13
votes
Accepted
What is a Grail vessel?
The vessel to the Holy Grail, known as the Lesser Grail, is used to summon the Greater Grail, which resides in the cavern underneath Ryuudou Temple. It is the Greater Grail, which allows a magus to ...
- 39.6k
10
votes
Accepted
What did the past winners of the Holy Grail Wars wish for?
Note the Holy Grail War was originally a means to get to the Root, although only the Tohsaka family has retained this goal. (This appears either in "Heaven's Feel" or "Unlimited Blade Works".) The ...
- 14.6k
10
votes
Were the Heroic Spirits that powerful in their lives?
When a Hero dies and ascends to the Throne of Heroes to become a Heroic Spirit they will gain strength based off the worship of their legend as such the more fame and renown one gets the stronger they ...
- 39.6k
7
votes
Accepted
How does the Grail choose the participants?
The exact way in which the Grail picks Masters is not well-understood, as far as I'm aware. It's a fuzzy process even to the participants themselves.
To try to address your specific questions:
...
- 35.1k
7
votes
Do Servants retain memories of their past Masters?
A Servant that has been summoned and then returned to the Throne of Heroes will not remember their first summoning during any subsequent summonings. Under normal circumstances, each time a Servant is ...
- 35.1k
6
votes
Accepted
What do servants expect will happen at the end of the Holy Grail war?
To expand on @Septian Primadewa's comment
The winning pair is supposed to be able to claim the Holy Grail and utilize it to grant a wish for each of them. Its true purpose is to actually utilize ...
- 39.6k
5
votes
Accepted
How did Waver appear in Iskandar's reality marble?
According to the type moon wiki, Iskandar's reality marble is created with help from people who "shared his dreams and pledged allegiance to him after many victories and defeats"
Thus, in essence, ...
- 1,448
5
votes
Accepted
Did Sola-Ui truly love Lancer?
Kayneth himself tells us that even the lowest class of Magi (anyone with magic circuits and some training in using them at the simplest levels) are functionally immune to Lancer's enchanting beauty ...
- 3,479
5
votes
Accepted
In what order were the Servants summoned for the 4th Holy Grail War?
Based on skimming the light novel and the Wikia, this is what I could come up with about the summoning order of the Servants in the Fourth Holy Grail War. Fate/Zero doesn't give actual dates, but it ...
- 12.5k
5
votes
Who are these soldiers from Rider's Ionioi Hetairoi?
In short, we don't know who they are, although there is some evidence on who the black-haired adjutant might be.
The Seven Warriors
Ionioi Hetairoi means "The Companions of Ionia", so I would expect ...
- 9,603
5
votes
What happened at the end of Fate/Zero? What was the wish?
Kiritsugu Emiya decided to save the world instead of resurrecting his wife and daughter, so why didn't it happen?
Because he didn't actually make a wish.
Kiritsugu's wish all along was to save the ...
- 39.6k
4
votes
Why is Rider wearing Pants?
Waver does say in Episode 7 that he'll buy Rider some pants as a reward for taking out Caster. In the novel he tells Rider in Volume 2, Act 5, -140:41:54, that he'll buy him a pair of pants if he can ...
- 12.5k
4
votes
Why did the Einzberns make Illya a master?
I believe the plan of the Einzbern's for the 5th Holy Grail War was to obtain the Third Magic on the spot, and not try and relay on a third party to secure it or the Greater Grail (as they did last ...
- 39.6k
4
votes
Why did Saber possess Excalibur as Heroic Spirit but not Avalon?
Fate/side material (2004-1-30), p.056 defines Heroic Spirits as:
Heroes who achieved great things in life, and became objects of worship after death.
Saber is actually a special case in this ...
- 8,539
4
votes
Just who knew Arturia was female when she was King?
According to Garden of Avalon, only Merlin, Uther (before he died), Ector (her foster father that raised her from the age of 5), Kay (her foster brother), and Guinevere once they married. Closer to ...
- 394
4
votes
Why did Gilgamesh remain in the human world?
Initially, it's stated that servants are kept in the world by the Holy Grail. (This comes up in the Good End of "Unlimited Blade Works," but I imagine this piece of information might have appeared ...
- 14.6k
4
votes
Accepted
What is Kotomine Kirei's new raison d'être?
What Kirei Kotomine is talking about is allowing Angra Mainyu to be born.
first off, Kirei Kotomine feels nothing out of life and it has been like this since birth. he even tried to start a family to ...
- 39.6k
3
votes
Accepted
Is there a single member of the Einzbern family who is a human being?
The Einzberns from the beginning were a factory of homunculi. Per the booklet released alongside the DVD for the Unlimited Blade Works anime:
• The origins of Einzbern
A factory originally ...
- 121
3
votes
How can Gilgamesh become an Archer?
You're being too literal. Archer as a label for a Servant class does not mean "This guy was badass with bows". It means "this guy is versatile and has potent long distance attacks." Several of the ...
- 3,479
3
votes
Accepted
What movie could Trimmau have watched?
Since her features resembles a certain liquid metal Terminator, it's very likely this is a reference to Terminator 2.
From IMDB:
A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, ...
- 42k
3
votes
Accepted
What happens if there is no relic in a summoning?
A catalyst is not required, but most Magi prepare for one because they have been preparing to partake in the Holy Grail War for years.
Most Masters will prepare a catalyst with which to summon ...
- 39.6k
3
votes
How did Waver appear in Iskandar's reality marble?
That's not Waver. He may look similar but he is explicitly named as Eumenes in the Case Files Materials book.
Another one of Iskandar's soldiers is Ptolemy.
Note that the designs discepencies from ...
- 42k
3
votes
Where was Shinji Matou during Fate/Zero?
Where was Shinji Matou during Fate/Zero?
Shinji was overseas at the time. He is only mentioned by his father Byakuya in the original Novel.
He was briefly mentioned by Byakuya in the original Fate/...
- 39.6k
3
votes
What language used by Kajiura Yuki in Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Fate/Zero OST lyric?
Actually it's not from any language. Kajiura Yuki (the composer of this song) is often used a made up language for any of her soundtrack song compositions called "Kajiurago". The word itself ...
- 19.1k
3
votes
Accepted
Why did Emiya Kiritsugu refuse the Holy Grail in Fate/Zero?
First of all, the Grail is not omniscient nor omnipotent, it's just a source of magic power. As such, in order for it to fulfill a wish, you have to also give it the method for fullfilling said wish. ...
- 1,946
2
votes
How did Caster find Saber?
There is probably no canon answer, but we can speculate.
and both him and his Master didn't operate like proper participants in the Holy Grail War
This is actually one of the reasons why he could ...
- 2,825
2
votes
Why is King Arthur female? Why is Iskander tall?
Rules are made to be broken
This is the mantra to always keep in mind when engaging the Fate series.
By default—the "rule"—servants are summoned with their body as in their prime (physical ...
- 3,479
2
votes
Were the Heroic Spirits that powerful in their lives?
Actually it's depends on the individual. As Garden of Avalon, supplementary materials reveal that Excalibur DID had the power to generate a Sword Beam. I guess it depends on whether they come from a ...
- 21
2
votes
What were the Einzberns planning to do once Kiritsugu won the war?
This spoils Fate/Stay Night, especially the Heaven's Feel route.
- 2,825
2
votes
Accepted
Is there any significance to Risei's line?
This is just some unimportant ritual Risei thought up, possibly because he cared for the symbolism (being a devout priest), or that it might accentuate and reinforce his role as overseer. You'll see ...
- 3,479
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible