Fate stay night: Difference between revisions

Then there is Saber, the Servant Spirit who gets bonded to him. Her true name is unknown, but she has the mannerisms of a knight and the appearance of a young woman. Add to this an [[Tsundere|aloof girl]] named Tohsaka Rin, a rival Master and schoolmate who finds him [[Not Worth Killing|too pathetic to kill off immediately]]. Rin is a professional mage who knows the Grail War rules, but her conscience results in her helping out, despite her protests to the contrary. There is also her mysterious Servant, Archer, [[Easy Amnesia|who claims to suffer amnesia in the beginning due to his botched summoning]]. In addition, Shirou has to protect his "family" -- his self-appointed "older sister" teacher Taiga Fujimura, and his [[Sempai-Kohai|kohai]] Matou Sakura, who has an obvious (''[[Oblivious to Love|to everyone else]]'') crush on him.

Although [[No Export for You|never released in English]], the game has a [[Fan Translation]] patch made for it by the good folks at [http://mirrormoon.org Mirror Moon]. The [[Visual Novel]] has been adapted for [[PlayStation 2]] and, while replacing the H-scenes that were in the original game with alternate, non-erotic versions, add some content like new CGs and new musiques. The [[PlayStation 2]] version is subtitled ''Realta Nua'' and you can implement the extra content from this version on your PC version [http://rnpatch.blogspot.com/ with this patch].

'''Adaptations'''

* [[Studio DEEN]] also released a ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' [http://fatestaynight.jp/ movie] in January 2010. It's based on the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route, and goes quickly through the scenario with an emphasis on the action. The movie is in fact [[Fan Service]] for the ones who read the original [[Visual Novel]].

'''Related works'''

* A [[Prequel]] exists in the form of ''[[Fate/Zero]]'', with an [[Animated Adaptation]] by anime studio [[Ufotable]] which premiered during [[Fall 2011 Anime|Fall 2011]]. It's the story of the Fourth Holy Grail War, [[When It All Began|the conclusion of which has affected the lives of every]] ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' [[When It All Began|major characters]]. Reading ''[[Fate/Zero]]'' implies you have finished reading the original [[Visual Novel]], so beware of spoilers for ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' on all ''[[Fate/Zero]]'' pages.

'''Derived works'''

** ''[[Fate Unlimited Codes]]'' is a standard, semi-canonical [[Fighting Game]] for the arcades, [[PlayStation 2]] and PSP.

** ''Fate/tiger colosseum'' (and its expansion ''Fate/tiger colosseum UPPER'') is a PSP-exclusive 3D [[Fighting Game]] and [[Parody|a lighthearted parody]] of the series (with some [[The Cameo|appearances]] by ''[[Tsukihime]]'' characters).

** ''[[Fate Extra|Fate/EXTRA]]'' is an [[RPG]] for the PSP who takes place [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future|in the near future]] [[Cyberspace|inside a large, virtual environment]] known as the SE.RA.PH.

Tropes associated with the above-listed works should go on their own pages.

* [[Adaptation Expansion]]

** The manga adds [[Fan Service|a short scene of Taiga in her high school days, Rin taking a shower and Souichirou Kuzuki's backstory]].

* [[All Myths Are True]]

** The wide variety of legendary heroes who can be summoned as Servants. Partly explained by Assassin, {{spoiler|who is by his own admission a fictional character}}, as a reverse of the hero making the legend (see [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe]]). This still doesn't explain how a mage is able to acquire the legendary artifact needed to summon the specific hero, such as {{spoiler|Gilgamesh's}}: the fossilized remains of the first snake to shed its skin (tied to a legend about his quest for immortality). A direct corollary of Assassin {{spoiler|admitting to being fictional is that all the other heroes were definitely real, since being fictional was a sign of the fact that he was summoned by another Servant, and became downgraded.}}

* [[Alternate Continuity]] - Possibly with itself. Archer's [[Mysterious Past]] {{spoiler|is known to at least resemble the ''Fate'' scenario also followed by the anime, but how much is unclear}}. Actually, essentially all routes and [[Multiple Endings|endings]] are alternate continuities, with ''Fate/hollow ataraxia'' taking place in ''yet another'' continuity. Also, [[Tsukihime|Zelretch]] appears from an alternate continuity in one route, just to say hi.

* [[Always Save the Girl]] - Practically defines the ''Heaven's Feel'' route of the game.

* [[Ancient Conspiracy]] - The [[Magical Society|Mage Association]] and [[The Church]] are big in the [[Nasuverse]]. Also, the true purpose of the Grail Wars, and to a lesser extent, the true nature of the Fuyuki Grail.

* [[And I Must Scream]]

* [[Anime Catholicism]] - [[The Church]] is an [[Egregious]] example. Other examples of this organisation can be seen in ''[[Tsukihime]]''.

* [[Artifact of Doom]] - {{spoiler|The Holy Grail.}}

* [[Attempted Rape]] - {{spoiler|Shinji to both Rin and Sakura in their respective routes. He gets his comeuppance almost immediately in both cases.}}

* [[Badass]] - [[World of Badass|Nearly everyone]], in one route or another. Archer warrants special mention for bringing the world the [[Memetic Mutation|memetic acronym GAR]] to indicate badassness.

* [[Battle Harem]] - Not so much in the original [[Visual Novel]], where the route's romance is only with one girl, but ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' continuity might transform all of Shirou's possible [[Love Interest|Love Interests]] into one. After ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate Stay Night]]'' and in ''[[Fate/hollow ataraxia|Fate Hollow Ataraxia]]'' proper, Shirou has definitively a [[Battle Harem]], including {{spoiler|a gender-flipped King Arthur, a magus who can use all five elements, a girl whose body possesses a piece of the Holy Grail, Medusa, and a homunculus who ''is'' the Holy Grail}}, and possibly several others.

*** Lancer, {{spoiler|when he saved Rin from Shinji}}.

*** Archer does this {{spoiler|once when he saves Shirou from Caster and two more times near the end}}.

* [[Big Damn Villains]] - In ''Fate'', {{spoiler|Ilya and Berserker}} conveniently kill {{spoiler|Shinji}} after his Servant is defeated by Saber, saving Shirou from the moral quandary presented by having to deal with a totally defenseless person who crossed the [[Moral Event Horizon]] right in front of him previously.

* [[Big Fancy House]]: A lot of them.

** And then there's the Matou mansion, even bigger than the Tohsaka mansion.

* [[Bittersweet Ending]]

** ''Unlimited Blade Works'':

*** [[Multiple Endings|True End]]: {{spoiler|Shirou cannot absolve Archer's fate, but the Counter Guardian comes to find peace with it.}}

*** [[Multiple Endings|Good End]]: {{spoiler|Same as above, except that Saber is willing to stay in that time before going back and dying.}}

*** The [[Multiple Endings|Normal End]] is a [[Downer Ending]].

* [[Blatant Lies]] - ''"All characters appearing in this game are over 18 years of age."'' [[Double Subverted]] -- the fact that a certain character is actually over 18 is a plot point, but this also means that the other main characters are underage, considering the character in question.

** [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|Berserker-class Servants]] are notorious for [[Accidental Murder|killing their own Masters while under the effects of Mad Enhancement]]. However, [[Informed Flaw|this doesn't happen in any Fate continuity seen so far]].

** {{spoiler|Despite taking her Master's safety seriously in all other scenes, in one of the bad endings<ref>One which requires you to play so intentionally poorly that the game itself calls it the hardest ending to get</ref> Saber kills Shirou when she was promised the Holy Grail for doing so. It took both Shirou and Saber herself completely by surprise. This is AFTER he had already bed her, romanced her, and the whole emotional development stuff, making it pretty awkward that someone like Saber would do that.}}

** {{spoiler|Shinji, an imperfect magus becoming the Holy Grail,}} causes him to become more of a mass of screaming flesh than anything resembling human, for example.

** The after-effects of Blood Fort Andromeda on its victims' bodies aren't exactly pleasant. Some of them are disfigured because their skin ''melted''.

** As Shirou progresses through the ''Heaven's Feel'' route, {{spoiler|Archer's arm protects his body by creating blades in the place of bones and muscles. Shiro's body is slowly invaded by Archer's Reality Marble until [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice|the blades start bursting out of his skin and cutting him to pieces]].}} This is foreshadowed with a bad end in ''Fate'' route, and referenced directly in ''Unlimited Blade Works'' ("{{spoiler|My body is made out of swords!}}")

* [[Book Ends]] - When you first start the game, the prologue is told from Rin's [[Point of View]]. In ''Heaven's Feel'''s [[Multiple Endings|True End]], [[Grand Finale|the final epilogue is from her as well]].

* [[Break the Cutie]]

** {{spoiler|Sakura's [[Backstory]]}} is a [[Up to Eleven]] breakage, [[Nasuverse]] speaking -- it seems to border on [[Author Appeal]] for [[Nasuverse|Nasu]], {{spoiler|as there's usually a heroine in each his stories with a [[Rape as Backstory|horrific back-story]], but Sakura makes even [[Tsukihime|Kohaku]] look like she had a normal childhood by comparison. This [[Backstory]] counts because the reader can see Sakura when she is a child and then all the horrors that she went through. She is still a sweet person, [[Averted Trope|so she averts]] [[Used to Be a Sweet Kid]], but then we have a second example...}}

* [[Death By Pragmatism]] - A rare video game example.

* [[Death Is Cheap]]

** Berserker {{spoiler|by virtue of possessing ''eleven layers'' of automatic revival magic, meaning he needs to get killed twelve times to die.}}

* [[Defusing the Tykebomb]] - {{spoiler|Pretty much the entire point of the Heaven's Feel route (although Sakura isn't really a child any more).}}

* [[Deus Sex Machina]] - [[Insistent Terminology|Mana Transfer Ritual]].

* [[The Devil]] - In ''Unlimited Blade Works'', we learn that {{spoiler|Angra Mainyu, the devil in Zoroastrianism, lives inside the Holy Grail and has corrupted it.}} As is explained in ''Heaven's Feel'' and further elaborated upon in ''hollow ataraxia'', {{spoiler|[[Subverted Trope|it turns out that Angra Mainyu isn't the Devil]] -- he's a Servant whose legend was born of a ritual where a single man was ritually sacrificed to personify all the the sins of his fellow humans so he'd absolve them by being killed. In the Third Holy Grail war, when Angra Mainyu, summoned as Avenger, got killed because he was a horribly weak Servant, the Grail identified him as a human rather than a servant and tried to fulfill his wish. Considering that the Holy Grail is an omnipotent device whose entire purpose is to seek and grant wishes and that Angra Mainyu is the personification of the world's wish for a concrete form of all evil... Let's just say it doesn't turn out well.}}

{{quote|'''Shirou (thinking):''' ''I didn't notice before, but her black hair looks really pretty and causes my heart to beat faster.''

'''Tohsaka:''' "...Huh? That's weird. the wound is smaller than before. Do you have a healing charm on you?"

* [[Downer Ending]]

** [[Bad End|Bad ends]] excepted, ''Heaven's Feel'' [[Multiple Endings|Normal Ending]] {{spoiler|where Shirou is dead and Sakura ages alone, still waiting for him}}.

** ''Heaven's Feel'': {{spoiler|Assassin dies almost instantly as True Assassin is summoned. Lancer and Caster may also count, although Caster's Rule Breaker is still an important element, and Gilgamesh succumbs quickly from [[The Worf Effect]] against Dark Sakura}}.

* [[Dying as Yourself]] - {{spoiler|Played straight with Berserker.}}

* [[Gas Leak Coverup]] - A number of non-fatal incidents around the town {{spoiler|(caused by Caster's efforts gathering mana)}} are attributed to gas leaks.

* [[Gender Bender]] - In the prototype storyline that Nasu apparently wrote in his college days, Saber was male and Saber's master was a female named Sajyou Ayaka. All changes in female Saber's background were likely due to the fact she is now the main heroine of an [[Eroge]] game.

** A lesser-known fansub had the same line, though followed up with "plain and simple", instead of "...that's the way it should be" in the commonly screencapped version. The official subtitles and English dub have the more-logical but less-memorable line, "If people are injured badly enough, they die. That's the way it should be.".

* [[Good People Have Good Sex]]

** ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' genuinely rewards you for seeing the [[Bad End|BadEnds]]. Though most of them are fairly easy to figure out, one of them requires some hoop jumping to get Saber's Relationship Points low enough.

** Getting [[Multiple Endings|the good ending]] in ''Unlimited Blade Works'' requires Saber to have 4 or more relationship points and Rin to have less than 8, making it the only Type-Moon ending that needs more than "reload and change the last choice" for the alternate ending.

* [[Gut Feeling]] - Rin, Saber, and Shirou are all prone to this.

* [[Hammerspace]] - The whole point beyond {{spoiler|both Shirou and Archer's Trace Projection magecraft}}.

* [[Inconsistent Dub|Inconsistent Subs]] - Mainly because there have been several different sources of translations, either the official [[Anime]] translation, the Mirror Moon's [[Fate/stay night]] translation, or others. This isn't normally problematic, but the terminology tends to look very different between versions. The latest official translation via ''Fate/unlimited codes'' will hopefully standardize things a bit, although it made some strange choices (like referring to what's almost universally called "Projection" as "Gradation Air", for instance.)

* [[Instant Runes]] - [[Played Straight]] in the [[Anime]], mostly [[Averted]] in the [[Visual Novel]].

** Saber's summoning circle, on the other hand, is ''not'' instant in the [[Anime]], but it ''does'' draw itself over scratches in the floor {{spoiler|[[Fate/Zero|where it had been drawn previously]]}}.

** It's [[Played Straight]] in the [[Visual Novel]] when Rider uses [[Blood Magic|instant blood runes]] {{spoiler|for summoning Pegasus}}.

** ''Heaven's Feel'', over and over again. All the more effective due to it being accomplished without a single [[Diabolus Ex Machina]].

** Volume 8 of the manga adaptation. Remember that scene from ''Unlimited Blade Works'' where Caster {{spoiler|stole Saber's Command Seals and tried to enslave her? Well, manga Caster ''succeeded'' and Saber is now her living weapon. Joined shortly afterward by Archer, only unlike in the game he ''wasn't'' planning it. Ouch.}}

* [[Jackass Genie]] - {{spoiler|The Holy Grail, due to Angra Maiyuu's influence, will twist any wish made to it in a way that will kill or hurt as many humans as possible.}}

** In the movie ''Unlimited Blade Works'', {{spoiler|Gilgamesh}} qualifies. You want the Holy Grail? I'll make you ''into'' the Holy Grail. {{spoiler|Poor Shinji}}

** The Servant {{spoiler|of class [[What Could Have Been|Saver]]}}.

* [[No One Could Survive That]] - In ''Heaven's Feel'', {{spoiler|Gilgamesh says that to Dark Sakura upon skewering her to apparent death}}.

** There's also one ''major'' exception, with Rank A+ Independent Action, who can stick around indefinitely without a Master: {{spoiler|Gilgamesh, due to being splashed with the Grail contents during ''[[Fate/Zero]]'' and also gaining a true corporeal body}}. Then again, even for him, mana for Noble Phantasm usage is a separate question altogether.

* [[Nonstandard Game Over]] - During theses [[Bad End|bad ends]], the [[Have a Nice Death|Tiger Dojo]] says they can't technically be called "dead ends" and/or "bad ends".

** ''Unlimited Blade Works'' Route:

*** {{spoiler|Archer first gets cut off from any mana supply, then is stabbed through by Shirou, ''then'' takes multiple attacks from Gilgamesh, and ''finally'' reappears long after he should have disappeared thanks to his Independent Action Rank B to quickly save Rin from the Grail and kill Gilgamesh, saving Shirou, and ''still'' have a good-bye talk with Rin.}} ''Sheesh.''

*** {{spoiler|Assassin, who should be long gone from not having a master or a mana supply, but turns out to have both...[[The Last Dance|just enough to stick around and fight Saber a second time before his actual death]].}}

*** {{spoiler|Berserker gets smacked around by Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon and chained with the Enkidu Chains, and then his master dies. Berserker ''forces himself to stay alive through sheer willpower'', shatters the chains, and attacks one last time before dying.}}

** In the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' movie, even though Archer and Shiro {{spoiler|use the [[Title Drop|titular Reality Marble]] a total of three times over the course of the film, we never hear neither Archer nor Shiro recite the complete chant, either version. Archer's version does appear in text form at the very beginning of the movie, but it just isn't the same}}.

* [[Oh Crap]]

*** In ''Heaven's Feel'', when he notices that {{spoiler|Sakura is [[Not Quite Dead]] and is currently eating him alive}}.

** ''Unlimited Blade Works'': Just after revealing his true motivation, {{spoiler|Archer has one. With Saber seconds away from fading, Rin restrained, and just about to deal a finishing blow to Shirou, he hears Rin and Saber forming a contract, not only saving Saber from fading but allowing her to draw on so much more mana than before she [[Power Glows|actually glows with energy]].}} A [[Curb Stomp Battle]] ensues until {{spoiler|Archer threatens to pull a [[Taking You with Me]] and kill everybody in the room but Saber, who's effectively invincible against him at that point}}.

* [[Ominous Pipe Organ]] - Church on the Hilltop, which is [[Obviously Evil|Kirei's theme]].

* [[Omnicidal Maniac]] - {{spoiler|Angra Mainyu as spawned by the Holy Grail}}

* [[One Hundred Percent Completion]] - In ''[[Fate/stay night]]'', you have to complete all three routes for the new splash screen. You can also accomplish every [[Have a Nice Death|Tiger Dojo]] for other bonuses.

** Rider has the [[Kiss of the Vampire]] and drinks blood to get stronger.

** In ''Heaven's Feel'':

* [[Pet the Dog]]

** Ilyasviel ([[Enfante Terrible|homocidal sociopath]]) and her Servant Berserker ([[Nigh Invulnerable]] embodiment of madness and destruction) get poignant sympathetic moments in the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' and ''Heaven's Feel'' routes in the game that reveal the deep bond they share (and their [[Start of Darkness]]), with Berserker's determined devotion pushing him to impossible acts even by ''his'' standards.

** {{spoiler|Makiri Zouken's original (and long forgotten with insanity/senility/desire for life) goal of making the world a better place}}.

* [[The Plan]]

** Rin does two small-scale versions: in the ''Fate'' route she {{spoiler|deliberately attacks Berserker, fails, gets caught, and just when Berserker is about to crush her to death she reveals that that was just the setup to her true attack}}, and in the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route she {{spoiler|challenges Caster to a duel between magi, gets her ass handed to her, then suddenly bumrushes Caster and beats the crap out of her using martial arts}}.

* [[Podcast]] - ''Fate/stay tune'' was an internet radio show that was broadcast while the [[Anime]] was on the air, hosted by [[Ayako Kawasumi]] (Saber) and [[Kana Ueda]] (Rin). A sequel show, ''[[Gratuitous English|Fate/stay tune: Unlimited Radio Works]]'' was broadcast for the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' movie, hosted by [[Junichi Suwabe]] (Archer) and the aforementioned hosts.

* [[Possession Implies Mastery]] - One of the big themes. Mainly [[Averted]].

** The "Riding" skill plays it straight -- as long as the skill is highly ranked enough, a holder can simply grab the controls of any vehicle or mount and instantly know how to operate it as if they had been for years.

** {{spoiler|Archer and Shirou do not master their projected weapons, but can get the skill/knowledge of utilisation of a weapon thanks to their re-creation of the actual creation and its history as its master used it. You could say that they take a diminished mastery over a diminished weapon.}}

* [[Power Degeneration]] - Shirou when he uses magic above his level, {{spoiler|especially with Archer's arm}}.

** [[Public Domain Artifact]] - And of course their Noble Phantasms are in the same situation, with the exception of a few that were made out of whole cloth.

* [[Punny Name]] - The main theme song of ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' is "This Illusion", and when it was remixed for the [[Anime]], it's name was changed to "Disillusion". If said out loud, they sound almost the same, while meaning the exact opposite of each other.

* [[Rank Inflation]] - We've got A...and A+...and A++...and then A+++...also EX... [[All There in the Manual|It's explained]] that the E through A ranks are where a skill or stat rates as a quantifiable amount, with EX representing an unquantifiable rating, and plus marks indicating situational increases in rank. Rarely, minus marks marks on a rank are seen, and though those haven't been explicitly explained, it stands to reason that they're the opposite of plus marks.

* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]] - Rin and Saber.

** Later you have to take the "sadistic" choice if you don't want to die. {{spoiler|So, do you want to kill Saber}}?

* [[Say My Name]]: Shirou shouts out Saber's name so often during the game and anime (for various reasons) that you either learn to hate it or love it.

* [[Science Destroys Magic]]: Technology moves towards the future, magecraft moves towards the past. Present magic can rarely match up against the heroes of legend.

* [[Sealed Evil in a Can]]: {{spoiler|Angra Mainyu}}

** Shirou has a problematic attitude towards Saber in the ''Fate'' route and the [[Anime]], which has suffered [[Memetic Mutation]]. He says some really [[Egregious]] sexist lines and tries to do the fighting in Saber's place. Ironically, [[Subverted Trope|Shirou plays with this trope more than he plays it straight]]; his adamant refusal to allow Saber to fight only happens in the route where she's his love interest and it comes after watching her nearly get killed defending him in her first fight with Berserker. In no other route and for no other girl does Shirou use this [[Trope]], and when Saber fights Berserker to a draw in the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route, Shirou expresses so much faith in her abilities that Saber herself is surprised. In hindsight, it seems less logical that Shirou actually holds this position and more logical that he's trying to invent a reason to keep someone he cares about from getting hurt. It should be noted that Shirou explicitly has a spiritual disorder that causes him to have little to no sense of self and derive any sense of happiness and worth only through helping others. It causes him to put way too much responsibility on himself and refuse to compromise his desire to help everyone. ''Fate'' is the only route where he sees a female lead get horrifically injured so early in and he has a flashback to seeing Saber drenched in blood, barely able to stand and using her sword as a crutch, almost every time she is about to enter a dangerous situation. His initial attitude towards her is pretty blatantly caused by that rather than an actual [[Stay in the Kitchen]] attitude.

*** Amusingly, Shirou also inverts this trope's name; he happens to be [[Supreme Chef|a fantastic chef]], and occasionally can be heard telling Rin and Sakura to get out of the kitchen for various reasons.

* [[Stepford Snarker]]: Archer. It's clear early on that he's got some issues, but Tohsaka is actually bothered when he ''stops'' being stepfordy about it {{spoiler|even before he [[Face Heel Turn|Face Heel Turns]]}}.

* [[Stupidity Is the Only Option]] - The [[Have a Nice Death|Tiger Dojo]] sometimes [[Lampshaded Trope|lampshades]] this: "Go back to the previous choice and try choosing the reckless, immature choice!"

** In ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route: {{spoiler|''Shirou x Rin''}}

* [[Thematic Theme Tune]] - Among others:

** In the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' movie: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yIO1IMuqn4 Imitation]

*** "Even if it's a false dream, I will strive for it / It's okay to laugh about it now / Even if it's something simple, I want to aim for it / It's still off in the distance, but surely, even the fake will become real."

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