Brain (Fairy Tail)

"Midnight... do not vanish... no matter what... that is my prayer."

- Brain

Brain (ブレイン Burein) is the main antagonist of the Oración Seis arc in the manga/anime series Fairy Tail. He was the leader of the Oración Seis, a Dark Guild composed of highly powerful Mages whose goal was to find a very destructive Magic known as Nirvana, which was sealed away long ago. Inside him dwelled another, more evil and dangerous personality known as Zero (ゼロ Zero) before his death at the hands of Cobra.

He is voiced by Tetsu Inada in the Japanese version of the anime, who also voiced Daz Bonez, and Philip Weber in the English version.

Appearance
Brain has neat silver hair that reaches his shoulders, dark eyes and dark skin. He has unique markings on his face that take the shape of straight black lines, ones that begin to disappear when the members of the Oración Seis become incapacitated or killed. He is slightly taller and more muscular than most people.

After Brain's alter-personality Zero is unleashed, his appearance changes slightly. His hair becomes wavier, his eyes have turned blood red, his skin becomes a much paler color, and his outfit becomes something reminiscent of a military officer's outfit.

Brain's Oración Seis mark is located on his chest, however, when Zero takes control of their body, his Guild Mark seemingly disappears.

In X791, Brain's appearence is relatively the same as seven years ago, except that he has grown some facial hair on his chin.

Personality
Brain does not respect his opponents, as he often calls them trash or maggots. He is willing to do all that is needed to achieve his goal, which is to awaken Nirvana, a very destructive Magic. As the leader of a Dark Guild, he is cruel, even to his comrades, as he attacks Cobra for losing to a so-called regular guild. His comrades are just puppets to him, as he says that he can just find new ones when Nirvana is activated.

Brain has two personalities: the face he shows to the world, which loves fame and goes by the codename "Brain", and another hidden face, which loves destruction and goes by the codename "Zero". Comparatively, Zero is much more merciless than Brain, and only seeks to destroy anything and everything he can. Zero states that from his perspective, if someone or something has still some kind of form, he, she, or it is worth destroying. This methodology led to him attacking Klodoa, the seventh member of the Oración Seis. Brain seems to be somewhat afraid of his other self; as a consequence, he used every Oración Seis member as a "key" to lock his other personality away.

History
Brain was once in charge of the Bureau of Magical Development, where he created hundreds of types of Magic, one of which being Self-Destruction Magic, which he eventually taught to Jellal. During his time working there, he took Ultear Milkovich from Ur in order to heighten her already abnormally high Magic Power to make his own ends meet. However, Ultear's power was too great, leading Brain to realize that he wouldn't be able to connect her to his Six Prayers. Brain then left the laboratory moments before it was destroyed.

Brain later traveled to the Tower of Heaven and took five children with the greatest Magic Power and trained them. Those five children eventually became members of the Oración Seis and part of the Six Prayers that sealed Zero away.

Oración Seis arc
In the battle against the Allied Forces (an alliance consisting of the Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale and Cait Shelter Guilds), Brain doesn't take part, and instead orders the other members of the Oración Seis to finish them off. Once the Allied Forces is finished, Brain moves to eradicate them with his Dark Rondo, but stops upon seeing Wendy Marvell, looking at her with total shock.

After his shock subsides, Brain captures Wendy, and, by extension, Happy, who has latched on to her, and fires his previously halted spell at the Allied Forces before, ultimately, leaving the battlefield. However, unbeknownst to him, Jura Neekis arrives and saves the Allied Forces from the deathly blast. Brain then takes Wendy and Happy back to the Oración Seis' base and informs the other Oración Seis members of Wendy's powerful Healing Magic. He then has Racer bring in a coffin while the others continue to look for Nirvana.

An hour later, Racer returns with the coffin and opens it, revealing a comatose Jellal Fernandes to be inside. Brain then explains to Wendy that he wishes for her to revive him, as he could easily lead the way to Nirvana, and that Wendy, who knows Jellal, owes a debt to him as well. When Wendy hesitates, Brain grants her five minutes to make a decision regarding the matter. Ultimately she chooses to revive Jellal much to Brain's delight. However, immediately upon being awakened, Jellal attacks Brain, sending him plummeting to the lowest depths of his hideout. Scared that Jellal might be intent on taking Nirvana for himself, Brain orders Cobra to follow Jellal, hoping that the man will lead them to the great Magic they seek.

After Racer loses his battle against Gray Fullbuster and Lyon Vastia, Brain wakes Midnight, and orders his adoptive son to kill the Allied Forces. As he continues to look for Nirvana, he senses that Angel has been defeated and vows to not let their sacrifices be in vain. Brain eventually arrives at Nirvana's location, where he is informed, by a frantic Cobra, that Jellal has placed a Self-Destruction Spell on the Magic. Brain, however, shows no worry over the matter, and easily cancels the spell's activation, revealing himself to have created the Self-Destruction Spell. Proclaiming that Nirvana is now his, Brain activates Nirvana's second stage, and declares that the Allied Forces' strongest weapons, "trust" and "unity", are now useless before him. Upon seeing Natsu reach the control center of Nirvana, Brain orders Cobra to defeat him, however, Natsu defeats Cobra in their midair battle.

Cobra returns to his feet, but before he can kill Natsu, Brain attacks him from behind, blasting a hole through his shoulder, heavily wounding the Poison Dragon Slayer. Surprised by this betrayal, Cobra listens to Brain's heart, where he hears Brain think that the Oración Seis are pitiful for having lost to a "common guild". When Natsu asks Brain why he would attack a fellow comrade, Brain answers that with Nirvana, he can simply create a new Oración Seis. Brain then grabs the weakened and helpless Natsu, claiming that he will be the first of his new Six Prayers. However, as he drags Natsu to the control center, he runs into Lucy Heartfilia, Gray Fullbuster, and later Jura. Power-mad, Brain states that with Nirvana, nobody can defeat him, and that he plans to start his tirade by destroying Cait Shelter, but Jura attacks him, knocking him into several nearby stone structures, proclaiming that he won't let Brain rest until he divulges the reason as to why he's aiming to destroy Cait Shelter.

Brain is easily defeated by Jura, but, even though he has fallen, Nirvana remains en-route to Cait Shelter. Brain then pretends to be Hoteye and sends a telepathic message to the group, saying that Midnight is in the room below the King's Room, and that if he is defeated, Nirvana will be stopped. However, unbeknownst to them, Midnight has actually encountered Jellal and Erza, and that the room under the King's Room is actually a trap set up by Brain. When they reach the location in question, they are, unfortunately, too late in realizing that they were tricked, and are caught in a large explosion.

When Midnight is defeated by Erza, it is revealed by Klodoa that all the Oración Seis members are "keys" that keep Brain's other personality locked away. However, now that they have all been defeated, and thus all the seals have been unlocked, this new, chaos-loving personality, Zero has been released. When he arrives at Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy's location, he quickly defeats them, and ceaselessly attacks them afterward. Shortly thereafter, Nirvana finally arrives at Cait Shelter. Klodoa states that the destruction of the guild will make sure Nirvana cannot be resealed; however, Zero shouts that such a reason is meaningless: he needs no reason to destroy. He then orders Nirvana to fire. However the shot is diverted due to the Magic Bomber: Christina hitting one of Nirvana's legs. Aboard the Christina, a fatigued Hibiki Lates informs the others of Nirvana's weak points via Archive, but Zero intercepts the message, taunting the group by saying that he also knows where the weak points are, and that he won't let them destroy them.

After the fallen Fairy Tail members rise once more, they are told that there are six Lacrima powering Nirvana, and that they must pick one and destroy them simultaneously. Natsu immediately picks the first Lacrima, which lead him directly to Zero himself. When he arrives, Zero asks Natsu what business he has, and Natsu states that he's going to destroy the Dark Guild Master. Upon beginning to fight, Zero explains that he isn't the same as Brain, however, he compliments Natsu, whom he states is fighting magnificently for someone of his injured status. Zero then repeatedly whips Natsu with Dark Capriccio, that is, until Jellal Fernandes arrives and attacks Natsu with a large amount of fire.

Zero deduces that Jellal's memories have returned, however, he finds it strange that, despite Jellal knowing of Natsu's non-weakness to Fire Magic, he used it on him anyway; Zero realizes that Jellal did not remember anything. Annoyed by Natsu's bickering, Zero states that the two should fight elsewhere, as they are annoying him, and then proceeds to attack them both with Dark Capriccio. However, Jellal uses his body as a shield, protecting Natsu from the spell. Natsu then accepts the Flame of Rebuke from Jellal, to which Zero states that by doing so, he accepts Jellal's sins as well. He replies back by saying that Fairy Tail is no stranger to sins, and that the real sins are to ignore and stop believing in others. The two resume their battle, but a look of fear appears on his face when he realizes that Natsu has entered Dragon Force. Zero then recalls that Dragon Force is similar to something a real Dragon possesses - the power to utterly destroy everything.

However, the word "destroy" rekindles Zero's confidence, and he attacks Natsu relentlessly, pressuring him, stating that the Fire Dragon Slayer hasn't learned how to properly utilize the power he was gifted with. Disappointed, Zero mentions that the Dragons' power once ruled the ancient world and questions if the power he is currently facing is the same as the one fabled of in legend. Zero then proceeds to deride Natsu, stating that he can't defeat him by himself. Natsu answers back by saying that he can feel his friends supporting him, and that he can feel their strength pouring into him. Zero states that he has had enough, and finds it a pity that he must kill Natsu.

However, Zero mentions that he enjoyed their battle, and resolves to use his strongest spell against Natsu; Natsu and Zero attack each other with Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade and Genesis Zero, respectively. Zero's spell overwhelms Natsu's, and, by extension, the Fire Dragon Slayer itself, however, Natsu manages to pierce through, simultaneously burning and nullifying Zero's spell. Zero is then rendered helpless by Natsu's Dragon Slayer Magic, receiving the full brunt of Natsu's Crimson Lotus: Phoenix Blade; Zero is thrust into the Lacrima he was guarding, destroying it, as well as knocking him completely unconscious, just as the other five members of the Allied Forces do the same to their own respective Lacrima. With Nirvana deactivated and the Oración Seis defeated, Zero is stopped once and for all.

Tartaros arc
Brain is seen released, along with the rest of Oración Seis, due to Cobra's actions. As he is congratulating him and proclaiming the return of his guild, Cobra brutally strikes him down, to which none of the other members of Oración Seis seem to contest after having learned they were being used by Brain. Afterwards, he is seen laying on the ground unconscious with Midnight towering above him. While he is in this state, the rest of the Oración Seis begin battling against Jellal. When he begins overpowering them, striking them down one after another, Brain, still lying on the ground, smirks as the seals on his face start disappearing.

With Zero quickly awakening, the alternate persona rises and screams to Jellal that he is the one that is going to disappear, a response based around the man's comment that he is going to defeat them all; Zero quickly and gleefully fires a Dark Capriccio at Jellal that pierces the man's abdomen. With Jellal mortally wounded, Zero pounces on the man and violently punches him, sending blood spattering. Maliciously laughing, Zero shouts that his final punch marks Jellal's end. However, it is soon revealed that Midnight created an illusion, and that Brain is in fact still on the ground, defeated.

Magic and Abilities
Darkness Magic: Brain is extremely proficient in the use of this Magic, and often uses Klodoa as a medium for his spells.
 * Dark Capriccio: A beam of darkness is fired from Klodoa (or in Zero's case, his hands), meant to be used as to pierce through defenses. Zero, however, has far greater control and is able to manipulate its movement with one hand, cast more than one beam at a time, and even use it as a whip.
 * Scream: A stronger, faster version of this spell.
 * Zero Slash: Zero uses Dark Capriccio as a whip and attacks the enemy.
 * Dark Gravity: As its name implies, it amplifies the gravity in a certain area. When used against Natsu, he was sent crashing downwards through Nirvana's lower floors.
 * Dark Rondo: When cast, Dark Magic with horror-stricken faces swirls around Klodoa (or Zero's hands), becoming more and more condensed. Brain can then fire the gathered Magic as widespread attack (as he did against the Light Alliance), or as a condensed one (as he did against Jura). The full effects of this spell are unknown, as it was stopped by Jura Neekis both times.
 * Dark Delete: Several spheres of darkness are fired continuously from Zero's hands.
 * Genesis Zero: Zero's strongest spell. He first gathers a large amount of Darkness Magic around his fingertips before, ultimately, unleashing it as a wave of countless phantoms that seek to erase the target's soul, and even their very existence.

Self-Destruction Spell: A Magic that forces the complete destruction of an object, Brain is the creator of this spell, and, as such, has no need for the required code needed to cancel this spell's activation.

Organic Link Magic: Brain has proven himself capable of using this type of Magic.
 * Six Prayers: A powerful, advanced spell cast on himself to seal his alternate, fearsome personality: Zero. Organic Link Magic is used to make each member of the Oración Seis a "key" to Zero's seal. These metaphoric keys appear as tattoos on Brain's body, and each disappears whenever the corresponding Mage is defeated. When no keys are left, Zero emerges, taking over Brain's body.

Requip: Brain has proven himself capable of using this Magic when he requipped a dagger, which he used to hurt an injured Jellal in an attempt to force Wendy to heal him. As Zero, he was seen Requipping a different shirt after removing his cape and jacket.

Archive: As stated and demonstrated by Zero, Brain possesses the same Magic as Hibiki Lates, Archive, which allows him to store vast amounts of data away to use to his advantage. The use of such Magic also allows Brain to transfer said data to allies. This could explain how he has such a vast knowledge of Magic, and how he may have known about Nirvana and Wendy. It also appears to be an extremely rare Magic, as Zero thought that it was unique to Brain.

Telepathy: Brain has demonstrated great proficiency in his use of Telepathy, having been capable of performing a mass-communication with those nearby, and even feign Hoteye's voice in the midst of said communication. As Zero, he was capable of effortlessly jacking into Hibiki's own Telepathy to communicate with the Allied Forces.

Enhanced Durability: Brain has proven himself to be quite durable, being able to withstand a forced plummet into the ground, and emerging unscathed from the rubble moments later. As Zero, he is shown to have great resistance. In his fight against Natsu, when the latter entered Dragon Force, Zero was able to take multiple hits from Natsu with no visible after effects, and only fell when hit with Natsu's full power.

Enhanced Speed: Despite his large size, Brain has shown to possess remarkably high speed, having been able to cover the several meter distance that separated him and Jura in mere moments. As Zero, he was shown effortlessly evading Natsu's attacks.

Enhanced Strength: As Zero, he seems to be quite strong, as he managed to pressure Natsu Dragneel, an extremely strong expert hand-to-hand combatant, with his fists alone.

Immense Magic Power: As Zero, he possesses a large amount of Magic Power. He can release his Magic Power as a potent aura around him, which can cause even the ground itself to shake. The Allied Forces described his Magic Power as the most disgusting one they had ever felt.