Part 87: Idylls of the King - Artoria - Part 2

Artoria 2



Whoo boy, so Artoria's in-series history. She has by far the most alternate versions and has been the poster girl for the entire series from the start. As with many others, Artoria's first appearance was in FSN. Unintentionally summoned by her Master, Emiya Shirou, her first major battle was against the monstrous Heracles, a fight she just barely managed to survive, after her Master took one of Heracles' blows for her, an action she thought was really stupid. Artoria generally had a poor opinion of her Master's recklessness, but she eventually learns to accept it as just what he does. Citing possibly mind control (and her Master unintentionally revealing it), she chose to keep her identity secret for most of the story, until an incident one night when she got in a fight with Medusa, and Medusa tried to use Bellerophon against her. Unable to stop it by normal means, and with Shirou watching, she unleashed Excalibur, incinerating Medusa and her horse, and revealing her true identity. Afterwards, she explained her wish: for someone else to become King of Britain instead of her. Citing the tragic downfall of her kingdom and the loss of lives in her final battle, she wished to do things over again and not even pull the sword from the stone. After Shirou discovered this, he began trying to talk her out of it and hold on to the life she had. She revealed she had to recover the Grail in any case, since instead of dying per se after Camlann, she instead offered her body to the world. In return for her to continue fighting as a guardian much like Nameless, she swore she would recover and wish upon the Grail. After growing closer to her Master, she can began to see things his way, until she discovered the true, evil nature of the Grail, and swore to destroy it. In the climactic final battle of Fate, she cut down Gilgamesh, using Avalon to block his most powerful attack (Shirou had the long-lost sheathe implanted in him by his father, which he didn't know about, until he returned it to Artoria to use as she saw fit). At the end of Fate, she used Excalibur to destroy the Grail before anyone could use it, and finally passed on, back in her homeland.

In Unlimited Blade Works,she takes more of a backseat. Her fight with Heracles was more successful this time, avoiding serious injury thanks to Nameless playing sniper. She kept a generally low profile until, when Caster attacked her, Shirou, and Rin. Caster had a hostage, Shirou's guardian Fujimura Taiga, and Saber agreed to become Caster's Servant (thanks to Caster's ability to nullify a Master-Servant link with her Noble Phantasm, Rule Breaker) in exchange for Taiga's life. As Caster's "Servant", she resisted one of Caster's new command spells (while she couldn't resist a second, Caster didn't use it and just generally liked watching her suffer under the first one's effects), until Rin and Shirou managed to find some new allies and confront the mage again. Saber wasn't deployed in this fight, thanks to Caster's underestimation of Rin and Shirou's abilities, and at the end of this dramatic encounter, Artoria became the Servant of Tohsaka Rin, instead. She quickly fought off the seemingly-villainous Nameless, and spent the rest of the story following Rin's commands. At the end of the story, one of two things happened (depending on the choices the player made): Saber either destroyed the Grail with the same results as the Fate route, or Rin managed to save Saber from disappearing in time and Saber lived on in the modern era thanks to Rin's intervention and quite willingly became part of Rin's harem along with Shirou.

In Heaven's Feel, quite a different fate awaited her. The earliest part of the story proceeded much like Fate did, until an attack on Fuyuki's Ryoudou Temple killed Caster and her Master, and Saber and Shirou investigated it. Running into the newly-summoned Assassin Hassan-i-Sabbah, she was sucked in by the Shadow while fighting with Assassin. But instead of turning out like Gilgamesh, Saber was changed into something viler, Saber Alter (infrequently referred to as Dark Saber these days), as a Servant of the now-villainous Matou Sakura. As a heartless Artoria, she wielded significant power without restraint and in service of her latest Master. Alter herself was defeated very late in the story thanks to a now very powerful Shirou and Medusa teaming up, with Shirou only very reluctantly stabbing his former Servant straight through the heart.

As with Gilgamesh, her next major appearance would in Fate/zero. The Einzbern family, one of the three families that founded the Grail War system, summoned her using Excalibur's sheathe, Avalon, as a catalyst (Artoria had been in possession of Avalon for quite a bit of her life, but it had been stolen by Morgana and seemingly lost forever). In order for her actual Master, Emiya Kiritsugu (who would later adopt Shirou as an orphan and give him his family name), to operate in the shadows as he wanted, she was assigned to pretend to be the Servant of Irisviel von Einzbern, Kiritsugu's homunculus wife. This was also because Kiritsugu's personality and Saber's were very much at odds at each other and he really doesn't like working with her type. Arriving in Fuyuki from Germany, Saber would pal around with Irisviel for a bit, very much enjoying her company as her knight, until the third night of the War when she had a run-in, with, in order of appearance, Lancer, Rider, Berserker, and Archer. It was a busy night, you see.

She would later assist in fighting some of Caster's monsters alongside Lancer (she was only fighting with one hand, as during her fight with Lancer, she had her left hand disabled by one of his spears to protect her life), and gradually began to get more and more involved in the plans to defeat Caster. The Lancer eventually had to break one of his spears and disable the curse and allow Artoria to use Excalibur at its full strength to destroy Caster's giant sea monster that he had summoned in the Mion River that runs in the middle of Fuyuki. Afterwards, she witnessed her Master's cold-blooded killing of Lancer's Master, an action he thought was necessary to shorten the War and avoid a meaningless duel of knights between Lancer and Saber, an action she hated not only because of her Master's perfidy in the arrangement and the insult to her chivalry, which demands fair battles between knights. As a result of this incident, she basically refused to fight with her actual Master at all.

Near the climax of the War, as the location of the Grail became known and all the remaining Servants began to converge on it (Berserker, Archer, Rider, and Saber), Artoria would arrive in the lower-level parking garage of the fated mall. In it, she encountered Berserker, still bizarrely focused on her. The two engaged in a ferocious battle until the Berserker managed to correctly estimate the length of Excalibur, even though it was covered by Invisible Air. Demanding the Berserker's identity, the monster proceeded to dispel the fog around him and unleash his sword, Arondight. Arondight had only been wielded by one person: Sir Lancelot. She only barely managed to overcome her former knight in a vicious battle, and seeing such a proud knight fall so far, it only strengthened her resolve that she was a failed king and that someone else needed to sit upon the throne.

After this encounter, she soon ran into Gilgamesh. I already detailed what happened there in Gilgamesh 2, but Artoria's hatred of Kiritsugu truly began here, as she desired the Grail more than anything here, especially after having run into Lancelot. As strong as she was, however, she couldn't resist two of Kiritsugu's Command Spells, and incinerated the Grail with her Noble Phantasm. Shortly after her disappearance, she returned to the moment of life atop of hill of corpses at Camlann, overcome with grief at everything that had happened (because of her unique circumstances, she can remember somewhat what happened in Grail Wars if she returns to her own time). Her last appearance in Fate/zero was looking up at a sky that had a single ray of light shining down on her. It should be noted, however, that while her problems with Kiritsugu aren't addressed in the UBW and Heaven's Feel routes, she comes to acknowledge, in the Fate route after learning what's in the Grail, that Shirou's adopted father made the right choice.

So, as for alternate appearances. She, uh, has a lot, so again, might as well start from the beginning. If you really want to cut out the chaff, however, she only has three really serious alternate takes on the character, most of whom originate in Grand Order.

Saber Alter: this is her as tainted by the corrupt Fuyuki Grail. Her skin becomes pale, her armor turns black, and she loses her iconic ahoge. In this form she becomes much more cold-hearted and is entirely goal-driven, even though her goals aren't that much different from Artoria's regular aspirations. The moral difference between her and regular Artoria is much like the difference between Batman and Superman, respectively. The former permits and commits evil to achieve a larger, more altruistic goal, while the latter is the real truth and justice type that tries to save everyone, but they both basically desire the same things. In fact, one could say Alter is closer to how Artoria wishes she could be: ignoring everything but the larger objective and basically abandoning all humanity to stay focused and ignore anything that might hamper her ideals.

Saber Lily: this form first started as an alternate costume for Saber in the PS2 / Arcade fighting game Fate/unlimited codes, but actually gained a background in Grand Order. Basically, this is a 15-year old Saber, newly-wielding Caliburn, that ventured around Britain getting into scrapes and sorting things out until she considers herself someone worthy of sitting upon the throne. Her traveling companions during this time were Merlin, who would compound a troublesome situation Artoria got herself into, and Sir Kay, who would try to fix things as best he could after the troublemakers were done. It should be noted that after her adventures as a Lily, Caliburn would break and would be replaced by the more familiar Excalibur. Also worthy of note is the golden age of Camelot in the Fate universe lasted about 10 years, so the Artoria usually seen in this series is really about 25 or 26.

Santa Alter: this version of Alter originated from FGO's Christmas 2015 event. Alter, in order to enhance her image a bit, decided to become the year's Santa Claus, the foremost ally of children. To this end, she began to go around delivering presents to all the Servants on her list. She's a Rider-class, since what does Santa use to deliver presents? Exactly.

Mysterious Heroine X: this costume (which I used in 0.5 and the first part of her side story), is Artoria from an alternate universe called the Servant Universe. Using a rocket ship named Dun Stallion II, she arrived in our world and proceeded to try and exterminate all other Sabers in the world, believing herself to be the only Saber that needed to exist (she wears a sporty outfit with a scarf and hat that fails to conceal her ahoge). She believes herself to be a Saber-class, but in actual gameplay she's an Assassin. She actually originates from a 2013 Type-Moon April Fool's joke game called Back Alley Satsuki - Chapter Heroine Sanctuary.

Lancer Alter: this is one of the few serious alternate takes on the character. Artoria can also be summoned under the Lancer class, thanks to the holy spear Rhongomyniad, one of the many powerful weapons that could be found in Camelot's armory. Rhongo is actually a very powerful divine artifact that fastens the physical laws of the world together, a power comparable to Excalibur. In the normal history of the world, Artoria used Excalibur, but this is an alternate take on her. In addition, because Avalon, Excalibur's sheathe, wasn't halting her growth, the spear-wielding Artoria grew to a body size more akin to an adult's, as well as a considerably expanded bust. Her armor and spear are black because this Artoria rejected the spear's divine nature, and this rejection caused her to become blackened like her sword-wielding Alter self. She's overall very familiar to her normal self, but just a tad more heartless and warrior-like, rather than king-like. Her steed in this form is named Llamrei.

Lancer: same thing as above, but this Artoria accepted the spear's divine nature and uses more of its power freely, becoming something closer to Divine Spirit rather than a straight Heroic Spirit. This Artoria bears the same physical characteristics of her Lancer Alter self, except for her armor and appearance being much closer to her regular Saber form. As a mount, she uses a horse named Dun Stallion. In FGO's Camelot chapter, there's a somewhat different version of this Artoria, referred to by the epithet of "Lion King" (Artoria is very fond of lions and had a lion cub as a pet in life). In this story, Artoria attempted to use Rhongo to create a perfect, millennial kingdom that could survive anything, even the total annihilation of human history. This Artoria believes the only way to stave off the inevitable conclusion of the extermination of humanity is to protect a select, chosen few within the spear, forever.

Archer: this one originated from the FGO Summer 2016 event. Artoria, using the swimsuit and water gun she used in hollow ataraxia, descended upon the beach as a fun-loving king determined to have as much fun as possible and become king of the Penguin Cup, a mysterious competition only she seems to be involved in (she eventually wins it). As an aside, since this Artoria is based around water, thanks to receiving the Lady of the Lake's blessing via Excalibur, Artoria can run atop the surface of water, a skill she first demonstrated in Fate/zero. It also means she never learned how to swim. Among her lieutenants, apparently Lancelot is a good swimmer without his armor, Gawain can swim across a river in a storm, but Kay is the best of them all.

Mysterious Heroine X Alter: yes, a joke version of Artoria has a variant herself, originating from FGO Valentine's 2017 event. This is basically another Artoria, from the Servant Universe, who swears to defeat Heroine X. However, she's not so hardcore about it that she's not willing to laze around the house, eating sweets. Basically Artoria as a shut-in otaku, who likes cosplaying as Sith Lords and referencing attacks Darth Maul used.

Rider Alter: yes, her Alter persona has more than one Rider iteration, this final one (for now...) originating in the FGO Summer 2017 event. Instead of trying to become the good-natured ally of children as her Santa self, she instead incarnates as a hardcore battle maid who demands only the finest from her Master, in exchange for serving her Master passionately. During the event, she allies herself with Nero Claudius under the Caster class to win the big race that was the setting of the event. Her Noble Phantasm in this form is using Sequence, another weapon Artoria had lying around in her armory during life (and Lancelot borrowed during one adventure).

There are also more obscure versions like Saber Lion (Saber in a goofy lion costume who likes to eat Cu Chulainn and cartoon boned meat), and Master Artoria, a Master version of Artoria who appeared first in an illustration by Takeuchi (because the Type-Moon CEO spends approximately more time than not in life drawing more Sabers), and who later appeared in Capsule Servant, a tower defense-ish game in the Vita port of hollow ataraxia, but I think that's enough, don't you?

The costume I'm using this time is Summer Memory, a design that directly originates from an illustration Takeuchi did *ages* ago.



Six years ago counts as an "age", right? I think so.








The Forces of Destruction have not yet appeared either. For now, the only conflict is between the two Servants who carry Regalia. Red Saber and Blue Caster. I have already settled affairs with the former, but...it seems I must contact this Caster as well. Perhaps she could point the way to Altera. And I must inform her of the true threat to SE.RA.PH. However... I know so little about the threat myself. The aura of the diabolical beasts that ravaged Britain's soil...like carnivorous creatures... It seems as though Blue Caster is the same sort of creature. An Anti-Hero, created to destroy.

You do not amuse Us, little girl. Did you think knowing We are an Anti-Hero would change anything? Granted, you are correct. We are indeed the new Queen of SE.RA.PH, the white-faced fox. We have plagued humanity for years. We care not for the principles of man, or the reasoning of man, or the curses man will scream when We dominated the land as We always have. And you are...a single maiden with a pretty sword. How could you ever hope to subdue such a monstrosity?

It should be noted that while Artoria is small, the reason she can fight foes with much greater body strength than her is because Artoria's body is constantly generating powerful mana thanks to her dragon blood, and she can channel that mana via a technique called Mana Burst to significantly increase the power of her weapons and armor. It allows someone with as small a body as her's to fight against any foe, regardless of size. However, strangely, Nero is actually slightly shorter than Artoria (150cm vs. 154cm). When Artoria is a Lancer, it's 150cm vs. 171. Nero doesn't have anything to explain it like Avalon halting her growth. She's just a dwarf.

If you wish for a fight, you will have one. You reek of evil. I will glady free you from your foul and shameful existence.

...Ha. We would praise you for coming here to the Millennium Capital on foot, but your mistake was in coming alone. We will kill you where you stand and display your head to the masses, then parade your parts and pieces all across our lands as a testament to Our anger!



I came here to obtain information on Altera, but you have the scent of mana on you. I cannot let it go, for the sake of SE.RA.PH. I will take you down right here.

What does SE.RA.PH have to do with anything? I'll make you regret aiming your blade at me.



▂▂▃▃▂▂ --!!

A two-on-one...! But nothing I haven't faced before...!



Basically the same fight as previous, except Lu Bu is a *bit* more dangerous as an enemy, and Tamamo will use her Regalia transformation, so deal with that as appropriate.

You're a foolish knight for challenging me alone. I'll turn you into pulp.

▂▂▃▃▂▂ --!!

You are incomparably wicked... You must be the one people call the Queen of Seduction!



It was getting a little dicey there. Good thing projectiles in this game are in general way too good.

Oh? Being able to defeat Berserker... I'll just pick you off myself.



Of course she's not getting to fire her NP. That's just silly. Artoria actually has unique lines for when an enemy tries to use a Noble Phantasm. If Tamamo tries it...

Caster's Noble Phantasm...! I have to stop it!



Little messy.






I can't see through people like Merlin, but I did feel a sliver of your soul. I saw you subtly protect your Master, even in the heat of battle, as a good wife would. Perhaps I am mistaken, of course... But I believe your heart of hearts is not evil or beastly, and that SE.RA.PH is safe from you as long as your Master wills it so. Have I spoken true, Caster?

Should be noted that Artoria is earnest to a fault, and has trouble with people less straightforward than her, like Merlin and Gilgamesh. She's the always serious type, and can't understand why men like those always do what they do. Merlin's feelings toward her, in turn, are complicated. He's more or less her foster father, but could have helped avert the fall of Camelot with his gift of foresight. Even after everything he's aware of, he's still not quite sure what to think of her.

Oh... To defeat Us even when We have the power of the Regalia... We should have expected no less from the famed Hero and her divine sword of the stars... A storm rages in Our heart...but Our head is now forfeit to you. Take it and do what you please with it. However, We beg of you not to crush this ring. Our Master is blameless, and SE.RA.PH has no other Masters now...

I have no intention of harming anyone ignorant of wrongdoing. Nor will I harm you. Your true desire is not to overrun the masses of SE.RA.PH, is it?

That... We...I...just wanted to be with my Husband...

The Holy Grail of the Moon has heightened my senses, and I have always had a sense of intuition. And by that intuition, I make this choice: I will stay my sword and spare your life. You are not the threat against SE.RA.PH you proclaimed yourself to be. And yet my true adversary, the one in whom this sword belongs, remains elusive...