Fate of the Clans (Fanfic)

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How far are you willing to go to get your wish granted?

The blood-stained chalice has reappeared
I am willing to sacrifice anything to reach it
My home
My family
My humanity
Even my own life
I shall embody all the sins of humanity
In life
And also in death
I shall be an enemy to the entire world
I shall be an enemy to the evil of the entire world
I will strive to achieve the miracle
Even should blood stain this world
Even should this world turn into Hell in the process
None will be allowed to get in my way
I will obtain victory
This is all to fill the nothingness
This is all to open the doors to Heaven
Now, let the battle for the greatest treasure commence

—Story intro

Status: Complete 19 chapters

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A-C

A Birthday, Not a Break: Reisi gets killed...right on Yuujirou's birthday. That kinda sours the celebration that was soon to happen.
A Father to His Men: Reisi cares quite a bit for his Clansmen. He'll do "bonding sessions" with the Special Squad in order to deepen ties and cares about their safety enough to risk his life for theirs.
A Mistake Is Born: Some of the people in Ulster who hate Cú Chulainn because of his Riastrad question why he even exists.
Abstract Apotheosis: An Origin is a concept that slipped from the Root along with souls. As such, anything with a soul also has one of these concepts.
Abusive Dad: Though the details are unknown, Saruhiko had been abused by his dad.
The Ace:
- Lugh is supposedly good at everything. Cú Chulainn is Lugh's mortal incarnation, so the same applies to him, but only as a full Heroic Spirit. As one from the Holy Grail, most of his skills are missing.
- Reisi has always been talented, from school work to athletics. In school, he used to lecture his teachers.
Action Girl:
- Seri is Reisi's lieutenant, the Blue Clan that she fights in being a police-like people that use swords in combat.
- All female Servants are bodyguards and the judge for the Holy Grail War is no pushover in combat.
Actually Not a Vampire: Despite a Servant being able to drink blood for energy, they're different from vampires. Tenkei uses the blood-sucking thing to argue it though.
Affectionate Nickname:
- Tatara addresses Mikoto as "King". He's also been doing it since even before Mikoto became Red King.
- Láeg, Cú Chulainn's charioteer and childhood best friend when he was alive, called Cú Chulainn Cucu or Little Hound.
Afterlife Welcome: Mikoto is there to welcome Anna to the Root after she dies taking out the Greater Grail.
The Ageless: Servants are incapable of aging or physically changing.
Agent Peacock: Yukari is a very effeminate character (regularly does his nails, makes sure to apply skin care products daily, wears lipstick.), but he's a J-rank in JUNGLE and is skilled enough with a katana to overpower Kuroh.
Akashic Records: The Root, AKA Akasha, is where information on events from the past, present, and future are stored. It's also the place souls come from and ultimately return to. This is how Anna was able to reunite with Mikoto after she sacrificed herself to destroy the Greater Grail.
Alchemy Is Magic: The Einzberns are a family of alchemists in Germany, their alchemy used to create the homunculi that makes the family up. The most impressive was Justeaze, who now serves as the core of the Greater Grail.
The Alcoholic:
- Tenkei is commonly drinking beer, and got dead drunk during the party to celebrate summoning Mordred and Iskandar. According to Mordred, he drinks so much beer that it made his blood taste bad.
- Iskandar picked up Tenkei's drinking habit. Even Tenkei complains about this, since his Servant makes the beer empty twice as fast as before.
All for Nothing:
- Because of Beast, winning the Holy Grail would mean the extinction of humanity. That means every death and anguish caused in pursuit of the Grail was meaningless.
- Justeaze spent 1,000 years trying to regain Heaven's Feel. The Greater Grail was created at the cost of her life to do that. Unfortunately, seven Servant souls were needed to fill it. The Three Families didn't know this would cause the Grail's contents to be spiritual. This means one of the seven Servants is needed to interact with it. Only Justeaze herself can bypass this with the Dress of Heaven. The Three Families gave up their pursuit after learning this.
- Cú Chulainn genuinely wanted to keep Mikoto alive through the War, possibly unconsciously compelled by what happened to Bazett, enough to where he was willing to give up his life to do that...only for Mikoto to die by the Servant's own hand.
- Cú Chulainn Alter believes this about the Counter Forces' efforts to preserve humanity since the human race will go extinct one day anyway.
All Myths Are True: Even figures from myth actually existed and are able to be summoned as Servants. They are even able to be in possession of what was described in their legends.
Almost Kiss: Cú Chulainn trips and falls on Mikoto, knocking him down, and their faces are only an inch apart. Cú Chulainn is trying his best to resist kissing Mikoto in that moment, but resists the urge, getting up and helping Mikoto to his feet.
Alternate Timeline: In this, the multiverse exists. A Quantum Time-Lock occurs every 100 years in order to cull the Dead End timelines so the Solar System doesn't die. A person with the Second Magic, Kaleidoscope, can travel to these different realities.
Amnesiac God: Tamamo had sealed her memories of being the Golden White Face to reincarnate as a human. She recovered her memories when she was hunted down.
Amplifier Artifact: A King can have the Dresden Slate boost their mana output.
An Arm and a Leg:
- Okada cuts off Reisi's legs and leaves him to bleed out.
- Gouki Zenjou lost his left arm in the Kagutsu Incident.
- Kuroh gets his right forearm servered.
- Kiyohime gets her left arm and both legs cut off.
- Mordred cuts Okada's right hand off.
- Cú Chulainn Alter slices Mikoto's right arm off.
- A way for a Master to steal someone's Command Seal is to cut the arm possessing it off the other person.
- Fujino's mystic eyes twisted Shiki's left arm, rendering it unusable and it had to be replaced with one of Touko's prosthetics.
Ancestral Weapon: The katana Kotowari has been passed down through the Miwa lineage for 500 years.
Ancient Conspiracy: The true purpose of the Holy Grail War is to sacrifice the seven Servants, opening a path to the Root and obtaining Heaven's Feel. It was the goal of Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern, Nagato Tohsaka, and Zolgen Makiri after the Einzberns lost it 1,000 years ago and Justeaze was created back then to find a new path to the Root. They succeeded in creating the Greater Grail at the cost of Justeaze's life in 1991.
And Show It to You: Cú Chulainn Alter punches a hole through Mikoto's chest and rips out his still-beating heart. The last thing he sees is the Alter eating it.
Angry Animalistic Growl: Cú Chulainn occasionally growls like an animal if he's angry.
Animal Battle Aura: Cú Chulainn Alter is able to make his outpouring mana take the form of a wolf and can use that to attack.
Animal Motifs:
- Cú Chulainn is compared to a wolf or dog. Calling him a dog while he's in earshot is a bad idea (Do it and he'll turn very unfriendly at a frightening speed). "Cú Chulainn" is Gaelic for "Culann's Hound". It was changed to that from Sétanta after he killed Culann's guard dog. This is even more prevalent when he becomes an Alter, being like an unrestrained savage beast. His altered older form is a werewolf. He takes being known as a guard dog seriously, willing to risk his life to defend what he considers to be his home or his family.
- Tamamo looks part fox. The appearance is integral to her legend, it being the reason she was hunted down.
- Kiyohime is called a dragon. She turned into a dragon in her legend and has a pair of white horns on top of her head.
- Chiron is called a horse due to him being a centaur.
- Neko is similar to a cat. She can even use an illusion to appear as a cat. "Neko" is also Japanese for "cat". She was distrustful of Caster when they first met.
- Ichigen's haiku refers to Kuroh as a dog. Kuroh has the nickname Black Dog. He wants to be Ichigen's protector for all the times he protected Kuroh.
- Mikoto is called a lion, Anna's lion doll being named after him. Mikoto's lazy and sleeps a lot but is clearly the one in charge. Cú Chulainn lampshades this by saying he can sense a lot of charisma which is why he's easily looked up to. His current hair style resembles a lion's mane.
- Misaki is the vanguard of HOMRA and his nickname, Yatagarasu, is a three-legged crow in Japanese mythology.
- "Saru" in Saruhiko translates to "monkey", which is why Misaki calls him that.
- Tenkei's former surname and the given name he currently goes under both refer to a bird. Mordred says he deserves the name Tenkei, which is "heavenly rooster" but given his cowardly nature it most likely wasn't a compliment.
- Cats for Mordred. Aside from chasing a cat in circles on all fours, she's rebellious, feral, and can be short-tempered.
- Crows unsettle Cú Chulainn since he associates them with the goddess Morrigan.
Animals Hate Him: Animals have never been a fan of Reisi.
Anime Catholicism: We have an artifact known as the Holy Grail, there's an organization called the Holy Church, and the arbitrator is Jeanne d'Arc.
Another Dimension:
- The Reverse Side of the World is where Phantasmal Beasts and the like retreated after the Age of the Gods ended with that time period still existing there.
- The Throne of Heroes exists outside of reality and holds Heroic Spirits. It's described as having a clear sky and the Heroic Spirits are all atop clear blue water.
Anti-Magic:
- Cú Chulainn, Chiron, Mordred, Iskandar, and Jeanne have the Magic Resistance skill, which nullifies up to a certain level of magecraft attacking them.
  - Cú Chulainn is able to make a rune for Magic Resistance protect others by flinging it into an incoming spell to nullify it.
- Reisi channeling his aura into his Clansmen briefly amplifies their blue aura enough to undo the spell possessing them.
- When Black Barrel and its replica are fired, the gun itself takes on an anti-magic property. As such, only those not comprised of mana can use it.
Anyone Can Die: Try not to get too attached to these characters. Masters and Servants tend to drop like flies in Holy Grail Wars.
Armor Is Useless: When up against Okada's Noble Phantasm, Settlement Sword. Unless the defense is conceptual, anything that tries to impede the sword will be sliced through like a hot knife cutting butter.
Armor-Piercing Question: Delivered a few times.
Jeanne to Mikoto: Are you capable of killing your own Servant?
Tatara to Cú Chulainn: I don't know that much about your legend, but I know it was really tragic. Do you regret anything about it?
Reisi to Tenkei: You and the Green King seem close. Will you also kill him for your wish?
Mordred in regards to forming an alliance with the Silver King: Say we get attached. When the problem's solved and we return to a fight to the death, who will have the guts to pull the trigger first?
Artifact of Doom: No matter the wish, due to Beast VI's corruption any wish offered to the Holy Grail will be granted through destruction.
As Long as There Is Evil: As long as humans remain human, the Beasts are unable to be truly killed.
Aside Glance: Cú Chulainn gives the one his older form gave to Rin (and the camera) in Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works] complete with that smirk to the JUNGLE player right before letting the rest of the Red Clan beat the daylights out of the guy.
Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance:
- Cú Chulainn has slitted pupils, a bestial smell, a collar around his neck, a necklace with a wolf's head holding a crescent moon in its mouth, a bunch of white fur on the edge of his left spaulder by the left side of his neck, and fang-like canines. As an Alter, he has the addition of animal-like claws and a mantle of bushy black-and-red fur.
- Mikoto has red hair and amber eyes. He's also a fire user.
Atomic F-Bomb:
Izumo after seeing Cú Chulainn's bill from the bar: WHAT THE FUCK?!
Attack Reflector: Tamamo's capable of doing this with her mirror.
Aura Vision: Servants can see Servants in spirit form since they can see the mana making up a Servant, which is invisible to humans unless it's thick. Apparently, the Class skill Presence Concealment can make the user invisible in spirit form even to Servants.
Awesome, but Impractical: Despite how great Black Barrel is, it's bullets can only be made out of True Ether, which was only around during the Age of the Gods, or a powerful substitute similar to the element. Same for the bullets for its replica.
Ax-Crazy: Basically how Cú Chulainn describes Riastrad. He admits that this is part of how violent he can get, though it's milder in comparison.
Bad Future: Ichigen sees a future with Beast of Revelation going through a destroyed Tokyo flooded with Grail Mud. He sees someone watching the destruction in despair, but can't see who it is. It's unknown when or how it'll happen.
Person: What...What have I done..? I only wanted to make people happy!
Badass Army: Iskandar's army in his Reality Marble are thousands of lesser Servants.
Badass Longcoat: Reisi wears a trenchcoat that's primarily blue as well as it being from his status as SCEPTER 4's captain.
Badass Transplant: The new arm Touko made can project a spiritual arm to grab even immaterial things.
Bad with the Bone: The spear Gáe Bolg is stated to have been crafted from a bone of the Phantasmal sea monster Curruid.
Ballistic Bone: Okada tears out some of the ribs of one JUNGLE player then hurls them at some atop buildings, killing them.
Bare-Handed Blade Block: Cú Chulainn uses one hand to grab and crush the blade of Andy's saber when he comes down with a slash. It's also revealed that while a weapon imbued with a King's own aura would last longer than those of Clansmen, a Servant's grip strength would still shatter it.
The Bartender: Izumo is the owner of the bar that serves as the base for HOMRA.
Battle Aura:
- Kings and Clansmen are able to output their aura when they fight, the energy taking the color of whatever Clan they're in.
- A thin, black one constantly outlines Cú Chulainn Alter. For Anna, coming into contact with it made her feel frozen to the bone.
Battle in the Rain: Jeanne and Mikoto first fight Cú Chulainn Alter while it's raining.
Battle Cry: HOMRA Clansmen shout "No Blood! No Bone! No Ash!" before doing a raid.
Be All My Sins Remembered: Cú Chulainn is guilty of doing numerous not-so-nice-deeds when he was alive. It leads to Survivor Guilt from him, because it caused him to think he should've been the one to die.A prior summoning saw him being abused nearly to death but he didn't protest because he fully believes it's what he deserves. He chose to be a Deadpan Snarker to the person, though.
The Beastmaster: Cú Chulainn has a high compatibility with animals, higher with canines. He's even able to talk to them. This compatibility is partially what allows him to control Failinis.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Neko's whole reason for being with Adolf. He was the first person to not ignore her or try to scare her off so she stuck with him.
Being Human Sucks: Cú Chulainn Alter absolutely hates being half human.
Berserk Button:
- Cú Chulainn doesn't take kindly to being called a dog. Masaomi learns this after Cú Chulainn threatens his life and lets out a ton of Killing Intent. He seems fine with being called variations of that word, such as "mutt".
- Unless you're looking to have Okada want to kill you, you shouldn't make fun of him.
- Interrupting a battle Mordred's having with someone. The stronger she views the opponent the louder she'll scream at you.
- If you ignore Mordred she'll explode in your face. Like a Mana Burst thrown your way kind of explode in your face.
- Implied that betrayal also sets off Cú Chulainn since after Iskandar invites him to join his army but he'll also have to give up on the Holy Grail, Cú Chulainn suddenly turns threatening, saying he won't just give up on his Master and to not take the loyalty of a Red Branch Knight lightly.
- Cú Chulainn is not a fan of having some false cradle play with him, as demonstrated by him stabbing the false Emer Tamamo conjured since days that have gone by will never return.
Beware the Silly Ones: Tenkei receives minor abuse from Iskandar a few times (Well, it'd normally be minor but it's dealt by a Servant) and even calls himself a coward, but his Fog Sanctum really puts his enemies on guard as he can not only hide in and attack from his fog but Servants are rendered unable to sniff out anything within. This really irritates Cú Chulainn, who dislikes cheap battle tricks.
BFG: Black Barrel Replica is a black-and-red sniper gun around 4 meters long.
BFS: Cú Chulainn is only 184 cm tall while his spear is a full two meters in length.
Big Bad: Beast VI is the root cause of the Holy Grail War nearly breaking down, the creation of Cú Chulainn Alter, and the biggest present threat to humanity itself.
Big Damn Heroes: Cú Chulainn pulls one when Daikaku has Mikoto bleeding out, busting into the room and healing Mikoto before he loses too much blood.
Big Eater: When JUNGLE goes out to eat lunch, Mordred has enough food that she would seriously need to worry about weight gain if she wasn't a Servant.
Big Good: Jeanne's purpose is to ensure the War runs smoothly, which includes personally eliminating any threats to the War's stability. Cú Chulainn Alter labels her as "Ms. Prim 'N Proper Judge Servant".
Big Sleep: Reisi ends up dying after passing out from blood loss.
Bitch Slap: Mikoto was on the receiving end of one by Cú Chulainn Alter. Due to who it was from his body goes flying sideways and the side of his head slams on the wall of the rocky cliff outside the cave to the Greater Grail despite the slap being half-hearted.
Bittersweet Ending: Beast of Revelation and the Holy Grail was destroyed but a bunch of people wound up dead in a battle that only cause a lot of sorrow.
Blade Enthusiast: In addition to the saber he has as a member of the Blue Clan, Saruhiko also has numerous knives at his disposal. He typically throws them at someone.
Blindfolded Vision: The mask Cú Chulainn Alter wears has no way to see through it but this doesn't stop him from kicking ass. Mikoto wonders if the reason it's worn is symbolic.
Blood Knight:
- Cú Chulainn loves beating the crap out of enemies. According to him, Celts are a warrior people that enjoy a good fight. But he says that, even among them, he's an extreme case. The only reason he's in the Grail War is to fight instead of getting a wish granted.
- Mordred's right up there with Cú Chulainn. Like him, fighting a Worthy Opponent is enjoyable to her.
Blood from the Mouth: K is considerably less graphic than Type-Moon works, which this can have the violence of, so this happens often. Same with how frequently people have a Cruel and Unusual Death or were Impaled with Extreme Prejudice.
Blood Magic:
- To summon a Servant, blood or runic silver is used along with a relic relating to the hero in order to act as a catalyst. Runic silver is hard to obtain, so blood gets used.
- Since there's magical energy in blood, it can be used to invoke magecraft.
Blood-Splattered Warrior: During the first dream Mikoto has of when Cú Chulainn was alive shows the Servant covered in both his own blood and the blood of his enemies while standing among a field of corpses, shouting "bring it, ya bastards" and having a Slasher Smile, which establishes the savage side of him.
Bloodier and Gorier: This is K with not only elements from the Nasuverse but also the gory and detailed descriptions of the high level of violence able to be found in those works.
Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The core of HOMRA and best friends since school, Izumo (blonde), Tatara (light brown), and Mikoto (red).
Body Horror: Cú Chulainn Alter casts a spell on Iskandar that causes spikes to erupt from his chest.
Body to Jewel: Anna can use her blood to make her marbles.
Boisterous Bruiser: While those like Iskandar and Cú Chulainn may be fun to be around, they're still Servants. When it comes to fighting, they know damn well what they're doing.
Bond Creatures: A person becomes a King when their heartbeat syncs to the "pulse" of the Dresden Slate.
Boring, but Practical: Gáe Bolg's first version as a Noble Phantasm isn't flashy and is meant to be used on one person, but it can be a One-Hit Kill and has a low mana cost, Cú Chulainn able to use it six or seven times before requiring more mana. The strike is also a step away from being on par with a god's Authority. With it, he can temporarily "kill" a Sword of Damocles by having it strike the core without causing a Damocles Down.
Born in the Wrong Century: This is a major issue for Age of Man mages, as magecraft can't hold a candle to magic and eventually The Magic Goes Away. It's all they can do to prolong it.
Born Unlucky: Cú Chulainn has D-rank Luck. It was somewhat prevalent when he was alive, saying that he's someone who found himself unable to fight fate. He also has some complaints about his luck with the people he found himself liking.
Braids of Action: Jeanne has a long one.
Bratty Food Demand: Andy when he wants Ryuuhou to make him food.
Andy: I WANT CAKE!
Breaking the Bonds:
- Okada catches Cú Chulainn in a chain trap, but he easily snaps them in only a couple of seconds.
- Dozens of chains restrained Cú Chulainn's Alter. When the spearman falls into the Grail Mud, this is what his other self does.
Breath Weapon: Kiyohime is able to breathe out a stream of fire. This becomes much more intense in her dragon form.
Brick Joke: During the first fight, Cú Chulainn loses his cool a little and throws a storage container from the cargo pier at Iskandar. It misses and lands somewhere several dozen kilometers away. Three days later, Izumo talks to Eric about how the store where he gets scented candles didn't have any in stock. The container with the ordered candles was found destroyed in a field several dozen kilometers away from the cargo pier.
Brilliant, but Lazy: Despite how smart Reisi is, he keeps getting chewed out for goofing off when he should be working.
Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl:
- Though Cú Chulainn appears happy, he's actually depressed and hates himself a lot on the inside. His wife, Emer, was basically his emotional support. He even admits that without her, he would have completely snapped.
- Mikoto is the brooding boy, constantly struggling to keep the others safe from himself losing control. Tatara is a male example of a gentle girl, the person who helps "tame the beast" inside Mikoto.
Brutish Bulls: Iskandar's chariot is pulled by two divine bulls that are really good at trampling people.
Bullet Dodges You:
- Cú Chulainn's Protection From Arrows skill has a slightly misleading name. It isn't just arrows it blocks but it can be that any projectile attack is knocked away before they even touch him. However, he has to block or dodge any projectiles that'll detonate on impact. He also needs to have made visual confirmation with the shooter for the skill to possibly block the attack since it's ranked B. After the first fight ends he tells Mikoto that if he hadn't glimpsed the Gray King right before the gun was fired he would have had to do something himself.
- Bullets are unable to hit Mikoto due to his aura. They either instantly melt if they get too close or he can launch them right back at the shooter. This doesn't apply to supernatural bullets, like Tenkei's.
Bullying a Dragon: Some people of Ulster thought it was a good idea to give Cú Chulainn, the guy who you never want to get furious because he turns into a vicious killer after going apeshit, severe verbal abuse for the aforementioned reason. Fortunately for those assholes, the guy never retaliates, just endures the tormenting, and risks his life to defend them.
Burning with Anger:
- Flames appear on Mikoto while hearing people talk about Reisi getting killed and doesn't know why he's upset.
- The first time Cú Chulainn killed someone, he was still having his battle rage. Now being that he's a sun god's incarnation he had to be dunked into three barrels of water in order to cool him off. The first barrel exploded and the water in the second boiled away.
Butt Biter: The stray dog Kousuke brings into Homra chomps Rikio's ass.
Calling Your Attack: The name of a Servant's Noble Phantasm, their trump card, is said right before use. This is explained as being a requirement. However, the use of one has to be strategicly planned, since the name of the Noble Phantasm is the one the hero, an actual historical or mythological figure, used in their legend or is linked to, it can give out their True Name. The name requirement is Averted for some Noble Phantasms. Many Noble Phantasms are also accompanied by a second name, though that part doesn't get said.
Came Back Strong: When a Servant gets made an Alter, they don't go completely insane but they lose some rationale in exchange for a power boost, similar to the Mad Enhancement of Berserkers. For Cú Chulainn, he also has his Cultural Sphere disadvantage removed, so he'll be fighting as if he's in Ireland, and his Divinity went up by one rank.
The Cameo:
- Basashi/White Bean Tofu Stew from the two K Project mangas Memory of Red and Days of Blue shows up in chapter 4 in the Blue Clan's stable. It's Andy's turn to take care of it that day.
- Bazett from Fate/hollow ataraxia is revealed to have been Cú Chulainn's original Master in an alternate Holy Grail War.
- Kirei from Fate/stay night severed Bazett's left arm in order to steal Cú Chulainn.
- Touko is living in Shizume instead of Mifune.
- Shiki and Mikiya, both also from The Garden of Sinners, visit Touko.
- Nagato and Zouken (young) from Fate/stay night visited Mihashira Tower to discuss dismantalling the Grail system with Adolf and Daikaku.
Camera Fiend: Tatara apparently has a camera-related hobby. Right now, he's into filming the city at night but he used to be into filming the Clan, wanting each member to be filmed at least once. He'll even revisit this to film new members, like Cú Chulainn.
Cannot Dream: Servants lack the function to dream their own dreams. The only time they do is when they're seeing their Master's past.
Cast from Hit Points:
- Using Clarent Blood Arthur damages Mordred internally.
- Gáe Bolg's third version puts Cú Chualinn in a ton of pain when he uses it.
Catch and Return: Cú Chulainn catches two of Chiron's arrows going at Mikoto, skill blocking the rest, and throws them back at Chiron with almost as much force as when they were fired.
Chain Pain: Cú Chulainn Alter can use the chains on his body to attack someone. Even after getting rid of the ones on his body he can still conjure up chains for offense or defense. If he catches someone in them, they get tighter the more they struggle. They're covered in fire a lot and Tamamo takes advantage of this by having them capture spears of ice, covered in earth to hide them, to instantly create steam.
Chained by Fashion: Even after breaking free, Cú Chulainn Alter still has several chains on him, 29 of them.
Character Alignment: All Servants have an In-Universe one on their stats. Cú Chulainn's is Lawful Neutral. Jeanne saw it changed to Chaotic Evil when he became an Alter.
Character Catchphrase: Cú Chulainn has a habit of telling people he's fighting to "bring it on" or to "bring it".
Chess Motif: Chiron likens the Grail War to a game of chess, as the War's a game of strategy. The Servants represent the pieces in the back, since they all have their own maneuvers and tend to be the ones to be most wary of. Masters are the pawns. They are often looked down on, but taking advantage of this can have them slip under the radar and deal devastating damage. Jeanne's spirit board to monitor the state of each Servant looks like a chess board. This is even more prevalent when it's revealed that Servants are the only necessary thing for the Grail War and the only purpose of the Masters is to summon them. After that, they can die whenever.
Chick Magnet: Cú Chulainn's handsome enough to have a bunch of young ladies flock all over him. Not bad for someone 2,000 years old. It was apparently so bad that when he was alive the men of Ulster feared that his looks would steal their wives.
Child by Rape:
- The only woman Cú Chulainn got pregnant was Aife, which he achieved by raping her. Then Connla happened.
- Mordred was the result of Morgan le Fae raping King Arthur.
Cigarette of Anxiety: Cú Chulainn chooses twice to smoke a cigarette when he got stressed. The first was recalling when he killed his 8-year-old son. The second was after he fought Chiron.
Clap Your Hands If You Believe: The more famous a Heroic Spirit is in a certain area, the more powerful it is. This is called a Cultural Sphere. Due to the fact Celts aren't well-known in Japan, Cú Chulainn's much weaker than if he was in Europe or, better yet, Ireland.
Cleanup Crew: Alaya's Counter Force is deployed to intervene or eliminate an element that could cause humanity's extinction. Jeanne speculates that if the Beast issue doesn't get resolved soon then Grand Servants might get sent out which could destroy who knows how much of the country.
Close-Call Haircut: During the first fight, Tenkei fires at Mikoto. Mikoto moves his head to dodge the bullet but a few of his red hairs fly off.
Code of Honor: Despite seeming to not have a care in the world, Cú Chulainn says he does have his own personal moral code. his Alter form calls it "bothersome chains" tying him down.
Cold-Blooded Torture:
- In an ultimately futile attempt to make Anna the Blue King back when the seat was still vacant, a Gold Clansman had put her through enough torture to make her think she was going to die. One of these experiments was to turn her into a vessel for the Holy Grail.
- Mikoto had a vision that a prior summoning of Cú Chulainn (not by a Holy Grail War) had a mage torturing him. It was claimed to be a test of his regenerative power, but Cú Chulainn suspected it was a way to see how much pain he can handle before he screams. And Mikoto had a feeling that wasn't the first time Cú Chulainn went through something like that.
Collapsible Helmet: Mordred is able to make her helmet, Secret of Pedigree, part of her armor or reform it around her head at will. She has to remove the helmet when using her Personal skill, Mana Burst, or to use her Noble Phantasm. When she was alive, Morgan le Fae had ordered her to never remove it in front of people.
Collared by Fashion: Cú Chulainn Alter has a much larger one than before, covering over half his neck.
Collateral Damage: With how powerful Kings and Servants are, this is liable to happen when they fight, like destroying a part of Shizume.
Combat Clairvoyance: Together, Chiron's Clairvoyance and Eye of the Mind (True) Personal skills give him limited future sight in battle. It's what let him block Cú Chulainn's powerful strikes, even though the latter was casually moving at several times the speed of sound.
Combat Referee: Though she's a Servant, Jeanne is actually to oversee the Holy Grail War. She'll only fight if needed to maintain the rules.
The Comically Serious: Nagare is so serious all the time, you'd think he'd never say anything that'd embarrass anyone. But he managed to embarrass Mordred enough for Kotosaka to call her a tsundere. And Nagare was blissfully unaware that he said anything that would cause that.
Complete Immortality:
- Heroic Spirits due to their true selves being kept in the Throne of Heroes, making it a Fighting a Shadow case
- Anyone Heaven's Feel was used on.
- King Arthur's Avalon passively provides its user this, as long as it has King Arthur's mana.
Conservation of Ninjutsu: During The Cattle Raid of Cooley, Cú Chulainn killed approximately 5,000 in Medb's army per day. Then it was changed to one-on-one fights. Even if it only took the guy seconds to win each one at least it lowered his daily kills.
Conveniently Unverifiable Cover Story:
- A story to cover up the destruction needs to be come up by Jeanne for every mess Masters and Servants cause in their clashes with each other.
- Whenever a Servant is introduced to an outsider of the War, the Servant is an overseas friend of the person introducing them.
- Cú Chulainn Alter is basically camping on the school island. To keep innocents safe, and to keep having what's really going on covered up, the inhabitants of Ashinaka are told to evacuate because the Holy Church (who's doing the evacuation) got a tip about a terrorist attack that's going to happen. They're kept from returning until the problem gets resolved, told the attack is still going on.
Cool Mask: Cú Chulainn Alter wears a black one with red veins over his eyes. The mask is outlined with what are shaped like claws. It breaks off after he uses the third version of his Noble Phantasm.
Cool Sword:
- Mordred's Clarent is able to launch a tower of thick hatred and mana as a Noble Phantasm.
- When he was alive, the sword Cú Chulainn used most often was a demonic weapon. Another demonic sword he used back then was Fragarach, which could deploy from its sheath for a strike without even being touched, forces someone to be incapable of lying as long as the blade's at their throat, and can alter the order of events so even when it strikes last it hits first for a fatal blow and makes it so it kills the other person before they struck so their attack vanishes. The sword is also Forged by the Gods and had an Only the Chosen May Wield rule in which only those the sword considers worthy can use it.
Cool Uncle: Reisi is possibly this to his older brother's kids. When his mother announced into the house that Reisi's with her, the two children immediately ran out to greet him, cheering that he's come over. They bawl their eyes out during the visitation for him.
The Corruption: Being knocked into the Grail Mud is what turns Cú Chulainn into an Alter and causes a Face–Heel Turn for him.
Cradling Your Kill: What Cú Chulainn does with Connla's body after killing him, furious at both Aife and himself.
Create Your Own Villain: In an Alternate History, after years of being treated like a monster by the people of Ulster, Cú Chulainn eventually snaps and becomes just that.
Creepy Cave: For a cave holding a wish-granting relic, where the Greater Grail's held is ominous. The tunnel to it is dark and damp with the cavern that has it is filled with a red light, feels like a realm of the underworld, has water dripping from stalactites, and is 2 km long, wide, and tall almost like a stage for a battle.
Creepy Doll: Ren has a bunch of dolls that creep his roommate, Akira, out.
Cruel and Unusual Death: All or nearly every character who died in this went out in a not-so-desirable way. This excludes any who were Impaled with Extreme Prejudice.
- Okada sliced Reisi's legs off and just left him to die.
- Kuroh had his belly sliced open so his intestines would spill out.
- Okada cut Ichigen's throat open.
- Okada cut up an unknown number of U-ranks from JUNGLE.
- Douhan got sliced into bloody chunks by Okada.
- When Cú Chulainn Alter rips Mikoto's heart out he actually makes the hand holding the heart emerge out the man's back.
- Mordred got her spirit core ripped out then her head cut off by Cú Chulainn Alter.
- Cú Chulainn Alter caused spikes to burst from Iskandar's chest.
- Tenkei was cursed to have his organs eaten up inside his body.
- Cú Chulainn Alter's claws ripped into Tamamo's brain.
Curb-Stomp Battle: Servants are more powerful than even Kings, them and the five sorcerers considered the strongest living beings (Servants are technically dead), so a human, including the Clansmen of each Clan, would receive a severe ass-kicking if they fought a Servant, shown when Okada, his Class and Caster considered the weakest Servant on a physical level, one-sidedly slaughters all of JUNGLE's U-rank players. Being a Gold Clansman did boost his parameters, but the result would've been the same. If a Servant makes a fatal mistake in battle, they can be defeated by a human if the opponent can get through their Nigh-Invulnerability. However, it generally takes a Servant to kill a Servant.
- It isn't that Kings are too physically weak compared to Servants. In fact, Kings are theorized to be stronger than Servant Assassin. But Cú Chulainn wasn't merely giving Trash Talk when he said "You may be a King, but you're just a mere human!" Kings are human, unlike Servants, and thus aren't able to tank as many attacks. So it's a matter of the difference in physiology than raw attack power, along with other factors.
Curse:
- Tamamo's spells fall under the category of witchcraft instead of magecraft, curses able to ignore Magic Resistance when utilized against someone with it along with bypassing Protection From Arrows automatically defending against it. An upgraded version is Cursed Boundary Layer.
- Cú Chulainn's Ath nGabla causes the one who sets the seal and anyone who sees it to be unable to refuse a fight to the death.
- If someone's still alive even after Gáe Bolg destroys their heart, such as people with Battle Continuation or more than one life, the curse will eat away the person's internal organs as well. As an Alter Cú Chulainn is able to invoke this on someone with runes, but it has to be directly applied.
- Cú Chulainn Alter's fire has the same effect the Witchcraft skill does.
Curtains Match the Window: Iskandar's and Touko's eyes and hair are both red.
Cute Little Fangs:
- Cú Chulainn sports two fang-like canines, seen when he grins or opens his mouth. These help in him looking like a wild animal/wolf. They're slightly longer in his Alter form.
- Tamamo also has a pair of fangs, helping with her fox motif.
- Mordred has a pair of fangs.
Cynicism Catalyst:
- The Kagutsu Incident wiped out the Grey Clan, CATHEDRAL, and changed Grey King Seigo Ootori enough to change his name to Tenkei Iwafune and made him a cynic when it comes to human nature. It's also for this reason he hates Reisi, since the Blue King's too idealistic for his liking.
- Cú Chulainn used to be a kind person who always defended people no matter what they thought of him but his Alter form comes from a timeline where he was relentlessly hated and persecuted by those he defended. This turned him into a huge cynic about humanity.

D-F

The Darkness Before Death: Everything goes black for Mikoto after Cú Chulainn Alter rips out his heart.
Dating Catwoman: Male/male in this case. Despite Cú Chulainn being from Ulster and Ferdiad from Connacht, two enemy nations, the two ended up becoming close as brothers in the Land of Shadows and wound up sleeping together a few times.
Deadly Gaze: Mystic eyes allow you to cast magecraft on someone just by looking at them. The most famous example is Medusa's Mystic Eyes of Petrification. They manifest due to a mutation in the magic circuits around someone's eyes. And since they're on the body instead of the soul, a person can steal mystic eyes by removing them from a user and transplanting them in place of their own eyes.
Declaration of Protection: Servants act as a Master's bodyguard. A very protective bodyguard. Some want to be near their Masters 24/7. The Servants vow to be the swords and shields of the one who they get summoned by.
Defeat Equals Explosion: Beast VI being shot by Black Barrel Replica makes it explode. Justified by the fact the bullets deals more damage the higher the victim's lifespan.
Deflector Shields:
- By using four runic stones, Cú Chulainn is able to create a bounded field sturdy enough to continue holding up even if it gets hit with an incredibly powerful Noble Phantasm. It's the only one he can create as a Lancer, so this powerful shield is used to defend Anna from over 100 bombs, which gets referred to as a 'weak-ass attack'. Cú Chulainn is undefended but remains unharmed since it was conventional weaponry. The defense is sturdy enough to completely defend against being hit with a Damocles Down.
- The Kings can use their aura as a shield to ward off attacks. Reisi has the added bonus of being able to shatter normal bullets that come into contact with his blue aura.
- Jeanne's Luminosité Eternelle is able to make a barrier to protect herself and others. But the stronger the attack, the more it damages her flag, which is what she needs to use it.
- Cú Chulainn Alter can create less powerful barriers than the first described one in front of himself now.
- At three tails Tamamo was able to create a barrier to block the third version of Gáe Bolg at full power which has the power to destroy several major cities compressed into it. It broke after several seconds but still was able to make it go off-course.
Delayed Causality:
- Okada suddenly seems to teleport behind Douhan then her body soon breaks apart into bloody chunks.
- Cú Chulainn Alter swiftly weaves between several soldiers from Iskandar's Reality Marble and then a second later blood bursts from several deep wounds on their bodies.
Desolation Shot: Cú Chulainn dreams of Mikoto's biggest fear; he'll lose control and destroy the city.
Destructive Savior: You don't want Alaya to deploy the Counter Force where you are because chances are high that where you are won't remain.
Determinator:
- Cú Chulainn apparently doesn't know the meaning of "give up". According to his belief, a hero never quits. The only time he retreats is because his Master was in danger and needed first-aid.
- Even when Daikaku practically has Mikoto knocking on death's door, the Red King refuses to give up until Anna's safe.
Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Morrigan wanted to have sex with Cú Chulainn. He wasn't feeling up to it so he refused. This left her pissed. The man's clearly not afraid of dissing even gods.
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Morrigan, wanting to get back at Cú Chulainn, tried to off him a few times. He kicked her ass each time.
Died in Your Arms Tonight: Reisi dies in Seri's arms while he's being rushed back for treatment.
Died Standing Up:
- When a fatal wound was delivered to Cú Chulainn during his first life, he used his intestines to tie himself to a rock so he would die standing up and he even killed enemies who got too close. He cut the hand of the person who fatally injured him off even after he died. This would normally give him the Battle Continuation skill, but it's absent in his younger form.
- Adolf is still standing even after using his life to make a bullet for Black Barrel Replica.
Differently Powered Individual:
- Strains fall into different categories depending on how dangerous they can be. The numbers are fewer in each category. The ranks are common, Beta, and Alpha. The highest rank of Strain is Extra-Alpha, AKA a King, which are considered first-rate magi.
- Magi fall under different classifications based off their mana output. These are third-rate, second-rate, and first-rate. At the top are the five sorcerers and Age of the Gods magi.
Disability Superpower: Anna is colorblind except to the color red. However, she's able to see the auras of all the members of the Red Clan. This isn't limited to auras, as she was also able to see Cú Chulainn's red mana, allowing her to see when he's low on mana. If she looks through one of her red marbles, she can see every color. She's able to read minds, and when she looked at Cú Chulainn through a marble, she saw him as Cú Chulainn (Lancer) (Prototype) Alter.
Disappeared Dad:
- Cú Chulainn only met his father once when he was alive.
- Connla never met his father for 8 years since Cú Chulainn left Aife after getting her pregnant.
Disproportionate Retribution: Anchin lied to Kiyohime so she burned him alive.
Divine Conflict: The Tuatha Dé Danann and Fomorians are at constant odds with each other.
Does Not Know His Own Strength:
- Iskander clapping Tenkei on the back nearly knocks him down and miraculously doesn't break his spine.
- Mikoto had tried to change the batteries in Tatara's camera and ended up breaking it.
Does Not Like Spam: Masaomi doesn't eat Chinese food because of how insanely spicy the mapo tofu at the restaurant, Kotomine's, is.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: Cú Chulainn bites the side of Mikoto's neck and starts drinking his blood. Mikoto was the one who asked the Servant to do it, however, as it's a way for Cú Chulainn to replenish his mana. Misaki points out what it resembles.
Misaki: He's not preyin' on the King like a vampire?
Do Not Call Me "Paul": Misaki hates his given name and wants people to refer to him by his surname, Yata.
Don't Call Me "Sir": It makes Cú Chulainn uncomfortable to have someone speak to him formally.
The Dragon: Cú Chulainn Alter guards the Greater Grail and will protect Beast of Revelation until it comes into the world.
Dragon Ancestry: Mordred is the clone of Arthur Pendragon, so she also has dragon blood. Because of this, she has a large mana pool just like Cú Chulainn.
The Dragonslayer: Heroic Spirits have killed dragons and gods.
The Dreaded: Don't let Cú Chulainn's easygoing nature fool you. He's extremely dangerous and hard to kill, making him Ulster's best and most undefeated warrior. As seen through the first dream of when he was alive, seeing him fight is grounds for the enemy to flee in terror, all while declaring him to be "Ulster's monster". Medb, queen of the enemy of Ulster, Connacht, was so desperate to have him out of the way that she took the effort to bribe and goad Ferdiad, Cú Chulainn's best friend, to fight the warrior in order to trip him up. It didn't work and Cú Chulainn killed Ferdiad. He wasn't killed as a result of an even fight but rather after falling prey to several traps intended to weaken him, which he calls a "low-blow plot".
Drinking Contest: Cú Chulainn and Iskandar engaged in one to establish the winner of their scuffle the other night. Iskandar passed out and Cú Chulainn was rendered super drunk. The amount of alcohol both Servants were able to down surprised Mikoto. Izumo was surprised in a different way when he saw Cú Chulainn's bill from the bar...
Drinking Game: This time it was Mikoto and Cú Chulainn playing "Never Have I Ever". Several embarrassing secrets were exposed and Mikoto was the one who ended up drunk.
Drives Like Crazy: Some Servants have the Riding skill. Depending on its rank, they can drive a car even if it's their first time. Mordred has sufficient enough Riding, so she drove Tenkei, Yukari, and Sukuna. As for her driving, let's just say it wasn't great for Tenkei's health.
Tenkei: Fuck! Don't try to defy the laws of physics!
Drowning My Sorrows:
- The night Reisi was killed, Yuujirou and Himori drank themselves out cold.
- Seri goes to Homra to drink her sadness away.
Drunk with Power: Averted with Servants. After Adolf is given a good taste of the destructive power Knight Class Servants possess thanks to two Command Seal strokes backing him, almost too much for him to handle, he's amazed that none have gotten drunk off it.
Dynamic Entry: Cú Chulainn Alter's first appearance in the world has him come out of nowhere to blow Mikoto's head off with a punch.
Easily Forgiven: Cú Chulainn forgives others easily but believes it should be Subverted for himself. Despite being praised as a hero and being loved he thinks he's committed so many sins that he should only be seen as evil.
Easily Impressed: Despite a Servant receiving knowledge on the modern era they haven't actually seen how far technology has come since their time (don't remember it). So even those like Cú Chulainn found street lights amazing the first time he saw them.
Eaten Alive: Tamamo's Cursed Boundary Layer is capable of having paper-thin black-and-red tentacles do this to a Servant since it absorbs mana. It can be taken out by something giving off a higher immediate mana output than the output for the curse's formation, however. She says that if someone used it to a larger degree it'd be both Anti-World and Anti-Planet.
Eating Optional: Servants don't need to eat to survive, but what they consume can be broken down into a little mana.
Edible Theme Naming: A horse with the Blue Clan is named White Bean Tofu Stew. The Red Clan had also named it Basashi. ^note
Eldritch Abomination: Outer Gods aren't from this world. Being possessed by one can lead to a Servant being of the Foreigner Class.
Elemental Powers:
- Cú Chulainn has all 18 original Norse runes mastered and is able to use every magecraft element with them. He'll only use them on occasion because he finds it faster to stab someone to death.
- Like with Cú Chulainn, Tamamo is able to use curses of different elements.
Embarrassing Damp Sheets: Cú Chulainn wet the bed until he was eight.
The Empath: Anna isn't limited to just reading what someone's thinking. She can also tell what someone's feeling. This is what allowed her to know just how much guilt Cú Chulainn is weighed down with in regards to the events that happened when he was alive.
The End of the World as We Know It: All Beasts have a Nega skill that affects those on humanity's layer. Nega-Messiah from Beast VI creates an expanding conceptual bounded field that eliminates all life except that Beast within. Using it to a global scale forces that layer to begin life anew.
Enemy Mine: The Red and Blue Master-Servant pairs team up temporarily to fight the Green and Grey Master-Servant pairs.
Energy Weapon: Cú Chulainn Alter can create lances of mana. They home in on whoever they target at speeds at least over Mach.
Enigmatic Empowering Entity: It's unknown where the Dresden Slate, the stone relic responsible for granting Kings their power, comes from. This becomes Subverted when Nagare theorizes that the Dresden Slate is in fact a remnant from the Age of the Gods and that releasing the Slate's power will bring this time back. This is because it was common during that time for people to have power akin to Kings due to the influence of gods and other spiritual beings living alongside humans, though it went down after 700 BC. In AD, the power's almost completely nonexistent because humans believe in science more than Mystery.
- More information on the Dresden Slate is given. It was created by spiritual beings fearing the end of Age of the Gods and was hidden to prevent its destruction. It was meant to passively change the world Order back to Age of the Gods. But the transition to Age of Man sealed this potential. When Adolf performed research on it during WWII he ended up unsealing it. But Daikaku suppressed it before the Order could change.
Even the Dog Is Ashamed: When Iskandar shouts his True Name to his enemies, Kotosaka internally sweatdrops. He just stares when Iskandar comes out without any pants on.
Even the Guys Want Him: It isn't just girls who are into Cú Chulainn. As a Servant he's received some love letters from guys and has even slept with males when he was alive.
Even Mooks Have Loved Ones: Cú Chulainn's fully aware that the number of people he's killed equates to a bunch of grief for those killed people. It's for this reason he harbors no bad feelings about being killed (he does complain about the method used, however) since he believes he deserves it for all the sorrow he's caused, even though he thinks his wife was devestated when she got the news of his death.
Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": All the Servants are referred to by their Class Name ^example. This is to prevent enemies from discovering the hero's True Name. While Jeanne is referred to as Ruler, she doesn't fight for the Holy Grail. That's why she tells her True Name to the Masters when they see her.
Everyone Can See It: Iskandar included, all the Green Clan J-ranks and even dense-as-a-rock Nagare knows Mordred loves Cú Chulainn.
Everyone Has Standards: Even though he's a skillful killer, Cú Chulainn doesn't like killing humans but will kill them if they continually attempt to kill him. But if you try to kill his Master he'll target you, human or not.
Evil Counterpart: Cú Chulainn's Alter is this for the spearman. It's basically the manifestation of the anger and hatred he kept locked away.
Evolving Attack: Okada's Noble Phantasm becomes stronger the more sword techniques he has copied.
Exact Words: Cú Chulainn heals the impalement wound he made on the JUNGLE player as per his promise if HOMRA gets told what they want without any bullshitting. However...
Cú Chulainn: There. Now I'll leave ya to the mercy of the others.
JUNGLE player: What?! But you said -
Cú Chulainn: I only said I'll heal the wound. I never said what'll happen after.
Exactly What I Aimed At: It's revealed that when Cú Chulainn threw his spear at Mordred he purposly missed in order for her to go into a trap, throwing it hard enough for her to think he was trying to injure her but not so hard that it'll take too long to come back to his hand. If he actually was trying to impale her, the spear would've gone through more than two buildings.
Exposed to the Elements: As the bodies of Servants are resistant to temperature extremes, they wouldn't need to wear any gear to protect from it (they can still feel different temperatures). Those like Cú Chulainn, due to being the son of a sun god, can even withstand the temperature of stars without complaint.
Extreme Doormat: Ryuuhou cooks or bakes whatever sweets Andy wants so Andy's not in a foul mood the rest of the day.
Extreme Omnisexual: Once Cú Chulainn lost his virginity, he was basically whoring himself out. He's even willing to sleep with a sea goddess, despite her already being the wife of Manannán. He made himself forget that incident, though.
Eye Colour Change: One of Tamamo's curses allows her to use Medusa's mystic eyes, making the irises turn pink-grey with the pupils being black squares.
Eye Scream:
- Mordred slices open and destroys Chiron's right eye.
- Daikaku doesn't lose his left eye, but it's rendered useless due to Cú Chulainn's attack.
Eyes Do Not Belong There: Ichigen's Command Seal has an eye in the middle.
Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: How Kuroh views Kiyohime.
Face Doodling: Misaki was about to use a marker to draw on a sleeping Cú Chulainn's face, but the Servant instantly wakes up and grabs the boy's wrist, stopping him before he could do it.
Familiar:
- Servants are classified as one. But they're stronger than their Masters instead of the other way around. Command Seals are what keep them obedient.
- Cú Chulainn creates a wolf familiar to keep Anna company when no one else can, much to Izumo's dislike since there's now one in the bar.
- Tamamo reanimates some mice for Adolf to use.
- As an Alter, Cú Chulainn is able to create a copy of Lugh's wolf, Failinis.
Fantastically Indifferent: Izumo eventually got to this point regarding Servant abilities with how much he's seen them be capable of.
Fantasy Kitchen Sink: The Nasuverse has a TON of concepts like magic, magecraft, Gaia (not to be confused with the Greek goddess), Alaya, and Akasha/Root just to name a few.
Fashionable Asymmetry: Cú Chulainn's entire left arm is covered in armor.
Fast as Lightning: Iskandar is able to have his chariot move as fast as lightning with his Noble Phantasm Via Expugnatio.
Fatal Flaw: Cú Chulainn's been called too soft often because he can hesitate to kill those he used to consider his allies even if they're looking to kill him. In another timeline this hesitation gets taken advantage of and his wife ends up dead. As a result of his reaction after that, you have an Alter form of him.
Fate Worse than Death: Some Heroic Spirits consider being in the Throne of Heroes and eternally serving Alaya to be this. To make it worse, aside from Counter Guardians who actually form a contact, they're selected completely against their will.
Feather Motif: All the Command Seals have red feathers, miniature wings, or both.
Fiery Stoic: Mikoto seems to be constantly holding his emotions in. Tatara explains to Cú Chulainn that he does this to keep his power from going out of control.
Fighting from the Inside: Cú Chulainn's original personality still exists within his Alter, as seen when his Alter doesn't use Gáe Bolg to kill Mikoto when he has the spear's tip at the man's throat and he harshly berates his corrupted self for killing Mikoto.
Final First Hug: Inverted. After Cú Chulainn uses Gáe Bolg on Connla, Connla hugs his father with the last of his strength.
Fireballs: When Mikoto first became Red King, his aura launched several fireballs that almost hit Tatara.
First-Name Basis:
- Cú Chulainn refers to everyone in HOMRA except Misaki by their first name.
- Mikoto prefers to be called by his first name instead of Suoh. He doesn't seem to care with enemies.
- Saruhiko says he and Misaki used to call each other by their first name. They still do, but it's spiteful.
Fish out of Temporal Water: Averted. Even though the Servants are from various time periods, some alive millennia ago, the Holy Grail gives them enough knowledge about the time period they get summoned into in order to understand things about it. Mikoto had questioned if Cú Chulainn had a full understanding of what's going on, and he gave this explanation. Servants also gain knowledge of how to speak the language of where they get summoned along with several other languages. Mikoto was faintly surprised at how both of them weren't having a communication problem.
Flash Step: Servants look to be able to seemingly teleport somewhere very nearby. With each instance, it's been to defend someone from an attack.
Flight: Iskandar is able to travel through the air in his bull-drawn chariot, Gordius Wheel.
Flipping the Bird: Genji gives Tenkei the middle finger back when he was still alive.
Flower Motif: Rose for Cú Chulainn, Specifically it's thorns. When Gáe Bolg pierces someone, it can sprout countless thorns to destroy the person's body from the inside, why it's called the barbed spear for it's first Noble Phantasm version.
For Science!: A mage who's incredibly talented in the field, enough to warrant research interest from the Mage's Association, could receive a Sealing Designation. If that person is caught by the Association they get dissected, their brain and magic circuits preserved in a jar that acts as a body to prevent the soul from dispersing. Touko had hers revoked then reinstated.
Forced Sleep: During The Cattle Raid of Cooley, Lugh personally knocked his son out after Cú Chulainn got badly wounded.
Forceful Kiss:
- Reisi grabs the front of Mikoto's shirt and yanks him forward so they kiss.
- Seri grabs Izumo by the shirt and kisses him.
- Mikoto grabs Cú Chulainn's shoulder and pulls him forward in order to kiss him.
Foreshadowing:
- At this point you know that Anna's the Lesser Grail. So the fact she didn't have any health problems meant that Cú Chulainn wasn't killed.
- On the second day Jeanne asks Mikoto if he can kill his Servant. He wonders if he can since Cú Chulainn's more powerful than he is. On the 12th day Mikoto can't believe he's fighting his Servant. Cú Chulainn Alter effortlessly kicks his ass.
- Cú Chulainn drunkenly warns Mikoto that he might kill the Red King if he becomes his best friend. On day 14 he kills Mikoto, one of his best friends.
- When Anna sees Cú Chulainn Alter on the first day, she didn't see the chains on him. This was a hint that they aren't there just for appearance.
Forged by the Gods: Divine Constructs are weapons or armaments created by the gods.
Four Is Death: Cú Chulainn inscribing the runes Algiz, Nauthiz, Ansuz, and Ingwaz in that order curses him and anyone who sees it to fight to the death. They're bound to not leave until they're the final one alive. To avoid being bound you can't look at the runes when they get laid down.
Friend or Foe?:
- Cú Chulainn talks about Riastrad, which only comes out if he gets really pissed. It basically turns him into a monster that attacks allies and enemies. This is another reason people were rightfully terrified of this guy. The second time he lost it, he wound up murdering multiple innocents of Ulster.
- It's not safe for Mikoto to produce too much heat since it can harm his allies.
Friend to All Children: Cú Chulainn loves playing with little kids like Anna. Anna sees through her marble that this stems from the fact Cú Chulainn feels guilty about killing his son. Also, when he was alive, he got so angry after a bunch of kids got slaughtered that it triggered his second Riastrad. Whenever Anna's in danger or emotionally distressed, it seems to bring a Big Brother Instinct out of the Servant.
Friendly Enemy: Servants are all enemies. But during the day, Iskandar and Cú Chulainn treat each other like friends.
Friends with Benefits: Mikoto and Cú Chulainn only had a mana transfer. No deep feelings were involved.
From Dress to Dressing: Reisi tears off long strips of his clothes to help with the bleeding after his legs get cut off. It doesn't help.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Cú Chulainn started his life as pretty obscure until he strangled Culann's guard dog. Hell, his birth name isn't as known as his current one. Then he soloed an entire nation's army for seven years, became the most feared warrior in Ulster, killed millions of people, and is one of Ireland's two greatest heroes.
Functional Magic: Magecraft, also known as thaumaturgy, is used by Kings, Clansmen, Strains, and some Servants to do all sorts of things and requires a certain amount of mana for use. It was more prevalent and of a higher magnitude during the Age of the Gods. A step above this are the five True Magic, each of which is capable of performing a miracle. Reaching the Root in order to obtain the Third, Heaven's Feel, was the original purpose of the Holy Grail War.

G-I

The Gadfly: According to Mordred, Kay used to pass the time by being an asshole to the other Knights of the Round Table, playing pranks on them. He managed to get Bedivere to dress up like a girl after getting him drunk.
Gaia's Vengeance: The Beast Class are one of Gaia's agents to wipe out humanity.
Gamer Chick: Mordred's first scene sees her playing a fighting video game with Iskandar and Sukuna.
Geas: Cú Chulainn has several put on him. One imposed on him after the whole Culann's Hound thing is a geas that forbids him from eating dog meat. This gets Played for Laughs, him freaking out after he learned he ate a hotdog.
Genius Bruiser: Though Cú Chulainn's been guilty of acting like an idiot several times, he's been fighting for a large majority of his life, including fighting and winning The Cattle Raid of Cooley, a seven year long war, alone. Surviving all that for as long as he did would take a massive amount of strategy. On top of that, he's skilled in several areas of combat.
- Tamamo herself admits that Cú Chulainn's a genius when it comes to battle.
Ghostly Chill: Averted. Servants have been implied and even outright stated to have body heat despite being dead. They even bleed like living things.
Go Through Me: Tatara stands in front of a shot Mikoto from before the later became the Red King, trying to keep four armed men from getting him.
God of Light: Lugh's a Celtic sun god and a War God.
Godzilla Threshold: The only time Alaya deploys Grand Servants is to deal with the Beasts.
Going Cold Turkey: Mikoto attempted to get off cigarettes before by doing this. The process made him pissy and ultimately failed.
Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Deichtine didn't want to carry the son of a god and instead wanted the child to be between her and the man she loved. She did attempt to abort Cú Chulainn but it's clear it didn't take.
Good Luck Charm: The wolf-headed necklace Cú Chulainn constantly wears was originally supposed to be this to him, but now the reason he always wears it is out of habit.
Good Is Not Soft: Even if a Servant is nice, they're basically living weapons. As such, they can commit unspeakable acts without a shred of hesitation or remorse.
Gravity Master: Servants are able to change how much the planet's gravitational pull affects them in order to determine how hard they land. That's why they fall from the sky quickly yet land softly, as if having jumped down only a meter, even after having just jumped down several stories. Given how fast Servants attack, not having to recover from a rough landing is good for survival.
Gray-and-Grey Morality: The goals and the Masters and Servants as characters are explored. Just because this mainly focuses on Mikoto and Cú Chulainn doesn't mean the others aren't relatable.
Greed: Each Beast is a physical manifestation of one of humanity's sins. Beast VI embodies greed, which is why it took refuge in the Holy Grail.
Groin Attack: Cú Chulainn got his balls stomped by Scáthach so hard it continued hurting for days. It was warranted since he raped her sister. He wonders if that's the reason he was never able to get anyone else pregnant. Apparently he got lucky she didn't use Gáe Bolg to castrate him...
The Gunslinger: Tenkei fights by hiding in his fog and firing at his opponent with a revolver. He uses Gun Fu when in close combat.
Gutted Like a Fish: Kuroh gets his stomach sliced open by Okada, causing both him and his intestines to hit the ground.
Half-Human Hybrid: Cú Chulainn's mother is Deichtine, a human woman, and his father is Lugh, the Celtic sun god.
Hallucinations: When Anna looks at Cú Chulainn through her marble, she sees him as an Alter. When she blinks, what she saw goes away, making her tell herself she only imagined it. That's why she tells no one else about it.
Handicapped Badass: Even losing use of an arm won't stop Cú Chulainn from kicking your ass.
Hangover Sensitivity: When hung over from drinking way too much (Servants have a higher alcohol tolerance than humans, which can result in them drinking enough to normally cause liver failure), Cú Chulainn says that Mikoto talking at a normal volume is too loud.
Has a Type: Cú Chulainn tells Mikoto he has a thing for strong-willed women. It's for a long-term commitment though.
Hat of Power: One of Mordred's Noble Phantasms is her helmet, Secret of Pedigree. As long as it's on a Master can't see her stats.
Heal It With Fire: Mikoto uses his power to cauterize where his arm was cut off to prevent more blood loss.
Healing Factor:
- A trait of all Servants. How fast they can regenerate depends on the severity of the injury and the amount of mana they have, a flesh wound typically closed in a second. The wound has to be cleared of any foreign objects to heal, though. Even lost or destroyed organs or body parts will grow back.
- Cú Chulainn Alter has his jack way up due to his mana being supplied directly from the Greater Grail. He's able to heal the damage Gouging Piercing Spear of Carnage causes to his body, which really rips him up internally, in less than a second.
Healing Hands: Cú Chulainn is able to quickly repair the injuries of others, but he has to activate a healing rune first. Due to his Class being Lancer instead of Caster, he can only heal one wound at a time.
Heavy Sleeper: Izumo implies this about Mikoto when he asked Cú Chulainn, who slept to a later time than usual, if Mikoto's rubbing off on him.
Hermit Guru: The reason for Ichigen living as a recluse, only having had two Clansmen per his instinct as King, is because he had awakened his Origin and was unconsciously compelled to by it.
Heroic Ambidexterity: Cú Chulainn is able to switch which hand is using his spear due to being ambidextrous.
Heroic BSoD: Cú Chulainn was totally inconsolable for a few days after he killed his son when he was alive.
Heroic RRoD: Basically what'll happen to any Servant that becomes dangerously low on mana. They'll suddenly collapse and appear to be running a fever.
Heroic Sacrifice: Chiron takes a fatal blow meant for Reisi
He's Not My Boyfriend:
- Mordred screams something along these lines when Iskandar says she has a thing for Cú Chulainn.
- The reason Adolf doesn't want to point out his sister has a crush on Daikaku was so he wouldn't have his eardrums blasted out by her high-pitched protest.
Historical Gender Flip: Mordred is the "son" of Arthur Pendragon, but her form is female. And as was discovered from the dream of the Battle of Camlann, King Arthur's also female.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Cú Chulainn Alter was about to kill Tamamo with the first version of his Noble Phantasm but her mirror makes the strike kill him instead.
Holding Back the Phlebotinum: The less mana a Servant has, the weaker they get. That's the reason they hold back when they fight, along with the fact mana is crucial for them to remain materialized.
Honor Before Reason: It was revealed from a dream of when Cú Chulainn was alive and him outright stating that he'll obey orders from anyone who holds power over him, even if the order "sucks ass" (he would bitch about it in that case, though). He also prefers to fight Servants, other spiritual beings, even though killing the Master is a faster way to win a fight since they're much weaker.
Hope Spot: Mikoto thinks he got Cú Chulainn Alter to regain his sanity when he looks to be sparing the King...only for the Servant to rip the man's heart out.
Hopeless with Tech: Nagato doesn't know how to use his phone so his daughter had to answer it for him when it rang.
Horns of Villainy: An adult Beast has a Beast's Crown of horns.
Horsing Around:
- Andy of SCEPTER 4 has been kicked in the face three times by the horse, White Bean Tofu Stew, causing him to have a personal grudge against it.
- Cú Chulainn approaches Liath Macha to tame him and he responds by kicking the demigod in the face.
Hot-Blooded:
- Cú Chulainn seems calm...until he gets into a fight. He has fun fighting those with equal power to him, and displayed a lot of joy when fighting Mordred, who forced him to use more of his power during the battle than when he fought Iskandar. Oh, and also don't try to harm anyone in the Red Clan if he's around. He's a very protective Servant. He has a tendency to burn through mana faster than he should if he gets too worked up during combat as well. He basically had a Hair-Trigger Temper when he was a kid.
- Like Cú Chulainn, Mordred is also short-fused, most evident when she fights. Okada suspects she has an even shorter temper than Cú Chulainn.
Howl of Sorrow: Kiba howls mournfully when Cú Chulainn's knocked into the Greater Grail.
Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: In this case, tiny guy. Iskandar was already described as being taller than his Master, Tenkei. Now it's revealed the Servant has to wear XXXL clothes and is over two meters tall.
Human Sacrifice: In order to power the Holy Grail, Servants must be killed so it can absorb their souls, described as them "burning in the Grail". It's why the contents are spiritual and the chalice is described to be filled with blood as a result. Six Servant souls to have any worldly wish granted. Seven to punch a hole to the Root. Jeanne won't get burned in the Grail for some reason.
Humans Are Bastards: Cú Chulainn Alter believes this now that all of his memories are unsealed, making him take Gaia's side.
Humble Hero: Jeanne doesn't want people to call her a holy maiden because she believes she doesn't deserve the title. Even though she never directly killed anyone when she was alive blood still stains her hands.
Hunter of Monsters: Cú Chulainn is an expert at hunting animals, and this shows itself in his skill Beast-Slayer. It makes his attacks on Magical Beasts or wild animals more effective.
Hyperspace Arsenal: The Servants can make their own weapons appear out of thin air.
I Am a Monster: Having Riastrad makes Cú Chulainn call himself a monster. That actually isn't far from the truth. His grandmother is a Fomorian and the daughter of a chief Fomorian, it being a group of monsters in Celtic Mythology, which is why he has Riastrad in the first place.
I Hate Past Me:
- Tamamo doesn't like regrowing tails since she hates getting closer to her nine-tails form.
- Cú Chulainn Alter refers to his other self as being too weak since he was The Fettered.
I Just Want to Have Friends: Inverted for Okada. When he was alive, he was sold out by his best friend, Ryouma Sakamoto, causing him to be imprisoned and ultimately beheaded. This causes Okada to have a distrust of friends, saying that they're "worthless traitors when push comes to shove" and "it's better not to have 'em".
I Know Your True Name: True Names are a Servant's greatest secret. It gets shared only with their Master and, if they choose, any allies. This is done not for a magical reason but for a strategic one. Since a lot of the heroes in the Throne of Heroes died prematurely, the True Name can reveal that specific hero's weakness(es). This is why Iskandar shouting his True Name was a shock. Rulers have a Class skill called True Name Discernment that allows one to discover everything about a Servant, including their True Name, just by seeing them once.
I Know You're Watching Me: As soon as Cú Chulainn saw Kotosaka, who was flying over him and Mikoto, he knew someone was watching them.
I Love You Because I Can't Control You: Cú Chulainn says Medb was obsessed with having sex with him since he's the only man in Ireland she can't charm.
I Regret Nothing: Cú Chulainn had a shitty first life. But he apparently doesn't regret anything in it since those events are what helped shape him into who he is today. He does, however, have a lot of disappointments.
I Was Just Passing Through: Basically Mordred's excuse for playing Yukari's guard. Since she was in spirit form, he didn't know she was there until she materialized. Hints that Mordred may be a Tsundere since she seems to get along well with Yukari.
Yukari: What are you doing here?
Mordred: [blushing] I was just wandering by. It-it's not like I was worried about you!
Yukari: Thanks. But don't interfere with us. Just watch over this battle.
Mordred: I'm serious! I wasn't concerned about you being close to that savage guard dog!
I'm a Humanitarian: A Servant has the option of eating someone's heart to replenish mana.
I'm Cold... So Cold...: Reisi's Last Words before dying.
Reisi: I apologize...But it's...starting...to get cold...
I'm Crying, but I Don't Know Why:
- When Cú Chulainn gets knocked into the Greater Grail Anna, still at the bar, begins crying but she's clueless to the reason.
- After killing Mikoto, Cú Chulainn Alter notices that tears are running down his face. This perplexes him since the only emotion he should be feeling in his current form is rage.
Immortal Breaker:
- Gáe Bolg is able to do this by invoking a death curse, but it's only potent enough to kill an immortal person with the second and third versions of the Noble Phantasm.
- Black Barrel Replica can kill even immortal beings by imposing on them the concept of a limited lifespan then attacking them with it. The longer the lifespan, the more damage the bullet causes.
Immortality Seeker: Servants are able to fall into one of two categories: Heroic Spirit or Divine Spirit. Divine Spirits are gods and are unable to be summoned by the Holy Grail. Chiron, born from the titan Cronus and the nymph Philyra, would normally be classified as a Divine Spirit. However, he was accidentally shot by an arrow tipped with hydra venom by one of his students, Heracles. Being a god meant that he was immortal and couldn't die, instead having to deal with constant pain. He gave his immortality to Prometheus in order to die. This caused him to be regarded as a Heroic Spirit. While his wish for the Holy Grail is to regain his immortality, he actually isn't attached to immortality itself. Since it was a gift from his parents, he regrets giving it up.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice:
- Mordred uses Clarent to stab Chiron through the spirit core.
- Okada fatally wounds Kiyohime by stabbing her through the back and damaging her spirit core.
- An unknown number of U-ranks from JUNGLE get this treatment courtesy of Okada.
- Cú Chulainn kills Okada by impaling him through the spirit core with his spear so hard that his hand also comes out of Okada's back.
- Cú Chulainn Alter kills Jeanne with the first version of his Noble Phantasm, which impales her spirit core through the front of her chest and out her back.
- Cú Chulainn Alter ends up killing Nagare by stabbing his "heart" through the back and out his chest.
- The first version of Cú Chulainn's Noble Phantasm is made to impale him through the spirit core instead of Tamamo.
Improbable Weapon User:
- Tamamo's primary weapon is a floating mirror.
- Jeanne's is a flag.
- Kiyohime's is a fan.
In the Back: Cú Chulainn Alter stabs Nagare through his false heart from behind, Gáe Bolg's death curse killing him.
In-Series Nickname: The characters were only referred to by these nicknames once.
- Golden White Face for Amaterasu.
- Maiden of Orleans and Ms. Prim 'N Proper Judge Servant for Jeanne.
- Ghost of Tosa for Okada.
- Fox Priestess of Peerless Beauty for Tamamo.
- Yatagarasu for Misaki.
- Irish Heracles and Ulster's monster for Cú Chulainn.
- Monkey for Saruhiko.
- Third King for Mikoto.
- King of Protection for Tenkei.
- Old King for Daikaku.
- Evil of Humanity for the Beasts.
Incoming Ham: Iskandar arrives in front of Mikoto and Cú Chulainn, his lightning and war cry announcing it, then proceeds to state his True Name. On the fifth night, when lightning suddenly strikes, Cú Chulainn knows instantly who's coming.
Instant Armor: Servants are seen wearing modern clothes in public (or the SCEPTER 4 uniform in Chiron's case) since they would stand out like a sore thumb in their Servant clothes. They can will their Servant clothes to take the place of their modern ones when about to fight for the Holy Grail.
Instant Expert: Okada is able to perfectly copy any sword technique just by seeing it once.
Instant Waking Skills: Cú Chulainn is able to wake up quickly. Scáthach apparently made damn sure of that when he was alive.
Intangibility: Spirit form puts the Servant in a state where they can't harm nor be harmed. This is ideal for scouting purposes since only a Servant can see those in spirit form.
Intimate Healing: When a Servant runs dangerously low on mana, they not only are in danger of fading but they are rendered unable to fight as well and their functions such as their Healing Factor ceases to be as effective. A Master having sex with said Servant, called a mana transfer, is a way to fix this problem when it crops up.
Invincible Hero: Cú Chulainn didn't lose a single battle when he was alive.
Invisibility Flicker: While Presence Concealment makes the user essentially invisible, it goes away while the user is attacking, which is why Cú Chulainn was able to save Mikoto from being killed by Okada at the last second.
It Gets Easier: Cú Chulainn was responsible for the deaths of millions during the course of a mere 20 years or so, most of these occurring during the seven years he fought in The Cattle Raid of Cooley. It's safe to say he's used to killing.
It's All My Fault:
- Tamamo discovers from a dream about her Master before he became King that he blames himself for Klaudia pushing him out of the way and being killed by falling rubble that should've landed on him.
- Daikaku blames himself for the death of his grandson.

J-L

Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: This how Cú Chulainn interrogates someone since he doesn't have the Discernment of the Poor skill or the sword Fragarach: Rip out the crossbow bolt he threw at the person hard enough for it to completely impale the person through the shoulder and tells them he'll heal the injury after the person's questioned but they have to hurry before they bleed out. Anna checks to see if the truth's being told. Then after Cú Chulainn closes the injury, he allows the Red Clan to beat the shit out of the person for attempting to kill Tatara.
Javelin Thrower: Cú Chulainn can attack by hurling his spear. For the second and third versions of his Noble Phantasm, he throws it at Mach 2 for a maximum distance of 40 km (20 if he's on the ground instead of the air).
Jerkass Has a Point: In chapter 16 when Cú Chulainn Alter is basically verbally ripping into humans in general Tamamo says he's right about humans having a measure of evil in them.
- She also has to admit he has a point with calling her a demon because she qualifies as a Beast when she has all nine tails.
Just Toying with Them: During the first fight against Cú Chulainn Alter, Jeanne figures out he's merely playing around. Given how skilled Mikoto's seen him in a fight when he gets serious, he agrees with Jeanne.
- During the second fight it turns out he's still playing around, though not as much as before.
Keet: Andy is loud, obnoxious, and has way too much energy.
Kick the Dog: Cú Chulainn killing Connla was actually set up by the boy's own mother as a way to get back at Cú Chulainn himself.
Kick Them While They Are Down: Okada stabs Kiyohime while she attempts to crawl away.
Kill All Humans: The goal of every agent of Gaia.
Killer Rabbit: Failinis is the size of a lapdog, but don't let that fool you. He's almost as strong as a Servant. That size is only a Power Limiter, unfortunately.
Kill the God:
- Black Barrel Replica is a god-killing weapon.
- Amaterasu was among the gods killed by Sefar in 12,000 BC.
Kill the Ones You Love: Cú Chulainn wonders if he's destined to kill everyone close to him.
Killing Intent: Cú Chulainn is able to let out an absurd amount. This is used as an intimidation tactic which causes weak enemies to either flee or freeze up. This leaves stronger people, the Kings and Servants. It's also able to affect his allies since Mikoto, Cú Chulainn's Master, took a couple steps back just like Tenkei.
- It's shown that all Servants, not just Cú Chulainn, are able to let out various amounts of killing intent. But Cú Chulainn seems to let out the most since Clansmen were still able to move in cases involving other Servants. Of course, only enough to warn the recipient off may have been used. They seem to be able to determine how much gets let out.
- The killing intent Gáe Bolg puts out as a Noble Phantasm puts this to shame. It's enough to make the air feel frozen.
Kung-Fu Wizard:
- Mikoto uses no weapons, only hand-to-hand combat. He uses his red aura to augment his strikes.
- Servants Cú Chulainn and Chiron are both skilled in fighting bare-handed.
- For an old man, Daikaku sure knows how to beat the shit out of someone.
Lack of Empathy: As an Alter, Cú Chulainn's emotionless. He couldn't care less how you feel.
Laser-Guided Karma: Cú Chulainn raped Aife when he was alive, getting her pregnant with his son. Eight years later she sends Connla out to meet his father but had utilized three geasa put on him that would result in the two fighting, the outcome obvious. And this was just to emotionally break Cú Chulainn for what he did to her.
Lava Adds Awesome: Using his power as a sun demigod, Cú Chulainn is able to cover most of Asia in lava as hot as the sun with an Anti-Continent Noble Phantasm. Unfortunately for him this is restricted to him as an Alter, in Ireland, or as a full Heroic Spirit. In the third scenerio, the lava could actually be miles thick and cover the entire world.
Layered World: The top layer of the world is humanity's but below that is the Reverse Side of the World.
Lethal Chef:
- According to Mordred, Gawain, a Knight of the Round Table and one of her half brothers, is a horrible cook. He's even guilty of burning water.
- Taishi, Reisi's older brother, can't cook to save his life.
Lightning Bruiser:
- Servants are able to move inhumanly fast, have enough power to easily qualify as a Person of Mass Destruction, have heightened senses, and are Nigh-Invulnerable.
- Kings, though neither to the same degree as Servants, are able to move inhumanly fast using their aura and can dish out enough damage to be a Person of Mass Destruction, especially if they lose control.
Living Lie Detector: Berserkers have the Class skill Mad Enhancement. Kiyohime's allows her to see if someone's lying to her. If the liar's her Master, she'll remove the Command Seal.
Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Cú Chulainn's hair goes to the bottoms of his shoulder blades when tied up and he's really handsome.
Loophole Abuse: Cú Chulainn was tricked into breaking his geasa by his enemies in order to weaken him before being fatally wounded by Lugaid via Gáe Bolg blowing out his guts.
Lost Superweapon: Black Barrel is one of the Atlas Academy's seven superweapons. The original is still sealed but its replica is still in the world.
Luke, I Am Your Father: Poor Cú Chulainn didn't know the boy he killed that he thought was some random stranger was in fact his son until it was too late.

M-N

MacGuffin Super-Person: The reason Anna was kidnapped was because Daikaku found out she's the vessel for the Lesser Grail and wanted to make her activate the Greater Grail.
Madness Mantra: Kiyohime says one during an internal dialogue as she's burning Anchin alive.
Kiyohime: I loved him, I loved him, I loved him, he betrayed me, I was sad, I was sad, I was sad I was sad I was sad, I hate him I hate him I hate him hate hate hate hate hate hate hate...
Magic Enhancement: Mana can be used to strengthen part of the mage or Servant, such as to the legs or weapons, to strengthen them or increase their durability.
The Magic Goes Away: It wasn't a problem during the Age Of the Gods due to a stronger belief in Mystery, but now with the waning belief in it due to the world's order changing because the most influential species changing from gods to humans and they have more faith in science, the more people who know about magecraft the weaker it gets, why The Masquerade is in place. But eventually, it'll fade entirely.
Magic Knight: Cú Chulainn is skilled at using a spear and magecraft, along with having enough combat talents that he can be summoned as any standard class except Assassin. He does say that many Servants are skilled in multiple areas of combat, so others would also be able to fall into this category.
Magic Missile Storm: Cú Chulainn Alter can materialize runes anywhere he wants, even in the air around his opponent, and launch beams of magecraft three or four times larger than he is at them.
Magic Must Defeat Magic: Servants' bodies reject science so only attacks with a supernatural enhancement can damage them.
Magical Incantation: Some Noble Phantasms, like Tamamo's and Jeanne's, require an incantation along with the True Name for use.
Magical Society: The Mage's Association is the primary institute for magi. The three branches are Clock Tower, Atlas Academy, and Wandering Sea.
Magical Weapon: A Mystic Code is an item imbued with magical properties. A powerful Mystic Code is the Dress of Heaven, which was worn by Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern to create the Greater Grail. It's currently sealed in the Dresden Slate.
Magically Regenerating Clothing: If a Servant's armor gets damaged, their own healing repairs it.
Major Injury Underreaction:
- Cú Chulainn's reaction to a giant wound going down a quarter into his right arm with even the bone showing.
Cú Chulainn: I didn't even feel this scratch.
- When the connections to his right arm get severed, Cú Chulainn actually thought about ripping it off so it wouldn't be a useless hunk of meat.
- Three spears of ice impale Cú Chulainn Alter, one of them should've gone through his heart and his response is to laugh.
Manly Tears:
- Saruhiko breaks down crying over Reisi's death.
- Killing his son marked the first time Cú Chulainn cried. It was at that time all the mental pain he kept bottled up became too much to handle.
The Many Deaths of You: Due to the nature of the Throne of Heroes, a Servant has already died numerous times. Since the Throne is off the time axis and with the existence of alternate timelines, the Heroic Spirits have actually been fighting and dying for millennia.
Master Archer: Chiron is the Archer Servant, primarily using a golden bow in combat. He is, however, also highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat. This means you'll be equally screwed if you pull him into close combat. He nails one of Iskandar's divine bulls in the tendons of its legs from above it and strikes down a bullet with an arrow even in dense fog, though he did enhance his vision. The arrows he fires are capable of going faster than the speed of sound.
Master of Illusion: Neko's able to interfere with the senses of someone to cast illusions. However, it only works on the living. Since Servants are classified as the dead, it doesn't affect them. After absorbing the Dresden Slate, Tamamo's able to get rid of this restriction.
Master Swordsman:
- Ichigen was able to hold his own against a sword-wielding Servant.
- Though Kuroh was beaten down, special recognition goes to him for holding out for as long as he did.
The Medic: Chiron is a skilled medicinal healer. The only thing he can't do in that field is treat poisoning from a hydra.
Megaton Punch: Cú Chulainn does this to a tree when he got pissed, sending it flying at least out of the city.
Mental World: Reality Marbles are a manifestation of a person's mental world into the real world and the highest level of bounded field possible. They can also be invoked inside the body, as seen when Cú Chulainn suddenly makes his internal temperature skyrocket to that of the sun. Doing an internal Reality Marble puts a large strain on the caster's body, so it can only be used in short bursts. Since Gaia destroys any Reality Marbles it didn't create, such as the world itself, maintaining one takes an extraordinary amount of mana.
The Mentally Disturbed: Mikoto thinks there's something mentally wrong with Cú Chulainn since he's so blasé about the fact a large part of his life was basically one big tragedy.
Mercy Kill:
- Mikoto wants this done to his former Servant, and wants to be present when it does.
- During the Second Tokyo Holy Grail War, Cú Chulainn killed his Master after she succumbed to her curse.
Mind over Matter:
- An unnamed Strain could use her mystic eyes to move or freeze any object in her field of vision.
- The Asakamis were telekinetics, and Fujino Asagami's manifests as the Mystic Eyes of Distortion. Using them, she can "bend" anything in her line of sight. During a battle against Shiki, a power backlash rendered her blind. This backlash happened when she "bent", AKA destroyed, an entire gigantic bridge. But she also unlocked a Clairvoyance ability during it. Now she can "see" physical things to destroy them without actually seeing them. This makes her more dangerous than before, although she's not currently aggressive.
Mirror Character:
- While all Masters can share at least one similarity with their Servant, the Red Master-Servant pair has the most in common with each other. Some examples are that both view themselves as monsters, have some internal issues, and someone had to act as a safety trigger for both. It's found out that those two have high compatibility with each other.
- Cú Chulainn and Mordred are both princes, knights, have rotten mouths, fight like demons if they have too much fun, both are a Blood Knight, and in that regard both clearly get turned on when fighting someone strong.
Mistaken for Pedophile: Mikoto had been accused of being a lolicon by some parents after Anna said they were on a date.
Modest Royalty: Cú Chulainn's actually a prince. He doesn't flaunt the title because he regards it as a pain in the ass. He says he's content with just being seen as a Red Branch Knight.
Mons: Servants can do the fighting for their Master, can change Masters, and a Master can pact with more than one Servant at a time, though the upkeep would be increased in that case.
Morality Chain: An alternate history for Cú Chulainn sees him being ostracized and has numerous attempts on his life (the frequency of poisoning attempts gave him Acquired Poison Immunity) made due to his Riastrad. Emer was the only person who chose to remain at his side and keep him from snapping. When she Takes the Bullet for him and dies as a result, Cú Chulainn begins his murder spree.
Motor Mouth: This is a trait Cú Chulainn dislikes about his father. When he met Lugh during the Táin Bó Cúailnge, he apparently blabbed so much that Cú Chulainn couldn't get a single word in and didn't stop to breathe.
Multiple Endings: Like in Fate/stay night this has a True and Normal ending.
Multiple Head Case: Clan Calatin is a monster with 28 heads, a wizard and his 27 sons. Cú Chulainn killed them in life, but another history has them survive their encounter, holding a grudge against Cú Chulainn for their ass-kicking.
Multishot: Even if Chiron fires one arrow at you, expect multiple to come flying.
Mundane Utility:
- Cú Chulainn has powerful runes at his disposal, and he uses a really weak version of the fire rune, Ansuz, to light a cigarette.
- Neko wanted to use Tamamo's weapon that invokes her Noble Phantasm, Eightfold Blessing of Amaterasu, as a mirror to check herself for school.
- Kiyohime breathes out a little fire to heat the pan cooking the steak more.
Muscles Are Meaningless: For Servants. Though many are pretty buff, their power is actually from mana.
Mutual Kill: Cú Chulainn Alter and Tamamo fatally wound each other, though Tamamo remains materialized a little longer than he does since Cú Chulainn Alter was hit by his own spear's curse.
My Blood Runs Hot: While not all the time, Cú Chulainn's able to utilize an ability he has as a child of a sun god to use his body as a Reality Marble and make his internal temperature as hot as the surface of the sun. It's how he makes Mordred stop drinking his blood.
My Greatest Failure: Cú Chulainn considers him not being able to protect Bazett to be this.
Mystical Pregnancy: Deichtine initially didn't even know she was carrying the son of Lugh. An Alternate History has her hating Cú Chulainn for this fact with her even trying to kill him on numerous occasions.
Mystical White Hair:
- One of the seven Kings, Adolf K. Weismann, has silver-grey hair. He's also described as being immortal.
- Anna is a Strain, a human that somehow has supernatural powers even without being in a Clan, that has red eyes and silver-white hair. She's also the Holy Grail's vessel.
- Neko has silver-pink hair. She's also a Strain who can manipulate the senses of others in order to cast illusions.
- All Einzbern homunculi have silver-white hair and red eyes.
Next Episode Preview: At the end of each chapter are lines in the next.
Nice Day, Deadly Night: During a Holy Grail War, battles between Master-Servant pairs normally take place at night. This is due to it being a secret magecraft ritual and having the killings during the night reduces the chances of having outsiders witness it.Those that do are usually killed. Due to the people of the Tokyo Metropolis seeing the powers of Kings and Clansmen, they tend to ignore supernatural happenings. Even so, battles must only occur at night. It should be safer during the day, but there can always be unexpected happenings. Some pairs could be so desperate to win that they'll ignore that rule.
Nice Girl: Tamamo desires to be the Good Wife and doesn't want to give people a reason to hate her.
Nice Guy:
- Putting aside the fact Cú Chulainn can be easily compared to a monster when he fights, he's actually very sociable and quite easy to get along with.
- Despite being a Servant, Chiron doesn't look down on anyone and in fact treats everyone in the Blue Clan as his equal.
- Reisi takes a neutral stance in the Grail War, wants to bring about world order to make it more peaceful, and initially wants to win without violence.
- Tatara is a non-fighter in the Red Clan and is one that doesn't get angry at others, as well as being the one able to calm Mikoto down.
- Even though Ichigen has a Servant, he hasn't made any move to participate in the Grail War. He chose to adopt Kuroh, who thinks highly of him, and soothed Kiyohime's anger and sadness from when she was alive.
Nigh-Invulnerable: Servants are spirits. Because of this, they're incredibly durable and conventional weaponry is useless on them. They can only be harmed by attacks with a magical, spiritual, or conceptual enchantment. Include their Class and Personal skills and they can be a pain to fight. A weapon forged before the Servant was born will also do the trick but it can't have been broken or it'll forever lose the necessary amount of Mystery. Anything contaminated with magical energy can also damage them.
No Body Left Behind: When a Servant dies, they break apart into mana. Then they get absorbed into the Holy Grail. Averted for Jeanne/Laeticia since at death Jeanne leaves but Laeticia remains.
No Eye in Magic: The effects of offensive mystic eyes can usually be avoided by not being in that person's sight. A user can also impose this result on themselves by wearing a Mystic Code called Mystic Eye Killers, taking the appearance of glasses, to block effects of mystic eyes, including continuously-active ones. It would probably be a better alternative to a blindfold.
No Hero to His Valet: Cú Chulainn, one of Ireland's two greatest heroes, continually received lip from Láeg.
No-Sell:
- As far as the Mystic Eyes of Petrification go, they won't work on Cú Chulainn due to him being an expert monster hunter.
- Because of Andreias Amarantos, Achilles can't be harmed by anyone lacking Divinity or without a Divine Construct, aside from his heel. Damaging it badly enough causes this Noble Phantasm to go away until his next summoning.
No Sense of Personal Space: Reisi positions his face so close to Chiron's that they're almost kissing.
Non-Action Guy: Tatara's fire powers are useful only for delicate work, not battle.
The Noodle Incident: Láeg did something that made Cú Chulainn want to strangle him.
Nonchalant Dodge: A human fights a Servant and this is pretty much a Servant's response.
Normally, I Would Be Dead Now: The Battle Continuation skill allows a Servant to remain alive for a time even after having a fatal wound dealt, such as the loss of their spirit core. The rank determines how long they stay alive. Having another fatal wound dealt during this period would end this skill.
The Nose Knows: Even for a Servant, Cú Chulainn has a sharp sense of smell. This is due to him having a dog-like sense of smell when he was alive. His sense of smell can be used to determine the quality of an illusion. A scent glitching out means the illusioin's third-rate.
Not Afraid to Die: Cú Chulainn is very nonchalant in regards to his first death and his guilt regarding the things he did when he was alive say that he wanted to be the one to die instead.
Not Quite Dead: Everyone writes off Cú Chulainn as dead. Turns out he only got corrupted by the Grail Mud.
Not Quite Flight: Even if a Servant can't fly in the traditional sense, it can create platforms of mana under its feet to travel in middair. Anna gains this same ability when she wears the Dress of Heaven.
Not So Stoic: After Cú Chulainn Alter takes out the fake of Emer, he looks so pissed that Tamamo was shocked Riastrad didn't take over.
Now That's Using Your Teeth!: When Okada slashes at Cú Chulainn's neck, Cú Chulainn catches and stops the katana by biting it! He then proceeds to use his teeth to shatter it.
Number of the Beast: As a Servant soul is equivalent to 660 human souls, there was a theory that, along with the six Servant souls, Cú Chulainn Alter could sacrifice 660 humans to free Beast of Revelation.

O-R

Off with His Head!: Cú Chulainn Alter cuts Mordred's head off.
Offhand Backhand: While HOMRA raids a group of drug dealers, Cú Chulainn allows one to smack him on the back of the head with a bat. The bat shatters, his head not budging at all, then proceeds to casually backfist the guy into the wall.
Old Gods: Fomorians were the gods of Ireland before the Tuatha Dé Danann.
Older Is Better: Things produced during the Age of the Gods (B.C.) are of better quality than during the current era. For example, buildings nowadays are described as being brittle in comparison to how they were during the Age of the Gods. Servants hailing from this time period(Cú Chulainn, Chiron, Iskandar, and Tamamo's Nine-Tails form) or Age of Fairies (Middle Ages) (Mordred) tend to be more powerful than Age of Man Servants due to having more Mystery. Also, magecraft is a cheap imitation of magic, which was common during Age of the Gods and became nonexistent with the exception of the five True Magics when it ended.
Older Than He Looks: Adolf is around 90 years old despite looking like he's in his 20's. He looks so young because he stopped aging once he became the Silver King.
Ominous Obsidian Ooze: Grail Mud takes a black appearance with a red glow and smells like rotting corpses. It's a result of Beast of Revelation corrupting the Greater Grail, the Mud being condensed hatred able to taint a Servant's spirit core with just one touch.
One-Hit Kill:
- This is how both versions of Cú Chulainn's Noble Phantasm are described. The first reverses cause and effect to always strike the heart. The second creates a blast containing the curse of death, instantly killing anyone it touches. But he reveals he's also a Blood Knight and won't use his Noble Phantasm unless he's been pushed into a corner or stalemate.
- Shiki Ryougi's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception allow her to see the death of anyone and anything in the form of lines or points. Hitting these kills the target in one blow. Hitting a death point is more likely to render the target Deader than Dead than cutting a death line. With it she can kill spirits but her limitations as a human would render her unable to combat a being as powerful as a Servant.
- It doesn't matter if you're a god, one hit from Black Barrel is all it takes to ruin your entire day.
One-Man Army:
- Cú Chulainn was literally one when he was alive. He pretty much single-handedly fought in and even won a war since the country of Ulster was rendered unable to fight until most of it was over because of a curse.
- Tamamo theorizes that even every Servant working together can't take down Cú Chulainn Alter.
Only the Chosen May Wield: Fragarach can only be used by those it deems worthy of being the High King of the Tuatha Dé Danann or that has the God's Holder pathogen found only in the Fraga bloodline.
One of the Boys: Anna is the only known female member of HOMRA. Same with Seri and SCEPTER 4 along with Mordred and JUNGLE and Kiyohime is the only female with two other males in the Colorless Clan.
Only a Flesh Wound:
- A dream of when Cú Chulainn was alive showed the warrior with a few swords going through his back and possibly bearing other injuries as well but was still standing and even laughing.
- Servants are able to take a ton of damage, enough to kill a human, and still be standing. This is because as long as their heart (spirit core) or brain aren't severely damaged or their head's still attached, having an injury like the neck halfway severed is only an annoyance.
- Cú Chulainn has a large pain tolerance, so all his wounds would come off as this.
The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Mordred declares Cú Chulainn to be her prey and that she'll be the one to kill him. She feels that her attraction to him is even more of a reason to kill him.
Our Angels Are Different / Our Demons Are Different: Both angels and demons are classified as holy spirits, which Servants are equal to and thus can be likened to them. The hierarchy for the Command Seals, aside from Jeanne's, is based off the Christian hierarchy angels follow. The more wings, the higher the rank. The Demon Hunter Organization used to kill oni, Japanese demons, until the practice wasn't deemed necessary. The four families are half demons, which is why they have psychic powers.
Our Centaurs Are Different: Chiron describes the other centaurs as a bunch of vulgar barbarians, making sure to warn all his students to stay away from them, with the exception of the centaur named Phollus.
Our Dragons Are Different: Kiyohime's Samadhi Through Transforming Flames has her turn into a giant, fire-composed, fire-breathing eastern dragon. This form is the one she took when she chased and ultimately burned alive Anchin.
Our Homunculi Are Different:
- Mordred is a homunculus clone of King Arthur. Because of this she ages differently than humans. In her case, her mind isn't as old as her physical appearance.
- All Einzberns are homunculi. Opposite in lifespan to Mordred was Justeaze, who lived for 1,000 years.
Our Mages Are Different: Magic circuits are what produces internal mana, necessary for performing magecraft. As such, all mages possess them, including non-practiced ones. Beings such as Servants have powerful ones, whether or not it uses magecraft. They're so powerful that a human wouldn't be able to live through being exposed without special circumstances. Kings, Clansmen, and Strains have pseudo magic circuits, which are similar to traditional magic circuits albeit some minor differences. It's for this reason mages can look down on them. For example, mages have circuits from birth. But pseudo magic circuits are obtained during life.
Our Souls Are Different: A person's soul contains everything they are and are anchored to a body by a mind. When the body or mind die, the soul disperses and returns to the Root for reincarnation. Anyone part of either Counter Force is kept from reincarnating, though. Heaven's Feel is used on someone to make the soul completely autonomous. Servants are imperfect examples of this miracle. They're classified as immortal only because their soul is copied from the Throne, their Saint Graph acts as a body, which allows the Grail to absorb the soul when the container's killed, and they aren't totally autonomous. Heroic Spirit souls are also described to be the purest in the world and just one is equivalent to 660 human souls. So if all seven are in Anna, she's basically holding 4,620 human souls.
Our Spirits Are Different: Though Servants appear to be creatures of flesh and blood, they are in fact Heroic Spirits from any time period and held in a place existing outside of reality, known as the Throne of Heroes. They can go into spirit form to be freed of any bindings and to phase through solid objects. Servants rely on their Masters to exist. If their Master dies, the Servant must hurry to pact with a new one or it'll fade.
Our Vampires Are Different: Dead Apostles are vampires. Someone is either turned into one through having their blood sucked by another Dead Apostle or through a kind of magecraft. Like traditional vampires, they require blood to live. The highest-ranking Dead Apostles are known as the Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors.
Our Werewolves Are Different: Cú Chulainn is a lycanthrope in one of his older Altered forms, taking a bipedal wolf form increasing his strength. The man has so many dog/wolf-like traits is this even a surprise?
Overly Long Name: The full name of Tamamo's Noble Phantasm is Eightfold Blessing of Amaterasu on the Weight Stone Under the Sunlit Watery Heavens. Thankfully, the name of her mirror is shortened to Eightfold Blessing of Amaterasu.
Paint It Black: Cú Chulainn's Alter form has his armor drenched in black.
Panthera Awesome: Beast of Revelation is described as a gigantic seven-headed big cat with ten horns.
Papa Wolf:
- As seen when Okada takes Anna, Mikoto is very protective of his Clansmen and will stop at nothing to get them back if they're taken.
- Though not related by blood, Tenkei thinks of Nagare as his son to the point where he tries to snap Cú Chulainn Alter's neck for him stabbing Nagare in the "heart" with Gáe Bolg.
  Tenkei: You can curse me all you want, you can even take out my Servant, but no one does that to my son!
Paper Talisman: Tamamo uses them to invoke her curses and are involved in the activation of her Noble Phantasm.
Perpetual-Motion Monster: Servants don't need to sleep, eat, drink, or breathe and can continue fighting as long as they have mana. Because Jeanne's possessing a human, she has the same needs humans do.
Person of Mass Destruction: Full Heroic Spirits are much moreso than Holy Grail Servants. If Alaya sends out a group of full-powered copies, called Grand Servants, they can cause enough collateral damage to wipe out entire continents even without using a destructive Noble Phantasm. It was originally intended to have Grand Servants battle the Beasts. They cause mass destruction to cover up what actually happened as much as possible.
Pinky Swear: Kiyohime has Ichigen do this as a promise that he'll stay at her side until the War's end. Ichigen, along with Kuroh, hold her hand as she dies.
Place of Power: Ley lines are underground rivers of mana all over the world. A Servant can camp at one to recharge mana. The two known most powerful ones in the Tokyo Metropolis are at Mihashira Tower and at the temple on Ashinaka.
Playing with Fire:
- Anyone who's accepted into HOMRA gains access to a part of Mikoto's ability to utilize fire.
- Kiyohime uses fire magecraft with her fan.
- Cú Chulainn Alter has the skill Mana Burst (Flame) which creates intense cursed flames around himself or his weapon to deal fire damage.
Please, Don't Leave Me:
Seri: [to Reisi] I beg you...Don't die!
- Emer begged Cú Chulainn twice during life not to head out. The first was the whole Connla thing. Emer had a hunch about who the kid is and tried to stop her husband in case she was correct, but he didn't listen. The second was the day Cú Chulainn died.
Please Put Some Clothes On:
- Kuroh walks into Ichigen's room to ask a question only to find a completely naked Kiyohime, who was waiting for Ichigen to return. Kuroh gets a nosebleed, looks away, and demands for Kiyohime to materialize her kimono.
- Tenkei orders Iskandar to materalize his pants after the later meets the others in the Green Clan without wearing any, giving them all a view of him naked from the waist down.
Please Wake Up: Reisi's mom was screaming for her son to do this as soon as she saw his body.
Porn Stash: Andy's gets looked for but Ryuuhou's gets found. It turns out Andy actually does have one.
Pocket Dimension: Imaginary Number Space can be used to seal someone or something in what's essentially another space.
Post-Stress Overeating: Saruhiko eats a lot when he's stressed.
Power Levels: Unseen by even Masters, a Servant's power can be measured in units. An A-rank Servant typically has 100 units of power. Tamamo's power is at 9 but gets multiplied by nine for each tail she has. At three she has 729 units. At nine it's 387,420,489.
Power Limiter:
- Chiron's is the form he takes. If he's in a more human-like form it makes him weaker. He takes this form in order to conceal his True Name since he's basically the only centaur Heroic Spirit.
- Nagare's full power is restrained by a straightjacket since he's unable to hold his power in on his own. Only by destroying it can he show his power as King. But it can only remain active for a time. Once he hits that limit, he collapses and has to wait to recharge.
- Cú Chulainn Alter's chains are actually holding him back. When he gets rid of them his power rivals Tamamo's three tails state.
Power of Friendship: Iskandar actually can't make a Reality Marble on his own but can with the aid of his army.
The Power of Hate:
- Part of the red tower that comes with Mordred's Clarent Blood Arthur is the hate she feels toward Arthur.
- What powers Avengers is their hate for people.
The Power of the Sun: As Lugh's incarnation, Cú Chulainn has access to magecraft that takes the temperature of Playing with Fire to the extreme. With Tamamo, it's from formerly being Ameterasu.
Power Tattoo:
- Command Seals look like red tattoos on the back of the right hand of the Masters. But they can be used to give their Servant an absolute order. As each is only made up of three strokes, a Command Seal can only be used three times. Using all three means that person's no longer a Master. If the Servant dies before the Master has used all three strokes, the Holy Grail reclaims the remainder. If there's a Stray Servant (a Servant without a Master), the claimed strokes will reappear, either on a new human or the same one.
- Some magi have a Magic Crest which embodies the family's magecraft, making it easier to cast those spells, and is usually transplanted onto the next family head.
Power-Up Full Color Change:
- When Nagare unleashes his full power as King, his hair turns white and his left iris turns green.
- La Pucelle changes Jeanne's dress to white and her blond hair is no longer in a braid.
Powers via Possession: A Servant is capable of possessing someone, as seen with Laeticia and Jeanne, and the possessed person gains the abilities of the Servant. Unfortunately, without the Holy Grail's aid, the possession only would last less than a second and would result in the deaths of the possessed and the Servant.
Prayer Pose: The activation for La Pucelle has Jeanne materialize a sword, go down on one knee while grasping the blade with both hands, and recite a prayer to God.
Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Cú Chulainn says one right before using the first Noble Phantasm version of Gáe Bolg.
Cú Chulainn: Your heart's mine!
Precision F-Strike:
Neko after seeing Failinis grow to almost a kilometer: Oh shit!
Price on Their Head: JUNGLE apparently has bounties for killing certain people. Cú Chulainn has a bounty of 500,000 JUNGLE Points, Mikoto's worth 100,000, Izumo's 6,000, and Tatara's 3,000.
Primal Scene: Poor Anna had walked in on Mikoto and Tatara having sex. Cue her being mentally scarred, probably for life.
Professional Killer:
- Cú Chulainn has fought in numerous battles, some due to a war, and has taken millions of lives for Ulster's sake when he was alive, an unknown number of people from Ulster also mixed in. Among this number, he feels badly about killing his best friend and his son.
- Okada is one of the four manslayers of Tosa, specialized in killing people.
The Promise: Cú Chulainn promised Tatara that he'd make sure to keep Mikoto safe and to see that the Red King makes it to the end of the War.
Prophecies Are Always Right: Cú Chulainn was prophesized to live a glorious, yet short, life. He became a famous hero with numerous epic exploits and accomplishments but was killed at age 30.
Psychic-Assisted Suicide: Cú Chulainn Alter knows that a form of himself was forced to commit suicide by his own Master's Command Seal during a Fifth Fuyuki Holy Grail War since he was deemed no longer useful.
Psychic Link: Masters and Servants are able to communicate telepathically with their partner, dream about the other's past, sense where the other is located, and sense if the other's dead or alive. This is due to them being linked mentally. They can't read each other's minds though.
Psychic Powers. While those with ESP also have magic circuits, the difference is that they're located in the brain and aren't hereditary. A person is born with them by chance, but a trigger is typically needed to activate them. The four families of the Demon Hunter Organization were psychics. These families are the Ryougi, Asakami, Fujou, and Nanaya.
Psychoactive Powers: In order to keep their Sanctum up, a King must remain focused. Distractions like incredible agony can cause their Sanctum to shut off. On top of this, their mental state affect the condition of their Sword of Damocles.
Psychotic Love Triangle: Emer would be willing to kill any woman who becomes her rival for Cú Chulainn's love, which she does attempt with the whole Fand thing. Cú Chulainn would do the same thing except he actually did kill someone. Those two are perfect for each other.
Punched Across the Room: Cú Chulainn kicks Mordred...and she goes flying back hundreds of meters and crashes through the brick wall of a building. Cú Chulainn's tremendous leg strength has been described in his legend, and the way people view a hero is how they get their power, regardless of whether or not it was true. But with the high durability of Servants, Mordred reacts to this merely by spitting out some blood.
Puppy-Dog Eyes: Anna gives these to Izumo to get him to let the wolf familiar stay in the bar.
Pure Magic Being: Servants, though they look to have bodies like other earthly beings, are in fact comprised of magical energy. Their status as spirits is the reason they have a superhuman level of strength and can be hard to kill. But Servants require mana to survive like humans require blood. If a Servant runs out of mana, it fades. Fighting and existing consumes mana. While a Servant's magic circuits restores mana naturally, it takes time to restore the amount lost. There are alternative methods for a faster mana restoration.
- The type of familiar Servants are is Ghost Liner. While others of this classification are nowhere near as powerful or durable, they have the exact same physiology and are just as dependent on mana for survival.
Purple Is Powerful:
- Blue King Reisi Munakata's eyes are violet.
- Cú Chulainn Alter's fire is a dark violet.
- Jeanne's eyes are purple and she wears purple clothing.
- Tamamo's mana is violet.
Random Power Ranking: The rank of a Servant's parameters, Class skills, and Personal skills are given a grade of E to EX with some having a + or - to indicate a situational increase or decrease in efficiency. For example, Mordred has B+ Strength. But it's B if nothing else is done. Using Mana Burst in conjunction actually has her Strength be greater than Cú Chulainn's A-rank.
Razor Wind: Cú Chulainn Alter is able to launch these at someone by raking his claws at them.
Readings Are Off the Scale: Unlike E-A ranks in parameters or skills for Servants, an EX rank actually means the power of whatever has that rank is "unquantifiable".
Reality Warper: Conceptual weapons are able to manipulate a natural law. Gáe Bolg, Fragarach, and Black Barrel Replica are classified as such.
Really Gets Around:
- Cú Chulainn has apparently slept with tons of people when he was alive. He continued sleeping with people even after getting married, practically sleeping with half the country.
- Medb can charm the pants off any man in Ireland except Cú Chulainn.
Really 700 Years Old: Don't be fooled by a Servant who appears youthful. They can actually be really old. For example, Cú Chulainn says that his body's 24 years old. But he also said that he was alive at the end of the Age of the Gods (BC) to the start of Age of Man (AD). This is because time doesn't exist in the Throne of Heroes and the Heroic Spirits can be summoned in their prime.
Red Baron: These names were used more than once.
- Child of Light and Culann's Hound for Cú Chulainn.
- Treacherous Knight for Mordred.
- King of Conquerors for Iskandar.
- Lesser Grail for Anna.
- Black Dog for Kuroh.
- Silver King for Adolf.
- Gold King for Daikaku.
- Red King for Mikoto and previously Genji.
- Blue King for Reisi and previously Jin.
- Green King for Nagare.
- Grey King for Tenkei.
- Colorless King for Ichigen.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: Cú Chulainn Alter has black armor with veins of red on it and his skin.
Red Eyes, Take Warning:
- The eyes of Iskandar and Cú Chulainn are red. Taking into consideration how powerful both of them are, you shouldn't get on their bad side if you value your life.
- Former Red King Genji Kagutsu had dark red eyes.
- Falling into Empty Eyes though no emotional shock was involved, Anna donning the Dress of Heaven to destroy the Greater Grail turns her irises solid red, no pupils or light being reflected.
- Red-eyed Zouken (young) is a Dead Apostle.
Red Oni, Blue Oni:
- The hotheaded Cú Chulainn is the red while Mikoto, who tends not to show emotion, is the blue.
- The Red and Blue Clans are like this. While the Red Clan is more violent and driven by emotions, the Blue Clan values order and wishes to get rid of chaos.
Reflectionless Useless Eyes: Subverted. Mikoto assumes at first that since Cú Chulainn Alter's eyes are dull it means he's blind. Turns out his vision is the same as before.
Reluctant Ruler: Mikoto actually dislikes being Red King, but puts up with the fate. His wish for the Holy Grail is to stop being King and to return to being an ordinary human. He explains to Cú Chulainn that a Red King is like a timed bomb. He has no idea when he'll kill his Clansmen, who he feels close to, and wants to prevent it from happening.
Repressed Memories: While Servants remember events from when they were alive, Alaya seals their memory of prior summonings. Even outside of the War they can only recall fond memories with humans. It's Alaya's way to try having the agents care about humans but having them be unable to recall any bad memories regarding the species. Even some fond memories are hazy and the agents attribute it to having been around for multiple lifetimes. Other memories deemed by Alaya to be potentially damaging to a copy's psyche are sealed and the remander are clouded in order to fool the person into thinking they only forgot some details.
Resurrection/Death Loop: Alaya's Counter Force (Heroic Spirits and Counter Guardians) are just agents who preserve the human race for as long as possible. Only copies get sent out while the original gets kept as a record. This means that even if a copy gets killed, a new one can be sent out. This process will keep repeating until humanity's wiped out. This same thing applies to them during a Holy Grail War. Even if the Servant makes it to the end it'll fade, die in essence, after claiming its prize. Then it can be summoned again in a subsequent War.
Runic Magic: Cú Chulainn's runes are capable of numerous things, from casting a range of spells, temporarily granting him new skills or boosting ones he already has, creating bounded fields, or making familiars out of thin air. He would normally be able to perform magic with them, but it's reduced to being up to first-rate magecraft since he's a Lancer. He would need his Rune Magecraft skill upgraded to Primordial Rune.

S-U

Samus Is a Girl: An original purpose of all the armor Mordred wears is to conceal that she's female.
Science Cannot Comprehend Phlebotinum: Mystery is anything that can't be explained with science, magecraft and a Servant's Saint Graph being examples.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- One JUNGLE player attempts to run away before Okada kills him. But he just ends up getting a katana in the head.
- Cú Chulainn Alter prevents his opponets from doing this in chapter 16 by creating a bounded field at the only exit to prevent escape.
Sealed Evil in a Can: A part of Beast of Revelation took refuge in the Greater Grail after the Second War, corrupting it.
Secret Police: The Enforcers are basically the Mage's Association's secret hit squad. Bazett was one.
Seers:
- Ichigen's clairvoyance allows him to see possible futures.
- Jeanne has the Revelation skill, allowing her to see what path to take. In this, she saw a present event which told her who her enemy is.
Semi-Divine: The Divinity skill is a measure of a Servant's Divine Spirit aptitude. The higher the rank, the closer the person is to godhood. EX indicates the person is a Divine Spirit. It's a double-edged sword. While a higher rank does increase the person's strength the higher the rank the more of an effect an Anti-Divine weapon will have on them.
- Cú Chulainn is an Irish demigod, son of the sun god, Lugh. His B-rank Divinity is why he has a larger-than-average mana pool. His Divinity is boosted to A as an Alter.
- By removing eight of her tails, Tamamo was able to reduce her Divinity to A.
- Iskandar and Chiron have C-rank Divinity.
Senseless Sacrifice: Even though Chiron takes a blow to his spirit core for Reisi, Okada ends up killing Reisi a short time later.
Sensor Character: Everyone has a unique mana signature. For the characters in this story, only the Servants have been shown to sense approaching people by detecting a new mana signature. With detecting other Servants, they can tell who the nearby one is due to each having a unique Spirit Origin.
Servile Snarker: Láeg constantly made snarky and sarcastic remarks to Cú Chulainn because he knew he could get away with it.
Shapeshifting:
- While Tamamo does possess the Shapeshift Personal skill in order to change her appearance, she refuses to use it. This forces Neko to cast an illusion when she's out in public with the Servant to anyone looking at Tamamo that she doesn't have fox ears or tail.
- Kiyohime turns into a dragon of fire for her Noble Phantasm.
Shared Family Quirks: Lugh doesn't know when to shut up and a flaw Cú Chulainn has is that he has too big of a mouth.
Sharing a Body: Like with Jeanne, some Heroic Spirits and any Divine Spirit made into a Servant has to actually possess someone, becoming a pseudo-Servant.
She Is the King:
- Mordred's actually a prince, but this still applies.
- The dream of the Battle of Camlann revealed that King Arthur's actually a woman.
Shirtless Scene: Anna walks in on Cú Chulainn while he's getting dressed and Tatara sprints up to cover her eyes. It wasn't that bad, since the Servant had his boxers on. Tatara thought Anna would see Cú Chulainn completely naked.
Shock and Awe:
- Iskandar employs lightning in his attacks. This is because he carries the blood of Zeus.
- As Green King, Nagare's able to utilize green electricity, as well as any member of the Green Clan.
- Mordred and Cú Chulainn putting more magical energy into themselves and/or their weapons manifests itself as crimson lightning. Mordred's able to make it even more intense with her Mana Burst skill.
Shoddy Knockoff Product: It's revealed that Servants are inferior copies of who they're supposed to be, each possessing only a fraction of their full power. This is due to the Holy Grail not having the Authority to summon a full Heroic Spirit (Alaya, who created the Throne of Heroes for defending humanity, has the Authority for it). But even being weakened, Servants are still much more powerful than humans, including the Kings.
Shout-Out:
- Seri says that Izumo "knows a woman who uses puppets and is really good at prosthetics". That description, the fact this is set in the Nasuverse, and that woman is likely an underworld contact since SCEPTER 4 doesn't have her info means she's Touko Aozaki from The Garden of Sinners.
- Cú Chulainn talks about chains whose hold get stronger the higher the captive's Divinity.
- Izumo sees the Ouija board Touko bought in chapter/movie 3: Remaining Sense of Pain in The Garden of Sinners
- Fujino Asagami from chapter/movie 3: Remaining Sense of Pain in The Garden of Sinners was mentioned in regards to some descendants of the four Demon Hunter families having psychic power was mentioned along with a bit of that case but the part where Fujino used her mystic eyes to kill some people after she was raped didn't get mentioned.
- Touko angrily mentions Aoko Aozaki.
- Cú Chulainn Alter poses the question of what Earth would be like if humans kill Gaia.
Signature Scent: Trained mages carry an odor of blood on them.
Sinister Scythe: Sukuna's weapon is a staff with a scythe blade of green aura.
Slashed Throat: In a flash, Okada slits Ichigen's throat, causing his eventual death.
Slasher Smile: Cú Chulainn and Mordred were both wearing one most of the time they fought at the Greater Grail.
The Sleepless: Unlike humans, Servants don't require sleep. It's completely optional for them. While asleep, the mana cost to exist is reduced significantly.
Sleeps with Everyone but You: Despite the fact Cú Chulainn Really Gets Around he never allowed Medb to jump his bones.
Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: Reisi believes in creating world order. That's also his wish for the Grail. Tenkei says it's impossible since violence is in human nature while monologing.
Smoking Is Cool:
- Mikoto and his Servant, Cú Chulainn, smoke and have shown to be a pair of badasses. Both of them smoking is justified since Mikoto is a gang leader and Cú Chulainn will fade when the War's over, wanting to try as much from the modern world as he can before then. Speaking of the War, given that it's a fight to the death, both of them could wind up dead before the end.
- Another smoker in the Red Clan is Izumo, who's also Mikoto's second-in-command. He can even use his cigarette or lighter for attacks.
- It's thought that Reisi smokes as well since Chiron is able to smell tar on his breath. But if he does it must not be that often since he had never been caught in the act by his Servant, who behaves as his bodyguard.
- Genji was a smoker.
Snow Means Death: Reisi's death occurs when snow is falling.
Sociopathic Hero: While Cú Chulainn can be a Nice Guy he's killed millions of people and is the incarnation of a war god. In battle, it can look like his personality did a complete 180.
Someone Has to Die: Anna tells Adolf that someone always has to be sacrificed for another to live before sacrificing herself to destroy the Greater Grail.
Sorry That I'm Dying:
Mikoto: Sorry Tatara...Anna...Everyone...Looks like...I won't...be...comin'...home...
Soul Eating: All mages are capable of doing this but only a Servant not possessing someone can do it safely since foreign personalities are unable to get trapped in a Saint Graph. The practice is frowned upon so much that a Servant would normally need to be pressured into resorting to the act. It's also a way for Servants to get more mana.
Specs of Awesome:
- Reisi is the only King who wears glasses. As you could find out the hard way, he isn't a King for nothing.
- Saruhiko also wears glasses. But there's a reason he's Reisi's No. 3.
- For some people, their glasses could actually be Mystic Eye Killers, which can block the effects of their own mystic eyes. This protection goes away once the glasses are removed.
Spider-Sense: Though Cú Chulainn lacks any Personal skills like Instinct and Mind's Eye, his battle instincts, due to him fighting for years, let him avoid fatal situations right before they happen. For instance, his instincts told him to not block but rather evade Settlement Sword. It was also what made him block Tamamo's attack despite her temporarily restricting his five senses.
Spiders Are Scary: Scáthach, Cú Chulainn's teacher in the Land of Shadows, is arachnophobic. During a sparring session, she accidentally slams into a tree and a few spiders land on her. This causes her to scream at the top of her lungs.
Split Personality:
- The personality that's normally seen from Cú Chulainn is his default. But he has another, Riastrad, due to his Fomorian blood. If that comes out, he'll pretty much attack anything that moves. He has it locked away for everyone's safety, though it comes out if he gets angry enough. This makes him be worth two Servant souls, his usual self classified as a Heroic Spirit and Riastrad being an Anti-Hero.
- If the second personality is its own person, that can qualify a Servant to be in the Alter Ego Class.
- The Ryougis were able to create dual personalities and Shiki's Origin, Emptiness, gave her a grand total of three. The male one is dead now.
Squee:
- Andy lets out one while seeing that Chiron has a horse tail, much to the disbelief of every other Special Squad member.
- The girls going "kyaa!" over Cú Chulainn really pisses Yō, Saburouta, and Misaki off.
Squishy Wizard: Averted with Tamamo. She breaks the spellcaster stereotype, surprising Iskandar with her competence in hand-to-hand combat.
Star Power: Chiron's Noble Phantasm, Antares Snipe, launches an attack from the Sagittarius constellation. It does have two limits. It can only be used at night and just once a night. It will also fire if it hadn't already when he dies.
Stat-O-Vision: Masters with a pact have a form of clairvoyance that allows them to concentrate and see the stats of the Servant they're looking at.
Stealth Expert: While Assassins can be poor when it comes to straight-up fights, they're the best at sneak attacks and information gathering due to their Presence Concealment Class skill making it impossible for even Servants to sense them nearby. And depending on how much information about an opponent they gather, it could give them a winning edge against that person in a fight.
Stepford Smiler:
- Cú Chulainn acts cheerful and is a great guy to hang around. Well, when Tatara asks if he regrets his tragic first life, Cú Chulainn acts carefree but noticeably ends the conversation early. This told Tatara the Servant is actually broken inside.
- Tamamo's interest in humans is what made her give up being a goddess to be like. However, she was eventually hated and hunted down by the humans she loved. And yet, as a Servant, she acts as if nothing happened.
Stepping Stones in the Sky: This got taken to another extreme when Cú Chulainn and Mordred fought at the Greater Grail. Cú Chulainn's attack blasted up several chunks of the ground and those two proceeded to use them as platforms to continue fighting due to the attack's mana creating a Lava Pit where the ground was thrown up.
The Stoic:
- Even though Reisi displays different facial features, he mainly remains calm even in combat. Seri, his own lieutenant, was surprised to hear him speak with insistence since he never had before.
- As Reisi points out, Chiron isn't one to often show emotion.
- Cú Chulainn is this when he becomes an Alter. He doesn't display any emotion and even when he grins in seems hollow.
Stronger Than They Look: A Servant should never be judged by its appearance. Even fan-wielding, cute, 14-year-old Kiyohime can be a better fighter than a King.
Suicide Attack:
- Jeanne's La Pucelle actually burns her own life for the attack, taken from the fact she was burned at the stake.
- Adolf uses his life to make a bullet in Black Barrel Replica.
Summon to Hand: If Gáe Bolg is removed from Cú Chulainn's grasp, he holds out one hand and the spear seems to move on its own back to its owner.
Super-Empowering: A King grants the people who join their Clan a piece of their power.
Super-Hearing: Cú Chulainn is able to hear arrows slicing the air.
Super-Reflexes: This has been demonstrated by Kings. However, Servants take this up a notch by having high-speed battles with each other, sometimes attacking too fast for the human eye to follow.
Super-Speed:
- Cú Chulainn is the fastest Servant in the Holy Grail War on foot, able to casually move several times the speed of sound.
- During their fight at the Greater Grail, Cú Chulainn and Mordred were moving so fast that the rubble thrown up looked frozen in time to them.
Super-Toughness:
- A Servant's Nigh-Invulnerability aside, putting enough pressure to knock them back is much harder than for humans. Punching the back of a Servant's head with enough power to crush a human skull will only move their head a millimeter.
- Even a Servant hitting the Greater Grail as hard as it can is unable to scratch it. Noble Phantasms would be a different story, however.
- Cú Chulainn can use rune magecraft to reinforce his internal organs.
Supernatural Fiction: Kings, Clansmen, and Strains are described to have supernatural powers, but the Servants, each being a Pure Magic Being, are the most supernatural.
Supernatural Gold Eyes:
- The Servants Tamamo and Okada have amber eyes. Tamamo was also formerly the goddess Amaterasu. Having all nine tails would classify her as a Beast. The Servant Kiyohime's eyes are yellow.
- Mikoto is the only King with amber eyes.
- When Cú Chulainn goes off the deep end, the Servant's red irises have turned to a dull and lifeless yellow. This makes him look dead.
Supernormal Bindings: It's impossible to restrain a Servant with normal bindings due to their phasing, but those that are spiritual can as long as the Servant's strength can't break them.
Superpowered Evil Side: Cú Chulainn's Alter form is basically the hatred he's kept pent up coming out. Mikoto even theorizes that it's a non-invincible form of Riastrad.
Superpowerful Genetics: Magic circuits are hereditary for mages, typically getting stronger with each generation.
Supreme Chef:
- It turns out that Tamamo's an amazing cook.
- Kiyohime is great at cooking, so she fixes the meals for the Colorless Clan.
- This is implied about Kuroh, as he may have been the one cooking meals before Kiyohime arrived.
Sweet Tooth: Seri seems to use the fact Reisi enjoys sweets as an excuse to constantly give her boss an absurd amount of anko. Reisi says to Chiron "So you enjoy having to eat a meter-high pile of that dark substance every single day for three years?"
Sword Beam: Cú Chulainn can fire a superheated beam of red mana when he thrusts his spear.
Sword of Damocles: A literal giant sword hangs in the air above each King when they activate their Sanctum. It falls if the King it belongs to goes over their limit and kills them, also devastating a large area where it makes impact, the event referred to as a Damocles Down. When former Red King Genji Kagutsu's Sword fell, everything within a 100 km radius was destroyed. It's even called "Sword of Damocles". A sign that a King is approaching their limit is that the sword will start to degrade. Mikoto's currently is crumbling. It should be a year until it falls, as long as he doesn't push himself. Killing a King nomally speeds up the degradation, but the Dresden Slate, the relic that chooses Kings and is what gives them their power, has made it so that a King killing a King does nothing to the Sword's condition during the Holy Grail War.
- It actually collects a substance similar to the Imaginary Element Nothingness the more the King who owns that Sword uses the Dresden Slate's mana. It ceases to stop defying gravity at a certain point. Mental and emotional instability can make them unconsciously use the Slate's mana and Nothingness can be absorbed if the King kills another King or the Sword is exposed to a Damocles Down.
Symbiotic Possession: Laeticia, a French girl with the Holy Church, willingly allowed Jeanne to possess her body, since the Holy Grail couldn't make a Saint Graph, a vessel for the spirit to reside in, for the latter. In exchange for giving Jeanne a body, Jeanne covers Laeticia like an exoskeleton so any damage taken isn't reflected on Laeticia. The two are also able to switch who's in control of the body though it's usually Jeanne.
Synchronization: The one in possession of a familiar can sync to their senses.
Taking You with Me:
- After Arthur fatally wounds Mordred in the past, she fatally wounds the king with her sword.
- A fatally-wounded Chiron attempted to kill Mordred with his Noble Phantasm.
Team Pet: Kotosaka is a parrot with JUNGLE. Nagare can use him as a medium and can project whatever Kotosaka sees as well as having audio of whatever the parrot hears. Not quite like a familiar, but close enough that Cú Chulainn though at first that Kotosaka was until the parrot came close.
Technicolor Blade: The members of SCEPTER 4 are able to envelope the blades of their sabers in blue aura, strengthening them.
Technicolor Fire:
- HOMRA's flames are described as magenta in color.
- In her normal form, Kiyohime's fire is crimson. But they're azure while she's using her Noble Phantasm.
Telepathy: While Servants normally talk to their own Master and vice-versa, a Servant can open a telepathic channel to other Masters and Servants, but this doesn't get done for casual reasons. Any link further than this method of conversation is unable to be created.
Teleportation: While Servants are able to teleport to another location, it doesn't come without a cost. Namely, one Command Seal stroke from the Master.
That Poor Plant: The aura around Cú Chulainn Alter causes all small plant life around him to wilt.
There Can Be Only One: The Holy Grail War involves seven mages called Masters which are each paired with a Heroic Spirit, known as a Servant. To obtain the Holy Grail, a device capable of granting a wish, each pair will fight to the death until only one pair is left standing.
Third Party Stops Attack: Nagare telepathically gets Mordred to stop from using her Noble Phantasm, Clarent Blood Arthur, to try taking down Cú Chulainn since, given its attacking range, it could also end up hitting him and the Grey King.
To Win Without Fighting: Reisi proposes to Chiron that they capture the Servants instead of killing them. Chiron points out that it's not only near-impossible to capture a Servant but their spirit form would make imprisonment difficult, if not impossible.
Tomboyish Ponytail: What Mordred always has her blond hair pulled into. She talks like a sailor and made herself seem male so much when she was alive that history regards her as one.
Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Tenkei says that it was best for Reisi to be killed before he had his ideals ruined.
Top God: Lugh being High King of the Tuatha Dé Danann makes him the chief god of that pantheon.
Torso with a View: Daikaku and Cú Chulainn punch a hole throught Mikoto and Okada respectively.
Touch the Intangible: A spiritual object like the Holy Grail can only be touched by spiritual beings. So having a Servant to claim the Grail for you is crucial.
Tragic Hero: Prevalent with the timeline Cú Chulainn's Alter form comes from. Despite his best efforts to defend the people of Ulster, they feared and hated him due to his other personality. Still, he tried to keep them safe from himself for several years. During a botched assassination attempt against him that causes Emer to lose her life he becomes the monster they made him out to be by killing the people in the country.
Training from Hell: This is what Cú Chulainn equates his training in the Land of Shadows as, with Scáthach being Drill Sergeant Nasty / Sadist Teacher.
Tranquil Fury: Cú Chulainn Alter looks calm, but he's described as being more violent, has a constant suppressed killing intent, and actually has so much internal hate that his Class almost changed from Lancer to Avenger, the spirit of vengeance, during his Blackening. Laeticia says that since Cú Chulainn's so mentally fucked up his Alter could turn extremely violent if pushed too far.
Trash Talk: All the loudmouthed, arrogant Servants (Cú Chulainn, Mordred, and Okada) are guilty of doing this a few times to their opponents.
Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Cú Chulainn had an...interesting childhood. Mikoto labeled him as a problem child.
- There's a dog said to have The Strength of Ten Men and Cú Chulainn killed it through strangulation without much effort when he was around 11, possibly younger. He says it was the adrenaline from it trying to kill him that made him do it.
- Shortly after, he requests to be made a full Red Branch Knight and gets accepted. After threatening his uncle, Ulster's king, by smashing all the spears in the castle and a chariot, then goes up to the king , saying "Now try tellin' me one more time I ain't strong enough to be a warrior!"
- He lost his virginity shortly after becoming a Red Branch Knight.
Cú Chulainn: It was a different time!
- Right after he became a Red Branch Knight he killed three guys who boasted about their strength.
Truce Zone: The church is an area where aggression is forbidden and the only Servant allowed inside is Jeanne. Any Master without a Servant can go there for protection.
True Companions: HOMRA is a very close-knit gang. Harming a member is a great way to get the others pissed at you.
Trying Not to Cry:
- What happens with Cú Chulainn whenever he's reminded of the fact he killed his only child.
- This happened with him after he killed Ferdiad.
Tsundere:
- While Emer, Cú Chulainn's wife, can be sweet, she isn't afraid to speak her mind. She'll also give Cú Chulainn a severe tongue-lashing if he does anything to worry or piss her off.
- It's implied that Klaudia Weismann, Adolf's older sister, also had this personality. She would take care of her younger brother but would also scold him quite a bit.
- While Genji acts gruff with people he only just met, he insults those he's close to in a joking way.
- Mikoto can hide a softer side behind a tough exterior, turns his head away when he's embarrassed, and doesn't like to admit if he sees someone as a friend.
Unblockable Attack: Gáe Bolg's first version as a Noble Phantasm will always hit the target no matter where the spear itself aims due to its cause-effect reversal. As soon as Cú Chulainn says its name, your heart's hit. It'll outmaneuver any attempt to defend and even Time Travel or killing Cú Chulainn before it physically hits won't save you. The only things that can is if you stop or kill Cú Chulainn before he says the spear's name or if he changes the tagret to strike the heart of before it's used.
Undeathly Pallor: Cú Chulainn, who's technically already dead and is just a spirit in physical form, is seen as having skin as pale as a corpse's in his Alter form.
Underestimating Badassery: U-rank players from JUNGLE think they'll be able to kill Cú Chulainn since there's around 100 of them despite the guy having the bounty of five Kings. His own physiology and Servant skills render all their attacks useless and his Killing Intent sends them running for the hills. What's better, he doesn't even move the whole time aside from setting his bounded field up around Anna.
Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Servants are supposed to blend in with society when not fighting.
Urban Fantasy: The story takes place in December 2012 in the Tokyo Metropolis.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Mordred originally wanted to be the best knight possible. When she found out Arthur's her father, she only wanted to make the king proud. Then Arthur rejected her and things went south.

V-Y

Vampiric Draining: Servants do have the option of sucking blood in order to restore mana. This is a great method of mana restoration, other than a mana transfer, because blood is a location where mana can be found. The effect is greater if the victim is a Servant.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Despite Genji and Jin having occasional scuffles, they had mutual respect for each other.
Wall Run: Since Servants aren't as bound to the laws of physics as living things, standing on and running up walls comes naturally to them, along with them being able to Walk on Water.
War Is Hell: Cú Chulainn explicitly says this. Even small wars can leave people with emotional scars. He does have knowledge regarding what he's talking about. He fought in and won the Táin Bó Cúailnge, starting when he was 17 and ending at 24, but it was described as perhaps the greatest living hell of his life.
Warrior Prince: Cú Chulainn and Mordred are members of royalty and definitely no stranger to fighting.
Weapon Across the Shoulder: The idle stance Mordred and Cú Chulainn take when they have their weapon out.
Weapon of Mass Destruction: Noble Phantasms have varying levels of destructive power. Those on the low end, Anti-Army, are only effective for wiping out large amounts of people. The highest classification is Anti-World/Anti-Planet. The name of the category tells you the scale the area of effect is capable of being at.
Well-Intentioned Extremist:
- Alaya has no sense of right and wrong and will have the Counter Force carry out whatever's necessary to preserve the human race. Wipe out a city's worth of people just to off one person? Done. Kill both sides to end a war? No problem.
- After having all his memories unsealed, Cú Chulainn Alter realizes that he's experienced far more despair as a Heroic Spirit then when he was alive and is sure that it's the same for the others. His sane self wouldn't let any of it bother him but his corrupted form wants to end humanity so the Heroic Spirits won't have to suffer anymore.
What Did I Do Last Night?: The first thing Cú Chulainn asks after he wakes up, hung over, not remembering the events of the other day, and Mikoto asks the Servant if he remembers what he did.
What the Hell Are You?: About 100 U-rank members from JUNGLE try to attack Cú Chulainn, but his Protection From Arrows and Magic Resistance skills prevent the attacks from even touching him. Naturally, this gets shouted.
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Misaki is greatly unnerved by even the mention of ghosts, so he didn't take the news that a Servant would be at the bar too well. Soon after being summoned, Cú Chulainn quickly figures out that Misaki has a fear of ghosts and decides to dematerialize then rematerialize directly behind Misaki, scaring him and causing him to scream like a girl. But having a spirit in the bar causes him to eventually become fearless towards Cú Chulainn.
Why Won't You Die?:
Tamamo about Cú Chulainn Alter: Why won't this guy die?!
Willfully Weak: Cú Chulainn Alter is able to get rid of his chain, but chose to keep them on because he considers his power without them to be overkill on the other Servants. He only took them off with Tamamo since he though it polite because she regrew two tails.
Wizard Duel: Tamamo and Cú Chulainn Alter engaged in a long one at the Greater Grail, showing what Age of the Gods magi are capable of.
Woman Scorned: Cú Chulainn has a history of really pissing off women. Three most notable cases when he was alive: He raped and got Aife pregnant so she sent his son out eight years later to meet his father but she set it up so Cú Chulainn would kill his only child, Morrigan who went after Cú Chulainn's life a few times simply because he refused to have sex with her, and Medb was the one who came up with the plot to kill him though it wasn't said in the story what he did to piss her off.
Workaholic: Not only does Reisi refuse to go to the hospital after taking severe internal damage when Cú Chulainn knees him in the gut but he limps his way into his office and tells Seri and Chiron, who are trying to convince him to return to bed, that he has work to get to. Seri tells him that the Blue Clansmen agreed he should take off from work to recover but he insists he's physically well. This stubbornness understandably irritates his lieutenant and she says "no means no!" like she's his mother. That made Reisi give up on trying to get Seri to allow him to return to work.
World's Best Warrior: There are actually three. Saber, Lancer, and Archer, collectively called the Three Knight Classes, are supposedly the strongest Servants in a straight fight during a Grail War.
Worthy Opponent: Mordred and Cú Chulainn see each other like this, both looking forward to the enjoyment fighting each other brings and losing themselves in the thrill so much that they fight like a pair of monsters.
Would Hurt a Child: Cú Chulainn's soft spot for kids doesn't extend to those challenging Ulster, like when he killed his son.
Wound That Will Not Heal: Gáe Bolg's curse kills the cells it divides, causing even non-fatal wounds to be incapable of healing. While healing magecraft and a Servant's self-healing works, the curse causes even minor wounds to take days to close. The curse can be lifted either by destroying Gáe Bolg or killing Cú Chulainn. Cú Chulainn himself can also do it if he has Primordial Rune since he's familiar with the workings of his spear's curse.
Wreathed in Flames: Not only does Mana Burst (Flame) allow Cú Chulainn Alter make any of his mana attacks take the fire element but it can make his outpouring mana take the form of fire.
Yakuza:
- The Red Clan before HOMRA, RENGOKUSHA, was one.
- The Ryougi family became one as a way to fit into society after the Demon Hunter Organization disbanded.
Yandere: Kiyohime labels Ichigen as 'Husband' and threatens to kill Kuroh, who she views as an obstacle for getting Ichigen's full attention. Kuroh even Lampshaded this.
Kuroh: This yandere just threatened me with death!
Yin-Yang Clash: While Gaia and Alaya are both unconscious desires, Alaya is concerned with protecting the human race and Gaia concerns itself with protecting the planet. With tendencies that can be destructive to the planet, it views humans as a threat. As such, the two forces are at constant odds with each other. Originally, they were both Gaia but split once Age of the Gods ended. The most influential species was independent from the planet, which is why Alaya was created.
You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!:
Cú Chulainn when Iskandar's lighting strikes: You've gotta be shittin' me!
You Monster!:
- Cú Chulainn has a...brutal way of fighting. He was often called 'monster' or 'demon' during his first life.
- Okada was called one by Kuroh for what he did to Ichigen and Kiyohime.
You Need a Breath Mint: According to Yukari, Sukuna, and Kotosaka, Tenkei doesn't exactly have the best breath with Yukari making this suggestion to the King.
You Won't Feel a Thing!: Inverted. Cú Chulainn, about to rip a crossbow bolt out of Tatara to heal him, decides to tell the guy the truth.
Cú Chulainn: [To Tatara] Sorry, pal. This is gonna hurt a lot.
Younger and Hipper: Cú Chulainn in this is 24, younger than his first appearance in Fate/stay night and is instead taking the appearance he did in the OVA for Fate/Prototype. He is using the actual Gáe Bolg instead of a makeshift green spear.

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