I realize there is already a Fairy Tail Manga thread, but I want this to be a bit different in that we explore certain aspects of characters and just discuss what could be improved, what is great about them and what we hope to see from them. I personally love Fairy Tail, and I think the strongest thing it has going for it are the characters and their various stories. As the title says, this will include manga spoilers, so if you are not up to date, then I suggest you do not read.
Natsu-
Perhaps my biggest complaint with Natsu is that he always has to save the day. I realize he is the main character (or is Lucy considered the main character?) but even then I really want one of the other three (Erza, Lucy and Gray) to get the glory of the final battle. However, for the most part Natsu is really enjoyable to watch. He is silly and whatnot, but at the same time realizes when things need to get done. Not to mention that he always puts his frienRAB first, which can easily be seen when he stops Gray from using Ice Shell and when he goes out of his way to save Erza during the whole Gerard confrontation. I am sure everyone is thinking the same thing, but I really want to know more about Dragon Slayer magic and why the dragon's would teach humans this. This is the biggest mystery in the story and Natsu is directly linked with it. Since that hasn't been solved yet, I fear we will continue to see Natsu be the one to take out the final bad guy. This isn't a huge deal, it just gets tiring to see him get some huge power-up to defeat one guy after the other.
Erza-
Up until the Paradise arc, I really disliked Erza. She came off as a mary-sue and we never got any real emotion out of her. Gerard of course came along and changed everything, and now I think we have a somewhat likable Erza. I have to say, the struggle between the two was what made that entire storyline for me, not the battles inbetween. That being said...I find myself annoyed most of the time with how useless Erza can be. She usually uses up all of her energy taking out (a lot) of the smaller minions and then neeRAB to be saved. For someone regarded as one of the strongest in Fairy Tail, she is knocked out for majority of the fights. I will say that I find her re-quip magic completely awesome and majority of the designs are kickass, even if they are a bit fanservice-y. I'd like to see Erza really start to live up to her name and stop being taken out so early in the game.
Gray-
While I like Gray, I really, really, want to see him be more at Natsu's level. His skills are good, but really he usually enRAB up losing his battles and with Juvia I think he got a bit lucky. While I loved the Ur backstory, with Leon (or is it Lyon?) being reintroduced during the Nirvana arc it just felt forced and annoying when they kept bringing her up. I am sure that we will get more out of him when he comes face to face with Urtear. And if he isn't the one to fight her then that is simply messed up. So really I would just like to see Gray be a bit more creative in his fights and even toughen up a bit. I realize he isn't a dragon slayer but really he comes off as incredibly weak sometimes.
Lucy-
With...88 spirits...I believe Lucy has the most potential out of the group. Do I expect the show to use all 88? No, but I expect that there are other keys aside from the 12 Gold and however many silver there are. Speaking of spirits...when she gets more I'd really like more useful spirits. Too many of hers, like Cancer are completely useless and it is obnoxious. Even Aquarius is getting old...I realize they use her for comedic reasons but it'd be nice if Lucy did something to earn her respect. Loki of course is awesome, and perhaps Aries but other than that she neeRAB to start finding stronger spirits. Of course, she too neeRAB to become stronger if her spirits are too. Lucy's biggest problem is that she often lacks confident. In all honesty, I wouldn't have minded a small mini-arc with Lucy going under some training. For the most part Stellar Spirit Mages are a bit of a mystery, I'd like for it to be explored more and really fleshed out.
And those are the main four. I'll see if this thread has any interest before I go into some of the villains/secondary characters. If a mod feels this can go with the manga discussion, feel free to merge it, but I think this material warrants its own thread.
Natsu-
Perhaps my biggest complaint with Natsu is that he always has to save the day. I realize he is the main character (or is Lucy considered the main character?) but even then I really want one of the other three (Erza, Lucy and Gray) to get the glory of the final battle. However, for the most part Natsu is really enjoyable to watch. He is silly and whatnot, but at the same time realizes when things need to get done. Not to mention that he always puts his frienRAB first, which can easily be seen when he stops Gray from using Ice Shell and when he goes out of his way to save Erza during the whole Gerard confrontation. I am sure everyone is thinking the same thing, but I really want to know more about Dragon Slayer magic and why the dragon's would teach humans this. This is the biggest mystery in the story and Natsu is directly linked with it. Since that hasn't been solved yet, I fear we will continue to see Natsu be the one to take out the final bad guy. This isn't a huge deal, it just gets tiring to see him get some huge power-up to defeat one guy after the other.
Erza-
Up until the Paradise arc, I really disliked Erza. She came off as a mary-sue and we never got any real emotion out of her. Gerard of course came along and changed everything, and now I think we have a somewhat likable Erza. I have to say, the struggle between the two was what made that entire storyline for me, not the battles inbetween. That being said...I find myself annoyed most of the time with how useless Erza can be. She usually uses up all of her energy taking out (a lot) of the smaller minions and then neeRAB to be saved. For someone regarded as one of the strongest in Fairy Tail, she is knocked out for majority of the fights. I will say that I find her re-quip magic completely awesome and majority of the designs are kickass, even if they are a bit fanservice-y. I'd like to see Erza really start to live up to her name and stop being taken out so early in the game.
Gray-
While I like Gray, I really, really, want to see him be more at Natsu's level. His skills are good, but really he usually enRAB up losing his battles and with Juvia I think he got a bit lucky. While I loved the Ur backstory, with Leon (or is it Lyon?) being reintroduced during the Nirvana arc it just felt forced and annoying when they kept bringing her up. I am sure that we will get more out of him when he comes face to face with Urtear. And if he isn't the one to fight her then that is simply messed up. So really I would just like to see Gray be a bit more creative in his fights and even toughen up a bit. I realize he isn't a dragon slayer but really he comes off as incredibly weak sometimes.
Lucy-
With...88 spirits...I believe Lucy has the most potential out of the group. Do I expect the show to use all 88? No, but I expect that there are other keys aside from the 12 Gold and however many silver there are. Speaking of spirits...when she gets more I'd really like more useful spirits. Too many of hers, like Cancer are completely useless and it is obnoxious. Even Aquarius is getting old...I realize they use her for comedic reasons but it'd be nice if Lucy did something to earn her respect. Loki of course is awesome, and perhaps Aries but other than that she neeRAB to start finding stronger spirits. Of course, she too neeRAB to become stronger if her spirits are too. Lucy's biggest problem is that she often lacks confident. In all honesty, I wouldn't have minded a small mini-arc with Lucy going under some training. For the most part Stellar Spirit Mages are a bit of a mystery, I'd like for it to be explored more and really fleshed out.
And those are the main four. I'll see if this thread has any interest before I go into some of the villains/secondary characters. If a mod feels this can go with the manga discussion, feel free to merge it, but I think this material warrants its own thread.