Fate / stay night

Fate / stay night ( jap. フェイト/ステイナイト , Feito / Sutei Naito ) is a Japanese eroge - visual novel by Type-Moon , which was published on 30 January 2004. It is the company's first commercial computer game . The game was later implemented as an anime and manga .

content

world

Fate / stay night accompanies the life of Emiya Shirō , a student at Homurahara High School in Fuyuki City , for two weeks . Ten years ago his parents died in an inferno that nearly killed him and completely destroyed part of the city. Shirō was saved and adopted by Kiritsugu Emiya at the time .

Kiritsugu wanted to protect the weak and innocent in his life with the ideal that everyone should be happy. Because he did not manage this himself and because Shirō is very moved by it, he makes the decision to take over this life's work from his adoptive father and not to fail. To do this, he wants to learn from him how to use magic, but turns out to be largely talentless. After Kiritsugu's death, he continues to train alone.

What Shirō does not know is that Fuyuki City is the site of a secret, bloody battle between magicians. Seven magicians gather to obtain the Holy Grail, a legendary artifact capable of granting every wish. The fight usually happens every 60 years, with the last being a decade ago.

Each of the "Master" ( Master ) mentioned participating magician is a "Servant" ( servants supported), a cause summons, which is the embodiment of a hero of the "Throne of Heroes". These hero souls have superhuman abilities and use powerful weapons or abilities called "Noble Phantasms" (宝具Hōgu ). These are activated when the servant pronounces their real name. The disadvantage here is that once enemies know the servant's special ability, they can often infer the hero they represent. This reveals their weaknesses, so using a Noble Phantasm is usually intended to kill the enemy instantly. In each battle for the grail, one servant can be summoned for each of the seven classes. The classes are: Saber (swordsman), Archer (archer), Lancer (spearman), Berserker, Rider (horseman), Assassin (hit man) and Caster (magician).

Only servants or similar beings can attain the Holy Grail. Masters therefore enter into a pact with a servant. The servants are forced to cooperate with the masters, as they are not allowed to remain in the world without an anchor and sufficient mana. Masters can control their servants with three command spells. With any spell, they can give the servant an order that cannot be refused.

The plot in the game is heavily dependent on which of the three storylines the player follows with his decisions.

prolog

The prologue is first told from the point of view of Rin Tōsaka. Ten years have passed since Rin's father took part in the last Grail War and fell there. Since then, Rin has trained for the next war and has found and deciphered the last will of her father, in which he left Rin a hundred-year-old pendant that contains as much mana as Rin could generate in 10 years. Rin goes to school normally and tries to summon a saber servant that night. But she makes a mistake and summons Archer. Immediately she wasted one of her three command spells when she and Archer argue violently. Rin takes time off the next day to instead show Archer the city and at night recognizes a student who also sees her. On the way home, she sees a blond man addressing Rin's classmate, Sakura Matō, and notes that he doesn't seem very human.

One day later, Rin goes back to school and discovers that someone has built a field around the school that is slowly stealing life energy from all people. When Rin tries to sabotage the field, Lancer appears and a fight ensues between Lancer and Archer. When Lancer tries to use his Noble Phantasm, a witness is noticed, who Lancer wants to eliminate promptly. Rin is late and the student lies motionless on the floor with a stab wound in his heart. Rin sends Archer off to find Lancer and at least wants to say goodbye to the student, but is shocked when she recognizes him. She decides to use her trump card, the pendant her father left her, to save the student. She leaves the trailer there and goes home. When Archer returns, he has to tell her that Lancer has escaped. Archer returns her pendant to Rin. When Rin realizes that Lancer will probably try again to kill the witness, she rushes to the house of her classmate, but is surprised when another servant shows up and seriously injures Archer. Rin uses her second Command Spell and sends Archer away. She tries to attack the unknown servant with magic, but this attack is easily resisted and Rin is overwhelmed by the servant, whom she recognizes as Saber.

Shiro's prologue

The first three days, which are told in the prologue from Rin's point of view, are now told from Shirō Emiya's point of view. Shirō dreams of the inferno that killed hundreds of people ten years ago and seriously injured Shirō. He also remembers the day when the man who saved him, Kiritsugu Emiya, shows up at the hospital and offers Shirō to adopt him. Shirō accepts Kiritsugu's offer and Kiritsugu reveals to him that he is a magician.

Shirō is woken up by Sakura and starts his daily routine normally. Shirō hears of strange events in Fuyuki, such as the murder of an entire family and the gas leaks in the city that caused many people to pass out. He goes to school normally after breakfast and on his way home meets a girl with white hair who warns him to hurry up if he doesn't want to die. Shirō goes home confused and practices his reinforcement magic at night. During the night Shirō dreams of a sword. The next day is routine again and Shirō goes to work after school. On the way home, he sees his classmate, Rin Tōsaka, in the city center, but she immediately disappears.

The following day, Shirō notices strange marks on Sakura's hand and suspects that her brother, Shinji, hit her again. Shirō confronts Shinji at school, but he denies Shirō's accusations and hires Shirō to clean the archery dojo. Shirō then stays at school late into the night when he hears strange noises. When he checks to see who is making the noise, he sees Archer and Lancer fighting. However, Shirō is noticed by Lancer and Shirō runs for his life, but is seriously injured by a stab in the heart of Lancer. Shirō then loses consciousness, but wakes up unharmed. After he first cleans the floor as a stress reaction and picks up a trailer he found and takes it with him, Shirō goes home, but is again attacked by Lancer and tries desperately to defend himself and flees to his barn. With no way out in the barn, he prepares for the worst, but before Lancer can deliver his fatal thrust, a young woman in armor appears to defend Shiro. She introduces herself to Shirō as Saber and Saber puts Lancer to flight, but is first hit by his Noble Phantasm, Gáe Bolg. But she senses another servant who she tries to attack immediately.

Fate

Saber seriously injures Archer, who is then sent away by Rin, and is on the verge of killing Rin too, but Shirō asks Saber to stop and explain everything to him. Rin reveals himself and explains to him, in return that he spares her life. Rin then takes him to the church, where the referee, Kirei Kotomine, further clarifies and tells him, among other things, that the end of the last Holy Grail War is responsible for the inferno of ten years ago. Shirō then decides to take part in the Grail War to prevent another scenario. Shirō and Rin are attacked on the way home by Illyasviel von Einzbern, the girl with the white hair who warned Shirō. Saber has no chance against Illya's servant, berserk. But when Shirō throws himself into the attack of Berserker and seriously injured, Illya withdraws disappointed. Rin and Saber bring Shirō home, where his life-threatening wound heals completely for mysterious reasons.

Shirō and Rin agree to form an alliance to protect themselves and defeat berserkers together. Shirō and Rin discover a spell that has been placed over their school and that would deprive all students of their vitality. While investigating this spell and gathering information on other masters and servants, Shirō discovers that his old friend Shinji Matō is Rider's master. Shinji's ancestors were magicians, but he himself no longer has magical power. Shinji claims that he does not want to fight and gives Shirō the tip that another servant is in the Ryūdō temple.

While Shirō does not consider it necessary to fight the servant there, Saber goes there alone. She meets Assassin and a fight ensues. Just as they both want to use their Noble Phantasms, Shirō also reaches the scene and stops the fight. Assassin senses another servant nearby and warns Saber not to reveal her identity if they continue fighting. Shirō soon finds out that the master who put the life force drain spell on the school was Shinji. It comes to a confrontation, in which Shirō first has an advantage with his weak magic abilities and close combat skills, until finally Rider appears and protects Shinji. Shirō calls Saber over and drives Rider to flight. During the night, both Saber and Rider reveal their Noble Phantasms. In Rider's case, it is her golden harness, Bellerophon, that she uses to control her winged horse, Pegasus. In the case of Saber, it is the Excalibur sword. Rider is defeated by Saber. Shinji cannot escape, but is killed by Illyasviel, the master of Berserker, who secretly followed the fight.

From now on, Shirō dreams of Saber's past as Artoria, a lonely ruler who fights for her country. While shopping, Shirō meets Illyasviel von Einzbern, the youngest master. He wants to befriend her, but she kidnaps him to her castle. Saber, Rin and Archer rush to his rescue. They are confronted by Berserker while trying to escape, and Archer sacrifices himself to save the other three. They reach a ruined house, where they spend the night and, under the guidance of Rin, Shirō uses a possibility to replenish Saber's mana. After a successful fight against berserkers, Illya no longer poses a threat, becomes friends with Shirō and from that moment lives with him in his house. A short time later this house is attacked by Caster, who reveals that Assassin is already dead, but another servant in golden armor interferes and kills Caster before Shirō and Saber can attack them. Saber identifies him as another Archer-class servant who actually appeared in the last Holy Grail war. Shirō learns that Saber was the servant of his adoptive father, Kiritsugu, in the last war and that he ultimately forced her to destroy the Grail.

The next day, Shirō and Saber spend the day together, but in the evening they are attacked by the golden archer, who turns out to be Gilgamesh, the king of heroes. Shirō is badly injured in battle, but escapes and is healed by Saber. The next day they plan to visit Kotomine in church and ask for advice. However, he is not as neutral as he should be and in truth the master of Lancer and Gilgamesh. The fight starts again, but Lancer decides to switch sides. Again, Shirō and Saber escape, and Lancer dies. Kotomine seriously injures Rin and kidnaps Illya. He wants to use it as a vessel for the Holy Grail. Shirō and Saber go to the Ryūdō temple, where Gilgamesh stands in Saber's way. Shirō realizes that he was carrying Avalon, Saber's most powerful Noble Phantasm and Excalibur's sword scabbard, which has always healed him so far. He gives it back to her and Saber can defeat Gilgamesh while at the same time reproducing it perfectly with his magic to defeat Kirei. The Holy Grail is being destroyed. Saber decides to return to her time and face her death there. Shirō, who loves her, lets her go with a heavy heart.

Unlimited Blade Works

In Unlimited Blade Works, Shirō manages on the third day to stop Saber with a command spell in time before she seriously injures Archer, which completely changes the situation. As in 'Fate', Rin takes Shirō to church and they are attacked again by Illyasviel. Since Archer is now part of the game, the fight is more even. Saber lures berserkers to the cemetery, where she can better assert herself against him, but cannot cause him a single scratch. Archer warns Rin to flee from a safe distance and shoots an arrow at Berserker, who is forced to parry it. Impressed by Archer's strength, Illya decides to let Rin and Shirō live and withdraws. Shirō, who had to save Saber from Archer's shot, is badly hit by the flying parts caused by the shot and loses consciousness, whereupon he is brought home and treated by Saber and Rin, whereby his wound heals completely for strange reasons . Shirō dreams of a world made of swords.

Since Rin does not consider it necessary to enter into an alliance with Shirō with a healthy Archer, she declares himself and him to be enemies. Shirō finds Saber in his dojo, where she explains further rules about the Grail War to him and asks him not to ask which hero she is because he is too inexperienced. Shirō understands this and visits school on Sunday to bring Taiga some food. Saber accompanies him and Shirō shows her the school on the side. There, Shirō also meets a friend from the archery club, Ayako Mitsuzuri, who tells him that he never laughs. On the way home, Sakura and Taiga notice that Saber belongs to Shirō, who then explains to them that Saber will be living with him for the next few days. Sakura and Taiga then decide to stay with him too so that he can't do anything indecent. Meanwhile, Rin tries to track down the servant who is responsible for the "gas leaks". She concludes that Caster is the servant she is looking for. Archer asks Rin why she doesn't want to get rid of Shirō first, and Rin replies that she would kill Shirō if he didn't take the Grail War seriously. Shirō dreams of the moonlit night that night when Kiritsugu Shirō left his dream and then died peacefully.

The next day, Shirō goes to school without Saber, since it is safe to walk around the day without a servant and Saber cannot dematerialize like the other servants. Rin notices this and is irritated. Shirō stays longer at school to investigate what happened to Ayako because she was attacked. Rin confronts Shiro alone at school and tries to turn him off. Shortly before she manages that, however, a schoolgirl cries out after she was seriously injured by a servant. Rin tries to save her and is almost killed by the servant. Shirō follows the servant into the forest and is almost killed by Rider himself when Rin rushes in and saves him. She then takes him to her home, where she treats his wound. There she sees Shirō's supernaturally strong healing powers again and suspects that it must have something to do with the pact between Shirō and Saber. Shirō and Rin agree on an alliance until the threat in the school is defeated. Shirō and Rin get to know each other better and talk about their lives as magicians until late at night. Rin has Archer escort Shirō home. The two get along badly and Shirō confronts Archer. He considers Shirō incompetent and reveals to him that hero souls who have to work as patrons only serve people as slaves and have no will of their own. Archer tells Shiro that he has no wish that the Grail could grant him and tells him about Saber's unselfishness. Irritated, Shirō goes alone to his house, where he informs Saber about the alliance with Rin and finds out that Archer was telling the truth about Saber. During the night Rin dreams of Archer's life and how he became a heroic soul.

The next day, Shirō meets Shinji, who reveals to him that he set up the life absorption field around the school to supposedly protect himself, and offers Shirō to join forces, which Shirō refuses. Rin asks him for help after school to weaken the field at school. Sakura has to tell Shiro that she won't be able to visit him anytime soon. During the night, Shirō is hypnotized by Caster and lured into the Ryūdō temple, where she tries to snatch his command spells from him and then steal Saber. Saber notices Shirō's disappearance and rushes to the temple, but is stopped by the Assassin. Shortly before Caster wants to cut off Shirō's arm, Archer appears and frees Shirō from Caster's control. He explains to Shirō that Caster is responsible for the "gas leaks" in the city and has drained the people of energy. A fight ensues, with Archer Caster severely wounded with an arrow. But he doesn't kill her. Caster then offers Archer and Shirō to join her. Shirō refuses immediately, but Archer hesitates before he also refuses. Archer lets go of Caster, however, because he considers them useful to defeat berserkers and has only come to save Shiro. Caster then disappears and there is an argument between Archer and Shirō, who cannot approve of Caster's behavior. When Shirō stubbornly wants to go to the temple, Archer attacks Shirō from behind and tries to kill him. Shortly before Archer Shirō wants to give the final push, Archer tells Shirō that he is a hypocrite and should choke on his ideals. Shirō manages to jump down the stairs in time, where Saber finds him. Assassin lets Shirō and Saber go and stops Archer with the promise that they will continue their fight. Shirō is treated by Saber at home. He's not angry that Archer wanted to kill him, but more because he wants to sacrifice the people of Fuyuki to defeat berserkers, and is therefore no better than Caster. However, Saber notes his pure fighting style and concludes that he must be pure of heart. Shirō asks Saber for more lessons with the sword. During the night Shirō dreams again of a world of swords, whereby he slowly becomes a sword himself.

The next day, Shirō and Saber train together, with Shirō making far fewer mistakes because he copied Archer's technique. At school, Rin apologizes to Shirō, who learned from Archer what happened that night, and tells him that she used a command spell to forbid Archer from attacking Shirō or Saber while he and Rin are allied. As Shirō and Rin talk further, Rin replies to Shirō that Shinji offered her to ally with him, but she refused because she already had Shirō. A short time later, the angry Shinji prematurely activated Rider's absorption field. At the same time, dragon tooth soldiers appear in the school. Rin can't reach Archer, whereupon Shirō uses his second command spell to summon Saber. The three split up and Saber is confronted by Caster, while Rin and Shirō try to shut down the source of the field. When they find Shinji, however, they find Rider who was killed. The field is then automatically canceled. Shinji doesn't say who killed her and flees. Rin notes that Shirō was not hit so hard by the sight of the dead-looking students, where Shirō replies that he was used to seeing corpses and was able to see that the students were still alive. Archer is late for school and has an argument with Saber when he makes fun of Rider. Rin wants to maintain her alliance with Shirō as there has to be another master’s degree in the school. Rin wants to notify Kirei, who is supposed to cover up the incident, and she and Shirō separate and go home. Shortly before he goes to sleep, Shirō notices in his mind that Rin is not as tough as she always is and that he really wants to help this girl he thinks is perfect. That night Rin continues to dream about Archer's life and how he died.

Shirō goes back to school the next day and Rin declares Shirō's friend, Issei Ryūdō, suspicious. Shirō tries to find out if Issei is the master they are looking for and realizes that it is not, which he then tells Rin. Shinji has since gone to church and seeks protection with Kirei. Humiliated and angry, he explains to Kirei that he only lost because Rider was so weak. Kirei offers him to continue because there is still a servant who does not have a master at the moment. During the night Rin dreams of Archer's ungrateful life, and how his hard work was never rewarded, how after death and his subsequent task as patron saint and heroic soul he saw only death and destruction. Archer was betrayed by many in his life and was ultimately betrayed by the only thing he believed in, his ideals. Archer's choices in his life infuriate Rin. During the night, Shirō thinks of Archer's swords.

Rin wakes up angry and prepares for school. Archer complains again about Rin's alliance with Shirō and proposes to ally with Caster, which Rin angrily refuses. In the school, Shirō and Rin continue their investigation, whereby Shirō learns that his history and ethics teacher, Sōichirō Kuzuki, also lives in the Ryūdō temple, allegedly with his fiancé. Rin decides to attack Kuzuki on the way home. Shirō takes Saber with her, but Rin worries about Archer's behavior and therefore leaves him at home. When Rin tries to attack Kuzuki, Caster appears to protect him. Shirō confronts Kuzuki and asks if he is aware of Caster's actions. Kuzuki denies this, but notes that he does not care about the people he does not know and what Caster does with them and that he does not want to participate in the Grail War. Saber then attacks Kuzuki who, to the surprise of everyone else, including Caster, is able to defend himself and, reinforced with Caster's magic, mercilessly knocks Saber down with his fists using his "snake technique". When he devotes himself to Rin and Shirō, while Caster tries to take care of Saber, Shirō can project Archer's swords, Kanshō and Bakuya, and stops Kuzuki. Saber gets up in time and Kuzuki, who notes that his technique won't work twice for Saber, withdraws. Rin confronts Shiro for telling her that he can only do reinforcement magic, and Shiro explains that this is the first time he has been able to create such a useful projection. Since their ambush didn't work, Rin and Shiro decide to go home. Shinji is now at home with his new servant. There the blonde stranger explains his motives, which Shinji doesn't understand.

Shirō wakes up half paralyzed the next day, but still goes to school. Back at home, he receives an unexpected visit from Rin, as he has not contacted her to discuss her further plans. She stays for dinner and the two continue talking about their lives as magicians alongside their plans. Rin notices that Shirō doesn't enjoy his magic, or anything else at all, and is angry that he only cares about others and not himself, not dissimilar to Archer. She decides to spend the night with Shiro. During the night, Shirō wants to practice his magic further and Saber finds him in his barn. There Shirō Saber explains his skills and Archer suddenly appears. However, Shirō notices that Archer is not looking for an argument. Archer knows about Shiro's paralysis and treats him. Shirō confronts Archer what he meant when he told Shirō that he should choke on his ideals and Archer explains to him that the reason why Shirō wants to help other people must not be an ideal, because he is then on In the end would only protect his ideals. Archer's tough, honest words take away both Shirō and Saber.

The next day, Rin planned a date with Shiro. He tries to talk his way out and pretends that he can't go out without Saber, whereupon Saber accompanies the two. During the date, Rin says weird things, like knowing that Shiro will grow and grow into a great man, which he is embarrassed about. Shirō is actually having fun the whole date, but he himself thinks that he doesn't deserve it, which is why he can't tell Rin that he had fun. When Shirō and Rin reach Shirō's house, Shirō realizes that the protective field that Kiritsugu has set up has been destroyed. In the house they find casters who have Taiga under their control. Caster wants Shirō to join her, but he refuses. She reveals that she knows Shirō was a victim of the last Grail War, which shocks Rin. She offers him an alternative for Taiga's life. If Shirō severed his arm with the command spells, she would spare Taiga. Saber and Rin think it's madness, but Shirō agrees. When Saber strikes back and Caster is about to kill Taiga, Shirō Saber stops with his last command spell. Caster then uses her Noble Phantasm, Rule Breaker, against Saber, and breaks the pact between Shirō and Saber. Caster immediately forces Saber to make a new pact with her and gives Shirō Taiga in return. She orders Saber to use one of her three new command spells to eliminate Rin, but Shirō gets in her way. Saber, who manages to hold back Caster's order with her magic resistance, begs Shirō and Rin to flee, which the two then do.

At home with Rin, Rin realizes that Shiro's wounds are no longer healing well. She tells a half-conscious Shirō that he no longer has to fight. Rin explains the situation to Archer, and that Caster has the ability to break the servant-master pact. Archer asks if her alliance with Shirō is now over, but Rin says that this would not officially be the case until Shirō tells her herself. Archer and Rin go looking for Caster. This is back at the Ryūdō Temple, where she tells the Assassin that he should protect the temple while she is looking for the Lower Grail. She goes to Kirei in the church and attacks him, obviously fatally. Shiro wakes up and knocks over Rin's jewel box. There he notices a trailer that looks exactly like the one he took with him after someone saved his life. Shirō concludes that Rin must have saved him and looks for her. He finds her on the roof of a skyscraper, where Rin explains to him that he is now useless and that Saber cannot help. She warns him not to continue, otherwise he will die. Shirō goes home and goes to sleep to find Rin the next day and to help her for everything she did for him and because it's the only thing he can do.

After Caster Kirei gets rid of himself, she searches desperately for the Grail, but finds nothing. At the same time she tries to make Saber, who is still resisting Caster, compliant when Kuzuki shows up and asks her what she was doing all this time. Caster explains to him, and Kuzuki decides to stay in the church until Caster is ready to leave. Rin dreams about Archer's life again. Rin sees that in his afterlife and ascent to the throne of heroes, Archer only had to end human errors and conflicts by violence, and this meaningless killing ultimately made Archer hate the human world. Rin wakes up and notices that she had fallen asleep standing up because of sheer tiredness. She has already located Caster and is in the cemetery, not far from the church. When Archer shows up, Rin asks him if he ever regrets the things he's done and if he can believe in himself to the end. Archer says that someone like her would never regret anything and that her question is meaningless since he has already seen his end. Rin and Archer then make their way.

In the meantime, Shirō has gone in search of Rin. Without success, he finally decides to pay Kirei a visit to the church, but there he finds Rin, Archer, Caster, Saber and Kuzuki. Rin pursues a strategy with Archer, but he says that they have bad cards against Caster and reveals that Caster is Medea , the princess of Colchis. Archer, who noticed Shirō, offers himself to Caster, which shocks Rin. Caster hesitates at first, but agrees and accepts Archer as her servant. Before Kuzuki can kill Rin, Shirō jumps down and projects Archer's swords again. Archer then asks to let them go in exchange for his transition, and Caster agrees. Rin starts crying outside, and Shirō and Rin rest at the nearby cemetery, where Rin begins to regret their actions. Shirō encourages her again and explains why he came to her help: He shows her Rin's pendant, which he found in Rin's case, and tells her that he also has a pendant at home that he took with him after Lancer almost got him had killed. Amazed, Rin pockets the pendant and Shirō tells Rin that he loves her, who reacts embarrassed, but thanks him. Both then go to Shiro's house, where they continue to discuss their plans. You decide to visit other masters and want to ally with them. But since Lancers Master cannot be found, they want to visit Illya, who owns a castle on the outskirts of town.

Meanwhile, Caster continues to search unsuccessfully for the Grail and remembers her former master who treated her badly, whereupon she killed him. She notes how she was only used by everyone while she was alive and after. She would not have survived if Kuzuki had not shown up and later made a pact with her. However, the two communicate poorly with each other and Caster realizes that things are not going well between the two. Archer, who is on guard for Caster, suddenly shows up and wants to talk. Caster reveals that hero souls like her normally cannot be summoned and that something has gone wrong since the third Grail War. She wonders why Archer joined her since he wasn't dissatisfied with Rin at all.

In the meantime Shirō and Rin have made their way to the castle and enter the Einzbernwald. Rin tells Shirō that Archer recognized Berserker as Heracles , which could be an advantage since he and Medea knew each other in a previous life. But when they arrive at the castle, Illya is involved in a fight with the strange eighth Servant and Shinji. Berserker desperately tries to defend Illya, but is ultimately killed twelve times and dies forever. A flashback shows how the Einzberns were betrayed by their master ten years ago when he finally destroyed the Grail, and how much Illya has suffered since then. The blond servant kills Illya slowly and painfully, and when Shirō comes out of his hiding place to stop him, the blond servant rips the heart of the already unconscious / dead Illya from the chest. Shinji introduces his new servant and offers to spare Shirō if he begs for it, but Shirō refuses. Rin suddenly appears and threatens to kill Shinji, whereupon the blond servant wants to withdraw, as Rin is suitable as a vessel. Shinji then offers Rin to team up with him again, but she refuses again. Shinji furiously orders his servant, Gilgamesh , to kill her, but Gilgamesh refuses and leaves the castle.

Shirō and Rin bury Illya and Rin confronts Shirō. Rin asks him why he is so desperate to save others, even if he is risking his own life without further ado, and Shirō tells her about the moment when he was saved by Kiritsugu, how he admired his future adoptive father and how happy he was he was when he was saved, and that if such chaos should happen again, this time he wanted to save everyone. Rin explains to him how crazy it all is and that he should be happy that he survived and that he should enjoy his life to the fullest, but Shirō replies that trying to help others cannot be wrong. When Shirō and Rin have to come up with a new plan, Lancer suddenly appears. He's been watching the two of them and proposing an alliance until Caster is defeated. Shirō and Rin agree and Lancer befriends them on the way to church. The three discuss their plan and Rin asks Lancer to take care of Archer, but to spare him if possible, while she should take care of Caster and Shiro for Kuzuki. Lancer says that Assassin is bound to the temple and will not come and Rin explains to Shiro that the follower found the Shiro is unique.

Arriving at the church, Archer stands in their way. Lancer attacks Archer while Shirō and Rin go to church. Lancer, who had to hold back in contrast to the first fight, now wins the upper hand relatively early against Archer, who can barely fend off Lancer's deadly attacks. Lancer is puzzled why Archer has switched sides and Archer provokes Lancer with the knowledge that Lancer is Cú Chulainn . Lancer then uses Gáe Bolg's true ability and throws the spear at Archer, who in turn pulls out his shield, Rho Aias , and blocks Lancer's attack. Seriously wounded and with no energy reserves, Archer surrenders, who notes that Caster is no longer watching the two of them. Lancer, angry yet wondering who Archer could be, angrily notices that Archer had planned this from the start and lets him go. In the meantime, in the church, Rin provokes Caster, who then attacks Rin. Caster plays with Rin and engages in a magical duel with Rin, while Shiro tries desperately to keep Kuzuki busy. In a moment of carelessness, however, Rin Caster can surprise and goes into close combat, which is completely unusual for a magician. She can wound Caster badly, but fails to kill her because Kuzuki, who has already defeated Shirō, rushes to Caster's aid. He suggests using Saber, but shortly before Caster can do this, Archer appears and quietly utters the words Shirō always uses to activate his magic: Trace on. Dozens of swords appear over Kuzuki's head and Caster stands up to protect her, causing her to die. Kuzuki sees that Archer wanted to betray Caster from the start and attacks him, whereupon he also dies.

Caster's spell on Saber is now canceled after Caster has been killed and Shirō runs towards Saber. This pushes him out of the way when Archer tries to kill Shiro again. Archer reveals that he only joined Caster so she could remove Rin's Command Spells that prevented Archer from killing Shiro. Saber, who realizes who he really is, faces Archer completely weakened and without his own master. When Archer is about to kill Shirō, Rin makes a pact with Saber, who, stronger than ever, can now push back Archer. Saber asks him to stop because he has no chance without a master and would soon disappear himself, but Archer replies that Archer servants can stay longer in the world without a master. Archer is now forced to use his Reality Marble, his own world, Unlimited Blade Works, in which all the swords he has seen in his life exist. Archer reveals that he was a magician in his life, but this is no longer surprising. He drops a hail of swords on Saber, but Shirō stands in front of Saber and projects his own hail of swords, which fends off Archer's attack. Disgusted by Shirō, Archer kidnaps Rin so that Shirō has to fight him and Shirō suggests that they meet at the Einzbern Castle. Lancer is waiting outside and Shiro tells him what happened. Angry at Archer, Lancer decides to help Shirō a little further until Rin is safe. Rin dreams again about the life of Archer. She realizes that the heroes' throne is independent of time and space. She is mad and wants to help Archer because his life was ungrateful and he cursed his afterlife. Rin wakes up in the Einzbernschloss and tells Archer why she loves Shirō and asks Archer if he's sick of the people, but Archer doesn't answer. Going home to rest and let his wounds heal a little, Shiro says again, despite knowing that his dream of becoming a superhero is just hypocrisy, that he will not accept Archer's beliefs.

Waiting in the Einsbernschloss, Archer realizes that killing Shiro is probably pointless and cannot free him. Still, he's desperate enough to try. Suddenly Shinji and Gilgamesh appear who want to take Rin away. But Archer stands in their way, because he has promised Shiro to ensure Rin's safety until daybreak. Knowing Shinji's inferiority complex, Archer causes Shinji to do nothing to Rin until Archer has killed Shirō. On the way out, Gilgamesh says 'Faker' to Archer in disgust. Shirō, accompanied by Lancer and Saber, arrives at the castle, where he meets Archer in the entrance hall. Archer tells him where Rin is and that she is in danger, whereupon Lancer sets out to save her. But Saber doesn’t come along because she has to see the fight between Shirō and Archer. Archer explains to Saber and Shirō that Rin's pendant is an heirloom from their father. Rin himself had no catalyst to connect to her servant, but Archer had the item that connects him to Rin. Since the pendant is unique and Shirō owned it after Rin saved it, Archer's true identity is the hero soul EMIYA, Shirō, who in the end became a hero and made a pact with the opposing force . He tells the story of his life. Archer, as a superhero, had to continue to exist, fight and kill as long as there was conflict in the world. In contrast to Kiritsugu, he did not dream of world peace, of a world without conflict, but he still could not bear it when the people around him had to cry. And in order to resolve his own conflict of saving as many as possible, he killed a minority to save the majority. Since he was able to save everyone but not fulfill his dream , he wanted to at least ensure the survival of humanity after his death as a heroic soul. However, when he realized that his role as patron saint was no different than his life as a human being and that he had to keep killing, he became bitter and angry. He began to hate himself and has now placed all his hopes on being summoned to a time when he can kill his alterego and trigger such a paradox that he ceases to exist. Shirō asks Archer if he regrets his life, which Archer says in the affirmative, whereupon Shirō considers himself and him to be two completely different people, since Shirō would never regret his life. Both compete with projections in a fight and begin to fight.

Lancer finds the room where Rin is trapped and knocks Shinji aside, who was about to get close to Rin. When Lancer tries to free Rin, his master, Kirei, shows up and confronts Lancer for doing far more than he was told. Kirei tells Rin that he killed her father in the last war and that he wants to use her as a vessel for the Grail. He orders Lancer to kill Rin, but Rin refuses. Kirei then orders Lancer to kill himself with a command spell, whereupon Lancer rams Gáe Bolg in the heart and goes to the ground. Kirei now wants to kill Rin with his own hands, but Lancer is not dead yet and kills Kirei with his spear. Shinji, who now thinks that nobody is in his way, finally wants to attack Rin, but Lancer gets up again and hits Shinji to flight. Lancer frees Rin and uses runic magic to set the castle on fire. Rin thanks and says goodbye to Lancer.

Archer and Shiro keep fighting and Archer smashes every projection of Shiro. During the fight, the headache Shirō always had while he was around Archer gets worse and worse. He sees memories from Archer's life and Archer's words hurt Shirō. Archer tells Shiro that he has to become a hero as that is the only feeling left of him. Shirō merely admired Kiritsugu and his desire to help others. Since this feeling is not even Shiro's own, he is nothing more than a hypocrite. Shirō, badly wounded physically and mentally, is about to give up. His body refuses, however, and Saber's sword scabbard is still there to heal his wounds on his body. Shirō continues to fight determinedly, saying that his path cannot be wrong. Shirō defeats Archer. Gilgamesh suddenly appears and wants to kill Archer and Shirō, but Archer stands in Gilgamesh's hail of weapons and disappears, saying goodbye by saying that Shirō could defeat Gilgamesh. Rin returns and furiously attacks Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh wants to spare her, since she is now Saber's master.

Saber recognizes Gilgamesh as the servant from the last war and Gilgamesh explains how he could stay in the world. Gilgamesh reveals the power of the Holy Grail to attain Akasha . However, he is only interested in the destructive nature of the Grail and would like to use it to decimate humanity, disgusted by the multitude of people, in order to subsequently rule over the survivors as king. Shortly before he wants to kill Shirō, however, Lancer's fire envelops the castle and Gilgamesh decides to retreat to the Ryūdō temple, where the Grail is summoned. As a vessel he uses Shinji, who tried to escape by planting the Lower Grail, Illya's heart, in Shinji's body. Shirō, Rin, and Saber also leave the castle and go home to come up with a plan to stop Gilgamesh. Shiro wants to follow Archer's last advice and Rin makes a pact with Shiro so that he has the mana necessary to face Gilgamesh.

Shirō and Rin go ahead and discover the Grail that arose from Shinji. Saber, who should follow to take care of Gilgamesh, is stopped by Assassin, who was tied to the temple and not directly to Caster, and now wants to continue the fight with Saber. Since he is about to disappear, he speeds up the battle, allowing Saber to evade and defeat his ultimate attack, Tsubame Gaeshi. Rin tries to save Shinji while Shirō has to fight Gilgamesh. Saber appears, but Shiro immediately sends her to Rin to help her. Shirō conjures up his Reality Marble to take on Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm, Gate of Babylon. Rin cannot free Shinji without help, but Archer sends a hail of swords and saves her. Saber then uses Excalibur and destroys the Grail with the last of her mana. Believing that Shirō doesn't need her because he has Rin, Saber returns to her world. Since the Grail is not what she was looking for and Shiro's fight with Archer has shown her that she has done the right thing in her life, Saber gives up her dream of changing her past and dies peacefully.

Shirō takes advantage of Gilgamesh's arrogance and arrogance, and Unlimited Blade Works is strong enough to push Gilgamesh back. When Gilgamesh notices that he is slowly losing, he reacts in a panic, but Shirō can use his advantage and defeats Gilgamesh. The Grail is looking for a new vessel and tries to absorb Gilgamesh, but Gilgamesh struggles and wants to free himself. But Archer distracts Gilgamesh long enough and Gilgamesh is incorporated into the Grail. Shirō loses consciousness and Archer says goodbye to Rin. Rin promises him that she will take care of Shirō, and Archer tells her not to worry about him, since he has found the answer he was looking for, and disappears.

A month later in the epilogue, Rin explains that in a year after school she wants to go to London to train. She offers Shiro to come with her as her student, and he agrees. In the final scene, the fight between Shirō and Archer is told again from Archer's point of view. Shiro's determination and belief that his ideal is something beautiful and worth fighting for renewed his own beliefs to keep fighting. Therefore, Archer gave up the fight against Shirō in the end.

In an alternative ending, Saber Rin's servant remains and wants to continue watching Shirō's path.

Heaven's Feel

The third and final storyline of the visual novel lets Sakura Matō slip into the role of the protagonist. Compared to 'Fate' and 'Unlimited Blade Works', this variant shows an as yet unknown person: Zōken Matō.

Shirō goes on a nightly patrol with Saber and catches Shinji as the first enemy master. Saber easily wins against Shinji's Servant Rider, but before he is pulled to righteousness, Zōken saves his grandson. During the night, Zōken approaches the false assassin at the Ryūdō temple and ensures that he becomes the servant of himself in the form of the real assassin. Inside the Ryūdō Temple meanwhile, Shirō and Saber find the body of Sōichirō Kuzuki and his horrified Servant Caster. Seizing the chance, Saber also defeats Caster. After Shirō has left the temple, Lancer is also there to gather information about Caster's death. However, after a short fight against the real assassin, he is killed by his Noble Phantasm.

The next night, Shirō and Saber meet Rin and Archer, who are facing Zōken. Horrified by the believed dead Caster, Archer and Saber ally against Zōken. After Saber defeated Caster and Archer overcame Zōken, a strange shadow appears, which attacks Shirō. In the following patrol, Shirō and Saber take a closer look at the temple - but are separated by Zōken and assassin. Shortly before Shirō Saber wants to call for help, his command spell disappears - she has been defeated. At the last moment, Rider saves Shirō and accompanies him back.

In the next course of action, Shinji kidnaps Sakura and tells Shirō to come to school alone. On site, Shirō and Rin manage to incapacitate him and learn that Rider's actual master is Sakura. She uses her Noble Phantasm to kill Shirō and Rin by a fallacy, whereby her true identity as Medusa falls. Shirō then throws himself in front of Rin to protect her and when he collapses, Sakura Rider stops. In the next scene, Shirō is in the church with Rin while Kirei is operating on Sakura. In it the Crest Worm was planted by Zōken to make it a holy grail. Rin decides to kill Sakura before she does damage. However, Shirō decides against it and flees to save Sakura. The next day Shirō wants to inform Illya about the mysterious shadow and meets Rin, who had the same idea. On the way there, however, they meet berserkers in the fight against Assassin and Saber Alter. After Berserker is defeated, Shirō, Rin and Archer try to save Illya. The shadow, however, expands and Shirō loses his left arm while protecting Illya. Rider arrives in the forest immediately after the attack and helps the group to the church. Once there, Shirō wakes up again - Kirei has transplanted Archer's left arm onto Shirō because Archer was fatally wounded. In the meantime, Gilgamesh is being consumed by the shadow.

After Sakura slowly but surely loses her mind due to the embodiment of a Holy Grail, she decides to go to Zōken so that Shirō and Rin survive the war. Shirō does not want to accept this and follows Sakura on the way to the Matō Mansion. He's late, the only thing he finds is Shinji's body. In his absence, Rider is held in his house by Rider and Sakura has also arrived. At the last moment Shirō can save Rin, but Sakura's mental state is so bad that she thinks the only way to save Shirō is by killing him. Illya persuades Sakura to stop because she will voluntarily come with her if she spares Shirō and Rin. Saber Alter threatens Shirō before she disappears again.

After Rin is too weak, Shirō asks Kirei for help to save Illya. Together they make their way to the Einzbern Castle and find Illya unharmed. They flee, but are pursued by berserkers, zokens and assassins. Kirei stays to fight Zōken and Assassin, while Shirō and Illya continue to flee from Berserkers. Kirei apparently wins against Zōken and Assassin, but is mortally wounded by Sakura shortly afterwards. Meanwhile, Sakura has become a shadow. Meanwhile, Shiro decides to fight berserkers with the help of Archer's arm. With a projection of the weapon of Berserker, Shirō manages to defeat Berserker.

Last night, Rider, Rin and Shirō go together to the cave under the Ryūdō Temple to stop Sakura. However, Saber Alter is waiting there and only lets Rin pass. After Saber Alter and Rider fight each other with their Noble Phantasm, Shiro Rider assists Rho Aias to block Saber Alter's contaminated Excalibur. The final blow is done by Shirō, he kills Saber with the Azoth blade. In the meantime, Sakura has killed Zōken and is fighting Rin, who is armed with a projected version of Zelretch's gemstone dagger. Rin tries to kill Sakura with a trick, but cannot bring himself to do so and injures himself seriously. Through this action, Sakura regains her senses, but can no longer stop the Holy Grail. Shirō draws the last trump card and frees Sakura from Angra Mainyu, the contaminated Holy Grail, by means of a projection of the rule breaker.

In the "True End" the last scene is a fight between Shirō and Kirei, who wants to help Angra Mainyu to be born on earth. However, his time is up, he collapses lifeless after a fight. After Shirō no longer has the strength to destroy the Great Grail, Illya comes in a Heaven's Feel dress to do this work for him. Shortly before that, she had redeemed Zōken and is now using the Holy Grail to close the entrance and save Shirō with Heaven's Feel.

The epilogue is told again from Rin's point of view and takes place a few months after the Grail War. Rin had to go to London where she was to be held responsible, but was saved by Zelretch's sudden appearance. She decided to stay and study in London and passed the responsibility for Fuyuki on to Sakura. In the present, Rin is back in Fuyuki for a short vacation and goes to Shiro's house, where she meets Taiga, Rider and Sakura. Sakura still has immense mana reserves, which is why she can keep Rider alive as her servant in the world. Shirō returns from shopping and greets Rin. After Illya rescued Shirō's soul with Heaven's Feel and moved it to another vessel, Rin and Sakura looked for a new human body for Shirō and were able to bid an old puppet from a famous doll maker (Tōko Aozaki). Sakura, who now lives with Shirō and Rider, has to regularly supply Shirō with mana. In the end, Rin asks her sister if she is happy now, which she answers in the affirmative. Together they look at the blooming cherry blossoms together.

In an alternate ending ("Normal End"), Shirō projects Excalibur and sacrifices his life to destroy the Great Grail before Illya arrives. In the epilogue, Rin has children who are trained by Sakura. Sakura, who now lives in Shirō's house, is still waiting many years later for Shirō so that they can look at the cherry blossoms together.

In another ending, Shirō failed to convince Rider to help him. So he is forced to fight Saber alone while Rin rushes to Sakura. Although Shirō can seriously wound Saber using Archer's techniques, he has used so many projections that his mind collapses and he dies spiritually. Saber, who is slowly regenerating, feels sorry for Sakura and Rin because the person they both love is already dead.

Characters

Shirō Emiya ( 衛宮士郎 , Emiya Shirō )

Shirō is the only survivor of an inferno ten years ago caused by the fourth Holy Grail War. Shiro's adoptive father, Kiritsugu Emiya, saved him and raised him. After his death, Shirō lives alone. He conjures up Saber without knowing it when his life is in danger from an attack by the Servant Lancer. At first he doesn't know anything about the war for the Grail and is later cleared up by Rin and Kirei. Shirō wants to win the holy war so that there won't be another inferno like ten years ago. He's in love with both Sakura and Rin at the beginning of the game, but also falls in love with Saber at first sight. Since his adoptive father implanted the magic scabbard Avalon when he was rescued, his wounds heal rapidly. Its magical abilities are limited to the amplification and external projection of objects. He is also very good at reading the structure and construction of objects like a kind of blueprint . During the course of the war, through Archer's help , Shirou learns tracing , an advanced form of projection that allows him to fully reproduce weapons and armor and read the history of the weapons, which also enables him to copy the techniques of the original owners. Its tracing is particularly effective and energy saving on swords, as its element and origin changed to "sword" after Kiritsugu saved him. All of his skills and affinity for swords are based on Shirō's Reality Marble Unlimited Blade Works .

Saber ( セイバー , Seibā )

Saber is Shirō's Servant and is known as the King of Knights. She has extraordinary fighting and regenerative powers. Her Noble Phantasm is the Excalibur sword . Since Shirō is not a magician, he cannot give Saber any magical energy, which forces her to fall back on her second, more economical Noble Phantasm: Invisible Air. The third and last of her Noble Phantasm is the sword scabbard of Excalibur: Avalon, which she used during the The storyline in Fate received from Shirō. Saber has its own particularly high mana store. She is actually not very strong physically, but thanks to her "Mana Burst" ability, which is a kind of reinforcement magic, she has grown berserk herself. This ability gives her additional physical protection in the form of magical armor, and as a Saber class, along with her own innate resistance, she is almost immune to magic. Her true personality is Artoria Pendragon (アルトリア・ペンドラゴンArutoria Pendoragon ) (female counterpart to King Arthur ). Since she made a pact with the world shortly before her death to participate in the war for the Holy Grail, she is actually not dead, which is why Saber cannot dispose of Caliburn or Avalon or dematerialize like all other servants. That is also the reason why she can remember the events of the past war, which is normally impossible.

Rin Tōsaka ( 遠坂凛 , Tōsaka Rin )

Rin is the head of the Tōsaka family of magicians, who were one of the three founding families involved in the Holy Grail War. Her father also fought in the war ten years earlier. Since he died in this and she was chosen as successor by the Tōsaka family, she becomes one of the next seven Masters. She is secretly in love with Shirō and initially saves his life with an amulet that she inherited from her father. She desperately wants to win the war for the Holy Grail, mainly out of ambition. She is very well known in school because she is not only considered beautiful, but also extremely smart and aloof. Your magical powers are well developed. She was born with the special ability to manipulate and master each of the "five elements". As a member of the Tōsaka family, she specializes in jewel magic and is also a master of Chinese martial arts, which is unusual for magicians.

Archer ( アーチャー , Āchā )

Archer is Rin's servant. However, since his incantation was partially flawed, he does not seem to remember his real name and past. He is well versed in archery as well as in hand-to-hand combat with his twin swords Kanshō and Bakuya. Archer is rather skeptical of Shirō and is always sarcastic because he regrets having become a hero and "ally of justice" (正義の味方, Seigi no Mikata ). In the later course of the plot it becomes apparent that Archer is the adult form of Shirō, who won the holy war. Archer is thus the only servant who does not come from the past, but from the future. Therefore he is actually neither an archer nor a swordsman, but in fact a magician. For this reason he does not have a real Noble Phantasm - he only calls his Reality Marble Unlimited Blade Works (and thus all weapons in his world) as his Noble Phantasm. The weapons within Unlimited Blade Works are largely replicas of the treasury within Gate of Babylon. Caladbolg II and Hrunting are preferably used by Archer as hogu for long-range combat by shooting them as arrows. His created weapons are usually at least one rank weaker than the original, but Archer can charge them with mana and then shoot them like a bomb at the enemy (which usually makes the Noble Phantasm irreparable and this attack is therefore called Broken Phantasm (壊れた幻想, Kowareta Gensō ) referred to as). The damage done is one rank higher than the fired weapon, which means that it can practically compensate for the weakness of its tracing. Rho Aias is a defensive noble phantasm that is able to block any kind of ranged attack.

Illyasviel von Einzbern ( イリヤスフィール・フォン・アインツベルン , Iriyasufīru fon Aintsuberun )

Illyasviel (Illya) is the youngest of all masters, but thanks to her servant also the most dangerous. Her appearance cannot hide her sometimes cold-bloodedness for long. She is very proud of her snow-white hair, which she inherited from her mother. Her ability to control berserkers is considered exceptional. She lives in a large castle in the woods with her two maids. Her father is Kiritsugu Emiya and her mother Irisviel von Einzbern. She originally came to Japan with the aim of killing Kiritsugu and Shirō, but later discards these plans. As a vessel of the Holy Grail, it is actually impossible for her to win the Holy Grail, even if she were the last survivor, as she has to absorb the defeated hero souls into her body and switch off her own bodily functions for it. But since Sakura takes in most of the souls in Heaven's Feel, she is spared this fate. She is actually a flawed homunculus, which explains her childlike appearance. In fact, she is a little older than Shirō, which is why she sacrifices herself for Shirō at the end of Heaven's Feel to protect her little brother.

Berserker ( バーサーカー , Bāsākā )

Berserker is Illya's servant and arguably the most dangerous enemy in holy war. As a berserk, he's also lost his mind, making him an unpredictable opponent. The previous berserkers have mostly turned against their masters, but Illya seems to have berserkers well under control. Despite its size, it is very agile. He uses a strong stone sword as a weapon. In his previous life he was Heracles , so his Noble Phantasm is his skin that protects him from any non-fatal shock. Furthermore, he has 12 lives from his trials.

Shinji Matō ( 間桐慎二 , Matō Shinji )

Shinji is the older brother of Sakura Matō. He is an arrogant daredevil and a childhood friend of Shiro. He is not a magician because the Matō's magical blood has died out. He feels a real hatred and envy towards Sakura, since she will take over the inheritance of the Matō family in his place through her adoption. His servant is a rider. In contrast to all other masters, he has no command spells, instead he controls Rider with the help of a book.

Rider ( ライダー , Raidā )

Rider is Shinji's servant. Unlike Shinji, she is rather calm and thoughtful. She wouldn't hesitate to protect him with her life. However, in truth she is loyal to Sakura, among other things because she can fully understand Sakura's suffering through her former life. She is the Gorgon Medusa and answered Sakura's call to the Grail War so that it doesn't end like her. Even after Sakura has lost all of her command spells in Heaven's Feel and has been corrupted and manipulated by Angra Mainyu, Rider still wants to protect her. As weapons she uses two nails with chains at the ends. One of their Noble Phantasm is the blood fortress Andromeda, a territorial Noble Phantasm, which takes the life energy from everything that is in it and converts it into mana. Like Lancer and Saber, she has a high resistance to magic as a Rider class and, together with Lancer, is the fastest servant in war. Her Noble Phantasm Bellerophon is a set of golden harness , saddle and reins that allow her to completely control a divine animal. Rider can conjure up a white Pegasus through her personal past. When she gets on the mount, she is many times faster, her protection against magic increases immensely and all her parameters increase by one rank. A personal ability based on her past is "Cybele", her mystical eyes of petrification. Rider petrifies every servant whose mana parameter is not at least of rank "B" and lowers every parameter of the opponent that is not petrified by one rank. To protect her identity, Rider mostly covers and seals her eyes with her third Noble Phantasm Breaker Gorgon, leaving her completely blind. However, their other senses are sufficient to move freely. Rider is always the first servant to die in Fate and Unlimited Blade Works, but in fact she is actually one of the stronger servants in war, which only becomes clear after Sakura becomes her master again in Heaven's Feel.

Sōichirō Kuzuki ( 葛木宗一郎 , Kuzuki Sōichirō )

Kuzuki is Rin and Shirō's history teacher. He is Casters Master and a very strong fighter. Like Shirō, Kuzuki is not a magician, but is still very dangerous because he was a hit man who gave up this job out of disinterest. He became a master when Caster murdered her actual master and made a pact with Kuzuki just before she broke up. The roles of the magician and the servant who protects the magician are practically reversed in Kuzuki and Caster. So he's the one who goes into hand-to-hand combat and protects them from attacking servants, while Caster attacks the enemy with magic from the second row. Since he is then reinforced by Caster's magic, he can even compete with Saber (Shirō as her master). Like Shirō, he has no wish of his own that the Holy Grail could fulfill and only takes part in the war because Caster has asked him for help.

Caster ( キャスター , Kyasutā )

Caster is Kuzuki's servant and the only magician among the servants. She masters an old, mythical language, which shortens her speaking of spells. She uses very strong magic, which can make her a dangerous opponent. Your Noble Phantasm is the Dagger Rule Breaker. This is actually not a weapon, but a ritual tool. The rule breaker can break all magic, even command spells and the pact between servant and master. She was Medea in her previous life . After falling in love with her Master Kuzuki, she only takes part in the Holy Grail War to extend her time together with Kuzuki.

Assassin ( アサシン , Asashin )

Assassin is Caster's servant and thus the servant of a servant. It is the first time a servant has been summoned by a servant. He only acts as the gatekeeper of the Ryōdo Temple to protect casters from attacks. His demeanor is that of a samurai in a purple kimono. Assassin claims to be Sasaki Kojirō , but is actually someone who has been said to be. As a real hero and servant, he does not have a Noble Phantasm, but a divinely similar sword technique called Tsubame Gaeshi, which you can neither block nor evade, as this attack comes from all directions.

Kirei Kotomine ( 言峰綺礼 , Kotomine Kirei )

Kirei is the priest of the Church that accepts the Masters who no longer participate in the Holy War for whatever reason. He is also the "arbiter" for the war for the Holy Grail and takes care of the problems arising during the war and advises the masters on request. Kirei owns two servants: Lancer and Archer (Gilgamesh). Archer is his servant from the previous war, who was allowed to continue to exist by touching the Holy Grail. Kirei took part in the fourth Holy Grail War and should support Tokiomi Tōsaka together with his father, the arbiter of the war, to win the Grail and trained magic under him for three years. His archenemy was Kiritsugu Emiya. Although he had no wish, he was strangely chosen by the Grail as master and only accepted through Gilgamesh that he can only become happy when he sees other people unhappy and desperate. He then betrayed Tokiomi and killed him from behind with the azoth blade that he had just received from Tokiomi, took Gilgamesh in as a servant and afterwards killed Irisviel von Einzbern before he was shot through the heart in the final fight against Kiritsugu. However, he came back to life when the touch of the corrupt Holy Grail gave him a new heart. As he had promised Tokiomi before, he took care of Rin afterwards and became her mentor. He doesn't seem to have much interest in the Grail and only participates for his entertainment. Kirei is a former Church Enforcer and has mastered Bajiquan , among others . He and his wife, who committed suicide, had a daughter named Caren Ortensia, who will take his place after Fate / stay night.

Lancer ( ランサー , Ransā )

Lancer is Kirei's second servant. He actually belongs to Bazett Fraga McRemnitz, but she was murdered by Kirei. Since then, Lancer has served Kirei. His only Noble Phantasm is Gáe Bolg (which is unique in that it has two functions as a weapon), who always hits the heart of the enemy and curses them. Wounds inflicted by Gáe Bolg can only heal if the curse is lifted, which is very strong. Because of his temperament and his proficiency in runic magic, he could also have been summoned as a berserker or caster. His true form is the Irish hero Cú Chulainn .

Gilgamesh ( ギルガメッシュ , Girugamesshu )

Probably the strongest servant in Fate / stay night and king of heroes. He wears a very conspicuous, golden armor, which is why he is also called the "Golden King". Actually he should have already disappeared in the previous war, but he was allowed to stay by touching the Holy Grail and he was granted a true body made of flesh and blood. Obsessed with all the beauty in the world, his goal is to make Saber his wife, at all costs. His Noble Phantasm is Gate of Babylon. Gilgamesh had all weapons collected during his lifetime, so he is able to call them up through the Gate of Babylon. Since he can shoot them this way, this classifies him as an archer. These weapons were recreated and new weapons emerged, such as the Caliburn, which is just an imitation of one of the swords in this collection. However, the only hogu from Gate of Babylon that truly represent him and cannot be reproduced are Enkidu and Eá. Enkidu is a normal strong chain, but it can bind and weaken all divine beings enormously. It is named after Gilgamesh's best friend Enkidu . Eá is a sword that, according to legend, if Gilgamesh uses the full power of the sword, it will even divide the earth and the sky. This attack is called Enuma Elish , "the star of creation that divides heaven and earth" (天地乖離す開闢の星Tenchi Kairisu Kaibyaku no Hoshi ). Gilgamesh was the servant of Rin's father Tokiomi Tōsaka in the fourth war until he was murdered by Kirei from behind. Gilgamesh then joined Kirei.

Sakura Matō ( 間桐桜 , Matō Sakura )

Sakura is the sister of Shinji Matō. Since Kiritsugu's death she has come to Shirō every day and makes him food or helps with the household. She is a very shy person and is secretly in love with Shirō. In Heaven's Feel you learn that she is actually Rin's sister, who was given to the Matos by her father to protect them. She is Rider's true master, but gave it to her brother Shinji because Sakura refused to fight her sister and Shiro. As a descendant of the Tōsaka family, she is a strong magician. She is unable to control any of the five basic elements. Their birth element is shadow (Imaginary Numbers), of which Angra Mainyu (Polluted Content of the Holy Grail) also consists. Zōken Matō, her grandfather, controls this magical power with special worms. That one is also able to release their magic and thus put them in an archetype of Angra Mainyus. As such, it has an almost infinite supply of magic. Since the element of shadows particularly appeals to magical beings, she is able to bring servants under her control as "Dark Sakura". As Angra Mainyu, she herself is also affected by the shadow element, so that she goes mad.

Zōken Matō ( 間桐臓硯 , Matō Zōken )

Zōken is Kariya's and Byakuya's "father", Shinji's and Sakura's grandfather and the head of the Matō family. Born as Makiri Zolgen, he helped as the head of the Zolgen family with the creation of the Holy Grail over 200 years ago and also invented the command spell system to control the servants. When Archmagus Lizleihi Justica von Einzbern, for whom he felt feelings, sacrificed himself as the heart of the Grail, he swore to complete the Grail and thus to the 'Third True Magic "Heaven's Feel"', the true goal of the von Einzberns, with his own eyes see. In order to still experience this and to maintain his body, he made use of his magical worms, which ultimately led to his soul starting to rot and later he could only wander around at night. However, he reacted very frustrated and angry after three Holy Grail Wars and still not a single one had managed to win the Grail. He has long since lost sight of his true goal and, through the Grail, only strives for immortality. Since, for strange reasons, his family's blood began to weaken and his last heir, Shinji, cannot use magic at all, he asked the Tōsaka family, an ally of the Matō family since the creation of the Grail, to give them the second Tokiomi's child, Sakura Tōsaka, to be trained as the new heir to the Matō family. He plays absolutely no role in Fate and Unlimited Blade Works and only appears in Heaven's Feel . After seeing how incompetent Shinji is, he himself decides to take part in the fifth Holy Grail War as a master and uses Assassin's body to summon his own Servant True Assassin. He uses Sakura as a vessel for Angra Mainyu and tries to destroy the other masters and servants with True Assassin. His first name was originally Makiri. He changed his name (and thus that of the family) from Makiri Zolgen to Zōken Makiri ( マキリ臓硯 , Makiri Zōken ) and later to Zōken Matō when he moved to Fuyuki.

True Assassin ( 真アサシン , Makoto Asashin )

True Assassin is an extremely dangerous servant who only appears in Heaven's Feel after Zōken Matō used Assassin's body to summon the True Assassin. Except for the ash-gray mask that hides his face, he is completely wrapped in black. In contrast to Assassin, True Assassin can completely hide his presence and has an effective protection against wind, but is significantly weaker in the fight against other Servants. All True Assassins share a collective identity and have appeared in every Holy Grail War. He is actually one of the 19 Hasan-i Sabbāhs , the leader of the assassins . Since the name "Assassin" refers to these assassins and is therefore a catalyst in itself, Hasan-i Sabbah is always invoked - but since Caster was invoked as a servant, and thus not a full master, assassin, this rule was ignored . As with all True Assassins, his Noble Phantasm is a modified part of his body and is called Zabaniya - in this case it is his right arm. True Assassin can use it to curse his victim and create a reflection of the victim's heart. By destroying the false heart, he can also destroy the real heart. If he touches the victim's chest, he can also swap the two hearts and devour the real heart for added intelligence of the victim. This ability bypasses any physical defense, so any physical armor and distance doesn't matter to him. In direct combat he is an assassin and actually inferior to every other servant, which is why he prefers to attack the masters.

Kiritsugu Emiya ( 衛宮切嗣 , Emiya Kiritsugu )

Kiritsugu is the stepfather of Shiro. He had saved it from the fire during the fourth holy war. Shirō admires him very much and because of his last words he decided to become a hero. Kiritsugu was known in the past as a magician killer (魔術師殺しmajutsushi goroshi ) due to his skills and his part-time employment as a hit man . Nine years before the fourth Holy Grail War began, he was hired by the von Einzberns for the upcoming war. He then entered into the fourth war with his wife, Irisviel von Einzbern, with whom he fathered Illya, and Saber. However, he realized that the Holy Grail was defiled by Angra Mainyu and then ordered Saber with two command spells to destroy it. For this order, Saber hates Kiritsugu because she did not understand what he was doing. However, he noticed his mistake immediately, since he only destroyed the outer shell and not the gate to the Great Grail, the destructive contents of which then landed on Fuyuki and later triggered the great inferno. In the years after the war everything went wrong for him. Due to a curse from Angra Mainyu, he could feel nothing but remorse until his death and kept going back to Germany to find his daughter Illya. But since he lost a large part of his skills as a magician, he could no longer cross the barriers of the von Einzberns and so he died at the age of 34, five years after the end of the war, from the curse that destroyed his body over time.

Taiga Fujimura ( 藤村大河 , Fujimura Taiga )

Taiga is the granddaughter of a local yakuza boss who Kiritsugu was good friends with. After Kiritsugu's death, she set herself the goal of protecting Shirō in his place. She is also his English and class teacher. She is responsible for the archery club, in which Shirō used to be. Taiga's nickname is "Tiger" (pronounced "Taiga" in Japanese), which she hates herself. Shirō calls them Fuji-nee (big sister Fuji) because they see each other almost like siblings. Kiritsugu always felt comfortable in her presence and trusted her very much, as she reminded him very much of his childhood friend and high school sweetheart Shirley. Together with Illya she runs the Tiger Dojo - a place where the player ends up if he ends the game prematurely through wrong decisions and receives tips.

publication

The game for the PC was released in January 2004. The sequel Fate / hollow ataraxia was released in 2005 and the beat 'em up Fate / tiger colosseum was released for the PSP in 2007 . In 2007 a youth-free version followed under the name Fate / stay night [Réalta Nua] for the PlayStation 2 , which was also released in 2012 as a download for the PC and later in the same year for the PS Vita . In December 2008 the beat 'em up Fate / unlimited codes appeared for the Playstation 2, followed in June 2009 by an implementation for the PSP under the title Fate / unlimited codes Portable . Furthermore, the role-playing game Fate / Extra for the PSP was announced for July 22nd, 2010 .

Adaptations

Manga

A manga adaptation by Nishiwaki Datto was published by Kadokawa Shoten's manga magazine Shōnen Ace from issue 2/2006 in December 2005 and tells the story of the Unlimited Blade Works storyline. The first anthology was published on May 26, 2006 . A total of 20 volumes had been published by 2012. The manga is published in English by Tokyopop , a German translation was published in full by the same publisher from July 2018 to January 2020.

Anime

Fate / stay night

2005 produced Studio Deen a Anime - TV show led to the game, when Yuji Yamaguchi Director. The character design is by Megumi Ishihara and the artistic direction was taken over by Toshihisa Koyama. The anime follows the plot of Fate . The series was broadcast from January 7, 2006 shortly after midnight (and thus on the previous TV day) by TV Saitama , a few days later the broadcasting began by the channels Chiba TV , KBS Kyōto , MX TV , Sun TV , TV Aichi and TV Kanagawa . The first broadcast ended on June 17, 2006.

The series was broadcast in Latin America, South Korea and Southeast Asia by Animax and was released on DVD in North America.

On January 22, 2010, a summary of the anime was published on DVD and Blu-ray Disc under the title Fate / stay night TV Reproduction . One day later, on January 23, 2010, the movie Fate / stay night Unlimited Blade Works was released in Japan, based on the Unlimited Blade Works storyline.

The film was released in Germany by the Animaze label on May 27, 2011, and was distributed by WVG Medien.

music

The music for the series was composed by Kenji Kawai . The opening titles used were disillusion and Kirameku Namida wa Hoshi ni by Sachi Tainaka. The end credits are Anata ga Ita Mori ( あなたがいた森 ) and Hikari ( ヒカリ ) by Jyukai and Kimi to no Ashita ( 君との明日 ) by Sachi Tainaka.

synchronization

role	Japanese speaker ( seiyū )	German speaker (film)
Shirō Emiya	Noriaki Sugiyama	Helwig Arenz
Saber	Ayako Kawasumi	Iris R. Hassenzahl
Rin Tōsaka	Kana Ueda	Lisa Braun
Archer	Jun'ichi Suwabe	Stefan Rieger
Shinji Matō	Hiroshi Kamiya	Patrick L. Schmitz
Rider	Yū Asakawa
Illyasviel von Einzbern	May Kadowaki
Sakura Matō	Noriko Shitaya

Fate / Zero

Fate / Zero logo

The light novel Fate / Zero was adapted by the animation studio Ufotable under the direction of Ei Aoki as a 25-part television series. The broadcast of the first season exactly at midnight from the night of October 1st to October 2nd to October 24th / 25th. December 2011 on Tokyo MX , Tochigi TV and Gunma TV . In the same night TV Saitama , TV Aichi and MBS followed , and within a week Chiba TV , TV Kanagawa , TV Hokkaidō , TVQ Kyūshū , as well as nationwide via satellite via BS11 and via cable via Kids Station . The second season was on the same program slot from 7./8. March to 23./24. Aired for the first time in August 2012 on Tokyo MX, Tochigi TV, Gunma TV and TV Kanagawa, as well as on TV Saitama, TV Aichi, MBS, Chiba TV, TV Hokkaidō and TVQ Kyūshū with an offset of up to a week. Internet streaming is via Nico Nico Channel, where the current episode was available for a week with subtitles in eight different languages.

In addition, on October 8, 2011, Crunchyroll began streaming an English subtitled version. On March 7, 2012, a limited Blu-Ray box with the first 13 episodes, which also contained English subtitles, was released in Japan. On May 3, 2013, Peppermint Anime announced that they had licensed the 25-part anime series and released the first six episodes on BluRay and DVD on February 28, 2014.

music

The music for the series comes from Yuki Kajiura . The opening credits in the first season, Oath Sign , were sung by LiSA and texted and composed by Shō Watanabe , while the closing credits, Memoria, were sung and cogetexted by Eir Aoi and co- written and composed by Fumio Yasuda . However, opening and closing credits were only used from the second episode.

For the season the opening credits to the beginning by Kalafina were used and the credits were Sora wa Takaku Kaze wa Utau ( 空は高く風は歌う ) by Luna Haruna . No opening credits were used for episodes 18 and 19 and Manten ( 満天 ) from Kalafina was used as closing credits .

synchronization

role	Japanese seiyū	German speaker	role	Japanese seiyū	German speaker
Saber group			Rider group
Kiritsugu Emiya	Rikiya Koyama Miyu Irino (as a boy)	Michael-Che cook	Waver Velvet	Daisuke Namikawa	Patrick Keller
Irisviel von Einzbern	Sayaka Ōhara	Antje von der Ahe	Rider	Akio Ōtsuka	Ingo Albrecht
Saber	Ayako Kawasumi	Iris Hassenzahl	Lancer group
Maiya Hisau	Ayumi Tsunematsu	Gisa Bergmann	Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald	Takumi Yamazaki	Gilles Karolyi
Illyasviel von Einzbern	May Kadowaki	Charlotte Uhlig	Lancer	Hikaru Midorikawa	Peter Lehn
Archer group			Sola-Ui Nuaba-Re Sophia-Ri	Megumi Toyoguchi	Katrin Laksberg
Tokiomi Tōsaka	Shō Hayami	Mario Hassert	Berserker group
Archer	Tomokazu Seki	René Dawn-Claude	Kiriya Matō	Tarusuke Shingaki	Phil Daub
Aoi Tōsaka	Hasumi Ito	Tanja Ash	Berserk	Ryotaro Okiayu	Matthias Keller
Rin Tōsaka	Kana Ueda	Christiane plant	Zōken Matō	Masane Tsukayama
Assassin group			Sakura Matō	Noriko Shitaya
Kirei Kotomine	Jōji Nakata	Tobias Brecklinghaus	Caster group
Assassin	Akina Abe, Takuo Kawamura, Eiichirō Tokumoto, Yōichirō Takama, Kōsuke Zushi, Nobunaga Shimazaki, Yūya Murakami, Shinobu Matsumoto, Hiroo Sasaki		Ryūnosuke Uryū	Akira Ishida	Markus Haase
Risei Kotomine	Masashi Hirose	Achim Barrenstein	Caster	Satoshi Tsuruoka	Fritz Rott

Fate / stay night (Unlimited Blade Works)

After Unlimited Blade Works was implemented as an anime film by Studio Deen in 2010, it was again adapted as an anime television series by Studio Ufotable in 2014. Directed by Takahiro Miura who was already responsible for the TypeMoon adaptation Kara no Kyōkai - the Garden of sinners : Lost memories . The first season with 13 episodes (# 00 to # 12) was premiered on TV Tokyo, Tochigi TV and Gunma TV from October 6th to December 29th, 2014 at midnight (and thus on the previous TV day), and also on October 9th BS11.

A second season with a further 13 episodes aired from April 5 to June 28, 2015 on TV Tokyo, Tochigi TV and Gunma TV.

An English subtitled version of both seasons was simulcast by Crunchyroll in North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

music

The music for the series is by Hideyuki Fukasawa . The opening credits were ideal white and the lyrics were written by meg rock , composed by Carlos K. and Toshi-Fj, and sung by Mashiro Ayano. In the credits, believe was used, texted and composed by Yuki Kajiura, and sung by Kalafina . This Illusion was also used in episode 12 , texted by Keita Haga and composed by Number 201, as well as interpreted by LiSA .

synchronization

role	Japanese speaker
Shirō Emiya	Noriaki Sugiyama
Rin Tōsaka	Kana Ueda
Saber	Ayako Kawasumi
Archer	Junichi Suwabe
Caster	Atsuko Tanaka
Assassin	Shin'ichirō Miki
Illyasviel von Einzbern	May Kadowaki
Kiritsugu Emiya	Rikiya Koyama
Taiga Fujimura	Miki Ito
Gilgamesh	Tomokazu Seki
Kirei Kotomine	Jōji Nakata
Sōichirō Kuzuki	Masaki Terasoma
Lancer	Nobutoshi Canna
Sakura Matō	Noriko Shitaya
Shinji Matō	Hiroshi Kamiya
Rider	Yū Asakawa

Emiya-sanchi no Kyō no Gohan

The Manga Emiya-sanchi no Kyō no Gohan by TAa has been published since 2016 , in which Shirō Emiya lives a peaceful everyday life with his friends, the masters and servants from the main series, and cooks for his family and friends. The manga was adapted as an anime in 2018.

Light novel

Under the title Fate / Zero , a light novel by Nitroplus appeared in Japan from December 2006 , which was distributed by Type-Moon . The light novel was illustrated by Takashi Takeuchi . The series ran until December 2007 and was completed with the fourth volume.

It deals with the fourth fight for the Holy Grail, which ended with the fire inferno in which the prehistory of Fate / stay night begins.

Web links

Commons : Fate / stay night - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Studio Deen Anime Website (Japanese)
Ufotable Anime Website (Japanese)
Fate / Zero website (Japanese)

Anime News Network about the manga and anime (English)

Individual evidence

↑ フェイト / エクストラ公式サイト: 製品情報 (Fate / Extra Official Site: Product News). Marvelous Entertainment , accessed June 24, 2010 (Japanese).
↑ Fate / stay night Gets TV reproduction Special Editions. Anime News Network, accessed June 23, 2010 .
^ Fate / stay night Unlimited Blade Works (movie). Anime News Network, accessed June 23, 2010 .
↑ BereitsGetestet.de: Fate / stay night: Unlimited Blade Works. Retrieved February 10, 2019 .
↑ Crunchyroll to Simulcast "Fate / Stay Night" Anime. In: Crunchyroll. October 3, 2014, accessed January 9, 2015 .
↑ Crunchyroll to Stream Second Season of "Fate / stay night: Unlimited Blade Works" anime. In: Crunchyroll. April 1, 2015, accessed April 5, 2015 .

[1] フェイト / エクストラ公式サイト: 製品情報 (Fate / Extra Official Site: Product News). Marvelous Entertainment , accessed June 24, 2010 (Japanese).

[2] Fate / stay night Gets TV reproduction Special Editions. Anime News Network, accessed June 23, 2010 .

[3] Fate / stay night Unlimited Blade Works (movie). Anime News Network, accessed June 23, 2010 .

[4] BereitsGetestet.de: Fate / stay night: Unlimited Blade Works. Retrieved February 10, 2019 .

[5] Crunchyroll to Simulcast "Fate / Stay Night" Anime. In: Crunchyroll. October 3, 2014, accessed January 9, 2015 .

[6] Crunchyroll to Stream Second Season of "Fate / stay night: Unlimited Blade Works" anime. In: Crunchyroll. April 1, 2015, accessed April 5, 2015 .