Fate stay night/Characters/Servants: Difference between revisions

* For the other characters, [[Fate/stay night/Characters/Other|see this page]].

* For their appearances in ''[[Fate/hollow ataraxia]]'', go [[Fate/Characters/hollow ataraxia|here.]]

 

 

== Saber ==

[[File:saber_fsn.jpg|frame]]

{{quote|''"I ask of you. Are you my Master?"''}}

 

The main heroine of the ''Fate'' route. Saber is the Servant summoned by [[The Hero]], Shirou Emiya. Being a Saber class, she excels in many areas of fighting and has a very high magic resistance. She is often considered the best Servant type, but due to Shirou's shortcomings as a Master, she cannot reach her full potential.

 

Her true identity is {{spoiler|a [[Gender Flip|Gender Flipped]] [[King Arthur]], Arturia Pendragon}}. She joined the Holy Grail War {{spoiler|to repeat history so Britain could have a better king in her stead, as she thought she only caused her kingdom suffering.}} Her Noble Phantasms are {{spoiler|the [[Wave Motion Sword]] ''Excalibur''}} and the barrier magic ''Invisible Air'', a barrier which makes her sword invisible and can be used as a single use projectile. {{spoiler|Her last Noble Phantasm -- [[Chekhov's Gun|which she seems to have lost]] -- is ''Avalon'', the scabbard of Excalibur that bestows a powerful [[Healing Factor]], a boost in mana when held by Saber, and the ability to negate all attacks.}}

* [[Action Girl]]

* [[A-Cup Angst]]: Though anxieties do not play up until she actually falls in love with Shirou.

* [[Lawful Good]]: [[In-Universe]] alignment.

* [[Leitmotif]]: "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q52bJ3E19DU The Sword of Promised Victory]"

* [[Older Than They Look]]: Saber was around 25 when she died, but {{spoiler|due to the fact that she stopped aging once she obtained Avalon,}} she looks around 14/15.

* [[Pimped-Out Dress]]

 

== Archer ==

[[File:archer_fsn.jpg|frame]]

{{quote|''"Well well... it appears I've been summoned by a strange little girl."''}}

 

Servant of Rin and one of the more popular characters in the show. Sarcastic but serious, he tends to look down on Shirou's ideals and usually dispenses either cryptic advice or [[Deadpan Snarker|razor-sharp putdowns]]. He is obedient to Rin, although to what extent nobody really knows; though he carries a semblance of loyalty, Rin has to use one of her three Command Spells shortly after summoning him in order to force Archer into submission.

 

A major character in all three routes, but ''Unlimited Blade Works'' is the route in which he takes center stage.

* {{spoiler|[[Abstract Apotheosis]]: His contract with the World, [[Be Careful What You Wish For|but he ended up regretting it]]}}.

* [[Anti-Hero]]: [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Type IV]]. {{spoiler|[[Generation Xerox|Just like dear old Dad.]]}}

* [[Awesomeness By Analysis]]: His "Eye of the Mind" skill compensates for him having the worst Luck rank possible.

** An especially [[Egregious]] example: during his battle with {{spoiler|Lancer}} in ''Unlimited Blade Works'', {{spoiler|Lancer is moving and attacking at speeds so inhumanly fast that even other Servants couldn't keep up with him}}; Archer manages to hold him off by deliberately making holes in his defense and then parrying every time his foe attacks those holes, ''effectively fighting the whole battle a step ahead of him''.

** [[Badass Longcoat]]: Though it's more like a Badass ''Skirt''.

** [[Badass Normal]]: Only when compared to the other Servants.

* [[The Blacksmith]]: Also known as "The Blacksmith Heroic Spirit." {{spoiler|His version of "Unlimited Blade Works" has steam and gears in the background, resembling that of a workshop. He likes to make weapons, LOTS and LOTS of weapons; it defines his very existence.}}

* [[Big Damn Heroes]]/[[Not Quite Dead]]: {{spoiler|For the finale of ''Unlimited Blade Works''.}}

* [[Casual Danger Dialog]]: Archer speaks to everyone with the same bored indifference, even if they are much stronger and on the verge of attacking him. The craziest example was {{spoiler|when he, near the end of his route, calmly threatened ''[[Complete Monster|Gilgamesh]]'' with death at 1/10 of his original strength.}}

* [[Charles Atlas Superpower]]: Archer was an ordinary person with average magical aptitude (100 times less than prodigy Rin) but through rigorous training he became able to hold his own with sword and magic against Servants and ''whole armies''.

* [[The Gadfly]]: Archer continually tests Shirou's, Saber's and Rin's ideals and personalities with jokes and barbs and is at the same time capable of claiming with a straight face that he would use the Grail for "World Peace".

** [[Funny Aneurysm Moment]]: Once we learn {{spoiler|Archer's true identity, motives and back-story his stated wish for "World Peace" becomes all kinds of depressing.}}

{{quote|''{{spoiler|Let us tell the story of a certain man. The tale of a man who, more than anyone else, [[Wide-Eyed Idealist|believed in his ideals]], [[Fatal Flaw|and by them was]] [[Despair Event Horizon|driven into despair]].}}''}}

* {{spoiler|[[Go Out with a Smile]]: In ''Unlimited Blade Works''.}}

* [[It Got Worse]]: Practically his entire back-story. {{spoiler|His ideals keep getting trampled on over and over until he becomes bitter and cynical. He gets turned into a scapegoat by the very people whose lives he saved, and is executed for it. After death, The World forces him to betray his ideals again and again in his service as a Counter Guardian, which lasts for ''eternity''. No wonder he banks everything on a crazy plan to cause a time paradox.}}

* [[Jade-Colored Glasses]]

** [[Jerkass Facade]]

* [[Knight in Sour Armor]]: Saber, and to a lesser extent Lancer, recognize him as a knight, but both are rather appalled at his manipulative nature, cynicism and [[Shoot the Dog]] attitude.

* [[Leitmotif]]: "The End of Reminiscence" serves as a ''de facto'' leitmotif for Archer, especially in the ''Fate'' route. {{spoiler|"Emiya" also counts for obvious reasons, but that's more of a [[Theme Music Power-Up]], and only in the [[Anime]].}}

* [[Manipulative Bastard]]

* [[Mathematician's Answer]]: When asked if he could {{spoiler|follow his ideal}} to the end without regrets he evades the question by saying it's meaningless: He already met his end. {{spoiler|The answer is both yes and no. He can meet his end without regrets, but after the end he sees the inevitable conclusion, which leaves him lashing out in ways he doesn't even fully understand.}}

 

== Lancer ==

[[File:lancer_fsn.jpg|frame]]

{{quote|''"It should be natural for you to drink until dawn with someone you get along with, even if he may be your enemy."''}}

 

{{spoiler|1=Formerly the Servant of Bazett Fraga McRemitz, she was abruptly killed by Kirei Kotomine, who in turn took her Command Spells to control Lancer.}} Lancer is a carefree, laid back Servant always eager to get into a good fight, and will never back down unless commanded. When not being an enemy, he shows a playful attitude and loves to tease. He is most often seen fighting Archer throughout the whole story. Although at first he was dismissed as a mediocre Servant, the release of an ''Unlimited Blade Works'' translation patch boosted his popularity, {{spoiler|thanks to his [[Dying Moment of Awesome]]}}.

 

His identity is revealed early on as [[Celtic Mythology|one of the greater heroes of Irish Mythology, Cu Chulainn]]. Thus, his Noble Phantasm is easily guessable: The ''Gae Bolg'', [[One-Hit Kill|which kills its target instantly]] by automatically piercing the victim's heart and then [[Reality Warper|reversing cause-and-effect]] to create a reason for it.

* [[Animal Motif]]: Dogs, as per his legend. Being called such becomes a bit of a [[Berserk Button]] in ''[[Carnival Phantasm]]''.

* [[Anti-Villain]]: Due to [[Deliberate Values Dissonance]], he is a [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Villains|Type IV]].

 

== Rider ==

[[File:rider_fsn.jpg|frame]]

{{quote|''"You appear to be a brave person, unlike my master. I shall kill you kindly."''}}

 

A [[Tall, Dark and Bishoujo|tall, dark, silent, gorgeous]] Servant, controlled by [[Smug Snake|Shinji Matou]]. Rider is always seen with a blindfold and [[Rapunzel Hair|very long hair]]. Unlike Shinji, she is a little amiable; in fact, she dislikes him, {{spoiler|her loyalty instead lying with his sister and her true Master, Sakura}}. She wields a very long chain in battle, and these chains make sounds like slithering snakes.

 

She also has a more "public" appearance where she dons a [[Meganekko|pair of glasses]], which provide the same function as her blindfold.

* [[Animal Motifs]]: Rider gets motifs for both horses {{spoiler|for her ability to summon Pegasus}} and snakes {{spoiler|as befits her real identity of Medusa}}.

* [[Anti-Magic]]: Rider has innate magic resistance as part of her class, although it's not quite Saber's level. {{spoiler|Caster gets around this by having Kuzuki kill her in the scenario the two come to blows}}.

 

== Berserker ==

[[File:berserker_fsn.jpg|frame]]

{{quote|''"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"''}}

 

A very huge and very un-[[Gentle Giant]]. This is the Servant of Ilyasviel von Einzbern, and being a Berserker class, he is stripped of his sanity and ability to coherently speak in exchange for extreme boosts in all other stats. Despite his bouts of insanity and the Berserker class' reputation of killing their own Masters, Berserker is pretty dedicated to his Master, to the point it's almost heart-wrenching.

 

Despite all of this, he is always [[Killed Off for Real]] in every scenario, primarily because he is the [[Nasuverse]]'s poster boy for [[The Worf Effect]].

* [[Adaptive Ability]]: {{spoiler|God Hand renders Berserker immune to any attack that has killed him before, as long as he's got a life left to use for a regeneration. It's more of an [[Informed Ability]] than anything since nobody ever tries to use the same attack on him twice on-screen.}}

* [[Attack! Attack! Attack!]]

** It is implied that Berserker would be MORE BERSERK if not for Ilya. Let that sink in for a moment.

* '''[[The Berserker]]''': Well, obviously.

* [[Blessed with Suck]]: The "Mad Enhancement" ability of the Berserker class increases all their stats in return for taking away their sanity and making them uncontrollable. Being that Berserker is [[The Ace|Heracles]], the stat gains are likely minimal in comparison to the loss of at least one Noble Phantasm and the inability to fight tactically.

* [[Character Alignment]]: [[In-Universe]] alignment is Chaotic Insane, which probably pegs him under [[Chaotic Neutral]]. He lacks the rationality to make moral judgments, but apparently under normal circumstances he would be [[Chaotic Good]].

* [[Mighty Glacier]]: [[Averted|He avoids this trope]] in the [[Visual Novel|original novels]], being noted as having [[Lightning Bruiser|incredible strength and speed]]. ''Fate/unlimited codes'' has him as a proper [[Mighty Glacier]] for the sake of [[Competitive Balance]].

** The ''Unlimited Blade Works'' movie shows Berserker as a full on [[Lightning Bruiser]] in his fight against Saber.

* [[Normally I Would Be Dead Now]]: Like Lancer, Berserker has "Battle Continuation". {{spoiler|Like Lancer, he gets to showcase it in "Unlimited Blade Works" where it allows him to stand up to Gilgamesh long enough for Ilya to die in peace}}.

* {{spoiler|[[1-Up]]: His "Twelve Labors" gives him eleven of these.}}

 

== Caster ==

[[File:caster_fsn.jpg|frame|[[Beautiful All Along|Yes, that's Caster without the hood]]]]

{{quote|''"If the Holy Grail has infinite wealth, it should not run out no matter how much we split it. Then can you not share the Holy Grail with those you trust?"''}}

 

A mysterious wizard who is the Servant of {{spoiler|Kuzuki Soichiro}}. She had a previous Master, but due to his abuse she killed him and seized her own Command Spells. Starved of a source of mana, she was about to fade away when she was rescued by her current Master. She pledged a contract, and later fell in love with him.

 

Caster is the physically weakest Servant (apart possibly from Assassin) and relies mostly on her powerful anti-Army magic, her magically-enhanced Master and her skeletal [[Mooks]]. [[Squishy Wizard|She does less well in single combat]]. She also has a Noble Phantasm called {{spoiler|''Rule Breaker'', a dagger which can [[Anti-Magic|dispel any sorceries]] on anything it pierces, including contracts between Servants and Masters}}.

* [[And I Must Scream]]: Let's just say, agreeing to Caster's proposals are a ''[[Bad End|very bad idea]]''.

* [[Anti-Magic]]: {{spoiler|Her Noble Phantasm, [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Rule Breaker]].}}

 

== Assassin ==

[[File:assassin_fsn.jpg|frame]]

{{quote|''"My role is to guard this gate. I won't let you through alive, nor shall I let you out alive."''}}

 

A Servant summoned by Caster to guard the gate of the Ryuudouji Temple. Assassin is a solemn character who delights nothing more than having a good fight. He was, however, an incomplete Servant, thus he is linked with the gate and cannot travel further than the areas in the vicinity of the gate.

 

{{spoiler|He claims the identity of [[Miyamoto Musashi]]'s rival Sasaki Kojirou. However, in the [[Nasuverse]], Kojirou does not exist, he was in fact a fabrication of various swordsman's skills and the name of a person who really existed to create the image of a [[Worthy Opponent]] for Musashi. Assassin himself was a nameless swordsman who, through blood and sweat and tears, managed to obtain the godlike sword technique Tsubame Gaeshi. As he is the only spirit who holds the technique Kojirou is famous for, the Grail called for him to play the part of Kojirou in answer to Caster's summons. As he isn't a heroic spirit, he has no Noble Phantasm; however, his Tsubame Gaeshi skill is said to be as powerful as one.}}

* [[Anti-Villain]]: Type IV, arguably Type II

* [[Badass Normal]]: {{spoiler|Stated to be a nameless samurai, he developed an ultimate technique on level with an anti-personnel Noble Phantasm simply by practicing. And with his lack of Noble Phantasm,}} he nearly manages to defeat Saber in a duel TWICE, even trough Saber was summoned wrong and forbidden to use her Noble Phantasm so it wasnt a actually power fight but more of a fencing duel.

 

== Gilgamesh ==

[[File:gilgamesh_fsn.jpg|frame]]

{{quote|''"'All the evils in the world'? Bring thrice as much if you want to stain '''me'''!"'' }}

 

An Archer-class Servant from [[Fate/Zero|the previous Holy Grail War]] who doesn't bother to hide his identity as the famous Babylonian king. Overconfident and full of himself, he believes the world rests in the palm of his hand and is his to rule as he pleases. In the Fourth Holy Grail War, he was the Servant of Kirei Kotomine {{spoiler|(though he was originally the Servant of Rin's father, Tohsaka Tokiomi)}} and sought the Grail in order to cleanse the world of the "lowly, weak humans" that inhabited it, leaving only those strong enough to be worthy of his rule.

 

Has a big rivalry (as well as a deadly infatuation) with Saber. His Noble Phantasm is the ''Gate of Babylon'', a portal which leads to a storage of the hundreds upon hundreds of Noble Phantasms that he collected in his lifetime as the king of Babylon. Lacking the proficiency or will to actually wield most of them, he mainly just shoots them at people (hence his Archer class). The only Noble Phantasms in his collection that he can truly call his own are the "sword" ''Ea'', which he uses for his ''Enuma Elish'' [[Finishing Move]], and {{spoiler|his chains, Enkidu}}.

* [[All Your Powers Combined]]: Gate of Babylon is basically this, since the numerous weapons are all Noble Phantasms in their own right, albeit this is more like "ALL Powers combined" (his appearance in the game dumps a number of weapons from various heroes into the encyclopedia, some of which never appear in *any* fate/). Also, he is only classified as Archer since [[Storm of Blades|he shoots people with them]]. That said, [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|he shoots people with all their powers combined?]] What the heck?

* [[Anti-Magic]]: Although he lacks the innate magic resistance of the Saber and Rider classes, Gilgamesh possesses so many anti-magic wards, charms, and amulets that he's nigh immune to it anyway.

* [[Big Bad]]: In ''Unlimited Blade Works''.

* [[Bishonen]]: Sakura notes that he "looks like a model".

* [[Blond Guys Are Evil]]

* [[Born Winner]]

 

== True Assassin ==

[[File:TrueAssassin2.jpg|frame]]

{{quote|''"It looks like your weapon is a projectile weapon as well. Would you like to try a match?"''}}

 

An Assassin-class Servant who was meant to be summoned for the Fuyuki Holy Grail War, but was denied because Caster broke the rules and called in her '''own''' Assassin. He is only summoned in ''Heaven's Feel'' by Shinji and Sakura's distant relative Zouken Matou in order to take the Holy Grail for themselves and grant their shared desire for eternal life. Because Assassin has the physical body meant for him, True Assassin's first order of business is to attack him and then eat him from the inside out, using Assassin's corpse to construct his own form.

His true identity is one of the nineteen ''original'' assassins, Hassan-i-Sabah. His Noble Phantasm -- a form of the Noble Phantasm ''Zabaniya'', shared by all True Assassins -- is the curse-like ''Delusional Heartbeat'', which uses the arm of [[Satan]] himself to crush a duplicate of the target's heart, crushing the real one as well.

 

* [[AcCENT Upon the Wrong SylLABle]]: Only at first, when he was still unstable. After devouring {{spoiler|Lancer}} he begins talking normally.

* [[Badass Long Robe]]: He wears a tattered black one on a few scenes.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Fate/stay night]]