[[MagicalGirlfriend http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cit_fate_stay_night_are_you_my_master.jpg]]
[[caption-width:300:''I ask of you: [[http://safebooru.donmai.us/post?tags=are_you_my_master are you my master?]]'']]

KingArthur. [[GreekMythology Herakles]]. [[CelticMythology Cúchulainn]]. [[TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]]. [[GreekMythology Medusa.]] Kojirou. {{Medea}}. Quetzalcóatl. [[TheKalevala Kullervo]]. Al-Hassan ibn-al-Sabbah.

These names are legends scattered across the world. Their origins are tales of great heroism and terrible bloodshed. Even villains can be the heroes of their own tales, and the telling of them inspires mankind.

In ''Fate/stay night'', when a hero is venerated enough by humanity, they can become a [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Heroic Spirit that surpasses time itself]]. There is a ritual where seven Spirits can ally with a Sorcerer Master via [[{{Mon}} contract]] and become Servants. This ritual culminates in a [[TheSevenMysteries seven-way war]] to acquire the [[MacGuffin ultimate prize]], the Holy Grail, which can grant the wishes of the Servant and Master who are victorious. As their true name would give opponents an advantage over them, it is hidden. Instead, each heroic Servant Spirit is given a Class by which they are addressed: Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Berserker, and Assassin. [[spoiler:There ''have'', however, been unprecedented new classes.]]

ThereCanBeOnlyOne Servant who gets the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail War that results in this has happened before, at great cost in lives.

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

Then there is Saber, the Servant Spirit who gets bonded to him. Her true name is unknown, but she has the mannerisms of a knight and the appearance of a young girl. Add to this an [[{{tsundere}} aloof girl]] named Tohsaka Rin, a rival Master and schoolmate who finds him too pathetic to kill off immediately (and her Servant, Archer, who claims to suffer amnesia in the beginning due to his botched summoning). Rin is a professional mage who knows the Grail War rules, but her conscience results in her helping out, despite her protests to the contrary. In addition, Shirou has to protect his "family" -- his self-appointed "older sister" and teacher Taiga, and the neighbor girl, which shows off ''Fate/stay night'''s DatingSim origins.

''Fate/stay night'' is based on a VisualNovel created by the company Type-Moon, and is set in the NasuVerse, the same universe as ''{{Tsukihime}}'' (although the anime is created by a different company than the anime of ''ShingetsutanTsukihime''). Of the three alternate storylines in the game- "''Fate''", which focuses on Saber, "''Unlimited Blade Works''", which focuses on Rin and Archer, and "''Heaven's Feel''", which focuses on Sakura.

The anime adaptation is the Fate route with some extra material added in to make the series fill out 24 episodes. This is used to give more attention to characters who are pushed to the background in the Fate route. Some of these are semi-original (Archer's fight with Berserker, which wasn't seen in the visual novel) and some are directly lifted from other routes (a chunk of the Heaven's Feel scenario was implanted and rewritten in order to give Caster, Assassin, Kuzuki and Sakura more attention). Overall, it basically takes an approach similar to ''Shingetsutan Tsukihime'' but with far less mangling of the story. The manga adaptation, still coming out, is also based on the Fate scenario - although, again, material from other routes and original material are both used.

A second manga also exists titled ''Fate/KaleidLinerPrismaIlya''. Unlike the first manga, this one has basically nothing to do with established continuity; rather, it features an AlternateUniverse storyline with Ilya as the main character... oh, and she's a MagicalGirl, complete with a [[MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha talking staff]] named Ruby, helping Rin recover [[CardcaptorSakura 'Class Cards']], magical artifacts with the powers of the Servants. It's largely an AffectionateParody, both of ''Fate/Stay Night'' and magical girl tropes in general, and doesn't take itself very seriously as a result. Still, it ''is'' very funny, intersperses this with largely random moments of awesome ([[spoiler: Ilya uses Archer's Class Card to draw on Unlimited Blade Works and trace Excalibur so she can defeat an evil version of Saber. Look me in the eyes and tell me that isn't ''great''.]]), and is very nearly worth it just so you can catch all the [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/fate_kaleid_liner_prisma_illya/v01/c001/34.html FSN references]].

A [[http://fatestaynight.jp/ movie]] was announced for release in January 2010; it is based on the "Unlimited Blade Works" route.

A prequel exists in the form of ''FateZero''. And for those who want to know about its characters, we have [[Characters/FateStayNight the character sheet.]]

Finally, there are two more video games: ''Fate/unlimited codes'', a FightingGame for the arcades, PS2 and PSP; and the newly announced ''Fate/EXTRA'', an {{RPG}} for the PSP whose primary point of notability is the ability to choose the main character's gender.

Because of the RoadCone, note that Fate refers to the Fate route of the story, UBW refers to the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route of the story, HF refers to the ''Heaven's Feel'' route of the story, and HA refers to ''Hollow Ataraxia'', the canon Fan-disc for Fate/stay night.
----
!!This show provides examples of:

* AccidentalInnuendo: "I've shown you mine, so the least you can do is show me yours" and "I am the bone of my sword."
*{{Adaptation Decay}}/{{Pragmatic Adaptation}} - Both the anime and manga are extremely watered down, [[BleachedUnderpants censored]] versions of the original visual novel. Then again, there's only so much you can do in the timeframe for an anime and the [[DeusSexMachina necessity of the sex scenes]] is debatable.
** And besides, Fate/Stay Night was at least respectable in regards to honoring it's source canon (mostly the Fate route), the characters were in character, and the show enjoyable enough that fans can proclaim SoOkayItsAverage at worst. Another Nasuverse [[{{Tsukihime}} series]] wasn't so lucky.
*AgainstTheSettingSun - Fate's ending. UBW's normal end does this too.
*AllJustADream - ''Hollow Ataraxia''
*AllMythsAreTrue - The wide variety of legendary heroes who can be summoned as Servants. Partly explained by Assassin, [[spoiler:who is by his own admission a fictional character]], as a reverse of the hero making the legend (see ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve). This still doesn't explain how a mage is able to acquire the legendary artifact needed to summon the specific hero, such as [[spoiler:Gilgamesh's]]: the fossilized remains of the first snake to shed its skin (tied to a legend about his quest for immortality).
** A direct corollary of Assassin [[spoiler: admitting to being fictional is that all the other heroes were definitely real, since being fictional was a sign of the fact that he was summoned by another Servant, and became downgraded.]]
*AllThereInTheManual - The anime touches on elements from the {{visual novel}}, such as Archer's identity, Ilya's parentage, and Sakura's relationship with Rin, without actually providing its own explanations. In order to understand certain elements from the visual novel, in turn, you may have to reference a published extra called ''Fate/side material''.
*AlmostDeadGuy - Loads.
*AlternateContinuity - Possibly with itself. Archer's mysterious past [[spoiler:is known to at least resemble the Fate scenario also followed by the anime, but how much is unclear]]. Actually, essentially all routes and endings are alternate continuities, with Hollow Ataraxia taking place in ''yet another'' continuity. Also, [[{{Tsukihime}} Zelretch]] appears from an alternate continuity in one route, just to say hi.
*AncientConspiracy - The Mage Council and The Church are big in the NasuVerse. Also, the true purpose of the Grail Wars, and to a lesser extent, the true nature of the Fuyuki Grail.
*ArtifactOfDoom - [[spoiler:The Holy Grail]]
*ArtisticLicense[=/=]DidNotDoTheResearch - Where do we '''start'''?! [[spoiler:King Arthur is a girl. Cú Chulainn has blue hair and red eyes. Medusa is a purple-haired mythological hero, and uses Bellerophon, the name of the greek mythological hero who rode the Pegasus, as reins for controlling magical beasts. Herakles is a nine-foot-tall monster, Medea has elf ears and a Noble Phantasm with no mythological foundation whatsoever, and Hassan-i Sabbah looks like a black-skinned freakish cripple without a face. Gilgamesh suffers from PhenotypeStereotype and wears a full plate, a form of armour that post-dates his existence by about two thousand years.]] ''FateZero'' is about as bad.
** It should be noted that quite a few of these are just cases of mixing different elements from different versions of the legend, as well as being adapted to the games overall setting. [[spoiler:Like Medusa being a priestess of Athena before being cursed, thus explaining non-monstrous appearance. And her summoning of Pegasus references how it came to being.]]
*** Or you know...{{Rule Of Cool}}
*AscendedExtra - Luviagelita Edelfelt. She's created as an April's Fools hoax of a Fate-themed wrestling game spinoff. Then, she appears in ''Fate/Unlimited Codes''.
**Not quite true. Luvia first appeared in one Heaven's Feel ending and then ascended into a full role in Fate/hollow ataraxia. The April Fool's hoax came a few years after, then came Fate/Unlimited Codes.
*AttemptedRape
*BackToBackBadasses - (HA) Assassin and [[spoiler:Souichirou]]
*BaitAndSwitchCredits - Second opening, depicting Shirou and Archer facing off a la the Unlimited Blade Works scenario from the game.
** The opening credits show a lot of scenes that don't actually appear in the anime, but are ContinuityPorn to those who have played the game.
*BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor - Discussed in Fate and UBW, but averted [[spoiler:since the Grail gets destroyed in every route]]. In UBW, there are a few more versions when you discover what Archer wished to do and what Archer currently wishes to do.
*BeingWatched - Rin in the prologue, twice.
** Mirrored later in HF by Shinou, who's equally uneasy.
*BeyondTheImpossible - Think that the battle scenes are epic? Use the patch described [[CrowningMoment/FateStayNight here]] to implement the Realta Nua [=CGs=]/[=SFX=] - it multiplies the epic GAR. Many times over.
*BigDamnHeroes - Lancer in UBW, [[spoiler:when he saved Rin from Shinji]]. The rest goes into CrowningMomentOfAwesome. Also in UBW, [[spoiler:Archer]] does this [[spoiler:once when he saves Shirou from Caster]] and [[spoiler:two more times near the end]]. In HF, [[spoiler:Rider saves Shirou twice in this fashion (first against True Assassin, next against Dark Sakura)]]
**Subverted by [[spoiler:Gilgamesh]] in ''Fate'' and the anime, who, after saving our heroes from their last opponent, [[SortingAlgorithmOfevil becomes their new one]].
*BittersweetEnding - Fate: [[spoiler:DidNotGetTheGirl but decides that life goes on]]. UBW: [[spoiler:Cannot absolve Archer's fate]]. Heaven's Feel: [[spoiler:Gets the girl, but hundreds of people have died for it]].
*BleachedUnderpants - The anime is based on an eroge. The PS2 version of the game removes the H-scenes, as well.
*BloodFromTheMouth - Shirou averts this trope after flushing out Ilya's binding spell, noting as he does that such an injury is light.
*BloodMagic - The runes in the ritual used to summon servants are normally drawn in blood. Rider also possesses BloodMagic abilities.
** Rin melts half of her supply of [[PowerCrystal Power Crystals]] and uses ''those'' to draw the rune used in an attempt to summon Saber by force. It was a very risky move, as those were damn expensive. She ends up screwing up by attempting the summon one hour early (thanks to the clocks in her house).
*** Later, it is revealed that [[spoiler:the reason was ''not'' due to the incorrect time, but the fact that she used the wrong catalyst in the summoning: a crystal that she would later give to Shirou after saving his life, which became his (and thus, Archer's) most valued possession]].
*** Actually, [[spoiler:Rin didn't have a catalyst that connected her to Archer. The pendant she had wouldn't have any connection with Heroic Spirit Emiya until it passes into Shirou's possession and he becomes a Heroic Spirit. It was actually Archer himself who had the catalyst - his version of Rin's pendant which he kept his entire life - which linked him specifically to Rin.]]
*BroadStrokes - Hollow Ataraxia.
*BreakTheCutie - [[spoiler:Sakura's backstory]]. In one ''Heaven's Feel'' Bad End, [[spoiler:she [[MoralEventHorizon inflicts her experiences on Rin]]]].
*ButThouMust
*ByThePowerOfGreyskull - All Noble Phantasms must be called out to be used.
*CallingYourAttacks - When a servant uses what's usually their most powerful weapon, they shout its name. This is at least explained as being required to unlock the power of the weapon here, but it still doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
*CharacterAlignment - In the status pages. These tend to be points of contention among the fandom, particularily [[spoiler:Gilgamesh's]].
*ChekhovsGun - In ''Fate'', [[spoiler:the sword Caliburn that keeps appearing in Shirou's dreams.]]
*ChekhovsGunman - [[spoiler:Gilgamesh]] shows up in the prologue as Rin and Archer are scouting around the city.
*ChekhovsBoomerang - Done ''across routes.'' [[spoiler: In Heaven's Feel, Caster is taken out of the game early on. Having played a major role in the previous route, most people put her out of their minds. But then, literally at the last day of the route... her Noble Phantasm, Rule Breaker, is what saves Sakura.]]
**A similar, albeit far less dramatic, case with Azoth. 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 project Zelretch's Gem Sword. However, its real importance was [[spoiler:Shirou using it to kill Dark Saber]].
*ChekhovsLecture - In the final fight with Berserker, the anime and the Fate Route, Shirou is able to defeat him because he remembers Archer's advice that if he found an enemy he cannot defeat alone that he should visualize something that can.
** In Heaven's Feel, Ilya's explanation to Shirou of how transferring a person's consciousness works. [[spoiler:Guess how she saves his soul in the True End.]]
*ChekhovsSkill - Shirou's ability to use magic to create fake objects. Also, Lancer's Ansuz Rune in ''Unlimited Blade Works''. Rin and Archer's discussion on Reality Marbles.
*ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve - [[AllMythsAreTrue All Mythological Heroes Are Real]]... if their legend is popular enough. The more well-known heroes are in the time they are summoned, the more powerful they are.
*CompetitiveBalance - ''Fate/Unlimited Codes'' puts CompetitiveBalance on all the fighters, which consist of both Servants (who have their own power rank differences) and human characters (who ''have'' all taken on and defeated Servants, but only under good circumstances).
*ConspicuousCG - What BleachedUnderpants did to the sex scenes in the anime. "Mana Transfer Dragon" has become a minor meme as a result.
** To elaborate, Saber ''has'' to have DeusSexMachina with Shirou to restore her power. SoYeah. In the anime, instead, there's a sudden flash to a CG dragon that ''[[FanDisservice bites Shirou's arm off.]]''
** Personally, this Troper likes the ''[[UnusualEuphemism implication]]'' that Saber is a ''[[IfYouKnowWhatIMean man eater.]]''
*ContractualImmortality - Shirou [[spoiler:but it's [[AvertedTrope averted]] in ''Heaven's Feel''.]] Also Rin.
*CoolAndUnusualPunishment - In Fate/unlimited codes, for abandoning her and leaving her to fight the Grail War on her own, Rin turns Archer into a chibi and makes him her "mascot character".
* CooldownHug - As she can't quite bring herself to deliver the fatal strike, Rin gives one of these to [[spoiler: Sakura]] at the end of their battle in HF instead. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming The writing in this scene]] [[{{Tearjerker}} is one of the most affecting moments in fiction]], in this troper's opinion.
*TheCorruption - [[spoiler:The contents of the current Grail.]]
*DangerousForbiddenTechnique - Any Noble Phantasm that must be called out to be used, because calling out the Noble Phantasm's name reveals its identity, therefore its wielder's identity, and therefore all the wielder's abilities and weaknesses. Also, Saber's Noble Phantasm (thanks to her dwindling supply of mana), and Shirou's main ability, which eats away at his body.
** It gets worse for Shirou in the ''Heaven's Feel'' scenario, where [[spoiler:he loses an arm and gets Archer's arm grafted on as a replacement. The magic circuits within the arm greatly boost Shirou's Projection abilities, but bombards Shirou's mind with a lifetime of Archer's memories and experiences, eroding the former's mind at an incredible rate. For this reason, the arm spends most of its time under a PowerLimiter]].
*TheDarkSide - Heaven's Feel route goes over this.
*DeadlyUpgrade - (HF) The arm.
*DeadpanSnarker - Archer and, to a lesser extent, Rin.
*DealWithTheDevil - Rather involuntarily, [[spoiler:Sakura becomes outrageously powerful by virtue of drawing on the power of [[TheDevil Angra Mainyu]]]].
** A more direct example, one of the ways one becomes a Counter Spirit is to make a deal with The World. In exchange for a Miracle, one is taken out of the cycle of {{Reincarnation}} and thus serves the World forever after death. NasuVerse has ContinuityDrift on the differences between "normal" Heroic Spirits and these.
*DeathbyPragmatism: A rare video game example.
*DeathIsCheap - Shirou and Saber by virtue of [[GoodThingYouCanHeal outrageous self-healing which can revive someone from the brink of death]]. Shirou once more by virtue of a [[ItOnlyWorksOnce single-use]] revival magic cast on him by Rin. Berserker by virtue of possessing ''eleven layers'' of automatic revival magic, meaning he needs to get killed twelve times to die. And, in ''hollow ataraxia'', everyone because of the time loop.
*DeusSexMachina - Loads and loads of it.
*TheDevil - [[spoiler:In UBW, we learn that Angra Mainyu, the devil in Zoroastrianism, lives inside the Holy Grail and has corrupted it. As is explained in HF and HA, it turns out that Angra Mainyu isn't the Devil -- 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 (kind of like an unwilling Jesus). In the Third Holy Grail war, when Angra Mainyu, summoned as Avenger, got 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... OH SHI-]]
*DidNotGetTheGirl - The only ending in which Saber stays is the UBW [[strike:harem]] [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean good]] ending.
**That would be [[BiTheWay Rin's]] harem, btw, as she likes to make perfectly clear.
*DownerEnding - Bad ends excepted, HF normal ending.
*DroppedABridgeOnHim - UBW: [[spoiler:Rider dies anticlimactically, off-screen, to Kuzuki and Caster]]. Heaven's Feel: [[spoiler:Assassin dies almost instantly as True Assassin is summoned]]. [[spoiler:Lancer and Caster]] may also count, although [[spoiler:Caster's Rule Breaker]] is still an important element (see last spoiler under {{Chekhovs Boomerang}}), and [[spoiler:Gilgamesh]] succumbs quickly from {{The Worf Effect}} against [[spoiler:Dark Sakura]].
*DyingAsYourself
*EarnYourHappyEnding - In the ending of the Fate Scenario of Realta Nua, as Saber lies dying, lamenting on losing Shiro she is visited by [[spoiler: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 must pursue her endlessly. [[spoiler: They do. And are reunited in what appears to be Avalon. This is weird though, because it's implied that the version of Shirou Saber gets is ''Archer''.]]
** Really, pretty much every ending that could remotely be called "happy" counts as this. [[spoiler: Heaven's Feel True End in particular.]]
** Of course [[spoiler: For Heaven's Feel Saber died earlier in the route and Ilya sacrificed herself in order to save Shirou. But she mentions in the final Tiger Dojo that there's no such thing as a real happy ending and it's only natural that some people are missing.]]
*{{Editing Works}}/{{The Abridged Series}} - Character development, Cliff Notes style:
**Fate
--->'''Shirou:''' I want to save everybody!
---->'''END.'''
**UBW
--->'''Shirou:''' I want to save everybody!\\
'''Archer:''' That is both a logical contradiction and a denial of the self.\\
'''Shirou:''' But the ideal encompasses an aesthetic that makes the endless journey worth it. Why can't I selfishly pursue selflessness?\\
'''Archer:''' FUCK.\\
'''Gilgamesh:''' MONGRELS! THOSE SWORDS ARE FUCKING PATENTED!
---->'''END.'''
**Heaven's Feel
--->'''Shirou:''' I want to save everybody!\\
'''Archer:''' That is a logical contradiction and a denial of the self. If you do not realize this, you get no Sakura sex.\\
'''Shirou:''' You're right. I'm a moral relativist. God is dead.\\
'''Archer:''' That’s the spirit. Here‘s a present before I go away, don‘t mind it if it starts to kill you.\\
'''Kotomine:''' But I'm still evil somehow, right?\\
'''Shirou:''' Right.
---->'''END.'''
*ElementalPowers - And very exceptional ones; Shirou has "Sword", Rin has all five ("Average One"), and Sakura has "Shadow" and "Imaginary Numbers".
** Shadow and Imaginary Numbers are the same thing. Her actual second [[spoiler:and artificial]] attribute would be "Binding."
*EleventhHourSuperpower - (Fate) Caliburn, Avalon; (UBW) Rho Aius and Unlimited Blade Works; (HF) The arm, Nine Lives, Jewel Sword Zelretch, Kaladbolg II, Rho Aius, Rule Breaker, Excalibur.
*EquivalentExchange - You pay for your magecraft, no matter what. True Magic, on the other hand...
*EroticDream - Just play the ''Heaven's Feel'' route.
*EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep - the Servants are usually only addressed by their Class. Knowing a Servant's real name may give a clue to their weaknesses, so their names are kept secret where possible. Also, out of formality, most Servants refer to their masters simply as "Master," but Archer and Saber go against common practice and refer to their Masters by first name.
*ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl - FSN seems to live off of these.
*FailedASpotCheck - Nobody but Ilya and ''maybe'' Rider notices [[spoiler:Shirou's brain damage caused by his projection.]] To be fair, he is a bit a oblivious on occasion.
** Shirou is pretty bad at picking up Sakura's rather obvious crush on him too.
* FanPreferredCouple - Archer/Rin and Rider/Sakura, anyone?
*FetishFuel - There's plenty to go around.
*FetishRetardant - Nasu's legendary skill at work, although one must wonder how much of it is the fault of the translator, who has shown some clear apprehension at translating the sex scenes.
** Praise the translator for making those semi-readable, it's not his fault. Nasu is ''infamous'' for his h-scenes (he apparently ''really'' likes seafood metaphors, for example). [[http://forums.mirrormoon.org/viewtopic.php?t=2486 Some people]] came up with some ideas to make them "less awkward, more fun!"
*** Oddly, aside from the previous example (the first scene in Fate), Nasu's actually ''improved'' at writing H-scenes (the ones in ''FSN'' aren't ''nearly'' as bad as in ''{{Tsukihime}}'');the second scene of Fate is actually the high point. Of course, there's Rin ''x'' Shirou in UBW and the EroticDream in HF, which are actually ''intended'' to follow this trope (the first is played for [[TheirFirstTime awkward laughs]], the second for horror).
*FinalBossPreview
*FirstNameBasis - Rin calling Shirou by first name, Saber calling Shirou by first name, and Archer calling Rin by first name (but Archer overdoes this for a moment by saying that Rin's name [[MeaningfulName suits her well]] - Rin means cold).
*FissionMailed - Tell Saber you're fasting today.
*FoodPorn - Oooh yes.
*FountainOfYouth - (HA) [[spoiler:Gilgamesh]] did this with a youth potion because, apparently, "this whole mess is stupid, screw you all". All the more hilarious, considering that he's been an EvilOverlord (in the past), not to mention a [[KickTheDog dog-kicking]] BigBad who wanted to [[spoiler:unleash a terrible curse on humanity because only those who could survive it were worthly of being ruled over]]; when he reverts, he turns into a CuteShotaroBoy that everyone loves.
*FreudianExcuse - Ilya and [[spoiler:Sakura]]
*FunnyAneurysmMoment - 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...
** 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 {{villainous breakdown}} 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.]]
*** 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 Dark Saber... by using Archer's super move with Kanshou and Bakuya against her.]] Though maybe it's just HilariousInHindsight.
*GameBreaker - In-universe, Sabers have reliably won every one of the Grail wars that had a clear victor. In the fifth one, we specifically have [[spoiler:Saber herself, although having Shirou as her master renders her more balanced, Berserker with his twelve lives and immunity to attacks below B-rank, and Gilgamesh, who is canonically about five times as strong as your average Servant.]]
** To be more accurate, a Saber s always one of the finalists. [[spoiler: No Grail War has finished properly. Even with the 5th and last one, only in Fate Route is it a clear victory of a Servant, maybe UBW somewhat. in HF, the Servant battles become irrelevant.]]
* GasLeakCoverup - A number of non-fatal incidents around the town (caused by Caster's efforts gathering mana) are attributed to gas leaks.
*GoodBadTranslation - One overly-literal fansub had Shirou saying "People die if they are killed" with an ultra-serious look on his face. A screenshot of this sub is now a {{meme}} when talking about bad translations and/or {{Engrish}}.
*GoodThingYouCanHeal - Not counting the Bad Ends, Shirô has his guts torn open, arms broken, heart impaled and nerve system burned too often to be healthy. Every time, by next day he's dizzy and nauseated but otherwise fine.
*{{Gotterdammerung}} - Modern magecraft vs. the age of gods.
*GratuitousEnglish - In both the meaningless title and Archer's famous Engrishy "I am the bone of my sword" speech, which makes great deviations from the Japanese "translation" that accompanies it in the game (see FieldOfBlades). Also, Rin Tohsaka's spells are in German, or should we say "Gelman".
*GratuitousGerman - A lot of Rin's spells are in really strange german, for example ''"Neun, Acht, Sieben, Stil Schießen, Beschießen, Erschießen!"''
*GroundhogDayLoop - ''Hollow Ataraxia'' time loop
*GutFeeling - Rin, Saber, and Shirou mostly.
* {{Hammerspace}} - The whole point beyond both Shirou and Archer's Trace Projection magecraft.
*HaveANiceDeath - The Tiger Dojo serves this purpose plenty of times.
*{{Hentai}} - Some people are ''very'' surprised when they find out that the original Fate Stay Night ''was an H-game.''
*HermeticMagic
*[[spoiler:TheHeroDies - Dead Ends aside, the Normal End for Heaven's Feel]].
*HighOctaneNightmareFuel - A lot of the game overs are like this. Believe me, you have ''no idea'' what a violent, meaningless death is until you've played this game.
**And then there's Heaven's Feel. ''Sweet fucking God,'' Heaven's Feel. As [[FeralPhoenix this troper]] learned the hard way, one shouldn't play it at night.
*** Whatever you do, don't think about the Makiri parasitic worms. Don't think about how, if you've had the comparative good fortune to be born male, they'll simply kill and eat you. And ''especially'' don't think about how, if you're unlucky enough to be female, [[spoiler:they'll eat you alive (ovaries first) while essentially raping you at the same time]].
*HijackedByJesus - The Holy Grail, which was originally the Cauldron of Someone Celtic, has been reimagined via the Legend of the Cup of Wishes. So this is a legend that was hijacked by Jesus and then hijacked by Japanese Mythology; but it turns out in the ''game'' it was hijacked by a bunch of mages.
*HoYay - Enough to deserve subcategories.
**Prologue
***''Rin x Saber'': (Fate and HF routes only.) So, Saber defeats Archer immediately, repels Rin's [[PowerLevels A-Rank]] instant magic, and rushes in to deliver a fatal blow to Rin, pausing for just a moment to briefly compliment Rin on her magic skills. Rin, instead of having, say, a normal response to Impending Death, just lies there blankly mesmerized by "how heartwrenchingly beautiful and valiant" Saber's figure is.
**Fate Route
***''Rin x Saber'': H-Scene, Rin hitting on Saber, and Rin mentioning how she likes Shirou and Saber both the same ''[[IfYouKnowWhatIMean *nudge* *nudge* *wink* *wink*]]''.
***Really, did you have to go any further than 'H-scene'? When two characters ''have lesbian sex'', complete with Rin actually saying that she 'never knew she was into girls until now', it's generally pretty clear there might be some LesYay there.
**** That the observation is delivered in Rin's usual DeadpanSnarker voice turns that into a CrowningMomentOfFunny for a lot of people.
**Unlimited Blade Works Route
***[[spoiler:''Saber x Caster'': Caster likes to [[FetishFuel torture Saber]] a bit much.]]
***''Rin x Random Injured Girl'': Rin just brought this one all on herself.
--->"Hold on, Tohsaka. How's that girl...!?" \\
"She's doing better. She's sleeping in the nurse's office now, so her life's not in danger." \\
"——————I see. That's good." \\
I sigh with relief. \\
...That means all problems have been resolved. \\
Then what's left is——— \\
"Huh? W-why are you staring at me? H-hey, I wouldn't do something like that!" \\
I don't know how she misunderstood.\\
Tohsaka, um, makes the stupidest misunderstandings sometimes.
***If you think about it carefully, she probably did. Still not getting it? Here's a hint: [[spoiler:[[{{Anvilicious}} THE GIRL WAS SUFFERING FROM]] [[IntimateHealing *MANA DEPRIVATION*]]]].
***''Rin x Saber'': What kind of girl insists on going out on a date with a guy, invites another girl along on the date, and then spends half her time with that girl? It seems more like Rin was dating Shirou ''and'' Saber at the same time...
*** [[spoiler: The Good Ending to the route, the only path in the game in which Saber stays in the modern world, makes it pretty clear that she was doing exactly that. Here's a hint: It's also a 'harem' ending. ''Rin's'' harem, not Shirou's.]]
***''Shirou x Issei'': Now you weren't expecting this one, were you? But, Shirou forcibly takes off Issei's clothes in one scene.
**Heaven's Feel Route
***''Rin x Mitsuzuri'': ([[BleachedUnderpants Censored PS2 version only.]]) The substitute EroticDream. See [[http://danbooru.donmai.us/data/ffc143cacc06374d8954d48e70aa0634.jpg here]].
***''Rin x Rider'': One possible reading, but it has elements of DudeShesLikeInAComa, though. It doesn't help that we do know from ''Hollow Ataraxia'' that Rider ''does'' swing that way.
--->After the incident, we were carried to the surface and managed to survive.\\
Rider took me to my house and [[IntimateHealing replenished my magical energy]].
***''Sakura x Rin''
***[[spoiler:''Sakura x Rider'']] - One of the few remaining Servants with her Master after and [[IChooseToStay chooses to stay with her.]]
***[[spoiler:''Sakura x Dark Saber'']] - WHAT? (with an echo of OTP!)
**[[RoadCone Hollow Ataraxia]]
***''Rider x Mitsuzuri'': Rider has a bit of a weird stalker crush on Mitsuzuri.
***''Rider x Rin'': Shirou imagines this one for a moment.
* [[spoiler:HumanResources]] - [[spoiler:The Holy Grail's power comes from absorbing the souls of the heroic spirits who died in the war.]]
** [[spoiler: Not to even bring up the innumerable '''living corpses''' in Kotomine's basement. That they're all orphans from the same disaster as Shirou somehow makes it '''even worse'''.]]
*HumiliationConga - Happens to Shinji a good few times in various routes. In the Fate route, Shinji's second, brief HumiliationConga is followed by his abrupt death.
*HyperspaceArsenal
*ImageSong - Released during the run of the anime, sung by the voice actors; only some characters (Saber, Rin, Sakura, Ilya, Rider, Caster, Archer, Shirou, and Taiga) got them, though. The original game had an album called ''Wish'' that had three voiced songs for the heroines and instrumental songs for all the other important female characters.
*{{Immortality}} - Lets list characters and types of immortality they possess.
**All the servants: Type II (Doesn't age.) and Type III (Super regeneration) as they're immortal spirits -- they're not supposed to last past the end of a Grail War, however. [[spoiler:Gilgamesh and Saber, who are both material and not 'true' heroic spirits, have magic that compensate for it.]]
**Shirou: Type III (Super regeneration)
**Berserker: Type I (Invulnerability) but with exceptions for the highest grade of attacks, and Type IV (Resurrective - New body on death.) on top of regular Servant immortality.
**Al-Hassan ibn-al-Sabbah: Type VIII (Immortality Through Legacy - All the leaders of the Assassins take on this name and identity, giving the impression of a single, immortal al-Hassan ibn-al-Sabbah.)
**(HF) [[spoiler:Zouken: Type IX (Parasitic - Taking over the body of another person to extend lifespan.) but also Type VI (Immortality Only - Even if protected from a death from old age, he's not protected from old age and eventual decay itself.)]]
**(HF) [[spoiler:Dark Sakura: Type III (Super regeneration)]]
*InstantRunes - Straight in the anime, averted in the game - Rin does actually draw the whole summoning circle for Archer, but it's skipped in the anime because of the RuleOfCool. Saber's summoning circle, on the other hand, is ''not'' instant in the anime, but it ''does'' draw itself over scratches in the floor [[spoiler:where it had been drawn previously]]. Also, Rider uses instant (blood) runes when she summons [[spoiler:a Pegasus -- not THE Pegasus, but still formidible]].
*IsntItSad - Rider? Berserker? Assassin?
*ItGotWorse - Heaven's Feel, over and over again. All the more effective due to it being accomplished without a single DiabolusExMachina.
*ItsAWonderfulFailure - Oh, so very much. Lots of HighOctaneNightmareFuel in there - and the occasional ending that actually ''isn't'' NightmareFuel is almost startling and a welcome respite..
** Made worse by the fact that you ''have'' to eventually see all those bad endings [[HundredPercentCompletion in order to unlock everything]]. Anyone who can watch all of them in one sitting without temporarily becoming a twisted emotional wreck might not have a ''soul''.
* JackassGenie - [[spoiler:The Holy Grail, due to Angra Maiyuu's influence, will twist any wish made to it in a way that will kill or hurt as many humans as possible.]]
* KungFuMagic - [[WhatAnIdiot Studying magic without the Martial Arts to deliver it]] in the {{Nasuverse}} is basically a [[TooDumbToLive glorfied death-wish.]]
*LimitedWardrobe - Almost everyone has, at most, two sets of clothes (typically school, armor, armor/casual, or school uniform/casual, or in Ilya's case, cold-weather/normal). Other, non-standard outfits are [[spoiler:Dark Sakura]], Ilya's Dress of Heaven, Rin's bedclothes, and the [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean occasional birthday suit]].
*LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
* LoveItOrHateIt - '''HEAVEN'S FEEL!'''
* LuminescentBlush
* MagiBabble - So much....
* MagicMissile - The Gandr spell actually sounds like a gun, and even leaves bullet holes behind.
* MagicWand - (All routes) The Azoth sword, (all routes) Rin's jewels, (UBW) Caster's staff, (HF) Zelretch, and (HA) Kaleidostick.
* MemeticMutation - The aforementioned "People die if they are killed" became a popular meme due to [[http://animelololololol.ytmnd.com/ this YTMND]].
* MentalWorld - [[FieldOfBlades Unlimited Blade Works]]
* MindControlEyes - (UBW) [[spoiler:Issei]] and (HA) [[spoiler:Rin-chan]]
* MindRape - (HF) Archer's arm grafted unto Shirou does this to him.
* MistakenForGay - Subverted. In the Versus Valentine story in Type-Moon Ace Vol. 2, Issei tries to give Shirou Valentine's Day chocolates. After telling Issei he's straight and hearing "it'll bother me if you don't accept these!" in reply, Shirou freaks out and runs away. Later it turns out that Issei was just delivering the 'chocolates' on behalf of Ilya... and then Issei gives him actual Valentine's Day chocolates and tells him that they're from him. Cue freaking out and running away again.
* MomentKiller - At one point in HF, it looks like there's going to be a H-scene with Sakura...and then Saber walks in.
*{{Mons}}
* MoeMoe - Sakura. Oh my god. If [[spoiler:Heaven's Feel]] does not break your heart in to a thousand ''tiny, tiny pieces that are also somehow on fire''... no. Just, no.
* MoodWhiplash - Very, very many of the bad endings are [[TearJerker intensely sad]], [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel intensely disturbing]], or both. They are then followed by a trip to the Tiger Dojo, which is a completely goofy little comedy segment where Ilya (in a gym uniform, for no discernable reason other than fanservice) and Taiga give you hints as to what you did wrong, occasionally mock you, and run their own little BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine.
** In fact, the Tiger Dojo is so reliable in this that the extremely few times they're totally serious are paradoxically whiplashtastic. See Bad End 30, where [[spoiler:Shirou puts his ideal to be a superhero ahead of Sakura's life, and lets Rin kill her]].
--->''Taiga'': "Huh. I don't have much I can say this time."
--->''Ilya'': "......[[WhatTheHellHero idiot]]."
* MoralEventHorizon - (HF) [[spoiler:Sakura's]] killing hundreds of people and devouring their bodies and souls isn't... unless [[spoiler:she rapes Rin in a Bad End]]. Shinji ''starts out'' as a {{Jerkass}}, but crosses the line fairly early by [[spoiler:trying to kill off the entire school to power up his servant]]. Shirou's Bad End where [[spoiler:he pragmatically allows Sakura to die to save many people]], considering [[WhatTheHellHero everyone's reactions]], might be an in-universe example.
** If you can feel anything but utter loathing for [[spoiler:Gilgamesh after what he does to Ilya and Berserker in UBW, then you're a better person than me. It takes a special sort of bastard to blind, maim, and rip the heart out of a terrified child after murdering her only friend in front of her eyes. The fact that he was clearly enjoying himself and even going out of his way to make her suffer more ''really doesn't help''.]]
*** If it's any consolation, [[spoiler:I'm pretty sure she was dead before he ripped out her heart.]]
**** It's not!
*MundaneUtility - Rin's first order of business to Archer: "Clean up this mess."
**The next morning, the first thing Archer does is make tea. ''Damn'' good tea according to Rin, but still...
* MyNameIsInigoMontoya - (UBW) "It's not a mistake!" ([[spoiler:Shirou's defense of his ideals, to Archer]])
** "So she can eventually smile in front of other people...you're getting in the way of that. Get lost. Sakura can't smile if you exist...!" ([[spoiler:Shirou's thoughts about Angra Mainyu, while fighting Kotomine]])
*** Nasuverse is more fair with this trope. In both cases, Shirou was still going to lose the fight. It was just that in the first case [[spoiler:Shirou's determination convinces Archer to forfeit a fight he was clearly winning]] and in the second case [[spoiler:Kotomine just collapses right before he manages to deal the finishing blow thanks to his limited lifespan]].
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat - (HF) [[spoiler:Gilgamesh to Dark Sakura upon skewering her to apparent death]].
* NoOntologicalInertia - Well, there is ''some'', but servants soon cease to exist if they stop getting mana from their Masters.
* NonStandardGameover - (HF) The simple end where [[spoiler:Shirou fights Saber solo and dies defeating her]].
** Also of note is the "Mind of Steel" game over where you basically... win. Just in a non-nice way.
* NotHimself - (HA) Many of the characters are nothing like they were in ''[[FateStayNight Fate/stay night]]'', which [[spoiler:is actually an early clue that something's wrong with this reality besides the whole GroundhogDayLoop thing]].
* NotQuiteDead - A ridiculous amount of times:
** Fate Route:
*** [[spoiler:Berserker, who gets massacred by Rin, but then it turns out he has 12 lives.]]
*** Subverted: [[spoiler:Caster sets it up for this, but Gilgamesh sees through it and takes her out (again).]]
** Unlimited Blade Works Route:
*** [[spoiler:Archer first gets cut off from any mana supply, then is stabbed through by Shirou, ''then'' takes multiple attacks from Gilgamesh, and ''finally'' reappears long after he should have disappeared to quickly save Rin from the Grail and kill Gilgamesh (saving Shirou), and ''still'' have a good-bye talk with Rin.]] ''Sheesh.''
*** [[spoiler:Lancer gets back up after stabbing himself due to a command seal order, stabs Kirei, still scares the hell outta (and lightly stabs, for safe measure) Shinji, and rescues Rin. He's KilledOffForReal after that.]]
*** Also notable with [[spoiler:Assassin, who should be long gone from not having a master or a mana supply, but turns out to have both...[[TheLastDance just enough to stick around and fight Saber a second time before his actual death]]]].
*** [[spoiler:Berserker gets smacked around by Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon and chained with Enkidu, and then his master dies. Berserker [[BeyondTheImpossible forces himself to stay alive through sheer willpower, shatters the chains, and attacks one last time before dying]].]]
*** Caster ''thinks'' she's killed [[spoiler:Kotomine, but Rin knows better - as she noted, Caster ''really'' should have checked the body (or noticed the later ''lack'' of one).]]
** Heaven's Feel Route:
*** [[spoiler:Saber and Berserker, after they are "killed" by The Shadow.]]
*** [[spoiler:Rider, who would have normally disappeared when Shinji lost, except that it turns out her true master was Sakura.]]
*** [[spoiler:Rin, who survives Sakura's attack because her Magic Crest will forcibly keep her alive as long as there is mana to power it.]]
*** [[spoiler:Zouken does this a few times too, thanks to him being [[BodyHorror made of the special "worms" he created]], and then the core of said body being somewhere ''[[HighOctaneNightmareFuel inside Sakura's heart]]''.]]
*OhCrap - HF: Rider's CrowningMomentOfAwesome against [[spoiler:True Assassin]], who, upon discovering Rider's chain-spike embedded in his shoulder, only had one thing to say ("W-Whaaaaaat?!"). Cue epic wall-slamming...
*OlderThanTheyLook - Technically all the Heroic Spirits are at least hundreds, if not thousands of years old, chronologically, but special mention goes to [[spoiler: Saber, who is said to look a couple of years younger than Shirou, but is actually around ten years his senior due to the age-stopping effect of Avalon when possessed by its rightful owner, and Gilgamesh in Hollow Ataraxia.]]
** And let's not forget [[spoiler: Illya and Zouken. The former is only around eight to ten years older than her [[TokenLoli looks]], but the latter's decrepit grandfather features hides the fact that he should have been dust over a century ago.]]
*OmnicidalManiac - [[spoiler:Angra Mainyu as spawned by the Holy Grail]]
*OneHundredPercentCompletion - In FSN, you have to complete all three routes for the new splash screen. You also have to accomplish every [[HaveANiceDeath Tiger Dojo]] for other bonuses. In FHA, there is a literal OneHundredPercentCompletion counter.
* PaintItBlack - Anyone who made a FaceHeelTurn through TheCorruption.
* ParentalAbandonment - [[spoiler:That'd be Ilya]].
* PetTheDog - Illya ([[EnfanteTerrible homocidal sociopath]]) and her Servant Berserker (NighInvulnerable embodiment of madness and destruction) get poignant sympathetic moments in the UBW and HF routes in the game that reveal the deep bond they share (and their StartOfDarkness), with Berserker's determined devotion pushing him to impossible acts even by ''his'' standards. Servant Caster's [[spoiler:love for her Master, willingness to sacrifice herself to save him, and farewell speech]] almost make up for the fact that she freely murdered and drained the energy/souls of people throughout the city to [[LoveMakesYouCrazy achieve her goals]]. Also, Makiri Zouken's original (and long forgotten with insanity/senility/desire for life) goal of making the world a better place.
* PlayerPunch - Heaven's Feel has six simple words: "Save Saber"/"[[spoiler:Bring the knife down]]." Guess which one is the right choice.
** This troper would argue that Heaven's Feel is basically one long barrage of {{Player Punch}}es.
** The GoodTimesMontage and the music that accompanies that particular scene makes it hurt even more. Way to twist the knife there, Nasu.
*PowerDegeneration - Shirou when he uses magic above his level, especially [[spoiler: with Archer's arm.]]
*PowerGlows - Justified: Mana distorts reality, so strong enough amounts of mana become visible to the naked eye.
* PowerLevels - [[spoiler:Gilgamesh's]] profile in the game lists the max base damage of his main attack as "4000", whatever that means. Of course, considering that he's also listed as ChaoticGood...
*PrecisionFStrike - HF: [[spoiler:Shirou's response to the idea of letting Angra Manryu be born and wrecking Sakura's life even more (in addition to pretty much destroying all of humanity)? "Fuck that."]]
*PrecisionGuidedBoomerang - Kanshou and Bakuya, Archer's twin swords. As long as Archer holds one, the other will always return to his hands. This is their special abilities as Noble Phantasms, along with the anti-demonic charms which improve magic resistance.
* PublicDomainCharacter - Every Servant except one [[spoiler:Archer]] is a Hero from myths and legends, SoYeah.
** PublicDomainArtifact - And of course their Noble Phantasms are in the same situation, with the exception of a few that were made out of whole cloth.
* RandomPowerRanking
* RankInflation - The stat system.
* TheRealRemingtonSteele - in the sequel game
*RightMakesMight - [[spoiler:Shirou vs Archer]] and [[spoiler:both Shirou vs Kotomine fights]]
*RightThroughHisPants - [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the UBW H-scene, when Rin tells Shirou that he's a failure as a man if he keeps his clothes on while doing it. Of course, the whole scene is being played for laughs, [[SoYeah so...]]
*RoadCone - With three different story paths, it's only natural that adaptations of the series would leave out some things. Both anime and manga are based on "Fate", though the movie is based on "Unlimited Blade Works".
*RootOfAllEvil - [[spoiler:Supposedly, Angra Mainyu.]]
* SchoolUniformsAreTheNewBlack - Rin skipped school to show Archer around the city. Despite being the heir to a rather wealthy family, she still choose to wear her school uniform for this outing.
*[[spoiler:SealedEvilInACan]]
*[[GodsNeedPrayerBadly Servants Need Popularity Badly]] - The more popular you are during the time period you're summoned, the more powerful you are. The inverse is also true. Saber, for example, as everybody knows [[spoiler:KingArthur]]. If a heroic spirit was powerful enough during his lifetime, then he can get around this problem. For example, [[spoiler:[[TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]]]]. Berserker, being Hercules, is both.
*ShoutOut - 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 Type-Moon Visual Novel.
** There are a few of these in the anime with regard to the VisualNovel. In an early episode, Shirou introduces Tohsaka Rin with some narration; one of the accompanying images of her is an animated version of the final CG from UBW's True End.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism - Depends on route. Fate is very idealistic, Unlimited Blade Works lies in the middle, and Heaven's feel is rather cynical.
*StakingTheLovedOne - [[spoiler:Saber in Heavens Feel.]]
*StatisticallySpeaking - Averted: The stats of the Servants seem to have little, if any, bearing on their actual abilities. Archer is able to hold off Lancer despite being statistically inferior to him in practically every way, and [[spoiler:True Assassin and Gilgamesh]] get defeated by humans they should, by all accounts, outperform several times over given how their stats match those of respectively [[spoiler:Lancer and Saber]].
** Indeed, the only stats that ever seem to come into play are Saber's B-rank Luck and Magical Energy, which allow her to withstand Lancer's ''Gae Bolg'' attack and Rider's [[spoiler:Eyes of Petrification]], respectively.
*** Which is not to say that the other statistics are ''completely meaningless''. Lancer ''is'' much faster and quite a bit stronger than Archer; Archer only holds Lancer off because he has obscene amounts of battle experiences. Stat differences also come into play in the ''Heaven's Feel'' route, since [[spoiler:Dark Saber is slower and has a weaker sixth sense than normal Saber, allowing Shirou to actually outmanoeuvre and defeat her in one ending, despite his only advantage being limited usage of Archer's full speed and projection. The fully-empowered Archer is completely unable to break through normal Saber's defence in direct close-quarters combat in UBW, so the statistic change was quite important here.]] It gets weird though, when Archer beats down [[spoiler:True Assassin ''easily'']] with what appears to be his ''bare hands'', since despite the fact that [[spoiler:Assassin class]] is supposed to be weaker than the other classes, this War's Archer is actually ranked below [[spoiler:True Assassin]] in both speed and strength. The only answer possible here is Archer is just... ''really'' good at what he does.
*StayInTheKitchen - An important point in the Fate route and the anime is Shirou ''oh''-so-slowly accepting the fact that Saber is in fact far more powerful than him and he needs her protection, not the other way around. Shirou has some amusing and impressively sexist lines in the game--at one point approvingly commenting that perhaps an escape from being assaulted late at night will teach a strong female classmate some femininity.
**Rin is somehow quite exempt from Shirou's StayInTheKitchen attitude.
***He's either not really as sexist as his [[MemeticMutation reputation]] indicates (maybe he just has something against tomboys), or he's just scared of Rin. Really, it's hard to question Rin's femininity (unless you're Issei, of course).
**Ironically enough, when Shirou makes the infamous remark in ''Fate'', he realizes what he's said and tries to take it back right away as all the females around him begin to emanate hatred. When [[spoiler:Mitsuzuri is implied to have been sexually assaulted by Shinji]] in ''UBW,'' he can only think about how horrible it is that something like that happened to a strong girl like her.
*** In Fate, he may have just been projecting his problems with Saber. It's hard to tell if Shirou didn't want Saber to fight because she was a girl, or if that was just a shallow excuse so he wouldn't admit that he didn't want a loved one to be in mortal danger.
** Oh, and the one character who confirmably has traditionalist views on gender roles is Issei.
*StrongAsTheyNeedToBe - Nasu is '''''KING''''' of this trope.
** Of course, this being a VisualNovel, player error makes it possible to ''subvert'' this trope.
** Arguable: At least some of the time he adjusts power levels of servants by switching what master is giving them power, or having a servant acting without a master which makes them much weaker. Most of the major cases of someone matching a theoretically stronger opponent is thanks to these kind of plot changes
*StupidityIsTheOnlyOption - The [[HaveANiceDeath Tiger Dojo]] sometimes Lampshades this: "Go back to the previous choice and try choosing the reckless, immature choice!"
** Arguably subverted in ''Heaven's Feel'' where [[spoiler:you're forced to choose between going against principles Shirou holds in the previous two routes by saving Sakura, or coming to a premature Bad End as a result of letting her die]]. Whether it was the smartest choice or not differs depending on the reader...
*** It was a ''[[ShootTheDog pragmatic]]'' choice. The game even acknowledges that. It just happens to be the end of the story, so it counts as a bad end for gameplay purposes. You could call it a NonStandardGameOver in that [[spoiler: you don't actually die or lose your memory or anything for choosing it, you just "win" off-screen by choosing to be a [[TheUnfettered pragmatist and following in your father's footsteps]]]]. Although since ''Kotomine'' acknowledges it as a smart choice, it [[strike:probably]] definitely has a dose of NotQuiteTheRightThing.
*SwordSparks
*{{Synchronization}} - Servants and Masters who are in tune with one another have this to a certain extent. Also [[spoiler:Shirou and Archer in ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route]].
*TearJerker - So many it's [[strike:almost]] cruel; Nasu just got malicious towards the reader with some of them. And don't even start on some of the endings...
*TemporalParadox - The actual goal of two Servants in the game.
* TheElectricSlide- Saber does this one during her first fight with Berserker.
*TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt - Quite likely the result if the villain wins in UBW or HF.
*TheirFirstTime - ''Shirou x Saber x Rin'' in Fate route. ''Shirou x Rin'' in UBW route.
*TheManyDeathsOfYou - The game gets very.. graphic, discussing in first person perspective, how you die or fail.
*ThemeMusicPowerUp - "Light and Darkness" plays during the last battle of Heaven's Feel, 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 [[MyNameIsInigoMontoya he reflects on]] [[spoiler:[[ThePowerOfLove Sakura]]]] [[MyNameIsInigoMontoya and pulls off a frenzied counterattack]] that the [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome second half of the song plays]].
** In the FightingGame spinoff ''Fate/Unlimited Codes'', Archer finishing the Unlimited Blade Works chant switches the stage's BGM to a remixed version of "Emiya."
*ThereCanBeOnlyOne - The very concept of the Grail War.
** [[spoiler:At least, that is what they want you to think]].
*TalkingIsAFreeAction - In two forms:
** TalkingIsAFreeAction - Mostly averted, but spell-casting is pretty much done at the speed of plot. Seriously, sometimes they even cast complex spells (even [[spoiler:a binding contract ritual]]) in less time than it takes for an already incoming blow to land.
** Thinking Is A Free Action - Apparently in the {{Nasuverse}}, people can have long-winded epiphanies several hundreds of words long in the span of two or three seconds, ''regularly'' and ''in the middle of combat,'' no less.
*** Or the actual epiphanies are at the speed of thought, and all the several hundreds of words are just for the benefit of those reading...
*** Yes, yes. That's meant to be the implication, but these are not the kinds of epiphanies you can have in a split second. These follow long chains of reminiscence, doubt, discovery, determination, and logic. That is not something gained by a flash of insight but something attained after lengthy contemplation and that kind of contemplation cannot be accomplished in the span of seconds in the heat of battle.
*** That's assuming all of the contemplation has taken place just during any given battle. Trains of thought and logic can start long before that in the back of the brain and finish with seconds-long flashes of insight or discovery.
*ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil
*ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks - Justified with Kanshou and Bakuya due to the intrinsic magnetic property they possess that will always pull them back together. If you throw them to the sides of your opponent, they'll sweep in and cut them apart. Knock them away with a second pair of them and they'll continue doing this.
*TimeTravel - The Holy Grail summons the souls of dead heroic spirits across time. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the location of their dead souls is separated from time, but the effect is still summoning spirits into a time different from when they last lived.
*TookALevelInBadass - Shirou in every scenario.
* TragicDream
*TransformationSequence - (HA) Rin's MagicalGirl transformation
*{{Troperiffic}} - ''just look''
* TurnTheOtherCheek
*TwoTeacherSchool
*UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny - With various mythology the world over.
*UnderwaterKiss - One of the Sakura events in HA.
*UnreliableNarrator - The Narrator is given to making observations which are later proven false.
* UnspokenPlanGuarantee - (UBW) Rin's plan for defeating Caster.
*UnwantedHarem
*ViolationOfCommonSense - The choices you have to make sometimes.
*WaifFu - Saber
*WallOfText - a visual novel is text-based by nature, but at times the presentation bogs down with dense blocks accompanied by unvoiced, single static images.
* WaveMotionSword - Three of them, in fact. ([[spoiler:Excalibur, Ea, and Zeltretch.]])
*WeirdnessCensor - Not even an rumor about the (rather obvious) war going on, even for things that couldn't be covered up or downplayed easily (sonic booms from attacks, shining golden light shooting into the sky at a flying horse, etc).
** Played for laughs on a smaller scale, when Rin gets so angry at Shirou that she shatters her "perfect student/school idol" image in front of everyone to shout at him. Everybody stares... then go back to what they were doing, subconsciously repressing those memories to maintain their "perfect" image of her. This happens on ''two separate occasions''.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome - the scene in the Chinese resteraunt in Heaven's Feel. Only, it is played ''completely straight''.
** And yet it works; in a route filled with genuine HighOctaneNightmareFuel, Kotomine ordering a ''second'' mapo tofu comes across as menacing.
*XanatosGambit - [[spoiler:Archer]] does this large-scale in the Unlimited Blade Works route (see Fake Defector). Rin does two small-scale versions: in the Fate route she [[spoiler:deliberately attacks Berserker, fails, gets caught, and just when Berserker is about to crush her to death she reveals that that was just the setup to her true attack]], and in the Unlimited Blade Works route she [[spoiler:challenges Caster to a duel between magi, gets her ass handed to her, then suddenly bumrushes Caster and beats the crap out of her using martial arts in a CrowningMomentOfAwesome.]]
* XanatosSpeedChess - Kotomine in Heavens Feel. See the page for details. It's even believable (apart from the still living after having his heart destroyed three days beforehand thing, but honestly, Shirou has survived worse).
** To be exact, his heart was beating due to Angra's energy. Sakura crushes the connection. Hence Kotomine running out of time, since his heart relied on Angra's mud to keep on beating.
*YouGottaHaveBlueHair
----
<<|NoteworthyAnime|>>
<<|VisualNovel|>>
<<|TropeOverdosed|>>