Line #86 YMMV/FateStayNight


1	* AccidentalInnuendo: Yes, some of them are actually unintentional:
2	** "I've shown you mine, so the least you can do is show me yours" and "I am the bone of my sword."
3	** Saber once tells Shirou "you've entered me so many times"... referring, of course, to the fact that he's entered her memories. [[spoiler:It doesn't help that at this point in the story, they've already had sex, as well.]]
4	** Another good one from Saber, to Shirou: "You were my sheath." [[spoiler:She's discussing the fact that he's a vessel for Excalibur's sheath Avalon, buuuuut...]]
5	** Lancer's long, veiny, red and piercing Gae Bolg... or, if you prefer, his "Gay Bulge".
6	*** Likewise, Archer's Rho Aias/Raw Ass if you will.
7	* AdaptationDisplacement: Like a lot of visual novel-based series, ''Fate/stay night'' is better known as an anime outside of Japan, especially since the VN [[LateExportForYou lacked an official English version until 2024]].
8	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
9	** Archer's last act in ''Heaven's Feel'': [[spoiler:did he simply give his arm to Shirou in order to give Shirou a fighting chance against the Shadow, being completely unaware of how the arm would slowly kill him, or could he have been aware of what fusing his arm to Shirou would do to him, and thus believed that Shirou killing himself by overusing Archer's Projection could technically count as Archer "killing" Shirou?]]
10	** Did [[spoiler:Gilgamesh really use Ea on Shirou as a simple joke as he states, or was he in fact serious before then deciding to laugh it off as a joke in order to save face after Shirou is barely hurt by it? His venomous scowl after the fact certainly suggests the latter]].
11	* AmericansHateTingle: Sakura in Japan isn't quite on par with the other two heroines in popularity, but she still scores high in polls. While she appears less frequently as herself, she does have even more derivative characters than the other two, many of which are ''extremely'' popular. Outside of Japan, though, she's unquestionably the most actively disliked of the heroines and one of the most polarizing characters in the entire story. This seems to be for a few reasons: First, the [[YamatoNadeshiko character type]] she is presenting to the audience is simply [[ValuesDissonance not as popular in the west]]. She tends towards being passive and reactive in nature while the other two are more willing to act. Second, she has more explicit flaws. Bundled together with this is that some fans cannot relate to her backstory or believe it is overdone. Third, her story is darker in tone, which results in a lot of popular characters dying in her route, some of which she is blamed for.
12	* AntiClimaxBoss:
13	** Caster in ''Fate'' [[spoiler:is pretty much nuked by Gilgamesh]].
14	** Rider in ''Unlimited Blade Works'' [[spoiler:is killed offscreen by Caster]].
15	%%** Rider's first fight, both of Caster's fights, [[spoiler:Sasaki Kojirou, AKA Fake Assassin]], normal Berserker and Gilgamesh in ''Heaven's Feel''.
16	* AssPull:
17	** At the end of ''Unlimited Blade Works'', [[spoiler:Archer still being alive, surviving a prolonged period despite his already low mana and being impaled by several of Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasms.]][[note]]The Archer class has a trait called [[https://typemoon.fandom.com/wiki/Independent_Action Independent Action]] that allows them to depend on the Master''s mana less than other servants do. That might explain the "low mana" part, but not the "being impaled" part.[[/note]]
18	** [[spoiler:Kotomine surviving Assassins Noble Phantasm in ''Heaven's Feel'' where in the previous routes he dropped like a fly the moment he was hit in the heart by Shirou or Lancer]].
19	* AwesomeEgo: Gilgamesh takes it as an axiom that the world revolves around him and everything in it exists to serve at his whim, all summed up in his favorite word: "Zasshu". ("Mongrels!") and fans love him for it. In-universe, his ego is so insanely massive that he was able to resist being corrupted by the Holy Grail's black mud, as he considered it only natural for the King of Kings to also take on all of humanity's evils as a burden.
20	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
21	** Sakura is easily the most divisive of the game's heroines. Her supporters consider her a deeply sympathetic and tragic character whose flaws are realistic, understandable, and make her a complex and rounded character. Her detractors believe her character relies too heavily on her status as TheWoobie in place of more organic charisma and depth, that her romance with Shirou is too underbaked to justify Shirou's AlwaysSaveTheGirl stance, and that her flaws are extreme enough to make her outright [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic unlikeable]]. It doesn't help that a lot of the context around her character is subject to ValuesDissonance between Japan and the West, which only adds to her divisiveness.
22	** Shinji is a divisive character especially since he was deliberately designed to be a HateSink. For a number of fans, this ended up as the IntendedAudienceReaction with Shinji's haughtiness making him insufferable. Others regard him with more sympathy as a guy from [[BigScrewedUpFamily a bad family]] being used and manipulated by those around him.
23	* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Outside of the series' fanbase, the visual novel is primarily known for the fact that it originally featured hardcore porn scenes, even if said porn scenes were a very small fraction of the overall story.
24	* BrokenBase:
25	** The DEEN anime adaptation of the ''Fate'' route was initially widely praised back in 2006, especially for the fluid animation techniques shown at the time. After 2014, a good portion of the fanbase, especially those introduced to the ''Fate'' franchise through Creator/{{ufotable}}'s anime adaptations of ''Literature/FateZero'' and ''Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks'' criticized the 2006 anime primarily for its plot[[note]]which primarily focused on the "Fate" route, but included elements of "Unlimited Blade Works" and "Heaven's Feel" as well[[/note]] especially when Creator/{{ufotable}}'s animation completely blew DEEN's out of the water in comparison. However, it still has its fans and defenders (including a few that got into the franchise through it), who point out DEEN's version is the only one that avoids ContinuityLockout issues and assumes you have no knowledge of the visual novel and works from there [[note]]while ''Fate/Zero'' is an adaptation of a prequel that assumes the reader already knows the twists of ''Fate/stay night'' and spoils elements from the original game at well, and ufotable's "Unlimited Blade Works" and "Heaven's Feel" assume you already watched said prequel[[/note]]. Those who try to [[TakeAThirdOption take a middle ground]] admit that while the 2006 anime may not be as visually stunning compared to the newer series, it was still decent for its time and not a bad place to start enjoying the ''Fate'' series even now. Plus, no one on any side can argue with its SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic.
26	** The ''Heaven's Feel'' route in general, with its focus on Sakura, also gets this. The route is either the best of the three by far and a literary masterpiece that beautifully tackles complex themes, or a shallow love story that relies far too much on "suffering equals depth" to work effectively.
27	** Speaking of introducing the franchise to newbies, "what to watch first" is a contentious topic. To summarize, the DEEN's series while not as visually captivating as Ufotable's adaptations, is the only adaptation of the ''Fate'' route or the visual novel as a whole that doesn't assume you've seen any other source from the franchise; ''Literature/FateZero'' assumes that you already knew what happens in ''Fate/stay night'' and in fact spoils the major plot twists of ''Fate'' and ''Heaven's Feel'' routes;[[note]]Saber is King Arthur, Gilgamesh is allied with Kotomine and remained on Earth, and Sakura is a Tohsaka[[/note]] ufotable's ''[[Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks Unlimited Blade Works]]'' and ''[[Anime/FateStayNightHeavensFeel Heaven's Feel]]'' [[ContinuityLockout take it for granted that you already watched]] ''Fate/Zero'' (and, in case of the ''Heaven's Feel'' movies, the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' anime as well) but the routes themselves leave several plots of the prequel unresolved. What most people can agree on is that you should read the visual novel first if you can, [[{{Doorstopper}} though it may require a fair deal of patience]].
28	* CharacterPerceptionEvolution: Shirou was initially despised by many fans who were introduced to the franchise through the 2006 DEEN Fate anime adaptation due to his portrayal there being rather [[FlatCharacter flat]] and lacking most of the psychological depth explaining his more controversial actions. As time went on, more fans became aware of or were introduced to him via the visual novel fan translation or the later and generally more highly-regarded anime adaptations, where he's significantly more fleshed out, with most fan opinions on him becoming extremely positive.
29	** His ''Fate'' incarnation is mainly accused of being a VanillaProtagonist whose relationship with Saber is unrealistic. Even [[Creator/GenUrobuchi Urobuchi]] agrees (although Nasu argued against Urobuchi's opinion), believing that it's mostly a "complicated relationship with a boy who met a girl". A good number of fans softened their opinion on him after finding out that his CharacterDevelopment and relationship with Saber are more focused on their SurvivorGuilt and personal issues in regards to their past failures than his IdealHero beliefs. Even the critics look forward to his and Saber's relationship, calling it "interesting".
30	** His ''Unlimited Blade Works'' and ''Heaven's Feel'' incarnations are widely praised for being an {{Aver\|ted Trope}}sion of VanillaProtagonist, getting better CharacterDevelopment, [[TookALevelInBadass and showing his badassery at its peak]], with this side of him especially being known thanks to their respective series and film adaptations. These traits are later carried on to [[spoiler:his AlternateSelf from Miyu's world]] in ''[[Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya PRISMA☆ILLYA]]''.
31	** That being said, works that emphasize his gentler side also end up providing a bit of leeway for Shirou throughout the years. Series like ''Anime/CarnivalPhantasm'' and ''Manga/TodaysMenuForTheEmiyaFamily'' are appreciated for easing up on his issues and focusing more on him as a person, preventing him from becoming too much of a StockLightNovelHero with all the attention modern adaptations give to his feats.
32	* CommonKnowledge:
33	** That Archer is [[spoiler:from the unproduced Illya route, due to his fondness for Illya. WordOfGod is that Archer is from a route that most closely resembles the first/Fate route, but couldn't save Saber's heart and that Illya's death after the route added to his misery.]]
34	** Likewise, another popular misconception is that Archer [[spoiler:is from one of the game's routes/endings, but WordOfGod states that this is false.]]
35	* CondemnedByHistory:
36	** While the Creator/StudioDeen anime adaptation was quite well-received when it came out, particularly for animation that was actually pretty good for the time, it was pretty much hit by a freight train of OvershadowedByAwesome in terms of animation by Creator/{{ufotable}} 's versions of ''Literature/FateZero''. A number of fans, especially those who got into the franchise via Ufotable's ''Unlimited Blade Works'' adaptations, will tell you to skip the former and watch the latter two, or better yet, start with the original VN. However there are many fans and defenders of DEEN anime's (including those that first got into the franchise partially or wholly through it) who will argue that while the 2006 adaptation hasn't aged that well, particularly concerning the liberties it took during the adaptation, they prefer its overall plot, storytelling, and character development over Ufotable's 2014 Unlimited Blade Works adaptation.
37	** One thing near-universally agreed to have aged well about it, however? [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic The soundtrack.]] Plus, the 2006 seiyuu cast were also solid enough that most of them continued voicing subsequent incarnations of their characters over the following decade.
38	* CreepyAwesome: [[spoiler:[[SuperPoweredEvilSide Dark]] [[AxCrazy Sakura]].]]
39	* CryForTheDevil: Kotomine in Heaven's Feel. While the route gives the audience an idea of just how depraved he is, getting a look his backstory shows that despite it he's an equally miserable person who has suffered throughout his entire life.
40	* DieForOurShip: As the most divisive of the three heroines, Sakura used to be on the receiving end of this trope due to being seen as a far less compelling heroine than Saber or Rin, who tend to be quite well-liked independently of the routes they're in. Conversely, Shirou/Sakura fans could also get quite hostile and bashy towards fans of the other two heroines, which didn't help. However, as anime adaptations of ''Literature/FateZero'' and ''Anime/FateStayNightHeavensFeel'' have helped highlight Sakura's more sympathetic traits, a lot of the hate has died off with time to the point that while she's still less popular than the other two heroines, nowadays you'll rarely find anyone who still truly hates her.
41	* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: The Holy Grail War serves as this, [[spoiler: since the previous war was what screwed up Shirou's life in the first place, and how even if he were to win, the [[JackassGenie wish granted to the winner would be corrupted]].]] The problem is that most of the endings have Shirou come out of the Holy Grail War better off than when he started, hooking up with a cute girlfriend, and even the ending where he DidNotGetTheGirl still has him overcome his emotional trauma. Not to mention the idea of Servants proved so popular that they've essentially become the main focus of the overall universe, simply because of how cool and universally adaptable the concept is. Who wouldn't want to hang out with your favorite historical figure or fictional character, upgraded into a [[HistoricalBeautyUpgrade gorgeous]] [[HistoricalBadassUpgrade magically-empowered]] [[HistoricalHeroUpgrade superhuman]]?
42	* DracoInLeatherPants:
43	** Gilgamesh falls into this, even with his more overtly villainous characterization. Fans enjoy his gloriously hammy and arrogant personality, and how he will mercilessly curbstomp [[BaseBreakingCharacter Shirou]], to the point they get ''pissed'' when Shirou wins. It helps that Gilgamesh's most [[AttemptedRape repulsive characteristics]] are limited to the Fate route -- where [[ILoveYouBecauseICantControlYou Saber]] is the central girl -- and Shirou gets the most flak for being a VanillaProtagonist. In UBW, Gilgamesh's VillainousCrush on Saber is absent, leaving him focused entirely on ruling over a new world, making him into a more straightforward and enjoyable villain.
44	*** Because Gilgamesh's villainy tends to revolve around his VillainousCrush on Saber, it should be elaborated upon considering how many fans still like him anyway. Gilgamesh undeniably makes no qualms about wanting to outright rape Saber, but because he makes no actual moves to do so, it is easy to forget about or ignore his threats, unlike Shinji who actually attempts to rape a captive Rin onscreen and actually does rape [[spoiler:Sakura]] in disturbing detail, making the action impossible to ignore. Or the dozens of other attempted and actual sexual assaults by Medusa, Medea, Ilya, [[spoiler:Dark Sakura]], and Zouken on other characters including Shirou, Rin, and Saber (making her and Shirou potentially the victims of more than one potential assaulter). It is worth pointing out that in both the original myth and the game, Enkidu originally fought Gilgamesh due to him invoking [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droit_de_seigneur Droit de seigneur]], or the lord's right to a bride's virginity, where the consent of the woman didn't matter, and ValuesDissonance can't be invoked with this because even ''in the original myth'' people thought he was going too far. That being said, Gilgamesh was also a good if flawed king and the point of the epic is for Gilgamesh to learn hubris and to accept that there are some things out of even his reach; ending the tale as a hero worthy of the title. Fate's Gilgamesh has done things far more vile than many other Heroic Spirits but the lack of screentime makes it harder to hold it against him than it is against the other villains who attempt to and/or actually succeed in sexually assaulting their targets. In the end, this works nicely on Gilgamesh. Because of this, [[VideoGame/FateExtra later]] [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Fate works]] eventually toned down his villainy and just leaving him with his AwesomeEgo, thereby inflicting Gilgamesh with the CharacterizationMarchesOn trope.
45	** Kotomine can also fall into this, as he is actually one of the most popular characters in the franchise and has an incredible amount of depth to him due to a very believable backstory while still being vague enough to spark discussion [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation about his character]]. Is he a TragicVillain or a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds?
46	* EnsembleDarkHorse:
47	** Lancer, who really gets TheWorfEffect very hard in the series, but his wit, amiable and likable personality, and [[BloodKnight interest in fighting]] compared to the more goal oriented and ambitious Servants made him easily one of the most popular Servants. His glorious send off in ''Unlimited Blade Works'' with [[spoiler:killing Kotomine after the latter ordered him to commit suicide]] is very satisfying as well.
48	** Rider and not just for her sheer MsFanservice traits, but also her tragic past [[spoiler:(being a unique, non-evil take on the Greek monster Medusa without using literal snake hairs)]], her moments of awesome in HF, all while being a compelling character. Not bad, when she spent the two first, more popular routes as 'first casualty' fodder all the time.
49	** Fake Assassin [[spoiler:AKA Sasaki Kojirou]] is fairly popular due to being a quite likeable [[LetsFightLikeGentlemen noble]] WorthyOpponent towards Saber, his distaste and snarking at Caster, and his WarriorPoet nature.
50	** [[LastEpisodeNewCharacter Sir Bedivere]] has a decent fanbase for a character who only appeared in one scene. Some fans even ship him with Saber ([[LauncherOfAThousandShips though that isn't saying much]]).
51	** [[spoiler:[[SuperpoweredEvilSide Saber Alter]]]] is a very popular character despite her limited screen time.
52	** Issei, Shirou's MuggleBestFriend get a lot of loves from fans because unlike [[HateSink Shinji]] he isn't a toxic friend to the protagonist and has a few HoYay moments in the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route.
53	* EstrogenBrigade: While the VN was primarily aimed at heterosexual male otaku, it has a fairly prominent female following due to the complexity of the heroines and the tackling of themes some female readers find cathartic/empowering, as well as its many attractive male characters, with Shirou in particular being a KnightInShiningArmor househusband.
54	* EvilIsCool:
55	** Gilgamesh has an ego the size of the world and the power to back it up with one of the most broken Noble Phantasms in the series. Combined with his good looks it's little wonder why he's so popular.
56	** [[spoiler:Sakura's SuperPoweredEvilSide has managed to pick up quite a fanbase.]]
57	* FandomRivalry:
58	** The fandom of ''Fate'' and its many sequels/spin-offs holds quite a rivalry with the fans of the ''VisualNovel/ShinzaBanshoSeries'', especially ''VisualNovel/DiesIrae'', both in terms of their similarities as well as their differences.
59	** Within the ''Fate/Stay Night'' fandom, there's also the debate of which of the three routes is the "best" one. Adding fuel to the fire, thanks to the massive popularity of ''Literature/FateZero'', an extra factor is which of the three serves as the better follow up to Zero, providing the most closure and strongest CharacterDevelopment for Shirou, though it should also be noted that this is a discussion exclusive to anime fans who started out with ''Literature/FateZero'', while fans who came from ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' first will react ''negatively'' about said topic. See FandomEnragingMisconception below.
60	* FanficFuel: The premise of superpowered historical/legendary figures being summoned to fight in a battle royale has led to large amounts of original character Servants.
61	** Because Archer's DarkAndTroubledPast is only told in broad details rather than real specifics, plenty of fanfic writers like to write about what really happened in his life. [[spoiler:In particular, because Nasu says that Archer can come from any potential timeline (even one of the three in-game ones), as well as the fact that Archer has a damaged memory (so he can't remember any specific details or characters he encountered in his timeline), Archer's practically a fanfic goldmine.]]
62	** The [[InterdimensionalTravelDevice Second True Magic]] that is discussed in Heaven's Feel is the perfect device to justify nearly any crossover you can think of. This is helped by the fact that in the True Ending to the route, [[spoiler:Rin becomes an apprentice to Zelretch, the mage who mastered said magic.]]
63	** On a lesser note, the fact that Shirou's parents are completely unknown opens ample room for speculation, as well as a [[CrossoverRelatives crossover motivator should Shirou's biological family be somehow found]].
64	* FanPreferredCouple:
65	** Many fans prefer pairing Rin with Archer than Shirou, especially it makes for good ShipMates with fans of Shirou and either of the other two heroines. [[spoiler:Ironically Archer actually ''is'' Shirou from the future.]]
66	** Shirou/Rider is reasonably popular for a non-canon pairing - they like each other, fans like her, and [[spoiler:she's the only Servant who survives the story in a True Ending.]] All the necessary pieces are in place, and while the story doesn't go there outside a bit of ShipTease, the fans are happy to go the rest of the way. Additionally, [[VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia the fandisc sequel]] would later reveal that Rider ''actually does'' have a thing for Shirou, but tries to suppress it as not to upset Sakura, who gets extremely jealous seeing the two together.
67	* {{Fanon}}: While we've had no official art to confirm this, there are mountains of fan art depicting Shirou after the events of the grail war [[spoiler:wearing a {{Palette Swap}}ped version of Archer's armor.]]
68	** For a while Shirou got hit with being very dense/stupid, due to doujins playing up his naivete in the Fate route to absurd levels and the original anime going with the Fate route and not portraying his inner thought processes due to the nature of the medium, hiding the fact he's really neither.
69	** Due to a misunderstanding on how magecraft and Shirou's projection work, virtually any crossover with another magically-inclined series in which he travels to their universe will give Shirou a massive power boost.
70	** Shirou's cooking is considered delicious in-universe and it's lovingly described to FoodPorn levels. All of his friends and family get extremely excited when he's cooking and even Servants commend him for how tasty it is. But at the same time, Rin and Sakura are on par with him and he's actually worried that Sakura will surpass him at one point. Fanon tends to elevate him to a SupremeChef who cooks ImpossiblyDeliciousFood that is downright divine in its taste and presentation.
71	* FandomEnragingMisconception:
72	** Dismissing it as mere hentai/porn, or implying that said porn scenes are the main reason anyone plays the game, is a quick way to piss off fans. Particularly since the R18 content takes up an extremely small fraction of the story and moreover is often considered the weakest and most {{Narm}}y parts of the story, to the point that many adaptations leave it out no worse for the wear.
73	** ''Literature/FateZero'' is considered the critical high point of the franchise, a Light Novel which served as the Prequel telling the story of the previous Holy Grail World and adding additional world-building to the franchise. The anime released to critical and commercial acclaim and introduced a large number of new fans to the franchise. On its own, that's not really a problem, but the "Enraging Misconception" comes into play where the routes of the original game started to get judged on "which is the 'best' sequel to ''Zero''." This is despite the fact that part of the point of ''Zero'' was to flesh out backstories and characters for all three of the routes and that it was always meant to be read ''after'' finishing the original visual novel.
74	* FanonDiscontinuity: While the DEEN anime at least has its fans, no one has much regard [[CompressedAdaptation the DEEN movie adaptation]] for Unlimited Blade Works, especially after release of [[Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks Ufotable's Adaptation]].
75	* FetishRetardant: [[spoiler:The [[GoGoEnslavement outfit Caster forces Saber into]] in ''Unlimited Blade Works''. Any fanservice from it is hurt by the narration noting how much pain Saber is in and the prospect of Caster plotting to use her as SexSlave -- which is likely [[IntendedAudienceReaction the point]].]]
76	** Additionally, this has been praised as one of the most interesting aspects of [[spoiler:Heaven's Feel]]. While the other route's sex scenes are mostly remembered for being [[{{Narm}} laughably bad]], the [[spoiler:hypersexual behavior of Sakura (a realistic symptom of victims of sexual abuse as children)]] has been remembered for how ''uncomfortable'' it succeeds in making readers feel.
77	* FranchiseOriginalSin: [[ItWasHisSled Famously]], [[spoiler: Saber, Artoria Pendragon]] is the subject of an HistoricalGenderFlip, something which has been repeated almost as an obligation in every subsequent installment of the series. However, in this original story, it's [[UnbuiltTrope practically a deconstruction]], focusing on how concealing their gender impacted their life and their relationships with others, and [[spoiler:Saber]]'s character design is tasteful and light on {{Fanservice}}. Later games and novels repeat the idea of flipping major historical figures' genders, usually in the noble goal of evening out the cast's gender balance and making human history and mythology less of a sausage fest, but are generally either much less interested in seriously exploring the impact of altering a character's gender on their legend, use the flip as an excuse to cram in sex appeal for marketing purposes, or both.
78	* GeniusBonus: ''''' [[ShownTheirWork Holy shit.]]''''' At just the absolute tip of the iceberg, every Servant's legend is ''impressively'' well-researched, and small tidbits from their backstories very often end up becoming plot points or jokes, often with very little explanation for anyone who's unfamiliar.
79	** For example, Gilgamesh's constant self-aggrandizement, beyond being simply indicative of his universe-sized ego, might be a reference to the actual [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh epic of Gilgamesh]], which ''does'', in fact, dedicate entire verses every few chapters to reminding the reader just how ridiculously amazing the main character is.
80	* GrowingTheBeard: While the Fate route is still well-liked and regarded, the Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel routes are considered much deeper, more complex themes and storylines.
81	* GoodBadTranslation: One overly-literal fansub had Shirou saying "[[CaptainObvious People die if they are killed]]" with an ultra-serious look on his face.[[note]]basically a slightly idiomatic phrase equivalent to the English "normally you only have one life to live." or "people usually 'stay' dead when killed"[[/note]] A screenshot of this sub is now a {{meme}} when talking about [[BlindIdiotTranslation bad translations]], even though it makes sense in context.
82	* HarsherInHindsight:
83	** The "I am the bone of my sword" invocation/chant for the [[FieldOfBlades Unlimited Blade Works]] [[MentalWorld reality marble]] isn't given much weight or attention, and only seems to be there for the RuleOfCool. Until the ''Heaven's Feel'' route, that is, where its meaning becomes painfully clear after [[spoiler:Shirou uses Archer's arm for projection, catapulting him past his limits and resulting in an eventual rebound that ''reforges his body into thousands of swords'', killing him from the inside out.]] ''"I am the bone of my sword"'' indeed. At one point in ''Unlimited Blade Works'', Archer tells Shirou and Saber that he lost his arm the first time he used a projection, which seems to be a lie [[spoiler:as Shirou is able to perform projection and still manages to keep both arms throughout both ''Fate'' and UBW]]. But then in ''Heaven's Feel'', [[spoiler:Shirou has one of his arms blown off. Archer voluntarily has one of his arms grafted to Shirou, and "losing his arm" at this point enables Shirou to perform Projection for the first time not long after.]]
84	** Also, Sakura's jealousy. Cute? A funny little argument with Rider about Shirou finding her attractive? [[spoiler:Not so much after killing Shinji, going berserk and hitting you with the worst bad ends of the game ''plus'' her VillainousBreakdown against Tohsaka at the end, where it's also revealed that no, Sakura did not pick up the little cues that Tohsaka really did care about her all along.]] This also makes ''Unlimited Blade Works'' somewhat uncomfortable, when it's revealed how much [[LoveTriangle Sakura didn't want to lose Shirou to Tohsaka]].
85	** Remember the humorous scenes you can get if you nag Saber for "a super move that can defeat a Servant" during training? In one ending of Heaven's Feel, [[spoiler:Shirou ''actually wins'' against Saber Alter... by using Archer's super move with Kanshou and Bakuya against her.]] Though maybe it's just HilariousInHindsight, since that ending is actually really, really [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome awesome]].
86	** Gilgamesh's EntitledToHaveYou attitude concerning Saber is already creepy enough on its own, but then ''Literature/FateZero'' elaborates on it even further. [[spoiler:Gilgamesh finds the look of despair on Saber's face to remind him of his servant girls.]]
87	** A throwaway line in ''Heaven's Feel'' notes that a gravely wounded Rin is being kept alive by her Magic Crest, which will not let her die if it can help it. This gains sinister undertones near the ending of ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', which reveals that [[spoiler:the BigBad induced an anti-suicide compulsion within Magic Crests, so that the seventy-two Demon Pillars within them can survive for three thousand years and take over their host magi when the time is right.]]
88	* HilariousInHindsight:
89	** In the ''Fate'' route, Rin half-jokingly speculates that Archer must have been a skirt chaser back when he was alive. Then comes UBW and we discover who he is. [[spoiler:Suffice to say, he didn't chase skirts as much as he was chased by skirts.]]
90	** Rin mentions in the prologue that there is no way there can be any other masters than her in her school. [[spoiler:As it turns out, no less than ''four'' other masters from the war were either students or teachers at the school.]]
91	** In the Tiger Dojo #21, Ilya says to Taiga that she (and Rin) are the only characters with enough age to be {{Magical Girl}}s. A few years later... hello, [[VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia Kaleido Ruby]] and [[Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya Prisma Ilya]].
92	** Shirou's Servant is [[spoiler:[[Myth/KingArthur a legendary British king]]]]. In a [[Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers later role]], his voice actor Creator/NoriakiSugiyama would end up voicing [[spoiler:the country of England [[NationsAsPeople him]]self.]]
93	** The whole mispronunciation of Lancer's ''Gae Bolg'' as "Gay Bulge" and Archer's ''Rho Aias'' as "Raw Ass" becomes this when you realize that in his legend, Cu Chulainn defeated Ferdiad by an AssShove with the Gae Bolg.
94	** Illya lacking her own route, which the authors intended to put in the visual novel but did not have enough time, had been the franchise' in-joke for years. Fast forward to 2011, she got [[Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya a whole show for herself]].
95	** This incarnation of Lancer is [[NeverLiveItDown best remembered]] [[TheyKilledKennyAgain for dying]] in every route (and Carnival Phantasm for that matter, to the point where his master takes Grail-kun's advice and chooses to kill Lancer himself and forge a contract with another servant ''because'' Lancer kept dying on him). His ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' version, on the other hand, if played correctly, is almost ''unkillable'', and people have been able to defeat ''the final boss'' of the game's first arc using him on his own.
96	** At one point, Saber tells Shirou that while most Heroic Spirits can be attributed under different Servant classes, she says that she will only correspond to the class of Saber. Come ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' and you can now summon different varieties of Saber/[[spoiler:Artoria]] under ''all 7'' different Servant classes and more to complete all slots for an entire Grail War all by herself!
97	* HoYay:
98	** Archer and Shirou's interactions, from their bickering to Shirou's admiring of Archer's technique [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial that doesn't come off as sexual in any shape or form.]]
99	** Shirou and Kirei's interactions are similarly tension-filled and dripping with this, especially during ''Heaven's Feel'' where both men eventually learn how very similar they actually are to each other. [[spoiler:It even culminates with Shirou begrudgingly admitting in his thoughts that he actually ''likes'' Kirei during their climactic fight.]]
100	** Rin is portrayed as bisexual in the ''Fate'' route when she [[spoiler:has sex with Saber and Shirou, and realizes that she swings both ways.]] Although that is only present in the original Hentai game, which typically aren’t known for consistent characterisations, and was before the Franchise truly decided what it was. It is therefore not present in the finalised Realta Nua.
101	* ItWasHisSled:
102	** Saber is [[spoiler:King Arthur]], Archer is [[spoiler:Shirou Emiya from an alternate future]], and pretty much the identities of all of the servants honestly. Once ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' came out, their identities became subject to LateArrivalSpoiler, as did the fact that [[spoiler:Saber Alter]] exists.
103	** Thanks to it being revealed in the 2006 anime despite that not being the case in the original ''Fate'' route, and the extreme popularity of the ''Literature/FateZero'' anime, what was once one of the most major plot twists of ''Heaven's Feel'' (namely, [[spoiler:that Sakura and Rin are sisters]]) is known by almost everyone in the fandom now.
104	* JerkassWoobie: Illya is a seriously damaged child who didn't get to grow up with real familial love, was "raised" and manipulated by people who ultimately just wanted her for her Holy Grail (some of which had their own designs for the Grail besides), and was isolated from the world for most of her life. But while this certainly ''explains'' much of her issues, it belies the fact that she is still a possessive stalker and a cruel sadist with very little respect for life. She would easily be the BigBad in a less meaty story, and is only a [[BigBadWannabe Wannabe]] because her aforementioned manipulators are several leagues worse.
105	* LauncherOfAThousandShips:
106	** Saber, who gets paired with pretty much everyone, male and female alike.
107	** Gilgamesh, due to the tension he has with a large amount of the cast.
108	** Shirou. It's a given with the female character due to the series' HaremGenre elements, but he's also frequently shipped with Archer, Lancer, Gilgamesh, Kotomine, and occasionally Issei. He's also shipped with [[CargoShip swords]].
109	** While not as much as the above characters, Rin herself gets to be shipped with a lot of characters. Besides Shirou, there's also Archer, Lancer, Gilgamesh, Saber, Ayako, [[FoeYayShipping Luvia]], Rider, and even [[SitcomArchNemesis Issei]].
110	* LoveToHate: Gilgamesh and Kotomine for some, when they're not liked for being genuinely compelling characters or getting the DracoInLeatherPants treatment. But for the latter, he's more of a CryForTheDevil as shown in Heaven's Feel.
111	* MagnificentBastard: Archer, the resident WildCard, is [[spoiler:Shirou Emiya from an alternate timeline disillusioned from his dreams to be a "hero of justice."]] Summoned in the Fifth Holy Grail War, Archer seeks to escape his fate by murdering Shirou. With no one able to get a true read on him, Archer is regarded as one of the best tacticians in the Holy Grail War. Often winning with his well-planned strategies that he often doesn't share with his Master Rin beforehand, Archer weaves out of the Master-Servant pact by pretending to ally with Caster and her Master. Once they are dispatched both directly and indirectly, Archer moves forward with his gambit but cannot go through with it after seeing Shirou's own conviction in the face of reality. He dies content that Rin has set Shirou on a path he won't regret.
112	* MemeticLoser:
113	** Saber is often assumed to have suffered from PowerCreep within the ''Nasuverse'' due to post-''Stay Night'' works, mainly ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', introducing Servants with more visually impressive or complicated abilities than hers. This is caused by the Saber-class itself being hyped as the strongest in-universe, with her also being hyped-up as the strongest Saber, but suffering TheWorfEffect for much of ''Stay/Night''. In truth, Saber is still one of the most powerful Servants ever when she has proper support, as shown in ''Unlimited Blade Works'' and ''VideoGame/FateExtellaTheUmbralStar''. Finally, the Servants said to be stronger than her either suffer from a critical flaw that can be exploited, or are so powerful that ''a team of Servants'' would be needed to defeat them regardless of any other factor.
114	** While Sakura is a very popular character, her relative unimportance outside of the ''Heaven's Feel'' route has led to fans portraying her as neglected and being fed up with no one paying attention to her. Even official works have gotten in on this, such as ''Anime/CarnivalPhantasm'' portraying Sakura as an AttentionWhore upset about Rider beating her in popularity polls.
115	** Even ''[[WorldsStrongestMan Gilgamesh]]'' gets this treatment sometimes, as despite being billed as a nigh-InvincibleVillain InUniverse, he's a frequent victim of TheWorfEffect (most notably getting his ass handed to him by Shirou once he learns to use his Reality Marble in the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route and being devoured by Sakura with almost no fanfare in the ''Heaven's Feel'' route), leading many to declare him the "World's Strongest {{Jobber}}" instead.
116	* MemeticMutation: A lot. It comes with [[Memes/{{Nasuverse}} the territory.]] And that doesn't even cover 1/4th of the lower key ones.
117	** The aforementioned "People die if they are killed" became a popular meme due to [[http://animelololololol.ytmnd.com/ this YTMND]].
118	** [[IkeaErotica Please put your... that! Your PONOS! To my... here! My VAGOOO! And... J-J-JAM IT IN!]][[labelnote: Explanation]]Saber explaining to Shirou how Servant-Master mana transfer works in a comedic erotic doujin.[[/labelnote]]
119	*** ...You lost me.[[note]]A riff on Shiro's [[ObliviousToLove pathetic lack of knowledge concerning sex and all the women who want to have it with him.]][[/note]]
120	** Being Lancer is suffering.[[labelnote: Explanation]]A reference to the "Being meguca is suffering" meme from ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' and the fact that neither [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Cú Chulainn]] nor [[Literature/FateZero Diarmuid]] met happy ends in both life and Servanthood.[[/labelnote]]
121	** Since the beginning of history, all Lancers have had Rank E Luck.[[note]]A reference to Lancer suffering TheWorfEffect and the tragic ends of many spear wielding mythological heroes.[[/note]]
122	** GAR [[labelnote: Explanation]]Came from a post on Website/FourChan where someone remarked that he was "[[StupidSexyFlanders gay for]] Archer" because of his badassery, only to misspell it as "GAR" instead, and it took off from there.[[/labelnote]]
123	** "Unlimited X Works" as a sort of fill-in-the-blank meme.
124	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRwy1Nu5Q2I Gay bulges, gay bulges, gay bulges...]] [[labelnote: Explanation]]Came from the [[SoBadItsGood hilariously]] {{narm}}y Geneon dub regarding Lancer's Noble Phantasm and signature spear.[[/labelnote]]
125	** Yorokobe[[note]]Kotomine's signature line, meaning "rejoice." It's usually used in response to something unfortunate in reference to Kotomine's schadenfreude.[[/note]]
126	** "[[DoubleEntendre It's gigantic, and he's swinging it like a toy!]]"
127	** '''UNLIMITED BUDGET WORKS!'''[[note]]At the time of its airing, Creator/{{ufotable}}'s adaptation of UBW had some of the best animation ever seen in a television broadcast anime.[[/note]]
128	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imrC3HWwCDU Dr. Gil's Miraculous Heart Surgery]] [[labelnote: Explanation]]Played in reverse, the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' scene where Gilgamesh kills Ilya turns into Gil ramming a heart into her chest, healing her wounds with a friendly smile, and then moonwalking away and dissolving into golden glitter.[[/labelnote]]
129	*** [[https://youtu.be/_co_bmKCPbo Unlimited Budget Works Edition]]
130	** Rin's harem ending [[labelnote: Explanation]]The ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route's Good Ending has Saber sticking around the modern era with Shirou and Rin unlike the True Ending where she leaves. Considering Rin's implied attraction towards Saber and her being known as the one wearing the pants in her and Shirou's relationship, fans have argued that UBW's Good Ending ''isn't'' Shirou's harem ending, but ''Rin's''.[[/labelnote]]
131	** [[GasLeakCoverUp Gas leaks]][[labelnote:Explanation]]The official excuse used by the overseeing Church to the public to cover up the actual causes behind both the Fuyuki Fire and the supernatural phenomenon that's happening in Fuyuki while the Holy Grail War rages on. Fans use this response to jokingly explain away similar coverups in other paranormal happenings in the greater ''Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}'', especially in the ''[[Franchise/FateSeries Fate]]'' series.[[/labelnote]]
132	* MisBlamed:
133	** As noted in the [[AllThereIntheManual Complete Materials]], Nasu didn't actually write the infamously bad sex scenes in this or any other Type-Moon game. Likewise, a lot of the more notorious metaphors, while certainly awkward to Western eyes, are commonplace and far less {{Narm}}y in Japanese erotic text. Hasn't stopped 'Nasu can't write sex' from approaching MemeticMutation levels - that may, admittedly, be true, but we can't say for sure without any evidence.
134	** At least some of Nasu's reputation for having a stiff writing style seems to have been the product of the early [=Mirrormoon/TakaJun=] FanSub translation which, on top of being fairly [[BlindIdiotTranslation literal]], was also forced to shed a lot of nuances based on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_character ruby text]] or kanji puns that would have allowed the phrases to flow together more smoothly in their native language.
135	* {{Moe}}: Sakura and Ilya stand out as the most notable cases, although [[{{Adorkable}} Saber]] and [[{{Tsundere}} Rin]] have their moments.
136	* MoralEventHorizon: See [[MoralEventHorizon/{{Nasuverse}} here]].
137	* MorePopularSpinoff: Hoo boy. This is true in the wider sense of the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}, and it's made real old-school Type-Moon fans sore for ages. ''F/SN'' was just meant to be an interesting one-off that expanded on the idea of magic in Nasu's fictional universe [[spoiler:as well as elaborate on the idea of the Counter Force and whatnot]] before TM moved on to ''Tsukihime 2'' or other projects. However, the reaction to the VN, its adaptations, and then its spinoffs were always so consistently positive and led to newer fans asking for more material that ''F/SN'' and the series it spawned ended up becoming ''the'' primary focus of the Nasuverse. This makes a lot of very old school, doujin-era fans pretty annoyed, since it means ''Tsukihime'' got pushed to the wayside very early, and it means other elements of the Nasuverse tend to get overshadowed by the relentless success of ''Fate''.
138	* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: Saber unleashing "Excalibur!" and Archer's "Unlimited Blade Works" incantation are always awesome regardless of what medium they're depicted in.
139	* {{Narm}}:
140	** Two words: Gay Bulge. (From the anime dub pronouncing Gae Bolg in the worst possible way.)
141	** Similarly, Rho Aias, which sounds like "Raw Ass". Then when you have Lancer and Archer fighting each other with their Gay Bulge and Raw Ass, you're bound to get jokes about HoYay between them.
142	** The H-scenes for their BlindIdiotTranslation, assuming that the writing wasn't already terrible. Much of it is WordSalad and has some... interesting descriptions that are short and unsubtle.[[labelnote:If you insist to know]]For example, "The varying movements are like that of an educated prostitute.", "Her anus is defenseless. It looks like a second reproductive organ. Tohsaka's anus.", "The body is shaped like a mollusk.", "Maybe she can't breathe through her mouth because it's filled with my penis.", "It's [Shirou's penis] like it's crying.", etc.[[/labelnote]]It's about [[Literature/SwordArtOnline "I release two years worth of semen into Asuna."]] levels of terrible.
143	** Not to mention the excuse they give for why Shirou has to have sex with Saber in order to recharger her mana [[spoiler:and also why Rider seduces him]]: because mage semen contains mana.
144	** The AllThereInTheManual explanation for how [[Literature/FateApocrypha Mordred]] was conceived. Because Artoria needed a biological heir (which is obviously not possible in her political marriage with Guinevere), [[{{Hermaphrodite}} Merlin temporarily gave her a penis]]. Whatever was supposed to happen next is anyone's guess (why Artoria didn't conceive one with Guinevere isn't explained), but Morgan conveniently comes around during this time and seduces Artoria. Morgan takes Artoria's sperm and uses it with her ovary to create Mordred.
145	** Right after Shirou tells Kiritsugu that he wants to stay with him instead of going to an orphanage, Kiritsugu tells Shirou immediately afterwards while a bunch of other kids with in the same room are within earshot and have nothing else to do other than watch the two of them talk that he's a mage, which makes you wonder if this caused Shirou and the other children to (initially) think he's crazy or messing around.
146	* NeverLiveItDown:
147	** Shirou will always be known as "that anime character who says [[MemeticMutation 'People die when they are killed']]", even when the context of the line is both explained, or pointed out as being a mistranslation of the point.
148	** He'll also forever be called a StayInTheKitchen misogynist for his stubborn insistence that Saber shouldn't fight because she's a girl even though she's a million times stronger and more experienced than he is (in the context of Shirou trying desperately to come up with a reason for why Saber shouldn't protect him because of his hero complex), and that one awkward time he suggested maybe getting assaulted would teach a tomboyish classmate some femininity.
149	** Is Rin's butt visible in some way? Let's bring up how it's defenseless!
150	* NightmareRetardant: ''Heaven's Feel'' having far more Bad Ends than the other routes loses its impact when many of them have Shirou suffering the same deaths again and again.
151	* NoYay: Sums up a large portion of the hero villain interactions:
152	** When Illya's interactions with Shirou aren't cute, she comes off as a possessive stalker. Special mention to when she asks him to "be mine" in ''Fate'' and image looks like she's about to rape him. (Double extra bonus points come from WordOfGod saying that there ''was'' planned to be by far the steamiest H-scene in the game there at one point in the drafting process, which is saying a lot!)
153	** Gilgamesh towards Saber. He claims her as property like he does everything else and most his comments involve trying to rape her. Even his remarks that he's attracted to her more because she's repulsed by him don't help.
154	** Caster and Saber when [[spoiler:she has her captured in ''Unlimited Blade Works''. Caster seems to relish in Saber's pain, off-screen stripped her naked and put her in a revealing dress, and the narrations imply she intends to use her Command Spells to make Saber into a sex slave.]]
155	** Shinji towards pretty much any female character he meets. His interactions with Rin are only the exception because he's too afraid of her to make any advances [[spoiler:until the AttemptedRape towards the end of Unlimited Blade Works.]]
156	** One Bad End in ''Unlimited Blade Works'' has Shirou strung up and his limbs stabbed through by Rider's nails as she slowly tortures him, blinds him, and then slits his throat while whispering in his ear that she'll have to kill him now before the torture gives her TheImmodestOrgasm in front of Shinji.
157	* OneTrueThreesome: There are Shirou/Saber/Rin and Shirou/Sakura/Rider or Shirou/Sakura/Rin. All are expanded upon at various levels in ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'' and many other associated works or materials, and are very popular in fandom.
158	** Shirou/Saber/Rin is based on the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route where [[spoiler:in the Good End of this route]], some fans believe that this is what was going on behind the scenes (doesn't hurt that Rin discovered that she is bisexual in the original ''Fate'' route while sleeping with Shirou and Saber).
159	** Shirou/Sakura/Rider is based on the ''Heaven's Feel'' route, where Shirou [[spoiler:is mind-raped by Rider disguised as Rin in the original game. Rider also stays with Sakura in the endings, and leaves it ambiguous whether she needs to replenish her mana without Sakura's knowledge, while it's openly stated that Shirou depends on Sakura to live his life.]]
160	** Shirou/Sakura/Rin is based on [[spoiler:Shirou being with Sakura in the True End of ''Heaven's Feel'', while Rin still has feelings for Shirou, even after she leaves for London alone. Interestingly while not confirmed, there are even hints of this occurring in the Normal End of ''Fate''.]]
161	* OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow: One common criticism the novel faces from detractors is that Nasu has a bad habit of writing himself into a corner, leading to situations where the main characters, Shirou especially, cannot conceivably win with their present resources. This ends up leading to situations where they win anyways due to either some kind of hidden interaction, some convenient interruption that was never foreshadowed, or sometimes that they just win without any solid explanation given. And that if one is given, it tends be seen shaky at best.
162	* ParanoiaFuel: Servants can be anywhere and attack any given moment, and you will often be dead before you realize. They can even masquerade as normal humans. ''Unlimited Blade Works'' highlights the idea that people you have known for years can turn out to be a rival Master.
163	* PlatonicWritingRomanticReading: Saber isn't intended as the LoveInterest in the Heaven's Feel route, but her dynamic with Shirou still caries a heavy romance subtext even though she has less screen time with him than in any other route.
164	* PlayerPunch:
165	** In ''Unlimited Blade Works'', [[spoiler:Illya's death]] might not have carried as much weight were it not for the fact that you have to play through ''Fate'' first (where you befriend her), and watch a particularly heart-rending interlude first.
166	** ''Heaven's Feel'' has six simple words: [[spoiler:"Save Saber"/"Bring the knife down"]]. Guess which one is the right choice. The GoodTimesMontage and the music that accompanies that particular scene makes it hurt even more. Way to twist the [[spoiler:knife]] there, Nasu.
167	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Time has been rather kind to Sakura. While she was originally the least popular of the three heroines and had many people complain about her DamselInDistress moments in ''Heaven's Feel'' as well as her antics [[spoiler:with the Shadow and as Dark Sakura]], sequels and spinoffs to flesh out her character's positive traits as well as later revisits to her story found her to be a lot more sympathetic. The ''[[Anime/FateStayNightHeavensFeel Heaven's Feel]]'' Trilogy was the final stake in the Sakura hatedom coffin, bringing her a huge influx of fans and warming up many longtime haters to at least accept the character.
168	* ReplacementScrappy: [[spoiler:True Assassin]] is widely regarded by fans as a poor replacement of Assassin for not getting much characterization and being pathetically weaker than the rest of the Servants. His expanded characterization in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' seems to soften the blow for longtime fans, however.
169	* ShipToShipCombat: It's a VN with three potential love interests, each one with an entire route dedicated to them, and devoted fans willing to argue at length on fan forums about why they make the best partner for Shirou. You do the math. And that's only for starters. Include other characters like Archer or Rider and it all goes up to eleven.
170	* SignatureScene:
171	** Shirou first meeting Saber after accidentally summoning her. The exact shot is replicated in [[http://img1.ak.crunchyroll.com/i/spire1/919b5bc179be1f75e94b9543eaa5b85d1409857574_full.png the 2006 series]], [[http://www.anime-kun.net/animes/screenshots/fate-stay-night-unlimited-blade-works-6043.jpg the 2010 ''Unlimited Blade Works'' movie]], and [[http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/847/889/a87.png the 2014 series]]. Parody versions include a ''[[Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya]]'' [[https://animetics.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/primserillya-1-1.jpg scene]], the VideoGame/BattleMoonWars page picture, as well as in various fanworks.
172	** A serious-faced Shirou declaring "People die if they are killed!" has become one too, due to MemeticMutation.
173	* SoBadItsGood: For some people, the sex scenes from the VN. There's a reason why [[MemeticMutation the "Nasu can't write sex" meme]] exists.
174	* StrangledByTheRedString: Shirou and Sakura's romance in Heaven's Feel suffers from this compared to the other routes romance arcs, by fault of being the ChildhoodFriendRomance in a story with three potential romances from the same starting point. The issue lies mainly with Shirou however, as Sakura having a crush on Shirou has been evident since as early as the Fate route. The romances of the previous route develop as a result of Shirou and his respective love interests time in the Grail War, and as a result of something about each other that draws them to their partner; Shirou and Saber are drawn to each other by their troubled pasts, while Shirou and Rin become interested in each other by spending time together, and both opening up to each other when they hit their lowest point. By contrast, Shirou just suddenly [[DistractedByTheSexy finds Sakura super hot]] and develops feelings for her far quicker than the other routes leads. Within a short time, he's so in love with her, that he's willing to throw his ideals away to protect her. Part of this can be attributed to the nature of their relationship, as instead of seemingly like two people falling in love, it comes across more as a purely sexual relationship compared to the Saber and Rin romances where the romance seems more normal and rooted in genuine affection. It comes across less as Shirou awakening to a ChildhoodFriendRomance he just never noticed, but instead having a switch go off by the writers to make him fall for Sakura. Notably, the ''[[Anime/FateStayNightHeavensFeel Heaven’s Feel Trilogy]]'' heavily focuses on their backstory in an effort to specifically avert this.
175	* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The anime soundtrack ''Yami Ugomeku'' sounds quite similar to one part of ''Ghost Town'' track of {{VideoGame/Blood}}.
176	* TooBleakStoppedCaring: A criticism of ''Heaven's Feel''. Between [[spoiler: Sakura's exceedingly tragic life, Saber being corrupted into a villain, Shirou's magic in this route frying his brain, and the anticlimactic and often gruesome deaths of many characters beloved in the other routes early on]], it becomes difficult to keep caring about what happens to the cast.
177	* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: When Caster [[spoiler:dies in both the ''Fate'' and ''Unlimited Blade Works'' routes, the whole thing is treated as rather tragic affair, [[HeroicSacrifice since she gives her life for Kuzuki]] and even makes sure that he's alright before passing on.]] However, her being a borderline InvincibleVillain throughout most of her arc and her [[StalkerWithACrush creepy and unexplained fixation on Saber]], which is especially baffling considering her reason for fighting the war is [[spoiler:to be with Kuzuki]], can negate whatever sympathy some viewer's may otherwise feel for her.
178	* VanillaProtagonist: A common complaint of the DEEN adaptation is this. Shirou has no history of magic or any desire to compete in the Holy Grail War. This makes him contrast with the other mages, whose pasts are colored by generations.
179	** This trope is PlayedForDrama in the VN, where he is an inept self-taught magus whose adoptive father turns out to be deeply-tied to the history of the War, particularly for the other two routes the anime doesn't adapt where the player realizes he's so vanilla because he's a borderline EmptyShell.
180	* ValuesDissonance:
181	** At one point, it is revealed that Rider feels insecure about being too tall for a girl. This is an issue that a lot of real life girls can relate to... Except for the fact that Rider is only 172cm(about 5'8") tall, which depending on where you live, could be considered as rather short. More than value differences, it shows the differences in physical heights between different societies.
182	** ''Onii-chan'' is infamous among anime fans in the West for being Japanese for "big brother", but it's also used in Japan to address strangers who are young men (like calling them "mister"). As a result, [[spoiler:Shirou being Illya's long-lost adopted brother comes off as a CaptainObviousReveal for Western fans that aren't aware of this term's broader usage in Japan, while this is a DoubleMeaning {{Foreshadowing}} for anyone that knows better Japanese]].
183	** Sakura's entire situation is potentially rife with this. In Japan, while attitudes about both are changing, abuse is often seen as a private, internal matter for families to sort out within themselves without involving outsiders, and [[spoiler:rape and sexual assault are often seen as [[DefiledForever permanently staining a woman and reducing her desirability as a partner, especially if it means she's no longer a virgin, since a lot of stock is still placed on that]]. For instance, while Western audiences can appreciate Shirou (who is aware of the physical but not the sexual abuse) trying to create a safe haven for Sakura from her family and confronting her abusers but being frustrated by his inability to actually change anything on his own, they might not understand why he doesn't bring up domestic abuse charges with proper authorities. And in the ''Heaven's Feel'' route, where Sakura takes center stage, it's a plot point that Sakura is driven into despair by threats of revealing her checkered history of sexual abuse to her partner, while Shirou's own willingness to look past it is all the more heroic, romantic, and remarkable to a Japanese audience of the time, while a Western audience, especially a modern one, might just see that as the normal, decent thing to do and not fully understand what all the fuss is about.]]
184	* TheWoobie: Practically ''every'' character in the game is this, to some extent, even before the events of this series.
185	** Shirou's original family and home neighborhood were destroyed in the fallout of the Fourth Holy Grail War and his adoptive father, Kiritsugu, who had saved him from the wreckage followed some years after. During the Fifth Holy Grail War he was confronted with a future version of himself who had grown disillusioned with the ideals they both fought for and does everything in his power to destroy Shirou's idealism in an attempt to RetGone himself.
186	** Saber's kingdom was destroyed by in-fighting, causing her to doubt her own worth as a king and struggling to understand what it really meant to be a king. Following her summoning in the Fourth Holy Grail War (noticing a pattern here?), a fellow Servant she greatly respected (Lancer) was forced to kill himself and died cursing her and everyone else, while another Servant (Berserker) proved to be [[spoiler: her once best friend and greatest knight, Lancelot, whom she was then forced to kill all over again.]] During the Fifth Holy Grail War she's kidnapped and tortured by Caster and once again forced to confront the futility of fighting for the Grail.
187	** Just before the Fourth Holy Grail War, Sakura was [[spoiler: given away by her father to the Matou to ensure the future of her sister.]] Her new family ''horribly'' mistreated her and even when she found someone she could look up to in Shirou he was ObliviousToLove and managed to form a bond with Rin instead. And this gets worse in her own route.
188	** Despite the appearances, Rin also qualifies since her father died when she was young in the Fourth Holy Grail War, essentially leaving her in charge of the Tohsaka household before even coming of age. [[spoiler: As revealed in other entries, she was also separated from her sister before the War and had to tend to her mentally unstable mother after she was left with brain damage before dying not long after, all the while Kirei, who was the killer of her father, squandered her family's fortune until she was old enough to inherit whatever was left of it.]]
189	** Illya's mother died in the Fourth Holy Grail War and her father was barred from seeing her by her family. She managed to form a strong bond with her Servant during the Fifth Holy Grail War, only to see him completely destroyed by [[spoiler: Gilgamesh]].
190	* WTHCostumingDepartment: The Dress of Heaven. At first sight it is kinda a love child between Catholic (stole, pellegrina, tiara) and Shinto (enlarged ''kosode'' sleeves) religious costumes until one glances downward and sees the [[ZettaiRyouiki miniskirt and stockings]] that destroy any sense of sanctity. Later ''Fate'' works only turn up the ridiculousness by showing how much being worn by a fully grown adult accentuates its bare midriff and [[CleavageWindow chest holes]]. Justeaze supposedly sacrificed herself wearing it.

Context YMMV / FateStayNight