Saber & The "Fate/" Series by Type-Moon

First off let me explain that I love the Fate/Extra thread in this section already and this is not to replace that thread. I wanted to make a comprehensive thread that explains the series, the studio, media and provides a comprehensive visual guide to the character. I only do this to help people coming to this section to find resources, links and information about the series corresponding to our DD purchases. I feel, in some small way, it helps people (= me) get to know the spirit in which their girls were created.

 

Type-Moon Studio has been about since the last 90's and is the child of artist Takashi Takeuchi and writer Kinoko Nasu. They've created quite a few titles but their break out hit emerged shortly after they transitioned from a doujin soft company to a commercial company: the eroge visual novel game, Fate/Stay Night.

 

Entire List of Type-Moon Fate/ works:

 

Fate/

 

Fate/Stay Night, PC-based eroge visual novel game, released on January 30, 2004. A DVD version was released on March 29, 2006, and a non-ero PS2 port entitled Fate/stay night [Réalta Nua] has been released in 2007.

 

Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, PC-based Fate/stay night sequel, released on October 28, 2005.

 

Fate/Zero, light novel prequel, released on December 12, 2006. Made in collaboration with Nitroplus.

 

Fate/Tiger Colosseum, PSP 3D fighting game, released September 13, 2007. Made by Capcom and Cavia

 

Fate/Unlimited Codes Arcade, PS2 and PSP 3D fighting game, scheduled for 2008 (2009 for PSP), developed by 8ing/Raizing and cavia, published by Capcom.

 

Fate/Extra, an RPG dungeon-crawler for the PSP-system, released March 2010.

 

Future plans include:

 

Fate/Extra CCC: a sequel announced for Fate/Extra planned for release in Japan during spring 2012. Kinoko Nasu will be writing the scenario, and Takashi Takeuchi will be the character designer.

The story is a not a direct continuation of Extra.

 

Besides the original Type-Moon visual novels the Fate/ series has been so popular that it has (unsurprisingly) branched out into different forms of media:

 

- A manga series based on the visual novel was first serialized in the Japanese magazine Shōnen Ace and published by Kadokawa. The manga is illustrated by Japanese artist Nishiwaki Datto and is currently ongoing. In 2007 the manga was licensed for an English-language release in North America by Tokyopop.

 

- A twenty-four episode anime series created by Studio Deen aired in Japan between January 6, 2006, and June 16, 2006. The anime series were initially licensed and released in North America by Geneon Entertainment, however On July 3, 2008 Geneon Entertainment and Funimation Entertainment announced an agreement to distribute select titles in North America including Fate/Stay Night.

 

- On November 22, 2006, Type-Moon announced a series of light novels entitled Fate/Zero, set as is a prequel to Fate/stay night.

 

- A Fate/Stay Night film was also created by Studio Deen and was released in Japanese theaters on January 23, 2010.

 

 

 

****Anything from this point forward may contain SPOILERS****

 

 

Synopsis of the Fate/Stay Night series:

 

"Shirou Emiya lost his parents in a fire when he was young and was later adopted by a sorceror by the name of Kiritsugu Emiya. Although he was full of admiration for his adopted father and yearns to become an ally of justice, Shirou has limited powers and was unable to become a strong sorceror like his father. That is until one fateful day, he was drawn into the Holy Grail War and had to summon a female "Servant" known as Saber in order to protect himself. It turns out that the Holy Grail War involves a series of battles among powerful sorcerors to fight for the possession of a relic that will grant one's wishes, the Holy Grail. There are altogether seven "Masters" who can summon their respective "Servants" from different classes known as Saber, Archer, Rider, Berserker, Lancer, Caster and Assasin. These "Servants" have to hide their names in order not to reveal their weaknesses to the enemies. The story revolves around Shirou and his entanglement in the Holy Grail War."

 

From my limited understanding this is how there can be different versions of "Saber" in her universe. When summoning a "Saber Servant" Sorcerers are presented with a representation of Saber that is also the personality and historical personification of a famed ruler. This is why people on the forums refer to the original Saber as 'Arthur' version and Saber Extra as Nero. If you're up on your history Arthur would theoretically be chivalrous, honorable, and a good ruler, while.... well, Nero was supposed to have been famed for his tyranny and playing the fiddle while Rome burned. Yikes.

 

 

Original Saber:

 

"Saber is Shirō Emiya's servant, an agile and powerful warrior. Saber is loyal, independent, and reserved; she appears cold, but is actually suppressing her emotions to focus on her goals. Her class is considered the "Most Outstanding", with excellent ratings in all categories. Because her master cannot effectively provide her with mana, she minimizes her activity to preserve what she has. Saber is bewildered by Shirō's "protective" tendencies, and believes his erratic and reckless behavior jeopardize her chances of winning the Holy Grail War. She supports Emiya Shirō throghout the holy grail battle ,even though her master is a novice she doesn't abandon him even when given the chance to join forces with an evil enemy.

 

Her full name is Arturia Pendragon, her creation as a character is inspired by the legends of King Arthur. Arturia is the daughter of British King Uther Pendragon and Igraine, a former Duchess of Cornwall."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saber_(Fate/stay_night)

 

As to the other Saber incarnations it apparently becomes confusing since they are from games that have varying endings that depend heavily on your choices in the game (i.e. bad, normal & good endings) and different story loops.

 

Alter by dollflip, on Flickr

Saber Alter is a main player in Fate/Hollow Ataraxia and is born from the original Saber being consumed by darkness. There is a better explanation of the multiple endings that follow on the Type-Moon Wiki link below. It's too much spoilage for this page. She's a plot device as well as an original character, apparently. *^^*

 

Saberlily by dollflip, on Flickr

Saber Lilly is the exact same character as the original Saber but in a brand-spanking new outfit for the fighting game Fate/Unlimited Codes. Fate/Unlimited Codes is a fighting game developed by Cavia and published by Capcom. It is based on the visual novel Fate/Stay Night. It was released for the arcades in Japan on June 11, 2008 and for the PlayStation 2 in Japan on December 18, 2008. It was released for the PlayStation Portable via download from the Playstation Store in Japan on June 18, 2009, and follow by released in North America on September 3, 2009 and in Europe on September 10, 2009.

 

Saber_(Fate_Extra) by dollflip, on Flickr

Saber Extra or Nero is specifically from the Fate/Extra, an RPG dungeon-crawler for the PSP-system, released March 2010.

 

"Saber's identity is Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, the Fifth Roman Emperor. She had the reputation of a notorious tyrant whose rule was made up of schemes and poison as she oppressed all religious forces, especially Christians, and the Roman Senate during the period from 50 to 60 AD. It is believed in one theory that the Book of Revelation was written as a reaction against said oppression. She was regarded in the same light as the devil, as the assumed Hebrew pronunciation of of her name as a emperor, Caesar pronounced as "NRVN QSR", equates with the "Number of the Beast". This name and the "Beast of Babylon" refers to Rome itself and it is not an alias given to her as an individual."

 

For more discussion on Saber Extra/Nero please refer to the thread at this location:

 

http://www.dollfiedreams.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=937

 

SaberCCC by dollflip, on Flickr

"Saber Bride" is an incarnation of Saber set to appear in Fate/Extra CCC. Since the plot is not a direct continuation of Extra it is not known what her relation will be to the original story or if she is the original Saber or an incarnation of "another Saber".

 

180px-SABER_LION by dollflip, on Flickr

Saber Lion is a parody of Saber featured as a playable character in Fate/tiger colosseum and Fate/tiger colosseum Upper. She is a small version of Saber dressed in a lion costume, and she is only able to growl "Gao!" to speak. She wields either Excalibur or a chunk of meat on a bone as a weapon.

 

 

So that, my friends, is a lot of Saber. Read on if you like and please post anything and everything you find related!

 

Read the Fate/Stay Night Manga Online:

 

http://www.mangafox.com/manga/fate_stay_night/

 

Sources:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fate/stay_night

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TYPE-MOON

 

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=5394

 

http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Fate/Extra_CCC

 

http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Playable_Saber_(Fate/Extra)

 

http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/Fate/unlimited_codes

Good post

Nice work!

 

A couple things to add:

 

-The F/SN manga translation by Tokyo Pop ended with vol. 10, as Tokyo Pop went out of business.

 

-Fate/Zero is receiving an anime adaptation. It should be broadcasting in Japan shortly.

 

I have to say, that although I like Saber Extra, I have a tough time seeing her as Roman emperor Nero... Not to mention Type-Moon already had a Nero, in the Tsukihime/Melty Blood series! Then again, making a Nero a woman is no sillier than Ikki Tousen reincarnating Romance of the Three Kingdoms era Chinese historical figures as Japanese high school girls...

 

I really recommend playing/reading the original visual novel, in spite of the ero scenes. There's a fan made English language patch by Mirror Moon, all you need is a copy of the VN. (Or really splurge and get the PS2 editon as well, to add the voice overs!) It's really the best way to experience the Fate and Unlimited BladeWorks routes, and the only way for Heaven's Feel.

This is very informative. I really knew nothing about Saber or the games/manga/anime. I looked up some info a little over a week ago. It's all pretty interesting, but mostly I just like the character designs. All most every licensed Volks release involves an anime or game that I know nothing about!

WAY TO DO YOUR RESEARCH! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!

 

Do you feel enlightened now? I know it was bugging you earlier!

Hahahaha thanks guys!

 

Yes, I was harassing PF-licious to tell me more about Saber and how there could be 20 versions of her. You did do a really good job but I just had to hunker down and give in to internet research. I feel much better btw. I would really love to learn more about Nero- she seems fascinating and tragic, not unlike Beatrice. I love my tragic heroes/villains- they always seem more interesting to me.

 

Oh G-tim thank you so much for there suggestion. I had no idea there was a translation. I'll see if I can find it and add links for those interested. I totally agree playing the original content is the best if you can get it!

 

Lili, I totally feel your pain. Since the licensing is expensive to create the characters we don't always get mainstream DDs. Couple that with the fact that DDs have a more male dominated audience in Japan... well, you get a lot of adult themed, doujin, eroge titles popping up, instead of more serious ones. Hey, sometimes, like in the case of the /Fate series, an eroge game can become much more than its original intended purpose! (especially if the story is good!)

If you like tragic heroes and villains, Fate/ and the rest of the Type-Moon universe is full of them!

 

This is a really good Type-Moon fan site: http://www.blackss.org/moonlit/

It also has a link to Mirror Moon an their English patch. Mirror Moon did patches for Tsukihime and Melty Blood as well, although Tsukihime is really hard to find. Melty Blood is the fighting game spin off of Tsukihime.

 

No one really reads a Type-Moon VN for the ero scenes. Their next release, Mahoutsukai no Yoru, is said to not have any!

Does anyone know where to find even more info on Saber Alter? I've found out a few things (like from the fan site mentioned above) but I'd like to know a little more. Like for example, I read Alter likes junk food, but I don't know if that's just a rumor or not. Lol, I think I'm making this more serious than it really is, I guess I'm just obsessed with my potential DD's character.

Does anyone know where to find even more info on Saber Alter? I've found out a few things (like from the fan site mentioned above) but I'd like to know a little more. Like for example, I read Alter likes junk food, but I don't know if that's just a rumor or not. Lol, I think I'm making this more serious than it really is, I guess I'm just obsessed with my potential DD's character.

Most of Saber Alter's characterization comes from Fate/Hollow Ataraxia. I don't have/haven't played that yet. In F/SN, she doesn't have a role that really allows her any free time.

 

I've got a manga somewhere, in which she chows down on some burgers. It came with the Fate/Fantasm Box: From the Darkside set.

 

There's also this lovely, legendary figure from Alter:

http://myfigurecollection.net/item/4592_fate_hollow_ataraxia_saber_alter_1_8_wonder_festiv

Does anyone know where to find even more info on Saber Alter? I've found out a few things (like from the fan site mentioned above) but I'd like to know a little more. Like for example, I read Alter likes junk food, but I don't know if that's just a rumor or not. Lol, I think I'm making this more serious than it really is, I guess I'm just obsessed with my potential DD's character.

Most of Saber Alter's characterization comes from Fate/Hollow Ataraxia. I don't have/haven't played that yet. In F/SN, she doesn't have a role that really allows her any free time.

 

I've got a manga somewhere, in which she chows down on some burgers. It came with the Fate/Fantasm Box: From the Darkside set.

 

There's also this lovely, legendary figure from Alter:

http://myfigurecollection.net/item/4592_fate_hollow_ataraxia_saber_alter_1_8_wonder_festiv

 

Thanks again, Galvatim. She looks so cute eating that burger.

I wonder if all Sabers (even Alters) are really into food like a certain Saber on the forum...

I wonder if all Sabers (even Alters) are really into food like a certain Saber on the forum...

 

Hmm, I wonder which Saber you're referring too.

 

Alters apparently have an even worse reputation about that than regular Sabers. Not sure about Extras though as they're a different girl entirely.

 

But everyone should keep that in mind before they bring home a Saber for themselves.

I wonder if all Sabers (even Alters) are really into food like a certain Saber on the forum...

 

Hmm, I wonder which Saber you're referring too.

 

Alters apparently have an even worse reputation about that than regular Sabers. Not sure about Extras though as they're a different girl entirely.

 

But everyone should keep that in mind before they bring home a Saber for themselves.

 

It's strange I know, but that's another reason why I want a Saber Alter. It's a little quirk that we both share.

Maybe I'll do crazy photo shoots were we're both eating pizza or something totally bad for you.

That is awesome! I am looking forward to it...very forward. I wish the wait wasn't so long.

That is awesome! I am looking forward to it...very forward. I wish the wait wasn't so long.

 

Haha, me either.

I wonder if all Sabers (even Alters) are really into food like a certain Saber on the forum...

 

Saber seems to love her hamburgers... xD

I'll admit I know exactly 0% about this series but the Sabers are nice. I actually like Saber Alter because I love her black clothing (sadly I know it'll stain) and I'm also starting to like Saber Lily

I find so hard discovering trivial facts about Alter... even in the wiki, there are tons of info on normal saber, and just a few words about alter...

I find so hard discovering trivial facts about Alter... even in the wiki, there are tons of info on normal saber, and just a few words about alter...

 

It really doesn't help Alter is around in the games .. not that much

 

In FSN, after she's consumed by the darkeness Sakura set free, you only get like.. 2 scenes with Alter. And then you kill her in either a sorta bad end, or depressing scene which then leads onwards to Heaven's Feel ending in general

 

I've yet to get much of Alter in hollow ataraxia, aside from seeing her for all of 5 seconds in the opening chapter