Servant Class
A "Servant Class" is a container prepared for materialising a Heroic Spirit that is summoned into the current era as a Servant.
There are seven Servant Classes: Sabre, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin and Berserker. Since there cannot be repeats of any one class, the seven Servants participating in a Holy Grail War will be of different classes.
Heroic Spirits determine their classes on the basis of their characteristics, and then summoned as the Servant of the corresponding class. For instance, the only class appropriate for Arturia is Sabre, but Hercules, who was said in legends to be proficient with all weapons, can be summoned into all classes but Caster. The affinity between the Master and the Heroic Spirit will determine which class the Heroic Spirit will be summoned into. However, the Einzberns, as one of the "Three Founding Families" and well-informed of the rules of the Servant system, was able to preemptively interfere with the system and summon Hercules as Berserker.
Among all the classes, Sabre, Lancer and Archer are also called the "Three Knights". They are frequently Heroic Spirits from the Age of Gods when sorceries were common. Due to high magic resistance, modern magi are unable to inflict damage to them.
The Assassin class is special, as the only qualifying Heroic Spirits are the Hassan al-Sabbah's.
Sabre
Knight of the Sword. The compatible Heroic Spirit naturally needs to possess legends as a knight of sword, as well as the highest levels of attributes in all but MGI. Class Abilities include Magic Resistance and Riding. Also, compatible Heroic Spirits usually excel in delivering powerful burst attacks.
Lancer
Knight of the Lance. Its high qualifying conditions are second only to Sabre. Attributes are excellent overall, in addition, AGI must be high. Of course, Servants of this class are proficient in hit-and-run tactics that capitalise on range and speed. This class includes many Heroic Spirits who were knights.
Archer
Knight of the Bow. A class that excels in possessing powerful Noble Phantasms. The qualifying condition is not attributes, but the possession of powerful projectile weapons or special abilities related to projectile weapons. Highly effective as scouts. They have not only the Magic Resistance ability of the Knight Classes, but also the class ability of Independent Action.
Rider
Mounted Knight. Heroic Spirits who rode mounts (not limited to living creatures) qualify for this class. Although attributes tend to be lower compared to the Three Knight Classes, this is compensated by the abilities of the mount described in legend. Besides Magic Resistance, class abilities also include high Riding.
Caster
Magus. Qualifying conditions only include mastery of sorceries of the highest calibre. Due to this trait, the qualifying Heroic Spirits tend to have low combat abilities. In addition, since the majority of Servants have Magic Resistance, this class is thought to be the weakest of all.
Assassin
Assassin (duh). The only qualifying Heroic Spirits are the generations of Hassan al-Sabbah's, and one of them would be summoned. All of them do not have glorious legends as heroes, thus possess low attributes. Class ability is Presence Concealment, and the use of this ability during battle is the lifeline of Assassin.
Berserker
Mad Warrior. Heroes who have gone berserker during battle qualify for this class. Normally it is considered ideal if a Servant can wield power at the level of the original Heroic Spirit, but "Mad Enhancement" allows for the attribute enhancement of the Servant beyond the ability of the original at the cost of sanity. A class originally used to enhance weak Heroic Spirits.
Kojiro Sasaki
Class: Assassin
Master: Medea
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Sex: Male
Height: 176cm
Weight: 63kg
Weapon: Katana
STR: C
CON: E
AGI: A+
MGI: E
LCK: A
Noble Phantasm: ??
Legend
Kojiro Sasaki. A Japanese man without a real identity, and it may not be an overstatement to say that he has never existed. He was described as the rival of Nitoryu sword master Miyamoto Musashi, and a handsome swordsman who skillfully wielded the 3-shaku-long (approximately 1m) nodachi “Bizen Osahune Nagamitsu” which is also called “Monohoshi Zao”. His duel with Miyamoto Musashi at Funajima Island, such lines as “Kojiro has been defeated!”, and the finale of death by having his forehead crushed by an oar are all legendary. Although he was said to be the disciple of Chujoryu kodachi master Toda Seigen, there are numerous conflicting documentations and legends, which still shroud his true identity even now.
The “Kojiro Sasaki” summoned in Fate/Stay Night is not a Heroic Spirit. He is an existence closer to wraiths. He was a nameless martial artist given the name Kojiro Sasaki. What his real identity was, there is no way to know. He seemed to be related to the Ryudo Temple. He uses a long Japanese katana and discovered the ultimate technique “Tsubame Gaeshi”... and these are absolutely all he possesses. His pursuit of sword technique, sophistication, and finding joy in duelling with strong foes are all reminiscent of the legendary Kojiro Sasaki: cool and elegant.
Assassin’s differences with Kojiro are that, his katana is longer (approximately 1.5m), and the engraving on the katana is “Bitchu Aoe” (Blue River of Bitchu).
Tactics
Although a Servant of the Assassin class, he does not employ assassination techniques such as ambush, instead frequently choosing to fight face-to-face. During battle, Assassin counters the opponent’s attack with sword techniques and Eye of the Mind, or simply by dodging. If he detects an opening, he would decapitate the opponent with the 5-shaku katana with certainty. Also, Assassin can deliver slashes even while standing idly, without assuming any stances. His technique is extremely swift, and very difficult to read. Kojiro Sasaki’s ultimate weapon is the technique that has reached the pinnacle of training and approaching True Magic --- Tsubame Gaeshi. It is an attack that delivers 3 slashes simultaneously, enough to overwhelm even Arturia.
Class Abilities
Presence Concealment: D
Since he is not a true Servant Assassin, this is not a class ability. It is his intrinsic ability as a martial artist to “cut off his presence”. This is not a skill to hide, but a technique of the mind for the martial artist to merge with his surroundings. Because this is not a skill trained for assassination, it cannot match the Presence Concealment of Hassan. In reality, a Kojiro Sasaki who cuts off his presence is an opponent that is hard to detect even for a Servant. It is extremely difficult to perceive Kojiro during the first encounter. However, because his activity is restrained to within the range of the Ryudo Temple Gate, those who know the existence of Kojiro can detect him relatively easily. With this said, due to Kojiro’s personality, battles are usually commenced only after the parties have presented and introduced themselves. As a result, this ability is rarely used for its original purpose.
Personal Abilities
Eye of the Mind (False): A
Premonition (“Spidey-sense”) or sixth sense, very different from Emiya’s danger avoidance originated from “predictions augmented by experience”. It may be called a natural talent to sense danger. During the Grail War, in the battle with Arturia, Kojiro crossed blade with an invisible sword numerous times. He was able to use this ability to gauge even the length and width of the sword, and see through the fact that Arturia was unable to use her Noble Phantasm attack due to a lack of mana.
See through the weapon and style of his opponent after crossing blades only a few times, the perception of his eyes is the best among Servants.
Vitrification: B+
An ability commonly called “heart of clear water”. More precisely, it is a mental state acquired after reaching the pinnacle of arduous training. With this ability, Kojiro is able to maintain a cool and collected heart, regardless the situation. For example, even facing his very own death will not cause him to waver. During battle, mental interference such as charm and fear sorceries activated by the opponent is completely neutralised. For a “gate guardian”, this ability is certainly very useful.
Like the many trees that surround the Ryudo Temple, Kojiro watches the gate in silence with a heart of clear water, just like an unwavering guardian.
Knowledge of Respect and Harmony: B
A special ability that prevents the reduction of accuracy regardless how many times the same technique has been used on one foe. In other words, the ability to “render one’s attacks unreadable to the enemy”. Although Kojiro and Arturia crossed blades numerous times, due to this ability, Arturia still could not adapt to Kojiro’s technique despite having Rank A Instinct. Paired with Kojiro’s unique “head-shot” techniques, the effect is vastly increased.
No matter retreating and challenging him how many times, Arturia still cannot see through Kojiro’s techniques. She was always forced back to square one and fought as if it was the first encounter again.
Tsuabame Gaeshi
The ultimate sword technique that assaults the opponent from three directions “simultaneously”. Strictly speaking, this is neither a Noble Phantasm nor a magical phenomenon. The nameless martial artist who materialised as “Kojiro” sought nothing but the pinnacle of swordsmanship during his life. He trained himself in pursuit of swordsmanship, and doing nothing but swing his sword. After a long period of time, his technique finally reached another state. A flash from this world, followed by two absolutely simultaneous, over-lapping flashes that disregard the concept of time and space, producing a slash attack that arrives from three different directions. This is the “Multidimensional Refraction Phenomenon—Kischua Zelretch” that transcends speed, dexterity, feint and many other elements. Although with some limitations, a nameless martial artist who knows naught of sorcery or True Magic is able to tread into the realm of the “Second Magic”.
The range of this skill is approximately 3m. In order to deliver the first strike as a horizontal slash, Kojiro relinquished his high ground advantage over Arturia and moved to an equal level before unleashing this technique. You may discern how special a secret technique “Tsubame Gaeshi” is to Kojiro, who never assumes a stance, by observing how he lifts his sword and then swiftly launches the technique.
Q & A
Noble Phantasms
Q: If the original Kansho and Bakuya take the stage in the Holy Grail War, as the twin swords reaching the realm of Gods due to the sacrifice of human lives, will they possess powers as Noble Phantasms? Or, since they did not have wielders in the legend, thus cannot become Noble Phantasms?
A: Absolutely without a doubt that they will be true Noble Phantasms. They will be extremely strong anti-monster Noble Phantasms. Rider's ultimate form--Gorgon Lv100, or the extra-dimensional evil god summoned by Gilles, will all be cut down in a single strike. (HOLY SHIT)
Characters
Q: What's Leysritt's arm-wrestling rank in the world of Fate?
A: Leysritt's arm-wrestling... is about an even match with Rider using Monstrous Strength? Rank value is about B-.
Q: Shinji's mother is a "Carrier", what kind of pathogen is she carrying? Is she a "God's Holder"?
A: No, nothing special of that sort. According to Zouken, she is the daughter of "a random third-rate magus".
(Translator's note: "Carriers" hold remnants of mysteries from the Age of Gods as pathogens like bacteria and viruses. The Fraga McRemitz lineage of course is an exceptionally powerful example, Shinji's mother unfortunately is of the bottom of the barrel.)
To be continued (hopefully)...
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Originally Posted by notdeadfish
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