Fate Grand Order Sabers S To Z / Characters

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Saito Hajime

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/saitouhajimestage1.png

Third Division Captain of the Shinsengumi

^{Second Ascension}

^{Third Ascension}

^{Final Ascension}

^{Heroic Spirit Tour}

^{Dream Portrait}

^{Event Attire}

^{April Fool's}

^{April Fool's Fate/Grail League}

Voiced by: Kaito Ishikawa

Illustrator: Shin Ikezawa

"I'm the captain of the Shinsengumi's third division, Saito Hajime. Put some affection and call me Hajime-chan. No, better not. So, you're Master-chan. Heh, don't you have a good expression. Ah, right right, I'm not good with formalities, so I'll count on you like that."

Captain of the 3rd unit of The Shinsengumi, outliving many of his comrades to see the fruits of the Meiji Restoration taking shape.

He makes his debut in the 5th GUDAGUDA event, "The Great Ancient Shinsengumi Legend GUDAGUDA Yamataikoku 2020".

Ascended Extra: Was first only mentioned in a My Room line for Okita if you have Hijikata in your roster, when she expressed her desire to reunite with Saito as well as fellow Shinsengumi member Nagakura Shinpachi. Saito ends up making it to the roster after two more GUDAGUDA events since Hijikata's debut, though not with Nagakura.
Anachronism Stew: The protagonist's dreams of Saito's past depict him in this First Ascension, as though he were wearing his longcoat, suit, and tie in the 19th century, a full hundred years before Japan would get any clothing of the sort.
Badass Boast: With a title like his, he only needs to announce it for it to be one of these.
"Witness the Invincible Sword."
Badass in a Nice Suit: In his first two Ascensions. The First Ascension combines it with a Badass Longcoat, but the Second Ascension is no slouch since he has the collar properly buttoned with a black tie to complete the ensemble. He switches out to his Shinsengumi garb from his Third Ascension onwards.
Battle in the Rain: Does this with Okita despite revealing himself to be The Mole during the first Yamatai event. He claims it's because he's jealous of Okita's "Best Swordsman in the Shinsengumi" title but Okita figures he doesn't want her to have to kill Yamanami again.
Beware the Nice Ones: Like fellow Shinsengumi captain Okita, Saito is cheerful, friendly, and laidback while off the clock, referring to his friends with the "-chan" suffix to indicate his closeness to them. But it's easy to forget that his specialty is assassination and killing other swordsmen who step out of line, revealing his true colors as the Invincible Sword once he meets a Worthy Opponent.
Blood Knight: As someone who bears the title of "Invincible Sword" and seeks out interesting things, it's only natural that Saito have an interest in dueling other skilled swordsmen like Okita.
Blue Is Heroic: In addition to his blue haori at Third Ascension, all of his attacks are animated with blue light, as is the background of his Noble Phantasm. He's also a cheerful and moral member of the Shinsengumi who acts as a Double Agent to help Chaldea defeat Kukochihiko.
Born Lucky: He possesses A Rank Luck and is one of the few members of the Shinsengumi to survive the Bakumatsu and live to see the Meiji Revolution.
Brilliant, but Lazy: For all his skills, he admits he doesn't really get going until he finds a Worthy Opponent to face, saying that he's perfectly okay with doing nothing. That said, when his Master has a serious look on their face, he tells them not to sweat it and that he'll step in.
Broken Win/Loss Streak: In life, he's never outright lost a duel, though he has been stalemated by other skilled swordsmen like Okita. He takes particular pride in this in this and his title, "Invincible Sword", though he laments that he no longer lives up to it if he's defeated.
Casanova Wannabe: Despite being Happily Married in life with multiple children, Saito is something of a flirt. He attempts to hit on Oryou (which only gets him chills from her Death Glare) and is quick to take note of Okita Alter's boobs, asking her out for a drink and soba.
Confusion Fu: His specialty among the Shinsengumi. Compared to the others who have a particular school or style of combat, such as Okita's thrusting and rushing attacks, Saito lacks of a single form or pattern to his attacks. He can draw with his left, right, or both hands to confuse opponents. He also goes from one sword to two swords to thrusting to slashing to reversing his sword's grip to strike when his opponent least expects it. This formlessness is what made him known as the Invincible Sword. His Noble Phantasm is simply him applying these skills to the limit, to the point that he's confident in his ability to approach anyone in melee combat even if he's facing something with superior reach like a polearm. The characters who encounter him will often comment on how weird his swordplay is.
[using his Noble Phantasm] "Without form, my sword is intangible. As it flows, it embodies all possibilities. That is why my sword has no equal!"
Dual Wielding: The first of the Shinsengumi to be shown fighting in this style.
Fantastically Indifferent: Subverted. He's seriously taken aback when he learns that Echigo's God of War is a woman, even if he notes that fighting in Yamatai showed him that Nobunaga is also a woman. He also admits that he expected Okita to manifest as a man due to being recorded in history as such.
First-Name Basis: When summoned, he initially offers his Master to call him "Hajime-chan", only to back off from the idea immediately. During the "The Great Ancient Shinsengumi Legend GUDAGUDA Yamataikoku 2020", the player has the option to call him by his first name. When he has developed a deep bond with his Master, Saito doesn't mind being called "Hajime-chan" anymore.
Flash Step: A subversion. His Noble Phantasm, Formless, is just him applying his Confusion Fu tactics to the limit, moving in such a way that completely throws off his opponent's sense of time and distance. So even though he hasn't sped up, the way he moves makes it so that he appears to have sped up and instantly closed the distance. But by the time his opponent realizes this, it's probably too late.
Heroic Ambidexterity: His profile reveals he doesn't actually have a dominant hand and just swings the hand that's easier to attack with at the moment.
"Dominant hand? Oh, no, I’m just drawing the swords however when I gotta. Like I always say, ‘If you have time to think, you have time to slice.’"
Historical Beauty Upgrade: Downplayed. Saito isn't exactly a pretty boy or ruggedly handsome, almost looking like a plain Jane next to Okita or Hijikata. But compared to his surviving historical photographs◊, he's definitely looking a lot better than he did later in life.
Hypocritical Humor: He, a Confusion Fu specialist, calls Okita's swordsmanship the most annoying kind to face.
Internal Affairs: Saito's profile states there are rumors that he purged various Shinsengumi members that crossed the line.
It Amused Me: When Okita thanks him for seeing the fate of the Shinsengumi to the end when she could not, Saito dismisses the weight and meaning behind his actions. He simply says that he's someone who likes seeing interesting things.
King Incognito: Saito's profile states that due to the gaps in Saito's past, there are rumors that Saito was from the Shogunate and the Aizu clan but it's unknown how true that is.
Last-Name Basis: He's normally referred to by his family name, especially by all of the fellow Shinsengumi members. The Protagonist has the option to call him by either name.
Master Swordsman: He was impressive even by the standards of the Shinsengumi, referred to as the "Invincible Sword" by fellow captain Nagakura Shinpachi. His profile states he was one of the best swordsmen of the group along with Nagakura and Okita. That said, he admits that he's only the Invincible Sword because he made a point of never taking on anyone truly strong, losing his duel with Okita as a result.
Mysterious Past: His profile states a lot of his life before he joined the Shinsengumi is unknown such as even the school of swordsmanship he used.
The Nicknamer: His profile notes that he's quick to give everyone he meets a nickname, having a pet name for every member of the Shinsengumi.
Only Sane Man: He considers himself this to the rest of the Shinsengumi, whom he calls a bunch of idiots who only think of swords all day.
Overshadowed by Awesome: If you have either Musashi and Kojiro in your Chaldea, Saito compares himself to a side character next to these two swordmasters from folk tales. That said, he's still interested in dueling them, but he stops himself from getting carried away.
Power Makes Your Hair Grow: He keeps his hair short if messy for his first two Ascensions, but once he reverts back to his Shinsengumi uniform he grows his hair out to a wavy, messy shoulder-cut.
Red Baron: Just like his real life counterpart, he has been called 'The Invincible Sword'.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- "GUDAGUDA Yamataikoku" shows a flashback during 1868 during a battle in Anzu where Saito decides to desert, thinking there isn't a point in fighting anymore when Kondo, Okita and so many of their allies are dead compared to Hijikata who refused to stop.
- He also makes a point of not fighting anyone he knows is stronger than him. Mordred tries goad him into a fight in the "Slapstick Museum" event, but he declines on account of her being so much more powerful than him as the "child" of King Arthur.
Sole Survivor: One of the few survivors of the Shinsengumi that lived long enough to see the Meiji Restoration in full.
Spam Attack: He has excellent NP gain, lots of hits on his NP and a decently strong Arts buff, making it easy for him to use his Noble Phantasm over and over with proper support. The fact that his Noble Phantasm lowers his opponent's Arts resistance makes it even easier to do it after doing it once.
Strong and Skilled: Unlike the other Japanese Servants, Saito's stats are actually on par for his class, possessing B Rank Strength, B+ Rank Agility, and A Rank luck. His only shortcoming is his C Rank Endurance and E Rank Mana, the latter of which he doesn't really need.
Trademark Favorite Food: Noodles, particularly soba. He's become especially fond of croquette soba of the modern day, describing it as "cheap-looking, delicious, and totally irresistible".
Undying Loyalty:
- Even the fiercely loyal Hijikata says that Saito's loyalty to the Shinsengumi is second-to-none and knows that he would never betray the Shinsengumi in any capacity. This is why he takes up the Double Agent role, as he's beneath suspicion. Hijikata implicitly trusts Saito to side with Chaldea over Serizawa at the end, with Saito leading Chaldea straight to Serizawa's hideout.
- He also declares his swords to be at your call once you get him to Final Ascension.
  "I gotta thank you for putting up with someone like me this far. Ah c'mon, even I can be impressed too sometimes. I really, truly mean it. My swords are at your call. I am the Shinsengumi's Third Unit Captain: Saito Hajime. The Invincible Sword."
Weak, but Skilled: While his statline is impressive for a member of the Shinsengumi, Saito's only saving grace against warriors from the Age of Gods is his swordsmanship. He'd rather avoid picking fights with opponents like Mordred because he knows he'll get thrashed in a head-on clash.
Worthy Opponent: As two of the three undisputed best swordsmen in the Shinsengumi, Saito considers Okita this. But they never went all out against each other in life. But in the final act of the "GUDAGUDA Yamataikoku" event, he challenges Okita to see which of them was the superior swordsman. Ultimately, it ends in Saito's defeat, as he never challenged a truly strong opponent at their best, in a fight that Saito describes as Okita "beating the shit out of him". When he shows up in Chaldea, he admits he'd rather not duel a serious Okita again.
You Are Already Dead: His Noble Phantasm's description notes that this attack is so swift and sudden that the opponent will at first believe it was simply an illusion before the Diagonal Cut sets in and they drop dead.
Younger Than They Look: Saito's Third Ascension looks awfully middle-aged, but it's actually the appearance he took during his time at the Shinsengumi, which covers his lifetime from age 18 to 25.

Senji Muramasa

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fgo_muramasa_first_ascension.png

Forger of Demonic Swords

^{Second Ascension}

^{Third Ascension}

^{Final Ascension}

^{Heroic Spirit Tour}

^{April Fool's}

^{April Fool's Fate/Grail League}

Voiced by: Noriaki Sugiyama

Illustrator: Takashi Takeuchi

"Saber, Senji Muramasa. I've come in answer to your summons. I'm just an ordinary blacksmith, but as a Pseudo-Servant, I suppose I can at least imitate the ways of a warrior, too. Hm? Why the look? You somehow look both smug and surprised at the same time... Maybe I showed up a bit too early..."

The legendary swordsmith of Japan, noted to be a creator of many exceptional swords, but many of them were rumored to be cursed with unending bloodlust especially when compared to that of his rival Goro Nyudo Masamune. Legends has it that both swordsmiths put their swords on a water as a contest. Muramasa's blade cut down leaves indiscriminately while Masamune's left them intact, with both bragging which defined the quality of the sword: being able to cut indiscriminately or being selective on which to cut. Most of the dark rumors about Muramasa's blade seemed to come from the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu who was terrified with how many of his compatriots were either wounded or killed by Muramasa's blades and he himself was once wounded with one, and thus stories of Muramasa the evil swordsmith started getting widespread as a retaliation.

Although Muramasa does not have the deeds required to be recorded as a Heroic Spirit, he was summoned as a pseudo-Servant using the body of Emiya Shirou, the Master of Altria Pendragon in a certain Holy Grail War.

He first appears as an ally in "Pseudo-Parallel World: The Stage of Carnage, Shimousa". He returns into the story for "Lostbelt No. 5: Ancient Ocean of the Dreadnought Gods, Atlantis", though in a different role than previously. Three years after his story debut, he was released as the New Year's Servant for 2021. He returns in "Lostbelt No. 6: Fairy Round Table Domain, Avalon le Fay" with another major role.

Absurdly Sharp Blade: Making these is his specialty.
- He gives Musashi a blade he calls the Myoujingiri Muramasa, a demon blade that can cut through even steel, though Muramasa considers it a failure because it fell just short of being able to cut someone's fate.
- During the climax of Shimousa, when the party is trapped in Avenger Amakusa's Reality Marble that chokes out life and is rendered invulnerable by being anchored to Amakusa's real castle, Muramasa forges his ultimate sword, the Tsumukari Muramasa - and destroys the Reality Marble, castle, and Amakusa all with one swing.
Alternate Character Reading: His first name is more popularly read as "Sengo".
Alternate Self: The Muramasa summoned by the player isn't the same Muramasa from Shimousa, instead being effectively a copy of that Muramasa, since the historic Senji Muramasa was not prolific enough to qualify as a Heroic Spirit. The difference between the one summoned in Shimousa and the summonable one is highlighted if you have Koyanskaya of Light and Oberon, both of whom assume Muramasa is the same Muramasa they know, and realize quickly that this isn't the case.
Armor-Piercing Attack: Two-fold. His NP has Ignore DEF, and his second skill gives him Ignore Invicibility for one turn. In fact, it goes even further because his second skill also gives him Crit Damage Up against an enemy that currently has Evade or Invincibility, meaning he'll hit them even harder than otherwise.
Ascended Extra: In a way - while Muramasa was a character introduced in the Shimousa singularity, his design was lifted from the Limited/Zero Over Craft Essence which was present since launch. Effectively, he's a Craft Essence who became a full-fledged character in his own right.
Badass Adorable: Muramasa is a highly competent swordsman and blacksmith who is also in the body of the handsome and cute Shirou Emiya.
Badass Boast: Right before he proceeds to one shot Amakusa in the climax:
"Though I am not Jubei, the invincible swordsmaster. Though I am not Hanzo, the great spymaster. Though I am not Abe no Seimei, like your so-called Caster. Though I am nothing more than a swordsmith, why was it I that was summoned? You could never figure it out, and so you have lost. I once sought to forge the ultimate blade. Not one that cuts through flesh, bone, or the living. I sought a blade that terminates enmity… A blade that severs bonds, severs certainty, severs karma. That is to say, to be free of one's fate. Uncountable years of toil to reach this place. Forging thousands of swords to create a barrow of blades. Many paths, converge here. Enduring desires, flow here. Unjust deaths, gather here. My whole life was been for this single swing. The heart of the blade is here! Accept this blow from my Tsumukari Muramasa!!!"
Badass Cape: He carries around a white cloak that he holds over his right shoulder and is an unusually strong Servant to boot.
Bait-and-Switch: His playable version's Noble Phantasm begins by manifesting Unlimited Blade Works the way EMIYA would, only for the entire landscape to get sucked into a ball of flames before revealing the Tsumukari Muramasa.
Breakout Character: After "Pseudo-Parallel World: The Stage of Carnage, Shimousa", he became one of the most requested servants to become playable. Come to New Year 2021, he was finally Promoted to Playable after many requests from fans.
Broken Ace: Muramasa is widely viewed as one of the greatest sword smiths to have ever lived, and his skills back up the claim on numerous occasions. In spite of that, he doesn't hold a good view of himself due to his focus on said art taking up his life to the point he basically died alone, notably having no legends of him to qualify him as a Heroic Spirit. He's also aware of where his talents took Japan, and the fact that his swords caused many problems after his death. Several scenes have him outright admit that he doesn't feel deserving of praise for his craft.
Chick Magnet: Thanks to having Shirou as a host, Muramasa is popular with women. Ishtar and Astraea are both infatuated with him, as their hosts have a crush on his host body.
Combat Pragmatist: In his Third Ascension, he shows he isn't afraid to kick below the belt before ripping through his foe with his sword. He also throws a knife hidden in his sleeve before closing in with his sword.
Cool Old Guy: He's a bit of a grouch, but he's undeniably kind, hospitable, and reasonable. He's also indisputably badass, obliterating Lancer Purgatorio's torso with a single swing.
Cool Sword: He makes these regularly, and even his failures are powerful enough to completely obliterate the torso of a Servant before falling to pieces.
Covert Pervert: When he's lecturing the protagonist and Musashi for keeping Onui and Tasuke for two days instead of one at a geisha's room, he lets it slip that he would have liked to have interacted with the beautiful geisha and wishes they invited him.
Critical Hit Class: His first skill is a souped up version of Projection that not only boosts all his face cards for one turn, it gives him a one-turn Crit Star Absorption buff alongside 5~15 Crit Stars. His second skill boosts his Crit Star Generation and his Crit Damage for three turns, and provides a bonus one-turn Crit Damage Up against any enemy using Evade or Invincibility combined with his Ignore Invincibility buff.
Dangerous Forbidden Technique: At the end of Shimousa, him creating and using Tsumukari Muramasa is extremely dangerous as he is effectively trying to use Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi as a mere mortal. Just one swing from the sword is too much for his body to handle, and he dies shortly afterwards. Not helping matters, as he himself notes, that he just finished his job of stopping the threat to the timeline as the Counter Force required of him, so there's no real reason for him to remain summoned in this time period.
Difficult, but Awesome: Though Muramasa is a powerful character, his NP only having three hits means he can sometimes fall just short of reaching another NP when used in a farming setup, especially if the enemy has high HP, there isn't a three enemies on the first two waves, or he isn't fighting something he has a class bonus against. Using him in a farming or looping team means being mindful of the fact that he can't just be thrown at every enemy type or enemy setup due to that, and can often require different setups to use properly, especially at lower NP levels. If the player does adjust and experiment a bit to find what support or Craft Essences can ensure success, Muramasa is both a top tier farmer and unit, who can be used in several situations, even beating units on paper more powerful than him, because of how stacked his kit is.
Famous Ancestor: Muramasa speculates that Shirou might be a descendant of his as he ponders on the traits they share and even says that, were he in his time, people that knew of Muramasa might confuse Shirou for him. This theory is reinforced by Parvati's material line on Muramasa, where she also suggests that he might be an ancestor of Shirou.
Fights Like a Normal:
- Although he would presumably have access to Shirou's projection abilities in the way Ishtar learns how to use gandr and bajiquan from using Rin's body, he prefers to forge his swords by hand, only pulling out the magecraft when he forges Tsumukari Muramasa in the final battle. As a swordsman, he doesn't have a Mystic Eye like Musashi or a Mystic Sword Technique like Sasaki to tilt the scales in his favor, and his fighting style is noted to be rough.
- Averted as a playable unit. In his first two ascensions, he appears to be using Shirou's Projection Magic to fight as the blades break after he uses them. The implication seems to be that, outside of battle, Muramasa prefers to forge weapons by hand, but in battle has no qualms making them on the fly if he lacks one.
Flaming Sword: One of his attack animations involves striking with a sword that causes a burst of flames.
Gameplay and Story Integration:
- In Shimousa, Muramasa was never really satisfied with the swords he's been making, until he manages to unleash his Noble Phantasm at the climax of Shimousa. In-game, Muramasa's Noble Phantasm gives him an Arts buff that allows him to continually make more blades and loop his NP for more damage and more attempts at making that ultimate sword.
- As can be seen in Gameplay and Story Segregation, Muramasa should not be capable of wielding his Noble Phantasm as he does, given how at the climax of Shimosa, it outright killed him. However, as we learn in story, Alter Ego Muramasa was fused with the Divine Spirit Susano-o, who could wield it without issues. FGO Material XII also further elaborates that the Saber Muramasa that can be summoned by players is influenced by his time in Fairy Britain, namely how he sacrificed himself to forge Excalibur in Altria Caster's place, resulting in his third skill "Flame EX" being engraved into his being. Furthermore, it's also apparently a variant of Altria Caster's "Holy Sword Creation" skill, albeit designed to only work for himself, hence how he's able to constantly use Tsumukari Muramasa without any issues.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: His Noble Phantasm, Tsumukari Muramasa, is Muramasa's attempt at recreating the Sword of Kusanagi, a Divine Construct given to Amaterasu, the highest entity in Shinto mythology, by her brother Susanoo. It's so powerful that only another god like Ibuki-Douji would be able to wield it effectively with Kintoki (himself technically divine in nature) in Heian-kyo needing to wield it via his Humongous Mecha, and swinging the construct once is enough to destroy a Reality Marble at the climax of Shimousa but fatally wounds him in turn coupled with the fact the Counter Force stopped supporting him since he did his job. When he finally becomes a summonable Servant, he's able to use his Noble Phantasm as much as he wants, and is encouraged to do so thanks to its nature as an AOE Arts NP and the three-turn Arts and NP Damage buffs it grants to him on activation. His Profile implies that his use of something like Unlimited Blade Works allows him to surive using it, especially with the fact he actually has a Master this time. He is very interested in Ibuki Douji in My Room if you have both of them for this reason, which makes his usage of it stick out as even stranger.
Gathering Steam: Part of why Muramasa makes for a strong farmer is that as he uses his NP, he gets stronger each time due to his NP providing both a 10% NP damage buff, and an Arts buff, both of which remain for three turns. Though only 10% by default, by the time he makes it to the final wave of a normal three wave fight, he'll have three 10% NP damage and Arts buffs when he does damage, meaning if combined with his first skill's Art buff that caps at 50%, he does a huge amount of damage that can overpower many strong final wave enemies.
Glass Cannon: Muramasa essentially has a souped up version of EMIYA's and Chloe's skillsets, possessing an even more powerful version of their Projection skill, a tweaked version of EMIYA's Hawkeye skill, and an even better version of Chloe's Kiss Demon skill in Flames. This gives him incredible potential for burst damage and is a capable looper for farming with the help of Caster Altria. The tradeoff for this is that Muramasa possesses absolutely no defensive skills, leaving him vulnerable to Noble Phantasms and stray critical hits. Thankfully though he has one of the higher HP stats among Sabers, meaning he is more durable than one would think.
Grand Theft Me: He was put into Shirou's body to qualify as a Servant as Shirou has a similar enough mentality, body, and fate to be his host.
Grumpy Old Man: Acts this way, comically contrasted with his youthful appearance as Shirou in the prime of his life. Supposedly (and following the usual rules of Servant summoning), this mental state is the prime of his life.
Heroic Build: He's built like a man in his prime with washboard abs and bulging arms. This makes the fact that he's Onui's and Tasuke's "grandpa" even more hilarious.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: He insists that he's a swordsmith and not a warrior while grouching about being summoned as a Saber, but his skills are enough to match, if not surpass, warriors known for their ungodly skill like Hozoin.
Historical Villain Upgrade: Completely averted. Sure, he's a curmudgeon, but he doesn't live up to his infamous reputation of being a madman whose insanity infected his blades (after all, these rumors were mostly spread by Tokugawa Ieyasu banning the blades after he and his allies found themselves on the wrong side of them one too many times). He can create demonic swords, but the demonic sword he has in-story is really just a failed attempt at creating a Divine Construct (since the realm of demons is one step away from the realm of gods).
Hunk: Shirou complained about being scrawny back in Fate/stay night (even though he had six-pack abs). Here that's definitely not the case.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's very much a grumpy old man in the body of a young man, and can be quite incredulous to people who bother him. That said, he has no qualms dealing with what he sees as evil, and gives the party help with a bit of grumbling. He is also somewhat regretful of having lived a life so devoted to his art that he neglected his family, and tries to be a good surrogate parent to the orphans he picked up to compensate.
Katanas Are Just Better: Aside from occasionally pulling out his smithing tools and the occasional throwing knife, Muramasa almost exclusively uses katanas in combat. Even his version of Unlimited Blade Works is filled with nothing but katanas, showing the difference between him, EMIYA, and EMIYA Alter.
The Knights Who Say "Squee!": If you have Ibuki-Douji, one of his My Room lines is expressing utter awe and reverance at the sword she's wields, since it's the Sword of Kusanagi that his Noble Phantasm is a incomplete copy of. He then rushes off shouting about offerings.
Iaijutsu Practitioner: In his Third Ascension, he sheathes his katana after every strike, pulling it out in a flash when it's time to attack.
Irony:
- In Shimousa, it's revealed that he was summoned to unravel this world that should not exist by the Counter Force, the very same force that his human vessel, Emiya Shirou, would make a deal with and come to horribly regret.
- His Arts-Buster hybrid deck with an Arts NP means that he doesn't benefit that much from the Limited/Zero Over Craft Essence, the CE he first appeared in, which simply boosts Buster card effectiveness. Furthermore, he instead benefits more from the Projection Craft Essence, which has UBW Shirou in it.
Katanas Are Just Better: Well, he's (one of) the most famous katana blacksmiths after all. One of his masterworks, the Myoujingiri Muramasa, is so sharp that it can even sever one's karma, enabling Musashi to kill the Seven Heroic Spirit Swordmasters despite their regeneration and hidden Spiritual Cores.
Ludicrous Gibs: When he swings at Lancer Purgatorio, he completely splatters everything above the waist. The only thing left is Lancer's hands, forcing him to regrow everything else.
Magically Inept Fighter: E ranked in magic. Makes sense, no matter how good his blades are, he's still just an ordinary blacksmith. This is also reflected by the fact that Shirou was a very poor magus himself.
Man of Kryptonite: Muramasa's blades were involved in the deaths of several Tokugawa shoguns and their soldiers who used them, eventually becoming a symbol of the Tokugawas' doom. In the Nasuverse this translates to Muramasa becoming a walking, talking conceptual weakness of the Tokugawas who can cut them down better than anyone else could. It's so effective that even the most tenuous of connections is enough to make it work. In Shimousa, Muramasa was summoned to destroy Onriedo Castle because it shares part of its name with Edo Castle, the seat of the Tokugawas. In "Tokugawa Restoration Labyrinth", a fake Muramasa blade is able to cut through a Beast like a hot knife through butter because she bound herself to the Ooku which was part of Edo Castle.
Master Swordsman:
- Zig-Zagged. Despite being classed as a Saber, Muramasa was a swordsmith, not a warrior, in life and expresses some annoyance at his classing while pointing this out. However, according to Word of God, Muramasa was skilled enough to cut through causality separate of his blades' qualities, so whether or not this is a Retcon has yet to be seen. He puts up a really good showing against Lancer Purgatorio, and would have killed him easily were it not for the Curse of Annihilation, so it's entirely possible that Muramasa's just self-deprecating, an implication strengthened by his seeming spiritual kinship with the equally-humble Shirou he's possessing. Musashi herself even notes that despite him swinging a sword like an old man with a cane, the speed and power behind his swings are off the charts. There's some Truth in Television in this as well: many real life swordsmiths in Japan are also adept in swordsmanship to some extent, either having learned a particular ryu/style or just being capable in the art of tameshigiri or test-cutting, which by itself requires a good amount of concentration and skill. Then again, Muramasa's skill with the sword could be attributed as a fusion between his and Shirou's skills (which, at this point of the latter's life, is at his peak physical condition), so it goes either way.
- As a playable Servant, he imitates the movements of other master swordsmen in his first ascension, such as Musashi's Niten Ichi-ryu, or Sigurd's sword punching. In his Third Ascension, he makes use of quick draws and clean strikes in a manner akin to Munenori, though he isn't averse to throwing a knife hidden his sleeve or kicking below the belt.
Mighty Glacier: Stat-wise he has B Rank Strength and A Rank Endurance, but only D Rank Agility. In Shimousa, he is noted by Musashi to be a skilled fighter, but his fighting style isn't very fast.
The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body:
- Not much, but bits and pieces of Shirou's qualities leak through, the most prominent being the fact that Muramasa uses a variation of Shirou's Unlimited Blade Works chant to use his Noble Phantasm. In his profile, he mentions that the personality he has as a Servant is more like Shirou's if he were to ever live to old age, though it's still remarkably similar to Muramasa's personality in life, which surprises Muramasa himself.
- In his Bond 5 line, he asks the protagonist to help him "swing swords that save people" together, a reference to Shirou's "Hero of Justice" mindset. Muramasa's back also crawls and he gets inexplicably annoyed around EMIYA and EMIYA (Alter), referencing Shirou's animosity toward his future self.
Minored in Ass-Kicking: He considers himself a smith first and foremost, but his skill with a sword can give even famous warriors a run for their money. In his Third Ascension, he fights with careful sword strikes in a manner akin to Yagyu Munenori, only with far more impact.
Mr. Fanservice: Given that Muramasa is using Shirou's body while also being a Walking Shirtless Scene, this is inevitable.
Mum Looks Like a Sister: While he's not actually their grandfather, Onui and Tasuke refer to him as such, yet despite his words and attitude matching the image, due to possessing Shirou's body he at most looks like their big brother.
Mundane Utility: His incredible skill at making deadly swords also makes him a fine smith of farming tools and household instruments. He supports himself, Onui, and Tasuke by selling these tools to the locals, amassing a small fortune that he leaves to the two orphans at the end of the Pseudo-Singularity.
Mundane Wish: When asked about what he would want from the Grail, he considers using it to support struggling artists.
Mystical White Hair: Muramasa's hair is bleached white like EMIYA's upon reaching Third Ascension. Oddly enough, Muramasa uses magecraft less in this state, only calling on Unlimited Blade Works for a Storm of Blades for a handful of his attacks while fighting more like a traditional swordsman.
Mythology Gag:
- One of his Extra attack voice lines in his Third Ascension involves him summoning swords to attack the enemy while he quotes his famous "Do you have enough swords?" line from Unlimited Blade Works.
- In his Third Ascension, not only does him becoming a dark-skinned blonde reference how Archer EMIYA is a Future Badass for Shirou, but his style of outfit slightly brings to Amakusa Shirou Tokisada, who back in Fate/Apocrypha was a Red Herring under his Shirou Kotomine alias, deliberately giving readers/viewers hints at the possibility of him being an Alternate Timeline version of Shirou Emiya in order to mask his true identity as another well-known Shirou.
Nominal Hero: A downplayed case, since he's still a heroic person at his core, but his alignment being Chaotic Neutral isn't just for show. If he is given a job, Muramasa will, even if he doesn't fully agree with the request, do it with the same effort he'd give to something he wants to do. His profile notes that he can appear ruthless or cold when doing his work because of this, and takes pride in whatever his work is. That said, it also mentions he will not perform "heretical work", and it mentions he's still a kind person once you get to know him.
Oh, Crap!: Should you have Ibuki-Douji, Muramasa will take note of a strange miss walking around Chaldea before noticing her overwhelming divine aura. He quickly realizes that she's the god of Ibuki who wields the Sword of Kusanagi and rushes off to get offerings before he gets smited.
Older Is Better: A subversion. Despite being a relatively recent Servant whose legend is a little over 500 years old, he boasts unusual power comparable to, if not surpassing Servants who have gone down in history as powerful warriors. A single swing from one of his failed swords is enough to splatter Hozoin's body and his greatest creation, Tsumukari Muramasa, effortlessly cleaves a Reality Marble in half.
Older Than They Look: Senji speaks like an old man, which leads him to be titled "Gramps" by the heroes. He's still in Shirou's body though, so the contrast is startling to the point of being comedic.
Old Master: Zigzagged. He claims to not be fit to be a fighter let alone a Saber, which makes sense as he's a blacksmith, not a warrior. But he shows off exceptional raw power even for a Servant against Lancer Purgatorio. He definitely fits the mentorship role to a tee regardless. Lampshaded a bit at the end of Shimousa, as on one hand he complains that climbing Onriedo Castle is hard for an old man like him, but he mocks the protagonist's offer to carry him since the old man is also "still in his prime".
One Degree of Separation: The Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works] guidebooks indicate that an elderly Muramasa helped Kojiro reach the zen mindset necessary to achieve Tsubame Gaeshi, and may or may not have been the original owner of the Monohoshizao.
Parental Neglect: In Shimousa, he mentions that he neglected his family in favor of pursuing his craft, something that haunts him to this day. Caring for Onui and Tasuke is his way of atoning for that failure.
Power Copying: In his first ascension, he copies the swords of other Servants while imitating their fighting styles, even mentioning Musashi's Niten Ichi-ryu by name while using her katanas in his Extra attack before punching the swords into his opponent in a manner skin to Sigurd.
Power Dyes Your Hair: His third ascension bleaches his hair white and tans his skin until he bears a striking resemblance to EMIYA, the Alternate Self of Muramasa's vessel.
Power Glows: At the end of Shimousa, his final sword, Tsumukari Muramasa, is so powerful that it glows orange like molten metal as he swings it.
Promoted to Playable: There were three years between his in-story debut and when he became available to players.
Purposefully Overpowered: Muramasa has a strikingly powerful skillset as a playable Servant, including a massive performance boost for all card types on his first skill, an enormous crit buff on his second skill, and a huge 50% NP charge that comes with a free 10% NP refund on every normal attack. This falls in line with others' observations of his unusual power for a Servant, easily splattering the torso of Lancer Purgatorio with a single swing.
Red Is Heroic: Since he's using Shirou's body, Muramasa has his blazing red hair. He also wears nothing on his upper body save a red igote, an armguard for archery. Although he's a bit of a grouch, he's undoubtedly a heroic figure overall.
Sensual Spandex: In his Second Ascension, Muramasa covers himself with a loose-fitting tunic over a bodysuit that still clings tightly to to his abs and chest to show them off.
Ship Tease:
- Subtle, but it's stated in Atlantis that he admires Astraea, whom he protects from other Servants, and all the statues of Astraea found throughout her island were made by him for her. It becomes a bit of a Mythology Gag due to Muramasa and Astraea being Pseudo-Servants of Shirou and Luvia respectively, since Luvia has a massive crush on Shirou in other Fate works like stay night, hollow ataraxia, and Prisma Illya.
- Muramasa has a My Room line dedicated for the original Saber Altria. He intends to chat with her a bit and is kind of worried for her. This, of course, is a call-back to Shirou's relationship with her in stay night and its various spin-offs. He also comments on her having too many versions, as if she excels in so many various fields.
- Ishtar also has a My Room line for him, a call-back to Shirou's and Tohsaka Rin's relationship in stay night.
Single-Stroke Battle: At the climax of Shimousa, his "fight" with Amakusa consists of him using his Noble Phantasm and cutting the castle they're in completely in half from the top-down.
Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Wouldn't be Emiya Shirou without it. His animations involve him striking with different blades that he seems to be pulling from a variation of Unlimited Blade Works, quickly replacing them with more swords as they shatter on impact. Justified as he is stated to have the Territory Creation passive skill, which allows someone to essentially make the area around them suited for a base/workshop, meaning at any time, Muramasa can turn an area into a smithy so he can forge new weapons.
Spam Attack: He's pretty deliberately designed to work alongside a Servant like Altria Caster: His refund after an NP is functional but unexceptional, but each time he uses his NP he gets a small Arts buff and NP damage buff to make it even easier to refund his NP gauge the next go around. Apart from that, he also carries a 50% charge as well as a 50% Arts buff, meaning it's pretty easy to get three rounds of NP out of him. With a basic double Castoria/Muramasa team comp, this translates to 30% NP power up, 40% Attack up and 190% Arts up by round three, which can be further improved by both Craft Essence and Mystic Code buffs.
Square Race, Round Class: He's considerably annoyed by his summoning as a Saber, because as he points out himself, even if his entire legend and history revolves around legendary swords, it's because he's the one who made them. He's a blacksmith, not a warrior; he's not much of a swordsman and never killed anybody himself. He even has Territory Creation as a skill because being a man of the craft, he needs a work place to be useful. That said, his ability to stand toe-to-toe with the Lancer of Purgatorio in Shimousa, blowing the undead monstrosity's torso clean off twice while casually dodging his peerless (albeit degraded) spear-blows, demonstrates he's a lot more skilled than his grumblings would suggest. His playable version shows he easily fits as a Saber despite this.
Storm of Blades: In his Third Ascension, his Extra attack rains swords from the sky before he cuts through them and his opponent with a single quick draw. He also does this for his ranged Buster animation.
Superpower Lottery: Take Shirou's projection magecraft, already the Ur-Example of Heart Is an Awesome Power in the franchise, and give that power to an Ultimate Blacksmith who actually knows the ins-and-outs of what he creates. This Pseudo-Servant is the result. Even as he Fights Like a Normal, Muramasa's skill is noted to be well above average for a Servant, both in the story and in gameplay.
Supreme Chef: He's confident in his ability to cook, in no small part helped by Shirou's reputation as an excellent home cook. He makes a cake for the Master's birthday and mochi in his Valentine CE, and his Bond 4 line has him ask if the protagonist is eating enough and offering to make them meals, only to laugh when the protagonist declines by saying that they are already having proper meals from Chaldea.
Sword Beam: In a demonstration of his swords' Absurd Cutting Power, one of his Third Ascension's Buster animations has him swinging his sword to unleash a wave of cutting power.
Theme Music Power-Up: A new remix of "EMIYA", subtitled "Unalloyed Blade Works", accompanies him in the climax of "Pseudo-Parallel World: The Stage of Carnage, Shimousa". As of his release as a playable Servant, it also plays when using his Noble Phantasm.
Ultimate Blacksmith: Muramasa was one of the most (in)famous swordsmiths in Japan. His blades were renowned for their incredible sharpness and beauty, but were also said to be cursed with unending bloodlust (albeit at least part of this reputation is due to the Tokugawa Shogunate's demonification of Muramasa's legacy). He grumbles about how his host body is focused on forming an unlimited number of low-quality fakes instead of a single quality blade. In the finale of the Shimousa singularity, he uses his Noble Phantasm to forge a replica of the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, a divine blade found in the body of the Yamata-no-Orochi by the thunder god Susanoo. He then uses it to utterly demolish Amakusa while easily splitting the entirety of his fortress in half from roof to floor and setting the entire place on fire, albeit at the cost of his own life. EMIYA holds him in high esteem, calling him one of the two greatest blacksmiths in the world.
Walking Shirtless Scene: His appearance is based on the Limited/Zero Over Craft Essence version of Shirou and subsequently only has an igote on his upper body.
Weapon of X-Slaying:
- Having brought misfortune to four generations of the Tokugawa clan, his blades exist to bring ruin to anything related to them. In Shimousa, he is able to cut through Amakusa's Reality Marble and the Onriedo Castle because he just had to rhyme his castle with Edo Castle. And in Ooku, Nobutsuna uses his body to give Munenori a fake Muramasa blade so that he can hopefully cut down the fake Tokugawa Kama/Mara.
- In gameplay mechanics, this means he does extra damage against enemies with the "King" trait. Additionally he not only can pierce enemies with Invincible or Evade status effects, he actually does extra damage to them.
What If?: A core concept of Muramasa's character is that Shirou could not live long enough to reach old age, so Muramasa acts like he does to show what Shirou could be like as a grandpa.
Weapons of Their Trade: One of his attack animations in his first two ascensions involves him attacking the enemy with his smithing hammer.
Wrecked Weapon:
- To his chagrin, many of his "failures" possess enough power to cleave a Servant in half, only to fall apart soon afterwards. The ultimate example is his Tsumukari Muramasa, which destroys the entire Onriedo Castle, then disintegrates itself and himself as he was ultimately just a "weapon" of the Counter Force against a world that should not be.
- His first ascension attack animations involve him quickly creating swords that shatter on impact, replacing them with Spontaneous Weapon Creation on every hit. He also mentions in his third ascension that he'll just try to wear out the sword he has in hand before going back to the forge to make another one.
Wrestler in All of Us: In the manga adaptation of Shimousa, he performs a German suplex on Musashi for picking a fight with Kotarou in the street. He later performs a Mexican surfboard/Romero special on her for leaving Onui and Tasuke in Otama's care.

Sétanta

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/setanta_7.jpg

Child of Light

^{Final Ascension}

^{Event Attire}

Voiced by: Ayumu Murase

Illustrator: lack

"Yo, Master. I'm Sétanta! Though I do have another name, Cú Chulainn, but... Chulainn's Hound, the Greatest Hero of Ulster... I am still too immature to bear that name. So call me Sétanta! Nice to meet you!"

The childhood self of famed Irish hero Cú Chulainn. He is the welfare Servant of the Fate Grand Order Arcade Collaboration Event.

Alternate Self: Sétanta represents Cú Chulainn in his days as a child yearning to become a great hero. Even though he has all of his future self's memories, he disassociates himself from them, saying that his future is his and his alone. Notably, he can't believe he was killed by Medb's machinations, declaring that she's someone he's more than ready to take on.
Ambiguously Related:
- In Avalon le Fae, one of people accompanying Aesc was a human child, something that seemed to have been arranged by Odin. In the present day, Habetrot, one of Aesc's companions, quickly recognizes Caster Cú Chulainn as being Grímr the Sage. While not officially confirmed, the few details about the original Grímr the Sage suggests that he was actually Sétanta brought here by Odin to help Aesc out. Note how lack themself seems to think that Sétanta was the original Grímr. Not helping that Arcade itself also teased the possibility twice in two post-story events.
  - In “Freezing Order ~Goddess of Snow and Ice Falling in the Moonlit Night~” event, Caster Cú Chulainn is called “Envoy of Odin” and Sétanta is greatly annoyed at his presence.
  - The rerun of “Invitation from BB: Cybersea Battle Arena” event added a new Challenge Quest against Morgan and the Shadow Servant of Mash (“The Knight’s Shadow”) and Sétanta (“The Wise’s Shadow”) titled “NO DATA”.
- The ambiguity seems to be finally thrown out in Aesc the Savior's My Room lines, where Aesc has one for Sétanta directly calling him Grímr and inviting him to a "Magi-Match" competition.
Boring, but Practical: Sétanta's skillset is a no-frills Saber with good damage, good survivability with the two-hit evade, and some Situational Sword utility against Wild Beasts. His Noble Phantasm is similar to Assassin Shiki's in that it bypasses defense. He doesn't push the power envelope one bit, but manages to be a solid, practical package for those in the market for a boss-killing Saber.
Born Lucky: In stark contrast to his future self's E in Luck, Sétanta posssesses an A in the skill.
The Bus Came Back: After the rerun of his debut event ended in March 2022, Sétanta didn’t appear in any events until November 2022 event “Freezing Order ~Goddess of Snow and Ice Falling in the Moonlit Night~” put him as one of the main characters alongside Osakabehime, Scáthach, and Scáthach=Skadi.
Canine Companion: His artworks depict him with a puppy.
Composite Character: His Noble Phantasm, Cruaidin Sétanta: The Shining Blade that Shreds with Severing Death, is said to be the unnamed sword Sétanta got from King Conchobar assimilated with Cruaidin from "The Battle of Ross na Rig".
Cool Sword: His Noble Phantasm, Cruaidin Sétanta, is a Demonic Sword boasting power akin to his foster father Fergus' Caladbolg. Rather than blasting off the top of hills, it's an Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm designed to cut down a single opponent with overwhelming force.
Iaijutsu Practitioner: Despite being from Ireland, Sétanta wields his sword like this, declaring that he's performing "Demonic Sword Drawing" before cutting down his opponent in a single strike.
I Just Want to Be Badass: Sétanta is Cú Chulainn before he finished his training under Scáthach to become the greatest hero of Irish mythology. Because of this, he's always training to improve himself even though his story has long ended.
Like Brother and Sister: The impression Summer Medb and Summer Jeanne Alter got after hearing Sétanta calling Osakabehime “Big Sis Osakabe”, even though he only did so in order to avoid Summer Medb’s agressive advances.
Martial Arts Staff: He does most of his fighting with a wooden bludgeon that he uses with great skill and can even call back to his hand at will. The staff seems to be a replacement for Gáe Bolg, as according to the description for Martial Arts Disciplining in the Shadow Country, all versions of Cú Chulainn should either have Gáe Bolg or have this skill as a replacement.
Muscles Are Meaningful: Young, not that tall, but with powerfully built muscles befitting a demigod and hero-in-training.
Power Glows: His sword glows a shining gold right before he draws it, a clear reference to his nature as the demigod son of Lugh, god of the sun.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Like the other iterations of Cú Chulainn, Sétanta possesses red eyes and is a fierce, if inexperienced, warrior.
Screw Destiny: He declares he can go in different directions than how his adult self went, and proves it by defeating Scáthach, whom his adult self is normally no match for, in a fight.
Stock Shōnen Hero: Brimming with optimism and pluck that his far more experienced and older cynical selves lack (or more likely, lost).
Wham Line: His profile states that no version of Cú Chulainn should be able to be summoned without either a version of Gáe Bolg or the Martial Arts Disciplining in the Shadow Country skill, given how integral it is to his legend. This calls the Caster version of Cú into question, as he has neither.

Siegfried

The Dragon-Blooded Knight

^{Second Ascension}

^{Third Ascension}

^{Final Ascension}

^{Super Cool Biz}

^{Dream Portrait}

^{April Fool's}

^{April Fool's Fate/Grail League}

Voiced by: Jun'ichi Suwabe (Japanese), Zach Aguilar (English, anime only)

Illustrator: Konoe Ototsugu

"Saber, Siegfried. I have come in response to your summons. Please give me the order."

A Germanic hero who wields the sword Balmung and has the strength of a thousand men. He's famous for slaying the evil dragon Fafnir. Although he's quiet, he's a passionate and protective man who puts himself in harm's way to protect his allies. When he was alive, he bathed in and drank Dragonkind blood in order to become invulnerable.

He appears as an ally in the "First Singularity: Hundred Years' War of the Evil Dragons: Orleans" story chapter, "All In! Las Vegas Championship Match" event and "Parting Memory Manifestation Realms, Traum" story chapter.

Achilles' Heel: A tiny spot of his back is his weakness. The curse that comes from his legend makes it unable for him to cover his back.
Adaptational Badass: While he's no slouch in the First Singularity in-game, he more than lives up to his hype as a top class Servant in the Turas Realta manga by handily defeating d'Eon, Vlad III, and Atalante all at once.
Animation Bump: He received a revamp of his battle sprites and animations in pre-event campaign for Fate/Apocrypha collaboration event. His revamped animations are more in line with his appearance in the animated adaptation of Fate/Apocrypha.
Awesomeness-Induced Amnesia: He admits in his first interlude that by all rights, he should have been outmatched by Fafnir in his legend and that he doesn't actually remember how he managed to win. Whatever he did in the fight to win was apparently so awesome that Siegfried just blanked out and didn't snap out of it until after Fafnir was already dead.
Badass Boast: A rather uncharacteristic one upon meeting Sigurd during the Oniland event's climax:
It seems between the two of us, we have two demonic swords meant for slaying dragons, and one dragon waiting to be slain. What more need be said?
Badass Cape: One that gets replaced by dragon wings.
Badass in Distress:
- When you first find him in the "First Singularity: Hundred Years' War of the Evil Dragons: Orleans", he's already been attacked by Jeanne Alter's group and given multiple curses because he was getting in their way. Without Martha's help he would have been killed outright. As a result, several sections have to pass before he's healed by a combination of Georgios and Jeanne so that he can finally fight alongside you.
- In "Parting Memory Manifestation Realms, Traum", Zhang Jue had trapped Siegfried inside one of his two towers because he knows that Kriemhild's entire motivation is to meet him again, so he is keeping him imprisoned so that she has a reason to keep on fighting. Freeing him from the tower is one of the steps to end Kriemhild's warpath.
Balance Buff:
- His first Rank Up Quest adds a Mana Burst-like Buster buff to his Dragon Slayer skill to increase its utility.
- His second gives him a buff to his NP damage and a new NP gain buff granted to him upon using Balmung, which when combined with his Bond 10 CE and Golden Rule skill means he can feasibly spam Balmung frequently with the right set-up. These buffs have allowed him to better fulfill his niche as the best dragon-killer in the game and the bane of any Servant with the Dragon trait, and become serviceable as a generic AoE Saber NP spammer even without facing a dragon.
- His third, released with Traum, buffs his Golden Rule C- to Avaricious Gold A, which adds both an NP Charge and a 3-turn Attack buff to the skill, boosting his damage and utility as a farmer even further.
Beware the Quiet Ones: Not a big talker and (lorewise at least) an incredibly powerful Servant.
BFS: Balmung is almost as tall as him.
Blood Bath: In his original myth, Siegfried became invulnerable after bathing in the blood of a dragon, save for a spot on his back where a leaf stuck to him.
Blood Knight: Underneath his quiet exterior, Siegfried is very much a warrior at heart and enjoys a good challenge, as seen by his relationship with Karna and his excitment at the idea of having a city sized arena in Las Vegas Championship Match.
Butt-Monkey: Because of how players treated him as useless after the game's launch, Siegfried has become the butt of many jokes in several events.
Catchphrase: "I'm sorry." He says this a lot to the point that players associate it with his disappointing stats and skills. Or when he is summoned in the place of other gold Sabers.
Composite Character: While most of his backstory is exclusively based on Nibelungenlied, details such as him killing the dragon Fafnir and gaining Das Rheingold from it are from The Ring of the Nibelung, as the dragon Siegfried killed had no name in Nibelungenlied, nor did it mention that the dragon had any treasures.
Crippling Overspecialization: While his stat distribution is what you'd expect for a tank, but he has no taunt or defense-buffing skill outside of against dragon-type enemies. His actual skills and Noble Phantasm paint him as a specialist in fighting dragon-type enemies. Unfortunately, almost all of those are Riders, and even with his later buffs Assassins will usually have the edge on him thanks to the class triangle and better base attack whenever Siegfried's Dragon Slayer skill was inactive. However, his fans tend to cheer on the rare occasions that Lancer type dragons appear, such as in Camelot or the Prisma Ilya event, because he's suddenly slightly more useful than a less specialized Saber like Rama or Lancelot. Also downplayed after his two Rank Up Quests, which finally buffs his dragon-skewed NP towards a generic Buster AoE — a very common niche for Sabers, but at least he keeps up with the competition with middling damage even against non-dragons (at launch, he couldn't even clear a wave of non-dragon Lancer-class Daily Quest enemies).
Decomposite Character: He is the German counterpart of the Norse Sigurd, with the two of them originating from different versions of the same Germanic myth. They are otherwise separate, unrelated people, but are similar enough that Brynhild mistakes Siegfried for Sigurd and wants to kill him. Sigurd himself is amused by the similarities between them and admits that he envies Siegfried's invincibility, but not before insisting that he would not be outdone by him.
Didn't Think This Through: In order to help avoid all-out war between his wife Kriemhild and Brunnhilde, the queen of Iceland, Siegfried decided to die to hopefully end the fight since he was the cause of it all, and had his friend Hagen kill him. While it did prevent the fight between Kriemhild and Brunnhilde, his death led to a different tragedy where Kriemhild went after both Hagen and her brother, blaming them for Siegfried's death. During Siegfried's second interlude, Hagen calls him out on killing himself without considering how heartbroken everyone who loved him would be after he was gone, something Siegfried doesn't argue against. Kriemhild especially hasn't forgiven him due to the entire thing causing her bloody rampage that was All for Nothing when she learned the one who wanted Siegfried killed was himself, calling him a bastard in one of her My Room lines.
Doppelgänger Gets Same Sentiment: Despite belonging to the wrong version of the myth (the Germanic Nibelungenlied as opposed to her Norse The Saga of the Volsungs and the other Germanic The Ring of the Nibelung), the poor guy is just behind Sigurd on Brynhild's to-kill list because he reminds her a little bit too much of him. As of "Oniland", this also extends to the Valkyries, who are jealous at Sigurd and think that Siegfried is a bit too similar to him, especially when he's sitting together in a teacup ride with Brynhild.
Dragon Hoard: His non-combat Noble Phantasm (which is also his personal Bond Level 10 Craft Essence), Das Rheingold, is the treasure of the Nibelung Siegfried got his Golden Rule skill from. A mountain of gold that was said to be so large, his great-grandson was still filthy rich even in old age, it was a reward Siegfried got from slaying Fafnir. Though there's no connection between Fafnir and the treasure other than that, because of the corruption of the legend, the treasure becomes a direct catalyst to summon Fafnir. Also, because simply summoning Siegfried should summon the Noble Phantasm also, Fafnir will always be summoned along with Siegfried. According to Siegfried after getting the animation update, Das Rheingold came into the possession of the Einzbern family and he hopes that the curse tied to it won't affect them. Given the Einzberns used Rheingold as the framework of the Greater Grail, it is too late to wish for that.
The Dragonslayer: One of the most famous ones. He killed the dragon Fafnir in legend, has a skill literally named Dragonslayer that increases his attack and defense against enemies with the Dragon trait, and his NP Balmung deals bonus damage against enemies with the Dragon trait as well.
Early-Installment Weirdness: As a launch Servant, Siegfried was given the weird treatment of having his third skill being available to him from the start, resulting that he's the only Servant who has access to all three of his skills after achieving his first Ascension.
Extreme Doormat: When he was alive, he pretty much did anything people asked him to do. He's just really bad at turning down requests. According to him, the only reason he even fought Fafnir in the first place was because he was asked to. A flashback in Apocrypha shows that during his death, he really desired to be a "Hero of Justice" - still the same in heroics, but acting under his own ideals and desires. Tragically, he only realized this as his Suicide by Cop had just been completed.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: A major part of Siegfried's abilities is tied to him being The Dragonslayer and while his in-game kit is geared towards fighting enemies with the Dragon trait, he is actually inferior in this regard thanks to Grand Order's gameplay running on Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors, with most Dragon enemies being classified as Riders. As such, most players would rather take advantage of the class triangle rather than use Siegfried's kit to fight them under most circumstances.
Gold Makes Everything Shiny: His sword takes on a golden color when directly exposed to sunlight.
Good Thing You Can Heal: His Disengage Skill removes his debuffs while healing him.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: According to materials released, Siegfried's hair is actually platinum blond, not white, and he's a kind, loyal person.
Half-Human Hybrid: His later stage cards have him take on draconic features, as a result of his other Noble Phantasm, Armor of Fafnir: Blood of Evil Dragon Armor.
Happily Married: Hagen's dialogue in his second interlude suggests that he was this with Kriemhild. According to Hagen, she was left so heartbroken by Siegfried's death that she went after everyone she believed to be responsible. Naturally, she's now pissed off at Siegfried after learning the actual reason.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: He has horrible self-esteem, with him saying that he is only good for slaying dragons. That is because all that he can think of is that everything he ultimately did was create tragedy, with his death to prevent one tragedy only bringing forth a much greater one.
Horned Humanoid: Starting the Third Ascension, he gains these, a result of his encounter with Fafnir.
Hunk: His Super Cool Biz outfit serves to show off his masculine features and physique, and Hokusai repeatedly refers to him as a tall drink of water in Las Vegas Championship Match. In his My Room line while wearing the outfit, he laments that flexing his pectorals even a little will cause the buttons on his shirt to pop off.
Implausible Fencing Powers: His swordsmanship "has long surpassed mankind" and is the primary reason besides his invincible body that he can stand up to Karna.
Invisibility Cloak: His profile mentions that he gained one during his adventures in life, but he doesn't have access to it as a Servant.
Literal Change of Heart: Back when he was human, after he awoke from his battle with Fafnir, he had Fafnir's heart in his chest. This would become important in regards to Sieg.
Master of None: Tragically, in gameplay he was considered the Gilles of gold Sabers due to a rather confusing build of low attack yet high HP and skills that don't let him take advantage of that, including a situational skill whose main effect only works on dragons (which really only consistently appear in the "First Singularity: Hundred Years' War of the Evil Dragons: Orleans" and in parts of Babylonia). His later Rank Up Quests work to maximize his dragon-slaying niche while adding extra utility for general purposes (Mana Burst effect added to his Dragon Slayer skill, increased NP damage while adding an NP gain buff to increase spammable capability), but that low attack still hampers him for general use compared to even Fergus, a lower-rarity competitor for a Saber with an AoE NP.
Mystical White Hair: It's platinum blond, but it gives this impression given his power in-story.
Mythology Gag: The final battle of his Rank Up Quest is against Karna, as the two of them always wanted a rematch in Apocrypha.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: By sacrificing himself to prevent the war between Kriemhild and Brunnhilde, he indirectly caused Kriemhild to go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge as well as having her become one of the main antagonists in the Traum singularity.
Nigh-Invulnerable: Story-wise, Siegfried's Armor of Fafnir is supposed to render nearly all attacks useless, requiring an A-Rank attack to even leave a scratch on him with the exception of the single weak spot on his back. He's still tough in gameplay, but nowhere near as durable as his lore would indicate. His Nero Fest boss version on the other hand...
Oblivious to Love: A variant; he never realized just how much his friends and wife loved him and how they would be affected by his self-planned death, something that Hagen calls him out on in his second Interlude and Siegfried doesn't deny.
Out-of-Character Alert: The fake Siegfried created by Jeanne Alter enters the scene ranting at length about how apologizing too much is very impolite and only cheapens the apology, causing the main character to freak out. When this is what happens in the beginning, the alert should have rung:
"I'm sorry that we have to fight... NOT!!"
Overrated and Underleveled: In an interview about the game, the creators admitted that they spent half the "First Singularity: Hundred Years' War of the Evil Dragons: Orleans" hyping up his dragon-slaying abilities before having him finally freed of a curse that kept him from fighting. The idea was then that you'd use him to go and make use of his Dragonslayer skill and Balmung, which does bonus damage to dragons. Unfortunately, not only are his stats and skills completely at odds, but players had already realized that the best way to deal with dragons is by exploiting the class triangle like any other enemy. As a result, the meme of Sasaki Kojiro being the dragonslaying savior of France was born and eventually embraced by the writers themselves.
The Paranoiac: All of his bond lines involve his back. Due to his legend, his back is always exposed, leaving him afraid of being stabbed In the Back by anyone, including The Protagonist. From bond level 3 onwards, you have earned enough trust that Siegfried asks them to watch his back. And with his fifth bond line, Siegfried tells the protagonist that he probably won't begrudge them for it and that he has never had as much faith in anyone else as them.
Poor Communication Kills: In life, he arranged for himself to die to try to prevent a war, but forgot to tell Kriemhild about his plan, figuring that she would just marry another man and move on. What she instead does is go on a love and hate-filled revenge path that gets both Gunther and Hagen killed and has Kriemhild herself die a bitter woman after she learns that Siegfried was the one who arranged his own death, something that still weights her as a Servant.
Pretty Boy: For a young adult, Siegfried is notably good on the eyes, which is one of the things that attracted Brynhild's attention.
Sexy Backless Outfit: A very rare male example. Due to the nature of his curse, Siegfried literally cannot wear any upper body apparel with a back, as the curse will tear a hole in it to expose his weak point, forcing him to wear shirts and armor with open backs. This is amusingly inverted by his Super Cool Biz swimsuit; he complains that every time he tries to button it up his Heroic Build causes the buttons to explode until his chest is exposed.
Shrouded in Myth: His Material profile briefly talks about that as the Decoy Protagonist of his own tale, a lot of info about him comes off as hearsay than anything concrete, with his two famous exploits are told to us by Hagen instead of shown and certain aspects are left untold. This is reflected in few aspects such as him not remembering how he killed Fafnir as there was no one who witnessed this feat and him not having Tarnkappe.
Situational Sword: Balmung deals increased damage against dragons, and his Dragon Slayer skill can further increase said damage. Unfortunately, dragons and wyverns are generally Riders, meaning you're better off bringing an Assassin. During an interview, the game designers admitted that they hadn't realized people would do this because the "First Singularity: Hundred Years' War of the Evil Dragons: Orleans" was supposed to be his moment to shine, but people preferred using Kojirou. That said, Siegfried does exceptionally well against Lancer-class Servants with the Dragon trait, of whom a number are bosses (i.e. Elisabeth Báthory, Altria Lancer Alter, and the Lion King). The Dragon-slaying issue can also be remedied by pairing Siegfried with St. Georgios, whose Noble Phantasm applies the Dragon Trait, allowing Siegfried's Dragon Slayer skill and the Overcharge effect of Balmung to do great amounts of damage, and his later buffs make such a strategy much more viable. But again, making the most of Siegfried comes at the cost of utilizing other Servants who can potentially do his job better with less effort. That said, the multiplicative multipliers of the above set up can do absolutely ridiculous amounts of damage if one maxes Siegfried's Dragon Slayer skill and Noble Phantasm and provide additional support through powerful buffs, which can potentially one-shot bosses. Even notoriously tricky Puzzle Bosses can be felled easily with the right party members and Craft Essences to bolster Sieg's Noble Phantasm. Case in point.
Shown Their Work: Siegfried's updated battle animations are based on German swordsmanship guard stances, such as Vom Tag and Ochs.
Sky Face: His brief appearance in the second Halloween event involves him suddenly appearing in the sky and sending Elisabeth's group all the way back to the starting area at Vlad's command. Why he's a face in the sky and how he sends the party back to the starting area is never explained.
Smart People Wear Glasses: Parodied with his Super Cool Biz outfit, which includes a pair of glasses he claims grant him overwhelming intelligence. (After all, his counterpart Sigurd's glasses actually do!)
Spell Blade: After his animation updates, he now charges and wreathes Balmung with blue-green energy for several attacks.
Starter Mon: In addition to Mash, Siegfried is one of the ten (later 14) available 4* Servants that can be summoned from the Starter Summon. Among the ten, Siegfried and d'Eon are the two 4* Sabers. In JP on July 3rd 2019, d'Eon was replaced by Suzuka Gozen while Siegfried and everyone else of the original ten were still available as Starter Servants. As of May 11th 2022 however, both Siegfried and Suzuka Gozen were replaced by Lakshmi Bai and Watanabe-no-Tsuna.
Stone Wall: He has the stats of one, having the highest HP of any 4* Servant in the entire game and even exceeding a number of five-stars, while having very low attack... which is weird, because outside of Disengage, his skill-set is geared more toward an aggressive playstyle. It can make more sense with his Bond CE equipped (which increase NP gain for all allies as long as he's on the field and thus making his survival more important), but outside of that, it just makes him not very good.
Sword Beam: His Noble Phantasm, Balmung: Phantasmal Greatsword, Felling of the Sky Demon functions as one, firing off a wave of blue-green energy. After his animation updates, he can also fire off smaller ones from his sword.
Undying Loyalty: He shows concern over his Master's state and vows to always protect them.
Walking Shirtless Scene: A large amount of his upper body is exposed, showing the glowing mark of Fafnir.
Warrior Prince: He became a prince of the Burgundian kingdom after marrying Kriemhild. Strangely, in the Nibelungenlied, he's first the crown prince of Xanten, although this is never acknowledged or even addressed in any of his appearances, leaving it ambiguous as to whether or not he was a prince prior to marrying Kriemhild in the Fate universe.
Worthy Opponent: In his updated lines, he still sees Karna as this and desires their long-awaited rematch, although he's willing to wait until he settles things with "someone else" first (all but stated to be Arjuna).

Sigurd

The King of Warriors

^{Second Ascension}

^{Third Ascension}

^{Final Ascension}

^{Memories with My Lover}

^{Travel Journal}

^{April Fool's}

^{April Fool's Fate/Grail League}

Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda

Illustrator: Miwa Shirō

"Servant, Saber. My True Name is Sigurd. So you are my Master. Please, give me your orders. I promise to promptly execute them."

The hero of The Saga of the Volsungs and The Ring of the Nibelung of Norse Mythology. Sigurd is the hero who made his fame by slaying the dragon Fafnir, and later saved Brynhild from Odin's ring of fire, becoming her husband. Unfortunately, Sigurd was tricked by the brother/sister pair Gunnar and Gudrun into drinking a potion that caused him to lose his memories of his beloved wife, and was then used by Gunnar to defeat Brynhild to secure her hand in marriage, while Gudrun married Sigurd. Brynhild eventually snapped and killed him and all those associated with the two siblings, before taking her own life. His tale would eventually be adapted by Germany, where he became the basis of Siegfried.

He and his sword were first mentioned in Fate/stay Night as Gilgamesh says Gram was one of the swords modelled after one of his swords, Merodach, Gram itself being the model for Caliburn, and mentioned again by his former lover Brynhild in Fate/Prototype: Fragments of Sky Silver and Fate/Grand Order, before making his official debut during "Lostbelt No. 2: The Eternal Icy Fire Century, Götterdämmerung".

For what is initially believed to be the version of Sigurd summoned by Ophelia Phamrsolone, see here.

Abusive Parents: His adoptive father, Regin, trained him from when he was a boy to become a "hero" strong enough to slay Fafnir. As soon as Sigurd had accomplished the deed, Regin tried to ambush and kill him so he could take the treasure for himself. At that moment, Sigurd realized that he'd been raised without a mother's, father's, or even a god's love, driving him to Walk the Earth until he learns of Brynhild and sets out to rescue her.
The Ace:
- In-lore, he was an unparalleled swordsman, a magnanimous and proud king, and a powerful user of Primordial Runes when he was alive. He also possesses the strongest demonic sword Gram, an equal to Excalibur, and can act nearly independently of a Master thanks to having a dragon's core that constantly churns out mana for him.
- In "Lostbelt No. 2: The Eternal Icy Fire Century, Götterdämmerung", he's so monstrously powerful that it takes Mash and Napoleon working together with Brynhildr, a powerful demigod and Sigurd's greatest weakness, to bring him down. Even then, it's a struggle that requires Brynhildr to use Explosive Overclocking to match Sigurd blow-for-blow.
Amazon Chaser: During the Summer 5 event, Sigurd has to fight Brynhildr to help her calm down after her emotions run wild. After knocking out her first Break Bar, Sigurd removes her defense buff with, "My love still looks beautiful even in a frenzy", implying this.
Anachronism Stew: As pointed out a few times in his profile, he really shouldn't have glasses due to the time period he originates from. It's explained as being magical in nature. His armor also more closely resembles modern military combat gear than medieval plate mail on top of having mecha-like gauntlets by his Second Ascension. This is also lampshaded in his official materials, as even his own artist is baffled by this.
Shirow Miwa: Where did giving him glasses come from...!?
The Atoner: He laments that he was tricked into betraying Brynhildr, causing both of their deaths, and was controlled by Surtr for much of his time in "Lostbelt No. 2: The Eternal Icy Fire Century, Götterdämmerung". He vows to use his time at Chaldea to make amends for both of his failures.
Awesomeness-Induced Amnesia: His Interlude reveals that his memories on his battle against Fafnir are the opposite of that of Siegfried's; he cannot remember the battle against Fafnir at all, but he can remember that he won against him. He even says it's not an uncommon thing.
Balance Buff:
- As part of Summer Five's event, Bölverk Gram was given a Rank Up Quest buff that, in addition to a damage buff, now reduces the enemies NP gauge by one, which helps with his Jack of All Stats role by offering a bit of extra time to his team to prepare for when the enemy is preparing to throw out their NP.
- Road to Lostbelt 7 would give a Rank Up quest for Sigurd's Dragon Modification, which decreases cooldown by 1 and extents the duration to the Busters buff to 3 times and 3 turns.
Big Damn Heroes: After Surtr is released from Sigurd's Saint Graph, the Norse hero manages to scrounge up enough of his strength to charge one more Bolverk Gram to repel Surtr's casual sword swing, though he admits that he would not have been able to do so if not for Scathach-Skadi using her Authority to keep him anchored long enough to do it.
Blood Knight: While generally a calm person, several of his lines show him to be competitive about things like his sword skills and the power of his demonic blade, and eager to test them against some of your other Servants, especially if they wield holy swords.
Born Unlucky: Sigurd has unusually low luck for a Saber, having a paltry E-Rank, reflecting his tragic end at Brynhildr's hands.
Consummate Professional: Sigurd is very uptight, swearing loyalty to his Master and addressing them very formally. He responds to commands with "Understood." and starts speaking with "Reporting." For his first Bond Level dialogue, he starts out by saying that he has no tasks to complete and apologizes to his Master for troubling them. He then says if there's anything they need him to do, they only need to ask.
Cool Mask: Wears one in his first and second Ascensions. According Shirow Miwa, Sigurd's designer, it's actually a transformation of his Crystallized Knowledge(glasses)'s frame.
Cool Sword: Gram, the Demonic Sword of the Sun and the supposed equal of Excalibur. Sigurd can divide it up into at least four throwing daggers and a double-bladed BFS; all of which he could punch into his foes, return to his hand at will, and are capable of Sword Beam functions of different outputs, with the BFS being an Anti-Fortress Wave Motion Sword. It's also the single most-damaging Noble Phantasm in the game when skills and multipliers aren't included.
Crazy Jealous Guy: Defied. When Napoleon starts making passes at Brynhild, she begs him not to do so right in front of her husband. But Sigurd himself is more amused by this than anything, secure in his knowledge that Brynhild's heart belongs to him and him alone.
Napoleon: "Ooh la la! I'm falling in love with you all over again!
Brynhild: "Please don't... really, you mustn't, Emperor. Sigurd is right beside me..."
Sigurd: "I can hardly blame him, given your beauty. But I must warn you, Emperor, you will never win her heart. [smirks] It already belongs to me." [Brynhild blushes]
Crippling Overspecialization: Averted compared to Siegfried pre-Rank Up Quests. While he has the same anti-dragon build as Siegfried even as a Saber, he boasts sky high attack and a great crit damage skill rather than even more anti-dragon buffs.
Critical Hit Class: His first skill increases critical strength for three attacks, with the buff lasting for three turns. His third skill can also increase a character's critical star drop rate for a turn. Sigurd can buff himself with the third skill to get critical stars, which he can then use in the succeeding turn for massive damage.
Declaration of Protection: Sigurd to Brynhild in the Drama CD, which is more of an amendment than a declaration.
"Forget it. It’s an amendment. One that would be better if I had told you that I had fallen in love with you. Your figure as you were frolicking with the songbirds in the sunlight filtering through the trees, is as expected, all too exquisite. My heart took shape. My body which has never been suddenly hit no matter the enemy we faced, and which possesses natural offensive and defensive motions, shouldn’t have known about the rough timing of my trance...... and yet, I truly lost myself in that moment. I understand now that it can shake our very selves, to the extent of wishing and wanting for this space and time called ‘now’ to tear itself apart. Even if you were to lose your body, or have your soul spirited away to the depths of Hel, I will most certainly reclaim you by defeating the female giant of Hel itself. Brynhild."
Decomposite Character: He is the Norse counterpart of the German Siegfried, with the two of them originating from different versions of the same Germanic myth. They are otherwise separate, unrelated people but are similar enough that Brynhild mistakes Siegfried for Sigurd and wants to kill him. Sigurd himself is amused by the similarities between them and admits that he envies Siegfried's invincibility, but not before insisting that he would not be outdone by him.
Defrosting Ice King:
- Initially, his relationship with his Master is completely professional, saying that there's no room for anything more between them than their Master-Servant contract with his usual stoicism. Upon reaching Bond Level 4, he revises his statement while giving a warm, friendly smile.
- Similarly, he threatens to oppose his Master should they espouse evil in any form, but reaching Bond Level 4 will cause him to amend that statement too, insisting that he will always be their ally while giving an even brighter smile.
  "As long as you are not evil, I will not oppose you. ...Please, don't worry, I'll always be your ally."
Divergent Character Evolution: Sigurd also has an Anti-Dragon trait, like Siegfried, but his only activates upon his Noble Phantasm's Overcharge. If you have a brave chain, or any other attack from him, after his Noble Phantasm then those hits won't have the trait. This is unlike Siegfried's version, which in addition to being the Overcharge effect of his NP can also be skill-activated and lasts for three turns for further usage. Furthermore, he has a skill that buffs his critical attack strength for three attacks, with the buff lasting for three turns.
The Dog Bites Back: Subverted. To a degree, Sigurd is conflicted over not feeling particularly angry at Regin's betrayal, and expresses concern that he was subconsciously waiting for some justification to strike him down for his harsh upbringing.
Double Weapon: The primary blade of Gram is essentially a sword similar to a medieval version of Darth Maul's double-bladed lightsaber, although one of its blades is much shorter than the other. In the third ascension, part of the two blades conjoin together to protect the handle as well.
Dual Wield: Not unlike an Assassin, Sigurd sometimes wields his daggers this way.
Early-Bird Cameo: His glasses to be more precise. Ever wondered why Brynhild's Valentine 2016 gift to you is a pair of chocolate glasses? Now you know.
Elemental Motifs: His Icy Blue Eyes, country of origin, and preference for snowy landscapes give him a strong association with ice. His Final Ascension art turns Gram a cool blue-green while the ground he stands on is covered in frost. Even his fighting style is described as frosty even though none of his attacks involve ice.
Famed In-Story: He's known as the greatest hero of Northern Europe, and is subsequently referred to as the "Great Hero" (a term usually reserved for folks like Karna and Herakles) rather than simply a Servant due to his fame and power.
Flaming Sword: Subverted, in that Sigurd could have made this possible by combining fire runes with Gram, but he refused to learn such magic from Brynhild for personal reasons. When Brynhild sees Sigurd using such a Flaming Sword in Scandinavia, this is the Out of Character moment that makes her realize in a rage the Heroic Spirit standing before her is not her beloved, but really Surtr possessing him.
Forgot About His Powers: During the "Chaldea Summer Camp" event, Sigurd is too busy enjoying summer with Brynhild to remember to use his Crystallized Wisdom to help solve the mystery behind the Singularity until Brynhild reminds him. Lampshaded by Fou, who notes that for someone who's supposed to be smart, he can be a real dim bulb at times.
Gameplay and Story Integration:
- Sigurd's claims that his idea of showing his love to Brynhild is by surviving her murder attempts can be shown in his gameplay. First, he has a skill that grants him Guts, so if Brynhild kills him, he just comes back to life. Second, he's a Saber, which resists Brynhild's class of Lancer, so he can survive her attacks better.
- He and Brynhild also have perfect synergy when both of them are on the field. Besides both of them having Buster Noble Phantasms, Sigurd can generate a lot of stars with his third skill, and Brynhild can then use her third skill on him to let him absorb said stars easily, letting him crit like a truck.
Goggles Do Something Unusual: His glasses are the crystallization of the wisdom he gained from eating Fafnir's heart and thus a Magic Tool. It can be used by others, but it would lead to information overload and cause severe headaches. He makes a pair of glasses for his Master on Valentine's Day, enchanted with Primordial Runes to reduce eye fatigue, ward off dust and pollen, be fully functional sunglasses, and increase concentration while studying.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: His concept art in Fate/Grand Order Material reveals that he has a burning blue scar over his heart where Brynhild stabbed him in the Volsung Saga.
Icy Blue Eyes: They add to his intimidating appearance.
Ideal Hero: Brynhild describes him as magnanimous, proud, fearless, and wise. He was famed as an unparalleled hero of Scandanavia who surpassed all warriors in skill, strength, and magical prowess. In-person, he a perfect gentleman who is completely devoted to Brynhild despite his tragic end at her hands, only blaming himself for failing to see through the deceptions that led to their deaths.
It's All My Fault: Sigurd doesn't blame Brynhild at all for their tragic end, placing responsibility solely on his own shoulders for failing to see through Gunnar and Gudrun's deception. After Surtr is released, he apologizes to the heroes for not being able to resist Surtr's control more strongly and tells Brynhild that he's proven himself unworthy of being her hero, a notion she quickly denies.
Jack of All Stats: Gameplay wise, Sigurd has one of the highest attack stats in the game, while keeping above average HP as well. With his full kit, Sigurd can fit into several roles such as a crit focused single target Buster, a support ally/crit star generator thanks to his Crystallized Wisdom giving debuff immunity and crit star generation, a decent NP spammer thanks to having two Arts cards and having several hits on his Quick and Arts cards, and also tank somewhat thanks to his Dragonkind Modification giving him Guts. At the same time, he's overshadowed in the areas he works in by the other Sabers; Musashi is stronger as a single target nuke, Sabers like Okita and Attila have better ways of generating crit stars, and Nero Bride has several support tools. This makes him an overall good Servant to use, but outside his anti-dragon powers, other Sabers often perform better than him.
Knight in Shining Armor: Brynhild described him as a true hero that was at once fearless, generous, prideful and honorable. He also refuses to serve anyone who espouses evil, and had to be outright manipulated via memory alteration to even make his fatal mistake with Brynhild.
Love Hurts: He is destined to always die by Brynhild's hand, knowing from experience that it will only end in tragedy.
Magic Knight: Sigurd learned how to use Primordial Runes from Brynhild, giving him a B-Rank in his Primordial Rune (Warrior) skill. He knows enough that he also qualifies for Caster.
Malevolent Masked Man: He wears a black mask in his first two Ascensions and first appears in Götterdämmerung as an antagonist wearing said mask.
Master of the Levitating Blades: Gram consists of a BFS and several short swords that Sigurd uses as daggers. Though Sigurd can levitate them mid-air and launch them without any action on his part, he prefers to punch them as projectiles.
Master Swordsman: His swordsmanship is described as being as frosty as his exterior. Each blow is cold and calculating while hammering away at his foes' defenses with heavy, lethal strikes. Even Mash, who defeated Lancelot, the greatest among the Knights of the Round Table, one-on-one in Camelot, finds herself overwhelmed and on the defensive against him when he's just using one of his shortswords. Even without Gram, he can effortlessly slice through a tree with a bog-standard sword through pure skill alone, shocking Martha, Sieg, and Hokusai.
Meaningful Name: Two examples, Sigurd's name is Norse for "Victorious Guardian" highlighting his heroic nature, and the Bölverk part of Gram's full release means "One who causes Disaster", referencing both that Odin is Sigurd's ancestor, and that Gram is a demonic sword that brought both glory and ruin into Sigurd's life.
Multi-Melee Master: His reforging of Gram has him use one big chunk of the original sword as a BFS, along with several smaller shards which he uses as both short swords and throwing daggers. Though rather than throwing them normally or with his mind, he punches and kicks his weapons at people.
Mundane Utility: Primordial Runes are spells from the Age of Gods whose power dwarfs the spells of modern-day magi. Sufficiently powerful spells like Brynhildr's Brynhild Komedia can qualify as Noble Phantasms powerful enough to wipe out cities. Sigurd uses them to make magic glasses for his Master that double as sunglasses, keep allergens at bay, and improve concentration. They're also tough enough to use as work goggles and keep demonic beasts from clawing one's eyes out.
Mystical White Hair: His hair is mostly white with gray streaks and he has both the body of a dragon and access to powerful Primordial Runes.
Mythology Gag: He's clothed in black and has spikes, reminiscent of Siegfried's own gear, but is distinct enough to make him stand on his own. He also has Siegfried's extra attack bonus against dragons.
Nerd Glasses: Brynhild's Valentine's gift reveals that he apparently wears something called "the glass of wisdom", which actually just look like a pair of black-rimmed glasses, if her chocolate recreation of them can be trusted. He puts them on in his second Ascension.
Nice Guy: Sigurd is very kind to his Master and offers to do anything they ask of him. When asked about the Holy Grail, he offers his wish to them without hesitation.
Not So Stoic: All of his professionalism goes flying out the window around his lover, Brynhild. He won't stop gushing compliments on her and wants to be around her at all times. Even while she's trying to spear him through the heart, he won't stop expressing how much he loves her. The two of them both know just how good a catch they made and Sigurd will take every opportunity to express how great Brynhild is.
Only the Chosen May Wield: The sword Gram is one of the sources of the idea that the sword selects the king, though not the earliest legend containing that idea. Surtr is able to get around this by possessing Sigurd himself.
Out-of-Character Alert: The Sigurd fought in "Lostbelt No. 2: The Eternal Icy Fire Century, Götterdämmerung" is uncharacteristically mean, spiteful, and cruel. Ophelia even has to keep a Command Spell on him to keep him in check, which is actually a command to stop him from killing himself. This is a big hint that his body is being used as a shell for something else.
Pile Bunker: By punching his swords and daggers into his opponents at astounding speeds, Sigurd basically turns his Sword Beam into this, slamming them into the opponent's body to create a far more precise attack that can penetrate through more or less anything.
Playing with Fire: Subverted. Sigurd is able to use the same fire runes as his lover Brynhild, but refuses to on account of their destructive and uncontrollable nature. The fact that Sigurd lights his sword ablaze against Brynhild in "Lostbelt No. 2: The Eternal Icy Fire Century, Götterdämmerung" signals to her that something is very, very wrong.
Plot Tailored to the Party: His presence on the frontlines during the final Surtr boss fight is mandatory, but he can still hit this massive enemy rather hard due to having his skills and NP maxed along with how it has both Draconic and Demonic traits.
Power Glows: Gram is always surrounded by an aura of light. It starts out as a malicious red, but by his third Ascension it turns into a more serene blue.
The Power of Love: Sigurd recognizes that Brynhild's way of showing her love to him is attempting to kill him. He has his own way to show his love: surviving every attempt. That certainly takes power.
Red Baron: He's known as the "King of Warriors" unparalleled by any other in his era in terms of his swordsmanship and use of runes.
Reforged Blade: His sword, Gram, was shattered by Odin's Gungnir when Sigurd received it. He reforged it into its current appearance during his adventures, which explains why it doesn't look like the Caliburn-like weapon it was originally depicted as.
Scars Are Forever: His artist's artbook reveals that he's heavily scarred across his chest◊ from when Brynhildr killed him. In fact, his chest is still on fire from the flames of Brynhild Romantia.
Sickeningly Sweethearts: When Brynhild isn't having one of her 'kill Sigurd' fits of madness, Sigurd and Brynhild are a very lovey dovey couple with nothing but affection for the other. This is cranked up even further during the "Chaldea Summer Camp" event, where Sigurd takes every opportunity to boast about his love for her, to the point that even Brynhild starts to find it embarrassing.
Spikes of Villainy: He's an antagonist for much of "Lostbelt No. 2: The Eternal Icy Fire Century, Götterdämmerung", and the spikes of his armor underscore how threatening he is. Inverted with the playable version, who is stolid but very much kind and heroic.
Square Race, Round Class: Despite being a Saber, his fighting style is unorthodox for a class meant for swordsmen. He splits his sword into daggers and either throws them or quickly slashes the enemy with them, which is more fitting for an Assassin than a Saber. He also doesn't use a Sword Beam (though in-lore it's not so much he can't as he just thinks punching the sword at the target is more effective) nor a special sword technique.
The Stoic: Despite being a huge dork, Sigurd is stone-faced most of the time and maintains a level of professionalism at all times.
Suspiciously Specific Denial: When he shows up covered in blood in the midst of a grueling fight while he was alone with Brynhild, Sigurd assures the heroes that his current condition has nothing to do with his lover's overwhelming desire to kill him. His profuse bleeding and grievous wounds are definitely part of their solution for the puzzle trapping Sessyoin Lily. Even if he'd have died without his Guts skill. Yup.
Swiss-Army Weapon: Sigurd's Gram consists of a BFS and a multitude of daggers, which Sigurd can use in a lot of ways.
Third-Person Person: He frequently refers to himself as "This one" in dialogue, particularly when reflecting on the past. It leads to some Pronoun Trouble when he flips between this and more personalized pronouns. This is omitted in the NA localization, where he just sticks to using "I".
"Brynhildr, is it... That girl is trying to prove her love with that murderous impulse. Although it makes me happy, unfortunately, this one's love will be unable to be proven if I'm dead. This one must survive, and yet prove its love. How vexing..."
Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Or rather, punching your sword and daggers to turn them into projectiles always works.
Took a Level in Badass: Inverted and discussed. In his Interlude, he notes that while he defeated Fafnir in life entirely on his own, he needed Sieg's, Martha's, and Summer Hokusai's help to accomplish it as a Servant. He wonders if he's getting weaker until Brynhild assures him that he hasn't gotten weaker, he has simply opened his heart to others and become more human just as she has.
Undying Loyalty:
- Swears this to the protagonist upon reaching Bond Level 5.
  "Master, I do not have much to offer. Even if I gave you everything, it wouldn't be enough to repay this great debt of gratitude. In that case, there is nothing left to give, but my life. By offering that, I pledge my utmost loyalty to you."
- To his wife as well, literally developing Servant traits to resist any attempt she might have at killing him so they can be together.
Unsound Effect: He says "Stare..." while staring at his Master in his Valentine's Day dialogue.
Wave Motion Sword: Sigurd is supposed to use Gram's Sword Beam the same way Altria and Siegfried use their respective swords. But he feels that punching it into his opponent first is far more effective.
Weapon of X-Slaying: Thanks to slaying a dragon in his legend, Gram is imbued with anti-dragon properties, which is reflected in-game by the anti-dragon properties of his Noble Phantasm.
When He Smiles: As stone-faced as he is, he will sometimes crack a small smile, showing that he's truly compassionate beneath his stolid exterior. He flashes an even warmer smile while assuring the protagonist that he will always be their ally.
You Don't Look Like You: Not Sigurd himself, but his sword Gram. In Fate/stay night, Gram looks like a less-ornate version of Caliburn in design. Gram here has zero similarities to how it looked back then. Then again, when first shown, it was in Gilgamesh's possession. The original myth has Sigurd reforging Gram after Odin snapped it like a twig with Gungnir when Sigurd's grandfather drew it against Odin disguised as an old man named Bolverk, possibly explaining the radical redesign.
You Remind Me of X: Brynhild seems to use him as a model of what it means to be a hero and many heroes and heroines remind her of him. She outright mistakes them sometimes. This isn't a good thing for anyone involved. The other Valkyries' dialogue indicate that these are all Valhalla candidates.

Suzuka Gozen

Heavenly Demon Princess

^{Second Ascension}

^{Third Ascension}

^{Final Ascension}

^{Traveling Outfit}

^{Travel Journal}

^{April Fool's}

^{April Fool's Fate/Grail League}

Voiced by: Nao Tōyama

Illustrator: Takenoko Seijin

"Servant, Saber, I'm totally here 'cuz I was summoned! Or something like that★"

A dancing princess who made her stronghold on Mount Suzuka in the Heian era, working to defeat oni with Sakanoue no Tamuramaro. Her resplendent beauty and strength was worshiped by both celestial maidens and demons. Her true identity is the beloved daughter of the Demon King of the Fourth Heaven sent from the heavens. Suzuka Gozen had an order to turn Japan into a demonic country when she descended, but satisfied herself by just throwing the land of humans into confusion. After many adventures and an end of a tragic love, she was defeated by her lover, Sakanoue no Tamuramaro.

She's an antagonist later ally in "Abyssal Cyber Paradise, SE.RA.PH" and once again an antagonist in "Hell Realm Mandala, Heian-kyo"as Hyoubi Suzuka Gozen, one of the Hasshoujin summoned by Ashiya Doman. She also appears in the Moonlight/Lostroom OVA.

Acronym Confusion: During Hokusai's Trial Quest, she claims BB's name to be "Blizzard Blossom" after she rains cherry blossoms. BB denies it however.
"BB is "Blizzard Blossom"! That acronym's mystery is now solved!"
Ambiguously Related: Her relation with her father is vague mainly because Demon King of the Fourth Heaven never existed. The earliest stories about Suzuka said that she was the daughter of the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven AKA Mara, but some later writing about her changed her parent to be the Demon King of the Fourth Heaven. Ever so, her relation with Mara is never discussed, especially since Mara is technically in Chaldea thanks to Kama.
Arch-Enemy: She is Tamamo's (self-proclaimed) bitter rival.
Ascended Extra: Her design for CCC was unfinished and discarded, then later picked up and included as one of the antagonists of the Fate/EXTRA CCC Foxtail manga, and is now a playable character in this game. She even got her animation debut before several other EXTRA Servants!
Balance Buff:
- Her NP received a Rank Up Quest with the release of the SE.RA.PH. Main Interlude, boosting its damage in addition to giving her a 3-turn 20% NP gain buff, allowing her to better spam her NP and possibly stack its 3-turn Crit Damage buff.
- Her second Interlude buffs Supernatural Power B to Supernatural Power (JK) B+, which boosts Star Generation buff from one to three turns as well as adding a Crit Damage buff for three attacks three turns and reworking her one-turn Buster buff to three-turn three-attacks Buster buff. This massively boosts her consistent damage rate.
Beneath the Mask: Under her well-maintained imitation of a high school girl is the princess of a demon king, but only Shuten and Tamamo Cat have managed to piss off Suzuka enough to let the mask slip momentarily.
Berserk Button: She completely drops the JK persona when she runs into Shuten and Ibaraki messing around. She hates oni, not because they're evil man-eating monsters, but because they're lazy and irresponsible man-eating monsters. They could have taken over Japan without help if they weren't more interested in partying and messing with people on a small scale, and despite her own mythological Heel–Face Turn she's still really pissed about it.
Beware the Silly Ones: Her silly JK persona belies the fact that she is indeed a demon princess and an extremely dangerous fighter. In her home manga, she manages to go toe-to-toe with Raikou, one of the most fearsome and powerful Japanese Servants, despite having a severe disadvantage in every way and even manages to defeat her by using her third Noble Phantasm. She's also the most dangerous and aggressive of BB's Sentinels during the events of SE.RA.PH. after the brainwashed Passionlip.
Blood Knight: She really does love combat, to the point that when she's summoned into SE.RA.PH, she's ecstatic about fighting 127 other Servants in a battle royale.
Brainwashed and Crazy: In Heian-kyo she is summoned as Hyoubi Suzuka Gozen of the Hasshoujin. Thus her Noble Phantasm omits the Love Blast part of it and leaves it empty.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Her first profile entry is a narration about her history when she interrupts it midway.
Narration: ...Truly, she is the heavenly princess of tragic love. In search of ultimate beauty, she concluded that the latest and greatest look was...
Suzuka: High school girl style, duh! A shrine maiden was a good option too, but like, nothing says "love" like a high school girl!
Narration: ...Um, young lady? Are you SURE that's what you want?
Cool Sword: Three different demonic katanas, each one of them containing her Noble Phantasm: Daitsuren (Daishintou), Shotsuren (Blessing of Wisdom) and Kenmyoren (Sanzen Daisen Sekai).
Critical Hit Class: Her playstyle centers around this. Her first skill buffs her Buster cards and critical star rate. Her third skill increases her NP gauge per turn for five turns and also gives her an NP attack buff. Her NP also gives her a critical damage buff and as it's an AoE attack, it will generate a ton of critical stars. Done correctly, every attack she does should be critical after using her NP which in turn fuels her NP gauge to activate her NP to generate more stars for her to use.
A Day in the Limelight: She is your main Servant ally during Katsushika Hokusai's Trial Quest.
Dramatic High Perching: She stands on a torii^note during her Noble Phantasm.
Dual Wielding: Triple wielding. Though she typically only holds Kenmyoren and uses the other two as flying swords.
Going Commando: She doesn't have underwear beneath that thin kimono. Back in Foxtail this started a strange friendship with her fellow commando Rani.
Good with Numbers: She doesn't explain why, but her calculation speed is on par with the Moon Cell, an actual supercomputer. BB is momentarily shocked at this revelation since even she can't keep up with the rapidly expanding amount of Demon Pillars.
Gyaru Girl: The result of her "JK Power" and her Valley Girl quirks mixing together.
Heel–Face Turn: In the Pseudo-Singularity: SE.RA.PH., she joins the heroes after being defeated by them, albeit not immediately.
Her Heart Will Go On: Beyond bitterness at her unfair demise, she regards her marriage with Sakanoue no Tamuramaro fondly. However, she's shown to be willing to find new love after their relationship ended.
Hidden Depths:
- Has some, particularly concerning Masters. While she may appear to just be battle-hungry and silly, she is intensely loyal to Masters who summon her, and will always do what she can for them. Once she finally joins the team in "Abyssal Cyber Paradise, SE.RA.PH", she's very loyal and brave, and when she discovers that her previous Master, who had begged her for salvation, was virtually dead even when she was summoned and was really dead once EMIYA Alter found them, she is so thoroughly disgusted & enraged that she drops her JK shtick entirely to focus on obliterating Emiya and his boss alongside the team.
- She's also far smarter and perceptive than her high school persona would have people believe, as indicated by her mathematical abilities and pretty much deducing Roman's true personality and issues from one look at him in her second Interlude.
Irony: At her final Ascension, she claimed her "JK Power" has been maxed, but by that point she already dropped her JK shtick and reverted to her prime form as a Heroic Spirit appearance-wise.
Joshikousei: Her costume is basically a school uniform, she even has a school bag! Tamamo mocks her outfit and demeanour as a high school student in the manga. She takes it in stride, and is rather proud of her "JK power", in fact, in the manga her first skill is named "JK Power" as opposed to this game's "Supernatural Power".
Just Friends: Her goal, in her own words, is to find a totally cool boyfriend. This someone is not the main character, or indeed anyone in Chaldea. Interestingly, in Foxtail she considers Sakanoue-no-Tamuramaro (her husband in mythology) as a former boyfriend. Her materials state that if she does not fall in love with her Master; she's supposed to plot against them; however she has been nothing but friendly and supportive.
Katanas Are Just Better: She attacks with three katanas via telekinesis. One of her Noble Phantasms, "Blessing of Wisdom" is her third skill in gameplay.
Kimono Fanservice: Her Third and Final Ascensions have her wearing a kimono more revealing than Tamamo's. And she doesn't even bother with shoes or stockings, unlike her rival!
Lady of War: Her JK conceit aside; she is a well-known Japanese legend for this. "Gozen" is in fact the equivalent title of "Lady"; making her "Lady Suzuka."
Last-Name Basis: Her materials reveal that she tends to call other people by their last names, like how she did in CCC Foxtail.
Lethal Chef: According to Beni-enma, her skill at cooking can be charitably deemed as "beginner", as she is only able to handle making simple dishes. That being said, though, she encourages Suzuka, saying that her work does have good flavor and sufficient nutrition; and to her, that's what's most important about food... and that she needs to find a husband.
Little Bit Beastly: She has a fox's ears and tail, but she's not a kitsune; she used minor Voluntary Shapeshifting to change her image to compete with Tamamo-no-Mae.
Love Hurts: Love Freak she might seem, her Interlude reveals that she possesses a measure of bitterness towards how her legendary romance turned out.
Love Redeems: A famous one. She originally came to Japan with the goal of helping the oni overthrow the human government, only to fall in love with Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, the hero who came to thwart them. They ended up getting married. As a result, she deeply and sincerely believes in the goodness of love.
Magical Barefooter: In Third and Final Ascension, she goes barefoot as she shines in her full divine splendor.
Magical Eye: She possesses a Mystic Eye which can charm any men, functions similar to Diarmuid Ua Duibhne's Love Spot towards women.
Magical Floating Shawl: In her Third and also her Final Ascension, she has one due to being the daughter of the Demon King of the Fourth Heaven.
Mind over Matter: One usage of her skill "JK Power" is for telekinetic abilities. However, its rank went down in F/GO and renamed into "Supernatural Power" and her telekinesis became limited to her own belongings only.
Only One Name: She's just known as "Suzuka". "Gozen" is a title that roughly means "lady". Because of a tradition at the time of only their family knowing a woman's name her actual name may be lost to time. Suzuka refers to Mt. Suzuka, which she ruled over in her myths.
Overly Long Name: The full name of her Noble Phantasm is "Sword of Transcendent Wisdom and Knowledge Daishintou, Love Blast, Heavenly Demon Rain", rivalling Tamamo's in length. In the game it's shortened to Tenkiame: Heavenly Demon Rain.
Platonic Life-Partners: How she seems to view her relationship with the protagonist, calling themselves a perfect combination but still far from love. She doesn't mind falling for the protagonist, though, and she even occasionally teasingly flirts with them.
Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Her Final Ascension has longer hair than her previous forms.
Pretty Princess Powerhouse: The beautiful daughter of the King of the Fourth Heaven, an expert dancer, and skilled in both swordsmanship and magic.
Readings Are Off the Scale: Her NP parameter is EX-ranked. This is because of her third & true NP, Sanzen Daisen Sekai, which is her main katana, which functions similar to the Moon Cell in that it can create and contain worlds.
The Rival: She's Tamamo-no-Mae's rival, a kitsune who has a different view of love than she does. This also extends to Tamamo Cat.
Semi-Divine: She possesses A-rank Divinity.
Starter Mon: As of July 3rd 2019 in JP, Suzuka became one of the 14 4* Starter Servants in addition to Mash. Suzuka notably replaced d'Eon as one of the two 4* Sabers (the other being Siegfried). She (and Siegfried) would later become replaced by Lakshmi Bai and Watanabe-no-Tsuna on May 11th, 2022 in JP.
Stepping-Stone Sword: Her Extra Attack involves using her flying swords as stepping stones for a jumping attack.
Storm of Blades: Her NP bombards enemies with a rain of blades, taking a clear page from Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon and Archer EMIYA's Unlimited Blade Works.
Valley Girl: The Japanese equivalent. She speaks in a typical "teenage girl" dialect. Expect her to say "like" a lot and mention cringe, downvoting, and other modern internet jargon in the English version.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: Her ears and tail are not completely natural. Rather, they're the result of her attempting to copy Tamamo's appearance because she thinks animal ears might win her Moe points with her Master. In her home manga, she is first shown without them.
Wild Card: Downplayed in her game version, however Suzuka's official FGO Character Materials reveal that she is the type of servant who will either fall in love with her Master, or won't listen to them at all, most likely betraying them at first chance. Since the Suzuka we have in the game makes it clear that protagonist is staying in the friendzone with her... it certainly doesn't bode well for her loyalty in case she meets someone she actually likes.
Willfully Weak: She doesn't seem to like using her third Noble Phantasm, which has abilities along the lines of what the Moon Cell can do. Her only comment is that it's not suited for a JK like her.

Theseus

The Hero of Athens

^{Second Ascension}

^{Third Ascension}

^{Final Ascension}

Voiced by: Akinori Egoshi

Illustrator: Shimadoriru

"I've arrived in response to your summon. Saber, Theseus. Yeah, I can do pretty much anything. What should I do first?"

King of Athens. Slayer of the Minotaur. Abandoner of Ariadne. One of the kidnappers of Helen of Troy. Smooth talker. He appears in Circe's Interlude "The Curse of the Argo" as one of Jason's Argonauts, albeit without actually making an on-screen appearance and just by dialogue.

He makes his physical debut in the "White Castle by Day, Black Castle by Night" Holy Grail Front as a Saber-class Servant serving as one of the antagonists.

Attack Reflector: His second Noble Phantasm, Diskorea Spira, represents his Six Labors, where he killed his six opponents using their own favorite murder methods, and functions as this. It's not just a melee thing, either: he even causes a bullet to do a 180° turn in mid-air.
Battle Trophy: On his arm he wears Asterios' bull-face mask as a shield. He states that he actually asked permission from Asterios before doing so.
Charm Person: Theseus is well-spoken, polite, and deceptively easier to like than his shrill demanding captain. He gradually reveals himself to be more of a Slimeball who endeavors to talk his way out of any situation.
Critical Hit Class: His skillset is designed to deal critical hits. His first skill, which grants an Arts buff alongside an NP charge, has a 3-turn star regen, his second skill increases the crit damage of his Arts cards and Crit Star Absorption as well, and his both his second and third skill grant him a total of 30 Crit Stars when maxed out. Additionally, his NP both grants him 20 Crit Stars and increased crit damage.
Easily Forgiven: Circe reluctantly accepts his reasoning for killing her nephew Asterios and abandoning her niece Ariadne, though she's aware that she'd been conned to a degree.
Foil: He's everything Jason wanted to be, a respected royal and hero with a kingdom to call his own, who manages to dodge all the traps his captain fell into with either his silver tongue or outright good luck. It's suggested in Circe's Interlude that besides not doing it to start with, Jason could've gotten away with abandoning Medea if he had been less sincere as Theseus is by default and if he had been similarly cold enough to just ditch her by surprise rather than try to break things off once the voyage was over.
Glass Cannon: Downplayed, as he actually has a respectable HP stat. But he lacks any defensive measure at all, meaning that he's likely going to deal massive critical damage, but is very likely to get easily defeated without support.
Heroic BSoD: Theseus was a traditional hero until he killed Asterios, which broke him both emotionally and mentally. Justice no longer made sense to him after being forced to kill someone who was as much as victim as the people being sacrificed to him, and it is implied the entire ordeals effect on him is the real reason he left behind Ariadne. He would spend the rest of his life trying to act as a proper hero with his sense of right and wrong completely broken but mostly failing.
Irony: The only person in Asterios’s life who saw him as a person instead of a monster, including, to a degree, Asterios himself, was his killer. Furthermore, in his long life screwing over other people and using his smooth talking to get out of the consequences of it, the great deed of Theseus’s heroic career, the thing he is most famous for, an act accomplished through honest and straightforward combat, is also just about the only thing he genuinely feels bad for.
Jerkass Realization: As pointed above, he spent most of his life as an arrogant prick, convinced that since he was a hero, everything he did was good. Getting sent to kill Asterios only to find out that the monster was practically an innocent child was such a severe wake-up call that it caused him to reevaluate his entire life. Nowadays he's a lot more thoughtful, suffers heavy remorse, and tries much harder to live up to his title.
The Lancer: After Heracles' departure, Jason considered Theseus to be his most dependable Argonaut in his four-dozen strong crew of warriors, superhumans, and outright demigods.
Pet the Dog: Felt great sympathy for Asterios during their fight, and this tenderness despite the violent situation they were in touched the minotaur so deeply that he likewise thinks fondly on his killer.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Quick to remind those around him that he's the King of Athens.
Situational Damage Attack: His Noble Phantasm does extra damage against Demonic Beast Servants and Giant enemies. Incidentally, Asterios happens to be both of these categories.
Square Race, Round Class: He's similar to Heracles—regardless of his personal preference, he's an expert with basically any weapon. He has no special affinity with swords—notice he's using a club—but Saber is the Grail War's answer to the Jack of All Stats, so it fits well enough.
Super-Strength: Jason says his strength was on par with Heracles.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Shamelessly worked alongside the Dioscuri with no repercussions despite having kidnapped their younger sister Helen.
Theseus' Ship Paradox: The thought experiment comes up during Circe's Interlude, and par for the course, Theseus' thoughts on the matter are irritatingly self-absorbed.
Trail of Bread Crumbs: His first Noble Phantasm, Ariadne Aporito Hades, is the thread that Ariadne gave him to lead the way through the Labyrinth. In battle, he uses it to lead the way to his opponent so he can slash them as well as using it as a Razor Floss to lash or bind his enemies.
Unseen No More: After being reduced to a dialogue-only appearance during Circe's Interlude, his physical appearance is finally revealed in the "White Castle by Day, Black Castle by Night" Holy Grail Front.

Tomoe Gozen (Saber)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tomoe_saber_sg1_6.png

VR Shinkageryu

^{Second Ascension}

^{Third Ascension}

^{Final Ascension}

^{April Fool's}

^{April Fool's Fate/Grail League}

Voiced by: Hisako Kanemoto

Illustrator: Shirabi

"Tomoe Gozen has arrived in a summer Spirit Origin! That's right...in VR mode! I will do my very best to accompany Master so they can wholeheartedly enjoy this year's summer vacation!"

Ever since Tomoe has arrived in Chaldea the meaning of summer has evaded her. As the moment the season changes, some Servants have all thrown out the concept of moderation.

But this time now that Summer is in the mountains and not at the beach, she has found the answer: Liberation! Summer is all about cutting it loose, the fiery passion and power of the sun. And Summer is the perfect time to truly go all in on Tomoe's new found hobby of gaming, even if it costs her sleep. Summer Tomoe has arrived with a swimsuit and dual-wielded VR controllers

She made her debut for the fifth summer event.

Bedlah Babe: Her Second Ascension looks right out of an Arabian Nights story, with her having taken some dress-up tips from Mata Hari and Salome.
Blank White Eyes: Played for Laughs. She tends to gain these eyes when anxious or sad, most notably in her voice lines when her controller goes missing or when Medb and Lancer Raikou confront her about her swimsuit.
Boobs-and-Butt Pose: Her photo in the event's PV has her posing this way.
Critical Hit Class: Her skill set could be described as being similar to Saber Lancelot: She has much stronger crits, can generate equivalent numbers of stars herself and has stronger Arts cards at the cost of mostly focusing on Arts crits while Lancelot can also get Buster crits more easily. The trade off though is that Tomoe having an AOE NP means she is not likely to land crits unless the enemy survives.
Expressive Mask: Her VR goggles show symbols appropriate to her current emotion like music notes to express joy or question marks to express confusion.
Flaming Sword: She trades in her laser weapons for two flaming sword in her later Ascensions.
Gamer Chick: More prominently than normal Archer Tomoe, as she's decided to go all out in having fun for summer vacation and brought a VR headset and smartphone for gaming on the go. Her setup is straight up Beat Saber.
Glass Cannon: Contrasting her Archer self, all Saber Tomoe has going in terms of survival is a Guts effect which carries the penalty of an eventual self stun. She's also built more thoroughly for one turn bursts because while her crit damage will remain higher than Saber Lancelot, her absorption skill doesn't last as long.
I Know Mortal Kombat: Inverted; She learned a variation of Shinkageryu from Yagyu to be better at VR games.
Irony: Despite her Archer self's insistence of modesty towards Summer Servants, Tomoe's own summer self, her third form to be exact, wears a really daring swimsuit to the point that Medb feels challenged by her, and Lancer Raikou, of all people, lectures her about modesty.
Laser Blade: Her first ascension wields a pair of game controllers doubling as these. While she attributes this to Yoshinaka's blessing, it's actually due to a permanently active Noble Phantasm where her Oni blood allows her to use her mana reserves to manifest the blades. This is downplayed in her later ascensions where she wields actual blades, in which her Noble Phantasm instead super heats them, coating them in flames.
Late-Arrival Spoiler: While her initial appearance masked her identity as the “Archer of Inferno” and her appearances in other events continued to hide her name, Saber Tomoe is referred to as Tomoe Gozen from the start.
Master of None: Summer Tomoe's main flaw, besides her self stun, is that she's stuck between two playstyles that don't synergize together to make her consistent. She tries to be an Arts crit Saber like Lancelot or Yagyu, but her NP being an AOE attack means she can't combo it properly to crit enemies unless they don't survive her NP or have break bars, both of which rely on her getting cards to begin with. Since she's an AOE Arts Saber though, her kit doesn't make her reliable at farming due to the crit focused nature of most of her skills, being notably less consistent than the 1 star Jason, even when facing enemies she ideally would work against. Her being a Summer unit also means she lacks the chance to be picked up reliably, meaning other characters can easily do her job better.
Third-Person Person: Much like her Archer self, she talks like the typical period piece samurai in the Japanese version of the game and refers to herself in third person. This doesn't apply in English, where she speaks normally.

Watanabe-no-Tsuna

Enlightened Oni Slayer

^{Second Ascension}

^{Third Ascension}

^{Final Ascension}

^{Heroic Spirit Tour}

^{April Fool's}

^{April Fool's Fate/Grail League}

Voiced by: Kenji Akabane

Illustrator: Hidari

"...Saber, Watanabe no Tsuna. I have nothing to say in particular. If you're looking to slay oni and demons, then you're looking at the right person. I'm not very good at cutting down people, so please forgive me on that front."

One of Minamoto-no-Raikou's four famous retainers, the Four Heavenly Kings. A senior to Sakata Kintoki. One of Tsuna's famous achievement is him chopping off Ibaraki-Douji's arm at Rashomon. He took her arm as a trophy, but Ibaraki (disguised as Tsuna's elderly aunt) stole it back from him.

Tsuna makes his debut in Grand Order with "Naraka Mandala, Heiankyo".

Arch-Enemy: To Ibaraki-Douji, since he chopped off her arm in their past life. His My Room lines for either of her forms plainly state that his sword exists to cut her down and nothing more. His Bond CE implies there's more to it than that. He strongly implies in the main story of "Naraka Mandala, Heiankyo" that Ibaraki is the daughter of his childhood friend and first love.
An Arm and a Leg: He's famous for chopping off Ibaraki's arm. Ironically, this act would eventually turn her arm into her Noble Phantasm.
Asian Rune Chant: The beginning of his Noble Phantasm has him reciting the Nine Hand Seals, either by chanting the syllables or the names of the mudra, while performing the kuji-kiri version of the seals.
Badass Normal: Unlike Raikou and Kintoki, he's completely human. Despite this, Raikou herself considered him the most powerful warrior amongst humans.
Belated Love Epiphany: He admired a kind and beautiful noblewoman all his life, but it was only when he found her corpse that he finally realized he loved her.
Big Brother Mentor: As a senior retainer of Raikou, he's this to Kintoki, who even calls him "aniki".
Consummate Professional: This is essentially his personality in a nutshell. He's polite, reserved, and focuses on accomplishing any tasks assigned to him to the best of his ability. He's considered the most reliable of Raikou's retainers for this reason and why Kintoki looks up to him as a mentor.
Critical Hit Class: Tsuna first two skills increase the C. Star Gather Rate for his Buster and Arts cards respectively. His first skill, which is a variation of Eternal Arms Mastery, also increases his Critical Strength for 3 hits for 3 turns.
Elemental Powers: Tsuna represents the fire, alongside Raikou and Kintoki's lightning, Sadamitsu-no-Usui's ice and Urabe-no-Suetake's wind. All of their elements and weapons are used in Raikou's Noble Phantasm.
Elite Four: Like Kintoki, Tsuna is one of Raikou's Four Heavenly Kings ("Shitennoh"), alongside the yet unreleased Sadamitsu-no-Usui and Urabe-no-Suetake.
Empowered Badass Normal: During "Hell Mandala, Heiankyo", he has Medea Lily supply him with support magecraft to further enhance his already superhuman fighting skills. With her providing the minimum support, he's able to soundly overpower Servants like Danzo and his fellow Heavenly King Kintoki.
Flaming Sword: He constantly ignites his sword to either launch a Sword Beam of flames or to strike his target directly with his now-on-fire weapon.
Gameplay and Story Integration: Tsuna admits in his bond 4 line that he is not very good at fighting anything that is not an oni. In gameplay, he is a mediocre unit in a category with many free competitors that outperform him - unless the opponent is an oni, in which case his Situational Sword kicks in and makes his damage go through the roof.
Watanabe-no-Tsuna: If you ask me, it's much harder to slice up humans than oni or demonic beings, but not many agree with me... Even Kintoki looks at me like I'm this crazy person...
The Ghost: Never made a physical appearance in the game for several years before his playable debut, though was mentioned multiple times in relation to Kintoki, Raikou, and of course Ibaraki.
Hypocrite: In Heiankyo, he lambasts Kintoki for letting Shuten live and not being more decisive as a Genji Warrior in ending an Oni's life. Keep in mind that earlier, he let Ibaraki-Douji off with just a lopped off arm and doesn't attempt hunting her down due to the reminders of his own old love.
Iaijutsu Practitioner: His Noble Phantasm involves using one of these, though he distinguishes himself from other similar techniques by lighting his sword on fire while it's still in the scabbard as he draws it.
The Lancer: To the much more straightforwardly heroic and amiable Kintoki.
The Lost Lenore: He was in love with a noblewoman until she died in an oni attack. His wish to bring her back was part of the reason he participated in the events of "Hell Mandala, Heiankyo".
Playing with Fire: Tsuna uses fire powers, which is prominently seen with his red-glowing sword, in contrast to the Lightning used by Kintoki and Raikou.
Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Downplayed compared to other characters this happens to, but by his Third Ascension, his hair is slightly longer and free flowing.
Pretty Boy: Is revealed to be one, which justifies the teasing Ibaraki gets when he's mentioned.
Punch-Clock Hero: His profile notes that he doesn't hate oni, it's just his job to kill them. "If he were born in modern times, he would be the equivalent of a businessman who does his job perfectly (and always leaves work on time)." Unless that oni's name is Ibaraki-Douji.
Single-Stroke Battle: Though unlike some other Servants with a similar concept for their Noble Phantasm, he ends his with a much more dramatic flair as the enemy is engulfed in a pillar of flames once he makes the strike.
Situational Sword: His Noble Phantasm does a flat 200% Extra Damage against Oni enemies on top of scaling Special Attack against enemies with the [Demonic] Trait based on Overcharge. It's brought up that the man is so focused on his job of demon-slaying, he actually has a harder time fighting non-oni opponents despite oni being in theory stronger than humans.
Staking the Loved One: His Bond CE implies that his cutting Ibaraki's arm off was mercy because he let her go. But then she kept killing other people and suffering as an oni so then he had to kill her. Why he initially let her go is not said, but it's implied he had some connection to her.
Starter Mon: As of May 11th, 2022^noteJP only right now, Tsuna and Lakshmi Bai have replaced Siegfried and Suzuka Gozen as the starter Sabers.
The Stoic: For the most part, his disposition is cool and reserved which is reflected by his low number of expressions across his Ascensions, contrasting most newer Servants that tend to have far more. He doesn’t even raise his voice when using his Noble Phantasm like most other Servants do. He seems to be aware of this and considers himself aggressively boring to be around.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: While many characters from "Pseudo-Parallel World: The Stage of Carnage, Shimousa" return in "Naraka Mandala, Heiankyo", Tsuna fills in the role of a stoic and grey-haired samurai with a Single-Stroke Battle Noble Phantasm previously held by Tajima-no-kami.
Tangled Family Tree: Historical, before he started the Watanabe branch clan, he was born as Minamoto-no-Tsuna of the Saga Genji^note and he was also the step nephew of Minamoto-no-Raikou of the Seiwa Genji^note. The ages of Raikou and Tsuna were only ~5 years apart.
Unseen No More: Mentioned multiple times throughout F/GO over the years, but was otherwise The Ghost. He finally received a design and became a Servant with the release of "Naraka Mandala, Heiankyo".
Van Helsing Hate Crimes: Defied. He expresses sympathy for Servants like the Archer of Inferno with oni blood, suggesting their lives are probably difficult as a result, and flat-out states that, so long as they struggle to live like human beings instead of savage monsters, he doesn't mind leaving them in peace. He's also okay with Suzuka, but she tries so hard to be human he thinks she might have a screw or two loose.
World's Best Warrior: As stated by Kintoki, Raikou herself considers Tsuna to be the "single most powerful warrior in the entire human world". Note the "human" part, since things get much murkier when nonhumans like herself and Kintoki get thrown into the mix, but that's still high praise indeed.
You Don't Look Like You: Remember the red blade that Raikou wields in her Noble Phantasm◊? That is meant to be Onikiri Yasutsuna, Tsuna's oni-slaying sword. You might not realize it as the sword looks vastly different between the two wielders, only sharing the coloration which even then isn't that telling as Tsuna's version comes off it being a Hot Blade rather than naturally red.

Yagyu Tajima-no-kami Munenori

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/103200a.png

Guardian of Tajima

^{Second Ascension}

^{Third Ascension}

^{Final Ascension}

^{Traveling Outfit}

^{Travel Journal}

^{April Fool's}

^{April Fool's Fate/Grail League}

Voiced by: Kazuhiro Yamaji

Illustrator: Furumi Showichi

"Saber, Yagyu Tajima-no-kami Munenori. From here on, I shall serve you as my lord. I intend to follow you orders... no matter what they may be."

One of the strongest swordsmen of the Yagyu clan and the retainer and top advisor of Tokugawa Ieyasu and his sucessors Hidetada and Iemitsu, and father of Yagyu Jubei.

He appears in "Pseudo-Parallel World: The Stage of Carnage, Shimousa" as the living man himself, and plays... a significant role. He later shows up as an ally in "Tokugawa Restoration Labyrinth: Ooku".

Balance Buff: He received a Rank Up Quest for the Saber Wars II event rerun that buffed Suigetsu B to B++, reducing a turn off the cooldown and adding a Crit Damage buff to it.
Bare-Handed Blade Block: Was so good at this that it's one of his Personal Skills. He pulls it off in-story during "Tokugawa Restoration Labyrinth: Ooku" when, due to his sword still being sealed thanks to just being freed from the Ooku pillar he was being assimilated into, he catches the naginata blade of the Lynchpin Maid between his bare hands. Mash is in shock, while Sion excitedly names the technique as "mutou-tori."
Bling of War: As shown in third ascension, he begins to wear a stylish yoroi (traditional samurai armor), as befits a high-level daimyo retained by the Tokugawa family itself. That said, it's definitely less flashy (compared to that of many other samurai throughout the centuries) and looks very utilitarian—as befits his sword-school's aesthetic.
Blood Knight: Subverted. At first, Yagyu freely admits he never enjoyed the art of the sword and only mastered it as a tool of killing and thus didn't bother to learn or incorporate any flashy techniques into his fighting style to reflect this. However, his battle with Musashi awakened the long-buried desire, to the point he was willing to betray everything he ever stood for to get the chance to face her again and finish their duel.
"I believed that, in the end, the way of the sword is the way of killing, no matter how you dress it up. That there was no special meaning to be found in it... and thus, no value to be sought in life. But I was wrong. It was only at this age, after dueling [Musashi], that I realized the truth. The mystique of the duel. The feeling of life and death intertwining in a single moment. The time when your mind and your opponent's mind occupy the same space. And I realized... the way of the sword is actually quite fun."
Consummate Professional: In "Pseudo-Parallel World: The Stage of Carnage, Shimousa", as he's explaining why he fell into becoming Saber of Empíreo, he admits all his life he viewed his swordsmanship as simply a tool of killing and never found joy in the art itself, and so he refined it to an art of slaying as quickly as possible. It was only when he faced Musashi in a duel did he truly come to understand and enjoy the thrill of the clash of blades.
Cool Old Guy: He looks considerably older than a lot of the servants, but he is still an incredibly powerful swordsman who can go toe to toe with the other Sabers through sheer skill alone.
Dead All Along: His Interlude seemingly concludes with him and his son Yagyu Jubei debating whether or not he could beat Miyamoto Musashi in a fight. Jubei is actually just visiting his father's grave.
Death Glare: He has such an intense ki around him that him just staring at the Protagonist paralyzes them for a moment, and even Kotarou gets chills on his back.
Detect Evil: In his My Room dialogue, if you have Christopher Columbus, he'll refer to him as a fiend the same way he referred to Gilles de Rais and Sessyoin Kiara, despite Columbus being usually the guy who hides his darker nature with positive attitude.
Early-Bird Cameo: Appears in a flashback in Musashi's trial quest several months before he would make his proper debut, having fought Musashi in a duel that forces her to retreat due to underestimating him. It is, in fact, the exact same Tajima-no-kami who the whole crew later encounters in "Pseudo-Parallel World: The Stage of Carnage, Shimousa".
Embarrassing Nickname: As a child, he was called "Ryuutan" after one Kanji in his first name and surname. He himself doesn't find it embarassing and he is rather confused to his Master reacting to that nickname.
Enlightenment Superpowers: Through his tireless practice with the blade, Yagyu achieved a level of zen enlightment akin to Musashi's Zero, called Suigetsu. His honed mind allowed him to resist becoming part of Ooku long enough for the heroes to arrive and rescue him.
Even Evil Has Standards: As Saber of Empíreo, despite joining them and being complicit in their genocide against those whom he served, Caster of Limbo and his unapologetically evil and sadistic personality so disgusts him that he killed him on the spot when the Caster wanted to ambush Musashi after his official defeat.
Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He is rarely ever called by his name. Most characters refer to him by his title "Tajima-no-kami", which Musashi and Tomoe sometimes shorten to "old man Tajima" or just "Lord Tajima". In most of his appearances throughout the game, the dialogue boxes refer to him as "Yagyu Tajima-no-kami", leaving his given name out. The number of times he's actually referred to by his name can be counted on one hand, e.g. when Musashi refers to him as "Lord Yagyu" once near the end of the "Pseudo-Parallel World: The Stage of Carnage, Shimousa", or in "The Tale of Setsubun: Oni Pagoda Festival". This is averted with his Servant Universe counterpart who is referred to as "Dark Samurai MUNENORI". Also averted by Chaldea's key members (the Protagonist, Mash, Da Vinci), who call him "Yagyu".
Exact Words: He gets out of the Las Vegas Summer Event by claiming "only those clad in swimsuits are fit to enter this Singularity". It would be a while before the heroes realized he never actually said they couldn't rayshift in, just that they'd stand out.
Fights Like a Normal: Tajima-no-kami has all the common stat up privileges of being a Saber, but compared to other Sabers, he doesn't have anything like Mana Burst, a Holy Sword, Mystic Eyes, or supernatural techniques to swing things in his favor. For him, it's nothing but pure swordsmanship and a bit of guile to know where to strike, much like any other mundane swordsmen. This is even reflected in his attack animations, which are little more than simple kenjutsu moves.
Foil: Gameplay-wise, he serves as one to the other Arts-based Saber here, Lancelot du Lac. While Lancelot's design allows him to hit as hard and fast as possible (with one Critical Hit after another), using his multiple sword swings (as befits the sword-style of most knights), Tajima-no-kami's HP build and skill set focuses more on survivability, debuffing/deceiving enemies and select key hits from his katana (as traditional kenjutsu tends to do).
Fragile Speedster: His Endurance is E, while his Strength is at a decent B. However, he's also the fastest Servant so far, with a staggering A++ in Agility (albeit, which he can only fully display while using his quick draw. However, he can reduce one enemy's ATK by a whopping 100% in-gameplay, which means he actually is quite tanky.
Genius Bruiser: While he's known primarily for his phenomenal swordsmanship, Tokugawa also trusted Tajima-no-kami deeply for his incredible political and tactical insight as a "demon of rationality", raising his otherwise unremarkable clan to one of the most esteemed in Japan by plotting to have his students teach influential daimyo. In a more sympathetic example, Tajima-no-kami once desperately tried to prevent Itakura Shigemasa, a feudal lord and ally to Tokugawa Iemitsu, from leaving on a punitive expedition, knowing that it would end in Shigemasa's death. Sure enough, it happened.
Historical Badass Upgrade: Sure, he's still one of the most famous swordsmen to ever grace Japan, but as a Servant he's doubly badass, to the point that even Musashi, who can bend fate itself with her Empyrean Eye, is wary of fighting him.
Historical Beauty Update: Averted as his artwork is quite realistic: it is not too far off from the traditional wooden statue of him in the Yagyu family◊ temple in present-day Nara.
Historical Villain Upgrade: Since "Pseudo-Parallel World: The Stage of Carnage, Shimousa" is based on the Makai Tensho novels and Musashi is supposed to be a stand-in for Mitsuyoshi there, Tajima-no-kami in that Missing Belt had to play the villain, proven with how he was the Token Human of the Heroic Spirit Swordmasters and yet was actually the Mole in Charge against the Shogunate he was supposed to serve, including being complicit in the genocide with the help of the villains, all for a selfish desire to have a fine duel with Musashi, though compared to the usual vilifying of Tajima-no-kami in other medias, this is rather tame, since he also showed genuine pride and honor as a swordsman, some standards when it comes to being a villain, and the reason he ended up that way was because Musashi provoked him into battle during their first encounter in her Trial Quest, which triggered his desire for the duel. Averted for the normal Tajima-no-kami that joined Chaldea, who had a more heroic role in the "Tokugawa Kaiten Labyrinth: Ooku" event and is an all-around Cool Old Guy.
I Have Many Names: In My Room, he tells the protagonist that he doesn't mind being called "Yagyu", "Tajima", "Munenori" or "Ryutan".
Iaijutsu Practitioner: His Buster attacks have him rush at his foe with a quick draw if he's far away or stepping back to do the same if he's up close. For that matter, his own Noble Phantasm is basically one well-timed, refined draw.
In the Hood: He wears a purple cloak as Saber of Empíreo to hide his identity for most of "Pseudo-Parallel World: The Stage of Carnage, Shimousa".
Katanas Are Just Better: As one of the finest swordsmen in Japan's history, he naturally wields a katana. While its name is not known, his skill with it allows him to clash with other, powerful Servants and their Noble Phantasms.
Lamarck Was Right: Both of his sons became legendary swordsmen in their own right.
Leitmotif: "His Excellency", a simple but imposing tune with Japanese instrumentation representing how he is the highest authority in Shimousa the protagonists run into. It has a Triumphant Reprise in "Tokugawa Kaiten Labyrinth: Ooku" when he obtains the anti-Tokugawa Muramasa blade to wield against Kama/Mara.
Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: On his final Break Bar as a boss fight in "Pseudo-Parallel World: The Stage of Carnage, Shimousa", Tajima-no-kami gains a huge irremovable damage reduction buff against normal attacks, but he will buff the player's active party with an NP Gain buff, helping Servants exploit his remaining vulnerability to Noble Phantasms.
Lightning Bruiser: Compared to Saber Lancelot, Tajima-no-kami trades in critical damage in exchange for having an evasion skill as well as a hefty Attack debuff against the enemy, while still having powerful damage output with his Noble Phantasm and Arts cards.
Lonely at the Top: His reputation as peerless in kenjutsu was very accurate. He had complete and overwhelming advantage over Musashi in their short bout in her Trial Quest. However, since this was the first mildly challenge duel he had in years, he was willing to even be complicit in genocide for a chance to challenge her again in Shimousa no Kuni.
Master Swordsman: He's called a "Sword Saint" by Musashi, the most famous swords(wo)man in Japan, who flees rather than face him in combat. Given Musashi's prowess, this says a lot about him. There was even a story where he cut down seven men in an instant to protect the shogun. Tokugawa Iemitsu also called Tajima-no-kami "Peerless in Swordsmanship" after his death. He even invented an entirely new sword-style, the Yagyu Shinkageryu, from the "outdated" Shinkageryu style.
Non-Standard Character Design: He stands out with his very realistic and minimalistic design, looking more like an NPC than a playable Servant.
Not So Above It All:
- His Interlude opens with it being noted he's been using the simulator for hours on end every day setting it to random places, prompting the protagonist to get a party together to see what's going on. As it turns out, he was using the simulator to simulate traveling around the world in various times and places to indulge in the sights and foods of the times. Although it was also to hunt down and kill a shade of the Caster of Limbo too.
- In "Chaldea Thriller Night", Tomoe notes he was the one who taught her the VR Shinkageryu style.
  It was at that moment that Chiyome realized Tajima-no-kami may just have the most rock 'n' roll mindset of any Heroic Spirit in Chaldea.
Old Master: One of the most prominent figures and leaders of a real-life kenjutsu school that is still active to this day.
Old Retainer: He's clearly getting on in the years compared to most other Sabers, but he can throw down with the best of them.
The One Guy: He's the only male servant allying with you in "Tokugawa Kaiten Labyrinth: Ooku". He explains that his path as a samurai makes it so that he has to turn down any unnecessary desires, which proves to be a convenience in the labyrinth where Kama is deliberately making any visitors drown in their desires as a part to achieve her goals.
Overly Long Name: Yagyu Tajima-no-kami Munenori. It's so long that O-Tama cannot remember his full name.
Red Baron: In addition to "Saber of Empíreo", he was also known as "The Lion Who Bore No Fangs" and "Peerless in Swordsmanship".
Samurai: Probably the single straightest example in the series.
Simple, yet Awesome: As it was in history, Tajima-no-kami's fighting style doesn't have Musashi's maverick flair or acrobatics, but it is terribly effective in its simplicity. He uses simple overhead swings, diagonal cuts, straight thrusts, and quick draws, but his sheer mastery of these moves is enough to make Musashi think twice about taking him on in a fight. Even his Noble Phantasm is nothing more than a simple Single-Stroke Battle performed with such skill that it's virtually a surefire kill, a far cry from the reality-defying techniques of his fellow samurai counterparts. In addition, unlike most Sabers, Tajima-no-kami lacks a Sword Beam, but his swordsmanship alone is enough to carry the day.
Single-Stroke Battle: His Noble Phantasm has him take out his katana to do just one cut at the enemy. However, it's such a swift cut that it's nigh-on impossible to react to.
Start of Darkness: At first, Tajima-no-kami was content with his usual daily routine as a Master Swordsman and a servant of the Tokugawa Shogunate, even if he's a bit lonely about it. Then Musashi intruded to his life and in his attempt to arrest her for trespassing, they ended up having a tough duel that Tajima-no-kami began to realize that he relishes in the thrill of battle against a Worthy Opponent like her and would do anything to experience that again. And hence, he allowed himself to become Saber Empireo and betray the Shogunate just so he could duel Musashi again.
Status-Buff Dispel: His gimmick as Saber of Empíreo when dueling Musashi is that every attack he does has a chance of removing all buffs.
Thanatos Gambit: His Servant Universe version pretends to betray Astarte to sacrifice her to revive the Goddess of Origin, but he knows that the heroes will kill him for it, making himself the sacrifice.
Worthy Opponent: Though he never fought or met Musashi, he was aware of his existence and subsequently became interested in the possibility of fighting the female Musashi in Shimousa despite her not being the Musashi of his world.
"Although I have no concerns with the tall tales of such things as being the greatest swordsman under heaven... you must be cut. No matter what, I must cut you down."

Yamanami Keisuke

General Secretary of the Shinsengumi

^{Second Ascension}

^{Third Ascension}

^{Final Ascension}

^{Event Attire}

^{April Fool's Fate/Grail League}

Voiced by: Daisuke Hirakawa

Illustrator: Kibadori Rue

"Yamanami Keisuke, General Secretary of the Shinsengumi, has answered your summons. I may not have much to offer, but I shall serve you with all my heart and soul, Master. I look forward to working with you."

One of the vice-chiefs alongside Hijikata Toshizou and later secretary-general of The Shinsengumi. Known for his calm, gentle personality, his swordsmanship still lived up to the Shinsengumi name. On February, Genji 2, he deserted for unclear reasons but was detained, and then committed seppuku.

He first appears in the 5th GUDAGUDA event, "The Great Ancient Shinsengumi Legend GUDAGUDA Yamataikoku".

Alternate Character Reading: His name can be read as "Sannan Keisuke".
Beware the Nice Ones: He is "Yamanami the Kind" and the voice of reason among the more Hot-Blooded members, but still a central part of the Shinsengumi who partakes in assassination, murder and the like nonetheless. One of his Extra Attack quotes is literally "Don’t… make me angry!!".
Badass Bookworm: He was the secretary-general of Shinsengumi, a position that brings to mind more brains than brawn, and looks the part with his Nerd Glasses. Oryou also notes that he's so delicate he looks like he might break in half if she punches him. However, his swordsmanship is still comparable to anyone else in the Shinsengumi, and one of his attack animation is surprisingly brutal.
Breaking Old Trends: He's the first of the Shinsengumi characters to have a support Noble Phantasm instead of an offensive one.
Cherry Blossoms: The flower is featured prominently in his Noble Phantasm Yamazakura (lit. Mountain Cherry Blossoms) as a reference to the poem his close friend Ito Kashitaro composed in mourning of his death. They also show up in the background of his Third Ascension art.
Cool Mask: Gains a mouth mask in his Second Ascension, making him seem much more intimidating.
Cultured Badass: In addition to being a Warrior Poet, his dialogue as shopkeeper in "GUDAGUDA Shin-Yamataikoku" mentions that he is learning tea ceremony.
Cute Little Fangs: Has a small fang that can only be seen when he opens his mouth wide, adding a streak of cuteness to his otherwise proper appearance.
Face Death with Dignity:
- The description of his bond CE Forward is a personal letter accepting his impending seppuku and urging the Shinsengumi to continue on together.
- His Final Ascension art is him smiling at a bird perched outside the window of an enclosed room, implying that this was prior to his death by seppuku similar to Charlotte's.
Flower Motif: Aside from what’s listed in Cherry Blossoms above, "mountain cherry blossom" has been used as a metaphor for him by both his friend Ito Kashitaro in the poem and by the game itself. The "mountain" (Yama) is the first part of his surname (Yamanami), whereas the cherry blossom symbolizes how he was swept away by the waves of the current situation and died via seppuku when he was only 32.
Friend to All Children: He mentions that he likes children, feeling healed by their innocent smiles, and used to play with the kids at the temple's grounds together with Okita in their past life.
Graceful Loser: He calmly accepts his and Serizawa's loss against the protagonist’s party near the end of Yamataitoku, stating that Serizawa's path too isn’t the one to save Japan. Unfortunately for him, Serizawa doesn't feel the same.
Handicapped Badass: He has an old injury on his arm from a previous job that sometimes makes it difficult to handle a sword, and one of his shopkeeper dialogue in "GUDAGUDA Shin-Yamataikoku" is him asking the Master to assist him with handling some items. Doesn't stop him from breaking the enemy's neck with his bare hands.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: He’s very humble about his abilities, sometimes to the point of self-depreciation, and thinks of himself as both a coward and a traitor to the Shinsengumi.
"The kind one, Sannan-san... I'm not that type of person. I was just a coward.”
Last-Name Basis: Like all members of the Shinsengumi, he's referred to by his surname.
Loved by All: When he abandoned the Shinsengumi, he was so well-liked nobody took pleasure in hunting him down on principle. Okita angrily and sadly points out she would have let him keep running if he didn't stop to fight her, even stating Hijitaka would have let it slide if it came to pass.
Master Swordsman: He studied Ono-ha Ittō-ryū as well as Hokushin Ittō-ryū under one of the last Sword Saints of Japan - Chiba Shusaku Narimasa, and make no mistake, he's not on Okita's or Saito’s level but he was still good enough to lead an entire group of masters.
Nerd Glasses: Wears a pair of glasses, which gives him an air of sophistication the other Shinsengumi lack.
Nice Guy: Known and admired for his incredible kindness despite being a vice commander of the Shinsengumi, and it is translated into his third skill, "The Kind One".
Not Quite Dead: Despite being sacrificed to summon Kukochihiko, he turns out to have come back, albeit still dying, to drag both himself and Serizawa to destruction. At the last moment, Serizawa pushes him out of the portal, letting him die normally while Serizawa turns to dust.
Pretty Boy: Compared to Hijitaka or Saito, Yamanami leans much more on the delicate side of beauty thanks to his softer facial features.
Promoted to Playable: Two years after his debut, Yamanami becomes a playable unit for the seventh GudaGuda event, Neo Yamataikoku.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Hijikata's red, being the more serene, amicable vice-commander of the two.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He deserted from Shinsengumi, which led to him being punished with seppuku once he was detained. It’s said that because of his kind-hearted nature, he was worn out by all of the corps’ infighting and internal purge that happened after they followed Kondo, and his desire to escape the overwhelming guilt and regrets overrode his sense of reason, causing him to run away before he even realized it.
Suicide Attack: Not quite an "attack", but according to his profile, his Noble Phantasm originally was a suicidal one that cast away his entire Spirit Origin in return for buffing his allies. It was sublimated into an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm once he accepted and acknowledged his past.
The Teetotaler: He notes in "The Great Ancient Shinsengumi Legend GUDAGUDA Yamataikoku" that he makes a point to stay sober after being offered a drink by Serizawa and declining. Serizawa rather dryly notes Yamanami is still "a stick in the mud".
Warrior Poet: A graceful man who excels both in literary and martial arts. His first skill is even named "Warrior But Literate". One of his Noble Phantasm quotes is him chanting Haiku.

Yamato Takeru

The Prince of Boundless Azure

^{Second Ascension}

^{Third Ascension}

^{Final Ascension}

Voiced by: Hibiku Yamamura

Illustrator: Rei Wataru

"Servant, Saber. I have hurried to visit this place. O powerless one, I shall become your strength!"

Famed prince of Japanese legend, they were born as Prince Ousu. A conqueror wielding the legendary Kusanagi, one of Three Imperial Regalia of Japan, they slaughtered any in their path be they man, god, demon, or their kin, they laid a trail of blood wherever they went. Yamato Takeru was a name that was given as a way to mock them, a name that meant the Brave of Yamato for the coward who by dressing as a maid killed the Kumaso during a banquet.

Every brutal act they did was a way to gain their father's approval, even killing their own brother. Years of constant bloodshed left the prince hollow with only their wife, Ototachibana-hime, as a source of solace. Yet that too was taken from them when the angered Watatsumi caused the seas to turn brutal, she sacrificed herself to the waves to allow her beloved to pass which left Takeru alone. When Yamato Takeru died it was said that they turned into a great white bird.

Yamato Takeru first appeared in Fate/Samurai Remnant as the Servant of the protagonist, Miyamoto Iori. While ostensibly part of the crossover event between Samurai Remnant and Fate/Grand Order, they debuted a couple weeks ahead of the event as the New Year's 2024 Servant.

Achilles' Heel: Snake gods. More specifically, the Great God of Mt. Ibuki, as Takeru was cursed to death from illness after angering said god. So while Takeru possesses an affinity for killing snake gods due to their legend of killing a white snake god, they're just as likely to be killed by one. Their line for Ibuki-douji has them panicking at the sight of her, only to be embarrassed when she subjects them to a Marshmallow Hell Bear Hug.
Takeru: [in their First Ascension] Geh!? The Divine Child of the Revered Mountain...N-no, Ibuki-douji! You're too close—Too close, too close, way too close!? Uu, guh...when she hugs me, my whole body starts creaking...
The Aloner: In life, Takeru was a bloody, lonely conqueror wielded like a weapon by their father against Yamato's enemies. Their brother and the kings of foreign lands would fall before their blade. Even their beloved wife, Ototachibana-hime, sacrificed herself to appease the sea god Wadatsumi for the sake of Takeru's expeditions. This is reflected in their first skill, which recharges Takeru's NP gauge by 25% whenever an ally is defeated.
Ambiguous Gender: While a man in real life, here in Fate, their gender is never confirmed. They only ever use the gender-neutral pronoun "watashi" in casual conversation along with more archaic pronouns like "waga". In the animated short accompanying the New Year's stream, they enjoy a hot springs bath with Musashi (who probably wouldn't mind a mixed bath anyways), though whether Takeru is in the women's bath with her or in a men's bath next door is not shown. In Takeru's home game, they don't respond negatively to being called a "damsel" but are still identified as a prince serving Emperor Keiko. Like previous Servants of ambiguous gender identity, Takeru can both give and receive chocolate on Valentine's Day, having two separate scenarios for the male and female versions of the event.
And You Were There: This Takeru comes straight from of the events of Samurai Remnant, while the rest of the Fate cast featured in that game do not (excepting Musashi, who has a different problem). Takeru is a little despondent that none of Chaldea's familiar faces recognize them, not aware that these are all different Servants from the ones seen in the Waxing Moon Ritual.
Battle Amongst the Flames: Their 3rd Ascension's Extra attack features them recreating the burning field they were trapped in by assassins until Yamato Takeru discovered the power of Kusanagi, where it blew away the flames.
Blade Spam: In their Third Ascension, they can swing the Amenomurakumo-no-Tsurugi once in a Quick attack, only for the target to suffer a series of nearly simultaneously cuts before Takeru finishes with a Sword Beam.
BFS: The Amenomurakumo-no-Tsurugi is much longer than their usual sword, with the pommel reaching their eyes when they perform a Sword Plant with it.
Blow You Away: Kusanagi has the ability to control the wind, although Takeru uses water more often.
Braids of Action: Takeru is a Warrior Prince described as a One-Man Army and wears their hair in a braided ponytail.
Boss Subtitles: During certain fights in the Fate/Samurai Remnant collaboration, the two fighters are introduced with nanori like they are in Samurai Remnant itself. For the vast majority of these fights, they're introduced as "Saber, Hero of the Boundless Azure". During the final fight against the imitation Tree of Emptiness, Waxing Moon, they're introduced as "Yamato Takeru, the Righteous Prince".
Comfort Food: Takeru's favorite food is the simple breakfast set that Iori and Kaya always made for them on the mornings of the Waxing Moon Ritual. Consisting of miso soup, pickled vegetables, roasted dried scad, and a heaping serving of boiled rice, the breakfast set brings Takeru fond memories of their first summoning. They like it so much that they make it for the protagonist as a Valentine's Day gift, spending a sizable amount of time practicing how to make it and having Iori critique it.
Commonality Connection: Takeru's line for Caenis implies that they instantly hit it off over their mutual hatred for the sea gods of their homelands, to the point that Caenis proposes the creation of a "Sea God Slaughtering Alliance".
Cool Sword: Their second Noble Phantasm is the Amenomurakumo-no-Tsurugi, the blade gifted to Amaterasu by Susanoo after the storm god found it within the body of the Yamata-no-Orochi. Those who wield its full power temporarily become one with the World and become akin to a god. The weapon is so cool that Muramasa will ask for a chance to observe it, as it's exactly the kind of Divine Construct he's trying to recreate.
Crazy Jealous Guy: Has shades of this towards Iori. In "Waxing Moon Clashing Swords Chronicles", if Iori and Yui go on a walk together, both the protagonist and Yamato will follow them, with Yamato acting like a jealous boyfriend. In Iori's valentine's scene, they get caught spying on Iori giving his gift to the protagonist and becomes flustered when Iori asks for their reasons for spying on them.
Criss-Cross Attack: Several of Takeru's attacks involve surrounding their foe with pillars of water before rapidly Wall Jumping off said pillars to slash their foe from multiple directions.
Deity of Human Origin: They were deified as the Great Bird, Otori, after the legend that they became a swan and flew away following their death. Their Third Ascension's Saint Graph also bolsters their divinity.
Don't Call Me "Sir": Inverted. Takeru asks if they can call the protagonist by name because the idea of calling another "Master" is just uncomfortable for them. Despite this, they call the protagonist by their title while enjoying Chaldea's cafeteria food.
Drunk with Power: Subverted. In their Third Ascension, Takeru's Divinity grows and they begin openly wielding the Amenomurakumo-no-Tsurugi. Their lines are noticeably more cocky and lean toward their initial Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy characterization as seen at the beginning of their home game. Takeru admits that they're worried about becoming reverting to their "old self" in this Saint Graph despite the boost in power, but the protagonist tells them that they're no harder to approach than they were before.
Experienced Protagonist: They're the central ally in the Samurai Remnant collab event and have already experienced the events of their home game. As a result, they approach the Singularity post-Character Development and are much warmer and more open than the intiial Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy they were on their first summoning. They showcase their improved empathy by not only admitting to their wrongdoings as a conqueror but owning up to them while trying to do better, even sparing Spartacus while having him dead to rights. Both Takeru and the Crimson Codex are also averse to mentioning the critical events of the Waxing Moon Ritual to Iori, lest he once again walk down the path of the Entreat the Darkness ending.
Expy: Of Altria. They're a gluttonous Saberface, royalty, wield a legendary sword, and were the main protagonist's Servant in their debut series. Fittingly, some real world scholars have compared Yamato Takeru and King Arthur to each other.
Fire-Forged Friends: Takeru's Bond CE is the tenement room where they spent their days with their best friend and former Master, Iori. The Craft Essence describes the time they spent with Iori as the days Takeru holds dearest. Their bond lines in their Third Ascension also have them say that they met people they could love from the bottom of their heart after being summoned in Samurai Remnant, almost certainly referring to Iori, Kaya, Musashi, and their other allies.
Gameplay and Story Integration:
- Their Noble Phantasm, Eight-Currents Raging Storm, is unique in that it inflicts a whopping 50% Arts resistance debuff only on the primary target even though the attack hits all enemies on the field. This reflects the lore: the Noble Phantasm is an Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm whose range can be extended to an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm, but its power is still concentrated at the point of impact while lessening as the blast extends outward. In addition, they share their Noble Phantasm and Arts-focused gameplay with Summer Ibuki-douji, who wields the same sword as Takeru, as well as Muramasa (who attempts to replicate the Kusanagi but dies in the process, at least in-story).
- Takeru's reputation as a literal One-Man Army and a god-killer are both reflected in their toolkit. Their uniquely powerful single-target Arts resistance debuff lets them farm awkward battles like 1/1/3 configurations with the help of Caster Altria, while also giving them incredibly high sustained damage output in boss fights should they get an Arts Brave Chain.
Happily Married: Takeru speaks fondly of their wife, Ototachibana-hime, whom they attribute for giving them a "heart" after spending their life up to that point as an unfeeling killer for Emperor Keiko. Takeru's bond lines in their Third Ascension include seeing Ototachibana-hime again as one of the great things that came from being summoned as a Servant, while one of Takeru's defeat lines has them whispering her name in anguish. Takeru is also embarrassed on Valentine's Day should you give them chocolate, as they protest that they can't return any serious chocolate because they have a wife already. And Iori.
He Who Fights Monsters: Discussed. Takeru's bond lines in their first two Ascensions have them poring over the records of the protagonist's tribulations with Chaldea. Takeru admits that they likely would have become a ruthless killer for the sake of survival if they were in the protagonist's shoes. In their final Bond Line, Takeru declares that it's important to give it their all so the protagonist won't have to change.
Idiot Hair: Like many Saberfaces before them, Takeru has a single lock of hair sticking out of their Braids of Action. This reflects the mischievous and childish part of their personality beneath their Warrior Prince persona.
Kill the God: In life, Takeru slayed virtually every foe they came across in the name of Emperor Keiko, gods and demons among them. This is reflected in their second skill, which grants them bonus damage against divine and demonic enemies. Their receptiveness to Caenis' proposal to create a "Sea God Slaughtering Alliance" implies that Takeru has had thoughts of killing Wadatsumi for making Ototachibana-hime sacrifice herself on Takeru's behalf.
Late-Arrival Spoiler: In their home game, their True Name isn't revealed until a fair ways into the story. FGO doesn't keep it a secret at all.
Letting Her Hair Down: Takeru normally has their hair in Braids of Action, but lets it down in their Third Ascension.
Love Redeems: In their Third Ascension's bond lines, Takeru will admit that they were practically a monster with their My Master, Right or Wrong attitude and apathy toward killing others. It was not until Takeru met and married their wife, Ototachibana-hime, that Takeru gained a "heart" and the ability to truly love and care for others. From then on, they strived to be a virtuous person, though their warrior habits are hard to break.
Magic Knight: Takeru constantly incorporates water magecraft into their fighting style rather than relying solely on their prodigious swordsmanship. Whether it's riding a tidal wave or summoning a twister to descend on their foes, Takeru makes sure that their opponent has more to worry about than the edge of their blade.
Making a Splash: They're the first Servant introduced to possess the Mana Burst (Water) skill. Fittingly, almost every attack of theirs features water. They use torrents, beams, waterfalls, waves and even their Noble Phantasm have them using water to attack.
Master Swordsman: Takeru is described as "a god of the sword" by Iori and is entranced when he watches them fight.
Morph Weapon: Given their weapon's fame in Japan, Takeru normally keeps it concealed using Divine Water, a water blade Noble Phantasm akin to Altria's Invisible Air. Under the effects of Divine Water, Takeru's sword takes on the appearance of a silver flame sword. But they can only call upon their sword's full strength by releasing Divine Water to reveal the Amenomurakumo-no-Tsurugi.
Muscles Are Meaningless: Takeru's rail-thin physique is especially emphasized in their Second Ascension when they're no longer wearing loose robes that conceal their form. Despite this, they have a high A rank in Strength.
Mythology Gag: They have a number of lines referencing their encounters with Servants in their home game.
- If you have Musashi, Takeru will comment that she came here too after they last saw her drifting into the Waxing Moon Ritual.
- Takeru displays confusion if you have Jeanne or Jeanne Alter, recognizing them as the Lancer-class Servant of the Waxing Moon Ritual but also showing confusion at how different their Noble Phantasms are.
- They recognize Minamoto-no-Raikou as Ushi-Gozen, who was summoned as a Rider-class Servant by Yui Shosetsu. But they notice that she's far more motherly-looking than their last encounter.
- Takeru recognizes the presence of the Orochi within Assassin of Paradiso and is somewhat surprised to learn that she's Kouga Saburou's (the Assassin of the Waxing Moon Ritual) descendant.
- Upon meeting Tomoe Gozen, Takeru remarks that they can see why Yoshinaka the Rogue Saber of the Waxing Moon Ritual was so smitten with her and that they're a good pair.
- They also have lines for the Li Shuwen (Assassin), Cú Chulainn, and Arjuna, who were all summoned as Rogue Servants. Takeru is disappointed to learn that they don't recognize them. On the other hand, they're alarmed to see Circe and Tamamo interrogates them over where they saw Tamamo Aria.
One-Handed Zweihänder: They wield the Amenomurakumo-no-Tsurugi with one hand in most of their attacks, despite the sword being as long as they are tall.
Semi-Divine: While the Imperial Japanese Family was said to be descendants of Amaterasu, Takeru becomes enshrined as Otori, the Great Bird, after their passing, explaining their D Rank in Divinity.
Ship Tease: Takeru shows embarrassment on Valentine's Day if you give them chocolate. Not only because they're Happily Married to their wife, Ototachibana-hime, but because there's Iori, their first Master, to think about, implying that Takeru may harbor deeper feelings for Iori beyond camaraderie. If the protagonist takes Yui Shousetsu out on a date, Yamato and Iori end up going on a date themselves.
Situational Sword: Their second skill boosts Takeru's damage against divine and demonic enemies. While both are fairly wide niches, very few of them overlap.
The Social Darwinist: In life, Takeru was taught that the strong trample over the weak and fought as a conqueror on behalf of their father, Emperor Keiko. Takeru has since been striving to grow out of this mindset by using their strength to protect the weak, especially after their experiences in Samurai Remnant. But they admit that old habits die hard and have to constantly remind themselves why they carry their sword.
Sword Beam: In addition to shooting torrents of water, Takeru can swing water-like arcs as projectiles while swinging their sword. Their Noble Phantasms also involve shooting a beam of water shaped into the likeness of the Yamata-no-Orochi that explodes in a Pillar of Light on-hit.
Sword Plant: In their 3rd Ascension, they will at times stab the ground with their sword to either activate their skills or in one of their Buster animations, where they have a surge of water erupt at the enemy.
Theme Music Power-Up: The Noble Phantasm theme from their home game plays while using their NP in FGO.
Tornado Move: Some of their attack animations in their 3rd Ascension have them attack the enemy by creating tornadoes of water.
Trademark Favorite Food: They adore rice and miso, seeing them as synonymous with civilization itself. Given that they come from a time before paper money and coinage, having an abundance of rice was the same as being wealthy. They're especially impressed with the quality of the food in Chaldea's cafeteria and are eager to pour curry on top of rice.
Walk on Water: Takeru can stand atop tidal waves as they crash into their foes. They can also travel along a waterspout.
Warrior Prince: They were once Prince Ousu of the kingdom of Yamato and its greatest warrior. In their home game, their introduction subtitles are changed to "the Righteous Prince" after Iori learns Takeru's identity.
We Used to Be Friends: It's clear that Takeru still wants to treat Iori as their friend during the Samurai Remnant collab event. But their relationship is strained by the events of the "Entreat the Darkness" ending, in which Takeru is forced to kill Iori to prevent him from wishing for eternal war. Takeru tries their best to befriend Iori again, but can't help but think that the other shoe will drop if Iori obtains the Waxing Moon once more. Their relationship is repaired by the end of the event, with Takeru hanging out with Iori like old times despite Iori still having no recollection of the events of the Waxing Moon Ritual.

Characters / Fate Grand Order Sabers S To Z

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