some of my favorite characterization of freed is actually from canon: the battle of fairy tail. fandom tends to forget how surprisingly subtle the writing was for thunder squad in that arc. freed knew when the game went too far but refused to back down, really out of loyalty and honor (the same reason he doesnt back down from wall even as he’s about to be killed). when mira talks him down after their fight, she basically just says that he’s lonely, which isn’t what you’d expect. but it makes sense if you see that freed must have felt very isolated from the guild. he was called one of the guild “mystery men” remember. freed’s team was away from fairy tail for months, his magic was largely a secret, and he was willing to go to such lengths to reshape the guild into where he thought laxus, and by extension the thunder legion, belonged.
that’s one of the things i love about thunder legion/laxus- they manage to be a band of misfits in a guild that’s already all misfits. it’s great for them that theyve grown closer to the guild but we also lost that dynamic. the thunder legion spends the rest of the series static and overshadowed by laxus.
so i think it’s best for fans to base freed’s characterization on him in that first arc. it’s the time he’s allowed to be the most flawed thus the most interesting. he’s honorable, loyal, and prideful to a fault, while also a ruthless and vindictive strategist. he’s less emotional and more level headed than bixslow, evergreen, or even laxus. there’s so much more going on with freed’s character that has nothing to do with laxus- laxus and his tournament just brought out the worst parts of him in that arc.
This is beautifully written and I agree! I wouldn’t say that it’d be good to solely base his character on the Battle of Fairy Tail, but it’s definitely one of the most important parts.
The entire Thunder Squad has had their development but in my opinion they’re still one of the most morally grey people of the guild.
Sure, the Battle of Fairy Tail has made them seem ice cold and that’s not what they are in general - they have hearts of gold as well, for the people who deserve it in their opinion.
BUT they can still be as ice cold as they were during the Battle of Fairy Tail.
To some people, Freed could seem so flawless, so perfect, so prim and proper. But really he isn’t. He’s far from perfect. And he’s not prim and proper or untainted.
He has big flaws in his character. He’s ruthless as shit if need be, he can be so cold and he can probably still kill people and be completely level-headed and show not a single hint of emotion. He has clearly shown sadistic streaks, he can be far too stubborn or honorable.
We learn that he’s earned himself the title of ‘The Dark’ and I’ve always loved to know how that came to be, but one thing is clear: It wasn’t something good or something clean or something honorable.
Freed is still all of this but in the course of the manga and his character development, he has allowed himself to open up and warm up to other people than the Raijinshuu and Laxus. His family. He let his guards down more and allows himself to show more emotion, which is a good thing.
There’s so much good in his character but there’s also so much flaw and it’s so complex.
Also yes, manga-canon Freed is the best.
