It is a valid argument. Feats = growth rate. Laxus feats >>> Jellal's feats and Jellal had eight years to train while Laxus had 1.
Bring up BoS is meaningless. Laxus was already stated to be a late bloomer while Jellal was trained by Brain since he was a kid.
Cool, when Mashima gives them feats to show they can give Lucy/Laxus diff then they will have feats to say such. As of now their feats are weak in comparison thus their growth rate is weak. Until Mashima gives them feats to prove otherwise then these hypothetical portrayals are nothing but speculation lol.
Also Jellal was never "high" spriggan tier lmfao. Dude only beat the weakest of the Spriggans with a butt load of help. Where did you get high tier S12 from those feats?
Saying Jellal skyrocketed is generous. He doesn't even have feats to say he can beat Base Natsu lol.
Well he only oneshotted one S12 with Base level attacks while multiple others have shown to shrug off his Base level hits. He wasn't even doped up on PoF and straight up two shotted Neinheart like a scrub lol
What Laxus's feats is >>> Jellol's?
In x791, they were both around Jura tier, feats suggest so.
In x792, they don't have feats which allow comparison. Because they both fought different opponents, who although had similar portrayal, had different stats.
Jellol received buttload of help to beat Neinhart? How? If anything, the presence of others hindered him than help him. Remove Kagura and he won't even be hit.
His magic power was something that far exceeded Neinhart's, since Neinhart appeared visibly worried when Jellol powered up. This shows us that Jellol is far above an average Spriggan in terms of MP. And unlike typical Spriggan, Jellol isn't all MP & fodder in stats, so stats scale as well.
Same with x793, their feats aren't something that allows comparison between two.
But Jellol did manage to immobilize Erza. If Jellol was below her tier, then Erza should be able to break free from his bind snake. Since, hax spells like these usually fail if casters are a tier below. This indicates that Jellol at least is in her tier.
He also tanked Kyria's roar without even a scratch. This shows he isn't some fodder like you claim he is.
If you wanna say Laxus' feats are more impressive, sure. If we discount Jellol's feat against Acno (which I also admittedly do, since we all know Acno can one shot anyone in the series except high tier dragons and full power DF Natsu), there isn't much feats where Jellol stands out. He doesn't get drawn out fights, his last 2 fights were very quick ones where he one shots with Grand Chariot
Laxus got more drawn out fights. But this doesn't mean Laxus is above Jellol, it just means he got more feats shown to us. Context here is, portrayal and understanding of the series. If Laxus and Jellol ever fought, even if Laxus would win (which I think he would), Jellol would give him a run for his money. Laxus himself has indicated it ("if we fight, it wouldn't end well for either of us")
Growth rate is completely in Mashima's hands, he makes characters grow however he wants to fit his portrayal. The growth Jellol got between x791 and x792 is >>>>>> the growth he got in 7 years - fact. This is completely un-fucking-deniable. You're the only one who'll deny this lol.
Why did Jura stagnate, while he had more growth than Jellol in the 7 years? Because, in x791 he wanted to build up Jura as a boss, but after x791, Mashima had no more use for Jura. He's not a relevant character like Laxus and Jellol.
Sure, the portrayal is hypothetical regarding Juvia and Lucy. I just considered them around same level, because some of their past feats were comparable. But there wasn't really any comparison between them that was made in the manga.
But portrayal regarding Laxus and Jellol is very much real. This has been clearly demonstrated multiple times, in main manga and even in the 100 YQ. In fact, it's the only portrayal that's still even remotely standing, while other old rivalries like Natsu/Gray, Natsu/Gajeel and Erza/Mira died out.
That's not PoF tho. He had zero trouble in KOing Neinheart and didn't even use something beyond normal attacks lol. Neinheart just has poor dura which is why he went down with two hits.
The same attacks would've KO'd Bandish too, who you think of very highly. After Neinhart went down, Brandish was in a state of utter shock, wondering how strong Natsu really was.
Those 2 attacks would've KO'd the typical Spriggan, who's high MP, hax and mediocre stats. Like Ratrace said, Natsu wanted to prove a point right there.
Darkness Gray is still Gray. His attack was blocked by Alvarez-arc Erza. Her arm was visibly injured, but it wasn't serious enough to debilitate her fighting condition against Irene afterwards. Erza has grown more powerful since in the 100yq. Present-day Laxus beat 100yq Erza. So it's reasonable to think Laxus should defeat any version of Gray quite easily.
Yea, her arm was visibly injured from that attack. While they were trading countless blows between each other without such injuries each time they crossed blows.
Which means, partial END and darkness Gray were significantly above Erza.
Even from a narrative point, it makes sense. Partial END, by narrative, has to be stronger than regular Natsu (i.e non DF Natsu) at least. Regular Natsu is on or above Erza. A less demonized END, than who fought Gray, overpowered Dimaria's timestop and rofl stomped her. Traumatised her to the point where she gave up fighting and became a farmer lol.
Saying Darkness Gray is still Gray, is like saying DF Natsu is still Natsu. Non DF Natsu would be around Laxus level, while DF Natsu would one shot Laxus. Not saying darkness is that much of a boost for Natsu, but I hope you get the point I'm making. Only difference being, we don't know if Gray can call upon that power again, willingly.
