Characters as they are depicted in Fate/type Redline.
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Masters of the Imperial Capital Holy Grail War (Shōwa 20; 1945)
Kanata Akagi
Kanata Akagi
The Master of Saber and the hero of the story from the country of Japan in 2020 A.D. Although he was born to a family of magi, his potential is middling at best and his father purposely kept him from learning magecraft to save him from a life of suffering. While helping his father liquidate his grandmother's house, he's suddenly dropped into Showa era Japan and becomes Saber's Master while trying to make sense of it all.
- Audience Surrogate: Kanata is largely indifferent to the world of magi and needs to be briefed on the basics of the Holy Grail War, introducing them to the audience at the same time.
- But I Read a Book About It: When Tsukumo asks if he has any previous experience stitching body parts together since he did such a good job at it, Kanata thinks to himself that thankfully he read Black Jack in the past to do so.
- Changed My Jumper: Due to his unplanned trip through time, Kanata is still wearing his clothes from the modern-day. Tsukumo mocks him for his "strange clothing" and calls him a country bumpkin because of this, but he doesn't attract much attention otherwise. His smartphone is mistaken for a rather colorful block of painted wood. Subverted and exploited against Assassin. Kanata throws his phone at him as a distraction while preparing to use a Command Spell. Assassin could have easily cut it apart but was so baffled by its appearance that he mistakes it for a Mystic Code and is put on edge by how it simply floated in the air due to Kanata's magecraft instead of returning to the ground. This moment of hesitation nearly allows Saber to stab Assassin from behind with the help of Kanata's Command Spell.
- Country Mouse: Because of his Naïve Newcomer status, Tsukumo mistakes him for one given his wide-eyed fascination with being suddenly thrust into Japan in 1945.
- Disney Death: Kanata is slowly fading from existence due to Tsukumo being mortally wounded. He tries to hold on, but his memories are fading. Then he hears Saber's voice and remembers her, and his body goes back to normal.
- Diving Save: He tackles Tsukumo out of the way of Soldier's attacks, inadvertently summoning Saber in the process.
- The Everyman: Like Shirou and Aoko before him, he's known about magic for as long as he can remember due to his family, but he was never raised in it and thus is an amateur mage. His father, whose mother (Kanata's grandmother) was a mage, was born without magic circuits like many of their recent family members and raised Kanata away from the dangerous nature of mages so that he could live normally.
- Expy: To Kohaku, his counterpart in the original version. Both are the masters of Saber/Okita by accident and members of a declining line of mages.
- Fading Away: After Saber assassinated all soldiers from the Imperial Japanese Army, his left hand is starting to fade out of existence as the result of Tsukumo's encounter with Assassin. Should Tsukumo actually die of her injuries, this means he and his father would have never been born. He stabilizes when he manages to rescue Tsukumo.
- Faking Amnesia: In order to hide the fact from Tsukumo that he is from the future and that he is also her grandson, Kanata tells her that he has amnesia. Chapter 19 suggests that he actually got Laser-Guided Amnesia around the time his grandma (the aged Tsukumo) collapsed and that something was done to him which resulted in him not feeling discomfort when using his magic crest, something the young Tsukumo deems dangerous and immoral.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: He's a teen from modern-day Japan who is dropped into the Shōwa era completely by accident. As a result, people call his clothes "weird" and are baffled when he asks what year it is. He also still has his smartphone, which vendors mistake for a "strange piece of wood".
- Foil: To Shirou. Where Shirou is driven by his conviction to become a "hero of justice", Kanata doesn't really have any convictions of his own; he's only in the Holy Grail War by chance, and only wants to win because otherwise he'll be killed.
- Gaining the Will to Kill: Discussed. Kanata comes from a comparatively peaceful time and is thrust into the bloodbath that is a Holy Grail War by circumstance. Tsukumo and Saber repeatedly warn him that he'll die if he doesn't pull himself together and prepare to kill others. But Kanata stubbornly clings to his morals and even tries to save a soldier who just attempted to kill him after realizing the man had a wife and child. This frustrates Tsukumo, while Saber tries to let Kanata maintain his idealism by shouldering the burden and blame for all of the people she has to kill.
- Get Back to the Future: His goal after discovering that he was sent to the past.
- Harmful to Minors: Getting caught up in a Holy Grail War and seeing people being casually killed is traumatizing for him. He tries to ask Saber whether or not she's alright with killing, only to get a gun put to his head by an enemy soldier. Saber's response is to swiftly dismember the threat before telling Kanata that soft-hearted people like him are usually the first to die.
- Hijacked Destiny: He accidentally summons a Saber in place of Tsukumo, stealing her place as a Master in the Holy Grail War. He's more confused about this than anything, but she's furious with him and drags him along as recompense.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: He was uninterested in improving his magecraft and just wanted to live a normal life.
- Inept Mage: Kanata's magical potential is mediocre at best and he can only use one, admittedly lame, spell. His lack of formal schooling in magecraft also means that he has to have basic things explained to him on a regular basis. Though he learns how to detect Saber's presence, he is unable to figure out how to communicate with her telepathically. However, he was unknowingly given the family Magic Crest on top of having his body modified so he'd never feel any discomfort when using magecraft. Given Kanata's close relationship with his grandmother, the fact that he has no memory of this and Tsukumo calling such modifications immoral casts a pall on what Kanata knows of her.
- Innocently Insensitive: Due to lacking the means to survive another attack from the Imperial Japanese Army, Kanata agrees to an alliance with Rider in exchange for having them save Tsukumo's life. While this makes logical sense to him, Rider, and Tsukumo, Saber is devastated by his decision, as it was made without her input as though Kanata had lost all faith in her. Kanata is quick to catch up with Saber and confide in her to restore their trust in each other when Tsukumo points this out to him.
- It Gets Easier: Everyone participating in the Holy Grail War advises Kanata to get used to the idea of committing murder for the sake of winning. But Kanata flat out refuses and tells Saber to rush to help Tsukumo. After recovering from being nearly Ret-Gone, it becomes the basis of his resolve to order Saber to kill Assassin with a Command Spell as his first real action as a Master in the Holy Grail War.Kanata: Like hell... I will. Like hell I'll ever get used to this!
- Kid from the Future: He eventually realizes Tsukumo is the younger version of his grandmother. He was somehow sent to the past and meets her.
- Kid With The Remote Control: Given that he's an Inept Mage, the only reason why he's relevant in the Holy Grail War is his possession of Saber.
- Meaningful Name: For the Kanji characters used in his name, akagi means "red castle", but with other characters, it can also mean "crimson", "red tree", and "red future". So far in the context of the story, the color red befits the title of the comic and "red future" can refer to Kanata being sent back in time.
- Mundane Utility: He frequently uses his magecraft to stop things from falling over and breaking, be it his cell phone or a glass of water. He's sucked into the plot when he instinctively uses it to stop one of his grandmother's inert Mystic Codes from breaking.
- My Life Flashed Before My Eyes: In chapter 6.2, he sees his memories as he vanishes.
- Naïve Newcomer: To Tsukumo's annoyance, he has no idea what a Holy Grail War or Servants are, so he is completely out of his depth when he inadvertently summons Saber.
- Nice Guy: Kanata is a generally friendly kid with the morals of someone from the 21st century. He willingly throws himself into harm's way to save Tsukumo from Soldier's attack and is disgusted and horrified by the idea that he'll have to simply get used to killing people to win the Holy Grail War.
- Nom de Mom: He uses his mother's maiden name as his last name.
- Non-Action Protagonist: As an Inept Mage whose one spell lets him slow down falling objects, Kanata is way out of his depth in a Holy Grail War and can't contribute to fighting. He mainly gets by through protection from Tsukumo and Saber, who have a vested interest in his survival. He tries to subvert this by getting proper lessons in magecraft from Tsukumo, and learns that he possesses his family's Magic Crest. He starts graduating to Action Survivor territory when he learns how to disarm magical traps, with the implication that he has far more potential than he ever dreamed of.
- Outside-Context Problem: As he comes from the 21st century, being unexpectedly dumped into early Showa-era Japan throws the Holy Grail War of this time period off-kilter with his modern outlook and foreknowledge via the light novel he was reading.
- Pinball Protagonist: Kanata has no particular wish for the Grail or a conviction to live by, as he was unexpectedly thrown back in time by accident. His main goal is to just survive the Holy Grail War and return home, getting dragged every which way by Tsukumo and the threats they face. But as the story goes on, he becomes more interested in learning about what his grandmother was like as a mage and the circumstances leading to his current predicament. He later tells Saber that he wants to get to help Tsukumo achieve her wish and avert the destruction of the Imperial Capital.
- Rule of Symbolism: His command seals take the shape of the hourglass that sent him back in time.
- Sadistic Choice: Assassin gives Kanata two choices to choose from: He can use his Command Seals to make Saber kill herself and save Tsukumo or let her die by his hands.
- Spanner in the Works: Tsukumo's attempt to summon a powerful Saber-class Servant goes awry when Kanata tackles her out of the way of one of Soldier's attacks just as she's about to finish the ritual. As a result, his light novel falls out and acts as a catalyst instead of Avalon, summoning Okita rather than King Arthur and binding the Servant to him instead of her.
- Stress Vomit: He throws up after witnessing the brutal deaths of bystanders and Imperial Japanese soldiers alike at the hands of Saber.
- Surprise Incest: Before he got a good long look at Tsukumo and learned her name, he blushed when she grabbed and pulled him by his hand. The reason for the trope is that after getting a good look at her and learning her name, he recognizes her as his grandmother when she was young.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: He stares unmoving in wide-eyed terror after Saber slaughters everyone in a cafe after an enemy pulls a gun on him. Even as Saber advises him to harden his heart, he remains completely motionless as she wipes the blood off him.
- Time Stands Still: The sole magecraft he can use is a limited version, letting him slow the speed of any object he touches with his hands.
- Took a Level in Badass: He expresses a desire to become this so he can at least defend himself. So he asks Tsukumo to teach him magecraft - which she accepts - and Saber offers to teach him how to move in a battlefield.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: He admits that the sole magecraft he's able to use, a spell that stops objects from falling over, is lame. He has no interest in continuing to study magecraft and only wants to be an Ordinary High-School Student. Subverted when Tsukumo reveals that he's only scratching the surface of what he's capable of thanks to his family's Magic Crest. When she starts giving him formal instruction, he's able to gradually trigger and slow a number of deadly traps in a hallway to a halt, showing that he has much more potential than he originally thought.
Lan Lanfang
The Master of Lancer from Shanghai.
- Expy: She is the manga's counterpart to Caren Kotomine from Fate/koha-ace, being Lancer's Master who is not associated directly with the other factions, and with a facination with money.
- Handwraps of Awesome: She uses these to obscure her Command Seals.
- Lovable Rogue: She is an eccentric girl who would steal toilet paper for a quick buck, and is properly introduced as having stolen a clump of mana crystals for the Third Reich before deciding to take part in the Holy Grail War herself and shooting Magatsu in the leg when he ran away from her. But considering that it’s the Third Reich and Magatsu, she comes off more heroic than outright backstabbing.
- Older Than They Look: She is of diminutive height which makes her look young but states this of herself.
- Paper Talisman: She uses them with her magecraft.
- Red Baron: She has gained the nickname of "The Fire Rat".
- Sexy Slit Dress: She wears a Qipao with Modesty Shorts.
Third Reich Masters
Mysterious Officer
The Master of Soldier. A Nazi officer attempting to claim the Grail for the Third Reich.
- Boom, Headshot!: How he is killed by Archer; Chunky Salsa Rule applies.
- Ghostapo: He's a Nazi officer trying to win the Holy Grail for the Third Reich.
- No Name Given: Dies before his name is known.
- Too Dumb to Live: Tries to shoot Archer in the back while she was busy fighting Saber. See Boom, Headshot! above for results.
- Villainous Breakdown: He probably lost his mind when his Servant was killed. He tries to attack Archer, then rants that Saber and Archer are just monkeys and that he and the Third Reich will win the Holy Grail War and claim the world. Archer cuts his breakdown short by killing him.
- Would Hurt a Child: He orders Soldier to kill Kanata and Tsukumo without hesitation.
Male Colonel
- Expy: To the Fuhrer character of the Koha-ACE story.
- The Faceless: His early appearances has his features to be hidden, either by him talking to Major Reiter with his chair turned against her, or having his entire figured be framed in shadow.
- Affably Evil: He is calm and composed, even somewhat jovial as he talks with a broken Magatsu while his Berserker murders every single soldier in sight.
- Ghostapo: He is a Nazi Colonel (Standartenführer) who is a Master trying to win the Holy Grail.
Major Reiter
Master of Assassin.
- Even Evil Has Standards: When Assassin started beating up and torturing Tsukumo, she asked him to stop. Unfortunately, he doesn't listen.
- Expy: To Major Reiter, who herself was an expy to Medusa. Unlike the other Masters, Reiter still has the same name.
- Ghostapo: As a Nazi mage representing the (defeated) Third Reich’s interests in the Holy Grail War. She holds the rank of Major (Sturmbannführer).
- Lie to the Beholder: She has magecraft that lets her disguise as someone else i.e. Major Magatsu.
- Straight Edge Evil: Subverted. Turns down a cigar offered by Magatsu, claiming she can't stand the smell. However, as soon as he leaves, she lights up a cigarette of her own, believing Magatsu had booby-trapped the cigar.
Japan's Imperial Armed Forces Masters
Kaname Asama
An officer in the Japanese Imperial military. Archer's Master.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Her devotion to Archer as an apparent leader than her servant is very highly suggested to come down to Archer being the only one to actually extend respect to her past simply being "Archer's Master".
- Blue Blood: Chapter 12 reveals that her father is on a status of general or higher.
- But Not Too Foreign: Her father was Japanese while her mother was not.
- The Creon: Despite ostensibly being Archer's master, she acts more like her subordinate devotee, and seems to prefer it that way, even when Magatsu reminds her to try and keep Archer in line.
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Kaname sports these, probably due to being subjected to prejudice against someone who wasn't born fully Japanese.
- Expy: To Artoria, her counterpart in the original version. Both have light-colored hair and are Archer's Master.
- Half-Breed Discrimination: She faced prejudice for being only half-Japanese. Major Magatsu calls her the "filthy child of a foreign mistress" and a mongrel.
- Hiding Behind Your Bangs: Her hair covers her left eye. At least whatever is left of it as she is seen with terrible bruises across her face after the end of the previous war.
- Living Battery: She was originally just plugged into a device meant to fuel Archer's summoning in the previous Third Holy Grail War, but Archer killed the officer meant to be the Master, leading to her becoming Archer's Master. The glossary reveals that it is her unique ability that she can store and produce mana several times that of the average Magus.
- The Men First: She cares about the soldiers under her command and protests Magatsu's We Have Reserves policy.
- Ordered to Die: Magatsu, knowing full well how powerful and independent Archer has become, gives Kaname an ultimatum - if Archer goes out of control, she's to kill herself.
- Token Good Teammate: Of the characters of either the Third Reich or Imperial Army, she's the only one to show even a modicum of humane concern for others, and treats Archer as a valued superior, rather than an eventually expendable tool. Her horror at seeing the massacre Berserker is responsible for speaks volumes.
Major Reiji Magatsu
Major Magatsu
An officer with the rank of Major in the Japanese Imperial military (Rikugun-shōsa). Master of Berserker whom he believes is Miyamoto Musashi.
- An Arm and a Leg: Major Magatsu loses his right arm to his Servant, preventing him from using Command Spells.
- Apathy Killed the Cat: Kaname and Archer find the hourglass that brought Kanata to the past. Kaname says she can tell it is special and would like to find out how it works. He says he doesn't care and berates Kaname for wasting his time.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Caster's Master notes that for all of Magatsu's apparent hatred for Archer, Magatsu secretly wishes to have become Archer's Master instead to possess the power and authority that commanding a Servant grants. As a result, he becomes the Master of Berserker in the current Holy Grail War and is eager to command him in battle. Only his compatibility is so low that Berserker goes on a rampage as soon as he's released. Berserker then proceeds to cut off Magatsu's arm to prevent him from using his Command Spells to order Berserker's suicide.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Major Magatsu seems to be a reasonable figure to the Imperial Japanese Army who gives them hope to fight the war and die honorably for their country. In reality, he is a cold, manipulative jerk who doesn't care about saving innocent lives in Japan in the time of war. Instead, he doesn't mind sacrificing them for the war (even though they are not mages) in order to win the war against foreigners.
- Break the Haughty: Mori's rampage through the military encampment and his soldiers being murdered trying to save him, despite the effect of the mind-controlling cigars having long gone, alongside the Nazi General's speech, is what breaks Magatsu as he realizes how much his hubris has cost him and his well-crafted army. He ends up pleading for someone to kill him over the sight of all the corpses of his followers.
- Broken Masquerade: Is willing to risk doing so by openly using Nobunaga as an asset in the war against the US.
- Expy: To Major Matou, his counterpart in the original version who himself was an expy to Shinji Matou. Since the Three Families are not participating in this Holy Grail War because of the aftermath of the previous one, the name and identity change is imperative to prevent Continuity Snarl.
- Fantastic Racism:
- He says that since Servants are already dead, they do not deserve anything and only living beings like him deserve to get a wish granted.
- Outright states that he doesn’t consider non-mages to be human, and is perfectly willing to throw away their lives to serve his goals, claiming that they should feel honored to die for Japan.
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Major Magatsu has a habit of smoking a cigarette when having a conversation. He is both a Jerkass and a corrupt officer.
- Green-Eyed Monster: At the end of Chapter 35, as he’s turned away from Kaname, we see his eyes darting about furiously, his face twisted in a hidden mask of hatred. He had pleaded in his mind earlier for Archer to pick him as her new Master, and is clearly livid inside she chose Kaname instead. He is genuinely surprised when Caster's Master tells him that all he seems to want is Archer's attention.
- Hypocrite: One of the members of the Fujimiya family points out the irony of him wanting to create a world by and for magi, and yet he decides to go around and kill magi himself, showing that he doesn't even consider other magi be worth his respect.
- I See Dead People: His family specialized in ancient magecraft to communicate with dead spirits.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing:
- He refers to Archer as a thing, emphasizing how he sees Servants as tools:
Magatsu: Alright, prepare my car. I'll go pick up that girl [Archer]. (addresses Kaname) You tell that thing to come back, understood?- Later, he tells Kaname, "Doesn't matter if you're that thing's Master, I'm still in a position where I can punish you."
- It's All About Me: He declares he doesn't care about his Servant's wish, only about his own.
- Jerkass: He’s a classist, ungrateful, self-absorbed, entitled asshole who treats Kaname with contempt for being born from a foreigner, declares Kanata, Tsukumo and any civilians or soldiers who oppose his goals traitors to the country deserving to be put down, looks down on the Heroic Spirits as ghosts from the past, and CLEARLY considers his abilities far greater than they likely are. He’s clearly not a nice person…
- Laser-Guided Karma: After seeing everyone around him as expendable, when Berserker captures him, the Japanese army opens fire on Berserker without caring about hitting him, while he begs them to stop shooting and save him. It is only dumb luck that he survives.
- Laughing Mad: His eventual fate, once Berserker decimates his entire army faction, the Colonel mocks him for mistaking his subordinates' loyalty, and Archer mocks him for how much his arrogance has backfired completely on him.
- Military Coup: He wants to enact this so the war goes to Japanese soil.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His surname is homophonous with "calamitous" in Japanese and he's clearly up to no good.
- Never My Fault: Major Magatsu refuses to take responsibility for sending his men to be killed by Saber and blames everything on Kaname and the surviving soldiers who volunteered and were disciplined after they failed to kill Saber and her Master.
- He does it AGAIN following Berserker’s massacre of the Imperial soldiers stationed within Magatsu’s base. He insists that Berserker was meant to be unleashed on enemy soil, and does nothing more than cower pathetically as his former Servant rampages against his own men. Never mind that it was MAGATSU who released Berserker while CLEARLY not being nearly prepared for his power.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: A fanatical nationalist, refusing to allow Japan to surrender no matter who or how many have to die to ensure it; outright states that he doesn’t consider non-mages to be humans and so is perfectly willing to throw them into the line of fire; and even makes a condescending remark about Reiter refusing a cigar because she’s a woman.
- Smug Snake: He's insufferably arrogant and confident in his belief that he's stacked the Grail War in his favor. And yet, he completely loses his composure when his long-awaited Servant is not Miyamoto Musashi and is in fact Mori Nagayoshi. Magatsu fails to control Berserker, who slaughters numerous Japanese soldiers in his path, but Berserker cuts Magatsu's arm off to prevent Magatsu from using Command Spells to order his suicide.
- Tempting Fate: Before awakening Berserker, Magatsu thinks about how he doesn't need to understand how Servants think and how they really should only exist to serve their Masters. Those who know Berserker beforehand know that he is a weird mixture of madness and loyalty that not even the people from his time truly understood fully.
- Villain Team-Up: Has secretly allied his faction with Major Reiter and the Third Reich officers, being provided specialized armor for his Berserker and being able to set Assassin on a commander he wanted dead.
- We Have Reserves: After learning that his soldiers failed to assassinate Tsukumo (the presumed Master of Saber), he decides to just send more soldiers after her in the hopes that she will become paranoid and exhausted enough where killing her even with Saber wouldn't be a problem.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: For all his arrogance and jealousy directed toward both Archer and Kaname, it's revealed all his motivations stemmed from his need to have Archer see him as someone worthy to stand by his side.
- With Us or Against Us: He doesn't care if you are fellow Japanese citizens or a superior officer in the same military, if you are opposing his side or think of letting Japan surrender, then you are an enemy.
- Would Hit a Girl: When Kaname protests his We Have Reserves plan, he slaps her across the face hard enough to almost knock her over and threatens to have her punished for treason.
- Underestimating Badassery: Magatsu clearly takes Archer too lightly.
Servants of the Imperial Capital Holy Grail War
Saber
Saber (Okita Souji)
Noble Phantasms: Haori of Oaths, undisclosed Noble Phantasm.
Vice-Captain of the Shinsengumi
Kanata Akagi's Servant and the Servant of the Sword. Saber's True Name is Okita Souji, the genius vice-captain of the Shinsengumi's first division.
- Adaptational Badass: Compared to her Koha-Ace appearance where her tuberculosis hinders her performance very often to the point that it's an intentional joke that Saber would be beaten by her own flaw in a normal Holy Grail War, in the comics, the tuberculosis somehow didn't hinder her much during the majority of her fights; the tuberculosis never kicked in during the times she fought, she only coughed after the fight concluded.
- Armor-Piercing Attack: Her Noble Phantasm "Lightless, Three-Stage Thrust" is the maximum application of her prodigious skill, executing three thrusts so perfectly that the World registers them as "three thrusts at the exact same point at the exact same time." This collapses causality at the tip of the blade, allowing it to punch through nearly any defense, material or immaterial. Combined with her ability to Flash Step, it's exceedingly lethal in one-on-one battles.
- Assassin Outclassin': She takes her job of protecting Kanata seriously, effortlessly dispatching any non-Servant who tries to kill him, dicing the imperial soldiers to bits and holding Tsukumo at sword point until she lets Kanata go.
- Ass-Kicking Pose: She raises her sword so that the blade crosses just in front of her face before initiating her Noble Phantasm.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She's sweet, friendly, and endlessly loyal to her Master, but she was also a manslayer whose name went down in infamy as an assassin for the Shinsengumi.
- Blade Spam: She's so fast with her sword that she hits every opening on Soldier's armor in an instant. He doesn't even see her draw it.
- Blood from the Mouth: In the Fake Action Prologue, she's bleeding from the mouth as she faces off against Archer.
- Blood Knight: In chapter 4.1, Okita muses she's glad the battlefield hasn't changed and that she's missed this feeling as she's cutting apart men.
- Blue Is Heroic: Her blue haori contrasts the Red and Black and Evil All Over motif of her rival, Archer. By comparison, Saber is far sweeter off the clock.
- Brutal Honesty: She bluntly tells Kanata that killing doesn't bother her and if he wants to survive, he'll need to get over his soft-heartedness.
- Clean Cut: All of her swings never fail to cleanly cut a non-Servant in half, slicing through human bodies as though they were made of tofu.
- Combat Clairvoyance: Her Eye of the Mind (False) skill manifests like this when she's fighting Assassin. She's about to take his Jigen-style attack head-on when she has a premonition of her grisly fate should she do so. She instead changes her plans to deflect the attack with the hilt of her sword, creating an opening to slice off Assassin's fingers.
- Combat Pragmatist: As good as she is with a sword, she's not above using her surroundings to her advantage. To wit, she uses Soldier's own severed head to knock aside one of Archer's rifles to create an opening. She also uses one of the Imperial officers as a Bulletproof Human Shield. Her first action after being summoned is killing an unnamed Servant mid-sentence as he attempts to monologue and she thanks him for the obvious opening.
- Death Glare: Her default expression in battle is a cold, emotionless glare that communicates nothing but killing intent.
- Dissonant Serenity: The smile she gives Kanata is both comforting and unnerving, as she's able to warmly greet her Master even while splattered in her victim's blood. After Kanata gets a gun put to his head, Saber quickly dismembers all of his assailants, looking more disappointed that she spilled the ice cream he bought for her than the fact that her Master is staring in horror at what she's done.
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Her eyes become washed and pale in battle, to the point where her pupils are barely visible.
- Empty Shell: According to Assassin, he doesn't sense any fear, anger, or exaltation from Saber, only the smell of blood and iron. He feels nothing coming from her and she's like an empty husk. In Chapter 20, the manga even makes her faceless by dimming her face with shadows to emphasize how she's willing to become a sword for Kanata for him to wield at his leisure. Kanata is visibly unnerved by how she's willing to throw away everything about herself for the sake of another person.
- Establishing Character Moment: As soon as she's summoned, she cuts down the Servant attacking her without a hint of emotion or empathy and splatters his blood all across the walls. She then turns to Kanata and professionally asks if he's her Master before cracking a warm smile and saying it's a pleasure to meet him. This shows both sides of Saber's personality: the cold-blooded manslayer and the cheerful, friendly young woman.
- Famed In-Story: The Shinsengumi's exploits have given them incredible notoriety. Saber is surprised to learn that her haori is instantly recognizable nearly 80 years after her original death.
- Fighting Fingerprint: Assassin was able to identify her as a "wolf of Mibu" (a member of The Shinsengumi) from a few brief blows they exchanged.note
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Played with, as unlike most Servants, the era she hails from is only a few decades ago from the relative present. The thing that catches her most by surprise isn't any of the technological advancements, but the fact that both Kanata and Tsukumo already could start putting together her identity just from the coat, revealing to her that the Shinsengumi have achieved historical notoriety that was unimaginable to her while living.
- Flash Step: She shocks Archer by disappearing from her sight, then appearing right next to her to stab her. According to Archer, this is not mere Super-Speed. Saber is warping space using her Shukichi skill to instantly close a distance between two points.
- Flower Motif: Kanata compares her pale white skin and hair to a snow camellia.
- Foil: To her rival, Archer. Saber is a close-ranged combatant and a Hitman with a Heart who cares for her Master and uses nothing but raw swordsmanship and footwork to win the day. By contrast, Archer commands thousands of floating muskets that fire bullets with enough force to resemble lasers and blow apart a train, preferring to stand back and obliterate her foes from a distance. She also holds her Master and her compatriots in contempt for allowing Japan to fall prey to foreign invaders.
- Forgot Flanders Could Do That: Since Fate/type Redline is basically Koha-Ace taken seriously, Saber is a more serious, stoic Hitman with a Heart with almost none of her original wacky traits, showing her friendly side in a more subdued manner. What many don't know, however, is that this is actually more in line with how she was portrayed in the original Koha-Ace Imperial Holy Grail War comic.
- Fragile Speedster: She's lightning-fast, but Kanata notes that her frame is far too thin for a swordswoman. Archer also points out that Saber is clearly unused to parrying attacks to protect others and would normally dodge them instead if Kanata weren't behind her and in the line of fire.
- Good Is Not Soft: She's a friendly, caring woman off the clock, but ruthlessly professional and a Combat Pragmatist when locked in combat. She flatly tells Kanata that soft-hearted people like him are the first to die in battle and advises him to harden his heart.Saber: You must prepare yourself. You must get used to people dying before your eyes. Because from now on you'll see scenes much worse than this one. I'm sorry but, this is a battlefield after all.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation:
- She's actually shocked at how famous The Shinsengumi have become when both Kanata and Tsukumo instantly recognize her haori.note
- Later on, she's frustrated with herself and feels useless when when her Weak Constitution skill activates and leaves her helpless before Rider and Oryou. She calls herself pathetic for acting on her own and being left at the mercy of Rider even as Kanata tries to assure her that he and Tsukumo would be dead if not for Saber's actions.
- Highly-Conspicuous Uniform: Saber's bright blue haori and the sword at her hip mark her as a member of the Shinsengumi, which both Kanata and Tsukumo point out to Saber's surprise. Tsukumo has Saber buy a new kimono to conceal her identity when she isn't in combat because of this.
- Historical Gender Flip: As previously established in Koha-Ace and Fate/Grand Order.
- Hitman with a Heart: She's remembered as an incredibly dangerous manslayer for the Shinsengumi, but she has a soft spot for her friends and Master, acting cheerful and doting towards them.
- Honor Before Reason:
- When Archer is doing serious damage to the train and her, Tsukumo asks her to use her Noble Phantasm before Archer kills them all, but she refuses unless her Master orders her to. It is only when Kanata reluctantly tells her to use it that she does.
- Even when presented with the possibility of Archer already having a Grail, she refuses to ally with Rider in favor of defeating him now.
- Horrifying Hero: Saber is Kanata's greatest ally in the war next to Tsukumo, but others note that Saber is extremely creepy in battle. She has a complete Lack of Empathy for her enemies and is will massacre anyone who opposes her or threatens Kanata without hesitation. Her Sugar-and-Ice Personality only heightens this, as she can sweetly wipe Kanata's face even while soaked in the blood of her victims. Even the Ax-Crazy Assassin is thoroughly unnerved by how he can't feel any sort of emotion from her while she's chasing him down, calling her an Empty Shell.
- Iconic Outfit: Her blue haori jacket identifies her as a member of The Shinsengumi.note
- Idiot Hair: Has an ahoge like many Saberfaces before and after her.
- Incurable Cough of Death: Tuberculosis is so ingrained with the lifetime of Okita Souji that it carries over to Saber, though thankfully she has yet to cough mid-battle. It finally kicks in while trying to fend off Oryou, leaving her to collapse in a coughing fit. Seeing this makes Oryou wonder if making an alliance with Saber is even worth it.
- Katanas Are Just Better: She wields and is extremely skilled with a katana. She is able to challenge Archer's guns with them. She actually has two different katana and wields either depending on what kind of outfit she is wearing.
- Killing Intent: Or perhaps more properly 'ruthlessness'. Archer comments she has the eyes of a killer who feels nothing as she piles up the corpses.
- Lack of Empathy: She has no sympathy for Assassin after cutting off his fingers, scoffing at him for being hysterical about it when he's used to cutting up people for a living. Her fixation on slaughtering her enemies and lack of remorse gets Oryou to call Saber a "thing" that isn't human.
- Lethal Joke Character: A plain-jane swordswoman with no special skills and a relatively recent history is... unimpressive for a Servant. Tsukumo lambastes Kanata for summoning a member of the Shinsengumi as the "strongest class", claiming that a random pile of dirt would summon a stronger Servant. While she isn't completely wrong, Saber is at her strongest in her home country and nearly kills Archer, who is monstrously strong and famous in Japan.
- Major Injury Underreaction: Saber barely flinches after getting a chunk of her arm sheared off by Assassin, merely tying a string around it so she can keep swinging. She justifies this to Kanata later, as her body is composed of magical energy and spiritrons. With enough time and magical energy from Kanata, her body will naturally heal itself on its own so long as it's not a mortal wound.
- Mundane Object Amazement: Given that she's from the Bakumatsu period, she's astonished to learn that confectioneries like ice cream exist, and is even more amazed by Kanata's apparent ability to simply have them after a bath.
- The Only One I Trust: Besides the Shinsengumi, Saber doesn't trust anyone, not even Rider and his partner, who wanted to help her to take down Archer by forming an alliance with her. According to her, the only person she trusts is her Master Kanata, since she knows he won't betray or deceive her.
- Parrying Bullets: Is forced to do this to protect Kanata and Tsukumo from Archer's gunfire. She's admittedly not good at this, throwing them to the back of the train car to run while she buys time against Archer.
- Scarf of Asskicking: To go with being a blademaster.
- Secret-Keeper: In Chapter 13, Kanata takes Tsukumo's advice to be more open with Saber and admits that he's Faking Amnesia. Although Saber is bewildered by this at first, she takes Kanata at his word and promises to help him if he tells her more about the future he came from. She also helps him keep said secret when he's about to spill suspicious information to Tsukumo
- Status Buff: Her first Noble Phantasm is Haori of the Oath, the signature coat of the Shinsengumi which increases all of her parameters when worn as well as upgrading her sword from the Kojiki Kiyomitsu into the Kiku-Ichimonji Norimune.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Saber is friendly and doting upon her Master and those she considers her friends, but ice-cold and ruthless to everyone else. She can go from having a cheerful conversation with her Master to splattering the walls with her enemy's blood without losing a beat.
- Sweet Tooth: She's delighted by the ice cream Kanata buys her, and less than impressed with coffee.
- Talking Is a Free Action: Averted, as far as she's concerned; if you're talking while you're fighting her, you're just leaving yourself open for her to kill you.
- Terrifying Rescuer: When she is summoned and saves Kanata and Tsukumo by killing Soldier, Kanata is terrified of this ruthless killing machine who resembles a character from his light novel, until she gives him a smile.
- Undying Loyalty: It doesn't matter to her that Kanata has no idea what he is doing and Tsukumo is a superior magus. Kanata is her Master and she only obeys him.
- Weak, but Skilled: Since she was born relatively recently in history there isn't much mystery surrounding her origins, especially since she's a member of one of the most famous groups in Japan. As a result, she lacks the supernatural powers of the likes of Artoria or Nero, which she makes up for with just raw swordsmanship and quick movements. Her sword isn't even a holy or magical sword, just a plain but well-made katana. In fact, her Noble Phantasm is nothing but pure technique practiced until it became something that bends the laws of physics.
- What Beautiful Eyes!: Saber's gaze is noted to be piercing, as though they see through your very soul and restore a tree that had lost all its leaves. The art puts particular focus on them, as did the light novel Kanata was reading before getting wrapped up in this mess."Her eyes were illuminated by the setting sun, and her gaze brought the broad-eyed tree back from its aphyllous state."
- When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Saber doesn't have a Holy Sword or other kind of magical trump card to tip the scales in her favor, since she was born in an era when Mystery was thin. She is simply an amazingly good swordswoman. Even her Noble Phantasm and space-warping Shukichi skill are born from innate talent and practice rather than knowledge of the supernatural.
- When She Smiles: A single smile from her is enough to catch Kanata off-guard, demonstrating this cold-blooded swordswoman can be human after all... and then she just as easily snaps back into a cold-blooded mode when Archer shows up.
Archer
Archer (Oda Nobunaga)
Demon King of the Sixth Heaven
The Servant of the Bow. Her True Name is Oda Nobunaga, the most famous warlord of the Sengoku period and the self-proclaimed Demon King of the Sixth Heaven.
- Adaptational Villainy: Due to Fate/type Redline being a serious story, she's as threatening as Oda Nobunaga should be unlike the silly original fourth-wall-breaking Archer seen in Fate/Grand Order. Her personality is more in line with that of the alternate antagonistic Nobunaga that appeared in the 3rd GUDAGUDA event of Grand Order, who was effectively the "serious" side of Nobunaga brought to the fore, or Avenger Nobunaga. Furthermore, she's summoned by one of the people of the Japanese Imperial Army thus firmly placing her as antagonistic regardless of her personality shift.
- Badass Back: When the Mysterious Officer tries to shoot her in the back twice, she blocks both bullets with a musket without even looking.
- Blood Knight: She is excited to fight an opponent of Saber's caliber. Her modern allies are confused when she dismisses the possibility of attacking Servants when they are weak; she wants a good fight.
- Combat Pragmatist: Like Saber, Archer will also make use of her surroundings or resort to surprise attacks. See Fake Weakness below.
- Demon King Nobunaga: Thanks in large part to her getting the Adaptational Villainy treatment and the serious nature of series, Archer fits this archetype more so than her original Koha-Ace self and acts similar to her Avenger variant.
- Energy Weapon: Her muskets are so powerful that they look like they're firing beams that can smash through an entire train rather than bullets.
- Evil Laugh: Archer laughs manically while watching Magatsu beg for help after Berserker tears through the Japanese military. According to what is implied to be Caster's Master, Magatsu's pleas are no different to Archer than the sight of a weeping dog on the street.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: For all her ruthlessness, Archer clearly keeps fond memories of the retainers who showed Undying Loyalty to her. She refuses to take up arms against Berserker, her old retainer Mori Nagayoshi, because of how indebted she feels to his father, Yoshinari, and his younger brother, Ranmaru. All of them stuck with her to the end of their lives.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Bloodthirsty as she is, Archer clearly despises Magatsu's attempts at sweet-talking her. She also treats her Master much better than he does - though that's a low bar to begin with.
- Also, while certainly bloodthirsty, Archer has the ability to know restraint to avoid senseless brutality, especially if it affects her own resources — something shown to be the case when she looks down on Berserker's rampage of the Imperial Army with severe annoyance. Which is justified since, regardless of her power as a Servant, Oda Nobunaga was a military leader first and foremost and understands perfectly well that a logistical loss on the scale of Berserker's rampage can cost them severely in the long run.
- Fake Weakness: Archer purposefully creates a gap between the loading and firing of her muskets to lure Saber in before unleashing a barrage from the ceiling to try to finish her. It nearly works, but Saber is able to twist her body out of the way at the last second to avoid lethal injury.
- Famed In-Story: She owes her monstrous firepower to her immense fame in Japan as one of the most popular figures in its history and memory. Not to mention she was feared for being one of the most cunning and ruthless warlords of her time.
- Godiva Hair: When Archer is not in battle, she can be seen completely naked with her hair covering her breasts.
- Hidden Depths: Upon learning that Berserker is Mori Nagayoshi, one of her former comrades, Archer immediately becomes pensive and stays her hand from executing the rampaging Berserker despite the damage he's done to the Imperial backline and, when confronted by Kaname about ignoring him, Archer is actually sweating bullets and acts briefly more like her Koha-Ace self over the possibility of angering Ranmaru for unknowingly drawing her weapons at his older brother.
- Historical Gender Flip: As previously established in Koha-Ace and Fate/Grand Order.
- It Must Be Mine!: She becomes interested in the bombers she shoots down. When she hears some of them survived, she orders the Japanese soldiers to seize them.
- Made of Iron: Saber impaling her through the shoulder doesn't slow her down.
- More Dakka: Compared to the Archer class' typical displays of incredible marksmanship, Archer prefers to overwhelm her foes by summoning tons of muskets and firing them all at once.Archer: Firing squad, ready! Fire! [blasts apart the train with twenty rifles at once]
- Naked on Arrival: When she was summoned for the third Holy Grail War in 1943.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: If the name of the fearsome warlord "Oda Nobunaga" didn't intimidate you, perhaps her title as the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven would.
- Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: Archer sneers at Saber and says that it's obvious which would win between a sword and a rifle.
- Obviously Evil: Red and Black and Evil All Over, casually steps over the decapitated corpse of her enemy, and has a Slasher Smile while murdering others.
- Oh, Crap!: Briefly has this look on her face when Saber unleashes her Noble Phantasm and nearly kills her.
- One-Man Army: She has the ability to summon dozens of muskets that can float and fly on their own power, and each with the power to decimate virtually anything. Perhaps no more literally demonstrated than when she destroys an entire American bomber squadron single-handed, averting what is implied to be one of the missions to Firebomb Tokyo.
- Patriotic Fervor: For all her villainy, Archer is proud of her country and wants to see Japan rise to greatness. She's utterly outraged to learn that it has been weakened up for other countries to bomb and invade it, threatening to kill Major Magatsu for it.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Her guns end up decimating a train. Later, she shoots down a squadron of bombers and escort fighter planes.
- Pet the Dog: Her selection of the meek, powerless Kaname as her new Master, right after blowing the head off of her arrogant original Master, is by all appearances thus far, one of her kinder acts to date.
- Popularity Power: As one of the most famous figures in Japanese history, Archer is at the height of her power in a Japanese Holy Grail War. As a result, she displays unprecedented levels of firepower not seen in her other appearances, such as casually blasting apart an entire train while trying to kill Saber.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: She's clad entirely in black, red, and gold, illustrating both opulence and her devilish personality.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: As seen in color art.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When she realizes that Berserker is in fact her old retainer, Mori Nagayoshi, Archer leaves rather than face in him battle. This is because she feels indebted to his father, Yoshinari, and refuses to entertain the possibility of angering his younger brother, Ranmaru.
- Sky Surfing: Her original ability to float in the air by her own power has been replaced with her having to balance on any one of her hovering muskets.
- Slasher Smile: Is constantly wearing one to show her brutality and excitement at participating in a Holy Grail War.
- Small Girl, Big Gun: Lots of big guns, in fact.
- Take Over the World: Her goal is to conquer the world, or at least Japan.
- We Will Meet Again: Her first battle with Saber is interrupted when her Master calls her away, so she leaves while promising to kill Saber next time.
- Wild Card: Major Magatsu finds her untrustworthy as not only did she participate in the previous Holy Grail War, she won it, yet the Grail ended up disappearing before the Japanese Imperial Army would have their wish. While he isn't certain that she is responsible for the Grail disappearing, he wants to get Nobunaga killed before she can get her hands on the Grail again.
- You Can't Fight Fate: She saves Tokyo from being firebombed by American planes, but as the opening chapter showed, her destined final battle with Okita will cause a humongous explosive inferno to engulf the city.
Lancer
Lancer (Li Shuwen)
Divine Spear
The Servant of the Spear. His True Name is Li Shuwen, the esteemed master of Bajiquan who could kill nearly any foe in a single strike.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: In the original Fate/koha-ace, he and his Master's debut happened in order to stop Berserker's rampage. Here he is brought into the story before Berserker has woken up yet.
- The Baby of the Bunch: Physical appearance and/or age at death aside, he is the youngest amongst the summoned Servants in the Grail War of 1945, having died in 1934.
- Blood Knight: Lanfang suggests she sees him as one, and she offers him tons of opportunity to fight opponents who would meet him at his level in the Imperial Holy Grail War. Given that he chuckles at her, he clearly doesn't deny it.
- The Dreaded: The swordsman pursuing Lanfang in Shanghai seems to recognize not only his martial arts style, but who he actually is, and reacts accordingly. Li actually appreciates it, noting that he did die only recently (by Servant standards), so it stands to reason he is still within living memory.
- Honor Before Reason: When Berserker wounds him, Lanfang attempts to heal him. He sternly reminds her that she agreed to never interfere with his battles and threatens to kill her if she tries it again. Healing is for when the battle is over, not during it.
- Old Master: He's summoned as his older self rather than his vigorous younger appearance from Fate/EXTRA.
- One-Hit Kill: His Noble Phantasm is "Wú Èr Dǎ: No Second Strike". As the name implies, Lancer uses all of his skill to project his qi through his opponent in a single move, killing them instantly by scrambling their nervous system and giving them a heart attack (or rough equivalent in a Servant). This can be used with both his spear and his bare fists.
- Red Baron: He was known as "God Spear Li" for his spearmanship skills in life.
- Stock Wushu Weapons: He wields a Qiang, a traditional Chinese spear, as his weapon of choice. His skill with it earned him the name "God Spear Li", and he can even perform his signature One-Hit Kill technique with it.
Rider
Rider (Sakamoto Ryouma)
Father of the Modern Imperial Navy
The Servant of the Mount. His True Name is Sakamoto Ryouma, the famed peacemaker and father of the modern Imperial Japanese Navy, accompanied by the mysterious serpent girl Oryou. He claims to be a Stray Servant without a Master.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: He makes his first appearance in Chapter 2.3, when in the original Fate/Koha-Ace he was one of the last Servants to debut.
- Ambiguous Situation: To anyone In-Universe and out who knows how Servants work, Ryouma's claim to be a Stray Servant is a minefield of red flags. Even factoring in his Counter Guardian nature from the KOHA-ACE source material, the fact that he occupies the Rider seat for the Holy Grail War suggests that he was summoned as a Servant and has to follow their rules: he must have an anchor to the world, or else he wouldn't live very long. The question thus becomes whether some serious monkeying around was done with his Servant contract and/or body, or if he's merely lying to protect his Master's identity.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Rider requests that Kanata and his Servant Saber help him and Oryou take down Archer in exchange for helping them find a place to hide from the Imperial Japanese soldiers and recover their stamina. If Kanata refuses Rider's offer, Rider will leave them alone to be killed by the Imperial Japanese soldiers, as they don't have enough strength to take down an entire army since they been chasing them non-stop. Kanata has no choice to accept Rider's offer but on one condition: Kanata requests that Rider save Tsukumo's life.
- Battle Couple: He fights alongside his partner Oryou,note who is noted in other materials to be in love with him.
- Enemy Mine: He proposes to team up with Saber to defeat Archer together. Saber refuses and tries to kill him, but Kanata eventually agrees to team up.
- Finger-Suck Healing: Oryou's saliva has healing properties and she used this trope to heal Tsukumo's stitched-up severed fingers back to normal in chapter 12. She then proceeds to heal the rest of the latter's body.
- Master Swordsman: While he's not quite on the same level as Saber, he's a master of the Hokushin Ittoryu school of swordsmanship.
- Martial Pacifist: Rider would much rather avoid a fight if he can help it and even offers the Holy Grail to Kanata if it means making an alliance with him and Saber. But he's also one of Japan's most famous historical figures and a force to be reckoned with thanks to his partnership with Oryou.
- Mysterious Backer: While he makes his motivations and reasoning perfectly clear to Kanata, Tsukumo and Saber, his bizarre nature as a Servant - he and Oryou don't have a Master which should be impossible, their claim that they BOTH are Rider, and Oryou's obviously inhuman nature - make Tsukumo and Saber very suspicious of the two. In fact, Tsukumo spends a lot of time just barraging Oryou with questions, to the point Oryou regrets healing her.
- Mythology Gag: When he makes his appearance in Chapter 2.3, Sakamoto and Oryou strike the same pose as his first three ascensions' Grand Order card art.
- Nice Guy: He stands out from all other Servants due to how geniunely kind he is. His only goal is to protect the country, he politely asks Saber for an alliance after giving her most of the information he has, tries to avoid a confrontation as much as possible, offers Kanata and Tsukumo a roof over their heads, food and treatment, and even cleans their dirty clothes for them. Kanata is taken aback but is very happy that there are Servants like him.
- Noodle Incident: He says that he got the detective agency by "asking favors from some aquaintances". Even though he's a heroic spirit who has been dead for some time now.
- Private Detective: He had been posing as one to keep a low profile.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: He's clad almost entirely in white save for his shoes, the buttons on his clothes, and the blue band around his hat.
- Something Only They Would Say: When Tsukumo reveals to him that she encountered Assassin using his name, the gears begin turning in his head that Assassin has to be someone who knew him in life.
- Super-Strength: Oryou displays inhuman strength as she carries a telephone pole and destroys most of the abandoned building when she attempts to kill Saber with it.
- Super-Toughness: When Saber attempts to decapitate Oryou with her sword, it won't cut through and doesn't leave a scratch due to Oryou's extremely hard skin.
- Sword and Gun: He carries both a sword and a handgun on his side.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Oryou is very protective towards Rider and doesn't want anyone to hurt him. When Saber almost kills Rider, Oryou becomes extremely angry and violent as she attempts to kick her, but misses. She fixates on on getting revenge on Saber and attempts to attack her for hurting Rider. Considering his identity and how he died historically, this is likely a sore point for her.note
Caster
Caster (Maxwell's Demon)
Negator of the Second Law of Thermodynamics
The Servant of Sorcery. His true name is Maxwell's Demon, a fictional demon created by James Clerk Maxwell as a thought experiment, distorted by the desires of people for perpetual energy.- Adaptational Early Appearance: In the original Fate/Koha-Ace, he was the last Servant to appear. Here, he appears before Lancer does and even before his Master is fully revealed.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: Personifying Maxwell's thought experiment.
- Beyond the Impossible: In Fate/Grand Order, the "GUDAGUDA Final Honoji" event establishes that he cannot be summoned out of simulation because the concept he represents - endless energy and perpetual motion - simply cannot exist in real life even when taking magecraft into account. Both he and James Clark Maxwell acknowledge this. So him being summoned in a regular Grail War is incredibly suspicious.
- Villain Takes an Interest: When he learns of Kanata, he becomes intrigued and desires to learn more about him.
Assassin
Assassin (Okada Izo)
Noble Phantasm: Unnamed Noble Phantasm
Ghost of Tosa
The Servant of Assassination. His True Name is Okada Izo, a samurai known as one of the four great manslayers/hitokiri of the Bakumatsu era.
- Apathy Killed the Cat: When Kanata's body starts disappearing due to his ancestor Tsukumo's life being on the line, he is only mildly surprised before deciding he doesn't care.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: He boasts that winning the Grail War will be child's play because nobody is a better swordsman than him.
- Ax-Crazy: He is, for lack of a better term, batshit fucking insane.
- Berserk Button: He has zero tolerance to anyone who would make fun of him, even telling his Master to shut up when he starts beating Tsukumo up for saying that they let just about any bum become a Servant and his Master tries to get him to calm down. He also hates having his fights interrupted and having his competence questioned.
- Black Eyes of Crazy: Assassin's eyes sometimes are portrayed with black sclerae whenever he gets serious and intends to kill when he faces his opponents.
- Commissar Cap: He retains his service cap from the original Fate/Koha-Ace, which he picks up after killing a few Imperial Japanese Army soldiers on his way to capture Tsukumo. He loses it after his fight with Saber.
- Dead Person Impersonation: When he introduces himself to Tsukumo, he claims he is a Saber and that his name is Sakamoto Ryouma. Granted, Sakamoto is present in this Grail War, but like all Servants, he is dead. He doesn't do that good of a job at passing as him, as Tsukumo is able to dissect his claims rather easily, especially after he claims that his wish for the Grail is to get loads of money to have fun with.
- Fingore: Saber chops off some of his fingers. She calls him out as a hypocrite because he mocked Tsukumo when he did it to her, but when it happened to him, he starts whining and complaining. Since he's a Servant, his fingers grow back.
- Instant Expert: He is famous for copying techniques after seeing them once, though only moves that are physically possible for him to do. He is able to use Saber's Flash Step, but he complains that his imitation is imperfect because her Flash Step technique uses a little bit of Mystery.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Like Saber and Rider, Assassin does most of his killing with his trusty katana.
- Lack of Empathy: When Kanata collapses with his body slowly disappearing, he says he doesn't care what is happening to him and calls him a loser.
- Master Swordsman: He's skilled enough with a sword to easily pass for a Saber, casually killing the assassins sent after Tsukumo before lopping off her fingers when she tries to attack him. He is also able to clash evenly with Saber in a contest of swordsmanship despite being in the class most unsuited for direct combat.
- Perma-Stubble: Fitting for one of Japan's most famous manslayers.
- Power Copying: His sheer genius as a swordsman manifests as his Noble Phantasm, Settlement Sword, allowing him to imitate any sword technique after seeing it once. He uses this against Saber, switching from his usual sword style to the Jigen-style, which specializes in the Diagonal Cut. Saber only barely realizes this in time to deflect the hit, but even then he shears off part of the building they're fighting in with the attack.
- Pretender Diss: After he kills a few Imperial Japanese Army soldiers who were trying to assassinate Tsukumo, he says in disgust that he can't believe trash like this is what passes for an assassin these days.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Izo gives off the impression that he's the kind of person who will take every fight as a game, but will flip out at the first sign of feeling being disrespected/not taken seriously enough. This is solidified when he basically throws a tantrum (complete with table flipping) after his master forces him to retreat from his fight with Saber, claiming he could have won even though he was clearly losing and running for his life from her.
- Red Baron: In life he was known as the "Ghost of Tosa", one of the most feared and dangerous manslayers of the Bakumatsu period.
- Smug Snake: Downplayed. He's indeed a genius swordsman and smugly condescends to Tsukumo for thinking she could ever put up a fight against him. His smug behavior continues until Saber manages to cut off the fingers of his sword hand, triggering a huge Oh, Crap! as he flees for his life.
- Stealth Expert: As it was in life, this is only natural for Assassin. He kills the small squad of soldiers sent after Tsukumo and enters her room before she hears a thing. Tsukumo uses this to dissect his claims to be a Saber by pointing out that the only way for him to sneak past her mana detecting cylinders is if he had Presence Concealment, the class skill of Assassin-class Servants.
- Virtue Is Weakness: When Saber and Kanata say they trust each other, he says their nonsense is going to make him puke.
- We Will Meet Again: Enraged by his humiliating defeat by Saber, Assassin swears the next time he meets Saber, he will kill her.
- Withholding Their Name: When Assassin is recalling his past, his true name is censored and the flashback makes sure not to reveal his true identity.
- Would Hit a Girl: He has no problem cutting off Tsukumo's fingers and punching her in the face. He even admits he won't hold back hurting and killing women.
Berserker
Berserker (Mori Nagayoshi)
Oni Musashi
The Servant of Madness. His True Name is Mori Nagayoshi, a retainer of Oda Nobunaga and a warrior from the Sengoku period with a volatile temper.- Absurdly Sharp Blade: Berserker's Noble Phantasm, Boneless Man, is a spear that can completely bypass conventional forms of armor, allowing it to cut through men like tofu. He demonstrates the brutal simplicity of this weapon when he goes on a rampage as soon as he's released, dicing the Japanese soldiers to pieces and effortlessly slicing off Magatsu's arm.
- Adaptational Late Appearance: While exactly when he debuts has stayed the same from the original Fate/koha-ace, the fact that the Servants who debuted after him were pushed to appear earlier means that Mori is the last Servant to debut in this story.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Magatsu's intent was to summon Miyamoto Musashi. Granted, he DID summon a Musashi, just not the one he wanted...
- Blood Knight: Even among Sengoku warriors, Berserker really, really likes killing. He treats life-or-death battles like a game to see who can rack up the most "points", even when he's killing the Japanese soldiers he's supposed to be fighting for. The greater and stranger the challenge, the more excited Berserker gets.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: After he chops off Magatsu's arm, he says he's not going to kill him since he understands that he needs a Master to exist. Instead, he captures Magatsu.
- The Faceless: His first physical appearance has him in full armor in a helmet that encloses his head.
- Level Grinding: Lancer notices that he absorbs blood and energy from his victims and becomes stronger with each kill. This is his Skill, Bloodsoaked Recklessness.
- Mundane Object Amazement: Giddily fawns over the Army's machine guns, saying his lord (who he has no idea is the War's Archer) would have loved them.
- Normally, I Would Be Dead Now: Lancer pierces through his helmet and splits his head. He just squeezes his head back together.
- People Jars: Berserker's Master keeps him inside a fluid-filled tank in the underground faculty until he's ready to use him to fight both wars: The Holy Grail War and World War II.
- Power at a Price: Immediately eats Magatsu's Command Seals after cutting off his arm. Since he wasn't paying the price, he has absolutely no problem with the extra energy.
- Powered Armor: Magatsu was given a special set of armor by his Third Reich allies for Berserker to wear, allowing the Servant to be used fully without the Master dying from the mana strain. The armor is revealed to allow him to absorb mana from his surroundings, basically giving him an infinite supply.
- Signature Laugh: He has a high-pitched "HYAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" when he's excited and going on a rampage. It's so distinctive that Archer is able to identify him based on the laugh alone once he's released even while she's out at sea shooting down fighter planes.
- Super-Strength: He can hurl an army tank through the air.
- Underestimating Badassery: When Lancer shows up and issues a challenge, he mocks him, saying there is no way an old geezer could be a Servant, let alone a warrior, and mocks his spear for being small compared to his. Lancer then attacks and he finds himself pressed.
- Unskilled, but Strong: He subscribes to this philosophy, mocking Lancer for using martial arts and saying skill is useless on a real battlefield because strength is the only thing that matters.
Soldier
Soldier (Gert Krieger)
Artificial Heroic Spirit Soldier
The Mysterious Officer's Servant. He is a Lancer, but not the official Lancer of the Holy Grail War.- Armor Is Useless: He wears a huge suit of armor, only for Saber to stab him in the throat through a gap in it.
- Jousting Lance: Wields one.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: One of his spear strikes breaks open Kanata's backpack and makes his light novel fall in Tsukumo's summoning circle. This results in Saber being summoned and his own demise.
- No Name Given: He tries to introduce himself to Saber during his fight against her, but she cuts his throat out before he can say his True Name.
- Villain Respect: His last words were those of admiration for Saber and her swordsmanship.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Saber kills him in the first chapter. Going by Koha-Ace, he'll come back... in a way.
- The Worf Effect: After quickly being established as a threat no human could hope to take down, Saber offs him in a split-second to show just how much more dangerous a proper Servant is. It's later explained by Reiter he was a 'prototype' that pales to a real Servant.
- Would Hurt a Child: He doesn't hesitate when his Master orders him to kill Kanata and Tsukumo.
3rd Holy Grail War (Shōwa 18; 1943)
Kaname's Caretaker
Fujimiya
A magus who was assigned to take care of Kaname Asama. She was killed under Lieutenant Magatsu's orders after the Imperial Japanese Army failed to obtain the Holy Grail.
- The Caretaker: Was this for Kaname Asama.
- Posthumous Character: Falls under Death by Origin Story. Her being killed starts Tsukumo Fujimiya's enmity with the Imperial Japanese Army.
Archer's original Master
Archer's original Master for the 3rd Holy Grail War.
- Off with His Head!: Archer decapitates him for looking down on her.
- We Hardly Knew You: He is a Posthumous Character who gets offed before much is known about him.
Others
Tsukumo Fujimiya
Tsukumo Fujimiya
A magus whom Kanata meets when he first arrives in the past, the fifth head of the Fujimiya family. Through her predecessors' connections, the Church invited her to take part in the Holy Grail War on their behalf. The Master of Saber in the original timeline.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Double Subverted. When Tsukumo is held captive by Assassin, she receives a broken nose, a head injury, and the loss of four of her left fingers from Assassin. While she puts up a brave front, it's clear that she won't be able to use her hand again and she's distraught over it. However, Oryou's saliva magically heals Tsukumo's injuries, leaving her uninjured (albeit mortified by being licked all over).
- Catch Your Death of Cold: After getting caught in the rain, Tsukumo gets sick due to lack of sleep and rest. It worsens her current condition because the Japanese Imperial Army soldiers is looking for them non-stop to kill them.
- Defiant Captive: In chapters 4~5, even while being maimed by Assassin, she refuses to submit in telling him Saber's true name while verbally mocking him by slinging her sharp tongue.
- Defiled Forever: Tsukumo's reaction after Oryou healed her with her saliva is her proclaiming that she cannot get married anymore. She adds that she was joking with that when Kanata makes a scene about it for obvious reasons.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Given that she's a magus from a time where Japan is at war, on top of the differences in societal expectations, Tsukumo is bewildered that Kanata is horrified by the sight of murder and tells him to man up.
- Demoted to Extra: This happens in-universe. Someone wrote the novel detailing her story where she participated in the Imperial Holy Grail War as Saber's Master, pretty much making her the main character of the novel. Because of Kanata's interference, she lost her 'main character' position, which pissed her off when it comes to Kanata, and her novel is automatically rewritten when something bad happens to her; with her mortal injury by Assassin, she's threatened with being reduced to a Sacrificial Lamb via Death by Adaptation.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Despite having her fingers removed and at Assassin's mercy, she has the courage to call him off and mock him for his impersonation of someone he's not. Assassin isn't happy about that.
- Disappeared Dad: According to Tsukumo, she hasn't seen him after the Imperial Japanese Army killed her family two years ago and she has no idea if her father is alive or not since the ship he was in sank.
- Exhausted Eye Bags: Tsukumo sports these due to lack of sleep because the Japanese Imperial Army has been searching for her and Kanata non-stop all day in Chapter 10.1. Plus, she still hasn't recovered from the injuries she received from Assassin.
- Expy: To Akiha, her counterpart in the original version. Both are haughty magus women connected to Okita's Master and sought to summon a well-known Saber.
- Fingore: She loses good chunks of four of her fingers on her left hand when Assassin counters her attack. Kanata eventually reattaches them, but she had little hope of regaining the use of her fingers until Oryou heals her.
- Foregone Conclusion: While Kanata's presence implies her ultimate survival, from what little he remembers of her she ends up a crippled wreck that devoted most of her life to her Magecraft.
- Foreign-Language Tirade: She completely flipped out against the Church Overseer in her native language upon learning the Avalon she was given was a fake. Humorously enough, when the Overseer asks his assistant what she was saying, the latter downplays it as Japanese slang.
- Generational Magic Decline: The Fujimiyas have been going down a path of constant decline, and she wants to restore them. As things currently are, the family's not going to see any reversal on that score until Kanata's younger sister, who apparently had the potential and talent to strike out on her own as a freelance magus.
- Good Is Not Nice: While she wants to make the world a better place, she can be brutal when she needs to be, such as threatening to kill Kanata when he asks if he can use the Grail to time travel, which she considers a complete fantasy.
- Green-Eyed Monster: She gets really upset when Kanata becomes Saber's Master instead of her.
- Impaled Palm: Tsukumo is stabbed through her right palm to shoulder by Assassin.
- Making a Splash: Her magecraft allows her to channel her mana into liquids and control them like mist.
- Moral Myopia: After threatening to murder Kanata, she has the gall to complain about him not calling off Saber faster, as though she weren't describing how she was going to blow his brain to pieces a few seconds ago.
- No Sympathy: When Kanata starts freaking out due to seeing people get killed, instead of comforting him, she slaps him and says he needs to man up.
- Not Afraid to Die: She is not afraid to give her life if it means seeing her dream completed.
- Offing the Offspring: Tsukumo threatens to murder Kanata for supposedly treating the Grail War like a game, unaware that he's her grandson.
- Sole Survivor: She is the only living member of her family in 1945 after the rest of her family was burned to death by the Japanese government to silence them back in 1943. She survived because she was hidden in the woods.
- Suicide Attack: She almost did this to Assassin as the last attack if Saber and Kanata didn't arrive in time.
- Surprise Incest: She ends up blushing around Kanata, unaware he is her grandson from the future.
- Your Head Asplode: Threatens to detonate Kanata's brain with a special liquid bomb if he doesn't work for her.
Church Overseer
The overseer sent by the Holy Church to manage the Holy Grail War.
- Did You Actually Believe...?: Not a villainous example. After he revealed the Avalon Tsukumo was given was a replica, he asked her if she really believed the Church would willingly hand over a powerful and important artifact to a random magus. It was far less condescending than it was an awkward confession. He had actually intended to send a real relic to her but because of the war making it difficult he settled for a replica.
- The Men in Black: His and the Church's role is to cover up damages that occur during the Grail War due to Servants and magi.
