Precht Gaebolg

Precht Gaebolg (プレヒト・ゲイボルグ, Purehito Geiborugu), also known as Hades (ハデス, Hadesu), was one of the founders of Fairy Tail, the guild's second Guild Master, and the one who passed on the title to Makarov Dreyar. After leaving Fairy Tail, Precht changed his name to Hades and later became the founder and leader of the Dark Guild, Grimoire Heart, until he was killed at the hands of Zeref.

"The mistakes people make are eventually labeled as experience. But with a true mistake, there will be no experience to be gained. Because the mistake you made taking me as your opponent will leave you with no future."
 * —Hades to Team Natsu and the Straw Hat Pirates in "Fairy Sphere".

Appearance & Biography

 * Voice Actor: John Swasey (English), Masashi Hirose (Japanese), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (German), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (French), Not Known (Latin American Spanish)
 * Voice Actor (young): Dave Trosko (English), Yoshihisa Kawahara (Japanese), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (German), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (French), Not Known (Latin American Spanish)

Appearance
Hades is a tall, elderly man with long, slicked back, silvery white hair, revealing his forehead. He also has a mustache, and a similarly long yet mildly thin and curly beard, reaching down to his lower chest. He has some wrinkles on his face, as evident of his extremely advanced age; nonetheless, despite this age, his figure is muscular and well defined. His right eye is usually seen covered by a simple eye-patch, hiding away his Demon's Eye.

When using Demon's Eye, his ears seem to get pointed, and his mustache and eyebrows jut out prominently upwards.

The Young Past Days
As Precht, his physical features were almost the same, with only his mustache missing. However, it’s worth noting that the iris of his left eye was dark, while as Hades it’s light gray in color. He sported a light cape bearing Fairy Tail’s mark on the back, complete with a dark fur-lined mantle, and what looked like a loose robe below it. He also carried around a long staff, with its top shaped yet again like Fairy Tail’s symbol.

To The Days He Died
His regular attire consists of a dark shirt paired with armored shoulder pads and shiny gauntlets, as well as chain-mail covering the parts of his arms remaining exposed, simple light pants with flames near the edges - held up by what looks like a light belt composed of two straps with the relative buttons, possibly part of the pants themselves, and dark, simple shoes/boots. Over this outfit he wears a large, dark cape, bearing Grimoire Heart’s symbol on the back and sporting a mantle with a high collar, lighter-colored borders and jagged lower edges. Sometimes he’s also seen wearing a helmet matching his armor, with a prominent metal plate protecting his forehead, with two lines of studs on the front, siding his face and jutting out in a protrusion on each side, and a darker rear part, adorned by a crest reminiscent of those seen on Greek helmets.

After this first outfit was mostly destroyed and torn as a result of his fight with Team Natsu, Wendy Marvell and Laxus Dreyar, Hades requipped an unbroken, second one, highly reminiscent of the first, but with subtle differences: his shirt, gauntlets and cape remain the same, but his pants are now tucked inside a pair of dark greaves reaching up to his thighs and their belt holds up a wide, dark waist-guard.


 * Hair Color: White (formerly White)
 * Skin Color: Not Known
 * Eye Color: Green
 * Age: 13 (biologically), 118 (chronologically)
 * Birthday: X673
 * Height: Not Known
 * Weight: Not Known

Personality
Hades seems to be a calm and confident man who shows no signs of fear to his enemies, especially Makarov. He was described by Makarov as a "great Master who taught harmony and led the Guild to the proper path". He also called Makarov a "boy" despite his relatively advanced age, possibly implying a playful nature.

He reappears as Hades, Master of Grimoire Heart, and is now much darker of a person. When Makarov questioned him about his belonging to a Dark Guild he answered that "this world is full of things that cannot be measured as merely good or evil", implying an enlightened or a philosophical frame-of-mind, or perhaps, even a corrupted heart. He is shown to be very confident in his abilities, stating that he "dances with Magic freely", and has the will to destroy those who would hinder his path, as seen when he crushed Makarov with very little remorse.

Although he believes his strongest team, the Seven Kin of Purgatory, to be invincible, due to their Lost Magic abilities, he seems to be happy knowing someone can defeat them, possibly appreciating talent and apparently not caring very much about the ones he raised himself. He was especially happy when he learned that "Makarov's kids" had already taken out three of the Seven Kin, laughing out loudly.

Despite being the driving force behind Grimoire Heart, Hades is not entirely cruel. He admitted that fighting his former Guild Fairy Tail made him sad, but that he could live with it. He also wanted Makarov to just surrender to him in order to avoid a fight between the two, and he silently apologized to him when Bluenote Stinger got out onto the battlefield, as he didn't want things to escalate that far between them.

However, as the rest of Grimoire Heart is defeated and the only one left standing to take on Team Natsu is him, he displays a more wicked and cruel side of himself, and shows that he has very little care for his former Guild, complaining that Makarov changed Fairy Tail too much since his own tenure as Guild Master. He also insults his predecessor Mavis Vermilion, and reacts with subdued anger when Natsu calls him out for abandoning Fairy Tail's ideals in order to find the "Essence of Magic", unnecessarily shooting him repeatedly with Magic shots when Natsu was already past the point of fighting back.

Magic
Amaterasu (天照, Amaterasu): By creating Magic formulas in the air, the targeted area is engulfed by a massive spherical shockwave. The damage of such Magic increases with the formula's number: the higher the number is, the higher the consequent of damage is dealt.

Chain Magic (連鎖魔法, Rensa Mahō): This Magic allows Hades to shoot long chains from his hands, complete with grappling hooks at each end. These are capable of piercing through foes without actually hurting them, allowing him to grasp opponents and smash them around against surrounding objects.

Bullet Magic: A type of Magic which allows Hades to produce various types of magical ballistic projectiles out of his hands to attack opponents. In the most common attack, Hades positions his hand to mimic the appearance of a gun, something which allows him to fire magical bullets from his stretched out index and middle finger in rapid succession. These are powerful enough to pierce through flesh. He's capable of performing the attack with both hands simultaneously, as if he were "dual-wielding".

Eye Magic: Demon's Eye (悪魔の眼 Akuma no Me): A form of Eye Magic (眼の魔法 Me no Mahō) seemingly based around the use of Hades' right eye, which is usually covered by an eyepatch, this Magic has to be "awakened" in order to activate its yet unknown effects. Its use prompts Hades' hair, beard, mustache and eyebrows to jut out, and releases a vast amount of Magic Power around him. He claims that, through the use of it, he can show his opponents the "Abyss of Magic".

Grimoire Law (グリモアロウ, Gurimoa Rō): A type of Magic that appears to be a malefic form of Fairy Law, with its color being a darker variation of Fairy Law's own color. It is said that if used against Fairy Law it would bring horrible destruction.

Katsu (喝, Katsu): A spell whose effects are unknown, as Horologium protected the intended target before the Magic could fully connect. Nonetheless, Horologium described this attack as the most dangerous he had ever come across, which prompted him to appear.

Spatial Magic: Requip (換装, Kansō): Hades has been shown capable of using this type of Spatial Magic, summoning forth a second attire after the first one was mostly torn and destroyed during his battle with Team Natsu.

Abilities
Magic Alteration: Hades can absorb his opponents Magic and transform it into darkness Magic.

The Devil's Heart (悪魔の心臓, Akuma no Shinzō): Is a special generator-like device found within Hades' ship, which actually contains his own heart. This device is responsible for the massive amount of power both his physical and magical abilities have, not to mention his augmented longevity in spite of his advanced age. As long as it is functional, Hades is nearly invincible, but as soon as it is destroyed his power greatly diminishes; all in all, it is Hades' greatest asset and his greatest weakness.

Immense Magic Power: Hades is an amazingly powerful Dark Mage, capable of performing spells of outstanding destructive power and difficulty in subsequent reprises without the slightest effort: as he puts it, of "dancing with Magic". He casually overwhelmed Makarov Dreyar, the Guild Master of the most powerful Guild in Fiore and a member of the Ten Wizard Saints, defeating him without receiving a single scratch (although it's worth noting that during their confrontation Makarov suffered the effects of old age, which Hades was freed from by the Devil's Heart). Laxus Dreyar, Makarov's grandson and one of Fairy Tail's strongest Mages in his own right, went on to describe Hades as a "monster", noting how, compared to Grimoire Heart's Guild Master, he had still ways to go.

Immense Strength: Despite his age, one that is presumably decades older than Makarov, Hades possesses unthinkable physical strength, demonstrated in all of its greatness when he launched his chains into Makarov's Giant form and easily swung him crashing onto one side of Tenrou Island. Even in his youth, Precht was able to lift a fully grown man with a single hand using his chain, effortlessly swinging him around in the air to knock other opponents out.

Immense Reflexes: Hades is an extremely agile combatant, having shown incredible reflexes: he was able to easily counter an attempted attack by Makarov while his back was turned, walking away, and also managed to evade assaults from Gray, Erza and Natsu despite the three of them having their already considerable speed enhanced by Wendy's Arms, Armor and Vernier spells, counter-attacking each assailant immediately afterwards.

Immense Durability: While his Devil's Heart was still intact, Hades displayed a tremendous amount of durability, with even the most devastating assaults being shown as largely ineffective against him. He was capable of emerging unscathed from a combined group attack performed against him by Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza and Wendy, with only his cape having been torn; he received no considerable damage from his fight with Laxus Dreyar either, despite having been struck multiple times, and yet again remained unharmed despite the barrage of damaging attacks he received from Natsu after the latter was empowered by Laxus' lightning.

Immense Durability: Even without his Devil's Heart, and possessing little to no magic power, Hades still possessed great durability, as even after a stream of full power attacks from Laxus, Wendy, Gray and Erza, finished with a Crimson Lotus: Exploding Lightning Blade from Natsu, Hades still managed to remain conscious, albeit injured on the ground.

Resurrection Magic: Precht was capable of using several different types of Resurrection Magic, he used all of them on Mavis Vermilion while she was under the curse of Ankhseram but they all failed.

Expert Melee Combatant: During his time as a Treasure Hunter, while still going under the name Precht and having no knowledge in Magic, Hades' fighting style centered around melee combat, and he was shown to be extremely proficient in both armed and unarmed fields.
 * Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Hades displayed great unarmed prowess, using quick backwards kicks to dispatch two opponents who tried to sneak-attack him from behind without the need to turn his back.
 * Master Chain Specialist: Hades' penchant for employing chains in battle was evident even in his youth, before he gained the ability to produce them magically: a self-proclaimed "dancer of blades", Precht's weapon of choice during his Treasure Hunter days was a long chain with a small blade on one end, which he kept hidden in his left sleeve and could extend at any time, allowing him to engage in mid-range combat. He showed tremendous skill in controlling this unconventional tool, employing it to single-handedly defeat at least ten opponents without receiving a scratch himself, either knocking them out by striking them directly with the blade (strangely producing a blunt effect) or ensaring them with the chain itself and then smashing them around (his preferred fighting method in his later days); such moves were all performed with a single arm, with Precht using the other to carry Mavis and keep her safe from danger.

Demon's Eye
Immense Magic Power: The Demon's Eye further enhances Hades' already monstrous Magic Power, creating a dark aura around him which keeps gradually increasing in magnitude, and which terrified Team Natsu and the Straw Hats.

Amaterasu

 * Formula 28 (天照二十八式, Amaterasu Nijūhachi Shiki): This seal engulfs an area in a massive spherical shockwave. It was first used against Makarov, though Makarov was able to protect himself with a seal of his own.
 * Formula 100 (天照百式, Amaterasu Hyaku Shiki): This seal was able to completely break Makarov's Three Pillar Gods spell and create a rippling shockwave that damaged several sections of Tenrou Island, and that could be felt and heard by most (if not all) people on the island, the damage this spell causes is extremely tremendous.

Bullet Magic

 * Piercing Bullet: Hades mimics with his hands the appearance of a gun and then bends slightly his index and middle fingers, creating a Magic sphere in the air from where a powerful piercing bullet is fired towards the target. (Unnamed)
 * Explosion Bullet: Hades puts his arm forward engulfing his hand is a magical sphere from where a beam-like bullet is fired towards the target. Upon contact it creates a large explosion, which is enough to lift an entire air ship off the ground.

Demon's Eye

 * Black Arts (黒魔法, Kuro Mahō): Through the use of his Demon's Eye, Hades is able to perform one of Zeref's infamous Black Arts, which is written in the Books of Zeref.
 * Living Magic (生活魔法, Seikatsu Mahō): Through the activation of Demon's Eye, Hades is capable of using Living Magic: a form of Magic that brings things to life under the master's control.
 * Nemesis (ネメシス, Nemeshisu): He was shown creating numerous powerful Demons from the debris of his wrecked airship. These can perform damaging long-ranged attacks through the use of dark, tendril-like protrusions and similar, elongated dark globes.

Weapons
Bladed Chain: While still unable to produce magical chains directly from his body, Hades carried around a metal one, using it as his signature weapon during his time as a Treasure Hunter. This was attached to a vambrace he wore on his his left forearm, hidden by his sleeve, and could be ejected at will through an unseen mechanism, extending to a notable length of several meters. The end of the chain employed in battle came complete with a small blade which, strangely enough, appeared to be used mainly to bludgeon foes, much like a weighted end. It's unknown how long the chain measured, and the shown amount, while considerable, didn't appear to hinder Hades in any way while not in use, nor to be visible anywhere on his arm.

Zerø arc
In X686, Hades, originally known as Precht, with his companions, Warrod Sequen and Yuri Dreyar, a trio of treasure hunters, traveled to Tenrou Island in search of the Tenrou Jade, an S-Class Secret Treasure. While Yuri wandered off, Precht and Warrod searched for the treasure and discovered it had already been taken. Meeting back up with Yuri, who had encountered a young girl, Mavis Vermilion, he explained the situation and showed them the evidence of the Jade's removal. Mavis, distraught by the robbery of the symbol of the island, told them she believed the Mage Guild Blue Skull had stolen the treasure seven years ago when her home was devastated by them and implored them to take her, and later her friend Zera, back to the continent to recover it. They agreed and returned to the continent.

Back at the port town of Hargeon, Precht expressed his dissatisfaction at having gained nothing but "brats" on the journey and went to the town to seek information about Blue Skull. Mavis volunteered to accompany him, to his slight chagrin, and they headed to a bar. The bartender professed no knowledge of the guild and Precht left to leave after a joke at his expense, but Mavis noticed a slip-up in the bartender's denial and pressed him for more information. Precht returned to the bar but was suddenly attacked by two men who he quickly defeated. Everyone in the bar rose up to attack Precht but he easily defeated them all with his chain blades. The bartender then created a set of runes to trap them and revealed himself to be a Blue Skull member. Mavis, however, correctly deduced that the circle was faulty and safely stepped out before using her Illusion Magic to intimidate the bartender into revealing Blue Skull's headquarter location, much to Precht's shock and admiration.

Using the bartender's information, Precht and the group headed to Magnolia Town, the apparent location of Blue Skull's headquarters. On the journey, the treasure hunters and girls bonded, with Precht even expressing his willingness to give up on the Tenrou Jade as he had lost interest in it. After three days, they arrived in the town and were shocked to find it in a ruined state with a massive Dragon skeleton perched on the once famous Kardia Cathedral. They soon encountered an old man who told them that Magnolia's dilapidated state was due to the presence of Blue Skull in the city, but before he could continue he was killed by Blue Skull members, who also turned their attention on the group; Precht, Warrod, and Yuri easily defeated them but the noise attracted a much larger force. Mavis created illusions to scare them away, but the Guild Master of Blue Skull revealed himself and informed everyone that the illusions were fake, which resulted in another brawl erupting; Yuri and Precht were injured during the melee (the latter having lost his eye), but Warrod recovered them and pushed through to escape into the forest with Mavis and Zera.

While recovering in the forest, Mavis volunteered to collect some water and later returned with a mysterious young man who she said was going to teach them Magic. The man, Zeref, did so for the next few days, commenting that Precht had affinities for a number of different types of Magic. After Precht and co. received a briefing over a plan created by Mavis, they all head out and execute their strategy, ending with Precht and Yuri dismantling the Blue Skull guild sans Geoffrey. Yuri then pointed out the Tenrou Jade to Precht, and he watched as Yuri made a grab for it.>

A short time later, Precht heard Mavis call out to him and noted that the two of them completed their mission; after Mavis demanded Yuri drop the Tenrou Jade because of its dark properties, Precht demanded such a thing as well, however Yuri defied even him. Precht was then blown away as the Tenrou Jade began to glow and consume Yuri; after which the blue Dragon skeleton above Kardia Cathedral began to move and destroy Magnolia. Precht questioned what had happened, only to be answered by Mavis that the Tenrou Jade's evil consumed Yuri, and that Yuri is the one making the Dragon move. Precht continued by asking what is to become of Yuri, but Mavis ran away and tried to save Yuri by herself, however Precht saved her from being killed by Yuri at the last second. Precht then resolves to kill Yuri, but Mavis told him that she will save Magnolia and Yuri both, which he questioned. Mavis asked Precht whether treasure hunters dancing with danger and death was true, to this though, Precht countered that Mavis wasn't a treasure hunter. He was then told that he and everyone else she met are her precious friends, and that she, Mavis, hunts the treasure of friendship.

Precht then fell to the ground in a state of pure shock. However his shock broke as he witnessed Mavis attract Yuri to her with illusions of gold coins; he continued to watch as Mavis struggled but eventually freed Yuri from the curse of the Tenrou Jade with the Magic she gained from Zeref: Law. Later, when everything settled down and Yuri awoke from resting, he frantically asked Precht and Warrod about Mavis's whereabouts, and Precht told him that Mavis suffered adverse affects from using an incomplete version of Law, and would no longer be able to grow. A bit after this, Precht and Warrod hear Zera's voice and reason that Mavis must finally have realized that Zera was an illusion. Later, Mavis told Precht, Warrod, and Yuri that she wants to start a Mage guild. Despite their initial reluctance, they agreed and left Sylph Labyrinth to help found the guild. In April of X686, Yuri and the others built the guild building, and all four took a photo as a sign that Fairy Tail had been born.

Post-Zerø
Some time later, as the Mages of Ishgar are made to fight for the lords of the country, Precht took part in the Second Trade War alongside his guild. Precht and his fellow guild members were guided to battle by Mavis and through her tactics, they defeated their oppositions in a famous victory. Precht was present in the guild in X696 for the birth of Yuri and Rita's son, Makarov, whom he was convinced should be named Pippoco. He was startled when Rita passed away soon after the event, from what appeared to be labor struggles.

A year later, Precht watched as Zeref appeared suddenly, carrying Mavis' body; when asked if he was alone he said yes, and explained that he's been acting-Guild Master since Mavis' departure. Zeref then threw Mavis on the ground, which Precht was appalled at, and then listened as he said that Mavis would never move again. He shook her, asking if she was asleep, and Zeref replied that she would never wake. As the immortal man walked away, Precht called out to Zeref, asking who he was; he replied with his name, but then quickly said that he was a spriggan, because Mavis was a fairy. Precht then wondered if Mavis was truly dead, as even though her heart did not beat, Magic still emanated from it. Quickly taking her to the basement of the guild, he sealed her in a Lacrima and spent years researching ways to revive her, in addition to his duties as the new Second Guild Master, ultimately learning that she had Ankhseram's Curse and that she killed Rita. Precht then resolved to keep everything secret and told the guild that Mavis died, and erected a fake grave on Tenrou Island, the place where they all met. After thirty years, Precht discovered that Mavis' immortality and his years of attempting to revive created an infinite source of Magic, called Eternal Magic, an infinite source of Magic that could uproot the very foundations of the magical world.

Some time later, in the Year X736, Precht appointed Makarov (40 years old at that time) as the third Master and his successor, much to the man's dismay. Ignoring Makarov's claims that he wasn't fit for it, he praised Makarov's love for his allies and his capability to believe, claiming that he would make Fairy Tail into a good guild. He then left on a journey.

On such journey, he traced the roots of Magic back to Zeref, where he saw what can be called "the Essence of Magic". It is around this point that he reformed his ways, due to learning of the dark side of Magic from researching countless spells from trying to revive Mavis and became a Dark Mage, founded Grimoire Heart, raised and trained the Seven Kin of Purgatory while teaching them different forms of Lost Magic in order to acquire the fabled "Essence of Magic", as well as around this time, he used the knowledge he gained from creating Fairy Heart towards building Grimorie Heart, his ultimate life source. It's known that he personally recruited Ultear Milkovich, nearing her while she was a child and promising her that, in the Ultimate Magic World, the Arc of Time Magic which he would have taught her would have allowed her to travel through time and change the sad events of her childhood into happy ones.

Several years later, he witnessed a teenage Ultear studying the Arc of Time Magic. He praised her for collecting so many books about the said Magic, after which Ultear revealed that she finally found what she was looking for, the Magic that could bring back her lost happiness. After finding out that she was talking about Last Ages, he told her that such Magic shouldn't be used as it takes away the user's time. He then questioned her about whether she wanted such future, to which a saddened Ultear replied that it wasn't what she was looking for.

Canon

 * Precht Gaebolg & Mavis Vermilion vs. Blue Skull members
 * Precht Gaebolg, Warrod Sequen, Yuri Dreyar & Mavis Vermilion vs. Blue Skull
 * Makarov Dreyar vs. Hades
 * Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia, Gray Fullbuster, Erza Scarlet, Wendy Marvell & Laxus Dreyar vs. Hades

Canon

 * Lessons with the Black Wizard
 * Makarov Dreyar: Fairy Tail's New Master
 * Conflict on Grimoire Heart's Airship

Notes & Trivia

 * Hades is the God of the Underworld in Greek mythology.
 * Hades' surname, Gaebolg, is a reference to the Gáe Bulg, a cursed spear in Irish mythology that was owned by the hero Cú Chulainn.
 * When Mavis decided to form Fairy Tail, Hades suggested that "Precht Brothers" be the guild's name. Yuri then shot the idea down, believing the suggestion was a joke.
 * Hades is a Synonym for the word "Purgatory".