Erza Scarlet (エルザ・スカーレット, Eruza Sukāretto) is an S-Class swordswoman of Fairy Tail who is nicknamed "Titania" (妖精女王, ティターニア, Titānia) for her notoriety as the guild's most powerful female wizard,[ch. 14] referencing the Fairy Queen from A Midsummer Night's Dream.[vol. 3:192] She uses magic called "The Knight" (騎士, ザ・ナイト, Za Naito) to instantaneously "requip" (換装, kansō)—exchange and equip—various weapons and armors that alter her already tremendous strength and magic ability.[ch. 14] Abandoned at infancy by her mother, Irene Belserion,[ch. 519] Erza is enslaved at the Tower of Heaven at age 11 and befriends Jellal Fernandes, who gives her the surname "Scarlet" after her red hair.[ch. 77, 163] She first activates her magic power while leading a slave revolt, only to be betrayed by a brainwashed Jellal and forced to escape from the tower alone.[ch. 81, 82] Her experiences lead her to join Fairy Tail and become a serious-minded but compassionate disciplinarian who temporarily becomes the guild's seventh master in Makarov Dreyar's absence when the guild is reformed one year after Tartaros's demise. Over the course of Fairy Tail, Erza grows fond of her friends during their adventures.[ch. 104, 438]
The character is named after Eru from Mashima's one-shot manga Fairy Tale, which served as a pilot for Fairy Tail.[vol. 2:190] Mashima initially designed her to only shed tears from one eye due to a defect with her artificial eye, but he eventually abandoned this aspect after accidentally drawing some scenes where Erza has tears flowing from both eyes.[vol. 12:199] He also said that he often forgets what Erza's armor looks like, and changes the design every time she appears.[vol. 18:187]
