Fairy Tail's strongest member returns after being on a job for three years, and has news for Natsu regarding dragons.
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Modeus gives Wendy a head pat after assuring her he's doing better.
- Always Someone Better: As their strongest member, Gildarts is this to the rest of Fairy Tail. Erza admits she can't hold a candle to him and he makes his entrance casually tossing Natsu aside.
- Bonding over Missing Parents:
- In a flashback, a young Natsu and Lisanna share how neither of them remember their birth parents, though it's downplayed in that they consider their foster father and siblings all the family they need respectively.
- In the present, Natsu and Dante share a moment of commiseration over the loss of their respective fathers, the latter promising the former to help him find Igneel.
- Continuity Nod:
- Wendy checks up on how Modeus is doing, asking if he's recovered from the events of the previous chapter.
- The Forest Vulcan from the canon flashback of Natsu looking after Happy's egg makes an appearance.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Dante apparently delivered an offscreen one to Natsu, which is why he brought him to his apartment before the start of the chapter.
- Gildarts' response to Natsu's "greeting" can't even be called a fight, simply catching and tossing him up into the air.
- Gildarts apparently found himself on the receiving end of one in his encounter with a black dragon, needing a prosthetic leg and arm in the aftermath.
- Dirty Coward: The Forest Vulcan in a nutshell, choosing to take Lisanna as a hostage rather than fight Natsu directly, and showing glee at beating the young Dragon Slayer up. When Gildarts shows up and destroys the boulder it was holding, it promptly flees for its life.
- Disappeared Dad: In the flashback and the present, Natsu morosely wonders where Igneel is.
- The Force Is Strong with This One: While some of the newer members are skeptical upon seeing Gildarts, Modeus is able to sense his magic power and calls it among the most powerful he's ever encountered. Given his status as a former apprentice of Sparda and being over 2000 years old, this speaks volumes.
- Intimidation Demonstration: Gildarts not only holds the boulder the Forest Vulcan was about to use to crush Natsu in place, but destroys it with his Crash Magic to intimidate the creature into leaving. It wisely complies.
- Know When to Fold 'Em:
- Discussed by Modeus, who advises Lucy not to jump the gun after hearing about the 100 Year Quest.
- When the Forest Vulcan sees what Gildarts is capable, it wisely takes his advice to leave.
- Of all people, Gildarts decided that the 100 Year Quest was too much for him, especially given the Curb-Stomp Battle he suffered at the hands of the black dragon. He was forced to get a prosthetic arm and leg in the aftermath.
- The Lost Lenore: Lisanna serves as this to Natsu.
- Morality Pet: Downplayed given he's as far from amoral as you can get, but Wendy serves as a good influence for Modeus, giving him something to focus his energy on in the aftermath of his brothers death.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- When Gildarts teases him about Lisanna, the Hot-Blooded Natsu coldly tells him she died two years ago, before getting ready to leave, his energy gone.
- When experienced Devil Hunter and Deadpan Snarker extraordinaire Dante sees the injuries Gildarts sustained from his encounter with the black dragon, he has nothing to say other than a shocked "Jesus..."
- Papa Wolf: When the Forest Vulcan threatens Natsu and Lisanna, Gildarts steps in to frighten it off and rescue the two children.
- Parental Substitute: Gildarts played this role to Natsu, Happy, and Lisanna in a flashback, the former most of all. Even in the present it's noted they share a special bond.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Gildarts, with the entirety of Magnolia needing to rearrange itself to avoid him accidentally breaking down walls.
- Ship Tease: Plenty between Natsu and Lisanna in the flashback, the normally Hot-Blooded youth being willing to forgo fighting the Forest Vulcan and bow his head if it meant Lisanna's safety.
- The Tease: Lisanna frequently teased Natsu when they were younger, frequently comparing the two of them looking after Happy to a husband and wife. It's heavily implied this is where happy got his own teasing tendencies from.
- There Was a Door: Gildarts casually breaks down a wall simply walking out of the guild, despite the door being in plain view. Natsu imitates him a second later, to everyone's exasperation.
- Underestimating Badassery:
- Despite being told of his status as the strongest Fairy Tail wizard, several of the newer members are skeptical upon seeing him for the first time. This is averted by Modeus, who can sense his magic power and calls it among the most powerful he's encountered.
- The Forest Vulcan initially tries to intimidate Gildarts with a boulder, despite the wizard holding it in place with one hand. One annihilated rock later, it learns its lesson and gets the hell out of dodge.
- The Worf Effect:
- Gildarts makes his entrance into the story casually catching Natsu's attack and tossing him into the sky without so much as turning to face him.
- Played for Horror when Gildarts himself reveals he suffered from the wrong end of this trope, having been swiftly and brutally beaten by a black dragon. He mentions the beast having gutted him, and reveals he lost an arm and a leg in the process.
- Would Hurt a Child: The Forest Vulcan gleefully uses Lisanna as a hostage against Natsu, and takes the opportunity to beat the preteen Dragon Slayer into the ground. He also apparently wanted to eat Happy as an egg.
