History Characters / FateSamuraiRemnant

* [[Characters/FateSamuraiRemnantOtherCharacters Other Characters]][[note]]Ogasawara Kaya, Crimson Codex, Arai Sukenoshin, Boss, Giovanni, Miyamoto Musashi, Sasaki Kojiro, Yasomagatsuhi, Great God Ibuki[[/note]]

* [[Characters/FateSamuraiRemnantServants Servants]][[note]]Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, Berserker, Rogue Saber, Rogue Lancer, Rogue Archer, Rogue Rider, Rogue Caster, Rogue Assassin, Rogue Berserker, Boss, Fifteenth Servant, Ibuki-douji[[/note]]

* [[Characters/FateSamuraiRemnantMasters Masters]]
* [[Characters/FateSamuraiRemnantServants Servants]]
* [[Characters/FateSamuraiRemnantOtherCharacters Other Characters]]

[[foldercontrol]]

!!Masters
[[folder:Miyamoto Iori]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KengoKawanishi
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/20230622_204921.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Seeker of the Limitless Sky]]
->''"A lot of people in Edo could die. It is evil and must not be allowed."''

A ronin who was the adopted son and student of the legendary swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi. His master unfortunately died before he could pass on the secrets of his art, the Niten Ichiryu. Trying to make ends meet as he continues training, Iori becomes embroiled in the Waxing Moon Ritual and becomes the Master of Saber.
----
* AdaptationalWealth: In real life during the time the game takes place, Iori was actually very wealthy, being the chief retainer to the Ogasawara clan. Here, he's a rōnin who's barely making ends meet. [[spoiler:That the Ogasawara clan ''has'' an open offer for him to become a retainer that he hasn't taken yet is a major clue of [[BloodKnight what truly drives Iori]].]]
* AgeLift: In the year this game is set (1651) Iori should be 39 years old, but he looks like he's in his early 20s at most. On the other hand, there's a chance that this could simply just be a case of OlderThanTheyLook.
* BadassNormal: A deconstruction. While Iori is a skilled swordsman on top of being a magus (albeit one with limited knowledge of magecraft) who chooses to fight alongside Saber in the Waxing Moon Ritual, it's made blatantly clear early on that Iori is ''way'' out of his depth as he's a regular human fighting monsters, demons, and Heroic Spirits. Even when he grows as a fighter, he still needs Saber's help to defeat them, and even then, it's usually Saber who deals the finishing blow. The only Servant he's able to fight on equal ground early on with is Lancer, [[spoiler:and the only reason he's able to do so at all is because the circumstances behind Jeanne being summoned as a Lancer as well as an Alter have made her substantially weaker than normal]]. Only by the endgame after repeated life-or-death battles with all manner of supernatural existences are Iori's physical abilities and skills great enough to actually stand against such existences on his own [[spoiler:and as shown in the "Entreat the Darkness" ending, this can end up enflaming his BloodKnight nature to uncontrollable levels.]]
* BeingEvilSucks: In the "Entreat the Darkness" ending, [[spoiler:Iori casts aside his MaskOfSanity and embraces his inner BloodKnight, declaring his desire to kill everyone around him--starting with Saber--and to use the Waxing Moon to plunge Japan into an eternal war so that he can truly master his swordsmanship. In his innermost thoughts, however, Iori laments that he's become "just another bloodthirsty demon" and that the path he's chosen has cost him Saber's friendship, and after being mortally wounded he thanks Saber for stopping him]].
* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:The "Entreat the Darkness" ending states that Iori's kindness and heroic nature are an act he puts on as the "logical" path toward a life of happiness in a peaceful world. However, his true wish is to become a ruthless legendary samurai like his mentor and adoptive father, so he plans to use the Waxing Moon to plunge Japan into never-ending war for his own sake.]]
* BladeSpam:
** Iori's Void Stance consists of the split-second variant, letting him perform a flurry of lightning-fast ''iaijutsu'' slashes while {{flash step}}ping so that the attacks appear to be happening all at once.
** Specifically, [[spoiler:the Simultaneous kind in Tsubame Gaeshi. Uniquely, his is sort of a side-grade compared to Sasaki Kojiro's, as while Kojiro's uses [[{{BFS}} an absurdly long sword]], Iori's instead uses [[DualWielding a pair of normal katanas]]. Despite the resulting six slashes logically lacking the range of Kojiro's three, it was still able to take down Musashi in her and Iori's final battle. It also becomes his [[LimitBreak Valor Strike]] in Void Stance.]]
* BloodKnight: While Iori is largely congenial, stoic, and maintains he's fighting to maintain the peace and protect innocents, deep down he longs to become a MasterSwordsman and uses the Waxing Moon Ritual to take great strides towards mastering the Niten Ichiryu. Chiemon in particular accuses Iori of hiding his true self behind a MaskOfSanity, [[spoiler:which Iori casts aside in the "Entreat the Darkness" route--where he decides to wish for Japan to be embroiled in an unending war so that he can continue to fight and hone his swordsmanship--declaring that the reason he lived a peaceful life was to understand everyone... so he would best know how to kill them all]]. The section of his profile unlocked by the "Entreat the Darkness" ending elaborates on this side of him by specifying that Iori is [[spoiler:a ruthless "sword demon" at his core, but not TheSociopath. He's fully capable of feeling love, empathy, and friendship, but these emotions are secondary to his goal of mastering the Niten Ichiryu and Kaya's presence is [[MoralityChain the only thing keeping him from going over the edge]]... at least in the non-"Entreat the Darkness" endings. This trait leads to his defeat, since he wants a death match with Saber and therefore refuses to use a Command Seal to give himself an easy victory]].
* BornInTheWrongCentury: [[LampShadedTrope Lampshaded.]] Both the female and male Musashis say this trope word for word multiple times. Iori devotes himself to the Way of the Sword in a time of peace, with Musashi himself noting that Iori was born in the wrong time to truly hone his skills on the field of battle. [[spoiler:In one ending, this wish of his becomes all-consuming for him. Saber is dismayed, but not shocked to learn that he plans to maintain the Waxing Moon for the sake of starting an era of endless conflict and becoming the ruthless MasterSwordsman he always aspired to be.]]
* BossSubtitles: He's introduced as "Miyamoto Iori Sadagatsu, the Seeker of the Limitless Sky". The kanji for it (万里一空) is a quote from the Book of Five Rings, originally meaning that even something that looks unimaginably away from you still exists under the same sky as you; nothing is physically unreachable. It's become an idiom for striving incessantly towards a goal.
* ButterflyOfDoom: [[spoiler:During NewGamePlus, Iori is already enough of a MasterSwordsman that a number of characters, including Saber, admit that his swordsmanship is excellent even by their standards... and this starts making his inherent BloodKnight nature bubble to the surface, as he feels stifled by the peaceful era of ''sakoku'', culminating in Iori attempting to [[FaceHeelTurn seize the Waxing Moon himself]] in "[[DownerEnding Entreat the Darkness]]" and subsequently his death.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: A core part of Iori's character is that he was BornInTheWrongCentury: he's a skilled swordsman and wants to grow even stronger, and would have likely flourished if he were born decades earlier. Both Musashis even tell him he was born in the wrong age. [[spoiler:The "Entreat the Darkness" path reveals that this frustrates Iori to no end to the point that, if given the opportunity, he will use the Waxing Moon Ritual to return Japan back to a bloody period of war just so he won't be in "the wrong age". On the other hand, the "Flames of Resentment" and "Ray of Light" story paths have Iori grow somewhat beyond this mindset; as much as he wishes to become a warrior on par with his teachers, he will ultimately put others above himself, especially where Kaya is involved.]]
* CharacterTics: Often rests his left hand on the two pommels of his swords, either when preparing for violence or just when he's deep in thought about something. [[spoiler:Given his heavily-suppressed BloodKnight urgings, the story leaves open the possibility that the two situations are often connected in his mind.]]
* ChekhovsGunman: He was previously mentioned in ''Fate/Grand Order'' where the female Musashi claimed to be him during the game's fourth summer event. According to Nasu in a FGO 8th anniversary interview, this was a tease for this game as ''Samurai Remnant'' had entered production by that time.
* ChickMagnet: He has ShipTease moments with several girls like Yui Shousetsu, Dorothea Coyett, and Takao Dayu. Even some of the female Servants become smitten with him such as Circe and Tamamo Aria. Takao even calls him a lady-killer once she realizes this.
* ContrastingSequelProtagonist: To Shirou Emiya.
** Both are the SoleSurvivor of a great tragedy that destroyed their original home before being saved and adopted by someone who trained them and passed on a dream before dying - for Shirou, to become a hero of justice, and for Iori, to become a MasterSwordsman. Both tend to neglect their own needs and health in favor of fulfilling those dreams and live in times where it's all but impossible to actually ''achieve'' their dreams before the Holy Grail War/Waxing Moon Ritual gives them the opportunities they need.
** In general, with ''Samurai Remnant'' being a WholePlotReference to ''Stay Night'', this would naturally apply due to Iori filling Shirou's role as the protagonist. They enter the War in the same way (getting attacked at night and summoning a Saber accidentally before using a Command Seal on the first night), learn about the War in the same way (getting lectured by another Master and their Servant with a personal connection the protagonist), choose to fight for similar reasons (to avoid the city they live in being destroyed), and even have similar fighting styles as a MagicKnight with a tendency for DualWielding [[spoiler:and a Noble Phantasm-level technique that they figure out how to use during a climactic duel said prior Servant.]]
** Their actions in response to their adoptive fathers' dreams also place them as parallels. Shirou learns how to fight so that he can save other people, whereas Iori chooses to save other people so that he can fight. In addition, in their respective bad endings, [[spoiler:particularly "Mind of Steel" and "Entreat the Darkness", they both choose to pursue their dreams to the detriment of all else, but while Shirou chooses to travel the world in order to stop wars and become a hero, Iori chooses to use the Waxing Moon in order to plunge all of Japan into war once more so that he has the chance to become a true MasterSwordsman.]]
** On a more grim note, Iori's revealed wish in [[spoiler:"Entreat the Darkness", revealing that his positive/heroic side is mostly a MaskOfSanity, surprisingly makes him similar to Shirou's major nemesis in ''Anime/FateStayNightHeavensFeel'', Kotomine Kirei]].
* CorruptedCharacterCopy: Of [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Fujimaru Ritsuka]], whose male version he shares many physical similarities with. Specifically, Iori deconstructs the idea of what kind of person multiple immensely powerful and proud Heroic Spirits (some of whom are the exact same ones Fujimaru encountered) would take a liking to and work alongside. Fujimaru endears themself to Servants by showing the strength and determination of a normal person who wants to do and is genuinely good. Conversely, they become fond of Iori because [[spoiler:he's not too different from them.]]
* CounterAttack: Upgrading Iori's Earth Stance will unlock the ability to actively block with his sword. If an opponent strikes him while blocking, there is a brief window of opportunity for Iori to immediately counter-attack and briefly stun the opponent to open them up for further strikes.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Iori's Fire Stance is offensive-focused, but generally relies on heavy and rather slow attacks. However, as Iori's health decreases, the power and speed of his attacks in this stance ''in''crease, leading it to become a very high-risk-high-reward stance to play with.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Prior to being adopted by Musashi, Iori was in the care of a roaming clan of bandits, with the leader mainly keeping him around so as to have someone pour him a drink and listen to his bragging, though Iori feared and accepted the possibility that he might be killed as the leader had a habit of throwing away kids after he got bored of them. Thankfully, Iori was saved by a {{Ronin}} before that could happen.
* DavidVersusGoliath: As a normal human, Iori is considerably weaker than any Servant. Despite this, (according to Takeuchi in the same interview mentioned above) he ends up personally fighting the most Servants of any ''Fate'' protagonist. [[spoiler:He even manages to defeat a couple himself, [[SurpassedTheTeacher one of which is an alternate version of his former mentor and adoptive parent]].]]
* DistaffCounterpart: ImpliedTrope. At one point, he asks Musashi if her world's Iori was female. She answers him with a smile.
* DoppelgangerGetsSameSentiment: Part of the reason why Berserker Musashi helps him is because he looks and acts like her Iori. Similarly, Iori can't help but treat Berserker Musashi as he would his own master, as her mannerisms, skills, and presence are unmistakably the same as the Musashi he knew.
* DualWielding: As Musashi's adopted son and student, he naturally wields two swords, primarily in his Water, Fire, and Void Stances. In Wind Stance, Iori wields his katana in a fencing stance while casting spells with his off hand.
* DyingAsYourself: In the "Entreat the Darkness" ending, [[spoiler:Iori embraces his repressed inner BloodKnight and declares his intent to use the Waxing Moon to plunge Japan into an eternal war so that he can perfect his swordsmanship, stating that the only reason he walked the path of peace was so that he could better understand those he ultimately intended to kill and challenging Saber to a duel to the death. After being impaled through the heart, Iori admits he chose the wrong path and thanks Saber for stopping him, calling them a true friend for doing so with his last breaths]].
* FieryStoic: Iori is generally a serious person and PerpetualFrowner, but specializes in fire magic rather than the usual stereotype of ice magic.
* FaceHeelTurn: In the "Entreat the Darkness" ending, [[spoiler:Iori's MaskOfSanity falls off and he embraces the "Sword Demon" that in other routes stays buried in the depths of his heart. He terrifies [[AxCrazy Chiemon]] with a single glance, and plays the part of TheSociopath--calmly telling Saber that the reason he lived a righteous life wasn't because he genuinely desired peace or because it was the right thing to do, but so that he could best understand how to kill literally everyone around him. He then declares his intent to use the Waxing Moon to cause an endless war so that he can master the Way of the Sword, challenging Saber to a duel to the death while claiming he's wanted to do so from the moment they met. In his private thoughts, however, he acknowledges that BeingEvilSucks; and after being cut down [[DyingAsYourself admits that he chose the wrong path]] and is satisfied that Saber stopped him and gave him a warrior's death, calling them a true friend for doing so]].
* FighterMageThief: Can initiate this with Saber as the Fighter, Rogue Caster as the Mage, and himself as the Thief due to being relatively weaker than the others but accruing a large catalogue of skills as well as having the capacity to stockpile items [[spoiler:(while having having the darkest impulses of the three)]]. A more formal version of this lineup occurs during a brief team-up with [[spoiler:Dorothea Coyett]] as the Mage, and another can happen in the "Ray of Light" route with [[spoiler:Yui Shousetsu]] taking that role.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** An early sign that ''something'' is going on in Iori's head regarding his swordsmanship and the current status quo is that he has a standing offer to be made an Ogasawara retainer. This is the ideal job for someone in his situation: in an era where most swordsmen have been forced into lives of crime and murder is rampant, he would be comfortable, relatively safe, and closer to Kaya, and would even ''legally'' be able to swordfight occasionally. But he wants to remain unmoored until he's mastered his sword style. [[spoiler:As the Ritual wears on, Iori slowly becomes a better fighter, but also darker, in every route. During a normal game, however, Iori never seems to even consider anything drastic as he is still refining his style, and by the time he completes it by surpassing Musashi the Ritual is effectively already over. This is not the case during NewGamePlus, as [[WhatIf Iori has already reached such heights]], and with nowhere else to go in the current era he starts SlowlySlippingIntoEvil, culminating in the "Entreat the Darkness" ending where he tries to wish for his ideal sword training environment: an endless war]].
** While his fellow Masters believe him to be as straight-laced and well-meaning as presents himself, the Servants in the Holy Grail War (Musashi included) never praise him for traditional goodness. Rather that he is honorable and mighty. Cu and Arjuna in particular see right through Iori, but they aren't worried about what's there [[DeliberateValuesDissonance since those were perfectly fine traits back in their eras.]]
** Aria's infatuation with Iori takes on harsher dimensions when taken in the context of the [[VideoGame/FateExtra type]] [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder of]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds people]] [[ClassicalAntiHero that the]] Tamamo Nine tend to fall for.
** Rather than bring it out to help Saber, save Kaya, or stop a [[spoiler:demigod]] from destroying Edo, Iori keeps his DangerousForbiddenTechnique a secret in anticipation of using it against [[spoiler:Musashi]], showing how specifically skewed his priorities are.
* ForcedTransformation: Circe brainwashes him into eating poisoned kykeon, turning him into a helpless, squealing pig that his Servant needs to herd around.
* FullHealthBonus: Iori's Void Stance is his strongest offensive stance, allowing him to assail his foes with BladeSpam while moving very quickly. But the pause after each attack increases as he takes more damage, demanding perfect play to avoid becoming vulnerable and truly harness the stance's potential.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Over the course of the game, several characters--namely Musashi, Saber, and Chiemon--note that in order to fight on-par with Servants, Iori is slowly losing that which makes him a good person: in his own words, carving away the excess. While Musashi and Saber warn him against losing the ability to feel compassion and empathy, Chiemon accuses him of being a hypocrite for not embracing his inner BloodKnight. In the "Entreat the Darkness" ending, [[spoiler:Iori ultimately does so and decides to use the Waxing Moon to plunge Japan into an eternal war to hone his swordsmanship]].
* HistoricalBadassUpgrade: Iori in real life was actually noted by Musashi as a rather poor swordsman, with his talents lying more in commanding and bureaucracy. Here, he's shown to be capable of holding his own against Servants and the website describes him as a mage capable of using magecraft when his swords fail him against certain enemies. [[spoiler:This is justified as in [[AlternateTimeline this timeline]] is one where [[SparedByTheAdaptation Sasaki Kojiro]] wound up helping to tutor him after his Miyamoto Musashi passed on, leading to him gaining a wider range of skills and strengths that the real-life Miyamoto Iori never obtained in his time with his adoptive father, which actually ends up being the decisive factor when he has his DuelToTheDeath with the female Musashi.]]
* HistoricalRelationshipOverhaul: In real life, [[{{Nephewism}} Iori was the son of Musashi's oldest brother prior to being adopted by Musashi]]. This Iori was a completely unrelated kid whom Musashi chose to adopt after bandits had massacred his entire town.
* IaijutsuPractitioner: Void Stance makes him one of these, but its special Valor Strike inspired by [[spoiler:Sasaki Kojiro]] is particularly bonkers as it involves him attacking with his swords before sheathing them both with just one of his hands at the same time.
* IgnoredEpiphany: An "Entreat the Darkness" Iori will cast aside all evidence he's seen in his own life and Saber's memories as to how much pain and suffering, both personal and societal, times of overt conflict can cause to [[spoiler:pursue his selfish, deplorable wish for a new war with which to hone his skills.]]
* IncompletelyTrained: His adoptive father and teacher died of lung cancer before completing Iori's training. Despite this, he's still shown to be quite a capable swordsman in his own right, even able to hold his own (if briefly) against Servants. He later completes his training under Berserker Musashi's tutelage and through the combat experience he gains in the Waxing Moon Ritual. [[spoiler:He also studied under Sasaki Kojiro and achieved Kojiro's Tsubame Gaeshi during the events of the story.]] This is more-or-less averted during NewGamePlus, where multiple characters acknowledge that his swordsmanship is superb even by the standards of the OlderIsBetter eras.
* InLoveWithYourCarnage: Iori is completely entranced by Saber when he witnesses their Noble Phantasm for the first time, calling it a technique above all others and a blow exactly like a sword saint. [[spoiler:Even when they're fighting to the death in the "Entreat the Darkness" ending, he can't help but think to himself that Saber is beautiful.]]
* {{Leitmotif}}: His associated theme song is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSTIvvZDCpg "Successor of Niten Ichiryu"]], reflecting his role as Musashi's only student and his desire to become a true MasterSwordsman. [[spoiler:It also plays during his final battle with Saber in the "Entreat the Darkness" ending, showing how he's devoted himself entirely to the sword at the expense of all else.]]
* IveComeTooFar: In the "Entreat the Darkness" ending, [[spoiler:Iori can't help but think to himself that Saber is beautiful and lament that it's a shame they have to be enemies, but he hardens his resolve in order to realize his wish of mastering the Way of the Sword; noting that he must become "just another bloodthirsty demon" and destroy the very peace he once fought to protect, and thus he and Saber have no choice but to fight to the death]].
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Saber does not tell him about [[spoiler:his sister Kaya being possessed by Ototachibana-hime.]]
* MagicallyIneptFighter: At the start of the game, Iori has very little magecraft experience, at best only being able to make a fireball with gems. By default, his MAT (Magical Attack) stat is low, and it takes using the leylines more to gradually improve his magical skills in battle. Fittingly, he doesn't get to learn Wind Stance until after the player has improved his MAT a bit.
* MagicKnight: He's a samurai first, mage second, but Niten Ichiryu (or this story's version of it, at least) does hold that a certain familiarity with magecraft is necessary for anyone who truly wishes to master the sword, and so he's an unexceptional but adequately talented practitioner who's capable of integrating it into his fighting style in multiple ways. In addition to his Wind Stance, which combines magical fire with one-handed swordsmanship, he carries a stockpile of enchanted gems (not unlike those used by the Tohsaka mage family) that he can expend to create various offensive and defensive magical effects.
* MagikarpPower: Starting off the game, Iori is ''far'' outclassed by Saber and the other Servants, properly summoned or Rogue, and this is reflected nicely in that when Saber joins you, they are Level 25 while Iori is likely only about Level 15 or so, with far superior raw stats to boot. However, Iori has access to multiple methods of improving himself such as leveling up, customizing his katana with new parts, gaining permanent MAT bonuses from Spirit Fonts, learning new Stances, using Magecraft, and unlocking various Skills, with his Skill Tree being ''huge'' with five branching areas for each of his Stances alongside his base. By comparison, Saber and allied Rogue Servants can only get stronger from leveling up and unlocking their Skill Trees, which are ''much'' smaller[[note]]Even Saber, who has the most robust Skill Tree after Iori, only has three branching areas and its progression is tied to their Memento Ring completion.[[/note]] and cost far more skill points on average to unlock a node for than Iori's do. By endgame, a properly-invested Iori can match and even outperform the playable Servants in almost every category save raw battle damage and Shell Gauge depletion, assuming they been properly invested as well.
* MaskOfSanity: Iori is outwardly a kind, courteous individual who cares deeply about his foster sister Kaya and fights to maintain the peace... but buried deep beneath this is [[spoiler:a ruthless BloodKnight whose only goal is to master the Way of the Sword. Over the course of the Waxing Moon Ritual, Iori's repressed dark side starts bubbling to the surface, leading Saber and Musashi to worry he's losing that which makes him a good person. While his pursuit for strength ultimately tempers him during a normal playthrough, during the NewGamePlus-exclusive "Entreat the Darkness" ending Iori's mask comes off and he embraces the demon within, his bloodlust so intense that even the gleefully AxCrazy Chiemon -- who pegged Iori as a kindred spirit right from the get-go -- is terrified of him. When Saber confronts him, Iori calmly tells them that his true wish is to plunge Japan into an eternal war, that he only lived a righteous life so as to better understand how best to kill those he pretended to care about, and that his sole purpose is to master the Way of the Sword by killing everyone he comes across--especially them]].
* MasterSwordsman: At the end of the story, he defeats his mentor, the alternate Musashi, who declares him unparalleled under the heavens. While his mastery of Niten Ichiryu still can't compare to hers, he manages to defeat her by [[spoiler:integrating Sasaki Kojiro's Tsubame Gaeshi into his two-sword style.]]
* MistakenForPedophile: After Tamamo Aria confesses she has a crush on Iori, Saber and the Crimson Codex waste no time on teasingly implying that he is a lolicon, to his annoyance.
* MistakenForRomance:
** On account of Saber making {{innocent innuendo}}s, Kaya and Sukenoshin assume that they are in a committed and very... enthusiastic... relationship.
** In addition to assuming that Iori is in a romantic relationship with Saber, Kaya has a habit of completely misunderstanding Iori's relationships with the various female Servants and Masters who come calling to his tenement. She is (initially) surprised that Tamamo Aria is attracted to her brother--accusing him of cheating on Saber and/or being a HaremSeeker--and also wonders if Iori is into BDSM and Master/Servant role-play after an encounter with Circe.
* NaiveNewcomer: Like many other ''Fate'' protagonists, he barely knows anything about the supernatural and knows nothing about Servants or the Waxing Moon Ritual. He needs Saber and others to explain things to him.
* NoManShouldHaveThisPower: For the sake of a "moral world", he wishes to destroy the Waxing Moon Ritual as he doesn't think anyone can be trusted with such a powerful wish. Partially because [[spoiler:he knows what he'd do with it.]]
* PlayingWithFire: His specialty in magecraft is fire. Most of his offensive Jewel Magecraft attacks are various fire spells, and his mana-based techniques in [[MagicKnight Wind Stance]] take the form of yellow-green flames and fireballs.
* PowerCrystal: He uses Jewel Magecraft, the same kind famously used in ''Fate'' by Rin Tohsaka.
* PowerMisidentification: He thinks his magecraft is a ninjutsu technique.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: It's not until Iori learns Saber's True Name and the entirety of Saber's legend that he achieves his Void Stance, his most powerful offensive stance.
* RedBaron: In "Entreat the Darkness", Iori is referred to as the Sword Demon by both Caster and Chiemon [[spoiler:as this is the ending where Iori pulls back his MaskOfSanity and succumbs to his inner BloodKnight]].
* {{Ronin}}: Iori is technically not a disenfranchised samurai, since he was still in training as the shogunate rose to power, but his only marketable skill is his swordsmanship, so he is experiencing the same economic and social strains as the "real" ''rōnin'' are. He's also doing this to himself to some extent--the Ogasawaras would love to hire him as a bodyguard, but he wants to remain a free agent until he actually masters Niten Ichiryu.
* SoleSurvivor: The opening scene of the game provides Iori's backstory prior to being adopted by Musashi; he used to live in a port town before it was ransacked by a group of {{Ronin}} bandits, and was spared so that the leader could use him as an ear for his stories for a few hours before he was killed too. He only survived because another {{Ronin}} happened to wander into the town and kill the entire bandit group.
* SpiritualAntithesis: As much as Chiemon is a corrupted MirrorCharacter of Shirou Emiya, Miyamoto Iori comes off as [[spoiler:a bit of a corrupted reflection of Kirei Kotomine as implied at points and spelled out more closely in the DownerEnding route, as the dilemma he faces throughout the game is a fundamental problem of his very character; much like how Kirei struggles with being [[BeingGoodSucks a virtuous, holy man]] with [[BeingEvilSucks the heart of a monster]], Iori struggles to deal with the fact he's ruthlessly passionate about becoming [[ToBeAMaster a master warrior]] amidst a time of peace which frustrates him to no end, ultimately putting up a front for the longest time around everyone that paints him [[MaskOfSanity more functional]] than he actually is deep down. The difference comes in however, that where Kirei is TheUnfettered who will not compromise no matter what even when regarding the reality of [[ApocalypseHow what he's committing]] because he ''needs'' to know the truth about himself, Iori can possibly refuse to embrace his inner nature and choose to accept he's simply [[BornInTheWrongCentury born in the wrong era]] and can instead do the right thing by ending the Waxing Moon Ritual which is the ''only'' thing that can provide him the endless war he seeks deep down. This even reflects on his relationship with Chiemon, whereas Shirou eventually [[NotSoDifferentRemark accepts]] Kirei is similar to him and actually likes the guy in a route, Chiemon ''despises'' Iori completely even when he embraces his true nature in the Entreat the Darkness route.]]
* SurpassedTheTeacher: This is Iori's driving goal and reason for mastering the sword. Ever since he saw Miyamoto Musashi in action the day he saved his life, Iori wanted nothing more than to surpass the Sword Saint who took him in. [[spoiler:He briefly succeeds in your first playthrough, if only because Berserker Musashi never would have expected him to have learned Sasaki Kojiro's Tsubame Garashi. In a NewGamePlus playthrough, however, Iori is noted to be evenly matched with her, making it clear that he's reached her level of skill.]]
* StanceSystem: He can switch between five different stances suited for different situations.
** The [[StoneWall Earth Stance]] is a one-sword style that uses slower, harder-hitting attacks, focused on defense and is the only one he can actively block attacks with.
** The [[FragileSpeedster Water Stance]] is a two-sword style that focuses on rapid, swift combos that can easily toss aside waves of mobs.
** [[SquishyWizard Wind Stance]] is when he wields a single sword in his right hand--wielding it in a manner resembling a Western fencer--and magecraft in his left hand together. This is different from him using magecraft as a sub-weapon in combat as it is now part of his moveset, relying on his own personal, limited pool of mana rather than his gem supply.
** The [[MightyGlacier Fire Stance]] uses both swords in slow, heavy attacks focused on offence. It gains strength and speed the lower Iori's HP is, making for a high-risk playstyle.
** The [[LightningBruiser Void Stance]] is Iori's ultimate offensive stance - he makes a storm of iai attacks with both swords and is moving so fast that he appears to FlashStep like a Servant. However, the pause after each attack increases with lower health, leaving him vulnerable at even moderate HP. It therefore demands perfect play or a continuous supply of healing to maximize its potential.
* SurpassedTheTeacher: During the events of the story, Berserker Musashi takes Iori under her wing to continue teaching him Niten Ichiryu after the passing of his master. Before she rayshifts again, she requests a duel to the death with him to prove his skills. After a hard-fought battle, he defeats her by [[spoiler:combining Niten Ichiryu's two-sword style with Sasaki Kojiro's Tsubame Gaeshi]]. Musashi congratulates him on his victory, proudly declaring him unparalleled under the heavens.
* SwordBeam: Iori's Fire and Void Stances let him shoot waves of red and purple energy (respectively) from his sword, and some of Saber's Affinity Techniques enable Iori to fire blades of water using his sword. He can also use "Agni's Crashing Wave", a flame-aspected sword beam created in the vein of Arjuna's own technique after completing Arjuna's Digression.
* ToBeAMaster: Iori's personal desire is to become a MasterSwordsman like his master and adoptive father, Musashi. But as Musashi noted, Iori was born into a time of peace, not war, limiting opportunities for Iori to gain real combat experience until he enters the Waxing Moon Ritual. [[spoiler:This takes a dark turn during NewGamePlus, as Iori's BloodKnight nature starts surfacing, having already refined his swordsmanship, and ultimately leads to a new ending where he decides to use the Waxing Moon to plunge all of Japan into war and chaos in order to recreate the conditions that made Musashi a legendary swordsman. Iori then says that he'll slay every person he sees, challenging Saber and threatening to cut them and everyone else down for the sake of this goal.]]
* ToKnowHimIMustBecomeHim: Iori believes that to defeat his enemies, he needs to understand their feelings and what drives them. [[spoiler:In the "Entreat the Darkness" ending, Iori loses to Saber because he believes Saber is about to use their Noble Phantasm to end the fight, only for Saber to instead finish Iori with a simple thrust. Saber then says that it's just as he said: [[IronicEcho to defeat your enemy, you have to understand them]]. He made a fatal mistake precisely because he failed to understand Saber's thoughts and feelings.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: At the beginning of the story, Iori is already a dangerous swordsman able to easily trounce a gang of thugs on his own as an average day of work and can handle a horde of assassins coming at him all at once without too much difficulty, but he's completely overwhelmed by Rider and barely able to defend himself until Saber intervenes. By the end of the story, he's fighting almost on-par with Servants and even manages to defeat Berserker Musashi entirely on his own, [[spoiler:and comes within a hairs-breadth of defeating Saber in one ending.]]
* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: The Iori from history was Musashi's nephew by blood from his elder brother. The Iori in this game was just a random orphan that Musashi found and adopted by chance.
* VillainProtagonist: [[spoiler:In the "Entreat the Darkness" route, he willingly chooses to plunge Japan into war just to grow stronger.]]
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Chiemon]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/NobuhikoOkamoto
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chiemon.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Avenger of Flames]]
-> ''"As Master, I command you: show them the true meaning of hell!"''
A mysterious man who survived the Shimabara Rebellion and the Master of Lancer.
----
* ArchEnemy: While he absolutely ''hates'' the shogunate for its role in the massacre that shaped him into the man he is today, he has a rather largely one-sided animosity towards Miyamoto Iori despite being completely unrelated to the rebellion. [[spoiler:In part, because he sees ''[[BloodKnight far too much]]'' of the man he's become in Iori, but he feels Iori is hiding behind a MaskOfSanity due to being BornInTheWrongCentury and the hypocrisy sickens him so greatly that he personally ''wishes'' his death before fulfilling his own ambition of revenge.]]
* AxCrazy: A survivor of the Shimabara Rebellion, which happened when he was just a child, Chiemon is literally hellbent on revenge against the shogunate--with the goal of setting all of Edo ablaze with hellfire so that everyone can suffer as he has. He's well aware that his wish goes against the tenants of Christianity, [[spoiler:but believes that God has forsaken him and he's damned to Hell so he may as well embrace being evil and take as many people along with him as possible]].
* BadBoss: Chiemon is extremely callous to his Servant practically at all times, not particularly caring about her well-being so long as he's able to fulfill his vengeance one way or another. [[spoiler:In fact, when Jeanne touts her reason for [[UndyingLoyalty sticking with and protecting him]] (to the point of being corrupted in the first place) to be due to holding [[YouAreWorthHell the belief]] that she can still save his soul somehow, Chiemon is [[BeyondRedemption incredulously contemptuous of her even attempting]] and flat out tells her to ''never'' show him any affection again before barking more orders at her in the same breath.]]
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: [[spoiler:He despises Iori for the supposed facade he puts up, and wishes he would just embrace his true nature. When Iori ''does'' embrace his true nature in the "Entreat the Darkness" route, Chiemon's initial joy quickly turns to utter horror as Iori puts him in his killing sight, causing him to immediately flee.]]
* BeyondTheImpossible: [[spoiler:The scope and intensity of his wish to [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge get revenge]] for all that happened in the Shimabara Rebellion is so much that, despite [[IncorruptiblePurePureness the proper Jeanne d'Arc]] being TheImmune to being [[FallenHero Altered]], he ''still'' manages to corrupt her anyway into an Altered state upon summoning her.]]
* BossSubtitles: He's introduced as "Chiemon, the Avenger of Flames". [[spoiler:Upon fusing with Jeanne and the Waxing Moon in the Flames of Resentment route, the monster they become is introduced as "Waxing Moon Monster, the Despairing God of Corruption".]]
* CallBack: To "[[UsefulNotes/AmakusaShiro The Sorcerer]]" from the Shimousa chapter of ''Fate/Grand Order'' as a vengeful remnant of the Shimabara Rebellion. His BossSubtitles also serve as one to the original Jeanne d'Arc Alter.
* CardCarryingVillain: Chiemon repeatedly declares himself to be a wicked and vile sinner destined for Hell, flip-flops between gleeful cackling AxCrazy sadism and coldly seething rage, and he wants to raze Edo to the ground and kill everyone [[spoiler:to be reunited with his family and the comrades slain by the Shogunate's forces]].
* CoveredWithScars: Most of Chiemon's entire body is covered in crudely-bandaged scars, most prominently an ugly one going right across his throat.
* CutsceneBoss: [[spoiler:He's killed rather anticlimactically by Iori in the "Ray of Light" path as his neck is sliced open right after he delivers a cursed blow to Shousetsu.]]
* TheDeterminator: The deck is really stacked against Chiemon as he has the only Servant of the main seven who isn't getting some form of territory bonus due to her not being from Japan, his injuries from the Shimabara Rebellion still cause him great agony, and he's very short on allies and resources. Nonetheless, he doggedly presses on to attain his vengeance (or, failing that, a deserved death in his eyes), as he schemes, spies, ambushes, retreats, and even forms reluctant alliances to get a chance at the Waxing Moon.
* DontYouDarePityMe: [[spoiler:Due to his massive SurvivorsGuilt, he takes ''any'' form of compassion towards him as a deep and personal insult as he doesn't want to be loved at all — as it just led to the people who he cared about dying all around him to rescue him.]]
* EnemyMine: For an AxCrazy MisanthropeSupreme, he's surprisingly easy to recruit for temporary alliances. The key factor is that he's single-mindedly obsessed with attaining his (awful) wish, so anything that endangers the sanctity of the Waxing Moon Ritual is enough of a threat that he'll be perfectly willing to team up with his enemies so that [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou he can kill them his way later on.]]
* EvilCounterpart: Like Iori, [[spoiler:he was orphaned as a child due to violence caused by the transition to the current political system. Chiemon's desire for vengeance has already consumed him, while the effects of the shogunate on Iori are still an open question]].
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: It's revealed that Chiemon's family and comrades were brutally murdered by the shogun's forces during the Shimabara Rebellion, which has set him on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. Despite his, [[spoiler:he deeply misses his family, and his last words in the "Flames of Resentment" ending are him calling out to his mother]]. In Lancer's route of the Keian Command Championship, he uses his wish [[spoiler:to give the fallen of the Shimabara Rebellion a proper burial site rather than try and "unleash Hell" as he so often claimed.]]
* EvilSoundsRaspy: He's constantly speaking in a low growl and practically spits orders at Lancer instead of just talking to her. The scar across his throat provides an obvious explanation for this, although [[spoiler:the smoke inhalation be suffered at the massacre of Shimabara probably didn't help, either.]]
* FinalBoss: [[spoiler:Chiemon is the final boss of the "Flames of Resentment" route after taking the Waxing Moon Grail, absorbing Kaya's power, as well as sacrificing Jeanne to facilitate the transformation into a HumanoidAbomination that will help him bring [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge the hell of vengeance]] he covets.]]
* MutualKill: [[spoiler:Manages to achieve this on Caster during the [[DownerEnding Entreat the Darkness route]], using his magical power and accumulated curses after taking a fatal wound to burn down the entire area the two of them are in with no hope of either to escape.]]
* NotSoDifferentRemark: He accuses Iori of hiding his true BloodKnight self behind a MaskOfSanity, and sneers that deep down Iori is just as vile and wicked as he is.
* ObviouslyEvil: Given his appearance and behaviour, it's probably not a surprise that he's a villain.
* OhCrap: In the "Entreat the Darkness" ending, [[spoiler:Chiemon is initially overjoyed that Iori has cast aside his MaskOfSanity and embraced his inner BloodKnight... but his gleeful gloating is replaced with terror when Iori shoots him a look full of KillingIntent, causing him to flee for his life. Caster subsequently mocks him for running away from Iori instead of standing his ground]].
* OneWingedAngel: In the "Flames of Resentment" route, he [[spoiler:merges with the Waxing Moon's Vessel to transform into a colossal undead-looking HumanoidAbomination called the Waxing Moon Monster]].
* PetTheDog:
** As unapologetic of a bastard as he is, [[spoiler:when he sacrifices himself to take out Caster in the [[DownerEnding Entreat the Darkness]] route, rather than think about his vengeance being denied to him, his final thoughts are instead to quietly tell Jeanne ''not'' to follow with him into Hell, breaking the pact that corrupted her in the first place and allowing her to peacefully move on not too long after.]]
** In Lancer's ending for the Keian Command Championship DLC Episode, [[spoiler:Chiemon uses his wish to give his fallen friends and family from the Shimabara Rebellion a proper burial despite not seeing the point in it. When a gust of wind blows through the gravesite and kicks up a bunch of flowers, Chiemon and Lancer realize its a sign that the dead from Shimabara are now at peace, driving the poor man to tears]].
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Chiemon is one of the known survivors of Amakusa Shirou's Shimabara Rebellion, having witnessed all of his fellow Christians been slaughtered by the ruling Tokugawa shogunate, which set him on the path to bring Hell over everything in Edo and beyond as his revenge. [[spoiler:Although, it turns out it's a little bit more complicated than the massacre tainting his soul this way, as he was far too young to actually be a combatant during the siege. Instead, it was losing his parents and everyone he knew to such senseless butchery [[SurvivorsGuilt while somehow being a survivor to it]] that absolutely broke him, turning him into a savage wretch who wishes to destroy everything hiding behind the concept of "virtue" — which also is why he ''despises'' Miyamoto Iori immensely as he sees him hiding behind [[MaskOfSanity a mask of heroic values]] when Chiemon sees him for the BloodKnight that was BornInTheWrongCentury he truly is deep down.]]
* {{Sadist}}: Thanks to a particularly tragic case of TheChainOfHarm, he lives to relieve his constant pain through the pleasure of inflicting it on others. It's why he prefers to be TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou - he doesn't just want his enemies dead, he wants the joy of personally killing them.
* SoleSurvivor: He is the only one who was left of the Shimabara Rebellion. [[spoiler:This is due to him being ''too young'' to actually have been a combatant, with his parents both sacrificing themselves to ensure he survived, [[{{Understatement}} which did terrible things to his psyche to put it mildly]].]]
* SpiritualAntithesis: To [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Shirou Emiya]], [[spoiler:if he never had the MoralityChain that Kiritsugu Emiya gave him by raising him, as Chiemon is a deeply traumatized man who survived an absolutely horrific tragedy that reduced him to a shell of his former self that [[SurvivorsGuilt regrets having survived out of everyone else]] that could have. But whereas Shirou wound up deciding to become a "[[ChronicHeroSyndrome hero of justice]]" as he feels it is the only way to pay back his own survival, Chiemon instead embraces being an unapologetic bastard in his rage and decides to create an ''[[ApocalypseHow even worse tragedy]]'' if just to get back at the ruling shogunate for taking everything from him in the first place. This also reflects in his hatred of Iori; as while EMIYA had an immense hatred for Shirou for [[IHatePastMe a perfectly legitimate reason]], Chiemon resents Iori for no other reason than because, in his perception, he sees him as a {{Hypocrite}} hiding behind "virtue", which reminds him a bit too much of what he himself has become.]]
* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: In "Ray of Light", [[spoiler:Chiemon ambushes Iori when he's about to take the Waxing Moon's Vessel and tries to burn him alive, only for Shousetsu [[TakingTheBullet to jump in the way and get blasted aside with burns]]. Chiemon is so surprised by her interruption he leaves himself wide open to Iori cutting him down then and there, and since Lancer was still injured from being blasted by Ushi Gozen's lightning she can't intervene in time to save him.]]
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: [[spoiler:By his own admission, Chiemon genuinely believes there is '''nothing''' about him that is worth saving. When Lancer shows him pity and says she wants to save him, even if it means being dragged into Hell with him, Chiemon rebuffs her and is more pissed by her pleas than anything. In a sympathetic portrayal of this trope, when Chiemon is on death's door in the "Flames of Resentment" ending after Iori defeats him as the Waxing Moon Monster, he hears his mother's voice and believes his friends and family from Shimabara have come for him, only for Chiemon to rebuke even them. His self-loathing is so great he would rather go to Hell than rejoin his loved ones.]]
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: He's chiefly driven by a deeply unwholesome and yet strangely sympathetic case of this. The horrors of his childhood cursed him to a lifetime of agony that he believes he can only relieve through the sadistic pleasure of vengeance, and so it's vitally important that he personally gets the fun of burning Japan down rather than anyone else doing it.
* UnknownRival: He ''despises'' Iori with a burning passion, but to Iori he's just another rival in the Ritual. [[spoiler:In the "Flames of Resentment" ending, Iori states he doesn't know why Chiemon hates him, and at this point, he doesn't care and just wants him dead for kidnapping Kaya. Similarly, Iori never learns why Chiemon hates him in the "Entreat the Darkness" ending, though in this case it's that Chiemon is so terrified seeing Iori finally remove his MaskOfSanity that he immediately books it than explain himself.]]
* YinYangBomb: Most ''definitely'' leaning more towards yin, but [[spoiler:his FinalBoss form evokes both heaven ''and'' hell. Aside from his usual fire with the additional touch of the ever-so-infamous Grail mud, he is capable of using his single glowing white arm to unleash some rather powerful light-based attacks, which even rain down from the heavens in his second phase.]]
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Zheng Chenggong]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TomoakiMaeno
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zheng_chenggong.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Unyielding General]]
-> ''"The cruel who lack compassion are not human. I do not want the innocent to die."''

Also known as Koxinga. A general born to a Chinese merchant and a Japanese mother, he is a respected warrior that even the Longwu Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty holds in high regard. He is the Master of Archer.
----
* BecomingTheMask: In the Ray of Light route's ending, Dorothea Coyett notes that [[spoiler:Zheng had intended to betray his alliance with Iori much sooner than he did, but his sentimental nature got the better of him and their friendship became genuine]].
* BossSubtitles: He's introduced as "Zheng Mingyan, the Unyielding General".
* ChildOfTwoWorlds: Zheng was born from a Japanese woman and a Chinese merchant, and was raised by his mother in Japan till the age of 7. He was also given a Japanese name, Fukumatsu, in addition to his Chinese one.
* FourStarBadass: A high-ranking general of the Ming Empire who's not only a gifted tactician and strategist, but one of the most combat-capable Masters in the Waxing Moon Ritual.
* FriendlyRivalry: With Dorothea Coyett, as both are respected nobles of foreign descent whom have a lot banking on their performance in the Waxing Moon Ritual, Zheng has a healthy amount of respect for his opponent. Notably, in real life Zheng Chenggong would end up fighting Dorothea's father, Fredrik Coyett.
* FinalBoss: [[spoiler: The last Master of the Ray of Light route, working together with Caster as the last obstacles to destroying the Waxing Moon Ritual.]]
* GoodIsNotSoft: While his goals are noble, he may be polite and affable, and he is allied with Iori for much of the game, he is not above sending his men to their deaths or betraying his allies if it means attaining his goals. In Archer's Digression he candidly reveals he [[spoiler:assassinated his cousin--who'd treated him with genuine kindness--and a great deal many others simply to obtain land, troops, and power. Unfortunately, this means that with some egging on from Caster, it doesn't take too much to convince Zheng to rejoin the Waxing Moon Ritual and ally with Tsuchimikado's former Servant even if it means betraying his alliance and friendship with Iori.]]
* GracefulLoser: [[spoiler:In the Ray of Light ending, he's not too bothered by his defeat, and in fact it makes him more determined than ever to find a way to make his wish a reality.]]
* MartialArtsStaff: Fights using one.
* MotiveDecay: During the Ray of Light endgame, Zheng becomes so obsessed with [[spoiler:defeating Iori]] that he's fine with [[spoiler:Caster using his life force to call forth Yasomagatsuhi]] despite how that would kill him and make his original wish impossible to attain.
* NotSoDifferentRemark: In "Ray of Light", [[spoiler:he pulls this on Iori in an attempt to make him give him the Waxing Moon Vessel without a fight, citing that just as Iori wishes to protect Edo's peace, Zheng wants to save his people in China and restore ''their'' peace. Both Saber and Iori are sympathetic, but they're adamant that the Vessel cannot be used and that it isn't the moral and right path.]]
* TrueCompanions: With Archer. The two are incredibly close-knit and hold faith in each other's abilities. [[spoiler:As a testament to their bond, Zheng uses the wish he earned in the Keian Command Championship in Archer's ending to give Zhou Yu an actual flesh and blood body and return to China.]]
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Zheng is desperate to save his people back in China, knowing that simply fighting isn't going to cut it anymore. He wants the power of the Waxing Moon Ritual so he can save his people and make sure the conflict finally ends. While his goals are noble (Iori even sympathizes with him), his willingness to ally with Caster and betray Iori to obtain it, causes him to become far from the honorable man he was when he was working with Archer. It doesn't help Caster egged him to do it, playing into Zheng's doubts and concern for his people]].
* YouRemindMeOfX: The reason why Archer is loyal to him. [[spoiler: He reminds Zhou Yu of his best friend and lord Sun Ce, thus offering Zhou Yu a chance to fulfill his wish of helping his lord achieve their goals. When Archer is temporarily mind controlled, he manages to resist enough that he choses to kill himself to protect Zheng.]]
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Yui Shousetsu]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MutsumiTamura
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yuishousetsu.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Selfless Liberator]]
-> ''"Killing an aspirant who is unaware that they are a Master runs counter to my code."''

A well known military scholar and ronin admired by others of the same cloth, who runs a military academy in Edo. Yui chose to become the Master of Rider for the Shogunate in the Waxing Moon Ritual, albeit with some reluctance.
----
* AgeLift: In the year this game takes place, they should be around 45~46 years old yet they look younger than Iori, although there's a chance that this could simply just be a case of OlderThanTheyLook. [[spoiler:Considering that she is actually a homunculus then she is much younger than her appearance implies.]]
* AmbiguousGender: [[HistoricalGenderFlip The historical Yui was a man]]. In-story, they're clearly meant as androgynous, with characters assuming them to be male based on their background and status. Their in-game profile lists their gender as "?" until Musashi casually refers to them as a woman, to everyone else's utter shock. In the Japanese script, gendered pronouns are avoided entirely (a simple matter for that language) while the English script "defaults" to he/him.
* ArtificialHuman: [[spoiler:Yui is revealed to be a homunculus made using the techniques of the Einzbern family. Unfortunately, this means she has a relatively short life expectancy despite her creator attempting to extend it, and once Dorothea Coyett and her underlings find out they treat Yui as an object and try to seize possession of her]].
* BossSubtitles: She's introduced as "Yui Shousetsu, the Selfless Liberator".
* ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler:After the Ushi Gozen crisis is resolved, Shousetsu is forcibly detained by members of the Mage Association located in Japan [[AssociationFallacy who see her former Servant's actions as a transgression]] against TheMasquerade — threatening the existence of Mystery in the process — that coupled with the fact she's a Homunculus built around Einzbern techniques, which don't belong in Japan at all as a product of Western magecraft, ends up with Shousetsu deemed to be too much of a risk to allow to remain within the territory of Japan and handed off to the Coyett family to ensure she doesn't create more issues in the future, [[LivingOnBorrowedTime which isn't too long given her life expectancy]], practically making her fate a death sentence. Only in the Ray of Light route is she allowed to stay long enough to perform a HeroicSacrifice instead of suffering a quiet death.]]
* DisappointedInYou: In the "Entreat the Darkness" ending, [[spoiler:Yui escapes the Coyett family only to witness Iori's declaration that he's going to use the Waxing Moon to plunge Japan into an eternal war and realizes that the pure and righteous individual she saw him as was an ephemeral smokescreen masking his true BloodKnight self, comparing him to the moon itself. Heartbroken, having entrusted Iori with her goals earlier that same day, Yui leaves lamenting having been tricked by his MaskOfSanity]].
* EarlyBirdCameo: Yui was mentioned in Senji Muramasa's profile from ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Material XII'', released five months before this game. It mentioned his attempt to overthrow the shogunate in 1651, and that he owns a sword crafted by Muramasa.
* FriendToAllChildren: In Rider's ending of the Keian Command Championship, [[spoiler:Yui uses her wish to help raise and educate the children of Edo, presumably many of which are from the lower-class, hoping that this can start the path to the equal society she desires.]]
* FriendlyEnemy: To a degree. Yui starts off as cold towards Iori, only sparing his life on a technicality due to her code of honor when they first meet. After learning that Iori's wish is not dissimilar from her own, Yui defrosts a little and recognizes him as an honorable man but chides him for saving her life when they're enemies. During their final battle she laments that only one of their wishes can be granted, and entrusts him with her own after being defeated.
* HealingFactor: [[spoiler:As a homunculus, Shousetsu's healing process is accelerated to the point she can recover from most wounds in moments. This allows her to better fake Rider's "betrayal" by Tsuchimikado's mind control by having her Servant attack her in such a way that would be deliberating but easy to heal in the long run.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: In the "Ray of Light" route, [[spoiler:Yui--despite her [[WoundThatWillNotHeal permanent burn injuries]] from Chiemon--forces herself to keep fighting to help Iori and Saber stop Caster and Zheng, including fighting alongside them during the FinalBattle and most crucially creating a powerful barrier spell to protect them from [[DraconicAbomination Yasomagatsuhi's]] ultimate BreathWeapon attack. However, all of this puts enough of a strain on her that she expires shortly after the battle is over, her last sight [[PeacefulInDeath before passing away sitting against a boulder]] being of Iori framed by the light of the rising sun.]]
* HistoricalGenderFlip: The historical Yui Shousetsu was a man but here Yui is instead a woman. However, she is androgynous enough for pretty much everyone around her would confuse her for a male--at least prior to ''Fate/Grand Order'' revealing she's [[HiddenBuxom less androgynous than her kimono makes her appear]].
* HonorBeforeReason: On the first night, Rider has Iori completely cornered. Out of honor, Yui calls Rider back so they can give him their name and kill him themselves, and these few moments may have been the only reason Iori's summoning spell activates in time to save him. After the ensuing fight, Yui withdraws, explicitly to give Iori the chance to grow as a Master before they meet again, instead of killing him right there and preventing the guaranteed outcome of [[LightningBruiser Saber]] becoming a major obstacle.
* InterclassFriendship: Yui is a samurai and member of the shogunate's government, but is whole-heartedly idolized by the lower-class ronin [[spoiler:and wishes to use the Waxing Moon to create an egalitarian society where nobody will suffer]].
* ItIsDehumanizing: Dorothea Coyett and her underlings dismissively refer to Yui as "it" and treat her as an object [[spoiler:once her nature as a homunculus comes to light]].
* LadyLooksLikeADude: Yui is more often than not believed to be a man by pretty much everyone she meets.
* LivingOnBorrowedTime: [[spoiler:As a homunculus, she has an unavoidable expiry date. In the "Ray of Light" route, she chooses to make the most of her last days to help Iori destroy the Waxing Moon Ritual, and sacrifices herself to do so; while in the "Entreat the Darkness" route she wanders off in despair to die alone.]]
* MagicKnight: Alongside her skill with a blade, Yui fights by utilizing magecraft invoking the classic elements of fire, water, wind, and earth, and can combine the two together to empower her slashes with the elements.
* MysticalWhiteHair: Yui has snow-white hair [[spoiler:due to having been based on the homunculus-making alchemy used by the Einzbern family]].
* OlderThanTheyLook: Yui's character dossier says that she is over thirty, but looks like she could be under twenty.
* RecurringElement: [[spoiler:Like in other mainline ''Fate'' works, one of the Masters is a homunculus.]]
* TakingTheBullet: In "Ray of Light", [[spoiler:she throws herself in front of Iori and takes the full brunt of Chiemon's fire attack to claim the Waxing Moon Vessel for himself that sends her flying away, leaving her with a severe injury that even her innate healing factor can't repair.]]
* ThisIsUnforgivable: [[spoiler:Once Yui learns her servant's actual identity and [[FinalSolution wish]], Yui is both horrified and pissed off that she condoned such a monster to exist to threaten Edo, [[HeelFaceTurn siding with Iori, Saber, and Musashi to finish off Ushi Gozen almost immediately]].]]
* UnknowinglyInLove: As they work together, Yui slowly becomes attracted to Iori, but does not immediately understand it. [[spoiler:In the "Ray of Light" ending she's able to peacefully pass away content with the knowledge that her dream is in good hands, recalling how happy she felt when Iori promised to see it through; while in the "Entreat the Darkness" ending she's heartbroken to discover that the man she fell in love with was just a MaskOfSanity for a ruthless BloodKnight who promptly betrays her ideals in pursuit of power]].
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Yui desires to use the Waxing Grail War to bring about peace and end suffering for mankind, something born from her ArtificalHuman nature and witnessing the suffering of the ronin and oppression of Japanese Christians like what occurred in the Shimabara Rebellion. While honorable for the most part, Yui is willing to do things she disagrees with in order to achieve her goal, such as working with the WildCard Chiemon, and Tsuchimikado if it advances her goal. Thankfully, she never goes full KnightTemplar due to Rider's reveal leading to her losing her means of winning the Grail]].
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: [[spoiler:Sadly the moment her identity as an ArtificalHuman comes to light — [[AssociationFallacy on top of violations]] towards TheMasquerade that her Servant caused — all of her individual rights are taken from her as her own person and Shousetsu is detained by the Mage Association as a piece of rogue property being shipped back to the West, with Dorothea and her underlings [[ItIsDehumanizing referring to her as an "it"]]. Rather than spend her remaining time under such conditions, in the "Ray of Light" and "Entreat the Darkness" routes she escapes and tries to reunite with Iori, with Dorothea reluctantly agreeing to "loan" Yui to Iori in the former when he makes it clear he's not giving her back]].
* WoundThatWillNotHeal: In "Ray of Light" [[spoiler:her TakingTheBullet for Chiemon's attack on Iori leaves her with burns that won't heal in spite of her HealingFactor.]]
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tsuchimikado Yasuhiro]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SatoshiMikami
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/castermaster.png]]
-> ''“Such things do happen. The Waxing Moon Ritual is still under experimentation, after all.”''

The head of the Tsuchimikado family of onmyouji and descendant of Abe-no-Seimei. Acting as the Observer for the Waxing Moon Ritual, he also is the Master of Caster.
----
* TheArchmage: Tsuchimikado really wants to come off as one of these, but while he performs some impressive feats over the course of the story, he's nowhere near the level of his famous ancestor or even Douman. Tellingly, during the raid on his temple, he baffles the protagonists by making it appear that he can completely change the flow of Edo's leylines on a whim. No one else in the story can do this. Not his much more magically powerful Caster (who can just block some off) or the demigod [[spoiler:Ushi-Gozen]] can do so, and it's an extremely rare ability in the franchise as a whole. [[spoiler:Circe]], the ''true'' Archmage of the Waxing Moon Ritual, then dismissively reveals that all he's actually doing is concealing them with magecraft, and once the illusions are dispelled, Iori and Saber navigate the Spirit Front fight as normal.
* BigBadWannabe: [[spoiler:Despite being the primary designer and instigator of the Waxing Moon Ritual, he is defeated midway through the game in every route. This is especially hilarious as [[DragonHisFeet his Servant]] ends up being ''way'' more of a threat than him, being able to at least be the FinalBoss of the Ray of Light route, whereas Tsuchimikado isn't even granted the dignity [[KilledOffscreen of an onscreen death]].]]
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:His strategy in the Ritual. By exploiting his position as the Observer and his mastery of Edo's leylines, he performed a ritual that lets him manipulate Servants against their will. Rogue Servants tied to said leylines are especially vulnerable, leading to him controlling 5 of them at one point. However, there is a catch: Servants with high Divinity can resist this mind control, though it is not a guarantee particularly in the case of the Rogue Servants[[note]]Cu Chulainn, Arjuna, Tamamo Aria, and even Saber all have varying degrees of Divinity but still fall under his control at least temporarily, while Circe has both Divinity and the magecraft knowledge to figure out he's doing it and protect herself, Assassin ''can'' resist him with his Divinity but chooses to give in anyways to fulfill his own goal, and Gilgamesh has Divinity, sky-high resistances thanks to his Ruler class, and his galaxy-sized ego letting him shrug it off[[/note]]. This is how Shousetsu tricked him into believing he had Rider under his control.]]
* ButtMonkey: The Keian Command Championship does a number on his dignity. [[spoiler:The Divine Spirit he hoped to summon in the first place is not at all as he hoped she was and does whatever she pleases, and in Caster's ending, she gains a corporeal form and proceeds to wander the streets of Edo ''in full view of the citizens'', much to his chagrin and exasperation.]]
* CheatersNeverProsper: Tsuchimikado is practically holding all the cards, being the creator of the ritual and FixingTheGame in his own favor. [[spoiler:He only makes it to the halfway point of the story.]]
* ControlFreak: He's the only one other than Boss who knows that the Waxing Moon he created is a ShoddyKnockoffProduct of the Holy Grail, but he goes with the weaker Waxing Moon anyway because it's something entirely within his control. [[spoiler:And when he summons Ibuki-Douji in the first DLC despite the warnings of Boss ''and'' Caster, Tsuchimikado blows them off to pursue his scheme because he wants the new Ruler under his command and won't accept any other outcome, going as far as sabotaging Boss' countermeasures.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He may be a smarmy and arrogant bastard, but he genuinely loves and cares for his brother, and sets him up to become the next head of the family.
* FamousAncestor: Is a descendant of Abe-no-Seimei, with the decline of his clan being one of the reasons why he enacts the Waxing Moon Ritual.
* FixingTheGame: [[spoiler:He can use the Waxing Moon to seize control of Servants. He also just so happens to be the one who ''created'' the Waxing Moon, and is thus the only one who knows of this function...]]
* HateSink: Of the Masters. Each Master is presented as having some form of positive or understandable reason they are fighting, or have a backstory that explains their behavior. Tsuchimikado does have these, specifically a desire to improve his family's reputation after his father was brought low by political manipulation despite his magical skills, as well as a love for his brother. However, Tsuchimikado spends so much of his time being so arrogant and treating others like tools, plus these reasons are only explored after his death, that for most of the story he comes off as the most despicable Master and one quite deserving of the fate awaiting him.
* HellishPupils: When unmasked his character model has vertical slits for pupils, accentuating his malicious nature. In his artwork his eyes are horizontally stretched to give him an even more maniacal appearance.
* KilledOffscreen: In the "Ray of Light" route, [[spoiler:he isn't even dignified with a final showdown with the heroes, as when Iori and Saber choose to prioritize defeating Assassin and saving Dorothea, by the time they get back to his base Tsuchimikado has already been killed and Shousetsu takes the Waxing Moon for herself.]]
* NeutralInNameOnly: Being the overseer of the ritual, of ''course'' he is directly and personally involved. When is it ever not the case?
* PetTheDog: Despite being perhaps the most blatantly sinister contestant, he's shown to have a very good relationship with his younger brother, even pushing for him to be the next family head for his political and management skills despite being an IneptMage.
* SummonBiggerFish: A Servant is naturally a bigger fish, but Tsuchimikado had even grander ideas. It's revealed in the Keian Command Championship that [[spoiler:his original plan was to summon ''[[PhysicalGod Ibuki-Douji]]'' via Caster's abilities to engage in LoopholeAbuse, but the possibility of this [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness incited Boss to actually do his job as a Ruler]] and shut that down before it started. The Championship DLC story is what happens if Tsuchimikado doesn't take the hint and invokes a speed-summon with the Waxing Moon to call Ibuki-Douji up]].
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute:
** To Ashiya Douman, the rival of his ancestor, a primarily green-and-red colored onmyouji who presided over a Japanese Holy Grail War in the Heian-kyo storyline of ''Fate/Grand Order''.
** Him supposedly being a neutral Observer for the war but having his own Servant that he uses to further his own plans makes him essentially the story's version of Kirei Kotomine from ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''.
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Subverted on the "Flames of Resentment" route. Tsuchimikado is gloating to Iori, Saber, and Rogue Saber about how they should beg for the lives when [[spoiler:Chiemon and Lancer show up and immediately kill Tsuchimikado in the middle of his boasting, instantly ending Tsuchimikado as a threat.]]
* ThisCannotBe: After being [[spoiler:stabbed by Lancer, he struggles to crawl away while declaring that someone as powerful and magnificent as himself cannot possibly die to lowborn trash like her and Chiemon, and screams for Rider to save him before being finished off]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dorothea Coyett]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AyaHirano
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dorothea_coyett.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Seafaring Lady]]
-> ''"You still don't understand what we mages aspire to, I see."''
The daughter of Swedish nobleman, Fredrik Coyett, who came to Japan aboard a galleon. She is a mage of the Clock Tower and the Master of Assassin.
----
* AnimeHair: When not wearing her hat, her hair is revealed to be worn a wavy-swiped spikey style that prominently sticks out from her head.
* BigDamnHeroes: In the "Ray of Light" route, [[spoiler:Dorothea provides some unexpected assistance to Iori and company by way of sustained cannon-fire from her ship against Ushi Gozen's Noble Phantasm, luring it and Ushi Gozen away from Asakusa to the port. This also clears the way for Saber to unleash their full power against Ushi Gozen without any innocents being caught in the crossfire.]]
* BossSubtitles: In the Keian Command Championship DLC, she's introduced as "Dorothea Coyett, the Seafaring Lady".
* CoatCape: Her huge coat is unbuttoned and styled this way.
* CrushBlush: [[spoiler:She sports one after Iori saves her from Assassin, though she made sure he was out of sight before revealing it. It is however spotted by Musashi, who smiles at the sight of "youth".]]
* EnemyMine: [[spoiler:After Assassin betrays her by giving in to Tsuchimikado's spell, Dorothea allies with Iori and Saber to help them get back at Assassin.]]
* FlowerMotif: She has gold and black lily of the valley ornaments on her.
* FriendlyRivalry: With Zheng Chenggong, as both are respected nobles of foreign descent whom have a lot banking on their performance in the Waxing Moon Ritual, Dorothea has a healthy amount of respect for her opponent.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:If Iori chooses to face Tsuchimikado at the end of Chapter 4 rather than attempt to help her against Assassin, Giovanni will later reveal that Dorothea sacrificed herself [[KilledOffscreen offscreen]] to stop Assassin's rampage.]]
* HistoricalCharactersFictionalRelative: The real-life Fredrik Coyett had only one child, a son named Balthasar who would've only been a year old in 1651.
* LegFocus: Her long legs are not only left bare by her extremely short skirt, they're covered in notable intricate tattoos, which are implied to actually be her Magic Crest.
* MasterOfUnlocking: She's an expert in Bounded Fields (magical barriers), and while she's good at setting them up, she's even better at knocking them down. In particular, she can punch through Tsuchimikado's Bounded Fields near-effortlessly despite him being the most skilled, experienced living mortal sorcerer in Japan and the Master of a defensive-specialist Caster-class servant. This is extremely useful for helping Assassin carry out the infiltration operations his class is designed for, and [[spoiler:makes her a valuable ally during her EnemyMine alliance with Iori and Saber]].
* MundaneUtility: [[spoiler:In Assassin's Keian Command Championship ending, Dorothea takes a page from [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Marisbury Animusphere]]'s book and uses her wish from the tournament to provide the Coyett family substantial funding, enough that she gives up on the Waxing Moon Ritual and goes about on her own private ventures.]]
* MythologyGag: Dorothea has a number of parallels to Rin Tohsaka.
** Both are upper-class members of the nobility and mage society.
** Both are members of a cultural demographic that mark them as outsiders or unusual. Where Rin is a UsefulNotes/{{Japanese Christian}}, Dorothea is a foreigner in Sakoku-era Japan.
** Both [[spoiler:lose their Servants midway through the story,]] and form an alliance with their respective Master of Saber, though in Rin's case, the alliance lasts much longer.
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: [[spoiler:While most mages would covet the Waxing Moon despite being an inferior Holy Grail, Dorothea herself has no interest in it and her plans for it are very mundane when compared to her fellow Masters. In fact, in Assassin's ending in the Keian Command Championship DLC, she forgoes the Waxing Moon Ritual outright after using the wish she got from the tournament to provide the Coyett family enough funding for the next two centuries.]]
* SpannerInTheWorks: Should she be saved from [[spoiler:Assassin]], her subsequent assistance not only puts Iori on the "Ray of Hope" route (and the ending that could be considered the "good" one), but provides bonuses in various endgame Spirit Fronts as well.
* TokenWhite: The only Master in the Waxing Moon Ritual who isn't at least part Japanese, to the point Iori admits he's surprised how fluent she is in the Japanese language despite her obvious foreignness. In an interview about the game, Nasu said that he personally pushed to have a Western mage be present.
* TrapMaster: One of her most notable spells is a binding spell marked by a large magic circle under her target that will keep them rooted in place for a time. [[spoiler:It's strong enough it can even temporarily hold a Servant as powerful as Assassin in his SuperMode, which proves critical when Iori needs to weaken him enough for Saber to finish off with their Noble Phantasm]].
* {{Tsundere}}: She's quite smug and haughty when she addresses Iori, [[spoiler:but it's implied she has a crush on him after he helps her defeat Kouga Saburou.]]
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: It is explicitly stated in her profile that she has crippling arachnophobia. She even lets Iori and Saber do the fighting against demonic spiders during their brief alliance.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Takao Dayu]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AmiKoshimizu
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/takaodayu.png]]
-> ''"Yoshiwara women are strong. We don't lose heart when someone disappears or dies."''
One of the three most popular ''dayu'', the highest rank of courtesan, in Edo. Residing in the brothel Miura-ya, in Yoshiwara, many men long for her, even feudal lords. She is the Master of Berserker.
----
* ActionSurvivor: Dayu is a HighClassCallGirl and a performer with no knowledge of the magical world until she meets Musashi. And yet, her wits, use of her charisma, and command of two powerful Berserkers make her one of the most formidable Masters in the war at the start of the story. She could have killed Iori and Saber fairly easily when they come looking for her in Yoshiwara, but spares them because of Iori's relationship with Musashi and the heroes' value as intelligence assets.
* AgeLift: Explicitly the second Takao Dayu, who in real world history was only 11 years old in 1651.
* BenevolentBoss: Despite the sort of business that is attracted to RedLightDistrict, Takao Dayu cares for all of the women under her and is explicitly trying to move them out of having to rely on prostitution to make ends meet and find much more successfully happy lives completely in spite of how that would affect the bottom line of her business. This love also extends to her Servants as well, as despite being [[{{Muggle}} a complete novice to the world of magecraft]], she stands as the most beneficial Master to work for as both Berserkers under her employ can attest too. [[spoiler:She even uses ''all'' of her Command Spells to allow Musashi all the time she needs to fulfill her [[DuelToTheDeath last duel]] with Iori because it is her only wish before she's forced to part from this timeline. In the end, both Musashi and Samson leave the story happy and satisfied, which is more than most of the Servants of the war can attest.]]
* CostumePorn: Dayu wears a gorgeous and richly detailed kimono everywhere she goes along with golden accessories and extremely tall clogs. Despite the impracticality of such an outfit, her decadent garments mark her as a woman of status.
* FriendlyEnemy: After the initial hostility that came with the two parties meeting, once things cool down, Dayu is genuinely accommodating to Iori and even fills him in on the mechanics of how being in a Holy Grail War works despite the fact that she herself only knew them herself just recently due to her {{Muggle}} nature and, by those same mechanics, they ''should'' still be enemies. Afterwards, Dayu purposefully keeps an arms-length truce with Iori and Saber rather than pursue further conflict due to similar interests allowing both groups to benefit from each other for the time being.
* HighClassCallGirl: She is the second Takao Dayu, one of the highest-ranking oiran in Japanese society. In addition to her profession as a courtesan, she's a skilled performer and entertainer beloved by the people of Yoshiwara. This popularity allows her to turn the entire district into her personal fortress, as she's so well-liked that the commonfolk will gladly take up arms to protect her from those who would do her harm. The people of Yoshiwara also act as her eyes and ears, presenting her with gossip that she uses as intel to plan around the other Masters and Servants.
* HighHeelPower: Dayu wears impractically tall heels and walks with grace amidst an entourage of loyal followers, emphasizing the authority and prestige she wields due to her position and beauty.
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: All Takao wants is to free her girls from prostitution and live their lives, sending Iori and Saber to get things for them rather than for her and even shielding one of them from a rowdy customer who tries to cut them down.
* IdenticalStranger: [[spoiler:Takao looks very similar to Delilah as we see from Samson's flashback.]]
* IneptMage: Stands out in the Waxing Moon Ritual by, despite having Magic Circuits, being the only Master to have ''zero'' experience with magecraft until the ritual picked her to be Musashi's Master, making her a {{Muggle}} for all intents and purposes. She still manages to get by with her Servant, her wits, and that the Rogue Berserker also has a soft spot for her.
* KillTheOnesYouLove: While the precise nature of her love for [[spoiler:Samson]] is ambiguous (romantic, familial, or simply friendly?), its existence is not, and she's heartbroken at [[spoiler:being forced to deliver a MercyKill to him]].
* LegacyCharacter: Takao Dayu is an inherited name passed down through a total of 11 elite courtesans from the mid-17th to the mid-18th century. This is the second Takao, who historically was [[AgeLift 11 years old]] in 1651.
* LovedByAll: Dayu is enormously popular in Yoshiwara, her base of operations. When news gets out that Iori and Saber tried to assault Dayu and Rogue Berserker, everyone from sellswords to old men immediately start a manhunt for Iori.
* MissExposition: Dayu is the one to explain the nature of the Waxing Moon Ritual to Iori at Musashi's behest. This is also lampshaded by Dayu herself, who complains that she's doing all the exposition even though Musashi is much more qualified to talk about such things; but Musashi insists that she likes the way Dayu presents the details.
* MissKitty: The leader of old Japan's most well known RedLightDistrict and a popular figure in town. She's very personally attached to her girls, to the point that her wish is to let them all get out of prostitution and live their own happy lives. A cutscene even shows her visiting a sick colleague and trying to cheer her up to take medicine so that she can fulfill her dream to be free. [[spoiler:Tsuchimikado's offer to grant her that wish without the ritual causes... problems.]]
* MistakenForBadass: The crew Dorothea sent into Yoshiwara for information gathering on Takao Dayu assumes she is its "shadow ruler" and that she is a "mage of unknown lineage". Takao only laughs once she learns about this, as it could not be any further from the truth.
* NonActionGuy: Of all the Masters, Dayu is an IneptMage bordering on {{Muggle}} and has no ability to defend herself from another Master or Servant. But her overwhelming charisma and the backing of both Berserkers of the war make her a force to be reckoned with, turning Yoshiwara into her personal stronghold as she's kept safe within the confines of Miura-ya. The only time she does fight is when [[spoiler:she sneaks up behind Samson and chops off his hair with a wakizashi, weakening him enough for Saber to finish off.]] This continues into the "Keian Command Championship" DLC where she's the only Master who isn't PromotedToPlayable, with Musashi filling in for her as Berserker's de-facto Master.
* RedeemingReplacement: She's this to [[spoiler:Delilah, the woman who seduced Samson, right down to being an IdenticalStranger. Rather than being his LustObject who accepted a hostile foreign power's commission to betray and kidnap him, she's a HookerWithAHeartOfGold who acts as a sincerely BenevolentBoss, and when she cuts his hair, it's as a MercyKill that he's deeply grateful for.]]
* StartMyOwn: In Berserker's ending in the Keian Command Championship DLC, [[spoiler:Dayu uses her wish to start up a new village where people can start new lives, several of the inhabitants of which are former workers from Yoshiwara]].
* SupermodelStrut: When she makes her first appearance, she walks slowly but sensually, swaying her hips from side-to-side in a practiced, methodical gait. This emphasizes her beauty, her ettiquette, and her sensuality as the most desirable woman in all of Edo.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Dayu is the Girly Girl to Musashi's Tomboy. While both are beautiful Japanese women, Dayu exemplifies the Japanese standards of beauty and ettiquette. Everything she does is carefully practiced and performed with grace suited for a famed performer and one of the most desirable women in Japan. Musashi is much more spontaneous in her thoughts and actions, eager for a fight, and pursues a traditionally masculine occupation as a swordmaster. Dayu also wears conservative, but decadent clothing in her role as an oiran, while Musashi's outfit is much more ostentatious and shows off the top of her chest.
* TragicKeepsake: [[spoiler:After Samson's death, Dayu reveals in the Digression "Samson Agonistes" that a lock of his hair remained and didn't dematerialize with him. She gives it to Iori, which unlocks Samson's Secret Technique: Lion Slayer.]]
* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: Considered one of the most beautiful women in all of Edo.
----
[[/folder]]

!!Masters' Servants
[[folder:Saber]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/HibikuYamamura
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/20230622_204923.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Hero of the Boundless Azure]]
->''“You're weak. Have you no abilities besides the sword?”''

The Saber class Servant of Miyamoto Iori, a warrior in oriental clothing wielding a wavy sword and another held in its sheath.
----
* AchillesHeel: In their former life, Saber was cursed to death after they disrespected [[spoiler:the Great God Ibuki, better known as the Yamata-no-Orochi once felled by the god Susanoo]]. As a result, they're extremely vulnerable to snake gods, forcing them to be extra careful around Assassin, who summons snakes en masse as [[spoiler:he too was cursed by the Great God Ibuki]].
* AdaptationalBadass: In their original myth, [[spoiler:Yamato Takeru]] was once cursed with disease after [[spoiler:disrespecting the god of Mount Ibuki.]] And yet, their profile in this game describes them as someone who has slain armies, gods, and demons as a conqueror.
* AloofAlly: Despite Iori being their Master, Saber intends to fight the Waxing Moon Ritual alone since they consider him weak. This gradually eases over the course of the story, with the two of them becoming FireForgedFriends.
* AmbiguousGender: Saber has an androgynous appearance, and their profile doesn't use pronouns. In addition, Saber exclusively uses the gender-neutral "Watashi" throughout the story and doesn't take offense to being called a "damsel". [[spoiler:Hilariously, unlike other ''Fate'' stories, the game gives [[TheUnreveal a non-answer]] with Saber never attempting to correct anyone on their assumed gender at any point, and the "gender" section on their profile never changing from "?". This is likely an interpretation of the "real world" Takeru's clandestine killings against the Kumaso nation while disguised as a woman, while also synergizing nicely with Takeru's [[ReusedCharacterDesign Saberface]]]].
* AmbiguousGenderIdentity: Even after the mystery of who they are is cleared up, the mystery of what gender they identify as remains. [[spoiler:In dreams of the past, Yamato Takeru is referred to with male pronouns, but Saber in the game's present never changes from being a "?", and prefers to distance themselves from their original identity due to their distaste for their past actions.]]
* AmbiguousSituation: [[spoiler:The franchise's history of playing with sex and gender means there are a number of possibilities with Saber, but it's never actually clarified. Are they assigned male at birth, but prefer feminine presentation like Astolfo? Did their sex actually change due to the summoning, like Caenis? Were they assigned female at birth, but recorded in history as a man like Altria? Who knows.]]
* AntiMagic: Saber posseses A-Rank Magic Resistance, the highest conventional grade a Servant can have. This means that most forms of magecraft available in the modern day will harmlessly bounce off of them. Only great rituals, Noble Phantasms, or a Servant would be able to bypass or overwhelm it.
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Saber is initially insistent that they can win the Waxing Moon Ritual all on their own with nothing but their sword and skills. They look down upon Iori as TheLoad and gripes about not being allowed to kill people outside of the ritual.
* AscendedExtra: [[spoiler:Yamato Takeru was mentioned in ''Fate/Strange Fake'' before appearing in ''Fate/Samurai Remnant'', more specifically their Noble Phantasm as an example of what a Noble Phantasm is. [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness They even have a more traditional design before having their proper design]].]]
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Saber is very easily distracted by the amenities of the Japan they're summoned into, buying souvenirs, getting sidetracked by shows, and drooling at street food carts.
* BigEater: Just like the original Saber, they have quite a large appetite. They are all too eager to try the new types of cuisine that have been created since their time and are extremely happy at how food is much more abundant during the Edo period than their own timeline. Every time Iori buys something from a food stall with Saber present will almost always result in an eager comment from the Servant. The only exception would be the [[SitcomArchNemesis Boss Candies]], where Saber is too annoyed at their resemblance to the Boss and the fact Iori had to buy them from ''him'' to fully enjoy their flavor.
* BiggerStick:
** Most Noble Phantasms are ranked on a power-scale of A-F, and are listed as being 'anti-personnel', 'anti-fortress', or 'anti-army' depending on what they're capable of/specialized for dealing damage to. Saber is one of the vanishingly few Servants with an [[spoiler:EX-ranked Anti-World Noble Phantasm]], which is exactly as insanely powerful as it sounds, and more than justifies Iori's decision to prevent them from using it for most of the Waxing Moon Ritual. In the rare circumstances where they can fire it off without risk of collateral damage, there's absolutely nothing that can stand against it.
** On a more general level, Saber themself serves as a particularly potent version of the standard protagonist Servant BiggerStick, an especially powerful ancient hero who's enough to keep a dubiously-capable rookie Master alive against fearsome competition until they're finally ready to start playing with the big boys. They're a class known for its excellent all-around capabilities, and have particularly high Mystery (the age and power of their legend, which translates into their overall strength as a Servant) and Divinity (a stat that's a bit complicated in its effects, but mostly serves to let them NoSell or resist other Servants' and Masters' magecraft and other powers) in addition to that top-tier Noble Phantasm. They're almost on par with ''Gilgamesh'', who's the traditional gold standard (both literal and metaphorical) for Servants.
* BlackBugRoom: They carry enormous guilt over their brutal life of conquest, creating a HellIsWar landscape in a section of their mind where the corpses are never buried, the flames never fade, and the screaming never stops.
* BlowYouAway: Saber can produce gusts of wind with a swing of their sword, using it to extinguish Lancer's flames and put out fires they run into across Edo.
* BlueIsCalm: Zigzagged. Saber is strongly associated with water and the color blue, as they're introduced with the title "Hero of the Boundless Azure". In battle, Saber can be unnervingly calm about the thought of killing others while keeping a level head in most circumstances. But they can also be petulant, childish, and mischievous. They whine about Iori making them do things "the hard way" by not killing ruffians outside of the Waxing Moon Ritual and can be [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny quickly distracted by the amenities of Edo.]] [[spoiler:In life, they followed their father's orders almost mechanically, killing their own brother without a hint of remorse.]]
* BossSubtitles: They're introduced as "Saber, Hero of the Boundless Azure". [[spoiler:In their boss fight in Entreat the Darkness, they're introduced as "Saber, the Righteous Prince".]]
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: At one point in the story, Saber's senses are robbed from them by an outside force, turning them against Iori. It takes Iori diving into Saber's mind with the Crimson Codex's help and learning Saber's True Name to snap the Servant out of their trance.
* BreakingOldTrends: They're the first Saberface to have dark hair instead of blonde or white.
* BraidsOfAction: They wear a warrior's braid that they typically hang over their left shoulder and are a MasterSwordsman with the air of a conquerer.
* CharacterDevelopment: Saber starts off aloof towards Iori and unconcerned with collateral damage, but as their bond with him increases they go from reprimanding him to stay out of their way and not hold them back to praising his swordsmanship and remarking how delightful it is to fight side by side with him. [[spoiler:In the "Entreat the Darkness" ending, Saber even raises their sword against him to keep him from destroying the very peace he initially wanted to protect, and the very people they were initially unconcerned about.]]
* CombatPragmatist: Saber might be a skilled swordsman, but they have few qualms resorting to more dishonorable tactics to win a fight befitting their personal belief that a sword is meant to cut down your opponent. [[spoiler:They kill Samson by [[InTheBack stabbing him from behind]] after he's lost most of his power from his hair being cut off and he's too busy staring at Dayu in shock at her action and wipe out Kouga by letting Iori and Dorothea break through his defenses before immediately appearing out of spirit form and blasting him with their [[SwordBeam Noble Phantasm]].]]
* TheConqueror: Iori notes that Saber carries themselves with the air of a conqueror, from their demanding personality that's eager for a challenge to the way they fight. Seeing Saber's memories and the aftermath of their actions when they were alive soon reveals their True Name: [[spoiler:[[WarriorPrince Yamato Takeru]], the lonely, bloody conqueror of ancient Japan.]]
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Unlike Altria and Nero, who are foreign rulers who met their ends following a tragic betrayal and otherwise seen as regular human beings (albeit gifted with special weaponry or magic), [[spoiler:Takeru is a Japanese Saber-class Servant and prince who committed numerous atrocities in their father's name and became a DeityOfHumanOrigin following their death]]. Saber's relationship with their Master also greatly differs from Altria and Nero's relationship with Shirou and Hakuno respectively as Saber initially sees Iori as TheLoad and is wholly willing to leave him for dead until they learn they will disappear if he dies. Additionally, while Altria had a strained relationship with Guinevere, and Nero [[ReallyGetsAround is Nero]], Saber genuinely adored their wife and remembers her with fondness and longing.
* CoolSword: In the introduction manga, Saber's unnamed Noble Phantasm has their sword transform to look like Kusanagi. [[spoiler:It's the same Amenomurakumo-no-Tsurugi of old used by Ibuki-douji and gifted to Amaterasu by Susanoo in myth, making it a divine weapon capable of enormous destruction. Even this is the most basic application of its power, as to wield its full strength is to wield the power of a god.]]
* CrissCrossAttack: One of their attacks has them conjure numerous water spouts that they then use to WallJump repeatedly, attacking their foe with a series of criss-crossing slashes.
* CrutchCharacter: Saber not only keeps the pressure on enemies, but they DrawAggro as well, which they can do safely as they can only die if the player is controlling them. As their bond grows with Iori, Saber will start to randomly initiate free Dual Strike opportunities, and leap into the fray to protect him from a mortal blow. A player will feel their absence acutely whenever they have to enter combat without Saber, or even ''as'' Saber.
* DamnedByFaintPraise: Caster describes them as Japan's greatest hero to both empathize Saber's personal failings in spite of that, and as an insult to the people of Japan themselves for knowingly putting such a bloody and brutal figure on a pedestal.
* DeityOfHumanOrigin: Saber's greatest Noble Phantasm, [[spoiler:the Amenomurakumo-no-Tsurugi]], possesses power so great that to release its True Name is to wield the power of a god, even briefly. [[spoiler:After their death, Yamato Takeru was deified as the Great Bird, Otori, a deity worshipped throughout Japan, explaining their Divinity skill.]]
* DestructiveSaviour: In their first fight, they try to launch their Noble Phantasm at Rider in the middle of Asakusa which likely would have reduced a good chunk of it to rubble had Iori not unintentionally stopped them in their tracks with a Command Seal. They complain about being forced to stop, apparently not seeing the problem with endangering so many innocent bystanders.
* DudeLooksLikeALady: Although Saber's historical identity is [[spoiler:Yamato Takeru, the legendary WarriorPrince of Yamato]], they're called a damsel or a pretty woman even though [[spoiler:they're recorded as a man in history.]] That said, their AmbiguousGender obfuscates things [[spoiler:and the story never reveals what they identify as.]]
* DullEyesOfUnhappiness: Flashbacks to Saber's past life depict them with these, as they stoically [[spoiler:kill all of their father's enemies at his order. After losing Ototachibana-hime, Saber is shown standing alone in a desolate field while lamenting that the path they walk is one of nothing but blood and death.]]
* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:On their father's orders, Takeru killed their brother much his shock and horror. On the other end of the spectrum, Takeru isn't surprised that Iori wants to plunge Japan back into war so he can become a warrior on par with his adoptive father, but is still hurt by his decision and resolves to stop him.]]
* FamedInStory: Saber is apparently a Japanese character of some renown and looks offended when Iori fails to recognize them on sight. They are so insulted that they refuse to tell Iori their name.
* FinalBoss: In one ending, Saber becomes the game's final opponent [[spoiler:when Iori declares his intent to plunge Japan into chaos to truly master the blade as Musashi did. So Saber turns against him to protect Japan's peace from Iori's wish for war.]]
* FireForgedFriends: Saber looks down upon Iori for the early parts of the story, seeing Iori as TheLoad. Saber even declares that they'll win the Waxing Moon Ritual all by themselves. But as they fight alongside each other and open up about their goals and dreams, they gradually become close friends, with Iori admiring Saber's technique even more than Musashi's. This is mutual, as Saber starts secretly practising the Niten Ichiryu while Iori is asleep and as their bond improves they start praising him for being able to keep up.
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Unlike the Holy Grail Wars of series' past, the Waxing Moon Ritual grants little to no knowledge of the modern day to Saber. As a result, they're confused when Iori uses a metaphor involving paper, as no such thing existed when Saber was alive. Saber also needs some time to wrap their head around "money", with Iori speculating that they came from the Heian era or earlier when coinage wasn't as common.
* {{Foil}}: To Iori. Iori is a strait-laced, grounded person who seeks to walk the path of peace despite desiring to become a MasterSwordsman. He repeatedly chides Saber to act morally while also aspiring to be able to fight as Saber does. Saber is already a master combatant with TheGift and vast magical powers as a Servant. But they are naive and prone to whimsy. [[spoiler:The contrast between them is highlighted in the "Entreat the Darkness" ending. Iori's desire ToBeAMaster is so strong that he becomes willing to plunge Japan into war with the Waxing Moon to achieve his goal. But Takeru, a conqueror who killed countless people and became miserable for it, opposes him to protect the peaceful Japan they've defended throughout the story.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are a number of clues relating to their identity. Namely that they predate the use of paper in Japan (roughly before the 7th Century), and that they're supposedly a famous mythological or historical warrior from that timeframe. In addition, their Noble Phantasm is a traditional Japanese tsurugi strongly associated with water [[spoiler:and summons the visage of the Yamata-no-Orochi]]. They're also blown away by the size of Edo, its huge population, and the relative abundance of food, all of which were unimaginable to Saber when they were alive, implying that they were born during a time of war and strife.
* TheGadfly: Saber likes to poke fun at Iori whenever possible, especially when it concerns [[ChickMagnet the women he ends up attracting]]. They also make no effort to deny [[ShipperOnDeck Kaya’s]] assumption that the two are in a relationship as a means to troll him.
* TheGift: Saber fights as though they are walking through an empty field without ever needing to change their footwork, breathing, swordplay, or observations to match their opponent while being single-mindedly focused on victory. Iori calls it the "peerless swordplay of a conqueror" and finds it breathtaking. Saber isn't conscious of any of this, implying that it just comes naturally to them, much to Iori's astonishment.
* GlassCannon: Their stats are all around high with A-Rank strength, B-Rank Agility [[spoiler:and an ''EX''-Rank Noble Phantasm]], but they only have C-Rank Endurance.
* HappilyMarried: In life, Saber was married to a wife who supported them with her boundless love and was one of the few good things in their life, [[spoiler:but who sacrificed herself to appease an angry sea-god--leaving them devastated and heartbroken]]. Saber is very surprised to find their wife, [[spoiler:Ototachibana-hime]], in this time period. They are very happy and consider it a miracle that they were able to be reunited.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: While Saber will never hesitate to take pride in their ability as an incredibly powerful and skilled swordsman and they have a sense of ethics and morals, it's pretty clear they don't really see themselves in anything resembling heroic terms. When Iori earnestly thanks them for saving him from one of Assassin's snake familiars by killing the monster, Saber is briefly render speechless and befuddled while staring at their sword.
* HeyYou: When first summoned, Saber is oddly picky about how they're addressed: they won't give Iori their True Name, but ''also'' chafe at being called Saber, explicitly preferring "hey!" or "you". They relent on this after a couple days, probably once they realize using the class name is normal in a Grail War.
* HorrifyingHero: When Saber was alive, their gift for swordsmanship and talent for killing terrified others. [[spoiler:Takeru's ability to kill their older brother without hesitation unnerves Emperor Keiko despite him being the one who ordered the attack. He then sends Takeru away on expedition after expedition both as a living weapon and to get Takeru away from him. Takeru's unflinching loyalty led them to massacre even women and children, which made them feared by their allies and their enemies alike.]] As a Servant, Saber initially demonstrates an astonishing lack of care for collateral damage and is prone to believing that MurderIsTheBestSolution. But this apathy toward the lives of others softens as the story continues, to the point that [[spoiler:they oppose Iori's wish to plunge Japan into eternal war in the "Entreat the Darkness" ending.]]
* IdiotHair: Like Altria before them, Saber has a single lock of hair that sticks out from the rest of it. This reflects the rambunctious and childish part of their personality easily taken with the amenities of Edo.
* IHatePastMe: Saber's legend remembers them as a great Japanese hero. But Saber sees it very differently, to the point of actively avoiding telling Iori their name. [[spoiler:Under the orders of their father, Emperor Keiko, Takeru slaughtered innumerable people, including their own brother. They deceived the people of Kumaso before massacring its inhabitants. When Iori dives into Saber's memories, he sees them standing alone in a lifeless field with DullEyesOfUnhappiness while the screams of men, women, and children ring in their ears.]]
* InnocentInnuendo: Saber is prone to making comments that can easily be misinterpreted--seemingly without realizing they're doing so. This leads Kaya and Sukenoshin to assume they're in a committed and very enthusiastic relationship with Iori.
* IWorkAlone: They initially try to fight and win the Waxing Moon Ritual on their own, thinking Iori would be nothing but TheLoad, even telling the latter he could just go ahead and die and it wouldn't stop them. They are rebuked for this by Dayu and Musashi who stress that a Master and Servant ''must'' be able to work together if they want to have any hope for victory.
* IronicName: Saber's True Name, [[spoiler:Yamato Takeru, means "Hero/Brave of Yamato".]] But they earned the name as a spiteful, ironic title from their enemies [[spoiler:in Kumaso after Saber disguised themselves as a maid to infiltrate a bandit gang before massacring everyone in it before they could properly defend themselves.]]
* KillTheGod:
** In-life, Saber was a reknowned warrior who slew any opponent they came across, be they mortal, monster, or god. [[spoiler:One of their more notable divine victims was a white snake-god, making them uniquely suited for slaying Great Orochi and vanquishing Assassin's OneWingedAngel. However, it's noted that Saber is weak to snakes--the reference to the legendary cause of their death having been a curse from the god of Mt. Ibuki, the same deity responsible for Assassin's powers--with Yui noting that a direct assault on Assassin is ill-advised.]]
** Over the course of the story mode and differing routes, Saber uses their divine sword to [[spoiler:kill Great Orochi (a manifestation of the snake-god Yamata-no-Orochi), kill Assassin when he's in his snake-god form, kill the demigoddess Ushi Gozen and the divine beast summoned by her Noble Phantasm, kill the Waxing Moon Monster (a nascent god of destruction born from Chiemon fusing with the Waxing Moon Grail), and kill the Yasomagatsuhi (a primordial god of destruction from Japan's creation myth summoned by Caster and empowered by the Waxing Moon Grail's mana)]].
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: As an unintended side-effect of the Waxing Moon Ritual being in the experimental phase, Saber lacks certain details that are otherwise common knowledge for Servants in Holy Grail Wars such as knowledge of the present day and the bond between Master and Servant. This only applies to Servants from more recent eras, however; as Saber is from Japan centuries ago, they don't have that knowledge and were under the impression they could win the war by themselves until Musashi explains that if Iori dies, they will disappear.
* MagicalIncantation: Saber has several different incantations for their Noble Phantasms, though these seem to be optional as Saber can omit them entirely.
-->''[when using Eight-Current Raging Storm]'' O sacred water... trickle... flow... rush to the sea as a star... Secret Technique—Eight-Current Raging Storm!\\
''[when using [[spoiler:Amenomurakumo-no-Tsurugi]]]'' Sky, ground, sea, gale. and flames...gather here the forces of heaven and earth... [[spoiler:Sword of Heaven — Amenomurakumo-no-Tsurugi!]]
* MakingASplash: Saber is able to manipulate water through their Mana Burst (Water) skill, bringing it down to douse flames, dragging groups of enemies together in whirlpools, and boosting Iori up with a geyser-like spout. This is further enhanced by their Noble Phantasm, Divine Water, which is similar to Invisible Air except that it uses water to conceal a sword rather than air.
* MasterSwordsman: True to their class, Saber is a master swordsman. Iori is entranced by Saber's technique, particularly their Noble Phantasm, looking up to them as a "god of the sword" he admires even more than Musashi. Saber's profile describes them as being a born genius far beyond the limitations of man.
* MoneyDumb: Saber hails from a time before coinage and paper money was introduced to Japan. So while they understand the concept of wealth, they tend to spend Iori's money frivolously when it comes to enjoying food and Edo's amenities. In the ending of the DLC, Saber goes from festival stall to festival stall to try every game and scoop up as much food as they can, regardless of the harm they're doing to Iori's financial situation.
-->'''Iori:''' If we keep going from stall to stall like this, my purse won't survive.\\
'''Saber:''' You should've thought of that before, Iori. You could have used the wish granter for coin.\\
'''Iori:''' Had I foreseen that, I just might have...
* MorphWeapon: Normally, Saber's weapon takes the form of a flame-bladed silver sword. But when they unleash their Noble Phantasm, the sword transforms into a traditional Japanese tsurugi.
* MundaneLuxury: They go absolutely gaga for relatively simple fare like rice and miso soup, showing exactly how old they must be as a Japanese servant for such things to be delicacies.
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Saber is prone to offering to kill sources of trouble at the start of the story, only to get admonished by Iori, who tells them to hold back and not kill anyone when dealing with thugs. Saber is perplexed and irritated by Iori's insistence on doing things "the hard way"--at one point even noting that samurai like Iori have the right to kill those of a lower station as they please--but reluctantly agrees to abide by ThouShaltNotKill.
* MutualDisadvantage: Against Assassin due to how their legends interact. [[spoiler:Takeru's sword is the very one that was inside of Orochi, from whom Kouga obtained his curse, so this makes him extra vulnerable to Saber's attacks. At the same time, Takeru died in life to the machinations of a snake god, so Kouga drawing upon the power from the snake god Orochi makes him one of the worst foes in the Waxing Moon Ritual Takeru could face in straight fight. As a result, they choose to lie in wait in spirit form and let Iori and Dorothea weaken Kouga and break through his defenses before Takeru can appear and wipe him out with one good blast of their Noble Phantasm.]]
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Saber isn't unquestioningly loyal to Iori during in the events of the game, but [[spoiler:in their past life as Yamato Takeru, they fulfilled all of their father's orders without hesitation. They murdered their own brother and willingly slaughtered men, women, and children at their father's command. It's only after Takeru's beloved wife, Ototachibana-hime, sacrificed herself to appease Wadatsumi and enable Takeru's expedition to the east that Takeru begins to wonder WasItReallyWorthIt. Given their DullEyesOfUnhappiness and clear look of mourning, it definitely wasn't.]]
* MythologyGag: Saber's Noble Phantasm is concealed in a "water sheath" (as Iori calls it) called Divine Water, paralleling the wind sheath Invisible Air that Altria uses to hide Excalibur in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''. They even strike the same pose that Altria does in the anime adaptation of ''Literature/FateZero'' when she's deploying Excalibur. Saber's ability to stand on water is another trait they share with Altria.
** [[spoiler: Their Noble Phantasm Eight-Current Raging Storm takes cues from Berserker Ibuki-Douji's Noble Phantasm, both of them conjuring up the visage of Orochi as a water attack. Which fits as both have a connection to Orochi and wield Kusanagi.]]
* NaiveNewcomer: Saber is only slightly less clueless than Iori--they know what the Waxing Moon Ritual is, but nothing beyond the elevator pitch. Most damningly, they need to be told by Musashi that [[CantLiveWithoutYou they need to keep Iori alive to maintain their own manifestation]]. Before that lecture, Saber would've been happy to abandon Iori if he ever got [[TheLoad too inconvenient]].
* NoSell: As they and Iori note early on, they've got particularly high Divinity, which renders them immune or resistant to most methods of controlling or weakening them. This proves helpful many times over in the course of the Waxing Moon Ritual, especially once [[spoiler:Teuchimikado starts messing with the leylines]], and during the FinalBattle of the "Ray of Light" route, [[spoiler:a frustrated Caster notes that Saber is a hard counter to his otherwise-impressive RealityWarper powers]].
* OhCrap: At first, they outright tell Iori in his face that they'd gladly leave him to die if they thought he'd just slow them down. When Musashi points out to them that Iori dying or severing the contract [[CantLiveWithoutYou would result in them returning to the Throne]] to stress why they need to learn to work together, their face is noted to become rather pale at the revelation, hinting that they were unaware of that detail when they were summoned.
* OlderIsBetter: Saber's True Name is [[spoiler:Yamato Takeru, a legendary Japanese prince born nearly 1,500 years before the events of the story, making them the oldest Servant actively participating in the war--Gilgamesh being older by a sizeable margin but refusing to get his hands dirty. They have multiple powerful Noble Phantasms, skill as a MasterSwordsman to rival the likes of Ushi Gozen's, and high stats across the board. Caster even refers to Saber as the finest Japanese hero as one of Japan's oldest legends.]]
* OlderThanTheyLook: Saber looks young enough to be around Iori's age, to the point that passers-by mistake them for a couple at a glance. However, [[spoiler:Yamato Takeru died at the age of 42. Even if they were summoned in their prime, they would be in their mid-twenties or early thirties.]]
* OneManArmy: In their past life as [[spoiler:Yamato Takeru]], Saber slaughtered entire armies in their father's name. Flashbacks show that this was not hyperbole, as they stand alone amidst a field of bodies left in their wake. [[spoiler:Their father, Emperor Keiko, would then send them against the gods and demons in the east for the sake of Yamato's interests.]]
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Due to Saber's refusal to share their True Name with Iori out of spite for Iori not recognizing them, Iori exclusively refers to Saber by their class container. [[spoiler:Their True Name is Yamato Takeru, which in itself is an epithet meaning "Hero/Brave of Yamato"; their given name is actually Ousu.]]
* OrnamentalWeapon: Their second sheathed sword is never used. [[spoiler:Until the Entreat the Darkness route, where Saber uses the second sword to bring an end to the Waxing Moon Ritual, after killing Iori.]]
* {{Orochi}}: Saber is one of three Servants with connections to the Yamata no Orochi, and their Eight-Current Raging Storm Noble Phantasm fires a SwordBeam in the shape of the Orochi that is powerful enough to obliterate Assassin's Great Orochi summon -- also a manifestation of the Orochi. This is due to [[spoiler:their sword being the Amenomurakumo-no-Tsurugi, a divine sword extracted from the Orochi's tail by the storm god Susanoo]].
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Their Noble Phantasms are very destructive. Iori using a Command Seal to stop them from fully releasing one ends up destroying a sizable chunk of the nearby street and several houses near his residence. [[spoiler:This is also reflected in how they use it against Rider. In "Flames of Resentment", the fact they're still fighting in the middle of Asakusa forces Saber to limit and condense the SwordBeam down to the point it only manages to destroy Rider's weaponry and leaves her too wounded to stop the follow-up finishing stab. In "Ray of Light", Dorothea's distraction moving Rider and her Noble Phantasm out of the populated area and down to the port allows Saber to cut loose and launch a ''much'' bigger blast that completely obliterates Rider in one shot that eclipses the port.]]
* PintSizedPowerhouse: They're easily a head shorter than Iori and initially consider him to be too weak to fight alongside. Saber is also strong enough to boost Iori up like a springboard when he needs to jump over scaffolding as a high as a building's.
* ReusedCharacterDesign: They're this game's resident "Saberface", a character with the same face as the franchise's famous female King Arthur. A number of Altria's character traits, such as her initial critical aloofness and love of food, are likewise emulated. [[spoiler:Their true name is Yamato Takeru, who has been linked to Arthur through comparative mythology]].
* SemiDivine: Saber possesses D-Rank Divinity, as [[spoiler:they were deified after their death as Otori, the Great Bird, whose shrines can be found throughout Japan.]]
* SkilledButNaive: Saber is a MasterSwordsman and a literal OneManArmy who is more than confident in their ability to win the Waxing Moon Ritual all by themselves. But that same ritual has also left them woefully underinformed about the nature of the war Saber is participating in. In addition, they're a FishOutOfTemporalWater who is amazed at how different Japan is from how it was when they were alive. When they first visit Yoshiwara, they mistake a bunch of men wearing "lewd grins" as being enchanted by an enemy force, while Iori knows that it's a different kind of "enchantment" given Yoshiwara's RedLightDistrict.
* StraightManAndWiseGuy: Saber is the Wise Guy to Iori's Straight Man. While Saber is a master combatant, they're a naive FishOutOfTemporalWater easily distracted by Edo's many sights, sounds, and smells. This contrasts Iori's serious and grounded nature as he constantly corrects Saber's misconceptions and keep them on-track.
* StrongAndSkilled: Goes with the territory as a Saber, which is a class where your skill as a MasterSwordsman ''becomes'' raw strength by fuelling the longevity and popularity of your legend. This one is one of the most gifted warriors in history, and therefore an extraordinarily powerful Heroic Spirit.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: They have amber eyes and are a Servant [[spoiler:whose true identity is that of the legendary WarriorPrince Yamato Takeru, who was deified as the divine bird Otori after death.]]
* SuperpowerLottery: They are a MasterSwordsman with high stats all across the board (aside from their [[GlassCannon C Rank Endurance]]), several powerful Noble Phantasms [[spoiler: with the strongest being an '''EX'''-Rank ''Anti-World'' (same rank and category as Gilgamesh's Ea)[[labelnote:Context]] but this is more because of its ability making the user become "one with the world" rather than actually being capable of an EarthShatteringKaboom[[/labelnote]] and is [[OlderIsBetter the oldest Servant in the Ritual]]]].
* SwordBeam: Wouldn't be a headlining Saber in the franchise without one.
** Some of Saber's heavy and Affinity attacks have them shoot waves of water from their sword's blade.
** Saber has ''two'' different sword beam Noble Phantasms. One is [[spoiler:Eight-Current Raging Storm, which conjures the visage of the {{Orochi}} in the form of eight serpents made out of purifying water, which converge on and destroy its target. The other is Sword of Heaven - Amenomurakumo-no-Tsurugi, an EX-ranked Noble Phantasm that concentrates its power into a single beam, which Saber uses to dispatch Rider in both routes]].
* TeleportSpam: Saber can choose to vanish into their Spirit Form and reform elsewhere in an attempt to throw their foe off-guard [[spoiler:in their final battle with Iori in the "Entreat the Darkness" ending.]]
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Rice. Saber adores eating freshly cooked rice, seeing it as synonymous with peace and civilization. Eating it in any form fills them with joy. When Iori dives into Saber's memories, the first thing he sees is a rice field. They also love miso soup.
* TheUnreveal: Early on, Saber mentions that they don't remember what their wish for the Waxing Moon is, though Kaya implies [[spoiler:they never forgot their wish but never told Iori. In the "Entreat the Darkness" route, Saber states that despite they and Iori parting on miserable terms, they're at least grateful that Iori helped them fulfill their wish, though what exactly their wish was to begin with is never elaborated on]].
* WarriorPrince: [[spoiler:Their true identity is Yamato Takeru, who is effectively the UrExample in Japanese culture, having in life slain many enemies by the wave under the orders of their father Emperor Keiko.]]
* WellDoneSonGuy: In their legend, [[spoiler:Yamato Takeru fought tirelessly for their father's approval. They walked a path of blood and slaughter, killing men, women, children, demons, and gods in the name of Emperor Keiko and the nation of Yamato. Takeru even killed their own older brother on their father's orders without hesitation. Takeru's adherence to their father's orders was only shaken when Takeru's beloved wife, Ototachibana-hime, sacrificed herself for the sake of appeasing the sea god Wadatsumi, who threatened to sink Takeru and their entire fleet.]]
* YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: Invoked. When Iori learns Saber's True Name, [[spoiler:Yamato Takeru]], Saber asks Iori to continue calling them by their class. They then say that they only want to be referred to by their True Name at an important time, such as when [[spoiler:Iori calls Takeru's name while asking them to destroy the Waxing Moon with their Noble Phantasm.]]
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[[/folder]]

[[folder:Archer]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KenshoOno
[[quoteright:402:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fsrarcher.png]]
[[caption-width-right:402:The Red Commander]]
-> ''"...If anyone, perhaps I can entrust my dying wish to you."''

Zhou Yu, the famed general of the Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. A handsome young man of loyalty, he is the Archer class Servant of Zheng Chenggong.
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* ArrowsOnFire: His main method of attack. His arrows are almost always covered in flames when he attacks, and when playable, few attacks lack his arrows being on fire. His Noble Phantasm, Fireship Afloat, is also this, if combining with his CoolBoat.
* AscendedExtra: Zhou Yu was namedropped as a potential 'Pseudo Servant' identity in the gag-animation of ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' x Himuro's Universe: Seven Most Powerful Great Figures Chapter, to celebrate New Year. And now, he's a full-fledged Servant.
* BackFromTheDead: At the end of his and Zheng Chenggong's route through the Keian Command Championship, [[spoiler:Zheng uses his wish to incarnate Zhou Yu in a new flesh-and-blood body--effectively resurrecting him]].
* BadassArmfold: Archer's default resting position is this pose, which helps sells his aloof coolheaded nature.
* BecomeARealBoy: [[spoiler:In Archer's Keian Command Championship ending, Zheng uses his wish to reincarnate Zhou Yu into a proper body as opposed to a temporary Servant vessel.]]
* BossSubtitles: He's introduced as "Zhou Gongjin, the Red Commander".
* ChainPain: [[spoiler:When using his second Noble Phantasm Red Cliff Calamity against Rogue Berserker, he's able to bind him with the superheated chains that were (according to legend) used to bind the Wei fleet together.]]
* CoolBoat: He can summon a ship capable not just of water travel but also of [[CoolAirship flight]]. It's one of the louchuan warships from the Battle of Red Cliffs, [[spoiler:which his Noble Phantasm recreates. Notably, he has the Riding skill to go along with it, something not seen often for Archers.]]
* CompositeCharacter: Of his own historic self with the abilities of his ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' self. Instead of being simply the historical or fictional version like some characters in the setting are, he's basically both aspects of his identity rolled into one person, which he finds slightly annoying.
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Invoked and weaponised in-universe. His Noble Phantasm basically consists of recreating his most spectacular military victory and then having everything deadly and destructive on the battlefield focus itself on whatever enemies are unlucky enough to be his victims. [[spoiler:In other words, his targets won't just be stuck in the middle of the fire attack at the Battle of the Red Cliffs - they'll have burning battleships trying to squash them, the red-hot chains that shackled the fleet together wrapping around them, and gunpowder explosions literally chasing after them.]]
* HeroicSuicide: [[spoiler:After being corrupted by Tsuchimikado Yasuhiro and attacking Zheng Chenggong and his retainers, Zhou Yu regains just enough self-control to stab himself in the head with an arrow to prevent himself from hurting his friend any more than he already has.]]
* HistoricalBadassUpgrade: An InUniverse example. Zhou Yu was a mostly normal warrior in history, but the ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' story made him a significantly more powerful warrior, causing him to be summoned as his historic self, with the powers and skills of his fictional self. Zhou Yu finds this a bit annoying, since he doesn't feel like it can really be properly attributed to himself because of that.
* HumbleHero: He regularly calls himself not very competent in a direct fight and more suited to drafting strategy, but also shows himself to be very dangerous in any battle he gets himself in. As his mind is that of the Zhou Yu of proper history, he sees himself undeserving of the abilities given to him due to his interpretation from ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' and considers them a tad too powerful.
* MentalWorld: Somewhat more ambiguous than most cases in the Nasuverse. [[spoiler:Red Cliff Calamity - Cradle of Fire certainly ''looks'' like a Reality Marble, the world around Zhou Yu actively transforming into the burning fleet of ships from the battle of Red Cliff and acting to enhance his abilities to an insane degree, but unlike Hieda-no-Are's Puppet Playground, it's never actively pointed out as such.]]
* {{Multishot}}: As a show of his skill as an archer, Archer's attacks involve repeatedly firing flurries of arrows in a fan pattern to catch large groups of enemies.
* QuickDraw: His Deadly Attacks have some of the shortest wind-ups in the game, and he can use them consecutively, encouraging a player to interrupt them just as they initiate or even right before.
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:He's one of Iori and Saber's first and most stalwart allies, noble and courteous in personality, and helps them out of several binds. He's then rendered BrainwashedAndCrazy and needs to be fought to the death before he regains just enough control to commit HeroicSuicide, being the first Servant casualty of the Waxing Moon Ritual.]]
* SituationalSword: Archer's strongest Noble Phantasm, [[spoiler:Red Cliff Calamity]], is only usable if the target has been held in place for a certain amount of time. This means that Archer must trap his opponent in one place long enough for his Noble Phantasm to activate.
* SquareRaceRoundClass: Considering his experience as a military commander and his Noble Phantasm, [[spoiler:a fleet of ships during a naval battle]], he seems better suited to the Rider class.
* TokenGoodTeammate: The only regular Servant in the Waxing Moon Ritual who is neither evil nor comfortable with reckless violence.
* TrueCompanions: With his Master. The two display nothing but the utmost faith and trust in one another, with Archer himself being heavily invested in granting Zheng's wish. [[spoiler:In his Keian Command Championship ending, a newly reincarnated Zhou Yu abandons the Waxing Moon Ritual with Zheng as they return to China with the intent of making Zheng's dream a reality without relying on the Waxing Moon.]]
* WeakButSkilled: His stats show him having only a C+ in Strength, but all of his other stats are at least B rank. Gameplay-wise, his attacks don't have the same power as someone like Saber, but his combos allow him to do things such as fight from a distance, or clear groups quickly.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lancer]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MaayaSakamoto
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jalter_lancer.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Tenebrous Spear Wielder/The Corrupted Maiden]]
-> ''"...Ashes to ashes and dust to dust. All things───shall be consumed by the flames."''

A mysterious woman who looks identical to the Dragon Witch, Jeanne d'Arc Alter. She is the Lancer class Servant of Chiemon, wielding two spears that make flowers of darkness bloom.
----
* AmbiguousSituation: For some reason, promotional materials are leaving her name obscured. Considering the original Jeanne Alter from ''Grand Order'' is a fictional creation of Gilles de Rais and not a "real" Heroic Spirit, there may be something more to this Servant than meets the eye. Furthermore, her Noble Phantasm is different, which is not unusual when changing classes, but it is yet another point of difference from the original Avenger Jeanne Alter. [[spoiler:The reality is that she is the ''[[ActuallyIAmHim proper]]'' Jeanne d'Arc, rather than the fictional creation of Gilles de Rais like in ''Grand Order'', but due to [[HeroicSacrifice circumstances]] of her summoning that led to her sacrificing her Sainthood, she transformed into an Altered version of herself even though it should be impossible for her to normally be Altered due to her IncorruptiblePurePureness. This has the [[DramaPreservingHandicap consequence]] of leaving her significantly weaker than her true self in spite of her more offensively-focused kit.]]
* AntiVillain: Despite being [[spoiler:a corrupted Jeanne, flashes of the noble saint still pop up from time to time, most notably when she urges Iori and Saber to flee to safety with the unconscious Kaya while she stays behind and takes on the brainwashed Rogue Lancer.]]
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: [[spoiler:During the confrontation with Tsuchimikado, Iori, Saber, and Yoshinaka are preparing to confront Caster's master to end his ambitious plans, but in the midst of the dialogue between the two parties, Chiemon shows up unexpectedly and has Lancer do [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim what they should of done while he is monologuing]] and stab him, killing him on the spot and [[SpannerInTheWorks derailing]] the whole Ritual as Tsuchimikado and Caster had planned in the process.]]
* BeingEvilSucks: [[spoiler:Turns out taking one of the most holy and pure characters and forcibly corrupting them via their Summoning does a number on their combat effectiveness. Despite her more offensive-focused Noble Phantasm lineup, she is straight-up one of the WEAKEST Servants involved in the Waxing Moon Ritual, and definitely the weakest of all of Jeanne's various incarnations in the franchise. In fact, this is the reason why, [[CurbStompBattle unlike his showing against Rider]], Iori holds up incredibly well against this corrupted Jeanne because she's so {{Nerf}}ed by her transformation into an Alter despite being a Servant, who tend to be generally ''way'' stronger than the average human even at their weakest.]]
* BossSubtitles: She's introduced as "Lancer, the Tenebrous Spear Wielder". After her True Name reveal, she's introduced as "Jeanne d'Arc, the Corrupted Maiden".
* DramaPreservingHandicap: [[spoiler:Jeanne d'Arc in Fate is famously a ''very'' powerful and devout holy servant whenever she's summoned, who's capable becoming a StoneWall against her opponents and able to perform miracles due to her saintly disposition — which ordinarily would prevent her from being corrupted into [[FallenHero an Alter state]] at all, as it should not work on someone who has IncorruptiblePurePureness as ''a defining trait''. However, in the process of performing a HeroicSacrifice as part of her summoning for Chiemon, she compromises [[TheNeedsOfTheMany her virtue of protecting the many]] to [[UndyingLoyalty instead protect the one sinner]] and [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge his wish]], which proves enough of a corrupting factor to override her usual immunity and make her an Alter. This compromise of self ends up absolutely ''destroying'' a lot of her advantages she ordinarily would have and makes her a PaperTiger at ''best'', on top of [[BreakTheCutie destroying her idealism altogether]] and making her a [[TheStoic stoic]] BloodKnight.]]
* IdenticalStranger: Is a dead ringer for [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Jeanne d'Arc Alter]], save for the purple burnt cloak instead of black one of the original, despite the fact that ordinarily she should not be able to exist outside of that timeline due to the circumstances of her creation by Gilles de Rais, but she's a [[TheStoic far more somber character]] lacking the characteristic UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist attitude of the original. [[spoiler:In reality, that's because she's an Alter of the ''real deal'' Jeanne d'Arc and not her fictionalized "clone" created by Gilles de Rais's wish, even though it ''should'' be impossible for the normal Jeanne to be corrupted into an Alter state. The fact she is wearing the purple cloak is the only tell tale sign that distinguishes her as a corrupted version of the original Jeanne instead of her doppelganger.]]
* {{Irony}}:
** [[spoiler:Despite taking [[BreakoutVillain clear influence]] from Avenger Jeanne d'Arc Alter in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', ''this'' corrupted Jeanne is actually more in line with the LethalJokeCharacter status of what the Avenger class was envisioned originally in ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'' than her inspiration[[note]]who is a LightningBruiser GlassCannon[[/note]], instead being something of a PaperTiger due to the DramaPreservingHandicap at play with her forced Alter transformation compromising her Saint Graph's integrity.]]
** The Lancer class is infamous for being practically CosmicPlaything with how abysmal their luck is in the Fate series[[note]]with them usually being a jobber disposed of either fairly early or before the climax[[/note]], and Lancer here is no different with an ''[[EpicFail E-rank]]'' in Luck. [[spoiler:Yet hilariously, she and her master end up making it to the very end of all the routes, even participating as part of the FinalBoss (albeit as part of the power source of Chiemon's HumanoidAbomination form) in the Flames of Resentment route.]]
* PerpetualFrowner: Lancer has a frown as her default expression and it barely ever changes, to the point Saber nicknames her "the gloomy woman".
* ThePowerOfHate: Her Noble Phantasm, Tristesse de la Vierge, is powered by the grudges of those who died in battle.
* PurpleIsPowerful: The main difference physically that differentiates her from Jeanne d'Arc Alter from ''Grand Order'' is the fact she's wearing a noticeably purple cloak instead of the black cloak she wears in her first ascension, albeit burned at the ends and is one of the more physically-oriented Servants in this Waxing Moon Ritual. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Ironically however]], this is probably the ''weakest'' incarnation of Jeanne d'Arc[[note]]All of her stats — especially her Luck and EX-level Magic Resistance — have dropped abysmally by the transformation into an Altered state[[/note]] despite being the genuine corrupted form of the original, due to the fact she ''is'' a corrupted form of someone who's ''defined'' by her IncorruptiblePurePureness and thus is given a massive DramaPreservingHandicap despite her more physical stance than any other Jeanne to date.]]
* TokenWhite: While there is a foreign Master participating in the Waxing Moon Ritual, and there are Rogue Servants with origins in other lands, this Lancer is the only Servant among the "main" set of competitors who isn't clearly East Asian.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Chiemon unquestionably [[BadBoss despite how coldly he treats her]], [[spoiler:in fact, it's the reason why she's an Alter in the first place. As Jeanne d'Arc ordinarily ''couldn't'' be an Alter due to her IncorruptiblePurePureness, but seeing the fire and pain that has traumatized him so deeply when she was being summoned, rather than reject him as an unfit Master, [[AllLovingHero she chose to still try and save his soul regardless]] — which caused her to bear his grudge into her own heart, corrupting her into a shadow of her former self and just as much of [[BloodKnight a bloodthirsty cynic]] as he is.]]
* TheUnfought: [[spoiler:In both "Ray of Light" and "Entreat the Darkness", Jeanne has a rather anticlimactic end when Chiemon is killed by Iori and Caster while Jeanne is separated from him in the respective routes. With her Master gone, so is her anchor to the world, causing her to disappear.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Rider]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/HarukaTomatsu
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ridersr.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Dark Warrior]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Unarmored appearance (Spoilers!)]]\\
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fsr_ushi_gozen.png The Unholy Trangressor[[/labelnote]]]]
-> ''"With all due respect, killing them in their ignorance would be a mercy."''

An armored being bearing the Takeda clan's emblem. The Rider class Servant of Yui Shousetsu.\\\

----
* AdaptationalSeriousness: [[spoiler:Minamoto-no-Raikou in ''Fate/Grand Order'', while having [[YouAreWhatYouHate a fair bit of drama]] about her past like most Servants (especially in consideration towards her Oni half that this game expands upon), tends to have quite a considerable amount of levity to her thanks to her specific kind of [[MyBelovedSmother Madness Enhancement as a Berserker]]. In ''Samurai Remnant'', however, Ushi-Gozen is played completely serious from the get-go to a terrifying degree as a barely composed OmnicidalManiac callously using her Master to fulfill her ambition while [[HydePlaysJekyll under the guise of being her more heroic self]], and even when she's pretending to ''be'' Minamoto-no-Raikou, Ushi-Gozen shows ''none'' of the more sympathetic traits that allowed her to have levity in her origin game.]]
* AgeLift: [[spoiler:For all intents and purposes, Ushi Gozen here is Raikou Lily, as beneath the bulky armor she's wearing she is in a underdeveloped teenage form instead of the curvy figure of her more familiar adult form as a result of her "Divine Manifestation" skill physically altering her appearance. Humorously, her younger appearance ends up making her resemble her ArchEnemy Shuten-Douji considerably.]]
* AnimalisticAbomination: [[spoiler:Her Noble Phantasm, "Ox-King Reversal - Frenzied Tempest", summons an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ushi-oni ushi-oni]], here depicted as a bizarre, headless ox with six legs that towers over the entire city of Edo and threatens to destroy it simply by trampling through it]].
* AscendedExtra: [[spoiler:While Minamoto-no-Raikou has been a prominent mainstay Servant ever since her introduction in ''Grand Order'', her Ushi Gozen persona has been more of a footnote that has only appeared in a couple events and wasn't shown to have much in the way of character beyond being her SuperpoweredEvilSide. This game, however, has Ushi Gozen as ''the'' prominent identity this time around and players are able to properly see more of her Oni self's overall persona as a major antagonist in this story.]]
* ArchEnemy:
** Is this to Rogue Saber [[spoiler:as she's the "Evil Ogre" that he is hunting. Although, [[UnknownRival she considers him just another adversary in the way.]]]]
** One made very clear by the Keian Command Championship DLC is [[spoiler:Ibuki-Douji, though this could be her inner Raikou speaking. Her feelings towards Ibuki-Douji are best described as "kill on sight", and the general rivalry between their respective less divine selves is quite legendary.]]
* ArmorIsUseless: Zigzagged. Functionally speaking, for a Servant armor alone tends to ''not'' be a particularly noteworthy trait to hold a genuine defense against unless they are historically defined by their usage of it, as they are magical beings that are [[NoSell borderline immune]] outright to mortals inflicting damage to them and vulnerable to other Servants, where armor of any kind doesn't matter. That said, Rider's usage of their armor is a bit more creative than the standard case as the floating pauldrons/sodes allow them to act as impromptu shields that can deflect most attacks. [[spoiler:But then it is revealed she doesn't actually ''need'' to wear it at all; as a particularly powerful Oni of [[SemiDivine Divine blood]], she's plenty resilient without it and was simply using the armor to [[AWolfInSheepsClothing obfuscate her identity as a much more virtuous character]].]]
* BerserkButton: [[spoiler:Yep. Even when Raikou is controlled by a different personality entirely, Shuten-Douji (or ''Ibuki''-Douji, in this case) is still one that presses itself by merely existing.]]
* {{BFS}}: Wields an odachi (a Japanese greatsword designed for fighting against cavalry) wreathed in dark energy. It's unusual enough for the post-Sengoku setting (where nearly everyone who does carry a weapon uses the comparatively dainty katanas) that the characters use the weapon as an identifying feature when describing Rider to others.
* BlackKnight: A Japanese variant, but Rider's appearance invokes the classic idea of this trope of being an imposing warrior in dark armor that [[HopelessBossFight easily trumps the heroes from the gate]] to establish that Servants are ''beyond'' mortal capabilities to quarrel with. [[spoiler:Although, she's actually ''[[IAmNotLeftHanded far]]'' [[IAmNotLeftHanded stronger]] when not hiding her identity behind her armor.]]
* BossSubtitles: They're introduced as "Rider, the Dark Warrior". After their True Name reveal, [[spoiler:she's introduced as "Ushi Gozen, the Unholy Transgressor".]]
* CombatPragmatist: In contrast to their Master's CodeOfHonor, Rider occasionally expresses a desire to eliminate potential problems as soon as possible. Following their first bout with Miyamoto Iori and Saber, they suggest [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim the solution of just killing the two while Iori has yet to come into his own as a Master]] but Yui shuts down the idea.
* CoolHorse: To travel swiftly, they ride the legendary horse [[spoiler:Kyogoku, the same one Minamoto-no-Raikou rides]]. It is able to fly.
* CreepyShadowedUndereyes: [[spoiler:Ushi Gozen, once her face is revealed, has prominent black rings around her eyelids that, when coupled with her permanent piercing KubrickStare, makes her visibly unhinged and frightening.]]
* DemonLordsAndArchdevils: [[spoiler:Ushi Gozen is a really big deal by oni standards, a SemiDivine powerhouse entirely capable of flattening towns and cities and very enthusiastic about doing so. There's a reason she's passed into legend as an ArchEnemy of one of Japan's most legendary demon-slayers, even if the truth is [[SuperpoweredEvilSide a little more complicated]].]]
* ExactWords: Rider told their Master Yui their identity immediately upon being summoned when they were asked, [[spoiler:however, Ushi Gozen did not specify ''[[SplitPersonalityTakeover which]]'' personality was dominant after being summoned, so she was not straight up lying to her face when she said she was Minamoto-no-Raikou to her but favored [[LyingByOmission omitting any mention]] of her Oni nature to manipulate her Master to serve her own ends. She also completely earnestly pledges herself to Shousetsu's cause of fixing worldwide inequality; she just has a ''very'' different idea on how to do that. Due to this, Shousetsu's Command Spells have no effect on her, because she is technically doing exactly what her Master wishes.]]
* FinalSolution: [[spoiler:Following the reveal of her true nature, Ushi Gozen reveals she does intend to help Yui right the world... by hijacking the Waxing Moon Ritual and using her Noble Phantasm to destroy Edo ''and everyone along with it''. Yui attempts to stop her by utilizing all three of her Command Spells [[NoSell but it fails to deter Ushi Gozen in the slightest]], because she ''is'' still fulfilling [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans their shared objective]], just through a completely different means than her Master intends.]]
* FriendToAllChildren: [[spoiler:In Rider's Keian Command Championship ending, she's seen playing with a bunch of kids in a courtyard, even letting one sit on one of her shoulder pauldrons she's shifted with the flat side up. Jury's out whether [[AmbiguouslyEvil she's only doing so to keep up the act]], though.]]
* GiantSpider: Rider's Noble Phantasm summons a massive cross between a spider and bull to trample enemies.
* AGodAmI: Granted, [[spoiler:Ushi Gozen actually ''is'' a demigod, due to being the daughter of Indra, but upon the reveal of her identity, she is ''demanding'' Iori and Saber prostrate themselves before her as a genuine Divine Spirit in the flesh while flashing a sadistic SlasherSmile, telling them that she will grant them [[MercyKill a quick and merciful]] death if they grovel and worship her.]]
* GracefulLoser: In "Ray of Light", [[spoiler:Ushi Gozen's final moments before being oblierated by Saber's [[SwordBeam Sword of Heaven: Amenomurakumo-no-Tsurugi]] are of peace and contentment at being able to bask in the divine light of destruction she so craved.]]
* TheHeavy: While they are not the BigBad by any stretch, [[spoiler:Ushi Gozen is the most overarching and readily apparent antagonist right out the gate, looming as an opponent for Iori and Saber to eventually have to face for much of the game, and that's even before the reveal of [[FinalSolution her plans]] that cause multiple parties, [[HeelRealization including her own Master]], to all end up grouping together in a ''massive'' EnemyMine to put down Ushi Gozen for good that no other party successfully accomplishes to the same degree.]]
* HeinzHybrid: [[spoiler:Minamoto-no-Raikou is partly divine, partly demonic as an oni, and human all at once. This imbalance leads Raikou to struggle with balancing her innately inhuman values with the moral, human lifestyle she wants to live. When her divine and demonic powers overwhelm her, she suffers a SplitPersonalityTakeover and becomes Ushi Gozen. In this case, Rider was summoned as Ushi Gozen, making her an AxCrazy OmnicidalManiac from the start.]]
* HopelessBossFight: Rider demonstrates the gap between Servants and mortals by overpowering all of Iori's attempts to defend himself. Rider doesn't even bother to swing their sword with both hands while hammering away at Iori's desperate attempts to block. Meanwhile, all of his attempts to counterattack bounce harmlessly off of Rider, who makes it clear that he would be a corpse already if not for Saber's intervention; even on a second play through with a highly upgraded Iori, he still won't be able to dodge, block, parry, or otherwise mitigate their area HpToOne attack. [[spoiler:This happens again during the final battle with her in Chapter 5 where she shrugs off everything Iori and Saber throw at her. [[BigDamnHeroes It takes Rogue Saber arriving]] to settle the score to finally even the odds (Flames of Resentment), or for her massive Noble Phantasm to be weakened by multiple other Servants to be in a state where she can be fought head on (Ray of Light).]]
* HydePlaysJekyll: [[spoiler:Up until she's relieved of her armor, she spends most of the time pretending to be Raikou while working alongside Yui Shousetsu, but she's long grown sick of the charade by the time she's finally outed.]]
* IAmNotLeftHanded:
** For much of the game, Rider appears as a tall, imposing figure that easily demonstrates the gap between mortals and Servants with how much of a CurbStompBattle they inflict on Iori early on. [[spoiler:However, she is actually significantly ''[[WillfullyWeak weaker]]'' pretending to be the composed "Minamoto-no-Raikou" to fulfill her plans. Once she sheds the guise of armor after it's destroyed by Saber and allowed to fully reveal herself as Ushi Gozen, she shows her true power thanks to her Divinity and becomes a vastly more difficult opponent to fight than before, requiring multiple parties to work alongside each other in a massive EnemyMine to stall her advance and bring down her defenses.]]
** Furthermore, their appearance in ''Fate/Grand Order'' reveals they have a skill called Lone Warrior at A rank. ''FGO'' discribes it as being able to hide their identity, parameters and even class at the cost of shackling their own destructive impulses. While the skill's discription explicitly states they aren't using it in ''Grand Order'', they appear as an Avenger in that game, strongly implying they're using it to hide behind a false class in ''Samurai Remnant''.
* TheImmune: [[spoiler:Despite appearing brainwashed like every other servant by Tsuchimikado's spell, it's later revealed that due to Ushi Gozen's divinity, she's functionally invulnerable to being controlled by a spell of that level and was playing along being brainwashed both for Shousetsu's and her own plans.]]
* InsaneTrollLogic: [[spoiler:Unfortunately for her Master, she has this as the explicit side-effect of one of her hidden Skills. Despite being a Rider, she's got an EX-ranked version of a Berserker's signature Mad Enhancement skill. While this means that she's immensely powerful, she's only [[MaskOfSanity superficially rational]] and interprets every command she's given, no matter how benign, as a request for more death and destruction. She acts in a manner so completely sincere that she can NoSell Command Spells telling her to do the exact opposite of what she's doing, because in her own twisted way, she is working towards her Master's goal.]]
* ItIsBeyondSaving: [[spoiler:Ushi Gozen was completely honest when she said she answered Yui's call by sympathizing with her wish to put right this CrapsaccharineWorld. The problem is that Ushi Gozen, with her BlueAndOrangeMorality filtered through her complex self-loathing and inhuman mindset, believes that the only way to "put the world right" is to just kill ''everyone'' in it in order to wipe out evil and injustice for good, not sharing her Master's belief there are things worth fighting to preserve and save in the corruption.]]
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Rider wields [[{{BFS}} an odachi]] that glows an ominous purple while walking unflinchingly toward their opponents. [[spoiler:It's actually one of her Noble Phantasms: Dōjigiri-Yasutsuna, the legendary blade that she channels her [[ShockAndAwe Mana Burst: Lightning]] through and she used to slay many supernatural threats. Ushi Gozen intentionally limits herself to using only this sword in order to better sell her guise as Minamoto-no-Raikou, and as shown in her route in the Keian Command Championship DLC where she asks for permission to use her second Noble Phantasm against Ibuki-Douji to Yui's confusion, she hid the fact she even has other offensive Noble Phantasms.]]
* LaughingMad:
** [[spoiler:Rider's true, unhinged nature is revealed by her laughing maniacally after the armor comes off. The sadistic, mirthless laughter emphasizes how she sees everyone else in the war as beneath her as she prepares to raze Edo and the entire world to the ground.]]
** Rider can also laugh uncontrollably in their playable appearance upon using their Noble Phantasm and preparing to lay waste to their enemies in one of their alternate lines. In the Keian Command Championship DLC, some of the routes will have Rider burst into maniac laughter as they get worked up into the fight [[spoiler:thanks to Ibuki-Douji's influence.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: While they seem loyal to Shousetsu's cause at first, [[spoiler:in reality, Ushi Gozen is playing on ExactWords the entire time to egg her Master into allowing her access to the capital's leylines, which will empower her Noble Phantasm to [[FinalSolution kill everyone]] within Edo and potentially beyond because she's under the belief that only by cleansing the world ([[NoPlaceForMeThere which includes herself]]) will it finally be given peace free from all evil.]]
* MalevolentMaskedMan: Rider's armor is masculine in shape and their face is completely concealed behind a mask. They walk toward Iori with the intent to kill them and effortlesly repel his attacks until he can summon Saber to defend himself.
* MaskOfSanity: Rider maintains [[TheStoic a rather cool disposition]], reflecting their Master's [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure levelheaded rationale]], despite voicing the occasional request to cut out the middle man and just eliminate the problem rather than play to HonorBeforeReason. [[spoiler:However, once her armor is destroyed and her identity as Ushi Gozen is revealed, her stoicism goes and dies, leaving a egomaniacal demigod who wants nothing more than to burn down the whole of Edo, snickering all the while as she reveals her true sadistic nature. Tellingly, she possesses an ''EX-ranked'' "Mad Enhancement" skill just like her Berserker counterpart but chooses to keep it hidden until her true nature is exposed.]]
* MisanthropeSupreme: [[spoiler:After the mask comes off and her true identity is revealed, Ushi Gozen reveals a deep, unending loathing for mankind, believing it and the world they live in to be BeyondRedemption. Her ultimate goal is to seize the Waxing Moon for the sake of wiping the slate clean. In her eyes, this is the only way to create a truly virtuous and equal world.]]
* NamedWeapons: Rider's ''nodachi'' is called Yasutsuna, and is one of her Noble Phantasms--though it is not their main one.
* ObliviouslyEvil: [[spoiler:An extreme and incredibly dangerous example. What seems to be CardCarryingVillain behaviour after the reveal of her true identity turns out to be armour-plated InsaneTrollLogic that lets her NoSell her Master's Command Spells by making her believe that she's diligently and virtuously following Yui's orders while doing the exact opposite.]]
* OmnicidalManiac: [[spoiler:After her reveal, she instantly announces her desire to right the world by destroying ''everything'' in it, including herself. Yui [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint understandably]] is not pleased with this.]]
* PintSizedPowerhouse: [[spoiler:When her identity is revealed and she sheds her armor, Ushi Gozen is revealed to be [[SamusIsAGirl a very petite teenager]] who's smaller than even her Master (one of the shortest members of the cast). She also reveals herself to be a SemiDivine PersonOfMassDestruction who's been [[IAmNotLeftHanded holding back a vast amount of her power]]. This is due to her Divine Manifestation skill that originates from her nature as [[SemiDivine a daughter of Indra]], which allows her by default to have [[SuperStrength Monstrous Strength]] and [[{{Shapeshifting}} the ability to shapeshift]] at will, thus justifying the massive discrepancy between the power levels of her two appearances once she reveals herself.]]
* PromotedToPlayable: Rider is notably one of the two of the core seven Servants alongside Caster who is not playable in the base game in any capacity. This changes post the first DLC where they gain a playable moveset [[spoiler:albeit only in her armored appearance]], including their Noble Phantasm, after completing their route in the Keian Command Championship.
* RecurringElement: Following the pattern set by Lancer in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', Rider is a Servant who attacks the main character on the first night of the Grail War and almost kills him before he summons his Saber.
* SamusIsAGirl: Rider is an intimidatingly hulking figure in their armor, making it hard to discern their gender, coupled with the GenderConcealingVoice filter applied to them whenever they speak. [[spoiler:Naturally, it's revealed that she is the very female Ushi Gozen as a result. Though, the more surprising detail is that she is ''not'' in her typical StatuesqueStunner appearance as Minamoto-no-Raikou, but is instead a petite, tiny, pale sickly-looking teenage girl.]]
* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:Despite ''not'' being a Berserker in this form, a younger Raikou becoming Ushi Gozen in earnest actually is ''worse'' on her mental well-being, such that it's almost easy to mistake her ''as'' a Berserker once she sheds her armor, which is justified given [[YouAreWhatYouHate how much self-loathing she has any time she's forced to embrace her Oni heritage]].]]
* SecretIdentityVocalShift: Their armor distorts their voice as well, adding difficulty to identify them based on their voice or gender. [[spoiler: Until it broke off and a female laughter came, that is.]]
* SemiDivine: While much about them is mysterious, it's known that they have particularly high Divinity for a Servant, an attribute that means they are related to deities and protects them from most forms of mortal magecraft. [[spoiler:Turns out that they're a SemiDivine oni who traces her ancestry back to Indra, king/supreme entity/senior figure (his precise status has varied over the millennia) of the Hindu pantheon.]]
* ShockAndAwe: Their attacks are often accompanied by purple lightning. [[spoiler:Appropriate, considering that she is the daughter of Indra, the Hindu god of the sky, lightning, weather and war.]]
* SmugSuper: Compared to their more [[CombatPragmatist pragmatic stance]] before the reveal of their identity, [[spoiler:Ushi Gozen soaks up her SemiDivine status once she's exposed and genuinely sees everyone as beneath her, even Yoshinaka who's arguably her ArchEnemy in this ritual, and is more amused that they are even trying to fight a godlike being such as her than actively annoyed until she's ''actually'' [[ThisCannotBe threatened]] by them.]]
* TheSociopath: [[spoiler:Lack of proper understanding of human morals? Check. Willing to manipulate others in order to reach her goals? Check. Sees herself as above most other beings? Check. Lack of regard towards others despite her belief of doing things out of her goodwill? Check. Ultimately wants death and destruction of everything? Check, check, check!]]
* SpiderLimbs: [[spoiler:When Iori and Saber fight her for the final time in Chapter 5 after disabling the leylines powering her Noble Phantasm, she reconfigures her armor to act as eight large back-mounted mechanical spider legs for her to maneuver around with.]]
* SplitPersonalityTakeover: [[spoiler: Ushi Gozen is Raikou's split personality representing her loathed divine/oni heritage. She appears whenever Raikou builds up too much divine energy.]]
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: Consciously averted. Koei Tecmo said that they specifically avoided naming Rider's voice actor in the advertising because doing so would reveal who they are. Though even then, [[spoiler:eagle-eyed ''FGO'' players noticed that Rider was mounted on Minamoto-no-Raikou's horse Kyogoku in a preview video less than a week before release. Then, when Yui and Rider's trailer dropped, it ended with Rider's mask and voice changer being destroyed, before a laughing voice many players would be familiar with could be heard.]]
* TronLines: They have single electric blue stripes running up either leg onto the cuirass. The leotard under the armor, which is basically plain black with more blue elements, is a more obvious example of the trope.
* UnskilledButStrong: Downplayed. Rider is genuinely skilled with a sword, but comes across as this compared to their [[spoiler:older]] counterpart who is a MultiMeleeMaster and doesn't rely so much on their armor or [[spoiler:godly]] powers.
* WalkingSpoiler: While they seem to be just another servant in the Waxing Moon Ritual that serves at best a BossTease that would have to be eventually overcome, TheReveal of Rider's identity and the true scope of what they intend shapes them plainly as perhaps ''the'' biggest threat in the war.
* TheWorfEffect: Their first fight with Iori serves as a harsh reminder that under most normal circumstances, a human facing off with a Servant is going to end in a CurbStompBattle in favor of the latter. Iori up to this point could handle over a dozen hooded assassins at once without much trouble and the [[HowWeGotHere lead-up to their confrontation]] shows Iori spends his average day thrashing local gangs on his lonesome for coin, but Rider takes at best ScratchDamage from Iori's attacks and completely overpowers him with only a desperate magical explosion giving them pause. Only Shousetsu's honor demanding they stop Rider in order to give their name and kill Iori personally gives Iori time to inadvertently summon Saber.
* AWolfInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:Ushi Gozen hides her true identity away from her master by invoking ExactWords and naming herself "Minamoto-no-Raikou" when summoned, which is [[MetaphoricallyTrue technically true]] as Minamoto-no-Raikou is her older self and split personality after HumanityEnsues, allowing her to pretend to be a much more virtuous honorable Servant in Shousetsu's service until she can access the capital's leylines to enact her annihilation of the country with her Noble Phantasm.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Caster]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AnriKatsu
[[quoteright:394:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/characters_image_05_02.png]]
[[caption-width-right:394:The Recorder]]
-> ''"...Do as you wish. I shall do the same."''

The mysterious Servant masterminding the Waxing Moon Ritual and Caster class Servant of Tsuchimikado Yasuhiro.
----
* AgentScully: Deconstructed. The game shows that the kind of ArbitrarySkepticism Caster embodies does not actually come from a place of academic rigor or simple materialism, but [[ControlFreak a deep sense of entitlement over what is real or not]]. He does not understand the supernatural, and has difficulty accounting for it, so to him, [[IRejectYourReality it doesn't exist]]. It's not so much he can't understand what he's seeing, it's that he does--and he regards it as a personal insult, denying it (and attempting to destroy it) to protect his self-image.
* AmbiguousGender: While manifesting as a man when incarnated as a Caster-class Servant, the dossier unlocked by completing the "Ray of Light" route notes that it's unknown whether [[spoiler:the historical Hieda-no-Are was a man or a woman, or if they even existed in the first place]], which it speculates is possibly the source of Caster's obsession with documenting everything.
* AndThenWhat: [[spoiler:This is why he opposes Iori and Saber in the "Ray of Light" story path. If the Waxing Moon is destroyed and the Grail War ends, he will no longer be able to record Japan's history and will thus lose his purpose for existence.]]
* BossSubtitles: He's introduced as Caster, the Recorder. After his True Name reveal, it changes to [[spoiler:Hieda-no-Are, the Daybreak's Recorder.]]
* ControlFreak: The core of his personality. [[spoiler:As Japan's first historian, he believes he's entitled to ''decide'' its history, using his RealityWarper abilities to determine what is myth and what is fact for all that has happened and will happen in the future. Other people going off-script is a massive BerserkButton for him - especially the Saber-class servant who was once called Yamato Takeru, who he views as his greatest creation rather than their own person.]]
* CreateYourOwnHero: A rather interesting case [[spoiler:as Caster is singlehandedly responsible for Yamato Takeru's legend persisting into the present day by recording it, alongside all other early Japanese myths, into the ''Kojiki'' and them becoming the UrExample of the WarriorPrince of their culture, which would in turn make them an incredibly powerful Servant come the Waxing Moon Ritual due to the way that mystery [[OlderIsBetter tends to work]]. Indeed, he views Yamato as a fictional character he created rather than a historical figure, and is enraged when they try to become more than how they were written by him. This, of course, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard bites him greatly when they end up being summoned as an enemy Servant opposing him]].]]
* DramaPreservingHandicap: His RealityWarper abilities are as powerful and versatile as one might expect, but they're not a StoryBreakerPower because they still play by the same rules as any other Caster's magecraft (even when he's actively trying to change those rules). They need a hefty mana supply to do anything truly big and impressive, other Servants' resistance to hostile magecraft from skills like Magic Resistance and Divinity will let them NoSell or mitigate anything he does to them if he can't muster up enough juice to overcome it, and his own defensive measures and SummonMagic can be overcome by simple brute force.
* EntitledBastard: He's let his legendary/historical significance go all the way to his head, turning him into a narcissistic ControlFreak who literally believes he deserves to write the rules of the world.
* FinalBoss: [[spoiler:He serves as the final boss of "A Ray of Light" route.]]
* FlatEarthAtheist: Weaponized as a manifestation of his RealityWarper powers. Despite being a Servant and having magical powers, he insists that all forms of the supernatural are not real and are just tricks or illusions, which lets him shut them down as a form of AntiMagic. His wish is to completely erase the supernatural so that the world will have no more "lies"... or, to put it another way, so that he'll have complete control over it with no threats to his position.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:He notes as he and Yasomagatsuhi die to Amenomurakumo-no-Tsurugi in the "Ray of Light" route the very moment he helped record Yamato Takeru's legend during his writing of the Kojiki, his defeat was all but assured from the very beginning. Even when he invokes his Reality Marble to try to erase Takeru, it fails because the Kojiki (and thus the writings detailing Takeru within) are part of Hieda's own history; he can't rewrite his own myth.]]
* InsistentTerminology: Caster prefers to be called as Recorder instead of his proper class name. [[spoiler:He also prefers his writings ''not'' be called literature, but instead "records" for the same reason.]]
* IRejectYourReality: Invoked. He tends to take obviously ridiculous FlatEarthAtheist stances in order to cudgel the world into behaving how he thinks it should with his RealityWarper powers, with a degree of success depending on how challenging/strongly opposed the change he wants to make is.
* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler:Hieda-no-Are and his ''Kojiki'' are the Japanese equivalent of the Greek Hesiod and ''Theogony''. The work is the only source for much of early Japanese culture and history, and combines disparate regional traditions into a single coherent Japanese mythology. Over the passing centuries it has had an indelible effect on Japanese culture and language. Despite the document's own importance, however, Are is a complete enigma [[TheSpook whose very existence is debatable]]]].
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In his and Tsuchimikado's ending in the Keian Command Championship, Caster notes that while his master may find the outcome undesirable the narrative is likely to please the humans of the future.
* ManipulativeBastard: In the "Ray of Light" story path, [[spoiler:he uses a mix of TheReasonYouSuckSpeech and TheCorruptor to form a contract with Zheng Chenggong, who lost his Servant Archer earlier in the war, in the hopes of continuing the Waxing Moon Ritual and fulfill his dream of archiving Japan's history while demanding to know whether Zheng will forfeit his own dream when he has another opportunity to lay claim to the Ritual's prize]]. It works and [[spoiler:Zheng becomes his new Master in Chapter V]].
* MarathonBoss: The [[spoiler:final battle]] with him in the "Ray of Light" route has several phases, and while they each have a checkpoint, they form a wide gulf between the last save point the player can use and its very last segment. Switching Servants and adjusting the difficulty would necessitate starting all over again.
* MentalWorld: He can summon a Reality Marble called Puppet Playground in which his RealityWarper abilities become much more powerful, letting him literally rewrite the laws of physics and magecraft to weaken his enemies and strengthen himself.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: The [[spoiler:"Ray of Light"]] story path had the [[spoiler:Crimson Codex]] poised to absorb the Waxing Moon vessel so it could be destroyed safely at the cost of his life. Caster shoving it into [[spoiler:Yasomagatsuhi]] to try to kill the heroes during that route makes such a sacrifice unnecessary.
* RealityWarper: As [[spoiler:Japan's first historian]], this is what one half of his powerset revolves around, literally writing the rules of engagement with an effectiveness that depends on his magical strength and his opponent's magical resistance. His Reality Marble, Puppet Playground, is the apex of this ability, transporting him and his enemies to a MentalWorld where he has near-omnipotence and can render weak enough foes completely helpless.
* {{Seers}}: He has imperfect-but-powerful precognition. The game implies that this was what helped the Tsuchimikado clan crib notes from future Holy Grail Wars to create the Waxing Moon Ritual in the first place. As a ControlFreak EntitledBastard, meanwhile, he sees it as his duty to correct those imperfections, using his RealityWarper powers to make sure that what he sees will play out to his greatest advantage.
* ServileSnarker: Caster doesn't exactly have the greatest respect for his Master Tsuchimikado, and often mocks his plans and strategies. It doesn't help that [[spoiler:he's often proven right about his Master's incompetence in nearly every route.]]
* SquishyWizard: A classic example. His STR, END, and AGL are all at the bottom of the barrel at Rank E, but his LUK is at Rank A, his MP is at Rank A+, and his NP is at Rank ''EX'' [[spoiler:thanks to his Reality Marble and ability to summon a Divine Spirit.]]
* StoneWall: Casters are, strategically speaking, the Holy Grail War's StoneWall class, focusing on turning their Master's Workshop (headquarters) into an impenetrable fortress through setting up Bounded Field traps and fortifications, creating guards with SummonMagic, and so on. Once that's done, they will pursue VictoryByEndurance by gradually but inexorably expanding their territory, and/or exploit the fact that MyDefenseNeedNotProtectMeForever by setting up massively powerful magical rituals that can [[InstantWinCondition end the war in a single stroke]], forcing other Masters and Servants to either accept their doom or run into the meatgrinder the Caster has set up to defend themselves. This one is an extremely orthodox Caster who follows this playbook to the letter, with the rule differences of the Waxing Moon Ritual (like leyline control and recruitable Rogue Servants) only adding strength and depth to his strategy.
* SummonMagic: As a Caster, he makes extensive use of this to summon various monsters (in his case, yokai from across Japanese folklore) to wear down the opposition and defend his territory. One of his ultimate panic-button Noble Phantasms is also based around this, summoning the massive, dragon-like primordial demon-god Yasomagatsuhi to annihilate anyone who really needs to be annihilated.
* TeleportSpam: During the first part of the FinalBattle on "Ray of Light", Caster will use his precognition to anticipate the party's attacks and rapidly teleport away from them before they can connect, much to Saber's frustration. [[spoiler:Shousetsu tells Iori and Saber to focus their attacks on Zheng instead so as to stun and weaken Caster, opening him up to a beatdown.]]
* TooManyMouths: He has small mouths on the palms of his hand that have writhing black serpentine tongues.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: In the "Entreat the Darkness" ending, Caster refuses to take Chiemon seriously and dismisses him as a non-threat. [[spoiler:While Caster casually lops off Chiemon's arm, he fails to stop Chiemon from grabbing him and igniting both of them with Lancer's flames, killing them both.]]
* VilerNewVillain: Casters in major ''Fate'' entries that involve Holy Grail Wars have a tendency to be amoral, selfish, or murderously unstable. This Caster stands out as being the most aggressively unpleasant one so far, quick to jeer, slow to help, and unwilling to bond. The shameless, loveless way he carries himself can make him come across as less likable or sympathetic than his counterparts [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight who betrayed]] [[Anime/FatePrototype their Masters]] (which he never technically does) and [[Literature/FateZero killed children.]] Though he never reaches the heights of perversity and sadism as some of his predecessors, he is perfectly comfortable with cruelty and ruthlessness in service of attaining his simple and completely egocentric wish.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:He's nowhere to be found in the "Flames of Resentment" ending.]]
* WrittenByTheWinners: As a megalomaniac ControlFreak [[spoiler:historian]], he considers it his life's work to invoke and enforce this trope using his precognition and RealityWarper powers. He specifically wants to ''be'' the winner who writes stuff.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Assassin]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/HideoIshikawa
[[quoteright:431:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fsrassassin.png]]
[[caption-width-right:431:The Gray-Clad Phantom]]
-> ''"You truly are fascinating. Testing you is well worth the effort!"''

The Assassin Servant of Dorothea Coyett. A phantom clad in white with snakes coiling all around him, he is able to manipulate said reptiles to do his bidding.
----
* AnimalMotifs: Snakes; even his gem decorations are made to look like snake eyes.
* BossSubtitles: He's introduced as "Assassin, the Gray-Clad Phantom". [[spoiler:During his boss fight at Yokosuka in the Snake route, he's introduced as "Kouga Saburou, the Ibuki Incarnate.]]
* BreathWeapon: One of his attacks has him transform his hand into a snake and fire a stream of venom from its mouth. [[spoiler:The giant snake-god summoned as part of his Noble Phantasm can also spit a stream of extremely potent venom.]]
* CallBack: With his hood and elongated limbs, this Assassin shares a number of visual similarities to the Hassan of the Cursed Arm, his Class counterpart in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''. [[spoiler:And like Zabaniya, his Noble Phantasm shares its name ("Ibuki Daimyoujin Engi") with the ones wielded by his successors.]]
* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:He was mentioned in the Shimousa chapter of ''Fate/Grand Order'' as the ancestor of Shimousa's Assassin, Chiyome, due to bearing the curse of Orochi that was later passed on to her and caused her immense grief.]]
* CreepilyLongArms: His arms go down to his knees by default, and they can even stretch further. Or just turn into snakes.
* CursedWithAwesome: [[spoiler:Like Chiyome before (after?) him,]] his curse gives him relatively nebulous negative consequences, and a whole bunch of cool snake-themed superpowers. It's later explained that this was only part of the curse, as he was also supposed to be a permanent, indentured denizen of Ibuki's realm, and would have been if [[spoiler:Ibuki-Douji]] hadn't helped him escape.
* DeityOfHumanOrigin: His Digressions reveal that he is worshiped as a god [[spoiler:at Suwa Shrine, a piece of which was used as a catalyst to summon him as a Servant]].
* DemonOfHumanOrigin: According to the legend from which he originates, [[spoiler:Saburo was the member of the Kouga ninja clan and once travelled to the underworld beneath Mt. Ibuki, where he was cursed by the mountain's god -- an aspect of the Yamata no Orochi -- and was mutated into a humanoid snake-demon]].
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: Some of Assassin's snakes have eyes running down their sides in addition to the eyes on their head, emphasizing their supernatural origins.
* AGodAmI: One of his lines upon using his [[SuperMode Noble Phantasm]] has him boast about showing his opponents the power of a god. [[spoiler:Quite literally, since he's channeling the power of the Great God Ibuki.]]
* InsistentAppellation: Assassin refers to his Master as Princess, Dorothea corrects him that though she may be a noble she is not of royal blood. She even asks to be called milady instead with Assassin only for him to call her Princess Milady due to their cultural differences.
* KavorkaMan: In his Digression, Dorothea expresses surprise that he knows how to treat a lady. Assassin replies that -- despite his monstrous appearance -- he had a wife when he was alive... several of them.
* MechanicallyUnusualFighter: Unlike the other playable Servants with Noble Phantasms, Assassin's is not an [=AoE=] attack that hits for massive damage, but rather a SuperMode. He channels his snakes [[spoiler:and his curse by the Yamata-no-Orochi]] in a way that they become an [[MiniMecha organic pseudo-mech suit]] he can pilot, turning him into a massive LightningBruiser capable of quickly steamrolling the opposition as long as the Noble Phantasm gauge lasts.
* MonstrousHumanoid: Owing the the curse he was afflicted with, Assassin was mutated into a humanoid creature with pale skin, blue makings on his face, red HellishPupils, elongated arms he can stretch or turn into snakes, and claws.
* MutualDisadvantage: Against Saber due to how their legends interact. [[spoiler:Takeru's sword is the very one that was inside of Orochi, from whom Kouga obtained his curse, so this makes him extra vulnerable to Saber's attacks. At the same time, Takeru died in life to the machinations of a snake god, so Kouga drawing upon the power from the snake god Orochi makes him one of the worst foes in the Waxing Moon Ritual Takeru could face in straight fight. As a result, Saber chooses to lie in wait in spirit form and let Iori and Dorothea weaken Assassin and break through his defenses before Takeru can appear and wipe him out with one good blast of their Noble Phantasm.]]
* NighInvulnerability: It's noted that in his SuperMode he's covered in snake-god scales, which Saber notes from personal experience can only be damaged by weapons or attacks imbued with divine energy.
* NotBrainwashed: [[spoiler:Played with. He's perfectly capable of resisting Tsuchimikado's control spell... but he gives in anyway to test Dorothea's mettle.]]
* {{Orochi}}: In-life, Assassin was cursed by the god Ibuki, an aspect of the Yamata-no-Orochi, turning him into a humanoid snake and giving him the power to summon snake-demons. His most powerful summon is a manifestation of the Yamata-no-Orochi, though it less resembles a single snake with eight heads than multiple snakes wrapped around each other, with one main head, six smaller heads surrounding it, and the eighth head serving as its tail.
* PoisonousPerson: Assassin's snake summons have venom noted to be extremely potent, and Iori only survives being bitten by one [[spoiler:though the intervention of Ototachibana-hime]]. Assassin himself can use poison in various manners such as releasing it it toxic streams and gases, as well as create a [[NinjaLog body double of himself]] out of poison.
* {{Polyamory}}: In one of his Digressions, he informs Dorothea that he had multiple wives in-life when she expresses surprise at him knowing how to treat a lady.
* QuantityVsQuality: Assassin's snake summons aren't the strongest in the franchise as even a regular mage like Iori can kill one, but he compensates by making a lot of them.
* RubberMan: He can stretch his arms into prehensile serpentine appendages, letting him strike at opponents from far away.
* SemiDivine: He was cursed by the great god Ibuki, transforming him into a human/snake god hybrid, and was deified at Suwa Shrine--factors that grant him a measure of Divinity.
* SnakesAreSinister: He is an Assassin who is able to use snakes to his will.
* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler:Assassin's decision to give in to Tsuchimikado's control spell and his rampage after the final fight with Samson is the nail that determines whether the story follows the Ray of Light or Flames of Resentment routes. Iori choosing to help Dorothea against Assassin leads to the former, while choosing to go after Tsuchimikado and leave Dorothea to handle herself leads to the latter.]]
* SquareRaceRoundClass: While he does have the ninja aesthetic and skillset, Assassin often fights more like a Caster or a Rider with his gratuitous use of SummonMagic to have his snake familiars fight for him. He very rarely has to engage in direct combat nor does he rely on his Presence Concealment to sneak-attack his foes.
* SummonMagic: Assassin can summon enormous numbers of snake familiars to do his bidding. Most frequently, they take the form of abnormally large venomous snakes with multiple eyes that attack Iori and Saber in waves. They can also twist around each other into huge, multi-headed hydra-like creatures. Even while not going all-out, Assassin can create enough snakes to occupy three Master-Servant teams working together until Rider enters the fray and takes control of his largest and most powerful familiar, an embodiment of the Yamata-no-Orochi.
* TechnicolorNinjas: Assassin is a shinobi and legendary founder of the Koga clan, or at least he was in-life, but dresses in all-white and has a ''very'' conspicuous appearance. As such, he typically disguises himself as a monk in situations where he must avoid drawing attention to himself.
* ToServeMan: [[spoiler:Right before the route split at the end of Chapter IV, after allowing Tsuchimikado's control spell to affect him, Assassin grabs a woman and is about to feed her to the giant snake summoned by his Noble Phantasm. Dorothea distracts him and goads him into trying to eat her instead.]]
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: He can turn his arms into snakes, which he uses to [[spoiler:inflict a would-be fatal wound on Iori if not for the actions of Ototachibana-hime]].
* WeakButSkilled: In contrast to [[spoiler:Chiyome]] and [[spoiler:Ibuki-Douji]]'s Noble Phantasms that summon [[spoiler:Orochi]] to battle, Assassin incarnates the beast through his snakes to create a suit of living armor he can pilot. While not as large or as capable of wide-scale destruction as those of his counterparts, his Noble Phantasm greatly enhances his existing parameters, increases the amounts of familiars he can summon, and shields himself at the same time rather than fight separately while otherwise not improving his inherent defense as it was with the serpent he used in the harbor.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: The profile explaining Assassin's Noble Phantasm takes note that the reason his SuperMode has a time limit is entirely a conscious choice, as if he spends too long in it he becomes DrunkOnTheDarkSide as [[spoiler:the power of the Great God Ibuki]] overwhelms his mind.
* YouRemindMeOfX: In Assassin's route of the Keian Command Championship DLC, Musashi will make direct mention after fighting Shousetsu and Rider that Assassin's fighting style reminds her of [[spoiler:"a shrine maiden who bore a giant serpent's curse."]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Berserker]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AyaneSakura
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/notsummeriori.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Flower at the Apex of Heaven]]
-> ''"All right, then! You've gained your teacher's support!"''

Despite sharing the name of his late foster father, [[HistoricalGenderFlip this is clearly not the Musashi that Iori knew]]. For more information on her character, go [[Characters/FateGrandOrderSabersGToM here.]]
----
* AllegedLookalikes: Despite [[DistaffCounterpart the obvious differences]] between herself and her male counterpart, Iori is able to ''instantly'' recognize her as Miyamoto Musashi in spite of flashbacks showing the male Musashi as a very distinctively different man visually. The apparent resemblance is uncanny enough for Iori to probe ''how'' his master is alive in the first place before even asking how his adoptive father apparently became a young woman.
* AlternateSelf: She is a female version of Miyamoto Musashi with a similar, yet divergent history.
* AntiMentor: Though Musashi aids Iori's quest and helps him get stronger, she doesn't really try to address his deep-seated personal problems that make him feel out of place in his relatively peaceful era. She recognizes them and the persistent discomfort it causes but just assumes he'll either get over it or find some way to cope. And he does [[spoiler:in most routes.]]
* BossSubtitles: She's introduced as "Miyamoto Musashi, the Flower at the Apex of Heaven". [[spoiler:During the boss fight against her, she's instead introduced with her full name Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara-no-Harunobu.]]
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Her Madness Enhancement is rank EX: she isn't ''insane'', just much more capricious. Her rational decisions require a Luck check, which is a fairly high stat for her at B. This doesn't limit her competency in the slightest, seemingly making her a bit sillier but not actually changing her actions.
* ButNowIMustGo: Near the end of the game she realizes that she's about to rayshift back to the ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' timeline and doesn't have much time left. Notably, when she DisappearsIntoLight, she doesn't go so with the typical golden light of a dying Servant but rather ''purple'' light.
* CombatPragmatist: Her EstablishingCharacterMoment has her ambushing Iori who for all she knew was a normal human combatant and attempting to kill him with a barrage of cheap hits. This continues as the story goes on with Musashi showing willingness to engage in espionage, hit-and-run tactics, and temporary alliances to win the day.
* CompositeCharacter: Of her Saber and Berserker versions from ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder''. She's the same character as her Saber version, but taking the class and some minor traits from her Berserker summer alt, something the developers confirmed to have been intentional on their part.
* CrutchCharacter: As a playable Servant who isn't Saber, she stands out for starting with four Affinity Techniques, one of which is an extremely late-game skill for most other Servants that greatly fills up her Noble Phantasm gauge. She's fast strong, and all her combos cover a lot of ground, letting her dip in and out of the action easily and safely. As a trade-off, she can't be upgraded, and Iori gains a massive catalogue of combat and recovery options that dwarfs hers in amount (if not raw strength) as the game proceeds.
* DidntSeeThatComing: [[spoiler:Musashi certainly did not see and could not have prepared for Iori using a combination of the dual-sword Niten Ichiryu style ''with'' Kojiro's [[BladeSpam Tsubame Gaeshi]], trapping her in a simultaneous six-strike she had absolutely no ability to dodge, spelling her defeat in their DuelToTheDeath.]]
* DoppelgangerGetsSameSentiment: A mutual example with Iori, even if she isn't a "doppelganger" in the literal sense (and [[AmbiguousSituation Iori might not be either]], given she answers his query as to whether he is similarly gender-flipped in her reality [[NonAnswer with a smirk]]).
* TheDrifter: Musashi is not a traditionally summoned Servant, as she instead drifts between worlds uncontrollably and against her will. This time, she happened to be swept up in the Waxing Moon Ritual and summoned into the game's setting, upon which she saves Dayu from an irate samurai and realizes that she's been contracted to her.
* DualWielding: She's the master of the Niten Ichiryu school of swordsmanship and an alternate counterpart of the man who literally wrote the book on wielding two swords in Japan. Unlike Iori, who will swap to a one-sword style in some of his stances, Musashi will almost always be wielding two swords.
* EnlightenmentSuperpowers: Her whole deal. It's why she's called the 'Flower at the Apex of Heaven', why she's important enough to be a powerful Servant despite having virtually zero OlderIsBetter advantages, and why the Servant system itself has an imperfect hold on her. Long story short, one of the central planks of the real-life Miyamoto Musashi's philosophy (as expounded on in his famous Book of Five Rings) was applying Buddhist principles to swordsmanship, in the belief that martial perfection could help you attain spiritual perfection and eventually the blissful nonexistence of nirvana. Our Musashi is well on the road to enlightenment, giving her swordplay otherworldly power and making it difficult for reality to determine whether she exists or not (which is why she keeps hopping between timelines as a NonLinearCharacter).
* FriendlyEnemy: As a Servant in the Waxing Moon Ritual, Musashi is supposed to fight Iori and Saber. But she instead takes Iori under her wing to teach him Niten Ichiryu and continuously helps him out throughout the story. When they finally come to blows, it's not about the Waxing Moon Ritual but about their mutual respect for each other as swordsmen and Musashi wanting to see the fruits of Iori's dedication to the sword.
* GoOutWithASmile: Musashi's last request before she [[DimensionalTraveler rayshifts again]] is one final duel with her student, the game's version of Miyamoto Iori. Their duel ends with Iori defeating her [[spoiler:with a two-sword version of Kojiro's Tsubame Gaeshi]]. Although she gripes about how Iori won, she congratulates him on her victory with a smile while [[SurpassedTheTeacher declaring him unparalleled beneath the heavens.]]
* GracefulLoser: Iori defeats her as part of her request for a final duel to the death with her before her next rayshift. While she's miffed at her "two-timing apprentice" for [[spoiler:using her rival Kojiro's Tsubame Gaeshi against her]], she's happy that Iori surpassed her and declares him unparalleled under the heavens with a smile.
* GratuitousEnglish: In reference to her FGO Berserker counterpart's [[{{Fauxreigner}} shoddy American disguise]], she makes heavy use of English loanwords, much to the confusion of the rest of the cast. Since this is the time of ''sakoku'' isolationism, Japanese people are barely encountering European people or languages at all, much less the English. Iori assumes she's speaking Dutch, a more reasonable foreign language for the Edo period.
* GrinOfAudacity: Per usual given her love for a fight that, when pushed to her limits, Musashi's first response is always to flash a toothy grin to show her thrill regardless of the situation. [[spoiler:Her showing a lot of these during her final fight with Iori shows how far he's come in [[SurpassedTheTeacher surpassing his mentor]].]]
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Despite the Berserker container, this is the same "living singularity" who drifts from world to world and previously worked with Chaldea. A few allusions are made to her continuing quest to master the sword of "zero".
* HoldTheLine: In the "Ray of Light" route, Musashi pulls this in order to distract [[spoiler:Rider's Noble Phantasm to both keep it from destroying Dorothea's ship and limiting its ability to help Ushi Gozen in her final fight with Iori and Saber outside of the occasional FinishingStomp.]]
* HonorBeforeReason: The main distinction, [[DistaffCounterpart beyond their genders]], between the two Musashis. The historical Musashi is an infamous CombatPragmatist who was never ashamed about being underhanded to win a duel because Musashi thought, in his own beliefs, that once a challenge is declared, you ''must'' be [[TheUnfettered willing to do anything to win]] if you sought victory, however in their age, the male Musashi would settle down and eventually die a quiet death. On the opposite end, the female Musashi, even if she shares her male counterpart's cunning, is far more traditionally orientated in a fight and willing to play more to a honorable and fair fight over being practical towards victory, however she's also ''far'' more of a BloodKnight as a result which puts her on the path of continuously seeking conflict. [[spoiler:This is also why, in the end, she ends up dying to Iori in their DuelToTheDeath, because her lack of pragmatism ends up allowing Iori to fatally wound her with a two-sword version of the Tsubame Gaeshi that [[DidntSeeThatComing she couldn't have seen coming]] due to intentionally holding back her Servant strength and speed for a more fair fight with her apprentice to test him whereas Male Musashi would have given his all to prevent any such occurrence.]]
* HopeBringer: Seeing a woman so strong and free gives hope to the prostitutes of Yoshiwara that they too may one day be similarly liberated.
* {{Irony}}: Musashi famously defeated Kojiro in their legends, with her "Zero" triumphing over his "Infinity" during the events of "Shimousa". [[spoiler:She's done in not by Iori's mastery of Niten Ichiryu but by him blindsiding her with a two-sword version of Tsubame Gaeshi, trapping her with six simultaneous slashes.]]
* {{Leitmotif}}: Carrying over from ''Fate/Grand Order'', Musashi is associated with the theme [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHXvsII3C5A "Twin Flashing Blade"]] in battle. For more emotional moments, she instead has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7JctbFM1sc Severing the World ~ Wandering Warrior]], a rearrangement of the "Slash the Void ~ Beyond Zero" theme from the Olympus chapter of ''Fate/Grand Order''.
* MasterOfAll: Though much of what she's capable of can be chalked up to her being a Servant, her kit nonetheless shows the tremendous gap in her and Iori's expertise with Niten Ichiryu. Without needing to formally switch among them, she can use Fire Stance strikes at full health, Void Stance slashes at low health, Wind Stance rushes from across the battlefield without needing to spend magical energy, successive Water Stance radial swings, and her Earth Stance blows are so strong that they can cause foes to stagger just by being near them. Iori would have no hope of defeating Musashi with his developing style alone. [[spoiler:So he doesn't.]]
* MasterSwordsman: Musashi's claim to fame is being the greatest swordsman in the history of Japan. Having perfected her technique and reached "Emptiness" during the events of the Shimousa in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', she's nearly unparalleled in a contest of skill between swordsmen. The only one who can claim to be her equal is her rival, Kojiro.
* MentorArchetype: Upon meeting Iori, she recognizes him by his use of Niten Ichiryu. Once she learns about what happened to his Musashi, she declares herself his new master despite ostensibly opposing him in the Waxing Moon Ritual, mentoring him and supporting him through the game.
* MentorOccupationalHazard: Musashi realizes that she's about to rayshift again and requests one final duel to the death with her new and only student, the game's version of Miyamoto Iori. He triumphs over her, leaving her fatally wounded before her rayshift to her next destination.
* OneHeroHoldTheWeaksauce: One of the vanishingly few Berserkers who doesn't suffer any serious drawbacks from the class' innate Mad Enhancement skill. Normally, it [[PowerBornOfMadness seriously affects a Servant's mental faculties in exchange for granting them otherwise-impossible power]], making them unimaginative, uncommunicative, or even actively dangerous to their Master, and the higher the rank of the skill, the more trouble it tends to cause, as [[spoiler:Yui and Ushi Gozen]] can attest. Musashi, meanwhile, has a whopping EX-ranked Mad Enhancement that makes her a bit more of a capricious, impulsive BloodKnight, but never in a way that overwhelms her basic good sense or puts anyone she cares about at serious risk. As a result, she spends the entire Waxing Moon Ritual as a steady, reliable force for good and one of Iori and Saber's most trustworthy allies.
* PowerBornOfMadness: Subverted. A Berserker is supposed to have this via their Mad Enhancement skill, but hers is a unique EX-ranked version that's more 'Power Born of Mild Recklessness' and turns her into a headstrong-but-mostly-sane (and very powerful) BoisterousBruiser.
* SavedByCanon: As this is the same Musashi as the one in ''Grand Order'', she's inevitably going to survive and be rayshifted away at some point, [[ForegoneConclusion as so to meet her eventual permanent end in Olympus]].
* SexyMentor: While Iori maintains an admirably straight face about the whole situation, the fact remains that the old man who was his master and adoptive father has now been replaced by a beautiful young woman who likes jokingly flirting with him when she's not pushing him to new heights of swordsmanship (and sometimes when she is).
* ShipperOnDeck: It's a bit ambiguous if she sees them explicitly romantically, but Musashi clearly considers Iori and Saber to be "adorable" together even from their first meeting. She also quips that Yui is a cutie and laments she's not a bit younger while teasing her interactions with Iori, and giggles to herself while sporting a huge grin upon seeing Dorothea blush after seeing Iori off.
* SquareRaceRoundClass: Despite being officially a Berserker, she's more or less a Saber in her abilities and skills, something her character sheet comments on. Most of her "insanity" is PlayedForLaughs in that her natural ditziness and headstrong nature seem to be amplified to the point she essentially marches to the beat of her own drum, much to the exasperation of her more level-headed allies.
* SwordBeam: She can shoot beams of colored energy, one for each of her stances, at her foes as a ranged attack. She can also rush past her foes with a FoeTossingCharge as the beams trail behind her.
[[/folder]]

!!Rogue Servants
[[folder:Rogue Saber]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Tooru Sakurai
[[quoteright:718:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/saberrogue.png]]
[[caption-width-right:718:The Bearer of Infinite Faith]]
-> ''"The Evil Ogre draws in the darkness. And it falls to me to drive that darkness away!"''

An armor-clad samurai on a singleminded quest to slay a certain evil oni.
----
* AscendedExtra: [[spoiler: Yoshinaka only appeared in text and was mentioned in Fate/Grand Order. The manga adaptation of Shimousa gave him a cameo before his proper appearance in the game.]]
* BigDamnHeroes: Twiceover. [[spoiler:He's one of the few Servants who withstands being turned BrainwashedAndCrazy by Tsuchimikado's spell due to his relentless hunt for the "evil ogre" diverting him out of range of its initial casting, making for much needed support when he turns up as the ritual turns into a free-for-all against practically everyone while Tsuchimikado is manipulating everyone to service his plans. Later in the "Flames of Resentment" path, when Ushi Gozen proves to still be a HopelessBossFight even with the much better development and teamwork of Iori and Saber, Yoshinaka comes in to even the odds now having finally found the evil ogre which he hunts and aids them in slaying her.]]
* BossSubtitles: He's introduced as "Rogue Saber, the Bearer of Infinite Faith". After his True Name reveal, he's introduced as [[spoiler:"Kiso Jirou Minamoto-no-Yoshinaka, the Asahi Shogun"]].
* CoolHorse: He can summon his trusty steed, causing some initial confusion over whether he's a Rider or a Saber.
* CoordinatedClothes: [[spoiler:Yoshinaka's armor bears heavy resemblance to Tomoe Gozen's armor.]]
* DetectEvil: From the moment of his summoning, he immediately is able to sense the presence of a terrible being called "The Evil Ogre" and seeks to bring it down before it's too late. [[spoiler:Given said individual is none other than the mad Ushi Gozen, he's right on the money.]]
* DisappearsIntoLight: On the "Flames of Resentment" route, [[spoiler:Yoshinaka fades away after the battle with Ushi Gozen because he spent too long away from the leyline he's bound to on top of using up too much power countering her.]]
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: The way he is portrayed here gives him far better credit than his actual record in RealLife [[spoiler:during the Genpei War]]. [[labelnote:From history]]Yoshinaka was the one who betrayed Yoritomo out of jealousy. Yoritomo was more popular and was given primary credit during the war because he was the leader of the Minamoto clan. Yoshinaka's army also robbed the peasants for food because he didn't establish proper logistics in his rush to reach Kyoto before Yoritomo. This caused the majority of his army to leave him afterwards. The plundering, along with his brazenness to intervene in the matter of royal succession angered Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa and caused Yoshinaka to be driven out of Kyoto. On his way out, Yoshinaka attacked and kidnapped the emperor, causing Yoritomo to send Yoshitsune to kill him.[[/labelnote]] Here, much like in [[spoiler:Tomoe's]] recollections in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', he was a straightforward hero betrayed by his superior/clansmen.
* TheLostLenore: [[spoiler:Yoshinaka himself was this to his wife Tomoe after Yoritomo had him disposed of [[DrivenByEnvy out of jealousy of his skills]]. It weighs on him greatly enough that in his side story, he explicitly says that he has absolutely no reason to fight in the Waxing Moon Ritual ([[SuperPersistentPredator beyond his singleminded mission to stop the "evil ogre" he's hunting]]) because there's nothing it could give him beyond another moment more with her, which he wouldn't dare act on given the faults of the ritual]].
* OutOfFocus: In the "Ray of Light" path, Rogue Saber all but disappears in Chapter IV and V [[spoiler:as Ushi Gozen is slain by Iori and Takeru without his assistance. Considering he was last seen just before the route split and was intending to confront Tsuchimikado in order to get at Ushi Gozen, it's even possible that he was KilledOffscreen while Iori and Saber were fighting Assassin]].
* ThePaladin: He mostly takes this role. Armored in white, wielding ThePowerOfTheSun and religious might, out to slay demons and defend the helpless. Though he's a bit more aggressive than most.
* {{Polyamory}}: [[spoiler:He had two wives: Lady Yamabuki and Lady Fuyuhime, and Tomoe was his concubine. Yamabuki and Fuyuhime had a rivalry with each other, but surprising both of them got along quite well with Tomoe since she could serve as half of a BattleCouple with Yoshinaka and keep him safe to come back to them all.]]
* SecretlySelfish: The big reason he's so obsessed with hunting down the "evil ogre" [[spoiler:is because his own wife Tomoe is a ''good'' ogre/oni, and thus he hates those evil monsters since they're an insult to his beloved wife's nature by their mere existence.]]
* SuperPersistentPredator: To call him simply singleminded in his pursuit of a certain "evil ogre" [[{{Understatement}} is putting it mildly]], as all Rogue Saber ever emphasizes repeatedly is his pursuit of his nemesis, fighting anyone who he deems is allied with said nemesis, and abandons all other wants or needs until he puts an end to their evil. [[spoiler:Which is justified immensely by the fact that the "evil ogre" in question is Ushi Gozen, who is powerful enough to destroy much of Edo (if not much of Japan) on her own thanks to her divinity if she got control of the leylines facilitating the ritual, so Yoshinaka doesn't really get to lie back and relax as long as Ushi Gozen is alive.]]
* UnknownRival: To Rider, [[spoiler:the whole reason for Yoshinaka being here is to put down Ushi Gozen before she is able to exact terrible destruction upon the land. Ushi Gozen, on the other hand, sees Yoshinaka as another pest in her way and has no personal feelings towards them despite being a fellow Minamoto.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Rogue Archer]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/NobunagaShimazaki
[[quoteright:542:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/arjuna_9.png]]
[[caption-width-right:542:The Man of Rectitude]]
-> ''"Show me how deeply that blade thirsts for blood!"''

Arjuna, an Archer class Servant from the Hindu epic ''Literature/{{Mahabharata}}'' who debuted in ''Fate/Grand Order''. For more information on him, see [[Characters/FateGrandOrderArchersAToC here.]]
----
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] since Arjuna in his debut game is generally a nice person, but due to his rival Karna being present in ''Grand Order'', many of Arjuna's worst traits are brought out. Here, with Karna not present, Arjuna's nobler and kinder aspects are shown off more, and he is more cordial and friendly than he is often in ''Grand Order''.
* BossSubtitles: Before he's formally introduced as Rogue Archer, he's introduced as "Silent Sniper". After that, he's introduced as "Rogue Archer, the Man of Rectitude".
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: Arjuna's attacks focus around several attacks at once, that while not as powerful on their own, hit several times quickly, letting him quickly lock down his target.
* OnlyFriend: As the only Indian Servant participating in the ritual, the only person Arjuna befriends is Iori in their Digressions together. Arjuna cites this as a reason to bequeath one of his techniques to Iori and fighting at Iori's side when called upon after Arjuna's Digression.
* PlayingWithFire: Arjuna's bow is a gift from Agni, the Hindu god of war, allowing Arjuna to manipulate fire, such as shooting waves of fiery energy from his bow in place of arrows when needed. He can teach one of these attacks to Iori as "Agni's Crashing Wave" following Arjuna's digression.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Rogue Lancer]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/NobutoshiCanna
[[quoteright:421:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fsrlancer.png]]
[[caption-width-right:421:The Vigorous Warrior]]
-> ''"Who am I? Good question. I guess I'm the watchdog of this place."''

Cu Chulainn, a Lancer class Servant from Irish Mythology that debuted in the original ''Fate/stay night'' visual novel. For more information on him, see [[Characters/FateStayNightServants here.]]
----
* AscendedMeme: In this game he runs the same way he did during his fight with True Assassin in the ''Anime/FateStayNightHeavensFeel'' movies, which became a meme because of how silly it looked (though it's actually proper form).
* BloodKnight: As always. In fact, he allies with Iori and Saber on the basis of wanting to spar with them more often.
* BossSubtitles: Before being officially introduced as Rogue Lancer, he's introduced as "Snarling Hound". Afterwards, he's introduced as "Rogue Lancer, the Vigorous Warrior".
* HateAtFirstSight: When Lancer runs into the Boss (aka Gilgamesh, who's incarnated as a Ruler this time around), he notes he gets the feeling he recognizes him from somewhere and immediately loathes him--warning Iori that the Boss is extremely dangerous and not to be trusted. Cu's character profile notes that this shouldn't even be possible, since with very few exceptions Servants' memories are typically reset each time they incarnate.
* MythologyGag: The Hound of Culann is once again [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight summoned far from home in a Japanese Holy Grail War riddled with intrigue]]. Gilgamesh, one of his old enemies from it, is also present.
* SuperSpeed: Lancer's speed is brought up at multiple points, often in admiration for how swiftly he moves. In his first Digression, it quickly becomes a gag at how fast he can run and leave Iori and Saber in the dust, as well as leaving befuddled citizens wondering if they didn't hallucinate with how he passed them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Rogue Rider]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/ChiwaSaito
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fsraria.png]]
-> ''"Let's do lots of fun things together and learn all about each other!"''

Tamamo Aria, one of Tamamo-no-Mae's split-off tails from ''Fate/Extra CCC''. A member of the Tamamo Nine, described as deep and mysterious yet strange, she is a Rider. It is said that she prefers riding on people rather than things.
----
* ArentYouGoingToRavishMe: When Aria declares she wants to live with Iori, it's pointed out that she can't survive for long away from the leyline she's bound to. Aria flirtatiously says that Iori can just [[SexMagic give her some of his magical energy]], and is disappointed when this is shot down. Saber and Red waste no time in teasing Iori over Aria's crush on him.
* AsianFoxSpirit: Like the other members of the Tamamo Nine, she's an offshoot of an offshoot of a solar goddess that manifested as a nine-tailed ''kitsune'', though she only has one tail as a result. Her mount is a giant fox with a leaf on its head, but she doesn't actually ride it.
* BetterAsFriends: When Saber and Red tease Iori about Aria's crush on him, Iori says he's in no position to be in a relationship. Aria mulls it over and asks if they can be friends instead. Iori agrees to this, but he gets an ominous feeling.
* {{BFS}}: She has a long nihonto strapped horizontally to her back. It is more of an OrnamentalWeapon during the game's story. As shown in an animated short, it's so long (as well as her being so short) that she can't actually reach it and she'll just make herself dizzy trying to grab it.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Downplayed. While she's definitely sweet and genuinely kind, she's still a fragment of Tamamo. [[spoiler:In her last Digression mission after seeing Iori's flustered expression, she says with a mischievous look that she wants to see his "crying face" next, showing she has a somewhat sadistic side to her as well.]]
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: While there are hints there's some ObfuscatingStupidity at play, Aria's default dopey expression, her slow and breathy voice, and rather ''odd'' thought processes (sitting around outside and citing a saying for her reasoning, only to be surprised when Iori tells her that saying isn't quite what she thinks it means) show she's definitely not all there, though she's certainly of a far more serene nature than her maniac counterpart Tamamo Cat. This fits with how she's referred to as "the strange one" in ''[=EXTRA.=]''
* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Distinguished among the Tamamo Nine by her yellow kimono and hair bow (the original Tamamo wears blue and Tamamo Cat wears red).
* TheDreaded: Possibly. Although it doesn't crop up in ''Samurai Remnant'', in ''Fate/Grand Order'' Saber mentions Aria to Tamamo and Tamamo Cat in her My Room dialogue and is suddenly startled when said Tamamos are suddenly alarmed and get up in their face about where they met Aria, implying that among the Tamamo Nine, she's one of the more "troublesome" incarnations.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: Her initial appearance in ''Fate/Extra CCC'' had her the same height as the rest of the Tamamo Nine, with a hairstyle resembling a HimeCut with twin braids at the front, wearing a yellow kimono and brown hair bow, and without a sword. Meanwhile, her prototype design in ''Fate/Extra Material'' gave her a brown kimono and a hairstyle that more closely resembled her current one, but was otherwise identical to her appearance in ''Fate/Extra CCC''.
* ILoveYouBecauseICantControlYou: In her final Digression mission, [[spoiler:Tamamo Aria suddenly displays a possessive side and claims she originally wanted Iori's "beautiful heart" for herself, much to Iori's worry. However, Tamamo Aria then says that she realized Iori's heart is "like the moon" and "can't be dyed", meaning she can't truly make Iori's hers. This does little to deter her feelings for him, and in fact makes her fall in love even more]].
* InformedAbility: She wears a sword as long as she is tall on her person, which makes her the first Tamamo in the series to be so brazenly armed, but at no point does she actually draw it and instead simply uses her magecraft, to the point it seems more like a prop. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EszEktNq20 The New Year 2024 stream humorously suggests]] that she doesn't use it because it's too long for her to draw.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Her theme song is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_ZdKwPh5so "By Your Side"]], a bouncy rearrangement of Tamamo's theme from ''VideoGame/FateExtra'', "Caster, An Extra Life with Anyone She Wants". It features the use of Japanese instruments instead of the techno sounds of the original, reflecting the game being set in Japan.
* RecurringElement: Takes the place of her "regular" Caster counterpart, who was involved in a different story centered around the Miyamoto Musashi legacy. And like her fellow Alter Ego Kazuradrop, she is the youngest looking of her fellow Alter Egos and is coded the color yellow.
* SomethingForEveryone: On a psychological level, but not a sensory one. Her profile notes that she reflects whatever opinions others have of her: if someone thinks she's innocent, then she'll be as pure as possible, and if they don't trust her, she'll behave suspiciously.
* SquareRaceRoundClass: While she does have a mount--a large, white, sleepy fox--it's noted that "riding", for her, means manipulating bystanders into entertaining her bizarre flights of fancy. The other hallmark of the class, powerful Noble Phantasms, doesn't apply either, as she apparently has no Noble Phantasm at all, not even a hidden one. She stays out of battle entirely and only uses support magecraft, much more like a Caster.
* SupportPartyMember: Unlike the other Rogue Servants, Tamamo Aria doesn't join Iori and Saber in battle directly. Instead, adding her to the party passively boosts Iori's stats, and her Affinity Technique, ''Malediction, Bright Sunshine'' charms nearby enemies and buffs Iori's stats further when cast. [[spoiler:This holds true when encountered as an enemy. When the Rogue Servants become BrainwashedAndCrazy and attack Iori and Saber, Tamamo Aria can be seen just outside the battlefield, supplying buffs while the others (such as Rogue Archer or Rogue Lancer on different occasions) do the fighting.]]
* ThroughHisStomach: [[spoiler:Tamamo Aria cooks Iori a special meal after getting some practice and tutoring from Kaya in the hopes of seeing him make a face she hasn't seen before.]]
* TokenMiniMoe: Unlike the other revealed members of the Tamamo Nine, Aria has the appearance of a girl even younger than Kaya--her youthful appearance being speculated to be one reason why [[spoiler:they became such fast friends]], and is also the smallest and youngest-looking of the Servants. She completely lacks any combat ability, using her magecraft to buff her allies. To Iori's indignation, Saber and the Crimson Codex waste no time in teasing him about Aria's crush on account of her apparent age.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Rogue Caster]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/HimikaAkaneya
[[quoteright:553:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/characters_image_14_01.png]]
-> ''"Sorry to keep you waiting, my piglets-to-be! Were you lonely without your owner? I bet you were!"''

Circe, the queen witch of Aeaea, daughter of Helios, and Medea's senior as a disciple of the goddess Hecate, who debuted in ''Fate/Grand Order''. For more information on her character, go [[Characters/FateGrandOrderCastersAToF here.]]
----
* TheArchmage: As a self-proclaimed "queen witch" and a magus from the Age of Gods taught by Hecate, the Greek goddess of witchcraft, Circe's skills are unparalleled among all the magi present in the story. After learning about [[spoiler:Yasuhiro's plan to drive the Rogue Servants berserk]] and curing Iori of his ForcedTransformation, she begins grousing at length [[PretenderDiss about the inefficiency of the Waxing Moon Ritual]], calling it sloppy compared to the Holy Grail War ritual it was based on.
* ArtEvolution: Has additional alterations to her design besides the obvious ones made to bring her in line with the aesethic of ''Samurai Remnant''. Her larger eyes and more rounded ears compared to those of her ''Fate/Grand Order'' appearance give her a deceptively more youthful and deceptively innocent air.
* BeamSpam: Like her niece Medea, Circe's most powerful attack spells involve conjuring InstantRunes that shoot laser beams at her foes. She can conjure what amounts to a rotating barrel to fire these in rapid succession in a straight line before her.
* CharacterSelectForcing: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. [[spoiler:For a good chunk of the midgame, when all the other Rogue Servants are BrainwashedAndCrazy, Circe is the only Rogue Servant you can call upon. You're not required to bring her, but there are a number of fights where Saber is unavailable and having a Servant around would make things much easier.]]
* CharmPerson: She charms Iori into eating some of her food.
* DumpStat: Aside from Tamamo Aria, Circe has the lowest Attack of any playable character. Given that most of her combos are magic-based, she doesn't need much Attack to begin with.
* ForcedTransformation: As per usual, Circe's favorite hobby is turning trespassers into piglets for her own entertainment. Iori initially doesn't fall for her SchmuckBait, so she brainwashes him into being unable to refuse it. When called upon as an ally, she can turn enemies into piglets for a brief time, disabling their ability to attack and leaving them vulnerable to being beaten down.
* HatesBeingAlone: Owing to her legend, Circe despises loneliness. When Iori and Saber visit her in a Digression mission, they manage to get her to help them by pretending to leave her alone. One of her conditions for agreeing to help Iori is that he visits her every now and then.
* InsaneTrollLogic: After hijacking the description for Piglet Sakura Mochi, Circe declares that "all paths lead to kykeon, which means all sweets are kykeon as well."
* JackOfAllTrades: Aside from her low Attack and HP, Circe's attributes are excellent across the board, and her kit boasts a little bit of everything a Master could ask for. Circe can buff herself or debuff her enemies, her combos are excellent at crowd control and damage, her Heavy Attack 4 inflicts heavy Shell Gauge damage without using Affinity Gauge, and her Affinity Techniques can stun enemies, poison them, or knock them away to reposition herself.
* MediumAwareness: When enough of her Digressions have been completed, Circe begins hijacking her Logbook entry (and a handful of related entries), narrating her backstory in first person, excising the more unsavory details, extolling the virtues of [[TrademarkFavoriteFood kykeon]], and offering Iori a "job" as her piglet.
* PhysicalGod: She's the daughter of Helios, the titan of the sun, making her a minor goddess in her own right. Saber compares her to the kami of Yamato, but notes that she's clearly a Divine Spirit from outside the country given her garb and presence. Circe is impressed that Saber could see this just by looking at her.
* SchmuckBait: When Iori and Saber walk into her territory, the first thing Circe does is offer them a welcome feast. Saber is intrigued, but Iori repeatedly warns them not to take the bait. But ''Iori'' is the one who falls for it after she presents him with a bowl of kykeon along with what's implied to be a bit of mental suggestion magecraft, turning him into a pig.
* SquishyWizard: [[ZigzaggingTrope Zigzagged]]. Though her HP is the worst of all the playable Servants, Circe's Defense is actually excellent, and is second only to [[MightyGlacier Rogue Berserker]]. [[note]]Technically, Tamamo Aria's Defense is higher, but Aria's stats are purely cosmetic as she never actively participates in combat.[[/note]]
* {{Stripperiffic}}: Circe's clothes amount to a ''very'' short skirt and a top that leaves her back and most of her front exposed, with only the clasp just below her chest keeping her from a wardrobe malfunction.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Like her niece Medea]], she is a powerful Greek sorceress who gets embroiled with a Holy Grail War set in Japan.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Circe ''loves'' kykeon, which in her myth of origin was what she used to turn her victims into pigs and is depicted in the game as a type of porridge made from moly, a plant native to Greece that her presence causes to sprout in her territory. Once her bond is levelled up, she hijacks the descriptions to go on tangents about how awesome and nutritious it is.
* TheUnfought: While she does forcibly turn Iori into a pig due to acting under the impression that he came to invade her territory, Saber manages to talk her down from a fight and convince her to help restore Iori to normal.
* WingedHumanoid: Circe sports a pair of avian wings and tail feathers on her back, which along with her pointy ears are clues that she clearly isn't a Servant of human origin.
* YouRemindMeOfX: Meeting Saber and seeing the sincere look in their eyes reminds Circe of Odysseus. She's disgusted by this, but notes that she can tell Saber isn't lying about wanting to become allies.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Rogue Assassin]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KunihikoYasui
[[quoteright:564:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/characters_image_15_01.png]]
[[caption-width-right:564:The Veteran Fist Fighter/Li Shuwen of No Second Strike]]
->''"A warrior kills — it's our nature. Some goals cannot be reached without accepting that."''

An older version of Li Shuwen, legendary Bajiquan master, who first debuted in this incarnation in ''Fate/Grand Order''. For more information on his character, go [[Characters/FateGrandOrderAssassinsGToM here.]]
----
* BareFistedMonk: Rather than rely on stealth-based tactics, Li Shuwen is perfectly confident in his skill at bajiquan to kill his foes with his bare hands. His incredible skill with the Chinese martial art lets him fight Saber and Iori despite the Assassin class container being unsuited for direct combat.
* BloodKnight: Li Shuwen relishes combat and invites Saber and Iori to have a DuelToTheDeath with him whenever they feel like it.
* BossSubtitles: He's introduced as "Rogue Assassin, the Veteran Fist Fighter". After his True Name reveal, he's introduced as "Li Shuwen of No Second Strike".
* CoolOldGuy: Li Shuwen has no interest in Shousetsu's wish for a more equal and fair world, but feels a need to help her because of her innocent, earnest desire to help others. In his words, it's the duty of old men like him to help needy children. He's also perfectly friendly with Iori and Saber and has no ill will toward them, only fighting them because of his alliance with Shousetsu. During Shousetsu and Rider's route in the Keian Command Championship DLC, he even chooses to show up and watch them from the stands as a supporter, much to Shousetsu's personal embarrassment.
* TheGlassesComeOff: His eyes are always hidden behind his shades until he uses his Noble Phantasm, upon which he takes them off as he prepares to take his foe's life.
* LetsFightLikeGentlemen: Enforced. While attacking an opponent from behind is usually a free hit in the game, Li Shuwen can counterattack such a move nigh-instantly, forcing a player to riposte, block, or dodge and harass honestly when facing him.
* OutsideContextProblem: In this game he's a Servant from the future, being born about 200 years after ''Samurai Remnant'' is set. As a result nobody has any context for his fighting style or even his clothing, as his profile on the website points out. He gives away his True Name almost casually, worrying Iori that he thinks he's too strong for it to matter, when in actuality it's just that it wouldn't ring a bell to anyone. Had he been an active participant with a proper Master, rather than just Shousetsu's aloof associate, his unknowable techniques and his knowledge of future warfare would've made him one of the nastiest foes in the ritual.
* ParadoxPerson: Maybe, depending on how the Waxing Moon Ritual works; he is a Heroic Spirit summoned to an era over 200 years before he was born.[[note]]It should be noted however that Servants from the future or potential future(s) can and have been summoned into the past before (EMIYA or any Servant that hails from the EXTRA timeline) due to the fact the Throne of Heroes is a place outside of space-time, thus linearity is a moot factor.[[/note]]
* SignatureLaugh: As usual, his is 'kaka', a brief, sharp expression of amusement that fits with his dry and precise but quietly cheerful personality.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: Although he's summoned as an old man, Li Shuwen is the youngest of the Servants summoned by the Waxing Moon Ritual by far, having been born two hundred years after the events of the story.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Rogue Berserker]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Daisuke Endou
[[quoteright:645:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/largeservantfsr.png]]
[[caption-width-right:645:The Unshakable Bulwark]]
-> ''"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"''

A large, muscular Berserker who is working with Takao Dayu.
----
* AchillesHeel: [[spoiler:His hair, as a Nazirite he was forbidden to cut his hair, drink wine or touch a corpse, in exchange he was given extraordinary strength. But he confided this weakness to his lover Delilah who betrayed him and sold him off to the Philistines. The heroes of course utilize this weakness after being informed by Dorothea and he loses his strength after Takao cuts his hair, allowing Saber to finish him.]]
* AwesomeButImpractical: Unlike Heracles, Spartacus, Lancelot, or Lu Bu, Rogue Berserker is genuinely nigh-invulnerable with strength to match, and his humongous reservoirs of stamina running low being the only way to chase him off. But as a Servant in a Holy Grail War, he would be extremely difficult to win with as his legend is so famous that, unless everyone in that conflict has been completely sheltered from Abrahamic culture (which most of the cast save for Dorothea is), it's incredibly obvious that he's [[spoiler:Samson]], and that his weakness is hard to miss. Once exploited, he's way easier to defeat, as attacks that would usually bounce off of him will run him through. Additionally, using his Noble Phantasm attack briefly makes him exhausted and sluggish, allowing anyone who survives it further opportunities to [[spoiler:cut off his hair.]]
* BarbarianLongHair: He's a massive, rampaging brawler who fights with his overwhelming melee strength, and his hair is so long that... well, let's just say that's not actually a cape on his back. [[spoiler:It's also a very blatant hint to his identity, to the point that Dorothea, who is more familiar with non-Japanese legends than the rest of the cast, instantly guesses his True Name upon meeting him.]]
* BattleAura: When he ''really'' cuts loose in combat, Rogue Berserker becomes engulfed in a yellow-green aura of energy.
* BerserkButton: As a champion of [[spoiler:God]] and the one who bears the epithet of [[spoiler:Mighty Judge]], he has a low tolerance for sinfulness in all its forms and degrees despite being peaceful by nature. Unfortunately for Rogue Berserker, he was summoned in [[RedLightDistrict Yoshiwara]] of all places, and everyone participating in the Waxing Moon Ritual has some type of abhorrent wickedness in their pasts or beneath the surface. Including [[spoiler:Iori.]]
* BerserkerTears: When he's about to use his Noble Phantasm [[spoiler:"Delilah"]], tears freely stream down Rogue Berserker's face even as he's yelling and charging up his mana to unleash it all in one massive blow.
* BlackEyesOfCrazy: When in battle, Rogue Berserker loses himself to his Mad Enhancement, his sclerae turning black with yellow irises as his rage overtakes him and he prepares to turn his enemies into bloody smears.
* BloodKnight: While it usually doesn't show past his rage and bellowing, [[spoiler:when he fights Musashi near the end of Chapter IV he's shown grinning in the cutscene as they clash, if a bit less intensely than Musashi is. Of course, this ends up distracting Samson so much he doesn't realize Dayu is about to cut off his hair from behind until it's too late.]]
* BossSubtitles: He's referred to as "The Guardian of Yoshiwara" when Saber faces him in the aforementioned district. He's then introduced as "Rogue Berserker, the Unshakable Bulwark". [[spoiler:After Dorothea reveals his identity, his title for the final fight with him is "Samson, the Mighty Judge".]] Curiously enough, this last title is used for his DualBoss fight alongside Musashi despite still being called "Rogue Berserker" in the Keian Command Championship DLC before his identity reveal, though in fairness the ones who fight them in this circumstance happen to be [[spoiler:Assassin and Dorothea, who identifies him.]]
* CallBack: Has green hair like [[spoiler:David]], a fellow [[spoiler:Jewish]] Servant and agent of [[spoiler:God.]]
* ClimaxBoss: The final fight with him in-story is directly before the PointOfNoReturn where Iori must make the decision that determines whether the story follows the "Ray of Light" or "Flames of Resentment" routes.
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:While mind-controlled by Tsuchimikado to attack the protagonists, he regains his sanity after Dayu cuts off his hair and Saber mortally wounds him.]]
* EtTuBrute: Berserker is clearly horrified when [[spoiler:Dayu cuts his hair in a reenactment of Delilah doing so in his past life. He gets flashbacks to his former love and sees her in Dayu along with traumatic memories of being MadeASlave. He's so distracted that he has no chance to defend himself from Saber running him through [[InTheBack from behind]].]]
* {{Forgiveness}}: Berserker's wish for the Waxing Moon is [[spoiler:to be able to forgive Delilah for betraying him to the Phillistines. In truth, he just wishes to have someone to express these feelings to. Dayu's resemblance to Delilah and subsequent betrayal of him for the sake of Iori, Saber, and Musashi gives him traumatic flashbacks to his painful romance. But in his last moments, he's able to thank Dayu for freeing him from Tsuchimikado's control and fulfill his wish of forgiving her.]]
* GentleGiant: When not in battle, Berserker is surprisingly gentle, helping the people of Yoshiwara with chores like carrying bags of rice at Dayu's behest. He also carries an umbrella to keep falling petals and rain off of her. Dayu describes him as forgiving, protective, and kinder than any man she's met. But he can go from being a quiet protector to a ScreamingWarrior at Dayu's command.
* GoOutWithASmile: Dayu is heartbroken when [[spoiler:she cuts his hair for the sake of removing his power and allowing Saber to kill him. But rather than admonish her, Samson raises his arm as if to shield her from the rain with an umbrella. He then thanks her for freeing him and fades away with a smile on his face.]]
* GreenAndMean: Green-haired and equally vicious against anyone Takao Dayu appears to deem as an enemy.
* HopeSpot: Seems to shrug off [[spoiler:Tsuchimikado]]'s brainwashing, but doesn't last.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Rogue Berserker towers over Dayu, to the point that one of his arms is as long as Dayu is tall. He is also her loyal protector, with him becoming known as the Guardian of Yoshiwara for being constantly at her side.
* ICannotSelfTerminate: [[spoiler:After his death, the Digression "Samson Agonistes" reveals that after Tsuchimikado originally took control of the Rogue Servants and Samson regained his senses, he gave Dayu back the wakizashi she gave him (the same one Iori picks up after Samson's first Digression and eventually gives back to him). Dayu speculates he knew there was a good chance he would end up controlled again and ''wanted'' her to cut his hair if it came to that.]]
* InterfaceSpoiler: One of his Affinity Techniques is called [[spoiler:''Leveler of Temples'']]. Guess what [[spoiler:Samson]] - a long-haired nigh-unstoppable powerhouse once bound by chains - is best known for.
* MadeASlave: [[spoiler:Berserker's True Name is Samson, the legendary hero from the Book of Judges. After being betrayed by his wife Delilah, he was bound in chains and given to the Phillistines as a slave. His gauntlets also have chains attached and he's clearly enraged to be bound in chains by Archer's Noble Phantasm.]]
* MightyGlacier: His official stat sheet gives him impeccable Strength and Endurance at A+ each. But his Agility is a paltry E. His raw strength is without equal among the Servants present in the Waxing Moon Ritual and he's tough enough to withstand Noble Phantasms and continue to fight. But Archer is able to outpace him fairly easily even when Berserker is running at full speed. [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration This is shown well in his boss fights]], as he hits hard and his Shell Gauge is one of the hardest to pierce through on top of his high health, but his attacks are slow enough they're some of the easiest to dodge and get a Riposte off on to stun him and chip away at his Shell Gauge.
* MundaneUtility: Rogue Berserker's boundless strength and stamina make him a formidable opponent. But while working for Dayu, she has him help with chores and groceries for the locals by using his strength to carry stuff around. One civilian remarks that she saw him carrying ten bags of rice at once.
* MusclesAreMeaningful: Rogue Berserker is enormous, easily twice Saber's height, with huge muscles that could rival the likes of Heracles. He's also the most physically powerful Servant in the war, with even Archer and Musashi failing to do more than force him to retreat.
* TheNeedless: Berserker's Noble Phantasm, [[spoiler:Samson Agonistes]], is responsible for his seemingly limitless strength, endurance, and stamina. He's able to continue fighting even after taking a Noble Phantasm head-on.
* NoSell: In his and Musashi's route through the Keian Command Championship, Rogue Berserker is completely unfazed by Ibuki-Douji's crushing display of power.
* RemovedAchillesHeel: The Rogue Servants are tied to the leylines they were summoned to as anchors. Straying too far from them for too long will gradually weaken them. In addition, their Spirit Origins are significantly weaker than a traditionally summoned Servant, making them perform well below what they should have. Rogue Berserker does not have these issues, as his Noble Phantasm grants him limitless stamina on its own, letting him fight at full strength no matter what.
* ScreamingWarrior: Much like the classic Berserkers, this one is rendered TheSpeechless.
* ShoutOut: Many parts of his design, such as the green hair, golden ornaments, BattleAura, and him being quiet outside of battle but a ScreamingWarrior once he gets going, are very reminiscent of the [[Characters/DragonBallBroly Z incarnation of Broly]].
* ShrinkingViolet: Despite his stature, Berserker is quite shy when it comes to expressing himself. Complications from his Mad Enhancement aside, Musashi has to do a lot of coaxing to get him to thank Iori for helping him out in his Digression quests. All the while, Berserker is making frustrated faces as he can't come up the words, settling for handing Iori a rare Spirit Devourer before turning around and leaving.
* StatusBuff: Berserker's monstrous power can be tied to [[spoiler:his pact with the omnipotent Abrahamic God, who granted him extraordinary strength if he abstained from cutting his hair, eating unclean foods, and drinking alcohol. Due to the other characters not being familiar with Christianity, Dorothea describes the strength of his blessing as being equal to receiving the favor of all of the Japanese gods and Buddhas at once.]]
* SuddenlySpeaking: [[spoiler:He regains the ability to speak after he is killed by Saber, using his last words to thank Takao for stopping his rampage.]]
* SuperToughness: Rogue Berserker is incredibly tough, withstanding repeated assaults from multiple Servants and barely slowing down. Even Archer's Noble Phantasm fails to do more than make Berserker retreat.
* UnskilledButStrong: Rogue Berserker is a traditional example of a Berserker: trading reason and skill for raw power. Rogue Berserker is incredibly powerful, to the point that he can take on multiple Servants at once. But his attacks are largely instinctual and lack rhyme or reason, letting others plan around him once they learn his True Name. That said, his skills as a warrior still shine through in places, as he instinctually grabs a piece of rubble to hurl it at a fleeing Archer and is always mindful to prevent his foes from [[spoiler:cutting his hair.]]
* WrestlerInAllOfUs: He incorporates a few wrestling moves into his otherwise simple fighting style, such as a power bomb, a suplex and a flying chokeslam. In his initial fight, these are often his most dangerous moves and can OneHitKill at higher difficulties.
* YouRemindMeOfX: Rogue Berserker is clearly fond of Takao Dayu for one reason or another. It's not entirely clear what it is that he likes about her until his final battle, where flashbacks reveal [[spoiler:that she has a striking resemblance to his former love, Delilah, who betrayed him and sold him out to the Phillistines]]. It's clear that Dayu realizes this on some level when Dorothea explains [[spoiler:Samson's identity and past, particularly the betrayal by his lover part.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Fifteenth Servant (Unmarked Spoilers!)]]
!! Ototachibana-hime
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MisakiKuno
[[quoteright:840:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ototachibana_hime.png]]

A third Caster summoned by the Ritual. The wife of Yamato Takeru possessing Kaya's body as a Pseudo-Servant. A girl who single-mindedly devotes herself to her beloved, she has no combative abilities and can only support making her chances of ever winning a Holy Grail war almost impossible.
----
* AffectionateNickname: She personally prefers for people to call her just Tachibana-hime. This is mainly because the word "oto" [[LanguageDrift used to mean "younger person" in ancient Japanese, but in modern Japanese it means "younger brother" instead.]]
* HappilyMarried: She is devoted to helping Takeru and considers it a miracle that they were able to be reunited.
* HealingHands: She uses her powers to save Iori from being poisoned. This power is crucial to perfecting the Waxing Moon Ritual, as at the moment the Vessel can only store the souls of the fallen Servants not as pure magical energy, but corruption, and her power would theoretically be able to "purify" it and create a proper wish granter.
* HeroicSacrifice:
** In her backstory, she threw herself into the sea to appease a raging sea god, though this caused her spouse to sink into despair.
** When Kaya gets sacrificed to the Waxing Moon, she uses up all her power to protect Kaya. This causes her to disappear, but Kaya remains unharmed.
* IdenticalStranger: Saber's flashbacks to her HeroicSacrifice show her looking identically to how she does when possessing Kaya, which is to say she looks identical to the girl she ended up possessing.
* LivingMacGuffin: As the Heroic Spirit inhabiting Kaya's body, she is the fifteenth and last Servant to be summoned in the Waxing Moon Ritual and an important piece in Tsuchimikado and Caster's plans, as she has the potential to "purify" the Waxing Moon and turn it into a true wish granter. It's for this reason that Chiemon kidnaps Kaya in the hopes of using Ototachibana-hime as a proper vessel for the Ritual.
* MagicalBarefooter: She wears stockings that do not cover her toes and no shoes over them.
* SuperPoweredAlterEgo: She's this for Kaya. Unlike most Pseudo-Servants which typically are a complete fusion between the Servant and the vessel, Kaya and Otobachibana-hime remain separate personalities which allows her to shift between human form and Servant form at will.
* SupportPartyMember: Ototachibana-hime has no combat abilities and is very much support oriented; her Territory Creation is ranked EX.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In the "Ray of Light" ending, she makes a brief appearance comforting Saber, but never appears again after, leaving it unclear what happened to her.
[[/folder]]

!! Others
[[folder:Ogasawara Kaya]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MisakiKuno
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ogasawara.png]]
-> ''"There's a battle going on! Which means I'm gonna help!"''
Iori's stepsister, whom he has a deep bond with. She was adopted by Musashi and later by the Ogasawara clan after his death.
----
* AlternateIdentityAmnesia: [[spoiler:She does not retain memories of what happens while Ototachibana-hime is controlling her and is completely unaware that she is being possessed.]]
* BreakTheCutie: The "Entreat the Darkness" route is not kind to her. [[spoiler:On top of being kidnapped ''again'', she wakes up and finds Iori's dead body. The only saving grace is that she never learns Iori wanted to use the Waxing Moon Ritual to plunge Japan into a bloody war.]]
* CovertPervert: After meeting Circe she lets slip that she's familiar with BDSM and Master/Servant play, to Iori's consternation.
* DamselInDistress: [[spoiler:She's kidnapped by Chiemon in Chapter 3 at Yui Shosetsu's order, since she's carrying the fifteenth Servant.]]
* HistoricalCharactersFictionalRelative: Iori did have adopted siblings in real life, but none of them were named Kaya.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: She is unaware of Servants, the Waxing Moon Ritual, or even that [[spoiler:she is being possessed by a Servant]]. While she is let in somewhat after being directly involved more, Iori and Saber intentionally leave her out of the loop to avoid her getting herself into danger.
* MatureYoungerSibling: She goes to Asakusa to take care of Iori, who she sees as sometimes being heedless and unreasonable.
* MoralityChain: The section of Iori's profile unlocked by attaining the "Entreat the Darkness" ending notes that Kaya was the one thing [[spoiler:keeping Iori from going off the edge and succumbing to his inner BloodKnight]].
* ShipperOnDeck: The second she meets Saber, she's under the misguided belief that they and her brother Iori are dating and wholeheartedly approves, even asking Saber at one point if they're considering marrying her brother. [[spoiler:She has no idea Saber is actually married to the Heroic Spirit possessing her.]] She initially disapproves of Tamamo Aria and her attempts to court Iori, though by the end of the latter's Digression questline, she becomes good friends with the rogue Servant and helps her become a better cook in the hopes of wooing Iori, even scolding him when he doesn't compliment Tamamo Aria's efforts right away.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: To Sakura Matou from ''stay night'', specifically [[spoiler:the "Heaven's Feel" route. Much like Sakura, Kaya is a LivingMacGuffin in that she's an integral factor of the Waxing Moon Ritual and the vessel for the Ritual itself, essentially being the 'Greater Grail' of this sub-species Holy Grail War. For bonus points, Kaya has a superpowered alter ego, though unlike Sakura's SuperpoweredEvilSide made manifest by Aŋra Mainiiu's corruption, Kaya is a Pseudo-Servant in that she's unknowingly playing host to Ototachibana-hime, Yamato Takeru's wife and the fifteenth Servant of the Waxing Moon Ritual.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Crimson Codex]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/{{Chafurin}}
[[quoteright:362:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crimsoncodex.png]]
-> ''"The bonds you make are to be cherished. ...Including the one with me!"''

Iori's magecraft teacher after Musashi's passing. He is the one that teaches him about Jewel Magecraft.
----
* DirtyOldMan: While Gramps is a book, he's very receptive to being held by Takao Dayu. After initially shouting at her to be more gentle with him, he also begs her not to put him down. He also teasingly jokes that Iori is a pedophile when Tamamo Aria reveals she's got a crush on him.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:In the [[DownerEnding Entreat the Darkness]] route, when Iori plans to persist the Waxing Moon Ritual to [[BloodKnight fulfill his urge]] to test his blade in warfare, he informs Iori that he ''can'' absorb the power of the ritual's Grail and be able to sustain its power — but at the cost of his own sapience to do so, which he doesn't mind as the book has felt like he's lived long enough and deserves to finally pass on by choosing his time to die.]]
* ForcedTransformation: Getting turned into a pig by Circe doesn't change him too much physically outside of the new snout, but it does make him unable to connect to leylines or to create maps.
* HeroicSacrifice: In the "Ray of Light" ending, Crimson Codex is fully willing to pull one to help end the Waxing Moon Ritual by fusing with the Waxing Moon Vessel and rendering it a mere spellbook that can be safely destroyed, [[spoiler:but luckily, Caster's desperate attempt to defeat Iori and Saber ends up rendering his need to perform one unnecessary.]]
* HiddenDepths: You may start wondering who this guy actually is when he identifies Lancer not based on her iconography or fighting style but by ''recognizing her face'', though he admits he doesn't know why he does or what her True Name is. It turns out that he is a [[spoiler:SealedGoodInACan, with a dead mage's soul supporting his personality--presumably, this mage met Jeanne in person while she was alive]].
* InSeriesNickname: His name is a mouthful, so everyone calls him some variant of "Grandpa Red".
* MentorArchetype: He is the one who teaches magecraft to Iori.
* MrExposition: As Iori's magecraft tutor, he explain several of the game's mechanics, such as how use leylines and Spirit Fonts. Additionally, he's aware of the Holy Grail War and is familiar enough with its mechanics that he realizes the Waxing Moon Ritual is a sub-category. He is also the one who [[spoiler:reveals Lancer's True Name. Because the Waxing Moon Ritual is set during Sakoku Japan, very few of the Masters have had the opportunity to learn much about French history. Thus, it falls to the Crimson Codex, a Western spellbook, to inform the other characters.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Arai Sukenoshin]]
!!!'''Voiced by:'''
A constable in charge of keeping the peace in Asakusa, Edo... who mostly delegates his duties to Iori.
----
* ChivalrousPervert: It's revealed late into the games that he frequents Yoshiwara, Edo's primary red light district, on the pretence of keeping the peace... while actually ogling all the courtesans on display. Iori is surprised to discover this side of him, since previously he'd been indicated to be a laid-back but relatively professional person.
* ProfessionalSlacker: He delegates most of his peacekeeping duties to Iori, and it's revealed late into the game that he frequently sneaks off to frequent the brothels of Yoshiwara.
* ShipperOnDeck: Like Kaya, he immediately assumes that Saber is Iori's girlfriend and is supportive of their purported relationship.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Boss]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TomokazuSeki
[[quoteright:555:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/characters_image_17_01.png]]
[[caption-width-right:555:The Supreme King]]
-> ''"I am the true and rightful king of all creation! And on top of that, I currently work as a textile wholesaler."''

The golden owner of the Babyloni-ya textile shop in Asakusa, heavily resembling a certain King of Heroes. And it turns out to be more than a resemblance -- he is indeed Gilgamesh, the God-King of Babylonia, taking on the role of [[spoiler:a Ruler-class]] Servant.
----
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Downplayed. Even [[spoiler:as a Ruler-class Servant]], Gilgamesh is as self-centered and haughty as ever and will happily talk down to others at almost every opportunity. That said, he's shown to have a soft spot for children as he gives them candy without asking for compensation, instead asking them for praise and to spread word of his shop to others and rake in customers. Keep in mind, Gilgamesh states he spent ''three days'' getting those candies right, something his ''[[VisualNovel/FateStayNight stay night]]'' counterpart would never have done.
* AdaptiveArmor: [[spoiler:When he dons the traditional golden armor he's known for wearing for his boss battle, it has taken a distinctly more Feudal Japanese design instead of its more familiar Babylonian style, even forgoing being primarily gold to have much more red incorporated in the outfit. All of which implies either that his armor's appearance can be changed to fit the culture and time he's in or he has multiple different suits of armor much like his many Noble Phantasms he possesses, but rarely ever does so regardless.]]
* AlmightyJanitor: You'd think someone as bombastic as Gilgamesh to demand a job placement more grandiose than a ''fabric shop'', even if it's a high-class one, but here we are. Woe betide anyone who thinks the boasting of this textile salesman is a bluff, as he is in fact [[spoiler:the ''Ruler'' for the Waxing Moon Ritual meant to keep the Servants in line]], and would have enough power to bury them even with a traditional Servant class.
* AmbiguousSituation: [[spoiler:Gilgamesh as the 15th Servant for the Waxing Moon Ritual turns out to be a RedHerring, which means even as a Ruler he was never part of the ritual at all -- so how and why is he here? Was he a Counter Force-aligned Servant sent to stop the ritual but went rogue? Or was he summoned for something else entirely?]]
* BerserkButton: [[spoiler:Saber unknowingly presses one when they have the chance to finally fight him in the OptionalBoss fight by saying they're going to work off some "[[PercussiveTherapy pent-up resentment]]", which [[TooDumbToLive implies]] to [[ProudBeauty Gilgamesh]] that he was actually ''[[UnwantedAssistance annoying]]''.]]
* BossSubtitles: [[spoiler:During his secret bossfight, he's introduced as "Boss, the Supreme King". During the DualBoss fight with him and Ibuki-Douji in the [=DLC=], he's instead introduced as "Boss, the Supreme Arena Organizer".]]
* ContrastingReplacementCharacter: [[spoiler:To Jeanne d'Arc from ''Literature/FateApocrypha''. While the Waxing Moon Ritual is a patchwork Holy Grail War at best, it's still a Holy Grail War that requires a Ruler to mediate and ensure things don't get too chaotic. Unlike Jeanne who does everything in her power to keep the Red and Black Factions in check before going after Shirou Amakusa, Gilgamesh is content to simply hang back and watch everyone duke it out, having a personal disinterest with the Ritual and partly for his own amusement. The few times he does directly intervene, he does the bare minimum.]]
* TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne: Iori and Saber are able to tell that Gilgamesh is a truly extraordinary Heroic Spirit just by looking at him. Iori notes that Gilgamesh's kenki is off the charts and that he exudes the aura of a king or an unrivaled shogun, while Saber can tell that Gilgamesh's magical energy is incredible.
* FriendToAllChildren: He doesn't charge the local children for the candy he distributes, declaring that he's not so poor as to squeeze them dry of money. He only asks for them to praise him and his handiwork, which they're glad to do.
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: It boils down to HatesEveryoneEqually at worst, but across all appearances Gilgamesh has neither cared who wins a Holy Grail War nor shown any desire for the Grail himself. [[spoiler:These two impartialities are the baseline for qualifying as a Ruler Servant.]]
* TheGodsMustBeLazy: [[spoiler:As a Ruler whose job is to keep rampaging Servants in line, Gilgamesh ''should'' be preventing the Waxing Moon Ritual from wreaking too much havoc. He does no such thing, content to let Iori and Saber run around handling it at best, and recruiting the two so he can [[TakeOverTheWorld wreak his OWN brand of havoc]] at worst.]]
* GoldColouredSuperiority: As ever, Gilgamesh's fondness for gold is a fair warning of his immense power. [[spoiler:It also becomes literal in his boss fight, where he can manifest a unique golden version of the shell mechanic that causes every kind of attack to bounce off him, encouraging you to leave him alone until it drops.]]
* HostileShowTakeover: The Keian Command Championship DLC Episode in a nutshell. Gilgamesh essentially creates his own version of the Holy Grail War and turns it into a proper tournament where the Masters and Servants are forced to compete. [[spoiler:It's later revealed the championship is actually a means to deal with Ibuki-Douji; Tsuchimikado attempted to summon her twice in the Waxing Moon Ritual, forcing Gilgamesh to intervene both times, with his latest attempt causing Gilgamesh to create the Keian Command Championship in the first place.]]
* IGaveMyWord: [[spoiler:He's quite sincere about the Keian Command Championship's prize being able to grant any wish the winners desire. Despite said power being significantly weakened at the tournament's conclusion, he nonetheless chooses to grant the winner's wish.]]
* IKnowYourTrueName:
** When Saber meets him for the first time, they're eager to fight him and draw their sword. Gilgamesh immediately takes notice of the blade, implying he recognizes it as part of his treasury, and therefore knows their identity. [[SecretKeeper He of course keeps this information to himself since he sees no reason to blab.]]
** In the Keian Command Championship tournament, he reveals he knows Rider's true name and nature, noting that her bulky armor is all for show and that she would be far more dangerous without it, though [[SecretKeeper he doesn't disclose it]].
* ItAmusedMe: The bio entry added in the "Keian Command Championship" states that [[spoiler:he had different ways of sealing away Ibuki-Douji. The tournament is one such method, though it's also the one that would bring him the most amusement]].
* LoopholeAbuse: Part of the reason he became [[spoiler:the Waxing Moon's Ruler; a requirement for the Ruler-class Servant is to be impartial and have no desire for the Holy Grail. Gilgamesh himself doesn't participate in the Ritual and has no interest in its Holy Grail. This is because ''he already has a Holy Grail'' in his possession, so why would he bother getting a second one, much less an imperfect vessel for what's essentially a patchwork knockoff of a proper Holy Grail War?]]
* MistakenIdentity: As Gilgamesh refuses to divulge his identity to Iori or Saber, his Digression missions sometimes involve them trying to discern his identity. Zheng and Archer initially assume he is Cao Cao. Archer attempts to confirm this by asking him if he's fond of women, particularly other men's wives, before acknowledging Gilgamesh isn't Cao Cao, but otherwise bears a similar presence.
* MythologyGag: His shop contains souvenirs from ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', such as Saint Quartz fragments, his Caster self's Tablets, and a scale model of Zhuge Liang's Noble Phantasm.
* {{Narcissist}}: It wouldn't be Gilgamesh if he didn't have a high opinion of himself. One of his first on-screen acts is to give a pair of candies to a pair of children, with said candies modeled after himself.
* NoSell: He completely ignores Tsuchimikado's attempt to MindControl all Servants, claiming that his will is just too strong for that to affect him. (Really, his semi-divine status and [[spoiler:the massive Magic Resistance that comes with the Ruler class]] probably helped.)
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: He's mostly content to watch the Waxing Moon Ritual run its course, but there's one thing in particular that actually makes him exercise his authority as Ruler: [[spoiler:Ibuki-Douji. He outright stopped Tsuchimikado from summoning her once, and the whole reason for the first DLC storyline is because he didn't learn his lesson and Boss had to pull a HostileShowTakeover to deal with the mess]].
* OptionalBoss:
** [[spoiler:If you complete his Digression missions, Gilgamesh is so impressed by Iori that he offers to officially make him his vassal. Agreeing leads to a JokeEnding where Iori and a [[YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe reluctant]] Saber join his retinue -- and become the cast of ''Mito Komon'' -- whereas refusing leads to a boss battle.]]
** In the Keian Command Championship DLC, collecting his seven golden statues across all the routes and placing them on their pedestals will transport the seventh statue holder to a personal arena against him for a self-proclaimed "bonus round" where you can earn more points and (after the first time he's fought) unlocks him as a playable ally for Iori in the main game. Afterwards, replaying the other routes and placing their specific golden statue on their pedestal will provide a similar bonus round and extra points.
* ProudBeauty: A male example. Gilgamesh is excessively proud of his looks, calling his body a treasure that all should bow down and worship. He even makes candy in his own image to hand out to children. In the Keian Command Championship DLC, the competitors are required to obtain a golden statue of him that he preeningly boasts about, much to their confusion and/or annoyance.
* PromotedToPlayable: By way of DefeatEqualsFriendship. If you place all seven of his statues on their pedestals in the Keian Command Championship DLC across all story routes and defeat him, Gilgamesh can fight alongside Iori in battle. Unlike other Servants, Gilgamesh doesn't have a skill tree and only has one Affinity Technique, that being Gate of Babylon.
* RedHerring: [[spoiler:Even before meeting him, the player is told the Ritual summons 15 Heroic Spirits, which a savvy fan would assume means, as in ''Literature/FateApocrypha'', two sets of the seven main classes plus a Ruler. And that makeup ''does'' apply to this game, since Gilgamesh ''is'' a Ruler, but it turns out he's the ''sixteenth'' Servant. The real fifteenth Servant is the Caster-class Ototachibana-hime.]]
* RiddleForTheAges: Although the Waxing Moon Ritual is a patchwork Holy Grail War at best, the nature of the Ritual demanded a Ruler-class Servant be summoned to serve as a mediator. [[spoiler:Unlike the Greater Holy Grail War from ''Apocrypha'', however, Gilgamesh isn't part of the lineup; in fact, he was summoned well before the fifteenth Servant appeared. This seems to imply that Gilgamesh's status as Ruler isn't actually required and he has no overall part in the war (nor does he care to), though that raises the question as to why he was summoned in the first place and whether the Counter Force is involved in some way.]]
* StealthInsult: When Saber angrily notes that he allowed the kids to take the Saint Quartz fragments despite knowing they would draw in monsters, Gilgamesh replies back there was never any need for him to intervene in matters that would settle themselves, which Iori realizes means Gilgamesh knew he and Saber would act to save them. Gilgamesh then goes on to say that a king, much like a shopkeeper, bides his time, but then notes "this may be inscrutable to those who have ruled neither shop nor nation," to which Saber simply fumes in place. [[spoiler:The insult of course being that [[WarriorPrince Yamato Takeru]], for all their skill in battle and conquest, died without ever succeeding their father to become emperor.]]
* TakeOverTheWorld: After completing his final Digression mission, Gilgamesh offers to take Iori and Saber as his vassals while he retires as a wholesale textile shopkeeper and fulfills his destiny of world conquest. [[spoiler:If Iori accepts, there is a JokeEnding where Iori swears fealty to him, bringing an incredulous Saber along for the ride.]]
* WorldsStrongestMan: Per usual, Gilgamesh is considered ''the'' highest ranking Servant for being the UrExample of TheHero that preceded all others and holding a treasury that contains every single Noble Phantasm and then some, making him an embodiment of power. As such, attempting to challenge him is [[SchmuckBait typically a bad move]]. [[spoiler:Even during his boss battle, despite being ticked off by Saber pressing his BerserkButton, he is deliberately ''[[WillfullyWeak holding back]]'' still because he wants to be amused and [[SecretTestOfCharacter to test them and Iori's mettle]] to be worthy to serve him or earn their freedom rather than outright win, something that they ''both'' make note of as the battle carries on.]]
* YouRemindMeOfX: In one of his Digression missions, Gilgamesh is briefly mistaken for Cao Cao until Archer confirms he isn't. When Gilgamesh leaves with Iori and Saber in tow, Archer comments how he "can't bear more than one of that man", implying Gilgamesh reminds him too much of Cao Cao.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Giovanni]]

Dorothea's second-in-command and the leader of her group of foreigner soldiers and mages who have come to Edo with her in her bid for the Waxing Moon.
----
* OlderSidekick: He's visibly white-haired and looks old enough to be Dorothea's father, yet he defers completely to her command.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: If Assassin's route in the Keian Command Championship DLC is any indication, it was Giovanni who revealed to Dorothea that [[spoiler:Yui Shousetsu is a [[ArtificialHuman homunculus]].]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Miyamoto Musashi]]
!!!'''Voiced by:'''
-> ''"Iori... You were born in the wrong age."''

Iori and Kaya's adopted father, one of the most famous swordsmen in Japanese history. He recently passed away without teaching Iori all of his secrets.
----
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Musashi in history is infamous for being a massive CombatPragmatist who saw any challenge he took as a NoHoldsBarredContest that left many, many bodies in his wake and the male Musashi in ''Fate'' is argued as being no different compared to his female counterpart [[TheFettered who was more straightforward in her duels]]. [[spoiler:That said, his most infamous moment of underhanded guile that was his "[[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown shrewd beatdown]]" of Sasaki Kojiro with his oars until he was a broken mess bleeding out is omitted in this timeline, leaving Sasaki Kojiro SparedByTheAdaptation, developing a more professional rivalry with him instead to the point that after his death, his former rival took it on himself to mentor his adoptive son Miyamoto Iori in his own technique out of respect.]]
* BloodKnight: Even as he got on in years, Musashi never lost his love of battle [[spoiler:and adopted Iori not out of compassion but because he wanted to hone the boy into a worthy opponent he could then fight to the death]].
* CombatPragmatist: Musashi resorted to "shrewd strategy" to defeat Kojiro rather than facing the latter's sword directly. As per the myths, Musashi wielded two oars and fought with his back facing the sun so that Kojiro would be constantly blinded.
* IWasQuiteTheLooker: Flashbacks show him to be quite handsome when he was younger.
* MasterSwordsman: In his prime, Musashi's skills were considered "invincible". Kojiro is the only one managing to come close to defeating him. In his later years, he chronicled his techniques, as well as his philosophical and spiritual views on sword-fighting, into ''The Book of Five Rings''.
* OlderAndWiser: Compared to the female Musashi, who is surprised to hear that he was a "man of culture". Iori does say that she reminds him of the stories the male Musashi told him of his youth, though.
* PosthumousCharacter: He died before the events of the game, and as such only appears in flashbacks.
* WarriorPoet: Musashi founded the Niten Ichiryu school of ''kenjutsu'', focused around the use of both the katana and wakizashi in combat, and wrote the ''Book of Five Rings'' as both a guide on how to use it and a philosophical treatise on sword-fighting.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sasaki Kojiro]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/ShinichiroMiki

Miyamoto Musashi's famed rival, a renowned samurai.
----
* AmbiguousSituation: ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' previously established that in Proper Human History, Sasaki Kojiro was not real, but a fictional character amalgamating various real rivals to Musashi. The guy summoned in ''stay night'' is not the real deal, but the best possible fit: a contemporary of Musashi's with no notoriety of his own, but who developed a version of Kojiro's SignatureMove, and was then slightly shifted by the Servant summoning to better fit the folkloric Kojiro. So exactly who ''Samurai Remnant'' Kojiro is is unclear; it's possible he's someone under an alias, even the same impostor from ''stay night''. The important thing to note, however, is that [[spoiler: this is ''not'' Proper Human History, meaning anything is possible]]. ''Grand Order''[='s=] Shimousa chapter also features a "real" living Kojiro resembling ''stay night'' Assassin and under similar circumstances, so that may also be the case here.
* CurbStompCushion: Defied. Years since their duel, Kojiro has come to acknowledge that every dirty trick Musashi pulled to have an advantage over him was legitimate in how lawless real combat is.
* MasterSwordsman: He's an incredible swordsman who even the "invincible" Musashi feared. Although their skills were comparable, Musashi chose to fight in a way so that [[CombatPragmatist the sun would be in Kojiro's eye]] the whole time, eventually leading to Kojiro's defeat.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: While he doesn't appear outside of flashbacks, he's responsible for [[spoiler:training Iori, who eventually develops the ability to perform Kojiro's signature Tsubame Gaeshi]].
* SparedByTheAdaptation: Historically, Kojiro was supposed to die during his duel with Musashi yet he managed to survive that encounter and even outlive his rival [[spoiler:to the point he was able to help give lessons to Musashi's student]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Yasomagatsuhi (Unmarked Spoilers)]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' N/A
A draconic god of destruction summoned by Caster using the Waxing Moon, serving as the final boss of the Ray of Light route.
----
* AncientEvil: It's old enough that even Saber, Japan's oldest hero, is only vaguely aware of it as a god of destruction shrouded in mystery.
* BossSubtitles: Before battling it, it is prefaced by the title "False God Yasomagatsuhi - the Avatar of Calamity"
* BreathWeapon: In addition to breathing fire, it can fire a blast of destructive purple energy that only Yui's strongest spell can defend against.
* DestroyerDeity: Its epithet is "the Avatar of Calamity", and Saber refers to it as an ancient god of destruction.
* DraconicAbomination: It is an ancient god of destruction that looks like a Western dragon with the head of an Eastern dragon, but has six glowing red eyes and eyes on its wings.
* DragonsAreDemonic: It resembles a black and red Western dragon with a demonic twist, though [[DraconicAbomination it's actually an ancient god of calamity and destruction]].
* DragonsVersusKnights: Fitting for the more straightforwardly heroic Ray of Light route, the final opponent for the Knight Class Saber, the principled ronin Iori, and the noble samurai Yui is a dark dragon god.
* EyeBeams: It can fire barrages of energy projectiles from the eyes on its wings.
* GetBackHereBoss: Yasomagatsuhi can fly high above the battlefield, putting it out of the range of most of the attacks in the game--to the point that an improperly timed and situated area-of-effect Noble Phantasm can miss it entirely.
* GodOfEvil: It's a god of calamity and corruption born from Izanami cleansing himself of the corruption of Yomi, alongside a sibling DestroyerDeity called Omagatsuhi.
* GodzillaThreshold: Yasomagatsuhi is Caster's ultimate weapon, but one that requires so much magical energy to summon and control such a malevolent Divine Spirit almost nothing would actually be worth using it against. As the notes describing it detail:
-->''If Puppet Playground can be considered a trump card, then this is a forbidden art to be used only when victory must be achieved at any cost.''
* PhysicalGod: Yasomagatsuhi is a Shinto ''kami'' mentioned in the ''Kojiki'' written by Hieda-no-Are. As such, he is able to summon it as his trump card within his Reality Marble, though he needs a massive amount of mana to do so. So much so that Zheng needs to use ''all three'' of his Command Seals on top of Caster shoving the Waxing Moon's Vessel into the orb of darkness it emerges from to manifest it, and even then Zheng complains in pain and exhaustion it might well kill him just from the mana drain regardless.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Its scales are jet black while its hair is fiery red... and in the case of its underbelly [[FlamingHair literally fiery]].
* SummonBiggerFish: Caster uses Zheng's Command Seals and the Waxing Moon's stockpile of corrupted mana to summon it to defeat Iori, Yui, and especially Saber--who has a knack for slaying gods.
-->'''Caster:''' Catastrophe incarnate, arise from the void. Manifest thyself! ...Invoke the Demigod - Yasomagatsuhi!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Great God Ibuki]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' N/A
The ancient snake-god that presides over Mt. Ibuki, better known as the Yamata-no-Orochi.
----
* CoolSword: The Amenomurakumo-no-Tsurugi[=/=]Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi[=/=]Kusanagi-no-Tachi, among other names, is a powerful divine sword sealed within the Orochi's body until it was taken by Susano. Both Saber and Ibuki-Douji wield versions of it, though Ibuki-Douji consider's Saber's version to be the real deal due to them having been summoned first.
* DoNotTauntCthulhu: Saber [[spoiler:or rather Yamato Takeru]] was killed when they angered the Great God Ibuki and was subsequently cursed to death by illness. Even a slayer of gods and demons couldn't overcome this particular god.
* DraconicAbomination: Its true form is a mountain-sized dragon-god with eight heads and eight tails, and even the fraction of its power possessed by Assassin and Saber is able to level cities. As a Divided Spirit of it, Ibuki-Douji possesses the power to cause natural disasters that could decimate a significant chunk of Japan.
* FightingAShadow: The Great Orochi able to be summoned by Assassin and Ibuki-Douji is an avatar of the Yamata-no-Orochi, but only possesses a fraction of the serpent/dragon-god's full power--being capable of levelling cities while rampaging rather than whole countries.
* TheGhost: Saber, Assassin, and Ibuki-Douji derive their powers from it and can summon avatars of it using their Noble Phantasms, but Ibuki itself doesn't directly appear.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Great God Ibuki has served as an antagonistic force in several Servants' backstories--having killed Saber, cursed Assassin to become a human/snake-god hybrid, and fathered several of the oni of Mount Ooe that Rider was sent to subjugate (Shuten-Douji from ''Fate/Grand Order'' being an offshoot of Ibuki-Douji).
* MonstrousCannibalism: Prior to becoming the guardian deity of Mt. Ibuki, the Yamata-no-Orochi terrorized Japan and devoured other earthbound deities until being attacked by Susano.
* MultipleHeadCase: It has eight heads, as seen when its visage is summoned by Saber's "Eight-Current Raging Storm" Noble Phantasm and Ibuki-Douji's "Octo-Pulsing Carnage Strike: Divine Laceration" Noble Phantasm.
* NotQuiteDead: The ''Kojiki'' and other compilations of early Japanese myths state that it was slain by the storm-god Susano, who got it drunk and cut off its heads. However, it survived the encounter and became the guardian deity of Mt. Ibuki, "fathering" a female [[LiteralSplitPersonality Divided Spirit]] called Ibuki-Douji, cursing Assassin to become a snake-god/human hybrid, and killing Saber when they picked a fight with it.
* {{Orochi}}: It is ''the'' Yamata-no-Orochi of Japanese myth, a mountain-sized dragon-god with eight serpentine heads and eight tails. Barely surviving being cut to ribbons by Susano, it retreated to Mt. Ibuki and became worshipped as a snake-god.
[[/folder]]

!!DLC Servants
[[folder:Ibuki-Douji]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AoiYuki
[[quoteright:555:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ruleribuki.png]]
[[caption-width-right:555:The Great Divine Spirit]]

A Japanese snake god associated with Mount Ibuki, connected to the backstories of both Saber and Assassin. In truth, she is a Divided Spirit of the monstrous Yamata-no-Orochi, and is regarded by some as his daughter. She debuted in ''Fate/Grand Order'' as a Saber-class Servant, though in this game is a Ruler. For more information on her character, go [[Characters/FateGrandOrderSabersGToM here]] or [[Characters/FateGrandOrderBerserkersGToM here]] for her Summer variant.
----
* BaitAndSwitch: When Ibuki-Douji first appears in full, her first impression is as the intimidating, gravity-manipulating GodOfEvil she debuted as in Heian-kyo... but then she drops the act and behaves more like the friendly version summoned to Chaldea.
* BaritoneOfStrength: Ibuki-Douji is typically peppy and boisterous, but drops her voice a few octaves when she's trying to be intimidating--emphasizing that for all her "onee-sama" energy she's actually a powerful and potentially dangerous goddess.
* BlackEyesOfCrazy: Invoked--when first appearing she pretends to be a typical evil deity, with her sclerae being black... but they turn white when she reveals she was just doing a bit. They also turn black when she gets serious or wants to be menacing.
* BossSubtitles: She's introduced as "Ibuki-Douji, the Great Divine Spirit".
* BreathWeapon: One of her Affinity Techniques has her summon a manifestation of one of Orochi's heads, which fires a stream of golden energy at her opponent.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: One might think blatantly ignoring your Master's orders and causing trouble by existing would make for a poor Servant, but it doesn't necessarily make a poor ''Ruler'' Servant. The entire point of the Ruler Class is to arbitrate the ritual and punish those who break its rules, and the one who summoned her was actively FixingTheGame -- she derails all of Tsuchimikado's attempted cheats ''and'' destroys his ego, and even gets the apathetic Boss to [[spoiler:actually do his job as a Ruler]], just by following her own whims. Ibuki-Douji is also quite perceptive under the surface, so these feats can hardly be called a fluke; she knew ''exactly'' what she was doing and got to have her own fun doing it.
* CoolBigSis: She sees herself as one, calling herself a Big Sister (''onee-chan'' in Japanese) and especially insisting on Assassin calling her that, though the most he can manage is a respectful "Elder Sister" (''anegimi'' in Japanese). [[spoiler:She is the one who saved him and returned him to the human realm, and she calls him Sabu in turn. In the original myths, Saburou married one of Great God Ibuki's daughters, Yuiman, so Ibuki and his sibling relationship extends beyond just Ibuki's big sister shtick since they're actually siblings-in-law.]]
* CoolSword: She wields the Kusanagi-no-Tachi, a divine sword sealed inside one of the Yamata-no-Orochi's tails. However, she doesn't consider her sword to be the true Kusanagi due to Saber wielding the same sword under a different name. As a result, her version manifests as a gaudy green and red sword covered in ornate spikes, and she doesn't bother unleashing its true power.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Being a huge and imposing half-snake goddess doesn't detract from the fact that she's drop dead gorgeous.
* DimensionalTraveler: Beating Caster's route in the Keian Command Championship reveals that after the tournament ended [[spoiler:Ibuki-Douji was lonely and travelled to a "slightly different" timeline where the Keian Command Championship hadn't occurred, volunteering her services to Iori]].
* TheDreaded: She's an ancient and powerful divine spirit, and even Gilgamesh--who is two-thirds SemiDivine and has a history of clashing with deities--isn't keen on tangling with her, [[spoiler:and came up with the Keian Command Championship to seal her away and use her energy to fuel a wish-granting device]]. When he refuses to fight alongside her, all it takes for her to get him to comply is threatening to stop being so well-behaved. She's so powerful that Rider, who is well-aware of who and how strong she is, decides to reveal their second Noble Phantasm [[spoiler:that she was intending to keep secret until she could take control of Edo's leylines]] just to deal with her.
* FriendlyEnemy:
** To Rider, as she recognizes the armored Heroic Spirit at a glance [[spoiler:and more specifically ''which'' version of her is currently manifested]] due to their shared and quite violent history, but she nevertheless treats Rider like a friend she hasn't seen in a long time and suggests that they can use the tournament as an excuse to catch up and beat each other up.
** She remembers Saber from when they were alive, but holds no grudges against them and even thanks them for taking such good care of her father's sword--officially bequeathing it to them. However, she's just as eager to spar against them as she is the other Servants.
* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: She loves a good party and spends her route's ending shopping and enjoying a festival while thinking about all the booze she's going to drink. Banking on her sharing her "daddy"'s weakness, Gilgamesh incapacitates her with some of his divine alcohol before sealing her and setting up the Tournament to drain her power. She voices a particular fondness for a type of sake that she comments is almost impossible to get in the 21st century, and is delighted that it's readily available in the 17th century.
* HellishPupils: She has vertical slits for pupils, emphasizing her nature as a mercurial snake-goddess.
* HiddenDepths: She swings between acting like some all-powerful god when she wants to be serious and/or messing with people and the playful big sister who just wants to have fun most of the rest of the time, but she's also a very perceptive being when she wants to. For example, in Lancer's route, she's the one who expresses that Chiemon has far more going on behind his revenge-driven mindset and there's a tortured soul under it all.
* HornedHumanoid: She has a pair of black horns extending from her forehead, as well as a pair of red antlers protruding from the sides of her head that are decorated with ''shimenawa'' rope and ''shide'', befitting her status as a ''kami''.
* HumanPincushion: She has multiple swords sticking out of the dorsal side of her snake half.
* JiveTurkey: When she's not playing up her divinity, she talks and acts like a modern-day "big sister" type complete with time-appropriate slang. The funny part is that she was summoned directly with the Waxing Moon, which doesn't implant memories of the present day -- Ibuki-Douji is just ''like'' that.
* LiteralSplitPersonality: Like Tamamo Aria and her "sisters",[[note]]Who are offshoots of the nine-tailed fox solar deity Amaterasu.[[/note]] Ibuki-Douji is the Divided Spirit of a deity--in this case the Great God Ibuki, aka the Yamata-no-Orochi. She considers herself to be the Orochi's daughter and refers to it as "daddy" and Assassin as her little brother due to his curse--bestowed by Ibuki itself--turning him into a human/snake-god hybrid.
* LivingOnBorrowedTime: Since she was summoned directly through the Waxing Moon, she's not plugged into a magical leyline like the other Rogue Servants, so the mana she got from her initial summoning is all she has. Boss planned his countermeasures around this, using [[spoiler:the Holy Grail to keep her sealed until her summon timed out naturally]]. In the ending of Caster's/her route, she "accidentally" uses the remaining power of [[spoiler:the Holy Grail]] to stay manifested for the foreseeable (if still limited) future.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: She has four arms in this manifestation, adding to her divine appearance.
* MysticalWhiteHair: She has mostly white hair, save for the pink tips of her ponytails, emphasizing her nature as an ancient goddess.
* MythologyGag: She recognizes Rider in-part from their encounters in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', though she notes that Rider is different from the individual she knows. Parts of her profile also paraphrase her profile in ''Fate/Grand Order''. Addtionally many of her attacks are lifted from ones she uses in ''Grand Order'', both as a Saber and in her Summer Berserker variant, and in Caster's ending she appears in her Stage 2/3 Saber form to free-load off Tsuchimikado.
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: She's ''technically'' Tsuchimikado's Servant since he was the summoner, but his will holds no sway over her; he didn't even get Command Seals to force her to submit. She just does what she wants regardless of his misgivings.
* OneDegreeOfSeparation: Yui Shousetsu and Ibuki-Douji herself identify her as the daughter of the great snake-god Ibuki, who killed Saber back when they were alive and also cursed Assassin with his snake curse--with Ibuki-Douji referring to Assassin as her little brother as a result. She's also acquainted with Rider from Japan's Heian period and the events of ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder''--with Rider hating her so intensely their MaskOfSanity briefly slips off.
* {{Oni}}: In-life she was one of the great oni warlords of Heian period Japan, hence Rider's vendetta against her, and she appears in her fully humanoid form--a CuteMonsterGirl version of an ''oni'' first seen in ''Fate/Grand Order'' as the 2nd and 3rd Stages of her Saber manifestation--in Caster & Tsuchimikado's ending.
* {{Orochi}}: Ibuki-Douji is an incarnation of the Yamata-no-Orochi itself, whose visage she summons as part of her Noble Phantasm, though she refers to it as her "daddy" due to legends referring to her as its child.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: The whole reason Tsuchimikado summoned her and Gilgamesh tried to seal her was because--as a Divine Spirit--she's exponentially more powerful than any of the Servants summoned by the Waxing Moon, and were she to cut loose she could decimate all of Edo--if not the entire Kanto region--with a single attack. Fortunately, Ibuki-Douji has no intention of doing so and goes out of her way to hold back her attacks, several of which summon natural disasters like floods, volcanic eruptions, and tornados.
* PhysicalGod: She is a Divided Spirit of the [[DraconicAbomination Yamata-no-Orochi]], aka the Great God Ibuki, manifesting as a white snake god, and is ancient enough to have beef with Saber, Rider, and Assassin.
* PrehensileHair: She can freely manipulate her SupernaturalFloatingHair to use as CombatTentacles or deliver RapidFireFisticuffs attacks.
* PromotedToPlayable: As Tsuchimikado and Caster opt out of the tournament, "their" route in the first DLC is actually Ibuki-Douji's route. Her Skill Tree unlocks upon clearing the first round, and she joins the main story as a Rogue Servant after her route is cleared. Interestingly enough, her ability to be played in Battle Recollections is locked behind completing Assassin's route of said DLC.
* RetiredMonster: She was one of the great oni warlords of the Heian period and terrorized Kyoto from Mt. Ooe, hence her rivalry with Rider... though she's more interested in having fun fighting, drinking, and exploring Edo than she is resuming her reign of terror.
* RippleEffectProofMemory: Boss wipes everyone's memories of the first DLC campaign, but Ibuki-Douji remembers. It's for this reason that she joins Iori's band.
* SnakePeople: This manifestation has her appearance being closer to a Nagi from Myth/HinduMythology with a serpent lower body and a mature female human upper body with [[MultiArmedAndDangerous multiple arms]].
* SpiritedCompetitor: Ibuki-Douji ''really'' wants to have fun fighting all the Servants who showed up to the Keian Command Championship, to the point she [[WillfullyWeak intentionally limits herself]] just so her fights are challenging but still surmountable. Of course, she also likes to "spice things up" by [[SummonMagic summoning all manner of monsters]] just to give the crowds and herself more carnage to admire.
* SummonMagic: She can summon and control various monsters, mainly focusing on oni--particularly a giant dual axe-wielding variant called Torakuma-Douji, who is noted to either be one of the great oni warlords of the Heian era or a LegacyCharacter. She can also summon phantasmal serpents in much the same way as Assassin, up to and including the Great Orochi.
* SuperEmpowering: Across the possible routes, she causes Rider and Rogue Berserker to go berserk with a power-up and beefs up Saber's sword simply to make their fights more entertaining.
* SuperScream: Her basic Heavy Attack has her do this, and it can not only do damage on its own but also amplify the power of any of her other Heavy Attacks/calamities that are still active on the field.
* SupernaturalFloatingHair: She has multiple ponytails that float around her, which she can use in several attacks.
* TailSlap: One of her Affinity Techniques is simply her doing a front-flip that slams her massive snake tail down with enough force to crack the ground and cause a shockwave.
* ToServeMan: She jokingly refers to her opponent as snacks and teasingly declares her intent to eat Assassin for not showing her proper respect as his older sister, but after taking note of Iori's [[BloodKnight inner sword-demon]] she declares her intent to eat him and clarifies that she ''isn't'' joking.
* WillfullyWeak: She could effortlessly demolish all of Edo, if not the entire Kanto region, with a single attack were she to cut loose. Since she's only up to have some fun and make some more-or-less harmless mischief, she deliberately avoids unleashing her full power using her Holy Ground Class Skill. This is best shown in the Caster/her route, whereas in the others a Master-Servant team could overcome her "playing" even when she's in a DualBoss fight with Gilgamesh, here she's actually fighting to win and proceeds to take on Berserker-Archer, Lancer-Rider, and Saber-Assassin in consecutive DualBoss fights for her "three-round tournament" before facing down a swarm of monsters from Gilgamesh and then actually fighting Gilgamesh himself.
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* ArchEnemy: Of Rogue Saber [[spoiler:as she's the "Evil Ogre" that he is hunting. Although, [[UnknownRival she considers him just another adversary in the way.]]]]