Like most shonen series, Fairy Tail is full of some pretty intense throwdowns. Mages are often known to push themselves to the limit, tearing buildings and cities apart as they go at it with one another...and that’s just when the members of Fairy Tail fight with each other!

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Still, after a decade of the Fairy Tail mages battling against Dark Mage Guilds of all kinds, it’s finally time to say goodbye, as the series winds down with only a handful of episodes remaining. With that in mind, we’ve decided to look at some of the best and most brutal battles ever had over the course of the series.

10 GRAY FULLBUSTER VS. SILVER FULLBUSTER

So many of Gray’s opponents involve him dealing with someone from his past. It’s no surprise then that during the Tartaros arc, perhaps the most serious arc Fairy Tail ever had to deal with, that it was yet another person from his past. This time, it winds up being his father, Silver Fullbringer, a man who had been turned into a demon and granted Ice Devil Slayer powers. This battle proves to be a true test of grit for Gray, as much like other Slayers Silver is able to consume all ice magic. Still, Gray manages to outsmart his father and defeat him, being granted Silver’s Ice Devil Slayer powers as a result.

9 NATSU & GRAY VS. MARD GEAR

Natsu and Gray Vs. Mard Geer

The Tartaros arc saw things get serious, as the demons of Zeref began to make their move to bring back their master. Team Fairy Tail were put through some of the most dangerous battles they’d ever had, finally culminating in this two on one showdown between Natsu, his rival Gray, and the leader of all Tartaros, Mad Gear. After several arcs of seeing Natsu leave Gray behind in power, Gray was finally able to attain a new power himself, becoming an Ice Devil Slayer after his battle with his father. This allowed him to play a crucial role in the defeat of one of the most dangerous threats to Fairy Tail yet.

8 TEAM FAIRY TAIL VS. ACNOLOGIA

Team Tenrou vs. Acnologia Fairy Tail

After the Tenrou Island pushed every member of Fairy Tail present to their absolute limits in multiple battles against the mages of Grimoire Heart, things….somehow got even worse. Acnologia, the Black Dragon of Apocalypse, appeared just after the group managed to defeat Hades.

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With every heavy hitter of Fairy Tail present, they all attack the giant dragon at once...to absolutely no effect. They try every ability they have before they finally acknowledge how impossible he is to defeat, and instead choose to try and defend against his Dragon Roar. It’s a last ditch plan with zero chance of success, so fortunately Mavis transported them all seven years into the future to stop them from getting obliterated.

7 GILDARTS CLIVE VS. BLUENOTE STINGER

For most of the series, Gildarts Clive is a character who remains off-screen because he’s so terrifyingly overpowered he can’t participate in most of Fairy Tail’s battles without winning them single-handedly. But on Tenrou Island, Gildarts serves as one of the examiners for the guild’s S-Class Trials, and arrives just in time to save his daughter Cana as well as Natsu. Though Bluenote’s incredible gravity powers pose a threat, Gildarts’ main threat comes when he loses his magic thanks to someone attacking Tenrou Island’s main tree, which weakens all members of Fairy Tail. Once that clears up, he takes Bluenote out with a vicious uppercut, leaving the Grimoire Heart member taken out for the remainder of the arc.

6 WENDY MARVELL VS. SHERRIA BLENDY

As fights from Fairy Tail go this wasn’t an especially cruel one since it happened during the Grand Magic Games, and neither Wendy or Sherria had any animosity towards one another. Still, they were both aiming to prove themselves to their teams, and so it ended up being the rare case of an underdog facing off against another underdog. The two Sky mages used everything in their arsenals against one another, but both proved incapable of conquering the other. By the end of the match, they both exhausted all of their magic and are left fighting hand to hand until the time runs out. The battle reaches a draw, and the two of them become life-long friends.

5 ERZA SCARLET VS. ERZA KNIGHTWALKER

When Fairy Tail finds themselves on another world during the Edolas arc, they all meet alternate world versions of themselves who are usually their opposite in some way or another. Unlike the compassionate Erza Scarlet, Erza Knightwalker is twisted and sadistic, serving as a Fairy Hunter.

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Near the end of the arc the two meet up twice, each time finding themselves evenly matched, as her magic spear’s ability to shift into ten different forms provide her with enough versatility to match up against Erza’s Requip powers. They battle to a draw twice, with Erza (Scarlet) only able to gain the upper-hand in their philosophical argument.

4 NATSU & GAJEEL VS. STING AND ROGUE

After spending seven years away from the world, the Fairy Tail members who went to Tenrou Island find everything is completely different. Their place in the world has been completely usurped by Sabertooth, a young guild that places power over everything. But during the Grand Magic Games (after an all too convenient power up courtesy of Ultear), our heroes get a chance to prove themselves again. But while there are a ton of battles, none of them say “Fairy Tail is back” like Natsu and Gajeel versus Sabertooth’s two Dragon Slayers, Sting and Rogue. Though both Sabertooth mages can turn off and on Dragon Force like it’s nothing, it turns into a one-sided beatdown once Natsu learns the pattern of their attacks, easily beating both down on his own.

3 ERZA VS. MINERVA VS. KAGURA

Though the Grand Magic Games lack most of the gravitas of other arcs, a handful of battles stand out as an exception because of what each contender has to prove. Here, it’s three of the strongest women in Magnolia battling not only to prove their guild is the best, to prove they’re among the strongest mages in them. The majority of this battle is a tense battle between swordswomen, with Minerva and her underhanded tricks adding variety to the combat. The only unfortunate part about this battle is it ends with Minerva running away, leaving Erza and Kagura to battle it out so she could pick apart a weakened victor afterwards.

2 NATSU AND GAJEEL VS. LAXUS

The Fairy Tail guild is home to a weird bunch of drunks and people who like to get in brawls with one another all the time...but they’re still a family at the end of the day. But when Laxus tires of all the happiness going around, he tries to take over the guild by force along with his buddies in the Thunder God Tribe. Though his friends wind up defeated, it comes down to a two on one battle between Natsu, new guild member Gajeel, and Laxus. Though the Lightning Dragon Slayer is more powerful than either of them, he can’t quite keep up once he inadvertently activates Natsu’s Fire Lightning Dragon Slayer powers, leaving him knocked on his back...and out of the guild, for a while.

1 NATSU DRAGNEEL VS. JELLAL

Natsu vs Jellal (Fairy Tail).

The Tower of Heaven arc is probably Fairy Tail’s most popular arc, as the story turned to Erza’s past as a slave building the Tower for Jellal in the name of Zeref. As Jellal was finally preparing to carry out the Tower’s true purpose, he found a way to bring Erza back, leading to the members of Fairy Tail coming for her. After Erza get taken out trying to reason with Jellal, Natsu steps up to get revenge. ...He promptly gets stomped, but this is where we see Natsu’s determination, as he eats part of the tower (made up of pure magic) to activate Dragon Force, the purest form of a Dragon Slayer’s power, defeating Jellal and destroying the tower in the process.

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