The Fairy Tail anime boasts a huge and diverse cast of characters, and many of the most powerful or lovable characters of all belong to the namesake Fairy Tail guild. Makarov Dreyar is the leader, and his grandson Laxus ranks among the most powerful wizards there. And let's not forget Cana and Mystogan, or newcomers like Lucy, Gajeel, and Juvia.
Lucy is the new girl for a time, and she has always dreamed of joining a guild like this. She brings fresh blood to the team and offers some unique skills, but the resident top dog Erza Scarlet has some tricks of her own. Both women are powerful and talented, but there are some things Lucy does that Erza simply cannot do, and some things are truly unique to Erza. Let's see how Lucy and Erza differ.
10 Lucy: Navigate The High Life
Lucy wasn't born in an ordinary household. In fact, she was born into big money: the Heartfilia family. Her father Jude raised her in a huge mansion, and her mother, Layla, was a noble lady indeed. Lucy had it all growing up.
Ultimately, Lucy ran away from that suffocating life to create her own destiny, but she didn't forget her lessons. She can easily and properly meet other nobles or elite figures and not get tongue-tied, and she has an excellent sense of high fashion, too. Erza tends to stumble when it comes to this.
9 Erza: Control Natsu And Gray
It's no secret that Natsu and Gray are in the middle of a fierce rivalry, which may stem from their literal "fire and ice" duality. These guys are always butting heads and getting into scraps in the guild hall. It seems no one can stop them.
Except for a certain Erza Scarlet, that is. She has the strength and scary disposition necessary to keep her two friends in line, and it saves the guild hall from further destruction. It's a talent of Erza's, and no one else can match it.
8 Lucy: Creative Writing
Lucy has a few hobbies, and one of them involves the written word. She often writes letters to friends and family, and she is working on a novel of her very own. She's shy about it, though, and would rather not give Natsu a sneak peek of the manuscript.
That's more than Erza can say. Somehow, Erza can't even write a letter of apology correctly, and she ends up sending the totally wrong message and infuriating the recipient. But that's okay; she can just ask Lucy to help. Not everyone is fancy with a pen.
7 Erza: Sword Storms
Any villain who sees a sight like this is in big trouble. Erza often fights most comfortably in traditional sword fights, and she can also use spears or even her fists. But if the fight gets serious, Erza can summon a flurry of swords.
Erza doesn't need a hundred arms to wield all these; instead, she flings them with great force over a wide area, and this can slice apart a single tough enemy or many weak ones. Lucy does have Sagittarius on her side, but that archer can't match the likes of Erza's sword storms.
6 Lucy: Journalism
Lucy has always enjoyed reading Sorcerer Weekly, a cool magazine that's about all things wizard. She once met Jason, an excitable journalist for this 'zine, and she eventually became a staff member herself once Fairy Tail was dissolved.
Lucy has a deft hand for the trade, and she started off at the bottom rung but quickly proved herself. She had lousy assignments and a lot of work ahead of her, but she earned the respect of all her superiors and editors. That's impressive work.
5 Erza: Carry Huge Loads
Why does Erza look so smug? Maybe it's because of her incredible strength, which allows her to haul a huge wagon loaded with goods. A common visual gag in Fairy Tail is Erza dragging along a massive wagon that bears all her supplies and theater stuff.
No way could Lucy just haul along a massive wagon with multiple tons of stuff on it. Not even all her Celestial spirits together could do it, and neither could Laxus or Gajeel or the other tough guys. Erza alone can bear that incredible burden and make it look glamorous.
4 Lucy: Summon The Spirit King
By now, Lucy is probably the only person in the entire world who can pull off this feat, with the possible exception of Yukino. As a Celestial wizard, Lucy can summon a variety of spirits, and that can even include their almighty king.
Summoning him is difficult and comes at a cost, but if Lucy pays it, she can bring this hard-hitting titan into any battle, like she did in the desperate struggle against Tartaros. The spirit king was certainly a match for the likes of Mard Geer.
3 Erza: Specialized Resistances
Erza uses spatial magic to summon any variety of armored suits, and this gives her remarkable flexibility in combat. Most often, the action scenes focus on Erza's swords, but let's not forget the armor suits, which have varying properties.
Some of them allow Erza to fly and thus avoid certain attacks, and her Flame Empress suit halves all fire-based damage dealt to her. Her Sea Empress armor (pictured) naturally grants her serious resistance to water-based damage, as Juvia learned the hard way.
2 Lucy: Protect Herself With Horologium
The twelve gold keys are the literal key to Lucy's combat prowess, but let's not f0rget about her collection of silver keys, either. These lesser spirits are quite useful, and that includes Horologium, who resembled a grandfather clock.
This clock's pendulum chamber is a sort of bunker, and Horologium can summon himself (if Lucy doesn't summon him first) and quickly shield Lucy from harm within his body. He can fit in a few other people too, and Natsu and Happy have also had their lives saved via Horologium.
1 Erza: Use Incredible Offensive Power
And now, for one of the biggest draws to Erza's character: her incredible strength. She uses it for more than hauling that wagon; she can wield countless armor suits and swords, and devastate just about anyone who gets in her way.
Erza is sworn to use this power only for good, and indeed she can crush evil wizards from Tartaros and Grimoire Heart without too much trouble. She also resolved the battle for Jellal's tower alongside a charged-up Natsu when all seemed lost. Lucy's a great wizard, but she's not a juggernaut like Erza is.