Fate Fifth Holy Grail War

Fifth Holy Grail War

History

The Fifth Holy Grail War is the fifth such war to take place in Fuyuki City, and occured in 2004. It uses a system developed by the Three Founding Families—Tohsaka, Matou, and Einzbern—as a means to reach the Root. The Holy Grail War ritual has been ongoing for over 200 years. Its original purpose was to recover the Third Magic, which had been lost by the Einzberns. The system was first created by Justizia Einzbern in 1790.

System

The system works off the of Greater Grail, which is able to summon Servants after collecting mana for 60 years. Potential Masters are selected by the Grail partly from the Three Founding Families and partly from other families in a process that isn’t well understood. The Grail may summon more than seven Masters, but only the first seven to summon a Servant participate in the war. Since the Third Holy Grail War, the Church has provided a clergyman to supervise the war as an overseer. The war serves as a battle royale in which seven Masters and seven Servants fight against each other to remain the last pair standing and claim the Holy Grail, which will grant any wish.

Outcome

The Fifth Holy Grail War is seen in the three routes of Fate/stay night and in Fate/hollow ataraxia, though the events of the war play out differently in each. In the “Fate” route, Shirou and Saber win the Grail and destroy it; in the “Unlimited Blade Works” route,” Rin wins the Grail and helps Saber destroy it; and in the “Heaven’s Feel” route, Sakura wins the Grail and Shirou destroys it.

Participants

Masters
Shirou Emiya
Saber’s Master, Shirou is kind and caring, and wants to become a protector of justice and end the war. He is able to use Projection magic to create copies of Noble Phantasms which he uses in battle.

Rin Tohsaka
Shirou’s classmate and Archer’s Master, Rin is a proficient magus who helps Shirou throughout the war by teaming up with him.

Shinji Matou
Shirou’s friend and Rider’s Master, Shinji is the vice-captain of the archery team. Though a member of the Matou family, he is unable to use magecraft.

Sakura Matou
Rider’s original Master, Sakura is Shirou’s friend who helps him by cooking and doing housework. She is a quiet and kind girl who comes from a long line of magi and is a skilled magus herself.

Kirei Kotomine
A clergyman of the Church, Kirei’s role is to oversee the war. However, he works in secret to try and obtain it. He is the Master of Lancer and Gilgamesh

Soichiro Kuzuki
A teacher at Shirou’s school, Soichiro becomes Caster’s Master after finding her masterless and on the verge of death at Ryudou Temple, where he lives for free. He cannot use magecraft but is a trained assassin.

Illyasviel von Einzbern
A member of the prestigious Einzbern family of magi and Berserker’s Master, Illya was created to act as a living vessel for the Holy Grail and has extensive magic circuits throughout her body.

Bazett Fraga McRemitz
Lancer’s original Servant, Bazett is killed by Kirei who steals his Command Seals and becomes Lancer’s new Master.

Servants
Saber
Shirou’s Servant, Saber’s true identity is King Arthur. She is loyal and kind, and has a high sense of honor and obligation as a king. Her past weighs heavily on her and her wish for the Grail is to go back to her time and fulfill her obligations to her people.

Lancer
Originally Bazett’s Servant and later Kirei’s, Lancer’s true identity is Cú Chulainn. He is an honorable warrior who believes in justice.

Archer
Rin’s Servant, Archer’s true identity is Shirou from an alternative universe in which he becomes a Heroic Spirit. He has a nihilistic attitude and believes Shirou’s ideals regarding justice to be naive.

Rider
Originally Sakura’s Servant and later Shinji’s, Rider’s true identity is Medusa. She wears an eye mask to cover her Mystic Eyes of Petrification

Caster
Soichiro’s Servant, Caster’s true identity is the witch Medea. She is also Assassin’s Master and summons him to the war. She is a powerful magus who has made Ryudou Temple her hideout.

Berserker
Illya’s Servant, Berserker’s true identity is Heracles. He possesses more raw strength than any other Servant. His Noble Phantasm God Hand allows him to die and come back to life 12 times before he is defeated.

Assassin
Summoned into the Fifth Holy Grail War by Caster, Assassin’s true identity is mythical Japanese samurai Kojiro Sasaki. He is considered a fictional Epic Hero and has no wish for the Grail and only lives for battle.

Gilgamesh
An Archer-class Servant under Kirei’s command, Gilgamesh is a Servant from the previous Holy Grail War who remained in the world by forming a contract with Kirei after the war ended. He is extremely arrogant and cold. His Noble Phantasm Gates of Babylon allows him to store the Noble Phantasms of heroes from throughout history.