Characters / Nerve Damage

As mentioned on the main page, there're loads and loads of characters. Here is where data is found on them.

Shirou Emiya and Servants

Shirou Emiya

• Adaptational Badass: He does have over a thousand magic circuits (2,628, to be specific). He also, individually, has the most on-hand Servants. Not to mention the Word Magic...
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: Of course. Aside from Rin and Sakura, he adds Saber Alter to his unknown harem.
• Supreme Chef: Boy howdy – he's even better than in Canon, and that Shirou is already a Kitchen God.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Turned the Holy Grail War in to the Holy Grail WAR by accident.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Still quite the idealist but his mentor manages to hammer some unfortunate truths into his head. This is seen mostly in how he deals with Shinji.

Servants (The Sabers)

• Anime Hair: All but Alter are noted to have an ahoge.
• For Want Of A Nail: The three Arturias all made distinctly different decisions in their lives, affecting the sort of person each became.
• Identical Grandson: The reason the Arturias (in general) resembles Nero.
• Jack of All Stats: No Saber has less than a B Rank for any stat. They each "specialize" in one stat or another, but statwise they have no glaring weaknesses.
• Sleep Cute: "Shirou wakes up surrounded by sleeping Sabers" is a recurring scene, since they all share his room.

Saber/King Arthur (King Of Knights)

• Jack of All Stats: Compared to the other three, she's neither the fastest, strongest, toughest, most agile, nor the most powerful, however she's faster than Alter, stronger than Lily, more skilled than Nero, and has the highest magic resistance of the group.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: The other Sabers, particularly Alter and Nero, tend to get more attention.

Alter/King Arturia (Tyrant Of Knights)

• Calling Your Attacks: Justified in a Mundane Made Awesome way. Alter is able to whisper her Noble Phantasm attacks instead of having to shout it to the world, allowing her to use Excalibur much more easily.
• Divergent Character Evolution: The original Saber Alter was just Saber who was corrupted by the Shadow in the Heaven's Feel route. Here, she's given her own distinct history, where she decided that "offense is the best defense" toward keeping Britain safe and thus went on the warpath on all of Europe.
• The Emperor: She had conquered all of Europe before her death. Unlike most examples, she was content to leave it there.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: Implied - she did what she needed to do for her country, even to the point of staining her sword black with her enemies' blood.
• Mighty Glacier: Implied that she's the slowest of the four Sabers, but possesses A-rank Strength.
• The Rival: To Saber, for the wish promised by the Holy Grail.
• She Is the King: She was king for so long that even after she revealed herself a woman they STILL called her king.
• Summon Magic: Can summon the Eldritch Abomination Nek'il Hir'Tyad.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's the most tomboyish of the Sabers, especially when paired with Lily. Her title being "King" despite revealing her gender reflects this - unlike Canon Arturia, she is comfortable with aligning both her gender and her more brusque qualities. She's not The Lad-ette, however.
• Would Hurt a Child: Did not hesitate to make an attempt on Illya's life when she realized that Berserker had twelve lives. Granted, Illya's older than she looks, but still...

Lily/Queen Arturia (Queen Of Knights)

• Divergent Character Evolution: While not to the degree of Alter, Saber Lily was originally conceived as an alternate Arturia for Fate/unlimited codes, and gets her own alternate history as described here.
• Multi-Melee Master: Unlike the other Sabers who exclusively wield swords, Lily also had Carnwenann and Rhongmyniad.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: For the most part, she is more understanding than Saber is towards Alter's darkened Excalibur. Doesn't mean she didn't want to hurt Alter for making the holy sword black, though.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Compared to the other Sabers, she's the most feminine, however it really stands out when she's next to Alter.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: She says she grew tired of watching her loved ones die around her, which led to eventually bestowing Avalon to Mordred and aging away gracefully.

Nero

• Attention Whore: Always does her best to get Shirou's attention, whether through seduction or battle prowess.
• The Blacksmith: Her sword, Aestus Estus, was forged by Nero herself in a volcano from the purest ore of the Empire, before summoning the greatest spellcasters of the Empire and the known world to enchant it and the high priests of the Olympian Gods to bless it. It's specified that Nero was a masterful smith, as even without the enchantments and blessings the sword was so good that Vulcan possessed his own priest to give Aestus Estus the blessing it deserved. When the GOD of blacksmiths thinks your sword is worthy of his personal blessing, you know you're good..
• Blood Knight: Has no wish for the Holy Grail. Still wants to fight for THE ART!
• Flaming Sword: Aestus Estus can ignite and is hot enough to turn rock into lava.
• Large Ham: Come fight time, she's definitely the loudest and the most fabulous.
• Lightning Bruiser: Strongest of the four Sabers, A-rank agility, and can copy any Servant's power temporarily, including the other Sabers' Prana Burst ability to increase her abilities.
• Power Copying: Imperial Privilege lets her temporarily mimic the powers of other Servants, like Assassin stealth (which she mentions being great for nights out on the town), or the other Sabers' Prana Burst.
• Required Secondary Powers: Holding Aestus Estus makes her immune to fire so the sword's flames and the lava it creates doesn't bother her.
• Super-Strength:
  • When she sees the Nemean Lion, she calls dibs – she always wanted to perform Hercules, you see.
  • When she mimics Prana Burst, and uses it to amplify her strength.
• Warrior Poet: Nero has a deep appreciation for the arts, unmatched by her peers. This is Truth in Television: Emperor Nero was more of a performer than a ruler.

Rin Tohsaka and Servants

Rin Tohsaka

EMIYA (Archer)

• Demoted to Extra: Sort of. Team Rin hasn't gotten much screen time in the story yet, so Archer kind of just exists in the background... for now. Since Rin has decided to participate more actively in the War, Archer may yet get some action.

Simo Häyhä (Assassin)

• Cold Sniper: In a more literal sense. He fought in the Finland's Winter War, and his signature all-white outfit is for camouflage in the snow. Personality-wise, however, he is actually quite modest and friendly.

Julius Caesar (Rider)

• Badass Boast:Veni, vidi, vici "I came, I saw, I conquered". His report to the Senate on the Pontus war and a posthumous Take That! against Pompey, who got a bit tangled in the previous war there.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Led from the front when he was in war.

Bazett And Servants

Bazett Fraga McRemitz

• Mythology Gag: In Fate/hollow ataraxia, she has a fangirl crush on Lancer. In Nerve Damage, he's her Servant. ^note Though according to what's stated in Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, Cu Chulainn was her servant in the first place.
• A Threesome Is Hot: After summoning Caster Scathach, Bazett gets dragged into a threesome with her and Lancer. Bazett's internal dialogue the morning after indicates that she enjoyed the experience.

Cu Chulainn (Lancer)

• Blood Knight: Just LOVES a good fight. In fact, that's all he ever wanted in this war. He got one from Samson.
• Combat Pragmatist: Saw Shirou's Command Seals and decided eliminating him as soon as possible was the best course of action. Of course, the next thing that happened ended up breaking the War.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Four Sabers each capable of keeping up with him caused him to retreat. Sure, he might love a good fight, but that was just insane.
• The Berserker: Warp Spasm allows him to nearly match Samson in strength and ability.

Scathach (Caster)

• Abstract Apotheosis: Having overthrown the gods by hand in her legend, she is the concept of victory itself. This grants her divinity-equivalent powers without classing her as Divine and thus making her weak to anti-Divine powers.
• The Ace: Word of God said that if she got her Temple, she'll be overly broken.
• Badass Teacher: She taught Cu Chulainn how to use Rune Magic and she can fight him one-on-one and cast rune magic on the fly.
• Establishing Character Moment: Immediately dishes a beatdown to Cu Chulainn in order to gauge his fighting abilities before dragging him to bed for copious amounts of sex. Oh, and she happily invites Bazett in when the Master feebly tries to put her foot down.
• Red Baron: The Witch of Dun Scaith.

Waver Velvet and Servants

Waver Velvet

• Continuity Nod: He remembers the events of Fate/Zero.
• True Companions: With Iskander, thanks to the Fourth Grail War. His main reason for even getting involved in the Fifth Grail War is to summon and see him again.

Iskander (Rider)

• Ascended Fanboy: In-Universe. Waver fought alongside him in the Fourth War, therefore he too has become a part of that army.
• Badass Army: His Ionioi Hetairoi, an army of Heroic Spirits who fight for his cause. It is as awesome as it sounds.
• Continuity Nod: He remembers the events of Fate/Zero. And he's still into video games.
• No Indoor Voice: He and Khan discuss their respective legends and the historical accuracy thereof on the passenger plane trip to Fuyuki City, thereby annoying all the other passengers.
• Red Baron: King of Conquerors.
• Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Because Waver has become one of the Ionioi Hetairoi, Iskander is able to remember the Fourth War, and agrees to serve him again in the Fifth without hesitation.

Genghis Khan (Archer)

• A Father to His Men: Claims to have treated his soldiers as if they were his family, why they were/are so loyal to him.
• Badass Army: His Noble Phantasm, The Grand Horde. Similar to Iskander's Reality Marble.
• No Indoor Voice: He and Iskander discuss their respective legends and the historical accuracy thereof on the passenger plane trip to Fuyuki City, thereby annoying all the other passengers.

Jordan Lionstone and Servants

Jordan Lionstone

• Always Save the Girl: Even though he knows Jackie is an Assassin-class Servant and a notorious serial killer, Jordan shields her from an explosion with his own (comparatively squishy) body, and refuses Napoleon's suggestion to order her to kill herself for convenience.
• Black Sheep: Mostly due to the fact that he's a prodigy in the family, but doesn't go into the research route and instead hunts down Apostles and Sealing Designates as an Enforcer.
• Golem: He is accompanied by animated lion statues. Lionstone isn't merely a fancy name, after all.
• Demolitions Expert: He's an Enforcer who really knows his way around modern explosives, and applies this knowledge on his jobs and his family.
• Irony: A British Magus summons Jack the Ripper and Napoleon Bonaparte as his Servants for the Grail War. He even lampshades it.
• Large and in Charge: He's almost seven feet tall, and far more muscular than anybody else in his family. So naturally he has two of the shortest Servants in the Grail War.
• Resigned to the Call: He didn't want to join the Holy Grail War, in spite of the Grail choosing him. However, he realizes he's the only one in his family who can handle the danger involved, despite being a pariah to them.
• The Smart Guy: Knows that Napoleon is supposed to be taller, and figures out who Assassin is after only hearing her given name.

Napoléon Bonaparte (Archer)

• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Seems to be something of a theme with him, though he phrases it more politely.
• Expecting Someone Taller: Jordan asks Napoleon why he's at his legendary height instead of his historical height. Irritated, Napoleon reminds him that Heroic Spirits appear according to legend, not fact.
• Face Death with Dignity: His response to Gilgamesh pulling Ea on him.

  "This is a good death. I will not bend my knee. No hero will bend his knee to a threat." A chuckle. "A good run I suppose, short as it is. I, a hero with a legend barely two hundred years old, to one whose own spans four thousand years back. Perhaps it was hopeless in the beginning, but I matched your power until the very end, and in death, I will meet the standard. I will die standing."

• More Dakka: His ranged weapon is all the artillery of the Grande Armée.
• The Napoleon: Trope Namer, though not by choice; one of his Noble Phantasms revolves around his shorter-than-history height, and he is most certainly not amused.
• Red Baron: The Emperor of France, the King of Artillery.
• Status Buff: His Noble Phantasm Napoleonic Complex, which can be used when facing opponents who are at least ten inches taller than him. It boosts his Strength, Agility, Endurance, and Bravery up a rank. With his 5 foot 2 inches legend-enforced height, he can use it on every other Servant except for the Sabers and Jackie.
• Too Awesome to Use: Pointedly averted; he starts breaking Noble Phantasms left and right in Chapter 12, because he needs all the firepower he can get from them and doesn't really expect to win once he realizes who his opponent is. As a result, he nearly does win, and it takes his opponent's most powerful Phantasm to defeat him.
• Values Dissonance: In-Universe. Napoleon declares Assassin unnecessary and suggests his Master command her to kill herself. From the perspective of the Grail War, it fuels the Grail and eliminates a competing Servant. From Jordan's perspective, it's commanding a young girl to kill herself.

Jackie the Ripper (Assassin)

• Because You Were Nice to Me: She acts... noticeably less creepy toward Jordan after he reflexively protected her and refused Napoleon's suggestion to get rid of her.
• Big Eater: Jordan himself is unsure where she puts it all; her first meal had her down four servings and asking for a fifth.
• Gender Flip: She's the Fate/Apocrypha version.
• The Quiet One: Rarely speaks.

Ilyasviel Von Einzbern and Servants

Ilyasviel Von Einzbern

• Deadpan Snarker: Best summed up when she responds to Luvia's complaint about Herakles being Berserker.
  "Oh boo-hoo, someone broke the rules. Get in line. Someone summoned four Sabers. Deal with it."
• Parental Substitute: All of her Servants quickly fill the void Kiritsugu left for her and plot vengeance against the rest of Ilya's family when Herakles explains the circumstances surrounding his summoning.

Hercules/Herakles/Heracles (Berserker)

• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Granted, he's loyal to Ilyasviel and listens to her commands, however, he's not above threatening or nearly killing Ilyasviel's two new servants when they try to fight each other against her orders.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: Though with the variant that he can do more than that...
• The Berserker: Probably the Ur-Example in Mythology, and is noted as a class in which he feels very comfortable in. He is absolutely deadly in upfront combat.
• Flaming Sword: Thanks to Cerberus, his sword is coated in Hellfire.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: Thanks to both his flesh in general, but also to his Nemean Lion armor-pelt, which he can use in a pinch to summon the lion itself.
• Spell My Name With An S: Has this issue pretty bad compared to the other servants. This is mainly because the author can't seem to decide if his name is Herakles/Heracles or Hercules.
• Summon Magic: Cerberus with his amulet; and the Nemean Lion with his lionskin armor.
• Took a Level in Badass: When Odysseus has Illya remove Mad Enhancement, he can actually use his brains, making him much more dangerous.
• The Worf Barrage: Nine Lives should have killed both Lancelot and Sigfried instantly, but they both survived, Lancelot through speed, Sigfried through his own Nigh-Invulnerability.

Odysseus (Archer)

• Blow You Away: His "Gift of Aeolus" summons torrents of wind.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: He is an Archer, after all, and fought in the Trojan War. His Bow of Ithaca NP reflects this, always aiming accurately.
• Oh, Crap!: Has this reaction when he realizes that his new master is quite willing to sic Berserker on him if he doesn't work together.
• Poisoned Weapons: He has a few Hydra venom arrows. It is explained that he stole a few of Philoctetes' arrows during the Trojan War. Philoctetes was the man who inherited Hercules' bow and Hydra arrows.
• Red Baron: King of Explorers.
• Stealth Expert: Can go invisible similar to an Assassin, thanks to his Noble Phantasm "Shroud of Minerva".
• Summon Magic: His "The Odyssey" NP allows him to summon anything that he met in his journey, which... is a lot.

Hector (Lancer)

• Javelin Thrower: His thrown lances hit as hard as missile strikes, and his Noble Phantasm allows him to turn anything resembling a spear into a low-level Noble Phantasm (like Knight of Honor, except only with spears). It is noted that he fights like an Archer despite being a Lancer.
• Possession Implies Mastery: Justified. Everything he picks up turns into a spear, so of course.

Luvia and Servants

Luvia

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Compared to her canon incarnation as a Rich Bitch, this version of Luvia is more of a sweet Genki Girl who's eager to bring honor to her family by winning the War.
• The Ojou: She's rich and a mage, though she's got a better attitude than most.
• Oh, Crap!: Her reaction when she thinks about who could summon four Sabers to the War.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Trained in wrestling. Uses her moves on Merlin when she's had enough of his crazy.

Lancelot (Berserker)

• Continuity Nod: He's the Fate/Zero version, down to his signature Noble Phantasm.
• Instant Expert: His Knight of Honor NP, combined with his Eternal Arms Mastery skill, allows him to instantly master literally any weapon, or anything he can recognize or improvise as having combat applications.
• Improbable Weapon User: His Knight of Honor NP, which can make anything (from a twig to a telephone pole) into a Noble Phantasm-level weapon. Also, unlike in the canon, he can also 'break' them, turning them into makeshift explosives-which he throws as projectiles.
• Lightning Bruiser: A-rank speed outside of Mad Enhancement, B-rank Strength capable of ripping telephone poles and street signs out from cement, not one of his stats is below a B-rank. When he turns on the gifts his class grants him, he pushes his abilities even higher. He's fast enough to actually counter the Nine Lives attack from Hercules, which is nine attacks done at supersonic speeds.
• Mundane Utility: Thanks to Knight of Honor, Lancelot can fly Luvia's private jet, excluding the need for another pilot. Luvia regrets letting him do so.
• Red Baron: Knight of the Lake.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Merlin gives Lancelot a tongue-lashing to this effect, snapping him out of Mad Enhancement.

Merlin (Caster)

• Anti Anti Christ: This Merlin is based on the interpretation that he's the son of Satan, not just an incubus.
• Born Lucky: Quite literally, being the spawn of Satan himself. However since luck is just luck, he can't rely on it all the time to save his ass, so he always have a back-up plan just in case things go to shit.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Makes Luvia go insane in the first three minutes of partnership.
• Death Glare: His eyes are "pits of fire".
• Establishing Character Moment: First things he does after getting summoned? Act like a complete Cloud Cuckoo Lander to Luvia, then give a scathing What the Hell, Hero? to Lancelot... Then go back to being a Cloud Cuckoo Lander again.
• Familiar: Can make them out of insects and cause them to grow to incredible size with ease.
• Flunky Boss: The end result of gathering a lot of familiars, having a horde of minions for every situation.
• Old Master: Doing what he did to stop Lancelot's berserk assault. He showed exactly why he's the quintessential wizard in three moves flat.
• Shapeshifting: Can alter his own body at will, which he uses to dodge otherwise lethal arrows.
• Red Baron: The Wizard of Camelot.

Siegfried (Rider)

• Absurdly Sharp Blade: Gram actually can cut into Hercules. It IS the blade that Caliburn(which in canon can kill Hercules SEVEN TIMES with a SINGLE HIT) is based off of, after all.
• The Berserker: He actually has his own form of Mad Enhancement as a Noble Phantasm(can boost his stats up by a rank), which he uses to fight against Herakles evenly, though he admits that Herakles is still stronger than he is, though not by much.
• Blood Knight: When he was injured by Hercules, he suddenly grinned and went all out, ignoring all pain and damage done to him during that time.
• Mythology Gag: He gets mistaken for a Saber, which he was in Fate/Apocrypha.
• Nigh-Invulnerable: Per his legend, having bathed in the blood of a dragon in order to gain impenetrable skin. However it does has its limits, as a servant or weapon capable of A-rank or higher attacks can get through. Rider suffered from severe(though nowhere near fatal) bruises all over his body after his fight with Hercules.

The Ancient and Servants

The Ancient/Cain

• Language of Magic: Uses Word magic like Shirou and Henry, and Word of God is that he trained the latter.
• Mundane Utility: Uses his Word Magic to compel the world itself to provide mana for his Servants, since they don't really care for his company.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: Not this guy. He wants to use the wish to hopefully end his immortality and finally die.

Moses (Caster)

• Kill It with Fire: One of his preferred methods of killing enemies is raining down from the heavens. Word of God is it's basically Flame Strike.
• Fantastic Racism: Calls Cu Chulainn's demigod status a taint and has no problems whatsoever in destroying a "false god's" offspring.
• Making a Splash: Doesn't even need to be near water to use this power. Come on, he led a nation through the desert for 40 years and was able to get water to come out of solid rock before he died.
• Red Baron: The Prophet.
• Summon Magic: Snakes, locusts, and The Ark of the Covenant.

Samson (Berserker)

• Normally, I Would Be Dead Now: Takes Gae Bolg and keeps on fighting, shocking the hell out of Lancer.
• Oh, Crap!: He has this reaction when he sees that Moses has been beaten to the point of near-death and is telling him to run away. He gets another one a little while later when Moses tells him that Scathach is actually an incarnation of Victory.
• Red Baron: The Wrathbringer of God.
• Restraining Bolt: The rawhide around his hair keeps it from being destroyed, but it also weakens his strength.

Medea and Servants

Medea (Caster)

• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She's pretty aloof and manipulative, but all she wants is to be with her lover.

Sasaki Kojiro (Assassin)

• Because You Were Nice to Me: He declares his loyalty to Lu Bu after the latter shows respect for his swordsmanship.
• Fragile Speedster: He has A+ Agility, but a pitiful E Endurance. His skill makes him a dangerous enemy, but he needs every bit of it to not get hit, because if he does, he's pretty much dead.
• Master Swordsman: Stated in canon to be the most skilled fighter in the Fifth War. Able to come out against Lily with minuscule damage through expert swordsmanship and footwork, and fends off Nero seconds later. Of the Servants seen so far, undeniably the most skilled.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: Shares this position with Lu Bu. He had Lily in a deadlock until a Big Damn Heroes moment.
• Worthy Opponent: Sees Lily as one, and she returns the favor, noting that he was her equal.

Lu Bu (Lancer)

• Cool Horse: The Red Hare, a flaming horse with a charge attack capable of bowling over Alter even after breaking through her specialized anti-unit attack.
• Swiss-Army Weapon: God Force, as in Fate/EXTRA, can switch between five separate forms.
• Normally, I Would Be Dead Now: Thanks to a high rank in Battle Continuation, he's able to keep fighting even after several ruptured organs.
• Pet the Dog: Persuades Medea to give Kojiro a talisman enabling him to fight beyond the temple, and treats him as a valued ally, purely because he thinks it'd be a shame for such a skilled swordsman to not see battle.
• Wakeup Call Boss: Shares this position with Kojiro. But he goes a step further with him winning against Alter until he was forced to retreat.

Sakura and Servants

Sakura Matou

Medusa (Rider)

• Summon Magic: She can summon the Pegasus.
• Super-Strength: When Sakura was her master again, her strength went from average C-rank all the way to A-rank(and all of her other parameters went up one rank as well) and she can push it further with her Monstrous Strength skill, becoming strong enough that even Nero has trouble matching her.
• The Stoic: As per canon, she doesn't show much emotion, though she isn't afraid to speak her mind now that Shinji's dead.

Aabidah (Assassin)

• Blood Magic: She uses her own blood to create a virus that cleanses Sakura's body.
• Enemy Scan: She can analyze any body she sees, apparently down to the microscopic level.
• Meaningful Name: It means "worshipful", appropriate for a religious zealot.
• No Name Given: She identifies herself as just another Hashshashin until Sakura presses her for a name.
• Power Copying: Her ability allowed her to gain the powers of the other True Assassins by visiting their graves.

Henry Hailmark and Servants

Henry Hailmark

• Loophole Abuse: He applied for citizenship in Greece and India, then bought a private island to use for summoning, making it part of those two nations. This means his Servants were both technically summoned in their homeland, giving them extra power.
• Master-Apprentice Chain: Master to Shirou and apprentice to Cain.
• The Mentor: He's the one who taught Shirou Word magic.
• Troll: Some of his approaches to training Shirou were apparently just to screw around with him, others were based completely on falsehoods For the Lulz. Then there's the Nerve Circuits thing...
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: He wants to have eternal youth, but also wants to die when he feels he has had enough of life.

Karna (Lancer)

• Took a Level in Badass: Compared to his typical summon (canon stats in Fate/Apocrypha), Henry rigged the summoning circle to make it seem like he had been summoned in India, granting him more Noble Phantasms and an increase in parameters.

Achilles (Berseker)

• Nigh-Invulnerable: Achilles is known for this (minus his heel, of course.)
• Took a Level in Badass: Compared to a normal summon, he is stronger and has more Noble Phantasms due to technically being summoned in Greece.