Harry Dresden never thought himself a hero.
Yet his deeds have earned him a place in the Throne of Heroes, a fact that he realizes seconds after being summoned as a Servant for the 4th Holy Grail War. Harry finds himself in a desperate struggle against heroes of old for the chance of claiming the Holy Grail so that they may fulfill their greatest desire with the artifact's near all-powerful wish.
But dark things stir, and Harry finds himself entangled in the web of a centuries-old conspiracy.
A threat lurks on the horizon, one that seeks to use the Grail War for their own purposes. Trapped in a far-away land, Chicago's only professional wizard must match wits with one of the most dangerous foes he's ever faced, or risk untold destruction.
...some things never change.
The Defiance of Destiny
is a crossover fanfic between Fate/Zero and The Dresden Files written by QAI 521. It follows Harry Dresden as he is summoned as a Servant in the Fourth Holy Grail War.
The Defiance of Destiny contains examples of:
- Ascended Extra: In canon, Assassin was used in a false flag operation and did nothing else of note before being killed shortly after. Here, their character and relationship with Kirei is explored in more depth.
- Adaptational Heroism: In canon, Gilgamesh was the main antagonist who tried to wipe out most of humanity because he was disappointed by their development. Here, he helps Harry in trying to stop Zouken and the Outsiders from trying to use the Grail for their own nefarious purposes. The author explicitly stated that they intend to show why Gilgamesh is the King of Heroes.
- An Arm and a Leg: Waver loses an arm in the process of escaping from He Who Walks Beside.
- Blasé Boast: I am Gilgamesh. Made even more effective by Harry reciting the long list of his achievements right before, and basically crapping his pants in sheer terror when Archer introduces himself. Gilgamesh's existence has been such a major influence on the world that the King of Heroes doesn't need to boast. If you know his name, then it's enough.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Kariya's psyche has been severely damaged by the constant pain caused by the crest worms and Zouken's manipulations. This causes him to be easily manipulated by Zouken and unable to be reasoned with by Harry and Sakura.
- Broken Pedestal: Sakura loses a lot of admiration for Kariya for ignoring Shinji's existence and trying to kill Caster despite her pleas not to.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Harry's first encounter with Zouken does not go well. Harry's completely incapable of fighting back until Sakura accepts him as her Servant.
- Berserker smacks Harry around in their first fight, while Harry isn’t able to do much to stop him.
- The Dreaded: Zouken is this for most of the characters in the story.
- Entertainingly Wrong: Kiritsugu thinks that Tokiomi has managed to build an alliance that essentially puts Archer, Assassin, and Berserker under his command and has staked the deck very much in his favor. This is very much not the case.
- For Want Of A Nail:
- Harry replacing Gilles as the Fourth War Caster prevents the rampage caused by the latter.
- Gilgamesh is too focused on dealing with Zouken to corrupt Kirei here.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: None of Tokiomi’s allies seem to actually like him. Archer and Assassin think he’s an idiot while Kirei respects his abilities as a mage, he notes that he’s a poor teacher with little knowledge of how to actually fight a war and withholds Sakura’s whereabouts from him.
- Fusion Fic: The story blends together the worlds of the Nasuverse and Dresden Files, though it leans heavier towards the latter. As a result, the Fate characters have had their backstories slightly changed to the different rules of the Dresden-verse
- Grievous Harm with a Body: Berserker hits Saber with Harry a few times during their fight.
- Identical Grandson: Karrin Murphy is a Saberface here. Word of God is that Murphy is descended from Morgan. This causes Harry quite a bit of grief when he first meets Saber.
- In Spite of a Nail: A truce against Caster is still made, though here Zouken is manipulating the participants to get rid of Caster as he poses a threat to his plans.
- Despite the different Caster, he still mistakes Saber for someone he loved, though since Harry isn't mad, he quickly accepts that Saber isn't Karrin Murphy.
- The Mole: Maiya turns out to be this, having been infected by Nemesis prior to the start of the story.
- Oh, Crap!: Harry's reaction when Archer introduces himself as Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes. It's very much the sane option when facing the man who singlehandedly drove the gods away from Earth.
- Sins of Our Fathers: Koyanskaya Tamamovitch is a spirit born from the anguish and pain suffered by the animals killed in the Tunguska Event. Needless to say, she has quite the bone to pick with Harry's grandfather, since Ebenezar pulled a Colony Drop on a dragon and caused the event.
- Spanner in the Works: Harry’s summoning is meant to be this in regard to Zouken’s plans.
