<p>Each guild follows its own criteria to promote its members as S-rank mages. </p>

<p>Fairy Tail's criteria for being promoted to S-rank mage are more stringent that those of Phantom Lord. Master Makarov mentioned that he selected the participants for the S-rank exam by watching their strength, heart and soul. From Master Jose's personality and his obsession with making Phantom Lord as the strongest guild, we can be certain he uses only fighting strength as the criteria, and doesn't care about things like heart and soul.</p>

<p>Moreover, although the S-rank mages were the strongest Phantom Lord's mages, one could not be certain where they stand in comparison to Fairy Tail's members. To determine that, they too would need to go through the S-rank exam.</p>

<p>Also, it is a Fairy Tail tradition to conduct an S-rank exam every year. It could also be part of the tradition that the only way to get promoted to S-rank is to pass the exam, and there are no direct appointments. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-22T19:56:15.800Z
Why do you ask questions that you know the answer for?
ytg
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-22T20:18:20.143Z
@ytg StackExchange allows users to answer their own questions to pass along information.  Suppose you had a question that wasn't already asked here and instead of posting it immediately you went out and found the answer elsewhere.  Instead of posting the question here and waiting for the answer you already found, you can answer your own question and share the fruits of your labors with others.
Michael Celey
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-23T03:05:01.140Z
@ytg I answer my own questions *because* I know the answer. :) Besides, StackExchange not only allows but *encourages* users to do so. Check out Jeff's [blog post](http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2011/07/its-ok-to-ask-and-answer-your-own-questions/).
Masked Man
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-23T03:06:48.347Z
@ytg You too are encouraged to answer your own question. Please feel free to contribute your knowledge to the community. :)
Masked Man
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-22T17:00:29.580Z
2013-02-22T17:00:29.580Z
Masked Man
<p><strong>Contains spoilers for early manga readers or anime viewers</strong></p>

<p>After the Phantom Lord arc, two mages</p>

<blockquote class="spoiler">
  <p> Juvia Lockser and Gajeel Redfox</p>
</blockquote>

<p>who were the S-rank members of their previous guild who had joined Fairy Tail. Why did they not retain their S-rank status?</p>

<fairy-tail>
Why didn't the two mages who joined Fairy Tail retain their S-rank status?
# Why didn't the two mages who joined Fairy Tail retain their S-rank status?
Posted by: username_0 on 2013-02-22
**Contains spoilers for early manga readers or anime viewers**

After the Phantom Lord arc, two mages

> Juvia Lockser and Gajeel Redfox

who were the S-rank members of their previous guild who had joined Fairy Tail. Why did they not retain their S-rank status?
**Tags:** fairy-tail
---
## 1 answers
### Answer by username_0 on 2013-02-22. Score: 7
Each guild follows its own criteria to promote its members as S-rank mages.

Fairy Tail's criteria for being promoted to S-rank mage are more stringent that those of Phantom Lord. Master Makarov mentioned that he selected the participants for the S-rank exam by watching their strength, heart and soul. From Master Jose's personality and his obsession with making Phantom Lord as the strongest guild, we can be certain he uses only fighting strength as the criteria, and doesn't care about things like heart and soul.

Moreover, although the S-rank mages were the strongest Phantom Lord's mages, one could not be certain where they stand in comparison to Fairy Tail's members. To determine that, they too would need to go through the S-rank exam.

Also, it is a Fairy Tail tradition to conduct an S-rank exam every year. It could also be part of the tradition that the only way to get promoted to S-rank is to pass the exam, and there are no direct appointments.
> **Comments:**
> **username_1** (2013-02-22): Why do you ask questions that you know the answer for?  
> **username_2** (2013-02-22): @ytg StackExchange allows users to answer their own questions to pass along information.  Suppose you had a question that wasn't already asked here and instead of posting it immediately you went out and found the answer elsewhere.  Instead of posting the question here and waiting for the answer you already found, you can answer your own question and share the fruits of your labors with others.  
> **username_0** (2013-02-23): @ytg I answer my own questions *because* I know the answer. :) Besides, StackExchange not only allows but *encourages* users to do so. Check out Jeff's [blog post](http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2011/07/its-ok-to-ask-and-answer-your-own-questions/).  
> **username_0** (2013-02-23): @ytg You too are encouraged to answer your own question. Please feel free to contribute your knowledge to the community. :)  
---
