Fate/Zero - Favorite Character(s) Poll [First Part]

[Kirarakim]

Voted for Rider, Waver, and Lancer

Rider & Waver are by far my favorite duo of the series. Despite such a dark series, Rider always manages to put a smile on my face. I don't necessarily agree with all he said to Saber in episode 11 but I loved how he said it. He epitomizes the term GAR. And I just love Waver's Tsundere tendieces with him. It shows great relationships do not always have to be romance centered. And I love the whole big brother/little brother thing they have going on. Of course Rider is already awesome but I see a lot of potential in Waver.


Lancer just because I can't help but feel for his sad past and the sad situation he is in. It's like he can't escape his sad fate. His story really affected me probably more so than any other moment in the series so far. Or maybe I just like his mole I don't know.


I didn't vote for them but honorable mentions go to Saber & Irisviel, besides Rider/Waver they are the only Master/Servant pair I enjoy on the show (I should mention I realize Irisviel isn't truly Saber's Master)

[Master_Yoma]

Caster all the way for me

[Moemura]

I voted for my four favorites; Rider, Saber, Irisviel, and Maiya

[Guido]

YES!! I picked-up the winners.

ISKANDER, long-live to the King of Conquerors!!

The man with quite an extraordinary pool of attacks and Noble Phantasms in the Rider Class.

[Kokukirin]

Rider is by far my favorite character because of reasons repeated hundreds of times over by others. He just easily steals the show whenever he is on the screen.

Voted for Archer as well just because only in F/Z we get to see more of him.

[Kaiba]

Kariya, Kiritsugu, Kotomine, Rider, and Gilgamesh.

[Terminator98]

What the... NO BERSERKER LOVE.

Fear not, in Berserker we trust.
But honnestly it would be easier for me to name those that I don't like rather than those I like.

Namely... loli Rin...

[xKeir]

Kiritsugu , Diarmuid , Iskandar ...

And Irisviel because she's too pwetty.

[BaKaBaKaOtaKu]

i voted for 4 people.

irisviel- man, one of the most adorable characters ever made and i thank gen so much for this <<3 and the fact that she's one hell of a milf is just so..so..kyun-kyun! <3 i love her personality very much as well. I just love this woman.

Saber - too kickass! Fz saber owns fsn saber so much. Those scenes with her and my iris are just making me want fz to end differently. Dx

Gilgamesh- it's honestly so rare for me to fanboy over a male character. But gil is one of those that i just can't help but like so much.he's too awesome. Damn..

Maiya- not much reason for this, but she's so damn hot!! she can have as many kiritsugu as she wants and i don't care. I'm shipping iris x saber anyways. Lol,

[SJCrew]

"Servant Saber - King of Knights, Arturia Pendragon"

She gets the best portrait in the poll and even her name kicks more ass than the rest of the cast. Screw real reasons.

I'm looking at the poll and I'm like "Irisviel, what the hell". I am not fully caught up yet but I am not quite seeing what's so special about her. I will give her six more episodes to do something interesting before I rage at you guys for giving her more votes than my main girl.

I couldn't spare a vote for him, but Rider gets honorable mention. His thunderous personality is a noticeable contrast with the rest of the serious and brooding main cast. Can definitely see the show being a little more interesting with him around.

[Thess]

Originally Posted by SJCrew

I'm looking at the poll and I'm like "Irisviel, what the hell". I am not fully caught up yet but I am not quite seeing what's so special about her. I will give her six more episodes to do something interesting before I rage at you guys for giving her more votes than my main girl.

Why rage? Different strokes for different folks.

Irisviel has a likable, colorful personality, cute design, great 'theme song', etc.

[SJCrew]

Why rage? Different strokes for different folks.

Oh, it was just a joke. I do notice how the two Iris and Saber seem to bounce off of each other really well, almost like best friends. I suppose since Iris carries the 'cute' angle pretty well, Saber has to contend with Rider for 'badass'. Saber wins by a sheer mile imo, because Rider seems more of a goofball to me. But hey, what's in is in. I'm just another loyalist.

[Thess]

Iris and Saber have a kind of princess/knight dynamic. In one (unfortunately) cut scene, Saber sworn by her blade she would protect her life.

Originally Posted by SJCrew

Saber wins by a sheer mile imo, because Rider seems more of a goofball to me.

Come back after episode 11.

Spoiler for spoilers for the mad feast of kings novel chapter/episode 11:

Although I'm a bit unhappy how they didn't portray Saber's self righteous, higher than thou-ness attitude in what was episode 5. What a missed chance to portray them as foils (in their way of kingship) as they were presented since their meeting. One thing about Saber and Rider is that they have different ways of how they carry themselves as rulers: Saber sough peace for her kingdom and thwarted the invasions from the Saxons. She also embraced selfness of a martyr, enduring all on her lonesome, rejecting her own humanity becoming an ideal her people could not understand. Rider was her opposite. He wanted to invade to seek prosperity for his kingdom. He embraced the selfish human nature to the extreme, thus he laughed, loved, hated, raged, wept harder than anyone else. So he was a leader to his people, being the pinnacle of humanity that marked an example to follow. However, deep inside they value the same: the bond with their followers and an unreachable utopia.


Oh well...

[Meltyred]

Voted for Kiritsugu and Kotomine.
Kotomine got really fleshed out in F/Z.
While Kiritsugu is awesome

Spoiler for Spoilers for Kiritsugu vs Kayneth:

at blowing stuff out and crippling stuff.

[Thess]

Originally Posted by Meltyred

Kotomine got really fleshed out in F/Z.

Kirei's characterization's taken by Heaven's Feel route, same as Kiritsugu's.

[lightsenshi]

Originally Posted by Thess

Spoiler for spoilers for the mad feast of kings novel chapter/episode 11:

Although I'm a bit unhappy how they didn't portray Saber's self righteous, higher than thou-ness attitude in what was episode 5. What a missed chance to portray them as foils (in their way of kingship) as they were presented since their meeting. One thing about Saber and Rider is that they have different ways of how they carry themselves as rulers: Saber sough peace for her kingdom and thwarted the invasions from the Saxons. She also embraced selfness of a martyr, enduring all on her lonesome, rejecting her own humanity becoming an ideal her people could not understand. Rider was her opposite. He wanted to invade to seek prosperity for his kingdom. He embraced the selfish human nature to the extreme, thus he laughed, loved, hated, raged, wept harder than anyone else. So he was a leader to his people, being the pinnacle of humanity that marked an example to follow. However, deep inside they value the same: the bond with their followers and an unreachable utopia.


Oh well...

Spoiler for Counterpoint:

I mostly agree with you with a sharp exception: Saber didn't sacrifice her humanity for the sake of her kingdom. If she'd done that, then she'd ultimately be no different than Caster, who obviously shows no value for human life. What she gave up instead was what she wanted and a large chunk of what she was. We see her in FSN wearing a peasant smock when she pulls the sword from the stone, so it can be implied that she was living an "ordinary" life before then (indeed in the Arthurian legend the future king lives in obscurity). She accepts the responsibilities that come with her name and title, indeed the first thing she sacrifices for her people is her womanhood. That's what is part of what makes her great, she puts her subjects ahead of herself.

Rider, on the other hand, shows himself to be the opposite as a king. I think we can borrow from Gilgamesh near the end of FSN "The country exists for the king, not the king for the country", which epitomizes both Rider (and Gilgamesh) perfectly. I think this simple statement cuts to the core as to the difference between the two.

It would be fair to add that King Arthur was the medieval equivalent of Superman. He (Arthur) stood for everything that was right, just, and noble. He was the epitome of what a ruler should be, from the perspective of those being ruled.

[Thess]

Originally Posted by lightsenshi

Spoiler for Counterpoint:

I mostly agree with you with a sharp exception: Saber didn't sacrifice her humanity for the sake of her kingdom. If she'd done that, then she'd ultimately be no different than Caster, who obviously shows no value for human life. What she gave up instead was what she wanted and a large chunk of what she was. We see her in FSN wearing a peasant smock when she pulls the sword from the stone, so it can be implied that she was living an "ordinary" life before then (indeed in the Arthurian legend the future king lives in obscurity). She accepts the responsibilities that come with her name and title, indeed the first thing she sacrifices for her people is her womanhood. That's what is part of what makes her great, she puts her subjects ahead of herself.

Rider, on the other hand, shows himself to be the opposite as a king. I think we can borrow from Gilgamesh near the end of FSN "The country exists for the king, not the king for the country", which epitomizes both Rider (and Gilgamesh) perfectly. I think this simple statement cuts to the core as to the difference between the two.

It would be fair to add that King Arthur was the medieval equivalent of Superman. He (Arthur) stood for everything that was right, just, and noble. He was the epitome of what a ruler should be, from the perspective of those being ruled.

Spoiler for eeh...also Fate route stuff:

But she did cast away her humanity, that was the freakin' point of why her followers couldn't empathize with her at all: she was an ideal, someone without desires or wishes as a human being. That's not being a person at all. You misunderstand "humanity" as "nicety", it's not. Caster and Uryuu are human, crazy ones at that, with mental pollution that allows them to communicate only with each other, but still human. Saber wasn't. She even failed to a degree that she couldn't communicate her love for her son, who misunderstood her feelings by hatred.

As for the 'epitome' of what a ruler should be, no... in Nasuverse actually, considering that except for a few loyal knights, people despised her reign in the end? That was why she envied Iskandar who managed to ensure the loyalty of his followers beyond time and space, even after their deaths. That was what she WANTED to accomplish with her methods yet couldn't. She's an ideal. But there's zero humanity about it.

True, but you're forgetting the fundamental difference between Rider and Gilgamesh is that Rider sees his people as his greatest treasure and take them with him wherever he goes. That's why Saber wanted so badly to reach out an understanding with Iskandar after she realized she was wrong about him, while she didn't give a damn about Gil's opinion or his treasures. The anime did not quite portray it right (starting to cut that scene in episode 5). But she was constantly belittling him until he pulled his army and shut her up.

Rider and Saber are foils but not complete opposites like Gil and Saber. They keep in their hearts the same thing as important, but they go about it in a different way. Sure, to Rider the king is first, but because the king carries the followers (and leads them). That is the difference he has with Gilgamesh. Saber was placing them both in the same bag in her intolerance and regretted it afterwards. Because in the end, the king who asked his followers to sacrifice for him still carry them on his shoulders, you know? Saber led by sacrificing herself, Iskandar by living.

Her development in Fate route was the point she went in touch with her humanity, learned to stop having regrets like a TRUE king and gave up on her retarded wish to redo history.

Pretty much what big brother Rider would have hoped for. Rider wanted to save her from her burdens, but he went the wrong way about it due to a misunderstanding as well. He couldn't stand to know how she suffered and, due to her words, gave to understand that the source of this curse was her kingship.

[jeroz]

poor Hassan

[Thess]

At least they get a vote.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Terminator98

What the... NO BERSERKER LOVE.

Fear not, in Berserker we trust.
But honnestly it would be easier for me to name those that I don't like rather than those I like.

Namely... loli Rin...

I'd say Berserk's ranking in the poll is pretty damn good given what little screentime he's had so far.

I didn't expect Assassin to be so unpopular. Then again, his role was that of a canon fodder so it's not too surprising. I'm sure he would have gotten more vote if Lolissassin had made it into the anime