Fate/Grand Order Mats

[Kelp24]

isn't the clown outfit meant to make him look demonic? Horns, tails, exposed chest, etc

[neveron]

Mephistopheles plays the role of a fool in the beginning of Goethe's Faust, Part Two. That might be where it's from, I guess.

Murmurs From the Crowd:
A newer fool – for newer cares –

Where’s he from? – How’d he get there? –
The old one fell – He’s all done in –
He was fat – Now this one’s thin –

He's not a fool in The Historie of the damnable life, and deserued death of Doctor Iohn Faustus, though. Going even further back to the Historia von D. Johann Fausten,

Now a devil, or a spirit, appeared in the figure of a gray friar, greeted Doctor Faustus, and asked what his desire and intent might be.

Of course, Shimokoshi didn't comment on any of this in the mats - just that "I designed and viewed him in the image of an abnormal, visual-looking clown". Who knows whether this is a reference to an obscure posthumous Faust sequel or just another Edison thing.

[Lobo]

Tbh, at first I thought Mephistopheles design may have been inspired by Harlequin and this character connection to devils, but I got dissapointed when the Mats didn't talk about the why he looks like that at all

[Reign]

I figured the reason was just that clowns are scary.

[Zork Knight]

Clowns confirmed to be a species of demon in the Nasuverse

Just like in the real world

[Qinglong]

It confirms this is true

[Wandering Swordwoman]

Pennywise

[Lily Emilio]

My cousin has coulrophobia so he burns all Mephisto and skip every scenes he is in. So yeah clowns are evil.

[Rue]

Reminds me of something I read somewhere about something how the (some?) Japanese was interested(?)/amused(?) to find out how a lot of Americans were afraid of clowns mainly because of the original IT movie.

[Arashi_Leonhart]

Honestly I always thought that they were just thinking Kefka when they designed him

[SpoonyViking]

I can kind of see the logic in turning Mephistopheles, a tempter who led Faust into ruin, into a Fool-type character who forces people to shed their masks by manipulating them into evil.

[Konchew]

King Hassan's mats

[Laserman]

Thanks for the translation.

Azrael

The Angel Who Foretells Death

Rank: C
Classification: Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm
Range: 1
Maximum number of targets: 1

Azrael.
Decapitation with an ordinary large sword.
It is ingrained with the faith that this individual continued to believe in, and spent a lifetime wielding.

For those who lose their lives to this sword, they say there is fear, but no pain, there is dread, but no suffering, there is repentance, but no regrets.

That's it?

[Spartacus]

That is why he is great

[Konchew]

That's it?

Yep, that's all the mats have to say about Azrael.

[pinetree]

King Hassan's mats

Thanks for the translation as always, Komchew.

Damn, King Hassan really is scary asf

[Iceblade44]

Well that answers why it's so low rank for what it does. Really from the look of it when he says Azrael he's pretty much just combining his At the Boundary and Evening Bell skills in one attack isn't he?

[Spartacus]

I find it very cool that with many-many EX Rank bullcrap philosophical NPs.
The first two playable Grands only has C Rank NP with relatively straightforward effect.

[Iceblade44]

And Solomon's main one he used was D also pretty straight foward tho he had others. I wonder if we were thinking of Grands wrong

[Deathhappens]

King Hassan's mats

A thought occurs: Protection of the Faith is a skill that only manifests in particularly fervent zealots (for example, none of the Saints have it despite being obviously very devout). So it's practically impossible for anyone to have it at a low rank. Interesting.

「Call me as thou pleases. I hadst no name from the beginning. There is no insistence or agreement.」

There he goes again. THEN WHERE DID HASSAN COME FROM
WHAT DID YOUR MAMA CALL YOU WHEN YOU WERE A WEE LAD DAMMIT