Fanfic / Fate/Harem Antics

"This Grail War is completely insane."

— Rin Tohsaka

Irisviel von Einzbern may have been stuck in the Greater Grail, but at least she had her wonderful adoptive son Shirou Emiya to watch over. And with the Fifth Holy Grail War fast approaching, maybe it was time to give him a little poke to finally start giving her some grandchildren. He just needed a girlfriend. Or two. Or three. And who better for her son than the greatest heroes in all of history and their Magus partners?

Fate/Harem Antics is a Fate/stay night fanfiction by kamenhero25. Can be found here on Archive of Our Own and here on Questionable Questing (the latter website also having several omakes made by both the original author and guest authors in the threads). The omake chapters written by kamenhero25 can be found on Archive of Our Own here. Fate/Further Unofficial Harem Antics is a spinoff by OverMaster that is a compilation of omakes they made.

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Fate/Harem Antics contains examples of:

Tropes A-F

• Aborted Declaration of Love: While reprimanding Shirou over inviting so many girls to stay at his house (one of whom, his sister Illya, outright raped him a few chapters prior), Rin tells Shirou that Sakura and Saber need him, but stops just short of saying that she needs him too.
• A-Cup Angst:
  • Illya, especially since Rin and Sakura are bigger than her despite being younger. She's more accepting of Raikou's breasts, though the sheer size of them can irk her a bit.
  • Rin gets jealous of certain characters' breasts, like Drake's. She gets really upset when Drake brags that she had breasts at age 13.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Sakura can use minor spells and fire blasts of darkness. In the source material, she had not been taught how to use magic at the beginning of the war and could only use darkness when under a lot of stress, only gaining control and getting instruction when the war was over.
  • Caster can summon and control the dragon from her legend. In canon, she could summon it, but refuses to because she fears it and has no control over it.
• Adaptational Heroism: Shielder is Sir Galahad with Mash Kyrielight's personality, which makes her far more heroic than canon Galahad, who was revealed to be a total asshole after the fic was released.
• Adaptational Modesty: In Fate/Grand Order, Martha's Ruler form is her swimsuit attire, but here, her primary outfit mainly consists of white robes.
• Adaptational Superpower Change: Here, Francis Drake, Oda Nobunaga, and Elizabeth Bathory have been summoned as a Archer, Gunner, and Temptress respectively instead of their canonical classes.
• Adaptation Personality Change: In canon, Medea Lily is still deeply in love with Jason because she is the version from before he betrayed her. Here, she is just as bitter with his betrayal as her adult self. She is also more timid.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In Prisma Illya, Miyu is adopted by Kiritsugu after the events of the Fourth Holy Grail War in her timeline, therefore making her the adopted sister of Shirou. But here, she has no relation to the former and would become an eventual member of the latter's harem.
• Adapted Out:
  • Thanks to Irisviel's machinations, EMIYA, Cú Chulainn, Heracles, Sasaki Kojiro, and Hassan of the Cursed Arm are not summoned while Souichirou never becomes Caster's master.
  • Medea is an interesting case. While she is summoned, Irisviel specifically chooses her Lily aspect as opposed to her adult aspect seen in the original Visual Novel.
• Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Raiga Fujimura pats Illya's head when he meets her and learns she is Kiritsugu's daughter.
• Age Lift: In her source series, Miyu was ten years old. Here she is about sixteen, one year younger than Shirou.
• All-Powerful Bystander: Ruler does her job as an impartial referee to the Grail War with Taiga as her assistant, so she does not interfere in fights unless something drastic happens like if civilians are at risk or if there is a risk of the public finding out about the war.
• All There in the Manual: Some explanations are given by the author rather than being told in the story itself. For example:
  • Iri took over the Greater Grail while Avenger was manifested in the Lesser Grail. When Saber destroyed the Lesser grail, most of Avenger got destroyed, leaving Iri the sole consciousness of the Grail.
  • The Ainsworths were part of the Holy Grail development. They wanted the War to have the Class Card system, while the Einzberns wanted the Servant system. The Ainsworths called the Einzberns cowards, while the Einzberns called the Ainsworths brutes. Ultimately, the Makiris and Tohsakas sided with the Einzberns and kicked the Ainsworths out of the HGW. They were bitter ever since.
  • The Yggdmillenia are similar to their canon counterparts, the only difference is that Darnic never interfered with the 3rd HGW, deciding that it wasn't worth the risk. Rather, he did a huge amount of research and watched it carefully because of his desire to reach the Root. The reason he sent Fiore is that he lacks power and stamina for a large conflict and because Fiore is the heir and their best mage.
  • Miyu, meanwhile, is completely different from her canon version. Rather, she was the lone survivor in her family because she was in their home which was protected with spells while her parents were killed by the Fuyuki Fire while they were away. A distant relative of her clan is her legal guardian, but she's mostly lived alone in her house since she was six.
• Alternate Universe: Has quite a few divergences from the main Fate timeline.
  • The main nail is that Iri killed Angra Mainyu after Saber destroyed the grail, allowing Irisviel to take over as the entity controlling the grail.
  • The Ainsworth family exists side by side with the Einzbern family, as opposed to being their Alternate Universe counterparts.
  • Yggdmillenia still exists in this timeline, whereas it normally becomes defunct sometime prior to the Fifth Holy Grail War in all timelines except for that of the Greater Grail War. As a side effect, Fiore never ran away from home, so she never forced Caules to take her position and enroll in Waver's class.
• And Then What?:
  • Rin dedicated her life to honoring her father by achieving his goal of reaching The Root. She admits she does not know what she will do after she reaches it.
  • Angelica admits her family dedicated their lives to getting the Grail to spite the Einzberns, and they do not know what to do once they get it.
• Anti-Regeneration: Caster improves her Dragon Tooth Warriors so they can regenerate from damage. However, Serenity can use her acidic poison to dissolve them into puddles, leaving nothing to regenerate.
• Armor-Piercing Question: When Shirou declares he wants to end the Holy Grail War without any bloodshed, Bazett asks how he plans to do that since the Servants and Masters want their wish and have to kill the others to get it. When Shirou cannot answer, she scolds him for his half-assed resolve.
• Ascended Extra:
  • As revealed by Fate/hollow ataraxia, Bazett Fraga McRemitz is the original master of Stay Night's Lancer before Kirei attacked her, took Lancer and her command seals with him, and forcing her to be out of commission throughout the events of Stay Night. But Iri managed to prevent this, thus making her being able to fight in the Fifth War.
  • While he's still a Posthumous Character, Kiritsugu has more time thanks to Iri having him join her as being a Grail entity.
• The Baby of the Bunch: Shielder complains that even though she was a fully-fledged Knight of the Round Table, she still got constantly treated as a kid. It was a consequence of her father being one of the other Knights.
• Battle Harem: There's a reason all the Servants are attractive and female, and they all have female Masters save Saber and Shirou, Iri is trying to invoke this with Shirou.
• Beach Episode: An omake features Shirou and his harem at the beach.
• Berserk Button:
  • Caster is Medea, who was abandoned by her husband Jason for another woman. So she's not particularly fond of any mention of cheating or stealing someone's significant other. She's normally shy and reserved, but when Luvia suggests stealing Shirou from Rin, Caster immediately gets angry. She grudgingly accepts Luvia just flirting with Shirou to piss Rin off.
  • Temptress (Elizabeth Bathory) hates anything that even remotely implies that her voice is not beautiful or that people don't want to hear her sing. When Assassin politely asks her to please keep her voice down because they are in a sleeping neighborhood, Temptress goes berserk and says she will pay with her life for that "insult" before trying to kill her.
• Big Brother Attraction: Illya makes no effort to hide her attraction to her brother Shirou. Though Shirou is adopted, and had no idea he even had a sister until Illya showed up and tried to kill the girls who were standing too close to Shirou. And then of course there's the fact that Illya is actually older than Shirou.
  Illya: It's a sister's duty to take care of her brother, isn't it?
  Shirou: That's definitely not what taking care of your brother means.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • When Lancer breaks into Shirou's house and tries to kill him and Sakura, Rider shows up and yanks her out of the house.
  • A Dragon Tooth Warrior almost manages to stab Saber in the back. Shirou jumps in and smashes it in time.
  • Archer almost manages to kill Lancer with Golden Wild Hunt, but Shielder jumps in out of nowhere and blocks it with Lord Camelot.
  • Avenger almost manages to kill Saber while at the same time, Angelica almost manages to kill Shirou. Lancer steps in to save Saber, while Bazett steps in to save Shirou.
  • Avenger sends a wyvern to kill Luvia. Shirou steps in and fends it off.
• Blade Lock:
  • Saber does this against Berserker several times, but since Berserker is stronger than her, she is forced back each time.
  • Archer and Gunner get into one. Archer is shocked by how strong Gunner is despite her small size and starts getting pushed back, but then Archer kicks her right in a wound on her torso, making Gunner stagger back.
  • Assassin with a dagger and Temptress with a spear get into one, but Temptress is so strong that Assassin has to drop her dagger and back away before she is overwhelmed.
  • Berserker and Ruler get into a few. Just like Saber, Ruler is forced back.
• Blessed with Suck: Hassan of Serenity is a Poisonous Person, but she can't turn it off. When she gets injured in her fights with Drake and Temptress/Elizabeth, Ayako can't help her up or else the poison would kill her. She becomes very happy when she finds out Shielder can touch her.
• Blood Knight: Archer, Lancer, and Gunner just want a good fight, though they have different standards. Archer wants to win a good fight, and is annoyed when things don't go her way. Lancer is a bit more concerned with fairness. And Gunner really couldn't care who wins as long as the fight is fun.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Caster summons the Colchian Dragon to attack Shirou and his friends. Out of nowhere, Avenger shows up and uses her Dragon Witch ability to take control of the dragon and make it turn against Caster.
• Breast Expansion: Berserker mentions that her breasts were much smaller in life, helping explain how she could reasonably pass as a man.
• Broken Pedestal:
  • Played for Laughs. Shielder tells stories of the Knights of the Round Table's various flaws (Gawain was arrogant, Lancelot had too many admirers, Tristan fell asleep too often, Gareth was boy crazy which made Gawain overprotective of her), causing Bazett to say her image of the Round Table has been shattered forever.
  • Having heard of how noble and pure Jeanne d'Arc was, Saber is shocked to learn that the homicidal maniac Avenger is Jeanne Alter. Of course, she doesn't know that this Jeanne is a clone created by Gilles de Rais' wishes and the real Jeanne is indeed incorruptible.
• Bullying a Dragon: When Hassan of Serenity expresses a dislike of the Matou manor when summoned, Zouken slaps her. He ends up melting as a result.
• Call-Back:
  • Saber still hates Berserkers that keep their skills.
  • When mentally communicating with Taiga, the latter finds her and Iri's surroundings familiar, and they should, as they are in the Taiga Dojo.
• The Cameo: Since Archer EMIYA wasn't summoned, Irisviel starts sending Shirou dreams of EMIYA's memories to improve his fighting skill and build up his Reality Marble.
• Card-Carrying Villain:
  • Avenger constantly says she is a witch who wants to see the world burn.
  • Gunner constantly says she is a demon and a tyrant.
  • When Luvia lures the group into a trap and constantly taunts them over an intercom, several characters comment that she is acting like a comic book supervillain.
• Chairman of the Brawl: When the group is attacked by Dragon Tooth Warriors after falling into Luvia's trap, Ayako smashes one with a chair.
• Clark Kenting: When Shirou meets Shielder in her civilian clothes and glasses, he doesn't recognize her until she speaks.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: It's pretty much a given that all of Shirou's harem-to-be will react negatively to another girl flirting with Shirou. Just to name one example, Rin and Sakura each throw a Death Glare at Luvia when the latter invites Shirou to her house. It's especially notable for Sakura, since she only recently Grew a Spine.
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: Shirou, as always. Even lampshaded by Rider while he was cooking with Sakura:
  Rider: I can't tell if Shirou is the smoothest operator since Zeus, or if he's just that nice and that oblivious at the same time.
• Combat Pragmatist: Drake prides herself on dirty tricks like firing her gun through her jacket, so her opponent doesn't see it coming. She is a pirate, after all.
• Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: When Shielder rescues Lancer from Archer's Golden Wild Hunt, Lancer complains due to pride.
• Covert Pervert: Believe it or not, Shirou can think of some rather indecent thoughts, although this only happened after his sessions with Sakura and Rider (and later, Illya and Berserker). Though he also chastises himself and is generally a Nice Guy and a gentleman.
• Cuddle Bug: Once Assassin learns Shielder can touch her without being harmed by her poisons, she can't stop hugging her whenever they are together.
• Cuteness Proximity: Luvia makes Medea dress up like a maid for this reason.
• Dem Bones: Caster can summon skeleton minions called Dragon Tooth Warriors. These are common throughout the Nasuverse, though Caster didn't use them much in most Fate/Stay Night routes.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • Iri has Zouken's summon bring forth Hassan of Serenity, which gets Zouken promptly killed when he slaps her. Kiritsugu then points out that if she's poisonous to that degree, Shirou would probably get killed if he tried to sleep with her since Iri is trying to set Shirou up with a harem. Iri then has Caren summon Shielder to take advantage of Shielder's ability to resist poison and protect her allies from it (and to mess with Kirei).
  • This ends up causing more problems after Ruler gets summoned because she messed with the summoning limits to allow this but forgot to set them back before others noticed and try to summon more Servants. Since all three summons started more or less simultaneously, Iri has to act quickly and make sure Fiore, Miyu, and the Ainsworths all end up with female Servants (and switching the Mastership of the Ainsworth Servant to Angelica).
  • Kiritsugu admits he dropped the ball when he decided not to tell Shirou about Illya, not considering what would happen if they ever met.
• Die or Fly: Shirou awakens his natural Magic Circuits and ability to Trace weapons when Angelica nearly kills him and he fights back.
• Distracted by the Sexy:
  • When the group is eating dinner, everybody is stunned when Serenity removes her mask to eat; Shirou says they did not realize she was so beautiful.
  • Shirou also (unintentionally) gives some eye candy to the girls in the beach omake with some help from bottled water.
• Does Not Know His Own Strength:
  • Berserker having sex with Shirou leaves him covered with bruises. She apologizes.
  • Gunner gives Fiore a friendly slap on the back and accidentally hurts her.
• Doesn't Like Guns: After observing Archer and her guns in action, Assassin mentions that she dislikes guns because they are too flashy and loud, making them useless for silent kills.
  Assassin's thoughts: The Archer was one of those odd modern types who used gunpowder weapons. They were a bit after her time, and honestly she didn't see the appeal. They were flashy and loud and just added to the chaos on the battlefield. As foul as her powers could be, at least they were quick and quiet.
• Don't Call Me "Sir": Taiga's grandfather tells Shirou to just call him "Raiga" when Shirou calls him "Mr. Fujimura".
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Avenger gets pissed when Ruler feels sorry for her after learning of her pain.
• Doppelgänger Attack: Berserker/Raikou can create duplicates of herself that wield different weapons. Each copy is just as strong as the original, causing Rin to complain it's unfair.
• Doting Parent: Saber's idea of good parenting involves naming Jack the Ripper the Prince of Britain. Mind you, it is still that Jack the Ripper, who is also a ten years old girl. Though it should be noted this only happens in one of the omakes, so take this with a grain of salt…
• Double Take: Iri (in a dream vision) gets Taiga pumped, culminating in "And are you going to get a piece of that action before all the good spots in the bed are taken?" Taiga says "HELL YES!" before realizing what she just said.
  Taiga: Wait, what?
  Iri: That's the spirit! [knocks Taiga back to the real world]
• Drama-Preserving Handicap: Because Iri summoned Martha as Ruler illegally, Martha lacks the 2 Command Spells per Servant Rulers normally get. The author said Martha with the Command Spells would be too powerful.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • When Bazett summons Scathach, Kirei tries to sneak up and kill her to take her Command Spells and Servant. Irisviel stops him by causing him to have a heart attack. Bazett and Scathach nurse him back to health, completely unaware of his murder attempt and Bazett thinking he is still her old ally.
  • Kirei and Gilgamesh want to use the Holy Grail to unleash Angra Mainyu, unaware that the entity has been destroyed.
  • Kirei is unaware that Zouken is dead, and thinks the old man is still lurking in the shadows planning something. Sakura also does not know he is dead, and assumes she will have to discuss with him their plan to end the Grail War peacefully.
  • Nobody is aware that the purpose of this Grail War is to set up Shirou with a harem.
• Drives Like Crazy: To pursue Avenger, Archer drives herself, Rin, Luvia, Caster, Ayako, and Assassin in a car owned by Luvia. Archer drives extremely fast, swerves often, and jumps the car several times. The passengers are rattled by the time they catch up to Avenger.
• Everyone Has Standards: While Iri fudged with the Grail War to give Shirou a harem, she makes sure to get Zouken killed before any other shenanigans take place, as his treatment of Sakura is beyond horrible.
• Everyone Can See It: Ayako Mitsuzuri points out everyone at school knows Sakura is in love with Shirou.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Angelica is more amoral than evil, but she is completely confused when Shirou says he wants to use his powers to save people.
• Exactly What I Aimed At: Hassan of Serenity lunges at Drake, who sidesteps and says she missed. Serenity asks if she really did, as her poisons erode the roof they were standing on and make it collapse.
• Explaining Your Power to the Enemy:
  • Saber and Avenger fight and Avenger gets the advantage. Avenger monologues how her Dragon Witch ability is weakening Saber because Saber is part dragon.
    Avenger: I probably shouldn't monologue at you, but you're about to die anyway, so I suppose I can explain. My Dragon Witch ability allows me to empower or command dragons as I see fit. A Servant with a weaker mind would have bent to my will already, but it seems that you're strong enough to simply feel my powers wearing on yours.
  • When Ruler and Berserker fight, Illya gloats to everyone about Berserker's Mystery Slayer ability.
• Failed a Spot Check: Apparently, everyone has failed to notice that all the "enemy" Servants have been predominantly women as of chapter 32. Or that Shirou's the only male Master in the Grail War. The author has to point out that none of the cast beyond Shirou has met all of the Masters and Servants, so they simply don't have enough information to put things together. And while Shirou does know that all the masters and servants he knows are female except for him, he doesn't know if he has met all of the masters and servants of the war.
• Flash Step: Servants are way faster than ordinary humans and do this a lot. For example, when Lancer attacks Shirou's home, Shirou tells Sakura to get behind him and prepares to defend her. Lancer suddenly disappears from their sight, then is behind them and grabs Sakura.
• Foil: Several of the Masters and Servants are this to one another.
  • Illya is an albino Older Than They Look girl who while innocent-looking can be the craziest of the Masters. Her Servant Minamoto-no-Raikou, is a dark-haired fully-developed woman who while belonging in the Berserker class, is actually quite sane.
  • Angelica is a stoic Punch-Clock Villain who only does evil deeds because she believes it is her duty. Her Servant Jeanne Alter is a loud Card-Carrying Villain.
  • Miyu is a quiet, lonely girl who barely even leaves her house and has little interest in the Holy Grail, only joining because she misinterpreted what the War entailed. Her Servant Elizabeth Bathory is a loud socialite who wants everyone to love her and flies into a blind rage if anyone implies there's something wrong with her singing.
  • Fiore is a gentle sick girl with a single, simple wish who dislikes fighting but does so in the most efficient way possible. Her Servant Oda Nobunaga is a Large Ham Boisterous Bruiser Blood Knight who doesn't care what happens as long as she gets a good fight out of it. Their relationship with their younger brothers is also in contrast, with Caules being loving and worried about her while Nobukatsu was traitorous ^note Though it should be noted the Nasuverse's Nobukatsu sucks at being The Starscream, and is later revealed to have genuinely loved his sister and rose up in rebellion as part of a Thanatos Gambit to rid his sister of the lords most likely to betray her.
• The Force Is Strong with This One: As the Dragon Witch, Avenger/Jeanne Alter can detect Saber because of her Dragon Ancestry and quickly deduces her true identity as Arturia Pendragon.
• Foregone Conclusion: The omakes set in the future and the author both promise Shirou will have all twenty-three girls in his harem. The story will show how this happened, especially since some like Angelica and her Servant are hostile to him.
• For Want Of A Nail: The main nail being Iri being the dominant entity in the Grail and manipulating the Servants summoned.
  • She makes it so that Scathach is summoned by Bazett as Lancer and keeps Kirei from stealing her Command Seals.
  • She managed to communicate with Illya, so she's better adjusted to start than in canon.
  • Rider's summoning caused a reaction that crushed Zouken beneath a chunk of the ceiling, causing her to take Sakura and flee. He then summons Hassan of Serenity as Assassin himself and gets killed when he slaps her. Iri kills his failsafe in Sakura, with Serenity finding a new Master in Ayako.
  • Luvia ends up getting the same catalyst that Caster's canon summoner got, but Iri makes sure that Medea is summoned in her Lily form.
  • She gets Caren to summon Shielder to mess with Kirei and summons Martha as Taiga's Ruler class Servant.
  • Fiore, Miyu, and Angelica end up summoning Oda Nobunaga as Gunner, Elizabeth Bathory as Temptress, and Jeanne Alter as Avenger, respectively while the summoning system is temporarily unrestricted.

Tropes G-P

• The Gadfly: As per usual, Caren likes to mess with people.
• Generation Xerox: Raiga jokes that Shirou takes his lady-killer attitude from Kiritsugu because their stubbornness is their Charm Point.
• Gilded Cage:
  • Miyu recalls that when her parents were still alive, they pampered her, but surrounded their home with a Bounded Field that protected her but prevented her from leaving. The Bounded Field shielded her from the fire that destroyed Fuyuki ten years ago before shutting down because her parents were outside and killed.
  • When Illya kidnaps Shirou, his "cell" is just the luxurious guest bedroom with a lock on the door. Considering Illya is his adopted sister (though he didn't know before she told him) and she has a massive crush on him, this isn't a surprise. When he breaks out, he's able to convince the maids to let him leave just by promising Illya can visit him at his home later.
• Glass-Shattering Sound: Temptress/Elizabeth's song shatters all the school's windows and later all the glass in a neighborhood.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: Ruler/Martha tells Taiga that she has no skill with swords, but she does well with either her staff or her fists.
• Good Thing You Can Heal: Angelica impales Shirou and Bazett a few times. Fortunately, Avalon activates and heals him, while Bazett heals herself with Runes.
• Hands-On Approach: At the archery club, Shirou puts his arms around a girl to correct her archery technique. She blushes while he is completely oblivious.
• Handwave: Iri mentions early on that while she does need a catalyst to summon a Servant, she doesn't have to use the one that the mage is presenting; she can use anything in the room. We don't see what catalysts she uses, but apparently the average mage's workshop has a lot to choose from.
• Harem Nanny: Taiga and Martha are the rare "part of the harem" variant. Iri recruited Taiga through a vision and then unceremoniously tossed her back into the real world with Ruler, under the assumption that they'd join the harem sooner rather than later. Apparently she was right; an omake future chapter shows that they helped Shirou create a schedule so that everyone has their fair share with him.
  Kiritsugu: That was cruel.
  Iri: Oh, Taiga's a tough one. She'll handle her new responsibilities just fine.
  Kiritsugu: I meant to Shirou and the girls.
• Harem Seeker: Irisviel is depicted as one, but instead of wanting one for herself, she wants one for Shirou, given how the story starts with her wanting grandchildren.
• Head-Turning Beauty: When Saber becomes the new gym teacher, almost all the students, except Issei, drool over her.
• Heroic RRoD: After her fight with Rin, Fiore is in a lot of pain from overexerting her muscles and Magic Circuits.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Caster constantly looks down on herself for her relative weakness and the fact that she doesn't know how to cook. Luvia tries to assure her that she is worthy.
• Hidden Depths: Like in canon, Sakura's sexual aggressiveness is one. While she normally acts as like a Yamato Nadeshiko to hide her more passionate self, once in bed with Shirou her dialogue changes to the point that her bedroom talk shocks Shirou and she can last till the sun rises!
• Historical Gender Flip: Given this is a Fate fanfic, this pops up with the Heroic Spirits.
  • Saber is of course a female King Arthur, as in canon. When Shielder reveals her identity, Saber just rolls her eyes and said she hid her gender in life, and she's not particularly surprised that historians never discovered the truth.
  • Shielder is Sir Galahad with Mash Kyrielight's appearance and personality. In this verse, Galahad was always a woman.
  • Drake/Archer, as lampshaded by Rin when she discovers her identity. Archer says pretending to be a man was one of the few ways to be a lesbian in her time, especially when you worked for the Church of England.^note While this isn't mentioned in other Fate works and seems to be a case of Early-Installment Weirdness, Fate/EXTRA implies that Drake might actually be Queen Elizabeth, as Drake's signature scar doesn't match with the real Drake, but does match one Elizabeth acquired from a pox
  • Fiore and her peers are surprised to learn Oda Nobunaga is a woman. As in canon, no real explanation is ever provided. Apparently she openly ruled as a woman and for some reason history recorded her as a man.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Zouken summoning Serenity came back to bite him big time when she fatally poisons him.
• Hollywood Heart Attack: While Bazett is summoning Scathach, Kirei attempts to backstab her, but Iri stops him by inducing a heart attack on him. He just falls over in pain and doesn't even lose consciousness, then Bazett and Scathach treat him and call a doctor.
• Home Field Advantage: Saber, Archer, and Ruler all have an advantage at a body of water. Saber because she can Walk on Water, Archer because her ships can use their full potential, and Ruler because being at a body of water gives her a power-up.
• Honey Trap: According to Assassin, this is her main form of assassination, which works well with her ability.
• Honorary Aunt: Illya calls Raikou her aunt once or twice.
• Hope Spot: Shirou manages to fight past Angelica's projectiles and almost manages to stab her... only for her to teleport away and then impale him. Fortunately, Bazett shows up before she can finish him off.
• Hostile Show Takeover: In a fake Chapter 36, the text is suddenly overtaken by binary code. When translated, it reveals that BB, upset that she wasn't included in the story, has hacked reality to take over.
• Hot for Student: Taiga has clearly shown attraction to Shirou, as seen in her reaction to Ruler's suggestion that Shirou take off his clothes while training and her grandfather's teasing about him.
• How Do I Shot Web?: Shirou barely understands what he is doing when he finally Projects weapons. In addition, he doesn't realize Masters and Servants can communicate telepathically, something Bazett and Lancer bring up. In contrast, Ayako, who isn't even a magus, figured out how to communicate with Assassin fairly quickly. This might be justified, as while Shirou was thrown into the war and things had been hectic around him, Ayako willingly participated and Assassin had time to explain some more details (like the telepathic connection).
• How Is That Even Possible?: Shirou is baffled when Illya reveals she is eighteen years old even though she looks twelve. Taiga has a similar reaction when she finds out.
• Identical Stranger:
  • Shirou remarks Martha looks like an older Sakura.
  • Saber and Jeanne Alter have similar faces. Though someone already mistook one for the other.
• I Kiss Your Hand: To prove she knows how to be a noble, Archer kisses Rin's hand. Rin gets flustered.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Miyu's wish on the Grail would be to have a normal life, not bound by her legacy and powers, though there's a bit of I Just Want to Be Loved in there as well.
• I Just Want to Be You: An omake shows that most of his male classmates, with the sole exception of Issei, want to be Shirou not knowing just how much work it is to have a harem.
• I'm Not a Hero, I'm...:
  • Characters sometimes call out Drake for her dirty tricks and other antics unbecoming of a hero. She says she's not a hero, she's a pirate.
  • While fighting Jeanne Alter, Saber tries to invoke an honorable fight as they are both knights. Jeanne mocks her and says she's not a knight, she's a witch who wants the world to burn.
• Implacable Man:
  • Archer/Drake manages to shoot Berserker/Raikou in the side. Though it bleeds, she doesn't slow down at all. The only thing that stops her is Illya deciding to leave.
  • Drake then makes Gunner/Nobunaga bleed a lot and sets her on fire, but she keeps coming. The only thing that stops her is Fiore ordering her to retreat.
• Improbably Female Cast: All the Servants are female this time around (except Gilgamesh, who is from the previous war and is biding his time), and so are their Masters save Shirou, who is allied with several; this isn't a coincidence.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Kirei drinks when his plan to get Bazett's Servant fails. He drinks again when he is forced to work with his daughter Caren, who endlessly trolls him.
• Inertial Impalement: When Lancer threatens Sakura, Rider angrily lunges at her. Lancer says she was predictable and holds out Gae Bolg, causing Rider to impale herself.
• Innocent Innuendo: When Rider is injured, Shirou asks if there's any way he can help to increase her mana reserves. Saber blushes and quickly leaves the room, and Sakura and Rider have to explain to him how Intimate Healing through sex is a thing when it comes to exchanging mana. Then it's Shirou's turn to blush when he realized he just accidentally propositioned Rider, which is nothing compared to their reaction when Sakura unexpectedly agrees with the idea.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Shirou still spots the battle between Archer and Lancer, but this time he doesn't die.
  • Medea still gets summoned, but by Luvia in her Lily form.
  • Illya still attacks with her Berserker when meeting Shirou for the second time, for different reasons.
  • Yggdmillennia and the Ainsworths both exist in this verse. Though this is very downplayed since both exist even before Iri came along.
• Intimate Healing: Shirou has sex with Rider to restore her mana reserves after she's wounded in battle. He later has sex with Saber for the same reason.
• Invulnerable Knuckles: In their brief fight, Rin tries to punch Fiore, who blocks with her wheelchair mech's metal arm. Even though Rin Reinforced her hand, she still hurts it.
• It's the Journey That Counts: A meta-example, the Glimpses of the Future omakes show that Shirou ends up with the rest of the twenty-three participants of the Holy Grail War. Most fans don't mind it and in fact, want to see how it all played out.
• I Want Grandkids: Iri wants a lot of them, which is part of why she's trying to set up Shirou with a harem.
• I Warned You: When Shirou naively accepts Luvia's invitation to dinner, everyone warns him it is a trap, but he insists. His group comes with him, and when it does turn out to be a trap, Rin says, "I told you so."
• Jerkass to One: Of a sort - Kirei is normally Faux Affably Evil to everyone around him, but any time he's interacting with Caren, the mask will fall away and he will express clear annoyance with her. Seeing how she is his daughter and knows how to push everyone's buttons, this is hardly a surprise.
• Killed Off for Real:
  • Iri killed all trace of Angra Mainyu.
  • Hassan of Serenity poisons Zouken, and Iri takes the opportunity to kill off his failsafe in Sakura, killing him for good.
• Kung-Fu Sonic Boom: Saber and Berserker's swords clashing creates a shockwave that nearly knocks Shirou off his feet.
• A Lady on Each Arm: When Shirou's group attends Luvia's dinner, they enter with Rin and Sakura clinging to Shirou's arms, making him uncomfortable.
• Lighter and Softer: Well, considering all the drama causing elements in the original FSN have been mostly averted. Lampshaded with one of its tags in Questionable Questing as "it's not serious at all."
• Loophole Abuse:
  • Ruler faces Berserker. Shirou points out Ruler is not supposed to fight, and she says it's not a fight, it's an unofficial spar.
  • When Avenger goes to kill Illya atop her dragon, Ruler tries to stop her by pointing out she can't reveal herself or her dragon to the non-magi. Avenger decides to Leave No Witnesses, to everyone's horror.
• Lovable Sex Maniac:
  • Scathach says that she previously slept with Cu Chulainn. She hits on Bazett when first summoned and eventually joins Shirou's harem.
  • Drake says that she was married to two women in life, and clarifies that she indeed slept with them. She also hits on Rin and eventually joins Shirou's harem.
• Love Father, Love Son: Taiga's grandfather Raiga reveals Taiga was in love with Kiritsugu while he was alive, and now she's transferring her feelings to his son, Shirou. Embarrassed, Taiga frantically claims that's not true.
• Man of Kryptonite:
  • Jeanne is one to Saber because as an Avenger, one of her skills is Dragon Witch, which allows her to control dragons. Saber has Dragon Ancestry, but while it cannot control her, it weakens and stuns her every time it is used. Dragon Witch also lets her control the dragon summoned by Caster.
  • Berserker/Raikou is one to many Servants because she has the skill Mystery Slayer, which gives her an inherent advantage over beings the older they are chronologically. This includes Ruler/Martha, who is from the time of the Bible. This also explains how she was able to effortlessly overpower Saber/Arturia, who is from Camelot, and Rider/Medusa, who is from Greek myth.
  • Rin points out Assassin would be one to the dragon summoned by Caster because it was defeated by poison in its myth. Sure enough, she kills the nigh=invulnerable dragon with one touch.
• Marry Them All: Shirou will end up involved with all twenty-three girls; it is just a matter of learning how it happens.
• The Matchmaker: Iri is this to Shirou.
• Meido: Luvia dresses Medea Lily up like this.
• Mêlée à Trois: Saber is summoned while Lancer and Rider are fighting. They get into a three-way fight until Lancer retreats and Shirou convinces Saber that Rider is an ally.
• Mistaken for Romance: Shirou and Rin aren't involved (not yet anyway) but Luvia thinks that they are.
• Mr. Fanservice: Shirou, obviously, considering he gave an eyeful for the girls at the beach.
• Ms. Fanservice: As said in an omake, all the female Masters and Servants are called by the students as gorgeous babes.
• Mundane Utility: After her first battle with Shirou's group, Illya has a tantrum and trashes her room. Her maids Sella and Leysritt are about to clean it up when Illya uses a spell to instantly clean it up. Leysritt asks why she even needs them if she can do that.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: Par for the course with Servants, who all have Super-Strength. For specific examples, Gunner and Temptress are both less than five feet tall and have the bodies of children, but their opponents quickly learn they pack a lot of punch in hand to hand combat and should not be taken lightly.
• Musical Assassin: In addition to her spear, this is Liz's main form of attack (with a castle of speakers) and Word of God states her class as a Temptress makes it more destructive than as a Lancer.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The Servants not from the canon fifth Fuyuki war all come from either Extra, Grand Order or Prototype.
  • As for the additional Masters, Fiore is from Apocrypha, and Miyu and Angelica come from Prisma Illya.
  • Scathach says she pegs Francis Drake as more fitting for a Rider than an Archer.
  • Shielder's casual clothes are Mash's normal clothes, complete with the glasses.
  • While shopping for clothes, one clerk suggests red would look fabulous on Saber.
  • Ruler, Lancer, Shielder, and Raikou's swimsuits in the beach omake are all clearly based off their outfits in the Summer Event. Lancer also uses the "rune magic" excuse for summoning up a cabana and coconuts out of nowhere. Angelica's swimsuit is based on her Gilgamesh install.
  • When Saber becomes a gym teacher for Shirou's school, she wears her Mysterious Heroine X outfit minus the hat.
  • When on patrol, Taiga wears her Yakuza outfit from her Jaguar-man persona in Fate/Grand Order.
• New Transfer Student: Luvia enters Shirou's school by becoming one, as she's from Europe.
• Noodle Incident: Apparently the Ainsworths were part of the Holy Grail development team in this verse or would have been, but the Einzberns "robbed" them of the opportunity. This is eventually explained in supplemental material. See All There in the Manual above.
• No-Sell:
  • While defending Sakura, Shirou tries to hit Scathach with a Reinforced umbrella. It shatters against her, and she is unaffected.
  • Shielder is immune to Serenity's poisons, at least the passive ones. The latter gets rather clingy with her when she learns this, happy to have someone that she can safely touch. She can also pass this immunity to her allies, which was Irisviel's plan on how Shirou will be able to have sex with Serenity.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Once Serenity learns Shielder is immune to her poisons, she keeps touching her whenever they are together and even sits in her lap. Shielder is very uncomfortable about this.
• Not a Game: Ayako becomes Hassan of Serenity's new Master after Zouken's death and learns of the existence of magic and the Holy Grail War as a result. Ayako angrily confronts Rin about leaving her Locked Out of the Loop when they have been friends for years. Rin says this isn't a game, and since Ayako can't use magic, getting involved will likely get her killed.
• Nothing Personal: Angelica Ainsworth has no emotional investment in the war and no grudge against any of her opponents. She just wants the Holy Grail for her family and feels killing the other Masters is the most efficient way to do it.
• Not So Above It All: Kirei generally doesn't show much emotion, but when Rin thinks his daughter Caren is actually his mistress, he drops the mask and makes it clear the assumption annoys him.
• Not What It Looks Like:
  • When Shirou, Rin, and Sakura go to the church to register for the Holy Grail War, while talking to Kirei, Caren comes out in a revealing nightgown. Much to Kirei's annoyance, Rin makes a Relative Error assumption.
  • When Taiga comes across Shirou and Sakura after they've slept together, she initially goes after Shirou, but when Sakura clarifies that she wanted it, she breaks down in tears that Sakura stole Shirou's innocence and that she's a bad guardian.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When she notices Rin is completely stressed out about her rivalry with Luvia, the normally fun-loving Archer is completely serious when she urges Rin to stop before she breaks.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Kirei's reaction when he finds out he has to work with his estranged daughter Caren.
  • Iri's reaction to the extra summonings.
• Oh, No... Not Again!:
  • Saber says this when she realizes Shielder is Sir Galahad, as this situation reminds her of how in the previous war, she found out Berserker was Galahad's father, Sir Lancelot. Saber is relieved to find that unlike Lancelot, Galahad is not a homicidal maniac and doesn't have any of Lancelot's emotional baggage.
  • Rider says this when her group runs into Temptress a second time.
  • When Angelica kidnaps Shirou, he says this is getting old.
• Older Than They Look:
  • Saber looks like she's 15, but is much older than that. This becomes clear to Shirou when she comments that she sees him and his classmates as children.
  • Illya looks like she's 10, but she's 18, as she explains to Shirou... while on top of him.
• Other Me Annoys Me: Jeanne Alter hates the original Jeanne for being a goody two shoes. Since Saber looks like and acts similar to her, Jeanne Alter becomes obsessed with destroying her.
• Outgambitted: Kirei, up hearing about a new representative for the Church being sent in to oversee the Grail War, immediately makes plans for how to manipulate them into aiding him. Unfortunately for him, Iri made sure the new master from the Church is Caren, Kirei's daughter, who is not only just as much of a Troll as he is, but also the one person who is completely aware of what kind of person Kirei truly is.
• Out of the Inferno: Archer/Drake blasts Gunner/Nobunaga with Golden Wild Hunt and scores a direct hit. Drake assumes she won, only for Nobunaga to step out of the flames.
• Parrying Bullets:
  • Berserker/Raikou effortlessly parries Archer/Drake's bullets with her katana.
  • Gunner is also able to parry bullets from Drake with her sword.
• Patrick Stewart Speech: In an omake, Gunner/Nobunaga battles Gilgamesh, who dismisses modern humans as weak and worthless. Nobunaga says while individually humans are weak, by working together, they were able to do wonders like go to space. Such a talent for innovation is worth defending. Not surprising considering one of her epithets is "King of Innovation."
• Perpetual Poverty: Drake frequently goes shopping with Rin's money, causing Rin to complain that she doesn't have a lot left.
• Pinball Projectile: Drake is skilled enough to ricochet her bullets, forcing her opponents to be careful when dodging. Nobunaga is impressed and says she'll try to learn how to do it.
• Poisonous Person: Hassan of Serenity, as usual, which also includes abilities such as:
  • Poisoned Weapons: She has several daggers that she fills with her poisons.
  • Poison Is Corrosive: Her poisonous body dissolves most things she touches, including stone.
• Polyamory: Given the title, not really a shocker.
• Poor Communication Kills:
  • Kiritsugu never told Shirou about Illya, which combined with Iri giving her slightly unrealistic expectations leaves her hurt when he doesn't know who she is.
  • Miyu only summoned Elizabeth/Temptress because the books she had on the Holy Grail didn't properly explain the whole "war" part. She thought the summoning ritual would bring forth the Grail itself to grant her wish.
• Porn with Plot: The sex scenes are very explicit, but there is a lot of attention to character interaction and effort in the war.
• The Power of Trust: Ruler catches Assassin to save her from falling out of the sky, even though she gets poisoned on contact. Shocked, Assassin asks why she would do that, and Ruler says she trusts in Caster to save her. Her faith is rewarded when Caster heals her.
• Precocious Crush: Subverted with Illya; Shirou assumes she's younger than him and doesn't know what she's doing, but she's actually older. There's a clear line drawn: Before, he is able to dismiss her flirting as silly and meaningless, since she's just a kid. After, he immediately is much more affected by her flirting, in particular the part where he's being straddled by an eighteen year-old woman.
  Shirou: I... would you please get off me before we keep talking?
  Illya: [grinning] Is there something wrong onii-chan?
• Pretender Diss:
  • Gilgamesh tells Kirei that he is disappointed in all the Servants except Saber, saying none of them deserve to be called warriors. He concedes that Scathach may be worth his time, but so far, he is not impressed.
  • Avenger angrily calls Lancer's ability to make copies of her spear a cheap knockoff of her ability to summon burning stakes.
• Pretty Freeloaders: As should be expected, given the premise and the use of this trope in canon.
  • After Sakura's house gets blown up during Rider's Summoning Ritual, Rider encourages her to move in with Shirou. Saber, of course, is also living with Shirou since she's his Servant. Rin and her Servant Archer also start spending all their time there once Rin allies with Shirou and Sakura. Ayako and Assassin, while not officially allied, also start hanging out at the house a lot.
  • Kirei (who is secretly the Big Bad), meanwhile, has to deal with the magical Enforcer Bazett (who he tried to murder, but she didn't notice) and her Servant Lancer, as well as Caren (his estranged daughter who hates him) and her Servant Shielder, all living with him.

Tropes Q-Z

• A Rare Sentence: Taiga has one after learning that Shirou and Sakura are mages, and Saber, Rider and Ruler are Servants participating in a clandestine battle royale.
  Taiga: How am I supposed to be a responsible adult if you're running off to do dangerous magic stuff without telling me? (Beat) I can't believe that I just said that sentence and it makes complete sense.
• Recoil Boost: Ruler can launch herself through the air by firing holy light.
• Relative Error: Rin mistakes Caren for Kirei's lover instead of his daughter. Since Caren hates Kirei, she has no problem playing it up to make him look like a Pedophile Priest.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: Rin mistaking Caren for Kirei's lover counts, as while Caren is Kirei's daughter, she looks almost identical to her mom.
• Running Gag:
  • Rin getting annoyed at her clocks.
  • Rin getting aggravated when Drake wants to spend her money.
• Sacred Hospitality: Rin tries to kick Illya and Berserker out of Shirou's house after Shirou had invited them. Illya calls her out on this, saying Rin is a noble like her and should know better.
• Sarcasm-Blind: Shirou in an omake when thoroughly exhausted, completely missing how his classmates were seething in envy as he tiredly complained about the logical consequences of dating so many women at the same time.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Ruler tells Taiga they are not supposed to interfere with the battles unless a rule of the Holy Grail War is violated. Taiga says that if Shirou, Rin, or Sakura are hurt, no power in the universe will stop her from helping.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Two instances, both of which involving Shirou later giving Mana Transfer.
  • When Shirou asks how he could help an injured Rider, Saber leaves, knowing which direction it was going.
  • Rin (and also Ayako) also leaves the room after Saber mentions of other ways they could restore her energy.
• Seiza Squirm: Taiga makes Rin and Drake sit in seiza as punishment after Drake blew up the school. Drake is not affected, while Rin's feet go numb.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Shirou is speechless when Saber, Rin, Archer, Sakura, Rider, Ayako, Assassin, Taiga, and Ruler dress up fancy for Luvia's party. In turn, they say he looks good in a suit.
• Shipper on Deck: Taiga's grandfather Raiga is fond of Shirou and likes him spending time with girls, especially Taiga.
• Shoot the Bullet: Drake and Nobunaga do this several times during their duel.
• Shout-Out:
  • The Gilgamesh vs. Nobunaga omake is partially inspired by the Gilgamesh vs. Napoleon fight from Nerve Damage.
  • Taiga dramatically points at Illya and the narration explicitly says it resembles Ace Attorney.
• Skewed Priorities: Downplayed, Shirou's classmates ignore his sleep-deprived rant and simply focus on the fact that he has twenty-three incredibly beautiful girlfriends.
• Skinship Grope:
  • Illya and Berserker/Raikou indulge in this when they bathe.
  • Gunner/Nobunaga drags Fiore into the bath with her to do this.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Downplayed. In the original source, Shirou is murdered by Lancer (Cu) and Rin had to resurrect him. Here, he managed to escape Lancer (Scathach)'s attack.
  • In canon, Bazett is murdered by Kirei to usurp control of her Servant right as she's finished the summoning. Here, Iri gives him a heart attack before he can do so, and the opportunity passes.
• Square Race, Round Class: Francis Drake is not happy being an Archer, outright saying that it doesn't suit her.
• Strong and Skilled: Raikou is strong enough to overpower Saber and Rider at the same time, and she has the Skill Eternal Arms Mastery, which allows her to keep her supreme weapon skills despite being Berserker.
• Survivor's Guilt:
  • Why Kiritsugu never told Shirou about Illya; he knew that Shirou was already feeling this regarding his surviving the fire, and didn't want him to make him feel even more guilty.
  • Miyu is another survivor of the fire, and although she disliked her parents for smothering her, she feels guilty that she survived and her parents and neighbors didn't.
• Talk to the Fist: Rider lassos Temptress and yanks her down when she starts bragging about herself and posing.
• The Tease: Some of the mature Servants (like Berserker/Raikou and Lancer/Scathach) like to do this.
• Technobabble: Fiore's brother Caules starts babbling (correct) technological terminology at one point. While Fiore is more tech-inclined than the average mage, he still quickly loses her.
• That Came Out Wrong:
  • Shirou outright says this when he inadvertently reveals to Illya that he slept with Sakura and Rider.
  • Angelica kidnaps Shirou and says she has been distracted and cannot stop thinking about him. Assuming she is hitting on him, he says he is already in a relationship. Briefly embarrassed, she says she meant she is going crazy trying to understand why he wants to use his powers to help people.
• That Wasn't a Request: This happens when Assassin challenges Archer to a fight.
  Archer: I thought Assassins weren't supposed to ask for fair fights.
  Assassin: I was not asking. [throws daggers at her]
• This Is Gonna Suck: Almost everybody reacts this way after observing Berserker's power.
• Three-Way Sex:
  • Shirou has a threesome with Sakura and Rider.
  • During the omake where Shirou complains about the issues of having a harem, it's mentioned that Rin and Luvia have engaged in this with him. Both ask him which one is better in bed while they're at it, and one comment implies they actually fell off him because they didn't realize he was getting tired.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: In a dream Shirou has of EMIYA's memories, one time, EMIYA defeated a group of Dead Apostles in time to rescue a little boy they were about to feed on, and takes him home. EMIYA noted that for once, he managed to save somebody.
• Together in Death: Irisviel somehow pulled Kiritsugu into the Greater Grail with her after he died.
• Too Kinky to Torture: Martha shows a masochistic side when Raikou electrifies her during their spar. Everyone stares at her awkwardly.
• Too Much Information:
  • Archer talks about a time she got drunk and lost her pants. Rin says, "I don't need to hear about that."
  • Shirou in an omake apparently overshares when tired.
• Training from Hell: Once Saber becomes the new gym teacher, she makes the students run drills like in her old army. Several students complain that she may be hot, but she's a demon. She also trains Shirou in swordsmanship by kicking his ass until he can defend himself.
• Troll:
  • Iri chose Caren to be Shielder's Master partially to mess with Kirei.
  • Word of God is that Irisviel chose Drake to be Archer because she wanted to rile up Rin's Tsundere tendencies, and she's also implied to have messed with Rin's clocks at one point, so she thought she was running late.
• Truce Zone: Shirou insists on everyone treating his house as one. This briefly works when everyone wants to attack Illya and Berserker when they were invited, but then they decide to take the fight outside.
• Tsundere:
  • As usual, Rin.
  • Avenger/Jalter after becoming part of Shirou's harem.
• Tyke Bomb: Angelica mentions that her family tried to raise her to hate and seek revenge on the Einzberns. However, since she never met them before, no matter how hard she tries, she cannot feel any hatred for them, so she only opposes them out of duty.
• Undead Tax Exemption: After summoning Ruler and learning about the Holy Grail War, Taiga uses her Yakuza connections to set up Saber as a gym teacher so she can keep an eye on Shirou, Rin, and Sakura at school.
• Unknown Rival: After Rider crushed Zouken under rubble and then Assassin killed him, Shinji is terrified of the two and goes into hiding, paranoid that they will come after him next and praying that they don't find him. He's hiding for nothing, as those two barely, if at all, noticed him, and they certainly don't give him a second thought.
• Vampiric Draining: Word of God states blood draining is one of Temptress' main abilities, but she doesn't use it as it reminds her of her future self Carmilla.
• [Verb] This!: After shooting Lancer in the leg, Archer attempts to finish her off with Golden Wild Hunt (a cannon barrage from her fleet of ships) and declares, "Let's see you dodge this with a hole in your leg!". She's saved by Shielder's Lord Camelot.
• Vibroweapon: Elizabeth's spear vibrates fast enough that it utterly destroys anything it stabs.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: An omake set in a future where Rin and Luvia are dating Shirou shows that they will tone down their rivalry to this trope, this being a Harem Genre story, by "toning down" we, of course, mean that they will force him to decide who's better than the other. In bed. At the same time.
• We Can Rule Together: Similar to Iskandar from Fate/Zero, Gunner decides to try to get the other Servants to join her in conquering the world.
• Whatever Happened to the Mouse?: Shinji completely vanishes from the story not long after Zouken gets crushed. A few students ask why he stopped showing up for school, and that's it. Word of God is that Shinji is completely terrified of both Rider and Assassin and has holed himself up in the Matou mansion, hoping they don't come for him.
• What If?: Due to the number of extra classes, the author can't put all of them in the story. But he can put them in these situations. See also What Could Have Been in the trivia section.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Irisviel yells at Kiritsugu when she learns he never told Shirou about Illya.
  • Illya and Berserker nonchalantly enter Shirou's house and say Shirou invited them. Everyone yells at Shirou both for inviting two enemies and for forgetting to tell them about it.
• A Wizard Did It: Scathach/Lancer uses her "rune magic" excuse in the beach omake.
• Worf Had the Flu:
  • After being stabbed by Lancer, Rider's combat performance suffers. It isn't until she has sex with Shirou that she finally gains enough mana to heal the injury.
  • Like in canon, Saber's poor energy supply from Shirou leaves her with poor stamina and unable to use Mana Burst very often, until she replenishes her mana by having sex with Shirou.
• Yandere: At their second meeting, Illya orders Berserker to "kill those skanks who are trying to steal my onii-chan!"
  Iri: Oh dear. I think that Illya might be just a little yan-yan for her brother...
  Kiritsugu: [sighing] I swear, it's a family curse to never have it easy with women...
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Shortly after being summoned, Caster/Medea Lily looks down on herself because she lacks physical strength, her magic's not that strong, and she's no good in a physical fight. Luvia declares she is a worthy Servant and with their combined talents, they will win.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!:
  • Caren does this when Shielder, who knew Saber in life, tells her that Saber really is King Arthur.
  • Rin and Archer/Drake do this when they run into Nobunaga, who introduces herself as Servant Gunner.
  • Then, when Rin meets Fiore, who rides a wheelchair that turns into a mecha, Rin goes, "This Grail War is completely insane."
  • During their fight, Drake does this when she notices Gunner is able to accurately shoot at her without even looking at her.
• You're Insane!:
  • Once Shirou's allies realize his Martyr Without a Cause mentality where he wants to save everybody and doesn't care if he dies, they decide he is actually insane.
    Archer: You're crazy, you know that?
  • Everybody who meets Gunner or Temptress concludes that they are crazy.
• You Remind Me of X:
  • When Kirei meets Caren, he (spitefully) says "You look just like your mother."
  • Shielder/Sir Galahad tells Caren that Shirou reminds her of Sir Bedivere, an idealistic man who was one of the only people who could make Arturia smile.
  • Lancer/Scathach tells Bazett that Shirou reminds her of many of her old students who started out naive and idealistic. She wonders if Shirou will be like the students who gave up or broke, or be like the students who graduated and learned the harsh truth that the hero hardly ever gets to be the nice guy, and if he does, he'll probably get screwed over. Both of which are exactly happened to Archer EMIYA.
  • Gunner/Nobunaga tells Fiore that Darnic reminds her of her brother, saying Darnic is treacherous.
  • Temptress/Elizabeth apparently reminds Rider/Medusa of her sisters Euryale and Stheno.
  • Ruler/Martha says Taiga reminds her of her sister Mary, but she also says Mary was a good girl and Taiga is more prone to trouble.
• You Watch Too Much X: When Illya complains about her flat chest, Berserker says massaging boobs makes them bigger. Illya says she's been watching too much anime.

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