History FanFic / TheManhattanProjectII

* CanadaEh: Eleanor. Also, the author.
-->'''Eleanor:''' "I am Eleanor Rosemary Richardson the Younger, daughter of Patricia and William Richardson, from the city of Ottawa in the province of Ontario of the modern and illustrious nation of Canada."

* BlueBlood: Eleanor.

* MsFanservice: Saber. It also moves into FanDisservice territory in the General Dialogue arc.

* TheSixties: The setting of the story.

* DropTheHammer: Not a hammer per se, but Alexei's Saber-class Servant [[spoiler:[[Literature/TheShahnameh Rostam]]]] can morph his weapon from a scimitar to a mace. [[spoiler:He uses it to kill Hannibal's elephant Surus with just one blow.]]

* FourStarBadass: Many of the Servants commandeered an army during life, and it shows. Amongst them are [[UsefulNotes/PunicWars Hannibal Barca]], UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat ([[{{LightNovel/FateZero}} not that one]]), UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga, [[UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan Temujin]], [[UsefulNotes/PreColumbianCivilizations Moctezuma]] and [[spoiler:UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar]].

* ThoseWackyNazis: Dietrich is an ex-SS Officer [[spoiler:and the Master of Alexander the Great]]. He even participated in the Third Holy Grail War reminiscent of [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha Darnic's]] involvement in the Third Holy Grail War.

* AnAxeToGrind: Ramesses II's Noble Phantasm ''Ma'at'' is an Egyptian axe representing his divine authority and right to rule granted to him by the Egyptian pantheon. [[spoiler:It even withstands Gilgamesh's ''Enuma Elish'', much to Gilgamesh's anger and outrage.]]

* CharacterSong: Each major Master has one, as shown in their profiles (i.e. James' is "America" by Music/SimonAndGarfunkel, Ilse's is Gimme Shelter by Music/TheRollingStones, etc).

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: This story has more than 7 Masters and Servants, almost 30 in fact!

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The Holy Grail War ends but many people have died, including several innocent civilians and several good people like James' father and Eleanor, with no clear winner for either NATO or the Warsaw Pact ensuring that the Cold War continues, with the surviving characters forever changed by the war. Of note, James and Saber survived to the end and got together as a couple, Nigel Lancaster returns home and takes part in the ''Tour de France'' a year later in memory of Hannibal, Dietrich returns to his hometown Königsberg (known as Kaliningrad today) where he was arrested and executed by the authorities and Filippo, the least notable Master, ends up dead and became a news sensation over the mysterious circumstances behind his death.]]

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Enrico, the Master of El Cid, is this, having killed one of the original participants and would do anything to ensure he can grant his wish to make Spain a better place.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Some of the Servants end up dying as quickly as they appear. [[spoiler:Francois' first Servant {{UsefulNotes/Boudica}} was [[OffWithHisHead decapitated]] by James' Saber in her ''first introduction'' and several Servants at the Battle of the National Mall like Aeneas of Troy, Hector, Penthesilea, Romulus and Remus, Heracles and Achilles died so quickly that their contribution to the plot is almost non-existent (Although the deaths of Romulus and Remus serves to summon Gilgamesh). Even the Masters fall into this, whether they bit the dust, never appeared, or just vanished after their Servants died. Aeneas' Master left Washington after the former died now that there was nothing left for him. Ramesses II's unnamed Master is quite notable, being a background character little more than a mana battery despite the former's significant presence as a sort of DiscOneFinalBoss. St. Longinus' Master is an even bigger example, as he or she never appeared even once and the former had about two appearances before he died.]]

* WeHardlyKnewYe: Some of the Servants end up dying as quickly as they appear. [[spoiler:Francois' first Servant {{UsefulNotes/Boudica}} was [[OffWithHisHead decapitated]] by James' Saber in her ''first introduction'' and several Servants at the Battle of the National Mall like Aeneas of Troy, Hector, Penthesilea, Romulus and Remus, Heracles and Achilles died so quickly that their contribution to the plot is almost non-existent (Although the deaths of Romulus and Remus serves to summon Gilgamesh). Even the Masters fall into this, whether they bit the dust, never appeared, or just vanished after their Servants died. Aeneas' Master left Washington after the former died now that there was nothing left for him. Ramesses II's unnamed Master is quite notable, being a background character little more than a mana battery despite the former's significant presence. St. Longinus' Master is an even bigger example, as he or she never appeared even once.]]

* HumanoidAbomination: [[spoiler:Johana was accused of this by Lancer and is the main reason they parted ways. For her part, Johana denies this, saying it was ridiculous but it turns out to be true.]]

* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler:Sigurd Fafnesbane has this as a Noble Phantasm. Based on how [[{{Literature/Volsungasaga}} The Volsunga Saga]] and [[{{Literature/Nibelungenlied}} The Ring of the Nibelung]] described the different adventures he partook in, it allows Sigurd to [[BackFromTheDead come back to life]] when he is killed as each life is a new story being told similar to Heracles' God Hand representing his Twelve Labours, but it only works up to 7 times and cannot be replenished as the latter can. However, unlike Heracles, his class changes each time he dies such that he went from a Berserker to a Saber over the course of the story.]]

* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Just when James' Saber was defeated and they were at the mercy of Alexei's Servant Rostam, Odysseus shoots the latter full of arrows, killing him and saving the former two.]]

* DropTheHammer: Not a hammer per se, but Alexei's Saber-class Servant [[spoiler:[[TheShahnameh Rostam]]]] can morph his weapon from a scimitar to a mace. [[spoiler:He uses it to kill Hannibal's elephant Surus with just one blow.]]

* WellIntentionedExtremists: Enrico, the Master of El Cid, is this, having killed one of the original participants and would do anything to ensure he can grant his wish to make Spain a better place.

* ActionGirl: Quite a few women can kick some ass. Special mention goes to [[spoiler:Penthesilea's Master Ilse who kept fighting even with her Servant dead. Johana is more of a DarkActionGirl. James' Saber is also this.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The Holy Grail War ends but many people have died, including good people like James' father and Eleanor, with no clear winner for either NATO or the Warsaw Pact, and the surviving characters are forever changed by their experiences in the war. James and Saber survived to the end and managed to get together as a couple, Nigel Lancaster returns home and takes part in the ''Tour de France'' in memory of Hannibal, Dietrich returns to his hometown Königsberg (known as Kaliningrad today) where he was arrested and executed by the authorities and Filippo, the least notable Master, ends up dead and became a news sensation over the mysterious circumstances behind his death.]]

* CoolSword: Quite a few of them appear given that these are great heroes. [[spoiler:Crocea Mors, Tizona and Colada, Joyeuse and some of the weapons Gilgamesh shoots out are just a few of these weapons.]]

** [[spoiler:After Johana's Servant {{Theatre/Lohengrin}} disappears upon revealing his True Name, Filippo notices that her Command Seals are still present and suggest that she invoke the summoning ritual once more. This causes her to summon [[UsefulNotes/TheCrusades Godfrey de Bouillon]], the fame Crusader Knight and apparent descendent of Lohengrin. It seems that in the event that Lohengrin is gone, his Master can invoke the summoning for his descendent/real-life counterpart to replace him, giving Johana a second chance in the Holy Grail War.]]

* ThoseWackyNazis: Dietrich is an ex-SS Officer [[spoiler:and the Master of Alexander the Great]]. He even participated in the Third Holy Grail War reminiscent of [[LightNovel/FateApocrypha Darnic]].
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Some of the Servants end up dying as quickly as they appear. [[spoiler:Francois' first Servant {{UsefulNotes/Boudica}} was [[OffWithHisHead decapitated]] by James' Saber in her ''first introduction'' and several Servants at the Battle of the National Mall like Aeneas of Troy, Hector, Penthesilea, Romulus and Remus, Heracles and Achilles died so quickly that their contribution to the plot is almost non-existent (Although the deaths of Romulus and Remus serves to summon Gilgamesh). Even the Masters fall into this, whether they bit the dust, never appeared, or just vanished after their Servants died. Aeneas' Master left Washington after the former died now that there was nothing left for him. Ramesses II's unnamed Master is essentially a background character despite the former's significant presence. St. Longinus' Master is an even bigger example, as he or she never appeared even once.]]

* AnAxeToGrind: Ramesses II's Noble Phantasm Ma'at is an Egyptian axe representing his divine authority and right to rule granted to him by the Egyptian pantheon. [[spoiler:It even withstands Gilgamesh's Enuma Elish, much to Gilgamesh's anger and outrage.]]

* HistoricalGenderFlip: [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. Turns out, UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar ''was'' a man in this continuity. However, Saber still remembers herself as a woman. Ultimately played straight with the explanation that her cognomen Caesar is rather boyish. It could also be historical revisionism given how Caesar was killed by Senators and they took measures to change how history would remember her.]]

After UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, inspired by the idea of the Holy Grail War - namely the Third sometime in the early 40s - a multinational (read: both Soviet and otherwise) group of magi and scientists work to create a similar project. Realizing that, if humanity alone can split the atom then they can probably adapt that dedication and theory to magecraft and create something just as powerful as the ritual of the Holy Grail War of Japan. The goal of this is to settle the Cold War, reacting to increased tensions after the hot-button issues of the late 50's and early 60's such as the Cuban Missile Crisis. Named the Manhattan Project II as a way to hide it as yet another nuclear weapons project following World War 2, the scientists and magi create their own replica of the Holy Grail, minus the corruption that had ruined the Japanese original.

Unlike the Fate series itself, there is no rule in the Manhattan Project that states that there must be only one Servant for each class, or that each class must have an equal number of Servants. The presence of Servants instead of some more scientific, non-magic deciding factor is based on the idea that secret magic is easier to conceal than all out fighting - in addition to some of the founders' own observations of the actual Holy Grail War.

The setting is Washington, D.C., for the strong leyline that runs through the heart of the city and as a result of the amount of history the place has in America; with its high number of monuments and its status as the capital of the United States of America, few cities could be better from a symbolic standpoint. And also, for symbolic and logical purposes the war is presided over by a member of the Church, working out of the Oak Hill Chapel. He owns the spiritual land of Washington, D.C. and Arlington, Virginia, and ensures that the city isn't damaged... too much, at least.'

''[[http://forums.nrvnqsr.com/showthread.php/932-The-Manhattan-Project-II "The Manhattan Project II"]]'' is a VisualNovel/FateStayNight fanfic written by Five_X and hosted at the Beast's Lair Fanfic Forum. Featuring a cast made up of original characters and set in a time far before the key events of Kinoko Nasu's stories, its actual connection to Fate/stay night is tenuous; it is set in the same universe and involves a war for a Holy Grail, but the similarities end there. In a way, it's more like an original story rather than fanfiction, though set within the Nasuverse. A prequel and additional stories set in the same universe were also planned, but it seems the author decided to abandon those.

* AnyoneCanDie: It ''is'' the Holy Grail War after all. [[spoiler:By the end of the story, the number of named characters who survive can be counted on one hand.]]

* BadassInDistress: [[spoiler: Sigurd was this when he was trapped in Scathach's Land of Shadows. He ultimately escapes and kills her. James was also this when captured by Hassan.]]

* SummonBiggerFish: The Caster-class Servant [[spoiler:[[Literature/TheBible Moses]]]] can do this as his Noble Phantasm, [[spoiler:able to summon Leviathan, Ziz and Behemoth respectively through the course of the war. Interestingly, it took his Master using her Command Seals to summon them since he did not want to spoil God's creation on Earth with such powerful Phantasmal Beasts.]]
* SwordAndGun: Not with a sword, [[spoiler:but James Bowie fights with a revolver and a Bowie knife against Blackbeard's crew. Nobunaga plays this straight by fighting with a flintlock and a katana.]]
* TheBusCameBack: [[spoiler: Odysseus, who was last seen in the National Mall and made several named and unnamed appearances after his Master dies, returns when he saves James by [[BigDamnHeroes shooting Rostam full of arrows]], killing him.]]

* WeHardlyKnewYe: Some of the Servants end up dying as quickly as they appear. [[spoiler:Francois' first Servant {{UsefulNotes/Boudica}} was [[OffWithHisHead decapitated]] by James' Saber in her ''first introduction'' and several Servants at the Battle of the National Mall like Aeneas of Troy, Hector, Penthesilea, Romulus and Remus, Heracles and Achilles died so quickly that their contribution to the plot is almost non-existent (Although the deaths of Romulus and Remus serves to summon Gilgamesh). Even the Masters fall into this whether they bit the dust, never appeared or just vanished after their Servants died. Aeneas' Master left Washington after the former died now that there was nothing left for him. Ramesses II's unnamed Master is another example, essentially being a background character despite the former's significant presence.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The Holy Grail War ends but many people have died, including good people like James' father and Eleanor, with no clear winner for either NATO or the Warsaw Pact, and the surviving characters are forever changed by their experiences in the war. James and Saber survive and managed to get together. Nigel Lancaster returns home and takes part in the Tour de France in memory of Hannibal, Dietrich returns to his hometown Königsberg (known as Kaliningrad today) where he was arrested and executed by the authorities and Filippo, the least notable Master, ends up dead and became a news sensation over the mysterious circumstances behind his death.]]

* CoolSword: Quite a few of them given that these are great heroes. [[spoiler:Crocea Mors, Tizona and Colada, Joyeuse and some of the weapons Gilgamesh shoots out are just a few.]]

* CycleOfRevenge: [[spoiler:Hannibal]] nearly falls into this before his master dissuades him.

* DropTheHammer: Not a hammer per se, but Alexei's Servant [[spoiler:[[TheShahnameh Rostam]]]] can morph his weapon from a scimitar to a mace. [[spoiler:He uses it to kill Hannibal's elephant Surus with just one blow.]]

** [[spoiler:After Francois lost his Servant {{UsefulNotes/Boudica}}, he ends up with UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte as his replacement. When he asked the overseer George Coleman about it, he said it was because the slots were not filled yet and so he had a second chance at it.]]

* FourStarBadass: Many of the Servants commandeered an army during life, and it shows. Amongst those are [[UsefulNotes/PunicWars Hannibal Barca]], UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat ([[{{LightNovel/FateZero}} not that one]]), UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga, [[UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan Temujin]], [[UsefulNotes/PreColumbianCivilizations Moctezuma]] and [[spoiler:UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar]].

* KillItWithFire: Let’s just say that [[spoiler:Johana]] never did play nicely with others, making her memories a constant source of torment for her. [[spoiler:Saber's Noble Phantasm Crocea Mors unleashes fire when invoked.]]

* WeHardlyKnewYe: Some of the Servants end up dying as quickly as they appear. [[spoiler:Francois' first Servant {{UsefulNotes/Boudica}} was [[OffWithHisHead decapitated]] by James' Saber in her ''first introduction'' and several Servants at the Battle of the National Mall like Aeneas of Troy, Hector, Penthesilea, Romulus and Remus, Heracles and Achilles died so quickly that their contribution to the plot is almost non-existent (Although the deaths of Romulus and Remus serves to summon Gilgamesh). Even their Masters weren't named whether they bit the dust or just vanished after their Servants died such as Aeneas' Master who left Washington now there was nothing left for him.]]
* YouDontLookLikeYou: Several of the Servants [[spoiler: like Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Ozymandias, Oda Nobunaga, Cu Chulainn, Scathach, Sigurd, Heracles, Odysseus, Hector, Penthesilea and Julius Caesar]] who appeared in other Fate series do not resemble the characters from said series. Instead, they are {{Original Character}}s and are treated as such.

* SummonBiggerFish: The Caster-class Servant [[spoiler:[[Literature/TheBible Noah]]]] can do this as his Noble Phantasm, [[spoiler:able to summon Leviathan, Ziz and Behemoth respectively through the course of the war. Interestingly, it took his Master using her Command Seals to summon them since he did not want to spoil God's creation on Earth with such powerful Phantasmal Beasts.]]

* FailureKnight: Johana’s Lancer wouldn’t see himself this way, but [[spoiler: he’s admitted that there’s a dead little sister of some sort in his backstory]]. [[spoiler:It becomes more like a dead lady-in-waiting since he is {{Theatre/Lohengrin}}.]]

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Francois blows his brains out after the act of killing James' father finally sets in.]]

** [[spoiler:After Johana's Servant {{Theatre/Lohengrin}} disappears upon revealing his True Name, Filippo notices that her Command Seals are still present and suggest that she invoke the summoning ritual once more. This causes her to summon Godfrey de Bouillon, the fame Crusader Knight and apparent descendent of Lohengrin. It seems that in the event that Lohengrin is gone, his Master can invoke the summoning for his descendent/real-life counterpart.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The Holy Grail War ends but many people died, including James' father and Eleanor, with no clear winner for either NATO or the Warsaw Pact, and the surviving characters are forever changed by their experiences in the war. James and Saber survive and managed to get together. Nigel Lancaster returns home and takes part in the Tour de France in memory of Hannibal, Dietrich returns home to East Germany where he was arrested and executed by the authorities and Filippo, the least notable Master, ends up dead and became a news sensation.]]

* FourStarBadass: Many of the Servants commandeered an army during life, and it shows. Amongst those are UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat ([[VisualNovel/FateZero not that one]]), UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga, [[UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan Temujin]], Moctezuma and [[spoiler:UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar]].

* MutualKill: [[spoiler: St. Longinus and Ramesses II die together after the former kills the latter and Ramesses' Reality Marble Noble Phantasm collapses with Longinus still in it. Same goes with Godfrey de Bouillon and Sigurd, the latter mortally wounding the former but not before using his Noble Phantasm to stab Sigurd in his weak spot, killing him for good as he ran out of lives by then.]]

* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler:Sigurd Fafnesbane has this as a Noble Phantasm. Based on how The Volsunga Saga and The Ring of the Nibelung consist of several adventures he partook in, it allows him to [[BackFromTheDead come back to life]] when he is killed as each life is based on a new story being told, similar to Heracles' God Hand representing his Twelve Labours, but it only works up to 7 times and cannot be replenished as the latter can. However, unlike Heracles, his class changes each time he dies such that he went from a Berserker to a Saber over the course of the story.]]

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler: [[Literature/TheOdyssey Odysseus]] battle against [[{{UsefulNotes/Armenia}} Hayk the Great]] is not shown, but it is implied that the latter prevailed.]]

* WeHardlyKnewYe: Some of the Servants end up dying as quickly as they appear. [[spoiler:Francois' first Servant {{UsefulNotes/Boudica}} was [[OffWithHisHead decapitated]] by James' Saber in her ''first introduction'' and several Servants at the Battle of the National Mall like Aeneas of Troy, Hector, Penthesilea, Romulus and Remus, Heracles and Achilles died so quickly that their contribution to the plot is almost non-existent (Although the deaths of Romulus and Remus serves only to summon Gilgamesh). Even their Masters weren't named whether they bit the dust or just vanished after their Servants died such as Aeneas' Master who left Washington now there was nothing left for him.]]
* YouDontLookLikeYou: Several of the Servants [[spoiler: like Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Ozymandias, Oda Nobunaga, Cu Chulainn, Scathach, Sigurd, Heracles, Odysseus, Hector, Penthesilea and Julius Caesar]] who appeared in previous Fate series do not resemble the characters from said series. Instead, they are {{Original Character}}s and are treated as such.

* DiscardAndDraw: Not a weapon, but a ''Servant''. [[spoiler:After Johana's Servant {{Theatre/Lohengrin}} disappears upon revealing his True Name, Filippo notices that her Command Seals are still present and suggest that she invoke the summoning ritual once more. This causes her to summon Godfrey de Bouillon, the fame Crusader Knight and apparent descendent of Lohengrin. It seems that in the event that Lohengrin is gone, his Master can invoke the summoning for his descendent/real-life counterpart.]]

* HandWave: There were some instances of the author doing this in his story. [[spoiler:The most notable is Francois, who, after losing his Servant Boudica, ends up with Napoleon as his replacement. When he asked the overseer George Coleman about it, he said it was because the slots were not filled yet and so he had a second chance at it.]]

* AFatherToHisMen: [[spoiler:Temujin]], both literally and figuratively.

* CoolShip: Also present. [[spoiler:Blackbeard's ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' and Napoleon's ''L'Orient'' are two such examples.]]

* DropTheHammer: Not a hammer per se, but Alexei's Servant [[spoiler:Rostam]] can morph his weapon from a scimitar to a mace. [[spoiler:He uses it to kill Hannibal's elephant Surus with just one blow.]]

* FailureKnight: Johana’s Lancer wouldn’t see himself this way, but [[spoiler: he’s admitted that there’s a dead little sister of some sort in his backstory]]. [[spoiler:It becomes more like a dead lady-in-waiting since he is Lohengrin.]]

* HumanoidAbomination: [[spoiler:Johana was accused of this by Lancer and the reason they parted ways. It turns out to be true.]]
* IceQueen: With her sheltered ojou background and often-overbearing personality, Eleanor fits this trope to a T. She does thaw out with a little help from James.

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler: Odysseus battle against Hayk the Great is neither shown nor is the victor shown, but it is implied that the latter prevailed.]]

* WeHardlyKnewYe: Some of the Servants end up dying as quickly as they appear. [[spoiler:Francois' first Servant {{UsefulNotes/Boudica}} was [[OffWithHisHead decapitated]] by James' Saber in her ''first introduction'' and several Servants at the Battle of the National Mall like Aeneas of Troy, Hector, Penthesilea, Romulus and Remus, Heracles and Achilles died so quickly that their contribution to the plot is almost non-existent. The deaths of Romulus and Remus serves only to summon Gilgamesh. Even their Masters weren't named whether they bit the dust or just vanished after their Servants died such as Aeneas' Master.]]
* YouDontLookLikeYou: Several of the Servants [[spoiler: like Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Oda Nobunaga, Cu Chulainn, Scathach, Sigurd, Heracles, Odysseus, Hector, Penthesilea and Julius Caesar]] who appeared in previous Fate series do not resemble the characters from said series. Instead, they are {{Original Character}}s and are treated as such.

* WeHardlyKnewYe: Some of the Servants end up dying as quickly as they appear. [[spoiler:Francois' first Servant {{UsefulNotes/Boudica}} was [[OffWithHisHead/decapitated]] by James' Saber in her ''first introduction'' and several Servants at the Battle of the National Mall like Aeneas of Troy, Hector, Penthesilea, Romulus and Remus, Heracles and Achilles died so quickly that their contribution to the plot is almost non-existent. The deaths of Romulus and Remus serves only to summon Gilgamesh. Even their Masters weren't named whether they bit the dust or just vanished after their Servants died such as Aeneas' Master.]]

* DualWielding: The Saber-class Servant [[spoiler:El Cid]] spots this with his famed swords [[spoiler:Tizona and Colada.]]

* FourStarBadass: Many of the Servants commandeered an army during life, and it shows. Amongst those are UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat ([[VisualNovel/FateZero not that one]]), UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga, UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan (Temujin), Moctezuma and [[spoiler:UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar]].

* MutualKill: [[spoiler: St. Longinus and Ramesses II die together after the former kills the latter and Ramesses' Reality Marble Noble Phantasm collapses with him in it. Same goes with Godfrey de Bouillon and Sigurd, the latter mortally wounding the former but not before using his Noble Phantasm to stab Sigurd in his weak spot, finally killing him for good.]]

* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler:Sigurd Fafnesbane has this as a Noble Phantasm. Based on how The Volsunga Saga and The Ring of the Nibelung consist of several adventures he partook in, it allows him to come back to life when he is killed as each life is based on a new story being told, similar to Heracles' God Hand representing his Twelve Labours, but it only works up to 7 times and cannot be replenished as the latter can. However, unlike Heracles, his class changes each time he dies such that he went from a Berserker to a Saber over the course of the story.]]

* TheBusCameBack: [[spoiler: Odysseus, who was last seen in the National Mall and made several named and unnamed appearances after his Master dies, returns when he saves James by {{BigDamnHeroes/shooting Rostam full of arrows}}, killing him.]]
* ThoseWackyNazis: Dietrich is an ex-SS Officer [[spoiler:and the Master of Alexander the Great]]. He even participated in the Third Holy Grail War.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Some of the Servants end up dying as quickly as they appear. [[spoiler:Francois' first Servant {{UsefulNotes/Boudica}} was {{OffWithHisHead/decapitated}} by James' Saber in her ''first introduction'' and several Servants at the Battle of the National Mall like Aeneas of Troy, Hector, Penthesilea, Romulus and Remus, Heracles and Achilles died so quickly that their contribution to the plot is almost non-existent. The deaths of Romulus and Remus serves only to summon Gilgamesh. Even their Masters weren't named whether they bit the dust or just vanished after their Servants died such as Aeneas' Master.]]