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* TheCameo: The sequel series doesn't seem to be letting up on the cameos any time soon either:
** Shirou initially doesn't appear in person, but he is mentioned by Luvia who says that she plans on using the time that Rin is away from the Clock Tower to lure him over to her side. He finally appears in person in volume 6.
** Shirou initially doesn't appear in person, but he is mentioned by Luvia who says that she plans on using the time that Rin is away from the Clock Tower to lure him over to her side. He finally appears in person in volume 6.
to:
* TheCameo: The While having less "guest characters" than in the previous series, the sequel series doesn't seem to be letting up on the cameos any time soon either:
** Shirou initially doesn't appear in person, but he is mentioned byLuvia Waver to Rin, asking about their relationship, and Luvia, who says that she plans on using the time that Rin is away from the Clock Tower to lure him over to her side. He finally appears in person in volume 6.
** Shirou initially doesn't appear in person, but he is mentioned by
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** The very last thing in the first volume is Mikiya (referred to with Shiki's family name, as "Ryougi Mikiya") and Mana from ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'' receiving a letter from Touko, setting up for a bigger role in volume 2.
to:
** The very last thing in the first volume is Mikiya (referred to with Shiki's family name, as "Ryougi Mikiya") and Mana from ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'' receiving a letter from Touko, setting up for a bigger role in volume 2.2, and both him and Mana do feature heavily in the two subsequent books.
** Sion Eltnam Sokaris joins the cast during the adventure of the third arc in Egypt, albeit as a much younger kid. Sanda notes that this version of her is closer to the character originally in ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood'' than how she appears in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder''.
** Sion Eltnam Sokaris joins the cast during the adventure of the third arc in Egypt, albeit as a much younger kid. Sanda notes that this version of her is closer to the character originally in ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood'' than how she appears in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder''.
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*** In volume 5 Flat calls Waver to say he and Shirou are about to go to Van-Fem's casino, which seems to be a nod to that same scene from ''Hollow Ataraxia'', where we also learned that Shirou and Luvia investigated that casino together.
to:
*** In volume 5 5, Flat calls Waver to say he and Shirou are about to go to Van-Fem's casino, which seems to be a nod to that same scene from ''Hollow Ataraxia'', where we also learned that Shirou and Luvia investigated that casino together.together. Confirmed when volume 6 later uses the same details, such as Shirou being there to play on behalf of Luvia.
* DeityIdentityConfusion: The identity of Ergo's second god, [[spoiler:Set, is divined by Waver by way of a [[InterfaithSmoothie syncretic]] explanation. According to him, the mythological motif of "an ox fighting a dragon" originated with Zeus battling Typhon in Myth/ClassicalMythology. It later spread to AncientEgypt, where Typhon was conflated with the god Set of Myth/EgyptianMythology, and traveled further east thanks to Iskandar's conquest spreading his hellenizing influence throughout Asia, eventually reaching Japan, where the motif would crystallize into the snake god Okuninushi of Myth/JapaneseMythology, who originated as the imported [[Myth/{{Chinese Mythology}} Chinese]] bull god Chiyou, who was killed by the dragon Yinglong]]. This explains the connection between Ergo, Ruo, and Akira, as well as the gods within themselves. The explanation is more than a little bit dubious, see ArtisticLicenseHistory.
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** While the Wandering Sea got more exposition in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', we do learn some about it from a Wandering Sea mage, Ziz, one of the few mages from there feature in canon.
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** While the Wandering Sea got more exposition in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', we do learn some about it from a Wandering Sea mage, Ziz, one of the few mages from there feature featured in canon.
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* TheCasino: Fem's Casa, which is a casino ship anchored in Monaco.
* CasinoEpisode: The entire fourth, which takes place in Monaco and have Waver as a participant to a gambling competition so he can get the answers he needs.
* CasinoEpisode: The entire fourth, which takes place in Monaco and have Waver as a participant to a gambling competition so he can get the answers he needs.
* ExpansionPackWorld: The previous series already did this in spades for the Clock Tower, but ''Adventures'' truly expands on the world of magecraft ''globally'', showing in details elements that had only been mentioned or briefly seen before and also revealing hitherto unknown information. It especially showcases the various magical organizations making up the WainscotSociety of the Nasuverse outside of the Clock Tower and the Holy Church.
* TheMafia: Rin, Luvia, and even [[spoiler:Shirou]] tangle with such an organization in Monaco during the fourth arc. Their members practice magecraft, mostly Animorphism.
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* MagicalSociety: Whereas the first series focused solely on the Clock Tower and its society, ''Adventures'' instead explores the various other magical organizations in the world of magecraft and their differences from the Clock Tower.
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* MagicalSociety: Whereas the first series focused solely on the Clock Tower and its society, ''Adventures'' instead explores the various other magical organizations in the world of magecraft and their differences from the Clock Tower.Tower:
** The organizations in place in China and most of the FarEast as well as the magecraft used there are named and detailed after having only been offhandedly mentioned in BonusMaterial: the Spiral Manor, an organization based on UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}}, and the Summit Court, a SocietyOfImmortals (''Xians'') in AnotherDimension. Japanese magecraft that isn't western magecraft (and thus Clock Tower-affiliated) also gets the spotlight.
** Atlas Academy, which has appeared multiple times before, especially in ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood'', but mostly through alchemists from there being characters, now gets a lot of its society and structure explored.
** While the Wandering Sea got more exposition in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', we do learn some about it from a Wandering Sea mage, Ziz, one of the few mages from there feature in canon.
** The organizations in place in China and most of the FarEast as well as the magecraft used there are named and detailed after having only been offhandedly mentioned in BonusMaterial: the Spiral Manor, an organization based on UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}}, and the Summit Court, a SocietyOfImmortals (''Xians'') in AnotherDimension. Japanese magecraft that isn't western magecraft (and thus Clock Tower-affiliated) also gets the spotlight.
** Atlas Academy, which has appeared multiple times before, especially in ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood'', but mostly through alchemists from there being characters, now gets a lot of its society and structure explored.
** While the Wandering Sea got more exposition in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', we do learn some about it from a Wandering Sea mage, Ziz, one of the few mages from there feature in canon.
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* SequelGoesForeign: After the first series took place exclusively in Great Britain, ''Adventures'' is in Singapore for the first arc, Tokyo for the second, Alexandria for the third, and Monaco for the fourth.
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* SequelGoesForeign: After the first series took place exclusively in Great Britain, ''Adventures'' is in Singapore for takes Waver and Gray all around the first arc, Tokyo for the second, Alexandria for the third, and Monaco for the fourth.world.
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* WorldTour: The series has the cast go to various foreign locales. It takes place in Singapore for the first arc, Tokyo for the second, Alexandria for the third, and Monaco for the fourth.
* {{Yakuza}}: The Yakou clan, which is to be expected from a branch family of the Ryougi clan. Waver elaborates that the Yakuza's origins in [[FestivalEpisode religious festivals]] make them inclined to be part of the supernatural world.
* {{Yakuza}}: The Yakou clan, which is to be expected from a branch family of the Ryougi clan. Waver elaborates that the Yakuza's origins in [[FestivalEpisode religious festivals]] make them inclined to be part of the supernatural world.
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Should note, I changed the image as I felt it better represented the recurring cast and atmosphere instead of being the cover of a random volume
Changed line(s) 37,38 (click to see context) from:
** Waver mentions that the tomb of Alexander the Great is located in Babylon, Iraq, when in real life he was (possibly) buried in Alexandria, Egypt (and prior to that, Memphis). [[note]] It should be stressed however that the location of the tomb of Alexander the Great is an enduring mystery in real life and that Babylon is just one of several proposed locations as mentioned by Nicholas J. Saunders.[[/note]]
** ''Adventures'' asserts that a common mythology motif, a bull battling a serpent, originated with Zeus and Typhon and was spread east by Alexander's hellenizing influence, eventually spreading as far as Japan. This quickly falls apart with the knowledge that in the real world, the Indian reflex of this myth--Indra and Vritra--is attested in the Rigveda, an oral tradition that was first written between 1500 and 1000 BC. Alexander's heyday was the 300s BC, so his influence couldn't have been that great.
** ''Adventures'' asserts that a common mythology motif, a bull battling a serpent, originated with Zeus and Typhon and was spread east by Alexander's hellenizing influence, eventually spreading as far as Japan. This quickly falls apart with the knowledge that in the real world, the Indian reflex of this myth--Indra and Vritra--is attested in the Rigveda, an oral tradition that was first written between 1500 and 1000 BC. Alexander's heyday was the 300s BC, so his influence couldn't have been that great.
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** Waver mentions that the tomb of Alexander the Great is located in Babylon, Iraq, when in real life he was (possibly) buried in Alexandria, Egypt (and prior to that, Memphis). [[note]] It should be stressed however that the location of the tomb of Alexander the Great is an enduring mystery in real life and that Babylon is just one of several proposed locations as mentioned by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_J._Saunders Nicholas J. Saunders.[[/note]]
** ''Adventures'' asserts that a common mythology motif, a bull battling a serpent, originated with Zeus and Typhon and was spread east by Alexander's hellenizing influence, eventually spreading as far as Japan. This quickly falls apart with the knowledge that in the real world, the Indian reflex of this myth--Indra and Vritra--is attested in the Rigveda, an oral tradition that was first written between 1500 and 1000 BC. Alexander's heyday was the 300s BC, so his influence couldn't have been that great.Saunders]].[[/note]]
** ''Adventures'' asserts that a common mythology motif, a bull battling a serpent, originated with Zeus and Typhon and was spread east by Alexander's hellenizing influence, eventually spreading as far as Japan. This quickly falls apart with the knowledge that in the real world, the Indian reflex of this myth--Indra and Vritra--is attested in the Rigveda, an oral tradition that was first written between 1500 and 1000 BC. Alexander's heyday was the 300s BC, so his influence couldn't have been that great.
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* ArtisticLicenseHistory: ''Adventures'' asserts that a common mythology motif, a bull battling a serpent, originated with Zeus and Typhon and was spread east by Alexander's hellenizing influence, eventually spreading as far as Japan. This quickly falls apart with the knowledge that in the real world, the Indian reflex of this myth--Indra and Vritra--is attested in the Rigveda, an oral tradition that was first written between 1500 and 1000 BC. Alexander's heyday was the 300s BC, so his influence couldn't have been that great.
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[[quoteright:342:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51utfyfrfwl.jpg]]
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[[quoteright:342:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51utfyfrfwl.jpg]]org/pmwiki/pub/images/case_files_rep.jpeg]]
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Changed line(s) 36 (click to see context) from:
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Waver mentions that the tomb of Alexander the Great is located in Babylon, Iraq, when in real life he was (possibly) buried in Alexandria, Egypt (and prior to that, Memphis). [[note]] It should be stressed however that the location of the tomb of Alexander the Great is an enduring mystery in real life and that Babylon is just one of several proposed locations as mentioned by Nicholas J. Saunders.[[/note]]
to:
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: ArtisticLicenseHistory:
** Waver mentions that the tomb of Alexander the Great is located in Babylon, Iraq, when in real life he was (possibly) buried in Alexandria, Egypt (and prior to that, Memphis). [[note]] It should be stressed however that the location of the tomb of Alexander the Great is an enduring mystery in real life and that Babylon is just one of several proposed locations as mentioned by Nicholas J. Saunders.[[/note]][[/note]]
** ''Adventures'' asserts that a common mythology motif, a bull battling a serpent, originated with Zeus and Typhon and was spread east by Alexander's hellenizing influence, eventually spreading as far as Japan. This quickly falls apart with the knowledge that in the real world, the Indian reflex of this myth--Indra and Vritra--is attested in the Rigveda, an oral tradition that was first written between 1500 and 1000 BC. Alexander's heyday was the 300s BC, so his influence couldn't have been that great.
** Waver mentions that the tomb of Alexander the Great is located in Babylon, Iraq, when in real life he was (possibly) buried in Alexandria, Egypt (and prior to that, Memphis). [[note]] It should be stressed however that the location of the tomb of Alexander the Great is an enduring mystery in real life and that Babylon is just one of several proposed locations as mentioned by Nicholas J. Saunders.
** ''Adventures'' asserts that a common mythology motif, a bull battling a serpent, originated with Zeus and Typhon and was spread east by Alexander's hellenizing influence, eventually spreading as far as Japan. This quickly falls apart with the knowledge that in the real world, the Indian reflex of this myth--Indra and Vritra--is attested in the Rigveda, an oral tradition that was first written between 1500 and 1000 BC. Alexander's heyday was the 300s BC, so his influence couldn't have been that great.
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* DugTooDeep: It is revealed in volume eight that digging great depths underground can lead to the laws of physics being unstable down there because of Mystery and how humanity doesn't have much grip on what lies beneath. [[spoiler:The specific case for that volume is about a labyrinth which was dug by a dragon attempting to reach the Reverse Side of the world but died in the process. It was converted into a well of magical resources and foundation for the Clock Tower and the big debate is whether or not to excavate deeper to find more, with the nobles trying to put their foot down in fear of destroying and depleting their resources.]]
to:
* DugTooDeep: It is revealed in volume eight that digging great depths underground can lead to the laws of physics being unstable down there because of Mystery and how humanity doesn't have much grip on what lies beneath. [[spoiler:The specific case for that volume is about a labyrinth which was dug by a dragon the Dragon of Albion attempting to reach the Reverse Side of the world but died in the process. It was converted into a well of magical resources and foundation for the Clock Tower Tower, the Spiritual Tomb of Albion, and the big debate is whether or not to excavate deeper to find more, with the nobles trying to put their foot down in fear of destroying and depleting their resources.]]
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Changed line(s) 248 (click to see context) from:
** Shirou doesn't appear in person, but he is mentioned by Luvia who says that she plans on using the time that Rin is away from the Clock Tower to lure him over to her side.
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** Shirou initially doesn't appear in person, but he is mentioned by Luvia who says that she plans on using the time that Rin is away from the Clock Tower to lure him over to her side.side. He finally appears in person in volume 6.
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** Shirou has also been mentioned a few times but has yet to appear, though Flat waiting for him at the end of volume 5 seems to be a tease that he'll finally show up in person.
to:
** Shirou has also been for the first five volumes would occasionally be mentioned a few times without being seen, but has yet to appear, though Flat waiting for him subverted when he finally debuts at the end of volume 5 seems to be a tease that he'll finally show up in person.6.
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* SequelGoesForeign: After the first series took place exclusively in Great Britain, ''Adventures'' is in Singapore for the first arc, Tokyo for the second, and Alexandria for the third. The ending of volume 5 seems to be setting up Monaco next.
to:
* SequelGoesForeign: After the first series took place exclusively in Great Britain, ''Adventures'' is in Singapore for the first arc, Tokyo for the second, and Alexandria for the third. The ending of volume 5 seems to be setting up third, and Monaco next.for the fourth.
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* AlternateSelf: This series being part of the ''Zero'' / ''stay night'' timeline, characters from other Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} series who show up here are this to their original versions (so Caules and Kairi aren't involved in Grail Wars like they were in ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'', since the outcome of the Third Grail War was different, and similarly the Animuspheres aren't involved in the upcoming Grail War, and so won't be as influential as they are in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', since there were four previous Grail Wars).
to:
* AlternateSelf: This series being part of the ''Zero'' / ''stay night'' timeline, characters from other Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} series who show up here are this to their original versions (so Caules and Kairi aren't involved in Grail Wars like they were in ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'', ''Literature/FateApocrypha'', since the outcome of the Third Grail War was different, and similarly the Animuspheres aren't involved in the upcoming Grail War, and so won't be as influential as they are in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', since there were four previous Grail Wars).
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*** Flat Escardos from ''Literature/FateStrangeFake'', Touko Aozaki from ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' and ''VisualNovel/WitchOnTheHolyNight'', and Atrum Galiasta from Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks in the second arc.
*** Caules Forvedge from ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'' [[spoiler:(though not quite)]] and (a young) Olga-Marie Animusphere from ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' in the third arc.
*** Caules Forvedge from ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'' [[spoiler:(though not quite)]] and (a young) Olga-Marie Animusphere from ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' in the third arc.
to:
*** Flat Escardos from ''Literature/FateStrangeFake'', Touko Aozaki from ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'' and ''VisualNovel/WitchOnTheHolyNight'', and Atrum Galiasta from Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks in the second arc.
*** Caules Forvedge from''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'' ''Literature/FateApocrypha'' [[spoiler:(though not quite)]] and (a young) Olga-Marie Animusphere from ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' in the third arc.
*** Caules Forvedge from
Changed line(s) 64,65 (click to see context) from:
*** Episode 1 begins with Iskandar and Gilgamesh's final battle in ''LightNovel/FateZero'', later on features Artoria standing over Kayneth and Sola's dead bodies, and near the end has Waver thinking of his younger self riding with Iskandar in the Ionioi Hetairoi, before cutting to the end of Iskandar and Gilgamesh's final battle.
*** Episode 3 features [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha Frankenstein]] and [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Charles Babbage]] on a poster in Caules's dorm room[[note]]Better yet, they were in fact part of a team during the ''FGO'' 2017 event “Dead Heat Summer Race”[[/note]], and [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Gordolf Musik]] (with his young design from ''Fate/Apocrypha Material'') arresting the villain of the week.
*** Episode 3 features [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha Frankenstein]] and [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Charles Babbage]] on a poster in Caules's dorm room[[note]]Better yet, they were in fact part of a team during the ''FGO'' 2017 event “Dead Heat Summer Race”[[/note]], and [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Gordolf Musik]] (with his young design from ''Fate/Apocrypha Material'') arresting the villain of the week.
to:
*** Episode 1 begins with Iskandar and Gilgamesh's final battle in ''LightNovel/FateZero'', ''Literature/FateZero'', later on features Artoria standing over Kayneth and Sola's dead bodies, and near the end has Waver thinking of his younger self riding with Iskandar in the Ionioi Hetairoi, before cutting to the end of Iskandar and Gilgamesh's final battle.
*** Episode 3 features[[LightNovel/FateApocrypha [[Literature/FateApocrypha Frankenstein]] and [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Charles Babbage]] on a poster in Caules's dorm room[[note]]Better yet, they were in fact part of a team during the ''FGO'' 2017 event “Dead Heat Summer Race”[[/note]], and [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Gordolf Musik]] (with his young design from ''Fate/Apocrypha Material'') arresting the villain of the week.
*** Episode 3 features
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*** Episode 6 sees Waver reading from a book that mentions Gilgamesh, [[TraumaButton which brings up a memory of him]] from ''LightNovel/FateZero''.
*** Episode 8 briefly shows [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha Fiore]] when Caules is recounting his history (see ForWantOfANail below).
*** Episode 10 has [[LightNovel/FateZero Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald]] himself, [[spoiler:inside Waver's fever dream.]]
*** Episode 8 briefly shows [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha Fiore]] when Caules is recounting his history (see ForWantOfANail below).
*** Episode 10 has [[LightNovel/FateZero Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald]] himself, [[spoiler:inside Waver's fever dream.]]
to:
*** Episode 6 sees Waver reading from a book that mentions Gilgamesh, [[TraumaButton which brings up a memory of him]] from ''LightNovel/FateZero''.
''Literature/FateZero''.
*** Episode 8 briefly shows[[LightNovel/FateApocrypha [[Literature/FateApocrypha Fiore]] when Caules is recounting his history (see ForWantOfANail below).
*** Episode 10 has[[LightNovel/FateZero [[Literature/FateZero Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald]] himself, [[spoiler:inside Waver's fever dream.]]
*** Episode 8 briefly shows
*** Episode 10 has
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* DubInducedPlotHole: A pretty minor one that was probably the result of the dub script writer not being aware of the ForWantOfANail regarding Caules. In the original Japanese when Caules is describing how Fiore left home, he never says the name of his family, but in the English dub he specifically mentions [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha Yggdmillennia]]. The problem is, Yggdmillennia doesn't exist in this timeline - he's just Caules Forvedge here.
to:
* DubInducedPlotHole: A pretty minor one that was probably the result of the dub script writer not being aware of the ForWantOfANail regarding Caules. In the original Japanese when Caules is describing how Fiore left home, he never says the name of his family, but in the English dub he specifically mentions [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha [[Literature/FateApocrypha Yggdmillennia]]. The problem is, Yggdmillennia doesn't exist in this timeline - he's just Caules Forvedge here.
Changed line(s) 110 (click to see context) from:
* FanservicePack: [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners Touko Aozaki]]'s breasts are ''much'' more prominently [[NavelDeepNeckline displayed]] in this work than they've been in any other depiction of her. Though to be fair, it's her formal attire for a fancy dinner party. When she returns in the final case, she's dressed in a similar outfit to the one she wore in ''The Garden of Sinners''.
to:
* FanservicePack: [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners [[Literature/TheGardenOfSinners Touko Aozaki]]'s breasts are ''much'' more prominently [[NavelDeepNeckline displayed]] in this work than they've been in any other depiction of her. Though to be fair, it's her formal attire for a fancy dinner party. When she returns in the final case, she's dressed in a similar outfit to the one she wore in ''The Garden of Sinners''.
Changed line(s) 131,132 (click to see context) from:
** Different characters from across various Type-Moon works join Waver in different story arcs, from famous ones like [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Olga Marie]] and [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners Touko Aozaki]] to the relatively obscure [[Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks Atrum Galliasta]]. Most come BackForTheFinale.
** The anime-original content even gets in on the fun with [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha Kairi Sisigou]] in episodes 4 & 5.
** The anime-original content even gets in on the fun with [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha Kairi Sisigou]] in episodes 4 & 5.
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** Different characters from across various Type-Moon works join Waver in different story arcs, from famous ones like [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Olga Marie]] and [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners [[Literature/TheGardenOfSinners Touko Aozaki]] to the relatively obscure [[Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks Atrum Galliasta]]. Most come BackForTheFinale.
** The anime-original content even gets in on the fun with[[LightNovel/FateApocrypha [[Literature/FateApocrypha Kairi Sisigou]] in episodes 4 & 5.
** The anime-original content even gets in on the fun with
Changed line(s) 158 (click to see context) from:
** Caules uses electricity magecraft, a nod to his Servant in ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'', Frankenstein, having electrical powers. One of his spells is even named Crafted Tree, an obvious out-of-universe reference to Frankenstein's Noble Phantasm, Blasted Tree (though it's a coincidence and not a reference in-universe, since Caules and Fran never met in this timeline).
to:
** Caules uses electricity magecraft, a nod to his Servant in ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'', ''Literature/FateApocrypha'', Frankenstein, having electrical powers. One of his spells is even named Crafted Tree, an obvious out-of-universe reference to Frankenstein's Noble Phantasm, Blasted Tree (though it's a coincidence and not a reference in-universe, since Caules and Fran never met in this timeline).
Changed line(s) 160 (click to see context) from:
** Kairi striking up a good enough relationship with Gray (even [[TakingTheBullet shielding her from a Black Dog's attack]]) will be no surprise for everyone who knows he plays well enough with [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha somebody affiliated]] to the legend of Myth/KingArthur.
to:
** Kairi striking up a good enough relationship with Gray (even [[TakingTheBullet shielding her from a Black Dog's attack]]) will be no surprise for everyone who knows he plays well enough with [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha [[Literature/FateApocrypha somebody affiliated]] to the legend of Myth/KingArthur.
Changed line(s) 162 (click to see context) from:
** Kairi's mention of someone in his family who liked fairy stories is an allusion to his backstory in ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha''.
to:
** Kairi's mention of someone in his family who liked fairy stories is an allusion to his backstory in ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha''.''Literature/FateApocrypha''.
Changed line(s) 166,167 (click to see context) from:
** In episode 8, Waver muses on adapting [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners Touko Travel]] to help escape the Rail Zeppelin. This becomes a ChekhovsGun in episode 12, [[spoiler:explaining how Reines and the real Caules make it to the Rail Zeppelin]].
** During her discussion on Mystic Eyes in Episode 11, Adashino mentions the [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Mystic Eyes of]] [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners Death Perception]] as one of the rarest and highest-level kinds.
** During her discussion on Mystic Eyes in Episode 11, Adashino mentions the [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Mystic Eyes of]] [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners Death Perception]] as one of the rarest and highest-level kinds.
to:
** In episode 8, Waver muses on adapting [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners [[Literature/TheGardenOfSinners Touko Travel]] to help escape the Rail Zeppelin. This becomes a ChekhovsGun in episode 12, [[spoiler:explaining how Reines and the real Caules make it to the Rail Zeppelin]].
** During her discussion on Mystic Eyes in Episode 11, Adashino mentions the [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Mystic Eyes of]][[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners [[Literature/TheGardenOfSinners Death Perception]] as one of the rarest and highest-level kinds.
** During her discussion on Mystic Eyes in Episode 11, Adashino mentions the [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Mystic Eyes of]]
Changed line(s) 175 (click to see context) from:
** [[{{Irony}} Ironically]], of course, despite supposedly not knowing Waver's experience/obsession, we already saw Kairi be confronted by this very same obsession and tragic dream--in [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha another timeline]].
to:
** [[{{Irony}} Ironically]], of course, despite supposedly not knowing Waver's experience/obsession, we already saw Kairi be confronted by this very same obsession and tragic dream--in [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha [[Literature/FateApocrypha another timeline]].
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* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Hephaestion[[spoiler:/Faker]] delivers a scathing one against Waver, claiming that for such a RidiculouslyAverageGuy like him (by mage standards at least), he disgraces Iskandar by being his previous Master, and that he has no right to even claim being his subject (i.e. [[PretenderDiss being counted amongst the Ionioi Hetairoi]]). While Waver's clearly shaken by this (plus all his issues), it doesn't prevent him from remembering that Hephaestion herself [[SpottingTheThread was never even amongst the Hetairoi]] [[RedHerring when it was deployed]] during ''LightNovel/FateZero''.
* {{Revision}}: Remember those magic furnaces and evil spirits that Kayneth had as part of his initial setup in the hotel from ''LightNovel/FateZero''? Turns out those weren't actually his, as the furnaces were on loan from other aristocrats and the spirits were actually ''embezzled'' from his department, making them yet another thing that Waver has to clean up as El-Melloi II.
* {{Revision}}: Remember those magic furnaces and evil spirits that Kayneth had as part of his initial setup in the hotel from ''LightNovel/FateZero''? Turns out those weren't actually his, as the furnaces were on loan from other aristocrats and the spirits were actually ''embezzled'' from his department, making them yet another thing that Waver has to clean up as El-Melloi II.
to:
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Hephaestion[[spoiler:/Faker]] delivers a scathing one against Waver, claiming that for such a RidiculouslyAverageGuy like him (by mage standards at least), he disgraces Iskandar by being his previous Master, and that he has no right to even claim being his subject (i.e. [[PretenderDiss being counted amongst the Ionioi Hetairoi]]). While Waver's clearly shaken by this (plus all his issues), it doesn't prevent him from remembering that Hephaestion herself [[SpottingTheThread was never even amongst the Hetairoi]] [[RedHerring when it was deployed]] during ''LightNovel/FateZero''.
''Literature/FateZero''.
* {{Revision}}: Remember those magic furnaces and evil spirits that Kayneth had as part of his initial setup in the hotel from''LightNovel/FateZero''? ''Literature/FateZero''? Turns out those weren't actually his, as the furnaces were on loan from other aristocrats and the spirits were actually ''embezzled'' from his department, making them yet another thing that Waver has to clean up as El-Melloi II.
* {{Revision}}: Remember those magic furnaces and evil spirits that Kayneth had as part of his initial setup in the hotel from
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** Kayneth and Sola-ui's sudden deaths in the [[LightNovel/FateZero 4th Holy Grail War]] caused a power vacuum in his family because there was nobody in a good position to become family head. The only candidate, his niece, was neither old enough or skilled enough, so she forces Waver Velvet to be adopted into the family and act as her "regent" until she can take over. She also forces Waver to assume the family's multimillion dollar debts that arose during the Grail War fallout. The other major mage houses don't appreciate a commoner leading one of the most prestigious families, and seek to diminish his influence or even assassinate him.
to:
** Kayneth and Sola-ui's sudden deaths in the [[LightNovel/FateZero [[Literature/FateZero 4th Holy Grail War]] caused a power vacuum in his family because there was nobody in a good position to become family head. The only candidate, his niece, was neither old enough or skilled enough, so she forces Waver Velvet to be adopted into the family and act as her "regent" until she can take over. She also forces Waver to assume the family's multimillion dollar debts that arose during the Grail War fallout. The other major mage houses don't appreciate a commoner leading one of the most prestigious families, and seek to diminish his influence or even assassinate him.
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* TheBusCameBack: In a meta sense. This is the first time Mikiya and Mana have been in pretty much anything since the ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' films ended.
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* TheBusCameBack: In a meta sense. This is the first time Mikiya and Mana have been in pretty much anything since the ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'' films ended.
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** The very last thing in the first volume is Mikiya (referred to with Shiki's family name, as "Ryougi Mikiya") and Mana from ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' receiving a letter from Touko, setting up for a bigger role in volume 2.
* CanonWelding: The appearances of Mikiya and his daughter in ''Adventures'' volume 1 seemingly establishes ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' as a direct part of the ''Fate/stay night'' multiversal chronology, as there was no established indication in prior works that the two could be connected (unless one counts Touko reminiscing about her time in the Clock Tower with her fellow students Cornelius Alba and Souren Araya in ''Case Files'' volume 2); it'd been previously implied that ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' was the predecessor.[[note]]Normally, ''Fate'' and ''Tsuki'' timelines are incompatible, with ''Literature/FateStrangeFake'' being a notable exception.[[/note]]
* CanonWelding: The appearances of Mikiya and his daughter in ''Adventures'' volume 1 seemingly establishes ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' as a direct part of the ''Fate/stay night'' multiversal chronology, as there was no established indication in prior works that the two could be connected (unless one counts Touko reminiscing about her time in the Clock Tower with her fellow students Cornelius Alba and Souren Araya in ''Case Files'' volume 2); it'd been previously implied that ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' was the predecessor.[[note]]Normally, ''Fate'' and ''Tsuki'' timelines are incompatible, with ''Literature/FateStrangeFake'' being a notable exception.[[/note]]
to:
** The very last thing in the first volume is Mikiya (referred to with Shiki's family name, as "Ryougi Mikiya") and Mana from ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'' receiving a letter from Touko, setting up for a bigger role in volume 2.
* CanonWelding: The appearances of Mikiya and his daughter in ''Adventures'' volume 1 seemingly establishes''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'' as a direct part of the ''Fate/stay night'' multiversal chronology, as there was no established indication in prior works that the two could be connected (unless one counts Touko reminiscing about her time in the Clock Tower with her fellow students Cornelius Alba and Souren Araya in ''Case Files'' volume 2); it'd been previously implied that ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' was the predecessor.[[note]]Normally, ''Fate'' and ''Tsuki'' timelines are incompatible, with ''Literature/FateStrangeFake'' being a notable exception.[[/note]]
* CanonWelding: The appearances of Mikiya and his daughter in ''Adventures'' volume 1 seemingly establishes
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** [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners Shiki Ryougi]] is mentioned by Mikiya during the 2nd volume of ''The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II'' and is even referenced every now and then, but doesn't physically appear in-person as it's stated that she's away from home due to personal reasons during the events of the book.
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** [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners [[Literature/TheGardenOfSinners Shiki Ryougi]] is mentioned by Mikiya during the 2nd volume of ''The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II'' and is even referenced every now and then, but doesn't physically appear in-person as it's stated that she's away from home due to personal reasons during the events of the book.
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* {{Interquel}}: Serves as one to ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' for Mikiya and Mana, as their appearance here is before their own series' DistantFinale.
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* {{Interquel}}: Serves as one to ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'' for Mikiya and Mana, as their appearance here is before their own series' DistantFinale.
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* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: The written English shown throughout the anime is grammatically correct and coherent in what it's conveying, with the only real error being the spacing between apostrophes is unusually large.
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Set ten years after ''LightNovel/FateZero'', Waver Velvet has taken the title of his former master as Lord El-Melloi II and taken charge of the [[WizardingSchool Clock Tower]]'s Modern Magecraft department. However, his rise to "glory" has been compounded by resentment from other magi. Deals made have resulted in debts to be paid and often he is called in to [[OccultDetective solve problems]].
to:
Set ten years after ''LightNovel/FateZero'', ''Literature/FateZero'', Waver Velvet has taken the title of his former master as Lord El-Melloi II and taken charge of the [[WizardingSchool Clock Tower]]'s Modern Magecraft department. However, his rise to "glory" has been compounded by resentment from other magi. Deals made have resulted in debts to be paid and often he is called in to [[OccultDetective solve problems]].
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* ActionizedSequel: This series eschews the MysteryFiction aspect of the first one, going instead for an action-packed globe-trotting [[{{Pun}} adventure]] kind of feel.
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* MagicalSociety: Whereas the first series focused on the Clock Tower, ''Adventures'' instead explores the various other magical organizations in the world of magecraft and their differences from the Clock Tower.
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* MagicalSociety: Whereas the first series focused solely on the Clock Tower, Tower and its society, ''Adventures'' instead explores the various other magical organizations in the world of magecraft and their differences from the Clock Tower.
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* ArchaeologicalArmsRace: The plot of the third arc, which sees the Clock Tower and Atlas on a joint excavation and then race to be the first to explore a submerged second Library of Alexandria.
* GreatBigLibraryOfEverything: The second Library of Alexandria, now underwater. The historically famous building collected all worldly knowledge, while the second building collected all the secret magecraft knowledge that can't go public.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: In the third arc, Ptolemy I Soter, Iskandar's general and founder of the Greco-Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty, shows up, albeit as a mechanical bird onto which his personality was [[BrainUpload uploaded]]. [[spoiler:It is also revealed that Ergo is one, specifically Alexander IV, Iskandar's son and heir. Or rather, he is the body of Alexander IV with a completely different personality.]]
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: In the third arc, Ptolemy I Soter, Iskandar's general and founder of the Greco-Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty, shows up, albeit as a mechanical bird onto which his personality was [[BrainUpload uploaded]]. [[spoiler:It is also revealed that Ergo is one, specifically Alexander IV, Iskandar's son and heir. Or rather, he is the body of Alexander IV with a completely different personality.]]
* MagicLibrarian: A mechanical bird housing the copied personality of Ptolemy I Soter, similar to how Add houses Sir Kay's, serves as one for the second Library of Alexandria.
* MagicalSociety: Whereas the first series focused on the Clock Tower, ''Adventures'' instead explores the various other magical organizations in the world of magecraft and their differences from the Clock Tower.
* ManySpiritsInsideOfOne: The first volume reveals that, as a result of a joint magical ritual, Ergo has within him three gods, from having eaten their flesh, all of which are associated with "hands" and "water". However, because gods are TooMuchForManToHandle, he is at risk of DeathOfPersonality, especially if he uses their powers too much. Each god was provided by one representative of one MagicalSociety (besides the Clock Tower, which is unaware of it):
** Sun Wukong from Myth/{{Chinese Mythology}} was given by Wuzhiqi, of the Chinese Summit Court.
** Set from Myth/EgyptianMythology was provided by the Crudelis ancestor, an Atlas alchemist.
** An unknown third god given by Ziz, a mage from the Wandering Sea.
* {{Omniglot}}: Ergo learns languages at an incredible rate just from making conversation, without the use of magical TranslatorMicrobes. When Rin first found Ergo he couldn't speak anything but in only half a day was speaking English, and by the time he meets Gray and Waver he can also speak Malay, Tamil, and Mandarin. In addition, his English initially had a Singaporean accent, but over the course of his conversation with Waver he started speaking in a proper British accent. [[spoiler:It is later revealed that it was probably a natural ability of Alexander IV, who was also known to learn languages fast.]]
* MagicalSociety: Whereas the first series focused on the Clock Tower, ''Adventures'' instead explores the various other magical organizations in the world of magecraft and their differences from the Clock Tower.
* ManySpiritsInsideOfOne: The first volume reveals that, as a result of a joint magical ritual, Ergo has within him three gods, from having eaten their flesh, all of which are associated with "hands" and "water". However, because gods are TooMuchForManToHandle, he is at risk of DeathOfPersonality, especially if he uses their powers too much. Each god was provided by one representative of one MagicalSociety (besides the Clock Tower, which is unaware of it):
** Sun Wukong from Myth/{{Chinese Mythology}} was given by Wuzhiqi, of the Chinese Summit Court.
** Set from Myth/EgyptianMythology was provided by the Crudelis ancestor, an Atlas alchemist.
** An unknown third god given by Ziz, a mage from the Wandering Sea.
* {{Omniglot}}: Ergo learns languages at an incredible rate just from making conversation, without the use of magical TranslatorMicrobes. When Rin first found Ergo he couldn't speak anything but in only half a day was speaking English, and by the time he meets Gray and Waver he can also speak Malay, Tamil, and Mandarin. In addition, his English initially had a Singaporean accent, but over the course of his conversation with Waver he started speaking in a proper British accent. [[spoiler:It is later revealed that it was probably a natural ability of Alexander IV, who was also known to learn languages fast.]]
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* SequelGoesForeign: After the first series took place exclusively in Great Britain, ''Adventures'' is in Singapore for the first arc, Tokyo for the second, and Egypt for the third. The ending of volume 5 seems to be setting up Monaco next.
to:
* SequelGoesForeign: After the first series took place exclusively in Great Britain, ''Adventures'' is in Singapore for the first arc, Tokyo for the second, and Egypt Alexandria for the third. The ending of volume 5 seems to be setting up Monaco next.
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** The title of the first volume is a reference to ''Blue Man: The Man Who Ate God'' by Hideyuki Kikuchi, which Sanda acknowledges in his afterword.
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** The title of the first volume is a reference to ''Blue Man: The Man Who Ate God'' by Hideyuki Kikuchi, Creator/HideyukiKikuchi, which Sanda acknowledges in his afterword.
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* DeityOfMortalCreation: [[spoiler:Revealed to be the ultimate plan of BigBad Doctor Heartless.]]
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[[quoteright:342:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51utfyfrfwl.jpg]]
->''The ‘whydunnit’—why they committed the crime in the first place—that remains a possibility. A person’s Elemental affinity will reflect their nature. Magecraft is no different. For magi, who have been steeped in the story of magecraft since before they were even born, whether they accept that fate or rebel against it, it will doubtlessly brand them down to their very core. In that way, no one is as incapable of lying as a magus.''
-->--'''Lord El-Melloi II'''
''Lord El-Melloi II Case Files'' (ロード・エルメロイⅡ世の事件簿) is a light novel series written by Makoto Sanda and illustrated by Mineji Sakamoto and takes place in the {{Franchise/Nasuverse}}, as a spinoff of the ''[[Franchise/FateSeries Fate]]'' series. The series ran for 10 novels from December 2014 to May 2019; [[NoExportForYou currently, they're only available in Japan]].
A {{manga}} adaptation began October 4th, 2017. An anime adaptation produced by Studio Creator/{{TROYCA}} premiered with ''episode 0'' on December 31, 2018 as part of the "Fate Project New Year’s Eve TV Special". The full anime series, ''Lord El-Melloi II Case Files: {Rail Zeppelin} Grace Note'', began July 6th, 2019. A musical stage adaptation of the first novel had a short tour in Japan from December 2019 to January 2020. A [[UniverseCompendium material book]] was released at Winter Comiket 2019 before wider release in January 2020.
Set ten years after ''LightNovel/FateZero'', Waver Velvet has taken the title of his former master as Lord El-Melloi II and taken charge of the [[WizardingSchool Clock Tower]]'s Modern Magecraft department. However, his rise to "glory" has been compounded by resentment from other magi. Deals made have resulted in debts to be paid and often he is called in to [[OccultDetective solve problems]].
These are the ''[[TitleDrop Lord El-Melloi II Case Files]]''.
A sequel light novel series, ''The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II'' (ロード・エルメロイⅡ世の冒険), was announced in December 2019, with the first novel released in December 2020. It takes place several years later, after ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''.
----
!!''Case Files'' provides examples of:
* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects: Becomes particularly noticeable at some points, such as the car chase in episode 0, the wyverns pulling Faker's chariot, and the summoned Child of Einnashe in episode 12 which traps the Rail Zeppelin.
* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: The series was written from 2014 to 2019, but takes place in late 2003 and early 2004.
* AbusiveParents: Waver states in episode 2 that usually children of mages are seen more as possessions of their parents than people, and we see examples of this throughout the show. [[spoiler:Mary was willing to let her father die to gain freedom and Wills' father forced mystical eyes on his son to use as a tool for his workshop.]]
* AdaptationalContextChange: In the novel, Svin graduating to the rank of Pride was the culmination of his personal struggles with Beast Magecraft after fear of losing his sense of self due to the traumatic process of acquiring it. The anime shuffles several events around and omits Svin's backstory, so it's instead presented as a validation of Waver's teaching style.
* AdaptationDeviation: Although the first half of the anime is mostly anime-original and presumed to take place between books 3 and 4, some events get shuffled around or occur under different circumstances due to originally involving non-adapted material.
** In the books, Waver is told by Atrum Galliast at the end of the Iselma case that he has been passed over as one of the two Clock Tower masters for the Fifth Holy Grail War. Since Atrum and Iselma are not in the anime aside from a brief cameo, he is instead told by Reines.
** The party for Svin's ascension to Pride rank originally took place at the start of the Rail Zeppelin case rather than after.
** In the novels the Adra and Iselma cases are tied together to Rail Zeppelin by the BigBad's involvement as an enabler, whereas in ''Grace Note'', although the former technically happened offscreen, the events of episodes 0 and 3-5 are used as leadup for their overarching plans.
* AdaptationExpansion:
** The first volume opens with Gray recalling how Waver got into a fight with a stray cat, only to later find it injured in the road and so he nursed it until it passed away peacefully. The anime took what was only about half a page of dialogue and turned it into the plot of ''episode 0''.
** Episode 1 is a WholeEpisodeFlashback going into how Waver took on his former mentor's title and class, while also showing his life immediately after ''Zero''.
** The first half of the anime after episode 1 is original material set between volumes 3 and 4, which establishes relevant points from the skipped-over volumes 1-3 and sets the stage for the Rail Zeppelin arc in the second half.
** The Rail Zeppelin adaptation itself introduces a subplot with Kairi and Luvia [[spoiler:investigating who stole Iskandar's mantle]] at Reines' behest. Luvia didn't appear during this arc in the novels, and Kairi didn't appear in the novels at all. Kairi later recruits Flat and Svin for an assignment; like Luvia, they didn't feature during this arc in the novels.
* AdaptationalEarlyAppearance: Because of the anime's first half consisting of original content, characters like Yvette, Caules and Melvin are all introduced to the audience before the Rail Zeppelin arc, where they had all debuted in the novels. Trisha also has a silent EarlyBirdCameo, but not a proper introduction like the others.
* AdvertisedExtra: Flat and Svin in the anime. There are story arcs in the novels where they have larger roles, but in the anime adaptation of the Rail Zeppelin arc they're only involved in a subplot towards the end (and sit the whole thing out completely in the novels), so being so prominent in the advertising and opening is this.
* AerithAndBob: Names in the series vary from mundane like Melvin and Yvette to the more typical Nasuverse fare like Geryuon and Dr. ''Heartless''.
* AliensInCardiff: The Mage's Association is split up into various small cities and university towns near London, with the action primarily taking place in these cities and the countryside. The only exception is the final arc when [[spoiler:all the Lords of the Mage's Association have assembled in London to make a vote and, later on, Waver and Gray have to enter the deep labyrinths beneath the city.]]
* AllThereInTheManual: In Type-Moon tradition, ''Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Material'' came out some time after the series ended to elaborate on concepts and characters. This particular Material book is notable because part of it was written by Kinoko Nasu himself and goes over important details for the Nasuverse setting as a whole, like the history of the Mage's Association.
* AlternateSelf: This series being part of the ''Zero'' / ''stay night'' timeline, characters from other Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} series who show up here are this to their original versions (so Caules and Kairi aren't involved in Grail Wars like they were in ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'', since the outcome of the Third Grail War was different, and similarly the Animuspheres aren't involved in the upcoming Grail War, and so won't be as influential as they are in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', since there were four previous Grail Wars).
* AristocratsAreEvil: Magus society isn't mired in egregious classism and sociopathy so much as ''built'' on it. Waver, who was originally on the bottom rung of the ladder and was shoved into the role of Lord El-Melloi II, is one of the few exceptions to this rule.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Waver mentions that the tomb of Alexander the Great is located in Babylon, Iraq, when in real life he was (possibly) buried in Alexandria, Egypt (and prior to that, Memphis). [[note]] It should be stressed however that the location of the tomb of Alexander the Great is an enduring mystery in real life and that Babylon is just one of several proposed locations as mentioned by Nicholas J. Saunders.[[/note]]
* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Pick any non-Japanese mage, and there's a 90% chance their name is vaguely European-sounding nonsense.
* BackForTheFinale: Many of the [[GuestStarPartyMember Guest Star Party Members]] that participate throughout the series return in the penultimate and final books. Even the dead ones still have a role to play.
* BackToBackBadasses: A piece of official art for Episode 5 of the anime depicts [[https://twitter.com/jacomamire/status/1157674754930704384 Waver and Kairi]] doing this. [[OverlyNervousFlopSweat Waver looks nervous though.]]
* BazaarOfTheBizarre: The Rail Zeppelin arc revolves around the Mystic Eyes auction held onboard the titular train. They don't really care about any fighting amongst its potential bidders as long as it doesn't disturb anything related to the auction, and just to make sure the auction can stay ''interesting'', they regularly give away a few tickets every year to bring in new people for their consumer base.
* TheBeautifulElite: Being as status-conscious as they are, most magi try to project an image of aristocracy at its finest and most beautiful.
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: Inverted. Granted, the alternative was dying themselves, but Waver and Melvin are surprisingly blasé about the people they indirectly killed blowing up the dig site in episode 1, especially since it's implied many of the other diggers are there by force. Contrast with the present-day, where Waver begrudgingly accepts but also abhors how the magus lifestyle often puts innocents in harm's way.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: When he realizes he's in a TenLittleMurderVictims situation with a bunch of magi, Waver admits he's tempted to hang himself.
* BlindIdiotTranslation: Unfortunately the official Aniplex subtitles, while coherent, are often inaccurate. For example, several scenes have the characters coming off much more cold and insensitive than their actual dialogue suggests, while others will have inconsistent or outright erroneous spellings that contradict on-screen text. Each episode also has an English title taken directly from the dialogue, which Aniplex invariably translates differently.
* BodyDouble: [[spoiler:Iskandar's from back when he was alive is introduced during the Rail Zeppelin arc as a Servant in the "Faker" class, due to her abnormal summoning. Notably, she's a thin, beautiful woman despite Iskandar being LargeAndInCharge. Admittedly, her wearing [[Characters/FateGrandOrderRidersAToF his threads as a young adult]] helps a bit in [[ElCidPloy selling the illusion]].]]
* BotanicalAbomination: The Child of Einnashe, spawn of the murderous forest Dead Apostle, appears in the Rail Zeppelin arc as a roadblock for the train. Like its progenitor, it too is a sentient bloodsucking HiveMind forest and seeks to murder anyone who enters it. Unlike the original Forest of Einnashe, it only spawns once after one of Einnashe's seeds absorbs enough magical energy in the ground and immediately dies after using it all up. They also take on additional elements from the seed's time underground, the one seen in this series adding snow.
* BottleEpisode: Episode 6, where Reines, Gray, and Luvia are at a department store, clearly had a lot of its budget allocated to the upcoming Rail Zeppelin case episodes instead. A lot of the scenes are just panning still shots.
* BookEnds: Episode 1 ends with Waver looking out at Iskandar's dream, Okeanos. Episode 13 [[spoiler:has him there again as he speaks to Iskandar.]]
* {{Bowdlerise}}: In the original novel, Trisha wears a nazar amulet which looks really phallic, at least according to Gray. In the anime, they couldn't show that so her pendant is a small statue depicting a Buddha-like figure having sex with a woman to get the same reaction from Gray.
* BritainIsOnlyLondon: Averted; though parts of the series do take place in London, several of the novels take place in other areas of England. For example, the second and third novels are set in the area of Windermere, and the sixth and seventh novels are set in UsefulNotes/{{Wales}}.
* CallBack:
** In episode 1 Waver quotes Kayneth's words to him at the docks about the brutal nature of battles between magi when he challenges Barzan inside the tomb, then defies them by TakingAThirdOption and fleeing a battle he knows he can't win.
** In episode 6, Reines explains to Gray what she knows about the Grail War and Waver's involvement in it, [[spoiler:establishing the background for the theft of Waver's relic of Iskandar at the end.]]
** Adashino in episode 8 teases that the culprits of episode 3 and episodes 4-5 shared a sponsor.
** In episode 10, [[spoiler:while investigating who stole Waver's relic]], Kairi and Luvia visit Mary from episode 2. Mary and Trish discuss Olga-Marie's past amongst themselves.
** Music-wise there's a few nods to the soundtrack of ''Fate/Zero'', such as "''You were my king''", the remixed version of "''You are my king''" from ''Fate/Zero'' that plays when [[spoiler:Waver meets Rider in a dream]], and "''I have found something''", which is a remix of "''The dreams fade before dawn''".
* TheCameo:
** A noticeable aspect of the novels is that each arc features new original characters and then adds one or two canonical characters from other works in the {{Franchise/Nasuverse}}:
*** Luviagelita Edelfelt from ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'' in the first arc.
*** Flat Escardos from ''Literature/FateStrangeFake'', Touko Aozaki from ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' and ''VisualNovel/WitchOnTheHolyNight'', and Atrum Galiasta from Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks in the second arc.
*** Caules Forvedge from ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'' [[spoiler:(though not quite)]] and (a young) Olga-Marie Animusphere from ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' in the third arc.
*** Zepia Eltnam Oberon from ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood'' in the fourth arc.
** The anime adds even more:
*** Episode 1 begins with Iskandar and Gilgamesh's final battle in ''LightNovel/FateZero'', later on features Artoria standing over Kayneth and Sola's dead bodies, and near the end has Waver thinking of his younger self riding with Iskandar in the Ionioi Hetairoi, before cutting to the end of Iskandar and Gilgamesh's final battle.
*** Episode 3 features [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha Frankenstein]] and [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Charles Babbage]] on a poster in Caules's dorm room[[note]]Better yet, they were in fact part of a team during the ''FGO'' 2017 event “Dead Heat Summer Race”[[/note]], and [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Gordolf Musik]] (with his young design from ''Fate/Apocrypha Material'') arresting the villain of the week.
*** Episode 4 has Reines holding photos of [[VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia Bazett Fraga McRemitz]] and [[Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks Atrum Galliasta]], the two mages that the Association is sending to the upcoming Grail War.
*** Episode 6 sees Waver reading from a book that mentions Gilgamesh, [[TraumaButton which brings up a memory of him]] from ''LightNovel/FateZero''.
*** Episode 8 briefly shows [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha Fiore]] when Caules is recounting his history (see ForWantOfANail below).
*** Episode 10 has [[LightNovel/FateZero Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald]] himself, [[spoiler:inside Waver's fever dream.]]
*** Audio only, in episode 12: [[spoiler:When Gray unlocks Rhongomyniad's seals and Add calls out each seal in turn, [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Artoria]] [[Creator/AyakoKawasumi herself]] is speaking alongside Add with their voices overlapping.]] During this part in the novel, [[spoiler:the Knights of the Round Table whose seals were being released [[https://i.imgur.com/ghjD51y.jpg appeared around Gray]] instead.]]
*** Episode 13 offers another look at Kayneth, as Waver reflects on his predecessor's beginnings as a ChildProdigy, [[spoiler:and sees Waver dreaming of Iskandar at the end]].
*** Chardin, the substitute teacher for Waver's classroom, makes an appearance during Svin's graduation ceremony in episode 13.
* CharacterMagneticTeam: Given Waver's prestige as a Lord and his reputation for having one of the finest classrooms with unique, one-of-a-kind students like Flat and Gray to back it up, his department draws in the attention of various mages throughout the series.
* TheChurch: They serve as a rival organization to [[TheMagocracy The Mage's Association]] but aren't that prominent in this series.
* ClothingDamage: In the manga, being hit by the "song" of the beast of the Castle of Separation conveniently rips Waver's shirt open. He's unsurprisingly kinda scrawny.
* CluelessMystery: Most mysteries cannot be solved by an audience on the lookout for any conventional hints or clues. As Waver reiterates to his students, magic renders the usual questions of "who" (as suspects can be long dead and victims might not be dead at all) or "how" (as there are a multitude of different possible magecraft methods to achieve the same end) moot. Rather, it is the "why" (the motive) that is the key to solving Waver's missions as it influences all the other aspects previously mentioned.
* ContinuityNod:
** Waver uses scientific forensics to determine the victim's time of death at the Castle of Adra, similar to when he deduced the location of Caster's lair in ''Zero''. In a display of CharacterDevelopment, when Orlock calls him out for his reliance on such a mundane technique, rather than being ashamed he explains nonchalantly that it's simply [[BoringButPractical the system that works best for him]].
** In episode 3 Luvia mentions having been impressed by Lord El-Melloi II's skills at the Castle of Adra, which is a reference to the first case of the novel series that got skipped over for the anime adaptation.
** During episode 4 when Wills asks Waver about Hishiri he mentions having a past with her, [[AdaptationExplanationExtrication alluding to their meeting in the first novel where they were opposed to one another]].
** During the shopping montage in episode 6, Luvia gets embarrassed when Gray and Reines catch her hugging a teddy bear, just like the first time Gray and Waver caught her unawares in the Castle of Adra.
** Also in episode 6, when the girls get trapped in a Bounded Field, Gray and Luvia are reminded of Luvia getting trapped in a Bounded Field in the Castle of Separation (with Waver and Gray, although they don't mention that bit).
** In episode 8, Waver explains he's helping Olga Marie because of the lessons he learned from Iskandar in ''Zero''.
* CoolTrain: The Rail Zeppelin, a magic train linked to the underworld through ritual and expressly made with the intent of gathering Mystic Eyes. It was created by [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Rita Rozay-en]], though this detail is only mentioned in ''VisualNovel/WitchOnTheHolyNight''.[[note]]It's brought up in that because Touko Aozaki and Lugh [[NoodleIncident did something so terrible]] that the train got damaged, Rita abandoned it, and Touko got permanently banned with employees looking to kill her on sight if she ever comes near.[[/note]]
* DeadManWriting: Near the end of the series [[spoiler:Atrum (Caster's original master from ''stay night''), who had worked with Waver in an earlier case, sends him information that essentially starts with "If you're watching this I died in the Grail War."]]
* DeadPersonConversation: [[spoiler:Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald appears in Waver's coma-dream. In it, he's back at his classroom with Waver, serving to taunt the latter (immediately after his issues with Iskandar were badly shaken by "Hephaestion"). Admittedly, he is less malicious and more reasonably-stern, representing Waver's own self-challenges and [[DareToBeBadass daring him to strike back]] at them.]]
** A more heartwarming one occurs in the season finale, when [[spoiler:Waver, soundly asleep after the festivities of Svin's promotion, dreams of Okeanos and Iskandar awaiting him. Now content and confident, Waver/El-Melloi II demurs, [[IChoseToStay saying he still has his fights to settle]].]]
* DeadPersonImpersonation: A strange example where the person doing the impersonating is also dead. [[spoiler:Faker, the BigBad's Servant, claims to be Hephaestion, Iskandar's most trusted comrade and childhood friend. She's actually Hephaestion's sister, and was Iskandar's BodyDouble in life. To Waver's confusion she is not present in Iskandar's Ionioi Hetairoi even though someone as important to Iskandar as Hephaestion definitely would be, which is a clue that she's not who she says she is.]]
* DistractedByTheSexy: [[spoiler:Waver's group merely Projecting a near-perfect facsimile of the Princess of Gold for a few scant seconds forcibly shuts down all Magecraft from anyone exposed to it as they try to comprehend what they're seeing. The distraction lasts for several hours because of the memory of that sight continuing to occupy their minds.]]
* DontGoInTheWoods: This in the form of ''The Child of Einnashe'', spawn of the goddamn [[GeniusLoci sentient Dead Apostle forest]]. As you can imagine, those foolish enough to think fire was enough to kill it were instead killed via impalement.
* DramaticIrony:
** Waver makes reference to plans to go to Fuyuki City for the next Holy Grail War. The audience knows that he'll never make it in time.
** Waver says young people yet to discover their paths in life unnecessarily losing their lives is something he can't allow. Olga Marie Animusphere, the person he's telling this to, is notorious for her fate in the ''Fate/Grand Order'' timeline.
* DubInducedPlotHole: A pretty minor one that was probably the result of the dub script writer not being aware of the ForWantOfANail regarding Caules. In the original Japanese when Caules is describing how Fiore left home, he never says the name of his family, but in the English dub he specifically mentions [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha Yggdmillennia]]. The problem is, Yggdmillennia doesn't exist in this timeline - he's just Caules Forvedge here.
* DugTooDeep: It is revealed in volume eight that digging great depths underground can lead to the laws of physics being unstable down there because of Mystery and how humanity doesn't have much grip on what lies beneath. [[spoiler:The specific case for that volume is about a labyrinth which was dug by a dragon attempting to reach the Reverse Side of the world but died in the process. It was converted into a well of magical resources and foundation for the Clock Tower and the big debate is whether or not to excavate deeper to find more, with the nobles trying to put their foot down in fear of destroying and depleting their resources.]]
* EarlyBirdCameo:
** Trish Fellows appears in a non-speaking role with Mary in episode 2.
** Jean-Mario Supinerra can be seen on Waver's television in the manga after he returns from the Adra case.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Heine in the first novel, as Seigen is quick to admit.
-->'''Seigen:''' I'm not really into guys, but you're pretty enough that I'll make an exception.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Granted, the alternative was dying themselves, but Waver and Melvin are surprisingly blasé about the people they indirectly killed blowing up the dig site in episode 1, especially since it's implied many of the other diggers are there by force. Contrast with the present-day, where Waver begrudgingly accepts but also abhors how the magus lifestyle often puts innocents in harm's way.
* EvilCounterpart:
** The BigBad, Dr. Heartless, to Waver. [[spoiler:Both are obsessed with Iskandar and want to summon him, albeit for different reasons. Dr. Heartless also used to be the head of the Department of Modern Magecraft at the Clock Tower, which is the position that Waver now holds.]]
** Dr. Heartless's partner is one to [[spoiler:Iskandar. She's a "Faker"-class Servant who was his BodyDouble in life, the lightning that accompanies her is red instead of Iskandar's blue, and she rides a dark version of his Gordius Wheel chariot called Hecatic Wheel.]] She is also one to Gray, as [[spoiler:they were raised from a young age to be magical copies of a king, and in the finale Heartless even ends up using Faker to summon Iskandar just as Gray's village planned to use her to revive King Arthur.]]
* EyeScream: Just to remind us that Rail Zeppelin isn't supposed to be the usual friendly train ride, [[spoiler:the supernatural manager extracts the sellers' Mystic Eyes with their bare hands. Thankfully, they seem to be capable of doing it without damaging arteries/blood vessels (so no blood is shed), but it still can cause shock to the eyes' owner when done without warning.]]
* TheFairFolk: The subject of episodes 4 and 5, as the Marburry workshop harnesses their power.
* FairPlayWhodunnit: Defied. One ''cannot'' use deductive reasoning to determine mage mysteries, i.e. "howdunnit", because how each one operates is based on their individual magic, often to the point of suspending natural law itself in different ways. This is why Waver focuses on "whydunnit" instead.
* FanDisservice: Waver gets two {{Shirtless Scene}}s, but the first one takes place after he's horribly injured with a nasty-looking burn on his back, and in the second he's tied up with his magic crest stripped from his body as collateral.
* FanservicePack: [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners Touko Aozaki]]'s breasts are ''much'' more prominently [[NavelDeepNeckline displayed]] in this work than they've been in any other depiction of her. Though to be fair, it's her formal attire for a fancy dinner party. When she returns in the final case, she's dressed in a similar outfit to the one she wore in ''The Garden of Sinners''.
* FantasticCasteSystem: One's status in TheMagocracy is closely tied to how long one's family has been a part of it, as well as the quality and quantity of one's magical circuits. Waver would normally be relegated to the very bottom of the totem pole if it weren't for Reines' sponsorship.
* FictionalCounterpart: Carnac from episode 6 is the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrods Harrods department store]] with the name changed, a new interior among other things courtesy of Luvia, and a different history of owners as it's been in the hands of mages for several years. Though, if one looks closely enough at its exterior shot, Harrods' signature text is still there on the awnings with no edits for whatever reason. It was fixed in the blu-ray release.
* FictionalPoliticalParty: There are three political factions within the Clock Tower, all based on how they believe it should be run.
** The Barthomeloi faction, led by the titular Barthomeloi family which is the most powerful even amongst the Three Great Families, having control over the Faculty of Law and their head being one of the twelve Lords and the current director of the entire institution. They firmly believe that the aristocracy, with their great and long lineages, should control it. Nominally the El-Mellois are allied with them because of Kayneth's beliefs but his death and the way Waver's been running his classroom [[CategoryTraitor have put them on thin ice]].
** The Trambelio faction, centered around the Valueleta family, another one of the Three Great Families. They desire a democratic system and for magi to put talent above bloodlines. Not unreasonably, they seek to sway Waver/El-Melloi II to their side (being the best potential poster boy/proof-of-concept of their ideas), despite his nominal affiliation above.
** The neutral faction represented by the Meluastea which mainly just wants to focus on their research and could go either way; due to the large number of clans who have thrown their lot into this one, this vague position has led to a lot of internal strife with the Meluastea family only functioning as its face because more people flocked to them.
* FoeRomanceSubtext: From Adashino towards Waver, likely out of a desire to annoy him. She offers to dance with him at Adra before he brusquely turns her down, which she blames on his fixation with Iskander. In episode 4 of the anime Waver describes this incident as if it were a falling-out of some kind, and she later attempts to intimidate him in a [[NoSenseOfPersonalSpace hands-on manner]]. The ''Case Files'' Material Book describes her as the Irene Adler to Waver's Sherlock Holmes, two characters who are known to have this dynamic in [[{{Flanderization}} adaptations]], but also points out that [[ShipSinking nothing of that sort is going on between them here]].
* ForScience: Or magic, rather. The ultimate goal of magi and magus society, in general, is to reach the Root (which, for lack of a better description, can be thought of the magical equivalent of TheSingularity), and most magi are [[MadScientist happy to toss away anything resembling a conscience in pursuit of it]].
* ForWantOfANail:
** Caules' presence in later novels reveals that in the main ''Fate/stay night'' timeline where Darnic and Yggdmillenia did not rise in prominence, Fiore ran away from her responsibilities as a magus to live a normal life very early on in her life and Caules became the heir by default.
** [[VideoGame/MeltyBlood Zepia Eltnam Oberon]] explains in volume 6 that some kind of event occurring roughly around 300 AD is responsible for him and other individuals like Gransurg Blackmore not being [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Dead Apostle Ancestors]] in ''Fate'' timelines. The material book reveals that the battle between Zelretch and the Crimson Moon took place during 300 AD, though it doesn't give a hint on what might have gone differently to have caused the divergence.
** Marisbury Animusphere decided not to participate in the Grail War because he realized the Grail was corrupted and couldn't actually grant wishes, which means he never got the funds to start [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Chaldea]].
* ForegoneConclusion: Despite his efforts, Waver will miss out on the [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight fifth Holy Grail War]], on top of the fact that it's [[spoiler: officially the ''last'' Grail War]], turning his desire to enter it into a ShaggyDogStory. However, considering the merciless [[spoiler: and ultimately corrupted]] circumstances of the war, this means Waver and his students live to see another day as a result. [[spoiler:Ultimately, this is a moot point, as Waver decides he doesn't ''want'' to join anyway.]]
* FreezeFrameBonus: The anime shows [[spoiler:Rhongomyniad]] inside Add when he begins transforming into Gray's scythe. It's front and center on the screen, but small and for such a brief moment that it's likely to go by unseen.
* GirlsNightOutEpisode: Episode 6, which focuses on Gray, Reines and Luvia going shopping without Waver or the guys, Waver only appearing near the beginning and at the end.
* GratuitousEnglish:
** The "whydunnit" of cases is a recurring theme, complete with Engrishy pronunciation. Waver also sometimes swears in English when he's ''really'' upset.
** The manga adaptation will occasionally have characters say short words in English (stuff like "wow", or "phew", written in the Latin alphabet, not katakana), to remind the reader that [[TranslationConvention in-universe that's the language they're speaking.]]
* GreaterScopeVillain: In regards to Gray's story. [[spoiler:The person who started the plan to resurrect King Arthur, and thus the person responsible for Gray's situation, is heavily implied to be Morgan le Fay. The Material book plainly stating that Morgan created Add only adds to this implication. Though [[AmbiguouslyEvil how much of a "villain" Morgan was being here is left ambiguous]] as Waver has no idea why she would get involved with the cult.]]
* GuestStarPartyMember:
** Different characters from across various Type-Moon works join Waver in different story arcs, from famous ones like [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Olga Marie]] and [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners Touko Aozaki]] to the relatively obscure [[Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks Atrum Galliasta]]. Most come BackForTheFinale.
** The anime-original content even gets in on the fun with [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha Kairi Sisigou]] in episodes 4 & 5.
* [[HardOnSoftScience Hard on Soft Magecraft]]: Waver teaches what is the magic equivalent of the sociology of scientific knowledge, and it is received by many of Waver's colleagues [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_wars about as well]] as its mundane counterpart is by physicists.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Considering the nature of magic in Nasuverse, this happens frequently, especially to the culprits.
* HowWeGotHere: Episode 6 begins with Gray, Reines and Luvia trapped in a Bounded Field, and flashes back to explain how they ended up there.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Waver stands a full head and shoulders over Gray. She finds this very useful when she needs something to hide behind in awkward social situations.
* [[InconsistentDub Inconsistent Sub]]: The official subtitles translate the name of Olga Marie's father as "Maris Billy" in episode 13. This [[SpellMyNameWithAnS is a valid romanization]], but the official translations of both ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' and ''Anime/FateGrandOrderAbsoluteDemonicFrontBabylonia'' romanized his name as Marisbury. This is odd since all three were translated in-house by Aniplex, so it's not like ''Case Files'' had a different company translating it to explain the discrepancy.
* {{Interquel}}:
** The series as a whole is one for ''Fate/Zero'' and ''Fate/stay night'', taking place long after the events of ''Zero'' and starting just a few scant months before the next Holy Grail War begins. Nasu has gone on record that ''Case Files'' is directly canon to ''stay night'' with no AlternateTimeline hijinks whatsoever, while ''Zero'' remains in the territory of BroadStrokes in relation to ''stay night''. ''Case Files'' as a work gels with both stories but leans more towards ''stay night''.
-->'''Nasu''' (''Fate/strange fake'' vol. 1 afterword): ''If I dared to classify the differences between each of the works,'' Zero ''has "the same conditions" as'' Stay Night ''but the worlds are slightly different.'' Apocrypha ''is a world that was the same up to a point, but which is now completely different. The'' El-Melloi II Case Files ''is in exactly the same world however the thick Sanda Makoto atmosphere makes for a dense story of magecraft.''
** Episodes 2-6 of the anime take place between volumes 3 and 4 of the light novels, with episode 6 leading into the beginning of volume 4.
* LateArrivalSpoiler:
** The anime listing Adashino as a major character gives away a major plot twist in the Castle of Adra, namely that [[spoiler:she faked her death early on in the story by using a body double]].
** Gray being a Saberface and wielding [[spoiler:Rhongomyniad]] were TheReveal of the climax to the Adra novel, but the anime and ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' revealed them without too much fanfare. These days they're probably [[ItWasHisSled what people know the most about the series.]]
* LivingWeapon: [[spoiler:Add, Gray's chatty Mystic Code, which can transform into a SinisterScythe, among [[MorphWeapon other forms]].]]
* MadEye: [[spoiler:Sir Kay has one.]]
* MagiBabble: Waver frequently exposits what exactly a ritual is meant to convey right down to the smallest detail, primarily as a means to figure out the culprit's motive and method.
* MagicalEye: There are at least several different kinds of what are called Mystic Eyes, which is rather fitting since most appeared in an auction that focuses on said eyes. The most special of them are ranked as "Gold", "Jewel", and "Rainbow" for their one of a kind abilities and are especially sought after at the auction.
* TheMagocracy:
** Most Magi in the {{Franchise/Nasuverse}} are sociopaths, and here is no exception. Most of the series is devoted to examining the multiple facets of modern magus society and their politics.
** ''Case Files Material'' mentions that a fair number of magi have wormed themselves into formal governments around the world in order to help keep magecraft a secret.
* {{Masquerade}}: Because anything supernatural is literally weakened the more people know about its inner workings or even just its existence in certain cases, the Clock Tower has a vested interest in making sure they can clamp down on any potential exposure to the regular world.
* MoralityPet: Several of Waver's students are what keep him grounded.
* MugglesDoItBetter: Waver is able to hold his own in the cutthroat world of magi despite his own lacking magecraft ability because of his willingness to make use of non-magical methods and technologies like cars.
* MyopicArchitecture: In episode one of the anime, Waver and Melvin are locked up in a jail cell with a magic-proofed door. Waver proceeds to blow the hinges out of the walls and push the door open.
* MythologyGag:
** This version of [[VideoGame/MeltyBlood Zepia]], who goes by ''Atlasia'' instead of Oberon in this continuity, retains his trademark "KATTO" catchphrase.
** Caules uses electricity magecraft, a nod to his Servant in ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'', Frankenstein, having electrical powers. One of his spells is even named Crafted Tree, an obvious out-of-universe reference to Frankenstein's Noble Phantasm, Blasted Tree (though it's a coincidence and not a reference in-universe, since Caules and Fran never met in this timeline).
** In episode 3, Waver gets exasperated and grabs Flat's face and lifts up his body off the ground with one hand in a NeckLift variant. (Luvia calls this the "Iron Claw") This is a CallBack to their first appearance in ''Literature/FateStrangeFake''.
** Kairi striking up a good enough relationship with Gray (even [[TakingTheBullet shielding her from a Black Dog's attack]]) will be no surprise for everyone who knows he plays well enough with [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha somebody affiliated]] to the legend of Myth/KingArthur.
** The Reinforcement spell Kairi casts on the book he's holding to to protect him from the first Black Dog attack creates a neon pattern identical to the one Shirou's produces.
** Kairi's mention of someone in his family who liked fairy stories is an allusion to his backstory in ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha''.
** Underneath all the jewels that Luvia decked it out in, the pharaoh statue in episode 6 is wearing [[Anime/FatePrototype Ozymandias]]'s outfit (albeit closer in design to his [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Third Ascension]]).
** The Forest of Einnashe from the short story ''Talk'', a sequel to ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'', appears during the Rail Zeppelin arc. Though to be specific it's a child forest of the one from ''Talk'' and not the exact same one.
** When Waver and Trisha discuss the memory-based mechanics of the Holy Grail and why Waver's dream is an impossibility, she mentions the theoretical case of a unique Singularity or a Reality Marble that ''would'' allow Servants to retain their memories between summons. In short, she's describing the [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Chaldea system]].
** In episode 8, Waver muses on adapting [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners Touko Travel]] to help escape the Rail Zeppelin. This becomes a ChekhovsGun in episode 12, [[spoiler:explaining how Reines and the real Caules make it to the Rail Zeppelin]].
** During her discussion on Mystic Eyes in Episode 11, Adashino mentions the [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Mystic Eyes of]] [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners Death Perception]] as one of the rarest and highest-level kinds.
** When Gray chooses [[spoiler:to unleash a larger portion of Rhongomyniad's power in Episode 12, it is revealed it also has thirteen seals limiting its power (apart from Add's presence/system) -- much like [[Anime/FatePrototype Excalibur Proto]]. The invocation is even near similar to how Myth/KingArthur's playable unit in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' does it[[labelnote:quote]]''"Seal Thirteen, decision start!"''[[/labelnote]].]]
** In episode 13, Olga Marie muses that if the Greater Grail had met her father's expectations, surely his dream would have been realized... [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder but that is a world and time unknown to her]].
** Waver asks Olga Marie for a ley-line map to check a theory of his, and she produces a device with an interface very reminscent of the Chaldea Terminal from VideoGame/FateGrandOrder
** In the Special Episode Gray's big attack includes a pose and zoom-in on her face that's pretty much identical to the iconic shot of Saber using Excalibur against Gilles de Rais' sea creature in ''Fate/Zero''.
* NoHeroToHisValet: Although she respects his teaching abilities, Gray is not terribly impressed by her master on a day-to-day basis and finds him to be a bit ridiculous.
* NostalgiaFilter: Kairi Sisigou implies this is the sickness of most people dealing with the supernatural/otherworldly (such as the Codlingtons' link with fairies, and even Waver's lingering obsession with the Holy Grail War). It's understandable for him to say this, being a Necromancer and all. According to him:
--> A guy captivated by the dead is troublesome. The dead stay by the side of the living and always drag them towards the past. Even Servants in the Holy Grail War are surely part of the dead.
** [[{{Irony}} Ironically]], of course, despite supposedly not knowing Waver's experience/obsession, we already saw Kairi be confronted by this very same obsession and tragic dream--in [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha another timeline]].
* OccultDetective: InvertedTrope. A normal Occult Detective uses mysticism to solve cases for {{muggles}}. Waver uses deduction to solve cases for TheMagocracy. He's just as much of a pariah for this, though.
* AnOddPlaceToSleep: Waver apparently prefers sleeping on sofas to beds. He also falls asleep instantly while sitting up at one point, and Gray gets annoyed that sleep management is the only magus skill he's actually good at using.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Angels in magecraft are based on a concept and are essentially 'vessels of power', anything that's ambiguous in nature and used for magic. Waver explains that it's the ''concept'' of how angelic power works that attracts mages and not their message.
* PetTheDog: Gray tells a story at the beginning of the first volume about why she's loyal to Waver even though by mage standards he's considered pretty much worthless: there was a stray cat which had got on his nerves, but then it was hit by a car, so he brought it home, fed it painkilling herbs, took care of it until it died, and [[DueToTheDead dug its grave and buried it]].
** The adaptation of this particular story, ''episode 0'', develops this a bit further by turning the cat into [[spoiler:an innocent casualty of what turned out to be a botched assassination attempt against Waver. That Waver would go to great lengths to not only capture the culprit, but also to (in the words of his students) "avenge" the cat says a lot about him--in sheer contrast to how many mages treat animals (and as will be later shown, [[PoweredByAForsakenChild even humans]]) as disposable resources at best.]]
* PostModernMagik:
** This is literally Waver's field of study--or rather Modern Magecraft Theory, much of which is focused upon the reconciliation of magecraft with modern scientific theory. The foundations of Modern Magecraft Theory, in which power is derived from arbitrary and selective use of symbols imbued with sociocultural meaning over the holistic belief systems they belong to, are quite similar to the real-life practice of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_magic Chaos Magic(k)]]. And like real academic fields influenced by postmodern thought, [[HardOnSoftScience it's not especially well-regarded by many of Waver's colleagues]].
* PrestigePeril: Making a working-class, underpowered magus like Waver a provisional Lord in TheMagocracy makes him a massive target for {{Klingon Promotion}}s and political exploitation.
* PromotedToLoveInterest: Somewhat. The anime included a lot of ShipTease between Gray and Waver, as well as generally implying the former has feelings for the latter, but this is all absent in the novels. Scenes in the canonical ''Rail Zeppelin'' part of the adaptation were even added to make it so. However, the novels make it quite clear that Gray's feelings towards her mentor are ''not'' romantic, and their teacher-student relationship could at best get closer to father-daughter. [[WordOfGod The author himself]] notes in the side material that their close relationship isn't romantic in nature.
* RealPlaceBackground: The anime recognizably depicts Druid Street, where Waver is mentioned to live in the light novels. His favorite teashop is even a [[https://www.comptoirgourmand.co.uk/ real]], [[https://goo.gl/maps/vTxxWBSnQ9BgwSCM9 recognizable]] local place, which even seems to do a similar sandwich (the Rustique Brie Baguette) to the one Waver was about to enjoy before Reines ruined one of his life's few pleasures. Naturally, it's been visited by at least one cosplayer. Waver's block of flats also seems to be roughly based on one in the neighborhood, with some details changed.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Hephaestion[[spoiler:/Faker]] delivers a scathing one against Waver, claiming that for such a RidiculouslyAverageGuy like him (by mage standards at least), he disgraces Iskandar by being his previous Master, and that he has no right to even claim being his subject (i.e. [[PretenderDiss being counted amongst the Ionioi Hetairoi]]). While Waver's clearly shaken by this (plus all his issues), it doesn't prevent him from remembering that Hephaestion herself [[SpottingTheThread was never even amongst the Hetairoi]] [[RedHerring when it was deployed]] during ''LightNovel/FateZero''.
* {{Revision}}: Remember those magic furnaces and evil spirits that Kayneth had as part of his initial setup in the hotel from ''LightNovel/FateZero''? Turns out those weren't actually his, as the furnaces were on loan from other aristocrats and the spirits were actually ''embezzled'' from his department, making them yet another thing that Waver has to clean up as El-Melloi II.
* SeparatedByACommonLanguage: Gray takes note that, despite being born and raised English, Waver insists on using the term apartment instead of flat for [[Literature/FateStrangeFake some mysterious reason that absolutely has nothing to do with his most troublesome student]].
* SeriousBusiness: Episode 3 has Waver go into London's sewers to deal with gigantic electrified rabbit familiars and shut down a more powerful mage's workshop, all because a side effect of said mage's research had shut down Waver's favorite teashop.
* ShadowArchetype: The final antagonist of the series, Dr. Heartless, [[spoiler:has a similar obsession with Iskandar akin to Waver's, only he wreaks far more havoc in his goal to summon him, unlike Waver who was planning to use the next Holy Grail War to meet him.]]
* ShipTease: Though the ''Case Files'' Material Book describes Gray's feelings towards Waver as [[PlatonicLifePartners strictly master-pupil]], ''Grace Note'' applies a bit of AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul to add heavier romantic undertones.
** After the resolution of the Codrington storyline in the anime, Shishigou warns Gray to protect Waver from giving into his [[TogetherInDeath worst impulses]], telling her that Waver "needs" her, which causes her to blush in surprise.
** In the novel, Trisha demonstrates her precognitive ability by warning Waver to catch Caules' teapot mid-fall. The anime's version of this scene amps it up by having him catch a carsick Gray.
** When Gray catches Waver falling asleep, the novel version treats her reaction as one of curiosity and Add's teasing her to kiss him as just that. Episode 13 has her give Waver an [[BeautifulDreamer ambiguous longing look]] instead, so the same comment comes off as less of a baseless joke and more of a [[EveryoneCanSeeIt tongue-in-cheek observation]].
** A running subplot throughout the anime is Gray's desire to show Waver her appreciation with a gift, only to be [[MomentKiller interrupted repeatedly]]. One of those occasions has her attempt to offer it in response to Waver's despair at not being remembered by loved ones, and at the end [[spoiler:she's rewarded for her troubles with [[WhenHeSmiles a rare heartfelt smile]] from him and his asking her to remain by his side, causing her to [[TearsOfJoy cry in happiness]]]].
* ShoutOut:
** The intro is done deliberately in a style that calls to mind live-action DetectiveDrama shows such as the BBC's ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''.
** William Blake's ''[[https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/blake-oberon-titania-and-puck-with-fairies-dancing-n02686 Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing]]'' can be seen on the wall of Wills' office in the anime, while a large copy of ''Alexander Cuts the Gordian Knot'' is in Waver's apartment in the manga.
** Early on in the manga Flueger namedrops his time in London as being like something out of ''Literature/HarryPotter''.
** Well-known British shows ''Series/{{Teletubbies}}'' and ''Series/RedDwarf'' can be seen on Waver's television in the manga after he returns from the Castle of Adra.
** One ImagineSpot in the manga features Waver dressed as WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd.
** ''Case Files'' official materials state that Rufleus is [[ComicBookFantasyCasting based off of]] Creator/ChristopherLee's Saruman from ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings''.
* ShowWithinAShow: Jean-Mario Supinerra runs a cooking show that has an eccentric gimmick in the form of fending off zombies while cooking.
* ShroudedInMyth: Even in a mystical society, there are some things that are just regarded as flights of fancy for most mages. One such example are the Rainbow-ranked Mystic Eyes, which are the best of the best in terms of abilities, with the only known rumor of their existence being that someone in the Far East miraculously has the ones corresponding to Death Perception.
* SickEpisode: Waver's badly injured in episode 8, which puts him out of action for episode 9 and leaves the other characters to pick up the plot.
* SimultaneousArcs: The final battle of this series happens on the same night that Shirou summons Saber in ''Fate/stay night''. The act of Saber being summoned [[spoiler:gives Gray a power boost while also [[LockedIntoStrangeness turning part of her hair blonde]].]]
* SinisterScythe: Gray's signature weapon [[spoiler:which is actually an alternate form of Rhongomyniad, Artoria's Holy Spear]].
* SniffSniffNom: Waver tests some mysterious powder that Reines found at the scene of a murder this way. She asks if he's insane or was a dog in a past life or something, even though he claims to have figured out what it is by tasting it.
* SomethingAboutARose: Heine shows off his magical abilities by conjuring roses into his fellow guests' hands, so the manga has some panels of them posing attractively with them. The shot of Waver looking [[LongHairedPrettyBoy especially pretty]] with a rose held up to his face shows up again a couple chapters later... probably because it's so pretty.
* SpottingTheThread: Waver doesn't recognize Hephaestion; she was not in Ionioi Hetairoi despite the fact that someone that important to Iskandar definitely should be. [[spoiler:She wasn't there because she's ''not'' Hephaestion.]]
** With all the madness happening around him in the ''Rail Zeppelin'' case, it takes him a significant amount of time to realise that the [[spoiler:"Caules" who has been working with him was actually an imposter]].
* StrongGirlSmartGuy: Waver has absolutely ''no'' aptitude for combat, physical or magical. Thus it's Gray, who's a bit self-conscious about not taking to magical theory as quickly as she should, who has to fight his battles for him.
* SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic: This is Waver's specialty; he can analyze and predict magic--who casts it, how it works, what it will do. This ''horrifies'' other magi because it is believed that this removes its Mystery and will weaken it more.
* SuperpowerfulGenetics: The capacity for magecraft is tied to a pseudo-nervous system of "magic circuits," the quality and quantity of which are genetically determined. Although these can be cultivated into elaborate networks called "magic crests" and passed on to someone else, such crests are subject to transplant rejection and thus can only be safely transferred to blood relatives. Thus, most magi typically cultivate magecraft less through self-improvement and more through [[SuperBreedingProgram eugenics and grooming heirs to their family's magic crest]].
* SupportingProtagonist: Although Waver is the series's main character, the story usually follows the point of view of his personal apprentice, Gray. The anime-original material, however, takes a third-person perspective, and includes scenes where Gray's not present.
* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: The written English shown throughout the anime is grammatically correct and coherent in what it's conveying, with the only real error being the spacing between apostrophes is unusually large.
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Kayneth and Sola-ui's sudden deaths in the [[LightNovel/FateZero 4th Holy Grail War]] caused a power vacuum in his family because there was nobody in a good position to become family head. The only candidate, his niece, was neither old enough or skilled enough, so she forces Waver Velvet to be adopted into the family and act as her "regent" until she can take over. She also forces Waver to assume the family's multimillion dollar debts that arose during the Grail War fallout. The other major mage houses don't appreciate a commoner leading one of the most prestigious families, and seek to diminish his influence or even assassinate him.
** Although Waver has gotten stronger since the 4th Grail War, he isn't all that good of a Magus because he lacks the innate benefits a long-running Mage family would have. In stark contrast to his views before the Grail War, he admits that while training can make one better, it is very difficult and nearly impossible to outright beat a system where "older is better" is the core fundamental rule. At the same time, Waver's more modern look at the world means he can see things that the older, more traditional factions cannot because they are stuck in their old ways.
** While Waver had the happiest ending of all the Masters in the Grail War, he still saw a lot of horrific things and nearly died several times during it, and is haunted by the loss of his Servant Rider. As a result, he's developed a few {{Trauma Button}}s: he is unable to look at Gray's face because her IdenticalGrandson appearance to Artoria reminds him of his failure in the war, whenever he is asked about his time in it, he often ignores the conversation because he is fairly sensitive about what happened, and whenever something reminds him of it, like reading about Gilgamesh, he zones out for similar reasons.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial:
** When Gray recognizes a plushie for a character on an [[SugarBowl incredibly saccharine]] children's show, she is very quick to assure the reader she's only heard about the show second-hand, she totally does not set her schedule around it, and she most certainly doesn't want the plushie for herself.
** Lord El-Melloi II refuses to call his home a "flat", instead using "apartment" despite this not being common in British English. This has nothing to do with having emotions regarding the name "[[Characters/FateStrangeFake Flat.]]"
* TenLittleMurderVictims: This is essentially the plot of Volume 1.
* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler:Subverted in Episode 2; the victim killed himself as part of a plan to become immortal, but the ritual was flawed, leaving him short of his goal, seeking to extend his existence.]]
* TragicDream: Waver was never able to get back into the Holy Grail War and see his King Iskandar again.
* {{Troll}}: Reines readily admits that she loves nothing more than fucking with people, ''especially'' Waver, and watching them squirm. Appointing him as the provisional El-Melloi II was less an act of benevolence than it was just a way to make his life [[ItAmusedMe entertainingly difficult]] and ruffle TheMagocracy's feathers.
* UnlimitedWardrobe:
** Rather than only having one outfit that they wear for the entire series, everyone gets new clothes for each new case. And not just the main cast, even side characters like Touko and Inorai get a change of clothes between appearances.
** Gray takes this a step further by also having a new outfit for her appearance in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', as opposed to Waver and Reines who use preexisting designs in that game.
* WeakButSkilled: One of the bases on which Modern Magecraft works. What it loses in the power granted by mystery, it gains in aggregate from the collective and targeted knowledge of practitioners. Waver himself puts this into practice, having a poor bloodline and Magic Circuits, but able to combine basic spells with his strong analytical skills to great effect. Likewise, not all of his students are from equally prestigious bloodlines, but he has fostered an exceptionally high number of magical geniuses by tutoring them on how to use their specific magecraft to its best extent.
* WhamEpisode: Episode 8/volume 4: [[spoiler:A Servant is somehow summoned outside the Grail War, she's dressed in clothes heavily reminiscent of Iskandar's, and she even has a copy of Iskandar's Gordius Wheel.]]
* WhamLine: The end of the Rail Zeppelin arc features a familiar incantation for fans of ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' and ''Anime/FatePrototype'':
--> '''Add:''' [[spoiler:[[TheGlovesComeOff Seal Thirteen. Decision, start.]]]]
* WhamShot: Gray's hood falling off when she fights in episode 2, revealing that her hairstyle is identical to Artoria's. The novel goes a step further by having this reveal happen alongside her using [[spoiler:Rhongomyniad]] for the first time.
* TheWildHunt: The anime has an artificial one which is the focus of episodes 4-5.
* WizardingSchool: The Clock Tower is one. Ironically, [[PiratesWhoDontDoAnything very little actual teaching occurs]] there outside of Waver's department, as magi are very protective of their ideas (and also don't believe education does much to improve magical ability). Instead, lecturers usually use classes as a smokescreen to scout prospective research assistants or [[MadScientist subjects]].
* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: The second and third novels revolve around the Gold and Silver Princesses, said to be the most beautiful people in the world. They're not a natural phenomenon; magic is often used to create them.
* {{Yonkoma}}: There are several [[{{Omake}} bonus comics]] in a magazine, with humorous anecdotes like Luvia playing with hand puppets.
* YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: Olga Marie realizes Waver just addressed her using her first names, rather than using "Animusphere" or "the Lord's daughter" as he'd been doing. Waver tells her it's because he needs her in order to win against his enemy.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: What eventually appears to be the central theme/tragedy of the Marburry Workshop in Episode 4-5--and thus, by extension, its heir Wills Pelham Codrington. [[spoiler:Having been made a key component of the Workshop through his Mystic Eyes (and having [[MayflyDecemberRomance fallen in love with one of the Fairies]] it summoned), the only way to heal the breach between the fairy world and the human world would be to cross over. Waver seeks to prevent him, to no avail.]]
!!''Adventures'' provides examples of:
* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: While the first volume released in December 2020, the story is set somewhere around 2007.
* TheBusCameBack: In a meta sense. This is the first time Mikiya and Mana have been in pretty much anything since the ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' films ended.
* TheCameo: The sequel series doesn't seem to be letting up on the cameos any time soon either:
** Shirou doesn't appear in person, but he is mentioned by Luvia who says that she plans on using the time that Rin is away from the Clock Tower to lure him over to her side.
*** Taiga Fujimura is also mentioned but Flat calls her by her [[HatesBeingNicknamed hated nickname]] ''Tiger''.
** The very last thing in the first volume is Mikiya (referred to with Shiki's family name, as "Ryougi Mikiya") and Mana from ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' receiving a letter from Touko, setting up for a bigger role in volume 2.
* CanonWelding: The appearances of Mikiya and his daughter in ''Adventures'' volume 1 seemingly establishes ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' as a direct part of the ''Fate/stay night'' multiversal chronology, as there was no established indication in prior works that the two could be connected (unless one counts Touko reminiscing about her time in the Clock Tower with her fellow students Cornelius Alba and Souren Araya in ''Case Files'' volume 2); it'd been previously implied that ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' was the predecessor.[[note]]Normally, ''Fate'' and ''Tsuki'' timelines are incompatible, with ''Literature/FateStrangeFake'' being a notable exception.[[/note]]
* ContinuityNod:
** Rin says that the big jewel spell she used on Tangere was strong enough to take out one of Berserker's lives, referring to their fight in the forest in Fate route.
** Waver recalls his conversation with Shirou in the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' anime.
** Reines mentions the time that Luvia and Rin fell off the Tower of London and were saved by Shirou, which was first mentioned in ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'' when a Luvia from an alternate timeline called Rin.
*** In volume 5 Flat calls Waver to say he and Shirou are about to go to Van-Fem's casino, which seems to be a nod to that same scene from ''Hollow Ataraxia'', where we also learned that Shirou and Luvia investigated that casino together.
** Wuzhiqi, a ''Xian'', namedrops Yu Mei-ren from ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' at one point, also a ''Xian''.
** In the second volume Rin laments not having a copy of her family's Jeweled Sword on hand, since she feels powerless going up against Servant-level foes like Wuzhiqi and Bai Ruolong without it.
* TheGhost:
** [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners Shiki Ryougi]] is mentioned by Mikiya during the 2nd volume of ''The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II'' and is even referenced every now and then, but doesn't physically appear in-person as it's stated that she's away from home due to personal reasons during the events of the book.
** Shirou has also been mentioned a few times but has yet to appear, though Flat waiting for him at the end of volume 5 seems to be a tease that he'll finally show up in person.
* {{Interquel}}: Serves as one to ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' for Mikiya and Mana, as their appearance here is before their own series' DistantFinale.
* ResignationsNotAccepted: Luvia and Reines discuss this during an interlude in the first novel. If Waver were to quit being Lord El-Melloi II, on that very day, hitmen will get a flood of commissions to kill him since it would no longer be politically inconvenient to do so.
* SdrawkcabAlias: While infiltrating some pirates in Singapore Gray calls herself "Yarg". After their cover is blown (though due to Waver, not because of Gray's alias), Waver tells her to pick something better next time.
* SequelGoesForeign: After the first series took place exclusively in Great Britain, ''Adventures'' is in Singapore for the first arc, Tokyo for the second, and Egypt for the third. The ending of volume 5 seems to be setting up Monaco next.
* ShoutOut:
** Waver steps through a wall to access Singapore's mass transit system for mages, and then the explanation namedrops [[Literature/HarryPotter King's Cross station platform 9¾]] just in case it was too subtle a reference.
** Ergo [[spoiler:follows up using Sun Wukong's Noble Phantasm that pins the opponent in space by turning his Phantom Hands into a drill that pierces them and tears open a hole in the pinned space, like something out of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''.]]
** The title of the first volume is a reference to ''Blue Man: The Man Who Ate God'' by Hideyuki Kikuchi, which Sanda acknowledges in his afterword.
* ThirdOptionAdaptation: According to Makoto Sanda's afterword in volume 1, ''Adventures'' does not directly follow any of the ''stay night'' routes but instead follows an original route, and will lead into the dismantling of the Holy Grail that has been discussed on occasion in other works but never properly seen.
* TimeSkip: ''Adventures'' picks up a few years after ''Case Files'' ends. As Rin is said to be about 20 years old, that means it takes place about 3 years later, in 2007.
* TranslatorMicrobes: Waver and Gray wear magical translation pendants while in Japan, since Waver only has a very basic grasp of Japanese and Gray doesn't understand any. Ergo doesn't need to bother because he learns languages at an incredibly rapid rate.
----
->''The ‘whydunnit’—why they committed the crime in the first place—that remains a possibility. A person’s Elemental affinity will reflect their nature. Magecraft is no different. For magi, who have been steeped in the story of magecraft since before they were even born, whether they accept that fate or rebel against it, it will doubtlessly brand them down to their very core. In that way, no one is as incapable of lying as a magus.''
-->--'''Lord El-Melloi II'''
''Lord El-Melloi II Case Files'' (ロード・エルメロイⅡ世の事件簿) is a light novel series written by Makoto Sanda and illustrated by Mineji Sakamoto and takes place in the {{Franchise/Nasuverse}}, as a spinoff of the ''[[Franchise/FateSeries Fate]]'' series. The series ran for 10 novels from December 2014 to May 2019; [[NoExportForYou currently, they're only available in Japan]].
A {{manga}} adaptation began October 4th, 2017. An anime adaptation produced by Studio Creator/{{TROYCA}} premiered with ''episode 0'' on December 31, 2018 as part of the "Fate Project New Year’s Eve TV Special". The full anime series, ''Lord El-Melloi II Case Files: {Rail Zeppelin} Grace Note'', began July 6th, 2019. A musical stage adaptation of the first novel had a short tour in Japan from December 2019 to January 2020. A [[UniverseCompendium material book]] was released at Winter Comiket 2019 before wider release in January 2020.
Set ten years after ''LightNovel/FateZero'', Waver Velvet has taken the title of his former master as Lord El-Melloi II and taken charge of the [[WizardingSchool Clock Tower]]'s Modern Magecraft department. However, his rise to "glory" has been compounded by resentment from other magi. Deals made have resulted in debts to be paid and often he is called in to [[OccultDetective solve problems]].
These are the ''[[TitleDrop Lord El-Melloi II Case Files]]''.
A sequel light novel series, ''The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II'' (ロード・エルメロイⅡ世の冒険), was announced in December 2019, with the first novel released in December 2020. It takes place several years later, after ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''.
----
!!''Case Files'' provides examples of:
* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects: Becomes particularly noticeable at some points, such as the car chase in episode 0, the wyverns pulling Faker's chariot, and the summoned Child of Einnashe in episode 12 which traps the Rail Zeppelin.
* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: The series was written from 2014 to 2019, but takes place in late 2003 and early 2004.
* AbusiveParents: Waver states in episode 2 that usually children of mages are seen more as possessions of their parents than people, and we see examples of this throughout the show. [[spoiler:Mary was willing to let her father die to gain freedom and Wills' father forced mystical eyes on his son to use as a tool for his workshop.]]
* AdaptationalContextChange: In the novel, Svin graduating to the rank of Pride was the culmination of his personal struggles with Beast Magecraft after fear of losing his sense of self due to the traumatic process of acquiring it. The anime shuffles several events around and omits Svin's backstory, so it's instead presented as a validation of Waver's teaching style.
* AdaptationDeviation: Although the first half of the anime is mostly anime-original and presumed to take place between books 3 and 4, some events get shuffled around or occur under different circumstances due to originally involving non-adapted material.
** In the books, Waver is told by Atrum Galliast at the end of the Iselma case that he has been passed over as one of the two Clock Tower masters for the Fifth Holy Grail War. Since Atrum and Iselma are not in the anime aside from a brief cameo, he is instead told by Reines.
** The party for Svin's ascension to Pride rank originally took place at the start of the Rail Zeppelin case rather than after.
** In the novels the Adra and Iselma cases are tied together to Rail Zeppelin by the BigBad's involvement as an enabler, whereas in ''Grace Note'', although the former technically happened offscreen, the events of episodes 0 and 3-5 are used as leadup for their overarching plans.
* AdaptationExpansion:
** The first volume opens with Gray recalling how Waver got into a fight with a stray cat, only to later find it injured in the road and so he nursed it until it passed away peacefully. The anime took what was only about half a page of dialogue and turned it into the plot of ''episode 0''.
** Episode 1 is a WholeEpisodeFlashback going into how Waver took on his former mentor's title and class, while also showing his life immediately after ''Zero''.
** The first half of the anime after episode 1 is original material set between volumes 3 and 4, which establishes relevant points from the skipped-over volumes 1-3 and sets the stage for the Rail Zeppelin arc in the second half.
** The Rail Zeppelin adaptation itself introduces a subplot with Kairi and Luvia [[spoiler:investigating who stole Iskandar's mantle]] at Reines' behest. Luvia didn't appear during this arc in the novels, and Kairi didn't appear in the novels at all. Kairi later recruits Flat and Svin for an assignment; like Luvia, they didn't feature during this arc in the novels.
* AdaptationalEarlyAppearance: Because of the anime's first half consisting of original content, characters like Yvette, Caules and Melvin are all introduced to the audience before the Rail Zeppelin arc, where they had all debuted in the novels. Trisha also has a silent EarlyBirdCameo, but not a proper introduction like the others.
* AdvertisedExtra: Flat and Svin in the anime. There are story arcs in the novels where they have larger roles, but in the anime adaptation of the Rail Zeppelin arc they're only involved in a subplot towards the end (and sit the whole thing out completely in the novels), so being so prominent in the advertising and opening is this.
* AerithAndBob: Names in the series vary from mundane like Melvin and Yvette to the more typical Nasuverse fare like Geryuon and Dr. ''Heartless''.
* AliensInCardiff: The Mage's Association is split up into various small cities and university towns near London, with the action primarily taking place in these cities and the countryside. The only exception is the final arc when [[spoiler:all the Lords of the Mage's Association have assembled in London to make a vote and, later on, Waver and Gray have to enter the deep labyrinths beneath the city.]]
* AllThereInTheManual: In Type-Moon tradition, ''Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Material'' came out some time after the series ended to elaborate on concepts and characters. This particular Material book is notable because part of it was written by Kinoko Nasu himself and goes over important details for the Nasuverse setting as a whole, like the history of the Mage's Association.
* AlternateSelf: This series being part of the ''Zero'' / ''stay night'' timeline, characters from other Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} series who show up here are this to their original versions (so Caules and Kairi aren't involved in Grail Wars like they were in ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'', since the outcome of the Third Grail War was different, and similarly the Animuspheres aren't involved in the upcoming Grail War, and so won't be as influential as they are in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', since there were four previous Grail Wars).
* AristocratsAreEvil: Magus society isn't mired in egregious classism and sociopathy so much as ''built'' on it. Waver, who was originally on the bottom rung of the ladder and was shoved into the role of Lord El-Melloi II, is one of the few exceptions to this rule.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Waver mentions that the tomb of Alexander the Great is located in Babylon, Iraq, when in real life he was (possibly) buried in Alexandria, Egypt (and prior to that, Memphis). [[note]] It should be stressed however that the location of the tomb of Alexander the Great is an enduring mystery in real life and that Babylon is just one of several proposed locations as mentioned by Nicholas J. Saunders.[[/note]]
* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Pick any non-Japanese mage, and there's a 90% chance their name is vaguely European-sounding nonsense.
* BackForTheFinale: Many of the [[GuestStarPartyMember Guest Star Party Members]] that participate throughout the series return in the penultimate and final books. Even the dead ones still have a role to play.
* BackToBackBadasses: A piece of official art for Episode 5 of the anime depicts [[https://twitter.com/jacomamire/status/1157674754930704384 Waver and Kairi]] doing this. [[OverlyNervousFlopSweat Waver looks nervous though.]]
* BazaarOfTheBizarre: The Rail Zeppelin arc revolves around the Mystic Eyes auction held onboard the titular train. They don't really care about any fighting amongst its potential bidders as long as it doesn't disturb anything related to the auction, and just to make sure the auction can stay ''interesting'', they regularly give away a few tickets every year to bring in new people for their consumer base.
* TheBeautifulElite: Being as status-conscious as they are, most magi try to project an image of aristocracy at its finest and most beautiful.
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: Inverted. Granted, the alternative was dying themselves, but Waver and Melvin are surprisingly blasé about the people they indirectly killed blowing up the dig site in episode 1, especially since it's implied many of the other diggers are there by force. Contrast with the present-day, where Waver begrudgingly accepts but also abhors how the magus lifestyle often puts innocents in harm's way.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: When he realizes he's in a TenLittleMurderVictims situation with a bunch of magi, Waver admits he's tempted to hang himself.
* BlindIdiotTranslation: Unfortunately the official Aniplex subtitles, while coherent, are often inaccurate. For example, several scenes have the characters coming off much more cold and insensitive than their actual dialogue suggests, while others will have inconsistent or outright erroneous spellings that contradict on-screen text. Each episode also has an English title taken directly from the dialogue, which Aniplex invariably translates differently.
* BodyDouble: [[spoiler:Iskandar's from back when he was alive is introduced during the Rail Zeppelin arc as a Servant in the "Faker" class, due to her abnormal summoning. Notably, she's a thin, beautiful woman despite Iskandar being LargeAndInCharge. Admittedly, her wearing [[Characters/FateGrandOrderRidersAToF his threads as a young adult]] helps a bit in [[ElCidPloy selling the illusion]].]]
* BotanicalAbomination: The Child of Einnashe, spawn of the murderous forest Dead Apostle, appears in the Rail Zeppelin arc as a roadblock for the train. Like its progenitor, it too is a sentient bloodsucking HiveMind forest and seeks to murder anyone who enters it. Unlike the original Forest of Einnashe, it only spawns once after one of Einnashe's seeds absorbs enough magical energy in the ground and immediately dies after using it all up. They also take on additional elements from the seed's time underground, the one seen in this series adding snow.
* BottleEpisode: Episode 6, where Reines, Gray, and Luvia are at a department store, clearly had a lot of its budget allocated to the upcoming Rail Zeppelin case episodes instead. A lot of the scenes are just panning still shots.
* BookEnds: Episode 1 ends with Waver looking out at Iskandar's dream, Okeanos. Episode 13 [[spoiler:has him there again as he speaks to Iskandar.]]
* {{Bowdlerise}}: In the original novel, Trisha wears a nazar amulet which looks really phallic, at least according to Gray. In the anime, they couldn't show that so her pendant is a small statue depicting a Buddha-like figure having sex with a woman to get the same reaction from Gray.
* BritainIsOnlyLondon: Averted; though parts of the series do take place in London, several of the novels take place in other areas of England. For example, the second and third novels are set in the area of Windermere, and the sixth and seventh novels are set in UsefulNotes/{{Wales}}.
* CallBack:
** In episode 1 Waver quotes Kayneth's words to him at the docks about the brutal nature of battles between magi when he challenges Barzan inside the tomb, then defies them by TakingAThirdOption and fleeing a battle he knows he can't win.
** In episode 6, Reines explains to Gray what she knows about the Grail War and Waver's involvement in it, [[spoiler:establishing the background for the theft of Waver's relic of Iskandar at the end.]]
** Adashino in episode 8 teases that the culprits of episode 3 and episodes 4-5 shared a sponsor.
** In episode 10, [[spoiler:while investigating who stole Waver's relic]], Kairi and Luvia visit Mary from episode 2. Mary and Trish discuss Olga-Marie's past amongst themselves.
** Music-wise there's a few nods to the soundtrack of ''Fate/Zero'', such as "''You were my king''", the remixed version of "''You are my king''" from ''Fate/Zero'' that plays when [[spoiler:Waver meets Rider in a dream]], and "''I have found something''", which is a remix of "''The dreams fade before dawn''".
* TheCameo:
** A noticeable aspect of the novels is that each arc features new original characters and then adds one or two canonical characters from other works in the {{Franchise/Nasuverse}}:
*** Luviagelita Edelfelt from ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'' in the first arc.
*** Flat Escardos from ''Literature/FateStrangeFake'', Touko Aozaki from ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' and ''VisualNovel/WitchOnTheHolyNight'', and Atrum Galiasta from Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks in the second arc.
*** Caules Forvedge from ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'' [[spoiler:(though not quite)]] and (a young) Olga-Marie Animusphere from ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' in the third arc.
*** Zepia Eltnam Oberon from ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood'' in the fourth arc.
** The anime adds even more:
*** Episode 1 begins with Iskandar and Gilgamesh's final battle in ''LightNovel/FateZero'', later on features Artoria standing over Kayneth and Sola's dead bodies, and near the end has Waver thinking of his younger self riding with Iskandar in the Ionioi Hetairoi, before cutting to the end of Iskandar and Gilgamesh's final battle.
*** Episode 3 features [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha Frankenstein]] and [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Charles Babbage]] on a poster in Caules's dorm room[[note]]Better yet, they were in fact part of a team during the ''FGO'' 2017 event “Dead Heat Summer Race”[[/note]], and [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Gordolf Musik]] (with his young design from ''Fate/Apocrypha Material'') arresting the villain of the week.
*** Episode 4 has Reines holding photos of [[VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia Bazett Fraga McRemitz]] and [[Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks Atrum Galliasta]], the two mages that the Association is sending to the upcoming Grail War.
*** Episode 6 sees Waver reading from a book that mentions Gilgamesh, [[TraumaButton which brings up a memory of him]] from ''LightNovel/FateZero''.
*** Episode 8 briefly shows [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha Fiore]] when Caules is recounting his history (see ForWantOfANail below).
*** Episode 10 has [[LightNovel/FateZero Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald]] himself, [[spoiler:inside Waver's fever dream.]]
*** Audio only, in episode 12: [[spoiler:When Gray unlocks Rhongomyniad's seals and Add calls out each seal in turn, [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Artoria]] [[Creator/AyakoKawasumi herself]] is speaking alongside Add with their voices overlapping.]] During this part in the novel, [[spoiler:the Knights of the Round Table whose seals were being released [[https://i.imgur.com/ghjD51y.jpg appeared around Gray]] instead.]]
*** Episode 13 offers another look at Kayneth, as Waver reflects on his predecessor's beginnings as a ChildProdigy, [[spoiler:and sees Waver dreaming of Iskandar at the end]].
*** Chardin, the substitute teacher for Waver's classroom, makes an appearance during Svin's graduation ceremony in episode 13.
* CharacterMagneticTeam: Given Waver's prestige as a Lord and his reputation for having one of the finest classrooms with unique, one-of-a-kind students like Flat and Gray to back it up, his department draws in the attention of various mages throughout the series.
* TheChurch: They serve as a rival organization to [[TheMagocracy The Mage's Association]] but aren't that prominent in this series.
* ClothingDamage: In the manga, being hit by the "song" of the beast of the Castle of Separation conveniently rips Waver's shirt open. He's unsurprisingly kinda scrawny.
* CluelessMystery: Most mysteries cannot be solved by an audience on the lookout for any conventional hints or clues. As Waver reiterates to his students, magic renders the usual questions of "who" (as suspects can be long dead and victims might not be dead at all) or "how" (as there are a multitude of different possible magecraft methods to achieve the same end) moot. Rather, it is the "why" (the motive) that is the key to solving Waver's missions as it influences all the other aspects previously mentioned.
* ContinuityNod:
** Waver uses scientific forensics to determine the victim's time of death at the Castle of Adra, similar to when he deduced the location of Caster's lair in ''Zero''. In a display of CharacterDevelopment, when Orlock calls him out for his reliance on such a mundane technique, rather than being ashamed he explains nonchalantly that it's simply [[BoringButPractical the system that works best for him]].
** In episode 3 Luvia mentions having been impressed by Lord El-Melloi II's skills at the Castle of Adra, which is a reference to the first case of the novel series that got skipped over for the anime adaptation.
** During episode 4 when Wills asks Waver about Hishiri he mentions having a past with her, [[AdaptationExplanationExtrication alluding to their meeting in the first novel where they were opposed to one another]].
** During the shopping montage in episode 6, Luvia gets embarrassed when Gray and Reines catch her hugging a teddy bear, just like the first time Gray and Waver caught her unawares in the Castle of Adra.
** Also in episode 6, when the girls get trapped in a Bounded Field, Gray and Luvia are reminded of Luvia getting trapped in a Bounded Field in the Castle of Separation (with Waver and Gray, although they don't mention that bit).
** In episode 8, Waver explains he's helping Olga Marie because of the lessons he learned from Iskandar in ''Zero''.
* CoolTrain: The Rail Zeppelin, a magic train linked to the underworld through ritual and expressly made with the intent of gathering Mystic Eyes. It was created by [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Rita Rozay-en]], though this detail is only mentioned in ''VisualNovel/WitchOnTheHolyNight''.[[note]]It's brought up in that because Touko Aozaki and Lugh [[NoodleIncident did something so terrible]] that the train got damaged, Rita abandoned it, and Touko got permanently banned with employees looking to kill her on sight if she ever comes near.[[/note]]
* DeadManWriting: Near the end of the series [[spoiler:Atrum (Caster's original master from ''stay night''), who had worked with Waver in an earlier case, sends him information that essentially starts with "If you're watching this I died in the Grail War."]]
* DeadPersonConversation: [[spoiler:Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald appears in Waver's coma-dream. In it, he's back at his classroom with Waver, serving to taunt the latter (immediately after his issues with Iskandar were badly shaken by "Hephaestion"). Admittedly, he is less malicious and more reasonably-stern, representing Waver's own self-challenges and [[DareToBeBadass daring him to strike back]] at them.]]
** A more heartwarming one occurs in the season finale, when [[spoiler:Waver, soundly asleep after the festivities of Svin's promotion, dreams of Okeanos and Iskandar awaiting him. Now content and confident, Waver/El-Melloi II demurs, [[IChoseToStay saying he still has his fights to settle]].]]
* DeadPersonImpersonation: A strange example where the person doing the impersonating is also dead. [[spoiler:Faker, the BigBad's Servant, claims to be Hephaestion, Iskandar's most trusted comrade and childhood friend. She's actually Hephaestion's sister, and was Iskandar's BodyDouble in life. To Waver's confusion she is not present in Iskandar's Ionioi Hetairoi even though someone as important to Iskandar as Hephaestion definitely would be, which is a clue that she's not who she says she is.]]
* DistractedByTheSexy: [[spoiler:Waver's group merely Projecting a near-perfect facsimile of the Princess of Gold for a few scant seconds forcibly shuts down all Magecraft from anyone exposed to it as they try to comprehend what they're seeing. The distraction lasts for several hours because of the memory of that sight continuing to occupy their minds.]]
* DontGoInTheWoods: This in the form of ''The Child of Einnashe'', spawn of the goddamn [[GeniusLoci sentient Dead Apostle forest]]. As you can imagine, those foolish enough to think fire was enough to kill it were instead killed via impalement.
* DramaticIrony:
** Waver makes reference to plans to go to Fuyuki City for the next Holy Grail War. The audience knows that he'll never make it in time.
** Waver says young people yet to discover their paths in life unnecessarily losing their lives is something he can't allow. Olga Marie Animusphere, the person he's telling this to, is notorious for her fate in the ''Fate/Grand Order'' timeline.
* DubInducedPlotHole: A pretty minor one that was probably the result of the dub script writer not being aware of the ForWantOfANail regarding Caules. In the original Japanese when Caules is describing how Fiore left home, he never says the name of his family, but in the English dub he specifically mentions [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha Yggdmillennia]]. The problem is, Yggdmillennia doesn't exist in this timeline - he's just Caules Forvedge here.
* DugTooDeep: It is revealed in volume eight that digging great depths underground can lead to the laws of physics being unstable down there because of Mystery and how humanity doesn't have much grip on what lies beneath. [[spoiler:The specific case for that volume is about a labyrinth which was dug by a dragon attempting to reach the Reverse Side of the world but died in the process. It was converted into a well of magical resources and foundation for the Clock Tower and the big debate is whether or not to excavate deeper to find more, with the nobles trying to put their foot down in fear of destroying and depleting their resources.]]
* EarlyBirdCameo:
** Trish Fellows appears in a non-speaking role with Mary in episode 2.
** Jean-Mario Supinerra can be seen on Waver's television in the manga after he returns from the Adra case.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Heine in the first novel, as Seigen is quick to admit.
-->'''Seigen:''' I'm not really into guys, but you're pretty enough that I'll make an exception.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Granted, the alternative was dying themselves, but Waver and Melvin are surprisingly blasé about the people they indirectly killed blowing up the dig site in episode 1, especially since it's implied many of the other diggers are there by force. Contrast with the present-day, where Waver begrudgingly accepts but also abhors how the magus lifestyle often puts innocents in harm's way.
* EvilCounterpart:
** The BigBad, Dr. Heartless, to Waver. [[spoiler:Both are obsessed with Iskandar and want to summon him, albeit for different reasons. Dr. Heartless also used to be the head of the Department of Modern Magecraft at the Clock Tower, which is the position that Waver now holds.]]
** Dr. Heartless's partner is one to [[spoiler:Iskandar. She's a "Faker"-class Servant who was his BodyDouble in life, the lightning that accompanies her is red instead of Iskandar's blue, and she rides a dark version of his Gordius Wheel chariot called Hecatic Wheel.]] She is also one to Gray, as [[spoiler:they were raised from a young age to be magical copies of a king, and in the finale Heartless even ends up using Faker to summon Iskandar just as Gray's village planned to use her to revive King Arthur.]]
* EyeScream: Just to remind us that Rail Zeppelin isn't supposed to be the usual friendly train ride, [[spoiler:the supernatural manager extracts the sellers' Mystic Eyes with their bare hands. Thankfully, they seem to be capable of doing it without damaging arteries/blood vessels (so no blood is shed), but it still can cause shock to the eyes' owner when done without warning.]]
* TheFairFolk: The subject of episodes 4 and 5, as the Marburry workshop harnesses their power.
* FairPlayWhodunnit: Defied. One ''cannot'' use deductive reasoning to determine mage mysteries, i.e. "howdunnit", because how each one operates is based on their individual magic, often to the point of suspending natural law itself in different ways. This is why Waver focuses on "whydunnit" instead.
* FanDisservice: Waver gets two {{Shirtless Scene}}s, but the first one takes place after he's horribly injured with a nasty-looking burn on his back, and in the second he's tied up with his magic crest stripped from his body as collateral.
* FanservicePack: [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners Touko Aozaki]]'s breasts are ''much'' more prominently [[NavelDeepNeckline displayed]] in this work than they've been in any other depiction of her. Though to be fair, it's her formal attire for a fancy dinner party. When she returns in the final case, she's dressed in a similar outfit to the one she wore in ''The Garden of Sinners''.
* FantasticCasteSystem: One's status in TheMagocracy is closely tied to how long one's family has been a part of it, as well as the quality and quantity of one's magical circuits. Waver would normally be relegated to the very bottom of the totem pole if it weren't for Reines' sponsorship.
* FictionalCounterpart: Carnac from episode 6 is the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrods Harrods department store]] with the name changed, a new interior among other things courtesy of Luvia, and a different history of owners as it's been in the hands of mages for several years. Though, if one looks closely enough at its exterior shot, Harrods' signature text is still there on the awnings with no edits for whatever reason. It was fixed in the blu-ray release.
* FictionalPoliticalParty: There are three political factions within the Clock Tower, all based on how they believe it should be run.
** The Barthomeloi faction, led by the titular Barthomeloi family which is the most powerful even amongst the Three Great Families, having control over the Faculty of Law and their head being one of the twelve Lords and the current director of the entire institution. They firmly believe that the aristocracy, with their great and long lineages, should control it. Nominally the El-Mellois are allied with them because of Kayneth's beliefs but his death and the way Waver's been running his classroom [[CategoryTraitor have put them on thin ice]].
** The Trambelio faction, centered around the Valueleta family, another one of the Three Great Families. They desire a democratic system and for magi to put talent above bloodlines. Not unreasonably, they seek to sway Waver/El-Melloi II to their side (being the best potential poster boy/proof-of-concept of their ideas), despite his nominal affiliation above.
** The neutral faction represented by the Meluastea which mainly just wants to focus on their research and could go either way; due to the large number of clans who have thrown their lot into this one, this vague position has led to a lot of internal strife with the Meluastea family only functioning as its face because more people flocked to them.
* FoeRomanceSubtext: From Adashino towards Waver, likely out of a desire to annoy him. She offers to dance with him at Adra before he brusquely turns her down, which she blames on his fixation with Iskander. In episode 4 of the anime Waver describes this incident as if it were a falling-out of some kind, and she later attempts to intimidate him in a [[NoSenseOfPersonalSpace hands-on manner]]. The ''Case Files'' Material Book describes her as the Irene Adler to Waver's Sherlock Holmes, two characters who are known to have this dynamic in [[{{Flanderization}} adaptations]], but also points out that [[ShipSinking nothing of that sort is going on between them here]].
* ForScience: Or magic, rather. The ultimate goal of magi and magus society, in general, is to reach the Root (which, for lack of a better description, can be thought of the magical equivalent of TheSingularity), and most magi are [[MadScientist happy to toss away anything resembling a conscience in pursuit of it]].
* ForWantOfANail:
** Caules' presence in later novels reveals that in the main ''Fate/stay night'' timeline where Darnic and Yggdmillenia did not rise in prominence, Fiore ran away from her responsibilities as a magus to live a normal life very early on in her life and Caules became the heir by default.
** [[VideoGame/MeltyBlood Zepia Eltnam Oberon]] explains in volume 6 that some kind of event occurring roughly around 300 AD is responsible for him and other individuals like Gransurg Blackmore not being [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Dead Apostle Ancestors]] in ''Fate'' timelines. The material book reveals that the battle between Zelretch and the Crimson Moon took place during 300 AD, though it doesn't give a hint on what might have gone differently to have caused the divergence.
** Marisbury Animusphere decided not to participate in the Grail War because he realized the Grail was corrupted and couldn't actually grant wishes, which means he never got the funds to start [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Chaldea]].
* ForegoneConclusion: Despite his efforts, Waver will miss out on the [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight fifth Holy Grail War]], on top of the fact that it's [[spoiler: officially the ''last'' Grail War]], turning his desire to enter it into a ShaggyDogStory. However, considering the merciless [[spoiler: and ultimately corrupted]] circumstances of the war, this means Waver and his students live to see another day as a result. [[spoiler:Ultimately, this is a moot point, as Waver decides he doesn't ''want'' to join anyway.]]
* FreezeFrameBonus: The anime shows [[spoiler:Rhongomyniad]] inside Add when he begins transforming into Gray's scythe. It's front and center on the screen, but small and for such a brief moment that it's likely to go by unseen.
* GirlsNightOutEpisode: Episode 6, which focuses on Gray, Reines and Luvia going shopping without Waver or the guys, Waver only appearing near the beginning and at the end.
* GratuitousEnglish:
** The "whydunnit" of cases is a recurring theme, complete with Engrishy pronunciation. Waver also sometimes swears in English when he's ''really'' upset.
** The manga adaptation will occasionally have characters say short words in English (stuff like "wow", or "phew", written in the Latin alphabet, not katakana), to remind the reader that [[TranslationConvention in-universe that's the language they're speaking.]]
* GreaterScopeVillain: In regards to Gray's story. [[spoiler:The person who started the plan to resurrect King Arthur, and thus the person responsible for Gray's situation, is heavily implied to be Morgan le Fay. The Material book plainly stating that Morgan created Add only adds to this implication. Though [[AmbiguouslyEvil how much of a "villain" Morgan was being here is left ambiguous]] as Waver has no idea why she would get involved with the cult.]]
* GuestStarPartyMember:
** Different characters from across various Type-Moon works join Waver in different story arcs, from famous ones like [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Olga Marie]] and [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners Touko Aozaki]] to the relatively obscure [[Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks Atrum Galliasta]]. Most come BackForTheFinale.
** The anime-original content even gets in on the fun with [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha Kairi Sisigou]] in episodes 4 & 5.
* [[HardOnSoftScience Hard on Soft Magecraft]]: Waver teaches what is the magic equivalent of the sociology of scientific knowledge, and it is received by many of Waver's colleagues [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_wars about as well]] as its mundane counterpart is by physicists.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Considering the nature of magic in Nasuverse, this happens frequently, especially to the culprits.
* HowWeGotHere: Episode 6 begins with Gray, Reines and Luvia trapped in a Bounded Field, and flashes back to explain how they ended up there.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Waver stands a full head and shoulders over Gray. She finds this very useful when she needs something to hide behind in awkward social situations.
* [[InconsistentDub Inconsistent Sub]]: The official subtitles translate the name of Olga Marie's father as "Maris Billy" in episode 13. This [[SpellMyNameWithAnS is a valid romanization]], but the official translations of both ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' and ''Anime/FateGrandOrderAbsoluteDemonicFrontBabylonia'' romanized his name as Marisbury. This is odd since all three were translated in-house by Aniplex, so it's not like ''Case Files'' had a different company translating it to explain the discrepancy.
* {{Interquel}}:
** The series as a whole is one for ''Fate/Zero'' and ''Fate/stay night'', taking place long after the events of ''Zero'' and starting just a few scant months before the next Holy Grail War begins. Nasu has gone on record that ''Case Files'' is directly canon to ''stay night'' with no AlternateTimeline hijinks whatsoever, while ''Zero'' remains in the territory of BroadStrokes in relation to ''stay night''. ''Case Files'' as a work gels with both stories but leans more towards ''stay night''.
-->'''Nasu''' (''Fate/strange fake'' vol. 1 afterword): ''If I dared to classify the differences between each of the works,'' Zero ''has "the same conditions" as'' Stay Night ''but the worlds are slightly different.'' Apocrypha ''is a world that was the same up to a point, but which is now completely different. The'' El-Melloi II Case Files ''is in exactly the same world however the thick Sanda Makoto atmosphere makes for a dense story of magecraft.''
** Episodes 2-6 of the anime take place between volumes 3 and 4 of the light novels, with episode 6 leading into the beginning of volume 4.
* LateArrivalSpoiler:
** The anime listing Adashino as a major character gives away a major plot twist in the Castle of Adra, namely that [[spoiler:she faked her death early on in the story by using a body double]].
** Gray being a Saberface and wielding [[spoiler:Rhongomyniad]] were TheReveal of the climax to the Adra novel, but the anime and ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' revealed them without too much fanfare. These days they're probably [[ItWasHisSled what people know the most about the series.]]
* LivingWeapon: [[spoiler:Add, Gray's chatty Mystic Code, which can transform into a SinisterScythe, among [[MorphWeapon other forms]].]]
* MadEye: [[spoiler:Sir Kay has one.]]
* MagiBabble: Waver frequently exposits what exactly a ritual is meant to convey right down to the smallest detail, primarily as a means to figure out the culprit's motive and method.
* MagicalEye: There are at least several different kinds of what are called Mystic Eyes, which is rather fitting since most appeared in an auction that focuses on said eyes. The most special of them are ranked as "Gold", "Jewel", and "Rainbow" for their one of a kind abilities and are especially sought after at the auction.
* TheMagocracy:
** Most Magi in the {{Franchise/Nasuverse}} are sociopaths, and here is no exception. Most of the series is devoted to examining the multiple facets of modern magus society and their politics.
** ''Case Files Material'' mentions that a fair number of magi have wormed themselves into formal governments around the world in order to help keep magecraft a secret.
* {{Masquerade}}: Because anything supernatural is literally weakened the more people know about its inner workings or even just its existence in certain cases, the Clock Tower has a vested interest in making sure they can clamp down on any potential exposure to the regular world.
* MoralityPet: Several of Waver's students are what keep him grounded.
* MugglesDoItBetter: Waver is able to hold his own in the cutthroat world of magi despite his own lacking magecraft ability because of his willingness to make use of non-magical methods and technologies like cars.
* MyopicArchitecture: In episode one of the anime, Waver and Melvin are locked up in a jail cell with a magic-proofed door. Waver proceeds to blow the hinges out of the walls and push the door open.
* MythologyGag:
** This version of [[VideoGame/MeltyBlood Zepia]], who goes by ''Atlasia'' instead of Oberon in this continuity, retains his trademark "KATTO" catchphrase.
** Caules uses electricity magecraft, a nod to his Servant in ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'', Frankenstein, having electrical powers. One of his spells is even named Crafted Tree, an obvious out-of-universe reference to Frankenstein's Noble Phantasm, Blasted Tree (though it's a coincidence and not a reference in-universe, since Caules and Fran never met in this timeline).
** In episode 3, Waver gets exasperated and grabs Flat's face and lifts up his body off the ground with one hand in a NeckLift variant. (Luvia calls this the "Iron Claw") This is a CallBack to their first appearance in ''Literature/FateStrangeFake''.
** Kairi striking up a good enough relationship with Gray (even [[TakingTheBullet shielding her from a Black Dog's attack]]) will be no surprise for everyone who knows he plays well enough with [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha somebody affiliated]] to the legend of Myth/KingArthur.
** The Reinforcement spell Kairi casts on the book he's holding to to protect him from the first Black Dog attack creates a neon pattern identical to the one Shirou's produces.
** Kairi's mention of someone in his family who liked fairy stories is an allusion to his backstory in ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha''.
** Underneath all the jewels that Luvia decked it out in, the pharaoh statue in episode 6 is wearing [[Anime/FatePrototype Ozymandias]]'s outfit (albeit closer in design to his [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Third Ascension]]).
** The Forest of Einnashe from the short story ''Talk'', a sequel to ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'', appears during the Rail Zeppelin arc. Though to be specific it's a child forest of the one from ''Talk'' and not the exact same one.
** When Waver and Trisha discuss the memory-based mechanics of the Holy Grail and why Waver's dream is an impossibility, she mentions the theoretical case of a unique Singularity or a Reality Marble that ''would'' allow Servants to retain their memories between summons. In short, she's describing the [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Chaldea system]].
** In episode 8, Waver muses on adapting [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners Touko Travel]] to help escape the Rail Zeppelin. This becomes a ChekhovsGun in episode 12, [[spoiler:explaining how Reines and the real Caules make it to the Rail Zeppelin]].
** During her discussion on Mystic Eyes in Episode 11, Adashino mentions the [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Mystic Eyes of]] [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners Death Perception]] as one of the rarest and highest-level kinds.
** When Gray chooses [[spoiler:to unleash a larger portion of Rhongomyniad's power in Episode 12, it is revealed it also has thirteen seals limiting its power (apart from Add's presence/system) -- much like [[Anime/FatePrototype Excalibur Proto]]. The invocation is even near similar to how Myth/KingArthur's playable unit in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' does it[[labelnote:quote]]''"Seal Thirteen, decision start!"''[[/labelnote]].]]
** In episode 13, Olga Marie muses that if the Greater Grail had met her father's expectations, surely his dream would have been realized... [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder but that is a world and time unknown to her]].
** Waver asks Olga Marie for a ley-line map to check a theory of his, and she produces a device with an interface very reminscent of the Chaldea Terminal from VideoGame/FateGrandOrder
** In the Special Episode Gray's big attack includes a pose and zoom-in on her face that's pretty much identical to the iconic shot of Saber using Excalibur against Gilles de Rais' sea creature in ''Fate/Zero''.
* NoHeroToHisValet: Although she respects his teaching abilities, Gray is not terribly impressed by her master on a day-to-day basis and finds him to be a bit ridiculous.
* NostalgiaFilter: Kairi Sisigou implies this is the sickness of most people dealing with the supernatural/otherworldly (such as the Codlingtons' link with fairies, and even Waver's lingering obsession with the Holy Grail War). It's understandable for him to say this, being a Necromancer and all. According to him:
--> A guy captivated by the dead is troublesome. The dead stay by the side of the living and always drag them towards the past. Even Servants in the Holy Grail War are surely part of the dead.
** [[{{Irony}} Ironically]], of course, despite supposedly not knowing Waver's experience/obsession, we already saw Kairi be confronted by this very same obsession and tragic dream--in [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha another timeline]].
* OccultDetective: InvertedTrope. A normal Occult Detective uses mysticism to solve cases for {{muggles}}. Waver uses deduction to solve cases for TheMagocracy. He's just as much of a pariah for this, though.
* AnOddPlaceToSleep: Waver apparently prefers sleeping on sofas to beds. He also falls asleep instantly while sitting up at one point, and Gray gets annoyed that sleep management is the only magus skill he's actually good at using.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Angels in magecraft are based on a concept and are essentially 'vessels of power', anything that's ambiguous in nature and used for magic. Waver explains that it's the ''concept'' of how angelic power works that attracts mages and not their message.
* PetTheDog: Gray tells a story at the beginning of the first volume about why she's loyal to Waver even though by mage standards he's considered pretty much worthless: there was a stray cat which had got on his nerves, but then it was hit by a car, so he brought it home, fed it painkilling herbs, took care of it until it died, and [[DueToTheDead dug its grave and buried it]].
** The adaptation of this particular story, ''episode 0'', develops this a bit further by turning the cat into [[spoiler:an innocent casualty of what turned out to be a botched assassination attempt against Waver. That Waver would go to great lengths to not only capture the culprit, but also to (in the words of his students) "avenge" the cat says a lot about him--in sheer contrast to how many mages treat animals (and as will be later shown, [[PoweredByAForsakenChild even humans]]) as disposable resources at best.]]
* PostModernMagik:
** This is literally Waver's field of study--or rather Modern Magecraft Theory, much of which is focused upon the reconciliation of magecraft with modern scientific theory. The foundations of Modern Magecraft Theory, in which power is derived from arbitrary and selective use of symbols imbued with sociocultural meaning over the holistic belief systems they belong to, are quite similar to the real-life practice of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_magic Chaos Magic(k)]]. And like real academic fields influenced by postmodern thought, [[HardOnSoftScience it's not especially well-regarded by many of Waver's colleagues]].
* PrestigePeril: Making a working-class, underpowered magus like Waver a provisional Lord in TheMagocracy makes him a massive target for {{Klingon Promotion}}s and political exploitation.
* PromotedToLoveInterest: Somewhat. The anime included a lot of ShipTease between Gray and Waver, as well as generally implying the former has feelings for the latter, but this is all absent in the novels. Scenes in the canonical ''Rail Zeppelin'' part of the adaptation were even added to make it so. However, the novels make it quite clear that Gray's feelings towards her mentor are ''not'' romantic, and their teacher-student relationship could at best get closer to father-daughter. [[WordOfGod The author himself]] notes in the side material that their close relationship isn't romantic in nature.
* RealPlaceBackground: The anime recognizably depicts Druid Street, where Waver is mentioned to live in the light novels. His favorite teashop is even a [[https://www.comptoirgourmand.co.uk/ real]], [[https://goo.gl/maps/vTxxWBSnQ9BgwSCM9 recognizable]] local place, which even seems to do a similar sandwich (the Rustique Brie Baguette) to the one Waver was about to enjoy before Reines ruined one of his life's few pleasures. Naturally, it's been visited by at least one cosplayer. Waver's block of flats also seems to be roughly based on one in the neighborhood, with some details changed.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Hephaestion[[spoiler:/Faker]] delivers a scathing one against Waver, claiming that for such a RidiculouslyAverageGuy like him (by mage standards at least), he disgraces Iskandar by being his previous Master, and that he has no right to even claim being his subject (i.e. [[PretenderDiss being counted amongst the Ionioi Hetairoi]]). While Waver's clearly shaken by this (plus all his issues), it doesn't prevent him from remembering that Hephaestion herself [[SpottingTheThread was never even amongst the Hetairoi]] [[RedHerring when it was deployed]] during ''LightNovel/FateZero''.
* {{Revision}}: Remember those magic furnaces and evil spirits that Kayneth had as part of his initial setup in the hotel from ''LightNovel/FateZero''? Turns out those weren't actually his, as the furnaces were on loan from other aristocrats and the spirits were actually ''embezzled'' from his department, making them yet another thing that Waver has to clean up as El-Melloi II.
* SeparatedByACommonLanguage: Gray takes note that, despite being born and raised English, Waver insists on using the term apartment instead of flat for [[Literature/FateStrangeFake some mysterious reason that absolutely has nothing to do with his most troublesome student]].
* SeriousBusiness: Episode 3 has Waver go into London's sewers to deal with gigantic electrified rabbit familiars and shut down a more powerful mage's workshop, all because a side effect of said mage's research had shut down Waver's favorite teashop.
* ShadowArchetype: The final antagonist of the series, Dr. Heartless, [[spoiler:has a similar obsession with Iskandar akin to Waver's, only he wreaks far more havoc in his goal to summon him, unlike Waver who was planning to use the next Holy Grail War to meet him.]]
* ShipTease: Though the ''Case Files'' Material Book describes Gray's feelings towards Waver as [[PlatonicLifePartners strictly master-pupil]], ''Grace Note'' applies a bit of AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul to add heavier romantic undertones.
** After the resolution of the Codrington storyline in the anime, Shishigou warns Gray to protect Waver from giving into his [[TogetherInDeath worst impulses]], telling her that Waver "needs" her, which causes her to blush in surprise.
** In the novel, Trisha demonstrates her precognitive ability by warning Waver to catch Caules' teapot mid-fall. The anime's version of this scene amps it up by having him catch a carsick Gray.
** When Gray catches Waver falling asleep, the novel version treats her reaction as one of curiosity and Add's teasing her to kiss him as just that. Episode 13 has her give Waver an [[BeautifulDreamer ambiguous longing look]] instead, so the same comment comes off as less of a baseless joke and more of a [[EveryoneCanSeeIt tongue-in-cheek observation]].
** A running subplot throughout the anime is Gray's desire to show Waver her appreciation with a gift, only to be [[MomentKiller interrupted repeatedly]]. One of those occasions has her attempt to offer it in response to Waver's despair at not being remembered by loved ones, and at the end [[spoiler:she's rewarded for her troubles with [[WhenHeSmiles a rare heartfelt smile]] from him and his asking her to remain by his side, causing her to [[TearsOfJoy cry in happiness]]]].
* ShoutOut:
** The intro is done deliberately in a style that calls to mind live-action DetectiveDrama shows such as the BBC's ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''.
** William Blake's ''[[https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/blake-oberon-titania-and-puck-with-fairies-dancing-n02686 Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing]]'' can be seen on the wall of Wills' office in the anime, while a large copy of ''Alexander Cuts the Gordian Knot'' is in Waver's apartment in the manga.
** Early on in the manga Flueger namedrops his time in London as being like something out of ''Literature/HarryPotter''.
** Well-known British shows ''Series/{{Teletubbies}}'' and ''Series/RedDwarf'' can be seen on Waver's television in the manga after he returns from the Castle of Adra.
** One ImagineSpot in the manga features Waver dressed as WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd.
** ''Case Files'' official materials state that Rufleus is [[ComicBookFantasyCasting based off of]] Creator/ChristopherLee's Saruman from ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings''.
* ShowWithinAShow: Jean-Mario Supinerra runs a cooking show that has an eccentric gimmick in the form of fending off zombies while cooking.
* ShroudedInMyth: Even in a mystical society, there are some things that are just regarded as flights of fancy for most mages. One such example are the Rainbow-ranked Mystic Eyes, which are the best of the best in terms of abilities, with the only known rumor of their existence being that someone in the Far East miraculously has the ones corresponding to Death Perception.
* SickEpisode: Waver's badly injured in episode 8, which puts him out of action for episode 9 and leaves the other characters to pick up the plot.
* SimultaneousArcs: The final battle of this series happens on the same night that Shirou summons Saber in ''Fate/stay night''. The act of Saber being summoned [[spoiler:gives Gray a power boost while also [[LockedIntoStrangeness turning part of her hair blonde]].]]
* SinisterScythe: Gray's signature weapon [[spoiler:which is actually an alternate form of Rhongomyniad, Artoria's Holy Spear]].
* SniffSniffNom: Waver tests some mysterious powder that Reines found at the scene of a murder this way. She asks if he's insane or was a dog in a past life or something, even though he claims to have figured out what it is by tasting it.
* SomethingAboutARose: Heine shows off his magical abilities by conjuring roses into his fellow guests' hands, so the manga has some panels of them posing attractively with them. The shot of Waver looking [[LongHairedPrettyBoy especially pretty]] with a rose held up to his face shows up again a couple chapters later... probably because it's so pretty.
* SpottingTheThread: Waver doesn't recognize Hephaestion; she was not in Ionioi Hetairoi despite the fact that someone that important to Iskandar definitely should be. [[spoiler:She wasn't there because she's ''not'' Hephaestion.]]
** With all the madness happening around him in the ''Rail Zeppelin'' case, it takes him a significant amount of time to realise that the [[spoiler:"Caules" who has been working with him was actually an imposter]].
* StrongGirlSmartGuy: Waver has absolutely ''no'' aptitude for combat, physical or magical. Thus it's Gray, who's a bit self-conscious about not taking to magical theory as quickly as she should, who has to fight his battles for him.
* SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic: This is Waver's specialty; he can analyze and predict magic--who casts it, how it works, what it will do. This ''horrifies'' other magi because it is believed that this removes its Mystery and will weaken it more.
* SuperpowerfulGenetics: The capacity for magecraft is tied to a pseudo-nervous system of "magic circuits," the quality and quantity of which are genetically determined. Although these can be cultivated into elaborate networks called "magic crests" and passed on to someone else, such crests are subject to transplant rejection and thus can only be safely transferred to blood relatives. Thus, most magi typically cultivate magecraft less through self-improvement and more through [[SuperBreedingProgram eugenics and grooming heirs to their family's magic crest]].
* SupportingProtagonist: Although Waver is the series's main character, the story usually follows the point of view of his personal apprentice, Gray. The anime-original material, however, takes a third-person perspective, and includes scenes where Gray's not present.
* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: The written English shown throughout the anime is grammatically correct and coherent in what it's conveying, with the only real error being the spacing between apostrophes is unusually large.
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Kayneth and Sola-ui's sudden deaths in the [[LightNovel/FateZero 4th Holy Grail War]] caused a power vacuum in his family because there was nobody in a good position to become family head. The only candidate, his niece, was neither old enough or skilled enough, so she forces Waver Velvet to be adopted into the family and act as her "regent" until she can take over. She also forces Waver to assume the family's multimillion dollar debts that arose during the Grail War fallout. The other major mage houses don't appreciate a commoner leading one of the most prestigious families, and seek to diminish his influence or even assassinate him.
** Although Waver has gotten stronger since the 4th Grail War, he isn't all that good of a Magus because he lacks the innate benefits a long-running Mage family would have. In stark contrast to his views before the Grail War, he admits that while training can make one better, it is very difficult and nearly impossible to outright beat a system where "older is better" is the core fundamental rule. At the same time, Waver's more modern look at the world means he can see things that the older, more traditional factions cannot because they are stuck in their old ways.
** While Waver had the happiest ending of all the Masters in the Grail War, he still saw a lot of horrific things and nearly died several times during it, and is haunted by the loss of his Servant Rider. As a result, he's developed a few {{Trauma Button}}s: he is unable to look at Gray's face because her IdenticalGrandson appearance to Artoria reminds him of his failure in the war, whenever he is asked about his time in it, he often ignores the conversation because he is fairly sensitive about what happened, and whenever something reminds him of it, like reading about Gilgamesh, he zones out for similar reasons.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial:
** When Gray recognizes a plushie for a character on an [[SugarBowl incredibly saccharine]] children's show, she is very quick to assure the reader she's only heard about the show second-hand, she totally does not set her schedule around it, and she most certainly doesn't want the plushie for herself.
** Lord El-Melloi II refuses to call his home a "flat", instead using "apartment" despite this not being common in British English. This has nothing to do with having emotions regarding the name "[[Characters/FateStrangeFake Flat.]]"
* TenLittleMurderVictims: This is essentially the plot of Volume 1.
* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler:Subverted in Episode 2; the victim killed himself as part of a plan to become immortal, but the ritual was flawed, leaving him short of his goal, seeking to extend his existence.]]
* TragicDream: Waver was never able to get back into the Holy Grail War and see his King Iskandar again.
* {{Troll}}: Reines readily admits that she loves nothing more than fucking with people, ''especially'' Waver, and watching them squirm. Appointing him as the provisional El-Melloi II was less an act of benevolence than it was just a way to make his life [[ItAmusedMe entertainingly difficult]] and ruffle TheMagocracy's feathers.
* UnlimitedWardrobe:
** Rather than only having one outfit that they wear for the entire series, everyone gets new clothes for each new case. And not just the main cast, even side characters like Touko and Inorai get a change of clothes between appearances.
** Gray takes this a step further by also having a new outfit for her appearance in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', as opposed to Waver and Reines who use preexisting designs in that game.
* WeakButSkilled: One of the bases on which Modern Magecraft works. What it loses in the power granted by mystery, it gains in aggregate from the collective and targeted knowledge of practitioners. Waver himself puts this into practice, having a poor bloodline and Magic Circuits, but able to combine basic spells with his strong analytical skills to great effect. Likewise, not all of his students are from equally prestigious bloodlines, but he has fostered an exceptionally high number of magical geniuses by tutoring them on how to use their specific magecraft to its best extent.
* WhamEpisode: Episode 8/volume 4: [[spoiler:A Servant is somehow summoned outside the Grail War, she's dressed in clothes heavily reminiscent of Iskandar's, and she even has a copy of Iskandar's Gordius Wheel.]]
* WhamLine: The end of the Rail Zeppelin arc features a familiar incantation for fans of ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' and ''Anime/FatePrototype'':
--> '''Add:''' [[spoiler:[[TheGlovesComeOff Seal Thirteen. Decision, start.]]]]
* WhamShot: Gray's hood falling off when she fights in episode 2, revealing that her hairstyle is identical to Artoria's. The novel goes a step further by having this reveal happen alongside her using [[spoiler:Rhongomyniad]] for the first time.
* TheWildHunt: The anime has an artificial one which is the focus of episodes 4-5.
* WizardingSchool: The Clock Tower is one. Ironically, [[PiratesWhoDontDoAnything very little actual teaching occurs]] there outside of Waver's department, as magi are very protective of their ideas (and also don't believe education does much to improve magical ability). Instead, lecturers usually use classes as a smokescreen to scout prospective research assistants or [[MadScientist subjects]].
* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: The second and third novels revolve around the Gold and Silver Princesses, said to be the most beautiful people in the world. They're not a natural phenomenon; magic is often used to create them.
* {{Yonkoma}}: There are several [[{{Omake}} bonus comics]] in a magazine, with humorous anecdotes like Luvia playing with hand puppets.
* YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: Olga Marie realizes Waver just addressed her using her first names, rather than using "Animusphere" or "the Lord's daughter" as he'd been doing. Waver tells her it's because he needs her in order to win against his enemy.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: What eventually appears to be the central theme/tragedy of the Marburry Workshop in Episode 4-5--and thus, by extension, its heir Wills Pelham Codrington. [[spoiler:Having been made a key component of the Workshop through his Mystic Eyes (and having [[MayflyDecemberRomance fallen in love with one of the Fairies]] it summoned), the only way to heal the breach between the fairy world and the human world would be to cross over. Waver seeks to prevent him, to no avail.]]
!!''Adventures'' provides examples of:
* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: While the first volume released in December 2020, the story is set somewhere around 2007.
* TheBusCameBack: In a meta sense. This is the first time Mikiya and Mana have been in pretty much anything since the ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' films ended.
* TheCameo: The sequel series doesn't seem to be letting up on the cameos any time soon either:
** Shirou doesn't appear in person, but he is mentioned by Luvia who says that she plans on using the time that Rin is away from the Clock Tower to lure him over to her side.
*** Taiga Fujimura is also mentioned but Flat calls her by her [[HatesBeingNicknamed hated nickname]] ''Tiger''.
** The very last thing in the first volume is Mikiya (referred to with Shiki's family name, as "Ryougi Mikiya") and Mana from ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' receiving a letter from Touko, setting up for a bigger role in volume 2.
* CanonWelding: The appearances of Mikiya and his daughter in ''Adventures'' volume 1 seemingly establishes ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' as a direct part of the ''Fate/stay night'' multiversal chronology, as there was no established indication in prior works that the two could be connected (unless one counts Touko reminiscing about her time in the Clock Tower with her fellow students Cornelius Alba and Souren Araya in ''Case Files'' volume 2); it'd been previously implied that ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' was the predecessor.[[note]]Normally, ''Fate'' and ''Tsuki'' timelines are incompatible, with ''Literature/FateStrangeFake'' being a notable exception.[[/note]]
* ContinuityNod:
** Rin says that the big jewel spell she used on Tangere was strong enough to take out one of Berserker's lives, referring to their fight in the forest in Fate route.
** Waver recalls his conversation with Shirou in the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' anime.
** Reines mentions the time that Luvia and Rin fell off the Tower of London and were saved by Shirou, which was first mentioned in ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'' when a Luvia from an alternate timeline called Rin.
*** In volume 5 Flat calls Waver to say he and Shirou are about to go to Van-Fem's casino, which seems to be a nod to that same scene from ''Hollow Ataraxia'', where we also learned that Shirou and Luvia investigated that casino together.
** Wuzhiqi, a ''Xian'', namedrops Yu Mei-ren from ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' at one point, also a ''Xian''.
** In the second volume Rin laments not having a copy of her family's Jeweled Sword on hand, since she feels powerless going up against Servant-level foes like Wuzhiqi and Bai Ruolong without it.
* TheGhost:
** [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners Shiki Ryougi]] is mentioned by Mikiya during the 2nd volume of ''The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II'' and is even referenced every now and then, but doesn't physically appear in-person as it's stated that she's away from home due to personal reasons during the events of the book.
** Shirou has also been mentioned a few times but has yet to appear, though Flat waiting for him at the end of volume 5 seems to be a tease that he'll finally show up in person.
* {{Interquel}}: Serves as one to ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' for Mikiya and Mana, as their appearance here is before their own series' DistantFinale.
* ResignationsNotAccepted: Luvia and Reines discuss this during an interlude in the first novel. If Waver were to quit being Lord El-Melloi II, on that very day, hitmen will get a flood of commissions to kill him since it would no longer be politically inconvenient to do so.
* SdrawkcabAlias: While infiltrating some pirates in Singapore Gray calls herself "Yarg". After their cover is blown (though due to Waver, not because of Gray's alias), Waver tells her to pick something better next time.
* SequelGoesForeign: After the first series took place exclusively in Great Britain, ''Adventures'' is in Singapore for the first arc, Tokyo for the second, and Egypt for the third. The ending of volume 5 seems to be setting up Monaco next.
* ShoutOut:
** Waver steps through a wall to access Singapore's mass transit system for mages, and then the explanation namedrops [[Literature/HarryPotter King's Cross station platform 9¾]] just in case it was too subtle a reference.
** Ergo [[spoiler:follows up using Sun Wukong's Noble Phantasm that pins the opponent in space by turning his Phantom Hands into a drill that pierces them and tears open a hole in the pinned space, like something out of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''.]]
** The title of the first volume is a reference to ''Blue Man: The Man Who Ate God'' by Hideyuki Kikuchi, which Sanda acknowledges in his afterword.
* ThirdOptionAdaptation: According to Makoto Sanda's afterword in volume 1, ''Adventures'' does not directly follow any of the ''stay night'' routes but instead follows an original route, and will lead into the dismantling of the Holy Grail that has been discussed on occasion in other works but never properly seen.
* TimeSkip: ''Adventures'' picks up a few years after ''Case Files'' ends. As Rin is said to be about 20 years old, that means it takes place about 3 years later, in 2007.
* TranslatorMicrobes: Waver and Gray wear magical translation pendants while in Japan, since Waver only has a very basic grasp of Japanese and Gray doesn't understand any. Ergo doesn't need to bother because he learns languages at an incredibly rapid rate.
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