Elfman Strauss

For Elfman's Edolas counterpart, see Elfman (Edolas).

Elfman is a Mage of the Fairy Tail Guild, and the brother of Mirajane and Lisanna.

Appearance
Elfman is an extremely tall, massive and heavily muscular man with tan skin, who towers over most of his fellow guild members. His long white hair is kept styled upwards in long, wavy spikes, his dark eyes possess no visible eyebrows, and his rectangular, elongated face has a stitched scar running down its right side, crossing his right eye. His black Fairy Tail stamp is located on the left part of his neck. In his younger years, Elfman didn’t have the scar on his right eye, and his hair was shorter, with its style being reminiscent of a somehow messy bowl cut.

Most of Elfman’s attires have a Japanese look to them. His usual outfit resembles that worn by fictional, Japanese high-school tomboys: it consists of a dark blue jacket with purplish blue inners, held closed on the front by a line of large buttons, with similar buttons on the sleeves’ back and the zip located on the high collar left open. The back of his jacket is adorned by a large, light kanji, which reads “The greatest", and the jacket itself seems to be worn over a light red shirt, sometimes seemingly replaced by an A-shirt covered in many vertical lines. Elfman’s outfit is completed by loose pants matching his jacket, held up by a simple belt, and traditional Japanese geta sandals, held up by bands colored the same as his jacket’s inners. At the beginning of the Tenrou Island arc, Elfman, while retaining his sandals, switched to a light kimono shirt with elbow-long sleeves, mostly covered in dark, elongated spots and held closed around the waist by a similarly dark sash, which has dark, tight sleeves emerging from its own and reaching down below Elfman’s elbows, and loose dark pants reaching down below his knees. Shortly afterwards, while on the ship leading the S-Class Candidates to Tenrou Island, he wore a dark fundoshi with the front covered by a large cloth adorned by a white kanji, and he later donned dark pants alongside his standard sandals while remaining bare-chested. Elfman's outfit rarely remains intact: employing his Take Over Beast Arm prompts the sleeve of the arm Elfman uses the Magic on to be torn to pieces, leaving his arm bare, and his pants tend to get shorter, torn edges as a result of his Beast Soul: Full-Body Take Over changing the structure of his legs; when he makes use of it, his pants also gain extremely spiky higher edges. When he was younger, Elfman donned a more elegant, Western-looking attire, consisting of a black suit over a white shirt, with a red papillon around the neck, and polished dark shoes.

Personality
Previously, Elfman was shy and weak, with his only real talent being for cooking. This caring nature of his came in useful though, as he helped Natsu look after Happy's egg before it hatched.

Now, he is the strong willed, and pride powerhouse of Fairy Tail. He always uses the word "man" for showing his pride. He also scowled at Jet and Droy of Shadow Gear for putting Levy into trouble during their mission and also on their part failing to show the pride as a man.

Despite his huge appetite, he is always very kind as such when he lost his parakeet, he searched it for a whole week, but found a different one.

History
Sometime in his younger years, Elfman's parents died. He, along with his two siblings, joined the Fairy Tail Guild. He was around 12 years old at the time. When he was younger, he was quite shy and kind. During this time, out of all his siblings, Elfman was the only one who couldn't do a Full-Body Take Over. This depressed him because he was supposed to be a man. During this time, Elfman helped Natsu and Lisanna raise an egg they found.

In the year X782 he was deeply scarred by an incident where his younger sister, Lisanna, was supposedly killed when she tried to stop his rampage after he attempted to use Beast Soul: Full-Body Take Over. During his rampage, he hit Lisanna with great force, throwing her several meters. It's said that due to this, Elfman's heart was locked shut, despite his use of the spell to protect his sisters.

Macao arc
Elfman is first seen towering over Lucy, complaining about the noise and that they should use their fists to fight and show their manhood. He then joins in with the rest of the guild. When everyone tried to use Magic, the master arrived to stop the fight. Elfman is then scolded for assaulting the VIP that he was supposed to be escorting.

Galuna Island arc
When Lucy talks about Erza and Natsu fighting, she points out that two of the members of Fairy Tail's "strongest team" are fighting. Gray asks her where she heard that they were the strongest team. Mirajane admits it was her and cries, claiming she was just so excited. Elfman comments as well, stating he admires Erza and Natsu's strength, but there are much stronger people in Fairy Tail. Either way, Elfman agrees the battle will be interesting. As Elfman watches the fight, he praises his prediction.

After Erza is arrested, Elfman sits with the rest of the guild wondering her fate. Elfman, Loke, and Max wonder why the Magic Council is arresting somebody this time, as they have done so many other things in the past. After Macao is revealed to be disguised as Natsu so Natsu could go save Erza, Elfman gets angry at him, predicting Natsu will cause a huge rukus at the Magic Council. Makarov just tells the guild to calm down, and wait.

When Erza returns, Elfman instigates another fight between Erza and Natsu. After Natsu loses quickly, he falls asleep with the rest of the guild (except Makarov), due to Mystogan's arrival.

Phantom Lord arc
When Fairy Tail assaulted Phantom Lord, Elfman was seen taking out a few of their members (while talking about being a man) as well as fighting with Gajeel before Natsu interrupted. He was also later seen trying to comfort Lucy along with Gray, Natsu, and Happy. He, along with Gray, intervene with Natsu's fight against one of the Element Four (also stating that he shouldn't get sick in vehicles but make them sick instead). While searching Phantom Mk. 2, Elfman runs into Sol, a member of the Elemental 4, and is nearly beaten. He decides that he has to do a Full-Body Take Over in order to win, but remembers his sister Lisanna and fails to perform the transformation.

While fighting, Mirajane is attacked and taken hostage for pretending to be Lucy. Elfman, enraged when he sees this and determined to become strong enough to protect his sister, attempts and succeeds in a full-body Take Over, and easily defeats Sol. After defeating Sol, Elfman makes his way towards Mirajane, freeing her and apologizing to her for taking the form that killed his sister again. However, Mirajane comforts him and she figures out how to stop the Abyss Break. They later catch up to Gray who had just defeated Juvia Lockser and explain the details to him, and then joined up with Erza, who just defeated Aria, where Elfman couldn't believe she fought in such a serious state. Master Jose then arrives, complimenting them before taking Elfman and Gray out instantly. Elfman and Gray regain consciousness when Master Makarov arrives and are told to retreat. He is later seen celebrating the Guild's victory over Phantom Lord.

Fighting Festival arc
When the reporter for the weekly Sorcercer, Jason, comes, he asks Elfman what is manly to him. Elfman replies, "It's manly". Lucy gets upset that Jason is writing down stupid answers like Elfman's, instead of paying attention to her.

At the Harvest Festival's "Miss Fairy Tail Contest", Elfman watches his sister transform her head in Gajeel's. Elfman is shocked by her performance. After Evergreen arrives and petrifies seven female members of the guild, including Mirajane, in a scheme set up by Laxus Dreyar, Elfman becomes determined to save his sister and runs out into Magnolia Town with the rest of the guild so he battle against his guild mates to save the contestants.

He eventually runs into Evergreen. Elfman charges towards her claiming Evergreen should act like a man and not take hostages. Evergreen lifts her glasses, but Elfman is able to quickly close his eyes. Because of this he gets attacked by Evergreen, crashing into a flower stand. Elfman then uses Full Body Takeover and demands Evergreen revert Mirajane and everyone else back to normal. Elfman also has a blind fold over his eyes so he won't turn into stone himself. Evergreen mocks his idea at first, but is then a bit surprised after she dodges some of Elfman's accurate punches. She realizes Elfman's beastly sense of smell and uses Fairy Bomb: Gremlin to defeat Elfman. Evergreen then proceeds to petrify him with her Stone Eyes. He was later released due to the Evergreen's defeat at the hands of Erza Scarlet, and is then carred by Mirajane.

As they walk, Cana Alberona smashes through a wall, shouting at Freed Justine to take back what he said about Juvia being a "Phantom Girl". Cana is then subsequently defeated by Freed. Elfman, angered by the sight, limps towards Freed. After a brief conversation with Mirajane, Freed uses Dark Écriture: Pain, putting Elfman through a sensation of hurt. Freed then proceeds to use Dark Écriture: Fear, and finally Dark Écriture: Suffering. Elfman, then gets slashed multiple times. Freed then starts to finish Elfman off with Dark Écriture: Death. Mirajane, realizing she was about to lose another sibling, achieves Satan Soul and takes over the battle.

After the defeat of Freed, he was seen next to Cana carrying Juvia. He is then seen in the Fantasia Parade doing his Full-Body Take Over.

Oración Seis arc
Elfman is seen amongst the guild members getting a lecture and commenting on the Dark Guilds. When Team Natsu returns to Fairy Tail, Natsu tells Elfman about his big fight against Cobra, much to Elfman's frustration as he couldn't understand as to how a snake can fly if it's not even a man.

Daphne arc (Anime Only)
Note: Events in this arc occur only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

Elfman arrives to the scene along with Macao and Wakaba. He immediately runs up to Gray and punches him, knocking him out. He apologizes, claiming it was Makarov's orders. After Erza goes off the fight the Dragonoid, three of Daphne's Lizardmen copy Elfman, Wakaba and Macao, and proceed to attack. Elfman uses his Iron Bull, but the attack is blocked by the Lizardman's copy. Later, Elfman saves Macao from his Lizardman, and takes on the battle. After leaving Gray's body to him, Elfman uses his Full-Body Take Over, and eventually prevails. When he returns to the guild, he begs Mirajane and the guild to do whatever they can to save Natsu. After remembering how Natsu gave him strength after the death of Lisanna, he falls over from exhaustion. Wendy quickly comes to heal him. After the crisis he celebrates and smiles with the rest of the guild.

Edolas arc
Elfman lectures Jet and Droy about how to become stronger, and then departs with Mirajane to the church because it is the anniversary of their sister, Lisanna's, death. After the Anima strikes he is brought to Edolas. Later they are brought back from Edolas with the rest of Magnolia, thanks to Mystogan.

Following the event in Edolas, Mirajane and Elfman continued on to the graveyard and offer their prayers for the anniversary of their sisters death. At the time Elfman said that they should be leaving but Mirajane wanted to stay a little bit longer. Just then they hear a voice calling out to them and turn around to see Lisanna running towards them. Immediately left speechless, they couldn't believe their eyes but then become filled with joy when they reunite with a hug.

Tenrou Island arc
Following everyone's return to the guild, the rest of the guild members are exceedingly happy about the return of Lisanna. A lot of the people even thought up dirty thoughts so Elfman tried to keep everyone away from his sister.

Shortly after he enters another of Fairy Tails usual brawls and fought so much that he fell asleep alongside his sisters, Jet and Droy. The next day, when the master announces Fairy Tail's usual S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial, he gets picked as one of the selected candidates. Elfman reacts greatly and says this is the perfect opportunity to be a man above all men.

After the ceremony, Elfman talks with team Natsu and others about the contest, and gets angry that Lisanna teamed up with Juvia instead of him. But Lisanna tells Elfman that someone else has been wanting to partner up with him. He then sees Evergreen, who apparently wanted to partner with Elfman because Freed Justine chose Bickslow and not her.

As the participants head towards the island on a ship, Elfman is barely tolerating the summer season's hot weather. Shortly after the boat comes within sight of the island, the master arrives to explain the rules of the first trial. He explains there are eight paths to take on the island. Some of them will end in a battle between two of the contestants, a battle with an S-Class Mage, or the Quiet Path, which results in no battle. As the first trial starts, while everyone is still on the boat, Freed sets a rune barrier that prevents anyone from leaving the boat for five minutes. Evergreen counters this by rewriting the rune barrier, saying that because she has been with Freed for such a long time, she knows how to rewrite runes of this caliber. This allowed Elfman and Evergreen to bypass the rune barrier and head toward the island without any problems.

Evergreen and Elfman chose route A. Elfman finds out he will have to face his own sister, Mirajane. They both freak out since Mirajane claims she doesn't plan to go easy, and had already entered her Satan Soul, ready to fight.

Elfman and Evergreen beat Mirajane mostly by telling her they are engaged before knocking her out in her moment of shock. Elfman is then shown to be heavily injured so Evergreen has to help him walk; they are the last to clear the first trial and their appearance somewhat surprises everyone. After Natsu announces his challenge of seeing who becomes the S-Class Wizard, he just smiles and says that as a man, he will gladly accept.

When the second trial to find Mavis Vermilion's grave begins, Elfman and Evergreen run into one of the pig-like wild animals on the island. While Elfman and Evergreen are running he tells her where to go which upsets her. As they continue running, Elfman spews out more stuff about how men shouldn't run away, but Evergreen just wants him to stop talking. Right when the animal is about to trample them, Elfman grabs Evergreen and pushes him and her of harms way. They roll down a tunnel and back out into the wild with Elfman's body on top of Evergreen's. She pushes him off and reminds him that they just pretended to be engaged to beat Mirajane in the last trial and not to start thinking she actually liked him. Just then the Killing Mage runs into them while they are arguing.

He is surprised there are people on the island. Evergreen and Elfman wonder how he got here since they know that he wasn't in the guild. Elfman starts charging towards him, but before he can get too close the boy tells him to stop and not to come near him. He agrees to leave them alone, but suddenly he feels the "death praying" coming. A gray circle that kills anything in it starts to form around him and approaches towards Evergreen and Elfman. Just when they are about to be hit by the wave, Natsu comes and pushes them down onto the ground, saving their lives. Natsu shouts to the boy, asking who he is. After Happy arrives, and they all get up, everyone notices the trees around them had died due to the boys Magic. He then tells Natsu he has gotten strong, but after Natsu hits him, he realizes Natsu is still not able to "break him". When he senses another wave of death, he shouts for everyone to leave. After it passes, the boy is gone. Evergreen expresses concern for the exam, but Natsu and Elfman insist that they should carry on as its the S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial and so they move on with the exam, with Evergreen still not taking orders from Elfman. Later on, Evergreen and Elfman take the warning from Erza that the trial is on hold and they are about to take part in battle against an enemy.

Numerous Grimoire Heart Guild members then emerge from bubbles in the sky and prepare to fight the two. Elfman shouts that a man does not excuse intruders, and Evergreen notes all of them as pests. Nonetheless, the two easily dispatch all of them in their immediate vicinity. Rustyrose then arrives, and because of his weird personality and hand motions, Elfman questions if he is a man, to which Evergreen tells him that this person was an "idiot".

Rustyrose begins by summoning a giant armored creature which he calls Belcusas the Thunderclap, which then begins attacking the pair. Elfman protects Evergreen from an attack by the creature, telling her to petrify Rustyrose. She replies that she can't because he's wearing glasses and the two begin arguing after he calls her useless. Elfman then continues engaging Belcusas, telling Evergreen to defeat Rustyrose. However, Rustyrose transforms his arm into a claw and cuts her down. Distracted, Elfman is brought down by Belcusas. On the ground, the pair then listen as Rustyrose explains that once Grimoire Heart has acquired Zeref and made him king, they would all live in a world where non-Magic users are nonexistent. Rustyrose uses his Magic to display an Image of Zeref. Elfman and Evergreen then realize the boy they ran into earlier was actually Zeref himself.

As Elfman starts getting back up, he gets angry at what Rustyrose just said, saying that non-wizards make up 90% of the living world and that the support people provide for each other is what allows the world to exist. He then argues with Rustyrose, talking about how the trust between people allows for guilds to be formed, and Rustyrose laughs at this and talks about the horror of Zeref. Enraged, Elfman charges Rustyrose but gets slashed by his claw. As Rustyrose attacks again, this time Elfman catches his claw with his left arm and uses his Take Over Magic to transform his own right arm into a replica of the claw. He then attempts to hit Rustyrose with it, but the claw is deflected by Rustyrose's Golden Shield. However, Elfman managed to take his glasses and promptly crushes them, allowing for Evergreen to move in and petrify Rustyrose. Rustyrose then cuts down Elfman and Evergreen once more and it is seen that he is still wearing glasses. Rustyrose explains that his Magic allows him to materialize anything he wants and that he has never been beaten in his life. He says the name of his Lost Magic is Arc of Embodiment. Rustyrose then uses Tower of Dingir, which creates a tower from the ground which immobilizes them and lifts them both upward. About to be defeated, Evergreen apologizes to Elfman as she believes if she wasn't his partner, he would not be in this situation, but Elfman simply smiles and thanks her for the help she gave him so far. The tower then explodes, defeating the duo.

A heavily wounded Elfman later arrives at Fairy Tail's base camp carrying Evergreen. He starts getting frustrated and states that he is pathetic as a man since he not only lost, but was also unable to protect his sister and his partner. He also admits to the enemy being strong, and that they have no hope of winning against them. However Levy stands up and says that if the enemy is a strong group, then Fairy Tail should unite, put aside the differences they had during the trial, and fight to win against the enemy. Elfman is later seen resting alongside Evergreen, Mirajane and Gajeel, having succumbed to his wounds.

When Freed, Bickslow, Lisanna, Pantherlily and Levy are caught by Rustyrose in his Tower of Dingir, Bickslow uses his Figure Eyes to take control of Elfman, who attacks Rustyrose and releases him and the others from Rustyrose's Magic, resulting in Rustyrose's defeat at the hands of Freed and Lisanna.

After Natsu defeating Hades, he comes along with other injured Fairy Tail Mages, scaring off the remaining Grimoire Heart Mages who were going to attack Natsu and the others. After Makarov yells at Laxus, who had returned to help defeat Hades, Elfman is surprised how relentless the master can be sometimes. Mirajane just smiles, and wonders if Laxus will remain exiled now. Back at camp, Elfman gets angry at Evergreen when she accuses him of doing "bad things" while they were partnered. Later, Makarov tells the contestants the S-Class trial will be put on hold due to the recent events. Elfman, along with other contestants, and Gajeel, are shocked, but Elfman even admits later that even men have their limits.

After the dragon, Acnologia starts its rampage on Tenrou Island, Elfman runs towards the ship to escape, with the rest of the guild. He cries when Makarov fights the dragon to save everyone else. Elfman returns with the guild and fights Acnologia. Eventually the dragon flies into the air and prepares its final attack to destroy the island. All the Fairy Tail members hold hands, Acnologia finally destroys Tenrou Island with its Dragon Breath.

Magic and Abilities
Take Over (接収 (テイクオーバー) Sesshū (Teiku Ōbā)): Elfman, alongside his sisters Mirajane and Lisanna, is known for the accomplished use of Take Over, a form of Magic which, as the name implies, allows the user to take over the appearance and abilities of beings they really "know". It is their use of such Magic which made the three of them known as the "Take Over Siblings".


 * Beast Soul (ビーストソウル Bīsuto Sōru): Elfman's form of Take Over Magic, which allows him to record and seal a monster's body part he has touched into his right arm, gaining the ability to subsequently transform his arm into that of the creature. Elfman's use of Beast Soul seems to be somehow renowed, as several members of Phantom Lord were shown recognizing and acnowledging him through his use of it, and it is the reason behind his epithet "Beast Arm Elfman" (ビーストアームのエルフマン Bīsuto Āmu no Erufuman).
 * Enhanced Strength: Elfman's transformed arms exponentially boost his punching power, and seem to further increase his already high physical strength, making him strong enough to effortlessly lift and throw someone tens and tens of meters high up in the sky, making such individual disappear from sight.
 * Beast Arm: Reptile:
 * Beast Soul: Full-Body Take Over (ビーストソウル Bīsuto Sōru): Elfman's most powerful spell that changes his entire body to a large hairy monster with horns; it increases his speed and power drastically. He got this form when he took on a S-rank mission and tried to take over the king of beasts to save his sisters. The Beast was a revered beast across the land, and all of its powers now belong to Elfman. Despite his Full Body Transformation, he can change parts of his form.
 * Beast Arm: Black Bull (黒牛 Kokugyū): Elfman transforms his hand into a large black bull arm that increases his punches' power.
 * Beast Arm: Iron Bull (鉄牛 Tetsugyū): Elfman's arm transforms into a large metal bull fist that increases his punches' power.
 * Beast Arm: Stone Bull (獣の腕・石牛 Jū no Ude : Ishigyū): Elfman turns his arm into that of a stoned-body beast which increases his attack power.
 * Beast Arm: Jet Black Sword (漆黒の剣 Shukkoku no Tsurugi): After being pierced by Rustyrose's transformed arm, Elfman gained the ability to transform his arm into a form similar to that of Rustyrose's.

Mirajane
Mirajane is Elfman's older sister. The two are very close and care a lot about each other. After the supposed death of their sister, Lisanna, Mirajane was always there to reassure him it was not his fault, and not to cry, as Lisanna believed all living things die eventually. Elfman's love for his sister greatly shown during his battle against Sol, as he achieved Full Body Takeover when he thought Mirajane's life was in danger.

Lisanna
When Elfman was younger he was more emotional. His sister, Lisanna was always there to cheer him up. When his parakeet died, Lisanna tried to tell him all living things die and that it was going to be okay. Elfman ran away from Lisanna after this, making Lisanna herself cry. When Elfman remembers this he feels bad about his actions. Elfman felt responsible for Lisanna's death, and because of this was unable to use his Magic effectivley. When she returns, Elfman cries tears of joy, and becomes very protective over her.

Natsu Dragneel
Elfman considers Natsu a fair opponent, and aspired to beat him during the S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial. In the past, when Natsu found out what happened to Lisanna, Elfman kept apologizing to Natsu, claiming it was his fault. Natsu yells at Elfman for always blaming himself, claiming his crying won't make Lisanna smile. Natsu then yells at Elfman to be a man. This moment was very important to Elfman, as he also remembered how much Natsu had given to the guild at that time.

Evergreen
Elfman has a complex relationship with Evergreen. At first, the two were enemies due to the latter turning the former's sister to stone along with other female Fairy Tail members. Their conflict resulted in a battle with Elfman losing and also being turned into a statue. However, by the S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial came around, Evergreen wished to become Elfman's partner. Even so, the two bickered numerous times throughout the trial and fiercely denied being in love when Rustyrose made the suggestion. According to Evergreen, Elfman is the only person besides Laxus Dreyar to call her "Ever."

Appearances in Other Media
Elfman appears as a playable character in the first Fairy Tail Video Game, Fairy Tail Portable Guild, and its sequel, Fairy Tail Portable Guild 2. In both games, he is unlocked through quests.

Trivia

 * Elfman didn't have his scar when he took on the S rank mission with his sisters. However, after the job was finished, he had a bandage over his eye. His Full Body Beast Soul Take Over also shows the beast having a scar in the same place.
 * In Elfman's Sorcerer Interview, the best quality of Fairy Tail, according to Elfman, is that there are a lot of strong men in the guild. He wishes to become a man among men in the future. He has a good relationship with his sister, Mirajane. Elfman, like his older sister, did not wish to comment on the most difficult job ever taken.