Dante Royard

"Hope, yet Despair! Seek Nothing, yet Obtain Everything!"

- Zikimura

Dante Royard(だんてろやるどDante Royarudo) also known as the infamous Phantom King(ふぁんとむきんぐFantomu Kingu) is an S-Class mage. He is not part of any guild, not believing he can commit to "The Cause" as he sardonically calls what the Light & Dark Guilds are fighting for. A mercenary, he takes various jobs he finds during his travels through Fiore. Unfortunately, due to his bad luck, it mostly ends with the job being far from what the clients said, either about the reward or the objective. Due to that, his financial status is at an all time low, forcing him to sleep outside and eat what he can find in nature. He was a former slave of the Rakuen no Tō. His mentor was Maximillian. He's currently on a journey to prevent his nemesis and the man he hates most in the world Simon Khozak from getting his hands on Zeref and destroying the world.

Appearance
Dante is a young man of average height and weight with a lean muscular build. He has slightly long spiky black hair and narrow red eyes. Usually, he has a rather aloof, almost lazy expression on his face.

He is however easily excitable, and during a tough battle, his face would unconsciously don a viscious grin that can scare most people.

His attire almost always consists of grey sweat pants & a jacket which he wraps around his torso. Underneath the jacket, he wears a red shirt. His choice of shoes are white high top sneaks with red trimmings on the side.

Personality
Dante is very flippant, mouthing off at anyone that he dislikes, which seems to be almost everyone he meets. He shows no respect for authority, on occassion flipping off and insulting the various guards stationed at towns he visits, who, due to his delinquent appearance often give him trouble.

He enjoys teasing and annoying people until they mentally snap. He calls it his "hobby" and "calling".

Aside from that, he constantly whines to himself how poor and miserable he is and how everyone should show a little bit of sympathy and help him out, particurally in a monetary fashion. For that reason, he has developed a sort-of greedy personality that would do nearly anything for money. As that one time he decided to do a strip tease at a secret bachlorette party consisting of elderly noble women.

Despite that, he will take a job solely for doing the good deed and would not force payment on a customer who could clearly not afford it. That has become one of his "Ways of Life". Unfortunately for him however, most people abuse that given priviledge by leaving various bills and debts they have made prior, at the time, or after he has completed the job he was hired for. For that reason, he has gained infamy as the man who has been banned from the most towns and cities across Fiore.

After the timeskip, Dante has become sly and manipulative rarely ever truly showing what's on his mind. His goal is the destruction of Zeref and will let almost nothing stand in his way. He is even willing to go as far as to manipulate Dark Guilds into attacking various towns and sttlements in order to get what he wants.

However, Dante has not completely changed. He still cares for people's lives, ordering his members to make sure nobody gets hurt when the Dark Guilds attack, under any circumstanes. He goes to personally fight on many occassions and has saved numerous lives, albeit it being his fault in the first place.

House of Royard
The Prophecy

Dante was born as the heir of the the House of Royard. They were a prominent noble family from the Kingdom of Bosco. His parents were Sebastian Etrama Di Royard and Seira Royard. The family were not only nobility, but also had a lineage of prominent wizards. Upong his birth it was determined that he would become a powerful mage, as he possessed amazing magical power.

These news reached the ears of the cultists that oversee the Towers of Heaven. As there were eight towers, each created for the purpose of reviving the Dark Mage Zeref.

They were not the only ones seeking young Dante's power. Many have tried to kidnap or assassinate him in his short life. Because of this, his parents have decided that he would be always with them, not matter where they went.

On the way back from a diplomatic mission to Fiore, the carriage that transported the Royard family was attacked. The parents put up a great fight and managed to destroy a good portion of the attacking forces, but were eventually killed and their son was taken.

Tower of Heaven
The Awakening

Ever since then, Dante has been a slave to the R-System. At a different tower than Erza Scarlet & Jellal Fernandes, he was considered to be the "Sacrifice" that would bring the Black Mage Zeref back to life.

He was constantly tortured by the guards for the purpose of changing his magic. Magic is not only tied to the body and mind, but also the soul. As the person suffers more, his magic changes as well. The cultists had theorized that the bigger and darker the magical power of the sacrifice is, the bigger the chances of reviving their lord was and the stronger his vessel would be.

Dante's anger and hatred for being so unjustly treated eventually caused his latent magical power to awaken. By comparison, it was immense to anything the cultists have ever felt.

In his anger he went on a rampage, using and condensing his eternano to increase his physical powers. He could kill one of their members with a single punch, lift heavy objects and move extremely fast. One of those traits was also his amazing durability and endurance, making him capable of taking damage, both physical and magical without being injured too much.

However, his anger and his inability to think rationally gave the cultists the edge they needed in order to win. He was just like a vicious animal, simply plowing through any obstacle that got in his way, incapable of formulating any strategies.

The mages used this to their advantage. By coordinating their movements and magic, they managed to trap him and nearly kill him. After the impromptu battle with the mages, he was presumed dead due to the amount of their most deadly magic styles and spells used in order to prevent him from razing the tower.

His "dead" body was placed on a boat and sent to drift away through the sea, but he was saved by a group of fishermen who had set out for a big catch for their village.

Nami Village
End Of An Era

One of the fishermen, Kaizer, pitied the boy and decided to help him. He was taken to the village of Nami and was nursed to health by him and his family.

After a while, the family quickly warmed up to him and asked him to stay with them. More than happy, Dante decided to stay in the village and become a fisherman like his adopted father whom he looked up to.

His life was peaceful and full of love, no longer being a slave and beaten and tortured whenever he made a mistake. No longer living in misery, fearing the day he would-be used as a sacrifice for some long dead Mage.

He made friends, went to school and generally experienced what any child his age should. Life was not as fair however.

One year since his arrival in Nami, the village was attacked by a Dark Guild. Monsters made of magic attacked and started slaughtering the villagers.

It was later revealed that the one responsible was Hades, the leader of the Dark Guild Grimoire Heart, who "merely wanted to test out the great magic that Zeref's Book has granted him".

It's at that time he was saved by his would be mentor Maximillian. The man had come after Hades in hopes of preventing another disaster, but was too late. He managed to save Dante, and drove out Hades, barely saving what was left of the village.

His family dead, Dante was once again shown the cruelty and unfairness of life. After giving his family a proper burial he went to Maximillian who had decided to stay and help the village rebuild itself. Remembering the battle between Hades and Maximillian, he demanded to be taught with the intention of killing Hades in the future.

The Phantom King
New Beginnings

He would travel the world and train with Maximillian in Magic. But the man had another disciple, one by the name of Simon Khozak. This is also where the story of a strange bond between friendship, respect and hatred began between the two boys. After the disappearance of his master and the defection of Simon, he would become a Mercenary Mage, and would take various odd jobs around the towns he would visit.

At one point, he had found an injured Jinx and saved her. In her gratitude, she formed a contract with him and has agreed to follow him to hell if they had to.

During that time he would be known as the Phantom King, the S-Class Mercenary that would fight a battle to the death with his greatest enemy, Simon Khozak. He learns that Zeref is alive and that Simon intends to find him and use him to bring complete chaos to Earth Land.

Their fight would end in a draw and the Phantom King would be thought to have died.

God Eater
United We Stand Divided We Fall

He would however, continue to operate in secret. The Magic Council, shocked that such a powerful mage existed had wishes to enlist him as one of the Ten Wizard Saints. Even after politely declining, they would push the matter, believing it would help raise the morale of the people if a mage like the elusive and infamous Phantom King joined them against Zeref. Dante, deeming it as being "too troublesome" disappeared until "the old coots calmed the fuck down" with the help of the master of Fairy Tail, Makarov.

At some point, he hid in the House of Vista, working as a butler. He believed no one would look for him in the most prominent noble house in Fiore, especially not the council. He goes by the name of Sazex Phantomhide.

While the real him worked in the Vista family, Dante secretly created Thought Projections and has them transform in order to do missions for him.

He was collecting large amounts of jewels and searching for specific people with unique talents in magic effectively creating one of the Magic Council's worst nightmares, the independent guild God Eater.

The Witch's Hammer
Final Reckoning

Seemingly after Zeref's disappearance and Grimoire Heart's disbandment, the Balam Alliance has fallen, leaving only Tartaros as the major threat to the Magic World.

Tartaros has begun to gather the remains of the alliance and form an army that would begin a war with the light side. Dante as the only one to have felt the power of the dark wizard Zeref and knowing his former companion Simon, decided that extra firepower would not be a bad idea. Not to mention the arrival of Acnologia.

Believing his guild might not be enough, he has formed the Malleus Maleficarum Alliance with every major power he could find.

After an encounter with Morgana Edgeworth, the Angry Angels had joined the alliance. Susequently through one of its members- Black Star, the leader of the Dark Stellar Spirits Metatron decided to assist the humans for reasons known only to him. Though it is presumed that he had used the dire situation to bargain a deal with the humans in search for mages that would give Yami access to Earth Land.

Crime Sorciere also joined the alliance after a meeting at one of the Grand Magic Games, where both parties thought that sticking together would be more beneficial.

In addition, Parius Chitose's joining of God Eater introduced The Dragons Guild to the alliance, though as a secret war potential that would provide information to them about the council and legal guild's movements and decisions.

The Inheritance
The Return Home

Over the years Dante's fame has risen throughout the continents and there aren't many people that don't know the name of the Phantom King. It has come to the attention of the Kingdom of Bosco that the noble faimly of Royard is not as dead as many have seemed to believe.

Recently, Dante has been contacted by a man name Ugo on behalf of some of the nobility of Bosco who wish to meet the last survivor of the Royard family.

Dante, who had never known who his parents are had been shocked to find out they were nobles. Wishing to learn more about them and the circumstances leading to him becoming an orphan, Dante agreed to meet them in the capital of Bosco. Meanwhile, Jinx will be training herself in Water Magic, because she feels that she isn't helping her partner enough. Knowledge is all well and good, but there are some opponents who cannot be defeated with just that.

When he arrived at Bosco, it turned out Ugo is a henchman to the mysterious noblewoman Madam Eraiza, who seemed delighted to meet the last heir of Royard. However, before she agreed to tell him anything about his family and their role as nobility in the Kingdom of Bosco, he was sent out on a task. Find and kill an old associate of hers who betrayed and took her left eye. His name is Kormak and she says that there is no need to worry, as the man was a wanted criminal anyways.

When he found him, it turned out Kormak was the leader of Turtle Fang, a mercenary group that is infamous around the southern border of Bosco. Dante had to wait for a whole month for the opportune moment to kill the man as he didn't want to attract attention to himself when he went through such liberties to hide. On the way back, Dante was attacked by a group of shadily dressed men who tried to kill him. Although one managed to escape, it didn't seem that they were that strong. Uncovering their hoods, he couldn't recognize any of his attackers.

Once he returned back to Eraiza's mansion and reported about the success of the mission, he was shocked how the woman knew about his attackers. From what she suspected, the death of his family had been orchestrated by some of the other families who wanted the Royard dead and when they found out that he was alive as well within their reach, it seems they couldn't pass up the chance to finish the job. Wondering why she would try to help him, Dante kept his thoughts to himself and asked what to do next.

Eraiza laughed sinisterly for a while, making even her servant Ugo uncomfortable and told him her plan on how to root out the traitors one by one. He would have to go undercover. By pretending to be a student of St. Bahram's Royal Academy to which he shuddered, never being fond of school to begin with.

And so, Dante has entered St. Bahram's Royal Academy undercover so that he can find out the murderers of his family. His alias is Hiiro Santoz, a minor noble of one of Bosco's vassals and a relative to Madam Eraiza. He has been sent to her under the pretence of being a troublemaker that has brought shame on his family, thus his punishment is to become a soldier of Bosco's Royal Army.

Despite the fact that being undercover generally means not to draw attention to oneself, Dante's pride and boisterous personality caused the exact opposite. With his physical capabilities and genius level intelect it was but a simple task to become the top student. That combined with his looks that garnered the attention of the opposite sex, it also increased his popularity.

Searching for information has become even more difficult. After a scolding from Eraiza, Dante has set out to use his newly garnered popularity to gain information. The male population doesn't like him very much, mainly because of jealousy and rivalry so he turned to the next best thing, the women of St. Bahram's.

After many dates and parties, seducing students and teachers alike, Dante has confirmed at least one thing. The Royard family was not well liked and just about anyone would have wanted them dead. Their peaceful policies which contradict to Bosco's militaristic dictatorship, excessive use of Take Over which made them dangerous in the other noble's (and people's) eyes as well as their rebellious attitude towards the King has not made them many friends.

Regardless, they were considered to be exceptionally powerful mages, the very backbone of Bosco and the reason why it was feared as a military nation, despite their size as a kingdom. So who could have had the power to destroy such a powerful family? The nobles due to their hatred? The King because he feared being overthrown? Or maybe enemy kingdoms who wanted to reduce Bosco's fighting power?

Synopsis
Under construction!

Simon Khozak
Dante and Simon go way back, as the only known disciples to the mysterious person known as Maximilian. At first they shared a bond as kindred souls, as both have suffered through a lot of pain. Over time, it grew into one of animosity, each wanting power for their own reasons, each wanting to prove that the other is inferior.

When he was a child, Dante admired Simon for always knowing the answer to everything. When asked, he would never hesitate to give a proper answer, while Dante always struggled with everything. He hid that admiration by constantly bullying Simon, trying to get him to pay some attention to himself, even though it never worked. Through time, that admiration became respect and finally strong desire to surpass him.

While Dante stayed true to the teachings of his mentor, Simon began to stray from them, not being able to handle the trauma he experienced as a child. He became more ruthless as time passes with his actions, which involved mass manslaughter, practice and search of dark magic as well as wanting to revive Zeref's power and use it to purify the world.

While knowing that he could have killed him long ago, but didn't, Dante partly blames himself and hates Simon for what he has become. He has sworn, even at the cost of his very soul, that he would find him and kill him with his own bare hands.

Natural Abilities
Genius Level Intellect: Despite his delinquent appearance, Dante possesses a sharp mind capable of picking upon the smallest of details and shifts in the environment around him. With this, he can make sound deductions that are almost always right on the mark, and base his strategies on that. This was instilled on to him by his master as it helps with his magic, in order better understand the demons he houses within his body and use their power to the fullest of its potential.

Master Hand-to-hand Combatant: In order for Dante to better utilize his magic Take Over, he must possess the physical and not just magical capabilities to handle the power of his demons. For that, he was trained in various forms of martial arts and physical discipline. He possesses immense knowledge and experience in fighting that makes him dangerous even without his magic.


 * Enhanced Strength: Despite his lean stature, Dante is amazingly strong, capable of fighting people far bigger and with more muscle mass than himself.


 * Enhanced Speed & Reflexes: Being trained in martial arts and physical discipline, Dante has equally impressive speed. He can move at speeds that would leave average mages with no time to react. When attacked he can easily change the direction of his attacks, leaving his opponent guessing his next moves and forcing them to rely on their own reflexes to survive. This, coupled with his magic could leave even some of the most powerful opponents at a bind.

Incredible Luck: Even in areas of probability being against him, when it comes to his own life Dante is still easily able to instinctually turn things to his advantage. When being trained by his master he has survived falls from cliffs, encounters with wild and dangerous animals, attacks from various dangerous men and even surviving his first demon, Mammon.

Immense Endurance & Durability: Dante's most astonishing traits. Despite his size, he can take hits that would kill even the above average mages. He can even survive some very powerful magic attacks which barely hurt him. His stamina is also nothing to sniff at. His Take Over forms exhaust not only magic, but also put great strain on the mind and body as the caster transforms into the demon and uses its power. Constant use has strengthened him to be able to fight for long periods of time and with the training he has received by his mentor, he can do it even while under severe conditions.

Magic Powers
 Take Over (接収 テイクオーバー Teiku Ōbā): A form of Caster Magic and an advanced application of Transformation; the user is capable of taking upon the properties of any living animal that exists upon Earthland. Dante is a master of his own style of Take Over taught to him by Maximillian. He has a variety of forms with his most powerful being Phantom King.


 * Mega Pressure (めがぷれしゃ Mega Puresha): This spell allows for Dante to increase the air pressure around a certain area. It works manipulating the "one atmosphere". That is, over every person there is one kilogram per square centimeter of it, in other words there is over a ton of air pressure on top of a person's head and back, they just don't feel it. When it is modified, it can cause abnormalities in the human body, such as altitude sickness and decompression sickness. Dante uses it primarily to slightly weaken an enemy's physical condition and turn the tides to his advantage.


 * Giga Breaker (ぎがぶれいか Giga Bureika): An alternative spell to Dante's Giga Impact, which is exclusive for Phantom King. It works by compressing air in the center of his palm and then firing it at the enemy, sending them flying in the air while dealing significant damage.


 * Giga Bomb (ぎがぼむ Giga Bomu): An advance form of air manipulation. It revolves around compressing air into a small sphere. Once released it will take some time before the air compression destabilizes, creating an enormous explosion that can deal massive damage. With Dante's current skill, this spell takes nearly two minutes to complete and requires his full concentration. Even a small disturbance can cause him to lose control and the spell will self-destruct, harming him and everyone in the near vicinity.

High Speed (神足 Hai Supīdo): Over the years Dante has learned how to use this magic. It augments the power of his lower body, further increasing his leg strength, speed and agility. Because he rarely uses Take Over anymore, Dante has decided that he needs an edge when he fights normally. He's so fast, that during his fight with an assassing hired by some of Bosco's nobles he was capable of completely evading all of his attacks while instatly getting in his guard.


 * Puprple Lightning (紫電 Shiden): A very powerful spell that allows for almost instant movement. In order to use it properly Dante must bend his body in the direction he wants to move, right before he does. That allows for further increse in speed and is harder to hit him. Furthermore, he can easily make consecutive evasive movements simply by continuously bending his body in the direction he wants to move to, when he wants to.

Familiar Spirit Magic: Technically, it is not a magic he can use. His current partner, Jinx was the one to form a contract with him after he saved her from dying.


 * Jinx (じんぬくす Jinnukusu): Dante's current partner. Her strength lies in her vast knowledge of the world. She isn't very strong combat-wise and prefers not to get involved in fights.

Quotes

 * (Dante vs Cobra) "You can hear me... but can you stop me?"
 * (Dante vs Ikaruga) "Eh? Your sword can cut everything? Hn, interesting. Then bring it, Ikaruga!!!"


 * (Dante the Phantom King) "Those old coots at the council wanting me to join the Ten Wizard Saints of all things. Zeref popping up out of whatever hell hole he was in. Man, shit just got real. As if Simon wasn't enough, now this. I may not be the nicest dude out there, but I sure as hell can't ignore this. So troublesome, I was really looking forward to retiring in a nice warm place that has a beach, can't forget the beach. Then I'd marry a cute girl who is nice and obedient and loving, not like those other troublesome women. Have two children, first a girl, then a boy. Watch my daughter getting married and my son becoming a successful mage, and spend the rest of my life sitting on the veranda of my house, drinking a nice cocktail. Then die of old age before my wife. But with that fucker Zeref ending the fucking world, that'd be just fucking impossible. Ugh, I'm getting a headache just thinking about it. Well, if I'm gonna do this, I'll do it my way."

Trivia

 * The author is sorry about separating Take Over from this page, but it was getting way too long. If you want to see his forms, just click on the link. It will NOT take you to the official Fairy Tail Wiki.
 * Dante's equipment pictures are made by the author. The katanas and guns are inspired by DMC. However, the credit for the descriptions go to DMC Wiki.
 * The concept of Dante is from the character Shigemori Akira from the Visual Novel Hisui no Shizuku.
 * The credit for the picture of Exodia and the idea for that form goes to my man NowiePark! You're awesome dude!
 * Dante's theme is, as chosen by the author, Psy - GanGam Style
 * This article has been featured on the wiki.
 * According to unknown sources:
 * Dante's hobby is teasing people, napping, procrastination and generally avoiding work whenever possible.
 * He has an IQ of 145
 * Dante wishes to fight Sanjo Vista, Silas Cocytus, Conway Blackwood and Richard Buchanan.
 * His favorite food is pizza with everything, multi-layered hamburgers and beer while his least favorite are fresh vegetables.
 * Dante has completed 508 jobs so far: 398 Normal, 50 S-Rank, 50 SS-Rank, 8 Ten-Year, 1 One Hundred-Year.
 * Dante's favorite phrase is "I'll do it later" (私は後でそれをやる Ore wa atode sore o yaru).