It doesn't take a super fan of shounen series to be in the know of Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail has been one of the most popular shounen franchises of the past couple of decades, managing to steal hearts with its romance, fantasy, and strong, shounen fundamentals. At the heart of it is the titular Fairy Tail guild, a rambunctious, adventuring corpse that knows a thing or two about magic.
This fantastic family just oozes energy between. Whether it's in their iconic dining hall or in the middle of a battlefield, the members of Fairy Tail have never failed to make their fans laugh, cheer, and even cry. This list will be looking at ten of the guild's most iconic members and determine who among them is the most likable.
10 Laxus Dreyar
Starting off this list is one of the major stoic heroes of the guild. Laxus Dreyar is the grandson to the beloved master of the Fairy Tail guild, Makarov, though he has shown time and again that he has the potential to surpass him and many other wizards. With a strong face and some electrifying magic, Laxus should be an instant favorite among shounen faithfuls.
What keeps him low on this list, however, is his arrogance, ego, and the fact that he was a villain for an entire arc. While fans can love him now, electrifying citizens and colleagues as well as turning some into stone take away a few likability points.
9 Gajeel Redfox
Much like Laxus, Gajeel came into the series as a villain. He was the resident Iron Dragon Slayer of the rogue guild, Phantom Lord, and essentially fired the first shot during the two guilds' epic clash. However, as terrible as he was originally, he would go on to earn both the respect of Fairy Tail and the admiration of the fans when he switched sides.
He'd go on to fight alongside the very people that he attacked, make people laugh with his musical styles, and even fall in love with a girl that he crucified early on. What's not to like about that turnaround?
8 Gildarts Clive
Gildarts is perhaps the biggest legend of Fairy Tail. For a while, he was easily the guild's strongest wizard and carried plenty of mystery regarding his abilities and grand adventures within the larger world. He is the iconic image of an adventurer and always impresses with each of his appearances, despite the fact that those appearances are few and far apart.
He does lose quite a few points, however, for being a huge womanizer and even a bit of a deadbeat dad. While Cana might have forgiven him, those are still a couple of hard pills for people to swallow.
7 Juvia Lockser
Juvia Lockser is another member of Phantom Lord that defected to Fairy Tail but not for the same reason as Gajeel. Juvia has powerful, water magic that, when influenced by her saddened emotions, can summon a constant, raining sky over a community. However, the sun finally peered over her when she met her one-true-love, Gray Fullbuster.
Having made a complete 180, Juvia's expressions would become much livelier and expressive. She joined Fairy Tail as a rogue wizard but stayed with them as one of their best love stories and running gags.
6 Gray Fullbuster
Gray Fullbuster is one of the top wizards of Fairy Tail and a core member of the series as a whole. He is Natsu's polar opposite, everlasting rival, and reluctant best friend (Happy being the very willing best friend).
Gray has been a part of plenty of iconic fights as well as some heartwrenching stories that span his training, family, and love. He loses a few points here for being a little cold as a character but more than makes up for it with some of the series' most pivotal arcs.
5 Natsu Dragneel
This list would be a little odd if it didn't include the very face of the franchise himself. Natsu Dragneel has everything that a good shounen character needs: bravery, power, personality, a deep backstory, heart, and plenty of lines and speeches going over friendship. Whether he's playing in the dining hall, traveling with friends, or even fighting off enemies, he can always make fans smile with his wacky antics.
In those battles, in particular, his never-say-die candor can always get people's pulse running and put on fights that do the battle anime genre justice. He does lose some points for being a little inconsiderate (especially when it comes to Lucy's apartment) and portraying the loud-mouthed shounen character to a near-fault; but in all honesty, who doesn't love a classic, shounen protagonist?
4 Erza Scarlet
Erza Scarlet is the show stealer for the franchise and could very well lead a series of her own if she had it. All of her battles never fail to get people's adrenaline running, her variety of costumes always keep her look fresh, and her heroic attitude is both parts inspiring and warm. In a world where strong, female characters are an after-thought at best in shounen, Erza is possibly carrying the breed alone with one hand.
On top of all of that, all of her stories are either epic in a tale or romantically tragic (looking at you, Jellal). When it's genuinely hard to keep one's eyes off of a character, they're gonna have a few, loving fans.
3 Mirajane Strauss
Up next is the heart and soul of the Fairy Tail guild. While any member of the Strauss family could've made this list, Mirajane is easily their best representative. She entered the series as the smiling, familiar face that would greet guild members after a long and well-fought journey.
She was a good waitress, a den mother, and even a famous pin up girl for the guild's publicity. Fan hype only skyrocketed when the story delved into her monster hunting ways and ability to take on the properties of terrifying demons.
2 Wendy Marvell
Wendy Marvell is the little sister of Fairy Tail, so her entry on this list is gonna be a bit unfair. Who doesn't like her cute demeanor and glowing face? It literally inspired the entirety of the fake guild, Cait Shelter! With a chipper attitude, Wendy can easily make any of her guildmates smile.
That effect is only made easier with her healing abilities and can-do attitude during a fight. While away from the guild, Wendy was not only able to become a key member Lamia Scale but would even rise in popularity as an idol. As the series' biggest homage to "magical girls," Wendy is an easily likable character in several ways.
1 Lucy Heartfilia
If Mirajane is the heart and soul of the Fairy Tail guild, Lucy Heartfilia is the heart and soul of the Fairy Tail franchise. Lucy has carried this series as its defining, human voice, characterizing adventures with both wonder and familiarity.
As a character, she's brought in plenty of laughs on the sidelines, plenty of surprises on the battlefield, and plenty of tears with her own story and love of her guildmates. Her parallel to Natsu in every adventure only helps solidify Lucy's key role in the series. As the franchise's pure, poster child, Lucy gets the top spot here.