History Anime / CarnivalPhantasm

* AdaptationalJerkass: Sakura, contrary to her normal characterization, tends to be completely vile to everyone around her in her few appearances. This is also in comparison to ''Take Moon'', especially in the "Circumstances of the Matou Family" chapter (where her character asides didn't happen).
** What makes Sakura's jerkassery so bizarre is that she's a Jerkass to the people that care for her, drop-kicking Rider who was trying to help her from her abuse from Shinji and going Yandere on Shirou, yet is forgiving of Shinji's abuse of her, [[spoiler:because being abused by him makes her look better.]]

* BaitAndSwitchCredits: Done by the Tempest: Illya's Castle game.

* BigBallOfViolence: Standard interaction between Arcueid and Ciel. Apparently, they're actually [[VitriolicBestBuds friends]].

* BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine: This is the standard format for Back Alley Alliance.

** Lancer is abused constantly and dies nearly every episode with the cameo in the Phantasm Moon skit being one of the [[BuffySpeak Butt Monkey-est]] moments in the whole show. He even gets dragged into completely unrelated scenes just to be abused throughout the series, ''especially'' in the second season. It may be a reference to Lancer's E-grade Luck from his VisualNovel/FateStayNight [[ContinuityNod Servant Status page]].

* CatSmile: Done by the male protagonists of all people. It's also the Neko Arcs' default expression.

* CloseCallHaircut:
** Berserker pulls this off on Caster while using a ''tennis ball''.
** Done again in Episode 2 by Miyako on Ciel during the volleyball match, cracking Ciel's glasses.

* ComicallySerious: Mainly Kotomine, Soichiro and Nrvnqsr Chaos.

* CrazyPrepared:
** Assassin, with an emphasis on Crazy. [[spoiler:In order to compete in the 5th Holy Grail War race he brings the Ryudou Shrine gate with him on a semi-truck, then has one of Caster's [[MundaneUtility Protection Charms]] to ensure that he does not have an accident while driving. It's only because of Illya and [=BerSer-CAR=] that he loses.]] Rin and Archer think what he did was both impressive and completely insane.
** Shirou and Shiki TRY to do this for their [[MundaneMadeAwesome insane date plans]]. It... [[EpicFail fails.]]
* CurbStompBattle: Season 2 Episode 1: Berserker vs. the other Servants. Most of it ''[[BadassUnintentional inadvertently]]''. Made even funnier by the fact that Berserker fails to even notice most of them.

* DayInTheLimelight: The second season seems to have a lot of these;

** Episode 6 gives us the previously ignored Sakura and to a lesser extent Rider going into some... [[RapeAsDrama darker,]] [[BlackComedyRape but not too dark]] places.

--> Lancer: '''WHOOOOAAAAAA~!!!'''
--> Bazett: '''[[ScreamingWoman WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH~!!!]]'''

* {{Determinator}}: Both Shirou and Shiki in Episode 12 as they literally run themselves ragged to implement their ZanyScheme.

* DisappearsIntoLight: Taiga actually encourages this when the characters are fighting Illya at the end.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: In the most heartwarming ways possible: [[spoiler:Caster's]] episode revolves around this, and she definitely earned it.

* ElegantGothicLolita: Saber Alter names herself as such in Episode 8.

-->'''Taiga:''' Your dress is see-through.
-->'''[[ShamelessFanserviceGirl Red Saber]]:''' Fool. It's not see-through. I'm ''letting'' people see.

** Neko Arc in spades when it comes to the Holy Grail.

* GameShow: The first episode involves the Fifth Holy Grail War being turned into one of these.

* GratuitousEnglish: Taiga is just full of them.
** In Episode 3...
---> '''Shiki:''' Are you sleeping??
* GreekChorus: The Neco Arcs, in a half-assed way.
* GretzkyHasTheBall: The rules of beach volleyball are stated to not be in play even before starting, which is fortunate. Even if Ciel did manage to keep the ball in play and not rescue the curry, her team would have lost the point anyway because she was the last one to touch the ball despite it bouncing off her face. (Official rules of Volleyball state that the same player may not touch the ball twice in a row during a play.)
** JustifiedTrope: Not only are the rules not in play, but she was told to do so by ARCUEID, who hates her.

* HeavySleeper: Taiga in the ''Fate'' sections, Shiki in the ''Tsukihime'' (and it ends up coming back to bite him twice).
* HopelessWithTech: Rin Tohsaka, a trait of hers which isn't touched upon much at all in her [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight native series]], but which gets played to full hilarious effect in this one.

* HyperspaceArsenal:
** You thought Ciel pulling multiple Black Keys out of her school uniform was weird? Let's see you guess where she hid them on her ''skimpy bikini''.
** Riesbyfe and Lancer have this for Gamaliel and Gae Bolg in Episodes 2 and 11, respectively.

* IronicEcho: Inter-Works example. At one point Arcueid gets seriously pissed off at Ciel 'stealing' Shiki away, but Shiki reminds her that Ciel saved his life once, so he can't be cold towards her, and that Arcueid should treat her better. This is an echo of what happens in Ciel's Good End of ''Tsukihime'', where Ciel's attempts to make Arcueid go away are foiled by Shiki reminding Ciel that Arcueid was the one who saved him from Roa in the end, so he can't be hard on her.
** Also within the same episode: when Arcueid transfers into Shiki's class, she drags Shiki away from Ciel when the bell rings, throwing Ciel's previous line (with appropriate changes) right back at her.

* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Sion in Episode 2 when she also falls for Ciel's fake volleyball rules.

* LittleMissBadass: Miyako in Episode 2 once she overcomes her fear of the volleyball.
* LipstickMark: Taiga leaves one on the camera lens in Episode 5, and gets angry when Illya smears it while trying to imitate her.

* LoverTugOfWar: In the beach episode, a three-way one between Arcueid, Ciel, and Akiha. Shiki is perfectly fine with this, and [[LuminescentBlush grins happily]] while he unconvincingly "protests":
-->"It hurts, [[BlatantLies so stop it....."]]

* LuminescentBlush: Several examples, but Rin takes the crown during Episode 4 as she does so several times out of embarrassment.
** Rider gets one in Episode 9 as part of her reaction to the vehicle she'll be using.

* {{Meido}}: Saber in Episode 8.

** That whole segment is a series of {{Mood Whiplash}}es from one end to the other. Starting with the above, moving to Rider's hilarious means of foiling Shinji's abuse, then going right back to [[spoiler:Shinji about to rape Sakura]]!
** [[ItMakesSenseInContext It makes sense if you've seen Asadora and realize it's a straight-faced parody of its over-dramatic nature]].

* MsFanservice: Red Saber, an ''in-universe'' example.

** Caster's crafting of a good-luck charm for Soichirou. It [[spoiler:gives him actual, incredible luck. Justified as Caster's Crafting skill is exceptional (Rank A), even though (like Saber's Rank A in Riding outside of Literature/FateZero) [[MythologyGag it never comes into play]] in the original stories]]. Also given to Assassin during the race for the grail, to help his driving.

---> "[[OhCrap Wait, wait, wait! What's that supposed to mean?!]]"

** Then there's also Akiha's very nervous one in Episode 2.

** [[ItMakesSenseInContext ...is that Kansai style???]]
*** [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext But that's not what they agreed on!]]
* NoseBleed:
** [[spoiler:Aoko]] gets one of these about every time Shiki talks to her.
** Also Caster, when she spies on Saber.

* OddFriendship: Shiki and Shirou qualify, as {{Canon}} dictates they would not get along.
** Arguably, this is due to circumstances; they meet in the cafe after Shirou fails miserably with trying to fix the rocket, and join forces for the common goal of the super date plan, and need to help each other as much as possible to keep them both from getting killed.

* PervertedDrooling: Akiha for Shiki in the BeachEpisode. Kohaku manipulates her to make her go along with her ZanyScheme.

* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Sakura, according to... herself.

* StraightMan: Satsuki in the Afterschool! Alleyway Alliance segments.
* StalkerShrine: Caster has one to Saber that she tries to keep secret from Souichirou. He eventually sees it, and doesn't care.

** ''I'm so excited about our date that it looks like I'm acting suspiciously!''

* SympatheticSue: [[invoked]] [[ParodySue Parodied]] in Episode 6: this is apparently how Sakura sees herself.

* VisualPun: [=BerSer-CAR=].

** During Episode 5, Illya is playing on an UsefulNotes/Xbox360 at home. That makes sense for a German 18-year-old in 2010, when the episode was produced, but ''F/SN'' is set during 2004, a full year before the 360 existed.

* CargoShip: Invoked. Assassin is very, ''very'' [[IncrediblyLamePun "attached"]] to his gate. [[spoiler:It's even gotten to the point that he talks to it, and apparently hears it talk back. [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Not to mention the nature of these "conversations"...]]]]

** What makes Sakura's jerkassery so bizarre is that she's a Jerkass to the people that care for her, drop-kicking Rider who was trying to help her from her abuse from Shinji and going Yandere on Shirou, yet is forgiving of Shinji's abuse of her, [[spoiler: because being abused by him makes her look better.]]

-->'''Rider''': ''[{{Gasp}}]''\\

* AnachronismStew: A bit - Type-Moon works are typically set during their debut year. Granted, other TM works are more careful about the timeframe, while CP... doesn't need to be.
** During episode 5, Illya is playing on an UsefulNotes/Xbox360 at home. That makes sense for a German 18 year old in 2010, when the episode was produced, but ''F/SN'' is set during 2004, a full year before the 360 existed.

-->'''Caption''': Budget spent by Taiga: 325,000 yen.[[note]]roughly $7000 dollars in 2010 for forty seconds of animation[[/note]] (It's real!)

---> '''Rin''': Hey, Archer. Did you know? Dragsters ''can't turn''. ''[Lancer's Gae Bol Car explodes after crashing into the wall]''

** [[spoiler: Aside from Episode 11's SequelHook,]] Lancer mysteriously comes back to life in the 2013 episode after being killed by Black Keys and a "Servant Strengthening Device". Considering how much of a deal that Hibiki and Chikagi made over finding this body it is unusual that nobody at all comments on him being back and unharmed without explanation.

* BackToBackBadasses: Hilariously subverted. Shiki and Shirou do wind up literally back to back at one point, both facing the same lethal threat. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:said lethal threat is Saber and Arc, who are ''extremely'' pissed that each respective guy tried to be a player all day to their universe's respective love interests. Needless to say, the end results involve a lot of unmanly screaming from each guy as Saber and Arc kick their asses.]] It is the fact that they stick together against the odds that allows them to pull an off-screen maneuver in order to escape most of the wrath of a force that could [[spoiler:magic-nuke a forest]] and safely retreat thanks to Shiki's prior actions. Made even better by a previous sly little shot shown between Shiki and Shirou running about trying to please everyone: the shot shows Shiki confidently taking off his glasses to combat a wild bear he meets in the woods on his way to seeing one of the girls. The man can take on a bear with nothing but his [[MagicalEye magical eyes]] and his knife, but still trembles in fear of his [[ActionGirlfriend girlfriend]]. Of course, the bear would have simply killed him; Arcueid can do [[FateWorseThanDeath much worse]]. He even points this out in episode 4.

* BatmanGambit: Somehow, someway, Sakura already knew Shirou's [[TwoTimerDate plan]] in Episode 12, given her [[StalkerWithACrush sneaky]] way of following Shiro around all his other dates, and subtly brings his plan crashing and burning down. [[spoiler: Why else would she be the only one smiling as the rest of the girls are having a tense staredown with Shiro and Shiki?]]

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Sakura in episode 6 and again in episode 12. Most of her internal monologue the first time ends with how [[SmallNameBigEgo awesome]] she is. Entirely PlayedForLaughs in both cases with her actions in episode 6 being a part of the drama spoof and in 12 it's part of her role as spanner to the ZanyScheme. She also is [[spoiler:disappointed that Shinji is turned into a good guy]]. See DemotedToExtra below as to why.
* BladeBrake: In episode 11, Lancer uses his Gae Bolg to [[spoiler:brake his runaway dragster in a bid to avoid the fatal crash he gets in episode 9]]. It doesn't manage to [[spoiler: bring the dragster to a complete stop, but the resulting slower crash is at least survivable for him.]]

** The sponsors littering episode 9. Also, Illya's consoles and Japanese games in episode 5. On the other hand, though they are obscured, the covers for ''VideoGame/BattlestationsPacific'' and ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' are ones from the real world and have not been modified.

--> '''Gilgamesh''': ''[Evil laugh]'' Rule breaker!
--> '''Caster''': HEY! That's my line!
--> '''Gilgamesh''': Your things are my things!
--> '''Caster''': [[EvenEvilHasStandards He's the oldest bully in human history...]]

** [[spoiler: [[TheCameo Waver Velvet]]]] gets to share a moment of this with Lancer [[spoiler: in the season three finale as they are both lifted up by Berserker]] with Saber Lion biting on Lancer's arm.

** In episode 8, while Berserker is trying to smash the cafe, nobody inside does anything about it, the people inside being Arcueid, Gilgamesh, and Nrvnqsr Chaos, all of whom should be able to beat Berserker in a straight fight. Only Saber does anything, which is to kindly ask him to calm down.
* CameraAbuse: During the game show in episode 1, Berserker suddenly beats up a cameraman, shown from the camera's perspective.

** Arcueid herself constantly pops up in the ''Fate'' sections, usually completely unruffled by the chaos occurring around her. Some are easier to spot than others, such as being a customer at the cafe in episode 8.

* CargoShip: Invoked. Assassin is very, ''very'' [[IncrediblyLamePun "attached"]] to his gate. [[spoiler: It's even gotten to the point that he talks to it, and apparently hears it talk back. [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Not to mention the nature of these "conversations"...]]]]

** Done again in episode 2 by Miyako on Ciel during the volleyball match, cracking Ciel's glasses.

* CorrelationCausationGag: Done in episode 12 when Hisui's hammer strikes a nail at the same time a MagicNuke goes off across town. She simply takes a quizzical look at the hammer and keeps pounding.

** Played for laughs in episode 4 when Shirou & Shiki are making plans for their dates which all overlap with other girls. They are accompanied by a rocky BGM just for it to stop when they realize that the plans they made are all impossible.
** Same in episode 1: When Shirou decides to destroy the Grail and end the war, the music sweeps up until the Grail is broken and its contents revealed... [[spoiler: to be Neco Arc.]]
* DelayedReaction: It takes Lancer a full 3 seconds to realize that the pretty girl he was accosting is actually Bazett. Their reaction to said realization is priceless.

** ''Not'' Satsuki Yumizuka, who in fact gets a decent chunk of screentime considering her low overall importance. She has a dedicated slot concerning her and the Back Alley Alliance at the end of the episodes during Episodes 2 through Episode 4. Rather, the person who got hit with this trope the hardest is ''Sakura''. One of the three main heroines of ''[[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Fate/stay night]]'', and she doesn't even get a speaking role for the entirety of season one! Isn't it sad, Sakura? When she finally gets an episode devoted to her, it focuses more on Rider with the joke being that all Sakura has going for her is putting up with Shinji. And Sakura is ''really'' not portrayed as sympathetic, even in an episode about her abuse....
** Assassin is STILL at the Temple Gates being forgotten about as the opening points out. He is represented by a [[MythologyGag cardboard cutout]] everywhere that's not the Temple Gates (including the beginning -and- ending credits). He's unable to leave the shrine gates, so he can't appear much in the series. [[spoiler:Until later he participates in the race... with the gates riding on his racecar.]]

* {{Determinator}}: Both Shirou and Shiki in episode 12 as they literally run themselves ragged to implement their ZanyScheme.

** Akiha is superhuman, true, but she's simply nowhere near the same level as [[PhysicalGod Arcueid]]. However, she persists in matching Arcueid point-for-point in a volleyball match up to five hundred and twenty five points through sheer, single-minded determination (and long after everyone ''else'' had dropped out of the running), all for the sake of the grand prize - having Shiki all to herself. Of course, at the end of the match, Akiha is completely exhausted while Arcueid doesn't even look winded, so it creates the implication that she wasn't even trying.

* DisproportionateRetribution: In the Hibichika Special, Shiki and Shirou are rather horribly "punished" for the terrible crime of... [[spoiler: planning to take the main heroines of their games, Arcueid and Saber, for dates. All secondary heroines who have routes are in on it, in a serious OutOfCharacterMoment. Shiki is the one who gets off easily - he is "only" stalked by Ciel, attacked by Akiha while taking a shower, and locked out of the mansion. Shirou gets life-leeching curses from Rin, and '''worms''' from Sakura.]]

* EarlyBirdCameo: Arcueid in episode 1, showing up before a dedicated Tsukihime segment. Hibiki and Chikagi in episode 12.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: In the most heartwarming ways possible: [[spoiler: Caster's]] episode revolves around this, and she definitely earned it.

* ElegantGothicLolita: Saber Alter names herself as such in episode 8.

** [[spoiler: Bazett later on]] makes an appearance in clothing that leaves very little to the imagination, accompanied by camera angles that leave even less.

** During the Phantasmoon segment in episode 4, it turns out that the little black dog that Akiha feeds is a part of Nero that broke free and ran away. This information is courtesy of a "Lost Dog" poster next to Arcueid in the preceding shot.

** What's that on Shiki's nightstand when he fails to wake up in episode 12? The ''Literature/FateZero'' collection.

%%* GirlyRun: Sakura in episode 12.

** In episode 3...

* GrotesqueCute: Grail-kun has a cute voice and looks like a fun representation of all the world's evil while spewing out liquid darkness. In episode 11, he "helps" Lancer avoid his deaths, while watching from afar like a strange stalker.
* HappyEnding: The ending of episode 12 has literally everybody from ''Tsukihime'', ''Fate/stay night'', ''Fate/hollow ataraxia'', ''Fate/Zero'', pretty much the whole Nasuverse hanging out and having a good time at Ahnenerbe. Well, everyone is having a good time expect [[ButtMonkey Lancer]] [[spoiler:and Waver.]]

* IAmTheNoun: Gilgamesh when he ignores the "no Noble Phantasms" rule in the Holy Grail War in episode 1.

* ICallItVera: Rider quickly names her granny bike "Unit Pegasus" in episode 9.

* ImAHumanitarian: Lancer being fed to Saber Lion in episode 8. A conversation on Youtube between her and Archer suggests that she can eat other Servants just the same...
* ItsAllAboutMe: Not just Gilgamesh but also Sakura in episode six:

* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Sion in episode 2 when she also falls for Ciel's fake volleyball rules.

* LittleMissBadass: Miyako in episode 2 once she overcomes her fear of the volleyball.

** One of the Eyecatches from episode 3 shows Shiki, Arcueid, and Ciel in ALadyOnEachArm situation, while inverted [[ButtMonkey Akiha]] [[ClingyJealousGirl fumes]]. Shiki is naturally rather happy with the situation.
* LuminescentBlush: Several examples, but Rin takes the crown during episode 4 as she does so several times out of embarrassment.
** Rider gets one in episode 9 as part of her reaction to the vehicle she'll be using.

** Shinji in episode 6 after Rider "accidentally" hits him with her Noble Phantasm and he exclaims that such an attack would have killed anyone other than him. [[spoiler:Poor Lancer, though]].
** Again, Shirou and Shiki in episode 12, as they apparently survive a combined FantasticNuke and retreat back to the Tohno mansion.
* MagicalGirl: Up through episode 6, Arcueid-as-Phantasmoon shows up at either the beginning or end of each segment to do a spoof commercial for various episodes of a MagicalGirl anime centering around her.

** Episode 11: Subverts all previous deaths! [[spoiler: Then dies to the volleyball in episode two... Then rises from his grave.]]

* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Hilariously done in episode 8, when Saber [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Alter]] returns to Shirou after a day of work and quite clearly drunk. We then get treated to Shirou welcoming her back in an apron.
* {{Meido}}: Saber in episode 8.
* {{Melodrama}}: Episode six portrays Sakura's life as a cheesy soap opera. It fits perfectly. When Rider accidentally gets Sakura to defend herself and reform Shinji, she gets pissed because now she can't play the victim for sympathy.

** Episode 12's Date Everyone Plan vs the Date The Main Heroine route shown in the [=HibiChika=] Special: [[spoiler: the first is utter hilarity that ends with all of the girls mad but Shiki and Shirou still (barely) get out of it in one piece while the other is utter {{nightmare fuel}} as the rejected girls all go full-on {{yandere}} on the two guys and the chosen girls don't even try to put a stop to it.]]

** In Episode 2, Akiha pictures herself winning the MVP prize - a night alone in a private room with Shiki - with the other love interests watching from a doorway. The only movement in the scene aside from a panning effect is Shiki's arm elongating into a tentacle-like appendage with a grotesque sound and closing the door.

* NobleBigot: In episode 2, Miyako is disappointed that she's paired with "foreigners" - Ciel and Arcueid - and thinks to herself that Ciel must be Indian because she reeks of curry.

* NoblewomansLaugh: Rin, in episode 4. While assuring Shirou that, because she's a genius, recording a TV show will be easy for her. The results are [[HilarityEnsues hilarious]], especially when she realises it's a Blu-ray player and she doesn't know what to do. [[spoiler: Or rather, is told by Archer that it is a Blu-ray recorder. She thought it was a [=MegaDisk=].]]
** Then there's also Akiha's very nervous one in episode 2.

** Even Saber has a few of her own: one when she gets caught trying to nap with Shirou in episode 3 and another when she sees Gilgamesh is her next customer in episode 8.
** Shiki and Shiro constantly in episode 12, whenever there's a hiccup in their ZanyScheme. Given the potential that their lives are on the line, it's completely justified.

* PrecisionFStrike: Combined with their OhCrap moment from episode 12, both Shiki and Shirou react with a completely appropriate, "Oh ''shit''!" when they realize they forgot about Akiha and Illya.

** In episode 9, Berserker can apparently transform into a car. He is dubbed the "Berser-car."

** Saber gets her own "Shiroooouuuu!" in episode 5.

** The Holy Grail Race War ends with [[spoiler: Shirou and Saber winning due to spending all their coins... but decide to wish [[StatusQuoIsGod for their money back.]]]]

* SlasherSmile: Sakura has ''several'' in episode 12, even during the party in the epilogue when she has no reason to be {{Yandere}}! She cracks a menacing smirk, with the Shadow looming behind her, at Shinji getting eaten alive by one of Nero's wolves, and for that she's entirely justified.

** Episode 12: [[spoiler: Sakura to Shirou during the zany scheme to date everyone.]]

* StockFootage: In episode 4, Shiki and Shirou imagine Arcueid and Saber's wrath. In episode 12, that same animation is re-used when incurring their actual wrath.

* SweetTooth: Yes, Caren eats that entire cake during the post-credits epilogue in episode 12.
* SympatheticSue: [[invoked]] [[ParodySue Parodied]] in episode 6: this is apparently how Sakura sees herself.

** Shirou and Shiki's ZanyScheme in episode 12 begins falling apart immediately after Shirou internally comments that they're successfully pulling it off. Cue Illya shattering that to pieces.

*** That said, even after everything that happens, [[spoiler: including seemingly being killed a new time by the volleyball from episode 2, the SequelHook at the end of the episode shows that [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Lancer lived.]]]]

* UnwantedHarem: Averted for both Shiki and Shirou - they both [[HaremSeeker want to date all their girls]], and pay the price for it. Or at least, Shiki wants to date them all whereas Shirou just wants everyone to be happy, but has the handicap of being, well, Shirou.

* WackyRacing: Premise of episode 9. The Holy Grail War is reduced to a grand prix race with everyone using randomly selected vehicles, whether a racing bike, a coin-fed robo-lion, or just a shopping bike.
* WeaponTombstone: The ShootTheShaggyDog ending of episode 11 has Grail-kun bury Lancer, with his tombstone being a combination of Gae Bolg laid sideways and a stick saying "YOU LOSE". [[spoiler:Lancer's hand bursting out of the ground and reclaiming Gae Bolg only makes TheStinger all the more triumphant.]]

* {{Yandere}}: Sakura in Episode 12. Also part of a FunnyBackgroundEvent as it's very easy to miss her being the first to get wise to Shirou's ZanyScheme when she begins [[http://i40.tinypic.com/30xj2fc.jpg showing up]] ''everywhere'' else that Shirou goes to during his segments and always gets there before he does! The special season episode shows her being even more yandere than before [[spoiler: by having her put ''crest worms'' in Shirou and Saber's food when Shirou decides to date only Saber]]. But then again, pretty much every girl does this during said special season: Rin leaves the house and sets up magic circles that drain Shirou's energy. Akiha uses her magic hair on Shiki while he is bathing. Ciel follows Shiki around and lets him know by forcing curry on him to the point where he hallucinates that the faucet water in his house is curry. And, to top it off, the maids [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking lock Shiki out of the mansion]]!

** Shiki and Shirou's plan to keep all their potential love interests happy falls square into this trope. It ''starts'' with Shiki having to be in two different places at exactly the same time, and it only gets worse from there. Shirou's plan can be recapped thusly: [[spoiler: "I'll just tell them all to deal with it because I want everyone to be happy! They'll understand!"]]

* WidgetSeries: A fair few might characterize ''CP'' as one itself, since it's a goofy, unabashed gag show which uses a pair of ''dark psychological horror visual novels'' as source material. However, much more notable is that a couple episode ''themselves'' rely on references to other [=WJTs=], and these are so obscure outside of Japan that the vast majority of non-Japanese viewers are likely to miss the references entirely. To wit:
** The actual gimmick of Episode 5 ("Berserker's First Errand") is that it's an extended gag on a classic, long-running Japanese reality TV show called "[[http://www.ntv.co.jp/otsukai/ Hajimete No Otsukai]]" or "My First Errand". You see, Japan, being a pretty low-crime, public-safety focused country, is rather more okay with the idea of FreeRangeChildren and sending kids to do errands at younger ages than some other societies. In particular, very young kids, around 4 or so, are often sent on their very first errand... with the expectation that they'll probably screw up, and that the mistakes they make will be a teachable moment. "Hajimete" records these on film to watch the kids as they go about the errands in very adorable, kid-like ways and document the ways they get off-track. The nearest American counterpart might be ''Series/AmericasFunniestHomeVideos'', though it's ''significantly'' less mean-spirited than ''AFV'' can be. The episode's humor, of course, comes from the narrator still playing the "Hajimete" parody completely straight, complete with describing Berserker picking up a "dog" (poor Cu), and hurrying to complete his errand (while ignoring his winning the Grail War on accident). As the gimmick of the series largely doesn't even ''exist'' outside of Japan, though, it's rarely ever been exported, so most non-Japanese viewers miss the reference entirely.
*** As a side note: people might think that "Eneloop" is a BlandNameProduct for Energizer. Eneloop is a 100% real brand of rechargeables, manufactured by Panasonic.
** Episode 6 can catch people off guard because of the weird tone shifts... that seem like a joke on something, but you can't tell what. Well, that's because they, and the whole episode, are a joke on the "Renzoku Terebi Shousetsu" (literally "Serial TV Novel"), AKA the "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asadora Asadora]]" (or "Morning Drama"), an ''incredibly'' long-running series of morning {{Soap Opera}}s. The interstitial bumpers are a direct joke on the ones used by ''Asadora'', and a lot of the contrived drama and trials and travails of Sakura during the episode are jokes about the structure of ''Asadora'' seasons and how the shows inevitably treat their (young, female) protagonists. As the shows almost ''never'' get exported (outside of record-setting ones like ''{{Series/Oshin}}'', anyway), though, it's extremely unlikely non-Japanese will understand what the episode is specifically parodying.

* ActorAllusion: Shinji being an internet {{Troll}} probably has 'touches' on Creator/HiroshiKamiya doing [[LightNovel/{{Durarara}} Izaya Orihara]], who is an in-universe {{Troll}}.

** ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' fans may spot a familiar blue kimono/red jacket combo in the audience in the first episode.

** Season three's finale has brief glimpses of cast members from essentially every Nasuverse continuity, even ones that [[Literature/AngelNotes debatably aren't part of it]] or [[LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners definitely aren't.]]

** The 2013 episode shows many characters from the Nasuverse, notably from ''LightNovel/FateZero'' and ''VideoGame/FateExtra'', in a massive rush of SuperDeformed characters. Also, Hibiki Hibino and Chikagi Katsuragi, two characters appearing only on the Type Moon website, appear prominently during the first part of the episode.

** A little more seriously, Sakura as a yandere-ish stalker. In the wake of the animated ''LightNovel/FateZero'' (earlier episodes of which aired in tandem with ''CP'' releases), the animated ''[[Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks Unlimited Blade Works]]'', ''VideoGame/FateExtra CCC'' in general (even though that's not ''quite'' the same Sakura), and the entire ''[[Anime/FateStayNightHeavensFeel Heaven's Feel]]'' trilogy, this interpretation of Sakura's character has fallen '''sharply''' out of favor with the fanbase, even as a joke. These days it just comes across as the writers being mean and forcing Sakura to be out of character.

* DancingTheme: The opening, "Super☆Affection", with all the main heroines dancing along to the tune. That it is extremely [[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya derivative]] makes it no less awesome.

** What's that on Shiki's nightstand when he fails to wake up in episode 12? The ''LightNovel/FateZero'' collection.

** Caster's crafting of a good-luck charm for Soichirou. It [[spoiler:gives him actual, incredible luck. Justified as Caster's Crafting skill is exceptional (Rank A), even though (like Saber's Rank A in Riding outside of LightNovel/FateZero) [[MythologyGag it never comes into play]] in the original stories]]. Also given to Assassin during the race for the grail, to help his driving.

* CompanionCube: ''Ryuudo Temple'' to Assassin, who talks to it as if it were actually sentient.