Jackal (Fairy Tail)

Jackal (ジャッカル Jakkaru) is a Mage of the Dark Guild Tartarus and a member of the Nine Demon Gates.

Appearance
Jackal appears as a young muscular man who, living up to his name, possesses a number of animal features: his light hair, reaching down to his shoulders and covering the left side of his face, juts upwards on top of his head in a pair of prominent protrusions shaped like ears (and which might actually serve such purpose, seeing as the Demon's human ears aren't visible), his nose is small and dark like a canine's; he has a furry tail protruding from his lower back and pointed teeth. His eyes, complete with dark slit pupils, bear a thick dark outline, and dark spots are present around them; Jackal's forearms and hands are almost completely covered by a larger variety of similarly colored shapes, which in correspondence to his wrists fuse together to leave his hands completely dark.

Jackal wears a light, striped tank top on his torso, paired with a dark bandanna adorned by light spots (not unlike those found on his own body) circling his neck, which is arranged to form three ends pointing downwards, as well as some sort of collar. He sports a light garb around his waist, held closed by a button on the front of its belt-like part, and split in two tails on the back, each adorned by a series of dark rectangles near their lower edges. Jackal's pants are noted for being extremely loose and baggy; while mainly light in color, they sport dark sections (albeit bearing light edges) on the thighs' front and on the calves' back; a clasp-like ornament is located some inches below each knee.

History
As the Magic Council is having a meeting at their headquarters, Jackal attacks the building with his Curse, causing a hefty explosion that destroys the building. Many individuals inside die, including most of the seated members of the Council. Jackal, finding Org has survived the attack, pins him head down on the rubble, stating that letting him live is not an option. With his hand on Org's head, Jackal starts charging his Bomb Curse while introducing himself as the man who massacred the entire Magic Council, and then finishes him.

Jackal later attacks Michello's home, aiming to kill the former Council member with a huge explosion. He appears in front of Lucy, Natsu, Happy, Carla, Wendy, Michelia, and Michello, commenting that he expected them to be in pieces after that explosion. As Natsu says the name Tartarus, Jackal glares at him questioning the Mage's identity. The former then exclaims that he is Natsu from Fairy Tail and that he is going to start putting Tartarus in body bags.

As Jackal snickers at Natsu's incredibly serious attitude, he notices Lucy and Wendy trying to help Michello and Michelia evacuate to the nearby village. Spreading his arms wide and spinning, Jackal utilizes his Curse to blow the surrounding town to pieces, angering Natsu deeply. As the Fire Dragon Slayer launches himself at Jackal, the man raises an arm, sending out an explosion around Natsu's body, only to be shocked when Natsu merely consumes the flames. Not having enough time to react, Jackal takes a hard hit to the face, and stumbles backwards admiring Natsu's fiery talents. However, he underestimates Natsu's resolve, and takes another bout of harsh blows. Skipping backwards, Jackal asks Natsu to pause momentarily so that he can tell him something, though Natsu refuses to listen, catching the Tartarus Mage off-guard and seemingly grounding him for good.

However, Jackal soon stands moments later when he hears Michello denying that he knows any valuable information, walking up to the group and accusing the old man of lying. As Natsu moves to once again intercept him, Jackal then points an accusing finger, stating that Natsu should listen when people talk to him. As he finishes his sentence, a number of strange patterns appear on Natsu's skin, and Jackal explains that he possesses a Curse of sorts that turns anyone who touches him into a human bomb - something he tried to warn Natsu of before the Dragon Slayer landed blow after blow. Seeing himself begin to glow, Natsu shortly explodes and falls to the ground, Jackal laughing as he steps over Natsu's fallen form to continue his attack on Michello, demanding information from the ex-councilor and threatens to kill his granddaughter if he refuses to comply.

At that moment, Michello decides to flee so Jackal tries to follow him, but Lucy and Wendy stand in his way. He makes a quick work of their Sky Dragon's Roar and Scorpio's Sand Buster, negating them with his explosions and proceeds to claim that Tartarus' power, Curses, is a greater power than Magic, it being something that a mere Mage cannot stand against. He finishes the job with Exploding Spiral and continues pursuing Michello. After finding him, Michello begs him to stop, but Jackal laughs that he even ditched his granddaughter. They are then approached by Lucy, but Jackal is ready - the Celestial Spirit Mage is caught in a Landmine Curse, unable to move without causing an explosion. Jackal then makes two bombs out of Michello and an innocent pregnant woman, having Lucy to choose which of the two will live and which will die. He continues urging Lucy to pick, while laughing about humans being just toys. However, out of nowhere, Natsu appears to perform a destructive attack, successfully defusing the bombs. Jackal notes that Natsu touched him again, but is then surprised to hear that Natsu has figured out the trick behind his bombs as he shows it off.

Utterly confused at how Natsu managed to swallow the explosion coming from his body, Jackal asks Natsu who he is, and upon being swiftly punched in the face, the Dragon Slayer screams his name. Laughing at the fact that Natsu has touched him again, Jackal shouts for Natsu to explode as he engulfs the man in an explosion; Jackal's laughter doesn't last for long, however, as Natsu reveals himself to be relatively unharmed. Shaking in fear, Jackal backs away and ponders if Natsu truly is human; internally screaming that him being afraid of a human is impossible, Jackal shifts into his Demon form and immediately lunges at Natsu, striking the Mage and creating a sizable explosion upon impact. Jackal then proceeds to continue by striking Natsu once more (and creating another large explosion) whilst stating that humans are incapable of besting Demons such as those from Tartarus. Screaming for all humans to perish, Jackal moves to envelop Natsu in another explosion but his attempt is negated by the delivery of a swift kick to the jaw, surprising the Dark Mage. Jackal is then sent violently hurdling through several buildings, courtesy of Natsu, who has entered Lightning Flame Dragon Mode.

On the ground, defeated and immobile, Jackal laughs as light begins to encircle both the town and himself, whereupon he states that it's the first time he's been overpowered to such a degree; the pillars of light grow taller and vaporize the surrounding architecture, all as Jackal apologizes to Kyouka and states that at the very least, he'll take everyone down with him. Being asked to stop, Jackal replies that he cannot, as he, himself, is the explosive, and even if he were to die, it cannot be stopped. Laughing maniacally, Jackal shouts that he'll see them all in Hell, however Happy grabs Jackal's scarf and takes him to the skies, prompting Jackal to Curse the Exceed. Ignoring Happy's sneer, Jackal screams in anger as he explodes in the sky, unable to accomplish his final objective.

Some time later, Jackal's body is created anew, and he awakens in the Tartarus headquarters. Climbing down from around one of the regeneration tanks, he scoffs at Lamy, who is fawning over Tempesta's new body nearby, complaining that she is giving him all of the attention. However, his appearance only causes Lamy to rush to his side, hugging him as she exclaims that she always makes him good-looking, as Tempesta tries and struggles to remember his fellow guild member's face. Questioning what's up, Jackal listens as Lamy explains that Tempesta never seems to have any memories when he is given a new body, this causing the Demon to remember Happy and Natsu, and what they did to him. As he vows revenge, the group are approached by Minerva, who has also just finished being converted into a Demon. Seeing her steely expression, Jackal smiles her way, happily accepting the new ally.

Curse and Abilities
Bomb Curse: Jackal stated that like all the other members of Tartarus he doesn't use Magic but a Curse, a power said to stand above Magic. His Curse is based around the use of bombs and explosions. Jackal's Curse seems to be activated through his hands, as he has been seen placing his palm onto something and making it light up before causing it to explode. The explosions created by Jackal are powerful enough to destroy a large building such as the Magic Council Headquarters and killing many individuals, or even a whole town. Another aspect of his Curse is that complex markings appear on the body part of anyone or anything that has touched him, turning them into living bombs. The magnitude of the explosion depends on how many times Jackal touches or is touched by the target.

Demon Form: As a Demon, Jackal has shown the ability to transform into a larger and grotesque, lycanthropic beast. His initial motive for mutation was his fear and anger towards Natsu Dragneel in the heat of their battle.

◾Bomb Impact: While in his transformed state, Jackal, by merely touching the enemy, is capable of unleashing terrifying explosions that create powerful shockwaves and destroy the surrounding area in an instant.

◾Enhanced Strength: Jackal's strength is further augmented in this form, making him capable of effortlessly smashing the ground with his fist, and forcing Natsu to parry.

◾Enhanced Speed: Despite his increased size, Jackal has shown to be deceptively fast while transformed. He was able to hit Natsu with enough speed that the Fairy Tail mage was unable to dodge some of his blows, and forced to parry instead.

Immense Durability: Jackal appears to be incredibly resistant to damage, suffering a heavy beating from Natsu Dragneel, enduring a prolonged barrage of attacks enhanced by his Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, only to stand back on his feet as if nothing happened seconds after, after a brief moment of unconsciousness.