History Visualnovel / FateStayNight

* BigBadEnsemble: Initially appears to be between [[EnfanteTerrible Illyasviel von Einzbern]], [[SmugSnake Shinji Matou]], and [[EvilSorcerer Caster]] [[spoiler:Theatre/{{Medea}}]], the three deadliest competitors of the Holy Grail War. However, [[SinisterMinister Kirei Kotomine]], [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]], and [[EvilOldFolks Zouken Matou]] are the true masterminds of the War. They are all working towards the same basic goal- whereas Kotomine is allied with Gilgamesh, Zouken is not. Said goal is [[spoiler:unleashing [[GreaterScopeVillain Angra Mainyu]] from inside the Grail. Kotomine simply wants to watch the world burn, Gilgamesh is helping Kotomine so that he can rule over those strong enough to survive Angra Mainyu's apocalypse, and Zouken wants to use the Grail to become immortal]]. Each one, in turn, is the focus of one route: Kirei in ''Fate'', Gilgamesh in ''Unlimited Blade Works'', and Zouken in ''Heaven's Feel''.

** The film, manga, and the [=PS2=] version of the game (''Realta Nua'') replace the H-scenes that were in the original game with alternate, non-erotic versions, such as Shirou being attacked by Saber's inner dragon. The original anime adaptation alludes to ''Fate'''s sex scene with semi-erotic parts, especially Rin's pose with Saber, but otherwise follows ''Realta Nua'''s inner-dragon fight scene.
** The 2014 ''Unlimited Blade Works'' anime does the same as the above, replacing the sex scene between Rin and Shirou with ''Realta Nua'''s magic crest transfer ritual, complete with the [[MythologyGag magic dolphin]] from the first ''Unlimited Blade Works'' film adaptation.

* CompressedAdaptation: The ''Unlimited Blade Works'' movie skims over days of story at a time and completely excises most of the exposition, which is somewhat inevitable when adapting what's essentially a long {{VisualNovel}} exploding with exposition into a slightly-less-than-two-hour movie. The end result is a film with somewhat choppy pacing that's completely incomprehensible to newcomers, but [[RuleOfCool has time to adequately show how epic the fights are]].

* SoulEating: Servants can do this to replenish their {{Mana}}, though the more wholesome ones are understandably quite averse to it. In [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha one]] [[UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper case]], the Servant – a AntiVillain – expressed a preference for ''evil'' souls, because their foulness makes them that much tastier, and souls of similar alignment are easier to digest.

* SuddenGameInterface: All Masters are granted an intuitive understanding of what's going on in the Grail War – even Shirou, who stumbled into the whole thing completely unaware. His appears as RPG-style character sheets, complete with listed {{Character Alignment}}s.

* SoulEating: Servants can do this to replenish their {{Mana}}, though the more wholesome ones are understandably quite averse to it. In [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha one]] [[UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper case]], the Servant – a ChaoticEvil AntiVillain – expressed a preference for ''evil'' souls, because their foulness makes them that much tastier, and souls of similar alignment are easier to digest.

* StayInTheKitchen: Shirou has shades of this in both this route and the anime adaptation, which gets blown out of proportion by MemeticMutation. [[SubvertedTrope In reality]] Shirou's insistence that Saber leave the fighting to him has little to do with sexism and much more to do with Saber being badly wounded, but because Shirou doesn't have the self-awareness to say "I don't want you protecting me [[SurvivorGuilt because I don't feel my life has any value]]," he defaults to a half-assed excuse instead.

* AgeLift: The Western-released materials come with a disclaimer that [[TotallyEighteen all of the characters are 18 or older]], despite Shirou, Rin, and Sakura being in their second year in high school — making them between 16 and 17 in the Japanese version — with Saber being physically a year younger.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fate_stay_night.jpg]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Fate_stay_night_-_are_you_my_master_9174.png]]

* ReusedCharacterDesign: The real-life reason behind the existence of the "Saberfaces"[[note]]Saber of Red (Mordred), Red Saber (Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus), Sakura Saber (Okita Souji), Ruler (Jean of Arc),and Grey[[/note]], explained in-universe as them being {{identical stranger}}s, to the point of being mistaken for one another.

* ViolenceIsDisturbing: Whereas the first two routes of the visual novel are relatively light and fun, with typical shonen-level violence and only occasional moments of NightmareFuel, ''Heaven's Feel'' [[BloodierAndGorier cranks the gore]] UpToEleven, and plays it for visceral horror at every opportunity. In particular, Shirou's condition through the end part of the route (and the way it plays into the final fight) is some ''high-octane'' BodyHorror.

In 2005, it received a (sort-of) sequel titled ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'', and in 2006, a 4-volume light novel prequel titled ''LightNovel/FateZero'' which was adapted into an anime in 2011-2012. For other derived and related media set in the same universe, see Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} or Franchise/FateSeries.

* {{Retcon}}: When the 2014 anime shows Saber performing the action she regrets the most she's wearing a dress. In the original visual novel she was wearing trousers.

* AllWishesGranted: The first anime.We're told that the victor of the Grail War can have their fondest wish come true. Shiro's wish is to become a hero who can protect people. Rin's is to be reunited with her sister, Sakura. Saber's wish is to undo the past where she was made King. By the story's end, Shiro has become a hero without the use of the Grail. Rin was able to save and reunite with her sister, Sakura. And Saber learns, in the end, to make peace with her time as the King. Also very much a case of Earn Your Happy Ending.

* WitchSpecies: Magic in the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} is often genetically inherited through bloodlines. This isn't a hard-and-fast rule, though, as people from mundane families (like Shirou or [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Ciel]]) [[MageBornOfMuggles can be born with magic circuits]], and it's a plot point that one bloodline has slowly lost all of its power over generations. It's also possible to artificially create or increase magical potential.

** Similarly, Lancer's YouShallNotPass against Gilgamesh. It's mentioned that the fight between the two dragged for ''half a day.'' Given the fact that Gilgamesh is established as the WorldsStrongestMan combined with the fact that he [[CurbStompBattle utterly defeated]] Rider in ''Zero'' and Berserk in the ''UBW'' route, one has to wonder about all the tricks Cu managed to pull.

* FoodPorn: Lengthy segments of the VisualNovel are devoted to Shirou cooking, often along with Sakura. The process of making the food is usually presented in detail. In fact, these sections got so much attention that [[Manga/TodaysMenuForEmiyaFamily it spawned a spinoff]].

** Fate: You can't change the past. Even if things went badly for you before, as long as you did your best, you can live without regrets.
** Unlimited Blade Works: No set of ideals is perfect. You have to acknowledge the flaws in your own ideals and work to avoid the pitfalls. Also, to love others, you have to be able to love yourself.
** Heaven's Feel: Sometimes, ideals are unattainable. You have to realize that before it costs you the people and things most precious to you.

* ArcNumber: The number eight is very crucial to Shirou. As a skilled archer, he constantly reminds himself about how Japanese archery is an eight-step process. His favored magecraft, Projection, requires eight steps to perform perfectly. [[spoiler:His MagicalIncantation for his Reality Marble, Unlimited Blade Works, requires eight lines of incantation to activate - these lines, whether as his present-day self or as Archer, define him and his mindset.]]

** There's also "hill of swords". It either refers to [[spoiler:the Battle of Camelann, where Saber ultimately met her end and will return to in order to meet her fate, or Unlimited Blade Works, which represents Archer's/Shiro's struggles between his ideals and reality.]]
* ArmoredVillainsUnarmoredHeroes: PlayedWith--Saber is more heavily armored than most of her opponents, bar Gilgamesh; however, ''Heaven's Feel'' features her [[spoiler:[[FaceHeelTurn turning to evil]] and the unarmored Rider opposing her.]]
* ArmorIsUseless: Averted. Saber and Gilgamesh, the two characters who make use of plate armor, make very good use of it. Gilgamesh uses his plate armor to simply tank Saber's sword strikes when they fight in the ''Fate'' route, whereas in the ''Heaven's Feel'' route Saber [[spoiler:Alter's helmet saves her from a strike to the head from Berserker (though the helmet was shattered in the process)]]. Other characters try to actively seek weak points in these characters' armor when fighting them - typically the head, as for the most part HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic in this story.

** [[AntiMagic Rule Breaker]]: In "Heaven's Feel", Caster is taken out of the game early on. Since she and her Rule Breaker have played a major role in the previous route, most people put her out of their minds. [[spoiler:But then, literally on the last day of the route... her Noble Phantasm, Rule Breaker, breaks Sakura's shackles to Angra Mainyu.]]
** The Azoth dagger: A [[EleventhHourSuperpower near last-minute]] addition in "Fate" that [[spoiler:Shirou uses to kill Kotomine]], shows up again in "Heaven's Feel", supposedly as a tool for Shirou to [[spoiler:project Zelretch's Gem Sword]]. However, its real importance was [[spoiler:Shirou using it to kill Saber Alter.]]
** Rin's pendant: Used to heal Shirou in the prologue. [[spoiler:Archer's version of it, which he carried all his life and after (and returned to Rin in the prologue), turned out to be the catalyst for his summoning]]. In "Unlimited Blade Works", [[spoiler:Shirou returns ''his'' version of the pendant to Rin, giving the latter the final proof that Archer is Shirou's future self]]. However, in "Heaven's Feel", [[spoiler:Shirou's version of the pendant turned out to have the ''tiniest'' bit of magical energy left in it, which in the True End allowed his soul, newly-revived by Illya's sacrifice and the Third Sorcery, to hold on until Rider could rescue him. The pendant also probably anchored Shirou's soul to the material world; Rin commented that Rider "plucked Shirou out" of the rubble of the cavern ''two weeks'' after it had collapsed.]]

** Shirou is the sole exception to the latter. As much as Taiga picks on him and mooches off of him, his enraged reaction when [[spoiler:Caster uses her as a hostage in the Unlimited Blade Works route]] proves that he cares about her greatly.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: ''Loads'' of it, and in the most unlikely or innocuous places, too. For example, a major reveal in "Heaven's Feel" [[note]]Sakura's "training" regimen[[/note]] is foreshadowed in the Mini-Theater you get by completing all Tiger Dojos in "Fate".

* GodOfEvil: In "Unlimited Blade Works", we learn that [[spoiler:Angra Mainyu, the devil in Zoroastrianism, lives inside the Holy Grail and has corrupted it]]. As is explained in "Heaven's Feel" and further elaborated upon in ''hollow ataraxia'', [[spoiler:it turns out that Angra Mainyu isn't an evil god -- he's a Servant whose legend was born of a ritual where a single man was ritually sacrificed to personify all the the sins of his fellow humans so he'd absolve them by being killed. In the Third Holy Grail war, when Angra Mainyu, summoned as Avenger, was killed because he was a horribly weak Servant, the Grail identified him as a human rather than a servant and tried to fulfill his wish. Considering that the Holy Grail is an omnipotent device whose entire purpose is to seek and grant wishes and that Angra Mainyu is the personification of the world's wish for a concrete form of all evil... Let's just say it doesn't turn out well.]]
* GoldColoredSuperiority: The most powerful Servant one can summon is Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes. As the [[TheVerse The Nasuverse]] runs on OlderIsBetter, Gil is more powerful than all other heroes that came after him and naturally has gold-colored hair, frequently wears gold earrings and other jewelry, and has his infamous NighInvulnerable gold armor. It is unknown if the armor is actually ''made'' of gold but it can take a direct hit from Excalibur like it's nothing. For bonus points, his Noble Phantasm - Gate of Babylon - creates gold-colored rifts in the the sky to fire his many fantastically powerful treasures upon his enemies from.
** Saber, [[spoiler:Artoria Pendragon, a.k.a. King Arthur]], also gets this: she is said to be the strongest of the Saber class Servants, which is considered to be the strongest class, and she has golden hair. Though she can be pragmatic and is utterly duty-bound, she's actually very sweet when she opens up and counts for both this and HairOfGoldHeartOfGold, unlike Gilgamesh. Although her sword is normally invisible as it is sheathed in wind magic, when she reveals it the blade shines with golden light and seems to be trimmed in gold - fitting as it is [[spoiler:Excalibur, the strongest holy sword]]. Even her old sword from her legend, [[spoiler:Caliburn]], is shown to have been gold and incredibly powerful.

* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: Shirou's actions in Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel can never be fully explained for fear of the Association's response to [[spoiler:his Reality Marble. In Heaven's Feel, the Association is told Shirou was an ordinary human who died during the War.]]

* HarmfulHealing: The interaction of Shirou's [[spoiler:Reality Marble and Avalon]] allows his body to rapidly heal by replacing damaged tissue with blades. One bad end involves this going out of control, resulting in blades erupting from his chest and shredding his internal organs. During Heaven's Feel, [[spoiler:Archer's Reality Marble begins to intrude into his body, causing it to break down. His own Reality Marble generates blades to counter the damage, which then pierce his remaining flesh and cut him apart even more.]]

* LostInTranslation: When Illya first meets Shirou, she calls him "[[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics onii-chan]]". [[spoiler:This is fairly innocuous to both Shirou and first-time Japanese readers--international consumers of Japanese media know that word better as the honorific for addressing an older brother, but it is also used to address strange young men. However, she ''was'' actually calling him her older brother]]. There's no way to preserve the [[spoiler:older brother/random guy]] ambiguity in English without just giving it away, so the official English translation of the anime uses "mister".

** Fate: [[spoiler:Saber is really a gender-flipped King Arthur, and her wish is to make it so she never became king, as she feels she is responsible for the destruction of her kingdom.]]
** Unlimited Blade Works: [[spoiler:Archer is really Shirou from a BadFuture in which he turned to Kiritsugu's "kill one to save ten" ideal in order to save the world. That ideal eventually betrayed him, and Archer wishes to kill his past self because he feels his life was a waste.]]
** Heaven's Feel: [[spoiler:Sakura is a failed Grail experiment and has been ''horribly'' tortured her whole life in an attempt to make a Holy Grail vessel, whereas the Shadow is... her Servant, though the situation is considerably more complicated than most Master/Servant relationships.]]

* SecondYearProtagonist: Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka are both second years, while Sakura Matou is a first year. No really important third years, but the fact they aren't graduating until the next year is an important detail in the UBW True End epilogue.

** The form that the [[spoiler:Angra Mainyu-corrupted]] Greater Grail takes – a massive, dark tower with prongs and an enormous black hole on top of it -- is uncannily similar to the [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Eye of Sauron and the Tower of Barad-dûr]] in the Peter Jackson ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. It's particularly possible it had some influence, as the movies were all released during the development of the visual novel itself.

* SpoilerOpening: In the PS Vita version, this applies to all three routes. Heaven's Feel's opening in particular spoils [[spoiler:Sakura being a corrupt Grail, and Saber Alter]]. The front cover of said version also prematurely gives away [[spoiler:Sakura's alignment with her servant, Rider.]]

** ''Fate:'' [[spoiler:Kotomine]] has been using, [[spoiler:the other orphans of the Fuyuki fire,]] as living prana batteries for ten years, though "living" is [[BodyHorror entirely too]] [[AndIMustScream generous a term]].
** ''Unlimited Blade Works:'' [[spoiler:Gilgamesh]] tears out [[spoiler:Illya's]] heart. And before that, he [[EyeScream slices open her eyes]].
** ''Heaven's Feel:'' Everything [[spoiler:Zouken]] did, with regards to raising [[spoiler:Sakura.]]

[[folder:Fate]]

** Shirou is not the only Fourth Grail War orphan. [[spoiler:The other children were taken in by the church and used by Kotomine [[PoweredByAForsakenChild for powering his associate Gilgamesh's]] {{mana}}--not to keep him in this world, since he already has a body, just to supply him with mana to use his abilities as a Servant. The children are stuck in a grave, their bodies and souls being slowly dissolved. And yes, they are fully aware. They'd be screaming except their vocal chords have mostly rotted away.]]

** Similarly, Lancer's YouShallNotPass against Gilgamesh. It's mentioned that the fight between the two dragged for ''half a day.'' The fact that Gilgamesh is established as the WorldsStrongestMan combined with the fact that he [[CurbStompBattle utterly defeated]] Rider in ''Zero'' and Berserk in the ''UBW-route'' one has to wonder all the tricks Cu managed to pull.

[[folder:Unlimited Blade Works]]

* AttackAttackAttack: Used by Shirou on Gilgamesh. Since both are owners of virtually unlimited weapons but neither is a master of any of those weapons, it becomes a battle of AttackAttackAttack. Even though Gilgamesh's weapons are stronger than Shirou's, [[spoiler:within the boundaries of "Unlimited Blade Works" Shirou can pull out weapons more quickly than Gilgamesh can, 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 refuses to fight "mere trash" seriously until it is too late.]]

'''Shirou Emiya:''' I didn't say anything about it being pretty -- huh? What did you say, Tohsaka?
* DuelingMessiahs: Shirou vs. Archer in the Unlimited Blade Works route, pitting Shirou's [[WideEyedIdealist naive ideal]] of "[[MessianicArchetype the hero who saves everyone]]" against Archer's [[TheCynic cynical attitude]] of "[[DarkMessiah a hero must choose whom to save]]". [[spoiler:Made all the more complex by Archer being [[FutureBadass Shirou from the future]], remembering [[DespairEventHorizon which way his idealism took him]]. The end of the route implies [[CharacterDevelopment their conflict has prevented Shirou from going down the same path]], however.]]

* FinalBossNewDimension: Unlike most examples of this trope, [[spoiler:the new dimension isn't created by the boss, but rather the protagonist - in this case, Shirou materializing Unlimited Blade Works against Gilgamesh.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: One of the many praises of Ufotable's adaptation of the UBW route is how they do this. One good example can be found in [[http://31.media.tumblr.com/81453b5df825d9cfc89a8781b92dae8a/tumblr_nf38w9d96n1sw2yn4o1_500.jpg this]] single shot from episode six. The sign bellow the mirror says [[spoiler:"danger,"]] there's an arrow above it pointing to a mirror, and reflected in that mirror is Archer.

* MythologyGag: Towards the end, Lancer snarks that, too bad, he would have wanted Rin as his Master. In ''Anime/FatePrototype'' we learn that [[spoiler:one of Rin's prototypes actually ''did'' summon Lancer]] and that her other prototype [[spoiler: allies with him as well after her Servant is taken and is very attached to her too]]. Meanwhile in a reference to this line, Rin [[spoiler:or rather her near identical cousin with the same name]], summons Lancer in ''VideoGame/FateExtra''.
* NonStandardGameOver: If you make the wrong choice when Rin attacks you at school (or attempt to transition to this route from the Fate route by refusing her offer of alliance), Shirou 'loses' the Grail War, but survives everything just fine and goes back to his mundane life (minus a few memories). The Tiger Dojo segment even pokes fun at this fact, with Taiga claiming that since Shirou's life went back to normal, you actually reached the True End of the route.
* NotQuiteDead: Caster ''thinks'' she's killed [[spoiler:Kotomine,]] but Rin knows better - as she noted, Caster ''really'' [[LeftForDead should have checked the body]].

* {{Polyamory}}: During the "Unlimited Blade Works" route, Shirou, Rin and Saber develop strong feelings between each other and they eventually even have a shared date -- though Saber mostly acts like an attendant. [[spoiler:In the Good Ending the three even start living together as mutual lovers in Shirou's household.]]

[[folder:Heaven's Feel]]

* ArmorPiercingResponse: Sakura asks Shirou if he would be able to forgive her if she became a bad person. One may expect him to answer, [[LoveMartyr "Yes,"]] but instead he answers [[ToughLove no, he wouldn't - he would admonish her, harsher than anyone else]]. Sakura finds his answer interesting and responds that as long as it was from him, she would be okay with this.

* BookEnds: [[spoiler:The first Heaven's Feel ritual began at Mt.Enzou with an Einzbern homuculus sacrificing herself to open a path to the Grail. The fifth and last Heaven's Feel ritual takes place at Mt. Enzou, this time with an Einzbern homuculus sacrificing herself to close the path to the Grail.]]

* CooldownHug: As she can't quite bring herself to deliver the fatal strike, [[spoiler:Rin gives one of these to Sakura]] at the end of their battle in "Heaven's Feel" instead.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Heaven's Feel is this compared to the other two routes. The subjects of rape, torture, dismemberment, and humans being devoured in graphic detail are all present.

* FreezeFrameBonus: Near the start of the opening video of the [[UpdatedRerelease Vita port]], the backsides of four people can be seen reflected on a puddle of water. The figures are upside-down, a bit distorted, and remain on screen for less than half a second -- probably just enough to tell they're a family of four: father, mother and two kids -- but those who have [[spoiler:watched/read ''LightNovel/FateZero'']] before will realize they're [[spoiler:the Tohsaka family as they were 11 years ago.]]

* ShipTease: Oddly enough, [[spoiler:''[[LesYay Rider and Rin]]'' in the True Ending. With Shirou and Sakura teaching OfficialCouple status, and Rin being canonically bi (see Fate Route), fans noticed Rider was ''very'' happy to see Rin, and Rin spent a ''very'' long time thinking over how "beautiful" Rider is in her [[SweaterGirl casual outfit]]...]]

** The Creator/StudioDEEN anime expands Caster's role in the Fate route by adding in scenes from ''Unlimited Blade Works'' and ''Heaven's Feel'' so as not to stretch the material in the original out. In particular, Caster is shown [[AdaptationalBadass able to do something she was never shown doing in canon]] by [[spoiler:creating a miniature city inside a pocket dimension in Ryuudo Temple]] and her plan involves [[spoiler:using Sakura as the Holy Grail, implying she is aware of a connection between her and the Lesser Grail.]]
** The [[Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks Unlimited Blade Works anime]] greatly expands a number of scenes; see the page for details.
* AgeLift: The Western-released materials come with a disclaimer that [[TotallyEighteen all of the characters are 18 or older]], despite Shirou, Rin, and Sakura being in their second year in high school -- making them between 16 and 17 in the Japanese version -- with Saber being physically a year younger.

** This is doubly true for the "Unlimited Blade Works" movie, which will make about no sense as a narrative unless you have already played the "Unlimited Blade Works" route, as it squeezes many hours of gameplay into a two-hour movie. [[RuleOfCool But hey,]] [[StuffBlowingUp explosions]].

* AnimationBump: The sheer quality and fluidity of the animation in the "Fate/Zero" anime adaptation by Creator/{{ufotable}} is astounding, especially compared to the 2006 anime series.
** The 2011 prequel anime is still considered to be the best despite the efforts of the later 2014 "Unlimited Blade Works" anime adaptation.

* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: The anime and manga replace the mana transfer sex scene with Saber's inner dragon - the manifestation of her magic circuits - almost eating him to symbolize the transfer.

** The film, manga, and the [=PS2=] version of the game (''Realta Nua'') replace the H-scenes that were in the original game with alternate, non-erotic versions, such as Shirou being attacked by Saber's inner dragon. The original anime adaptation alludes to Fate's sex scene with semi-erotic parts, especially Rin's pose with Saber, but otherwise follows ''Realta Nua'''s inner-dragon fight scene.

* CompressedAdaptation: The "Unlimited Blade Works" movie skims over days of story at a time and completely excises most of the exposition, which is somewhat inevitable when adapting what's essentially a long {{VisualNovel}} exploding with exposition into a slightly less than two hour movie. The end result is a film with somewhat choppy pacing that's completely incomprehensible to newcomers, but [[RuleOfCool has time to adequately show how epic the fights are]].

* DramaticIrony: When trying to save Rin in the penultimate episode of the 2014 Unlimited Blade Works anime, [[spoiler:Saber almost steps in Angra Mainyu's black sludge twice. Those who have seen "Heaven's Feel" know that exposure to the black ooze is what turns her into Saber Alter.]]

* {{Fanservice}}: The movie is just less than two hours of pure {{fanservice}} to those already familiar with the Fate route and/or 2006 anime. If one hasn't watched the 2006 anime or read the Fate route, the movie will make little sense. [[RuleOfCool For those who have, they get to see everyone being awesome at the expense of skipping some scenes used to build the route's actual conflict]]. There's very little in the way of the other kind of service in any medium despite ''Fate/stay night'' starting its life as an {{Eroge}}, except for the occasional MaleGaze.
* HighPressureBlood: Blood seems to ooze aplenty in the "Unlimited Blade Works" movie.

* LighterAndSofter: The first manga, though PlayedWith. On one hand, it focuses mostly on the rather idealistic "Fate" route, with Shinji of all people getting a softer side and surviving events that killed him in the VisualNovel. On the other hand, it is BloodierAndGorier and takes some of the darker material of "Unlimited Blade Works" into its adaptation.
* MaleGaze: All over the "Unlimited Blade Works" movie. If a scene has Rin in it, there will be at least a few shots focused on her ZettaiRyouiki for no particular reason.

** The 2006 anime: There was no way for a 24-episode television series to adapt the entire visual novel with its three alternate timelines and still tell a coherent story – so the anime mainly adapts the "Fate" route, which comes first. But it also adds in scenes and events from the "Unlimited Blade Works" route, to better feature characters who spend the "Fate" route OutOfFocus and to hint at plot developments elaborated on in the second and third routes. They also threw in references to the "Heaven's Feel" route – namely, [[spoiler:the revelation that Rin and Sakura are sisters.]]
** The "Unlimited Blade Works" film: Especially noticeable. Some of the romantic undertones between Shirou and Rin are lost, and separate visits to locations in the original get merged into a single, very eventful one wherein things happen for different (but more easily explainable) reasons.
** The manga: Like the original 2006 anime it follows the "Fate" route, but takes more material from "Unlimited Blade Works" [[spoiler:specifically that after defeating Rider, Caster attacks the Emiya residence and steals the weakened Saber away with Rule Breaker, with events then playing out similarly to that route and including Archer's betrayal, Lancer teaming up with the heroes, and Archer betraying Caster and 'almost' killing Shirou. However, Saber doesn't make a contract with Rin and Rin reestablishes the pact between Shirou and Saber and between herself and Archer]]. It also throws in a few references to "Heaven's Feel", [[spoiler:namely the reveal that Sakura is adopted into the Matous and is Rider's true Master.]]

* RoadCone: With three different story paths, it's only natural that adaptations of the series would leave out some things. Both the {{anime}} and (to a certain extent) the manga are based on "Fate", though the movie is based on "Unlimited Blade Works".
* RuleOfCool: The order of the day for the "Unlimited Blade Works" film. Notably, Shirou [[ParryingBullets deflects]] both [[spoiler:Archer's and Gil's sword-bullets rather than using his own sword-bullets as in the original route]]. In the 2014 anime adaptation he does both.

** "Fate" has one True End.
** "Unlimited Blade Works" has a True and Good End. Getting the Good End requires juggling around Saber and Rin's affection points.
** "Heaven's Feel" has a True and a Normal End. Which you get depends on your RelationshipValues with Illyasviel, the whether or not you used another projection in the fight against [[spoiler:Black Saber]], and in post-True End playthroughs, the final choice you make.

* OncePerEpisode: All 3 routes has one Tiger Dojo where Taiga or Illya (or both in Heavens feel) beats up Shirou for his dumb decision.

* RewatchBonus: If you had finished ''Fate/stay night'' and initially thought [[spoiler:Rin Tohsaka]] was filled with worms during an interlude from Heaven's Feel, revisiting the route as a whole leads you to realize that the "daughter of Tohsaka" Zouken was referring to is [[spoiler:Sakura Tohsaka/Matou, who was adopted into the Matou family before the Fourth Holy Grail War and was corrupted by Angra Mainyu after her grandfather implanted the worms into her so that she could be a Holy Grail vessel]].
** Similarly, once you know that [[spoiler:Archer is future Shirou]] all their previous interactions in UBW, as well as in Fate and Heaven's Feel take on a different meaning.

* StupidityIsTheOnlyOption: Found in every Type-Moon [[VisualNovel visual novel]] -- the more dangerous choice is frequently the correct one. The [[HaveANiceDeath Tiger Dojo]] sometimes [[LampshadedTrope lampshades]] this: "Go back to the previous choice and try choosing the reckless, immature choice!"

* AlternateContinuity: Possibly with itself. Archer's MysteriousPast [[spoiler:is known to at least resemble the "Fate" scenario also followed by the anime, but how much is unclear]]. 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. When speaking about this, Nasu affirms: "They're parallel sort of. But if Zelretch was observing, it'd become true, and my feelings on the matter is that I'd rather two routes disappear if one was true. If all of these became possible at the same time, the other routes would become meaningless."

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The decisions Shirou must make vary greatly by storyline. In "Fate" he is very idealistic; "Unlimited Blade Works" lies somewhere in the middle; "Heaven's Feel" has him become rather cynical.

* A movie, also created by Creator/StudioDEEN and released in 2010. This version adapts the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route, with emphasis on the action scenes. (This is sometimes counted as the ''second'' movie, after ''Fate/stay night TV reproduction'', a two-hour OVA recut from the TV show.)
* A {{manga}} adaptation was serialised in 2006-2012. Like the anime adaptation, it's based on the ''Fate'' route with some additional material from the other routes as well as some [[AdaptationExpansion original content]]. The artist, Datto Nishiwaki, is a big Type-MOON fan, and makes references to other Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} works in his end-of-volume rants.
* Another anime series by Creator/{{ufotable}} based on the ''[[Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks Unlimited Blade Works]]'' route, with 26 episodes altogether including a prologue "episode 0". Aired in 2014-2015 over two seasons.

* An {{anime}} adaptation created by Creator/StudioDEEN, released in 2006. The story is mostly based on the ''Fate'' route, with a few additions from the other two routes to make the series fill 24 episodes and give more attention to characters that were pushed into the background during ''Fate''.
* A movie adaptation, also created by Creator/StudioDEEN and released in 2010. This version covers the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route, with emphasis on the action scenes. (This is sometimes counted as the ''second'' movie, after ''Fate/stay night TV reproduction'', a two-hour OVA recut from the TV show.)
* A {{manga}} adaptation was serialised in 2006-2012. Like the anime adaptation, it's based on the ''Fate'' scenario with some additional material from the other routes as well as some [[AdaptationExpansion original content]]. The artist, Datto Nishiwaki, is a big Type-MOON fan, and makes references to other Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} works in his end-of-volume rants.
* [[Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks Another anime]] by Creator/{{ufotable}} based on ''Unlimited Blade Works'', first season released in 2014. The second season aired in 2015.

* Three ''[[Anime/FateStayNightHeavensFeel Heaven's Feel]]'' movies by ufotable. The first, ''presage flower'', was released in October 2017. The second, ''lost butterfly'', was released in January 2019. The third, ''spring song'', was released in August 2020.

** {{Anime}}: The original anime follows the "Fate" route, which by itself can't do ''Fate/stay night'' justice, but the episode/continuity limits don't allow you to do two routes and tell a coherent story. So they took "Fate", added a few scenes and events from "Unlimited Blade Works". They also threw in the odd reference to "Heaven's Feel" as well -- namely, [[spoiler:the revelation that Rin and Sakura are sisters.]]
** "Unlimited Blade Works" film: Especially noticeable. Some of the romantic undertones between Shirou and Rin are lost, and separate visits to locations in the original get merged into a single, very eventful one wherein things happen for different (but more easily explainable) reasons.

* An ''Unlimited Blade Works'' manga by Daisuke Moriyama has been announced in March 2021.