The Holy Grail wars, fought by strong mages and their legendary servants for the ultimate prize of the ability to fulfill any wish, are the stuff of legend in theFatesaga. Some wars are more notorious than others for the horrible acts of cruelty, betrayal, and sorrow they wrought.
Related:Fate: The Order You Should Watch All The Anime Shows And Movies
In theFateseries, the brutality of the masters and the terrible endings of their servants make the Holy Grail Wars unsuitable for those with a faint heart. Their dark and tragic undertones increase the stakes and drama of the conflicts they depict, where heroes must overcome overwhelming odds and pay a high price for victory.
7Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya - Fifth Ainsworth Holy Grail War
Inan alternate timelinefrom the events ofFate/Stay Night, Fuyuki City is the stage for a twisted tale of destiny and power. Illyasviel Von Einzbern was born to be the Holy Grail, a vessel for immense magical power. But her father, Emiya Kiritsugu, put an end to the Holy Grail War and sealed away Illya’s memories of her true purpose.
Years later, Illya encounters class cards, fragments of powerful spirits from a parallel world, and meets Miyu, a completed Holy Grail from another world sent to protect her. In this world, masters use class cards to summon heroic spirits into their bodies. Nonetheless, Illya and Miyu find themselves in the heart of a warped struggle for power as they try to escape their fate as vessels for the Holy Grail when the fifth Ainsworth Holy Grail War breaks out.
6Fate/Last Encore - The Moon Holy Grail War
Seven masters and seven servants battle it out for the privilege of having their desires granted in the majority ofHoly Grail Wars. However, things take a terrible turn in the Moon Holy Grail War. There are initially 999 combatants in the fight. From the original 999 candidates, 128 masters are chosen to have their memories suppressed, and their souls digitized, while the rest are eliminated.
In the Moon Holy Grail War, 128 masters and servants battle for supremacy. With seven layers of floors to ascend, a master must kill another master to ascend and reach the Holy Grail at the top of the seventh floor. With only 100,000 people left of humanity, Hakuno, the protagonist, and his servant Saber, must fight to preserve what is left of humanity.
5Fate/Strange Fake - The False Holy Grail War
The newFate Strange Fakeanime movie comes with a lot of absurdities. A dark organization plans to imitate the Holy Grail ritual. As a result of their inability to replicate the previous Holy Grail War in its entirety, they begin this one with only six classes of servants (the Saber class being left out). Even the concept of a hero is hazy, and the servants that are called upon can be anything but standard.
And to top it all off, civil workers know about the Holy Grail War and join the fight to end it. Since people from all walks of life are fighting in the False Holy Grail War, the status quo has been completely inverted.
4Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works - The Fifth Holy Grail War
Emiya Shirou’s foster father, Emiya Kiritsugu, took him in after the events ofFate/Zero, and now he finds himself unwittingly involved as one of the masters in the fifth Holy Grail War. Shirou, who is hesitant to join the conflict, still decides to finish the “ridiculous war” on his own.
Related:A Beginner’s Guide to Fate/Stay Night
In a twist of fate, Shirou’s future self isrevealed to be Archer, the servant of Rin Tohsaka, one of the participating masters. Different values motivate Shirou (Archer) of the past and future to plot each other’s destruction. Amidst this chaos, the Holy Grail has become corrupted and will stop at nothing to destroy all in its path.
3Fate/Apocrypha - The Great Holy Grail War
Inan alternate timeline, the Yggdmillennia clan declares war against the Mage’s Association, sparking the Great Holy Grail War. Two teams of servants and masters face off, with Yggdmillennia and the Mage’s Association known as the Black and Red factions. A Ruler class servant meditates over the war, but things take a dark turn when Siegfried, a servant, bestows his heart upon a male homunculus, granting him immense power.
As the war draws to a close, Shirou Kotomine, a priest leading the Red faction, makes a wish on the Holy Grail. But when he is killed, his wish threatens to halt humanity’s evolution. Sieg, the homunculus with the heart of a servant, seeks to undo the damage by traveling to the Reverse side of the World, where the Grail’s magic can be neutralized.
2Fate/Zero - The Fourth Holy Grail War
Fate Zero’s story unfolds 10 years before the events of theFate Stay Nightanime. This is the Fourth Holy Grail War, in which seven masters, each with their own set of heroic spirits (servants), fight for control of the Holy Grail. If a master and servant can win the grail, their wishes will come true once they have it.
The holy grail has been tainted, making the Fourth Holy Grail War dark and dangerous.Emiya Kiritsugu, the protagonist, gives up his wife and child so that the world can be saved. Despite Emiya’s best efforts, the Holy Grail War ultimatelyresulted in the destruction of Fuyuki City.
1Fate/Stay Night - Heaven’s Feel
The fifth Holy Grail War has begun, and Emiya Shirou finds himself caught up in a deadly game of magic and power. But this time, his friend Sakura has also become a master and is drawn into the conflict. The twist? Sakura is corrupted and possessed by a sinister shadow that kills indiscriminately.
As Shirou struggles to save his friend, he must also confront his own corrupted servant,a Saber twisted by dark forces. With the fate of the world at stake, Shirou must put aside his emotions and face the ultimate challenge: to end the corruption and stop the Holy Grail from unleashing destruction on all of humanity.
More:Fate Series: What is an ‘Origin’?
