Celestial Spirits (星霊 Seirei) are magical beings from their own separate universe, the Celestial Spirit World. Some Mages, called Celestial Spirit Mages due to their specialization in Celestial Spirit Magic, are able to summon Spirits by opening their Gates via the use of Celestial Spirit Gate Keys. These Keys are separated into two classes: the more common Silver Keys and the extremely rare Gold Keys. Keys for Celestial Spirits are counted in Units (collectively without regard of Gold or Silver), and a Celestial Spirit Mage is noted by how many Units they have obtained.[1] All Celestial Spirits are each named after a different astronomicalconstellation. Out of the twelve Gold Keys, ten are owned by Lucy Heartfilia and the remaining two are owned by Yukino Agria, who also holds the key to the "13th Gate" of the Zodiac.
Contracts and Rules
All Celestial Mages must make a contract with Spirits...
When a Celestial Spirit Mage receives a key and opens its Celestial Gate for the first time, they have to set up a contract with the respective Spirit. This contract consists of asking the Spirit which days it can be summoned by the Mage.[2] This simple agreement forms a dedicated and serious bond between the Spirit and summoner. However, under certain circumstances, i.e. during battle, a contract can be asked to be completed later.[3]
... a contract can be broken when the summoner dies
Contracts can be broken if the Mage is arrested, releases the Spirit by him/herself, or dies.[4] When a Celestial Spirit Mage summons a Spirit, it appears directly next to them, as that's where the Gates to the Spirit World have been opened. It's impossible to summon Spirits elsewhere. The Spirits must also abide by certain rules enforced by the Celestial Spirit King. The only rule that has been introduced in Fairy Tail so far is that a Spirit may not directly or indirectly kill its summoner under any circumstances. When the Gates are closed, it is required from both the summoner and the Spirit to agree upon the Gate's closure. However, Spirits can also be "forced closed" in battle, which means they can be forced back into the Celestial World by the summoner's will, though not every Celestial Spirit Mage is capable of doing that.
Celestial Spirits also have different categories of sorts, which fall under the basic summoning conditions from their owner. For example, Loke summons himself most of the time without Lucy doing so herself, Virgo also has summoned herself once, as have Gemini and Horologium and if trust between the Celestial Spirit and the owner is not an issue, contracts can be temporarily dissolved. It also seems that if the Celestial Spirit is strong enough, they can use their own Magic to stay in the Human World, when or if the contract is not in action. The strength of the Celestial Spirits is affected by the Magic Power of their summoner, as Lucy once said that her spirits could become even stronger than Natsu if she trained more.[5]
Known Celestial Spirits
Other
Key
Name
Description
Picture
One Gold key must be broken down in order to summon him (No Key)
Summoner: Lucy Heartfilia (former), Layla Heartfilia(former), Grammi (former), Anna Heartfilia (former) "The Water Bearer" Aquarius is a mermaid equipped with an urn. Lucy considered Aquarius her strongest Spirit, even after receiving Loke's key.
Summoner: Lucy Heartfilia "The Golden Bull" Taurus is a minotaur with black and white splotched skin and dons a nose ring, a black speedo and a gray belt. He wields a giant labrys.
Summoner: Lucy Heartfilia, Layla Heartfilia (former),Spetto (former) "The Great Crab" Cancer has a crab-claw hairstyle with six crab legs protruding from his back. He wields a pair of scissors that he uses for attacking and haircuts.
Summoner: Lucy Heartfilia, Everlue (former) "The Maiden" Virgo sports a black and white maid outfit, with chained shackles around her wrists. She has the ability to dig holes underground.
Summoner: Lucy Heartfilia, Karen Lilica (former) "The Lion" Leo appears as a man in a designer suit with his hair in the form of a lion's mane. He uses the Magic Regulus for combat.
Summoner: Lucy Heartfilia, Sorano (former), Karen Lilica(former) "The Ram" Aries is a timid female with horns at the top of her head much like a ram. She has white and fluffy clothes, like a sheep. Her Magic utilizes wool abilities to relax her opponents, rendering them incapable of fighting back.
Summoner: Lucy Heartfilia, Sorano (former) "The Scorpion" Scorpio is a rough man with a large gun, which is reminiscent of a scorpion stinger. Scorpio usesSand Magic, which he casts by blasting great amounts of sand from his stinger.
Summoner: Lucy Heartfilia, Sorano (former) "The Twins" "Gemi" and "Mini" are two miniature Spirits that wear sashes across their torsos. They can flawlessly transform and replicate into anyone they touch, acquiring their thoughts and Magic.
Summoner: Lucy Heartfilia, Layla Heartfilia (former),Zoldeo (former) "The Goat" Capricorn is a humanoid goat who was possessed by his former master through the use of Lost Magic. After being set free, he joins Lucy as one of her Spirits.
Summoner: Yukino Agria "The Paired Fish" Pisces consists of a pair of enormous fish, one black and one white. Their true forms are that of a beautiful woman with black hair and fair skin and her son, a young man with dark skin and wild-looking white hair who wields a trident. They are both powerful fighters, but revert to their fish forms upon contact with water.
Summoner: Yukino Agria "The Heavenly Scales" Libra is a young woman in an exotic dancer's outfit who hides her face behind a veil and is equipped with half of a set of balancing scales on each hand. Libra uses Gravity Change to alter her opponents weight.
Summoner: Lucy Heartfilia "The Southern Cross" Crux is a human like cross, with a mustache and cross shaped nose. Crux has a lot of information about all Celestial Spirits and their masters, either in the present or in the past.
Summoner: Lucy Heartfilia "The Lyre" Lyra wears a bonnet and dress. She also has wings on her back. She has the ability to sing beautiful songs; she mostly sings about emotions, but she does take requests.
Summoner: Lucy Heartfilia, Katja (former) "The Canis Minor" Nikoras come in various colors, accessories and markings. Nikora takes up hardly any Magic Power when summoned, stated by Lucy.
Summoner: Sorano (former), Katja (former), Will Neville's disciples (former) "The Chisel" Caelum appears as more of an item than a being. It takes three different forms to attack.
Summoner: Yukino Agria The eclipse form of "The Snake Charmer" Ophiuchus.
Trivia
Nakajima from Rave Master made a brief cameo in episode 18, when Lucy talks about the Celestial Spirit Sagittarius and Natsu imagines an octopus with a Nakajima flower head.
Originally, summoning Celestial Spirits were supposed to be by cards. However, this idea was eventually scrapped when the author thought that it was too similar to another manga work.[6]
During her time in the Tower of Heaven, Lucy managed to summon both Cancer and Aquarius during the same day, while from their contract, Cancer can only be summoned on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, while Aquarius can only be summoned on Wednesday. This question was later answered in the Q&A of Volume 16 that the contract is actually constantly changing, and the stronger and trustworthy the bond between the Mage and the Celestial Spirit, the summoner can increase the amount of days that a particular Spirit can be summoned.
Plue's key, as originally depicted in the manga
The Gold keys appear to be more stylized in the anime, appearing with handles and teeth to the theme of the summoned Spirit, while in the manga they appear as ordinary keys with the Constellation's symbol engraved on the top.[7] Recent chapters in the manga depict them in their stylized forms, as seen when Lucy summoned Taurus and Scorpio simultaneously[8] or when Yukino offered Lucy her two keys.[9]
A large number of unnamed Celestial Spirits appear during the party Lucy's spirits hold for her and her friends in the Celestial Spirit World; most of them reflect constellations amongst the 88 Modern Constellations.[10]
It is stated that if all of the 12 Ecliptic Zodiac come together, they will open "the gateway that will change the world".[11]
