Dante Royard

Dante Royard(だんてろやるどDante Royarudo) also known as the infamous Phantom King(ファントムキング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 and his Six Chaos Saints from destroying the world.

Appearance
Dante is a 6 foot 2 inch tall young man, with a narrow frame that clearly defines his muscles. Underneath the clothing, his slighly pale skin is lithered in scars from his many battles and the experience he went through as part of the Rakuen no Tō. His face has a well-defined jawline and a fairly masculine profile. Combined with the shaggy, black hair on his head and glaring red eyes give him a rather fearsome look. On most occasions he tends to sport a bored expression that comes off and indifferent or even uncaring, but a vicious grin will show itself whenever he finds something interesting.

His casual 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.

For a battle attire his choice of clothing was made to be practical and efficient, not to mention eccentric, from is from the lightest and most flexible kind Fiore has. On top he wears a white middle sleeved brown coat. Underneath, he has an open buttoned, black shirt with the zipper open to expose his chest. His loose combat pants are easy to move in as well as black steel-tipped combat boots that reach just below his knees.

Recently, the influence of Mephisto has begun to spread onto his right right arm and affects his human appearance. Currently, he is using ancient binding magic to keep it in check.

Personality
Dante is not the kind of man anyone would expect him to be, considering the weight his name carries. He is agressive, hotheaded, exuberant and extremely blunt to the point of appearing rude and offensive to others. It even extends to him being completely heedless to formality or social standings. Be they the strongest enemy he has ever faced or the most influential lord of the land he currently resides in, Dante refuses to address people respectfully, unless they have somehow earned said respect. Even then, he will not bow to anyone, regardless of the danger he might find himself in. Despite these traits, he somehow manages to retain a certain rough charm about him, that people can't help but be drawn and be loyal to. A testament to this natural talent is the guild he leads, composed of a group of people that, in under normal circumstances, would be mortal enemies and would never work with each other.

Despite that, he's extremely deceptive and takes great joy in confusing enemies and allies alike. Constantly mixing truths with lies, no one truly knows what he's thinking (some don't really want to), while underestimating him and thinking he's weird and not very intelligent. Most of the time, he would whine to himself (or to others) of 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. Appearing as a greedy person, Dante would do almost anything for money. At one point, he even performed as a stripper, at a high-class party full of aritstrocratic women, and some men too, while calling himself Sergio Butterscotch. His greed is so great in fact, that it outstripped whatever shame or pride he might have had when, at the end of the performance, as he so eloquently put it, Dante "poured butterscotch candies down my banana hammock".

At the same time, completely contradicting his greedy beliefs, Dante 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. Also, seeming naive for someone of his reputation and power, he will let 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. Leaving debts he cannot pay for, Dante has gained infamy as the man who has been banned from the most towns and cities across Fiore.

When fighting, he becomes an entirely different person. While still retaining that exuberant and hotheaded personality of his, his mind will become more focused and his true emotions will rarely ever show. His master Maximillian, back when he trained Dante, told him to always keep his emotions in check and never allow his opponent to know how he feels. Or else he can be easily manipulated. He's also very sly and deceptive, using tricks and traps to fight an opponent, especially the stronger ones, while leaving his most powerful magic as a last resort. Although, there are times, when he would decide that the direct approach of completely overwhelming his enemy is the best option. Although such times would come on the rare occasions of when he would lose his composure, either by their actions or words, which have somehow broken his composure. Not many people can do that, and one of the very few to have survived his wrath during such times is his archenemy, Simon Khozak.

Synopsis
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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: Even without his magic, Dante is a very dangerous opponent to be fighting against. In order to gain better control of the demonic forms of his Take Over, he has trained himself in physical conditioning and mental discipline by practising his own unorthodox style. Dante's constant fighting and training has conditioned him to his peak of physical prowess, possessing agility, flexibility, and dexterity that can match, if not overwelm most opponents. Combined with his talent, his fighting prowess naturally strengthen and develop with each fight, allowing him to defeat many expert fighters.

Immense Strength: Due to years of consistant training in hand-to-hand combat and numerous years of combat experience under his belt, Dante boasts a deceptively superior degree of physical strength, far exceeding that of the average humans. It is most commonly displayed by his ability to topple opponents of seemingly greater strength and build, as well as lift extremely heavy objects, most of time with just one hand. He has repeatedly displayed his strength with acts like kicking Simon through several buildings, causing craters in the ground with his punches and slamming enemies over his shoulder like it was nothing. This strength extends towards his swordmanship as well and many people have commented on the strength of his slashes. He can put a lot of destructive power behind each slash that can overwhelm most opponents, if they're not carefull. When fighting, Dante tends to use his strength in oder to intimidate and/or pressure his enemies, whenever the opportunity presents itself, into making mistakes that he can later take advantage off.
 * Self Taught Style (我流 Garyuu): When there is freedom from mechanical conditioning, there is simplicity. With no actual forms or techniques, Dante's way of fighting does not have any set pattern of attacks, making it almost impossible for his opponents to anticipate him. On the other hand, being a highly perceptive man by nature, Dante is able to quickly see through his opponents' attack patterns and battle methods, which allows him to instinctively come up with various new and effective methods to counter them. He can also perfectly copy the basics of any technique he sees, bastardizing and adjusting it to his liking until he feels comfortable enough to use it. Although that is not the only way he fights. When faced against opponents that are able to draw him out, he is able to quickly change his own attack patterns to leave his opponent guessing, forcing them to rely solely on reflexes. It is against equally powerful opponents however, where Dante's true nature begins to show itself, that of a sly and deceptive fighter. He will use speed and movement to constantly dart in and out of an enemy's reach and work accordingly before they could react. When going one-on-one it is meant to pick at a difficult enemy to slow them down with cumulative damage and disrupt their rhythm before backing off and garnering the distance, in order to deliver more crushing strikes once he'd established a definite speed advantage throughout the battle. Against packs of enemies, it can cause havoc and force them into a panic.

Enhanced Speed: Boasting tremendous physical power, Dante's leg strength is nothing to sniff at, giving him a surprising amount of speed. He can easily move fast enough to instantly close a huge gap of space between him and his opponent, and even seemingly disappear from sight. In battle, Dante prefers to dart around his opponent's blidnside, bombarding them with relentless strikes in rapid succession, wearing them down and making it very difficult for them to find an opening and counterattack.

Enhanced Reflexes: While not his greatest forte, Dante's reflexes are still considered incredible. In an intense, closer quarter combat where his tactics and strategies fall short, he has the ability to seemingly react without thinking, while still performing the best possible action for the situation. Combined with his instincts and combat experience, Dante can go up against opponents who's unordthodox way of fighting would normally give them an advantage.

Immense Endurance & Durability: Shown to be Dante's most astonishing physical traits and they are one of the main reasons his name carries the weight of legends. Amongst the most powerful mages and dark mages alike, he's known as the Solitary Fortress (独り城塞 Hitori Jousai). Like a walking, breathing fortress, he is capable of taking an insane amount of physical and magical damage, either shrugging it off by force of will or his immense hardiness. Combined with his own magic, he is truly fearsome, even among those of status. A testament to his resilience was when he was up against multiple high ranking members of. He was impaled with several weapons, slashed multiple times and even launched several meters through a couple of buildings and smashed into another. Despite the impact, he came out visibly unfazed and with no impairment in his fighting capabilities, only slightly irritated. of has noted this is why he is considered to be so powerful, enough so that the  would ignore his reputation, pursuing him for membership as one of the Ten Wizard Saints with such zeal. Even his enemies can't seem but to respect him, such as the Master of Fabula Nova, N. Through hell and back, it doesn't matter how strong his opponent is, it doesn't matter how many there are or what kind of power they wield, as many times as he's brought to his knees, the Phantom King will stand back up, cocky grin set in place, eyes burning with determination and ready to fight to the death.

Magic Powers
 Take Over (接収 (テイクオーバー) Teiku Ōbā): Dante is considered to be a master of one of the most dangerous magics in Earth Land. It allows him to, essentially, "take over" the powers and abilities of particular creatures, even demons, that he really "knows". Although he has a variety of forms, each with their own unique and dangerous powers, his signature and most powerful one that gives him his epithet is the Phantom King. Although, due to Mephisto's influence spreading to overtake his body (his right arm in particular), Dante rarely uses this magic, prefering to relly on the others he has acquired through the years. The only times he will employ Take Over is when the enemy is exceptionally strong and he has no other choice in the matter. In order for him to use it, Dante must break the seals on his right arm, which will remove any protection he has against Mepshisto's influence and cause him to go berserk after a certain time threshold has passed. His seals are specially designed so that, after they break and certain time passes (usually until he goes berserk), they will automatically reactivate, sealing his powers again and rendering him unconscious. He is incapable of using magic afterwards for a few days, until the seals readapt themselves onto his body.


 *  Phantom King (ファントムキング Fantomu Kingu): Phantom King is Dante's most powerful spell. It allows him to take over the appearance, abilities and powers of the demon Mephisto. Due to his immense magical power, when he releases it a large large blast destroys the surrounding area. Once initiated, Dante's entire skin becomes pitch black. Even his clothes change their color, becoming black as well. His hair lenghtens, spikier, the color of it becoming pure white and begins to glow. His jaw becomes more pronounced, lengthening slightly and also widening along with his mouth. His upper lip gains the shape of sharp teeth, even though he has normal teeth underneath. White markings surround his eyes also going down his jaw and end beneath his mouth. The eyes themselves also change with the sclera turning completely crimson, the eye itself becoming pitch black. His body however receives the most notable changes. Besides the aforementioned black skin, it becomes more bulky, his muscles more define that his normal, lean body. His hands grow to semi-claws, able slash through various tough materials. His feet gain the same changes, except his shoes get destroyed, which is why he doesn't really like to use it. He says that if he uses this form too much, he will become even more bankrupt than he is now. Using this spell is extremely exhausting for Dante, so much that he cannot execute it in consecutive reprises. Also, he must exert a great deal of concentration and magic, as the influence of Mephisto grows stronger along with his bloodlust.


 * Immense Strength: During Phantom King, Dante's strength increases exponentially. He is able to lift objects several times his own weight and crush rocks several times his own size. In the battle with Simon, he was throwing large rocks and other debris at his opponent besides his use of magic. He has even created a technique to increase his already impressive strength.


 * Enhanced Speed: Despite his bulky appearance, Dante is very fast and agile, able to dodge most attacks. Whenever he encounters an enemy strong enough to see his Phantom King Take Over, Dante prefers to use his speed in order to end the battle fast. One of the reasons is to hide his durability from the enemy. The other is due to Mephisto's influence. He has even developed a technique that would allow him to instantly reach his opponent.


 * Immense Durability: One of the main abilities granted by Mephisto is his resistance to not only physical but magical damage. Because of Mephisto's influence, Dante's lust for death and destruction increases exponentially. He is afraid that he might lose control, so subconsciously, holds back his power and focuses on defensive tactics to win his battles. Because of that, most of his offensive power goes into his defense. The potential for his durability is fully shown in his battle with Smon, where he was able to shrug off Simon's strongest spells, some of them even collaborative.


 * Regeneration: While in Phantom King, Dante can regenerate faster than humanly possible. Superficial wounds can heal in a matter of moments, while more serious injuries can take several minutes up to several hours depending on the damage. His most serious, life threatening wounds while still able to kill him will heal him faster than possible and play a major role in his survival against Simon.


 * Chaos Mode: It is a self named ability Dante had acquired in his fight with Simon. It seems the longer he fights and the more damage he takes the more the bloodlust of Mephisto begins to influence him. Once that begins to happen the subconscious limitations Dante has placed on himself weaken, increasing his offensive capabilities. Speed, strength and overall damage he inflicts on the opponent increases immensely. If angered enough, his power could crush a small mountain. His speed can reach a level which even SImon cannot possibly stop him. However, the main weaknesses is that the durability that he is so proud of weakens considerably as he focuses all of his power on annihilating the enemy. Another major weakness is that if he passes a certain threshold of hatred, the demon may completely overtake his soul, and he could become Mephito. After the fight with Simon and his subsequent recuperation at, Dante had been forbidden by  from using Phantom King for more than 10 minutes and only under extreme situations.


 * Mammon (まもぬ Mamonu) is one of Dante's Full Body Take Overs. It is currently his most used spell and preferable battle form. It is the form Dante acquired by taking over the dimensional demon Mammon. In this form his body changes drastically. He retains his overal body shape, the only notable difference being his skin turns dark grey. His hair and ears legthen- the hair transforms into a ponytail style while the ears become pointier as well. His right eye is covered in am eyepatch while his left eye's sclera is black with the iris in a yellow-golden color. His clothing also change. Instead of his normal clothes, he now wears a black kimono consisting of a black robe and pants with golden flame-like trimmings at the edges, two a golden colored straps ties to his waist with white socks and black combat boots. On his head he wears a western style hat, black scarf around his neck and finger-less black gloves for his hands.

Transformation (変身魔法 Henshin Mahō): Dante is exceptionally proficient in this magic and it is considered one of his specialties. He can transform into anyone or anything he wants, even just parts of himself if need be. Before, he mostly used it when he had to run away from trouble. However, since his supposed death in the eyes of the public after his first deathmatch with Simon and in order to escape the  who wished to recruit him in the, he has established various fake identities with certain fame that would be able to temporarily draw their attention away from him, until he can find a way to deal with the situation. While in these transformations, he tends to avoid using Take Over so as to not be recognised and relies primarily on a more generic use of magic like Sword Magic and Guns Magic.
 * Teppei the Bodyguard (用心棒の哲平 Yōjinbō no Teppei): Dante uses this transformation when doing bodyguard missions, having gained quite the reputation. He relies heavily on his Sword Magic, having modified it slightly in order to make sure strong opponents and people he has fought in the past don't recognise him by his original style. As Teppei, he has earned the epithet Sword God (剣神 Kenshin) on account of his amazing skill and strength. As his professional nickname suggests, Teppei is mostly known for his skills in protection missions. Known for supposedly having never failed an assignment, he is a highly sought out mercenary and one of highest highest paying ones, considering his clients are usually underground mob bosses, rich and famous individuals, and generally those who have garnered animosity with their actions.


 * Appearance: Teppei is a tall middle aged man with long blonde hair that reaches past his shoulders and narrow, misty blue eyes. Despite his lean appearance, he packs a suprising amount of muscle, although it usually goes unnoticed by most, being hidden underneath his clothes. He tends to wear jackets or overcoats in various colors, all usually drapped over him like mantles. They can be seen fluttering behind him while he is in combat. He then wears a white, long sleeved leisure shirt with "OSAMURAI" blazoned over the right breast and various types of pants, though mostly jeans and dress pants which will be rolled halfway up to the knees. Lastly, he wears a pair sandals in addition to being commonly seen with a piece of twine in his mouth which he spits out when he's fighting seriously. The reason that he tends to switch his clothes so much is that, by the time he's done fighting, they will end up with tears and cuts, more than likely as a result of his opponents damaging them.


 * Personality: Contrary to his real self, the identity of Teppei is protrayed as the Silent-but-Strong type. The reason for that is so people who have either met him, fought him or have some sort of connection to him don't pick up on the noticeable quirks Dante tends to display. While the original is agressive, hotheaded, exuberant, friendly yet cheeky as well as extremely blunt, Teppei the mercenary is calm, apathetic, detached and cold towards others. The only thing that remains from his original personality is the extreme bluntness and disregard for formality and social standings. He will still say whatever he feels like. What makes this personality so difficult to act through is the fact that Dante must play the opposite of who he is and although ingenious, means that he can't do what he loves best. To talk and have a good time, flirt with good looking women and annoy the rest.


 * Code Name: Bounty Hunter (しょきんかせぎ Shokin Kasegi): Dante's transformation that he uses for his Bounty Hunter identity. He uses it primarily for hunting high playing dangerous targets. In this form, he uses mostly Gun Magic and a little bit of his Sword Magic if the target proves strong enough to get inside his guard. His weapons are two fully automatic pistols and a giant sword.

Thought Projection (思念体 Shinentai): Dante is an extremely proficient user of this magic, capable of creating psychic clones of himself that are not only tangible, but when combined with Transformation can also fool other exceptional mages such as the and members of the  into believing that they are real people and have no relationships to him whatsoever. Their creation and maintenance is very taxing, essentially halving Dante's overall Magical power for a single clone or dividing it equally for multiple clones; however, once altough Projection reunites with the original body, the Magical power returns to normal. He can also use the Thought Projections in the lesser manner of making them intangible in order to peoject himself in different places that are far away, mostly when he needs to contact his guild members.


 * Multiple Copies: He can use multiple copies at the same time, but is restricted to two at most. Dante is very vulnerable while his projections are out performing their duties due to the dividing of magical power amongst each clone. He also can't use highly taxing magic like Take Over lest he run out of Magical power; so if he has a choice, Dante prefers to hide himself, until the clones return.


 * Exploding Copies: He can make each of the copies explode by destabilizing the magic and forcefully cutting off the connection between himself and a copy of his choice. The explosion is strong enough to kill someone on the level of, who tried to absorb him when they first fought.

Sword Magic: Devil Style (愚行権 (デビルスタイル) Ijinryu (Debiru Sutairu)): Dante's self created style of sword magic. The main principal is conforming and condensing magic power into a sword or a similar catalysy. Techniques vary, depending on whether or not he will use Take Over. He is immensely proficient at it as he is able to use it in almost any situation so long as he has a catalyst to channel the magic into. Many of them are shown capable of going past the physical reach of the blade employed in their use, threatening enemies at short-to-mid range. He can even use them in collaboration with other magic such as Air Magic, making them capable of levitating as well as controlling their movement for defense and offense at the same time, should there be a need to for it. Recently, since his reluctance in using Take Over due to the danger it possesses to himself and those around him, Dante has begun to actively employ it.

Guns Magic (ガンズ・マジック(銃弾魔法) Ganzu Majikku): Another Holder-Type Magic that Dante is extremely proficient at. By using his customized guns, he can load them with special Magic bullets, which will then produce various Magical effects. His usage of the dual gun style is mainly for the purpose of keeping enemies at bay or dealing with, mostly multiple enemies that are weak, at the same time. Although recenty, he has started bying stronger bullets with more unique effects, making him highly versatile in its use.

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 Royard) "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 get married and my son become 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, Get Ready
 * 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).