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Fate/Stay Night tells the story of a normal high school boy, Emiya Shirou, who finds himself fighting in the Holy Grail War, a battle to the death for control of the Holy Grail, which is said to grant its wielder a single wish.
Servants are the key figures that fight in this war, representing fictional or historical figures from various cultures and stories. If you’re wondering what exactly Servants are, you’ve come to the right place. Below we’ll take a look at everything you need to know about Servants in Fate/Stay Night.
The Fate universe is vast, spanning multiple games and stories, so we’ll try to keep thisas spoiler-free as possible. Most of this information can be learned organically by playing Fate/Stay Night, so if you don’t want to be spoiled at all, play the game instead!
What Are Servants?
Servants, also called Heroic Spirits, areFamiliars of beings that have made a mark on historyin some way or another. They aresummoned by the Holy Grail by a Master(a Mage who is participating in the Holy Grail War), and arecommanded to fight in the Holy Grail War.
Because Servants are Familiars, they arenot technically “living” beings. Instead, they are a manifestation of ether in an ultra-realistic form of the hero they are embodying. This means theydon’t technically need food or water to survive, instead sustaining themselves on their Master’s magical energy supply.
The Holy Grail War pits Masters and their Servants against one another in a battle to the death, soa Servant’s True Name is often a closely guarded secret, to prevent other Masters from gaining an advantage over them. This means thatServants are most often referred to by their Servant Class, which we’ll take a look at below.
As mentioned above, Servants areSpirits that resemble historical or fictional people. These include figures like Joan of Arc, Heracles, King Arthur, or almost any notable figure from history. Because most of these figures are well-documented and studied, knowing their True Name gives you a massive advantage over them, granting insight into theirfighting style or techniques.
Servants displaysuperhuman levels of strengthand are capable of fighting at break-neck speed for long periods of time. They are also able to employ a signature attack, called aNoble Phantasm, but this is considered alast resort, as giving away the name of their Noble Phantasm would also reveal their True Name.
What Are The Servant Classes?
There areseven standard Servant Classesin Fate/Stay Night, divided intotwo categories: Knight and Cavalry. These classes represent a variety of combat abilities, so Servants are sometimes loosely put into one Class when summoned, but different circumstances could havethat same Servant summoned as a different class.
In general, onlyone of each Servant Class is summoned during a Holy Grail War, meaning there will only be one Saber, one Archer, one Lancer, and so on.
Knight Classes
Cavalry Classes
There aremany other Servant Classes in the Fate universe, like Ruler or Alter Ego, but these aren’t present in Fate/Stay Night.
