Erza Scarlet

"All I have ever wanted is the strength to protect those I hold close to my heart. I would give up all my strength if I could still guarantee their safety."

- Erza Scarlet

"No matter what you try to steal from me... the light that lights my path cannot be stolen by anyone. Even if I cannot see, even if I cannot hear, there is a light within me. The path I have walked alongside my friends will light my tomorrow. I have nothing to fear!"

- Erza to Kyôka.

Erza Scarlet is the female deuteragonist of the anime/manga series Fairy Tail. She is an S-class Mage from the Guild Fairy Tail. Like most Fairy Tail members, she shows great loyalty and dedication to Makarov and the guild. In her past, she was a slave in the Tower of Heaven, along with her childhood friend and love interest Jellal Fernandes.

She is voiced by Sayaka Ohara in the Japanese version of the anime and Colleen Clinkenbeard in the English version, both of whom also voice Yuuko Ichihara and Therestina Kihara Lifeline.

Appaerance
Erza is a tall, very beautiful young girl with long scarlet hair and dark brown eyes. She lost her right eye as a little girl and now has an artificial one which was created by Porlyusica. She has a slender, voluptuous figure that Lucy Heartfilia described as "amazing". Her most common attire consists of a custom-made armour by Heart Kreuz smiths, a blue skirt, and black boots. Her Fairy Tail stamp is blue and is located on the middle of her left upper arm. Erza's speciality in Requip Magic allows her to requip not only armours but different outfits as well, allowing her to change her attire at any given time. And like most women in the series, she has large breasts.

Personality
Erza is a very strict girl, often criticizing the bad behaviour and habits of the other guild members, causing most of them to apologize, fearing that they might invoke her wrath. She is also very impatient, disliking people who don't answer her questions quickly enough. This, coupled with her own tragic childhood, caused many of her guildmates to avoid her due to her social awkwardness. However, she has a great sense of justice and pride in being a member of Fairy Tail and is a genuinely brave and kind-hearted young lady who will risk everything to protect her friends, especially Gray and Lucy who are as close as siblings to her. She had a crush on natsu long way back and even on manga secretly.

According to Lucy in the letter she wrote for her mother, Erza is "cool and beautiful, warm and full of passion", while to Erza Knightwalker she stated that Erza is strong, cool and a little scary, but relied on by everyone, even so she can be really girly and likes sweet things and cute clothes. Jellal, when he had lost his memories, remembering nothing but the name "Erza", said her name was "full of kindness, brightness and warmth".

Although initially believed to be more sane than the rest of Fairy Tail by Lucy, Erza soon shows that she has a number of odd quirks and is, in her own way, just as wacky as anyone else in the guild. She has an obsession with fashion and jewelry and eats a lot of food, flying into a rage whenever she's interrupted, though these are likely a result of her being forced to wear nothing but rags and kept on the brink of starvation during her days as a slave.

Erza describes herself as someone who was always crying, since she wasn't able to protect those dear to her. Several examples are when Rob tried to shield her from destruction, and when Jellal was captured because he saved her and was brainwashed by "Zeref". Also, Erza has stated that she feels uncomfortable and insecure when she's not wearing armour. However, when Erza encounters Ikaruga, she overcomes her fear and defeats her without her armour. After the Tower of Heaven gets destroyed, Erza finally moves on from her past and becomes a considerably more cheerful person.

While drunk, she acts very aggressive towards others, this is shown by her behavior towards her guildmates. She also seems to have a problem recognizing people while being drunk. Despite her reserved personality and mostly dressing in her conservative Heart Kreuz armor, Erza has shown to have very little modesty and an unusual view on the concept in general. Many of her armours are skimpy, revealing and feminine, and when out of armour, she has an affinity for sexy and revealing clothing.

As mention by Levy, Erza has a secret fondness for smut and erotic novels.

History
Erza grew up in Rosemary Village, the same place where Kagura and Simon lived as children. When Rosemary Village was attacked by a Zeref-following cult, Erza managed to save Kagura from capture by hiding her inside a crate, but got caught herself as a result. She was enslaved by the cult and forced to build the Tower of Heaven, a structure developed for the purpose of resurrecting the Dark Mage, Zeref. She was imprisoned together with several other slaves, most of them were children. Among these children were Jellal Fernandes, Shô, Simon, Wally Buchanan,and Millianna. While they were asking each other for their names, she said that her name was just "Erza", so Jellal decided to give her the surname "Scarlet" after her scarlet hair so they would never forget it. Despite the harsh conditions of her enslavement and labor, Erza became close friends with the other children. She also formed a strong bond with Rob, an elderly Mage from the Fairy Tail Guild, who taught her about Magic and his guild.

The revolt appeared to be successful at its inceptionuntil the tower's Mages arrived to repress the slaves, causing most of the other slaves to retreat. During the attack, Erza watched in horror as her friend Simon's lower jaw was blasted off by a Magical attack, while Rob sacrificed himself to defend Erza from another Mage's attack. In her rage, Erza's latent Magic Power was activated for the first time, and she used it to turn all of the discarded weapons and tools around her against the guards, finishing the revolt. One day in X776, Shô came up with a plan for the eleven-year-old Erza and all their friends to escape from the tower. They were unfortunately caught by the guards, who decided to send the escape's mastermind to the tower's disciplinary chamber, while the rest would be deprived of food for three days. Seeing how fearful Shô was, Erza prepared to take the blame herself, but Jellal announced himself as the mastermind instead. However, the guards reasoned that Erza was the one responsible and sent her to the disciplinary chamber,where she was tortured to the brink of death and lost her right eye. Jellal rescued her, but was captured soon after. Finally fed up with their torment, Erza staged a revolt against their captors so they could escape and save Jellal.

As the other slaves boarded ships meant to ensure their freedom, she reunited with Jellal, but discovered that he had changed; the kind and compassionate boy she knew him to be was suddenly twisted and violent, using Magic to slaughter the defenseless guards around them. Jellal had been possessed by what he claimed to be the spirit of Zeref, and decided that the only way for them to attain true freedom was to complete the Tower of Heaven and revive Zeref. Erza refused to help him, prompting Jellal to cast her out of the tower by herself, only letting her live because she helped take care of all the guards who would have opposed him. Before letting her escape, Jellal told Erza to keep the Tower of Heaven a secret from the government, as well as to never return to the tower, threatening to destroy the tower and kill everyone in it, including their friends, if she disobeyed.

After washing up on the shores of Fiore, Erza made her way to and joined the Fairy Tail Guild. She habitually began to wear armor and acted distant from the other members. After Gray, who tried picking fights with the reclusive Erza, saw her crying by herself and questioned why, she began to open up to her guildmates more. Around this time, Fairy Tail's master Makarov brought Erza to see Porlyusica, who gave her an artificial eye to replace the one she lost. With her eye healed Erza shed tears of joy, which only came out of her real, left eye, though Erza didn't mind as she said she had already shed half of her tears.

As the years passed, Erza became more and more strict until she could be called the guild's disciplinarian. She took responsibility for breaking up fights between Gray and Natsu. At the same time, however, she was driven to constantly fight and bicker with fellow member Mirajane, which eventually ended after Mirajane greatly mellowed out in the wake of her younger sister Lisanna's apparent death in X782. In the year X780, Erza passed Fairy Tail's annually held S-Class Mage Promotion Trial, becoming the youngest member of the guild to do so at fifteen years of age.

Magic and Abilities
Sword Magic: In addition to her signature Magic, Requip, Erza is also an extremely talented user of Sword Magic. As the name implies, this is a type of Magic which revolves around the use of swords. Through the use of this Magic, Erza is capable of using her swords to perform different Magical attacks. This is usually done in combination with specific armors of hers, which can make her deadlier in close melee combat or, when combined with her. It is also shown in the anime that she can also combine different armors with other swords from other armors to either block or attack using deadlier force and mixing different elements together. Telekinesis, allows her to target opponents which are out of her physical range.

Requip: The Knight: Requip is Erza's signature form of Magic, over which she possesses great mastery. It is a type of Magic that allows her to swap weapons, armor and clothes at will. Her particular form of Requip is called The Knight. She is noted for her ability to Requip extremely fast and is the only sword Mage known to be capable of Requipping weapons and armor while fighting, something which made her and her immense strength well known throughout her place of residence, Magnolia Town, and throughout the entire Kingdom of Fiore, earning her the epithet "Titania". Telekinesis: Erza is also a skilled user of Telekinesis. The first time she used this Magic, however, was accidental. When she was a child in the Tower of Heaven she used this Magic to levitate discarded weapons from the ground and launch them at her enemies, something which she did inadvertently, due to the shock caused by Rob's death. Erza's most common use of Telekinesis comes with her Sword Magic, in which she can perform different attacks by controlling her swords remotely.
 * Demon Blade Crimson Sakura: A sword spell where Erza focuses all her Magic Power into the blade for maximum offense.

Keen Intellect: Erza has proven herself to be clever and to possess a thorough knowledge of the Magic world: she was able to figure out why the people of Galuna Island were changing into demons (or thought they were) after only a brief period on the island, and could work out the mechanics behind Midnight’s Reflector Magic after being struck by it only few times, something which got her praise from Jellal Fernandes.

Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Erza possesses great mastery in swordsmanship and her skills in swordsmanship are of the highest caliber. Her offensive capabilities mainly come from her swordplay, which enables her to effectively utilize the weapons that her Requip provides, which includes swords, short swords, axes, lances and staffs (among others). Erza has shown great skill in utilizing the reverse-grip of swordsmanship as well as the normal grip. She is even capable of employing her swords effectively using her feet, by wielding their hilts between her hallux and second toe. Her swordsmanship is enough for her to slash through Aria's presumably intangible airspaces, and to deflect hundreds of needles which were shot at her by Evergreen with relative ease. In addition, her sword slashes possess so much force behind them that they are able to slice through metal using only the air pressure from the swings.

Expert Hand to Hand Combatant: Despite favoring the use of her various weapons, Erza has proven herself to be a skilled hand-to-hand combatant. Despite her being bound to a wall, she was able to easily knock Shô unconscious with a single kick.She was also able to engage Erza Knightwalker in an unarmed fight after all of their weapons were shattered in their previous battle, attacking her counterpart with powerful punches and performing throws and takedowns to push her away. She is also able to mix hand to hand combat with her swordsmanship while in the midst of battle.

Immense Endurance: Erza has been shown to possess a vast amount of physical endurance. After using up all of her Magic Power during her fight with Azuma by focusing it all in a single slash,she was still able to join the battle against Hades, Requipping different armors and performing combo attacks with her teammates. She was also able to fight and hold her own against a Mage of Jellal Fernandes's caliber after having fought and defeated Ikaruga, a very powerful assassin from Death's Head Caucus.

Enhanced Strength: In stark contrast with her slim and womanly figure, Erza possesses a very large amount of physical strength, having been repeatedly shown capable of lifting and dragging around objects many times her own size and weight,most prominently due to her habit of carrying around vast amounts of luggage. She was also able to send Midnight flying against a wall, several meters away from both of them, with a flick of her wrist. In addition, her sword slashes possess so much force behind them that they are able to slice through metal using only the air pressure from the swings.

Immense Reflexes: Erza possesses extremely sharp reflexes, and a high degree agility and speed. Despite her being severely battle worn, she was able to dodge a blast from Jose Porla while balancing herself on one hand.

Immense Durability: Erza has also proven herself to have a vast amount of physical durability: with the aid of her Adamantine Armor, she was able to take the brunt of the Magical Convergent Cannon - Jupiter on herself, and then go on to easily defeat Aria, an S-Class Mage, and go toe-to-toe with Jose Porla, the Phantom Lord Guild Master and a former member of the Ten Wizard Saints, after receiving only a very brief amount of time for rest.While clad in her Heaven's Wheel Armor, she was capable of taking on the counter effect of 200 Lacrima orbs from Laxus' Thunder Palace even though the effect of one of the orbs is enough to endanger someone's life.and she was also able to survive the highly-damaging Terra Clamare twice, and still manage to continue to fight and defeat Azuma. When Ultear Milkovich used her Arc of Time to open up Erza's "Second Origin", Erza showed no signs of being bothered at all, unlike her teammates, including Gray Fullbuster, Natsu Dragneel, and Juvia Lockser, who couldn't walk and writhed around on the floor in pain. In addition, during the third day of the Grand Magic Games of X791, Erza was able to fight and defeat 100 powerful monsters, and, despite being heavily injured and bruised, she left the fight without showing any signs of fatigue, something which garnered her praise from hundreds of people including quite a few powerful Mages. Even though one of the monsters was said to be so powerful that even a Ten Wizard Saint might not be able to defeat it. Erza was also able to withstand Minerva's extremely destructive Yagdo Rigora spell with only slight damage.

She was also able to skilfully and acrobatically dodge a barrage of Darkness Magic Spells from Jellal Fernandes, when he knocked her through the walls of the Tower of Heaven she launched herself off of a few small falling rocks back into the tower with ease.When Evergreen shot a few rays at her as a surprise attack, Erza easily dodged the rays with a side jump.

Immense Magic Power: As an S-Class Mage of the Fairy Tail Guild, Erza possesses a tremendous amount of Magic Power. Throughout many difficult battles Erza was able to Requip powerful armours in rapid succession without showing any signs of fatigue. She was also able to Requip her Heaven's Wheel Armor and over 200 swords after Requipping her Lightning Empress Armour without running out of Magic Power. When exerted, her Magic Power is red in colour.

Quotes
"I've heard you've been causing trouble again. Even if Master forgives you, I won't."

- Erza to Fairy Tail.

"My companions make my heart strong. If I'm fighting for those I love, I care not what happens to this body."

- Erza to Jose Porla.

"If I don't wear my armor, I won't feel secure."

- Erza to Shô.

"We don't die for our friends, we live for our friends."

- Erza to Herself.

"I won't allow it! I won't allow you to die like this! You've committed crimes! You must remember everything! Don't think you can be at ease without knowing anything! Don't expect to be forgiven by the people who you've hurt! Live and struggle!"

- Erza to Jellal Fernandes.

"As long as you laugh at people's suffering, your goal will always out of reach. If you never want to be defeated, you must first learn your own weakness, and always be kind"

- Erza to Midnight.

"I wonder for how long... How long will I remain anchored at this harbor known as battle?""

- Erza to Jellal Fernandes.

"It is always sad to part with those whom you love but your companions will help you bear that sadness."

- Erza to Wendy.

"Listen, Erza!! You've got the same evil and weakness in you that I have, so you must also have the same heart, which is capable of loving others! Listen for the voices of all living things with all your heart! They’re calling out with their true voices! You are not alone!"

- Erza to Erza Knightwalker.

"But what's important isn't the Magic, it's the heart of the wielder who uses it."

- Erza to Panther Lily.

"All I need is the power to be able to protect my comrades. So long as I can have the strength to do that, I don't care if I'm weaker than everyone in the world."

- Erza to Azuma.

"It's not that I was protecting everyone...I was the one always being protected."

- Erza to Herself.

"If you're going to say that you don't remember anything, I'll strike my sword on your heart and make you remember!"

- Erza to Jellal Fernandes.

"Being alive...is a sign of strength!"

- Erza to Jellal Fernandes.

"Cobra ... You said that you are strong because you lost everything, doesn't it? But this isn't true strength! People become stronger when they have something to protect! If you have a true friend, that friend will support you! But you only think about yourself! Do you think you could actually hear the voice of this friend?! Don't you feel shame when you think of your friend?! Feelings by friends do not drag you down."

- Erza to Cobra.

"I don't care if you're the strongest or the top guild in Fiore, but I will tell you this. You've made enemies of the worst possible guild to piss off."

- Erza to Team Sabertooth.

"This life was entrusted to me by Simon... by grandpa Rob... and my comrades... Relinquishing my life so easily would be a slap in the face to all of them."

- Erza to Kagura Mikazuchi.

"We live with pride in our guild's name. This seal we've carved into ourselves isn't merely decoration. It's the proof of our bonds as a family. Binding our fates together we put our lives on the line. Anyone that steps on that holy vow... Be they evil or good, I will cut them down."

- Erza to Moulin Rouge.

"It's just one day... If lives were lost today... then today, lives were born. How important each and every day is... depends on how important you feel it is to you. Right?"

- Erza to Juvia Lockser.

"The Master put his life on the line to buy time. That time was his gift to us! I shall not waste that gift! We will rebuild the guild hall, begin taking jobs once again, and fully revive Fairy Tail. I wish to see smiles on everyone's faces again. Those are my thought as the seven guildmaster. However... my thoughts as an individual member of the guild are different. We must rescue the Master!!!! Therefore, we will take action —just those of us gathered here!!!"

- Erza to Team Natsu and Mest Gryder.