Highlights
- Devil Slayer Magic is a rare and unique form of sorcery in Fairy Tail, only wielded by three characters in the series.
- The magic allows users to slay and exorcize demons while being immune to their attacks, but also comes with the risk of turning the user into a demon.
- Devil Slayer Magic grants users the ability to gain information about demons and their powers by simply looking at them, and they can gain enhanced strength and endurance in their demon form.
Over its long-run, Fairy Tail has acquainted fans with all sorts of unique magic types. Despite the series setting a precedent of Dragon Slayer Magic being the strongest type of wizardry, other novel magic arts have populated Fairy Tail’s narrative, with some even rivaling Dragon Slayers. Devil Slayer Magic is one such unique magic archetype that has the power to rival its Slayer counterparts, though its rarity has limited its potential within Fairy Tail’s premise.
Devil Slayer Magic is an ancient form of sorcery, leading to its constituents being deemed as Lost Magic. Similar to other Slayer Magics, Devil Slayer Magic grants the user the ability to slay and exorcize demonic entities, all while remaining immune to the demons and their magic. This magic has remained limited to only three characters in the entirety of Fairy Tail, meaning its full potential hasn’t exactly been explored compared to Dragon Slayer and God Slayer Magic. Still, the limited accounts of this power are more than enough to thoroughly acquaint fans with the true extent of this power.
Origins of Devil Slayer Magic
Since Dragon Slayers were taught their magic directly by dragons, it was initially believed that all types of Slayer magic must be taught by the creatures that utilize the magic. While this also holds true for Devil Slayer Magic as demons can pass this magic to humans, wizards can also learn this magic through the Books of Zeref.
However, this route of acquiring Devil Slayer Magic is almost impossible since it involves merging regular magic with Magic Barrier Particles. These particles are also known as Anti-Ethernano Particles and are extremely poisonous for human beings. Therefore, the only method known for learning Devil Slayer Magic is to acquire the power from a demon. Etherious creatures and other demons created by the Books of Zeref also possess the power to pass along this power to humans.
Properties of Devil Slayer Magic
True to its namesake, Devil Slayer Magic primarily serves the purpose of slaying and exorcizing demonic beings. While demons can be slayed with regular magic as well, Devil Slayer users have Anti-Ethernano Particles infused with their magic that essentially allows them to easily kill any demonic creatures. They can exorcize demons by thrusting their magic power onto the creature, a process that is slightly different from killing them through other types of magic.
The properties of Devil Slayer Magic are quite similar to its Slayer counterparts, such as being immune to their respective element and replenishing magic by consuming their own primary element. However, they cannot replenish energy by eating any element they have generated themselves. Devil Slayer Magic also grants the user the power to gain information about a specific demon simply by looking at it, which includes the type of magic or Curse the demon can utilize.
The Process of Demonization
Similar to Dragon Slayers, using excessive Devil Slayer Magic has a grave drawback of turning the user into a demon. This process is called Demonization as it essentially turns the user’s body into a demon-like state. The end-state of Demonization results in black markings over half of the user’s body. However, this demon state also grants the user immunity to Curses and other types of demonic magic. Even the ultimate curse known as Memento Mori cannot harm a Devil Slayer in this state, despite a curse capable of annihilating anything it touches.
The demon state isn’t necessarily a negative aspect of Demon Slayer Magic as those who master this magic can transform into a demonic state at will, gaining powers such as enhanced strength and endurance. Another side effect that comes with learning Devil Slayer Magic is the risk of losing one’s own sanity in the process. However, this is only said to occur by learning the magic too quickly, which can potentially taint the Devil Slayer’s mind. The user may lose their mind or start making irrational decisions, all of which could harm the user and those around them severely.
Users of Devil Slayer Magic
Compared to Dragon Slayers, Devil Slayers are rather limited in the series, especially since they were introduced in the latter part of Fairy Tail. A total of three Devil Slayers have been introduced in the series; Silver Fullbuster, Gray Fullbuster, and Bloodman. Silver Fullbuster was the first character introduced with this power, and he was granted the power after he was resurrected as an Etherious by Keyes of the dark guild Tartaros.
Gray was able to acquire his Devil Slayer powers from Silver after defeating him. Gray’s inherent magic was able to merge with the Anti-Ethernano particles, thereby granting him Ice Devil Slayer Magic. Bloodman, a member of the Spriggan 12, is the third Devil Slayer in the series. As an Etherious being himself, he was able to wield all the Curses and powers of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros. Since Silver was part of the Nine Demon Gates, Bloodman also gained access to the novel Lost Magic.
Fairy Tail is available to stream on Crunchyroll.