Monthly Create-A-Servant Contest

[RoydGolden]

It's like tax avoidance. Technically not illegal, but I disapprove.

...But tax evasion is illegal? Anyways, I'll probably post up the sheet when I'm done with it anyways. If you or others really find it unfitting than I can always delete and repost it in the main thread. Generally for this contest the attitude towards edge cases seems to be more like "let the voters decide".

[Skull]

...But tax evasion is illegal?

Tax Avoidance ≠ Tax Evasion.

But for real, I'll probably do the same thing with my idea. If people don't like it then I'll just delete it and post it in the general thread.

[RoydGolden]

Would a good person who was just on the wrong side of a war ala Karna or Hector work?

Not if you put it that way, but with Karna at least there's probably enough room in his legend that you could spin him as a bad guy if you wanted to emphasize certain aspects (like his humiliation of Draupadi and dishonorable killing of Arjuna's son Abhimanyu). If you do something like that I'd say it could work.

[LeadDemon]

The villain of your high school English class.

A Grand, Ungodly, God-like Man

Appearance

“I'd strike the sun if it insulted me. For could the sun do that, then could I do the other.”

Class: Rider
Source: Moby Dick
Region: America
Alignment: Runaway Evil
Attribute: Man
Natural Enemy: Arjuna Alter, Scheherazade
Armaments: Harpoon

Legend

Rider’s true name is Captain Ahab, the madman who chased after a white whale, and the primary character as well as villain of Herman Melville's Moby Dick.

Born to a widowed woman who died when he was a year of age, a child mired in tragedy who achieved greatness. A legendary whaler who achieved things beyond human. An icon of brilliant success who was spoken of in hushed tones. It is said that he once drowned and laid dead for three days, but returned to life on the third.

On one voyage, he stood opposite a whale, a beast that claimed his leg, and so a brilliant star fell from heaven. The godlike captain had lost his radiance, and so he focused that same godlike brilliance to malice and vengeance, irreparably consumed by his hatred. A victim of his own greatness, a delusional monomaniac who was brilliant by the standards of man, but seeing that weakness, attempted to raise himself to the level of God.

And so, he set out on a new voyage, a chase to claim the life of that very beast. He drew his crew into a spiral of madness, he forged a spear of blood, baptized in the name of the Devil, he turned to pagan worshippers of the Sun, all for the purposes of exacting his revenge. A man 'mad with strength'.

Of course, this was pointless. Such an end as 'the hero defeating the monster' was not one that Captain Ahab could achieve. After all, he was no hero, and beyond that, that beast was already...

Tactics

Strictly speaking, Rider's true Noble Phantasm is something that does not reconcile with the current world, and which is outside of the domain of mere

emanations

Servants

. In that respect, this section is pointless, as Rider will never be summoned in this form. However, the below information will be provided regardless, for abnormal cases such as if the current texture of the world is sufficiently distorted, if the summoning ritual possesses sufficient might, or if this occurs in some manner of absurd world where 'all information is true'.

Rider's base parameters are laughably poor. The Personal Skills 'Mental Disorder' and 'Voyager of the Storm' possess some level of utility, but fundamentally, Rider's value as a partner stands almost entirely within the combination of the Personal Skill 'Divinity (False)' and his mount.

Through use of Divinity (False), it is possible for Rider to survive encounters significantly out of his 'pay grade'- indeed, even against powerful Servants, it can be possible to escape while alive. However, the Master must be warned of magical energy consumption- if one is careless, then even this may be a troubling matter. Moreover, this is a paradoxical case of being better suited to cope with powerful Servants than weak Servants- if an enemy is not sufficiently strong to be recognized by Rider as a 'god', he is utterly powerless.

In order to turn this pattern from defensive to offensive, then, the mount is nearly a requirement. Through proper planning and use of the mount, it is possible to exercise a respectable level of battlefield control and utility. By gathering information and picking one’s battles carefully, playing opportunistically, it might even be possible to defeat a powerful Servant.

...however, Rider's true Noble Phantasm is a sword of Damocles hanging overhead. In the circumstance where he is somehow summoned in this form, one is advised to disregard all of this and instead simply cut their losses and force suicide through use of Command Spells. The risk of that ability's use is greater than a rational actor should chance.

Parameters

STR: E
CON: E
AGI: E
MGI: E
LCK: E

Class Skills

Riding: -

The aptitude of Riding has been subsumed into the Personal Skill ‘Voyager of the Storm’.

Magic Resistance: -

As one of the most recent Heroic Spirits, he possesses no Magic Resistance at all.

Personal Skills

Mental Disorder: EX

The mind has gone ill. Provides the equivalent of mental super-armor, but coming to a mutual understanding with the sane has become impossible.

In Rider's case, this is not Mental Disorder which originates from itself, but rather a mutation of Contradictive Mind. A being equal parts heroic and villainous, sane and insane. A man of dogma consumed by his mania.

Rider is one of few Heroic Spirits who is not fettered by his insanity, but rather bears a rational reliance upon it. While mad, he is clear-minded, rational, and intelligent, wielding his insanity as a weapon. He believes that he is 'leaking', but sees it as a boon, not desiring to seek out and patch the hole. A man mad with strength.

Inner madness, self-seal.

Divinity (False): -

The aptitude of a grand, ungodly, god-like man.

Rider is a being conflated with the divine. When a typhoon consumed his ship, he laid dead for three days and nights before reviving. His ability and history are termed as godlike, and while his actions are conventionally evil, he considers himself above such things, for there is one God that is Lord over the earth, and one Captain that is lord over the Pequod.

While Rider does not possess a scrap of genuine Divine Spirit aptitude, his nature has forged a counterfeit. If God will oppose him, then he will oppose God, for if the sun could insult him, then he could strike it down.

One could consider this a cousin of those abilities which alter the Saint Graph through delusion, an absolute piety focused upon the self. Should he stand before a ‘god’ or an ‘act of god’, his own abilities will be adjusted to compensate. Magical energy cost scales with ‘the possibility of an ability while remaining a human’. Death will be denied, strength will be surpassed, laws will be undone. However, he is necessarily constrained by the nature of the enemy, and will only receive ‘what is necessary to survive’. It can be considered a more versatile but far weaker version of the ‘backup’ that is granted to those beings who act as the planet’s sense of touch.

However, fundamentally, it is impossible to escape the truth of his own humanity. Regardless of the strength he gains, Rider is still fundamentally unchanged, a small man running headlong from his own insecurities. Without this skill’s gift, that truth gnaws at him, and fixes all parameters to their minimum value.

Inner madness, unsealed.

Voyager of the Storm: B (EX)

The talent to sail vessels recognized as ships.

In the command of ships, Rider is undoubtedly first-rate, a man whose whaling prowess and accomplishments were sufficient to leave him as a hallmark of history in his industry. The nonstandard rank, however, is due to Rider’s nature as a ‘leader’.

If conventional Charisma is a blessing that increases the ability and morale of subordinates, Rider’s Charisma is a curse that amplifies and feeds into the vices and burgeoning madness of those who serve under him.

With the evolution of the Noble Phantasm “Why Dost Thou Not Go Mad?”, the capability changes.

Outer madness, manifested.

Noble Phantasms

Pequod

Why Dost Thou Not Go Mad?

Rank: C+
Classification: Anti-Army
Range: 1-20
Maximum Number of Targets: 300

Outer madness, expanded.

The ship of Rider, a whaling vessel containing all manner of trophies and records of past accomplishments.

In Rider’s case, the Pequod exists as something asymptotically similar to a reflection of Rider’s own internal world. At the time of summoning, this Noble Phantasm takes the form of a testament to Rider’s accomplishments and a locus for his heroic nature. His grandeur, his delusions, and his desires are made manifest upon it.

While standing upon the vessel, his fame is treated as rising to the highest class, and the magical energy cost of his abilities are heavily reduced. So long as he stands upon his domain, it should be possible to hold his own against even a first-rate Servant.

With the activation of the second Noble Phantasm, however, Rider's nature is irreparably changed, and so too is this premise altered. From the Pequod’s prime, it takes the form of its last voyage, a doubloon attached to its mast. Its previous abilities are sealed, and rather than a locus of glory, it becomes a wooden hearse.

While aboard the altered Noble Phantasm, the Charisma of ‘Voyager of the Storm’ is amplified as though within an echo chamber- all those present on the vessel must make compounding checks to not fall under the sway of Rider’s madness. However, an ‘opposite’ madness of equal weight to Rider’s is capable of negating these effects.

If asked, Rider does not seem to realize that such a change exists.

Moby Dick

All That Most Maddens and Torments

Rank: EX
Classification: Anti-Principle
Range: -
Maximum Number of Targets: 1

Outer madness, deified.

If Rider is a counterfeit god, one might call this a counterfeit Authority- of course, this in itself means that it is something 'impossible', and that such a Noble Phantasm would never be usable in the ordinary forum of a Holy Grail War.

In this world, the Phantasmal Species are magical beasts beyond humans, who draw power from their lifespan. The strongest beings of this nature are hallmarks from the Age of Gods. Gugalanna, the divine bull who was felled by the first Heroic Spirit. Typhon, the father of monsters who defeated a pantheon of gods in their heyday.

Among these titans, however, there is one outlier. Moby Dick, a Phantasmal Species of no more than two centuries of age, and yet a peer to these living superweapons. The reason for this can be nothing other than Rider.

When Rider lost his leg, rather than the destruction of identity that would logically follow, he turned to revenge. That which had taken his leg, he declared as the incarnation of all those malicious agencies of man, the malignity that has existed within and beside humanity since its inception.

All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Moby Dick. He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down.

The white whale is not a slayer of gods or a ruiner of nations, it is merely a blank canvas, painted with the brush of All the World’s Evil. In his madness, his rage, his vindictiveness, his own delusion accomplished something impossible, and made a mere beast into among the strongest of the Phantasmal Species. One could consider this the ultimate usage of Rider’s counterfeit Divinity, reflected not upon himself, but the whale.

This is not a Noble Phantasm that Rider controls, but rather, it is inherently activated at the time when an enemy ‘undoubtedly defeats Rider, without killing him’. In that sense, it is a Noble Phantasm with drastically low chance of relevance.

At the moment of activation, that madness takes form, and the enemy is cast with the mold of All the World’s Evil. Deploying his nature as a false god to the foremost, he declares that which bested him as an evil god in its own right. A focusing array of the Human Order, a delusion that grows to the extent where a monster beyond monsters can be formed. The spiritual foundation of the target is enriched, eroded, and overpowered by that declaration, and so they ascend far beyond their own limits.

Strictly speaking, this Noble Phantasm should be merely detrimental to Rider, as he merely grants his enemy strength beyond words. However, if the impossible is accomplished, the legend is surpassed, and the ‘white whale’ is killed, then perhaps...

Relationships

Jeanne d’Arc
“...what are you? How do you endure without going mad?”

Gilgamesh
“I sighted a strange man today, who gave to me the impression of looking into a cracked mirror. For that reason, we must never meet.”

Edmond Dantes
“Close, you were so very close, and then at the last step, you faltered! Come now, what sort of travesty is this?!”

“Ryougi Shiki”
[He does not seem to be capable of seeing her, even when she is standing in front of him.]

Ishtar (Rider)
“That thing beside her, it bears the same reek, the same presence. Lad, I require an answer immediately.”

Christopher Columbus
[They seem to already be seven drinks in.]

Scheherazade
“...even here, there is someone like him. I dare not speak to her.”

Bond Craft Essence

Cabin Boy

There is suffering in this world.

For glory, for wealth, for power, for lust, we hate and are hated, curse and are cursed. We look at the sky and wonder, if even the Sun is but an instrument of God, how are we not the same? Is it your hand which guts your foe and caresses your lover, or is it merely God's?

The solution, then, is simple. Go mad. Go mad with strength, and valor, and lust. There is no sense in misery, and indeed, one knows no misery if they are mad. Dive into it, forsake it.

...but, sometimes, there is another. Not mad with strength, but mad with weakness. A curing toxin. In their eyes, you see the reflection of a ‘you’ that once was. Like cures like, and so you feel that temptation, that rising desire to return to your past.

You must not be tempted. You must lock it away. You must gouge out those eyes. Do not look back, do not think of what could be, do not be slowed down by dreams of peace.

There is suffering in this world.

In order to overcome it, this malady of madness is our most desired health.

Creator Notes

Oh boy, it's Ahab.

The thought process behind this one was a little different. Ahab's always been kind of an 'obvious' pick for Servant stuff, ever since we got the throwaway line about Moby Dick. At the same time, he's someone who's never really interested me. I'm personally not the biggest Moby Dick fan, so the thought of going through it and trying to flesh out a compelling sheet never really appealed to me. But, when searching around for stuff to make a sheet around, I saw this mention of 'the whale being a blank slate Ahab says is evil', some dots connected, and I decided to churn this out. Basically, the design process started from the second Noble Phantasm, and then worked backwards.

People have talked enough about how it's weird as hell that Moby Dick deserves to be mentioned in the same line as Typhon, so I'm not going to get super into that, but going back through those passages in the book and seeing what Ahab does to personify the whale does actually give a theory for why Moby Dick would be so powerful in Nasuverse. I hadn't seen that sort of thing brought up before, so I ran with it. I considered making him Avenger for a bit, but I decided that didn't make much sense if one of his NPs was going to be 'painting the blank slate that is Moby Dick', since then it means he's an Avenger with nothing to avenge until the NP's used and the whole thing just feels clunkier. Also I'd just like to avoid using Avenger when there's another class with the right flavor that fits, hence Rider.

Working backwards, the question was basically how to make a sheet that felt cohesive but disjointed. In the end, I settled with having each of the abilities represent a different form or exhibition of Ahab's madness. Mental Disorder (or something similar) was more or less obligatory, since I wanted to play up the demented, mania-ridden side of Ahab here. At the same time, Voyager fell in a similar light, but I decided to flavor it a bit further with the nature of Ahab's charisma, that sort of mad undercurrent he exhibits. The Pequod flowed pretty naturally from there, especially once I had the idea of how to flavor Voyager.

I hit a bit of a snag after that, before settling on Divinity (False) as a sort of lynchpin to tie things together, the core of what Ahab's madness is combined with the legends spoken of him, which also helped me finish codifying the second Noble Phantasm as well as giving the first Noble Phantasm some better mechanical use in the process. I decided to add limits that felt right to me and tried to flavor it so that it didn't just feel like 'reskinned Imperial Privilege'.

Originally, I was going to add a 'character' section to explain his personality, but when I was writing that out, I found that it was just retreading the same ground that was already there in the skill descriptions, so I decided not to. In that sense, I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out, since I think you get a proper feel for the nature of Ahab's mania throughout, from the descriptions of his mentality to how he sees Scheherazade as the same kind of existence as Pip.

If used in a story, Ahab as written here is more of a side character, the low-level villain who triggers the conditions for the final boss. Alternatively, a character who appears and dies before the story starts, existing as more of a background piece. While I think his nature is interesting, I don't think he's the sort of character you'd want to pivot a story around, unless you're writing some tragedy about this plucky guy struggling to outdo greater and greater foes, until at the end when he fucks up and unleashes a terrible nightmare that consumes everything. So, yeah.

Narita's little disclaimer about how the Asclepius that's a part of Watcher is different in appearance/personality from the Caster Asclepius of GO also helped in giving me the creative license to make this.

Oh, right, the faceclaim is because I'm a bad person, but this shouldn't be a surprise. I also realized after I finished the sheet and picked the faceclaim and typed all of this up that the second NP is just the fucking Zero Requiem, and I got mad at myself, so now you get to be cursed with that knowledge too.

Edit because of the new SF manga release: Okay, so if Watcher turns out to be Moby Dick, this sheet will be invalidated by canon much faster than I expected. These things happen.

[Shiki-pon]

Image Source

Class: Gatekeeper
Other Classes: Caster, Assassin, Avenger
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Place of Origin: Africa

Parameters:
STR: B++
END: B++
AGI: A
MGI: B
LCK: C+
NP: A

Height: 185 cm
Weight: 91 kg
Likes: Challenges, her own prowess
Dislikes: That riddle, frustration
Talent: Tormenting those weaker than her, attention to detail
Natural Enemy: Sherlock Holmes
Attribute: Earth
Traits: Beast, Female, Humanoid
Armament: Claws
Catalyst: A statuette placed upon a threshold

Skills

Class Skills

Territory Defense - Rank A+: The Class Skill of the Gatekeeper class. It denotes the ability to steadfastly guard a designated place. While the user remains in position, their defensive capabilities receive a significant boost. At the same time, the Skill’s effects are dependent on the Gatekeeper’s ability to repel invaders - should the user let intruders through, the effects of Territory Defense would be lost.
The rank of Gatekeeper’s Territory Defense is not only a representation of the strength of her defenses, but also the sheer size of her designated area. In legend, she terrorized an entire city, completely blocking travel to and from it. While she remains defending her area, incoming damage is fully halved.

Magic Resistance - Rank C: Grants protection against magical effects. Differing from the Resistance effect that merely rejects Magical Energy, this ability cancels the spells altogether.
Cancel spells with a chant below two verses. Cannot defend against magecraft on the level of High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals.

Battle Continuation - Rank E: A Skill that allows for the continuation of combat after sustaining mortal wounds. It will also reduce the mortality rate from injury. This Skill represents the ability to survive and/or the mentality of one who doesn't know when to give up, consisting of one's strength of vitality in predicaments. It is also one of the powers of a vampire. The best result is achieved when a resilient body is combined with this Skill.
Though not renowned for her persistence, Gatekeeper gains Battle Continuation due to her current class. She can ignore the effects of debilitating injuries for a time, but has no resistance against mortal wounds.

Personal Skills

Disengage - Rank D: The ability to withdraw from the battlefield in the midst of combat or reset the battle conditions.
Despite being said to have met her end in legend, Gatekeeper’s defeat was followed by a swift retreat back to her homeland. Bonus effect of returning battle conditions to what they were at the beginning of the match.

Demonic Defender of the State - Rank B: The capacity of a Servant to mark a region as his personal dominion by securing the surrounding leylines prior to an engagement.
Having been granted the right to dominate the lands surrounding Thebes by Hera, Gatekeeper has received access to this Skill, despite her lack of fame as a ruler or defender. Gatekeeper receives a boost to combat power equivalent to Mad Enhancement of rank B. However, her Pêma tôn Thēbôn Noble Phantasm is only available for use in the allotted territory. In addition, the area designated must be the same as that of her Territory Defense Skill.

Natural Monster - Rank B: A Skill endowed to those who were given birth as a monster rather than as a hero or god that has fallen down to the level of a Magical Beast.
Born as the scion of the Divine Beast Typhon, Gatekeeper is a trueborn Divine Beast. Her STR and END parameters are of a rank almost impossible for humans to reach.

Noble Phantasms

The Riddle of the Sphinx

Ainíssomai Sphínx

Type: Anti-Unit
Rank: B-
Range: 1~25
Max Targets: 10 people

One of the most famous riddles in the world (much to Gatekeeper’s chagrin). She is said to have questioned travelers to and from Thebes, asking them for an answer to the riddles she posed. If mistaken, the victim was never seen again, torn apart and devoured by Gatekeeper. It was only by the prophecy of the Oracle of Delphi and the wisdom of Oedipus that her reign was brought to an end.
Through Ainíssomai Sphínx, Gatekeeper can pose a riddle to her foes. While using the Noble Phantasm, her words carry a strong compulsion effect, forcing the victim to answer. If the target’s answer is mistaken, their death is all but assured. The target suffers an instant death effect, and if this is resisted, they receive a double rank-down on all parameters for a short duration.
Answering correctly, however, will harm Gatekeeper instead. She will lose the benefits of her Territory Defense and Demonic Defender of the State Skills for a short duration, her hold on her domain momentarily broken. In addition, she will suffer a reduction in offensive power when attacking the target.

The Misery of the City of Seven Gates

Pêma tôn Thēbôn

Type: Anti-Army
Rank: C
Range: 1~100
Max Targets: 100 people

An item crafted with magic, serving as the tool with which Gatekeeper kept her hold on the city of Thebes. Pêma tôn Thēbôn is an ‘all-seeing eye’ that allows Gatekeeper to witness anything occurring inside the territory she has claimed. It is born from her lineage as a magical beast, originating from the Egyptian Sun God Ra. As the Eye of Ra was the disk of the sun and saw the world as it traversed the sky, so is the eye manifested by Pêma tôn Thēbôn a “sun” granting Gatekeeper visions of her dominion. This Noble Phantasm is only usable while Gatekeeper is within the area claimed by her Territory Defense and Demonic Defender of the State Skills.
With Pêma tôn Thēbôn, Gatekeeper is able to witness the entirety of her territory, though she must focus on an object or person in order to examine it more closely. As a side-effect of her monstrous legend and evil nature, the eye created by Pêma tôn Thēbôn manifests a “wasting” effect in its vicinity. The nature and wildlife of Gatekeeper’s territory suffer as though in a drought, eventually causing the land to wither. Targets entering the Noble Phantasm’s area of effect suffer continual damage from heat.

Lore

Gatekeeper’s True Name is Phix, the Sphinx of Thebes.

Phix was born as the offspring of Typhon and a female sphinx. Unlike the others of her kind, being closer to beasts in mentality, Phix was possessed of intelligence, far superior to any human. Not wishing to serve the gods, she fled Egypt, taking refuge in the unknown regions of Africa and terrorizing the humans there.
However, she was coaxed to inhabit the region of Boeotia in Greece. The city of Thebes had affronted the goddess Hera, and she saw Phix as a most fitting punishment for its people. Thus did the sphinx come to Thebes. Taking her seat on a rocky eminence near the city, she hounded travellers to and from Thebes, completely isolating the city. Though at first Phix simply killed those who traversed the lands of her dominion, she eventually tired of this. In order to amuse herself, she took to asking riddles from passersby. Those who answered incorrectly were slain, and none proved to be her better.
Not only did Phix’s presence starve the city of trade, her presence in the lands of Boeotia also brought drought and famine. It was said by the Oracle of Delphi that the sphinx could only be defeated by answering one of her riddles correctly, as could be proven by the fate of the warriors that had attempted to slay her.
With Creon, the king of Thebes, catching wind of the Oracle’s word, he promised the kingdom to any who would relieve Thebes’ plight. To this challenge rose Oedipus, who answered the now-famous riddle of the sphinx correctly. Unable to cope with her frustration, it is said that Phix perished, whether by devouring herself or flinging herself off a cliff.
Despite the legends, she did, in fact, survive. How Oedipus came to count a winged creature as dead after it plummeted down a cliff is a mystery, though it is likely that he did not care. It is also true that Phix’s defeat “ate away at her”, in the form of an eternal frustration at being bested by a mere human.

Personality

A Divine Beast of superior intellect. Though taking a more human-like shape in order to better hide her identity as a Servant, Phix’s personality remains unchanged. She is supremely self-assured and proud of her prowess in both the physical and mental sense. In order to further prove her superiority, she often uses arcane or complicated language in everyday speech, finding joy in lesser minds being unable to glean her meaning.
As much as proving herself, she enjoys tormenting her prey. The riddles Phix concocted were meant to give travellers a false hope that would then turn to despair, giving her the pleasure of toying with them before killing her victims. She is also offended by the implication that she would’ve let travellers that answered correctly go.
Though she enjoys being challenged as an opportunity to show her majesty, she cannot cope with failure. Phix does not possess a good sense of self-control to begin with, and the frustration that comes from failing is more that she can handle. Following a failure, there is a roughly equal chance of her flying into a rage or quitting the field in order to go and sulk. Her successes mounting only compound the issue, as the more she builds pride and hubris, the more crestfallen she will be when meeting disappointment.
Towards her Master, Phix is a difficult Servant. She is hard to control at the best of times, and eagerly wishes to prove herself superior to her Master as well. Due to not taking orders from an inferior, she has to be appeased and coaxed into doing much. As she has absolutely no qualms about devouring humans for sustenance, it can be hard to control her even by regulating her magical energy. Of course, Phix is as weak to Command Spells as any other Servant, but their power will run out eventually. Once it does, the Master would be facing an angry Divine Beast with no protection left to them.
Phix’s wish to the Holy Grail would be to remove Oedipus from history. Though in retrospect she finds it likely that another hero would’ve dealt with her eventually, she hates Oedipus’ part in her legend with such a passion that she would spend an omnipotent wish on making him go away.

Relationships

Coming over the desert, bearing riddles and wealth.The Queen of Sheba
A fellow teller of riddles. As they lived in the same territory, Phix is somewhat saddened at not having lived to meet her.

King among kings, gleaming like the sun over the sands.Ozymandias
Though divorced from the rest of the sphinxes, Phix still feels awe at his presence. She would like to avoid ever meeting him, for fear of reprimand for sullying the name ‘sphinx’ with her evil deeds.

A murderer of justice. The waters of the old kingdom felled her enemies, and the fire her.Nitocris
A contemporary of her early years. Though she was a pharaoh, Phix had little to no contact with her or others of her station. As the sphinxes are to some extent beholden to the will of the pharaoh, she would likely be able to exert some influence over Phix.

The vaunted light shining upon all. No shadow left to hide in, no secret left hidden.Sherlock Holmes
Phix’s ultimate enemy. As he is the one that reveals of all, Phix, as a creature thriving in Mystery, would stand no chance. However, defeat at the hands of such a worthy foe would not be shame, she thinks.

Oh no. The son Thebes, the slayer of monsters.Heracles
An existence to be avoided at any cost. Knowing of his reputation, Phix has no illusions as to how she would fare, especially given her actions in Thebes.

What the…?Tamamo Cat
A disappointment in many a sense. Though her original was likewise an intelligent beast, and a creature to be respected in her own right, this… At least her cooking is good.

*growl*Oedipus
He that is to be reviled. Phix does not consider him her archenemy despite their opposition in legend. She would wish to meet him again, but only so that she could tear him apart properly this time. Phix does not wish to discuss their matter with anyone, growing furious at the merest mention of their legend or that riddle. As far as she is concerned, he was lucky and she was having an off day.

Creator Notes

This was originally going to be a boring Caster, but then I remembered that Gatekeeper is a thing that exists. Though the actual Class Skills are unknown, I’d like to think that the ones I ended up with are somewhere close to the concept at least.
The name Phix for the Sphinx of Thebes comes from Hesiod’s Theogony. As for her parentage, it varies from author to author, ranging from Typhon and Echidna, to either Typhon or Echidna (or one of their offspring) to neither of them. I went with something that would tie her to the sphinxes seen in the Nasuverse, though as she is also descended from Typhon, she is different from them all the same.

Though Demonic Defender of the State is not a precise fit as far as Personal Skills go, I felt that it was close enough not to warrant making a different version.
I’m a bit leery of her second Noble Phantasm, though I felt that she needed something to explain the drought and famine said to have fallen upon Boeotia while she was in Thebes. The Eye of Ra simulacrum also worked as a way to tie her into the Egyptian part of her legend, I guess.

Do note that the quote/unquote riddles in the Relationships section are collapse tags hiding the true identities.

[Kamera]

What historical figure will best represent the disastrous and villainy of the industrial revoluti-- i mean capitalism and its consequences i wonder.

[RoydGolden]

What historical figure will best represent the disastrous and villainy of the industrial revoluti-- i mean capitalism and its consequences i wonder.

I actually considered making a Beast James Watt sheet based on this exact concept (the "dark side" of the industrial revolution). My inspiration for it kind of dwindled and I have other ideas now so I doubt I'll be posting it up though.

[Kamera]

The Industrial Revolution and its consequences

Bottom Text


Proposal:

Beast WATT
Beast VOC

[Bugs]

Yikes

[Alexcoene]

Beast WATT
Beast VOC

I strongly advice you to not do that.

[Kamera]

sssh begone spooks

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Grand Avenger MAO it is

[Dragolord09]

Perhaps you should try villains from mythology instead?

[Kamera]

God you're boring

[Alexcoene]

And you're very unfunny, we have all our faults.

[asterism42]

enough

[Kamera]

broke: joking to please others
woke: joking to please my own ego

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why yes one ticket to the joker movie please

[Seika]

Keep to the topic, please, everyone. Kamerad, you're the most at fault, and your general posting has been particularly crap over the last few days. Straighten up.

[BnEl15]

"Humans are pathetic... In pursuit of power, they trample, devour, and kill without hesitation, all while turning a blind eye and making countless excuses for their own actions. Yet if I am to be punished for attempting to rise above such unsightly nature... Answer me this, o innocent one; Is it wrong for me to indulge in their little games?"




Source

Class: Caster
Other Classes: Assassin, Berserker, Avenger
True Name:
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Place of Origin: Bali, Indonesia

Parameters:

STR: C
END: B
AGI: C
MGI: B+
LCK: D
NP: E+~A-

Likes: Durga, her daughter, children, human hypocrisy
Dislikes: Human greed
Talent: Black magic, making curses and poison
Natural Enemy: Airlangga, Barong, Mpu Bharada
Armament: Claws, staff, spellbook
Catalyst: Blood of an infant who has never touched the ground

Class Skills

Territory Creation
Rank: B
A skill to build a special terrain that is advantageous to oneself as a magus, such as for the purpose of collecting mana. The creation of a small temple is possible. Caster uses this temple to perform prayers and rituals to the goddess Durga.

Item Construction
Rank: B+
Caster's specialty lies in conjuring curses and poison, and it is possible to infuse them into weapons. The effectiveness of these curses and poison is increased by one rank if the blood of a young child is used in their creation.

Divinity
Rank: C++
Caster is revered by the Balinese society as a major deity. An avatar of evil fated to wage an endless battle with Barong, the avatar of all things good. As long as the concept of good and evil remains within the hearts of mankind, their battles will inevitably continue. While her association with the Hindu war goddess Durga grants her a plus rank at this skill, the rank is still relatively low due to Caster's human origins and lack of fame outside Bali. As a human whose existence is close to a Divine Spirit, Caster also had to suppress a portion of her divinity to be summonable as a Servant. Some of her divine authority may be temporarily retained with the activation of her first Noble Phantasm.

Personal Skills

Deceitful Temptress
Rank: B

A skill based on Balinese myth and urban legends acknowledging Caster as a skilled temptress capable of conjuring illusions and assuming different forms in order to tempt humans to sin and embrace her forbidden black magic. A composite skill consisting of both Illusion and Shapeshift at roughly B rank. While the range and duration is relatively limited, this skill allows Caster to fool her environment, manipulating humans and Servants alike to do her bidding.

Blessing of Durga
Rank: EX

Blessing granted by the goddess Durga from the devotion Caster displayed toward her cult in life. As a skill, this greatly amplifies Caster's mana generation rate and magical capabilities, allowing her to perform complex magecraft near the level of high-thaumaturgy with ease in relatively rapid succession, without fear of excessive mana consumption. The limit to this blessing lies in Caster's own body which is ultimately still "human" and thus unfit to wield too much of such high-level magecraft. Thus, invoking too much of this blessing at once may severely harm Caster in exchange for the brief nigh-limitless power. Caster also needs to regularly perform blood sacrifices to maintain the effectiveness of this blessing. Durga accepts blood of any kind, but the blood of young, innocent children is said to be the most effective way to appease her.

Queen of the Leyaks
Rank: A

A skill denoting Caster as the ruler of a race of Balinese demons known as the Leyak. The Leyak are believed to be humans who succumbed to the allure of black magic, transformed into mindless beasts who devour humans in order to sustain their own existences. Allows Caster to summon and command a considerable amount of Leyaks to assist her. The mana required to sustain one Leyak is small, allowing Caster to summon up to 30-40 Leyaks before the mana cost starts to take a toll on her. Compared to a Servant, these Leyaks are weak, simple-minded beasts who can only understand basic commands, but what they lack in strength and intelligence they make up in sheer numbers and aggression. It is possible to inflict serious damage to a Servant by having them attacked by multiple Leyaks simultaneously.

Noble Phantasm(s)

Wewidangan Dedemit Rangda
Malevolent Domain Untouched by Light

Type: Anti-Army
Rank: C
Range: 1-100
Max Targets: 100 people

A reality marble recreating the place where Caster first established her kingdom of demons, and her identity as the demon queen Rangda.

The reality marble takes the form of an endless tropical rainforest, with massive trees that block out sunlight and an ominous fog that further limits visibility. This forest is akin to a hunting ground for Caster and her summoned Leyaks. With the low visibility and similar view of a sea of trees in every direction, combined with Caster's Deceitful Temptress skill, it is easy for Caster and her familiars to launch surprise attacks and trap enemies for long periods of time within this forest.

The main purpose of this Noble Phantasm is to strengthen Caster's existence as "Rangda, the demon queen, avatar of evil" by unsealing more of her suppressed divine authority. As a deity who can only be defeated by the force of good, this Noble Phantasm prevents Caster from being killed by anyone who does not possess good alignment. Should she receive fatal damage from an enemy without good alignment while within the forest, said damage will be "retconned" from existence, returning Caster to her condition before receiving the damage. This is tied to the tale of Barong and Rangda's endless battle, which states "only good can defeat evil" and vice-versa.

Unlike most reality marbles, Caster is able to maintain its stability for long periods of time, thanks to her Blessing of Durga skill. The reality marble may last for up to half a day if Caster stays out of combat, and 2-3 hours if she actively engages her target. Once deactivated, this Noble Phantasm is sealed. To use it again, Caster must appease her patron goddess by performing a complex and time-consuming ritual involving a child sacrifice, something she detests to do. Therefore, it can be said that this is effectively a Noble Phantasm only usable once.

Kitab Durga
Sacrilegious Tome of the Goddess

Type: Anti-Unit/Anti-Army
Rank: E+~A-
Range: Varies
Max Targets: Varies

Caster's second Noble Phantasm, and her primary method of offense. An ancient spellbook granted to her from the goddess Durga for her devotion. The spellbook contains a wide variety of spells with various ranks and effects, some of them comparable to magic from the Age of Gods. Among them are mastery of certain natural elements, the invocation of curses and plagues, and even spells that target the mind, including a hypnotic suggestion that compels her targets to take their own lives.

In exchange for such versatile and powerful magecraft, Durga demands the same level of devotion that Caster displayed towards her in life. While a regular prayer of reverence slightly boosts the power of spells ranked E-C, any spell ranked above C requires blood sacrifice, with some of the more complex and powerful spells requiring more sacrifice and more time to prepare. The requirements for these sacrifices may also differ in some cases, including but not limited to animal blood, flowers, spices, and certain incenses.

Description

Caster's True Name is that of the 10th century Javanese princess and Balinese queen, Mahendradatta. She is more well-known as Rangda, Balinese demon queen and avatar of evil. While her existence is close to an immortal divine spirit, she became summonable as a Servant due to the incineration of the Human Order in a certain worldline. She also expressed interest in manifesting as a Servant, suppressing a portion of her divine powers to observe humans from a new perspective.

Generally, Caster holds very little faith in humanity as a whole. She despises the greed, prejudice, and aggression humans display to one another. At one point in life, she genuinely wished for the betterment of humanity, for humans to be free from such evils. Yet after everything she went through in life, it seems she had given up on such a wish. Now, she cannot help but laugh and obtain a sense of enjoyment whenever she sees a display of human hypocrisy; "civilized" and "honorable" beings who claim to be good, yet would not hesitate to resort to black magic and other underhanded methods when it benefits them.

In this form, she has embraced her identity as a demon queen and avatar of evil. She has mostly abandoned her personal motivations of seeking justice. For centuries, the people has already seen her as a deity of evil. Therefore, if that is the only thing she could be known for, any noble goal or motivation behind her actions would be meaningless. There is little point in being anything else, and if the people desires it that much, she will happily play the part of an evil demon queen. This is also one of her reasons as to why she looks down on humans. She believes that her role only exists due humanity's fears of confronting their own inner darkness. According to her, every human is an ugly, chaotic mix of good and evil, yet everyone fears and refuses to acknowledge their inner evils. Thus, it would be easier for them to pass all evils as the work of a malevolent deity, freeing them from any sense of responsibility.

Despite legends of her performing child sacrifices, Caster holds a soft spot for children, believing them to be innocent beings untouched by the evils of humanity. Around them, she would assume a gentler, almost grandmotherly personality. Occasionally, this fondness clashes against her devotion to Durga, who still demands child sacrifices at times. Should such a situation arrive and there is no other option to take, she is capable of murdering and draining the blood of those children, all while crying, profoundly apologizing, and muttering justifications to convince herself that it is "for the better".

Caster also holds a soft spot for her daughter, Ratna Manggali. Her terrifying demon queen persona would vanish the moment her daughter is involved. Then, she would act more like a chatty, if not a little overbearing mother, much to her daughter's embarrassment. In life, nobody wanted to marry her daughter due to Caster's reputation as a demon queen. She believes that she could atone properly as a Servant and find her daughter a proper man. She is highly selective, though, and would not hesitate to smite any potential suitor who does not fit her extensive criteria of "a good husband". It would be wise to not mention that this may or may not contribute to the reason why her daughter is still single. All in all, while this side of her differs significantly from her usual demeanor, she seems to be genuinely enjoying herself whenever her daughter is around. In a way, perhaps this is a glimpse of her original personality, free from her role as a demon queen...

Caster holds no particular wish for the grail. If asked, she would jokingly say she would wish for a good husband for her daughter. Alternatively if her daughter is present, she would wish for grandkids, just to tease her. Ultimately, as much as she despises it, she knows that her role as demon queen is necessary. The concept of good and evil can never be separated from humanity. Thus, while it would be easy for her to do so, she will not wish for the erasure of such concepts. The people entrusted her with the role of evil, and perhaps out of a sliver of love or a sense of duty left for her kingdom, she will continue to embrace that role. For millenniums to come, no matter where humanity finds itself in...

The demon queen Rangda, alongside the divine beast Barong, will always watch over them.

Lore

Mahendradatta(961-1011 AD) was born as a princess of a small Javanese kingdom. When she came of age, she was wed to the Balinese king Udayana as a strategic alliance to politically tie the two kingdoms together. From then on, she moved to her husband's kingdom and ruled as the queen of Bali.

In reality, she possessed very little power as queen. Her role had been determined from birth, and that was simply to secure an alliance between the two kingdoms, and bear children for her husband. Possessing a strong sense of justice, she lamented the injustice, crimes, and hidden ploys taking place within her kingdom. Yet no matter how much she prayed and wished, there was nothing she could do. Her role had been set in stone.

That is, until Durga answered her prayers. With little power of her own, the goddess taught her black magic; the ability to utilize curses and harness the power of demons to do her bidding. The desperate queen, Mahendradatta finally found a way to make things right. As a worshiper of Durga's cult, she utilized her newfound powers to enforce justice upon her people. She executed criminals, annihilated armies, and effectively ruled the kingdom behind the scenes. For the first time, Mahendradatta finally felt like queen; a good ruler responsible for protecting her kingdom, and leading her people on a path to betterment, free from injustice and evil.

Unfortunately, that feeling was short-lived. Hoping to gain favor from the king, someone told him of her activities. Furious of her association with the cult of Durga and her use of black magic, the king banished her to the depths of the Balinese rainforest. The king probably did not expect her to survive the wilderness, and believed she would die within a few days, forever lost from the annals of history. In a way, he is not wrong; that was the recorded historical end of queen Mahendradatta.

Yet according to the local folklore, she survived.
The banished queen, now known as Rangda (meaning 'widow'), survived the harsh wilderness thanks to Durga's protection. As a form of gratitude, the goddess blessed her with immortality, allowing her to further spread the cult of Durga. A few days after her exile, a number of villagers who heard rumors of her survival came to her, asking her to impart her knowledge of black magic upon them, so they may curse and destroy their enemies. The queen was appalled. These were the very same people who scorned her and threw stones at her as she was dragged outside the kingdom walls on the day of her punishment. At that moment, she laughed. She agreed to teach them, scoffing at their hypocrisy. From that moment on, she was no longer the queen of Bali. She was the queen of Leyaks, and eventually, the queen of demons.

Now assisted by her growing number of followers, she enacted vengeance upon the kingdom who had denied her justice. She sent floods, plagues, and famine to the kingdom, one after another.

One day, she encountered her daughter, Ratna Manggali, who was banished to the forest. Ratna Manggali was a beautiful woman, yet no one was willing to marry her due to her mother's terrifying reputation. Fearing her mother's wrath, the kingdom banished the young woman and left her to die, the same way they attempted to kill her mother. This only incited Rangda's wrath even more. Ratna Manggali became one of her closest and most powerful disciples, and together, they enacted vengeance upon the kingdom who had wronged them.

Rangda's rampage was finally stopped by her own son, the hero-king Airlangga. Assisted by a holy man named Mpu Bharada and a divine beast known as Barong, the three overcame her powerful black magic and managed to defeat her. Yet that was only the first of the many battles to come between good and evil. From then on, Rangda and Barong was fated to fight an endless battle. In present day, the two are revered as the guardian deities of Bali, one embodying good, the other evil. At times, one may triumph over the other, yet their conflict will never be truly over. For there is no good without evil, and no evil without good.

Relationships

Wu Zetian
"Ah, you remind me of myself when I was younger. As queen, it is naturally our duty to do whatever is necessary to enforce justice upon our people, no matter how much they may scorn you for it. You have my respect, it seems you've succeeded where I failed."

Parvati
"Master, I ask that you keep her away from me. While her presence is similar to Lady Durga's, the two are fundamentally different. I cannot stand her wholesome, seemingly boundless love for humanity. It would be akin to turning a blind eye to their sins."

Arjuna (Alter)
"An absolute force of good who eliminates all evil for the sake of a perfect world... Hah, it would be nice if the world is that simple. Alas, what is good without evil, and what is evil without good..? Maintaining such balance is my part to play in this chaotic, deplorable world of ours."

Mephistopheles
"Ah, so in the end, that highly successful doctor still succumbed to the allure of dark, forbidden arts, all for the sake of temporary worldly pleasures... How typical of humans to do so."

Emiya (Assassin)
"World peace, you say..? What a foolish wish. Admittedly noble, yet foolish."

Nursery Rhyme
"The Nameless Forest, you say..? Oh my, for such an innocent-looking child, you certainly have quite the terrifying Noble Phantasm. Why, it reminds me of my own!"

Airlangga, Barong, Mpu Bharada
"My insolent son who abandoned me, the holy man who obstructed my plans, and the wretched divine beast fated to battle me until the end of time... While I am more than happy to kill you all now, it seems just this once, we are on the same side. Don't get any ideas, though. I would not hesitate to smite you if you ever displease me."

Ratna Manggali
"Ah, Ratna, my beautiful daughter! Have you found a suitor willing to marry you yet? No? Fret not, Chaldea is home to many potential suitors from around the world, all across human history. I'm sure there is someone out there for you. Of course, they still have to gain my approval for your hand in marriage. Should I deem them unsatisfactory, I will smite them. That is what any good mother should do, no?"

Creator Notes

Whew that was a long one. While trying to develop her personality beyond "generic evil demon queen", I feel she has somehow ended up being more of an anti-villain..? Welp, hopefully this still works.

Looking up her lore was pretty hard. Apparently her historical records was pretty scarce, but there was a ton of materials and different versions of her in folktales. This final version is kind of a mix-and-match between all those different versions, while I also removed and/or mashed certain aspects of her together to prevent this sheet from being even longer than it already is.

In a normal HGW, she would probably be a pretty late-game antagonist, if not the final boss, manipulating everyone behind the scenes during the early stages of the war. In an FGO story, I could picture her as an event antagonist similar to Kama in the Ooku event, initially ruthless and terrifying, but displays a more human side to her when summoned as a Servant. In Chaldea, she would probably be like a cynical grandma who outright ships you with her daughter on bond 5, believing you to be a good person to wed her.

In any case, that's probably it from me on this round, enjoy.

[Bugs]

I'm a really big fan of this one, but is it just me or did the faceclaim corrupt and disappear?

[34]

that's pretty epic

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like, can i give her my vote already