Merlin

The Magus of Flowers

^{Second Ascension}

^{Third Ascension}

^{Final Ascension}

^{Camelot & Co.}

^{Traveling Outfit}

^{Travel Journal}

^{Dream Portrait}

^{April Fool's}

^{April Fool's 2021}

^{April Fool's Fate/Grail League}

Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese), Robbie Daymond (English)

"Greetings, Master of Chaldea. I am Merlin. People call me the Mage of Flowers. Just call me Merlin. I don't care for formalities."

Merlin is the Court Magus of King Arthur, and a qualified candidate for the Grand Caster class. Born as a half-incubus, Merlin helped to engineer the birth of King Arthur and then used his incredible magical prowess and prophetic ability to mentor (or manipulate) her to become Britain's ideal king. He was also responsible for the enchantment that temporarily changed Arthur's gender to pseudo-male, following discussions about her ability to sire a heir.

Having foreseen the collapse of the Round Table through his Clairvoyance, Merlin silently left Britain before the Battle of Camlann and without warning anyone. Feeling that his life was under threat from Vivian, the Lady of the Lake, Merlin travelled to The Reverse Side Of The World where he took refuge in the mythological realm of Avalon. However, he realised too late that Vivian had trapped him in Avalon for eternity, where he would not die unless The World itself was destroyed. Although he can use his magical powers to observe the world of humans, he can no longer interfere with any event in-person; yet his mere presence warps the surroundings of his confinement into that of a paradise.

As he can never die so long as he exists within Avalon, Merlin can never have his soul recorded by the Throne Of Heroes. As a result, the "Merlin" supposedly summoned by the FATE Summoning System is best thought of as a projection of the real Merlin, who is playfully acting out the role of a "Servant" by your side.

Merlin first made cameos during the Fifth Singularity: North American Myth War, E Pluribus Unum and the Sixth Singularity: Divine Realm of the Round Table, Camelot, and is a major ally during the Seventh Singularity: Absolute Demonic Front, Babylonia. He was first released as a limited-time Servant for the Final Singularity: The Grand Table of Time, Solomon. He also appears a few times in "Lostbelt No. 6: Fairy Round Table Domain, Avalon le Fae", though mostly as a dream.

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Above Good and Evil: All of his actions are done for humanity's happy end with little care for who is used or manipulated in the process, his decisions considered to be neither good or evil and with no emotion whatsoever towards the people themselves. It goes to the point where he would even consider himself the one sinless person in the entire world.
Adaptational Attractiveness: Merlin's appearance has varied throughout history, but he's most often depicted as an elderly man with a Wizard Beard. In this game, he's an outright Bishōnen. However, his appearance is not far off from his description in the Prose Merlin, from which this incarnation derives most of his character and backstory from.
Adaptational Dye-Job: His hair is portrayed as a stylized bluish-white with a pale lavender gradient in the game and most official materials. However, in the Babylonia Anime adaptation, it’s portrayed as entirely pale lavender◊.
Adaptational Nice Guy: The Anime adaptation of Babylonia tones down some of his Jerkass tendencies from the game in favor of making him more of a cute ditz when he's not being serious. As well, while he’s still a bit egotistical in the Anime, he’s not as boastful and praise-seeking as he’s portrayed as in the game.
A Form You Are Comfortable With: Implied in his official description. Due to his status as a shapeshifter, he can change forms at will and at one point adopted the form of a beast that lacked human insides. Because of this power, his true form is uncertain, though the Bishounen form seen in his ascensions is what he’s most often depicted as following his Fate/Grand Order introduction.
All-Powerful Bystander: As revealed in the Anime adaptation of Babylonia, he prefers to watch the stories of humanity unfold from his tower in Avalon rather than get directly involved them. He only decides to help Ritsuka after taking an interest in him due to how Ritsuka influences the direction of stories he gets involved in, making him stand out uniquely to Merlin who usually isn't interested in humans individually.
Aloof Ally: He's this towards Gilgamesh due to their power of Clairvoyance and already knowing of each other's existence. Not allies or friends, but can work towards the same goal from the moment one summons the other, such as stopping Goetia.
And I Must Scream: Notably subverts this trope despite being eternally trapped alone in a Gilded Cage, being unable to leave or die until the end of the world (which will apparently never happen in any timeline). While it would sound like a hellish situation for some, his max level Craft Essence suggests that he’s perfectly fine with this situation. It helps that his Independent Manifestation skill lets him astral project to the outside world, which is how he appears as a Servant in this game.
Animal Motifs: His pale coloring and fluffy pink earrings give him a resemblance to a leucistic axolotl◊ (they're especially popular as pets in Japan). Axolotls can regrow limbs and naturally retain their adolescent form for their whole lives, which mirrors Merlin's immortality and eternal youthfulness.
Animation Bump: He gets one in the 4th Summer event coinciding with his new Spiritron Dress, adding unique variations such as Fou kicking him in the head while sitting down during his buff animation. The Western version received it as part of the Fate/Grand Order - Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia promo, almost two years early at that!
The Archmage: He's Merlin, so it's sort of expected. He is a powerful magus despite living during the Age of Man when Mystery is already weakened.^note It's later established that he qualifies as a Grand Caster. And all this while he isn't much good at incantations and prefers to just hit things.
Ascended Extra: He was obliquely quoted in flashbacks from the original VN (and didn't even appear on-camera), described at length by Altria in the Unlimited Blade Works route and showed up as a generic looking mage briefly in the Anime adaptation for Fate/stay night. His role was expanded somewhat in Garden of Avalon as the novel's narrator, he's a major player in the events of Grand Order, and has even made a notable cameo in Fate/Apocrypha. He's also a main and recurring character in the Anime adaptation for Babylonia.
Bad Powers, Good People: He gets around his imprisonment in Avalon by creating an avatar with Independent Manifestation, a skill reserved for the Evils of Humanity. Quite ironically, Merlin later becomes the Grand Caster in spite of this, one of the beings meant to oppose said Evils.
Big Damn Heroes: In the Fifth Singularity: North American Myth War, E Pluribus Unum, he prevents Cú Alter from killing Mash by casually appearing between the two when he's about to strike her. His reappearance in the "Seventh Singularity: Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia" is also very important to work against Tiamat's Chaos Tide.
Bootstrapped Leitmotif: The Babylonia anime combines the Camelot map theme and Excalibur theme into a new piece of theme music for him.
Breakout Character: He quickly became this following his official design reveal. As such, this is likely part of the reason he becomes an Ascended Extra, outside of the Merlin character logically needing to become important sooner or later due to his importance to the backstory of the Fate Franchise as well as the various characters within it.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: In his message that he had Ana give to the protagonist during the final battle, he informs them that he's eager to reunite with them via the gacha.
Brilliant, but Lazy: He has top class clairvoyance^note, can bend space and time to manifest himself as a Servant anywhere he wants and is almost completely unkillable. However, he's simultaneously a goofball whose millennia-long confinement in Avalon has turned him into a NEET, leading him to spend the majority of his time in Uruk goofing off as well as spend the entire main story catfishing Dr. Roman for shits and giggles. He tends not to use his magic in direct battles because he dislikes the long incantations, instead preferring to rely on Caliburn replica's power, and even then he finds swinging it around to be a bit too much exercise for his tastes. This is further lamp-shaded in his skill description for "Territory Creation", in which he’s only ranked "C" in this area because he gets bored halfway through the construction of the workshop and tosses it away.
Brutal Honesty: He doesn’t hold back when he has something to say, whether it be truthful or just rude. This often gets him in trouble and is implied to be at least partially the reason why nearly everyone he interacts with seems to dislike him.
The Bus Came Back: He has had several appearances in events, but as far as the main story is concerned he vanished for several real-world years after the Babylonia Singularity only to return at the start of the Avalon le Fae Lostbelt with an urgent prophecy to tell Fujimaru.
But for Me, It Was Tuesday: One piece of his backstory suggests that Vivian sealed him in the tower in Avalon as a punishment for his womanizing habits. Merlin’s reaction to being trapped are pondering over who could have done this to him, not knowing what he did to end up being cursed in such a way, and then writing it off as unimportant because he can’t think of the reason. By the time he’s summoned in Babylonia, he hasn’t dropped his womanizing habits, indicating that even after centuries of imprisonment, he still hasn’t learned his lesson.
But Now I Must Go: At the end of the Babylonia Singularity, he returns to Avalon now that the threat is over, though he makes it clear he still intends to watch over the protagonist and Mash from afar.
Butt-Monkey: He's constantly talked down to by Ana and even Dr. Roman, and is regularly attacked by Fou. Even in the meta sense, many of the missions he is available in as a support, including his first, are filled with Riders, and more challenging missions include mechanics so that Casters, or even Merlin specifically are prioritized targets. Avalon le Fae even introduces a certain Servant that has a passive which specifically screws him over^note because said Servant hates him that much.
Cardboard Prison: Merlin claims that his real self is be trapped in Avalon, contained by both the magecraft of Morgan le Fey and the laws of the World... but he's not one of the greatest magi in existence for nothing, capable of creating dream selves that can explore the outside world and be summoned as Servants, making it clear that the only reason he stays in Avalon is because he has no reason to leave. When something DOES require his direct intervention in the Seventh Singularity, he proves it by indeed showing up in the flesh, and returns to Avalon when his job is done.
Character Death: The Servant version of himself is killed after an awakened Tiamat crushes the dream version of him. He gets better, as he explained that if he were to be killed, he would simply reappear in Avalon due to his immortality. And true to his word, he shows up again later in the Singularity.
The Charmer: Despite his reputation for being a childish troll that gets on everyones nerves, Merlin has two Charisma skills, one titled "Charisma" at Rank B and another called "Dreamlike Charisma" at Rank A. The description explains that the skill is indispensable for kings and leaders, but he inexplicably possesses it naturally.
Closest Thing We Got: Merlin feels he's more of a benchwarmer than a candidate for the seat of Grand Caster. While he certainly has the magecraft skill, he flatly states that he lacks the love for humanity that the role demands, caring more about the stories of human life than the humans themselves. The World puts him in the seat anyway because this misaimed affection is still better than none.
Combat Pragmatist: Explains in Babylonia that he prefers to deceive and disparage the enemy so that he can come out as the unharmed victor.
Complete Immortality: Because of the mechanics of Avalon, he literally cannot die until the end of the world. The explanation for his Independent Manifestation even notes there is no possible future where he dies. That being said, it's noted later in the "Seventh Singularity: Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia", that had Tiamat succeeded, she would have the chance to target Avalon because she technically destroyed the world, meaning that Merlin was at serious risk of being killed at that point. Even before that, Gorgon threatening to petrify him noticeably gets an Oh, Crap! out of him right after he bragged about how even if she killed his current container it wouldn't affect him in Avalon, since it technically wouldn't kill him if she didn't shatter his statue afterwards.
Compliment Fishing: In the Babylonia main story chapters, he brazenly asks Mash and the player to praise him on numerous occasions, which Mash obliges to do, though the player can make a choice not to. In the Anime adaptation, however, Ritsuka doesn't hesitate to thank him either.
The Constant: He's able to interact with characters throughout history and time after his imprisonment, helping Bedivere for his final journey, saving Mash in the "Fifth Singularity: North American Myth War: E Pluribus Unum", providing power for Chaldea, releasing Fou into the world after being inspired by Altria's final moments, randomly manifests as a Servant when he feels like it, and messing with Dr. Roman on the internet.
Cool Big Bro: While he’s (maybe) not blood-related to anyone in the cast, he sees himself to this to humanity and is described as such upon his introduction.
Cool Old Guy: He doesn't look his age, but he's genuinely helpful, if somewhat eccentric, so you'll consider him as such as long as you're not on the receiving end of his trolling.
Cool Sword: He nonchalantly attacks enemies with a replica of Altria's Caliburn, though the in-game model is Excalibur.
Cosplay: Cosplays as Fou in his Idol Maker Craft Essence, hilariously calling himself "Big Brother Fou-kun". ^noteFou-kun-oniisan
Covert Pervert: You wouldn’t know it from just looking at him or seeing some of his general dialogue, but he is one, especially toward the other female servants.
Death by Irony: In Babylonia, his Servant version's death is a direct result of his Dream Walker ability. Gilgamesh explains it well.
Gilgamesh: Undefeated in real life, he was crushed inside of a dream. That’s a fitting end for him.
Despair Event Horizon: Willingly allowed himself to be locked away in Avalon when he realized he could never truly relate to humans in spite of his decades of trying. His profile implies interfering with Altria's life and knowing how it would end was the final straw before he withdrew to Avalon.
Digital Avatar: Magi★Mari is this. He runs and updates the website frequently, and is revealed to have catfished Romani with the profile.
Dirty Coward: According to legend which holds true to the present, he is very good at running away making him very difficult to catch or kill according to Kingu.
Dirty Old Man: As the son of an incubus, it's a given. One particular standout incident was the certain "alteration" to Altria that resulted in Mordred's birth. He also loves teasing women.
Dissonant Serenity: Narrates the events of "Avalon le Fae" both humorous and horrific with equal cheer.
Dream Spying: He's able to temporarily exit his imprisonment in Avalon while taking a nap by letting his powers take him to the "Fifth Singularity: North American Myth War: E Pluribus Unum". He uses this to screw around with Altria as seen in her Lancer version's interlude.
Dream Walker: He can walk into the mind of anyone who's asleep and mess with them however he wants, though to his chagrin in Lancer Altria's interlude, you're only half asleep, meaning the protagonist would still remember this when he wakes up and could report it instead of dismissing it as part of a dream.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: Played for Laughs. He often has this reaction when the characters aren’t quick enough to praise him for his help.
Early Installment Character-Design Difference: His first actual physical appearance happened way back in Deen's adaptation of Fate/stay night. His appearance there was very generic with a grey hooded robe and a wooden staff. A sharp contrast to his bright white robe, white hair, and elaborate staff.
Eating Optional: Or eating human food is optional for him. As explained in Emotion Eater and his Valentine’s chocolate scene, he doesn’t gain nourishment from normal foods but he does find the emotion Ritsuka exudes after giving him the gift to be delicious, pondering on if that must be what "sweet" tastes like.
Eccentric Mentor: He’s very eccentric, childish and rarely takes anything seriously. It’s a wonder how Altria and many others managed to train under him and become as accomplished as they were given his nature.
Emotion Eater: As part incubus, he powers up from emotions around him. Specifically, as he explains in the "Seventh Singularity: Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia", he has no emotions of his own and has to consume emotions from people's dreams and then expend them as fuel.
Everyone Has Standards: Merlin's a Sociopathic Hero, but even he feels bad for sending Bedivere after the Lion King since he knew the pain it would bring him.
Expository Pronoun: He frequently switches between the formal, polite first-person pronoun "watashi" and the more youthful, masculine pronoun "boku" without a hitch and sometimes mid-conversation. His usage of "boku" suggests his dropping of formalities and speaking to others more personally; for example, in the Valentine’s Day cutscene after the he receives a gift from the player he switches to "boku".
Expy: His profile in Fate/Grand Order Material IV summarizes his role as, "Like Gandalf, except hot" and even calls him the Middle Earth Prettyboy.
Forced Sleep: In Babylonia, he put Tiamat in a cage of dreams in order to postpone her awakening. The spell ends up being broken after the death of the Gorgon, which reverberates back to Tiamat, waking her.
Fertile Feet: Flowers grow below his feet wherever he walks. He uses that to his advantage by walking across Tiamat's Chaos Tide and effectively neutralize it by having his flowers grow all over it. This isn’t shown much in the Anime adaptation of the Babylonia arc, implying that he has the ability to turn it off.
Flashy Teleportation: Merlin has the ability to teleport himself and others away from danger, but does so in the most conspicuous way possible. In the Babylonia Anime adaptation, he's shown summoning a bright pink orb that surrounds himself and his allies to warp them away. The orb also emits his signature flower petals.
Fling a Light into the Future: At the end of Garden of Avalon he sends a Cath Palug out into the world. Late into Grand Order it's revealed that the Cath Palug was Fou, who would go on to revive Mash after she dies.
Flower Motif: Merlin is heavily associated with pink flowers which is reflected in his title as the Magus of Flowers and his Fertile Feet in-game. As well, when he makes his exit in the Babylonia Anime, he dissolves into a pink light and flowers.
The Friend Nobody Likes:
- Pretty much everyone seems to hate him besides the protagonist, Mash, and Bradamante. Fou in particular constantly attacks him while Ana gives death threats on a regular basis. That being said, they do value his skills. Da Vinci outrights says in "Samba Night, Holy Night ~The Snowy Ruins and the Girl Knight~" she's never heard anyone, not even the Knights of the Round Table, actually speak fondly of Merlin until she met Bradamante, and she honestly has to wonder if it was really his spirit that helped the knight on her adventures. In "Summer 2019: All In! Las Vegas Championship Match ~ Seven Duels of Swordbeauties!", the protagonist outright calls him the "Grand Scumbag".
- Gawain tolerates Merlin's presence should you have them both, but Gawain also says that he'd be happy to help with any plans to get rid of Merlin should the protagonist ask for it.
Full-Name Ultimatum: He’s one of the only people that calls Fou by his real name, Cath Palug, and is often shown doing so when he’s annoyed at him.
Gameplay and Story Integration: Lorewise, Merlin is considered to be one of the most powerful Casters in existence that he actually qualifies to be a Grand Caster. The gameplay also reflects this by having Merlin being one of the most powerful Support Party Member in this game as well.
Gathering Steam: Merlin's buffs and NP make it so that while he might not be as efficient for farming as other dedicated supports he's still incredibly good when it comes to providing sustainability for longer more challenging fights. With the help of an additional support Merlin, you could potentially have a team that's constantly regening health and NP Charge as well as having stars for consistent crits.
Genius Ditz: One of the most powerful mages to ever exist and also rather spacey and immature.
G.I.R.L.: Magi☆Mari, the cute Virtual Idol who Dr. Roman frequently consults on her website, is actually just Merlin screwing around with him from Avalon for kicks.
Good Counterpart: As a being who loves humanity but is not fully human and so does not fully understand or empathize with humans as individuals, Merlin is one to the Beasts, something various sources have noted.^note He even has their Independent Manifestation skill. However, whether because of his one close relationship with Altria, or simply by being just human enough to understand right and wrong from their perspective, he avoids the fate of trying to wipe out mankind for their own good. His speech to Fujimaru in episode 14 of the Babylonia anime shows this well. While both are interested in the end of humanity, the Beasts are determined to end humanity in their twisted views of love. Merlin instead wants to see humanity reach our inevitable end and will protect us to ensure that it's a happy ending.
Guest-Star Party Member: Like da Vinci, he made his playable debut as a guest character who wasn't at the time currently available in the gacha.
Gilded Cage: Avalon, which is described as a Utopian setting beyond the reach of man. The player gets a glimpse of it when Merlin uses his Noble Phantasm, though according to the other various descriptions, there’s far more to it than what was seen. He’s imprisoned there without the ability to leave or to die (outside of Loophole Abuse), though his max bond level Craft Essence suggests he’s fine with this scenario.
Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: One of the biggest differences between Merlin and his female Prototype counterpart is the way they engage in combat. While Merlin is most often seen using a sword during battle, female Merlin prefers to keep a distance between herself and the enemy as she shoots magic at them using her staff.

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Healing Factor: His wounds heal up automatically almost immediately after he’s injured due to his immortality and the fact that the form he shows is a projection of himself from Avalon.
Hidden Depths: For all of his irritating attitude, he was also one of Altria's closest advisers up to the point of his departure, and was also the one who taught her swordsmanship. Given that she is one of the most famous sword wielders in history, this says a lot.
Hidden Weapons: Although he fights with his Caliburn-like sword, he also has a short sword hidden in his staff◊.
Human-Demon Hybrid: Merlin is the son of the Queen of Wales and an Incubus. He actually has a passive skill called Mixed Blood EX which fills his NP gauge every turn by 5%, and represents that he is almost more incubus than human.
Humans Are Special: They might be a bit wasteful and unpredictable, but he believes humanity will leave behind a beautiful history worth remembering and will always protect them.
I Am a Monster: As a half incubus half human hybrid he's come to accept doesn't have a proper ego and can't really relate to humans.
"I'm no more than a monster pretending to be human."
Immortal Immaturity: He's well over a thousand years old but acts very much like a prankster teenaged boy. The first ascensions of the Caster version of Altria notes that he hasn't changed despite the Merlin in the players Chaldea being an alternate version of the one that raised and trained her. The third ascension version of Caster Altria after being abandoned by that version of him opts to behead Merlin, rationalizing that if he were to die at least once, he would be motivated to change.
Improvised Weapon: After his Animation Bump, he can be seen using his Magic Staff as a blunt weapon in battle.
Informed Attractiveness: While he’s without a doubt Bishounen, his description lays on pretty thick how attractive the players are supposed to perceive him to be.
Insult Backfire: True to the trope's name, he takes Ana insulting him in Babylonia's second section as a compliment.
Ana: Merlin is the embodiment of every kind of dishonesty in this world. And that's being nice about it.
Merlin: [Blushing] Hehe. Aww, stop it! You're flattering me!
I Shall Return: Before going back to his prison by waking up from his nap, he tells the protagonist that they'll meet in a slightly different future.
In the Hood: He shows up in America in one, which serves as his first official appearance in Fate/Grand Order.
Intrigued by Humanity: He finds humanity deeply fascinating and tries to defend them despite knowing that he can't truly belong to them.
It's All About Me: The main reason he lends his hand in the Babylonia arc is because watching the present is his only source of entertainment in Avalon, meaning that if the present is wiped out, he'll be confined to the tower watching over the garden for all eternity with nothing else to do. In other words, he wants to save humanity so he can continue to enjoy his favorite TV show.
It Amused Me: He says this was his reason for helping the player in the first place, though by maxing his bond level, he’s notably grown to enjoy their time together.
Inept Mage: Downplayed. He’s one of the most powerful Casters ever and highly valued for his skill, but he’s very lazy when it comes to magic and can’t chant incantations fast without biting his tongue, hence why his ranking in "High-Speed Incantation" is only "C".
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While Merlin is an unabashedly cocky, womanizing troll, he does have moments that reveal his hidden good nature underneath it all. For further details and examples:
- On numerous occasions despite his claims of not caring about individual humans, he is shown to have grown to care about the protagonist, with this being solidified if the player raises his Bond Level to level 5. It’s taken further when he gives the player a speech about him remembering and honoring their journey even when it’s long forgotten by everyone. He also says the protagonist helped him to become a little more human.
- While it’s never made entirely clear, it’s heavily implied that Merlin does care about Altria, as one of the suggested reasons for his eternal self-confinement to the tower in Avalon being that he felt guilt for meddling in her life and wanted his imprisonment to serve as his atonement.
- He has an honest, but heartwarming heart-to-heart with Ana about their lack of humanity and how it affects them and those around them. While Ana by the end still threatens to kill him, it’s made clear that she appreciated his words and took them to heart. As well, in an anime-only moment in Babylonia, it’s implied that he’s grown to care about Ana, as he gives Ritsuka a flower to honor his and her memory following her Heroic Sacrifice.
- In another Babylonia anime-only moment, there is a clear sense of mutual respect established between himself and Romani despite their constant bickering and apparent dislike of each other. He even calls Romani a friend.
- In the final singularity, Romani mentions Magi★Mari got mad at him for keeping secrets when he discussed what he had planned. Come the later reveal that Magi★Mari is actually Merlin, it suggests that Merlin does care about Romani to some degree.
Lack of Empathy: Though he loves humanity on an abstract level, the combination of nigh-omniscience and incubus blood renders him incapable of really understanding and empathizing with people as individuals.
The Leader: In Babylonia, he almost immediately takes on a shared leadership role with the protagonist, sometimes being in that position more often then them as he organizes and directs the group. Being more knowledgeable on the era certainly helps, but he also shares the role of delivering exposition with Mash, Romani and occasionally Ana.
Leitmotif: He's given one in the Babylonia anime, "Magus of Flowers", an ethereal violin piece that also has a Musical Nod to Altria's own Leitmotif of "Sword of Promised Victory".
Logical Weakness: Being turned into stone is depicted as his one true weakness, as it would cause him to lose consciousness but not truly die. As it turns out, he needed to remain conscious in order to keep Tiamat sealed in a dream.
Long-Haired Pretty Boy: It is a bit difficult to see, but his hair goes down to his ankles.
Loophole Abuse: He has to resort to these in order to get out of his otherwise eternal imprisonment.
- Technically he isn't imprisoned in Avalon during 2655 B.C., since it's a time before he was born and therefore not living, which is what allows him to be summoned by Gilgamesh.
- His various cameos prior to being summoned as a Servant in Babylonia by Gilgamesh are just him projecting himself into reality as he sleeps in the tower.
- The version you summon from the gacha is actually just him choosing to manifest as a Caster in Chaldea, since he's still imprisoned in Avalon. He purposely gave himself the Independent Manifestation skill in order to do this.
Lovable Sex Maniac: His incubus blood causes him to look for lovers. He's said to sleep with the prostitutes of Uruk daily during his time in Babylonia.
Love Freak: Downplayed. He finds great beauty in love, and is referred to as "full of love." He still holds love in a high regard, even when it proved to be his undoing, and even though, as a Half-Human Hybrid who heavily favors the inhuman side of his ancestry, he finds it impossible to empathize with other human beings himself.
Luminescent Blush: Tends to blush when he’s being pervy or thinking of doing so. He also blushes when the player gives him a gift for Valentine's gift and when the player reaches Bond Level 5 with him.
Male Might, Female Finesse: Prefers to use swords at short-range when fighting in contrast to Merlin (Prototype) who uses magic at long-range.
Magic Knight: Not only can Merlin use his magic, he can also wield a replica of Caliburn. It's because using magic is tiring and he often bit his tongue when chanting. Now, using a holy sword is easier, no? This image also brings Gandalf to mind, and is reflected in his in-story parameters through a respectable B-rank Strength.
Magic Staff: Uses one for both magic and as a blunt weapon.
Master of Illusion: One of his primary skillsets as a mage is his skill with illusions and dreams, as part of his incubus nature. In gameplay, the Illusion A skill grants the entire party a turn of Invulnerability and heavy C. Star Drop Rate boosts, representing that he is simultaneously directing enemy attacks away from teammates and leaving them wide open for follow-up attacks.
The Mentor:
- To King Arthur. Some of his actions in guiding Altria are detailed in the light novel he debuted in. Made slightly awkward in the present day, given that centuries later he's still struggling with a fairly strong attraction to her as a mentor.
- The material books reveal he would later serve as one to King Charlemagne. This is commented upon by Bradamante in one of her lines.
- Bradamante was also his apprentice at one point, according to her Bond Level 4 line.
- According to canon material, it is believed that he taught Vivian, the Lady of the Lake, magic himself.
- He becomes this to the protagonist, wanting to watch over their fights and guide them.
- Lampshaded in his official profile, which says he's basically a Bishōnen Gandalf.
Merlin and Nimue: True to the character he’s based on, it’s stated in one version of Merlin’s backstory that Vivian, the Lady of the Lake, was taught magic by Merlin and later confined him to the tower in Avalon to punish him for his womanizing. Playing this trope even straighter, Fate’s version of Vivian is also known as Nimue.
Miles Gloriosus: Subverted Trope. Merlin is as powerful as he boasts himself to be and can be very useful when he’s motivated, but he’s lazy and would rather stand back and have others do the work for him rather than actually participate. As well, he’s a self-admitted Combat Pragmatist who would rather deceive and disparage enemies so he can come out of fights as an unharmed victor despite being an immortal with a Healing Factor. He only shows his "out of character" self when he feels the situation calls for it.
Mr. Exposition: In the Babylonia arc, part of his role is being this.
Multiple-Choice Past: While not as extreme as some examples, there’s a lot of contradictions in his backstory concerning just how he ended up sealed in a tower in Avalon:
- Some pieces of official material such as Garden of Avalon explain that he ended up in Avalon while fleeing from a cold-blooded witch implied to be the Lady of the Lake, who set up a trap for him that he willingly walked into. There, a tower formed around him, eternally trapping him in Avalon.
- The Babylonia arc suggests that he confined himself to the tower that he built in order to repent for his sins (one of them being his womanizing). This is explanation is supported by his playable units information as well as his Max Bond Craft Essence.
- During a conversation with Ana, Merlin explains that he confined himself to the tower in Avalon because he tore himself apart attempting to justify his abstract love of humanity.
My God, What Have I Done?: Garden of Avalon reveals that this was his reaction to the realization that Altria’s desire to take on burdens and the hatred of her people in order to make them happy combined with her inability to truly understand them would be the cause of her downfall. By the time that he realized that he was partially the cause of this as her mentor, it was too late for him to fix anything. It’s implied in his playable unit that he still feels guilty about this upon seeing her in Chaldea, despite how many centuries had passed since they’d had their last conversation.
Mysterious Protector: Acts as this in his story cameos before making an official appearance.
Mystical Pregnancy: He was ordered by Altria's father Uther to infuse her with the energy of the dragon while she was still in her mother's womb.
Mystical White Hair: A huge mane of flowing white hair and one of the most powerful magi to have ever lived. According to his official description, his hair appears the colors of the rainbow in the sunlight.
Nerf: Playable Merlin's NP has the NPC version's instant heal removed, presumably it was too strong. It's explained in the story that the NPC Merlin support from Babylonia is stronger because the Age of Gods gave him a power boost and so the version you get is weaker as he doesn't have that boost. He's still possibly the best Servant in the game.
Non-Action Guy: For a good portion of the Babylonia arc, he mostly hangs back while others pull his weight for him despite him being the strongest Servant on their team because he doesn’t like to get his hands dirty. To make up for it, he takes on a leadership role shared with the protagonist and exposits for the characters and the audience. In the Babylonia Anime, he retains the leadership position but is also more of a White Mage than the Magic Knight he is in the game.
Noodle Incident: Kay implies during their final talk in Garden of Avalon that Merlin's womanizing helped facilitate the loss of Caliburn though the wizard claims it was a necessary casualty for the attainment of Excalibur.
Nothing Left to Do but Die: Garden Of Avalon states that Merlin has considered committing suicide to ascend to the Throne due to the boredom of knowing everything, and influencing everything but not truly fitting in anywhere. The fact that he didn’t have a companion with similar abilities to empathize with his plight didn’t help matters. However, this ends up being averted, as he doesn’t kill himself due feeling that he has a duty worth seeing through to the end.
Obfuscating Stupidity: Merlin at times pretends to be less knowledgeable than he actually, though naturally no one buys this.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Merlin retrieving the holy grail from Tiamat’s throat is this. The player only hears about it after it happens.
Older Than They Look: He's supposed to be middle-aged (not counting the fact that he's been in Avalon since the medieval era), but he doesn't look much older than his early twenties at the most.
Old Shame: An In-Universe example. After seeing the kind of king Altria became, Merlin more or less realized he had failed as a teacher, due to her becoming emotionally distant and not being able to live as a normal human. This ended up hurting their relationship, hence why he seems almost ashamed to talk to her if you have both of them.
Out of Focus: Following his part as a major character in "Babylonia", he had a very brief appearance in "Solomon" as a Played for Laughs Wham Line concerning Magi☆Mari and then disappeared as a story character for a while. He acknowledges this in his "Camelot and Co." skin unlock voice line.
I haven't had much opportunities to appear, so now, I've come to play! How about it, Master? Won't you play together with me all night, until the morning comes?
Paper-Thin Disguise: He tries to pass himself of as "Mister Mystery" during the trip to Dazzling Las Vegas, but no one except Lambdaryllis falls for his disguise that is just him wearing a fashionable costume, something that saddens him.
Perpetual Smiler: While it’s said in various materials that he’s rarely ever seen without a smile on his face, he’s stated to come off as entirely too robotic and unfeeling.
Person of Mass Destruction: According to his profile in Materials IV, Merlin is stated to be normally identical with Beasts, as an adolescent lifeform of higher order certified as an enemy of humanity. Fortunately for the protagonists, however, he is decidedly a Good Counterpart to the Beasts and is strictly on the side of humanity.
Parental Substitute: While Altria is stated to have had real parents, Merlin watched over Altria since her birth, training her to be a powerful swordsman (Or Caster, in the Caster Altria timeline) and eventually a King. He's regarded as a foster figure like person to Altria with his Bond Level 5 description calling him her true father.
Petal Power: Expresses most of his mystical powers through magical flower petals.
Playful Hacker: He’s able to hack technology using magic. This is he projects Magi☆Mari’s website onto the computers in Chaldea.
The Prankster: The three things he likes in My Room conversations are humans, pranks, and women, because "they're so much fun when I tease them." He even pulls a prank in Bradamante's My Room line where he suddenly speaks out of nowhere while Bradamante is fangirling over him, shocking her. This happens regardless of if the player has Merlin or not.
Pointy Ears: His Camelot and Co. skin reveals that his ears are like this, hinting at his half-incubus nature.
Poor Communication Kills: Tends to get others into trouble because he fails to tell others vital information when it’s necessary. For example, in Babylonia the whole beginning conversation with King Gilgamesh would have gone far smoother if Merlin had bothered to tell him anything about Chaldea’s mission before they arrived.
Power Creep: Zig-Zagged. At the time of his release, because of all the buffs that he provides such as Critical Star Drop Rate, healing, and NP Gauge charging, this caused Buster-based team compositions to be highly favored over Quick-based team compositions, since Buster-based team compositions with Merlin can finish up a lot of difficult boss fights better than Quick-based team compositions (prior to the arrival of Scáthach-Skadi as well as Altria Caster, who are both far more efficient for farming teams). Later on, while Koyanskaya of Light and Oberon outperform him in terms of raw offensive support and are better servants to use for farming, Merlin still outdoes them in terms of team sustainability, and is still highly useful for particularly challenging fights. It says a lot that Merlin has not been buffed at all since his release, yet is still one of the most desired support characters.
Power Floats: One of his Quick attack animations depicts him as briefly having the ability to float while holding his staff. He uses this to attack the enemy.
Power Limiter: Had one applied to himself due to channeling his powers elsewhere for much of the Babylonia Anime. It’s revealed that he’d done this to trap the Gorgon in a dream to prevent her from destroying Uruk much earlier. She eventually breaks out once he’s "killed" in battle.
Pro-Human Transhuman: His incubus blood, immortality, and clairvoyance all contribute to him developing a perspective that can't really be called human. Despite this, Merlin continues to be nothing but supportive of the human race if only for his own entertainment. Even if he knows the human race is a tapestry that will eventually end, he wants to make sure it's a beautiful tapestry.
Purposely Overpowered: As a Grand Caster, Merlin is considered one of the best support units of the game due to being capable of facilitating potent Buster Crits, grant the team both health and NP generation as well as generate stars. While other servants have outdone him in terms of raw offensive support, Merlin's ability to provide both high damage numbers and sustainability meaning that he'll always be useful.

R-Y

Rare Random Drop: While being a 5-star Servant makes him difficult to obtain as is, he's even more difficult to obtain due him being a limited servant that only appears infrequently on special rate-up banners. Merlin also qualifies as a Power Equals Rarity, as he's considered to be one of the best Support servants in the game by the playerbase.
Really Gets Around: Implied through his constant womanizing, of which ends up becoming his downfall. Maybe.
Really 700 Years Old: Roughly a millennium and a half of age.
Red Baron: Magus of Flowers. He notes that he was given this title due to his love of flowers.
The Red Mage: In story, he doesn't usually bother firing off combat spells when it's faster to just hit things. In battle, while he's not bad at fighting, he usually prefers to have others do the damage-dealing for him.
The Rival: He has antagonistic feelings toward Solomon as another Grand Caster due to the differing ways they regard humanity, with Solomon focusing more on the past as Merlin looks toward the future. When asked what he hates, he says Grand Casters, even though that includes himself which he points out.
Retired Badass: Played With. Various pieces of official material imply that he allowed himself to be confined to the tower in Avalon because he’d seen all that is beautiful already, suggesting that he intended to retire. That said, he is shown to still be active and contribute to various events across history. He is also very open to being summoned into the players Chaldea in order to act as a mentor to them.
Sealed Good in a Can: He was locked in a tower in Avalon by the Lady of the Lake way back during Arthurian times (Or he locked himself there, depending on the material), and he's still there and alive in the present. Because he isn't dead, he can only be summoned by Loophole Abuse.
Seers: Due to his powerful Clairvoyance - "the Eyes Which See Through the World." He can see whatever occurs in the present without obstruction. This qualifies him to be a Grand Caster.
Self-Applied Nickname: Attempts to get the Protagonist and Mash to call him "The Great Amazing Merlin" and things like it, but they never do.
Sexy Mentor: Being half-incubus and all. Character materials even call him Bishounen Gandalf and note that he had a tendency to fluster Altria.
Shadow Archetype: His female Prototype version is what this Merlin would turn out to be if he abandoned what little empathy he's capable of feeling.
Shapeshifter: He can shift into other forms.
Sitcom Archnemesis: To Kay during Altria's earliest adventures. He's also this to Romani, though they border more on Vitriolic Best Buds.
Smug Super: He's one of the most powerful Casters and a qualifier for the Grand Caster status, something he loves to rub in to not only other Casters but to other servants in general. They resent him for it.
Snark-to-Snark Combat: Engages in this with Romani, especially in the Babylonia anime. It could also be a hint to Merlin’s dislike of Solomon, Romani’s former self. Also doubles as Passive-Aggressive Kombat due to the two attempting to play it off as friendly bickering.
Sociopathic Hero: As a half-incubus with an Omniscient Morality License, Merlin can only see people as a source of sustenance or amusement. So while he wants to protect and foster humanity, his reasons are entirely selfish and he feels little to no guilt over screwing with people in pursuit of them.
So Proud of You: Despite his guilt over being the partial cause of Altria’s inevitable downfall, he still jumps for joy when he views Altria accepting her destiny and rejecting the Holy Grail as she dies through his clairvoyance.
Speaks Fluent Animal: He is shown to be able to understand Fou, which is a given as Fou is his familiar.
Succubi and Incubi: Merlin is half incubus, which is more than a little apparent in his abilities and behavior.
Support Party Member: Is often considered to be one of the best support units. His skills are entirely team-focused and his NP deals no damage, but he's still quite likely the best Servant in the game, especially if you have a strong Buster-based Servant with Class advantage against whatever you're fighting at the moment. Doubly so if they're crit-based, given his ability to drop Critical Stars every turn and the immense 100% Critical Strength bonus on his third skill. Case in point. But that doesn't mean he can't put out the damage himself if he decides to ever use the buffs to attack others. And even outside the Buster-critical memes, he synergies fantastically well with the Arts meta of enabling stalling and Spam Attacks through his array of sustain and survivability tools.
Tailor-Made Prison: His tower in Avalon, which he either made himself or was sealed in by the Lady Of The Lake.
Telepathy: Bradamante's lines suggest this is a power of his, as he's able to reach out into her mind and talk to her.
Tin Man: Justified Trope. Merlin is in fact a sociopathic entity without emotions of his own, but he has the ability to pretend as if he does because he expends the emotions he’s gathered as fuel. This gives reason for him to lament his lack of emotions despite showing emotion because they aren’t actually his own.
Title Drop: His Noble Phantasm, "Garden of Avalon", is named after the light novel he first appeared in.
Thought They Knew Already: Tends to not tell things based on the assumption that he either said it already or that they’d come to the conclusion themselves.
The Slacker: In the Babylonia arc despite being the most useful and versatile Servant on the team, he mostly hangs back acting as a Non-Action Guy for a good portion of the arc and leaves others to carry his load for him. This turns out to be downplayed, however, when it's revealed that he was channeling his power elsewhere to seal Tiamat in a dream in order to prevent her from destroying Uruk much earlier in the series.
Uncatty Resemblance: He and his familiar Fou look very similar to each other despite the latter being a Cath Palug, something he lampshades in his Valentine's Day dialogue. This ends up being story relevant.
Unishment: His confinement in the tower of Avalon can be seen as this considering he’s trapped in an eternal paradise, can escape the tower via Loophole Abuse (and maybe isn’t really trapped there at all) and is able to observe the world through his clairvoyance.
The Unseen: He was mentioned as far back as the original Fate/Stay Night visual novel, which had Altria describe his personality (immature, clumsy, freely enjoying his pastimes and full of love) and the misfortune he caused her in life. However, despite being spoken about at length, he wasn’t actually seen onscreen until the Anime adaptation which gave him a generic mage appearance. Merlin was finally given an official, unique design upon his reveal in the light novel Garden Of Avalon as a major character.
Verbal Tic: In Japanese, he says "Oya" a lot which is a general expression of surprise or confusion frequently by elderly people.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Fou. Fou attacks him and they're shown bickering quite often, but there's an underlying sense of closeness between them due to how many years they spent together in Avalon. Merlin also raised Fou from a baby after finding him, which adds to the sense of a close bond.
Virtual Celebrity: Manages the website of one called Magi☆Mari, who is heavily implied to just be him fooling around with illusions to mess with Romani. In one of Romani’s Craft Essences, we get a glimpse of her◊.
Voluntary Shape Shifter: He can use powerful illusions to change form at will and at some point shapeshifted into a monster that lacked human insides. Because of this ability, his true form is unknown.
The Watcher: Took this role ever since his imprisonment, intervening only rarely. Beyond the Tale, however, stresses that while he's witnessed many of humanity's greatest accomplishments, he has also never once looked away from its numerous failings as well.
Wave Motion Sword: Freely uses Replica Caliburn's beam functions against his foes.
Weaksauce Weakness: According to Altria (Lancer)’s Interlude, the dream form of Merlin becomes weakened and easier to take down if he’s noticed in a dream, but he can only be noticed when the person dreaming is in REM sleep aka the lightest form of sleep. This becomes important in the Babylonia arc, as his dream form is crushed by Tiamat when she notices him, killing his connected Servant form in real life.
White Mage: In the Babylonia arc, he mostly stands back and buffs the team rather than engaging in combat.
Wizards Live Longer: Due to being the spawn of the union between a human and an incubus, he was expected to live an exceptionally long-life, though if his fear of Vivian was any indication, he could still die. After being trapped in Avalon, he achieves Complete Immortality due to having transcended death.
World's Most Beautiful Woman: Gender-Inverted. His description lays on pretty thick how attractive he is.
A hunk of a magus, no matter how you put it. Just by being there, he exudes a fresh aura, as if flowers fills the surroundings. (...) Even Saber (Altria) ended up behaving just like a girl her own age. A girl at a loss facing her mischievous father. (...) His role is the same as Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings, no matter how you cut it. Add with a feeling of a fresh young prince. Now we have the gallant entry of pretty boy of Middle Earth!
You Didn't Ask: He’s very fond of giving these sorts of answers whenever he’s called out for withholding information.
You Don't Look Like You: He actually made his first on screen appearance in the first Fate/stay night anime. However, his appearance was that of a generic mage wearing a grey outfit with his face being obscured by a hood.

Characters / Fate/Grand Order: Merlin

Merlin

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