Hadouken: Fate/Unlimited Codes 101: The History Behind the Game Pt.2
width="228" height="323"
/>
time, we talked a little about our hero Shiro
and the Holy Grail Wars. In order to tell you a bit more
about how he gets involved in the most current war, let’s
take a look at masters and their relationships to their
servants. It can get a bit complicated, but I’ll do my
best to explain it all below.
In the
world of Fate, Masters are human sorcerers that enlist
Servants to aid them in their quest for the Holy Grail.
Obviously the Holy Grail is something that is desired, as
it will grant the wishes of whoever obtains it. However,
only ethereal spirits can physically obtain the Holy
Grail and that’s where the Servants come in. Each Servant
is a reincarnated, legendary hero from across all time
that is summoned by a Master. Specific heroes can be
summoned through the use of catalysts-objects, events, or
experiences that are specific and hold special meanings
for specific heroes.
width="217" height="307" />
Masters control their Servants through three
commanding mantras which are crystallized miracles
manifested on a Master’s body and are supplied by the
Grail itself. Yes that sounds a bit confusing, but you
just need to know that Masters have three commands at
their disposal that allow Servants to perform incredibly
feats OR allow Masters to issue irrevocable orders to
their Servants. Once these three commands are used up,
Servants are no longer tied to their Masters and may even
turn on them.
width="400" />
The
ultimate reward, the Holy Grail, only materializes when
there is one Servant left…so you can imagine the how
grueling and violent the Holy Grail Wars can get. Now
that you know a little bit more about the relationship
between Master and Servant, we can now examine
Shir’s role in all of this!
One night, as he is making his way home after
school, Shir witnesses a battle between Archer
and Lancer, two Servants that are battling on behalf of
their Masters. In order to protect the Holy Grail Wars,
Lancer seeks out and kills Shir. Fortunately,
fellow classmate Rin Tsaka (remember her,
she’ll be important in later posts) resuscitates
Shir using an heirloom full of concentrated
mana and Shir makes his way home, weakened and
confused. He is attacked a second time by Lancer and just
before he strikes a lethal blow to
Shir…
width="400" />
This
woman shows up and drives Lancer away. She introduces
herself as Saber and asks Shir if he is her
Master. This leads us to the beginning of Fate/Unlimited
Codes, which will document the latest round of the Holy
Grail Wars.
Stay tuned for more
details coming soon here on Unity!
