History Fanfic / FateZeroParadox

* 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 his 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.]]
* BloodKnight: Berserker X with his sheer enjoyment of combat. [[spoiler: Part of it seems to rub on Archer if the final fight against team Kiritsugu was to take at face value - he nearly threw Ea, after all, which was not something he would do normally.]]

** This also seems to be the fate of [[spoiler: Rider X following the final battle. Having been blasted by several of Kiritsugu’s Origin Rounds, by the time Angra Mainyu reached him there was barely anything left of him to rebuild. Thus he was remade with an entirely human body save for a missing eye, and completely bereft of any of his Servant abilities aside from slightly enhanced strength]].

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

* LoopholeAbuse: A Shadow Clone carries the exact same weapons that his owner has at the moment of casting. [[spoiler: This includes magical items like the Origins Bullets, which Kiritsugu gleefully abuses in a key moment to nail Megatron with enough bullets that he would be affected by it's magical properties.]]

* BloodKnight: Berserker X with his sheer enjoyment of combat.

* This also seems to be the fate of [[spoiler: Rider X following the final battle. Having been blasted by several of Kiritsugu’s Origin Rounds, by the time Angra Mainyu reached him there was barely anything left of him to rebuild. Thus he was remade with an entirely human body save for a missing eye, and completely bereft of any of his Servant abilities aside from slightly enhanced strength]].

** Member #1, Iskandar, is a conqueror who desires the Grail to incarnate himself on Earth and lead a conquest to take over the entire planet, maybe even the stars above. He is very much willing to do as much as it takes to do so and disregard morality, even if he is a nice person.
** Member #2, Saber X, is a prime example of someone who was BornUnlucky. His horrible bad luck ability that brings upon calamity on him and those around him all the time leads to him being obsessed with getting the Holy Grail to let him start his life over again entirely without his calamity. This is even though he knows that his family was in trouble when he died, and he could use the Grail to help them out. He’s just choosing his desires above their safety.

** Berserker X [[spoiler: is a version of [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Kenpachi Zaraki]] that died from the wounds he amassed in his fight with Ichigo]]

* TheCorruption: [[spoiler: Dark Energon as per usual. Megatron uses it to warp Ionian Hetairoi to his ends, first by raising the dead of Iskander's campaigns, and then twisting his beloved soldiers against him. He also corrupts Kirei earlier - if there was anything good to corrupt in the first place - and later the Dark Energon is used to corrupt Irisviel - though there are still no signs of lasting effects as of time of writing.]]
* TheCorruptor: Gilgamesh as per usual tries to get Kirei to listen to his urges as a human being, no matter how twisted they are. The difference this time is Rider X, Kirei’s other Servant, is also attempting to do so through not just talking... but also more physical means [[spoiler: like stabbing Kirei with Dark Energon to corrupt him. There isn’t anything good in Kirei to corrupt.]]

* 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 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.

* 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 Sakura won't be caught by magi because of the Flame of Anor affecting her magic, as one last favor to Gandalf.]]

* YouRemindMeOfX: Saber and Iskander both remind Rider X of his old friend and archenemy [[spoiler: Optimus Prime.]]

** 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 [[AccidentalDiscovery once Irisviel discovers it's possible by accident]], expanding their arsenals quite a bit.

** Rider X makes that Kirei's [[StartOfDarkness personal journey]] goes faster than before and he also eventually forms a faction of rogue Servants to wreak havoc throughout the war. [[spoiler: He also corrupts Kirei with Dark Energon, giving him additional power and malice.]]

* CoolVersusAwesome: Well, any Grail War is this in principle, but where else you can see [[spoiler: the [[JustForPun fallen in the campaigns of Alexander the Great get their revenge]] in a reality marble desert? Or an Arthurian knight fight against a Sith and later a Decepticon, who just happens to wield Evil Excalibur?]]

** Caster X. His actions allow to let Kariya slowly get rid of his hate for Tokiomi [[spoiler: to the point of an alliance between both men to save Sakura became a possibility]] and his spells reduce the burden that Madness Enhancement put on his fragile body, [[spoiler: eventually leading to Lancelot fully recovering his mind. No wonder both men agree to avenge their friend after his death at the hands of Rider X and Archer.]]

* TheLastDance: [[spoiler: Kariya and Lancelot have no shots of winning the Grail War by the final day, as, without Gandalf, the Master's condition was degrading quickly and, even without Madness Enhancement, the Berserker was too much for his body to handle. Yet, they still march in the hopes of finishing Zouken while weakened and avenging the old sorcerer by slaying Rider X and Archer.]]

* 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 Sakura won't be caught by magi because of the Flame of Anor affecting her magic, as one last favor to Gandalf.]]

** The presence of a more abrasive figure in Team Kayneth in the form of Archer X makes the group fall apart faster than canon, [[spoiler: leading to Tex executing her Master after the fight in the Einzbern Forest after an argument]]. On the flip side, however, this sets a chain of events that [[spoiler: leads to Diarmuid finding a more honorable end than his canon demise, albeit still bittersweet. On ''yet'' another flipside, it also eventually leads to Zouken abducting Sola-Ui, which is a FateWorseThanDeath]].

** The presence of a more abrasive figure in Team Kayneth in the form of Archer X makes the group fall apart faster than canon, [[spoiler: leading to Tex executing her Master after the fight in the Einzbern Forest after an argument]]. On the flip side, however, this sets a chain of events that [[spoiler: leads to Diarmuid finding a more honorable end than his canon demise, albeit still bittersweet. On ''yet'' another flipside, it also eventually leads to Zouken, which is a FateWorseThanDeath]].

* BullyingADragon: Kayneth chooses to cruelly mock the trauma of Archer X’s past. Archer X happens to be a Servant with a very bad temper, who happens to already hate him, and this is happening while Kayneth is currently immobile and unable to defend himself against a Servant, and Lancer is not in the same room. [[spoiler: It gets him killed.]]

** The presence of a more abrasive figure in Team Kayneth in the form of Archer X makes the group fall apart faster than canon, [[spoiler: leading to Tex executing her Master after the fight in the Einzbern Forest after an argument]]. On the flip side, however, this sets a chain of events that [[spoiler: leads to Diarmuid finding a more honorable end than his canon demise, albeit still bittersweet.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: While many of the things Archer X says to Lancer and Kayneth are abrasive and insulting, that doesn't make them wrong. Kayneth did plenty of stupid actions throughout the Grail War such as not getting into cover during the Dock Fight, revealing his location to taunt Waver and underestimating a man known as the Mage Killer. Archer X assertion that Lancer's HonorBeforeReason tendencies would have gotten him killed is also exactly what happens in canon.

** 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.

* ButterflyEffect: Inevitable, considering the number of Servants brought to this world and it's diversity.
** 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, 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 what happened in Camelot in a healthy way.]]

** And of course there is Gilgamesh itself, arguably the strong Servant overall, even if you consider the X Servants.

* RestorationOfSanity: Caster X offers this to Berserker, which would disable the bonus granted by Mad Enhancement but would ease the load on Kariya and allow him to think more clearly. [[spoiler: He accepts the offer, which allows him to properly speak to Artoria about what happened in the past and make amends over it.]]

* 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]]]].

* 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]]]].

* 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 [[Anime/Bleach Kisuke Urahara]]]].

* TheDreaded: Rider X, almost every Servant and Master is wary of him. Even his own partner and Master.

* CoolOldGuy: Caster X, a wise and kind-hearted wizard. Following the Grail Dialogue all the more heroic Servants grow to like and respect him. Even ''Gilgamesh'' gains some respect for him after a conversation following the defeat of Caster. [[spoiler: This is partially because of his similarity to Enkidu as a Living Creation of the Divine.]]

* EveryoneHasStandards: While Berserker X may be a fight-loving BloodKnight, part of that is he loves [[ChallengeSeeker the challenge of going up against those stronger than him]]. As such he’s disgusted by [[SerialKiller Ryuunosuke and Caster]], and [[spoiler:[[ScrewThisImOuttaHere cuts ties with them]] [[AnArmAndALeg literally]] a minute after being summoned]].

** Berserker X [[spoiler: is a version of [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Kenpachi Zaraki]] that died from the wounds he amassed in his fight with Ichigo]]
** Rider X [[spoiler: is ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' 's incarnation of Megatron from after his original death, lacking the memories of his resurrection by Unicron and his HeelRealization.]]
** Assassin X [[spoiler: is a version of Kakashi Hatake who died during Pain's invasion and remained dead rather than live through the end of Manga/{{Naruto}}]]

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Caster X dies holding off Rider X allowing Berserker to escape with Kariya and Sakura.]]

** Kayneth's team, on the other hand, is even more dysfunctional than canon due to Archer X's presence. She hates Kayneth, never puts up with his insults, and calls him out on his more foolish ideas, while he hates that she uses advanced technology in battle and talks back to him. She also disagrees with Lancer's HonorBeforeReason habits and is a CombatPragmatist. [[spoiler: This leads to their downfall as Archer X kills Kayneth in a fit of rage and joins Rider X’s band of Rogue Servants, causing Lancer to swear vengeance on her. Ultimately the Lancer-Archer X team is the first team to lose all their members.]]

* WorldsStrongestMan: Even with all the X class Servants arriving Gilgamesh is still the strongest of them all.

* 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 Sakura won't be caught by magi because of the Flame of Anor affecting her magic as one last favor to Gandalf.]]

* SanitySlippage: Archer X suffers a gradual one. [[spoiler: For starters, Diarmuid's Love Spot slowly makes her head over heels for the man, even though he has no interest in her. Then, her constant conflicts with Kayneth lead to Tex killing him in cold blood and going rogue. Then, she finally snaps after seeing Artoria finish off Diarmuid - even though he was supposed to be her enemy - and proceeds to go on a suicide mission to blow Fuyuki and take as many Servants with her as possible.]]

** Gilgamesh and Lancer X are almost as bad since at least Lancer and Archer X worked together during the dock battle. By contrast, the two of them never fight alongside each other or come to the other's assistance and Gilgamesh makes it clear that he doesn't view Lancer X as anything approaching his equal while Lancer X is annoyed by his arrogance and does not trust him.

* ForWantOfANail: Comes up in regards to certain Servants

* 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.]]
* PositiveFriendInfluence: Caster X provides this for both Kariya and Berserker, [[spoiler:getting Kariya to let go of his hatred for Tokiomi so [[EnemyMine they can work against Zouken]] and helping Lancelot regain his rationality. Kariya himself is still fully prepared to kill Tokiomi though if necessary to save Sakura.]]

* 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.

* TheCorruption: [[spoiler: Dark Energon as per usual. Megatron uses it to warp Ionian Hetairoi to his own ends, first by raising the dead of Iskander's campaigns, and then twisting his beloved soldiers against him.]]
* TheCorruptor: Gilgamesh as per usual tries to get Kirei to listen to his urges as a human being, no matter how twisted they are. The difference this time is Rider X, Kirei’s other Servant, is also attempting to do so through not just talking... but also more physical means. [[spoiler: Stabbing Kirei with Dark Energon to corrupt him. There isn’t anything good in Kirei to corrupt.]]

* EvilWeapon: Rider X's [[spoiler: Dark Star Saber, which is described as a twisted version of a Divine Construct and the antithesis of Excalibur. Assassin X, Saber and Gilgamesh are all disgusted at the sight of it, with the latter who had taken some interest in some of the X Servants' weapons thinking he would sooner destroy the Gate of Babylon before letting the sword near it.]]

** Rider X [[spoiler: is ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' 's Megatron from after his original death, lacking the memories of his resurrection by Unicron and his HeelRealization.]]

* HopeSpot: All is well that ends well: [[spoiler: Tokiomi and Kariya ally to end Zouken, Avenger X is killed by a sane Lancelot, Gandalf stops Zouken from influenciating Sakura with the Flame of Anor]]...what could possibly ruin things? [[spoiler: Oh, hello, Kirei...]]

** [[spoiler: Kirei still captures Irisviel for his purposes.]]

** Rider X [[spoiler: is ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' Megatron from after his original death, lacking the memories of his resurrection by Unicron and his HeelRealization.]]

** Rider X [[spoiler: is [[WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime]] Megatron from after his original death, lacking the memories of his resurrection by Unicron and his HeelRealization.]]

** Rider X [[spoiler: is ''WesternAnimation:TransformersPrime's'' Megatron from after his original death, lacking the memories of his resurrection by Unicron and his HeelRealization.]]

* BigBadDuumvirate: After realizing how odd things were in Fuyuki, Zouken decides to form one, composed of himself, Rider X, the surviving Gilles de Rais, [[spoiler: Darth Maul and, later, Archer X.]]

* BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler: The Flame of Anor seems to do this, eradicating Zouken's bugs inside Sakura, alongside her Magic Circuits... but it's [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] as later scenes show she still has powers, so it becomes more a case of DiscardAndDraw.]]

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

* 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.
* HopeSpot: All is well that ends well: [[spoiler: Tokiomi and Kariya ally to end Zouken, Avenger is killed by a sane Lancelot, Gandalf stops Zouken from influenciating Sakura with the Flame of Anor]]...what could possibly ruin things? [[spoiler: Oh, hello, Kirei...]]

* 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 nullify the attack. As the story itself states, he cannot block 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 match Excalibur's power]].

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

* 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 relying on her mana and arsenal, and because their artificial nature reminds her of her own nature as [[CloneAngst yet another clone of Allison]]]].

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Archer X goes on one in vengeance for Lancer’s death, even though [[spoiler: she’d killed their mutual master which had caused him to swear vengeance on HER]]. She uses her Final Noble Phantasm, steals Kiritsugu’s armory, and plants bombs all over Fuyuki to cause as much damage as possible, even ripping her own Spiritual Core to shreds using a Skill to get as much length out of her Noble Phantasm as possible so that she can keep killing enemy Servants. This works... somewhat, in that while she fails to kill any enemy Servants, and the bombs she attempted to plant on vital areas of Fuyuki like electrical centers or hospitals were disarmed, she still [[spoiler: kills thousands of innocent civilians who were completely uninvolved in the Grail War and Lancer’s death through the bombs that aren’t stopped.]]

** In a FreezeFrameBonus during Rin's Viridian Adventure, you can see her and one certain red-haired boy interacting way earlier than in canon, with the girl getting flustered by his actions.
* SparedByAdaptation: Gilles and Ryuunosuke have a significantly reduced body count compared to their canon selves - of note, the children the Caster used as bait for Saber. [[spoiler: It helps Lancer X slaughtered the latter.]]

* 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, deciding to kill everyone in Fuyuki by using [[MeAsACrowd 100 Tex Battle]] and bombs she stole from Kiritsugu to bombard the city to kingdom come.]]

* 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.]]

** Tokiomi ''tries'' to be this, however his plans are very transparent, and the more perceptive Servants and Masters easily see through them.

* HopeSpot: [[spoiler: Lancelot seems able to fatally wound Megatron...and then it's revealed he was stabbed before he could give the finishing blow.]]

* ShipTease: Between Maiya Hisau and Assassin X, with Maiya being surprised by how much she's grown to care for him. [[spoiler: It only increases after he [[SparedByAdaptation saves her life.]]]]

* 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.
* CoolOldGuy: Caster X, a wise and kind hearted wizard. Following the Grail Dialogue all the more heroic Servants grow to like and respect him. Even ''Gilgamesh'' gains some respect for him after a conversation following the defeat of Caster. [[spoiler: This is partially because of his similarity to Enkidu as a Living Creation of the Divine.]]
* TheCorruption: [[spoiler: Dark Energon as per usual. Megatron uses it to warp Ionian Hetairoi to his own ends, first by raising up the dead of Iskander's campaigns, and then twisting his beloved soldiers against him.]]

* EveryoneHasStandards: While Berserker X may be a fight loving BloodKnight, part of that is he loves [[ChallengeSeeker the challenge of going up against those stronger than him]]. As such he’s disgusted by [[SerialKiller Ryuunosuke and Caster]], and [[spoiler:[[ScrewThisImOuttaHere cuts ties with them]] [[AnArmAndALeg literally]] a minute after being summoned]].

** 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 prior to the battle at Mion River, and the circumstances leading to the Gigantic Horror are a bit different.]]