Panther Lily

Panther Lily is a character from the Fairy Tail anime and manga.

Lily is an Exceed that originally worked for the kingdom of Edolas as the Magic Militia's First Division Commander of the Royal Army. He is a member of the Fairy Tail Guild and is Gajeel Redfox's companion. During the time Fairy Tail was disbanded he was a member of the Magic Council. However, he rejoined Fairy Tail after the guild returned.

In the Heroes Coalition fics, Lily is a member of the Heroes Coalition and is part of the Super Sixth Squad.

Appearance
His head is that of a black panther's, but he has a tall, muscular build similar to that of a human's. Later, this body is called his battle form. He has a white muzzle, small red eyes, and a scar running down across his left eye. Like his fellow commanders (except Hughes), he wore a personal set of battle armor with a long cape draped around his body, as well as a helmet vaguely similar to that of Lyon Vastia.

However, when he reached Earth Land, he took a form which is more typical for Exceeds, as a small, bipedal black cat with round ears. His facial features are retained, albeit in a very deformed manner. Although he can return to his former form, he can only do so for a very limited amount of time. His guild tattoo is on his back in the same place as Happy and Carla's, and is gray in color.

Personality
Panther Lily seems to have a grumpy disposition and detests noisy people. He first appears by demanding that Byro and the hyperactive Hughes quiet down (although Sugarboy noted that Panther Lily was in a nastier mood than usual). He also seemed to have reservations about Operation ETD, unlike the other commanders. This was presumably because he did not want his own race to be destroyed, despite the fact that he had also said that Extalia was a fake country, one he discarded a long time ago. However, Panther Lily is on good terms with Mystogan as he saved the young prince from death when he was a small child. Panther Lily does not discriminate against Exceeds or humans and treats them as equals, unlike the Exceeds in Edolas who viewed themselves as superior to the humans.

Panther Lily likes kiwi fruits, even singing their praises. Despite his tough attitude, he is frightened of thunder. He also seems to have a penchant for oversized weapons, as shown from his handling of the Bustermarm and his liking for the Musica Sword.

Abilities
Aera (Ēra): Panther Lily, like every other Exceed, is capable of sprouting feathery wings that grant him the ability to fly, at the same time neutralizing the weight of one possible passenger carried by him. In his original, massive form, these wings are much larger than those of normal-sized Exceeds. Aera greatly helps Panther Lily out in battle, allowing him to remain out of reach of his enemies while he wields one of his large weapons to strike at them, or to rapidly dodge their ranged attacks, granting him added maneuverability and speed.

Battle Mode Shift (Sentō Mōdo Shifuto): While in Edolas, he was known for his huge size and mass, especially large when compared to a stereotypical Exceed. After being transported to Earth Land, Panther Lily has undergone major changes: his body has been drastically reduced in size, with him now being the same height as most of his fellow Exceeds. This is, according to his own words, because Earth Land "doesn't fit well with his previous body". However, true to his role as a physical fighter, Panther Lily has developed the ability to temporarily transform back to his usual large size, regaining his original strength, stamina and power. This proves to be rather difficult, as he can only maintain his large size for a short period of time.

Enhanced Durability: In his true form, Panther Lily displays great resistance against attacks, both physical and Magical in nature. He was shown being able to withstand Gajeel's iron fists and roar, as well as Azuma's explosive Magic head-on, only to emerge relatively unscathed. Whether or not the same could be said about him while assuming his reduced form is still in question.

Enhanced Strength: Panther Lily has shown outrageous brute strength, being capable of swinging a gigantic swordaround freely, easily shattering rock without losing his balance or hampering his flying ability in any serious manner. He is also shown able to punch a large rock and make a crack in it. On top of this, he was also strong enough to cut through the acid produced by Neppa's Acid Magic, something which he himself noted to be extremely difficult to accomplish. It's unknown whether he retains such strength in his reduced form; however, he was shown capable of overwhelming and tying up Lisanna, who at the time was way larger than him, subsequently pulling her out of some bushes she was hidden in and onto her knees with a single hand movement (despite being subsequently pulled in the air by Lisanna rushing to hug Natsu Dragneel in a comedic way), something implying that, at least to a certain, minor degree, he still does.

Keen Intellect: Panther Lily has shown to be considerably intelligent and analytical, having seemingly been the first member of Fairy Tail capable of reading through Doranbolt's deception, exposing him as someone not belonging to the guild and even managing to work out the mechanics behind his Memory Control Magic, imputing his ability to slip into the members' memory to change or alter it.

Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Panther Lily has proven himself to be skilled in the use of hand-to-hand combat, supported by his high physical prowess. He was shown capable of fighting on even terms with a melee specialist of the caliber of Gajeel Redfox, with the two of them exchanging punches, and could easily defeat several armed Grimoire Heart members who were coming at him without the aid of a weapon, subsequently disarming one of them in a single hand movement without much effort.

Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Panther Lily is a master swordsman, with his swordplay being good enough for him to evenly match S-Class Mage Erza Scarlet, known for her great swordsmanship, in a mock battle. Despite his massive size, he has shown himself capable of performing slashes which are not only strong, but also extremely fast and accurate. During his battle against Azuma, Panther Lily appeared confident that he might have been able to fight on even terms against the Grimoire Heart Mage, if only he had had a sword with him. After obtaining the Musica Sword from a member of Grimoire Heart, he was shown making short work of many of his enemies with a single slash.

Equipment
Bustermarm (Basutā Maamu): A sword four times taller than Panther Lily decorated in a way that resembles a monstrous cat's face. This sword is able to easily cut earth with little force put behind it. It has two Lacrimas that glow red. It is also capable of cutting through iron. However, as Gajeel pointed out, the Iron Dragon's Scales that he manifests aren't made of "ordinary iron", and as such, proved resistant against the sword. It was later destroyed by Gajeel. Musica Sword (Mujika No Ken): While fending off Grimoire Heart's lesser members, Panther Lily disarmed one enemy and started using his sword. This was revealed to be a Musica Sword, a reference to Rave Master which was an apparently very expensive weapon capable of altering its size, something Panther Lily noted to be similar to his former Bustermarm, and which prompted him to choose it as his new weapon of choice.
 * Buster Bomb: The Bustermarm's center glows in a reddish-orange color and a large explosion occurs when it strikes anything.

Trivia

 * While the rest of the Exceed have the usual pointed type cat-ears, Panther Lily has them rounded, like a real panther, in both his larger and his chibi form.
 * Panther Lily has a fear of thunder.
 * Panther Lily's Musica Sword is a legacy from Hiro Mashima's previous work Rave Master, in which Musica is a family known for its expert swordsmiths. It's also worth noting that the Grimoire Heart member who owned the sword bears a striking resemblance to a minor Rave Master character, working under a villain who's guilty for the slaughter of most of the Musica family itself.
 * In the manga, when Panther Lily is seen the first time without his helmet on, he has what seems to be hair. This was however removed in all subsequent appearances.
 * According to Hiro Mashima, Panther Lily's name "was inspired by a famous character from a famous children's story". The character in question is Tiger Lily from Peter Pan.
 * Panther Lily's favorite food is kiwi fruit, but he eats them with the skin left on.
 * In Hiro Mashima's unofficial "ranking of characters that defied his popularity expectations" Panther Lily came in 4th place.