Web Video / Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works] Abridged

WARNING! THIS PAGE ASSUMES YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works] AND Fate/Zero! AS SUCH, IT WILL CONTAIN UNMARKED SPOILERS FOR BOTH SERIES. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

"I WANT THAT!"

Archer: Let's get something straight: You have no wish.
Rin: Correct.
Archer: You think I'm Satan.
Rin: Actually Satan. The "Actually" is important, I think.
Archer: And you would win this war with me, "Actually Satan", leaving the ability to make any wish I want in my hands regardless of what I, "Actually Satan", might want to do with that kind of power?
Rin: Totes.
Archer:...Fuck it, I'm in! I'm all about that zero accountability life!
Rin: Cool.
Archer: I humbly swear, my master, that together, you and I are going to fuck up all the bitches.

Continuing the proud tradition of the Abridged Series, Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works] is created by Project Mouthwash, with the first episode having been released on April 12 2017.

Featuring tons of Mythology Gags to both the spoilery parts of UBW, as well to the prequel Zero. Also notable for containing several Abridged Series stars, most notably being YamatoSFX in the role of Shirou, most famous for his role as Kirito in the insanely popular Sword Art Online Abridged.

The series follows Ax-Crazy Tsundere Rin Tohsaka, her Deadpan Snarker Straight Man of a servant Archer (Actually Satan, at least according to Rin), wannabe hero Shirou Emiya, and his emotionally scarred, perpetually angry servant Saber, as they participate in the Fifth Holy Grail War. If they don't wind up killing each other first.

---

Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works] Abridged contains examples of:

• Adaptational Alternate Ending: Implied to be set up for Sakura. Only the Heavens Feel route of the original gave her a happy ending. Here Gilgamesh seems to have killed Zouken off-screen, thus unknowingly freeing Sakura from his control.
• Adaptation Name Change: Souichirou Kuzuki becomes Kazuki Yamashiro. Episode 6 reveals it's a Dead Person Impersonation. Incidentally, Kazuki Yamashiro is the name of a teacher from Witch on the Holy Night.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Taiga does not see Kiritsugu in as much a positive light as her regular series counterpart does. Her visit to his grave is her passive-aggressively ranting at Kiritsugu for his distant and aloof behavior, which Caster admits gave her a bunch of mixed messages.
• Adaptational Dumbass:
  • Archer. While not by any means dumb, unlike in canon he is a Bad Liar who frequently drops hints about his real identity. Rin, Shirou and Saber are just never able to pick up on them.
  • Rin was often the voice of reason next to Shirou's Chronic Hero Syndrome in canon. While she still acts as the reasonable one in those moments, everywhere else she is a Psychopathic Woman Child who comes up with plans like loudly announcing how defenseless she is in an attempt to lure Caster into a trap, and is shocked when Caster doesn't fall for it.
  • Caster's original master, Atrum Galliasta, wasn't smart in canon but this series actually makes him even dumber. In canon, he assumed Caster's Noble Phantasm was to summon the dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece and belittled her when he found out she had the less offensive Rule Breaker instead, and belittled her further when she showed she could create superior magic crystals to his machinery due to the blow to his ego. Here, his disappointment is entirely based in Caster's inability to summon the dragon (Archer notes how idiotic this is, since such an ability is something that a Rider class Servant would use, not to mention she wasn't described as having any control over the monster in question in her myth anyways) with no comment about Rule Breaker, and his anger about Caster being better at magecraft than him is due to cluelessness rather than pride.
• Adaptational Intelligence: Lancer seems much smarter and more eloquent here than in the original. He makes educated guesses about Archer's identity based on his weapon and waxes philosophical about heroism and the world's view of it as he kills Shirou in the school.
• Adaptational Jerkass:
  • Sakura, full stop. In the original source material, she's a kind and soft-spoken young lady. Here, she's still soft-spoken but way more sarcastic and bitter, constantly commenting on how much of an idiot Shirou is. Considering that she seems implicitly aware of how the Unlimited Blade Works route pushes her Out of Focus so Rin can be Shirou's love interest, you can't really blame her for being frustrated that the boy she likes barely gives her the time of day.
  Sakura: I haven't heard from you in a couple of days and you haven't returned my calls. But sure let's go ahead and talk about other girls.
  • Kotomine was a villain in canon, but his manners were genuine. Here, he is more openly rude. When Shirou was planning to withdraw from the Holy Grail War, Kotomine mocked him for quitting before a single Servant died. When explaining the Holy Grail War and that the winner gets a wish, he states it will even grant stupid wishes like Shirou's.
  • Gilgamesh has so far appeared to be one. While already a Jerkass in canon, here he does nothing to hide his contempt for Shinji. He is also far more rude to Kotomine in their interactions.
  • Rider is also extra-snarky, taking extra shots at her master, Shinji.
  • Played with with Archer. He still agrees to let Shinji and Gilgamesh have Rin after his battle with Shirou, but he points out that he can't do anything about Gilgamesh and more or less expects Rin to be able to handle Shinji on her own.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed with Archer. He's still a pragmatic Jerkass, but unlike Archer in canon, he's less willing to commit controversial acts. Best exemplified in his fight with Caster. He saves Shirou on reflex despite his hatred of him, threatens to kill Caster's master if she attacked any more innocent people rather than just let her go like in canon, and admonishes Shirou for saying he should have killed Caster rather than let her go.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Shirou and Saber, even taking into account that Rin is the Love Interest for Unlimited Blade Works. The Ship Tease moments referencing Saber and Shirou's romance have been removed, with their relationship being entirely platonic. Instead their dynamic plays out more like Saber is Shirou's overprotective mother. Archer is shocked to see this.
• Adaptational Wimp:
  • While he performs just as well as in the original, here Archer is much more open with Rin about his inability to openly fight Lancer and Berserker, constantly telling her though their Psychic Link that they will kill him.
  • Shirou also qualifies. While he wasn't exactly the picture of Hercules in the original, Shirou is more cowardly here.
  Shirou: [while being chased by Lancer at the school] AH DON'T KILL ME I'M A HERO!
• Affectionate Nickname: Rin calls Saber "Bae-ber."
• Alpha Bitch: Rin is well aware of how many of her fellow students are attracted to her as well as how proficient she is at magic without any hint of delusion, which she admits she very often uses to her advantage to get what she wants.
• Alternate Universe: Archer retains his memory of events from his own stint in the Murder-Death-Kill, but expects events to follow the Fate/Stay Night route. Despite his foreknowledge of the cast and many of their abilities, the sequence of events in this route consistently throws him.
• Analogy Backfire:
  • Archer tries to illustrate how stupid Shirou's Chronic Hero Syndrome is by saying Shirou would probably try to save Rider if she were about to be hit by a bus, even though Rider had tried to kill him earlier. Shirou points out Rider is a Servant who can't be harmed by non-magical attacks, so a bus would be no threat to her.
  • When in the library looking for sigils to remove the barrier around the school, Rin mentions how Shirou's the Ron Weasley to her Hermione. Shirou asks her how much of Harry Potter she's read.
  • When Archer lets Caster escape, Shirou calls him Batman and asks why he let Zatanna get away instead of finishing her off. Archer points out Batman doesn't kill and Zatanna is a good guy.
• …And That Little Girl Was Me: Played with in Episode 3, where Archer overhears Rin talking about Shirou's "rockin' bod" and then spends a later scene essentially fishing for compliments by asking Rin what Saber might find attractive about Shirou. Rin, who wants Baeber for herself, is less than keen to participate.
• Anger Born of Worry: Rin is furious at Shirou for essentially giving away Saber to Caster in Episode 7 due to both Saber getting kidnapped and Shirou nearly dying as a result.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: In Episode 7 when Shirou begs that he help Rin save Saber which has Rin at first mumble that she doesn't want him to get hurt which of course Shirou doesn't hear. He asks her what she said before she screams that she likes him as well that he's stupid.
• Aroused by Their Voice: Rider's voice is very sensuous. Shirou thinks she's doing it on purpose to try to make him get Distracted by the Sexy.
• Asshole Victim:
  • Just like in canon, Caster's original master. He's an egomaniac who planned to kill orphans to use to create magic crystals and got mad at Caster being able to the same thing better. Archer was happy to hear he was dead and kept asking Caster if she ate his soul.
  • Right after meeting Shinji, Gilgamesh founds the Matou's Crest Worm magic to be utterly gross and disgusting so asks if Shinji has any living relatives, so he can find and kill them. This would normally be Disproportionate Retribution on Gilgamesh's part, but his intended target was Zouken Matou, who is pretty much the walking definition of Evil Old Folks and a Hate Sink on par with, if not surpassing Shinji.
• As You Know: Lampshaded to hell and back due to parodying Fate/stay night's many, many Infodumps. This ranges from Ayako repeatedly telling Shirou about how good he is at archery to Taiga almost out of nowhere mentioning her past as a Kendo champion. Thus far, there is only one defiance of this when Rin unveils her family crest, which Shirou recognizes and Rin acknowledges as a Hand Wave for them to not bother explaining what the hell a crest is due to both of them already knowing what one is.
• Badass Boast: Unsurprisingly, a few appear:
  Archer: I cannot give you hellfire, Rin, but allow me to show you the might of a hero, who has seen Hell!
  Lancer: Behold - the fangs of Chulainn's Dog!
• Bad "Bad Acting":
  • After Rider and Shinji's failed assault on the school, Kazuki was reportedly seen laying in a T-pose on the gym floor, flatly intoning about how he was in horrible pain like everyone else. Rin laments his pitch-perfect deception.
  • In episode 7, Rin loudly announces how defenseless she is when dating Saber in hopes it will draw out Caster.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Lampshaded by Shirou about the victims of Rider's Noble Phantasm:
  Shirou: You know, you'd expect some scarring and boils and stuff from the melting as long as they did. But naw. They're all still beautiful! Crazy.
• Believing Their Own Lies: Subverted. Rin very quickly makes assumptions and sticks to those assumptions, but is shown to be perfectly willing to immediately change her mind once irrefutable evidence comes up, such as her quickly accepting that her servant is an Archer once the real Saber appears.
• Berserk Button:
  • The events of Fate/Zero did not give Saber the best of times. Triggers include guns, explosives, Emiyas, and Command Seals.
  • Rider very quickly becomes enthusiastic about ripping out Shirou's eye upon realizing that he's the boy Sakura told her about.
    Rider: If you are the boy she described, you should know you had this coming.
  • Shirou is basically a button that presses itself whenever Archer sees him or knows that he's nearby.
  • Rin is not happy when Shirou implies she's out of shape.
  • Assassin does not like it when Saber guesses his True Name is Miyamoto Musashi.
• Better than a Bare Bulb: If half of the humor relies on Mythology Gags, then the other half relies on characters lampshading the awkward expositions or story progression the original anime had, such as Ayako's strange existence as nothing but pure Character Shilling, Shirou conveniently already knowing about family crests to avoid any explanations for such lore tidbits and Rin and Shirou for some reason completely and mutually abandoning their fight to investigate someone screaming.
• Big "NO!":
  • Rin's reaction in Episode 7 when Shirou plans on giving his Command Seals to Caster.
  • And Archer's response to Rin contracting with Saber in Episode 10.
• Big "YES!": Rin's response to making said contract with Saber.
• Birds of a Feather:
  Rin:...we're both pretty single-minded idiots with daddy issues and bad reasons to fight in this thing.'
• Black Comedy: Every time Sakura shows up there are frequent Mythology Gags to the Heaven's Feel route and her immense neglect and abuse. Of note is a certain Double Entendre that occurs when Shirou confronts Shinji after discovering Sakura's bruises.
  Shirou: You hit Sakura?
  Shinji: You know it!
• Blood Knight:
  • Assassin is a polite example, but he lets Archer pass through the gates because he'd rather fight Saber instead. He doesn't even care that Caster is in trouble so long as he can enjoy the fight.
  • Rin's absolute lack of chill lends itself very well to combat.
• The Body Parts That Must Not Be Named: Averted. Gilgamesh repeatedly refers to the Matou family crest worms as "penis bugs".
• Born Lucky: Saber's incredible Luck stat gets her out of near impossible odds.
  Lancer: Well that's dumb. My attack that will always pierce the heart was disrupted by a metaphysical critical roll on a D20.
  Assassin: [After avoiding Tsubame-gaeshi] Well now, that was just unlikely.
• Breaking the Bonds:
  • Subverted. Caster ties Shirou up with threads, explains how she has been draining the townspeople, and prepares to steal Saber's contract. Shirou attempts to summon up righteous fury and break the threads, but fails, with Caster pointing out no matter how he talks tough, he lacks the power to do so.
  • Later played straight when Berserker breaks free from Gilgamesh's Enkidu, complete with "Red Like Roses" starting to play again.
• Break Them by Talking: Turns out when Rin said she "obliterated" Ayako, she meant she hurt her feelings.
• Brick Joke:
  • Episode 3 starts off with Kiritsugu's marble metaphor (see Metaphorgotten below), and ends with this bit of dialogue between Shirou and Archer:
    Archer: Your dream is stupid Shirou!
    Shirou: (exasperated) God, did someone hurt you?
    Archer: Marbles hurt me!
    Shirou: What does that mean? Help me understand you!
  • Episode 3 had Rin and Archer discover that a Love Potion was being crafted when they smell Mountain Dew and compost. Episode 4, which properly introduces Caster has her reveal that she stole enough love to imbue the soil she and Shirou are standing on with the potion. Shirou notes that it smells like Mountain Dew, which Caster confirms is what the essence of men smells like.
  • Caster agrees with Rin and Archer that Shirou has strong hands.
  • When the heroes prepare to ambush Caster and Kuzuki, Shirou points out it won't work because Servants can sense each other, but Rin and Saber brush this off. Later, when Saber attempts to attack Caster, Caster points out she can sense her.
• Broken Pedestal: Shirou eventually comes to realize that his hard crush on Rin was extremely misguided considering her Ax-Crazy tendencies.
• Buffy Speak: Rin occasionally swaps in her own to-the-point nomenclature during normal conversation, starting with her insistence on calling the Holy Grail War the "Murder-Death-Kill".
• …But He Sounds Handsome: Upon learning that Rin finds Shirou hot, Archer starts "suggesting" that Shirou has other physically attractive qualities like strong hands.
• Caption Humor: You will want to watch this with subtitles, regardless of how well you can understand the speech.^note The Canadian English subtitles are where the jokes are. The American English track is a straight transcript for accomodation's sake.
• Catchphrase:
  • Rin: "One Hundred Percent Maximum No Chill!" whenever she does....well, anything.
  • Shirou: "I want that!" whenever he sees a servant use their Noble Phantasms. Given the nature of Unlimited Blade Works, this probably doubles as a Mythology Gag.
• Cerebus Call-Back: After calling Archer "Actually Satan" repeatedly up til Episode 7, Rin admits to him and to herself at the beginning of Episode 8 that her actually summoning Lucifer would have been unlikely. But after Archer's betrayal, she references this gag one more time.
  Rin: I finally realized that you aren't Lucifer, only to find out you really are the devil.
• Change the Uncomfortable Subject: After Archer accidentally lets slip that he knows about Reality Marbles, causing Rin to realize he actually has one, he tries (badly) to try and get her to forget about it.
• Character Shilling:
  • Parodied with Ayako, as her entire character seems to be nothing but existing to say "Shirou, you were an awesome archer!", and serving as a Ms. Exposition to Shirou about Rin's attempts to kill him.
  • Rider spends some time talking about how Shinji's sister is talented and beautiful, partly out of crazy devotion and partly to highlight how much she despises Shinji.
• Chick Magnet: Saber is both this and a Dude Magnet. It gets to the point that she and Shirou have compiled a list of people who want to get in her pants.
• Characterization Marches On: Saber's Totally Radical way of speaking eventually phases out, which is lampshaded by Rin in Episode 7 and explained by Saber as her fully acclimating to the time period.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Shirou and Archer, naturally. It's even to the point where Archer saves Shirou from Caster reflexively, despite wanting Shirou dead.
  Archer: What the fuck is wrong with me, why did I do that?
  Shirou: Because you're secretly a really good guy, and you couldn't just let your protege die!
  Archer: You're not my protege! I didn't mean to save you.
• Cloud Cuckoolander:
  • Rin. When summoning Archer, she assumes he is a Saber class Servant despite him insisting otherwise, and also believes that he is Actually Satan. In her interactions with Shirou, more often than not she manages to make him look like the normal one in comparison. When noting the two of them are similar, she lists qualities that clearly only apply to her.
  • Leysritt is even weirder than her canon counterpart and speaks almost entirely in weird macros, neologisms, and the occasional use of ebonics.
• The Cloud Cuckoolander Was Right: Rin is wrong about Archer's identity, but is right that he is lying to her about it.
• Cloud Cuckoolanders Minder: Archer tries to be this to Rin, but she never listens to him, for better and for worse.
• Color Failure: Saber suffers this when Shirou asks her about Illya in episode 3.
• Comically Serious: Kirei Kotomine maintains a polite demeanor, even when faced with bizarre situations like Shinji threatening to sue him.
• Competition Freak:
  • Rin once broke a classmate's legs so they wouldn't beat her in a foot race.
  • Saber hates as much to lose here just at in canon. In Episode 7 when Shirou and Rin were beating her in the batting range, she not only yelled at Shirou but she later threw bats at the fiber mesh separating the three of them in an attempt to stop Rin after she got a comfortable lead.
• Compliment Backfire: A two-fer with Comically Missing the Point. Shirou realizes that, deep down, Archer is a "Good Person" and must have dreamed of helping people, and so promises to become a hero for Archer's sake as well as his father's. Archer, meanwhile, wants to kill Shirou in order to prevent him becoming a hero.
  Archer: I'm feeling very complicated version of hatred right now!
• Composite Character: Hints about Archer's past reveal he is Shirou from the Fate route, rather than just being Shirou from an unspecified future.
• Conveniently Interrupted Document: In episode six, Gilgamesh interrupts Shinji's explanation of what his family's crest worms do in order to express his contempt for the latter. Gilgamesh's overt disgust for the "penis bug magic" indicates he already knows, besides.
• Dead Person Impersonation: Episode 6 reveals that Kuzuki killed the real Kazuki Yamashiro and assumed his identity to create a new life.
• Deadpan Snarker: Sakura's coping method for being shoved off to the side by the plot is to complain in every appearance, to the point that the subtitles refer to her as Sassy Sakura.
• Death by Adaptation: It’s implied that Gilgamesh kills Zouken Matou off-screen due to sheer disgust with his methods and magecraft.
• Description Cut: Illya appears in episode 6's opening to boast about how Shirou and Rin are probably going out of their minds with dread at the thought of facing off against Berserker again. Cut to Shirou and Rin discussing how to take out Caster and Kazuki, with Shirou wondering if they're forgetting something.
• Didn't Think This Through: Both Shirou and Rin are guilty of this in Episode 7
  • Rin planned the date hoping to catch Caster off guard while Archer was secretly following them but due to Caster being able to know where all servants are at all times, she was able to trap Shirou, Saber and Rin in a bounded field without Archer knowing what happened.
  • Shirou assumed that Caster was going to use her dagger to cut off his arm which would free Saber from their contract but allow Saber to openly fight Caster or make a contract with Rin. He didn't realize that Caster's Noble Phantasm, Rule Breaker, would simply make Saber Caster's servant right away.
• Distinction Without a Difference: When Shirou confronts Shinji about Sakura's bruise, the latter insists that he didn't hit Sakura. He just smacked her around a little.
  Shirou: What the hell kind of distinction did you just make?!
• The Dog Bites Back: Downplayed with Shinji; not five minutes after he discovers the Matou family's crest worms, Gilgamesh demands Shinji take him to his grandfather (the tremendously wicked Zouken) so that Gilgamesh can murder the old man. Shinji's actually very cheerful at the prospect.
• Does Not Like Guns: Saber really doesn't like guns, or explosives for that matter. After Fate/Zero, can you blame her?
  Saber: (after Shirou collapses from his wounds) Shirou! Promise me you'll never touch a gun, and I will get you help!
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": Kuzuki does not like being called by his real name, seeing it as a reminder of his past life as an assassin and much rather be called Kazuki Yamashiro.
• Dramatic Irony: Quite a few of the jokes rely on the characters not knowing what the audience does, which includes basically 90% of Archer's dialogue.
  • We know Shirou is only Kiritsugu's adopted son, but Kirei and Gilgamesh assume they are biologically related. This leads to Gilgamesh sarcastically noting that he got laid again while Kirei lost his wife.
  • Archer wins an argument with Rin the same day Shirou failed to finally tell her off like he intended.
  • Rin runs into Shirou and says "speak of the devil," unknowingly referring to Shirou as Satan yet again. There are a few of these lines sprinkled throughout.
  • Rin, who obsessively pressures Shirou to give her his Servant, despises Shinji, who (unbeknownst to Rin) successfully did the same to Sakura.
• The Dreaded: Played for Laughs. Apparently Mr. Yamashiro terrified all his drama students into leaving the school, so he's no longer allowed to teach it. But he was only the drama teacher, leaving him without a class. Everyone's too scared to fire him, though.
• Dumbass Has a Point:
  • In episode 6, as the group hide while preparing to ambush Caster's master, Shirou is the one to point out that Saber hiding is pointless since Servants (especially Caster) are capable of sensing other Servants.
  • In episode 8, Rin asks about Archer's identity, pointing out some holes in his claims of having name memory like calling his Noble Phantasm (something that Rin ironically never considered in canon) and recognizing Caladbolg. Archer tries to lie and say he's Fergus mac Róich, but Rin points out that Fergus is Lancer's foster father, and Lancer didn't recognize him.
  • After Archer's betrayal, Rin suggests she and Shirou form an Enemy Mine with the remaining Servants and their Masters. Shirou incredulously points out that both Berserker and Lancer have very little reason to help them given their prior track records and calls the idea borderline suicidal.
• Enemy Mine: Sasaki holds off Archer to give Saber and Shirou a chance to escape out of the respect he has for her as a Swordsman...but also because Archer lied to him.
• Entertainingly Wrong:
  • When Archer and Lancer fight at the school, Lancer recognizes his swords Kanshou and Bakuya. He assumes Archer's true identity is Gān Jiàng, the blacksmith who made them, and that his ability to pull them out of thin air every time they are destroyed is related to his blacksmith legend. In reality, Archer can make any weapon with his Tracing and Projection ability.
  • Illya at one point muses that Shirou and Rin are in fear of Berserker, struggling how to find a way to defeat him. In reality they are entirely focused on dealing with Caster and Mr. Yamashiro.
  • Saber assumes that Shirou inherited time magic from Kiritsugu, as most mages pass down their magic to their children. When that guess turns out to be wrong, her next incorrect assumption is that he inherited the Einzbern familiar magic, before finally making the ultimate shot in the dark and asking if Shirou inherited his father's gun skills.
  • Shirou's assumption that he could easily beat Rin in a direct fight as she's a mage who'd have neglected any combat training. Rin responds by magically reinforcing her already impressive athletic skills and proceeds to mockingly agree that she's "so weak" while effortlessly outfighting him until he runs away to hide in a classroom
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Played for Laughs Kotomine doesn't approve of Rin calling Saber "Bae-ber," considering it rude. He also doesn't approve of her calling the Holy Grail War the "Murder Death Kill," "on principle."
  • Likewise Played for Laughs and zigzagged with Gilgamesh, who is so utterly repulsed by the Matou Family Crest Worm "penis bug magic" that he immediately resolves to cut the responsible sorcerer's face right off. That said, Gilgamesh is a colossal Jerkass in his own right, and gets his answers by kicking Shinji around emotionally and treating him as worthless.
  • Caster's original Master was eager to sacrifice orphans to create magic crystals. Caster considered it a waste of human life when she could create crystals of superior quality just by using the mana in the area.
• Even the Girls Want Her: To Saber, and Shirou's annoyance, almost every girl in the series is attracted to her. Rin also states a number of girls have confessed their love to her.
• Everyone Has Standards: Shirou by his own admission suffers from a Chronic Hero Syndrome. Nonetheless when Rin suggests going to get help from Illya and Berserker, he criticizes it as suicidal, stating that he thought he was the suicidal one.
• Evil Is Petty: Gilgamesh makes it clear from the outlet that he does not want to partner with Shinji and only gives in when Kirei ignores his protests. He spends his conversation with Shinji belittling him and giving him orders, such as, when talking, to "use as little air as possible."
  • Shortly afterwords, Gilgamesh finds the Matou's Crest Worms to be so vile and disgusting that he asks Shinji if he has any living relatives, so he can kill them. Luckily the target of his spite is Zouken.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!:
  • Rin originally didn't think Shinji would target the school before she started listing off the various reasons why he would exactly be the type of person to do so.
  • When Archer spills that Kazuki is Caster's master, Rin, Shirou, and Saber are in disbelief...until their reasons for why he's not slowly devolves into reasons why he is.
• Expy: Archer sounds a hell of a lot like he's an Only Sane Man version of Alucard from Hellsing Ultimate Abridged. His voice seems to be emulating Takahata101 as well.
• Even the Girls Want Her: Both Rin and Caster want Saber for reasons more than her being a powerful Servant.
• Failed a Spot Check: Shinji thinks that he and Gilgamesh will be friends in their first meeting, even though Gilgamesh clearly doesn't like him.
• Failed Attempt at Drama: In episode 7, when Caster attacks the group, Rin dramatically declares that Caster has fallen into her trap and orders Archer to come out hiding and attack... only for nothing to happen as Archer isn't there.
• Freudian Excuse: It Amused Me traits aside, Rin all but admits that her Ax-Crazy tendencies are brought about by her family's destruction in Fate/Zero and her dedication to maintaining the Tohsaka family's integrity.
• Fun with Subtitles: The series frequently has jokes buried in the captions, such as "incorrect" declarations of who's speaking.
• Girl on Girl Is Hot: Shirou is completely against Rin moving in until she says she'll be sharing Saber's room. Once she says she'll be sharing Saber's bed Shirou's all for it.
• Godwin's Law: After the confrontation with Caster in episode 4, Archer compares himself and Shirou to Hitler. He gives Shirou a hypothetical scenario that mirrors their situation. In it, Hitler, right before his death, gets a chance to go back in time and confront his past self. Archer asks Shirou if Hitler should stop his younger self from going down the same path he did.
• Good Cop/Bad Cop: Rin interrogates Shinji and at first calls herself the "Bad Cop" and wants Shirou to be her "Good Cop". After seeing that Rider was killed, she tries again, only calling herself "Bad Cop/Worse Cop". She scares him by firing a Gandr near his head and saying Worse Cop wouldn't miss.
• Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Rin, to the hilt. She revels in opportunities to exhibit violence and superiority, and suffers frequent failures to care about the feelings of other people or deal with humiliating events. When Shirou demands an apology from her^note for letting Archer try to kill him and then basically offering him the first shot in a duel to the death to make up for it she struggles with a half-hearted apology that quickly dissolves into a few not-so-Stealth Insults. Later, she demands advice from Shirou about what to do when she loses an argument.
  Rin: If I can't be a monster, nobody gets to be.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: "Nobody gets to say my dream is stupid except me!"
  Archer: Hey, Shirou! Your dream is stupid!
• Honor Before Reason: Even when Saber points out it is logical for her to carry the group's bags because she has Super-Strength, Shirou insists on carrying them because he's Shirou. Later, when Caster holds Taiga hostage, he insists on surrendering Saber to her to save Taiga, despite Saber and Rin pointing out they have so many other options. He later lampshades his stupidity.
• Hypocrisy Nod: Shirou incredulously points out the flaws in Rin's proposal for an Enemy Mine with Ilya, capping it off by saying he was supposed to be the suicidal one.
• I Hate Past Me: Archer. The minute Shirou is around, he'll start begging Rin to let him kill Shirou off, or at least let one of the other servants do it. When that doesn't work, he'll settle for insulting and belittling him at every conceivable turn.
• I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: Rin relishes in the fact that she's such a Dude Magnet that undoing a single button on her shirt got people to do whatever she wanted. She attempts this on Shirou (promising to let him touch her boobs if he comes out of cover) but failed to realize that he has enough common sense to know she wants to kill him.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Shinji thinks that he and Gilgamesh will be friends, despite Gilgamesh doing almost nothing but hurl insults at him.
• Ignored Expert: Archer clearly has knowledge of the Servants in the Holy Grail War, but Rin rarely listens to him. He openly warns her that fighting Lancer is a mistake, and she insists that Archer can beat him anyways despite Archer himself saying he can't. Even worse she insists on him helping against Berserker, despite Archer himself demonstrating that his attacks have no effect on him.
• Ignore the Fanservice: Rin's attempt to lure Shirou out with a promise to let him touch her breast understandably does nothing to make him forget she is trying to kill him.
• I Have This Friend: When Archer helps Shirou's out of control magic circuits in episode 6, he says Shirou was lucky as a friend of his had to deal with the same problem for an embarrassing two years.
• I Love You Because I Can't Control You: Rin's reasoning for why she's attracted to Shirou:
  Rin: You're the only person whose ever defied, denied, and outclassed me. And... I think I like it.
  Shirou: Oh... what a strange friendship we have.
• I Never Told You My Name: Caster is shocked when Archer casually calls her Medea. He later calls Assassin "Sasaki," though that one seems to fly under the radar.
  Caster: Kid's right, you do know things...
• Insistent Terminology:
  • Rin always calls Archer "Actually Satan", saying the "Actually" is important.
  • When Shirou calls Saber a talented swordswoman, she insists he call her a swordsman.
  • Caster mocks Archer for trying to take her on with arrows. He says he uses projectiles, which is accurate since he throws swords as well as arrows.
  • When Caster boasts about her magic, Shirou says he can do magic too. Archer rightfully says Shirou can only do mere magecraft.
  Shirou: Tomayto, tomahto.
  Archer: More like tomato to-Nuclear Warhead!
  • Later, when Shirou attempts to demonstrate his Reinforcement magecraft to Saber, he emphasizes that he is doing magic.
  • Rin refuses to call it the Holy Grail War even when corrected. It's the Murder-Death-Kill.
• Insult Backfire: Archer was smugly confident that Shirou could never actually figure him out enough to return fire against him verbally, and invited him to try his luck in episode 4. Then Shirou called him a "Good Person" who failed to be a hero, and kept going...
• It's All About Me: Issei is convinced that everything that goes wrong at the school is actually an indirect attack on his tenure as student council president, trying to make him look bad. During his later fight with Rin, Shirou notes that the damage to the hallways will give Issei a heart attack.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Shirou may find Archer's philosophy abhorrent, but he does admit it's true that "saving everyone" and "stopping a threat" are mutually exclusive concepts.
• Kick the Dog: Archer taunts Shirou about having lost his parents twice.
  Archer: You never did get a mother in that second set.
• Knight of Cerebus: Illya. Her first encounter with Shirou is played completely seriously, and outside of a few Deadpan Snarker moments, she has thus been played as an entirely serious character.
• Large Ham: Several of them, actually.
  • Rin. She doesn't half-do things.
  • Shirou, whenever he's in "Hero Of Justice" mode, talks like a stereotypical Knight in Shining Armor, dramatic speeches and all.
  • Mr. Yamashiro says everything in a dramatic, ominous, and vaguely threatening way, to the point where his drama students too scared to come to campus.
  • Saber occasionally forgets that she's supposed to be pretending to be a normal teenage girl and ends up pontificating about how she's a king and calls people she doesn't like "knaves."
  • Shinji is a entitled egomaniac who is prone losing his temper the minute the world doesn't bend over backwards for him. And also sometimes when the world *does* bend over backwards for him]]
  • Unsurprisingly, Gilgamesh's egotism makes him as hammy as ever.
• Laughably Evil:
  • Shinji. He is every bit the Jerkass he was in canon, but his egotism is played up to point where it's downright comedic.
  • Gilgamesh. His egotism and domineering attitude are dialed up to the point where he won't even allow Shinji to speak to him without permission.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
  • Sakura's Adaptational Jerkass makes more sense if you consider the anime and the Unlimited Blade Works route's lack of focus on her.
  • Shirou notes the alarming number of people who are attracted to Saber, aka the Nasuverse's Series Mascot waifu.
  • Shirou and Rin's after school standoff in episode 3 involves Shirou Lampshading the fact that many of the series's jokes rely on knowledge of Fate/Zero and Nasuverse lore to fully appreciate them.
• Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: Archer tries to do this by leaving Shirou and Saber alone in the shed in episode 6, except the two aren't dating on this route.
• Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Rin orders Archer to never approach Shirou unless Shirou gives his consent to Archer's very specific and very terrible request. They all agree to wipe it from their memory after Archer says it.
  Archer: Mista Shi-whoa, big tuff muscle myan, would it be OK if wittle ole' me mosey'd on over dere for a byit?
• Like an Old Married Couple: In the aftermath of the supposed death of Caster, Rin and Archer get into a painfully intense argument that Shirou and Saber compare to a domestic.
• Like a Son to Me: Saber views Shirou like a troublesome son thus is disgusted when Archer assumes she's dating Shirou in episode 6.
• Love at First Sight: Rin was already pretty dead set on getting a Saber as her Servant, but upon seeing Arturia, has become practically obsessed with it.
• Major Injury Underreaction: Shirou is oddly indifferent about the fact that he got killed and brought back to life. He chalks it up to his experience as a survivor of the Fuyuki City fire making him having Seen It All. Saber is confused by all this.
• Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Explicitly name dropped in episode 8; Archer calls Kuzuki this for Caster, reasoning that Caster needs him to support her pursuit of happiness and in so-doing enable her to remain immature.
• Manipulative Bastard: Kotomine, unsurprisingly. Rin tries to get him to explain the Holy Grail to Shirou in hopes he will withdraw, allowing Rin to take Saber. When Kotomine learns that Shirou was adopted by Emiya Kiritsugu, he instead explains the Holy Grail War, putting an emphasis on how the winner gets a wish, saying that Shirou can have his desires granted if he wins, convincing him to stay in the war instead. Later when he was planning to gave sanctuary to Shinji, after explaining that a Master who loses their Servant can't compete in the Holy Grail War anymore, he changes his tune after hearing Shinji's family name tells him that he can stay in the war with Gilgamesh as his Servant.
• Metaphorgotten: Episode 3 opens with a flashback of Shirou talking with Kiritsugu, who compares life to a bag of marbles. A metaphor which rapidly devolves into a broken rant about the events of Fate/Zero, with "marbles" as stand-ins for the other characters.
  Shirou: Dad... Did marbles hurt you?
  Kiritsugu: No kiddo... I hurt me. I also hurt marbles. I feel worse about the marbles.
• Morton's Fork: Archer has trouble denying he and Shirou aren't that different.
  Shirou: He and I are nothing alike!
  Archer: Right; so, since he said that, I'm going to guess that I should say, "we're exactly alike"...? There's no right answer for me here, is there?
• Mundane Made Awesome: Yamashiro delivers totally innocuous statements with the gravitas of a Shakespearean villain. This causes everyone to be confused and terrified of him.
• Mundane Utility: Assassin's special technique, the Tsubame Gaeshi, allows him to strike 3 times in a single breath. He used to use this incredible magical talent to...cleanly kill birds stealing his grain.
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling: When Shirou first uses his projection magecraft it cuts to Archer saying he knows something horrible just happened.
• Mythology Gag: Most of the jokes, really, adding an extra layer for those who have seen Zero or the original UBW.
  • Rin believes Archer to be Actually Satan, referencing Fate/hollow ataraxia where Shirou is actually Aŋra Mainyu.
  • Archer's "hateboner" for Shirou and Saber being weirdly triggered or defensive about seemingly random things is hilarious enough. The more you know about their history, however...
  • When Gilgamesh meets with Kirei after the latter met Shirou, Gilgamesh decides to hurt Kirei by bringing up his deceased wife.
  • Shirou's flashback of Kiritsugu has him go into a metaphorgotten about his various regrets over his actions in Fate/Zero. When Shirou mentions this later on to Rin, he also brings up that Kiritsugu let slip the identity of Aŋra Mainyu, though Shirou misremembers it as Angry Matthew.
  • Upon their initial meeting, both Saber and Assassin mistake the other's true identities for someone they naturally don't have pleasant feelings about.
    • Assassin mistakes Saber for Jeanne d'Arc, much like Gilles de Rais did in the Fourth Grail War.
    • Saber mistakes Assassin for Miyamoto Musashi, his hated rival.
  • Kirei wasn't interested in Shinji until he learned he was the nephew of Kariya, Kirei's previous source of amusement.
  • Shirou scoffs that Taiga and Sakura only criticize his dream because they don't know he has magic. Heaven's Feel reveals that Sakura does know, and the incompetence with which he practices it, if anything, makes her respect him less.
  • Archer alludes to the moon being really weird, a reference to it being either the remnant of a TYPE or a massive supercomputer.
  • Archer in general makes a number of references to the Fate route.
    • He is hinted to have romantic feelings for Saber, and noting how iconic Shirou and Saber being a couple is, he is shocked when he learns the two have no romantic feelings for each other.
    • He assumed that Saber used Excalibur to defeat Rider.
    • He states that this is the second Grail War where Caster didn't accomplish anything after he thinks he one shotted her.
  • The Fate route itself is represented by footage from the original Studio DEEN anime adaptation.
  • Gilgamesh claims his class is "Gilgamesh" because no container can adequately match his power, which is actually the case in Fate/EXTRA CCC.
  • Rin tells Shirou he's hers and that she won't let any "purple-haired bitch from Ancient Greece" have him. She's talking about Caster being their enemy, but there's another Servant who fits that criteria- Rider, who can develop feelings for Shirou and has sex with him in Ataraxia.
• Narm: In-Universe, Rin lies about the total number of traps she set for Shirou not to have an advantage over him or anything, but because admitting that she set sixty-nine traps would seriously undercut the dramatic showdown they were having. She admits to it exactly one sentence after lying.
• Never Speak Ill of the Dead: Saber chastises Archer for his derisive comments regarding the fallen Rider in episode 5.
• Non-Indicative Name: Rin argues to Kirei that, like the Holy Roman Empire, the Holy Grail War involves neither an actual Holy Grail nor an actual war.
• Noodle Incident: We don't know exactly what happened but apparently Archer's meeting with the CEO of Banasonic in Episode 5 went so badly that not only did Archer not get any batteries, he thinks he might have become the CEO's mortal enemy.
• Not Afraid to Die: In episode 7, Caster threatens Assassin for getting snippity with her. He scoffs and says she can't scare him because he isn't afraid to die. She responds by using her magic to break his ribcage open, but he is nonchalant about that too.
• Not Helping Your Case: Rin initially assumes Archer is a Saber class Servant, despite his insistance he is an Archer. He doesn't help his point he uses Kanshou and Bakuya, a pair of short swords, against Lancer.
• "Not So Different" Remark: After getting to know each other better, Rin realizes that she and Shirou have something in common. They are, in her own words, both idiots with Daddy Issues and terrible reasons to fight in the Holy Grail War.
• Obviously Evil: Kirei Kotomine. His conversation with Shirou where he convinces him to stay in the Holy Grail War makes it so obvious he is evil that it's downright comedic.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Shirou is prone to recklessly throwing himself into dangerous life or death situations. So when Rin suggests getting help from Illya and Berserker, and Shirou thinks the plan is suicide, you know how dangerous he thinks it is.
• Oh, No... Not Again!: When Caster as Rider gets uncomfortably close to her, Saber can only exasperatedly lament that yet another person is attracted to her.
• Off the Rails: From Archer's perspective. His memories are mostly off of the Fate route while the show is based on the Unlimited Blade Works route. While this gives him a lot of early knowledge, he's caught off guard by Rider being killed by someone other than Saber and that Shirou and Saber aren't dating.
• Only Sane Man: Which of the main four heroes is the one holding the Smart Ball varies between scene to scene with Shirou generally holding it the most and Rin holding it the least.
• Pet the Dog: Alpha Bitch and Ax-Crazy as she is, Rin's first act of kindness, resurrecting Shirou, is because she knows Sakura likes him and she'd feel bad if anything happened.
  • Even before that, she rushes to stop Lancer killing him without even knowing who he is, simply because she "doesn't want any rando being killed".
  • In episode 3. She gives a speech about how Mages care for nothing except killing their enemies to win the war. before IMMEDIATELY dropping her fight with Shirou when she hears someone screaming. As much as she plays at being Ax-Crazy, it's clear that she doesn't want any innocent people to die.
• Phrase Catcher: It's frequently noted that Archer is weird. He's weird about Shirou.
• Point of Divergence:
  • In canon, Sakura shaped herself to invoke the Yamato Nadeshiko trope and be more appealing to Shirou. This series' interpretation of her is a Sakura who didn't do that, remaining the pessimistic, prickly, obviously traumatized girl that hides beneath the first layer of canon Sakura's personality.
  • Archer is blindsided by an in-universe point of divergence; in his timeline, Saber loved him/Shirou romantically, and not enough to care more about saving him than obtaining the Grail. In the current timeline, she does the opposite of the latter and has a more maternal relationship with him.
• Polite Villains, Rude Heroes: Unsurprisingly, Kotomine and Rin's interactions turn into this. Rin brought Shirou to Kotomine in hopes he would convince Shirou to withdraw from the Holy Grail War. When Kotomine convinced him to stay, Rin exploded at him for standing in the way of her and "Bae-ber." Kotomine instead responds that calling Saber "Bae-ber" is rude, which only makes Rin angrier.
• Poor Communication Kills: In Episode 7, Saber assumes that her group can stall until Caster runs out of Mana. Caster comments on her error and mocks Shirou and Rin for forgetting to tell Saber that Caster basically has unlimited Mana thanks to her territory.
• Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Partial example. Rin has only read the first four Harry Potter books. When she and Shirou team up, she compares them to Ron and Hermione. Shirou, who has read all the books, feels awkward because those two get together in the end, but Rin doesn't know that.
• Power Misidentification: As Shirou and Rin are both unaware he has Avalon in his body, they think his Healing Factor comes from his own powers. Avalon only works when Saber is near, so in episode 7, when Caster captures Saber, it becomes moot. Unaware of this, Shirou attempts to call upon his powers to heal his injuries, only to humilate himself.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: After Shirou compared Archer to Batman, Archer tries to kill him after remarking, "Maybe you are my Robin. You do remind me a lot of Jason Todd."
• Punch Catch: When Archer lets Caster escape, Shirou angrily tries to punch him, but Archer effortlessly catches it. Later, Rin calls him a moron for thinking a punch would work.
  Shirou: Damn, you've got strong hands!
• Rhymes on a Dime: Lancer is very fond of speaking in Limericks.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: Rin figures out Archer is lying about his amnesia right off the bat... but becomes convinced it's because he's Satan, and refuses to let go of that idea.
  • In episode 5, Shirou vowes that today is the day he tells off Rin. He's right, in a sense. He does no such thing, but Archer does.
• Sarcastic Confession: Archer is a lot less subtle than he is in the source material, but he makes up for it by making most of his lines sound like he's just heavily mocking Shirou.
  Archer:' Prepare to face the wrath of Shirou F*cking Emiya!
• Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers!: Saber points out that you really can't expect the reality manipulating magus' competing in the reality breaking Holy Grail War to actually follow the rules.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Berserker shows up in episode 2, Archer makes a break for it without hesitation. It's all but said outright he remembers what Berserker did to him last time.
  Archer: Nope! He who runs away and doesn't fight, runs away first!
• Servile Snarker: Rider does very little to hide her disdain for Shinji.
  Shinji: RIDER! HE'S FREAKING ME OUT!
  Rider: Doesn't take much, does it?
• Shipper on Deck:
  • Yamashiro congratulates Shirou on scoring Saber.
  • Archer, in spite of his hatred of him, seems to be behind Rin being in a relationship with Shirou. Probably because it would be a victory in romance for him by proxy.
• Shout-Out:
  • Rin "loves a woman who can kick [her] ass."
  • Rin referring to the Holy Grail War as MurderDeathKill.
  • Gilgamesh comments Berserker went from Hero to Zero, then offers to do a James Woods (who played Hades) impression.
  • While calling a truce, Lancer recites the Universal Greeting from Transformers. Which according to him is just 'the Universal Greeting'. He has no idea what 'Transformers' are.
• Skewed Priorities:
  • The school seemingly the victim of a terrorist attack and a student has been found with her blood drained? This is all clearly a supernatural character assassination to discredit Issei's term as student council president.
  • Shirou stops in the middle of a fight to ask Caster and Kuzuki if they can help him reconcile his dream of becoming a hero with the contradictions Archer's criticisms of it pointed out. They and Rin basically ask Shirou if he's lost his mind, yet he keeps talking even when Caster points out she doesn't care about his dream. On the other hand Kuzuki DOES give him some advice, it would have been better though if he did it without his Shaksperean way of speaking.
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Everyone wants Saber, usually to a creepy extent. She and Shirou start making a list to keep track.
• So Proud of You: When Shirou uses Projection magecraft for the first time and forces Caster and Kuzuki to retreat, Kuzuki comments that while he's disappointed they lost, as a teacher, he is proud of Shirou.
• Sophisticated as Hell: Saber flip flops between speaking in refined and eloquent English and Totally Radical slang. More often than not she's confused by what comes out of her mouth half the time.
• Straight Man: Archer plays this role to Rin...usually. He'll offer common sense to counter her Insane Troll Logic, attempt to reign in her Ax-Crazy, and grumble about ridiculous the whole situation is...unless Shirou is involved, at which point their roles reverse immediately.
• Stupid Sexy Friend: Saber doesn't like Archer because he tried to kill Shirou before, but takes time to comment on his abs twice in episode 6.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial:
  • Saber, when Shirou asks her if she knows anything about Illya.
    Saber: No. I do not know anything about Illyasviel Von Einzbern. Or her mother. Or her terrible father. I have no connection to that family.
  • Rider, after describing Shinji as the the last remaining heir of the Matou bloodline and how he's the brother of the beautiful and sagacious Sakura, denies that she's ever heard of them.
• Talk to the Fist: Kuzuki punches Rin hard enough to send her flying and knock her out while she was busy bragging about how he is no match for her.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Gilgamesh's reaction when Kirei orders him to become Shinji's Servant.
• Totally Radical: Saber. Evidently, part of the knowledge imparted by the Grail includes modern slang... but not proper context for the slang, resulting in her sounding like this a lot of the time.
• Tsundere: Doesn't matter if it's a parody, doesn't matter if she's Ax-Crazy here, Rin Tohsaka, is still Rin Tohsaka. Here, it's less a matter of luminescent blushing and more a matter of Rin staging attempts on Shirou's life when she knows he won't be around to die.
• Tranquil Fury: Rider never raises her voice but is very obviously pissy about having to serve as Shinji's Servant. This is further amplified (and more serious) whenever Sakura is especially concerned.
• Transformation Is a Free Action: Parodied in Episode 10. As Archer prepares to use Unlimited Blade Works, Shirou asks Saber to stop him, only for her to continue standing there because she's interested in what he's doing.
• The Unapologetic: Rin does not normally apologize for anything. When she swallows her pride and apologizes for Archer trying to murder Shirou, she finds the experience very disturbing.
• Twice-Told Tale: The series is riddled with in-jokes and references to all three routes of Fate/stay night, it's direct prequel Fate/Zero, and the Fate Series as a whole, and is clearly written under the assumption that the viewer is already familiar with all of those works. Thus, for anyone unfamiliar with the franchise about half jokes wouldn't make any sense or would be missed altogether. As an example, the first episode alone makes numerous jokes related to Archer's true identity, a major reveal from later in the story, but makes no attempt to explain who he is.
• Underestimating Badassery:
  • Shirou decides he has a chance against Rin on the basis that since mages are more focused on refining their magical craft, they failed to make time to physically tone their bodies for fitness. He gets proven severely wrong when Rin pulls off some Le Parkour while screaming about how out of shape she is.
  • Caster thinks the combined might of Saber, Archer, Assassin, and Caster herself could easily take down Berserker. This just tips Archer off that Caster knows nothing about Berserker. He has to awkwardly walk that one back when it's confirmed Excalibur can shave off most, if not all, of Berserker's lives in a single blow and Caster has an effectively limitless supply of mana to power Saber with.
  • Archer himself thinks Caster is a pushover and is quickly and sorely proven wrong.
  • Rin assumes that because Mr. Yamashiro is an ordinary person with no magecraft, he'll be no match for her, only for him to punch her out.
  • Caster attempts to murder Kirei with her skeleton familiars, only for him to easily smash them. She then comments that she didn't expect him to be a badass.
  • Shirou himself is underestimated by every character (including Sakura) but despite his severe lack of skills, HAS managed to survive so far and gets stronger in every chapter, to the point of being able to Project flawed, yet fully functioning, Noble Phantasms. All of this without taking into account his possible future.
• The Unreveal: It's never revealed who Rider was before she died. Bummer.
• Unholy Matrimony: Caster and Mr. Yamashiro. Caster is a sickingly affectionate towards him, but he makes it clear that their love is mutual.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Ayako doesn't ask any questions about the fact that Rin has a knife coated in a corrosive luminescent glow that ate through her locker. Probably because she knows better than to dig herself deeper when Rin is already angry.
• Vain Sorceress: Rin is a rare non-villainous example. While some of it has been her awareness of being a Dude Magnet, she has displayed pride in her looks as well, once describing her chest as "legendary."
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Lampshaded by Shirou who points out he and Rin didn't even learn Rider's name before she died, mostly due to the Unlimited Blade Works route not focusing on Rider and Sakura.
• Well Done Daughter Girl: Rin confesses to Shirou and Archer that she honestly couldn't care less about the Grail or its wish. She's fighting the War because it was what her father asked her to do the last time they ever saw each other. She even admits it's probably not a very good reason for fighting in the Holy Grail War.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: Shinji asks Shirou to tell Rin that Shinji said she has beautiful eyes.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Rin and Archer tear into Shirou when his stupidity leads to Saber getting captured by Caster.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: While telling Archer about her first Master, Caster mocks him and asks what kind of a name is Atrum.
• Who Writes This Crap?!: After Saber calls Assassin out for developing Tsubame Gaeshi to get rid of birds in his garden instead of just hiring a cleaning lady, Assassin denies that he "wrote this."
• With Friends Like These...: Lampshaded. After our heroes spend the entire fight with Berserker and Illya arguing, culminating in Archer nearly killing Shirou, Illya decides the best way to kill them is to leave them to their own devices.
• Women Prefer Strong Men: Rin undeniably finds power attractive; she openly says she'd hit that when Shirou is talking about how powerful Saber is in episode 2, and admits she found Shirou incredibly attractive when he revealed his projection magecraft in episode 6.
• Would Hurt a Child: When Shirou tells Taiga and Sakura about Illya, Sakura says she'd dropkick her in a heartbeat.
• Worf Had the Flu: Rider spends every scene essentially running on fumes; even after Shinji directs her to unleash a Vampiric Draining field on the whole school, she notes mockingly that his very conspicuous plan will only get her up to bare minimum fighting capabilities. Archer mockingly notes her lack of performance after she dies.
• Worthy Opponent: Saber and Assassin become fast friends due to their mutually impressive sword skills and polite personalities.
  Assassin: I am having a very fun time, Saber.
  Saber: As am I, other Saber.
• Wrong Genre Savvy:
  • When he and Rin have their after-school standoff, Shirou seems to buy into the RPG cliche that mages are frail and physically weak, having spent time they could have used building strength and endurance instead researching more powerful magic. By this logic, he figures that he can rush Rin and overpower her in melee. Unfortunately for him, Rin is better at time management than that (and Nasuverse magic doesn't work the same way typical RPG magic works), and quickly proves him wrong by empowering her limbs and effortlessly hopping down the stairwell, while screaming at him about how out of shape she is. He quickly concedes the point.
  • Shinji is under the assumption the Holy Grail War works like a video game where Servants can come back from the dead, and goes berserk when he learns nobody told him "permadeath" was a rule.
• Yandere:
  • Medusa gets the inkling that Shirou might just be the boy Sakura's been complaining about, in which case she feels Shirou getting his eyes plucked out is especially well-deserved.
  • Played for Laughs with Shinji, who in his ridiculous attempt at Terms of Endangerment the very next day makes himself sound like he was attacking Rin because he's a Crazy Jealous Guy for Shirou, while still finding room in his little speech to basically beg Shirou to tell Rin that Shinji thinks she has beautiful eyes.
  • After Medusa gets killed the day after that, Shinji accuses Rin of being a sociopath, while the subtitles swap in the word "Yandere" instead.
• You Can Keep Her!: When Rin threatens Shinji, Gilgamesh makes it clear he doesn't give a rat's ass about him, and actively encourages her and Shirou to kill him. He's disappointed when they back down.

---