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Fate/Apocrypha (フェイト/アポクリファ, Feito/Apokurifa?) is a light novel written by Yuuichirou Higashide with illustrations by Ototsugu Konoe and supervised by Kinoko Nasu who planned and wrote majority of the story elements for Apocrypha characters and the plot. The first volume was released on December 29, 2012 at Comiket 83. The second volume was released on August 16, 2013. The third volume was released on December 29, 2013. The fourth volume was released on May 30, 2014. The fifth and final volume was released on December 30, 2014.

Story[]

Apocrypha Poster

Novel Promotion Poster, featuring Ruler, Saber of Black and Assassin of Red.

The setting of Fate/Apocrypha is a parallel world to Fate/stay night and its prequel Fate/Zero where the Greater Grail was removed from Fuyuki after the Third Holy Grail War and disappeared for many years. Around the 2000s, around the same time as the Fifth Holy Grail War would have happened, the group that plundered the Grail, Yggdmillennia, openly declares their secession from the Mage's Association and that they are in possession of the Grail. The Association dispatches fifty magi to retrieve it, but all but one are instantly slaughtered by Lancer of Black. The one remaining manages to activate the reserve system of the Greater Grail, allowing for the summoning of fourteen Servants in total.

This marks the start of the Great Holy Grail War in Trifas, featuring two different factions, the Black Faction (黒の陣営, Kuro no Jinei?), represented by Yggdmillenia, and the Red Faction (赤の陣営, Aka no Jinei?), whose members were sent by the Mage's Association with the exception of one from the Church. The Grail itself also summons Ruler to act as a mediator of the Holy Grail War.

Characters[]

Sieg / Homunculus[]

Sieg is the main protagonist of Fate/Apocrypha series. He is a Homunculus created by Gordes Musik Yggdmillennia. Gordes created a way to manipulate the Mana Pathway system so that he, along with six others, are providing magical energy for all of the Servants. He is saved by Ruler, Astolfo (Rider), and Siegfried who sacrifices himself so Sieg may live longer than the normal 3 years allotted to homunculi.


Ruler / Jeanne d'Arc[]

Ruler is the Ruler-class Servant.


Black Faction[]

The Black Faction is made up of members of Yggdmillennia and the independent Reika Rikudou who ended up with Assassin's contract. While Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia is the head of the group, he defers to Lancer of Black for running the Holy Grail War. The vanguard of their combat force consists of many homunculi crafted by the family and golems crafted by Caster of Black. While not strong enough to face Servants directly, they can stall them and provide support for the Black's Servants. Both Lancer and Archer spend time with the other Yggdmillennia magi to prepare countermeasures against attacking Servants. Darnics still has a number of family members spread throughout the Association and Church, allowing for them to relay necessary information on the opposing Masters.

Their homunculi are born through alchemy as fully matured man-made organisms born to fight, destroy, and die. Their combat homunculi wield gigantic halberds and are capable of producing complex magical rituals to cause massive destruction. They posses various corporeal defects that when compensated for limits their lifespan to two months. They are meant to be expendable, willingly sent in large numbers to hinder Servants. They have diluted emotions that make them capable of charging into battle, but they are still wary of Servants. They have the strength to harm Servants, but pose little threat. Working together with the golems, even over one hundred pose little threat to Berserker of Red. Those made to supply energy for Servants are kept with their consciousness undeveloped, and sealed in magical energy supply tanks with reinforced glass. Preserved in a green jade solution to act more efficiently with a breathing apparatus, they take in mana from the atmosphere to provide to the Servants. They are also occasionally taken for Caster's usage as materials for his golems.

The Masters of their side have a significant advantage over those of the Red Faction in that they do not have to provide the cost of their Servant's upkeep and battle usage. Devised by Gordes Musik Yggdmillennia, he has managed to use his alchemical knowledge along with Yggdmillennia's homunculi to manipulate the system to allow for the division of the magical energy pathways supplying the Servants, bypassing the Masters and leading to the homunculi. While the Masters provide the minimum amount necessary to allow the Servants to exist in the world as a backup measure, the Servants do not use any of the Master's energy for utilizing their Noble Phantasms, automatic recovery, or in their own usage of magecraft. This allows the Masters to save their own energy for battle and for Servants to be less selective in using Noble Phantasms, differing from those who have to supply their Servant and manage their battle expenditures.

Masters

Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia
Black Lancer's Master and the leader of the Yggdmillennia group. He is almost a century old despite looking in his 20s. He plundered the Holy Grail from the Third Holy Grail War of Fuyuki.
Gordes Musik Yggdmillennia
He summoned Saber of Black with a bloodstained leaf of a Sacred Fig tree as a catalyst.
Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillennia
A girl assumed to be Darnic's successor. She summoned Archer of Black using an ancient arrow as a catalyst.
Celenike Icecolle Yggdmillennia
She summoned Rider of Black with a glass bottle which had a liquid stain left on it as a catalyst.
Roche Frain Yggdmillennia
He is thirteen years old, and already famous in the field of 'Doll Engineering'. Respectfully refers to the Caster of Black he has summoned as 'Sensei'; their relationship is close to that of a teacher and student. Spends all his time building golems in a workshop in the city for the Holy Grail War.
Caules Forvedge Yggdmillennia
Fiore's little brother. He is immature and childish for his age. He summoned Berserker of Black, with the blueprints of the 'Ideal Human' as a catalyst.
Reika Rikudou
She's a prostitute who lived with Sagara Hyouma until he used her as a sacrifice to summon the Assassin of Black, who saved her life and killed Sagara.

Servants

Saber of Black
Siegfried, the Dragon-Blooded Knight.
Archer of Black
Chiron, the mentor of Greek heroes
Lancer of Black
Vlad III, the Lord Impaler
Rider of Black
Astolfo, the Twelfth Paladin of Charlemagne.
Caster of Black
Solomon ibn Gabirol, also called Avicebron, the master of golems
Berserker of Black
Frankenstein, Frankenstein's Monster
Assassin of Black
Jack the Ripper, Legendary Serial Killer

Red Faction[]

The Red Faction consists of people selected by the Clock Tower specifically for the purpose of retrieving the Greater Grail and stopping Yggdmillennia's defection. They decide to choose outside professionals and some from the Clock Tower as well. Those from the great families cannot be chosen, as it would require over three months of politics like succession and the safekeeping of Magic Crests before a selection can even be confirmed. Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri decides upon the catalysts, while Rocco Belfaban and Lord El-Melloi II handle the participants. They heavily restrict travel to Romania for magi to prevent the unlikely scenario of Command Spells manifesting on a third-rate magus.

They seek one Master from the Church in order to have their involvement prove the legitimacy of their cause. Although they do not need an impartial overseer like the Fuyuki conflicts due to it being a struggle between two opposing forces of magi, it would be a problem if they were to instead back the Black Faction. They wish to proclaim themselves as the only legitimate thaumaturgical organization even if it means having a Master as the overseer.


Should they emerge victorious, they plan to take the Greater Grail for safekeeping. Belfaban admits that such a thing would likely be difficult due to the survivor being faced with something that can lead to the Root, so the result will be up to them. They can attempt a wish, or even destroy everything to prevent others from making one themselves. Kairi Sisigou believes that Belfaban will prepare a retrieval team to quickly move in once the war ends, but plans to get around them to make his own wish.

Masters

Kairi Sisigou
A freelance Necromancer. He summoned Saber of Red with a splinter of the Round Table. He notes that the selected members are world renowned magi that are known as monsters specialized in combat. They remove the opposition without mercy, and he can account for their skills, having worked with all of them with the exception of Sembren.
Shirou Kotomine
He was sent by the Church as a supervisor and also he is the Master of Assassin of Red.

Former Masters
After arriving, the other five Masters become entranced through unknown means by Shirou, who acts as their "intermediary" on their behalf. Their Servants are summoned in Shirou's presence and lead to believe that their Masters simply wish to remain hidden, while the Masters sit in a set-up reminiscent of a throne room behind a thin curtain. They spend their time sharing stories in peace, only dealing with the status of the war when Shirou reports to them. Kneeling reverently, he feeds them false details of victory over five of the Red Faction Servants while attempting to convince them to relinquish control to him. While they consider it, they feel it is too dangerous to give up control at the moment. As their common sense has mostly collapsed, they eventually concede to the idea after another attempt.

Along with Sisigou, each is said to be a veteran magi among the elites of the elites of the Clock Tower. Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia believe only he and Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillennia among the Black Masters would stand any chance at opposing them directly in battle.

Rottweil Berzinsky
A freelance Magus, also known as the Silver Lizard (銀蜥蜴(シルバーリザード), Gin Tokage(Shirubā Rizādo)?).
Jean Rum
A freelance Magus, also known as Gale Wheel (疾風車輪, Hayate Sharin?).
Pentel brothers
Two brothers of the Pentel family known as the Gum Brothers (結合した双子(ガムブラザーズ), Ketsugō Shita Futago(Gamu Burazāzu)?)
Feend vor Sembren
First-class instructor of the Clock Tower.

Servants

Saber of Red
Mordred, The Knight of Treachery.
Archer of Red
Atalanta, The Huntress of Chastity.
Lancer of Red
Karna, The Hero of Generosity.
Rider of Red
Achilles, The invincible hero of Troy.
Caster of Red
Shakespeare, The World's Greatest Playwright.
Berserker of Red
Spartacus, The Gladiator.
Assassin of Red
Semiramis, Wise Queen of Assyria.

Others

Lord El-Melloi II
Lord El-Melloi II is one of the principal people in preparing for the Holy Grail War. He dislikes being referred to as "Lord El-Melloi" because it is grating to hear it spoken without the "II."
Rocco Belfaban
Rocco Belfaban is the head of the Department of Summoning in the Mage's Association, and one of the principal people in preparing for the Holy Grail War. He personally hires Kairi Sisigou, and although he tries to pass it off as a forgery, reluctantly parts with his juvenile hydra as part of the payment.
Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri
Bram Nuada-De Sophia-Ri is the brother of Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri and the successor of the head of the Department of Evocation. He is confident in his ability to acquire powerful catalysts in a short time.
Sagara Hyouma
A magus who lived with Reika in the original pilot of the series. He is the original Master of the Jack the Ripper. He summoned her using Jack the Ripper's knives as the catalyst and Reika as a sacrifice to make the summoning more effective. He's killed by the Black Assassin shortly after he summons her.

Discarded characters[]

David
A servant of the Archer class, he and Georgios are later removed from the finished product in order to make way for the new Archer servant of the Black faction.
Musashibou Benkei
A servant of the Lancer class, he and Kintoki were removed from the finished product in order to make way for Red Saber and Black Caster.
Georgios
A servant of the Rider class, alongside with David, he's removed later for the new Servants.
Sakata Kintoki
Originally a servant of the Berserker class, he and Benkei were removed from the finished story in favor of Red Saber and Black Caster.

Volumes[]

The first volume was released December 29, 2012, and the fifth and final volume was released on December 30, 2014. The series was later re-released under Kadokawa Bunko on September 21, 2019. Kadokawa's last volume was released on March 19, 2020.

Volume 1[]

Apocrypha: Great Holy Grail War (外典:聖杯大戦, Geten: Seihai Taisen?)

First volume transcription

Volume 2[]

Round Dance of Black / Festival of Red (黒の輪舞/赤の祭典, Kuro no Rinbu/Aka no Saiten?)

Second volume transcription

...

……。


Volume 3[]

Triumphal Return of the Saint (聖人の凱旋, Seijin no Gaisen?)

Third volume transcription

...

……。


Volume 4[]

Cup of Purgatory (熾天の杯, Oki Ten'nosakazuki?)

Fourth volume transcription

...

……。


Volume 5[]

Evil Dragon and the Holy Woman (邪竜と聖女, Yokoshima Ryū to Seijo?)

Fifth volume transcription

Saving people is difficult.

If you try hard enough, it's probably possible to save someone.
What good comes from giving a single day's meal to those starved on the verge of death?
What good comes from promising a single day's pleasure to those who live a life of despair?
These are both acts of hypocrisy and, at the same time, a form of sincere justice.
But neither goodness nor justice can solve anything—

The idea of saving humanity is merely a pípe dream.
If you place the weight known as yourself on the scale, it will definitely lean to one side.
So should one praise justice and punish evil?
If humans were such simple beings, no one would worry or suffer.

“There is a way," the boy said.
It is a method to promise a life of eternal happiness to the starving.
It is a method to teach the wicked the meaninglessness of evil.
The boy gave the name of salvation: the Third Sorcery.

There is no such thing as absolute justice. while struggling with inner turmoil, Ruler moves forward--and at last comes to a halt.
No one will be hurt. No one will despair.
Then, is that method correct?
If it is correct—is it right to turn her blade against "him"?

A girl who was once called a saint anguishes.
Over whether to save humanity or to take down the savior.

...In the hanging gardens of vanity, the time of the final decisive battle approaches.

人を救うのは厳しい。

とこまで教えば、教ったことになるのだろう。
死ぬほと戦えた者に、一日の食料を渡したところで何になる。
 絶望の人生を過ごしている者に、一日の享楽を約束したところで何になる。
それは偽善であると同時に誠実な正義だけれど。
善も正義も何の解決にもならない――。

人類を救うなと、夢物語に過ぎない。
天秤に自己という名のを載せれば、必ずとちらかがるだけ。
ならば正義を唄い、悪を罰せば良いのか。
人がそんな単純な存在であれば、誰もが悩みはしない。

手段がある、と少年は言った。
「それは加えた者に、永遠の生命を約束する式。
それは邪悪なる者に、私の無意味さを知らしめる式。
第三の魔法、と少年は教済の名を指し示した。

絶対正義なと存在しない。
裁定者は悩み足掻きながら、前に進み一途に立ち止まる。
「誰も傷つかない。誰も絶望しない。
ならば、それは正しいのか。
もし正しいと言うのならば一「彼」に刃を向けるのは、正しいのか。

かつて聖女と呼ばれた少女は、煩関する。
人類を救済するのか、それとも教済者を討つのか。

......虚栄の空中庭園にて、決戦の時が迫る。

Development[]

Game[]

Apocrypha

Title page of canceled game.

Originally introduced as a canceled project for an online MMO game, various details and character designs were collected in Fate/complete material IV Extra material. TYPE-MOON and an unnamed video game developer were developing this game, however, the project was discontinued right at the planning stages.

The original gameplay would have involved the players acting as Masters, and fighting with each other's Servants. Nasu wanted the online game to have a world with a complete story, despite being an online game. While the overall story would change depending upon the Servants' relationship with the Masters, the story would conclude with Ruler activating her ultimate Noble Phantasm that she had been stubbornly withholding, thus creating a world with a complete story despite its nature as an online game.[1]

Light novels[]

It was announced in November 2011 that a new project was for the concept would be made in the form a light novel series.[2] It was to be written by Yuuichirou Higashide, a writer working for visual novel company Propeller, and he later confirmed on his Twitter that he was writing Fate/Apocrypha in novel format with illustrations by Ototsugu Konoe.[3]

The idea of "doing something that would have been impossible in the original game setting" was one of the concepts of Apocrypha, and how Higashide came up with the idea of seven Servants VS seven Servants following that line of thought. At first, Semiramis was the mastermind in the initial stages of the plot, but all the characters including her who had already been released in Fate/complete material IV along with the original setting were deemed to have too weak of an impact as a mastermind. Therefore, following the main concept, Higashide came up with Amakusa Shirou Tokisada as the main villain, with Makai TenshoWP serving as an even further impetus (since Amakusa is the main villain in that work). He was created to be a complete contrast to Jeanne d'Arc as one was a young boy and a young girl, both of their battles heavily connected to flags, and one who never became a saint while the other did. Their points of commonality and difference were so clear and contrastive that Higashide selected him as the last boss.[4] During this period of the plot creation, the following had already been basically decided: "Romanian stage. Vlad III’s big fame bonus. Central Servants are Jeanne and Astolfo, and the rival Servant is Amakusa Shirou Tokisada."[5]

One aspect of the plot that was decided near the beginning was that "Frankenstein will use her Noble Phantasm and revive," so Frankenstein had to take up the slot for the ally Berserker.[5] From the initial plotting stages it was decided that Kairi Sisigou and Mordred would “rampage around as they like without regretting anything and fight and fight until they die while smiling” as “this story’s Bonnie and Clyde.”[6][7] During the initial plot, Shakespeare was even supposed to be an ally, and there was a scenario where “just as the protagonist is about to die, his Servant Shakespeare activates his Noble Phantasm and somehow manages to find a way to survive,” but the idea was quickly discarded.[8] His Noble Phantasm First Folio had the power to rewind time in the initial storyboarding, but since that didn’t have much meaning in terms of the story’s development, the idea was discarded. The fact that Aoko Aozaki was going to appear in Mahoutsukai no Yoru after the prototype Fate/Apocrypha also played a big part in the decision.[9]

The Servants Sakata Kintoki, Musashibou Benkei, Georgios, and David were discarded in the transition from the proto-version of Apocrypha featured in Fate/complete material IV to the official light novels.[5]

He released a story penned as the first chapter under the title of "Fate/Apocrypha Act 1: Unbirth", focusing on Jack the Ripper (which he designed for the original MMO game) and her Master, Reika Rikudou, in TYPE-MOON Ace Volume 7 on December 15, 2011.[10] While the story elements of Reika and Jack still exist in the novel version, the story itself has no relation to the plot of the novels. He released a preview of the novel in TYPE-MOON Ace Volume 8, where it is shown that Musashibou Benkei and Sakata Kintoki have not been included within the story.

Originally it was planned that the story would end in four books, however Higashide confirmed that the novel would extend to five books.[11]

Following the end of the series, some more extra side stories would be released. A short novella titled "Fate/Apocrypha: Zugzwang", focusing once more on Jack the Ripper and Reika Rikudou facing a team of spellcasting mercenaries called Zugzwang, was published in TYPE-MOON Ace Volume 10 on July 1, 2015. With the anime adaptation came stories written by Higashide and released with the Blu-ray disk boxes. The first Blu-ray release came with "Blank space",[12] an anthology of three short stories showcasing the backstories of Reika Rikudou, the Forvedge siblings, and Kairi Sisigou before the start of the Great Holy Grail War.[13] The second Blu-ray release contained Fate/Apocrypha: Side of Survivor (フェイト/アポクリファ: Side of Survivor, Feito/Apokurifa: Side of Survivor?), a short novella epilogue following Astolfo interviewing the survivors of the Great Holy Grail War, released on March 28, 2018.[14]

Staff[]

The Servants were designed and drawn by a variety of different people.

Servant Designer[]

Servant Illustrator[]

Trailers[]

Manga[]

Main article: Fate/Apocrypha (manga)

The Novel received a manga adaptation illustrated by Akira Ishida and published by Kadokawa ShotenWP. The Manga started serialization at the beginning of the year 2016 and is still ongoing. 13 volumes are currently released, with the first volume released on August 23, 2016.

Anthology[]

Main article: Fate/Apocrypha Comic Anthology

Anime[]

Main article: Fate/Apocrypha (anime)

References[]

  1. [v] Fate/complete material IV: Extra material - Fate/Apocrypha - Truth of Fate/Apocrypha, p.342

    Truth of Fate/Apocrypha
    Nasu: To summarise, there is a conspiracy in the finale of the story that intends to use the Holy Grail War framework for evil. As the Counter Force, the Servant Joan of Arc wishes to safeguard the framework of the Holy Grail War. Other Servants wish to protect their respective Master, but Joan wishes to protect the Holy Grail War. Although the development of the story may change depending on the Servant’s relationship with the Master, ultimately the story concludes with Joan activating her ultimate Noble Phantasm which she stubbornly withheld. The goal here is to create a world with a complete story, despite being an online game.

    Fate/Apocryphaの真実

  2. New Fate/Apocrypha Project to Be Launched by Type-Moon. Anime News NetworkWP (2011-11-04). Retrieved on 2012-07-19.
  3. Higashide's Twitter (Japanese) (2011-12-02). Retrieved on 2012-07-19.
  4. [v] Fate/Apocrypha material - Encyclopedia: Shirou Kotomine [Servant], p.171-172 [T]

    Shirou Kotomine [Servant]
    The Servant summoned by the Einzberns in the Third Holy Grail War. His class is Ruler. His true name is Amakusa Shirou Tokisada. He is one of the masterminds in the story, and the true Last Boss. If ever the Third Holy Grail War were made into a Visual Novel, the ending would greatly differ depending on the choice of the Einzberns. Just as said until now, if they chose Avenger, events would follow the official history—that is, the “Fate/stay night” route, but if they chose Ruler, the story would follow this “Apocrypha” route.
    After incarnating into a physical body in the Third Holy Grail War, he spent the next sixty years investigating all feasible documents and ley lines available and waiting for the day when the next Fuyuki Holy Grail War—that is, the “Fourth” Holy Grail war would occur.
    Having already hypothesized the possibility of a Great Holy Grail War—a situation with seven Servants VS seven Servants occurring instead of a normal Holy Grail War, Shirou promptly joined the Red Camp as the dual mediator and Master sent by the Holy Church and quickly summoned Semiramis without delay. In such an abnormal situation with seven Servants VS seven Servants and where even the previous Ruler had summoned his own Servant, the Greater Grail automatically summoned the Ruler for this war, Jeanne d’Arc, but Shirou had included even that into his calculations as an event within his expectations.
    There was only one thing that Shirou couldn’t predict. That was the event of a homunculus without even a name merely trying to fulfill his meager wish.
    In truth, the facts concerning Amakusa Shirou Tokisada’s birth and life aren’t very clear. What’s certain is that he attained the position of being the person with the greatest responsibility and authority in the Shimabara Rebellion. Even if that is merely a palanquin—merely window dressing, this young boy was definitely the ringleader of the Shimabara Rebellion, the greatest uprising in the Edo Period.
    In this work, he is the biggest and strongest problem child. The next one after him is Rider of Black. At first, Semiramis was the mastermind in the initial stages of the plot. However, all the characters including her who had already been released in “Complete Material” along with the original setting were deemed to have too weak of an impact as a mastermind. The idea of “doing something that would have been impossible in the original game setting” was one of the concepts of “Apocrypha” (I also came up with the idea of seven Servants VS seven Servants following that line of thought), and then “Makai Tenshou” (TL Note: Famous Japanese novel with several adaptations) served as an even further impetus that made me think, “How about bringing out Amakusa Shirou?”, from which everything started.
    A young boy and a young girl. Both of their battles were heavily connected to flags. One who never became a saint, and one who did. Their points of commonality and difference were so clear and contrastive that I selected him as the last boss—it would have been fine if my thought process stopped there.
    At that point, a demon whispered to me, “…Speaking of which, the name of the protagonist of the original Visual Novel is… and their age is almost the same too…”, and thus Shirou Kotomine was born. Not only readers, but even my friends often retorted, “Really?”, to me. Sorry, sorry. But this coincidence felt so much like destiny…!
    His white hair and dark skin is compensation for his magecraft… or not. In truth, there were complex causes; his hair became white as compensation for when he forcefully incarnated and after that his skin changed color because he needed to conceal himself in the Middle East for nearly twenty years in order to search for catalysts for Semiramis. By the way, he received a catalyst for the empress from the Sophia-Ri family the moment it was decided that he would participate in the Great Holy Grail War, but it seems he secured three other catalysts on his own after searching for nearly twenty years as a precaution.
    He hates humans, but he deeply loves humanity. In the Shimabara Rebellion, he witnessed just how strongly low, vulgar and cruel humans could become. They can become like this even towards those of the same race as them. If they encountered others who have a different skin color or different culture, just how much further would human cruelty increase?
    These thoughts of Shirou hardened even further in the Third Holy Grail War and the Second World War which happened immediately after. In the end, he concluded that humanity could only be saved with the miracle of the Greater Grail—the Third Sorcery. He attached himself to the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament and sometimes served as the mediator in some of the subspecies Holy Grail Wars. He had almost no interaction with the other members of the Assembly, and was viewed as a curiosity by his compatriots who wondered, “How long has this guy been here?”
    As a Servant, he would be third-rate if he weren’t Ruler, just as he himself declares. It is actually quite novel for a Heroic Spirit and his Noble Phantasms to be of so little use, and he would have a very hard time winning a Holy Grail War. But on the other hand, as long as he is of the Ruler class, he can amass overwhelming advantages with the skills “True Name Discernment” and “Divine Judgement”.
    He is the mastermind, but is a good and virtuous being. In the first place, it is a matter of argument whether or not Shirou’s actions are truly evil. Because you could say that he guided people through a slight shortcut to the place they would eventually reach someday. However, on the other hand, he is unmistakably evil. Because he tried to save not individual people, but only the human race itself.
     Having no hobbies or anything he likes, he lived sixty years for the sake of humanity’s salvation. Even if his plans were overturned in the end, the instant when he saw the rising sun as he lay on Semiramis’ lap—was a moment of supreme bliss for Shirou.

    シロウ・コトミネ【サーヴァント】

  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2
    [v] Fate/Apocrypha material - Encyclopedia: Restructuring [Others], p.187-188 [T]

    Discarded Servants [Other]
    The Servants who experienced the bitterness of being discarded in the transition from the proto-version of “Apocrypha” featured in “Complete material IV” to the official light novels.
    The one who disappeared first was Sakata Kintoki. As an enemy to the protagonist side, he’s a far too nice guy to fight, and as an ally, he’s very reliable. Furthermore, one aspect of the plot that was decided near the beginning was that “Frankenstein will use her Noble Phantasm and revive”, so Frankenstein had to take up the slot for the ally Berserker, causing Kintoki to be discarded. The next one to be cut was Musashibou Benkei. In his case, I briefly outlined him as a Servant who’s mentality was very complex which made him hard to act as a partner to a Master, but the Master-Servant pairs had already been decided and there was too little room for him to cut in. Most of all, there were three Lancers drafted in the first place, and the remaining two were Vlad III and Karna. The fact that he was a Japanese Servant also played a factor, so he was unfortunately retired from the running.
    During this period of the plot creation, the following had already been basically decided: “Romanian stage. Vlad III’s big fame bonus. Central Servants are Jeanne and Astolfo, and the rival Servant is Amakusa Shirou Tokisada.” Therefore, the next one to be retired was Georgius. Since he would be the third saint in the story, he would have to be included in the ideological conflict between Jeanne and Amakusa, but I feared it would become too confusing. Also, considering the final outcome of the story, his value as a character dimmed further since his Noble Phantasm would cause the metamorphosis midway through the story, so he was discarded.
    Now then, one of the two planned Riders has been discarded and left an empty Rider slot, so let’s think of possible choices. If possible, it should be someone really famous who wouldn’t be too intertwined with the main plot of the story… With that thinking, the candidate that came to mind was Achilles.
    I want one more Servant suitable to act as a rival to Achilles on the opposing team from him. For example, how about his teacher Chiron? But in that case, one of the initially planned Archers would have to be discarded.
    At this point, it was already decided that Atalanta would oppose Jeanne, so she had to be in the Red camp like Achilles. The remaining Archer was David. There was no problem with him as an ally character-wise, Vlad III was planned to be made the head of the Black camp. If there were another world-famous king on the same team as him, his relationship with Vlad would become complex… As such, David was the last one to be discarded.
    This segment has already become very drawn-out, but, well, I have say to congratulations for them all getting to make a return in “Fate/Grand Order”…

    リストラ【その他】

  6. [v] Fate/Apocrypha material - Encyclopedia: Shisigou Kairi [Person's name], p.170-171 [T]

    Kairi Sisigou [Person's name]
    One of the Masters of the Red Camp. However, he chose to act independently with his Servant without joining Shirou Kotomine’s group. His Servant is Saber of Red, Mordred. His fiendish appearance is just like that of an American outlaw. He isn’t a magus, but rather a magecraft user. Though he can’t match magi in terms of knowledge, he ranks equally in terms of battle experience with Darnic who has survived for a hundred years.
    He normally wanders from battlefield to battlefield recovering the corpses of magi and plundering their Magic Crests. Fundamentally, he intentionally acts so as not to increase the number of casualties. This is because causalities are always appearing somewhere in the world every day and night even without him doing anything.
    He habitually uses a sawed-off (meaning with a shortened barrel) shotgun as a Mystic Code, but he only uses it as medium for the Gandr spell and doesn’t use it in its original purpose as a gun. Also, he fundamentally uses things like hand grenades made out of hearts, animal eyeballs and monkey hands as part of his necromancy, so the majority of his Mystic Codes are in extreme bad taste.
    He chose to participate in the Great Holy Grail War after receiving a request from the Association of Magi. Originally, he had planned to fight alongside the other Red Servants, but he chose to take independent action due to not being able to trust Shirou Kotomine and his Servant Semiramis. He and Saber engaged in skirmishes with the Black Servants and won against Berserker of Black, but then they noticed the scheme of the Red Master Shirou Kotomine and decided to put the war on hold.
    However, they still fought to obtain the Holy Grail right till the very end, but they dropped out of the Great Holy Grail War when Mordred and Semiramis dealt mutually fatal strikes against each other. The actions that Shishigou took to save Mordred also backfired on him and caused him to die.
    The sole thing decided about the two of them from the initial plotting stages was that they would “rampage around as they like without regretting anything and fight and fight until they die while smiling” as “this story’s Bonnie and Clyde”. Well, Bonnie and Clyde didn’t die while smiling, though.
    In the past, Shishigou’s talent as a magus was first-rate, but is now second-rate. As a magecraft user, he is first-rate. As a Master, well, I suppose he gets a passing mark for having well managed Mo-san, who is quite tricky and difficult to deal with, without once antagonizing her.
    He seems to have poured a lot of affection towards his stepdaughter whose name was never revealed in the story, and if you search the back pockets of his jacket, you can fight an old photo of the two of them together there. However, his appearance became fiendish after he began going out to battlefields, so his face in the photo is very much that of a serious scholar.
    If Mordred ever saw that photo, she would first laugh for a while, but then she would understand the unpleasant truth about it and turn silent. In other words, she would realize his unbelievable despair of having chosen a wound-filled life that made the man into that photo turn into the person in front of her.
    The wish that Shishigou had for the Holy Grail was actually something truly acute. Somewhere in his heart, he thought that the wish that he publicly spoke of wasn’t true, but that his real wish was simply to undo the death of his stepdaughter.
    The moment he realized and accepted that, everything about Shishigou’s life as a magus reached its end.
    Furthermore, in the initial plot, Shishigou Kairi was descended from the family that Darnic chased out. However, it created a contradiction chronologically and the plot wasn’t that entwined with Yggdmillennia in the first place, so it was easily discarded.

    獅子劫界離【人名】

  7. [v] Fate/Apocrypha material - Encyclopedia: Saber of “Red” [Servant], p.150-151 [T]

    Saber of “Red” [Servant]
    A Red Servant, but one that has actually gone over to the Black camp. In contrast to the way the Red camp was unified under Shirou Kotomine as the only Master, she alone formed a partnership with Shishigou Kairi as her Master, as done in a normal Holy Grail War.
    Her true identity is Mordred, one of the Knights of the Round Table. She is the Knight of Rebellion who ended King Arthur’s legend. And she was also born as an inhuman being like King Arthur. After all, her father is King Arthur, and her mother is the mortal enemy of King Arthur, the witch Morgan.
    Mordred’s true identity is that of an artificial life-form; in other words, a homunculus. Accordingly, her life-span was extremely short, and she was born expressly for the purpose of killing King Arthur.
    Far from hating King Arthur, she came to feel only yearning and admiration for her father, but when she confessed to King Arthur that she was his legitimate child not knowing what else to do, the king declared that he wouldn’t acknowledge her as the next king, and this caused her longing to change completely into hatred.
    And then, as if guided by a blood-stained destiny, Mordred fought against King Arthur on the Hill of Camlann. Though she was defeated, she managed to deal a fatal wound, and thus brought an end to King Arthur’s legend.
    As a Servant, she is first-class. Though her overall specs are lower compared to her father Arthur, the King of Knights, she possesses power worthy of the Saber class. By combining her jet propulsion through “Prana Burst” and her sword “Clarent: Radiant Sword of the King”, her attacks can cut down most Servants in a single slash. Also, the defensive strength of her armor is also considerable aside from its abilities, so she was able to avoid a fatal blow despite being hit by a fully-powered attack from Berserker of Black that was strengthened by a Command Spell.
    Her position in the story, rather than her actual character, is like that of Bonnie and Clyde, who lived by the motto “We have no tomorrow”. In the initial plot, it was decided that she would merely “rampage around and then exit the stage”.
    Mordred’s story also progressed in the background of the main story. She thought over her past in the form of a dream, and the meetings she then had with various Servants—particularly the conversation she had with the homunculus like her and his Servant—served as a turning point for her.
    As a result, Mordred finally understood what her father sought when he pulled the sword from the stone. In the end, it was because she didn’t understand that that Mordred continued to live in anguish. She did not feel fear towards the king like the other knights. After all, she herself was an inhuman being.
    Even so, let’s suppose that she might happen to encounter her father in a Holy Grail War somewhere. She would immediately fight and try to slash her father apart. Believing she has managed to understand her father and passionately wanting to surpass her father are separate matters for her.
    She hates being treated as a woman, but also feels dissatisfied with being treated as a man, making a very complicated, or rather bothersome, Servant. She chose her clothes herself, so she does not seem to have a problem with her appearance being seen as feminine by others.
    Also, she is being supplied with plenty of prana, but she is the type to proactively eat food in order to enjoy the present age without caring about the necessity. Her food preferences lean somewhat towards junk food, and she loves carbonated drinks.
    Perhaps due to being summoned with a vague catalyst like a splinter of the Round Table, she has miraculously good compatibility with her Master Shishigou. Though it was not mentioned in the story, she liked Shishigou from the start based on his clothing due to her overflowing rebellious spirit.

    “赤”のセイバー【サーヴァント】

  8. [v] Fate/Apocrypha material - Encyclopedia: Caster of “Red” [Servant], p.150 [T]

    Caster of “Red” [Servant]
    One of the Servants and masterminds of the Red camp. He has the lowest position among the masterminds. After all, the way he betrayed his Master after saying “Hmm, this Master seems still and uninteresting. Eh? Saving the entire world? My, that seems fun. I’ll help, I’ll help!” is essentially the impulsive and unpredictable action of a young man.
    His true identity is the famous ultra-literary master, William Shakespeare. There’s no need to talk about the details about his background at this point; he’s one of the most well-known writers in the world, after all. Writer-type Servants are pretty much all idiosyncratic and hard to deal with, and naturally he’s also one of them. He has no fighting power, but he’s the best when it comes to powering up his Master. The more of a character that his Master is, the more his writing excels, or so he says. In other words, strengthening his Master and having him fight as an Assassin is Shakespeare’s style of fighting in a Holy Grail War. Naturally, no matter how much he strengthens his Master, the chances of them beating a Servant is extremely low—but it’s said that he managed to bring about that unlikely possibility just once in one of the subspecies Holy Grail Wars.
    He loves the stories he writes beyond anything else, and he spares no love for his characters. On the other hand, he finds mediocrity unpleasant. By the way, his definition of “mediocre” is not based on someone’s abilities or appearance. The ones he calls mediocre are the people who don’t decide, the people who don’t choose, the people who defer and put things on hold, and the people who aren’t deeply moved by the miracle of living every day.
    Though it’s repetitive to say, he has absolutely no fighting power. However, his fame has spread across almost the entire world, and the illusions created by the “theatrical troupe” are a form of magecraft that, though incapable of dealing direct damage, is perfect for wreaking chaos and confusion. Well, he also sometimes sends his own allies into disorder as well, though.
    The final words he said at the moment of his death are one of the few true and honest words said by this man who normally glosses everything over with beautiful lines of literary. Shakespeare actively worked as an actor alongside his career as a playwright. So he probably couldn’t help but burn with the desire to act as the leading actor on the grand stage of the Great Holy Grail War.
    Incidentally, in the prototype version of “Fate/Apocrypha”, his Noble Phantasm’s name was the same, but its role was greatly different. During the initial plot when Shakespeare was supposed to be an ally, there was a scenario where “just as the protagonist is about to die, his Servant Shakespeare activates his Noble Phantasm and somehow manages to find a way to survive”, but the idea was quickly discarded.

    “赤”のキャスター【サーヴァント】

  9. [v] Fate/Apocrypha material - Encyclopedia: When the Curtain Rises, the Applause Shall Be As Ten Thousand Thunders [Noble Phantasm], p.181 [T]

    When the Curtain Rises, the Applause Shall Be As Ten Thousand Thunders [Noble Phantasm]
    First Folio. The theater Noble Phantasm of Caster of Red, Shakespeare. In the initial storyboarding, it had the power to rewind time, but since that didn’t have much meaning in terms of the story’s development, the idea was discarded. (The fact that a sorcerer might make an appearance in a work after the prototype “Fate/Apocrypha” also played a big part in the decision.) Instead, what emerged was a graded-up version of “The Globe: Seat of the King”.
    It is a Noble Phantasm that doesn’t deal any physical damage, but it is the worst possible thing to face for certain Heroic Spirits. There basically aren’t any heroes who don’t have some kind of guilty conscience. Shakespeare can expose the traumas that everyone holds inside themselves, and by ridiculing or censuring them he can completely break their hearts.
    The probability of being drowned and trapped within this Noble Phantasm is greater the more someone is confident of their physical strength. The only ones who can overcome this Noble Phantasm are those who can declare that they have not a single dirty stain on their lives. There are very few who can believe in something and have no regrets at all. If it’s someone who can directly confront the trauma they hold, they might be able to somehow manage to overturn Shakespeare’s piercing words, though—
    When a Servant has had their heart broken by this Noble Phantasm, they receive the bad status of “absentmindedness”. In this state, they are completely defenseless, and as long as they don’t have a Noble Phantasm which automatically responds to malice, they can’t deal with any attack.
    This Noble Phantasm originates from the “first” book that was published as a collection of Shakespeare’s plays after his death. Therefore, Shakespeare himself did not directly participate in making it.

    開演の刻は来たれり、此処に万雷の喝采を【宝具】
    ファースト・フォリオ。

  10. Higashide's blog (Japanese) (December 3, 2011). Retrieved on July 19, 2012.
  11. Yuuichirou Higashide Twitter 11:08 PM JST · May 2, 2014Flag of Japan
  12. Fate/Apocrypha Anime Official Twitter 6:10 PM JST · Dec 20, 2017Flag of Japan
  13. Fate/Apocrypha Package Official SiteFlag of Japan
  14. Fate/Apocrypha Package Official SiteFlag of Japan

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