Fate/Grand Order: Senji Muramasa / Sandbox

There exists a major plot twist in Lostbelt No. 5: Atlantis that makes it impossible to discuss him without bringing up major spoilers. As such, tropes regarding his appearance in Cosmos In The Lostbelt have been moved to a separate folder. You Have Been Warned.

Senji Muramasa

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

Forger of Demonic Swords

^{Second Ascension}

^{Third Ascension}

^{Final Ascension}

^{Heroic Spirit Tour}

^{April Fool's}

Rarity: SSR (5*)
ID: No. 302
Command Cards: QAABB; (A)
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Attribute: Human
Origin: Japan (16th Century)
First appearance: Fate/stay night (as "Emiya Shirou")
Background development:
Illustrated by: Takashi Takeuchi
Voiced by: Noriaki Sugiyama

"Saber: Senji Muramasa. I've answered to your summons. I'm just a blacksmith, but as a Pseudo-Servant, I should at least be capable of acting like a warrior. Hm? What's with that look? It's a face that says "I-know-how-it-is" and is still surprised...I think you're just a biiit hasty there in making first assumptions on me..."

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

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

Muramasa uses his extensive knowledge of blades to exceptionally deadly effect. His first skill, Tame-shimono B+, greatly buffs all three of his card performances and star absorption for one turn, as well as grants him critical stars. His second skill, Karmic Vision A, allows him to pierce Invincibility, massively buffs his critical damage and critical star generation rate, and further massively buffs his critical damage against enemies who dare to use Evasion or Invincibility buffs. His third skill, Blaze EX, greatly charges his NP gauge, and grants him a buff that slightly charges his NP gauge when he attacks. His Noble Phantasm, Tsumukari Muramasa, is an AoE Arts attack that removes all enemies' offensive buffs before dealing damage that ignores Defense buffs.

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

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Main Tropes

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

Cosmos In The Lostbelt Tropes (SPOILERS)

The same Senji Muramasa encountered by the protagonist in Shimousa, he was summoned by the Foreign God aid in its descent and act as its trustworthy steward afterwards. He first appeared to carry out this role in the fifth Lostbelt, and then appears in the sixth Lostbelt.

Absurdly Sharp Blade: In Olympus, he uses his blade to cut open the path of the Foreign God's descent. He does this by cutting down the Servant, the Titan Atlas. Then in the opening for the second half of Cosmos in the Lostbelt, he slices a mountain in half with the shockwave of an underhanded swing with so much power it launched one half of the mountain up into the air to almost double the mountain's original height, and did it so cleanly that the heat from the shockwave of his slash turns the inside of the mountain into a pane of crystal-clear mirror glass.
Anti-Villain: He's only doing what the Foreign God tells him because, as a Servant, he has to follow what he's told. It's to the point that after being told to assassinate the Lostbelt King Morgan, his idea was to just walk up to her castle and announce his intent, which gets him thrown down the hole next to Camelot. After crawling out, he gets captured and sold to Muryan's slave auction house, which he then becomes your ally through the chapter because you win him at the auction.
Badass in Distress: He is sent to Avalon le Fae by the Foreign God in order to assassinate Morgan, which he tries to do by just walking to her castle and announcing his objective. This leads to him being defeated by Fairy Knight Lancelot and falling down a hole for three days. While weakened, he is caged up by goblins and sent to Muryan to be sold in an auction.
Bothering by the Book: Essentially what he does in Olympus. He was given several orders in succession, including destroying Hephaestus in Atlantis and taking half of him to Olympus to increase efficiency there, aiding a request by Hephaestus to finish the Grand Summoning Article that would prove pivotal against Zeus, and then basically killing off Chaldea. He takes his time with the other orders in order to stave off having to fulfill the last one.
Composite Character: Like his fellow Disciple Douman, he's an Alter Ego that the Foreign God has given him aspects of other deities. One being a blind Norse God implied to be Hodr, and the second he refuses to say, as many Chaldean Servants have connections to them. It's implied said God is Susanoo due to mentioning Kushinadahime, someone Susanoo saved from Yamata-no-Orochi by turning her into a comb.
Covert Pervert: Its mentioned he was the one who made the Sensual Spandex the Foreign God/U-Olga Marie shows up wearing at the climax of Olympus when she finally descends.
Didn't Think This Through: When ordered to assassinate Morgan, he strides right into her castle and announces his intentions to kill the queen. This results in him fighting the Fairy Knights of the Round Table and ending up captured and sent to be sold at a slave auction.
Enemy Mine: Because the British Lostbelt is a threat not only to Proper Human History but to the Foreign God as well, Muramasa teams up with Chaldea there to defeat Morgan.
Face–Heel Turn: He reappears in Atlantis as an enemy of Proper Human History, having been summoned along with Ashiya Douman and Rasputin as Alter Egos in service of the Foreign God. That said, he's a clear Anti-Villain, and only does what it tells him because, as a Servant, he has to follow what he's told.
Foreshadowing: Unlike the other Disciples and Koyanskaya, Muramasa doesn't do much for most of the story, and spends all of his time hanging around Atlantis and Olympus to help the Foreign God descend in some manner. In the climax of Olympus, Kotomine reveals that the Foreign God was well aware of Kirschtaria's betrayal and the Titan Atlas's presence in the Tree Magellan, and had prepared Muramasa as a god-killing Servant for the sole purpose of killing Atlas so it could finally descend.
Guest-Star Party Member: In Avalon le Fae. Notably, he is truly an Alter Ego, not his Saber self, and has a different third skill.
Heroic Sacrifice: He sacrifices himself to forge Excalibur and spare Altria Caster from giving up her own life. Downplayed though since he has some selfish motives. He doesn't want to keep serving the Foreign God, and besides, what red-blooded blacksmith worth their salt wouldn't seize the chance to forge the ultimate sword in the Ultimate Forge even at the cost of their life?
Irony: In Atlantis, he was summoned by the Foreign God to stop Chaldea, meaning the Ally of Justice Emiya is being used as a villain. Moreover, he's working alongside Rasputin, who is in the body of Shirou's enemy Kotomine Kirei, and actually likes him the most of his comrades.
Immune to Mind Control: The Foreign God's tampering with his Spirit Origin made him immune to Dracae's illusions, meaning he's the one who has to bail everyone out when they fall into her trap.
Kill the God: An Invoked Trope example. He was fused with a smith known for being able to kill a God, seemingly to be used by the Foreign God for this purpose. He makes use of it in Olympus to kill the Titan Atlas, and this is reflected in gameplay with his Guest-Star Party Member version having his third skill (Blaze EX) replaced with a skill called God Slayer EX, which boosts his NP, gives him an ignore defenses and invincibility on his attacks buff, and gives him a damage boost against Divine enemies.
Mundane Wish: His only regret before sacrificing himself was that he couldn't give Altria Caster the discarded hairpin she admired in the river.
Punch-Clock Villain: He has little interest in the Foreign God's cause and only follows his orders to the extent he must as a Servant. For instance, on one occasion he leaves the Chaldeans alone because while attacking them is on the to-do list, he has other, more important orders. His Heroic Sacrifice in Avalon le Fae is partially motivated by freeing himself from the Foreign God's bondage at the first opportunity.
Renaissance Man: Blacksmithing might be his strong suit, but he is shown to be talented in other artistic fields. He pays back Astraea allowing him to stay on her island by sculpting multiple statues of her, including one giant statue, tailors a suit for Foreign God in preparations for their descent and helps Habetrot to create a new suit to Altria Caster.
Situational Sword: He explains in Lostbelt 6 that due to the Foreign God incorporating anti-divine Divine Spirits into him he specializes in killing gods, which is why when he fought Fairy Knight Lancelot he wasn't able to show the same power he used against Titan Atlas.
Super-Toughness: He's so durable that he survives wounds from Faerie Knight Lancelot that would have killed a normal Servant 12 times over followed by getting dumped into a pit several kilometers deep and filled with deadly curses.
Ultimate Blacksmith: He's so good he's forged Divine Construct-level weapons at multiple points in the story. In particular, he forges the real-deal Excalibur of the British Lostbelt to give to Altria Caster. Keep in mind, in Proper Human History it took six ancient faeries each with power to rival True Ancestors or High Elementals to make the sword, though the sword is incomplete.
The Worf Effect: Despite killing twenty Proper Human History Servants with Kirei in Atlantis and cutting down the Titan Atlas in Olympus, he is defeated by the Fairy Knight Lancelot in Avalon. It's more of a downplayed example since he managed to defeat the Fairy Knights Gawain and Tristan beforehand. See Situational Sword.

Sandbox / Fate/Grand Order: Senji Muramasa

There exists a major plot twist in Lostbelt No. 5: Atlantis that makes it impossible to discuss him without bringing up major spoilers. As such, tropes regarding his appearance in Cosmos In The Lostbelt have been moved to a separate folder. You Have Been Warned.

Senji Muramasa

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Sandbox / Fate/Grand Order: Senji Muramasa

Edit Locked

There exists a major plot twist in Lostbelt No. 5: Atlantis that makes it impossible to discuss him without bringing up major spoilers. As such, tropes regarding his appearance in Cosmos In The Lostbelt have been moved to a separate folder. You Have Been Warned.

Senji Muramasa

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Index

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