Freed Justine

Freed Justine is a member of the Fairy Tail Guild who doesn't show his face often. He is the captain of the Thunder God Tribe and is known as 'Freed the Dark' by Laxus Dreyar.

Appearance
Freed is a slim man of average height with very long, light-green hair, almost reaching down to his waist, with long bangs framing his face, and the right one even covering the corresponding part of his face and eye; he also has a pair of thin strands jutting out backwards from the sides of his head, both taking on a lightning-like shape. His hair is gathered at the end and tied by a thin rope. Freed’s eyes are blue, with a distinctive, small beauty mark below his left one, and prominent eyelashes. His green Fairy Tail Stamp is located on the back of his left hand (despite having been initially shown on his right hand). After the conclusion of the Fighting Festival arc, Freed was briefly shown with his hair cut short, but returned to his old look shortly afterwards.

The most distinctive piece of Freed’s outfit is his double-breasted coat, almost reaching down to his knees, which possesses a wide collar, large lighter-coloured cuffs decorated by a darker line on the back part, and edges adorned by two, thin golden lines each. The buttons closing such coat are four; the coat itself has been shown in two different colours on different occasions, with these colours being red and black. Over it, around Freed’s waist, is a pair of buckled belts, to which Freed’s sword is attached, on his left hip. Around his neck is a light cravat tie, with the lower part tucked inside the coat. Freed’s attire is completed by a pair of loose light pants tucked inside simple boots, each sporting a line of small buttons on its outer side. His clothes, together with his physical features, make him somehow resemble a French nobleman from the Enlightenment period.

Personality
Freed seems to be the quietest of the Thunder God Tribe; while the three were infamous for rarely ever being seen at the guild, Freed was also the most reserved, remaining detached from the going-ons of the guild, and emotionally distant to those there. Although dedicated to following Laxus' direct orders, which place him at odds with his guild mates, he also cares for the well-being of his former friends and comrades, as he questioned Laxus when ordered to kill other Fairy Tail members. When Mirajane shouts at him, questioning whether they were friends, Freed closes his eyes and replies "we were once". Despite his calm and detached demeanor, Freed has a "soft spot" for others, and can be quite emotional at times. Though it had been hinted at, once Freed lost the will to fight against Mirajane, he burst into tears over being forced to harm his guild mates against his will, revealing his empathic side. Above all else, Freed is an honor-bound man, and when he feels indebted to someone, he will go out of his way to repay that debt, even if this goes against his own personal best interest. Similarly, he would never break his own rules. As of chapter 204, it has been shown he has a weakness for beautiful women in swimsuits (much to Cana's delight). However, this might just have been a ruse to cover for his deliberate defeat.

History
He hadn't returned to the guild for half a year, and hadn't met any of the newer members such as Lucy Heartfilia. During Fairy Tail's battle with Phantom Lord Guild, he was off in another town. He is a member of the Thunder God Tribe, a group of Mages who act as Laxus's bodyguards, with Freed as the self-proclaimed captain. Sometime before joining the Raijinshuu, Guild Master Makarov had asked Freed to supervise Laxus in hopes of stopping him from doing anything wrong. He is known as one of the "Mystery Men" along with Mystogan and Gildarts.

Fighting Festival arc
Freed was first seen together with the Thunder God Tribe in the Ghoul Spirit Guild, watching Bickslow and Evergreen defeating the Dark Guild's members. The three then talk about something that Laxus is planning and heads home to Fairy Tail. After Evergreen petrifies the Miss Fairy Tail contestants, Laxus, Freed and Bickslow reveal themselves. He listens as Laxus challenges Makarov to know who is the strongest in Fairy Tail. After Laxus explains the rules of the festival, he, together with his bodyguards, leaves. It was revealed the Freed has set up a barrier around Fairy Tail that keeps Makarov, the girls, and strangely, Natsu and Gajeel from leaving the guild. He also set up multiple enchantments all over Magnolia that forces anyone trapped in there to fight one another.

As Reedus Jonah tries to reach Porlyusica to find a cure for the girls' condition, Freed appears and the two start to fight each other. However, Freed proved to be too powerful for Reedus as he was defeated easily. Freed is then confronted by Alzack Connell who uses his Guns Magic to attack, but Freed easily deflected it, and because of his enchantments, Alzack collapses from lack of oxygen.

After Erza Scarlet defeats Evergreen, he arrives at Laxus' side, saying that only himself or Bickslow could defeat Erza. Laxus asks him what he was doing there, to which Freed replies that since the girls are no longer stone, the game is over. Laxus intimidates him with his lightning and tells him that if he chickened out, he should go since he doesn't need weakling in his Fairy Tail. After Laxus activates the Thunder Palace, Freed is shocked to know that Laxus would go that far, but Laxus tells him that it is a battle and that its not over until one side is obliterated. Laxus then tells him to go and kill Cana Alberona and Juvia Lockser. Freed tries to argue that they are still members of the guild, but intimidated, decides to follow Laxus, saying that he would follow him even to hell.

After Bickslow's defeat, Freed comes across Cana and Juvia and manages to trap them in one of his enchantments. Forced to fight Cana, Juvia, after being reassured by Freed that he will fight the winner, decided to incapacitate herself by attacking one of the lacrimas. As she faints, Juvia explains to Cana that she only wanted Fairy Tail to accept her as a member since she loves them. Cana tells her that she was already accepted and Juvia faints with a smile on her face. An angry Cana then charges at Freed with tears in her eyes.

Mirajane and Elfman arrive as Freed was defeating Cana. Elfman tries to battle Freed, but Freed deems him defeated and using his Magic Dark Écriture, tortures Elfman. Mirajane tries to tell him to stop but Freed ignores her and continues torturing Elfman. As Freed was about to kill Elfman, Mirajane's dormant powers awakened making her able to use her Magic Take Over and charges straight at Freed. Freed tries to use his Magic to evade her attacks to no avail and he finally sees the demon within the angelic Mirajane. As Mirajane overpowers him with her speed and strength, Freed decided to use his Dark Écriture: Darkness changing himself into a demon as well.

However, Mirajane proves to be too powerful and was able to pin him to the ground. As she was about to deal the finishing blow, Mirajane remembers Lisanna's face and deactivates her Satan Soul, saying that the fight is meaningless and that they are supposed to be allies. Freed denies this, and tells her that Laxus is his only ally. As Mirajane continues to talk, Freed's eyes begins to fill with tears and confesses that he never wanted to do what he's done and the two lose their will to fight and reconcile with each other.

After Laxus' failed attempt to cast Fairy Law, Freed arrives at Caldia Cathedral and informs Laxus that everyone is safe. He explains that his heart still cares for his comrades and that was the reason Fairy Law failed.

After Laxus was excommunicated, Freed is seen along the Thunder God Tribe. As Evergreen and Bickslow try to convince Laxus not to go, Freed just watches them. After Laxus leaves, Freed thinks that they will meet again. After the parade, Freed (with a new hair style) is the one who convinces Makarov to not give up the title as master, asking him for Laxus' sake.

Edolas arc
Freed is seen celebrating the arrival of Wendy Marvell and Charle at their Welcome Party. He is later seen waiting for Gildarts Clive to arrive standing next to Erza and Evergreen. He was sucked through the Anima and turned into lacrima along with the rest of the guild and the town of Magnolia. However, they were freed thanks to Mystogan, who returned everyone back to Earth Land (excluding Gray Fullbuster, Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, Erza, Gajeel, Charle, and Happy), through the Reverse Anima Process, and so he, like all the rest of the guild and Magnolia is unaware of the events of Edolas.

Tenrou Island arc
Freed appears again along with Bickslow and Evergreen at Fairy Tail telling Lisanna that it's a relief to have her back, and that she's okay. Lisanna acts surprised since their team rarely came to the guild while she was still in Earth Land.

A few days later, he witness the announcement of the S-Class Wizard Trial, and is announced as a candidate who will partake. Freed is easily thrilled and has high desires to win and intends to take up Laxus's vacant spot among the S-rank. He chooses Bickslow as his partner for the trial, to Evergreen's dismay.

As the participants head towards Tenrou Island, Freed is waiting patiently for their arrival to their destination. Shortly after, the master arrives to explain the rules of the first trial. Before the first trial started, Freed thought ahead and used a rune to trap everyone except him and Bickslow on the boat for 5 minutes. As they fly towards the island, Bickslow asks why Freed didn't simply trap them for good. He said that if he did then it wouldn't be a fair trial. They arrive on the island first and has the luxury to choose any path they want. After they realize that their chosen path leads to a battle with Cana and Lucy, they smirk, thinking that they have won anyway, since Lucy doesn't have Loke to fight Bickslow and Cana couldn't even touch Freed during their last encounter. Freed then tells Cana that this is as far as she'll go and he'll be the one taking Laxus's place. Cana, determined, says "fine" and that they also have their own reasons for becoming S-Class Mages. Freed, blushing, asks if they can put some clothes on because it's too distracting.

Cana hears him and takes out her sexy lady card knowing now that women in swimsuits is his weakness. Ladies in bikinis come out of the cards and start crowding around Freed. Bickslow tells him to keep it together and he just starts fighting Cana and Lucy. Lucy then opens the gate to Virgo, thinking that women also might distract Bickslow. Bickslow says that that doesn't work on him and easily beats Virgo because of how weak she is. Cana used the Prayers Fountain card, but they're still able to dodge it. Lucy realizes there's water so she opens the gate to Aquarius. Aquarius sends forth a strong wave of water, so Freed and Bickslow get knocked out while Lucy and Cana regained consciousness from holding on to something. Lucy and Cana win the fight and walk into the 2nd round.

Bickslow asks Freed if he can really accept this, and Freed replies by saying, "Yeah." Freed says that he would have fought seriously if it was somebody else, but he owes Cana so he already decided if he were to face them then he would let them win. Bickslow says that it's a bit much that women is his weakness and Freed agrees. Bickslow admits that he was excited about taking Laxus's spot, but Freed states that that's not important. He continues by saying that it's about Fairy Tail, and Laxus would come back someday. Bickslow thinks about how "to think they'd run into Cana and Lucy," and says that they sure are lucky. They then head back to the guild with Gildarts.

Later both him and Bickslow make a surprise return to the island and engage Rustyrose in battle both claiming that they cannot forgive him for what he has done. As Bickslow attacks Rustyrose with his puppets, Freed tried to use his Dark Écriture: Pain technique on him. However Rustyrose evades both attacks. Bickslow then attacks a newly transformed Rustyrose and Freed follows through with his Dark Écriture: Absolute Shadow to attack him. As Bickslow tells Rustyrose to get up, Freed tells him that there is no redemption for him.

Rustyrose then uses the attack Ghosts of the Britear on Freed and Bickslow and the ghosts produced begin to wrap around Freed's and Bickslow's bodies. Freed is later seen collapsing when Azuma destroys the Great Tenrou Tree. After Erza defeats Azuma, the battle between Freed, Bickslow and Rustyrose resumes. Cornered, Rustyrose uses the same attack he used to defeat Evergreen and Elfman, the Tower of Dingir, and Lisanna, Levy and Pantherlily get caught in the attack too. However, Elfman frees them after he is possessed by Bickslow, and he unexpectedly hits Rustyrose from behind. Lisanna uses her Magic to transform her arms into wings and teams up with Freed, giving him with her legs a boost and the strength to quickly fly towards Rustyrose and give him the finishing blow, putting an end to the battle.

When Natsu and the others return to the camp, Freed and Bickslow are seen reviewing the situation while Pantherlily informs them about the Grimoire Heart Battle Ship's location. When Natsu is ready to go fight Hades, Freed says he will be defense, as he still needs to inscribe some enchantments. Freed and Bickslow tell the attack team to leave the defenses to them.

Magic and Abilities
Dark Écriture (lit. Writing of Darkness)(闇の文字 (闇のエクリテュール) Yami no Moji (Yami no Ekurityūru)): Freed's primary Magic, which allows him to write runes in the air, either with his sword or his own fingers. Such runes, depending on what is written, will have different effects. Dark Écriture comes in as an extremely useful form of Magic, with the runes being used ranging from offensive ones, which can inflict excruciating pain onto the targets, making it impossible for them to fight back, or even infuse them with specific feelings, to those capable of changing Freed's own appearance, to make him more formidable in combat or grant him added advantages and capabilities.
 * Teleportation: Freed seems to be able to teleport by turning his own body into a multitude of runes. Such runes float in the air and go to the place where they unite to form Freed's body again. (Unnamed)
 * Dark Écriture: Reflect (闇の文字・拒絶 Yami no Ekurityūru: Kyozetsu): Writing a rune in thin air, Freed can reflect an incoming projectile. It was only used once, so the extent of its reflecting power is unknown. (Anime Only)
 * Dark Écriture: Pain (闇の文字・痛み Yami no Ekurityūru: Itami): Writing runes on his opponents, Freed can inflict immense pain upon them. This spell can be used repeatedly to maximize the inflicted pain, with him slashing the enemy many times in rapid succession.
 * Dark Écriture: Fear (闇の文字・恐怖 Yami no Ekurityūru: Kyōfu): Writing runes on his targets, Freed will prompt them to lose courage and become terrified.
 * Dark Écriture: Suffering (闇の文字・苦しみ Yami no Ekurityūru: Kurushimi): Writing runes on his targets, Freed will seemingly inflict more and more pain upon them. This spell seems to have similar effects to Dark Écriture: Pain.
 * Dark Écriture: Death (闇の文字・死滅 Yami no Ekurityūru: Shimetsu): This spell was never seen, but, given its name and Mirajane's reaction when Freed tried to use it on Elfman, it likely causes the target to die.
 * Dark Écriture: Wings (闇の文字・翼 Yami no Ekurityūru: Tsubasa): Writing runes on himself, Freed gains a pair of Magical wings composed of runes on his back.
 * Flight: Through the use of such wings, Freed becomes capable of flying with great agility and maneuvrability.
 * Enhanced Speed: Freed sprouts wings that allows him to momentarily dodge Mirajane's attacks.


 * Dark Écriture: Darkness (闇の文字・暗黒 Yami no Ekurityūru: Ankoku): A forbidden spell which Freed uses only as a last resort: writing runes on himself, he turns into a dark-colored demonic-like creature.
 * Enhanced Strength: While in this form Freed has enough strength to clash with Mirajane while she was in her demon form.


 * Dark Écriture: Absolute Shadow (闇の文字・"絶影" Yami no Ekurityūru: Zetsuei): Writing runes on himself, Freed turns into a dark-colored armored knight.
 * Dark Écriture: Destruction (闇の文字・滅 Yami no Ekurityūru: Metsu): A seemingly powerful slash inflicted onto the user's opponent.

Darkness Magic (闇の魔法 Yami no Mahō): In the anime, through the use of Dark Écriture: Darkness, Freed is able to cast Darkness Magic.
 * Darkness Breath: Freed charges dark energy and shapes it into a tornado, which strikes his enemies. (Anime Only)
 * Darkness Flare Bomb: Freed creates a bomb made from darkness energy. (Anime Only)

Jutsu Shiki (術式 Jutsu Shiki): Freed's enchantments are basically traps that can only be deactivated by completing the requirements set by him.

Expert Hand to Hand Combatant: While in his demon form, Freed was able to keep up with Mirajane for a short period of time with hand-to-hand combat, demonstrating great prowess.

Expert Swordsmanship Specialist: Even without his Magic, Freed can fight proficiently with his sword, having displayed excellent swordplay. He was seen cutting Alzack's wind bullets with ease.

Equipment
Sword: Freed wields a sword that resembles a rapier with the Fairy Tail symbol carved on the hilt for using his fighting and his Magic. Freed uses his sword as a pen when he is writing the runes of his Magic.

Major Battles

 * Thunder God Tribe vs. Ghoul Spirit
 * Reedus Jonah vs. Freed Justine
 * Cana Alberona vs. Freed Justine
 * Elfman vs. Freed Justine
 * Mirajane vs. Freed Justine
 * Fairy Tail vs. Daphne's Lizardmen & Dragonoid
 * Lucy Heartfilia & Cana Alberona vs. Freed Justine & Bickslow
 * Freed Justine, Bickslow & Lisanna vs. Rustyrose

Appearances in Other Media
Freed appears as a playable character in the second Fairy Tail Video Game, Fairy Tail Portable Guild 2. In the game, he is unlocked through quests.

Trivia

 * When Freed was first shown, his Fairy Tail mark was on his right hand, but when he showed up at the Cathedral, after Laxus castes Fairy Law, his mark was seen at his left hand.
 * At the end of the Fighting Festival arc, he is seen with short, shaved hair whilst convincing the master to keep his position. However, during Wendy and Charle's welcome party, Freed has his full length original hair again.
 * Freed's name was originally Albion (アルビオン Arubion). However, because other members of the Thunder God Tribes have long name, Mashima changed it to balance things out.  Freed's originally going to use ancient texts as his magic, and from the word "old" in japanese, with a few phonic changes, became "Freed".  (Process went from 古いぞ(Furui zo), to ふりーぞ(Furīzo), to　フリード(Furīdo)).