Fridge / Fate/Apocrypha

Fridge Brilliance

• The term "Apocrypha" refers to something that is unofficial or obscure. It fits as this series is unconnected to any of the events of Kinoko Nasu's "Fate" series.
• During the ending title “Koe”, which has the Masters/Servants enjoying a rainy day, Karna is notably not happy about the rain. In Hindu mythology, Karna is the son of the Sun God Surya and rival of the Storm God Indra’s son Arjuna, and Indra had requested him to handicap himself as a trade for his Vasavi Shakti weapon, thus Karna would bear a dislike towards rainy weather.
• The choice of the story's Ruler Servants (Jeanne d'Arc and Amakusa Shiro) explicit set them up as Foils to each other—with both of them having lived, led and fought in a time of war (i.e. The Hundred Years War and the Shimabara Rebellion, respectively), plus getting martyred/executed for their faith and actions even before reaching the age of 20. The clear difference in characterization (i.e. where they diverge) also gains additional layers with Reality Subtext: after all, Jeanne dies an Inspirational Martyr well-venerated within the Church, in France and the world throughout (plus her side, France, actually won the Hundred Years' War). By contrast, the Shimabara Rebellion (and, for that matter, any hope of Christianity regaining its footing in Japan) virtually died with Shiro and his followers, with Japanese Catholicism run aground, evolving to an extent that it isn't fully understood by other countries' Catholic Churches^note For a thorough explanation of this, the works of Shūsaku Endō may help.. Amakusa himself remains unrecognized and even unbeatified by the Vatican City. It's probably no surprise that Jeanne (standing in for European Catholicism), someone whose faith was rewarded, will have difficulty connecting with Shiro (standing in for Japanese Catholicism), who experienced misery throughout the centuries.
  • In a similar vein, the new opening to Fate Apocrypha sets up another match between Mordred and Jack—both have Dark and Troubled Past with their "biological" parents, but have better working "parental" figures in their Masters. That said, Reika clearly brings out the further creepiness and inhumanity inside Jack, while Kairi, at the very least, gave Mordred further sense of closure regarding her issues with her father and her rebellion.
• It might seem that Fran was weaker than the Berserkers in the Fate franchise. However, we have to look closer. Both Hercules, Spartacus and Lancelot were either a Semi-Divine or a Badass Normal who had years to hone their skills and power. Fran on the other hand was on Earth for more or less a couple of days, she was emotionally traumatized and yet to gain skills of her own. It leaves little wonder why she lost to Mordred or required some help.
  • It also doesn't help that they're in a world where the longer a legend exists, the stronger that Servant becomes. Fran might have two centuries under her belt, but the youngest of the others, Lancelot, was been around for almost a millenia and a half.
• Studio DEEN's adaptation of Fate/stay night confirmed her gender, of course Mordred would be female. Having two female parents, there is no source of Y-Chromosomes to alter her gender.
• Frankenstein's Monster seemed incredibly mad when Astolfo said he was going to call her "Fran." Of course she'd be ticked off at that; It's a shortened name of her creator's, whom she makes clear her hatred for.
• Meta humor here. Kairi saving Mordred with the hydra antidote is often joked as Kairi ascending her to 3rd ascension due to the lack of armour. The reason the joke works well because is because her 3rd skill, which can only be unlocked in the 3rd ascension, raises defense, NP gauge and clears status aliments, perfect for countering Semiramis' poison based NP.
• Somewhat Fridge Tearjerker, but consider Morgan Le Fay's very brief appearance in the anime for Mordred's past. She sounds a bit odd, like she's straining her voice in anger or anguish. However, consider some factors: Morgause, the supposed third sister to Morgan and Artoria doesn't exist in the Fateverse, so all traits concerning her went to Morgan. Including the factor that Sirs Gawain, Gaheris, Agravain and Gareth were her children, alongside Mordred. Now, remember one detail in the Arthurian Legends is that Lancelot (who is confirmed in the Nasuverse to have done the same thing) had killed Agravain, Gaheris and Gareth. The former upon discovering the affair and potentially all three when trying to save Guinevere from execution. Another detail is that after this event, Artoria had given an official pardon to Lancelot and Guinevere, saying "their actions must have good cause". Now look at it all from Morgan's point of view: three of her children were murdered in less than a day, and her own sister pardons their murderer believing that his actions might've had a good cause. It's very likely that Morgan was fueled by rage and still grieving for her children, as evidenced by her black robes and veil that can be seen as like a mourning veil.
• Amakusa Shirou being summoned makes some amount of sense, as he was a native to the country where the third Holy Grail War was taking place.
• Waver Velvet still went on to become Lord El-Melloi II even though the Fourth Grail War didn't happen. The Fridge Brilliance kicks in when you remember the paper he wrote (that was ridiculed by Kayneth, the first Lord El-Melloi) asserted that hard work and dedication could allow a magus to overcome the disadvantage of a limited lineage. From the look of it, he was right. Similarly, because the Fourth Grail War didn't happen, Kayneth presumably died in a way that left his Crest intact for transplantation in the next Lord El-Melloi. Seeing as Waver controls a Volumen Hydragyrum, we can assume who received the transplantation.
• Astolfo coming to save Sieg from Karna is actually apt, considering he's a moon-powered Hero going up against a sun-powered Hero.
• What did Artoria mean when she told Mordred "You lacked the capacity of a king"? Well, think about what Artoria thought being a King required; in order to properly rule, she believed that she needed to be completely impartial and detached, something that involved shutting off all of her emotions and personal desires and becoming The Stoic. Now look at Mordred: if what we see of her in the Great Holy Grail War is anything to go by, she was Hot-Blooded, enthusiastic in her loyalty, and a Boisterous Bruiser. In other words, she's a very emotion-driven individual, the exact opposite of what Artoria believed a King should be.
  • This gets further enforced by the fact that she left Mordred in charge when she went on expedition to Rome. While she didn't think Mordred should have been King full-time, she certainly thought that she had the administrative skills for running a country and that she was capable of guiding and keeping the populace safe from danger. To her, Mordred likely ticked all the boxes except for the need to be practically emotionless, which is what Artoria viewed as the most important quality to have.
  • Adds a bit of a Tearjerker moment, seeing as the two probably would have had a happier relationship if Artoria wasn't so painstakingly dedicated to her beliefs of how a King should rule and treated Mordred warmer than what said belief dictated.
• Karna died in Apocrypha as he did in life - brought down by the combination of many different factors dogpiling him all at once. In life, he had given up his armor, had Brahmastra sealed off from him when he needed it most, and his chariot got stuck, and Arjuna still needed to shoot him in the back in order to claim victory. In Apocrypha, Sieg's back to back usage of Balmung prevented him gaining real advantage with Brahmastra, so in order to seize a proper martial victory he opted to sacrifice his armor in exchange for firing Vasavi Shakti, which was swallowed up by Astolfo coming in with Akhilleus Kosmos, and even after all that Sieg needed to sucker punch him with the sword he got from Astolfo in order to land the blow needed to end the battle.
  • Above all, the part that screwed him most was actually his strong sense of honor robbing him of his armor both times - as stated, he gave up his armor in life to fulfill his vow of charity, even when he knew that Indra had basically come to rob him of it. In Apocrypha, he wanted to win against Siegfried the Servant, not Sieg the homunculus. He wanted a proper contest of arms against a worthy opponent, and thus in this particular instance the time limit on Sieg's transformation was more of a hindrance to Karna than to Sieg; their battle was basically stalemated as things were, which meant that Sieg would probably revert to normal before they could settle the fight. Not wanting to win via time-out, he instead opted to sacrifice his armor for the brute force he needed to claim the victory he desired, a decision which cost him when things didn't go the way he expected.
• Of course Mordred didn't manage to finish off Semiramis. Kairi Ordered her to "Kill the King". When Mordred did that in her Backstory, her victim still had enough life left to accomplish one last thing, as does Semiramis here.
• Achilles' appearance is rather unusual given his backstory and description in the Iliad... until you realize that he needed to be distinct. Consider his mythological appearance; red-haired and beautiful enough to be mistaken for a woman. Considering the similarly absurd number of Noble Phantasms, it's likely that Nasu just wanted the two Riders to be distinct!
  • In the Iliad, Achilles is described to be inhuman in mannerisms and unable to relate to anyone except Patroclus and Briseis, but in Apocrypha, he's a Boisterous Bruiser Blood Knight. It makes sense, though, as this is his incarnation from the beginning years of the Trojan War, which he joined despite not being a part of the Pan-Hellenic Blood Oath because he thought it would be fun.
• Jack's fixation towards "returning to the womb" isn't just something made up for her backstory; the real-life Whitechapel murders had the victims specifically mutilated in the abdomen and groin areas—as if the killer was forcibly opening the womb!