'Fairy Tail' Details Zeref's Dark Backstory

Fairy Tail has gone through its fair share of convoluted backstories, and it seems a new one has been shared with fans. At long last, Zeref has revealed his past to the world, and it turns out the baddie comes from a real dark place.

Recently, Fairy Tail rolled out an episode focusing on Zeref, and the villain told fans all about his past.

As it turns out, Zeref was born 400 years ago to a quiet family. The boy was joined by a younger brother soon enough, and the kid was none other than Natsu. The younger boy died as a child when a dragon attacked home, and Zeref found himself orphaned without warning. Distraught, the boy decided to learn magic, but his obsession led to some very unintended consequences.

"Before I knew it, every teacher and student at the academy was dead," Zeref explained.

"I must have angered the god Ankhselam. I was given the Curse of Contradiction. The more I care for life, the more everything around me dies. The only way to suppress it is to not care for life."

Continuing, Zeref broke down how the curse tormented him and eventually led him to grow tired of his newfound immortality.

"I created demons that could kill me, but none of my demons could. Eventually, I decided to produce my final, ultimate creation. That creation was you, END. Etherious Natsu Dragneel."

After years of studying, Zeref was able to revive his younger brother, but Natsu was not brought back the same as he went. Zeref's magic resurrected the boy as a demon capable of killing him, making Natsu destined to kill his older brother. In the years since, Zeref has dedicated his life to ensuring Natsu would be able to defeat him one day, and it seems the villain's plan has worked. After all, the Dragon Slayer is one of the most powerful mages out there, and he's got a solid grudge against Zeref that won't be going away.

So, do you feel for Zeref after learning about his origins? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Fairy Tail was originally created by Hiro Mashima for Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine, running from 2006 to 2017 and selling over 60 million copies. The series is set in a fantasy world full of magic following Natsu Dragneel, a fire breathing wizard with the powers of a dragon who is in search of his missing foster father, the dragon Igneel. As he and his wizarding guild Fairy Tail get into adventures, Natsu always tries to find a way to succeed.