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1%% No need to list the heroes here, we don't want edit wars.
2%% Yes, we get it, the game has multiple endings. No need to pothole it every time the word ending comes up.
3%% Make sure you read Administrivia/ExampleIndentation before editing.
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6%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1649259977062265400
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9[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fate_stay_night.png]]
10[[caption-width-right:350:''I ask of you: Are you my Master?'']]
11%%
12->'' I am the bone of my sword \
13 Steel is my body and fire is my blood \
14 I have created over a thousand blades \
15 Unknown to Death, Nor known to Life \
16 Have withstood pain to create many weapons \
17 Yet, those hands will never hold anything \
18 So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works.''
19
20
21[[JustForFun/TheOneWith The one that]] started it all.
22
23''Fate/stay night'' is a Japanese VisualNovel HGame developed by the company Creator/TypeMoon. Created by Kinoko Nasu with character design by Takashi Takeuchi, it was first released on January 30, 2004 for the Windows PC and serves as the first installment of the ''Franchise/{{Fate|Series}}'' franchise.
24
25There exists a [[TheLifestream plane outside of human concepts]], within which lies 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. When a legend has been venerated enough by humanity, it can become immortalized as a [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Heroic Spirit that surpasses time itself]]. [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism However, the definition of what a "hero" is, is broad]]; [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality even the ruthless and heartless are the heroes of their own tales]].
26
27[[SummoningRitual "Heaven's Feel" is a magical ritual]] where seven Heroic Spirits are summoned to become "Servants" to seven "Masters". They must then fight each other in [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne a seven-way battle royale]], whereupon the last Master/Servant team remaining is granted the ultimate prize: [[PublicDomainArtifact the Holy Grail]], a legendary artifact said to [[QuestForAWish grant any wish of whomever claims it]].
28
29The Servants are divided among [[CharacterClassSystem seven classes: Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Berserker, and Assassin]]. As public knowledge of a Heroic Spirit's true identity would reveal their strengths and weaknesses, [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep they are referred to by their class titles]]. Finally, each Servant is armed with a number of [[InfinityPlusOneSword "Noble Phantasms"]]: the armaments and abilities that personify their legend.
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31Shirou Emiya is an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent who happens to know a little magic from his late adopted father, a retired mage. When he stays behind at school one night, Shirou stumbles into the beginning of Heaven's Feel V, aka the Fifth Holy Grail War. The official rules state that all witnesses must be killed, but before that can happen Shirou finds himself bound to a Servant of the "Saber" class, widely regarded to be the most powerful of the seven.
32
33With the aid of Rin Tohsaka, a rival mage who summons an [[EasyAmnesia amnesiac]] "Archer" Servant, Shirou learns the rules of the Holy Grail War and just how far its participants will go to have their wishes granted. His dream is to become [[TheHero a selfless "Hero of Justice"]], but just how much meaning does that carry in a tournament where one must kill or be killed?
34
35Although [[LateExportForYou not initially released in English]], the game originally had a FanTranslation patch made for it by the good folks at [[http://mirrormoon.org Mirror Moon.]] The visual novel was adapted for the Platform/PlayStation2, with the pornographic content [[SelfCensoredRelease excised]], but [[UpdatedRerelease adds lots of cool new stuff]] in its place. The [=PlayStation=] 2 version is subtitled ''Realta Nua'' and the extra content from this version can be implemented onto the original 2004 PC version [[http://forums.nrvnqsr.com/showthread.php/4745-Fate-Stay-Night-Realta-Nua-PC-version-Mirror-Moon-TL-insertion-project with this patch]]. A Platform/{{PlayStation Vita}} port of ''Realta Nua'' has been released in Japan on the 29th of November, 2012 with high-resolution graphics and three openings animated by Creator/{{Ufotable}}. A version of ''Realta Nua'' was also released for PC in the beginning of 2011, with the three routes separated into individual downloads, as well as a port of the Vita version for [=iOS=] and Android in 2015. An English patch for ''Realta Nua PC'' can be found [[https://realtapatch.tumblr.com/download here]] for those who want to play that version of the game as-is; however, the newest (and arguably most complete) English fan-translation project for ''Realta Nua PC'' is the ''[[http://forums.nrvnqsr.com/showthread.php/8229-Fate-Stay-Night-Realta-Nua-Ultimate-Edition Fate/stay night [Realta Nua] Ultimate Edition]]'' project. The ''Ultimate Edition'' project features Mirror Moon's fan-translation, adds HD quality versions of the new openings (with the 2004 ones as an extra), updated high-resolution art from the Vita and mobile versions, the option to use the original or remixed soundtracks, 16:9 widescreen presentation, the ability to toggle and/or decensor the adult content as well as an optional mature content filter[[note]](for scenes involving use of alcohol, graphic violence, and sexual non-pornographic content)[[/note]], implements the jumpback feature from the [=PlayStation=] 2 version, the interactive Endings Menu from the [=PlayStation=] 2/Vita versions, and combines the three individual routes of ''Realta Nua PC'' into a single game à la the original 2004 release.
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37The Vita Realta Nua port was announced to have an HD remaster as ''Fate/stay night Remastered'' on Platform/NintendoSwitch and Platform/{{Steam}} with English and Chinese localizations included to celebrate the game's 20th anniversary and will release later in 2024, finally ending its long period of being only officially available in Japanese. Watch the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_hHrpAp8rU first English trailer here]].
38
39Set in the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}. It is split into three routes. Although these routes can in theory be played in any order, it is generally recommended to follow the intended order as listed below:
40
41* ''Fate'': A route focused on Shirou's relationship with Saber and his ideal of becoming a selfless "Hero of Justice" who can protect the lives of everyone and everything. It also lays down the characters and the framework of the Holy Grail War for the reader.
42* ''Unlimited Blade Works'': A route focused on Rin and Archer, specifically delving into Archer's mysterious past and his conflict with Shirou's ideals.
43* ''Heaven's Feel'': The third and final route, focused on Shirou's childhood friend Sakura Matou, the dark machinations of her grandfather, and the secrets behind the creation of the Heaven's Feel ritual.
44
45!!!Adaptations
46
47* An {{anime}} series 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 who were pushed into the background during the ''Fate'' route.
48** ''Fate/stay night TV Reproduction'', a two-part CompilationMovie of the series, released ahead of the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' film below. As such, some would count this as the first film in a series with ''Unlimited Blade Works''.
49* 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.
50* A {{manga}} adaptation was serialised in 2006-2012. Like the anime adaptation, it's based on the ''Fate'' route [[AdaptationExpansion while incorporating elements from other routes, as well as 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.
51* ''Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks'': Another anime series by Creator/{{ufotable}}, based on the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route, with 26 episodes altogether including a prologue "episode 0". Aired in 2014-2015 over two seasons.
52* A ''Heaven's Feel'' manga by Task Ohna began serialization in May 2015.
53* ''Anime/FateStayNightHeavensFeel'': Three movies by Creator/{{ufotable}} adapting the ''Heaven's Feel'' route. The first movie, ''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.
54* An ''Unlimited Blade Works'' manga by Daisuke Moriyama began serialization in December 2021.
55
56
57In 2005, it received a (sort-of) sequel titled ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'', and in 2006, a 4-volume light novel prequel titled ''Literature/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. A light novel prequel detailing events in Saber's life, ''Literature/GardenOfAvalon'', was written by Nasu and included in the bluray release of the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' anime.
58
59----
60!!Tropes in ''Fate/stay night'':
61
62[[foldercontrol]]
63
64[[folder:General Tropes]]
65* AllLovingHero: Shirou will literally kill himself with no hesitation if it means making even someone he just met happy. This is progressively [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]] and [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstructed]] throughout the course of the three routes.
66* AncientConspiracy: The [[MagicalSociety Mage Association]] and TheChurch are big in the Franchise/NasuVerse. Also, the true purpose of the Grail Wars, and to a lesser extent, the true nature of the Fuyuki Grail.
67* 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.]]
68* ArcWords: "My body is made of swords." It is a phrase that appears on the first screen of the game (not counting the prologue); as the story goes on, the phrase's different meanings and its purpose are revealed.
69** There's also "hill of swords". It either refers to [[spoiler:the Battle of Camlann, where Saber ultimately met her end and will return to in order to meet her fate, or Unlimited Blade Works, which represents Archer's/Shirou's struggles between his ideals and reality.]]
70* 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.]]
71* 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.
72* ArtifactOfDoom: [[spoiler:The Holy Grail]]. Due to events from the Third Grail War, it is inevitable that it will cause great calamity if activated.
73* ArtifactOfHope: Saber's Noble Phantasm, Excalibur: The Sword of Promised Victory, is one of the most famous Noble Phantasms in existence. As the crystallization of glory itself, it induces warm feelings of nostalgia and helps one recall fond memories in those that look upon it. It is also an enormously destructive WaveMotionSword that can demolish a fortress in a single blow when used at full power.
74* BattleCouple: Shirou and Saber provide the page image, though Shirou with Rin and Shirou with Sakura are also decent examples.
75* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: {{Discussed}}. The Holy Grail is an artifact theoretically capable of granting any wish, [[spoiler:but due to its corruption, it will grant that wish in the most destructive manner possible.]]
76* BettyAndVeronica: Across the whole franchise Saber and Rin frequently perform this task. Saber as Betty, Rin as Veronica.
77* 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]], [[TheSocialDarwinist 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''.
78* BlindIdiotTranslation: When Kotomine refers to the Einzberns having the Rhinegold in one scene, the Mirror Moon fan translation somehow bungled it into "the golden rule of the line". This went largely unnoticed for over a decade until the Einzbern's possession of the Rhinegold became relevant in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', at which point whereas Japanese fans just saw it as a nice callback, Western fans thought it was some new and out-of-nowhere revelation.
79* BloodMagic: The runes in the ritual used to summon Servants are normally drawn in blood.
80* BloodstainedDefloration: The original uncensored release shows Saber and Rin each bleeding when they lose their virginities. In Saber's case, it's when she has sex with Shirou to restore her expended mana in order to defeat Hercules on the "Fate" route.
81* BodyHorror: Students melting under Bloodfort Andromeda, [[spoiler:Shinji being transformed into a giant mutant pile of flesh]] in ''Unlimited Blade Works'', Shirou's body erupting blades and [[spoiler:everything to do with the crest worms]] in ''Heaven's Feel''.
82* BookEnds: The first Servant defeated in the whole game is [[spoiler:Rider]], who is defeated by [[spoiler:Saber]]. The last Servant defeated in the whole game is [[spoiler:Saber Alter]], who is defeated by [[spoiler:Shirou with Rider's help.]]
83** The first route that you play through is ''Fate'', where Saber is the primary LoveInterest [[spoiler:who ends up losing her corporeal form and leaving Shirou behind. The final scenario you can unlock in ''Realta Nua'' is ''Last Episode'', which serves as an epilogue of the route and shows how Shirou reunites with her.]]
84** The FinalBoss of the ''Fate'' route is [[spoiler:Kotomine]]. The final boss of the ''Heaven's Feel'' route is [[spoiler:him]] as well.
85* CastingGag: Creator/ShinichiroMiki voiced another blue-haired Kojiro in a [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries different universe.]]
86** The joke becomes full circle when a HistoricalGenderFlip of Miyamoto Musashi was introduced in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', though they didn't use Jessie's VA to voice her (Fate's Musashi is voiced by Creator/AyaneSakura instead of Creator/MegumiHayashibara).
87* ChekhovsBoomerang: Done ''across timelines''.
88** [[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.]]
89** 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.]]
90** 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.]]
91** Archer's swords: Shirou's [[StatOVision Master clairvoyance]] during ''Unlimited Blade Works'' notes that Archer's swords, Kanshou and Bakuya, have a poem engraved on them. The purpose of the poem is noted to be unclear, with the clairvoyance hypothesizing that they're meant to ward off evil spirits, and the engravings were added by Archer and not by the original smith. [[spoiler:This poem is actually the MagicalIncantation for one of Archer's finishing moves involving the swords, though the move doesn't actually appear except in the Sparks Liner High ending of ''Heaven's Feel''.]]
92* ClingySleepers: Coupled with a BedmateReveal, after the battle with Berserker, Shirou wakes up in his futon being lectured by Saber, only for them both to hear a request to keep it down. Shirou pulls back his covers to find Illya clinging to him. Rin is not amused when she learns of this.
93* ClosestThingWeGot:
94** If a Master specifically attempts to summon a Servant for whom no soul exists in the Throne of Heroes (i.e. the person in question never really existed), it will result in the summoning of a false Servant concocted of the closest match the Grail could find.
95** Although it doesn't come up in the visual novel proper, [[AllThereInTheManual later information]] confirms that the whole reason why Taiga, a remarkably skilled ''[[UsefulNotes/{{Kendo}} kendoka]]'' with a ''third dan'' under her belt (and she definitively could have reached higher than that), is instead in charge of the Japanese Archery [[JapaneseSchoolClub school club]] is because Homurahara Academy simply doesn't have a kendo club. WordOfGod also says that Shirou would have immediately joined the kendo club upon entering high school, but after finding out they didn't have one anymore, he instead let Taiga drag him to archery.
96* ConvenientlyOrphaned: Not a single remotely major character has living parents, and several (including the main character) are orphaned ''twice over''. Not only that, but those who actually have something passing for surrogate parents would much rather that they ''[[AbusiveParents didn't]]''.
97** 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.
98* TheCorruption:
99** [[PowerBornOfMadness Mad Enhancement]], the Class Skill of Berserkers, alters their appearance. ''Fate/Zero'' Berserker's C-class Mad Enhancement gave him fangs and lank black hair beneath his helmet, whereas ''Fate/stay night'' Berserker's B-class Mad Enhancement is evidently at least partially responsible for his [[{{Gonk}} strange appearance]].
100** The contents of [[spoiler:the current Grail, since the Third Grail War. The Einzbern family summoned the forbidden Avenger class as their Servant, causing him to be trapped into the Grail after his defeat due to his complicated circumstance. Since Avenger embodies All the Evils of the World, the corruption takes over the Grail. As a further result of this, any Servant exposed to Avenger in his present form is tainted by his hatred and turned evil, a process known as Blackening.]]
101* CrypticBackgroundReference: The events of the Third Grail War are pretty vague; pretty much all that is known is that the Edelfelts summoned good and evil versions of the same Saber and that the Einzberns summoned Avenger.
102* CueTheSun: The True End of each route usually features this as a sign of hope and new beginnings after the tribulations of the War.
103* CurbstompBattle: It takes Saber all of one slash to put Archer out of commission for over a week while he heals. Rin attempts to follow up, only to discover the hard way Saber's godlike level of AntiMagic. The only thing preventing Rin from dying right then is Shirou's order to stop.
104* {{Deconstruction}}: The story is a very harsh (yet also optimistic) deconstruction of the concept of heroes and heroism. It also examines the concept of ideals, what it takes to change ideals, and what kind of resolve a person needs to have in order to have a will to support those ideals.
105* DeusSexMachina: [[InsistentTerminology Mana Transfer Ritual]]. Sex ensues in the most inopportune times. Averted in the manga, Realta Nua editions of the game, the film, and anime adaptations.
106* DidntThinkThisThrough: In ''Heaven's Feel'', [[spoiler:after Archer managed to force True Assassin to retreat, Rin decided it was a good idea to stop and congratulate Shirou for surviving, despite still being in battle with The Shadow. This of course allows The Shadow to get the jump on her, forcing Archer to sacrifice himself to protect her]].
107* {{Doorstopper}}: The VisualNovel is about a million words long in English, longer than ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. The most conservative estimates puts the time it takes to go through the entire story at about 60 hours, but it is generally agreed that 80-100 hours is a more realistic estimate. It's partly why the VN hasn't been officially released in English.
108* DubInducedPlotHole: When discussing the Einzbern family, Kotomine mentions in the Mirror Moon fan translation that their wealth comes from "the golden rule of the line", which suggests some kind of Ley Line-related magic. In the actual japanese, he said that it came from "the gold of the Rhine", as in the massive and ''very cursed'' treasure hoard from the ''Literature/{{Nibelungenlied}}'', which single-handedly explains why they've done nothing but screw up everything they attempt over several generations. It's fairly notable in that it took well over a decade to be noticed, specifically until ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' where Siegfried himself expresses concern for them as the new owners of his cursed loot.
109* DysfunctionJunction: Everyone's backstory involves some past tragedy that has scarred them for life and supplied them with a fatal flaw. Each heroine's route takes time to explore said flaw and eventually have her get over it, but Shirou's ChronicHeroSyndrome is what really takes center stage.
110* ElementalPowers: Very exceptional ones, they are attributes linked to the "Origin", explained in ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners''; Shirou has "Sword", Rin has all the basic five ("Average One"), and [[spoiler:Sakura has "Imaginary Numbers" and artificially "Binding".]]
111* EmbarrassingRelativeTeacher: Inverted. Taiga (Shiro's legal guardian/aunt figure/moocher) teaches his class at school, but she's the one who gets embarrassed when they act too familiarly there. Shiro- not being your average teenager- is pretty chill about it.
112* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: The result if the BigBad achieves his goal. [[spoiler:The Evils of Angra Mainyu would be unleashed upon humans to destroy them.]]
113* EquivalentExchange: You pay for your magecraft, no matter what. True Magic, on the other hand...
114* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler:Kirei Kotomine]] may be motivated solely by [[ForTheEvulz the pleasure he gets in seeing others suffer]], but even he loathes [[TheWormThatWalks Zouken Matou]].
115* FatalMacGuffin: In each of the routes, the Holy Grail turns out to be more trouble than it's worth, as not only does it consume the Servant that touches it, it has been corrupted by Angra Mainyu since the third Grail War. Appropriately, the Grail is dismantled or outright destroyed at the end of each of the three routes.
116* 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/TodaysMenuForTheEmiyaFamily it spawned a spinoff]].
117* {{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''.
118* ForWantOfANail: As per tradition with visual novels with multiple routes, while the novel's main story always begins the same, the choices made by the reader during this first chapter are what branches out into the novel's three main routes, each with ''drastically'' different events and outcomes. Even a ''single'' choice has the potential to completely alter the entire course of the Holy Grail War.
119** ''Fate:'' As the first, and main default route, intended as an introductory route for first-time readers, Shirou is almost entirely a passive character for the first few days.
120*** As he does nothing to prevent Saber from attacking Archer in the first day, Archer is near-fatally injured, essentially excising him from most of the plot so he can heal. As a result, Rin is deprived of her Servant for most of the War and her second Command Spell. This forces her into a passive mentor role and being an early ally to Shirou, primarily to [[MrExposition deliver exposition to the audience.]]
121*** The early fight with Illya and Berserker soon after thus results in Saber fighting solo and nearly losing horribly - a sight that sparks [[spoiler:Shirou's obsessive desire to protect her, and thus their central character conflict.]]
122*** With the main heroes taking on a mostly passive and defensive role, the other enemy Masters are generally able to continue their operations uninterrupted - [[spoiler:Shinji ends up "peacefully" reaching out to Shirou first in order to enter the plot with Rider; Caster's faction is able to sit back and also be entirely defensive (Caster herself being unseen for almost the entire route); and Kirei's faction stays almost entirely in the shadows, to the point where Gilgamesh straight up barges into the plot out of sheer boredom.]]
123** ''Unlimited Blade Works:'' The ''sole'' difference between this route and the ''Fate'' route is Shirou's decision to [[spoiler:use a Command Spell to stop Saber from injuring Archer, meaning both him and Rin are able to become ''much'' more active in the Holy Grail War.]]
124*** [[spoiler:Archer's presence and better terrain means the first Berserker fight goes ''far'' better for Saber, putting Illya in the plot backseat for most of the route and allowing Shirou to accept his partnership with Saber with almost zero hang-ups, completely removing the conflict between them as seen in the ''Fate'' route.]]
125*** [[spoiler:Meanwhile, Rin is no longer shoved into a mentor role, and Archer is able to further his personal goals - sparking the ''new'' central conflict of the route.]]
126*** [[spoiler:No longer allied with Shirou, Rin initially (tries to) act as an early enemy to him - a sequence that accidentally runs them afoul of Shinji and Rider in a much more hostile manner, accelerating their plans by several days]].
127*** [[spoiler:Rin and Archer are even able to independently foil Caster's machinations in the city, forcing the normally-passive Caster and her faction to steal the spotlight as the mid-story villains - even directly supplanting their previous equivalents in ''Fate'', Shinji and Rider, the latter of whom they excise from the plot almost as quickly as she entered]].
128*** [[spoiler:To make matters worse, Shinji's early departure from the War leads him to flee to Kirei... leading the priest, seeing an opportunity for a new pawn, to assign ''Gilgamesh'' as his new "Servant" to carry out their plans earlier than in the ''Fate'' route. As a result, Gilgamesh takes on an active role much earlier, and has much grander motivations than simply pursuing his romantic obsession with Saber]].
129** ''Heaven's Feel:'' The changes in this route involve [[spoiler:Shirou paying closer attention to Sakura, and eventually personally walking her home. This single action gets him spotted by and draws the interest of Sakura's grandfather Zouken, who is normally a non-entity in the other routes. Zouken's noticing of Shirou's relationship with Sakura results in his renewed interest in the current Grail War, and deciding to take matters into his own hands.]]
130*** [[spoiler:In their first meeting, Zouken casually mentions Illya's name to Shirou, leading to him recognising her name later after the first Berserker fight and taking an interest in her. Despite the early sequences being similar to the ''Fate'' route, this single difference soon sparks a wildly diverging chain of events: Shirou automatically declines Rin's proposal for an alliance to actively pursue learning more about Illya instead, eventually leading to him learning the circumstances behind the previous Grail War from Kirei and Saber only the ''day after'' he joins the current War (once a major plot reveal of the ''Fate'' route).]]
131*** [[spoiler:This new knowledge (and Rin's absence) leads to Shirou and Saber sorting out their differences and working together to actively patrol the town in search of Masters - leading to them finding and (seemingly) defeating Shinji and Rider even ''earlier'' than in the previous routes]].
132*** [[spoiler:Shinji's early humiliating defeat leads him to abuse Sakura again, driving Shirou to have Sakura temporarily stay at his house for her protection at Rin's advice, cementing her story presence as the route's new heroine]].
133*** [[spoiler:Meanwhile, Zouken, after the War begins, makes a ''single'' additional remark about Rin's high odds of victory to Sakura, in order to stoke her jealousy and will to fight - emotions which activate her nature as an artificial Grail, and release the dormant Shadow within her.]]
134*** [[spoiler:Zouken and the Shadow are able to almost completely hijack the Grail War as total wildcards, spawning the True Assassin as a new Servant and wiping out Assassin, Caster, Kuzuki, and Lancer within two days.]]
135*** [[spoiler:The sudden appearance of new, far-more-malicious players in the War soon forces the remaining Masters to (mostly) put aside their differences to tackle the new threat - even former BigBad Kirei, giving him more time in the story spotlight through increased interactions with Shirou]].
136* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The leading ladies of the different routes exhibit this: you have Saber as melancholy, Rin as choleric, Sakura as phlegmatic, and Illya (originally intended to be the fourth heroine) as sanguine.
137* FutureSelfReveal: [[spoiler:Archer is revealed to be an alternate FutureBadass version of Shirou himself, who took his younger self's "Hero of Justice" mentality to an extreme and brought peace through extreme violence.]]
138* GambitPileup: The Fifth Grail War is complicated due to plots by Zouken, Kirei, Saber, Caster, the Einzbern family, [[spoiler:Gilgamesh, Counter-Guardian EMIYA, and Avenger]] all being executed at the same time. Differences between each route result in specific gambits being of more concern, and some being completely irrelevant.
139* GenderBender: [[spoiler:Other than being a gender flipped King Arthur, Saber was, for a period of time during her reign, given some... [[{{Hermaphrodite}} key male anatomy]] in order to produce an heir. This makes her a gender bender gender flip character.]]
140* 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.]]
141* GoldColoredSuperiority:
142** 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.
143** 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.
144* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:Angra Mainyu, the source of the Grail's corruption.]]
145* 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.]]
146* HairColorDissonance: Both Rin and Sakura are stated to have black hair (although Mirror Moon's translation leaves out that detail with regards to Sakura). In the game sprites, Rin's hair is close to black and may be seen that way, but is technically a very dark brownish charcoal, while Sakura's is deep blueish purple. To complicate matters, [[spoiler:illustrations show Sakura with the same hair color as Rin before being adopted by the Matous. A possible interpretation is that her purple hair is an out-of-story way of representing the biological alterations Zouken carried out on her, but her hair didn't actually change color in-story]].
147* 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.]]
148* HermeticMagic: Summoning Servants and various rituals connected to the Grail and Shirou's projection magic involve runes and elaborate invocations.
149* HumanResources
150** The Holy Grail's power [[spoiler:comes from absorbing the souls of the heroic spirits who died in the war.]]
151** Servants can consume human souls in order to replenish their prana, though most traditional Spirits will find the action to be beneath their dignity and may require a Command Seal in order to do so. [[spoiler:Caster and Rider]] both resorted to this at the start of the War due to their Masters lacking prana.
152* IdiotHair: Saber unless [[spoiler:she's in Saber Alter mode.]]
153* InSpiteOfANail: In all three scenarios, the best possible ending has [[spoiler:The Holy Grail being destroyed. And even that probably didn't end the cycle of violence brought by the Heaven's Feel ritual, if ''Fate/hollow ataraxia'' is any indication.]]
154* IntimateHealing: As usual for the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}, sex can be used to replenish magical energy. In the Réalta Nua, manga, and anime adaptations, it's {{Bowdlerized}} into the widely-mocked "Mana Transfer Dragon" in the case of Saber and "magic dolphins" in the case of Rin.
155* JackassGenie: [[spoiler:Due to Angra Mainyu's influence, the Holy Grail will twist any wish made to it in a way that will kill or hurt as many humans as possible.]]
156* JacobMarleyApparel: Servants will be summoned wearing the outfit they had just before their death if they had a strong attachment to their particular appearance. Otherwise, their appearance will reflect what they looked like during their prime.
157* KungFuWizard: In contrast to many magi who rely exclusively on magical means of combat, the Tohsaka family have a long-standing tradition of martial arts training which can be traced all the way back to their founder.
158* LateArrivalSpoiler: Many of the Servants' identities, particularly Saber's as [[spoiler:a gender-flipped King Arthur]], aren't really heavily guarded spoilers anymore.
159* LimitedWardrobe: Almost everyone has, at most, two sets of clothes (typically school, armor, armor/casual, or school uniform/casual, or in Illya's case, cold-weather/normal). Other, non-standard outfits are Illya's Dress of Heaven, Rin's bedclothes, and the occasional birthday suit.
160* 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 ''is'' 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".
161* LuminescentBlush: The three main heroines, Saber, Rin, and Sakura, each have a blushing portrait in cases of embarassment.
162* MagiBabble: Hours of exposition are devoted to explaining the mechanics of FunctionalMagic in different ways.
163* MagicAIsMagicA: The Nasuverse has an extensive set of rules regarding what is and is not possible and how people meet the energy requirements for what they do. For example, even with magecraft it's normally not possible to make something out of nothing, nor can the output of energy be greater than what one puts into it, meaning most mages have to power their spells with the energy taken from the environment rather than the energy they produce internally. However, once this sort of baseline rule is established, there are then people who seem to break the rules by going outside the normal system, such as the True Magics or Reality Marble users, both of which are quite unnatural.
164* MagicMustDefeatMagic: Servants cannot be harmed by modern weapons like firearms, as they're fast enough to DodgeTheBullet or [[NighInvulnerability simply disperse into spirit form]] rather than take the hit head on. As such, Servants are only injured and killed by other supernatural beings within the story such as other Servants, [[spoiler:Angra Mainyu]], magi, or people magically enhanced by magi. This is perhaps best shown in the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route, where [[spoiler:Kuzuki, enhanced by Caster's magecraft, manages to take Saber by surprise in hand-to-hand combat and defeat her. But when Archer murders Caster, Kuzuki is only able to land one hit that Archer doesn't even bother trying to dodge before Archer cuts him in half.]]
165* MeleeATrois: The Holy Grail War is fashioned as one: seven Masters, their eventual associates, seven Servants. To reach the end of the War and fully open the path to the Holy Grail, all seven Servants must ultimately die. The Master's death is not required, but killing a Master is the fastest way to dispose of a Servant who doesn't have the Independent Action skill. A Servant who survives their Master's death long enough can take a new contract, and under some conditions a Master can have a contract with more than one Servant.
166* MoodWhiplash: Before the player enters the Tiger Dojo, [[InvokedTrope the story warns that if you want to preserve your image of the characters, you should skip this area]]. Most Tiger Dojos are very silly.
167* MundaneUtility:
168** Rin's first order of business to her Servant Archer, a Heroic Spirit of mighty power, is, "Clean up this mess." The next morning, the first thing Archer does is make tea. ''Damn good'' tea, according to Rin.
169** Initially, [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway Shirou's magecraft]] is so weak and underdeveloped that he can only harden objects or inspect them for repairs. By the end of each route, he can [[TookALevelInBadass instantly generate enough swords for a whole army]].
170* MusclesAreMeaningless: A trope that applies to the Nasuverse in general. Almost all of the physical powerhouses rely primarily on Prana (analogous to "chi") rather than muscle to perform their physical feats.
171** Saber's "Mana Burst" is an example of this. This is why Arcueid, who has the body of a supermodel, can inflict some the strongest physical destruction in the Nasuverse; and Saber, who is a tiny woman, can keep up with monsters like Berserker. Saber demonstrates the difference between her physical strength, with and without Prana, quite clearly in the game – as with a weak Master like Shirou, she herself is greatly weakened.
172** Humans are generally an exception since most do not have a whole lot of Prana, in fact, most have almost none. They instead rely on Mana (Prana is essentially Mana that is innate or internal to any specific entity), making most of the most powerful humans closer to traditional mages. Though humans tend to avoid direct physical confrontations with serious threats, it certainly does help to be physically fit for various reasons.
173* MythologyGag: Shirou awakens to an UnfamiliarCeiling and is introduced to his savior and mentor-to-be, a self-styled Magician. This is a reference to Shiki and Touko's first meeting in ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'', though not to the extent of [[CallBack basically recreating the scene]] as in ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}''.
174* NeutralInNameOnly: The Church is supposed to remain neutral. However, their long-term goal is to confiscate the Grail, and in the short-term, their current agent and overseer Kirei Kotomine is a master working for his personal gain against the rules.
175* NeverGivenAName: Normally a Noble Phantasm's name is a key part of its power, to the point where it cannot be used properly without knowing it, but Gilgamesh's sword does not have a name at all. It has been referred to as "Ea" or "The Sword of Rupture" for convenience, but neither of these names truly belong to it in a mystical sense.
176* NiceGuy: Shirou.
177* NiceMeanAndInBetween: Of the three heroines, Sakura is the nice, Rin is the mean, and Saber is the in-between. Sakura is unabashedly sweet, partially thanks to her incredibly low self-esteem but also her genuine love of Shirou. Rin is sarcastic, aloof, and unapproachable due to her [[{{Tsundere}} strong defense mechanisms]]. Saber falls squarely in-between, being generally kind but stoic and stubborn.
178* OlderIsBetter: A very strongly adhered-to rule. Older magi are capable of things modern magic-users can only dream of. It's also one of the reasons Gilgamesh is so powerful: he possesses the [[https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Theory_of_Forms Platonic ideal]] of almost every weapon-type Noble Phantasm that ever was or will be, meaning that they're all at least one rank more powerful than the actual versions that were used by the Heroic Spirits.
179* OldMagic: Caster is able to wield spells from the Age of Gods that vastly outstrip the raw firepower of modern day magecraft. Due to possessing the ability to use Divine Words lost to humans in the present, she can perform incredible feats with a single word when it would take entire teams of modern-day magi chanting for several minutes to do the same.
180* OminousObsidianOoze: The "black mud" of [[spoiler:Aŋra Mainiiu, which resides in the Holy Grail]] contains "All the World's Evil" and is basically TheCorruption in (mostly) liquid form.
181* OminousPipeOrgan: Church on the Hilltop, which is [[ObviouslyEvil Kirei's theme]] and is ''supposed'' to be a soothing church tune but its effect is rather unsettling.
182* OmnicidalManiac:
183** The goal of Archer 2 is to [[spoiler:unleash Angra Mainyu to purge the Earth of those unworthy of his rule, and if all humans happen to perish then that just means that none of them were worthy.]]
184** [[spoiler:Angra Mainyu's]] sole purpose is to wipe out all humans. That is what he's supposed to do as [[spoiler:he's all the evils of the world.]]
185* PossessionImpliesMastery: One of the big themes.
186** The "Riding" skill. As long as the skill is ranked highly enough, a holder can simply grab the controls of any vehicle or mount and instantly know how to operate it as if they had been for years.
187** Archer does not master his [[spoiler:Projected]] weapons, but can get the skill/knowledge of utilization of a weapon thanks to [[spoiler:his re-creation of the actual creation and its history as its master used it.]]
188* PowerGlows: {{Justified|Trope}}; {{Mana}} distorts reality, so strong enough amounts of it become visible to the naked eye.
189* ProjectileSpell: The Gandr spell sounds like a gun, and even leaves bullet holes behind.
190* 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)[[/note]], explained in-universe as them being {{identical stranger}}s, to the point of being mistaken for one another.
191* TheReveal: One for each route.
192** ''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.]]
193** ''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.]]
194** ''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.]]
195* SealedEvilInACan: [[spoiler:Angra Mainyu]] was sealed within the Holy Grail during the Third War because [[spoiler:the Grail identified him as human instead of a spirit.]]
196* 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.
197* SeeNoEvilHearNoEvil: Berserker and Ilya's sudden appearance in the middle of an empty street completely catches Shirou unaware. This is {{justified|Trope}} because, like any other Servant, the humongous and usually quite noisy Berserker has the ability to recede into spirit form. This occurs in the original visual novel, but the anime makes it more apparent.
198* ShoutOut:
199** If you listen closely to the background music whenever Shirou's TV is telling the local news, you can hear some music from ''Tsukihime'', another [[Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} Type-Moon]] VisualNovel.
200** During one of the [[HaveANiceDeath Tiger Dojo]] chibis, there's a ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' reference when Sakura and Rin briefly have a cute fight with each other, complete with rainbow-colored bullets everywhere and a side-shot of both of them vertically.
201** The scene where we see [[spoiler:[[CruelAndUnusualDeath the worms at work]]]] is a fairly obvious ShoutOut to Creator/StephenKing's novel ''Literature/{{IT}}'', where Patrick Hocksetter dies in roughly the same way.
202** The aftermath of the [[Literature/FateZero Grail Fire]] and Shirou's reaction is incredibly similar to the aftermath of the atomic bomb explosion as described in John Hersey's ''Hiroshima''.
203** In the anime, Saber asks [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail "What are you going to do, bleed on me?"]]
204** Berserker has a Noble Phantasm called [[Manga/{{Berserk}} God Hand]].
205** 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.
206** Gilgamesh's golden-armor-with-blue-highlights design is almost certainly a nod to [[VideoGame/TheTowerOfDruaga another famous Gilgamesh in golden armor who climbed a tower]]. The similarities stop at the armor, however.
207** A very subtle one, but the Excalibur theme's main melody appears to have been taken from the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBqcOMBgdLk "Forever"]] by American metal band ''Music/{{Kamelot}}'', itself based on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR3N1yBEGbw "Solveig's Song"]] by Edvard Grieg. Bonus points since some of Kamelot's more well-known songs concern the Arthurian Legend.
208* SoulEating: Servants can do this to replenish their {{Mana}}, though the more wholesome ones are understandably quite averse to it. In [[Literature/FateApocrypha one]] [[UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper case]], the Servant – a ChaoticEvil[[invoked]] AntiVillain – expressed a preference for ''evil'' souls, because their foulness makes them that much tastier, and souls of similar alignment are easier to digest.
209* 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.]]
210* 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.[[invoked]]
211* SummoningRitual:
212** The Holy Grail War System provides the power behind the ritual required for acquiring a Servant. The Servant will usually respond to the call if the mage has an artifact associated with him or her.
213** The exception to this rule is [[spoiler:the Assassin class. Since the word "Assassin" derives from "Asāsiyyūn", the sect founded by the first "Hassan-i-Sabah" and the subsequent 18 people who bore the same name, the act of summoning an Assassin negates the need for an artifact.]]
214* SupernormalBindings: One of Gilgamesh's noble phantasms is Enkidu, a special chain that was created to restrain the gods. Its strength is proportional to the divinity of its target, so whereas it can easily overpower gods, when used against a normal person it simply acts as a tough chain.
215* SuperpowerfulGenetics: 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.
216* TemporalSuicide: This is the primary goal of Archer, a.k.a. [[spoiler:Shirou Emiya]], who seeks to kill his past self in order to wipe himself from existence and free himself from the shackles of being a Counter Guardian. He also wants to do it to spare [[spoiler:Shirou from going through the same experience as he did, trying to become a hero of Fuyuki City and ultimately becoming a FallenHero. Unfortunately for him, no matter how well laid out his plans are, several other factors prevent Archer from achieving his goal at the worst possible moments]], and it's indicated in ''Unlimited Blade Works'' that his plan would fail even if he ''did'' succeed in killing his past self, since when he became a Heroic Spirit he became an existence outside the space-time continuum.
217* TemptingFate: Hoo boy, do the writers love this trope. It's played with, in both a comical and a serious tone, with varying results.
218* ThemeMusicPowerUp:
219** Anytime "Emiya" starts playing, you know Shirou is going to do something ''epic'' or an important battle is going to happen.
220** "Sword of Promised Victory" plays whenever the Holy Sword or a similar Noble Phantasm is about to be used.
221** "Into the Night" (The title music) plays when the FinalBoss is about to get a beatdown – it's an even more reliable power-up than "Emiya".
222** "Premonition of a Storm" is one of those "Shit's going down!" songs that can pump it up. Sadly, it's not in the original VisualNovel, but a new musique of the ''Fate/stay night Realta Nua'' version.
223* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: The very concept of the Grail War is that only one mage can have his wish fulfilled. The Grail provides the individuals who desire it with Command Spells. Things are far more complicated.
224* TitleDrop:
225** In the songs:
226*** "ideal white", the first opening to the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' anime, mentions "fate" at one point.
227*** "Brave Shine", the second opening to the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' anime, contains the lyric "stay the night" in the first chorus.
228*** "I Beg You", the ending theme for Part 2 of the ''Heaven's Feel'' movie trilogy, contains the lyric, "heavenly feeling", before the final chorus.
229** The title of ''Unlimited Blade Works'' comes from Archer's [[spoiler:and later, Shirou's]] prayer.
230** The ''Heaven's Feel'' route is another name for the Holy Grail War.
231* TranslatorMicrobes: The Holy Grail acts as one. For the Servants, it implants a basic level of knowledge about the time period into which they are summoned. This prevents inconveniences such as, for example, a Servant from Ancient Greece being freaked out by cars or cellphones. Pretty convenient considering a Servant can come from across time and from any culture around the globe.
232* TwoTeacherSchool: The only staff we ever see at school are Soichiro Kuzuki and Taiga Fujimura, despite the apparent size of the school.
233* UnreliableNarrator: TheNarrator, Rin or Shirou, is given to making observations which are later proven false.
234* WallOfText: A VisualNovel is text-based by nature, but at times the presentation bogs down with dense blocks accompanied by unvoiced, single static images.
235* WeirdnessCensor
236** Not even a rumor about the war is going on, even when 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) happen. {{Justified|Trope}} by a cover-up done by TheChurch and [[MagicalSociety the Mages' Association]], but we never see it in action during the VisualNovel.
237** PlayedForLaughs 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''.
238* WithThisHerring: Pretty awesome once you think about it: Shirou's first battle against legendary hero Lancer is Lancer and his Gae Bolg versus Shirou and his... reinforced newspaper. The fact that it survives SEVERAL HITS from a legendary spear says it all.
239* WordSaladTitle:
240** Though the title still doesn't make much sense, one can at least find a recurring fate motif when thinking about it. [[spoiler:Such as Saber's desire to rewrite history; Archer's musings that, no matter their lifestyle, ultimately all heroes will have to face the same fate, their death, and the collapse of everything they worked for; as well as Kotomine asking the question of how much one's life is determined by inborn nature and the intentions of God]]. There is, of course, also the recurring question of why the Grail chose the Masters it did.
241** This also occurs with individual scene titles, though each one makes sense [[ItMakesSenseInContext once you watch the scene]]. For example, Shapeless Island involves [[spoiler:Rider stealing Shirou's mana with wet dreams, shapeshifting into Rin.]]
242** In terms of unlocking the routes, the title makes an odd sense if you exclude that each set of choices has to be unlocked. ''Fate'' is there from the beginning and deals with Saber's fate, ''Unlimited Blade Works'' is the second available route and is unlocked by telling Saber to 'stay' in place and not attack Archer in their initial fight and finally ''Heaven's Feel'' is unlocked by not actively trying to fight in the Holy Grail War and 'staying' in at 'night' with Sakura.
243** It could also be referring to how the battles the form the Grail War are mostly waged at night and the sexual/romantic parts of the story ("stay the night"), namely how each route has Shirou romance a different love interest.
244* WorfHadTheFlu: Happens ''really'' often. There are surprisingly few battles where both contenders don't have some sort of handicap.
245** Saber spends most of the ''Fate'' route recovering from two serious injuries she took from Lancer and Berserker, severely limiting her mana supply. She is further weakened due to Shiro being an IneptMage and not having a proper contract with her, [[spoiler:and with Rin as her Master in ''Unlimited Blade Works'' she's able to quickly regain her full power.]]
246** Archer takes his own grievous wound from Saber in ''Fate'', resulting in him taking a back seat to recover. When he squares off against Berserker, he still hasn't recovered enough to use his trump card. In ''Unlimited Blade Works'' he has to deal with [[spoiler:not having a master and needing to conserve mana to continue existing.]]
247** Lancer is being compelled by his master to only sound out his enemies instead of fighting them seriously for his early fights with Saber and Archer.
248** Rider's master is extremely weak and Rider has no source of mana other than draining it from other people, leaving her incapable of using her more powerful abilities freely. [[spoiler:When Sakura becomes her master again, Rider's power ''skyrockets''.]]
249** Berserker is normally a GeniusBruiser whose immense strength is supplemented by his intelligence, but as he was summoned as a Berserker to ensure his obedience, his skill and genius have been lost. In ''Unlimited Blade Works'' he loses to [[spoiler:Gilgamesh]] due to his enemy's willingness to attack Illya, forcing him to fight defensively. In ''Heaven's Feel'' [[spoiler:his corruption causes him to get blinded and flayed, causing him to repeatedly crash into trees as he chases the heroes through a forest, as well as making him more susceptible to Shirou's counterattack.]]
250** Assassin forces a decisive clash between him and Saber by blocking, instead of parrying. [[spoiler:This damages his blade, ruining his Tsubame Gaeshi technique and allowing Saber to defeat him.]]
251** And finally, Gilgamesh only ever loses because his pride makes him hold back his full might. Even when he decides to get serious, his previous slacking usually allows the heroes to already form a countermeasure and get the jump on him.
252* WouldHurtAChild: Used in all three routes to show how evil the route's major antagonist really is.
253** ''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]].
254** ''Unlimited Blade Works'': [[spoiler:Gilgamesh]] tears out [[spoiler:Illya's]] heart. And before that, he [[EyeScream slices open her eyes]].
255** ''Heaven's Feel'': Everything [[spoiler:Zouken]] did, with regards to raising [[spoiler:Sakura.]]
256[[/folder]]
257
258[[folder:''Fate'']]
259* AndIMustScream:
260** If you refuse to participate in the Grail War when you're taken to the church for the first time, Illya proceeds to brutalize Shirou and torture him without killing him.
261** 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.]]
262* AwfulTruth: [[spoiler:Getting the true end of the route requires you to discover Kirei Kotomine's ghastly basement of orphans by going down the ominous staircase that leads to it. Kirei himself later forces Shirou to remember all the people he knowingly left behind in the fire to save his own skin, which is something that has been subconsciously fueling his SurvivorGuilt for years.]]
263* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: [[spoiler:Illya and Berserker]] conveniently kill [[spoiler:Shinji]] after his Servant is defeated by Saber, saving Shirou from the moral quandary presented by having to deal with a totally defenseless person who crossed the MoralEventHorizon right in front of him previously.
264* BigDamnHeroes: {{Subverted}} by [[spoiler:Gilgamesh]] who, after saving the heroes from their last opponent, [[MakeWayForTheNewVillains becomes their new one]].
265* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Shirou DidNotGetTheGirl but decides that life goes on. Illyasviel survives, but probably won't live more than a few years (at best) due to her being a homunculus]]. And although the DistantFinale in the ''Realta Nua'' version [[spoiler:has Shirou and Saber reuniting, it's also made very clear that not only are [[TogetherInDeath they both dead]], but Saber and Shirou were separated for a ''very'' long time.]]
266* BodyHorror:
267** The first ending possible results in Berserker leaving Shirou a disembodied head, which Illya will keep alive and torture for as long as she pleases.
268** The fate of the [[spoiler:other orphans from the fire ten years ago]]. They resemble nothing so much as rotting, bug-infested, limbless corpses... but they're ''still alive and aware'' [[spoiler:so that Gilgamesh can feed on their prana.]]
269* ChekhovsGun:
270** A sword keeps appearing in Shirou's dream throughout the route. [[spoiler:It's the sword Caliburn, which Shirou projects in order to defeat Berserker.]]
271** Saber mentions having lost her final Noble Phantasm, [[spoiler:Avalon, Excalibur's sheath]]. Rin also narrates a story [[spoiler:about Merlin, saying the King's true weapon is his sheath]]. It was [[spoiler:inside Shirou and keeping him alive]] the whole time. It was also her summoning catalyst.
272* DeusExMachina:
273** An early one happens when Saber gets hit by Gae Bolg, a weapon that reverses causality and always strikes the opponents heart no questions asked, yet it still missed her heart. Only much later is it revealed that she got by thanks to her high Luck stat making it so that it only ''grazes'' her heart, thus fulfilling the condition without killing her.
274** During the group's encounter with Berserker in the woods, Shirou manages to create a copy of Caliburn from the image in his head. This has been foreshadowed for a while. What isn't foreshadowed is that [[spoiler:with Saber's help, they're able to smash the projected copy through Berserker's own sword (which previously parried blows from the real Excalibur, a superior blade even to the true Caliburn), stab it into his body, and then release a SwordBeam powerful enough to kill Berserker seven times over, taking out his remaining five lives with interest and thus saving them from certain defeat.]]
275** When Caster assaults Shirou's home, she manages to get both him and Saber into an extremely unfavorable position, planning to take Saber for her own. Then [[spoiler:Caster gets skewered by Gilgamesh]], a character whose existence hasn't even been hinted at up to that point aside from one small scene early on in the story.
276** [[spoiler:In Shirou's and Saber's first real battle against Gilgamesh, both get easily curb-stomped by him, with Saber's Noble Phantasm and Shirou's recreation of her sword easily beaten. Yet despite the injuries Shirou has suffered, being close to bisected, he manages to force himself to stand. Then not only does he somehow manage to repel Gilgamesh's finishing blow, but also manages to inflict damage on him, causing him to retreat. Although his healing and ability to stay alive are well established at this point in the story, suddenly repelling an attack that previously he couldn't even counter on a basic level really comes out of nowhere, once again saving them both.]]
277** [[spoiler:In the final battle, things go south for Shirou and Saber quickly, with Shirou being overwhelmed by the black mud from the corrupt Grail and Saber unable to overpower Gilgamesh's Ea, both barely hanging on with willpower and self-healing, respectively. Then just as they are at the verge of defeat they both summon Avalon, the sheath of Excalibur that Shirou gave back to Saber earlier, that turns out to have the ultimate ability to nullify any attack against the holder, including the mud containing all the world's evils and the Anti-World Noble Phantasm Enuma Elish. This particular ability has never been mentioned even by Saber before this point. It all ends up giving them both the opening they need to finish off their respective, shocked opponents in a single strike, giving them the win.]]
278* DistressedDude: Shirou gets kidnapped by Illya halfway through the route, forcing Saber, Rin, and Archer to come to his aid.
279* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: At one point, Shinji invites Shirou over to his house for a private conversation. Once they're inside, Shirou is surprised by the sight of Shinji showing off his [[spoiler:Servant]]. Shinji then says now that he's shown Shirou his, he'd like Shirou to show his back in return. Shirou refuses to show anything and leaves soon after.
280* DramaticIrony: At the end of the route, [[spoiler:when all the survivors are happily chatting in the Emiya living room, Illya comforts Sakura and tells her not to be too hung up on Shinji's death, which Sakura appreciates and takes to heart. ''Illya'' is the one who killed him]]!
281* DudeLooksLikeALady: Bedivere. He's voiced by one, too.
282* EarnYourBadEnding: Achieving Tiger Dojo 13 where Saber kills Shirou requires the player to go out of their way to keep Saber's affection as low as possible. Without the use of a guide it's incredibly difficult to earn this, something the game, itself, points out.
283* EarnYourHappyEnding: In the ending of the scenario of ''Realta Nua'', [[spoiler:as Saber lies dying, lamenting on losing Shiro, she is visited by Merlin, who, feeling that she is owed something for all her hardships, claims that there is a way for her to be reunited with the one she loves. However, it would require two impossible feats: she [[IWillWaitForYou must wait for him continuously]] and Shirou [[IWillFindYou must pursue her endlessly]]. They do, and are reunited in what appears to be Avalon.]]
284* FissionMailed: Telling Saber there won't be lunch and teasing her about her growling stomach makes her mad enough to put on her armour and send Shirou to the Tiger Dojo. Except, it's not over and the story continues!
285* ForegoneConclusion: It's impossible to [[spoiler:save Saber from dying]] because it happened about 1500 years ago from Shirou's perspective. However, this doesn't mean she can't [[spoiler:live out a full life ''here'' and then simply return on the verge of death back to the battlefield and then die there]]. This only happens in one ending, though.
286* FromRoommatesToRomance: After being summoned by accident, Saber starts living at Shirou's house because she has the duty to protect her Master 24/7. Throughout the Fate route, they fall in love after a few days.
287* GuideDangIt: Gathering all the Tiger Stamps from the bad ends gives the player a number of special scenes in the end. Though most {{Bad End}}s are fairly easy to figure out, Bad End 13 requires some hoop jumping to get Saber's Relationship Points low enough.
288* HGame: The original release of the game is one, featuring multiple explicit sex scenes between characters who are both visually depicted and vividly described in text. These scenes were removed in later releases of the game to ensure broader market appeal, with the subsequent franchise eventually becoming known more for its actual plot than for its pornographic origins.
289* HolyGround: The church in Fuyuki City is considered this, being used as a neutral site for Masters to meet.
290* InstantRunes: Rider creates a rune circle almost instantaneously to use her Noble Phantasm and escape from Saber when cornered.
291* IntimateHealing: When Saber all-but runs out of mana fighting Berserker for the first time, Shirou and Rin are forced to resort to drastic measures (having sex with her) to keep her from disappearing.
292* KillSteal: Illya apologizes to Shirou for killing [[spoiler:Shinji Matou]] when he tried to escape because she assumes Shirou would have wanted the kill.
293* LetThemDieHappy: In the ending, when a dying [[spoiler:Artoria]] tells [[spoiler:Sir Bedivere]] that she saw a dream and asks him whether she can see the same dream again if she closes her eyes, he says that yes, he had that experience once before.
294* LockedOutOfTheLoop: The main characters themselves. A number of [[GambitPileup schemes by other characters]], such as [[spoiler:Archer's planned betrayal or Zouken Matou's quest for immortality]], that are detailed in ''Unlimited Blade Works'' and ''Heaven's Feel'' never come to fruition in this route. [[spoiler:By the time Gilgamesh skewers Caster in his first onscreen appearance, Kirei Kotomine has already outwitted most of his competition and is on the verge of seizing the Holy Grail for himself]].
295* LoveAtFirstSight: Shirou falls for Saber the moment he first sees her after accidentally summoning her.
296* MadeOfEvil: [[spoiler:The contents of the Holy Grail is Angra Mainyu, a Servant-turned-embryonic god of evil that expels a a corruptive black ooze embodying All the World's Evils.]]
297* MagicContractRomance: Saber is bound to Shirou by the Command Spell, but she genuinely comes to love him and his willingness to protect her during the route.
298* MindRape: Shirou sees horrific images of every crime imaginable [[spoiler:when he's covered with mud from the Grail.]]
299* NoGuyWantsAnAmazon: Self-invoked by Saber the second time Shirou sees her naked. She feels embarrassed that she is so muscular compared to other women like Rin.
300* NotQuiteDead: Berserker is seemingly blown to pieces by Rin, [[spoiler:but his noble phantasm gives him 12 lives, meaning Rin is still within his grasp.]]
301* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome:
302** Archer's fight against Berserker, with the former managing to kill the latter ''six times'' before being defeated.
303** 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 Berserker in the ''UBW'' route, one has to wonder about all the tricks Cu managed to pull.
304* APlaceHoldsMemories: Shirou describes how he used to return to the empty park which used to be the neighborhood he lived in before the fire to imagine walking around his house and smiling at his mother, as if he could literally go back to that time.
305* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: Saber's wish is to [[spoiler:undo her rule so Britain can have a better king.]]
306* SexIsGood: Although [[TheirFirstTime Shirou and Saber's first time]] is incredibly awkward, [[note]]as they're on the run from Berserker and Illya, and Saber is on the verge of disappearing[[/note]] their subsequent sexual encounter is treated as the best thing ever, despite how inexperienced both are.
307* SnowMeansLove: Ilya ''makes'' it snow when parting with Shirou at one point. It isn't romantic love [[spoiler:because Ilya is his adopted sister]]. It's one of the big clues to Shirou that her cheerful act is mostly a facade against being hurt anymore. Apparently, every Holy Grail War in Fuyuki has taken place in winter. You know some people love that grail.
308* StarCrossedLovers: Shirou and Saber. He's a regular boy with a hero complex, she's a Heroic Spirit that only wishes for the Holy Grail. [[spoiler:She also wishes to basically erase herself from history. Even though that doesn't end up happening]], she has to return to [[spoiler:the time of her death and finally die]], reminiscing her time with Shirou as a dream.
309* StayInTheKitchen: Shirou has shades of this in both this route and the anime adaptation. [[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.
310* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: After a rather serious monologue with Saber contemplating protecting Shirou, and eventually having the brief thought of her feeling like a girl in love like in the story books, Rin walks by and asks where Shirou is.
311-->'''Saber:''' R-Rin! What is it? I-It's not like I'm surrendering to Shirou!
312* TemporalParadox: [[spoiler:Saber]]'s goal is to go back in time and [[spoiler:have someone other than her become King Arthur, as she believes herself a bad king responsible for her country's destruction.]]
313* TheirFirstTime: Shirou and Saber have sex for the first time in a cabin and it is ''incredibly'' awkward, since despite their mutual feelings, Saber is at the verge of disappearing. Rin is there, and helps out.
314* ThreeWaySex: The first H-scene between Shirou and Saber has Rin getting in on the action, [[ClosetKey coming to the realization]] that she's bisexual in the process. Though, that's only in the original Hentai version, and is not present in the finalised Realta Nua.
315* TimeTravelRomance: Of the tragic variety. Saber is a woman summoned from medieval times, whereas Shirou is a boy from the 21st century. [[spoiler:In the end, Saber has to return to the time of her death and finally rest.]]
316* TitleDrop:
317** "Stay Night" is the title of the climactic scene of the ''Fate'' route, where Shirou and Saber face off against the villains.
318** The title of the route's True End, "Continuation of the Dream", comes from its final words: [[spoiler:''"Do you see it, Myth/KingArthur? The continuation of your dream?"''.]]
319* TogetherInDeath: "The Last Episode" has [[spoiler:Shirou and Saber reuniting in Avalon after their deaths. Shirou most likely followed the same path as Archer, but unlike Archer he did not regret his ideals because those were the ideals he shared with Saber, the ideals that he found to be so beautiful. Also unlike Archer, he had a goal in mind, a goal that is for nobody's sake but his own: to endlessly chase after the golden-haired girl who is eternally waiting for him alone in the fields of gold.]]
320* WallSlump: Rin leaves a trail of blood around her while slumping down the wall after [[spoiler:Kotomine attacks the house to secure Illya]].
321[[/folder]]
322
323[[folder:''Unlimited Blade Works'']]
324* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Illya]] dies not as a cruel Master but instead as a [[spoiler:scared little girl.]]
325* AmbiguousSituation: In BadEnd #16, [[spoiler:Shirou gets ousted from the Holy Grail War due to Rin subjecting him to LaserGuidedAmnesia. However, when he wonders aloud whether or not he's forgotten something, Sakura promptly reassures him that nothing's wrong. However, given the revelations of ''Heaven's Feel'', where she's revealed to be a Master who only avoided the war by giving her Servant to Shinji, it's left unclear whether her reassurance is genuine or she deliberately deceives him to ensure he won't remember the war.]]
326* 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.]]
327* AttemptedRape: [[spoiler:Shinji]] attempts to rape [[spoiler:Rin Tohsaka]] while she's captive in the Einzbern castle. It says a lot about him and his situation that even his potential ''victim'' isn't worried about him actually succeeding. [[spoiler:He gets stabbed by Lancer and runs away in fear, looking exceptionally pathetic.]]
328* BadassInDistress: Happens to [[spoiler:both Rin and Saber]] at different points in the route.
329* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler:Archer]]'s plan involves manipulating Shirou's hero complex[[note]] which he knows very well[[/note]] and [[spoiler:Caster]]'s confidence in her power after capturing [[spoiler:Saber]]. Playing [[spoiler:Caster]] frees him to kill Shirou, whom he knew would come to save [[spoiler:Saber, who could then be contracted by Rin]]. His only mistake is taking too long after killing [[spoiler:Caster]].
330* BelligerentSexualTension: Shirou and Rin have some clashes during the course of the route with Rin being a grade-A {{Tsundere}} and Shirou a socially awkward DeadpanSnarker.
331* BigDamnHeroes:
332** Archer drops in and rescues Shirou when Caster lures Shirou to her temple. He has the chance to defeat Caster, too, but he passes it up.
333** When Rin and Shirou are fighting against Caster and her Master, [[spoiler:Archer, who supposedly betrayed them to join Caster, kills both Kuzuki and Caster.]]
334** When a desperate Rin is prepared to [[spoiler:die within the Holy Grail and have Saber destroy it, Archer, thought to be dead after his fight with Shirou, helps Rin get out.]]
335* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Shirou cannot absolve Archer's fate, but the Counter Guardian comes to find peace with it.]]
336** If one follows the true end, [[spoiler:Archer states that although he does find peace, the real EMIYA will not and Saber is gone, but has accepted her fate. Rin and Shirou are together and Archer is certain that if Rin is with Shirou, he won't become Archer. Shinji pulls a HeelFaceTurn.]]
337* BodyHorror:
338** When [[spoiler:Gilgamesh uses Shinji as the Grail's core]], his body is transformed into an enormous mound of cancerous tissue leaking cursed mud.
339** Shirou's fate in the "Hazy" [[MultipleEndings bad end (leading to Tiger Dojo #20)]] is not [[GoryDiscretionShot extensively explained]] but it is implied he has become this, since he is held in some sort of a test tube as a living projection wand, conscious but not quite capable of free and coherent thought, in a state that has Saber acting apologetic towards him, and Rin has to put him out of his misery when she finds him, which she does by breaking said tube.
340* DarkestHour: [[spoiler:Caster has kidnapped Saber and taken over the church, and Archer has betrayed Rin.]]
341* DelayedReaction: On the tenth day, Taiga casually accepts Rin's presence and chats with Shirou a bit, before suddenly realizing that Rin is present and shouting her question as to why.
342* DeusExMachina:
343** In front of the church as Archer and Lancer fight, Lancer decides to use Gae Bolg, a weapon that always pierces the opponent's heart when used. [[spoiler:Archer answers by pulling out Rho Aias, a shield used by a great hero from the Trojan war, that manages to successfully stop the spear despite its perfect accuracy pedigree.]]
344** Not much later, [[spoiler:the fight against Caster and Souichirou goes south for Shirou and Rin. Just as Caster is about to finish off Rin, she suddenly turns out to be capable of some serious martial arts. This alongside some reinforcement magic manages to completely turn around the fight, curb-stomping Caster.]]
345** [[spoiler:In his fight with Gilgamesh, Shirou ends up spending all the mana he got from Rin defending against Gate of Babylon and an earlier hit by Ea. As he is cornered by Gilgamesh, Shirou manages to somehow summon a huge amount of mana as well as a powerful and functional magical circuit, enabling him to use the Unlimited Blade Works Reality Marble and allowing him to turn the tables and corner Gilgamesh.]]
346** [[spoiler:Archer, after losing nearly all his mana from not having a Master for a few days while not doing anything, comes back from being gravely wounded by the Gate of Babylon to being in perfect health and able to use Projection for the ending. After losing a fight to Shirou, at that.]]
347* DidIJustSayThatOutLoud:
348-->'''Shirou Emiya:''' ''[thinking]'' I didn't notice before, but her black hair looks really pretty and causes my heart to beat faster.\
349'''Rin Tohsaka:''' ...Huh? That's weird. the wound is smaller than before. Do you have a healing charm on you?\
350'''Shirou Emiya:''' Huh? No, t-that's not true!\
351'''Rin Tohsaka:''' Really? But your wound's almost healed.\
352'''Shirou Emiya:''' I didn't say anything about it being pretty — huh? What did you say, Tohsaka?
353* 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.]]
354* ExperienceEntitlement: [[spoiler:Gilgamesh]] possesses the prototypes of all the treasures in the world in his noble phantasm, on top of [[spoiler:being the oldest known hero and king]]. He enjoys endlessly boasting his greatness. Although he's powerful enough to back it up, mind you, this makes him an unpleasantly arrogant, egotistical, narcissistic, and self-centered bastard whom very few actually tolerate. [[spoiler:It gets even better when people like Shirou Emiya and Saber (King Arthur), who existed after his time, still best him in battle in certain routes.]]
355* FeelingYourHeartbeat: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in the [[Platform/Playstation2 PS2]] version when Rin transplants her Crest onto Shirou. Rather than putting his hand on her chest, she puts one hand on her chest and the other on his.
356-->'''Shirou:''' [''narration''] My breathing trembles as she says her spell. I can feel the magical energy coursing through Tohsaka's body through her hand. Her slender fingers are upon my chest. My heartbeat, and Tohsaka's pulse.
357* FieldOfBlades: [[TitleDrop Unlimited Blade Works]] is a field covered in swords, making it feel like a battle took place there once.
358* 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.]]
359* {{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.
360* ForWantOfANail: [[spoiler:When Shirou and Rin go to Illya's castle to seek an alliance with her, they find it under attack by Shinji and Gilgamesh. Rin then advises Shirou to keep himself hidden instead of rushing into confrontation, and when Gilgamesh is about to rip Illya's heart out, you can either heed her advice, or rush to stop him. The immediate consequences are the same regardless of what you choose, since Illya cannot actually be saved and Gilgamesh ends up discovering Shirou anyway. However, rushing to stop Gilgamesh causes Rin to call Shirou out on his decision, causing them to stay in the castle long enough for Lancer to arrive and offer his assistance. Heeding her advice, however, results in them leaving the castle on their own, triggering a BadEnd.]]
361* GasLeakCoverup: A number of non-fatal incidents around the town (caused by Caster's efforts gathering mana) are attributed to gas leaks.
362* GratuitousEnglish: "Unlimited Blade Works" and the TitleDrop Noble Phantasm are examples of GratuitousEnglish. Archer's Noble Phantasm {{Invocation}} makes great deviations between the accurate translation from the Japanese text and the Japanese "translation" that accompanies it in the game.
363* GuideDangIt: Getting the Good Ending requires Saber to have 4 or more relationship points and Rin to have less than 8.
364* HomoeroticSubtext:
365** The way Caster tries to break Saber shows she enjoys it a bit too much.
366** Shirou is quite blunt in asking his best friend Issei to remove his school uniform. And Issei, for his part, was strangely okay with it. Coupled with Issei's general dislike of women...
367* IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer: [[spoiler:When Archer kidnaps Rin. Shirou threatens Archer that he'll have Saber kill him if Rin is hurt.]]
368* LaughingMad: Gilgamesh when [[spoiler:Shirou orders Saber to save Rin instead of helping himself.]]
369* 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''.
370* 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.
371* NotQuiteDead: Caster ''thinks'' she's killed [[spoiler:Kotomine,]] but Rin knows better — as she noted, Caster ''really'' [[LeftForDead should have checked the body]].
372* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: It is mentioned off-handedly in an intermission that [[BadassNormal Servant Assassin]] fought off Lancer, Saber, Archer, Rider, and ''Berserker'' when they approached Caster's temple. Shame we never get to see it.
373* {{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.]]
374* RedOniBlueOni: Rin is temperamental and prideful, while Saber tries to be aloof and stoic.
375* RightThroughHisPants: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the 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 PlayedForLaughs, so...
376* [[HesBack She's Back]]: When [[spoiler:Rin makes a contract with Saber.]]
377* SmugSnake: Caster overestimates how much she is in control of the situation after she [[spoiler:steals control of Saber]]. [[spoiler:Trusting Archer spells her end.]]
378* SpectralWeaponCopy: Archer's [[spoiler:and Shirou's]] eponymous Reality Marble. [[spoiler:The latter]] provides the page quote.
379* StormOfBlades: Gilgamesh's preferred form of attack. [[spoiler:Shirou and Archer can also do it in this route.]]
380* TakingYouWithMe: Shirou has the choice of [[spoiler:falling into the black hole to kill Gilgamesh.]]
381** Also subverted in the same scene. Shirou assumes this is what [[spoiler:Gilgamesh is trying to do when Gilgamesh grabs Shirou's arm with Enkidu]]. [[spoiler:Gil]] clarifies that he wants Shirou to stay where he is and pull him out.
382** [[spoiler:Lancer does this to Kotomine after the latter uses his Command Spell to force Lancer to kill himself. As a result, this is the only route in the visual novel where Kotomine does not survive until the final battle.]]
383* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Shirou and Archer really don't like each other in this route. [[spoiler:This ends when Archer betrays Rin.]]
384* TemporalParadox: Archer's goal is to create one by [[spoiler:killing his past self, Shirou, so that the heroic spirit EMIYA will never come to be.]]
385* TheirFirstTime: Shirou and Rin have sex for the first time to transfer mana. She gets embarrassed and insists on starting before she's really ready, making the experience awkward and painful.
386* ThreesomeSubtext: In the Good End, it is strongly implied that [[spoiler:Saber]] and Rin live together with Shirou in his household as a real ''Ménage à trois''.
387* TitleDrop: The Noble Phantasm, "Unlimited Blade Works".
388* TooDumbToLive: At one point, Rin and Archer decide to invade the temple after Saber has been captured by Caster, with Shirou backing them up in secret. The player is given the choice to keep Shirou hidden or make him reveal himself. Doing the latter leads Caster to sic Saber on Shirou. It's such a stupid choice that one of the last things to read is that Archer has basically given up the fight, and the Taiga Dojo doesn't even offer you any advice.
389* TryingNotToCry: After [[spoiler:Archer betrays her]], Shirou notes that Rin is basically doing this.
390* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: To defeat Caster, Rin and Shirou decide to fight one-on-one. What the narrative doesn't tell the player is that Rin has an... unconventional idea in order to gain the upper hand.
391* UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject:
392** Lancer's Gae Bolg versus Archer's Rho Aias, in the scene "Lance of Sure Hit, Shield of No Loss."
393** Gilgamesh makes this comparison between his Gate of Babylon, the ultimate offense, and Berserker's God Hand, the ultimate defense.
394* VillainsActHeroesReact: This is brought up by Archer as a point of frustration with being a hero, as he feels he is merely a cleaner mopping up the mess after the damage is already done.
395* VoicesAreMental: In the original VisualNovel, when Caster possesses Issei, Shirou notes that it's her voice coming out of his mouth. However, in "Realta Nua", where the voices are added in, [[AvertedTrope it's Issei's voice that comes out]].
396* WhamLine: "Trace, On." Shiro's CatchPhrase [[spoiler:being said by ''[[FutureBadass Archer]]''.]]
397* XanatosSpeedChess: Archer has a pretty good game of speed chess going on [[spoiler:based around the goal of getting to kill Shirou. First, a direct attack. Second, when blocked by Tohsaka he attempts to go through a loophole to kill him. Third, he then breaks his contract with Tohsaka to get away from the Command Seal. It's a lot sneakier than it sounds.]]
398* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Shirou reassures Rin after [[spoiler:Archer betrays them.]]
399[[/folder]]
400
401[[folder:''Heaven's Feel'']]
402* AlasPoorVillain:
403** [[spoiler:Kotomine dies for what he believes in. He never had a chance to be good and hates that more than anyone.]]
404** [[spoiler:Zouken doesn't die until we finally see what his original motivation was: He just wanted to live long enough to see the Grail War conclude successfully so it could be used for the betterment of mankind.]]
405** [[spoiler:Saber Alter, in a way, as she was forced into becoming a BrokenBird by being exposed to Angra Mainyu. Shirou killing her is more [[MercyKill merciful]] than anything.]]
406* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: In stark contrast to the other storylines, [[spoiler:Shirou chooses to sacrifice his ideal and the lives of hundreds of innocents in order to save Sakura.]]
407* 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.
408* ArtShift: [[spoiler:The True End epilogue gives brand new character sprites to every featured character except for Fujimura Taiga. Rider's new sprite, showing her in casual attire, went on to become a fan favorite and has been featured in numerous spin-offs since.]]
409* ArtisticLicenseReligion: At the climax, Kotomine alludes to an unnamed biblical scripture (presumably [[https://www.studylight.org/commentary/hebrews/1-4.html Hebrews 1:5]]) proclaiming that humans are morally superior to angels because humans can decide whether to be good or evil whereas angels have inclinations toward benevolence. This is wholly incorrect, as Hebrews 1:5 explicitly refers to Jesus, not to humans generally, though people who find the 'Narrow Path' will be "given a new name" in Revelations 2:17, and other verses throughout the New Testament.
410* AttemptedRape: When [[spoiler:Sakura goes looking for Zouken in the Matou household, an enraged Shinji attempts to rape her, as he's revealed to have done many times in the past out of spite and jealousy over her succeeding the Matou line. Sakura kills him, and as a result gives in to her darker self.]]
411* BigBrotherWorship: Illya grows to view Shirou as her "big brother", which for all intents and purposes is practically true due to both viewing Kiritsugu as their father. As soon as Shirou loses his status as Master, she stops trying to harm Shirou and tries to get to know him. As a result, both grow closer to one another and treat each other as family, even growing upset when one or the other is harmed.
412* BigDamnHeroes:
413** [[spoiler:Rider]] swoops in and saves Shirou when he is cornered by Zouken and Assassin.
414** When [[spoiler:Dark Sakura]] attacks the Emiya household to retrieve Illya, [[spoiler:once again, Rider, bound by the final command spell Sakura used on her,]] protects Shirou.
415** In the True Ending [[spoiler:Illya appears before Shirou can sacrifice his life, and before destroying the Grail she tells him it's her role as his elder sister to protect him]].
416* BittersweetEnding
417** In the Normal Ending, [[spoiler:Shirou dies to save Sakura, who fails to move on. Illya survives, but has nothing to really look forward to (and being an homonculus, she doesn't have long left to live, anyway). Hundreds have died, but that list includes the antagonists, and the world is saved.]]
418** EarnYourHappyEnding: The True Ending is very similar [[spoiler:except Shirou saves Sakura and survives. He's come to a more pragmatic version of his ideals as a result of this, and although Ilya dies, as the Normal Ending shows, she wouldn't have much to live for if she didn't.]]
419* 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.]]
420* BrokenBird: [[spoiler:Saber after becoming Saber Alter.]]
421* ButThouMust: Near the end of the route Shirou goes to rescue Illya. When he gets there, [[ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike she refuses him and tries to make him go back]]. The player is given three options on how to proceed. They are all the same.
422##Bring Illya Back
423##Bring Illya Back
424##Bring Illya Back
425* TheCameo:
426** [[spoiler:[[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Zelretch]]]] appears in the True End of the route in order to save Rin (one of his "pupils", [[spoiler:who had used the second magic]]) from being tried and perhaps even executed by the [[MagicalSociety Assocation]].
427** [[Literature/TheGardenOfSinners A certain puppetmaker]] is mentioned as [[spoiler:having constructed Shirou's new body in the True End.]]
428* ChekhovsGun:
429** Illya's explanation to Shirou of how transferring a person's consciousness works. [[spoiler:That's how she saves his soul in the True End.]]
430** A cross-route example: [[spoiler:Medea's Rule Breaker, able to break any form of magical connection or control, is what ultimately frees Sakura.]]
431* ChekhovsSkill: Illya can link Shirou's sense of sight to something else to show him things of its perspective. She uses the technique once to show him around her castle and the route through the forest to it, information that proves vital later on for him to reach her place when he decides to request Illya's help to deal with Zouken for Sakura's sake. [[spoiler:Upgraded to ChekhovsBoomerang when Illya does the same to show him the Gem Sword Zelretch in her inherited memories from Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern, in order to allow Shirou to reproduce it.]]
432* CherryBlossoms: Used as a sign of rebirth and new beginnings. Sakura tells Shirou that she'd like to see the cherry blossoms once spring comes around, so Shirou promises her they'll go once everything is over. [[spoiler:In the True End, Sakura, Rin, Rider and Shirou visit the blossoming trees, symbolising their happiness and renewed hope.]]
433* 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.
434* CurbstompBattle: Saber vs Caster. Saber [[NoSell No Sells]] the one spell Caster fires off and, with the disparity between her Strength and Caster's Endurance, her one slash winds up as a OneHitKill. Then again, Caster is clearly very traumatized by the time Shirou and Saber arrive, {{Foreshadowing}} that very sinister forces are at play.
435* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: Shirou is repeatedly warned that using [[spoiler:Archer's arm]] will kill him. He ends up using it in the finale, and how much the player chooses to use it is one of the choices that determine whether they get the Normal or the True ending.
436* 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.
437* DarkReprise:
438** "All the Evils of the World" that plays during the final confrontation before the Great Grail, is an ominous version of "Church on the Hilltop", which is [[OminousPipeOrgan ominous enough]] to begin with.
439** "Realta Nua" has an added ominous remix of "Sword of Promised Victory" [[spoiler:Saber Alter style.]]
440* TheDayTheMusicLied: When Shirou squares off against [[spoiler:Kotomine]] for the final battle, ''Emiya'' fires up... and then Shirou gets his ass handed to him in about 30 seconds.
441* DeusExMachina: [[spoiler:Shirou and Kotomine are locked in their final DuelToTheDeath, and Kotomine is [[CurbStompBattle handing Shirou his ass]]. Even Shirou's frenzied counterattack is unable to take Kirei down, and it looks like Kirei will claim victory and allow Angra Mainyu to be reborn... cut to Kirei just [[StalkedByTheBell losing all his remaining strength]] before landing the finishing blows since he hits his [[LivingOnBorrowedTime limit]] before Shirou does, allowing Shirou to use his remaining energy to destroy the corrupted Grail.]]
442* DiabolusExMachina: [[spoiler:Kirei survives Dark Sakura crushing his curse-replacement heart through sheer willpower [[LivingOnBorrowedTime for several hours]] to fight Shirou at the end in a DuelToTheDeath. Which would be fine if the destruction of his heart (via being stabbed and exploded by the Azoth Dagger in ''Fate'' and pierced through by Gae Bolg in ''UBW'') hadn't been near instant fatalities in those cases, meaning Kirei's sudden arrival at the end of the route comes off as contradictory to previous evidence.]]
443* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: In a meta kind of way. When talking about the darkest elements in the route, the most discussed is [[spoiler:Sakura]] being sexually abused by [[spoiler:Shinji and the crest worms]]. However, no one even mentions the fact [[spoiler:Shiro]] was basically also being raped by [[spoiler:Rider, who used him to replenish mana during nights, using induced wet dreams to keep him distracted and oblivious of it]].
444* EmptyShell: [[spoiler:Saber after being exposed to Angra Mainyu and becoming Saber Alter. Shirou gets closer to reaching this point with every use of Archer's arm destroying his mind.]]
445* EnemyMine: Halfway through the route, Kotomine and Shirou have to team up to rescue Illya. Refusing Kotomine's help will result in Shirou attempting to go it alone and, upon successfully infiltrating the Einzbern castle, getting killed by the enemy Servant.
446* EroticDream: Shirou dreams he has sex with Rin at some point in the route. It's revealed to be [[spoiler:part of Rider's powers, as she can absorb Shirou's mana through such dreams.]]
447* 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 ''Literature/FateZero'']] before will realize they're [[spoiler:the Tohsaka family as they were 11 years ago.]]
448* FromBadToWorse: Things get progressively worse down the route, with barely any {{Hope Spot}}s in between. Masters lose their Servants, the Shadow keeps attacking the city, Zouken's manipulations continue to bite the heroes and the heroine plunges into even worse despair every day.
449* HomoeroticSubtext:
450** "[[SelfCensoredRelease Realta Nua]]" replaces Shirou's EroticDream with a suggestive Rin x Mitsuzuri scene, as seen [[http://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/211511 here]]. Soon it goes into FanDisservice when it became obvious "Rin" is only there for Ayako's blood.
451** [[spoiler:Servant Rider's]] loyalty to [[spoiler:her Master]] and the attempts to keep said Master safe give the impression there's something more than loyalty involved.
452* MakeWayForTheNewVillains: [[spoiler:After spending the previous two routes as the main antagonists, Kirei and Gilgamesh are upstaged by Zouken, The Shadow, and later Dark Sakura, though Kirei ultimately survives long enough to become the final boss.]]
453* MementoMacGuffin: Sakura's ribbon, which is the first ribbon [[spoiler:Rin ever made, and one of the few signs of their ''true'' feelings for each other, as opposed to the apparent indifference or even outright hatred that is shown through most of the route]].
454* MomentKiller: At one point, a seemingly sick Sakura begins caressing Shirou while the music from the H-scenes plays... when Saber walks in.
455* MortonsFork: PlayedForLaughs. After Shirou [[spoiler:receives his BadassTransplant from Archer]] on Day 10, Rin and Illya get in an argument for argument's sake over whose Servant he should be considered now (ItMakesSenseInContext). He can pick either, but both choices will have him labeled as a CovertPervert by the other. If Tohsaka is chosen, Illya will describe her as an "oppressive, greedy and loud" woman. If Shirou favors Illya instead, she will [[TheGlomp enthusiastically hug him]] and Tohsaka will give him the stink eye and suspiciously ask him [[LoliconAndShotacon why he's going to such lengths to flatter a little girl]].
456* MundaneMadeAwesome: Shirou meets Kotomine at the restaurant... munching mapo tofu and managing to make something so simple look [[http://orig11.deviantart.net/a48f/f/2014/284/8/0/kirei_kotomine_x_reader_mapo_tofu_by_animegirllolz-d7vth24.jpg ''menacing'']].
457* NonStandardGameOver:
458** The "Superhero" BadEnd (also infamously known as "[[TheUnfettered Mind of Steel]]") where the war continues with Shirou still involved, having embraced Kiritsugu's methods by [[spoiler:disposing of Sakura]].
459** The "Sparks Liner High" bad end has Shirou fight [[spoiler:Saber Alter]] solo and die defeating her. Even if he dies, Shirou has defeated an impossibly powerful Heroic Spirit that canonically not even the Shadow itself could have taken on in a hypothetical straight-up fight.
460** Notably, "Sparks Liner High" is the only bad end that doesn't ''explicitly'' call itself one, instead showing the regular "END" text from the main endings. It's clearly not one of the endings the player is supposed to get, but Shirou is ''such an absurd badass'' in it that even the [[HaveANiceDeath Tiger Dojo]] doesn't give any grief for losing as the bittersweet "Ever-present Feeling" plays in the background instead the regular theme.
461* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler:Kotomine]] grinds [[spoiler:Zouken's]] skull to dust and exorcises him, but he can reform his body later as [[spoiler:his soul is kept safe within Sakura's heart.]]
462* OhCrap: Zouken and Assassin aren't particularly worried when [[spoiler:Rider]] stands against them, seeing as she has been unimpressive up to that point. They soon go into OhCrap territory when she slams Assassin's face into the wall.
463* OurVampiresAreDifferent: [[spoiler:Zouken Matou]] by Nasuverse terminology is basically a magically induced vampire. His quest for immortality has caused [[spoiler:his body and soul to decay]], thus coming up against the problem all Nasuverse vampires face, causing him to seek something better.
464* PaintItBlack: The ones corrupted by [[spoiler:the Shadow]] have their weapons and armour turn black and red. [[spoiler:Berserker]] mostly turns a sickly red because his skin is apparently melting off.
465* ThePowerOfLove:
466** Shirou's main motivation in this route. His love for Sakura keeps him going, even when he becomes [[spoiler:so brain-damaged that he forgets her very ''name.'']]
467** Despite the absurd amounts of magic being flung around in the climax, it's simply [[spoiler:a hug from her big sister]] that finally breaks [[spoiler:Sakura]] free from [[spoiler:Angra Mainyu]]'s influence.
468* PrecisionFStrike: Shirou's response to the idea of letting [[spoiler:Angra Mainyu be born and wrecking Sakura's life even more (in addition to pretty much destroying all of humanity)]] is, "Fuck that."
469* 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 the ''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 casual outfit...]]
470* SiblingMurder: [[spoiler:Sakura kills Shinji in response to the latter attempts to {{blackmail}} and rape her]].
471* SickEpisode: There are several between Shirou and Sakura.
472** On the sixth day, Shirou wakes up with a cold for the first time in his life [[spoiler:(he's actually low on life energy after Rider fed on him the night before)]] and Sakura skips school to take care of him.
473** Shirou is given the choice to do the same for Sakura that night and the one before. [[spoiler:Both of them, especially the one on the sixth day, are important to avoid a BadEnd the next night.]]
474* ThemeMusicPowerUp: "Light and Darkness" plays during the last battle, between [[spoiler:Shirou and Kotomine]]. Or rather, ''half'' of the song plays at first, giving a tense techno beat while [[spoiler:Shirou's getting his ass kicked. It's only when he reflects on Sakura and pulls off a frenzied counterattack that the second half of the song plays.]]
475* ThickerThanWater: The resolution of one of the major plotlines of the route, namely [[spoiler:Rin's relation with her sister Sakura.]]
476* ThrowTheDogABone:
477** After two routes of being eliminated first and thought to be a weakling Servant, Rider gets to show that she's actually pretty powerful if not being held back by Shinji, and even ''survive the whole scenario''.
478** Kind of inverted by Lancer, when you think of it. In his first route, he had a decent showing. In the second route, [[DyingMomentOfAwesome he went out with a bang]]. In this route, he has [[DroppedABridgeOnHim pretty much the most anticlimatic death]] and becoming one of the first Servants to be eliminated.
479* TitleDrop: The words "Heaven's Feel" refer to two different things.
480** Illya's dress for the ritual is called the third dress, "Heaven's Feel".
481** The true name of the Holy Grail War ritual, whose real purpose is [[spoiler:obtaining the Third Magic, capable of materializing the soul.]]
482* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Shirou's plan to [[spoiler:defeat the far-superior Saber Alter together with Rider in the final battle]] is entirely unheard by the reader, and thus naturally succeeds with flying colours when the time comes. Shirou even goes to the level to whisper the plan to [[spoiler:Rider]], despite him internally noting that [[LampshadeHanging he has absolutely no reason to, as no one else is around to eavesdrop.]]
483* 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 up the gore]] [[ExaggeratedTrope quite a bit]], 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.
484* WallPinOfLove:
485** Shirou unthinkingly does this to Tohsaka at school during the fifth day of the route if the player decides to consult with her. Shirou only wants to keep other people from hearing them, but Tohsaka goes full-on LuminescentBlush from his actions.
486** The scene is somewhat different in the first ''Anime/FateStayNightHeavensFeel'' movie, where Shirou is instead too angry at Shinji to even notice that Tohsaka is trying to threaten him. Her resulting LuminescentBlush is the same, though.
487* XanatosSpeedChess: Kotomine takes up the mantle. First, send Lancer to investigate. When he dies, use Gilgamesh to get things back on track. [[spoiler:When he dies, embrace the new situation and set up Sakura to start eating everyone. Team up with Shirou because he's easily manipulated and have him help to keep Illya safe because she's needed. Destroy Zouken so you can beat True Assassin. Sakura crushes your heart? Big deal; you'll still make it to the final battle, anyway. Even when he loses, he still crushes Shirou's ideology.]]
488* YouBastard: Tiger Dojos in general are meant to give the player hints and lighten the mood after you get a Bad Ending. Tiger Dojo #30, Superhero [[spoiler:in which Shirou decides to let Sakura die in order to protect his ideals]] doesn't result in this. Taiga just matter-of-factly points out that the player has reached one possible ending, and Illya calls the player an idiot with a look of pity on her face.
489[[/folder]]
490
491[[folder:Adaptations]]
492* AdaptationExpansion:
493** The manga adds [[{{Fanservice}} a short scene of Taiga in her high school days, Rin taking a shower, and Souichirou Kuzuki's backstory]]. 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...
494** 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.]]
495** The ''[[Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks Unlimited Blade Works]]'' anime greatly expands a number of scenes; see the page for details.
496* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: All over the place in the UBW film adaptation thanks to it being a CompressedAdaptation.
497** The magic system goes largely unexplained outside of broad details.
498** Gilgamesh's motivations are given zero context.
499** The specifics of how Shirou can fight Gilgamesh are given zero explanation.
500* AgeLift: The Western-released materials come with a disclaimer that [[Totally18 all of the characters are 18 or older]], despite Shirou and Rin being in their second year, and Sakura being in her first year in high school — making them 17 and 16 respectively in the Japanese version — with Saber being physically a year younger.
501* AllThereInTheManual:
502** The {{anime}} touches on elements from the Visual Novel, such as Archer's identity, Illya'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 [[AllThereInTheManual published extra]] called ''Fate/side material''.
503** 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]].
504* 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.
505* BaitAndSwitchCredits: Second {{anime}} opening, depicting Shirou and Archer facing off a la the "Unlimited Blade Works" scenario from the game.
506* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: The Deen anime and the 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.
507* BetweenMyLegs: At least one shot in every scene involving Rin in the movie is from this angle.
508* BloodierAndGorier: Injuries in the manga are drawn with much greater detail, and there is quite a bit more blood. One example is that although the censored H-scene in the house in the forest is more or less the same as in the anime, Shirou suffers some pretty brutal injuries while facing Saber's internal dragon. The injuries also manifest on his real-world body, which gives Rin a pretty big shock.
509* {{Bowdlerise}}:
510** 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.
511** 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.
512* 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]].
513* DisappearsIntoLight: In the second to last episode of ''Unlimited Blade Works'', [[spoiler:Saber runs out of mana after destroying the Grail and disperses into motes of golden mana, following the visual novel's True Ending.]]
514* 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.]]
515* DressedLikeADominatrix: Rider wears a black leotard dress with matching high legging boots and gloves. Her weapon is spike chains that she can wrap her opponents in. She also wears an eye mask. Though, that last bit is justified because she's [[spoiler:Medusa]] and needs to cover her eyes.
516* {{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.
517* GenericDoomsdayVillain: Gilgamesh in the movie thanks to having most of his characterization cut, leaving him with no real motives other than being evil.
518* HighPressureBlood: Blood seems to ooze aplenty in the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' movie.
519* InconsistentDub: Mainly because there have been several different sources of translations, either the official {{anime}} translation, the Mirror Moon's ''Fate/stay night'' FanTranslation, or others. This isn't normally problematic, but the terminology tends to look very different between versions.
520** The situation has been getting better ever since {{Creator/Aniplex}} took over the franchise, as their translations tend to stay consistent with each other (and in some cases, reflect Mirror Moon's FanTranslation weirdly accurately). However, it still applies to the earlier DEEN series, and the assorted manga.
521* 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.
522* 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.
523* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: In the manga, Rin and Archer come across the aftermath of a battle between Berserker and Caster at Ryudou Temple. Apparently Berserker avoided Assassin by not using the mountain gate, meaning he just ''ripped right through'' the mountain's anti-Servant barrier field. The battle itself left the Temple as kindling and the ground around it gouged with massive scars. And we get to see precisely none of this titanic conflict.
524* ParryingBullets: In the movie, Shirou gains the ability to deflect many incoming projectiles by DualWielding swords for no apparent reason other than RuleOfCool.
525* PragmaticAdaptation: In various degrees among various adaptations.
526** 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.]]
527** 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.
528** 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.]]
529* PunnyName: The main theme song of ''Fate/stay night'' is "This Illusion", and when it was remixed for the {{anime}}, its name was changed to "Disillusion". If said out loud, [[MeaningfulName they sound almost the same but have exact opposite meanings]].
530* ReallyDeadMontage: The 2006 anime has one for [[spoiler:Archer, showing images from throughout the series up until that point and even past it... hinting at Archer's true identity]]. The finale also ends with one for [[spoiler:Saber.]]
531* 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''.
532* 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.
533* RunicMagic: Lancer can use runes to supplement his immense skill with the spear. A single fire rune, Ansuz, is enough to burn down an entire castle, and he can also use runes to create barriers and force a one-on-one confrontation where no one leaves until either he or his opponent is dead.
534* ThemeSongReveal: The 2006 anime doesn't outright state Archer's identity. However, it does implicitly make the reveal during the last moments of his fight against Berserker, due to the choice of music being [[spoiler:a version of "Emiya", Shirou's theme from the VN.]]
535[[/folder]]
536
537[[folder:Gameplay]]
538* OneHundredPercentCompletion: You have to complete all three routes for the new splash screen, and get the Good, Normal and True endings to unlock ''Last Episode'' in the ''Realta Nua'' version. You can also accomplish every [[HaveANiceDeath Tiger Dojo]] for other bonuses.
539* AutomaticNewGame: The game will start up at the beginning of the prologue narrated by Rin until you finish it and reach the main story narrated by Shirou, at which point you start up at the title screen.
540* BlamedForBeingRailroaded: Oftentimes, the correct solution is (usually) the dangerously stupid one. Expect to get chewed out by your allies for your recklessness, even though the only other option usually leads to your demise.
541* DevelopersForesight: The original release opened up new choices and event flags after every route you completed. The 2011 PC re-release, which packages each route as a separate title, ''also'' unlocks the choices in a similar manner... but will automatically lock you into the route you're supposed to be in even if you manipulate the choices for the sake of SequenceBreaking.
542* {{Eroge}}: Even if the {{hentai}} is hidden amidst hours of non-sexual gameplay, ''Fate/stay night'' is a full-fledged eroge with one to three/four H-scenes for each route.
543* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: [[VisualNovel Although pretty low on actual "gameplay"]], the status menu listing all the attributes and information gathered on Servants thus far is {{justified|Trope}} as being an ability granted to all Masters in the Grail War. Every master sees it in whatever way would be most comprehensible to them. [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall Shirou apparently finds RPG-like status screens most familiar despite no indication of being a gamer]].
544* HaveANiceDeath: The Tiger Dojo serves this purpose plenty of times. Taiga and Illyasviel are the hosts and will sometimes gently mock the player or make absolutely no sense. However, they will always throw in a hint about why the player reached this BadEnd unless [[WhatTheHellPlayer the player did something so stupid Taiga refuses to talk to them]].
545* ItsAWonderfulFailure: Extensive {{bad end}}s exist solely for mocking Shirou's stupidity, and many [[HaveANiceDeath Tiger Dojos]] love to rub the player's choice in his face. 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]].
546* TheManyDeathsOfYou: The game gets very... graphic, discussing in first person perspective, how you die or fail.
547* MultipleEndings:
548** ''Fate'' has one True End.
549** ''Unlimited Blade Works'' has a True and Good End. Getting the Good End requires juggling around Saber and Rin's affection points.
550** ''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.
551** There are 40 {{Bad End}}s.
552* OncePerEpisode: All three routes has one Tiger Dojo where Taiga or Illya (or both in ''Heaven's Feel'') beat up Shirou for his dumb decision.
553* RefusalOfTheCall: The ''Fate'' and ''Heaven's Feel'' routes allow you to opt out of the Holy Grail War at the outset by revoking Shirou's Command Spell. However, doing so always leads directly to a bad ending. The ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route drops the pretense of choice altogether as Shirou automatically decides to fight without any player input.
554* 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]].
555** 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.
556** Knowing in advance that Kotomine is a villain leads his monologues having a different meaning when he first appears.
557* 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!"
558* ViolationOfCommonSense: The choices you have to make sometimes are the least sensible and immature, placing you directly in danger. Made worse by the fact that you are, almost without fail, scolded by other characters for making the idiotic choices.
559[[/folder]]
560
561[[folder:Setting]]
562* 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."
563* AnimeCatholicism: Kotomine works for the "Holy Church", a secret department of the actual Catholic Church focused on the extermination of "heresy" (read: supernatural creatures, artifacts, and phenomena which obviously ''do'' exist but ''don't'' according to Catholic doctrine). Standard issue weaponry includes magical bible verses and throwing swords.
564* BigFancyHouse: A lot of them.
565** The Emiya household is very big, having a main building, external building, a storehouse and a lot of free terrain (In fact, Saber even wonders about using the free terrain for growing vegetables and raising animals like chicken and pigs to always have fresh food in ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'', Shirou of course refuses).
566** The Tohsaka mansion is very big and Rin is already used to people thinking her house is a haunted mansion.
567** The Matou mansion is even bigger than the Tohsaka mansion and looks sufficiently gloomy to make it abundantly clear nothing good is going on in there.
568* CityOfAdventure: Fuyuki City, [[http://punynari.wordpress.com/2009/10/31/real-life-fate-stay-night-locations-in-kobe/ which is based on Kobe]]. However, there isn't a single character with the Kansai accent one would expect almost everyone to have in the heart of that region.
569* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: A few rules established in this and maintained for ''Literature/FateZero'' were quietly swept under the rug or adjusted in later installments such as ''VideoGame/FateExtra'' and ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', in the interest of creating more varied and interesting Servants. These include the Assassin class being relegated exclusively to different incarnations of a single hero ([[spoiler:Hassan-i Sabbah]]) unless exceptional circumstances are at work ([[spoiler:see Kojiro's case]]);[[note]]A ''lot'' of interesting real-life personalities fit into that class, but not necessarily any others, wasting potentially great Servant concepts. The retcon used was that the ''specific incarnation'' of a Grail War in Fuyuki required that class be filled by the Hashashin[[/note]] Berserkers being so consumed by their madness they can't talk;[[note]]Increases the difficulty of making such characters interesting[[/note]] the Berserker class in-general being available to heroes of all backgrounds, existing primarily as a means of powering up weaker Servants at the cost of their sanity;[[note]]This is still done on occasion, but most Berserkers nowadays are heroes whose backstory already includes some form of madness or rage, making the class more consistent with the others[[/note]] and there being a ban on Asian Servants.[[note]]Initially stated to be a war exclusively for Western heroes because of the Grail being a concept rooted in Western civilization, again with Kojiro and [[spoiler:EMIYA]] being the singular anomalies. Like the Hassan clause, it was retconned to be a specific quirk of the Fuyuki system.[[/note]]
570* FantasyKitchenSink: A wide variety of legendary heroes from potentially any mythology who can be summoned as Servants. Other types of familiars, skeletal zombies, vampires, parasitic magic-devouring worms, spirits and dragons all exist in this universe.
571* LegendaryWeapon: Most of the Servants' [[SignatureMove Noble Phantasms]] count. Considering the setting is based on the real world and the Servants are actually spirits of legendary heroes, a lot of them overlaps with PublicDomainArtifact.
572* MedalOfDishonor: The Sealing Designation of the Mage's Association is a title of the "greatest honor" given to a mage who develops an ability that is both ground-breaking and utterly unique to their body. Those awarded this title are promptly dissected and their remains preserved for future study. Most Seal Designates choose voluntary exile in response and try their best not to attract attention.
573* NonIndicativeName: The Servant class titles can be slightly off the mark.
574** The Archer class includes all projectile specialists, not only those who use arrows specifically. For example, Gilgamesh uses his Gate of Babylon to launch melee weapons like swords and spears at railgun-esque speeds.
575** The Caster in this Holy Grail War is an actual magecraft user, but many Casters in the franchise as a whole are various non-mythical and decidedly non-magical intellectuals, academics, and authors.
576* PressXToDie: In ''Literature/FateZero'' and ''Fate/stay night'', Masters have command seals (three per contract) that force their Servants to do exactly what the Masters say, even if the only possible outcome of said action is losing the Holy Grail War.
577* 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.
578* UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny: The plot is based around major figures from Arthurian, Babylonian, Celtic, Persian, Greek and Japanese myth fighting each other to the death as part of an arcane magic ritual.
579* UpgradeVsPrototypeFight: OlderIsBetter makes any instance of a Noble Phantasm clashing against an older version of the same myth a one-sided battle. [[spoiler:Just ask [[WorldsStrongestMan Gilgamesh]].]]
580* UrbanFantasy: ''Fate/stay night'', along with most other TYPE-MOON properties, takes place in modern Japan.
581[[/folder]]
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