History VisualNovel / FateStayNight

A PS Vita port of ''Realta Nua'' has recently been announced, with high resolution graphics and a new opening animated by {{ufotable}}. The Japanese release date is set to be the 29th of November.

A PS Vita port of ''Realta Nua'' has recently been announced, with high resolution graphics and a new opening animated by [[ufotable]]. The Japanese release date is set to be the 29th of November.

* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: He went from [[HeroicArchetype Emiya]] [[TheIdealist Shirou]] to [[AntiHero Archer]].

* BodyHorror:

''Fate/stay night'' opens with Shirou, the near-{{ordinary high school student}} who happens to know a little bit of magic from his late father, a retired mage. Shirou is the sole survivor of a terrible fire that destroyed his hometown -- the site of the last Holy Grail War. He desperately wants to be a hero to overcome his {{survivor guilt}}, but as the events unfold and he gets sucked into the current Holy Grail War, he learns that {{heroes}} are only heroes when people die. Can he be a hero and still maintain his gentle nature? How holy can this Holy Grail be, if so many die over it?

''Fate/stay night'' is a PC {{Eroge}} VisualNovel created by the company Type-Moon, and is set in the NasuVerse, an overarching MultiVerse franchise which includes ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' and ''Literature/KaraNoKyoukai''. The game [[MultipleEndings has three different storylines]]: "''Fate''", which focuses on Saber, "''Unlimited Blade Works''", which focuses on Rin and Archer, and "''Heaven's Feel''", which focuses on Sakura.

* The {{anime}} adaptation has been created by StudioDEEN, a different company than the {{anime}} of ''[[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Shingetsutan Tsukihime]]''. It's the ''Fate'' route with some extra material added in to make the series fill out 24 episodes. This is used to give more attention to characters who are pushed to the background in the ''Fate'' route. Some of these are semi-original, like Archer's fight with Berserker, which wasn't seen in the {{visual novel}}, and some are directly lifted from other routes. For example, an arc loosely based on ending of the ''Heaven's Feel'' scenario was added in order to give Caster, her associates and Sakura more attention. Overall, it basically takes an approach similar to ''Shingetsutan Tsukihime'' but with far less mangling of the story.

* A second {{manga}} also exists titled ''[[Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA ILLYA]]''. Unlike the first manga, this one features an {{alternate universe}} storyline with Ilyasviel, ''FateStayNight'' resident {{enfante terrible}}, as the main character... oh, and she's a {{magical girl}}, complete with [[EmpathicWeapon a talking staff named Ruby]]. Ilya has to help Rin recover [[Manga/CardcaptorSakura 'Class Cards']], magical artifacts with the powers of the Servants. It's starts off as an {{affectionate parody}}, both of ''FateStayNight'' and {{magical girl tropes}} in general, but [[CerebusSyndrome gets more serious later.]] Still, it ''is'' very funny, intersperses this with largely random moments of awesome, and is very nearly worth it just so you can catch all the ''Fate/stay night'' [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/fate_kaleid_liner_prisma_illya/v01/c001/34.html references]].

* Furthermore, there are three more {{video game}}s:

** It also tends to use end-of-volume bonus stories to expand on various scenes, most often for humorous effect; showing the details of the [[CurbStompBattle 'duel']] between Saber and Taiga, telling the backstory behind the clothing Rin gives to Saber, a pre-War scene in the archery club with Shirou, Sakura, and Shinji that actually goes a long way towards explaining why anyone on Earth would ''want'' to be [[SmugSnake Shinji's]] friend...

** The {{anime}} touches on elements from the {{visual novel}}, such as Archer's identity, Ilya's parentage, and Sakura's relationship with Rin, without actually providing its own explanations. In order to understand certain elements from the {{visual novel}}, in turn, you may have to reference a published extra called ''Fate/side material''.

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

** Also shown, to a lesser extent, in the ''Fate'' route. [[spoiler:[[BittersweetEnding Except it doesn't last]].]]

* ArtisticLicense - [[spoiler:King Arthur is a girl (WordOfGod indicates the sexes of the two main characters -- Saber and Emiya -- were swapped during the development). Cú Chulainn has blue hair and red eyes. Medusa is a purple-haired mythological hero, and uses Bellerophon, the name of the greek mythological hero who rode the Pegasus, as reins for controlling magical beasts. Herakles is a nine-foot-tall monster, Medea has elf ears and a Noble Phantasm with a tenuous mythological foundation at best, and Hassan-i Sabbah looks like a black-skinned freakish cripple without a face. Gilgamesh suffers from PhenotypeStereotype and wears a full plate, a form of armour that post-dates his existence by almost four thousand years.]] WordOfGod establishes that not everything about the Heroic Spirits' backgrounds is true, and some parts may have even been lost to time.

* AttackAttackAttack - Used by [[spoiler:Shirou on Gilgamesh and it worked quite well. Since both are owners of virtually unlimited weapons but neither are masters of any of those weapons, it becomes a battle of AttackAttackAttack. Even though Gilgamesh's weapons are stronger than Shirou's, within the boundaries of "Unlimited Blade Works" Shirou can pull out weapons faster than Gilgamesh, allowing him the decisive blow when a frustrated Gilgamesh decides to take the extra time to try to pull out [[InfinityPlusOneSword Ea]]. It really helps that Gil is extremely arrogant and refuse to fight "mere trash" seriously until it was too late.]]

** In ''Heaven's Feel'', [[spoiler:Rider saves Shirou twice in this fashion (first against True Assassin, next against Dark Sakura).]]

** ''Fate'' and {{Anime}}: [[spoiler:Shirou DidNotGetTheGirl but decides that life goes on. Ilyasviel survives, but probably won't live more than a few years (at best) due to her being a homunculus.]]

** ''Heaven's Feel'' [[MultipleEndings True End]]: [[spoiler:Shirou gets the girl, but hundreds of people have died as a result of him saving her.]]

* BodyHorror:

** Whilst Mana Transfer can be ... [[DeusSexMachina pleasant]] if you're the hero, [[spoiler:Gilgamesh]] is [[PoweredByAForsakenChild powered by forsaken children]] undergoing BodyHorror [[AndIMustScream over about 10]] ''[[AndIMustScream years]]''.

* [[spoiler:BrainwashedAndCrazy - Saber as of manga Volume 8.]]

** Shirou and Saber by virtue of [[GoodThingYouCanHeal outrageous self-healing which can revive someone from the brink of death]].
** Shirou once more by virtue of a [[ItOnlyWorksOnce single-use]] revival magic cast on him by Rin.

* DidIJustSayThatOutLoud

* DoorStopper - The {{visual novel}} is about a million words long in English.

* DroppedABridgeOnHim - Given how many characters there are, this was always inevitable.
** ''Unlimited Blade Works'': [[spoiler:Rider dies anticlimactically, off-screen, to Kuzuki and Caster]].
** ''Heaven's Feel'': [[spoiler:Assassin dies almost instantly as True Assassin is summoned. Lancer and Caster may also count, although Caster's Rule Breaker is still an important element, and Gilgamesh succumbs quickly from {{The Worf Effect}} against Dark Sakura]].

** Apparently {{averted}} with [[spoiler:Saber Alter, who dies wordlessly in the main story. Depending on how you interpret the BadEnd choice with her: if you choose to not kill Saber Alter, she expresses profound disappointment in Shirou, saying, "I have cursed you for the first time." It could be interpreted that somewhere deep down she really, really wanted him to end it all for her. See also The infamous Sparks Liner High {{bad ending}}, where Shirou goes to the Grail cave without reinforcement from Rider; Saber Alter gives advice on how to beat her and save Sakura]]!

* GoodBadTranslation - One overly-literal fansub had Shirou saying "[[CaptainObvious People die if they are killed]]" with an ultra-serious look on his face[[hottip:*:This is a legitimate idiom in Japanese, usually as a statement about how tough someone is that they won't die even if you kill them, [[QuoteMine but makes little sense out of context]].]] A screenshot of this sub is now a {{meme}} when talking about bad translations and/or {{Engrish}}.

** One genuine example of GuideDangIt is in ''Heaven's Feel'': at one point the player is asked by Rin whether to remove [[spoiler:the Shroud of Martin covering Archer's arm for Shirou to use Projection Magic]]. Beforehand you are told/shown that removing it would practically cook Shirou's brain. Answering "no" leads to Rin congratulating you on your wise choice to not remove it so easily. Answering "yes" has Rin say that you shouldn't be so keen to sacrifice yourself. They decide not to remove it either way, no matter what you choose. Later in the route the player is given a choice of [[spoiler:"Kill Sakura" and "I can't do that"]], ''unless'' you answered "no" to Rin's question. Then the choice point is skipped altogether and Shirou automatically tries to [[spoiler:stab Sakura, but is killed by Rider.]] Hmmm...

* ImageSong - Released during the run of the {{anime}} adaptation, sung by the voice actors; only some characters (Saber, Rin, Sakura, Ilya, Rider, Caster, Archer, Shirou, and Taiga) got them, though. The original {{visual novel}} had an album called ''Wish'' that had three voiced songs for the heroines and instrumental songs for all the other important female characters.

* InstantRunes - {{Played straight}} in the {{anime}}, mostly {{averted}} in the {{visual novel}}.
** Rin does actually draw the whole summoning circle for Archer, but it's skipped in the {{anime}} because of the RuleOfCool.

** It's {{played straight}} in the {{visual novel}} when Rider uses [[BloodMagic instant blood runes]] [[spoiler:for summoning Pegasus]].

* LighterAndSofter: The manga seems to be heading this direction. It was already focusing mostly on the rather idealistic ''Fate'' route, but seems to have gone even further in recent chapters; [[spoiler: the most traumatic parts of Sakura's childhood apparently never happened, and Shinji of all people gets a softer side and survives the events that killed him in the {{visual novel}}]].

* MistakenForGay - PlayedStraight, {{Subverted}} and DoubleSubverted. In the Versus Valentine story in Type-Moon Ace Vol. 2, Issei tries to give Shirou Valentine's Day chocolates. After telling Issei he's straight and hearing "it'll bother me if you don't accept these!" in reply, Shirou freaks out and runs away. [[{{Subverted}} Later it turns out that Issei was just delivering the 'chocolates' on behalf of Ilya]]... [[{{DoubleSubverted}} and then Issei gives him actual Valentine's Day chocolates and tells him that they're from him]]. Cue freaking out and running away again.

* NoOntologicalInertia - Well, there is ''some'', but Servants cease to exist if they stop getting mana from, or lose their contract with, their Masters, generally disappearing after a few hours. Minor exceptions are servants with Independent Action (mostly a class skill of the Archer class, though Rider has it as a non-class one), who can survive longer; Archer, with Rank B, can last for three days without a contract, while Rider, with Rank C, can last for one.

*** The "Mind of Steel" {{bad end}} where the war continues with Shirou still involved.
*** The last {{bad end}} where [[spoiler:Shirou fights Saber Alter solo and dies defeating her. Even if he dies, Shirou reaches the top of the top, and was for the time of a fight the equal of a mighty heroic spirit]].

*** [[spoiler:Lancer gets back up after stabbing himself due to a command seal order, stabs Kirei, still scares the hell outta (and lightly stabs, for safe measure) Shinji, and rescues Rin. He's KilledOffForReal after that.]]

** [[spoiler:Gilgamesh]] gets one of these ''per route'', after juggling the VillainBall for too long to notice he is about to get killed.
*** In ''Fate'', this is how he reacts when [[spoiler:Saber brushes off the blast from Ea and is about to cut him in half]].
*** In ''Unlimited Blade Works'', when he realizes that he [[spoiler:locked himself into an unwinnable fight by falling in Shirou's pace]].

* OneHandedZweihander: [[PlayedStraight Played straight by Berserker]], whose 'sword' is more like a massive chunk of metal with a hilt. {{Averted}} by Saber and Assassin, who use their two hands.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent - Different even from {{Nasuverse}} vampires, in fact! They are not [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Death Apostles]], but have enough similarities to warrant this {{trope}}.

** Servant Caster's [[spoiler:love for her Master, willingness to sacrifice herself to save him, and farewell speech almost make up for the fact that she freely murdered and drained the energy/souls of people throughout the city to [[LoveMakesYouCrazy achieve her goals]].]]

** [[spoiler:Archer does this large-scale in the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route]].

** [[spoiler: Gilgamesh possesses nearly every Noble Phantasm, but owns/masters just one, and has a second that accesses all the others.]]

* RandomPowerRanking

* RightThroughHisPants - [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' H-scene, when Rin tells Shirou that he's a failure as a man if he keeps his clothes on while doing it. Of course, the whole scene is being {{played for laughs}}, so...

* SchoolUniformsAreTheNewBlack - Rin skipped school to show Archer around the city. Despite being the heir to a rather wealthy family, she still choose to wear her school uniform for this outing.

* [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly Servants Need Popularity Badly]] - The more popular you are during the time period you're summoned, the more powerful you are. The inverse is also true. [[spoiler:Saber, for example, as everybody knows KingArthur]]. If a heroic spirit was powerful enough during his lifetime, then he can get around this problem. For example, [[spoiler:[[TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]]]]. Berserker, being Hercules, is both.

* StatisticallySpeaking - {{Averted}}: The stats of the Servants seem to have little, if any, bearing on their actual abilities. Archer is able to hold off Lancer despite being statistically inferior to him in practically every way, and [[spoiler:True Assassin and Gilgamesh]] get defeated by humans they should, by all accounts, outperform several times over. Although, this is due to the circumstances rather than them genuinely being weaker. Indeed, the only stats that ever seem to come into play are Saber's B-rank Luck and Magical Energy, which allow her to withstand Lancer's ''Gae Bolg'' attack, Archer's [[spoiler:Independent Action Rank B]] and Rider's [[spoiler:Eyes of Petrification]]. Of course, when you get down to brass tacks, the stats honestly ARE meaningless- the game is a {{visual novel}}, not an RPG and the stats are only there to add flavour.

** The one character who confirmably has traditionalist views on gender roles is Issei.
** It should be noted that Shirou only acts protective towards Saber if she fights Beserker at beginning and he sees her completely bloodied and broken fighting for his sake. This event, exclusive to the ''Fate'' route, is actually the key event that led into that route.

** This is the rule in every Type-Moon {{visual novel}}- unless a choice is specifically hinted at as being right or wrong, the more dangerous choice is always the correct one. Most players learned this after being [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} eaten by a shark]]. This {{trope}} is {{justified}} by the {{visual novel}} telling the story of a character, not the story of the player.

* TemporalParadox - [[spoiler:The actual goal of two Servants in the {{visual novel}}]].

** In the ''Fate'' {{anime}}: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMTIDKVFa4M Kimi to no Ashita (A Tomorrow with You)]]
*** "It was no coincidence that we met / For it's a destiny unchanged since long ago."

* {{TropeOverdosed}}

* UnreliableNarrator - {{The narrator}}, Rin or Shirou, is given to making observations which are later proven false.

* VoicesAreMental - {{Played straight}} in the original {{visual novel}} and in the ''Fate'' {{anime}}: when Caster possesses Issei, Shirou notes that it's her voice coming out of his mouth. But then in ''Realta Nua'', when the voices were added in, [[AvertedTrope it's Issei's voice that was coming out]].
* WallOfText - A {{visual novel}} is text-based by nature, but at times the presentation bogs down with dense blocks accompanied by unvoiced, single static images.

** Not even an rumor about the war going on, even for things that couldn't be covered up or downplayed easily (sonic booms from attacks, shining golden light shooting into the sky at a flying horse, etc). {{Justified}} by a cover-up done by TheChurch and [[MagicalSociety the Magical Association]], but we never see it in action during the {{visual novel}}.
** {{Played for laughs}} on a smaller scale, when Rin gets so angry at Shirou that she shatters her "perfect student/school idol" image in front of everyone to shout at him. Everybody stares... then go back to what they were doing, subconsciously repressing those memories to maintain their "perfect" image of her. This happens on ''two separate occasions''.

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

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

* And then there's the Bad End where Caster turns Shirou into a living wand for projection magic, and the one where Ilya puts his soul in a doll.

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

** Shirou: Type III (Super regeneration)
** [[spoiler:Zouken: Type IX (Parasitic - Taking over the body of another person to extend lifespan) but also Type VI (Immortality Only): even if protected from a death from old age, he's not protected from old age and eventual decay itself.]]
** [[spoiler:Dark Sakura: Type III (Super regeneration)]]
** All the servants: Type II (Doesn't age) and Type III (Super regeneration) as they're immortal spirits renforced by the Holy Grail War Ritual system -- however, they're not supposed to last past the end of a Grail War. [[spoiler:Gilgamesh, who is material, have magic/artifacts that compensate for it.]]
*** Berserker: Type I (Invulnerability) [[spoiler:but with exceptions for the highest grade of attacks, and Type IV (Resurrective - New body on death)]] on top of regular Servant immortality.
*** Al-Hassan ibn-al-Sabbah: Type VIII (Immortality Through Legacy - All the leaders of the Assassins take on this name and identity, giving the impression of a single, immortal Al-Hassan ibn-al-Sabbah.)

* RankInflation - The stat system. We've got A...and A+...and A++...and then A+++...also EX...

* AdaptationExpansion - The manga adds [[{{Fanservice}} a short scene of Taiga in her high school days, Rin taking a shower and Souichirou Kuzuki's backstory]].

* A [[{{Sequel}} sequel/fan-disc]], ''[[VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia Fate/hollow ataraxia]]'', was released in 2005. [[LighterAndSofter A much more lighthearted story]] that's mainly character driven, the events focus on the mysteriously [[GroundhogDayLoop repeating four day cycle]] that Fuyuki City is trapped in, half a year after the events of the first game, and how the daily lives of all the characters are with no war as a backdrop. Although it is a very long way from being completed, a FanTranslation project is currently being worked on [[http://tsukuru.info/tlwiki/index.php?title=Fate/Hollow_Ataraxia here]].

'''Gilgamesh:''' [[spoiler:[[MemeticMutation MONGRELS! THOSE SWORDS ARE FUCKING PATENTED!]]]]

'''Gilgamesh:''' [[spoiler:MONGRELS! THOSE SWORDS ARE FUCKING PATENTED!]]

* XanatosGambit
** [[spoiler:Archer does this large-scale in the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route]].
** Rin does two small-scale versions: in the ''Fate'' route she [[spoiler:deliberately attacks Berserker, fails, gets caught, and just when Berserker is about to crush her to death she reveals that that was just the setup to her true attack]], and in the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route she [[spoiler:challenges Caster to a duel between magi, gets her ass handed to her, then suddenly bumrushes Caster and beats the crap out of her using martial arts]].
** Kotomine has one in ''Fate'' route. His plan? [[spoiler:Stay the out of the way, let one person win, use that to accomplish his goals, and kill the winner if necessary. He was even prepared for the hero walking right into his hideout, and if said person doesn't, he just walks to the hero's house and kills him!]]

There exists a [[TheLifestream plane outside of human concepts]], and within there is the Throne of Heroes. Here, the records of the brave men and women whose lives have become legends are kept, to be used as eternal guardians of mankind. The definition of "hero" is broad -- even the ruthless and the heartless are [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism the heroes of their own tales]].

In ''Fate/stay night'', when a legend is venerated enough by humanity, they can become a [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Heroic Spirit that surpasses time itself]]. [[SummoningRitual There is a ritual]] where seven Spirits can ally with a Sorcerer Master via contract and become [[{{Mon}} Servants]]. This ritual culminates in a [[MeleeATrois seven-way war]] to acquire the [[MacGuffin ultimate prize]], the Holy Grail, which can grant [[MakeAWish the wishes of the Servant and Master who are victorious]]. As enemies knowing their [[IKnowYourTrueName true name]] would give opponents an advantage over them, it is hidden. Instead, each heroic Servant Spirit is given a Class by which they are addressed: Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Berserker, and Assassin. In addition, each Servant is armed with the mysteries that symbolize their legend -- Noble Phantasms, legendary armaments and abilities.

Then there is Saber, the Servant Spirit who gets bonded to him. Her true name is unknown, but she has the mannerisms of a knight and the appearance of a young woman. Add to this an [[{{tsundere}} aloof girl]] named Tohsaka Rin, a rival Master and schoolmate who finds him too pathetic to kill off immediately. Rin is a professional mage who knows the Grail War rules, but her conscience results in her helping out, despite her protests to the contrary. There is also her mysterious Servant, Archer, [[EasyAmnesia who claims to suffer amnesia in the beginning due to his botched summoning]]. In addition, Shirou has to protect his "family" -- his self-appointed "older sister" teacher Taiga Fujimura, and his [[SempaiKohai kohai]] Matou Sakura, who has an obvious (''[[ObliviousToLove to everyone else]]'') crush on him.

* AdaptationExpansion - The manga adds [[{{Fanservice}} a short scene of Taiga in her high school days, Rin taking a shower and Kuzuki Souichirou's backstory]].

* AnimeCatholicism - TheChurch is an egregious example. Other examples of this organisation can be seen in ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}''.
* ArtifactOfDoom - [[spoiler:The Holy Grail]]

* AttackAttackAttack - Used by [[spoiler:Shirou on Gilgamesh and it worked quite well. Since both are owners of virtually unlimited weapons but neither are masters of any of those weapons, it becomes battle of AttackAttackAttack. Even though Gil's weapons are stronger than Shirou's, within the boundaries of "Unlimited Blade Works" Shirou can pull out weapons faster than Gil, allowing him the decisive blow when a frustrated Gil decides to take the extra time to try to pull out [[InfinityPlusOneSword Ea]]. It really helps that Gil is extremely arrogant and refuse to fight "mere trash" seriously until it was too late.]]

** In ''Fate'' and the {{anime}}, it's {{subverted}} by [[spoiler:Gilgamesh]] who, after saving our heroes from their last opponent, [[VillainousRescue becomes their new one]].

** [[spoiler:Fake]] Assassin also averts this trope as well, due to his code of honour not allowing him to taint the victor with his blood.
* BloodMagic - The runes in the ritual used to summon servants are normally drawn in blood. Rider also possesses BloodMagic abilities.
** Rider's BloodMagic is true to source, as [[spoiler:the myth states that Pegasus was born from the blood from Medusa's neck.]]
* BodyguardBetrayal - Servants are suppose to protect their Master and that is something Saber takes really seriously. [[spoiler:Despite that, in one of the bad endings Saber kills Shirou when she was promised the Holy Grail for doing so. It took Shirou completely by surprise; heck, it took Saber by surprise. To make it worse, this is AFTER he had already bed her, romanced her, and the whole emotional development stuff, making it pretty awkward that someone like Saber would do that. Granted, you have to really go out of your way to get her relationship points low enough for her to do it, making it the most missed bad end]].

* There is also a canceled project with a good deal of material published: ''Literature/FateStrangeFake'', a novella by [[Literature/{{Baccano}} Ryohgo Narita]] meant to introduce the setting of a potential role-playing game and deals with a badly-copied version of the Holy Grail War set in California, ten years after ''hollow ataraxia''. The fact that it was originally published on AprilFoolsDay 2008 calls in to question whether this project was ever serious, however.

* A second {{manga}} also exists titled ''[[Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA ILLYA]]''. Unlike the first manga, this one features an {{alternate universe}} storyline with Ilyasviel, ''FateStayNight'' resident {{enfante terrible}}, as the main character... oh, and she's a {{magical girl}}, complete with [[EmpathicWeapon a talking staff named Ruby]]. Ilya has to help Rin recover [[CardcaptorSakura 'Class Cards']], magical artifacts with the powers of the Servants. It's starts off as an {{affectionate parody}}, both of ''FateStayNight'' and {{magical girl tropes}} in general, but [[CerebusSyndrome gets more serious later.]] Still, it ''is'' very funny, intersperses this with largely random moments of awesome, and is very nearly worth it just so you can catch all the ''Fate/stay night'' [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/fate_kaleid_liner_prisma_illya/v01/c001/34.html references]].

** In ''Fate'', [[spoiler:the sword Caliburn that keeps appearing in Shirou's dreams]].

->''My body is made out of swords.\\
My blood is of iron, and my heart of glass.\\
I have survived countless battles.\\
Not even once have I retreated,\\
Not even once have I been understood.\\
I was always alone, intoxicated with victory on the hill of swords.\\

And thus, my life has no meaning.\\
Certainly, this body was made out of swords.''

* BodyHorror - A lot of what's currently under HighOctaneNightmareFuel, and more besides.

** Whilst Mana Transfer can be ... [[DeusSexMachina pleasant]] if you're the hero, [[spoiler:Gilgamesh]] is [[PoweredByAForsakenChild powered by forsaken children]] undergoing {{body horror}} [[AndIMustScream over about 10]] ''[[AndIMustScream years]]''.

* ItsAWonderfulFailure - Extensive {{bad end}}s exists solely for mocking Shirou's stupidity, and many [[HaveANiceDeath Tiger Dojos]] love to rub the player's choice is his face. Note that there is lots of HighOctaneNightmareFuel in theses {{bad end}}s - and the occasional ending that actually ''isn't'' NightmareFuel is almost startling and a welcome respite... Still, even if you ''did'' find the good choice and reach the end without dying, you ''have'' to eventually see all those {{bad ending}}s [[HundredPercentCompletion in order to unlock everything]].

* MoodWhiplash - PlayedStraight, {{Subverted}}, DoubleSubverted ''and'' {{Invoked}}. Very, very many of the {{bad end}}ings are [[TearJerker intensely sad]], [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel intensely disturbing]], or both. They are then followed by a trip to the [[HaveANiceDeath Tiger Dojo]], which is a completely goofy little comedy segment where Ilya (in a gym uniform, for no discernable reason other than {{fanservice}}) and Taiga give you hints as to what you did wrong, [[ItsAWonderfulFailure occasionally mock you]], and run their own little BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine. [[{{Subverted}} In fact, the Tiger Dojo is so reliable in this that the extremely few times they're totally serious are paradoxically whiplashtastic]]. For example BadEnd 30 "Mind of Steel", where [[spoiler:Shirou puts his ideal to be a superhero ahead of Sakura's life, and lets Rin kill her]]:

*** [[spoiler:Zouken does this a few times too, thanks to him being [[BodyHorror made of the special "worms" he created]], and then the core of said body being somewhere ''[[HighOctaneNightmareFuel inside Sakura's heart]]''.]]

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome - The scene in the Chinese restaurant in ''Heaven's Feel''. Only, [[PlayedStraight it is played]] ''[[PlayedStraight completely straight]]''. ''And it works'': in a route filled with genuine HighOctaneNightmareFuel, Kotomine ordering a ''second'' mapo tofu comes across as menacing.

--->''Taiga'': "Huh. I don't have much I can say this time."
--->''Ilya'': "......[[WhatTheHellHero idiot]]."

* MorningWood - Shirou wakes up with one of these on the 5th day of the ''Heaven's Feel'' route while Saber is by his futon, much to his embarrassment.

* ChekhovsGun - In ''Fate'', [[spoiler:the sword Caliburn that keeps appearing in Shirou's dreams]].

* ChekhovsLecture - In the final fight with [[spoiler:Berserker]], the {{anime}} and the ''Fate'' Route, [[spoiler:Shirou is able to defeat him because he remembers Archer's advice that if he found an enemy he cannot defeat alone that he should visualize something that can.]]
** In ''Heaven's Feel'', Ilya's explanation to Shirou of how transferring a person's consciousness works. [[spoiler:Guess how she saves his soul in the True End.]]