Rider of the Fourth Estate
"As you may know, the First Estate consists of the clergy. Second Estate, the nobility. Third Estate, the commoners. A Fourth Estate, according to me, would be the women. Overlooked by Jacobins and Girondins alike, regardless of the French Revolution's success, as long as no one is there to make a difference, nothing would change for us. That's why I fought; because eventually, someone has to."
Source
"You know, Maitré, being a hero doesn't always mean fighting a dastardly villain or accomplishing some legendary feat. Sometimes, it's just about doing what you can to fight for what you believe in. I never considered my life to be particularly valuable or extraordinary in any way, but if my sacrifice was enough to light the people's hearts, to give them a taste of hope they never had... I suppose that's a life well-lived. That's right; the me standing before you now won't lose sight of that dream ever again."
Class: Rider
Other Classes: Assassin, Berserker
True Name: Theroigne de Mericourt
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Origin: France (18th century)
Parameters:
STR: C
END: D
AGI: B
MGI: E
LCK: D
NP: C
Likes: Equality, people fighting for what they believe in, horse-riding
Dislikes: Quitters, discrimination, dark and confined spaces, seduction
Talent: Rousing the masses, self-sacrifice, performing arts
Natural Enemy: Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Hans Axel von Fersen
Armament: Sword, pistol, horse
Catalyst: Her riding garbs
Class SkillsRiding (D++)
A Class Skill denoting the ability to ride mounts and vehicles. Most vehicles and animals can be managed with average proficiency, with the exception of Phantasmal Species. Rider is especially adept and handling horses, however, perhaps her true "mount" is the fervor of the Revolution itself, along with the countless men and women who fought in it. Combined with her other Skills, this grants her the ability to "handle" humans through charisma, deceit, and even sex appeal.
Magic Resistance (E)
Grants protection against magical effects. Differing from the Resistance effect that merely rejects Magical Energy, this ability cancels the spells altogether. Cannot cancel spells, but magic damage is reduced somewhat. A relatively modern Heroic Spirit who never had any contact with magecraft in life, Rider only possesses this Skill by virtue of her Class container.
Personal SkillsFriend of the People (C+)
A variation of Charisma and Proof of Friendship. While Rider co-founded a Parisian revolutionary club and was largely responsible for instigating the involvement of women in the Revolution, she rejected her position as a "leader" who commands from the top of the hierarchy. Rather, she prefers to fight alongside her followers as an equal, familiarizing herself with their struggles and fostering stronger connections. Aside from conferring the standard effects of Charisma, this Skill also grants a positive modifier on all positive social engagements Rider initiated. This makes it very easy for her to obtain trust, friendship, and cooperation from others. Due to her particular legend, women will find themselves more easily drawn to this Skill. Its effects are considerably reduced when her other Skill, Patriots' Whore, is active.
Showmanship (C)
A Skill denoting mastery in performing arts. In her youth, Rider took various jobs as a performer to cover the costs of her education. Her talents in singing and acting led to her becoming a minor star in both London and Paris, before talks of a certain revolution led her to abandon her performing career. Even so, perhaps to some extent, these talents added to her charm, as part of the things which seem to naturally draw other people to her.
Weak Constitution (D)
In her later years, Rider was plagued by numerous health issues, including depression, insomnia, migraines, and the coughing of blood. Rider is accompanied by the risk of a sudden status drop at anytime with every action. The probability is very low, but it gradually increases the more she overworks herself. If triggered mid-combat, the damage suffered could be devastating. Due to how a considerable amount of her health issues are psychological in nature, this Skill also confers the effects of low-ranked Migraine and Mental Pollution.
Patriots' Whore (B+)
A variation of Innocent Monster born from her enemies' slanderous accusations, painting her as a harlot who "slept with every man in the parliament, Jacobin and Girondin alike". A Skill similar to Pheromone, every touch, every wink, and every word uttered from Rider's mouth carries a powerful mental interference spell prompting every male within her vicinity to be subservient to her unless they posses certain mental fortification Skills. Through this, it's possible for her to gather intelligence, sow seeds of conflict, or even build a harem of mindless slaves to obey her every command. All around a Skill belonging not to a glorious revolutionary, but a manipulative temptress. Its effects are considerably reduced when her other Skill, Friend of the People, is active.
Noble Phantasm(s)A Revolution Paid by My Body
Libération de la Vierge
"Eh!? Y-You're actually asking me to use this!? That's-! Urgh, fine! Deep breaths, phew... There's nothing obscene about this. Forget the scandals, the false accusations... Yes, this is the bonds I formed with my friends for the sake of the revolution. Nothing more, nothing less. Libération de la Vierge!"
Type: Anti-Unit (Self)
Rank: C
Range: 1-100
Max Targets: 1 person (self)
A symbol of the lengths that Rider was willing to go to in pursuit of her ideals. Despite her best efforts, many of her enemies ridiculed her. The nickname "Patriots' Whore" seemed to stuck with her. According to them, she was completely antithetical to the idea of feminism, and her feats were built upon scandals and debauchery. Allegedly, each of her 100 lovers donated 100 sous every day in contributions to "a Revolution gained by the sweat of her body". While these accusations were later proven to be untrue, for a time, it cemented her status as a harlot who manipulatively relied on her lovers' assets to fund her own revolution.
A Noble Phantasm representing the ability to "borrow" her lovers' possessions, upon its activation, every individual bearing romantic feelings towards Rider would be marked. This mark passively siphons mana from them, gradually weakening them while simultaneously strengthening Rider herself. Furthermore, her parameters also increase proportionate to the number of "lovers" (individuals bearing the mark) she has at the moment. Finally, it allows her to steal any physical object in her lovers' possessions, ranging from weapons to other items of interest. These items would instantly teleport from the target's body to Rider's hands whenever she wills it. An exception to this effect occurs should she try to "steal" a Noble Phantasm. Due to how closely a Noble Phantasm is tied to a Heroic Spirit's legend, she cannot forcefully steal them. Instead, she could only project a lesser copy of it to her hands. These copies are nothing compared to the genuine article. Their powers are significantly diminished due to Rider's inability to properly wield them, and most of them would shatter after a small number of uses. Nonetheless, this ability greatly increases her versatility in combat.
Though My Body is Confined, My Heart Remains Eternally Free
Une Femme Mélancolique
"I see. Perhaps this is it for me, Maitré. Now, now, don't mourn for my sake. It's improper to do so while so many others are still suffering. Now stand up! Stand up and fight for those ideals you believe so deeply! Vive la révolution!"
Type: Anti-Populace, Suicide
Rank: C
Range: 1-500
Max Targets: 200
A Noble Phantasm representing Rider's final days. Despite her role in the revolution, her deteriorating mental state, combined with false accusations from her enemies, forced her to be admitted into an insane asylum. She spent her last days in a catatonic state and constantly rambling about the revolution. While some considered her as a woman who lost the Revolution and finally broken by her own ideals, others considered the opposite; deep down, she was never driven mad. Even as her enemies cursed her name and locked her up within the dismal walls of the asylum, she never lost her resolve. Rather, she was simply grieving for the revolution she never got to see. In a way, she was right. Soon after her death, her public opinion changed from a harlot to a martyr and pioneer. Men and women alike found themselves agreeing with her vision of equality, prompting them to fight for her cause and taking the ongoing Revolution to a new direction; a realization of her ideals.
Due to her particular legend, Rider possesses a conceptual weakness to being "confined". This includes any instance where she is bound without any natural way to break out through her own will, such as being locked inside an enclosed space, trapped within a bounded field, or restrained using certain Skills and/or Noble Phantasms. During these instances, her parameters would gradually drop, she would incur higher mana cost just for existing, her Weak Constitution would have a higher chance of activating, and her mental state would worsen. It is during these moments that this Noble Phantasm would automatically activate. In truth, her rapidly-declining parameters and increasing mana cost did not happen due to mere conceptual weakness. Rather, they are distributed to everyone who bears her mark, who in turn distributed it further to the populace. Those touched by this Noble Phantasm will see Rider not as a harlot, but as a noble martyr who sacrificed herself for the sake of equality. They in turn receive an irresistible compulsion to "stand up for what they believe in", to extreme levels similar to Madness Enhancement. Influenced by Rider's own ideals, this often translates into defying authority figures and tearing down established order. With enough affected targets, one may recreate theof the French Revolution itsef. In this state, killing Rider would only cement her status as a martyr and strengthen this Noble Phantasm's effects, lasting up to a week since her death. Thus, the only way to cancel this Noble Phantasm's effects would be to free her from her confinement, or kill her without confining her in the first place.chaosglory
DescriptionRider's True Name is Anne-Josèphe Théroigne de Méricourt, a Belgian performer, orator, and organizer in the French Revolution.
Rider is a woman with big dreams for the future. Combined with her compassionate yet fierce determination, it's easy for her to empathize with others who hold ideals similar to her own, particularly those pertaining to upholding justice and equality. She is willing to go far for the sake of those ideals, yet perhaps therein lies her greatest flaw: she tends to be too self-sacrificing. While she's not innately distrustful, she believes that involving others in her plans might end up getting them hurt, killed, or robbing them of a chance to see the end result (a fate she herself suffered). Thus, she operates under the mentality that "I should be the only one to suffer so that everyone else can be happy", leading to her often acting recklessly and overly determined to sacrifice herself even in situations where it's completely unnecessary to do so. This belief is arguably made worse by her own self-deprecating thoughts, as she would often claim that "I never expected to make it to the end. As long as I'm there to ignite that initial spark of rebellion, that's enough for me". Occasionally her insecurities, anxiety attacks, and claustrophobia may resurface, but she quickly suppresses them, believing that "a symbol of hope should never yield before such things".
Rider claims that she held no regrets regarding the events of the French Revolution. She laments the chaos that befell the royal family, as well as those who met their end at the guillotine, but she acknowledges that it was unavoidable. Occasionally, she may try to justify it as "necessary for the greater good", but it's unclear as to whether she genuinely believes this or not, as even she appears visibly shaken when learning how the Revolution also claimed the lives of children such as Louis XVII.
Contrary to Rider's depiction as a manipulative temptress, she actually hates using her sex appeal. Despite oftentimes confidently saying things like "nothing is too far for the sake of my ideals", she's easily flustered at the idea of using her own body that way. Not that she's any good at it either. Most of her attempts at "seduction" only amounts to awkward, exaggerated "sexy" gestures and one-liners (which her targets would promptly fall for anyway due to the effects of Patriots' Whore). Honestly, using that first Noble Phantasm seems to hurt her more (out of embarrassment) than it hurts her enemies. She even went so far as to reframe said Noble Phantasm as "the ability to call upon my friends' armaments" as opposed to "the ability to take my lovers' possessions", going into complete denial should one bring up the latter interpretation.
Rider does not claim to have any specific wish in mind, as she's delighted to see how far society had progressed after her time, and content simply with helping others realize their ideals in turn. However, a small part of her secretly wishes to see the end point of her revolution, just beyond the asylum's walls. She considers such a wish selfish to make, while so many others are still suffering. That said, if someone is able to convince her that it's okay to be a bit more selfish, and to rely more on others, perhaps that wish may come to light.
LoreAnne-Josèphe Théroigne de Méricourt (born Anne-Josèphe Terwagne; 1762-1817) was a Belgian performer, orator and organizer in the French Revolution.
After her mother died giving birth to her third child, Anne-Josèphe was sent to live with her aunt and was put into a convent school where she learned how to sew. About a year after she enrolled, her aunt married and stopped paying for her school. Anne-Josèphe fled back to her father after he remarried because she was forced to be a house maid and tend to her aunt's children. Apparently life at her father's home was no better, as she was frequently neglected at best, and constantly mistreated by her stepmother at worst. Unable to take it any longer, she left her home at the age of 13 to pursue her own education. In order to gather funds, she took on several jobs such as housekeeping, sewing, herding animals, and so on, before finding a stable income as a street performer who gradually gained fame throughout London and Paris. It was said that she also survived relationships with far older, wealthier men in order to pay for her education, though this claim remains unverified.
Now in her twenties, Anne-Josèphe heard talks of a budding revolution in Paris and was captivated by the ideas of equality, justice, and liberty. However, soon after her arrival in Paris, she came to the realization that even if the revolution succeeds, more likely than not, the women would continue to be oppressed unless someone is there to make a change. Thus she resolved herself to open that path forward. She returned to Paris with the Assembly in October and began speaking at the democratic club des Cordeliers and on the terraces outside the Assembly. She supported the formation of mixed-sex and women’s patriotic clubs and, with other individuals such as Olympe de Gouges, the Dutch activist Etta Palm d’Aelders and the Marquis de Condorcet, an expansion of women’s civic rights. It was also at around this time that her exploits started to blur with rumors. According to some, she took part on the assault at the Bastille in 1789 and led a massive women's march from Paris to Versailles, all while dressed as a man on horseback. While she did admit to wearing men's riding garbs, she denied being present at the Bastille nor the march.
Anne-Josèphe's outspoken presence and discourse provoked the ire of the counter-revolutionary press, in which she was the subject of constant mockery and false accusations. She was ridiculed as a debauchee, the antithesis of femininity, a “patriots’ whore” whose 100 lovers a day each paid 100 sous in contributions to the revolution "gained by the sweat of her body". She was arrested several times under vague charges such as "disrupting public order" and "preaching harmful beliefs", but was always released not long after on account of her poor health.
On May 15 1793, Anne-Josèphe was attacked by a group of Jacobin women outside the doors of the National Convention. The women, objecting to her pro-Girondin sentiments, lifted her dress and whipped her bared flesh. She never fully recovered mentally or physically, and on 20 September 1794 she was certified insane and put into an asylum. It was a time when the first “scientific” diagnosis were being made of “dementia”, but the physical surrounds were medieval. She was ultimately sent to La Salpêtrière Hospital in 1807, where she lived in terrible squalor for ten years, only intermittently lucid and speaking constantly about the Revolution. Within the asylum's walls, she could only mourn for the end of the revolution she never got to see, before passing away of an illness in 1817.
Unbeknownst to her, Anne-Josèphe's bold ideas gained a massive resurgence soon after her admittance to the asylum. The people continued to push for her ideals of equality and justice, with some even taking her name and claiming to be her successors. Eventually, the topic of women's rights became a serious matter of discussion within the new government, pioneering a new age of feminism on top of the French Revolution.
RelationshipsAchilles:
"The fleeting yet glorious life of a hero, akin to a comet streaking across the sky... Ufufu, it's a wonderful thing."
Eleanor of Aquitaine:
"Perhaps you're right, Mademoiselle; at the root of it all, our actions were born out of fear. Fear of getting hurt. Fear of oppression. Of death. Of rotting away, never becoming anything more than we already are. Even so, it's not such a bad thing to admit, don't you agree? After all, these same feelings gave birth to much larger dreams which we sought to pursue. It is never a weakness to dream."
Jeanne D'Arc, Lakshmibai, Martha Christina Tiahahu:
"On the contrary, you girls fought exactly because there was nothing to dream about. And so you sacrificed yourselves to cut open that path; one leading to a glorious world where everyone can dream, free from the burden of oppression. You fought for a wonderful cause."
Charlotte Corday:
"Please do not deplore yourself, Mademoiselle Corday. You only did what you thought was right. There was no way you could have known what would transpire next. For some, just having the courage to act on your beliefs and taking that leap of faith is more than enough."
Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Hans Axel von Fersen:
"My sincerest apologies. In a much kinder world, I wish things could have been different, and we could have resolved everything peacefully. Alas, we do not live in such a world. Thus, your end was necessary for the sake of the greater good."
Louis XVII (Avenger):
"...I'm sorry, it- it was all my fault. I killed them."
Creator's Notes/Fun FactsHopefully her character didn't turn out to be too much of a stereotypical feminist/freedom fighter.
- Most of her lines to other Servants seem to be rather... superficial, to say the least. While some of those lines are true (like she does admire Achilles and genuinely respect Eleanor, Jeanne, and the others), she's still trying to maintain the image of that "perfect hero/revolutionary", which limited her self-expression somewhat. Her more honest thoughts can only be seen at bond 5, towards certain people (such as Louis XVII), and whenever the topic of her sex appeal comes up.
- Her first NP was partially inspired by Medb's, who also owns Fergus and Conchobar's NPs just by being their lover at some point. On that note, I sense some comedy potential where Medb tries to teach her some of her... "tactics", only to comically fail and/or end up in some unfortunate misunderstanding.
- I feel like she's more of an Assassin masquerading as a Rider, to be honest. Just what does she ride? Her horse? The "fervor of the Revolution"? Men? Who knows. Then again, according to his mats, Ryoma got A+ Riding Skill for "riding the dragon that is the changing eras", so I guess her being a Rider is still justified.
- Imagine if she's summoned by someone like Shirou, both would probably get killed early on by fruitlessly trying to sacrifice themselves before the other.
- Rider is her most "heroic" incarnation. Her Berserker form is basically female Spartacus, while her Assassin form is the manipulative temptress born out of Innocent Monster. Under these two alternate classes, she would most likely still have her second NP, but it would be more focused to the asylum's "absolute confinement" effect as opposed to spreading her beliefs.
- In a story, a large part of her character arc would involve learning to loosen up and rely on others more, showing that you don't have to keep sacrificing yourself and doing everything alone, and it's okay to be a little more selfish sometimes.