Mirajane Strauss (ミラジェーン・ストラウス, Mirajēn Sutorausu) is the guild's barmaid and administrator,[ch. 2] who also works as a pin-up girl for the fictional Weekly Sorcerer (週刊ソーサラー, Shūkan Sōsarā) magazine.[ch. 1] Gaining infamy as "Demon Woman" (魔人, Majin), Mirajane is the oldest of three siblings who use a variety of the transformation-based magic Takeover (接収, テイクオーバー, Teikuōbā). Her variety is called Satan Soul (サタンソウル, Satan Sōru), which allows her to assume the forms and powers of various demons she has defeated.[ch. 117] Before the beginning of the series, Mirajane resents her magic after enduring constant ridicule, but reconsiders when her siblings learn their own Takeover varieties to comfort her. After her sister, Lisanna, disappears when she is 17 years old, she develops a cheerful personality while posing as a "pretty dumb girl".[ch. 25] Because of the trauma she suffered from that incident, Mirajane also restricts her Takeover magic to only mimic others' physical appearances and voices, and retires from active S-Class work. She eventually regains her Satan Soul variety to rescue her brother, Elfman, during the Battle of Fairy Tail two years later.[ch. 52, 117] Mashima named the character after the username of a friend he met in an online game. He also settled on her family's backstory "a very long time" before including it in the story, saying that "the chance to tell it just never seemed right", and that he was happy when the opportunity arose.[vol. 45:189]
