History Fanfic / FateZeroParadox

** The differing moralities of Saber and Kiritsugu sometimes make them this, but Kakashi's presence stabilizes both sides to the point they can keep functioning well as a unit.
* TheHeart: Assassin X is this for his team, being the only reason why there is an actual "team" at all. He's liked and respected by Saber, Irisviel, Maiya, and even he and Kiritsugu form something of a friendship. Notably, he finds a middle ground between Saber's honor and Kiritsugu's practicality, allowing them to work together. [[spoiler: It's telling that even after his departure, Kiritsugu keeps thinking about what Kakashi would say about given situations.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Many elements of the original ending of Zero are still present, like Angra Mainyu cursing Kiritsugu, leading to the man ordering the destruction of its receptacle and Kirei still living thanks to said evil spirit. However, this final is considerably more hopeful than the original story: Artoria manages to part in relatively neutral/good terms with her Master thanks to Kakashi allowing them to reach an understanding, said knight makes peace with Lancelot and manages to have an honorable bout with Diarmuid, Sakura is rescued and returned to her family, Aoi never gets crippled and is more proactive as a mother, meaning Kirei won't be able to abuse the riches of the Tohsaka family so easily, and Zouken leaves the war considerably wounded - but not out of the picture.]]

* {{Foil}}: One can argue most of the partnerships between X Servants and Servants are this.
** Saber and Assassin X. Both are figures that heavily value the bonds they create. Both died in defense of their homes, one by stomping a rebellion led by Mordred, the other [[spoiler: [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing himself]] to protect a comrade]]. Whereas Saber began as a warm WideEyedIdealist that slowly grew colder and less human for the sake of her kingdom, Assassin X started out cold and bitter [[spoiler: because of what happened to Hakumo]], but then became more open [[spoiler: after Obito's apparent death]]. Saber is a frontline fighter, she stands against the enemy head-on and, while not privy to fighting dirty, would rather have honorable bouts with other heroes, while Assassin X, while more than capable of doing the same, prefers to stay in the back and support his allies by other means.

** Berserker and Caster X. Both are defined as champions of good, but held back by circumstances: Lancelot by his madness and [[spoiler: Gandalf by the circumstances of his summoning]]. One is, most of the time, a ravening assault dog that is barely under Kariya's control in canon, while Caster X is calm and collected and uses his wisdom to help Kariya, and his mere presence is enough to help Berserker keep some control of himself most of the time. They both have noble hearts, but Lancelot can't see that under all the guilt he holds for his part in Camelot's fall, which leads to [[spoiler: Gandalf setting things up so that his knight friend and Artoria could talk about that without killing each other. Both also are slain by Megatron: Gandalf while he covered the retreat of Kariya, Lancelot and Sakura, and Lancelot when he tries to avenge his Caster friend.]]
** Caster and Berserker X [[spoiler: for all that makes a difference, considering how little they interact]]. Both of them are crazy, but are unusual in how that madness manifest: Gilles via his Mental Pollution skill and Berserker X is just naturally that insane - keep in mind his Madness Enhancement rank is ''E''. They are both crazy for killing, but take very divergent stances on that: [[spoiler: Kenpachi]] wants to fight other people in battles to the death while Gilles is a serial killer who occasionally uses that blood for his spells - but it's mostly because he feels delighted at going and killing others. They do share one major detail in that their lives were shaped by a woman important to them: Jeanne who Gilles followed & lost his purpose falling into despair losing all faith in God & what they believed in after her death to become an insane killer, Berserker X actually found purpose [[spoiler:when he fought Unohana the first time & discovered what it meant to truly enjoy battle & feared losing it so much that he avoided killing her & threw away his strength.]]

** Saber leaves the war with a lighter heart than in canon and promises to keep fighting for the sake of those who put her faith in her. [[spoiler: It's also implied that Kakashi is in a similar situation to her as Servant, regretful in not managing to seize victory for him and his allies at the last turn]].

** Caster and Berserker X [[spoiler: for all that makes a difference, considering how little they interact]]. Both of them are crazy, but are unusual in how that madness manifest: Gilles via his Mental Pollution skill and Berserker X is just naturally that insane - keep in mind his Madness Enhancement rank is ''E''. They are both crazy for killing, but take very divergent stances on that: [[spoiler: Kenpachi]] wants to fight other people in battles to the death while Gilles is a serial killer who occasionally uses that blood for his spells - but it's mostly because he feels delighted at going and killing others.

* {{Foil}}: You can argue most of the partnerships between X Servants and Servants are this.
** Saber and Assassin X. Both are figures that heavily value the bonds they create. Both died in defense of their lairs, one by stomping a rebellion led by Mordred, the other [[spoiler: [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing itself]] to protect a companion]]. Whereas Saber began as a warm WideEyedIdealist that slowly grew colder and less human for the sake of her kingdom, Assassin began cold and bitter [[spoiler: because of what happened to Hakumo]], but then became more open [[spoiler: after Obito's apparent death]]. Saber is a frontline fighter, she stands against the enemy head-on and, while not privy to fighting dirty, would rather have honorable bouts with other heroes, while Assassin X, while more than capable of doing the same, prefers to stay in the back and support his allies by other means.
** Lancer and Archer X. Both are figures with overall tragic lives and who had issues with their respective factions Diarmuid thanks to his affair with Fionn's wife and [[spoiler: Tex with other Freelancers, as she kept pushing to be better more and more]]. Both had ''very'' diverging views about honor, with Diarmuid holding in the highest regards, and Archer X regarding it as something worthless that would only lead Lancer and Kayneth to their deaths. [[spoiler: Whereas Diarmuid remains loyal, [[MyMasterRightOrWrong even when being abused and dismissed as an annoyance by Kayneth]], Tex rebels when pushed too far and kills him in cold blood, which leads to the downfall of her faction.]]
** Archer and Lancer X. Both are connected to large kingdoms - Uruk and [[spoiler: Edenia]]. respectively - and regarded as their best defenders. Gilgamesh is arrogant to a fault, but [[UnskilledButStrong has the most firepower in the whole war]], while Lancer X is WeakButSkilled and has the unique trait of being the only one with a Double Summon skill, leading to her also being capable of acting as an Assassin. Their attitudes towards Tokiomi are also heavily divergent: where Gil honors him as master of the lair and a good host, he otherwise has little love for him and thinks of him as dull and would rather focus his attention on Kirei. Meanwhile, Lancer X goes out of it's way to know her Master and better is able to form a genuine bond with him [[spoiler: to the point she managed to make him change his mind on killing her to feed the Holy Grail and manages to help him see that Zouken was not accomplishing his part of the deal over Sakura.]]
** Assassin and Rider X. Both are Servants that tend more to an Evil alignment and that can hide their presence of others - Assassin with their Presence Concealment and Rider X [[spoiler: with it's ability to morph into a jet plane]. Assassin is obedient and follows dutifully the orders given by Kirei while Rider X is unpredictable and only obeys what is convenient for him. The Hassans have a strict code of duty: while they kill people, they are not usually cruel in their executions, and other materials show that Hundred Faces has a kinder side. Rider X is ''consistently'' evil in all the incarnations he appears and would go to extreme depths to obtain anything he wants - [[spoiler: including messing with Dark Energon, one of the most dangerous substances in his universe.]]
** Rider and Saber X. The common thread between them is how ''different'' their life styles are: one lived always surrounded by soldiers, men he was prideful of calling comrade in arms that all held their king to the highest standards. Meanwhile, [[spoiler: Qrow is a loner, who found a small family in his old team - which then shattered after Summer's death, leaving him all alone once more, not helping the fact that his Misfortune doesn't distinguish friend from foe]]. Their lessons to Waver are also contrasting: while Rider allows his master to become more confident, Saber X's lessons are more about standing up for himself.
** Berserker and Caster X. Both are defined by being champions of good, but held back by circumstances: Lancelot by his madness and [[spoiler: Gandalf by the circumstances of his summoning]]. One is, most of the time, a ravening assault dog that is barely under Kariya's control in canon, while Caster X is calm and collected and uses his wisdom to help Kariya, and his mere presence is enough to help Berserker keep control of himself most of the time. Both of their hearts are noble, but Lancelot can't see that under all the guilt he holds for his paper in Camelot's fall, which leads to [[spoiler: Gandalf setting things up so that his knight friend and Artoria could talk about that without killing each other. Both also are slain by Megatron: Gandalf while he covered the retreat of Kariya, Lancelot and Sakura, and Berserker when he tries to avenge his Caster friend.]]
** Caster and Berserker X [[spoiler: for all that makes a difference considering how little they interact]]. Both of them are crazy, but are unusual in how that madness manifest: Gilles via his Mental Corruption skill and Berserker X is just naturally that insane - keep in mind his Madness Enhancement rank is ''E''. They both are crazy for killing, but take very divergent stances on that: [[spoiler: Kenpachi]] wants to fight other people in battles to the death while Gilles is a serial killer who occasionally uses that blood for his spells - but it's mostly because he feels delighted at going and killing others.

* MythologyGag: [[spoiler: The face of Hundred Faces that warns the members of team Emiya in the shed of Megatron's assault is the child face that appeared in VideoGame/FateGrandOrder, who was designed for the initial draft of Fate Zero as part of Waver's storyline, but was discarded in the end product.]]

* UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject: Gilgamesh as the unstoppable force, [[MadeOfIron Berserker X]] as the immovable object. [[spoiler: In this case, the triumph goes to the unstoppable one.]]

** [[spoiler: Having no other option for an heir, Zouken turns to Shinji Matou to represent the family, intending to use alternative methods to boost his magical abilities and have Megatron serve as his instructor.]]

** Waver [[spoiler: thinks that Urahara looks familiar despite never seeing him before. Of course, this is because both him and Kenpachi were Soul Reapers.]]

* DreamEpisode: Chapter 17, What Dreams May Come, uses this as plot device for it's story, in which Masters (and sometimes Servants) see the dreams of their partners, giving additional insight in their pasts.

* EntertaininglyWrong: Crossing over with DramaticIrony. Kirei's thoughts after [[spoiler: being revived by the Grail. He considers Gilgamesh as a friend while the latter only sees Enikdu as a friend & would kill anyone who would try to put themselves in that place. He believed Kiritsugu and him never had anything in common, but he now devoted himself to finding answers to his questions no matter the cost much like Kiritsugu pursued peace at any cost. Finally, the destruction unleashed was primarily the Grail's spiteful act against Kiritsugu, Saber & Kakashi, not his wish.]]

* ForgottenFirstMeeting: Rin mentions being barely able to remember the days during the War so she's likely forgotten [[spoiler:when Shirou saved her from getting hit by a car.]]

** Lancer and Archer X. Both are figures with overall tragic lives and who had issues with their respective factions ** Diarmuid thanks to his affair with Fionn's wife and [[spoiler: Tex with other Freelancers, as she kept pushing to be better more and more]]. Both had ''very'' diverging views about honor, with Diarmuid holding in the highest regards, and Archer X regarding it as something worthless that would only lead Lancer and Kayneth to their deaths. [[spoiler: Whereas Diarmuid remains loyal, [[MyMasterRightOrWrong even when being abused and dismissed as an annoyance by Kayneth]], Tex rebels when pushed too far and kills him in cold blood, which leads to the downfall of her faction.]]

** [[spoiler: Thanks to Gandalf's efforts, Kariya and Tokiomi manage such an arrangement: while they both understand each other a bit better, they still don't like each other. However, they care for Sakura, and this is enough to help them ignore their differences for a bit and hunt down Zouken Matou]].

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Kiritsugu [[spoiler:shoots Kirei several times with Origin Rounds throughout their fight, blows his heart out, & destroys his body with his remaining explosives to prevent any more Dark Energon healing. Due to Angra Mainyu, this still doesn't stick.]]

** Assassin and Rider X. Both are Servants that tend more to an Evil alignment and that can hide their presence of others - Assassin with their Presence Concealment and Rider X [[spoiler: with it's ability to morph into a jet plane]. Assassin is obedient and follows dutifully the orders given by Kirei while Rider X is unpredictable and only obeys what is convenient for him. The Hassans have a strict code of duty: while they kill people, they are not usually cruel in their executions and expansion of other materials show that Hundred Faces has a kinder side. Rider X is ''consistently'' evil in all the incarnations he appears and would go to extreme depths to obtain anything he wants - [[spoiler: including messing with Dark Energon, one of the most dangerous substances in his universe.]]
** Rider and Saber X.

* EntertaininglyWrong: Crossing over with DramaticIrony. Kirei's thoughts after [[spoiler:being revived by the Grail. He considers Gilgamesh as a friend while the latter only sees Enikdu as a friend & would kill anyone who would try to put themselves in that place. He believed Kiritsugu and him never had anything in common, but he now devoted himself to the goal of finding his answers no matter the cost much like Kiritsugu pursued peace at any cost. Finally, the destruction unleashed was primarily the Grail's spiteful act against Kiritsugu, Saber & Kakashi, not his wish.]]

* HistoryRepeats: Crossing over with IronicDeath in regards to what happens with the X Servants.

* HyperCompetentSidekick: Lancer X to Tokiomi. Lancer X repeatedly shows that she is far more perceptive and cautious than her master. Most notably she starts to grow suspicious of Kirei while Tokiomi is still convinced that he is a loyal student.

** Assassin's X efforts allow him to serve as a bridge between Kiritsugu and Artoria. While they still clash often, they manage to keep their head on the game and avoid letting their ideological differences get in the way of their actions. As an addendum, Assassin X also teaches the mage members of the team his brand of ninjutsu [[AchievementsInIgnorance once Irisviel discovers it's possible by accident]], expanding their arsenals quite a bit.

** As mentioned above, Caster X tempers Kariya's hatred against Tokiomi to [[spoiler: make him open to an alliance]]. He also [[spoiler: removes Lancelot's madness, allowing for him and Artoria to talk things out and work out what happened in Camelot in a healthy way.]]

* ByronicHero: Kiritsugu, of course, but Assassin X slowly manages [[DefrostingIceQueen to make him break away from this line of thought]].

* Drives Like Crazy: Irisviel much to Saber & [[spoiler:the hounds']] dismay. Berserker is also this for Kariya & Caster X, to the point he weaponizes an SUV against Caster with CarFu.

** Kiritsugu still adopts Shirou and goes to live in his canonical house with him and [[spoiler: Maiya, who opens a pawn shop and enters in contact with Urahara. They also still keep the dog contracts they earned from their time with Kakashi.]]

** [[spoiler: After his death, Aoi ensures that Kariya has a proper burial, even burying him as Kariya Zenjou rather than Matou as a final farewell gift.]]
* PlayingWithFire: One of Assassin X's go-to maneuvers is using fire jutsus.

* PowerLimiter: Berserker X's [[spoiler: Eyepatch Seal. It restricts the amount of power he can use at a given time, not because there's a big drawback (other than maybe be taxing to the Master), but because he doesn't want to overpower everyone and enjoy a good old brawl.]]
** You could argue Berserker's Knight of Owner is also one, as it restricts the usage of Lancelot's Arondight, by far his strongest Noble Phantasm.

** [[spoiler: Megatron has a [[LaserGuidedKarma unique twist]] in this trope, as his new human body is marked in the places where the Origin Rounds pierced his machine body.]]

* SequelHook: Quite a few: how did the X Servants appear? How did Kayneth obtain that device of his? [[spoiler: And what is Kisuke Urahara doing in London?]] Fate/Stay Night: Paradoxical Blade Works

** Saber X [[spoiler: has his [[BornUnlucky Semblance]] and [[MixAndMatchWeapon his mechasword, Harbinger]].]]

* SequelHook: Quite a few: how did the X Servants appear? How did Kayneth obtain that device of his? [[spoiler: And what is Kisuke Urahara doing in London?]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Like in Canon seeing Excalibur's light & recalling his X counterparts words has this effect on Caster.

* PetTheDog: Gilgamesh {{Mercy Kill}}s [[spoiler:Rider to prevent him from being corrupted by Dark Energon. In addition, not only does he spare Waver after being impressed by his loyalty like in canon, he even protects him from Rider X, making it clear he will annihilate the Decepticon with Ea if he tries to kill Waver.]] He also [[spoiler: makes sure that magi won't target Sakura because of how the Flame of Anor affected her magecraft, as one last favor to Gandalf.]]
* PlayingWithFire: One of Assassin X's go-to maneuvers is to use fire jutsus.

* CassandraTruth: Zouken when telling [[spoiler:Lancer X how all the Servants need to die for the Grail to work. She doesn't believe him due to being a complete monster & ironically Rider X predicted that she wouldn't believe it.]]
* ChekhovsSkill: Assassin X's [[spoiler:Sharingan's copy ability]] is initially out of focus due to nobody else using [[spoiler:Jutsu but it shows itself in the final battle by imitating the styles of every other fighter in the war including Lancelot.]]

** [[spoiler: Another with the first X Servant, Kisuke Urahara, a man who had been waiting for decades to put his plot in motion.]]

* Drives Like Crazy: Irisviel much to Saber & [[spoiler:the hounds]] dismay. Berserker is also this for Kariya & Caster X to the point he weaponizes an SUV against Caster with CarFu.

* ForgottenFirstMeeting: Rin mentions barely being able to remember the days during the war so she's likely forgotten [[spoiler:when Shirou saved her from getting hit by a car.]]

* IronicEcho: Kiritsugu's words to [[spoiler:Angra Mainyu when it curses & says to never forgive him, "Like you said... I can bear you."]]

** Archer X is reminded of [[spoiler:Carolina (her sorta daughter)]] when seeing Saber.

** [[spoiler:Tex ends up failing her objective to win the War or avenge Diarmuid & ends up dying due to Kamui's special warp, an entirely new way to die to add onto her previous ones.]]

* OutsideContextProblem: The X Servants as a whole. With Heroic Spirits, you can channel the summoning of certain heroes with the usage of catalysts and, in most cases, there's enough material to investigate what Heroic Spirit is against you. Not so much with X Servants, whose summon is entirely based on compatibility and are near complete unknowns for the ''magi'' population.

** [[spoiler: Aoi proves to be just as fierce, fending off the Mage Association representative attempting to question about Sakura's condition and being suspicious of Kirei.]]

** [[spoiler:Tex ends up failing her objective to win the War or avenge Diarmuid & ends up dying due to a spacial warp, an entirely new death to add onto her previous ones.]]

** [[spoiler:Maul is killed by a MasterSwordsman who isn't blinded by hatred like him (Obi-Wan, Lancelot).]]
** [[spoiler:Jade is killed suddenly by someone she trusted (Sindel, Tokiomi under Kirei's control).]]
** [[spoiler:Gandalf dies holding off a powerful foe so his allies can escape.]]
** [[spoiler:Kakashi nearly dies saving Maiya & Irisviel from Tex by using Kamui much like how he saved Choji, but survives. Later, a similar scenario occurs when trying to stop the Grail Mud but fails.]]

** A more subtle one with [[spoiler: Kiritsugu. What led to the zombie plague spreading through his home island was his hesitance in slaying Shirley. Here, he hesitates in trusting Saber at first, and while he switches plans when Assassin X partially hijacks the idea, it's already too late as Angra Mainyu kills both Servants of Team Kiritsugu and causes the Fuyuki Fire. Once again, his hesitance caused a tragedy.]]

** A young Taiga still crosses ways with Waver and Iskandar, but she also meets Saber X and Berserker X...and ends up learning a thing or two from the latter. Considering how she already was TheDreaded without those techniques...

* {{Jerkass}}: Both Kayneth and Archer X are deeply unpleasant people even at their best. Ironically, this is probably why Kayneth summons Archer X in the first place, though neither of them recognizes it.

* MesACrowd: Archer X's second Noble Phantasm: [[spoiler: 100 Tex Battle: ''"The Director's Many Attempts"'' is a manifestation of the countless Tex Drones the Director made in trying to resurrect Allison. Tex hates using it, both because the drones are all weaker than she is while relying on her mana and arsenal, and because their artificial nature reminds her of her own nature as [[CloneAngst yet another clone of Allison]]]].

** Waver ends up learning lots of lessons from his two [[spoiler: later three]] Servants, leading to him gaining much more experience. [[spoiler: And before his demise, Qrow unlocks his Aura as a last gesture, meaning he has something of a unique magecraft to his name.]]

* DiscardAndDraw: Berserker's Knight of Owner, which turns anything he touches into Noble Phantasms. Combine this power with his lethal martial prowess, and he's a terrific force.

* TheDreaded: Rider X, almost every team is wary of him, even his allies. Not only he's amongst the most cunning heroes in the war, but is powerful, can fly, and [[spoiler: possesses a blade that matches Excalibur in quality]].

** Most of the conflicts involving Gilles still happen in this version of events. However, the children in the forest fight don't die, [[spoiler: Uryuu is KilledOffForReal by Lancer X before the battle at Mion River, and the circumstances leading to the Gigantic Horror are a bit different.]]

* KillingIntent: Every time Berserker X enters the battlefield, he releases a huge cloud of this. In fact, the first time he entered a fight with other Servants, his killing intent was so strong that EVERY SINGLE MASTER, regardless of the actual location in terms of the battlefield, some not even being on the battlefield itself, all felt themselves get sliced or stabbed to death in various ways before snapping back to normal.

** Kiritsugu still adopts Shirou and goes to live on his canonical house with him and [[spoiler: Maiya, who opens a pawn shop and enters in contact with Urahara. They also still keep the dog contracts they earned from their time with Kakashi.]]
** Saber leaves the war with a lighter heart than in canon and promises to keep fighting for the sake of those who put her faith in her. [[spoiler: It's also implied that Kakashi is in a similar situation to her as Servant]].

* TheWorfEffect: Completely subverted. The author has stated that one of his goals was to keep the X Servants from dominating the canon ones. The regular servants for the most part can hold their own perfectly well against the X Servants and in several cases have gained the upper hand. [[spoiler: Gilgamesh manages to kill Berserker X after a grueling battle. In addition, he outclasses his partner Servant, Lancer X, and counterpart, Archer X, by so much power that it’s not even funny. Later on, Berserker defeats Avenger X. That said, the X Servants also get kills on the heroes of the other side: the most notable offender being Megatron, who defeats Iskandar and kills Lancelot, two of the most powerful Servants in Zero, after lengthy battles in both cases.]]
* WorldsStrongestMan: Even with all the X class Servants arriving, Gilgamesh is still the strongest Servant of all.

* YouRemindMeOfX: Saber and Iskander both remind Rider X of his old friend and archenemy [[spoiler: Optimus Prime: one for his noble spirit and determination, the other with his sense of comradery and rivalry of ideals.]]

* CoolBigSis: Lancer X to Rin. She idolizes the woman, as her presence, power, and kindness impress the young girl, to the point she trusts her fully to keep her father safe during the war. [[spoiler: It may have become a case of BrokenPedestal, as Kirei lies that Jade was away when Tokiomi was killed.]]

* DiscardAndDraw: Berserker's Knight of Owner, which turns anything he touches into Noble Phantasms. Combined with his lethal martial prowess, and he's a terrific force.
** [[spoiler: Sakura has a involuntary one. With the Flame of Anor purifying her from the Matou magecraft and her Magic Circuits disappearing together, she gains the ability to use Lord of Rings sorcery, even having a fragment of Gandalf stuck inside her head.]]

** For Rider X, [[spoiler: he turns into one of the things he loaths the most - a [[KarmicRetribution human]].]]

* TheHeart: Assassin X is this for his team, being the only reason why there is an actual “team” at all. He's liked and respected by Saber, Irisviel, Maiya, and even he and Kiritsugu form something of a friendship. Notably, he finds a middle ground between Saber’s honor and Kiritsugu’s practicality, allowing them to work together. [[spoiler: It's telling that even after his death, Kiritsugu keeps thinking about what Kakashi would say about given situations.]]

** [[spoiler: In the aftermath of the assault in the Matou manor, there is a cut to a shop in London where a blonde shaggy-haired man watches Gandalf burn away Sakura's Crest Worms (and Magic Circuits) with some fascination. It's heavily implied that this man is Kisuke Urahara.]]

** "How the Light Gets In" is a dual one for Teams Kariya and Tokiomi, [[spoiler: as they deal once and for all with the Rogue Servant alliance and rescue and cleanse Sakura of the Matou's Crest Worms (and her own Magic Circuits by accident). At the end of the chapter, Tokiomi, Jade, and Gandalf are killed, setting the final stage for the War.]]

** The differing moralities of Saber and Kiritsugu make them this at times, but Kakashi's presence stabilizes both sides to the point they can keep functioning well as a unit.

** [[spoiler:Maul is killed by a MasterSwordsman who isn't blinded by hatred like him (Obi Wan, Lancelot).]]

* InfinityMinusOneSword: Rider X’s ultimate Noble Phantasm: [[spoiler: the Dark Star Saber. It’s an A++ rank Phantasm with power on par with Excalibur, which allows him to survive the [[SwordBeam Excaliblast]] that obliterates Caster and the [[EldritchAbomination Gigantic Horror]], but since it’s Anti-Unit and not Anti-Army, it can’t generate a Sword Beam of its own to match the Excaliblast. As the story itself states, he cannot neutralize the attack, the best he can hope for is to survive. WordOfGod says that if summoned as a Saber, the blade would be Excalibur's equal]].

** [[spoiler: Even with all of Kakashi's efforts, it is impossible to cleanse the Holy Grail from Angra's corruption, which leads to the Avenger blowing everything away and causing the Fuyuki Fire.]]

* CoolBigSis: Lancer X to Rin. She idolizes the woman, as her presence, power, and kindness impress the young girl, to the point she trusts her fully to keep her father safe during the war.

* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:In his last moments, Lancelot gives way to the Mad Enhancement again in one last struggle to overcome Megatron before being fatally wounded. He dies sane in the arms of Artoria, his King consoling him until his death.]]
* EntertaininglyWrong: Crossing over with DramaticIrony. Kirei's thoughts after [[spoiler:being revived by the Grail. He considers Gilgamesh as a friend while the latter only sees Enikdu as a friend & would kill anyone who would try to put themselves in that place. He believe Kiritsugu & him never had anything in common, but he now devoted himself to a goal of finding his answers no matter the cost much like Kiritsugu pursued peace at any cost. Finally the destruction unleashed was primarily the Grail's own spiteful actions against Kiritsugu, Saber & Kakashi not his own wish.]]

* GiantSpaceFleaOutOfNowhere: [[spoiler: What Maul is to the other Servants. His mere presence is one, as he takes the role of Avenger X, with Avenger being one of the Extra classes that were not supposed to be summonable in the Grail War, at all. He soon also shows he means business by being responsible for killing Qrow during the chaos in the Mion River battle.]]

* HeadbuttingHeroes: Lancer X REALLY doesn’t want to be this with Tokiomi, but his stubborn insistence on acting as he believes a proper magus should continuously goes against her more heroic principles [[spoiler: ESPECIALLY once she learns about Sakura]].
** The differing moralities of Saber and Kiritsugu makes them this at times, but Kakashi's presence serves to stabilize both sides to the point they can keep functioning well as a unit.
* TheHeart: Assassin X is this for his team, being the only reason why there is an actual “team” at all. He's liked and respected by Saber, Irisviel, Maiya, and even he and Kiritsugu form something of a friendship. Notably, he finds a middle ground between Saber’s honor and Kiritsugu’s practicality, allowing them to work together.

* InfinityMinusOneSword: Rider X’s ultimate Noble Phantasm: [[spoiler: the Dark Star Saber. It’s an A++ rank Phantasm with power on par with Excalibur, which allows him to survive the [[SwordBeam Excaliblast]] that obliterates Caster and the [[EldritchAbomination Gigantic Horror]], but since it’s Anti-Unit and not Anti-Army, it can’t generate a Sword Beam of its own to match the Excaliblast. As the story itself states, he cannot neutralize the attack, the best he can hope for is to survive. WordOfGod says that if summoned as a Saber, the blade would be able to fully match Excalibur's power]].

** The Shadow Clone jutsu to a lesser extent. It's not as powerful as the example above, but it's easy to use, has near universal utility and the fact that, while it will dissipate in a single blow, it otherwise replicates things that a user has [[spoiler: including Mystic Codes]], provided they're not too complex like modern technology or firearms. Moreover, the memories and experiences any clone accumulates to the original once they disperse.

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: Archer X was never the most moral Servant but throughout the story, her continuous SanitySlippage leads to her taking viler and viler actions. [[spoiler:First, she murders Kayneth after the Master pushes her far enough, leading to her going rogue and joining Megatron's faction, and then, after witnessing Diarmuid's murder, she decides to kill everyone in Fuyuki by using [[MesACrowd 100 Tex Battle]] and the bombs she stole from Kiritsugu to bombard the city to kingdom come.]]

* WhamShot: At the end of Chapter 24, there is a cut to a rundown shop in London [[spoiler: that is run by a shaggy-haired blonde man that is all but implied to be [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Kisuke Urahara]], watching as Gandalf's Flame of Anor makes Sakura's Magic Circuits disappear]].

** Gilgamesh compares Caster X to [[spoiler: Enkidu because of their condition as Living Creations of the Divine.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Many elements of the original ending of Zero are still present, like Angra Mainyu cursing Kiritsugu, leading to the man ordering the destruction of its receptacle and Kirei still living thanks to said evil spirit. However, this final is considerably more hopeful than the original story: Artoria manages to part in relatively neutral/good terms with her Master thanks to Kakashi allowing them to reach an understanding, said knight makes peace with Lancelot and manages to have an honorable bout with Diarmuid, Sakura is rescued and returned to her family, Aoi never gets crippled and is aware of Kirei's involvement in her husband's end, meaning he won't be able to abuse the riches of the family and Zouken leaves the war considerably wounded - but not out of picture.]]

* HopeSpringsEternal: [[spoiler: Angra Mainyu destroyed Fuyuki, Megatron, Gilgamesh, Zouken and Kirei are still running around, but Saber leaves, promising to keep fighting for the sake of those who put faith on her, Urahara is behind the doors preparing for the Fifth War by allying with Waver and Maiya, and Kiritsugu passes onward his dreams of being a Hero of Justice to Shirou, along with bits of the Will of Fire.]]

** Archer X [[spoiler: has Weapons of War, providing her with an arsenal of weapons at any moment and [[MesACrowd 100 Tex Battle]] which allows her to summon clones of herself.]]
** Saber X [[spoiler: has his [[BornUnlucky Semblance]] and his mechasword, Harbinger.]]
** Rider X [[spoiler: has the ability to turn into a fighter jet, the Dark Star Saber at a reduced power and the ability to call upon the Dark Energon.]]

** [[spoiler: Waver travels the world for two years before returning to London, learning lots of skills in the period, including his Semblance, before being interrogated by the El-Melloi family about what happened to Kayneth and being bailed out by Urahara - who reveals himself to be the ''first'' X Servant.]]

* ComboPlatterPowers: Assassin X. He may not be able to destroy entire cities or span armies like Rider X, Gilgamesh, Rider, and Saber, and his most powerful Noble Phantasm is so draining that he can only use it 2-3 times a day, but he more then makes up for it by having such a wide variety of skills and powers. These include stealth, hypnosis, elemental attacks, creating copies of himself, walking on water, and several more.

* CoolVersusAwesome: Well, any Grail War is this in principle, but where else you can see [[spoiler:the fallen in the campaigns of Alexander the Great get their revenge in a Reality Marble desert? Or an Arthurian knight duel a Sith and later a Decepticon who just happens to wield Evil Excalibur? Or a battle between a Sociopathic Church Militant doped up on Alien Satan Blood & an Assassin with a Hand Cannon, Time Manipulation & Ninjutsu?]]