History YMMV / FatePrototype

** Archer (Arash): Ironically, since he debuted in Fragments and VideoGame/FateGrandOrder at roughly the same time. At first he was more popular as a MemeticLoser for being a servant with the lowest rarity and his Noble Phantasm. It's not until he appeared more and had his part of the spotlight in Fragments that people warmed up to him, on top of his gameplay role being heavily reassessed with time and becoming popular as a low-rarity farming superstar with surprising utility in harder fights. His NiceGuy attitude and later [[spoiler: HeroicSacrifice in trying to take down Ramesses]] basically sealing the deal for some (and him getting similar spotlight heroics in ''GO'' helped this even more).

** Archer (Arash): Ironically, since he debuted in Fragments and VideoGame/FateGrandOrder at roughly the same time. At first he was more popular as a TierInducedScrappy and MemeticLoser for being a servant with the lowest rarity and his Noble Phantasm. It's not until he appeared more and had his part of the spotlight in Fragments that people warmed up to him. His NiceGuy attitude and later [[spoiler: HeroicSacrifice in trying to take down Ramesses]] basically sealing the deal for some (and him getting similar spotlight heroics in ''GO'' helped this even more).

* {{Fanon}}: It's a popularly accepted theory that Elsa Saijou is possibly [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Shirou Emiya's]] biological mother, based on Shirou's resemblance to [[https://i.imgur.com/vJMqFZCl.jpg her son Luca]] and how we never really get to see what Shirou's biological parents look like except in the [[https://i.imgur.com/Th6ROg5.jpg Heaven's Feel manga]].

** Proto Mordred also has some unhealthy desires for their father.

* {{Fanon}}: It's a popularly accepted theory that Elsa Saijou is possibly [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Shirou Emiya's]] biological mother, based on Shirou's resemblance to [[https://i.imgur.com/vJMqFZCl.jpg?1 her son Luca]] (dead link) and how we never really get to see what Shirou's biological parents look like except in the [[https://i.imgur.com/Th6ROg5.jpg Heaven's Feel manga]].

* {{Fanon}}: It's a popularly accepted theory that Elsa Saijou is possibly [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Shirou Emiya's]] biological mother, based on Shirou's resemblance to [[https://i.imgur.com/vJMqFZCl.jpg?1 her son]] and how we never really get to see what Shirou's biological parents look like except in the [[https://i.imgur.com/Th6ROg5.jpg Heaven's Feel manga]].

* {{Fanon}}: It's a popularly accepted theory that Elsa Sajyou is possibly [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Shirou Emiya's]] biological mother, based on Shirou's resemblance to [[https://i.imgur.com/vJMqFZCl.jpg?1 her son]] and how we never really get to see what Shirou's biological parents look like except in the [[https://i.imgur.com/Th6ROg5.jpg Heaven's Feel manga]].

* EnsembleDarkhorse:

** Lancer (Brynhild): owing to her awesome design by none other than Miwa Shirow. Her tragic character cemented the fandom's liking for her. Helps that she's the only female Servant in a CastFullOfPrettyBoys that are the ''Prototype'' Servants that is not a Saberface or a Hassan-style Assassin.

* AwesomeMusic:
** From the Fragments Drama CD soundtrack comes [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjv_UeBlPrk Knight of Sky Silver]], a melody that basically serves as the main theme of Fragments and of Arthur's story during it.

* NeverLiveItDown: Rider/Perseus has been shown to have more sympathetic background, more normal personality and better fighting prowess in this installment, and yet he really never escaped the stigma of being a 'successful [[MemeticLoser Shinji Matou]]' as Medusa coined him in ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'' (and never mind that in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', they already showed another Greek hero that fit that term better than Perseus: Jason)

* {{Fanon}}: It's a popularly accepted theory that Elsa Sajyou is possibly [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Shirou Emiya's]] biological mother, based on Shirou's resemblance to her son and how we never really get to see what Shirou's biological parents look like.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjv_UeBlPrk Knight of Sky Silver]], a melody that basically serves as the main theme of Fragments and of Arthur's story during it.

* {{Fanonn}}: It's a popularly accepted theory that Elsa Sajyou is possibly [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Shirou Emiya's]] biological mother, based on Shirou's resemblance to her son and how we never really get to see what Shirou's biological parents look like.

** Fragments-Rider (Ozymandias/Ramesses II) as well as Proto-Archer (Gilgamesh) have both been extremely well received. The former for being the very first Egyptian Servant, [[HiddenDepths his personality involving more than just his surface-level arrogance]], and [[SuperpowerLottery powerful abilities]]. Proto-Archer for being... [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Well, being another less dickish version of Gilgamesh]].

** Proto Mordred also has some umhealthy desires for their father.

** Lancer (Brynhild): owing to her awesome design by none other than Miwa Shirow. Her tragic character cemented the fandom's liking for her. Helps that she's the only other female Servant in a CastFullOfPrettyBoys.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Fans either love or hate Manaka, there is no in-between. Either she's a badass and refreshingly fun BigBad (and VillainProtagonist in ''Fragments'') who spins around many typica tropes and whose child-like craziness makes quite the contrast with the usual angsty villainesses who need tragic reasons to ever turn to the bad side, or she's a stupid and flat Villain Sue without any qualities to compensate for how much of an asshole she is to anyone not named Saber and who gets away with way too many things.
** What makes this a bit funny is that this may well be ''why'' the character didn't make it into ''F/SN'' proper; even internally, Nasu & co. probably realized that she's interesting but definitely rubs some people the wrong way, and she was probably split into a few different characters so that the narrative wouldn't be so loaded on just one person.

** Brynhildr is a tragic heroine whose entire legend centers around her love, and in turn, any man who matches the quality of her lover, Sigurd, in life, she will call Sigurd and [[{{Yandere}} desperately try to kill them.]] So, why is this tragic? [[spoiler: There is one man she doesn't call Sigurd. In the climax of the battle for Tokyo, Brynhildr's rune is going out of control and, in a moment, of clarity, she calls Arthur by name and begs him to kill her. He accepts, but as she fades away, her affections haven't daunted -- but she's not calling him Sigurd. Cut to years later in Prototype, and the Servants who were trapped in the Grail are risen by Manaka as undead Alters, Brynhildr included. Her goal, just as ever, is to kill the man she loves...but this time, the name firmly in her mind is Arthur. Against all odds, against the very foundation of her existence and legend, Brynhildr truly fell in love with a man she truly saw as himself...and no one will ever know it.]]

* TearJerker: Much of the ending of Fragments. [[spoiler: It's not that Arthur killed Manaka because he found out her true intentions, and he hadn't been fighting his way to reach her with that in mind, either. But when he arrived just in time to witness her father butchered, scores of young girls throwing themselves to the mouth of the Grail and a young Ayaka screaming and crying in fear as her own older sister dragged her by the hair to throw her to her death as a mere sacrifice, there was just no other way. Unusued stills from the Prototype OVA hammer home his misery at what he had to do by showing his face after running Manaka through, cast in shame by his hood with a look of the purest melancholy emptiness. This action would even cause him to slip off the wagon somewhat in becoming an a shade nihilistic.]]