Rala

"Dun, Dun." — Rala in "Treasure Hunters"

Rala
Japanese	ララ
Rōmaji	Rara
Alias	Hammer Rala (ハンマー・ララ Hanmā Rara)
Characteristics
Race	Human
Gender	Male
Hair Color	Black
Eye Color	Black
Professional Status
Affiliation	Sylph Labyrinth
Occupation	Treasure Hunter
Partner(s)	Drake Hiroshi
Personal Status
Status	Active
Relatives	Hammer (Grandfather; Deceased)
Magic
Weapons	Stronger
Debuts
Manga Debut	Chapter 343
Anime Debut	Episode 228
Portrayal
Japanese Voice	Shinnosuke Ogami
English Voice	Nick Landis

Rala (ララ Rara) is a member of the Treasure Hunting Guild Sylph Labyrinth.

Appearance

Full body view of Rala

Rala is a sturdy man of average height distinguished by his large head, disproportionate to his body. He has a massive, somewhat angled nose and round, beady dark eyes; the way his large mouth and eyebrows are kept makes it look like he's always retaining a frowning, stern expression, which changes to express shock only when the situations happen to be really astonishing. His tidy, straight dark hair juts outwards on top of his forehead in a pompadour-styled tuft, and his beard, connected to his hair and lacking a mustache, protrudes on his lower face in a series of squared shapes.

Rala's choice of clothing is the most distinguished in his group, with a light ascot tie appearing from the light collar of his elegant dark jacket, which is closed by three buttons, has light ruffled cuffs emerging from its sleeves and Sylph Labyrinth's symbol emblazoned on the torso's left section. The man's pants are light in color, with each leg being adorned by two dark stripes which go from the waist down to the rims, outlining his knee area with more, somewhat rounded motifs, and his shoes dark. Crossing his chest in a "x" shape and joined together by a squared buckle are the light straps meant to keep Rala's weapon, a hammer-shaped like a hand, secured to his back.

Personality

Rala appears to be the most silent member of his group, typically replying to his partners' sentences by merely saying his signature onomatopoeia "Dun" (even when they repeat things more than one time in a comedic fashion), which he can sometimes integrate into phrases or even utter during combat. He has been known to comedically switch his catchphrase to that of his comrade Hiroshi (who in turns uses Rala's "Dun") when in complicated situations, adding the world "super" to his sentences. Much like his comrades, he's prone to avoid confrontation, but, being aware that treasure hunting is a dangerous job, can join them in battle, if the time calls for it. He and his team are distinguished by a comedic trait, this being to stare at each other without saying anything before answering in a loud and angry tone whenever someone says something which angers them.

History

Not much is known about Rala's past, apart from the fact that at some point he became a member of Sylph Labyrinth and decided to attempt the stealing of the Eternal Flame, reputed as an "S-Class Super Treasure", from Sun Village. Failing multiple times due to the giants guarding it, he and his guildmates were happy to hear that the town and its occupants had been frozen, and together the group went out of their way to obtain a liquid form of Moon Drip in the hopes of taking the flame whilst it was unprotected.

Synopsis

Sun Village arc

Rala and his guildmates in the Sun Village

Rala and his guildmates arrive at the Sun Village to discover that Team Natsu, Wendy and Carla are already there investigating the frozen occupants. Calling out to them, Rala and his friends introduce themselves and tell the Mages to stay out of their way, as they claimed the Eternal Flame as their own first. When they hear that Fairy Tail plans to dispel the Enchantment on the giants, Rala and his friends complain that such a thing is getting in the way, and explain that they are using the frozen giants to their advantage, as they have been unable to obtain the flame before due to the heavy protection the giants provide it with. When Hiroshi reveals the group's Moon Drip, the Fairy Tail Mages suddenly realize they can use the substance to restore the village, and begin to pursue Rala and his friends to steal it from them.

Rala attacking Natsu

Running from the group, the Sylph Labyrinth trio makes for a nearby forest, before they decide that they will actually turn and try to fight Team Natsu. Rala pulls out his hammer and initiates the battle, assaulting Natsu, but failing to hit him. The Dragon Slayer counter-attacks with his Fire Dragon's Iron Fist, but is shocked to see the treasure hunter blocking it with his weapon. Rala proceeds to grab the Mage through the use of his hammer and send him flying against a nearby cliff. Once the Fairy Tail Mage is back on his feet, the two of them stare at each other, with Natsu admitting the Sylph Labyrinth members are capable fighters.

Rala attempts to stop Natsu from leaving with the Moon Drip

Continuing to stand off against Natsu, Rala stoically cheers when Hiroshi announces to the combatting Mages that they are not ordinary treasure hunters, as they have won the Grand Secret Treasure Games. However, Rala soon becomes mortified to see that Gray Fullbuster has stolen their bottle of Moon Drip, wondering aloud when and how such a thing occurred. As the Mages throw the bottle of Moon Drip around so as to keep it from them, the treasure hunters, Rala swings Stronger down upon Natsu Dragneel so as to prevent the Mage from making away with their precious substance. Rala, however, becomes mortified once more upon seeing Happy fail to catch the glass bottle, resulting in its breaking and spillage onto the frozen ground all before crying, alongside Hiroshi, in despair, calling Happy evil for having broken something as special as that.

Tensions then continue to escalate, as it is pointed out that the Moon Drip only melted a small part of the ice, leading Rala to realize that their plan was doomed for failure, despite thinking that they could unfreeze the Eternal Flame. Rala then turns to Hiroshi and the two comically swap catchphrases, with the hammer wielder stating that they should "super redo" their plan. Shortly thereafter, as Natsu runs away to find the voice he heard deep under the ice, Rala, sweating profusely, turns to his partners and wonders how they as treasure hunters can return empty-handed; the three conclude that they will steal Lucy's keys, as they are extremely rare and valuable before starting to make chase. In order to steal Lucy's keys, Rala and Hiroshi attempt to disguise themselves as Happy and Carla. Hiroshi panics when Wendy sees through their disguise, leading Rala to say he knew he should have taken the blue cat disguise. Ditching their disguises, they point to Lucy and say that they intend to take her keys. After Wendy attacks them for having tried to chop down one of the giants, they decide to fight and Rala says to kill Lucy and Wendy. As Drake then takes a shot at the two women, Flare Corona arrives and stops the bullet, surprising the treasure hunters.

Rala's defeat

Hiroshi and Rala stare angrily at Flare, having disrupted them. After Flare explains that she is from the Sun Village, Hiroshi tells her that they didn't freeze the giants as Rala says they just came for the Eternal Flame. Flare then attacks with her Crimson Hair, stunning Rala who pulls at his hair while exclaiming that she attacked with her hair. After Flare attacks Hiroshi, Rala tries to attack Wendy but is stopped by her Sky Dragon's Claw. Once Hiroshi is taken out by Flare again, Rala tries another attack on Wendy, this time grabbing her with his weapon and telling her she will never escape as she is just a little girl. After Lucy then provides the girls with some positive encouragement, Wendy breaks Rala's weapon using Arms, greatly shocking him. Wendy then finishes him with Sky Dragon's Wing Attack, sending him flying.

Having been defeated, Rala lies on the ground with his teammates after being turned into a kid by Doriate's Magic. Shortly thereafter, however, he changes back into his previous form when the Demon is dominated by Gray.

Alvarez arc

Note: Events in this arc occur only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

Click "show" to read the plot arc. 

Rala, alongside his teammates Hiroshi and Drake observed all the Magic Power flowing through the Kingdom to Lucy via Meredy's Magic, in order for her to successfully activate Fairy Sphere and seal Acnologia.

Abilities

Treasure Hunter Skills: Being a Treasure Hunter, Rala possesses a number of abilities that are not strictly combat-related. The one he was shown employing, however, proved to be ineffective and mainly comedic in nature.

• Disguise (変装 Hensō): Rala is supposedly capable of disguising himself as someone else in order to go unnoticed among the ones who were to know that person. In addition, this skill can seemingly be employed to assume the identity of animals, as shown from his impersonation of Carla. Such technique, however, proves to be rather ineffective, with the disguise not hiding his identity at all and being comedic at most: when pretending to be Carla, Hiroshi merely painted his face white, drew feline attributes (namely a nose, a stylized muzzle, and whiskers) on it, and moved around on all four limbs (which Exceeds are actually never shown doing). He ended his sentences with "Meowdun", combining the feline cry with his signature "Dun". When Lucy Heartfilia and Wendy Marvell saw through his and Hiroshi's disguise (with the latter acting as Happy), Rala remarked that it would have been better if he was the one pretending to be the "blue cat".

Rala employing his hammer defensively

Expert Hammer Specialist: Relying on melee combat, Rala has shown great skill in the use of an exclusive weapon, a massive "hammer" shaped like a hand, which he can use to land powerful blows. This tool, however, is unique in the fact that the treasure hunter can manipulate it, through unknown means, as if it were a real, functioning appendage: aside from wielding it in its standard, clenched form (allowing him to harness its blunt force to the fullest), Rala can have the fingers open, enlarging the weapon's surface and thus making it a good defensive tool (effective enough to stop even Dragon Slayer Magic), grab foes, who can subsequently be thrown as if the Sylph Labyrinth member had caught them with his own body, and catch hold of objects. This allows Rala to employ a more versatile fighting style.

Enhanced Strength: Rala's physical might is considerable, and is most evident in his ability to swing around a weapon as large as himself with no apparent effort. He was shown capable of reducing a stone to pieces with a downward blow of his hammer and could use this very same hammer to lift Natsu and send him flying several meters away from him, high up in the air and against a cliff.

Equipment

Stronger, Rala's "hammer"

Stronger (強化甲型鎚(ストロンガー) Sutorongā): Rala's weapon of choice is as large as it is outlandish: having granted the Sylph Labyrinth member his epithet of Hammer Rala, it does in fact look like an oversized metal gauntlet attached to a massive pole; a tool which he refers to by the name Stronger. Said "hammer" is more than a simple (though highly effective) blunt weapon: Rala has proven himself capable of manipulating its fingers as if they were alive, opening and moving them as a real, oversized hand would. How he does this, and whether such a feat is achieved through mechanics or Magic, is currently unknown. When not in use, the Sylph Labyrinth member carries the tool around strapped to his back, the head pointing upwards and the fingers clenched.

Quotes

• (To himself) "Dun, Dun."

Battles & Events

• Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster & Lucy Heartfilia vs. Drake, Hiroshi & Rala
• Lucy Heartfilia, Wendy Marvell & Flare Corona vs. Hiroshi, Rala & Drake