Just as the title said. Which servants in canon do you think are designed the best? By design I mean their servant profile and lore, especially their skills and NP. This is not about their appearance or artwork. Please, I don't want to see more complaints about appearance.
I'll begin. One of my favorite servants is Voyager, and his niche of being an anchor for Human Order, with how his body allows for the perception outside of our solar system. Fits well with Nasu's lore and mechanics.
Last edited by HumanComplex; April 7th, 2022 at 06:21 AM.
Voyager really is the best one.
Followed by Berserker Lancelot and Holmes.
And below them, Apo Vlad and Tamamo.
Shout out to Prelatti, Koyan and Heracles who aren't among the best but are still pretty great.
Last edited by pinetree; April 7th, 2022 at 07:26 PM.
I'll also say Voyager. He's quite a unique servant and his abilities fit so well into the lore.
Also gonna go with Achilles. His whole kit just fits together so well.
I'm a huge fan of Merlin and how he uses his brand of magecraft. Many people might disagree but I'd say the same about Musashi.
Man, I forgot about Prelatti. Liked the concept and the character, really hope they expand more on him. I'm indifferent towards Koyan, kinda felt like a stretch to me, and Heracles is always great. Liked what they did with Tamamo, made her feel like an actual threat befitting of the Three Great Monsters of Japan. Vlad's nice, Holmes is Holmes, but I disagree with Berserker Lancelot. I feel like his ability is too generic for his specific legend, as there's numerous legends of knights being masters of weapons.Originally Posted by pinetree
Last edited by HumanComplex; April 7th, 2022 at 10:11 AM.
I'd have a lot of runner-ups to cover, but Jason's "my friends are my power" shtick is the unquestionable champion.
King Hassan is the ideal.
Also like Achilles, especially the shield NP. In myth the shield was engraved with Achilles's life events, and it was made by Hephaestus, so it's a great interpretation for a divine weapon. Merlin's a fun character, though I would like his magecraft to be expanded upon. Musashi's controversial, and I do feel like she's wanked, but I like the Heavenly Eye. Just feel like it's wasted on her, should've been used on someone who actually had supernatural eyes.
I've always like Vlad (Apocrypha). His design tackles a lot of the core Servant concepts (fame boost, conceptual NPs based on legend, popular perception distorting character) except the way it is handled is far more down to earth than a lot of the very wackier concepts in Fate. Vlad (Extra) being an alternate take with further character distortion is cool as well, although I'd say more just the idea is neat and the execution is uh, just ok.
Like as a comparison, there are other Servants that do the same things like Napoleon (character distortion) or Dantes (conceptual kit) but I wouldn't say they're handled as well. I mean I like Dantes and I know Nasu has said he wanted something different than past interpretations (which this definitely achieves), but yeah I can't imagine anyone expected super speed flaming dream man after reading the Count of Monte Cristo.
Cu is very neat because he really manages to stride the line between goofy comic relief and absolute blood freezingly terrorizing with not only ease but grace. His powers also seem to never end, which is a sensation I quite enjoy.
Call me 想φαγω.
Spoiler:
Vlad is probably the best, i agree with sesto.
too many servants have whacky interpretations, arbitrarily dont have it in a way they should or whatever. Or the interpretation is only relevent in mats lmao
Archer will always be my favorite but I have to give this to Apo Vlad. To me he's always been the best example of stories and fame affecting a Servant, and how Servants deal with their legacies.
Archer i think is one of the best 'oc' servants.
A lot of the original FSN servants really stand out in terms of there servant sheets, in terms of being the opposite of vlad
Solomon for me (and Goe-chan once and if he would released as Servant).
Runners up: Vortigern, Morgan, Lancelot, Surtr, Qin Shi Huang Di
I really like Sanson. His skills all make sense (Bonus vs. criminals, healing, how to most efficiently kill humans), and despite his relative youth, having an A+ NP doesn't feel off because the French Revolution was an era-changing period, one of the bloodiest in recent history, and he was the one doing the most of the killing all throughout it. A swarm of hands dragging a victim to be guillotine'd is very... cool.
I agree on Voyager being the best, and Emiya best "OC".
I have tons of runner-ups, with Oberon and Gilgamesh at the top. Really appreciate Salieri, Tamamo, Koyanskaya, Morgan, Merlin, Kojirou and Bedivere.
Last edited by Kubera; April 7th, 2022 at 07:46 PM.
Sure, but his abilities just capture the quintessential Arthurian feel to me in a way that no other Servant manages to do. My point of referrence is The Once And Future King (and I honestly have no idea about the tone of other earlier works aside from The Green Knight) and Lancelot is the perfect character to do it with. I'd say that even if I hadn't read anything. Arthur is the most famous knight, but he's also the king. When I think medieval knight, I think Lancelot.
For Someone's Glory, the silly way in which knights can go incognito or impersonate anyone else just by taking their banner and badges off their armor.
Protection of the Spirits and Magic Resistance adding a bit of the fantastical side of their story.
Eternal Arms Mastery giving him some cool points while highlighting the martial prowess that's so core to his pursuit of being the best knight.
Knight of Owner with the marvelous interpretation of a key moment that is just as silly as it is impressive, magnified to absurd degrees while maintaining that exact same feel.
And all that fantasy and comedy are wrapped up in the brutality of the Berserker class and the tragedy that Lancelot has been summoned into that class at all.
Also — and this goes beyond his profile and into his depiction in Zero, but — him being plagued by self-destructive beliefs he (literaly!) can't ever share with anyone. Possessing an inner cruelty he is desperate to unleash but also be punished for.
He is the Ill-Made Knight. It's just so fucking good.
Last edited by pinetree; April 7th, 2022 at 07:43 PM.
Oh yeah, forgot about him.
Fate Merlin is my favourite Merlin over all the fiction.
I'll also throw in praise for Merlin as well, he's great. He's so good Urobuchi even gave us Merlin 2.0 in a certain puppet series (who is also based).
Merlin is also one of my absolute favorites
Voyager is undisputably the best for me, bar none. Sometimes just by thinking about him I feel my heart growing three sizes. He could be the trashiest unit ever, and I'd still roll for him.
Other than him, Merlin's design made me fall in love with him even before his skillset closed the deal. I was already digging him from Saber's VN ending, but FGO truly solidified him as the third best boy.
Third, because Oberon came, guns blasting, and scratched every itch I didn't even knew I had. And then the reveal? His slimy bug-man form? I had no chance against him, truly.
...Also Arjuna. Always Arjuna.
I started FGO for Arjuna. I love him, even before the buffs, don't judge me. He's the number 0, I'm sorry Voyager.
As for the girls, Artoria reigns supreme in my heart. (And as my 1st SSR servant in the JP server back when it started, she saved my butt so many times.) The OG FSN girls' designs are still my personal best and there's some joke about how the eroge game has the most well-put girls in it somewhere.
Anyway, other than her I think F/E's Tamamo is really special. Before the billion other Tamamofaces that keep testing my love appeared (nothing against Koya, Tamacat and so on so forth, I just think they're... Hm for a lack of better word), I found her whole schtick of "a monster trying to understand humans by aiming to be a good wife" SO good. I had a blast playing her route because I loved hearing her talk and I loved seeing her go off.
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