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The Stories Behind the Servants of Fate/stay Night


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ThatMoonGuy



Joined: 13 Oct 2017
Posts: 364
PostPosted: Fri Nov 10, 2017 11:35 am Reply with quote
Hasn't this been posted before, back when UBW was being aired? I'm pretty sure I've read this all already.
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LimeCatMaster



Joined: 25 Jul 2017
Posts: 16
PostPosted: Fri Nov 10, 2017 11:55 am Reply with quote
re: Kojiro Sasaki

I think there's a couple of possible explanations for this, but some of them are speculation/headcanon, because if there's one thing Fate is good at, it's establishing rules for how things work and then not following those rules, making a lot of explanations hard.

Firstly, there's an implication that a lot of fictional works in "our world" actually happened in the Fate universe. Greek myths, the legend of King Arthur, the Epic of Gilgamesh, etc. are all real, historic events in the Fate world that got like, "covered up" by mages over time to hide the truth of magecraft, or some other convoluted explanation like that to explain dumb crap. But that makes the explanation somewhat all the more confusing regarding Kojiro being "fictional". My personal explanation of this is more or less:

1. Kojiro, in the Fate universe, was actually purely fictional. Thus, Nasu's explanation can be somewhat understood: he's not a "true" Heroic Spirit, bu the legend of him is comprehensive and understood enough that it's possible for the Grail to manifest a close approximation of what he's like.

2. Kojiro DID exist, but due to the unusual circumstances of his summoning in the first place, it is not possible for the "true" Kojiro to be summoned. Just like he is a "false" Assassin, he is also a "false" Kojiro - something of a imitator to the real Kojiro. So in other words, it's impossible for a Master to summon that specific Kojiro again, they'd summon the "real" one instead.

Those are just in-universe explanations though. Real world ones are probably far more obvious and easy to explain: Nasu isn't all that great of a writer and just casually changes his mind frequently, but still sticks to his guns regarding past works starting to contradict. Maybe there was a retcon at some point that wasn't communicated all the way through, who knows.

Even better explnation though: as much as I love it and try to learn more, Nasuverse lore is a giant mess of incomprehensible word salad trying to sound deep and complex, and trying to understand it seriously requires a level of human thought processing that is just not possible for us in the 21st century.

edit: Tamamo is best girl
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JacobC
ANN Contributor


Joined: 15 Jan 2008
Posts: 3728
Location: SoCal
PostPosted: Fri Nov 10, 2017 12:00 pm Reply with quote
ThatMoonGuy wrote:
Hasn't this been posted before, back when UBW was being aired? I'm pretty sure I've read this all already.


Yup, but that was back when we had just started running focused weekly editorials like this, so it wasn't given as much of a fair shake. We thought the influx of new Fate content and editorials would be a good opportunity to re-run it.
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Vaisaga



Joined: 07 Oct 2011
Posts: 13230
PostPosted: Fri Nov 10, 2017 12:55 pm Reply with quote
Hm, probably not wise to spoil Heaven's Feel to that extent in your Medusa entry, since your readership will primarily be anime watchers not game players.

Quote:
spoiler[As reward for her loyalty, Rider is the only servant who can potentially survive past the Grail War]


Well, there is UBW's Good ending too.

Quote:
The epilogue to ufotable's recent anime adaptation of the Unlimited Blade Works route sees Shirou and Rin visiting King Arthur's alleged tomb in Glastonbury, England. It's a nice capstone to their experiences with her, even if this route doesn't give her emotional conflict a resolution.


It does, actually, though it's much more subtle. Archer and Saber have the same goals (undoing their pasts), so seeing the Shiro vs Archer conflict play out right in front of her makes her realize the error of her ways.
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Ruddor



Joined: 20 Apr 2016
Posts: 50
PostPosted: Fri Nov 10, 2017 3:08 pm Reply with quote
I was never a huge fan of Fate's story and world, which I personally found way too convoluted, but I've always loved the premise of summoning mythological/historical figures to fight to the death. And while the writing isn't always the best and sometimes incomprehensible, I have to admit that I've come to love some of the more stupid plot points and dialogue like King Arthur's magical lady boner and not being right even though you are correct. Type-Moon is definitely in on the joke; just watch Carnival Phantasm.

Anyway, great article and I can't wait for next week when you cover my favorite servant!
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mglittlerobin



Joined: 28 Aug 2008
Posts: 1071
PostPosted: Fri Nov 10, 2017 4:26 pm Reply with quote
Ruddor wrote:
I was never a huge fan of Fate's story and world, which I personally found way too convoluted, but I've always loved the premise of summoning mythological/historical figures to fight to the death. And while the writing isn't always the best and sometimes incomprehensible, I have to admit that I've come to love some of the more stupid plot points and dialogue like King Arthur's magical lady boner and not being right even though you are correct. Type-Moon is definitely in on the joke; just watch Carnival Phantasm.

Anyway, great article and I can't wait for next week when you cover my favorite servant!


Ah, cue the raging Type-Lunatics coming here and yelling at you about criticising the writing, LOL!

I find this fandom to be the worst one I'm a part of, they always get bent out of shape regarding any form of criticism, even if they hate the adaptation. They got pissed at me because this one guy on Twitter equated the Fate/Apocrypha's light novel fan translations with A-1 Picture's decisions to leave out scenes, I left him stumped and he stopped Tweeting me:
https://usercontent2.hubstatic.com/13775425_f520.jpg
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navycherub



Joined: 26 Oct 2007
Posts: 233
PostPosted: Fri Nov 10, 2017 8:13 pm Reply with quote
I didn't even realize I had read this before until I got to the Santa Claus joke, so I don't even mind that it's a repeat. Still a fun read.
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2864
PostPosted: Sat Nov 11, 2017 3:36 pm Reply with quote
my favorite part of artoria is all the versions thre are of her (him) ; particularly the ones belonging to worst luck class.

LimeCatMaster wrote:

Even better explnation though: as much as I love it and try to learn more, Nasuverse lore is a giant mess of incomprehensible word salad trying to sound deep and complex, and trying to understand it seriously requires a level of human thought processing that is just not possible for us in the 21st century.



you forgot aliens.
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jl07045



Joined: 30 Aug 2011
Posts: 1527
Location: Riga, Latvia
PostPosted: Sat Nov 11, 2017 3:46 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Of course, this is a bizarre statement because most cursory research points to Kojiro Sasaki having been an actual person that really existed, and at the same time, F/SN treats entirely unsubstantiated figures like Medea, Herakles, and Medusa as legitimate servants. No matter how much I try, I can't wrap my head around this.

Well, servants and Heroic Spirits are not the same thing. When you say "legitimate servants" you conflate them, and what Nasu meant is that there is no Heroic Spirit Sasaki Kojiro. So when you want to summon Kojiro, you'll simply get something similar. Not even worst case, Einzberns tried to summon the devil once, but got a random villager.
Medea, Herakles and Medusa were however seemingly real (but not necessarily the same as they were immortalized in the Throne), they just lived in an age that looks like a fairy tale to modern humans.
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LuScr



Joined: 26 Apr 2007
Posts: 140
PostPosted: Sat Nov 11, 2017 7:58 pm Reply with quote
In the VN, Assassin talks about his predicament before fighting Saber for the last time in UBW:

Quote:
Sasaki Kojirou was never more than a fictional swordsman without a true identity. It is said that he existed, but records on him are too vague. His 'past' was falsely forged as a convenient foe to a famed swordsman.

I am sure a man named Sasaki Kojirou existed. I am also sure that there was a swordsman who used Monohoshizao
[Assassin's very long katana] -- But they are not the same person. A swordsman with the name Sasaki Kojirou is a fictional character created to be his enemy's foil.

...

Yes, I am Sasaki Kojirou. It merely means that I am the best suited for this role. I do not have a name. I do not know how to read or write, and I was not fortunate enough to be given one.

I am a phantom that was summoned just because I could execute Sasaki Kojirou's secret technique. ... Even if I am to perform a great deed here, all the reward will go to 'Sasaki Kojirou.' I will get nothing. ... I am only a disposable swordsman that acts out the role of Sasaki Kojirou.


Assassin's status page in the VN makes a point of noting that even though Kojirou is best known as Musashi's rival, Musashi's most famous work, The Book of Five Rings, does not mention him at all.
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jr240483



Joined: 24 Dec 2005
Posts: 4379
Location: New York City,New York,USA
PostPosted: Sun Nov 12, 2017 6:29 am Reply with quote
ThatMoonGuy wrote:
Hasn't this been posted before, back when UBW was being aired? I'm pretty sure I've read this all already.


i know. i clearly remembered this being posted back when UBW and F/Z was still fresh in our minds. especially that whole joke about archer being santa claus.

however considering that this time around it involves other servants from apocrypha and grand order, its possible that this article is just getting updated to included those servants for another time.
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trilaan



Joined: 17 Jan 2009
Posts: 1055
Location: Texas
PostPosted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 2:25 am Reply with quote
Ahhh yes, Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro.

Musashi was so popular with Kojiro he had to beat him off with a stick.
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klv
Subscriber



Joined: 08 Feb 2017
Posts: 84
Location: Ba Sing Se
PostPosted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:57 am Reply with quote
This was a great read, with some killer jokes. That photo at the end! !!!!!! I am looking forward to more.
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Vaisaga



Joined: 07 Oct 2011
Posts: 13230
PostPosted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:18 am Reply with quote
trilaan wrote:
Ahhh yes, Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro.

Musashi was so popular with Kojiro he had to beat him off with a stick.


Hahaha.
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Merxamers



Joined: 09 Dec 2013
Posts: 720
PostPosted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:58 pm Reply with quote
A fun read; enjoyed the analysis of Artoria's character. I always thought Iskandr was unreasonably mean to her during that conversation, but now i kinda understand where he's coming from.

With regards to Artoria, i have a question related to her gender that i don't recall ever being addressed in the FSN and F/Z anime; was her gender a secret to most people while she was king? In F/Z, spoiler[Berserker only ever called her "Arthur"], no one from that time ever seems to mention her gender, but i can only assume her wife Guinevere had a SLIGHT HUNCH her husband wasn't a dude.

Anyways; interesting stuff. I thought the FSN anime was fun, and enjoy Saber (and Rin) as characters. Hopefully i'll eventually be able to see the Heaven's Feel film.
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