"My name is James Moriarty! I am both a professor, and the head of an evil organization! Fwahahahaha! No need to worry. If you leave everything to me, taking over the world once or twice will be child's play!"
— Professor James Moriarty, Fate/Grand Order
Kinoko Nasu and TYPE-MOON have written a litany of different kinds of villains. Throughout works that discuss humanity, their history, and their significance, these characters have stood out as the most magnificent.
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Examples
- Kirei Kotomine, a brilliant but cursed priest, finally embraces the evil within himself in Fate/Zero after a lifetime of struggle with his condition of only finding joy in evil but having enough of a conscience to know right from wrong, betraying and murdering his ally Tokiomi Tohsaka. Manipulating the church and other sorcerers for years after while keeping the Servant Gilgamesh intact, Kirei proceeds to orchestrate his plans throughout the Fifth Grail War, playing everyone to assist him getting the Grail in each route, escaping seemingly certain death, and nearing his goals no matter which alliances he must make or break to achieve his ends. All the while, Kirei arranges events so as to summon the powerful being Angra Mainyu to ask it about the purpose of his existence, even if it destroys him or the world. Stringing along far more powerful Servants and Mages alike with dignified charm and even willing to accept a poetic defeat with utter grace, Kirei never ceases in his search for meaning, and frequently shows himself as one of the most compelling villains in the Fate franchise.
- Zero: Kiritsugu Emiya, the Magus Killer, suffered a childhood of trauma that drove him to wish to end all battle no matter the cost. Under the belief "kill one to save hundreds," Kiritsugu resorts to extreme tactics, such as bombings to get his target even if it means sacrificing others in the process. Contracted by the Einzbern family to participate in the 4th Holy Grail War, Kiritsugu remains in the background while his wife Irisviel acts in public as Saber's Master, so he can scope out all competition with his assistant Maiya. When assaulted at the Einzbern Castle by Kayneth Archibald, Kiritsugu conditions the magus with traps and gunfire until he fires an Origin Bullet that cripples his Magic Circuits. Later, Kiritsugu takes advantage of Kayneth's pride and love for his wife Sola to eliminate Lancer from the tournament by using a self-geas scroll that he loopholes out of by having Maiya snipe both of them. Even in the thick of battle, Kiritsugu keeps a cold, calculated demeanor as he studies his opponent, be they magus like Kayneth or powerhouses like Kirei Kotomine. When tragedy strikes at the end of the Grail War, Kiritsugu saves a young boy named Shirou and vows to abandon his ruthless ways, hoping to turn his new son into the "Hero of Justice" he couldn't be.
- stay night: Archer, the resident Wild Card, is Shirou Emiya from an alternate timeline disillusioned from his dreams to be a "hero of justice." Summoned in the Fifth Holy Grail War, Archer seeks to escape his fate by murdering Shirou. No one able to get a true read on him, Archer is regarded as one of the best tacticians in the Holy Grail War. Often winning with his well-planned strategies that he often doesn't share with his Master Rin beforehand, Archer weaves out of the Master-Servant pact by pretending to ally with Caster and her Master. Once they are dispatched both directly and indirectly, Archer moves forward with his gambit but cannot go through with after seeing Shirou's own conviction in the face of reality. He dies content that Rin with set Shirou on a path he won't regret.
- Apocrypha:
- Shirou Kotomine is a Church minister presiding over the Red Faction and is the Master of Assassin Semiramis. In reality, he is Amakusa Shirou Tokisada, Ruler Servant summoned in a prior Grail War. Noble and benevolent, his methods are ruthless and cunning. Seeking humanity's redemption out of pure love for mankind, Shirou bid his time, gathered items as catalysts to summon a Servant in the Middle East, and waited for Yggdemillenia of the Black Faction to show themselves. Midway during the next Grail War, Shirou launched an ambitious attack that sees him singlehandedly take over the Servants of the Red Faction, reclaim the lost Greater Grail, and out-gambit his enemy Darnic. He intends to invade the Greater Grail's innards to access True Magic and begin humanity's salvation. Ever calm and collected, it is only when he is minutes close to achieving his dangerously alluring dream that Shirou rants to Sieg not to ruin humanity's salvation.
- Semiramis, the Wise Queen of Assyria and the Assassin of Red, is the luxurious, elegant underling of her Master Shirou Kotomine summoned into the Great Holy Grail War. Winning the favor of Syrian king Ninus with her battle plans, Semiramis earned her title and infamy by then poisoning him, taking over as queen, and reigning with her indisputable tactical and political acumen. In the war proper, Semiramis used her dove familiars to scout out the flow of battle to gain information she and her allies used accordingly. To singlehandedly take over the Red Faction, Semiramis slipped a hypnotic drug into the tea of all the Red Faction Masters, allowing Shirou the opportunity to manipulate them into acquiescing their Command Seals. Complicit with Amakusa Shiro's plans for humanity's salvation, Semiramis remained by his side to the very end, grateful for the time she spent with the man who captured her heart.
- Caster of Red, true identity William Shakespeare, is driven to create the perfect story no matter who he has to manipulate in the process. Tricking and betraying his master to join Shirou Kotomine's conspiracy, Shakespeare deduces his new leader's identity and even plots to make Shirou's story a tragedy until Shirou is forced to use a Command Seal to stem this. In battle, Shakespeare repeatedly tactically aides his allies to use his abilities to enhance theirs and when he faces Joan of Arc, Ruler, he fights by attempting to break her will. At the conclusion of Shirou's plans, Shakespeare handles his own loss with grace, declaring the finished story his final masterpiece.
- Grand Order:
- Timeless Temple: Goetia, Beast I, was the aggregate body of the 72 Ars Goetia demons that served as the precursor to familiars for their master, King Solomon of Israel. Observing the entirety of human history and becoming overwhelmed by centuries of suffering and death they perceived, Goetia conducted the "Incineration of Humanity." Using the accrued energy to time travel far enough to oversee the evolution of humans, he intended to "manage" the direction of human history forever. Possessing his master's corpse to disguise themselves as well as to keep dominion over nine of the Ten Rings, which would have been the greatest deterrents to his objective, Goetia also masterminded the titular "Grand Order" that ensured the demons within would manipulate the course of Magus bloodlines and survive to the modern day until the right time. After hard-fought battles that brought Chaldea and their allying army of Heroic Spirits to the brink, Goetia would eventually come to understand the ideals of the Protagonist and Mash Kyrielight, perishing as the "King of Men" in representation of his changed beliefs.
- Shinjuku:
- Professor James Moriarty, self-proclaimed dapper gentleman and Arch-Enemy to Sherlock Holmes, serves as the Arc Villain of Epic of Remnant's Shinjuku chapter. Conspiring with the Demon Pillar Bael, Moriarty splits himself into a good and an evil half that, when combined at the right moment, will carry out their final gambit under everyone's suspicion. His good half cavorts with the Protagonist and allies, earning their trust and friendship, while his evil half commands the Phantom Troupe and runs Shinjuku. Claiming to have calculated every move to the decimal, all eventually leads to a confrontation at the top of the Barrel. Here, Moriarty's Memory Gambit pays off, and he strikes down Holmes before revealing a meteor is attracted to the Barrel because of his friendship with the Protagonist. Aspiring to commit the "perfect crime" of destroying the world, it is the very emotions he used to nearly win that became his undoing.
- Yan Qing is a chipper yet psychotic member of the Phantom Troupe. Retaining his charm from his days as a Gentleman Thief, Yan Qing stands out as a clever Masterof Disguise who impersonates Cursed Arm Hassan, an ally from the Camelot Singularity, convincingly drops the Protagonist's guard, and separates them from their Servants to take them hostage. His actions forced a hidden Sherlock Holmes to rescue the Protagonist and thus expose him to the Phantom Troupe. Outed as a threat because of his speed and craftiness, the Protagonist and company infilitrate a lucrative party held a disguised Yan Qing. Despite Holmes and the good Moriarty seeing his final attempt at a subterfuge, Yan Qing's clever acts advanced the Phantom Troupe's, and thus the evil Moriarty's, ulterior plans farther than the rest.
- SE.RA.PH.: B.B. is a "Moon Cancer" Servant created by the Moon Cell as a perfect copy of the original assigned to stop the Demon God Pillar Zepar and Kiara Sessoyin. A perpetually-smiling, grandiose Wild Card who can shift from playful and teasing to manipulative and treacherous on a whim, B.B. instigated Chaldea's arrival to Seraphix. Operating under the pretense of a Killer Game Master making events as cumbersome and dangerous as possible for the Master of Chaldea and their allies, B.B. in fact was clandestinely making preparations to overthrow and defeat Beast III-R. Switching out the Master's allies mid-Rayshift, such an act paid off when each of them contributed to victory in their own ways, particularly that of EMIYA Alter. Her impish sadism belying her crafty nature, B.B. managed to move all the pieces into place and manipulate all the players of her game before anyone realized.
- Fae Round Table Domain, Avalon le Fae - The Moment a Planet is Born: Oberon-Vortigern is the polite Evil Uncle of Altria Caster. Summoned to the Avalon le Fae Lostbelt as Vortigern, he becomes amnesiac and is mistaken by the Autumn Forest fae as Oberon, being granted the latter's identify as a result. When he remembers his identify as Vortigern, he uses his Oberon identity to work together to their goals through deceiving Chaldea by making it look like Oberon took a hit from Morgan before working behind the scenes to deceive both Chaldea and the fae into reawakening Cernunnos, The Calamity of the Curse, who acted as a seal towards his powers. Upon the final defeat of Cernunnos, Vortigern's power as the Vile King is unleashed, allowing him to perform his role as Faerie Britain's personification of self-destruction as punishment for the fae's sins and betrayal of Cernunnos through devouring the entirety of the Lostbelt, and would have destroyed Proper Human History through Oberon's hatred of humanity judging the stories of the Lostbelts, had it been not for Altria Caster summoning herself as Altria Avalon to assist Chaldea into defeating Oberon-Vortigern, though remaining polite even when defeated.
- Golden Sea of Trees Travelogue, Nahui Mictlān - The One Who Rules The Planet: Daybit Sem Void is a Crypter who gained a cosmic insight when he was ten years old. After joining Chaldea and listening to Marisbury Animusphere's plans, he threatened the latter to shut down CHALDEAS to prevent humanity from becoming the most reviled species in the universe before setting on awakening ORT — An Ultimate One and one of the ultimate human killers — using the sacrifice of Izcalli and the pacifistic Deinos instead. Daybit is proficient in deduction, as shown in his meeting with Crypters, rescuing Scandinavia Peperoncino against Arjuna Alter, stealing the Foreign God's heart, and handing over important items for Underworld passage to Ritsuka Fujimaru. He is also just as good in direct combat, shown from his singlehandedly finishing Foreign God's simulation alone, fighting Camazotz — the Beast of Oblivion — to a standstill, breaking through Kadoc and Ninkigal's interception, to fighting Fujimaru and the Foreign God himself. Even after his plan failed due to Kukulkan — ORT's heart given sentience — fighting alongside Novum Chaldea, Daybit acknowledges Fujimaru by fighting them as a Master to settle the score and satisfy his curiosity on the duel. Fighting for humanity despite being separated from the Human Order, Daybit is willing to pull all stops to save the universe.
- Extella Link: Upon being summoned, Rex Magnus Karl (Or Karl der Große) resolves to achieve the dreams he had in life, and to take over the Moon Cell using a brainwashing process known as Oraclization to give the people peace and unity. Oraclizing some Servants and simply swaying others with his words and Affably Evil nature, Karl proves as intelligent in conversation as he is in conquest. Despite losing the war, Karl takes full responsibility and, even dealing with frustration and defeat, never loses his cool, always having a contingency or new plan at his disposal. Able to come within inches of victory no matter the situation or odds, Karl accepts his death with honor, earning the respect of his "sister" Altera and protagonist Hakuno Kishinami.
Others
Examples
- Tsukihime: Kohaku once offered to allow Makihisa Tohno to rape her in order to spare her sister Hisui from the same fate. Seeking a purpose in revenge on the Tohno family, Kohaku manipulates Makihisa's death and guides Makihisa's daughter Akiha into being her pawn, likewise manipulating Makihisa's adopted son Shiki by revealing incomplete points of information and revealing other pertinent details at the opportune time. Guiding Akiha into embracing her dark side in her own route, Kohaku tricks Shiki multiple times and steadily guides the destruction of the Tohno family, only relenting due to her own love of Shiki while remaining the finest manipulator in all Tsukihime.
- The Garden of Sinners: Souren Araya is the true mastermind of the events of the story, orchestrating events and manipulating fallible, talented people to his will. Inserting himself into the lives of impressionable teenagers with potential for immense power, Araya grants them their greatest desires while turning them into tools he uses as obstacles in Shiki Ryougi's path. Planning to steal Shiki's body so as to use her "Mystic Eyes of Death Perception" for his own goals, Araya concocts the Ogawa apartment massacre to both test his powers and to lure Shiki into a successful trap. Araya uses the psychopathic Cornelius Alba as his stooge, keeping the lunatic pacified and under control to further his schemes, and later quickly and efficiently kills Touko Aozaki when she tries to interfere. Ultimately driven by a life of witnessing needless death and pain, Araya plans to wipe out all life on Earth while preserving records of each and every death in history in his memory to give them "purpose," and, even when beaten and dying, Araya proudly stands by his beliefs that he was trying to prevent misery, and hoping to honor every death to ever occur.
