Topic: Fate Stay/Night: Unlimited Blade Works Review
While mom didn’t watch all of it, she actually kind of wants to now, just to see where the story goes. This isn’t a bad thing, if anything, another person who will finally understand my undying love for Saber. Okay maybe not undying love, but atleast sees these complicated characters and world for what they are.
To help people follow along, here’s a list of the various characters that are seen throughout the series,...
Topic: Fate Stay/Night: Unlimited Blade Works Review
While mom didn’t watch all of it, she actually kind of wants to now, just to see where the story goes. This isn’t a bad thing, if anything, another person who will finally understand my undying love for Saber. Okay maybe not undying love, but atleast sees these complicated characters and world for what they are.
To help people follow along, here’s a list of the various characters that are seen throughout the series, to better allow you to follow along.
Masters:
Shirou Emiya
A lead protagonist, and Master of Saber. He has a strong sense of justice and wants to be a hero, despite little to no aptitude for magic. While unfamiliar with the rules and true nature of events, he fights in an effort to stop all the fighting and end the war as soon as possible.
Rin Tohsaka
Daughter of a prestigious mage family, she is the Master of Archer, and tends to act as a Tsudere type character. (IE, acts very brash and brutish to the main character, before becoming friendly and loving with them later.) Rin continues to pursue the Holy Grail due to her family’s strong desire to reach the Root, and joins only out of obligation.
Illyasviel von Einzbern
She is from a prestigious Mage family and is the Master of Berserker. While she appears to be the youngest participant in the war, she is actually 18 years old, but takes the form of a ten to twelve year old child. She is actually a homunculi and Shirou’s step sister, for whom she has a conflicted relationship. She believes she was abandoned for Shirou, but in reality, her father was unable to return to the castle to retrieve Illya, leaving her to be lonely and pressured to perfect her magical skills.
Shinji Matou
Sakura’s older brother and Master of Rider. A chauvinistic and a narcissist, he openly treats Shirou with hostility and derision. He is has no real magical skill, as the Matou family’s magical bloodline has been diluted over the decades. This is what prompts the head of the Matou family to adopt Sakura, previously of the Tohsaka Family, and raise her to be the Matou’s next heir instead of Shinji. This prompts Shinji to take his anger and frustrations out on Sakura.
Souichirou Kuzuki
A strict teacher of Rin’s Class, he is the Master of Caster. While he does not desire the Grail, he becomes the master of Caster due to Caster killing her previous master and him wanting to help her. It’s implied that Him and Caster are potentially involved romantically.
Servants:
Saber
Artoria Pendragon(King Arthur), the King of Knights, who was actually a girl. She a stoic and knightly figure, but brushes up against Shirou, who tries to save her and sees her more as a girl than a knightly figure. She is in the fight due to her desire to rewind history and stop herself from drawing the sword in the stone.
Archer
A mysterious individual who is capable of summoning sword and turning them in to Arrows to fire from his bow. He doesn’t remember what Heroic Spirit he is suppose to be, and often acts fickle and teasingly with Rin, and hostile with Shirou, who he dislikes. Despite being a long range class, Archer regularly uses swords he creates from his magic.
Lancer
Cu Chulainn(Child of Light), a Hero from the Ulster Cycle of Irish Mythology. His master is unknown, but primarily acts as a watchdog and assassin during the course of the war.
Berserker
Hercules, one of the greatest heroes in Greek mythology. He is deeply loyal to Illyasviel, but lacks emotions due to his Berserker class. His Noble Phantasm is known as his Twelve Labors, which represent his immortality; upon receiving enough damage that would otherwise kill him, he regenerates and loses one of his Labors(Lives).
Caster
Medea, an unfortunate priestess from the tales of Jason and the Argonauts. She is renown for her magical prowess, which surpasses most masters and magus of this age. Due to her killing her original master, and leaving only six known masters, she uses her magical prowess to obtain fake command seals and summon Assassin, thus becoming the seventh Master.
Assassin
Sasaki Kojirou, a mythical swordsman said to have faced Miyamoto Musashi in combat. Assassin is actually a false servant, as servants summoned by the Assassin class are all former owners of the name Hassan-i-Sabbah(Old Man of the Mountain). Because he was summoned under false pretenses by Caster, herself a Servant, he is bound to the Ryuudou Temple where both Caster and Souichirou reside, unable to leave the grounds.
Rider
Medusa, the Gorgon of Greek Mythology. Initially she is the servant to Sakura Matou, but due to Shinji Matou insistence, Sakura transferred her rights as Master to him. She still seeks to protect Sakura but act Loyal to Shinji’s orders and commands. Her Noble Phantasm is a Pegasus that she rides, hence of the Rider Class.
Other:
Sakura Matou
A part of a rival Mage Family, she is a friend to Shirou and often takes care of him. She does this as her Brother is mean and cruel to Shirou, and she does it as penance for her brother’s actions. She primarily serves as a support character during the Fate and Unlimited Blade Works routes, but becomes a primary protagonist during the Heaven’s Feel route, where we find out how poorly she was treated and routinely tortured by the Matou’s magical training, and by Shinji.
Kirei Kotomine
An Observer from the Holy Church, he was a former master in the 4th Holy Grail War and acts as an impartial judge and moderator for the 5th Holy Grail War. He is described as a defective person: finding pleasure in the misfortune and suffering of others, but never openly seeking it for them. He acts as Rin’s legal guardian, and convinces Shirou to participate in the Holy Grail War.
Gilgamesh
The King of Heroes, ruler of Mesopotamia, and considered the first hero due to his record being amongst the first ever recorded. He was of the Archer Class during the 4th Holy Grail War, but survived to take on a mortal body following its conclusion. He acts as a 8th Servant during the 5th Holy Grail War. Gilgamesh is known for believing everything of value belongs to him, including the Holy Grail. His Noble Phantasm is known as the Gate of Babylon, a massive vault that holds all the treasures he collected during his life time, including all the prototypes of Noble Phantasms, which he launches like bullets and rockets at his enemies.
Taiga Fujimura
Shirou’s legal guardian and English teacher at the school Rin, Sakura, Shinji, and Shirou all attend. While she a comedic character, she is unaware of the magical nature of the events happening around her, and is oblivious to the events of the series. She plays limited parts in the various routes, and is primarily a background character.
