It’s been a while since I’ve posted a real hot take, and this has been in my drafts for a hot minute. So here we go 😂
I don’t think Gray is more of a brother to Natsu than Zeref. Even in canon.
First off, that is not to say Gray does not care about Natsu. He clearly does and they are clearly friends despite their bickering.
Brother is pushing it too far for me.
Let’s review- Zeref, out of his love for his brother, moved heaven and earth, got himself cursed to live forever with a curse that killed anyone that got too close, depriving him of any type of human connection, all for the sake of giving his brother his life back. Now it may have been for selfish reasons (Zeref’s refusal to mourn/ let go) but it is ultimately… I don’t know what more you can ask Zeref to do for Natsu. Everything Natsu is currently, is ultimately because of Zeref’s sacrifice. That is why I say Natsu owes everything he is to Zeref.
Now obviously what Zeref does in the final season conflicts with a lot of this, but that’s ultimately the curse of contradiction and the insanity it’s caused Zeref at work- again, which he’s inflicted with for what he’s done for Natsu. That’s all I’ll say about that for now, because Zeref’s insanity is a whole other can of worms.
Now Gray… despite years of friendship/ bonding with Natsu… what is his first reaction to learning about Natsu’s true nature? “Imma kill him!”
Now to be fair to Gray, he was under a lot of duress, thinking Juvia had just died saving him, and had wanted vengeance for his family, and there’s also the fact the demon slayer magic might have messed with his mind (not sure what we know about this concretely). But from what I recall, he went from finding out to immediately setting out to kill Natsu.
Who despite his own demonic power awakening still had the willpower to warn Gray to get out of his way.
Now ultimately, we can’t completely judge a character for one bad moment, and him willing to sacrifice his life to seal Zeref away so Natsu can live is an amazing moment to show how much Gray truly does care (if a terrible way of showing it… come on Gray, you don’t have to kill yourself so people know you do care)… but… would he have done this if he hadn’t just tried to kill Natsu? Maybe. I guess we’ll never know 100% for sure.
With Gray, it’s a mixture of care/ guilt, at least to me. Whereas the root of Zeref actions were ultimately just love for his brother. When he’s in his right mind, that is.
I’m sure a lot of people won’t agree with me but now you have my very Zeref-biased and slightly Graycist view on the matter. 🤣
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