny rose vines, the Curse can be used as a means of "punishment" for those who cause inconvenience to Mard, as the vines wrap around the target extremely tight, digging the thorns rather deep into their body. Furthermore, through this Curse Mard is able to use his Curse Power in various ways, such as a thorn-imbibed shield or rose-shaped explosion, and grow flowers to attack opponents.
 * Thorns (荊, イバラ, Ibara): Mard summons a series of size-varying thorny vines (optionally done with the use of several hand gestures) from whatever surface he desires, which are capable of passing through the target's body, and ensnares his target of desire, rendering them, at least temporarily, incapable of movement.
 * Thorn Charge: By focusing his Curse Power around his index and middle fingers, Mard proceeds to point them to the target. Afterwards, he covers his person with a large, thorn-imbibed shield of Curse Power, to which he uses to protect from attacks. (Unnamed)
 * Thorn Projectile: Swiping his hand upward with his index and middle fingers, and thumb outstretched, Mard directs several thorns at their desired target. Its effects are, however, unknown due to its original casting being blocked entirely. (Unnamed)
 * Thorny Rose: Mard creates a rose composed of Curse Power that engulfs its nearby surroundings in a destructive explosion. (Unnamed)
 * Prison Flower (監獄の華 Kangoku no Hana): Mard grows a large, monstrous flower with spikes and chains around its bulb which he describes as "the prison flower which blooms in the Underworld" that can use its vine to attack opponents. It is also able to contain others inside its bulb, as seen when Jiemma emerged from it.

Alegria (喜びか, アレグリア, Areguria): By swiping his hand, Mard is able to make use of this Curse, which turns Cube into a gigantic monster called Plutogrim; a beast which Mard describes as being a gigantic prison. The name of the Curse refers to the joy that one is supposed to feel in regards to becoming one with Cube.

Telepathy (念話, テレパシー, Terepashī): Mard is able to hijack Warren Rocko's mental communication and talk to the Fairy Tail Guild's members. The original Telepathy user experiences great pain upon Mard entering the mental link, and a deafening noise resounds inside minds of the connected people. Furthermore, Mard is also able to telepathically communicate with everyone in Tartarus.

Etherious Form (エーテリアス フォーム Ēteriasu Fōmu): Like other Etherious, Mard Geer is able to transform into his true, more powerful form. His body becomes more muscular, and his skin darkens and gains the ragged pattern of his cloak. He gains long, dark horns on his forehead, jagged teeth, and retains his ponytail. His fingers are replaced with claws and his ears are elongated. He gains wings that are both light and dark in color.

Sensor: Mard was seen to be aware of the battle happening between Mirajane Strauss and Sayla, commenting on how the former's attempt at demonic powers could never match the power of a real Demon.

Expert Hand to Hand Combatant: Mard has displayed considerable skill in unarmed combat, having been capable of repelling simultaneous assaults from Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney, two Dragon Slayers, with no apparent effort, even when these came from two opposing directions or were enhanced with Magic, accomplishing all of this with one hand, with the other clutching the book of E.N.D.

Enhanced Strength: Mard's physical strength is remarkable even when in his human form, allowing him to easily parry Rogue's Shadow Dragon's Slash from behind his shoulder with a single hand, as well as to subsequently throw the opponent several meters away from him with that very same hand.

Enhanced Speed: Mard has shown himself to be very agile, able to quickly avoid the Celestial Spirit King's attack by jumping high into the air as well as evade his Meteor Blade. He has also displayed acrobatic prowess, able to perform multiple somersaults mid-air.

Enhanced Durability: Mard Geer is durable even while in his human form, being able to withstand powerful blows from Natsu, including direct punches to the head, as if nothing had happened.

Quotes

 * (To E.N.D.) "It shall begin soon... Darkness will pour forth from the doors of hell... a darkness to swallow all the world's light."


 * (To Kyouka) "It pains Mard Geer to think of his subordinates playing around with creatures lower than insects."


 * (To Kyouka) "This is not a consequence of your games with humans. This is for the pain you have caused Mard Geer."


 * (To himself during his fight against Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney) "I see. I can somewhat understand why Kyouka likes to play with humans. You don't think that death awaits you. Your ideals and actions are mostly led by feelings. And you don't realize your weaknesses. You're absolutely ignorant. So foolish that you're almost lovely."

Battles & Events

 * Lucy Heartfilia vs. Tartarus