Mercuphobia is a male dragon native to the continent of Giltena. A calm, if not gentle soul, he is one of the Five God Dragons and an inhabitant of the town of Elmina, where he is worshipped as a deity by the local people.
Appearance and Abilities[]
Mercuphobia is an extremely powerful dragon. As powerful as Acnologia, the black dragon of the apocalypse, Mercuphobia is able to control and command water to such an extent that if he were to enter combat, he could likely wipe out humanity in a single attack. He is a master enchanter, as he cast a spell to protect Elmina's people from drowning by having them turn into fish whenever the tides flooded the city. Regardless, he did not like having to change the inhabitants, as he would have preferred them lead normal lives. However, This could not be helped, as Mercuphobia was slowly losing control over his abilities and would eventually cause a global flood; a fact further compounded by the fact that Touka the White Mage, an evil witch inhabiting the body of a young girl also bearing her name, took away Mercuphobia's ability to control his magic, leaving him her unwilling puppet.
In his dragon form, Mercuphobia’s appearance is similar to that of a sea serpent, with a scaly underside, large wings, no legs, and a long, pointed nose. He bears a tribal-like design on his face and has two segmented horns behind his eyes. According to Dragon Slayer Natsu Dragneel, he was bigger in his dragon form than Natsu's own father, the Fire Dragon King, Igneel.
Mercuphobia also had a human form; in this form, Mercuphobia appears as a young man with shoulder-length hair, his two long horns, and a facial tattoo over his right eye. He dons a dark coat over a long shirt, accompanied by loose pants tucked into pirate boots. His accessories include a necklace with three circular ornaments and black gloves that only partially cover his palms.
Mercuphobia in his human form.
Personality[]
Mercuphobia is a calm dragon worshipped as a god by the people of Elmina, although he can easily become hostile towards those he views as enemies. Conversely, he is quite welcoming towards the town’s visitors or those who have earned his trust, visible by his hospitality towards Team Natsu upon their arrival. Mercuphobia takes responsibility for the care and well-being of the citizens of Elmina, presiding over them as a benevolent ruler while also driving away any threats to himself or the town. He is particularly dedicated to his assistant, Caramille, who he states is his “reason for living.” Despite his kind-hearted nature, Mercuphobia acknowledges his cruelty and violence as the Water Dragon, admitting that he previously thought of humans as comparable to ants. Because of this, he regards himself himself neither good or evil, although he openly supports coexistence with humanity.
Due to his growing frustrations about his powers’ threat to Elmina, Mercuphobia constantly worries for the citizens’ safety and considers himself a danger to them. As such, he has become unafraid of death, even resorting to have Elefseria’s assassins to kill him in an attempt to sacrifice himself for their sake.
History[]
Mercuphobia was alive to witness the terrible war that was the Dragon King Festival 400 years ago, which saw the rise of Acnologia and the extinction of dragons in Ishgar. However, like the other Five God Dragons, Mercuphobia did not participate in the events of the war and instead fled Acnologia's rampage to Giltena, where he would rise to eventually match Acnologia in strength. Originally evil, Mercuphobia killed many humans, including those in the family of fellow dragon Elefseria, a former Dragon Slayer. However, Mercuphobia's heart softened towards humans when he met and rescued Caramille, who was shipwrecked as a little girl. After Caramille came to live with him, Mercuphobia turned to the side of good, choosing to rule peacefully over Elmina, where he lived and to protect the humans who lived there.
However, Mercuphobia's powers began to become more and more uncontrollable. Using his enchantment magic, he counteracted his inadvertent flooding of Elmina with each tide by turning the inhabitants into fish when the water rose. But Mercuphobia's powers could not be stopped; had he allowed his powers to continue growing, he knew he would flood the entire world. To this end, after having watched as Elefseria sent countless wizards after him, Mercuphobia decided to let the next group that came for him kill him. Caramille, horrified at the idea of seeing him die, decided she couldn't let that occur. At some point before the events of the 100 Years Quest Arc, Touka the White Mage stole Mercuphobia's powers of control, tricking the worried Caramille into believing she could stop both Mercuphobia's magic and save him. This instead allowed Touka to control Mercuphobia as her puppet as she wished.
When Natsu Dragneel and his teammates Lucy Heartfilia, Gray Fullbuster, Erza Scarlet, Wendy Marvell, Happy and Carla arrived in Elmina to look for him on Elefseria's behalf, Mercuphobia watched them from afar before inviting them to the sanctuary of his palace. After hearing what they had to say, he agreed to let them kill him, but before they could act, 5th Generation Dragon Slayers from the Magic Guild Diabolus arrived to try and eat Mercuphobia, hoping to gain his power, but found it had already been taken. The battle that followed left Mercuphobia wounded and resulted in Wendy, Natsu and Erza being taken prisoner.
Caramille took the wounded Mercuphobia away so that he might recuperate, but unbeknownst to them, Touka took control of Mercuphobia and unleashed him on Elmina. Caramille, devastated by her attempts to save him gone wrong, subsequently asked the returned Natsu and his team to kill the rampaging dragon, saying it was the only way to save him.
Knowing in his brainwashed state Mercuphobia would kill untold numbers of people if not stopped, a conflicted Natsu began fighting Mercuphobia alongside his team. To help him, Wendy enchanted Gray, Lucy and Erza to carry the power of Dragon Slaying Magic, allowing them the ability to hurt and slay dragons as true Dragon Slayers were able to do. Despite their magic hurting Mercuphobia, it did not have much effect, as Mercuphobia remained unscathed and caused the ocean to rise into the sky, much to their amazement and horror. He subsequently begins pummeling members of Natsu's team as they try to stop his rampage, defeating Lucy, Erza, Gray and Wendy despite their best efforts. Natsu, desperate to stop him from causing anymore harm, tries using his most powerful spells and attacks on Mercuphobia, but the dragon's control over water causes Natsu's flames to burn out. Rendered helpless, Natsu is sucked into one of Mercuphobia's whirlpools, only for a giant dragon's hand to reach out of the whirlpool and grab him, while a voice informs Mercuphobia that he won't let the water god dragon take Natsu's life.
The Dragon later reveals himself as Ignia, the biological son of Igneel, and to help Natsu boost his strength, sets Elmina aflame. After Natsu consumes his foster brother's flames, he enters the battle against Mercuphobia again, proceeding to thrash Mercuphobia like a rag doll. As the contest continues, Mercuphobia tries to destroy Natsu with a roar, only for the Fire Dragon Slayer to destroy his attack and injure Mercuphobia. Calling on Erza and Gray to aid him, Natsu ends the battle by striking Mercuphobia down with his Fire Dragon King Demolition Fist, finally defeating him and breaking Touka's hold on the dragon. However, Natsu, overcome by his raw power, tries to burn Mercuphobia's body to ash. Lucy however, seeing what Ignia's power is doing to her friend, stops him, holding him back, and telling Natsu the battle is over.
It is revealed after the battle that Mercuphobia survived his battle with Fairy Tail, but has been stripped of his magic by the sealing spell, permanently leaving him in human form. However, Mercuphobia is grateful, as he no longer can hurt anyone. After Caramille explains the reasons for Mercuphobia's actions, the people of Elmina welcome Mercuphobia with open arms and kind hearts, leaving him free to live in peace forever.
Trivia[]
- Mercuphobia is the third dragon Natsu has defeated, after Animus and Acnologia, respectively. He is the first dragon whose life Natsu has spared.
- Mercuphobia is the first dragon defeated by non-dragon slayer-wizards whose power was enhanced by Dragon Slayer enchantments.
- Mercuphobia is the second dragon to be effected by an evil wizard, just like Animus was. Animus was sent rampaging by Zash's magic, while Mercuphobia was being used as a puppet by Touka, the White Wizard.
- Mercuphobia is the first of the Five God Dragons to be defeated and his power sealed away.