Fate: The Inherited Phantom

Fate/Zero is an anime series which is predicated on a competition among seven heroic spirits, each conjured by one magus whom represents a powerful mage lineage, competing in a death battle to obtain the “Holy Grail”. The Holy Grail, a godlike wish granting device, has been a long sought after treasure by mages for centuries who have kept their supernatural and magic abilities strong by maintaining pure blood lines and fortified clan techniques to gain advantage and access to the power of the grail. Though, there are few rules to the Holy Grail War, each family is restricted to only choose one of the seven heroic spirit classes to serve them: Assassin, Berserker, Archer, Lancer, Saber, Rider, or Caster.

Many of the characters are shown to have different reasons for their conquest over other competitors in attempts to make one unattainable wish by the power of the Holy Grail. Some yearn for proverbial aims/ambitions typified in the History of Kings of Britain: to conquer the entire world, gain riches and glory, or rule a kingdom for generations, while others desire world peace or total genocide. Notably, King Arthur in this series is revealed as an alias for the female heroic spirit “Arturia Pendragon”, a well renowned and over-powered saber class servant who vanquishes her foes with her sword “Caliburn”. Her character is revealed as the result of a failed ruler who led her country into upheaval. In fear of his subjects’ aversion to a female heir, Arturia’s father, Uther Pendragon, entrusted Merlin to raise her until the threat of the Saxons invasion forced her to resolve the turmoil of Britain in her father’s absence. In the context of medieval England, this ties directly back to the power struggle between Romans, Picts, Saxons, and Normans over Britain.

These key elements to the scheme of the series mirrors the historical deviation in approaches to “winning” the ever-long power struggle between men exerting dominion over one another and their tactic for governing their kingdoms. Though magic is continually cultivated and forced into future generations as a selection pressure to attain power, true power is never truly attained because the Grail War never ceases, resulting in a continuous loop of pointless death and great sacrifice.The insatiable competition in Fate zero between powerful families due to differences in opinion and socio-political ideals unearths the elements of greed and determination between the warring nations to “win at any cost”…even in spite of extent of ruthless destruction or the forced participation of suitable candidates. In the series, some of the mages elected to compete in the Grail War are of young age, with a heavy influence of male competition but also a small contribution of daring and tenacious female talent. In relation, this closely mimics the main plot to the Medieval TV series Games of Thrones, in which conflict between seven different kingdoms is cultivated by blood-borne claims to power between both men, women, and children. The same power that, when combined with greed, takes physical form through the manipulation of the lives of others and children whose lives are subjugated to the traditions of past legacies.