Saber
"What must be fought for will ultimately be lost, all that awaits is despair and emptiness. Yet all I can do is to keep fighting until I die like a dog. That is my Pride - my Way of Kingship."
True Name: Brân Fendigaidd
Epithet: "The Blessed King of the Mighty Island"
Alternate Classes: Lancer, Rider
Origin: Mythological
Region: Britain (Mabinogion Cycle)
Catalyst: His Severed Head Under the Tower of London
Alignment: Lawful Good
Likes: Familial Bonds, Partying
Dislikes: Abusers, Politics
Talents: Swimming, Telling Stories
Natural Enemy: Himself
Parameters:
STR: (A) END: (A) AGI: (B) MGI: (C) LCK: (C) NP: (A)
Appearance:As a part-Giant, Brân towers over most humans at a staggering 11 feet 6 inches tall making him unable to fit in most medieval houses. He has short spiky black hair and black eyes. He wears a primitive set of medieval armour that only covers the vital areas so as not to weigh him down. He also dons a long beige cloak that protects him from the wind and rain.
For a weapon, Brân carries a humongous iron sword that is longer than most Heroic Spirits are tall.
Character:Immediately after being summoned, Brân will declare his name to be "Alder" when asked by his Master so as to not say his True Name aloud. Brân is a sombre man, rarely speaking unless spoken to and showing little emotion at first because he is still haunted by the memory of losing his comrades at the end of his life. But nevertheless Brân will bravely fight for his Master and should they prove a worthy ally then he will slowly return to his boisterous self, telling stories of his various adventures and helping make great food to feast upon with his Master. Humble and sincere, he has no qualms about serving under someone and is relieved to be freed from the restraints of politics and can fight to his heart's content against other famous heroes. However, he never permits betrayal, and he will not forgive one who does it, whether they are a Master or not.
While not dumb, Brân prefers a head-on approach when it comes to battle, charging recklessly at opponents and overwhelming them with brute strength. He claims it's because "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" so if pushed against the wall his only response is "hit harder". If his Master wishes him to fight tactically then they'll have to use their brains to come up with strategies and Brân will try his best to execute them.
Skills:
Class Skills
Divinity - (A)
The measure of whether one has Divine Spirit aptitude or not. Those who have A Rank Divinity or above have reached the Throne of Gods and thus can break through Skills such as Protection of the Faith and Enlightenment of the Sacred Fig. As the son of the Sea God Llŷr and the maternal grandson of the Sun God Belenus, Brân's Divine Spirit aptitude is among the highest afforded to Heroic Spirits.
Magic Resistance - (B)
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 three verses. Brân fought against a variety of magical beasts during the twilight years of the Age of Gods. Even if he is targeted by High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals, it is difficult for him to be affected.
Riding - (C)
Denoting the ability to ride mounts and vehicles. It is said that dragon type mounts are an exception, requiring a different ability other than Riding. At this Rank, one can flawlessly ride vehicles and animals that received a proper training and adjustment. There are few anecdotes of Brân riding a mount due to his great size, however he was given one worthy of his bearing during the battle against the evil Gods thanks to his friend Arawn. But even Brân cannot ride the likes of Phantasmal Species such as Monstrous Beasts.
Personal Skills
Battle Continuation - (A+)
A Skill that allows for the continuation of combat after sustaining mortal wounds. It will also reduce 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. Even after being mortally wounded by a poison arrow, Brân continued to fight until he and his men won. Even being decapitated by his own men and carried back to Britain - Brân's head survived for seven years before finally succumbing to his wounds. From this anecdote, even if he receives a fatal wound, Brân can keep on fighting for seven turns before dying.
Berserk - (B)
A composite Skill of Bravery and Mad Enhancement which grants the user the ability to negate mental interference such as pressure, confusion and fascination, but also having the bonus effect of increasing melee damage. Because of his Giant blood, Brân turns into a beast that fights mostly on instinct rather than using the finesse of a warrior. Enemy Servants might even mistake him for a Berserker Class Servant based on his wild fighting style. Depending on the situation Brân might even forgo his giant sword and simply start beating the enemy to death with his bare fists.
Charisma - (B)
A composite Skill consisting of a person's charm as well as the natural talent to command or unify an army or country. Increases the ability of allies during group battles. At this Rank one is sufficient to lead a country as its ruler and the morale of military forces he or she commands is extremely high. Brân was the High King of Britain, ruling over the united people as a popular king until his untimely demise. The prophecy of the crows that gathered upon his grave was so revered that no later ruler dared to touch the sacred birds - even Churchill ordered their protection during World War II.
Noble Phantasm:
The Unknown HeroBlessings From The Everdistant Utopia
[Type - Passive Self Buff], [Noble Phantasm Rank - A], [Maximum Range - N/A], [Maximum Number of Targets - Self]
In a battle of supernatural beings, Brân was chosen to be the champion of Arawn - King of the Otherworld and the Faeries to lead his army against the forces of the malicious gods who wanted to take Arawn's land. As it was a war between Elementals and deities, Arawn gave his authority to the mortal Brân so that he could not be killed so long as his name was unknown.
Crystallized into a Noble Phantasm, this blessing from the Elementals protects him from mortal wounds whether physical or magical by redistributing the damage across the entirety of his body in order to reduce it, so for example a destroyed heart would be converted to mere scratches across his skin. This protection doesn't make Brân invincible as if the damage adds up over the course of a battle to where it gets too much or if his body is destroyed in a single attack then the protection won't matter either way. However the true weakness of this Noble Phantasm is the condition Arawn set upon Brân's invicibility, where it would dispelled completely once his name is spoken aloud. It doesn't matter if he kills the person who said it and fights someone who doesn't know his identity, once it's gone then it's gone.
Brân isn't particularly concerned if he loses this Noble Phantasm during the Holy Grail War since he believes that true strength is overcoming one's own limits anyway, as evidenced when the trickster God Gwydion managed to identify Brân on the battlefield but he continued to fight without the blessing and still returned home alive. But nevertheless he'll maintain the secrecy of his name since the blessing represents the bond of trust between him and Arawn.
Lore:Born the first son of a God and a Cewri, Brân knew he was different from regular humans very early on as his strength was abnormal and he quickly grew to tower over everyone but his younger siblings. Nevertheless, Brân tried his hardest to get along with others and became admired for his skill in combat as well as his hard work ethic. The people of Britain soon rallied around him and when the High King passed away Brân was immediately presented as the next choice to lead the people. And so he ascended the throne and became the champion of the people, helping unite the territories and going on many adventures - from bringing peace between the Giants and the humans, to befriending the King of the Otherworld and to even fighting malicious Gods.
One day whilst fishing by the coast, Brân saw a mysterious ship approaching Britain. He walked down the coast to greet the men disembarking and their leader introduced himself as Matholwch - King of Ireland. The foreign king explains that he has heard that Brân's sister Branwen is the fairest maiden in the land and has come to ask for her hand in marriage. Brân consents and soon a great feast is held as the engagement that will bring unity between Ireland and Britain. But the celebrations are cut short when Brân's tempestuous younger brother Efnysien crashes the party and demands to know why he was left out. He then throws a tantrum and starts mutilating Matholwch's horses in rage. This obviously angers the guests and to avoid conflict breaking out, Brân offers his Magical Cauldron that has the power to raise the dead to Matholwch as compensation. This satisfies the Irish King and the feast ends without further incident. Matholwch and his bride sail back to Ireland to be married and soon they have a son named Gwern.
Time passes peacefully until Brân receives a starling with a note tied to its leg fly into his castle. Reading the letter he learns that his sister is being beaten daily by Matholwch's men because of their dislike for the British whilst the King himself turns a blind eye. Enraged Brân musters up all his soldiers and dives into the sea, swimming to Ireland whilst his human soldiers followed behind in boats. Learning of Brân's approach, Matholwch tries to calm him by sending letters wanting to negotiate and that he has an empty castle that Brân and his men can stay inside whilst peaceful dialogue occurs. But Brân remained restless and continued onwards to Matholwch's personal castle. Strained talks were held, until Brân's younger brother Efnysien burst in reporting that he had checked out the supposed "empty castle" and it was full to the brim with armed soldiers. Efnysien once again goes on a rampage and kills Matholwch's son Gwern and so inevitable war breaks out. Brân and 150 of his men versus the whole of Ireland, the fighting is fierce but there is seemingly no end to the Irish warriors. Efnysien realises the issue, Matholwch is using the Magical Cauldron to resurrect the dead soldiers so they can fight again. Making up his mind to save his siblings, he dives into the Cauldron and destroys it from within, sacrificing himself in the process. Slowly but surely Matholwch's forces are cut down, but the Irish King does not give up and orders his archers to fire upon the British with poisoned arrows - even if it means hitting their own men. Seeing the rain of arrows, Brân gets in front of his men and swings his sword over and over to deflect the arrows. His men come out fine, but a single poison arrow had struck Brân's leg. Fighting through the pain, Brân and his men continue onwards and slay the evil King and all of his men, sparing only the women and the children.
After everything was over, Brân found he could no longer stand because of the poison which was slowly spreading through his body. He ordered his seven surviving soldiers to cut off his dead weight and take him back to Britain. They complied and decapitated him, taking his (still alive) head back aboard the remaining ship across the sea. Upon landing in Britain, they found it to be a very different place. Roman soldiers has occupied the land and the British had been enslaved. Brân continued to advise his men on what to do and over the course of seven years they stealthily moved from place to place inching closer to the Roman headquarters - Londinium. When they eventually arrived they found it burning to the ground thanks to a woman named Boudica, Brân gave his final orders to his men and they climbed the White Hill of Londinium and buried their King's head under the hill facing the continent to ward off invaders.
According to some eyewitnesses, King Arthur once came to the White Hill to pay his respects and to declare that Brân could rest easy as Arthur was now the new protector of the realm. Other witnesses claim that it was the Knights of the Round Table who arrived and dug up Brân's remains and took it to a mysterious castle where there were rumours of a certain Grail...
Bond Lines:
What does it mean to be a King?
"A King is the leader as chosen by his people. He protects his countrymen and in return his soldiers will lay down their lives to protect him. That's why I don't regret waging war with Ireland as despite the heavy loss of life, we all fought honestly and bravely to rescue my sister - no, even if she hadn't been my sister we still would have gone simply because someone asked to be saved."
Are you even 'Human'? Why would you chose to lead them?
"I know we're commonly called "Giants" but the Cewri aren't like the Jötnar of Norse legend or the Titans of Greek. If anything we're closer to a subset of humans and as such I suspect that as the Age of Man progressed we didn't go extinct like the Jötnar and Titans but instead grew smaller until we were indistinguishable from humans. As for why I lead the humans, it's no great mystery. My mother was a mortal like me and she said that all life exists in a balanced circle and that by living alongside each other we can grow together. And so I and my siblings fought to protect the normal humans from Monstrous Beasts whilst the humans gathered resources, farmed crops and built homes for everyone to live in."
Who is your greatest enemy?
"If I could be cheeky then I'd say "myself". No seriously, I thought being the child of a God meant that I had to uphold the utmost virtue and see the best in everyone. But I know now that I was just being naïve and didn't see people for who they truly were. Had I seen the evil in Matholwch's heart then I wouldn't have given him either my sister nor my cauldron. I was also too weak to properly control my younger brother from his violent outbursts. Still, it's not too late to make amends and that is why I swear I will protect you my Master."
What is your Wish upon the Grail?
"When I departed to Ireland to save my sister, I left my young son as Steward in charge of the Kingdom. Needless to say he was killed by our fellow countrymen who wanted the throne but ended up handing the Kingdom over to the Romans. Perhaps a virtuous King would wish to save his country or his people...but I cannot betray my heart and so I would tell my past self to take my son with my so that he would have a better chance at surviving by my side."
Relationships:
Beowulf - "Ah, I sense a similar fighting spirit in you. What say you to a sparing match?"
Boudica - "It seems you have suffered much at the hands of the Romans. Yet another sin that I am to blame for."
Fionn Mac Cumhaill - "Ah, if only you had been the King of Ireland that I met. Things would have turned out so differently."
Galahad - "What's that boy, you once found a magical cup? Could that be the remains of my Cauldron...?"
Julius Caesar - "So, this is the man that conquered my Kingdom whilst I was away. I see your ego is as big as your gut."
King Arthur - "So this scrawny thing is the famous Once and Future King eh? Tell me little king, did you manage to rule without having any regrets?"
Creator's Notes:I was a little worried that I couldn't come up with a good Noble Phantasm for Brân, but I kinda like that he doesn't have any fancy gimmicks outside of his strength and determination. If the Ruby Text of Brân's Noble Phantasm sounds familiar then it's because it's borrowed from Avalon's subtitle since Brân was blessed by the King of Annwn which overtime became Avalon in Arthurian Lore. With how strong he is, I did consider making Brân a Grand Saber, but then as I was mulling it over I decided that in my mind a Grand Saber would need to be either the greatest swordsman or possess the ultimate sword regardless of how strong they are and because Brân was neither I relented in the end.
For any Harry Potter nerds, they might notice that Brân's height is identical to Hagrid's canonical height since they're both part Giants. Credit to Ali Don whose usage of Guts as the faceclaim in their own Brân Sheet made me unable to see Brân as anything other than a Guts clone. XD
As usual, all comments and criticisms are welcome.