Summary
Imagine having the power to make all your dreams come true. What would you do to get that power? TheFate/Stayseries asks that question of mages across several ages, pitting them against each other in an effort to determine a victor, and to generate enough mana to fulfill the wishes of two people.
While it sounds like a magical adventure, reality is often more harsh, and in the world of Fate/Stay Night, the Holy Grail extracts a major toll. Before diving in to the anime, let’s take a look at just what the Holy Grail War is, where it comes from, and how winning isn’t always what it seems. Just remember,this series isn’t for the faint of heart.
What Is The Holy Grail War?
The Holy Grail War is just what it sounds like, a battle to determine who can wield the legendary Holy Grail andget their wishes fulfilled. to participate in the Holy Grail War, a mage must be chosen by the Grail itself, though the methods of picking a mage, now considered a Master, seem to be rather mysterious.
Once a Master is chosen, they are granted mana enough for them to summon a Heroic Spirit, an entity of immense strength and historical significance whose deeds have passed into legend. Being aheroic spirit doesn’t necessarily mean that they are a good person, or even that they were a real person, it is a bit more vague than that.
A Heroic Spirit can be a real person, from either the past or future, a person who had a legend grow around them, orthey can be a complete myth,someone who never existed but is given form thanks to their legend. These people all become Servants in the Holy Grail War.
Ultimately, it is the goal of each Servant and Master to defeat, and often kill, the other mages and heroic spirits and claim the Holy Grail for themselves. Doing so will give both their heart’s desire. However, the true purpose of the Holy Grail War isn’t all that it seems.
So What Is The Point Of The Holy Grail War?
The Holy Grail War is a much more recent development than the name would lead you to believe. Thefirst war took place in the early 1800safter being designed by the Tohsaka, Matou, and Einzbern families as a way to reach Akasha. This place is where all souls come from, and where the Heroic Spirits exist, while connecting all of time and space. The goal, the hope of these three families, is that by reaching Akasha, they can become gods, or at least gain the power of a god.
However, this system doesn’t work the way it is advertised. The Grail will require the energy of all seven Servants to activate thetrue Holy Grail, called the Greater Grail, which includes the Servant that claimed the Grail. Further complicating the situation, the Grail can only be grasped by a Servant, and not a Master, leaving the victor with no real way to activate the Grail. This functionally rendered the Grail’s true purpose forever lost, leaving it only to grant wishes instead.
Starting a Holy Grail War can only happen around every 60 years, as it takes quite some time for the Grail to build up enough mana to start the war.
How Does The Holy Grail War Work?
Participating in the Holy Grail War requires a few things, something akin to self-imposed rules that are necessary to complete the Holy Grail War. Once the Servants are summoned,they are distinguished by different classes,which determine who can be summoned. It also has some influence on their overall strength, but that is also determined by the Servant’s legend, where they’re from, and the skill and cunning of the Master that summoned them.
The different classes are:
There are more classes than these, but generally speaking, these are the main seven. Summoning one of these Heroic Spirits requires something that belonged to them, such as a piece of clothing, or a weapon. After a Heroic Spirit has manifested as a Servant, the Master gains three Command Spells, also called Command Seals, that they can use toforce their Heroic Spirit to act against their will, or they can be used to give the Servant a temporary boost in power.
There are times too when the Grail will independently summon its own Servant, called the Ruler, to act as an arbiter for when Masters start to team up or start trying to break the rules of the War.
How Many Holy Grail Wars Have There Been?
This a slightly difficult question to answer since the varying timelines in the Fate/Stay series, but in the main timelinethere have been five Holy Grail Wars. The events of Fate/Zero takes place in 1994 during the Fourth Holy Grail War, while the Fifth Holy Grail War in 2004 is the setting for both Fate/Stay Night and Unlimited Blade Works.
Ifyou’re the fan of Fate/Apocrypha, then that show takes place during an alternate timeline in during the Third Holy Grail War. Meanwhile, in the Fate/Grand Order mobile game, there’s only one Holy Grail War and that is the 2004 one
