Fate stay night/Characters/Servants: Difference between revisions

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This is a page about the Heroic Spirits appearing in the [[Visual Novel]] turned [[Anime]] ''[[Fate/stay Stay Nightnight]]''. Contains '''''a LOT''''' of spoilers.

* For the Masters, [[Fate/stay Stay Night (Visual Novel)night/Characters/Masters/Characters|see this page]].

* For the other characters, [[Fate/stay Stay Night (Visual Novel)night/Characters/Other/Characters|see this page]].

* For their appearances in ''[[Fate Hollow Ataraxia (Visual Novel)|Fate/hollow ataraxia]]'', go [[Fate Hollow Ataraxia (Visual Novel)/Characters/hollow ataraxia|here.]]

* For their appearances in ''[[Fate Zero (Literature)|Fate /Zero]]'' and other servants exclusive to the fourth war, go [[Fate /Zero (Light Novel)/Characters|here.]]

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

Saber possesses several quirks for a Servant: For one, she cannot dematerialize into a spirit form like other Heroic Spirits. She was also a participant in [[Fate /Zero (Literature)|the Fourth Holy Grail War]] as the Saber-class Servant of Kiritsugu Emiya, and somehow retains her memories from that encounter despite the fact that she should not be able to. Whereas the former is initially blamed on an imperfect summoning, both are eventually revealed to be {{spoiler|caused by the fact that Saber is still alive: On her deathbed, she pledged a contract with The World to allow herself to enter the Holy Grail Wars as a Servant in exchange for eternal service as a Counter Guardian upon her victory. Thus, her true self is frozen in time moments before her death, and she will continue to reincarnate until she achieves her goal or gives up.}}

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

* [[Animal Motifs]]: Saber is often given a lion motif. {{spoiler|After all, the lion is the [[King of Beasts]] in the western world.}}

* [[Bad Liar]]: She's not used to being embarrassed, so when she lies about something embarrassing it's really obvious. Like saying that she was trying to take Shirou's pulse to cover up a handshake.

* [[Broken Bird]]: {{spoiler|Her behavior in the Fourth and Fifth Grail Wars is not actually what King Arthur was like even [[In -Universe]]. Rather, on her death bed, the long suppressed personality of Arturia wishes to save her country while the perfect King Arthur is satisfied with the job 'he' did. Thus, Arturia is sort of flailing about trying to fix things that can not and should not be fixed.}}

* [[Hot Chick Withwith a Sword]]

* [[Idiot Hair]]: [[Memetic Mutation|Memetic mutation]] turns it into such things as a [[Prehensile Hair|third hand]], an oven timer, and the infamous ''Ahogecopter''. Plus, if by poor luck you pull it off, out comes {{spoiler|Saber Alter...}}

* [[I Will Wait for You]]: In Realta Nua's Last Episode. {{spoiler|Her soul waits forever for Shirou until they are finally reunited.}}

* [[Jeanne D 'Archetype]]: She's unexpectedly a very straight example. She is an expert swordswoman, was born humble, {{spoiler|but became the leader of her people, pretended to be male, and was eventually betrayed by her people}}. It's often the first guess as to her true identity, including [[Fate /Zero (Literature)|in-story]].

* [[Lonely Atat the Top]]: {{spoiler|Saber was the king of Britain, but she had to throw away all human bonds in order to rule.}}

* [[Spell My Name Withwith an "S"]]: ''[[All There in the Manual|Fate/complete material]]'' gives the official romanization for her name as {{spoiler|''Altria'', while mirror-moon's translation gives ''Arturia''.}}

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Saber Alter:''' Lunch. [[Gratuitous English|NOW]]! ''<munch>'' Like always, your food is terrible.}}}}

** {{spoiler|[[Dying Asas Yourself]]: In one [[Bad End]] where Shirou manages to kill her singlehandedly (at the cost of his own life), she compliments him on his strength in a warm way before disappearing. Unfortunately, she does ''not'' appear to do this in the normal course of the storyline when she dies}}.

{{quote| '''Saber''': ''"R-Rin! What is it? I-It's not like I'm surrendering to Shirou!"''}}

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

* [[Badass]]: The man the word "GAR" was invented for, folks.{{context|reason=What, he's a freshwater fish?}}

* [[Bow and Sword Inin Accord]]

* [[Deconstruction]]: {{spoiler|He's a [[Wide -Eyed Idealist]] who naively tried to save everyone he could see. You know, ''superheroes''? You'd end up like this, too, if you found out that your ideal is inherently paradoxical and that everything you've been fighting for the whole time amounted to nothing.}}

* [[Dying Alone]]: In his back-story.

* {{spoiler|1=[[Generation Xerox]]: His foster father, Kiritsugu Emiya, [[Fate /Zero (Literature)|started out wanting to be a "hero of justice" but learned things the hard way, and ended up sacrificing the few to save the many in his actions]]. Like father, like son, so much that ''[[Fate Zero (Literature)|Fate /Zero]]'''s opening description of Kiritsugu exactly fits Archer as well.}}

{{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]].}}''}}

* [[Hero Withwith Bad Publicity]]: Well, more like ''no'' publicity. Nobody has any clue at all who he is. {{spoiler|Both in the time of the Fifth Grail War, because he's from the future, and in his own time, because he rarely spoke to people. Simply going around saving people with no explanation made people very suspicious of his motives. Eventually this distrust culminated in him being executed for supposedly starting a war that he'd gotten involved in and ended}}.

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Rin''' (narrating): The boy who stated that he just doesn't want to see anyone cry... could only see crying humans forever}}.}}

* [[Jerkass]]: [[Badass|Badassery]]ery aside, Archer can be a real dick sometimes. {{spoiler|Even before going through the [[Heel Face Revolving Door]].}}

* [[Lonely Atat the Top]]: Archer followed his ideal to the end, and look where it took him. No wonder he's so bitter.

* [[Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids]]: ''Drown in your ideals and die!'' {{spoiler|He is telling that to his past self though.}}

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Archer:''' Conflicts come into my view as long as I'm alive. It was endless. I didn't dream of a world without conflicts. [[Despair Event Horizon|I just wanted people in my view to not cry]].}}<br />

* [[Used to Be Aa Sweet Kid]]: {{spoiler|Again, just like dear old Dad.}}

** His projection magic also counted, being the only magecraft in the modern world capable of matching heroic spirits in power output, but at the same time being reliant on his almost inexistent prana reserves. {{spoiler|After [[Deal Withwith the Devil|making the contract with Alaya]], [[Infinite Supplies|he gained prana reserves sufficient for its continuous use]], but it had only happened shortly before his death.}}

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

* [[Blade Onon a Stick]]

* [[Red Baron]]: "Cú Chulainn" means "Culann's hound". In-game, he's also referred to as "Ireland's Man of Light" on top of this. [[Fate/hollow Hollow Ataraxia (Visual Novel)ataraxia|Caren amuses herself by referring to him as "dog"]].

* {{spoiler|[[Taking You Withwith Me]]: He kills Kirei after being ordered to kill himself for refusing to rip out Rin's heart in ''Unlimited Blade Works''}}.

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

Her identity was rather surprising: {{spoiler|She is in fact a different (but still accurate) take of [[Always ChaoticExclusively Evil]] Greek Monster Medusa. Screwed over in her past life, she just wanted to live together with her Master and protect her. Unfortunately, Sakura didn't want to fight Shirou, so she was pressured into giving Rider to Shinji. He frequently abuses and rapes Rider, greatly holding back her strength to the point that she's the first Servant to be eliminated, except in the ''Heaven's Feel'' scenario where Sakura eventually regains control of her. She still retains her [[Taken for Granite|petrifaction eyes]], but uses her blindfold (actually a Noble Phantasm called ''Breaker Gorgon'') to [[Power Limiter|restrain their always-on power]]}}.

* [[Impossibly Low Neckline]]: Shockingly averted. Looking at it in front and sideways, the dress covers about 80% of her breasts, leaving almost no cleveage. It's only when she is in her animal pose that it looks like the above trope.

* [[Magic Skirt]]: This applies to almost all ''[[Fate/stay Stay Nightnight]]'' media, but it's worth emphasizing with Rider's [[Stripperific]] fighting outfit.

* [[Power Limiter]]: Her blindfold, which prevents her from using her [[Glowing Eyes of Doom]]. Later on, she gets a pair of glasses similar to [[Tsukihime|Shiki's]], the same ones fashioned by [[Kara no Kyoukai (Literature):|Touko Aozaki]], so she can have a more public appearance.

{{quote| ''"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"''}}

However, his sheer original strength, demigod status and fame (the more well-known a Servant's legend is, the stronger they are) more than makes up for this. His other Noble Phantasm, {{spoiler|''God Hand'', nullifies any attack of "B"-rank or below and gives him eleven additional lives (in correspondence with his Twelve Labors). It is later shown that he can even activated his power boost even with the lack of sanity, and can do so to become even more powerful.}}

* [[BFSBlade of Fearsome Size]]: Referred to in-game as an ''axe''-sword, and for good reason.

* [[Blessed Withwith 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.

* [[NoWon't SellWork On Me]]: According to [[Word of God]], God Hand works by denying the very concept of an attack below 'A' rank being able to harm Berserker, meaning that as long as an attack isn't high enough rank Berserker won't even register it no matter how much power is behind it or how much collateral damage it does.

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

* [[Simultaneous Blade Spam]]: '''Nine Lives''' (Japanese gloss: "Shooting Hundred Heads"), Berserker's second Noble Phantasm, which he can't use it in-story because his class ability [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|Mad Enhancement]] won't let him; the actual Noble Phantasm itself, derived from Herakles' feat of defeating the many-headed, nigh-immortal Hydra with his bow and arrows, was never used by Berserker himself in ''[[Fate/stay Stay Nightnight]]'', {{spoiler|but when Shirou in the ''Heaven's Feel'' route used his Projection magic to adapt the Noble Phantasm for his own use, the resulting "Nine Lives Blade Works" was composed of eight simultaneous slashes from different directions in one instant, followed by a stab to the center, all done with [[Super Speed]]. And each strike was considered a lethal A-ranked blow to Black Berserker}}. The [[Fighting Game]] spin-off ''[[Fate Unlimited Codes]]'' resorted to depicting Nine Lives as butchering an enemy by hitting them ''one hundred'' times in a short span of time.

* [[Spell My Name Withwith an "S"]]: Though most people use the more common spelling of "Hercules," Berserker's name is pronounced in the Visual Novel like the original Greek name "Herakles."

** [[Screaming Warrior]]: To the point that he punctuates practically ''every other blow'' with a roar.

{{spoiler|Due to the tainted Grail allowing the summoning of anti-hero and villainous Heroic Spirits, her identity is the archetypical witch [[Medea (Theatre)|Medea]] (who got screwed over by Jason in his quest for the Golden Fleece).}}

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

** [[Carnival Phantasm (Anime)|Carnival Phantasm]] [[Lampshade Hanging|LAMPSHADES]] this completely in the Tennis portion of the Fifth Grail War [[Game Show]].

* [[Homoerotic Subtext]]: With {{spoiler|the captured Saber}}. She really seems to enjoy dressing her up. ''[[Fate/hollow Hollow Ataraxia (Visual Novel)ataraxia|Fate Hollow Ataraxia]]'' and ''[[Carnival Phantasm (Anime)|Carnival Phantasm]]'' have a lot of fun with this one.

* [[Neutral Evil]]: [[In -Universe]] alignment.

* [[Weak but Skilled]]: The Caster is considered the weakest of the seven servant classes due to their [[Crippling Overspecialization|overreliance on magic]] and the fact that out of the six remaining classes, four have natural [[Anti-Magic|magic resistance]]. Nonetheless, she still manages to be a very dangerous antagonist thanks to her cunning and resourcefulness.

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

* [[Face Death Withwith Dignity]]: A big-time believer in this trope.

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

An Archer-class Servant from [[Fate /Zero (Literature)|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.

At the conclusion of the Fourth Holy Grail War he was drenched by the pollution within the Holy Grail, which is supposed to give a Servant a true flesh-and-bone body at the cost of [[The Corruption|their mind and sanity]]. However, Gilgamesh's ego was too strong to be corrupted, and with a physical body he could continue existing in the world. {{spoiler|Whether or not this is true is debatable. It is actually stated by [[Will Not Tell a Lie|Kotomine]] that he only lost his way when the contents of the Holy Grail spilled on him and corrupted him, which makes sense considering his Alignment is in fact Chaotic Good. However, he was perhaps even more sadistic in ''[[Fate Zero (Literature)|Fate /Zero]]'', though he lacked the fixation with unleashing the Grail on the world.}} He collaborates with Kotomine to hide his existence from everyone, and continues on his merry path to seize or destroy anything that takes his fancy.

* [[Berserk Button]]: He actually has several, which is quite fitting given that his [[Pride]] is his most defining characteristic and [[Fatal Flaw]]. Some relate to criticising {{spoiler|his kingship (Saber and the Fourth War's Rider are good at this), and his superiority (in power and age/originality). Archer really gets on his nerves as a 'faker' that devalues Gil's original/prototypical weapons by reproducing them.}} But by far the biggest button is that pressed by both {{spoiler|Shirou and [[Fate /Zero]]'s Berserker}}. {{spoiler|They essentially steal his treasury - his weapons, the representation of the strength of his historical rule - via their own Reality Marble/Noble Phantasm. And then they use them against him.}} ''That'' pisses [[Fan Nickname|Goldie]] off.

** Even more so when he's got his [http://static.desktopnexus.com/thumbnails/490557-bigthumbnail.jpg hair down in the UBW route.]{{Dead link}}

* {{spoiler|[[Death Byby Irony]]:}} See his quote up there. {{spoiler|In ''Heaven's Feel'', he is defeated and consumed by Sakura's [[Super-Powered Evil Side]], the embodiment of "all the evils in the world", Angra Mainyu, when he attempts to defend his territory from the Shadow.}}

** [[Dragon Withwith an Agenda]]

* [[Everything but Thethe Girl]]

* [[Powered Byby a Forsaken Child]]: Because being converted to a flesh in blood body by the grail apparently means that Gilgamesh is no longer capable of receiving prana from his Master or generating his own, Gilgamesh stockpiles prana drawn from the consumed souls of the orphans of the Fuyuki fire that Kirei rounded up afterwards and sacrificed to him.

** Another voice actor Tomokazu Seki has a good relationship is Shinchiro Miki who is Assassin's seiyuu.

* [[Social Darwinist]]

* [[This Is a Drill]]: Enuma Elish, a drill-''sword''. Complete with [[Everything's Better Withwith Spinning|spinning segments]].

** [[Word of Dante]]: The sword's actual name is Ea, "[[Purple Prose|The Star of Creation that Splits Apart Heaven and Earth]]". [[Enuma Elish (Literature)|Enuma Elish]] is in fact the activation phrase, but many people get it confused because of the way most [[Calling Your Attacks|Noble Phantasms are activated]]. Also, let's face it: Enuma Elish just [[Rule of Cool|sounds cooler]].

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

This incarnation of Hassan-i-Sabbah is different from the one appearing in [[Fate Zero (Literature)|Fate /Zero]]. Go to [[Fate /Zero (Light Novel)/Characters|itsthat ownwork's character page]] for that character.

* [[Body Horror]]: How he gains a physical body.

[[Category:Fate/stay Stay Night (Visual Novel)/Charactersnight]]